Daniel M. Schores - "Saints in the Shadows" (June 12, 1966)

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-	Entitled, "I Played Their Accompaniment."	0:04
	She was an accompanist to many of the great opera stars.	0:08
	And in this book, she told of her personal satisfaction	0:12
	and how she found meaning in life	0:16
	by being able to make others great.	0:19
	This is a little different approach to success.	0:23
	And I wondered how many possible	0:27
	or potential stars never achieve greatness	0:30
	because of a poor accompanist.	0:34
	In a real sense, it takes a saint to be willing	0:38
	to stay in the shadows of another's honors.	0:41
	When I use the phrase 'saints in the shadows',	0:47
	I'm thinking of unknown or little known persons	0:51
	who have contributed much to life behind the scenes,	0:56
	the second fiddlers, so to speak.	1:00
	Those who are willing to stay in the shadows	1:05
	and yet who contribute so much that is necessary in life.	1:09
	Society couldn't exist without them.	1:13
	And yet very often, tribute has never been paid to them.	1:16
	I guess, in a sense, my sermon is kind of a reaction	1:22
	to the baccalaureate sermons of the last several weeks	1:25
	that have been echoing through churches	1:28
	and college campuses.	1:30
	For in these baccalaureate addresses,	1:33
	usually, the speaker is encouraging the graduates	1:36
	to aim for the stars, to be the tops in their fields.	1:39
	The truth of the matter is, many those who graduated,	1:44
	many of the rest of us will never be	1:47
	the top person in our field.	1:49
	Where do we find meaning to life?	1:52
	Where do we find the sense of achievement,	1:55
	the sense of happiness?	1:57
	For us, the goal is a little more earthly.	2:00
	Now I'm not recommending that we settle for second best,	2:04
	but rather that when we find ourselves	2:08
	in second place roles, we do our best,	2:10
	for these other the places	2:14
	where we're going to spend most of our life.	2:16
	We find these saints in the shadows in all walks of life.	2:21
	In the theater, it's usually the supporting actor or actress	2:27
	that helps make the play.	2:30
	The wife who puts her husband through college,	2:34
	never gets the degree, but deserves much of the credit.	2:37
	Each author recognizes the fact that many contributed	2:42
	to his work by recognizing them	2:45
	in the dedication of the book	2:48
	or on one of the pages in the preface.	2:51
	And think of many others who stand behind the scenes	2:57
	whom we never know,	2:59
	and yet have helped to make others great.	3:00
	The ghostwriter for the politician,	3:02
	the economic advisor to a great	3:06
	business corporation executive,	3:07
	the maintenance staff here at the university	3:11
	who make possible the services,	3:13
	the daily housekeeping chores,	3:18
	providing and taking care of buildings.	3:22
	Think in the local church of the volunteers	3:28
	who teach Sunday school or serve in official positions.	3:29
	Without them, the organization cannot run.	3:33
	They must get their glory not from being	3:36
	in the public spotlight but because they know	3:39
	that service is needed in whatever role	3:42
	we're called upon to play.	3:45
	Have you ever thought about Mrs. Albert Schweitzer?	3:48
	She too left the luxury of Europe for a jungle career.	3:52
	And yet her name was not the name	3:58
	known by millions around the world.	4:00
	She didn't receive the honors.	4:03
	Her happiness, her sense of meaning	4:06
	had to come from sharing in the service	4:09
	her husband rendered.	4:13
	Back in 1952, when I was a student here at Duke,	4:16
	Miss Umeko Kagawa, daughter of the great Japanese Christian	4:21
	Toyohiko Kagawa, was here at Duke for a few weeks	4:25
	in an orientation program.	4:30
	I had the good fortune to become acquainted with her.	4:33
	And later, she was a guest in our home on couple occasions.	4:36
	One of the things she confessed to me was that	4:40
	the hardest thing for her was to overcome	4:45
	the stigma that her father was great.	4:48
	She knew this, and yet she wanted to excel	4:51
	in her own right.	4:54
	It was a sense of pride.	4:57
	And she said, "Until I realized that I could be myself,	4:59
	do things on my own right, I was never quite happy."	5:04
	To her credit, she did gain this self-confidence	5:10
	and had a good life of service.	5:14
	The Bible records many examples of the near-great.	5:19
	In fact, most of the characters of the Bible	5:24
	in their own day were not the ones	5:26
	who would receive nationwide publicity.	5:29
	There are people who stood behind the scenes,	5:34
	serving, assisting others, doing their part.	5:37
	We could give many examples,	5:45
	but let me refer back to the two	5:46
