Bungee Cord
12-3-12

Hello,

     I drive a Mini Cooper.  It was a great car in which to travel the expanses of South Dakota, and it is a great car in which to travel the winding and hilly roads of Western Pennsylvania.  The long and straight roads through the Dakota prairie was optimum terrain for great mileage, and the curly-cue roads around here are an optimum terrain for a lot of fun!

     Over the course of the years that I have driven my Mini Cooper, I have discovered something unique about driving a Mini Cooper: Mini Cooper drivers wave at each other as they come upon one another on the road.  I’ve driven other types of cars, and I can’t say that anyone waved at me through their windshield because we motored in the same kind of car, but it happens to me all the time in my Mini.  Those who have waved at me have been varied.  Some who are young and some who are young at heart.  Some whose stature is akin to the size of the car and some who have squeezed into the car like an undersized shoe.  Women and men.  It’s a varied crowd who sit behind the wheel of a Mini Cooper and wave at each other, a wave of acknowledging the unique bond that we have as Mini Cooper owners.

     If you take a seat in our church on any given Sunday you will find the same sort of thing happening.  There is a varied crowd of people who “wave” to one another as they pass along life’s way because they share a unique bond, the bond of rolling through life as children of God.  In the middle of our service we get out of our seats, walk around and shake one another’s hands saying, “The peace of the Lord be with you.”  Some of the people are known to the shaker and shake, and some are unknown.  Some are people who sit in the same pew every Sunday, and some are people who have taken their seat in a pew for the first time in a long time.  It doesn’t matter who you are, when you come to our church you will receive a peaceful and friendly “wave” from those whose lives are led by the hood ornament of the cross.

     In the day to day grind of traffic where people are more apt to honk in frustration, gesture in anger, and even burst out in rage, I find it refreshing to be the object of a friendly wave simply because of the car that I drive, and in spite of my skill in driving it. So, in the course of your weekly commute through life, let me invite you to come and take a seat in a pew and in spite of the accidents you may have caused this week, in spite of the roadblock your failures that have slowed you down this week, and in spite of the distractions in your life that have gotten in the way of others….come and be refreshed by the peaceful and friendly wave from those who treasure you solely because the unique bond that you share, the cross of Christ.  And who knows….maybe that wave will be just what you need to get back on the road this week with a genuine smile of joy on your face, and a tankful of peace in your heart.

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger