The Bungee Cord 11-14-21

Hello,

I am writing from Davenport, Iowa as I have come out here for a couple of weeks to help my folks move to a higher level of care in the nursing home where they live. So, this morning, Sunday, I attended worship with my brother and his wife at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Davenport. It is a big church with over 1100 active family units, and they worship in a facility that holds at least 500 of them at a time. It was built in the last 20 years, and it has a soaring ceiling and a cement floor that has tremendous acoustics for singing.

We arrived a bit early and sat down in a pew close to the front (something Lutherans usually avoid, but it is my brother’s custom). I opened the bulletin that was handed to me when I entered, and I read something that we print every week in our bulletin at St. James Lutheran Church, Ligonier, Pa. “Please remember to silence your cell phone during worship.” Occasionally, I forget to do so with my mind on so many things on Sunday morning, but as of yet my phone has not rung during worship. Most people who would try and call me know that Sunday morning is not a good time to call me.

But with the reminder scrolling across my eyes, I did as was requested. I silenced my cell phone, and good thing that I did because about 10 minutes into the service, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. Thinking that it might be an emergency call from my folks, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the number that was calling me. It was an 800 number, so I put it back in my pocket, still buzzing. I would have been quite embarrassed to have the cell phone of a visiting pastor echoing throughout that acoustically vibrant sanctuary.

After worship I took out my phone to see who had called, and much to my surprise a message had been left. I tapped the button on the phone that sent me to my messages, and as I began to listen to the message, I discovered that my caller was a robot, calling me from Guardian Protection, encouraging me to test my system to make sure it was working.

I giggled when I was sitting in a room called the “sanctuary”, a room that magnified the powerful and protective care of God Almighty, and a human security system was soliciting me. In a room where the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” thundered, I was being buzzed by someone who thought I needed their protection.

True enough, our house does have a Guardian Protection system for which I pay a monthly fee. We put the system in our house at the request of our home owner’s insurance company because we live out in the middle of nowhere, and the insurance company wanted us to have a direct alert of fire to the fire station. So, even though we have had neither fire nor burglar attack our house, our Guardian Protection system is ready to let us know if either is happening.

Although the protective care that I have from God Almighty, a care that I don’t pay a dime to have, may not be able to warn me of fire or burglar, it does something far greater. It protects me from life’s fires and thieves. God will not let any fire burn down my life nor any thief steal me away from him. Not any fire that I set or is set on me. Not any thief that breaks into my life because of my neglect to lock the door, or any thief that batters my door down. My biggest sin will not incinerate my life, and even the greatest thief, death, will take me out of God’s hand.

Guardian Protection services might sound the alarm when fires and thieves strike, but God Almighty will sound the trumpet of victory over every fire or thief that strikes. I know that I can live without Guardian Protection, I have for the first 55 years of my life, but I also know that without God’s divine protection, I cannot live at all….not even a mere breath of life, let alone 55 years of life.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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