The Bungee Cord 5-23-22

Today's Bungee Cord is my sermon from May 22.....I think it is Bungee-able.

John 14:23-29

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. “

Jesus says to you and me today, that he gives us his peace, not the world’s peace, but his peace. What’s the difference? What is the difference between Jesus’ peace and the world’s peace?

Here’s the difference. It’s the difference between a chihuahua and a Doberman Pinscher. Imagine if you were a burglar scoping out a home that held the most valuable diamond in the world, (and by the way, that is what you and I are in the eyes of God)and in the yard you saw a sign, “Beware of Dog”, and you saw that the dog of which you were told to beware of was a little yippie chihuahua issuing its fiercest barking behind the screen door, you would laugh and say to yourself, “This is going to be one easy job.” But if, on the other hand as you walked by the house, you heard the snarling growl of a drooling Doberman pincher and saw the fire in its eyes, you’ld think twice about trying to make that diamond yours.

That diamond – you or I – would be far safer - far more at peace - with a Doberman pincher in the house than a chihuahua And the truth is that a chihuahua is all the world can give us. The world just can’t breed anything to keep us safe from the burglars and thieves that prowl around us. When disease sneaks into our lives and tries to run off with us to a cave of despair, all the world can do is yip and yap to scare it away. When sin grabs ahold of us and tries to steal us away into shame, all the world can do is nip at sin’s heels as sin kicks it away as if it was a no more than a soccer ball. When tragedy busts down the door, all the world can do is wheeze and snort in anger and guard. The world can give us nothing more than a ferocious chihuahua to keep us safe, and I don’t know about you, but I know that for myself, having a chihuahua as a guard dog doesn’t give me much peace.

But Jesus is no chihuahua. Jesus is a guard dog that has grabbed ahold of disease and death and buried it, dead as a bone in the ground on Good Friday. Jesus is a guard dog that has clamped his jaws down on sin and dragged them to the cross. Jesus is a guard dog that has stood up to tragedy and has sent grief running away with its tail between its legs when Jesus walked out of the Easter tomb. Jesus is no chihuahua. When it comes to guarding the precious diamond that you and I are to God, he is a ferocious, snarling, salivating, raging, teeth baring Doberman pincher. A guard dog that brings chills to burglars and robbers, and protective warmth to those over whom he stands watch. And that is why Jesus says that he gives us peace, not as the world gives. For with his watchful presence over us, we need not fear, nor we need not let our hearts be troubled.

‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them,” says Jesus to us today in our Gospel lesson. And he also says, “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

So, today, and every day, as the burglars and thieves of the world creep and crawl around us, trying to steal us away, God tells us that God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have made their home with us and they have place a sign out on our lawns, not BEWARE OF DOG with a yipping chihuahua yapping at the door, but BEWARE OF GOD with Jesus, who is a mighty Doberman pincher, who will let nothing steal you or me away. Not disease or death, not sin or evil, not tragedy or grief. Nothing will he let steal you away.

7Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. “

Jesus is no chihuahua.

Amen

Have a great week.

God's grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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