The Bungee Cord. 6-27-23

Hello,

I found this cartoon recently on my Facebook feed, and when I saw it, I didn’t laugh. Rather, I said to myself, “There’s a problem with this cartoon.”

And the problem is this: why don’t the people want to hear what God has said?

What has God said? The Bible says that if you want to hear God clearly, listen to Jesus, who is the living Word of God (John 1). And on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17), after showing the disciples that all the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament ) was wrapped up in Jesus, God said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved;* with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’.

Consider what Jesus said:

• 28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11)

• 11 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10)

• ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ (Luke 23)

• And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news* to the whole creation. (Mark 16)

• When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ (Mark 2)

• To the woman of ill repute Jesus said, “48 ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ (Luke 7)

• I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10)

All these things seem pretty life giving to me. All these things seem to provide a solid hope to build a life on. All these things seem to powerful words of amazing grace. All these things seem to be magnetic to me. So, if these are the things that God has said, why aren’t people filling churches to hear them?

In my view, at least part of the answer is this: these words of God are not being spoken in church. For some reason, people have come to believe that words of judgment and condemnation are the words heard in church. You know….you shouldn’t do this….you had better start doing that…of course, there’s no one on the crime log in the paper here today (I heard that on a radio broadcast of a worship service)…and, if you are not giving until it hurts, you are not giving enough.

And because these are the sort of things that people think are to be heard in church, people do flock to churches that tell them that they are right, and everyone else is wrong. Churches that are quick to point out other people’s sins but say little about their own. Churches who provide simple answers (usually answers that are within one’s reach) to very complex situations.

I started this Bungee Cord nearly 30 years ago, because I wanted to reach the ears of people who, I believe, had a misguided impression of what Christianity, and the church, is all about; the impression that the cartoon pictures. I wanted to bring what Jesus says to those who are being crushed by the world’s pressure to be something. I wanted to bring what Jesus says to those who the world says are forever stained by their deeds. I wanted to bring what Jesus says to those who are caught up in the complexities of life. I wanted to bring what Jesus says to those who are lost in darkness and hopelessness. I wanted to bring the unconditional love of God, which is grace, and which I believe magnetically draws people to God and to one another, and which is what Christianity, and the church is all about.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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