The Bungee Cord 11-3-25

Hello,

One of the most helpful parts of Scripture that I find when it comes to understanding the life of the Christian faith is Romans 6. At the end of chapter five, the Apostle Paul, who wrote Romans, says that God addresses every sin with God’s grace. Then as he begins the sixth chapter he asks, “Well, if grace is a good thing, maybe we should sin all the more so that we can receive more grace from God.”

And to that somewhat “creative” way of thinking, Paul says, “How can we who have died to sin continue to live in it?” Then Paul goes on to say that when God takes ahold of us, God doesn’t just refurbish our broken selves, instead God makes us into something new. Paul said it this way in 2 Cor. 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!”

I begin this Bungee Cord with this short Bible study because it has led me to be a little more careful with my words when it comes to living the Christian faith. I hear many Christian folk speak of being “called” to do something, and there is certainly truth in their words. Pastors in my tradition often speak of their “calling” to be a pastor. As a matter of fact, the word “vocation” comes from the Latin word that means “calling”. Jesus gathered his disciples by “calling out” to them, “Follow me.” And so, when Christians say that we, as Christians, are called to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, care for the sick, cloth the naked and visit the imprisoned (Matthew 25), there is truth to their words.

But as I consider Romans 6, I think there is a deeper truth behind the Christian faith, and that is to say that we whom God has gotten ahold of are “made” to do what Jesus says the Christian life is meant to be. In my way of thinking, when one is “called”, one can ignore that specific calling and follow some other calling voice, but when one is “made” in a certain way, if one acts in such a way that one is not made, life is clumsy, if not painful, at best. So, although we might be born as creatures consumed with ourselves (some theologians say that is the crux of sin), and we all are, when God gets ahold of us in Christ, we are reborn, new creatures filled with the self-giving love of God. We are more than “called” to live lives of self-giving, we are “made” to do so.

When I understand my Christian life, I see God as a divine mechanical engineer. Just as mechanical engineers design things to do a specific task, just so, God has done so with you and me as Christ has taken hold of our lives. As I look at this world that is so full of hatred, violence and fear, and I wonder if there is anything that I can do about it, I find myself hopeful rather than helpless. I am hopeful because Scripture tells me that God, the divine mechanical engineer, has designed and made me to do something about the deadly mess we find ourselves in. God has made me, as St. Francis penned in his prayer (Google it!) a channel of God’s peace, and since I am God’s handiwork, I have the confidence that God has made me with his best. I am no antique wash board that cannot meet the challenges of today, instead I am a high-tech, divinely powered industrial washing machine of God’s grace….and so are you!

So, join with me and be of good courage as you and I face this world that stains all people with hatred, fear, and violence (just to name a few), because in Christ, God has made (not just called) us to be brand new instruments of God’s cleansing grace….”scrubbing bubbles” of grace!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger