The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders, III
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church/Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
August 31, 2008
RCL Year A – Proper 17
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church – Homecoming Service
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
Surrounded by the beauty and history of this holy place, it is easy to get distracted…
So this morning, I am going to try to help you out a little bit…
Several years ago, my spiritual director taught me this centering exercise, and I still use it often to reorient myself and focus, to remind me of what my purpose on this Earth is.
So I am going to pass it along to you today… and I hope you will use it on your own spiritual journey.
I want everyone to please take a deep breath and repeat after me very slowly…
“be still and know that I am God”
“be still and know that I am”
“be still and know”
“be still”
“be”
(again)
God is!! God is a form of being… God is! God was! and God always will be!
Moses knew it! The Apostles and Prophets knew it! Paul knew it! The founders of St. Andrew’s Church knew it! and We know it still today!
God is!! – sometimes we just need to be still for a moment and remember that God is...
You and I both know that this is a busy, busy world… we should sometimes just take some time out, time out to be still and remember that God is…
Moses was busy. He had been raised in Egypt in the family of Pharaoh, and been placed as a taskmaster over some of Pharaoh’s projects. But one day, he was protecting one of the Hebrew slaves who was being beaten by and Egyptian. Needless to say, Pharaoh got word of it and sought to kill Moses. So Moses left Egypt and fled to Midian, and married Zipporah, one of the seven daughters of Jethro, who was the local priest there.
This is where we pick up the story today… Moses is busy minding his father-in-law Jethro’s flock and led it beyond the wilderness… a place of danger and mystery…
in the ancient world, the wilderness was a wild place… one just didn’t go to the wilderness for fun… often when we see the word wilderness in the Bible, it is intend to make us think of a place of thirst, hunger, and deprivation, a place haunted by beasts and demons, and a place echoing with frightful noises…
We can assume that Moses had good reason to be there… but the part that sticks out, the part that we all know and love isn’t the fact that Moses was in the wilderness, tending his father-in-laws sheep… In fact we even forget about the sheep at the point that Moses encounters the flame of a fire that is coming out of a bush…
I am sure that it wasn’t strange in a dry and barren land, to see scattered brush fires here and there… but this one was a bit different… and got Moses’ attention… Moses went up to inspect… and saw that the bush was blazing, but wasn’t being consumed…
Now most of us know that there are 3 things in our physical world necessary for fire… heat, oxygen, and fuel… Moses caught on very quickly that this fire was very real but it was missing something… fuel… the bush was burning, but is wasn’t being burned…
Then in the still quiet, out of the blazing bush, God calls out “Moses, Moses…” and Moses responds “here I am”… God instructs Moses to come no closer and remove the sandals from his feet… God tells Moses… “you are on holy ground.”
Then, in an act of complete submission, Moses removes his sandals… To a shepherd, his shoes are his protection, making it possible to navigate the rough terrain of the countryside… Removing his sandals in the wilderness makes Moses completely vulnerable to his surroundings… Moses was frightened, yet listening intently to God’s every word…
God goes on to tell Moses that God has seen the torment of the Hebrews in Egypt, and has listened to their cry… God sends Moses back to Egypt to retrieve God’s people and lead them to a land promised to them… the land flowing with Milk and honey…
and God instructs Moses to bring them back to the Mountain to worship God…
God redeems God’s people… God heard them… God heard their prayers for deliverance, and their cries out for salvation… And God sent them a savior… Moses… God delivered them out of slavery in the land of Egypt and led them across the red sea to a land flowing with milk and honey… God redeems God’s people…
And God still redeems God’s people… God hasn’t stopped…
In the time of Hebrew history when the Roman government was growing strong and dominating the lands around the Mediterranean, the whole world was a mess… God heard the cries once again of a broken and battered world… and God is faithful… God redeems God’s people… But this time, God didn’t send us a Moses to lead us out of the bondage of slavery… God came to us himself in the person of Jesus Christ… his only son, the righteous man who walked on this earth and died on a cross, God became fully human being, to save us from ourselves…
God redeemed us then from the mistakes we have made, taught us by his example how to live in community and in relationship with one another, and how to love one another. All we have to do is be still long enough to listen, follow, and believe…
Jesus reminds us this morning that following him is not going to be easy… following him is not going to be the easy way… nor even the desired way caught up in the way of the world…
He tells us that in order to be focused, and do what he needs us to do, that we need to focus on divine things… not human things…
This is where we learn from Moses… in order to be focused on divine things we should be still and listen. Listen for that still small quite voice of God…
Then we should humble ourselves… we should to take off our sandals and make ourselves vulnerable to be formed into what Christ desires for us…
we should be still for a while and listen…
Moses asks What shall I say to the Israelites when I get back to Egypt???
Gods says, “Tell them that the God of your ancestors has sent me to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob….”
Then Moses asks what if they ask me “what is his name?” What do I tell them?
God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM…
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know….
Be still…
Be
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 15) - August 17, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 15)
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
After a year of being here in the wonderful metropolis of Cleveland, NC – y’all have taught me a lot… I have learned a lot about the area, and the wonderful little towns that surround Cleveland…
Mt. Ulla (and after a year, I finally learned how to say that correctly), Woodleaf, Barber (which I have learned is now part of Cleveland), and even the greater surrounding areas… the larger cities of Mooresville, Mocksville, Salisbury, and Statesville...
Being here in the middle of everything, Cleveland is very unique and in some ways isolated or closed off. People outside of Cleveland, sometimes don’t even know where Cleveland is…
I ran into someone in Salisbury the other day – I actually had to explain where Cleveland was… Even within Cleveland, as small as it may be, there are different groups that are a bit isolated within itself.
I went to the Third Creek Presbyterian Church last Sunday for the installation of their new pastor Don McCann (did y’all know there were Presbyterians in Cleveland?)
It is so easy sometimes to draw circles in our travels so that some are inside and others are out. It may be around people of a different race or ethnic origin, different gender or gender orientation, age, educational background or abilities…
It is easy to look at that person with too many tattoos or too many body piercings, or that person who stutters or the one who didn't make it through high school and say “this person is just not like us.”
Our Gospel text for this morning speaks directly to "us" and "them."
Jesus has gone out of the land of Israel into the region of Tyre and Sidon –– he is a Jew that has just crossed into Gentile territory. Then a woman from the area comes to Jesus –– Matthew uses the word "Canaanite" rather than "Syro-Phoenician." Now, this term is loaded for Jewish people because the Canaanites were the pagans with whom the Israelites fought for centuries. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and didn’t believe in the one true God.
It was a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus. She came alone without a man to escort her… without a husband or son or father – this was totally unheard of in her culture. And she came to Jesus shouting loudly, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David."
This woman had three strikes against her –– she was not Jewish – She was a pagan Canaanite . She was a woman –– strike two –– and she presumed to speak openly to a man without a male intermediary. And strike three –– she was a pest, whose screaming and shouting behavior would possibly bring trouble to Jesus and His followers.
So, the disciples came and urged Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting at us." They clearly draw the circle –– Jesus and the disciples and Jewish men are inside – and this bothersome, Canaanite woman is outside.
What I find interesting is how much a man of His time and place that Jesus really was. It seems at first that Jesus agreed with his followers so he tried to brush the woman off. Because his mission was to Israel only. But, she confessed him Lord and Messiah, something many of the people in Israel would not confess.
She asked him for mercy and knelt down before him in a posture of supplication and worship. And she had faith that Jesus could heal her daughter of a tormenting demon.
But what did Jesus do when she wouldn’t go away? He called her a dog.
Did you know that in the Middle East, even today, people do not keep pet dogs? But we do! We shampoo them and trim them, buy them treats, and even dress them up for holidays. Ours is a world that is definitely far away from that of the Middle East.
In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and are reduced to scavenging at the edges of the villages and towns. It was the same in Bible times. The Jews called the Gentiles "dogs" and it was NOT a term of endearment but rather of derision.
It is the term used by Jesus for this woman, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs." But she turned around and used the same phrase to say to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
She had Him there. With that reply, she broke the circle and entered in. Salvation came to her and her possessed daughter not because she became Jewish or promised to keep the Law of Moses. Not because she became the only person in scripture to outwit Jesus.
Here in Matthew's Gospel she finds salvation through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus said to her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Gospel is not just for men, for Jews, or for people who conform to our expectations of them. It actually took the Church a long time to realize this. In fact, the first great controversy in the Christian Church was whether Gentiles had to become Jews before they could become Christians. Paul the great apostle to the Gentiles even argued that Gentile men did not need to be circumcised to be baptized.
Peter had revealed to him by God that the dietary laws commanded in the Hebrew Bible were no longer required. No person was to be called common or unclean. And - At the first Council of Jerusalem (about year 50 – revealed in the book of Acts) it was agreed that Gentiles could become Christians.
Paul, writing to the Romans, declares that Jews and Gentiles are both sinners and are invited to be God's people through faith in Jesus.
We are not saved by our gender or our status, our by our race or our educational level, or our good behavior. We do not find our self worth in what others think of us – but by being children of God and heirs to God's Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
What our Gospel text clearly says today – is we are saved by faith in Jesus alone. And in our text we see how Jesus can set aside even clear Scripture teaching for the sake of people.
In the first part of our reading from Matthew, Jesus takes on the Holiness Code of the Old Testament. He and his disciples were accused of not washing their hands before they ate. Jesus argues that it was not what went in a person that defiled but rather the evil and malice that come out of the human heart.
If the rules and regulations hurt people, they could be put aside. Remember that the Sabbath was made for humans not humans made for the Sabbath. God's Laws are made to free not oppress and even Scriptural warrant can be set aside for the greater good of loving God and others.
In the second part of the same chapter, Jesus sets aside the whole system of salvation from the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible cared about the Gentiles, and looked for the day when all the nations would come together in Zion.
God was to accomplish God's mission in and through the Jewish people only. This is what Jesus starts to affirm –– the Gospel is for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the text does not stop there and in this passage, we see that the Old Testament scheme is set aside.
God's good news is for all people, not just some. Christ died for all people, not just for some. Forgiveness is for all people not just for some. The only condition is faith - which is itself a gift of God.
Others may be different from ourselves and often what makes them different is something we don't like – or something that is not like us. The Church has been guilty of keeping people out rather than inviting them in.
We are just human beings and fallen, sinful ones at that. We know what we like and we like what we know. Think of the disciples, they were the same way. Remember, the disciples were not God. Remember that neither the Church nor the rector nor the vestry is God either.
God is faithful and loving even when God's servants may not be. Only God draws the circle wide enough to bring everyone in into God’s loving embrace. Never let anyone or anything try to separate you from God's love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 15)
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
After a year of being here in the wonderful metropolis of Cleveland, NC – y’all have taught me a lot… I have learned a lot about the area, and the wonderful little towns that surround Cleveland…
Mt. Ulla (and after a year, I finally learned how to say that correctly), Woodleaf, Barber (which I have learned is now part of Cleveland), and even the greater surrounding areas… the larger cities of Mooresville, Mocksville, Salisbury, and Statesville...
Being here in the middle of everything, Cleveland is very unique and in some ways isolated or closed off. People outside of Cleveland, sometimes don’t even know where Cleveland is…
I ran into someone in Salisbury the other day – I actually had to explain where Cleveland was… Even within Cleveland, as small as it may be, there are different groups that are a bit isolated within itself.
I went to the Third Creek Presbyterian Church last Sunday for the installation of their new pastor Don McCann (did y’all know there were Presbyterians in Cleveland?)
It is so easy sometimes to draw circles in our travels so that some are inside and others are out. It may be around people of a different race or ethnic origin, different gender or gender orientation, age, educational background or abilities…
It is easy to look at that person with too many tattoos or too many body piercings, or that person who stutters or the one who didn't make it through high school and say “this person is just not like us.”
Our Gospel text for this morning speaks directly to "us" and "them."
Jesus has gone out of the land of Israel into the region of Tyre and Sidon –– he is a Jew that has just crossed into Gentile territory. Then a woman from the area comes to Jesus –– Matthew uses the word "Canaanite" rather than "Syro-Phoenician." Now, this term is loaded for Jewish people because the Canaanites were the pagans with whom the Israelites fought for centuries. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and didn’t believe in the one true God.
It was a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus. She came alone without a man to escort her… without a husband or son or father – this was totally unheard of in her culture. And she came to Jesus shouting loudly, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David."
This woman had three strikes against her –– she was not Jewish – She was a pagan Canaanite . She was a woman –– strike two –– and she presumed to speak openly to a man without a male intermediary. And strike three –– she was a pest, whose screaming and shouting behavior would possibly bring trouble to Jesus and His followers.
So, the disciples came and urged Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting at us." They clearly draw the circle –– Jesus and the disciples and Jewish men are inside – and this bothersome, Canaanite woman is outside.
What I find interesting is how much a man of His time and place that Jesus really was. It seems at first that Jesus agreed with his followers so he tried to brush the woman off. Because his mission was to Israel only. But, she confessed him Lord and Messiah, something many of the people in Israel would not confess.
She asked him for mercy and knelt down before him in a posture of supplication and worship. And she had faith that Jesus could heal her daughter of a tormenting demon.
But what did Jesus do when she wouldn’t go away? He called her a dog.
Did you know that in the Middle East, even today, people do not keep pet dogs? But we do! We shampoo them and trim them, buy them treats, and even dress them up for holidays. Ours is a world that is definitely far away from that of the Middle East.
In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and are reduced to scavenging at the edges of the villages and towns. It was the same in Bible times. The Jews called the Gentiles "dogs" and it was NOT a term of endearment but rather of derision.
It is the term used by Jesus for this woman, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs." But she turned around and used the same phrase to say to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
She had Him there. With that reply, she broke the circle and entered in. Salvation came to her and her possessed daughter not because she became Jewish or promised to keep the Law of Moses. Not because she became the only person in scripture to outwit Jesus.
Here in Matthew's Gospel she finds salvation through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus said to her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Gospel is not just for men, for Jews, or for people who conform to our expectations of them. It actually took the Church a long time to realize this. In fact, the first great controversy in the Christian Church was whether Gentiles had to become Jews before they could become Christians. Paul the great apostle to the Gentiles even argued that Gentile men did not need to be circumcised to be baptized.
Peter had revealed to him by God that the dietary laws commanded in the Hebrew Bible were no longer required. No person was to be called common or unclean. And - At the first Council of Jerusalem (about year 50 – revealed in the book of Acts) it was agreed that Gentiles could become Christians.
Paul, writing to the Romans, declares that Jews and Gentiles are both sinners and are invited to be God's people through faith in Jesus.
We are not saved by our gender or our status, our by our race or our educational level, or our good behavior. We do not find our self worth in what others think of us – but by being children of God and heirs to God's Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
What our Gospel text clearly says today – is we are saved by faith in Jesus alone. And in our text we see how Jesus can set aside even clear Scripture teaching for the sake of people.
In the first part of our reading from Matthew, Jesus takes on the Holiness Code of the Old Testament. He and his disciples were accused of not washing their hands before they ate. Jesus argues that it was not what went in a person that defiled but rather the evil and malice that come out of the human heart.
If the rules and regulations hurt people, they could be put aside. Remember that the Sabbath was made for humans not humans made for the Sabbath. God's Laws are made to free not oppress and even Scriptural warrant can be set aside for the greater good of loving God and others.
In the second part of the same chapter, Jesus sets aside the whole system of salvation from the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible cared about the Gentiles, and looked for the day when all the nations would come together in Zion.
God was to accomplish God's mission in and through the Jewish people only. This is what Jesus starts to affirm –– the Gospel is for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the text does not stop there and in this passage, we see that the Old Testament scheme is set aside.
God's good news is for all people, not just some. Christ died for all people, not just for some. Forgiveness is for all people not just for some. The only condition is faith - which is itself a gift of God.
Others may be different from ourselves and often what makes them different is something we don't like – or something that is not like us. The Church has been guilty of keeping people out rather than inviting them in.
We are just human beings and fallen, sinful ones at that. We know what we like and we like what we know. Think of the disciples, they were the same way. Remember, the disciples were not God. Remember that neither the Church nor the rector nor the vestry is God either.
God is faithful and loving even when God's servants may not be. Only God draws the circle wide enough to bring everyone in into God’s loving embrace. Never let anyone or anything try to separate you from God's love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 14) - August 10, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 14) - August 10, 2008
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
When I was about 4 years old, my parents were determined to teach me how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle. I can remember my father or mother securely holding the seat of the bicycle while I peddled and tried to steer strait.
Again and again I would try, and knowing he or she was back there made it ok…
Ok of course, until they let go. Then I got scared…
I was unable to go it alone… the front wheel would start to wobble a little and I would eventually fall… over and over again I would try… and after a case or 2 of band-aids, I got better and better, growing more and more confident… and less fearful…
Now - quite unlike trying to ride a bike, in today’s gospel, we hear the story of Peter trying to walk on water. We all know the story well. And it’s not like he got a whole lot of practice…
The disciples were alone in the boat, a terrible storm had come up, and Jesus was walking toward them across the water like ghost or an apparition, and the Gospel says that they were filled with fear… they were down right scared.
The storm was very, very real, and they were in that small fishing boat. If you have ever been in a small boat when a storm came up, you know what I am talking about… they had good reason to be scared.
And then, to see Jesus walking across the lake in the dark, in the violence of the storm, doing what was impossible by any human standards - That must have been completely terrifying.
In fact, to try to do anything that might be considered impossible all alone… all by ourselves, without God, is always terrifying.
but Peter listens… And Jesus simply says, “Come,” and Peter gets out of the boat in a response that defies every bit of logic that we can imagine. Peter walks a few yards… but Peter could not walk on that water for only one reason: fear. He looked around at the worldly reality of the storm, the physics of the water, the incomprehensibility of the situation, the total absurdity of it all, and his own fear overwhelmed him. Peter began to sink.
And then Peter did what we must all do at times. Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” because In our life, we all create our own boats… and these boats are often symbols of false security, often reflected in our materialism, our bank accounts, what we drive or where we live… And these boats of ours are also floating on troubled waters… and they are being tossed and turned by the way we live our lives…
So I ask you this morning… to overcome your fear and get out of your boat… What is the boat in your life that you are afraid to get out of? What is the boat in your life that prevents you from following God’s call to come? What is the fear that imprisons you and makes you sink and start to drown in the stormy waters?
You know, I eventually learned how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle – In fact, I got right good at it and when I was growing up, you could hardly get me off of my bike. (but I probably don’t ride often enough today.) Thinking back, I remembered how I learned to ride… and that is what parallels the gospel story this morning.
See, my fear started when I thought that my father had let go… I learned to ride because, I stopped worrying about it… and just imagined him there, right beside me all the time… helping guide me and keep me balanced. How do we live this life… knowing that we are loved and protected… knowing that we are safe and guided by the very hand of God???
We shout out… Lord save us! Lord save us all!
The Paul’s letter to the Romans today gives the directions for what we must do to receive that salvation of Jesus. We must ask. We must cry out, “Jesus save me!” We must believe in our hearts – really believe – that it is Jesus the Christ who gives us life… forever eternal life. And we cry out.
We proclaim it with our lips. We believe, and shout it out loud, “Jesus is Lord.” And then we can get out of the boat and walk on the water, the water that tries to overtake us and drown us, we can rise above the troubled water of fear.
Jesus save me! Amen!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 14) - August 10, 2008
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
When I was about 4 years old, my parents were determined to teach me how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle. I can remember my father or mother securely holding the seat of the bicycle while I peddled and tried to steer strait.
Again and again I would try, and knowing he or she was back there made it ok…
Ok of course, until they let go. Then I got scared…
I was unable to go it alone… the front wheel would start to wobble a little and I would eventually fall… over and over again I would try… and after a case or 2 of band-aids, I got better and better, growing more and more confident… and less fearful…
Now - quite unlike trying to ride a bike, in today’s gospel, we hear the story of Peter trying to walk on water. We all know the story well. And it’s not like he got a whole lot of practice…
The disciples were alone in the boat, a terrible storm had come up, and Jesus was walking toward them across the water like ghost or an apparition, and the Gospel says that they were filled with fear… they were down right scared.
The storm was very, very real, and they were in that small fishing boat. If you have ever been in a small boat when a storm came up, you know what I am talking about… they had good reason to be scared.
And then, to see Jesus walking across the lake in the dark, in the violence of the storm, doing what was impossible by any human standards - That must have been completely terrifying.
In fact, to try to do anything that might be considered impossible all alone… all by ourselves, without God, is always terrifying.
but Peter listens… And Jesus simply says, “Come,” and Peter gets out of the boat in a response that defies every bit of logic that we can imagine. Peter walks a few yards… but Peter could not walk on that water for only one reason: fear. He looked around at the worldly reality of the storm, the physics of the water, the incomprehensibility of the situation, the total absurdity of it all, and his own fear overwhelmed him. Peter began to sink.
And then Peter did what we must all do at times. Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” because In our life, we all create our own boats… and these boats are often symbols of false security, often reflected in our materialism, our bank accounts, what we drive or where we live… And these boats of ours are also floating on troubled waters… and they are being tossed and turned by the way we live our lives…
So I ask you this morning… to overcome your fear and get out of your boat… What is the boat in your life that you are afraid to get out of? What is the boat in your life that prevents you from following God’s call to come? What is the fear that imprisons you and makes you sink and start to drown in the stormy waters?
You know, I eventually learned how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle – In fact, I got right good at it and when I was growing up, you could hardly get me off of my bike. (but I probably don’t ride often enough today.) Thinking back, I remembered how I learned to ride… and that is what parallels the gospel story this morning.
See, my fear started when I thought that my father had let go… I learned to ride because, I stopped worrying about it… and just imagined him there, right beside me all the time… helping guide me and keep me balanced. How do we live this life… knowing that we are loved and protected… knowing that we are safe and guided by the very hand of God???
We shout out… Lord save us! Lord save us all!
The Paul’s letter to the Romans today gives the directions for what we must do to receive that salvation of Jesus. We must ask. We must cry out, “Jesus save me!” We must believe in our hearts – really believe – that it is Jesus the Christ who gives us life… forever eternal life. And we cry out.
We proclaim it with our lips. We believe, and shout it out loud, “Jesus is Lord.” And then we can get out of the boat and walk on the water, the water that tries to overtake us and drown us, we can rise above the troubled water of fear.
Jesus save me! Amen!
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