J. Randolph Taylor - "Renewal" (March 18, 1984)

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	(gentle organ music)	0:04
	(choir singing)	12:03
	(cheerful organ music)	13:05
	(choir and organ together)	14:07
-	God calls unto the creation, oh my beloved creation,	18:30
	I have breath for you.	18:34
	Oh my beloved creation, I have love for you.	18:37
	Hear the cry of Yahweh, oh my beloved creation,	18:41
	I have life for you.	18:45
	Gathering in this place of old stones and sacred stories,	18:48
	let us remember why we are here,	18:53
	and who draws us to this place.	18:55
	Be you doubting or believing,	18:59
	sad or joy-filled, broken or whole,	19:02
	come to the one God who creates us	19:07
	and loves us and redeems us.	19:10
	And to God, let us make our confession.	19:15
	Oh Lord whom we are called to love	19:35
	with heart, soul, body, and mind,	19:38
	we journey in search of your grace and its mending power.	19:42
	The depths of the seas we explore	19:46
	into the heavens we travel,	19:49
	we discover a vast and wonderful universe,	19:52
	yet our deepest yearnings are not met.	19:56
	Excuse, oh Yahweh, our confused wanderings	19:59
	cause us now to be vulnerable to your redeeming presence.	20:04
	In our honest confessions,	20:08
	enable us to experience the word	20:10
	become flesh in Jesus Christ,	20:13
	and with hope alive in each of us,	20:16
	move us to participate most fully	20:19
	in the reconciling work of your son.	20:22
	In the name of the risen one, amen.	20:26
-	My sisters, my brothers, here, believe the good news.	21:03
	There is no thing, no one, that can separate us	21:09
	from God's love.	21:13
	Come to each of us in Jesus Christ.	21:15
	In him, we are saved, we are quickened,	21:18
	we are made whole again.	21:21
	On this new morning, experience God's presence.	21:24
	Savor God's grace.	21:30
	You and I are forgiven.	21:33
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	21:38
	and God's love is everlasting.	21:41
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us.	21:44
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us.	21:48
	Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	21:52
	To each of you on this second Sunday in Lent,	22:01
	I welcome you to this service of worship.	22:04
	And I want to extend a special welcome	22:09
	to those who are at Duke University	22:11
	and on the campus here because of Black Student Weekend.	22:14
	And I thank too, those folks who are hosting	22:19
	our guests for this special weekend.	22:22
	I draw your attention to the announcements	22:26
	in your bulletin this morning.	22:28
	Especially I would ask you to take note	22:31
	of the fact that our offering this morning	22:33
	will be used to help fund the first	22:36
	humanitarian service award here at Duke University,	22:39
	an award that is under the hospices	22:44
	of the Duke Campus Ministry.	22:47
	It is an award which will recognize one person each year	22:50
	because of their simple lifestyle	22:54
	and their involvement in service to others.	22:57
	It is our way here at Duke of recognizing	23:00
	in fact all persons around the world	23:05
	who involve themselves in humanitarian services	23:10
	and responsibilities.	23:13
	And for this reason I ask you and urge you	23:16
	to be generous in your giving this morning.	23:19
	Says Luke when he was at table with his disciples,	23:24
	he took the bread and blessed it, and broke it,	23:27
	and gave it to them and their eyes were opened,	23:30
	and they recognized him.	23:33
	Remembering those words of Luke,	23:36
	I invite you to the Lord's table,	23:38
	and to the celebration of the Eucharist	23:41
	at that table which will take place	23:43
	in Memorial Chapel immediately after	23:45
	this service this morning.	23:47
	All who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior	23:50
	are invited to that table and to the celebration	23:54
	of holy communion.	23:57
	For almost a year now, Dr. Randolph Taylor	24:03
	has been away from his pulpit,	24:06
	and his people at Charlotte's Myers Park	24:08
	Presbyterian Church where he is senior minister.	24:11
	Being for these last several months,	24:15
	not pastor to one congregation,	24:18
	but to an entire denomination.	24:20
	Listening, clarifying, counseling, healing,	24:24
	making believers out of skeptics,	24:29
	and helping the already convinced understand	24:32
	just why it is that the United Presbyterian Church	24:35
	in the USA merged last June with Presbyterian Church US	24:39
	to become the Presbyterian Church USA.	24:45
	Realizing I think the toil and the travel	24:50
	that laid before him, as moderator	24:53
	of the general assembly of that new denomination,	24:56
	Dr. Taylor was heard to muse aloud	25:00
	that he'd entrusted his soul to God,	25:03
	and his body to United Airlines.	25:07
	(audience laughs)	25:10
	For 14 years, he has co-chaired the reunion committee	25:12
	that finally made that ecclesiastical marriage take place.	25:16
	And the Celtic cross that he wears this morning	25:22
	is a striking symbol of that reunion.	25:25
	For it was by fusing two older crosses,	25:28
	one from the southern church,	25:32
	and one from the northern church,	25:33
	that that new cross was made.	25:36
	Perhaps it is appropriate that this missionary	25:40
	to the people of a new denomination	25:43
	be himself a son of missionaries.	25:45
	Born as he was in China to Presbyterian missionaries	25:49
	in that country.	25:52
	Educated at Davidson College, Union Seminary in Richmond,	25:54
	and the University of Aberdeen, Scotland,	25:58
	Dr. Taylor has also pastored churches	26:00
	in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia.	26:03
	He and his wife Arlene are the parents of one son,	26:07
	and five daughters.	26:12
	I am honored this morning, as are we	26:15
	here at Duke University, to welcome this scholar	26:18
	and pastor, this preacher and poet,	26:21
	to the Duke Chapel pulpit,	26:24
	and his wife and family here this morning.	26:26
	I want to say a personal word of thanks	26:29
	to the James T. Cleland Chapel Endowment Fund Committee	26:31
	for designating Dr. Taylor one of their visiting preachers	26:36
	and for bringing him to Duke University.	26:41
	Renewal is the title of Dr. Taylor's sermon.	26:44
-	Let us pray.	27:03
	Oh Lord, our God, you have given your word	27:09
	to be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.	27:13
	Grant us grace to receive your truth in faith and love.	27:21
	That by it, we may be prepared	27:26
	unto every good word and work.	27:29
	To the glory of your name,	27:33
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	27:36
	Hear this witness from the faith of Israel.	27:44
	The Old Testament lesson is from the book of Isaiah,	27:49
	chapter 58, verses 6-12.	27:53
	Listen for the word of God.	27:59
	Is not this the fast that I choose	28:06
	to loose the bonds of wickedness,	28:09
	to undo the thongs of the yoke.	28:12
	To let the oppressed go free,	28:16
	and to break every yoke.	28:19
	Is it not to share your bread with the hungry	28:22
	and bring the homeless poor into your house?	28:26
	When you see the naked, to cover him,	28:31
	and not to hide yourself from your own flesh.	28:35
	Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,	28:41
	and your healing shall spring up speedily.	28:46
	Your righteousness shall go before you,	28:51
	the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.	28:55
	Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer.	29:00
	You shall cry, and the Lord will say here I am.	29:05
	If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,	29:11
	the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness.	29:15
	If you pour yourself out for the hungry,	29:19
	and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,	29:24
	then shall your light rise in the darkness.	29:29
	And your gloom be as the noon day.	29:33
	And the Lord will guide you continually	29:38
	and satisfy your desire with good things.	29:41
	And make your bones strong, and you shall be	29:46
	like a watered garden, like a spring of water	29:50
	whose waters shall not fail.	29:54
	And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt.	29:57
	You should raise up the foundations of many generations.	30:01
	You shall be called the repairer of the breach.	30:07
	The restorer of streets to dwell in.	30:12
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament, amen.	30:17
	Our memory continues in the faith of the early church.	30:27
	The Epistle lesson is from the second letter of Timothy.	30:32
	First chapter, verses 8-14.	30:38
	Listen for the word of God.	30:49
	Paul speaks.	30:55
	Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord,	30:58
	nor of me, his prisoner.	31:03
	But take your share of suffering	31:06
	for the gospel and the power of God.	31:08
	Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling.	31:11
	Not in virtue of our works,	31:16
	but in virtue of God's own purpose.	31:19
	And the grace which God gave us,	31:23
	in Christ Jesus ages ago.	31:26
	And now has manifested through the appearing	31:30
	of our savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death	31:34
	and brought life and immortality to light	31:40
	through the gospel.	31:43
	For this gospel, I was appointed a preacher,	31:45
	an aspostle, and teacher.	31:50
	And therefore, I suffer as I do,	31:52
	but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed,	31:56
	and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day	32:02
	what has been entrusted to me.	32:07
	Follow the pattern of the sound words	32:11
	which you have heard from me.	32:14
	In the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus,	32:17
	guard the truth that has been entrusted to you	32:21
	by the holy spirit who dwells within us.	32:26
	Here ends the reading from the Epistle, amen.	32:30
	(organ and choir together)	32:39
-	Will the congregation please stand	36:51
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	36:53
	The gospel lesson is from Luke,	37:00
	chapter 24, versus 13-35.	37:05
	Our story begins following the discovery of the empty tomb.	37:11
	Listen for the word of God.	37:17
	That very day, two of them were going	37:21
	to a village named Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem.	37:23
	And talking with each other about all these things	37:29
	that had happened.	37:33
	While they were talking and discussing together,	37:35
	Jesus himself drew nearer, and went with them.	37:39
	But there eyes were kept from recognizing them.	37:43
	And he said to them, what is this conversation	37:47
	which you are holding with each other as you walk?	37:51
	and they stood still, looking sad.	37:55
	Then one of them, named Cleopas answered him.	37:59
	Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem	38:04
	who does not know the things that have happened there	38:06
	in these days?	38:10
	And he said to them, what things?	38:12
	And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth,	38:15
	who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God	38:20
	and all the people.	38:25
	And how our chief priests and rulers	38:27
	delivered him up to be condemned to death	38:30
	and crucified him.	38:33
	But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.	38:36
	Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day	38:42
	since this happened.	38:47
	Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.	38:49
	They were at the tomb early in the morning,	38:54
	and did not find his body.	38:58
	And they came back saying that they had even seen	39:01
	a vision of angels who said he was alive.	39:05
	Some of those who were with us went to the tomb	39:11
	and found it just as the women had said.	39:15
	But him, they did not see.	39:18
	And he said to them, oh foolish ones,	39:22
	and slow of heart, to believe all	39:27
	that the prophets have spoken.	39:30
	Was it not necessary that the Christ	39:33
	should suffer these things, and enter into his glory?	39:36
	And beginning with Moses, and all the prophets,	39:42
	he interpreted to them in all the scriptures	39:46
	the things concerning himself.	39:49
	So they drew near to the village to which they were going.	39:53
	He appeared to be going further,	39:58
	but they constrained him, saying, stay with us.	40:01
	For it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent.	40:06
	So he went in to stay with them.	40:11
	When he was at table with them,	40:14
	he took the bread and blessed and broke it,	40:16
	and gave it to them.	40:21
	And their eyes were opened, and they recognized them,	40:23
	and he vanished out of their sight.	40:28
	They said to each other, did not our hearts	40:32
	burn within us while he talked to us on the road?	40:36
	While he opened to us the scriptures.	40:40
	And they road that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.	40:44
	And they found the 11 gathered together,	40:49
	and those who were with them.	40:52
	Who said, the Lord has risen indeed,	40:55
	and has appeared to Simon.	40:59
	Then they told what had happened on the road,	41:02
	and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.	41:06
	Here ends the reading from the Gospel, amen.	41:13
	(organ music)	41:19
	(organ and choir together)	41:28
-	It is a great personal pleasure for me	42:33
	to come and share with you in worship	42:35
	here in this beautiful and bold preaching point	42:39
	that has had its significant witness	42:44
	not simply in our state, and in our region,	42:46
	but throughout the nation, and throughout the world.	42:50
	It is a particular pleasure to come	42:56
	and to call to memory James Cleland,	42:59
	who was for me a model of a preaching minister.	43:04
	I bring you greetings from three and a quarter million	43:10
	Presbyterians, now in all 50 states, and Puerto Rico.	43:13
	With partnership relationships with churches	43:20
	in 53 different countries around the world.	43:22
	As Mike has indicated, something good has happened	43:26
	to Presbyterians in this past year.	43:28
	We have reconciled a difference	43:32
	that has stood there far too long.	43:34
	And Presbyterians north and south, and east and west,	43:38
	are celebrating wherever we have traveled to find them.	43:42
	It is simply that we were in the right place	43:46
	at the right time, and we did the right thing,	43:48
	and we so seldom do that, we want to celebrate it	43:52
	when it takes place.	43:54
	Now the truth also is that Presbyterians	43:57
	are not terribly gifted at celebration.	43:59
	I do not know whether you've ever noticed that.	44:02
	It may be the influence of John Calvin,	44:05
	or perhaps it is the strain of English puritanism	44:07
	that is part of our past.	44:10
	Or it may be due to Scott,	44:12
	who is part of our background.	44:14
	Or it may simply be our Presbyterian	44:16
	theological understanding that we have	44:19
	within ourselves the capacity	44:21
	to muck up even the happiest situation.	44:23
	But whatever it is, or in spite of it,	44:27
	Presbyterians have recognized that we have been able	44:30
	by the grace of God to receive a gift, a gift of unity.	44:34
	And it is not that we are larger,	44:39
	it is that we are more whole.	44:40
	That we've experienced the reconciling presence	44:43
	of the risen Christ, and we have found again	44:46
	the power of God to break down dividing walls	44:50
	of hostility to make of us one.	44:53
	So then I am glad to come and share	44:57
	with this ecumenical gathering	44:58
	this event and celebration in the life	45:01
	of your Presbyterian cousins.	45:04
	And to say that the future is open	45:07
	for those kind of relationships	45:09
	which will make us aware of additional walls	45:11
	that need to recede and be broken down from within.	45:14
	The truth is that as Presbyterians	45:21
	have come to this moment, we have joined	45:23
	with a host of other denominations	45:26
	and Christian bodies in a great quest for renewal.	45:28
	And the expectation and hope is	45:34
	that being together now, we have an opportunity	45:35
	to do a new thing.	45:40
	To sit down with new partners and rethink	45:41
	who we are, what we believe,	45:43
	and what we intend to do about it.	45:46
	This quest for renewal is deep and pervasive	45:49
	throughout the Christian community around the world.	45:53
	The fact is that we need to understand	45:57
	what renewal is about.	46:00
	For it is not something superficial or sentimental.	46:03
	It is something deep and abiding.	46:06
	And renewal is not something we ourselves can accomplish.	46:10
	You cannot appoint a committee	46:15
	on the renewal of the church.	46:17
	You can do that, but you ought not to expect it	46:20
	to accomplish a great deal.	46:22
	The fact is, renewal comes by the power of God.	46:25
	The power to renew the church	46:29
	is the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.	46:30
	And the ultimate witness to that resurrection power	46:35
	is not an empty tomb, it is the testimony	46:38
	of living men and women who recognize	46:42
	that they are not alone, and they walk	46:44
	in the presence of a powerful Christ.	46:46
	The story which Mary read for us this morning	46:51
	details the experience of two persons	46:55
	who were the first, among the first at least,	46:57
	to understand that presence and that power.	47:02
	Their story is told with such vividness,	47:06
	it is one of the great short stories of literature,	47:09
	and if it were not for its heavy theological	47:12
	and eschatological content, it would be recognized	47:14
	by everyone as such.	47:18
	It's the story of two men who were walking	47:20
	northwest from Jerusalem.	47:23
	Seven miles to the little town of Emmaus.	47:24
	They were walking into the sunset,	47:28
	and they could not see.	47:31
	But their inability to see was not simply the sun,	47:34
	it was in fact their own doubt, and their own despair.	47:38
	Jesus comes to walk with them,	47:46
	and because of their doubt, they cannot recognize him.	47:49
	It is a story not just about the Christ,	47:54
	it is a story also about the church.	47:57

-	Fools are the church in microcosm,	0:03
	looking sad they express to him at his inquiry	0:06
	their own confusion and despair, their discouragement,	0:10
	their darkness, and their doubt.	0:14
	They were perplexed by the crucifixion,	0:17
	by the hostility of the establishment	0:20
	and the fact that God had not intervened.	0:22
	Now they stand in the shadow of the cross	0:25
	and everything they had bet their lives on had gone down.	0:27
	We had hoped, they say to Jesus.	0:34
	We had hoped, and how they had hoped.	0:37
	They had bet everything on him, and now all that was gone.	0:40
	The days of inspiration were passed and Galilee was gone.	0:45
	There's a poignant, wistful, dark night of the soul.	0:51
	They are the church, darkened by it's own doubt	0:56
	and unaware of the one with whom they walk.	0:59
	There's a sense in which anybody who has ever met	1:05
	a moment of despair can appreciate	1:09
	the poignancy of their predicament.	1:12
	Young persons facing a future that seemed so bright	1:15
	but discovering doors closing left and right.	1:20
	We had hoped.	1:24
	Employable adult suddenly becoming aware	1:26
	that she cannot find employment.	1:30
	A young couple rising on the high tide of expectation	1:33
	only to discover that something is wrong.	1:37
	Parents of a young child	1:42
	with high hopes for what the future holds for her,	1:44
	then suddenly realizing that it will not be so.	1:48
	The middle aged woman wondering if it was all worth it.	1:54
	The elderly man wondering why the whole pilgrimage	1:58
	was started in the first place.	2:03
	We had hoped.	2:06
	The Dark Night of the Soul is the story	2:08
	of the difficulty of belief,	2:10
	the cross spelling failure,	2:14
	the awareness that we walk alone,	2:18
	and that is the story of the church.	2:22
	Oh we have heard a rumor that he was alive,	2:26
	but we have not seen him.	2:30
	We walk in the presence of a powerful Christ	2:33
	and we cannot recognize him because of our own doubts.	2:39
	Now what happens to them is the story	2:44
	of genuine renewal.	2:47
	We first of all, see a growing sense of understanding.	2:50
	Christ lets them talk,	2:55
	in fact, he urges them to talk, he makes them talk.	2:56
	There's a marvelous courtesy about the risen Christ.	3:01
	Remember where we are, this is Easter afternoon.	3:05
	If Jesus ever wanted to zap somebody into faith,	3:09
	this was the time and these were the candidates.	3:13
	And what he does is he engages them in conversation,	3:16
	what are you talking about as you walk along the way?	3:19
	And they say, are you the only stranger	3:22
	who doesn't know what's happened in Jerusalem?	3:24
	And he says, what's happened in Jerusalem?	3:26
	And they begin to tell him about Jesus of Nazareth.	3:29
	Do you see what this is?	3:32
	He knows more about what they're talking about than they do.	3:35
	That's always the way it is in the scripture.	3:39
	And yet he draws out from them	3:43
	the whole of their despair and their doubt	3:44
	until it's all out in the dust of the road,	3:47
	and then he begins to go back to Moses and the prophets,	3:49
	and he tells them the things concerning himself.	3:54
	My, how I would love to have been there, wouldn't you?	3:59
	This was Jesus' commentary on the Old Testament.	4:02
	Was it not necessary, he said, that the Christ	4:05
	should enter into suffering in order to enter into glory?	4:08
	And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,	4:13
	he explained to them the things concerning himself.	4:17
	Now there are several things that are here.	4:22
	Clearly the importance of the cross.	4:25
	The undertone of God's costly compassionate love	4:28
	is what Jesus is talking about in the cross.	4:32
	Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer	4:35
	in order to enter into glory?	4:38
	He put their pain in the larger pain of God,	4:40
	and he put their loneliness in the context	4:42
	of the eternal loneliness,	4:45
	and he made them conscious of the fact	4:48
	that if God is going to share compassionate love	4:50
	it's going to be costly.	4:53
	Don't you see, it's of the essence of things	4:54
	that the cross is not a tragedy or a cul-de-sac,	4:57
	but the cross is the necessary step	5:01
	toward the glory.	5:04
	Was it not essential that the Christ should suffer	5:06
	in order to enter into glory?	5:10
	Notice also the importance of the Scripture.	5:14
	Remember where we are.	5:18
	This is the death defying, tomb defying	5:20
	door ignoring, all hailing Jesus Christ.	5:24
	He could have pushed them into faith	5:30
	by any means at this moment of resurrection power.	5:32
	And what does he do?	5:37
	He goes back and begins with Moses and the prophets,	5:39
	to explain to them the things concerning himself.	5:46
	I doubt if there's ever been a young person	5:52
	or child at church who has not wondered,	5:53
	or perhaps anyone who used to be	5:57
	a young person or a child at church	5:59
	who also has not wondered	6:01
	why it is that when we gather together	6:03
	we always gather around this old book.	6:05
	And the pastor or the liturgist	6:09
	always says, today we're going to read	6:12
	from chapter so and so of book so and so,	6:15
	starting at verse this and going to verse that.	6:19
	Why is that?	6:23
	Well, this is a part of the reason.	6:26
	Jesus, with the power of the resurrection upon him	6:30
	saw fit to go back and open up the Scripture	6:32
	in order to help them to come to	6:36
	a growing understanding,	6:38
	and that marks out the marching orders	6:40
	for the life of the church.	6:43
	The renewal of the church is not an easy matter	6:46
	of hope and expectation.	6:50
	It is a discipline matter of inquiry	6:52
	into the meaning of the scriptures	6:55
	as they tell us about the Christ.	6:58
	Notice also, the importance of the mind.	7:03
	He takes their intellect seriously.	7:07
	He honestly deals with their questions,	7:11
	and waits until those questions	7:14
	have been thoroughly exposed,	7:16
	and then he takes their minds and he stretches them.	7:19
	He helps them to begin to understand	7:24
	the things concerning himself.	7:27
	The Christian faith is not a matter of simple emotion.	7:32
	It is a hard-headed faith that takes seriously the fact	7:38
	that renewal involves the stretching of the mind.	7:42
	They wanna know more,	7:46
	and by sunset time they have arrived at Emmaus,	7:49
	and he makes as though he would go further, I like that.	7:53
	Where was he going?	7:57
	Nowhere and everywhere.	7:58
	The point is, he wasn't forcing himself upon them.	8:01
	They had to invite him in and they did.	8:05
	Abide with us, for it is toward evening	8:10
	and the day is far spent.	8:12
	So Jesus goes in to sit with them at supper,	8:15
	and there the mood of the story changes.	8:19
	We see a growing sense of hope.	8:22
	As they look back on it they said,	8:25
	it was like a fire burning up within us.	8:27
	Did not our hearts burn within us	8:29
	as he walked with us by the way,	8:32
	as he opened to us the scripture?	8:34
	They recognized that life had been lifted for them	8:37
	to a new level of feeling.	8:40
	It can happen, it happens still.	8:44
	It can happen in church, it really can.	8:45
	Obscure reasons bring us together	8:47
	in any worshiping congregation.	8:49
	Some of us are here out of habit,	8:52
	some of us out of hope,	8:53
	some of us out of obligations of relationships,	8:55
	some out of family loyalty,	8:57
	children or parents.	8:59
	Some because we had nowhere else to go,	9:02
	and some because we would not be anywhere else.	9:04
	With all the ambiguities of motivation,	9:07
	it can happen in church.	9:10
	The great ah-ha, the realization of a new discovery.	9:12
	It happens in service, it happens in art,	9:15
	it happens in relationship.	9:18
	The burning heart of the New Testament	9:21
	is a difficult image for us to understand.	9:23
	For in the late 20th century we have come	9:26
	to think of the burning heart as heartburn,	9:28
	and it is for us simply a symptom of the fact	9:32
	that we have eaten too much,	9:35
	and this in a world that is hungry.	9:36
	It's part of our predicament,	9:41
	that we simply cannot understand what's going on	9:44
	in the New Testament idiom.	9:46
	In large measure because of the perspective	9:49
	of our own time.	9:52
	Burning heart is for us a condition	9:55
	for which we need relief,	9:58
	and we don't even know how to spell that.	10:00
	The truth is that we walk such different roads	10:04
	that it's difficult for us to understand	10:07
	what these men are saying.	10:09
	What they're saying is that not only	10:11
	were their minds stretched,	10:13
	but their hearts were stretched as well.	10:14
	And they recognized suddenly, that they were not alone.	10:17
	You see, renewal is not too mental	10:21
	nor is it too emotional,	10:23
	it is not too cerebral nor is it too sentimental.	10:24
	It involves the mind and the heart together	10:28
	with the discovery that we are not alone.	10:30
	Both combined in their experience to open their eyes.	10:35
	And so it was that as he sat	10:40
	at the familiar place at table	10:42
	and took bread, even though he was the guest	10:45
	and broke it and gave it to them.	10:48
	Their eyes were open.	10:53
	I do not think we need to move into ESP at this point.	10:56
	I believe what happened to them is that the unity	11:01
	of his life became clear to them	11:03
	over the divide of his death.	11:06
	They saw the continuity of his life	11:09
	above his death, beyond it.	11:13
	That the one who had walked with them then,	11:17
	was the one who walked with them now.	11:18
	That the one who taught them then,	11:20
	was the one who taught them now.	11:22
	That the one who broke bread with them then,	11:23
	was the one who broke bread with them now and he was alive.	11:25
	Archimedes, the great Greek scholar	11:31
	who anticipated so much of science.	11:33
	Archimedes said that if he could find	11:36
	the proper place to stand,	11:39
	he could by a lever lift the whole world.	11:41
	The New Testament dares to say	11:45
	that this is the place to stand,	11:47
	that in the life and death and resurrection	11:50
	of Jesus Christ is the one spot	11:52
	from which it is possible to lift	11:55
	not only the church, but the world.	11:57
	Renewal is possible for the community of faith	12:01
	to understand that we are not alone.	12:06
	This is the word of hope	12:08
	that is so desperately needed today.	12:10
	Some years ago I was driving in a strange city	12:14
	and looking for a news broadcast	12:17
	and unable to find it on a strange radio dial,	12:20
	I settled for a disc jockey.	12:22
	He was playing his top 40.	12:25
	So far as I could tell, they were nobody else's top 40,	12:29
	but they were his top 40 and he was inflicting them	12:32
	on a major metropolitan area.	12:34
	It was the weirdest assortment of tunes I've ever heard.	12:37
	Until he got down to one which he announced	12:41
	was entitled, Everything's Gonna Be Alright.	12:43
	And I said to myself, that has something to do with hope,	12:47
	I wanna turn that up.	12:50
	So I turned up the volume and I listened with care,	12:51
	and was able to commit the words to memory.	12:55
	It went like this.	12:57
	Everything's gonna be all right, all right.	13:00
	Everything's gonna be all right.	13:01
	You'll find it pays to use this phrase,	13:03
	everything's gonna be all right, and that's it.	13:05
	(congregation laughing)	13:09
	Well, I said I was able to commit it to memory.	13:14
	(congregation laughing)	13:16
	And if you think the lyrics were something,	13:19
	you should have heard the melody.	13:20
	(congregation laughing)	13:22
	And I thought to myself, Good God in heaven,	13:24
	that's not hope, that's our despair.	13:27
	That's the ground of our predicament.	13:29
	We think somehow by what we say,	13:32
	or how we organize, or manage things,	13:34
	or the volume with which we sing it,	13:36
	we're gonna make everything be all right?	13:38
	No, there's a vast difference between optimism and hope.	13:41
	Hope is not a childish emotion which adults grow out of.	13:44
	Hope is rather the mature understanding	13:48
	that we are not alone,	13:50
	that we have been visited,	13:53
	that we walk in the presence of the risen Christ.	13:55
	You see the remarkable story is all here.	13:59
	We walk in blindness when we could be aware	14:02
	of the fact that we walk in his powerful presence.	14:05
	And by the open word and the breaking of the bread,	14:10
	we move to the home where we shall see him face to face.	14:14
	It's all here, and one thing more.	14:17
	A growing sense of responsibility.	14:22
	A growing sense of understanding,	14:26
	and a growing sense of hope,	14:27
	and a growing sense of responsibility.	14:29
	We read at the end of the story,	14:32
	they rose up that same hour and went back to Jerusalem	14:34
	to tell what had happened to them along the road.	14:38
	Do you see what's happened here?	14:42
	The people of despair have become the messengers of hope.	14:45
	Renewal has taken place,	14:49
	not in any shoddy sentimental sense, but in a deep,	14:51
	abiding sense of an awareness,	14:55
	of understanding and of hope, and of responsibility.	14:57
	But the supper was on the table,	15:02
	but what of that now?	15:06
	Christ is risen, and that must be told.	15:09
	But the road is always dangerous and after dark	15:13
	is dangerous indeed.	15:17
	But what of that now?	15:20
	Christ is risen, and that must be told.	15:23
	But back to Jerusalem where they killed him	15:27
	and they will kill you.	15:30
	Well, what of that now?	15:35
	Christ is risen and that must be told.	15:38
	John Calvin, that reformer of the 16th century,	15:44
	had a crest or shield, it signaled the symbols	15:48
	of his affection.	15:53
	On John Calvin's crest there were three symbols.	15:55
	The first was an open book.	15:59
	The second a burning heart.	16:02
	And the third was an outstretched hand.	16:05
	That's important for us never to forget,	16:12
	for that has to do with understanding	16:18
	and with hope, and with responsibility.	16:21
	In the name of the Father, and of the Son,	16:28
	and of the Holy Spirit, amen.	16:31
	(mellow organ music)	16:40
	(orchestral choir singing)	17:30
-	Having heard God's word preached,	20:05
	let us now affirm what we believe.	20:08
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	20:12
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	20:16
	to reconcile and make new,	20:19
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	20:22
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	20:26
	to celebrate life and it's fullness,	20:30
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	20:33
	to reclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	20:39
	our judge and our hope,	20:43
	in life, in death, in life beyond death	20:45
	God is with us, we are not alone, thanks be to God.	20:50
	The Lord be with you.	20:57
	Let us pray.	21:00
	Praise be to you, oh Lord our God.	21:10
	The rest to the weary, the refreshment of those	21:13
	for whom the world grows old too early.	21:16
	Praise be to you, oh judge of all,	21:21
	who gives us your written word to guide our lives.	21:24
	Praise be to you, oh God our redeemer,	21:29
	who gives us Jesus, your word become flesh,	21:32
	that our lives may be lived out in grace and courage.	21:36
	How good it is to praise you, oh teasing one,	21:42
	striding now down the other side of heaven.	21:46
	Now in our kitchens, now in our classrooms,	21:50
	now beneath the trees and bushes becoming green	21:55
	and fragrant with spring.	21:59
	Oh God of mercy, in each breath we know you as Holy Spirit	22:03
	sustaining our lives,	22:09
	uniting us to you and one another in love,	22:12
	rejoicing in life's newness we sing our Thanks Giving	22:17
	for your replenishing power.	22:20
	Save your people now in the dying portion of our lives.	22:23
	Where there is disease, being Shalom.	22:29
	Where there is hunger, bring bread.	22:32
	Where there is oppression, freedom.	22:35
	Where there is dread, a hope filled courage.	22:39
	Fill with your holy laughter the sad spaces in our lives,	22:43
	and renew us in such a manner that each day's death	22:49
	is but prelude to each day's resurrection.	22:54
	Oh Lord of the universe, for a world embroiled	23:00
	in fighting we pray.	23:04
	Each nation it seems, believes that it is righteous,	23:07
	that it stands alone beneath your blessing,	23:13
	that it's victory will bring a lasting peace.	23:17
	Each nation it seems is certain that other nations do wrong,	23:23
	that the blame lies elsewhere.	23:28
	Grant, oh magnificent one, grace to your worrying children.	23:33
	Grace that we will not destroy ourselves	23:39
	with self-righteousness.	23:41
	Grace that we will find new authentic ways	23:44
	of living in harmony.	23:48
	In the name of the Prince we pray,	23:52
	likewise, praying together that radicle prayer	23:56
	that he gives to his faithful community.	24:00
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	24:04
	hallowed but be thy name.	24:07
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	24:10
	on earth as it is in heaven.	24:14
	Give us the day our daily bread,	24:17
	and forgive us our trespasser	24:20
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	24:22
	and lead us not into temptation,	24:26
	but deliver us from evil,	24:28
	for thine is the kingdom,	24:31
	and the power and the glory, forever, amen.	24:33
	(soft organ music)	24:41
	(deep orchestral choir singing)	27:05
	Receive, oh God, our offerings.	32:24
	The poverty of our souls are always tenuous trust.	32:27
	Our wavering commitments, our money, our very beings.	32:32
	Make what is meager, great for your purpose.	32:36
	Make what is baron, pregnant with hope.	32:40
	Make of us an excited, exciting people,	32:43
	ministering in Christ name,	32:46
	and take into all of the human family,	32:49
	the healing, redeeming power of your love.	32:52
	In the name of him who is the Christ, amen.	32:56
	(soft organ music)	33:02
	(orchestral choir singing)	34:04
-	Deep peace of the running wave to you.	38:15
	Deep peace of the flowing air to you.	38:19
	Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.	38:22
	Deep peace of the shining stars to you.	38:26
	Deep peace of the sun of peace to each of you	38:29
	this day and forever.	38:33
	(orchestral choir singing)	38:40
	(soft organ music)	39:08

Item Info

Title:

J. Randolph Taylor - "Renewal" (March 18, 1984)

Description:

Renewal is not something we can make happen of our own accord; it is brough about by God. In the story of the road to Emmaus, Jesus reveals the power of his life, death, and resurrection to bring about renewal through a growing understanding, a growing hope, and a growing sense of responsibility. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 42:33. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 16:35.
Key quotation: “Archimedes said that if he could find the proper place to stand, he could by a lever lift the whole world. The New Testament dares to say that this is the place to stand, that in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one spot from which it is possible to lift not only the church, but the world.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4w951378

Date:

March 18, 1984

Speaker:

Taylor, J. Randolph

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0198
ref7919_7qq
uachapelsermaud
duke:320291
dcrau001188
ark:/87924/r4w951378
fad6927b-66be-4682-bf25-fa574c89b45a

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

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This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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