My Information Was Not Recognized

As I type this, I am listening to music on the Help line – it is scratchy, hip-hop, unsophisticated and angry: not a good choice as a person waits for technical assistance on a device that has become a communications crutch. I may be waiting for thirty minutes, the tech said. It’s only been three minutes and I can see why music can be used a torture weapon.

The ID and password I selected for my new cell phone do not work after downloading a system update this morning.  I even may not have registered it properly, linking to my computer – so now, I must talk to “security.”

The tech made the connection, asked that I hang up and wait for “security” to call back with in 30 seconds.   Trusting tenuously, I hung up – and they did call back, and overcame my problems by patiently probing my memory for answers to security questions.

I thought back to this morning’s sermon about the God we worship – the pastor had raised the subject of passwords: their centrality – and our propensity to forget them. He said we too often come to church unprepared to think about worship, forgetting that church attendance is not worship, and realizing too late, “good intentions” is not a safe password into God’s presence.

Yes, I know better – but this morning I arrived at church distracted – thinking about my phone problems, parking, and the fact I had nothing to serve from lunch. My mind was not prepared to meet God – nor was my heart.

·      What if I had had an Isaiah moment, and saw the Lord in church – and all the creatures that attend Him --  in worship? (Isaiah 6)

·      What if I saw Who John saw on Patmos in the sanctuary? (Revelation 1:12-17)

An update temporarily disabled my phone; for whatever reason, what I thought was the correct password, did not work, no matter how many times I tried it. And I got upset because I couldn’t work my way through the problem without asking for help – not the first time computers etc have stymied me. But I followed the tech support’s instructions – I trusted what I was told to do. I paid attention closely -- more than I can say about how I studied Scripture and prayed this week!

Familiarity with the Gospel hasn’t bred contempt – but it has generated some carelessness.  Could this have been a little life lesson showing me my heart and mouth are often in two different places?

Would that I was as frantic to retrieve the password God freely offers, J-E-S-U-S, as I am the one to my communication gadgets.   

Would that I could help others with their God-access password as proficiently and graciously as the phone techs helped me. 

Matthew 7:21-23