HERE I AM
by Bob Wickizer
Scripture: II SAMUEL 7:4, II SAMUEL 7:8-14, LUKE 1:26-38, PSALMS 132:8-15, ROMANS 16:25-27
Here I Am
Rev. Bob Wickizer
2 Samuel 7:4, 8-16; Psalm 132:8-15; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
December 19, 1999
Christmas at the end of the twentieth century seems to have evolved from a Norman Rockwell sketch of the golden years of American life into a frenzied dash from Thanksgiving to the Super Bowl of year end job stress, shopping, parties, travel and lack of rest. We are reminded in church on Sundays that this is still the season of Advent or the coming of Christ. But with all the new things we have to learn on our job and with all this shopping to do, who has time to slow down and pray about when God was with us in human flesh and when Christ will come again to judge us? Perhaps that is reason enough why we should pause today and consider the impact of change in our lives.
Twenty years ago the process of designing and producing a computer chip from the first idea to production could take as long as three years. Computer memory in those days cost nearly 10,000 times more than it does today and it functioned almost 100 times slower than modern memory. Today Intel takes a new computer chip from idea to production in nine months. Microsoft launches whole new versions of its software every eighteen months. Some engineers have noted that if we were to advance automobiles as rapidly as computer technology that relative to the 1970s the average car today would get 800 miles to the gallon and would cost less than $50. And my software engineer friends have made a joke out of this comparison by adding, "this newfangled car would catastrophically fail without warning every so often requiring a new engine."
Closer to home, many of us are familiar with the semi-annual pace of fashion changes in the furniture and fabric industries. No matter what industry employs us, very few people today are not affected by accelerating change. Since every social challenge involves a theological issue, we are compelled to ask some questions about this. For example who bene ...
Rev. Bob Wickizer
2 Samuel 7:4, 8-16; Psalm 132:8-15; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
December 19, 1999
Christmas at the end of the twentieth century seems to have evolved from a Norman Rockwell sketch of the golden years of American life into a frenzied dash from Thanksgiving to the Super Bowl of year end job stress, shopping, parties, travel and lack of rest. We are reminded in church on Sundays that this is still the season of Advent or the coming of Christ. But with all the new things we have to learn on our job and with all this shopping to do, who has time to slow down and pray about when God was with us in human flesh and when Christ will come again to judge us? Perhaps that is reason enough why we should pause today and consider the impact of change in our lives.
Twenty years ago the process of designing and producing a computer chip from the first idea to production could take as long as three years. Computer memory in those days cost nearly 10,000 times more than it does today and it functioned almost 100 times slower than modern memory. Today Intel takes a new computer chip from idea to production in nine months. Microsoft launches whole new versions of its software every eighteen months. Some engineers have noted that if we were to advance automobiles as rapidly as computer technology that relative to the 1970s the average car today would get 800 miles to the gallon and would cost less than $50. And my software engineer friends have made a joke out of this comparison by adding, "this newfangled car would catastrophically fail without warning every so often requiring a new engine."
Closer to home, many of us are familiar with the semi-annual pace of fashion changes in the furniture and fabric industries. No matter what industry employs us, very few people today are not affected by accelerating change. Since every social challenge involves a theological issue, we are compelled to ask some questions about this. For example who bene ...
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