James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

Download
- Rights
- No Re-Use
  In Copyright
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44t6k472?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' loading='lazy' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44t6k472
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(choir sings indistinctly)	0:03
	♪ Amen ♪	1:36
-	Let us unite our voice in our unison prayer	1:44
	of confession and for pardon.	1:47
	Almighty and most merciful Father,	1:51
	we confess that we have sin against thy law	1:54
	and against thy truths,	1:58
	neither with heart nor soul nor strength	2:00
	have we loved thee,	2:04
	nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves.	2:06
	We confess especially that we have not loved thee	2:10
	with all our minds.	2:15
	We have not honored thy (indistinct) or our thinking.	2:17
	Fearful we pray thee to have mercy upon us,	2:21
	forgive the sins we have done to please ourselves,	2:26
	and the sins we have done to please others.	2:30
	Forgive us those sins which we know	2:34
	and those sins which we know not.	2:37
	Forgive them all of thy great goodness,	2:40
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	2:44
	Amen.	2:46
-	Let us say now the words of assurance.	2:53
	The Lord is gracious and merciful,	2:57
	slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.	2:59
	This is the message we have heard from him	3:03
	and proclaimed to you, that God is light	3:06
	and in him is no darkness at all.	3:09
	If we walk in the light, as he is in the light,	3:11
	we have fellowship with one another	3:15
	and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.	3:17
	If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just,	3:22
	and will forgive our sins	3:26
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	3:27
	For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,	3:31
	that whoever believes in him should not perish	3:35
	but have eternal life.	3:37
	(gentle organ music)	3:42
-	Let us stand and read responsibly	4:24
	the prayer of thanksgiving number 627.	4:26
	Blessed be thou, Lord, the God of Israel.	4:37
-	Our father, for ever and ever.	4:41
-	Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power,	4:44
	and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty.	4:46
-	For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.	4:50
-	Thine is the kingdom, O Lord.	4:54
-	And thou art exalted as head above all.	4:56
-	Both riches and honor come of thee.	4:59
-	And thou reignest over all.	5:02
-	And in thine hand are power and might.	5:04
-	And in thine hand it is to make great,	5:08
	and to give strength unto all.	5:11
-	Now we thank thee, our God.	5:13
-	And praise thy glorious name.	5:16
	(gentle organ music)	5:38
	(choir sings indistinctly)	6:06
-	The scripture lesson today is according to Luke 10:25-37.	10:19
	And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,	10:28
	saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"	10:31
	He said to him, "What is written in the Law?	10:37
	How do you read it?"	10:40
	And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God	10:41
	with all your heart and with all your soul	10:45
	and with all your strength and with all your mind,	10:48
	and your neighbor as yourself."	10:52
	And he said to him, "You have answered right,	10:56
	do this, and you will live."	10:59
	But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,	11:01
	"And who is my neighbor?"	11:06
	Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem	11:08
	to Jericho, and he fell among robbers,	11:12
	who stripped him and beat him and departed,	11:16
	leaving him half dead.	11:19
	Now by chance a priest was going down that road,	11:23
	and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.	11:27
	So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,	11:31
	passed by on the other side.	11:35
	But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was,	11:38
	and when he saw him, he had compassion.	11:43
	He went to him and bound up his wounds,	11:46
	pouring on oil and wine.	11:49
	Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn	11:51
	and took care of him.	11:54
	And the next day he took out two denarii	11:57
	and gave them to the innkeeper, saying,	11:59
	'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend,	12:03
	I will repay you when I come back.'	12:07
	Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor	12:10
	to the man who fell among the robbers?"	12:13
	He said, "The one who showed mercy on him."	12:16
	And Jesus said to him, "Go, and do likewise."	12:19
	(cheerful organ music)	12:29
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	12:36
	♪ And to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ♪	12:39
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	12:47
	♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪	12:51
	♪ World without end, amen, amen ♪	12:55
-	The Lord be with you.	13:22
-	And with your spirit.	13:24
-	Let us pray.	13:25
	Worth art our Lord and God	13:35
	to receive honor, thanks and praise for by thy will	13:38
	were all things made.	13:41
	Look with favor, O Lord, upon this world,	13:44
	its nations and cultures, homes and schools,	13:47
	arts, commerce, and industry,	13:51
	the occupations and leisure of all,	13:54
	look with mercy, O Christ,	13:58
	upon all men and every human need, the joy and the triumph,	13:59
	the conflict and failure,	14:05
	the anxiety, fear, hate and despair.	14:07
	We set before thee our land and every nation.	14:12
	Grant wisdom, justice, and mercy to all leaders	14:16
	and all citizens that thy will may be fulfilled	14:20
	in fruitful peace.	14:24
	We set before thee the needs of every man.	14:27
	Have compassion upon those who call out to thee,	14:31
	and also upon those whose want is their only prayer.	14:35
	We remember and ask thy blessing upon all who are oppressed	14:41
	because of race, religion, or ideology,	14:45
	for all imprisoned by wealth or position,	14:49
	by poverty or insecurity, for our enemies and detractors,	14:53
	and our friends and families.	14:59
	We ask thy blessing and presence among us	15:03
	in times of work, rest, and play.	15:07
	And among all men whose present lot is suffering and dying.	15:11
	On this day, O Lord,	15:18
	we pray for all students everywhere in the world,	15:20
	for those who find their work too difficult,	15:25
	for those who are perplexed by the world in which they live,	15:29
	for those who are isolated and without friends,	15:34
	for those who suffer persecution hardship	15:39
	as a result of war, revolution or political upheaval,	15:42
	for those who are hungry and cold,	15:48
	for those whose freedom is endangered,	15:52
	for those who are persecuted and imprisoned,	15:56
	ill in body and mind,	15:59
	and hampered by intellectual opposition.	16:02
	Remember, O Lord, those among us who are in despair	16:07
	because their hopes have collapsed,	16:11
	those who are blinded by success or comfort,	16:14
	those who are looking for a cause to serve.	16:18
	Remember also and watch over all universities and colleges,	16:23
	centers of research	16:28
	and those who live, serve and administer these.	16:29
	We pray especially for this campus.	16:33
	Heal its divisions, bless its endeavors,	16:37
	watch over all its people, renew its life,	16:42
	that all men here may find truth, joy, and hope.	16:47
	All this we ask in this time of our common need	16:53
	and in our uncertain anticipation,	16:57
	uniting now and making bold to say,	17:01
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	17:04
	hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;	17:07
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	17:11
	Give us this day our daily bread;	17:15
	and forgive us our trespasses	17:18
	as we forgive those who trespass against us;	17:20
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	17:24
	For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory	17:29
	forever and ever.	17:33
	Amen.	17:34
-	When one really grasps the intent and the import	18:05
	of what Jesus was saying in that story	18:12
	about a certain Samaritan, and a woebegone traveler	18:16
	on the Jerusalem Jericho road,	18:24
	then a subject reflection is not why Jesus was crucified	18:29
	on a Bad Friday some centuries ago,	18:37
	but why he was not lynched much earlier	18:43
	in his public ministry.	18:49
	This parable, which was read as our scripture lesson	18:52
	is loaded with racial, cultural and religious dynamite, TNT.	18:56
	And it may not be inappropriate at this juncture	19:07
	in the life of our university to reflect upon it.	19:10
	The look and narrative opens, innocently enough,	19:17
	one of the experts in the Jewish law	19:22
	asked Jesus a test question:	19:25
	"Master, what must I do to be sure	19:30
	of inheriting eternal life?"	19:36
	Now, wouldn't you assume	19:41
	that Jesus would've been delighted to tell him?	19:43
	It's a good question.	19:48
	Kind of thing Jesus was dealing with all the time.	19:51
	But he didn't answer.	19:55
	He said, "What do you think yourself	19:59
	from your study of the law?"	20:03
	The lawyer was quick to reply, "Love God and neighbor	20:06
	as much as your love yourself," which answer by the way	20:13
	is the very one that Jesus himself gave on another occasion	20:20
	when he was asked what was primary in the law.	20:26
	And Jesus said to the legal expert, "You're right.	20:31
	Why don't you try it?"	20:37
	However, the questioner wasn't finished.	20:42
	He had another point for consideration,	20:46
	"But who is my neighbor?"	20:50
	Now here's a chance for a group discussion.	20:55
	A bull session or neighborliness,	21:01
	the beginning of a free university.	21:03
	But not for Jesus.	21:06
	He told a story about a man who was beaten up	21:09
	on the Jerusalem Jericho road, a 17-mile stretch	21:15
	which Josephus described as desolate and rocky.	21:21
	And Jerome about four centuries later described	21:27
	as the red or the bloody wave.	21:30
	Makes one think of the road	21:35
	from the Duke hospital to Hanes House after midnight.	21:36
	Now a priest saw the victim and passed by on the other side.	21:45
	So did a Levite, a kind of assistant priest.	21:51
	Now a third person is bound to turn up	21:56
	in this kind of a story.	21:59
	Do you know the kind of person he ought to be?	22:02
	Since the first two were Jewish ecclesiastics, more or less,	22:06
	the third character should be a Jewish layman.	22:11
	But he wasn't.	22:16
	And that's because an unusual storyteller	22:19
	was telling this story.	22:22
	We know the third person as the Good Samaritan,	22:26
	which is a contradiction in terms for any Jew.	22:32
	The Samaritans were to the Jews	22:39
	what the English would call "bloody bastards."	22:42
	And what Americans would label "lousy half-breeds."	22:46
	Their stock was not pure	22:51
	and their religion was a hodgepodge.	22:54
	When the Jews really wished to insult Jesus,	22:57
	here's how they taunted him:	23:01
	"Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan	23:03
	and that you're possessed of a demon?"	23:08
	That's what a Jew thought of a Samaritan.	23:12
	But this was the kind of man	23:15
	whom Jesus made the hero of his parable,	23:17
	despised, rejected, segregated,	23:21
	but outgoing, generous, even extra in his desire to help.	23:27
	Jesus turned an interesting academic query	23:36
	with theological and ethical overtones	23:40
	into a racial problem.	23:45
	He pictured a man, an outsider at that,	23:48
	who seemed to love his neighbor as much as he loved himself.	23:55
	And then Jesus twisted the questioner's question	24:05
	and asked him, "Which of these three acted like a neighbor	24:10
	to the gangsters' victim?"	24:17
	And so help me, the intelligent perplexed lawyer	24:20
	couldn't say the Samaritan.	24:28
	He would've choked on the word in such a context.	24:32
	And so he answered, "the one who showed kindness."	24:39
	Now, wouldn't you think	24:45
	that Jesus would've dropped the matter at that?	24:46
	Not he.	24:51
	He had one more sentence to say: "Go and do as he did."	24:53
	I wonder what he did.	25:03
	Now, let us go back to the lawyer's original question	25:07
	and let us ask it of two of the dramatic personae	25:11
	in the parable.	25:15
	It's a good question in the light	25:17
	of the campus disturbance of the past week	25:20
	and in view of the fact that today is designated	25:24
	as the World Day of Prayer for Students.	25:28
	Who is my neighbor?	25:33
	Let us ask the certain Samaritan first	25:37
	for we know his answer.	25:39
	It can be summarized and generalized in four words:	25:43
	He who needs me.	25:48
	He who needs me.	25:53
	It's a simple as that.	25:54
	CG Montefiore, the Jewish scholar of the New Testament,	25:57
	has put the matter very briefly and beautifully	26:02
	in his commentary on this parable,	26:05
	which he describes as one of the simplest	26:08
	and noblest among the noble gallery of parables.	26:11
	Here's what he says:	26:17
	"Love, it tells us, must know no limits of race	26:18
	and ask no inquiry," and ask no inquiry,	26:24
	"who needs me is my neighbor,	26:32
	when at the given time and place I can help,	26:36
	whom at the given time and place I can help with my love,	26:40
	he is my neighbor."	26:44
	Now the Samaritan is just an actor in a dramatic sketch,	26:48
	but he's not unlike Jesus.	26:53
	When Peter tried to sum up the character of Jesus	26:56
	very briefly in a sermon,	27:00
	he said without any other elaboration,	27:02
	"he went about doing good."	27:05
	He went about doing good.	27:10
	It's quite an epitaph.	27:13
	Now who would agree with it?	27:14
	Oh, there was a young couple at a wedding	27:16
	in Cana of Galilee.	27:21
	There was a Roman army officer whose servant was sick.	27:24
	There was a woman, an adulteress,	27:30
	rescued from death by stoning.	27:34
	And there was another woman	27:38
	beside a well in Samaria, another Samaritan.	27:40
	There was a dying thief on a cross.	27:46
	Now, what does this mean for us	27:53
	with so many foreign students in our midst?	27:54
	What does it mean for us with the Afro-American students	28:00
	in our midst, who have acted and yielded and cried	28:03
	"It ain't over"?	28:08
	And it ain't.	28:11
	There are men and women in need.	28:16
	The criterion is not that a man in need be worthy.	28:20
	It's dangerous to argue from silence.	28:28
	But I have my doubts that the Samaritan asked	28:31
	the beat up traveler if he liked Samaritans.	28:35
	Or if he'd be able to repay any expenses of the Medicare.	28:40
	Or if he really were worth saving.	28:47
	"Here is a man who needs me," is the only justifying answer.	28:52
	Now, the folk around here who know that	28:57
	are doctors and nurses,	29:00
	those who ministered to bruised policemen	29:04
	and gassed students last Friday.	29:07
	Their ministry has little to do with liking a patient.	29:12
	It has much to do with goodwill to a fellow creature,	29:18
	to any fellow creature, to all fellow creatures.	29:24
	It is this attitude so central in the Christian faith	29:32
	that I miss so much in student and faculty opinion,	29:37
	which I read and hear.	29:41
	Goodwill to all members of the community,	29:44
	to Allen building as well as to Flowers building,	29:49
	to the indoor stadium as well as to the library,	29:54
	to trustees as well as to janitors,	30:00
	the campus cops as well as the cheerleaders.	30:04
	Christian's job is to go about doing good	30:10
	and his ministry is primarily one of reconciliation,	30:14
	the restoration of harmony or the recreation of friendship.	30:20
	Now this may not be as exciting	30:26
	as leading an attack on injustice	30:30
	or even as defending an established position,	30:33
	but it is the sine qua non of groups	30:39
	who expect to live together	30:44
	other than in a perpetual cold war.	30:48
	Both sides polarized with temper strained	30:53
	need to see in gentle, but affirmative action	30:58
	the personal, individual ministry of reconciliation,	31:03
	as well as the necessary committee confrontations	31:09
	and the everlasting turn of many a (indistinct) directives.	31:14
	My neighbor is he who needs me, ordinary me.	31:20
	Now, let's ask the wounded traveler, "Who is your neighbor?"	31:29
	Now, assuming that the victim was a Jew,	31:38
	he has a most embarrassing story to tell.	31:42
	It was a Samaritan of all outcasts	31:48
	who dressed my wounds, transported me to an inn,	31:53
	paid for my lodging	32:00
	and guaranteed to underwrite any extra costs.	32:03
	What a humiliation.	32:08
	What an exquisite humiliation.	32:13
	What an exquisite life saving humiliation.	32:19
	Who is my neighbor?	32:25
	He who helps me.	32:27
	Anyone who helps me, Samaritan, Jew, Roman, Greek.	32:30
	He who puts his hand under my elbow.	32:37
	He who steadies me.	32:42
	He who picks me up.	32:44
	I'll never feel quite the same way about Samaritans again.	32:48
	Jesus himself knew this kind of neighbor.	32:56
	Peter who gave him a home and paid his temple tax	33:01
	on at least one occasion.	33:08
	The friendship of Martha and Mary and Lazarus at Bethany,	33:11
	especially during the last week of his life.	33:17
	Some Pharisees who warned him that Herod was asking for him,	33:22
	and so afforded Jesus the chance	33:31
	to escape across the border.	33:34
	The rich women who ministered unto him of their substance.	33:38
	I wonder if Jesus knew Joseph of Arimathea	33:45
	who gave the body of Jesus its last resting place.	33:50
	Who is my neighbor?	33:55
	He who helps me.	33:58
	I wonder if my attitude towards Jews	34:03
	is influenced, even molded by the fact	34:06
	that when I was 12, a Jewish fellow classmate	34:09
	saved me from drowning.	34:14
	He had the wonderful name of Jackie Paradise.	34:18
	Certainly, paradise fount for me.	34:23
	I wonder if my attitude toward Blacks	34:28
	is shaped by the huge Negro truck driver,	34:32
	as big as Mr. William Jones in the dining hall,	34:38
	who changed a wheel on my overloaded Chevrolet	34:43
	somewhere near Amherst, Virginia,	34:49
	as my wife and I were driving first to Duke	34:53
	in September, 1945.	34:57
	The fact that he would accept no money for his help	35:01
	still lingers with me.	35:05
	Who is my neighbor?	35:08
	He who helps me.	35:10
	And he has been Jewish and Black,	35:14
	as well as Scottish and white.	35:19
	Yet this kind of attitude all by itself	35:24
	is not going to solve academic problems for Afro-Americans	35:27
	or cultural difficulties for foreign students.	35:33
	That is going to require thoughtful student opinion	35:38
	and considered faculty recommendations	35:44
	and debated trustee decisions	35:50
	and detailed administrative policy.	35:54
	But the machinery of implementation	35:58
	may be lubricated by kindness, understanding, concern.	36:03
	And those of us who bear the name of Christian	36:12
	are going to have to work hard at it.	36:16
	It was Sydney Smith, the divine conversationalist, who said	36:21
	"You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan	36:27
	without the oil and the two pence.	36:33
	Kind words are not enough.	36:40
	It takes oil and a beast and two pence plus.	36:44
	That may be important to remember on a day of prayer.	36:53
	Words are not enough.	36:58
	There's still truth in the Latin adage,	37:02
	laborare est orare, to work is to pray,	37:06
	and it may well be that he who helps	37:14
	is in fact praying.	37:18
	Who is my neighbor?	37:21
	He who helps me. Ordinary me.	37:24
	So if Jesus had specifically spoken	37:30
	to the lawyer's question,	37:33
	he might have given a double answer.	37:36
	He who needs you.	37:40
	He who helps you.	37:42
	If the Lord loveth a cheerful giver,	37:45
	he probably also loves a cheerful receiver.	37:48
	We have all this double relationship to others	37:53
	giving and receiving, helping and needing.	37:57
	And some of us are able all to help	38:03
	because our needs have been so well supplied	38:07
	by God, by parents, by friends, by fellow Christians.	38:11
	And so as we enter another week	38:21
	not knowing what a day may bring forth,	38:24
	let us remember this par of unexpected boundless love,	38:29
	where a man is sketched for us	38:37
	who evidently did love his neighbor as he loved himself.	38:41
	And let us remember in our contacts with black and white,	38:49
	with native born and aliens, our neighbors,	38:55
	that God has given each of us two hands,	39:03
	one to receive with and the other to give with.	39:09
	Amen. Let us pray.	39:19
	Almighty God, God and Father of all folk,	39:25
	who see us thy angry puzzled children,	39:32
	living in trouble and troubled sometimes,	39:37
	teach us again and again the way of love,	39:42
	granting us the sense, common and divine,	39:49
	to spell it out for daily living right where we are,	39:55
	that this campus may be a community of neighbors	40:02
	who both give and receive	40:08
	in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.	40:13
	Amen.	40:19
	(bright organ music)	40:24
	(choir sings indistinctly)	40:44
	(light cheerful organ music)	42:27
	(dramatic organ music)	45:00
	(choir sings indistinctly)	45:04
	(bright organ music)	46:31
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	47:23
	♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪	47:29
	♪ Praise him above, ye heav'nly host ♪	47:36
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	47:42
	♪ Amen ♪	47:49
-	Of your own bounty, O Lord, we give to you.	47:57
	Grant that the fruits of our labor	48:02
	rendered in love of thy cause may be by your blessing,	48:05
	be factual for the extension of your kingdom	48:10
	and the glory of your name,	48:13
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	48:15
-	O Lord, bless thee and keep thee,	48:28
	the Lord make his face shine upon thee	48:30
	and be gracious unto thee,	48:32
	the Lord lift up his continents upon thee,	48:34
	and give thee peace.	48:37
	In the name of the Father and of the Son	48:39
	and of the Holy Ghost.	48:41
	♪ Amen ♪	48:46
	♪ Amen ♪	48:53

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44t6k472

Date:

February 16, 1969

Speaker:

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

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0468
ref6141_fhk
uachapelsermaud
duke:628520
dcrau002459
ark:/87924/r44t6k472
c661cddb-e7a1-4d08-826b-d61cffa921db

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Location:

Format:

Language:

English

Provenance:

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

Rights:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Type:

Sound

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

Transcript

Item Info

1. James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options