The Bungee Cord. 9-29-25

Hello,

It is good to have a dog, because my dog is constantly reminding me of things that I too often forget.

Our family has almost always had a dog. One of the foremost reasons has been that as a Pastor I am often gone in the evenings, and we want to have something that barks when people come to our house, especially now as we live out in the country. Even though none of our dogs would truly ward off any unwanted visitors, just the barking has brought some security to our souls.

Our last two dogs have been Gordon Setters. They are bird hunting dogs, but as I don’t hunt, I just like the way they look and their personalities, so they have been merely pets to me. Our current dog, McMahon, is nine years old, and we have had him since he was eight weeks old. As Gordon Setters are known to be, he is a bit stubborn, but he is a great companion. He likes to snuggle and hang around with us in the same room.

But herein lies what McMahon is constantly reminding me. Life is good when he has a ball to play with, food in his bowl twice a day, a rawhide chew after his meal, and someone to scratch behind his ears. The little things are what makes his life. The stress of the world does not bear down on his shoulders. Unknown worries do not worry him. Every day is a new day, and he never questions his trust in us.

Of course, a dog’s world is a much simpler world than the human world. Yet, the world of humans can, and does, become much more cumbersome than it has to be. Humans find themselves concerned about status and influence. Humans find themselves lured to comfort and technology. Humans find themselves engulfed in matters far beyond one’s backyard.

McMahon, by the wag of his tail when I mention the word “ball” or “eat”, cuts through the pressures that I carry on my shoulders, and I suddenly see the simple things in life that are life’s foundation. A roof over my head, relationships of love, food on my table, and things like pickleball that make me smile. And maybe even more important, McMahon reminds me that I have someone that I can unquestionably trust, the Lord; someone whose love for me far extends my love for McMahon (I wouldn’t die for him), and someone whose wisdom far exceeds mine.

McMahon turns my mind on to one of the scriptures passages that Kate and I had read art our wedding, now 44 years ago, “22 Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[d] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[e] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Luke 12)

Thank you, McMahon, for keeping my eyes open to the grace of God.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 9-22-25

Hello,

Maybe you have heard of a judge named Frank Caprio. He was a municipal court judge in Providence, Rhode Island. He gained his fame through televised court sessions that involved relatively small crimes: parking tickets, traffic violations and the like. I ran into his court proceedings on Facebook. He was soft spoken, gentle, and a careful listener. He treated people with respect and showed a soft heart to people who were struggling just to keep their heads above water having grown up in such a household. He didn’t reward laziness or manipulation, but instead rewarded honesty, diligence, and perseverance. He even had a fund, named in honor of his mother, that would pay fines owed by folks who had fallen on hard times.

Judge Caprio died recently from cancer, and at his death it was said of him that he believed, “Mercy can lift a life higher than punishment ever could.” I am not certain from where Judge Caprio developed that belief, but I, who share that belief know where I have developed it: from Jesus the Christ. Though I certainly deserve my “temporal and eternal punishment” (words that I confessed every Sunday in the worship service as I grew up), God has chosen to show me mercy and forgiveness. Because of that, the pain that I have caused myself, others, and even God does not hold me in its grip, squeezing the life right out of me until I yell, “Uncle!” Instead, God took all the pain that I and the world could muster and squeezed the breath right out of it so it could no longer stake its claim on me, or anyone. Punishment may have limited power to hold people in line, and vengeance might serve to balance the scale of pain in people’s lives, but neither one of those things can do anything to lift people out of their pain. It is mercy, like a rescuer reaching into a deep well into which you have fallen, has the power to raise a person up from the holes we fall into in life, and the hole which we will be placed into in death.

When I was in my late 20’s and early 30’s, I was a pastor in an “inner city” church. Due to its location on a major thoroughfare in an economically struggling neighborhood, there was a regular traffic pattern of people knocking on the church door in search of help. Believing as I do, that mercy has the power to lift people up, I found myself the target of many who would come asking for “the young pastor”. I soon discovered that my “mercy” was being misappropriated. I, like them, became much more streetwise and realized my “help” wasn’t really helping them.

So, I took it upon myself to find places that could help them, for example, community food shelves and homeless shelters so I could refer them there, and I decided that I would treat them the way that I have been treated by God, with dignity and respect. I sat down with them and listened to their stories, even though I knew that their stories were often filled with deceit. (Such is the case with my stories I speak to God.). I didn’t try and decipher out the truth in their stories, but rather truthfully empathized with what I heard. Although I am sure that some of the storytellers thought me to be a naïve fool, it was my hope that they experienced in me a depth of care for them that comes from Jesus Christ, the source of my care.

I don’t know what became of almost all of those with whom I sat down and listened, but it is my hope that maybe for that brief moment they found themselves lifted by Christ’s love, a love that died and rose for them.

“ Mercy can lift a life higher than punishment ever could,” Judge Frank Caprio….and Jesus Christ.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 9-18-25

Hello,

I am writing an unusually timed Bungee Cord for two reasons. First, I have come down with Covid and have a lot of time on my hands, and secondly, in all this extra time, I have been seeing internet comments from some people who see the Christian faith in quite a different way than I do. So, with all my extra time, I thought I would try to use it productively with a Bungee Cord.

I have seen a goodly number of people who either speak of their own Christian faith, or comment on the Christian faith that they see, as holding to Biblical values. In one case, an antagonistic person of the faith, said something to the effect that the Christian god approves of slavery, because the Bible supports the practice of slavery. This is, of course, literally true. Both the New and Old Testaments contain many passages that acknowledge the practice of slavery. Although I am not an expert on American history, I believe that there were those before, and even after, the Civil war that used such Biblical passages to support the practice of slavery.

To such use of Biblical passages, I, and a whole lot of Christians, say that to abide by such passages does not follow Biblical values, but instead values of Biblical times. To me, the Bible is a timeless witness of the Word of God, that was specifically addressing the times in which it was written. To me, the Biblical values are what lies under the specific concerns addressed.

It is these values, when we dig into the Bible, that help us live with Biblical values, and not the values of Biblical times. The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). It has taken humans a long time for this shovel of truth to dig into the world to bring us to see how that love effects long held human practices, like slavery. As we have uncovered this Biblical truth, it is clear to me that the Christian God does not stand behind the practice of slavery.

Clearly, the Bible does not depict the years of Jesus’ life, nor any other times in Scripture as the “Golden Years”, those are yet to come when years are no longer measured. Therefore, the task that a whole bunch of Christian folks try to understand is how to speak God’s Word, full of infinite values, to the finite and time marked world in which we live. I believe it is not an easy or a certain task. For one, I am a human whose being is blurred by sinfulness. Secondly, our world today, is a far different world from Biblical days. Biblical people knew nothing of atoms and sub-atoms. For them, the earth was the center of all things, so convinced were they that when Galileo proposed something different, he was “he was condemned by the Inquisition in 1633, forced to recant his heliocentric views, and placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life”. (google search) And now, as we find ourselves stepping into, or being pushed into, a world that is pulsed by AI, we have an entirely unimagined future in which we, who bear Christ’s name, seek to apply the infinite values of God which have been incarnated in Jesus to our world today.

This may be a more heady Bungee Cord than usual, but as I have spent these days of forced isolation listening to what some say the Christian God asserts, I wanted to tell those of you who seek to live with Biblical values, and not the values of Biblical times, that there is a large place for you amongst those who name themselves Christian. Such places are in the pews and on the Communion rails of many churches. I invite you to sit with me on the lap of God as I seek to hear God’s grace and mercy, divine values, shape and mold my life and yours in this ever changing time.

Have a great half/week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 9-15-25

Hello,

God knows something that we humans have a hard time learning, and that is telling someone to be nice never works, and least not when it is most important. Rules and guidance are good because they provide structure and boundaries, but in the end, they fall prey to the natural deeds and drives that are part of our human composition.

“Be nice,” works pretty well until someone starts spreading an ugly rumor about you and you find yourself lost and abandoned. “Be nice,” works pretty well until someone comes after your job, gets it, and you are left without an income. “Be nice,” works pretty well until a spouse upon getting a divorce wants to move far away with your children. “Be nice,” works pretty well until you find yourself in desperation and hopelessness.

