John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service 9:00 am (May 6, 1979)

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	(organ music)	0:02
	(organ music)	3:36
	(echo mumbles)	8:54
	(coughing)	8:57
	(echo mumbles)	9:04
	(organ music)	10:06
	(happy organ music)	15:16
	(upbeat organ music)	19:15
	(people singing loudly)	22:42
	♪ Now and forever ♪	23:26
	♪ Glory ♪	23:31
	♪ High ♪	23:35
	♪ Now and forever ♪	23:37
	(people singing loudly)	23:50
	(organ music)	24:00
	(people singing loudly)	24:42
	(organ music)	25:21
	(People singing loudly)	25:26
	(organ music)	27:38
	(people singing loudly)	27:43
	(organ music)	28:25
	(people singing loudly)	28:30
	(mumbles)	29:24
	(congregation stirring)	29:27
	(coughing)	29:35
-	There are a number of people standing.	29:44
	As you are getting situated,	29:47
	let me ask you to move towards the center aisle,	29:49
	if you will.	29:52
	All except the candidates for degrees.	29:53
	So that there may be some extra seating space	29:56
	for some of those who are standing.	29:59
	If you would move towards the center aisle,	30:01
	wherever you are, please.	30:04
	(congregation stirring)	30:06
	(coughing)	30:17
	I greet you,	30:30
	in the name of our Lord,	30:32
	who creates us, who makes us whole.	30:34
	And who sustains us day by day.	30:38
	We do fall, and fail.	30:43
	Only by the grace of God do we go on	30:47
	from day to day.	30:50
	Thus conscious of our sin,	30:53
	and of our need to confess to the Lord our God.	30:56
	Let us bow and offer to God almighty,	31:00
	our prayer of confession for this day	31:04
	and this service.	31:06
	Will you join with me as we pray together?	31:08
	Oh, God, in who's mystery we abide,	31:13
	and by who's mercy we are redeemed.	31:17
	We confess our sin against one another,	31:20
	and against you.	31:23
	All our transgressions hidden and open,	31:25
	the evil done and the goodness left undone.	31:30
	We have deceived ourselves about ourselves,	31:34
	and worn masks and not trusted in love.	31:38
	We confess that we have been careful with things,	31:42
	careless with persons,	31:46
	adept in taking, awkward in giving.	31:48
	In love with our fears,	31:52
	and in fear of our loves.	31:54
	We confess before you that we are more prone	31:57
	to sin than to obedience.	32:01
	Prompt to gratify our bodies,	32:04
	slow to nourish our souls.	32:07
	Attached to the pleasure of sins,	32:10
	negligent of things spiritual.	32:14
	Quick in the service of self,	32:17
	slack in the service of others.	32:19
	Eager to get, reluctant to give.	32:23
	Full of good intentions,	32:27
	hesitant to fulfill them.	32:29
	Severe with our neighbors,	32:32
	indulgent with ourselves.	32:34
	Helpless apart from you,	32:37
	yet unwilling to be bound to you.	32:40
	Forgive us, lift us up,	32:43
	and heal us this day.	32:46
	We pray in your holy name,	32:48
	amen.	32:51
	Let us now continue in prayer,	32:55
	and offer our personal confessions	32:57
	unto the Lord our God.	33:00
	(coughing)	33:04
	In God alone is our peace.	33:21
	Through God do we experience forgiveness	33:24
	and find new life.	33:27
	The Psalmist tells us the Lord	33:30
	is gracious and merciful,	33:33
	slow to anger,	33:35
	and abounding in steadfast love.	33:37
	Let us now one by one,	33:41
	and all together accept and know	33:42
	the forgiveness of our sin	33:45
	through the love and mercy of the Lord our God.	33:47
	Amen.	33:51
	May I welcome you to this very special service	33:55
	this morning.	33:59
	A time of celebration,	34:02
	a time of commemoration.	34:05
	A time of real community as we come together	34:08
	for this very glad and good occasion.	34:12
	I want you to know, Mr President,	34:18
	that the religious life staff assumes	34:21
	full responsibility for the good weather,	34:24
	for today.	34:26
	(laughter)	34:27
	(coughing)	34:29
	We are glad to have you here,	34:30
	and trust that it has already been	34:32
	a good weekend for all of you.	34:34
	And that there is much goodness yet to come.	34:36
	Our preacher for today is a reverend,	34:40
	Dr John Vannorsdall.	34:42
	Kindly serving as the chaplain	34:45
	at Yale University.	34:47
	Ordained Lutheran pastor,	34:51
	a gifted preacher who's sermons and prayers	34:54
	have been published and read,	34:59
	and appreciated widely.	35:01
	One who's preaching has been heard	35:04
	as the Lutheran series of the Protestant Hour	35:06
	for three years now.	35:09
	He served for a number of years as the chaplain	35:11
	at Gettysburg College,	35:14
	in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.	35:15
	And is now in his third year as chaplain at Yale.	35:17
	He has been here to preach before,	35:22
	we are delighted to have him back.	35:24
	And John, we welcome you to this service,	35:26
	and hear gladly and eagerly,	35:29
	the word of God as you bring it to us this day.	35:31
-	Let us pray.	35:46
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord,	35:50
	to accept your word.	35:52
	Silence in us any voice but your own,	35:54
	that hearing we may also obey your will,	35:57
	amen.	36:00
	The epistle lesson is from the first chapter	36:02
	of Romans.	36:05
	For I am not ashamed of the gospel.	36:07
	It is the power of God for salvation	36:10
	to everyone who has faith.	36:13
	To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.	36:15
	For in it,	36:18
	the righteousness of God is revealed	36:19
	through faith for faith.	36:21
	As it is written,	36:23
	he who through faith is righteous,	36:24
	shall live.	36:28
	For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven	36:30
	against all ungodliness and wickedness of men.	36:32
	Who by their wickedness,	36:36
	suppress the truth.	36:37
	For what can be known about God	36:40
	is plain to them	36:41
	because God has shown it to them.	36:43
	Ever since the creation of the world,	36:47
	his invisible nature,	36:49
	namely his eternal power and deity	36:51
	has been clearly perceived in the things	36:55
	that have been made.	36:57
	So, they are without excuse.	36:59
	For although they knew God,	37:02
	they did not honor Him as God,	37:04
	or give thanks to Him.	37:07
	But they became futile in their thinking,	37:09
	and their senseless minds were darkened.	37:11
	Claiming to be wise, they became fools,	37:14
	and exchanged the glory of the immortal God	37:18
	for images resembling mortal man,	37:20
	or birds, or animals, or reptiles.	37:23
	Therefore, God gave them up	37:25
	in the lust of their hearts to impurity.	37:28
	To the dishonoring of their bodies	37:31
	among themselves.	37:33
	Because they exchanged the truth about God	37:35
	for a lie,	37:38
	and worshiped and served the creature,	37:39
	rather than the creator,	37:41
	who is blessed forever.	37:43
	Herein's the reading from the epistle.	37:47
	Amen.	37:49
	(organ music)	37:54
	(people singing loudly)	38:24
	♪ If only for ♪	42:00
	(people singing loudly)	42:04
	♪ If only for ♪	42:09
	♪ If only for ♪	42:12
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	42:56
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:03
	(coughing)	43:26
-	Will the congregation please stand	43:26
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	43:28
	(congregation stirring)	43:31
	The gospel lesson is from the first chapter	43:37
	of Luke.	43:39
	"And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord,	43:41
	and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.	43:46
	For He has regarded the lower state	43:50
	of his hand maiden.	43:52
	For behold, henceforth,	43:53
	all generations will call me blessed.	43:56
	For He who is mighty has done great things	43:59
	for me, and holy is His name.	44:02
	And His mercy is on those who fear Him,	44:06
	from generation to generation.	44:09
	He has shown strength with His arm.	44:12
	He has scattered the proud in their imagination	44:15
	of their hearts.	44:18
	He has put down the mighty from their thrones,	44:20
	and exalted those of low degree.	44:22
	He has filled the hungry with good things,	44:25
	and the rich He has sent empty away.	44:28
	He has helped His servant, Israel,	44:31
	in remembrance of His mercy.	44:33
	As He spoke to our fathers,	44:35
	to Abraham, and His posterity forever."	44:37
	Herein's the reading from the gospel,	44:42
	all praise and glory be to God,	44:44
	amen.	44:47
	(organ music)	44:49
	(people singing loudly)	45:02
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	45:49
