Joseph B. Bethea - "The Gospel of Reconciliation" (August 19, 1979)

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-	Thank you for listening to service of worship	0:05
	willful miracle miracles.	0:09
	(organ music)	0:45
-	Let us pray.	8:18
	Almighty gracious God, come now this very minute	8:22
	this very second	8:30
	and fill this place	8:35
	and our hearts with your divine presence, amen.	8:39
	Let us stand and sing hymn number 41.	8:51
	(organ music)	9:01
	♪ Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee ♪	9:38
	♪ God of glory, Lord of love ♪	9:42
	♪ Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee ♪	9:47
	♪ Opening to the sun above ♪	9:51
	♪ Melt the clouds of sin and sadness ♪	9:56
	♪ Drive the dark of doubt away ♪	10:01
	♪ Giver of immortal gladness ♪	10:05
	♪ Fill us with the light of day ♪	10:09
	♪ All Thy works with joy surround Thee ♪	10:17
	♪ Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays ♪	10:21
	♪ Stars and angels sing around Thee ♪	10:26
	♪ Center of unbroken praise ♪	10:30
	♪ Field and forest, vale and mountain ♪	10:35
	♪ Flowery meadow, flashing sea ♪	10:39
	♪ Singing bird and flowing fountain ♪	10:44
	♪ Call us to rejoice in Thee ♪	10:48
	♪ Thou art giving and forgiving ♪	10:56
	♪ Ever blessing, ever blessed ♪	11:00
	♪ Wellspring of the joy of living ♪	11:05
	♪ Ocean depth of happy rest ♪	11:09
	♪ Thou our Father, Christ our Brother ♪	11:14
	♪ All who live in love are Thine ♪	11:19
	♪ Teach us how to love each other ♪	11:24
	♪ Lift us to the joy divine ♪	11:28
	♪ Mortals, join the mighty chorus ♪	11:36
	♪ Which the morning stars began ♪	11:40
	♪ God's own love is reigning o'er us ♪	11:45
	♪ Joining people hand in hand ♪	11:49
	♪ Ever singing, march we onward ♪	11:54
	♪ Victors in the midst of strife ♪	11:58
	♪ Joyful music leads us sunward ♪	12:03
	♪ In the triumph song of life ♪	12:07
	♪ Amen ♪	12:15
-	Please be seated.	12:24
	Let us together confess our sins.	12:35
	Most holy and merciful God,	12:41
	we confess to you and to one another	12:45
	and to the whole communion of saints	12:50
	in heaven and Earth that we have sinned against you	12:52
	by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.	12:58
	We have not loved you with our	13:04
	whole heart and mind and strength.	13:07
	We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	13:11
	We have not had in us the mind of Christ.	13:16
	We have grieved your Holy Spirit.	13:21
	You alone know how often we have sinned and grieved you	13:25
	by wasting your gifts, by wandering from your ways,	13:31
	by forgetting your love.	13:37
	Forgive us we pray, most merciful Lord,	13:40
	and free us from our sin.	13:46
	Renew in us again the grace and strength	13:50
	of your Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ	13:55
	your son and our savior, amen.	14:00
	Be of good cheer.	14:31
	God is a loving God.	14:34
	God is a just God.	14:40
	He has forgiven our sins.	14:46
	Our guest preacher for today	14:59
	is the reverend Dr. Joseph B. Bethea.	15:03
	District superintendent of the Rockingham District	15:09
	of the North Carolina Conference	15:13
	of the United Methodist Church.	15:15
	Dr. Bethea was born in Dillon, South Carolina,	15:20
	and is married to the former Shirley Ann Cundiff.	15:25
	The Betheas have one daughter, Josefa Elizabeth.	15:31
	Dr. Bethea is an ordained elder	15:39
	in the United Methodist Church,	15:42
	and from 1953 to 1972, he served in a number of appointments	15:46
	in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.	15:52
	From 1972 until 1977, Dr. Bethea was here at Duke	15:58
	as director of black church studies at the divinity school.	16:06
	He was recently elected to serve	16:12
	as a delegate from the North Carolina conference	16:14
	to the 1980 general conference	16:18
	of the United Methodist Church.	16:22
	We are pleased to welcome home	16:26
	and to our pulpit once again,	16:30
	reverend Dr. Bethea.	16:34
	Let us pray.	16:45
	Prepare our hearts oh Lord to accept your word.	16:49
	Silence in us any voice but your own,	16:59
	that hearing we may also obey your will	17:05
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	17:11
	Let us prepare to hear the reading of the scripture	17:20
	as found in second Corinthians verses 11 through 21.	17:26
	Paul writes,	17:39
	"therefore knowing the fear of the Lord	17:43
	"we persuade men,	17:49
	"but what we are is known to God	17:54
	"and I hope it is known also to your conscience.	18:00
	"We are not commending ourselves to you again,	18:06
	"but giving you cause to be proud of us	18:12
	"so that you may be able to answer those	18:17
	"who pride themselves on a man's position,	18:20
	"and not on his heart.	18:27
	"For if we are beside ourselves it is for God.	18:31
	"If we are in our right mind, it is for you.	18:38
	"For the love of Christ controls us,	18:46
	"because we are convinced that one has died for all.	18:50
	"Therefore, all have died.	19:01
	"And he died for all that those who live	19:06
	"might live no longer for themselves,	19:09
	"but for him, who for their sake died and was raised.	19:14
	"From now on therefore, we regard no one	19:26
	"from a human point of view.	19:33
	"Even though we once regarded Christ	19:38
	"from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer.	19:40
	"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,	19:51
	"he is a new creation.	19:57
	"The old has passed away, behold the new has come.	20:02
	"All this is from God, who through Christ	20:09
	"reconciled us to himself,	20:16
	"and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.	20:22
	"That is, God was in Christ reconciling.	20:27
	"Reconciling the world to himself.	20:34
	"Not counting their trespasses against them,	20:39
	"and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.	20:44
	"So we are ambassadors of Christ.	20:52
	"God making his appeal through us.	20:58
	"We beseech you on behalf of Christ,	21:05
	"be reconciled to God.	21:09
	"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin	21:14
	"so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God."	21:21
	God bless the reading of his holy word.	21:32
	(organ music)	21:38
-	It pleases me to no end	22:51
	that they wrote	22:55
	what CG should say today	22:59
	by words of introduction.	23:03
	For the last time he had something to say about me	23:11
	it was on an occasion a bit less formal than this.	23:14
	And he roasted me pretty good.	23:22
	And I'm glad they cleaned up his act this morning	23:27
	so that he would have to tell the truth about me.	23:32
	It's good to come to this campus again,	23:38
	and to be in the worship	23:43
	of this magnificent place,	23:47
	and to come now to bring the message.	23:51
	In Second Corinthians,	24:00
	the fifth chapter and 18th verse,	24:02
	in the New English Bible it is rendered this way,	24:10
	"from first to last, this has been the work of God.	24:15
	"He has reconciled us to himself through Christ,	24:22
	"and he has enlisted us	24:28
	in this service of reconciliation."	24:32
	The Gospel of Jesus Christ	24:41
	is the good news of reconciliation.	24:45
	And when I use the word reconciliation,	24:52
	I'm talking about the activity whereby	24:59
	the disorders of existence are healed.	25:04
	The activity whereby the	25:09
	imbalances of existence are redressed.	25:11
	The alienations of existence are bridged,	25:20
	and the hurts of existence are healed.	25:27
	I'm talking about justice	25:33
	overcoming injustice.	25:39
	And hatred giving way to love.	25:44
	I'm suggesting that the pressing need	25:52
	of a disordered, imbalanced,	25:57
	alienated and broken world in 1979	26:04
	is reconciliation.	26:10
	What can heal our brokenness?	26:16
	What can	26:23
	order our disorder?	26:27
	What can bridge our alienations?	26:30
	What can make our unjust existence just	26:36
	and overcome hate with love?	26:40
	Reconciliation.	26:44
	The healing.	26:48
	The restoration of unity where separation is the fact.	26:52
	The restoration of harmony where estrangement is the fact.	26:59
	The restoration of love and justice,	27:05
	where hatred and injustice are the facts.	27:10
	From first to last,	27:17
	this restoring, healing,	27:20
	reconciling activity has been the work of God	27:24
	in relation to his human creation.	27:29
	It presupposes that the	27:36
	opposite of wholeness,	27:39
	the opposite of love,	27:43
	the opposite of justice and harmony	27:48
	is the fact of our existence, and it is.	27:52
	It presupposes enmity or	27:58
	separation between God and ourselves.	28:01
	Enmity, separation which is the result	28:06
	of our rebellion against God	28:11
	and our intent to have our own	28:16
	individualistic selfish way.	28:19
	And the root of our alienation and estrangement	28:26
	from God is also the root of our alienation	28:31
	and estrangement from our brothers and our sisters.	28:36
	It is no wonder that we can be	28:43
	so mean and so malicious at times.	28:46
	It is no wonder that we can be	28:51
	so unjust and so uncaring.	28:54
	It is no wonder that oppression and alienation	29:00
	and injustice are the facts of our history,	29:04
	for we are alienated, we are estranged.	29:10
	Separated from God, and separated	29:15
	from our brothers and our sisters,	29:19
	and separation	29:22
	requires reconciliation	29:25
	and a reconciling agent.	29:30
	Now the New Testament declares that God	29:35
	is the active reconciling	29:39
	agent in the world.	29:43
	Yes, the God who is just and holy.	29:48
	The God who is the righteous judge,	29:54
	the eternal I am	29:57
	becomes the active reconciling agent	30:00
	between himself and estranged persons.	30:04
	The agent of reconciliation between persons	30:11
	alienated from each other.	30:15
	From first to last,	30:19
	from the beginning of time.	30:22
	God created	30:26
	and has been busy	30:29
	ever since reconciling his creation.	30:33
	John Macquarrie in his book	30:39
	Principles of Christian Theology	30:42
	describes how God's	30:46
	reconciling and saving work	30:49
	is seen in his historical and providential	30:54
	dealings with Israel,	30:59
	especially in that succession of covenants	31:02
	which God makes with his people	31:07
	from the covenant of Abraham onwards.	31:11
	The people might break the covenant,	31:17
	and fall back into sin	31:22
	as very often they did	31:25
	and very often we do.	31:27
	But God is represented	31:32
	as continually seeking to restore,	31:36
	to reconcile, and renew the relationship	31:40
	between himself and his people.	31:45
	And already, out of these many	31:50
	revelatory experiences in Israel,	31:54
	there was being born the hope	32:00
	of some decisive event	32:03
	in which the grace of being	32:08
	would be openly shown and poured out.	32:10
	This decisive event,	32:16
	this climax of God's	32:22
	reconciling work occurs with the revelation	32:26
	of Jesus Christ in history	32:30
	so that Paul could write to the Corinthians and to us,	32:34
	God was in Christ	32:40
	reconciling the world to himself.	32:43
	No longer holding our misdeeds against us,	32:47
	no longer holding our rebellion against us,	32:51
	no longer holding our meanness	32:57
	and our malice against us.	33:01
	God was in Christ.	33:04
	Christ was God's instrumentality.	33:09
	God's instrumentality in God's reconciling	33:13
	activity so that in Christ	33:18
	God was healing disorders.	33:21
	In Christ God was redressing imbalances.	33:25
	In Christ God was bridging gaps.	33:30
	In Christ God was struggling against injustice.	33:33
	In Christ God was struggling against oppression	33:38
	and hatred and rebellion and meanness.	33:42
	In Christ God was reconciling, healing, restoring.	33:46
	My God is reconciled.	33:53
	And he died to do it.	33:59
	That's what the cross is all about.	34:02
	And how strange it is, indeed it is strange	34:06
	that reconciliation requires a cross.	34:12
	It's foolishness and a stumbling block,	34:17
	but it is also the power of almighty God,	34:20
	and that's what it took and that's what it takes	34:25
	to reconcile rebellious human beings to God	34:30
	and mean human beings to each other.	34:34
	God so loved the world that he died,	34:40
	and millions upon millions through the centuries	34:45
	and even now believe	34:49
	and they've had their rebellious,	34:53
	mean individualism transformed,	34:56
	changed by the limitless love of God,	35:01
	and have been reconciled to him	35:06
	and to their brothers and sisters.	35:08
	Yes it's a great host who can sing that Wesleyan hymn	35:12
	My God is Reconciled.	35:18
	His pardoning voice I hear.	35:21
	He owns me for his child.	35:25
	I can no longer fear.	35:27
	With confidence I now draw nigh,	35:31
	with confidence I now draw nigh	35:34
	and Father, ever Father cry.	35:37
	Can you say it this morning?	35:43
	Have you been healed, have you been restored,	35:45
	have you been reconciled?	35:49
	Oh, when I survey the wondrous cross,	35:53
	and contemplate God's limitless love	35:59
	for me in the face of what I've been	36:02
	and in the face of what I've done,	36:06
	and his love for every other person	36:10
	upon the face of the Earth, I've made up my mind.	36:13
	I'm going to serve him 'til I die,	36:18
	and I'm going to struggle against every barrier	36:22
	that separates me from my brothers and sisters.	36:26
	We preach Christ crucified.	36:30
	A stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles,	36:34
	but to those who are called it is the power of God.	36:40
	The power of God for reconciliation and restoration	36:45
	and healing and holiness.	36:50
	This is the good news of reconciliation.	36:52
	In Christ, God was reconciling.	36:58
	In Christ God is reconciling.	37:01
	In Christ God will be reconciling	37:06
	until the end of time.	37:09
	In Christ, God will heal your disorders.	37:12
	In Christ God will bridge your gaps.	37:17
	In Christ God will heal your wounds and your brokenness	37:21
	and make you whole again in Christ.	37:26
	There is one other word in the text.	37:32
	One other word that must be said.	37:37
	God has enlisted us	37:42
	in the service of reconciliation.	37:45
	That is, he calls us who have been reconciled	37:49
	to himself and to our brothers and sisters	37:54
	to involvement in his ministry of reconciliation.	37:57
	The other day I was reading	38:04
	William Barclay's Men and Affairs.	38:06
	He reviews among many,	38:11
	the biography of Toyohiko Kagawa	38:14
	by C.J. Davey.	38:18
	In the review, Barclay says	38:23
	"it was the cross which warned Kagawa.	38:26
	"He already knew the story of Jesus who loved men,	38:31
	"especially the unhappy ones.	38:36
	"Then one day he heard the story of a cross."	38:40
	"Is this true," Kagawa says.	38:44
	"Quite true," said the missionary.	38:49
	"Jesus died?" Kagawa said.	38:54
	And the missionary, Dr. Meyers,	39:00
	looked at the stricken boy and he said	39:02
	"he died because he loved them."	39:06
	And that night, Kagawa prayed his first	39:12
	and his constant prayer, "oh God,	39:16
	make me like Christ."	39:20
	Oh God make me like Christ!	39:24
	Christ died because he loves us.	39:30
	Christ died to reconcile us.	39:34
	Oh God, make us like Christ.	39:39
	The disorders of our time	39:44
	may not all be healed.	39:48
	The imbalances of our time	39:51
	may not all be redressed.	39:53
	The alienations of our time may not all be bridged.	39:59
	Justice for all may not become a reality	40:05
	in your lifetime and mine.	40:10
	The brokenness, the hurt we experience	40:15
	may not all be healed today or tomorrow.	40:20
	We may have to live with it a long time.	40:24
	We may have to live with hatred and	40:29
	oppression and meanness and malice	40:34
	for the foreseeable future,	40:37
	but my God is reconciled.	40:41
	He is still reconciling!	40:46
	Moving his creation.	40:50
	Moving, moving, moving towards some bright tomorrow	40:53
	when justice will roll down like waters	41:00
	and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.	41:05
	When love will overcome hatred.	41:10
	When all of the hurts and brokenness	41:14
	of our world, of our existence,	41:19
	and even of our own personal lives	41:22
	will be healed and made whole again	41:25
	in that day when the kingdom of God	41:31
	is fully come. Please pray with me.	41:36
	Oh God our Father,	41:42
	heal our wounded, broken spirits.	41:46
	And in our wholeness,	41:55
	use us in your ministry	41:58
	of healing the wounds	42:03
	and the brokenness of our world.	42:06
	It is our prayer for Christ's sake, amen.	42:10
-	Please rise and sing hymn number 193,	42:30
	Jesus United by Thy Grace, please rise.	42:36
	♪ Jesus, united by thy grace ♪	42:58
	♪ And each to each endeared ♪	43:06
	♪ With confidence we seek thy face ♪	43:12
	♪ And know our prayer is heard ♪	43:20
	♪ Help us to help each other, Lord ♪	43:28
	♪ Each other's cross to bear ♪	43:36
	♪ Let all their friendly aid afford ♪	43:42
	♪ And feel each other's care ♪	43:50
	♪ Up unto thee, our living Head ♪	43:59
	♪ Let us in all things grow ♪	44:07
	♪ 'Til thou hast made us free indeed ♪	44:13
	♪ And spotless here below ♪	44:21
	♪ Touched by the lodestone of thy love ♪	44:29
	♪ Let all our hearts agree ♪	44:38
	♪ And ever toward each other move ♪	44:43
	♪ And ever move toward thee ♪	44:51
	♪ To thee, inseparably joined ♪	44:59
	♪ Let all our spirits cleave ♪	45:07
	♪ O may we all the loving mind ♪	45:13
	♪ That was in thee receive ♪	45:21
	♪ This is the bond of perfectness ♪	45:29
	♪ Thy spotless charity ♪	45:38
	♪ O let us, still we pray, possess ♪	45:43
	♪ The mind that was in thee ♪	45:51
	♪ Amen ♪	46:00
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	46:10
-	We believe in God who has created and is creating.	46:16
	Who has come in the truly human Jesus	46:22
	to reconcile and make new.	46:26
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	46:30
	We trust God, who calls us to be the Church.	46:35
	To celebrate life and its fullness.	46:41
	To love and serve others.	46:44
	To seek justice and resist evil.	46:47
	To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	46:51
	our judge and our hope.	46:56
	In life and death.	46:59
	In life beyond death, God is with us.	47:02
	We are not alone, thanks be to God.	47:07
-	Please be seated.	47:13
	The Lord be with you.	47:23
	Let us pray.	47:27
	Almighty God,	47:41
	thou who art the wisdom of the ages,	47:46
	the strength of the hour.	47:54
	Thou with whom we journey the night	47:59
	to meet the dawn of day.	48:05
	We thank you for your goodness, your mercy,	48:09
	and your love.	48:17
	We thank you for your many blessings.	48:22
	Good health, loving families,	48:26
	caring friends, rewarding jobs.	48:34
	For these and other blessings in abundance we thank you.	48:43
	We pray almighty God for continued blessings.	48:50
	They are songs of comfort in a weary land.	48:57
	They are rays of light amid the darkness of despair,	49:03
	dejection, loneliness, and anguish.	49:09
	We pray merciful God,	49:19
	for those whose spirits are heavily laden.	49:24
	Ease their burdens.	49:31
	We pray dear Lord for those whose bodies are full of pain,	49:36
	heal them according to your divine will.	49:44
	Amid economic hard times,	49:52
	and inflated egos,	49:58
	we pray that you will keep before us a brighter future.	50:02
	We pray that our souls will not become bankrupt.	50:06
	For need of love and care and concern and giving,	50:16
	or because of selfish and self-serving ways.	50:23
	Despite wars and rumors of wars,	50:30
	we pray that you will bring peace	50:35
	to our hearts and our minds, as well as to our nations.	50:38
	Finally, we ask a special prayer	50:49
	upon this city,	50:56
	and upon this university community.	51:00
	Though we be many, bind us as one in spirit and love.	51:07
	Reconcile each of us with the other.	51:18
	Reconcile all of us to you.	51:25
	Reconcile all of us to our lord, Jesus Christ	51:30
	who taught us to pray.	51:39
	Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name.	51:42
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	51:49
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	51:53
	Give us this day our daily bread	51:57
	and forgive us our trespasses,	52:01
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	52:04
	And lead us not into temptation,	52:09
	but deliver us from evil	52:12
	for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.	52:15
	Amen.	52:24
	(organ music)	52:32
	♪ All creatures of our God and King ♪	58:38
	♪ Lift up your voice and with us sing ♪	58:43
	♪ Alleluia Alleluia ♪	58:49
	♪ Thou burning sun with golden beam ♪	58:56
	♪ Thou silver moon with softer gleam ♪	59:02
	♪ O praise Him, O praise Him ♪	59:07
	♪ Alleluia Alleluia ♪	59:13
	♪ Alleluia ♪	59:19
	♪ Amen ♪	59:27
-	Almighty God, we bring these our gifts to you,	59:39
	to promote your ministry,	59:47
	the Gospel of reconciliation throughout the world.	59:50
	Use them, bless them, consecrate them Holy Trinity, amen.	59:57
	(organ music)	1:00:11
	(choral music)	1:00:39
	And now may the grace of God,	1:03:17
	the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit,	1:03:23
	rest rule and abide with us all henceforth	1:03:27
	now and forever more, amen.	1:03:31
	(organ music)	1:03:40

Item Info

Title:

Joseph B. Bethea - "The Gospel of Reconciliation" (August 19, 1979)

Description:

Because of our rebellion against God, we are alienated from God and therefore from one another as well. But, as the history of God’s relationship with Israel shows, God is constantly reconciling us to Godself. The culmination of this activity is the revelation of Jesus Christ, through whose crucifixion God reconciled the whole world to Godself. Because of this, we have been called by God to participate in this ministry of reconciliation. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 22:51. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 42:15.
Key quotation: “In Christ God was reconciling. In Christ God is reconciling. In Christ God will be reconciling until the end of time.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4599zg3f

Date:

August 19, 1979

Speaker:

Bethea, Joseph B.

Biblical Book:

1 Chronicles

Chapter and Verse:

1 Chronicles 2:11-21

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1039
ref7287_rcn
uachapelsermaud
duke:320479
dcrau001919
ark:/87924/r4599zg3f
901cf082-8f91-4747-bf35-c5127a4f7557

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

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Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

Rights Note:

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

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Duke University Archives

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