Philip R. Cousin - "Post-Easter Reflections" (April 9, 1972)

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	(lively organ music)	0:04
	(choir singing)	0:30
	(bells chiming)	2:39
	(lively organ music)	2:58
	(choir singing)	3:08
-	Let us offer unto God	4:13
	our responsive prayer of adoration	4:16
	using Psalter number 579	4:21
	toward the close of the hymn book.	4:26
	Let us pray.	4:35
	How lovely is thy dwelling place.	4:38
	(congregation mumbling)	4:42
	My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord.	4:43
	(congregation mumbling)	4:49
	Even the sparrow finds a home	4:53
	and the swallow a nest for herself	4:57
	where she may lay her young.	5:00
	(congregation mumbling)	5:04
	Blessed are those who dwell in thy house.	5:09
	(congregation mumbling)	5:13
	Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee.	5:14
	(congregation mumbling)	5:19
	Oh Lord God of hosts,	5:22
	hear my prayer.	5:25
	(congregation mumbling)	5:27
	Behold our shield, oh God.	5:29
	(congregation mumbling)	5:33
	For a day in thy courts	5:36
	is better than 1,000 elsewhere.	5:37
	(congregation mumbling)	5:42
	For the Lord God is a sun and shield.	5:47
	He bestows favor and honor.	5:51
	(congregation mumbling)	5:55
	Oh Lord of hosts.	6:00
	(congregation mumbling)	6:03
	Amen.	6:05
	And now let us offer unto God a prayer of confession.	6:08
	Oh mighty God, who brought again	6:14
	from the dead our Lord Jesus,	6:16
	we acknowledge that we are unworthy	6:19
	of thy redeeming grace.	6:22
	We have not fully believed thy promises	6:25
	nor trusted in our living, Lord.	6:28
	Through worldliness of spirit,	6:32
	our eyes have not always discerned his presence with us.	6:34
	Through disappointment of mind	6:41
	and dejection of spirit,	6:43
	our hearts have not burned within us	6:47
	as we have heard his word.	6:49
	We have not always trusted in his redeeming power	6:53
	and have been overcome of evil.	6:57
	We have sometimes forgotten the glad tidings	7:01
	of his victory over death	7:04
	and have not really known the things	7:08
	that belong to our peace.	7:11
	Now, in penitence we come to thee,	7:15
	His God and our God	7:20
	asking for forgiveness.	7:25
	Mercifully grant unto us absolution	7:28
	from all our sins	7:32
	and restore unto us the joy of thy salvation	7:34
	for thy sake	7:38
	and his sake	7:41
	and our sake.	7:44
	Amen.	7:47
	And hear these words of the assurance of pardon.	7:51
	And notice that they come from the Old Testament.	7:56
	"As the heaven is high above the Earth,	8:01
	"so great is God's mercy toward them that fear him.	8:05
	"As far as the east is from the west,	8:12
	"so far hath God removed our transgressions from us.	8:17
	"Like as a Father pitiest his children,	8:24
	"so the Lord pitith them	8:28
	"that worship him.	8:31
	"Therefore, be of good courage."	8:34
	(tranquil organ music)	8:47
	(choir singing in foreign language)	10:28
-	The scripture is taken from the 16th chapter	16:09
	of the Gospel according to Saint Mark,	16:13
	beginning at the ninth verse.	16:15
	"Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week,	16:18
	"he appeared first to Mary Magdalene	16:21
	"from whom he had cast out seven demons.	16:24
	"She went and told those	16:27
	"who had been with him as they mourned and wept.	16:28
	"But when they heard that he was alive	16:32
	"and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.	16:34
	"After this, he appeared in another form to two of them	16:38
	"as they were walking into the country	16:41
	"and they went back and told the rest	16:44
	"but they did not believe them.	16:46
	"Afterward, he appeared to the 11 themselves	16:49
	"as they sat at table	16:51
	"and he upbraided them for their unbelief	16:53
	"and hardness of heart	16:55
	"because they had not believed those who had seen them	16:57
	"after he had risen.	17:00
	"And he said to them,	17:02
	"go into all the world and preach the Gospel	17:04
	"to the whole creation.	17:07
	"He who believes and is baptized will be saved	17:09
	"but he who does not believe will be condemned.	17:12
	"And these signs will accompany those who believe.	17:16
	"In my name they will cast out demons,	17:19
	"they will speak in new tongues,	17:22
	"they will pick up serpents	17:24
	"and if they drink any deadly thing,	17:26
	"it will not hurt them.	17:28
	"They will lay their hands on the sick	17:30
	"and they will recover.	17:32
	"So then the Lord Jesus,	17:34
	"after he had spoken to them,	17:36
	"was taken up into Heaven	17:37
	"and sat down at the right hand of God.	17:39
	"And they went forth and preached everywhere,	17:42
	"for the Lord worked with them	17:44
	"and confirmed the message	17:46
	"by the signs that attended it."	17:47
	Amen.	17:50
	(lively organ music)	17:52
	(congregation singing)	18:01
-	The Lord be with you.	18:37
-	And also with you.	18:40
-	Let us pray.	18:41
	Let us offer first a prayer of thanksgiving.	18:48
	For the joy which is born of sympathy and sorrow,	18:54
	for the joy of the lost soul finding love again	19:00
	and for the joy of the angels over one sinner that repented.	19:05
	Glory be to thee, oh Lord.	19:11
	For all pure comedy and laughter	19:16
	and for the gift of humor and gaiety of heart,	19:19
	glory be to thee, oh Lord.	19:24
	For all who have consecrated myth	19:28
	with the love of Christ.	19:31
	Glory be to thee, oh Lord.	19:34
	For all singers and musicians	19:37
	and bell ringers,	19:41
	especially this morning for bell ringers	19:44
	and for all who work in form and color	19:48
	to increase the joy of life,	19:51
	glory be to thee, oh Lord.	19:54
	For poets and craftsmen	19:58
	and for all who rejoice in their work	20:01
	and make things well.	20:04
	Glory be to thee, oh Lord.	20:07
	For all who have loved the common people	20:10
	and borne their sorrows in their hearts.	20:12
	Glory be to thee, oh Lord.	20:16
	For prophets and reformers	20:19
	who cry shame on all social wrong	20:22
	and point the way to fairer life	20:26
	for all the people.	20:29
	Glory be to thee, oh Lord most high.	20:32
	And let us offer a prayer of intercession	20:40
	for all kinds of men.	20:43
	Oh God who knittest us all together in mutual love	20:47
	and responsibility for one another,	20:50
	hear our prayer of intercession	20:54
	for all kinds of folk.	20:58
	In a time of international strive	21:01
	and national division,	21:03
	of racial tension and class struggle,	21:06
	of political chaos	21:11
	and academic bewilderment,	21:13
	on behalf of all men, we pray for peace	21:17
	but not without justice.	21:21
	We pray for quiet,	21:25
	but only if the issues	21:27
	have honestly been faced and resolved.	21:29
	We pray for honor rather than victory,	21:34
	for understanding rather than mastery,	21:39
	for sanity rather than success,	21:43
	for the triumph of thy way	21:48
	rather than ours.	21:52
	For thou art the love which is goodwill,	21:55
	the creator, sustainer and redeemer of all men.	21:59
	And let us offer a prayer of supplication	22:07
	that we may have a fuller knowledge	22:09
	of Jesus the Christ.	22:14
	Almighty God who has called us through Jesus Christ	22:17
	to be thy sons and daughters,	22:21
	give us to know Christ and his life	22:24
	that the same mind which was in him	22:28
	may be in us,	22:31
	that we may be in the world	22:34
	as he was in the world.	22:36
	Give us so to know Christ and his death	22:41
	that we may not glory,	22:45
	save in his cross	22:48
	whereby the world is crucified unto us	22:51
	and we unto the world.	22:54
	Give us so to know Christ	22:58
	and the power of his resurrection	23:00
	that like as he was raised from the dead	23:03
	by thy glory,	23:06
	we may also walk in newness of life	23:08
	through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.	23:13
	And now as our Savior Christ hath taught us,	23:19
	we humbly pray together.	23:23
	Our Father, who art in Heaven,	23:26
	hallowed be thy name,	23:29
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	23:32
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	23:35
	Give us this day our daily bread	23:38
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	23:42
	who trespass against us.	23:46
	And lead us not into temptation	23:48
	but deliver us from evil	23:51
	for thine is the kingdom,	23:54
	and the power and the glory forever.	23:56
	Amen.	24:00
-	What normally attracts us,	24:16
	draws us, stimulates us, following a holiday?	24:20
	What atmosphere surrounds us,	24:26
	gives impetus to our living	24:30
	following a holiday?	24:34
	What states of depression grab us, hold us,	24:37
	squeeze us, cause us to feel torn asunder	24:44
	following a holiday?	24:50
	Most of us have some reflections following the holidays.	24:53
	Following Easter is a time	25:00
	when more than often our reflections	25:02
	are rather glossed over in a hasty kind of answer	25:06
	that we usually give as a retort	25:10
	when one would ask us how we're feeling.	25:13
	For last Monday I asked one of my friends	25:17
	how he was feeling	25:19
	and he said "Well, now that Easter is over,	25:20
	"things are back to normal.	25:25
	"Now that the holiday is over,	25:27
	"things are settling back to normal."	25:30
	And so I imagine that in most of our churches	25:33
	and in most of our homes	25:36
	and in most of our intuitions,	25:38
	things are now settling back to normal	25:41
	and in our post-Easter reflections,	25:44
	we find that normality now	25:47
	is getting to be the thing,	25:49
	we're back in the old groove,	25:52
	we're back in the old rut,	25:54
	we're back in the old grind.	25:56
	But I wonder, perhaps we have the wrong slant	26:00
	regarding what should happen	26:05
	and how we should feel following the holidays,	26:08
	especially following Easter.	26:12
	For if things go back to normal,	26:14
	what does this mean?	26:17
	If, when Easter is over, things go back to normal,	26:19
	what does back to normal signify for us?	26:23
	When we see our world going back to normal,	26:27
	means going back to Vietnam,	26:30
	it means going back to the war in the East,	26:33
	it means going back all of the unrest in the Middle East.	26:36
	It means going back to the religious conflict in Ireland.	26:39
	It means going back to all that tears	26:42
	and pulls us apart.	26:45
	This is going back to normal.	26:47
	In our nation, going back to normal means going back	26:49
	to the conflict that we see within the races	26:53
	within our nation.	26:55
	It means going back to the old argument	26:57
	of to bus or not to bus, that is the question.	26:59
	It means going back to the kind of conditions	27:02
	which surround us,	27:05
	the poor circumstances that surround us	27:06
	in housing, in education, in government	27:09
	and even in or churches.	27:11
	This is back to normal.	27:13
	Back to business as usual	27:15
	where we're caught in the same old rut,	27:18
	we're caught in the same old groove	27:20
	and we're spinning our religious wheels going nowhere.	27:23
	As I reflect after Easter,	27:28
	I've come to the conclusion that perhaps we should return	27:31
	to the abnormality of the Easter season	27:35
	and leave the normality alone.	27:37
	Perhaps it's better for us to remain in that kind	27:40
	of abnormal state that Easter brings to us,	27:45
	for when we can maintain this level of abnormality,	27:48
	what does it do for us?	27:53
	It brings, first of all,	27:56
	the kind of relief	27:57
	that removes the fears and the anxieties	27:59
	that keeps us from doing the will of God.	28:03
	For the abnormality of Easter is an abnormality	28:06
	that removes fear.	28:10
	It's a state,	28:12
	it's a faith,	28:14
	it's an inner drive	28:16
	that removes the fear that keeps us	28:18
	from becoming our best people.	28:20
	It's the impetus that enables us to stand up	28:24
	and to face the challenges that confront us.	28:27
	And this abnormality is one that helps us live	28:31
	without our fears conquering us	28:35
	and all of us have our fears.	28:38
	We grow up with our fears.	28:40
	None of us can fully escape our fears,	28:42
	the fears of our past,	28:44
	the fears of our childhood,	28:46
	the fears that linger in the backstreets of our minds,	28:48
	that bother and pull and tug at us,	28:51
	the fears of our mistakes,	28:54
	the fears of our blunders,	28:55
	the fears of our insecurities,	28:57
	all of the fears that pull at us	28:59
	and would cause us to become frightened persons.	29:01
	The fears of our neglect of our brother.	29:06
	The fears of having been too self-centered.	29:12
	All of the fears that really pull at us,	29:17
	these kind of fears. We find that the abnormality	29:20
	of the Easter season removes these fears	29:23
	from the disciples who were frightened, fearful men.	29:26
	And so if Easter is a time of abnormality	29:30
	as we reflect upon it,	29:33
	perhaps this is better for us	29:34
	for in this abnormal state	29:36
	we are a people without fear,	29:38
	we are people with conviction,	29:40
	we are people with the kind of courage	29:42
	that can stand and confront the challenges	29:44
	which lie ahead of us.	29:46
	Not only the fears of our past	29:49
	but the fears of today.	29:52
	Not only the fears of the mistakes that we have made	29:58
	but the fears of the mistakes we shall make.	30:02
	This, this sprit of Easter,	30:07
	as we reflect upon it, helps us	30:10
	to meet the challenge	30:14
	of proclaiming the Gospel in our living	30:16
	so that we can remove today the hindrances	30:20
	that keep God's kingdom	30:25
	from becoming a reality.	30:27
	We can remove the hindrances that can keep us	30:29
	from building and weaving a fabric	30:32
	of society where we can wrap each other	30:35
	in the goodness of God.	30:38
	It keeps us from weaving a oneness in our communities	30:40
	that can bring about an atmosphere	30:43
	where children can grow and become	30:45
	what they want to be.	30:47
	This abnormality of the Easter season	30:50
	is one that gives to us the kind of strength	30:55
	that we can live today,	30:58
	that we can live now.	31:01
	We can live in the challenging times of 1972.	31:04
	We can live amid all of the turmoil,	31:10
	we can live amid all of the strife,	31:12
	and we can face boldly our challenges	31:14
	as did the transformed disciples face boldly	31:17
	their challenges once they looked at Easter	31:21
	in the kind of fashion we ought to see.	31:24
	It gives to us some impetus and power	31:26
	to lives that are wavering and unstable.	31:29
	The abnormality of Easter is one	31:34
	that changes people	31:36
	and makes them live in a different way.	31:38
	And all through the New Testament,	31:41
	we see instances where people were changed	31:44
	as a result of what happened.	31:48
	And as I reflect,	31:50
	as I reflect, wouldn't it be wonderful	31:52
	if Christians now could live	31:55
	in the glow of Easter and its hopes?	31:59
	As I reflect upon Easter,	32:03
	instead of going back to business as usual,	32:05
	instead of going back to normal	32:08
	now that Easter is over,	32:09
	we're settling back down to normal,	32:11
	wouldn't it be wonderful	32:13
	if we could continue to live in the glow of the faith	32:14
	and hope that Easter gives to us?	32:18
	If we lived in this kind of glow,	32:21
	if we lived in this kind of faith,	32:23
	then we wouldn't give away so easily	32:25
	to all that degrades and dehumanizes us.	32:27
	For sometimes, we as Christians,	32:30
	we as the so-called good people,	32:33
	we as those who wear the hats of goodness,	32:35
	we give away so easily	32:37
	to all that threatens us and rather than put up a challenge,	32:39
	we run and hide.	32:42
	But living in the glow of Easter gives to us	32:45
	a kind of courage that enables us to stand	32:48
	and never run and hide	32:51
	but to face our problems squarely,	32:52
	whatever they are, wherever they are,	32:54
	whatever the consequences might be.	32:57
	For this, this peculiar something	33:01
	of Easter as we reflect upon it,	33:04
	this mystique that comes and gives to us	33:09
	a kind of faith that enables us to be changed,	33:13
	changes defeat into victory,	33:18
	helps us to live for the things	33:21
	that Jesus lived for.	33:25
	It helps us to see his life	33:29
	in a different perspective.	33:31
	It helps us to see his mission in a different perspective.	33:33
	So then we, too, can preach	33:37
	for the release of the captives.	33:39
	We can live for the release of those	33:43
	who are held captive in our social order.	33:46
	We can preach for the release	33:50
	and live for the release of those	33:53
	who are oppressed and bound	33:55
	and we can become agents of service	33:58
	so that we can bind up the brokenhearted.	34:01
	This was the mission and message of Jesus.	34:04
	To bind up the broken hearted,	34:06
	to bring sight to the eyes that are blinded,	34:08
	not necessarily the physical sight for us as much	34:11
	but to bring some kind of illuminating spiritual sight	34:14
	that will enable us to build	34:17
	and live and shape and mold lives	34:19
	in communities so that the scales	34:22
	of prejudice, the scales of our own selves,	34:24
	the scales of our own little petty differences	34:27
	might be removed and we can see the world	34:30
	as God wants us to see it.	34:33
	This is giving sight to the blind.	34:35
	We can proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.	34:38
	And we can say, now is the time	34:43
	when God's favor can be done.	34:46
	Now is the time when God's will can be done.	34:49
	This, this transforming power of the resurrection	34:53
	as we reflect upon it after Easter gives to us	34:57
	the kind of stability and gives to us the certainty	35:00
	that we as people in this day and age need.	35:04
	For as I reflect after Easter,	35:08
	maybe, maybe Easter can do for us	35:12
	what it did for the disciples.	35:16
	Maybe there's a hope.	35:19
	Maybe we'll never go back to business as usual.	35:22
	Maybe we'll never go back to the old normality	35:25
	which will cause us to perpetuate the old problems.	35:28
	Maybe we can speak out against	35:34
	and work actively to remove the moral irresponsibility	35:38
	we see all around us.	35:43
	The kind of irresponsibility we see in government,	35:46
	the irresponsibility which leads us	35:50
	to wonder, who can you believe?	35:52
	Where is their trust?	35:56
	In the White House?	35:59
	In the courthouse?	36:00
	Where is their trust?	36:02
	Where is that integrity that we need?	36:03
	Where can we find the kind of moral responsibility?	36:06
	Will we speak out and will we strive	36:11
	to bring about this moral responsibility?	36:13
	In our institutions,	36:19
	will we have the courage to speak out	36:23
	and proclaim the kind of moral integrity	36:28
	and responsibility that ought to be seen	36:31
	in our institutions	36:33
	so that our family life	36:35
	will take on a different kind of hue?	36:37
	So that family life now will become the center	36:41
	of all that we do	36:45
	so that children can see parents in action	36:46
	as they relate to each other	36:49
	and can see and begin to understand	36:51
	what real love is as they see it	36:53
	in the basic of all of our units: in the home.	36:56
	Will it make a difference where we go to school	36:59
	and how we teach each other and how we relate to each other?	37:02
	Will it make a difference	37:06
	in our churches whether we combine with [inaudible]	37:08
	or however else we want to combine	37:12
	or whether we'll stay separate?	37:14
	Will it make a difference	37:16
	in all of our ecumenical movements?	37:18
	As we reflect on Easter,	37:21
	maybe, maybe it can happen to us	37:25
	as it happened to the disciples.	37:29
	Maybe there's hope.	37:32
	Maybe there is the hope	37:34
	that we will never return to business as usual	37:36
	and maybe we will never make that off-the-cuff retort again	37:40
	that now that Easter is over,	37:45
	things are back to normal.	37:47
	Now that the holiday is over,	37:50
	I'm settling back in the old groove,	37:52
	I'm back in the old rut.	37:54
	For to settle back in the old groove	37:57
	and to settle back in the old rut,	38:00
	means that business goes on as usual	38:02
	and the violence in our system continues as usual.	38:05
	It means that we will find people	38:09
	who will continue to condone the injustices seen	38:11
	in man's inhumanity to man.	38:15
	It means that we will continue to give lip service	38:18
	to the will and work of God,	38:20
	rather than giving a full life commitment	38:22
	to doing the will of God.	38:25
	Perhaps as we reflect,	38:29
	we should understand what Jesus said	38:33
	to his disciples when he met them	38:36
	in the room	38:41
	and he chided them for their unwavering faith	38:42
	and he chided them	38:47
	for not having the courage to do what they ought to do.	38:49
	And maybe that's what post-Easter reflections	38:53
	ought to do for us--	38:55
	ought to chide us into some kind	38:57
	of strong action so that we then can take a new turn	38:59
	as we reflect upon Easter	39:04
	and go out and proclaim in our living	39:06
	the Gospel of Christ Jesus	39:08
	so that what he was, we might be.	39:10
	So as he was, we might become.	39:13
	So that wherever we go,	39:17
	the healing strength of him might be seen in us	39:18
	and wherever we stop, the love	39:22
	that was in him might be in us	39:24
	and wherever we meet people	39:26
	and greet people, the fellowship	39:28
	that was his might be in us.	39:30
	So somehow we might reach from	39:32
	the inner recesses of our souls	39:34
	and find that strong faith	39:36
	that Easter gives to us	39:39
	and as we reflect upon it,	39:40
	it might feed us and nourish us and comfort us	39:42
	and keep us.	39:45
	So never again will we return to business as usual.	39:47
	Never again will we return	39:51
	to the normality that leads to destruction.	39:55
	If Easter makes a difference in us,	40:02
	it'll be seen in what we are.	40:05
	And if business goes on as usual	40:10
	in Duke and Durham and North Carolina	40:13
	and the United States and in this world,	40:17
	we won't have to take long to find out.	40:19
	If we go back to business as usual,	40:23
	destroying each other,	40:26
	dehumanizing each other,	40:29
	brutally assassinating each other,	40:32
	finding ways to fragment each other's personality,	40:35
	finding ways to bring divisiveness	40:39
	in our communities,	40:42
	finding ways to set at odds the will of God	40:43
	with our will.	40:48
	We won't have to wait long to find it.	40:49
	It will be with us.	40:52
	But in reflecting upon Easter, after Easter,	40:54
	the hope still remains	40:59
	that perhaps as the disciples were changed,	41:02
	so can we be changed	41:07
	and as Jesus chided them	41:10
	to pick up your lives,	41:14
	don't be afraid,	41:18
	pick up the challenge,	41:20
	don't be afraid.	41:23
	Go out and preach and live	41:25
	and teach and act	41:29
	and do as Jesus did.	41:31
	Where there is sorrow, bring joy.	41:36
	Where there is fragmentation, bring the oneness	41:41
	that only the love of God can bring.	41:45
	Where there is injustice, come with the strong arm	41:48
	of God's mercy and love and justice	41:52
	and wrap up the broken hearted,	41:55
	give sight to the blinded eyes	41:57
	and free those who are oppressed	41:59
	by breaking the shackles that systems	42:01
	and institutions place upon them	42:03
	so that never again when we reflect after Easter	42:06
	will we say "business as usual."	42:10
	Never again will we say to ourselves,	42:14
	"going back to normal,"	42:16
	for normal can never be for us	42:19
	until the kingdom of God	42:21
	is a living reality	42:23
	and so we constantly live	42:25
	in a state of abnormality	42:27
	because we are striving to bring that which we consider	42:29
	to be our norm, the normality,	42:33
	the kingdom here with us	42:35
	and so we don't return back to business as usual	42:37
	as we reflect upon Easter,	42:40
	but we say to ourselves and to our friends	42:42
	and to our families,	42:45
	we will remain in this abnormal state,	42:46
	this state of ecstasy,	42:50
	this state of enthusiasm, this state of a motivated kind	42:51
	of living that makes us challenge systems,	42:55
	that makes us challenge people,	42:58
	that makes us bring a moral integrity	43:00
	where there is none	43:03
	for this is what Easter means.	43:04
	And as we reflect upon it,	43:07
	as Jesus chided his disciples	43:10
	for their unwavering faith,	43:13
	so he chides us today for ours.	43:15
	And as he spoke to them	43:19
	and they left that room	43:22
	and they went out different people,	43:25
	so too let us, as we reflect upon Easter now,	43:28
	remember the same chiding applies to us,	43:33
	so that when we leave this place of worship,	43:37
	we might go back into the byroads	43:40
	and the back roads and the highways	43:43
	and the homes and the classrooms	43:45
	and the offices, wherever it happens to be	43:47
	and we might remember that as they were changed,	43:49
	so can we.	43:53
	As they brought about a new social order,	43:56
	so can we.	44:01
	What do you think about after Easter?	44:04
	What are your post-Easter reflections?	44:07
	Business as usual, back to normal?	44:10
	Or will you as Christians,	44:15
	will you as those who are striving	44:17
	to find the way of Christ,	44:20
	will you say to yourselves	44:22
	as you reflect after Easter,	44:24
	"never again business as usual."	44:26
	Never again back to normal	44:29
	but for me, I must do the will of God	44:32
	as I see it in Christ Jesus	44:35
	to preach and live the Gospel,	44:37
	to give sight to the blinded eyes,	44:41
	to break the chains of oppression that bind us	44:43
	and to bind up the brokenhearted	44:47
	and to say that we don't have to wait any longer.	44:49
	This is God's year when his kingdom can come.	44:51
	Let us pray.	44:57
	Almighty and everlasting Father,	45:00
	thou who dost give to us strength,	45:03
	help us as we reflect upon the season of Easter,	45:06
	help us to remember	45:11
	that the strength which the disciples found,	45:13
	we too can find	45:16
	so that no longer will we return to normal	45:18
	and business as usual	45:22
	but will be about the new business	45:24
	of bringing God's kingdom	45:27
	into living reality here on Earth.	45:29
	Amen.	45:33
	(lively organ music)	45:37
	(congregation singing)	45:59

Item Info

Title:

Philip R. Cousin - "Post-Easter Reflections" (April 9, 1972)

Description:

Sermon start time: 24:16. Sermon end time: 45:37.
A holiday is thought to represent abnormality in how we act. But if our normality is represented by conflict and our abnormality is represented by peace and good works, we should always act in a state of abnormality to make our "normal" based on service, peace, and equality. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "If Easter makes a difference in us, it will be seen in what we are. And if business goes on as usual in Duke and Durham and North Carolina and in the United States and in this world, we won't take long to find out."

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4tq5rv7b

Date:

April 9, 1972

Speaker:

Cousin, Philip R.

Liturgical Calendar:

Week after Easter

Biblical Book:

Mark

Chapter and Verse:

Mark 16:9-20

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0613
ref6429_zig
uachapelsermaud
duke:320833
dcrau001797
ark:/87924/r4tq5rv7b
f5a74bd4-d174-4159-afe6-d5713c28f5d0

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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

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Philip R. Cousin - "Post-Easter Reflections" (April 9, 1972)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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