Hello,
As Christmas nears, the colors of the season, red and green blanket
store windows, street lights, and dining room tables. If you go to a liturgical church, the color you see adorning
the worship space is white, the color of celebration, and therefore Christmas. For centuries, red, green and white
have been the colors of Christmas, but let me suggest that we turn a new corner
on traditions and give Christmas a new color……BLAZE ORANGE.
Deer hunting season began the Monday after Thanksgiving in western
Pennsylvania sending armies of people trudging into the woods and deer
scurrying out of them. So, the
other day when I went to take my
dog, Duncan, for a morning walk, my brother in law, at whose house we are
staying and is nestled in the woods, caught me before I went out the door and
said, “You had better put some orange on!” Those of you who hunt know that the uniform of hunters is
BLAZE ORANGE. Hunters wear this
bright, loud color so that other hunters can clearly see who they are….hunters,
not huntees.
As you and I trudge through life it isn’t always easy to see God at
work. Where is God when families
are falling apart? Where is God
when you have dug a hole for yourself that seems bottomless? Where is God when tragedy befalls a
child? Where is God when no one comes to see you for weeks on end? Where is God when nations rise up
against nations in deadly conflict?
Sometimes it isn’t easy to see God at work, and sometimes it is just
plain hard to see God at work.
So, God did what my brother in law told me to do, he clothed himself in
something that we might be able to clearly see who he is – human flesh. He took his place amid a struggling
family. He jumped into the bottomless
pits that people dug for themselves.
He went to the bedside of a dying child. He visited a taxcollector who had no friends. He opened his heart to enemy soldiers. He died on a cross and bled to
take away the stranglehold of our sins. In Jesus, God clothed himself in such a way that even in the
thickest forests of life, we can clearly see who God is and what God is up
to. God put on BLAZE ORANGE.
It might be a good reminder to everyone of what Christmas is really all
about if the swaddling clothes of the manger scene on the church lawn were
BLAZE ORANGE…or if table cloth upon which the meal was set was BLAZE ORANGE….or
if the decorations and lights that hung on the Christmas tree were BLAZE
ORANGE….or if the stole that draped the pastor’s shoulders was BLAZE ORANGE….if
the color of Christmas was BLAZE ORANGE, we would boldly be reminded of what
Christmas is all about…..it is about God clothing himself in earthly flesh so
that we clearly see who God is and what God is up to.
Green, red and white are wonderful colors for Christmas, but let me
suggest that BLAZE ORANGE just might be better!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
I have put together my new Bungee
Cord mailing list based upon your requests to continue receiving it. Feel free to forward the Bungee Cord to
as many others as you would like.
If it would work better for me to simply e-mail directly to them, ask
them to reply back to me, and I’ll be glad to put them on my list.
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