dcrau001146001.wav / Rufus H. Stark, II - "Straightforward about Truth" Alumni Sunday (June 12, 1983) / Duke Digital Repository

(organ music)

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(footsteps)

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(organ music)

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(soloist singing in Latin)

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(church choir signing)

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(organ music)

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(church choir singing Hallelujah)

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Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our creator

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and Jesus Christ, our redeemer, in the faith.

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If we say we have no sin,

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we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

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Let us then confess out sins before almighty god,

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and in the presence of onto another.

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Let us pray.

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(shuffling)

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Oh god, who creates us and calls us to live in freedom,

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we confess that often we tolerate those laws that neglect

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the needs of others.

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Our vision is narrow and short sighted, even as we claim

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special honors for ourselves, we deny them to others.

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By working against your holy purposes, we limit our growth

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and impede your truth.

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Forgive us, O' Lord.

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Send your spirit into our lives once more.

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Help us to know and recapture your hope for all people.

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Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

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Hear this good news.

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There is nothing, absolutely nothing,

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that can separate us from the providence of God,

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or the love of Christ, Jesus.

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In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.

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Let us then give thanks, for god is good,

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and God's love is ever lasting.

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Thanks be to god, whose love creates us.

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Thanks be to god, whose mercy redeems us.

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Thanks be to god, whose grace leads us into the future.

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We welcome this beautiful Sunday morning,

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the third Sunday after Pentecost,

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and, also Alumni Reunion Sunday,

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here at Duke University Chapel.

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We're delighted that you have chosen to come

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and worship with us,

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especially those of you who are returning to Duke

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having been here in this academic community

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at other times and places in your lives.

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We want to lift up the reunion classes

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that have gathered this year

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to especially celebrate their connection to Duke University.

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The reunion classes of 1928, 33, 38, 43, 48, 53,

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58, 63, 68, 73, and always, the half-century club.

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We are delighted that you are here with us.

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Some of you would like to know that returning alumni

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are singing in the choir today.

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Some of them have sung in other years here

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at Duke in the chapel choir.

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I hope some have come just for the thrill and fun

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of it this Sunday.

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You are invited to an organ recital at 5 o'clock here

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in the chapel this afternoon.

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It will be given by Shane Dowdy.

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Himself, a fairly recent graduate of Duke University.

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The concert is for 5 o'clock.

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The public is cordially invited to attend.

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There is no charge.

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Many of you will want to have an update

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on the Reverend, Dr. Robert T. Young,

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Minister to Duke University and dean of Duke Chapel.

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As some of you are aware,

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Bob underwent bypass surgery Monday of last week.

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We are delighted to share that he is recuperating very well.

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The signs look good, and we rejoice in his good health

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and the prospects ahead for him.

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He is very grateful for your prayers,

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your continued support,

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and the many ways you have found to be in touch

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with him and his family in this time of need.

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We are very honored and privileged today

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to have for our guest preacher for Alumni Sunday

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the Reverend Rufus H. Stark II.

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Until annual conference met,

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Reverend stark was the senior minister

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of the first United Methodist Church

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in Morehead City, North Carolina.

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He has just been appointed the executive director

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of the Methodist home for children in Raleigh.

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Reverend Stark is a graduate of Duke University

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and also from the divinity school.

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Members of his family have graduated from Duke as well,

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as you will note in the bulletin

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He is closely tied to Duke;

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has loved this place for many years.

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we feel privileged to have Reverend Stark be our preacher

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for this special Sunday.

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He is a native of North Carolina;

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has had a long and distinguished career in parish ministry,

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and has also distinguished himself by participation

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in community and civic affairs

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in the various places he has served.

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Members of his family, his children,

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are here with him today,

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and his wife, Betty Lou.

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we are delighted to have them here with us.

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We know that you joined with us

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in anticipating the sermon of this morning.

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The sermon title is, "Straight Forward about Truth".

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Older Woman

Let us pray.

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Oh Lord, our god, who by the entrance

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of your word gives light unto the sow.

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Pour down upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

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That being taught by you in holy scripture,

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we may receive with faith,

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the words of eternal life and be made wise unto salvation.

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Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

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The Old Testament lesson is from Second Samuel,

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the eleventh chapter, 26th verse,

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through the twelfth chapter, tenth verse. Verses 13 and 15.

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When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead,

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she made lamentation for her husband.

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When the mourning was over,

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David sent for brought her to his house,

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and she became his wife, and bore him a son.

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But, the thing that David had done had displeased the Lord.

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And, the Lord sent Nathan to David.

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He came to him and said to him:

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"There were two men in a certain city.

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The one rich, and the other poor.

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The rich man had very many flocks and herds.

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The poor man owned nothing but one little, ewe lamb

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which he had bought.

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He had brought it up and it grew up with his children.

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It used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup.

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Lined his bosom and it was like a daughter unto him.

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Now their came a traveler to the rich man,

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and he was unwilling to take one his own flock or herd

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to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him.

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He took the poor man's lamb and prepared it

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for the man whom had come to him."

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David's anger was greatly kindled against the man.

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He said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives,

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the man who would do such a thing deserves to die!

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And, he shall restore the lamb four fold

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cause he did this thing, and because he had no pity"

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And, Nathan said to David, "You are that man!

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Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.

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I anointed you king of Israel,

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and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

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I gave you your master's house and your masters wives

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into your bosom and gave you the house of Israel and Judah.

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If this were too little,

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I would add to you as much more.

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Why have you despised the word

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of the Lord and do this evil in his light?

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You have smitten Uriah the Hittite

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with a sword, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite

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to be your wife.

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David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."

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And, Nathan said to David, "The Lord, also,

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has put away your sin.

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You shall not die."

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Then Nathan went to his house,

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here ends the reading from the Old Testament.

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The epistle lesson is from Galatians,

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chapter 2 verses 11 through 21.

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When Cephas came to Antioch,

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I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

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For before certain men came from James,

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he ate with the Gentiles.

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But when he came back,

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He separated himself fearing the circumcision party.

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And with him, the rest of the Jews acted insincerely,

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so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity.

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When I saw that they were not straightforward

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about the truth of the gospel,

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I said to Cephas before them all,

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"If you, though a Jew, live like a gentile,

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and not like a jew, how can you compel the gentiles

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to live like Jews?"

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We ourselves who are Jew by birth and not gentile sinners,

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yet know that a man is not justified by works of the law,

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but through faith in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified

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by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,

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because by works of the law shall no one be justified.

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But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ,

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we ourselves were found to be sinners,

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is Christ then an agent of sin?

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Certainly not!

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But, if I build up again those things

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which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor.

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For, I through the law, died to the law,

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that I might live to God.

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I have been crucified with Christ.

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It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

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And, the life I now live in the flesh,

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I live by faith in the son of god,

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who loved me and gave himself from me.

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I do not nullify the grace of god, for if justification

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were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.

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Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson.

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(orchestra playing)

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(Church choir singing)

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Will the congregation please stand

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for the reading of the gospel lesson.

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(shuffling)

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The gospel lesson is from Luke, chapter seven, verse 36

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through chapter eight verse three.

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One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him.

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And, he went into the pharoses house

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and took his place at the table.

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And, behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner.

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When she learned he was at the table in the Pharisees house,

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brought an alabaster flask of ointment.

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And, standing behind him at his feet, weeping,

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she began to wet his feet with her tears,

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and wiped them with the hair of her head,

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and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

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And, when the Pharisee who had invited him, saw it,

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he said to himself,

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"If this man were a prophet,

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he would have known who and what sort of woman

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this is who is touching him.

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For she is a sinner."

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Jesus, answering ,said to him,

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"Simon, I have something to say to you."

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He answered, "What is it teacher?"

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"A certain creditor had two debtors.

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One owed five hundred dineri, and the other owed fifty.

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When they could not pay, he forgave them both.

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Now which of them will love him more?"

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Simon answered, "The one, I suppose,

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to whom he forgave more."

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He said to him, "You have judged rightly."

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Then turning towards the woman he said to Simon,

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"Do you see this woman?

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I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet.

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She has wet my feet with her tears

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and wiped them with her hair.

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You gave me no kiss,

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but from the time I came in,

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she has no ceased to kiss my feet.

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You did not anoint my head with oil,

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but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

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Therefore, I tell you, her sins,

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which are many, are forgiven.

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For she loved much,

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but he who is forgiven little, loves little."

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And he said to her, " Your sins are forgiven."

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Then those who were at table with him began to say

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among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

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He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.

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Go in Peace".

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Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages,

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preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of god.

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The twelve were with him,

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and also some women who had been healed

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of evil spirits and infirmities.

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Mary, called Magdalen, from whom seven demons had gone out.

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And, Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward,

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and Susanna, and many others,

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who provided from them of their needs.

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So endeth the reading of the word.

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(organ music)

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(Church choir singing)

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Reverend Stark

Let us join in pray as we pray

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for one another in preparation

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for the preaching of the word.

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Amen.

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I came early this morning, to stand in this place,

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keenly aware of the honor paid me to ask me

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to occupy this pulpit,

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and then I went downstairs to hang my robe

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in preparation for the service.

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There on the walls of the gathering place,

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the great portrait of Dean Clellan,

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Doctor Hickman, peering at me.

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And I stood in awe before them for a moment,

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and then I realized they were praying for me,

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and I felt better.

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Being straightforward about truth

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might seem rather heavy and demanding,

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a theme for this alumni weekend.

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Especially in view of the plight, of those of us like I am,

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who are 30 years out.

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When we greet one another,

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30 years older and proclaim to each other,

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"why you haven't changed a bit!"

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How to handle the truth on alumni weekend?

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That is the question.

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We all rather like the preacher who,

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of a large and prominent church, who died and went to heaven

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or was in the process of entering heaven,

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he was surprised to find a long line.

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Was even more surprised to find that he had

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to take his place in that line.

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He became more anxious when he got to the gate

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and the attendant asked him his name.

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"What have you done," the attendant said.

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"Well," he said,

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"I was pastor of the largest church of my connection.

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We had an annual budget of $500,000,

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and we received 400 souls a year

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into the fellowship of the church."

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"Well, that's eight points. What else have you done?"

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Somewhat taken aback, he said,

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"I've written countless and published countless papers

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and five volumes, one in hardback, bear my name."

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"Two points," the attendant said.

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The preacher was getting a bit uneasy and said,

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"How many points do you have to have?"

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He said, "100."

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The preacher said, "100! Goodness,

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only by the grace of god will you get in here."

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"Well, that's worth 90 points, come on in," he said.

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(laughs)

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(parishioners laughing)

But for the Grace of God, none of us would be here.

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That's the truth.

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But, here we are,

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and how glad we are to see each other's face.

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The strong ties of this place call us here and call us back

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and we come gladly.

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You'll permit me a personal word.

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This is a special time for our family.

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My mother, Sarah Desheil, finished here in 1923,

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and is here today for the 60th anniversary celebration

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of her class.

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Betty Lou and I finished in 53,

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30 years later, and we're here today.

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I had a son finish in the interim.

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My oldest son, Tom.

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Then Paul just finished this year,

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60 years after his grandmother.

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And the thing that occurred to me as I thought

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about this involvement of Duke in our lives,

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was that this is not atypical.

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That many of you can say the same.

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That many of our families have several members of the family

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who have been a part of this great school.

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It is that we are truly grateful that I can speak

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on behalf of your, certainly on behalf of us,

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to give thanks to God for the greatness of this place,

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for it's heritage, and for it's benefit in our lives.

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That's being straightforward in the truth.

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The thesis of my sermon this morning is that

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being straightforward about truth is that quality

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that is essential to greatness.

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Now, that sounds like a rather academic,

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self evident statement, and it is.

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Being straightforward about the truth

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is an essential quality

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that makes any university great.

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The liberal arts tradition and education recognizes

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that the university is, on one hand,

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a depository for known perceptions of truth.

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Gathered for generations and recorded in libraries

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and books and on microfilm and computer chips.

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Carefully organized by those of us who teach and who seek

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to lead each generation,

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to discover and accept anew the truth already revealed.

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On the other hand, a liberal arts university is a place

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where teacher and student alike feel free to search

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for truth (short pause) which is ever being discovered.

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To ask any question and to pursue the search

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for truth wherever that search may lead.

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This whole process depends on integrity,

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being straight forward about truth.

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It is an academic matter, obviously so.

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So obvious that one might wonder why the necessity

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to discuss such a matter on a special occasion such as this.

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I do so because being straightforward about truth,

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although it is academic, is never merely academic.

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Being straightforwards about truth is always relational.

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Now we worked together with books

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and papers and lectures

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and notes and exams and theses written and filed away

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and all of that is a part of the process

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of being straightforward about truth.

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But it is always more than that.

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It is how one handles the truth

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that determines the quality of human relationships.

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The lectionary text for today got me

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into this matter, you understand.

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I don't know that anybody would choose

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those three heavy texts for alumni Sunday,

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but following the lectionary gets you

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into quite a struggle sometimes.

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After I reflected upon them,

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I was glad they were designated for today.

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In 2nd Samuel, that great story of David and Nathan

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in the Old Testament.

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Nathan confronts David,

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because David has not been straightforward about truth.

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You know the story.

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The great sin of David, he lusted after the wife

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of one of his soldiers.

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He arranged that the soldier Uriah was

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to go to the battlefront.

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The other troops were to fall away and he fell

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to the enemy in battle.

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After the mourning period, David takes Bathsheba

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for his own wife.

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Nathan confront David, telling him the parable

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about the two men, one rich and one poor.

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The rich man had many flocks,

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and the poor man had but one ewe lamb,

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which he loved dearly.

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The rich man had a bunch of folks coming

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for the alumni weekend, I suppose.

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He took the poor man's ewe lamb and slaughtered

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it for the feast.

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David said, "Mercy, that's terrible, that man should die!"

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David pointed his long boney finger right in the face

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of David and said, "Thou are the man."

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David had not been straightforward

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about the truth that Uriah, Bathsheba were human beings.

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Fully God's children in the sight of God,

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and he had used and exploited other people.

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In the life of Jesus, in the gospel lesson,

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The day we find Jesus being invited into the home

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of a prominent Pharisees, one Simon.

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Had him in for dinner.

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Evidently, Simon was doing this rather begrudgingly.

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After all, he was a high class Pharisee in the city,

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and this man was a peasant carpenter from the country.

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Simon sort of tolerated him, but that's about all.

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None of the amenities of the occasion.

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He didn't wash his feet, he didn't offer to anoint him,

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as was the custom of the times.

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But, as they dined that evening, there came into the room

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a woman of the streets, a prostitute.

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Used and abused by the men of that town,

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and she came in, having somewhere along the road met Jesus.

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She felt accepted by him in a way

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that no one else had treated her.

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She felt a whole person.

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She came hesitantly to his feet and began

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to weep over his feet,

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as her feelings were so evident.

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Grasping a vial of perfume,

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she broke it and anointed his feet,

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and wiped away the residue with her hair.

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Simon was scandalized!

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Jesus, do you not know what kind of woman that is?

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Jesus brought judgment to Simon that day.

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Simon, came to your house you didn't was my feet,

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you never welcomed me with an anointing,

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and yet this poor woman, and we all know her sins are great,

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has come and given me the love I need,

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the affirmation that I need.

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Behold, her sins are forgiven.

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You, Simon, you sin

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because you're not straightforward about truth.

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You do not recognize the worth

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that is an aid in every person

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Then there was the problem of Simon peter.

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This is later on, you understand,

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in the days of the early church over in Antioch.

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Peter and Paul in the thrusting movement of the church

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had been witnessing to the gentile world.

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Which was the real breakthrough of the gospel,

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that the good news of God was for all people.

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Paul and Peter were moving into all directions,

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witnessing to the outside of the gentile world.

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Some of the guys back in Jerusalem were not that liberal.

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They say, "we got to hold back there.

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This things moving too fast. Let's get back to the old ways.

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We've got to be more selective about who we deal with."

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They got to Peter, and in a meeting there in Antioch,

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Peter reversed himself and he refused to eat

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with the gentile Christians.

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Paul says, "I confronted him to his face.

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That's the only way to handle subversion, is up front.

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Face to face."

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He says, writing to us in the Galatian letter,

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"I reprimanded Peter because he was not

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being straightforward with the truth.

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Peter had come to know the great vision of God's love

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for every person, affirming the worth of every person.

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Having known it, he denied it.

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Turned his back upon it."

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Paul brought judgment upon Peter.

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Judgment that was, of course, instructive

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to the great apostle of the church.

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