The Bungee Cord. 2-13-22

Hello,

When I was a kid, it was a special treat to get in the car and go to Westmont, Illinois, a town a couple of towns away from ours, Hinsdale, and go to McDonald’s. McDonald’s were just making their way into the Chicago area and to eat at one was a new adventure. Hamburgers were small and $.15. Fries were a dime, and a strawberry shake was 20 cents. (I admit, I had to look the prices up.) My folks would each get a hamburger. My brother and I would split one. We’d get two fries to share among the four of us, and the real treat was the two strawberry shakes that we’d all share. My dad would walk into the glass front building with the golden arches on both sides, bring our meal back to us in a paper bag, and we would sit in our car and enjoy some fine dining.

But my how McDonald’s has changed. Its menu has expanded, its burgers are bigger (I remember when the quarter pounder came out…what a thrill!), and its prices have risen, a lot! The buildings are much more impressive, even offering wifi for customers. But something else has changed. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in at a McDonald’s after not having to been to one in a number of years, and I was caught off guard. There was no one at a register to take my order with a smile saying, “How can I help you today?” Instead, there were several kiosks with video screens where I was to place my order, screens that were a bit confusing to me with their directions, but no one around to give me any aid. I floundered my way through the ordering process, and when I had paid with my credit card (I think it would have taken cash, but I couldn’t figure that out either), I got a number to identify my order. I was supposed to select a seat, although I don’t think I did that right either, and then wait at my numbered seat for my food to be brought out to me. There were few people there, so in spite of the fact that I was not seated at my appropriate spot, a person found me, asked me of my number and then, without another word, placed my meal in front of me.

The thing that most startled me was that I almost got my meal without seeing a single human being. If my meal had been simply placed on the counter, and my number called to pick it up, that is what would have happened. My how things have changed. We now live in a world where human contact is disappearing. For a long time, we have just been a number in our governments world (SSN). When I went to the University of Illinois with tens and thousands of students, my test scores were posted with my ID number. With the anonymity of the internet, we are known by our telephone number. But I never dreamt of the day that I would have no human interaction at a McDonald’s, and I would be nothing more than a number on a Kiosk screen.

Being a number with no human contact doesn’t feel very good to me. It makes me feel like nothing more than one of a million items at the end of an assembly line. As a number, I feel no more treasured than a grain of sand on a beach. I have no reason to believe that the number giver cares anything at all about me; my struggles, my joys, my hopes, my dreams. Never seeing a face or shaking a hand brings on a chill of isolation and loneliness. After all, who cares about a number?

The amazing thing about our God is that to God I am not a number, and neither are you. When I consider the myriads of people who have walked this earth, let alone the vastness of the universe, God would have me know that I am a treasure to him. Unlike the McDonald’s, God does not hide behind the counter of heaven and keeps our encounters to an uncaring kiosk. No, God has stepped into human presence as a human who stretches out his arms on a cross and says, “I love you this much.” And God embraces us, one by one, with that cross born love when baptismal waters splash upon us, waking us up to God’s claim on us, “You are mine.” And he offers us more than just a smile and a handshake as he invites us weekly to a banquet table of pure grace saying, “this is my body…this is my blood…for YOU.”

For some, such a God is too hard to believe in. How could it be that God would care about the sub-atomic speck of the universe that you and I are. Admittedly, it is something that is hard for me to believe. But just as a human parent who is determined to have their child know that they mean everything to them, so God keeps on loving us with divine and unconditional love until we live our lives transformed with hope in God’s care for us.

The world, for the sake of profit, speed, precision, and ease may be turning away from human interaction. But God doesn’t care about profit, speed, precision, and ease. God cares about you and me, so God will keep on turning God’s face to us in love and embracing us with Jesus’ grace and mercy. Thanks, God!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord. 2-6-23

Hello,

Beware of Dog!

That is a sign that I have not enjoyed seeing when making a pastoral visit. Over the years when I have seen such a sign and a large drooling Chow Chow chained to the post holding the handrail, there has been significant enough fear rumbling through me that I have not gotten out of my car. In such cases, I have honked in hopes of alerting the visit-ee (pre-cell phone days), or I have pulled out my phone and called the visit-ee and have asked if they could do something with the dog. If the dog remained, I would leave, but if the dog was removed from my path, I would venture into the house with trepidation.

Sometimes the owner would come out of the house and wave me in saying, “Oh, he won’t hurt you.” When that happened, I still stayed in the safety of my can and explained that those words did not calm my fears. One time, the owner brought the dog inside, a black Chow Chow, and then came out and said, “Come on in.” Which I did, but when I sat down on the sofa, it came bounding out of the kitchen with death in its eyes (or at least that is what I saw in its eyes). Fortunately, it did not make a meal of me, but let me say that my visit was quick and when I left it was clear to everyone that my anti-perspirant had not overcome my fears.

Fear is a powerful thing. It can keep us from doing things. It can keep us from going places. It can keep us in line. But the problem with fear is that its power is not invincible. Throw a big juicy steak at the dog, and the dog no longer has a consuming interest in you. Get an armored vehicle and arm yourself, and the dog will become no more vicious than a gnat. Put a sedative in its food and you can stroll right up to the house as if the dog isn’t even there. Fear loses its power when fear is gone.

That is one reason why our prisons are filled to overflowing. That is one reason why kids experiment with drugs. That is one reason why there are so many unwanted pregnancies. That is one reason why people find themselves swallowed up in debt. And that is one reason why, I believe, that many people have no interest in Christianity.

Consider what most people believe the Christian message is. I think that most would say that the Christian message is, “You have got to believe in Jesus if you want to be saved.” Or, “You have to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior if you want to go to heaven.” Or maybe a little more harshly put, “Turn or burn!” In my ears, these things are fear driven words, because they all imply, “And if you don’t, you better look out.” Much akin to the sign, “Beware of Dog!”

But what happens when life hits you so hard that you say, “I can’t believe in a god who would let this happen to me!”? What happens when you find yourself on top of the world, drunk with success and you say, “I don’t need a savior.”? What happens when you are cruising through life in a hypnotic daze and you fall asleep at the wheel and find yourself plunging over a cliff of despair, and you say, “There’s no god.” Do you burn?

When I read the entirety of the Bible, which is well capsulated in these verses from the book of John, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’ (3:16,17), I do not see a God who has sent Jesus to scare us out of hell, but instead I see a God who has sent his Son, Jesus, to love us into heaven. Belief in Jesus is not meant to be driven by fear, but rather to be the result of being overwhelmed in love.

Apparently, God knows the inadequate power of fear: other things are more powerful, and fear’s power always wanes. That is why, when it comes to God relationship with you and me, God has chosen the power of divine love: love that nothing can overcome and separate us from God (Romans , and love that never ends (1 Corinthians 13).

The world is full of fierce, salivating dogs, but God is not one of them, God is the Good Shepherd who has laid down his life for his sheep, you and me, and God is not about to let that death be in vain as he takes hold of us with a unconditional embrace saying, “Fear not, I’ve got you.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

On my return from my recent trip to the Midwest, I was about 150 miles from home, and a red light appeared on my dashboard. The light was in the shape of an oil can, and under the light were the words, “Oil service needed.” I started pressing buttons to try and figure out the cause of the alert. I have been driving this car for about a year now, and I have yet to know how to manage the buttons and the touch screen. So, there I was cruising along at 70 mph with trucks and cars hemming me in, bewildered and wondering if at any moment my engine might explode. I couldn’t just pull over, and the nearest exit was miles away. I kept pushing buttons, and the alert still lit on my dash. Finally, I got to a screen that was monitoring my oil, and it said “Oil Level OK.”

WHAT?!?!? If the oil level is ok, why the alarm? Was something being misread? Was there some other problem? By this time, I came upon a rest stop. I pulled off, stopped my car, and began pushing buttons again to try and have the car tell me what the oil level was. Sure enough, the oil level was ok. After performing the check, the red light turned into a yellow light, “Oil Service Needed”. Still confused, I decided that if the light was yellow, I would just press on, hoping that I would make it home without ruining my car.

And I did! I called the Mini dealer and made an appointment to address the warning light. “Just bring it in,” they said. That is why I am sitting here in the service department writing this Bungee Cord. Apparently, what my car was telling me was merely that I needed an oil change. A lot of bluster for something so routine.

I have found the same thing happening as I cruise through life. Suddenly a red warning light goes off: “trouble at work”, trouble at home”, “trouble with friends”, “trouble with God”. “Service Needed!” My response to these life alarms is the same as my response to my car alarms; I start pushing buttons trying to figure out just what the problem is. The answers are unclear, and panic starts to set in. I push on, hoping that whatever is wrong won’t ruin my life. Finally finding some sort of rest stop, I quit pushing buttons, put my hands together, and give God a call.

“Just bring it in.” That is why I find myself sitting in a pew in God’s service center every week. Sometimes I discover that alarm that the world set off was far greater than the problem and changing the corrosive words that had been going through my head with the life renewing word of divine forgiveness is all I needed. In such cases, find myself almost laughing at how the bluster of the world becomes quieter than a whisper when Jesus speaks.

Of course, there are times in life when the situation calls for a loud alarm. Life can hit pretty hard, and we can mess things up pretty badly. When this happens and we cry out to God, God responds with the same words, “Bring it in”. And that is when God does major work on our lives. He begins with changing the fearful words in our minds with, “I am with you and I won’t leave you. You need not fear.” And then to cement those words, he unites himself with us. “This is my body…this is my blood…for you.” Jesus grabs ahold of us from the inside. “I’ve got you. We will make it through, together!”

It may be that when we leave that repair shop we might feel like we are still sputtering, but Jesus goes with us promising to keep working on our lives until we are renewed with hope, until we shake the dust off of the mess that has been clinging on, and until we fearlessly step on the gas pedal singing a song of thanks and praise.

“Just bring it in.”

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord 1-25-23

Hello,

I am stranded in South Bend, Indiana due to a winter storm warning across Ohio. I left last Monday to visit my folks and brother in Davenport, and since I was already 2/3 the way there, and I am a. schedule-less retiree, I went further on to Sioux Falls to see some old friends. It’s been a great trip up until now as I am stuck in South Bend for another day. When I have gone to get a meal, I make sure to wear my Illinois hat….don’t want people to think I am a Irish fan!!!!

A couple of nights ago I went in search of an evening meal, and I wound up in a nice Italian restaurant in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I took a seat in the informal dining room where two TV’s were on, and Family Feud was playing. As I have written before, I enjoy the program for its humor and the glimpse into our culture that it gives. Unfortunately, as I have seen in other TV provided restaurants, the sound on the TV was off. That meant that I had no idea what question the contestants were responding to. I could only see their responses. So, I thought it might be a fun exercise to try and figure out the questions. On a couple of the rounds, I could not even get an idea of the question, but on one round, I think (but I will never know because the sound was off) I figured out what the question was….first tile turned over, dark windows….second tile turned over, coffin….third tile turned over, no garlic….and with that I think I had discovered the question, “How would you know you were in a vampires house?” The rest of the tiles were flipped over, and although I forget what they were, they confirmed my guess.

This experience got me to thinking that quite often we find ourselves doing the same thing in life with God. The world has turned God's volume is off, and all we have to see to answer our questions to God are tiles that get turned over. When troubles come and we ask God, “What next?”, a doctor’s prognosis if flipped over. When confusion hits and we ask God, “Where am I?”, a bill comes in the mail. When we come to a fork in the road and we ask God, “Which way?”, a phone call from a friend is flipped over. The world does a good job of making so much noise, or clogging our ears so that it is hard…or even impossible…to hear God’s word to you and me, leaving us to try to faithfully discern God’s word by the tiles that are flipped over.

But apparently God is well aware of the world’s attempts to silence his voice, because God goes beyond just flipped tiles. God is determined to have his word reach us..He comes to us in tangible ways to answer us with unambiguous clarity. “What next?”, we ask, and Jesus dies on a cross to embrace us with a love that nothing can sever. “Where am I?”, we ask, and with the splash of water God stakes his claim, “You’re with me.” “Which way?”, we ask, and as bread and wine slide down our throat the word of God settles in our guts, “Have no fear, I am with you.”

It is true that God’s word can sometimes slip through the cracks of noise or the ear muffs that the world places on our ears, but even then it is often muffled or mixed up. That is why churches throw open their doors on Sunday morning (and other times) inviting people to come in….come into a place where stained glass windows block out the noise of the world…come into a place where the brutal cacophony of the world is shut out by the peace of God…come into a place where the love of God for you is magnified with universal power….come into a place that looks not at the failures or successes of your life, but as one who is Jesus’ victory prize…come into a place where you don’t have to try and have your questions answered by flipped tiles…come to a place where God’s volume is loud and clear.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace. (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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