Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come?" Founders' Day (December 12, 1976)

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-	Founder's Day service, December 12th, 1976.	0:05
	(gentle serene music)	1:19
	(lively gospel music)	3:33
	(gentle serene music)	6:26
	(gentle poignant music)	10:56
	(gentle suspenseful music)	16:28
	(lively piano music)	17:46
	("Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above")	18:29
-	Hear these words from the first letter of John.	25:30
	"If we claim to be sinless,	25:36
	we are self-deceived and strangers to the truth.	25:39
	If we confess our sins,	25:45
	God is just, and maybe trusted to forgive our sins	25:49
	and cleanse us from every kind of wrong."	25:54
	With this assurance,	25:59
	let us make our corporate confession.	26:02
Congregation	Oh Lord, Creator of all things,	26:08
	source of all truth,	26:12
	we ask your forgiveness for the sins of the man,	26:15
	the pride of thinking that we are masters	26:20
	of all creation and history.	26:23
	Our slackness, our compulsion	26:26
	and our work in this university,	26:29
	our doubts about your will power to make all things new.	26:32
	We ask your forgiveness for a lack of sense of history	26:38
	for thinking all the world begins and ends with us,	26:43
	for our too easy acceptance of our heritage,	26:48
	for those who will suffer	26:53
	because of our unconcerned about the future.	26:55
	Help us as we worship you	27:00
	to come to a truer knowledge of ourselves,	27:03
	knowing that we cannot have from you.	27:07
	God be merciful to us for we are sinners.	27:10
	Amen.	27:28
	Remember those assuring words from the first letter of John.	27:30
	"If we confess our sins, God is just,	27:35
	and may be trusted to forgive our sins	27:40
	and cleanse us from every kind of wrong.	27:44
	Rejoice, dear people of God,	27:49
	and accept this love and forgiveness	27:52
	and become a part of the new creation."	27:56
	Amen and amen.	27:59
	(gentle solemn music)	28:12
	("Oh Taste and See How Gracious the Lord Is")	28:23
-	The Psalm is tested-clad	30:33
	that it becometh welleth just to be thankful.	30:35
	We take this occasion each year to be especially grateful	30:40
	for the generosity of the Duke Family to this university.	30:45
	For close to a century now,	30:50
	our institutional life has been nourished	30:52
	by the Duke family's concern for us.	30:54
	In 1890,	30:58
	Washington Duke help bring Trinity College to Durham.	30:59
	And then the succeeding years, his family,	31:03
	and particularly his sons; Benjamin Newton duke,	31:06
	and then James Buchanan Duke, stood by us constantly	31:10
	and enabled us to grow towards excellence.	31:15
	They have been this institution's prime enablers.	31:18
	Plain people who grew up as farmers,	31:23
	the family was deeply rooted	31:26
	in the good earth of Piedmont, North Carolina.	31:28
	Scantily educated themselves,	31:32
	they nevertheless possessed the breadth of vision	31:34
	to want educational opportunities for others.	31:37
	They love the Methodist Church and they took its teachings,	31:41
	its institutions and its agents to their hearts.	31:46
	We and countless others have been the beneficiaries	31:51
	of that Methodist-inspired pattern of giving.	31:54
	Tar heels and southerners,	31:59
	the Dukes were all so broadly national in their thinking.	32:02
	They consistently befriended their black neighbors	32:06
	and their institutions long before our federal laws	32:10
	had accepted practice required equal opportunity.	32:15
	We gratefully remember and honor this family	32:20
	that still stands by Duke University	32:23
	for it becometh welth just to be thankful.	32:26
-	Let us continue our Thanksgiving	32:36
	and rejoicing for these who founded this university	32:38
	in our Litany of Commemoration.	32:43
	Almighty and eternal God, in whom our parents trusted,	32:47
	we, their children, on this day of remembrance,	32:53
	offer onto you our Litany of Commemoration.	32:57
	(Congregation speaking off mic)	33:02
	For the Duke family, father, daughter, sons and their wives,	33:06
	grandchildren and continuing generations,	33:11
	who with wonder and surprise,	33:15
	by (indistinct) and tenacity, laid a good foundation,	33:18
	built a worthy school and provided for exciting growth	33:23
	beyond their kin in years unseen.	33:29
Congregation	We give you thanks and praise.	33:33
-	For the men and women of this state,	33:38
	Methodists and Quakers, farmers and merchants,	33:41
	teachers and administrators who believed in education	33:46
	and made their belief prevail.	33:51
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	33:55
-	For the embodiment of their dreams,	33:58
	private school, academy, college, university,	34:00
	founded in hope, continued with perseverance,	34:05
	growing an outreach, established and assurance.	34:10
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	34:15
-	For educators whose vision was matched by that courage,	34:18
	whose patience was tempered by their indignation,	34:23
	whose idealism was moderated by their awareness of sin.	34:27
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	34:33
-	For the continuance of good ideas,	34:36
	the union of truth and reverence,	34:39
	the freedom of responsible, academic thought	34:43
	and the right of public concern,	34:46
	the joint care of the body and the spirit,	34:50
	the linking of science and humanities,	34:53
	the realization that the old order changes.	34:57
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	35:01
-	For the future of our university established to your glory	35:04
	and for the relief of the human condition,	35:10
	for the consecration of the discontent of the young,	35:14
	for wisdom and the conservatism of the middle-aged,	35:18
	for resiliency and the abstinence of the old,	35:22
	for understanding, cooperation	35:26
	and a sense of humor within our community.	35:29
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	35:33
-	And to you, we shall ascribe, as is most due,	35:36
	all praise and glory, world without end.	35:40
Congregation	Amen.	35:45
-	From the 120 second Psalm,	35:57
	"I was glad when they said to me,	36:00
	'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'	36:02
	Our feet have been standing within your gates oh, Jerusalem,	36:06
	Jerusalem built as a city which is bound firmly together	36:10
	to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,	36:15
	as was decreed for Israel,	36:18
	to give thanks to the name of the Lord.	36:20
	Their thrones for judgment were set,	36:24
	the thrones of the house of David.	36:26
	Pray for the peace of Jerusalem	36:29
	may they prosper who love you.	36:31
	Peace be within your walls and security within your towers	36:34
	for my brethren and companion's sake, I will say,	36:38
	'Peace be within you.'	36:41
	For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,	36:44
	I will seek your good."	36:47
	And now, as we read from St. John,	36:49
	let the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel.	36:52
	"In the beginning was the word and the word was with God	37:00
	and the word was God.	37:03
	He was in the beginning with God,	37:05
	all things were made through him	37:08
	and without him was not anything made that was made.	37:10
	In him was life and the life was the light of man.	37:14
	The light shines in the darkness	37:18
	and the darkness has not overcome it.	37:20
	There was a man sent from God whose name was John.	37:23
	He came for a testimony, to bear witness to the light,	37:27
	that all who might believe through him,	37:32
	he was not the light	37:35
	but he came to bear witness to the light.	37:37
	The true light that enlightens every man	37:40
	was coming into the world.	37:43
	He was in the world and the world was made through him.	37:45
	Get the world, knew him not.	37:49
	He came to his own home and his own people received him not.	37:51
	But to all who received him, who believed in his name,	37:56
	he gave the power to become children of God	38:01
	who were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh,	38:04
	nor the will of man but of God.	38:09
	And the word became flesh and dwelt among us,	38:12
	full of grace and truth, we have beheld his glory,	38:15
	glory as the only son from the father.	38:20
	Here ends the reading of the lesson for the day.	38:24
	(gentle piano music)	38:28
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	38:38
	♪ And to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ♪	38:42
	♪ As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be ♪	38:51
	♪ World without end ♪	39:00
	♪ Amen amen ♪	39:04
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	39:14
Congregation	We believe in God	39:17
	who has created and is creating,	39:20
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	39:23
	to reconcile and make new,	39:27
	who works in us and others by the Spirit.	39:30
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	39:34
	to celebrate and its fullness, to love and serve others,	39:39
	to seek justice and resist evil,	39:45
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	39:49
	our judge and our hope	39:53
	and life and death and life beyond death,	39:56
	God is with us, we are not alone.	40:01
	Thanks be to God.	40:05
-	The Lord be with you.	40:08
-	And in your spirit.
-	Let us pray.	40:11
	We give you thanks oh God	40:22
	for the beauty and majesty of this building,	40:25
	for the glory of the music	40:30
	and the dedication of the people who serve you.	40:33
	We are grateful and thankful that this is a place,	40:37
	a holy place, where we meet you again and again.	40:43
	And because we meet you in this place, all of our meetings	40:48
	and all of our places can become holy places.	40:54
	Oh God, we give you thanks	41:00
	for those whose visions and dreams,	41:02
	knowledge and work made possible this magnificent organ,	41:06
	which will help us glorify and magnify your name.	41:11
	And also we give you thanks for those countless people	41:18
	whose work often unseen and unnamed,	41:24
	is essential to our study and work and worship.	41:28
	Those hosts of people who plan and organize and type,	41:33
	who cook and clean and serve,	41:38
	who sweep and mop and move chairs.	41:42
	We are grateful that this university and this chapel	41:47
	not only celebrates importance and value	41:51
	of those to whom the public gives praise and acclaim,	41:54
	but that also those who serve	41:59
	in quiet dignity and anonymity.	42:02
	Hear us now, oh God, our prayers of intercession.	42:07
	For those with power who control	42:13
	and affect the lives of others,	42:16
	we pray that that egos and that exalted positions	42:20
	will not blind them to the needs and the concerns	42:25
	of all those who have no such power or prestige.	42:28
	For those people who are sick in mind and body,	42:35
	those who are in continuous pain and suffering,	42:40
	those who are near death,	42:45
	comfort and sustain these your people oh God,	42:47
	and send your spirit to guide	42:50
	and uphold all who minister to their needs.	42:53
	For those people who are cold in body or cold in spirit,	42:59
	those who are hungry	43:05
	and those who hunger after righteousness,	43:07
	made this advent season be a time	43:11
	for the beginning of a new life for them.	43:14
	And now God, we pray for all people	43:19
	who are separated from their families, from those they love,	43:22
	by distance, by anger, by hatred, by misunderstanding,	43:27
	by death, by illness,	43:32
	send your healing spirit so that none will be cut off	43:35
	because of pride or vengeance or lack of forgiveness.	43:40
	And we pray for those teachers	43:46
	and students who are nearing the end of the semester,	43:49
	that the pressure of work, of grading and being graded	43:52
	may not become destructive and dehumanizing,	43:56
	and that all which is done maybe used to serve	44:00
	some part of your creation.	44:04
	And hear us now as we pray for ourselves oh God,	44:08
	teach us each day to ask what you would have us do,	44:12
	help to perform our task with diligence and humility.	44:17
	And we commit our lives to these concerns	44:23
	which we have lifted to you in our prayers.	44:27
	That you may use us as healing instruments	44:32
	of your love and service.	44:34
	And all this we pray	44:38
	in the spirit of Jesus who taught us to pray.	44:40
Congregation	Our Father who art in heaven,	44:44
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	44:47
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	44:52
	Give us this day our daily bread	44:57
	and forgive us our trespasses,	45:00
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	45:03
	Lead us not to temptation but deliver us from evil.	45:07
	For thy is the kingdom, the power and the glory,	45:12
	forever and ever, amen.	45:17
-	Persons who worship in this Duke Chapel	45:22
	have been most generous in their response to community needs	45:25
	especially the Edge Mark Christmas House.	45:30
	You will find information about this project	45:33
	in your bulletin.	45:36
	All of the offering from today's service	45:38
	will go to a special fund	45:42
	to help provide heat for some members in this community	45:45
	who otherwise would have a cold winter.	45:49
	This is a community project	45:53
	supported by several of the local churches.	45:54
	You are invited to the Christmas service here	45:59
	at five o'clock Tuesday,	46:02
	a time to sing your favorite Christmas music,	46:04
	to hear Heather Elkins, Stewart Henry and Reynolds Price	46:07
	read from their favorite Christmas stories.	46:12
	Many of you here are already friends of the Duke Chapel,	46:16
	a group which is becoming more and more important	46:21
	in the life of this chapel.	46:24
	You will find information about this program	46:27
	in your bulletin, and we invite you to respond.	46:31
	It's always a special joy to worship here on Sunday	46:36
	because of the majesty of the building,	46:41
	the beauty of the music, the power of the preaching,	46:43
	and to worship with such a great host of people,	46:48
	many who worship with us regularly,	46:52
	others who have visitors in the community.	46:54
	This is a special time and a special place for worship.	46:58
	And today we want to welcome those of you	47:03
	who've come from many different places	47:06
	for this Founder's Day and for this important time	47:09
	in the life of the University and the Chapel,	47:12
	the dedication of the Flentrop organ,	47:15
	a truly glorious time.	47:19
	And we are glad that you have joined us	47:21
	for our regular morning worship.	47:24
	Welcome and may God bless you.	47:28
-	In the name of God who creates, redeems and sustains us.	47:42
	Have you ever stopped to think	47:51
	about how many people come to Duke Chapel?	47:52
	Who they are and why they come?	47:58
	For they come in ones, in twos, in families.	48:03
	They come as couples dating, couples planning to be married,	48:06
	couples already married, elderly couples.	48:09
	They come in groups, very young,	48:13
	kindergartners, elementary age, high school groups,	48:16
	choruses, choirs, bands, teams, classes.	48:20
	They come as tour groups, college choirs,	48:24
	and glee clubs and drama groups.	48:28
	College students by the carload are the bus-full,	48:31
	elderly persons in groups of all sizes and all kinds.	48:35
	Groups from prisons, from homes for the handicap,	48:40
	the mentally ill, special education classes,	48:45
	emotionally disturbed, children's homes,	48:49
	homes for the aging.	48:53
	Groups of businessman and business women,	48:55
	government officials, foreign dignitaries,	48:58
	corporate executives that come from on-campus,	49:01
	out of the offices, the classrooms, the labs,	49:05
	the dining halls, the union building, the library,	49:08
	Allen Building, the hospital, the operating rooms,	49:11
	the waiting rooms, the intensive care units.	49:15
	They come from board meetings and committee meetings,	49:19
	they come before bowl games and after bowl games,	49:22
	they come before exams and during exams and after exams.	49:26
	They come on Monday morning, Tuesday night,	49:30
	Wednesday evening, Thursday noon, Friday afternoon,	49:33
	Saturday at 10 and Sunday at 11.	49:37
	They come from all races and all nations,	49:41
	men and women, boys and girls,	49:43
	rich and poor well-dressed and barely dressed.	49:45
	Mink stoles and sack cloth.	49:49
	They come in boots and blue jeans and blazers and barefoot.	49:52
	They come long hair, short hair and no hair.	49:58
	They come Christian, non-Christian, agnostic, atheist,	50:02
	other faith and no faith.	50:06
	I know they all come.	50:09
	I have been here now three and a half years	50:12
	and I've been in this place	50:14
	at almost every possible time of day or night,	50:15
	and for almost all of our programs and services,	50:18
	and I've seen them come.	50:22
	Often and I've asked myself, why do they come?	50:24
	Why to this place and this time on this day	50:28
	and in this occasion?	50:32
	Why do they all come to Duke Chapel?	50:33
	Duke Chapel described by Aldous Huxley as,	50:37
	"The most successful essay in neo-Gothic that I know."	50:41
	A really splendid piece of architecture,	50:45
	Duke Chapel designed by the late Horace Trumbauer,	50:48
	designed as the first and built as the last	50:52
	of the original West Campus buildings.	50:55
	First used in 1932 at Commencement, dedicated in 1935.	50:57
	This building, would you believe it now my friends	51:02
	costs only $2, 201,000.	51:05
	Estimates indicate that it would cost	51:10
	from 20 to $50 million to build it today,	51:12
	that is if it could be built again as it is now.	51:16
	Duke Chapel, 291-feet long, 63-feet wide,	51:20
	with the transepts or the arms of the cross,	51:25
	121-feet across, it is 210-feet high,	51:28
	and the seating capacity is 1, 850	51:35
	or on many Sundays and for many special programs,	51:38
	that seating capacity is not nearly enough.	51:41
	But I'm not suggesting this morning to the Board of Trustees	51:44
	or anyone else that we build a bigger new chapel	51:46
	or start a building fund drive to enlarge this one.	51:50
	Why do they all come?	51:53
	More than one and a half million persons	51:58
	have signed the guest register in this chapel	52:00
	since it's doors were open.	52:03
	We estimate that now over 200,000 persons	52:04
	frequent this place every year.	52:08
	This place my friends,	52:09
	for those of you who do not worship here regularly,	52:11
	is virtually fill and often running over	52:13
	every Sunday of the academic year,	52:17
	when an average of some 1500 of us	52:19
	gather in here to worship.	52:22
	The choir, under Ben Smith's leadership,	52:23
	now has 220 persons in it,	52:26
	the largest student group on campus.	52:29
	Standing-room only crowds for three Messiah performances,	52:32
	standing-room only for,	52:36
	I'm sure the three inaugural recitals on the new organ,	52:38
	and over 1000 students gathered in here last Monday evening	52:41
	for not a Saturday night, but a Monday night sneak preview	52:45
	of the playing of the Flentrop organ.	52:49
	For 11 services here	52:52
	in a period of three weeks in this month,	52:53
	there will be almost 19,000 persons present	52:56
	and worshiping God and sharing in this place.	52:59
	Those who come for worship	53:04
	and for special programs are only a part,	53:07
	there is a steady stream of persons in and out of the chapel	53:12
	in constant use of this chapel for prayer and meditation	53:17
	from eight o'clock in the morning until 11 o'clock at night.	53:20
	People do come to place.	53:23
	Why do they all come?	53:26
	Why do you come?	53:29
	Why do I come?	53:31
	Why do we come?	53:32
	I've asked that question many times,	53:35
	and I want to suggest three reasons this morning.	53:37
	First they come because of the grandeur of the building	53:39
	and all of the magnificence attached to it.	53:43
	Where can you find a view any more inspiring or impressive	53:47
	than the view you get as you round the circle	53:51
	and head down the long drive toward the chapel?	53:54
	In the brilliant sunshine,	53:58
	with the sky blue background around it,	54:00
	in the spring when dogwoods nestle around it	54:03
	and enfolded in the winter	54:06
	when the snow occasionally covers it.	54:07
	In the dark gray, dismal days, like today,	54:11
	in the Moonlight, when it glistens in the golden beams.	54:15
	Day or night, hot or cold, any season,	54:20
	this building with all its awesomeness	54:23
	and architectural Gothic splendor,	54:25
	is attractive and most impressive.	54:28
	People come from all over the world just to see the building	54:32
	or hear the organs or look at the windows	54:34
	or view the woodcarvings.	54:37
	You see, this buildings with its carvings and its windows	54:38
	and its organs and its sculpture, is symbolic.	54:42
	And we all need some symbols.	54:47
	Symbols to strengthen us and renew us and sustain us.	54:51
	In spite of what this building costs,	54:55
	what it would cost to replace it,	54:57
	in spite of its architectural dignity	54:59
	and height and depth and shape,	55:01
	in spite of the coldness of the stone	55:03
	and the length of the center aisle,	55:05
	we can never, never, never place a real value	55:07
	on the message conveyed by the building in and of itself.	55:11
	The stone and art here speak to our need	55:17
	for reverence and humility	55:19
	in the face of that which is numinous and mysterious.	55:21
	They tell of our questing minds and spirits ever seeking	55:25
	yet never quite finding the ultimate truth.	55:29
	That tale of our basic need to have some places	55:34
	and some moments in life set apart as hallowed and sacred.	55:38
	This building invites the frustrated	55:47
	and fear-filled student to come and sit and pray	55:49
	and meditate and be touched by God's spirit.	55:54
	It beckons the anxious and worried and hopeful mother	55:58
	or father or husband or wife	56:02
	of someone lying in the hospital for healing by our doctors	56:04
	and by God's spirit to come and be still and be reassured	56:08
	and find strength to walk out those doors again	56:14
	and go back to the hospital room to face life or death.	56:17
	The chapel calls to the faculty member to come in	56:25
	and think soberly of the expectations	56:28
	and responsibilities he or she must face,	56:32
	to see more clearly the unique opportunities	56:35
	for influencing and shaping young lives that are ours here.	56:38
	They come for solace and for strength,	56:45
	they come for hope and for assurance,	56:48
	they come restless and frightened and lonely and sad,	56:51
	they come weary and weighted and wounded and worried,	56:55
	they come with joy and Thanksgiving and gratitude,	56:59
	they come to pray to listen, to rejoice, to celebrate,	57:02
	they come in silence, wait in silence and go in silence,	57:05
	they come curious and questioning and seeking.	57:10
	They come my friends because not only is this Duke Chapel,	57:13
	but this is the house of God.	57:17
	This is the building on this campus and on this earth	57:21
	that was dedicated on June second, 1935,	57:26
	to the worship listen of God, Almighty,	57:30
	the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ	57:34
	of whom every family in earth and in heaven is named.	57:36
	The building itself is a symbol of grace and forgiveness,	57:41
	a promise of new life and hope for the future.	57:46
	It's spires stands tall and its doors open wide.	57:49
	They come in the second place	57:57
	because of the services conducted in this chapel.	57:58
	The worship services every Sunday morning here	58:02
	involve anywhere from four or 500 to over 2000.	58:05
	And I remember summer before last,	58:08
	I guess it was when Peter Golmes,	58:10
	the Minister to the University at Harvard University,	58:12
	was to preach here in, I guess the last Sunday in June,	58:14
	no it's first Sunday in July,	58:18
	and I was somewhat apologetically saying to him,	58:19
	I say, "Peter Net,	58:22
	we won't have quite as many people in the chapel tomorrow	58:24
	because this is the summer and it's an off Sunday."	58:27
	I said, "We'll probably will only have	58:30
	maybe six or 700 people."	58:31
	And his mouth dropped open, he said, "You, what?"	58:34
	I said, "Well, you know,"	58:37
	and I really didn't want to brag too much.	58:39
	But from anywhere from five or 600 people	58:43
	to over 2000 persons gathered here every Sunday morning	58:46
	to worship Almighty God in word, in prayer, in scripture,	58:50
	song, hymn, anthem, organ music, sacrament, offering,	58:55
	dedication, renewal, recommitment,	58:59
	and in community with others who are seeking to know God	59:02
	and love God and serve God.	59:05
	The choral music here attracts thousands of people	59:07
	to this place every year.	59:11
	Every Sunday, during the academic year,	59:12
	the choir offers to God	59:14
	and shares with us two magnificent anthems.	59:16
	And the variety of anthems is great from "Amazing Grace"	59:19
	and Jesus walked this long, some valet to Psalm 100	59:22
	and Sanctus.	59:26
	How often do all of us leave this place	59:27
	moved and touched memorably	59:30
	by the triumphant and sounds of this choir	59:32
	of unmatched distinction and ability?	59:34
	And folks come here Sunday after Sunday,	59:37
	just to hear the choral music.	59:40
	They come to hear all of the performances of Messiah,	59:42
	the B Minor Mass or Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony",	59:44
	done with the North Carolina Symphony.	59:47
	Music inspires and draws us here.	59:50
	And we know we have been in the presence of God.	59:53
	The organ music appeals to thousands of persons here	1:00:00
	every year.	1:00:03
	The organ concerts by master organists	1:00:05
	from around the world with international reputations,	1:00:08
	are thrilling to experience,	1:00:11
	and the organ preludes and postlude and hymn accompanate	1:00:13
	from our own accomplished and gifted organists,	1:00:16
	add beauty and movement to our worship.	1:00:19
	Often hundreds remain	1:00:23
	after the Benediction has been pronounced,	1:00:25
	to hear the postlude and to give a rousing applause	1:00:27
	to the music that is performed on the organ.	1:00:30
	And now the new Flentrop organ	1:00:34
	with the distinctive, inimitable musical splendor	1:00:36
	that it provides, will continue to enrich and inspire.	1:00:40
	No one knows really how many people come here	1:00:44
	because of the music	1:00:48
	for this is one unique and very personal way	1:00:51
	which God has of revealing his grace to young and old,	1:00:55
	to meet our every need or hope or dream or aspiration.	1:01:01
	When words fail in this place,	1:01:06
	and they often do,	1:01:11
	music continues to proclaim the good	1:01:14
	and glad news of God's amazing grace and matchless love.	1:01:17
	Many come here also	1:01:25
	because of the variety of preachers we have.	1:01:26
	We try to plan the preaching schedule	1:01:30
	to represent a wide range of theological	1:01:32
	and biblical and social perspectives,	1:01:35
	from the very conservative and evangelical	1:01:37
	like David Hubbard,	1:01:40
	President of Fuller Theological Seminary,	1:01:41
	and Billy Graham and Tom Skinner,	1:01:44
	to liberal persons like Bill Coffin	1:01:46
	and James Cohen and Phillip Potter.	1:01:48
	In addition, many outstanding and competent Duke persons	1:01:51
	graced this pulpit with their insight and their inspiration.	1:01:55
	And so my friends, I tell you my belief that they all come	1:02:00
	because of the building itself.	1:02:04
	They come because of the services	1:02:07
	and the programs and the music, the message they tell.	1:02:09
	But there is another reason yet to be told.	1:02:12
	We heard it as President Sanford	1:02:17
	read the gospel lesson for us.	1:02:18
	"In the beginning was the word	1:02:20
	and the word was with God and the word was God.	1:02:23
	In him was life, and the life was the light of all persons.	1:02:26
	That's light shines in the darkness.	1:02:30
	So the word of God became a person	1:02:32
	and took up his abode in our being,	1:02:35
	full of grace and full of truth,	1:02:38
	and we looked with our own eyes upon his glory	1:02:40
	and from him, we have received grace upon grace	1:02:43
	for grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."	1:02:47
	That my friends I believe is why they all come,	1:02:50
	because the word that is God's love, God's self,	1:02:57
	God's very being, God's person, God's oneness,	1:03:02
	God as God really is became one of us.	1:03:06
	We come to this place, thousands upon thousands,	1:03:11
	one by one, two by two, group by group,	1:03:15
	because God in Christ has come to us.	1:03:17
	We come to God because he has first come to us.	1:03:22
	We gather together because God brings us together.	1:03:25
	We come along because God loves us	1:03:28
	as if each one of us were an only-child.	1:03:31
	You are, I am, all belong to God,	1:03:35
	but each belongs to God also.	1:03:38
	We come into company of others	1:03:42
	because it is good to hear God's word.	1:03:44
	"I was glad when they said unto me,	1:03:46
	'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"	1:03:48
	And so the word became a person and thereby offered new life	1:03:53
	and hope and joy and abundant life and salvation	1:03:56
	and a deeper life and eternal life to you and to me,	1:03:59
	and you say, "In this place, in Duke Chapel?	1:04:02
	Bob, are you serious?"	1:04:07
	And I say, "Surely, and you'd better believe it."	1:04:10
	For if that is not why we are here,	1:04:14
	if that is not what our souls seek and may find,	1:04:17
	if that is not what is offered here,	1:04:20
	if that is not what we may find here, know here, share here,	1:04:23
	renew here, carry from here and offer to a hungry,	1:04:27
	hurting, starving, broken, and needy world,	1:04:31
	then we'd better pack it up my friends.	1:04:34
	We better close the doors and sell the organ pipes	1:04:36
	and auction off the pews and give every alumnus and alumni,	1:04:40
	a piece of the stained glass windows and seal this place off	1:04:43
	for real tragedy will have befallen on us.	1:04:47
	Tragedy, not like we ordinarily think of it,	1:04:51
	but tragedy like I heard of the other day,	1:04:54
	"For tragedy is not what we suffer," someone said,	1:04:56
	"Tragedy is what we miss."	1:04:59
	And if in the midst of all of the glory	1:05:02
	of this building and music and service,	1:05:05
	we miss the real message	1:05:08
	that God loves us with an everlasting love,	1:05:09
	that God has come in Christ Jesus to redeem us	1:05:13
	and make us whole, that God in Christ has come to save us	1:05:16
	and all of our sisters and brothers around the world,	1:05:20
	then are coming here, will have all been in vain.	1:05:23
	They all come to this place because the word became flesh	1:05:29
	and lives among us.	1:05:34
	Full of grace and full of truth,	1:05:36
	we come with belief and unbelief like the graffiti	1:05:39
	that was written on a concentration camp wall.	1:05:42
	"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining,	1:05:45
	I believe in love even when I feel it not,	1:05:48
	I believe in God even when God is silent."	1:05:50
	So we come and believe and in unbelief.	1:05:54
	Like the words sung in Bernstein's "Mass",	1:05:58
	which speak for all of us at one time or another,	1:06:01
	"I don't know why I should live if only to die."	1:06:03
	Well, I'm not gonna buy it.	1:06:09
	I'll never say credo.	1:06:11
	How can anybody say credo?
	I want to say credo.	1:06:19
	We come, they all come because they want,	1:06:25
	we want to say "Credo".	1:06:29
	I believe because of the stark and startling reality	1:06:33
	that here God is in flesh, in Jesus.	1:06:38
	When God wanted to come to us fully,	1:06:42
	it was not by sending a new set of commandments.	1:06:44
	It was not by way of a letter or a phone call or telegram	1:06:46
	or even the new Mailgram,	1:06:49
	but it was by way of the word made flesh	1:06:53
	in human form, in a body.	1:06:55
	Flesh and blood and spirit and personality,	1:06:58
	longing, crying, telling jokes, working, sweating, hoping,	1:07:01
	eating, drinking, living life to its fullest and its finest,	1:07:05
	dying and being raised to new life.	1:07:09
	That is why they all come	1:07:15
	because God has come in Christ.	1:07:22
	I close with an incident	1:07:27
	from Alice Phillip's little book, "Spire and Spirit",	1:07:28
	which tells of many of the experiences of many people	1:07:33
	who have frequented this place.	1:07:38
	She tells of a class of special children	1:07:42
	who came from a nearby state institution.	1:07:46
	They came here to worship	1:07:53
	and to lead others of us in worship.	1:07:55
	Listen to their statement of faith,	1:07:59
	the credo of these special children of God.	1:08:04
	"I believe that I belong to the family of God.	1:08:11
	I believe in God, my father, the one I can trust,	1:08:16
	even when he is hard for my mind to understand.	1:08:22
	I believe in Jesus, my brother,	1:08:28
	in whose life I see the goodness of God.	1:08:30
	I believe in myself with the spirit of gladness alive in me.	1:08:34
	I believe in this unfinished world	1:08:41
	where both the joy and the hurts are real.	1:08:43
	By faith, I try to look out of myself	1:08:48
	to see this world as best I can.	1:08:51
	By faith, I try to move myself	1:08:54
	to live in this world as best I can.	1:08:56
	By faith, I try to give myself	1:08:59
	to help in this world as best I can.	1:09:02
	By faith, I try to share myself,	1:09:06
	to stand by others as best I can.	1:09:10
	And when my life is nearly done, I will look back to see	1:09:15
	that whenever I walked by faith in God, my father,	1:09:23
	in Jesus, my brother,	1:09:28
	and in the spirit of gladness within me,	1:09:31
	I will say it has been good,	1:09:34
	it has been very good.	1:09:39
	Amen.	1:09:44
	And they closed their service	1:09:46
	with a prayer which included these words,	1:09:48
	"You have made us oh God, how glad we are that you did?	1:09:54
	We have come to church today to say thank you	1:10:03
	that we are important enough	1:10:10
	to be a part of what you want in your world.	1:10:13
	This is a good time to rejoice that we are alive.	1:10:19
	Today is a special day to be glad.	1:10:26
	I am grateful to God	1:10:36
	that Mr. Duke wanted the central building on this campus	1:10:41
	to be a great towering church.	1:10:50
	In the name of God, creator, Redeemer and sustainer.	1:10:57
	Amen.	1:11:06
	(calm piano music)	1:11:13
	(lively music)	1:11:53
	(singing in Italian)	1:14:58
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:19:43
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:19:52
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:20:01
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:20:04
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:20:06
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:20:11
	♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪	1:20:16
	(lively piano music)	1:21:04
-	Oh, holy God,	1:22:23
	receive our offerings which we present to you,	1:22:25
	and with them, our selves, our souls and bodies,	1:22:30
	so that we may become a part of your new creation.	1:22:36
	We pray in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	1:22:43
	(lively music)	1:22:58
	The love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ	1:27:13
	and the fellowship of the holy spirit	1:27:18
	be with you this day and forever more.	1:27:21
	♪ Amen amen amen ♪	1:27:28
	♪ Amen amen amen ♪	1:27:36
	♪ Amen ♪	1:27:39
	♪ Amen ♪	1:27:41
	(calm piano music)	1:27:53

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come?" Founders' Day (December 12, 1976)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4ks6p56z

Date:

December 12, 1976

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0867
ref6934_3ha
uachapelsermaud
duke:627973
dcrau002823
ark:/87924/r4ks6p56z
d6b1bbdf-a0aa-43c9-bcad-4354b1994373

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

Rights Note:

This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come?" Founders' Day (December 12, 1976)

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1. Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come" (December 12, 1976)

Duke University Archives

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Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come?" Founders' Day (December 12, 1976)

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Duke University Archives

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