WEBVTT

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(busy organ music)

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<v ->Morning and welcome to the Service of Worship</v>

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here at Duke University Chapel.

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Been led in worship by our Chapel Organist, David Arcus.

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Dr. Arcus has been playing, for our prelude,

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an original composition

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based on the tune of our first hymn.

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We're blessed to have Dr. Arcus here with us at the chapel.

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Our guest preacher today is Dr. Mark Trotter,

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United Methodist Pastor from San Diego, California.

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Dr. Trotter is back for his third visit here at Duke Chapel.

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Dr. Trotter, being from San Diego, has never seen rain.

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And so we've, as you see, arranged for three or four days of

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rain here in Durham, so we hope he enjoys it.

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And we hope that you are blessed by this service.

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And now, let us stand for the greeting.

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"Come you fearful and you faithful,

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"God dwells with you."

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(congregation responding muffledly)

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"Sing to God, praise God all the day long!

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"God delivers the needy from the hand of evildoers."

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(congregation responding muffledly)

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"God rules for ever and ever

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"though nations perish and fires of division

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"are cast upon the Earth."

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(congregation responding muffledly)

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(organ playing)

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♪ O for a thousand tongues to sing ♪

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♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪

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♪ The glories of my God and King ♪

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♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪

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♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪

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♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪

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♪ To spread through all the earth abroad ♪

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♪ The honors of Thy name ♪

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♪ Jesus` the name that charms our fears ♪

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♪ That bids our sorrows cease ♪

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♪ 'Tis music in the sinners ears ♪

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♪ 'Tis life and health and peace ♪

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♪ He breaks the power of canceled sin ♪

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♪ He sets the prisoner free ♪

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♪ His blood can make the foulest clean ♪

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♪ His blood availed for me ♪

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♪ He speaks and listening to his voice ♪

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♪ New life the dead receive ♪

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♪ The mournful broken hearts rejoice ♪

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♪ The humble poor believe ♪

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♪ Hear him ye deaf his praise ye dumb ♪

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♪ Your loosened tongues employ ♪

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♪ Ye blind behold your Savior come ♪

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♪ And leap ye lame for joy ♪

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♪ In Christ your head you then shall know ♪

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♪ Shall feel your sins forgiven you ♪

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♪ Anticipate your heaven below ♪

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♪ And own that love is heaven ♪

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<v ->"Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open,</v>

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"all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid,

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"cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration

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"of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee,

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"and worthily magnify thy holy name,

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"through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

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<v ->Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination.</v>

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"Open our hearts and minds,
(congregation joining in)

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"O God, by the power of your Holy Spirit,

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"so that as Word is read and proclaimed,

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"we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, Amen."

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The first reading is taken from the Book of Jeremiah,

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the 20th chapter starting with the seventh verse.

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"O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed.

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"You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.

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"I have become a laughingstock all day long.

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"Everyone mocks me.

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"For whenever I speak, I must cry out,

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"I must shout, 'Violence and destruction!'

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"For the word of the Lord has become for me

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"a reproach and derision all day long.

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"If I say, 'I will not mention him,

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"'or speak any more in his name, then within me

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"there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones.

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"I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

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"For I hear many whispering, 'Terror is all around!

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"'Denounce him! Let us denounce him!'

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"All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.

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"'Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail

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"'against him and take our revenge on him.'

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"But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;

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"therefore my persecutors will stumble,

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"and they will not prevail.

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"They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.

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"Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

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"O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous.

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"You see the heart and the mind.

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"Let me see your retribution upon them,

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"for to you I have committed my cause.

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"Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord!

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"For he has delivered the life of the needy

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"from the hands of evildoers."

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.
(congregation respond also)

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<v ->The psalm appointed for this morning</v>

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is Psalm number 10, verses 12 through 18

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found on page 745 in your hymnal.

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Please stand and sing responsively.

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♪ Arise O Lord our God lift up your hand ♪

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♪ Forget not the afflicted ♪

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♪ Why do the wicked renounce God ♪

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♪ And say in their hearts you will not call to account ♪

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♪ You indeed see you note trouble and vexation ♪

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♪ That you may take it into your hands ♪

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♪ The helpless commits himself to you ♪

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♪ You have been the helper of the fatherless ♪

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♪ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers ♪

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♪ Call his wickedness to account ♪

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♪ 'Til you find none ♪

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♪ The Lord is ruler forever and ever ♪

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♪ The nations perish from his land ♪

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♪ O Lord you will hear the desire of the meek ♪

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♪ You will strengthen their hearts ♪

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♪ You will incline your ear to do justice ♪

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♪ To the fatherless and to the oppressed ♪

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♪ So that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more ♪

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♪ O glory be to you Creator and to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪

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(organ music drowns out singing)

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♪ As it was 'ere time began ♪

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(organ music drowns out singing)

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<v ->This reading is from the 12th chapter</v>

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of Paul's Letter to the Hebrews

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beginning with verse one.

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"Therefore, since we are surrounded

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"by so great a cloud of witnesses,

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"let us throw also lay aside every weight

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"and the sin that clings so closely.

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"And let us run with perseverance

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"the race that is set before us.

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"looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

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"who, for the sake of the joy that was set before him,

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"endured the cross, disregarding its shame,

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"and has taken his seat at the right hand

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"of the throne of God.

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"Therefore, lift your drooping hands

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"and strengthen your weak knees

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"and make straight paths for your feet

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"so that what is lame may not be put out of joint

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"but, rather, be healed.

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"Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness

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"without which no one will see the Lord.

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"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

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"That no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble

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"and through it many become defiled.

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"See to it that no one becomes like Esau,

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"an immoral and godless person,

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"who sold his birthright for a single meal.

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"You know that later, when he wanted

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"to inherit the blessing, he was rejected,

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"for he found no chance to repent,

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"even though he sought the blessing with tears."

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God
(congregation responding also)

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(quiet organ music)

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acoustics drowning out choir)

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<v ->This reading is taken from the Gospel</v>

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according to St. Luke, chapter 12,

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starting at verse 49.

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"I came to bring fire to the earth,

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"and how I wish it were already kindled!

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"I have a baptism with which to be baptized,

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"and what stress I am under until it is completed!

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"Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?

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"No, I tell you, but rather division!

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"From now on, five in one household will be divided,

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"three against two and two against three.

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"They will be divided father against son

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"and son against father,

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"mother against daughter and daughter against mother,

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"mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

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"and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

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"He also said to the crowds,

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"'When you see a cloud rising in the west,

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"you immediately say it is going to rain;

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"And so it happens.

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"And when you see the south wind blowing, you say

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"there will be scorching heat; and it happens.

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"You hypocrites!

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"You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky,

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"but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.
(congregation responding)

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<v ->Let us pray</v>

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that the words of my mouth and the meditation

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of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight.

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Oh Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.

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It is my great pleasure to be

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with you here again at Duke University.

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I am the envy of a great number of Duke Alumni,

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an increasing number as a matter of fact,

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in my congregation, who would love to return

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to this campus, preferably during the basketball season.

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But I am sure that they would settle

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for the middle of August.

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I am most grateful also to

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Will Willimon for this invitation.

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As you know in this congregation,

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he is one of the most

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respected of clergy and theologians in this country.

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And also, and this is rare,

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one of the most listened to, consistently,

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no matter what he preaches or what he writes.

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I am very grateful to him for this invitation

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and I don't want to diminish the honor in any way

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by suggesting that if I ever to choose

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a Sunday to be away from the pulpit,

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I think it would be on this Sunday

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in which the Gospel lesson reads,

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"They will be divided, father against son,

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"son against father, mother against daughter,

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"daughter against mother, mother-in-law against

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"daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

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It sounds like a storyline for "As the World Turns".

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I can assure you that this is not

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a preacher's favorite text,

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but it is the Gospel lesson for this Sunday.

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And so it is there as a challenge to us.

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If this text were in an event in Olympic diving,

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it would be given a level of difficulty at about 10.

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One of the efforts about which you say,

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"You have to admire him for trying it."

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I also wondered what those preachers,

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my brothers and sisters in Houston,

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are doing with this text this morning

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as the Republicans gather for their convention

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in that city, ready to push a platform of family values.

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I can imagine them going to church,

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hearing the Gospel lesson, the words of our Lord,

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"My coming means division among families."

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But it's not just the Republicans

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who are confounded and trouble by this passage.

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The Democrats are as well, and all the rest of us.

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And not just because of what it says

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about division in families, but the apparent contradiction

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in this passage to everything that we thought

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the Gospel was about.

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There was a man in my congregation

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who loves to point out where I've contradicted myself.

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I call him the Heckler.

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He's not a member of the church.

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He won't join the church.

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He says he has a few reservations.

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I say if he ever should run out of them

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I'll help him find a few more.

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(congregation laughing)

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But nevertheless he comes to church

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every Sunday, he never misses.

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00:23:31.565 --> 00:23:33.415
And he always sits in the same pew.

254
00:23:33.415 --> 00:23:35.931
I can just see him there.

255
00:23:35.931 --> 00:23:38.247
And he listens intently

256
00:23:38.247 --> 00:23:40.188
until a certain point in the sermon

257
00:23:40.188 --> 00:23:42.259
and then he begins to stare out the window or

258
00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:45.196
examines his fingernails like a chess player

259
00:23:45.196 --> 00:23:48.165
who has seen that his opponent has now made

260
00:23:48.165 --> 00:23:51.369
the fatal move and it's now just a matter of time

261
00:23:51.369 --> 00:23:53.390
to just wait until the end.

262
00:23:53.390 --> 00:23:56.114
And it's inevitable now, he's got you.

263
00:23:56.114 --> 00:23:58.591
It's checkmate and I continue preaching

264
00:23:58.591 --> 00:24:00.538
the rest of the sermon distracted,

265
00:24:00.538 --> 00:24:02.555
wondering what it was that I said.

266
00:24:02.555 --> 00:24:03.927
Where was I inconsistent?

267
00:24:03.927 --> 00:24:06.596
What fact did I get wrong this time?

268
00:24:06.596 --> 00:24:10.387
And I only have to wait so long as the end of the service

269
00:24:10.387 --> 00:24:12.947
and he greets me at the door and says,

270
00:24:12.947 --> 00:24:15.334
"You know, what you said this morning

271
00:24:15.334 --> 00:24:18.291
"contradicts what you said on April the 12th."

272
00:24:18.291 --> 00:24:20.717
(congregation laughing)

273
00:24:20.717 --> 00:24:23.315
Well the Heckler would have a field day with this text.

274
00:24:23.315 --> 00:24:26.087
Go to the 51st verse, "Do you think that I have come

275
00:24:26.087 --> 00:24:27.665
"to bring peace on earth?

276
00:24:27.665 --> 00:24:30.084
"No I tell you, but rather division."

277
00:24:30.084 --> 00:24:34.050
But I thought, did not you, that he had in fact

278
00:24:34.050 --> 00:24:37.575
come to bring peace on earth.

279
00:24:37.575 --> 00:24:41.152
He is even called the Prince of Peace.

280
00:24:41.152 --> 00:24:44.634
And in that beautiful two chapters

281
00:24:44.634 --> 00:24:46.971
at the beginning of Luke, the Nativity story,

282
00:24:46.971 --> 00:24:50.634
probably two of the most favorite, beloved chapters

283
00:24:50.634 --> 00:24:54.306
in all of the Gospel, angels sing glory to God

284
00:24:54.306 --> 00:24:58.423
in the Highest, and on Earth, peace to herald

285
00:24:58.423 --> 00:25:03.073
the coming of the Messiah into the world.

286
00:25:03.073 --> 00:25:05.428
And does not Jesus say to a man who is estranged

287
00:25:05.428 --> 00:25:08.658
from his brother, "First, go be reconciled with your brother

288
00:25:08.658 --> 00:25:10.193
"and then go to the temple."

289
00:25:10.193 --> 00:25:12.904
And in John, the discourse at the Last Supper

290
00:25:12.904 --> 00:25:16.922
called the Last Discourse, he prays for the Church,

291
00:25:16.922 --> 00:25:20.964
praying that they may all be one.

292
00:25:20.964 --> 00:25:23.884
And in Paul's letters, now Paul is the most

293
00:25:23.884 --> 00:25:26.009
authoritative interpreter of the Gospel.

294
00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:29.793
Paul says God was in Christ reconciling the world

295
00:25:29.793 --> 00:25:33.323
unto himself and calling us to be

296
00:25:33.323 --> 00:25:36.773
ministers of reconciliation.

297
00:25:36.773 --> 00:25:38.698
God making his appeal through us

298
00:25:38.698 --> 00:25:43.140
for unity and peace and concord,

299
00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:45.504
among all people so that all peoples

300
00:25:45.504 --> 00:25:50.504
will be united, as it were, into one family.

301
00:25:50.869 --> 00:25:52.486
I suggest to you that that's why

302
00:25:52.486 --> 00:25:54.623
whenever Paul wrote to any church

303
00:25:54.623 --> 00:25:57.464
he always talked about unity for the Church

304
00:25:57.464 --> 00:25:59.836
as a part of the New Creation and therefore,

305
00:25:59.836 --> 00:26:02.017
we should be modeling a new humanity

306
00:26:02.017 --> 00:26:04.731
to let the world see the way God intends

307
00:26:04.731 --> 00:26:08.080
for all of His creation to live.

308
00:26:08.080 --> 00:26:10.625
Paul seems to have spent all of his spare time

309
00:26:10.625 --> 00:26:12.695
on the road writing to churches

310
00:26:12.695 --> 00:26:16.285
to cool it, overcome your divisions,

311
00:26:16.285 --> 00:26:18.948
stop fighting, be reconciled.

312
00:26:18.948 --> 00:26:22.031
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.

313
00:26:22.031 --> 00:26:24.270
So kiss and make up,

314
00:26:24.270 --> 00:26:26.092
which is the origin of that custom

315
00:26:26.092 --> 00:26:28.905
called Passing the Peace as it is referred to now,

316
00:26:28.905 --> 00:26:30.972
liturgically it's sanitized now.

317
00:26:30.972 --> 00:26:33.590
We just shake hands now

318
00:26:33.590 --> 00:26:36.914
and say to one another, "The peace of the Lord be with you."

319
00:26:36.914 --> 00:26:40.240
But that is significant, we say the peace

320
00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.565
of the Lord be with you.

321
00:26:41.565 --> 00:26:43.806
You pass the peace at the end of the Liturgy

322
00:26:43.806 --> 00:26:46.647
of the Word just before the Liturgy of the Table

323
00:26:46.647 --> 00:26:50.206
or the Holy Communion, because at the Lord's table

324
00:26:50.206 --> 00:26:52.228
we are all supposed to be one.

325
00:26:52.228 --> 00:26:54.400
And Paul says you cannot go

326
00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:58.300
to the Lord's table divided,

327
00:26:58.300 --> 00:27:02.408
because you are the Church and the Church is here

328
00:27:02.408 --> 00:27:04.675
to model the new way of living in this world.

329
00:27:04.675 --> 00:27:07.522
So especially when we're at the table of our Lord,

330
00:27:07.522 --> 00:27:08.864
we should demonstrate

331
00:27:08.864 --> 00:27:13.835
that we are united by God's Grace.

332
00:27:13.835 --> 00:27:15.389
I've taught that.

333
00:27:15.389 --> 00:27:17.288
I've preached it.

334
00:27:17.288 --> 00:27:19.676
I've tried to model it in my own church.

335
00:27:19.676 --> 00:27:22.223
I've worked hard for it.

336
00:27:22.223 --> 00:27:24.254
I believe that that's the Church's mission

337
00:27:24.254 --> 00:27:28.265
in a divided world, a world of Sarajevos,

338
00:27:28.265 --> 00:27:30.584
a world of Belfasts,

339
00:27:30.584 --> 00:27:35.221
and of Somalia and Jerusalem and Johannesburg.

340
00:27:35.221 --> 00:27:37.054
A world in which division and hatred

341
00:27:37.054 --> 00:27:39.615
between people is rampant.

342
00:27:39.615 --> 00:27:41.523
Getting worse.

343
00:27:41.523 --> 00:27:44.269
We don't need more division in this world.

344
00:27:44.269 --> 00:27:47.264
We need reconciliation, we need peacemakers.

345
00:27:47.264 --> 00:27:50.388
Jesus himself said that.

346
00:27:50.388 --> 00:27:54.180
"Blessed are the peacemakers."

347
00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:56.078
And if you are a United Methodist and you want

348
00:27:56.078 --> 00:27:59.203
real apostolic authority for all of this,

349
00:27:59.203 --> 00:28:01.964
remember that John Wesley said that our

350
00:28:01.964 --> 00:28:05.263
unity in Christ ought to be stronger than

351
00:28:05.263 --> 00:28:07.915
the divisions of the world.

352
00:28:07.915 --> 00:28:09.752
So he said, "If your heart is with my heart

353
00:28:09.752 --> 00:28:11.870
"then give me your hand" for in church,

354
00:28:11.870 --> 00:28:14.737
especially in church,

355
00:28:14.737 --> 00:28:17.884
no more division.

356
00:28:17.884 --> 00:28:19.074
That's the way it should be.

357
00:28:19.074 --> 00:28:22.000
That's the way it is supposed to be.

358
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:24.896
But it isn't.

359
00:28:24.896 --> 00:28:27.354
The fact is that sometimes

360
00:28:27.354 --> 00:28:29.417
religion divides and doesn't unite,

361
00:28:29.417 --> 00:28:30.517
that's just the way it is.

362
00:28:30.517 --> 00:28:34.130
It's that way even today in Asia and Africa,

363
00:28:34.130 --> 00:28:35.961
where new Christians are still being disowned

364
00:28:35.961 --> 00:28:38.399
by their families, "son against father,

365
00:28:38.399 --> 00:28:41.287
"father against son, mother against daughter."

366
00:28:41.287 --> 00:28:44.564
What a terrible sorrow that is.

367
00:28:44.564 --> 00:28:46.393
But it happens.

368
00:28:46.393 --> 00:28:51.393
As a parent, I can imagine what it must be like.

369
00:28:51.662 --> 00:28:54.250
Our children followed the faith of their parents

370
00:28:54.250 --> 00:28:56.158
for which we are grateful,

371
00:28:56.158 --> 00:28:58.844
especially raising them in Southern California

372
00:28:58.844 --> 00:29:01.860
when they could've become just about anything.

373
00:29:01.860 --> 00:29:04.390
But I can imagine what it would be like

374
00:29:04.390 --> 00:29:05.958
if one of my children were to become

375
00:29:05.958 --> 00:29:08.599
a Buddhist or a Hindu.

376
00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:10.931
I should not disown them, I know that.

377
00:29:10.931 --> 00:29:15.171
I would not do that, but oh, it would be hard.

378
00:29:15.171 --> 00:29:19.321
There'd be division of some kind.

379
00:29:19.321 --> 00:29:23.397
It wouldn't be the same anymore.

380
00:29:23.397 --> 00:29:25.171
And then it occurred to me Jesus himself

381
00:29:25.171 --> 00:29:27.789
knew what division in family was like.

382
00:29:27.789 --> 00:29:29.703
The prophecy is there right at the beginning

383
00:29:29.703 --> 00:29:31.134
back in the Nativity.

384
00:29:31.134 --> 00:29:33.100
No sooner do the Angels announce

385
00:29:33.100 --> 00:29:35.575
that peace has now come to the world,

386
00:29:35.575 --> 00:29:38.606
then old Simeon sings the Nunc Dimittis

387
00:29:38.606 --> 00:29:41.274
as the song is called in the Liturgy of the Church.

388
00:29:41.274 --> 00:29:43.753
"Lord, let us now, Thy servant, depart in peace

389
00:29:43.753 --> 00:29:47.662
"for mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation".

390
00:29:47.662 --> 00:29:49.286
The scene is a temple in Jerusalem.

391
00:29:49.286 --> 00:29:51.377
Mary, Joseph have brought the baby to the temple

392
00:29:51.377 --> 00:29:53.541
for the Rite of Purification

393
00:29:53.541 --> 00:29:55.931
and here is this old man, Simeon.

394
00:29:55.931 --> 00:29:58.658
Been there on the steps of the church for years

395
00:29:58.658 --> 00:30:01.882
waiting for the Messiah, because the prophecy had said,

396
00:30:01.882 --> 00:30:05.263
"He shall suddenly come to His temple" and so Simeon,

397
00:30:05.263 --> 00:30:09.209
hedging his bets, sits at the stairs of the temple

398
00:30:09.209 --> 00:30:11.545
year after year, waiting.

399
00:30:11.545 --> 00:30:14.353
He sees the Holy Couple come up the stairs.

400
00:30:14.353 --> 00:30:16.937
He pulls the blanket away from the baby's face

401
00:30:16.937 --> 00:30:20.558
and says, "Now, let us Thou, Thy servant depart in peace

402
00:30:20.558 --> 00:30:22.931
"for mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation."

