Bungee Cord 8-6-12

Hello,

     This week I stopped for a gourmet lunch at a national fast food “restaurant”.  My plan was to go through the drive through and take my lunch to a nearby park and enjoy the nice day.

     So, I drove up to the squawk box and was greeted with a remarkably understandable, “Welcome to *******, would you like to try ******?”

     “No, thank you,” I responded, “I just want a number 1 combo.”

     “Small, medium, or large?”

     “Small.”

     “Anything else?”

     “Could you put some.” I started to say in hopes of getting some ketchup.

     “That is $6.12.  Please pull around,” the box said, cutting me off.

     So, I obeyed and pulled around the building and sat behind someone who had obviously placed multiple orders and was holding up traffic.  After the exchange of six or seven bags, the brake lights of the car in front of me dimmed to off, and the person crept ahead.  Wondering if my hamburger had gone cold as I waited, I put my car in first gear (I drive a stick…real driving!), and rolled up to the window with my exact change that I had plenty of time to count out.  The bi-fold window opened up and a young woman said to me, without looking at me, “That is $6.12.”

     She stuck out her hand, still not looking at me, and I place my six dollar bills and my twelve pennies in her palm.  She turned around and grabbed the paper bag and the paper cup containing my drink, and handed them to me, catching me with a brief glance, making sure that I didn’t drop it.

     “Could you put,” I said as the windows shut, and she turned away to get the next person’s lunch.  Not thinking that my hope for ketchup was excessive, I started waving at the server who couldn’t see me because her back was turned to me.  But when she turned back to her window, there was this surprised look on her face, as if to say, “What are you still doing here?”

     She opened her window, and I offered my request, “Could I have some ketchup, please.”

     “Oh, yeah,” as she reached back, got a packet of ketchup, handed it to me as she looked at the car behind me.

     Needless to say, I did not feel as if I had been that fast food restaurant’s most important customer that day.

     In a world that has a way of turning a deaf ear to us, there is one whose ears anxiously await the sound of our voice, and the concerns that we bring.  Jesus.  Jesus tells a parable of a judge who finally listens to  the pleas of a woman who was wronged, and says, “If a callous judge will listen to a complaining woman just to get her off his back, consider how quickly God, who loves you with the life of his Son, will hear you. “(paraphrased)  When you pray, God listens with the attention given to the most important person in his heart….because you are.

     I have to admit that the church does not always listen with God’s ears, listening as if each and every person is of supreme importance. The church isn’t always good at listening to those who are on the fringe of society.  It isn’t always good at listening to those who are caught in the whirlwind of life.  It isn’t always good at listening to those who are wandering in life.  The church isn’t always good at listening to those who are young.   One young person went as far as to say, “I just want to be listened to as if I was actually there.”

     If you have found yourself feeling like I felt at that fast food restaurant when you have come to church, two things:  first, I hope you will forgive us for our cotton filled ears; second, I hope you will give us another try.  After all, we can’t listen if you’re not speaking.

     God’s ears are always perked open in complete, undistracted attention to us, no matter what the weight of the concern that we bring.  I know that the churches that I have served have worked, although imperfectly, to do the same.  So, let me offer two invitations.  First, I invite you to offer your prayers to God, no matter how big or little their scope.  Second, I invite you to come to church, leaving nothing at the door before you come in.  The truth is that God, and we, God’s church, really do want to listen to you for you are one for whom Jesus gave his life.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger