Computer Spirituality*[1]

Galatians 2:11-21

 

 

            Jesus and the biblical writers of the New Testament used images from their own day to describe what it means to live life with God.  Jesus’ parables are full of these images: the kingdom of God is like a farmer who sows seed, like a shepherd who looks for the lost sheep, like a mustard seed.  Paul, too, borrowed images from his own culture to describe the reality of living according to the reality of Jesus Christ: living with Christ is like a judge who pronounces you innocent even though you’re not (justified), like a slave who has his freedom purchased for him or her by another (redeemed), like putting on a brand new coat.  Well, today – and for the next few times I preach – I am going to use images from our culture to describe what it means to live life in Jesus Christ.  Today I’m going to talk about computers.

 

            Those of you who don’t know a lick about computers, please don’t despair; I will try to explain some of the tech terms I use in this sermon.  And I will try not to bore you who are computer literate with my explanations.  The first tech term is “operating system.” An operating system is what makes a computer work; it writes the rules of operation, the commands that tell the computer to do one thing rather than another.  In other words, the operating system is the brains and heart of a computer. 

It used to be that the computer world was dominated by something called DOS (Disk Operating System).  No one really liked the DOS all that much because it was such a  huge hassle. To use it, you had to remember a whole bunch of commands.  To make anything work on the computer, you had to type in a long series of commands, and if even one of the commands were off by just a little, the system wouldn’t work.

Well, I have an alternative name for DOS; I’d like to call it the Decalogue Operating System.  “Decalogue” is a Greek term that means “ten words” and is a reference to the ten commandments, specifically, and to the Mosaic law, generally.  Paul’s letter to the Galatians is Paul’s response to Christians in Galatia who wanted to use the DOS (Decalogue Operating System) to run their lives.  But Paul reminded the Galatian Christians that “a person is not justified by the works of the Law but only through faith in Jesus Christ…since by works of the law shall no flesh by justified” (Galatians 2:16).  Paul understood that the DOS system was really all about the commands, and if any of the commands were off even by a little, the system wouldn’t work.  So Paul pointed the Galatians in a new direction, toward an entirely new kind of operating system.

 

In the computer world, the old DOS system was replaced when Bill Gates and Microsoft came along with an operating system called Windows and took over the computer world.  Now what you need to know about Windows is that they improve (or “upgrade”) their system every few years.  At first they called their system Windows 95, then Windows 98, then Windows 2000.  Eventually, Microsoft changed the way they named their product and marked their improvements with letters instead of numbers.  The last two Windows operating systems are called Windows ME and Windows XP. 

Now Windows XP is an interesting name, from a Christian standpoint.  I don’t know why Microsoft named the system “XP” but when I see those letters I can’t help but recognize that they are very similar to the first two letters of the word “Christ” as it is written in the Greek language of the New Testament.  In the Greek, the first two letters are the “chai,” which looks like an “x” and the “rho,” which looks like a “p.”  Throughout the New Testament we read the name “Cristos,” or Christ. Indeed, the Reformers made the XP a widely revered symbol of the Christian faith and Protestant Reformation.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he says: “I can do all things through ‘XP’ who strengthens ‘ME’” (Philippians 4:13).  In our text from Galatians we read Paul’s very personal statement in which he confesses: “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but ‘XP’ who lives in [place of] ‘ME’” (Galatians 2:20).

If we think of faith in Jesus Christ as God’s way of plugging a new operating system into the human heart and brain, then we may want to ask ourselves, “Am I Jesus (XP) powered or me (ME) powered?  By whose rules of operation am I running my life?  Whose commands are telling me to do one thing rather than another?  Does my heart and brain belong to Jesus or is it my very own?”  Consider.

Ø      When Jesus says to forgive, do we allow the XP or the ME to run our system?

Ø      When Jesus says to pray, do we allow the XP or the ME to run our system?

Ø      When Jesus says to be generous to the poor and those in need, do we allow the XP or the ME to run our system?

There’s more than just the operating system to consider, of course.  For instance, every time I turn my computer on it runs through a virus protection program.  For those of you who don’t know computers, a virus is something that, just like it sounds for the human body, will mess up your computer and make it run improperly or not at all.  In the Christian life, we call the virus protection program “the confession of sin.”  If we’re not careful, sin will enter our lives and keep us from living the way we are created to live.  For Christians, the virus protection program requires that we examine daily our hearts and our minds, our actions and our attitudes: Where did I hurt another? Where did I lack in love? Where did I fail to trust God? Where did I forget, ignore, the fact that all of my life is a living in the presence of God?

 

            After my computer runs through its virus protection program, it asks me if I want to download any upgrades.  For those of you who don’t know computers, an upgrade is an improvement for one’s computer. My computer asks me about upgrades every time I turn it on because it wants me to be in touch with its “developers” so that it can be improved by the little “fixes” and “adjustments” that come from continually checking in with the head programmer.  For Christians, God is constantly inviting us to download his upgrades through worship, study of the Word, sharing with other believers and prayer.  After all, none of us have software that’s been perfected.

 

            Once I’m up and running on my computer, I sometimes find that something’s just very, very wrong.  Nothing is working like it’s supposed to work.  I can’t get anything done.  My computer is messed up, and I need to start over!  This is called “rebooting.”  It’s the great do-over for a computer when the user wipes the slate clean and starts again.  For Christians, we have a great do-over, too.  It’s called repentance and forgiveness.  There are times when our lives are messed up, when we can’t get anything done, when nothing is working in our lives, and we need to start over.  I have a sign in my office that someone gave me; it says, “God allows U-turns.”  He does indeed.

 

            But how should we as Christians “reboot” our lives?  I mean, is there a proper way to repent and seek God’s forgiveness?  Those of you who know computers know there are two ways to reboot.  One way is to use the mouse, go into the menu, drop the menu selections, click on start, then restart.  The other way is to hit three keys on the keyboard: the “del” key, the “alt” key, and the “ctrl” key.  Now from a Christian standpoint, using the keyboard is a far better option, much more spiritual.  Why, you may ask, is the keyboard the better way to go – spiritually speaking?  Why, of course, because it reminds us of what we really need to do: “delete” the sin from our lives, “alter” our actions and attitudes, and allow Christ to “control” the way of our living.

 

*****

 

Let me close with an email I received a while back.  It’s called “Installing Love” and is a conversation between Tech Support and a Customer having trouble with love.

 

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Yes, I’ve decided to install the Love program.  Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Sure can.  The first step is to open your Heart.  Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are other programs running now.  Is it okay to install Love while these other programs are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment currently running.

Tech Support: No problem.  Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system.  It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs.  Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem.  However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment.  Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed.  Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off.  Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: Certainly.  Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness.  Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done!  Love has started installing itself.  Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already.  It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry.  It means that the Love program is set up to run on internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart.  In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So what should I do?

Tech Support: Go to the program menu and pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge Your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy these files to the “My Heart” directory.  The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.  Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your recycle bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey!  My Heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart.  Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes.  For others it takes a while, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time.  So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up.  Love is Freeware.  Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet.  They, in turn, will share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

 

My word to you, and Paul’s message, too, is this: “Get with the program.”  “Log in” to God.  “Accept” his grace. “Restart” with his forgiveness, and “install” the love program. “Download” his “upgrades” for your life. Check the “Help Menu” [Bible] as often as necessary and at least daily. “Configure” your life around Jesus, so that everyone can see Jesus “XP” working in you.

 

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