403
00:30:22.931 --> 00:30:25.305
Mary and Joseph thanked the old man

404
00:30:25.305 --> 00:30:27.932
for saying such nice things about their baby,

405
00:30:27.932 --> 00:30:29.477
continue up the steps.

406
00:30:29.477 --> 00:30:32.518
Simeon pulls Mary aside

407
00:30:32.518 --> 00:30:35.373
and he whispers to her,

408
00:30:35.373 --> 00:30:40.145
"This Child is set for the rising and fall of many."

409
00:30:40.145 --> 00:30:40.978
and then he adds,

410
00:30:40.978 --> 00:30:45.978
"and a sword will pierce your soul, also."

411
00:30:46.694 --> 00:30:49.711
You know where that happened first?

412
00:30:49.711 --> 00:30:53.061
It must have happened many times

413
00:30:53.061 --> 00:30:55.911
culminating in the Cross, but it happened first

414
00:30:55.911 --> 00:30:58.769
when Jesus returned to Nazareth.

415
00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:01.380
Someone went to Mary and said, "Your son is back

416
00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:03.587
"in town and he's saying things that are causing

417
00:31:03.587 --> 00:31:05.684
"people to wonder about his sanity."

418
00:31:05.684 --> 00:31:08.379
Mary, embarrassed by all this, goes to him

419
00:31:08.379 --> 00:31:10.369
along with others in the family, it says that his

420
00:31:10.369 --> 00:31:11.990
brothers were there too.

421
00:31:11.990 --> 00:31:15.472
She goes to where he's preaching, the crowd is so big

422
00:31:15.472 --> 00:31:18.981
she can't get to him, so she sends a message up

423
00:31:18.981 --> 00:31:21.413
through the crowd saying "Your mother is here.

424
00:31:21.413 --> 00:31:23.930
"She would like to see you."

425
00:31:23.930 --> 00:31:25.437
You know what he did?

426
00:31:25.437 --> 00:31:29.311
In public, out loud,

427
00:31:29.311 --> 00:31:32.228
in front of everybody according to the other Gospels,

428
00:31:32.228 --> 00:31:33.971
he pointed to the crowd and he said,

429
00:31:33.971 --> 00:31:36.899
"Here are my mother and my brothers", but in Luke

430
00:31:36.899 --> 00:31:40.759
he says this, "My mother and my brothers are those

431
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:44.075
"who hear the Word of God,

432
00:31:44.075 --> 00:31:46.812
"and do it."

433
00:31:46.812 --> 00:31:49.626
It was there that that sword pierced her heart.

434
00:31:49.626 --> 00:31:53.520
For what we were witnessing publicly along with the crowd,

435
00:31:53.520 --> 00:31:56.378
is a family divided.

436
00:31:56.378 --> 00:31:58.607
But why?

437
00:31:58.607 --> 00:32:00.409
What happened?

438
00:32:00.409 --> 00:32:03.259
Why would he do this?

439
00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:06.052
And the clue, I suggest, is in the closing paragraph

440
00:32:06.052 --> 00:32:08.407
of the text read for you this morning,

441
00:32:08.407 --> 00:32:11.698
"You hypocrites! You know how to interpret

442
00:32:11.698 --> 00:32:14.256
"the appearance of earth and sky,

443
00:32:14.256 --> 00:32:17.179
"why don't you know how to interpret the present time?"

444
00:32:17.179 --> 00:32:19.542
It was an extraordinary time

445
00:32:19.542 --> 00:32:22.917
demanding an extraordinary response.

446
00:32:22.917 --> 00:32:26.752
A time when all values are suspended except one.

447
00:32:26.752 --> 00:32:30.235
A time when all is relative to one absolute;

448
00:32:30.235 --> 00:32:33.043
hearing what God is doing

449
00:32:33.043 --> 00:32:36.108
and responding to it.

450
00:32:36.108 --> 00:32:39.910
Do you know how to interpret the time?

451
00:32:39.910 --> 00:32:41.863
The time we refer to is the time

452
00:32:41.863 --> 00:32:43.317
of the coming of the Kingdom.

453
00:32:43.317 --> 00:32:45.497
It's the time when the only thing that matters

454
00:32:45.497 --> 00:32:47.901
is hearing the word of God and doing it,

455
00:32:47.901 --> 00:32:50.459
hearing what God is doing in the world

456
00:32:50.459 --> 00:32:51.746
and saying yes to it.

457
00:32:51.746 --> 00:32:55.812
Nothing else matters in such a time,

458
00:32:55.812 --> 00:32:59.207
not even family.

459
00:32:59.207 --> 00:33:01.848
Which explains why families do not fare very well

460
00:33:01.848 --> 00:33:02.930
in the Gospel of Luke.

461
00:33:02.930 --> 00:33:05.696
Have you noticed that Jesus walking down the road

462
00:33:05.696 --> 00:33:07.437
calls people to follow him.

463
00:33:07.437 --> 00:33:10.954
One man says, "First I must go bury my father."

464
00:33:10.954 --> 00:33:13.363
Jesus says, "Let the dead bury the dead."

465
00:33:13.363 --> 00:33:15.795
I just buried my mother last summer.

466
00:33:15.795 --> 00:33:19.111
I know that nothing was more important then.

467
00:33:19.111 --> 00:33:24.111
I dropped everything to join family in doing that.

468
00:33:24.185 --> 00:33:28.029
Jesus says, "Let the dead bury the dead."

469
00:33:28.029 --> 00:33:33.029
Another says, "First, let me go say goodbye to my family."

470
00:33:33.195 --> 00:33:36.446
I would love it if my children came home before a trip

471
00:33:36.446 --> 00:33:38.481
and said goodbye, they're going away for awhile.

472
00:33:38.481 --> 00:33:40.981
Jesus says, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow

473
00:33:40.981 --> 00:33:44.221
and turns back is not fit for the Kingdom of God."

474
00:33:44.221 --> 00:33:48.718
A woman, in gesture of respect, utters a common blessing.

475
00:33:48.718 --> 00:33:51.046
This is an affirmation of family,

476
00:33:51.046 --> 00:33:52.794
"Blessed is the womb that bore you.

477
00:33:52.794 --> 00:33:55.380
"Blessed are the breasts that you sucked."

478
00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:57.457
Jesus contradicted her.

479
00:33:57.457 --> 00:33:59.429
He put her down.

480
00:33:59.429 --> 00:34:02.342
He repeated what he believed, "Blessed are those

481
00:34:02.342 --> 00:34:05.416
"who hear the word of God and do it."

482
00:34:05.416 --> 00:34:08.400
The disciples at the end of the Gospel say

483
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:11.568
"We have left family and followed you."

484
00:34:11.568 --> 00:34:13.927
And Jesus says, "Anyone who leaves family

485
00:34:13.927 --> 00:34:16.805
in order to follow me, will have a special place

486
00:34:16.805 --> 00:34:18.538
in the Kingdom.

487
00:34:18.538 --> 00:34:20.285
You find that throughout the Gospel.

488
00:34:20.285 --> 00:34:22.962
Something's going on here.

489
00:34:22.962 --> 00:34:25.070
You have to know

490
00:34:25.070 --> 00:34:28.527
how to interpret the time.

491
00:34:28.527 --> 00:34:31.888
In the Bible, there are only two times.

492
00:34:31.888 --> 00:34:34.163
There's the Time of Waiting

493
00:34:34.163 --> 00:34:36.243
and the Time of His Coming.

494
00:34:36.243 --> 00:34:38.552
There's the Time of Preparation

495
00:34:38.552 --> 00:34:39.965
and the Time of Fulfillment.

496
00:34:39.965 --> 00:34:44.074
There's the Time of Praying for the Kingdom to Come

497
00:34:44.074 --> 00:34:48.126
and there's the Time of the Kingdom's Coming.

498
00:34:48.126 --> 00:34:50.971
And the great frustration of Jesus in the Gospels

499
00:34:50.971 --> 00:34:54.770
is due to this inability of his contemporaries

500
00:34:54.770 --> 00:34:59.261
to understand what time it was.

501
00:34:59.261 --> 00:35:02.847
They thought it was still the Time of Waiting.

502
00:35:02.847 --> 00:35:05.750
He is preaching The Time of Fulfillment,

503
00:35:05.750 --> 00:35:08.302
The Kingdom of God is here.

504
00:35:08.302 --> 00:35:11.635
Accept this good news!

505
00:35:11.635 --> 00:35:13.959
And they didn't do it.

506
00:35:13.959 --> 00:35:15.755
And that's why he climbed that hill

507
00:35:15.755 --> 00:35:18.506
above Jerusalem and wept, "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

508
00:35:18.506 --> 00:35:20.800
"would I have gathered you

509
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:23.281
"as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

510
00:35:23.281 --> 00:35:26.265
"but you would not."

511
00:35:26.265 --> 00:35:30.169
If it is the end time, if the Kingdom is here,

512
00:35:30.169 --> 00:35:33.085
then you should sell all you have and follow him.

513
00:35:33.085 --> 00:35:36.821
You should leave everything behind and follow him.

514
00:35:36.821 --> 00:35:39.621
Including family.

515
00:35:39.621 --> 00:35:42.374
Which is a message of all this 12th chapter.

516
00:35:42.374 --> 00:35:43.760
It's filled with these hard sayings.

517
00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:46.193
Last week, if you heard the Gospel preached

518
00:35:46.193 --> 00:35:48.064
in this church last week, it was about selling

519
00:35:48.064 --> 00:35:50.513
all you have and follow him.

520
00:35:50.513 --> 00:35:54.718
Today, leave family behind and follow him.

521
00:35:54.718 --> 00:35:57.009
It's what you should do

522
00:35:57.009 --> 00:36:01.278
if the end is near.

523
00:36:01.278 --> 00:36:05.478
Do you know what time it is?

524
00:36:05.478 --> 00:36:07.940
There's a time of waiting

525
00:36:07.940 --> 00:36:11.270
and there is a time of His coming.

526
00:36:11.270 --> 00:36:14.063
And according to Christian chronology,

527
00:36:14.063 --> 00:36:16.474
since the Resurrection and the Ascension,

528
00:36:16.474 --> 00:36:18.621
we are once again in a time of waiting.

529
00:36:18.621 --> 00:36:23.621
A time of waiting now for His Second Coming.

530
00:36:23.852 --> 00:36:26.039
W.H. Auden, in his great play about Christmas

531
00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:29.482
entitled "For the Time Being", put it this way.

532
00:36:29.482 --> 00:36:31.615
He defined time

533
00:36:31.615 --> 00:36:34.831
as a time between the times.

534
00:36:34.831 --> 00:36:38.031
He called it the Meantime.

535
00:36:38.031 --> 00:36:40.528
And he wrote in the Meantime, and I paraphrase now,

536
00:36:40.528 --> 00:36:44.858
we have responsibilities to perform, we can't ignore them.

537
00:36:44.858 --> 00:36:47.353
We have irregular verbs to learn,

538
00:36:47.353 --> 00:36:52.353
we have the time being to redeem from insignificance.

539
00:36:52.718 --> 00:36:57.718
How do you live lives of significance in a time of waiting.

540
00:36:58.499 --> 00:37:01.015
The most important thing to remember

541
00:37:01.015 --> 00:37:04.665
is that it is not the end time.

542
00:37:04.665 --> 00:37:07.481
In the end time all will be perfect.

543
00:37:07.481 --> 00:37:11.893
In the present, we must live with imperfection.

544
00:37:11.893 --> 00:37:14.041
In the present we know what the Kingdom is like

545
00:37:14.041 --> 00:37:16.847
but we don't possess it, as the Letter to the Hebrews

546
00:37:16.847 --> 00:37:19.594
explained to us in the election read for you this morning.

547
00:37:19.594 --> 00:37:22.313
Or in the words of Philippians, we press on to make it

548
00:37:22.313 --> 00:37:25.896
our own because Christ Jesus has made us his own.

549
00:37:25.896 --> 00:37:30.195
Or is Martin Luther King put it, "I have a vision

550
00:37:30.195 --> 00:37:33.345
"of that day when all people will be one"

551
00:37:33.345 --> 00:37:35.828
its a vision, it's a dream.

552
00:37:35.828 --> 00:37:38.341
Or, as the old hymn puts it, "We are marching to Zion

553
00:37:38.341 --> 00:37:39.750
"the beautiful city of God."

554
00:37:39.750 --> 00:37:43.294
We can see it, we can press toward it,

555
00:37:43.294 --> 00:37:46.482
we can dream it, we can march toward it,

556
00:37:46.482 --> 00:37:48.474
but we cannot possess it.

557
00:37:48.474 --> 00:37:51.271
We are not in the end time.

558
00:37:51.271 --> 00:37:55.263
We are living in the meantime.

559
00:37:55.263 --> 00:37:58.492
Since the title of this sermon mentioned family values,

560
00:37:58.492 --> 00:38:03.106
I think it's only fair that I return to it, specifically,

561
00:38:03.106 --> 00:38:04.733
in talking about the meantime.

562
00:38:04.733 --> 00:38:09.658
How do we live in families in the meantime.

563
00:38:09.658 --> 00:38:11.118
In an imperfect world the first

564
00:38:11.118 --> 00:38:15.402
function of families is protection.

565
00:38:15.402 --> 00:38:17.871
What is so appalling to me, and to you I'm sure,

566
00:38:17.871 --> 00:38:21.046
about our society's families today is that so many of them

567
00:38:21.046 --> 00:38:24.132
seem to allow children to be exposed

568
00:38:24.132 --> 00:38:26.994
to influences that are harmful to them

569
00:38:26.994 --> 00:38:29.942
physically and spiritually, and emotionally.

570
00:38:29.942 --> 00:38:32.634
It's just amazing.

571
00:38:32.634 --> 00:38:35.757
So when family values are talked about,

572
00:38:35.757 --> 00:38:38.056
I think this is what we

573
00:38:38.056 --> 00:38:40.757
think about, almost immediately, about protecting

574
00:38:40.757 --> 00:38:45.124
little children from the influence as a society

575
00:38:45.124 --> 00:38:47.797
that would destroy them.

576
00:38:47.797 --> 00:38:49.468
The United Methodist Church recently

577
00:38:49.468 --> 00:38:51.818
adopted a new baptismal ritual.

578
00:38:51.818 --> 00:38:54.951
The new service restored

579
00:38:54.951 --> 00:38:57.333
what are called the Renunciations,

580
00:38:57.333 --> 00:38:59.511
where, in the case of infant baptism,

581
00:38:59.511 --> 00:39:03.015
the parents renounce the evil powers of this world

582
00:39:03.015 --> 00:39:05.648
and the spiritual forces of wickedness.

583
00:39:05.648 --> 00:39:08.397
And as I prepared to introduce the new baptismal

584
00:39:08.397 --> 00:39:10.563
ritual to my congregation,

585
00:39:10.563 --> 00:39:12.060
that was the point that I was sure

586
00:39:12.060 --> 00:39:13.587
was going to be a problem with them;

587
00:39:13.587 --> 00:39:15.905
these renunciations in this ancient language

588
00:39:15.905 --> 00:39:17.662
right out of the First Century.

589
00:39:17.662 --> 00:39:20.988
And so I worked hard on how I would explain this.

590
00:39:20.988 --> 00:39:23.210
The technical word is demythologize it.

591
00:39:23.210 --> 00:39:26.006
The assumption is that ancient language is in a

592
00:39:26.006 --> 00:39:29.182
mythological language and we have to make it modern,

593
00:39:29.182 --> 00:39:31.808
and scientific, and relevant to our time.

594
00:39:31.808 --> 00:39:34.692
And I tried to do that; I think I did it very well.

595
00:39:34.692 --> 00:39:37.847
And when I finished, and I said to the class,

596
00:39:37.847 --> 00:39:41.337
"I hope that you can make this cultural shift

597
00:39:41.337 --> 00:39:43.362
"back to a pre-scientific age."

598
00:39:43.362 --> 00:39:45.831
Someone raised his hand

599
00:39:45.831 --> 00:39:48.581
and he said, "We don't need to have this translated for us.

600
00:39:48.581 --> 00:39:51.904
"We're parents of small children

601
00:39:51.904 --> 00:39:54.681
"and we are very much aware

602
00:39:54.681 --> 00:39:57.185
"of what awaits our children living in this world.

603
00:39:57.185 --> 00:39:59.993
"We know, already,

604
00:39:59.993 --> 00:40:03.680
about the evil powers of this world."

605
00:40:03.680 --> 00:40:07.295
The first responsibilities of families

606
00:40:07.295 --> 00:40:10.695
is to protect the children.

607
00:40:10.695 --> 00:40:14.993
The second function of families is instruction

608
00:40:14.993 --> 00:40:17.623
on how to live in a time of waiting.

609
00:40:17.623 --> 00:40:21.662
How to live in an imperfect world.

610
00:40:21.662 --> 00:40:24.401
The Bible contains not only the vision of the end time,

611
00:40:24.401 --> 00:40:27.455
it also contains instructions on

612
00:40:27.455 --> 00:40:29.003
how to live in the meantime.

613
00:40:29.003 --> 00:40:32.583
And no instruction is more valuable than Paul's.

614
00:40:32.583 --> 00:40:36.664
That we are not justified by our perfection

615
00:40:36.664 --> 00:40:40.275
but by God's grace.

616
00:40:40.275 --> 00:40:43.489
I, like most pastors, spend an inordinate amount of time

617
00:40:43.489 --> 00:40:45.953
with the product of Christian homes

618
00:40:45.953 --> 00:40:47.225
who have not gotten the news.

619
00:40:47.225 --> 00:40:51.027
It's just amazing to me the number of people who do not

620
00:40:51.027 --> 00:40:53.350
understand that the Christian Gospel

621
00:40:53.350 --> 00:40:56.155
is supposed to be good news.

622
00:40:56.155 --> 00:40:58.589
Good news about God and what God has

623
00:40:58.589 --> 00:41:00.888
done for us, and Jesus Christ.

624
00:41:00.888 --> 00:41:03.929
Not news about me

625
00:41:03.929 --> 00:41:07.712
and how imperfect I am.

626
00:41:07.712 --> 00:41:09.592
And yet these people are constantly held up

627
00:41:09.592 --> 00:41:12.467
to a standard of perfection and they were made to know

628
00:41:12.467 --> 00:41:16.179
that they always fell short of it and that nothing they did,

629
00:41:16.179 --> 00:41:18.734
no matter if it was their best effort,

630
00:41:18.734 --> 00:41:20.424
was ever to be good enough.

631
00:41:20.424 --> 00:41:25.424
They were reminded continually that they were unworthy.

632
00:41:25.619 --> 00:41:27.425
And now many of them in middle age,

633
00:41:27.425 --> 00:41:29.700
in fact some of them even older than that,

634
00:41:29.700 --> 00:41:33.919
find subtle and not-so-subtle ways of punishing themselves

635
00:41:33.919 --> 00:41:37.727
for not being somebody else.

636
00:41:37.727 --> 00:41:40.868
The world between the times

637
00:41:40.868 --> 00:41:44.010
remains imperfect.

638
00:41:44.010 --> 00:41:48.319
The Gospel is a gift to us, given to us,

639
00:41:48.319 --> 00:41:52.888
so that we could redeem the present time.

640
00:41:52.888 --> 00:41:55.586
And the most important function of families is to teach

641
00:41:55.586 --> 00:41:58.219
children of God's Grace

642
00:41:58.219 --> 00:42:03.219
by surrounding them with Grace.

643
00:42:03.534 --> 00:42:05.673
Paul is the first theologian to describe

644
00:42:05.673 --> 00:42:07.798
how to live in an imperfect world.

645
00:42:07.798 --> 00:42:09.951
And his most powerful description

646
00:42:09.951 --> 00:42:12.869
is to be found in first Corinthians 13.

647
00:42:12.869 --> 00:42:15.388
It was prompted by those in that church

648
00:42:15.388 --> 00:42:18.971
at Corinth claiming perfection.

649
00:42:18.971 --> 00:42:21.839
And he was very kind to them, he did not deny that they had

650
00:42:21.839 --> 00:42:23.717
the gifts of which they boasted.

651
00:42:23.717 --> 00:42:26.258
He just said they weren't very important.

652
00:42:26.258 --> 00:42:29.095
They weren't worth very much in an imperfect age.

653
00:42:29.095 --> 00:42:32.445
For our task in an imperfect age

654
00:42:32.445 --> 00:42:34.769
is getting along.

655
00:42:34.769 --> 00:42:37.209
How do we live together

656
00:42:37.209 --> 00:42:40.343
when neither of us is perfect?

657
00:42:40.343 --> 00:42:43.449
Or as he puts it, when no one has all the answers,

658
00:42:43.449 --> 00:42:46.459
"For we see through a glass darkly,"

659
00:42:46.459 --> 00:42:48.994
which means not very well at all.

660
00:42:48.994 --> 00:42:51.877
Our knowledge is imperfect he says.

661
00:42:51.877 --> 00:42:55.527
Someday, we will see perfection.

662
00:42:55.527 --> 00:42:58.027
Someday the perfect will come

663
00:42:58.027 --> 00:43:00.868
but in the meantime,

664
00:43:00.868 --> 00:43:03.876
we must get along with each other.

665
00:43:03.876 --> 00:43:06.314
And that is why, in the meantime,

666
00:43:06.314 --> 00:43:08.826
there are only three things that matter.

667
00:43:08.826 --> 00:43:11.328
And therefore, they ought to be the three things

668
00:43:11.328 --> 00:43:16.328
that children receive as legacy from their families:

669
00:43:16.776 --> 00:43:21.776
faith, hope, and love,

670
00:43:21.829 --> 00:43:25.184
and the greatest of these is love.

671
00:43:25.184 --> 00:43:28.212
There are other family values

672
00:43:28.212 --> 00:43:31.950
but if you can give these three, it is enough.

673
00:43:31.950 --> 00:43:34.267
But in the meantime,

674
00:43:34.267 --> 00:43:38.634
for this time of waiting, that's all we need,

675
00:43:38.634 --> 00:43:41.175
for this time between

676
00:43:41.175 --> 00:43:44.672
His first coming and His second.

677
00:43:44.672 --> 00:43:49.604
Let us pray.

678
00:43:49.604 --> 00:43:51.236
Oh Lord, take our lips and speak through them.

679
00:43:51.236 --> 00:43:53.455
Take our minds and think through them.

680
00:43:53.455 --> 00:43:56.572
Take our hearts and set them on fire.

681
00:43:56.572 --> 00:43:58.913
Help us to be the masters of ourselves

682
00:43:58.913 --> 00:44:00.738
that we might be the servants of others

683
00:44:00.738 --> 00:44:01.571
through Christ our Lord,

684
00:44:03.463 --> 00:44:04.296
Amen.

685
00:44:05.558 --> 00:44:08.058
(organ music)

686
00:44:42.219 --> 00:44:45.636
(organ drowns out choir)

687
00:46:30.333 --> 00:46:31.661
<v Celebrant>The Lord be with you.</v>

688
00:46:31.661 --> 00:46:33.472
<v Congregation>And also with you.</v>

689
00:46:33.472 --> 00:46:34.555
<v ->Let us pray</v>

690
00:46:46.578 --> 00:46:49.886
Jesus, we come here expecting to be

691
00:46:49.886 --> 00:46:51.886
reassured and comforted.

692
00:46:53.910 --> 00:46:55.332
And yet how often have you spoken

693
00:46:55.332 --> 00:46:58.415
words to us that challenge, confront.

694
00:46:59.916 --> 00:47:02.379
We do not want to hear you speak to us

695
00:47:02.379 --> 00:47:04.379
as much as we say we do.

696
00:47:05.936 --> 00:47:09.044
For you do not let us alone.

697
00:47:09.044 --> 00:47:12.377
Your word brings not peace, but a sword.

698
00:47:13.608 --> 00:47:18.608
Drives us back to searching examination of our lives.

699
00:47:18.831 --> 00:47:21.499
Do you consider not what comfort you will give us,

700
00:47:21.499 --> 00:47:24.416
but what challenge you lay upon us.

701
00:47:27.172 --> 00:47:29.572
We come here expecting something for ourselves,

702
00:47:29.572 --> 00:47:32.405
our struggles, our pain, and need.

703
00:47:34.272 --> 00:47:39.189
And how often you force us to ask for something for others.

704
00:47:41.335 --> 00:47:43.571
For the suffering, hating, hurting, oppressed,

705
00:47:43.571 --> 00:47:47.571
oppressing people of what used to be Yugoslavia,

706
00:47:49.471 --> 00:47:51.925
give us that which centuries of our hate

707
00:47:51.925 --> 00:47:53.925
and history cannot give:

708
00:47:55.528 --> 00:47:58.361
the ability to forgive past wrong,

709
00:48:00.339 --> 00:48:03.371
the willingness to start over,

710
00:48:03.371 --> 00:48:05.538
the courage to make peace.

711
00:48:08.241 --> 00:48:12.908
We are Bosnians, Serbs, Iraqis, Americans, give us grace

712
00:48:14.087 --> 00:48:16.891
to be brothers and sisters,

713
00:48:16.891 --> 00:48:17.974
to get along.

714
00:48:20.534 --> 00:48:22.534
We come here as families

715
00:48:23.781 --> 00:48:25.571
using church as a way to polish

716
00:48:25.571 --> 00:48:28.321
our idealized image of ourselves.

717
00:48:30.644 --> 00:48:31.948
But how often you've pushed us

718
00:48:31.948 --> 00:48:35.895
to confront the realities of our lives together.

719
00:48:35.895 --> 00:48:39.429
The gap between who we wish we were

720
00:48:39.429 --> 00:48:41.762
and who, in reality, we are.

721
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:48.800
So we pray for all victims of domestic violence,

722
00:48:50.289 --> 00:48:51.824
for people who're here this morning

723
00:48:51.824 --> 00:48:55.111
who've been abused physically, emotionally, spiritually,

724
00:48:55.111 --> 00:48:59.282
by people they're supposed to be married to.

725
00:48:59.282 --> 00:49:02.731
Children who've been sexually abused by adults

726
00:49:02.731 --> 00:49:06.398
who are supposed to love them, not use them.

727
00:49:07.791 --> 00:49:10.840
Families who are so consumed by getting and buying

728
00:49:10.840 --> 00:49:14.423
and having and too little engaged in giving

729
00:49:15.966 --> 00:49:18.049
and creating and sharing.

730
00:49:19.627 --> 00:49:23.575
Bless our families in ways that neither we,

731
00:49:23.575 --> 00:49:26.742
nor our politicians know how to bless.

732
00:49:29.473 --> 00:49:32.513
We come here, O God, full of needs

733
00:49:32.513 --> 00:49:34.930
we don't know how to express,

734
00:49:36.291 --> 00:49:38.139
prayers we wouldn't begin to pray,

735
00:49:38.139 --> 00:49:41.306
desperate for gifts only you can give.

736
00:49:44.590 --> 00:49:46.086
And how often have you overlooked

737
00:49:46.086 --> 00:49:49.503
our poor prayers and given us those gifts

738
00:49:50.434 --> 00:49:54.937
which we didn't have the insight to know we needed.

739
00:49:54.937 --> 00:49:58.187
So Lord, take our poorly prayed prayers

740
00:49:59.838 --> 00:50:04.603
and our secret needs, and our complacent, postponed lives,

741
00:50:04.603 --> 00:50:07.533
our too-easily-satisfied expectations

742
00:50:07.533 --> 00:50:09.860
and mold them, judge them, remake them

743
00:50:09.860 --> 00:50:11.777
according to your will.

744
00:50:13.908 --> 00:50:18.241
How often have you come to us before we came to you?

745
00:50:20.648 --> 00:50:23.315
Therefore, for all that we pray,

746
00:50:24.323 --> 00:50:26.730
and for all that we have not the courage

747
00:50:26.730 --> 00:50:28.647
nor the wisdom to pray,

748
00:50:30.578 --> 00:50:34.271
we pray in your name, and honor the judgment

749
00:50:34.271 --> 00:50:36.688
of your gracious will for us.

750
00:50:39.078 --> 00:50:39.911
Amen.

751
00:50:42.774 --> 00:50:45.693
As the forgiven, reconciled people,

752
00:50:45.693 --> 00:50:49.360
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.

753
00:50:51.060 --> 00:50:54.393
(sprightly organ music)

754
00:52:45.624 --> 00:52:49.791
(organ muffles choir performance)

755
00:54:13.517 --> 00:54:16.684
(stately organ music)

756
00:55:24.683 --> 00:55:29.683
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪

757
00:55:31.363 --> 00:55:36.363
♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪

758
00:55:37.445 --> 00:55:40.489
♪ Alleluia ♪

759
00:55:40.489 --> 00:55:44.895
♪ Alleluia ♪

760
00:55:44.895 --> 00:55:49.895
♪ Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪

761
00:55:50.923 --> 00:55:55.923
♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪

762
00:55:57.283 --> 00:55:59.954
♪ Alleluia ♪

763
00:55:59.954 --> 00:56:03.241
♪ Alleluia ♪

764
00:56:03.241 --> 00:56:08.241
♪ Alleluia alleluia ♪

765
00:56:09.359 --> 00:56:11.609
♪ Alleluia ♪

766
00:56:24.002 --> 00:56:26.811
<v ->Loving God, we thank you</v>

767
00:56:26.811 --> 00:56:30.048
for all the blessings of this life.

768
00:56:30.048 --> 00:56:32.177
All of those gifts, great and small

769
00:56:32.177 --> 00:56:34.806
through which you daily remind us

770
00:56:34.806 --> 00:56:37.056
of your loving care for us.

771
00:56:38.081 --> 00:56:41.763
For your word, giving us direction,

772
00:56:41.763 --> 00:56:44.846
discernment, encouragement, and hope.

773
00:56:45.786 --> 00:56:49.536
For beautiful music to inspire and comfort us

774
00:56:50.525 --> 00:56:52.858
in means too deep for words.

775
00:56:53.756 --> 00:56:55.173
For our families,

776
00:56:56.349 --> 00:56:59.823
for those who love us and put up with us,

777
00:56:59.823 --> 00:57:03.515
who sacrifice for us, who know us better

778
00:57:03.515 --> 00:57:06.228
than we know ourselves.

779
00:57:06.228 --> 00:57:11.072
We thank you for the grace we experience in family.

780
00:57:11.072 --> 00:57:14.025
For people who are not in our families,

781
00:57:14.025 --> 00:57:17.775
who quietly and unobtrusively bless our lives

782
00:57:18.651 --> 00:57:20.901
just by being there for us.

783
00:57:22.189 --> 00:57:25.781
For people like Nina High whom we recall

784
00:57:25.781 --> 00:57:27.781
with gratitude this day.

785
00:57:29.360 --> 00:57:32.397
And for summer, blessed time of unburdening

786
00:57:32.397 --> 00:57:35.479
and family vacations, engagement with nature,

787
00:57:35.479 --> 00:57:38.979
wonderful season of rest and rejuvenation.

788
00:57:40.491 --> 00:57:43.073
For all these and the other gifts you give us,

789
00:57:43.073 --> 00:57:46.436
we give thanks, acknowledging how impoverished

790
00:57:46.436 --> 00:57:50.103
our lives would be without your daily grace.

791
00:57:52.362 --> 00:57:55.558
And now we pray as our Lord has taught us.

792
00:57:55.558 --> 00:57:58.381
"Our Father who art in Heaven,

793
00:57:58.381 --> 00:58:00.676
"hallowed be Thy name.

794
00:58:00.676 --> 00:58:03.989
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done

795
00:58:03.989 --> 00:58:06.945
"on Earth as it is in Heaven.

796
00:58:06.945 --> 00:58:09.895
"Give us this day our daily bread

797
00:58:09.895 --> 00:58:12.519
"and forgive us our trespasses

798
00:58:12.519 --> 00:58:16.410
"as we forgive those who trespass against us.

799
00:58:16.410 --> 00:58:19.110
"And lead us not into temptation

800
00:58:19.110 --> 00:58:23.187
"but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom,

801
00:58:23.187 --> 00:58:26.520
"the Power and the Glory forever, Amen."

802
00:58:31.064 --> 00:58:33.336
And now may the grace of our Lord and Savior

803
00:58:33.336 --> 00:58:36.328
Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship

804
00:58:36.328 --> 00:58:40.161
of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always.

805
00:58:43.501 --> 00:58:46.584
♪ Alleluia amen amen ♪

806
00:58:54.016 --> 00:58:57.183
(stately organ music)

807
00:59:35.149 --> 00:59:40.149
♪ My hope is built on nothing less ♪

808
00:59:40.807 --> 00:59:45.807
♪ Than Jesus Christ my righteousness ♪

809
00:59:46.695 --> 00:59:51.695
♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪

810
00:59:52.554 --> 00:59:57.554
♪ But wholly lean on Jesus name ♪

811
00:59:59.534 --> 01:00:04.534
♪ On Christ the solid Rock I stand ♪

812
01:00:05.175 --> 01:00:10.175
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

813
01:00:10.756 --> 01:00:15.756
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

814
01:00:19.100 --> 01:00:24.100
♪ When darkness veils His lovely face ♪

815
01:00:25.014 --> 01:00:30.014
♪ I rest on His unchanging grace ♪

816
01:00:31.090 --> 01:00:36.090
♪ In every high and stormy gale ♪

817
01:00:36.943 --> 01:00:41.943
♪ My anchor holds within the veil ♪

818
01:00:43.983 --> 01:00:48.983
♪ On Christ the solid Rock I stand ♪

819
01:00:49.601 --> 01:00:54.601
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

820
01:00:55.709 --> 01:01:00.709
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

821
01:01:04.401 --> 01:01:09.401
♪ His oath His covenant His blood ♪

822
01:01:10.167 --> 01:01:15.167
♪ Support me in the whelming flood ♪

823
01:01:15.967 --> 01:01:20.967
♪ When all around my soul gives way ♪

824
01:01:21.901 --> 01:01:26.901
♪ He then is all my hope and stay ♪

825
01:01:29.056 --> 01:01:34.056
♪ On Christ the solid Rock I stand ♪

826
01:01:34.894 --> 01:01:39.894
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

827
01:01:41.278 --> 01:01:45.528
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

828
01:01:55.677 --> 01:02:00.677
♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound ♪

829
01:02:01.611 --> 01:02:06.611
♪ Oh may I then in Him be found ♪

830
01:02:07.397 --> 01:02:12.397
♪ In Him my righteousness alone ♪

831
01:02:13.822 --> 01:02:18.822
♪ Faultless to stand before the throne ♪

832
01:02:20.207 --> 01:02:25.207
♪ On Christ the solid Rock I stand ♪

833
01:02:26.172 --> 01:02:31.172
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

834
01:02:32.586 --> 01:02:36.836
♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪

835
01:02:51.084 --> 01:02:54.001
(calm organ music)