Ellen Kirby - "Going against the Grain: Consider the Ravens" (August 10, 1980)

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-	Duke University Chapel,	0:06
	service of worship, August 10th, 1980.	0:07
	(organ music)	0:17
	(instrumental music)	1:46
	♪ Praise the Lord, ye heavens, adore Him ♪	8:30
	♪ Praise Him, angels, in the height ♪	8:35
	♪ Sun and moon, rejoice before Him ♪	8:42
	♪ Praise Him, all ye stars of night ♪	8:48
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	8:55
	♪ For He hath spoken ♪	8:58
	♪ Worlds His mighty voice obeyed ♪	9:01
	♪ Laws which never shall be broken ♪	9:09
	♪ For their guidance hath He made ♪	9:15
	(organ music)	9:25
	♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪	10:01
	♪ On Thy people pour Thy power ♪	10:06
	♪ Crown Thy ancient church's story ♪	10:11
	♪ Bring their bud to glorious flower ♪	10:16
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	10:21
	♪ For the facing of this hour ♪	10:27
	♪ For the facing of this hour ♪	10:32
	♪ Lo the hosts of evil round us ♪	10:40
	♪ Scorn the Christ, assail His ways ♪	10:45
	♪ From the fears that long have bound us ♪	10:51
	♪ Free our hearts to faith and praise ♪	10:57
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	11:02
	♪ For the living of these days ♪	11:08
	♪ For the living of these days ♪	11:14
	♪ Cure Thy children's warring madness ♪	11:22
	♪ Bend our pride to Thy control ♪	11:28
	♪ Shame our wanton, selfish gladness ♪	11:33
	♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪	11:39
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	11:44
	♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪	11:50
	♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪	11:55
	♪ Set our feet on lofty places ♪	12:03
	♪ Gird our lives that they may be ♪	12:09
	♪ Armored with all Christlike graces ♪	12:14
	♪ In our life to set them free ♪	12:19
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	12:25
	♪ That we fail not them nor Thee ♪	12:30
	♪ That we fail not them nor Thee ♪	12:36
	♪ Save us from weak resignation ♪	12:44
	♪ To the evils we deplore ♪	12:49
	♪ Let the gift of Thy salvation ♪	12:55
	♪ Be our glory evermore ♪	13:01
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	13:06
	♪ Serving Thee whom we adore ♪	13:12
	♪ Serving Thee whom we adore ♪	13:17
	♪ Amen ♪	13:26
-	Dear brothers and sisters,	13:34
	Scripture moves us to acknowledge	13:36
	and confess our sins before Almighty God	13:38
	with a humble, lowly,	13:41
	penitent and obedient heart	13:44
	to the end that we may obtain forgiveness	13:47
	by the Lord's infinite goodness and mercy.	13:49
	Let us confess our sins to Almighty God.	13:52
	O Almighty God.	13:57
	Please be seated.	14:02
-	O Almighty God,	14:09
	we come weighed down	14:12
	with the problems of a wealthy society,	14:14
	and yet we complain about what we do not have.	14:17
	Our bank accounts have become our Bibles.	14:21
	Interest and dividends are the blessings we seek.	14:25
	But we are spiritually poor.	14:30
	Forgive us for our warped sense of value,	14:33
	distorted by our greed.	14:36
	Forgive us for our anxiety over wealth,	14:39
	while at the same time, we have little concern	14:43
	for our spiritual welfare.	14:46
	Make us rich with the gifts of Your Spirit,	14:49
	which inflation or a depression	14:53
	or even death cannot take from us.	14:55
	In Christ's name we pray, amen.	14:59
-	Let us draw near to the Lord in silent meditation	15:04
	and lay before our God	15:08
	the private confessions of our hearts and souls.	15:10
	Hear these words of assurance.	15:41
	For as the heavens are high above the earth,	15:44
	so great is His steadfast love	15:48
	toward those who fear Him.	15:50
	As far as the east is from the west,	15:53
	so far does He remove our transgressions from us.	15:57
	Ask and it will be given to you.	16:02
	Seek and you will find.	16:05
	Knock and it will be opened to you.	16:08
	For every one who asks receives	16:11
	and the one who seeks finds	16:14
	and to the one who knocks,	16:17
	it will be opened.	16:19
	Let us join the versicle of thanksgiving.	16:24
	Let us give thanks for God is good	16:28
	and God's love is everlasting.	16:31
-	Thanks be to God	16:34
	whose love has made us.	16:36
	Thanks be to God	16:39
	whose mercy forgives us.	16:40
	Thanks be to God	16:43
	whose promise secures us.	16:45
	Amen.	16:48
-	Let me offer a word of welcome	16:52
	to each of you who are worshiping with us this morning.	16:53
	We pray that you will find in this service	16:57
	sustenance and strength	17:00
	that will abide with you in the days ahead.	17:02
	I need to note one correction in the bulletin	17:08
	at this time.	17:10
	The closing hymn of our service will be hymn number 152.	17:12
	The morning's preacher is Ellen Kirby.	17:21
	For the past 11 years, Ellen has served	17:26
	on the Board of Global Ministries	17:28
	of the United Methodist Church.	17:30
	Her current position is as Executive Secretary	17:33
	in Administration with Responsibilities	17:36
	with the Women's Division.	17:39
	It is a privilege to have with us	17:42
	one whose ministry is so vital and so far-reaching	17:44
	and we look forward to sharing in that ministry this morning	17:48
	as Ellen proclaims the word to us.	17:52
	Let us pray.	18:00
	Prepare our hearts, O Lord,	18:04
	to accept Your word.	18:06
	Silence in us any voice but Your own,	18:09
	that hearing we may also obey Your will,	18:13
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	18:16
	The Old Testament lesson is taken from	18:23
	the book of Ecclesiastes, the second chapter,	18:25
	the 18th through the 26th verses.	18:29
	So I came to hate all my labor and toil	18:35
	here under the sun	18:38
	since I should have to leave its fruits	18:40
	to my successor.	18:42
	What sort of a man will he be who succeeds me?	18:45
	Who inherits what others have acquired?	18:49
	Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?	18:53
	Yet he will be master of all the fruits	18:58
	of my labor and skill here under the sun.	19:01
	This too is emptiness.	19:05
	Then I turned and gave myself up to despair,	19:09
	reflecting upon all my labor and toil	19:13
	here under the sun.	19:16
	For anyone who toils with wisdom,	19:18
	knowledge and skill	19:21
	must leave it all to a man who has spent	19:23
	no labor on it.	19:25
	This too is emptiness	19:28
	and utterly wrong.	19:30
	What reward has a man for all his labor,	19:32
	his scheming and his toil here under the sun?	19:35
	All his life long, his business is pain	19:39
	and vexation to him.	19:41
	Even at night, his mind knows no rest.	19:44
	This too is emptiness.	19:48
	There is nothing better for a man to do	19:51
	than to eat and drink and enjoy himself	19:54
	in return for his labors.	19:56
	And yet I saw that this comes from the hand of God.	19:59
	For without Him, who can enjoy his food	20:04
	or who can be anxious?	20:06
	God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy	20:09
	to the man who pleases Him	20:14
	while to the sinner is given the trouble	20:16
	of gathering and amassing wealth	20:19
	only to hand it over to someone else	20:21
	who pleases God.	20:24
	This too is emptiness	20:26
	and chasing the wind.	20:28
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament, amen.	20:31
	(organ music)	20:44
	♪ I have longed ♪	20:53
	♪ For Thy saving health ♪	20:59
	♪ O Lord ♪	21:03
	♪ Thy law ♪	21:08
	♪ Is my delight ♪	21:10
	♪ Is my delight ♪	21:14
	♪ O Lord ♪	21:19
	♪ I have longed ♪	21:25
	♪ For Thy saving health ♪	21:31
	♪ O Lord ♪	21:35
	♪ Thy law ♪	21:39
	♪ Is my delight ♪	21:42
	♪ Is my delight ♪	21:46
	♪ O Lord ♪	21:51
	♪ O let my soul live ♪	21:55
	♪ O let my soul live ♪	22:02
	♪ And it shall praise Thee ♪	22:09
	♪ And Thy judgments ♪	22:13
	♪ Thy judgments ♪	22:17
	♪ Shall help me ♪	22:21
	♪ O let my soul live ♪	22:26
	♪ O let my soul live ♪	22:33
	♪ And it shall praise Thee ♪	22:39
	♪ And Thy judgments ♪	22:45
	♪ Thy judgments ♪	22:48
	♪ Shall help me ♪	22:53
-	Will the congregation please stand	23:12
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	23:13
	The gospel lesson is from Luke,	23:21
	the 12th chapter, verses 13 through 21.	23:23
	A man in the crowd said to Him,	23:30
	Master, tell my brother	23:32
	to divide the family property with me.	23:35
	He replied, My good man,	23:38
	who set Me over you to judge or arbitrate?	23:42
	Then He said to the people,	23:47
	Beware, be on your guard	23:49
	against greed of every kind.	23:52
	For even when a man has more than enough,	23:54
	his wealth does not give him life.	23:57
	And He told them this parable.	24:01
	There was a rich man whose land yielded heavy crops.	24:04
	He debated with himself,	24:09
	What am I to do?	24:10
	I have not the space to store my produce.	24:13
	This is what I will do, said he.	24:16
	I will pull down my storehouses and build them bigger.	24:18
	I will collect in them all my corn	24:22
	and other goods and then say to myself,	24:25
	Man, you have plenty of good things laid by,	24:28
	enough for many years.	24:32
	Take life easy.	24:35
	Eat, drink and enjoy yourself.	24:37
	But God said to him,	24:41
	You fool.	24:44
	This very night, you must surrender your life.	24:45
	You have made your money.	24:49
	Who will get it now?	24:51
	That is how it is with the man	24:54
	who amasses wealth for himself	24:56
	and remains a pauper in the sight of God.	24:58
	(organ music)	25:05
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	25:13
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer Lord ♪	25:19
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	25:27
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	25:34
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	25:42
	♪ Ever shall be ♪	25:49
	♪ Amen ♪	25:53
-	Good morning.	26:21
	First, let me say	26:23
	a word of appreciation to those here at Duke	26:24
	who extended to me this invitation	26:27
	to be with you,	26:29
	to be back in North Carolina, my home state	26:31
	and to especially be among family and friends.	26:34
	For several weeks, during the very recent hot weather	26:40
	in New York City where we live,	26:43
	my three year old son would come to us and say,	26:46
	"Could I have some country time?"	26:52
	Neither my husband nor I knew exactly	26:55
	what he was talking about	26:57
	but as his language skills improved	26:59
	and the weather got hotter,	27:02
	he came to us and said,	27:04
	"Please give me some of that good ol' Country Time."	27:05
	We still didn't know what he wanted.	27:09
	But finally we began to figure it out.	27:12
	We realized that this urban toddler	27:14
	didn't really want to go back and live with his grandparents	27:17
	in the countryside of North Carolina.	27:19
	He just wanted some lemonade.	27:21
	And I bet some of you would like some right now too.	27:24
	This story suggests a situation	27:28
	that is very symbolic of the times in which we live.	27:30
	We live in an age where babes know the names of things	27:34
	by their products, before their proper names.	27:37
	Where the jingle jangle of the commercial tunes	27:41
	are ingrained in the consciousness	27:45
	before the nursery rhythm.	27:46
	And as a taxi driver in New York City told me yesterday	27:49
	on the way to the airport,	27:52
	We have political candidates who are packaged	27:54
	by Madison Avenue experts and sold to the voters	27:57
	like bars of soap.	28:00
	Ours is a consumer age.	28:03
	To consume has become an art.	28:05
	We take courses to learn how to be good consumers.	28:08
	Teenagers pay to buy T-shirts with advertisements	28:12
	of products so that they can be identified	28:16
	by their relationship to these products.	28:19
	We wouldn't allow a salesperson into our homes	28:22
	to influence our preschoolers with their products	28:25
	but we let television come into our home	28:30
	to bombard children with thousands of products	28:32
	before they're even old enough to read,	28:35
	much less make any kind of intelligent decision	28:37
	about purchasing.	28:40
	Our text for today deal directly with some of the problems	28:43
	of excessive consumerism.	28:46
	The story in Ecclesiastes	28:49
	relates the anxiety of the person who has worked	28:53
	all of his or her life to accumulate earthly possessions	28:56
	yet there is no joy in the life	29:00
	because of the fear that someone else,	29:03
	someone unknown might benefit	29:06
	from the accumulations when the person dies.	29:08
	Jesus' words as recorded in Luke	29:12
	could not have been stronger.	29:15
	Beware.	29:17
	Not watch out.	29:20
	Not be careful.	29:21
	Not avoid.	29:23
	But beware.	29:25
	Be on your guard against greed of every kind.	29:27
	Yet we live in a society which conditions us	29:32
	to wanting that which we do not need.	29:34
	In fact, the pressures often become so great	29:38
	that our wants become our needs.	29:41
	Our very identity finds its basis	29:44
	in a particular type of clothing	29:47
	with a particular type of label	29:49
	preferably now visibly shown,	29:52
	driving a particular type of car,	29:55
	living in a particular type of house	29:58
	and in a particular type of neighborhood,	30:00
	even in attending a particular type of church.	30:03
	And on and on and on.	30:06
	In an article entitled, "Does Money Buy Happiness?"	30:10
	Richard A. Easterlin, professor of Economics	30:13
	at the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce	30:16
	states that each person acts on the assumption	30:18
	that more money will bring more happiness.	30:21
	And indeed if he does get more money and others do not,	30:24
	his happiness will increase.	30:28
	But Professor Easterlin hastens to add	30:31
	that when everyone acts on this assumption	30:33
	and incomes generally increase,	30:36
	no one on the average feels better off.	30:39
	He draws the conclusion that each person goes on,	30:43
	generation after generation	30:46
	unaware of the self-defeating process	30:48
	in which he is caught up.	30:51
	Beware, be on your guard	30:53
	against greed of every kind.	30:56
	For when a person has more than enough,	31:00
	his wealth does not give him life.	31:03
	What gives you life?	31:07
	What nourishes you?	31:09
	What gives you strength?	31:10
	What do you really value?	31:12
	What are your real needs?	31:15
	These may be some of the most important questions	31:18
	that each one of us faces throughout our life.	31:20
	The parable in today's text is often called	31:24
	The Rich Fool.	31:26
	This man had so much grain stored up	31:28
	that he didn't know what to do with it all.	31:30
	His biggest problem was storage,	31:32
	so he built more barns and prepared to sit back,	31:34
	eat, drink and be merry.	31:39
	But God entered the picture to say	31:41
	that his time was up	31:43
	and He posed to this rich man	31:45
	the same problem posed in Ecclesiastes.	31:47
	Who will get your goods?	31:50
	The implication in the story	31:53
	is that the man had gathered all these things to himself.	31:55
	He had shared with no one	31:59
	and had no one with whom he could share	32:01
	after his death.	32:02
	Every one of us has to deal	32:04
	at some point in our life	32:06
	with our legacy to others.	32:08
	Perhaps a good test of life's meaning	32:11
	is to think about your feelings	32:13
	towards that which you leave to others	32:15
	after you are gone	32:17
	or to turn the question around.	32:19
	How do we receive?	32:21
	How do we receive	32:23
	that which those go before us	32:25
	may offer to us?	32:27
	When one of our closest friends	32:29
	was killed in an automobile accident	32:31
	before his 50th birthday,	32:33
	he didn't have a chance to carefully decide	32:35
	what he would leave to others.	32:39
	What he left to others was very very little	32:41
	in material goods.	32:43
	But rather he left an inspiration because of his life	32:46
	lived for social justice	32:49
	and memories of his unique capability to help people laugh	32:51
	at even the most common things.	32:55
	His legacy to me was a book,	32:58
	a book by Howard Thurman	33:00
	who I understand has been with you.	33:02
	In this book, he had underlined significant passages	33:05
	and so now I have from him that which he shared	33:08
	of his most important insights and wisdom.	33:12
	There's no greater gift that one can leave to another	33:16
	than the gift of ideas.	33:19
	Jesus' parable of the rich fool	33:22
	must be viewed in the context	33:24
	of Jesus' total ministry.	33:25
	In a study book called The Parables of Jesus:	33:29
	Glimpses of a New Age,	33:32
	we find some insights by the author, Neal Fisher	33:35
	into the meaning of parables.	33:39
	The parable refers to the age to come	33:42
	which is happening that forever alludes us	33:44
	and yet is near at hand.	33:46
	They unveil a future which already is making an impact	33:50
	upon the present situation.	33:54
	The new age is like the experience of a person	33:57
	walking on a dark, deserted road	33:59
	who suddenly glimpses the otherwise	34:02
	obscure surroundings in a flash of lightning.	34:04
	In an instant, the countryside is suddenly	34:07
	splashed with light.	34:10
	Everything comes into view.	34:12
	The image of the surroundings is seared upon the mind.	34:16
	Because of that glimpse,	34:20
	the person who continues walking through the darkness	34:23
	is very aware of the reality	34:26
	that lies behind and ahead.	34:28
	The parables thus do not detail for us	34:32
	exactly what we are to do	34:35
	but they suggest what is possible and fitting	34:37
	now that God has acted decisively in history.	34:40
	The message of the New Testament	34:44
	is at the time through which we pass	34:47
	has been fractured by light.	34:49
	Even as we live among the marks of the old age,	34:52
	we are beginning to experience the new age.	34:57
	The two ages are in conflict.	35:01
	In Jesus Christ, the new age is present.	35:04
	And it is in this new age	35:08
	that we glimpse a reality expressed	35:10
	in the parables.	35:14
	God is calling us to a new age,	35:16
	an age where things of the spirit	35:19
	outweigh material possessions.	35:21
	On a global scale,	35:24
	God is calling us to seriously reckon	35:26
	with the extreme imbalance	35:29
	of resources between the rich and the poor.	35:31
	Between the developed and the developing nations.	35:36
	Between our expenditure for arms and munitions	35:39
	as compared to our expenditures for human services.	35:43
	Could it be that the modern day rich fool	35:48
	is no small farmer,	35:52
	but rather the rich nations	35:55
	who build bigger and bigger weapons	35:57
	that need bigger and bigger storage systems,	36:01
	that need bigger and bigger surveillance capabilities.	36:05
	Let us look briefly at this imbalance.	36:09
	In 1980, military spending for the whole world	36:13
	will reach $500 billion	36:17
	or $1.5 billion per day	36:21
	or $1.5 million per minute.	36:25
	Even 10 years ago, military expenses	36:29
	throughout the world were running at two and a half times	36:31
	that which nations spent on health care.	36:34
	One and a half times that spent on education.	36:38
	30 times the total of all official and unofficial	36:42
	economic aid granted by developed	36:46
	to developing countries.	36:49
	In the United States,	36:52
	47% of our federal taxes this year	36:54
	will go for war-related expenditures.	36:58
	For the average paying, tax-paying person	37:02
	who pays $2100 in federal taxes,	37:06
	$987 of this will go to the military budget.	37:09
	At the Riverside Church in New York City,	37:14
	a survey showed that members who were polled	37:16
	paid four times the amount of their church pledge	37:19
	to the Pentagon budget last year.	37:23
	No one of us wishes to face the specter	37:27
	of a nuclear holocaust,	37:30
	yet in our all-consuming desire for security,	37:32
	be it personal security or national security,	37:35
	we have placed ourselves in a situation	37:40
	where we have created an absolutely vulnerable condition	37:42
	for ourselves and for the planet.	37:45
	The most powerful nations on earth	37:49
	have fallen into the terrible trap	37:50
	of trying to build security by accumulating	37:53
	ever greater wealth and power,	37:55
	supported by means of destruction	37:57
	beyond our imagination.	37:59
	In his widely-discussed book,	38:04
	The Emerging Order: God in an Age of Scarcity,	38:05
	the author, Jeremy Rifkin,	38:09
	describes a future where there are two potential	38:11
	ethics emerging to confront	38:15
	a world of shrinking natural resources.	38:17
	One is an ethic which values the struggle	38:21
	of each against all	38:23
	to acquire the control of existing resources,	38:25
	an ethic that's applied on both the personal	38:29
	and the global scale.	38:31
	The second possible ethic	38:34
	leads to an epic where cooperation	38:36
	between human beings and between the human race	38:39
	and nature become the prevailing norm.	38:42
	The second choice is the only one	38:45
	which will allow us to survive as a human race	38:49
	and is certainly the only one	38:52
	with a Christian essence.	38:55
	Samuel Pisar, who is an international lawyer	38:59
	and one of the youngest survivors	39:02
	of Hitler's concentration camps	39:04
	wrote in his memoirs recently published:	39:06
	Must everyone have an Auschwitz first	39:09
	or can those who have experienced only normal life	39:13
	also understand that the sacrifices required	39:16
	to cope with some of the world's problems	39:19
	are much less than they suppose.	39:21
	But that the danger involved in ignoring	39:24
	any of them are infinitely greater	39:28
	than they can imagine.	39:31
	Yet our present experience in the United States	39:36
	suggest that as economic resources decrease,	39:39
	the economic fears that each one of us faces intensify	39:43
	and our social responsibility decreases.	39:48
	Political leaders and platforms seem to lead us	39:52
	into some mythical past,	39:54
	based on our insecurity.	39:56
	And some notion that things were better	39:58
	when women were in their proper place.	40:00
	When we could all drive fast and big cars	40:03
	and when we could sleep better at night	40:07
	because of promises of an ever-increasing military arsenal.	40:08
	The really urgent questions of our day	40:14
	are neither addressed by political leaders	40:18
	nor by the mass media	40:21
	in its attempt to provide some analysis.	40:23
	In the passage that follows	40:29
	the parable of the rich fool,	40:31
	Jesus talks with His disciples	40:33
	about the Christian lifestyle.	40:35
	Listen to His words in the context	40:37
	of the condition that faces us today.	40:39
	Therefore I tell you,	40:44
	do not be anxious about your life,	40:45
	what you shall eat nor about your body,	40:47
	what you shall put on.	40:49
	For life is more than food	40:51
	and the body more than clothing.	40:53
	Consider the ravens.	40:55
	They neither sow nor reap.	40:56
	They have neither storehouses nor barns	40:58
	and yet God feeds them.	41:00
	Of how much more value are you than the birds	41:04
	and which of you, by being anxious,	41:08
	can add a cubit to his span of life?	41:10
	In the gospel of Matthew,	41:14
	the ravens are the birds of heaven.	41:16
	They don't symbolize idleness	41:19
	but they do symbolize freedom from anxiety.	41:21
	The challenge to us is not to be like the ravens.	41:26
	That would be impossible.	41:29
	But to consider the ravens.	41:32
	On a personal level, this means an ongoing	41:35
	and careful examination of our values, our lifestyle	41:38
	and our faith.	41:42
	The ravens are a beacon to us	41:44
	to develop our inner resources	41:46
	and to move our inner life to new and deeper directions.	41:49
	Above all, to reclaim God and things of the Spirit	41:54
	as the center of our life.	41:57
	Corporately, the raven is a beacon to us,	42:00
	leading us to the creation of a society	42:04
	where a simpler lifestyle is encouraged	42:07
	rather than discouraged.	42:10
	To a spirit of cooperation and sharing	42:13
	rather than competition and control.	42:18
	Where conservation rather than consumerism	42:22
	is a way of life.	42:26
	Let the raven be a beacon to us	42:28
	to create a society where no one has to be anxious	42:31
	about the future as an elderly person,	42:35
	trapped in poor health and poverty.	42:38
	A society where meaningful work	42:41
	and full employment is a viable national goal.	42:44
	As Christians, we basically have two choices	42:50
	to consider in the decades that lie ahead.	42:53
	Our first option is to withdraw	42:56
	from facing the needs that we see around us.	42:58
	To find ways to maintain our personal survival	43:01
	and to support those policies and practices	43:04
	which primarily protect our own particular lifestyle.	43:07
	Our churches can become sanctuaries that protect us	43:13
	from facing the issues and problems	43:16
	that confront contemporary society.	43:19
	Or we can join together and with others	43:22
	in the development of a community-oriented approach,	43:25
	we can meet the problems head on	43:29
	and develop a new vision	43:30
	of what society can be.	43:33
	We can search for a new definition of the common good.	43:35
	Key to the development of a new vision of society	43:40
	is the Genesis account of creation.	43:43
	Theologians of all types are calling forth	43:47
	new understandings by which they reject	43:50
	the concept of man's dominion over nature	43:53
	and dominion over the earth,	43:56
	which has justified a manipulation	44:00
	and exploitation of natural resources.	44:02
	We are redefining the concept of dominion	44:06
	to see the concept of stewardship as fundamental.	44:09
	If we truly accept the notion	44:14
	that God's creation is good,	44:16
	that it is orderly,	44:19
	that all creation is related,	44:21
	then those actions	44:24
	which harm God's creation	44:25
	or manipulate the order of creation	44:27
	become actions which challenge the very nature of God.	44:30
	In this sense, God is logically challenging	44:35
	both the rich fool and the rich nations.	44:38
	For by their actions, they have denied the existence of God	44:42
	and the purpose that God intended for humankind.	44:46
	If we are to begin along the road of the new creation,	44:50
	the road set forth in the creation story	44:55
	and illuminated further by Jesus' life and teachings,	44:58
	we are called to reexamine the assumptions	45:03
	on which we operate at every level.	45:05
	According to Jeremy Rifkin,	45:09
	in his extensive examination of the creation story,	45:11
	this new understanding,	45:14
	if accepted as a Christian worldview,	45:16
	could bring about a second reformation of Protestantism.	45:19
	Yes, to consider the ravens	45:26
	does compel us to go against the grain	45:28
	of many of the pressures that faced us,	45:32
	both inwardly and outwardly.	45:35
	But for Christians, this is both the challenge	45:38
	and the promise.	45:42
	As in the story of Noah,	45:46
	it was the dove that symbolized God's promise	45:48
	to the people of faith.	45:50
	May we too have such faith	45:53
	so that we can move forward together	45:56
	in the future that waits us.	45:58
	Let us pray.	46:00
	O God, Creator and Sustainer of all life,	46:05
	be with each one of us	46:10
	in our struggles to be whole people.	46:12
	Guide us in the knowledge of Your creation,	46:16
	its beauty, its wonder	46:19
	and its meaning.	46:23
	Instill in us an even deeper respect	46:25
	for Your natural order and our responsibility	46:27
	to be good stewards,	46:31
	not only to the environment	46:33
	but in our human resources and relationships.	46:35
	Guide us in all our days	46:40
	to know more fully who we are	46:44
	as a people of faith.	46:47
	Amen.	46:49
	(organ music)	46:54
	♪ Be Thou my vision ♪	47:28
	♪ O Lord of my heart ♪	47:31
	♪ Naught be all else to me ♪	47:36
	♪ Save that Thou art ♪	47:40
	♪ Thou my best thought ♪	47:44
	♪ By day or by night ♪	47:48
	♪ Waking or sleeping ♪	47:53
	♪ Thy presence my light ♪	47:57
	♪ Be Thou my wisdom ♪	48:04
	♪ And Thou my true Word ♪	48:07
	♪ I ever with Thee ♪	48:13
	♪ And Thou with me, Lord ♪	48:16
	♪ Thou my great Father ♪	48:21
	♪ And I Thy true son ♪	48:25
	♪ Thou in me dwelling ♪	48:30
	♪ And I with Thee one ♪	48:33
	♪ Riches I heed not ♪	48:41
	♪ Nor man's empty praise ♪	48:45
	♪ Thou mine inheritance ♪	48:50
	♪ Now and always ♪	48:54
	♪ Thou and Thou only first ♪	48:59

Item Info

Title:

Ellen Kirby - "Going against the Grain: Consider the Ravens" (August 10, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 26:21. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 46:51.
The world is corrupted by misuse of power and resources. In order to create a new and better society, we must cooperate with one another. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “There is no greater gift that one can leave to another than the gift of ideas.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4td9nq0b

Date:

August 10, 1980

Speaker:

Kirby, Ellen

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1107
ref7426_g2g
uachapelsermaud
duke:321074
dcrau001986
ark:/87924/r4td9nq0b
56d5d88e-3447-42b5-8094-cd8ab542bbb1

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

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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Ellen Kirby - "Going against the Grain: Consider the Ravens" (August 10, 1980)

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Duke University Archives