Robert T. Young - "Exodus" (September 3, 1978)

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	♪ Lord of all the nations ♪	0:03
	♪ Son of God and Son of Man ♪	0:12
	♪ Glory and honor, praise, adoration ♪	0:30
	♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪	0:46
	♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪	0:58
	(organ music)	1:23
	(trumpets play with choral accompaniment)	1:58
-	Grace and peace be unto you.	5:39
	It is because we are certain of God's mercy and forgiveness	5:43
	that we have the courage to see ourselves in the light	5:49
	of God's justice and intention for us,	5:54
	and are enabled to acknowledge who we are	5:58
	and to confess our sin.	6:02
	Let us pray.	6:05
-	Oh Lord, hear our confession.	6:08
	We have done those things which we ought not to have done.	6:12
	And we have left undone those things which we ought	6:16
	to have done.	6:19
	Forgive us.	6:21
	Forgive us, oh Lord, and help us to do less talking	6:23
	and more listening.	6:28
	Less complaining and more exclaiming.	6:30
	Forgive us, oh Lord, and keep us from moodiness	6:34
	and self-pity.	6:37
	From the routine and repetitious, set us free.	6:39
	Keep us in tune with the needs of others.	6:44
	Let us be carefree enough to have fun and enjoy life.	6:48
	Forgive us, oh Lord, and help us not to grow bitter	6:54
	or cynical or out of touch with the real.	6:58
	Let us use our learning and living as an incentive	7:02
	for more giving and loving and caring.	7:08
	Oh Lord, we need you now, more than ever before	7:12
	in our lives.	7:17
	Forgive us, cleanse us, make us whole.	7:19
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	7:24
-	Amen.	7:42
	Believe the good news that God is loving and forgiving	7:43
	and live as forgiven people,	7:48
	moving into the future with hope.	7:51
	Let us give thanks for God is good	7:55
	and God's love is everlasting.	7:58
-	Thanks be to God who creates us.	8:01
	Thanks be to God whose tender love redeems us.	8:05
	Thanks be to God whose presence leads us into the future.	8:10
	There are seats in the front if you all want	8:17
	to come on down.	8:19
	This is one of our great festival Sundays in Duke Chapel,	8:25
	the celebration of the beginning of another academic year.	8:29
	To the returning choir members and ushers and students	8:34
	and faculty and staff and Rick Weinberg,	8:38
	a special welcome back.	8:41
	And to those of you who are here for the first time,	8:43
	greetings and welcome.	8:47
	We look forward to opportunities to get to know you	8:49
	as you join us in worship.	8:52
	And Bob and I would like for you to know that we cherish	8:54
	the privilege of working with you as we share in ministry.	8:57
	And that we are available when you need us in times of joy	9:02
	or sorrow, frustration, anxiety or crisis.	9:07
	We as a community are saddened over the unexpected death	9:14
	of Daniel Massic, a rising senior engineering student	9:18
	who died at his home as a result of a bicycle accident.	9:23
	The time for the memorial service will be announced	9:28
	in The Chronicle.	9:31
	The opening celebration after the service next Sunday	9:34
	will give you an opportunity to find out more about	9:37
	the opportunities noted in the insert sheet	9:40
	in your bulletin.	9:44
	Those of you who would like to fill out the sheet today,	9:46
	may leave it at the desk at the entrance to the chapel.	9:49
	On the first Sunday of each month, immediately after	9:54
	morning worship, Eucharist is celebrated	9:59
	in the Memorial Chapel, which is to your left.	10:03
	You are invited this morning to join	10:07
	in the celebration of Holy Communion.	10:09
	Grace be unto you.	10:13
	Amen.	10:15
-	Let us pray.	10:27
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord, to accept your word.	10:30
	Silence in us any voice but your own.	10:35
	That hearing, we may also obey your will	10:38
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	10:42
	Amen.	10:44
	The Old Testament lesson is from the sixth chapter of Exodus	10:46
	verses two through eight.	10:50
	"And God said to Moses, I am the Lord.	10:53
	I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac,	10:57
	and to Jacob as God Almighty,	11:00
	but by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known	11:03
	to them.	11:07
	I also established my covenant with them,	11:09
	to give them the land of Canaan, the land	11:12
	in which they dwelt as sojourners.	11:15
	Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel,	11:18
	whom the Egyptians hold in bondage,	11:22
	and I have remembered my covenant.	11:24
	Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord	11:27
	and I will bring you out from under the burdens	11:31
	of the Egyptians.	11:33
	And I will deliver you from their bondage	11:35
	and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm	11:37
	and with great acts of judgment	11:40
	and I will take you for my people	11:43
	and I will be your God.	11:45
	And you shall know that I am the Lord your God	11:48
	who has brought you out from under the burdens	11:51
	of the Egyptians.	11:53
	And I will bring you into the land	11:55
	which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.	11:57
	I will give to you for a possession.	12:02
	I am the Lord."	12:05
	The Epistle lesson is from the third chapter,	12:08
	first John, verses one through three.	12:11
	"See what love the Father has given us, that we	12:15
	should be called children of God, and so we are.	12:18
	The reason why the world does not know us	12:23
	is that it did not know him.	12:25
	Beloved, we are God's children now,	12:28
	it does not yet appear what we shall be,	12:31
	but we know that when he appears we shall be like him,	12:34
	for we shall see him as he is.	12:38
	And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself	12:40
	as he is pure."	12:45
	Here ends the reading from the Epistle.	12:47
	Amen.	12:50
	(gentle organ music)	12:53
	(choir sings angelically)	14:03
-	Will the congregation stand	17:30
	for the reading of the Gospel lesson?	17:32
	The Gospel lesson is from the sixth chapter of Matthew	17:40
	verses 25 through 33.	17:44
	"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,	17:49
	what you shall eat or what you shall drink,	17:54
	nor about your body, what you shall put on.	17:56
	Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?	17:59
	Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap	18:04
	nor gather into barns,	18:08
	and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.	18:11
	Are you not of more value than they?	18:14
	And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit	18:17
	to his span of life?	18:20
	And why are you anxious about clothing?	18:22
	Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.	18:26
	They neither toil nor spin;	18:29
	yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory	18:32
	was not arrayed like one of these.	18:35
	But if God so clothes the grass of the field,	18:38
	which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,	18:41
	will he not much more clothe you, oh men of little faith?	18:45
	Therefore do not be anxious, saying,	18:49
	What shall we eat, or What shall we drink?	18:52
	or What shall we wear?	18:55
	For the Gentiles seek all these things,	18:57
	and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.	19:00
	But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,	19:04
	and all these things shall be yours as well."	19:08
	Here ends the reading from the Gospel.	19:12
	All praise and glory be to God Almighty.	19:14
	Amen.	19:17
	(organ plays)	19:19
	(choir sings)	19:36
-	Let us pray.	20:34
	Oh Lord our God,	20:37
	take now this ancient word	20:41
	and make of it a present, real word.	20:46
	Take of this written word	20:52
	and make of it a true and lively word.	20:54
	That your truth may be a lamp unto our feet	21:01
	and a light unto our path through Jesus Christ our Lord.	21:05
	Amen.	21:12
	For those of us of the Judaeo-Christian tradition,	21:16
	the word Exodus symbolizes the story of the deliverance	21:20
	of the children if Israel from bondage to liberation,	21:25
	from slavery to freedom.	21:30
	It is the story of a people who were oppressed	21:33
	enslaved, who indeed, were trapped.	21:36
	Until God's presence and God's power	21:40
	came to set them free.	21:42
	Ever since Joseph's father and brother came to Egypt	21:46
	in order to survive, the Israelites had been subject	21:50
	to the dictates of Egypt's kings.	21:54
	But there arose a king, there arose a king	21:57
	who knew not Joseph,	22:01
	nor did he know of Joseph's descendants.	22:04
	They were oppressed, and the more they were oppressed	22:07
	the more they multiplied.	22:11
	And the more they multiplied, the more threatened	22:13
	and insecure the Pharaoh became.	22:15
	As with anyone insecure, the king reacted by	22:19
	asserting his power, by more oppression.	22:23
	He ordered his slaves to keep up their production of bricks	22:27
	and then cut out the straw with which	22:31
	they were making bricks, and yet made them	22:33
	get their own straw, and still keep up the production	22:35
	of the same number of bricks.	22:39
	He ordered the firstborn male in each Israelite family	22:42
	to be killed.	22:46
	Cleverly, Moses was spared.	22:48
	He grew up and saw his people being beaten and mistreated,	22:52
	and one day in anger he killed an Egyptian slave master.	22:57
	Then out of fear, for his own life and his own safety,	23:03
	he fled to the land of Midian.	23:07
	There, he worked in the fields, met and married Zipporah,	23:11
	and there he was called by God,	23:16
	at what we call the burning bush.	23:18
	God called Moses to go, and deliver his people	23:21
	from the hand of Pharaoh.	23:25
	Exodus is the story of that deliverance,	23:28
	found in the Old Testament in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.	23:31
	Exodus is the story of a people's struggle, pain,	23:37
	loneliness, weariness, deprivation, disappointment	23:42
	idolatry, unfaithfulness, and faithfulness, anger,	23:47
	resentment, looking back, war, famine,	23:51
	second guessing of themselves, of Moses, and of God.	23:56
	Exodus is a story of searching, wandering, journeying,	24:00
	believing, doubting, leaving behind, taking risks,	24:05
	trusting the future.	24:09
	Exodus is the story of arriving.	24:10
	Exodus is moving from Egypt to Canaan,	24:14
	from the Red Sea to the Jordan River,	24:17
	from slavery to freedom, from Moses to Joshua,	24:20
	it is moving from being no people, to being God's people.	24:25
	Exodus is the story of going without certainty.	24:30
	It is as someone so aptly put it,	24:34
	to exchange some bad certainties,	24:38
	for some good uncertainties.	24:42
	But that's not how most of us live our lives.	24:45
	Most of us would rather hold on to the certain,	24:48
	the sure, the real, even if it is bad, or unhealthy,	24:51
	or undesirable, than to move towards some positive	24:56
	or productive or good, or healthy uncertainty.	24:59
	Exodus is living with the likelihood that our minds,	25:04
	our hearts, our plans, our futures,	25:07
	our very lives, our own destiny may indeed change.	25:10
	Exodus is to say with the poet Roethke,	25:17
	"I learn by going where I have to go."	25:20
	The Exodus story is not just an ancient story,	25:25
	it is your story, it is my story,	25:28
	it is our story.	25:33
	Now, today, this very day.	25:35
	The Exodus story means believing God.	25:41
	It means to appropriate and to live by God's word,	25:44
	listen to this word.	25:50
	Some 3,000 years old, and yet very real to us	25:50
	from Exodus Chapter 6, "I will be your God,	25:54
	I am the Lord, I will bring you out, I will deliver you.	26:00
	I will redeem you, I will take you for my people,	26:05
	I will be your God, I will bring you into the land,	26:09
	I will give it to you, I am the Lord."	26:12
	My word, what a word!	26:16
	A word worthy of any and all trust and faith,	26:20
	a word fit to support any exodus of your life,	26:25
	or of my life, and so after reading and reflecting	26:28
	on the Exodus story.	26:32
	it seems to me that there are three stages	26:34
	in any exodus story.	26:37
	There is the motivation to leave,	26:40
	there is the taking of a covenant or a commitment,	26:42
	and there is the persevering to the promise.	26:45
	That's the first thing, then it seems to me is it	26:48
	a fitting question at any point in one's life,	26:51
	any moment is "Why should I change?	26:54
	Why should I move?	26:59
	Why should I get up and go or stay,	27:01
	and alter my life, my way, my living?"	27:04
	There must be motivation or cause or impetus,	27:07
	or else we stay as we have been, where we are	27:12
	in the same place physically, emotionally,	27:16
	mentally and spiritually.	27:20
	Robert Kemper writes, "I am willing to risk new ventures	27:22
	if I think the old ones have not been good enough."	27:28
	Most of us today, I think are looking for some new ventures,	27:33
	some new direction, some new sense of purpose,	27:36
	some new goal for investing ourselves and our energies,	27:39
	and I can hear many of you new students now,	27:43
	this morning, thinking about the meaning	27:46
	of the Exodus story for your lives.	27:49
	You may feel that you have been in bondage.	27:55
	You may feel that you have been subject to the laws	27:59
	and edicts of Mom and Dad.	28:02
	You may feel indeed, that you have been suffering	28:05
	long, long, long.	28:08
	That you have been oppressed, mistreated, misunderstood	28:12
	and surely unappreciated,	28:16
	but now you leave all that behind.	28:20
	You're on your own way, Duke may not be your promised land,	28:24
	indeed may I tell you this morning, that it is not, surely,	28:28
	but it's a step in that direction.	28:31
	You are headed, and maybe under God's grace,	28:34
	all of us are headed, indeed, for the land of Canaan.	28:37
	But how often do we think that?	28:42
	We say, surely a change in scenery will help me.	28:45
	Nothing can be worse than where I am now.	28:50
	Anything will be better than	28:53
	what I am living with at this moment.	28:55
	Oh, if I only get away from here,	28:57
	wherever here happens to be.	29:00
	But where you are now, and where you will be,	29:06
	may never be any better than where you have been	29:11
	unless there are some substantive changes.	29:15
	Simply put, a change in residence alone,	29:20
	will not improve our lot in life.	29:24
	It must take more.	29:29
	The last article the Professor Karl Barth wrote,	29:32
	was a piece entitled	29:40
	"Starting out, turning round, confessing."	29:41
	As a matter of fact, he never finished	29:46
	this particular article.	29:47
	The night before he died, he stopped writing	29:49
	halfway through a sentence and never completed it.	29:52
	It's a beautiful word, he says,	29:56
	"Starting out, that is, exodus, takes place	29:58
	when something there has grown old and must be left behind.	30:02
	When the night is past, when something new replaces it	30:08
	and a new day dawns."	30:13
	When this is true, and is seen as true, starting out,	30:16
	exodus, takes place.	30:22
	Starting out takes place in crisis, a resolute farewell	30:25
	is then said to what is familiar, what is close at hand,	30:30
	what has its own advantages, as in the flesh pots of Egypt,	30:35
	and there is a resolute turning instead to what is distant,	30:40
	to what is affirmed in hope, to what has disadvantage,	30:44
	to what is still largely unknown with its glorious future.	30:49
	This exodus refuses to be homesick	30:55
	for what it leaves behind.	30:59
	It hails and loves already what is before it.	31:01
	It is still here and yet no longer here.	31:04
	It is not yet there, but is there already.	31:07
	It has a long journey ahead of it.	31:11
	Battles too, and suffering, and hunger and thirst.	31:13
	This starting out is that of the people of God,	31:18
	which is still in bondage, and yet already freed.	31:21
	It is first and supremely	31:26
	an acceptance of the future.	31:29
	That is what exodus is, my friends,	31:34
	first and supremely, an acceptance of the future.	31:37
	Exodus begins when we know something	31:42
	about where we're going.	31:44
	Exodus is not just a matter of denying our past	31:46
	if all we do is deny the past,	31:50
	then the results will be negative and fruitless	31:53
	and most often harmful.	31:55
	But if we accept and affirm the future,	31:57
	we then are free to deny the past in a healthy	31:59
	and productive and positive way.	32:03
	Exodus takes place only when we see the new as promise.	32:06
	Exodus for the children of Israel began when Moses came down	32:11
	from the Mount of God, and away from that burning bush,	32:15
	where he had indeed heard God's word,	32:18
	and then was able to tell his people and to tell Pharaoh	32:20
	something about where they were headed.	32:23
	Exodus is not only going from, it is going toward.	32:27
	Doctor Georgia Harkness, beloved theologian	32:34
	of the United Methodist Church, who died not too long ago,	32:37
	well into her 80s, once wrote,	32:41
	"Be careful what you set your heart on,	32:44
	for you will surely get it."	32:48
	Exodus requires first, motivation.	32:54
	Be careful what your motivation is, be sure it points	32:58
	to the future and doesn't just condemn the past.	33:02
	Exodus then, in the second place,	33:07
	requires the taking of a covenant,	33:10
	"I will be your God, and you will be my people."	33:14
	My friends, I invite you today	33:20
	just now,	33:25
	to enter into a new covenant,	33:28
	a new covenant with God,	33:34
	and a new covenant with one another.	33:37
	First, a covenant with God.	33:42
	William James, writing at the turn of the century, wrote,	33:46
	"Our belief, at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking,	33:49
	is the one thing that assures	33:55
	the successful outcome of the venture."	33:58
	Covenant with God.	34:03
	In the book, The Little Prince,	34:06
	the little prince tells the fox one day,	34:08
	"That which is essential is invisible."	34:11
	and so it is with our covenant with God.	34:17
	Essential and invisible, you can't see it,	34:19
	you can't touch it, you can't measure it, or weigh it,	34:22
	or put your arms around it, but there are times	34:24
	that that essential invisible, is the one, the only thing,	34:27
	that upholds and sustains and secures us.	34:32
	Will you, today, consider entering	34:39
	into a new covenant with God?	34:43
	Be sure though, that covenant with God	34:48
	doesn't really guarantee anything,	34:50
	especially covenant with God does not guarantee faithfulness	34:53
	on the part of the people of God.	34:57
	Nor does covenant with God guarantee	34:59
	that all will go well with the people of God.	35:02
	Covenant with God does mean that God is present to us.	35:05
	That we are present to God,	35:09
	and that if we are faithful to God,	35:11
	God will be faithful to us and He will fulfill the promises	35:13
	which He makes to us.	35:17
	"I will be your God,	35:19
	I will deliver you."	35:23
	the Exodus experience of the children of Israel	35:26
	kept them in the wilderness for some 40 years.	35:28
	40 years is a long, long time to wander and search	35:31
	and struggle to stay alive.	35:35
	The wilderness is where the people felt lost,	35:38
	where they rebelled, where they plead for Moses	35:43
	to take them back, where they built golden calves for idols.	35:46
	Where they grew bitter toward one another,	35:51
	and angry toward God, but the wilderness	35:53
	is also the place where they repented.	35:56
	Where they came to their senses,	36:00
	where they remembered their covenant and commitment.	36:01
	And where they built the ark for worship,	36:03
	and as a constant reminder of God's presence with them.	36:06
	Covenant with God assures us of God's presence	36:11
	in our wilderness.	36:15
	I invite you to a new covenant with those around you.	36:18
	You need those around you,	36:25
	those around you need you.	36:28
	Most of us put up a pretty good front most of the time.	36:32
	A front that says, I'm Mr. or Ms. Independent.	36:38
	I can get along quite well by myself.	36:44
	And deep, deep inside, what we really are saying is,	36:48
	Why doesn't somebody break through?	36:54
	Why doesn't someone reach out?	36:57
	Why doesn't somebody touch me or hear me	37:00
	or listen to me or want me.	37:03
	I have an idea that were times in the period of the Exodus	37:07
	when the Israelites were sustained and were upheld	37:12
	by the common bond, by the covenant	37:16
	which they held with one another.	37:19
	I invite you, this morning,	37:23
	to find someone today, now, as soon as possible,	37:28
	someone, and enter into a new covenant,	37:35
	with someone around you.	37:38
	Listen to the words from an anonymous poet,	37:44
	who may speak for some of us, as the poet writes,	37:49
	"Don't be fooled by me, don't be fooled by the face I wear.	37:53
	For I wear a mask, I wear a thousand masks.	37:59
	Masks that I'm afraid to take off, and none of them, is me.	38:02
	Pretending is an art that's second nature to me,	38:07
	but don't be fooled, for God's sake, don't be fooled.	38:11
	I give you the impression that I am secure,	38:15
	that all is sunny and unruffled with me,	38:17
	within as well as without.	38:20
	That confidence is my name, and coolness my game,	38:23
	that the water's calm, and I'm in command,	38:26
	and that I need no one, but don't believe me, please.	38:29
	My surface may seem smooth, but my surface is my mask.	38:34
	My ever-varying and ever-concealing mask.	38:38
	Beneath lies no smugness, no complacency.	38:41
	Beneath dwells the real me in confusion and fear	38:44
	and aloneness, but I hide this,	38:49
	I don't want anybody to know it.	38:51
	I panic at the thought of my weakness	38:54
	and fear of being exposed.	38:56
	That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,	38:59
	a nonchalant sophisticated facade, to help me to pretend,	39:03
	to shield me from the glance that knows."	39:07
	Sometimes I think the thing	39:14
	that sustained the children of Israel,	39:17
	was the covenant between and among them.	39:20
	Or it's like the story of the little girl	39:24
	who went to the store one day for her mother.	39:26
	She was gone a rather long time, and when she got back	39:30
	her mother asked why it had taken her so long	39:35
	simply to go to the store, and come back.	39:38
	She told her mother about another little girl	39:41
	who had fallen and broken her doll,	39:43
	and that she had stopped to help her.	39:46
	The mother wondered what she could have done to help	39:49
	the little girl fix her broken doll.	39:52
	She replied, "I just sat down	39:55
	and helped her cry."	39:59
	Covenant means that sometimes we simply sit down	40:04
	and help each other cry.	40:08
	One other word about covenant with one another,	40:13
	and that is that persons who enter into covenant	40:16
	with one another do not deliberately,	40:18
	or intentionally, or willfully hurt one another.	40:20
	This year, we here at Duke, and in this Duke community	40:25
	will hurt one another, it's inevitable.	40:30
	But please, please, please, I invite you	40:34
	not to willfully hurt or cut down, or demean, or belittle	40:37
	any other person in this community.	40:42
	If it happens, let it be an accident.	40:46
	And then ask forgiveness at once.	40:49
	Do not let a hurt which you inflict linger on.	40:53
	On the other side of this, let me ask you	40:59
	to be very careful about who you let hurt you.	41:01
	Yes, you heard me right.	41:05
	Be careful about who you let hurt you.	41:07
	There are some people who have that right,	41:11
	that is, to hurt us in love, and help us to grow.	41:13
	But there are others who absolutely do not have,	41:17
	and perhaps never will have that right.	41:20
	The fact that some people do not have the right to hurt us,	41:23
	was driven home to me in a beautiful way,	41:26
	in a line from the movie Heaven Can Wait,	41:29
	where Julie Christie, after being put down By Dyan Cannon,	41:33
	says, "Oh, that's all right, you don't really know me	41:36
	well enough to hurt me."	41:41
	My prayer is that you will not let hurt come to you	41:47
	from those who don't know you.	41:51
	Enter into covenant with someone around you,	41:55
	and then we persevere to receive the promise.	42:02
	Persevere even a long time, yes, even 40 years.	42:05
	The promise of God to the children of Israel is threefold.	42:11
	There is the promise about sustenance,	42:16
	there is the promise about direction,	42:18
	and there is the promise about destination.	42:20
	The sustenance is the manna, that is, food from heaven	42:23
	gathered every day by the wandering nomads in the desert.	42:26
	The direction is to be a pillar of cloud by day,	42:30
	and a pillar of fire by night.	42:32
	The destination is to be a land filled with milk and honey.	42:35
	The promise of God is ours if we persevere.	42:40
	If we keep the covenant and are faithful and obedient	42:46
	along the way, it is God who sustains,	42:48
	who directs, and assures us of our goal.	42:52
	We do indeed, however, have a part to play	42:57
	in our exodus story.	43:00
	It is God who issues the call,	43:02
	it is God who makes the promise,	43:04
	it is God who offers us the covenant,	43:06
	it is God who sustains us.	43:08
	It is God who tells us the story of our exodus,	43:10
	our going out, we listen.	43:13
	We tell one another, that is, we respond.	43:17
	We discover our exodus as we make our way on it.	43:22
	We listen, which means that we are to be receptive	43:26
	and are willing to be led,	43:30
	that means that we're to be active,	43:34
	and yet willing and eager recipients.	43:35
	It's like a paperweight which my daughter gave me.	43:38
	The saying on the paperweight reads,	43:42
	"Pray to God, but keep on rowing for the shore."	43:43
	Pray to God, remember God's promises, persevere.	43:49
	I remember after a long and arduous and difficult course	43:55
	one semester in the Divinity School here,	43:59
	the professor began the last lecture by quoting from	44:02
	Matthew, "Those who endure to the end,	44:05
	the same shall be saved."	44:09
	Or, as the Psalmist writes,	44:13
	"Weeping may endure for the night,	44:15
	but joy cometh in the morning."	44:19
	And so it does.	44:22
	But I guess my friends, over and above all of this,	44:24
	and running through all of this, our exodus,	44:28
	your exodus, my exodus, is a word that I read	44:31
	written by John Powell, when he said,	44:35
	"God is with us, and God speaks to us,	44:40
	and God says to each of us,	44:45
	all that I ask,	44:50
	is that forever,	44:53
	you remember me as loving you."	44:56
	That's all God asks.	45:04
	In our exodus, through our exodus,	45:08
	at the end of our exodus,	45:11
	God says, "All I want from you	45:14
	is forever,	45:19
	for you to remember me	45:21
	as loving you."	45:25
	Let us pray.	45:29
	Oh Lord, give us the grace of your presence	45:34
	in each exodus of our lives,	45:39
	particularly, oh living, loving God,	45:44
	bless, sustain, direct and fulfill	45:48
	the exodus	45:52
	of each young person who has come to this university	45:54
	and sees it as a place of promise and hope.	45:59
	May we, oh God, be patient	46:05
	toward the unfolding of our lives.	46:08
	Trusting where we are not in control.	46:11
	And believing where we cannot see.	46:15
	Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	46:20
	the Alpha and Omega,	46:24
	the beginning and the ending,	46:26
	Amen, Amen.	46:30
	(organ music)	46:39
	(congregation sings)	47:10
-	You heard what we believe.	49:36
	We believe in God,	49:40
	who has created and is creating,	49:42
	who has come, and through the human Jesus,	49:45
	to reconcile and make new.	49:49
	Who works in us and of us by the Spirit.	49:52
	We trust God who calls us to be the Church,	49:56
	to celebrate life and it's fullness,	50:01
	to love and serve others, to seek justice	50:04
	and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	50:08
	our Judge, and our hope.	50:14
	In life, and death, and life beyond death.	50:18
	God is with us, we are not alone.	50:23
	Thanks be to God.	50:27
-	The Lord be with you.	50:29
-	And also with you.	50:31
	Let us pray.	50:33
	Oh Holy God, we give thanks for this day	50:44
	which offers us a time of new beginnings.	50:49
	Like other days, and other beginnings,	50:53
	it comes with joy and tears and promise.	50:57
	Joy in the awareness of your presence,	51:03
	in the awareness of new friends, new places,	51:08
	new possibilities of covenant.	51:12
	Tears for the sadness of being separated from those we love,	51:16
	and for those people whose future is one of pain	51:22
	or paralyzing uncertainty, and promise, which is yours	51:26
	for us for the future, the unexpected	51:32
	and the hope which is ours, as we move into the unknown.	51:37
	We give thanks for all that has brought us to this moment,	51:43
	and this place, for family and friends and schools.	51:46
	Oh loving God, we are hopeful, but we are also fearful	51:52
	that we may be lonely, that we may waste our time	51:59
	and abilities, that we may not belong,	52:03
	because we cannot conform to the values of our peers.	52:08
	That no-one will care for us,	52:13
	so we rest our hope that you will bless our time,	52:18
	that we may live in it's fullness.	52:23
	That you will bless our bodies that we may develop life	52:28
	that is good and whole and full.	52:31
	That you will bless our hands and minds,	52:37
	that we may work in this world	52:39
	in ways which reflect your love.	52:41
	We pray oh God, that we will not turn in on ourselves	52:46
	and become blind to those around us.	52:49
	Use us to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters.	52:53
	To those who reach out to us for healing love and support,	52:59
	and care, and to those who are too frightened	53:02
	even to reach out, enlarge our love, oh God.	53:06
	And help us to be open to others.	53:10
	Hear our prayers for those who have responsibility	53:15
	for leading your Church, especially this day, we pray	53:18
	for Pope John Paul, that he may continue to work,	53:23
	that we all may be one.	53:28
	We are distraught, oh God, that your church is divided,	53:31
	and that your world is shattered by bitter conflict.	53:35
	Uphold and strengthen those who struggle	53:39
	for peace and justice.	53:41
	Hear our prayers for those who suffer,	53:44
	who are sick, who grieve the death of persons they love.	53:47
	For those who are restricted by no food, no work,	53:52
	no family, no future, no hope.	53:57
	Oh God, we pray that we will use our time	54:01
	as a time of preparation to respond	54:05
	to some of the urgent needs of your children.	54:07
	Hear us now as we pray together, the prayer of our Lord.	54:12
-	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	54:17
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	54:24
	on earth as it is in heaven.	54:27
	Give us this day our daily bread,	54:31
	and forgive us our trespasses	54:33
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	54:36
	And lead us not into temptation,	54:40
	but deliver us from evil.	54:44
	Thine is the kingdom, and the power	54:46
	and the glory forever, amen.	54:50
	(organ music)	54:56
	(percussive orchestral music)	55:59
	(choir sings Kyrie Eleison)	56:29
	(organ music)	1:01:23
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:01:39
	♪ Praise Him you creatures here below ♪	1:01:44
	♪ Alleluia alleluia ♪	1:01:49
	♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts ♪	1:01:56
	♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:02:01
	♪ Alleluia alleluia ♪	1:02:07
	♪ Alleluia alleluia ♪	1:02:12
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:02:18
	♪ Amen ♪	1:02:25
	Oh Holy God, send your Spirit to cleanse our hearts,	1:02:37
	to hallow these gifts, and to perfect the offering	1:02:44
	of ourselves to you through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:02:48
	Oh Holy God, help us to acknowledge those things	1:03:11
	which divide us and to know the love that unites us.	1:03:15
	(congregation mumbles response)	1:03:21
	when we disagree or misunderstand	1:03:33
	let us listen to each other	1:03:36
	and discover your truth together.	1:03:38
	(congregation mumbles response)	1:03:42
	In grief, let us put our arms around each other.	1:03:53
	In joy, let us sing and laugh and dance together.	1:03:58
	In life, let us celebrate or health and goodness.	1:04:03
	In death, let us celebrate our hope.	1:04:07
	In the year ahead, oh God, we give ourselves to you	1:04:11
	and to one another, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:04:17
	(percussive orchestra music)	1:04:35
	(choir sings)	1:05:06
-	Go forth with the certainty that you are sustained and	1:07:59
	supported by God who created you, redeems you,	1:08:03
	and leads you into the future	1:08:08
	(choir sings angelically)	1:08:14
	(organ music)	1:09:20

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "Exodus" (September 3, 1978)

Description:

Sermon start time: 21:16. Sermon end time: 46:43.
This sermon compares students' new journeys into college as an exodus journey. It urges them to form covenants with one another, based on what covenant is to God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: Exodus is the story of going without certainty.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4c53ff8d

Date:

September 3, 1978

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0974
ref7157_13r
uachapelsermaud
duke:320681
dcrau001854
ark:/87924/r4c53ff8d
79fd49ac-6ee2-4aba-a96a-c2a4471b4eb9

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.

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Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert T. Young - "Exodus" (September 3, 1978)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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