	We believe in God,	45:52
	who has created and is creating.	45:54
	Who has come in the truly human Jesus,	45:57
	to reconcile and make new.	46:00
	We trust God,	46:03
	who calls us to be the church.	46:05
	To celebrate life and its fullness,	46:08
	to love and serve others.	46:11
	To seek justice, and resist evil.	46:14
	To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	46:17
	our judge and our hope.	46:21
	In life, in death,	46:24
	in life beyond death,	46:26
	God is with us.	46:29
	We are not alone.	46:31
	Thanks be to God.	46:33
	Be seated.	46:36
	(coughing)	46:36
	The Lord be with you.	46:48
-	And also with you.	46:50
-	Let us pray.	46:51
	TS Elliot has some lines that go,	46:55
	"What we call the beginning is often the end.	47:00
	And to make an end is make a beginning.	47:07
	The end is where we start from."	47:11
	Lord our God,	47:18
	it is good to come to a moment such as this.	47:22
	A moment of recognition, of accomplishment,	47:26
	of joy and celebration.	47:30
	We give thanks to you, oh Lord,	47:35
	for all that has been good, and enlightening,	47:39
	and maturing, and satisfying	47:42
	these past four years.	47:45
	Four years filled with change,	47:50
	with question,	47:52
	with unease.	47:53
	With good times and sad times,	47:56
	with work and rest.	47:59
	With action and reflection,	48:00
	with movement, and calm.	48:02
	Four years, oh God,	48:07
	that have bound some of us one to another	48:08
	in friendships that will last forever.	48:11
	That have stirred us and stretched us	48:15
	in such helpful ways that we dare not	48:17
	go back to our old selves, old thoughts,	48:19
	and old ways.	48:21
	Four years filled with long hours, short nights,	48:24
	and even shorter weekends.	48:29
	Four years spent searching for self,	48:35
	for others,	48:38
	for truth and justice, and right.	48:39
	Four years, oh God,	48:43
	to those who graduate,	48:45
	that have reshaped and remolded life.	48:46
	Help all of us this day to know	48:50
	that commencement is not end, but beginning.	48:52
	To know that the end of this experience	48:55
	is where we start from.	48:57
	We give thanks for all instructors and professors	49:01
	whose lives have influenced these graduates.	49:05
	For staff of deans, counselors, president,	49:09
	and others who really do care about each one.	49:11
	For the support that has come	49:16
	from family and friends,	49:18
	and often from strangers unaware.	49:19
	For the commitment each graduate	49:22
	has had to reach this point in his or her life.	49:24
	For their long hours of work and study.	49:28
	For determination, and perseverance,	49:30
	and now much inner satisfaction.	49:32
	Oh God, we pray	49:38
	for each one,	49:41
	make of learning a lifelong experience.	49:43
	Make of serving a lifelong action.	49:47
	Make of sharing a lifelong desire.	49:50
	Make of being obedient to you	49:55
	a lifelong commitment.	49:58
	And so with gratitude that You have brought	50:01
	us all thus far,	50:03
	we pray for Your help in the time to come.	50:05
	That all our lives may add to the fullness,	50:08
	the goodness, and the wholeness of this world,	50:11
	and of all those we meet along life's way.	50:13
	We pray in the name of Him who came teaching,	50:19
	learning and serving.	50:24
	Him who taught us to pray saying;	50:26
	Our father who art in heaven,	50:30
	hallowed be thy name.	50:33
	Thy kingdom come,	50:36
	Thy will be done	50:37
	on earth as it is in heaven.	50:39
	Give us this day our daily bread,	50:42
	and forgive us our trespasses	50:45
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	50:48
	And lead us not into temptation,	50:52
	but deliver us from evil.	50:55
	For Thine is the kingdom,	50:57
	the power and the glory,	51:00
	forever,	51:02
	amen.	51:04
	(clears throat)	51:13
-	May the words of my mouth,	51:21
	and the meditation of our hearts	51:23
	be acceptable in Thy sight.	51:24
	Oh, Lord, our strength, and our redeemer,	51:27
	amen.	51:31
	My hope for the members of the graduating class	51:35
	is a very simple one.	51:38
	Namely that you will not bore us to death,	51:41
	and as I begin a sermon,	51:45
	I imagine that the hope is reciprocal.	51:48
	(laughter)	51:50
	There's a difference of course,	51:53
	if you are boring people,	51:55
	we have to put up with it for a lifetime.	51:56
	A sermon lasts only 20 minutes.	51:58
	(laughter)	52:00
	There was a large semi trailer	52:04
	that was stuck under an overpass.	52:06
	The clearance was something like 13 feet,	52:10
	two inches,	52:13
	but the trailer was 13 feet, three inches high.	52:14
	The driver was pacing up and down,	52:18
	the police were detouring the traffic	52:22
	when a small boy tugged at the driver's sleeve.	52:24
	"Hey, mister", he said.	52:27
	"Don't bother me now, kid."	52:29
	"Mister, why don't you let the air out of the tires?"	52:33
	The driver looked at the boy in disbelief,	52:39
	looked at the truck,	52:41
	let out a shout,	52:42
	and started letting the air out of the tires	52:43
	until the trailer dropped an inch and a half.	52:45
	He jumped in the cab,	52:48
	pulled the rig out from under the overpass,	52:50
	and parked it alongside the road.	52:52
	The whole happy ending of this story,	52:56
	was the figment of a boy's imagination.	52:58
	I know we use this term pejoratively.	53:02
	Just a figment of the imagination.	53:04
	That's because we are really afraid	53:08
	of imagination,	53:12
	but figment means shaping.	53:16
	The boy reshaped the scene with his imagination.	53:19
	He saw exactly what the truck driver saw.	53:23
	He saw what the police saw,	53:27
	but he saw it differently.	53:29
	Because he did,	53:35
	an immovable object was driven out	53:36
	from under the overpass.	53:40
	"Why don't you let the air out of the tires?"	53:41
	If we're going to avoid boring one another	53:47
	as preachers, doctors, lawyers, merchants,	53:49
	painters and politicians, mothers, lovers,	53:53
	activists.	53:55
	It's going to require more	53:57
	of that kind of imagination	54:00
	to take things old and familiar,	54:02
	and worn, and part of death, and to reshape them	54:03
	into ways which give hope and promise	54:10
	for change and movements.	54:12
	A week or so ago,	54:15
	I was visiting in the university infirmary,	54:17
	and talked with a middle-aged man,	54:20
	member of the maintenance staff.	54:23
	Now, when chaplains visit,	54:24
	one of the first things the patient says,	54:27
	is either,	54:30
	hey, I'm not religious,	54:31
	or I belong to such and such a church.	54:34
	This man went to such and such church,	54:37
	paused and added,	54:41
	I'm one of those people who pick up papers	54:44
	on the street.	54:47
	And first I thought he meant	54:51
	that he picked up paper for the university.	54:52
	Then I remembered that at Yale,	54:55
	we don't have any such people.	54:58
	(laughter)	55:00
	(coughing)	55:02
	What he meant was,	55:04
	that there are people who throw things	55:08
	on the sidewalk,	55:10
	and there are people who pick them up.	55:11
	(coughing)	55:14
	That was his way of imagining the world.	55:15
	And I can see him now on Elm Street,	55:20
	middle-aged, short, slightly bent,	55:23
	picking up a plastic top from	55:27
	a takeout container.	55:29
	Pushing it into his pocket	55:31
	until he comes to the next corner	55:33
	where the city provides a trash container	55:35
	with a swinging top.	55:40
	"I pick up paper from the sidewalk."	55:42
	Was it just a figment of his imagination	55:48
	to see a world of good and evil?	55:51
	And thereby, have a way of seeing	55:54
	who he was, or wanted to be	55:57
	and what such being in such a world	56:01
	came down to when he was walking down the street.	56:03
	Wasn't there a song in the 60s with lyrics,	56:09
	something like,	56:13
	someday they'll declare a war,	56:15
	and nobody's going to come.	56:19
	Now there's an image,	56:23
	a party, sure.	56:24
	Everyone dreads the possibility of a party	56:26
	thrown to which no one comes.	56:28
	But a war,	56:30
	and nobody come...	56:31
	So, they let the air out of the tires,	56:35
	and drove the truck away.	56:38
	What I want to say this morning,	56:41
	is that one of the things we mean by salvation,	56:44
	both Jews and Christians,	56:48
	is that almighty God,	56:52
	if we will allow it,	56:53
	will so stir and shape our imaginations	56:55
	that we be saved from death by boredom.	56:59
	For those of us who are Jews,	57:06
	the metaphor is the Passover.	57:08
	A people 300 years in captivity making bricks,	57:12
	and God sends Moses to stir their imaginations.	57:18
	Rise up and get out!	57:21
	This is no way to live.	57:23
	This is not the way I created you,	57:25
	intended you to be.	57:26
	Now, most of them preferred what was familiar,	57:31
	and that's what they said	57:35
	when they got to the Red Sea,	57:36
	and felt that they were trapped.	57:37
	"Why did we ever leave?"	57:40
	They said the same thing when they had no food	57:43
	in the wilderness.	57:45
	And they said they preferred Egypt	57:47
	when they got tired of eating so much manna	57:49
	in the wilderness.	57:51
	"Where are the onions we enjoyed in Egypt?"	57:53
	Back to making bricks.	57:57
	But there was this vision for some.	58:02
	Call it hope, or image.	58:06
	They had this image of a promised land,	58:09
	and it drew some of them out of past slavery	58:13
	toward a future which was different.	58:16
	Their life was hard,	58:19
	but they were neither bored,	58:20
	nor boring people.	58:22
	A rebel,	58:25
	but they were going some place,	58:26
	and most of us are not.	58:29
	The Lord God almighty had stirred	58:33
	their imaginations.	58:35
	For Christians, the metaphor is Easter,	58:39
	just a figment of the imagination.	58:45
	The friends of Jesus saw some heavyweights	58:52
	blow out the candle on the alter,	58:57
	and they went away afraid,	58:59
	and very sad.	59:00
	And after the sabbath they came back	59:04
	to put away the candlestick,	59:06
	and they saw that the candle	59:09
	was not out,	59:12
	but burning.	59:13
	There were two things which we know,	59:16
	there are two things for which we know for sure.	59:18
	We know that they said that,	59:21
	that that was their experience.	59:22
	And we know that they drove a lot of stuck trucks	59:26
	out from underneath underpasses	59:29
	by the illumination of that candle	59:34
	which was burning on the third day.	59:37
	They came to understand many things	59:41
	which had gone before,	59:45
	that Jesus had said and done	59:47
	in a new light,	59:49
	in a new way.	59:51
	The information had all been there	59:51
	just as it was for the truck driver.	59:54
	But the old information became	59:56
	exceedingly alive and exciting.	59:58
	The candle was alive, Jesus alive.	1:00:00
	Therefore,	1:00:04
	they now knew	1:00:07
	that that day	1:00:09
	spring from on high had visited them.	1:00:10
	Therefore, they knew that the last	1:00:14
	would be first.	1:00:16
	The master would be the servant.	1:00:18
	That there would be wars declared	1:00:20
	to which no one would come.	1:00:22
	There would be speechless people speaking,	1:00:26
	deaf hearing,	1:00:29
	adulterers restored to righteousness.	1:00:30
	Wine for weddings,	1:00:33
	middle-aged men picking up paper on Elm Street,	1:00:34
	and putting it in the container	1:00:37
	with the swinging top.	1:00:38
	Say, creative imagination, if you like.	1:00:43
	What we find in the post Easter church	1:00:47
	is a burst of creative imagination,	1:00:50
	call it gift of God.	1:00:53
	Jerome Bruner calls it,	1:00:55
	the knowledge of the left hand.	1:00:57
	The recognition of a new pattern of truth,	1:01:01
	born of facts which were already there.	1:01:03
	So, the healing of blind Bartimaeus,	1:01:09
	the healing of the paralytic,	1:01:12
	the exorcism of the demons in Decapolis.	1:01:14
	These events became for the early disciples	1:01:17
	in the creative imagination of Easter,	1:01:23
	in the light of Christ alive.	1:01:26
	These events became a way of seeing the future	1:01:28
	present in their own time.	1:01:33
	They became,	1:01:35
	not just miracles of good fortune,	1:01:36
	for a few wounded human beings.	1:01:38
	But these events of healing became the first	1:01:42
	harbingers of an eternal spring,	1:01:46
	a new creation by the power	1:01:48
	of the ultimate creator.	1:01:50
	The dying of an old order,	1:01:52
	the birth of a new.	1:01:53
	The dying of Christ,	1:01:56
	the birth of a new age raised with Christ.	1:02:01
	They were astonished, surprised.	1:02:04
	They were shocked by the recognition	1:02:06
	that they now saw so many old and familiar	1:02:09
	patterns and events in new ways.	1:02:12
	Like the truck driver who had been shaking	1:02:17
	his head at his truck jammed under	1:02:19
	the underpass.	1:02:21
	Knowing that the tires could be deflated,	1:02:23
	but not knowing it.	1:02:26
	Until a small boy shared his different way	1:02:29
	of seeing.	1:02:32
	We look to the Easter event,	1:02:38
	and some to Passover,	1:02:41
	as specific points of beginning,	1:02:44
	as unrepeated event.	1:02:47
	The perception of which evoked new ways	1:02:50
	of knowing,	1:02:53
	but we also have a sense of the ongoing-ness	1:02:56
	of such creative imagination in each generation.	1:02:58
	Take children working 10 hours a day	1:03:02
	in factories,	1:03:06
	it had to be that way, it was a given.	1:03:08
	The factories needed the labor,	1:03:12
	the families needed the money.	1:03:14
	The truck was stuck under the underpass,	1:03:16
	but eventually, the creative imagination	1:03:21
	of Easter,	1:03:25
	which was smoldering in the soot-covered churches	1:03:26
	at the factory door erupted.	1:03:28
	And it became joyfully clear	1:03:31
	that if Christ is risen,	1:03:33
	factories don't need to abuse children.	1:03:34
	I'm not saying that Christians did it.	1:03:37
	I'm saying that Easter is a way	1:03:41
	of viewing the world,	1:03:42
	an image filled with power	1:03:44
	to break present patterns of things familiar.	1:03:46
	And that Christians are the people who praise God	1:03:49
	for Easter's burning candle held against	1:03:52
	the shadow of the factory floor.	1:03:55
	I am saying that within the last 10 years,	1:04:00
	creative imagination has erupted,	1:04:04
	and we find it wrong now to ignore and hide	1:04:07
	our brain-damaged children.	1:04:11
	And find it right and good to invest	1:04:14
	our resources to help them fulfill	1:04:16
	their potential.	1:04:18
	Within the last 10 years,	1:04:21
	the familiar and accepted patterns	1:04:22
	of relationships between men and women.	1:04:25
	Patterns of domination and abuse	1:04:28
	covered with sweet language,	1:04:31
	the lies of tongue and pen	1:04:33
	is now being seen in the light	1:04:37
	of creative imagination.	1:04:40
	Figment to some,	1:04:42
	which puts what is familiar in new perspective,	1:04:45
	and which makes unacceptable	1:04:48
	what was once called natural and good.	1:04:51
	The ride of Moses smites the sea,	1:04:54
	and women and children begin a journey,	1:04:57
	which will be exceedingly hard,	1:05:03
	but not boring.	1:05:07
	The shock,	1:05:10
	the surprise of recognition,	1:05:12
	which is so central to Passover and Easter	1:05:14
	continues to break forth in each generation.	1:05:18
	That's the point.	1:05:22
	Blacks ride in the back of the bus,	1:05:25
	don't eat in this restaurant,	1:05:28
	live on this block,	1:05:30
	study in these schools.	1:05:31
	Or sing in Constitution Hall,	1:05:32
	and it goes on that way for years and years.	1:05:34
	While Easter smolders in ivy-covered churches,	1:05:37
	and sings quietly in black souls.	1:05:41
	Until Easter comes to flame,	1:05:45
	and the Christ who is dead is raised	1:05:48
	in Montgomery.	1:05:50
	The martyrs who saw it long before and died,	1:05:52
	are raised,	1:05:56
	and white men embrace black men with tears	1:05:58
	in their eyes,	1:06:00
	and white women call black women sisters.	1:06:01
	And we who have been through it all say,	1:06:06
	of course,	1:06:09
	there was a time when educational endowments	1:06:13
	were seen to be ruled by only one concern.	1:06:17
	To earn the highest dollar for the purpose	1:06:20
	for which they were given.	1:06:22
	But now there is at least one modifying	1:06:24
	way of seeing it.	1:06:27
	The highest dollar,	1:06:30
	but not if the extra dime is carried	1:06:32
	on the backs of indentured South African blacks.	1:06:35
	There is a time called examinations,	1:06:41
	when in some pockets of our culture	1:06:44
	a man or a woman's whole worth is said	1:06:47
	to hinge on letters A through F.	1:06:50
	But for some,	1:06:54
	examination is only one part of Easter's world	1:06:57
	where death by grade is banished,	1:07:00
	and worth is love's gift,	1:07:04
	and love is worth's measure.	1:07:07
	Just as we once said that some children	1:07:13
	should be hidden,	1:07:15
	some work in factories,	1:07:17
	and that life leads only to death.	1:07:19
	So we still say,	1:07:23
	that competition is the only style of learning,	1:07:25
	that unions make people lazy,	1:07:29
	that oil companies will not tolerate	1:07:32
	windfall tax.	1:07:34
	That Americans will not tolerate rationing,	1:07:36
	that nuclear warfare is inevitable.	1:07:38
	That faithfulness in monogamous marriage	1:07:41
	is too high a goal.	1:07:43
	That the only motivation is what's good for me,	1:07:46
	and we sit here in these pews this morning	1:07:49
	and know deep in our hearts	1:07:52
	that the element in truth in all of that,	1:07:53
	that it can't happen because it's a part	1:07:58
	of the very self that's sitting here.	1:08:02
	(coughing)	1:08:05
	We need not be liars,	1:08:07
	creative imagination does not mean	1:08:09
	to hide the truth.	1:08:11
	But it sure means to see things differently.	1:08:14
	To live by a metaphor,	1:08:17
	which encompasses the whole of	1:08:19
	the human experience.	1:08:21
	Part of it constantly surprising us	1:08:24
	by evoking recognition of familiar things	1:08:26
	in patterns,	1:08:30
	which are now new.	1:08:31
	Which let us move ahead, change,	1:08:34
	pick up paper on Elm Street.	1:08:37
	Let the air out of tires so that stuck trucks	1:08:39
	can be driven away.	1:08:42
	Take examinations without fear of our life.	1:08:43
	Divest without fear of destroying a university.	1:08:46
	Marry without fear of divorce,	1:08:51
	and divorce,	1:08:54
	if that be less evil than a given marriage,	1:08:55
	without fear of rotting in hell forever.	1:08:59
	There are two things which are a part of	1:09:06
	the witness.	1:09:09
	There is a once forever historical event,	1:09:13
	call it Passover for some,	1:09:15
	Easter for others of us.	1:09:17
	Metaphors by which we live,	1:09:20
	a candle blown out and still burning.	1:09:23
	The son of God crucified, dead and buried,	1:09:26
	raised.	1:09:28
	Embraced by faith,	1:09:31
	that is the figment of our imagination,	1:09:35
	which we acknowledge is not of our making,	1:09:37
	but gift of God.	1:09:39
	A new way of seeing,	1:09:41
	which evokes new meaning and promise,	1:09:42
	and hope.	1:09:46
	But the second part is that this is always	1:09:49
	a new event.	1:09:53
	That the stone is always being rolled away.	1:09:56
	The dead Christ appearing,	1:10:00
	it comes forth a new way of seeing	1:10:04
	in each generation of world,	1:10:06
	which is full of promise.	1:10:08
	There is always Passover in each generation	1:10:15
	when God sends a new Moses to say to his people,	1:10:20
	rise and go,	1:10:23
	by promise, you were created.	1:10:24
	It is the beauty, the possibilities,	1:10:30
	the shocked recognition of	1:10:33
	our bestirred imagination.	1:10:34
	Which sings in the words of Mary,	1:10:37
	which the president read.	1:10:38
	(coughing)	1:10:40
	He has scattered the proud	1:10:42
	in the imagination of their hearts.	1:10:44
	He hath put down the mighty from their seats.	1:10:47
	Exalted them of low degree,	1:10:50
	filled the hungry with good things,	1:10:52
	the rich sent empty, away.	1:10:53
	It is this new way of seeing things,	1:10:58
	which allow some of us to say with Paul,	1:11:00
	I am not ashamed of the gospel.	1:11:03
	It is the power of salvation from boredom,	1:11:05
	to everyone who has faith.	1:11:09
	To the Jew first, and also to the Greek,	1:11:12
	and others of us simply say,	1:11:16
	we have to live east of Eden,	1:11:19
	that's our home.	1:11:20
	But by the grace of God,	1:11:23
	we do not have to make bricks forever as slaves	1:11:24
	in Egypt.	1:11:27
	There is a promised land.	1:11:28
	Its Lord is our Lord.	1:11:30
	Luring us out of death by boredom into trouble,	1:11:33
	and joy.	1:11:38
	To such a journey I commend you,	1:11:39
	the peace of God be with you.	1:11:43
	Amen.	1:11:46
	(congregation stirring)	1:11:49
	(coughing)	1:12:05
	(organ music)	1:12:09
	(people singing loudly)	1:12:27
	♪ And rejoice ♪	1:12:58
	(people singing loudly)	1:13:06
	♪ His mercy lives forever ♪	1:14:38
