Artistic Expression - a sermon based on Acts 16: 16-34, preached on June 25, 2023

Scripture Lessons: Psalm 98 and Acts 16: 16-34 Sermon Title: Artistic Expression Preached on June 25, 2023 The very moment of confirmation that the lost submarine would not be found, that it had malfunctioned, and the men on it would not return to the surface, a friend on Facebook posted: Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea! The news that their sub had malfunctioned didn’t make me feel like singing, but even for that tragic moment, there is in fact a song to sing. That’s the subject of today’s sermon. Today we’re talking about music, art, and literature. The title of the sermon is “Artistic Expression,” for today we celebrate those who have been given a gift of pointing to God amid disaster. Even amid disaster, we can praise Him. Amen? Even stuck in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean, we might sing: O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Even as one of those 700 asylum seekers sinking in a boat off the coast of Greece, we might lift our voices to sing: Let the sea resound, and everything in it, Let the rivers clap their hand, let the mountains sing together for joy, For he comes to judge the earth, and He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. Now, you might not want to hear me sing it. I might not feel like singing in that moment, but there are people who can because the world is full of people who have been given the gift of artistic expression. Think of Paul and Silas. That Paul and Silas would sing while imprisoned just blows my mind. They had so much to be frustrated with. An enslaved girl had been getting on their nerves. We read that after she had been following them around saying, again and again, “These men are servants of the Most High God,” so “Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit which possessed her, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” It did. The spirit that had been possessing her left, but the people who owned her were so angry when they found out, for once the spirit left her, she couldn’t tell the future anymore. They couldn’t make money off her anymore, so Silas and Paul first were beaten by the Roman authorities, then imprisoned. Did they get sent off to the white-collar prison, with a pool and a nice continuing-education program? No. The prison they were in was probably a cave: damp, dark, and cold. They were put “in the innermost cell and [their feet] were fastened in stocks.” It would have been terribly uncomfortable. That they were put there was terribly unfair. It was worth getting upset about. Had it been me, I’d be pacing the floor, throwing stuff, and pitching a fit because when something unfair happens to me, that’s sometimes what I do. Only they couldn’t pace the floor: Their feet were fastened in stocks. What were they to do? They couldn’t sleep because you can’t sleep like that. Of course, I can’t sleep if it’s too hot. I can’t sleep if it’s too cold. I can’t sleep if I don’t have the right pajamas on, so how were they going to sleep with their feet in stocks? They couldn’t. They couldn’t sleep. There was no TV to watch. They’re wrongfully imprisoned in the innermost cell with their feet in stocks. How would you be feeling? I’d be angry. What did Paul and Silas do? They sang. And what happened next? Amid frustration, trial, unfairness, or oppression, sometimes we get stuck in our emotions, so I have to be in the right mood for our first Scripture lesson. I have to be in the right mood for: O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Yet, Paul and Silas sang in that prison, and what happened next? The hardship lifted. The prison doors were opened. They were set free, for the devil’s greatest trick is convincing us that temporary hardship is permanent, while the faithful sing their way through the dark valleys of life because they know that hard times won’t last. This morning, we’re focused on the spiritual gift of artistic expression. When I think of art and the power that artistic expression has, I think about September 11th, 2001. If you’re old enough, you remember where you were on that pivotal day. I remember where I was. It was the day of opening convocation at Presbyterian College. I was a Senior, and as I walked up to get in line for opening convocation at Belk Auditorium, I heard these people with cell phones saying, “Now one’s on the way to the Pentagon.” Given the events of that day, the opening convocation could not be held as planned. We were supposed to line up and walk into Belk Auditorium, but no one felt like doing that anymore. In fact, no one knew what to do, and the administration didn’t give us instructions. It wasn’t clear whether classes were cancelled. Some people went from opening convocation back to their dorm rooms to watch footage of an airplane flying into the Twin Towers. Others of us went to class, stumbling there in a fog of disorientation. I walked into Roger Smith’s History of India on September 11th, 2001. I was in there with a handful of other students, and when Mr. Smith walked in, he didn’t know what he should do either, so he opened a book of ancient Indian folktales, which he read to us for about an hour. It was like we were back in preschool that day. He just read us stories from ancient India, and after 45 minutes of doing so he said, “Thank you for letting me do this. I didn’t know what to do on a day like today, but on this day, when we all see that human beings can do horrible things, reading these stories reminded me that we are also capable of great beauty.” Whose art reminds you that we are also capable of great beauty? Is there a poet in your family who stood up to read something at a funeral that lifted you above grief and pointed you towards heaven? Is there an artist you know of whose paintings bring you comfort in a way you can’t quite explain? Most obviously, Sunday after Sunday, there is a group of people who shows up to stand right behind me prepared to praise God, even if they’re reeling from a world turned upside down. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. The members of the choir are just like us. Their worlds get turned upside down, too, but when it does, they know what to do. They sing. Among them is a mother who has shown up to church with wet hair and four children. She looked around from the choir loft and noticed that while there are eight feet between those kids there were only seven shoes. Still, she sang. On another Sunday, the choir noticed that a man was sitting alone, and the choir didn’t know the reason for the divorce, but they knew what to do. They sang. In the front is a daughter who just lost her mother. In the back is an older member who’s just gone from a cane to a walker. In the middle is a family with nothing to put in the offering plate when it comes their way. The world, for someone in this room, is always being turned upside down and the choir always knows what to do: They sing. Sunday after Sunday, they remind us that suffering is temporary while glory is eternal. Sunday after Sunday, they remind us that in a world being torn down by hate, we are also capable of beauty. Sunday after Sunday, they model the faith of our Savior, who, unfairly tried, beaten, and rejected, was nailed to a cross. While he was up there, what did He do? He sang. And to the man crucified next to Him, He said, “Today you’ll be with me in paradise because temporary suffering will not last. We are destined for glory.” You may have heard by now that yesterday a group of Neo Nazi’s lined up in front of an East Cobb Synagogue waving swastikas. Every day, the world is being turned upside down. When it happened back in 2015 after the church shooting in Charleston, I was in an AME church full of people, some white, some black, plenty of politicians, all gathered brokenhearted because the daemon racism had reared his ugly face again. We all showed up not knowing what to say and not knowing what to do, but when the choir sang, when they lifted their voices up, we all began to praise God with them, and together, with all our voices singing, we caught a glimpse of where we are going. That New Heaven and New Earth where all God’s children love one another regardless of skin color. Nearly six years ago, our choir sang Mozart’s Requiem, and more than 2,500 people watched the concert online. Why? They sang one day after a man walked into a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada and killed 60 people. We all needed to hear something that would lift us from our despair. Every one of us needed to be reminded that while we human beings are capable of doing horrible things, we are also capable of great beauty. We all needed to remember that weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Who reminds you of that? Take out your card, take that pen in the pew rack in front of you, and write their names down. Who knew just what to sing? Whose voice brings you comfort? Whose art lifted you up and lifted you above the tragedy that surrounded you? Who helped you to laugh on the day of your father’s funeral? Who reminded you that death would not have the final word? Who, in your life, has been given the gift of artistic expression? Write their names down. Now, lift your card up. Hold it there for just a moment. This summer we aren’t saying the Apostles’ Creed like we usually do for the Affirmation of Faith. This summer, we are affirming our faith in God and reminding ourselves and each other that God is at work in our world by celebrating those people who embody the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we hold up these cards, we celebrate that God is not dead nor is He silent, but at work in our daily lives. Halleluiah. Amen.

Generosity - a sermon based on Acts 4: 32-37, preached on June 18, 2023

“Generosity” is the title and subject of today’s sermon. This summer, as we have for the past two summers, we’re preaching through a sermon series. This year, the topic of the series is “spiritual gifts.” If you look to the windows in our Sanctuary, you’ll see that we’ve already celebrated the gifts of encouragement and discernment. Now, we focus on generosity, and specifically, I’m hoping to draw your attention to people who embody this gift. It’s good to focus on the gift of generosity because we spend too much time focusing on the curse of selfishness. Do you know what I mean by that? When we focus on the gifts that we’ve received, we pay more attention to where the good thing is. A healthy habit to get into is to spend more time focused on generous people. When we do, we spend less time focusing on greedy people. When we go out into the world looking for generosity, it changes the way we act, think, and feel. Something the Rev. Joe Brice always says is, “Focus on what you want more of.” If we focus on generosity and take time to celebrate generous people, there’s less space in our minds for the cheapskates, and when there’s less space in our minds for the cheapskates, we’re free in a way we haven’t been before, so this morning I’m calling on you to think about generosity. Who in your life embodies this gift? Here at this church, it’s easy to focus on generous people because generous people are all around this place. However, milk costs $3.39 cents a gallon at our Kroger. If you buy organic, it can go up to $6.49. Eggs range from $1.99 a dozen to $6.99 for the fancy kind, where the chickens get the spa treatment. That’s a lot of money, so every restaurant we go to has a sign that says, “Due to rising food costs, our prices have gone up 15%.” If you look towards the rising prices at our grocery stores, it’s easy to feel like everyone wants a piece of what you have in your wallet. It’s not a good feeling, being price gouged and pickpocketed everywhere you go. After a while, we start to wonder: “Will there be enough?” Will I have enough? Seeing prices rise, I start to imagine that the world is full of people who are like Ananias and Sapphira. Do you know their story? Have you heard it before? This passage from the book of Acts that I read this morning for our second Scripture lesson is one that’s always scared me. This whole group of believers, “were of one heart and soul,” to the degree that “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” That was the norm in the early church, which makes sense when you think about what they knew and understood. They were focused on the abundant love of God. Generosity is an outgrowth of such love. That’s where our second Scripture lesson begins. We started with abundant love and abundant generosity. Yet, as we read on into Acts chapter 5, our second Scripture lesson moved to focus on the only two people who tried to game the system, Ananias and Sapphira. “A man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” The apostle Peter didn’t like that. He couldn’t understand why Ananias would hold back a piece of the profit from the community of believers, so Peter asked him, “How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” When Ananias heard that, he fell and died. How’s that for a stewardship sermon? No doubt, the most memorable part of this story is what happened to the two people who did not embody the generosity that was expected of them, so if you remember anything from Acts chapter 5 verses 1-6, it’s likely that Ananias and Sapphira died, but wait a minute. Is it not far more remarkable that these two were the only couple who didn’t give everything that they had? Is it not more important to remember that among the first believers in that early Christian community, the exception was the one couple who held back a portion of what they had, and the norm was a generosity so radical that all who owned anything sold it so that what the community possessed would be held in common? We spend too much time paying attention to those places where generosity isn’t. We watch the news and hear about climbing prices, then go out into the world expecting people to act like Ananias and Sapphira, holding something back, thinking first of themselves and second of the common good, when in the early church, generosity was the norm and not the exception. Most believers embodied generosity. Most Christians gave everything that they had. So normal was generosity that Peter couldn’t believe that Ananias and Sapphira would do anything other than give. So normal was generosity that named in Scripture is the exception to the rule, for to list the names of all those who embodied generosity would take up too much space in our Bibles. So it is here. Do you have any idea of the generosity that pervades First Presbyterian Church? Many of you know Antonio Evans, who is our security guard most Sundays. During the week, security is often provided by a man named Tyrell. A member of our church staff asked Tyrell how he was doing last week. He said, “I’m great. The only thing that could make today even better is if I had a Reese’s peanut butter cup.” Well, 15 minutes later, Tyrell had a king-sized pack of Reese’s peanut butter cups. Likewise, you may have heard by now that next month I’ll be a guest bartender at Two Birds Taphouse, just down the street. Read about it in your bulletin. For one night only, this pastor will be behind the bar, serving beer, which is just outside of my job description, but for that one-night, beer sales will benefit our Food Outreach Ministry. Instead of making a profit, Jeff and Rachel Byrd, who own the bar, will donate the money they make from the beer I serve to feed families in our community. And I have a million more examples. Did you know that a group of men and women gave a week of their vacation time to travel to Mexico to build a family a house to live in the week before last? Did you know that Bennett Sherwood has a pack of special Bible highlighters, and he gave me one? Did you know that a group at our church is working towards providing free and anonymous counseling for our county’s first responders? Or that on the 4th of July, some of our members will be grilling out for the employees of the Cobb County Jail who must work rather than celebrate Independence Day with their families and friends? Everywhere I look around this place is generosity. It is not the exception but the norm. Can you see it? Do you expect to see it? “Focus on what you want more of,” says the Rev. Joe Brice. If we focus on generosity and take time to celebrate generous people, there’s less space in our minds for the cheapskates, and we go out into the world looking at it differently. We act differently, more alive, and aware of the power of God. So it was with the prophet Elijah. In our first Scripture lesson from the book of 1st Kings, we heard about a widow who had nothing left. She scraped the bottom of her barrel to get just enough grain for one last meal. She was gathering sticks to cook one last measly loaf to stave off her son’s hunger a little while longer, that they might die in peace. What did the Prophet Elijah do? He asked her to share a piece with him. “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink,” he said, and “bring me a morsel of bread in your hand, so that I may eat.” Why would he ask this of her? Why would he petition a dying widow for food when she barely has any? This is the life of faith embodied my friends. When you realize that all people are not selfish as we’ve been told, but generous, it changes the way we behave. When we remember how abundant generosity is, God surrounds us with generous people. Don’t judge them by how much they have or don’t have. Don’t judge them by how they dress or the cars that they drive. Forget what you have been told, for generosity is not the exception but the norm. Did you hear that? Maybe you’re not so sure about it. Maybe you got ripped off just yesterday. That happens. I’ve been cleaning out ivy from our front yard. Doing so, I have unearthed all kinds of stuff. All kinds of stuff was buried under that ivy. Pulling up that ivy, I found an Incredible Hulk action figure, a bunch of rocks, and my neighbor’s wallet. Someone broke into his car, grabbed the cash that was in the wallet, then tossed what he didn’t want into my ivy, where I found it four years later. Such a memory will stick with you. Someone steals from you, and it makes you feel like everyone out there is a thief, which is not the truth nor is always guarding your pocket the way you were meant to live. Remember who has been generous to you. Consider who has the gift of generosity. Know that all around us are generous people who have never been asked. We are surround by those who hardly believe that they have anything worth giving. We forget that and stand guard among our neighbors. We’ve been told to bar our doors and not to bother asking, yet consider this widow who fed Elijah in our first Scripture lesson and know that it was not by receiving that this woman came to faith, but by giving her bread away. That’s so often how it is. I mentioned before this group who went to Mexico. This year, they were mostly adults. Just two older high school students went along. Years ago, when the trip across the border could be made safely by bus, our church sent hundreds of high school students to stack cinder blocks, mix cement, and apply stucco to walls, building houses the size of our living rooms for families who had next to nothing. The man we were building a house for gave me this cross. I’ll never forget it. I’ll treasure it always because it reminds me, not of what we gave him, but of how this gift of his changed me. Who has been generous to you? Write their names down on your card. Now hold it up, as an affirmation of faith. Sunday after Sunday, we stand and say what we believe using the words of the Apostles’ Creed, but this summer we affirm our faith by claiming how God has been at work in our lives through people. Today, we claim it. Our generous God has been at work in our lives through generous people. Look how many generous people have been named in this place. Go out into the world believing that generosity is the norm and not the exception. Halleluiah. Amen.

"Discernment" a sermon based on Proverbs 14 and 9 preached on June 11, 2023

“Discernment” is the title of this sermon. If you look at the window to my right, you’ll see that the word “discernment” decorates our worship space, just as the word “encouragement,” which Rev. Cassie Waits preached on last Sunday, does over to my left. As we were thinking about encouragement last week, so this morning I want you to think about discernment. What does the word mean, what does it require of us, and who embodies this gift of the Spirit? We just read in Proverbs 14: 6, “A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for one who understands.” Who understands? For whom is knowledge easy? We read also Proverbs 14: 7: “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not find words of knowledge.” Has anyone ever helped you to leave the presence of a fool? Has it ever been difficult to tell whether one was a fool or a wise man? It’s not always easy to tell which professor is wise and which one is a charlatan. Who has helped you tell the difference? Who helped you learn whom to listen to? That’s discernment. This summer, as we have for the last two summers, your preachers have worked together to create a sermon series. If you remember, two summers ago we preached on the “I am” sayings of Jesus, and we asked you to think about who Jesus is and where you have seen Him, finally writing names of Christ-like people on ribbons that we tied to a structure outside the Great Hall. Do you remember that? Then, last summer, we preached through the book of Acts, and as the disciples were sent out into the world, so we were all sent out, trying new foods, just as the Disciple Peter did when he ate with Cornelius, or visiting the sick as Peter did Tabatha. This summer, we’re focused on spiritual gifts and who embodies them. By the end of the summer, each window in here will celebrate a gift of the Spirit, and each window will have a box that looks like a present. In each box, we’ll place these cards, and what I realize, now that we’re in our second week of this series, is that putting these cards in a box that looks like a present is a beautiful symbol of the way our God is at work here, for God gives us blessings in the form of people. You will write the name of a person down on this card a little later, so be thinking about the people God has blessed you with. Specifically, this morning, who, in embodying the gift of discernment, has been a gift from God to you? I’ll ask you to write his or her name down on your card at the end of this sermon. We’re not there yet. This sermon is just getting started. What is discernment? The book of Proverbs is all about discernment. I’ll explore this topic with you this morning by focusing on our two Scripture lessons and through a couple of interesting moments I’ve experienced in the last week. As is my habit, this should only take 15 minutes, so listen to me for 10 more as I talk about discernment. What is discernment? Discernment is the art of deciding which way to go. Human beings have been trying to discern the right way to go for millennia using all kinds of strange techniques. This past week, I read about a pair of mummified men. Their remains were discovered in a Danish bog, where they were laid to rest thousands of years ago. One was missing his intestines because ancient fortune tellers thought that they could discern the outcome of future events by looking at a man’s intestines spilled out on the ground. Human beings have been trying to figure out which way is the right way doing all kinds of things like that, but when it involves magic, we call it divinization. Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. Think of crystal balls, runes, reading tea leaves, or your horoscope in the Marietta Daily Journal. Faced with an uncertain future, we all long to know what we should do, which way we should turn, and to whom we should listen. According to Scripture, you don’t need to disembowel anyone. All you need to do is seek out wisdom. Did you notice that, in the Bible, wisdom is a woman? Woman wisdom is calling us this morning. “You that are simple,” she says, “turn in here!” To those without sense, she says, “Come, eat my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” On the other hand, the book of Proverbs also says that there is another woman, “calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way.” She says, “you who are simple, turn in here!” and to those without sense, she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Discernment is knowing to which voice to listen: woman wisdom or someone else. Who has helped you discern which voice to listen to? What we want for our sons is someone who can help them decide when on the one hand is a nice girl who does her homework and obeys her parents’ curfew, and on the other hand is the temptress who plays only by her own rules. What we want for our daughters is someone to help them tell which voice will lead her to fulfillment and success and which voice will lead to momentary pleasure and long-lasting pain. We need those who have the gift of discernment. Who has it? Who has helped you decide whom to listen to and which way you should go? Think of those who helped you in the past so you’ll know what to look for when you need help in the future. After all, “Dark times lie ahead of us, and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” Have you heard that one before? It’s not in the Bible. It’s from Harry Potter. Regardless of the source, it’s true. Who has helped you know the difference between what is right and what is easy, and, when you kept avoiding the hard thing that must be done, who pushed you to do what was right? Last weekend, your church staff went on a retreat. “Retreat” is an interesting word to call this kind of thing. You don’t want a regiment of soldiers nor a church staff who is always retreating. Yet, we retreated to consider more how we might advance, and advancing takes courage. I asked the staff to consider building better relationships with more people. I asked them to think about from whom they’ve been retreating and how the people they’ve been retreating from may be the same people they need to build a relationship with, for sometimes in the cave we fear to enter lies the treasure that we seek. That’s not in the Bible, either. I read it on a billboard on the way home from Tennessee. Still, it’s true. When you think about discernment, think about how often it is that the wrong path is the easy one. Think about how frequently it is that by going with the flow, we lose ourselves and our integrity. Think about being in Germany during World War II. How many went along with the rising tide of antisemitism without questioning it, and how few did not what was easy but what was right? Who pushed you to go after the treasure that lay in the cave you were afraid to enter? Who helped you tell the difference between what was easy and what was right? I was honored this week to receive an email from Denise Lobodinski. Denise is an elder on the session. She’s a leader in our church, and her father served in the signal corps during World War II. On the 50th anniversary of D-Day, this event that changed the course of history as we know it, he wrote down for Denise and her sisters his memories of D-Day, the invasion of Europe by the Allied Forces on June 6, 1944. He was in England on his way to the mess hall for breakfast. It was about 7:00 AM, and as he approached the mess hall, he saw the sky above him fill with airplanes flying in formation and knew that the world would never be the same, for the invasion had begun. Now, he didn’t leave England until after the invasion had been going on for weeks, as his job was to radio back intelligence. That’s what he did as a part of the signal corps, and why had he chosen the signal corps? When he told his mother that he wanted to enlist in the army because he wanted to see action with the infantry, his mother insisted that her baby boy tell them he wanted to serve in the signal corps, where he would be of service to his country, but not directly in harm’s way. Surely everything in him, and in the friends who enlisted with him, would have chosen the infantry. Surely the infantry was the right decision for so many others, but in listening to his mother, he made a different choice, and because of the choice that his mother helped him make, he served his country, survived World War II, and lived to be a father to Denise and her sisters. Who helped you decide? Who was there to help you make those decisions that changed your life course? Who embodied to you the spiritual gift of discernment? It doesn’t have to be some huge thing. I start each morning with a short reading from a daily devotional. The reading from last Thursday was titled, “Small Changes,” and in it I read a story about the great author, journalist, and explorer Earnest Hemingway, whose son Patrick asked him to edit a short story the young man had written. His father, the elder Hemingway, poured over his son’s work like it was one of his own. In due time, he handed it back to Patrick, who reviewed his father’s edits and cried, “But Papa, you’ve only changed one word!” Hemingway said in response, “If it’s the right word, that’s a lot,” which is true; small adjustments can make a world of difference. Just letting go of one anxious thought can bring greater peace into our lives. Is there someone who has encouraged you to let go? Is there someone who helped you change one small but important thing? About once a month, I go see Dr. Janet Lewis, my chiropractor. She told me, ultimately, the only thing you control is your breath, and that’s what you need to work on. She wasn’t talking about halitosis, or at least I don’t think she was. When she felt the tension in my back, she could tell that I’d been trying to control too much, and that I need to let go and breathe, but just because someone tells you that you’re moving in the wrong direction, that doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to listen. Discernment. God places people in our lives who would help us find our way, but we must listen. Remember that. There have been people who have been given the gift of discernment all around us, but what is required of us to receive that gift? The problem with discernment is not that his wife doesn’t know the way, it’s that he’s too proud to ask and too stubborn to listen. The problem with finding our way is not just identifying someone who knows the pitfalls to avoid, but that we are afraid to admit that we’re lost. Who has been there to help you find the way? To whose voice did you listen? Write that person’s name on your card. If she is a part of this church, wonderful. If you’re new to this church, write the name down of the person who gave you directions so that you found your way into this sanctuary, or just think back to that person who was there when you needed help deciding. Whom did you ask for help? Who helped you find your way? Discernment. To receive this gift, you must ask for help. Remember how that position of vulnerability created the space for God to work in your life. Every gift of God requires something of us. We must be willing to receive it. We may be lost, but to find our way, we must be ready to listen. Who has embodied God’s gift of discernment to you? To whom have you listened? Give thanks to God for them. Halleluiah. Amen.