The Bungee Cord

Hello,

This past Saturday, I went to see the Fighting Illini basketball team beat Penn State. Oskeewowow!

But I almost missed it.

My fellow college friend from my days at the University of Illinois, Mark Hoffman, lives in the Gettysburg area, and we zoom at halftime of basketball and football games to either prepare ourselves for a second half let-down, or a rousing victory. Earlier this fall I checked the Illinois baskeball schedule and saw that we (Illinois!) were playing Penn State on Jan. 3, an away game for us. We decided that we should break out our orange and blue and go to the game. So, I bought tickets and reserved a Hotel at State College, Pennsylvania.

Last week at the half-time of our football victory (Oskeewowow!) we finalized our plans to meet at State College at the hotel around 4 in the afternoon, eat, and then go to the game. Later that night at 11:00 or so, I got a text from Mark, “THE GAME IS IN PHILADEPLPIA!” He had heard some comment on a sports broadcast that mentioned in passing that the Illinois/Penn State baskeball game was going to be played at a legendary arena in Philadelphia!

So, I got my computer out and looked up the Illinois schedule and it said, “ILLINOIS AT PENN STATE”, and then I noticed in very small letters in the neighboring column, “To be played at the Palestra in Philadelphia”. So, when I woke up in the morning, I called my friend and discovered we were able to change our plans, and that I would instead drive to his house and go to Philly from there, and come back to his house late at night after the game. And that is what happened.

Good thing that he found out that the venue was not at Penn State, as we had expected. Otherwise, we would have found ourselves at Penn State, banging on the door of the arena wondering where everyone was, and we would have missed the thrill and the wonder of going to see the Illini play.

My near miss basketball experience got me to thinking about how often this sort of thing happens, and unlike me with the Illini, we find ourselves in the wrong place and missing what we had hoped to be part of.

When Sunday morning comes the schedule that the world prints in all capital letters that this is a time for peace, renewal, family relationship building, enjoyment, and relaxation…..and in big letters it says that the venue for these things are in a Lazy-boy chair drinking a couple of cups of coffee, under warm covers where you can enjoy a few extra winks and casually read a good book, or gather around a table with the family over a hearty brunch, or getting ready for having people over to watch the Steelers (what a slippery win it was last night for them!), or just flying by the seat of your pants with nothing planned….and it is true that a degree of what each venue promised might be found there…much like a degree of what we had hoped to find at the Penn State arena if we had gotten and discovered an intramural basketball game going on….the fact of the matter is that all those things that we hope to experience on Sunday morning are really being played out in a different place: at church.

Yes….at church! If you look closely at the schedule that the world puts in front of you every Sunday morning, you’ll see in the neighboring column announcing the day’s events, “To be played out in church”. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will be enveloped in a peace that passes all human understanding as you gather to be caught up in praise to God who incredibly unconditionally loves you. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will be blanketed by the love of those around you as the unparallelled page turner of grace is read amongst you. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will gather around an eternal family at the Lord’s table and be fed a heal that will transform your heart. Every Sunday at the legendary arena of the church you will be part of a victory celebration that would make a Steelers Super Bowl championship seem less thrilling than the pop of a snap gun. And every Sunday morning at the legendary arena of the church you can find yourself raised up as on eagle’s wings as God holds you in the palm of his hand.

Like my friend’s 11:00 p.m. text, although the world may direct you elsewhere, I am sending you this Bungee Cord to tell you that the game that you are wanting to experience will actually be played at church this Sunday! Alleluia!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger