The Bungee Cord. 5/1/23

Hello,

Today’s Bungee Cord is the sermon that I preached on Good Friday, where seven pastors preached on each of Jesus’ last words. I was given these words to preach on from Luke, “ 33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus* there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ 34Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]]” It seemed Bungee-worthy….so, here it is:

I grew up hearing people say, “If you are truly sorry, then God would forgive your sins.

• Truly sorry by acknowledging my sins and the mess they have caused me and others.

• Truly sorry by owning up to my sins and the pain that they have brought the heart of God

• Truly sorry by turning from my sins and showing that I meant that I was sorry by not doing them again.

If you are truly sorry, God will forgive your sins.”

But today as we hear Jesus speak from the cross, I realize that I was wrong. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” You see, today Jesus tells us that what I grew up being taught was wrong. The fact is that Jesus’ forgiveness is so deep and wide that God forgives us even for the sins for which we are not sorry.

• The grudges that we do not let go of because they are getting what they deserve.

• The number of people who don’t even know we’ve stepped on to get us where we are.

• The neglect that we have been part of because of the blinders that we wear.

• The stench we have brought to the world by words that spew from our mouths.

• The sins that we don’t think are sins.

• The sins that we don’t even know we are committing.

• The sins that we keep on doing.

The truth is that to all of our sins, the ones we are sorry for and the ones that we are not, Jesus speaks from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

So, there it is, right from the cross. There isn’t a single thing that you can do, whether you’re sorry or not, that God, through the cross of Jesus does not forgive. And if that sounds too outrageous. Too easy. If you are saying, there must be some exception…something so vile and evil. Consider this, what sin could possibly bring more pain to the heart of God than driving nails through the hands and the feet of Jesus, and would be as painful and humiliating as killing God’s own Son? And yet, from the cross, Jesus, the one who was enduring exactly that said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

So, why, then should we worry about sin. If God is going to forgive everything, why not just live our lives any way we want? Why not grab for all the gusto in life and not worry about what that does to others? Why not live with the motto, “As long as I am happy.”?

Well, the Apostle Paul, in the 6th Chapter of Romans gives us an answer, “How can we who have died to sin keep on living in it.” You see, when you and I were Baptized, we weren’t just hit with some water and some nice things were said to us. No in the waters of Baptism, you and I were transformed. Changed. New creations. We became people who are dead to sin, as dead as all those sins which Jesus took to the grave on Good Friday, and people who are alive to God in Christ, as alive as Jesus when he walked out of the Easter tomb. Why not live recklessly in life, sinning away in the forgiveness of God? “How can you who have died to sin, keep on living in it.?”

A young boy was out playing in his backyard when he thought he saw the bark on the trunk of the tree shivering. So, he went over to the tree and took a closer look. And much to his delight when got over there , he discovered that the bark was not shivering at all, but the tree trunk was covered with caterpillars climbing up to the branches. He watched the caterpillars parade up the tree, all in step like a marching band. And then, all of the sudden, as if the drum major had blown her whistle, they broke ranks and began to scurry in all directions venturing out onto the branches. When each of the caterpillars stopped, he watched them wrap themselves in what looked to him like sleeping bags. Every morning he would go out to that tree to see what had become of his sleeping caterpillars, wondering when they would wake up. One day as he watched the caterpillars slumber in their sleeping bag, he noticed one of the sleeping bags quiver…and then another….and then another…until the tree’s branches were no longer covered with sleeping caterpillars, but now beautiful butterflies who were drying their wings in the sun. He reached up to touch one of these delicate butterflies, but when he did, as if the drum major had just blown her whistle again, they flew off in a much grander parade. Well, not all of them. He noticed that one of the butterflies still clung to the branch, holding tight as it walked back and forth. He could see it stumble as the wind caught its wings. Back and forth it walked on the branch, each trip a little slower, each trip a little more treacherous, until finally a gust of wind took hold of the worn-out butterfly and it fell to the ground. Lying there motionless. The little boy reached down and scooped the butterfly up in his hands. It seemed no different than all of its bandmates that had flown away. And so, as he looked at the tired and worn-out butterfly that could no longer even move, he said to it, “How can you a butterfly, live like a caterpillar?”

How can you who have died to sin, keep on living in it?

“Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Have a great week.

God’s Grace and Peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord. 4-19-23

Hello,

I am a couple of days late on this week’s Bungee Cord, because I just got back from a long weekend trip to the Grand Canyon. We had a family gathering of sorts there as my grandson celebrated his second birthday.

I had never been to the Grand Canyon before, but I had heard of its vastness and beauty. There are certain things in the world that mere descriptions do not match the reality of the sight, and for me, the Grand Canyon is one. Deeper than three Empire State Buildings, 18 miles wide and longer than the eye can see, 277 miles. Layers of red and grey cascade down the walls of the canyon. When you look over some of the walls, you look straight down. Other walls take your eyes in a milder slope to the middle of the canyon. I know that some people (not me!) find it an enjoyable challenge to hike down and up the canyon. Just imagining that sort of hike is exhaustive enough for me.

Being there reminded me of a camp song: https://youtu.be/wwY_YEazzv8

Deep and wide, deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

Deep and wide, deep and wide there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

And on top of those lyrics, we used to sing:

So high you can’t get over it. So low you can’t get under it. So wide, you can’t get ‘round it.

O Lord, rock ‘a my soul.

Being there reminded me of the vastness of the grace of God. A grace that is unfathomably deep and wide. A grace that description cannot capture. A grace that when you are there seeing it, you are overwhelmed by its power and might. A grace that you can feel swallowing you up when you stand on the ledge and look into it.

I think that is the way I would have felt if I would have found myself standing at the foot of the cross with Jesus nailed upon it. Struck in awe of the vastness of God’s grace, its depth and width. Jesus, whose arms were outstretched, saying this is how wide my love is for you. Jesus, whose blood splattered the ground, saying this is how deep my love is for you. Jesus, whose eyes as he died piercing the heavens, saying this is how I my love is for you. So wide, you can’t get around it. So low, you can’t get under it. So high, you can’t get over it. O Lord, rock ‘a my soul!

Although you and I may never be able to stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross while he hangs on it, the truth is that Jesus comes to us where we cannot go. Jesus brings the cross to us, every Sunday as we kneel under it and reaching out our hands we receive the unfathomable grace of God, its depth and its width. “This is my body, given for you.” “This is my blood, shed for you.” We are swallowed up in the grace that we swallow. There at the edge of the communion table, we peer into a basin of grace so wide, so deep, so high that we are engulfed in awe and wonder. We may have heard how much Jesus loves you and me, but no words can carry the power of the reality of Jesus’ love. To be there at the ledge of our lives and see and taste for ourselves that “the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever” is a Grand Canyon experience.

Take a trip to church this Sunday and see for yourself!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord. 4-11-23

Hello,

I got home today from a quick visit with my folks and my brother’s family out in Davenport, Iowa. As always, when I visit Davenport, I attend St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, my brother’s family’s and my parent’s church. It is a vibrant church of several thousand people with a large exceptional choir, and a large and powerful pipe organ.

So, you can imagine that Sunday’s Easter service was explosive. All stops were pulled! On the processional hymn that proclaimed Christ’s resurrection victory, the sound of the organ was a digital copy of the sound that rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb. Its power shook the walls and our bones. The volume of the music drowned out any other sound in that sanctuary. Every voice of guilt, shame and sin was driven from my ears. Even as I sang at the top of my lungs, I couldn’t hear myself singing. The noise of the world was transformed into a mouse’s whisper as it met the reverberating sound of God’s eternal victory. Any person walking into that sanctuary shouldered with burdens and fears, found those burdens and fears disintegrated into flakes of dandruff blown off their shoulders by a tornado of the Holy Spirit. The power of the resurrection over death was palpably felt in that room where an altar, which carries the remembrance of a casket, takes center stage. Alleluia!

After worship, we returned to my brother’s house, where I went up to my bedroom and pulled up the Easter Service that my wife had attended, and I would have attended save for my Davenport visit. It was the service from the church to which we belong and weekly attend, Bethel Lutheran Church of Bethel/Stahlstown, Pennsylvania. It is a church that lies in the ridge country of the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, a part of the country where pick-ups, long beards, and shotguns are the fare of the folks. The people of Bethel Lutheran Church take great care of the church where the 30-40 people gather weekly to worship, and for Easter, it was tastefully decorated with lilies, crocuses and daffodils One of the three people who rotate the organist duties played the church’s electronic organ and keyboard . The choir of 6-8 people faithfully lead every worship service, led Sunday’s service. Every Sunday, when a hymn is played, the congregation, of whom none are trained vocalists, sing with gusto. Easter Sunday was no exception. And on this Easter, the choir took on the challenge of singing a four-part anthem that exhibited their faithful devotion, as they powerfully opened their lungs for the last note of the piece which they all hit on pitch and at the right time. When I watched this Easter service, I felt a power as great as the power that I experienced in person in Davenport. I felt the power of the resurrection ignite the voices of folks for whom singing is not a natural asset. I felt the power of resurrection explode with uninhibited joy from folks whose lives are not bound by shackles of sophistication and perfection. Anyone attending Easter at Bethel Lutheran church could not help but feel the power of the resurrection, a power heard in the voices that filled that sanctuary with sound that could not be held in….no matter the pitch of the singer, no matter the timing of the notes, and no matter the tone of the voice. Alleluia!

The power of Easter is not a monolithic power. The power of the resurrection is more powerful than taste and talent. No matter the case, Jesus’ Easter victory over sin and death is TNT that explodes with unabashed power that cannot be held in. I hope that you felt that power take hold of your heart and life as you gathered with others who were singing and gathering around the table of the living Christ, but if you found yourself elsewhere on Easter Sunday, I hope that this Bungee Cord was a channel of that power to you, igniting an explosion of hope, joy and peace in you that cannot be held in.

Christ has risen!

He has risen, indeed!

ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord 4-2-23

Hello,

Today, Christians throughout the world open the door of Holy Week, step inside, and make it home for these eight days. Palm Sunday (Many churches end this day with the reading of the story of Jesus’ final steps to the cross, and so it also bears the name “Passion Sunday.), Maundy Thursday (The day when Jesus gathered his disciples for his final meal, the Lord’s Supper, and also the day when he was betrayed and handed over to those who sought to kill him.), Good Friday (The day of Jesus conviction, crucifixion, death and burial.), and Easter Sunday (The day when sin and death became perpetual losers at the resurrection of Jesus.). Those are the main events of what has been come to be called “Holy Week”.

Have you ever wondered why the word ,“Holy”, was attached to this week? Maybe it could have been better called “The Upside-down Week”, or the “Agony of Defeat/Thrill of Victory Week”, or “Can You Believe This Really Happened Week”, or “The Silver Lining Week”. I say that these other names might be better because when I think of the word “Holy”, I think of something that is so transcendently divine that it has an aura of heavenly glow, a glow that is so divinely radiant that one cannot bear to look into it. The “Holy Bible”, a book that contains the word of God, a book upon which (as I grew up) one would never place another book on top of it. The “Holy” Temple, the touchstone of God and earth where only a chosen few could enter the room with the footstool of God, the altar (Somewhat akin to the altar area in the church in which I grew up that was fenced off by the communion rail and only the chosen few were allowed in it.). Given such an understanding of “Holy”, might not a week that is full of fickleness, betrayal, denial, and death be better labeled something else?

Well, in addition to this divinely pristine understanding of the word “Holy”, there is an understanding of this word that far more fits the week that we have just stepped into, and that understanding of “Holy” is this: something is “Holy” if it works the way that God intended it to. This is the understanding of the 3rd or 4th Commandment (depending on how you number them), “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” In other words, “Remember the Sabbath day so that it might work the way God intended it to work, as a day when the voices of the world are far from our ears and the voice of God sits on our eardrums and tongues. God intends the Sabbath to be a day where the light of his grace is so laser focused on you and me that nothing can keep that grace from transforming our lives. That is what God intended to happen on the Sabbath, and when it does, that is a Holy Day.

And that is what happened and still happens on this week. On this week, God was so focused on his saving grace for you and me, that he was not about to let anything get in the way of its shining in your life or mine. Not our fickleness, not our betrayal, not our denial, and not even our death was God going to let come between God and those who bear God’s image. This week is “Holy” because in the events of this week, God made sure that it was going to function the way it was supposed to: to change everything with God’s grace and mercy. On this week God intended to claim victory of people’s hearts through humble love, and God did. On this week God intended to shove his love down our throats so that when we would look at our lives and wonder how God could love us, we would rest assured that God who unites God’s self with us does, and he did. On this week God intended to take unto himself, like a black hole of grace, anything that might try and claim us as its own, and take it dead, to the grave, and God did. And on this week, God intended to even crush the power of death so that we might be with him forever, and when Jesus, and Jesus alone, walked out of that tomb, God did.

This week is “Holy” Week because this was a week that functioned exactly as God had intended it. So, come on into this week, rest in it, live in it, breath in it, and rejoice in it….because thanks to God, it is HOLY!

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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