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(chiming bell)
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(quiet choir music)
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♪ As a bridegroom The Lord ♪
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♪ Came forth out of His chamber ♪
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(chiming bell)
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(quiet choir music)
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♪ As a bridegroom The Lord ♪
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♪ Came forth out of His chamber ♪
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(chiming bell)
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(quiet choir music)
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♪ As a bridegroom The Lord ♪
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♪ Came forth out of His chamber ♪
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(chiming bell)
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(quiet choir music)
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♪ As a bridegroom The Lord ♪
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♪ Came forth out of His chamber ♪
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Good morning, we welcome you
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on this third Sunday after Epiphany
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for our eighth biennial service
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for elected officials here at Duke Chapel.
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We're particularly pleased to have
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the elected officials of the state of North Carolina
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here as our guest.
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And all of you here for this service of worship.
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Now we will have a special dedication
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of an amnesty candle here in Duke Chapel.
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(whispering)
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Today we are to dedicate a candle
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to freedom and life.
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Reverend Willimon is offering this candle
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and it's candle stick holder
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in memory of his mother.
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As a symbol of his faith in Jesus.
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Who said that he came to proclaim release
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to the captives and to set at liberty
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those who are oppressed.
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He has asked Amnesty International to be a part of
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this dedication and a part of this candle.
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Amnesty International is made up of more than one and a half
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million persons throughout the world,
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who are working for the release of prisoners of conscience
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and against the torture and execution of anyone.
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A prisoner of conscience is anyone who is imprisoned
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merely because of their race, or their religion,
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or their nationality, or their gender,
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or what organization they belong to, or what they believe.
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If they have not committed or advocated violence.
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A man imprisoned in Greece because
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he's a Jehovah's Witness.
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A woman committed to a mental hospital in Russia
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because she had a copy of
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in her apartment.
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A man imprisoned and tortured in Argentina
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because he was a member of a labor union.
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Amnesty International does it's work
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by calling governments to account for what they do.
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We write letters to government officials
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asking them to act like they're supposed to act,
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to protect the life and personhood of every individual
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they are given the responsibility to govern.
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And we name names and give details of how they are not
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living up to that commitment.
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And we ask them to stop it;
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to stop imprisoning citizens just because they don't like
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what they believe or who they are.
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We ask them to stop torturing
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and killing their own citizens.
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In this fallen world the powers of death
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are at work in governments.
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Amnesty International adds it's voice to life
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by calling governments to account.
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This candle, with it's barbed wire, is a symbol,
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first of all, of the powers of death that are at work
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in all governments when they try to imprison
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the human spirit.
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Or torture and kill the human body.
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But the light of the spirit cannot be imprisoned
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or extinguished and Amnesty International
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stands with that spirit and with that body.
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Thank you for this dedication Reverend Willimon.
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[Reverend Willimon] Thank you.
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And now let us continue
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our worship of God.
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(organ music)
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(congregation sings hymn)
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Mighty God,
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the earth is yours and all nations are your people.
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Take away our pride and bring to mind your goodness.
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So that living together in this land we may enjoy your gifts
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and be thankful.
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(congregation responds)
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For clouded mountains, fields and woodland,
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for shore land and running streams,
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for all that makes our nation good and lovely.
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We thank you God.
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For farms and villages of our beloved North Carolina,
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where food is gathered to feed our people.
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We thank you God.
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For cities where women and men talk and work together
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in factories and shops,
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to shape those things we need for living.
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We thank you God.
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For the schools, colleges and universities of our state
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and for their work of enlightenment
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and formation of those who study there.
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We thank you God.
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For explorers, planners,
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public officials.
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For prophets who speak out and for silent faithful people.
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For all who love our land, seek justice and guard freedom.
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We thank you God.
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For vision to see your purpose
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hidden in our nation's history
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and courage to see your will.
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We thank you God.
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(congregation responds)
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Amen.
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Let us pray.
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Open our hearts oh God by the power of your Holy Spirit.
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So that as the word is read and proclaimed,
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we might be enabled to hear with joy,
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what you say to us this day.
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The first lesson is taken from the book of Nehemiah.
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And all the people gathered as one man
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into the square before the water gate
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and they told Ezra, the scribe, to bring
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the book of the law of Moses
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which the Lord had given to Israel.
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And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly.
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Both men and women and all who could hear with understanding
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on the first day of the seventh month.
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And he read from it, facing the square
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before the water gate, from early morning until midday.
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In the presence of the men and the women
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and those who could understand.
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And the ears of all the people were attentive to
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the book of the law.
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And Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden pulpit
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which they had made for the purpose.
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And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people,
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for he was above all the people.
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And when he opened it, all the people stood
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and Ezra blessed the Lord, the Great God.
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And all the people answered amen, amen.
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Lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads
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and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
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And they read from the book, from the law of God clearly.
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And they gave the sense so that the people understood
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the reading.
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And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest
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and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people,
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said to all the people,
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this day is holy to the Lord your God.
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Do not mourn or weep; for all the people wept
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when they heard the words of the law.
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Then he said to them, go your way,
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eat the fat and drink sweet wine.
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And send portions to him, for whom nothing is prepared.
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For this day is holy to our Lord.
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And do not be grieved, for the joy
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of the Lord is your strength.
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This ends the reading of the first lesson.
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(organ music)
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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♪ The law of the Lord is perfect ♪
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♪ It renews my soul ♪
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♪ And though the Lord has shown ♪
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♪ It makes wise the simple ♪
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ It rejoice a heart ♪
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♪ The command of the Lord is made clear ♪
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♪ Enlightens the eyes ♪
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♪ The statues of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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♪ The fear of the Lord is holy ♪
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♪ Enduring forever ♪
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♪ The decrees of the Lord are true ♪
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♪ And love and righteous ♪
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♪ They are more precious that gold ♪
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♪ More than a hundred pure gold ♪
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♪ The word of the Lord is sweeter than honey ♪
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♪ Than honey fresh from the comb ♪
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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♪ By them your servant is warned ♪
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♪ In keeping them there is great reward ♪
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♪ Who can know where your face is ♪
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♪ Wash me from my secret wrongdoing ♪
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♪ Above all keep your servant from foolish pride ♪
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♪ Let not rule it over him ♪
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♪ Let them behold ♪
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♪ Of all my confessions ♪
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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♪ Let the word of my mouth ♪
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♪ The thought of my heart ♪
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♪ I lay them before you ♪
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♪ Oh Lord my Redeemer and God ♪
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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♪ Glory be to the Father ♪
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♪ And to the Son ♪
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♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪
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♪ As it was in the beginning ♪
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♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪
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♪ Worthy of praise, amen ♪
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♪ The statutes of the Lord are just ♪
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♪ And rejoice the heart ♪
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Please remain standing for the reading of the gospel
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according to Saint Luke.
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And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.
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And a report concerning him went out
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through all the surrounding country.
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And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
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And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
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and he went to the synagogue as his custom was
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on the Sabbath day.
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And he stood up to read and there was given to him
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the book of the prophet Isaiah.
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He opened the book and found the place
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where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us
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because he has nominated me to preach good news
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to the poor, he has set me to proclaim release
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to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind.
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To set at liberty those who are oppressed,
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to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
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And he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant
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and he sat down.
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And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him
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and he began to say to them,
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today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
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This ends the reading of the gospel.
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Thanks be to God.
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(organ music)
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♪ O God of earth and altar ♪
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♪ Bow down and hear our cry ♪
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♪ Our earthly rulers falter ♪
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♪ Our people drift and die ♪
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♪ The walls of gold entomb us ♪
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♪ The swords of scorn divide ♪
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♪ Take not thy thunder from us ♪
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♪ But take away our pride ♪
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♪ From all that terror teaches ♪
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♪ From lies of tongue and pen ♪
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♪ From all the easy speeches ♪
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♪ That comfort cruel men ♪
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♪ From sale and profanation ♪
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♪ Of honour and the sword ♪
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♪ From sleep and from damnation ♪
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♪ Deliver us good Lord ♪
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♪ Tie in a living tether ♪
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♪ The prince and priest and thrall ♪
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♪ Bind all our lives together ♪
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♪ Smite us and save us all ♪
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♪ In ire and exultation ♪
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♪ Aflame with faith and free ♪
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♪ Lift up a living nation ♪
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♪ A single sword to thee ♪
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I confess that I have
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sometimes wondered
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how you elected officials felt about this service.
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While we were happy to have you here,
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I wondered how you felt about it.
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Was this just another civic duty
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on your already crowded calendars?
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A time for yet another preacher to give
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unsolicited advice to politicians?
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However, a couple of years ago, after this service,
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that evening I was watching the evening news
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and I was surprised to see some of our guests
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being interviewed after the service.
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Governor Martin, what did you,
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what did the preacher say in the sermon today?
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And Governor Martin replied,
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well he took as his text from the middle part
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of the prophet Isaiah, he noted how sometimes
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our patriotism can become idolatrous.
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And then point by point he went through my sermon.
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(congregation chuckles)
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He was really listening.
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I'm accustomed to post-sermon comments like,
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why did it take you that long to say that.
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Or, just wait till I tell president Brodie.
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He was really listening.
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And so I've decided that you come here
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as you come to any service of worship, listening
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for a word.
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And I hope that you will hear that word today
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in the service.
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Governor Martin certainly did better than Calvin Coolidge
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who, on returning home from church one Sunday,
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was asked my Mrs. Coolidge,
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Calvin what did the preacher speak on today?
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Sin, replied the taciturn president.
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Well Calvin, she persisted,
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what did the preacher say about sin?
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He said he was against it.
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In case some reporter asks you after the service today,
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you also can say it was about sin.
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For today's scripture is from Nehemiah.
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A strange long forgotten scroll has been found
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in the walls at Jerusalem during some renovation.
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It is a Torah scroll, a collection of the law of Moses
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which the Lord had given Israel.
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And Ezra assembled a whole nation, before the water gate,
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no snickering.
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And with the whole nation there he set up a pulpit
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and he read all day, from the scroll of the law.
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Most people had never heard it.
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It had been lost during years of turmoil in exile in Israel.
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But people heard, as if for the first times,
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those ancient words, hear oh Israel the Lord your God is one
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and you shall have no other Gods before you.
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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
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and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.
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And the people wept when they heard the law.
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When they heard again what God wanted of them.
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They wept tears of repentance.
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And here is God's chosen people at their very best.
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Hearing the law of God, listening, repenting.
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You get this religion of repentance in today's psalm.
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The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
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The law of the Lord makes wise the simple.
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Who can discern his errors? Let not sin rule over me.
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You get this religion of repentance in today's gospel.
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Jesus goes home to his home town synagogue in Nazareth
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and what does he do?
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He does what Israel does on every Sabbath.
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He takes the scroll of the prophet Isaiah,
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he speaks, the spirit of the Lord is upon me
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to preach, to proclaim.
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Torah, law, represents for biblical people like Israel,
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like us,
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the over againstness of God.
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Judaism, Christianity, are not religions that you find by
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rummaging around in your own ego or taking nature walks in
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the woods or thinking long thoughts in your study.
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Here is a religion which comes to us as a word,
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a word from the outside.
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In an ancient scroll found, after being long forgotten
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in a wall.
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A sermon by a young fearless, Nazarene prophet.
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And in such moments of hearing we're reminded that our God
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is a real God.
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Not some projection of our collective imaginations.
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Our God stands, over, against us, beyond us.
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Our God's ways are higher than our ways.
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Our God's thoughts deeper than our thoughts.
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We have to be told what this God wants of us,
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it doesn't come to us naturally.
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Martin Luther called the gospel the externum verbum,
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the external word, it comes to you from somewhere else.
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When this external, over, against, divine word came
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upon the nation that day assembled before the water gate,
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they wept.
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They wept at the gap,
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the great chasm between ourselves and God,
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between our ways and God's ways.
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We name that chasm sin.
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Sin is the name for the gap between our ways and God's ways.
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Historian Herbert Butterfield once commented
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that this doctrine of original sin is the only
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empirically, verifiable doctrine in Christianity.
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I mean that is, while everybody doesn't believe in Jesus,
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everybody believes in sin.
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Anybody, I mean if you have just a shred of honesty,
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even if he or she isn't religious,
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knows that he or she sins, makes mistakes, slip ups,
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makes wrong decisions.
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Everybody knows sin, says Butterfield.
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Well like a lot of historians, Butterfield was wrong.
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Everybody doesn't know about sin,
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at least in the Christian sense of the word,
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because sin, as we've said, involves a sense of
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of the over againstness of God.
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The distance, the gap.
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Sin is something God's got to reveal to us.
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Because sin is not simply our opinions
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about what's right and wrong,
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but rather face to face confrontation with
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the righteousness of God.
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So Luther could claim that it is a rare and difficult thing
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to find a real honest to God sinner.
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And theologian Karl Barth could even make the claim
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that only Christians sin.
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Only Christians sin?
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By that Barth meant,
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that this story of Jesus gives you and me the resources
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to look at our lives honestly;
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without props or protection.
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Measuring our lives on the basis of something
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more substantial than our own opinions.
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John Wesley, who stands over the door of this chapel,
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with a nest of pigeons on his head, once said,
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that the doctrine of sin is the great distinguishing
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point between heathenism and Christianity.
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To hear the words of the righteous God is to be
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striped naked in my unrighteousness.
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Now you already know how essential
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is the gift of honesty for individuals.
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00:33:22.860 --> 00:33:25.630
You know how shallow,
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00:33:25.630 --> 00:33:29.442
how dangerous, is the person who cannot admit
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00:33:29.442 --> 00:33:32.480
his or her errors.
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Who cannot look at his or her life critically.
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Well confrontation with the righteousness of God
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and honest confession of our sin is even more essential
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00:33:44.310 --> 00:33:48.421
for groups of individuals, nations.
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Ezra assembled the whole nation.
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Read them the scroll of God's law and they wept.
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They wept, at the gap between our ways and God's way.
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The gap.
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00:34:10.425 --> 00:34:14.101
When they gave him the Nobel Prize,
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English novelist William Golding was asked,
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what have you learned in a lifetime of observing humanity?
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Golding replied,
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I have learned that man produces evil
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like a bee makes honey.
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Golding's insight was not original.
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I do not understand my own actions,
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confessed Saint Paul.
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For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing
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that I don't want.
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Sin dwells in me.
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Oh I can will what is right,
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but I cannot do it.
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For I do not do the good I want
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but the evil I hate is what I do.
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Who shall deliver me from this bondage of sin?
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In the bible, sin is more than mere mistakes,
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slip ups, goofs.
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Modern people have reduced sin to
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psychological maladjustment.
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A problem of an inadequate educational system.
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Immaturity.
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00:35:24.240 --> 00:35:25.860
But when the bible speaks of sin,
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it invariably does so with sexual imagery.
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00:35:29.958 --> 00:35:34.958
In terms of lust, infidelity, adultery, so as to convey
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00:35:35.080 --> 00:35:40.080
the deep, personal involved sense of our sin.
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Sin is adultery, violation of God's faithfulness
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with our infidelity.
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00:35:48.689 --> 00:35:51.010
And so when the bible tells the story of the human race
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it begins with Adam and Eve, our first parents,
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who rebelled against God when given half a chance to do so.
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00:36:00.040 --> 00:36:03.556
You and I, according to the bible, never get much beyond
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Adam and Eve.
447
00:36:06.733 --> 00:36:10.103
Our sin is original, it originates in us,
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00:36:10.103 --> 00:36:14.120
the thoughts of our hearts are, according to Genesis, evil.
449
00:36:14.120 --> 00:36:17.020
All the way back from our youth.
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00:36:17.020 --> 00:36:19.050
Especially in our youth.
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00:36:19.050 --> 00:36:21.810
It is more than the mistakes we make;
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it's the way we're put together.
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00:36:24.720 --> 00:36:28.340
We're born in rebellion; basing our lives on what is a lie
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rather than what is truths.
455
00:36:30.170 --> 00:36:34.850
Preferring our wills to God's will.
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00:36:34.850 --> 00:36:39.850
Among human beings, says Paul, there is no distinction,
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since all have sinned
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and fall short of the glory of God.
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Original sin is therefore the bond linking us
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00:36:50.120 --> 00:36:55.120
with one another and the gap between us and God.
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I have only one sermonic point this morning,
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here it is,
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00:36:59.385 --> 00:37:04.250
the Christian doctrine of original sin
464
00:37:04.250 --> 00:37:08.700
is perhaps the significant Christian contribution
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00:37:08.700 --> 00:37:11.975
to politics.
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00:37:11.975 --> 00:37:15.565
Now Karl Marx charged,
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00:37:15.565 --> 00:37:18.310
that the doctrine of original sin, was always used
468
00:37:18.310 --> 00:37:20.928
by people in power
469
00:37:20.928 --> 00:37:25.835
to defend the social and political status quo.
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00:37:25.835 --> 00:37:27.830
Thomas Hobbes argued this point,
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00:37:27.830 --> 00:37:30.455
if everyone is sinful no matter what,
472
00:37:30.455 --> 00:37:32.240
then there's no point in having a revolution
473
00:37:32.240 --> 00:37:34.500
because after the revolution people are gonna be just as
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00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:36.970
wretched and sinful as they were before the revolution.
475
00:37:36.970 --> 00:37:40.650
So leave things as they are.
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00:37:40.650 --> 00:37:43.220
Unfortunately the doctrines which have replaced
477
00:37:43.220 --> 00:37:45.420
the traditional doctrine of original sin
478
00:37:45.420 --> 00:37:48.320
are far from improvements.
479
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.580
While conservative social thought,
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00:37:50.580 --> 00:37:53.800
sometimes implied that the status of the downtrodden
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00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:56.070
was deserved,
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00:37:56.070 --> 00:37:59.010
they were lazy, heavy drinkers, so they
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00:37:59.010 --> 00:38:01.400
deserved their poverty,
484
00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:05.750
the doctrine of original sin never said that.
485
00:38:05.750 --> 00:38:09.080
Rather, original sin said that the privileged classes
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00:38:09.080 --> 00:38:13.120
in no way deserved their higher status.
487
00:38:13.120 --> 00:38:18.091
They were not meritorious, just lucky.
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00:38:18.091 --> 00:38:20.880
Remember the bible says all have sinned,
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00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:22.540
prince and pauper.
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00:38:22.540 --> 00:38:25.283
All.
491
00:38:25.283 --> 00:38:28.440
Now whereas the church taught that sin is who you are
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00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:31.000
rather than merely what you do.
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00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:33.880
In the modern era, the predominant notion of sin
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00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:36.870
as in sin is a matter of actions,
495
00:38:36.870 --> 00:38:40.146
rather than our basic human disposition.
496
00:38:40.146 --> 00:38:42.260
Because the upper classes were less likely
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00:38:42.260 --> 00:38:45.610
to commit such sins as drunkenness, whoring, idleness.
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00:38:45.610 --> 00:38:48.410
Many now argued that they were better people
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00:38:48.410 --> 00:38:52.485
and therefor they deserved their power.
500
00:38:52.485 --> 00:38:55.030
The trouble was that the next thing that happened
501
00:38:55.030 --> 00:38:58.343
was that Marx, and some modern liberals, overturned
502
00:38:58.343 --> 00:39:00.783
the meritocratic argument.
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00:39:00.783 --> 00:39:04.060
The lower classes are all deserving
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00:39:04.060 --> 00:39:07.591
and the upper classes all undeserving.
505
00:39:07.591 --> 00:39:09.580
Those who have less are automatically viewed
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00:39:09.580 --> 00:39:11.660
as deprived of their rights.
507
00:39:11.660 --> 00:39:14.290
Those who have more are automatically viewed as
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00:39:14.290 --> 00:39:17.832
people who are living on ill-gotten gain.
509
00:39:17.832 --> 00:39:20.490
Thus was born
510
00:39:20.490 --> 00:39:25.490
the politics of resentment.
511
00:39:26.040 --> 00:39:29.630
Now, whatever you might have against the traditional
512
00:39:29.630 --> 00:39:32.110
doctrine of original sin, you cannot accuse it
513
00:39:32.110 --> 00:39:36.510
of perpetuating unjust social arrangements
514
00:39:36.510 --> 00:39:40.015
by destroying the dignity of the oppressed.
515
00:39:40.015 --> 00:39:43.675
Rather the classical doctrine of original sin argued
516
00:39:43.675 --> 00:39:48.675
that the privileged, that the privileges of the privileged,
517
00:39:48.870 --> 00:39:50.610
were undeserved.
518
00:39:50.610 --> 00:39:53.487
A matter of luck rather than divine right,
519
00:39:53.487 --> 00:39:57.320
which carried responsibility for everybody else.
520
00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:00.660
The doctrine also paved the way for revolution;
521
00:40:00.660 --> 00:40:03.447
since it taught that current social arrangements
522
00:40:03.447 --> 00:40:07.070
are not a result of divine will
523
00:40:07.070 --> 00:40:10.440
but, like all human projects,
524
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:12.600
are products of human sin.
525
00:40:12.600 --> 00:40:15.500
Therefore current social arrangements can,
526
00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:20.500
and probably should, be changed.
527
00:40:20.762 --> 00:40:22.155
But I'll admit that to believe
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00:40:22.155 --> 00:40:25.513
in the doctrine of original sin,
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00:40:25.513 --> 00:40:28.120
is to find oneself standing on an increasingly
530
00:40:28.120 --> 00:40:31.370
deserted middle ground.
531
00:40:31.370 --> 00:40:35.020
It is always to maintain a healthy skepticism
532
00:40:35.020 --> 00:40:40.020
of the polarized enthusiasms of the political right or left.
533
00:40:40.520 --> 00:40:45.010
To be highly distrustful of the Utopian crusading spirit.
534
00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:46.930
Especially when crusaders show
535
00:40:46.930 --> 00:40:50.450
little ability for self criticism.
536
00:40:50.450 --> 00:40:53.400
The devastating sins of self-righteousness
537
00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:56.960
and holy arrogance infect the political left
538
00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:59.230
no less than the political right.
539
00:40:59.230 --> 00:41:01.810
Reformers, no less than the reactionaries,
540
00:41:01.810 --> 00:41:06.190
do not appreciate being told that maybe, just maybe,
541
00:41:06.190 --> 00:41:09.585
they may be wrong.
542
00:41:09.585 --> 00:41:11.700
That our political zeal is mixed
543
00:41:11.700 --> 00:41:15.065
with a host of impure motives.
544
00:41:15.065 --> 00:41:17.680
I remember talking to a woman who had worked for 20 years
545
00:41:17.680 --> 00:41:20.343
in a congressman's office.
546
00:41:20.343 --> 00:41:23.900
And she said upon retirement, you know in my 20 years
547
00:41:23.900 --> 00:41:26.990
in a congressman's office I never had anybody come in
548
00:41:26.990 --> 00:41:31.990
and ask the congressman for a favor for himself.
549
00:41:32.210 --> 00:41:36.650
I'm only doing this for the good of others.
550
00:41:36.650 --> 00:41:39.340
Which led Ambrose Bierce to make the cynical comment,
551
00:41:39.340 --> 00:41:43.610
that politics is the conduct of public affairs
552
00:41:43.610 --> 00:41:47.703
for private advantage.
553
00:41:47.703 --> 00:41:50.940
But the believer in original sin need not sit back
554
00:41:50.940 --> 00:41:52.860
in self satisfied contentment
555
00:41:52.860 --> 00:41:56.143
pointing to the sins of others.
556
00:41:56.143 --> 00:42:00.040
As Luther said, when it comes to sin, we're supposed to
557
00:42:00.040 --> 00:42:03.760
confess our sin and throw a mantle of charity
558
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:07.355
over the sins of everybody else.
559
00:42:07.355 --> 00:42:11.406
We've got to guard against the leftist illusion
560
00:42:11.406 --> 00:42:14.210
that because structures need changing,
561
00:42:14.210 --> 00:42:18.310
change of individual hearts is unnecessary.
562
00:42:18.310 --> 00:42:21.320
As well of the rightist illusion
563
00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:24.130
that because individual hearts need changing
564
00:42:24.130 --> 00:42:28.970
political and social activism is pointless.
565
00:42:29.967 --> 00:42:33.921
When our hearts are changed by the love of God,
566
00:42:33.921 --> 00:42:38.250
then are we able to apply the doctrine of original sin
567
00:42:38.250 --> 00:42:40.915
to ourselves.
568
00:42:40.915 --> 00:42:44.160
And only then may we make the specific Christian
569
00:42:44.160 --> 00:42:48.851
contribution, to the body politic.
570
00:42:51.500 --> 00:42:54.966
I remember I once heard a union organizer lament that
571
00:42:54.966 --> 00:42:59.430
he'd had a tough time organizing southern textile workers
572
00:42:59.430 --> 00:43:01.650
because it was hard to convince these thorough going
573
00:43:01.650 --> 00:43:03.890
southern Calvinists,
574
00:43:03.890 --> 00:43:08.580
that a.) all their workers are good and always sought
575
00:43:08.580 --> 00:43:10.690
the welfare of their fellow workers,
576
00:43:10.690 --> 00:43:14.180
or b.) all management is evil and is always
577
00:43:14.180 --> 00:43:17.040
oppressing the workers.
578
00:43:17.040 --> 00:43:20.212
To their credit, these southern Calvinists refused
579
00:43:20.212 --> 00:43:24.962
to dehumanize complex humanity through simplistic thinking.
580
00:43:27.910 --> 00:43:32.910
In the Gulag Arcapeligog Solzhenitsyn says,
581
00:43:33.458 --> 00:43:36.090
"Politics would be simple,
582
00:43:36.090 --> 00:43:39.060
"if only there were somewhere evil people,
583
00:43:39.060 --> 00:43:42.070
"insidiously committing evil deeds
584
00:43:42.070 --> 00:43:44.770
"and then it were necessary only to identify them
585
00:43:44.770 --> 00:43:47.931
"and to destroy them.
586
00:43:47.931 --> 00:43:50.550
"But the dividing line between good and evil
587
00:43:50.550 --> 00:43:55.550
"cuts through the center of every human heart."
588
00:43:55.950 --> 00:43:59.258
Or as Jesus said on another occasion,
589
00:43:59.258 --> 00:44:03.850
the only difference between those who commit adultery
590
00:44:04.710 --> 00:44:06.870
and the rest of us who quite gleefully commit
591
00:44:06.870 --> 00:44:10.984
lust in the heart,
592
00:44:10.984 --> 00:44:14.743
it's a very small gap.
593
00:44:14.743 --> 00:44:19.743
Sin, it is the great equalizer.
594
00:44:20.510 --> 00:44:23.640
"Why should people love the church?"
595
00:44:23.640 --> 00:44:26.381
Asked T.S. Elliot.
596
00:44:26.381 --> 00:44:29.297
"Because she reminds them of sin
597
00:44:29.297 --> 00:44:34.148
"and other unpleasant facts they would as soon forget."
598
00:44:35.930 --> 00:44:39.973
I'm saying that the Christian doctrine of original sin,
599
00:44:39.973 --> 00:44:42.760
this unpleasant fact that you get your nose rubbed in
600
00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:45.423
on Sunday morning,
601
00:44:45.423 --> 00:44:50.420
is a great gift to the body politic.
602
00:44:50.420 --> 00:44:53.648
So therefore we must ask,
603
00:44:53.648 --> 00:44:56.580
is it a cause for pride,
604
00:44:56.580 --> 00:44:59.963
that our new president can boast:
605
00:44:59.963 --> 00:45:02.530
I don't care what the facts are.
606
00:45:02.530 --> 00:45:05.800
I will never criticize America.
607
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:10.608
I will never apologize for the United States.
608
00:45:12.310 --> 00:45:15.010
You know sometimes what you say or what you put in print
609
00:45:15.010 --> 00:45:17.885
can come back to haunt you.
610
00:45:17.885 --> 00:45:19.850
A few years ago I wrote a book
611
00:45:19.850 --> 00:45:22.033
on sin.
612
00:45:22.033 --> 00:45:27.033
And on page 199 of that book I wrote,
613
00:45:27.763 --> 00:45:31.180
"Christianity has a stake in keeping a society as open
614
00:45:31.180 --> 00:45:35.435
"with as free a flow of self criticism as possible.
615
00:45:35.435 --> 00:45:38.300
"From our point of view, the test of a society
616
00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:41.027
"would be the extent to which it admits it's own
617
00:45:41.027 --> 00:45:44.466
"systems of sin denial.
618
00:45:44.466 --> 00:45:49.412
"In 1983 when the world was shocked by the shooting of
619
00:45:49.412 --> 00:45:53.653
"an unarmed passenger jet by the Soviets,
620
00:45:53.653 --> 00:45:56.390
"we noted that Soviet leadership was incapable
621
00:45:56.390 --> 00:45:58.838
"of admitting mistakes.
622
00:45:58.838 --> 00:46:01.820
"As they see it, to admit wrong would be to admit that their
623
00:46:01.820 --> 00:46:04.183
"whole system was wrong.
624
00:46:04.183 --> 00:46:07.195
"Now this may seem a childish view,
625
00:46:07.195 --> 00:46:08.940
"and it is.
626
00:46:08.940 --> 00:46:12.183
"But their denial was more significant.
627
00:46:12.183 --> 00:46:16.090
"It was the result of a society built on illusion.
628
00:46:16.090 --> 00:46:20.885
"An illusion propped up by raw military force.
629
00:46:20.885 --> 00:46:24.020
"Of course there's no other way to prop up an illusion
630
00:46:24.020 --> 00:46:29.017
"other than by violence."
631
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:35.628
On Sunday afternoon, July 3rd, 1988,
632
00:46:35.628 --> 00:46:40.628
I was visiting a pastor in Bonn, West Germany.
633
00:46:41.180 --> 00:46:43.570
And we were watching the evening news together,
634
00:46:43.570 --> 00:46:48.416
July 3rd, 1988.
635
00:46:48.416 --> 00:46:53.416
Watching them pull the bodies out of the Arabian Gulf,
636
00:46:53.648 --> 00:46:58.074
with the suitcases and the wreckage.
637
00:46:58.074 --> 00:47:02.845
And I remembered that paragraph that I had written in 1983.
638
00:47:05.580 --> 00:47:10.580
And it was for me, as an American,
639
00:47:11.210 --> 00:47:16.161
as if a scroll had been found,
640
00:47:16.161 --> 00:47:19.870
after having been long buried
641
00:47:19.870 --> 00:47:23.714
in a forgotten wall.
642
00:47:40.993 --> 00:47:44.290
Oh God your justice is like rock
643
00:47:44.290 --> 00:47:47.113
and your mercy like pure flowing water.
644
00:47:48.030 --> 00:47:50.333
Judge and forgive us.
645
00:47:51.510 --> 00:47:55.000
If we have turned from you return us to your way
646
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:57.393
for without you we are lost people.
647
00:47:58.670 --> 00:48:03.670
From brassy patriotism and a blind trust in power.
648
00:48:04.098 --> 00:48:07.810
Forgive us oh God.
649
00:48:07.810 --> 00:48:10.990
From public deceptions that we can trust.
650
00:48:10.990 --> 00:48:14.867
From self seeking and high political places.
651
00:48:14.867 --> 00:48:17.710
Forgive us oh God.
652
00:48:17.710 --> 00:48:20.913
From divisions among us of class or race.
653
00:48:21.780 --> 00:48:24.830
From wealth that will not share
654
00:48:24.830 --> 00:48:28.863
and poverty that feeds on food of bitterness.
655
00:48:28.863 --> 00:48:31.310
Forgive us oh God.
656
00:48:31.310 --> 00:48:35.440
From neglecting the hurt, the imprisoned
657
00:48:35.440 --> 00:48:37.707
and the needy among us.
658
00:48:37.707 --> 00:48:40.440
Forgive us oh God.
659
00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:41.990
From a lack of concern
660
00:48:41.990 --> 00:48:44.600
for other lands and peoples.
661
00:48:44.600 --> 00:48:47.980
From narrowness of national purpose.
662
00:48:47.980 --> 00:48:52.319
From failure to welcome the peace you promise on earth.
663
00:48:52.319 --> 00:48:55.115
Forgive us oh God.
664
00:48:55.115 --> 00:48:59.255
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy upon us.
665
00:48:59.255 --> 00:49:00.300
Amen
666
00:49:00.300 --> 00:49:02.800
(organ music)
667
00:49:47.349 --> 00:49:49.849
(choir sings)
668
00:50:44.875 --> 00:50:48.375
(choir singing continues)
669
00:51:44.643 --> 00:51:48.143
(choir singing continues)
670
00:52:44.976 --> 00:52:48.476
(choir singing continues)
671
00:53:44.975 --> 00:53:48.475
(choir singing continues)
672
00:55:05.390 --> 00:55:07.410
Hear the good news,
673
00:55:07.410 --> 00:55:11.000
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
674
00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:15.110
That is God's own proof of His love toward us.
675
00:55:15.110 --> 00:55:18.473
In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
676
00:55:20.180 --> 00:55:22.263
In the name of Jesus Christ I am forgiven.
677
00:55:23.950 --> 00:55:26.980
As a forgiven and reconciled people
678
00:55:26.980 --> 00:55:30.207
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.
679
00:55:31.386 --> 00:55:34.386
(quiet organ music)
680
00:56:14.691 --> 00:56:17.358
(choir singing)
681
00:57:13.988 --> 00:57:17.488
(choir singing continues)
682
00:58:13.758 --> 00:58:17.258
(choir singing continues)
683
00:59:13.762 --> 00:59:17.262
(choir singing continues)
684
01:00:36.722 --> 01:00:39.222
(organ music)
685
01:01:24.043 --> 01:01:29.043
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪
686
01:01:30.094 --> 01:01:35.094
♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪
687
01:01:36.279 --> 01:01:39.959
♪ Hallelujah ♪
688
01:01:39.959 --> 01:01:44.237
♪ Hallelujah ♪
689
01:01:44.237 --> 01:01:49.237
♪ Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪
690
01:01:50.453 --> 01:01:55.453
♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪
691
01:01:56.657 --> 01:01:59.831
♪ Hallelujah ♪
692
01:01:59.831 --> 01:02:03.059
♪ Hallelujah ♪
693
01:02:03.059 --> 01:02:06.186
♪ Hallelujah ♪
694
01:02:06.186 --> 01:02:09.523
♪ Hallelujah ♪
695
01:02:09.523 --> 01:02:14.523
♪ Hallelujah ♪
696
01:02:17.869 --> 01:02:19.786
♪ Amen ♪
697
01:02:30.603 --> 01:02:33.510
Eternal God, beneath whose rule we live
698
01:02:33.510 --> 01:02:36.260
and in whose grace we stand.
699
01:02:36.260 --> 01:02:40.300
With all that is within us we would bless Thy Holy name.
700
01:02:40.300 --> 01:02:43.630
We thank Thee for all that is constant in our life,
701
01:02:43.630 --> 01:02:46.660
that day follows night, that the seasons march
702
01:02:46.660 --> 01:02:48.770
in predictable succession.
703
01:02:48.770 --> 01:02:53.190
That the gates of mercy are ever open to us in our need.
704
01:02:53.190 --> 01:02:57.240
We thank thee for all that is new and changing in our life.
705
01:02:57.240 --> 01:03:00.720
For the audibility of people too long silent.
706
01:03:00.720 --> 01:03:03.690
For life giving discoveries and the sciences
707
01:03:03.690 --> 01:03:06.110
and experimentation in the arts.
708
01:03:06.110 --> 01:03:09.290
For the new people next door or up the street
709
01:03:09.290 --> 01:03:12.470
and the challenge of accepting change.
710
01:03:12.470 --> 01:03:16.930
Oh Thou whose ways are of old yet whose works are ever new.
711
01:03:16.930 --> 01:03:19.270
Help us learn from our past
712
01:03:19.270 --> 01:03:22.270
yet remain hopeful for the future.
713
01:03:22.270 --> 01:03:24.900
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord
714
01:03:24.900 --> 01:03:27.450
who taught us boldly to pray.
715
01:03:27.450 --> 01:03:30.400
Our Father, who art in heaven,
716
01:03:30.400 --> 01:03:32.230
hallowed be thy name.
717
01:03:32.230 --> 01:03:35.400
They kingdom come, they will be done,
718
01:03:35.400 --> 01:03:37.670
on earth as it is in heaven.
719
01:03:37.670 --> 01:03:40.160
Give us this day our daily bread
720
01:03:40.160 --> 01:03:42.300
and forgive us our trespasses,
721
01:03:42.300 --> 01:03:45.580
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
722
01:03:45.580 --> 01:03:47.870
And lead us not into temptation
723
01:03:47.870 --> 01:03:49.730
but deliver us from evil.
724
01:03:49.730 --> 01:03:52.310
For thine is the kingdom, the power
725
01:03:52.310 --> 01:03:54.373
and the glory forever, amen.
726
01:03:56.318 --> 01:04:01.318
(organ playing The Kingdom of God on Earth)
727
01:04:51.612 --> 01:04:56.612
♪ Not alone for mighty empire ♪
728
01:04:57.960 --> 01:05:02.960
♪ Stretching far over land and sea ♪
729
01:05:05.468 --> 01:05:10.468
♪ Not alone for bounteous harvests ♪
730
01:05:12.423 --> 01:05:17.423
♪ Lift we up our hearts to Thee ♪
731
01:05:19.085 --> 01:05:24.085
♪ Standing in the living present ♪
732
01:05:26.016 --> 01:05:31.016
♪ Memory and hope between ♪
733
01:05:33.408 --> 01:05:38.408
♪ Lord, we would with deep thanksgiving ♪
734
01:05:40.207 --> 01:05:45.207
♪ Praise Thee most for things unseen ♪
735
01:05:49.125 --> 01:05:54.125
♪ Not for battleship and fortress ♪
736
01:05:55.970 --> 01:06:00.970
♪ Not for conquests of the sword ♪
737
01:06:03.362 --> 01:06:08.362
♪ But for conquests of the spirit ♪
738
01:06:10.216 --> 01:06:15.216
♪ Give we thanks to Thee, O Lord ♪
739
01:06:17.561 --> 01:06:22.561
♪ For the priceless gift of freedom ♪
740
01:06:24.364 --> 01:06:29.364
♪ For the home, the church, the school ♪
741
01:06:31.869 --> 01:06:36.869
♪ For the open door to manhood ♪
742
01:06:38.780 --> 01:06:43.780
♪ In a land the people rule ♪
743
01:06:48.311 --> 01:06:53.311
♪ For the armies of the faithful ♪
744
01:06:55.686 --> 01:07:00.686
♪ Souls that passed and left no name ♪
745
01:07:02.899 --> 01:07:07.899
♪ For the glory that illumines ♪
746
01:07:09.851 --> 01:07:14.851
♪ Patriot lives of deathless fame ♪
747
01:07:17.313 --> 01:07:22.313
♪ For the prophets and apostles ♪
748
01:07:24.198 --> 01:07:29.198
♪ Loyal to the living Word ♪
749
01:07:31.201 --> 01:07:36.201
♪ For all heroes of the Spirit ♪
750
01:07:38.522 --> 01:07:43.522
♪ Give we thanks to Thee O Lord ♪
751
01:07:47.498 --> 01:07:52.498
♪ God of justice, save the people ♪
752
01:07:55.034 --> 01:08:00.034
♪ From the clash of race and creed ♪
753
01:08:03.074 --> 01:08:08.074
♪ From the strife of class and faction ♪
754
01:08:09.960 --> 01:08:14.960
♪ Make our nation free indeed ♪
755
01:08:17.094 --> 01:08:22.094
♪ Keep her faith in simple manhood ♪
756
01:08:23.633 --> 01:08:28.633
♪ Strong as when her life began ♪
757
01:08:30.803 --> 01:08:35.803
♪ Till it find its full fruition ♪
758
01:08:37.921 --> 01:08:41.588
♪ In the brotherhood of man ♪
759
01:08:50.250 --> 01:08:53.610
Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
760
01:08:53.610 --> 01:08:57.610
the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
761
01:08:57.610 --> 01:09:01.903
go with you and be with you now and always, amen.
762
01:09:02.847 --> 01:09:05.430
(chiming bell)
763
01:09:08.183 --> 01:09:13.183
♪ As a bridegroom the Lord came forth ♪
764
01:09:14.359 --> 01:09:17.526
♪ Out of His chambers ♪
765
01:09:19.306 --> 01:09:21.973
(quiet singing)
766
01:09:40.255 --> 01:09:45.255
♪ As a bridegroom the Lord came forth ♪
767
01:09:46.921 --> 01:09:50.088
♪ Out of His chambers ♪
768
01:09:56.647 --> 01:09:59.147
(organ music)
769
01:10:12.045 --> 01:10:16.378
(congregation rustling and talking)
770
01:10:58.524 --> 01:11:01.024
(organ music)
771
01:13:05.758 --> 01:13:08.675
(organ music ends)
772
01:13:15.568 --> 01:13:17.901
(footsteps)
773
01:13:23.894 --> 01:13:26.977
(indistinct chatter)