	in the scripture lessons of this morning.	5:49
	Naaman was a great general of the Syrians.	5:54
	He'd conquered foreign armies.	5:59
	He was great in the eyes of his people.	6:03
	And yet he was miserable because he was a leper.	6:05
	He had tried all the medical cures	6:10
	offered in his own land without success.	6:11
	Then one of these little saints in the shadows	6:16
	appeared on the scene.	6:19
	The Israelite maid of his wife,	6:22
	a young girl captured in battle and serving his wife.	6:25
	It was her suggestion that he'd go to the nation of Israel	6:30
	and be treated by the prophet.	6:33
	He took her advice.	6:38
	Apparently, her own faith and conviction	6:41
	was quite convincing.	6:43
	Not only was he cured,	6:46
	but he was also converted in this visit to Israel.	6:48
	This little maid, we don't even know her name,	6:55
	is one of these saints in the shadows	6:59
	who changed the course of history of her day.	7:01
	The second example was that of Barnabas	7:06
	in the New Testament.	7:08
	Barnabas is continually overshadowed by the figure of Paul.	7:11
	Most of us aren't even aware of who he was.	7:15
	But all of us recognize the name of Paul.	7:19
	And yet it was Barnabas who went to seek out Paul	7:23
	and convinced him to go on these missionary journeys.	7:28
	Very likely, it was Barnabas whose wealth	7:32
	provided the means by which he could travel.	7:34
	It was Barnabas who opened the way in the Island of Cyprus	7:39
	that Paul might receive a hearing.	7:41
	A saint in the shadows,	7:46
	in the background of another great man,	7:48
	and yet how important it is to our own religious background	7:51
	that there was such a man named Barnabas.	7:56
	All we know about him is that he was a businessman,	8:00
	a prophet, and a teacher.	8:03
	And you know there are a few Methodist churches named	8:07
	after St. Barnabas, but a lot named after St. Paul.	8:09
	The New Testament is full of many similar instances.	8:13
	Time and time again, it's the little people	8:18
	in the background that play important roles in history.	8:20
	Those who made life worth living	8:27
	were not all the first line apostles,	8:28
	the high priests or government officials.	8:32
	Jesus never promised that we would be famous	8:40
	if we were to be of service.	8:46
	If we would be great in the eyes of men,	8:49
	when we are striving to be great in the eyes of God.	8:53
	In fact, his standards of success	8:58
	are rather strange to our ears.	8:59
	He tells us that to be great, we need to serve others,	9:02
	for the greatest among you shall be the servant of all.	9:07
	And one of the sharpest reprimands he had for his disciples,	9:13
	where when James and John wanted to sit	9:16
	on the right and left hand of him in the kingdom,	9:18
	before he felt that there was no room for pride,	9:22
	for a place of honor to those who sought after it,	9:27
	Christ again and again, as we recall,	9:33
	sought out the common people, the forgotten men,	9:36
	the person of his day who were neglected	9:42
	with whom he recognized had tremendous potential	9:45
	for making life worth living.	9:49
	The problem that most of us face is this very thing	9:55
	that we will not be the great persons of our day.	9:58
	I hope some of you will be.	10:02
	We don't know who will among us.	10:05
	But to be realistic, most of us are going to always play	10:09
	on the second string.	10:14
	Most of us are going to have to face the fact	10:17
	that in life, we are not going to receive the top honors.	10:22
	And yet we still want a meaningful, purposeful life.	10:27
	This doesn't mean that we who are playing in the shadows	10:32
	lack ambition, nor does it always mean you lack ability.	10:37
	There are just so many places at the top.	10:42
	Without the saints in the shadows,	10:48
	without those who play the second roles,	10:51
	there'd be no clerks in our stores,	10:54
	no vice presidents or vice anythings,	10:57
	no assistant executives.	11:00
	It'd be very difficult for a football team	11:04
	or a basketball team to win	11:06
	because there'd be no one left on the bench to substitute.	11:07
	There'd be no advisors.	11:12
	And if everyone sought after the top place,	11:15
	the world would be a selfish chaos.	11:18
	This is seen quite clearly in one of the novels	11:21
	by Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina".	11:24
	Anna, the main character, is the type	11:30
	that is always seeking first place.	11:34
	And yet, she's the one in this story who ends unhappy.	11:37
	She runs off with a Count whom she's fascinated	11:41
	because she wants the thrill.	11:45
	She wants the attention.	11:48
	Only to find that he's interested in another woman,	11:51
	and she ends her life in suicide.	11:55
	In this particular novel, the saint in the shadow is Levin,	11:58
	her brother-in-law by marriage,	12:02
	a quiet, unassuming man.	12:05
	A farm manager who tries to live as a Christian farmer.	12:10
	And he finds satisfaction in his family,	12:14
	in his work, in his faith.	12:16
	One reason why this novel has endured time	12:20
	is because it's so true to life.	12:24
	And if we were to look at these characters	12:29
	over the long range, it's the saint in the shadow	12:33
	who finds a life worth living.	12:38
	Well, what then is needed to make our life meaningful?	12:42
	If it's not fame or success, with quotation marks around it,	12:47
	what is worth living?	12:53
	This part of my message is pretty much	12:57
	of a personal testimony.	13:00
	And yet, I could find a number of persons	13:01
	who would support it, much older and wiser than I.	13:05
	Now I lift up three ingredients.	13:10
	One, if we want a life worth living,	13:13
	we need to be needed by someone.	13:17
	There is a sense in which our lives	13:21
	are not quite complete until we play	13:23
	a somewhat indispensable role for someone else.	13:27
	That might be a family, a loved one, our neighbors.	13:32
	Social psychologists have long recognized	13:37
	that affection and response or recognition	13:39
	are basic ingredients in life	13:43
	that are sought after by all men.	13:45
	Someone must find it hard to get along without you,	13:49
	and you'll feel worthwhile.	13:53
	We need to serve so as to be needed by others.	13:56
	I think of a grandmother who raised two young girls.	14:00
	After the age in which many people have felt useless	14:05
	as though their life was no longer worth living,	14:09
	she had meaning and purpose because she was driving	14:12
	to see these girls raised properly and on through college.	14:15
	She was needed, and it gave meaning to her life.	14:19
	I honestly believe that this is part of the appeal	14:25
	of the Peace Corps.	14:27
	Persons who ant serve in such a way	14:30
	that someplace, someone will need their services.	14:34
	Work, to many, gives meaning to life.	14:41
	It's one source of satisfaction, yet no doubt,	14:46
	not the only way.	14:49
	But when our job becomes a vocation,	14:51
	a calling by God you serve,	14:53
	then whatever we do takes on new meaning	14:56
	and our daily tasks become important	14:59
	in the place where we're serving.	15:01
	Some have jokingly said that community service	15:06
	is kind of make work to keep people,	15:08
	particularly housewife with nothing else to do	15:10
	out of mischief.	15:13
	I don't believe this is true.	15:14
	It's often the time and the ability to serve	15:17
	in places of need as a hospital volunteer,	15:21
	in a local Red Cross chapter, in church groups,	15:26
	league of women voters, that gives a housewife meaning	15:31
	and a sense of satisfaction that we all need.	15:36
	To be needed is the first ingredient I lift up for you.	15:41
	The second is to set worthy but attainable goals.	15:45
	Now, there are many ambitious graduates who,	15:52
	upon getting their degree, leave the school	15:54
	thinking they're going to change the world.	15:56
	One layman that I know said,	15:59
	he knew a lot went out to set the world on fire	16:02
	but came back to school in a few years to find more matches.	16:05
	They found that the top places were not always available.	16:10
	Their talents were not quite as great	16:13
	as they were led to believe they were.	16:15
	What I'm concerned about is what happens emotionally	16:20
	and psychologically to these persons	16:22
	who fall just slightly short of their ambitious goals.	16:24
	Most perfectionists are unhappy people	16:29
	and I think are very difficult to live with.	16:32
	And yet I don't want to suggest	16:36
	that we set goals that are too low	16:38
	that they're no longer a challenge.	16:41
	They need to be worthy to those of us	16:44
	who feel called by God to be good stewards	16:45
	of our time and talents.	16:48
	So I guess I'm speaking those of us	16:53
	who do not graduate summa cum laude,	16:57
	the housewife whose windows still need cleaning	17:01
	or the businessman who finds	17:04
	at the end of the week, work still left undone,	17:05
	'cause you've just not been able to squeeze it in.	17:09
	And saying that you're not alone.	17:12
	One of the signs of maturity in life	17:17
	is to be able to set goals that are challenging	17:19
	and yet are capable of attainment.	17:22
	It takes courage sometimes to accept the place where you are	17:28
	and then give it your best.	17:32
	The third ingredient that I would suggest	17:36
	is needed for life is to be loved.	17:37
	Human love, of course, can spur us on	17:43
	to greater achievement.	17:45
	You can document this by many examples around you.	17:47
	In fact, we must love in order to be human.	17:52
	One of the distinguishing marks of mankind.	17:57
	Again and again, through literature, through scripture,	18:04
	through contemporary example, we can illustrate the ways	18:08
	in which through love, men have been regenerated,	18:12
	been given new encouragement.	18:17
	Let me give one example from Dostoevsky's novel,	18:20
	"Crime and Punishment".	18:23
	In the story, we have a good illustration	18:26
	of the love of others pulling a man back	18:31
	into the human fellowship	18:35
	when he has felt cut off from life.	18:36
	Raskolnikov, a student, has committed a murder.	18:41
	Two murders, in fact, a pawnbroker and her sister.	18:46
	At first, he planned this as a perfect crime.	18:53
	And yet he realized that his conscience,	18:56
	his actions all made him feel and look guilty.	18:59
	In fact, the police suspected him	19:03
	but had no definite proof.	19:05
	Time and time again, he was on the verge	19:08
	of confessing his crime, knowing where he had done wrong,	19:10
	wanting to find punishment, perhaps?	19:14
	Forgiveness?	19:18
	We aren't real sure.	19:19
	But he's afraid that no one cares enough	19:22
	to really understand why he did it.	19:24
	To have sympathy with him.	19:27
	He feels cut off from the rest of the world.	19:29
	It's only through the faith in him and in God	19:33
	and the love of an ex prostitute named Sonia	19:38
	and the assurance that his mother and his sister	19:42
	love him and care for him that he gains courage	19:44
	to go to the police and confess his crime.	19:47
	Though he is imprisoned, he begins to reconstruct	19:51
	a new and socially acceptable life	19:56
	with the regeneration of him	19:59
	starting from the love of others.	20:00
	If the love of men can do this to us,	20:05
	how much more can the love of God	20:08
	call us back to start over again, to find new strength,	20:10
	to find the ability to serve in the places of second best?	20:15
	And how much we need this type of encouragement.	20:21
	Therefore, as we look at life, we find ourselves concerned	20:28
	over the fact that we may not be in top places of honor,	20:33
	success or greatness, and yet still realizing	20:38
	that God has called us and put us here	20:42
	to have a life of meaning and purpose.	20:44
	I suggest to you, to find this meaning,	20:49
	we want to be needed, we want to be loved,	20:53
	and we need to have worthy but attainable goals.	20:59
	Only then can we really find happiness	21:05
	in living in the shadow.	21:09
	Many others have.	21:13
	These are the ones this morning	21:14
	whom I pay tribute as saints in the shadows.	21:16
	Thank God for these saints.	21:20
	Can we stand?	21:24
	Let us pray.	21:28
	Oh, blessed Lord, we sought out the common man,	21:31
	ate at his table, walked with him along dusty roads,	21:36
	visited with him beside the well and in the marketplace.	21:41
	Let us (indistinct) strengthening presence	21:46
	when we are prone to feel	21:48
	that ours is not an important place of service.	21:49
	Fill our hearts with the knowledge of thy love.	21:53
	Teach us through success and through failure	21:57
	to be thankful yet humble.	22:00
	Grant meaning to our daily task that we might know	22:03
	that whatever is done in thy name is worthy of our time.	22:06
	Lift up our spirits, oh God,	22:12
	and fill our lives with thy holy presence.	22:14
	Amen.	22:17
	And now with the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ,	22:20
	the love of God and the fellowship of his holy spirit	22:24
	abide with you and keep you now and ever more.	22:28
	Amen.	22:32
	(bell ringing)	22:34
	(liturgical piano music playing)	22:53
	(loud footsteps)	25:32
	(people murmuring)	25:58
	(loud footsteps)	26:03
	(upbeat music)	26:13
	(commenter speaking in background)	26:44
	(upbeat music)	26:52
	(commenter speaking in background)	27:50
	(upbeat music)	28:16
	(commenter speaking in background)	30:20
	(upbeat music)	30:46
	(commenter speaking in background)	31:29
	(upbeat music)	31:41

Item Info

Title:

Daniel M. Schores - "Saints in the Shadows" (June 12, 1966)

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4fb51n68

Date:

June 12, 1966

Speaker:

Schores, Daniel M.

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Duke University. Chapel

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UA.17.01.0003 RR-0342
ref5887_56e
uachapelsermaud
duke:628412
dcrau002338
ark:/87924/r4fb51n68
f7ace70e-f7de-4d1f-978c-8c1df9ca5905

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Daniel M. Schores - "Saints in the Shadows" (June 12, 1966)

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