Jacquelyne J. Jackson - "The Words from the Cross" Good Friday Service Part 3 (April 4, 1969)
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| (church organ playing) | 0:03 | |
| ♪ What thou, my Lord, hast suffered ♪ | 0:06 | |
| ♪ Was all for sinners' gain ♪ | 0:14 | |
| ♪ Mine, mine was the transgression ♪ | 0:23 | |
| ♪ But thine the deadly pain ♪ | 0:31 | |
| ♪ Lo, here I fall, my Savior ♪ | 0:40 | |
| ♪ 'Tis I deserve thy place ♪ | 0:49 | |
| ♪ Look on me with thy favor ♪ | 0:56 | |
| ♪ And grant to me thy grace ♪ | 1:05 | |
| ♪ What language shall I borrow ♪ | 1:15 | |
| ♪ To thank thee, dearest friend ♪ | 1:24 | |
| ♪ For this, thy dying sorrow ♪ | 1:33 | |
| ♪ Thy pity without end ♪ | 1:41 | |
| ♪ Oh, make me thine forever ♪ | 1:50 | |
| ♪ And should I fainting be ♪ | 1:58 | |
| ♪ Lord, let me never, never ♪ | 2:07 | |
| ♪ Outlive my love to thee ♪ | 2:16 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 2:26 | |
| - | Oh thou, who does give us | 2:45 |
| both the limits and the possibilities | 2:47 | |
| of our lives, | 2:50 | |
| who art our father, our judge, our comforter. | 2:52 | |
| We pause before thee, | 3:00 | |
| to remember those who have found their outer limit | 3:03 | |
| during this past year, | 3:07 | |
| those who have found that thou cruciform existence led | 3:10 | |
| to a violent and sudden death. | 3:14 | |
| On this day, we especially remember | 3:19 | |
| the life and death of Martin Luther King | 3:22 | |
| and others who have given their lives in the fight | 3:26 | |
| for freedom and humanity for all peoples. | 3:29 | |
| We also lift before thee | 3:35 | |
| those who have found their outer limits of their existence | 3:38 | |
| with little redeeming possibilities, | 3:42 | |
| those who everyday utter, | 3:46 | |
| "It is finished, and yet I'm still alive." | 3:48 | |
| Oh Lord our God, father of the crucified, | 3:54 | |
| the comfort of the sorrowful, | 4:00 | |
| the strength of the sufferers. | 4:03 | |
| We give thee thanks for him | 4:06 | |
| who came forth from thee, | 4:08 | |
| a light into our darkness, | 4:10 | |
| who in divine love carried in His own soul | 4:13 | |
| our limits and possibilities, | 4:17 | |
| our sins and woes, | 4:20 | |
| through thick shadows | 4:23 | |
| and who went down through the ways of death | 4:25 | |
| so that none of us should cry in vain | 4:28 | |
| for the light of thy face. | 4:31 | |
| In His name therefore we pray | 4:33 | |
| for all who are tyrannized, | 4:37 | |
| ill-treated, who are wronged, oppressed, | 4:40 | |
| defrauded, or betrayed. | 4:46 | |
| Defend them from despair and anger, | 4:50 | |
| from empty justice and hollow sympathy. | 4:53 | |
| For all who are downcast | 4:58 | |
| by fruitless toils and studies, | 5:00 | |
| or shattered hopes, | 5:03 | |
| who hurt and bruised in spirit, | 5:06 | |
| serve without thanks and toil without recompense, | 5:09 | |
| preserve them by thy good spirit | 5:14 | |
| from utter grief of heart. | 5:17 | |
| For all who are left behind and forgotten, | 5:21 | |
| all who are alone and afraid, | 5:25 | |
| the defeated, the timid, the broken hearted. | 5:29 | |
| Befriend, comfort, and abide with them. | 5:34 | |
| For all who desire to do thy will, | 5:39 | |
| yet falter continually, | 5:43 | |
| all with doubtful feet stumble in search of love, | 5:46 | |
| all those who would follow thee but fear thy cross, | 5:50 | |
| give strength and vision to them. | 5:55 | |
| For those who are limited by disease, | 6:00 | |
| was stricken by accident. | 6:03 | |
| All who are helpless and hopeless, | 6:06 | |
| relieve their suffering, | 6:10 | |
| expel their maladies, | 6:12 | |
| revive their spirits, | 6:14 | |
| heal thy wounds, make them whole. | 6:17 | |
| Relieve and comfort us all, oh Lord, | 6:22 | |
| and make us to rejoice in every experience | 6:26 | |
| however hard, bitter, or costly, | 6:28 | |
| through the power and mercy of him who cried | 6:33 | |
| "It is finished," amen. | 6:38 | |
| - | The blessed text for the sixth word of Christ comes from | 6:59 |
| St. John 17:1-8, 19:30. | 7:05 | |
| These words spake Jesus, | 7:14 | |
| and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, | 7:16 | |
| "Father, the hour is come." | 7:19 | |
| "Glorify thy son, | 7:23 | |
| that thy son also may glorify thee. | 7:25 | |
| As thou has given him power over all flesh | 7:28 | |
| that He should give eternal life | 7:31 | |
| to as many as thou hast given him. | 7:33 | |
| And this is life eternal, | 7:36 | |
| that they may know thee, | 7:38 | |
| the only true God, | 7:40 | |
| and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. | 7:41 | |
| I have glorified thee on the earth: | 7:45 | |
| I have finished the work | 7:48 | |
| which thou gavest me to do. | 7:50 | |
| And now Father, glorify thou me with thine own self | 7:53 | |
| with a glory which I had with thee | 7:58 | |
| before the world was. | 8:00 | |
| I have manifested thy name unto the men, | 8:03 | |
| which thou gavest me out of the world: | 8:06 | |
| thine they were, and thou gavest them me; | 8:09 | |
| and they have kept thy word. | 8:12 | |
| Now they have known that all things whatsoever | 8:15 | |
| thou hast given me are of thee. | 8:18 | |
| For I have given unto them the words | 8:22 | |
| which thou gavest me, | 8:25 | |
| and they have received them, | 8:27 | |
| and have known surely that I came out from thee, | 8:30 | |
| and they have believed that thou didst send me." | 8:34 | |
| When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, | 8:42 | |
| He said, "It is finished." | 8:47 | |
| And He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. | 8:52 | |
| ♪ It is finished ♪ | 9:05 | |
| (church organ playing) | 9:21 | |
| ♪ In His name, it is done ♪ | 9:23 | |
| ("The Seven Last Words of Christ, Sonata VI" by Haydn) | 9:39 | |
| (sorrowful violin music) | 9:53 | |
| (sorrowful string music) | 9:57 | |
| (sorrowful string music) | 10:13 | |
| (joyful string music) | 10:28 | |
| (joyful string music) | 10:44 | |
| (intense string music) | 11:07 | |
| (joyful string music) | 11:23 | |
| (joyful string music) | 12:11 | |
| (joyful string music) | 14:23 | |
| (joyful string music) | 14:56 | |
| - | Oh Lord, give me strength to speak in your name. | 15:17 |
| It is finished. | 15:22 | |
| What was finished on the cross at Golgotha? | 15:26 | |
| From a secular perspective, | 15:31 | |
| "It is finished" may mean the life of Jesus. | 15:34 | |
| The man is over, at an end. | 15:39 | |
| It expired on the cross. | 15:42 | |
| He expired like many other criminals of His days. | 15:47 | |
| A gruesome spectacle to be sure, | 15:52 | |
| but one which not many people paid attention to then. | 15:56 | |
| Surely the inhabitants of Jerusalem went around | 16:01 | |
| their activities unconcerned that Friday. | 16:04 | |
| So another crucifixion took place, so what? | 16:07 | |
| The day was one that could be taken for granted. | 16:13 | |
| When the day is over, it is finished. | 16:18 | |
| How many then really cared what was going on the cross? | 16:23 | |
| And today, how many care that it is Good Friday? | 16:30 | |
| At Duke, is today celebrated as Good Friday | 16:37 | |
| in solemnity by the university | 16:42 | |
| because it is the day of the Crucifixion, | 16:45 | |
| or is today seen as the end of another school week? | 16:48 | |
| A trivial school day, | 16:55 | |
| when classes have no occasion to be called off, | 16:58 | |
| a day when spring festivities can launch the weekend. | 17:02 | |
| It is finished. | 17:09 | |
| From a religious perspective, | 17:13 | |
| from a Christian perspective, | 17:15 | |
| "It is finished" takes on another meaning, | 17:18 | |
| a religious significance of cosmic importance. | 17:21 | |
| The mystery of the incarnation is finished. | 17:25 | |
| The good God has sent His beloved Son | 17:30 | |
| to redeem an evil world. | 17:32 | |
| That is a mystery. | 17:35 | |
| And Jesus accepts His divine mission | 17:38 | |
| from His Father, | 17:40 | |
| and part of this mission of redemption involves | 17:41 | |
| the humiliation of the second person of the Trinity. | 17:44 | |
| That is also an element of the Christian mystery. | 17:48 | |
| And Christ is crucified like an ordinary criminal. | 17:52 | |
| And the humiliation is complete when Christ, | 17:57 | |
| who reigns in heaven with His Father, | 18:01 | |
| is offered vinegar, a further insult. | 18:04 | |
| The humiliation and degradation | 18:08 | |
| of the Son of God is finished. | 18:11 | |
| "It is finished" has an equivocal meaning. | 18:17 | |
| "Finished" means in one sense | 18:22 | |
| that which is over, at an end, completed, | 18:28 | |
| exhausted, done for. | 18:35 | |
| Finished, however, also means ready. | 18:42 | |
| So paradoxically for something to start, | 18:50 | |
| something has to be finished. | 18:54 | |
| And Christ's mission is over on the cross, | 18:57 | |
| for in this mystery Christ dies of the agonies | 19:00 | |
| of taking the sins of fallen mankind as His own. | 19:03 | |
| It is the most intense spiritual suffering | 19:07 | |
| which Christ undergoes so as to redeem | 19:10 | |
| and purify the world. | 19:13 | |
| And when the world is finished, | 19:17 | |
| it is also ready for the new life in Christ. | 19:20 | |
| The paradox of Christianity is contained on the cross. | 19:24 | |
| From a non-Christian point of view, | 19:30 | |
| Christ's death is an utter failure. | 19:33 | |
| In Luke 23:35 for example, | 19:38 | |
| we read the spectators saying, | 19:43 | |
| "He saved others, let him save himself | 19:45 | |
| if he be Christ, the chosen of God." | 19:49 | |
| But Christ does not get away from the cross. | 19:54 | |
| He is a failure, finished. | 19:58 | |
| But from a Christian point of view, | 20:02 | |
| the crucifixion is the opposite of failure. | 20:05 | |
| The Christian point of view has to begin and end | 20:09 | |
| with a crucifixion. | 20:14 | |
| The secular mundane world is finished with a cross. | 20:17 | |
| The secular world has played all its trump cards. | 20:23 | |
| It has tried to detract Christ | 20:27 | |
| from His mission of redemption in every way. | 20:29 | |
| And the last thing it can do is | 20:33 | |
| to try to kill Christ. | 20:36 | |
| And after that, it is finished. | 20:39 | |
| After that, Christ triumphs over death | 20:43 | |
| and Christianity begins. | 20:48 | |
| One is finished. | 20:51 | |
| The other starts. | 20:53 | |
| Today, the crucifixion is again being reenacted, | 20:57 | |
| being part of the divine cosmic mystery. | 21:05 | |
| It is reenacted each year. | 21:09 | |
| Each year, we have the occasion | 21:12 | |
| to be participants in the mystery. | 21:15 | |
| We have the option to carry the cross | 21:20 | |
| with Christ like Simon the Cyrenian, | 21:23 | |
| or the option to deny that we have anything | 21:28 | |
| to do with Christ like Peter that fateful day. | 21:32 | |
| A very human reaction of fear on His part. | 21:36 | |
| And today to be identified as a Christian is | 21:40 | |
| certainly a very dangerous thing, even at Duke. | 21:44 | |
| It is finished. | 21:50 | |
| What is finished? | 21:52 | |
| The false prophets say that it is Christianity | 21:54 | |
| which is finished, | 21:59 | |
| that this is a post-Christian society. | 22:01 | |
| But perhaps from a Christian point of view, | 22:06 | |
| it is the world which has finished, | 22:11 | |
| which is coming to an end as the scripture has it. | 22:14 | |
| The moral dissolution of the world, | 22:19 | |
| the degeneration of standards is hailed | 22:22 | |
| by an infamous minority as the new morality | 22:25 | |
| in which they see the new freedom, | 22:30 | |
| forsaking the only to freedom, | 22:32 | |
| which is to be found in Christ. | 22:35 | |
| Is this a cause for rejoicing? | 22:39 | |
| Hardly any more than the Crucifixion is | 22:42 | |
| a cause for rejoicing. | 22:45 | |
| For all its secular glories | 22:48 | |
| of material riches of technological wizardry, | 22:50 | |
| of vast sources of political power, | 22:53 | |
| the secular world is exhausting itself | 22:56 | |
| in a sweeping current of frenzied violence | 23:00 | |
| and bacchanalian orgies. | 23:04 | |
| Just as the great majority of citizens of Jerusalem | 23:07 | |
| then did not realize it, | 23:10 | |
| just as the citizens of the Roman Empire | 23:13 | |
| then did not realize it. | 23:16 | |
| And just as sadly perhaps | 23:18 | |
| the majority of the members | 23:21 | |
| of the Duke community do not realize it. | 23:22 | |
| The Crucifixion we are celebrating today is | 23:25 | |
| the only true source of regeneration, | 23:30 | |
| of rebirth, of spiritual transfiguration. | 23:33 | |
| It is finished. | 23:38 | |
| It is ready. | 23:41 | |
| Let us pray. | 23:44 | |
| Lord God, our Father, we thank you for allowing us | 23:50 | |
| to participate in your son's misery | 23:56 | |
| for it is in agony and despair and torture | 24:00 | |
| that we find Christian hope and faith. | 24:06 | |
| It is because of His suffering | 24:11 | |
| that Christ offers us infinite compassion. | 24:13 | |
| Give us strength to accept His cross, | 24:18 | |
| to suffer as Christians and to participate | 24:22 | |
| in His mission of redeeming a fallen world today | 24:26 | |
| as nearly 2000 years ago, amen. | 24:30 | |
| (church organ playing) | 24:37 | |
| ♪ 'Tis finished! The Messiah dies ♪ | 25:03 | |
| ♪ Cut off for sins, but not His own ♪ | 25:09 | |
| ♪ Accomplished is the sacrifice ♪ | 25:17 | |
| ♪ The great redeeming work is done ♪ | 25:23 | |
| ♪ The veil is rent in Christ alone ♪ | 25:31 | |
| ♪ The living way to heav'n is seen ♪ | 25:38 | |
| ♪ The middle wall is broken down ♪ | 25:46 | |
| ♪ And all mankind may enter in ♪ | 25:52 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 26:02 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 26:20 |
| Heavenly Father, as we hear the words of your Son, | 26:23 | |
| our savior from the cross, | 26:29 | |
| we realized that He had the courage | 26:33 | |
| to commend His spirit unto you, | 26:35 | |
| and we wonder how fully or completely | 26:40 | |
| we have ever done that ourselves. | 26:42 | |
| Or even if we actually did it | 26:46 | |
| at sometime in the past, | 26:48 | |
| how much of that commitment has eroded away | 26:51 | |
| between then and now? | 26:53 | |
| Help us in this hour to face our own predicament | 26:58 | |
| squarely and honestly, | 27:03 | |
| to see our escapes and dodges for what they are, | 27:06 | |
| to understand the selfishness | 27:12 | |
| behind our rationalizations, | 27:15 | |
| to acknowledge with new candor | 27:18 | |
| how uncommitted our spirits are, | 27:20 | |
| but how committed they must be. | 27:24 | |
| if our lives finally are to have any meaning. | 27:25 | |
| We pray, oh God, | 27:32 | |
| that you will stab us out of our complacency | 27:34 | |
| on this Memorial Day, | 27:37 | |
| with the examples of Jesus Christ, | 27:40 | |
| of Martin Luther King, | 27:44 | |
| and a great cloud of witnesses | 27:46 | |
| who have had the faith, the courage, | 27:49 | |
| and the unselfish love sufficient to say | 27:52 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" | 27:57 | |
| and to mean it. | 28:03 | |
| We pray for grace to understand | 28:06 | |
| the meaning of Good Friday | 28:08 | |
| in terms of what it requires of us | 28:09 | |
| and of our society | 28:12 | |
| so that we and our society might have | 28:15 | |
| an Easter of resurrection to a new life. | 28:19 | |
| We pray in His name, amen. | 28:25 | |
| - | This is a reading of the scriptures | 28:41 |
| from Luke 23:44-47. | 28:43 | |
| It was now about the sixth hour | 28:50 | |
| and there was darkness over the whole land | 28:52 | |
| until the ninth hour while the sun failed, | 28:54 | |
| and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. | 28:57 | |
| Then Jesus, crying in a loud voice said, | 29:01 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." | 29:04 | |
| And having said this, | 29:08 | |
| he breathed His last. | 29:09 | |
| Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, | 29:13 | |
| He praised God and said, | 29:16 | |
| "Certainly this man was innocent." | 29:18 | |
| ♪ Father, into your hands ♪ | 29:32 | |
| ♪ I commend my spirit ♪ | 29:46 | |
| (joyful string music) | 30:07 | |
| (joyful string music) | 30:32 | |
| (joyful string music) | 30:49 | |
| (joyful string music) | 31:11 | |
| (joyful string music) | 31:29 | |
| (joyful string music) | 31:55 | |
| (joyful string music) | 32:16 | |
| (joyful string music) | 32:43 | |
| (joyful string music) | 33:00 | |
| (joyful string music) | 33:24 | |
| (joyful string music) | 33:34 | |
| (joyful string music) | 34:12 | |
| (joyful string music) | 35:04 | |
| - | The seven words from the cross come to us | 35:24 |
| across centuries through processes | 35:27 | |
| of translation involving a number of languages. | 35:29 | |
| They also include the desires | 35:34 | |
| of many unnamed men, | 35:36 | |
| desires to explain impressions and insights, | 35:38 | |
| which go beyond the limits of our reason. | 35:41 | |
| The par of these words is reflected not so much | 35:44 | |
| in a precision associated | 35:47 | |
| with accurate observation and reporting, | 35:50 | |
| but more in the miracle | 35:53 | |
| that the events and viewpoints, | 35:55 | |
| what they represent, | 35:57 | |
| are still a coherent part of human expression. | 35:58 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." | 36:04 | |
| Our service of worship states | 36:10 | |
| that these words involved confidence | 36:11 | |
| at the cross. | 36:13 | |
| Why should these words represent confidence? | 36:15 | |
| There are three possibilities, | 36:20 | |
| which we might consider briefly. | 36:22 | |
| These possibilities involve a false confidence, | 36:24 | |
| a desire to relieve feelings of guilt, | 36:29 | |
| and finally confidence associated | 36:32 | |
| with the acceptance of reality. | 36:35 | |
| Let's just briefly consider the first possibility. | 36:39 | |
| There are times when arrogance | 36:44 | |
| or lack of understanding an insight | 36:46 | |
| into the real situation can give a person | 36:49 | |
| a sense of confidence or lead | 36:51 | |
| to an impression of confidence. | 36:53 | |
| However, such words as "blessed are the meek" | 36:56 | |
| and "blessed are the poor in spirit" | 36:59 | |
| from the Sermon on the Mount do not suggest | 37:01 | |
| that the confidence which Jesus represents is | 37:04 | |
| one of arrogance. | 37:06 | |
| Furthermore, it is apparent that we believe | 37:09 | |
| that Jesus displayed unusual understanding | 37:12 | |
| and insight into reality. | 37:14 | |
| That is, he's vested with a capacity | 37:16 | |
| to cure the sick, | 37:18 | |
| and he provided food and understanding. | 37:20 | |
| The chaplains who gave their lives to others | 37:24 | |
| aboard a sinking ship during World War II, | 37:26 | |
| were giving expression to a similar viewpoint. | 37:30 | |
| So it seems that we are not dealing | 37:33 | |
| with a false confidence or arrogance. | 37:36 | |
| Let's consider the second possibility. | 37:40 | |
| That is, a confidence associated with our guilt. | 37:44 | |
| Death on the cross with all the dust, dirt, | 37:50 | |
| pain, anguish, ridicule, shame, rejection. | 37:54 | |
| And here we are centuries later | 38:01 | |
| in a quiet sanctuary talking about confidence. | 38:04 | |
| Maybe we want to confess, | 38:09 | |
| or do we want to ignore our guilt | 38:11 | |
| by giving this downtrodden person the last word? | 38:14 | |
| What guilt need we confess or ignore? | 38:18 | |
| We weren't present at the Crucifixion. | 38:22 | |
| But the word of the Bible speaks | 38:26 | |
| beyond literal terms. | 38:28 | |
| And we recognize our guilt by association | 38:30 | |
| with other less dramatic, | 38:32 | |
| but maybe more insidious activity, | 38:34 | |
| or lack of activity. | 38:37 | |
| Possibly we sense our guilt | 38:40 | |
| in a death of hopes and aspirations, | 38:41 | |
| which call for faith and support, | 38:44 | |
| which go beyond our limited vision. | 38:47 | |
| A constrained vision, | 38:50 | |
| which calls a lack of capacity to see, | 38:52 | |
| capacity to see darkness. | 38:55 | |
| That is, some of the darkness which we feel | 38:59 | |
| may be due to a lack of vision | 39:02 | |
| rather than lack of illumination. | 39:04 | |
| We tend to strike out | 39:08 | |
| into the supposed darkness causing injury | 39:09 | |
| for which there is a feeling of guilt. | 39:12 | |
| We may have that feeling of guilt | 39:14 | |
| by trying to console an injured life | 39:16 | |
| with words of confidence. | 39:19 | |
| There may be some validity in the view | 39:21 | |
| that we use the so-called words of confidence | 39:23 | |
| to apologize for our unrecognized blindness. | 39:26 | |
| However, this interpretation does not carry | 39:30 | |
| the strength to propagate | 39:34 | |
| a faith through centuries. | 39:35 | |
| There must be more. | 39:38 | |
| Let's turn to the third possibility. | 39:39 | |
| Confidence at the cross is associated | 39:46 | |
| with a large loud cry, | 39:48 | |
| "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." | 39:51 | |
| Luke indicates that these were | 39:57 | |
| the last words of Jesus before His death. | 39:58 | |
| Death represents an interesting combination | 40:03 | |
| of certainty and uncertainty. | 40:05 | |
| There is certainty about the grave | 40:09 | |
| and the quiet tomb. | 40:11 | |
| There is uncertainty about what lies | 40:14 | |
| beyond the tomb. | 40:16 | |
| Uncertainty does not always bring forth confidence. | 40:19 | |
| We tend to associate certainty and security, | 40:25 | |
| and from security, | 40:28 | |
| we move to confidence. | 40:29 | |
| However, it seems that these words of confidence | 40:31 | |
| of Jesus could represent genuine confidence, | 40:33 | |
| productive confidence, the kind | 40:37 | |
| that provides understanding and balance | 40:39 | |
| through the ages and all conditions. | 40:41 | |
| We know that confidence can stem | 40:46 | |
| from seeing reality beyond the confines | 40:48 | |
| of our limited vision. | 40:51 | |
| That is, that dying man | 40:52 | |
| on the cross was really confident | 40:54 | |
| because he had reasons and feelings | 40:56 | |
| which overcame the pain, the dirt, | 40:58 | |
| ridicule, shame, and rejection. | 41:02 | |
| What did he see? | 41:04 | |
| How could he be confident? | 41:06 | |
| In a scientific age, | 41:10 | |
| confidence is often placed in repeatable, | 41:11 | |
| predictable, rational phenomena and behavior. | 41:14 | |
| However, there are clear inconsistencies | 41:19 | |
| with a view of repeatability, | 41:22 | |
| even in the science of sciences, physics. | 41:24 | |
| For out of periodicity, | 41:27 | |
| the ultimate, and the repeatable, | 41:29 | |
| the wave mechanics of modern physics produces | 41:31 | |
| a quantum view of matter with uncertainty | 41:34 | |
| at its center. | 41:37 | |
| The second law of thermodynamics, | 41:39 | |
| a doctrinal pillar of physics indicates | 41:41 | |
| that entropy of a closed system tends to increase, | 41:44 | |
| and entropy is synonymous with uncertainty. | 41:47 | |
| That is, if the physical universe is viewed | 41:52 | |
| as a closed system, physical law points | 41:55 | |
| to increasing uncertainty and chaos | 41:57 | |
| as time passes. | 42:00 | |
| The businessman and administrator talk | 42:03 | |
| of careful organization and planned development. | 42:05 | |
| However, they know that an element | 42:10 | |
| of uncertainty provides zest and openings | 42:12 | |
| which make the predictable repeatable aspects | 42:14 | |
| of His endeavors effective and necessary. | 42:17 | |
| So the scientists and the businessman, | 42:21 | |
| models of persons involved | 42:23 | |
| with repeatable phenomena and predictable behavior, | 42:25 | |
| find uncertainty a vital part of reality. | 42:28 | |
| Unfortunately, one has the impression | 42:33 | |
| that these characteristics, | 42:35 | |
| that is, uncertainty and unpredictability, | 42:36 | |
| are often viewed as enemies to be destroyed | 42:40 | |
| rather than reality to be accepted or used. | 42:43 | |
| The housewife in her home making activities | 42:47 | |
| knows that unpredictable events combine | 42:50 | |
| with fairly predictable periodic day-by-day routines | 42:52 | |
| to give added dimensions | 42:56 | |
| to growing family relationships. | 42:57 | |
| That is, what will Jimmy think of next? | 43:00 | |
| The modern student has been introducing unscheduled events, | 43:04 | |
| that is, uncertainty, | 43:08 | |
| into the heavily scheduled academic world | 43:10 | |
| at an increasing rate. | 43:13 | |
| Sometimes it seems that the unscheduled events | 43:15 | |
| in our lives might lead to threatening situations | 43:17 | |
| unless we are open to the unexpected aspects | 43:21 | |
| or randomness of reality, | 43:24 | |
| even the tenured professor must realize | 43:26 | |
| that his measured way has unmeasurable dimensions. | 43:29 | |
| So in a scientific technological age, | 43:34 | |
| characterized by an emphasis | 43:37 | |
| on the repeatable predictable phenomena, | 43:39 | |
| we find randomness and uncertainty, | 43:42 | |
| which point to a post-scientific world | 43:45 | |
| with more chaos, more randomness, | 43:47 | |
| more acceptance of the validity | 43:50 | |
| of the unpredictable. | 43:52 | |
| As we try to look | 43:56 | |
| through the certainty of the tomb, | 43:56 | |
| into the uncertainty of the unknown | 43:59 | |
| beyond the tomb, | 44:01 | |
| there is a need for a realistic confidence. | 44:02 | |
| That final cry from the cross displays | 44:08 | |
| the capacity to respond effectively | 44:10 | |
| to unpredictability and uncertainty. | 44:12 | |
| Out of randomness can come hope | 44:16 | |
| and opportunity for growth. | 44:18 | |
| As the new patterns form, | 44:20 | |
| and as the old patterns fade, | 44:22 | |
| we have the opportunity | 44:24 | |
| for enhanced view and perspective. | 44:26 | |
| However, we also have the possibility | 44:29 | |
| of diminished perspective and vision. | 44:31 | |
| Whether we move into new reality | 44:35 | |
| with certain uncertainties | 44:36 | |
| in a manner which leads to a deeper understanding | 44:39 | |
| and fuller realization of the promises of being, | 44:41 | |
| depends upon our choices as new patterns evolve. | 44:45 | |
| Let us pray. | 44:52 | |
| Most great God, source of being, | 44:58 | |
| forgive our lack of vision. | 45:02 | |
| Help us to overcome the blindness | 45:05 | |
| which refuses to admit the light. | 45:07 | |
| And as we respond as individuals | 45:10 | |
| and as a community, | 45:14 | |
| we praise thee for the balance | 45:16 | |
| of the known and the unknown, | 45:17 | |
| which can provide zest being, amen. | 45:19 | |
| (church organ playing) | 45:30 | |
| ♪ Behold the Savior of mankind ♪ | 45:52 | |
| ♪ Nailed to the shameful tree ♪ | 45:59 | |
| ♪ How vast the love that Him inclined ♪ | 46:05 | |
| ♪ To bleed and die for thee ♪ | 46:12 | |
| ♪ Har, how He groans, while nature shakes ♪ | 46:20 | |
| ♪ And earth's strong pillars bend ♪ | 46:27 | |
| ♪ The temple's veil in sunder breaks ♪ | 46:34 | |
| ♪ The solid marbles rend ♪ | 46:40 | |
| ♪ 'Tis done! The precious ransom's paid ♪ | 46:48 | |
| ♪ "Receive my soul!" He cries ♪ | 46:55 | |
| ♪ See where He bows His sacred head ♪ | 47:02 | |
| ♪ He bows His head and dies ♪ | 47:09 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 47:18 | |
| Now may the grace of the crucified Christ be | 47:27 | |
| with us today so that the power | 47:30 | |
| of the risen Christ may be with us | 47:33 | |
| on Easter, amen. | 47:36 |
Item Info
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