Bungee Cord 4-19-20

The Bungee Cord 4-20-20

Hello,

One of the challenges of living in this time of shut-down is keeping track of time. The normal routines are gone, and the days sort of blend into each other. With that said, I think that we, here in Pennsylvania, are in the 5th week of our shutdown. 

Five weeks, and counting, of keeping apart from each other, not seeing friends or relatives, not following our favorite sports teams, not walking the halls of our schools, spending more time than usual with siblings, and virtually gathering for worship. Although these weeks have been really difficult in some ways….lack of income, isolating loneliness, and looming fear. It hasn’t been all bad. Some families have spent some great times together. They have even eaten together. The air is cleaner. The things of lesser importance that have consumed our lives have been revealed for what they really are: lesser important. And maybe the best thing of all is that if you are a member of my congregation, with this virtual worship you can just turn me off if I am boring, or you can fall asleep in my sermon without me noticing. For five weeks, this virus has taken hold of our world and our lives.

But it is not only the fifth week of the shut-down, it is also the second week of Easter. Two weeks ago we re-marked the day when the Son of God left a stone sealed tomb. This one man who had hung on a cross and died….who had been taken from that cross and wrapped in grave clothes…whose body lay lifeless since Friday afternoon…on whom the decay of death had begun its feast…………..this one man on Sunday morning was breathed back into life by God. And when this one man, Jesus, stepped out of that tomb, unlike others who may have brought back to life who would one day be tripped up by death again, each step that Jesus took was accompanied by the crackling sound of dead death being crushed. When this one man broke out of that tomb, a viral infection of God’s grace and power began with a hunger to infect the world. And the devastation that this divine infection would cause….the devastation of death, and the proliferation of everlasting life.

This is the second week of Easter! For two weeks, and counting, this year we find ourselves being drawn together in the outstretched embrace of God’s love, seeing all people as Christ blood relatives, cheering on victory after victory over hatred and evil, gathering with brothers and sisters in a mutual blessing of peace, and joining the celebration in heaven that happens when the Good Shepherd comes running back with a sheep that was lost but is now found!

It may be true that one small corona virus has broken loose, and ignited a raging fire that is violently burning throughout the world, shutting life down, and we are in the 5th week of that shut down. But it is equally true that one small man, one who also embodied the fulness of God, has also broken loose in this world and ignited a raging fire burning throughout the world, opening up life, and we are in the 2nd week of that explosion of life that has been exploding for centuries. This is the second week of Easter!

Interestingly, it is challenging to live in these Easter days. It is a challenge to keep track of time, of Easter time, because the world is always calling into our memory all of the other times that we live in….all the other things that are trying to take hold of our lives (a virus, a failure, a sin, a betrayal, a loss of a job, a death of a loved one, a dream that has popped……). So, today, as you read this Bungee Cord and you find yourself in whatever week that the things of this world has imposed upon you, let me remind you of the week that you are living in that God has brought to you…God, whose powerful love for you outshines the shadows of the world….THIS IS THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord  4-27-20

Hello,

     As I have lived my life these nearly 63 years, over and over again, I have learned that the grip that God has on me is of far more importance than the grip that I have on God.

     I don’t know if it is a universal experience, but when I have found myself hiking in high places and my path brings me to a towering cliff, I can feel my heart speed up, my knees begin to wobble, and my anxiety gathering steam.  As I approach it, my steps are far more cautious and short.  I find myself looking for something to hold onto, and if I get the courage to make it to the edge and look down, dizziness invades my stature, and I feel a strong desire to get down on my hands and knees if I am going to glance downward over the cliff.  I tend to avoid such cliff bound paths.

     I am thankful, therefore, that for much of life’s trek that I have walked, it has not been along a narrow, cliff sided path.  My health has been pretty good, my refrigerator has always been adequately full, my closest relationships have been a blessing. As far as life goes, I am thankful that most of the time I am far away from the cliff’s edge.

     Maybe that is one of the reasons that these last couple of covid19 months have been a bit unsettling for me….and maybe for you. This is a time when we are all finding ourselves on a cliff sided road.  Truthfully, I see myself quite a ways from the edge of the cliff (the deathly danger of this virus is still a bit distant for me), but one cannot hardly take a step in life without having our eyes turned toward that cliff, always being reminded that it is there.  Fact is, that cliff is always there, it is just that for most of us we live our lives looking in other directions.

