The Bungee Cord

Hello,

My five-year-old grandson brought his family to visit us this past weekend, and part of his visit was to learn how to ride a bike. The bike was shipped here because we have a lot of grassy areas that are more amenable to falling than the concrete of New York City. Soon after he arrived, he strapped his new helmet on his head and readied himself for the adventure ahead.

We held the bike upright while he took his place on the seat and gave him the needed instruction: keep pedaling! We aimed him southward on a gentle sloped part of our yard, and with the countdown…..ready….set…go….we gently shoved him and let him go! He made it pretty far, but his balance teetered and he took his first tumble. Back to the top of the slope we went, he took his place on the saddle, and off he went again. A little bit further this time but like before a tumble befell him. The next attempt went even better, so good that he came to the end of the slope and had to make a turn….tumble. With every try, he developed more balance, more speed with the pedals, and even learned to make the turns. By the time that his visit had come to an end, he had progressed to the church parking lot and discovered the thrill of gliding over the ground and feeling the wind brush across his face…still tumbling when he came to a stop and when he missed a turn and went headlong into the bushes. No pain….no gain.

As you might suspect, some of the tumbles were accompanied by a few tears, but they were never met with scolding. Instead, each time he tumbled, one of us was there to untangle him from his bike, hug him, applaud his efforts, and to say with encouragement, “Let’s try that again. You’ll get it.”

It occurs to me that learning to live in the grace of God is much like learning to ride a bike. When the grace of God is unwrapped for us, the thought of gliding along the path of our life brings a breath-full of exhilaration to our lungs. Rather than daily, slowly trudging on our way, weighed down by judgements, failures, and ever-increasing pressure, the grace of God, like riding a bike, brings a whole new dimension to life…an abundant one. One that is full of thanks, love, peace, hope and joy. Of course, as we are learning to glide along in God’s grace, we sometimes lose our balance, turn too sharply and we tumble. We condemn others and ourselves. We hit potholes of jealousy and logs of fear. We poorly negotiate turns and changes of direction….and we fall.

But here’s the good news of learning to glide in God’s grace: when we tumble and fall, God does not come to us with shame in his voice and scold us for tumbling. No, just like we did for my grandson, God hurries to us, untangles us, and with patient love says to us, “Let’s try that again. You’ll get it.”

And by the grace of God, we become more and more adept at riding the bicycle of grace that God has given us and on which he has seated us. Pretty soon, it becomes natural….loving others as we have been loved, seeing hope when the world darkens, finding peace even in the turbulence around us, and celebrating blessings that others receive. And maybe the best news of all is that, just like riding a bike, gliding in grace is something that once learned is always learned. It is something that no h-ill can take away from us, no doubts can steal from us, and no adversary can loot from us.

This week, enjoy the ride on God’s grace, and if you happen to tumble, this is what you will hear, “Let’s try that again. You’ll get it.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

It was called “the shot heard around the world”. It was the opening skirmish of the American Revolutionary War at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775 (google search). Just over a year later, the Declaration of Independence was signed, and thus marked the birthday of the United States which we will celebrate on July 4th.

I suspect that those who signed that document in Philadelphia on that day in 1776 could not have imagined what things would look like 250 years later. What began as a fragile gathering of colonies seeking independence has grown into a strong union of states discovering the opportunities that lie ahead of them. And what discoveries have there been! Although it is certainly true that we have not entirely lived out the ideals that were sown at this country’s birth, the freedoms that have been achieved, the hopes that have been fulfilled, the peace that has been formed, and the lives that have been change is a phenomenal sight to consider. The reverberation of that Concord shot still rumbles throughout the world.

It wasn’t a shot that rang into the world, but the ping of a hammer driving in one of four nails into the hands and feet of a man who was nailed to a Jerusalem cross just shy of 2000 years ago. I am certain that the eleven of the twelve disciples who had joined their lives together and were hiding three days later in that locked room could not have imagined what would grow out of those hammer pings. Their hopes that their small nation of Israel might be freed from the oppression of the Romans had crumbled, but out of those crumbs something far greater happened: people whose number exceeds billions, from every corner of the world would be freed from oppression far greater than any human could impose. As Jesus said in Matthew, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” and in Jesus’ death those fears were squelched as Jesus eternally took to the grave anything that might try to impose such deadly powers. Although it is certainly true that the vision of grace that exploded from that cross on Easter morning has not fully been accomplished, the peace, hope, joy, and love that has blossomed from that cross has proven to be greater than anything that has tried to destroy it. The reverberation of those Calvary pings still rumbles throughout the world.

So, as fireworks fill the heavens to celebrate the blessings of this 250 year old nation, know that those colorful explosions are only a twinkle compared to the party that is going on in God’s heaven….a party so full of joy that it matches the joy of a impoverished woman who lost a coin and then finds it, that matches the joy of a shepherd who so values each sheep that he leaves his flock to find the lost one and rejoices when he finds it, that matches a father’s joy when a lost son is drawn back into his arms and throws a party to beat all parties, and that matches the joy of finding a pearl of such great value in a field that the finder sells everything to have it. None of us knows how many more years that Concord shot will be celebrated in this country, but we do know this: that Calvary ping will continue to ring in celebration throughout the universe for eternity….and that is something to celebrate!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

Today, being Monday, is the day that my driving partner and I deliver Meals on Wheels to the 14 clients on our list. I’ve been delivering Meals on Wheels on Mondays for the past couple of years, and I find it a grounding and eye-opening experience. I was telling my delivery partner today, that I think it should be mandatory of every elected official to deliver Meals on Wheels at least once before they are elected. As I have been invited into the lives and homes of these folks on my route, I find myself reminded of how hard life is for some people and how resilient those same people are.

Anyway, as we started off today, we rounded one of the turns on our route and we came upon something that I had not seen before. There, sitting on a split rail fence was the largest gathering of turkey vultures that I have ever seen. There must have been twenty-five of them, posted on a couple of sections of split rail fence. It is not unusual to see a half-dozen turkey vultures doing their work of scavenging from a roadkill, but in this case, there was no dead animal around. It was as if they were gathering awaiting a dispatcher to call them, like firefighters in a fire station. I wondered, “Do they know something that I don’t know?”

Although our modern world does a pretty good job of hiding the reality of death from us, there are those moments when the truth of our limited mortality slips through the cracks. As was the case when I crashed the party of turkey vultures this morning. Martin Luther was to have said that even the blowing of an autumnal leaf across the ground whispers death’s truth to us. Death is powerful. Death is relentless. Death is determined. It is not hard to believe in death. Even Jesus believed in death.

What is more difficult to believe is that there is something more powerful than death, but that thing is the essence of the Christian faith, and it is love, specifically God’s love. The Bible tells us about the presence and truth of this ultimate power over and over again, “For God so loved….”, “God is love….”, “No greater love is this that a man should lay down his life….”, and “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Further, God proved the power of his love when an Easter tomb erupted with life and the very one whom death thought it had pinned did a reversal and walked out of that tomb, full of life. And Paul, who encountered that one on a Damacus road was compelled to pen this, “No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Jesus we see that God’s love is more powerful than death….it is more relentless than death…..and it is more determined than death. As we gather week after week under the cross of Christ which blares out God’s love, around the Baptismal font which embraces us in God’s love, and at the altar that unites us with God’s love, we are the counter in this world to a bunch of vultures. So, when people come around the bend on Sunday morning and see our red roofed church and cars in the parking lot, maybe they will think, “Do these people know something I don’t know?”

And we do….God’s love and its power!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

We are coming up on the longest day of the year, June 21. Officially it is called the summer solstice. It happens when the axis of the earth is tilted toward the sun, thus giving the northern hemisphere the longest day and the shortest night. Living in Pennsylvania that means that it is light when I wake up in the morning, and it is there is still some light when I hit the rack at night. Of course, the opposite is true when the earth’s axis is tilted away from the sun in December. It is dark when I awake, and it is dark far before I go to sleep. I much prefer the longer days of daylight. So, in those darkest days, I assure myself that the lighter days are coming.

I think it is true for all of us that there are times in our lives when the darkest of days has nothing to do with the earth’s axis, but rather life’s axis. The events of our lives can so wobble our world that the axis of our lives creates a darkness that can be darker than the darkest night and seems to go on without any light rising on the horizon. I have found myself in such times when depression rocks my life. I have listened to others speak of the darkness that shows no sign of ending at the death of a loved one, a marriage that has fallen apart, a hole that has been fallen into, or a rejection where the door has been slammed shut and locked. When these times happen, it doesn’t matter what time of the year it may be, the darkness is long, very long.

Although you and I can trust that the longest nights of the calendar year will be transformed into the longest days of the year by virtue of the laws of the universe, there seems to be no law to assure us that the darkness that befalls us due to the wobbling of our lives will likewise recede. The darkness can hit us out of nowhere, and it can enshroud us with a stubbornness that seems unwilling to let go.

That is why the good news that God gives us is not Annie’s song, “The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow”. That might work for the calendar, but it doesn’t work for life. The good news that God gives us is that God, the one who separated the darkness from the light in the beginning, has used his power to do so again on the darkest day that has ever befallen all of creation when God’s Son, Jesus, died on the cross. On that day, it seemed like the universe would be wrapped in darkness for eternity, after all, it was the Son of God who had just died. But three days later, God, who in the beginning said, “Let there be light,” who said to Lazarus who had been dead in a tomb four days, “Lazarus come out!”, who said to a soldier’s daughter for whom the people had already begun their mourning, “Little girl, get up,”….that same God, spoke into the darkness of that Good Friday tomb, and called Jesus to come out…..AND HE DID! Thereby announcing the good news that no darkness can overcome (John 1), Jesus came up on Easter!

It is this singular event in the history of the universe that crashes into the darkness of our lives with explosive power. Like a thief in the night, God has broken his way into the darkness, and he has stolen us away to live in the light of his eternal love. And having given his all to rob the darkness of us, God is not going to let anything steal us away from him. As the Bible says, “there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans

So, when the days are the darkest, and the darkness is long, don’t sing the powerless platitudes with Annie, “The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow”. Instead, fill your lungs with a deep breath of the Spirit and sing triumphantly, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!” That’s a song that will carry you forever!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

Here’s the majority of my sermon from yesterday….it seemed Bungee-able to me.

In today’s Gospel lesson (Matthew 9:9-13) we hear a rather detail-less story of Jesus’ selecting Matthew to be one of his twelve disciples. There is, however, one detail that we are told; Matthew was a tax collector.

Now, tax collectors in our day may not the most popular people in town, and letters from the IRS are not considered Valentines cards, but tax collectors in Jesus’ day were far, far more despised. The reason that they were so hated was that the taxes they gathered were sent off to Rome who had conquered their land. They collected poll taxes, land taxes, and tolls levied on goods that passed over roadways. The tax collectors, in order to get their jobs, paid a stipulated sum to the Romans, and then amassed their wealth by gathering more than they had paid the Romans. Generally, the tax collectors were Romans, the oppressors, but sometimes they were Jews, and those Jewish tax collectors we considered traitors. So, when people spoke of these tax collectors, they were paired with robbers, sinners, prostitutes, and Gentiles. They were considered the lowest of the low…few, in Jesus’ day, were lower.

And today we find out that when Jesus started to amass his disciples, the twelve that he would spend his life with, he chose a hated tax collector, Matthew.

As we would expect, his choice did not sit well with the people who observed this choice. With disgust the Pharisees asked some others of Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Why was he eating with … and eating with people was a public sign of alliance with those people … why was he eating with such scum? Why was he eating with those who everyone else had the sense from whom to keep their distance. Why was he eating with those who were the cockroaches of their town?

Jesus’ answer, “Because those people need me.”

I suppose the same thing might be said of those with whom Jesus eats today, those who gather at his table. Why does Jesus eat with us? Look around…look who is here. Although there may not be those the likes of tax collectors in Jesus’ day…look around. Here, just like in every church,

• there are people who have quirky personalities,

• people who wear the scars of things they have done in the past,

• people who the world has branded “losers”,

• people whose temper gets the best of them,

• people whose skulls are thick and hearts are calloused,

• people who when they are seen by others the others cross the road so they don’t have to talk to them,

• people whose children won’t talk to them, and children whose parents have turned their back on them,

• people who are called old and stupid by this technological world that is racing around at break neck speed.

We are not a bunch of angels, we are a band of sinners…every one of us…sinners in need of a savior…and that is why Jesus has called you and me here this morning, and that is why he eats with us….we need him.

It may have been that the other disciples were thinking that others would not want to join their group, a group with such a vile sinner, when they saw Jesus welcome Matthew…that scummy tax collector, and if that’s what they thought, their suspicions held true when the townsfolk scoffed at Jesus for eating with the likes of Matthew. They did not want to be part of such a crowd. But Jesus did not regard all those judgments and fears…the only judgments that Jesus regarded were that Matthew, a tax collector, was one who he had come to die for, and he, Matthew, needed Jesus.

And having seen Jesus make his judgment on Matthew, you and I can be assured that Jesus makes the same judgment on you and me. And that judgment is this: no matter what the world thinks of you and me…no matter what you and I think of ourselves…you and I are welcome here in this church…welcome to eat at Jesus’ table…because Jesus came to die for you and me, and you and I need him.

And as we go out in the world, that is the welcome that Jesus sends you and me out to proclaim….that no one is so low, so messed up, so sinful, so scummy…that they are not welcome here. Actually, the opposite is true. Such are the very ones that Jesus has chosen to be among his disciples… he chose Matthew…and why? Because Jesus came to die for them, and they need Jesus.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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