The Bungee Cord 9-17-18

Hello,

     I have had a lot of mishaps over the years during worship services, but yesterday I was faced with a new one.

     The church where I am serving on an interim basis is a mid-sized church building.  The worship space is well taken care of.  The altar is always carefully set when Communion is part of the service;  a pressed cloth covering the chalice (the cup for the wine), the folds draping it perfectly, and two additional perfectly folded cloth napkins to use as the wine is served.

     So, on Sunday as we were nearing the time for Communion, we were speaking together the faith that we hold in the words of the Nicene Creed (A confession of faith that was developed in the 300’s.  Lutherans speak the Creed together every Sunday as a way of connecting ourselves with Christians of all time and of all places, experiencing a taste of the unity of the Body of Christ that God is striving for.) Anyway, as I was leading the congregation in the Creed, I looked down on the altar, and there crawling across the white linens was a small black spider.  I watched it as it took its time, almost as if it was scoping out what was being readied for Communion.  As I watched it, I found myself getting a bit distracted from the Creed, and I muffed up a couple of the phrases, hoping that the people didn’t notice. It continued across the altar until it found the two folded cloth napkins, whereupon reaching them, it decided to crawl inside one of them.

     Uh oh!  What should I do?  I thought about doing nothing, but then it occurred to me that a scream from the person serving wine when the spider emerged from the napkin would sort of break the solemnity of Holy Communion.  I decided I needed to do something.  So as soon as the Creed was finished, I reached down and picked up the napkins and tried to nonchalantly   shake them in hopes that I could shake the spider out….without it landing on me and crawling all over me!  I shook them, but didn’t notice the spider coming out, but I didn’t notice it on the napkins, either.  

     I hoped that I accomplished my goal in delivering the spider from the napkins.  Unfortunately, I realized that in shaking the napkins, if the spider was freed from the napkins, it might now be crawling around on the floor where the people would soon be kneeling.  I did not think that I should stop the worship service and announce that a stray black spider had joined me to serve communion, and if I could be given a minute, I would try and locate it and take it outside.  Instead, I decided to press on, and by virtue that there were no screams or jumps, my assisting spider must have gone elsewhere.

     So, all’s well that ends well, and two things come to mind. First, if it has been a while since you’ve been to worship and you are worried that you might create a bit of a disturbance, as you can see, disturbances are part of worship. Second, no matter how big of a disturbance you fear you might cause, know this, you will be far more welcome than that little black spider!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Hello,

     I remember the first airplane flight I took. It was in 1981 and I was flying from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh to get married.  Having never flown before and not one who enjoys heights, I was a bit nervous.  I remember getting locked into my seat and listening with care as the flight attendant went through the safety instructions.  I remember taxi-ing to the runway, my heart beginning to beat a bit faster.  I remember with great clarity the engines throttling up and trusting us ever faster down the runway.  But most of all, I remember when the wings caught the air and we lifted off the ground, feeling every bump of turbulence on the takeoff, and certain that each bump was a sign of something wrong and that we would plunge back down to the ground.

     But no, off we sailed, and when we got up in the air I looked out my window in amazement.  Amazement at the small scale of everything on the ground.  Amazement at seeing clouds from the top-side rather than the underside. Amazement at the clarity of the air and the brightness of the sun’s light.  Amazement at being able to soar at speeds that would make my head turn. Amazement to be caught up in the wonder of flying.  I could have stayed up in the air for days.

     That was the first time that I flew, but now having flown a number of times some things have changed.  I don’t listen to the flight attendant’s safety instructions.  I don’t grab ahold of the armrests at take-off, and I don’t find myself caught up in the amazement of the things that I was amazed at on my first flight.  Now, I find myself impatiently waiting for us to reach our destination.  Flying now is all about getting somewhere.

     Living in the grace of God, I think, can have the same transition.  From amazement to just getting somewhere.  When one takes that first flight in the grace of God, it is easy to get caught up in amazement.  Amazement that God would so love a mere speck of his creation enough to send his Son so that God might have me forever.  Amazing! Amazement that God would so much love me that nothing in all of creation, not even me, could separate me from him.  Amazing! Amazement that even though I reoccuringly spit at God in the face, God forgives me…every time.  Amazing!

     But after soaring in the grace of God, it is easy to find one’s self merely focusing on getting somewhere…..heaven.  Perturbed by the turbulence of life.  Annoyed by those who travel alongside me.  Bothered by the delays and hoops to jump through.

     I was flying this weekend, and I don’t know why, but I found myself looking out my window, and I could feel amazement flutter through my soul….amazement over all those things that I encountered the first time I flew. And a wonderful thing happened. The bumps didn’t bother me, they were actually exciting.  I enjoyed the encounter with the people around me.  And the delays and security hoops were less aggravating.  Most of all, I found myself not preoccupied with impatience to get to my destination.

     As you get this Bungee Cord, let me invite you to look out the window of your life as you soar in the grace of God, and see the things that enveloped you in amazement when your flight began….the forgiveness, the awesome wonder, the unconditional love.  Take a look out the window, and see if the leg of the journey that you are flying today might be wonderfully different.  The bumps…the people….the time.  Oh, it is not that the eagerness to arrive at the journey’s end is any less pressing, but you just might discover that there is a lot to be amazed about along the way.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord   9-4-18

Hello,

     Are tomatoes a reminder of God’s grace?

     For me, this year, they are.  My wife is our family gardener, and this spring as she planted the garden she planted a bunch of tomato plants.  The exact number, I do not know.   All I know is that now that the tomatoes are ripening, we have tomatoes coming out of our ears.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like tomatoes, fresh now, and stewed in the winter.  But it seems like we have been hit with a Tsunami of tomatoes.

     Given the harvest, I am led to wonder, “How many tomato plants would have been enough?”  And therein lies the connection with the grace of God.

     When Jewish folks gather for the Passover meal, part of the culinary telling of the ancient story of the release of the Israelites from the Pharaoh’s torturous reign is a song entitled, “Da Da Yea Nu” (phonetic spelling of the Hebrew).  Translated into English; “It Would Have Been Enough”.  When they get to this point in the meal, one person starts by listing just some of the wonders of God’s grace that he had bestowed on his people leading up to the Exodus, the release from the Pharaoh.  Paraphrasing the song,(I don’t remember the exact listing) it goes something like this:

Leader:            It would have been enough if God, in his gracious mercy had created all things and ordered them to live in peaceful order.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader::           It would have been enough if God, in his gracious mercy, would have raised up a people from aged Abraham and Sarah.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader:            It would have been enough if God, in his gracious mercy, would have led them to a land full of milk and honey.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader:            It would have been enough if God, in his gracious mercy, would have cared for his people by providing food for them in Egypt while there was a famine in their land.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader:            It would have been enough if God, in his gracious mercy, would have provided homes for his people as they lived in Egypt.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader:            It would have been enough it God, in his gracious mercy, would have raised up a great leader, like Moses, to guide his people.

Gathered:        “Da da yea nu.  Da da yea nu. Da da yea nu.  Da yae nu, da yea nu.”

Leader:            But God, in his gracious mercy, rescued us from the tyranny of the Pharoah, and fed and led us in the wilderness.

     

     But that is the way it is with God and God’s dispensing of his grace.  From the very beginning of God’s story with God’s people, God has been unbelievably generous with his grace.  Just when it seems like the grace that God has given would have been enough…..God gives more….even to the point of giving of his Son so that he might eternally claim us for his own.

     Like an overwhelming harvest of tomatoes, God continues to overwhelm us with his grace….grace coming out of our ears!  I don’t know how many tomato plants would have been enough, but God has shown that when it comes to filling our lives with his grace…..to God, it is never enough! 

     Have a great week living in the overwhelming crop of God’s grace.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 8-27-18

Hello,

INDOOR AXE THROWING

     As I was driving along a busy thoroughfare, among the signs that hung in one strip mall was this one, INDOOR AXE THROWING.  Along with the words was an emblem containing an axe surrounded by a couple of squares standing on a corner.  The building looked innocent enough, dark glass frontage. INDOOR AXE THROWING.

     What was going on in this building?  Was it a clever name for a bar?  Or was it indeed what it said it was, an establishment to learn how to throw axes, all in indoor comfort?  Although it seems odd that such a business could be sustainable, I suspect that it actually was what it advertised.  Is this a new found fad sport?  Is it some twist on self-protection?  Axe throwing?

     In truth, it seems that many just might find axe throwing to be a helpful skill to have in today’s world.  After all, it does often feel like there are many things on our tails, some of them rather angry and fierce.  Bosses on our tails.  Family members constantly judging us.  Pressure to succeed stalking us.  Neighbors that make life difficult.

     As I look around, it does seem to me that a lot of axes are flying around, not literally, but certainly figuratively.  We’ve all learned in one way or another to throw axes, to cut people down, to chop away at a person’s weakest point.  Maybe a business that actually teaches people to throw axes is far more sustainable than anyone would think.

     Problem is that in a world with axes flying around, people get hurt.  You have to always be on guard looking out for an axe that may or may not be aimed at you. Anxiety erupts.  Fear abounds.  Enemies flourish.  Life evaporates.

     So, if you are tired of dodging axes and your arms have grown weary of throwing axes there’s a place where you can learn a different skill. A place where you can learn to throw your arms open to others with forgiveness.  A place where you can learn to throw open your heart to those who are hard to love.  A place where you can learn to throw yourself into the messy and tough parts of life with courage and hope.  A place where you can be nourished with divine strength to endure what the world throws at you.

     There’s a sign out in front of these places, too.  It is a sign that bears the name “church”, and often when you look at the building there is a cross that prominently marks that place.  A cross…not an axe.  The power that churns inside these buildings is the power of the cross….the cross on which Jesus opened his arms in an eternal embrace of mercy, a cross from which Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”, a cross upon which Jesus stood his ground in the messiest and most painful arenas of life, a cross where evil took its last breath and from which Jesus breathed eternal life three days later.

     If you are tired of dodging axes and throwing them, let me invite you to turn your car this Sunday morning into a place where the cross takes hold of you changing you with the power of God.  If you do, you still might get hit by some axes that the world teaches people to throw, but this is certain; the world will be a far better place if more folks throw around God’s grace and mercy….and you can be part of changing the world for good, and forever!

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 8-21-18

Hello,

     44 years ago, during the summer after my junior year of high school, four of us formed a lawn mowing company, and we mowed about 50 lawns in our suburban Chicago town.  “WumpKripBergerBuns” (our knick-names) was the company’s name.  It was a great adventure and a great way to spend the summer.

     Well, this past weekend we all gathered at my house in Western Pennsylvania for a reunion.  Gathered from San Antonio, Minneapolis, and St Louis.  I had not seen two of them in the last 40 years, and the third I saw once a couple of years ago.  I wore my high school baseball hat at the Pittsburgh airport, just in case the years had made me unrecognizable.  But apparently recognizable enough, we waved at each other as each one made their way down the escalator and greeted each other with a hug of friendship.  It was great.

     Friday night we had pizza (a meal that we regularly shared when we were teenagers), solved the world’s problems as we drank coffee (something we never drank when we were teenagers) on Saturday morning, went to the Pirates/Cubs game on Saturday (Thanks to Clint Hurdle for getting us down on the field for batting practice and a chance to say, “hello” to him), off to the 911 crash site on Sunday morning (it is about ½ hour away from my house, very moving), wings on the way to the airport, and then back in the skies they went.  A whirlwind of a weekend!  But it was great.

     Sure, we discovered that each of us had changed a bit over the years, mostly in weight, but at the core we found each other to be the same guys who pushed lawn mowers and ate at MacDonalds 44 summers ago. Even though all those years had passed without seeing or even talking with each other, it seemed like we picked up just where we left off.  Laughing. Caring.  Teasing.  It was great.

     It was great.

     Some of you who read the Bungee Cord may find yourself akin to me, in that it has been a long while since you have spent much time with your brothers and sisters in Christ in church.  Just like with my friends and me, life can take us all in different directions, making it easy to simply lose touch.  And in that time, we change.  The things we believed when we were young may not be the same.  The things that we liked when we were young may not be as appealing.  But at the core, there is something that doesn’t change, and that is that we who have been claimed in the blood of Christ are children of God.  (“see what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.  1 John 3:1)

     So, if you find yourself feeling a tug of your heart to have a reunion around the Table of the Lord with your brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope that you will go.  I hope that you will go and discover what I discovered this past weekend; no matter how long it has been, you can pick up just where you left off.   Laughing.  Caring. Teasing.  Praying.  Loving.

     And if you do, I hope that you will find yourself saying with me, “It was great!”

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord  8-14-18

Hello,

     A question that I am often asked is, “Where do you come up with your ideas for your Bungee Cords?”  Well, I try to keep my eyes open all week long for things that trigger my fingers. Other times my thoughts are perked by something that is happening in the world.   And other times the Tuesday pastor’s Bible study catches me, and that is the case for today’s Bungee Cord.

     At the Bible Study we go over the Bible readings that are assigned for the upcoming Sunday (all Lutheran Churches, and some other denominations, read the same lessons on any given Sunday throughout the world). One of the readings for this Sunday comes from the book of Proverbs, which is a book that deals with the place of wisdom in the world, which led us into a conversation about the roles that wisdom and faith have with each other.  Do they oppose each other?

     It seems like there are some people who think so.  For some Wisdom/Science is in a cosmic wrestling match with faith, each trying to make the other cry “uncle” and give up. They see faith being brought to its knees with each newfound scientific discovery and theory, or they see wisdom/science being taken down by that which seems unexplainable.  Those who seek wisdom/science are sometimes dubbed as idolaters by those who focus on faith, and those who seek faith are sometimes dubbed as superstitious by those who focus on wisdom/science.

     But are wisdom/science and faith meant to be wrestling opponents?  As I read the Bible, I don’t think so.  Instead, I think they are meant to be compliments to one another.  One way that I see faith and wisdom/science complimenting each other is that the more wisdom/science we come to know, the better we actually come to know and appreciate God.  When we discover the intricacies of molecular physics, the relationships of quantum mechanics, and the expanse of the universe we find ourselves having a clearer picture of the fingerprint of God in creation.  When we come to experience a God who is intimately involved in every moment of time and every molecule of creation, the T.V. screen of creation is transformed from black and white into living color.

     If science/wisdom can deepen our relationship with God in the same way that knowing the skills of a friend can deepen that friendship, then it seems to me that the encounter of science/wisdom and faith is a good thing. And if faith can add dimensions and color to the nuts and bolts of science/wisdom, then that seems like a good encounter, too.

     Some years ago, there was an advertising campaign of a series of posters put out by the Episcopal church, and on one of them was a picture of a coat rack hanging on the wall, and under the picture were the words, “We won’t ask you to check in your mind when you come to church.”  There are plenty of churches for whom this poster rightly applies.  

     Proverbs is a book that links wisdom/science together with faith.  As a matter of fact, it seems to me that the whole Bible does the same.  So, when you hear that God sent his Son to die and rise for you and that stirs your heart, know that you are invited to bring your brain with you as you explore the expansive of the wonder of the one who would love you that much.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord
8-7-18

Hello,

     Do you know  why hummingbirds bear their name?  I think It is because they humm when they fly.  Before we lived in our current house, the only experience that I had with hummingbirds was in the wide open and from afar.  But in this house we have a covered front porch that is edged with flower boxes, and when I sit on the porch I find myself visited by hummingbirds who are investigating the flowers.

     One time on the porch, my attention was directed at some computer work that I was doing when all of the sudden it sounded as if a helicopter drone had come to spy on me.  Not so, however.  As I looked up I saw the generator of the noise; a hummingbird.  Apparently, the rapid flapping of its wings, so fast that they are almost invisible to the human eye, stirs up enough turbulence that they make a humming noise.  A rather loud humming noise.  I guess that if I had been around to give them a name, I, too, would have appropriately named them “Hummingbirds”.

     Do you know why Jesus bears his name?  Well, “Jesus” means, “God saves”, and that is what Jesus did when God incarnated himself on earth.  I suppose that akin to my experience with hummingbirds, from afar it is not clear as to the reasoning for the name.  From afar, all one sees in Jesus is a simple, mid-eastern man, who stirred up enough trouble to get himself crucified, and whose followers said had risen from the grave.  From afar, it is hard to see much saving going on or believe it.

     But when Jesus draws near…when the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” are spoken and you are hit with the waters warmed with the grace of God…..when the words, “This is my body, given for you…This is my blood, shed for you”  fall upon your ears, and your ears only, as bread and wine are place in your hands….when there is a knock on the door, a door that never gets knocked on because of the judgments of the world on you, and it is a neighbor who when asked by you, “why are you here?”, and the response is, “Well, it just seemed like you needed to know that we still care about you.”….when the person sitting next to you in church looks at you straight in the eye and says, “the peace of the Lord be with you.”….when these things happen, happen near to you, there is a fluttering of God’s grace that makes it clear why Jesus bears his name…God saves.

     Contrary to the impression that is given when Jesus is seen only from afar, Jesus is not about making people good….Jesus is not about making people rich….Jesus is not about condemnation and exclusion….Jesus is not about making everything go ok…………Jesus is about saving, saving with divine mercy and forgiveness.  Jesus is about saving people from the undertow of life.  Jesus is about saving people from the jowls of life’s lions. Jesus is about saving from the wildfire flames of judgment that are boxing us in.  When Jesus draws near, it is clear why Jesus bears his name, clear because we experience it, Jesus is about saving.

     There are plenty of things in the world that can throw a life-ring at us that makes us good, that makes us rich, that makes us feel important, that makes us feel like everything is ok.  But unfortunately, those life-rings still leave us where we are at; in stormy waters, filled with sharks, frigid and cold.  Jesus, instead, has dove into this life, gathered us up in his cross stretched arms, and carried us out of death’s lifeless grave. Jesus, you see, saves.

     Hopefully this Bungee Cord has met you today as you sit on the porch of your life, being a vessel of Christ drawing near to you, and you have heard a flutter of God’s grace that will cause you to see why Jesus bears his name……God saves….you.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger