Andrew J. O'Brien - "Jesus Christ Calls Us to Unity" (May 22, 1977)
MP3
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| - | Duke University chapel service of worship, | 0:04 |
| sixth Sunday after Easter day, May 22nd, 1977, 11 o'clock. | 0:07 | |
| (calm orchestral music) | 0:23 | |
| (serene orchestral music) | 6:17 | |
| (calm orchestral music) | 8:18 | |
| ♪ Prepare ye, the way of the Lord ♪ | 13:21 | |
| ♪ Prepare ye, the way of the Lord ♪ | 13:33 | |
| ♪ Prepare ye, the way of the Lord ♪ | 13:45 | |
| ♪ Prepare ye, the way of the Lord ♪ | 13:57 | |
| (orchestral music) | 14:15 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 14:49 | |
| - | Let us continue to prepare ourselves | 17:42 |
| in heart and mind to worship God. | 17:44 | |
| As we with penitent and obedient hearts confess our sins. | 17:50 | |
| Let us pray. | 17:58 | |
| We do not worship you, oh God, | 18:02 | |
| we worship the golden calves we have made to displace you. | 18:05 | |
| We worship the caucus of tradition, | 18:11 | |
| cling for security to its crumbling bones. | 18:15 | |
| We worship the computer of success, | 18:20 | |
| sell our birthright of price, flesh and blood | 18:24 | |
| for the partage of prosperity. | 18:28 | |
| We worship the specter of ourselves, | 18:33 | |
| a petty and stingy child, | 18:36 | |
| and a tantrum of self will, | 18:39 | |
| momentous me-god, ego infinite, | 18:43 | |
| fed with the sacrifice of those less clever than we. | 18:48 | |
| Even in the temples of our isolation, | 18:53 | |
| where we have fed from the idols of opposite to these, | 18:58 | |
| we sing our liturgies of loneliness. | 19:02 | |
| Suddenly we have heard a gruesome prayer | 19:06 | |
| Lord, I thank thee I am not as other people, | 19:10 | |
| I thank thee that I am nicer than this hypocrite. | 19:15 | |
| And in surprise, we find it was our voice that praying. | 19:19 | |
| There is none righteous, no, not one. | 19:25 | |
| There is none good but God alone. | 19:30 | |
| Oh, wretched people that we are, | 19:34 | |
| who shall deliver us from this body of death. | 19:37 | |
| Thanks be to you, oh God, | 19:42 | |
| for your grace revealed in Jesus Christ, Amen. | 19:45 | |
| Oh God, we ask for what we know you give to us, | 20:10 | |
| pardon and forgiveness for all our sins. | 20:16 | |
| Break down all barriers of pride and arrogance, | 20:22 | |
| which prevent us from receiving your grace and forgiveness. | 20:27 | |
| Thanks be to you for loving us and accepting us as we are. | 20:33 | |
| And so enabling us to live as your people, | 20:41 | |
| forgiven and forgiving, | 20:45 | |
| we pray in the spirit of the forgiving Christ, Amen. | 20:49 | |
| (calm orchestral music) | 20:58 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 21:30 | |
| - | Hear the reading of God's holy word. | 23:44 |
| Using selected verses from the 22nd chapter of Revelation. | 23:48 | |
| Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, | 23:55 | |
| to repay everyone for what he has done. | 24:00 | |
| I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, | 24:04 | |
| the beginning, and the end. | 24:11 | |
| Blessed are those who wash their robes, | 24:14 | |
| that they may have the right to the tree of life | 24:17 | |
| and that they may enter the city by the gates. | 24:21 | |
| I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you | 24:25 | |
| with this testimony for the churches. | 24:28 | |
| I am the root and the offspring of David, | 24:32 | |
| the bright and Morning Star, the Spirit and the Bride say, | 24:36 | |
| come and let him who hear say, come, | 24:41 | |
| and let him who is thirsty come, | 24:46 | |
| let him who desires take the water of life without price. | 24:49 | |
| He who testifies to these things says, | 24:57 | |
| "Surely I am coming soon." | 25:01 | |
| Amen. | 25:05 | |
| Come Lord Jesus. | 25:07 | |
| Will the congregation rise | 25:11 | |
| for the reading of the gospel lesson. | 25:13 | |
| Hear the reading from the 17th chapter | 25:20 | |
| of the gospel according to Saint John. | 25:23 | |
| I do not pray for these only, | 25:27 | |
| but also for those | 25:30 | |
| who are to believe in me through their word, | 25:32 | |
| that they may all be one, | 25:35 | |
| even as thou Father are in me, and I in thee, | 25:39 | |
| that they also may be in us, | 25:44 | |
| so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. | 25:47 | |
| The glory which thou hast given me, | 25:52 | |
| I have given to them, | 25:54 | |
| that they may be one, even as we are one. | 25:56 | |
| I in them, and thou in me, | 26:02 | |
| that they may become perfectly one | 26:06 | |
| so that the world may know | 26:09 | |
| that thou hast sent me, | 26:11 | |
| and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. | 26:14 | |
| Father, I desire that they also, | 26:19 | |
| whom thou hast given me | 26:22 | |
| may be with me where I am | 26:24 | |
| to behold my glory which thou hast given me | 26:27 | |
| and thy love for me before the foundation of the world. | 26:31 | |
| Oh, righteous Father, | 26:37 | |
| the world has not known thee, but I have known thee. | 26:39 | |
| And these know that thou hast sent me. | 26:44 | |
| I made known to them thy name, | 26:48 | |
| and I will make it known | 26:51 | |
| that the love which thou hast loved me | 26:53 | |
| may be in them, and I in them. | 26:57 | |
| Here ends the reading of the morning lesson. | 27:02 | |
| (orchestral music) | 27:06 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 27:15 | |
| - | Let us affirm what we believe. | 27:54 |
| we believe in God, | 27:58 | |
| who has created and is creating, | 28:00 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 28:04 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 28:07 | |
| who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 28:10 | |
| We trust God who calls us to be the church, | 28:14 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness, | 28:19 | |
| to love and serve others, | 28:23 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 28:26 | |
| to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 28:29 | |
| our judge and our hope, | 28:34 | |
| in life, in death, and life beyond death, | 28:37 | |
| God is with us. | 28:42 | |
| We are not alone. | 28:44 | |
| Thanks be to God, thanks be to God. | 28:47 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 28:52 | |
| - | And you as well. | 28:54 |
| - | Let us pray. | 28:55 |
| We give you thanks, oh God, this day, | 29:08 | |
| that you have created and chosen the church | 29:11 | |
| to be an instrument to continue your work, | 29:14 | |
| began in Jesus Christ. | 29:18 | |
| We give you thanks for the countless men and women | 29:22 | |
| whose dedication to your will | 29:25 | |
| has led them to great sacrifice, even death, | 29:28 | |
| that we build on that solid foundation | 29:34 | |
| supported by your Spirit. | 29:37 | |
| We give you thanks for all people | 29:41 | |
| who this day seek to serve you. | 29:45 | |
| Those whose Christian vocation calls them | 29:49 | |
| to be ministers, teachers, homemakers, physicians. | 29:51 | |
| We know, oh God, | 29:58 | |
| that whatever we do | 30:00 | |
| can be a response to your love for us | 30:03 | |
| and can communicate this love to others. | 30:07 | |
| We know and give thanks that you can use us | 30:12 | |
| to change this world | 30:17 | |
| to make it a more loving and just place | 30:19 | |
| for all of your children. | 30:23 | |
| Oh God, we grieve the division of your church. | 30:27 | |
| Make us one Lord | 30:33 | |
| in our eagerness to speak good news | 30:36 | |
| and set all captives free. | 30:39 | |
| Make us one Lord | 30:43 | |
| in our concern for the poor and the downtrodden | 30:46 | |
| to show them your love. | 30:50 | |
| Make us one, oh Lord, | 30:54 | |
| in worship and breaking bread together, | 30:56 | |
| in hearing your word, | 31:00 | |
| and singing your praise with single voice. | 31:03 | |
| Save us from clinging to power | 31:07 | |
| which prevents church union, | 31:11 | |
| from mistaken zeal which will not compromise, | 31:15 | |
| from worshiping neat doctrines rather than you. | 31:21 | |
| May we find true unity in our honest diversity. | 31:27 | |
| Hear us now, oh loving God, | 31:34 | |
