Nancy Ferree-Clark - "One Heart and Soul" (April 14, 1985)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (lively organ music) | 0:03 | |
| (footsteps thudding) | 7:22 | |
| (energetic music) | 7:44 | |
| - | Welcome to this service of worship. | 15:53 |
| We welcome those who worship with us on the radio | 15:56 | |
| and all of our visitors here today. | 15:59 | |
| One correction in the bulletin. | 16:04 | |
| The Yom HaShoah service in remembrance of the Holocaust | 16:06 | |
| will be at 12 noon on Thursday, April 18th. | 16:11 | |
| We left the time out of the bulletin. | 16:15 | |
| A special service of remembrance | 16:18 | |
| sponsored by Duke Campus Ministry. | 16:20 | |
| Traditionally, this, the first Sunday after Easter | 16:24 | |
| is known in the church as Low Sunday. | 16:27 | |
| There'll be nothing low about it here though. | 16:31 | |
| We've changed the name | 16:33 | |
| to the first festival Sunday after Easter. | 16:34 | |
| The choir which is with us | 16:37 | |
| for the last formal service of the school year | 16:39 | |
| is going out not with a whimper but a bang | 16:44 | |
| singing John Rutter's Gloria in our service today. | 16:47 | |
| I know that I speak for those of you | 16:52 | |
| who are regular worshipers here | 16:54 | |
| in thanking the faithfulness of our choir | 16:56 | |
| and those who give of themselves so generously. | 16:59 | |
| And also Ben Smith for his vigorous direction of the choir | 17:03 | |
| and what a fitting goodbye it is to be singing the Gloria | 17:08 | |
| as the school year ends. | 17:13 | |
| Next Sunday, the Elon College Choir | 17:17 | |
| will be with us as a guest choir | 17:20 | |
| and so we shall continue. | 17:22 | |
| And we thank our choir. | 17:24 | |
| By the way, the friends of the chapel | 17:26 | |
| are sponsoring a reception for our choir downstairs | 17:28 | |
| here in the chapel immediately after the service | 17:32 | |
| as a token of our gratitude. | 17:34 | |
| Our preacher for the day is the assistant minister | 17:38 | |
| to the university, Nancy Ferree, | 17:41 | |
| who leads, coordinates the undergraduate | 17:44 | |
| and graduate religious life and program here on campus. | 17:48 | |
| And we welcome her again to our pulpit. | 17:53 | |
| And now, let us prepare ourselves for worship | 17:56 | |
| on this festival Sunday after Easter. | 18:00 | |
| ♪ Blessed be the God ♪ | 18:18 | |
| ♪ And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ♪ | 18:24 | |
| ♪ Which according to his abundant mercy ♪ | 18:41 | |
| ♪ Hath begotten us again ♪ | 18:58 | |
| ♪ Unto a lively hope ♪ | 19:06 | |
| ♪ By the resurrection ♪ | 19:13 | |
| ♪ Of Jesus Christ ♪ | 19:20 | |
| ♪ From the dead ♪ | 19:26 | |
| (lively organ and choral music) | 19:37 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 24:36 |
| Almighty God, we have celebrated with joy | 24:46 | |
| the festival of our Lord's resurrection. | 24:50 | |
| And you have again brought us to your house of prayer | 24:53 | |
| to praise your goodness. | 24:56 | |
| Accept now in your endless mercy | 24:59 | |
| the sacrifice of our worship and thanksgiving. | 25:01 | |
| And grant us those requests which will be wholesome for us. | 25:05 | |
| Make us to be children of the light and of the day, | 25:09 | |
| and heirs of your everlasting inheritance. | 25:12 | |
| Remember oh Lord, | 25:16 | |
| according to the multitude of your mercies, | 25:18 | |
| your whole church, | 25:20 | |
| all who join with us in prayer, | 25:22 | |
| all our sisters and brothers wherever they may be | 25:25 | |
| in your vast kingdom | 25:29 | |
| who stand in need of your help and comfort. | 25:31 | |
| Pour out upon them the riches of your mercy | 25:35 | |
| so that we, redeemed in soul and body, | 25:39 | |
| steadfast in faith, | 25:43 | |
| may ever praise your wonderful and holy name | 25:45 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord | 25:50 | |
| who lives and reigns with you in the unity | 25:52 | |
| of the Holy Spirit, | 25:55 | |
| one God now and always through all ages of ages, amen. | 25:57 | |
| ("Gloria") | 26:15 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis deo ♪ | 27:08 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis deo ♪ | 27:25 | |
| ♪ Et in terra pax hominibus ♪ | 27:49 | |
| ♪ Bonae voluntatis ♪ | 27:56 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | 28:17 | |
| ♪ In excelsis, ♪ | 28:22 | |
| ♪ In excelsis deo ♪ | 28:24 | |
| ♪ Et in terra pax ♪ | 28:36 | |
| ♪ Pax ♪ | 28:41 | |
| ♪ Pax ♪ | ||
| ♪ Pax hominibus ♪ | 28:44 | |
| ♪ Bonae voluntatis ♪ | 28:49 | |
| ♪ Bonae voluntatis ♪ | 28:58 | |
| ♪ Laudamus te ♪ | 29:10 | |
| ♪ Benedicimus te ♪ | 29:15 | |
| ♪ Laudamus te ♪ | 29:27 | |
| ♪ Laudamus te ♪ | ||
| ♪ Benedicimus te ♪ | 29:32 | |
| ♪ Benedicimus te ♪ | ||
| ♪ Adoramus te ♪ | 29:43 | |
| ♪ Glorificamus te ♪ | 29:46 | |
| ♪ Gratias, gratias, ♪ | 29:54 | |
| ♪ Gratius agimus tibi ♪ | 29:59 | |
| ♪ Gratius agimus tibi ♪ | 30:12 | |
| ♪ Propter magnam gloriam tuam ♪ | 30:29 | |
| ♪ Propter magnam gloriam tuam ♪ | 30:41 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | 30:54 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | 30:57 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | 31:02 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | ||
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis ♪ | 31:11 | |
| ♪ Deo, deo ♪ | 31:15 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis deo ♪ | 31:31 | |
| ♪ Gloria in excelsis deo ♪ | 31:42 | |
| ♪ Gloria, Gloria ♪ | 31:53 | |
| ♪ In excelsis deo ♪ | 31:59 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 32:36 |
| Open our hearts and minds oh God | 32:40 | |
| by the power of your Holy Spirit | 32:44 | |
| so that as the word is read and proclaimed | 32:47 | |
| we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen. | 32:50 | |
| The first lesson is taken from Acts. | 32:58 | |
| Now the company of those who believed | 33:04 | |
| were of one heart and soul. | 33:06 | |
| And no one said that any of the things which he possessed | 33:10 | |
| was his own. | 33:13 | |
| But they had everything in common. | 33:15 | |
| And with great power, | 33:19 | |
| the apostles gave their testimony | 33:21 | |
| to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. | 33:23 | |
| And great grace was upon them all. | 33:26 | |
| There was not a needy person among them. | 33:30 | |
| For as many as were possessors of lands or houses | 33:33 | |
| sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold | 33:38 | |
| and laid it at the apostles feet. | 33:42 | |
| And distribution was made to each as any had need. | 33:45 | |
| This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 33:52 | |
| And the second lesson is taken | 34:13 | |
| from the first letter of John. | 34:15 | |
| That which was from the beginning which we have heard, | 34:20 | |
| which we have seen with our eyes, | 34:25 | |
| which we have looked upon and touched with our hands | 34:28 | |
| concerning the word of life, | 34:31 | |
| the life was made manifest. | 34:34 | |
| And we saw it and testified to it, | 34:37 | |
| and proclaim to you the eternal life | 34:41 | |
| which was with the Father, | 34:44 | |
| and was made manifest to us. | 34:45 | |
| That which we have seen and heard, | 34:48 | |
| we proclaim also to you | 34:51 | |
| so that you have fellowship with us. | 34:53 | |
| And our fellowship is with the Father | 34:57 | |
| and with his son Jesus Christ. | 35:00 | |
| And we are writing this so that our joy may be complete. | 35:04 | |
| This is the message we have heard from him | 35:10 | |
| and proclaim to you | 35:13 | |
| that God is light, | 35:16 | |
| and in him is no darkness at all. | 35:18 | |
| If we say we have fellowship with him | 35:22 | |
| while we walk in darkness, we lie, | 35:26 | |
| and do not live according to the truth. | 35:30 | |
| But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, | 35:34 | |
| we have the fellowship with one another, | 35:38 | |
| and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. | 35:42 | |
| If we say we have no sin, | 35:47 | |
| we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. | 35:51 | |
| If we confess our sins, | 35:56 | |
| he is faithful and just, | 35:59 | |
| and will forgive our sins and cleanse us | 36:02 | |
| from all unrighteousness. | 36:05 | |
| If we say we have not sinned, | 36:08 | |
| we make him a liar, | 36:10 | |
| and his word is not in us. | 36:12 | |
| My little children, | 36:16 | |
| I am writing this to you so that you may not sin. | 36:17 | |
| But if any does sin, | 36:22 | |
| we have an advocate with the Father, | 36:24 | |
| Jesus Christ the righteous. | 36:28 | |
| And he is the expiation of our sins. | 36:31 | |
| And not for our sins only, | 36:35 | |
| but also for the sins of the whole world. | 36:37 | |
| This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 36:42 | |
| (light orchestral and choral music) | 37:02 | |
| (singing in foreign language) | 42:07 | |
| - | A reading from the gospel according to Saint John. | 44:33 |
| On the evening of that day, | 44:39 | |
| the first day of the week, | 44:40 | |
| the doors being shut where the disciples were | 44:42 | |
| for fear of the Jews, | 44:45 | |
| Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, | 44:47 | |
| peace be with you. | 44:52 | |
| When he had said this, | 44:54 | |
| he showed them his hands and his side. | 44:56 | |
| Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. | 45:00 | |
| Jesus said to them again, | 45:03 | |
| peace be with you. | 45:05 | |
| As the Father has sent me, even so, I send you. | 45:07 | |
| And when he had said this, | 45:12 | |
| he breathed on them and said to them, | 45:13 | |
| receive the Holy Spirit. | 45:16 | |
| If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. | 45:19 | |
| If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. | 45:23 | |
| Now Thomas, one of the 12 called the twin, | 45:28 | |
| was not with them when Jesus came. | 45:31 | |
| So the other disciples told him, | 45:34 | |
| we have seen the Lord. | 45:36 | |
| But he said to them, | 45:39 | |
| unless I see in his hands the print of the nails | 45:41 | |
| and place my finger in the mark of the nails, | 45:44 | |
| and place my hand in his side, | 45:47 | |
| I will not believe. | 45:50 | |
| Eight days later, | 45:53 | |
| his disciples were again in the house, | 45:54 | |
| and Thomas was with them. | 45:57 | |
| The doors were shut but Jesus came and stood among them | 46:00 | |
| and said, peace be with you. | 46:03 | |
| Then he said to Thomas, | 46:07 | |
| put your finger here and see my hands. | 46:09 | |
| And put out your hand and place it in my side. | 46:12 | |
| Do not be faithless, but believing. | 46:16 | |
| Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God. | 46:20 | |
| Jesus said to him, | 46:26 | |
| have you believed because you have seen me? | 46:28 | |
| Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. | 46:31 | |
| Now Jesus did many other signs | 46:37 | |
| in the presence of the disciples | 46:39 | |
| which are not written in this book. | 46:41 | |
| But these are written that you may believe | 46:43 | |
| that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, | 46:46 | |
| and that believing, you may have life in his name. | 46:50 | |
| Here ends the reading of the gospel. | 46:56 | |
| Gloria in excelsis Deo, the voices of the choir ring out. | 47:03 |
| - | On this first Sunday after Easter, | 0:03 |
| what more fitting contribution could they be making | 0:05 | |
| to this morning's liturgy than with the Gloria. | 0:08 | |
| With its driving rhythms | 0:11 | |
| and its lofty sonorities. | 0:14 | |
| Recognizing that Christ's resurrection deserves | 0:17 | |
| a celebration extending far beyond the bounds | 0:20 | |
| of one Sunday morning a year. | 0:22 | |
| Those of us who planned this service | 0:25 | |
| thought it might be appropriate to claim | 0:27 | |
| this low Sunday as a continuation of the party, | 0:29 | |
| which we began last week. | 0:33 | |
| Thus the hymns of praise, the prayers of adoration, | 0:36 | |
| the brass and the percussion of this glorious cantata | 0:40 | |
| have all been carefully orchestrated to ensure | 0:43 | |
| that you, the worshipers, might be inspired | 0:47 | |
| to truly praise God before you leave | 0:50 | |
| this house of prayer today. | 0:53 | |
| I, for one, sincerely hope that happens. | 0:56 | |
| However, knowing many of you as I do, | 1:01 | |
| I'm also aware it might not. | 1:03 | |
| You are not a congregation to be led | 1:06 | |
| where you do not choose to go. | 1:08 | |
| Some of you like this preacher, | 1:10 | |
| some of you like that one. | 1:11 | |
| Some of you loved the great litany unabridged. | 1:13 | |
| Some of you preferred the lesser abridged. | 1:17 | |
| Some of you thrive on contemporary music. | 1:21 | |
| Some of you go only for Baroque. | 1:25 | |
| As members of this learned community, | 1:29 | |
| you are being, or have already been taught, | 1:31 | |
| how to think critically, | 1:34 | |
| not just in the laboratory or the classroom, | 1:37 | |
| but in the sanctuary as well. | 1:39 | |
| And that is as it should be. | 1:42 | |
| However, this may mean standing alone on occasion, | 1:45 | |
| if you choose not to praise God | 1:50 | |
| while others shout for joy. | 1:52 | |
| Or if you choose not to believe, | 1:54 | |
| while others profess faith. | 1:57 | |
| If this description fits you, | 2:00 | |
| and you've been worried about it, | 2:03 | |
| you can breathe a sigh of relief for the next few moments, | 2:06 | |
| for you have a friend in today's Gospel lesson, | 2:09 | |
| and his name is Thomas. | 2:12 | |
| Well known for having his own mind about things, | 2:15 | |
| he stands out among the disciples. | 2:19 | |
| And not necessarily for reasons that the church | 2:22 | |
| has held in very high esteem. | 2:24 | |
| While the other disciples rejoiced of the news | 2:28 | |
| of the resurrection, | 2:30 | |
| Thomas, who had not been with them at the time | 2:32 | |
| of their first encounter with the risen Lord, | 2:35 | |
| refused to believe. | 2:38 | |
| Thus, the church, over the centuries, | 2:40 | |
| has remembered Thomas largely for his doubt. | 2:42 | |
| Usually interpreted as a characteristic weakness | 2:46 | |
| of his faith. | 2:50 | |
| To view Thomas solely in this Light however, | 2:53 | |
| is to do him a great disservice, I believe. | 2:56 | |
| It is significant, for instance, that earlier | 2:59 | |
| in the Gospel of John, as Jesus returned to Bethany | 3:02 | |
| to raise Lazarus from the dead, it is Thomas, | 3:05 | |
| who said to his fellow disciples, | 3:08 | |
| "Let us also go that we may die with him." | 3:11 | |
| A rather remarkable statement of loyalty. | 3:16 | |
| In a later discourse, Jesus is explaining to his disciples, | 3:19 | |
| "I go and prepare a place for you. | 3:23 | |
| And you know the way where I am going." | 3:26 | |
| Again, it is Thomas, the confronter, | 3:29 | |
| the completely forthright, yet humble one, who responds, | 3:32 | |
| "Lord, we do not know where you are going. | 3:36 | |
| How can we know the way?" | 3:39 | |
| By the time he had endured the confusion, the trauma, | 3:43 | |
| and the grief of Jesus' final days, | 3:47 | |
| it comes as no surprise that Thomas, | 3:49 | |
| with his zealousness for the truth, | 3:52 | |
| would demand more than simply the testimony | 3:55 | |
| of his fellow disciples of proof of the resurrection. | 3:57 | |
| With his deliberate manner often covering the facts, | 4:01 | |
| he courageously insisted on recalling Christ's suffering | 4:04 | |
| as proof of his resurrection. | 4:09 | |
| This he did by accepting Christ's own invitation | 4:12 | |
| to place his hand in his side, | 4:14 | |
| that he might not be faithless, but believing. | 4:17 | |
| And it was in this gesture of direct encounter | 4:21 | |
| with the literal evidence of the world's sinfulness, | 4:24 | |
| that he was moved to profess his true faith. | 4:27 | |
| "My Lord and my God." | 4:30 | |
| It seems that Thomas could have guessed, | 4:35 | |
| this was no way to win a popularity contest. | 4:37 | |
| One can imagine the other disciples must've been | 4:40 | |
| more in the mood to forget than to remember, | 4:43 | |
| as most of us are when it comes to | 4:47 | |
| particularly painful memories. | 4:49 | |
| To be reminded of the harsh realities of the crucifixion | 4:52 | |
| in the midst of such a glorious reunion, | 4:56 | |
| was to remember their own infidelity to Christ. | 4:59 | |
| For Jesus, the nail prints in his hands | 5:03 | |
| and the wound in his side, | 5:05 | |
| were signs of his glory through suffering. | 5:07 | |
| For the disciples, they were graphic reminders | 5:10 | |
| of their own brokenness and the brokenness of the world. | 5:13 | |
| Of course, very few of us care to be reminded of that. | 5:17 | |
| Yet for the sake of our own encounter with Christ today, | 5:22 | |
| eight days after celebrating the resurrection, | 5:26 | |
| some attention given to the wounds, | 5:29 | |
| which the world continues to inflict upon itself, | 5:31 | |
| puts Easter in ts proper context, | 5:34 | |
| at least through the eyes of Thomas. | 5:38 | |
| And it certainly seems to be the year to be reminded | 5:41 | |
| of such painful events in our recent history. | 5:44 | |
| The current Time magazine cover story is entitled, | 5:47 | |
| Vietnam: 10 Years Later. | 5:51 | |
| The photographs, statistics, excerpts from letters | 5:54 | |
| written home, bring back those experiences | 5:58 | |
| even closer to us than they seemed | 6:01 | |
| very soon after the war was over. | 6:04 | |
| "Those dead Cong didn't seem like people | 6:07 | |
| as we dragged them into piles | 6:10 | |
| and cut their equipment off them," | 6:11 | |
| writes home one private first class. | 6:14 | |
| "It felt like a pile of rags or something. | 6:17 | |
| I can't really explain it." | 6:21 | |
| 58,000 dead, 300,000 wounded, | 6:24 | |
| $150,000,000,000 expended. | 6:28 | |
| And these were only the American losses. | 6:31 | |
| To be reminded of such fresh wounds in our world | 6:34 | |
| is still almost too close to be able to withstand it. | 6:38 | |
| Even the memorial to honor the dead, | 6:42 | |
| funded largely by veterans themselves, | 6:45 | |
| continues to be controversial. | 6:47 | |
| Remembering a very different, but even more deadly war, | 6:51 | |
| we celebrate a series of 40th anniversaries this year. | 6:55 | |
| This coming Thursday, marks the observance of Yom Hashoah. | 6:59 | |
| Holocaust Remembrance Day where the 40th anniversary | 7:04 | |
| of the liberation of the holocaust survivors | 7:07 | |
| will be remembered. | 7:10 | |
| As the opening words of the service reads, | 7:12 | |
| In the presence of eyes which witnessed the slaughter, | 7:16 | |
| which saw the oppression the heart could not bear, | 7:19 | |
| I have taken an oath to remember it all. | 7:22 | |
| To remember, not once to forget. | 7:27 | |
| An oath, lest from this we learned nothing. | 7:31 | |
| Eli Wiesel has committed himself, as a survivor, | 7:36 | |
| to the retelling of this story through his gifts, | 7:39 | |
| as a writer and speaker. | 7:42 | |
| In his book Night, he recalls, | 7:45 | |
| Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch. | 7:48 | |
| Gigantic flames. They were burning something. | 7:51 | |
| A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load. | 7:55 | |
| Little children. | 7:59 | |
| I pinched my face. Was I still alive? | 8:01 | |
| How could it be possible for them to burn people? | 8:03 | |
| Children. | 8:07 | |
| And for the world to keep silent? | 8:08 | |
| Such wounds the world inflicts upon itself, | 8:13 | |
| too painful to remember. | 8:16 | |
| Yet too painful to forget. | 8:18 | |
| The list goes on and on. | 8:22 | |
| Starving nations in Africa. | 8:25 | |
| Death squads in El Salvador. | 8:27 | |
| Apartheid in South Africa. | 8:29 | |
| Violence in our own homes and community. | 8:31 | |
| The ever present danger of nuclear holocaust | 8:33 | |
| around the globe. | 8:36 | |
| All are surrounded by a kind of untouchable quality | 8:37 | |
| in our own minds, yet in our heart and our souls | 8:40 | |
| they pierce us to the core. | 8:45 | |
| I recently saw the film,The Killing Fields, | 8:49 | |
| with its devastating depiction of genocide | 8:52 | |
| in Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime. | 8:54 | |
| After which a friend confronted me, | 8:57 | |
| "How are we supposed to live with this | 8:59 | |
| when the church doesn't even deal with it? | 9:01 | |
| Is faith strong enough to bear it?" | 9:04 | |
| I did not feel prepared to answer him at the time | 9:09 | |
| being nearly incapacitated by the film myself. | 9:13 | |
| But since that time, with the intervening celebration | 9:16 | |
| of Holy Week and Easter, I have reflected further | 9:19 | |
| upon his question. | 9:23 | |
| Paul Tillich articulated a phrase, | 9:26 | |
| the courage to be, which is inclusive of a courage, | 9:27 | |
| he calls the courage of despair. | 9:33 | |
| By this phrase, Tillich described the faith, | 9:36 | |
| which is strong enough to take the anxieties of doubt | 9:38 | |
| and meaningless so prevalent in our times onto itself. | 9:41 | |
| And to continue to ask the hard questions. | 9:47 | |
| Such courage is not meant to be an affirmation | 9:51 | |
| of the power of the individual, | 9:54 | |
| which so many aspects of our culture | 9:56 | |
| would like to confirm, | 9:58 | |
| but rather to affirm the power of God. | 10:00 | |
| The ground of being who is capable of encompassing | 10:02 | |
| all things. | 10:06 | |
| In this sense, every act of courage, | 10:09 | |
| which challenges the presence of evil, | 10:12 | |
| becomes a manifestation of the power of God. | 10:14 | |
| Thus to confront evil, in whatever context, | 10:17 | |
| is itself an affirmation of faith, | 10:21 | |
| and a part of the task of the church. | 10:23 | |
| Consider for instance the manner in which the cross | 10:27 | |
| led our processional this morning | 10:30 | |
| and the manner in which it will lead us | 10:32 | |
| back out into the world during the recessional. | 10:34 | |
| In singing, Lift High The Cross, | 10:37 | |
| we boldly affirm the victory of Christ | 10:40 | |
| over sin and death once and for all, | 10:42 | |
| even as we recognize the scars of the wounds he bears. | 10:46 | |
| Though we may not make an immediate association | 10:50 | |
| with images of war, starvation, or oppression | 10:52 | |
| as we gaze upon it, the cross nevertheless stands | 10:56 | |
| as a constant reminder of the ongoing presence of Christ | 11:00 | |
| in the midst of the world's suffering today. | 11:04 | |
| Ethiopia, Hiroshima, Cambodia, | 11:07 | |
| Central America, North America, | 11:10 | |
| there are no boundaries to His compassion. | 11:12 | |
| Thus, to avoid a confrontation with the forces of darkness, | 11:15 | |
| and the chance to denounce them, | 11:19 | |
| is the same as turning away from God. | 11:21 | |
| For it is in just such encounter | 11:24 | |
| that we can affirm our faith. | 11:26 | |
| This holds true not only for our response to evil | 11:29 | |
| out there somewhere, but for our own need | 11:33 | |
| for confession and forgiveness of sins. | 11:36 | |
| As we heard in our epistle reading this morning | 11:40 | |
| from the First Letter of John, | 11:42 | |
| if we say we have not sinned, we make Jesus a liar. | 11:44 | |
| And His word is not in us. | 11:50 | |
| Miserere nobis. | 11:53 | |
| It is in the confrontation with evil, | 11:56 | |
| not just in the world but in ourselves, | 11:58 | |
| that we finally accept God's acceptance | 12:01 | |
| of our unacceptability and discover the courage | 12:03 | |
| to affirm the faith which Thomas proclaimed, | 12:07 | |
| "My Lord and my God." | 12:10 | |
| "Have you believed because you have seen me?" | 12:14 | |
| Jesus says to Thomas. | 12:17 | |
| "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." | 12:19 | |
| A reprimand of Thomas? | 12:24 | |
| Perhaps. | 12:27 | |
| But what seems more significant here, | 12:29 | |
| is that Jesus, without rejecting Thomas, | 12:31 | |
| utilized his doubt, his questions, | 12:34 | |
| as an occasion for a further revelation | 12:38 | |
| of His power over sin. | 12:40 | |
| Just eight days earlier, He had explained his mission | 12:43 | |
| to the disciples, | 12:46 | |
| "As the Father has sent me even so I send you." | 12:47 | |
| And He had shown them His hands and His side. | 12:52 | |
| But not until Thomas requested to touch the wounds, | 12:55 | |
| was there a confession recorded by any of the disciples | 12:59 | |
| of the sovereignty of the risen Lord. | 13:03 | |
| It would seem then that in this brief scenario | 13:06 | |
| John was pointing the way to many still to come | 13:09 | |
| who would not have the chance to see in person, | 13:13 | |
| but would be called to believe. | 13:17 | |
| That includes us. | 13:20 | |
| As John reminds his readers in the opening | 13:23 | |
| passage of the first letter, | 13:26 | |
| "That which was from the beginning, | 13:29 | |
| which we have seen with our eyes, | 13:32 | |
| which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, | 13:34 | |
| concerning the word of life, | 13:36 | |
| we proclaim also to you, | 13:38 | |
| so that you may have fellowship with us. | 13:41 | |
| And our fellowship is with the Father | 13:44 | |
| and with His son, Jesus Christ." | 13:47 | |
| Nearly 2,000 years later, that fellowship is now | 13:51 | |
| extended to each of us if we choose to believe. | 13:54 | |
| Joining with the companies of those who did believe | 13:59 | |
| and were of one heart and one soul, | 14:02 | |
| we have the occasion this very day, | 14:05 | |
| to truly glorify God's name. | 14:08 | |
| Lifting high the cross do we dare to proclaim | 14:11 | |
| and to praise God in the face of unspeakable atrocities, | 14:14 | |
| in the presence of those who may not believe. | 14:19 | |
| In an age where despair threatens our very ability | 14:23 | |
| to sing praise. | 14:26 | |
| With Thomas as our example, let us proclaim in the face | 14:29 | |
| of any or all of these things, | 14:34 | |
| My Lord and my God, | 14:36 | |
| Gloria in excelcis deo. | 14:39 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 14:43 | |
| (uplifting chamber music plays) | 14:50 | |
| (muffled singing) | 15:16 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 17:13 |
| - | And also with you. | 17:14 |
| - | Let us pray. | 17:16 |
| Oh living God | 17:30 | |
| it is not enough that we should sing your praise, | 17:32 | |
| that we should join our hearts | 17:37 | |
| in glorification of your name. | 17:38 | |
| For we cannot glorify you without following you. | 17:42 | |
| We cannot praise you with our lips. | 17:47 | |
| That also being obedient to your will. | 17:51 | |
| Therefore, | 17:56 | |
| We praise for those whom you love | 17:58 | |
| we intercede now for those causes | 18:02 | |
| which you have made your own. | 18:05 | |
| We lift up those whom you bear. | 18:09 | |
| Oh risen God, we intercede for all those | 18:14 | |
| in the grip of death. | 18:18 | |
| Those who are sick. | 18:21 | |
| Those who are bereaved and grief stricken. | 18:24 | |
| Those who suffer due to war, | 18:29 | |
| violent revolution or oppression. | 18:32 | |
| Those who are hungry. | 18:37 | |
| Those who doubt. | 18:40 | |
| Those who cling to things and suffer from greed | 18:44 | |
| and put their trust in possessions. | 18:47 | |
| Those who are overly impressed with themselves. | 18:50 | |
| Their desires, their intellect, their ambitions, | 18:54 | |
| and blind to others. | 18:58 | |
| Preserve us oh God, from life ruled by things | 19:02 | |
| that do not bring life. | 19:06 | |
| Oh one who came forth from the tomb at Easter, | 19:11 | |
| show us the way of life. | 19:14 | |
| Save us from the discouragement that comes from fear | 19:17 | |
| of the power of evil. | 19:20 | |
| Cynicism about other people, | 19:23 | |
| and all of the powers of darkness. | 19:26 | |
| Oh one who fought the good fight, | 19:31 | |
| and triumphed over the powers of sin and death, | 19:33 | |
| who wouldn't keep silent in the face of injustice, | 19:38 | |
| take us with you in your joyous victory procession | 19:43 | |
| toward dawn. | 19:47 | |
| If it be your will. | 19:50 | |
| Give us so stunning a glimpse of your glory | 19:53 | |
| that we shall not be stupefied by death or his accomplices. | 19:57 | |
| That we should serve you rather than the host of darkness. | 20:03 | |
| We ask these things in the name of Him who is always | 20:09 | |
| able to do more than we ask, or do, or say. | 20:13 | |
| Jesus | 20:17 | |
| The risen Christ. | 20:19 | |
| Amen. | 20:22 | |
| And now as a forgiven and reconciled people, | 20:26 | |
| as a people of life, let us offer ourselves and our gifts, | 20:29 | |
| to the Lord of life. | 20:35 | |
| (uplifting chamber music plays) | 20:47 | |
| (chamber music plays) | 21:35 | |
| (singing in foreign language) | 22:02 | |
| ("Doxology") | 27:58 | |
| ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 28:30 | |
| ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 28:36 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 28:43 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 28:46 | |
| ♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪ | 28:50 | |
| ♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 28:57 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:03 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:07 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:10 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:14 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:18 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 29:27 | |
| - | Gracious God | 29:38 |
| You have brought us forth from death to life | 29:40 | |
| even as our Lord Jesus was raised from the tomb | 29:44 | |
| we praise you and glorify you with trumpet, | 29:49 | |
| with drums and with our voices. | 29:53 | |
| And now we glorify you with our lives and our gifts, | 29:55 | |
| offered to you in joyous thanksgiving. | 29:59 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, | 30:03 | |
| hallowed be thy name. | 30:06 | |
| Thy kingdom come, | 30:08 | |
| thy will be done, | 30:10 | |
| on earth as it is in heaven. | 30:11 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 30:13 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses. | 30:16 | |
| As we forgive those who trespass against us. | 30:19 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 30:23 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 30:25 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power | 30:27 | |
| and the glory forever. | 30:31 | |
| Amen. | 30:33 | |
| (uplifting chamber music plays) | 30:36 | |
| - | And now may the grace of our Lord and Savior | 34:50 |
| Jesus Christ go forth and be with you now and always. | 34:53 | |
| ♪ Amen! ♪ | 35:04 | |
| ♪ Amen! ♪ | 35:07 | |
| ♪ Amen! ♪ | 35:08 | |
| ♪ Amen! ♪ | 35:11 | |
| ♪ Amen! ♪ | 35:14 | |
| (uplifting chamber music plays) | 35:26 | |
| (music drowns out voices) | 35:31 |
Item Info
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