The Bungee Cord
Hello,
“Every party has a pooper, that’s why we have toilet paper……”, so the song goes, and often it is true. Sometimes there is someone at a party that is meant for joy and celebration that douses the party with emotional water that puts the fire out. Commenting about someone’s taste in clothing. Criticizing the food. Worried about an empty glass left on the table. Determined to bring up gossip and rumors. “Every party has a pooper…..”
I wonder if people think that is what is going on inside churches every Sunday? “Can you believe that she wore that to church?” “How can they serve such dry communion bread?” “Didn’t you see how the pastor’s stole was not evenly draped?” “Look who is in church today. Did you know that he….?” I know that people hear these things seeping out through church walls, and since that is what they hear, they have no desire to go to a gathering like that. “Every party has a pooper….”
But to poopers of Sunday morning worship celebrations, I hear Jesus say this, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…….and I have come that they may have life, and have it abuntantly.” Jesus is no party pooper, he is the life of the party! When Jesus comes to his Sunday morning parties, he starts singing a reveling song about opening a prison of guilt and setting the prisoner free, and he gets everyone to start singing along. When Jesus comes to his Sunday morning parties, he grabs ahold of peoples’ hands and starts dancing around in a victory dance over death. When Jesus comes to his Sunday morning parties, he looks for the hurting and fearful and pins a rose on their jacket to let them know how much he cares. When Jesus comes to his Sunday morning parties, he stands at the door and embraces people who seemed to have lost their invitation and says, “It is great to see you here!” When Jesus comes to his Sunday morning parties, his grace is so infectious that when people leave his party they infect the world with that same grace. As the Gospel of John says, (paraphrased) “Jesus is the life of the party!”
That is not to say that Jesus’ Sunday morning parties are meant to be full of frivolities that ignore the pain and suffering of those in the world or those who attend. It is not to say that those whose eyes are dripping tears should stay away. It is not to say that skeptics and doubters should be turned away at the door. Folks like these are not party poopers, they are real people in need of hope, peace, joy and love.
No, the party poopers are the ones who stand at the door of the church and try and keep Jesus out. The ones who hand Jesus a list of rules and regulations that he must agree to before entering. The ones who pat Jesus down to make sure that he isn’t sneaking a megaphone in. The ones who question his reputation, who his friends are, and which side of the tracks he lives on, politically speaking, that is. It is true, I believe, that every (church) party has a pooper, or even a lot of them…and sometimes, I am one of them.
But every Sunday morning party does not belong to the poopers. Each and every one of them belongs to Jesus. They are his parties, and he, the life of the party, will not be kept out. Jesus sneaks his way in. He sneaks his way in in the cry of a baby sitting next to a woman who has just received a terrible health prognosis. He sneaks his way in through a bad note played by the organist. He sneaks his way in in the heart of a teenager who awkwardly stands afraid to be uncool and sing. He sneaks his way in with a splash of water on a baby’s head, and a piece of bread and sip of wine sliding down an anxious throat. The truth is that Jesus won’t let himself be kept out of his Sunday morning parties.
So, if you tend to believe that all those Sunday morning parties are full of nothing but party poopers, I believe that you are wrong. There is at least one at each and every one of those Sunday morning parties that is the life of the party, and gives life to everyone who comes…maybe life unbeknownst to them.
So, please receive this Bungee Cord as an invitation, not from me, but from the one who throws a party every Sunday morning, who is the life of the party, and who promises to be there ….to come to his party. You may be surprised what life you find there!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
The Bungee Cord
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