The Bungee Cord 9-11-17

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

The Bungee Cord  9-5-17

Hello,

     When tragedy hits, like hurricane Harvey, Christians and non-Christians often ask the same question, “Where is God in all of this?”  To this questions, Christians and non-Christians give a wide variety of answers.  As I have listened to the answers that have sprung up, I have heard some lean toward answers that propose God’s providence behind such things.  Others lean toward answers that seem validate their disbelief in God, let alone God’s presence.

     Given my stature among the great minds of the world, my answer is probably not even worth two cents, but having seen this tragedy befall, and countless others in my lifetime and ministry, I find myself likewise asking, “Where is God in all of this?”

     Here’s the answer that settles in my heart: my answer lies in the cross of Christ.

     As I ponder these things, it seems to me that the Christian faith was born out of the question, “Where is God in all of this?”.   Where is God as the one in whom many had placed their hopes to be the one who would rescue God’s people from the grip of their oppressors hung and dying on a cross?   It seems to me that this is the question that stands behind all that is written in the New Testament, and is fore-asked in all that is written in the Old.

     Where is God in all of this?  On the cross.  Not in theory.  Not figuratively.  Not partially.  But in reality. Literally.  Completely.  Timelessly in time drawing all things unto himself .  Bringing to an end (that is, death) what was, and bringing to life what would be.  Like a black hole drawing everything unto himself, all the while everything holding on for all its worth from being pulled in, moaning and groaning in a losing battle.

     The Bible says that from the cross Jesus gave a great shout, and then he breathed his last.  It is in that shout that every cry and tear that this hurricane produced was gathered, every shudder of fear and hopelessness that Harvey produced was drawn in, and every pain and hurt that that bully inflicted was divinely inhaled……and then suffocated in a final breath.

     Sometimes when I hear Christians try to answer the question, “Where is God in all of this?”, I hear an answer from them that seems devoid of the cross.  Devoid of the cross because their answer keeps God at arm’s length from suffering and pain.  When people say that God has intended such a tragedy in order that a greater good might happen….or when they say that God is inflicting God’s judgement upon those who deserve it….or that God has a reason and purpose for everything that happens…or that God has allowed this to happen in order that many more people might come to believe in him....they are saying that when tragedy happens, God stays removed from the misery, chaos, and despair that tragedies bring about.  And of course, that belies what God shouted from the cross.

     I know that what I have written may sound like thoughts, words, and concepts that weave together to make a beautiful theological tapestry, that might be beautiful to hang on a wall, but not something on which to hang one’s heart.  But like the embrace of a parent after a child has found herself lost in a crowd, the cross is not a theological theory or an enlightened idea.  It is an event….an event that theories, ideas and words cannot fully capture…..but an event that gives my heart settled hope …..settled hope because the one who died on the cross (an event!) rose from the grave (an event!)…. settled hope when I ask, “God, where are you in all of this?”  

On the cross.

Prayers for all who suffer and are beaten down.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 8-29-17

Hello,

     Surprise!

     Friday evening I had settled down to watch a news program when my wife called down to me that her brother, who we were expecting for a late dinner, had arrived, and I should come up to greet him.  The request seemed a bit odd, because he lives near us and often comes over for dinner, but it didn’t seem too odd to follow through on her request.  So, I climbed out of the couch and made my way up the stairs and to the front door.  When I opened the door, I discovered that my wife had lied to me.  It was not her brother.  It was my eldest son, my middle son, his wife (all from Denver), my youngest son, and his fiancée (both from NYC)!  Waving at me from their cars, the University of Illinois fight song blaring from a car radio, and in unison saying, “Happy Birthday!”

     Surprise!

     I was…….shocked, astounded, amazed, awash in joy…..surprised!  It was beyond my wildest dreams that my wife and my kids should pull off such a stunt of a cascade of love.  It meant the world to me, that my kids would so care to bring joy to my life that they would carve out time in their busy lives filled with their own personal interests to come and mark with me my 60^th birthday.  In a day and age when the ease of texts, skype, and phone calls bring people together, the fact that they came to be with me made a statement to me of their love for me that made an impression that delivered a dent of grace to my heart that can never be pounded out.  Humbled.  Blessed.  En-couraged.  En-livened.   Delighted.

     The three of them bookending 30 years old…well aware of my weaknesses and frailties, my failings and faults, my myopic vision …. still came to be with me at this milestone of my life.  Their visit ignited a vitality that will pulse for the rest of my life.

     Coming to be with someone carries a message that nothing else can match in clarity and in power, especially when that visit happens with no strings attached, attached from the past, the present, or the future.  When it is a complete surprise!

     That is the message of the Christian faith.  That the one who is fully aware of my weaknesses and frailties, failings and faults, my myopic vision…..my sins….would not just tell me that he loves me nonetheless, but would actually come to abide with me.  No strings attached from the past, the present, or the future.

John 1:14 ff., “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. “

     Surprise!  Maybe surprise is the spark that ignites the life changing grace and mercy of God our lives.  Maybe surprise is the spark that sets off the explosion of God’s love in our lives that leaves a dent that nothing….nothing….will ever be able to pound out.  Maybe surprise is what causes us to remember that God’s love for us is not extended because of who we are….it is extended in spite of who we are.

     The Christian message is this:  Jesus has come, does come and will come into your life to share it with you. 

     Surprise!

Have a great day.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger