I was a victim of a home invasion Thursday morning. It is the only thing that makes sense. I am a little shaken, but there was, as far as I can tell, no harm done.

          Let me explain the sequence of events.

Last Friday some thunder and lighting rolled through the area. As is typical, I lost my Wi-Fi. Happens every time. Since my home computer is very old, it is not Wi-Fi compatible, so it is hard wired to the unit in the apartment. I do not lose the internet. However, my television is a ‘smart’ television and is dependent on Wi-Fi to play anything. So, I had no television. Not really a problem because I do not watch a lot of TV. Actually, very little. I went till Tuesday before I called my provider. When they originally came out and hooked me up, they said they would be there between 8:30 and 11:00 AM. On that day the guy got there at 6:15 in the evening and was gone by 7:30. I was not a happy camper. Since then, when I have had a problem, I have called and, after listening to awful music for a period of time, they have talked me through the fix on the phone. But this time was different and involved a lightening strike that overloaded something. They would be out, they said, between 8:30 and 11:00 AM on Thursday.

 Being pretty certain I would have to be waiting all day, I took the stuff I was working on home on Wednesday. At 8:30 I was turning on my home computer when my phone rang. “Hello?” “Hi, is this Mr. Wade?” Great, I thought. Open the day with a telemarketer. “Yes, it is.” “Mr. Wade, this is your Metronet technician. I am on Main Street right now and should be at your location inside 5 minutes. Is that OK?” “Ah, what now?” “This is your Metronet technician. I am on Main Street right now and should be at your location inside 5 minutes. Is that OK?” “Oh, um, yeah, sure. That would be great.”

 Obviously, it was a scam. Somehow, they had hacked Metronet’s schedule and they were going to use that to gain entry. I watched out the window expecting to see a rusted out S-10 pull up with a cardboard sign on the side saying ‘Metronet.’ Actually, it was a very respectable work van emblazoned with Metronet logo and phone number. I couldn’t help but be impressed at the attention to detail these scammers were using. A young man, mid 30s, dressed in what appeared to be an actual Metronet uniform, hopped out of the van and headed to my door. Oh, these guys were good. But I am pretty sharp. He carried no electronic equipment or tools, so it reinforced my certainty that he was there to do harm. I might be an aging old coot, but I was not going to be easy.

 He came in and I showed him where the equipment was located. He pulled out his cell phone and called in to tell someone where he was and what he was doing. Of course, I knew he was letting the other guy in the truck know he was going to be needed soon. Foolish of him to not even bring in something that looked vaguely like electronic equipment. Not even an ohmmeter, for goodness sakes.

 But then, he turned on the television and, using his cell phone, began going through all kinds of technical data. It occurred to me that this must be why it is called a smart TV. My son bought it for me and told me it was a smart TV, but I had just rolled my eyes at the time. Now, however, it was certainly acting smart. Next, the supposed technician walked over to my computer, after asking first, and began entering more data. A few more phone calls were made to clear up his confusion (he told me that this was truly a mess due to the nearby lightening strike) and then at 9:30 he slipped his phone back in his pocket, said his farewells and left.

 I looked around. It didn’t seem he had taken anything. Maybe he had seen that I have nothing of value. Well, I do have a couple pair of neat socks in my sock drawer, but he never looked in the bedroom. No, he must have realized that I had nothing worth taking. Obviously, a home invasion, but a pointless one. And, my television works now. I don’t know. I am confused.

 This morning I am still thinking about it. All night I expected someone to slip in and take my cool socks. Nothing happened, except I lost some sleep. Could it have been that he really was a Metronet tech? Actually on time and efficient? Were my misgivings foolishness?

 Not really. No. We have become so certain of incompetence that we expect it in every facet of our lives. Two days after my open heart surgery a man walked into my room pushing a machine. He began to take close up pictures of my legs. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was mapping the veins that they would have to extract in order to do my by-pass. “I’M HAVING ANOTHER BY-PASS?” “Oh, you’ve had one before?” “TWO DAYS AGO!” He checked his paperwork and said, “No, I don’t think so. You are on the schedule for tomorrow.” I am laying in bed, pretty well wrapped in bandages and drainage tubes and my legs have nasty looking surgical incisions on them and this genius is telling me I am having surgery the next day, I complained about it and just got a snicker from my nurse. We become used to incompetence in our medical, in our politicians, in the service industry, in restaurants………..actually, in everything. We come to expect it. And when someone actually is competent, we hardly know how to act.

 Thursday evening we had a Board of Christian Ed meeting at the church. I looked around the table. Brian chaired the meeting. Brian’s brother-in-law, Jeff, was shot recently. He became a focus of prayer. In spite of the seriousness of the injury, Jeff was out driving a little the other day. A few days after that, Brian had cancer surgery. He became a focus of prayer. He is doing really well now. On the other side of the table from me, Tonya sat in the meeting. She had cancer surgery on Monday. She became a focus of prayer. More tests need to be done, but it seems she is cancer free and she was in the meeting three days later. Next to me was Mary. Two weeks in a row saw two grandsons have pretty serious surgeries. They became a focus of prayer. Both are doing well. Mary and her daughter will be traveling to the Cleveland Clinic next week to address some issues Terri has. She will be a focus of prayer. They are not really worried. And that was just one meeting on a Thursday night. On Sunday morning we can look around and see those stories repeated everywhere in the church. Incompetence may surround us, but we have the confidence that the Lord is fully competent.

There are a number of contemporary Christian songs with the title, “What A Mighty God We Serve.” I like the one performed by Vickie Winans. There is a lot of repeating of lyrics, but the principle lyrics are these:

What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
The angels bow before him
Heaven and earth adore him
What a mighty God we serve

All the angels said it
Heaven and earth declare it
Lift your voice and say
He is a mighty God

He is a Mighty God!