A Message for Trinity Sunday, with reference to John 3:1-17

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

       We all face challenges and if we examine our situations, we may see that we have several challenges going on at once. Mature people know that challenges can be met and overcome. Doctors heal physical ailments; parents and grandparents guide young folks through their troubles; most adults know  how to cope with the challenge of making their way in the world. We could almost say that grown-up people are mostly concerned with meeting challenges. Sometimes we’re the helpers and sometimes we’re the ones being helped. The point is that mature people trust that challenges and problems can be resolved.

       God is the greater problem solver of all. He is the wonderful healer. He solves the problem of unbelief by bringing us to faith; he restores peace to troubled hearts; he binds up wounded spirits; he solves the problems of sin and death. His ability to solve problems is infinite.

       He does this in a special way. Trinity Sunday is the day the church chooses to examine the way God’s way of problem-solving and to praise him for coming into our lives with his skill and compassion. We don’t understand everything about his methods, but the Bible tells us enough for us to trust his care and his healing power.

       We’ll carry out our exploration in a step-by-step way; you’ve heard many times most of what we’ll say.

Christianity is a revealed religion. We don’t come to our beliefs by what makes sense to us or what feels good or what we think we need. Our religion comes from an external source, the Bible, which the Lord teaches us to trust in faith. The more we know of the Bible, the more we see that all its parts fit together and that its message is consistent. This consistency helps to convince us that the Bible speaks truly when it says that God intends to heal. We’re limited human beings who need a religion that comes to us by revelation.

The Scriptures tell us that God is One. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The prophet Malachi says, “Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us?” Paul refers to one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all. The Bible teaching that God is one distinguishes the Christian faith from Hinduism, which has hundreds of Gods, and from the ancient pagans who used to believe in Jupiter and Mars and so on and who deified their emperors. We do not believe in a god of the trees and a god of the lakes and streams. We do not worship saints. God is one.

       Christians further believe that this one essence of God consists of three Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three Persons of God were present at Jesus’ baptism – the Son, of course, the Spirit in the form of a dove, and the Father who spoke: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” After his resurrection, Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus also said: “I will call upon the Father and he will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth.”

       We find the Trinity mentioned in the Old Testament as well, as when God says: “Let us make man in our image. And in Psalm 33: “By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were established; and all the power of the Spirit of his mouth.”

       The church today affirms that the Persons of the Trinity are different, distinct, and separate. But they are all of the same essence. God is one in three. When we think of the works that God does outside creation, within himself, we think of the Persons of the Trinity as distinguished. Each one has its own characteristics. The Father begets, the Son is begotten, and the Spirit precedes from both. But when God outside His essence works something among His creatures, the three Persons are together and they work together, because there is one doer and maker.  “What the Father does, these things also the Son does.” And again: “All things that the Father has are mine...Therefore, the Holy Spirit will receive of mine and will announce it to you.” The three Persons of the Trinity took part in creation and in Christ’s earthly ministry and in his resurrection from the dead. In our own lives, when the Spirit convinces us of our sins and brings us to faith in Christ’s forgiveness, the Father and Son also take part. The three persons of the Trinity work together, too, whenever we experience the meaning of worship or come to believe that the words of the Bible are not only true but also true for us.

       Let’s try to apply this understanding of God in a down-to-earth way, when I was a young fellow, I attended a church with my family that taught that God was remote and distant and that he had no direct contact with humanity, something like the religion of Nicodemus, full of exhortations to do good and to take part in society, except that as a Pharisee, Nicodemus believed in an afterlife, which good people would attain by following God’s laws faithfully so that they could offer him a catalogue of good works. Orthodox Christianity is quite different.

       The Bible and the church affirm that God is active in human life. He preserves his creation; he sustains; he guides. He became like us in every way except for sin, and so he sanctifies human life. He bore our burdens; he shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. He gives us himself to hold onto by faith so that we may be sure of meaningful lives now and happiness in eternity later on. The Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, works in the world today through the words of Scripture to bring lost souls to salvation.

The Spirit draws us into a realm or kingdom we couldn’t imagine on our own that’s different from the everyday one that surrounds us. The Spirit brings us into fellowship with the Trinity. The Spirit uses the water of baptism to make us children of God. We are born again, not according to the flesh, but in heart and soul and mind.

       As a result, we live right now in two dimensions at once, the kingdom of earth and God’s kingdom. As members of the kingdom of earth, we experience numerous joys and sorrows. Human flesh cannot avoid the conflict and pain that go along with a universal sinful condition. It may be that some of St. Peter’s people are dealing with life and death issues right now in a dramatic way.

       If we were members of the church I attended as a youngster or if we thought as Nicodemus did before he met the Lord, we wouldn’t have much to say to comfort each other. But since we are Christians, the triune God gives us a great deal to say. When we use the word “God”, we don’t mean a distant Father only, but the Son and the Spirit as well joined together in a wonderful divine unity working to bring about our eternal happiness through salvation from sin. The one God in three Persons enters the world with all his qualities – power, knowledge, love, caring, the willingness to comfort and to make new so that we’ll have something perfect and whole and unchanging to live by and to cling to no just in moments of extreme need, but every day of our lives. The Trinity is always near us with the warmth and friendship, the mercy and forgiveness of our never-failing God. Paul ends one of his letters by referring to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. If we think of God not as a distant figure but as once essence having three Persons all active in the world for goodness, then we are in a position to trust that God is the great healer and solver of problems.

       Paul writes that a time is coming when we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. And John writes in Revelation that he saw a new heaven and a new earth and the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and a loud voice saying from the throne, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear and death shall be no more, neither shall their be pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”

       This time has not yet come. We still live in a world of trouble, so the church and the Bible encourage us to hope that one day the Father, the Son, and the Spirit will solve our life-and-death problems and that we will be present for the resolution. What a wonderful time that will be – to see God face-to-face and to live rejoicing in his presence forever.

       Meanwhile, the three Persons of the Trinity don’t leave us alone to twiddle our thumbs. We live by our baptismal faith; we receive the Lord’s body and blood in the sacrament when it is offered. The Spirit of the Father and the Son dwells in our hearts, to forgive our sins, guide us, convince us that Christ is Lord and Savior, and to strengthen us to meet the demands of life in the earthly kingdom and also as we confront our gravest challenge – the fear of death. Uncertainty about the end of life influences thoughts and behaviors in many ways. But as our Lord says, God the Father sent him into the world so that believers wouldn’t perish but have eternal life. He is raised up above all fears and doubts and every anxiety so that we may focus on him and gain strength and hope from our faith in the wonderful destiny God has prepared for us.

       There are times when we may fear that our problems are too much for us. God, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, has entered the world to lift us up and to assure us that all things are in his hands and that he will bring good out of everything for all believers. God invites us to trust him with our problems. He knows better than we do what needs to be done. In His name we rejoice. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN

John 17 -- Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

       John chapter 17 contains the prayer Jesus offered to his Heavenly Father just before he was arrested. It’s a great chapter, some experts say it’s the most important passage in all the four gospels. We find in it Jesus’ wishes for the church, his bride, the body of believers. It teaches us that the church’s true life takes place on a higher plane than the turbulence of politics and the rush for money and status that we’re all familiar with and that disappoints everyone who gets caught up in it. The church is a different kind of community, and that’s what we’ll try to get at this morning.

       John 17 is divided into three sections. In the first, Jesus prays for himself, in the second he prays for his disciples. The last section is his prayer for the church and all believers in the centuries that will come after his resurrection. After he finished his prayer, the soldiers came to bring him to his earthly judges. Here are verses 1 to 5:

       “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said: ‘Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you, having accomplished the work you gave me to do, and now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world was made.”

Jesus is looking ahead to the heavenly glory he left behind when he took on human flesh. As the author of Hebrews said, he is willing to endure the suffering of the cross for the sake of the crown he will gain. His work is almost finished. He has done it well, and now he is about ready to return home. Did you notice that he described his work as glorifying his Father on earth? What he meant was that he revealed his Father so that everyone may know him. Eternal life is knowledge of God – not head knowledge only but heart knowledge, too, which means trust, faith, confidence. And also knowing the Son whom the Father sent. Again, not head-knowledge but openness of the heart to our Lord, the joyous affirmation of the soul. “I believe! I believe in Jesus!”

       Many folks acknowledge Jesus to have been an exceptional man, a gifted spiritual teacher, maybe even a messenger from heaven. It’s a wonderful thing, though, to believe that Jesus is God. If you have that faith in your heart, then you are greatly blessed. That kind of faith can withstand the assaults of the world and the devil. It can make the vexing things of daily life seem trivial. To believe in the Father and the Son is the same thing as having eternal life.

       So this first part of John 17 opens up for us the relationship between Jesus and his Father. It shows us how close they were to each other. We ourselves are brought into their fellowship. Now verses 6 through 10:

       “I have manifested your name to the men you gave me out of the world; yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them, I am not praying for the world but for those you have sent me, for they are yours, all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”

       Here Jesus prays for his disciples. The Lord has a lot of confidence in them. He knows their weaknesses, even that Peter will betray him in a few hours. He also says that they believe that everything he said and did came from the Father. They have the kind of faith that enlivens their souls and causes their hearts to burn with love and hope. He prays for them. He knows what is coming – that they will carry many burdens and endure much anguish, so to build them up he claims them as his and holds them up to the Father, for they bring glory to the Son. They are part of the harvest, the fruits of Jesus labors, just as believers today are part of the harvest, the reward Jesus received. He will not let them go. He will sustain them and support them; he will turn their sorrows to joys, their losses to gains. He is bringing them, you see, into the community of love that he and the Father have established.

       Now, verses 11 and 12  

       “And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

      Jesus is going away. He leaves his disciples to face challenges and hardships that would crush ordinary human flesh. He asks that they be kept in the Father’s name. God’s name is very special. When we speak it, we mean everything that God is and does. People use words very casually, so the name of God can roll off our tongues quite loosely. God’s name is powerful and strong. One of the proverbs says that his name is a tower of strength. The Lord kept his disciples in the Father’s name while he was with them during his earthly ministry. Now he asks the Father himself to keep them – to guard their faith, to make them persistent and enduring. He knows that the Father will grant his request. Wherever they go, the disciples will know that the heavenly community – the power that rules the universe – will support them and hold them up.

       So we come to verses 13 – 16

       “But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

       Here, Jesus speaks about joy, his own joy that flows from his tie with his Heavenly Father and the joy he wants his disciples to have. Life with God is meant to be joyous. Paul said that we should rejoice at all times. If we ever find our joy receding, we trust that God will restore it. Our part is to bring our sorrows to him and he will strengthen our faith in him and his son. For believers, every situation turns to joy.

At the same time, Jesus does not pray that his Father take the disciples out of the world, for the world is where they must do the work of witnessing to him. If they go to paradise right away or to a restored Garden of Eden, with fruit growing in abundance and palm trees swaying in a breeze, they won’t be able to make their testimony. Jesus wants his community to grow, and so he keeps his disciples in the world. He does pray, though, that they be kept safe from Satan’s schemes, and the later history of Jesus’ first followers, as we read about it in the Book of Acts and the epistles, shows that the Father granted his Son’s wish. Their faith remained strong. They served with joy. The Father protected his community. He does so today. The true church is spiritually strong and inwardly joyful.

       Now for verses 17 –19  

       “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth. As you did send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they may also be consecrated in truth.”

       Jesus looks ahead to the future. He asks the Father to set his disciples apart, to make them holy so that they may serve God’s word among people who desperately need it. He prays that the disciples be focused and dedicated. We often wrestle with distractions, of which there are probably more in our time than any other, so we can picture in our minds what the disciples had to contend with. Jesus gave them the task of bearing witness to the good news about the hope of the world. He wanted them to keep their eyes on the ball, to resist temptation, and to have confidence in their abilities. His voluntary death made it possible for them to live up to his expectations and to theirs. His community lives in faith because the savior gave himself for the life of the world.

       So we come to verses 20 – 23

       “I do not pray for these only but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

       Jesus now prays for the church to come, for the folks of St. Peter’s and the millions of others who have trusted in the Lord. Unity is one of his chief concerns. He wants believers to be one. He doesn’t mean a superficial, organizational unity, with everyone under the same bureaucracy, but a unity of faith – each believing that the Father is in the Son and that the Son is in the Father. The faith that has a powerful impact on individuals also lifts up communities and holds them together. When the Christian faith grows in the hearts of people, they love one another, and when the unbelieving world sees this love, they will know that the Father has sent the Son.

       The visible church is divided now and will probably stay that way for a long time. Our divisions dim the power of our witness. Think what a positive effect the church would have if we were not split up into factions. Our divisions do have one benefit, though – they teach that it is God who creates unity, not human beings. Every denomination has its share of true believers, who know in their hearts that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus is God, and that salvation is the Father’s gift to everyone who believes in the Son he sent. God creates a unity, an everlasting community, from this group of believers. There will be a wonderful unity in heaven one day. What praise and thanks will fill the new creation. What a tribute to the power of the Holy Trinity to break down barriers that we humans create.

       So – for the last three verses.

       “Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

       We live now with an unpredictable mixture of joys and sorrows. Earthly living isn’t guaranteed or certain. But a great and glorious day is coming when all believers will be with Jesus in the flesh and we will partake in full in the glory of the love between the Father and the Son. The key is to trust God’s word now while we have the chance – that the Father sent his Son to bring the gift of eternal life.

       We live in the hope of glory, with many blessings and strengths in our private lives. We don’t receive the blessings on our own, but through a community. Jesus draws us together at St. Peter’s under his banner. He builds up our faith that the Father sent him and with the help of the Spirit, he draws us into their heavenly fellowship. He promises us that this fellowship is eternal. He commands us to see its value and to work to build it up. The heavenly community lives. St. Peters lives, and so we rejoice. In Jesus’ Name AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Amen.

John 15:9 - 17 Abide in Love

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

       Two friends are walking home in the bright spring sunshine after Sunday worship. One says to the other, “I haven’t been myself lately. I’ve really been down in the dumps – little things can put me out of sorts, ready to lash out at the first person who comes my way. When the preacher read the passage from John about love, my conscience started spinning. I realized I haven’t been a loving person for the past few weeks. I wanted to go back and do it over. But that isn’t possible, is it?”

       “I feel that way now and again myself,” the second friend said. “It’s good to be aware of our failings. Jesus doesn’t ask us to do life over again. He invites us to take hold of his love for us.”

       “That’s exactly it,” the first friend says. “I’ve been worried about my work and my family and the future. Nothing seems to go right. I can’t imagine what God’s love is like.”

       “Jesus says that he loves his people just as his Heavenly Father loves him,” the second friend replies. “The Father sent him to bring salvation into the world. He taught, he preached, and he gave up his life. Not an easy assignment. Many people didn’t understand him. Then there was the loneliness and suffering of his last few days. The Heavenly Father supported him all the while, encouraged him, and assured him that his work would turn out well. He would receive a great reward. The Father showered his power and wisdom and strength on him as he went about his ministry, day after day. He never ignored Jesus or left him in the lurch. The Father rejoiced in his Son’s loyalty and the faith with which he carried out his assignment. Jesus loved his disciples in the same way. He taught them; he strengthened them; he was patient with their failings. He chastened them; he always forgave them. He rejoiced along with them when their work on his behalf went well. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this to you. I’ve known you a long time and there’s one thing I’m sure of. You want to bring something special to everyone you come to.  You want to lift them up and share your hope with them. You want to bring out their best and point them in the right direction. You want to be for others what Jesus has been for you. Not easy work and you’ve experienced what our Lord did – the selfishness of people you wanted to help, rejection, incomprehension. There are always folks who like to point out weaknesses in those who try to do good, and faults are never hard to find because nobody is perfect. You’re angry and burned out because people haven’t accepted you the way you’d like to be. You’ve felt unloved. Remember this: Jesus loves you. He rejoices that you use your talents for him. He supports you and encourages you. He always will. He’ll empower you to keep on even though people close to you may turn away – and even make fun of you behind your back. He wants you to keep on. He’ll strengthen you when the road is full of trouble. I have a feeling you’ve reached a turning point and are wondering which way to go. If you want to talk about it, I’ll be glad to listen.”

       “You’re right,” the first friend says. “I’ve been feeling discouraged, as if I’ve been beating my head against a wall. But there’s something else. A voice inside me tells me I’ve reached a point where I need to be concerned about money and comfort and having a good time. I’ve sacrificed enough and received no reward. The time has come to think about myself. I’m afraid that if I keep letting Jesus take hold of me, I won’t have anything else. I want a different kind of love from God’s love. To tell you the truth, I want a piece of the world, not Jesus. This may be the last Sunday I come to church with you.”

       “Oh, I hope not,” the second friend says. “The Lord doesn’t deprive us of comforts and friends. He blesses us with them, in fact, and wants us to thank him. He is persistent and steadfast. Even if you give up on him, Jesus won’t give up on you. I’ve been reading a poem called “The Hound of Heaven”. The narrator knows that Jesus is pursuing him and wants to claim him by his love, but he runs away to look for what he thinks will be a wonderful life right now. He ends up empty and unsatisfied, full of tears and anger. Life becomes hard for him, as I foresee it will be for you if you take a road that leads away from God. You need to know this, too. While the man in the poem ran away from Christ, the Savior kept on pursuing him.The Hound of Heaven, you see. The Lord said to him that he missed out on human love because we must deserve human love and he wasn’t worthy of it. Jesus asks him a question: “Who will you find to love your unworthy self except for me?” Jesus said that he took the good things of life away from him so that he could learn to look for them from God. He’d made a foolish mistake. Now he ought to come home to the Lord and receive life’s rich blessings from him. It was Jesus he’d been looking for all along. When he drove Christ away from him, he drove love away.”

       “Yes, I suppose I understand all that,” the first friend says. “It’s a big decision. You offered to help, so here’s something I want to get your opinion about. Jesus said that Christians should love one another. I accept that, but what are we supposed to think when we see things going on among Christians that don’t look like love at all. I heard about a big fight in a church nearby. Plus, there are some people in our own congregation I can’t get along with. They don’t like me, and if you want the truth, I don’t care much for them either.”

       The second friend takes a moment to think and then says, “Jesus brings all kinds of people together in his kingdom from different backgrounds and with different talents. Strains are inevitable. People misbehave sometimes, it’s true. We’re all weak flesh. We don’t understand each other nearly as well as God does. Repentance is often in order. Forgiveness is available and never slow in coming.

       “Then, too, don’t forget – the Lord heals wounded relationships. It usually takes time, but the savior can break down barriers, since the church is a place of love. If you’re experiencing problems, you can speak in love to the person who’s troubling you, and besides that, you’d do well to keep in mind that Jesus and his church love you no matter what. The One who called you into his kingdom won’t give up on you. God and his kingdom have had a lot of experience solving problems. He knows just what we need to bring us to righteousness and to get us ready for Jesus’ return. He solves our problems in his own way. He teaches us patience in the meantime and also forbearance.

       “Christians make a distinction among different kinds of love. There’s love that’s the same thing as liking – a sport, say, or a hobby or people we get along with. Then there’s brotherly love – the love among families and close friends and communities that are made up of people with similar backgrounds and interests. And there’s the kind of love that comes from physical attraction. Some languages have different words for these various kinds of love. In English, we use one word. And even the same word for Christian love, which has a different emphasis altogether. It’s a love of purpose and direction. Christian love doesn’t mean that we’re pals with everyone. It means we want for other people what God wants – their salvation. We want others to know the Lord and to live happily in his kingdom alongside us. That’s what the church wants for us, so I hope you’ll stick with Jesus and his people. The Lord invites you to take part in the joy of the church, which comes from love – Jesus love for us and our love for him and for one another.”

       The first friend, who is much younger than the other and grateful for guidance and friendship says: “I’m beginning to get the idea. If someone isn’t friendly to me or turns away from me because they don’t understand, Jesus wants me to forgive them and to go on loving them his way in spite of everything.”

       “That’s his command to us,” the second friend says.

       “I might as well tell you the first friend replies, “that there’s another thing. I’m uncomfortable with so many commands. Such a lot of do’s and don’ts. There’s a lot of freedom out in the big world. I’d really like to get hold of some of it – like most everyone else.”

       “I used to think that way too,” the older friend confides. “I’d go to church on Sunday because it was my duty. Then I understood one of the secrets of our relationship with Jesus. We weren’t servants or underlings, but folks he has chosen to be his sisters and brothers. When he asks us to love one another – and to love all our neighbors – and to live in love – by gentleness, kindness, self-control, and patience, he isn’t issuing an order but inviting us the way a friend or brother might. We respond with joy in our hearts. When he invites us to make requests in his name, he’s offering us the gift of prayer. We pray to him about difficult situations we get into and for people with whom it’s hard for us to get along. He has a way of lifting burdens and easing hearts. The point is to give him our attention; he’ll bring even the worst situation to a satisfactory conclusion. He’ll bring us countless joys along the way.”

       “Love and joy,” the first friend says. “I wish these things would come back for me.”

       “Along with faith, love and joy are God’s will for you,” the older friend replies. “These are at the center of our lives in Christ. Think of it! You don’t need to begin all over again. Take hold of Jesus now. Abide in him. Remain in him. He will make good of every pain and every difficult road we walk along. Receive his blessings of life and love; live and love in return.”

       We leave our two friends there. Usually it’s a combination of things that brings a person to church and keeps him or her there, but one conversation can have a lot of impact. The older believer took advantage of a chance to plant a seed and gave the younger, wavering Christian an example of love in action. We do that sort of thing ourselves – gossiping about the gospel.  “Let us love one another, for love comes from God,” John the Evangelist wrote. “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Conversation can be a fine example of Christian love. We thank the Lord that he uses our expressions of love to build up his kingdom. In his name we rejoice. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.