The Bungee Cord

Hello,

Last week, a friend of mine and I went to Florida to take in a couple of Pirate preseason games and thaw out from the winter cold. As we were awaiting our flight in Pittsburgh, a man about my age sitting across from me noticed my Illinois baseball hat and inquired if I had gone there. I told him that indeed I went to U of I, and then he, who went to Maryland, started his tales of his college days, which in his words were a lot of “drinking and chasing girls”. His stories were mingled with a lot of flowery language, that is many words began with “f”, and then he went on to tell about how he and his college buddies go someplace every year to “drink and chase girls”, which he was on his way to do.

It was about this time in our conversation that asked me what I had done with my life, and I told him that I had been a Lutheran minister for 43 years. With that, he sat up a little straighter and said, “Well, I guess that you won’t be doing a lot of drinking and chasing girls.”

“No,” we both replied. He then “confessed” that he didn’t go to church very often, and he started telling me of his friends who were devout “born again” Christians. Then he said, with a little smirk in his eyes, “You know, as I am getting older, I am finding those things a bit more important.”

I suspect that many people, whether they are into drinking and chasing girls or not, would say that the concerns of the Christian faith become more important as they get older. The reason, I believe, is that as one ages, the sense of one’s mortality becomes more and more apparent. I know that it has for me. Having been through cancer, dealing with chronic high blood pressure, and wallowing through depression the arrival of my final day is not a distant thought.

However, for me, I do not find myself more attuned to my faith than when I was when I was younger. You see, for me, I do not find myself believing in Jesus so that I might go to heaven, on the contrary, I find myself certain of life beyond this life because I believe in Jesus. In other words, heaven is not the goal of my faith, Jesus, whose love for me is so great that he promises me a place in heaven, is my faith’s goal.

Truth to be told, I was far more concerned about things eternal when I was younger than I am now. I remember when I was a young adult waking up in the middle of the night, my heart racing over the specter of my death. The incompressibility of eternity brought me chilling fear. The final period that death puts on the story of my life was ominous. So, as I would lay there, electrically awake, I found myself saying to myself, “I have seen how much God has loved me in this life, and so I can trust that whatever the next life brings, it will be just as wonderfully filled with God’s grace to me. And with that thought blanketing me, I could go back to sleep.

As I have slept and awakened over the years with that faithful thought in my mind, I find myself far less anxious about my death. As a have gone to bed under the nightly prayerful protection of God and awoken each day under the shepherding care of the one who has named me as one of his own flock I find myself far less concerned about the day I will die, and far more concerned and thankful for each day that I live. I find myself far more interested in making the most of my days to love and help others. I find myself far more at peace with strolling through life rather than sprinting for victory. I find myself driven to be graceful rather than judgmental. I find myself living in the wonder and the joy of a Biblical verse that has brought me the light that no darkness can overcome, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” (1 John3:1)

It is my hope that each Bungee Cord that I send reaches those who read it with a weekly embrace of God’s love, so that those who read it might find themselves as I do, far more thank-full, joy-full, and peace-full the older we get.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord. 3-9-26

Hello,

It’s been nearly 30 years that I have sat down each week to bring a word of God’s grace through the Bungee Cord. I began this missive because there was a certain population of people who of whom I saw very few in worship: 18-35 years olds. With this observance, I decided that if they weren’t coming to me to hear the good news in Jesus Christ, I would go to them. Thus began the Bungee Cord. I dubbed it the Bungee Cord because I believe the Bible tells us that no matter how far one might stray from God, the reach of God’s grace will match that distance and lovingly gather people back, like a Bungee Cord. I have striven to make this weekly writing a message of grace and mercy, unlike the message that many hear purporting Christianity to be a repressive series of rules and judgments. John 3:16, 17 ,“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Having said this, I want to tell you about a group that I have joined in my town that meets monthly to discuss our nation’s foreign policies. It is a national organization that was developed decades ago to provide some citizen input to our nation’s involvement in the world. Communities all through the United States take their part in these groups. It is called “Great Decisions”, and a book is printed each year guiding us through selected topics. It has been very interesting.

As I take part in these discussions consisting of 15-20 people who gather at our local library in Ligonier, Pa., I have discovered that my input is often unique. Most of the input has to do with maintaining a competitive edge over other nations and acting to further our nation’s interests. People from multinational companies, college professors, and political junkies make up our group. I am amazed at the depth of their international experience and knowledge.

And then there is me. People in the group know that I am a pastor, and sometimes they respond to my input thinking me to be naïve and pollyainic (sp?). They do so because I find myself coming at our topics in a way that might best be described as seeing the world as a global community, and wondering how we and all nations can learn how to live next door to each other peacefully and respectfully. From my Christian way of thinking, I am reminded of Jesus responding to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”, and his answer was the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25ff), which also was the basis for Mr. Roger’s theme song, “Won’t you be my neighbor.”

I know that in my own neighborhood there are some people who are much easier to live next to than others, and one of them may be me. So, I am not surprised when a particular neighbor doesn’t tell me that they are going to trench over my power lines. Or, I am not surprised when another neighbor comes and graciously plows out my half-mile lane when the snow is deeper than our tractor can handle. Being a neighbor and having neighbors is part of life, and the things we do can make that a better place to live or an uglier place to live.

The truth is that God has determined to make our neighborly relationship with him the best it can be by tearing down any fence, calling off all the guard dogs, and showing unimaginable care for us, his neighbors, by sending Jesus. That includes you and me.

Riding the wave of God’s grace to you and me, I wonder what the global community might be like if we looked at the world as neighbors, people by no desire of their own find themselves with these neighbors. Rather than trying to “keep up with the Jones’” or “stake out our territory”, I wonder what would happen in our local neighborhoods and in our global neighborhood if we saw in our neighbors people who cry tears when a child dies, people who feel lost and alone in a world that they no longer know, people for whom daily bread is a daily need, people who enjoy laughing around a fire….

In these times, I find myself deeply concerned for my neighbors.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger 

 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

I went to visit a friend who lives about three hours away to watch the Illinois vs. Michigan basketball game. It was a short overnight visit. Our friendship goes back fifty years when we both attended the University of Illinois. We regularly message each other as we watch football and basketball games in our own homes and zoom with each other at halftime. But since I am retired (at least sort of retired) and the game was on a Friday night, I thought it would be great fun to go over to his place and watch the game together.

It may seem to be a long way to travel for a two-hour game, but the travel was well worth it. Modern technology enables a person to stay connected with others, but for me, it simply does not match being with someone. There is something deeper to the conversation when I am in the same room with that person, something more exhilarating in our cheers and boo’s as we sit in front of the TV, something more valued when we drown our sorrows side by side. I find that the mutual presence glues our friendship tighter. Being there, with someone, makes all the technological ways of keeping in touch a far second best.

When I consider how short of a period of time in the expanse or eternity and how far from the throne of heaven Jesus came when Jesus walked this earth, it may appear to some that his visit was an excessive effort. Surely, God could have kept in touch with his people is “technological” ways, and to be sure, he did. He encountered Moses in a burning bush. He sent an angel to Mary. He filled dreams with messages. But all of those things were decidedly second best to God, than when God incarnated himself in a human being and spent face to face time with us. God was there, in person, when Mary and Martha cried at their brother’s tomb, and Jesus cried, too. God was there, in person, when the storms at sea were swallowing up the boat they were in. God was there, in person, when people spat upon him, mocked him, and even crucified him. God was there, in person, when the disciples hid in a locked room fearing for their lives, and even came there again when Thomas was with them.

Knowing what it means to me to be with someone, face to face, I can only believe that God’s short in person visit to be among us was a treasure to him….well worth the trip. I know that it was a treasure to me. Because of that visit, God’s tears and mine are far more than just salty water running down our cheeks. Our dances of joy are far more than knowing the right steps. The problems we carry do not weigh as heavily on our shoulders. Our relationship is not just Elmer’s glued together, but Super glued together.

I am very thankful for the “technological” ways that God and I stay in touch….prayer, baptism, holy communion, worship, and the like…but I am looking forward to the day when we meet again, face to face, in the mansion that holds a room for me, so that I may be “where Jesus is, forever”. And even though that trip will take me through the valley of the shadow of death, I am confident of this: it will be well worth my time and travel.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger