Albert D. Mosley - "An Unfavorable Time" (October 21, 2001)

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-	The Gospel lesson is taken from Luke,	0:05
	Chapter 18 verses one	0:08
	through eight.	0:10
	Then Jesus told them a parable	0:13
	about their need to pray always,	0:15
	and not to lose heart.	0:17
	He said, "In a certain city, there was a judge	0:19
	who neither feared God nor had respect for people.	0:23
	In that city, there was a widow who kept coming to him	0:27
	and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent."	0:31
	For a while, he refused, but later he said to himself,	0:36
	"Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,	0:41
	yet because this widow keeps bothering me	0:46
	I will grant her justice, so that she will not wear	0:49
	me out by continually coming."	0:54
	And the Lord said,	0:56
	"Listen to what the unjust judge says."	0:59
	And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones	1:04
	who cry to him day and night?	1:08
	Will he delay long in helping them?	1:11
	I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them,	1:15
	and yet, when the son of man comes	1:19
	will he find faith on Earth?"	1:22
	This is the world of the Lord.	1:26
Congregation	Peace be to God.	1:28
-	I solemnly urge you,	1:39
	proclaim the message.	1:42
	Be persistent,	1:46
	whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.	1:48
	Let us pray.	1:54
	Lord open our ears that we might hear.	1:59
	Open our minds that we might understand.	2:03
	And most of all, open our hearts.	2:09
	That we might receive your message to us.	2:11
	On this day,	2:15
	amen.	2:17
	Have you ever known a person who always seems	2:21
	to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.	2:24
	You're probably saying to yourself,	2:29
	"Yeah, and I'm sitting right next to them now."	2:30
	(congregation laughing)	2:32
	There are those individuals who seem to have	2:35
	very little sense of timing	2:38
	when it comes to saying certain things.	2:41
	They are crass, insensitive,	2:44
	and tactless.	2:47
	I have an uncle who fits this category perfectly.	2:50
	He displayed his amazing ability to offend	2:52
	and to speak the unspeakable at a recent holiday gathering.	2:55
	A distant cousin brought along her two month old baby,	2:59
	and open seeing the baby, my Uncle Jimmy exclaimed,	3:02
	"Gee, that baby has the biggest head I've ever seen before."	3:05
	We were all thinking the same thing,	3:11
	but none of us would dare say anything like that.	3:12
	(congregation laughing)	3:15
	Particularly in the face of the baby's mother.	3:15
	That's my Uncle Jimmy.	3:19
	Regardless of the setting,	3:22
	regardless of whether or not what he says will	3:24
	hurt the feelings of those listening,	3:26
	Uncle Jimmy has no problem letting	3:29
	everyone know what's on his mind.	3:30
	Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others,	3:35
	there are a lot of Uncle Jimmys in this world.	3:38
	But there are those people who	3:42
	seem to always know the right thing to say,	3:43
	and the right way to say it.	3:46
	These are the kind of people who in the midst of	3:48
	trials and tribulations offer words	3:51
	of hope and comfort.	3:53
	They are the type of people who with great ease	3:56
	and sense of naturalness,	3:59
	are able to speak peace in the midst of a storm.	4:01
	Their words satisfy our longing to feel better,	4:06
	to feel whole.	4:09
	To feel complete.	4:10
	My dearest friend Darrel is just this kind of person,	4:13
	he's the sort of guys you want around	4:16
	when and if something goes wrong.	4:18
	His words of comfort can bring peace	4:21
	in the midst of life's strongest, raging storms.	4:22
	We need people like that in our world.	4:27
	People who know what to say,	4:30
	when to say it,	4:33
	and how to say it.	4:34
	Greco-Roman Philosophers taught the importance	4:37
	of knowing when the time was right for a	4:39
	particular speech or action.	4:42
	It was extremely important that the person	4:45
	giving the speech was acutely aware	4:47
	of when or what was the proper time to say something,	4:49
	even the simplest of things.	4:52
	Polemic against the Cynics of this time carried	4:55
	accused them of being indiscriminate in their speech.	4:57
	The Cynics would say the most inappropriate thing	5:01
	at the most inappropriate time.	5:04
	Diogenes, of the leaders of the Cynic school of thought,	5:07
	was once visited by Alexander the Great.	5:09
	Alexander asked the Cynic leader to request anything	5:12
	of him that he desired.	5:16
	Diogenes was sunbathing at the time	5:18
	and he asked Alexander the Great,	5:20
	the most powerful man in the world,	5:22
	to step aside, so he would stop blocking the sun.	5:24
	Paul, much like the Cynics,	5:29
	and a flagrant disregard for conventional wisdom,	5:32
	urges Timothy	5:35
	his son in the ministry	5:37
	to forgo the rules of Greco-Roman	5:39
	philosophical culture.	5:41
	Paul says to Timothy,	5:44
	"I solemnly urge you, proclaim the message.	5:46
	Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.	5:51
	Convince,	5:56
	rebuke,	5:57
	and encourage with	5:59
	the utmost patience.	6:00
	For the time is coming when people	6:03
	will not put up with sound doctrine,	6:04
	but having itching ears,	6:07
	they will accumulate for themselves	6:10
	teachers to suit their own desires.	6:12
	And will turn away from listening to the truth,	6:15
	and wander away to myths.	6:18
	As for you Timothy, always be sober.	6:21
	Endure suffering.	6:25
	Do the work of an evangelist.	6:27
	Carry out your ministry fully."	6:30
	Paul is urging Timothy to just say it.	6:34
	To proclaim the message of Jesus Christ,	6:38
	whether they will listen or not.	6:41
	Whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.	6:43
	There is a formal charge issued to Timothy	6:48
	to stay the course.	6:51
	To hold to that which is true and right,	6:53
	regardless of the setting.	6:56
	Regardless of what is going on around you,	6:58
	even regardless of whether or not	7:00
	those to whom you're proclaiming the gospel	7:02
	are taking heed.	7:05
	In Paul's mind,	7:08
	preaching the message of Christ depends not	7:10
	on the readiness of the hearers to respond,	7:14
	but on the decision of God.	7:17
	Even though Paul issued this charge to Timothy	7:21
	at a specific time for a specific setting,	7:23
	I am able to hear in this, a personal charge.	7:26
	It's almost as if Paul were speaking	7:31
	directly to me.	7:34
	Albert, whether the time is favorable or unfavorable,	7:36
	you proclaim the message with persistency.	7:40
	How do you hear this charge today?	7:46
	Do you hear this as a personal responsibility?	7:49
	You don't have to be a preacher like Timothy or Paul	7:53
	to proclaim the message.	7:55
	You proclaim it by the way you live.	7:57
	Your actions.	8:00
	Your words.	8:01
	Your behavior.	8:03
	Not only that, you proclaim it even if	8:05
	it might be unpopular to do so.	8:08
	Even if the time is not right.	8:11
	While sitting in his Birmingham jail cell in 1963,	8:16
	Martin Luther King Jr. responded to complaint	8:21
	from some of the cities white religious leaders.	8:23
	They'd written King and said to him	8:26
	that the timing of the boycotts, marches,	8:28
	and other activities was simply not right.	8:30
	In response to the white clergymen's notion	8:34
	that this an unfavorable time,	8:36
	King wrote,	8:38
	"Frankly, I have never yet engaged	8:39
	in a direct action movement that was well timed,	8:42
	according to the timetable of those	8:46
	who have not suffered unduly	8:49
	from the disease of segregation.	8:51
	For years now, I've heard the words, wait.	8:53
	It rings in the ear of every negro	8:56
	with a piercing familiarity.	8:58
	This wait has almost always meant never."	9:01
	Who knows where our society would be today	9:06
	had King yielded to his fellow clergymen's belief	9:08
	that it was an unfavorable time	9:12
	to proclaim the message.	9:14
	Unfortunately, many pastors and other religious leaders	9:18
	have been influenced by the belief	9:23
	that there is a right time	9:25
	and a wrong time to proclaim the message.	9:27
	This has become particularly true	9:32
	over the course of the past few weeks,	9:33
	as many religious people,	9:35
	both lay and clergy,	9:36
	seem to have forsaken the message of	9:38
	Christ for some other message.	9:40
	I must admit,	9:44
	it does seem to be an unfavorable	9:46
	time to proclaim the message.	9:48
	Our nation is in the midst of a revival	9:51
	of civil religion.	9:53
	Sociologist of Religion Nancy Ammerman,	9:56
	the late C.R Glinken of our own faculty,	9:59
	and others who study civil religion	10:01
	note that in times of national crisis,	10:03
	it is difficult to proclaim	10:06
	a Biblical message of Christ.	10:07
	It is difficult because of the fact	10:11
	that the American psyche adopts non-religious symbols,	10:12
	which then replace or supplant the actual	10:16
	symbols of our faith.	10:19
	The flag replaces the cross.	10:21
	The political leaders and political figures	10:23
	replace the preachers.	10:25
	The museums and other national shrines	10:28
	replace church buildings.	10:30
	And editorials and written news commentaries	10:32
	replace the written word of God.	10:34
	So it would seem an unfavorable time	10:38
	to proclaim the message,	10:40
	but Paul urges us all to be persistent.	10:42
	"Proclaim it," he says.	10:45
	Whether time time is favorable or unfavorable.	10:48
	"A time is coming," says Paul,	10:52
	"When people will have itching ears."	10:54
	Itchy ears was a common expression	10:58
	that meant people liked to hear interesting,	11:00
	maybe even spicy stuff.	11:02
	As long as it had no effect of their lives.	11:05
	Paul warns us that people will tend	11:09
	to higher religious teachers,	11:12
	who are willing and capable ear scratchers.	11:14
	The two requirements for the job are,	11:18
	keep it interesting and keep it away from my life.	11:20
	In his, "How to Become a Bishop Without Being Religious,"	11:25
	the late religious humorist, Charles Merrill Smith,	11:28
	offers quite a bit of advice on how	11:31
	one can avoid proclaiming the message.	11:32
	Particularly, in unfavorable times.	11:35
	Smith says, "The most important rule in avoiding	11:38
	a true proclamation of the message of Christ,	11:40
	is to bear in mind that style is	11:43
	of enormous importance,	11:46
	while content makes little ultimate difference.	11:49
	About 1000 parts style	11:52
	to one part content is a good proportion."	11:55
	Smith goes on the say that, "If you're able to make	11:59
	them laugh, if you're able to make them cry,	12:02
	if you're able to make them feel religious.	12:06
	If you can do these three things without saying	12:09
	anything radically controversial or disturbing,	12:11
	then you're bound to become a great preacher.	12:14
	And you're bound to feel that you've done your duty	12:18
	in proclaiming the message.	12:21
	The fact of the matter is that unless you	12:23
	proclaim the true message of Jesus Christ,	12:24
	and unless you proclaim it with persistency,	12:27
	then your job is less than done."	12:30
	What does this mean for us?	12:35
	It means that even though it is considered unpopular,	12:38
	and even unpatriotic by some,	12:42
	we must in this present time and situation	12:46
	proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.	12:49
	Several weeks ago, I attended a banquet	12:53
	honoring individuals who had made substantial	12:55
	donations to the university.	12:58
	One of the people sitting at my table	13:00
	shared with me her frustration	13:02
	and her feelings of an inner conflict.	13:04
	She said she knew that some of our policies	13:08
	toward other nations are unjust,	13:10
	and that our response to this current	13:12
	national crisis simply does not seem to be right either.	13:14
	But she also shared with me that she's very particular	13:19
	about when and where she feels comfortable	13:22
	expressing those sentiments.	13:24
	She said, "Even though I feel this way,	13:27
	it just doesn't seem to be the right thing	13:30
	to say at this time."	13:32
	A lot of people feel the same way she does.	13:35
	Regardless of the timing,	13:39
	regardless of the setting,	13:42
	we have a duty,	13:44
	we have a charge,	13:46
	we have an obligation	13:48
	to proclaim the message of Christ.	13:50
	This duty, this charge, this obligation	13:53
	is even more significant during this particular time	13:56
	in the life of our nation.	13:59
	For just as Paul predicted,	14:01
	many people are turning away from the truth	14:04
	and are wandering after myths and other	14:07
	grossly inaccurate interpretations	14:09
	of the message of the gospel.	14:12
	War and hatred are being preached from many pulpits	14:14
	throughout this nation,	14:17
	and people are filling the pews	14:19
	of churches to receive those messages.	14:21
	So our task must be done,	14:25
	our charge must be fulfilled.	14:27
	We must answer the call to duty,	14:30
	to proclaim the message	14:32
	even in these unfavorable times.	14:35
	For those of you who are willing to accept your charge,	14:39
	please note that this is a message of peace and not of war.	14:42
	Jesus on many occasions	14:48
	with direct words and action	14:50
	reveals to us and to the world	14:52
	that the way of the cross is a way of peace.	14:55
	Were it not so, he had many occasions	15:00
	where he could have responded to the sword with a sword.	15:01
	This is a message of love and not of hate.	15:06
	Numerous times throughout his ministry,	15:11
	Jesus taught his followers that they were to respond	15:14
	with love in the face of hate.	15:19
	He said on several occasions that we	15:22
	are to love those who hate us	15:24
	and who spitefully misuse us.	15:26
	This is a message of forgiveness and not of grudgery	15:30
	While hanging there on the cross, on the brink of death,	15:34
	Jesus turned to his Father in Heaven and asked for	15:39
	the forgiveness of those who were about to take	15:42
	his very life.	15:44
	This is the nature of the message we are to proclaim.	15:47
	We've all be issued a solemn charge.	15:51
	To proclaim the true message of Jesus Christ,	15:54
	even in these unfavorable times.	15:57
	Even if the world refuses to listen,	16:01
	we are still to proclaim it.	16:04
	Even if it seems like the time is not right,	16:07
	we are still to proclaim it.	16:11
	Will you accept your charge?	16:14
	Will you by your words and your actions,	16:16
	proclaim the true message of Jesus Christ	16:20
	in these unfavorable times.	16:24
	Amen.	16:27
	(gentle organ music)	16:33

Item Info

Title:

Albert D. Mosley - "An Unfavorable Time" (October 21, 2001)

Description:

Sermon start time: 01:54. Sermon end time: 16.27.
Rev. Mosley stresses the obligation--the duty--of proclaiming the Gospel, which is a gospel of peace, to a world that desparately needs it. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: Even if the world refuses to listen, we are still to proclaim, even if it seems like the time is not right; we are still to proclaim it. Will you accept your charge? Will you, by your words and actions, proclaim the true message of Jesus Christ in these unfavorable times? Amen.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gx4583b

Date:

October 21, 2001

Speaker:

Mosley, Albert D.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary time

Biblical Book:

2 Timothy

Chapter and Verse:

2 Timothy 2: 5-11

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-1090
ref10337_w8c
uachapelsermaud
duke:320825
dcrau001734
ark:/87924/r4gx4583b
e0f15200-ddc7-4597-bd97-dc8bebcba231

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

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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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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