Robert T. Young - "Life Is Lived in the Valley" (January 14, 1979)

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	(static)	0:03
Male Voice	Duke Chapel, Sunday service, January 14 1979.	0:05
	(organ music)	0:11
	(hymn singing)	8:35
	(organ music)	10:06
	(brass instruments)	10:43
Female voice	Greetings in the name of Jesus, our Christ.	14:23
	In God's presence, our hearts are moved to all and gratitude	14:28
	but are also touched by deep disquiet.	14:35
	We know that we do not deceive God.	14:41
	We also know that God is loving even injustice	14:45
	and always ready to forgive us with such assurance.	14:51
	Let us make our corporate confession to God.	14:57
	Let us pray.	15:01
	O holy God and loving mother.	15:05
	Who we trust but do not fully understand.	15:11
	Who we love but surely not with all our hearts.	15:15
	Give us, we pray you, not the kind of new year we want,	15:21
	but the kind we need.	15:27
	We live with a sense of crowdedness,	15:29
	remind us of the providence that marks even Asparus fall.	15:33
	We live with a shrinking sense of personal worth,	15:39
	remind us of a log to which each hole is precious.	15:43
	We live with a sense of years going by too quickly,	15:49
	remind us of abiding purposes in which	15:54
	all that comes to pass partakes of etern.	15:58
	We live with an abiding sense of loneliness,	16:03
	remind us of the ever presence of Christ in others,	16:07
	and in us.	16:12
	We live with a sense of wrongs committed and good undone	16:14
	or unattempted,	16:20
	remind us that for just such as these the shepard seeks	16:22
	and waits.	16:27
	Our souls take their rest of God, in the joy of who you are,	16:29
	let it be enough that you are for us, with us and within us,	16:35
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	16:42
	And now let us continue as we make our	16:45
	personal confession to God.	16:47
	Amen and amen.	17:09
	Hear these words from Micah.	17:13
	"God will have compassion upon us,	17:15
	and will tread our iniquities underfoot and will cast	17:18
	all our sins into the depths of the sea.	17:23
	Rejoice in this good news and be thankful."	17:26
	Dear people of God,	17:33
	we welcome you to this service of worship.	17:35
	An addition our liturgical calendar,	17:39
	we in Duke Chapel also note of a special occasions	17:42
	as festival times.	17:47
	Today, we celebrate the beginning of another semester,	17:49
	and this is also the third year that we have had	17:53
	one Sunday in January when many of you,	17:56
	our public officials,	18:00
	have joined us in our corporate worship of God.	18:01
	And we especially welcome you from taking time out of	18:06
	your busy schedule to join us in this worship.	18:10
	And we welcome all of you, our regular worshipers,	18:14
	the new students, the returning students, the visitors,	18:18
	and especially, Ben Smith,	18:21
	who is returning after a semester leave.	18:23
	This week also is the beginning of our	18:27
	theologian and residence program.	18:30
	The visit of Howard Thurman should be announced with	18:33
	trumpet and cymbal.	18:37
	He is without doubt,	18:39
	one of the great people of this century.	18:40
	The reverend Dr Howard Thurman, dean emeritus of	18:43
	Marsh Chapel at Boston University and honorary canon	18:47
	of the cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City,	18:52
	has consistently been named as one of the most outstanding	18:55
	preachers in this country.	18:59
	We are fortunate to have him in this area,	19:02
	and the schedule for this program is in your bulletin.	19:05
	It begins with his address and page auditorium	19:08
	on this Tuesday, January the 16th at 8:15,	19:11
	and is sponsored by the Majors Speakers Committee	19:15
	of the Duke University Union.	19:18
	And the gothic bookstore will be open an hour early,	19:21
	so that you may see some of his many publications.	19:24
	His second talk will be on Wednesday, January the 17th	19:28
	at three pm in Gross auditorium,	19:34
	and this is sponsored by The institute of Policy Sciences	19:37
	and Public Affairs.	19:40
	You are invited to all of this program.	19:42
	Let us continue as we worship God.	19:46
Minister	Let us pray.	19:57
	Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to accept your word.	20:00
	Silence in us any voice but your own,	20:05
	that hearing we may also obey your will,	20:08
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	20:12
	Amen.	20:14
	The epistle lesson is from the thirteenth chapter of Romans,	20:16
	verses one through eight.	20:19
	'Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.	20:22
	For there is no authority except from God	20:27
	and those that exist have been instituted by God.	20:31
	For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.	20:36
	Would you have no fear of him who is in authority	20:41
	then do what is good?	20:45
	But if you do wrong, be afraid for he does not	20:47
	bear the sword in vain.	20:51
	He is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the	20:53
	wrongdoer.	20:56
	Therefore, one must be subject,	20:58
	not only to avoid God's wrath but also	21:00
	for the sake on conscience.	21:04
	For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities	21:06
	are ministers of God.	21:10
	Pay all of them their dues.	21:12
	Taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due,	21:14
	respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.	21:19
	Owe no one anything except to love one another.	21:26
	For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.'	21:30
	Here ends the reading from the epistle.	21:35
	Amen.	21:37
	(hymn singing)	21:49
	Will the congregation stand for the reading of the	26:18
	gospel lesson.	26:20
	The gospel lesson is from the 17th chapter of	26:27
	Saint Matthew, verses one though nine and 14 through 18.	26:30
	'And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James	26:35
	and John, his brother, and led them up to a high mountain	26:39
	apart, and he was transfigured before them	26:42
	and his face face shone like the sun,	26:46
	and his garments became white as light.	26:49
	And behold they appeared to them Moses and Elijah	26:52
	talking with him.	26:55
	And Peter said to Jesus "Lord, it is well that we are here,	26:58
	if you wish I will make three booths here,	27:01
	one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."	27:04
	He was still speaking when lo a bright cloud	27:08
	overshadowed them and a voice from the clouds said	27:10
	"This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.	27:14
	Listen to him."	27:18
	When the disciples heard this they fell on their faces	27:20
	and were filled with awe.	27:23
	But Jesus came and touched them, saying	27:26
	"rise and have no fear" and when they lifted up their eyes	27:28
	they saw no one but Jesus.	27:33
	And as they were coming down the mountain,	27:35
	Jesus commanded them "tell no one of the vision	27:36
	until the son of man is raised from the dead".	27:40
	And when they came to the crowd a man came up to him,	27:44
	and kneeling before him said "Lord, have mercy on my son.	27:47
	For he is an epileptic and suffers terribly,	27:51
	for often he falls in the fire	27:54
	and often he falls in the water	27:56
	and I brought him to your disciples and they could not	27:58
	heal him.	28:01
	And Jesus answered "O faithless and perverse generation,	28:02
	how long am I to be with you?	28:07
	How long am I to bear with you?	28:09
	Bring him here to me.	28:11
	And Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him	28:13
	and the boy was cured instantly'.	28:17
	Here ends the reading from the gospel.	28:20
	All praise and glory be to God.	28:22
	Amen.	28:25
	(organ music)	28:28
	(hymn singing)	28:40
	Now let the words of my mouth	29:38
	and the meditations of our hearts.	29:40
	The acceptable and eyesight, O Lord,	29:43
	our strength and our redeemer.	29:45
	Amen.	29:49
	The gospel lesson for this morning describes one of	29:53
	the most awesome and most dramatic moments of worship	29:57
	ever seen or ever experienced.	30:01
	Jesus apparently has been having a very difficult time.	30:07
	Apparently he has been harassed and intimidated by the	30:12
	Sadducees and Pharisees.	30:15
	He has spent much time teaching, preaching and healing.	30:18
	He has taken the disciples aside to talk with him	30:22
	about who he is.	30:25
	How they see him.	30:27
	How others see him.	30:29
	What his ministry is to be.	30:31
	And finally in the verses just before our Scripture lesson	30:34
	for this morning, we are told that he makes	30:37
	the critical decision of his life,	30:39
	that is to leave his teaching and preaching and healing	30:42
	in the towns and countrysides and go to Jerusalem.	30:45
	Jerusalem where he knows full well that he will suffer,	30:49
	and will die.	30:54
	He then takes his three closest friends and goes	30:57
	to a high mountain apart.	30:59
	On that mountain, Mount Hermon or Mount Tabor,	31:02
	Jesus is transfigured.	31:06
	The glory of God shines in that moment and in that place	31:10
	as never before or never since.	31:13
	Moses and Elijah appear with him.	31:17
	His face shone like the sun	31:20
	and his garments were white as light.	31:22
	The most dramatic, the most awesome, the most inspiring,	31:26
	the most overwhelming encounter of God with human beings	31:31
	ever known or described.	31:36
	Here Jesus is identified again as the beloved son of God,	31:39
	with whom God is well pleased.	31:44
	The place and purpose and person of Jesus as the Christ,	31:48
	as the Messiah, as the chosen one are indeed confirmed.	31:52
	All of the Judeo-Christian tradition is powerfully present	31:57
	in this moment on the mount of transfiguration.	32:01
	Moses, symbolizing the law.	32:04
	Elijah, symbolizing the prophets.	32:07
	And, Jesus, the incarnate son of God revealed surely now	32:09
	as the Messiah.	32:13
	Moses, who had known God on another mountain,	32:16
	Mount Sinai.	32:19
	Elijah, who had known God on Mount Horeb.	32:21
	Now together with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.	32:24
	Moses and Elijah and Jesus, the old and the new.	32:29
	The law and the prophets, the old Israel.	32:33
	Jesus and his disciples, the new Israel.	32:36
	Moses and Elijah and Jesus, those who experienced	32:40
	the glory of God by triumphing over death.	32:44
	Jesus with his face shining like the sun.	32:49
	Moses, Elijah, a bright cloud we are told.	32:54
	A voice speaking and then the disciple fell on their faces	32:59
	and were filled with awe.	33:03
	What a moment.	33:05
	What an experience of the divine and the human.	33:07
	How dramatic the encounter here between God and the son.	33:10
	But soon the vision faded.	33:17
	Jesus was alone.	33:21
	Alone but not alone, for he had received the message	33:24
	that God was indeed well pleased.	33:28
	That his that is Jesus' commitment was right.	33:31
	That he would indeed have light enough and strength enough	33:35
	for all, whatever all might be, for all that lay ahead.	33:38
	I believe that Jesus went apart not only because	33:44
	it was his custom, not only because he wanted to,	33:47
	but because he needed to.	33:50
	It was essential.	33:53
	It was a must.	33:55
	And here we see again the true humanness of Jesus.	33:58
	Again, indeed,	34:03
	how very much like us he was.	34:05
	He could only go for so long,	34:10
	he could only preach and teach and heal and argue	34:13
	and discuss and deal with others' questions and problems	34:17
	and retorts and misunderstandings and misinterpretations	34:21
	for so long until he too had to find a time, a place,	34:25
	an experience when spirit could commune with spirit,	34:30
	when deep could touch deep, when he could relax,	34:34
	be refreshed, be renewed.	34:37
	When he could pray and find new strength for the living	34:40
	of his days.	34:44
	When his spirit could be lifted and courage	34:45
	could come again.	34:49
	Yes, it's reassuring to me, I don't know about you,	34:51
	but it is reassuring to me to know that even our Lord	34:54
	had limits to what he could endure.	34:58
	And so do we.	35:01
	We all need some time apart.	35:03
	A time to worship, to commune with God,	35:06
	to lay our souls bare, to share our questions and agonies,	35:09
	and our affirmations and commitments with God.	35:13
	To be renewed physically, spiritually, and mentally.	35:17
	We need a break.	35:21
	A change of pace.	35:22
	A rest.	35:23
	A time of renewal.	35:24
	Now, I'm sure that Peter, James, and John	35:28
	also needed this time apart.	35:31
	This was indeed good for their souls and spirits	35:35
	and bodies too.	35:38
	But they wanted to stay there.	35:39
	Or at least Peter did.	35:42
	Peter came to Jesus and in his usual customary blustering,	35:44
	straightforward, blunt way said,	35:48
	"Lord this is really great.	35:50
	This has been a tremendous experience.	35:53
	This is the most awesome moment that we've ever known.	35:55
	This fellowship with God, this communion through	35:58
	Moses and Elijah and you, is the consummation of all that we	36:01
	have looked for, longed for and prayed for.	36:06
	Lets build three booths here.	36:09
	Let's build three tabernacles,	36:10
	three monuments, three tents here and Lord	36:13
	let's just stay here forever."	36:15
	A perfectly natural response.	36:20
	This experience had been so good, so rewarding, so inspiring	36:23
	that Peter was content to stay right there.	36:28
	If we reflect, this morning, I'm sure that each of us	36:33
	can recall some moments when we have wanted to stay	36:38
	right there.	36:43
	It reminds me of the story that Carlyle Marney used to	36:45
	delight in telling.	36:48
	When he and his family lived in Charlotte	36:50
	and he was minister of Myers Park Baptist Church there,	36:52
	next door there was a family where there was	36:55
	a little three-year-old girl.	36:58
	In their backyard, they had a big sandbox and the little	37:00
	three-year-old girl used to go out regularly to play	37:03
	in the sandbox.	37:05
	And one day she was out playing in this little sandbox	37:06
	and Marney walked across the backyard	37:10
	got down in the sandbox and played with his young neighbor.	37:12
	They played, and played, and played.	37:16
	Such a joyous, and good, and happy, and satisfying time	37:18
	that finally the little girl, just bursting with joy,	37:22
	and with a smile on her face, looked up at Marney and said	37:26
	"Mr Marney, can we stay here forever?".	37:28
	Most of us have known moments like that.	37:35
	True worship.	37:40
	True friendship.	37:42
	True communion.	37:43
	True joy, the deepest possible moment of human satisfaction.	37:45
	We have all been on this kind of mountaintop	37:49
	at one time or another.	37:51
	And on a mountain experience like that life is clear	37:55
	and simple.	38:00
	The air is pure.	38:02
	We can see and be seen.	38:04
	There are no difficulties, no complexities, no questions,	38:07
	no confusion.	38:10
	And there's absolutely nothing wrong with being on	38:12
	the mountain of personal, emotional, or spiritual	38:14
	experience.	38:17
	Nothing wrong with that at all.	38:18
	We all need it.	38:21
	It is essential.	38:23
	But the only problem is that we cannot stay there,	38:25
	wherever there is, we cannot stay there forever.	38:28
	Sometimes I have the feeling that we think it would be great	38:33
	if the university experience for us consisted of	38:37
	weekend parties and semester breaks.	38:40
	Or if our jobs had only one long, extended, paid vacation.	38:45
	Or if our relationship with God were only one beautiful,	38:51
	endless hymn of praise.	38:55
	Or if politicians only had banquets and parties to attend	38:57
	and never had to get down to the dirty business	39:01
	of committee meetings and decisions.	39:04
	My family over the Christmas break really extended itself,	39:07
	I'm sure much more than we should have,	39:11
	and spent seven days at St. Thomas in the Caribbean.	39:13
	And I can tell you that we, literally, wanted to stay there,	39:18
	with it being 85 degrees and a beautiful climate,	39:23
	we really wanted to stay there forever.	39:27
	But this moment of transfiguration for Jesus	39:31
	and the disciples was more than a respite.	39:34
	More than a rest or a break.	39:36
	This moment confirmed again that Jesus Christ is Lord.	39:38
	This moment renewed the strength of Jesus and the disciples	39:43
	and gave them the power and the direction which they needed.	39:46
	And so it is, God's faithful never have been allowed to stay	39:50
	on the mountain.	39:55
	Not Moses.	39:58
	Not Aaron.	40:01
	Not Isaac.	40:02
	Not even all the children of Israel,	40:03
	who stayed on the mountain until finally they had	40:05
	to go in to the promised land that turned out not to be	40:07
	quite as promised as they thought.	40:10
	Elijah, Jesus, Peter, John, Saint Francis,	40:12
	Joan of Ark, John Wesley, George Whitefield,	40:17
	Henry Ward Beecher, Dag Hammarskjold, Martin Luther King Jr,	40:20
	Pope John the 23rd.	40:25
	The faithful have always been called, not only to go up	40:26
	on the mountain but also called	40:30
	to go down into the valley.	40:33
	Arnold Toynbee and his study of history remarks that the	40:36
	transfiguration furnishes the supreme example of	40:39
	the withdrawal and return motif, which dominates	40:43
	the entire gospel story.	40:47
	And so it does.	40:50
	So it is, life for Jesus and life for us is constantly	40:51
	and recurringly withdrawal and return.	40:56
	Movement from the spiritual world to the real world,	40:59
	it is worship and witness, reflection and action,	41:03
	separation and then interaction,	41:06
	it is spiritual exaltation and then human involvement.	41:09
	We must keep the mountain and the valley together.	41:14
	Both of these must be and must be a part of our lives,	41:18
	and must be authentically so.	41:21
	We must have both the pietistic and the political.	41:24
	The spiritual and the real.	41:28
	The two are essential and they do complement each other.	41:31
	We go up on the mountain and then we come down	41:35
	to the valley.	41:39
	Why?	41:41
	We go down in the valley because that is where life	41:43
	is lived for all of us.	41:46
	Mountain visions and valley needs go hand in hand.	41:49
	Raphael's painting of the transfiguration,	41:55
	known as his last painting and called by many,	42:00
	his real masterpiece,	42:05
	has all of this together.	42:08
	The exultation of Christ and Moses and Elijah.	42:11
	The awestruck wonder and worship of the three disciples.	42:15
	And then the painful strain and agony and frantic hope,	42:19
	of the epileptic boy and his family all in one picture.	42:22
	So when Peter came to Jesus	42:30
	and said, Jesus this is great,	42:32
	this is wonderful, let's build three tents and stay here.	42:36
	I can hear Jesus say no Peter, not today, not now,	42:39
	indeed not even any time. This is great, it is wonderful,	42:44
	but we must go,	42:47
	we must go down the mountain, down in the valley	42:48
	for that is where life is lived and then listen, will you.	42:51
	The next few words of the gospel writer are,	42:55
	"And as they were coming down the mountain, they came to	42:58
	the crowd and a man came up to him and kneeling before him	43:01
	said 'Lord, have mercy on my son for he is an epileptic	43:05
	and he suffers terribly.' And Jesus rebuked him	43:10
	and the demon came out of him	43:14
	and the boy was cured instantly."	43:16
-	How absolutely beautiful.	43:19
	There is the full picture.	43:21
	Spiritual ecstasy, yes.	43:23
	Human misery, yes.	43:25
	Enraptured joy, yes.	43:28
	Personal pain, yes.	43:31
	The healing of God and the human that we know.	43:33
	It's like Dag Hammarskjold wrote on July 6th, 1961.	43:37
	"Tired and lonely. So tired the heart aches,	43:42
	melt water trickles down the rocks.	43:48
	The fingers are numb, the knees tremble.	43:50
	But it is now, now that you must not give in.	43:54
	On the paths of others are resting places.	43:59
	Places in the sun where they can meet.	44:02
	But this is your path, and it is now,	44:05
	now that you must not fail.	44:09
	Weep, if you can.	44:13
	Weep, but do not complain.	44:15
	For the way chose you	44:19
	and you must be thankful."	44:22
	Or as Hugh Prather says in his Notes on Love and Courage,	44:26
	"There is a time to let things happen.	44:29
	And a time to make thing things happen."	44:35
	And so we come to the mountain, whatever,	44:40
	wherever and whenever the mountain experience may be.	44:42
	We go down in the valley because that is	44:46
	where life is lived.	44:48
	The pain and struggle and agony and the ambiguity of life	44:50
	are in the valley.	44:54
	They're not on the mountain.	44:56
	They're not in prayer, or praise or worship.	44:58
	But they're in the real world.	45:01
	Here in the valley where you and I live.	45:05
	Here it is cloudy, foggy, murky.	45:10
	Dark at times, even smoggy in some places.	45:14
	It is crowded.	45:19
	Babies are born, wanted, unwanted,	45:21
	loved, unloved, hurting,	45:24
	crying, starving.	45:27
	It is ambiguous in the valley.	45:30
	Life is not clear, or simple, or easy, or certain, or sure,	45:32
	or positive.	45:35
	We never see or know fully or clearly.	45:37
	It's like Robert McAfee Brown says,	45:40
	"Don't wait until all of the facts are in before you act,	45:42
	because the facts are never all in."	45:45
	William Claire Menninger, a devoted Christian and	45:52
	a brilliant psychiatrist toured this country for years,	45:56
	as a lecturer and as a consultant.	45:59
	He was frequently asked the secret of a good and happy life,	46:03
	Menninger's answer was usually the same.	46:08
	Find a mission in life and take it seriously.	46:13
	So Jesus came down off the mountain, to the valley.	46:19
	So do we.	46:24
	When we come down, we bring with us those things	46:26
	which we have endured.	46:28
	Those things which have sustained us.	46:30
	Those things which have strengthened us.	46:32
	And we go into the valley with a purpose,	46:36
	to go to those who hurt.	46:39
	I remember hearing Ernest Campbell, who resigned	46:42
	not too long ago from the pulpit at Riverside Church in	46:45
	New York City, say that if he ever served in a	46:48
	local church again, he would begin and continue his ministry	46:52
	there by finding out who the people were in that community	46:56
	who were hurting.	47:00
	He would find them and he would go to them	47:02
	and he would spend his time with them.	47:04
	The valley of life is where we really live.	47:10
	This is where there are hungry and starving children.	47:15
	Where pain-wracked bodies do fill hospital beds.	47:19
	Where hopeless neurotics and psychotics seek help	47:23
	in hospitals or special homes.	47:25
	Where ignorance, and prejudice, and bigotry shape us.	47:28
	Here is where political decisions must be made.	47:33
	Where personal problems must be faced.	47:36
	Where physical main must be endured.	47:39
	Where spiritual struggle is indeed encountered.	47:42
	Here is where life is complex, complicated and unsure.	47:46
	Where someone, somebody, somewhere must make decisions about	47:50
	China, oil prices, nuclear power, nuclear arms,	47:55
	the balance of trade.	48:00
	Where someone has responsibility for deciding about ERA,	48:02
	about liquor by the drink, the Wilmington Ten,	48:06
	competency tests, just and uniform sentencing,	48:10
	in-town expressways, White Flight, school priorities	48:14
	and vacancies on the city council and on school boards.	48:19
	Somebody makes those decisions and has those	48:23
	responsibilities.	48:26
	For in the valley is where life is lived	48:28
	and Jesus knew that.	48:30
	Our Lord still knows that.	48:33
	And so the call comes today.	48:38
	Not to the world at large, but to the church.	48:40
	To those of the Judeo-Christian tradition,	48:44
	for these were the ones that Jesus took up on the mountain	48:46
	and brought down from the mountain with him.	48:49
	His disciples, those who were trying to be obedient to God	48:51
	and faithful to the Christ.	48:55
	These are the ones, you, me maybe, These are the ones	48:57
	to whom the call comes today.	49:02
	The call comes for the church to go into the valley.	49:05
	Now, today, with a vision, sure.	49:09
	With purpose, certainly.	49:13
	With power, hopefully.	49:15
	With commitment, indeed.	49:18
	With compassion and courage, by all means.	49:20
	The call is to the church because I believe	49:23
	that one critic of the church, John Osborne,	49:26
	was at least partly right when he said	49:29
	during the past 50 years, the church has repeatedly ducked	49:31
	every moral issue that has been thrown at its head.	49:37
	Poverty, unemployment, fascism,	49:42
	war, racism, South Africa,	49:45
	the H bomb and so on.	49:48
	It has lived in an atmosphere	49:50
	of calm, usual funk.	49:52
	Partly true at least.	49:57
	The only so called moral issue that stirs many Christians	50:00
	around here it seems, is liquor by the drink.	50:04
	And what is that among so many real, crucial, ultimate	50:08
	moral question today?	50:13
	One way to face some of the real moral issues	50:18
	as a church and as a people is suggested in an article by	50:20
	Robert McAfee Brown, where he says that we must be	50:23
	more willing to trust the young.	50:27
	In the sixties, they transfigured even their parents.	50:30
	Translated for the eighties that means we are to be	50:34
	more willing to trust the hurting.	50:38
	Minorities, women and the unemployed, all have a stake	50:41
	in a better world for all of us.	50:47
	They might even transform us.	50:49
	So Jesus says to Peter, James and John, and to us,	50:56
	come let us, now that we know the grandeur and the wonder	51:01
	of God's presence on the mountain, let us go down	51:06
	the mountain to help discover the divine in the midst	51:09
	of the everyday.	51:14
	Let's help show the presence of God in the common place.	51:16
	And so today the call is for each of us	51:20
	to discover his or her own unique mission,	51:22
	his or her own unique contribution that is to be made.	51:27
	Perhaps for all of us to follow the example of	51:31
	John Henry Newman who prayed often,	51:33
	often to know and to follow his mission as he said	51:36
	"God has created me to do some definite service.	51:40
	God has committed some work to me	51:44
	which has not been given to any other.	51:46
	I have a mission."	51:49
	That mission, to go to the mountains surely.	51:54
	But just as surely to go down into the valley,	51:58
	where life is really lived.	52:02
	And as we go perhaps the words of Martin Luther's hymn	52:06
	may well sustain us and though this world,	52:12
	with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,	52:16
	we will not fear	52:22
	for God has will, God's truth to triumph	52:24
	through us. Let goods and kindred go,	52:28
	this mortal life also.	52:32
	The body they may kill,	52:35
	God's truth abide us still,	52:38
	God's kingdom is forever.	52:41
	And amen.	52:49
	(brass instruments)	53:21
	(hymn singing)	53:43
Female Voice	Let us affirm what we believe.	56:54
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	57:00
	who has come in the truly human Jesus,	57:05
	to reconcile and make new,	57:09
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	57:12
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	57:16
	to celebrate life and it's follies,	57:21
	to love and serve others,	57:25
	to seek justice and resist evil,	57:28
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	57:31
	our judge and our hope.	57:36
	In life and death and life beyond death, God is with us.	57:38
	We are not alone.	57:46
	Thanks be to God.	57:48
	The Lord be with you.	57:59
Congregation	And with your spirit.	58:01
	Let us pray.	58:03
	O Holy God.	58:07
	We bow before you and all in adoration.	58:09
	We are overcome with the sense of our infinitude.	58:15
	When we consider your greatness, your majesty, your power,	58:20
	your utter mystery.	58:27
	We give thanks for your love which cares for us	58:30
	in spite of our mistakes and our sin.	58:34
	We give thanks for the beauty of your creation,	58:38
	the glory of your world and the challenges which face us.	58:42
	We give thanks for your loving concern,	58:50
	which is shown to us through our friends, our family,	58:53
	our institutions, through strangers	58:59
	and especially through your church.	59:05
	We give thanks that you created us and recreate us.	59:10
	And that in any day, we can move on from the mountains	59:17
	or from the valleys and begin again.	59:22
	That our future is open to us.	59:28
	And now O God hear our prayers of invocation,	59:32
	For those who have difficult decision to make	59:38
	which affect the lives of other people give to them	59:41
	wisdom and compassion.	59:47
	For those persons who are sorely troubled and disturbed	59:51
	with burdens which seem too much for any human to bear,	59:55
	comfort and sustain them in this time of need.	1:00:00
	For those persons who are hungry, homeless, jobless, lonely,	1:00:06
	hurting, lost, bring to fruition the work of your people	1:00:14
	seeking to make all people whole.	1:00:21
	Hear our prayers O God for those who are working	1:00:25
	to bring about justice and order and righteousness	1:00:28
	in our community and into the world.	1:00:32
	Give to them courage, and truth, and perseverance	1:00:36
	to see their work completed.	1:00:42
	Hear our prayers for all people who serve you,	1:00:46
	that we may be obedient to your will,	1:00:50
	that we may use out time, our energies and our creativity	1:00:54
	to further the wellbeing of your creation.	1:01:00
	Hear our personal prayers for those who mourn,	1:01:05
	for those who are sick.	1:01:10
	We pray for your support for all persons who work	1:01:12
	to care for and heal those who are sick in mind and body.	1:01:15
	And O God we would be dishonest if we did not admit	1:01:20
	our personal needs.	1:01:25
	We pray that this will be a time for spiritual growth,	1:01:27
	a time when we will be renewed,	1:01:33
	a time to dedicate ourselves again to the work of your son,	1:01:36
	our savior, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray.	1:01:41
	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name	1:01:47
	by kingdom come, thy will be done on earth	1:01:53
	as it is in Heaven.	1:01:58
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	1:02:01
	our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:02:05
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:02:11
	but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom,	1:02:14
	the power and the glory forever.	1:02:18
	Amen.	1:02:23
	(organ)	1:02:29
	(brass instruments)	1:04:05
	(hymn singing)	1:04:27
	(organ)	1:08:48
	(hymn singing)	1:09:10
	O loving God, we are humbled when we consider your gifts	1:10:18
	to us.	1:10:24
	Grant that with these gifts symbols of our lives,	1:10:26
	we may give more fully of ourselves in joyous obedience	1:10:33
	and service.	1:10:37
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	1:10:40
	Amen.	1:10:42
Minister	And now will you join with me	1:10:46
	in this responsive covenant of commitment.	1:10:49
	We have heard the word, read and proclaimed,	1:10:57
	in the company of neighbors, friends and colleagues,	1:11:03
	and in the presence of God.	1:11:07
	How are we to respond now to the life and hope	1:11:10
	that our ours?	1:11:14
	What will we do?	1:11:15
	We will accept responsibility for leadership	1:11:19
	in our communities.	1:11:22
	We will devote our minds and energies and resources	1:11:24
	to the task of achieving fullness for our neighbors.	1:11:28
	We will pay the cost of this struggle.	1:11:33
	We will seek to be better informed about the problems	1:11:36
	we face and possible solutions to them.	1:11:39
	We will not accept the compromise of oppression	1:11:44
	or injustice.	1:11:47
	We will do all we can to feel the beating of	1:11:49
	other human hearts besides our own.	1:11:52
	We will search for ways to be obedient to the call of God	1:11:56
	to love and care for others.	1:12:00
	This is how we will love the Lord, our God,	1:12:03
	and how we will love our neighbors as ourselves.	1:12:07
	God is witness to our words.	1:12:10
	Amen.	1:12:14
	(organ)	1:12:17
	(hymn singing)	1:12:53
	Go froth into the world at peace.	1:16:40
	Be of good courage.	1:16:44
	Render to no person, evil for evil.	1:16:46
	Strengthen the faint hearted.	1:16:50
	Honor all persons.	1:16:53
	Love and serve the Lord,	1:16:56
	rejoicing in the power of the holy spirit.	1:16:58
	And may the blessing of God, almighty,	1:17:02
	our creator, redeemer and sustainer,	1:17:06
	be yours this day and forevermore.	1:17:12
	(hymn singing)	1:17:17
	(organ)	1:18:34
	(murmuring)	1:22:33

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "Life Is Lived in the Valley" (January 14, 1979)

Description:

Sermon start time: 29:53. Sermon end time: 52:50.
Christians must not only stick to places of spiritual joy but also go into places where they can sit with hurting people. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: That mission, to go to the mountains surely. But just as surely to go down into the valley, where life is really lived.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4sq8qz8k

Date:

January 14, 1979

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Biblical Book:

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Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0999
ref7207_nxw
uachapelsermaud
duke:320702
dcrau001879
ark:/87924/r4sq8qz8k
4e76e5a8-a978-4e3c-916e-d81a74405331

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Robert T. Young - "Life Is Lived in the Valley" (January 14, 1979)

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1. Robert T. Young - "Life Is Lived in the Valley" (January 14, 1979)

Duke University Archives

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Robert T. Young - "Life Is Lived in the Valley" (January 14, 1979)

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