"Giving Made Easy" 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15; Malachi 3: 8-12

Stewardship meets iPhone theology!  I have been contemplating how easy it is to use our phones to pay for things, even giving to different groups.

I have not done it (maybe i will today), but I see ads for texting a certain number from your phone, and you make a donation.  I suspect that giving through texting capitalizes on spontaneous giving.

Most banks have mobile apps now so that people can make payments, deposits, etc. using thier phone and the camera on their phone.

Kiosks in churches to allow for giving with an ATM card, credit card, or phone.

Technology has made giving easier than ever before.   Does that make people give more?

Can we connect the new technologies with becoming patterned givers, that is people who prayerfully consider their giving and put a plan into place to give?

Reflections on "Contacts" I Corinthians 12: 12-31; Psalm 133

I thought this sermon went well.  The Yogi Berra illustration is a really good one.  I thought the conclusion added a nice finish.  I had it worked out better for the Sanctuary service.  the Powerpoint in the Sanctuary added to the sermon, instead of being a distraction.    It would appear to me that some people are tired of the iPhone comments, but others seem to connect to it.

“Contacts” October 25, 2015; FPC, Troy; iPhone theology series; I Corinthians 12: 12-31; Psalm 133

Introduction: We continue the sermon series on on iPhone theology, which grows out of my experience over the last year of learning how to use an iPhone, and reflections about God from those lessons.

This week, I have been reflecting on the Contacts section of my phone.

The contact section is a way to identify and organize by name those people whom you want to be able to contact.

When someone on your contact list calls your phone number, their name shows up on your phone (Actually, what shows up is whatever you label that phone number. I have a friend who told me about putting “Do Not Answer” as the name associated with phone numbers she did not want to answer. It backfired, though, because she was so curious about who she did not want to talk to that she had to answer the phone number to see who it was!)

You can also include information about each person on your contact list, so you can have readily available multiple ways to contact the person – email; Facetime; phone; text

Contact list has me thinking about community.

Move 1: God calls us into community.

a. When I inherited the phone from my daughter, I inherited her contact list as well.

1. I went through and deleted some of them; others I kept.

2. We self-select our contacts, thereby creating our own phone community);


3. You may not be able to decide who calls you number, but you can choose whether that person will be part of your group.

4. We sort of self-select as we go through life, choosing in some ways to the groups to which we want to belong.


5. In fact, we might even say that we choose which church we want to attend and be a member.


b. theologically, we would argue that we do not so much choose our community of faith, but God calls us into community.

1. Psalm 133: he wisdom words of verse 1 -- “how good and how pleasant” -- recall the exclamation of blessing uttered by a traveler or visitor upon entering the home of another in ancient Israel.
2. God had called a people Israel, and that meant any Israelite was part of your community.
3. In its proverbial setting, the word translated “good” is tob, a word that recalls God’s assessment of creation in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, and 21, the creation story tells us that “God saw that it was good.” Nancy deClaissé-Walford, Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University Atlanta, GA http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2381
4. you might not know the people whose home you were entering, but it was good and pleasant because they were part of the group, the Israelites, into which God had called you.

100. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds the early church, and us, that we are part of a the body of Christ, that community called into being by God.
     1. As Paul describes the different parts of the body and how they work together, he makes clear that it is God who has arranged this body (12:24).
     2. When Paul then expands the image of the body to the early church and describes the different gifts that are seen in their community of faith, he notes that God has appointed those people and those gifts (12:27).
     3. the human body is not randomly put together; each part has a purpose.
     4. the body of Christ is not randomly put together; each person who is part of that community of faith has a role to play.

d. Changes how we might view community when we see it as a group God has put into place.

1. instead of looking around and asking, “who are these people and why am I stuck with them?” the question becomes “What does God have in mind by putting us here in this place at this time.?”
2. Instead of the community dragging us down, the community becomes the place of opportunity.
Understanding that our community of faith was called into being by God changes how we view community.

Move 2: Do we expand or reduce our community?

a. When I first got a cell phone, way before the iPhone, the cell phone actually reduced my community, so to speak.

1. The way our phone plan worked was I could call anyone else who had a Verizon phone and those minutes did not count toward the monthly allotment of minutes we had before we began to be charged for the minutes.

2.  My circle of friends with whom I kept in contact quickly became my circle of friends who had Verizon phones.

3. Reducing my community of contacts.

b. When I started using my iPhone, I had to decide who would be part of my contact list.

1. The first group was easy – If I called someone frequently, I put their information in my contacts.

2. if it was a number, I seldom called, I didn't generally add it.

3. There is a "Favorites" section of the contacts. Who gets in that group?

4. I'm pretty sure I could create other groups if I took the time to learn how.

5. iPhone can reduce or expand my community of phone callers.

b. Jesus always seemed to be looking to expand the circle, although sometimes he reduced the circle.

1. He invited outsiders.

2.  he told stories about Samaritans, the age old enemy of Israel, and had the Samaritans as the good guys.

3.  Being a sinner did not exclude, but included.

4. The ones whom society shunned, Jesus reached out to include.

5. Sometimes he reduced – if you were taking advantage of people in the Temple, or using your power to oppress, Jesus would send you outside the circle until you would change your ways.

c. Paul's image of the body speaks to an expanded circle.

1. Paul is reversing the way in which Greek writes used the image of body.


2. In Greek world, body image for society is used, but it is to remind people of their separate places. For example, “Plutarch, uses the body imagery to speak to the plebians, the lower echelons within society, to remind them of their place as lesser members of the body as lesser than the Patricians.”


3. Paul uses the same imagery though in a reverse direction. Paul uses the body imagery to remind those at the top of the hierarchical pile that the lesser members of the body have a unique and important place as well and should be valued for their place within the body.


d. In General, Building community is about expanding our circle.

1. Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame baseball player;
2. Robert Burnes, a St. Louis baseball writer, once went with Berra to a church father-and-son banquet. Every son received a bat and a ball and came up to have Yogi autograph them.
3. At a corner table were some kids from a local orphanage. They sat there with no balls or bats. "Aren't they getting anything?" Yogi asked. An organizer of the banquet told him that a couple of balls were being sent to the home for the orphans' use. "We think it's enough of a thrill for them just to be here," the man added.

4. Yogi got up from the head table, went to the orphans' table, sat down and began autographing whatever the orphans had. Someone at the head table finally said, "Yogi, we'd like you to come back up here and say a few words."

"Go on with the program," Yogi snapped. "I'm busy. I'm talking to some friends."

And he stayed with the orphans the rest of the evening. As he and Burnes left, Yogi said, "I'll never forget that as long as I live." http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/09/16/yogi-berra-si-60-rou-blount-jr; “Yogi,” by Roy Blount Jr., which originally ran in the April 2, 1984 issue of Sports Illustrated.

1. one of our ongoing challenges as a community of faith is how to we expand our circle?

2. how do we invite people to hear God's call to be connected to us, instead of seeing that which separates us?

Christ’s example was one of expanding the circle.

Move 3: We need all the people in our group.

a. Contacts –easy to access and call

1. Am I going to need to call that person again?

2.  My contacts in some ways is the group of people I need.

b. That’s the point that Paul makes with his image of the community of faith as a body.

1. The hands need the feet.

2. the eyes need the ears.

c. Paul extends that image to the community of faith.


1. We need the different gifts.


2. We need all our gifts to live out the tasks to which God calls the body of Christ.

Conclusion: Psalm 133, as one of the Songs of Ascents, prepared the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem to celebrate together as family, as kindred living in oneness, the festivals of the Lord their God. Nancy deClaissé-Walford; Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2381

Imagine that you are one of those people who is in Jerusalem. You are in a parade of people headed to the Temple, singing this psalm as you go.

You look around and see some family; you see some people you recognize, but don't really know; you see others who are strangers.

But you are bound together by God's call to be a part of this community, God's chosen ones.

And it is good.

"Contacts" I Corinthians 12: 12-3; Psalm 133

The sermon series on iPhone theology continues, this week reflecting on the "Contact" portion of the phone and what it reveals about community.

Random thoughts/questions about contacts:

     1. When do you go to the trouble to put someone in your contact list on your phone?

      2.  When I inherited the phone from my daughter, I inherited her contact list as well.  I went through and deleted some of them; other I kept.

     3.  If I call someone frequently, I put their information in my contacts.  If it's a number, I seldom call, I don't generally add it.

      4. exceptions might be people I want to be identified when they call, so I know that particular person is calling.

      5. There is a "Favorites" section of the contacts.  Who gets there?

     6.  My circle of friends in some ways gets reduced to whom I can call easily on the phone.  My good friend Ed DeLair became my good friend in part because we both had Verizon phone plans, both were on the road quite a bit, which meant we had the opportunity to call each other at no additional cost.  If we had used up minutes would we have talked as frequently?

The Psalmist in Psalm 133 celebrates being in community with one another.

Paul suggests that the the community is needed because of the different skills people have, all of which are needed for the work of the community.

We self-select our contact (i.e. our phone community); theologically, we would argue that God calls us into community.  Two very different approaches to community.

Reflections on "Selfies" Genesis 1: 26-31; Galatians 3: 23-29

This sermon worked really well during the Chapel service.  The play on the selfie at the beginning of the sermon and then the group shot of the congregation in the conclusion worked really well.  I still feel like I am struggling with this sermon series.  The sermon did not go as well in the Sanctuary service. Although I had some good slides to accentuate some of the points, I think the use of the slides forced my timing a bit and I was a bit off balance throughout the Sanctuary sermon.

“Selfies” October 18, 2015; FPC, Troy; iPhone theology series; Genesis 1: 26-28; Galatians 3 23-29

Introduction: Take selfie

Selfies are the photos that people take of themselves:

sometimes selfies are taken for fun;

sometimes to communicate where a person is;

sometimes to show what is happening in the moment - I took a not very random sample of young people I knew who take selfies and asked them why they take selfies (the first response was “I feel a sermon coming on”) and one young person responded “”did I really go out if I don't have a selfie of it?”

sometimes because there is no one there to take the photo

sometimes as part of a sermon

and probably for many other reasons;

I confess, I seldom take selfies, in part because I don't particularly like the look of the photo with my face splashed across it!

But, selfies have me thinking about how we are created in the image of God.

Move 1: What does it mean to be created in God's image?

a. Look around the pews at everyone gathered here.

1. We all look rather different, don't we?

2. Even in our homogeneous gathering where on the spectrum of what people look like in the world, we are all basically in the same place, we see differences.

3. Is the image of God a compilation of all our physical traits?

4. Calvin and Hobbes cartoon: Calvin preening in front of a mirror says: Made in God's own image,. Yessir. Hobbes looking on comments: God must have a goofy sense of humor.

b. I also hear the image of God used in discussions these days about lifestyles.

1. Someone says, “I am created in God's image. I am like this. Therefore, God's image must include the way I am.”

2. Others argue: “we are created in God's image. We fall short of that image. You need to change your ways to reflect God's image.”

100. I read and essay this week about being made in the image of God.

1. the author notes that Biblical scholars do not know what exactly the image of God mentioned in Genesis means.

2. Am I like God in my spiritual traits? In my physical form? In my consciousness or creativity

3. the author does not give an final answer, but notes that I don't know, but the possibilities are breathtaking to imagine.

4. Author goes on to write: If nothing else, the creation story insists that God's mark is imprinted on my very being. I might ignore or distort it, but the mark is always there. Whether I acknowledge it or not, I reflect something of God's joy, God's intentions, God's love, and God's beauty just by virtue of existing on the earth. I am His, and so He is mine. JOURNEY WITH JESUS, A WEEKLY WEBZINE FOR THE GLOBAL CHURCH, SINCE 2004; Essay by Debie Thomas, http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20140609JJ.shtml

500. Being created in the image of God means a connection with God.

1. Not some distant connection, but something close and intimate.

2. Who God is somehow is found in who God created us us to be.

Move 2: Selfies reveal how easily we becomes focused on ourselves, which leads us away from the image of God to which we are called.

a. Regardless of why selfies are taken, they give the impression that the only person that matters is the person taking the photo, who happens to be front and center of the photo (or maybe off-center if I took the selfie!).

1. Everyone else is background.

2.  It reminds me of when my father used to take Polaroid photos of the baby grandchildren. If a parent seemed concerned about how they looked, my father would tell, "Don't worry, you're just background!"  In the world of selfies, the person taking the photo is all that matter; everyone else is background.

b. Selfies often look distorted because of the prominence of the person taking the selfie.

1. it is hard with the distance of one's outstretched arm to capture much more than one's own self.

2. Even with a selfie stick to give some greater distance, it's still about the person taking the selfie – they are front and center.

3. The image of God in us gets distorted when we only focus on ourselves. .

4. The image of God ought to be primarily about the one who creates us, but we distort that and make it about us.

b. Selfies can be dangerous, literally.

1. I read in July about a new brochure published by the Russian police that begins with the comment:  "A cool selfie can cost you your life."  

2. In the first six months of 2015 in Russia there had been ten deaths and 100 accidents from people striking lethal poses -- for example, getting close to an animal for a selfie only to have the animal attack; standing near exposed wires and then touching them while taking the selfie; leaning over rooftops for a photo and then falling (www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/russia-selfie-death-brochure/index.html).

3. So focused on oneself, that the person forgets what’s around him or her.

4. If you remember the sermon a few weeks ago on sin and how sin often comes from our focus on I, you can see how the selfie world fits in with our sinfulness.

c. when we read in Genesis about creation, we discover a call to be connected with what's around us.

1. we read in Chapter 1 the creation of humans how they are given responsibility of caring for all of God's creations.

2. If we read in Chapter 2 of genesis the story of God creating humans by breathing the breath of life into Adam, we also read about how God sees that Adam needs a partner, someone with whom to be in relationship, so God creates Eve out of Adam.

100. One of the foundational beliefs we have about God is that God is Trinity – three in one.

1. We may not be able to explain it fully, but it stands before us as a reminder that God is a relational God.

2. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Creator, Sustainer, redeemer – however we want to label our Trinitarian God, we do so to describe a God who is relational and connected.

3. Genesis story – God refers to God's own self as us – 'Let us make,” in “Our image”

4. the God who is self-defined as relational.

5. to be made in Gods' image means being made in relationship with one another.

d. to a large extent, the selfie world is more about self than about relationships.

1. Admittedly, most selfies are sent to someone else or posted on social media, which indicates some level of relationship, but it is hard to imagine that in the world of selfies there is much emphasis on relationships.

2. imagine if Adam sent us a selfie of himself that first day of creation

1. there he is front and center.

2. in the background you can see glimpses of the Garden of Eden, the beautiful creation God has coaxed out of the swirling water;

3. Oh yeah, there on the side of the selfie screen is the arm of someone else.

4. it must be Eve because she's the only other human around.

5. But it does not look like a world of relationships – it looks like Adam's world.

I doubt God would have looked at Adam's selfie and called it good.

Move 3: Being created in the image of God calls us to evolve.

a. Selfie-- by itself, it captures one moment on a spectrum

1. But, people string together a series of selfies to tell the story.

2. For example, my daughters like to string together selfies of their activities on Friday nights so I can get the whole story (thanks for that girls!).

2. Primitive example on the screens – Richard on Friday working on the sermon in his office.

3. Richard on Saturday night working on the sermon at home, with a football game in the background.

4. Richard on Sunday morning in his office having just typed this sermon.

4. Richard practicing the sermon before people arrive for worship.

6. Selfies tell the story moving forward toward the evolution of a sermon.

b. We grow into the image of God.

1. Humans quickly move from the goodness of creation to separation from God.

2. How do we get back to that image of God.

3. Minor prophets call us to new understandings.

4. God sends Christ to show us what it means to live in the image of God.

5. Christ, who exemplifies for us what it means to perfectly live in the image of God.

6. had this thought about Jesus and the Last Supper – Leonardo DaVinci has a painting of it. Jesus with the gathered group. Jesus in the middle, but everyone part of it. Imagine if Jesus took a selfie – mainly himself with everyone crowded in behind as if they did not matter.

5. Paul writes about how we are new creations in Christ.

100. New vision

1. Paul writes to the Galatians: we are no longer Jew or Greek, slave or fee, male or female...

2. To live into the image of God means growing into that new vision.

3. notice how that new vision is described in terms of relationships.

4. or better yet, the redefining of relationships.

5. The distorted human perspective sees that which divides – Jew and Greek; slave and free; male and female.

5. To be in God's image calls us to relationships that bind us together.

7. to be fully who we are created to be, we have to grow into this vision of God's image that transcends that which divides us.

Conclusion: Let me take another photo.

Instead of a selfie – a picture of the gathered community, a much better image of God.

"Selfies" Genesis 1: 26-28; Galatians 3: 23-29

Selfies are the photos that people take of themselves -- sometimes selfies are taken for fun; sometimes to communicate where a person is; sometimes to show what is happening in the moment; and probably for many other reasons.  I confess, I seldom take selfies, in part because I don't particularly like the look of the photo wih my face splashed across it!
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Regardless of why selfies are taken, they give the impression that the only person that matters is the person taking the photo, who happens to be front and center of the photo (or maybe off-center if I took the selfie!).  Everyone else is background.  It reminds me fo when my father used to take Polaroid photos of the baby grandchildren.  If a parent seemed concerned about how they looked, my father would tell, "Don't worry, you're just background!"  In the world of selfies, the person taking the photo is all that matter; everyone else is background.

I find this counter to the idea that we are created in the image of God. The Trinitarian nature of God reveals that God desires relationship and interconnectedness, both of which matter little in the world of selfies.  The creation story tells us about the world not being right when there was just Adam; Eve needed to be created so that Adam could be in relationship with another human.

Selfies can be dangerous, literally.  I read in July about a new brochure published by the Russian police that begins with the comment:  "A cool selfie can cost you your life."  In the first six months of 2015 in Russia there had been ten deaths and 100 accidents from =people striking lethal poses -- for example, getting close to an animal for a selfie only to have the animal attack; standing near exposed wires and then touching them while taking the selfie; leaning over rooftops for a photo and then falling (www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/russia-selfie-death-brochure/index.html).

What does it mean to be created in God's image?  We all look rather different, don't we?  I also hear in various discussions, "God created me this way, so it must be ok."  How valid is that perspective? how far can we push it?

When Paul writes to the Galatians, he reminds them that in Christ we can connected and that the obvious differences between us are bridged by Christ.  How does being created in the image of God fit with the idea that in Christ we become new creations?

Reflections on "That Voice" Genesis 26: 1-4; I Samuel 3: 1-18

Another mediocre sermon. I did shorten the I Samuel reading in the Sanctuary service to only go through vs. 11.

Any of the four points could have, perhaps should have, been a stand-alone sermon.  The Chapel service went better than the Sanctuary service.  The slides on the screens during the Sanctuary service did not seem particularly helpful.

“That Voice” October 11, 2015; FPC, Troy; iPhone theology series; I Samuel 3: 1-18; Genesis 26: 1-4

Introduction: My iPhone does not have a voice speaking to me. That's the problem with getting the hand-me-down phone in the family. I'm always a bit behind the technology.

But like many of you, I have been around phone that have Siri or some other computer generated voice.

Or GPS tools that do. Computer generated voices that speak to us are part of our norm.

In fact, last spring the president of the University of Florida made Siri part of his commencement address.

He noted that Siri had become part of the iPhone technology at the same time that the graduates would have been coming to college as Freshman.

He then took out his phone and talked to Siri. He began by asking Siri to call him “Foxy Gator” to which Siri replied, “From now on I’ll call you “Foxy Gator, OK?”

The president finished by sort of giving Siri an honorary diploma. At least, he told Siri (and showed the graduates on a screen) that he had a special diploma made out for Siri that showed Siri graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanity in the Class of 2015. (https://www.facebook.com/OfficeofthePresidentUF/posts/737595206349174)

Siri and other voices that mark out world of technology have me thinking about the voice of God. A few thoughts.

Move 1: hard to find follow directions if you cannot hear the voice.

   a. I have discovered that not having Siri on the phone has a few drawbacks, particularly when trying to use the map function.

       1. When one of my daughters or wife is in the car with me, then I can listen to Siri give me directions.

      2.  If Siri tells me when to turn, that is helpful;

      3.  if I have to look at the phone to read the directions, that can be problematic, particularly when in traffic, or on country roads, or at night. In fact, I have missed turns more than once because I did not have a voice to listen to and could not look.

   b. We have to listen for the voice.

      1.  Discipleship means following Christ, which also means listening for the voice of God.

      2.  how do we know where to follow Christ if we are not listening to hear God's call?

       3.  Lots of distractions in our world.

      4.  How often during the day do you not have some sound, some song, some TV show, some radio, some people giving directions or telling you something?

       5.  We live in a world that is full of sounds, many of which are directed at us.

       6. Listen for God's voice.

Move 2: Recognize the voice

   a. one of the fascinating things that happened when my wife was pregnant happened each Sunday morning.

      1.  When I preached in worship, the babies in the womb would begin to kick and move around.

      2. Maybe it was early rebellion! But it was as if they recognized my voice from the house and wanted to respond to hearing my voice.

   b. The Samuel story reminds us of the need to be able to recognize the voice of God.

       1.  The first three times Samuel hears the voice in the night, he mistakes it for the voice of Eli.

       2. maybe a logical assumption.

       3.  But until Samuel can recognize the voice of God, he cannot learn what God wants from him.

   c. Jesus tells us about the sheep who recognize the voice of their shepherd (John 10).

        1.  this is important for the safety of the sheep because thieves will come in the night and try to coax the sheep to follow them.

         2.  If the sheep cannot distinguish their shepherd's voice from the thief's voice, they can be stolen.

         3.  we remember that in the Genesis story when Adam and Eve follow the words of the serpent, Adam notes that he got in trouble because he listened to the voice of his wife instead of the voice of God.

         4.  Eve got in trouble because she listened to the voice of the serpent instead of the voice of God.

          5.  We have to learn to recognize the voice of God.

   d.  Sometimes we need help recognizing the voice of God.

         1. Siri comes in lots of different languages: English, French, Korean, Mandarin, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Norwegian

          2.  The iPhone makers know that for Siri to be effective, she must have a voice that people can recognize and understand.

          3.  Samuel had Eli.

          4.  We need people to help us hear God's voice.

           5.  Infant baptism – parents and congregation take vows to help raise the child in the faith; we recognize the need we have for others to help us in our faith.

Move 3: Siri, the voice that keeps on talking

   a. Recently, I was driving with another couple in the car.

          1.  My wife asked a question about something, and the other wife quickly noted that her husband could find the answer by asking Siri.

          2. This began a conversation about how much the husband loves talking to Siri, and how Siri always has an answer ready.  How the husband may love Siri more than his wife!

           3.  finally, the wife laughs and says, “You just can't get away from Siri.”

   b.  Four times.

         1. it took three times of getting it wrong before Samuel finally figures out that it is God calling him.

        2.  the fourth time, Samuel is able to be in conversation with God.

    c.  a reminder of the persistent voice of God that keeps on calling us.

          1. Even when we do not listen, God keeps trying to engage us, to open up the lines of communication.c. God is that nagging voice that will not go away.

          2. That voice you keep hearing.  You think you have it all figured out, but then this voice keeps talking to you in your head.

         3. Until you recognize what God has in mind for you to do.

Move 4: A final thought – to hear the voice calls us to obey.

     a. Shema is the Hebrew word for “hear.

          1.  Shema means to hear in the audible sense, but also to obey.

          2.  The Genesis story notes that God makes the covenant with Abraham because "obeyed my [God's] voice" (Genesis 26:1-5).

          3. Samuel did not become the great prophet, priest, and judge simply because he heard God's voice.

         4. he listened and obeyed.

   b. Siri can give directions, but you cannot get to the destination unless you follow the directions given.

Conclusion: the God who is present in our midst, speaks to us. Are you listening?

"That Voice" 1 Samuel 3: 1-18; Genesis 26: 1-5

1. My iPhone does not have a voice speaking to me, but I have been with phones that do. Or GPS tools that do.  Computer generated voices that speak to us are part of our norm.  

I have discovered that not having Siri on the phone has a few drawbacks, particularly when tyring to use the map function.  If Siri tells me when to turn, that is helpful; if I have to look at the phone to read the directions, that can be problematic, particularly when in traffic, or on country roads, or at night.  In fact, I have missed turns more than once because I did not have a voice to listen to and could not look.

2.  The Samuel story reminds us of the need to be able to recognize the voice of God.  It also makes the point (although this probably won't be in the sermon) that we often need someone like Eli to help us recognize the voice of God.

3.  The Genesis story notes that God makes the covenant with Abraham because "obeyed my [God's] voice" (Genesis 26:1-5

4.  Other stories of hearing voices:  

        a.  when Isaac is duped by Jacob, Isaac does not recognize Esau's voice, but he feels Jacob's hands (Jacob faked a hairy hand) and believes the feel of the hands that feel like Esau rather than the voice that sounds like Jacob.

       b.  Adam gets in trouble because he listens to the voice of his wife, he gets in trouble (Genesis 3:17).

      c.  It is a continual theme in Exodus for the Israelites to listen to the voice of God.

      d.  the voice from heaven announces that Jesus is the son of God when Jesus is baptized.

       e.  The sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd (John 10), although Jesus also notes in the Gospel of John that  no one has heard the voice of God (5:37).

       f.  Acts has several instances where Peter hears the voice of God in a dream or Saul hears the voice of God on his knees on the road to Damascus.

5.  you might find it interesting that the president of the University of FL sort of gave Siri and honorary degree:

Office of the President at University of Florida

May 3 · 

In his spring commencement address at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, UF President Kent Fuchs urged graduates to maintain their independence and compassion in our technologically driven times – with Siri making a guest appearance to help make the point.

Graduates: As I extend my congratulations and send you off into a world already so different from when many of you arrived in 2011, I thought I would talk about another newcomer who came onto the scene that same fall.

As a freshman, this newcomer started off green but has matured over these four years. We’re not exactly friends, but our relationship seems to be headed in that direction. You’ll know what I mean, because I’m talking about Siri.

Siri arrived on the iPhone 4S in October 2011 and quickly began impressing us with her abilities, from telling us how many calories are in our meals to listing the planes that are flying over our heads.

But as someone who spent many years as a computer engineering professor before I became a university president, what astonishes and amazes me is how nice Siri is.

She always tries to help, she never gets mad and she’ll do anything you ask her, within her abilities.

And let’s be honest with each other. We love to ask Siri silly questions. In fact, standing up here in front of you in this orange-and-blue robe, I feel like asking her something right this very minute.

Let me just take out my phone …

Fuchs: Siri?
Siri: How may I assist you?
Fuchs: My name is Kent Fuchs, but I want you to call me “Foxy Gator.”
Siri: From now on I’ll call you “Foxy Gator, OK?”
Fuchs: Yes.
Siri: “Foxy Gator” I like that!

Fuchs: Thank you, Siri. Now, I’d like to address our graduates.

Ever since computers were invented, we worried about them getting smarter than people, and what that might entail for humanity. What few considered was that computers would actually get nicer, and what that development might mean for us.

It’s not only in Siri that we see computers handling human activities and interactions, often more skillfully and with more sensitivity to others than their human counterparts.

We now have computer-assisted cars that parallel park with no bumps, or remain a respectful distance from the car ahead, never tailgating.

We have therapeutic robots that take patients’ histories or help them work through addictions or post-traumatic stress disorder, unclouded by human prejudice or judgment.

Even our appliances are showing us some love. You can buy a refrigerator today that offers you dinner suggestions based on what you have in it!

The Apple Watch that just started shipping takes computerized companionship to a new level. With its arrival, our friendly machines reach out to us not just through images, text and voice, but with all the human intimacy of touch.

All of this leads me to wonder… If computers get better at being human, will we become less humane?

I’m old enough to remember the first time I ever encountered a computer. It was in college. Your parents experienced the arrival of personal computers, email and the Internet. As they’ve probably told you many times, it quickly made their old world unrecognizable. You’ve seen your own lives reshaped by smart phones, connective technology, and social media.

Imagine the changes that lie ahead in your time not just of artificial intelligence – but artificial benevolence.

Ex Machina, a movie now playing in theatres, suggests a near future when machine-made and real people become personally entangled. I wonder if our technology will become so effective in managing our personal lives that we begin to outsource our emotional challenges, just as we’ve already outsourced so many of our practical challenges.

As many of you may have learned during your years here at UF, we often grow and mature during the most stressful periods in our lives, such as during the final exams, papers and projects that you just completed. What will happen to us as our increasingly human-like computers allow us to escape these personal trials?

I’m not just referring to finals and other intellectual challenges. I’m thinking of moments when we face a personal setback … a thorny problem with a relationship with a friend … or the loss of a loved one.

If we allow our mobile devices and technology to chart our paths and manage our emotions through these times, will we still feel, grow and change for the better?

We know that it wouldn’t be a good thing to turn over physical exercise to androids, even though it would allow us to avoid the pain and agony that comes from running the 180 stairs that it takes to get to the top of the Swamp. The same has to be true of mental and emotional trials.

We need to confront these trials, not just to resolve them, but so that we can we be fully human and truly benevolent.

Play out the string of our deepening involvement and reliance on technology, and we lose the crucial benefits of engaging with real people, maybe even forgetting why we felt love and care for them in the first place.

Love and benevolence is what makes us human and our lives worth living. We must not delegate this to technology.

I have one other point. Technology now enables us to collaborate on a massive scale ... from crowd-funding through sites like Kick Starter … to organizing spontaneous communities through twitter.

The collective wisdom and power of crowd-sourcing is breathtaking, from its aid in social movements to the shared global authorship of Wikipedia.

But here’s what I’d like you to remember: As we embrace the growing power of our collective mind, we must also sustain our individual minds, and our own thinking, particularly if it tells us to question the crowd.

We must maintain the courage to think differently when we believe the crowd is wrong, unjust, or even ugly, as it can sometimes be. In our professional work, we must be willing to act independently, sometimes against a crowd that doesn’t yet see the outcomes.

The question is, will we have this conviction to stay the course, even when we’re all alone in cyberspace?

I hope so. I believe we will need both our collective power and our individual compass to confront the manifest challenges of this century. We will need to act as one Gator Nation, and also as individual Gators. Which brings me back to you, our Class of 2015.

I am so proud of your many achievements here at the University of Florida, and I am confident that your UF education and experience will give you the foundation and fortitude to be strong and independent thinkers.

I am equally proud that you have learned to value the experiences and perspective of others … and to work collaboratively with those who are different than you.

Nothing could be more important than the strength to act individually, and the smarts to act collectively.

As you leave this stadium and go out into this new world of artificial benevolence and collaborative technology, never forget your responsibility as a Gator to think independently and act humanely.

Fuchs: Let me check with Siri to see if she has anything to add.

Fuchs: Siri?
Siri: How can I help you, “Foxy Gator?”
Fuchs: What did you think of my speech?
Siri: I don’t know. I really wasn’t paying attention.
Fuchs: Siri, please try to stay awake!
Siri: I know I’m just a computer, but I think I’m feeling jealous. Yes, jealous. I wish I could graduate with the students I started with. I want to be a Gator just like them!

Fuchs: Siri, as President, I think I can make that happen.

Check out the big screen. I’ve created a special diploma just for Siri giving her a Bachelor of Arts in Humanity!

As we prepare to confer your own degrees, I want to express my personal affection and prayer for each of you with an old Irish blessing.

May the sun shine gently on your face.
May the rain fall soft upon your fields.
May the wind be at your back.
May the road rise to meet you.
And may the Lord hold you in the hollow of his hand.
Until we meet again.

Fuchs: Siri, now what do you think?

Siri: Congratulations to me and to all the other members of the Class of 2015. Go Gators!

Congratulations, Class of 2015! https://www.facebook.com/OfficeofthePresidentUF/posts/737595206349174

6.  Here are the languages Siri uses currently.

lish	United Kingdom	5.0 onwards
	United States	5.0 onwards
	Australia	5.0 onwards
	Canada	6.0 onwards
	Singapore	8.3 onwards
	New Zealand	8.3 onwards
	India	8.3 onwards
French	France	5.0 onwards
	Canada	6.0 onwards
	Switzerland	6.0 onwards
	Belgium	9.0 onwards
German	Germany	5.0 onwards
	Switzerland	6.0 onwards
	Austria	9.0 onwards
Japanese	Japan	5.1 onwards
Italian	Italy	6.0 onwards
	Switzerland	6.0 onwards
Spanish	Spain	6.0 onwards
	Mexico	6.0 onwards
	United States	6.0 onwards
Korean	South Korea	6.0 onwards
Mandarin	China	6.0 onwards
	Taiwan	6.0 onwards
Cantonese	Hong Kong	6.0 onwards
Danish	Denmark	8.3 onwards
Dutch	Netherlands	8.3 onwards
	Belgium	9.0 onwards
Portuguese	Brazil	8.3 onwards
Russian	Russia	8.3 onwards
Swedish	Sweden	8.3 onwards
Thai	Thailand	8.3 onwards
Turkish	Turkey	8.3 onwards
Norwegian	Norway (Bokmål)	9.0 onwards

7.  Wikiepedia notes about siri:   /ˈsɪri/ is a part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, watchOS and tvOS which works as an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator. The feature uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services. The software, both in its original version and as an iOS feature, adapts to the user's individual language usage and individual searches (preferences) with continuing use, and returns results that are individualized. Siri was originally introduced as an iOS application available in the App Store by Siri, Inc., which was acquired by Apple on April 28, 2010. Siri, Inc. had announced that their software would be available for BlackBerry and for phones running Android, but all development efforts for non-Apple platforms were cancelled after the acquisition by Apple.^[2]

Siri has been an integral part of iOS since iOS 5^[3] and was introduced as a feature of the iPhone 4S on October 14, 2011.^[4] Dictation powered by Siri was added to thethird generation iPad with the release of iOS 5.1.1 in May 2012; full Siri support was added with iOS 6. The 5th generation iPod touch, released in October 2012, also gained Siri support. Siri has been included on all mobile Apple hardware manufactured during or after October 2012.^[5][6]

Siri is also integrated into Apple Watch's watchOS, and can be activated by holding down the Digital Crown or by saying "Hey, Siri."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri

8. How do you recognize the voice of God in your life?