J. Michael Laidlaw - "God as Poet and Persons on Pilgrimage" (June 24, 1984)

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	(reverential organ music)	0:03
	(reverential organ music)	1:58
	(reverential organ music)	4:44
	(reverential organ music)	6:29
	(reverential organ music)	9:02
	(reverential organ music)	13:36
	("Come, Thou Almighty King")	17:49
	♪ Come, Thou Almighty King ♪	18:17
	♪ Help us Thy name to sing ♪	18:22
	♪ Help us to praise ♪	18:27
	♪ Father, all glorious ♪	18:30
	♪ O'er all victorious ♪	18:33
	♪ Come, and reign over us ♪	18:37
	♪ Ancient of Days ♪	18:40
	♪ Come, Thou incarnate Word ♪	18:46
	♪ Gird on Thy mighty sword ♪	18:51
	♪ Our prayer attend ♪	18:56
	♪ Come, and Thy people bless ♪	18:59
	♪ And give Thy word success ♪	19:03
	♪ Spirit of holiness ♪	19:06
	♪ On us descend ♪	19:09
	♪ Come, holy Comforter ♪	19:15
	♪ Thy sacred witness bear ♪	19:20
	♪ In this glad hour ♪	19:25
	♪ Thou who Almighty art ♪	19:29
	♪ Now rule in every heart ♪	19:32
	♪ And ne'er from us depart ♪	19:35
	♪ Spirit of power ♪	19:39
	♪ To Thee, great One in Three ♪	19:44
	♪ Eternal praises be ♪	19:50
	♪ Hence evermore ♪	19:55
	♪ Thy sov'reign majesty ♪	19:58
	♪ May we in glory see ♪	20:02
	♪ And to eternity ♪	20:05
	♪ Love and adore. ♪	20:09
-	The Lord is in His holy temple.	20:19
	Let all the earth keep silence before Him.	20:21
	Grace be unto you, and peace from God, our Father,	20:27
	and from the Lord Jesus Christ.	20:32
	Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.	20:36
	Come, oh Gracious One,	20:52
	to this occasion of repentance.	20:54
	Open your heart to our confession,	20:57
	even as we open our souls to your mercy.	21:00
	Our sin weighs heavy upon us.	21:05
	Our guilt is a burden.	21:08
	We neglect your world and its peoples.	21:11
	Lusting after privilege and place,	21:15
	we misuse our power.	21:19
	Nations rage,	21:21
	the ground trembles beneath machines of war.	21:24
	The earth is stained with blood.	21:29
	Love is thwarted, and the neighbor injured.	21:32
	Forgive, oh Lord, our sin.	21:37
	Put to flight our arrogance,	21:40
	greed, angers,	21:43
	that your kingdom may be realized on earth,	21:46
	as it is in heaven.	21:49
	Empower us to realize your vision of a world at peace,	21:52
	that tools of war will give way to implements of healing,	21:58
	that reconciliation will replace division,	22:04
	that all nations will embrace your lordship,	22:09
	and make of us a people quickened, transformed,	22:14
	ready to hear your call, and do your will,	22:19
	through Jesus Christ,	22:24
	our Brother, and our Redeemer.	22:26
	Amen.	22:30
	The almighty and merciful Lord	23:11
	grant you absolution and remission of all your sins.	23:15
	True repentance, amendment of life,	23:21
	and the grace and consolation of his Holy Spirit.	23:25
	Amen.	23:30
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	23:33
	and God's love is everlasting.	23:36
	Thanks be to God whose love creates us.	23:40
	Thanks be to God whose mercy redeems us.	23:44
	Thanks be to God whose grace leads us into the future.	23:48
	Good morning, from Duke University Chapel.	23:59
	The preacher this morning	24:04
	is the Reverend John Michael Laidlaw,	24:06
	who is the acting assistant minister to the university.	24:10
	This is Mike's last	24:16
	sermon at this chapel.	24:20
	In fact, this is Mike's last presence in the chapel	24:25
	as acting assistant minister.	24:30
	He has been a good friend to me.	24:35
	He has been a good assistant minister to the university.	24:40
	And I know I speak for all of you,	24:46
	and for all those who are listening on the radio,	24:49
	when I express to him my personal gratitude,	24:53
	for you, and them, to him,	24:58
	and to wish for him all the best	25:03
	that God in his grace can offer.	25:06
-	Let us pray.	25:24
	Almighty God,	25:26
	in whom I have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,	25:28
	open up our eyes,	25:33
	that we may behold wondrous things out of your word,	25:34
	and give us grace, that we may clearly understand,	25:38
	and heartily choose the way of your love.	25:42
	Through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen.	25:46
	The old testament lessons	25:54
	is from Genesis 12th chapter, verses one through nine.	25:56
	The LORD said to Abram,	26:03
	"Leave your own country, your kinsmen,	26:06
	"and your father's house,	26:10
	"and go to a country that I will show you.	26:12
	"I will make you into a great nation.	26:16
	"I will bless you, and make your name so great,	26:18
	"that it shall be used in blessings.	26:22
	"Those that bless you, I will bless.	26:25
	"Those that curse you, I will excerate.	26:28
	"All the families on earth	26:33
