Peter J. Gomes - "We Are the Gentiles" (January 5, 1997)

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-	Holy Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ	0:26
	according to Matthew.	0:30
	"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea	0:34
	in the days of Herod the king,	0:39
	behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.	0:42
	Saying, where is He that is born King of the Jews?	0:47
	For we have seen His star in the east,	0:53
	and are come to worship Him.	0:56
	When Herod the king had heard these things,	1:00
	he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.	1:04
	And when he had gathered all the chief priests	1:08
	and scribes of the people together,	1:11
	he demanded of them where Christ should be born.	1:14
	And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judaea:	1:19
	for thus it is written by the prophet,	1:24
	and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,	1:27
	art not the least among the princes of Juda:	1:31
	for out of thee shall come a Governor,	1:35
	that shall rule my people Israel.	1:39
	Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men,	1:43
	inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.	1:48
	And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said,	1:54
	'Go and search diligently for the young child;	1:58
	and when ye have found Him, bring me word again,	2:02
	that I may come and worship Him also.'	2:06
	When they had heard the king, they departed;	2:12
	and lo, the star, which they saw in the east,	2:16
	went before them, till it came and stood	2:20
	over where the young child was.	2:24
	When they saw the star,	2:28
	they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.	2:30
	And when they were come into the house,	2:35
	they saw the young child with Mary His mother,	2:38
	and fell down, and worshiped Him:	2:42
	and when they had opened their treasures,	2:47
	they presented unto Him gifts;	2:49
	gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.	2:53
	And being warned of God in a dream	2:58
	that they should not return to Herod,	3:02
	they departed into their own country another way."	3:05
	This is the Word of the Lord.	3:16
-	Thanks be to God.	3:19
-	Help us Lord to become masters of ourselves	3:27
	that way may become the servants of others.	3:30
	Take our hands and work through them.	3:34
	Take our minds and think through them.	3:37
	Take our lips and speak through them.	3:40
	And take our hearts and set them on fire,	3:44
	for Christ's sake.	3:49
	Amen.	3:52
	Before I enter into the substance of this sermon	4:02
	I want to say what a pleasure it is again to be apart	4:07
	of the great company of worshipers and believers	4:12
	here in Duke Chapel.	4:15
	Coming as I do from the Duke of the North,	4:18
	it is always a wonderful experience	4:23
	to see the great original	4:26
	and to be apart of your fellowship.	4:28
	I have often commented on the fact	4:32
	that Dean Willimon and I have maintained	4:34
	a strong and sturdy friendship over many years,	4:36
	because neither of us ever has to hear the other	4:40
	preach	4:43
	(laughing)
-	But the Dean has taken it	4:46
	to an excessive measure this time.	4:47
	Taking not only himself but the entire choir off to China.	4:50
	(laughing)	4:55
-	He may be trying to tell me something	4:57
	but I am glad I have an opportunity to try to tell	4:59
	you something this morning.	5:02
	And this is what I now propose to do.	5:04
	There are two texts this morning	5:09
	to which I want to direct your attention,	5:11
	and you heard them both.	5:15
	In the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah chapter 60,	5:18
	you heard those familiar words,	5:22
	"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,	5:25
	and kings to the brightness of thy rising."	5:29
	And from Paul's letter to the Ephesians,	5:35
	you also heard these words,	5:39
	"For this cause I Paul,	5:42
	the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles."	5:46
	I want you to remember if you remember nothing else,	5:54
	from this sermon this morning,	5:58
	that you are the Gentiles.	6:00
	We are the Gentiles.	6:05
	We are the subjects both of Old Testament prophecy	6:09
	and New Testament instruction.	6:15
	And this day, The Feast of the Epiphany	6:19
	is the feast day of the Gentiles.	6:24
	This day has your name on it.	6:28
	So pay attention.	6:33
	Listen up.	6:35
	Now if there were Epiphany cards,	6:38
	and I haven't noticed any lately	6:41
	but if there were Epiphany cards in the stores	6:43
	rather than Christmas cards,	6:47
	mine would have on it	6:50
	these lines from W. H. Auden's Christmas Oratorio	6:52
	For the Time Being.	6:57
	It'll be a large card	6:58
	but this is what it would say.	7:00
	"Well so that is that.	7:02
	Now we must dismantle the tree,	7:06
	putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes.	7:09
	Some have got broken	7:13
	and carrying them up into the attic.	7:15
	The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt.	7:18
	And the children got ready for school.	7:24
	There are enough leftovers to do,	7:26
	warmed up for the rest of the week.	7:29
	Not that we have much appetite,	7:32
	having drunk such a lot.	7:34
	Stayed up so late.	7:36
	Attempted, quite unsuccessfully, to love all of our	7:38
	relatives."	7:42
	(laughing)
	"And in general grossly overestimated our powers.	7:44
	Once again as in previous years	7:49
	we have seen the actual vision and failed.	7:51
	Failed to do more than entertain it	7:55
	as an agreeable possibility.	7:57
	Once again we have sent Him away.	8:00
	Begging though to remain,	8:03
	His disobedient servants.	8:06
	The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.	8:08
	The Christmas feast is already a fading memory	8:13
	and already the mind begins to be vaguely aware	8:18
	of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension	8:21
	at the thought of Lent and Good Friday,	8:25
	which cannot after all now be very far off.	8:28
	But for the time being,	8:33
	here we all are."	8:36
	For the time being,	8:40
	here we all are.	8:43
	For those of us sick of Christmas,	8:48
	I suspect there may yet be a few among you	8:51
	out here this morning.	8:54
	Those of us who were never really ready for Christmas.	8:56
	Who got lost in the tinsel	8:59
	and the extorted cheer of the season,	9:02
	characterized by that most dreadful of all inventions,	9:06
	the office Christmas party.	9:09
	Those of us who have been surrounded by	9:13
	mountains of unidentifiable Christmas family photographs.	9:16
	Do you get those colored Christmas cards,	9:20
	with generations of children whom you can't recognize	9:24
	and don't identify.	9:27
	And people don't sign their last names	9:29
	but they say Bill and Sue and you say	9:31
	who are Bill and Sue?	9:34
	(laughing)
-	And who are these children?	9:36
	(laughing)
-	And why are they	9:38
	sending this stuff to me?	9:38
	(laughing)
	Equaled only by the Christmas letter,	9:41
	which accompanies Bill and Sue's cards,	9:44
	which tell us more	9:47
	than we ever wanted to know,	9:49
	(laughing)
-	about their paroles and their sojourns and even worse,	9:51
	their triumphs and their victories in the proceeding year.	9:55
	For all of us who are tired of all of that.	9:58
	Who can't wait to take this tinsel down,	10:01
	get on with the serious business of life.	10:04
	Our holy mother the church	10:08
	has given us, to us, for us the Feast of the Epiphany.	10:11
	January 6th belongs to us.	10:18
	Bing Crosby is not interested in the Feast of the Epiphany.	10:23
	There is no national Epiphany tree.	10:28
	There are no Epiphany songs blaring out in the malls	10:32
	and in the shopping districts.	10:35
	The world has passed it by and so,	10:37
	the Feast of the Epiphany remains	10:40
	a private gem for us now.	10:43
	To savor and to cherish	10:46
	and to worship the new born King,	10:50
	un-surrounded, unaccompanied, and un-intimidated	10:54
	by that throng of strangers	10:57
	who took your seats in this chapel on Christmas Eve,	11:00
	who elbowed you out of the way	11:04
	at the Messiah performances.	11:06
	Where are they today?	11:08
	They're not here but you are,	11:10
	(laughing)
	because you know that this Feast of the Epiphany	11:13
	is for you and for me.	11:18
	Now the world does not care about Epiphany	11:22
	and more is the pity.	11:25
	That is one reason why it belongs to us	11:27
	and we are the richer for it.	11:31
	Here is our season.	11:34
	Here is our day.	11:38
	Here, in some sense, is our real Christmas.	11:40
	Now the thing that most people remember	11:46
	about the Epiphany story if they remember anything at all	11:49
	from the lesson, the Gospel which I read this morning,	11:53
	is the arrival of the most exotic of all visitors	11:56
	to the manger.	12:02
	And I hope you have all noted very carefully	12:05
	that the lesson begins	12:08
	and "There came wise men from the east."	12:10
	I hope that hasn't	12:16
	fact hasn't been lost upon you here in North Carolina.	12:17
	(laughing)	12:22
-	Wise men from the east.
	Now what the east means of course	12:26
	in the simple geography of our Biblical friends	12:28
	is any place other than from here,	12:31
	that's what it really means.	12:34
	The east means any place other than where you are.	12:36
	As they say in Maine "Are you from here or away?"	12:41
	Away is the east.	12:46
	Any place other than where you are.	12:48
	So the point that our Gospel writer is trying to make	12:51
	is that there came people from far distant, exotic,	12:54
	alien, foreign, strange places.	12:59
	And they came in all of their splendor and in their glory.	13:04
	Now we all remember the Christmas Pageants of our youth.	13:09
	And we have to go to them now in old and middle age as well.	13:14
	But we remember them and we remember this I think	13:17
	that any Tom, Dick, or Jane, or Mary	13:20
	could be a shepherd or an angel.	13:23
	That's the sort of the Democratic Party.	13:25
	Everybody has wings.	13:27
	Everybody can lean on a crook or befriend one.	13:28
	Everybody can have that particular part,	13:32
	that's no great claim to fame.	13:35
	And of course Mary and Joseph, all they had to do	13:38
	was look holy and say nothing.	13:40
	They have the easiest parts in the pageant.	13:43
	But the part anybody with any imagination,	13:46
	any skill, any ambition, any ego wanted	13:48
	was to be one of the kings.	13:52
	Why?	13:55
	Because you got to dress up in the best stuff.	13:56
	You wore a turbans, you had your mother's jewelry kit,	13:58
	people got out of the way where you came,	14:02
	and you arrived on those most exotic of all beasts,	14:04
	a camel.	14:09
	Now would you believe on my way to this chapel this morning	14:11
	I discovered a camel,	14:14
	out here.	14:16
	(laughing)
-	There is a camel,	14:17
	(laughing)
-	on the Duke campus.	14:18
	(laughing)
-	Now I know that everything here is done to perfection	14:21
	but a camel at Duke.	14:24
	(laughing)
-	I was impressed.	14:27
	That is an illustration I shall use every time	14:30
	I preach this sermon so.	14:33
	Camels, exotic kings from away	14:35
	coming to the manger.	14:39
	A class act.	14:41
	We can all identify with that.	14:44
	But in choosing our parts in the tableau,	14:46
	our parts in the Christmas Pageant,	14:50
	our parts in the manger story	14:52
	we have to remember	14:56
	that none of those assigned parts	14:58
	truly, really belong to us.	15:01
	The Christmas Story is a Jewish story.	15:06
	The shepherds are Jews.	15:10
	Mary and Joseph are Jews.	15:12
	Jesus is a Jew.	15:14
	The angels in heaven are probably Jewish on that hillside.	15:16
	The cattle are all Jewish.	15:20
	(laughing)
-	It's a very Jewish enterprise.	15:22
	That means you and I aren't in it.	15:25
	We look on at somebody else's story,	15:29
	somebody else's Messiah.	15:32
	We are the excluded ones until,	15:34
	until the kings, the wise men, the Magi, the foreigners,	15:39
	the Gentiles come to the manger.	15:45
	Only on today do you and I get to play a part in the pageant	15:51
	because only today does it become clear	15:56
	that this Jesus is not just for the Jews	16:00
	but is for everybody.	16:06
	The un-included, un-remembered, the marginalized,	16:08
	the excluded, the people on the fringes,	16:14
	the people from the east, the people from away.	16:17
	Today is our time, our moment at the manger	16:22
	and we are represented there by the three kings.	16:28
	The first lesson we need to remind ourselves	16:35
	is that when God chooses to come into the world	16:38
	God does not choose to come in parochial,	16:43
	tiny minded, particular little form or place.	16:48
	God chooses to come into the world,	16:54
	for the world,	16:57
	beyond the world,	16:59
	in which you and I live and are comfortable.	17:01
	And the arrival of the kings in our behalf	17:06
	reminds us that we are the Gentiles,	17:11
	we are the foreigners,	17:15
	we are the ones who have been afar off	17:16
	and who are now drawn close in.	17:21
	We are the Gentiles.	17:25
	And that means that we who have been outside	17:30
	are now invited inside.	17:35
	Now think of what these representatives	17:40
	of ours at the manger do.	17:43
	Think of these three kings.	17:44
	Go beyond their costumes and their exotic personalities	17:46
	and character and their legends that surround them.	17:50
	Think of what it is that they do	17:54
	which the Gospel records for us so carefully.	17:55
	First they have no right to Christ.	18:00
	You ever thought about that, they have no legitimate claim	18:05
	on Christ.	18:09
	He is not their Messiah predicted by their scriptures	18:10
	and by their prophets and yet they seek Him.	18:15
	They go after Him and how do they do that?	18:19
	With their minds, with their intelligence,	18:22
	with their scientific calculating skills.	18:26
	Do you know that the wise men	18:30
	don't simply sit down and pray about it?	18:31
	Now I'm not against prayer	18:34
	but I'm saying that there's a good deal more to praying	18:36
	than mere prayer.	18:39
	They don't just sit down and pray about it.	18:41
	They use their minds.	18:43
	They calculate.	18:45
	They sort things out.	18:46
	And they get up and act about it.	18:48
	They actually get up, think, and act.	18:52
	That is not a bad set of role models	18:56
	for Gentiles such as you and such as I am.	18:59
	So they have no right to Christ but they act.	19:04
	The second thing that we remember about them	19:09
	is that they come into conflict with worldly power.	19:10
	They meet the great and wily Herod,	19:14
	not a nice man as you may understand but a smart man.	19:18
	They ask Herod what they need to know	19:25
	but they are smart enough to know	19:28
	that while he can be used	19:30
	he cannot be trusted.	19:33
	They are shrewd in the ways of the world.	19:37
	Not naive are these kings, not your usual intellectuals,	19:40
	these intellectuals have mother wit.	19:44
	They know what's going on.	19:48
	Not a bad role model for Gentiles such as we are.	19:49
	And then we discover that they are seekers.	19:55
	They're not contented, they're not self satisfied.	19:58
	They are not complacent.	20:01
	They are seekers, remember the bumper sticker that says	20:04
	"Wise men still seek Him."	20:06
	So they do.	20:09
	They move not by sight but by night and by insight	20:11
	to follow a star.	20:17
	And to follow a star is not as easy as it seems,	20:19
	it requires calculation, imagination,	20:23
	a sense of adventure, and great persistence.	20:28
	Not a bad role model for Gentiles such as you and I are.	20:30
	And something that appeals to me in this story,	20:37
	those of you who know me will know why it does.	20:40
	The wonderful thing about the Magi with all of their	20:42
	adventure, and their shrewdness, and their brains,	20:45
	and their intelligence, they're late.	20:47
	(laughing)	20:49
-	They're late.	20:50
	They don't get there on time, they're late.	20:51
	The legends tell us that they were three years late.	20:56
	Now that's a little late indeed.	20:59
	(laughing)	21:02
-	But the glorious thing about the Gospel is	21:03
	that's it's never too late.	21:06
	It's never too late.	21:08
	There are some of you who sitting here	21:10
	who feel you have heard it all, done it all, been	21:11
	been everywhere, said it, there's nothing new for you,	21:14
	and it still hasn't clicked and you're ready to	21:18
	sign off to spiritual retirement.	21:20
	It's not too late for you.	21:23
	You can still go there.	21:25
	You can still get there or still be there for you.	21:27
	And then there are others who feel you're too young,	21:30
	too immature, too inexperienced, you lack what you need,	21:33
	you'll never be able to do it, it's not too late for you.	21:36
	Your moment has not yet come.	21:39
	There's a religious tradition in this part of the country	21:44
	which loves to harp upon the notion that	21:46
	you better come now because it'll be too late if you don't.	21:49
	Almost persuaded, almost but lost.	21:51
	I don't think they sing that here anymore but there are some	21:55
	of you who know that hymn, Almost Persuaded.	21:57
	Well that's completely out of whack	22:00
	with this dimension	22:02
	of the Gospel, they were late but they got there.	22:04
	And what they sought was there ready and waiting for them.	22:06
	I like that part of it.	22:09
	And finally, they worship.	22:11
	They fall on their knees, they're smart enough	22:14
	to recognize that they are in the presence of greatness.	22:17
	That is what worship is.	22:24
	When the lesser acknowledges the greater.	22:26
	That's what this building is meant to do to all of you.	22:31
	It is meant to drive you to your knees,	22:34
	although Methodist don't kneel, you're supposed to kneel.	22:37
	That's why they build this great soaring cathedral,	22:41
	so that you would be aware	22:44
	that you are in the presence of greatness.	22:45
	This is not a lodge hall or a masonic hall	22:48
	or a fellowship hall.	22:52
	This is the temple of the living God.	22:54
	Fall on your knees	22:57
	like the wise men,	23:00
	the lesser in the presence of the greater	23:02
	and offer the best that you have.	23:05
	Your gold, your frankincense, and your myrrh.	23:10
	Now scripture can never properly be understood	23:19
	outside of the teaching of the church of which it is apart	23:23
	from whence it comes and to which it points.	23:28
	And so we must always be prepared when we hear lessons	23:33
	like this to ask the question,	23:36
	not is it true nor even how did it happen	23:38
	but the only question is what does it mean?	23:43
	The lessons of Epiphany are meant to remind us	23:51
	that God's gift of Himself comes to us	23:55
	who have no claim on it,	23:58
	who do not deserve it,	24:00
	indeed who may not even recognize it when it comes.	24:01
	God's love for the world of His own creation is so great	24:06
	that He sends neither a message nor a messenger	24:10
	but comes Himself.	24:15
	And He comes to us all.	24:19
	Those of us who are from away,	24:23
	who are from the east, who are foreign,	24:26
	who are not Jews, who are not heirs of the promises.	24:28
	He comes to us.	24:32
	The good news of the Gospel	24:33
	is that the Gospel is inclusive.	24:35
	We are all in it, it has your name on it.	24:38
	We are the Gentiles.	24:44
	We have no claim on the manger.	24:48
	We celebrate with the kings,	24:50
	the great and mysterious feast however,	24:53
	that the manger has a claim on us.	24:58
	And who is it that makes this claim?	25:04
	Who is it that asserts that we are His	25:10
	and He is ours forever and ever?	25:14
	Who is it?	25:17
	"He is the way.	25:19
	Follow Him through the land of unlikeness.	25:21
	You will see rare beasts	25:25
	and have unique adventures.	25:28
	He is the truth.	25:31
	Seek Him in the kingdom of anxiety.	25:33
	You will come to a great city	25:36
	that has expected your return for years.	25:38
	He is the life.	25:43
	Love Him in the world of the flesh	25:46
	and at your marriage	25:50
	all it's occasions shall dance for joy."	25:53
	"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,	26:01
	and kings to the brightness of thy rising."	26:05
	"For this cause I Paul,	26:09
	the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles."	26:12
	We are the Gentiles.	26:19
	Thank God for that.	26:22
	Let us pray.	26:28
	We praise Thee oh God that in flesh	26:34
	Thou has come to us,	26:37
	that we who are afar off, far removed, and excluded	26:40
	are now drawn to Thy manger on bended knee.	26:46
	That we may live forever by Thy grace.	26:51
	Amen.	26:56

Item Info

Title:

Peter J. Gomes - "We Are the Gentiles" (January 5, 1997)

Description:

Epiphany is the moment in which the Gentiles are welcomed into the Jewish story of the Messiah's birth. Through the coming of the Magi, we are reminded that the Gospel is for those who are near and for those who are far off; the Gospel is inclusive. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 4:03. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 27:01.
Key quotation: “The lessons of Epiphany are meant to remind us that God’s gift of Himself comes to us who have no claim on it, who do not deserve it, indeed who may not even recognize it when it comes. God’s love for the world of His own creation is so great that He sends neither a message nor a messenger but comes Himself. And He comes to us all. Those of us who are from away, who are from the east, who are foreign, who are not Jews, who are not heirs of the promises. He comes to us. The good news of the Gospel is that the Gospel is inclusive.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49g5gv2j

Date:

January 5, 1997

Speaker:

Gomes, Peter J.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0839
ref9826_5bj
uachapelsermaud
duke:321211
dcrau001484
ark:/87924/r49g5gv2j
73d08265-6502-44a7-9829-490c13eedc1b

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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English

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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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