     There are others, however, who are far more accustomed to walking at cliff’s edge, maybe you are one of them.  And as I have come to know these folks, I have learned something very important from them: the grip that God has on me is of far more importance than the grip that I have on God.  

     A man in one of my previous congregations was very actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, and as I got to know him, I got to know the truth of the superior importance of God’s grip on me, than my grip on God.  Fact is, his walk had been one of cliff-side nearness, and when you are walking close to the cliff’s edge you become quite aware of how consequential a stumble or fall might be, and you also become quite aware of how easy it is in life to stumble and fall.  Actually, he had stumbled and fell, more than once.  On many of his falls, he caught himself, and he could pull himself back up from dangling over the cliff.  But a time came when his fall was too far and his arms were not strong enough to pull him up, let alone hang on, and that is when he, like so many others, learned of the powerful love of God for him that would not let him go. Pulled up by God and set back upon the path, he felt the embrace of God in the AA folks that he came to know. And so, to this day, no matter what time of the day or night it might be, if the phone rings and on the other end is someone who is holding on for dear life, this man will go to the cliff’s edge with courage and confidence, courage and confidence in the grip of God on him, and lend his hands to the work of God and with divine strength take hold of someone who is where he has been, hanging from a cliff.

     It is my weekly hope that this Bungee Cord reaches you in the same way.  I hope that every time that I send it out, you feel the grip of God’s love taking hold of you, no matter how near or far from a cliff you are.  Holding on to God is a good thing, but when the rocks underneath you crumble under your feet, when the wind blowing around you causes you to lose  your balance, and when the path is frightenly narrow and treacherous, know this:  God has a grip on you, and God won’t let go (Romans 8)!

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord  4-6-20

Hello,

     I have a reputation (a good one, I hope) for doing something a bit over the top for Easter Sunday worship.  I figure that doing so is appropriate, after all, on that first Easter Sunday morning God did something quite over the top!  He raised Jesus, his Son, from the dead!

     Not all of the “creative” things that I have done have been universally welcomed….maybe some of you who have been members of the congregations that I have served remember, fondly, I hope, some of the Easter surprises.

     Some years ago, I had, what I thought, was a great idea.  It so happened that on Good Friday, on my way to church for the evening worship service, I stopped at a Quizno’s, sort of an upscale Subway.  As I approached the counter the gal behind the counter took one look at me and said, “I know what you are going to order.”  I was wearing my clerical collar, and since it was Friday, she surmised that I would be ordering the non-meat option.

     When I told her that I would like the roast beef sandwich, she looked at me and said, “Aren’t we still in Lent?”  I responded to her that we indeed were still in Lent, but as a Lutheran pastor, and not a Catholic priest, I still dined on meat on Fridays. Thus the seed for my Easter surprise.

     So, when Easter came and I stepped into the pulpit to proclaim the earth-shaking news of Easter, I began my sermon by telling of my Good Friday Quizno’s encounter.  Borrowing from a famous sermon by Tony Campolo, I said, “You know, that sandwich preparer was right.  We were still in Lent.  But not today.  Lent is over! Easter is here!”

     And then I went on to say with all the southern Christian muster that this northern Lutheran could muster, “All the honest reflection of Lent…looking into the mirror and seeing the pain that we bring into our lives and into the world…pain that tells us over and over again of our failures and weaknesses…that was Lent.  But Lent is gone!”

     And then I paused and said, “And here’s you line:  when you hear me say, ‘and Lent is gone’, I want everyone to stand up and shout as loud as they can, “Easter is here!”

     And so we practiced it once.  I said, “But Lent is gone!”, and everyone in the congregation stood up and sort of yelled, “Easter is here!”

     Not badly done by a bunch of Swedish descendants, but I said, “You know, I bet that if you were at a High School basketball game and someone from our team just scored the winning point as the clock ran out, you would be a lot louder.  And when you consider that victory that Jesus won, when he stepped out of the hands of defeat on Easter Sunday morning….well, I would expect a louder shout than I just heard.  As a matter of fact, I would expect trumpets blaring and the band playing!  Well, actually I think we can do that!”

     That is when I bent over and pulled a grocery bag from behind the pulpit and reached into the bag and pulled out party horns!  Enough horns for everyone in the congregation.  I got down from the pulpit and started handing them out….much with varied levels of delight in the eyes of the receivers. When everyone had their horns, I got back up in the pulpit, and I said, “So, here’s what we are going to do:  when you hear me say, “But Lent is gone!”, jump to your feet and yell, “Easter is here!”.  And after you’ve yelled, blow your horn!”

      And so, I in a series of litanies, I enumerated the heavy things of the world that we take an honest look at during the season of Lent….our sins, our lack of faith, our penchant to fear….and when I finished each of these, I said, “But Lent is gone!”  And as instructed, the congregation….well not everyone….jumped up and yelled back, “Easter is here!”, and they blew their horns.  I thought it was wonderful.  People laughed, as they should laugh on Easter….laugh at death, laugh at the powerlessness of their sins, laugh at the shame and guilt with which the world shackles them.

     Well, as I said, not everyone jumped up, and as it turned out, not everyone laughed.  A few kept to their seats, and a visible scowl came across their faces.  Well, as I have come to learn, not everyone will be happy with the things that I do to make the Gospel known in this world.

     Later that week, I received a letter in the mail from one who did not jump up.  “This was the worst Easter service I have ever been to,” wrote the writer.   “You owe the congregation an apology.” Actually, I was glad to receive that letter, because it told me that there was a path of communication between the writer and me, a path that I was thankful to walk on with this writer, because the writer signed their name.

     I called the writer and issued an invite to come and talk about what had been written, and the writer agreed to do so.  When the writer came to the church to talk, I said, “Thank you for coming,” and I mentioned that I didn’t think that we had had a chance to talk with one another previously, and I tried to strike up a conversation of getting to know one another better.

     “Let’s get to the letter,” was the first things that came from the writer’s lips, and the writer spoke to me of the distaste that remained from that Easter service.  “It was the worst Easter service I have ever been to,” the writer said, “and I think you owe the congregation an apology.”

     I said, “I wonder if you had seen what I had seen, you would still feel the same way.”  What I saw was a family sitting in the second row right in front of the pulpit…a family with a couple of kids.  The older one was early elementary age and for the past several years was battling an illness that required several hospitalizations.  The illness was powerful.  As it happened the child was home between treatments that Easter morning, and in my sermon when I said, “But Lent is gone!”, that child was the first one to jump up with an ear to ear smile and yell, “Easter is here!”, leading the congregation in bold horn blowing.  That is what I saw.

     When the letter writer heard what I saw, the writer responded, “Oh.  I didn’t see that.”, and the writer withdrew the request for a congregational apology.

     I thought I would relate this story to you at this time, because for me, that child’s exuberance brought the power of Easter to me like none other.  We are in a time when the darkness of the world seems very powerful…but the power of the virus….the power of the fear that it instills…the power of death that it brings….the power of the virus is the power of the world, the power of that we take an honest reading of during Lent.

      But on this Easter Sunday morning, just like we discover every Easter Sunday morning, that power is powerless against the power of God’s love. So this Sunday when you arise, and the Lenten voices of the world begin to swirl in your ears, do this:  jump out of bed, and yell, “EASTER IS HERE!”…..and if you have a horn, blow it boldly!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 3-30-20

Hello,

   There is a story in the Bible about Jesus venturing out into the Sea of Galilee with his disciples.  It is in the 4^thChapter of Mark, and here it is:

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ ³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. ³⁷A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ ³⁹He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’⁴¹And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

     I thought of this story as we find ourselves suddenly hit by this worldwide virus storm.  The spread of the virus is sweeping across the world with gale force winds.  The news of people infected and people dying is like wave after wave crashing onto our boat, filling the hull with frightening numbers.  The calls (appropriate as they are) for lock-downs make us feel like we are in this boat alone.  And you and I might find ourselves joining the disciples in asking, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

     I have seen one of these boats from Jesus’ day.  It is in a museum in Israel, having been buried for centuries under the silt of the Sea of Galilee.  These boats were not very big, maybe 30 feet in length.  Not built with terribly deep hulls.  Constructed of wood.  Propelled by a sail that stood in the middle.  No keel to keep them steady and going straight, just a rudder to try and guide them.  No wonder the disciples were afraid of sinking!

     It seems to me that the boat of our lives is not unlike those Galilean fishing boats. Not too big, not terribly stable, not indestructibly built, not easily steered, propelled by the changing direction of the wind.  No wonder in the midst of this storm we can be afraid of sinking!

     “Jesus, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!?!”

     Here’s something to remember when we find ourselves, like the disciples, asking this question:  Jesus is in the boat with us.  If the boat goes down, he goes down, too.  Jesus is not on shore tanning himself, sitting under a shade umbrella, drinking a glass of ice tea, laughing at the predicament that we, like the disciples, find ourselves in.  He is in the boat with us. Of course he cares!  

     So much did Jesus care that Jesus “rebuked” the wind and said to the sea, “Peace!  Be still!” And with the power of God, power which empowered him to rest in the storm, Jesus calmed the storm.  The disciples were alarmed to find Jesus sleeping in that sea-jilted boat, but their alarm turned to awe when they discovered the power of Jesus, power greater than the storm, and power that he used for their care.

     I am not a counselor.  I am pastor who knows a bit about counselling.  When I am with people who find themselves suddenly swirling in a storm of health, finding out from the doctor that they are dealing with some illness or disease, the first thing that I try to do with them is discern the turbulence of the storm.  “What does the doctor say?”  Sometimes the storm is mighty, “She gives me a 15% chance.”  Other times the storm, although ominous looking, is not so powerful, “80% chance.”  Discerning the power of the storm helps us get a rational look at what we are facing, and that can help us measure our reaction.

     Of course, I am not a doctor, either, but as I try and listen to the best doctors give a determination of the power of this storm as it hits you and me, I understand that the likelihood that you and I will not succumb to this storm to be 90% or better (actually for most, 98%).  That helps me put things into perspective.

      That doesn’t mean that as this storm rages and tosses around our Galilean fishing boat lives, that we won’t find ourselves holding on for dear life when the waves crash.  And it doesn’t mean that we can walk around in this boat as if nothing is shaking it. It behooves us to keep low (social distancing) while the waters rage.  But it does mean this: until this storm settles, and settle it will by the power of Jesus which is greater than the power of the storm, we can, as Jesus does, ride out this storm with calm and peace knowing that the storm’s power is no match to God’s power, especially given the power that the doctors tell us this storm holds.

     That is not to say that some will not find themselves caught in this storm, pulled into the sea by the wind and the waves.  The storm is not powerless.  But when we see this happening to ones we love, or if we feel ourselves being swept into the waters, there is another Biblical story that is worth remembering.  Remember, another time that the disciples were in the boat with waves tossing them about, a time that Jesus was not in the boat with them.  Instead he was on the ocean with the waves.  And Peter, who ventured out into the waves, started to sink, like a rock (that is what Peter means).  He cried out to Jesus, “Lord!  Save me!” And Jesus did!  Jesus reached out his arm, took hold of Peter and pulled him out of the sea.  I believe with the certainty of the power of the cross and resurrection, that for those who find themselves sinking in this storm, that Jesus will do the same for them…for you…for me.

     “Jesus, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

     “Peace!  Be still!”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord   3-23-20

Hello,

     I thought that in this time of social distancing, it would be a good thing to re-tell you of why I call this writing “The Bungee Cord”.

     Some 25 years ago as I looked out into the congregation that I was serving, I noticed a section of the population that was not well represented: 18-25 year old’s.  Believing that every child of God is of vital importance to God, I decided that I would try and reach those who were not coming to church.  Thus the birth of “The Bungee Cord”.  At the time, Bungee jumping was a big deal, and as I tried to think of an image that spoke to my hopes of embracing people with God’s love who were not coming to church, it seemed to me that a bungee cord did the trick.

     “The Bungee Cord” was meant to function as a bungee cord of God’s grace.  After all, I believe that the truth is that no matter how near or far one finds themselves to God, God’s love is un-snappable, holding each of his children tight, reaching out to them as far away as they might roam/fall/be pulled and always lovingly gathering them under God’s wings, like as Jesus said, a mother hen does her chicks.

     Well, now that we are all in the position of not sitting in the church pews on Sunday mornings (at least for a while), I hope that the “Bungee Cord” will be a way for us to be gathered together in the loving Grace of God.  Every time I write the “Bungee Cord” I do so with the intention of conveying God’s grace through it.  For me, God’s grace, not judgment of guilt or harassing to obey, is the power that God uses to change lives, bring hope, enliven peace, and create joy.  Although to some, the ongoing chatter of God’s grace may become a dulling drone, I believe that because the world engages us in an ever-ongoing verbal assault of value and worth based upon what we have to offer and what we have done…..I believe that the voice of God’s Grace needs to break into that noise.  

     Here’s the truth.  You are of such value to God that God sent Jesus to die and rise for you. In Jesus’ death, God, like a massive black hole of love, gathered unto himself everything that might separate you from God…everything that might try and stake a claim on you….and when Jesus died, so did all that God had gathered up in him.  Dead.  No voice. No claim.

     And when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, God he took ahold of us with new life and breathing new life into us, said “Awake oh sleeper, and live.”  And you are of such value to God, that God not only has invested God’s self in every moment of your life and every cell of your being, but God has made an eternal investment in you as God has a room for you in God’s eternal mansion….WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!  And God has promised that when the final trumpet of this life blows, Jesus will take ahold of us with resurrection power and bring us home…home for good.

    Why does God so value you and me who are mere specks in the universe?  Grace. Amazing grace.  Unfathomable grace.  Incredible grace.  Overwhelming grace.  Incomprehensible grace.   Grace that some people find too hard to believe.  But God’s grace isn’t grace only when we believe it, it is grace that holds onto us, whether we believe it or not…grace that is there when we need it. When we are falling out of control, when we have roamed into paralyzing danger, and when we have been pulled and tugged by life-sapping powers…….and isn’t that where we find ourselves now in this world-wide onslaught of Covid-19?

     We need God’s unyielding grip of Grace…..and I hope that this Bungee Cord has helped you feel it!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 3-16-20

Hello,

     It has been several years since I have gone to Cedar Point, “the roller coaster” of the world.  I don’t know if it still holds true, but Cedar Point prided itself on having the most diverse array of roller coasters….the highest, the fastest, the steepest drop.  So, if you are a roller coaster fan, Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio is the place for you to go.  I am not a roller coaster fan!

     I don’t enjoy the heights.  I don’t enjoy the drops.  I don’t enjoy the flipping upside down.  But most of all I don’t enjoy the slow…torturous…click droning….initial climb to the first big hill.  The anticipation morphs into anxiety.  The arduous pace races my heart.  The wind that blows the higher one ascends only cools the sweat on the back of my neck. Because I, as the Pastor, have been belittled by the kids for my fears, I have found myself aboard a roller coaster, clicking my way to the top of the hill, and about half way up, I find myself saying, “Why am I doing this!”

     I grab the bar on my lap with a vice grip.  My fingers go from white knuckles to purple ones.  My forearms cramp up.  And since I am not a screamer, I find myself repeating a mantra of fear, “Oh no!  Oh no! Oh no!”  The ride to the top is torture.

     As I consider our current place in the coronavirus situation, it seems to me that we , in the United States, are locked in on a world-wide roller coaster clicking our way to the top of the hill.  We hear the clicking of the number of infections and deaths.  We hear the clicking of the warnings from medical folks.  We hear the clicking projections and limited resources. Click.  Click.  Click.

     After I have been foolish enough to get on a Cedar Point roller coaster, when I get off I always say, “I don’t need to do that again!”, but I also find myself realizing that it wasn’t my grip that got me through that ride. It was the grip of that bar holding me in, and the grip of the centripetal force pushing me deep into my seat. I know this because I watch others ride the whole ride with their hands in the air, almost defying the roller coaster to throw them out.

     Maybe that is a good image to put in front of our eyes as we click our way to the top of the coronavirus ride.  In the end, it is not our grip that is going to get us through, but the grip of the power that holds us in.  That doesn’t mean that we should throw all caution to the wind and, as it were, ride this roller coaster standing up and see how daring we can be. No…it seems to me that it is wise to keep seated….follow the lead of those who know best how to manage this situation. Also, I do not believe that as we ride this roller coaster we wont get bumped around.  Christians, who as the Bible tells us, are in this world, find ourselves being bumped around by the world.  Some of us will get sick.  A few of us may even die.

     But here’s the truth….the certain truth…God will hold us tight through the ride.  As we ride this roller coaster, God who sent his Son to bring every evil to death….and even death to death…will keep us gripped in his nail pierced hands.  Some may say this is a pious platitude….and maybe to some it sounds like one….but as one who has gotten off a Cedar Point roller coaster and realized the external grip that kept me through that ride, I can say that I have gotten off of many a life roller coaster and have realized the external grip that has gotten me through.  And as I have gotten off of those life roller coasters, I have said to myself, “I don’t need to do that again!”, but also find myself singing the words from a song based upon God’s proclamation at Jesus’ Baptism, “You are mine. You are mine.  You are mine.”

     Click.  Click. Click.  Here we go!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 3-9-20

Hello,

     Yesterday as I was driving out my drive way, I spotted a critter sashaying up the hill.  As I neared it I got a better look at the black and white, long tailed visitor to our yard.  A skunk! I know that there are skunks around us, their perfuming of the air gives them away, but you don’t often see them in the late afternoon as they are nocturnal prowlers.  Generally, a skunk seen during the daylight hours is having some health issues.

     So, when I got nearer to it, I had no desire to get out of my car to see what was going on with this skunk.  I did not want to agitate it and then be the target of its aromatic defense system.  When I arrived back home around 10:00, there was no sign or smell of the skunk, and likewise in the morning when I got up.  I am hoping that it wandered off of my property to make a lengthy visit to one of my neighbors. 

     Of all the critters that roam around our house, skunks are the least welcome.  I don’t want to be the recipient of their spray.  But even more so, I don’t want them to turn their pungent affections toward my dog if he should happen upon one.  I have heard that it is hard to rid one’s self of a skunk’s smell, but even harder to rid one’s dog of it.  Tomato juice baths….several of them, I hear is what it takes.   So stubborn is the “eau de la skunk” that I read of a person who bought a brand new Corvette Stingray, and on the way home hit a skunk, and the skunk spray so infiltrated the car that the owner had to junk his prized car. Skunks are unwelcome around my house because of the stench that flows from them.

     There are some who question the relevancy of the Christian faith in today’s world.  What is so important about a guy who died on a Jerusalem cross, centuries ago in order to forgive the sins of the world?  It may have been relevant to those scientifically ignorant, sociologically backwards, and cosmologically simple-minded people, but can the same thing be said about its relevancy to us, scientifically astute, sociologically progressed, and quantum physics aware people?

     My answer to the ongoing relevancy of the Christian faith in our world finds its foundation in one thing: my nose.  You see….sins stink.  Sometimes folks get into debates over whether the entirely myopic things that we do  (sins) are really all that bad, or even bad at all….and the truth is that often those things are not massive in their evil, or maybe even questionably evil to differently minded people.  But have you ever noticed that when people are doing such debating, they are holding their nose?  Their eyes might lead them to question the relevancy of concern about sins, but the noses leave no doubt.  As the Bible says, the wages of sin is death, there is a death stench to sin that matches the stench of a skunk.

     And therein, in my mind, lies the relevancy of the Christian faith in our world, today.  The stench of sin.  The motivation that turns everything toward one’s self (that is what sin is) kills off our relationship with others, and even more importantly, our relationship with God.  And that death stinks!  Period….it doesn’t matter how much sin, or how bad the sin….it still stinks!

     When the Bible talks about being washed in the cross-born blood of Jesus, it is speaking of a super-charged tomato juice bath that doesn’t just cut through the oily glom of sin, but also cuts to our hearts and destroys the producer of that smudge so that henceforth that putrid oil can be produced no more.  Sin stinks. Jesus’ blood has the power to take away sin.  The stench is gone….people can live with one another, people can live with God.  That is the relevancy of the Christian faith.

     If you find yourself wondering about the relevancy of the Christian faith, unpinch your fingers from your nose, and take a deep breath….and I think that you will instantly come to see just why the blood of Jesus is as relevant today as it was on the day that Jesus died on the cross.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger