Bungee Cord 2-15-16

Hello,

     Did you know that if a girl sees a yellow finch on Valentine’s Day that means that she will marry a rich man?

     On my way over the ridge on Sunday mornings I listen to a radio program on NPR called “Sunday Baroque”.  I find it a helpful way to get myself in a worshipful mindset.  Yesterday, as I was listening, the announcer introduces a piece of music by saying that in the Baroque period, it was said that if a girl saw a gold finch on Valentine’s day, that would mean that she would marry a rich man.  The piece that followed was an extension of that saying as it was a piece featuring a piccolo imitating the sound of a gold finch.  I can’t say that I have ever heard the chirping of a gold finch….or if I did I didn’t know the bird from which it came….but the as the piccolo tweeted its tune, I could imagine a gold finch sounding forth on a tree branch.

     So, I got to thinking…..when was the last time that I saw a gold finch in the winter?  As I think about it, I don’t think that I ever have.  I’ve seen plenty of them darting around in our fields when flowers and berries cover the ground, but when the snow blankets the fields covering all the potential eating fare, it seems as though there’s not a gold finch to be found.

     So, if it is true that if a girl spots a gold finch on Valentine’s day, a day in the middle of the winter, that she will marry a rich man, then it is also true that the likelihood of that happening is very remote if not completely nonexistent.

     Empty words of hope.

     When I listen to the voices of the world, I find myself hearing a lot of things that contain as about as much hope as seeing a gold finch in the winter.  “Vote for me and everything will be fixed.”  “Marry me and I will make your life complete.”  “Work here and you’ll never be sorry.”  “Eat this and your health will be secured.”  “Drive this and everyone will want you as a friend.”

     Truth is that much of what the world says does bring some hope…thing is, though, often it cannot deliver the hope that it promises or at least it can only deliver a limited hope.  Although we know this truth in our hearts, I think that it is still true that when the world doesn’t live up to the hope it promises, we find ourselves disappointed and let down.

     That is what the first Christians were told about the hopes they were hearing from the mouth of Jesus.  “He won’t deliver on his word.”  “Don’t trust in Jesus.  The only one you can trust in is yourself.” 

     To those words of the world the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10, “¹¹The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

     Upon what footing did Paul stake these words?  The answer: his encounter with Jesus.  Jesus had, for him, lived up to Jesus’ words.  When Paul’s life was heading for a dead end road, he saw his life opening up with life as he followed Jesus.  When the world came crushing down on him, he discovered that Jesus’ present grace was sufficient to keep from being crushed.  When he found himself  facing things that magnified his weaknesses, he likewise came face to face with the unyielding grip of God on his life.  Paul could say, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” because he – he who names himself a “wretch” -  had called upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord had saved the likes of him.

     I find myself walking in Paul’s shoes.  Before I ever had a mouth to call upon the Lord, Jesus died for me.  Before I had a voice to call upon the Lord, Jesus named me as his.  Every time that I have messed up…be it a minor mess or a massive one…I hear the same words, “You are forgiven.”  Whenever I have worried and worn myself out trying to keep the roof from falling in, I have discovered that when it falls the embrace of Jesus has kept me from being crushed..  It is my encounter with Jesus that has shown me, as it showed Paul, that the world’s warnings were all wrong.

     Jesus hasn’t let me down.  I can count on him….more than I can count on myself.

     And so I do.  I count on Jesus to lead me through this day.  I count on Jesus to lead me through tomorrow.  And I count on Jesus to lead me through the last day of this life.

     That is why I, like the Apostle Paul, say, “Everyone (even the likes of me) who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 2-10-16

Hello,

      I just got back from Key West Florida having been on a mid-winter vacation with my wife.  We decided to go to Key West for no other reason that it is the furthest southern point of the continental United States where we were hoping to find warmer weather and sunnier skies than Southwest Pennsylvania….and we did!

     On our way down and back I heard something in the airplane that I had never heard before.  Every time that we took off, the flight attendant got on the P.A. system and said, “There are two lavatories on this plane.  One in the front and one in the back of the plane.  If you are sitting in the front section (first class…my clarification) you may use the forward lavatory.  If you are seated in the back section (coach…my clarification), please use the lavatory in the back of the plane.  You are not allowed to congregate in the aisle, so please stay in your seat until the lavatory is empty.”

     I don’t do a lot of flying, so maybe I have missed it before, but in previous flights I don’t remember being told which lavatory I was allowed to use…..and for me it was the one in the back of the plane.  Being one who had to use the lavatory, I discovered a dilemma with my relegation to the back lavatory.  I found that I was sharing my lavatory with over twenty rows of travelers with 4 seats per row, while the front lavatory was being shared with 4 rows of travelers with 3 seats per row.  Because of this I found myself responding to the call of nature with multiple glances over my shoulder to see if “my” lavatory was available, and noticing that the other lavatory…which was off limits to me….was going unused.  Me, and my bladder, felt discriminated against.

     But as the hair was rising on the back of my neck, and nature’s call yelling louder from my bladder, there was a still small voice whispering in my head that reminded me of something that I had told the kids at church last week. 

     Every year our church does an Advent and Lenten project, a focused congregational response to the graciousness that God has showered upon us in Jesus.  Buying pigs to send around the world.  Gathering supplies for school packets to send around the world….and this Lent….directing our thankfulness in giving to build latrines throughout the world.  I told the kids, who lead us in these projects, that over 2,500,000,000 people in the world lack proper sanitation and thereby suffer from disease that takes the lives of children and older adults.  So, as a congregation we are seeing how many “Lenten Loo’s” we are going to be able to build around the world at $150.00 per Loo.  In years past, our congregation that is composed of moderate to low income people has gathered together $8,000.00 in our efforts to make a dent of thankfulness during Lent.  If we are able to do likewise this year, we should be able to build over nearly fifty “Lenten Loo’s”.  Many of these “Lenten Loo’s” will be shared by 5-10 homes….and if there are 5 people in each of those homes we will make it possible for 250-500 people to be free of life ending disease.  I know that that is but a drop in the bucket for the 2,500,000,000 people who need a “Lenten Loo”, but for those who we do help it will be far more than just a drop in the bucket!

     So, what does this have to do with my lavatory discrimination that I experienced on my airplanes?

     Well, as I was getting indignant about the fact that I had to share a lavatory with over 80 people compared to the sharing of the lavatory of only 12 people in the first class, it occurred to me that in a world were 2,500,000,000 people don’t have access to a proper lavatory at all, I have multiple “loo’s” in my house in which two people (my wife and I) live.  The snubbery that I felt, I realized, was nothing compared to the snubbery that all of those loo lacking people in the world fill from me.

     It may seem a bit banal for a church to gather funds to build “Lenten Loo’s”, but my indignant bladder in those planes opened my eyes to see just how important this gathering is, for the sake of the world….and for my sake.  For the sake of the world….to rid the world of preventable deaths.  For my sake….to rid me of my snubbery.

     When Lent is over in 40 days, I’ll let you know how many “Lenten Loo’s” First Lutheran Church of Greensburg will be building all around the world.  If, by chance, you would like to be part of this Loo building….just e-mail or message me.

     All of this “Loo” awareness has led to a whole new appreciation for the grace of God that has come to me in something as simple, but as important, as flushing my toilet.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,  (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 2-1-16

Hello,

     Today I heard something that I know wasn’t meant to say what I heard, but when I heard it, I thought, “That’s not right.”

     I was travelling over Chestnut Ridge on my way to work this morning listening to National Public Radio catching up on the news.  One of the news stories was about this virus that is “exploding” in South America that may be linked to babies being born with too small a skull.  As you may know, the governments in the affected areas are advising women not to get pregnant for a while, saying, “No one wants a disabled child.”

     That was it, “No one wants a disabled child.”  That just didn’t sound right in my ears.  I wonder how that was heard by the millions and millions of parents who have a disabled child.  Would they say that they “don’t want” their disabled child?  I know that disabled children and their difficulties can add stress and strain to life, but I also know that disabled children can certainly open a parent’s heart in ways that cannot be measured.

      I suspect that those government officials really meant, “Everyone wants a healthy child,” but maybe the words that they chose unveiled a painful truth that really brings more stress and strain to life, and that is that even healthy isn’t good enough….what people want is a perfect child….which translates into the pressure that the world puts on us, that we need to be perfect.

     There’s an undercurrent of thought that bleeds into our thinking that says if people are perfect, life is smoother.  I know that I feel that undercurrent tugging at me…tugging at me making me fear making a mistake, tugging at me entangling my relationships with stress and strain, tugging at me adding pressure and misdirection to my work.  As I look around, I see it taking root in children who have to go to sports camps in elementary school, undertake specialized tutoring to excentuate their giftedness, and only eat foods that lead to ideal bodies.  It is all done in the name of giving a person a competitive edge in our highly competitive world, but I believe that underneath it all is the message….”You need to be perfect.”

     Thing is, that is a goal that will never be reached.  No one will ever be perfect.  Every one of us will fall short.  Every one of us will mess up.  Every one of us will see in ourselves disablities.

     So, in this world that demands perfection, I am glad that there is a place that does not.  I am glad that there is a place that takes me as I am….that welcomes me with my shortcomings and frailties….that acknowledges that I will never be perfect….that doesn’t just tolerate me in my brokenness, but loves me in it….that doesn’t give up on me when I mess up, but embraces me.  I am glad for that place, and that place is the community of people who bear the name of Jesus Christ, Christians.

     I am glad that there is a place where the door will never be shut on me, no matter how wrecklessly I have messed things up.  I am glad that there is a place that doesn’t kick me in the teeth when I have fallen, but instead lifts me up.  I am glad that there is a place where I am not laughed at and ridiculed for my foolishness.  I am glad that there is a place that seeks to understand my struggles rather than simply think they know what my struggles are like. 

     I am glad that there is a place that is glad to have someone who is disabled…glad to love someone who is disabled…glad to embrace someone who is disabled….because that someone is me.  I am glad that there is a place that doesn’t expect people to be perfect, because I know that I will never be perfect.

     So, if you’re not perfect, know this….there is a place that doesn’t expect you to be….the community of Jesus Christ, the church.  Come and see what it is like to be in a place where “disabled” people are wanted, and through the likes of us “disabled” people, Jesus Christ does amazing things!

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 1-25-16

Hello,

     I have heard many people say that they don’t need Jesus to make it through life, and truthfully, I have to say that they are probably right.

     This past weekend brought a fall of snow upon us Easterners the likes of which many haven’t seen for a long time.  More than 2 feet fell upon the Nuernberger house and hill in Stahlstown, Pa.  Saturday afternoon, as the snow was still coming down, my wife and I decided that there was no time like the present to see if we could make our way out to civilization.

     Those of you who have been to our house know that we live on top of a hill with about a half a mile serpentine lane to and from the main road.  Always having been able to plow ourselves out, we set out with determination to conquer this storm.  Unfortunately, we discovered that the 2 feet of snow was mightier than our tractor and after working for three hours and only making it about a quarter of the way down the hill and the path that we had made was not traversable by car or truck….we surrendered.  I made several calls to people in my congregation to tell them that I was snowbound and would not be able to make it to worship in the morning.  They rallied the troops and prepared to have worship without me.

     So, Sunday morning I got out of bed, participated in worship via the internet with a congregation in Mankato, Minnesota (a place that is used to 2 feet of snow…and I have to say that although I was thankful for the time spent with them over the internet, my belief was supported that it just doesn’t match being at church), and then put on my snow gear to go out and wrestle with the snow again.  As my wife and I worked, she on the tractor and me scooping stone, throwing it under the tires, and digging down into the snow to find the side of the lane…we began to make some progress.  Inching…and I mean inching…our way down our lane.  After about two hours we had reworked our work from Saturday, and had made it about another 50 yards.  We were making progress….and I had great hope that eventually…eventually we would make our way out.

     Then on a glance down the hill I saw a well welcomed sight.  There, making its way up our lane was a plow equipped truck!  It, too, was struggling its way through the snow making runs that would only move the pile a few feet.  But they were making progress…more significant and less laborious progress than we were.  It was our neighbor Ralph who had enlisted one of his neighbors to come and dig us out.  To say that I was thankful is far to mild a word.  Had I not been worn our from my digging and not be standing in two feet of snow, I would have danced with joy.

     So, my wife and I backed our little tractor up the path we had made and watched with delight as Ralph copiloted the plow  widening our bucket-wide effort past us on its way up to our house.  Alleluia!

     The truth is, we probably could have and would have cleared out narrow path from our house to the road without Ralph and his truck driving neighbor….but this is certain: I am very thankful that they arrived and helped us out!

     Can a person make it through life without Jesus?  I am pretty sure that a person can…but I know that when I have found myself plowing through the blizzard of my life, wearingly inching my way through waist high snow, battling the cold wind of the world….I am thankful that there is one whose power and might comes to open a path of forgiveness, hope, and peace for me.  I am thankful …very thankful…that Jesus comes to help me make it through life.  Alleluia!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 1-18-16

Hello,

     I discovered something yesterday.  I am getting older.

     I happened to look through the pictures that are part of my facebook page, a page that I have had for about 10 years, and over the past 10 years the pictures told me, “You are getting older!”  Lesser hair.  Grayer hair.  Fuller cheeks. 

     It is not that I was unaware of the passing of the years, but living with myself day after day, I hadn’t noticed the degree of aging that was happening in my appearance.  Thing is, I don’t feel all that older.  I know that I can’t do all the things that I used to do when I was younger (like run up and down a basketball court for hours or pile up a bunch of firewood and not wake up sore then next day or stay up all night with a bunch of high school kids and not feel exhausted), but I still feel like I approach every day with the vitality that I have always had.  For me, I have tried to look at life as an adventure, and I feel as energetic today as in my younger years to take the adventure on.

     It makes me also think about what my faith looks like now, verses what it looked like when I was younger.  Maybe the same things can be said about my faith as my face.  Lesser hair.  Grayer hair.  Fuller cheeks.

     Lesser hair.  I don’t find myself having to take a comb to my faith as much as I did when I was younger.  It just doesn’t have to be as neat as I used to think it had to be.  I don’t find myself “splitting hairs” as much as I did when I was younger.   I find myself less focused on that which the wind of the world can blow around and more focused on that which the world cannot change, God’s love for me.  My bald spot has grown….my bald spot of grace.

     Grayer hair.  If graying is a sign of waning vitality, I see the graying in my faith.  I don’t mean that my faith is getting weaker….rather I see that the strength of my faith is far less of me and far more of God.  As much as I still seek to hold onto God, I am far more concerned that God is holding tightly onto me.  Over the years of stumbling and tripping I have seen that God has always been there to hold me up and pick me up.  As my faith has aged and grayed, I have found myself more aware of the vitality of the grip of God on me.

     Fuller cheeks.  The lifetime of feasting on the grace of God has made its mark on me.  My faith is not gaunt.  If anything my faith shows the years and years of being well fed with God’s mercy and grace.  Even though on my side of my relationship with God, I may have been stingy at times, God has never been stingy.  Always feasting me with forgiveness…always refilling my empty cup with hope…always serving up a desert of love that is sweet and irresistible.

     Indeed, I have aged…and that’s ok.  I think I would go as far as to say that my aging is a good thing.  I know that my aging facebook pictures portray the many things for which I am thankful in this adventure of life, and I know that my aging faith-book pictures portray the many things for which I am thankful to God as God has shared this adventure with me.

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 1-11-16

Hello….this week’s Bungee Cord is an adventure into new technology for me….but I think that it works.  Just copy and paste the following internet address, and it should take you there!

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=987358824654657

Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 1-4-16

Hello,

A little over a week ago I joined the ranks of the C-papper’s. 

For years, I have snored with a rumble that can be heard as far away as Australia (at least that is my wife’s conviction), apparently accompanied by multiple episodes of breathless gasping (also according to my wife).  So, with my doctor’s recommendation in my hand I went through a sleep study process…..which I failed.  I failed all the sleep questions that the doctor asked of me (“Wow, you’re really sleepy!”), and I failed the adventure of trying to sleep with 45 wires attached to my legs, torso, arms, and head.

The solution to my failure?  A C-PAP machine.  I suspect that many of you know of these devices.  They are small air pressure machines that force air into one’s nose while sleeping to keep the airway open.  Having seen them on other people, I was not looking forward to joining the C-PAP ranks.  The thought of trying to sleep with a flight mask attached to my face, tethered by a hose to a reverse vacuum machine did not seem to be the kind of sleeping attire that I would find helpful to a restful night’s repose.

My doctor assured me otherwise, but I am sure that he knew I didn’t believe him.  The technician who gave me my machine and instructed me on its use, likewise otherwise assured me, and she could clearly see my unbridled skepticism.  She said, “When you put the mask on, just say to yourself, ‘I am going to have a wonderful night’s sleep.’”

Right.

So, I brought my C-PAP home and set it on the night-stand and prepared for my maiden voyage into tethered/pressurized slumber.  I have to say that the experience was not as miserable as I had anticipated, but the hose and the mask were less than cuddlesome.  The second night was better…the third better yet…and well….now with a week an a half under my belt, I have to admit that my C-PAP is serving me well.  No more snoring, and no more breathless gasping.  Yesterday, I have to confess that I even awoke with energy that I haven’t felt for years.  It’s not that the mask and hose have become like snuggly teddy bears to me, but I have gotten used to them.  The 4-6 hours of tethered pressure is actually making my life better.

I don’t know how many of you Bungee Cord readers are weekly church attenders, but I hear more and more often people saying that they don’t like to have themselves tethered to a church.  They say that they don’t want the message forced upon them.  They would rather discover it themselves.  And truthfully, the way that some churches talk and act, it does seem like attending them and being part of them is akin to the tethered torture of a sleep study, wired from head to toe, monitored, and judged.  It does seem like to enter them is to enter a pressure chamber where rules and doctrines are constricting your lungs.

I hope that when people come to the church at which I am a pastor (and I am sure that there are many others of like mind), that what they fear is not what they encounter.  I hope that they discover, as I did with my C-PAP machine, that the breath of the Holy Spirit that blows inside is gentle and air-passage opening.  I hope that they find it to be just enough force to unclog all the guilt, failure, pain, and fear that comes from breathing the air of the world.  I hope that they find it just enough force to relieve them of the rumbling snoring that agitates all those around them.  I hope that they find the 1-2 hours a week of tether to the church to actually enliven them and make their lives better.

I have decided that it is a good thing to be tethered to my C-PAP machine when I sleep, and so I am going to commit myself to doing so.  I have personally experienced that it is a good thing to be tethered to my church, that is why I am committed to weekly worship.  Let me invite you to be likewise tethered.  The first, second and third times may be less productive than you might have hoped….but soon I believe that you will find it something that you are used to…and maybe even something that you enjoy.  You might even find Jesus to be far more closer to a snugly teddy bear than a bothersome hose and mask.  But of this I am certain, it is not Jesus’ intent to tether you to himself and the church (which he refers to as his body) in such a way to torment you in a lifelong sleep study.  Jesus said himself that he came to give life…to enliven….in a far fuller way than my C-PAP machine.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger