S6 E17 - "Alexa...er, I mean, Ziggy!"

I have been trying to use the Alexa all week, but it never answers me anymore. I figured it was broken. That was until my wife informed me there is a reason it won't answer my calls anymore - the kids changed it's name. I've been calling out the wrong name. 

Whose name are you calling on? If we call on any other name than the Lord, we will receive no reply, like that of the prophets of Baal. Idols, be they ancient or modern, cannot deliver. There is only one name that we can find deliverance through when we call upon it: the name of Jesus. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

Several years ago, we finally caved in and got ourselves an Amazon Alexa to keep around the house. At first, it was a wonderful little tool that only Kylie and I used on a semi regular basis. We would check the weather, ask questions, or play music while getting the dishes done. However, as our children grew, and started to speak, and started to figure out the functionality of Alexa – it quickly became their very favorite toy. They take it outside with them and blast music they love while playing with their friends (which I’m sure our neighbors just love lol). They take it into their rooms while cleaning up and have Alexa tell them kid’s stories or even tell their own made-up stories to Alexa. There have been plenty of days that we have to turn the Alexa off entirely, because the kids wear it and us out with the constant requests and questions. I guess it could be worse, though, at least they haven’t figured out how to activate Siri on my phone or laptop yet. 

At any rate, earlier this week I was wanting to check the forecast for the next day, so whilst loading the dishwasher I said, “Hey Alexa, what’s the forecast for tomorrow?” I waited a few seconds, expecting to hear the all too familiar friendly voice of our resident robot pop up with a response…but I heard nothing. I looked up to see if it was just loading with the circular blue light, but nothing was activated. I guess it didn’t hear me. “Alexa,” I said again – still nothing. That’s odd, I thought. So, I clicked the button to activate it manually and it booted right up, ready to answer my question. How strange – something must be going wrong with our Alexa. I guess it was about time – it had been several years since we had purchased it, and with the amount of use it gets daily no wonder it gave out. So, throughout the week I have just been actively pressing the manual button to ask it a question and going about my day. 

That brings us to last night. We were all sitting on the couch together when the kids had a question about the origination of some kind of word. Going into automatic pilot, I piped up, “Hey Alexa…oh that’s right it’s broken.” I started getting up to manually press the button again, when my wife said, “Oh no, honey, it’s not broken. The kids changed its name.” To this one of the kids shouted out, “Hey Ziggy…” – immediately the echo dot lit up, ready to answer any question. I started cracking up – Ziggy is the name of our gym dog that the kids love. I had no idea you could change the name of an Alexa to answer to something else! Here I was, all week, calling out Alexa’s name but getting absolutely no answer back. And no wonder – if I wanted to get the answers that I was seeking – I needed to be calling on the right name. 

It leads us to a very important question that we must ask ourselves, a question that is as old as time itself: whom do you call upon? For many in ancient times, and even those who once were God’s people, whom they called upon for help, deliverance, and strength was not the Creator of the universe, but false idols. We read in Psalm 115:4-8, “Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.” These false idols, fashioned by the hands of the people themselves, had absolutely no power whatsoever. They could not hear, could not speak, could not act. Regardless of how tirelessly the people called upon their name, there was no answer. 

In somewhat of a comical scene, this is played out in 1 Kings 18 with the contest at Mt. Carmel. The goal was to see whose object of worship would answer when they called upon them: that of the false prophets of Baal, or that of Elijah calling on the name of the Lord. We read beginning in vv. 25 the following narrative: “Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.” So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.” The mocking of Elijah was not unique to him; we find similar passages and concepts from the prophets of Isaiah and Jeremiah as well. No matter how loudly the people cried out, no matter how much they even afflicted themselves to try and garner the attention of Baal, no one answered them. Why? Because they were calling on the wrong name, to a fictitious deity that did not exist but in their own imaginations. They never did, nor ever would, receive any answer – only if they called upon the name of the Lord (which is exactly what Elijah does in the rest of the story btw, finish it off on your own time). 

At this point you might be thinking, “Well, idolatry isn’t really all that much of an issue today…so none of this really applies to me.” My friends, we could not be more wrong. Idolatry is all around us, as people place their trust in things other than God, serving and worshiping the creation rather than the creator. People call on the name of money – thinking that possessions and wealth can deliver them and save them. Yet, it cannot, and their idol fails them time and time again. They live out the warning of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5:13-17, “There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed. As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands. This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind? What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much frustration, sickness, and anger.” People call on the name of pride, trusting in themselves and making themselves out to be something they are not. From men like Nebuchadnezzar, the Caesars of Rome, or even some more modern religious leaders we have seen this played out throughout history. And yet, they live out the words of Proverbs 16:18, words that if we are not careful can be said of ourselves too if we build a life on the idol of pride: “Pride comes before a fall.” 

There are countless other examples of modern idolatry that we could speak to if we had the time, but the point is this: if we call on anything other than that of the Lord, we will receive no answer. We will become as foolish and useless as the idols that we turn to. Instead, we should listen to the admonition of the prophet Isaiah in 57:13, “When you cry out, let your collection of idols rescue you! The wind will carry all of them off, a breath will take them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.” There is only one name through which we can be saved. One name through which we can be delivered. One name through whom we pray that our prayers are heard and answered. One name that has the power to deliver those who take refuge in him. One name that is worthy of our praise, our worship, and our devotion. One name that is worthy of our trust, our souls, our life, our all. And that is the name of Jesus. As Peter would boldly declare in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

My friends, there is only one for you to call upon. And that calling is not simply an audible call, like saying, “Hey Alexa,” – rather, it is an earnest seeking and faithful following of the one whom you are calling upon. To call upon the name of the Lord is to trust in him, to submit to him and to obey him, to worship him, and to revere him. It is what the first Christians did that day of Pentecost in Acts 2, fulfilling the prophecy of Joel 2. It is what Paul did when he arose and was baptized, calling on the name of the Lord. It is what you can do this very day as well. Give your life to Jesus, repent of your sins, be buried with him in baptism, and rise to walk in newness of life full of faith. When we do so, the promise of Romans 10:13 then rings true, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”