A Most Important Adverb

4 Lent A        March 26, 2017

1 Sam. 16:1-13   Ps. 23 

Eph. 5:1-14     John 9:1-38      

The Gospel of John is built around the contrast of the physical world and the spiritual world, the outer world and the inner world.  The inner world is the world of words, soul, thought, volition, dreams, desire and spirit and we have to have our inner world changed if we want to affect our agency or how we act and speak in the outer world.  We need to know our inner world as the kingdom of God if we are going work to make God's will done on earth in the outer world like it is done in the inner world which can be effective place of the kingdom of God.

So what are the physical situations and rites of passage in human life?  Birth, sight, drinking, eating, walking, dying, believing and human vocation.

Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again in another way.   Jesus told the woman at the well to drink another kind of water.  Jesus told the man born lame that he could walk again.  Jesus told the blind man that he could see again.  Jesus told his disciples about Eucharistic bread being the living bread and food of life.  Jesus told the sisters of the dead man Lazarus that he would live again.  Jesus told the doubting Thomas, who once had believed that he could believe again.  Jesus told the once called Peter who denied and failed him, he could be forgiven and called again to ministry.

The Gospel of John is all about how we can learn to live from this parallel existence in the Kingdom of God by being born of water and the Spirit.  Birth and new birth.  Blindness and sight.  Light and darkness.  Crippled or mobilized.  Thirsty and quenched.  Hungry and fed.  Death and Resurrection.  Doubt and Faith.  Failure and Forgiveness.  These are the contrasts found in the teaching of the Gospel of John.

The illustration used in our appointed Gospel for today is the giving of sight to the blind man.  The blind man had to receive his physical ability to see.  Physical sight was only the first seeing; the eyes of faith to understand Jesus as the Christ was the second seeing for him.

There is a model in this story which is descriptive of the community which was responsible for writing the Gospel of John.  What was a significant dilemma within their community?  One of the dilemma was this:  Why did not everybody come to see Jesus as God's special Messiah?  If people have the physical ability to see, then why could they not see that Jesus was God's special Messiah?

And the answer is that seeing Jesus in a qualitative way is not just about having physical proximity to Jesus or having information about him.

There were religious people during the time of the writing of John's Gospel who knew about Jesus but they were blind about the significance of Jesus which was the basis for the church.

Seeing Jesus and knowing him as a life changing Messiah was not everyone's experience.  An inner condition of the heart was needed to be aware of how Christ could change their lives.  There is something very cruel about the conditions of freedom.  Like why can't everyone be in love?  Doesn't it seem cruel that everyone can't be in life-changing love with Christ?  The preachers of the early church found it hard to believe that everyone did not find Jesus Christ to be irresistibly winsome.  How could anyone resist this irresistible Jesus Christ?  Why aren't other as madly in love with him as we are?  And why are they actively opposing us who have found Christ to be the light of our lives?

This Gospel stories encodes the reality about those who comes to belief and those who do not.    In everything that we do in life, how we see and believe is determined by the inner condition of our lives.  We see from within.  The Gospel of John is all about the inner life of the Word and the Spirit.  If the words of our inner life can be rearranged into certain lenses, then we will be able to see through those word constructs and see Christ in a way that inspire us.

There is the ambiguity of freedom in our lives.  Those who don't believe in Christ feel sorry for us that we believe in Christ.   Those who believe in Christ feel sorry for those who don't believe in Christ.  And what is the difference?  The difference is about the conditions inside of us.  The difference resides in how we are constituted by the words that have come to make up the scripts of our lives.

What is the up side of this very ambiguous freedom of who believes and who does not believe?  The up side of freedom is time.  Time means we have a future.  And the future means that we can always come to the vision of new belief and new belief in Christ.

The blind man who was healed by Jesus had to learn to see again.  He had physical sight but he came to also have spiritual sight in knowing who Jesus was. 

I think that positive message in the Gospel of John can be summed up in one of the most important adverbs in the human language.  What is that adverb?  "Again."  Why is the adverb "again" important?  "Again" refers to basic human repetition.  Human behaviors can be summed up by this adverb.  In life, we continually do things over and over again.  Repetitions may seem to being doing the same thing, but because they are later in time, they are different.  "Again" means life can be either the routine of a boring and losing habit or state of ignorance, or doing something again can be the possible expression of something new and insightful and life changing.

The Gospel of John is all about the possibility of a better future of doing things again, only with better seeing.  As the blind man was able to see again and see Christ as a new hopeful model for living, his seeing again was a better way of seeing.

The Gospel of John is also about the danger of the continuous repeating our losing habits of seeing the world in ignorance without insight and understanding.

Today, you and I are invited by Jesus Christ to the positive notion of the word, "again."  We cannot help but do, see, know, think and speak again.  So the question is this?  How are you and I going to see, know, think and do "again?"  Are we going to perform everything again with a better excellence than we have been doing before now? 

Who are we going to use as the models to inform the standards of excellence in seeing and doing?  Let us ask ourselves who are the heroes of our lives now to whom we submit as models for our lives, our thinking and our actions.  Do the models of our lives line up with Jesus the Messiah?

The Risen Christ invites us to see again today.  We do not want our seeing to be a blindness to the Risen Christ.  We ask for the Risen Christ to open our eyes to see him and his excellence which will help us perform the words and deeds of our lives in an enlightened "again."

If you and I cannot avoid repetition of the adverb "again," how will we perform the next repetitions in our lives in word and deed?  Will we be informed by seeing the excellence of the Risen Christ?  Or will we repeat the words and deeds of our lives in unenlightened blindness to the excellence of Jesus Christ.  May God grant us enlighten vision again as we receive the life of the Risen Christ. Amen.

Sunday School, March 26, 2017 4 Lent A

Sunday School, March 26, 2017   4 Lent A

Theme:

Seeing

What kind of vision did Superman have?

He had X-ray vision.

What could he see with X-ray vision?  He could see the what was behind a wall.  He could see a hidden gun in a pocket.  He could see through things.

Before David was chosen to be king, a Judge named Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to look for the next king.  David had many bigger and stronger older brothers, but God did not tell Samuel to choose any of the older brothers.  God told Samuel to choose the youngest boy, a shepherd boy named David.  And Samuel ask God, “Why should I choose David when there are so many other stronger brothers?”  And God told Samuel, “I don’t choose like people choose; people look at things on the outside like muscles and appearance, but I choose because I see inside a person.  I see their hearts.  And so I choose David to be the next king.”

Jesus healed a blind man and when the blind man could see he learned to see that Jesus was the Messiah.  Many religious people could not see that Jesus was the Messiah but this blind man learned to see that Jesus was the Messiah.

We have to be changed inside of our hearts through learning and through prayer to learn to have God’s X-ray vision and see what is in the hearts of other people.

There are many people who do not “look pretty, or strong or successful” but inside they are really good and kind people.  And we need to learn how to have this kind of X-ray vision to learn how to see and honor true goodness.  The most popular people are not always “good” people in kindness and love.  We need to learn to find God’s X-ray vision which helps us see goodness.

If we practice looking at Jesus by reading and studying his life and by prayer, we can learn to receive the X-ray seeing and vision of God that helps us find true goodness.

Sermon:

Could you close your eyes for a moment and pretend that you cannot see.

  And imagine that you could never see.  And try to imagine sitting on the street and asking people for money to help you live.

  That would be a really difficult life wouldn’t it.

  That is what people who were blind used to have to do.

  Today, we know that a person who is born blind can do many things that seeing people do and they also do many things better than seeing people do.

  Jesus met a blind man and he made the blind man to see.  But he also taught people a very important lesson about blindness.

  You and I can see, but that doesn’t mean that we always see everything.  We miss seeing lots of things.

  What about when your mom asks you to clean your room and pick up all of your toys?  And you finish and you say,”I’m done Mom.”  And then Mom comes in your room, and she sees some clothes on the floor and toys.  And she says, “Didn’t you see these toys?  How could you miss seeing these toys?”

  Sometimes we miss seeing things don’t we?  Why?  Because we’re not paying attention.  Or we forget.  Or we’re in a hurry.  Or we just don’t think it’s important.

  When Jesus helped the blind man to see, he also said that there were many people who could see, and yet they acted as though they were blind.

  They missed seeing this blind man; for them he was just a beggar sitting on the street.

  If they truly saw the blind man they would have helped him and taken care of him so he wouldn’t have to beg.

  And we too, even with good eyesight, we can miss seeing some important things in this life.

  Jesus said that misfortune and bad luck was just an opportunity for God’s work to be done.   And so we have to have our eyes open to the people whom God wants us to care for.

  If we care for the people who need our care, then we will not miss the good work that God wants us to do in our lives.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

March 26, 2017: The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs: Only a Boy Named David; Have Thine Own Way,  The Lord is My Light;  May the Lord

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Only a Boy Named David (All the Best Songs for Kids:  # 112)

Only a boy named David, only a little sling.  Only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing.  Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook.  Only a boy named David and five little stones he took.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  And, round and round and round and round and round and round and round.  And one little stone went up in the air, and the giant came tumbling down.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Praise be to God! (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have made us! Praise be to God!

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise be to God!

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise be to God!

Liturgist: A reading from the First Book of Samuel

Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; * I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures * and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul * and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory:  Have Thine Own Way Lord  (LEVAS, # 145)

1-Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.  Thou art the potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me, after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.

2-Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.  Search me and try me, Master, today.  Purer than snow, Lord, wash me just now, as in thy presence humbly I bow.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: The Lord Is My Light (Renew! # 102)

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in Him I trust, in Him I trust.

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in him I trust, in him I trust.

Post-Communion Prayer. 

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: May the Lord (Sung to the tune of Eidelweiss)

May the Lord, Mighty God, Bless and keep you forever, Grant you peace, perfect peace, Courage in every endeavor.  Lift up your eyes and seek His face, Trust His grace forever.  May the Lord, Mighty God Bless and keep you for ever.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God! 

Spiritual Seeing, Spiritual Blindness, a youth dialogue sermon

4 Lent a        March 30, 2014

1 Sam. 16:1-13   Ps. 23 

Eph. 5:1-14     John 9:1-38      

Lectionary Link

Parker: In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Please do not be seated.  I want us to be completely current in our church practices.

Kalum:  How are you going to do that?

Parker:  I want all of the congregation to move to the center aisle and I am going to take a selfie of us.

James:  I guess if the president can do it; and Ellen can do it at the Oscar and his Holiness, Pope Francis can do it, surely we can be St. Relevant’s Episcopal Church and do our own selfie.

Parker: Okay everyone get ready for the selfie.  Good I’m glad that we did this.

Kalum: Why are you glad?

Parker: Well, for one I have infallible photographic proof that I was in church during Lent.

James: Are you saying that you need all of the proof that you can get?

Parker:  Well, maybe but it will be proof for others too.

Kalum:  So what else do you suggest that we do to be relevant today?

James: I’ve got an idea.  We are at the height of March Madness.  The National championship will be decided a week from tomorrow.  Today the Final Four will be decided.

Kalum: Well, I think that Parker has been reading his holy bracket more than the Bible during last few weeks.

Parker: Well, bracketology is an official subject for school now, isn’t it?  How’s your bracket going James?  I hope you didn’t bet the family farm on your predictions.

James: My brackets are going fine but I’m also involved in Madness, it’s called Lent Madness.  They have their own bracketology where the saints are pitted against each other and at the end of Lent, one of the saints will win the Golden Halo award.

Kalum: Wow James, I didn’t know that you were so “spiritual.”

James: It does not hurt to have “spiritual” on one’s resume.  But seriously how’s your bracket going?

Kalum: Okay, but I had Duke going further than they did.  They ran into a “giant killer” when they played Mercer.  It was quite an upset.

Parker:  It is kind of like the biggest upset in the history of warfare.

James:  What was that?

Parker:  The most famous giant killer and the most famous upset in history is the story of David and Goliath.  David was a scrawny, tough little shepherd boy who fought with wolves and lions to protect his sheep.  He went up against the great Philistine giant Goliath and he won by using his sling shot to hit him with a stone right on his forehead.  Size isn’t everything; wit and wisdom also counts for something.  David’s father Jesse had many sons who were older than David but David ended up being chosen as the King of Israel.

Kalum:  The famous Judge Samuel thought that all of David’s brothers would be suitable to be anointed as King of Israel and David was not the obvious choice but Samuel came to know that God sees differently than humans see.  God taught Samuel to see David as the person to anoint as King, because David had something that others could not see.

James:  The Gospel story today is all about seeing too.  The religious leaders were supposed to be people who could see the obvious.  And the blind man was the one who didn’t see.

Parker:  The Gospel presents this irony of seeing and not seeing.

James: The disciples of Jesus were blind about cause and effects.

Kalum: What do you mean?

James:  They asked Jesus if the man was blind because of his sins or his parents’ sins.

Parker:  How could anyone presume to know such cause and effects?

Kalum:  Well, I know why Duke lost to Mercer in the NCAA tournament?

James: Why?

Kalum:  I read that some loyal Duke fan had a lucky unwashed Duke T-shirt that he wore and when he wore it to the games, Duke always won.  His mother inadvertently washed the T-shirt and this Duke fan swears it caused his Duke team to be upset.

Parker: Why are people so superstitious about cause and effect?

James:  It probably gives people a sense of power of being in control by presuming to know things which really can’t be known.

Kalum: Some times religious people believe that natural disasters are connected with the people whom they think are sinful.

Parker:  Such thinking can be very prejudicial; it can make people into victims and religious people often do play the blame game.

James:  I think Jesus came to show people how to see things differently.  He was not interested in presuming to know the reason why the man was blind; he just wanted the blind man to know that God’s help was with him.

Kalum:  In the Gospel of John the writer is trying to get us to see things differently.  The writer wants us to see from the heart.  The Gospel of John shows us that presence of Christ is with us in all situations even the trivial situations.

Parker: What do you mean?

Kalum:  Jesus was present to help solve the wine shortage problem at a wedding; that’s pretty trivial in the big scheme of things.

James:  But Christ was present when the multitude needed food to eat; he was present with his disciples when there was a storm on the sea.  He was present with a parent who had a sick child. He was present when a man was unable to walk.  He was present to the blind man and his family.  He was present with the family of Lazarus after he died.

Parker:  So the Gospel of John is about the presence of Christ being with us in all of the times of our lives.

Kalum:  And the faith and the new birth that is promised by Jesus mean that we have the ability to see the presence of Christ in the small events, the big events and the events of sadness and loss.

James: So in the story about the healing of the blind the man, the blind man who was made to see is really all Disciples of Christ who are learning to see the wonderful presence of Christ in all of the events of life

.

Parker:  So, today we need to learn not to think that we know the cause of why lots of bad things happen to people.  Because we may be wrongly blaming people who are already hurting.

Kalum:  And we need to know that our life of faith is about learning how to see better; to see from the heart.

James: And we need to learn how to see the presence of Christ in all of the events of our life.

Parker:  Does that mean if I win the bracketology contest for March Madness that I am a genius.

Kalum:  No, it just means you’re lucky.

James:  Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Kalum: With God, it is better to know God’s grace even as we are always trying to be as good as we can and to see things as God’s Spirit teaches us to see things.

Parker:  I see.

James: I see, too.

Kalum: Can everyone say: God, open our eyes so that we can see!    

Everyone: God, open our eyes so that we can see.

Kalum: Amen.