Paul A. Mickey - "A Little Horn of Plenty" (May 27, 1979)

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	(uplifting organ music)	0:04
-	Duke Chapel, Sunday service, May 27, 1979.	0:06
	(uplifting organ music)	0:14
	(congregation murmuring)	1:33
	(lively organ music)	1:41
	(lively organ music)	3:12
	(somber organ music)	4:41
	(uplifting organ music)	7:11
	(dramatic organ music)	9:06
	♪ Lord Jesus Christ, be present now ♪	10:27
	♪ Our hearts in true devotion bow ♪	10:32
	♪ Thy Spirit send with grace divine ♪	10:36
	♪ And let thy truth within us shine ♪	10:41
	♪ Unseal our lips to sing thy praise ♪	10:47
	♪ Our souls to thee in worship raise ♪	10:52
	♪ Make strong our faith, increase our light ♪	10:56
	♪ That we may know thy name aright ♪	11:01
	(inspiring organ music)	11:11
	(organ drowns out singing)	11:48
	(man whispers)	14:55
-	To be open to God,	15:04
	to know life in all its fullness,	15:07
	and to help bring life to others,	15:10
	we must be honest with ourselves	15:14
	no matter how difficult or painful this may be.	15:16
	We have, by what we have done	15:21
	and by what we have left undone,	15:23
	missed the mark of our high calling	15:26
	in Christ Jesus, our Lord.	15:28
	Therefore, individually and together,	15:32
	let us now confess our sin to God	15:36
	with our corporate prayer of confession	15:39
	followed by our personal prayers of confession.	15:43
	Let us pray.	15:46
-	Oh, Lord, ever present and ever merciful God,	15:48
	hear us as we offer our words and longings	15:53
	of confession and repentance, and remake us	15:56
	in your image and likeness that our lives may be	16:00
	more Christlike day by day.	16:04
	Where we are blind, oh Lord, give us clear vision.	16:07
	Where we are deaf, oh Lord, give us true hearing.	16:11
	Where we are lame, oh Lord, lift us and make us move.	16:16
	Where we are hardhearted, oh Lord, warm our hearts	16:21
	and give us life, life to receive and life to share.	16:25
	Help us to see ourselves as others see us.	16:31
	Give us grace to see others as you see them.	16:35
	Enable us to see and know your presence	16:39
	and have the abundant life,	16:43
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	16:46
-	My dear friends, let us know and believe	17:04
	that the God who creates us can also recreate us.	17:08
	The psalmist tells us that God is never far from us.	17:14
	Let us rejoice in this truth,	17:20
	that God has loved us, is loving us,	17:24
	and will always love us.	17:27
	No matter where we are or what we do,	17:31
	God is with us still loving us.	17:33
	This is the good news that brings life to us	17:38
	and to God's children,	17:43
	amen and amen.	17:46
	In the name and spirit of Christ, may I welcome you	17:51
	to this service of worship in Duke Chapel,	17:53
	on this Memorial Day weekend.	17:56
	If you are traveling, we wish you safe travel	18:00
	and invite you to come and worship with us in this place	18:04
	any time it is convenient or desirable for you to do so.	18:08
	We are all invited tonight to the organ concert	18:13
	to be presented by Professor Schuyler Robinson,	18:18
	Professor of Music and chairman of the Department of Music	18:21
	at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina.	18:25
	Professor Robinson has played here before,	18:29
	is highly appreciated, and you are invited to come and share	18:32
	in this special concert tonight at seven o'clock	18:37
	here in the chapel.	18:41
	Many of you, all of you will be concerned,	18:47
	many of you will be interested in knowing	18:50
	that Father Bruce Shepherd, the Episcopal chaplain	18:53
	here at Duke, has been in the hospital for some time	18:57
	and had surgery again on Thursday.	19:01
	The last word I had with him and the word I have	19:05
	from the doctors is that he is progressing well.	19:08
	He will be there for some time.	19:10
	Your prayers, your words of support and love	19:13
	will be greatly appreciated	19:16
	and will be of help to him, I am sure.	19:19
	If you are in the summer school session	19:22
	or if you're going to be here for part of the summer,	19:24
	you're invited to come and join the chapel choir	19:27
	for this period of time.	19:30
	The choir rehearses Sunday mornings at 9:30,	19:32
	and Dr. Patters would be pleased to have you	19:35
	come and join and sing with us during this summertime.	19:37
	It is our privilege today to have as our guest preacher	19:43
	the Reverend Dr. Paul Mickey,	19:47
	who is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology	19:50
	in the Divinity School here at Duke.	19:52
	He is a native of Ohio.	19:55
	He and his wife have one son and one daughter,	19:58
	a daughter Sandy who is celebrating a birthday today.	20:01
	Dr. Mickey is a graduate of Harvard University	20:06
	with his undergraduate degree, theological studies	20:09
	and doctoral studies at Princeton University.	20:14
	He is an articulate and concerned spokesman,	20:18
	not only in the United Methodist Church	20:21
	but in the church at large.	20:23
	He speaks loudly and clearly and effectively	20:26
	for many conservative and evangelical causes	20:29
	and for many other concerns.	20:32
	He's one of those rare and unusual persons in the church	20:36
	who combines both psychological and theological	20:40
	training and experience.	20:44
	Paul, it is our privilege to have you today to preach for us	20:47
	and we look forward to the word which you bring	20:51
	to share with us this day.	20:54
	Let us pray.	21:08
	Oh Lord, as we read and hear your Word,	21:12
	open both our hearts and our minds	21:17
	that we might feel and understand and know	21:20
	your Word and your will for us	21:24
	in this day and in this time,	21:27
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	21:30
	Let us hear the Word of God,	21:37
	first from the Old Testament lesson	21:38
	in the Book of Daniel chapter 7, reading verses 7-9:	21:41
	After this I saw in the night visions,	21:48
	and behold a fourth beast,	21:53
	terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong,	21:56
	and it had great iron teeth.	22:01
	It devoured and broke in pieces	22:04
	and stamped the residue with its feet.	22:06
	It was different from all the beasts that were before it,	22:09
	and it had 10 horns.	22:11
	I considered the horns, and, behold,	22:15
	there came up among them another horn, a little one,	22:18
	before which three of the first horns	22:22
	were plucked up by the roots.	22:25
	And, behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man	22:28
	and a mouth speaking great things.	22:31
	As I looked, thrones were placed,	22:35
	and one that was Ancient of Days took his seat.	22:39
	His raiment was white as snow	22:43
	and the hair of his head like pure wool.	22:46
	His throne was fiery flames.	22:50
	Its wheels were burning fire.	22:53
	Amen, here ends the reading of the Old Testament lesson.	22:58
	Let us hear now the reading of the epistle lesson	23:02
	from the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 15-23.	23:06
	Paul writes: For this reason,	23:11
	because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ	23:17
	and your love toward all the saints,	23:21
	I do not cease to give thanks for you,	23:24
	remembering you in my prayers,	23:26
	that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,	23:29
	may give you a spirit of wisdom	23:34
	and of revelation in the knowledge of him,	23:36
	having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,	23:40
	that you may know what is the hope	23:43
	to which he has called you, what are the riches	23:44
	of his glorious inheritance in the saints,	23:47
	and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power	23:51
	in us who believe, according to the working	23:54
	of his great might which he accomplished in Christ	23:57
	when he raised him from the dead and made him sit	24:01
	at his right hand in the heavenly places,	24:03
	far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,	24:06
	and above every name that is named, not only in this age	24:11
	but also in that which is to come.	24:15
	And he has put all things under his feet	24:19
	and has made him the head over all things for the church,	24:22
	which is his body, the fullness of him	24:26
	who fills all in all.	24:31
	Amen, here ends the reading of the epistle lesson.	24:35
	(uplifting organ music)	24:50
	♪ Jesu, joy of man's desiring ♪	25:11
	♪ Holy wisdom, love most bright ♪	25:23
	♪ Drawn by thee, our souls aspiring ♪	25:49
	♪ Soar to uncreated light ♪	26:00
	♪ Word of God, our flesh that fashioned ♪	26:28
	♪ With the fire of life impassioned ♪	26:43
	♪ Striving still to truth unknown ♪	26:57
	♪ Soaring, dying round thy throne ♪	27:09
	♪ Through the way where hope is guiding ♪	27:46
	♪ Hark, what peaceful music rings ♪	27:58
	♪ Where the flock in thee confiding ♪	28:22
	♪ Drink of joy from deathless springs ♪	28:34
	♪ Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure ♪	29:01
	♪ Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure ♪	29:16
	♪ Thou dost ever lead thine own ♪	29:31
	♪ In the love of joys unknown ♪	29:42
-	Will you stand for the reading of the gospel?	30:25
	The gospel lesson is from the Gospel According to St. Luke,	30:33
	the last few verses of the gospel,	30:38
	chapter 24, verses 44-53.	30:42
	Let us hear the Word of God:	30:47
	Then he said to them, he, Jesus,	30:51
	"These are my words which I spoke to you	30:55
	"while I was still with you,	31:00
	"that everything written about me in the law of Moses	31:03
	"and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled."	31:05
	Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures	31:10
	and said to them, "Thus it is written,	31:13
	"that the Christ should suffer	31:18
	"and on the third day rise from the dead,	31:20
	"and that repentance and forgiveness of sins	31:25
	"should be preached in his name to all nations,	31:27
	"beginning in Jerusalem.	31:30
	"You are witnesses of these things.	31:33
	"Behold, I send a promise of my Father upon you,	31:36
	"but stay in the city until you are clothed	31:41
	"with power from on high."	31:45
	Then he led them out as far as Bethany,	31:48
	and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.	31:50
	While he blessed them, he parted from them,	31:55
	and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy	32:00
	and were continually in the temple praising God.	32:04
	May God bless unto us this reading	32:11
	from his holy Word, amen.	32:14
	(uplifting organ music)	32:20
	(organ drowns out singing)	32:32
-	Perhaps you have read a little book	33:33
	entitled "The Late Great Planet Earth."	33:35
	It was written by a Californian theologian, Hal Lindsey.	33:40
	He lives along the ever-changing coastline	33:47
	of Malibu, California, a section	33:50
	north of Los Angeles.	33:54
	He writes out of both personal and biblical experiences	33:57
	of earthquakes, rain,	34:01
	fire, and storm.	34:05
	The insurance companies and governments	34:08
	and, often, theologians call these events acts of God.	34:10
	They are also what some would call apocryphal events,	34:17
	evidences of divine intervention in human history.	34:22
	Now if you've missed reading that little book,	34:27
	perhaps you saw the TV program by the same title,	34:31
	"The Late Great Planet Earth."	34:34
	I remember back in mid-March one evening,	34:37
	stretching out on a couch in my den	34:41
	before an eveningtide fire to watch	34:43
	how the end of the world would happen.	34:47
	And I watched that feature, and when it was over,	34:51
	I, too, turned out the lights and went to bed	34:55
	and called it a day,	35:00
	or eternity, or the end.	35:03
	But I keep being reminded	35:10
	of instant play flashbacks of that program.	35:11
	First is the image of Hal Lindsey himself.	35:16
	He does not fit comfortably into my stereotype	35:21
	of the fire and brimstone preacher	35:24
	thundering and roaring about the end of the Earth.	35:26
	Ah, no, Hal Lindsey is the essence of cool.	35:31
	Sporting a deep, rich California sun tan	35:36
	with a equally deep and rich baritone voice,	35:41
	he seemed perfectly at ease throughout this presentation,	35:45
	casually dressed in attire that looked something like	35:49
	military or paramilitary garb,	35:54
	which would be appropriate for narrating	35:58
	the end of the Earth.	36:00
	And I could not put Hal Lindsey out of my mind	36:05
	quickly and comfortably to dismiss him	36:08
	as some irate preacher.	36:11
	And the second kind of flashback that I have	36:16
	from that program comes from the news media, the coverage	36:18
	of the destructiveness that we experienced after mid-March,	36:21
	and that include the tornadoes that ripped	36:25
	through the Tornado Alley of Southeastern United States,	36:28
	the earthquakes that ravaged huge portions	36:33
	of south central Asia,	36:36
	and even granite-guarded Boston	36:38
	registered an unprecedented three on the Richter scale.	36:42
	Diplomats were killed by terrorists and mercenaries,	36:47
	2,000 infants were killed by the impertinent backhand	36:52
	of a dictator's imperial bayonet,	36:55
	and not to be forgotten	37:01
	is the Three Mile Island reactor incident.	37:02
	That incident itself sounded like the sharp, metallic echo	37:07
	of a shell clanking into a cosmic firing chamber	37:11
	to begin a game of Russian roulette	37:16
	reminiscent of "The Deerhunter."	37:19
	Not a bad backdrop for a photogenic	37:23
	and graphic description of the end of the Earth.	37:26
	And within a month of that Hal Lindsey program,	37:31
	a phantom skywriter had etched rather dramatic footnotes	37:34
	across the heavens of a nearly late great planet Earth.	37:39
	"Roger, Lord, we're looking, but we don't see your hand	37:44
	"in the midst of any of this that's going on,	37:47
	"even though we're looking hard."	37:50
	And having sketched the sure realism	37:53
	of an apocalyptic or spiritual graffiti	37:55
	across the high hallways of human hope,	37:58
	the hand of the Lord moves on	38:03
	and points toward the Old Testament prophet Daniel.	38:06
	He's been there, too, you know.	38:11
	Daniel was no less content than we are	38:16
	to dismiss current events as mere acts of God.	38:18
	Old Daniel had seen the natural catastrophes	38:24
	of imperialistic inquisition,	38:28
	of anarchical ploys of terrorism, of hauling peoples	38:30
	and cultures into exile,	38:35
	namely God's chosen people, Israel.	38:37
	Daniel, too, had seen the capricious destruction	38:40
	of human life at the hands	38:43
	of unprecedented political and military power,	38:45
	all of it seeming apparently out of human control.	38:49
	And in our Scripture lesson for this morning	38:55
	taken from Daniel's book, he seems to touch upon our sense	38:58
	of the total, complete, inescapable power	39:02
	ascribed to any person or country	39:06
	or technology or ideology	39:09
	as having 10 big horns.	39:12
	These symbolize the unity and strength and power	39:16
	that crowns the holy monsters of the night.	39:19
	And Daniel says that the monster is terrible	39:24
	and dreadful and exceedingly strong,	39:26
	and breaking into pieces any opposition.	39:30
	Talk about oppression, this was it, the end.	39:35
	Do you remember Bill Cosby and his monsters?	39:41
	He did a comic portrayal of a youngster fearful	39:46
	of the monsters that lived in his bedroom closet.	39:50
	"Thank goodness for covers," said Cosby,	39:54
	"or I would not be alive today."	39:56
	He was terrified of that childhood prayer.	39:59
	"And now I lay me down to sleep" was all right	40:03
	'til it got up to the point that said	40:07
	"if I should die before I wake,"	40:09
	'cause Cosby knew that the monsters waited	40:12
	for you to come out from under the covers.	40:15
	They knew that you had to have some time to breathe in life,	40:18
	and he assured us he was the fastest breather on Earth.	40:23
	Well, those stark childhood memories	40:29
	of the night and the dreadful countenance	40:32
	of the 10-horned monster of Babylon	40:34
	that devour little boys and large kingdoms,	40:38
	those images are all too real for us today.	40:44
	They belong to white as well as black children.	40:49
	They belong to Israel as well as to the United States.	40:53
	Apocryphal imagery flows out of being scared,	40:57
	out of being out of control, out of being overwhelmed.	41:01
	This is true of Bill Cosby's childhood playmates,	41:06
	of the prophet Daniel, and us.	41:10
	Ah, the TV networks were right.	41:13
	Hal Lindsey's program commands our attention.	41:16
	Uncertainty about God, the night, future,	41:19
	this is the fertile soil that is the seedbed	41:23
	out of which monsters and rumors	41:26
	of saving monsters are born,	41:29
	and each of us has the 10-horned monsters in our lives.	41:34
	We have been carried off into exile and held captive	41:39
	by precisely those forces and alliances	41:43
	that we believed, falsely, would make us powerful,	41:47
	invulnerable, safe, and secure.	41:53
	But alas, the tables have been upturned and the tides ebb.	41:58
	It may be that the 10-horned monster of illness	42:03
	that now fills our once-happy days of health,	42:08
	or our financial vestments have soured	42:12
	and we are forced to eat our losses in good spirits,	42:15
	nearly choking to death.	42:20
	A one-time clear vision of the good life	42:23
	now oppresses us with inflation.	42:25
	Our children have not chosen or been chosen	42:29
	by what we know is best for career or marriage.	42:32
	And our personal sense of worth dangles at the taut end	42:38
	of a badly-frayed rope of inflation	42:42
	or rejection or whatever it is that makes each of us feel	42:47
	that we are at the end of our rope.	42:51
	Our relationship with the church, with Jesus Christ,	42:55
	has perhaps become very marginal and fills our days	42:58
	not with blessings but with emptiness.	43:03
	And there is that strictly personal dimension	43:08
	to our captivity, the Armageddons of our own lives.	43:11
	Somewhere in our own life is the monsters	43:17
	of our unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness to God,	43:21
	unfaithfulness to family, unfaithfulness to church,	43:26
	unfaithfulness to parents,	43:31
	unfaithfulness to moral standards,	43:34
	unfaithfulness to country and to our neighbor.	43:37
	That experience of unfaithfulness and what we do with it	43:42
	is like the summer squall line of embedded thunderstorms	43:45
	that rush upon the quiet afternoon	43:50
	of our otherwise peaceful aspirations.	43:54
	We're like the travelers	43:58
	in the little light, private aircraft	44:00
	who may have drifted off into conversation about things	44:04
	or taken time to eat a snack on their way	44:07
	to a relaxing weekend, or been checking the charts	44:10
	to make certain they're going the right way,	44:13
	and they look up, and outspread across the whole horizon	44:15
	is a squall line coming rapidly and desperately toward them.	44:20
	It's too high to climb over.	44:25
	It's too wide to run around.	44:28
	It's too dense and violent to penetrate.	44:30
	Only one thing to do,	44:35
	to retreat and try to outrun it	44:37
	in the opposite direction, and immediately forgotten	44:40
	are the long-held plans for the afternoon	44:44
	or the one-time faith in God.	44:49
	We turn, we run, we give up.	44:52
	That squall line is too massive.	44:57
	The monster is too big.	45:01
	But Daniel has a different vision,	45:05
	and he offers it to us this worship morning.	45:08
	The prophet would lift us, however briefly, to a new vision,	45:13
	to lift the arm of spiritual blessing on Ascension Day,	45:18
	on Memorial Day, on the Indianapolis 500,	45:24
	on the O'Hare Airport crash, to bless us	45:30
	amidst the beasts of empty gas pumps	45:35
	and nuclear leakage.	45:38
	Nestled within the 10 monstrous horns,	45:42
	Daniel sees a little horn.	45:46
	Now most of us wouldn't see it, but Daniel did,	45:49
	and there it is, like that little, tiny cloud	45:53
	off in the distant horizon in the days of Elijah,	45:57
	no bigger than a speck, and it offers hope	46:02
	in that otherwise vacuous horizons	46:07
	of our spiritual experience.	46:11
	It is the little horn of plenty	46:15
	nestled within the big 10 horns of the monster.	46:19
	Oh, it's not going to be like the big cornucopia	46:24
	that traditionally we have celebrated	46:27
	our Thanksgiving-tide in this country.	46:29
	That cornucopia has served its purpose and well,	46:33
	but it belonged to a naively pretentious	46:38
	and probably provincial outlook on life.	46:40
	No, the horn that Daniel offers	46:46
	is not a horn that would rival	46:49
	the size and strength of the monster.	46:51
	But look in verses 8, 9, and 10 of our scripture	46:57
	for how the power of that horn grows:	47:01
	As I looked, thrones were placed,	47:07
	and one that was Ancient of Days took his seat.	47:10
	The stream of fire issued and came forth from before him.	47:15
	A thousand served him, 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him,	47:19
	and the court sat in judgment.	47:25
	I looked then because of the sound of great words	47:29
	which the horn was speaking, and as I looked,	47:31
	the beast was slain and its body destroyed	47:35
	and given over to be burned with fire.	47:38
	First we see, then, that scruffy little horn	47:44
	amidst the big horns, and then poof,	47:47
	the little horn reaches out	47:52
	and picks up three of the large horns.	47:54
	The little horn doesn't trim them back or prune them	47:58
	or cut them off to surface level.	48:01
	They are plucked out, roots and all.	48:03
	They are gone, and we find a little breathing room	48:08
	to maneuver around that squall line	48:12
	or the bedroom closet monsters or the cosmic monsters,	48:14
	the Armageddons of our lives.	48:19
	Let's go on with Daniel.	48:24
	There is hope here.	48:27
	And then in that verse nine,	48:29
	we have the impressive character, the Ancient of Days,	48:31
	somewhat like God, a symbol for the Lord,	48:34
	and that little horn that was almost unnoticed,	48:39
	buried initially in the midst of the desperate	48:42
	and overwhelming circumstances of life,	48:45
	issues forth into the Ancient of Days,	48:48
	before whom and in whom	48:52
	the truth of actual events is unfolded,	48:54
	and by whose power, we are told in verse 11,	48:59
	the beast is slain, its corpus destroyed,	49:02
	and its remains burned.	49:06
	Graphic imagery, you bet,	49:09
	but this is not the imagery of power that bullies.	49:13
	It is the power that begins its movement	49:17
	in the little horn of plenty	49:20
	with touches of grace nearly imperceptible	49:23
	amidst the towering passions of overwhelming squall lines	49:26
	and monsters in our lives.	49:30
	Grace that abounds has small beginnings	49:34
	in the midst of struggle, pain,	49:38
	heartaches, and the oppressiveness of life.	49:41
	Paul Tillich was an eminent German-American theologian	49:46
	who spoke of the leap of faith,	49:50
	and that imagery suggests that one runs	49:54
	to the edge of a well-defined cliff and leaps,	49:57
	almost like Evel Knievel on his motorcycle,	50:01
	and then securely and firmly to be caught	50:05
	on the other side of the abyss of doubt.	50:08
	While some residue of doubt would surely persist	50:13
	on the other side of that abyss,	50:16
	but the outcome is really not in doubt.	50:18
	Perhaps this is true.	50:23
	Perhaps this is true for those	50:26
	whose intellectual life and commanding imageries	50:29
	come from the well-defined precipices	50:32
	of German idealism or the high bluffs	50:36
	of the Bitterroot Mountain range of Butte, Montana.	50:39
	It may be that the image, leap of faith,	50:44
	says it best for them, but for most of us,	50:47
	I believe Daniel's imagery says it better.	50:52
	A new spiritual journey, a new world of faith	50:56
	begins not with a leap	51:01
	but with a little gentle nudge,	51:04
	a little horn that comes up among our problems,	51:07
	a root out of dry ground,	51:11
	a babe in swaddling clothes.	51:15
	So two things Daniel offers us today.	51:20
	First of all, his vision of the world seems,	51:24
	I think, remarkably like ours.	51:27
	The horned monsters surround and stalk us	51:30
	because we have made unholy alliances,	51:33
	we have relied too much upon the devices	51:38
	and desires of our own heart.	51:40
	And Daniel sees life, including God, as they are.	51:44
	Now the second blessing that Daniel offers	51:50
	is that God's real presence and revelation	51:52
	have small beginnings,	51:56
	and so let us move on to consider	52:00
	the fullness of that relationship.	52:02
	In St. Paul's letter to the little mission church	52:05
	in Ephesus, he restates Daniel's message	52:08
	in his opening paragraphs.	52:12
	For the New Testament gospel is a recapitulation	52:15
	of the Old Testament gospel,	52:18
	and we're reminded of what that gospel is	52:22
	as we've heard the epistle reading for this morning.	52:25
	And there are perhaps six words	52:30
	that need mentioning from this vision of St. Paul	52:32
	that is seconded by Daniel	52:36
	and speaks to us.	52:41
	First of all is a word of thankfulness	52:43
	for faith,	52:46
	faith once given to us by Jesus Christ.	52:49
	And secondly, Paul reminds us,	52:54
	and this little mission church in Ephesus,	52:56
	of the word of the recognition of our needs.	52:59
	We need that God would give us a spirit of wisdom	53:04
	and revelation in the knowledge of him	53:08
	that we might know who he is	53:13
	and what our life is to be in Jesus Christ.	53:16
	And a third word, a word of a gift in Jesus Christ,	53:21
	that we may have the eyes of our hearts opened,	53:27
	that we may perceive truth	53:32
	and yet not have anything definite to see.	53:35
	And a fourth word from this epistle to the church at Ephesus	53:42
	is a word of majesty and power,	53:46
	not of our work and not of our might	53:51
	but by the power of God working through Jesus Christ.	53:53
	And a word of God's transcendence,	54:00
	for you see, the people to whom St. Paul was writing	54:05
	struggled just like the folks to whom Daniel was writing	54:08
	and just like us, threatening to be overwhelmed.	54:12
	And St. Paul assures them that Jesus,	54:18
	working in and through God's power,	54:23
	is far above all human rule and force.	54:27
	All monsters and storms and natural catastrophes	54:34
	are put under his feet, under the feet of Jesus Christ.	54:40
	And a word of hope for the church, guess what?	54:47
	We too, like those apostles and church members at Ephesus,	54:51
	are being formed in the likeness of Christ.	54:56
	We too are becoming a little horn of plenty	54:59
	for someone else, for that's what it means	55:01
	to be formed in the fullness of Jesus Christ our Lord.	55:05
	It is interesting that God chose a little horn, a baby,	55:11
	a carpenter, a crucifixion, a struggling church,	55:16
	as the historic means for offering us peace and power.	55:20
	That's how we take hold of nuclear holocausts,	55:25
	tornadoes, earthquakes, divorce, surgery,	55:29
	economic reversals, academic failures.	55:35
	These are the makings of the Armageddons of our own lives	55:39
	on the current great planet Earth.	55:43
	We are called to take hold	55:47
	of the inheritance of the saints,	55:49
	the power in us who believe	55:50
	that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.	55:52
	It isn't really so much a leap of faith	55:57
	as it is a lifting up of the hand,	55:59
	or leading briefly that we might be fully led,	56:01
	and in part, you have taken that lead this morning.	56:06
	You offer your hand and a portion of your life	56:10
	to God in Jesus Christ in coming here for worship.	56:12
	You're willing to have the little horn of plenty	56:17
	in the prayers, in the echoing beauty of this place,	56:21
	in the sensitive organ music,	56:26
	in the supportive choral ministry, maybe even in the sermon,	56:29
	that these might provide some lead in your life.	56:34
	Your participation may not be dramatic,	56:38
	but for some of you, even being here this morning	56:40
	is a dramatic step forward because the eyes of your heart	56:44
	have been enlightened.	56:48
	I invite you, therefore, to share in the vision	56:51
	of St. Paul and the prophet Daniel,	56:53
	for this is the only vision that the church can offer.	56:57
	It may not look like much,	57:00
	but we have God's word that it is sufficient.	57:02
	And now before our final blessing, a brief word of warning.	57:09
	Recall the gospel lesson this morning and the ascension.	57:14
	Today is Ascension Sunday.	57:19
	We celebrate the ascension of Jesus Christ.	57:21
	It seems to me there are two messages of Ascension Sunday.	57:25
	One is that Christ has ascended,	57:28
	that Christ is victorious, but the other message	57:32
	of that Ascension Sunday is that we are not to grab hold	57:35
	and strangle the kingdom of God or of Jesus Christ.	57:40
	The ascension takes Christ out of sight	57:44
	in a way that we can't grab hold and strangle the kingdom	57:47
	before it has a chance in our lives.	57:51
	And sometimes we are too quick	57:56
	either to grab hold and strangle the kingdom,	57:58
	lunging for it out of our desperation, or at other times,	58:02
	we tend to show it off because we know that we have	58:07
	the kingdom of God parked gently	58:11
	in the palm of our hand.	58:15
	Ascension Sunday is for guiding, not for grabbing,	58:18
	although certainly we desperately want some kind of security	58:23
	amidst the nuclear reactors	58:28
	and simulated aircraft engine-out emergency procedures	58:30
	that seem so fully to fail us.	58:34
	On this Memorial Day weekend and Ascension Sunday,	58:40
	let us honor what has gone before us:	58:43
	Jesus Christ, soldiers who never came home,	58:46
	the hopes and dreams of yesterday, or the recollections	58:51
	of another, more peaceful, period in our lives, whatever.	58:54
	Don't crush your hope by your need to over-control,	58:59
	to grab, to dominate.	59:03
	The invitation is to let the memories of our tradition	59:07
	and the experience through Jesus Christ,	59:10
	the preeminent horn of little,	59:12
	guide us beyond the valley of the shadow of death.	59:17
	And so it is the little horn of plenty,	59:23
	the same Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,	59:25
	don't flee or grab.	59:29
	Relax, open your heart.	59:33
	Unclench the palm of your hand and allow the God	59:37
	of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory,	59:40
	to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation	59:44
	in the knowledge of him that you may be	59:47
	what is the hope that you have been called to be.	59:52
	Amen and amen.	59:57
	(uplifting organ music)	1:00:07
	♪ Rejoice, the Lord is King ♪	1:00:41
	♪ Your Lord and King adore ♪	1:00:46
	♪ Rejoice, give thanks, and sing ♪	1:00:51
	♪ And triumph evermore ♪	1:00:54
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	1:01:00
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice ♪	1:01:05
	♪ Again I say rejoice ♪	1:01:09
	♪ Jesus, the Savior, reigns ♪	1:01:18
	♪ The God of truth and love ♪	1:01:22
	♪ When he had purged our stains ♪	1:01:27
	♪ He took his seat above ♪	1:01:31
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	1:01:37
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice ♪	1:01:42
	♪ Again I say rejoice ♪	1:01:46
	♪ His kingdom cannot fail ♪	1:01:55
	♪ He rules o'er Earth and heaven ♪	1:02:00
	♪ The keys of death and hell ♪	1:02:05
	♪ Are to our Jesus given ♪	1:02:09
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	1:02:15
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice ♪	1:02:20
	♪ Again I say rejoice ♪	1:02:24
	♪ Rejoice in glorious hope ♪	1:02:34
	♪ Jesus the judge shall come ♪	1:02:39
	♪ And take his servants up ♪	1:02:44
	♪ To their eternal home ♪	1:02:47
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	1:02:54
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice ♪	1:02:59
	♪ Again I say rejoice, amen ♪	1:03:02
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	1:03:22
-	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	1:03:25
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:03:30
	to reconcile and make new, who works in us	1:03:33
	and others by the Spirit.	1:03:38
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	1:03:41
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	1:03:46
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	1:03:49
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	1:03:55
	our judge and our hope.	1:03:59
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	1:04:02
	God is with us.	1:04:06
	We are not alone.	1:04:09
	Thanks be to God.	1:04:10
-	Be seated.	1:04:13
	The Lord be with you.	1:04:20
-	And with your spirit.	1:04:22
-	Let us pray.	1:04:23
	Oh Lord our God, hear us now as we pray,	1:04:26
	not for our goodness, not for our merit,	1:04:32
	not for our many words and vain utterances,	1:04:36
	but hear us through your mercy and through your love.	1:04:41
	We give thanks to you, oh gracious God,	1:04:47
	for this time and this place and this moment of worship.	1:04:50
	It is indeed good to go into the house of our Lord,	1:04:55
	to hear your word in music and scripture,	1:05:01
	in prayer and in sermon, to be close to friends	1:05:04
	and family and neighbors, and to celebrate this day	1:05:09
	and all that it means.	1:05:13
	We give thanks, oh God, for this university,	1:05:17
	for the love of religion and learning,	1:05:21
	of the arts and the sciences,	1:05:23
	the concern to heal and to help,	1:05:26
	the desire to make life more whole and more real,	1:05:30
	which we experience here.	1:05:34
	We give thanks, oh God, for beautiful memories	1:05:38
	of persons, places, and experiences,	1:05:41
	all cherished and held very dear,	1:05:44
	for the hope of a better life tomorrow	1:05:49
	because of this place and its people.	1:05:53
	Oh God, bless us in our remembering and in our hoping.	1:05:57
	Oh God, we thank you for life,	1:06:05
	life which offers us days never lived before	1:06:08
	so that we may share and not hoard our lives,	1:06:12
	so that we might choose joy over pleasure,	1:06:16
	peace over ease, truth instead of safety,	1:06:19
	and find love above all else.	1:06:24
	And now, oh God, we pray in the name of the Christ	1:06:28
	who loves us and gives life and hope and promise to us.	1:06:31
	May we be healers of others through your love and power.	1:06:36
	Be our guide through all that is dark and doubtful.	1:06:42
	Be our guard against all that threatens	1:06:46
	our integrity and our wholeness.	1:06:50
	Be our strength under pressure	1:06:53
	and our consolation in sadness.	1:06:56
	Be our joy in celebration	1:07:00
	and our comfort in disappointment.	1:07:03
	Keep us always open to you	1:07:06
	and thus open to one another	1:07:10
	through Jesus Christ our Lord,	1:07:13
	who taught his first disciples and us to pray, we pray.	1:07:15
-	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:07:20
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:07:26
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	1:07:29
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:07:32
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	1:07:35
	who trespass against us.	1:07:39
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:07:41
	For thine is the kingdom, the power,	1:07:46
	and the glory forever, amen.	1:07:49
	(gentle organ music)	1:07:59
	♪ The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want ♪	1:09:27
	♪ He makes me down to lie ♪	1:09:33
	♪ In pastures green, he leadeth me ♪	1:09:39
	♪ The quiet waters by ♪	1:09:44
	♪ He leadeth me, he leadeth me ♪	1:09:50
	♪ The quiet waters by ♪	1:09:56
	♪ My soul he doth restore again ♪	1:10:04
	♪ And me to walk doth make ♪	1:10:10
	♪ Within the paths of blessedness ♪	1:10:15
	♪ E'en for his own name's sake ♪	1:10:21
	♪ Within the paths of blessedness ♪	1:10:27
	♪ E'en for his own name's sake ♪	1:10:33
	♪ Yea, though I pass through shadowed vale ♪	1:10:40
	♪ Yet will I fear no ill ♪	1:10:46
	♪ For thou art with me, and thy rod ♪	1:10:52
	♪ And staff me comfort still ♪	1:10:58
	♪ Thy rod and staff me comfort still ♪	1:11:04
	♪ Me comfort still ♪	1:11:09
	♪ My table thou hast furnished ♪	1:11:17
	♪ In presence of my foes ♪	1:11:23
	♪ My heavy heart thou dost anoint ♪	1:11:29
	♪ And my cup overflows ♪	1:11:34
	♪ My head thou dost with oil anoint ♪	1:11:40
	♪ And my cup overflows ♪	1:11:46
	♪ Goodness and mercy all my days ♪	1:11:53
	♪ Will surely follow me ♪	1:11:59
	♪ And in my Father's house ♪	1:12:05
	♪ My dwelling-place shall be ♪	1:12:11
	♪ And in my heart forevermore ♪	1:12:17
	♪ Thy dwelling-place shall be ♪	1:12:23
	(inspiring organ music)	1:12:44
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:13:29
	♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪	1:13:34
	♪ Thy name above, thy heavenly power ♪	1:13:40
	♪ Praise him above, ye heavenly host ♪	1:13:48
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	1:13:54
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:14:00
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, amen ♪	1:14:06
-	And now, oh God, we present ourselves to you,	1:14:32
	our work and our leisure, our joys and our sorrows,	1:14:36
	our thoughts and our deeds, just as we are,	1:14:41
	to be used by you in this world.	1:14:46
	We pray that you will accept our offering	1:14:50
	as the personal giving of ourselves for the good of others	1:14:53
	and the doing of your will.	1:14:58
	As we give our gifts,	1:15:01
	may we also be led to give of ourselves	1:15:04
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:15:08
	(triumphant organ music)	1:15:14
	♪ All hail the power of Jesus' name ♪	1:15:48
	♪ Let angels prostrate fall ♪	1:15:53
	♪ Bring forth the royal diadem ♪	1:15:58
	♪ And crown him, crown him, crown him ♪	1:16:03
	♪ Crown him Lord of all ♪	1:16:14
	♪ Ye chosen seed of Israel's race ♪	1:16:23
	♪ Ye ransomed from the fall ♪	1:16:28
	♪ Hail him who saves you by his grace ♪	1:16:34
	♪ And crown him, crown him, crown him ♪	1:16:39
	♪ Crown him Lord of all ♪	1:16:49
	(organ drowns out singing)	1:16:59
	♪ And crown him, crown him, crown him ♪	1:17:15
	♪ Crown him Lord of all ♪	1:17:26
	♪ Let every kindred, every tribe ♪	1:17:35
	♪ On this terrestrial ball ♪	1:17:40
	♪ To him all majesty ascribe ♪	1:17:46
	♪ And crown him, crown him, crown him ♪	1:17:51
	♪ Crown him Lord of all ♪	1:18:01
	(organ drowns out singing)	1:18:11
	♪ And crown him, crown him, crown him ♪	1:18:27
	♪ Crown him Lord of all, amen ♪	1:18:38
-	And now may the love of God,	1:18:58
	the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:19:02
	the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	1:19:07
	be with you and those whom you love	1:19:11
	this day and forevermore.	1:19:16
	♪ Lord be with you 'til we meet again ♪	1:19:24
	♪ By his counsel's guide uphold you ♪	1:19:33
	♪ With his sheep securely fold you ♪	1:19:43
	♪ God be with you 'til we meet again ♪	1:19:53
	(dramatic organ music)	1:20:19
	(congregation chattering)	1:20:30

Item Info

Title:

Paul A. Mickey - "A Little Horn of Plenty" (May 27, 1979)

Description:

Sermon start time: 32:32:13. Sermon end time: 01:00:00.
We are not meant to control our salvation from Christ for security in an apocalytpic world. We are to open our hearts and be hopeful, as God's assurance comes unassumingluy but definitely. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: The ascension takes Christ out of sight in a way that we can't grab hold and strangle the kingdom before it has a chance in our lives...Ascension Sunday is for guiding, not for grabbing,

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r48g8fx6s

Date:

May 27, 1979

Speaker:

Mickey, Paul A.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ascension Day

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1028
ref7265_eia
uachapelsermaud
duke:320378
dcrau001908
ark:/87924/r48g8fx6s
547966d3-7301-4e71-972b-e3935c49cdf3

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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English

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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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Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

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This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Paul A. Mickey - "A Little Horn of Plenty" (May 27, 1979)

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