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(solemn music)
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Grace and peace to you
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in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We welcome you to this service of worship
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at Duke University Chapel
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on this 20th Sunday after Pentecost.
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We trust that you will receive a blessing during this time.
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We also extend greetings to those of you
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in our radio and television audiences.
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Our preacher for this morning
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is the Reverend Doctor John W. Vannorsdahl,
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President of Lutheran Theological Seminary.
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Dr. Vannorsdahl preaches and lectures regularly
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throughout the country.
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He's been a preacher for the Lutheran Series
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for the Protestant Hour since 1976.
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He's also published widely,
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and his most recent book is a collection of sermons
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entitled Dimly Burning Wicks.
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Prior to his current position,
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Dr. Vannorsdahl served as university chaplain
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at Yale University for 10 years.
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We welcome Dr. Vannorsdahl to our pulpit today.
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We are indebted to the Charlotte Children Choir
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of Queens College
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for their participation in our service this morning.
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They are directed by Dr. Elizabeth Campbell.
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Please note the other announcements
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as they are printed in your bulletins.
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And now let us continue our worship.
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(choir singing)
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(solemn music)
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(congregation singing)
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Almighty and everlasting God,
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increase in us the gifts of faith,
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hope,
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and charity,
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and that we may obtain what you promise,
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make us love what you command
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through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
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who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
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one God forever and ever.
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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 what you say to us this day.
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Amen.
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The first lesson today
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is taken from the book of Ruth.
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"In the days when the judges ruled
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"there was a famine in the land,
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"and a certain man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn
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"in the country of Moab,
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"he and his wife and his two sons.
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"The name of the man was Elimelech
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"and the name of his wife Naomi,
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"and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion.
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"They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah.
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"They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
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"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died,
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"and she was left with her two sons.
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"These took Moabite wives.
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"The name of the one was Orpah
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"and the name of the other Ruth.
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"They lived there about 10 years,
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"and both Mahlon and Chilion died,
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"so that the woman was bereft of her two sons
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"and her husband.
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"Then she started with her daughters-in-law
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"to return from the country of Moab,
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"for she had heard in the country of Moab
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"that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
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"So she set out from the place where she was
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"with her two daughters-in-law,
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"and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
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"But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
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"'Go, return each of you to her mother's house.
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"'May the Lord deal kindly with you,
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"'as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
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"'The Lord grant that you may find a home,
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"'each of you in the house of her husband!'
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"And then she kissed them,
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"and they lifted up their voices and wept.
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"And they said to her, 'No,
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"'we will return with you to your people.'
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"But Naomi said, 'Turn back, my daughters;
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"'why will you go with me?
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"'Have I yet sons in my womb
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"'that they may become your husbands?
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"'Turn back, my daughters;
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"'go your way, for I am too old to have a husband.
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"'If I should say I have hope,
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"'even if I should have a husband this night
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"'and should bear sons,
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"'would you therefore wait till they are grown?
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"'Would you therefore refrain from marrying?
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"'No, my daughters,
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"'for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake
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"'that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.'
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"Then they lifted up their voices and wept again.
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"And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
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"And she said, 'See, your sister-in-law has gone back
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"'to her people and to her gods;
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"'return after your sister-in-law.'
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"But Ruth said, 'Entreat me not to leave you,
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"'or to return from following after you,
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"'for where you go, I will go;
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"'and where you lodge, I will lodge.
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"'Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
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"'Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.
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"'May the Lord do so to me, and more also,
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"'if even death parts me from you.'
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"And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her,
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"she said no more.
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"So the two of them went on
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"until they came to Bethlehem."
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This ends the reading of the first lesson.
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Please stand as we read this altar responsively.
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Praise the Lord.
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I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
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Put not your trust in princes.
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When his breath departs, he returns to his earth.
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Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob
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who made heaven and earth,
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who keeps faith forever.
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The Lord sets the prisoners free.
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The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
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The Lord watches over the sojourners.
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He upholds the widow and the fatherless.
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The Lord will reign forever.
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(solemn music)
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(choir singing)
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The second lesson is taken from Paul's first letter
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to the Thessalonians.
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"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
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"To the church of the Thessalonians
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"in God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ:
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"Grace to you and peace.
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"We give thanks to God always for you all,
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"constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
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"remembering before our God and Father
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"your work of faith and labor of love
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"and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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"For we know, family beloved by God,
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"that he has chosen you,
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"for our gospel came to you not only in word,
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"but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
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"and with full conviction.
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"You know what kind of men we proved to be among you
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"for your sake.
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"And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
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"for you received the word in much affliction,
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"with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
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"so that you became an example
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"to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
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"For not only has the word of the Lord
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"sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia,
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"but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere,
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"so that we need not say anything.
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"For they themselves report
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"concerning us what a welcome we had among you,
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"and how you turned to God from idols
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"to serve a living and a true God,
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"and to wait for his Son from heaven,
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"whom he raised from the dead,
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"Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."
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This ends the reading of the second lesson.
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(choir singing)
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The gospel lesson is taken from Matthew.
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"Then the Pharisees went and took counsel
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"how to entangle him in his talk.
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"And they sent their disciples to him,
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"along with the Herodians,
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"saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are true
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"'and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for none,
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"'for you do not regard the position of any.
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"'Tell us then what you think.
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"'Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?'
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"But Jesus, aware of their malice,
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"said, 'Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?
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"'Show me the money for the tax.'
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"And they brought him a coin.
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"And Jesus said to them,
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"'Whose likeness and inscription is this?'
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"They said, 'Caesar's.'
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"Then he said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar
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"'the things that are Caesar's,
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"'and to God the things that are God's.'
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"When they heard it, they marveled.
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"And they left him and went away."
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This ends the reading of the gospel lesson.
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May the words of my mouth
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and the meditation of our hearts
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be acceptably in thy sight, oh Lord,
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our strength and our redeemer.
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Amen.
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I thank you for the privilege of being able to worship
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with you again
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in the Duke Chapel.
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What you may not understand is that your ministry here
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has had its impact on the larger church as well,
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largely through the gifts of your ministers.
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So I bring you not only greetings, but thanks,
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from those of us who have profited
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from what you are and do.
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A long time ago, when I first joined
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the sub junior varsity debate team in high school,
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I quickly discovered that I didn't know
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a single thing about debating
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and that the coach had no time to teach me.
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He suggested that I visit a professor
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at a nearby college who was well known
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as a public speaker and debater.
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So I made an appointment.
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"Well, young man,
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"what can I do for you?"
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"I like to learn to be a good debater."
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"Well," he said leaning back,
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"first you collect all the information you can on the topic,
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"and then you create a dilemma for the opposition."
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Now, dilemma was not a word we used very often in my home,
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so he explained it.
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"You just ask them a question of such a nature
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"that if they answer it one way, they lose,
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"and if they answer it the other way, they lose."
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The professor seemed satisfied
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that he'd said all that I needed to know,
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so I thanked him and walked home saying to myself,
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"What was that all about?"
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But now 100 years later,
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I at least recognized a dilemma when I see it.
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Seminary presidents are well acquainted with lose-lose.
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The pharisees sent some of their disciples to see Jesus.
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First, they baited the trap.
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"Teacher, we know that you're a person of integrity.
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"You tell the truth, you say it as it is.
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"You're afraid of no one."
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So we have a question.
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Should we pay taxes to Caesar,
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or not?
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That's a dilemma.
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If Jesus said,
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"Of course you should pay taxes."
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then
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he would be considered a collaborator
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by his own people.
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And if he said, "No, you should not pay taxes to Caesar."
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he would lose again.
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This time, the Romans would take him away.
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The debaters of that age
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had sprung their trap.
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It was a lose-lose situation.
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But Jesus was quick-witted.
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He patted his robe and he discovered
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that he had no Roman coins with him.
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"Let me see one of yours," he said.
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And it turned out that the trappers
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did in fact carry Roman coins, so they gave him one.
261
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"Whose face and inscription are these?"
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00:24:01.607 --> 00:24:03.777
"Caesar's," they said.
263
00:24:03.777 --> 00:24:05.367
"Well,
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"you have Caesar's coins,
265
00:24:08.327 --> 00:24:11.897
"pay Caesar's tax,
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"but
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"render to God the things which are God's."
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00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.631
So the hunters went home empty handed.
269
00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:27.120
And while that ended the debate for that day,
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00:24:27.120 --> 00:24:31.350
it certainly did not end the issue of when
271
00:24:31.350 --> 00:24:33.275
or whether
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00:24:33.275 --> 00:24:36.840
Christians should hail Caesar
273
00:24:36.840 --> 00:24:41.828
and pay Caesar's tax.
274
00:24:41.828 --> 00:24:44.930
In some years later,
275
00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:49.930
after the congregations of Christian had begun to form,
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the Saint Paul wrote to the Congregation at Rome.
277
00:24:54.931 --> 00:24:57.927
"Let every person," he said,
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00:24:57.927 --> 00:25:01.727
"be subject to the governing authorities.
279
00:25:01.727 --> 00:25:04.427
"Whoever resist the authorities
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00:25:04.427 --> 00:25:08.290
"resists what God has appointed.
281
00:25:08.290 --> 00:25:12.767
"Those who resist will incur judgment."
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00:25:12.767 --> 00:25:14.947
"Pay all of them their due,
283
00:25:14.947 --> 00:25:16.817
"taxes to whom taxes are due,
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00:25:16.817 --> 00:25:19.377
"revenues to whom revenues are due,
285
00:25:19.377 --> 00:25:21.757
"respect to whom respect is due,
286
00:25:21.757 --> 00:25:26.612
"honor to whom honor is due."
287
00:25:28.310 --> 00:25:30.060
But there is another occasion
288
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recorded in the book of Acts
289
00:25:32.862 --> 00:25:36.260
in which the apostles were teaching in Jerusalem.
290
00:25:36.260 --> 00:25:38.650
Converts were made in large numbers.
291
00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:42.270
People were crowding around the apostles to hear the gospel,
292
00:25:42.270 --> 00:25:44.530
and the priests were concerned
293
00:25:44.530 --> 00:25:46.730
and they had them arrested, theses apostles,
294
00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:49.360
and the apostles were brought before the counsel
295
00:25:49.360 --> 00:25:51.907
and the high priest said in effect,
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00:25:51.907 --> 00:25:55.095
"We told you to stop it.
297
00:25:55.095 --> 00:25:57.807
"We are the authorities,
298
00:25:57.807 --> 00:26:02.017
"but you continue to fill all Jerusalem with your teachings,
299
00:26:02.017 --> 00:26:05.810
"you violated our authority."
300
00:26:05.810 --> 00:26:10.805
And Peter responded, "We must obey God,
301
00:26:12.077 --> 00:26:15.000
"rather than human beings."
302
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:16.908
So,
303
00:26:16.908 --> 00:26:19.490
the issue is not easily resolved
304
00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:22.630
by resort to biblical texts.
305
00:26:22.630 --> 00:26:25.410
Paul says that we are to obey civil authorities
306
00:26:25.410 --> 00:26:26.400
to pay taxes,
307
00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.270
and he finds
308
00:26:28.270 --> 00:26:29.870
government
309
00:26:29.870 --> 00:26:32.038
a gift of God.
310
00:26:32.038 --> 00:26:34.110
Peter, in a different circumstance,
311
00:26:34.110 --> 00:26:38.010
says that he and the other apostles must obey God,
312
00:26:38.010 --> 00:26:41.610
rather than the authorities.
313
00:26:41.610 --> 00:26:44.196
And between the two,
314
00:26:44.196 --> 00:26:47.870
between Peter's
315
00:26:47.870 --> 00:26:50.712
adherence to God first
316
00:26:50.712 --> 00:26:53.760
and Paul's affirmation of civil authority
317
00:26:53.760 --> 00:26:58.300
lies the enigmatic answer of Jesus
318
00:26:58.300 --> 00:27:00.277
to the disciples of the pharisees,
319
00:27:00.277 --> 00:27:05.277
"Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's,
320
00:27:05.277 --> 00:27:10.232
"and unto God that which is due to God."
321
00:27:11.760 --> 00:27:16.150
Let me argue first
322
00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:18.790
with Saint Paul
323
00:27:18.790 --> 00:27:21.190
for a hearty hail
324
00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:24.473
to Caesar.
325
00:27:24.473 --> 00:27:27.860
Support obedience to human authority.
326
00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:30.308
T.S. Eliot once wrote
327
00:27:30.308 --> 00:27:31.320
that it's hard for those
328
00:27:31.320 --> 00:27:33.010
who lived next to the police station
329
00:27:33.010 --> 00:27:37.270
to believe in the possibility of the triumph of violence.
330
00:27:37.270 --> 00:27:40.120
And since most white middle-class Americans
331
00:27:40.120 --> 00:27:43.205
live next to a police station,
332
00:27:43.205 --> 00:27:45.678
it's easy for us
333
00:27:45.678 --> 00:27:49.758
to ignore the possibility of chaos.
334
00:27:49.758 --> 00:27:52.660
Easy for us to take the law for granted,
335
00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:56.070
to skirt the law when it suits us,
336
00:27:56.070 --> 00:28:00.558
to be critical of the law to deprecate authority.
337
00:28:00.558 --> 00:28:04.080
We can be careless of the law and nose thumbers
338
00:28:04.080 --> 00:28:09.080
because we have seldom been in danger from chaos.
339
00:28:09.110 --> 00:28:10.540
When we get up our courage
340
00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:12.020
and march in front of the White House,
341
00:28:12.020 --> 00:28:16.070
we are protected, we find, by a ring of police.
342
00:28:16.070 --> 00:28:18.560
It's a heady gentile protest
343
00:28:18.560 --> 00:28:21.605
without fear of being clubbed.
344
00:28:21.605 --> 00:28:23.750
When we go to a massive demonstration
345
00:28:23.750 --> 00:28:26.010
where all hell could break lose,
346
00:28:26.010 --> 00:28:28.890
there are the sturdy marshals,
347
00:28:28.890 --> 00:28:30.530
hand-picked, well-trained,
348
00:28:30.530 --> 00:28:35.160
our people with yellow arm bands, green arm bands,
349
00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:38.570
making sure that everything is well-ordered,
350
00:28:38.570 --> 00:28:39.960
and we'll have first aid
351
00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:42.000
if we think from the crush or direction
352
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:45.065
if we need a restroom,
353
00:28:45.065 --> 00:28:48.920
but sometimes
354
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.643
violence comes close.
355
00:28:52.643 --> 00:28:55.300
I was in grade school when I first saw it
356
00:28:55.300 --> 00:28:56.560
at a basketball game.
357
00:28:56.560 --> 00:29:00.860
Two Cleveland high school teams playing one another,
358
00:29:00.860 --> 00:29:03.530
and one from a predominantly black school
359
00:29:03.530 --> 00:29:06.290
and another from a predominantly white school.
360
00:29:06.290 --> 00:29:09.060
It was a close game and a fight broke out in the stands,
361
00:29:09.060 --> 00:29:12.360
and it began to spread.
362
00:29:12.360 --> 00:29:15.390
My father who was the coach of one of the teams
363
00:29:15.390 --> 00:29:18.410
pushed me under the scorekeeper's table,
364
00:29:18.410 --> 00:29:22.170
picked up the blank pistol used by the time keeper
365
00:29:22.170 --> 00:29:25.778
and fired it in the gymnasium.
366
00:29:25.778 --> 00:29:28.387
In the momentary silence which followed, he shouted,
367
00:29:28.387 --> 00:29:30.720
"Let's play basketball."
368
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:34.850
And the police moved in and the game continued,
369
00:29:34.850 --> 00:29:38.320
and I have never seen my father so shaken.
370
00:29:38.320 --> 00:29:40.403
Chaos
371
00:29:40.403 --> 00:29:45.051
had come close.
372
00:29:45.051 --> 00:29:46.620
Years later,
373
00:29:46.620 --> 00:29:51.342
in the early '70s, I was the chaplain at a college
374
00:29:51.342 --> 00:29:54.270
and had invited William Kunstler to speak.
375
00:29:54.270 --> 00:29:59.270
2,000 students filled the auditorium.
376
00:29:59.950 --> 00:30:03.960
As at most schools, it was a volatile time.
377
00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:08.568
When the old civilities no longer obtained,
378
00:30:08.568 --> 00:30:11.190
Kunstler was late.
379
00:30:11.190 --> 00:30:14.140
The noise level increased.
380
00:30:14.140 --> 00:30:16.770
The students began to stamp their feet in rhythm
381
00:30:16.770 --> 00:30:20.890
and the whole building began to tremble.
382
00:30:20.890 --> 00:30:23.300
Some of them began to stand on their seats
383
00:30:23.300 --> 00:30:25.170
and took up a rhythmic chant.
384
00:30:25.170 --> 00:30:26.760
The president of the college and I
385
00:30:26.760 --> 00:30:28.920
standing at the back knew
386
00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:32.020
that something had to happen quickly.
387
00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:36.480
Fortunately, at that moment, Kunstler arrived,
388
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:40.290
but the president said to me later,
389
00:30:40.290 --> 00:30:45.290
"The distance between our being a community of scholars
390
00:30:45.727 --> 00:30:48.783
"and a mob
391
00:30:48.783 --> 00:30:52.855
"is a very short distance."
392
00:30:52.855 --> 00:30:54.862
And that day
393
00:30:54.862 --> 00:30:57.490
we had come very close
394
00:30:57.490 --> 00:31:01.460
to being a mob.
395
00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:03.410
It's hard for those of us who are gathered
396
00:31:03.410 --> 00:31:05.180
in the majesty of this chapel
397
00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:07.270
to appreciate the fact that this morning
398
00:31:07.270 --> 00:31:12.270
there are 500,000 Americans in jail cells.
399
00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:15.410
It is hard for young men and women
400
00:31:15.410 --> 00:31:18.240
graduating from seminary
401
00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:21.060
devout and educated and kneeling before the alter
402
00:31:21.060 --> 00:31:23.110
to commit themselves to a sacred ministry
403
00:31:23.110 --> 00:31:25.430
to comprehend how many of their colleagues,
404
00:31:25.430 --> 00:31:28.280
and perhaps they themselves in time to come
405
00:31:28.280 --> 00:31:31.870
will seduce their counselee
406
00:31:31.870 --> 00:31:36.510
and commit adultery with their parishioners.
407
00:31:36.510 --> 00:31:39.891
Hail Caesar.
408
00:31:39.891 --> 00:31:43.600
Be you tyrant, republic, or something in between,
409
00:31:43.600 --> 00:31:47.666
it is your job to make me safe from my neighbors,
410
00:31:47.666 --> 00:31:50.470
to keep the roads open for travel and commerce,
411
00:31:50.470 --> 00:31:52.480
to adjudicated conflicts,
412
00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:54.820
to curb my rapacious ways,
413
00:31:54.820 --> 00:31:57.770
my depredations upon the common good
414
00:31:57.770 --> 00:32:00.290
by threat of punishment or by reward
415
00:32:00.290 --> 00:32:04.915
to provide some minimal order in this land.
416
00:32:04.915 --> 00:32:09.610
Though I chafe, resent, and attack him,
417
00:32:09.610 --> 00:32:12.440
I will give Caesar his due
418
00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:14.860
and give thanks to God
419
00:32:14.860 --> 00:32:19.400
when Caesar insists upon my connectedness
420
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:22.490
and thereby makes freedom possible
421
00:32:22.490 --> 00:32:25.870
in spite of all the sin and evil
422
00:32:25.870 --> 00:32:28.290
which is our collective lot.
423
00:32:28.290 --> 00:32:33.151
Render unto Caesar what is due.
424
00:32:35.040 --> 00:32:40.031
Break the law at the peril of all of us.
425
00:32:43.650 --> 00:32:45.953
On the other hand,
426
00:32:45.953 --> 00:32:47.500
now
427
00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:49.400
with Peter in Jerusalem.
428
00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:51.861
On the other hand,
429
00:32:51.861 --> 00:32:54.210
render unto God
430
00:32:54.210 --> 00:32:59.118
the things which are Gods.
431
00:32:59.118 --> 00:33:01.230
You shall love the Lord your God
432
00:33:01.230 --> 00:33:05.650
with all your heart, soul, mind, strength.
433
00:33:05.650 --> 00:33:07.397
Said Peter to the high priest,
434
00:33:07.397 --> 00:33:12.347
"We must obey God, rather than human authority."
435
00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.026
And so,
436
00:33:16.026 --> 00:33:18.080
although it was the law
437
00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:23.080
that blacks be segregated and excluded,
438
00:33:23.110 --> 00:33:25.330
some Christians, black and white,
439
00:33:25.330 --> 00:33:27.850
and some Jews and some humanitarians,
440
00:33:27.850 --> 00:33:32.498
came to believe that in God's sight,
441
00:33:32.498 --> 00:33:37.130
this was both unjust by civil standards
442
00:33:37.130 --> 00:33:40.560
and a sin before God.
443
00:33:40.560 --> 00:33:44.050
And so they broke the civil law
444
00:33:44.050 --> 00:33:46.720
and defied the authorities.
445
00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:49.751
And so,
446
00:33:49.751 --> 00:33:52.210
likewise,
447
00:33:52.210 --> 00:33:54.530
although the law required all young men
448
00:33:54.530 --> 00:33:57.110
to register for the draft,
449
00:33:57.110 --> 00:33:59.730
some Christians and Jews came to believe
450
00:33:59.730 --> 00:34:01.820
that in God's site
451
00:34:01.820 --> 00:34:06.740
military service required them to kill,
452
00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:09.670
rob them of their freedom to say no to killing,
453
00:34:09.670 --> 00:34:12.697
and so
454
00:34:12.697 --> 00:34:14.200
they broke
455
00:34:14.200 --> 00:34:15.970
the law
456
00:34:15.970 --> 00:34:20.760
and defied the civil authorities.
457
00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:24.910
But the prime example in all of history, human and divine,
458
00:34:24.910 --> 00:34:27.100
is Jesus Christ
459
00:34:27.100 --> 00:34:30.510
who was warned time and again
460
00:34:30.510 --> 00:34:33.530
that he was disrupting the civil order
461
00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:35.430
with his preaching,
462
00:34:35.430 --> 00:34:38.600
attacking the religious and civil foundations
463
00:34:38.600 --> 00:34:43.600
upon which the current order was based,
464
00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:47.985
warned,
465
00:34:47.985 --> 00:34:52.240
and yet could not change his course.
466
00:34:52.240 --> 00:34:57.166
His ultimately loyalty was to God.
467
00:34:57.166 --> 00:35:01.320
This conflict between what civil and religious authorities
468
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.320
thought necessary for the good of society
469
00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:11.020
and what Jesus found necessary in obedience to God,
470
00:35:11.020 --> 00:35:15.410
were the horizontal and the vertical of the cross,
471
00:35:15.410 --> 00:35:19.980
the unsentimental consequence of two realities
472
00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:24.980
for which there was no other resolution,
473
00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:27.930
render unto God
474
00:35:27.930 --> 00:35:32.821
the things which are God's.
475
00:35:33.970 --> 00:35:36.800
Now I realize that that there is no comfort
476
00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:41.780
of the gospel in today's text.
477
00:35:43.410 --> 00:35:47.740
I come to worship much as most of you
478
00:35:47.740 --> 00:35:50.070
with my personal disasters, my sins,
479
00:35:50.070 --> 00:35:52.190
my need to be embraced and warmed
480
00:35:52.190 --> 00:35:53.700
and raised again in hope.
481
00:35:53.700 --> 00:35:55.610
But today,
482
00:35:55.610 --> 00:35:59.360
this personal address of the gospel, this warming,
483
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:01.270
this lifting from our knees
484
00:36:01.270 --> 00:36:03.920
has to be found from in other texts,
485
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.440
in the hymns, the prayers, and sermons remembered
486
00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:11.318
because it is not in this passage from Saint Matthew,
487
00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:15.940
but it would have been wrong I think
488
00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:19.170
in the days of the bicentennial of the constitution
489
00:36:19.170 --> 00:36:21.451
and the Caesar text
490
00:36:21.451 --> 00:36:26.336
to ignore the issues which they present,
491
00:36:27.750 --> 00:36:30.550
of how we render unto
492
00:36:30.550 --> 00:36:33.720
Caesar what belongs to Caesar
493
00:36:33.720 --> 00:36:35.640
and to God
494
00:36:35.640 --> 00:36:36.960
what belongs to God.
495
00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:40.118
I've been thinking about this chapel
496
00:36:40.118 --> 00:36:43.741
and its centrality at Duke.
497
00:36:43.741 --> 00:36:47.980
Is it central because here students and faculty
498
00:36:47.980 --> 00:36:50.490
have met their personal need or longing
499
00:36:50.490 --> 00:36:54.840
for Christ's compassion?
500
00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:59.840
Do you come because your hearts are warmed?
501
00:37:00.650 --> 00:37:04.550
Or is it because here most people acknowledge
502
00:37:04.550 --> 00:37:06.990
the supremacy of God in all things
503
00:37:06.990 --> 00:37:10.880
and the chapel is set central and honored by our presence
504
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:14.910
because we want to say God is central in all things?
505
00:37:14.910 --> 00:37:19.863
I frankly see a far more profound possibility.
506
00:37:22.010 --> 00:37:24.138
I see a chapel
507
00:37:24.138 --> 00:37:29.105
where men and women come
508
00:37:29.105 --> 00:37:31.210
who are now
509
00:37:31.210 --> 00:37:35.030
and will be Caesar's people,
510
00:37:35.030 --> 00:37:36.890
must be Caesar's people,
511
00:37:36.890 --> 00:37:40.210
rendering unto Caesar what is due.
512
00:37:40.210 --> 00:37:43.220
I see you come also as God's people,
513
00:37:43.220 --> 00:37:45.770
called by a vision of a future
514
00:37:45.770 --> 00:37:48.540
which has come in Christ,
515
00:37:48.540 --> 00:37:51.960
or for Jews still coming,
516
00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:55.050
and to whom you owe an ultimate loyalty.
517
00:37:55.050 --> 00:37:56.950
And at this place,
518
00:37:56.950 --> 00:38:01.180
with these two necessary loyalties pressing on your hearts,
519
00:38:01.180 --> 00:38:05.968
you, too, will be crucified with Christ.
520
00:38:05.968 --> 00:38:09.250
The crossbar is the realities of the world
521
00:38:09.250 --> 00:38:13.760
where laws condemn, and lawyers argue, and jails are built.
522
00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:17.696
That is your world and mine.
523
00:38:17.696 --> 00:38:19.430
Upright
524
00:38:19.430 --> 00:38:22.070
is the vision of a larger truth
525
00:38:22.070 --> 00:38:26.878
which is not yet but is sure to come.
526
00:38:26.878 --> 00:38:30.650
You come here either naive about yourselves,
527
00:38:30.650 --> 00:38:34.290
nor hopeless with the world's cruel reality.
528
00:38:34.290 --> 00:38:38.760
You come into this cruciform structure, dare to come,
529
00:38:38.760 --> 00:38:41.090
not because you have disavowed Caesar,
530
00:38:41.090 --> 00:38:46.090
or somehow been able to put the law behind you,
531
00:38:46.100 --> 00:38:49.753
or because you've even laid hold of God,
532
00:38:49.753 --> 00:38:52.700
but precisely
533
00:38:52.700 --> 00:38:56.790
because here neither the necessity of Caesar
534
00:38:56.790 --> 00:39:01.371
nor the promise of God is ignored,
535
00:39:01.371 --> 00:39:05.310
because here the witness is made
536
00:39:05.310 --> 00:39:09.210
that the one nailed to the ends of these two realities
537
00:39:09.210 --> 00:39:14.048
was raised from the dead and foreshows the future.
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00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:22.360
This was the week that the French playwright, Anouilh, died.
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00:39:22.500 --> 00:39:24.830
The author of a modern version
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00:39:24.830 --> 00:39:29.666
of the ancient Greek classic, Antigone.
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And rendering unto Caesar and unto God
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00:39:34.073 --> 00:39:37.100
are the dramatic theme
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00:39:37.100 --> 00:39:38.180
of
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00:39:38.180 --> 00:39:41.510
Anouilh's Antigone.
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00:39:41.510 --> 00:39:46.290
As you all remember, there's been a rebellion in Thebes
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00:39:46.290 --> 00:39:49.163
where Creon is king.
547
00:39:49.163 --> 00:39:52.320
And his nephew, one of the rebels,
548
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:56.933
lies dead outside the city gates.
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00:39:56.933 --> 00:40:01.199
Antigone insists that her brother
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00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:04.810
have a proper burial.
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00:40:04.810 --> 00:40:09.743
Creon, the king, refuses for reason of state.
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00:40:10.867 --> 00:40:12.497
"Don't think," says Creon,
553
00:40:12.497 --> 00:40:15.377
"that I am not as offended as you are.
554
00:40:15.377 --> 00:40:18.557
"By the thought of that meat rotting in the sun,
555
00:40:18.557 --> 00:40:22.087
"in the evening when the breeze comes in off the sea,
556
00:40:22.087 --> 00:40:26.827
"you can smell it in the palace, and it nauseates me.
557
00:40:26.827 --> 00:40:29.857
"But I refuse even to shut my window.
558
00:40:29.857 --> 00:40:33.777
"I know it's stupid, monstrously stupid,
559
00:40:33.777 --> 00:40:36.657
"but the people of Thebes have got to have their noses
560
00:40:36.657 --> 00:40:38.887
"rubbed in it a little longer.
561
00:40:38.887 --> 00:40:41.387
"if this feather-headed rabble I govern
562
00:40:41.387 --> 00:40:43.807
"are understand what's what,
563
00:40:43.807 --> 00:40:48.790
"that stench has got to fill the town for a month."
564
00:40:49.847 --> 00:40:54.639
"You're a loathsome man."
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00:40:56.420 --> 00:40:59.638
Responded Creon,
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00:40:59.638 --> 00:41:03.844
"I agree."
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00:41:03.844 --> 00:41:07.710
Hail Caesar
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00:41:07.710 --> 00:41:09.613
and
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00:41:09.613 --> 00:41:13.810
praise God from whom flows some new
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00:41:13.810 --> 00:41:17.361
and larger vision.
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00:41:17.361 --> 00:41:19.544
Amen.
572
00:41:36.313 --> 00:41:38.896
(solemn music)
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00:43:39.030 --> 00:43:40.323
The Lord be with you.
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00:43:42.570 --> 00:43:43.533
Let us pray.
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00:43:56.200 --> 00:43:57.650
Most gracious God
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00:43:58.940 --> 00:44:02.703
who art above us, and in us, and through us,
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00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:06.513
we bow in prayer before thee,
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00:44:07.480 --> 00:44:10.340
seeking a new awareness they reality
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00:44:11.520 --> 00:44:14.013
and of they life-giving presence.
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00:44:15.730 --> 00:44:18.830
In so doing, we offer these prayers for others
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00:44:19.780 --> 00:44:22.320
that in our remembering of their needs
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00:44:23.180 --> 00:44:25.910
we may be reminded of our own neediness
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00:44:26.860 --> 00:44:29.973
as we stand in utter dependency upon thee.
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00:44:32.510 --> 00:44:35.253
Let us pray for those who suffer in our world,
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00:44:36.790 --> 00:44:39.023
for the masses of starving people,
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00:44:40.250 --> 00:44:42.380
that whatever language they may speak,
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00:44:42.380 --> 00:44:44.983
their cried of anguish will be heard.
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00:44:46.910 --> 00:44:49.523
For homeless people everywhere,
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00:44:50.720 --> 00:44:54.003
for those who dwell on the streets of our nation's cities,
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00:44:55.700 --> 00:44:58.160
for thousands of refugees who roam the earth
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00:44:58.160 --> 00:44:59.333
searching for a home,
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00:45:01.950 --> 00:45:03.483
for runaway children,
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00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:08.643
that each may find a place of rest and understanding.
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00:45:10.750 --> 00:45:13.080
Let us pray for those who are bereaved
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00:45:14.520 --> 00:45:16.283
over the loss of a loved one,
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00:45:17.260 --> 00:45:20.023
over news of a debilitating illness,
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00:45:21.450 --> 00:45:24.313
over memories of happier days gone by,
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00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:27.340
that they healing presence
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00:45:27.340 --> 00:45:29.963
may restore them to fullness of life.
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00:45:32.430 --> 00:45:33.480
Let us pray for those
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00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:35.983
caught in the struggles of discernment.
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00:45:37.850 --> 00:45:41.800
For all those contemplating life-changing decisions,
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00:45:41.800 --> 00:45:43.163
grant them wisdom.
604
00:45:44.610 --> 00:45:48.313
For those who seek to know thee, yet struggle to believe,
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00:45:49.240 --> 00:45:53.023
grant them the courage necessary to take the leap of faith.
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00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:56.943
For leaders of all the nations,
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00:45:58.130 --> 00:46:00.670
that they may understand and respond
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00:46:00.670 --> 00:46:03.480
to the needs of all the world's people
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00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:06.313
and lead us in the pathway of peace.
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00:46:08.640 --> 00:46:12.033
Let us pray for all who feel unloved or unwanted.
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00:46:13.820 --> 00:46:17.283
For those who seek to enter themselves or others,
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00:46:18.700 --> 00:46:22.670
for those who indulge in material excesses,
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00:46:22.670 --> 00:46:25.473
attempting to fill and interior void,
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00:46:27.430 --> 00:46:32.430
for those who lived within institutions surrounded by people
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00:46:32.520 --> 00:46:34.623
yet lonely beyond words,
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00:46:36.070 --> 00:46:38.263
heal these thy children, oh God,
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00:46:39.220 --> 00:46:41.650
that they may appreciate the unique worth
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00:46:41.650 --> 00:46:43.963
which thou has bestowed upon them.
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00:46:46.500 --> 00:46:50.150
These and the many unspoken concerns of this congregation,
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00:46:50.150 --> 00:46:52.683
we lift unto thee redeeming God,
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00:46:53.930 --> 00:46:56.430
trusting in thy goodness,
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00:46:56.430 --> 00:46:58.663
confident in thy power to heal,
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00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:03.603
grateful that thou art love for all eternity.
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00:47:05.690 --> 00:47:07.723
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
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00:47:08.970 --> 00:47:09.803
Amen.
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00:47:12.950 --> 00:47:14.870
And now in the spirit of Thanksgiving,
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00:47:14.870 --> 00:47:18.007
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.
628
00:47:22.529 --> 00:47:25.112
(solemn music)
629
00:50:06.783 --> 00:50:09.450
(choir singing)
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00:53:57.930 --> 00:53:59.670
Almighty God,
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00:53:59.670 --> 00:54:01.480
we thine unworthy servants
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00:54:01.480 --> 00:54:03.940
do give the most humble and hearty thanks
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00:54:03.940 --> 00:54:07.060
for all thy goodness and loving kindness to us
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00:54:07.060 --> 00:54:09.680
and to all men and women.
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00:54:09.680 --> 00:54:13.140
We bless thee for our creation, preservation,
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00:54:13.140 --> 00:54:15.830
and all the blessings of this life,
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00:54:15.830 --> 00:54:18.400
but above all, for thine inestimable love
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00:54:18.400 --> 00:54:22.190
and redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ
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00:54:22.190 --> 00:54:25.023
for the means of grace and for the hope of glory.
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00:54:25.880 --> 00:54:27.600
And we beseech thee,
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00:54:27.600 --> 00:54:30.790
give us that due sense of all thy mercies
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00:54:30.790 --> 00:54:33.860
that our hearts may be eternally thankful
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00:54:33.860 --> 00:54:35.970
and that we may show forth thy praise
644
00:54:35.970 --> 00:54:39.100
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
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00:54:39.100 --> 00:54:42.110
by giving up ourselves to thy service
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00:54:42.110 --> 00:54:44.750
and by walking before thee in holiness
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00:54:44.750 --> 00:54:47.950
and righteousness all our days.
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00:54:47.950 --> 00:54:50.730
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ
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00:54:50.730 --> 00:54:53.410
who taught us to pray with confidence.
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00:54:53.410 --> 00:54:56.290
Our Father who art in heaven,
651
00:54:56.290 --> 00:54:58.400
hallowed be thy Name,
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00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:00.007
thy kingdom come,
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00:55:00.007 --> 00:55:01.770
thy will be done,
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00:55:01.770 --> 00:55:04.040
on earth as it is in heaven.
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00:55:04.040 --> 00:55:06.700
Give us this day our daily bread
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00:55:06.700 --> 00:55:09.070
and forgive us our trespasses
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00:55:09.070 --> 00:55:12.630
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
658
00:55:12.630 --> 00:55:15.170
And lead us not into temptation,
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00:55:15.170 --> 00:55:17.300
but deliver us from evil.
660
00:55:17.300 --> 00:55:18.480
For thine is the kingdom,
661
00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:21.730
and the power, and the glory forever.
662
00:55:22.950 --> 00:55:23.783
Amen.
663
00:55:37.246 --> 00:55:39.829
(solemn music)
664
00:56:08.489 --> 00:56:11.739
(congregation singing)
665
00:58:23.100 --> 00:58:26.950
Now go forth in peace and be of good courage.
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00:58:26.950 --> 00:58:29.660
Hold fast to that which is good,
667
00:58:29.660 --> 00:58:32.980
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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00:58:32.980 --> 00:58:35.140
And may the blessing of God,
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00:58:35.140 --> 00:58:37.530
creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit
670
00:58:37.530 --> 00:58:40.676
be with you all now and forevermore.
671
00:58:40.676 --> 00:58:41.509
Amen.
672
00:58:45.963 --> 00:58:48.630
(choir singing)
673
00:59:33.094 --> 00:59:36.011
(pipe organ music)