	"will pray to be blessed as you are blessed."	26:35
	And so Abram set out as the LORD had bidden him,	26:39
	and Lot went with him.	26:43
	Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.	26:46
	He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot,	26:50
	all the property they had collected,	26:55
	and all the dependents they had acquired in Haran,	26:58
	and they started out to their journey to Canaan.	27:02
	When they arrived, Abram passed through the country,	27:06
	to the sanctuary at Shechem, the terebinth tree of Moreh.	27:10
	At that time the Canaanites lived in this land.	27:16
	There the LORD appeared to Abram and said,	27:21
	"I give this land to your descendants."	27:24
	So Abram built an altar there	27:27
	to the LORD who had appeared to him.	27:30
	Thence he went on to the hill country,	27:33
	east of Bethel, and pitched his tent	27:36
	between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.	27:39
	There he built an altar to the LORD	27:44
	and invoked the LORD by name.	27:47
	Thus Abram journeyed by a stage towards the Negeb.	27:50
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	27:56
	The epistle lesson is from Romans, chapter three,	28:05
	verses 21 through 28.	28:10
	But now, quite independently of law,	28:15
	God's justice had been brought to light.	28:19
	The Law and the prophets both bear witness to it.	28:23
	It is God's ways of righting wrong,	28:28
	effective through faith in Christ	28:32
	for all who have such faith, all without distinction.	28:35
	For all alike have sinned,	28:39
	and are deprived of the divine splendor,	28:41
	and all are justified by God's free grace alone,	28:45
	through his act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus.	28:49
	For God designed him to be the means of expiating	28:54
	sin by his sacrificial death, effective through faith.	28:58
	God meant by this to demonstrate his justice,	29:02
	because in his forbearance,	29:06
	he had overlooked the sins of the past,	29:09
	to demonstrate his justice now in the present,	29:12
	showing that he is himself just,	29:16
	and also justifies any man who puts his faith in Jesus.	29:20
	What room then is left for human pride?	29:25
	It is excluded, and of what principle?	29:28
	The keeping of the law would not exclude it, for faith does.	29:32
	For our argument is that a man is justified by faith	29:37
	quite apart from success in keeping the law.	29:42
	Here ends the reading of the epistle.	29:45
	♪ Master, ♪	29:54
	♪ Master ♪	29:58
	♪ We shall not all night long ♪	30:00
	♪ Avenge thee ♪	30:06
	♪ We have not all night long ♪	30:10
	♪ Avenged thee ♪	30:15
	♪ And not one, and not one doubt we, doubt we God ♪	30:19
	♪ And not one doubt we, doubt we, God ♪	30:27
	♪ We have all night long avenged thee ♪	30:33
	♪ And not one, and not one, not one doubt we, God ♪	30:39
	♪ And for thy power ♪	30:52
	♪ Will I not get thrown out ♪	30:55
	♪ My God has woken ♪	31:01
	♪ Will I not get thrown out ♪	31:04
	♪ My God, at your word ♪	31:10
	♪ Will I not get thrown out ♪	31:14
	♪ At your word, at your word ♪	31:21
	♪ Will I not get, will I not get ♪	31:27
	♪ Will I not get, will I not get ♪	31:31
	♪ Thrown, thrown out ♪	31:38
-	Would the congregation please stand	31:56
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	31:58
	Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord"	32:05
	will enter the kingdom of Heaven,	32:08
	but only those who do the will of my heavenly Father.	32:11
	When that day comes, many will say to me,	32:15
	"Lord, Lord, did we not prophesize in your name,	32:18
	"cast out devils in your name,	32:23
	"in your name perform many miracles?"	32:25
	Then I will tell them to their face,	32:28
	"I never knew you, out of my sight,	32:32
	"you and your wicked ways!"	32:35
	What then of the man who hears these words of mine	32:38
	and acts upon them?	32:42
	He is like a man	32:44
	who had the sense to build his house on rock.	32:45
	The rain came down, the floods rose,	32:48
	the wind blew, and beat upon the house,	32:52
	but it did not fall, because its foundations were on rock.	32:55
	But what of the man who hears these words of mine,	33:00
	and does not act upon them?	33:04
	He is like a man who was foolish enough	33:07
	to build his house on sand.	33:09
	The rain came down, the floods rose,	33:11
	the wind blew, and beat upon that house.	33:15
	Down it fell with a great crash.	33:18
	When Jesus had finished this discourse,	33:21
	the people as were astounded at his teaching.	33:24
	Unlike their own teachers,	33:28
	he taught with a note of authority.	33:30
	Here ends the reading of the gospel.	33:34
	("Glory Be")	33:38
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	33:46
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer ♪	33:53
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	34:00
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	34:07
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	34:14
	♪ Ever shall be, amen. ♪	34:21
-	Praying together.	34:45
	May the words of my mouth,	34:50
	and the meditations of our hearts,	34:53
	be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, our strength,	34:56
	our only hope,	35:01
	and our redeemer.	35:05
	Amen.	35:08
	It's a Saturday night, let us say,	35:15
	not late as Saturdays go,	35:19
	but late enough for the movie to be over,	35:21
	and darkness to have come,	35:24
	and the warmth of the summer day	35:27
	to be have begun to give way to the cool of evening.	35:29
	And you're fourteen years old, or fifteen maybe.	35:35
	And it's you that has been to the movie,	35:40
	and now you're on your way home.	35:43
	And as you make your way along the main thoroughfare,	35:46
	you hear behind you a sound	35:50
	that you've heard on so many other nights,	35:52
	just like this one.	35:55
	The gears grind a bit, and you know already,	35:58
	even before the speed-limit sign	36:04
	gives its blessing to do so,	36:06
	that the Detroit-bound Greyhound bus	36:10
	is bolting out of town as rapidly as it can.	36:13
	And you look over your shoulder,	36:19
	and into the darkened bus,	36:20
	and the street lamp throws just enough light inside,	36:23
	to see a dozen of its riders, or 20 maybe,	36:27
	some tired, sleeping,	36:33
	their heads rolling only	36:37
	as the bus jerks from acceleration.	36:40
	Others with faces pressed to the window	36:45
	to see what there might be in that place	36:50
	that would cause anyone to want to live there.	36:53
	And one or two, maybe, trying to sleep,	36:58
	but finding that they can't,	37:03
	restless, uneasy, fitful,	37:06
	seeing neither their fellow-passengers,	37:12
	nor the scenes that are going by them	37:15
	outside the bus window.	37:17
	Their minds, you see,	37:20
	have carried them back to that Tennessee town	37:22
	from which they made their exodus several hours ago,	37:25
	and also to that city to which the bus will carry them,	37:30
	from that place that they have known all of their lives,	37:36
	to that destination that they have only read about,	37:41
	or heard about from an uncle, or a sister already there.	37:45
	And so, it's not only fatigue that fills that bus,	37:50
	and curiosity,	37:55
	but also a thick,	37:58
	so thick that you can almost rub it between your fingers,	38:01
	mixture of excitement,	38:05
	and a little panic, and not a little fear.	38:08
	And as the bus speeds by you,	38:14
	it leaves you with hardly more	38:17
	than its fading, muffled roar,	38:19
	and the snapshot that your mind's camera	38:22
	has taken of those women and men,	38:25
	at once leaving somewhere, and going somewhere,	38:28
	though for some, God only knows where.	38:34
	It's enough, though,	38:40
	to make you pause under the street light,	38:41
	and to remember again that you also	38:43
	were created to travel.	38:46
	And if perchance you ever forget that about yourself,	38:49
	well, well all that it takes to remind you,	38:53
	is the pungent fragrance of diesel fumes,	38:57
	or the night lights at an airport,	39:01
	or the graceful silhouette of a seagull, gliding,	39:04
	gliding on the ocean's surface.	39:09
	Or maybe, maybe you take your daughter down	39:16
	to see the circus train off to its next destination.	39:19
	The elephants have been loaded on one more time.	39:23
	And one more time the clowns,	39:28
	and high-wire artists, and the big cats,	39:31
	and the host of people who make circus happen,	39:35
	are all on board,	39:39
	and the train begins to inch away from where it has been.	39:41
	And today, because you're braver than usual,	39:48
	you let your daughter's hand slip out of your hand.	39:51
	And she runs just a few feet ahead of you,	39:55
	following alongside the train	39:59
	until she sees that she can no longer keep up with it.	40:01
	But it's in you,	40:06
	it's in you that the strange sensation occurs,	40:08
	that feeling that is something like	40:12
	a surge of electricity running through your body,	40:15
	and then settling at the bottom of your stomach.	40:18
	Like being filled with dread and joy all at once.	40:23
	Like being lost and discovered in the very same moment.	40:28
	And even if you're half aware, half conscious,	40:36
	you know that the name	40:39
	for that feeling that fills your insides	40:41
	as the train moves away, is homesickness.	40:44
	It's to know in your heart	40:50
	that on that train, or a train like it somewhere,	40:53
	is something that you want, something that you need,	40:57
	a yearning, a yearning not so much for a particular place,	41:03
	but rather for a particular state of being,	41:09
	a kind of life, a quality of life.	41:12
	Now Yahweh said to Abram,	41:21
	"Leave your country and your kindred,	41:24
	"and go to a land that I will show you."	41:27
	And what did he do?	41:32
	We need to remember what he did,	41:34
	and we need to remember how difficult it was	41:38
	for that old man of clan and soil to do what he did.	41:41
	The anonymous writer of the letter to Hebrews	41:47
	catches the drama and the twist of it best, I think.	41:50
	Abraham obeyed the call,	41:55
	and he left home	41:58
	without knowing where he was going.	42:01
	When everyone else was settling into retirement,	42:07
	and resting in the shade, and enjoying the grandchildren,	42:10
	Abraham was packing up his bags, and folding up his tent,	42:15
	and kissing his kin.	42:19
	And he and Sarah,	42:21
	and their nephew Lot, struck out for parts unknown.	42:24
	Of all the words had surely been spoken that day,	42:32
	the word that Abraham heard, and the word that he obeyed,	42:36
	was the word, go.	42:40
	"Go to a place that I will show you."	42:43
	And I cannot help but remember	42:51
	what Alfred North Whitehead once observed,	42:52
	that God, God is the poet of the world,	42:56
	with tender patience leading it by his vision of truth,	43:01
	and beauty, and goodness.	43:07
	What a strange designation, this one of God as poet.	43:12
	But not inappropriate, I think.	43:18
	For is not the poet the one whose creative endeavors	43:22
	are born out of words,	43:26
	words fashioned from the world's feelings and moods,	43:28
	our desires, and needs, and longings, and failures?	43:32
	Is it not the poet who sifts through all of these,	43:38
	and examines all of these, and calls them what they are?	43:44
	Some of them born of the divine image	43:49
	that dwells within each of us,	43:51
	and thus able to be used by God,	43:54
	some shallow,	43:58
	and selfish, and tawdry,	44:01
	and therefore best left to grace alone.	44:05
	The poet,	44:10
	providing us a vision of who we are,	44:12
	and more, who we are called to become.	44:17
	And in an ultimate sense, such is the creating,	44:24
	redeeming endeavor of God,	44:28
	that one whose very power to create,	44:32
	to transform, to give life, to save life,	44:36
	that one whose very power resides in the word.	44:42
	Said God, "Let us make humankind in our own image,"	44:48
	and so God created humankind in God's own image.	44:52
	Male and female, God created them.	44:57
	"These are the words of Yahweh," said the prophet Ezekiel,	45:02
	"Come, oh wind, and breathe into these bones,	45:05
	"that they may come to life,"	45:09
	and breath came into them, and they came to life.	45:12
	The word, then, was with God at the beginning,	45:20
	and through him all things came to be,	45:23
	and the word became flesh, and came to dwell among us.	45:28
	Then Yahweh said to Abram, "Leave."	45:34
	All of these a poet's word,	45:40
	creating, fashioning, redeeming,	45:44
	at last demanding, compelling.	45:49
	And God said, "Go!"	45:53
	But what does it mean to go, to journey,	46:00
	to be for God's sake a pilgrim,	46:03
	travelling from somewhere to somewhere, what does it mean?	46:06
	Well, among other things,	46:14
	it is the knowledge that we have been found,	46:15
	even as we feel inside of ourselves the urge to seek,	46:18
	found by something that feels like grace and wonder,	46:23
	and by someone who feels like love, it is this.	46:29
	"Deep calls to deep," promises the psalmist.	46:35
	And so, it is also to live out of life's depths,	46:40
	and not only in the shallow places,	46:44
	the depths of God,	46:47
	beckoning to the depths of the human soul.	46:50
	To be on pilgrimage is also to know a peculiar hunger,	46:58
	which is to say an appetite for righteousness,	47:02
	for those things that make for peace and mercy	47:07
	in a world that is threatened	47:11
	and gone crazy by their absence.	47:13
	It is also to be curious, as a child is curious,	47:19
	because curious, I think, is how God wishes us to be.	47:23
	And it is, from time to time at least, if not always,	47:30
	to feel yourself filled,	47:34
	filled with an insane and remarkable oneness with creation,	47:38
	with the human family, yes, but also with the earth,	47:44
	and the pelican, and the shooting star.	47:50
	All of which is to say,	47:56
	that it's not so much where we hope to go,	47:57
	as what we hope to do.	48:00
	And what we hope to do, I believe, is to come alive,	48:03
	to be human,	48:08
	to be human in the way that God has always...	48:10

-	The stature of Jesus Christ.	0:03
	It is to be all of these and more of course.	0:09
	All of these are intended by that outrageous word	0:13
	that comes to us and says to us,	0:17
	depart, be on the move.	0:19
	Oh most of us try to avoid that word, to be sure.	0:25
	We fane deafness to it.	0:29
	Or try to convince ourselves that it is some other word.	0:32
	Or maybe if Jesus is right, we hide behind our Lord, Lords.	0:37
	But the word is persistent and it does come.	0:44
	And as often as not it comes in odd ways	0:50
	and surely at unexpected times.	0:52
	Perhaps as a dream in the night	0:58
	which the next morning leaves you shaken and uncertain	1:02
	and all that you know is that what is before you	1:05
	is not what you had ever thought was before you.	1:09
	Or as a passage in a book may be, or just a sentence,	1:14
	and maybe you've even read it before.	1:19
	But this time, this time it explodes with a meaning	1:22
	and an urgency that you've never noticed before.	1:26
	Or perhaps it comes as you stand by a courtroom window,	1:33
	waiting, waiting for the jury to return with it's verdict	1:37
	on your life.	1:41
	Looking out and seeing not so much the streets	1:44
	that's there with all of the old men sitting on the benches,	1:48
	and the young hardware store clerk returning from lunch,	1:52
	and the trees turned a sort of beige by the drought's dust,	1:56
	not so much these as your own life,	2:02
	as you've lived it up to that moment.	2:06
	And lived it not gracefully either,	2:09
	but more out of a bid for success	2:12
	as the world measures success.	2:14
	Or again maybe it's that out of all the words	2:18
	that you have heard that day, one word has broken through.	2:21
	I mean really gotten inside of you and unnerved you.	2:26
	And shown you, let us say,	2:31
	that the arms race is surely madness.	2:32
	And you realize that you can no longer live your life	2:36
	pretending that that word has not been spoken.	2:39
	Or could it be that it comes to you	2:46
	in the face of a stranger.	2:48
	Nothing is said between you, no words exchanged,	2:51
	but in the expression of her face,	2:57
	in the dark sadness of her eyes,	3:00
	in the weighted curve of her shoulders,	3:03
	you know not only that all is not well with her world,	3:07
	but not all is well with your world.	3:12
	The world.	3:16
	That somehow this ones wretchedness connects you	3:18
	to all of the wretchedness of the world.	3:22
	And for as before, you can pass it by or let it pass you by.	3:26
	This time, instead of passing you by,	3:32
	it has gotten inside of you.	3:36
	But however it comes to you,	3:43
	however it comes to you, in whatever experience	3:46
	or moment of your life, the message is the same.	3:49
	Pack up your bags and while you're at it,	3:54
	pick up your cross, and follow me.	3:58
	Don't worry about where you're going.	4:04
	When the time comes, you'll know well enough.	4:07
	But now, be content to go.	4:11
	Of course, of course,	4:19
	how the word comes to you really doesn't matter in the end.	4:22
	What does matter is that it has come.	4:26
	And it's to you of all people that it has been spoken.	4:30
	And this time it is a word	4:34
	spoken so loudly and so clearly	4:37
	and with such compelling force,	4:41
	that hiding is simply out of the question.	4:43
	And so you go.	4:48
	And so you go.	4:50
	Haltingly at first.	4:54
	And fear filled most likely.	4:57
	But go you do.	5:01
	Because no longer can you not go.	5:04
	And as you shake the dust from your shoes,	5:08
	you begin the journey that is also a shaking from your soul.	5:12
	All that it is that prevents your being human.	5:16
	And not you alone, but all of us going together.	5:21
	The dancing ones and the crippled ones.	5:27
	The singing ones and the silent ones.	5:30
	The half alive and those almost dead.	5:34
	The fakes and the truth tellers.	5:38
	Preachers and prophets and priests.	5:41
	Charlatans and old men and young.	5:44
	The girl and the woman.	5:47
	The vain and the humble.	5:50
	The wise and the silly.	5:51
	The hope filled and those desperately wanting to hope.	5:54
	All of us, all of us,	6:01
	this parade at once so tragic and grotesque,	6:04
	yet so grand and enchanted.	6:09
	And all of it, all of us,	6:13
	so very God's.	6:18
	Oh yes, the journey is long.	6:23
	Or so it seems as it stretches out before us.	6:27
	And yet, as more of it falls behind us,	6:31
	just as the highway ribbons behind us on other journeys,	6:34
	it begins to seem as if it won't be long enough.	6:39
	As if maybe there's more to do then we can ever get done.	6:44
	And of course there is.	6:49
	More to get done then we can ever possibly do.	6:51
	More places to go then we can ever possible go.	6:55
	In this lifetime at least.	6:59
	But we're on the way.	7:02
	By God, we're on the way.	7:05
	It's all a miracle I dare say.	7:16
	It's all a miracle.	7:19
	That somehow into the midst of all the words	7:22
	that come our way on any given day,	7:24
	came this word.	7:27
	And not only came, but was heard at last.	7:30
	And not only heard, but also obeyed.	7:36
	The miracle I suppose is that whatever it is	7:42
	that is called God and God's foolishness,	7:44
	is somehow more to our liking after all,	7:49
	then any or all of the world's foolishness.	7:52
	That we can no longer be content with our lives	7:57
	as they have been and the world as it is.	8:00
	But now, we must be up and on the way.	8:04
	Why? Why?	8:11
	If only because there is something in the movement	8:17
	that makes us human.	8:20
	Or keeps us human.	8:23
	Or at least opens the door to our becoming human.	8:26
	And at last,	8:31
	that restlessness that we have always known,	8:34
	now has a name and that name is God.	8:39
	People, us,	8:48
	you and me and on pilgrimage, and God as poet.	8:52
	God said.	9:00
	God said.	9:03
	And out of that word comes a life and a vision	9:06
	and a hope	9:12
	and a courage.	9:15
	Maybe not all of the courage that we would want.	9:18
	But courage enough nevertheless.	9:23
	In the name of the Father, and of the Son,	9:31
	and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.	9:35
	(organ music)	9:47
	♪ How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord ♪	10:17
	♪ Is laid for your faith in His excellent word ♪	10:24
	♪ What more can He say than to you He hath said ♪	10:32
	♪ To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled ♪	10:39
	♪ Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed ♪	10:49
	♪ For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid ♪	10:57
	♪ I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand ♪	11:05
	♪ Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand ♪	11:13
	♪ When through the deep waters I call thee to go ♪	11:23
	♪ The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow ♪	11:30
	♪ For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless ♪	11:39
	♪ And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress ♪	11:47
	♪ When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie ♪	11:58
	♪ My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply ♪	12:05
	♪ The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design ♪	12:13
	♪ Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine ♪	12:21
	♪ The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose ♪	12:32
	♪ I will not, I will not desert to his foes ♪	12:40
	♪ That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake ♪	12:48
	♪ I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake ♪	12:56
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	13:11
-	We believe in God,	13:15
	who has created and is creating.	13:17
	Who has come in the truly human Jesus,	13:20
	to reconcile and make new.	13:23
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	13:26
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	13:30
	to celebrate life and it's fullness,	13:35
	to love and serve others,	13:38
	to seek justice and resist evil,	13:41
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	13:44
	our judge and our hope.	13:48
	In life and death and life beyond death.	13:51
	God is with us, we are not alone.	13:56
	Thanks be to God.	14:00
-	The Lord be with you.	14:03
-	And also with you.	14:06
-	Let us pray.	14:07
	This is another day oh Lord,	14:24
	we do not know what it will bring forth,	14:27
	but make us ready,	14:31
	Lord, for whatever it may be.	14:34
	If we are to stand up, help us to stand bravely.	14:38
	If we are to sit still, help us to sit quietly.	14:45
	If we are to lie low, help us to do it patiently.	14:52
	If we are to do nothing, let us do it gallantly.	15:01
	Make these words more than words	15:09
	and give us the spirit of Jesus.	15:14
	Amen.	15:18
	Let us pray	15:23
	for our country.	15:28
	Oh almighty God who has given us	15:32
	this good land for our heritage,	15:34
	we humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves	15:39
	a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.	15:43
	Bless our land with honorable industry,	15:50
	sound learning, and pure manners.	15:54
	Save us from violence, discord and confusion,	16:01
	from pride and arrogance	16:08
	and from every evil way.	16:12
	Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people,	16:17
	the multitudes brought hither	16:24
	out of many kindreds, and tongues.	16:27
	And do with a spirit of wisdom, those to whom in thy name	16:31
	we entrust the authority of governor.	16:36
	That there may be justice and peace at home	16:41
	and that through obedience to our Lord,	16:46
	we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth.	16:49
	In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness	16:54
	and in the day of trouble, suffer not	17:00
	our trust in thee to fail.	17:03
	All of which we ask, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	17:07
	Amen.	17:12
	Let us pray for the human family.	17:18
	Oh God, you made us in your image	17:23
	and redeemed us through Jesus your son.	17:25
	Look with compassion on the whole human family.	17:29
	Take away the arrogance and hatred which infects our hearts.	17:33
	Break down the walls that separate us.	17:39
	Unite us in bonds of love.	17:42
	And work through our struggle and confusion,	17:45
	to accomplish your purposes on earth.	17:49
	That in your good time, all nations and races may serve you	17:53
	in harmony, around your heavenly throne.	17:58
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	18:02
	Let us give thanks, for the ministry of John Michael Ledlow.	18:10
	Heavenly Father, shepard of your people,	18:18
	we thank you for your servant John Michael,	18:22
	who is faithful in the care and nurture of your flock.	18:27
	And we pray that following his example	18:32
	and the teaching of his life,	18:35
	we may by your grace, grow into the stature	18:38
	of the fullness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	18:41
	who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,	18:46
	one God, forever and ever, amen.	18:48
	Oh God who wonderfully created and yet more wonderfully	18:56
	restored the dignity of human nature,	19:00
	grant that we may share the divine life of him	19:04
	who humbled himself to share our humanity,	19:07
	your son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns,	19:11
	with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,	19:15
	one God, forever and ever, amen.	19:19
	The Lord's prayer.	19:24
-	Our Father in heaven.	19:28
	Thy name be sanctified.	19:30
	Thy kingdom come,	19:33
	on earth as in heaven, thy will be done.	19:35
	Give us today the bread we shall eat in thy kingdom.	19:40
	Do not abandon us to the evil one,	19:45
	but deliver us from his rage.	19:48
	For the kingdom is thine,	19:52
	power is thine, glory is thine.	19:54
	Now and forever, amen.	19:58
	(organ music)	20:05
	(choir singing in foreign language)	21:04
	(organ music)	27:11
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessing flow ♪	27:29
	♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪	27:35
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	27:40
	♪ Praise him above ye heavenly hosts ♪	27:47
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	27:53
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	27:58
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia, ♪	28:04
	♪ Alleluia ♪	28:10
	♪ Amen ♪	28:17
-	Lord Christ, when you came among us,	28:28
	you proclaim the kingdom of God in villages,	28:30
	towns and lonely places.	28:34
	Grant that your presence and power may be known	28:37
	throughout this land.	28:41
	Have mercy upon all of us who live in rural areas.	28:44
	Especially this state.	28:51
	And grant that all the people of our nation	28:54
	may give thanks to you for food and drink	28:57
	and all other bodily necessities of life.	29:01
	Respect those who labor to produce them	29:06
	and honor the land and the water	29:10
	from which these good things come.	29:14
	Bless our offering.	29:20
	Send us into the world.	29:26
	Grant that as we give of our substance	29:31
	thy grace may be given to us.	29:37
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord	29:42
	amen.	29:46
	(organ music)	29:50
	♪ O For a thousand tongues to sing ♪	30:12
	♪ My dear Redeemer's praise ♪	30:17
	♪ The glories of my God and King ♪	30:23
	♪ The triumphs of His grace! ♪	30:28
	♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪	30:35
	♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪	30:41
	♪ To spread through all the world abroad ♪	30:46
	♪ The honors of Thy name ♪	30:51
	♪ Jesus the Name that charms our fears ♪	30:58
	♪ That bids our sorrows cease ♪	31:03
	♪ 'Tis music in the sinner's ears ♪	31:09
	♪ 'Tis life, and health, and peace ♪	31:15
	♪ He breaks the power of canceled sin ♪	31:22
	♪ He sets the prisoner free ♪	31:27
	♪ His blood can make the foulest clean ♪	31:33
	♪ His blood availed for me ♪	31:38
	♪ He speaks and listening to his voice ♪	31:45
	♪ New life the dead receive ♪	31:51
	♪ The mournful, broken hearts rejoice ♪	31:56
	♪ The humble poor believe ♪	32:02
	♪ Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb ♪	32:09
	♪ Your loosened tongues employ ♪	32:14
	♪ Ye blind, behold your Savior come ♪	32:20
	♪ And leap, ye lame, for joy ♪	32:26
-	It has been a magnificent journey,	32:39
	this time at Duke Chapel.	32:42
	And to so many of you I say my thanks,	32:47
	to Charlene Camburger for entrusting me	32:51
	with responsibilities, but more than that	32:53
	the opportunity to minister here.	32:55
	To my colleagues in ministry, both lay and ordained,	32:59
	thank you for ministering with me and to me.	33:05
	And to each of you my friends,	33:10
	for your spirit of grace and truth	33:13
	and your desire to know the word of God	33:18
	and to do it.	33:20
	I bid you farewell this day,	33:23
	in the words of my Scottish ancestors,	33:26
	and a blessing that comes from them.	33:32
	Deep peace of the running wave to you.	33:36
	Deep peace of the flowing air to you.	33:40
	Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.	33:44
	Deep peace of the shining stars to you.	33:47
	Deep peace of the Prince of Peace to each of you,	33:52
	this day and forever.	33:57
	In the name of the Father, and of the Son,	34:00
	and of the Holy Spirit, amen.	34:02
	(organ music)	34:09

Item Info

Title:

J. Michael Laidlaw - "God as Poet and Persons on Pilgrimage" (June 24, 1984)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1): 34:45. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 09:39.
God, like a poet, speaks the word into our life to go, to pick up our lives and our cross and follow God. This call to be on the move is what leads us into our full humanity, as pilgrims following after the poet God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “The miracle, I suppose, is that whatever it is that is called God and God’s foolishness, is somehow more to our liking after all, then any or all of the word’s foolishness. That we can no longer be content with our live as they have been and the world as it is. But now, we must be up and on the way. Why? If only because there is something in the movement that makes us human. Or keeps us human. Or at least opens the door to our becoming human. And at last, that restlessness that we have always known, now has a name and that name is God.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4862bs2s

Date:

June 24, 1984

Speaker:

Laidlaw, J. Michael

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

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Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0216
ref7953_ems
uachapelsermaud
duke:321230
dcrau001204
ark:/87924/r4862bs2s
793630cb-c351-4c5f-b581-76049546f5e9

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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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.

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Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other 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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J. Michael Laidlaw - "God as Poet and Persons on Pilgrimage" (June 24, 1984)

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1. J. Michael Laidlaw - "God as Poet and Persons on Pilgrimage" (June 24, 1984)

Duke University Archives

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J. Michael Laidlaw - "God as Poet and Persons on Pilgrimage" (June 24, 1984)

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Duke University Archives

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