Bungee Cord 8-25-14

Hello,

     My wife and I went brush hog hunting today.  They are not very easy to find.  We heard that there might be a couple near Johnstown.  So, we loaded up our gear and headed east…through Laughlintown….then Jennerstown…..then Stoystown….and finally got to Johnstown.  Sure enough, at the edge of Geistown we spotted one, just as we had heard….a tan brush hog with black markings.  It was a beauty.

     If you’ve never seen a brush hog, know this: they are dangerous.  They prowl through fields with vicious hunger,  devouring anything in their path.  They chomp through two and three inch trees like there were mere toothpicks.  So, you can only imagine what would become of you or me if a brush hog got ahold of us.

     As with most hunts, the first one you see isn’t always the one you take home.  “You might have better luck 4 or 5 miles south of here,” a guy who knew a thing or two about brush hogs told us.  So, determined not to get skunked, we loaded up again and picked up our hunt toward the south.

     With all the twists and turns, we could have easily gotten lost and would have had to give up on our hunt, but being the experienced frontier folk that we have become, we found the spot where rumor was that some brush hogs had been spotted.  Once again, our info was right….true, they were a little bit harder to see from the road than the first brush hog,…..and we drove right by them.  But when we realized that we had ventured too far, we turned around and retraced our tracks slowly, and glancing to our right we spotted them…a family of brush hogs…one that looked to be 6 feet, another that was surely 5 feet, and one that was smaller yet…maybe 4 feet…looking kind of like Goldilock’s three bears.

     “Yous folks hunting for a brush hog,” said a guy who spotted us.

     “Sure are,” we said.

     “Well, thems is some mighty fine ones that yous is lookin’ at right here.”

     These were reddish in color, and although we had hoped to snag us a tan one, and we also knew that we could have tried to track down a deere,  nevertheless we decided to take our aim at the middle size brush hog that we had spotted before it got away from us.  And with the click of a credit card bouncing on the cash machine’s desk the hunt was over.

     In a couple of hours, the said, red brush hog is to be delivered to our house, and with a few turns of a bushing, we will have ourselves an implement to attach to the back of our tractor to mow the fields and woods of our property.

     Thirty-plus years ago when I decided to follow a calling to be a pastor, I would have never dreamt that this there to before suburbanite kid whose hands tended to swell up when lifting bales of hay would be hunting down a brush hog to mow fields in rural Pennsylvania….but here I am!  Just goes to show you that although there are times when following the call to serve Christ is a tough row to plow, there are other times (like hunting a brush hog) that are just plain fun!

     Hope the calling that you have followed is likewise peppered with such plain fun times!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 8-18-14

Hello,

     There’s no place like western Pennsylvania in the fall to experience the beauty of creation.  We aren’t there yet, but the beauty is beginning to blossom.  In these late summer months the field behind our house has begun to shimmer with the golden rod just in time to accent the dark purple flowers of the Joe-Pye weed.   There are still a few bright orange Butterfly Weed that had reached their prime a couple of weeks ago, and the Heliotrophe (aka, False Sunflower) that stands 8 feet tall lines the paths that we cut through them when they were just a few inches tall.  The Queen Ann lace has begun to set its doilies on the field grass, and the Milkweed is ready to dust the land with its snow.  And this is only the beginning!  Wow!

     I often hear people talk about nature’s testimony to the existence  and character of God as they cite the awesome beauty of nature that amazes them(and me) , but amid the beauty there’s also the opposite.  There are storms that bring devastating hail and winds.  There are earthquakes and floods.  Garden plants once full of the fruit of the vine begin to wilt and decay.  Cold winds chill parents at soccer games and homeless people on the street, and the daylight disappears into darkness.

    To me, nature paints a very confusing picture of God.  One might stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of all that is around us, but at the very same time one certainly stands in confused disbelief when famines bloat the stomachs of children.  Actually, the randomness of nature might lead one to all the more distrust the God that is seen behind it than to believe in that One, and in our ever increasing knowledge of nature some are led to see even less of God in it.

     From the very beginning of the Christian faith, it has not been nature that has stirred belief and trust, but ironically something that had previously been used to create fear and terror….the cross.  In the cross of Calvary, the cross on which Jesus hung, there is a clear picture of God’s character and power.  With an eye on the cross one can see nothing but sheer grace and mercy (⁷Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.(Romans 5)), a beauty far more beautiful than sunset and fields of flowers.  With an eye on the cross one can see nothing but ultimate power (¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (Romans 6)).

      True, it takes eyes of faith to see these things in the cross, but just like a lover seeks to transform the eyes of the one who is loved into eyes of love….so, it seems reasonable to me that the One upon whom I can place my trust in life and in  death would be seeking to transform my eyes into eyes of faith and trust….and your eyes, too.

     Don’t get me wrong.  My heart is stirred by the beauty of the creation, and my doubts are likewise stirred at the heartless power in creation.  But that is why I go to church on Sunday mornings….to hear and see something that opens my eyes to that which wonder cannot capture and confusion cannot destroy….the love of God with which God is wooing me…wooing me so that I might live in peace, hope, and joy.  And as I step into the darkness of death, I might lay myself down in that same peace, hope and joy, resting in the arms of the one whose hands have held me in life.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,  (GGAP)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 8-10-14

Hello,

     This morning as I was standing out in front of the church waving at the people in the cars that drove by, one of the cars came to a stop in the middle of the northbound lane.  It caught me by surprise, because for the past 2+ years that I have been doing this, no one has ever stopped.  There was a single driver in the car, and the window was rolled down.

    The driver was a young man, maybe in his late 20’s.  As he stopped, he looked toward me, and I could tell he was going to say something….directions?....heckle me?...laugh at me?  None of those things.  Instead he said, “I want to come to this church this morning, where can I park my car?”  I was a bit stunned.  Even though I have been waving at people for 2 years, I guess that I have never really expected any of them to stop and say they wanted to come to church.  I found myself stumbling over my words as I told him how to get to our parking garage behind the church.

     As he drove down the block to turn at the corner, I wondered if my blubbering may have caused him to change his mind, but a few minutes later, I looked to my right, and there he was coming out of the church to meet me, guided by one of our members.

     “I see you found the parking garage,” I said to him

     “Yeah…no problem,” he said back.

     “You live in Greensburg?.... What’s your name?”, the standard barrage of questions I tend to ask of those whom I don’t know.

     I found out that he has lived here his whole life,  and what his name is.

     “So, where are you in life?...in school…working?”

     He told me what his day job is, and then he said a most curious thing, “I am writing a book.”

     “About what?”  I said.

     “About the existence of God.  Does God exist….or doesn’t he.”

     “Well, I am glad you’ve come here.  There’s plenty in the world that would make us wonder about the existence of God, and I am always impressed with people who wrestle with the deepest concerns of life.  You won’t be alone wrestling in there (the church), I am sure that many people will be wrestling along with you.  I hope people know that the church is meant to be a place to bring life’s deepest questions and doubts.  It’s in the wrestling that the truth comes out….the world’s truth….or God’s truth.”

     So, after inviting him to give me a call where we can wrestle together, he left me, walked into the church, and I went back to my waving.

     It has come to my attention that many assume that those who come to church are avid “believers”.  And when asked why they don’t come to church, their answer is, “Well, I don’t know that I really believe it.”

     Well, let me say this: I am not too sure that everyone…or even the majority of those who come to church “really believe it”.  I am pretty sure that there is a mixture of belief and doubt in almost everyone who comes to church….some with doubt so strong that they are like a very weak bar drink, not much kick of faith in them at all….others come like a pure shot of whiskey, with a warming faith that goes all the way to the belly.

     Personally, I believe that the church was never meant to be a place just for those who “really believe it.”  No, I believe that the church was always meant to be a place for those whom Jesus has invited to engage in a friendly wrestling match….a wrestling match for the truth…does God exist?....Does God care about me?....Does God care about the world?....Is it true that I am a loser?....Can I ever be forgiven?...How can I find meaning and purpose in life?....Why is the world in such a mess?

     I hope that this Bungee Cords has been like a street side wave to you, inviting you with the invitation of Jesus to come to church on Sunday, not because you “already believe it”, but because Jesus is looking forward to having a friendly wrestling match with you.     “Ready….wrestle!”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 8-4-14

Hello,

     Note to self: do not take an antihistamine before going to church.

     As some of you will remember, a couple of weeks ago my ear tubes plugged up and my world spun with nauseating revolutions.  When I woke up this past Sunday, I could feel my ears plugging up again, so to ward off a whirling adventure in church, I took a decongestant that happened to have an antihistamine in it, too.  It was the same pill that I took a couple of weeks ago that brought the ceiling spinning to an end, so I figured it would be just the trick for my Sunday morning needs.

     The thing that I did not realize, though, was when I took the pill before it was in the middle of the night so I didn’t think twice about how fast I fell back asleep.  So, when I hopped in my car at 7:00 to go to church I chalked up my drowsiness to the couple of hours of sleep that I had lost in the middle of the night, and not to the contents of the pill that I had taken.  When church began at 8:15 I noticed that there seemed to be some clog between my brain and my mouth as I was having a bit of trouble getting my mouth to say what my brain was telling it.  But when it came to sermon time (my associate was preaching) and I sat down, suddenly I felt a wash of drowsiness come over me.  That is when I realized the power of the antihistamine that I had taken.  I fought off the sleepiness, made it through the sermon, served communion, gave the benediction, and after I shook hands with people at the end of the service I went and splashed some water on my face, hoping to jolt me awake for the second service.

     It didn’t work.  As the second service began I was no less drowsy.  Actually, my drowsiness had increased.  When I stepped up to start the service my legs were a little wobbly with sleep, and I had to concentrate hard with my words as if I had just been to the dentist and the Novocain was wearing off.  If it was a challenge to stay awake at the first service, it was immensely more difficult at the second service.  Although I think my head bobbed a couple of times reminding me of when I was in high school and weekly fought off sleep during the sermon, I made it through the sermon without dozing off.  I was in a bit of a fog as I said the prayers, served communion and gave the benediction.  When the worship service was over and I got into the car with my wife, I said to her, “I won’t take one of those pills before church again!”

     Some might say that I got nothing out of those two worship services, and they would be right if the only thing to get out of worship was what my antihistamine fogged mind could take in.  But because I was at church, I was able to share a high five with a toddler who is just beginning his life of faith.  I was able to talk to some folks for whom life has been a pot-holed road.  The Lord, in the mystery of his Supper, united himself with me, filling me with mercy, hope, peace and joy that only he can give.  I received the blessing of the Lord to carry me back out into the world as the congregation echoed the benediction back at me.  And the groove of God’s grace was etched a little deeper so that the efforts of the world to scratch it out would all be in vain.

     So, if you were up late on Saturday night that makes you tired…if you have a lot on your mind that is distracting and worrying you….if you have a full day ahead and you wonder if it is worth your time to go to church…if you find your faith in Christ is faltering and wavering…if you feel like a hypocrite to go to church and so you shouldn’t go to church…….if you think that you won’t get anything out of it…..please hear this………Jesus still wants you to come to church because there is far more to worship than what you are able to store up in your mind.  But one word of advice: don’t take an antihistamine before you come to church!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger