Helen G. Crotwell - "Signs and Wonders" (April 2, 1978)
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- | Duke University Chapel, service of worship, | 0:04 |
April 2, 1978. | 0:07 | |
(church organ music) | 0:13 | |
(solemn organ music) | 3:22 | |
(uplifting orchestral music) | 8:29 | |
(choir singing muffled) | 10:31 | |
(church organ music) | 11:51 | |
(choir singing drown out by organ music) | 12:30 | |
- | This is another day which the Lord hath made. | 16:30 |
Let us rejoice and be glad. | 16:36 | |
This is another hour for ringing chapel bells, | 16:41 | |
for playing chapel organs, and for the gathering | 16:47 | |
of the chapel community. | 16:52 | |
Let us be one in spirit and purpose. | 16:55 | |
This is the moment appointed for confession. | 17:01 | |
Let us search our hearts and open our hearts | 17:06 | |
as we pray the unison prayer of confession | 17:12 | |
and remain in silence for individual or personal confession. | 17:16 | |
Let us pray. | 17:25 | |
Have mercy upon us, oh Lord, you have made us | 17:27 | |
to serve each other, and to become our true selves | 17:32 | |
only as our lives are lost in love of others. | 17:37 | |
Yet we forget others, and seek our own. | 17:41 | |
Forgive our arrogance, forgive the needlessness | 17:46 | |
by which we seek to establish | 17:51 | |
our own life at the expense of others. | 17:53 | |
In your presence, God, our hearts are moved | 17:57 | |
to awe and gratitude, but also touched by a deep disquiet. | 18:01 | |
All things are open before you, and no secrets | 18:08 | |
are hid from your eyes. | 18:12 | |
As we feel your eye upon us, our own eyes | 18:15 | |
are clarified and we behold what we truly are. | 18:20 | |
Forgive us for being so deeply involved in deceit, | 18:26 | |
and in the secret betrayal of your love. | 18:31 | |
And now let us hear these words of scripture. | 18:48 | |
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. | 18:54 | |
He has not dealt with us after our sins, | 18:59 | |
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. | 19:02 | |
The Lord is near to all who call upon him, | 19:07 | |
to all who call upon him in truth. | 19:11 | |
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just | 19:16 | |
to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us | 19:21 | |
from all unrighteousness. | 19:25 | |
Let us give thanks, for God is good, | 19:32 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 19:36 | |
- | Thanks be to God, for his forgiveness. | 19:41 |
Thanks be to God, who delivers us from evil. | 19:45 | |
Thanks be to God, for the love and grace to sustain us. | 19:49 | |
- | Let us pray. | 20:16 |
Prepare our hearts oh Lord, to accept your word. | 20:19 | |
Silence in us, any voice but your own, | 20:25 | |
that hearing we may also obey your will. | 20:29 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 20:34 | |
The first lesson is from the second chapter of Acts, | 20:39 | |
verses 42 through 47, and they devoted themselves | 20:43 | |
to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, | 20:49 | |
to the breaking of bread and the prayers. | 20:52 | |
And fear came upon every soul, | 20:55 | |
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. | 20:59 | |
And all who believed were together, | 21:03 | |
and had all things in common. | 21:06 | |
- | And they sold their possessions and goods, | 21:09 |
and distributed them to all, as any had need. | 21:12 | |
And day by day, attending the temple together, | 21:17 | |
and breaking bread in their homes, | 21:21 | |
they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, | 21:24 | |
praising God and having favor with all the people. | 21:29 | |
And the Lord added to their number day by day | 21:34 | |
those who were being saved. | 21:38 | |
The second lesson is from the first chapter of first Peter, | 21:42 | |
versus three through nine. | 21:47 | |
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 21:52 | |
By his great mercy we have been born anew, | 21:57 | |
to a living hope, through the resurrection | 22:01 | |
of Jesus Christ from the dead. | 22:04 | |
And to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, | 22:07 | |
and unfading, kept in heaven for you, | 22:12 | |
who by God's power are guarded through faith, | 22:16 | |
for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. | 22:19 | |
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while | 22:25 | |
you may have to suffer various trials, so that | 22:29 | |
the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold | 22:33 | |
which though perishable is tested by fire. | 22:38 | |
May we down with praise and glory and honor | 22:42 | |
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. | 22:46 | |
Without having seen him, you love him. | 22:51 | |
Though you do not now see him, you believe in him | 22:56 | |
and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. | 23:01 | |
As the outcome of your faith, | 23:06 | |
you obtain the salvation of your souls. | 23:08 | |
Here end the readings from the epistle, amen. | 23:13 | |
("Kyrie Eleison") | 23:28 | |
♪ Kyrie ♪ | 23:59 | |
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♪ Eleison, Eleison ♪ | 27:52 | |
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♪ Eleison, Eleison ♪ | 28:07 | |
♪ Eleison ♪ | 28:21 | |
♪ Kyrie Eleison ♪ | 28:26 | |
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♪ Eleison ♪ | 29:05 | |
- | Will the congregation stand for the reading | 29:22 |
of the gospel lesson. | 29:25 | |
This lesson is from the 20th chapter of John, | 29:33 | |
versus 19 through 31. | 29:37 | |
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, | 29:43 | |
the doors being shut where the disciples were | 29:48 | |
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them | 29:51 | |
and said to them, "Peace be with you." | 29:57 | |
When he had said this, he showed them his hands | 30:02 | |
and his side, then the disciples | 30:06 | |
were glad when they saw the Lord. | 30:10 | |
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. | 30:12 | |
"As the Father has sent me, even so, I send you." | 30:17 | |
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, | 30:24 | |
and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. | 30:28 | |
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. | 30:33 | |
If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. | 30:38 | |
Now Thomas, one of the 12, called the twin, | 30:45 | |
was not with them when Jesus came. | 30:50 | |
So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. | 30:54 | |
But he said to them, unless I see in his hands | 30:59 | |
the print of the nails, and place my finger | 31:03 | |
in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, | 31:05 | |
I will not believe. | 31:10 | |
Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house. | 31:14 | |
And Thomas was with them. | 31:19 | |
The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them | 31:22 | |
and said, "Peace be with you." | 31:27 | |
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, | 31:32 | |
"and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it | 31:38 | |
"in my side, do not be faithless, but believing." | 31:44 | |
And Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God." | 31:53 | |
And Jesus said to him, "Have you believed | 31:59 | |
"because you have seen me? | 32:01 | |
"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." | 32:05 | |
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence | 32:11 | |
of the disciples, which are not written in this book. | 32:13 | |
But these are written that you may believe | 32:17 | |
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. | 32:19 | |
And that believing, you may have life in his name. | 32:24 | |
Here ends the reading from the gospel, | 32:30 | |
all power and glory be to God, amen. | 32:33 | |
(church organ music) | 32:38 | |
(choir singing drown out by organ music) | 32:49 | |
- | Peace be with you, my brothers and sisters. | 33:51 |
The early Christians shared their possessions. | 33:56 | |
There was not a person among them who was in need, | 34:00 | |
amazing. | 34:05 | |
And all the people were in awe at the signs and wonders | 34:07 | |
brought about by these people. | 34:11 | |
They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, | 34:14 | |
to share the common life, to break bread, and to pray. | 34:18 | |
After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, | 34:24 | |
the Holy Spirit came to those who followed Him, | 34:28 | |
and they continued the important work begun by Jesus. | 34:32 | |
The power was transferred from Jesus | 34:37 | |
to the early Christian community, | 34:42 | |
the power was transferred | 34:46 | |
from Jesus to the early Christian community. | 34:47 | |
Here we are, the Sunday after Easter when we celebrated | 34:53 | |
the resurrection of Jesus. | 34:57 | |
We meet together to worship, to care for those in need, | 35:00 | |
to study the teaching of the apostles. | 35:05 | |
The power has been transferred to us, | 35:09 | |
it is ours now. | 35:14 | |
Even so, | 35:17 | |
we have often dismissed Luke's record in Acts | 35:19 | |
of the account of the early Christians sharing, saying, | 35:24 | |
that's unrealistic, selling their property, | 35:29 | |
holding everything in common, never having | 35:33 | |
a needy person among them. | 35:38 | |
We have dismissed these passages, saying, | 35:42 | |
they don't apply to us, times were different | 35:46 | |
for those early Christians. | 35:50 | |
It was possible for them to live that way | 35:53 | |
because they were convinced that Jesus would return | 35:56 | |
immediately to bring in the kingdom of God. | 35:59 | |
And when that happened, they would be with God, | 36:04 | |
and all of these possessions would be meaningless, | 36:07 | |
of no use to them. | 36:10 | |
And as a matter of fact, as Christians began to realize | 36:14 | |
that Jesus was not returning as soon as they had expected, | 36:18 | |
they began to take more heed for the morrow. | 36:22 | |
They became concerned with survival in this world, | 36:26 | |
and returned to accumulating material goods, | 36:31 | |
even when Jesus had called this accumulation into question, | 36:35 | |
saying it was a false way to survive | 36:41 | |
or to find meaning in life. | 36:44 | |
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth. | 36:49 | |
It's difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. | 36:53 | |
Go, sell all you have and give to the poor. | 36:57 | |
Take no thought for the morrow. | 37:03 | |
Our culture encourages us to accumulate, to store, | 37:08 | |
to save, to take much thought for the morrow. | 37:13 | |
We live in a time which encourages individualism, | 37:19 | |
and privitism, and because we do, the common life, | 37:24 | |
the sharing with those in need is a hard word | 37:29 | |
for us to comprehend, so we say, the early Christians | 37:33 | |
shared what they did and what they had because they did not | 37:38 | |
think that their world would survive for very long. | 37:42 | |
But listen, we have an interesting reversal, | 37:47 | |
for we live in a world that is in such a condition, | 37:52 | |
that if we want to survive, if we want the world to continue | 37:57 | |
then we must share out of our abundance with those in need. | 38:02 | |
We have no choice. | 38:07 | |
Recall the number of crisis situations that we live with. | 38:11 | |
Urgent situations which call for us to develop | 38:15 | |
a common life, to cooperate, to share our abundance. | 38:18 | |
The critical shortage of food, of water, | 38:24 | |
the fear of nuclear destruction, the shortage of energy, | 38:30 | |
the stockpiling of arms, the pollution of our air, | 38:37 | |
the destruction of our Earth, the division of our world. | 38:43 | |
These urgencies are so great and so many, | 38:49 | |
we stand deaf and dumb before their reality. | 38:53 | |
As a culture we have stockpiled, not just arms | 39:00 | |
to protect us from foreign enemies, but also | 39:04 | |
material goods to protect us from starvation, | 39:07 | |
from boredom, from extinction. | 39:11 | |
Stockpiling for survival, and the irony is, | 39:14 | |
we may not survive as a culture and as a world | 39:20 | |
if those with abundance do not learn | 39:23 | |
to share with those in need. | 39:26 | |
The early Christians shared because they loved God | 39:30 | |
and their neighbor, and because they did not think | 39:33 | |
this world would be here much longer. | 39:38 | |
We contemporary Christians share because we love God | 39:42 | |
and love our neighbor, and because if we want this world | 39:47 | |
to be here much longer, we need to share. | 39:52 | |
After the crucifixion and resurrection, those who followed | 39:57 | |
Jesus were enabled through the power of the Holy Spirit | 40:00 | |
to continue the amazing work of Jesus. | 40:04 | |
This is who we are. | 40:08 | |
One week after celebrating the resurrection, | 40:10 | |
we gather to worship, to hear the teaching of the apostles, | 40:13 | |
to learn to share out of our abundance. | 40:17 | |
Most of us grew up in an environment | 40:23 | |
which encouraged us to accumulate, to stockpile. | 40:25 | |
But we also grew up in an environment, in a culture, | 40:30 | |
which taught us to share, to give, to respond to meaning. | 40:34 | |
And we are caught between these two worlds, | 40:41 | |
alternately living in one, and denying | 40:44 | |
or romanticizing the other. | 40:48 | |
If we prioritize or romanticize our sharing, | 40:52 | |
we may not be equipped to sustain a life of sharing. | 40:55 | |
As a child, someone gave me a sack of oranges, | 41:01 | |
a very special gift. | 41:04 | |
Being taught to share, I passed them around | 41:06 | |
a large circle of people gathered. Everyone took one. | 41:09 | |
When I was finished, the sack was empty, | 41:14 | |
with not one orange left for me. | 41:17 | |
So I went back around the circle with my sack, | 41:19 | |
and collected all of the oranges. | 41:23 | |
I had been taught to share, but I had not been taught | 41:26 | |
how to respond to a limited world. | 41:29 | |
A more recent experience called to my attention | 41:35 | |
the possibility that I had been romanticizing sharing. | 41:37 | |
Coming back from a conference in Atlanta over spring break, | 41:44 | |
it seemed that everyone from Duke and the University | 41:48 | |
of North Carolina had met in the Atlanta airport. | 41:51 | |
Waiting for the 5:30 flight to Raleigh-Durham | 41:55 | |
were all the people who, like me, had been wait listed | 41:58 | |
on the three o'clock flight. | 42:02 | |
Plus all those who had been confirmed on earlier flights | 42:05 | |
but could not get a seat because the airlines | 42:08 | |
had oversold the spaces. | 42:11 | |
During this time I met a woman whose mother had just died. | 42:15 | |
She was flying from Texas to Raleigh-Durham | 42:19 | |
where someone was meeting her to drive her | 42:22 | |
the 80 miles to her mother's home. | 42:25 | |
They had expected her to be on the three o'clock flight. | 42:28 | |
Now having just this fall, had the experience of | 42:32 | |
trying to get a seat on a full plane so that I could | 42:36 | |
join my family at the time of the death of my father, | 42:40 | |
I knew that agony, and I remembered with appreciation | 42:43 | |
the care the airlines had shown me. | 42:48 | |
However, on this day, the airlines were overbooked. | 42:52 | |
This woman had had a leisure seat | 42:56 | |
on the three o'clock flight, and so she did not | 42:58 | |
get on the 5:30 flight. I did, and I gave her my seat. | 43:02 | |
I was glad I did, but I was surprised at the anger I felt | 43:08 | |
when I was told that there was a good possibility | 43:13 | |
that I would not get out of Atlanta that night. | 43:15 | |
It was my choice, I had given up a confirmed seat | 43:19 | |
on the 5:30 flight, I was tired of waiting and exhausted. | 43:22 | |
I needed to get back for a meeting the next morning. | 43:28 | |
But all of that didn't explain my anger. | 43:31 | |
Reflecting on this experience made me wonder | 43:35 | |
if at some time in my life I had been taught to expect | 43:38 | |
to be rewarded for such sharing, | 43:41 | |
and thus on some level | 43:45 | |
I was expecting not only to be put on the next flight, | 43:47 | |
but surely on a first class seat with a fancy meal. | 43:51 | |
Perhaps my response was coming | 43:57 | |
out of a romanticizing of sharing. | 43:59 | |
If this is so, this experience certainly underscores | 44:01 | |
the importance of the common life of Christians, | 44:06 | |
of my need, of our need to be supported and also corrected | 44:10 | |
from the illusions of romanticizing sharing, | 44:15 | |
for I cannot, we cannot, be the responsible, loving | 44:21 | |
people of God in isolation. | 44:25 | |
We need the community to nourish us, to heal us, | 44:28 | |
to enable us to respond to those in urgent need. | 44:32 | |
Those whom God loves. | 44:37 | |
The importance of the corporate nature of our | 44:41 | |
Christian faith was graphically depicted to me | 44:44 | |
in a discussion by Walter Week of Paul's image | 44:48 | |
in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. | 44:53 | |
Put on the whole armor of God that you might stand | 44:57 | |
against the wiles of the devil. | 45:00 | |
He described the type of armor that Paul referred to | 45:03 | |
as covering 2/3 of your body, | 45:07 | |
and 1/3 of your neighbor's body. | 45:10 | |
And a person was then dependent on the neighbor on the right | 45:13 | |
just as the neighbor on the left | 45:17 | |
was dependent on that person. | 45:18 | |
Alone, we cannot stand against our cultural influence, | 45:21 | |
which encourages us to save, to hoard, to buy, to accumulate | 45:25 | |
rather than living more modestly and sharing | 45:30 | |
out of our abundance with those in need. | 45:34 | |
We, as small communities, we as a nation, we need to be | 45:37 | |
in community, protecting one another, that we may be | 45:42 | |
the people of God in this world. | 45:47 | |
After the resurrection there was a sense of awe everywhere | 45:52 | |
at the many marvels and signs brought about | 45:55 | |
through the work of the apostles. | 45:59 | |
And today we rejoice and celebrate the signs and marvels | 46:02 | |
of our contemporary apostles who have been able | 46:06 | |
to withstand the pressure of the culture | 46:09 | |
and share their abundance. | 46:11 | |
One example is found in Dorothy Day | 46:14 | |
and the Catholic Workers. | 46:16 | |
She is now 80 years old but still influences | 46:19 | |
this important movement within the Christian church. | 46:22 | |
In her autobiography, The Long Loneliness, | 46:26 | |
she talks about beginning of the whole movement | 46:30 | |
as a response to the Great Depression, | 46:33 | |
the great hunger in the 1930s. | 46:36 | |
She says, we were just sitting there talking | 46:40 | |
when the lines of people began to form, | 46:45 | |
saying, we need bread. | 46:47 | |
We could not say, go, be filled. | 46:51 | |
If there were six small loaves and a few fish, | 46:54 | |
we had to divide them, there was always bread. | 46:59 | |
The most significant thing about the Catholic Workers | 47:05 | |
is poverty, some say. | 47:08 | |
The most significant thing, others say, is community. | 47:10 | |
We are not alone anymore. | 47:15 | |
But the final word is love. | 47:18 | |
We cannot love God unless we love each other. | 47:22 | |
And to love is to know each other. | 47:27 | |
We know God in the breaking of bread | 47:30 | |
and we are not alone anymore. | 47:34 | |
Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet too. | 47:37 | |
Even with the crust, there is companionship. | 47:41 | |
We have all known the long loneliness, | 47:46 | |
and we have learned the only solution is love, | 47:49 | |
and that love comes with community. | 47:52 | |
It all happened while we sat there talking, | 47:56 | |
and it is still going on. And it is still going on. | 47:59 | |
There are now 50 houses of hospitality | 48:04 | |
generated by the Catholic Workers. | 48:07 | |
Each day, some 200 to 300 destitute people | 48:09 | |
visit the Bowery area of New York City to find, | 48:14 | |
at St. Joseph's House, not only a warm meal, | 48:18 | |
but an atmosphere of unconditional acceptance. | 48:23 | |
Mary House is not too far from St. Joseph's | 48:29 | |
and was opened to respond to the needs | 48:32 | |
of the shopping bag women, those who slept in doorways, | 48:36 | |
carrying their few earthly possessions in shopping bag. | 48:41 | |
Serving the hungry, the homeless, the hopeless, | 48:47 | |
such works of mercy are simple to the Catholic Workers | 48:51 | |
movement, as is the discipline of prayer and worship. | 48:54 | |
But we don't have to go to New York to note the signs | 49:00 | |
and marvels of the Christian community. | 49:03 | |
We know people, communities, who lovingly respond. | 49:05 | |
A woman, greatly influenced by Dorothy Day, | 49:11 | |
sold two antique chairs to contribute to the completion | 49:14 | |
of an important project for another member | 49:17 | |
of this community. | 49:21 | |
A professor who takes a leave of absence without pay, | 49:23 | |
and in order to work on the pressing problems | 49:26 | |
of a limited world. | 49:29 | |
Countless students and faculty members and town people | 49:32 | |
who continue to chop wood long after the first glamor | 49:34 | |
and dramatic appeal is over. | 49:39 | |
And we rejoice and celebrate the dedication of you | 49:43 | |
who worship in this community of worship, some of you | 49:46 | |
regularly, others as visitors. | 49:51 | |
But who always respond to an appeal | 49:54 | |
for any special or urgent need. | 49:57 | |
Hunger, the need for fuel, flood relief, | 50:00 | |
or to help a family who is burned out. | 50:05 | |
God calls us to share out of our abundance | 50:10 | |
with those in need, whether our abundance is money | 50:15 | |
or love or special skills or knowledge, | 50:19 | |
or the ability to change the structure of institutions. | 50:24 | |
Imagine now, a community changed from a competitive one | 50:30 | |
to a sharing one, imagine being bound together | 50:35 | |
by the armor of God, acknowledging that we cannot | 50:40 | |
survive alone as persons or as a nation, | 50:43 | |
but only as we protect and care for each other | 50:48 | |
as persons, and as nations, are we enabled to respond | 50:52 | |
to those in need and thus say, | 50:57 | |
there is now no one in need in our world. | 51:00 | |
John Mustival, who teaches in the divinity school, | 51:06 | |
has envisioned a university as a community of people | 51:08 | |
who are graded still, but are graded not by | 51:13 | |
how much they have learned, but how much they have | 51:16 | |
helped their fellow students learn. | 51:19 | |
To be graded not by how much you have learned, | 51:24 | |
but by how much you have helped someone else learn. | 51:27 | |
What a change that would be, a cooperative community, | 51:32 | |
not a competitive community. | 51:37 | |
Here again, the lesson from Acts. | 51:41 | |
And many signs and wonders were done through the apostles | 51:44 | |
and all who believed were together | 51:47 | |
and had all things in common. | 51:51 | |
And then from the fourth chapter of Acts. | 51:56 | |
And with great power, the apostles gave their testimony | 51:59 | |
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace | 52:02 | |
was upon them all, | 52:06 | |
there was not a needy person among them. | 52:09 | |
Let us celebrate and nourish the signs and wonders | 52:13 | |
we find in our midst, let us pray. | 52:17 | |
Oh God, help us to be open, that we might receive | 52:26 | |
your spirit, may your Holy Spirit be a presence | 52:31 | |
in our lives and form us into your people. | 52:36 | |
Teach us to share with all people, | 52:42 | |
the healing and forgiveness you have shared with us. | 52:44 | |
Help us to work to cure the illness of our world, | 52:49 | |
the hatred, envy, greed, and pride that keeps us apart. | 52:53 | |
So that all can live in peace and be as you created us | 52:59 | |
to be, children of your love and instruments | 53:03 | |
of healing for one another. | 53:08 | |
We pray in the spirit of Jesus the Christ, amen. | 53:11 | |
(church organ music) | 53:18 | |
(church hymn drowned out by organ music) | 53:45 | |
- | Let us remain standing for the affirmation of faith. | 55:48 |
Let us affirm what we believe. | 55:55 | |
We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 55:59 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus, | 56:05 | |
to reconcile and make new, who works in us | 56:08 | |
and others by the spirit. | 56:13 | |
We trust God who calls us to be the church, | 56:16 | |
to celebrate life and fullness, to love and serve others, | 56:21 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 56:27 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 56:31 | |
our judge and our hope. | 56:35 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. | 56:38 | |
We are not alone, thanks be to God. | 56:45 | |
The Lord be with you. | 56:50 | |
(congregation response muffled) | 56:52 | |
Let us pray. | 56:53 | |
Let us earnestly represent before almighty God | 57:04 | |
the needs of neighbors, some of whom live in isolation, | 57:11 | |
who have not experienced a resurrection event, | 57:18 | |
who have no personal awareness of signs and wonders, | 57:24 | |
such as we of the Christian community | 57:31 | |
know and take for granted. | 57:34 | |
Let us pray for men, women, youth, and children | 57:38 | |
to whom the present is confusing and the future frightening. | 57:45 | |
Let us pray for friends tortured by uncertainty | 57:54 | |
and indecision, for our other friends, | 57:59 | |
wounded by disruption in family life | 58:03 | |
and still others who are alarmed by the discrepancies | 58:07 | |
between thoughts of justice and the realities of injustice. | 58:12 | |
Into your hands, oh Father of all, we commit the sick, | 58:22 | |
the lonely, the fearful, that they may be aware | 58:31 | |
of your constant watch care and know your healing power. | 58:38 | |
We pray for the hungry. | 58:47 | |
We pray in particular for the peoples of Venezuela, | 58:52 | |
Brazil, Nigeria, and Liberia, | 58:57 | |
now prominent in the news of the world. | 59:04 | |
Grant that great benefit may follow the visit | 59:07 | |
of the president of the United States to these lands, | 59:10 | |
and that these and other developing peoples | 59:16 | |
in Latin America and in Africa may soon be recognized | 59:19 | |
as true children of God. | 59:25 | |
Oh God, the protector of all who put their trust | 59:32 | |
in your grace and power, increase and extend your mercy | 59:37 | |
to all peoples of every race and nationality and creed, | 59:43 | |
that all may so pass through things temporal | 59:49 | |
that they lose not things eternal. | 59:54 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who has taught us | 1:00:00 | |
also to pray, our Father, who art in heaven, | 1:00:05 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 1:00:11 | |
thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:00:15 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us | 1:00:19 | |
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us | 1:00:23 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:00:29 | |
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, amen. | 1:00:34 | |
Before we continue the order of worship, | 1:00:46 | |
let me ask you to look again at the page | 1:00:52 | |
in today's printed folder headed by the word, announcements. | 1:00:57 | |
Let me call specific attention to the announcement | 1:01:03 | |
about the communion service, which will follow immediately | 1:01:09 | |
after this service in memorial chapel, | 1:01:13 | |
and to which you are invited. | 1:01:17 | |
Let me also call attention to the Easter tide celebration, | 1:01:22 | |
with music and dance, here in Duke chapel tonight, | 1:01:27 | |
beginning at seven. | 1:01:32 | |
And in a very special way I ask you to read again | 1:01:36 | |
that announcement that appears in the rectangular box | 1:01:41 | |
entitled special offering for hunger. | 1:01:45 | |
In a moment, the offering plates will be before you, | 1:01:51 | |
and you are asked to be generous and to take note | 1:01:55 | |
of the special causes to which a part | 1:01:59 | |
of today's offering will go. | 1:02:02 | |
We continue with the worship of almighty God. | 1:02:06 | |
("Haydn: Missa in Augustis, Nelson Mass") | 1:02:18 | |
(choir voices drown out by organ music) | 1:02:31 | |
(church organ music) | 1:05:03 | |
(muffled opera music) | 1:05:24 | |
(choir singing muffled) | 1:06:02 | |
(muffled opera music) | 1:10:47 | |
(choir singing muffled) | 1:11:13 | |
("Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow") | 1:12:34 | |
♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 1:12:53 | |
♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪ | 1:12:58 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:13:04 | |
♪ Praise him above, ye heav'nly host ♪ | 1:13:11 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ♪ | 1:13:17 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:13:23 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:13:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:13:43 | |
- | In gratitude for your abiding presence, oh God, | 1:13:57 |
and in appreciation for the extent of your favor | 1:14:04 | |
and the mystery and glory of your continuing revelation, | 1:14:08 | |
we dedicate our offerings to the relief of suffering | 1:14:14 | |
and hunger in Durham and in Western North Carolina, | 1:14:19 | |
and to the work of the Christian church | 1:14:25 | |
across the world, amen. | 1:14:28 | |
(church organ music) | 1:14:33 | |
(organ music drowning out church hymn) | 1:15:13 | |
- | God bless you and keep you. | 1:19:18 |
The Lord make his face to shine upon you | 1:19:20 | |
and be gracious unto you. | 1:19:23 | |
The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, | 1:19:26 | |
and give you peace, amen. | 1:19:30 | |
(choral music) | 1:19:35 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 1:19:39 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:19:44 | |
(church organ music) | 1:19:56 |