Wallace H. Kirby - "Lessons from Two Little Girls" Founders' Day (December 11, 1983)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(soft organ music) | 0:03 | |
(organ music quickens) | 5:14 | |
(soft organ music) | 8:40 | |
(soft organ music) | 11:34 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 14:17 | |
- | ♪Beautiful Savior ♪ | 17:13 |
♪ Lord of all nations ♪ | 17:21 | |
♪ Son of God and Son of Man ♪ | 17:30 | |
♪ Glory and honor ♪ | 17:46 | |
♪ Praise adoration ♪ | 17:54 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be Thine ♪ | 18:01 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be Thine ♪ | 18:14 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 18:41 | |
- | This is the special day of the year | 23:28 |
that we gather to remember those whose lives | 23:32 | |
and dedication and contributions | 23:39 | |
made possible the Duke University that we have today. | 23:41 | |
We especially remember the Duke family, | 23:46 | |
Father Washington, the sons, James Buchanan and Benjamin, | 23:51 | |
for their contributions almost throughout | 23:56 | |
the life of this institution in it's beginning days. | 23:59 | |
They were among those citizens of Durham, | 24:05 | |
Methodists concerned with Trinity College | 24:09 | |
located in the middle of the state in a rural region, | 24:12 | |
as the leadership attempted to find | 24:18 | |
a more appropriate setting. | 24:21 | |
It was not a lately arrived at concern for this institution | 24:24 | |
that the Duke family had, from the very beginning. | 24:29 | |
It's always struck me as remarkable that | 24:34 | |
it wasn't just money that that family provided, | 24:37 | |
again, a lesson for us today, | 24:41 | |
because it was Washington Duke at the turn of the century, | 24:44 | |
when university leaders and other parts of the nation | 24:48 | |
were not quite sure, Washington Duke was certain | 24:54 | |
and saw to it that Trinity College | 24:57 | |
admitted women on an equal basis. | 25:01 | |
Almost the first college in the country to do so. | 25:04 | |
Then it was Benjamin Duke, a member of the board of trustees | 25:09 | |
a devout supporter of the Methodist church, | 25:16 | |
who in the historic occasion of the Bassett case, | 25:19 | |
defended academic freedom within the board of Trustees, | 25:24 | |
supporting the faculty, supporting | 25:28 | |
the president of Trinity College, | 25:31 | |
and determining in large part, | 25:34 | |
the direction of that academic freedom | 25:37 | |
was to take in this nation. | 25:40 | |
So we pay tribute today to those | 25:44 | |
who not only helped us financially | 25:47 | |
as this institution began it's service, | 25:50 | |
but those who have helped in so many other ways | 25:54 | |
in shaping the character of this great university. | 25:58 | |
We honor today, and on this occasion every year, | 26:03 | |
not only the original donors that made possible | 26:09 | |
this institution, those that went before the Dukes, | 26:16 | |
those that came after, those today, and those tomorrow. | 26:20 | |
It's not accidental that we call | 26:25 | |
the donors of today founders and make | 26:28 | |
them members of the Founders Society | 26:32 | |
because a great university, in it's enduring purposes, | 26:36 | |
needs to have founders year in and year out, | 26:40 | |
and new founders all of the time, | 26:44 | |
and so today, we express gratitude | 26:47 | |
for all of those who have built Duke University, | 26:49 | |
and made it the outstanding institution that it is. | 26:53 | |
- | Let us pray. | 27:01 |
O, eternal God, the resurrection and the life | 27:05 | |
of all that believe in you, who art always to be praised, | 27:09 | |
as well in the dead as in the living, | 27:15 | |
we give you hearty thanks for your servants. | 27:19 | |
These servants are benefactors of Duke University | 27:22 | |
by whose bounty are here brought up to Godliness | 27:27 | |
and the studies of good learning. | 27:32 | |
Beseeching you that we, well using all these, | 27:35 | |
your blessings, to the praise and honor of your holy name, | 27:39 | |
may at length together with them, | 27:45 | |
and all your servants departed this life, | 27:48 | |
be brought to the immortal glory of the resurrection. | 27:52 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. | 27:56 | |
Let us join together responsively | 28:02 | |
in the litany of commemoration. | 28:05 | |
Almighty and eternal God, | 28:10 | |
in whom our mothers and fathers have trusted, | 28:13 | |
we, their children, at this time of remembrance, | 28:16 | |
offer unto Thee, our prayers of thanksgiving. | 28:20 | |
- | Hear us each, O Lord. | 28:24 |
- | For the members of Duke family, | 28:27 |
father, daughter, sons, and their wives, | 28:30 | |
grandchildren, and all others | 28:34 | |
in continuing generations, until this very day, | 28:36 | |
who, with concern and compassion, devotion and dedication, | 28:41 | |
and by their generosity, built on a solid foundation, | 28:46 | |
continued a worthy school and provided | 28:51 | |
for education and service beyond | 28:54 | |
even their dreams and expectations. | 28:57 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise. | 29:01 |
- | For the pioneering and persevering men and women connected | 29:04 |
with this university, Methodists and Quakers, | 29:08 | |
farmers and merchants, teachers and administrators, | 29:12 | |
who in days gone by, believed in education | 29:16 | |
and made their beliefs prevail. | 29:20 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise. | 29:24 |
- | For the embodiment of their dreams, | 29:26 |
from private school to academy, to college, | 29:29 | |
to great university, founded in hope, | 29:33 | |
continued with sacrifice, growing in outreach, | 29:37 | |
serving with effectiveness. | 29:41 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise. | 29:44 |
- | For faculty and staff, whose vision | 29:47 |
was bolstered by their courage, | 29:50 | |
whose patience was tested and found true, | 29:52 | |
and whose idealism was implanted | 29:56 | |
in the hearts and minds of others. | 29:59 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise. | 30:02 |
- | For the ongoing presence of noble ideas, | 30:05 |
the blending of Eruditio et Religio, | 30:09 | |
the freedom for responsible academic research and teaching, | 30:13 | |
the ongoing respect for both the body and the spirit, | 30:18 | |
the pursuit of knowledge in the sciences and the humanities, | 30:23 | |
the realization that the old order changes, | 30:27 | |
and new days bring new possibilities for us all. | 30:31 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise. | 30:36 |
- | For the future of Duke University, | 30:39 |
established for thy glory and the enlightenment | 30:42 | |
of the human mind and spirit, | 30:46 | |
for consecration to learning by the young, | 30:48 | |
for the best use of the wisdom of those in later years, | 30:52 | |
for the commitment to the growth | 30:57 | |
and enhancement of all persons, | 30:59 | |
for a sense of humor, a spirit of cooperation, | 31:02 | |
and a desire for understanding among all | 31:07 | |
within our community and within the world, | 31:10 | |
- | We give Thee thanks and praise, and to Thee, | 31:14 |
O God, we shall ascribe as is most do, | 31:17 | |
all praise and glory, world without end, Amen. | 31:21 | |
(soft organ music) | 31:31 | |
- | ♪ O come, O come Emmanuel ♪ | 31:36 |
♪ And ransom captive Israel ♪ | 31:43 | |
♪ That mourns in lonely exile here ♪ | 31:50 | |
♪ Until the Son of God appear ♪ | 31:57 | |
♪ Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel ♪ | 32:05 | |
♪ Shall come to Thee O Israel ♪ | 32:14 | |
- | The God whom we gather to worship, | 32:30 |
has watched persons here blessed in baptism, | 32:32 | |
couples united in this place in marriage, | 32:37 | |
celebrations here on the occasion of physical death, | 32:41 | |
pilgrims here sustained by grace through the Lord's supper, | 32:46 | |
petitioning persons here comforted | 32:51 | |
and given direction, answered through prayer, | 32:54 | |
and inquirers, doubters, here enlightened | 32:59 | |
by God's word rightly read, | 33:02 | |
and diligently preached, and properly received. | 33:05 | |
In this place, these old stones with many stories to tell. | 33:11 | |
On this third Sunday in advent, | 33:17 | |
on this Founder's Day, let us worship God. | 33:22 | |
Praying in unison, our Advent Prayer. | 33:29 | |
- | O, blessed Lord, our God, | 33:35 |
in this holy season of Advent, | 33:38 | |
come again to this day, come into our hearts, | 33:40 | |
and so cleanse them that we be pure in heart, | 33:45 | |
may know the peace which comes from Thee, | 33:49 | |
the peace the world can neither give nor take away, | 33:53 | |
come into our minds, and so enlighten and enlumen them, | 33:57 | |
that we may know the one who is | 34:02 | |
the way, the truth, and the life. | 34:04 | |
Touch our lips, that we may speak the words | 34:07 | |
which spread by love, and give others hope and courage | 34:10 | |
in times of special need. | 34:14 | |
Touch our eyes, that they may behold the glory | 34:17 | |
and goodness of Thy handiwork | 34:21 | |
in all that surrounds us in this holy season. | 34:23 | |
Touch our hands, that they may become truly instruments | 34:27 | |
to serve the needs of others, | 34:31 | |
to love as thou would have us love. | 34:34 | |
Come when we are sad, to comfort us, | 34:38 | |
when we are tired, to refresh us, | 34:42 | |
when we are lonely, to cheer us, | 34:45 | |
when we are tempted, to strengthen us, | 34:48 | |
when we are perplexed, to guide us, | 34:51 | |
when we are happy, to make our joy doubly blessed. | 34:55 | |
Come, O blessed Lord, through Jesus Christ, Amen. | 34:59 | |
- | My sisters and my brothers, | 35:41 |
as a community, we have confessed. | 35:44 | |
As a community, we can experience | 35:47 | |
the sense of God's grace, moving us into the future. | 35:49 | |
Know and believe the good news, | 35:54 | |
that in Jesus who was and is the Christ, | 35:58 | |
you and I are a forgiven people. | 36:02 | |
Let us give thanks, for God is good, | 36:06 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 36:09 | |
- | Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us. | 36:12 |
Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us. | 36:16 | |
- | Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future. | 36:20 |
- | This is an exciting time in the life of the university, | 36:28 |
it is a pleasure to be able to welcome you back | 36:33 | |
to the campus, and to this service worship of God. | 36:36 | |
I draw your attention to each of the announcements | 36:42 | |
in the bulletin this morning. | 36:45 | |
It is good to be able to welcome to the pulpit | 36:52 | |
of Duke University Chapel. | 36:55 | |
The Reverend Dr. Wallace Kirby. | 36:58 | |
You will note, that for the last ten years, | 37:02 | |
Dr. Kirby has been the senior minister | 37:05 | |
at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, | 37:07 | |
that is a witness, I believe, to his discipleship, | 37:13 | |
his commitment to ministry in Christ's church. | 37:18 | |
Dr. Wallace is no stranger to this campus. | 37:26 | |
He is our neighbor, he is a trustee. | 37:30 | |
He received one of his degrees from this university | 37:36 | |
from the Divinity School, and so he is coming home. | 37:40 | |
It is good to be able to welcome him back, | 37:45 | |
to say that we look forward to | 37:49 | |
his proclamation of God's word, | 37:50 | |
and the preaching of the sermon, | 37:53 | |
Lessons From Two Little Girls. | 37:55 | |
- | Let us pray. | 38:12 |
O, Lord and lover of us all, | 38:15 | |
cause the pure light of your divine knowledge | 38:19 | |
to shine forth in our hearts, | 38:22 | |
and open the eyes of our understanding | 38:24 | |
that we may comprehend they ways of your Gospel | 38:27 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 38:29 | |
The Old Testament lesson is from Isiah. | 38:35 | |
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. | 38:39 | |
The desert shall rejoice and blossom. | 38:42 | |
Like the crocus, it shall blossom abundantly | 38:45 | |
and rejoice with joy and singing. | 38:47 | |
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. | 38:50 | |
The majesty of Carmel and Sharon, | 38:54 | |
they shall see the Glory of the Lord, | 38:57 | |
and the majesty of our God. | 39:00 | |
Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees, | 39:02 | |
say to those who are of a fearful heart, | 39:06 | |
be strong, fear not, behold, | 39:09 | |
your God will come with vengeance. | 39:13 | |
And with recompenseive God, he will come and save you. | 39:16 | |
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened | 39:21 | |
and the ears of the deaf unstopped, | 39:23 | |
then shall the lain man leap like a heart, | 39:25 | |
and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. | 39:28 | |
For the water shall break forth in the wilderness | 39:32 | |
and streams in the desert. | 39:35 | |
The burning sand shall become a pool | 39:37 | |
and the thirsty ground, springs of water. | 39:39 | |
The haunt of the jackal shall become a swamp, | 39:42 | |
and the grass shall become reeds and rushes. | 39:45 | |
And a highway shall be there, | 39:49 | |
and it shall be called The Holy Way. | 39:51 | |
The unclean shall not pass over it | 39:54 | |
and fools shall not err therein. | 39:56 | |
No line shall be there, nor shall | 39:59 | |
any ravenous beast come upon it, | 40:01 | |
they shall not be found there, | 40:04 | |
but the redeemed shall walk there, | 40:06 | |
and the ransomed of the Lord shall return | 40:09 | |
and come designed with singing. | 40:12 | |
Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. | 40:15 | |
They shall obtain joy and gladness, | 40:18 | |
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. | 40:22 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old testament. | 40:25 | |
The Epistle lesson is from James. | 40:31 | |
Be patient therefore, brethren, | 40:35 | |
until the coming of the Lord. | 40:38 | |
Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit | 40:41 | |
of the earth, being patient over it, | 40:43 | |
until it receives the early and late rain. | 40:45 | |
You also be patient, establish your hearts, | 40:48 | |
for the coming of the Lord is at hand. | 40:53 | |
Do not grumble against one another, | 40:56 | |
they you may not be judged, behold | 40:59 | |
the judge is standing at the doors. | 41:02 | |
As an example of suffering and patience, | 41:05 | |
take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. | 41:07 | |
Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson. | 41:12 | |
(organ plays softly) | 41:19 | |
- | (sings in foreign language) | 41:38 |
- | When John, the Baptist, heard in prison | 46:29 |
about the works of Christ, | 46:32 | |
he sent some of his disciples to him. | 46:34 | |
"Tell us," they asked Jesus, | 46:38 | |
"are you the one John said was going to come? | 46:41 | |
"Or should we expect someone else?" | 46:44 | |
Jesus answered, "Go back and tell John | 46:48 | |
"what you are hearing and seeing. | 46:52 | |
"The blind can see, the lame can walk, | 46:55 | |
"the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, | 46:59 | |
"the dead are raised to life, | 47:03 | |
"and the good news is preached to them who are poor. | 47:05 | |
"Happy is he who has no doubts about me." | 47:09 | |
While John's disciples were going back, | 47:14 | |
Jesus spoke about John to the crowds. | 47:17 | |
"When you went out to John in the desert, | 47:22 | |
"what did you expect to see? | 47:24 | |
"A blade of grass, bending in the wind? | 47:26 | |
"What did you go out to see? | 47:30 | |
"A man dressed up in fancy clothes? | 47:32 | |
"People who dress like that live in palaces. | 47:35 | |
"Tell me, what did you expect to see? A prophet? | 47:38 | |
"Yes, I tell you, you saw much more than a prophet." | 47:43 | |
But John is the one of whom the scripture says, | 47:48 | |
"Here is my messenger," says the God. | 47:51 | |
"I will send him ahead of you to open the way for you." | 47:54 | |
Remember this, John the Baptist | 47:58 | |
is greater than any man who has ever lived. | 48:01 | |
But he who is least in the kingdom of Heaven, | 48:05 | |
is greater than-- | 48:09 |
- | Amen. | 0:04 |
(resonating choral music) | 0:07 | |
I saw a man last October | 1:21 | |
who looked like Santa Claus. | 1:24 | |
He did not have on the traditional red suit. | 1:29 | |
He was wearing blue jeans and a plaid shirt. | 1:32 | |
He was not on a rooftop, or on a sleigh, | 1:36 | |
or even in a parade. | 1:40 | |
He was getting ready to sit down at a seafood dinner | 1:43 | |
at a restaurant in Hazelwood, North Carolina. | 1:46 | |
He had flowing white hair and a white beard, | 1:50 | |
and a pleasant smile. | 1:53 | |
But none of the other things | 1:56 | |
that I usually associate with Santa Claus. | 1:58 | |
However the reaction of two little girls in that restaurant | 2:02 | |
was enough to convince me that he was Santa. | 2:08 | |
They were awestruck. | 2:13 | |
Their eyes were twinkling with excitement. | 2:16 | |
One of them had her doll, and she was too fascinated to | 2:19 | |
speak to Santa, but she held out that doll for him to see. | 2:23 | |
Their mother did most of the talking. | 2:29 | |
Santa grinned and shook hands with the two little girls | 2:32 | |
as the hostess waited patiently to usher him to his table. | 2:35 | |
The little girls backed out of the front door, | 2:41 | |
their eyes staring in wonder and disbelief. | 2:43 | |
That restaurant was the last place | 2:50 | |
they expected to see Santa Claus. | 2:53 | |
It was October, there was no snow on the ground, | 2:57 | |
Christmas was two months away, there had been no parade, | 3:02 | |
there was no even an available fireplace | 3:07 | |
where he could descend, nor was he dressed | 3:11 | |
as one usually expects Santa to be dressed. | 3:14 | |
And yet, to those two little girls, | 3:19 | |
he was there. | 3:24 | |
Neither of them asked him: are you the real Santa Claus, | 3:27 | |
or do we have to wait for Christmas Eve? | 3:30 | |
Even though there were none of the usual | 3:34 | |
and expected things to prove that he was real, he was. | 3:37 | |
To them. | 3:43 | |
They were thrilled and excited to shake his hand. | 3:45 | |
One offered to show him her prized possession | 3:48 | |
and backed away absolutely amazed. | 3:50 | |
I can imagine they called their friends when they got home | 3:55 | |
that night, to tell them about the marvelous thing | 3:58 | |
that had happened to them. | 4:00 | |
They were little girls, maybe four and six years of age. | 4:03 | |
Their concept of Christmas is limited. | 4:10 | |
At this point in their lives, Christmas and Santa Claus | 4:14 | |
are synonymous, but even in their childish concepts, | 4:17 | |
I relearned some lessons | 4:22 | |
from those two little girls. | 4:27 | |
They taught me that Christmas can happen any time, | 4:31 | |
anywhere, Emmanuel, | 4:37 | |
God is with us. | 4:41 | |
They taught me that I should offer to Christmas | 4:43 | |
and to God's presence my very best. | 4:46 | |
And they helped me to learn again, | 4:50 | |
that I should never cease to be amazed, awed by it. | 4:53 | |
And to wonder at it. | 4:59 | |
We do not have to read too far in the gospel records | 5:04 | |
before we discover that John the Baptist was a preacher | 5:07 | |
who did not hesitate to speak out boldly | 5:10 | |
against any kind of evil or wrongdoing. | 5:13 | |
He would not soften the word of God for anyone. | 5:18 | |
He was a man who kept the agenda on the table. | 5:24 | |
And was willing to speak out, | 5:30 | |
even if it endangered his position. | 5:31 | |
He had the kind of | 5:35 | |
openness, honesty, candor, | 5:37 | |
that the current chairman of the Council | 5:43 | |
of Economic Advisors, Martin Feldstein, has, | 5:45 | |
when he persists in pointing out | 5:49 | |
the dangers of deficit spending. | 5:52 | |
John one time spoke out fearlessly | 5:55 | |
and very pointedly, | 5:59 | |
almost too fearlessly and too pointedly for his own safety, | 6:02 | |
King Herod of Galilee had paid a visit | 6:07 | |
to his brother in Rome. | 6:10 | |
During that visit, he seduced his brother's wife. | 6:12 | |
He went back to Galilee, dismissed his own wife, | 6:16 | |
and married this sister-in-law, whom he had lured away | 6:19 | |
from her husband. | 6:22 | |
John rebuked the king, | 6:25 | |
publicly and sternly. | 6:29 | |
It was not safe to denounce Eastern royalty. | 6:32 | |
King Herod got his revenge by throwing John | 6:37 | |
into the dungeons of a prison down in the mountains, | 6:40 | |
near the Dead Sea. | 6:44 | |
And it was there that John began to ask himself | 6:47 | |
some questions about his cousin, Jesus, | 6:52 | |
whom he had baptized in the Jordan. | 6:54 | |
Was he the Messiah? | 6:58 | |
At the beginning, he had been positive that Jesus was the | 7:01 | |
one for whom the Jews had waited with such expectations. | 7:05 | |
Was he right? | 7:11 | |
Now he was beginning to have doubts. | 7:15 | |
John was the forerunner, who recognized Jesus, | 7:18 | |
baptized him, announced him to the world, | 7:22 | |
but here he was, having second thoughts. | 7:24 | |
John's preaching had been a message of doom | 7:29 | |
to those who did not repent. | 7:31 | |
The ax is ready to cut the tree down | 7:34 | |
that does not bear good fruit. | 7:36 | |
The one who comes after me will separate the chaff | 7:39 | |
from the wheat and throw the worthless grain into the fire. | 7:41 | |
But in the dampness and darkness of his prison cell, | 7:47 | |
John was wondering: | 7:52 | |
when is Jesus going to do something? | 7:56 | |
When is he going to blast his enemies? | 8:01 | |
When is the day of God's holy destruction going to begin? | 8:06 | |
Will he ever restore the glory to Israel? | 8:10 | |
So he sent his disciples to Jesus with the question: | 8:14 | |
are you the one who was to come? | 8:18 | |
Or must we go on wearily waiting for someone else? | 8:23 | |
Jesus told those disciples: go back, | 8:27 | |
go back and don't tell John what I am saying. | 8:30 | |
Tell him what I am doing. | 8:32 | |
Don't tell John what I am claiming. | 8:36 | |
Tell him what is happening. | 8:39 | |
Tell him that those who were blind to the truth | 8:42 | |
about themselves and about their fellow men | 8:45 | |
and about God are having their eyes opened. | 8:47 | |
Tell him that those whose feet were never strong enough | 8:52 | |
to stay on the right course are being strengthened. | 8:55 | |
Tell him that those who were deaf to the voice | 9:00 | |
of conscience and of God are beginning to listen. | 9:03 | |
Tell him that I may not be doing the things he expects | 9:07 | |
me to do, but that the real enemies of mankind, | 9:10 | |
guilt, greed, despair, | 9:16 | |
are being overcome. | 9:20 | |
John had doubts because Jesus was not doing the things | 9:24 | |
he expected. | 9:28 | |
Sometimes we have doubts because the way the faith comes | 9:31 | |
to us cuts across all of our ideas of how it ought to come. | 9:36 | |
And that's why I value the lesson those two little girls | 9:41 | |
taught me, that evening in a restaurant in Hazelwood. | 9:44 | |
They taught me that Christmas can come any time. | 9:50 | |
Anywhere. | 9:55 | |
Emmanuel, God is with us. | 9:58 | |
Emmanuel, | 10:06 | |
God is with us in the most unexpected places. | 10:09 | |
And at the most unexpected times. | 10:15 | |
Once at an early morning study and prayer group, | 10:19 | |
I heard a man say: if God would take one of the town's | 10:22 | |
reprobates and change him overnight, | 10:26 | |
it would do more to convince this town | 10:28 | |
of God's presence than anything else. | 10:30 | |
What about Bob, I responded. | 10:35 | |
He was certainly at the bottom; look at him now. | 10:38 | |
Bob had been an alcoholic, hopelessly so. | 10:43 | |
He had drunk himself out of a job, out of a family, | 10:46 | |
out of the town's respect. | 10:49 | |
A new preacher was assigned to the Methodist church | 10:50 | |
in that little town. | 10:53 | |
He and Bob struck up a friendship, | 10:54 | |
and through that influence, | 10:57 | |
Bob started going to AA meetings. | 10:59 | |
Soon he was sober, after three years he was back at work, | 11:01 | |
back with his family, back in church. | 11:04 | |
When I knew him 10 years later, he was a leader | 11:07 | |
in the community, a lay-speaker in his church, | 11:10 | |
and a successful merchant. | 11:13 | |
I wondered, I wondered, I wondered why that transformation | 11:16 | |
had not convinced the town of God's presence. | 11:20 | |
The world has always had trouble recognizing God | 11:26 | |
when he comes; the Hebrews grumbled at Moses. | 11:29 | |
The prophets were considered eccentric. | 11:33 | |
The Bethlehem babe, the teacher on the hillside, | 11:35 | |
the savior on the cross were not enough. | 11:37 | |
We've always had difficulty recognizing the presence | 11:41 | |
of God, because of some preconceived notions | 11:44 | |
of the way God is supposed to come to us. | 11:49 | |
In the city where I live and work, | 11:54 | |
we have a place called The Ark. | 11:56 | |
It's an urban ministry center, supported by 35 churches. | 11:59 | |
In a variety of ways, The Ark seeks to minister | 12:05 | |
to the needs of the poor, the lonely, | 12:08 | |
the desolate, the troubled, the broken. | 12:11 | |
A Roman Catholic sister directs this mission. | 12:14 | |
She is assisted by over 100 volunteers. | 12:17 | |
One of the churches in Raleigh decided to investigate | 12:21 | |
the Ark before lending its support. | 12:24 | |
Members of that church's committee on missions | 12:29 | |
came one morning to spend the day with Sister Helen. | 12:32 | |
They sat with her, as she listened to the visitors | 12:37 | |
who came to that place seeking help. | 12:42 | |
They saw food distributed after verification | 12:45 | |
that there was real need. | 12:48 | |
They watched her direct people to places of employment. | 12:51 | |
They listened to her contact every other helping agency | 12:56 | |
in our city, regarding transportation, housing, | 12:59 | |
medical service. | 13:03 | |
They saw a volunteer sit for hours and work with someone | 13:05 | |
who wanted to learn to read. | 13:09 | |
They heard another volunteer tell young mothers | 13:13 | |
how to care for their babies and how to feed their families. | 13:15 | |
The needs were as varied as the people who came. | 13:18 | |
And every person who came that morning, | 13:22 | |
every visitor, was treated with dignity and respect, | 13:25 | |
valued as the human being he or she is. | 13:29 | |
When the day was over, the members of that church | 13:34 | |
commended Sister Helen for all that was being done. | 13:36 | |
But we cannot support, either with money or volunteers, | 13:39 | |
they said, because you never question anybody | 13:42 | |
about their salvation, and about eternal life. | 13:46 | |
There are no pamphlets around for them to read | 13:49 | |
about sin and redemption. | 13:51 | |
You never offered them the gospel. | 13:54 | |
And Helen's response: my heavens! | 13:58 | |
What do you think we have been doing all day, if we have | 14:00 | |
not been showing God's love and the spirit of Christ? | 14:03 | |
Emmanuel, God is with us in the most unexpected places. | 14:07 | |
At the most unexpected times. | 14:13 | |
Those two little girls also taught me that I need | 14:19 | |
to offer God's presence my very best. | 14:22 | |
Always to offer it my very best. | 14:26 | |
There was a tender moment that night when the little girl | 14:31 | |
with the doll held it out for Santa to see, | 14:34 | |
I wondered if she would have given it to him, had he asked. | 14:37 | |
I believe she would have. | 14:40 | |
Today we are celebrating the founding of this university. | 14:44 | |
It's here because of the influence of the church. | 14:48 | |
I've read about Mount Bethel and Mount Hebrim, | 14:53 | |
and how deeply rooted the Duke family traditions | 14:56 | |
and patterns of giving, go back | 14:59 | |
to those two little churches. | 15:01 | |
This was where a concern for the less fortunate | 15:05 | |
became ingrained in a family. | 15:08 | |
One of the prime factors leading to the establishment | 15:12 | |
of the Duke Endowment was the low income of the people | 15:15 | |
of the two Carolinas, knowing that service to mankind | 15:18 | |
was the best offering they could make to God. | 15:22 | |
Gifts were made by the Dukes to support educational, | 15:27 | |
healthcare, and other eleemosynary institutions. | 15:31 | |
Their intentions are clearly stated in the indenture. | 15:36 | |
An endeavor to make provisions in some measure | 15:40 | |
for the needs of mankind, along physical, mental, | 15:43 | |
and spiritual lines. | 15:47 | |
They were offering God their best, | 15:50 | |
so that eyes would be open to truth. | 15:53 | |
And ears would listen to the voice of God. | 15:57 | |
This chapel stands here at the center of this campus | 16:03 | |
to remind us of God's presence, | 16:05 | |
and I need to offer it our best. | 16:07 | |
There are two other places that remind me of the offering | 16:11 | |
that the Dukes made, and I confess that I missed them both | 16:17 | |
when I was a student here, 30 years ago. | 16:21 | |
I stood at those two places recently. | 16:24 | |
One is on East Campus. | 16:27 | |
It's the statue of the sower. | 16:29 | |
I looked at that statue and I reminded myself | 16:32 | |
that I must be as diligent in offering my best | 16:34 | |
as the sower is in sowing seed. | 16:38 | |
And I must provide the kind of soil in which | 16:40 | |
that seed can take root and grow. | 16:43 | |
The other place is a bronze plaque | 16:49 | |
in the central quadrangle. | 16:52 | |
I walked by it hundreds of times in the 1950s, | 16:55 | |
and I never saw it. | 16:59 | |
A few weeks ago, I stopped and read it. | 17:03 | |
It states the aims of this university, | 17:06 | |
urging it to keep on offering the best in knowledge | 17:09 | |
and faith, and service. | 17:13 | |
Offering the presence of God, | 17:18 | |
our best. | 17:23 | |
Well, those two little girls backed out of that restaurant, | 17:26 | |
absolutely amazed at what they had experienced. | 17:28 | |
They taught me that Christmas, Emmanuel, God with us, | 17:32 | |
should never cease to leave me amazed, | 17:35 | |
and awestruck. | 17:40 | |
Three years ago about this time the UPI carried a story | 17:44 | |
about the Mike Goldberg family in Los Angeles, | 17:47 | |
whose Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, | 17:51 | |
was almost ruined one year. | 17:54 | |
A cleaning woman had mistakenly thrown away | 17:57 | |
a priceless family treasure. | 18:00 | |
A 16th century menorah. | 18:03 | |
This liturgical and symbolic candlestick had belonged | 18:07 | |
to Mr. Goldberg's ancestors. | 18:10 | |
Desperate, he called the city refuse disposal office | 18:13 | |
and asked if he could speak to anyone who was Jewish, | 18:17 | |
so that they would understand. | 18:20 | |
And they connected him with a Miss Ackerman, | 18:22 | |
and she took the problem to the boss, | 18:24 | |
and they discovered that the truck that picked up | 18:26 | |
the garbage in the Goldberg neighborhood | 18:29 | |
was now on the way to the city dump. | 18:31 | |
Mr. Goldberg sped to the dump, intercepted the truck, | 18:35 | |
found the drivers to be sympathetic but cautious. | 18:40 | |
They warned him that that truck carried eight tons | 18:45 | |
of garbage, trash, and then they spread it out for him, | 18:48 | |
over as long a stretch as they could. | 18:53 | |
And he began to dig with his hands, wishing for a shovel. | 18:56 | |
Suddenly, he found one, a shovel he himself had thrown away. | 18:59 | |
He regarded this as a sign from God. | 19:02 | |
He dug for several hours, and finally he found the menorah, | 19:06 | |
and there in the dump, he raised his voice | 19:09 | |
in prayer of thanksgiving: Hear, O Israel, | 19:12 | |
the Lord our god, the Lord is one. | 19:15 | |
Signs of God's kingdom are all around us. | 19:20 | |
There are signs of his holy presence, | 19:24 | |
even in the most unlikely places. | 19:26 | |
But we have to have eyes that want to see, | 19:28 | |
and ears that want to hear, | 19:33 | |
and a heart that desires God, | 19:37 | |
one willing to wade into the waste places | 19:39 | |
and common places, meeting places, and strange places. | 19:42 | |
I wished I could see those two little girls again. | 19:46 | |
I need to thank them for reminding me | 19:49 | |
that Christmas can happen any time, anywhere. | 19:54 | |
And that I should offer it my best, | 19:58 | |
and that it should always leave me awestruck, | 20:00 | |
amazed. | 20:05 | |
Wondering at the presence of God. | 20:07 | |
Amen. | 20:15 | |
(organ music) | 20:25 | |
(echoing choral music) | 20:49 | |
- | As the people of God, let us affirm what we believe. | 22:17 |
We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 22:22 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile | 22:27 | |
and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 22:32 | |
We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 22:37 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 22:41 | |
to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil. | 22:45 | |
To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 22:50 | |
our judge and our hope, in life, in death, | 22:54 | |
in life beyond death, God is with us, | 22:59 | |
we are not alone; thanks be to God. | 23:03 | |
The Lord be with you. | 23:08 | |
(murmuring) | 23:10 | |
Let us pray. | 23:12 | |
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, oh son of the most high, | 23:28 | |
prince of peace, be born again into our world. | 23:33 | |
Wherever there is war in this world, | 23:40 | |
wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness | 23:43 | |
and devastation, wherever there is no hope, | 23:48 | |
come, oh long expected one, with healing in your wings. | 23:53 | |
Oh holy child, whom the shepherds and kings | 24:00 | |
and beasts adored, be born again. | 24:05 | |
Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear | 24:09 | |
of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong | 24:14 | |
to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart, | 24:19 | |
come, oh blessed one, with healing in your wings. | 24:25 | |
Oh savior of the world, be born in each of us | 24:30 | |
who raises his face to your face. | 24:36 | |
Not knowing fully who we are, or who you are, | 24:40 | |
knowing only that your love is beyond our knowing, | 24:46 | |
and that no other has the power to make us whole. | 24:50 | |
Come Lord Jesus, to each who longs for you, | 24:56 | |
even though we have forgotten your name. | 25:01 | |
With your love, seek us, oh Lord, and find us | 25:06 | |
that we may find ourselves and our places in your kingdom. | 25:12 | |
With your light awaken us, oh Lord, | 25:18 | |
and give us a vision to seek out neglected tasks | 25:23 | |
and the desire to accomplish them. | 25:28 | |
With your truth, guide us, oh Lord, as we make our | 25:32 | |
pilgrimage toward a joyous Christmas this year. | 25:37 | |
And may we find that truth and that hope | 25:43 | |
and that joy and find it through Jesus Christ our lord, | 25:46 | |
who taught us to pray, saying: | 25:52 | |
our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 25:56 | |
Thy kingdom come, they will be done, | 26:01 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 26:05 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 26:08 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 26:11 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 26:13 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 26:17 | |
but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, | 26:20 | |
and the power, and the glory forever. | 26:24 | |
Amen. | 26:28 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 26:34 | |
(reverent choral music) | 28:17 | |
(triumphal organ music) | 31:33 | |
(reverberating choral music) | 31:54 | |
Oh God, merciful and gracious, accept this offering | 33:00 | |
of your people; remember in your love those who have | 33:04 | |
brought it and those for whom it is given. | 33:08 | |
So follow it with your blessing that it may promote peace | 33:12 | |
and goodwill among all people, everywhere. | 33:15 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen. | 33:19 | |
(sonorous organ music) | 33:26 | |
(somber choral music) | 34:21 | |
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, | 38:40 | |
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love | 38:45 | |
of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our lord, | 38:49 | |
and the blessing of God almighty, creator, redeemer, | 38:55 | |
sustainer, be among you, and remain with you always. | 39:00 | |
(soaring choral music) | 39:10 | |
(intricate organ music) | 39:38 | |
(murmuring) | 44:45 |
Item Info
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