Robert T. Young - "You Will Find Rest for Your Souls" (November 2, 1980)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (beep) | 0:10 | |
| (flute playing) | 1:22 | |
| (organ playing) | 2:03 | |
| (orchestral music) | 2:59 | |
| (organ playing) | 4:41 | |
| (raging orchestral music) | 7:05 | |
| (soft orchestral music) | 10:01 | |
| ♪ When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, ♪ | 14:57 | |
| ♪ and time shall be no more, ♪ | 14:59 | |
| ♪ And the morning breaks, ♪ | 15:02 | |
| ♪ eternal, bright and fair; ♪ | 15:03 | |
| ♪When the saved of earth shall gather ♪ | 15:07 | |
| ♪ over on the other shore, ♪ | 15:09 | |
| ♪ And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. ♪ | 15:12 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder, ♪ | 15:18 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder, ♪ | 15:23 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder, ♪ | 15:28 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. ♪ | 15:40 | |
| (hymnic music) | 15:47 | |
| - | Glory be to God, for resurrection, to life. | 20:19 |
| Welcome to the worship of our creator and redeemer. | 20:25 | |
| Welcome to this chapel, to this company of faith. | 20:33 | |
| And to the larger company of pilgrims | 20:41 | |
| whom today we'll remember. | 20:44 | |
| Let us begin our testimony with confession. | 20:49 | |
| O God, we worship in your presence. | 20:56 | |
| You have spoken and given fawn and beauty to the world. | 21:00 | |
| You have spoken and forgiven us. | 21:05 | |
| You have spoken and freed us from the fear of death. | 21:09 | |
| You have spoken and given purpose to our life. | 21:14 | |
| O Lord, speak to us now, awaken us to the wonder | 21:18 | |
| and beauty of life, speak and let us respond, | 21:23 | |
| and praise and daily service, in Christ's name, amen. | 21:29 | |
| Forgive us O Lord, acknowledge ourselves | 21:49 | |
| as type of the common people, of the men and women | 21:54 | |
| who shut the door and sit by the fire. | 21:59 | |
| Who fear the blessing of God, the loneliness | 22:02 | |
| of the might of God, the surrender required, | 22:06 | |
| the depravation inflicted who fear the injustice of others | 22:11 | |
| less than the justice of God. | 22:16 | |
| Who fear the hand of the window, | 22:19 | |
| the knock at the door, the words of our peers, | 22:23 | |
| the threats of the common place, the conflict of evil, | 22:26 | |
| less than we fear the love of God. | 22:32 | |
| We acknowledge our trespass, acknowledge our weakness, | 22:35 | |
| our fault, we acknowledge that the sin of the world | 22:39 | |
| is upon our head, but the blood of a martyr, | 22:43 | |
| the agony of the saints, is upon our heads. | 22:46 | |
| Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us. | 22:50 | |
| Lord have mercy upon us, amen. | 22:56 | |
| And may we offer unto God our own prayers of confession. | 23:02 | |
| God hears the honest presentation | 23:33 | |
| of our lives, and responds. | 23:37 | |
| Come now let us reason together says the Lord, | 23:45 | |
| though your sins be as scarlet, they shall | 23:50 | |
| be as white as snow, though they be red | 23:55 | |
| like crimson, they shall be as wool, amen. | 23:58 | |
| Let us give thanks for God is good, | 24:12 | |
| and God's love is everlasting. | 24:16 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 24:21 | |
| (audience recites prayer) | 24:23 | |
| Welcome to this service of worship on homecoming day | 24:40 | |
| at Duke University, it has been a good weekend. | 24:46 | |
| The beauty of nature, the renewal of friendships. | 24:53 | |
| A time to recall the past and to enjoy the present, | 24:59 | |
| and to anticipate the future. | 25:06 | |
| Perhaps at such a time it is appropriate that | 25:15 | |
| we are today celebrating All Saints Day, | 25:18 | |
| in this worship service. | 25:22 | |
| This is the day on which we remember that large | 25:27 | |
| company of faithful that have gone before us, and thank God | 25:33 | |
| for their lives, and for their present living. | 25:39 | |
| This is an unusual service in this chapel. | 25:49 | |
| The music is distinctive, and the participation | 25:55 | |
| should be full. | 26:01 | |
| We invite you to participate in the music of the morning. | 26:04 | |
| To sing with the songs that you know. | 26:11 | |
| And particularly invite you at the appropriate time, | 26:16 | |
| to enter in to the singing of the Lord's prayer. | 26:21 | |
| For all the saints, let this be a time of joy, | 26:26 | |
| and of thanksgiving, and of affirmation, | 26:33 | |
| and of anticipation. | 26:39 | |
| - | Let us pray, prepare our hearts O Lord | 26:50 |
| to accept your word, silence in us any voice | 26:54 | |
| but your own, that hearing we may also obey your will, | 26:57 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 27:01 | |
| The old testament lesson is from Job, | 27:05 | |
| chapter 19 verses 23 to 26. | 27:07 | |
| O that my words were written, oh that they were inscribed | 27:13 | |
| in a book, O that with an iron pen and lead | 27:16 | |
| they were engraved in the rock forever. | 27:20 | |
| For I know that my redeemer lives, at last | 27:23 | |
| he will stand upon the earth, and as my skin | 27:26 | |
| has been just destroyed, then from my flesh, | 27:29 | |
| I will see God, here ends the reading | 27:33 | |
| from the old testament, amen. | 27:36 | |
| The epistle lesson is from 2 Thessalonians, | 27:40 | |
| chapter one verse 11, to chapter two verse two, | 27:42 | |
| and verses 16 and 17. | 27:46 | |
| To this end we always pray, that our God | 27:49 | |
| will make it worthy of his call, | 27:52 | |
| and may fulfill every good resolve and work of faith | 27:55 | |
| by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus | 27:58 | |
| may be glorified in you, and you in him. | 28:02 | |
| According to the grace of our God, | 28:05 | |
| and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 28:07 | |
| Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 28:10 | |
| and our assembling to meet him, we beg you brethren | 28:12 | |
| not to be quickly shaken in mind, or excited | 28:15 | |
| either by spirit or by word or by letter purporting | 28:18 | |
| to be from us, to the affect that | 28:22 | |
| the day of the Lord has come. | 28:24 | |
| Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself | 28:27 | |
| and God our father, who loved us, | 28:30 | |
| and gave us eternal comfort and good hope | 28:33 | |
| through grace, comfort your heart | 28:35 | |
| and establish them in every good work and word. | 28:38 | |
| Here ends the reading from the apostle. | 28:42 | |
| (organ playing) | 28:48 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 28:56 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 28:58 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:00 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:01 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:02 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:05 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:08 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:10 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 29:11 | |
| ♪ For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. ♪ | 29:16 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:23 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:24 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:25 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:27 | |
| ♪ For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. ♪ | 29:28 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:36 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:37 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:38 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:40 | |
| For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. | 29:41 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:49 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:51 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:54 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:56 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 29:58 | |
| ♪ (orchestral hymn music) ♪ | 30:01 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 30:33 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 30:39 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 30:45 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 30:51 | |
| ♪ King of Kings, forever, forever, ♪ | 30:58 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:03 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:04 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:05 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:06 | |
| ♪ Forever forever ♪ | 31:08 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:10 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah! ♪ | 31:11 | |
| ♪ He's our King! ♪ | 31:16 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 31:17 | |
| ♪ He's our King! ♪ | 31:22 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 31:26 | |
| ♪ He's our King ♪ | 31:31 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 31:33 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 31:48 | |
| ♪ and He shall reign, and He shall reign forever and ever, ♪ | 31:52 | |
| ♪ King of Kings! ♪ | 31:59 | |
| ♪ Forever ♪ | 32:01 | |
| ♪ Forever ♪ | 32:02 | |
| ♪ And Lord of Lords ♪ | 32:04 | |
| ♪ Forever ♪ | 32:07 | |
| ♪ Forever ♪ | 32:08 | |
| ♪ (Orchestral hymn music) ♪ | 32:10 | |
| - | The congregation remains standing for the | 33:03 |
| reading of the gospel lesson. | 33:04 | |
| The gospel lesson is from Matthew, chapter 11, | 33:08 | |
| verses 25 through 30. | 33:10 | |
| At that time Jesus declared, I thank thee father, | 33:14 | |
| Lord of heaven and earth, that thou has hidden these things | 33:18 | |
| from the wise and the understanding, | 33:22 | |
| and revealed them to babes. | 33:24 | |
| Ye father for such was thy gracious will. | 33:26 | |
| All things have been delivered to me by my father, | 33:29 | |
| and no one knows the son except the father. | 33:32 | |
| And no one knows the father except the son, | 33:35 | |
| and to anyone whom the son chooses to reveal him. | 33:38 | |
| Come to me all who labor and all heavy labored, | 33:42 | |
| and I will give you heavy rest. | 33:45 | |
| Take my yolk upon you, and learn from me for I am gentle | 33:47 | |
| and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. | 33:51 | |
| For my yolk is easy, and my burden is light. | 33:56 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 34:02 | |
| The name of the Lord our God, who indeed has made us, | 34:58 | |
| who surely has redeemed us, and just as surely | 35:03 | |
| sustains us, amen. Today is the first Sunday | 35:07 | |
| after All Saints Day in the life of the Christian church, | 35:13 | |
| in our church year. | 35:16 | |
| This Sunday has, for five years now, | 35:19 | |
| been a very special time for celebration | 35:22 | |
| for those of us who make up the Duke chapel | 35:25 | |
| worshiping congregation on this particular day. | 35:27 | |
| Jazz musicians, congregational singing, | 35:31 | |
| anthems extra ordinare, the word appropriate | 35:35 | |
| for today preached and prayed have combined literally | 35:39 | |
| to lift us to the throne of heaven, and we're glad. | 35:42 | |
| This indeed is a great time in the life | 35:48 | |
| of this university and in our lives as people of God. | 35:50 | |
| Duke was blessed richly on Friday, | 35:57 | |
| by the largest gift given since the original gift | 36:00 | |
| that established this university, | 36:05 | |
| as Mr. JB Fuqua, one who's life and work have been touched | 36:08 | |
| and shaped by Duke University, gave the School | 36:12 | |
| of Business Administration some 10 million dollars. | 36:17 | |
| Friends and classmates, family and friends, | 36:22 | |
| alumni and alumna, loyal and loving to Duke, | 36:25 | |
| have been here for an absolutely gorgeous | 36:30 | |
| and most enjoyable weekend and the ministers | 36:32 | |
| to the university have been in charge of the weather. | 36:35 | |
| (audience laughs) | 36:39 | |
| The football Blue Devils won over Georgia Tech, | 36:41 | |
| midterm exams are now over, mom and dad | 36:45 | |
| were here last weekend and you have enough money | 36:49 | |
| to keep going for a little while. | 36:52 | |
| These are causes great and small for celebration, | 36:56 | |
| and celebrate we are here to do. | 36:59 | |
| Basically, there are two sermons that I would | 37:03 | |
| like to preach in this sermon this morning | 37:05 | |
| on the theme "You will find rest for your souls." | 37:07 | |
| The first sermon has to do with those who have died | 37:11 | |
| and now rest in the Lord. | 37:15 | |
| Those whom we know but do not see any longer. | 37:17 | |
| Those whom we love and have lost for a little while. | 37:21 | |
| Surely if my friend Christ is to believed and trusted, | 37:24 | |
| if the word of God is true at all, | 37:28 | |
| they have found rest for their souls. | 37:31 | |
| They are in the eternal presence | 37:36 | |
| of our blessed Lord and Savior, and in the loving presence | 37:38 | |
| of the Lord God Almighty. | 37:42 | |
| But they are not lost to us, they are with us even still. | 37:45 | |
| That great cloud of witnesses, that blessed communion | 37:50 | |
| of all the saints, that ever present company | 37:55 | |
| of the faithful are with us even in this moment. | 37:59 | |
| And so the first sermon is to those of us | 38:03 | |
| who have someone--mother, father, husband, wife, | 38:06 | |
| son, daughter, friend, or neighbor. | 38:10 | |
| For those of us who have someone who has | 38:14 | |
| passed from life to death to life. | 38:15 | |
| Our beloved have found rest for their souls, | 38:20 | |
| as we have confronted with them and shared with them | 38:23 | |
| that ultimate mystery of death and now we believe, | 38:26 | |
| and now we believe as never ever before. | 38:31 | |
| C.S. Lewis in his classic book, "A grief observed," | 38:36 | |
| written after his beloved wife died, says, | 38:40 | |
| "You never know how much you really believe anything | 38:44 | |
| until the truth of falsehood becomes a matter | 38:48 | |
| of life of death to you." | 38:51 | |
| Who are the dead? How are the dead? | 38:55 | |
| Where are the dead are matters of life and death | 38:59 | |
| to use when someone we love has joined the | 39:02 | |
| church everlasting. And so the first sermon this morning | 39:04 | |
| is very simply a prayer, a prayer poem by Michael Horst. | 39:09 | |
| Some lines from his poem entitled, "The funeral." | 39:14 | |
| "As if there were dead people, Lord. | 39:20 | |
| There are no dead people, Lord. | 39:25 | |
| There are only the living, on earth and beyond. | 39:28 | |
| Death exists Lord, but it's nothing but a moment. | 39:34 | |
| A second, a step, the step from provisional | 39:37 | |
| to permanent, from temporal to eternal. | 39:42 | |
| As in the death of the child, the adolescence is born. | 39:47 | |
| From the caterpillar emerges the butterfly. | 39:51 | |
| From the grain, the full blown sheath. | 39:54 | |
| But where are they Lord, those that I have loved? | 39:58 | |
| Are they in ecstasy taken up in holy living and harmony | 40:03 | |
| with the trinity? Are they tormented | 40:07 | |
| in the night burning with desire to love | 40:09 | |
| with an infinite love? | 40:12 | |
| Are they in despair, condemned to their own selves | 40:14 | |
| because they preferred themselves to others? | 40:17 | |
| Concerned with hate because they can no longer love? | 40:21 | |
| Lord, my loved ones are near me, I know | 40:26 | |
| that they live in the spirit, my eyes can't see them | 40:31 | |
| because they have left their bodies for a moment | 40:35 | |
| as one steps out of one's clothing. | 40:38 | |
| Their souls deprived of their bodily vesture, | 40:41 | |
| no longer communicate with me, but in you | 40:44 | |
| Lord, I hear them calling me. I see them beckoning to me. | 40:48 | |
| I see them giving me advice for they are now | 40:54 | |
| more vividly present. | 40:57 | |
| Before our bodies touched but not our souls. | 41:00 | |
| Now I meet them when I meet you. | 41:05 | |
| I receive them when I receive you. | 41:09 | |
| I love them when I love you. | 41:12 | |
| Oh my loved ones, eternally alive who live | 41:15 | |
| in me, help me to learn thoroughly | 41:19 | |
| in this short life how to live eternally." | 41:23 | |
| For our loved ones eternally alive, | 41:31 | |
| who have now found rest for their souls | 41:34 | |
| we give thanks and praise and glory to God, | 41:37 | |
| for all the saints who from their labors rest. | 41:41 | |
| To God be the glory forever and ever, amen. | 41:45 | |
| Sermon two. | 41:51 | |
| Jesus says come to me. | 41:56 | |
| All who labor and are heavy laden, | 42:00 | |
| and I will give you rest. | 42:04 | |
| Take my yolk | 42:11 | |
| upon you and learn me for I am gentle and | 42:12 | |
| lowly in heart, and you will find rest | 42:18 | |
| for your souls. | 42:23 | |
| For my yolk is easy, | 42:27 | |
| and my burden is light. | 42:30 | |
| And you will find rest for your souls. | 42:35 | |
| We need that, or I need that. | 42:41 | |
| What an invitation, my friend, to all persons. | 42:47 | |
| There is never anything exclusive or confining | 42:54 | |
| or restrictive about the invitation | 42:58 | |
| that comes from Jesus. All who are burdened | 43:00 | |
| and heavy laden, and I guess that is each of us, | 43:04 | |
| at some time. To you and to me and to every | 43:10 | |
| other child of God Jesus says, "Come to me." | 43:15 | |
| All burdened under the load of the law | 43:22 | |
| and of lifeless religion, under burden | 43:25 | |
| under the load of toil and meaningless work. | 43:29 | |
| All burdened under the load of fear | 43:33 | |
| and unending anxiety, all burdened under dread | 43:36 | |
| and uncertainty and insecurity, all who know not the way | 43:40 | |
| the why or the how. All burdened under a heavy conscience | 43:45 | |
| for sins of omission and sins of commission. | 43:50 | |
| For sin unforgiven, all who are burdened | 43:54 | |
| under a broken relationship, one real and now gone. | 43:59 | |
| One present and now past, one hoped for but never realized. | 44:04 | |
| All who are burdened under a life of pressure | 44:10 | |
| and tension and anxiety or depression | 44:13 | |
| or loneliness or emptiness. | 44:17 | |
| Come to me, all. All. | 44:20 | |
| And the "all" refers to all persons. | 44:24 | |
| The "all" also refers, my friends, to "all" burdens. | 44:28 | |
| Anyone who thinks that there is anyone | 44:36 | |
| outside the grace and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ | 44:39 | |
| has surely not read or heard these words in Scripture. | 44:42 | |
| Anyone who thinks that any burden is outside | 44:47 | |
| the love and the grace and the acceptance of the Lord | 44:49 | |
| Jesus Christ has surely not read | 44:53 | |
| or heard these words in Scripture. | 44:55 | |
| So I share with you now some readings. | 45:00 | |
| Mary wrote, "Lord, the penance of living | 45:05 | |
| is mostly for loving someone other than you. | 45:12 | |
| And you shall find rest for your soul. | 45:20 | |
| Life after all is a gift, for giving away. | 45:26 | |
| Once you throw it from you and lift your spirit up | 45:30 | |
| nothing you do matters quite so much | 45:34 | |
| as freedom from life, returning again and haunting you | 45:36 | |
| to be someone instead of no one. | 45:40 | |
| And you will find rest for your souls. | 45:46 | |
| Rainer Maria Rilke, in letters to a young poet, | 45:52 | |
| shares the burden of his soul. | 45:57 | |
| He says, "That I believe is what I need | 46:05 | |
| to become more sure and not some homeless, | 46:11 | |
| I want to cease to be in exile." | 46:13 | |
| And you will find rest for your souls. | 46:21 | |
| Karl Barth, the late and great theologian, loved Mozart. | 46:26 | |
| And the music of Mozart. | 46:32 | |
| In 1956 on the 200th birthday of W.A. Mozart, | 46:35 | |
| Dr. Carl Bart wrote a letter of thanks to Mozart. | 46:41 | |
| He wrote, "What I thank you for is simply this. | 46:47 | |
| That whenever I hear you I find myself | 46:54 | |
| set on the threshold of a good an orderly world, | 46:57 | |
| both in rain and in sunshine, | 47:01 | |
| both by day and by night, and as a | 47:05 | |
| 20th century man, I find myself gifted each time | 47:09 | |
| with courage, not pride, | 47:14 | |
| with tempo, not exaggerated tempo, | 47:18 | |
| with purity, not tedious purity, | 47:21 | |
| and with peace, not pendulent peace. | 47:25 | |
| With your musical dialect in one ear one | 47:30 | |
| can be young and grow old, can work and rest, | 47:33 | |
| can be content and sad, in short | 47:37 | |
| with your music in ones ears, one can surely live." | 47:40 | |
| And you will find rest for your souls. | 47:48 | |
| In letters to God from teenagers, | 47:55 | |
| one teenager writes, "Dear God, first of all, | 47:59 | |
| thank you so very much for all you have given me, | 48:05 | |
| my parents, my friends, and so forth. | 48:08 | |
| I need so much help though, I am so lost. | 48:11 | |
| I smoke dope too much, I know, but really | 48:15 | |
| in a way I have to just to help me forget | 48:19 | |
| what kind of person I've been, how to take | 48:22 | |
| advantage to all the things you've given me. | 48:24 | |
| I'm really disappointed with the male race, O Lord. | 48:27 | |
| They take too much advantage of me. They all | 48:32 | |
| use me. All they want or look for is sex. | 48:37 | |
| They all want it when we start the relationship | 48:38 | |
| when I really like them, and then when they | 48:41 | |
| start liking me I don't like them anymore. | 48:45 | |
| I wish I was still a virgin for the man | 48:46 | |
| who will someday really love me, | 48:49 | |
| I wish you were here to help. | 48:51 | |
| I think the contrast between my parents and me | 48:55 | |
| is too much, I think sometimes I'm going crazy. | 48:57 | |
| I love my parents but why can't they understand | 49:01 | |
| why I can't talk about having sex | 49:04 | |
| or smoking pot with them? | 49:07 | |
| Nobody will listen because they don't want to help, | 49:09 | |
| they just are so against everything I do, | 49:13 | |
| but if they would help me, I wouldn't do it. | 49:16 | |
| I need someone." | 49:20 | |
| And you will find rest for your souls. | 49:25 | |
| That surely is why C.S. Lewis, in his classic | 49:29 | |
| little book written after the painful poignant | 49:33 | |
| death of his very beloved wife, says, | 49:36 | |
| "Reality looked at steadily is unbearable." | 49:39 | |
| And often it really is. But Jesus says, | 49:50 | |
| "You will find rest for your souls." | 49:53 | |
| All of us, with all of our burdens. | 49:58 | |
| "Come to me, all who labored and are heavy laden. | 50:04 | |
| And I will give you rest, take my yolk upon you | 50:11 | |
| and you will find rest for your souls." | 50:14 | |
| What is it then, that we must have, if we | 50:18 | |
| are to find rest for our souls? If we are | 50:20 | |
| to be free from our burdens and released from our load? | 50:22 | |
| I believe, I think it is really simple | 50:25 | |
| that we're simply to respond to the invitation | 50:29 | |
| of our Lord, an invitation offered to all of us, | 50:32 | |
| for all of our burdens. And then the Lord | 50:36 | |
| Jesus Christ will give rest for all of the souls | 50:41 | |
| of ourselves, we're to take upon ourselves | 50:45 | |
| the yolk of Christ and Christ tells us | 50:47 | |
| that his yolk is easy and his burden is light. | 50:49 | |
| This invitation, this offer, this promise | 50:54 | |
| is another of those strange but unbelievably true | 50:57 | |
| and good and beautiful paradoxes of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 51:01 | |
| "He who would be master of all, must be servant of all. | 51:09 | |
| He who would be first, must be last. | 51:16 | |
| And he who will be last, will surely be first. | 51:21 | |
| He who exalts himself will be humble | 51:25 | |
| but he who humbles himself will be exalted. | 51:27 | |
| He who would find his life must lose it but | 51:30 | |
| whoever loses his life will find it. Take my yolk | 51:34 | |
| upon you and then you will find rest for your soul." | 51:37 | |
| One of those strange but beautiful rich paradoxes | 51:42 | |
| of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 51:46 | |
| "Take my yolk upon you, and you will find rest | 51:55 | |
| for your soul." | 52:00 | |
| J.A. Studdard Kennedy, who was a chaplain | 52:04 | |
| during the first world war and known as Woodbine Willy | 52:08 | |
| and who's poetry I have shared with you before, | 52:11 | |
| and who's poetry I love, | 52:15 | |
| penned just a few lines to his son Christopher one day, | 52:19 | |
| and he titled it, "Just to Christopher." | 52:24 | |
| "Bear thou, to Christ, my little son. | 52:30 | |
| He will not burden thee, that holy one. | 52:35 | |
| For, by a mystery, | 52:41 | |
| whoever beareth him, he bears eternally." | 52:48 | |
| Whoever beareth the Christ, he bears eternally. | 52:56 | |
| "Come to me all who are labored and heavy laden. | 53:06 | |
| And I will give you rest, take my yolk upon you, | 53:11 | |
| for my yolk is easy and my burden is light, | 53:14 | |
| and you will find rest for your soul." | 53:17 | |
| The next hymn we'll sing, is it all, | 53:25 | |
| for all of us, about all of our burdens. | 53:30 | |
| "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound | 53:46 | |
| that saved a wretch like me. | 53:52 | |
| I once was lost, but now I'm found | 53:56 | |
| was blind but now I see. | 54:01 | |
| Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, | 54:07 | |
| and grace my fears relieved. | 54:09 | |
| How precious did that grace appear | 54:13 | |
| the hour I first believed. | 54:23 | |
| Through many dangers, toils and snares | 54:25 | |
| I have already come. Tis grace | 54:28 | |
| has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home." | 54:31 | |
| It's grace that says, "Come unto me all who labor | 54:39 | |
| and are heavy laden. It's grace that says, | 54:41 | |
| "Take my yolk upon you." It's grace that says, | 54:45 | |
| "You will find rest for your souls." | 54:52 | |
| For the lives of those who have lived with us, | 55:01 | |
| and now rest in the Lord, for the lives | 55:05 | |
| which our Lord Christ gives to us, | 55:10 | |
| as we take upon ourselves his yolk | 55:14 | |
| and find rest for our souls. For their lives | 55:19 | |
| and for our lives, we give thanks and praise | 55:22 | |
| to God, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, | 55:26 | |
| Amen. | 55:31 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 55:46 | |
| ♪ Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound ♪ | 56:21 | |
| ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ | 56:29 | |
| ♪ I once was lost, but now am found ♪ | 56:37 | |
| ♪ T'was blind but now I see ♪ | 56:46 | |
| ♪ T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear ♪ | 56:56 | |
| ♪ And Grace, my fears relieved ♪ | 57:04 | |
| ♪ How precious did that grace appear ♪ | 57:13 | |
| ♪ The hour I first believed ♪ | 57:21 | |
| ♪ Through many dangers, toils and snares ♪ | 57:31 | |
| ♪ We have already come. ♪ | 57:40 | |
| ♪ T'was grace that brought us safe thus far ♪ | 57:49 | |
| ♪ And grace will lead us home, ♪ | 57:58 | |
| (orchestral hymn of Amazing Grace) | 58:02 | |
| - | Let us affirm what we believe, | 1:00:16 |
| and let us affirm it so those standing nearby | 1:00:17 | |
| may hear our profession. | 1:00:20 | |
| We believe in God who has created | 1:00:24 | |
| and is creating who has come in the truly | 1:00:28 | |
| human Jesus to reconcile and make new. | 1:00:31 | |
| Who works in us and others of the spirit. | 1:00:36 | |
| We trust God who calls us to be the church, | 1:00:40 | |
| to celebrate life and it's fullness, to love | 1:00:45 | |
| and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil. | 1:00:49 | |
| To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge | 1:00:54 | |
| and our hope, in life, in death, in life beyond death, | 1:00:59 | |
| God is with us we are not alone, thanks be to God. | 1:01:06 | |
| You may be seated. | 1:01:13 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 1:01:22 | |
| Let us pray. | 1:01:26 | |
| All eternal God, who has bound together all the generations, | 1:01:32 | |
| we rejoice now in the communion of our saints. | 1:01:42 | |
| We give thanks for all those whose labor | 1:01:50 | |
| have brought life and light and hope to the world. | 1:01:55 | |
| We thank thee for those who are friend to the weak | 1:02:06 | |
| and the poor who defended them | 1:02:09 | |
| against outrage of oppression. | 1:02:12 | |
| We thank thee for those who went out as sheep | 1:02:18 | |
| in the mist of wolves to declare your truth, | 1:02:21 | |
| and your righteousness and for those | 1:02:25 | |
| who being your servant did not give up, | 1:02:31 | |
| but continued steadfast in the task which within us. | 1:02:35 | |
| We thank thee, for all of who in ages past | 1:02:43 | |
| have kept faith and hope and goodwill alive. | 1:02:48 | |
| For our loved ones who are now dead, | 1:02:56 | |
| we offer unto thee our thanksgiving. | 1:03:02 | |
| And for ourselves, who in our mortality | 1:03:11 | |
| know our dependence upon thee, we ask thy | 1:03:16 | |
| blessing and thy hope. | 1:03:23 | |
| O Lord in the midst of the fragile life that we live, | 1:03:33 | |
| help us to serve life, help us not to fear death. | 1:03:38 | |
| Help us to respect the power of destruction. | 1:03:48 | |
| And to work to overcome the destroyers. | 1:03:57 | |
| But beyond all human destructiveness, | 1:04:03 | |
| we trust in thy resurrecting power | 1:04:08 | |
| and thank thee that tragedy may be overcome, | 1:04:12 | |
| and life renewed and love live on. | 1:04:19 | |
| Give us your grace that we all so may enter | 1:04:27 | |
| into the company of your saints. | 1:04:32 | |
| May we be with those that have been given | 1:04:36 | |
| the victory over sin and death, | 1:04:39 | |
| dwell with you forever and ever | 1:04:42 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord whose prayer we now offer. | 1:04:47 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 1:04:58 | |
| ♪ Our father which art in heaven ♪ | 1:05:08 | |
| ♪ Hallowed be Thy name ♪ | 1:05:16 | |
| ♪ Thy kingdom come ♪ | 1:05:22 | |
| ♪ Thy will be done ♪ | 1:05:28 | |
| ♪ On earth as it is in heaven ♪ | 1:05:31 | |
| ♪ Give us this day ♪ | 1:05:45 | |
| ♪ our daily bread ♪ | 1:05:50 | |
| ♪ And forgive us our sins ♪ | 1:05:54 | |
| ♪ As we forgive our debtors ♪ | 1:05:59 | |
| ♪ and lead us not into temptation ♪ | 1:06:06 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 1:06:19 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 1:08:50 | |
| - | Let us pray, your large gifts O Lord, | 1:15:07 |
| evoke our small gifts to you. | 1:15:15 | |
| With our offering we also present our lives, amen. | 1:15:19 | |
| And now will you join the prayer | 1:15:28 | |
| of commemoration, and commitment. | 1:15:30 | |
| Eternal God, help us this day to remember | 1:15:36 | |
| the unseen cloud of witnesses who encompass us about. | 1:15:40 | |
| Those who in every age and generation | 1:15:44 | |
| witness to their faith in life and in death | 1:15:48 | |
| those who have the courage and sacrifice | 1:15:52 | |
| have won for us the freedom and liberty we enjoy. | 1:15:55 | |
| Those who have served and those who continue to serve, | 1:15:59 | |
| others at the cost of pain, of persecution and death. | 1:16:04 | |
| Those living martyrs who now suffer at the hands | 1:16:09 | |
| of oppressors and dictators and yet remain | 1:16:12 | |
| faithful to Christ in obedience and witness. | 1:16:16 | |
| Those who we love and drawn in you and whose lives | 1:16:20 | |
| live on in us, help us walk worthy | 1:16:25 | |
| of those in those unseen presence our lives are lived. | 1:16:29 | |
| Help us to commit our lives to Christ, | 1:16:34 | |
| in such a way that they may know their courage in danger, | 1:16:37 | |
| their steadfastness in trial, their perseverance | 1:16:42 | |
| in difficulty, their loyalty when loyalty is costly. | 1:16:46 | |
| Their love which nothing can change. | 1:16:51 | |
| Their joy which nothing can take away. | 1:16:54 | |
| So grant to us in this life, never to forget | 1:16:57 | |
| those who have gone before, so that in | 1:17:01 | |
| the light to come, we may share with them in their joy | 1:17:03 | |
| and blessedness literally Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 1:17:08 | |
| (horns blaring) | 1:17:20 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 1:18:21 | |
| - | Go from this celebration of life to serve life, | 1:22:29 |
| and know that the God who has come with us to this place | 1:22:34 | |
| will continue with us always, amen. | 1:22:38 | |
| (orchestral hymn music) | 1:22:45 |
Item Info
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