WEBVTT
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(lively organ music)
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Good morning.
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Welcome to this service of worship
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on the 18th Sunday after Pentecost.
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To remind you of the annual service
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for thanksgiving of God's creation
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and blessing of animals at 2 p.m. today
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in front of the chapel.
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Also call your attention to the opening hymn,
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which is a favorite hymn here in Duke Chapel,
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and the special treatment of the hymn
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as it's printed in the bulletin.
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We're glad that you're here,
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and let us continue our worship.
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Please join me in the greeting.
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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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And also with you.
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The risen Christ is with us.
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Praise to you, oh Lord.
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Please stand.
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(lively organ music)
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♪ All creatures of our God and King ♪
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♪ Lift up your voice and with us sing ♪
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♪ Oh praise Him ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Thou brother sun with golden beam ♪
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♪ Thou sister moon with softer gleam ♪
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♪ Oh praise Him ♪
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♪ Oh praise Him ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Oh brother wind, air, clouds, and rain ♪
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♪ By which all creatures ye sustain ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Thou rising morn in praise rejoice ♪
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♪ Ye lights of evening find a voice ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Oh sister water flowing clear ♪
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♪ Make music for thy Lord to hear ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Oh brother fire who lights the night ♪
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♪ Providing warmth enhancing sight ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Dear mother Earth who day by day ♪
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♪ Unfoldest blessings on our way ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ The flowers and fruits that in thee grow ♪
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♪ Let them God's glory also show ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ All ye who are of tender heart ♪
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♪ Forgiving others take your part ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Ye who long pain and sorrow bear ♪
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♪ Praise God and on Him cast your care ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ And thou our sister gentle death ♪
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♪ Waiting to hush our latest breath ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Thou leadest home the child of God ♪
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♪ And Christ our Lord the way has trod ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Let all things their Creator bless ♪
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♪ And worship Him in humbleness ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪
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♪ And praise the Spirit Three in One ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Oh praise ye ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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♪ Hallelujah ♪
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Almighty and everlasting God,
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You are always more ready to hear than we to pray,
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and to give more than we either desire or deserve.
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Pour upon us the abundance of Your mercy,
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forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
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and giving us those good things
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for which we are not worthy to ask,
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except through the merits and mediation
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of Jesus Christ our Savior,
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who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
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one God, for ever and ever, Amen.
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Let us pray.
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Open our hearts and minds, oh God.
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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 hear with joy
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what You say to us this day.
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Amen.
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The first reading comes from the Book of Numbers.
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Hear the Word of the Lord.
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The Lord said to Moses,
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"Go up this mountain of the Abarim Range,
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"and see the land that I have given through the Israelites.
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"When you have seen it,
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"you also shall be gathered to your people
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"as your brother Aaron was.
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"Because you rebelled against my word
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"in the wilderness of Zin,
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"when the congregation quarreled with me.
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"You did not show my holiness
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"before their eyes at the waters.
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"Moses spoke to the Lord saying,
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"Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh,
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"appoint someone over the congregation
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"who shall go out before them
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"and come in before them,
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"who shall lead them out and bring them in,
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"so that the congregation of the Lord
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"may not be like sheep without a shepherd.
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"So the Lord said to Moses,
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"Take Joshua, son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit,
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"and lay your hand upon him.
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"Have him stand before Eleazar the priest
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"and all the congregation,
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"and commission him in their sight.
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"You shall give him some of your authority,
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"so that all the congregation of the Israelites may obey.
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"But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest,
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"who shall inquire for him
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"by the decision of the Urim before the Lord.
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"At his word, they shall go out.
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"And at his word, they shall come in,
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"both he and all the Israelites with him,
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"the whole congregation."
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"So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
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"He took Joshua and had him stand
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"before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation.
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"He laid his hands on him and commissioned him
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"as the Lord had directed through Moses."
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This is the Word of the Lord.
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Thanks be to God.
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Please stand as we join in singing responsively
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Psalm 81 found on page 803 in your hymnal.
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(lively organ music)
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♪ Sing aloud to God our strength ♪
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♪ Shout for joy to the God of Jacob ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ Blow the trumpet at thy new moon ♪
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♪ At the full moon of thy feast day ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ I hear a voice I do not know ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ In distress you called ♪
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♪ And I delivered you ♪
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♪ I answered you in the secret place of thunder ♪
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♪ I tested you at the waters of Meribah ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ There shall be no strange God among you ♪
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♪ You shall not bow down to a foreign God ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ All glory to be to you, oh God ♪
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♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪
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(congregation singing)
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♪ As it was since time began ♪
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(congregation singing)
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The second reading comes from Paul's letter
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to the Philippians.
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"Not that I have already obtained this
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"or have already reached the goal
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"but I press on to make it my own
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"because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
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"Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it
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"my own but this one thing I do,
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"forgetting what lies behind
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"and straining forward
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"to what lies ahead
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"I press on toward the goal
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"for the prize of the heavenly call
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"of God in Christ Jesus.
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"Let those of us then who are mature
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"be of the same mind.
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"And if you think differently
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"about anything, this too God will reveal to you.
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"Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.
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"Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me
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"and observe those who live according
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"to the example you have in us
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"for many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
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"I've often told you of them
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"and now I tell you even with tears,
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"therein is destruction,
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"their god is the belly
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"and their glory is in their shame,
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"their minds are set on earthly things
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"but our citizenship is in heaven
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"and it is from there that we are expecting a savior,
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"the Lord Jesus Christ.
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"He will transform the body of our humiliation
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"that it may be conformed to the body of his glory
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"by the power that also enables him
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"to make all things subject to himself.
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"Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
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"whom I love and long for,
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"my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord
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"in this way, my beloved."
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This is the word of the Lord.
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Thanks be to God.
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This reading comes from the Gospel according
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to Saint Matthew.
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"Listen to another parable.
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"There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
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"put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it
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"and built a watchtower.
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"Then he leased it to tenants
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"and went to another country.
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"When the harvest time had come,
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"he sent his salves to the tenants
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"to collect his produce
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"but the tenants seized his slaves and beat one,
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"killed another and stoned another.
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"Again, he sent other slaves,
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"more than the first
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"and they treated them in the same way.
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"Finally, he sent his son to them saying,
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"they will respect my son.
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"But when the tenants saw the son,
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"they said to themselves,
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"this is the heir, come, let us kill him
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"and get his inheritance.
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"So, they seized him,
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"threw him out of the vineyard
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"and killed him.
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"Now when the owner of the vineyard comes,
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"what will he do to those tenants?
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"They said to him, he will put those righteous
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"to a miserable death
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"and lease the vineyard to other tenants
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"who will give him the produce at the harvest time.
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"Jesus said to them,
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"have you never read in the scriptures
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"the stone that the builder rejected
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"has become the cornerstone?
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"This was the Lord's doing
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"and it is amazing in our eyes.
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"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God
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"will be taken away from you
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"and given to a people
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00:24:45.087 --> 00:24:48.300
"that produces the fruit of the kingdom."
267
00:24:48.300 --> 00:24:50.996
This is the word of the Lord.
268
00:24:50.996 --> 00:24:53.829
Thanks be to God.
269
00:24:55.737 --> 00:24:59.154
(tranquil organic music)
270
00:25:11.965 --> 00:25:14.632
(choir singing)
271
00:26:46.852 --> 00:26:49.820
This seminarian made an appointment with me
272
00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:52.100
and asked me if I would take him on
273
00:26:52.100 --> 00:26:55.333
for an independent study.
274
00:26:55.333 --> 00:26:57.427
"What do you want to study?
275
00:26:57.427 --> 00:26:58.587 line:15%
"Preaching," he said.
276
00:26:58.587 --> 00:27:01.497 line:15%
"I want to do an independent study course
277
00:27:01.497 --> 00:27:04.497 line:15%
"with you in preaching."
278
00:27:04.497 --> 00:27:09.100 line:15%
"Well, what do you wanna learn about preaching?" I ask.
279
00:27:09.100 --> 00:27:13.585 line:15%
"I wanna learn to preach like you preach," he said.
280
00:27:13.585 --> 00:27:15.317 line:15%
"Well, that's ridiculous," I said.
281
00:27:15.317 --> 00:27:17.799 line:15%
"You can't imitate me.
282
00:27:17.799 --> 00:27:19.937 line:15%
"for one thing, you're from Iowa
283
00:27:19.937 --> 00:27:24.350 line:15%
"and to preach like I preach, you've gotta be born somewhere
284
00:27:24.350 --> 00:27:28.160
"between Greenville and Maldon.
285
00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:31.970
"Pronounce the word O-I-L.
286
00:27:31.970 --> 00:27:35.510
And he said, "Oil."
287
00:27:35.510 --> 00:27:38.550
And I said, "There you have it.
288
00:27:38.550 --> 00:27:41.332
"You're supposed to pronounce that word 'oil'
289
00:27:41.332 --> 00:27:45.149
"like motor oil, as distinguished from you all."
290
00:27:45.149 --> 00:27:46.215
(laughing)
291
00:27:46.215 --> 00:27:47.795
"You can't preach like I preach.
292
00:27:47.795 --> 00:27:50.172
"Besides, I don't want you to be my disciple.
293
00:27:50.172 --> 00:27:55.135
"I don't want you to imitate me."
294
00:27:55.135 --> 00:27:57.220
Reflecting on that conversation,
295
00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:58.975
I realized my reluctance
296
00:27:58.975 --> 00:28:02.810
had less to do with modesty,
297
00:28:02.810 --> 00:28:06.415
a virtue with which I am not overly endowed,
298
00:28:06.415 --> 00:28:08.452
but it had to do with my discomfort
299
00:28:08.452 --> 00:28:13.452
in having this young person looking over my shoulder.
300
00:28:13.560 --> 00:28:17.991
Patterning his way after my way.
301
00:28:17.991 --> 00:28:21.638
I don't want that kind of responsibility.
302
00:28:21.638 --> 00:28:24.430
Besides, I could be doing it wrong
303
00:28:24.430 --> 00:28:27.320
and I don't want to see my mistakes reflected back
304
00:28:27.320 --> 00:28:31.120
in the life of somebody else.
305
00:28:31.120 --> 00:28:35.843
Those of you who are teachers know what I mean.
306
00:28:35.843 --> 00:28:37.800
And thus we come to a collision
307
00:28:37.800 --> 00:28:42.120
with today's epistle.
308
00:28:42.120 --> 00:28:47.110
Saint Paul, in one of his more unguarded moments,
309
00:28:47.110 --> 00:28:51.267
in writing to the Philippians, he says,
310
00:28:51.267 --> 00:28:55.027
"Be imitators of me.
311
00:28:55.027 --> 00:29:00.027
"You have a worthy example in us."
312
00:29:00.032 --> 00:29:02.660
And this was no slip of the tongue.
313
00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:04.850
He gives exactly the same advice
314
00:29:04.850 --> 00:29:08.088
to the Galatians, the Thessalonians,
315
00:29:08.088 --> 00:29:11.488
the Corinthians.
316
00:29:11.488 --> 00:29:13.921
"Become as I am," Paul says,
317
00:29:13.921 --> 00:29:17.030
"You have an example in us."
318
00:29:17.030 --> 00:29:21.860
Is there no limit to apostolic presumption?
319
00:29:21.860 --> 00:29:24.422
In the text, we would like to know who these
320
00:29:24.422 --> 00:29:28.065
enemies of the cross are whose god is their belly.
321
00:29:28.065 --> 00:29:29.977
Who's Paul talking about there?
322
00:29:29.977 --> 00:29:32.497
Sensualist, their god is their belly.
323
00:29:32.497 --> 00:29:34.550
It sounds like a description
324
00:29:34.550 --> 00:29:36.440
of the inhabitants of fraternity row!
325
00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:39.340
Their god is their belly. Who are these people?
326
00:29:39.340 --> 00:29:41.833
Well, we don't know.
327
00:29:41.833 --> 00:29:43.617
But we do know that something
328
00:29:43.617 --> 00:29:48.520
in their lifestyle bothered Paul.
329
00:29:48.520 --> 00:29:50.990
And what we do know is that Paul
330
00:29:50.990 --> 00:29:55.970
quite unashamedly offered his life
331
00:29:55.970 --> 00:30:00.898
as counter to theirs.
332
00:30:01.740 --> 00:30:06.740
"Join in imitating me."
333
00:30:06.743 --> 00:30:08.410
Can you picture this?
334
00:30:08.410 --> 00:30:12.928
I'm beginning a class, first class of the new semester
335
00:30:12.928 --> 00:30:15.609
and I say, "Now class, this is a course in homiletics
336
00:30:15.609 --> 00:30:17.137
"and the goal of this course
337
00:30:17.137 --> 00:30:19.080
"and that you will be graded is,
338
00:30:19.080 --> 00:30:24.074
"I want you to all join in imitating me."
339
00:30:26.193 --> 00:30:28.462
What is this?
340
00:30:28.462 --> 00:30:29.950
It's one thing to be in a course
341
00:30:29.950 --> 00:30:31.493
where all the assigned readings
342
00:30:31.493 --> 00:30:33.720
are texts written by the professor.
343
00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:36.230
But really, this is too much.
344
00:30:36.230 --> 00:30:39.770
The height of conceit, "imitate me."
345
00:30:39.770 --> 00:30:41.802
No, no. What I say is,
346
00:30:41.802 --> 00:30:44.285
"Class, during this semester
347
00:30:44.285 --> 00:30:48.610
I'm going to lay out a few principles for you,
348
00:30:48.610 --> 00:30:50.160
a few interesting ideas
349
00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:52.655
(though none of them my own),
350
00:30:52.655 --> 00:30:56.450
some insights for discussion,
351
00:30:56.450 --> 00:31:00.280
and then I want you to make up your own mind.
352
00:31:00.280 --> 00:31:04.876
You see, I respect your identity, your individuality.
353
00:31:04.876 --> 00:31:07.810
I don't wanna force myself on you,
354
00:31:07.810 --> 00:31:12.560
I'm not like Paul, for heaven's sakes.
355
00:31:12.560 --> 00:31:14.010
That's what I'll say,
356
00:31:14.010 --> 00:31:15.682
and I'll tell you that I do that
357
00:31:15.682 --> 00:31:18.375
because I'm appropriately self-effacing,
358
00:31:18.375 --> 00:31:23.375
and modest, and respectful of your personal freedom.
359
00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:27.678
Translated into plain English, this means
360
00:31:27.678 --> 00:31:29.430
I wanna get through this class
361
00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:33.382
without taking responsibility for you.
362
00:31:33.382 --> 00:31:36.078
My goal is to trot you through this university
363
00:31:36.078 --> 00:31:38.952
in such a fashion that you'll be as much a stranger
364
00:31:38.952 --> 00:31:41.015
to me on the day of your graduation
365
00:31:41.015 --> 00:31:45.076
as in when we first met.
366
00:31:45.076 --> 00:31:47.300
We live in a lonely society based
367
00:31:47.300 --> 00:31:50.090
upon the Constitution.
368
00:31:50.090 --> 00:31:53.190
The Constitution which created the individual,
369
00:31:53.190 --> 00:31:56.860
an entity unknown until the 18th century,
370
00:31:56.860 --> 00:32:01.627
the Enlightenment. The individual
371
00:32:01.627 --> 00:32:03.950
who is described as this bundle
372
00:32:03.950 --> 00:32:08.950
of individual rights and individual claims.
373
00:32:09.080 --> 00:32:12.260
Our society puts more stress on individual freedom
374
00:32:12.260 --> 00:32:13.752
and individual rights
375
00:32:13.752 --> 00:32:16.685
than any other the world has known.
376
00:32:16.685 --> 00:32:21.350
And unfortunately there's a byproduct of that.
377
00:32:21.350 --> 00:32:25.020
It's called loneliness.
378
00:32:25.020 --> 00:32:27.180
A society which believes
379
00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:31.496
that individual rights and prerogatives
380
00:32:31.496 --> 00:32:35.212
are more important than community.
381
00:32:35.212 --> 00:32:37.770
My society gives me maximum room
382
00:32:37.770 --> 00:32:39.963
to exercise my rights--
383
00:32:39.963 --> 00:32:41.975
but it doesn't tell me which rights
384
00:32:41.975 --> 00:32:44.276
are worth exercising.
385
00:32:44.276 --> 00:32:47.070
I'm given maximum space for my freedom
386
00:32:47.070 --> 00:32:50.460
but it doesn't give me anything interesting
387
00:32:50.460 --> 00:32:54.320
to do with my freedom.
388
00:32:54.320 --> 00:32:58.545
And in a church or university,
389
00:32:58.545 --> 00:33:01.686
corrupted by such a society,
390
00:33:01.686 --> 00:33:06.686
everyone becomes a stranger.
391
00:33:07.482 --> 00:33:09.640
Oh, I say that I want community
392
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:12.740
but would I want to pay the price
393
00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:17.740
and the relinquishment of my individual space?
394
00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:20.797
And so, most of us say, "Look,
395
00:33:20.797 --> 00:33:22.947
"you stay out of my life,
396
00:33:22.947 --> 00:33:26.838
"I'll stay out of yours."
397
00:33:26.838 --> 00:33:29.210
A few years ago, one of the biggest gripes
398
00:33:29.210 --> 00:33:31.270
of our students was the lack
399
00:33:31.270 --> 00:33:35.242
of enforcement of the noise policy.
400
00:33:35.242 --> 00:33:37.680
Students demanded that somebody be hired
401
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.233
to go into the dorms
402
00:33:39.233 --> 00:33:43.710
and tell offenders to turn their stereos down.
403
00:33:45.063 --> 00:33:46.560
And there was this dean,
404
00:33:46.560 --> 00:33:49.837
this naive dean who asked,
405
00:33:49.837 --> 00:33:52.127
"Well, gosh, why don't you simply walk next door
406
00:33:52.127 --> 00:33:53.317
"and you knock on the door
407
00:33:53.317 --> 00:33:55.467
"and you say, hey, would you turn your stereo down?
408
00:33:55.467 --> 00:33:58.479
"It's bothering people."
409
00:33:58.479 --> 00:34:01.233
Hey, look, that's not my business.
410
00:34:01.233 --> 00:34:02.790
I mean, if I walk next door
411
00:34:02.790 --> 00:34:05.545
and tell somebody something like that,
412
00:34:05.545 --> 00:34:07.620
he might criticize something
413
00:34:07.620 --> 00:34:11.495
that I'm doing, and then where would we be?
414
00:34:11.495 --> 00:34:14.480
And I'm not picking on students.
415
00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:16.587
At a faculty retreat a few years ago,
416
00:34:16.587 --> 00:34:19.437
one of my colleagues asked,
417
00:34:19.437 --> 00:34:21.097
"Does it bother any of us
418
00:34:21.097 --> 00:34:24.300
"that some of our students are sexually promiscuous?
419
00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:26.407
"That some of them are indulging
420
00:34:26.407 --> 00:34:28.387
"in self-destructive behavior
421
00:34:28.387 --> 00:34:33.387
"and addictive practices?"
422
00:34:33.502 --> 00:34:37.357
"Well," we said, "we've got to respect their privacy.
423
00:34:37.357 --> 00:34:42.047
"They're adults, we're not their mothers."
424
00:34:42.047 --> 00:34:44.377
Translated into honest English,
425
00:34:44.377 --> 00:34:46.060
we meant, God forbid
426
00:34:46.060 --> 00:34:48.710
that we should hold our students accountable
427
00:34:48.710 --> 00:34:50.485
not only for what they know
428
00:34:50.485 --> 00:34:52.137
but for who they are
429
00:34:52.137 --> 00:34:53.610
because if we did that,
430
00:34:53.610 --> 00:34:56.728
you know what might happen?
431
00:34:56.728 --> 00:34:58.310
Students might turn on us
432
00:34:58.310 --> 00:35:01.400
and hold us accountable,
433
00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:04.468
speak the truth about our lifestyle
434
00:35:04.468 --> 00:35:07.550
and personal habits and inconsistencies
435
00:35:07.550 --> 00:35:11.490
and then where would we be?
436
00:35:11.490 --> 00:35:14.790
You see, the students have joined
437
00:35:14.790 --> 00:35:18.452
in imitating us faculty.
438
00:35:18.452 --> 00:35:20.480
I'll tell you, the Office of Student Affairs
439
00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.550
is asking for it.
440
00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:25.366
Telling students it's not good for their academics
441
00:35:25.366 --> 00:35:28.733
to be drunk Friday through Sunday.
442
00:35:28.733 --> 00:35:30.605
You tell students a thing like that,
443
00:35:30.605 --> 00:35:32.255
they may turn on us faculty
444
00:35:32.255 --> 00:35:34.807
and ask what we're doing Friday through Sunday.
445
00:35:34.807 --> 00:35:37.300
Then where would we be?
446
00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:40.292
You criticize some students for being unprepared in class
447
00:35:40.292 --> 00:35:41.497
on Monday, and next thing you know,
448
00:35:41.497 --> 00:35:43.205
that student'll be challenging us
449
00:35:43.205 --> 00:35:46.213
for being unprepared in class on Wednesday.
450
00:35:46.213 --> 00:35:49.370
Then where would we be?
451
00:35:49.370 --> 00:35:52.736
I'll tell you.
452
00:35:52.736 --> 00:35:55.450
On our way to the rediscovery
453
00:35:55.450 --> 00:36:00.450
of the etymology of the word college:
454
00:36:00.560 --> 00:36:05.350
college, a collection of colleagues
455
00:36:05.350 --> 00:36:10.350
with common purpose.
456
00:36:10.508 --> 00:36:12.656
A Duke senior recently returned
457
00:36:12.656 --> 00:36:14.462
from a year at Oxford told me
458
00:36:14.462 --> 00:36:19.180
that his regret was that in his four years here,
459
00:36:19.180 --> 00:36:21.960
he had sort of drifted through the place,
460
00:36:21.960 --> 00:36:25.920
taking a little of this and a little of that.
461
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:28.400
Not really engaged.
462
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:30.200
And that nobody on the faculty
463
00:36:30.200 --> 00:36:32.080
had gotten to know him well enough
464
00:36:32.080 --> 00:36:36.690
to know when he was faking it.
465
00:36:36.690 --> 00:36:41.441
He envied the moral tutor tradition at Oxford.
466
00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:48.043
Education at its deepest
467
00:36:48.043 --> 00:36:53.043
is a form of imitation.
468
00:36:53.520 --> 00:36:57.860
Paul, in appealing to his flock for imitation
469
00:36:57.860 --> 00:37:01.160
placed himself squarely within that moral
470
00:37:01.160 --> 00:37:04.178
and pedagogical tradition
471
00:37:04.178 --> 00:37:06.170
which assumed that a teacher
472
00:37:06.170 --> 00:37:10.553
is somebody willing to expose,
473
00:37:10.553 --> 00:37:12.790
who's willing to be exposed,
474
00:37:12.790 --> 00:37:17.457
to the imitative glare of students
475
00:37:17.457 --> 00:37:20.130
which asserted that the purpose
476
00:37:20.130 --> 00:37:23.000
of learning is imitation of a master,
477
00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:25.470
which believed that teachers
478
00:37:25.470 --> 00:37:27.420
have a responsibility
479
00:37:27.420 --> 00:37:32.420
to live as they teach, to walk as they speak.
