The Bungee Cord 10-21-25

Hello,

In a world that would turn us to hopelessness, I hope that the Bungee Cord brings you hope on which you can firmly set your feet.

This week, I saw something that was hope crushing. I turned on the news and there was a report on the cease fire that is teetering in the Mid-East. As part of this report, and maybe you saw it, too, there was a half-dozen men on their knees with blindfolds on, and behind each of them was a man with a masked face pointing a gun at each of the kneeling men’s heads. The news anchor stopped the video and said that if the video was to continue, we would see each of the guns fired and each of the kneeling men fall face-down on the ground.

When I saw this, I literally gasped. How could anyone do such a thing? The amount of hatred in the shooters’ hearts is unfathomable to me. Or maybe it wasn’t hatred. Maybe it was complete lack of seeing any humanity in those who were kneeling? Maybe those shooters looked at those kneeling and saw them as less than cockroaches.

You may recall the time in the Bible when a bunch of men brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. (I wonder where the man was who was likewise caught in the act.). Those who caught the woman expected Jesus to condemn her and lead the accusers in pelting her with stones until she died. After all, that was the rule.

But Jesus did not do as they had hoped. When Jesus saw her, he did not see her as those men did. He did not see someone whose deed had transformed her into something less than a cockroach. Jesus saw a person kneeling in front of him, someone that God almighty held in such value that God sent Jesus, his Son, so that she might be held in the love of God every day of her life, and every day when her days in this life were to be no more. The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus looked upon her and loved her, but his response to her indictment was unmistakably one of divine love. “Let the one who has no sin throw the first stone,” Jesus said.

No one picked up a stone. When her accusers left with their tails between their legs, and maybe their eyes opened to the common humanity they held with that woman, a humanity that is stained with pain, Jesus said to her, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus words to that woman were an invitation of grace, the same invitation of grace that might be said to a rabbit caught in a trap, “You are free. Go, and hop away.”

By this treatment of that woman, Jesus would have us know that God treats us in the same way. Even though we, like that woman, do things that bring pain to others and ourselves, God does not see us by the evil we do. No, God sees us by the grace in his heart, grace that leads God to name us God’s children, children that God would give God’s own life for….which God did!

And if we listen carefully, we might hear God’s voice speak upon those who we encounter that carry an indictment that begins to well up hatred and demean in our hearts….that we might hear God say, “I died for this one, a child of mine, too.” And with that whisper in our ears, instead of gathering up stones to throw, we can reach out our hands in mercy and help others to their feet.

Is there hope for the world? Is there hope for you or me? Indeed! There is great hope, hope that is found in you and me, as Christ opens the traps this world has set for us and in which we have been caught, and he says, taking hold of our hands, “I hear lots of people caught in traps and crying for help. Let’s go and open up those traps!”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 10-13-25

Hello,

I heard someone say that if you want to know what unconditional love is, accidentally lock your spouse and your dog in the trunk of the car and see which one is glad to see you when you open it up. It is hard to imagine even the most patient and understanding spouse emerging with a smile on their face. Far more likely it would be that darts would be shooting from their eyes with the rapidity of a machine gun, and shouts of, “You idiot!” exploding from their mount. But next to that eruption of anger and rage, there would certainly be the excited wagging of a tail, the twinkle of joy in the eyes, and a slobbery kiss, and the bark of resolute happiness coming from your dog.

The Bible tells us that on Easter evening when the disciples were hidden away in a locked room, fearing that they might find themselves hanging on a cross, suddenly another was with them who greeted them with the words, “Peace be with you.” Then he showed them the nail wounds in his hands and the spear wound in his side, and they realized it was Jesus. Jesus the one whom they all abandoned when the soldiers came to take him away….Jesus the one whom Peter had denied to even knowing him….Jesus whom they watched being locked tighter than a car’s trunk in a tomb. Jesus, when the tomb was opened and he encountered his fickle disciples in that room said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Notice, he didn’t say, “You cowards! How could have you let this happen to me!?” Nor did he say, “You backstabbers! How could have you denied me when I was facing torture and disgrace?!” Nor did he say, “With friends like you, who needs enemies!” No. When the tomb was opened and Jesus laid his eyes on his disciples he said as if wagging a tail, “Peace be with you.” Unconditional love.

It is that Easter evening encounter of Jesus’ disciples with Jesus that gives me absolute assurance that when I slam the trunk door on Jesus, and I do with a regularity of which I am not proud, when the trunk is opened, I will be greeted in a way far more resembling my dog than my spouse. When I give into the idolatry the world sets before me, an idolatry that leaves me holding an empty bag, and I open the trunk where I have stuffed Jesus, I know that I will hear the words from him, “Peace be with you.” When I cowardly deny Jesus by my selfish and heatless actions, and I open the trunk where I have stuffed Jesus, I know that I will hear the words from him, “Peace be with you.” And I know that when God opens my grave and I am looking right into the eyes of Jesus, even though I have left a trail of pain in my life’s wake, I will hear the words coming from him, “Peace be with you.”

As true as it is that I intentionally and accidentally lock Jesus in the trunk of my life’s care, I need not fear when I open it up,for I have come to know that grace and mercy are at the core of Jesus’ relationship with me. I will not be struck by darts of anger and disgust. I will receive the greeting akin to my dog’s. “Peace be with you.” Unconditional love.

Likewise, will you!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 10-6-25

Hello,

I returned yesterday from a trip to Hinsdale, Illinois for my 50th high school reunion. I have kept in light contact with a handful of my classmates over the years, but for the most part our paths have not crossed for a half a century. As one would expect, the town has drastically changed, and our high school is hardly recognizable in its current state of high technology and creature comforts. Most of the people had transformed into folks that didn’t look a great deal like the graduation picture that was on their nametag. Not knowing what to expect as I traveled there, I was extremely surprised how monumental an event it was for me.

I was touched by the generous welcome by people with whom I ran around in high school, and those who I hardly knew (there were 600+ in our class). Our conversations were deeply engaging. Our remembrances were heartwarming. The boundaries of cliques that divided in our high school days were erased, and there was a commonality of bumps and bruises that we shared as we shared our divergent journeys.

I was given the honor of reading the names of those who have died from our class (55 of them), to offer a prayer for them, to offer another prayer for the struggles that we all carry, and (most importantly) say grace before the meal. I was asked to say something before the reading of the names, which I have decided to share with my Bungee Cord readers. It went something like this:

“The world in which we live tells us that our worth is based on what we have done. The more successful our deeds or the more important our deeds, the more worth we hold. It is one of those fun things that we get to do at reunions like this, to share the peaks of our journeys. But I have come to understand that there is something far more substantial that establishes our worth than what we have done, successes and failures, and that is who we are. The verse in the Bible that has become the focus of my faith is 1 John 3:1. “See what love the Father has given us, that we might be called children of God, and that is what we are.”

We are children of God. That is what God has declared us to be, and what could make us of any greater worth than that. As we spend this time together, maybe that is the greatest gift that we can share, to see the immeasurable gift that we are to each other as Children of God. And as we remember those who are no longer among us, we count them as treasures who have adorned our lives, not because of what they have done in life, but rather because who that have been in life. Children of God. Treasures.”

And in the following minutes I slowly spoke their names, giving time between each name for people to silently raise up memories of these beloved of God. A pin drop could have been heard.

I’ve returned from my 50th reunion with my sight adjusted, adjusted to see the treasures that I encounter every day. People of unmeasured worth….not because of what they have or have not done, but because of who they are: Children of God.

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called “Children of God”, and that is what we are.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 9-29-25

Hello,

It is good to have a dog, because my dog is constantly reminding me of things that I too often forget.

Our family has almost always had a dog. One of the foremost reasons has been that as a Pastor I am often gone in the evenings, and we want to have something that barks when people come to our house, especially now as we live out in the country. Even though none of our dogs would truly ward off any unwanted visitors, just the barking has brought some security to our souls.

Our last two dogs have been Gordon Setters. They are bird hunting dogs, but as I don’t hunt, I just like the way they look and their personalities, so they have been merely pets to me. Our current dog, McMahon, is nine years old, and we have had him since he was eight weeks old. As Gordon Setters are known to be, he is a bit stubborn, but he is a great companion. He likes to snuggle and hang around with us in the same room.

But herein lies what McMahon is constantly reminding me. Life is good when he has a ball to play with, food in his bowl twice a day, a rawhide chew after his meal, and someone to scratch behind his ears. The little things are what makes his life. The stress of the world does not bear down on his shoulders. Unknown worries do not worry him. Every day is a new day, and he never questions his trust in us.

Of course, a dog’s world is a much simpler world than the human world. Yet, the world of humans can, and does, become much more cumbersome than it has to be. Humans find themselves concerned about status and influence. Humans find themselves lured to comfort and technology. Humans find themselves engulfed in matters far beyond one’s backyard.

McMahon, by the wag of his tail when I mention the word “ball” or “eat”, cuts through the pressures that I carry on my shoulders, and I suddenly see the simple things in life that are life’s foundation. A roof over my head, relationships of love, food on my table, and things like pickleball that make me smile. And maybe even more important, McMahon reminds me that I have someone that I can unquestionably trust, the Lord; someone whose love for me far extends my love for McMahon (I wouldn’t die for him), and someone whose wisdom far exceeds mine.

McMahon turns my mind on to one of the scriptures passages that Kate and I had read art our wedding, now 44 years ago, “22 Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[d] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[e] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Luke 12)

Thank you, McMahon, for keeping my eyes open to the grace of God.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 9-22-25

Hello,

Maybe you have heard of a judge named Frank Caprio. He was a municipal court judge in Providence, Rhode Island. He gained his fame through televised court sessions that involved relatively small crimes: parking tickets, traffic violations and the like. I ran into his court proceedings on Facebook. He was soft spoken, gentle, and a careful listener. He treated people with respect and showed a soft heart to people who were struggling just to keep their heads above water having grown up in such a household. He didn’t reward laziness or manipulation, but instead rewarded honesty, diligence, and perseverance. He even had a fund, named in honor of his mother, that would pay fines owed by folks who had fallen on hard times.

Judge Caprio died recently from cancer, and at his death it was said of him that he believed, “Mercy can lift a life higher than punishment ever could.” I am not certain from where Judge Caprio developed that belief, but I, who share that belief know where I have developed it: from Jesus the Christ. Though I certainly deserve my “temporal and eternal punishment” (words that I confessed every Sunday in the worship service as I grew up), God has chosen to show me mercy and forgiveness. Because of that, the pain that I have caused myself, others, and even God does not hold me in its grip, squeezing the life right out of me until I yell, “Uncle!” Instead, God took all the pain that I and the world could muster and squeezed the breath right out of it so it could no longer stake its claim on me, or anyone. Punishment may have limited power to hold people in line, and vengeance might serve to balance the scale of pain in people’s lives, but neither one of those things can do anything to lift people out of their pain. It is mercy, like a rescuer reaching into a deep well into which you have fallen, has the power to raise a person up from the holes we fall into in life, and the hole which we will be placed into in death.

When I was in my late 20’s and early 30’s, I was a pastor in an “inner city” church. Due to its location on a major thoroughfare in an economically struggling neighborhood, there was a regular traffic pattern of people knocking on the church door in search of help. Believing as I do, that mercy has the power to lift people up, I found myself the target of many who would come asking for “the young pastor”. I soon discovered that my “mercy” was being misappropriated. I, like them, became much more streetwise and realized my “help” wasn’t really helping them.

So, I took it upon myself to find places that could help them, for example, community food shelves and homeless shelters so I could refer them there, and I decided that I would treat them the way that I have been treated by God, with dignity and respect. I sat down with them and listened to their stories, even though I knew that their stories were often filled with deceit. (Such is the case with my stories I speak to God.). I didn’t try and decipher out the truth in their stories, but rather truthfully empathized with what I heard. Although I am sure that some of the storytellers thought me to be a naïve fool, it was my hope that they experienced in me a depth of care for them that comes from Jesus Christ, the source of my care.

I don’t know what became of almost all of those with whom I sat down and listened, but it is my hope that maybe for that brief moment they found themselves lifted by Christ’s love, a love that died and rose for them.

“ Mercy can lift a life higher than punishment ever could,” Judge Frank Caprio….and Jesus Christ.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 9-18-25

Hello,

I am writing an unusually timed Bungee Cord for two reasons. First, I have come down with Covid and have a lot of time on my hands, and secondly, in all this extra time, I have been seeing internet comments from some people who see the Christian faith in quite a different way than I do. So, with all my extra time, I thought I would try to use it productively with a Bungee Cord.

I have seen a goodly number of people who either speak of their own Christian faith, or comment on the Christian faith that they see, as holding to Biblical values. In one case, an antagonistic person of the faith, said something to the effect that the Christian god approves of slavery, because the Bible supports the practice of slavery. This is, of course, literally true. Both the New and Old Testaments contain many passages that acknowledge the practice of slavery. Although I am not an expert on American history, I believe that there were those before, and even after, the Civil war that used such Biblical passages to support the practice of slavery.

To such use of Biblical passages, I, and a whole lot of Christians, say that to abide by such passages does not follow Biblical values, but instead values of Biblical times. To me, the Bible is a timeless witness of the Word of God, that was specifically addressing the times in which it was written. To me, the Biblical values are what lies under the specific concerns addressed.

It is these values, when we dig into the Bible, that help us live with Biblical values, and not the values of Biblical times. The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). It has taken humans a long time for this shovel of truth to dig into the world to bring us to see how that love effects long held human practices, like slavery. As we have uncovered this Biblical truth, it is clear to me that the Christian God does not stand behind the practice of slavery.

Clearly, the Bible does not depict the years of Jesus’ life, nor any other times in Scripture as the “Golden Years”, those are yet to come when years are no longer measured. Therefore, the task that a whole bunch of Christian folks try to understand is how to speak God’s Word, full of infinite values, to the finite and time marked world in which we live. I believe it is not an easy or a certain task. For one, I am a human whose being is blurred by sinfulness. Secondly, our world today, is a far different world from Biblical days. Biblical people knew nothing of atoms and sub-atoms. For them, the earth was the center of all things, so convinced were they that when Galileo proposed something different, he was “he was condemned by the Inquisition in 1633, forced to recant his heliocentric views, and placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life”. (google search) And now, as we find ourselves stepping into, or being pushed into, a world that is pulsed by AI, we have an entirely unimagined future in which we, who bear Christ’s name, seek to apply the infinite values of God which have been incarnated in Jesus to our world today.

This may be a more heady Bungee Cord than usual, but as I have spent these days of forced isolation listening to what some say the Christian God asserts, I wanted to tell those of you who seek to live with Biblical values, and not the values of Biblical times, that there is a large place for you amongst those who name themselves Christian. Such places are in the pews and on the Communion rails of many churches. I invite you to sit with me on the lap of God as I seek to hear God’s grace and mercy, divine values, shape and mold my life and yours in this ever changing time.

Have a great half/week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 9-15-25

Hello,

God knows something that we humans have a hard time learning, and that is telling someone to be nice never works, and least not when it is most important. Rules and guidance are good because they provide structure and boundaries, but in the end, they fall prey to the natural deeds and drives that are part of our human composition.

“Be nice,” works pretty well until someone starts spreading an ugly rumor about you and you find yourself lost and abandoned. “Be nice,” works pretty well until someone comes after your job, gets it, and you are left without an income. “Be nice,” works pretty well until a spouse upon getting a divorce wants to move far away with your children. “Be nice,” works pretty well until you find yourself in desperation and hopelessness.

Over the course of these summer months, we’ve seen how being told to “Be nice” has gaping holes and fissures in it. We’ve seen how those deep-seated ways of responding break through the rules and guidance. Neighbors shoot neighbors that they have severe disagreements with. Vandalism erupts after a perceived injustice takes place. Classrooms become warzones from someone who grievances senselessly erupt like a dormant volcano. Nations take up arms against nations.

To many, it seems that Christianity is nothing more than a blowhorn shouting into the world, “Be nice.” However, as I read the Bible, that is not what I hear God, in Jesus, doing. When Jesus hung on the cross, there is no record of him saying, “Be nice.” No, the Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, he did so to gather all people unto himself to change them….to change them from being driven by what the Bible calls “the flesh” to be people driven by “the Spirit.”….from being people of the world to be people of God. As the Bible says, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” (2 Cor 5:17)

The problem with saying, “Be nice,” is the same problem you or I would have in telling an elephant to walk softly, to be like a cat. The problem is, of course, that an elephant is not a cat, no matter how hard it might try to be one. To tell someone to “Be nice,” is to tell that one to act in a way that is not instinctual to them. As long as things are going well, “Be nice,” works, but when things are falling apart the “elephant” in us takes over.

So, I don’t think that Jesus would have us hear, “Be nice.” I think that Jesus would have us hear, “Be you.” And who are you? You are a child of God. Jesus died and rose to make you one, and as a child of God, there are a whole new set of instincts that come from your transformed self. Being part of a Christian congregation is really exploring and developing your new self. Much akin to an elephant, who no longer is an elephant, but now a cat learning how and experiencing how to live anew.

I am not saying that to tell someone to “Be nice” is the wrong thing to do. What I am saying is that in telling someone to “be you”… “you are a child of God”…. has a far greater likelihood of producing what the world needs, nice people.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger