Verizon Wireless created one of the most memorable marketing campaigns ever in 2005.  In ttheir commercials a so-called ”test man,” accompanied by a crowd of network engineers, travels the country asking the simple question, “Can you hear me now?” in an ongoing exercise to determine the reliability of the mobile phone carrier’s network.

The “catch phrase” caught on.  The company’s market share went up and employee turnover went down.  It seemed people could relate to the struggle to connect.  Folks were tired of dropped calls and unreliable communication systems.  And Verizon sent a message that they wanted desperately to connect with its subscribers and wanted its subscribers to be able to connect with each other.

At the risk of selling Him short, God has done the same.  Even when the Kingdom had split in two, He kept sending His message.  He gave the people of the DividedKingdom some 208 years to decide whether they would “accept” or “reject” His call.  He sent His own “technicians” to get the message out.  We call them “prophets.”

The job of the Verizon technician is unique.  But not nearly as unique as the task given Hosea.  Hosea, himself a prophet, appeared in a down time in the nation of Israel.  The reality is that people often hear best when things are at their worst.  So Hosea signed on with God. But God gave him a most unusual assignment.  Hosea’s life would be his message.  He was to marry a prostitute named Gomer and love her.  What an incredible request!  (Just imagine a young man with a seminary degree in hand trying to explain that one to a pastor search committee.) 

The tough assignment was made even more difficult as Gomer left Hosea.  She would conduct her ‘transactions’ with customers and all the time in her mind believing they were the ones supporting her.  In reality, though, it was Hosea who continued to care for her and provide for her necessities even during her times of unfaithfulness.

God tells Hosea to go and demonstrate his love for her, so he does.  Now picture this scene, as ugly as it is: Hosea pays some Hebrew “pimp” for some time with his wife, Gomer.  When she enters the room expecting her next customer, she comes face-to-face with her husband.  It is then that Hosea tells her again he loves her and wants her to come back home.

It’s the lived-out message that Hosea later gives in words.  And it’s the same message God sends today.  He loves us—even in our extreme unfaithfulness. And he wants us to come back home, even though we have abandoned him. But much like a call on your cell phone, you can hit the “accept” button or the “reject” button.  You have the power to send God to voicemail and make him wait.  Or you can answer his call today.  The people of Israel had 208 years to pick up and they never did.  The network is clear.  The message is reliable.  Can you hear him now?

The decisions you make and the actions you take affect those around you.

Rehoboam learned that lesson the hard way.  Rehoboam followed his father Solomon to the throne of Israel.  Solomon had exacted harsh labor on the people.  A delegation, led by Jeroboam, went to the new king and asked him to take away the harshness.

In private, Rehoboam asked his elder council what he should do.  They advised that he become a servant to the people, lighten their load, and the people would always be faithful servants to the king.

His circle of younger friends gave him just the opposite advice.  They told him to work the people harder.  He liked that idea, told the delegation his plans, and wound up with a divided kingdom.

At one time or another all of us are impacted by someone else’s decisions or actions.  When we suffer the negative consequences of another’s wrongheaded decision, God can redeem the situation.  Although Rehoboam wound up ruling only two tribes—Judah and Benjamin (as opposed to Jeroboam’s rule over ten tribes)—it was through Judah that Jesus came to us.  God can work, and often does what seems to us as his best work, in situations that seem the most difficult.

We should always consider how our decisions and actions affect those around us.  In “systems thinking” it is said that “you are the highest leverage point in any system you are in.”  More simply stated, you can make a difference. You are more “powerful” than you think you are––no matter your station in life.

Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s use of the South African rugby team to help heal a nation divided by apartheid.  In one scene of the movie he explains to a team member, “Reconciliation starts here.  Forgiveness starts here.”  He knew his actions would have a ripple effect on those around him.  Eventually the blessing of that “ripple” washed across the nation.

Rehoboam made a bad decision, but it was really his father Solomon’s actions that divided the kingdom.  He forsook the one true God and chased after other “gods,” he neglected to serve the people and instead forced them to work harder, and he was focused on himself, as reflected in his accumulation of wives, gold, and horses in direct disobedience to God’s counsel.  His son Rehoboam was merely living out consequence of those decisions and actions.

Learn from Solomon’s mistake.  Love God first.  Love others second.  And serve those that do not yet know God.  You will be surprised to see how far your ripple will travel.

 

Over a recent Thanksgiving holiday I did my version of Black Friday shopping.  I slept in, had breakfast, took a shower, and then met up with my wife and son who had left the house before 6:30 a.m.  I was rested, fresh, and full of energy.  After facing the frantic shoppers all morning they . . . well, they didn’t look so good.

At one point of the mall madness I was leaving Sears and saw it.  Right there in front of me.  A Sears Wish Book.  I hadn’t seen one in years and it brought back some memories.

The first Sears Wish Book was printed in 1933.  (I don’t remember that. I looked it up.)  Over time it has diminished in size and was even discontinued at one point.  It was revived in 2007, but the one I saw was nothing in size compared to the books I remember from my youth.  Children today don’t really need one.  They have the Internet and their high tech toys to cruise the information highway to identify their holiday “wants.”  But “back in the day” the Sears Wish Book helped us answer the seasonal question: “If you could have anything for Christmas, what would you ask for?” 

Every year my brother and I would look through the catalogue and either dog-ear a page or circle our choices in pen.  We didn’t want Santa to miss our requests. 

You may not need the Sears Wish Book today, but you have some wishes too, don’t you?  Next Christmas how would you answer the question, “If you could have one thing in the world, what would it be?” 

Solomon had to answer that one.  He asked for wisdom.  And God gave it to him.  But by the end of his life he had accumulated more and more: more gold, more horses, more wives.  He had it all and wanted more.  In the midst of all these gifts he lost sight of the Giver.  He turned away from God and lost it all. 

Another King gave us another path to follow.  He had it all and gave it all . . . for us.  In the Christmas season, or any season for that matter, you can guard yourself from the tyranny of too much stuff by giving.  Simply give so that others can simply live.   That’s what the King born as a baby in the manger did. 

And my wish?  That you visit the manger and find him.

 

 

When Pope John Paul died, a man named Rogers Cadenhead quickly registered the web address www.BenedictXVI.com, thinking this might be the name chosen by the new pope.  When Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope, he did choose the name Pope Benedict XVI, causing some to question what the Vatican would do to get the rights to that domain name.

Cadenhead didn’t ask the Vatican for money.  Instead, in a humorous manner on his blog he suggested a few things he would trade for:
1. Three days, two nights at the Vatican hotel.
2. One of those hats (referring to the bishop’s hat).
3. Complete absolution, no questions asked, for the third week of March 1987. 
Wonder what Rogers did the third week of March in 1987?  Me too, but does it really matter?.  Most of us have at least a week for which we’d love to have total forgiveness. 

We discover in The Story that David did.  One day when the army is at war, David, who is the commander of the nation’s military, neglects his duties and stays behind.  He sees Bathsheba, seduces her, gets her pregnant, murders her husband, and tries to cover up his actions by deceiving his general and soldiers.  Then he marries Bathsheba and she bears their child.

It looks as if David will get away with all of this.  But he doesn’t.  God sends his prophet Nathan to confront David by telling him a story about a poor man with one lamb.  David knows something about sheep and shepherds, so he listens.  Nathan says that the poor man has a rich neighbor who needs to slaughter a lamb to feed a guest, but instead of taking one of his many sheep he steals the poor’s man’s one lamb. 

David is incensed and says that man should be put to death.  Nathan then declares, “You are the man!”  At that moment David must have wished he had bought a domain name that he could swap for absolution.  He may have wanted to make excuses.  Explain things away.  Blame it on Bathsheba for taking a bath in broad daylight where he could see.  But instead of making excuses, David confesses. “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:13). 

And God did with David’s sin what he will do with yours and mine.  He put it away (Psalm 103:12-13).

You can do what David did.  Whatever your “third week of March” might be, sit down with it, yourself and God.  Confess your sin.  And then let another shepherd from Bethlehem forgive it.  That’s better than any domain name you might secure.

Imagine the scene: a scrawny sixteen year old shepherd boy takes out a 9’9” tall giant with one rock and a sling.

You may not have a gigantic giant taunting you to come out and fight.  But you are probably facing a few giants of your own.  Giants like the stack of past-due bills glaring at you.  Like the divorce papers waiting on your signature.  Or the depression that looms over you like the Hulk.  It could be low self-esteem or insecurity or child abuse in your past.  But you have your giants.  And so do I.  And we would do well to learn from David.

He could face his “giant” because he had spent time in the quiet with God.  When he arrived at the place of the standoff between the Israelites and the Philistines, he talked about God.  He told Saul that “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1Sam.17:37). He did not hesitate to confront Goliath, saying he came “in the name of the Lord of host, the God of the armies of Israel.” 

David was God-focused instead of giant-focused.  He mentions Goliath two times and God nine times.  He knew the giant was there and recognized his presence.  But his thoughts were twice as much on God. 

That focus led him to confront his giant rather than run away.  For forty days Goliath continued to challenge Israel’s army.  And for forty days everyone hoped he would just go away.  But giants don’t typically go away until we face them.  So David stepped into the gap and slung one well-aimed stone at him.

It helps to have someone in your corner that believes in you.  David had his Jonathan.  You need yours.  You need at least one person who believes in you and that also believes in God.  Someone who can encourage your faith—give you courage—when you most need it.

And you will need it.  Because after you slay one giant, there will be more.  You may wonder why David picked up five stones from the river bed.  Was he afraid he might miss?  Not likely.  He was skilled in his use of the sling.

2 Samuel 21:18-22 hints that Goliath may have had four brothers.  David was ready.  He could take on one giant.  You might say knew how to get a head of his giant.  And then he was ready for more.

And you can too.  Just follow the shepherd from Bethlehem.