480
00:37:32.470 --> 00:37:34.740
And that pupils are challenged not only
481
00:37:34.740 --> 00:37:37.400
to know a bunch of things,
482
00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:42.400
but to be transformed by someone.
483
00:37:42.694 --> 00:37:44.577
In the European Enlightenment,
484
00:37:44.577 --> 00:37:47.410
with the creation of the individual,
485
00:37:47.410 --> 00:37:49.990
morality was recreated
486
00:37:49.990 --> 00:37:54.990
into something allegedly available to anybody.
487
00:37:55.010 --> 00:37:58.080
Anybody, it was said, could be good
488
00:37:58.080 --> 00:38:00.740
by simply thinking clearly,
489
00:38:00.740 --> 00:38:03.870
using Kantian reason, common sense,
490
00:38:03.870 --> 00:38:07.980
or other individualistic natural endowments.
491
00:38:07.980 --> 00:38:10.022
And these were alleged to reside
492
00:38:10.022 --> 00:38:11.850
in just everybody,
493
00:38:11.850 --> 00:38:14.476
democratically bestowed regardless
494
00:38:14.476 --> 00:38:16.230
of that person's upbringing
495
00:38:16.230 --> 00:38:20.250
or your parents or social status.
496
00:38:20.250 --> 00:38:22.030
And that view of morality
497
00:38:22.030 --> 00:38:24.080
is counter to that offered
498
00:38:24.080 --> 00:38:27.880
by ancient moralists like Aristotle.
499
00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:30.580
Aristotle, who taught that goodness
500
00:38:30.580 --> 00:38:33.090
is not a matter of being reasonable,
501
00:38:33.090 --> 00:38:34.860
not a matter of deciding what to do
502
00:38:34.860 --> 00:38:39.393
in this particular isolated situation,
503
00:38:39.393 --> 00:38:41.260
but rather goodness is a matter
504
00:38:41.260 --> 00:38:43.891
of being a good person,
505
00:38:43.891 --> 00:38:48.710
being somebody who's been trained to be good.
506
00:38:48.710 --> 00:38:52.450
You gotta be taught to be good, said Aristotle.
507
00:38:52.450 --> 00:38:54.391
And Aristotle's chief analogy
508
00:38:54.391 --> 00:38:59.390
for morality was learning how to ride a horse.
509
00:38:59.390 --> 00:39:03.222
You can't learn to ride a horse by reading a book.
510
00:39:03.222 --> 00:39:04.800
You learn to ride a horse
511
00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.558
by watching somebody do it
512
00:39:06.558 --> 00:39:08.793
who knows how.
513
00:39:08.793 --> 00:39:12.280
By being led step by step,
514
00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:14.500
by imitating the moves,
515
00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:17.940
by being coaxed into it
516
00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:21.360
and criticized and guided by this person
517
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.760
until you get the feel of the reins,
518
00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:28.688
until it becomes yours.
519
00:39:28.688 --> 00:39:33.688
Here was an unabashedly elitist view of morality.
520
00:39:34.100 --> 00:39:36.630
Aristotle, unlike Kant, believed
521
00:39:36.630 --> 00:39:39.670
that morality was something that is not available
522
00:39:39.670 --> 00:39:42.766
to everybody by natural endowment.
523
00:39:42.766 --> 00:39:47.766
Morality means to belong to that aristocracy
524
00:39:47.825 --> 00:39:50.632
who has taken the time and the trouble
525
00:39:50.632 --> 00:39:53.697
to become better persons than we would have been
526
00:39:53.697 --> 00:39:57.280
if we'd been left to our own devices.
527
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:01.480
Goodness is much more than a matter of knowing good.
528
00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:03.490
It's a matter of being good,
529
00:40:03.490 --> 00:40:08.300
of learning the moves and the skills
530
00:40:08.300 --> 00:40:11.865
which morality requires.
531
00:40:11.865 --> 00:40:13.490
On a less exulted plain,
532
00:40:13.490 --> 00:40:16.733
Martin Luther said,
533
00:40:16.733 --> 00:40:20.771
you don't get apples from a thorn bush,
534
00:40:20.771 --> 00:40:23.070
you get apples from an apple tree,
535
00:40:23.070 --> 00:40:27.580
you get good works from a good person.
536
00:40:27.580 --> 00:40:30.780
But away with Aristotle and back to Jesus.
537
00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:35.170
For Jesus, being good was not an intellectual problem,
538
00:40:35.170 --> 00:40:39.012
of knowing what ought I to do in this particular situation.
539
00:40:39.012 --> 00:40:42.473
Ethics in our day.
540
00:40:42.473 --> 00:40:45.190
As was sometimes said in the church
541
00:40:45.190 --> 00:40:48.065
in which I grew up,
542
00:40:48.065 --> 00:40:50.580
you can't talk the talk
543
00:40:50.580 --> 00:40:54.661
if you don't walk the walk.
544
00:40:54.661 --> 00:40:59.661
Jesus unabashedly asked not just for agreement,
545
00:41:00.010 --> 00:41:03.060
he demanded discipleship:
546
00:41:03.060 --> 00:41:06.760
learning the moves, walking the walk,
547
00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:11.760
following him down this narrow path.
548
00:41:11.960 --> 00:41:16.770
Jesus asked for imitation.
549
00:41:16.770 --> 00:41:21.575
He wanted followers, not admirers.
550
00:41:21.575 --> 00:41:26.496
Martin Luther King just didn't admire Gandhi,
551
00:41:26.496 --> 00:41:30.220
he imitated Gandhi.
552
00:41:30.220 --> 00:41:32.160
For this little band of Christians
553
00:41:32.160 --> 00:41:34.080
at the church of Philippi,
554
00:41:34.080 --> 00:41:36.910
constantly in danger of seduction
555
00:41:36.910 --> 00:41:39.520
by the pagan majority,
556
00:41:39.520 --> 00:41:41.260
there was no better textbook
557
00:41:41.260 --> 00:41:45.590
than the lives of those who bear the burden of leadership.
558
00:41:45.590 --> 00:41:49.650
Lifestyle is best converted through lifestyle
559
00:41:49.650 --> 00:41:52.090
and there is just no weaseling out
560
00:41:52.090 --> 00:41:55.310
of the plain truth that discipleship
561
00:41:55.310 --> 00:41:58.010
is utterly dependent on our being able
562
00:41:58.010 --> 00:42:01.970
to identify examples, saints,
563
00:42:01.970 --> 00:42:05.983
people worthy of emulation
564
00:42:05.983 --> 00:42:10.880
and if we Christians can't point to a few examples,
565
00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:13.845
even to ourselves,
566
00:42:13.845 --> 00:42:17.447
we really have very little to say.
567
00:42:17.447 --> 00:42:19.730
If every 100 years or so we can't point
568
00:42:19.730 --> 00:42:24.713
to a Teresa of Calcutta or a Desmond Tutu,
569
00:42:25.571 --> 00:42:28.246
we Christians have got a big problem.
570
00:42:28.246 --> 00:42:29.880
Because the world is quite right
571
00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:31.130
in judging our religion
572
00:42:31.130 --> 00:42:36.130
by the kind of lives it's able to produce.
573
00:42:36.350 --> 00:42:38.150
Lacking changed lives,
574
00:42:38.150 --> 00:42:42.240
we pervert the Gospel into an intellectual dilemma,
575
00:42:42.240 --> 00:42:46.360
a head trip rather than a lifestyle trip.
576
00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:48.270
But being a Christian is a matter
577
00:42:48.270 --> 00:42:49.670
of following somebody
578
00:42:49.670 --> 00:42:52.738
who's headed somewhere
579
00:42:52.738 --> 00:42:54.451
that I would not have gone
580
00:42:54.451 --> 00:42:59.451
if I had been left to my own devices.
581
00:42:59.820 --> 00:43:02.217
In my last church,
582
00:43:02.217 --> 00:43:04.067
I preached this sermon
583
00:43:04.067 --> 00:43:06.080
and it was a sermon about poverty
584
00:43:06.080 --> 00:43:07.333
and the plight of the poor
585
00:43:07.333 --> 00:43:09.460
and I used this example, I got this example,
586
00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:11.530
it was out of the a Brazilian newspaper,
587
00:43:11.530 --> 00:43:13.720
someone had sent it to me
588
00:43:13.720 --> 00:43:16.140
about a man named Walter.
589
00:43:16.140 --> 00:43:19.160
Walter in Brazil.
590
00:43:19.160 --> 00:43:21.260
In Brazil there is an active market
591
00:43:21.260 --> 00:43:23.240
of poor people selling organs
592
00:43:23.240 --> 00:43:26.580
from their bodies to richer people.
593
00:43:26.580 --> 00:43:29.612
And the story told about how this man named Walter
594
00:43:29.612 --> 00:43:33.735
had just sold both of his eyes,
595
00:43:33.735 --> 00:43:35.670
Walter had never had a job,
596
00:43:35.670 --> 00:43:38.830
he'd never been able to feed his family adequately
597
00:43:38.830 --> 00:43:43.830
and Walter had sold his eyes for $20,000.
598
00:43:44.240 --> 00:43:47.217
And I just told this story in the sermon.
599
00:43:47.217 --> 00:43:49.288
And then we stood and sung a hymn
600
00:43:49.288 --> 00:43:52.153
and went home and had lunch.
601
00:43:52.153 --> 00:43:53.570
8:30 the next morning,
602
00:43:53.570 --> 00:43:55.400
I was walking into my office, phone was ringing,
603
00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:58.533
it was Debbie on the phone. Debbie.
604
00:43:58.533 --> 00:44:00.510
Her husband was a young professor
605
00:44:00.510 --> 00:44:01.952
at a nearby college.
606
00:44:01.952 --> 00:44:04.550
They lived in a modest home
607
00:44:04.550 --> 00:44:06.260
in a modest part of town.
608
00:44:06.260 --> 00:44:09.608
Debbie said to me over the phone,
609
00:44:09.608 --> 00:44:13.160
"I've hardly been able to sleep a wink last night."
610
00:44:13.160 --> 00:44:14.918
I said, "Oh why, what was wrong?"
611
00:44:14.918 --> 00:44:19.043
She said, "I couldn't get Walter out of my mind.
612
00:44:19.043 --> 00:44:21.667
"I got my husband up, 5:30 this morning,
613
00:44:21.667 --> 00:44:24.725
"we sat down, we looked at our lives.
614
00:44:24.725 --> 00:44:27.004
"We'd been thinking about getting a new car.
615
00:44:27.004 --> 00:44:30.399
"We don't need a new car, we can repair the old car.
616
00:44:30.399 --> 00:44:32.342
"We've been thinking about buying a new stereo,
617
00:44:32.342 --> 00:44:34.818
"we don't need to buy a new stereo.
618
00:44:34.818 --> 00:44:36.277
"I just wanted to call you and tell you
619
00:44:36.277 --> 00:44:38.527
"we have decided to double
620
00:44:38.527 --> 00:44:41.885
"what we're giving to the church
621
00:44:41.885 --> 00:44:45.626
"if you can assure us that some of that money
622
00:44:45.626 --> 00:44:50.517
"might go to help somebody like Walter."
623
00:44:54.220 --> 00:44:56.970
And I thought to myself,
624
00:44:56.970 --> 00:45:01.500
gee, I slept like a baby last night.
625
00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:03.060
Conversations like that
626
00:45:03.060 --> 00:45:06.137
will make preachers despise laypeople.
627
00:45:06.137 --> 00:45:09.080
(laughter)
628
00:45:09.080 --> 00:45:13.121
So, go ahead,
629
00:45:13.121 --> 00:45:16.183
imitate me,
630
00:45:16.183 --> 00:45:19.630
demand that my miserable little life
631
00:45:19.630 --> 00:45:22.203
be a worthy example.
632
00:45:22.203 --> 00:45:25.785
Would you do me a favor?
633
00:45:25.785 --> 00:45:29.880
Don't let me off the discipleship hook.
634
00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:33.020
Insist that I teach
635
00:45:33.020 --> 00:45:34.500
by the way I walk
636
00:45:34.500 --> 00:45:37.586
rather than merely by the book.
637
00:45:37.586 --> 00:45:40.060
Insist that there be an congruency
638
00:45:40.060 --> 00:45:41.640
between what I preach
639
00:45:41.640 --> 00:45:45.120
and the way I practice.
640
00:45:45.120 --> 00:45:49.322
Imitate me.
641
00:45:49.322 --> 00:45:50.780
The bread was broken
642
00:45:50.780 --> 00:45:54.148
and the wine was poured for communion
643
00:45:54.148 --> 00:45:56.950
and I stretched out my hands over the communion table
644
00:45:56.950 --> 00:46:00.160
for the prayer of thanksgiving
645
00:46:00.160 --> 00:46:02.140
and down on the front row, a little girl
646
00:46:02.140 --> 00:46:04.645
was heard to comment,
647
00:46:04.645 --> 00:46:09.260
"Look, mommy, he's trying to look like Jesus."
648
00:46:11.040 --> 00:46:15.994
It's not an inappropriate thing to say about a Christian.
649
00:46:19.700 --> 00:46:22.950
(tranquil organ music)
650
00:46:50.433 --> 00:46:53.683
(congregation singing)
651
00:49:36.300 --> 00:49:37.961
The Lord be with you.
652
00:49:37.961 --> 00:49:39.220
And also with you.
653
00:49:39.220 --> 00:49:40.133
Let us pray.
654
00:49:52.240 --> 00:49:54.463
Our kind and gracious God,
655
00:49:55.970 --> 00:49:59.190
you hear our prayers before we speak
656
00:49:59.190 --> 00:50:02.273
and answer before we know our need.
657
00:50:03.260 --> 00:50:07.400
Though we cannot pray, may your spirit pray in us,
658
00:50:07.400 --> 00:50:11.043
drawing us to you and toward our neighbors on Earth.
659
00:50:12.580 --> 00:50:15.340
We pray for the church of Jesus Christ
660
00:50:16.410 --> 00:50:20.920
that begun, maintained and nurtured by your spirit.
661
00:50:20.920 --> 00:50:24.363
It may be true to its calling doing your will.
662
00:50:25.760 --> 00:50:27.370
Lord, in your mercy.
663
00:50:27.370 --> 00:50:29.660
Hear Our Prayer.
664
00:50:29.660 --> 00:50:32.100
We pray for the whole creation,
665
00:50:32.100 --> 00:50:35.110
may all things work together for good
666
00:50:35.110 --> 00:50:38.960
until by your design your children inherit the Earth
667
00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:40.723
and order it wisely.
668
00:50:42.030 --> 00:50:43.680
Lord, in your mercy.
669
00:50:43.680 --> 00:50:46.180
Hear our prayer.
670
00:50:46.180 --> 00:50:48.638
We pray for people who do not believe,
671
00:50:48.638 --> 00:50:53.570
who feel hopeless beyond any human consolation,
672
00:50:53.570 --> 00:50:56.090
who have no examples to inspire them
673
00:50:56.090 --> 00:50:58.310
to dream dreams.
674
00:50:58.310 --> 00:51:00.900
Open their eyes to see beyond the brokenness
675
00:51:00.900 --> 00:51:04.760
of our world, the wonders of your love displayed
676
00:51:04.760 --> 00:51:06.750
in Jesus of Nazareth
677
00:51:06.750 --> 00:51:08.923
and to answer when he calls them.
678
00:51:10.110 --> 00:51:11.610
Lord, in your mercy.
679
00:51:11.610 --> 00:51:14.170
Hear our prayer.
680
00:51:14.170 --> 00:51:17.430
We pray for all schools, colleges and universities
681
00:51:17.430 --> 00:51:20.053
for those who teach and those who learn.
682
00:51:21.120 --> 00:51:23.177
Bestow your wisdom in such measure
683
00:51:23.177 --> 00:51:26.120
that relationships of mutual caring
684
00:51:26.120 --> 00:51:28.660
and trust may thrive
685
00:51:28.660 --> 00:51:31.210
and that the pursuit of truth may lead them
686
00:51:31.210 --> 00:51:32.543
to greater community.
687
00:51:33.580 --> 00:51:35.300
Lord, in your mercy.
688
00:51:35.300 --> 00:51:37.470
Hear our prayer.
689
00:51:37.470 --> 00:51:40.700
We pray for enemies as Christ commanded.
690
00:51:40.700 --> 00:51:44.500
For those who oppose us or scheme against us,
691
00:51:44.500 --> 00:51:47.310
who are also children of your love.
692
00:51:47.310 --> 00:51:49.950
Shield us from infectious hate
693
00:51:49.950 --> 00:51:51.873
or desire for vengeance.
694
00:51:52.958 --> 00:51:54.780
Lord, in your mercy.
695
00:51:54.780 --> 00:51:57.530
Hear our prayer.
696
00:51:57.530 --> 00:51:59.430
We pray for the sick
697
00:51:59.430 --> 00:52:02.650
as they suffer from pain or despair,
698
00:52:02.650 --> 00:52:04.570
or struggle with demons of the mind
699
00:52:04.570 --> 00:52:07.350
as they cry out for healing.
700
00:52:07.350 --> 00:52:10.000
May they be patient and trusting,
701
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:12.363
open to your healing presence.
702
00:52:13.530 --> 00:52:15.180
Lord, in your mercy.
703
00:52:15.180 --> 00:52:16.943
Hear our prayer.
704
00:52:18.170 --> 00:52:20.690
We pray for those who govern our country,
705
00:52:20.690 --> 00:52:24.620
who make, administer or judge our laws.
706
00:52:24.620 --> 00:52:26.450
May new bridges of understanding
707
00:52:26.450 --> 00:52:29.470
and mutual forbearance enable a greater vision
708
00:52:29.470 --> 00:52:33.603
of peace and justice for all to flourish in our land.
709
00:52:34.860 --> 00:52:36.670
Lord, in your mercy.
710
00:52:36.670 --> 00:52:38.473
Hear our prayer.
711
00:52:39.490 --> 00:52:42.220
All these things and whatever else you see
712
00:52:42.220 --> 00:52:44.880
that we need, grant us, oh God
713
00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:48.000
for the sake of him who died and rose again.
714
00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:49.840
And now lives and reigns with you
715
00:52:49.840 --> 00:52:52.440
in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
716
00:52:52.440 --> 00:52:53.873
One God forever.
717
00:52:54.810 --> 00:52:55.643
Amen.
718
00:52:58.530 --> 00:53:01.097
As a forgiven and reconciled people,
719
00:53:01.097 --> 00:53:04.237
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.
720
00:53:05.558 --> 00:53:08.808
(tranquil organ music)
721
00:54:28.044 --> 00:54:31.294
(congregation singing)
722
00:57:22.686 --> 00:57:25.769
(lively organ music)
723
00:58:07.988 --> 00:58:11.238
(congregation singing)
724
00:58:19.268 --> 00:58:22.685
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪
725
00:58:26.628 --> 00:58:29.878
(congregation singing)
726
00:58:38.772 --> 00:58:41.370
♪ Hallelujah ♪
727
00:58:41.370 --> 00:58:44.351
♪ Hallelujah ♪
728
00:58:44.351 --> 00:58:47.290
♪ Hallelujah ♪
729
00:58:47.290 --> 00:58:50.292
♪ Hallelujah ♪
730
00:58:50.292 --> 00:58:52.709
♪ Hallelujah ♪
731
00:59:02.820 --> 00:59:06.160
Oh Lord our God, we thank you for the many examples
732
00:59:06.160 --> 00:59:08.520
along our journey who have formed us
733
00:59:08.520 --> 00:59:10.860
into the people we are.
734
00:59:10.860 --> 00:59:13.100
For loving parents, grandparents,
735
00:59:13.100 --> 00:59:16.410
aunts and uncles who embraced us as tiny strangers
736
00:59:16.410 --> 00:59:18.290
to become family,
737
00:59:18.290 --> 00:59:21.030
for committed teachers, tireless coaches
738
00:59:21.030 --> 00:59:23.870
and wise counselors who saw the best in us
739
00:59:23.870 --> 00:59:26.130
when we could only see the worst.
740
00:59:26.130 --> 00:59:28.570
For modern-day heroes and heroines,
741
00:59:28.570 --> 00:59:31.160
both well known and unsung
742
00:59:31.160 --> 00:59:33.830
as well as all the saints throughout the ages
743
00:59:33.830 --> 00:59:37.450
who inspire us to follow in their footsteps.
744
00:59:37.450 --> 00:59:40.210
Most of all we thank you for Jesus Christ,
745
00:59:40.210 --> 00:59:42.710
the ultimate example and embodiment
746
00:59:42.710 --> 00:59:44.110
of divine love
747
00:59:44.110 --> 00:59:46.940
who emptied himself in obedience to you
748
00:59:46.940 --> 00:59:49.920
and now reigns in glory with you forever and forever
749
00:59:49.920 --> 00:59:52.280
and in whose name we pray.
750
00:59:52.280 --> 00:59:54.860
Our father, who art in heaven
751
00:59:54.860 --> 00:59:56.650
hallowed be thy name,
752
00:59:56.650 --> 00:59:59.367
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
753
00:59:59.367 --> 01:00:01.840
on Earth as it is in heaven.
754
01:00:01.840 --> 01:00:04.300
Give us this day our daily bread
755
01:00:04.300 --> 01:00:06.560
and forgive us our trespasses
756
01:00:06.560 --> 01:00:09.690
as we forgive those who trespass against us
757
01:00:09.690 --> 01:00:11.960
and lead us not into temptation
758
01:00:11.960 --> 01:00:13.890
but deliver us from evil,
759
01:00:13.890 --> 01:00:18.570
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
760
01:00:18.570 --> 01:00:19.403
Amen.
761
01:00:21.950 --> 01:00:25.710
May the God of peace make you holy in every way
762
01:00:25.710 --> 01:00:30.550
and keep your whole being, spirit, soul and body free
763
01:00:30.550 --> 01:00:34.177
from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
764
01:00:39.860 --> 01:00:41.777
♪ Amen ♪
765
01:00:58.680 --> 01:01:01.763
(lively organ music)
766
01:01:44.890 --> 01:01:48.140
(congregation singing)
767
01:04:54.841 --> 01:04:57.924
(lively organ music)
768
01:05:19.012 --> 01:05:20.548
♪ Go in peace ♪
769
01:05:20.548 --> 01:05:23.907
♪ And serve the Lord ♪
770
01:05:23.907 --> 01:05:27.407
♪ Beloved of Christ, amen ♪
771
01:05:37.011 --> 01:05:40.261
(tranquil organ music)