Over the course of these summer months, we’ve seen how being told to “Be nice” has gaping holes and fissures in it. We’ve seen how those deep-seated ways of responding break through the rules and guidance. Neighbors shoot neighbors that they have severe disagreements with. Vandalism erupts after a perceived injustice takes place. Classrooms become warzones from someone who grievances senselessly erupt like a dormant volcano. Nations take up arms against nations.

To many, it seems that Christianity is nothing more than a blowhorn shouting into the world, “Be nice.” However, as I read the Bible, that is not what I hear God, in Jesus, doing. When Jesus hung on the cross, there is no record of him saying, “Be nice.” No, the Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, he did so to gather all people unto himself to change them….to change them from being driven by what the Bible calls “the flesh” to be people driven by “the Spirit.”….from being people of the world to be people of God. As the Bible says, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” (2 Cor 5:17)

The problem with saying, “Be nice,” is the same problem you or I would have in telling an elephant to walk softly, to be like a cat. The problem is, of course, that an elephant is not a cat, no matter how hard it might try to be one. To tell someone to “Be nice,” is to tell that one to act in a way that is not instinctual to them. As long as things are going well, “Be nice,” works, but when things are falling apart the “elephant” in us takes over.

So, I don’t think that Jesus would have us hear, “Be nice.” I think that Jesus would have us hear, “Be you.” And who are you? You are a child of God. Jesus died and rose to make you one, and as a child of God, there are a whole new set of instincts that come from your transformed self. Being part of a Christian congregation is really exploring and developing your new self. Much akin to an elephant, who no longer is an elephant, but now a cat learning how and experiencing how to live anew.

I am not saying that to tell someone to “Be nice” is the wrong thing to do. What I am saying is that in telling someone to “be you”… “you are a child of God”…. has a far greater likelihood of producing what the world needs, nice people.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord - 9-8-25

Hello,

I was watching the national news tonight, and there was a story about a couple of government officials who got into an argument before a dinner over loyalty, which in and of itself doesn’t seem out of place. But what seemed out of place to me was that the argument grew into shouting, name calling, and threats of “punching you in the face.” Further, someone stepped in between the arguers and told them to take their argument outside. That is when my sense of inappropriateness exploded, because one on of the commentators on the news channel said that such a course of events was what “men do”. He said something to the effect of, “What man wouldn’t take someone who was disloyal outside and settle the dispute with a physical fight.”

If I would have had a direct line into that news program, I would have called in to say that I know a bunch of men who do not solve their intense feelings with physical force. I am one of them, and might I be so bold to say that I am such a one because my life is being shaped and molded by Jesus, the Son of God, who likewise did not settle his arguments of disloyalty by “punching you in the face”.

I know that not a week goes by that I don’t walk into church legitimately accused of being disloyal to Jesus, who by his identity and the Son of God and by his death on the cross for me deserves my complete and faultless loyalty. And yet, when I enter the church I am not told to go back outside where Jesus will pound the disloyalty out of me, but instead I am warmly welcomed into God’s presence, and I am even invited to dine at his table. You see, Jesus doesn’t deal with my disloyalty by taking things outside and “punching me in the face”, instead Jesus wraps his arms around me and says with the power of forgiveness, “I love you.” Jesus doesn’t take things outside and settles things, Jesus in his Supper communes with me, he takes things inside of me and embodies his absolute loyalty to me.

I have been a pastor long enough to have experienced some heated disagreements among parishioners. Sometimes those arguments devolve into shouting and name calling. Sometimes those arguments involve pushing in shoving (although I have never witnessed such, myself). And sometimes, I have heard, that those arguments have become physical in the parking lot. But when these sort of things happen, I say to myself and to those who are involved in such conduct, “That is not what we are about in here!” Such actions are the result of the world’s impact on us, not Jesus’ impact on us.

Following the path of Jesus, I have always tried to have people settle their differences in face to face encounters, with honesty and humility, with confession and forgiveness, and with love and care. Not only do I believe that such a way of dealing with disputes is what Jesus is leading us to do, I believe that doing so accomplishes far more than “punching you in the face.”

