Hello,
Some twenty years
ago I launched the Bungee Cord, and I have been writing it weekly ever
since. I began it when I was the pastor
of a church in a small town in Northwest Ohio in an attempt to make a Gospel
connection with 18-35 year olds. Some
folks of that age I connected with regularly as Sunday morning worship was a
consistent inclusion in their lives, but for the majority of them, it was not. Thus the name, ”The Bungee Cord”. Named so out of my scripture found conviction
that God’s tether of grace is one that stretches as far as the gravity of the
world might pull, and with the promise, “I will not let you go,” pulls us back
into God’s loving embrace. Like a bungee
cord.
I can imagine
that to some the idea of a tethering God is not a welcome message, because when
they hear it the image that comes to their mind is of a parent who tethers a
child when they wander about, like a leashed dog. Although such a tether might keep a child
safe, it also restricts a child’s curiosity, discovery, and adventure. Actually, I can understand why such an image
finds its way into people’s minds, because what folks often hear from
Christians sounds, at least to me, like such a tether. God, from what they hear, tethers us to keep
us from getting in trouble, from listening to others whose views may cause us
question, and to keep us under his power and control. It is a tether, however, that people hear can
be broken if pulled too hard. A tether
that God just might snip if God’s patience should wear out. A tether that really isn’t a tether at all
that holds us, but rather a rope onto which we much hold for dear life.
When I read the
Bible, however, that is not the kind of tethering God that I see. I see a tethering God depicted in the story a
shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in order to find the one that was lost, and
rejoices as he brings it home on his shoulders.
I see it in the story of a woman who loses one of her ten coins, and
determines she will sweep the entire house until she finds it, and when found
she celebrates with her neighbors. I see
it in the story of the Prodigal son who wanders off in rebellious mischief,
only to be drawn back to his father’s waiting arms by this father’s love that the
son felt even in his deepest failure. (All of these are in Luke 15.). God’s tether is not like some parental leash,
it is like a bungee cord.
As you live out
your life, maybe you, like I, see yourself daily traversing the girder of a
long and high bridge like a gymnast on a balance beam. Some days I am well balanced. Other days I teeter and totter. I am glad to have discovered that my life’s
journey is one that I can make with courage not fear, with hope not despair,
with joy not regret….all because God, in Jesus Christ, has tethered me in grace. So if I slip from the push of a hurricane
driven wind….if I jump in wild adventure, seeking a thrill….if I trip and fall….or
if I see the way rising to perilous heights…I will find out that like a bungee
cord, God’s grace will hold me tight, stretch as far as gravity will take me,
keep me from crashing, and bring me in a recoil of his love back to him.
Not a leash, but
a bungee cord. That is how the Bible
says God has tethered himself to you and me.
And I hope that my words are part of the Bungee Cord of God’s grace…..giving
you divine courage, hope, and joy every day of your life, and even on the day
when this life comes to an end.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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