In 1872, Pierre Pachet, a Professor of Physiology in France, said, “Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.”

In 1876 an inter nal memo circulated at Western Union stating, “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”

In 1936 an article in the New York Times reported, “A rocket will never be able to leave the earth's atmosphere.”
And then, in 1945, U.S. Admiral William Leahy assured his colleagues, “The atom bomb will never go off - and I speak as an expert in explosives.”

Prophecy comes in many forms, not only in religious circles but also in the realm of science and industry.  No matter what the arena, as human beings we enjoy predicting the future even when we’re proven wrong over and over again.  No matter what the era, we like to think we can know what the future will bring, assuming, then, we can control the events in this world.  Charles Duell, Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents claimed back in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”  Talk about utter and arrogant certainty - and a sure way to eliminate your own job.  Clearly it is part our human nature to want to foresee and control what lies ahead.

From the Christian tradition Thomas a Kempis, author of The Imitation of Christ, offers this perspective: “Every perfection in this life has some imperfection attached to it, and there is no knowledge in this world that is not mixed with some blindness or ignorance.”  Standing here at the threshold of the twenty-first century enough time has passed for us to understand that our knowledge of this world is never perfect and that advances in technology are never complete.  Rather, they are always evolving, making us at least wise enough to realize that we will never fully know what the future holds.  Having witnessed so much change over the course of the last century we understand that technology takes on a life of its own - a very real and even frightening thought as we enter an time when experiments in cell mutation and cloning are going on.  We realize - for better and for worse - that with the continued application of mathematical, scientific and technological principles we are constantly drawn into new frontiers.

Sociologist Neil Postman addresses the fact that technology is quickly becoming the dominating influence in our culture in his book titled Technopoly.  “Technopoly” is a word Postman creates in an attempt to define how our society is rapidly adopting a new system of organization and meaning with all of these modern advances.  He writes,

Technopoly is a state of culture.  It is also a state of mind.  It consists of the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology.  This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs.  Those who feel most comfortable in Technopoly, are those who are convinced that technical progress is humanity’s supreme achievement and the instrument by which our most profound dilemmas may be solved.

This is where our conversation really begins today.  This is where we step back and wonder just what effect this technological culture is having on Christianity, and from the opposite perspective, what impact Christianity is called to have on this culture.  We ask ourselves, “Who needs faith in an era when science explains our existence and technology provides for nearly our every need?”  At the same time we wonder, “How does God inspire us to respond to these world changing advances?”

I think we’d all agree there’s much to be grateful for in this modern world.  From the discovery of penicillin to the development of electricity, indoor plumbing, the car, computer, and air conditioning, there are so many ways we are made healthier, more comfortable, and productive because of the culture we find ourselves born into.  As I like to say, if it were up to me I’d still be sitting in the dirt rubbing two sticks together - they’d be pretty sticks, carved with intricate designs - but they’d be still be sticks nonetheless.  I give great thanks for the many, many forms of technological development I use each day with barely a thought.

At the same time, however, I also am careful to appreciate the limits of these resources.  For example, with antibiotics we may be healthy but not altogether happy.  With the conveniences computer, fax, and internet we may be “connected” but still feel terribly alone.  With the world made accessible by car, train, and airplane we may travel all over the world but always feel like there’s no place we truly belong.  No matter how much comfort and ease technology brings to our lives we still have the human need for meaning and love and purpose.  Technology alone can never provide these things, as technology is at root a lifeless form.  We need to remember that it’s we who flick the switch, press the key, swallow the pill, putting into motion, then, technology’s undeniable power.  At the same time, but in an entirely different way, it’s up to us to decide what kind of power we assign to each and every technology we use, recognizing that a study by Barna Research released just this past April found that there was no difference between Christians and non-Christians when it came to the ownership and use of modern technologies.  Are we, as people of faith, being appropriately reflective?   Or, are we moving too quickly along with the rest of society, developing naïve dependencies that only make us feel complacent, entitled, and anything but compassionate like Christ?

It was Thomas Edison who said, “What man's mind can create, man's character can control.”  Here we see once again a declarative statement proven wrong as so many times and in so many ways the character of humankind has failed to “do the right thing.”  With all the “progress” we’ve made war still covers the globe, new weapons continually designed to sever the fabric of humanity with nearly surgical precision.  With all the modern appliances in the home and work place saving us time and effort we realize that divorce rate continues to escalate.  With all the factories mass-producing food and health products, 840 million people in this world still go to bed hungry every night, 24,000 men and women and children dying each and every a day of starvation.   What are we doing with our technology and resources?  What are we doing with our money and time?

“I dare you to turn this stone into bread,” the devil says to Jesus in our Scripture reading this morning.  “I dare you to use your power to serve yourself and to feel like God” is the underlying implication.  The modern inclination to deify our capabilities as described so well by Neil Postman is much like the temptations Christ faces those forty days in the desert:  they are temptations to attribute power to us rather than God; they are temptations to deify our own abilities rather than those of our Creator’s.  Finding ourselves surrounded by so many modern conveniences it can be easy for us to assume the stance of entitlement and pride where we come to think that we deserve a long and happy life filled with material security and comfort.  That’s just what the anti-Christ wants us to believe.  He says to Jesus on that mountaintop, “Look at all of this.  All of this can be yours if you’ll only bow down and worship me.”

The primary commandments of our faith need to ring loudly in our ears this moment, reminding us that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The need for God’s presence is clear as we recognize that it’s not technology that can save us but rather it is the grace and guidance of God.  Casting aside the misguided notion that it is someone else’s problem to come up with a solution to end hunger and homelessness in our city, our nation, and world we hear Christ’s call to come together with all of our modern capabilities to help those in need, to use the earth’s resources wisely, and to play an active role in building and sustaining communities that are reconciling, compassionate and loving.  Remembering the puzzled expression of one IBM engineer back in 1968 as he looked at a microchip for the first time and asked, "But what ... is it good for?" we realize that this is the question we must ask when we think about technology:  “What is it good for?”  We need to take the time to consider from our most Christian and faithful perspective, “who does this technology help?” and just as importantly, “who might it hurt or leave behind?”  These are the considerations that lie at the heart of the matter, for ultimately and always, we need to be concerned about the ways technology brings us together or tears us apart - right here as individuals, families, and as the wider and global community.

In 1943 Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM said, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
In 1957 the editor in charge of business publications for Prentice Hall declared,  “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year.”

And then, even more recently, Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom/Blockbuster, stated, “The information superhighway is a dirt road that won't be paved over until 2025.”

We now know how little we really know.  We now see how dangerous it is to try to be prophetic when it comes to modern developments as technology is moving at a pace even experts cannot always comprehend.  But as we consider the implications of technology here in this house of faith one thing is certain, one thing we must never forget:  we cannot play God; we must not deify our own abilities in a way that alienates us from one another or from our Creator.  Like Christ we must turn away from those temptations so that with Christ angels can surround us and move us forward to offer the healing love of God to those who need it most in this world.

And so what do we say to the skeptic this morning?  We say, put down your palm pilot and spend some time with God.  Turn off the T.V. or stereo or DVD player and talk - really talk and listen - to your family and friends.  We say, don’t buy that new gadget or software or car if you don’t really need it and give that money instead to an organization that provides direct service to the hungry, the homeless, those struggling with AIDS or other disease.   This morning we say to the skeptic:  technology can only take us so far but God is with us through eternity, offering love and healing we can barely imagine.  We say to the skeptic - we say to our selves - don’t be afraid, God is here, bringing us into a new frontier of new and true community.

Let us pray.
Glorious God, we sit as if on the mountaintop looking out on your creation.  We sit wondering how to live with hope and integrity.  Lead us away from temptation, we pray; free us from the snares of technology.  For while we give great thanks for our lives in this modern time we realize that it is with you, in your timeless and loving realm, we wish to reside, with Christ by our side, for all eternity.
Amen.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.  The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angles concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”  Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.