The Bungee Cord 8-30-21

Hello,

With the starting of school this fall, I thought that I would answer an educational question that I have often been asked over the years: “Why did you decide to be a pastor?”

The short answer is, I found the unconditional love of God to be a rock unlike any other on which to build my life, and I wanted to be a vessel of that grace to others. That is the short answer.

Here’s the longer answer.

As a kid, I remember school assignments intended to get me thinking about what I wanted to do when I grew up. I think it was in Junior High that I looked into being an architect. The combination of creativity and science perked my interest. Sometime when I was in high school my yearning for architecture waned. I don’t remember why. My high school years were full of sports (baseball being my strong suit), math, science, and church. I did very well in high school, and when I met with guidance counsellors to have them help me in selecting college and a vocation, I was encouraged to pursue a vocation as a corporate lawyer. I had the intelligence and drive, so I was told, to make quite a future for myself in law. The power, prestige, and financial reward that was described was enticing.

So, off to college I went to be a corporate lawyer, and in college I ran into a bunch of people for whom power, prestige and financial reward was not top in their lives. Friendship. Making a dent for good in the world. Loyalty. Character. These were the things that were foremost in their lives, and the Christian faith that we shared was the breeding ground of these things. I resonated with them, and my years with them were life changing and vision changing. It was there that I began to dream of being able to do for others what these friends did for me, a dream that I saw coming to fruition in being a pastor.

After 4 years of college and 4 years of seminary I found myself kneeling in front of altar in a St. Paul, Minnesota church having a stole (the scarf-like thing that Lutheran pastors wear) draped over my shoulders and ordained to be a pastor. It has been quite a life being a pastor. It has taken me into the lives of many people. Celebrating the best in life, and being a visible presence of God’s presence in the most painful times of life. I’ve shared life with people of all ages, personally growing in all those relationships. I’ve lived in almost every type of community: suburban, inner city, small town rural, “metro” South Dakota, rural South Dakota, and the Appellation foothills. I’ve been humbled by my mistakes, and I have been thanked for my ministry.

As I look back on the 38+ years of being a pastor, I hope that I have been what I started out hoping to be: a vessel of God’s grace and mercy, through whom God has poured out the unconditional love upon which to bring life to others. Although I would be thankful for more, I have often said to myself, if I have only been so for one person, that would be enough for me to feel my work has been worthy of my calling.

I know that very few of you share with me the vocation of being a pastor, but that doesn’t mean that you haven’t been equally a vessel of God’s grace and mercy in the world. Truth to be told, you are able to reach people in your work that I will never touch. You are there to embrace a co-worker who just got the phone call from the hospital to come quickly because their child has been in an accident. You are there to sit next to the kid at lunch whose parents just got a divorce. You are there to take a meal over to a widower whose wife has just died. You are there to knock on the door of the new neighbor who race doesn’t match the majority and say, “Welcome.” You are there to phone a friend whose sinfulness has ruined their lives and tell them that they can still count on you.

As this school year begins, maybe this can be a time for all of us to look at what we do in life, and pray that in this year each of us might be blessed to be a vessel of God’s grace and mercy to at least one person …. for although we would certainly be thankful for more….one would be enough to make our work this year worthy of our calling.

Have a great week!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 8-23-21

Hello,

A couple of nights ago, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. That’s early for me. Way before sunrise. But nevertheless, the moment I woke up, I was blinded by a bright light piercing the darkness and my southwest facing bedroom window, hitting me directly in the face. I quickly gathered my phone, aimed it at the light-source and snapped the picture that you see. Although the camera didn’t capture the sight as well as my eyes did, I think you can see that it looked like a search light was coming from a cross of light from the sky (the cross was far more visible in real life).

I’m not one who believes that God creates such sights to tell us something, rather I believe that sights like this, that just happen, create a reminder of something that God has already told us. The reminder of which this sight reminded me is the verse that speaks of Jesus from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

There’s a Rich Mullins song, “Hold Me Jesus”, whose words could have been taken from my lips:

“I wake up in the night and feel the dark. It’s so hot inside my soul there must be blisters on my heart. Hold me Jesus ‘cause I’m shaking like a leaf. You have been my king of glory; won’t you be my prince of peace.”

Maybe you, like me, find yourself waking in the dark…not only the dark of celestial night, but also in the dark night of fear, guilt, and failure. Lost in lightless confusion. Paralyzed in shrouds of hopelessness. Reaching out for a hand to hold onto, and no hand is to be found.

I wrote a song a long time ago when I was in college, a song that every once in a while, finds its way into my soul even now.

“I feel like a hermit in a forest of people. No one to talk to, no one to hear. It’s like living alone in a busy train depot, the people all come but not very near. Folks hoarding their love as if pinching their pennies. Best to stay away, best to stay clear. You’d never believe that people have feelings. They don’t give their love. They just throw their spears. And what does it mean to be lonely in a crowd? What does it mean to feel nobody cares? What does it mean when you can’t shout out loud and the shoulder you cry on just isn’t there?”

When I have considered that verse from John, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it,” I have always envisioned the light of which John speaks like a candlelight that gives my eyes light to see around me and make my way through the darkness. But after my 5:00 enlightening, I now add to that understanding, a new way of thinking, and that is to understand that darkness conquering in terms of a spotlight; a spotlight of God’s love and mercy that searches me out in the darkest of times….not so much so that I can see and make my way through the darkness, but more so that God can find me and make his way to me in the darkness. In those times when the darkness is so powerful that scales of hopelessness cover my eyes, God, from the cross, pierces the darkness with a light whose candle power is greater than the universe in order to find me, embrace me, gather me in his arms and carry me out of the darkness like the one sheep that has gone astray.

I hope that you never find yourself so overwhelmed by darkness that a candlelight does you no good, but if you do, take a look at what I saw at 5:00 in the morning and know that God, with a cross-fastened search light will search you out until he finds you. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Like

Comment

Share

0 Comments

 The Bungee Cord 8-16-21

Hello,

There is a verse from Psalm 46 that often springs up in my mind. “Be still, and know that I am God.” The interesting thing about reading the Psalms is that when you change the emphasis on the words, a whole new window of wonder opens. Usually, I read this verse with the emphasis on “Be still”, but more recently I have been reading this verse with the emphasis on the word “I”.

When I read this verse with the emphasis on “Be still”, I find myself feeling like I am being asked to do something that is either very hard, or impossible to do. It is like telling person walking through the plains of Africa and a huge lion comes charging after you. “Be still”….right! Or it is like telling a young child who is awaiting her friends to come to her birthday party. “Be still”….right! Or it is like sitting in the doctor’s office and the doctor says, “There’s nothing we can do.” “Be still”…right! Being still is very hard to do, and often times impossible when fear, excitement, or doom enter the story. So, when I find myself emphasizing “be still”, I don’t find much peace coming from this verse.

But when I put the emphasis on the word “I”, things change. It is like drowning in a lake, and suddenly a life-guard grabs hold of you and says, “I got you.” It is like being cornered by a bully, and suddenly a kid twice the size of the bully takes his stand in front of you and says, “I am here, and you are going to have to get through me.” It is like hanging from a cliff and feeling your fingers starting to slip, and someone who is tethered to the cliffs repels down, puts a rope around your waist and says, “I am here.” When I put the emphasis on the word “I”, that is when peace and hope take hold of my heart, because I know that the one who says “I” is able to see me through.

When a lifeguard rescues a drowning person, the drowning person tends to continue to kick to stay above water, making the rescue even harder. It is after one is in the lifeguard’s grip that the lifeguard says, “Be still.” When a bigger person than the bully stands between you and the bully, trying to push the bigger kid out of the way and continue your fight only makes it hard for the person to protect you from the punches of the bully. It is after the big kid puffs up his chest and asserts his presence that he can say to the one being bullied, “Be still.” And when a doctor says, “There’s nothing we can do,” it is only after the one who died and rose embraces you with his promise, “Nothing can separate you from my love….not even death,” that the words “be still” settle down your raging heart.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Like

Comment

Share

 The Bungee Cord 8-10-21

The Bungee Cord .8-10-21

Hello,

The reason that the Bungee Cord is a day late is that I was out of town Sunday and Monday. My wife and I went to a small town in Pennsylvania, Lititz, to celebrate our 40th anniversary. I told my wife as we were reminiscing, “It is hard to remember 40 years ago. We were so young.”

Kate, my wife, said back to me, “We were!”

We were. In our young twenties. Youth-ly overconfident. Completely oblivious to all that lay in front of us. We were married in a small church in Chicora, Pennsylvania. Who would have guessed all that we have added to our lives over these 40 years? Nine moves into unfamiliar environments, making new friends, leaving friends behind. 3 sons, unique in their own ways, challenging us with helping them shine for who they are. Celebrations aplenty. Disappointments to be sure. Surprises that lit up the sky like fireworks, and surprises that turned the lights off like electrical storms. Hopes and dreams realized. Hopes and dreams lost. Laughter. Crying.

I have come to believe that long and mutually upbuilding marriages are as much luck as they are the product of hard work. What I mean by that is, who really knows who they are and what kind of resiliency one has when they are in their early 20’s. Who knows what the most important things are to look for in a person to marry when you’re still trying to figure that out in your own life? As I think about my marriage of 40 years, I feel less inclined to brag, and much more inclined to be thankful…..thankful for a wife that has been willing to grow with me, and thankful for a God who has held our hearts in his transforming grace and mercy every day along the way.

I wrote a song for our wedding based on Isaiah 55:12,13. Here’s the text:

“You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace

The mountains and hill before you shall sing.

And the trees of the field shall all rise and dance

For I, the Lord, am with you in the joining of your hands

And I’ll walk along with you in the freshness of the spring

I’ll walk along with you when the summer sun gets hot.

I’ll walk along with you in the gentle autumn breeze

And even in the winter when the world turns cold and grey,

I’ll walk along with you and make it spring again.

And you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace

The mountains and hill before you shall sing

And the trees of the field shall all rise and dance

For I, the Lord am with you in the joining of your hands

And I’ll walk along with you.

I’ll walk along with you

I’ll walk along.

For I, the Lord, have promised you, you’re always in my care.

I’ll walk along with you

And shower you with love.

And you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace

The mountains and hill before you shall sing

And the trees of the field shall all rise and dance

For I, the Lord, am with you in the joining of your hands

Oh, I, the Lord, am with you in the joining of your hands.” (copyright 1981)

Thank you, Lord.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 8-2-21

Hello,

A couple of weeks ago, I was, as usual on the sidewalk in front of our church waving at people on Sunday morning as they drove by. Waves back. A honk here and there. Smiles emerging from the car windows. As it happened, an older woman walked by on her morning walk. When she came near, I gave her a small wave and said, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she said back to me, “Out here drumming up some business?”

Her comment caught me a bit off guard, because that is not why I wave at folks before Sunday worship. “No,” I replied, “I am just out here sharing God’s grace.” `She didn’t reply back to me, and as she passed, I said to her, “Have a great day,” and off I went back to waving.

“Out here drumming up some business?” It got me to thinking how many other people are thinking the same thing, that I am out by the street like one of those people dressed up like the Statue of Liberty trying to get people to bring their tax business there. Drumming up business.

It may sound odd to you, but I don’t believe that it is my job, as the pastor, to drum up business, to fill the pews. I know that many pastors get evaluated on how they are doing in filling the pews, and even sometimes I can catch myself evaluating my ministry by this criterion. But I believe the fullness of the pews is God’s job, specifically the job of the Holy Spirit who in Lutheran thinking “calls, gathers, and enlightens people with the Gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ).”

My job, as a pastor and as a Christian, is to live in God’s grace and share God’s grace with others. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” My job is to shine the light of hope, mercy, and peace that God has ignited in me. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” My job is to season life with divine joy, love and forgiveness. My job is not to fill the pews, but to fill people’s lives. My job isn’t to keep the doors open, but to open people’s sin-crusted hearts. My job isn’t to have a balanced church budget, but to give people a rock on which to balance themselves when the storms of life are crashing around.

I do, of course, hope that when I do my job, people will feel the magnetic pull of Christ’s love drawing them to himself. In my mind, that is what any church is: the result of Christ’s magnetic love pulling people into a place of healing, pulling people into a place of where they can breathe in the fresh air of God’s mercy, pulling people into a place where the embrace of Christ is extended to each other and the world, pulling people out the sinking sand of life and setting them on a rock so that they might actually live.

Who wants to be wanted just to fill a pew? Not me. Who wants to be wanted just to keep a church afloat? Not me. Who wants to be wanted to make sure the bills are paid? Not me. Who wants to be wanted so a church can brag about how big it is or how much power it wields? Not me. To me, all of that is what “drumming up business” implies.

But who wants to be wanted to be loved? Me! Who wants to be wanted to be valued as a pearl of such great value that in finding it, you would sell all that one had in order that that pearl might be theirs? Me! Who wants to be wanted even though you bring with you the stench of a cess pool, and be washed so clean that you carry an aroma of divine grace with you every day of your life? Me! Who wants to be wanted no matter what you have done, even something for which the world will not forgive you, …. Wanted so much that someone would lay down their life for you? Me! That is what my wave is all about. It is a small gesture of God’s grace as people are hurrying along in life; a gesture that might just change their life, a gesture that might just give them life, a gesture that might just fill their hearts with the powerful love of Christ Jesus.

“No,” I replied to that woman, “I am just out here sharing God’s grace.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger