WEBVTT
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(dramatic church organ music)
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(uplifting church organ music)
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Good morning.
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Welcome to the service of worship in Duke University Chapel.
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This is our last Sunday for our summer choir
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under the direction of Miss Donna Sparks
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and we thank the members of the summer choir
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for their faithfulness this summer,
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they've added a great deal to our worship.
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And we thank them for the use of their gifts.
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We welcome the members of the
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National Campus Ministry Association
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who are here for a week long campus at Duke.
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We are helping to host the gathering
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of these persons who work around the campuses
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of our nation and Christian ministry.
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Our preacher for the day
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is the Reverend Ms. Nancy Ferree.
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Assistant Minister to the university and the person
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who coordinates the campus ministry here at Duke.
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And now let us prepare to lift
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our voices in the praise of God.
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♪ Praise Him, the Lord of hosts ♪
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♪ Sing His salvation ♪
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♪ Bless His name ♪
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♪ Show forth His praise ♪
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♪ In His holy house ♪
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♪ Praise Him, the Lord of hosts ♪
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♪ Sing His salvation ♪
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♪ Bless His name ♪
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♪ Show forth His praise ♪
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♪ In His holy house ♪
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♪ And shall He bless ♪
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♪ Oh ye heavens now be joyful ♪
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♪ Christ bringing peace to the Earth ♪
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♪ All mankind shall all sing ♪
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♪ Alleluia ♪
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(drum roll)
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(uplifting trumpet music)
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(church organ music)
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(singing in foreign language)
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Each time we gather to praise God,
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we remember that we are God's people,
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who have preferred our wills to God's will.
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Therefore let us humbly confess
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our sin before God and one another.
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Seated.
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Let us pray.
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Oh most gracious God, we confess that we spend
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much of our lives on that which does not satisfy.
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We do not always count our time and resources
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as precious gifts, but squander them
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in meaningless activities and material excesses.
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Look kindly upon us, for the temptation
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to waste is overwhelming in our world.
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Enable us to discern the true source of meaning
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and to use the gifts of life responsibly.
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For we want to be your people in word and in deed.
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Amen.
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Hear the good news.
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Christ died for us.
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While we were yet sinners.
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This is God's own proof of His love toward us.
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In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
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In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
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(dramatic church organ music)
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♪ God is in me ♪
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♪ And God is with you ♪
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♪ Lord almighty save us ♪
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♪ God save on thee ♪
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♪ The darkness ♪
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♪ There's no darkness in me ♪
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♪ God almighty ♪
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♪ Is light as the day ♪
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(harmonized melody)
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♪ God is light ♪
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♪ And in Him there's no darkness ♪
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♪ In him there's no darkness at all ♪
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♪ The darkness and the light ♪
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♪ Let my soul live ♪
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♪ Let my soul live ♪
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♪ For thine is the kingdom ♪
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♪ The power and the glory ♪
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(harmonized melody)
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♪ God is in me ♪
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♪ And God is with you ♪
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♪ Lord almighty save us ♪
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♪ God save on thee ♪
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♪ God save ♪
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♪ On thee ♪
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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, read and proclaimed, we might
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hear with joy what you say to us this day.
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Amen.
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The first lesson is taken from the Second Book of Kings.
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Now when Elisha had fallen sick
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with the illness of which he was to die,
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Joash, King of Israel, went down to him
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and wept before him crying.
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"My father, my father.
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"The chariots of Israel and its horsemen."
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And Elisha said to him "Take a bow and arrows."
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So he took a bow and arrows.
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Then he said to the king of Israel "Draw the bow."
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And he drew it.
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And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands.
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And he said "Open the window eastward."
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And he opened it.
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And Elisha said "Shoot."
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And he shot.
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And he said "The Lord's arrow of victory.
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"The arrow of victory over Syria.
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"For you shall fight the Syrians in effect
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"until you have made an end of them."
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And he said "Take the arrows."
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And he took them.
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And he said to the king of Israel
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"Strike the ground with them."
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And he struck three times and stopped.
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Then the man of God was angry with him
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and said "You should have struck five or six times."
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"Then you would've struck down Syria
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"until you have made an end of it.
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"But now you will strike down Syria only three times."
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So Elisha died and they buried him.
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This ends the reading of the first lesson.
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(church organ music)
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ For God has done wondrous things ♪
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♪ He cast us down the Holy Ghost ♪
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♪ Salvation in Christ ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ In His presence they join on victory ♪
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♪ Now justice is known unto all ♪
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♪ Oh Israel shout out your praise ♪
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♪ Remember God's loving heart ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ So sing to the Lord, rejoice ♪
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♪ Bring God to songs of praise ♪
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♪ With joy (mumbles) ♪
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♪ Praise the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song ♪
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♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪
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(dramatic church organ music)
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(singing in foreign language)
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The second lesson is taken from
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Paul's letter to the Colossians.
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If then you have been raised with Christ,
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seek the things that are above where Christ did.
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Seated at the right hand of God.
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Set your mind on things that are above.
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Not on things that are on Earth.
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For you have died and your life
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is hid with Christ in God.
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When Christ, who is our life, appears,
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then you also will appear with Him in glory.
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Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.
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Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire,
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and covetousness which is idolatry.
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On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.
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In these you once walked.
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Within you lived in them.
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But now put them all away.
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Anger, wrath, malice, slander,
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and foul talk from your mouth.
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Do not lie to one another.
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Seeing that you have put off the old nature
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with its practices, and have put on
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the new nature which is being renewed
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in knowledge after the image of its creator.
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Here there cannot be Greek and Jew,
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circumcised and uncircumcised,
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barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man.
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But Christ is all and in all.
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This ends the reading of the second lesson.
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A reading from the gospel according to Saint Luke.
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One of the multitude said to Jesus
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"Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."
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But He said to him "Man, who made me
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"a judge or divider over you?"
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And He said to them "Take heed
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"and beware of all covetousness.
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"For a man's life does not consist
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"in the abundance of his possessions."
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And He told them a parable saying
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"The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully
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"and he thought to himself what shall I do?
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"For I have nowhere to store my crops.
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"And he said I will do this.
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"I will pull down my barns and build larger ones.
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"And there I will store all my grains and all my goods.
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"And I will say to my soul, soul, you have
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"ample goods laid up for many years.
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"Take your ease.
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"Eat, drink, be merry.
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"But God said to him fool, this night
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"your soul is required of you.
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"And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
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"So is he who lays up treasure for himself.
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"And is not rich toward God."
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Here ends the reading of the lesson.
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The problem of human possessing.
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What are we to do with the things that we have,
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and how would the Christian faith direct us?
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I suppose most of us, myself included,
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in anticipating a sermon on a Sunday morning,
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hope to hear a concise, straightforward description
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of actions and attitudes which we can take home
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with us and get something practical out of.
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By adhering to such a code of behavior, we like to think
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we will assure ourselves of our Christian identity.
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Surely this is not asking too much
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of the preacher to deliver.
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After all, isn't the bible upon which
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she is expounding the Christian rule book?
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In listening to its words read aloud each week,
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will we not discover a consistency
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in this code of behavior that will
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tell us how to order our lives?
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The answer, at least in regards to a perfectly
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consistent understanding of possessions, is no.
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Rather than being a rule book, the scriptures
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stand as a body of witnesses to what it means
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to live a human life before God.
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As for what it says about possessions,
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the examples are many and varied.
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The disciples, for instance, are told
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by Jesus to renounce everything
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and to follow the master, and they did.
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So was the rich young ruler, and he did not.
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But not all who were called to follow
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Jesus were instructed in this manner.
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A group of women known to be followers
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of Jesus all the way to the cross provided
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for Him and the disciples out of their own means.
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Zacchaeus, a tax collector who happened
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to be very rich, promised Jesus he would give
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half of his possessions to the poor
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and repay fourfold any he had defrauded.
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This is a generous response to be sure,
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but not absolute renunciation.
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Even half a bundle may still be a bundle.
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Consider Martha and Mary who, after extending
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hospitality to Jesus in their home,
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so far as we know, were not asked
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to sell their home and follow Jesus.
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We read of the practice of almsgiving
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and of holding possessions in common in the early church.
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And Saint Paul himself was known to have
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worked for a living, able to earn enough
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to meet his own needs, and those
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of others who were more needy.
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It appears then that there is at least
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a logical tension between the ideals
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listed in scripture of wandering destitution,
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almsgiving, hospitality, and a community of goods.
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And so we ask ourselves to be a real Christian,
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must I give away all that I possess?
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Should I join a commune?
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Or should I make enough money to give generous alms?
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Clearly the biblical writers agreed
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on the importance of the use of possessions
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as evidenced by the frequent mention of the topic,
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but without giving us a consistent standard.
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How can the bible, if it fails as a rule book,
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still inform our thinking about possessions?
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Text such as today's gospel are helpful
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in the way they enlighten us not so much
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about how many possessions we should have
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as about what they represent in our lives
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and the dangers inherent within them.
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Jesus is instructing the disciples
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when He's interrupted by a man
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inquiring about his inheritance.
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"Take heed," Jesus replied,
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"and beware of all covetousness.
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"For a man's life does not consist
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"in the abundance of his possessions."
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He tells the parable of the rich fool
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to demonstrate the folly of covetousness.
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The failure to see the distinction
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between what one has and what one is.
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The farmer in this story is a familiar
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personality type to most of us,
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and a rather admirable one at that.
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At least up to a certain point.
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We might think of any number of adjectives to describe him.
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Prudent, hardworking, honest, frugal.
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The blessings of soil, rain, and sun, not to be
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taken by many farmers this summer for granted,
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had combined to make this man a rich farmer.
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But his response to the bountiful
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supply was shortsighted indeed.
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Did he offer a prayer of thanksgiving for God's blessing?
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Did he inquire as to the needs of his neighbors?
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No.
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He became anxious and obsessed with his situation.
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Typical responses of a covetous person.
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"What shall I do," was his immediate response,
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"for I have nowhere to store my crops."
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Momentarily, his indecision gave way to compulsion.
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As he decided to tear down the old barns
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and build bigger ones in which to store his crops.
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This farmer was not a criminal.
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Neither was he wasteful, careless, or irresponsible.
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If none of these, then what was he?
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According to the parable, he was a fool.
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Thinking that he had laid up his security for years
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to come, he lived completely in and for himself.
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He talked to himself, he congratulated himself,
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he planned for himself taking
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no consideration for others or for God.
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This parable reaches a dramatic climax
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when the farmer dies that very night and God's
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parting question is left only to haunt the listener.
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"The things you have prepared, whose will they be?"
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This farmer has made the fatal mistake
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of submitting to the urge to horde his possessions
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as a guarantee against insecurity.
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Not only was this an act of disregard for those
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in need, but it put material goods in the place of God.
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Even if God had smiled on this year's crop,
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the farmer certainly didn't trust him
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to do it again next year.
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And so we understand Paul's reason
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for referring to covetousness as idolatry.
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The farmer, in equating life with his possessions,
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turned a blessing straight from Heaven into an idol.
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Rather than looking to God as the center
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of his life and a source of security,
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he sought his center in his possessions.
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It is idolatry which is the sin of this farmer.
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Not the abundance of his possessions in themselves.
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Now idolatry may sound to some of you
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like a droll but harmless quirk of ancient peoples.
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A matter of political and tribal rivalries
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writ large in cosmic powers.
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Does idolatry really involve genuine
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and enduring issues of human freedom?
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I believe that it does.
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Let us attempt to define how.
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Idolatry.
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According to Dr. Luke Johnson, a former
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New Testament professor of mine,
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"Idolatry is the choice of treating
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"as ultimate and absolute anything
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"which is neither absolute nor ultimate.
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"We do so by the worship, we pay it.
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"Not the worship of praise or of incense, but of service.
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"In reality, my God is that which I serve by my freedom.
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"It is anything which rivets my attention,
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"centers my activity, preoccupies my mind,
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"motivates my action.
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"That, in virtue of which I act, is God.
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"That for which I will give up anything else is my God."
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None of us may ever face the threat of idolatry
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in the form of grains stored in barns
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like this farmer, but we can reflect upon
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the question of what our own idols look like
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by asking a few simple questions.
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What is it, really, that motivates us
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to get up and face each day's activity?
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What is it that we will make room for during
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the day, no matter of frenetic our schedules?
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By what measure do I look back over the day,
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or week, or year, and consider it a success or failure?
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When I lie awake in bed at night with a feeling
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of discontent, is it because I did not
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complete all the work I intended for that day,
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fell flat on my face in front of someone
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I wanted to impress, or failed to perform
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as well as I could have on an examination?
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Do I think of myself as a success or failure
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in relation to others, and on what basis?
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My health.
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My friends, my family.
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My looks.
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My work.
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My fame, my fortune.
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These are not complicated questions,
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but they are challenging for they have
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a way of locating the center of our lives
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and pointing toward our idols.
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And what, or where, do I seek
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my sense of worth and identity?
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We may discover it's not only in the things
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we possess, but also in careers,
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relationships, and personal qualities
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which we attempt to possess.
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And which so surreptitiously become our idols.
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Cloaked in the veils of ambition,
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upward mobility, or self-improvement,
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we may not always recognize them as such.
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Yet in a contemporary way, they can be
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just as much of a diversion to faith
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as the golden calf was to the Israelites.
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How seductive these temptations of idolatry can be.
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And what often feels like a tenuous existence
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at the very best, we are lured into thinking
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we can manipulate ultimate power.
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The idolater says this which I can see,
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and feel, and handle, and use, can be
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the ultimate source of my worth,
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the heart of my identity,
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the basis of my security.
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The power I have can be the measurement of my value.
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Any effective television advertisement
422
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can convince us of that.
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Thus claiming to possess what we identify
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as ultimate power we make claim to possessing
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ourselves until we begin to believe.