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Pastor: Good morning. We welcome you to this service of worship, particularly our visitors. A number of years ago, when I was a young minister in South Carolina, I got up early on Sunday mornings to listen to the Protestant Hour broadcast. And on that broadcast I heard the voice of one, a voice so mellow and reassuring and yet, in so disturbing in his sermons, it was Lewis Patrick who is probably appeared on the Protestant Hour more than any one speaker. It's a privilege for us to welcome him to the chapel today as our preacher. Many times as we encounter human suffering and pain in life we wonder what we can do. I remind you that each Sunday, we receive an offering in Duke Chapel. Nearly all of the offerings that we receive here go to alleviate human suffering at home and abroad. The work of Meals on Wheels is highlighted in today's bulletin. This is just one of the ministries of this chapel. So when the offering is received, we invite you each Sunday to give generously. And now let us prepare ourselves for worship. ♪ Blessed be the God ♪ ♪ And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Which according to His abundant mercy ♪ ♪ Hath begotten us again unto a lively hope ♪ ♪ By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ♪ (uplifting organ music) (choir sings) 

Woman: Whosoever shall do the will of God, Jesus said, the same as my brother and sister and mother. Let us pray. Oh God, who has shown us Thy eternal will and the life of Christ our Lord 

All: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Woman: Oh, God. Who art ever working in our hearts by the operation of Thy spirit to make us fellow workers with Thy will. 

All: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Woman: Oh God, who willist that all will be saved and come to the knowledge of Thy truth. 

All: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Woman: From all reliance on ourselves alone, from trying to limit the range of Thy purposes, from doubts of Thy mightiness and operation. 

All: Save us an help us. We humbly beseech Ye, oh Lord. 

Woman: From all unwillingness to learn Thy will, from clinging to our own plans and desires, from all want of faith that hinders self commitment to Thy guidance. 

All: Save us and help us. We humbly beseech Ye, oh Lord. 

Woman: From cowardess following Thy leading, from ever suffering our own ambitions to cloud the vision of Thy will for us, from trying to serve the and escape the costs, 

All: Save us and help us. We humbly beseech Ye, oh Lord. 

Woman: From weakness when we are faced with decisions, from over confidence in making them, from acting without trying to learn Thy will. 

All: Save us and help us. We humbly beseech Ye, Oh Lord. 

Woman: From shirking the responsibility of our place in the divine order, from fearing new truth and new ways of thought and life. 

All: Save us and help us. We humbly beseech Ye, oh Lord. 

Woman: From seeking to set forward human progress, whether in the church or in the world by doing our own will instead of loyally asking to know Thine. 

All: Save us and help us. We humbly beseech Ye, oh Lord. Amen. (uplifting organ music) (choir sings) 

Pastor: Open our hearts and minds, oh God. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, so that as the word is read and proclaimed, may hear with joy what You have to say to us this day. The first lesson is from Genesis, chapter 28, versus 10 to 17. Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and laid down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your descendants. And your descendants should be like the dust of the earth. And you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. And will bring you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that to which I have spoken to you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place. This is non other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. Here ends the reading. (dramatic organ music) (choir sings) 

Pastor: Please be seated. The epistle lesson is from Philippians, chapter two, versus one to 13. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking a form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Here ends the reading. (uplifting organ music) (choir sings) 

Pastor: The gospel is from Luke chapter four, versus 16 to 12. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And he went to the synagogue, as his custom was on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he became to say to them, today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph's son? This ends the reading of the gospel. Amen. 

- [Pastor Patrick Lewis] For all of us, this is the day the Lord has made. But for some of us, it is a bit more awesome than for others and not until I stood up here did I really appreciate why your ever gracious dean put on the back of the chair where I'm sitting, the word, preacher. It helps to be reassured in this awesome setting that one has come to preach, especially, when the text seems so out of place for this context. The 28th chapter of Genesis, the 17th verse: When a man awakens in the out of doors in the midst of every day life and says, surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And is called up with great awe and trembling. And it is about that kind of wonder that I want to speak with you this morning. That we are running into everyday and somehow or other, it escapes us. We see the silver rain peppering on the pond. And we smell the incense of honey suckle at the end of a hot and bothered summer day. And at night, we listen while the waves lull the shore to sleep. A while some whipple wheel makes its plaintiff call from out of a deep dark wood, and we think, awe as such things as the stuff of life. And we do and this as the wonder that lies deep down in things where life consists not in the number of breaths we take but in those times when our breath is taken away from us and all we can do is say, ah, ah. That's why no day is lost in which we marvel. For whosever wonders rains and whoever rains will find rest. Stay yourselves and wonder who makes the streams run and the valley's grass on the mountains shows His goodness to the forgotten. Sets at liberty those who are in chains. Proclaims the acceptability of the Lord but always in terms of the common everyday events. To see this is to indeed be saved. But so often this awe of wonder escapes us. We look at every day life, our own life, and the life of the world, and instead of awe of wonder, it's the blah of what we know and what we somehow think we understand. We see through everything there is to see until we've seen through it. Every question has an answer. Until you come to the blah of class after class after class, all questions with answers. The blah of a world where we are moved around in terms of digits assigned to our places by computers, known by numerals instead of names. The blah of plastic replacing wood. Powered stuff in place of Betsy's milk. Soap operas instead of real life. Where we do indeed see through what is in everything until there is nothing left to see and we look through the slits of our eyes knowingly like some downstairs maid. Until all the prophet can do is say to the likes of us, see, you blind, listen, you deaf. Do at wonder that at deep down in the everyday things. Annie Dillot tells how a six or seven year old in Pittsburgh and goodness knows Pittsburgh is no wonder city, not even with the Steelers and the Pirates. She would go out as a six or seven year old, when this curious compulsion laid hold on her to hide a penny somewhere in that smokey city, along a certain stretch of sidewalk, to hide a penny always under a sycamore root or a crack in the sidewalk. And then beginning at one end of the block or the other, draw arrows leading towards it and when she'd learn to write, she'd put on the arrows, surprise ahead, or money, this way. And how she then would go hide. Had no desire to see it, just to think the wonder of someone in the universe receiving a free gift from the universe, without regard of merit or desserts or anything. Now she says, the compulsion no longer seizes her. But since we live in a world that is strewn with pennies, if we would cultivate that kinda healthy poverty where finding a penny would make your day, we would thereby, simply by that poverty, inherit a lifetime of days. But in a world where facts are facts and facts are all that matter, who has time to stoop for pennies. You know, what's one more copper? So she says, the cold frost of fact gives correctly stated death to all that lives. And pennies do not make our days. She means that we have demystified life. Forests are no longer enchanted. Sidewalks are not longer full of surprises, just ways of getting places. You would know this had to come from another generation, wouldn't you? Flower in the granite wall, I pluck you out of the crannies. And I hold you here in my hand, little flower. And if I could but know what you are, root in all and all in all, if I could but know what you are, then I would know what God and man is. What do you mean, if? Anybody with a botany badge, girl or boy scout knows what a flower is. Anthem, stamen, pedal, you know. Not even the heavens are above our knowledge anymore. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. I don't need to wonder what you are. You're just so much combusting mass of CNN and hydrogen gas. Here's how one person put it: One day I went walking and I found a magic glass, a magic looking glass. A stagnant pond, said Cas. One day I went walking and I found a fairy's dress, a princess fairy's dress. A fallen leaf, said Tess. One day I went walking and I found a brownies shoes, a brownies button shoe. A dry pea pod, said Sue. The next time I go walking, I'm going by myself. Unless, I meet an elf, a funny, friendly elf. That's why John Omen said that as long as he was a Methodist-- He became a Roman Catholic. As long as he was a Methodist, had he seen Jesus walking on water, he would have had to say, sir, would you do it again. I didn't get the trick. That's how important it is for us to demystify. To understand in such a way that it does not so much lead to wonder as take away the wonder. So a man in St. Louis dying of cancer writes a book called, The Living End. He's an English teacher and it's about a fellow named, Ellerbee who--