The Bungee Cord. 4-5-25

Hello,

The death of Pope Francis is news the world around. I was watching one of the network national news shows and discovered that the news programming is going to come from the Vatican until the new pope is selected. Clearly, Christians and non-Christians are finding themselves in the know about a major event in the Roman Catholic expression of the Christian faith.

To many who look at Christians from outside of the faith, and also many who are on the inside, the denominational makeup of Christians is confusing. People ask, “Why all these denominations?” Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutherans, Episcopal, Methodist, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian, Baptist, Quakers, Pentecostal…..on and on it goes. And even within these denominations there are separate groups. Within the denomination of which I am a pastor, Lutheran, there are ELCA Lutherans (of which I am one), Missouri Synod Lutherans, Wisconsin Synod Lutherans, Lutheran Brethren, North American Lutherans, and numerous smaller groups of Lutherans, and that is just in the United States. “Why all these different groupings? Can’t we just be Christians?”

Well, my answer to the question, “Can’t we just be Christians?”, is , “We are.” All those who profess God as triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are Christian. Early in the development of the Christian faith, Christians developed a couple of universally accepted statements of faith, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed to lay out the kernel of the Christian faith, and in many Churches of many of the denominations, one of these creeds is recited each week in worship, aligning the worshippers with Christians from the beginning of the faith. In reciting the Creed, in no matter what denomination it is said, we are saying to each other and to the world, “We are Christians.”

So, “Why all these different groupings?” Well, I find myself saying, “Because God is big enough to wrap his arms around people who are very different.” In my understanding, just like shoes, one size does not fit all. So, using the shoe analogy, the multiplicity of denominations is a result of the size of people’s feet and the kind of shoe that various people need. In my mind, no group of Christians has the corner on the truth, but each group provides a Biblically legitimate corner of the truth where individuals can find a place for themselves, and when all the corners are joined together, so also is the truth. Mixing the metaphors, I see the Christian faith akin to an orchestra, where each section of the orchestra, under the direction of the conductor (Jesus), does its best to play its part of the score, and when that happens, beautiful music is made. Music that is made by only one instrument is limited in its expression and fullness.

Unfortunately, there is another reason for the numerous denominations, and that is people are sinful, and that sinfulness cleaves the Church. We are not always very good at getting along with each other and practicing the humble love that Jesus embodied. That, in my mind, is sad.

So, if you are one who is asking, “Why all these groupings?”, I hope that this Bungee Cord has helped you understand, but more so, I hope that it has helped you see that no matter who you are (no matter what shoe you wear, or what instrument you play), Jesus has created a space just for you. A place where his love for you resonates with your heart. A place where you find strength and hope to step out into the world. A place where forgiveness and mercy shape your life, and a place where peace embraces your days.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 Hello,

I am sitting on a lounge chair in the Dominican Republic overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I am here with my grandson and his parents to celebrate his fourth birthday. For those of you in the colder climes, it has been sunny and 85 degrees for the past four days. We are here with one of my son’s friends who grew up here and is showing us his country. We are not on a resort, but we are staying in a small town, rubbing shoulders with the people. It has been a wonderful time.

As we were getting acquainted with our “tour guide”, he said to me, knowing that I am a pastor, “I am not a believer,” almost apologetically. I already knew that as my son had told me of his friend’s exclusion of God in his life. So, when he told me that he was not a believer, I was not surprised, but I wish I had been smarter. My response to him was, “That’s okay,” as I am not here to judge my son’s friend, but to experience his country and get to know the people. Like I said, I wish that I was smarter, because in hind thought, I wish I would have said, “Well, the God that I believe in still loves you.”

You see, he is a rather rough and tumble guy, and he has left in his wake a bunch of life’s refuse. Since he is significantly older than my son (he’s a coworker), he has put a lot of miles on his life. “Crusty” and “rebel” might be the best words to describe him. He grew up in a very religiously legalistic home in the mountains of the Dominican Republic from which he has demonstratively strayed, but all in all a very friendly and welcoming guy. It has been a delight getting to know him, and I hope that he would say the same of me.

I suspect he was a bit nervous about being our “tour guide”. For one, I know he wanted to roll out the red carpet for us. And secondly, I don’t think he has spent concentrated time with a pastor for years. I know he did not want to offend me in our time together, and I think he feared my judgment. I am sure that his candid confession of not being a believer was said with some fear and trepidation. “I am not a believer.”

I wish I had been quicker on my feet.. Although my response seemed to put him at ease, I wish my response could have done more. I wish my response would have spoken more deeply to his fears of my judgment, rather than just speaking to his intellectual theological position. I wish I would have said, “The God I believe in still loves you.”

I am certain that he is not alone in his confession. As a matter of fact, I think that disbelief in God is an honest confession that everyone wrestles with, some with more ferocity than others. I, myself, can find myself on this divine wrestling with some regularity, and when I am trying to pin my disbelief down, I hear two things. One thing I hear from the coach saying, “If you want to stay on this team, you better get a pin.” The other thing I hear is from the fans, cheering me on just for being on the floor, “Go at it. We’ve got your back!”

That is who I wished I was to our “tour guide” when he told me that disbelief was getting the best of him. I wish that I would have said something for him to know that I am glad to have him on my disbelief wrestling team. Something that would have conveyed to him that as far as I am concerned, and as far as God is concerned, it isn’t how victorious he was in his battles with disbelief. What matters is how successful God is in God’s battle with disbelief, and God pinned disbelief at the end of a three-day match….pinned forever.

So, today, as you get up from the wrestling mat, tired and worn out, I am throwing this Bungee Cord at you like a towel, and I say to you what I wish I had said to our guide friend, “The God that I believe in loves you."

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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 The Bungee Cord. 4-6-25

Audio/Visual on Facebook, Jerry Nuernberger

Have a great week,

God's grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 3-31-25

Audio/Visual on Facebook, Jerry Nuernberger

Have a great week.

God's grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 3-24-25

Hello,

Mondays are the day that I deliver Meals on Wheels to fourteen people. It is the “Donegal Route”. We always go out in two’s just in case the meal receiver is having difficulties. The people we serve (who are officially called “clients”, but that name disguises the fact that they are people) are of varied needs, and because we bring a daily meal to them, they are able to remain in their homes until their needs surpass their abilities.

The meals are homecooked out of the kitchen of the church to which I go, Bethel Lutheran Church. For many years, it was just a small kitchen in the corner of the basement, but for the last ten years or so, the meals have been cooked in a larger, professionally equipped kitchen in an addition that the church constructed. Every weekday morning, a different three -person crew shows up early to make and cook the meal for the route that I drive and the other route, the “Rector route”. Ham, scalloped potatoes, corn on the cob, a salad and a brownie. Backed chicken, those little potatoes, beans, an apple, and a cookie. Just samples of the treats the cooks cook up. When I walk in the building at 10:00 a.m. the smell of the meal ignites my saliva glands. The food, however, is not for me.

The meals are placed in reusable plastic trays and placed in a heated satchel. The cold parts of the meal are placed in paper bags. Once loaded in my car, my delivery partner and I hop in my Mini to wind our way through the hills and valleys of our area to the homes on our route. The reception at each of the houses is unique. Some of the places have placed a small refrigerator on their porch, instructing us to put the food in it, and we rarely see the recipient. But the vast majority of the people await our delivery, and when we knock on the door, we get a chance to greet them face to face. Some are pleasant. Some are a bit grouchy. Some are unable to get to the door, so we walk in and shout, “Meals on Wheels”, and find the person resting in a recliner. There is usually at least one person, who in their loneliness or confusion needs someone to talk to, and so we spend a little time doing so.

I suspect that for most of our people, the world spins too fast for them to keep up, and when that happens, I suspect, they can easily feel forgotten and left behind. In my ministry I have spent a good deal of time with aging people who have sometimes asked me, “Pastor, why am I here?” Their days are full of emptiness as their children have moved far away and their spouse has died. They don’t get out much, and the most often destination is a doctor’s office. The things that they used to enjoy doing, like reading or driving a tractor, they can’t do anymore because their eyesight is nearly gone, and their arthritis prevents them from getting into the tractor seat. The pain is always clinging to their bodies, and the phone doesn’t ring anymore. And so, they ask me, “Pastor, why am I here?”

I wish I knew the answer, but of this I am certain, their value to God, has nothing to do with what they are able to do, but rather what God has done for them. God sent his Son, Jesus to engage anything (including aging) that might claim anyone away from God in a battle to the death, and in Jesus’ Easter victory God staked his eternal claim on all people. Irrespective of what value the world places on a person, God has placed the value of someone he is willing to die for on each person.

Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15.13) Granted, my once a week Meals on Wheels visits fall far short of Jesus’ act of unconditional love on the cross, but when I deliver a meal without any expectation of receiving something in return (that is things like: “it makes me feel good”, or “it assuages my feelings of undeserved blessings”), I get a taste of the wonder of sharing in God’s unconditional love. I get to experience the power of God’s grace.

When asked, “Why am I here?”, I find myself saying, “I don’t know. But this I do know, when I am with you, I get a chance to experience the greatest love of all, giving myself unconditionally to you. Thank you.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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