So, if you are tired of living in a world where deep and small disagreements are dealt with shouting, name calling, and “punching you in the face”, let me invite you to a world where your failures, your disloyalties, your recklessness, and your painful actions are dealt with by one who loves you with the depth of his own life, one that will embrace you even when you have taken a bath in a cesspool, and one whose loyalty to you is unwavering….the world that gathers in church every Sunday….a world where men and women are being shaped by that one….Jesus, the Son of God.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 9-1-25

Hello,

Is evil winning?

I remember running across Robbin’s park to go to school every morning as a child, 60+ years ago. I remember riding around town on my bicycle all day long. I remember playing pickup games of football, baseball, and basketball for hours on end. I remember flying kites and untangling string. I remember going to church and Sunday school and singing the liturgy by heart. I remember toting my red wagon around the neighborhood, knocking on doors and selling bags of tomatoes, beans, and carrots from the garden in my back yard.

But now, parents escort their kids to school and wait with them as the bus comes to pick them up. The radius of wandering for kids has become smaller and smaller and smaller. The pressure for perfection has pressed down on kids’ athletics so that organized sports have left out lots of kids and pick-up fun has been diminished. Simple things no longer are fun. Sunday morning has been swallowed up by things driven by money. No one knocks on an unknown neighbor’s door for fear of what might the answer bring.

And that’s to say nothing about wars that are killing thousands of people every day, and a lot of them children and elderly. Nothing about the suspicion of scams that comes with every unknown email. Nothing about school shootings and monthly practice to be ready for one. Nothing about the legitimacy given to crass names being volleyed in public discourse. Nothing to say about the callous treatment of “little people” by companies that are beholding to their bottom line.

Is evil winning?

No.

Even after listing all the things that seem to say that evil is gaining the upper hand, still my assessment is “no”. What I see happening is that evil is determined not to go down without a fight. Truth is, evil has always put up a pretty good fight. As idyllic as my childhood memories are, evil was still throwing punches when I was a kid: Viet Nam war, Chicago riots, John Kenedy, Robert Kenedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr were assassinated, drugs were on the rampage, racism was flourishing……..evil has always been a tough opponent.

Evil may be a valiant fighter, but it will never win because it has already lost. When Jesus, the Son of God, went to the cross, he gathered up unto himself all the evil in all of creation. Evil had somehow squirmed its way into God’s handiwork, and so God has taken it upon himself to get rid of evil’s infestation. When Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross and yelled, “It is finished!”, evil’s fight was finished…knocked out…floundering…unable to get back on its feet. And although it may seem as time clicks on that evil still is throwing upper cuts and jabs, the truth is that in the timelessness of God’s eternal reign and love the bell has already rung. On Easter Sunday morning, the only thing that walked out of that Good Friday tomb was Jesus, and now it is ours to live in Jesus’ victory embrace, and living in the wake of Jesus victory, we can hear Jesus say to evil as it tries to raise its ugly head, “Hit me with your best shot…..Loser!”

And as evil, who like a 100 pound fool standing in the ring with Mohamed Ali, takes aim at you and me, Jesus steps in between evil and us and says, “You can’t have this one. This one is mine!”

When Jesus says, “Do not fear,” he has good reason to tell us that, and the best reason of all is that God Almighty loves us, and God will not let anything or anyone take us away from him. God, not evil, has already won!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 8-25-25

Hello,

Every Tuesday, I go to visit my wife’s cousin’s husband who is in a nursing home. He’s a couple of years older than I am and he is dealing with a severely debilitating disease. As it goes with such diseases, he gets progressively worse with each of my visits. My hope is to let him know that he is not alone in his struggles and to brighten his day. About a month or so ago, as I was going through the maze of hallways to get to his room, I passed a young man, I’d say in his twenties. The reason I mention this encounter is that this young man had several tattoos on his face. One was surrounding his right eye, another was on his cheek, and the third was near his chin. He didn’t seem like he was visiting anyone, and he was dressed “business casual”, so I assumed that he was an employee….probably a kitchen attendant, I supposed. After all, someone with tattoos on their face surely was not suited for public work. Over the next several weeks, I still saw him there.

A couple of Tuesdays ago, when I knocked on my wife’s cousin’s husband’s door, there was no answer. So, I walked in and shouted, calling his name to see if he was there. Nope. The room was empty. I decided to try and hunt him down. Not in the dining room. Not in the activities room. Not in the exercise room….but wait, when I stuck my head in the exercise room, there he was, the young man with the tattoos….calmly and encouragingly leading chair exercises with the residents. He saw me peek in and with as polite a voice I could imagine, he said to me, “Are you looking for someone?”

I told him that I was looking for my wife’s cousin’s husband, naming him, and he, knowing who my wife’s cousin’s husband was said, “Sorry, but he’s not here.”

Immediately, a surge of self-disappointment ran through my veins. “How could I have been so quick to negatively judge that young man?” He was obviously some sort of occupational or physical therapist who had devoted himself to care for these folks who so often are forgotten. Honorable.

This event underscored to me something that I say to people who wonder how people who go to church can be so hurtful to others: “The church is not a bunch of holy angels but sinners who are in need of forgiveness, including me.” Including me.

For me, I go to church every Sunday, not because I am holy, but because Jesus has promised that when two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus is in the midst of them. And more than that, Jesus has promised to work his transforming love on me so that I might more clearly reflect Jesus’ love and mercy in my life, and see the blessing that people are beneath their skin.

No matter what the world thinks of you, know that there is a place for you in church. Completely holy people are found in heaven. People whose lives are entwined by sin are found in church, and the good news is that Jesus is like a master gardener with a pruning clipper in his hands, ready to snip those twines off of you and set you free to be loved and love others. Life is a lot better, for everyone including me, when Jesus has set to work on those twines!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 8-18025

Hello,

Many more years ago than it seems, I graduated from college with a BS in Psychology. After taking one of the courses, my professor, in my junior year, asked me if I would be willing to TA (teaching assistant) for the same course for the next year. It was an honor I gladly welcomed. During my college years, I had decided to be a pastor which necessitated four years of seminary education after college graduation. The application process required many things: taking the GRE, writing numerous essays, providing my college records, and getting several recommendations. One of the recommendations that was required was one from a professor from the college I had attended.

Believing the professor that new me best and would give me the best recommendation, I asked that psychology professor if he would be willing to write one for me. When I asked him, I was taken a bit by surprise, because he hesitated. After pausing a bit, he said to me, “I will be glad to give a recommendation for you, but I believe that you could help the world out far more if you pursued an advanced degree in Psychology.”

Those words must have sunk deep into my heart, because I still remember them nearly 46 years later. And now, as a retired pastor 42 years later, I wonder if he was right? There are certainly many people in our secular world who would agree with him. It is a world that either doesn’t believe in a divine presence or lives as if there is not one. That which motivates their lives is not a relationship with a god based upon thankfulness to that god. Even in Biblical times, Paul, one of the writers of the books in the New Testament wrote that he was deemed “a fool”.

Maybe there are those who would dub me a fool, too, and maybe I am, because when one is embraced by unconditional love one does what the world sees as foolish things. It happens when people fall in love. They give up their jobs. They move to new places. They trust one another with uncompromised certainty. One of my seminary professors said that it bears noting that we commonly say that we “fall” into love, and we who have fallen know the uncontrollable condition of falling.

I have come to see that my falling began when the waters of Baptism splashed over me and I was drenched in the love of God….the love of God so zealous for me that he would send his son to make me his own…the love of God so unconditional for me that God would not let anything, or anyone (including my rebellious self) steal me away from him….the love of God so deep that God has determined to love me not only for this lifetime, but forever. Living in that love I find myself graced with a “peace that surpasses all human understanding”, a light that reaches into my darkness, a hope that no burden can crush, a heart that sees the God-given value of each person, a rock on which I can stand when the world trembles.

I went to seminary to be a pastor because I wanted to be someone who spreads that kind of love, like peanut butter on bread, all over the world. You don’t have to be a pastor to do that, psychologists can do that, too, but I sensed that God had given me the faith, skills, and the drive to be one who so focusses on the “spreading of peanut butter” so that I might help others, including psychologists, “spread peanut butter”, too.

I am certain that I could have brought a lot of good to the world if I had pursued an advanced degree in psychology, but as I look at what a lot of people are trying to spread all over the world, I believe that when my days are done I will stand before this God who loves me and the world with amazing grace, and I will hear God say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger