Robert T. Young - "Unless Your Righteousness Exceeds" (January 13, 1974)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music playing) | 0:09 | |
(faint orchestral singing) | 0:50 | |
- | In the name of the Father and of the Son | 3:52 |
and of the Holy Ghost, amen. | 3:54 | |
Give thanks to the Lord. | 3:57 | |
Call on his name. | 3:59 | |
Make his deeds known among the peoples. | 4:01 | |
Sing to him, sing praises to him. | 4:04 | |
Tell of all his wondrous works. | 4:09 | |
Let us pray. | 4:13 | |
Almighty God unto whom all hearts are open, | 4:14 | |
all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid, | 4:17 | |
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration | 4:22 | |
of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee | 4:25 | |
and worthily magnify thy holy name through Jesus Christ, | 4:31 | |
thy son, our Lord. | 4:36 | |
Amen. | 4:39 | |
Dear friends in Christ, let us confess our sins | 4:41 | |
before Almighty God. | 4:45 | |
Almighty and most merciful God, | 4:57 | |
we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you | 5:00 | |
in thought, word, and deed, | 5:05 | |
that we have not loved you with all our heart and soul, | 5:08 | |
with all our mind and strength, | 5:13 | |
and that we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. | 5:16 | |
We beseech you, oh God, to be forgiving | 5:21 | |
to what we have been, to help us to amend what we are, | 5:24 | |
and of your mercy to direct what we shall be | 5:30 | |
so that the love of goodness may ever be first | 5:34 | |
in our hearts and we may follow | 5:37 | |
unto our life's end in the steps of Jesus Christ, | 5:40 | |
our Lord, amen. | 5:44 | |
The Almighty God through his mercy grant | 5:49 | |
unto you being penitent, pardon and remission | 5:52 | |
of all your sins, time for amendment of life, | 5:55 | |
and the grace and comfort of his Holy Spirit. | 6:00 | |
Amen. | 6:04 | |
And now as our savior Christ has taught us, | 6:06 | |
we make bold to say, our Father who art in heaven | 6:09 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 6:13 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 6:17 | |
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us | 6:22 | |
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 6:26 | |
And lead us not into temptation | 6:32 | |
but deliver us from evil for thine | 6:35 | |
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever endeavor. | 6:38 | |
Amen. | 6:43 | |
♪ Sing God a simple song, lau da lau de ♪ | 6:55 | |
♪ Make it up as you go along, lau da lau de ♪ | 7:13 | |
♪ Sing like you like to sing ♪ | 7:29 | |
♪ God loves all simple things ♪ | 7:37 | |
♪ For God is the simplest of all ♪ | 7:47 | |
♪ For God is the simplest of all ♪ | 8:01 | |
♪ I will sing the Lord a new song ♪ | 8:29 | |
♪ To praise him, to bless him, to bless the Lord ♪ | 8:35 | |
♪ I will sing his praises, while I live, all of my days ♪ | 8:41 | |
♪ Blessed is the man who loves the lord ♪ | 8:57 | |
♪ Blessed is the man who praises him ♪ | 9:04 | |
♪ Lau da, lau da, lau ah de ♪ | 9:11 | |
♪ And walks in his ways ♪ | 9:17 | |
♪ I will lift up my eyes to the hills ♪ | 9:24 | |
♪ From whence comes my hail ♪ | 9:29 | |
♪ I will lift up my voice to the Lord ♪ | 9:35 | |
♪ Singing lau da lau de ♪ | 9:41 | |
♪ For the Lord is my shade ♪ | 9:48 | |
♪ Is the shade upon my right hand ♪ | 9:53 | |
♪ And the Sun shall not smite me by day ♪ | 9:59 | |
♪ Nor the Moon by night ♪ | 10:05 | |
♪ Blessed is the man who loves the Lord ♪ | 10:13 | |
♪ Lau da, lau da, lau ah de ♪ | 10:19 | |
♪ And walks in his ways ♪ | 10:27 | |
♪ Lau da lau da de ♪ | 11:01 | |
♪ Lau da lau da di da di de ♪ | 11:09 | |
♪ All of my days ♪ | 11:22 | |
- | The first lesson for the first Sunday | 11:48 |
after the epiphany is written in the 49th chapter | 11:51 | |
of the Book of Isaiah beginning with the eighth verse. | 11:54 | |
Thus says the Lord, In a time of favor | 11:59 | |
I have answered you, in a day of salvation. | 12:04 | |
I have helped you. | 12:08 | |
I have kept you and given you | 12:10 | |
as a covenant to the people to establish the land, | 12:12 | |
to apportion the desolate heritages, | 12:16 | |
saying to the prisoners, come forth, | 12:20 | |
to those who are in darkness, appear. | 12:22 | |
They shall feed along the ways | 12:28 | |
and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. | 12:31 | |
They shall not hunger or thirst. | 12:35 | |
Neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, | 12:38 | |
for he who has pity on them will lead them, | 12:42 | |
and by springs of water will guide them. | 12:45 | |
And I will make all my mountains away | 12:51 | |
and my high ways shall be raised up. | 12:54 | |
Lo these shall come from a farm, | 12:58 | |
and lo these from the north and from the west, | 13:01 | |
and these from the land of SY-UH-NAY. | 13:06 | |
Sing for joy, o' heavens and exalt all earth. | 13:10 | |
Break forth, o' mountains into singing | 13:16 | |
for the Lord has comforted his people | 13:19 | |
and will have compassion on his afflicted. | 13:22 | |
Here ends the first lesson. | 13:26 | |
The second lesson is written in the gospel | 13:30 | |
according to Saint Matthew, the fifth chapter beginning | 13:32 | |
at the 14th verse: | 13:35 | |
You are the light of the world, | 13:39 | |
a city set on a hill cannot be hid, | 13:42 | |
nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, | 13:46 | |
but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. | 13:50 | |
Let your light so shine before men that they may see | 13:55 | |
your good works and give glory to your Father | 13:59 | |
who is in heaven. | 14:04 | |
Think not that I have come to abolish the law | 14:07 | |
and the prophets. | 14:09 | |
I have not come to abolish them | 14:12 | |
but to fulfill them, for truly I say to you, | 14:14 | |
til heaven and earth pass away, | 14:18 | |
not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law | 14:22 | |
until all is accomplished. | 14:26 | |
Whoever then relaxes one of the least | 14:30 | |
of these commandments and teaches men so | 14:33 | |
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. | 14:36 | |
But he who does them and teaches them | 14:40 | |
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. | 14:43 | |
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that | 14:46 | |
of the scribes and Pharisees, | 14:51 | |
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. | 14:54 | |
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, | 14:57 | |
you shall not kill, and whoever kills shall | 15:00 | |
be liable to judgment. | 15:04 | |
But I say to you that everyone who is angry | 15:06 | |
with his brother shall be liable to judgment, | 15:11 | |
whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, | 15:14 | |
and whoever says, You fool, shall be liable | 15:19 | |
to the hell of fire. | 15:22 | |
So if you are offering your gift at the altar, | 15:25 | |
and there remember that your brother | 15:28 | |
has something against you, | 15:30 | |
leave your gift there before the altar and go. | 15:32 | |
First be reconciled to your brother | 15:36 | |
and then come and offer your gift. | 15:39 | |
Make friends quickly with your accuser | 15:42 | |
while you are going with him to court, | 15:45 | |
lest your accuser hand you over to the judge | 15:48 | |
and judge to the guard and you be put in prison. | 15:51 | |
Truly, I say to you, | 15:55 | |
you will never get out till you have paid | 15:57 | |
the last penny. | 16:00 | |
Here runs the second lesson: | 16:02 | |
(organ music) | 16:05 | |
The affirmation of faith. | 16:48 | |
We are not alone. | 16:51 | |
We live in God's world. | 16:53 | |
We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 16:56 | |
who has come in the true man, Jesus, | 17:00 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 17:05 | |
who works in us and others by his spirit. | 17:08 | |
We trust him. | 17:12 | |
He calls us to be in his church, to celebrate his presence, | 17:14 | |
to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, | 17:19 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 17:24 | |
our judge and our hope in life, in death, in life beyond it. | 17:29 | |
God is with us. | 17:36 | |
We are not alone. | 17:38 | |
Thanks be to God. | 17:41 | |
The Lord be with you. | 17:43 | |
Let us pray. | 17:47 | |
Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive honor | 17:58 | |
thanks and praise, for by thy will were all things made. | 18:02 | |
Look with favor, Lord, upon this world, | 18:07 | |
its nations and cultures, homes and schools, | 18:11 | |
arts, commerce, and industry, | 18:15 | |
the occupations and leisure of all. | 18:18 | |
Look with mercy, o' Christ, upon all man | 18:22 | |
and every human need, the joy and triumph, | 18:26 | |
the conflict and failure, | 18:30 | |
the anxiety, fear, hate and despair. | 18:33 | |
Look with favorable Lord upon thy whole church | 18:37 | |
and all her faithful, upon their holy vocation | 18:41 | |
of work and prayer, upon every redemptive task. | 18:45 | |
We set before thee our land and every nation. | 18:50 | |
Grant wisdom, justice, and mercy to all leaders | 18:55 | |
and all citizens that thy will may be fulfilled | 18:59 | |
in fruitful peace. | 19:03 | |
We set before thee the needs of every man. | 19:06 | |
Have compassion upon those who call out to thee, | 19:09 | |
and also upon those whose want is their only prayer. | 19:13 | |
We give thanks, Lord, for some time away from school, | 19:21 | |
for a different scene, some rest, and for the affection | 19:25 | |
and meals shared with our families and friends. | 19:30 | |
If we have made poor decisions or spoken unkind words, | 19:34 | |
forgive us and help us to make things right. | 19:39 | |
Bless those who are concerned about us | 19:45 | |
and strengthen us to keep whatever promises we have made. | 19:48 | |
Be with us as we take up the work | 19:53 | |
of a new term and grant us growth | 19:55 | |
in your favor in that, in our relationships | 19:59 | |
with one another and in wisdom. | 20:02 | |
Oh Lord, we beseech thee mercifully | 20:07 | |
to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee | 20:09 | |
and grant that they may both perceive and know | 20:12 | |
what things they ought to do, | 20:16 | |
and also may have grace and power faithfully | 20:18 | |
to fulfill the same through thy son, Jesus Christ, | 20:21 | |
our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee | 20:25 | |
and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. | 20:29 | |
Amen. | 20:32 | |
(organ music) | 20:36 | |
- | The Duke University ministers are aware | 22:29 |
that many persons listen to the Sunday worship service | 22:32 | |
regularly on WDNC. | 22:36 | |
We feel it may be helpful to you who worship | 22:39 | |
by radio to have a copy of the Sunday bulletin | 22:43 | |
so you can follow the prayers, | 22:47 | |
the scripture readings, read the words to anthems | 22:49 | |
as they are sung, and know the organ music being played, | 22:53 | |
and know who the participants are. | 22:57 | |
If you would like to receive the Sunday bulletin | 22:59 | |
and other chapel mailings in advance, please send your name | 23:02 | |
and address to Duke Chapel, post office box 4752, | 23:07 | |
Duke Station, Duke University, | 23:13 | |
Durham, North Carolina, 27706. | 23:16 | |
Once enough names are secured to get a bulk mailing permit | 23:21 | |
we will begin mailing the bulletin to you. | 23:26 | |
The address again is post office box 4752, | 23:30 | |
Duke Station, Duke University, | 23:36 | |
Durham, North Carolina, 27706. | 23:39 | |
(organ music) | 23:45 | |
- | In ways other than basketball and football, | 24:40 |
perhaps for many of you worshiping here this day, | 24:46 | |
this is Super Sunday, super in the sense | 24:51 | |
that you have returned, or super in the sense | 24:56 | |
that this is your first Sunday at Duke University, | 25:00 | |
and tomorrow you either begin or you resume your studies | 25:06 | |
and your classwork. | 25:11 | |
And so let me say a word of welcome or welcome back, | 25:13 | |
whichever is appropriate for you, | 25:19 | |
and wish for each of you the very best | 25:22 | |
during the coming semester. | 25:26 | |
Let me also invite you to make this your church home | 25:29 | |
while you are here and to worship | 25:33 | |
with us as regularly as you possibly can. | 25:37 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 25:42 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. | 25:46 | |
I do not know what your stance or view | 25:52 | |
or perspective of Christianity is as it relates to Judaism. | 25:55 | |
Let me tell you a little of what my view has been | 26:03 | |
as best I can recall it. | 26:07 | |
I have thought of Judaism | 26:12 | |
as being legalistic, binding, restricting, and burdensome. | 26:14 | |
I have thought of Christianity | 26:20 | |
as being open, freeing, loosening, and uplifting. | 26:22 | |
I have thought of Judaism as being old, | 26:29 | |
archaic, inflexible, and very outmoded. | 26:31 | |
I have thought of Christianity as being relatively new, | 26:38 | |
flexible, up to date, indeed, as contemporary as we are. | 26:41 | |
So far, not too great an exaggerated overplay | 26:48 | |
of how I have viewed either Christianity or Judaism. | 26:53 | |
But then one of my biggest fallacies has been as see Judaism | 27:01 | |
as just law and Christianity as just freedom and grace. | 27:04 | |
But freedom and grace are both in the Old Testament, | 27:12 | |
law and command are both in the New Testament. | 27:15 | |
For it is in the Old Testament that we first read, | 27:19 | |
love God and love your neighbor. | 27:22 | |
It is in the New Testament that we hear Jesus say, | 27:26 | |
do not swear at all. | 27:29 | |
My next biggest fallacy has been to see Judaism as inferior | 27:34 | |
to Christianity and Christianity, of course, | 27:37 | |
as superior to Judaism. | 27:42 | |
Judaism may be prior to but it is not inferior | 27:46 | |
to Christianity. | 27:51 | |
Now it may be personally reassuring to me, | 27:53 | |
for me to see Christianity as superior to Judaism, | 27:57 | |
but I dare not. | 28:01 | |
And yet at many times I have dare to presume | 28:04 | |
that we are in and they are out, | 28:07 | |
that we have the truth and they do not. | 28:10 | |
But in this same powerful Sermon on the Mount | 28:14 | |
from which our gospel lesson for this day comes, | 28:17 | |
Jesus says, judge not, that you be not judged. | 28:20 | |
But perhaps the greatest fallacy in my thinking | 28:26 | |
as I look at Judaism and Christianity is to think | 28:29 | |
that it was hard to live by the law. | 28:32 | |
It is much easier to live by the gospel. | 28:36 | |
Now I would hazard a guess that some | 28:40 | |
of you have perhaps thought just the same, | 28:43 | |
for we have heard only believe all things are possible, | 28:46 | |
only believe, or get your heart right with the Lord, | 28:51 | |
or love God, love your neighbor, that's all there is to it. | 28:57 | |
Or some well-intentioned minister | 29:01 | |
or Christian layperson may have said to you | 29:03 | |
as some did to me, Just kneel and pray here | 29:06 | |
for a few minutes and everything will be all right. | 29:09 | |
Or come on down to the altar and get it | 29:13 | |
all straightened out. | 29:16 | |
Or join the church or be baptized | 29:18 | |
or attend church or memorize these verses of scripture | 29:20 | |
or learn all the books of the Bible or go to Sunday school. | 29:24 | |
Pardon me if I have offended anyone, | 29:31 | |
for I am not trying to give a caricature of any | 29:35 | |
or many churches or denominations or Christian groups. | 29:37 | |
The only thing I want to make clear is that somewhere, | 29:43 | |
sometime, somehow, someplace I was given the impression | 29:46 | |
that Christianity was easy, ready-made, | 29:50 | |
a one decision for life affair, | 29:53 | |
a simple and clear cut way to live. | 29:56 | |
And I'm must have gotten this impression | 30:01 | |
from other Christians because it is a surefire since | 30:03 | |
I did not get it from the words and the life | 30:07 | |
of Jesus or from the scriptures, either the Old Testament | 30:09 | |
or the New Testament. | 30:13 | |
No one ever read to me, | 30:15 | |
or perhaps let me put it a better way, | 30:18 | |
I never really heard these words of Jesus: | 30:20 | |
I came not to abolish the law and the prophets | 30:25 | |
but to fulfill them. | 30:29 | |
For some reason, I have thought that the law | 30:31 | |
was done away with and the prophets were no more. | 30:35 | |
I never really heard words like these from Amos. | 30:43 | |
I hate, I despise your feasts | 30:46 | |
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. | 30:49 | |
Even though you offer me burnt offerings | 30:53 | |
and cereal offerings, I will not accept them. | 30:55 | |
And the peace offerings of your fatted beasts | 30:59 | |
I will not look upon. | 31:01 | |
Take away for me that the noise of your songs, | 31:02 | |
to the melody of your harp, I will not listen. | 31:06 | |
But let justice roll down like waters | 31:09 | |
and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. | 31:12 | |
Not to abolish, but to fulfill. | 31:17 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds, | 31:20 | |
Jesus said to those disciples he gathered around him | 31:25 | |
for this sermon, and he says to each of us who claims | 31:29 | |
to be Christian, for I never really heard words | 31:32 | |
like these from Isaiah, Bring me no more vain offerings. | 31:37 | |
Incense is an abomination to me. | 31:42 | |
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of assemblies, | 31:45 | |
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assemblies. | 31:48 | |
When you spread forth your hands, | 31:52 | |
I will hide my eyes from you. | 31:55 | |
Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. | 31:58 | |
Your hands are full of blood. | 32:01 | |
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, | 32:02 | |
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes, | 32:06 | |
cease to do evil, learn to do good, | 32:10 | |
seek justice, correct oppression, | 32:13 | |
defend the Fatherless, plead for the widows. | 32:16 | |
Not to abolish, but to fulfill. | 32:22 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds, | 32:26 | |
or words like these from Micah, | 32:31 | |
with what shall I come before the Lord | 32:33 | |
and bow myself before God on high, | 32:36 | |
shall I come before him with burnt offerings, | 32:39 | |
with calves a year old? | 32:41 | |
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams | 32:43 | |
with 10 thousands of rivers of oil? | 32:46 | |
Shall I give my first born for my transgression, | 32:49 | |
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. | 32:52 | |
He has showed you, o' man, what is good? | 32:55 | |
And what does the Lord require of you | 32:59 | |
but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly | 33:01 | |
with your God. | 33:05 | |
Not to abolish, but to fulfill. | 33:08 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds, all that is required | 33:11 | |
of Judaism is required of us and more too. | 33:17 | |
And so to live the life of faith | 33:22 | |
to which Christ calls us is not easy, it is not simple, | 33:25 | |
it is not a one decision for life matter. | 33:29 | |
Love so amazing, so divine as that given to us in Christ | 33:32 | |
demands our soul, our life, our all. | 33:36 | |
Jesus, at least as I read and try to understand | 33:43 | |
the New Testament is seen as a whole, | 33:46 | |
authentically whole person, and he calls each of us | 33:48 | |
to be just as authentically whole, inner, outer, | 33:53 | |
mental, physical, spiritual, social, religious, secular, | 33:57 | |
work, play, rest, labor, joy, sorrow. | 34:03 | |
Yes, you can forget those compartments | 34:07 | |
and separations and divisions of your lives. | 34:11 | |
Jesus speaks to, calls, commands, invite the whole person. | 34:15 | |
All that each of us is to be made a living sacrifice, | 34:26 | |
acceptable to God. | 34:31 | |
Paul writes and says that when someone is in Christ, | 34:35 | |
en Cristo, one becomes a new person, | 34:39 | |
a new creation, a new being, a new person. | 34:43 | |
That's what I need to be. | 34:47 | |
Saul become Paul, Robert become renewed. | 34:53 | |
And you may need some of this same newness in you. | 35:02 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds... | 35:09 | |
Thomas John Carlisle in a little book of poems, | 35:15 | |
entitled, "You! Jonah!", writes this question: | 35:19 | |
I hate God's enemies with perfect hatred. | 35:26 | |
Why can't God do as much? | 35:32 | |
I want to talk about, unless your righteousness exceeds. | 35:38 | |
With regard to only one of the areas | 35:45 | |
of righteousness that Jesus talks about in this sermon, | 35:48 | |
Jesus says you have heard that it was to the men of old, | 35:53 | |
You shall not kill, and whoever kills | 35:58 | |
shall be liable to judgment. | 36:03 | |
But I say to you that everyone who is angry | 36:08 | |
with his brother shall be liable to judgment. | 36:11 | |
Whoever insults his others shall be liable to the council. | 36:16 | |
And whoever says, you fool, shall be liable | 36:22 | |
to the hell of fire. | 36:26 | |
What are some things Jesus is saying here? | 36:30 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds. | 36:34 | |
Jesus' way of putting our relation to our brother or sister, | 36:39 | |
to our neighbor, takes the responsibility | 36:42 | |
off the law and puts it on the individual, | 36:46 | |
for who really and truly knows when someone is angry, | 36:50 | |
or there may be many times when all those around a man | 36:58 | |
or a woman know full well that that person is angry. | 37:00 | |
But then there are innumerable times when only | 37:05 | |
the individual person knows, only that man or that woman | 37:08 | |
and God know when one's heart and mind, | 37:12 | |
when one's very all are full of anger. | 37:15 | |
So was Jesus showing lack of concern here for murder? | 37:22 | |
No, not at all. | 37:26 | |
If anything, he was broadening the view | 37:28 | |
of how we kill other persons. | 37:31 | |
He was saying and saying powerfully | 37:32 | |
that we kill with more weapons | 37:35 | |
than guns and knives, for we kill with contempt. | 37:37 | |
We kill with indifference. | 37:42 | |
We kill with resentment and bitterness. | 37:44 | |
We kill with unresolved hostilities. | 37:48 | |
We kill with our snide remarks | 37:52 | |
and arrogant ways and insensitive gossip. | 37:54 | |
We kill a man when we think him less | 37:58 | |
than a man and treat him as such. | 38:00 | |
We kill when we destroy someone's hopes or dreams. | 38:05 | |
We kill when we assassinate someone's character | 38:08 | |
or reputation. | 38:11 | |
We kill when we hang the past over a person | 38:14 | |
or when we threaten his future with his past. | 38:16 | |
Here Jesus is concerned not only with the act | 38:21 | |
of physical murder or killing, | 38:24 | |
he's concerned also with the kind of behavior | 38:27 | |
that reveals hidden anger and egotistical contempt. | 38:30 | |
How then do we begin to let our righteousness exceed the law | 38:37 | |
and fulfill the word of Christ? | 38:42 | |
First, we realize that we belong to each other. | 38:45 | |
We are responsible for each other. | 38:52 | |
Not only are we our brother's keeper | 38:55 | |
as the Book of Genesis tells us, | 38:57 | |
but as Dick Gregory has said, | 38:59 | |
we are to be our brother's brother and our sister's sister. | 39:01 | |
Not a keeper, but a brother or a sister. | 39:09 | |
John McGuire speaks to this is he talks about revelation. | 39:14 | |
He says, revelation of God is imminently personal | 39:16 | |
but it comes to one who can be a companion, | 39:21 | |
sharing another's pain, sharing with another, his bread. | 39:24 | |
Revelation dawns in drinking and talking together, | 39:28 | |
companionship and symposium, bread and wine, | 39:32 | |
breaking bread, and pouring out. | 39:37 | |
He quotes KAHM-OO who, even in his own meaningless meaning | 39:39 | |
knows something of this, | 39:44 | |
as he says in the rebel, what good is the salvation of one | 39:46 | |
if all are not saved? | 39:50 | |
And I say, Amen, KAHM-OO. | 39:55 | |
Indeed, what good is salvation for one if all are not saved? | 39:59 | |
McGuire goes on to tell how Truman Capote speaks of this | 40:09 | |
in his novel, "Other Voices, Other Rooms". | 40:13 | |
When Joel Knox, the young hero of the novel finds | 40:16 | |
that we either go forward together, | 40:19 | |
or we go around in circles. | 40:21 | |
He tries to walk a plank that's been thrown across | 40:23 | |
a swampy festering stream and Capote writes, | 40:26 | |
Starting over, Knox felt that he would never reach | 40:29 | |
the other side, that always he would be balanced here, | 40:32 | |
suspended between land and in the dark and alone. | 40:35 | |
But then feeling the board shake as she, | 40:40 | |
his companion started across, he remembered that he | 40:44 | |
had someone to be together with and he could go on. | 40:47 | |
With someone or with several someones to be together with, | 40:53 | |
we can go on. | 40:57 | |
When we destroy another, | 41:00 | |
we destroy our own possibility to go on. | 41:01 | |
First, we are responsible for each other. | 41:08 | |
Second, we realize that hatred and anger are, | 41:14 | |
in Jesus' view, alien to God's way of life. | 41:17 | |
They are simply not a part | 41:20 | |
of the plan of our Father in heaven and on earth. | 41:22 | |
I can say with Thomas John Carlisle, | 41:25 | |
I hate God's enemies with perfect hatred, | 41:28 | |
but this just does make makes no sense whatever | 41:30 | |
for God has no enemies. | 41:35 | |
There are persons who are enemies of God | 41:37 | |
but they are not enemies to God. | 41:41 | |
There is no such thing as perfect hatred. | 41:45 | |
I may rationalize it, justify it, excuse it, pardon it, | 41:49 | |
defend it, suppress it, or even be proud of it, | 41:53 | |
but there is no such thing as perfect hatred | 41:57 | |
if perfect has any sense | 42:00 | |
of meaning or fulfillment in it at all. | 42:02 | |
Hatred, you see, kills two persons, | 42:04 | |
murder kills only one. | 42:07 | |
Hatred kills the hater and the hated, | 42:10 | |
the subject and the object, both are destroyed, | 42:13 | |
one by another and the other by himself. | 42:17 | |
And that's why Carlisle follows up this couplet quickly | 42:22 | |
with these words: I hate God's enemies with perfect hatred. | 42:25 | |
Why can't God do as much? | 42:28 | |
Well, there's just too much evidence | 42:31 | |
in scripture to show us depth and the breadth | 42:34 | |
of God's love for the good and the evil ones, | 42:37 | |
for the saint and the sinner, | 42:39 | |
for the saved and the lost, | 42:41 | |
for us even to dream that God could hate | 42:42 | |
any of his children. | 42:46 | |
God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, | 42:50 | |
and he causes the sun to shine on the good and the evil. | 42:53 | |
God's love extends to every person, and so is ours to do. | 42:57 | |
We are, you remember from the same sermon, | 43:04 | |
to love even our enemies and to pray for those | 43:07 | |
who persecute us. | 43:10 | |
As someone said love your enemies and you have no enemies. | 43:11 | |
A third word about anger. | 43:17 | |
We read the words, whoever is angry with his brother | 43:23 | |
shall be liable, and if you read the footnote | 43:26 | |
in the revised standard version, | 43:28 | |
it says that some early manuscripts put it this way: | 43:30 | |
Anyone who is angry with his brother without cause | 43:34 | |
shall be liable. | 43:38 | |
Adding the words without cause seems | 43:40 | |
to give us the right to be angry | 43:43 | |
if we are provoked to it, if there is justifiable cause, | 43:45 | |
if we have a legitimate reason. | 43:50 | |
But wait a minute, unless your righteousness exceeds, | 43:53 | |
you remember Jesus, betrayed by a kiss. | 43:59 | |
He said, friend, why are you here. | 44:04 | |
Accused by the high priests, | 44:09 | |
he said, only you have said so. | 44:11 | |
Accused by Pilot, he answered not a word. | 44:15 | |
They scourged him, crowned him with thorns, | 44:20 | |
pierced to his side with a spear, | 44:22 | |
gave him wine and vinegar to drink. | 44:25 | |
They spat in his face. | 44:28 | |
They struck him. | 44:29 | |
They slapped him. | 44:30 | |
They crucified him and he cried, Father forgive them | 44:32 | |
for they know not what they do. | 44:36 | |
And after it was all over, even to those who | 44:39 | |
had betrayed him and those who had forsaken him, | 44:42 | |
he appeared to the disciples and to Thomas the Doubter | 44:44 | |
and said, Peace be unto you. | 44:48 | |
In the face of all that Jesus endured and resorted not | 44:55 | |
to anger or to hatred, but showed love | 44:58 | |
and compassion and forgiveness, | 45:00 | |
my excuses for anger with a cause seemed very, very feeble. | 45:04 | |
My Lord was filled with love so great that there | 45:12 | |
was no room for hate. | 45:15 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds. | 45:19 | |
Carlisle Marnie tells this, and I quote, | 45:24 | |
In the boyhood of Carl Bart stands the shadowy influence | 45:28 | |
of an obscure reformed theologian KOHL-BRIH-GAY, | 45:33 | |
called the Outsider. | 45:38 | |
One day, he ran head on into a group | 45:42 | |
of excited pietists who pinned him to the corner by saying, | 45:45 | |
Dr. KOHL-BRIH-GAY, have you met the Lord? | 45:50 | |
The old half free-thinker said finally, yeah, | 45:56 | |
and the Pietists cried, where have you met the Lord? | 46:03 | |
The old man finally replied, on Golgotha. | 46:10 | |
Our oldest child is now 14, Sherry. | 46:20 | |
When she was six, I had to be away for a week. | 46:25 | |
I returned to find that she had painted me | 46:31 | |
a very colorful welcome home note which I still have, | 46:33 | |
and on which she had used every color | 46:40 | |
in her 12-pack Crayola box. | 46:42 | |
And she wrote, Dear daddy, How did you do this week? | 46:46 | |
Your child, Sherry Lee. | 46:55 | |
When I hear the words of Matthew, | 47:01 | |
And when I look at Golgotha and see my Lord there, | 47:05 | |
I have to say, Not very well, my daughter. | 47:12 | |
Not very well, but I'm trying. | 47:20 | |
Unless your righteousness exceeds. | 47:29 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 47:37 | |
and of the Holy Spirit. | 47:44 | |
Amen. | 47:48 | |
(organ music) | 47:56 | |
♪ Shall we gather by the river ♪ | 49:37 | |
♪ Where bright angels' feet have trod ♪ | 49:47 | |
♪ With its crystal tide forever ♪ | 49:59 | |
♪ Flowing by the throne of God ♪ | 50:08 | |
♪ Yes, we'll gather by the river ♪ | 50:25 | |
♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪ | 50:35 | |
♪ Gather with the saints by the river ♪ | 50:45 | |
♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪ | 50:55 | |
♪ Soon we'll reach the shining river ♪ | 51:19 | |
♪ Soon our pilgrimage will cease ♪ | 51:28 | |
♪ Soon our happy hearts will quiver ♪ | 51:37 | |
♪ With the melody of peace ♪ | 51:46 | |
♪ Yes, we'll gather by the river ♪ | 52:02 | |
♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪ | 52:11 | |
♪ Gather with the saints by the river ♪ | 52:21 | |
♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪ | 52:31 | |
♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪ | 52:40 | |
(organ music) | 52:56 | |
- | Oh Lord, from whom come all good things. | 54:30 |
Receive these gifts as a token | 54:35 | |
of our thanksgiving and cause your spirit to come upon us | 54:37 | |
that we may give ourselves | 54:42 | |
to your service and offer faithful prayers | 54:44 | |
for the work of your church through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 54:47 | |
Amen. | 54:52 | |
(vibrant organ music) | 54:54 | |
(faint orchestral singing) | 55:27 | |
The Lord bless you and keep you, | 57:47 | |
the Lord make his face shine upon you | 57:50 | |
and be gracious unto you. | 57:53 | |
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you | 57:55 | |
and give you peace. | 57:58 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 58:00 | |
and of the Holy Ghost. | 58:01 | |
Amen. | 58:04 | |
(bell chiming) | 58:09 | |
(vibrant organ music) | 58:18 |
Item Info
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