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Transcript
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(quiet footsteps echo) | 0:08 | |
(single note from organ sounds) | 0:10 | |
(quiet footsteps echo) | 0:14 | |
(pitch pipe plays note) | 0:42 | |
(choir sings meditative, a cappella prelude) | 0:49 | |
(last note fades) | 2:42 | |
(pitch pipe sounds notes) | 2:55 | |
("Take My Hand Precious Lord" by Thomas A. Dorsey) | 3:03 | |
♪ Precious Lord ♪ | 3:09 | |
♪ Take my hand ♪ | 3:12 | |
♪ Lead me on ♪ | 3:14 | |
♪ Let me stand ♪ | 3:18 | |
♪ I am tired, I am weak ♪ | 3:22 | |
♪ I am worn ♪ | 3:28 | |
♪ Through the storm, through the night ♪ | 3:34 | |
♪ Lead me on ♪ | 3:40 | |
♪ To the light ♪ | 3:44 | |
♪ Take my hand, precious Lord ♪ | 3:52 | |
♪ Lead me home ♪ | 3:58 | |
♪ When my way grows drear ♪ | 4:08 | |
♪ Precious Lord, linger near ♪ | 4:14 | |
♪ When my life is almost gone ♪ | 4:20 | |
♪ Hear my cry, hear my call ♪ | 4:31 | |
♪ Hold my hand lest I fall ♪ | 4:37 | |
♪ Take my hand, precious Lord ♪ | 4:48 | |
♪ Lead me home ♪ | 4:55 | |
♪ When the darkness appears ♪ | 5:07 | |
♪ And the night draws near ♪ | 5:13 | |
♪ And the day is past and gone ♪ | 5:20 | |
♪ At the river I stand ♪ | 5:31 | |
♪ Guide my feet ♪ | 5:39 | |
♪ Hold my hand ♪ | 5:45 | |
♪ Take my hand ♪ | 5:54 | |
♪ Precious Lord ♪ | 6:02 | |
♪ And lead me home ♪ | 6:10 | |
♪ Precious Lord ♪ | 6:21 | |
(quiet footsteps echoing) | 6:38 | |
(quiet footsteps on podium) | 7:25 | |
- | Good morning. | 7:31 |
Welcome to this service of worship | 7:32 | |
here at Duke University Chapel | 7:34 | |
on this fourth Sunday in Lent. | 7:35 | |
We are delighted to see each of you, | 7:38 | |
and pray you will receive a blessing during this hour. | 7:39 | |
We are also delighted to welcome | 7:43 | |
the Chamber Singers from Fayetteville State University | 7:45 | |
who are assisting | 7:48 | |
in the musical leadership of our service this morning. | 7:48 | |
Our regular Chapel Choir is on break, over spring break, | 7:51 | |
and we are most grateful to those visiting choirs | 7:55 | |
that are able to join us during that time. | 7:57 | |
Their director is Dr. Augustus Pearson. | 7:59 | |
We are also indebted to the Reverend Margaret Via, | 8:03 | |
pastor to the congregation at Duke Chapel, | 8:05 | |
for presiding in today's service, | 8:07 | |
and to Mrs. Eleanor Ferguson, | 8:10 | |
Vice President of the congregation at Duke Chapel, | 8:12 | |
for serving as our lector. | 8:14 | |
As is our usual custom, holy Eucharist will be celebrated | 8:17 | |
immediately after this service | 8:20 | |
in the Memorial Chapel, which is just to my right. | 8:22 | |
Please note, the remaining announcements | 8:26 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins. | 8:27 | |
And now, let us stand for the greeting. | 8:29 | |
The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you. | 8:38 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 8:42 |
- | Bless the Lord, o my soul, | 8:44 |
and all that is within me, bless God's holy name! | 8:46 | |
Congregation | Bless the Lord, o my soul, | 8:51 |
and forget not, o God, our iniquities. | 8:53 | |
- | Who forgives all your sins, | 8:56 |
and heals all your infirmities. | 8:58 | |
Congregation | Who redeems your life from the grave | 9:01 |
and crowns you with mercy and loving kindness. | 9:04 | |
(organ plays St. Petersburg) | 9:10 | |
♪ Thou hidden source of calm repose ♪ | 9:52 | |
♪ Thou all-sufficient love divine ♪ | 10:00 | |
♪ My help and refuge from my foes ♪ | 10:07 | |
♪ Secure I am ♪ | 10:14 | |
♪ If Thou art mine ♪ | 10:17 | |
♪ From sin and grief ♪ | 10:21 | |
♪ From guilt and shame ♪ | 10:26 | |
♪ I hide me, Jesus ♪ | 10:28 | |
♪ In Thy name ♪ | 10:33 | |
♪ Jesus, my All in all Thou art ♪ | 10:38 | |
♪ My rest in toil ♪ | 10:46 | |
♪ Mine ease in pain ♪ | 10:49 | |
♪ The med'cine of my broken heart ♪ | 10:53 | |
♪ In war, my peace ♪ | 11:00 | |
♪ In loss, my gain ♪ | 11:04 | |
♪ My smile beneath ♪ | 11:07 | |
♪ The tyrant's frown ♪ | 11:12 | |
♪ In shame, my glory and my crown ♪ | 11:14 | |
♪ Jesus ♪ | 11:24 | |
♪ My all in all Thou art ♪ | 11:26 | |
♪ My rest in toil, my ease in pain ♪ | 11:32 | |
♪ The healing of my broken heart ♪ | 11:40 | |
♪ In war my peace, in loss my gain ♪ | 11:47 | |
♪ My smile ♪ | 11:54 | |
♪ Beneath the tyrant's frown ♪ | 11:56 | |
♪ In shame my glory ♪ | 12:02 | |
♪ And my crown ♪ | 12:06 | |
♪ In want, my plentiful supply ♪ | 12:12 | |
♪ In weakness, mine almighty power ♪ | 12:20 | |
♪ In bonds, my perfect liberty ♪ | 12:27 | |
♪ My light in Satan's darkest hour ♪ | 12:35 | |
♪ In grief ♪ | 12:42 | |
♪ My joy unspeakable ♪ | 12:44 | |
♪ My life in death ♪ | 12:50 | |
♪ My Lord, my all ♪ | 12:54 | |
(final chord from hymn echoes) | 13:00 | |
- | Please join in the prayer of confession | 13:05 |
found on page 891 of your hymnal. | 13:08 | |
- | [Margaret And Congregation] Almighty and merciful God, | 13:17 |
we have erred and strayed from Thy ways | 13:20 | |
like lost sheep. | 13:23 | |
We have followed too much | 13:25 | |
the devices and desires of our own hearts. | 13:27 | |
We have offended against Thy holy laws. | 13:31 | |
We have left undone those things | 13:35 | |
which we ought to have done, | 13:37 | |
and we have done those things | 13:39 | |
which we ought not to have done. | 13:41 | |
But Thou, o Lord, have mercy upon us. | 13:44 | |
Spare Thy, those, o God, | 13:48 | |
who confess their faults. | 13:50 | |
Restore Thou, those who are penitent, | 13:52 | |
according to Thy promise, | 13:56 | |
declared in Christ Jesus, our Lord. | 13:58 | |
And grant, o merciful God, | 14:01 | |
for His sake, | 14:03 | |
that we may hereafter live a Godly, | 14:05 | |
righteous, and sober life, | 14:07 | |
to the glory of Thy holy name. | 14:10 | |
Amen. | 14:12 | |
- | If we confess our sins, | 14:28 |
God is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins, | 14:30 | |
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. | 14:35 | |
- | [Margaret and Congregation] Thanks be to God. | 14:39 |
- | Would you be seated? | 14:43 |
- | Let us pray. | 14:55 |
Congregation | Open our hearts and minds, o God, | 14:58 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 15:02 | |
so that, as the word is read and proclaimed, | 15:05 | |
we might hear with joy | 15:09 | |
what you say to us this day. | 15:12 | |
Amen. | 15:15 | |
- | The first reading is taken | 15:18 |
from the second book of Chronicles. | 15:20 | |
"All the leading priests and the people, also | 15:24 | |
"were exceedingly unfaithful, | 15:28 | |
"following all the abominations of the nations. | 15:31 | |
"And they polluted the house of the Lord | 15:36 | |
"that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. | 15:39 | |
"The Lord, the God of their ancestors, | 15:43 | |
"sent persistently to them, by His messengers, | 15:47 | |
"because He had compassion on His people, | 15:51 | |
"and on His dwelling place, | 15:54 | |
"but they kept mocking the messengers of God, | 15:56 | |
"despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, | 16:00 | |
"until the wrath of the Lord against His people | 16:05 | |
"became so great that there was no remedy. | 16:09 | |
"Therefore, he brought up against them | 16:14 | |
"the king of the Chaldeans, | 16:17 | |
"who killed their youths with the sword | 16:19 | |
"in the house of their sanctuary, | 16:21 | |
"and had no compassion on young man or young woman, | 16:24 | |
"the aged or the feeble. | 16:29 | |
"He gave them all into His hand. | 16:32 | |
"All the vessels of the house of the Lord, large and small, | 16:36 | |
"and the treasures of the house of the Lord, | 16:40 | |
"and the treasures of the king and of his officials, | 16:44 | |
"all these he brought to Babylon. | 16:48 | |
"They burned the house of God, | 16:51 | |
"broke down the wall of Jerusalem, | 16:53 | |
"burned all its palaces with fire, | 16:56 | |
"and destroyed all its precious vessels. | 16:59 | |
"He took into exile, in Babylon, | 17:03 | |
"those who had escaped from the sword, | 17:05 | |
"and they became servants to him | 17:08 | |
"and to his sons, | 17:11 | |
"until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia | 17:12 | |
"to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, | 17:17 | |
"until the land had made up for its sabbath. | 17:21 | |
"All the days that it lay desolate, | 17:25 | |
"it kept sabbath to fulfill 70 years. | 17:28 | |
"In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, | 17:33 | |
"in fulfillment of the word of the Lord, spoken by Jeremiah. | 17:37 | |
"The Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia | 17:42 | |
"so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, | 17:47 | |
"and also declared in a written edict, | 17:50 | |
"'Thus says King Cyrus of Persia. | 17:54 | |
"'The Lord, the God of Heaven, | 17:58 | |
"'has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, | 18:00 | |
"'and He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, | 18:04 | |
"'which is in Judah. | 18:08 | |
"'Whoever is among you of all his people, | 18:11 | |
"'may the Lord, his God, be with him. | 18:14 | |
"'Let him go up!'" | 18:18 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 18:22 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 18:24 |
- | Will you stand? | 18:32 |
Let us read, responsively, Psalm 137, verses 1 through 6, | 18:34 | |
found on page 852 and 853. | 18:40 | |
"By the rivers of Babylon, | 18:48 | |
"there we sat down and wept, | 18:51 | |
"when we remembered Zion." | 18:53 | |
Congregation | "There on the poplars | 18:56 |
"we hung up our harps." | 18:58 | |
- | "For there, our captors required of us songs | 19:00 |
"and our tormentors mirth, saying, | 19:03 | |
"'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!'" | 19:06 | |
Congregation | "How shall we sing the Lord's song | 19:09 |
"while in a foreign land?" | 19:12 | |
- | "If I forget you, o Jerusalem, | 19:14 |
"let my right hand wither." | 19:16 | |
Congregation | "May my tongue cleave | 19:19 |
"to the roof of my mouth | 19:21 | |
"if I do not exalt Jerusalem | 19:22 | |
"above my chief joy." | 19:25 | |
(organ plays responsorial psalm) | 19:30 | |
(congregation sings responsorial psalm with organ) | 19:37 | |
Margaret | You may be seated. | 20:27 |
This reading is from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. | 20:35 | |
"But God, who is rich in mercy, | 20:40 | |
"out of great love with which he loved us, | 20:44 | |
"even when we were dead through our trespasses, | 20:47 | |
"made us alive, together with Christ. | 20:51 | |
"By grace, you have been saved, | 20:55 | |
"and raised us up with Him, | 20:58 | |
"and seated us with Him in the heavenly places | 21:01 | |
"in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come, | 21:05 | |
"He might show the immeasurable riches | 21:10 | |
"of His grace, in kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus. | 21:12 | |
"For, by grace, you have been saved, through faith, | 21:19 | |
"And this is not your own doing. | 21:23 | |
"It is the gift of God, not the result of works | 21:26 | |
"so that no one may boast. | 21:32 | |
"For we are what He has made us, | 21:34 | |
"created in Christ Jesus for good works | 21:37 | |
"which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." | 21:42 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 21:50 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God! | 21:53 |
(music quietly rustling) | 22:05 | |
(pitch pipe plays note) | 22:13 | |
(choir sings slow a cappella tune) | 22:20 | |
(last chord resonates) | 25:15 | |
- | A reading from the Gospel according to St. John. | 25:39 |
Here, we encounter Jesus, as he speaks with Nicodemus, | 25:43 | |
at the end of their dialogue. | 25:46 | |
Nicodemus, the Pharisee, you remember, | 25:48 | |
came to Jesus by night. | 25:50 | |
And Jesus takes this opportunity | 25:53 | |
to offer a theological summary of His ministry. | 25:54 | |
"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent | 25:59 | |
"in the wilderness, | 26:02 | |
"so must the Son of Man be lifted up, | 26:03 | |
"that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. | 26:06 | |
"For God so loved the world, | 26:10 | |
"that He gave His only Son, | 26:12 | |
"so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, | 26:15 | |
"but may have eternal life. | 26:19 | |
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world | 26:22 | |
"to condemn the world, but in order that | 26:25 | |
"the world might be saved through Him. | 26:28 | |
"Those who believe in Him are not condemned. | 26:31 | |
"But those who do not believe | 26:35 | |
"are condemned already, | 26:37 | |
"because they have not believed | 26:38 | |
"in the name of the only Son of God. | 26:40 | |
"And this is the judgment: | 26:43 | |
"that the light has come into the world, | 26:46 | |
"and people loved darkness, rather than light, | 26:48 | |
"because their deeds were evil. | 26:52 | |
"For all who do evil hate the light, | 26:54 | |
"and do not come to the light, | 26:57 | |
"so that their deeds may not be exposed. | 26:59 | |
"But those who do what is true | 27:03 | |
"come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen | 27:05 | |
"that their deeds have been done in God." | 27:08 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 27:13 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 27:15 |
- | If I may beg your indulgence, | 27:21 |
I'd like to speak with you heart-to-heart | 27:22 | |
for a moment this morning | 27:25 | |
to give you a glimpse from the other side of the pulpit. | 27:27 | |
What's it like to stand up in a place | 27:31 | |
like Duke Chapel to preach the gospel? | 27:33 | |
Many of you have asked. | 27:35 | |
And, for the sake of those of you | 27:37 | |
who are genuinely interested, | 27:39 | |
I thought I'd offer one perspective. | 27:40 | |
Preaching is hard work, I don't mind telling you. | 27:44 | |
But it may be for different reasons | 27:47 | |
than you'd imagine. | 27:49 | |
Yes, it is difficult when the assigned text | 27:51 | |
is so obscure that even the scholars | 27:54 | |
cannot agree on what it means. | 27:55 | |
Yes, it can feel like sweating blood | 27:58 | |
trying to find just the right words | 28:01 | |
and just the right images to express an idea. | 28:03 | |
And, yes, it takes buckets of energy | 28:07 | |
to communicate with a congregation | 28:08 | |
so vast and diverse as you, in a church like this one. | 28:10 | |
Overall, I could say it's a pretty humbling experience. | 28:16 | |
But I think, for myself, as for most preachers, | 28:19 | |
it's the heart of the task at hand | 28:22 | |
which is the most challenging. | 28:25 | |
Convincing all of you that the love of God | 28:27 | |
is free of charge for everyone, | 28:30 | |
and all you have to do is believe it. | 28:33 | |
That's the hard part. | 28:35 | |
God loves and accepts you first, | 28:38 | |
before you can even lift a little finger | 28:39 | |
to make yourself more lovable or acceptable. | 28:42 | |
No honorary degrees, no community service awards, | 28:45 | |
no Sunday school attendance pins required. | 28:50 | |
We are reminded of this most graphically | 28:54 | |
every time we baptize a helpless, screaming infant. | 28:56 | |
God did it all first. | 29:01 | |
But, by the time we reach the age of accountability, | 29:03 | |
and we're trying to live respectable, responsible lives, | 29:07 | |
as members of society, not to mention | 29:10 | |
members of the church, | 29:13 | |
we're so accustomed to working for everything we get | 29:15 | |
that the tables get turned around a little bit, | 29:19 | |
and pretty soon, we're putting our good works before God's | 29:22 | |
in the order of salvation. | 29:26 | |
That's when the preacher's job becomes a Herculean task. | 29:28 | |
Certain topics in Christian theology | 29:33 | |
play right into this general resistance | 29:35 | |
to hearing the gospel for what it is, | 29:38 | |
and in light of today's lesson, | 29:40 | |
I'm thinking particularly of the topic of judgment. | 29:42 | |
Judgment, one of the most easily-misunderstood | 29:46 | |
aspects of Christian theology. | 29:49 | |
As you may know from your own experience, | 29:52 | |
preaching about judgment has long been used | 29:54 | |
as a means of browbeating people into belief. | 29:57 | |
Some of my earliest memories in church | 30:01 | |
have to do with the terror I felt | 30:04 | |
when the preacher blasted the congregation | 30:06 | |
with forewarnings of hellfire and brimstone to come | 30:08 | |
if we didn't make a decision for Christ. | 30:11 | |
Interestingly, with all the stress on the decision | 30:15 | |
we had to make, | 30:18 | |
I don't remember nearly so much attention | 30:19 | |
being given to the decision God had already made for us. | 30:21 | |
Well, this is known as judgment-as-settling-score, | 30:26 | |
the reward and punishment approach, | 30:29 | |
and amazingly enough, | 30:31 | |
these sermons get some of the very best press. | 30:32 | |
Witness the success of many a televangelist. | 30:36 | |
You can bet on a judge known for death sentences | 30:39 | |
to draw a bigger crowd than one known for acquittals. | 30:42 | |
And so, the church has grown so accustomed | 30:46 | |
to hearing sermons about what it is God is going to do to us | 30:48 | |
as a means of threatening us into action | 30:53 | |
that it's just hard to take a preacher seriously | 30:56 | |
who claims that God has taken away the sins of the world | 30:58 | |
and has already absolved all our records. | 31:02 | |
John 3:16 may be one of the church's most beloved passages, | 31:06 | |
but John 3:17 is surely one of the toughest to preach. | 31:10 | |
"For God did not send His Son into the world | 31:15 | |
"that He might condemn, or judge the world, | 31:17 | |
"but that the world might be saved through Him." | 31:20 | |
A verse John considers important enough | 31:24 | |
to restate in the 12th chapter. | 31:26 | |
It's hard to ask people to believe, as Paul does, | 31:29 | |
the logical consequence of that statement, | 31:32 | |
that "there is therefore, now, no condemnation | 31:34 | |
"to those who are in Christ Jesus." | 31:38 | |
Because when you do that, some pretty tough questions | 31:41 | |
start popping up, like, "What about Hitler?" | 31:43 | |
Now updated to include, "What about Saddam?" | 31:47 | |
"What about child molesters?" | 31:50 | |
"What about my boss, the tyrant?" | 31:53 | |
Or, as Robert Capon, to whom I am indebted | 31:55 | |
for several of his ideas about judgment puts it, | 31:58 | |
"What have you done with the Hell we know and love?" | 32:01 | |
You can see the bind these texts put a preacher in | 32:06 | |
as she tries her best to prepare a well-reasoned | 32:08 | |
and intellectually-acceptable sermon. | 32:11 | |
There's a lot about the gospel | 32:14 | |
that just flies in the face of reason. | 32:16 | |
Contrary to the guilty expectations | 32:20 | |
which have been nurtured in most Christians over the years, | 32:22 | |
God is not mad at the world. | 32:25 | |
Even when God sends His Son into the world, | 32:29 | |
to whom he has given over all judgment, | 32:31 | |
according to John, | 32:34 | |
this Son, strangely enough, does not judge, | 32:35 | |
but rather, saves. | 32:39 | |
One gets the image, as Capon suggests, | 32:41 | |
of a rigged trial. | 32:44 | |
Of a judgment at which the judge is shamelessly in cahoots | 32:46 | |
with the guilty world, and utterly determined to acquit it | 32:50 | |
no matter what. | 32:54 | |
But, beware of resting too comfortably on John 3:17, | 32:56 | |
as tempting as that is for this preacher. | 33:01 | |
Lest you get the idea that judgment has been | 33:04 | |
done away with in John altogether, | 33:06 | |
as John goes on to enlighten us, | 33:09 | |
those who believe in God's Son are not judged, | 33:11 | |
but those who do not believe | 33:15 | |
have already been judged because they have not believed | 33:17 | |
in the name of the only Son of God. | 33:20 | |
Clear and simple. | 33:23 | |
All the world needs to do to escape judgment is believe. | 33:25 | |
By the gracious action of God, in Christ, | 33:30 | |
the world has already escaped it. | 33:32 | |
We need do nothing to earn this escape, | 33:35 | |
and we certainly have no reason to compile | 33:39 | |
long, questionable list of good works | 33:42 | |
to prove that we deserve to escape judgment. | 33:44 | |
We need not negotiate with God, | 33:48 | |
or try conning God into being lenient. | 33:50 | |
When was the last time you prayed | 33:54 | |
if God would take away some menacing force in your life, | 33:56 | |
you would tithe every week without fudging? | 33:58 | |
To embrace the foolishness of Christ, as Paul writes, | 34:03 | |
requires, as much as anything, | 34:06 | |
to let out a good laugh, | 34:08 | |
loud, and long, and clear as the Mary Poppins song puts it, | 34:09 | |
that the whole business is so graciously easy | 34:14 | |
for those who believe. | 34:17 | |
But, for those who do not believe, | 34:19 | |
for those who will not die in order to live, | 34:22 | |
who go on insisting on responsibility and accountability | 34:26 | |
and all the other dreadful ideas the church has | 34:30 | |
about salvation, | 34:32 | |
for them there is deep trouble. | 34:34 | |
For they have been judged, and condemned. | 34:37 | |
Not by a sentence sent down from God, | 34:40 | |
but by their own refusal to believe in the acceptance | 34:43 | |
which has already been proclaimed. | 34:46 | |
And this is how it works, John writes. | 34:50 | |
"This is the judgment, | 34:53 | |
"that the light has come into the world | 34:55 | |
"and people loved the darkness rather than the light | 34:57 | |
"because their deeds were evil. | 35:01 | |
"For all who do evil hate the light, | 35:03 | |
"and do not come to the light, | 35:06 | |
"lest their deeds be exposed." | 35:08 | |
Yes, Jesus says, there is judgment. | 35:12 | |
But I do not judge you. | 35:14 | |
I have come to lift the curse of the law | 35:17 | |
and give you a yoke that is easy. | 35:20 | |
But, if you insist on taking your stand | 35:22 | |
on the law's demands, rather than on my righteousness, | 35:25 | |
if you will not come to me | 35:28 | |
and let me transform your ugliness into my beauty, | 35:31 | |
if you fear my beauty because you dread its contrast | 35:35 | |
with your ugliness, | 35:39 | |
then there is nothing else I can do. | 35:40 | |
Or to put it another way, according to Capon, | 35:43 | |
Jesus says, "I wish we could do business. | 35:46 | |
"And as a matter of fact, I have gone ahead | 35:49 | |
"and done all the business that needs doing. | 35:50 | |
"But, as long as you keep yourself out there in the dark, | 35:54 | |
"my doing of it might just as well never have happened. | 35:58 | |
"I have put a billion-dollar deal in your left hip pocket, | 36:02 | |
"and you won't even move your hand to check it out. | 36:04 | |
"You have judged yourself." | 36:08 | |
Of course, the reality is that | 36:12 | |
we judge ourselves almost every day, | 36:13 | |
beginning with our first look in the mirror each morning. | 36:16 | |
And from that point on, | 36:20 | |
we may spend much of our day | 36:21 | |
trying to soften that judgment as much as possible. | 36:23 | |
When the hard truth doesn't turn out to suit us, | 36:27 | |
in the bright light of day, | 36:29 | |
we've become very creative | 36:31 | |
at offering substitutes for it, | 36:33 | |
or perhaps ignoring it altogether. | 36:35 | |
That is, we're good at clinging to darkness. | 36:38 | |
I'm reminded of a story told several years ago | 36:42 | |
from this pulpit by Tom Long of Princeton Seminary | 36:44 | |
about the son of a divorced couple, | 36:48 | |
who lived with his mother, but lived for the rare occasions | 36:51 | |
when he could visit with his father. | 36:55 | |
One such occasion was about to occur, | 36:58 | |
when the boy received an invitation from his dad | 37:00 | |
to attend the circus with him. | 37:03 | |
It was the best news he'd gotten in months, | 37:07 | |
and so, everything began to revolve around his plans | 37:08 | |
to visit the circus with his dad. | 37:11 | |
As soon as the advertisements appeared in the paper, | 37:15 | |
he cut them out, and proudly tacked them | 37:17 | |
on the bulletin board in his room. | 37:19 | |
He told all of his friends about it, | 37:22 | |
and he even bought some new clothes for the big occasion. | 37:24 | |
But, when the hour came for the father to pick his son up | 37:29 | |
at the house, there was no father. | 37:31 | |
Even as the boy's mother tried to comfort him, | 37:35 | |
and assure him that something must have come up | 37:37 | |
at the last minute, | 37:40 | |
the handwriting was on the wall. | 37:41 | |
The boy knew his father had forgotten him. | 37:44 | |
There would be no circus. | 37:47 | |
There would be no father. | 37:50 | |
What happened to this father, I wonder? | 37:53 | |
The story does not give us an answer, | 37:57 | |
but it leaves me with the feeling | 37:59 | |
that this was a father clinging, somehow, to his darkness, | 38:01 | |
rather than face the judgment | 38:06 | |
of his own son's glistening, expectant eyes. | 38:07 | |
He tried to protect himself from the truth | 38:11 | |
in a feeble attempt to manipulate it, | 38:13 | |
and he thereby judged himself. | 38:16 | |
Undoubtedly, it was this man's habit, | 38:19 | |
avoiding the truth, manipulating it for his own purposes. | 38:21 | |
I can't think of a quicker way to set oneself | 38:26 | |
straight down the road into eternal darkness. | 38:29 | |
Getting a little closer to home, | 38:34 | |
I was pondering, just this week, | 38:35 | |
the ways in which our country | 38:37 | |
has tried to escape judgment of ourselves | 38:40 | |
by limiting the images of war, | 38:42 | |
which shape our understanding of war. | 38:44 | |
This became a critical issue for the first time | 38:48 | |
over the past several weeks | 38:50 | |
as war was waged on prime time television. | 38:51 | |
How much information? | 38:55 | |
What kind of images were we, the public, | 38:57 | |
to be exposed to regarding casualties | 38:59 | |
and human suffering on the side of the enemy? | 39:02 | |
Early on, General Schwarzkopf responded | 39:06 | |
to some reporters' questions about this | 39:08 | |
with a simple answer. | 39:10 | |
"We're not going to get into body counts." | 39:11 | |
But, as the war progressed, | 39:15 | |
opportunities began to present themselves | 39:17 | |
for photographers to beam back images, | 39:19 | |
pictures of corpses strewn across the landscape, | 39:22 | |
most notably in the bombing of the military headquarters, | 39:26 | |
which also posed as a civilian shelter. | 39:29 | |
Fortunately for us, at least, | 39:33 | |
the news rapidly shifted away from this grisly scene. | 39:35 | |
You remember when talks about peace initiatives | 39:38 | |
began to surface in Moscow, | 39:41 | |
but the impressions which remained were indelible. | 39:43 | |
How long could we be expected to actually look | 39:47 | |
at the bodies of the dead and wounded victims | 39:50 | |
and continue our bombing | 39:53 | |
with such unabashed enthusiasm? | 39:54 | |
Needless to say, we were all relieved | 39:58 | |
when there weren't any more such scenes | 40:00 | |
to stare us in the face, | 40:02 | |
because it was almost too much to bear. | 40:04 | |
A hard look at the actual cost of war, | 40:07 | |
in terms of human suffering | 40:09 | |
was a perspective most of us felt | 40:11 | |
we couldn't afford to have, | 40:13 | |
because once we did get a look at those Iraqi men | 40:15 | |
dressed up like soldiers, with their white flags waving, | 40:18 | |
just about everyone I know, | 40:22 | |
and even a few of the American soldiers, it seemed, | 40:24 | |
were moved, at least a little, to have compassion on them. | 40:27 | |
It's tough waging war against, and having compassion for, | 40:32 | |
the same people at the same time. | 40:35 | |
As you must have heard, | 40:41 | |
we were blessed, here at the Chapel, just a week ago now, | 40:42 | |
by the presence of two brothers and two sisters | 40:45 | |
living in religious communities, | 40:48 | |
Taize and Little Sisters of Jesus. | 40:50 | |
They talked, sang and prayed with us for an entire week, | 40:53 | |
bringing with them the essence of Christian spirituality: | 40:58 | |
simplicity, centeredness, relationships to the poor, | 41:01 | |
openness to the movement of the Holy Spirit. | 41:06 | |
A mixed group of people participated | 41:10 | |
in their thrice-daily services: | 41:12 | |
students, staff, townspeople, | 41:15 | |
Protestant, Catholics and undecideds. | 41:17 | |
And almost all of us had a similar reaction. | 41:21 | |
We were moved! | 41:24 | |
We all felt these visitors had brought something deep, | 41:25 | |
something authentically Christian with them. | 41:29 | |
I began to hear stray comments from students | 41:33 | |
during the week, saying things like, | 41:36 | |
"I feel as if my life has become too scattered." | 41:38 | |
"I wish I could be more like them." | 41:42 | |
"I'm rethinking my career goals." | 41:45 | |
"I'm going to devote more time to prayer | 41:48 | |
"and study of scripture." | 41:51 | |
It was the closest thing to a real revival | 41:53 | |
I've ever seen at Duke Chapel! | 41:55 | |
"But where did these comments come from," | 41:58 | |
I wondered to myself. | 42:00 | |
"What were these students really saying?" | 42:01 | |
I've since decided | 42:05 | |
there was some judgment going on that week, | 42:07 | |
but without a single word of chastisement being uttered. | 42:10 | |
The light of Christ, | 42:14 | |
which radiated from these humble men and women, | 42:15 | |
was bright enough to illumine | 42:18 | |
even the dingiest, dirtiest corners of our lives, | 42:20 | |
and it was the most freeing thing in the world. | 42:24 | |
Every person who was touched by it | 42:27 | |
had no alternative but to confess | 42:29 | |
his or her sinfulness, and get busy doing the truth, | 42:32 | |
as John refers to those who come to the light. | 42:36 | |
Which is all that Jesus asks of any of us, after all. | 42:40 | |
Doing the truth isn't so much doing good works | 42:44 | |
as it is bringing our ugliness out of the dark | 42:48 | |
into the light, | 42:52 | |
and letting the acceptance of Christ shine upon it, | 42:53 | |
which is the real purpose of Christian confession, | 42:57 | |
after all, in case you've wondered. | 42:59 | |
Clearly, we're not telling God, in confession, | 43:02 | |
anything God doesn't already know. | 43:05 | |
And, if you're hoping to strike a deal with God | 43:08 | |
just because you 'fessed up about your shortcomings, | 43:11 | |
forget it! | 43:14 | |
The whole point is to bring our sins | 43:15 | |
to the light of Jesus, and to see plain as day | 43:18 | |
that they were forgiven all along. | 43:21 | |
To put it in the rather startling terms of the exultet, | 43:25 | |
the Latin proclamation sung on Easter eve, | 43:28 | |
"We force ourselves to rejoice over sin, | 43:32 | |
"because it has become the occasion of God's grace." | 43:35 | |
We've always been home free! | 43:39 | |
Lightened, even in the darkness, | 43:41 | |
by the light of light in which we were wrought. | 43:43 | |
What better news could I bring to you today? | 43:48 | |
God decided a long time ago | 43:51 | |
that an eye for an eye won't work, | 43:53 | |
because all it does is double the number of people | 43:56 | |
without eyes. | 43:58 | |
A judgment that works only by punishing sinners | 44:01 | |
and rewarding the righteous produces all Hell | 44:03 | |
and no kingdom! | 44:06 | |
There are just too many sinners, and not enough righteous. | 44:07 | |
That is, there are no righteous. | 44:11 | |
The only thing powerful enough | 44:15 | |
to overcome the evil in the world | 44:16 | |
was for Christ to take it into Himself on the cross, | 44:18 | |
to drop it down into the black hole of His death | 44:23 | |
and to make a new creation by the power of His resurrection. | 44:26 | |
If you believe it, I think you'll agree with me, | 44:32 | |
grace is the only game in town. | 44:35 | |
Thanks be to God! | 44:40 | |
(organ plays St. Agnes) | 44:49 | |
♪ Jesus, united by Thy grace ♪ | 45:18 | |
♪ And each to each endeared ♪ | 45:26 | |
♪ With confidence we seek Thy grace ♪ | 45:32 | |
♪ And know our prayer is heard ♪ | 45:40 | |
♪ Still let us own our common Lord ♪ | 45:48 | |
♪ And bear Thy easy yoke ♪ | 45:56 | |
♪ A band of love, a threefold cord ♪ | 46:02 | |
♪ Which never can be broke ♪ | 46:10 | |
♪ Make us into one Spirit drink ♪ | 46:19 | |
♪ Baptize into Thy name ♪ | 46:27 | |
♪ And let us always kindly think ♪ | 46:33 | |
♪ And sweetly speak, the same ♪ | 46:41 | |
♪ Touched by the lodestone of Thy love ♪ | 46:50 | |
♪ Let all our hearts agree ♪ | 46:58 | |
♪ And ever toward each other move ♪ | 47:04 | |
♪ And ever move towards Thee ♪ | 47:12 | |
♪ To Thee, inseparably joined ♪ | 47:21 | |
♪ Let all our spirits cleave ♪ | 47:29 | |
♪ O may we all the loving mind ♪ | 47:35 | |
♪ That was in Thee receive ♪ | 47:44 | |
♪ This is the bond of perfectness ♪ | 47:53 | |
♪ Thy spotless charity ♪ | 48:02 | |
♪ O let us, still we pray, possess ♪ | 48:08 | |
♪ The mind that was in Thee ♪ | 48:17 | |
Margaret | The Lord be with you! | 48:28 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 48:30 |
- | Let us pray. | 48:32 |
Be seated. | 48:33 | |
O God of history and God of love, | 48:42 | |
it is difficult to sing your songs of gladness, | 48:47 | |
for in the midst of life, | 48:50 | |
we are surrounded by death. | 48:52 | |
The death that works in our minds and spirits, | 48:56 | |
the death that works in our bodies, | 48:59 | |
the death of dreams, the death of hope, | 49:02 | |
the death of promises. | 49:05 | |
O God of the living and the dead, | 49:08 | |
touch our souls with a song of remembrance | 49:11 | |
of what you have done for us | 49:14 | |
as we sit and weep. | 49:17 | |
The song of the cross, we know, will comfort us | 49:21 | |
when sadness threatens to absorb us and devour us. | 49:24 | |
Let us remember that we are witnesses of your grace, | 49:30 | |
which has the power of reconciling all persons, | 49:33 | |
even ourselves, to Yourself. | 49:37 | |
We, as your children, lift our concerns | 49:42 | |
with the needs and the pain of the world. | 49:44 | |
For those who fight, and are filled with hatred and rage, | 49:49 | |
for those who exclude each other, | 49:53 | |
let them taste, o Lord, the everlasting kindness | 49:56 | |
that expresses itself in care and concern, | 50:00 | |
rather than in war and intolerance. | 50:04 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 50:08 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 50:10 |
- | For those who are homeless, oppressed and poor | 50:13 |
in a world that suffers from lack of wholeness and meaning, | 50:16 | |
visit them, set them on new paths, and open to them | 50:21 | |
new ways of live. | 50:25 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 50:28 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 50:30 |
- | For those who are victims of exploitation, | 50:33 |
neglect and ignorance, | 50:35 | |
let them experience the living life of Christ, | 50:38 | |
who shared the nameless pain of those | 50:41 | |
who have no other hope than God. | 50:44 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 50:48 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 50:50 |
- | For those who are sick, suffering and dying around us, | 50:53 |
let them receive strength in their weakness, | 50:56 | |
for your power is mighty in those who are weak. | 51:00 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 51:05 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 51:07 |
- | For those in this university who are traveling, | 51:10 |
for those who are away for rest and relaxation, | 51:13 | |
for those of our chapel community working | 51:16 | |
in the Honduras mission project, | 51:18 | |
we ask that spirits be renewed and refreshed, | 51:21 | |
that tasks be accomplished, | 51:24 | |
friendships strengthened, and good news lived and taught. | 51:27 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 51:32 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 51:34 |
- | Those who are battered and torn | 51:36 |
from the war in the Middle East, | 51:37 | |
for those confused, in pain, and vengeful, | 51:39 | |
may they find answers to their multiple problems | 51:44 | |
in a land of tears and violence. | 51:47 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 51:51 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 51:53 |
- | We pray for the leaders of the nations. | 51:55 |
May they work as diligently for a lasting peace | 51:58 | |
as they do to win wars. | 52:01 | |
Grant an end to all hatred, fear and the fascination of war, | 52:04 | |
and may your kingdom come, through Christ our Lord. | 52:10 | |
Amen. | 52:15 | |
When we love, we want to give. | 52:19 | |
If we loved God enough, we would give away our lives. | 52:22 | |
May the gifts we bring be love offerings | 52:26 | |
which reach into all the world, | 52:29 | |
saving lives and making life more worthwhile. | 52:32 | |
(organ plays quietly) | 52:39 | |
(pitch pipe plays note) | 53:57 | |
Harmon | And on that day, | 54:01 |
a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. | 54:03 | |
And they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea | 54:07 | |
and Samaria, except the apostles. | 54:10 | |
Devout men buried Stephen, | 54:13 | |
and made great lamentation over him. | 54:15 | |
(choir sings softly) | 54:19 | |
But Saul laid waste to the church, | 54:25 | |
and entering house after house, | 54:28 | |
he dragged off men and women, | 54:30 | |
and committed them to prison. | 54:32 | |
(choir sings softly) | 54:34 | |
Now, those who were scattered went about | 54:37 | |
preaching the word. | 54:40 | |
Unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, | 54:42 | |
crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed | 54:45 | |
or lame were healed. | 54:49 | |
(choir sings softly) | ||
Saul, breathing threats and murder | 54:55 | |
against the disciples of the Lord. | 54:57 | |
♪ Saul, Saul ♪ | 55:02 | |
♪ Saul, Saul ♪ | 55:07 | |
♪ Saul, Saul ♪ | 55:11 | |
♪ You simply have murdered ♪ | 55:13 | |
♪ Disciples of the Lord ♪ | 55:16 | |
(dramatic organ music) | 55:20 | |
He went to the high priest, | 55:35 | |
and asked him | 55:37 | |
for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, | 55:38 | |
so that if any be found belonging to the way, | 55:41 | |
men or women, he might bring them bound, | 55:44 | |
in chains, back to Jerusalem. | 55:47 | |
♪ Bring them bound in chains, ♪ | 55:51 | |
♪ Bound in chains ♪ | 55:54 | |
♪ To Jerusalem ♪ | 55:55 | |
(dramatic, dissonant organ music) | 56:02 | |
Now, as he journeyed, he approached Damascus, | 56:11 | |
and suddenly, a light from heaven | 56:16 | |
flashed about him, and he fell to the ground, | 56:18 | |
and heard a voice, saying to him... | 56:21 | |
♪ Oh ♪ | 56:27 | |
♪ Oh ♪ | 56:30 | |
♪ Oh ♪ | 56:33 | |
♪ Saul ♪ | 56:42 | |
♪ Saul ♪ | 56:56 | |
♪ Saul, why ♪ | 57:02 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 57:06 | |
♪ Why do you persecute me ♪ | 57:17 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 57:25 | |
♪ Why do you persecute ♪ | 57:34 | |
♪ Why do you persecute me ♪ | 57:39 | |
(dramatic organ cadence) | 57:49 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 57:53 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 57:55 | |
♪ Why do you persecute me ♪ | 58:00 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 58:05 | |
♪ Why do you persecute me ♪ | 58:07 | |
♪ Why, why, why ♪ | 58:12 | |
♪ Do you persecute me ♪ | 58:15 | |
♪ Why do you persecute me ♪ | 58:20 | |
♪ Why, why ♪ | 58:27 | |
(dramatic organ chords) | 58:32 | |
♪ Why, why ♪ | 58:39 | |
(dramatic organ chords) | 58:44 | |
♪ Why, why ♪ | 58:51 | |
(dramatic organ chords) | 58:59 | |
♪ Why do you persecute ♪ | 59:13 | |
♪ Me ♪ | 59:23 | |
♪ Saul ♪ | 59:27 | |
♪ Why ♪ | 59:33 | |
(late chord fades) | 59:36 | |
(quit footsteps echo) | 59:45 | |
(quiet organ music rises to crescendo) | 59:52 | |
(organ plays doxology) | 1:00:10 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 1:00:46 | |
♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 1:00:55 | |
♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts ♪ | 1:01:03 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 1:01:12 | |
- | O God, with deep thanksgiving, | 1:01:28 |
we acknowledge that we cannot escape your mercy and love. | 1:01:31 | |
You search us out, wherever we may be. | 1:01:36 | |
Your love is like a mother's blanket, | 1:01:40 | |
enfolding and protecting us wherever we go. | 1:01:43 | |
If we've traveled to the heights of the universe, | 1:01:48 | |
and the depths of the seas, | 1:01:51 | |
your love is there. | 1:01:53 | |
If we fall into the pits of sin, your love is there. | 1:01:55 | |
When the truth of your love and the cross | 1:02:00 | |
opposes the darkness that we love, | 1:02:03 | |
the light of your judgment and truth | 1:02:06 | |
graciously shines. | 1:02:08 | |
As we raise these gifts of our love for You, | 1:02:11 | |
may the shadow of the cross and the light of Your truth | 1:02:14 | |
overcome all the darkness, the separation, | 1:02:18 | |
and the evil of our world. | 1:02:22 | |
Give to us the hope of a future that is already present | 1:02:25 | |
in the life of Christ, and in the life | 1:02:29 | |
which He brings to us. | 1:02:32 | |
In the name of the Christ, who taught us to pray, saying | 1:02:35 | |
Congregation | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 1:02:39 |
hallowed be Thy name. | 1:02:42 | |
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, | 1:02:45 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 1:02:48 | |
Give us this day our daily bread. | 1:02:50 | |
Forgive us our trespasses, | 1:02:53 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:02:56 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 1:03:00 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 1:03:02 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 1:03:04 | |
and the glory, forever. | 1:03:07 | |
Amen. | 1:03:09 | |
- | And now, may we go in peace, | 1:03:12 |
knowing that God is rich in mercy, | 1:03:15 | |
has sent out of great compassion for us, | 1:03:18 | |
and raised us up, and made us to sit with Christ, | 1:03:21 | |
in the heavenly places. | 1:03:24 | |
May we go out in joy, | 1:03:26 | |
knowing that Christ's love and forgiveness is forever. | 1:03:28 | |
May we go out in love, | 1:03:33 | |
seeking to serve Christ all the days of our lives. | 1:03:35 | |
In the name of the Father, and of the Son | 1:03:40 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, amen. | 1:03:43 | |
(organ plays Cwm Rhondda) | 1:03:47 | |
♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪ | 1:04:11 | |
♪ On Thy people pour Thy power ♪ | 1:04:16 | |
♪ Crown the ancient church's story ♪ | 1:04:22 | |
♪ Bring its bud to glorious flower ♪ | 1:04:27 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:04:33 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:04:39 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:04:44 | |
♪ Lo, the hosts of evil round us ♪ | 1:04:52 | |
♪ Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways ♪ | 1:04:58 | |
♪ From the fears that long have bound us ♪ | 1:05:04 | |
♪ Free our hearts to love and praise ♪ | 1:05:09 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:05:15 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:05:21 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:05:26 | |
♪ Cure Thy children's warring madness ♪ | 1:05:34 | |
♪ Bend our pride to Thy control ♪ | 1:05:40 | |
♪ Shame our wanton, selfish gladness ♪ | 1:05:45 | |
♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪ | 1:05:51 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:05:57 | |
♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:06:03 | |
♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:06:09 | |
♪ Set our feet on lofty places ♪ | 1:06:18 | |
♪ Gird our lives that they may be ♪ | 1:06:23 | |
♪ Armored with all Christlike graces ♪ | 1:06:29 | |
♪ Pledged to set all captives free ♪ | 1:06:35 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:06:41 | |
♪ That we fail not them nor Thee ♪ | 1:06:47 | |
♪ That we fail not them nor Thee ♪ | 1:06:54 | |
(organ plays florid, uptempo postlude) | 1:07:07 |
File Info
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