James T. Cleland - "The Church in the World" (October 23, 1966)

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	(gentle music)	0:03
Preacher	Let us pray.	0:24
	Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts	0:27
	be acceptable in Thy sight.	0:32
	Oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer,	0:36
	Amen.	0:41
	May well be that a sermon at a service,	0:51
	which is part of dad's day weekend	0:55
	should be specifically addressed	0:58
	to the fathers in our midst.	1:00
	There are two reasons why I am unqualified,	1:04
	if not incompetent to speak to fathers as such.	1:08
	My own father died when I was 12,	1:15
	and I have begotten no children.	1:18
	I cannot speak to dads as dads.	1:23
	So, I'm not going to try.	1:28
	It's wise to know when you're weak, very wise.	1:30
	Nevertheless, I'm glad that you are worshiping	1:35
	with your sons in the chapel.	1:38
	And it seems fitting to me to let you see	1:41
	what normally takes place in this service Sunday by Sunday,	1:45
	with the notable exception of two weeks ago.	1:52
	Moreover, I want to deal with the subject	1:59
	which is of as vital interest to you as to your sons,	2:01
	and to the worshiping university communion community.	2:07
	Namely, the matter of the church in the world.	2:12
	And the first thing we you must do with such a subject	2:18
	is to define our key terms.	2:20
	This would take a semester of Sundays,	2:25
	with midweek discussion groups on the evolving decisions	2:29
	and de-limitations.	2:34
	However, for the purpose of corporate understanding,	2:37
	let us pause at two working definitions,	2:41
	so that we may stand on common ground.	2:45
	The church.	2:50
	The church is society as it is organized	2:52
	with some conscious reference	2:58
	to the God revealed in Jesus Christ.	3:02
	The world has contrasted not only with the church,	3:07
	but with the earth.	3:13
	The world is society	3:16
	as it is organized apart from God,	3:18
	to all intents and purposes.	3:23
	Now, what should the relationship be	3:27
	between these two societies?	3:29
	Let's look together at three attitudes	3:31
	which have been taken toward this lively question.	3:34
	One answer, which has some New Testament backing,	3:39
	is that the church though in the world,	3:46
	should not be of the world.	3:50
	Here is what is written in 1st John Chapter 2 Verse 15,	3:54
	Do not love the world or the things of the world.	3:59
	If anyone loves the world, love of the Father is not in him.	4:06
	Now, that's both definite and understandable.	4:15
	It's understandable for two reasons,	4:18
	the world in a joint effort of the Jewish hierarchy	4:21
	and the Roman state,	4:26
	had put to death the Lord of the church, Jesus, the Christ.	4:28
	The world therefore, is wicked.	4:36
	1st John goes so far as to write,	4:38
	We know that we are of God	4:41
	and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.	4:44
	And then second, the new Testament church	4:50
	expected the literal end of the world in its own lifetime.	4:54
	Jesus would return in a second coming	5:01
	surrounded by the angels of God,	5:03
	and that would be curtains for the world.	5:05
	Church militant would then become the church triumphant.	5:10
	For these two reasons and others,	5:15
	the early church attempted to live	5:16
	in isolation from the world.	5:19
	And that point of view has always been in the church.	5:22
	One need but think of Totallian in the first century,	5:25
	whose slogan might well have been,	5:30
	Christ against culture.	5:32
	Or one may recall the whole development	5:35
	of the Monastic Movement with its conscious withdrawal	5:37
	from the institutions of the world.	5:41
	Or one may turn to Tolstoy,	5:44
	the 19th century Russian novelist and Christian socialist,	5:47
	who had scarcely a good word to say	5:52
	of his contemporary civilization.	5:55
	And today there are some secs which in the name of Christ	5:59
	refuse to vote in political elections.	6:04
	To be in the world but not of it,	6:09
	is still a guiding star for some church.	6:13
	Now, there are three criticisms of such a position,	6:18
	first it denies the doctrine of creation.	6:21
	God is not only the creator of the earth,	6:27
	He is the cohering force which integrates society on earth,	6:30
	namely the world.	6:36
	Be He acknowledged or be He not.	6:38
	God is at work outside of the church.	6:42
	The awful thing is that sometimes He is at work	6:47
	despite the church.	6:50
	For Christians to say otherwise	6:54
	is to buy (indistinct) reality.	6:55
	And second, this in but not of position	6:58
	can lead to our most un-Christian esoteric snobbery.	7:02
	We are going to heaven, the rest of you be damned.	7:10
	You're not going to heaven, we don't want heaven crammed.	7:17
	And yet our Lord had a place in His love for Samaritans,	7:24
	and a Roman soldier.	7:29
	For an income tax collector and rich women.	7:32
	For two members of the Jewish Supreme court,	7:37
	and some tourists in Jerusalem.	7:41
	And third, this attitude has never worked	7:46
	on any broad scale.	7:48
	And the first part of our scripture lesson	7:50
	read this morning, Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth	7:52
	telling them not to be miss-mated with unbelievers.	7:55
	Come out from them and be ye separate, says the Lord.	7:59
	And then the second part of the lesson	8:02
	he had to explain and even amend his advice.	8:04
	You almost see him scratching his head and is ejaculating,	8:10
	oh Sheol, don't take me so literally.	8:13
	You can't separate yourselves like that from the world.	8:18
	And yet brethren,	8:22
	let's recognize the value of this position.	8:23
	It's sincere, though inadequate.	8:26
	It's important, though biased.	8:30
	It's inevitable, though impossible.	8:33
	It's useful as a corrective.	8:37
	A corrective, especially of the second answer.	8:39
	The second answer is that the church is both in the world	8:44
	and of the world.	8:48
	Paul in 1st Peter hint at it,	8:51
	especially in the attitude of the church	8:54
	toward the government.	8:56
	But it's hardly a general New Testament position.	8:58
	However after 323, when Constantine The Great	9:03
	put his imprimatur on Christianity,	9:08
	and gave it the green light to become the official religion	9:12
	of the Roman Empire,	9:15
	it was almost a foregone conclusion	9:19
	that the church and the world would mingle, blend,	9:21
	merge, coalesce.	9:28
	There's only one snag to this solution though,	9:34
	when the lion and the lamb lie down together,	9:39
	the lamb is usually inside the lion.	9:45
	And the question here is, which will be the lion	9:52
	and which will be the lamb,	9:55
	when applied to the church and the world?	9:57
	Sometimes in history, the church calls the plays.	10:01
	It's dramatized in the holy Roman emperor, Henry IV.	10:06
	Standing barefoot in the snow for three days at Canossa.	10:10
	Before Pope Gregory VII absolved him	10:18
	from his sin of rebellion against certain people decrees,	10:22
	and received him again into the bosom of holy mother church.	10:26
	Church was the lion.	10:32
	Point of view was sometimes called Hildebrandism.	10:34
	Which was Pope Gregory VII's name	10:38
	before he became Gregory Hildebrand.	10:40
	But mind you, it's not a Roman Catholic monopoly,	10:45
	I speak as a Presbyterian.	10:47
	John Calvin tried it in Geneva.	10:50
	John Knox tried it in Scotland.	10:52
	For you Congregationalists,	10:56
	the Puritans tried it in New England.	10:58
	Say nothing of the Episcopalians in Virginia,	11:03
	but we won't go any further about it.	11:05
	I want the Baptist in Rhode Island if you want some more.	11:11
	The opposite viewpoint, the domination of the church	11:14
	by the world is just as easily documented from history.	11:18
	In its political aspect,	11:23
	it's known as Erastianism after a Swiss Theologian,	11:25
	Thomas Erastus.	11:28
	It's evidenced in Henry VIII's attitude to the church	11:30
	in England.	11:33
	The Anglican church is still referred to	11:36
	as the conservative party, a prayer.	11:39
	Read Bonhoeffer on the German Christian Church,	11:45
	and it's benediction on Hitler and the Nazis.	11:49
	Think of our own local churches in Durham.	11:55
	Mirrors held up to the cultural status quo,	11:57
	on the race issue.	12:03
	In our day, Erastianism (indistinct) to Brandism,	12:05
	is the natural outcome of a church that's in the world	12:09
	and of the world.	12:13
	Now this attitude too, is an understandable one,	12:15
	there's something to be said for it.	12:20
	So much that is of the world is true, lovely,	12:22
	of good report and sheer fun.	12:27
	This makes the church willing and anxious	12:33
	to naturalize it as Christian.	12:35
	That's why it wishes to claim Mahatma Gandhi as a Christian.	12:38
	Even though he died making the Hindu sign	12:44
	of peace and forgiveness.	12:46
	And yet one must be on one's guard against a too easy,	12:50
	a too willing identification.	12:54
	Can we really dress Christ in cocky?	12:57
	Or in a capitalist tuxedo?	13:03
	Or in a Ku Klux Klan toga?	13:07
	What would you do as a member of religious life staff,	13:11
	when two students, neither of them ever attending church,	13:15
	wish to be married in the Duke Chapel,	13:21
	with a Christian service?	13:24
	What would you do as Dean of the chapel,	13:27
	if you were approached by a colleague	13:29
	to bury a member of his department	13:31
	who was a joyous and enthusiastic atheist?	13:34
	Bury him here in chapel.	13:40
	I told him, it seemed unfair to the corpse.	13:43
	(congregation laughing)	13:46
	The one person who wouldn't be there in spirit.	13:50
	And I loved him for his honesty and his humor about it.	13:56
	What do you do?	13:59
	Is there no distinction between Christ and Caesar?	14:00
	Rome thought there was.	14:05
	So did Lennon's Russia,	14:08
	and Hitler's Germany,	14:11
	and they were right in great measure.	14:14
	In the world and of the world is not the best answer	14:18
	to our question.	14:22
	There is a third and a last answer, last this morning.	14:24
	The church is in the world, inevitably.	14:31
	Somewhat of the world existentially.	14:36
	But on behalf of the world intentionally.	14:41
	And it's the additional phrase	14:49
	that we must now consider, on behalf of the world.	14:51
	The motivation for it is given in the third part	14:57
	of our scripture lesson,	15:00
	the best known verses in the Bible, John 3, 16 and 17,	15:02
	For God so loved the world,	15:07
	that He gave his only Son	15:12
	that whoever believes should not perish	15:15
	but have eternal life.	15:18
	For God sent the Son into the world,	15:21
	not to condemn the world,	15:25
	but that the world might be saved through Him.	15:30
	Martin Luther called these verses	15:34
	the gospel in miniature.	15:36
	And not well what they did not say,	15:40
	they did not say,	15:45
	for God so loved the church	15:46
	that He sent His son to earth.	15:51
	God so loved the world.	15:54
	The world of humanity, the world ignoring God,	15:56
	misunderstanding God, even at enmity with God.	16:01
	And Paul picked that thought up in 2nd Corinthians,	16:05
	God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.	16:08
	Not counting their trespasses against them.	16:15
	And entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.	16:19
	These are the church's marching orders,	16:24
	to reconcile the world to God.	16:27
	Now this is all tied up with the doctrine of creation,	16:31
	it's God's world even though it's in sorry shape.	16:33
	The secular is not in opposition to the holy,	16:37
	the secular is the raw material of the holy.	16:42
	As it is of the profane.	16:45
	And that's what lies behind the simple words	16:49
	of the prayer at the presentation of the monetary offering.	16:52
	A prayer I've never had the nerve to use in this chapel.	16:55
	And now I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna use it someday.	16:58
	Come up to the altar with the offering,	17:02
	you raise it and you say,	17:04
	here we offer and present unto thee,	17:06
	our minted and our printed blood.	17:10
	That's what our money is.	17:15
	Our minted and our printed blood.	17:18
	Money is per se, our model, it can be used for God,	17:23
	it can be used the against.	17:25
	The Christian does his work in the world and for the world,	17:29
	as Jesus did.	17:33
	With the raw material which the world	17:36
	sometimes uses profanely.	17:37
	The world is not evil per se,	17:40
	though at sometimes perverted good.	17:43
	But the good is there.	17:45
	That's why the world holds together at all.	17:47
	The church's place is in the world,	17:51
	even when Bethlehem becomes Bedlam.	17:54
	Luther knew that when he talked of holy worldliness.	17:59
	This fear of faith works is worldly society and disorder.	18:04
	The church is in the world, somewhat of it,	18:09
	and always for its benefit despite the dangers.	18:14
	Would such viewpoint work?	18:20
	Oh it has tried to work in specific cases.	18:23
	Here is a surgeon who is in a hospital	18:28
	after undergoing a successful disc operation.	18:31
	He struggles to his feet at six o'clock each morning	18:38
	while he's in the hospital.	18:42
	To visit any disc patient who has to be operated on that day	18:44
	to bring them good news of surgeons with skillful hands.	18:51
	That is holy worldliness.	18:58
	Here is a patient twice laid low with heart attacks,	19:04
	organizing a group of retired businessmen,	19:09
	to staff the reception desks on each floor	19:13
	in a suburban hospital,	19:18
	during the evening hours when help is scarce and needed.	19:20
	Holy worldliness.	19:28
	Here is Archbishop Paul Hallinan of Atlanta	19:33
	telling George's Catholics that they cannot in good faith,	19:37
	vote for segregationist Lester Maddox,	19:45
	the democratic nominee for governor.	19:47
	He adds that his policy is not to become personally involved	19:51
	in politics.	19:55
	He concludes, this is not politics,	19:57
	it is morality.	20:02
	Holy worldliness.	20:04
	These are instances of the church in the world,	20:08
	partly of it and always on its behalf.	20:11
	Here then are three attitudes,	20:18
	there are others in the relationship	20:19
	of the church and the world,	20:21
	let's apply them to our own lives for a moment now.	20:23
	Should a Christian play poker for money?	20:28
	Should a Christian go to the movies	20:36
	even the Quadrangle movies on Sunday?	20:38
	Well, come and see.	20:43
	Should a Christian smoke?	20:46
	Not during Lent, hmm?	20:51
	Should a Christian drink at any time?	20:54
	Should a Christian cheat on exams regularly?	21:00
	Should a Christian join The Ku Klux Klan,	21:08
	or the Black Powered Party?	21:13
	Or the John Bricks society?	21:16
	Or the Communist Party?	21:20
	Think of these three positions	21:25
	in the case of the chapel and the university.	21:27
	Should the chapel be in the university, but not of it?	21:32
	Should the chapel be in the university and of it?	21:38
	Should the chapel be in the university, somewhat of it,	21:45
	but always on its behalf?	21:52
	Well, a congregation is supposed to do	21:57
	something with a sermon.	22:00
	So, I hand it over to you for rejection,	22:03
	acceptance, amendment.	22:09
	But always in the name of Jesus Christ,	22:13
	who is the Lord of the church	22:19
	and who came to earth	22:23
	because God loved the world.	22:27
	Amen, let us pray.	22:32
	Almighty and eternal God who so loved the world,	22:42
	that Thou gaveth us Thine only Son.	22:45
	To reconcile all men unto Thee and to one another.	22:49
	Grant unto Thy church, the body of Christ.	22:56
	The world to implement the ministry of reconciliation,	23:02
	for Thy glory and for the sake of the world,	23:06
	through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.	23:10
	And may the blessing of God come upon you abundantly.	23:14
	May it keep you strong and tranquil	23:19
	in the truth of His promises through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	23:21
	(gentle singing)	23:33

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "The Church in the World" (October 23, 1966)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4542p96z

Date:

October 23, 1966

Speaker:

Cleland, James T. (James Tough), 1903-1974

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0358
ref5919_o34
uachapelsermaud
duke:628578
dcrau002354
ark:/87924/r4542p96z
800db38d-b714-497e-ab6e-41e7b8f9fa75

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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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.

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James T. Cleland - "The Church in the World" (October 23, 1966)

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1. James T. Cleland - "The Church In the World" (October 23, 1966)

Duke University Archives

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James T. Cleland - "The Church in the World" (October 23, 1966)

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