William H. Willimon - "The Lord Is with You" (December 23, 1984)

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	(sacred choral music)	0:05
	(piano music)	1:42
	(sacred choral music)	1:47
	(piano interlude)	3:28
	(sacred choral music)	3:38
	(sacred organ music)	6:22
	Good morning.	10:42
	We welcome you to Duke chapel,	10:43
	most of you are visitors today,	10:45
	and so we hope that you will welcome one another	10:47
	and we are glad that you are here with us today	10:50
	for this fourth Sunday in Advent service.	10:53
	We have been listening to the music of the	10:57
	North Carolina Boy Choir	11:00
	under the direction of Mr. Bill Graham.	11:02
	It's become a tradition for Duke chapel	11:06
	to host this choir on this Sunday,	11:08
	and we are blessed by their presence.	11:11
	The boy choir will be back here in Duke chapel	11:15
	on Christmas Eve for the 11pm service of lessons and carols.	11:18
	We hope that many of you will be with us	11:24
	for that service.	11:26
	Please note in the bulletin that this year	11:28
	we're going to add an additional service	11:30
	on Christmas Eve at 5:30pm,	11:34
	a service of carols and communion.	11:38
	And the public is cordially invited.	11:41
	Let us continue our worship.	11:45
	(sacred choral singing)	11:55
	(sacred organ music)	13:12
	(congregation singing)	13:49
	(organ music interlude)	15:49
	(congregation singing)	16:19
-	The Lord be with you	17:07
Congregation	And also with you.	17:09
-	Let us pray.	17:11
	God of Israel, hope of the nations,	17:14
	with expectant hearts,	17:18
	we, your people, await Christ coming.	17:20
	As once he came in humility,	17:24
	so now may he come in glory,	17:26
	that he may make all things perfect	17:30
	in your everlasting kingdom,	17:32
	for he is the Lord,	17:34
	forever and ever.	17:37
	Amen.	17:39
-	Let us pray.	17:52
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	17:54
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	17:57
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	18:00
	we might hear with joy	18:03
	what you say to us this day.	18:05
	Amen.	18:08
	The first lesson is taken from the second book of Samuel,	18:10
	chapter seven, verses eight through 16.	18:14
	"Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant, David.	18:18
	"Thus says the Lord of Hosts,	18:24
	"I took you from the pasture,	18:26
	"from following the sheep,	18:29
	"that you should be prince over my people's Israel.	18:30
	"And I have been with you wherever you went,	18:34
	"and have cut off all your enemies from before you.	18:37
	"And I will make for you a great name,	18:40
	"like the name of the great ones of the earth.	18:43
	"And I will appoint a place for my people Israel,	18:47
	"and will plant them,	18:50
	"that they may dwell in their own place,	18:52
	"and be disturbed no more,	18:55
	"and violent men shall afflict them no more.	18:58
	"As formerly from the time that I appointed judges	19:01
	"over my people Israel.	19:04
	"And I will give you the rest from all your enemies.	19:06
	"Moreover, the Lord declares to you	19:10
	"that the Lord will make you a house.	19:12
	"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down	19:15
	"with your fathers,	19:18
	"I will raise up your offspring after you,	19:19
	"who shall come forth from your body	19:22
	"and I will establish his kingdom.	19:24
	"He shall build a house for my name,	19:28
	"and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.	19:31
	"I will be his father,	19:35
	"and he shall be my son.	19:36
	"When he commits iniquity,	19:39
	"I will chasten him with the rod of men.	19:41
	"With the stripes of the sons of men,	19:44
	"but I will not take my steadfast love from him,	19:46
	"as I took it from Saul,	19:50
	"whom I put away from before you.	19:51
	"And your house, and your kingdom shall be made forever	19:55
	"before me.	19:58
	"Your throne shall be established forever."	20:00
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	20:03
	(sacred organ music)	20:13
	♪ My soul doth magnify the Lord ♪	20:21
	♪ And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior ♪	20:26
	♪ Who he hath regarded ♪	20:32
	♪ The lowliness of his handmaiden ♪	20:36
	♪ For behold from henceforth ♪	20:41
	♪ All generations shall call me blessed ♪	20:45
	♪ For he that is mighty hath magnified me ♪	20:50
	♪ And holy is his name ♪	20:55
	♪ And his mercy is with them that fear him ♪	20:59
	♪ Throughout all generations ♪	21:04
	♪ He has showed strength with his arm ♪	21:09
	♪ He has countered the proud ♪	21:14
	♪ And the imagination of their hearts ♪	21:17
	♪ He hath put down the mighty from their seat ♪	21:21
	♪ And hath exalted the humbled and meek ♪	21:26
	♪ He hath filled the hungry with good things ♪	21:32
	♪ And the rich he hath sent empty away ♪	21:37
	♪ He remembering his mercy hath opened his servant Israel ♪	21:42
	♪ As he promised to our forefathers ♪	21:50
	♪ Abraham and his seed forever ♪	21:53
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	21:59
	♪ And to the Son ♪	22:01
	♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪	22:04
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	22:08
	♪ Is now ♪	22:12
	♪ And ever shall be ♪	22:13
	♪ World without end ♪	22:16
	♪ Amen ♪	22:19
-	The second lesson is taken from Romans	22:33
	chapter 16 verses 25 through 27	22:36
	"Now to him who is able to strengthen you	22:40
	"according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ	22:43
	"according to the revelation of the mystery	22:47
	"which was kept secret for long ages	22:50
	"but is now disclosed,	22:52
	"and through the prophetic writings	22:55
	"is made known to all nations,	22:56
	"according to the command of the eternal God.	22:59
	"To bring out about the obedience of faith	23:02
	"to the only wise God be glory forevermore	23:05
	"through Jesus Christ,	23:09
	"amen.	23:10
	This ends the reading of the second lesson.	23:11
	(sacred organ music)	23:19
	♪ Rejoice ♪	23:38
	♪ rejoice ♪	23:39
	♪ rejoice greatly ♪	23:40
	♪ Rejoice daughter of Zion ♪	23:45
	♪ Oh daughter of Zion ♪	23:55
	♪ Rejoice ♪	23:57
	♪ Rejoice ♪	24:00
	♪ Rejoice ♪	24:05
	♪ Oh daughter of Zion ♪	24:18
	♪ Rejoice greatly ♪	24:22
	♪ Rejoice ♪	24:24
	♪ Oh daughter of Jerusalem ♪	24:27
	♪ Behold thy king cometh unto thee ♪	24:33
	♪ Behold thy king cometh unto thee ♪	24:40
	♪ Cometh unto thee ♪	24:45
	(Organ interlude)	24:49
	♪ He is the righteous savior ♪	25:08
	♪ And he shall speak peace unto the heathen ♪	25:24
	♪ He shall speak peace ♪	25:33
	♪ He shall speak peace ♪	25:38
	♪ Peace ♪	25:42
	♪ He shall speak peace unto the heathen ♪	25:45
	♪ He is the righteous Savior ♪	25:56
	♪ And he shall speak ♪	26:05
	♪ He shall speak peace ♪	26:08
	♪ Peace ♪	26:14
	♪ He shall speak peace unto the heathen ♪	26:19
	♪ (Organ interlude) ♪	26:31
	♪ Rejoice ♪	26:36
	♪ Rejoice ♪	26:37
	♪ Rejoice greatly ♪	26:38
	♪ Rejoice greatly ♪	26:45
	♪ O daughter of Zion ♪	26:58
	♪ Shout O daughter of Jerusalem ♪	27:02
	♪ Behold thy King cometh unto thee ♪	27:08
	♪ Rejoice ♪	27:13
	♪ Rejoice ♪	27:18
	♪ And shout ♪	27:23
	♪ Shout ♪	27:25
	♪ Shout ♪	27:26
	♪ Shout ♪	27:27
	♪ Rejoice greatly ♪	27:28
	♪ Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion ♪	27:38
	♪ Shout O daughter of Jerusalem ♪	27:44
	♪ Behold thy King cometh unto thee ♪	27:49
	♪ Behold thy King cometh unto thee ♪	27:55
	(Organ music)	28:04
-	The gospel is taken from Luke chapter one,	28:35
	verses 26 through 38.	28:38
	"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent	28:42
	"from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,	28:44
	"to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph	28:48
	"at the house of David.	28:52
	"And the virgin's name was Mary.	28:55
	"And he came to her and said,	28:58
	" 'Hail, oh favored one, the Lord is with you.'	28:59
	"But she was greatly troubled at the saying	29:03
	"and considered in her mind what sort of greeting	29:06
	"this might be.	29:09
	"And the angel said to her,	29:10
	"'Do not be afraid, Mary,	29:13
	"'for you have found favor with God.	29:14
	"'And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.	29:18
	"'And you shall call his name, Jesus.	29:23
	"'He will be great and he will be called	29:27
	"'The Son of the most high.	29:29
	"'And the Lord God will give to him the throne	29:30
	"'of his father, David.	29:33
	"'And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.	29:36
	"'And of his kingdom, there will be no end.'	29:39
	"And Mary said to the angel,	29:43
	" 'How shall this be,	29:45
	"since I have no husband.'	29:47
	"And the angel said to her,	29:49
	"'the Holy Spirit will come upon you	29:50
	"'and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.	29:53
	"'therefore the child to be born	29:57
	"'will be called Holy, the Son of God.	29:59
	"'And behold your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age	30:03
	"'has also conceived a son,	30:07
	"'and this is the sixth month with her	30:08
	"'who was called barren.	30:11
	"'For with God, nothing will be impossible.'	30:14
	"And Mary said,	30:18
	"'behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord,	30:19
	"'let it be to me according to your word.'	30:22
	"And the angel departed from her."	30:25
	This ends the reading of the gospel.	30:28
-	I would be the last person to tell you	30:40
	that the Bible is an easy book to read.	30:43
	How many dear, devout souls have vowed to read	30:48
	the bible straight through,	30:53
	start to finish,	30:55
	Genesis to Revelation,	30:57
	only to fall away after the first few chapters.	31:00
	It's not only that the Bible is an ancient book	31:05
	written in ancient tongues,	31:08
	but it's also that disturbing tendency of Scripture	31:11
	to shuttle back and forth from the heavenly to the earthly,	31:17
	from the spiritual to the fleshly.	31:22
	Oh, there are parts of the Bible	31:28
	that are noble and inspiring, to be sure.	31:29
	But have you noticed,	31:32
	how often this or that detail of Near-Eastern	31:35
	geography or folklore	31:40
	has a way of intruding itself into the otherwise	31:42
	noble content of the Bible's material.	31:47
	Here you go, reading along in the Old Testament.	31:52
	Impressed by some passage,	31:55
	it's beauty, it's sensitivity,	31:57
	it's relevance for people of every age and place.	31:59
	And then bam,	32:05
	without warning,	32:06
	you're set down on Mount Ararat	32:07
	or you're surrounded by that improbable people,	32:10
	the Hermanites.	32:14
	Or else, trapped in an undo edifying conversation	32:16
	with someone called Ehud the Fat.	32:20
	Now, few react favorably to such encounters.	32:24
	We like the religion of high thoughts and noble phrases.	32:29
	We like our truth in clear, distilled form.	32:35
	From which all the dregs of history have been	32:40
	carefully removed.	32:42
	We like to encounter the Holy, here.	32:46
	In the beauty of a Bach fugue or with	32:49
	sunlight streaming through golden windows.	32:52
	But we're put off by the biblical depiction of God Almighty	32:57
	strolling in the garden in the cool of the day	33:01
	conversing with Adam and Eve.	33:04
	Or else burning the city of Sodom to a crisp	33:08
	simply because it's inhabitants practice	33:11
	an unconventional lifestyle.	33:13
	We're moved by the prophetic proclamation of	33:17
	recovery of sight to the blind,	33:20
	but when a Jew from Nazareth	33:22
	dabs a bit of spit	33:27
	and dust into the blind man's eyes	33:28
	by the pool of Siloam	33:32
	we are repulsed.	33:34
	Here's a rule of the thumb.	33:38
	Universalization and generalization inspire.	33:41
	Incarnation and particularization repel.	33:45
	One of the first weddings I ever performed,	33:53
	the bride and groom wrote their own wedding vows.	33:55
	The vows went something like this,	34:00
	love me, be open to my humanity,	34:04
	embrace my individuality,	34:08
	affirm my creativity.	34:10
	Afterwards, the one to whom I had made my wedding vows said,	34:15
	"They got out easy.	34:21
	"I had to promise to love you for better, for worse,	34:23
	"for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health."	34:25
	And in this way, the traditional wedding service	34:30
	is very biblical.	34:32
	Because here is the bride standing in white lace,	34:33
	holding a baby's breath bouquet,	34:38
	and here is the church, saying that while all that	34:40
	is well and good,	34:45
	we want to know who's going to manage the grocery money.	34:46
	Who'll empty the bedpans,	34:50
	who'll do the dishes at supper in the evenings.	34:51
	Thus have many thoughtful people	34:58
	sought to clean up the Bible.	35:01
	To expurgate it of all this earthly detail.	35:04
	Back in the fourth century,	35:10
	Marcian proposed eliminating the entire Old Testament	35:11
	as too unspiritual for Christian ears.	35:15
	Thomas Jefferson produced an improved New Testament,	35:21
	in which Jefferson carefully excised all of the	35:24
	references to miracles and supernatural events	35:28
	that the rational 18th century mind found repugnant.	35:32
	More recently, the National Council of Churches	35:38
	has produced an allegedly inclusive language lectionary	35:42
	in which the Bible has again been re-done,	35:46
	this time to make it more palatable to feminist standards	35:50
	to remove it's patriarchal language.	35:55
	So the familiar passage of Genesis becomes,	35:59
	"It is not good that the human being should be alone,	36:02
	I will make a companion in corresponding to this creature."	36:05
	And the familiar John 3:16 becomes,	36:10
	"For God so loved the world that God gave	36:13
	God's only child,	36:15
	that whoever believes in that child should not perish	36:16
	for God sent that child into the world	36:19
	not to condemn the world, but that through that child,	36:21
	the world might be saved."	36:24
	Someone said this sounded like	36:27
	the gospel written for Coneheads.	36:28
	Now, while the National Council Committee was busy	36:32
	cleaning up the sexism in Scripture,	36:35
	critics noted that the committee did not seem bothered	36:37
	by the violence in the Old Testament,	36:41
	or the anti-Semitism in the New.	36:46
	But in fairness to the committee,	36:51
	let's admit that cleaning up the Bible	36:53
	is no easy task	36:56
	because there is just so much there to offend	37:00
	sensitive thinking progressive people,	37:04
	like us.	37:09
	And yet, there is a more basic offense of Scripture,	37:13
	which troubles us.	37:19
	I'm not talking about the sexism,	37:21
	or the fornication, or the head-bashing	37:24
	and the throat-slitting there.	37:26
	I'm talking about what my teacher Bill Neil,	37:30
	referred to as "the greater obscenity	37:32
	"of the particular history	37:36
	"of a not-too-particular people."	37:38
	Ah, if we were only able	37:43
	with the wave of a hand to remove all	37:46
	of those Hermanites and Jebusites and Peresites	37:48
	from Scripture.	37:51
	The Bible would be so much easier to read	37:53
	than these baffling books of Judges	37:55
	and Joshua would be reduced to the level	37:58
	of the editorial page of the Duke Chronicle.	38:03
	But still, would our problems with Scripture be solved?	38:07
	For everywhere you turn,	38:13
	not only in the Bible but in the Christian faith	38:16
	as a whole,	38:19
	one is confronted not with lofty ideals	38:22
	and grand abstractions,	38:25
	but rather, historical particulars.	38:27
	Intellectuals want God to be the Unmoved Mover,	38:33
	the Ground of All Being.	38:37
	And here is some farmer down on his knees praying for rain	38:41
	so that his soybeans won't fail.	38:44
	Just when we theologians get a definition	38:47
	of the atonement as the more just and equitable	38:50
	economic community,	38:54
	here some fanatic wants to be	38:58
	washed in the blood of the Lamb.	39:00
	All we erect elaborate defenses against this scandal	39:03
	of particularity,	39:07
	when we pray with Jesus,	39:10
	give us this day our daily bread,	39:11
	we make sure that everyone understands	39:14
	we're talking about spiritual nourishment here,	39:16
	not bread.	39:19
	For how could the great, ethereal God be concerned	39:23
	about what goes into people's bellies?	39:27
	Or we fly into the archaic comfort of	39:33
	an antique liturgy.	39:36
	By which we hope to transport ourselves	39:40
	from the grime of the first century Near East	39:43
	or the plastic of 20th century Durham.	39:47
	But we never completely make our escape.	39:53
	Because every time we open the Bible	39:55
	it seems that it's always wanting to	39:57
	keep things tied to particular people	40:00
	in particular places and names.	40:03
	Revelation coming through particularity,	40:08
	rather than in spite of it.	40:13
	I'm not talking here just about that human difficulty	40:17
	of learning to live with a gap	40:21
	between the real and the ideal,	40:23
	between theory and practice.	40:25
	In most areas of life we learn to come to terms	40:29
	with this discrepancy.	40:32
	We realize eventually that every ideal	40:35
	must eventually be expressed within the limits	40:38
	of who we really are.	40:42
	The freshman zeal for dear old Duke	40:45
	eventually will become tempered by mashed potatoes	40:48
	in the student commons.	40:52
	The honeymoon is eventually over in every marriage,	40:55
	and we settle down to the realities	40:58
	of married life.	41:00
	Every exciting new career eventually becomes	41:03
	the same old job.	41:06
	Now we laugh with scorn at a person	41:10
	who longs for the joys of family life	41:13
	and marriage,	41:16
	but cannot bring himself to accept the physical reality	41:17
	of erotic love.	41:21
	We would have little sympathy for the professor	41:24
	who gives up a career in teaching when	41:27
	she finds out that all students	41:30
	are not geniuses.	41:32
	This is wisdom.	41:36
	Sometimes when I'm doing pre-marital counseling,	41:39
	I will hand the bride and groom	41:41
	a couple of sheets of paper.	41:45
	And I say to them,	41:47
	"I want you to take that sheet of paper	41:48
	"and write down three things that you love	41:50
	"about your husband or wife-to-be."	41:54
	After they do that I say,	42:01
	"Now turn the paper over,	42:01
	"and write down three things	42:03
	"that you really can't stand	42:06
	"about this other person.	42:08
	"May be little things."	42:10
	Now I do this to say that if they don't know	42:14
	those three things,	42:17
	they haven't been dating long enough,	42:18
	but also to say that marriage means a promise	42:21
	to live with those three things.	42:25
	The good and the bad.	42:28
	In most areas of life we learn to come to terms	42:33
	with the realities of humanity.	42:36
	We learn that all dreams must be expressed within	42:41
	certain boundaries of who we are.	42:44
	Wise people don't expend a lifetime	42:48
	regretting the elemental facts of life.	42:50
	But why is it, when we come to the realm of religion,	42:56
	we resist this knowledge with a most stubborn pride.	43:00
	When we're making friends,	43:07
	we know that friendship has to be build on candor	43:08
	and honesty and realism about one another.	43:11
	We insist that communication	43:16
	between friends be frank.	43:17
	But why is that when it comes to God,	43:21
	we can only speak to God when we're standing on	43:24
	pure, holy ground.	43:26
	Partly we do this out of misgivings	43:31
	over what God might notice about our lives,	43:33
	if God got really close to us.	43:38
	Like tourists in the Soviet Union that were shown	43:43
	the glories of Red Square,	43:46
	but not the wonders of Siberia.	43:48
	We also like to keep God up there,	43:52
	aloof, on a pedestal,	43:56
	far removed from us.	43:58
	We like to come to church and keep our real selves	44:01
	and our real feelings out there,	44:04
	not here.	44:07
	Because that keeps God	44:11
	safely out of our shady deals	44:13
	and backroom politics.	44:17
	And yet, that's only part of the problem.	44:21
	We act not only out of self-defensiveness,	44:25
	but from a kind of misguided piety.	44:28
	Which is reluctant to involve the great and holy God	44:34
	in our unholy lives.	44:39
	We know in our heart of hearts,	44:45
	that our lives need some contact with the Holy,	44:47
	with the Source of our being.	44:52
	We spend our lives yearning for some fellowship	44:54
	with the eternal,	44:57
	reaching out, longing, hoping.	44:59
	But like Groucho Marx, who once turned down	45:05
	a membership in an exclusive Beverly Hills club	45:08
	by saying, "I wouldn't want to be a part	45:11
	"of any club that would be so low	45:14
	"as to take a guy like me."	45:16
	We find it difficult to worship a God	45:20
	who would have a serious interest	45:22
	in guys like us.	45:24
	Our great pride forces us to postulate	45:29
	a God beyond the reach of our great need.	45:32
	Now the church did battle with this heresy	45:38
	early in it's life.	45:40
	One of the first theological errors the church	45:43
	had to confront	45:46
	was called Docetism.	45:47
	Docetism comes from the Greek,	45:50
	meaning "to appear", "to seem"	45:52
	early on in the church,	45:57
	they were those pious souls who said,	45:58
	"Wait, wait, wait.	46:00
	"Jesus, if he were the Christ,	46:03
	"couldn't really have been a man,	46:07
	"couldn't really have been a Jew.	46:10
	"He only appeared to be born at Bethlehem.	46:13
	"He only seemed to get angry when he drove	46:18
	"the money-changers from the temple.	46:20
	"He only appeared to suffer	46:22
	"and cry out on the cross."	46:24
	The Docetist argued thus out of great veneration	46:29
	and respect for the holiness of God.	46:33
	It was unthinkable that God	46:36
	should appear in so humble a form	46:38
	as a baby,	46:41
	a poor, Jewish baby.	46:44
	Oh, they were always many willing to conceive of a Savior	46:49
	who would come with banners flying,	46:52
	and on a war-horse to bring liberty, equality, fraternity	46:54
	to all the oppressed of the earth.	46:58
	There were plenty awaiting	47:01
	the great teacher who would teach humanity	47:02
	and inculcate noble, philosophical ideals.	47:06
	But what they got, in Jesus of Nazareth,	47:12
	was a carpenter's son.	47:18
	Who, when he stood up to preach,	47:21
	the congregation said,	47:22
	"Wait a minute, isn't that Mary's boy?"	47:26
	He came to them, the bible says,	47:33
	not as a stranger.	47:36
	And therefore, he confused their expectations	47:40
	for the eternal.	47:43
	You and I can tolerate the alien	47:48
	and the strange,	47:50
	more easily than that that resembles us too closely.	47:53
	Therefore we keep religion blurred and abstracted,	48:00
	generalized.	48:03
	But once the abstraction,	48:06
	the hope, the expectation became to solidly outlined	48:09
	in Jesus of Nazareth,	48:13
	he was too close for comfort.	48:16

-	Holy one whom we await must be exulted high and lifted up.	0:03
	The messiah of God must hover above the ground	0:08
	upon which we walk.	0:11
	He must not be made of the same dust	0:12
	of which we are made.	0:14
	And he will be high and lifted up	0:16
	if we have to nail him up there ourselves.	0:18
	Thus, it is real.	0:23
	And there is enough of that in each one of us to say Amen.	0:27
	Let us put an end to this desecration of the eternal.	0:33
	This vulgar longing for God's Condescension.	0:38
	Let's keep our cross' polished and bare	0:45
	and our mangers full of well washed straw,	0:50
	but then,	0:57
	every year comes Christmas.	0:59
	The incarnation,	1:02
	and the sheer mundane, earthly ordinary particularities	1:06
	of it shatter our fuzzy expectations.	1:10
	The virgin birth for instance,	1:14
	which is today put forward as proof of Jesus' divinity,	1:16
	was originally used by the church to affirm his humanity.	1:20
	Against all those Docetists,	1:25
	the church stood and affirmed and decreed	1:29
	I believe in Jesus Christ who was born	1:32
	to the virgin Mary as we must be born.	1:36
	Suffered under Pontius Pilate, as we must suffer.	1:39
	Was crucified, dead, and buried.	1:44
	At Christmas we want to ponder the God	1:50
	of the ethereal realities, but what we get is a story.	1:54
	That in the days of Caesar Augustus there went out a decree	2:00
	that the whole world should pay taxes.	2:03
	And we listen in on conversations	2:06
	between pregnant, Jewish women,	2:08
	and we squat with the shepherds out in the cold night air,	2:11
	and we go to the manger and smell those very earthly odors	2:14
	of a cow stable where human birth has occurred.	2:18
	Thus, we see God among us,	2:25
	among us.	2:30
	Thus, we come to know where we live.	2:34
	We live not on cloud nine,	2:39
	or in some rose garden of perpetual philosophical delights,	2:43
	but we live here.	2:49
	In Durham North Carolina,	2:51
	on Mount Ararat,	2:55
	in the ragged tents of the Hermonites	2:57
	with visits on Christmas from uncles named Ehud.	3:02
	Here's where we live.	3:08
	Oh, we are dreamers of great dreams,	3:11
	creators of great works of art,	3:14
	thinkers of grand thoughts.	3:16
	And yet, we're also people who have to get born	3:20
	and we do grow old.	3:23
	And we bash heads and we slit throats,	3:27
	and someday we must suffer and die.	3:32
	We are those who love to speak of God	3:37
	as the unmoved mover, the ground of all being,	3:39
	but when the chips are down,	3:44
	we pray,	3:47
	Father, why did you do this to me?	3:49
	Take away the pain.	3:55
	Oh God, send her back.	3:59
	We pray thus, because when the chips are down	4:04
	this is the only way we can pray,	4:08
	because we know	4:13
	that for all our alleged nobility we are creatures,	4:14
	vulnerable infantile creatures.	4:20
	Who suffer and cry out and laugh and lust and long for love.	4:27
	Christmas reminds us that no potter	4:34
	could fashion even the most exquisite vessel	4:36
	without getting clay upon his hands.	4:39
	Christmas reminds us that no God could love us,	4:45
	love us without stooping,	4:48
	down through the ages.	4:53
	The Bible says,	4:56
	God learned that he must love us right where we are,	4:59
	as we are,	5:03
	or love us not at all.	5:06
	We peer over into the manger at Bethlehem,	5:10
	surprised once again	5:15
	to see the eternal,	5:19
	bearing of all things,	5:23
	ethereally human face.	5:27
	The word become flesh,	5:31
	come to live beside those whom he would save.	5:34
	To our never ending surprise we realize	5:40
	that wonder of wonders,	5:44
	the Bible was right.	5:49
	The angel knew what he was talking about.	5:52
	Hail oh favored ones, the lord is with you.	5:56
	Oh, even more surprising,	6:02
	the lord is with you.	6:05
	Amen.	6:11
	(Worship music)	6:20
	(worship music drowns out congregation singing)	6:47
-	The lord be with you.	8:17
Congregation	And also with you.	8:19
-	Let us pray.	8:20
	Eternal God,	8:38
	mother and father to us all,	8:40
	who did not settle to remain out there,	8:44
	but came to be among us.	8:47
	We lift our prayers unto thee	8:51
	as we continue in our pilgrimage toward Bethlehem	8:54
	and the child who grew to be our king.	8:58
	We come as Shepherds, out of our curiosity,	9:02
	our loneliness, our longing to know thee.	9:07
	We come as wise men, feeling sometimes like strangers,	9:13
	looking in the wrong places, journeying from afar.	9:19
	We come in response to the angels signing,	9:26
	having heard their jubilation,	9:30
	having been reminded of the great gift of love.	9:33
	We come as Mary and Joseph, answering the call to obedience	9:38
	which requires us to give our very lives unto thee.	9:44
	Help us in this final moment of preparation oh God	9:50
	to rid ourselves of all the divides us from thee,	9:54
	to empty ourselves in order that we may be filled.	9:59
	We thank thee gracious God for the many joys of this season,	10:06
	for family gatherings, for reunions among old friends,	10:12
	for the spirit of good will	10:17
	which reins ever so briefly in our land.	10:19
	For this time when we remember	10:23
	it is more blessed to give than to receive.	10:25
	For this time when we find genuine happiness	10:29
	in bringing happiness to others.	10:32
	We give thee thanks, oh God.	10:36
	We pray the consoling God to bless those	10:40
	for whom there is little joy at Christmas time.	10:43
	Bless those who are aged and forlorn.	10:48
	For those who feel paralyzed by a sense of uselessness.	10:52
	Bless those who have suffered loss	10:58
	and are acutely aware of their grief in this season.	11:01
	Bless those who are poor,	11:06
	who suffer not as much for their own sakes	11:08
	as for their longing to give gifts they cannot afford.	11:11
	Bless those who are ill	11:16
	and must spend this time of joy in pain.	11:19
	Bless those who are far from home	11:23
	or perhaps even have no home,	11:26
	and are lonely and forgotten among strangers.	11:30
	We beseech thee reconciling God,	11:35
	send thy spirit among all people this blessed season.	11:38
	Make this a time when those who have quarreled	11:43
	may be reconciled.	11:45
	Make this a time when those who have drifted apart	11:48
	will find each other again.	11:51
	Make this a time when the vision of peace on earth	11:54
	will be renewed within each of us,	11:58
	and when significant strides toward that peace	12:01
	may become a reality.	12:04
	We thank thee loving God for the greatest	12:08
	and the best gift of all Jesus Christ our Lord,	12:12
	that he took our common life upon him to be like us,	12:16
	in order that we might be like him.	12:20
	This we ask, for thy loves sake,	12:26
	in the name of him who came to be among us, Amen.	12:29
	And now let us offer our gifts and ourselves to God.	12:36
	(worship music)	12:50
	(worship music drowns out congregation singing)	12:56
	(worship song softens)	15:39
	(reverent organ music)	17:19
	(organ music)	20:36
	♪ All creatures of our God and King ♪	21:10
	♪ Lift up your voice and sing with us ♪	21:17
	♪ Alleluia, ♪	21:22
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:25
	♪ Thou burning sun with golden beam ♪	21:29
	♪ Thou silver moon with softer gleam ♪	21:35
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:41
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:44
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:47
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:50
	♪ Alleluia ♪	21:53
-	Eternal God, we thank thee	22:11
	that of all the blessings thou hast bestowed upon us	22:15
	the greatest is the gift of thy presence among us.	22:18
	We offer now these signs of our gratitude.	22:23
	With the constant prayer that all our hearts	22:26
	may be made ready for thy coming.	22:29
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	22:32
	who taught us to pray with confidence.	22:35
Congregation	Our father who art in heaven,	22:39
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	22:42
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	22:46
	Give us this day our daily bread	22:50
	and forgive us our trespasses	22:53
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	22:56
	and lead us not into temptation,	22:59
	but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom,	23:02
	and the power, and the glory forever,	23:05
	Amen.	23:10
	(hymn music)	23:12
	♪ Oh little town of Bethlehem ♪	23:51
	♪ How we still we see thee lie ♪	23:56
	♪ Above thy deep and dreamless sleep ♪	24:02
	♪ The silent stars go by ♪	24:07
	♪ Yet in thy dark streets shineth ♪	24:12
	♪ The everlasting Light ♪	24:17
	♪ The hopes and fears of all the years ♪	24:22
	♪ Are met in thee tonight ♪	24:28
	♪ For Christ is born of Mary ♪	24:35
	♪ And gathered all above ♪	24:40
	♪ While mortals sleep the angels keep ♪	24:45
	♪ Their watch of wondering love ♪	24:50
	♪ Oh morning stars together ♪	24:56
	♪ Proclaim the holy birth ♪	25:01
	♪ And praises sing to God the King ♪	25:06
	♪ And Peace to men on earth ♪	25:12
	♪ How silently, how silently ♪	25:19
	♪ The wondrous gift is given ♪	25:24
	♪ So God imparts to human hearts ♪	25:30
	♪ The blessings of His heaven ♪	25:36
	♪ No ear may hear His coming ♪	25:42
	♪ But in this world of sin ♪	25:47
	♪ Where meek souls will receive him still ♪	25:52
	♪ The dear Christ enters in ♪	25:57
	♪ Oh holy Child of Bethlehem ♪	26:05
	♪ Descend to us we pray ♪	26:10
	♪ Cast out our sin and enter in ♪	26:16
	♪ Be born to us today ♪	26:21
	♪ We hear the Christmas angels ♪	26:27
	♪ The great glad tidings tell ♪	26:32
	♪ Oh come to us abide with us ♪	26:38
	♪ Our Lord Emmanuel ♪	26:43
-	Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	26:52
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy spirit	26:56
	be with you now and always, Amen.	27:00
	(reverent music)	27:11
	(music drowns out congregation singing)	27:16
	(intense organ music)	28:23
	(congregation chatting)	30:05

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Lord Is with You" (December 23, 1984)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1): 30:40. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 06:14.
The preacher confronts biblical concerns around ‘immoral’, ‘unspiritual’, and the supernatural narratives in the Bible, arguing that God works in historical particulars, which the Bible reflects. The preacher suggests that Christian put aside their lofty ideals, grand abstractions, and misguided piety and allow the holy into their seemingly unholy activities. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44m91r1p

Date:

December 23, 1984

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Luke

Chapter and Verse:

Luke 1:26-38

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0242
ref8005_v6n
uachapelsermaud
duke:320763
dcrau001230
ark:/87924/r44m91r1p
c5848216-f836-4a83-a35e-072f38803fe5

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "The Lord Is with You" (December 23, 1984)

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1. William H. Willimon - "The Lord Is with You" (December 23, 1984)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "The Lord Is with You" (December 23, 1984)

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Duke University Archives

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