Hello,
It was 12:15
a.m., and my phone rang. Usually, for a
pastor, not a good omen.
“Get up dad! The Cubs just went ahead!”
It was my son who
lives in Colorado who was watching the last game of the World Series. I had been doing so until midnight when the
game was stopped for a rain delay.
Truthfully, I didn’t give up on the game because of the rain delay and
the late hour. As a long time Cub fan, growing
up in Chicagoland, over and over again I have soared with the Cubs in a hot air
balloon of hope only to have a spear of defeat puncture my hopes and come
crashing to the ground. When the game
was tied in the last innings, I feared that I was witnessing yet another crash….a
crash that I did not want to see. So, I
went to bed, and I texted my son to tell him so.
"Get up
dad! The Cubs just went ahead!"
So, I got up and
watched the last nail-biting inning that proved my fears wrong. Victory!
After 108 years of dashed hopes.
Victory! Cubs win!
But it is just
baseball. Not life.
For many, and
maybe you, life has been full of dashed hopes and hot air balloon rides hit
with missiles of failure. Shame and
guilt have snatched joy and peace right out of your hands just when you think
you have a hold of things. Fear explodes
when things finally seem to be going better.
Ever repeating disappointment easily translates into impending doom and
gloom, and many are drawn to turn off the T.V. of life. Some turn off the T.V. of life and fall into
a dream world of over indulgence to numb the pain. Others find themselves getting caught up
accumulating anger that a small spark can explode. Others turn to cynicsm and despair and toss
and turn through life thrashing out at everyone. And some find the despondency so overwhelming
that they haunted by self-destructive thoughts and actions.
But Sunday after
Sunday, my alarm which is on my phone goes off at 6:30 a.m., and although my alarm
ring tone is a startling buzzing noise, I can hear amid the buzzes the voice of
God, “Get up Jerry! Grace just went
ahead!”
Some days the
fight against everything that would keep me in bed is harder than others, but
the excitement that I hear in the sleep stirring buzzing, is enough to pull me
out of bed. It is enough for me to throw
on my clothes and drive to where that voice is coming, to church. And when I get there I don’t just watch the
nail-biting events unfolding before me, I am also involved in them. I can see the enemy still trying to strike me
out with curve balls, change ups, and fast balls that travel with a sonic boom.
But I also see
grace getting a base hit when I hear the words, “As a called and ordained minister
of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I declare to you the entire
forgiveness of all of your sins.” I see
grace doubling when the music and the lyrics hit into the gaps of my
heart. I see grace loading the bases up
when someone reaches out to me, looks me in the eye and says, “the peace of the
Lord be with you.” And I see grace hit a
grand slam when I am kneeling at the altar and as bread and wine are placed in
my hands, I hear, “This is the body of Christ, given for you….This is the blood
of Christ, shed for you.”
I am glad that I
got up to watch the Cubs win, but I am even more glad that I get up every Sunday morning and see how hard
God is fighting to win…to win in my life….to win in me the victory that has
already been won on the cross. And here’s
the thing; in seeing a bunch of persevering baseball players finally latch onto
victory, I have even more faith that as the Lord perseveres with me….with you….when
the final pitch is thrown there will be an exclamation that will fill the
universe… “GOD’S GRACE WINS!”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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