	(people singing loudly)	1:14:44
	(organ music)	1:15:06
	(people singing loudly)	1:15:17
	♪ Give grace and glory ♪	1:15:46
	♪ Evermore ♪	1:15:50
	(organ music)	1:15:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:08
-	As a closing act of thanksgiving and commitment,	1:16:28
	let us join together for our unison prayer	1:16:32
	of gratitude and hope.	1:16:36
	Let us pray.	1:16:39
	Almighty God,	1:16:41
	who has granted us place and part	1:16:43
	in this university,	1:16:45
	hallow to us now this day.	1:16:48
	And we dedicate ourselves to the life and work	1:16:51
	to which you have here called us.	1:16:54
	That we may remember with gratitude,	1:16:58
	the families and friends who have cared for us,	1:17:00
	we ask your presence, oh God.	1:17:04
	That in the life ahead of us,	1:17:07
	we may keep faith with those who have loved us,	1:17:10
	and trusted us,	1:17:13
	and who's hopes follow us.	1:17:15
	We ask your presence, oh God.	1:17:17
	That we may enter with good courage,	1:17:21
	and constant purpose upon the tasks	1:17:23
	which await us.	1:17:26
	We ask Your presence, oh God,	1:17:28
	from all sense of strangeness and loneliness,	1:17:31
	and from the fear that we may fail,	1:17:35
	and may find no friends.	1:17:38
	Good Lord, deliver us from neglect	1:17:40
	of the opportunities, which are all about us.	1:17:44
	And from distrust of our ability	1:17:48
	to meet the duties of each dawning day.	1:17:50
	Good Lord, deliver us	1:17:53
	that the example of wise and generous people,	1:17:56
	who have gone before us here at this university	1:18:00
	may save us from folly and self-indulgence.	1:18:04
	We ask your presence, oh God.	1:18:08
	More especially that you would show to us	1:18:11
	and to all people,	1:18:15
	the way of love in a time desperately	1:18:17
	in need of those who care.	1:18:20
	We ask Your presence, oh God.	1:18:23
	These things, and whatever else you see needful	1:18:26
	and right for us,	1:18:30
	we ask in Your holy name,	1:18:32
	amen.	1:18:35
	(organ music)	1:18:37
	(people singing loudly)	1:19:12
-	Go now in love and peace, my friend,	1:22:26
	and as you go,	1:22:32
	may you find fulfillment in serving,	1:22:33
	joy in loving,	1:22:37
	satisfaction in working,	1:22:41
	and peace in believing.	1:22:44
	And may the love and peace of God	1:22:48
	be with you this day,	1:22:51
	and every day to come.	1:22:55
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:05
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:12
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:17
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:25
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:35
	♪ Amen ♪	1:23:47
	(coughing)	1:24:02
	(organ music)	1:24:03
	(congregation stirring)	1:30:15

Item Info

Title:

John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service 9:00 am (May 6, 1979)

Description:

Sermon start time: 51:21. Sermon end time: 01:11:47.
Being creative through the ongoing presence of the resurrection allows us to see new perspectives and change the world. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: The Lord God almighty had stirred their imaginations ... For Christians, the metaphor is Easter, just a figment of the imagination.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r41z4280z

Date:

May 6, 1979

Speaker:

Vannorsdall, John W.

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Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1024
ref7257_ikw
uachapelsermaud
duke:320977
dcrau001904
ark:/87924/r41z4280z
b40b53ea-9203-4e7b-8b84-708577ae54d9

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

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John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service 9:00 am (May 6, 1979)

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1. John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service 11:00 am (May 6, 1979)

2. John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service" (May 6, 1979)

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John W. Vannorsdall - "Figments of Our Imagination" Baccalaureate Service 9:00 am (May 6, 1979)

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