Stanford R. Hall - Sermon Untitled (April 8, 1973)
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| (choir singing) | 0:05 | |
| (triumphant organ music) | ||
| - | May we continue our worship by entering | 2:47 |
| into the spirit of confession together. | 2:49 | |
| God, our Father, we confess that despite | 2:53 | |
| our Sunday morning affirmations of love, | 2:57 | |
| our ascent to the Lordship of the Christ | 3:01 | |
| and our stated allegiance to His church, | 3:04 | |
| we worship most often at the altars of the gods of power, | 3:07 | |
| security, affluence and social status. | 3:11 | |
| We condone violence in its many faces | 3:16 | |
| by our silence, ignorance and unconcern. | 3:18 | |
| We fight the rising cost of meat by boycotts | 3:23 | |
| and public rhetoric, and remain silent | 3:26 | |
| in the face of oppression and brutalization | 3:29 | |
| of our neighbors from Durham to Cape Town. | 3:32 | |
| We recognize that we are an offense against the law of love, | 3:36 | |
| that we and our individual and corporate actions crucify | 3:40 | |
| our Lord daily and perpetrate crimes | 3:45 | |
| against humanity in the name of Christ. | 3:48 | |
| We rely on your divine patience. | 3:51 | |
| We seek infinite second chances. | 3:54 | |
| We expect and demand forgiveness in the midst | 3:57 | |
| of our conscious and continuing sinfulness. | 4:00 | |
| Our Father, through the ministry | 4:03 | |
| and transforming power of your Spirit, | 4:06 | |
| may this be the day and hour that we respond | 4:08 | |
| to your open invitation in Christ | 4:11 | |
| to walk in His way to thy glory. | 4:14 | |
| Amen. | 4:17 | |
| The words of assurance are these. | 4:21 | |
| If we confess our sins to Him, | 4:25 | |
| He can be depended on to forgive us | 4:28 | |
| and to cleanse us from every wrong. | 4:30 | |
| Now, may we join in reciting the prayer of our Lord. | 4:34 | |
| Let us pray. | 4:38 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 4:40 | |
| Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 4:46 | |
| on Earth as it is in heaven. | 4:49 | |
| Give us this day, our daily bread, | 4:52 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 4:55 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 4:57 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, | 5:01 | |
| but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom | 5:03 | |
| and the power and the glory forever. | 5:07 | |
| Amen. | 5:11 | |
| (light organ music) | 5:13 | |
| (coughing) | 5:31 | |
| (choir singing) | 6:18 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 10:00 | |
| - | And with your spirit. | 10:03 |
| - | Let us pray. | 10:04 |
| God of creation, God of love, | 10:10 | |
| recognizing our weakness and our helplessness | 10:14 | |
| to heal ourselves, protect us from the powers of this world, | 10:17 | |
| which corrupt the body as well as the mind and spirit. | 10:22 | |
| Transform the areas of our lives already twisted. | 10:26 | |
| Grant us the power to accept our freedom | 10:31 | |
| and embrace your forgiveness, in the name of Him | 10:34 | |
| who lives and reigns in spite of us. | 10:37 | |
| Amen. | 10:41 | |
| - | The scripture lessons for this morning | 10:49 |
| are from 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 | 10:51 | |
| and the Gospel according to John 8:46-59. | 10:56 | |
| "For the word of the cross is folly to those | 11:04 | |
| who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, | 11:06 | |
| it is the power of God, for it is written, | 11:10 | |
| 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, | 11:13 | |
| and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.' | 11:16 | |
| Where is the wise man? | 11:20 | |
| Where is the scribe? | 11:22 | |
| Where's the debater of this age? | 11:23 | |
| Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? | 11:26 | |
| For since, in the wisdom of God, | 11:29 | |
| the world did not know God through wisdom, | 11:32 | |
| it pleased God through the folly | 11:34 | |
| of what we preach to save those who believe. | 11:36 | |
| For Jews demand science and Greeks seek wisdom, | 11:39 | |
| but we preach Christ crucified, | 11:43 | |
| a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles. | 11:45 | |
| But, to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, | 11:49 | |
| Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. | 11:52 | |
| For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, | 11:56 | |
| and the weakness of God is stronger than men. | 11:59 | |
| For consider your call, brethren. | 12:03 | |
| Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. | 12:05 | |
| Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. | 12:08 | |
| But, God chose what is foolish | 12:12 | |
| in the world to shame the wise. | 12:14 | |
| God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. | 12:16 | |
| God chose what is low and despised | 12:21 | |
| in the world, even things that are not, | 12:23 | |
| to bring to nothing things that are, | 12:25 | |
| so that no human being may boast in the presence of God. | 12:28 | |
| He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, | 12:33 | |
| whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness | 12:35 | |
| and our sanctification and redemption. | 12:38 | |
| Therefore, as it is written, | 12:41 | |
| let him who boasts boast of the Lord." | 12:43 | |
| "'Which of you convicts me of sin? | 12:53 | |
| If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? | 12:56 | |
| He who is of God hears the words of God. | 12:59 | |
| The reason why you do not hear them | 13:02 | |
| is that you are not of God.' | 13:04 | |
| The Jews answered Him, 'Are we not right | 13:07 | |
| in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?' | 13:09 | |
| Jesus answered, 'I have not a demon, | 13:13 | |
| but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. | 13:15 | |
| Yet I do not seek my own glory, | 13:19 | |
| there is one who seeks it and He will be the judge. | 13:21 | |
| Truly, truly, I say to you, | 13:25 | |
| if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.' | 13:27 | |
| The Jews said to Him, 'Now we know that you have a demon. | 13:31 | |
| Abraham died, as did the prophets, and you say, | 13:34 | |
| if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. | 13:38 | |
| Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? | 13:42 | |
| And the prophets died. | 13:45 | |
| Who do you claim to be?' | 13:47 | |
| Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. | 13:49 | |
| It is my Father who glorifies me, | 13:54 | |
| of whom you say that He is your God, | 13:56 | |
| but you have not known Him. | 13:59 | |
| I know Him. | 14:01 | |
| If I said I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, | 14:02 | |
| but I do know Him and I keep His word. | 14:06 | |
| Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day. | 14:09 | |
| He said he saw it and was glad.' | 14:12 | |
| The Jews then said to Him, | 14:16 | |
| 'You are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?' | 14:17 | |
| Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, | 14:22 | |
| before Abraham was, I am.' | 14:25 | |
| So, they took up stones to throw at Him, | 14:28 | |
| but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." | 14:30 | |
| This ends the reading of the lesson. | 14:33 | |
| (triumphant organ music) | 14:36 | |
| (choir singing) | 14:44 | |
| - | Let us affirm our faith. | 15:18 |
| We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 15:21 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus, to reconcile | 15:26 | |
| and make new, who works in us and others by His spirit. | 15:30 | |
| We trust Him. | 15:35 | |
| He calls us to be in His church, | 15:37 | |
| to celebrate His presence, to love and serve others, | 15:40 | |
| to seek justice and to resist evil, | 15:44 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 15:47 | |
| our judge and our hope. | 15:51 | |
| In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. | 15:53 | |
| We are not alone, thanks be to God. | 15:59 | |
| Let us pray. | 16:12 | |
| Eternal God, our Father, | 16:22 | |
| creator and sustainer of all life, | 16:26 | |
| source of our hope, ground of our love, | 16:31 | |
| and conqueror of death through the gift | 16:35 | |
| of eternal relationship we call the Christ, | 16:38 | |
| we seek you in humility, but with confidence, | 16:42 | |
| for we know you are present to hear our prayer, | 16:47 | |
| that our needs are known before we ask, | 16:51 | |
| and that, like a good father, | 16:56 | |
| you will neither ignore us nor mock us. | 16:58 | |
| Our Father, we confess before you | 17:04 | |
| and in the presence of one another, | 17:06 | |
| that we more often than not give in | 17:09 | |
| to destructive and dehumanizing impulses, | 17:11 | |
| and that we are blinded to the needs of our brothers | 17:15 | |
| and sisters by the consuming passion | 17:18 | |
| of our own greed and self-interest. | 17:20 | |
| We admit that we are too much into complaining, | 17:26 | |
| blaming someone else, focusing on negatives, | 17:30 | |
| aiming too low and often disliking ourselves. | 17:34 | |
| Teach us how to laugh at ourselves and to celebrate life. | 17:40 | |
| Remind us again that we are, | 17:46 | |
| in fact, the crown of your creation, | 17:47 | |
| and that all things are possible in Christ. | 17:50 | |
| Oh, God, in this joyous season, | 17:57 | |
| when the renewal of life bursts upon our senses | 17:58 | |
| in an explosion of colors, smells, warmth, | 18:01 | |
| birdsong and spring pollen, we raise our song | 18:05 | |
| of thanksgiving for the renewal of life, | 18:09 | |
| that like the offering of spring is a free gift, | 18:13 | |
| no strings attached. | 18:17 | |
| Open our senses to receive the gift of spring | 18:21 | |
| and our hearts to receive the gift of forgiveness. | 18:24 | |
| As we approach the celebration of Easter, | 18:31 | |
| may each one of us be transformed by the power of the truth | 18:34 | |
| that the resurrection is for us and in us. | 18:38 | |
| Our hope and our salvation. | 18:42 | |
| Our Father, uncloud our minds to receive the truth | 18:48 | |
| that the big lie is exposed, | 18:51 | |
| that you are for us and stand with us, | 18:54 | |
| that we are acceptable and individually precious | 18:59 | |
| and irreplaceable, that ultimately no one or no thing | 19:01 | |
| can defeat us because the work | 19:07 | |
| of salvation is finished, completed. | 19:09 | |
| Oh, God, we rejoice and give thanks. | 19:14 | |
| Almighty God, keep us this day | 19:20 | |
| in health of body and happiness of mind, | 19:22 | |
| in purity of heart and cheerfulness of spirit, | 19:26 | |
| in contentment with those things | 19:30 | |
| which are beyond our power to change, | 19:32 | |
| in disease with all that lies within our responsibility | 19:35 | |
| and power to change and renew for the better, | 19:38 | |
| particularly in the area of personal relationship. | 19:42 | |
| In our labor, strengthen us. | 19:47 | |
| In our pleasure, purify and free us. | 19:48 | |
| In our difficulties, direct us. | 19:53 | |
| In our fears, encourage us. | 19:54 | |
| In our grief, comfort us and supply our needs according | 19:57 | |
| to the riches of your grace in Christ Jesus, our Lord. | 20:01 | |
| We would remember at this time, | 20:07 | |
| those who have special need in this hour. | 20:09 | |
| We pray for those who are strangers here this morning, | 20:12 | |
| and for those who long for a friend. | 20:16 | |
| One friend who can be trusted completely. | 20:19 | |
| We offer up our concern for those | 20:23 | |
| who are frightened by a newly discovered disease | 20:25 | |
| in themselves or in a loved one. | 20:27 | |
| For those who are weighted down by indecision or guilt. | 20:31 | |
| For those women who are pregnant, | 20:36 | |
| but not ready for motherhood. | 20:37 | |
| For seniors who face graduation, | 20:41 | |
| not sure if they're ready or capable | 20:43 | |
| of the beginning implied in commencement. | 20:47 | |
| For those who are old in years and do not want | 20:52 | |
| to be a burden to others or bored with their own lives. | 20:54 | |
| For parents who have lost touch with their children, | 21:00 | |
| and for children whose parents don't love them. | 21:04 | |
| For those whose work is unsatisfying, | 21:09 | |
| and those who have no work to do. | 21:14 | |
| Oh, God, there are many needs here, | 21:19 | |
| and among those listening this morning, | 21:22 | |
| and we have not even mentioned the personal | 21:26 | |
| and corporate struggles for freedom and human dignity | 21:28 | |
| in our larger community and throughout the world. | 21:31 | |
| Our Father, we ask that thou might hear | 21:35 | |
| these prayers we lift up this day. | 21:37 | |
| Receive them and us into thy care | 21:43 | |
| in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Lord. | 21:47 | |
| Amen. | 21:52 | |
| - | For several years now, I've heard theologians describe | 22:17 |
| what they call a barrier between the pulpit and the pew, | 22:22 | |
| but I never thought I'd see the day | 22:27 | |
| when they'd actually build one. | 22:29 | |
| The sheer novelty of the preaching situation | 22:32 | |
| this morning in the Duke Chapel (clears throat) | 22:35 | |
| impels me to point that out. | 22:37 | |
| But, I suppose out of necessity, that's what it should be. | 22:40 | |
| Several years ago, one of the other Halls at Duke, | 22:45 | |
| Dr. Thor Hall, recently of the Divinity School faculty, | 22:50 | |
| wrote, "The contemporary preacher is confronted | 22:55 | |
| with intellectual, psychological, sociological, | 22:59 | |
| political and cultural issues, which when brought together | 23:04 | |
| probably form the most complicated situation | 23:09 | |
| that theologians ever had to face." | 23:13 | |
| Not quite. | 23:16 | |
| To that list this morning, | 23:18 | |
| we'd better add the paint scaffold. | 23:19 | |
| If I appear to be playing peek-a-boo | 23:22 | |
| with those of you behind the scaffold, | 23:24 | |
| it will be to determine your awareness | 23:26 | |
| of what is going on up in this end of the chapel. | 23:29 | |
| Now, at the risk of being somewhat redundant, | 23:34 | |
| but for emphasis only, permit me to recall a few verses | 23:37 | |
| from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, | 23:41 | |
| just read a few moments ago. | 23:43 | |
| "For the word of the cross is folly | 23:47 | |
| to those who are perishing, | 23:49 | |
| but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. | 23:51 | |
| Where is the wise man? | 23:56 | |
| Where is the scribe? | 23:58 | |
| Where is the debater of this age? | 24:00 | |
| Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? | 24:04 | |
| For since in the wisdom of God, | 24:08 | |
| the world did not know God through wisdom, | 24:11 | |
| it pleased God through the folly | 24:14 | |
| of what we preach to save those who believe. | 24:16 | |
| For the foolishness of God is wiser than man, | 24:21 | |
| and the weakness of God is stronger than man. | 24:25 | |
| God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. | 24:29 | |
| God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. | 24:34 | |
| God chose what is low and despised in the world, | 24:39 | |
| even things that are not, | 24:42 | |
| to bring to nothing things that are, | 24:45 | |
| so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." | 24:49 | |
| And then, a few words from the letter to the Ephesians. | 24:55 | |
| "Let no one deceive you with empty words, | 24:59 | |
| for it is because of these things that the wrath of God | 25:03 | |
| comes upon the sons of disobedience. | 25:07 | |
| Walk as children of light. | 25:11 | |
| Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father, | 25:15 | |
| and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ." | 25:18 | |
| Amen. | 25:20 | |
| The discussion of wisdom and foolishness in the first letter | 25:22 | |
| to the Corinthians is not a simple matter, | 25:25 | |
| nor is the discussion completely terminated | 25:29 | |
| at the end of the chapter. | 25:32 | |
| Later in that epistle, St. Paul writes, | 25:35 | |
| "If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, | 25:38 | |
| let him become a fool, that he may become wise, | 25:42 | |
| for wisdom in this world is folly with God. | 25:47 | |
| We are fools for Christ's sake." | 25:51 | |
| To be honest about it, | 25:57 | |
| the Pauline letters are not easy reading. | 25:58 | |
| In fact, down through the years, | 26:02 | |
| there have been those who have charged | 26:03 | |
| that St. Paul hopelessly complicated | 26:06 | |
| the simple kingdom message of Jesus | 26:09 | |
| by weaving a difficult theology using obscure metaphors. | 26:12 | |
| Some also say that St. Paul had an anti-intellectual bias | 26:18 | |
| in his view of human wisdom and knowledge. | 26:23 | |
| Let the difficulty of St. Paul's letters | 26:27 | |
| be frankly admitted. | 26:30 | |
| However, I am not certain at all that the charge | 26:32 | |
| of an anti-intellectual bias is valid if St. Paul | 26:35 | |
| is carefully read and understood in the context of his day. | 26:40 | |
| Some people have demanded science. | 26:46 | |
| Others have sought wisdom. | 26:49 | |
| That was the climate of the time, | 26:52 | |
| when St. Paul composed his letters | 26:53 | |
| to the infant Christian congregations | 26:56 | |
| scattered throughout the Mediterranean area. | 26:59 | |
| He lived in an age when human wisdom | 27:03 | |
| was extolled as the greatest virtue. | 27:05 | |
| Only a few hundred years separated St. Paul | 27:09 | |
| from the golden age of human achievement, | 27:13 | |
| when Plato and Aristotle flourished. | 27:16 | |
| They pursued wisdom, | 27:20 | |
| and may be the most significant wise men of all time. | 27:23 | |
| Plato explored the extent of human possibilities | 27:29 | |
| in knowledge, ethics, politics, aesthetics. | 27:33 | |
| While few agree today with the kind of dualism | 27:39 | |
| that he suggested as an explanation | 27:43 | |
| for the phenomena he observed, | 27:46 | |
| we cannot argue with the opinion of Alfred North Whitehead, | 27:49 | |
| that all of western philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. | 27:54 | |
| And Aristotle, with his many contributions | 28:00 | |
| to human knowledge, to logic, ethics, | 28:04 | |
| the sciences, mathematics, | 28:08 | |
| to other branches of philosophy, | 28:12 | |
| and in some respects to religion. | 28:14 | |
| He sought after human knowledge and wisdom | 28:17 | |
| in every area of human life. | 28:20 | |
| What a glorious privilege to live | 28:24 | |
| in this massive legacy of knowledge. | 28:26 | |
| And such an appreciation for wisdom | 28:31 | |
| was not unknown among the Hebrews, | 28:33 | |
| who called some of their scripture wisdom literature. | 28:36 | |
| The closest approach that they ever made | 28:41 | |
| to exploring some of the branches of philosophy. | 28:43 | |
| What reader of the Old Testament cannot be moved | 28:48 | |
| by that touching scene in which the young King Solomon, | 28:51 | |
| when promised any gift by the God of Israel, | 28:56 | |
| petitioned only for wisdom and knowledge, | 29:00 | |
| that he would be a just and able governor. | 29:03 | |
| Not necessarily a contemporary quality | 29:07 | |
| among aspiring statesmen. | 29:09 | |
| Wisdom and human knowledge are rightly extolled | 29:12 | |
| within the context of the Christian faith, | 29:16 | |
| and in the biblical tradition. | 29:19 | |
| They are not dismissed easily, | 29:22 | |
| for human knowledge measures the difference | 29:25 | |
| between life and existence. | 29:27 | |
| Let me illustrate what I mean by quoting | 29:31 | |
| from a book by Alan Richardson. | 29:33 | |
| (clearing throat) | 29:36 | |
| "Natural science arose in one of the score or so | 29:38 | |
| of the great civilizations known to Sir Arnold Toynbee, | 29:43 | |
| and that was the Christian civilization. | 29:47 | |
| Albeit a Christian civilization which had garnered | 29:51 | |
| the philosophy and the geometry of Greece, | 29:55 | |
| the astronomy of the whole ancient and medieval worlds, | 29:59 | |
| the arithmetic and algebra of the Indians and Arabs, | 30:04 | |
| as well as the religion and ethics of the Hebrews. | 30:08 | |
| Natural science and its offspring, technology and medicine, | 30:12 | |
| are the gifts of the Christian civilization to mankind." | 30:17 | |
| I think that St. Paul's position | 30:23 | |
| would be consistent with that appraisal. | 30:25 | |
| He merely asserts that wisdom is not enough | 30:28 | |
| to understand the Christian message, | 30:33 | |
| for the Christian message is not wisdom, | 30:36 | |
| but the word of the cross, and the cross is an event. | 30:39 | |
| Not simply the suffering and misery and death at calvary. | 30:44 | |
| It is a word event, which is the wisdom of God. | 30:48 | |
| Now, the cross may be aesthetically offensive | 30:54 | |
| and it may be an evidence of weakness | 30:57 | |
| to those who cannot apprehend its true meaning, | 31:00 | |
| so says Paul, but then he introduces | 31:02 | |
| some of the most interesting illustrations | 31:06 | |
| in all Christian literature. | 31:08 | |
| The foolishness of God, he says, is wiser than man. | 31:11 | |
| Now, that bothers me because I have | 31:16 | |
| never quite perceived God as foolish. | 31:18 | |
| He is presented in the Book of Job and in the parable | 31:22 | |
| of the householder who hires laborers | 31:25 | |
| all day long as a bit eccentric, but not a fool. | 31:27 | |
| St. Paul also asserts that the weakness of God | 31:34 | |
| is stronger than man. | 31:37 | |
| A perplexing notion if God is as omnipotent | 31:39 | |
| as the Bible contends. | 31:43 | |
| For, as St. Paul asserts the complete wisdom of God | 31:46 | |
| and the fact that men are redeemed in the long run, | 31:49 | |
| not by their wits but by the recognition of a new | 31:52 | |
| and awesome power in their lives, | 31:57 | |
| he then exhorts his readers to become fools for Christ. | 32:00 | |
| Not foolish or stupid. | 32:05 | |
| A new kind of fool, according to another definition. | 32:08 | |
| The kind of fool that listens to truth and then believes it. | 32:13 | |
| Certainly not the kind of foolishness described | 32:19 | |
| by H. L. Mencken in The American Mercury | 32:22 | |
| in the following choice excerpts on American religion. | 32:25 | |
| "From Mississippi, it was reported | 32:30 | |
| that the Reverend William McCarty, now 96 years old, | 32:32 | |
| was called upon two weeks ago to preach at the funeral | 32:36 | |
| of a notorious sinner, a relative of Mrs. Levi Laird. | 32:39 | |
| The Reverend Mr. McCarty frankly preached | 32:44 | |
| on the sins of the deceased man, | 32:46 | |
| and instead of assuring the mourners | 32:49 | |
| that he was going to heaven, boldly stated | 32:51 | |
| that he would go to a much hotter place. | 32:53 | |
| He exhorted the younger people | 32:57 | |
| to live righteously, lest they go there too. | 32:58 | |
| The stuff that the Reverend Mr. McCarty was putting | 33:02 | |
| on her dead relative grew too hot for Mrs. Laird. | 33:05 | |
| She reached out and snatched at the preacher. | 33:09 | |
| When he ducked, she pursued him and finally was successful | 33:12 | |
| in tearing most of his clothes, | 33:16 | |
| smashing his hat and scratching him up so viciously | 33:18 | |
| that he had to see a physician. | 33:22 | |
| He had Mrs. Laird arrested. | 33:25 | |
| She was fined and sentenced to a term in the workhouse | 33:27 | |
| for disturbing public worship." | 33:31 | |
| And, from another source, "A lot of bright-colored | 33:34 | |
| bathing suits, decks of cards and novels | 33:38 | |
| were missing from Madisonville homes today. | 33:40 | |
| They were burned in front of the church yesterday, | 33:44 | |
| following a baptismal service in which 35 were baptized. | 33:46 | |
| The Reverend W.A. Carol, who conducted | 33:51 | |
| the three week revival, asked those in attendance | 33:54 | |
| to bring their bathing suits, cards and cheap novels. | 33:57 | |
| While 'I'll Never Turn Back' was being sung, | 34:01 | |
| the Reverend Carol set fire to them." | 34:05 | |
| And, a bit closer to home, former United States Senator | 34:09 | |
| and Governor of North Carolina, Cameron Morrison once said, | 34:12 | |
| "I got to be governor and lived in the executive mansion | 34:16 | |
| for four years, and while I was there, | 34:19 | |
| God gave me a good, noble woman for my wife. | 34:23 | |
| She has some money. | 34:27 | |
| She too had seen much service as a nurse | 34:30 | |
| and had ministered to suffering humanity. | 34:32 | |
| We have retired to our farm and there she fights the devil | 34:36 | |
| through the Presbyterian church, | 34:40 | |
| or whatever money is left and I get ahold of, | 34:42 | |
| I use to fight the devil through the Democratic Party. | 34:46 | |
| And, I tell her they're about the same anyway." | 34:49 | |
| And, finally, it was reported | 34:53 | |
| that the Reverend McKendree Long, | 34:56 | |
| who was conducting revivals here, | 34:58 | |
| warned tobacco chewers about their chances of salvation. | 35:00 | |
| "They may all go to heaven," he said, | 35:04 | |
| "but they will have to go to hell to expectorate, | 35:07 | |
| as the Lord does not allow spitting on the streets of gold." | 35:11 | |
| (laughing) | 35:15 | |
| Somebody explain it out here, will you? (laughs) | 35:18 | |
| In a book entitled "Church Politics", under the subheading, | 35:23 | |
| "There's nobody here but us Christians," | 35:26 | |
| theologian Keith Bridston comments | 35:28 | |
| upon some news items in Chicago, in which two priests | 35:30 | |
| were attacked by a crowd in the rectory after a mass. | 35:34 | |
| The trouble started when churchgoers realized | 35:38 | |
| there would be no observance of the feast of the epiphany. | 35:41 | |
| And, to cap it all off, | 35:45 | |
| this from America's foremost folk theologian, Archie Bunker. | 35:48 | |
| "It's all facts right from the very beginning. | 35:57 | |
| God made the world in seven days. | 36:02 | |
| And He made everyone the same religion, Christians. | 36:06 | |
| Which He named after His son, Christian. | 36:11 | |
| Or Christ, for short. | 36:14 | |
| (laughing) | 36:16 | |
| And, that's how it was for years. | 36:17 | |
| One religion, until they started splitting them up | 36:20 | |
| 'til all them other denumerations. | 36:25 | |
| But, there's still only one true religion, His up there." | 36:29 | |
| Fools for Christ. | 36:35 | |
| That sounds more like the cultural foolishness | 36:38 | |
| and the religious notions that emanate from sources | 36:41 | |
| other than confessional, biblical and theological wants. | 36:44 | |
| Foolishness and ignorance of the worst sort | 36:50 | |
| is what it really is. | 36:52 | |
| Or at best, an example of what foolish preaching is. | 36:54 | |
| It saves. | 37:00 | |
| Impossible to identify with the Pauline exhortation, | 37:02 | |
| to be fools for Christ while walking as children of light. | 37:06 | |
| In these crazy, mixed-up days, | 37:13 | |
| we had better attempt some understanding of ourselves, | 37:16 | |
| as relating to some ultimates | 37:20 | |
| outside the realm of our immediate experience | 37:22 | |
| and even beyond the realm of wisdom. | 37:26 | |
| For the process of rationalization is very easy. | 37:30 | |
| Our refusal to acknowledge our finiteness | 37:35 | |
| leads to an inflated notion of our individual importance. | 37:39 | |
| We are often deceived with empty words. | 37:44 | |
| So often, the end justifies the means. | 37:48 | |
| The emptiness of recent experiences | 37:52 | |
| ought to make us all sober in the face of extreme pride. | 37:56 | |
| The GNP is finite. | 38:03 | |
| The Dow Jones is finite. | 38:06 | |
| The resources of this earth are finite. | 38:10 | |
| Is war really the only way to peace? | 38:15 | |
| Is conflict and confrontation | 38:19 | |
| the only way that wrongs can be addressed? | 38:22 | |
| What about Wounded Knee? | 38:25 | |
| Is injustice so inevitable that justice | 38:29 | |
| can be known and dispensed? | 38:33 | |
| And, what about lies? | 38:36 | |
| Deceits? | 38:38 | |
| The perplexing presence of evil? | 38:40 | |
| What about Watergate? | 38:43 | |
| How much can we rationalize? | 38:45 | |
| How much can we explain away? | 38:48 | |
| Can we thrive forever on empty words? | 38:51 | |
| Man's knowledge may take him a long way in the world, | 38:56 | |
| and even in the universe, but it will never answer | 39:00 | |
| his deepest needs nor resolve his conflicts | 39:04 | |
| with his world and his neighbor. | 39:08 | |
| In the end, we are all limited. | 39:11 | |
| We are all finite. | 39:14 | |
| There are things that we can never know or explain. | 39:18 | |
| There are processes that we can observe, | 39:22 | |
| but cannot duplicate. | 39:25 | |
| Jesus claimed that He spoke the truth, | 39:28 | |
| but that it was not received as truth | 39:31 | |
| by those who clamored for His death, | 39:34 | |
| because He said that what He had to tell them | 39:38 | |
| was not necessarily what they wanted to hear. | 39:43 | |
| St. Paul made the same observation | 39:50 | |
| about the ability of men to recognize the truth. | 39:53 | |
| Men can be fooled, | 39:59 | |
| or they can be adventurous fools in the proper sense. | 40:03 | |
| It is the better part of wisdom | 40:10 | |
| to be able to relate knowledge in faith. | 40:12 | |
| For there is a relationship, | 40:17 | |
| even if there is not a complete identity. | 40:21 | |
| Knowledge can be verified or examined | 40:27 | |
| and tested and subjected to proof. | 40:31 | |
| Faith requires a risk, | 40:35 | |
| which borders on an adventurous spirit. | 40:38 | |
| A person can live with that perspective | 40:43 | |
| if he is willing to walk by faith. | 40:47 | |
| For there is no way that a man can resolve | 40:51 | |
| every dilemma he faces by his wits. | 40:54 | |
| There are answers that come through faith and belief, | 41:00 | |
| that require trust and confidence | 41:04 | |
| against the evidence of belief. | 41:07 | |
| Mankind still has much to learn. | 41:11 | |
| Knowledge can bring him from the depths of ignorance | 41:15 | |
| and foolishness, but he needs the kind of perspective | 41:18 | |
| that St. Paul states comes from God's choice | 41:22 | |
| to even change the things that are. | 41:28 | |
| Plainly, the cross is the Christian assertion | 41:33 | |
| that weakness can be transformed into new life. | 41:37 | |
| There is a wisdom that transcends our propensity to define | 41:42 | |
| and categorize and predict what is and what will be. | 41:48 | |
| Let me illustrate. | 41:55 | |
| Some years ago, I picked up a marvelous, | 41:59 | |
| little mini-book in San Francisco called "Twink." | 42:02 | |
| That's T-W-I-N-K. | 42:07 | |
| I don't have a speech impediment. | 42:10 | |
| It is full of whimsy and a host of illustrations | 42:13 | |
| about life and about the human being | 42:17 | |
| and his relation to ultimates. | 42:20 | |
| Well, maybe the fella that wrote it | 42:24 | |
| didn't plan it that way, but that's the way it came out. | 42:25 | |
| And, there is one dialogue that addresses | 42:28 | |
| what I have been talking about today. | 42:32 | |
| The wisdom of God, and man in His world. | 42:35 | |
| Now, I'm going to read a brief excerpt from "Twink", | 42:40 | |
| which is a conversation between two beings. | 42:44 | |
| Maybe between God and man, if you use your imagination. | 42:49 | |
| "'I have a piccolo garden.' | 42:56 | |
| 'What do you grow?' | 42:59 | |
| 'Piccolos!' | 43:02 | |
| 'What kind of seeds do you use?' | 43:03 | |
| 'Piccolo seeds.' | 43:07 | |
| 'Would you tell me how you make them?' | 43:10 | |
| 'No.' | 43:13 | |
| 'Why not?' | 43:14 | |
| 'That is my secret. | 43:16 | |
| I am going to patent piccolo gardens.' | 43:18 | |
| 'I will patent a flute orchard.' | 43:24 | |
| 'You can't.' | 43:27 | |
| 'Why?' | 43:29 | |
| 'You don't have any flute seeds.' | 43:32 | |
| 'I don't need them.' | 43:36 | |
| 'How will you grow your flutes?' | 43:39 | |
| 'That is my secret.'" | 43:42 | |
| There are some things that are not known | 43:47 | |
| in the certain sense of human knowledge, | 43:49 | |
| and these elements of faith, secrets if you please, | 43:54 | |
| are given to those who see themselves | 43:59 | |
| as adventurous pilgrims in a new age | 44:03 | |
| and a new world and a new life. | 44:08 | |
| Let us pray. | 44:14 | |
| Oh, God, we have learned from Christ | 44:18 | |
| that we don't have to be afraid of truth. | 44:21 | |
| We give thanks for all those men of science, | 44:25 | |
| who persisted in their search for truth | 44:28 | |
| about the world and the way it works, | 44:30 | |
| and for the opportunity to trace their steps. | 44:33 | |
| Grant us both the patience to wait for insight | 44:37 | |
| and persistence in experiment, | 44:41 | |
| that we may experience the joy of discovery | 44:45 | |
| and perhaps add to the knowledge at hand. | 44:49 | |
| Save us from overestimating our own wisdom | 44:54 | |
| by giving us the ability to appreciate | 44:58 | |
| both knowledge and faith. | 45:01 | |
| In the peace of God, which passes all understanding, | 45:05 | |
| keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. | 45:07 | |
| Amen. | 45:11 | |
| (light organ music) | 45:14 | |
| (choir singing) | 45:47 | |
| (light organ music) | 47:43 | |
| (coughing) | 48:30 | |
| (choir singing triumphantly) | 48:40 | |
| (choir singing) | 50:26 | |
| (light organ music) | 54:29 | |
| (choir singing) | 55:30 | |
| (triumphant organ music) | ||
| - | Our Father, we offer these gifts of our money | 56:14 |
| as a reasonable and significant part of our worship. | 56:17 | |
| May they symbolize, for each one of us, | 56:22 | |
| the offering of our lives into thy service in Christ's name. | 56:24 | |
| Amen. | 56:28 | |
| (light organ music) | 56:30 | |
| (choir singing) | 57:11 | |
| (crowd chattering) | 1:01:03 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:01:13 | |
| (bell ringing) | 1:02:24 | |
| (light organ music) | 1:02:38 | |
| (crowd chattering) | 1:03:07 | |
| (coughing) | 1:03:11 | |
| (woman shrieking) | 1:03:21 | |
| (hurried footsteps) | 1:03:25 | |
| - | I'm hungry! | 1:03:28 |