| as we lift before you | 31:37 | |
| those people we know who are lonely, who are ill, | 31:40 | |
| who are bereaved, who are facing impossible decisions. | 31:47 | |
| Those people from whom we are separated by anger, | 31:54 | |
| misunderstanding, greed, or pride. | 31:59 | |
| We now lift these persons to you. | 32:04 | |
| Enable us to serve these people, oh God, | 32:33 | |
| and to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us | 32:37 | |
| with our voices and our lives. | 32:41 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, | 32:47 | |
| hallowed be thy name, | 32:51 | |
| thy kingdom come. | 32:54 | |
| Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 32:56 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 33:02 | |
| forgive us our trespasses | 33:05 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 33:08 | |
| lead us not into temptation | 33:12 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 33:15 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, | 33:18 | |
| Amen. | 33:25 | |
| The Summer Choir rehearses at 9:30 on Sunday mornings | 33:29 | |
| here in the chapel. | 33:34 | |
| You are invited to join it. | 33:36 | |
| And I know you would want me to express | 33:38 | |
| to Meredith and the Summer Choir, | 33:41 | |
| the important part they play in leading us in worship. | 33:43 | |
| Those of you who would like to speak | 33:49 | |
| or greet the ministers for the day | 33:51 | |
| are invited to come to the front of the chapel, | 33:54 | |
| they will be standing in front of the pulpit. | 33:56 | |
| We will miss A.J. O'Brien, | 34:00 | |
| who for two years has given us | 34:03 | |
| outstanding leadership in our ministry, | 34:05 | |
| has provided us with an incredible diversity of ability, | 34:07 | |
| and talents, and interest. | 34:13 | |
| It's gonna be hard to find someone to fill his place. | 34:15 | |
| We bid God's blessing on you A.J. as you move forward. | 34:20 | |
| Welcome to Duke Chapel pulpit. | 34:24 | |
| - | "I do not pray for my disciples alone, | 34:38 |
| I pray also for those who will believe in me | 34:44 | |
| through their word, | 34:49 | |
| that all may be one, | 34:51 | |
| as you Father are in me and I in you. | 34:55 | |
| I pray that they may be one in us | 35:02 | |
| that the world may believe that you sent me." | 35:08 | |
| Jesus was meeting with a group of people, | 35:20 | |
| and he said to them, "Folks, I got an idea." | 35:23 | |
| The Presbyterian said, | 35:31 | |
| "Just a minute, is it respectable?" | 35:32 | |
| The Baptist said, "Is it moral?" | 35:37 | |
| The Methodist said, "Is it non-alcoholic?" | 35:42 | |
| The Disciples of Christ members said, "Is it scriptural?" | 35:47 | |
| The Lutheran said, "Is it evangelical?" | 35:52 | |
| The Quaker said, "Is it quiet?" | 35:58 | |
| The Catholic said, "Is it authoritative?" | 36:03 | |
| The Episcopalian said, "Is it archaic?" | 36:08 | |
| You and I said, "Is it time-consuming?" | 36:16 | |
| Jesus said, "Forget it." | 36:23 | |
| What is this idea? | 36:30 | |
| It's so important that Jesus, | 36:33 | |
| in John's discourse of the Lord's supper, | 36:35 | |
| makes it a prayer, a petition, a work of God. | 36:39 | |
| Jesus prays for all who believe in him | 36:47 | |
| through the disciples' witnessing word. | 36:53 | |
| "I pray also for those who will believe in me | 36:58 | |
| through their word." | 37:02 | |
| This prayer is one for unity among believers, you and I, | 37:06 | |
| "That they may be one." | 37:13 | |
| And for their acceptance of Jesus' legacy of love, | 37:17 | |
| "That your love for me may live in them, | 37:23 | |
| and I may live in them." | 37:27 | |
| The bond of personal inner penetration | 37:31 | |
| between Jesus and God whom he called Father, | 37:33 | |
| is proposed as a model for unity among believers. | 37:37 | |
| Jesus' idea, a prayer, | 37:44 | |
| is that we may be in God and him | 37:49 | |
| as Jesus and God are in each other. | 37:52 | |
| "That all may be one as you, Father, are in me, | 37:57 | |
| and I in you, | 38:03 | |
| that the world may believe that you sent me." | 38:07 | |
| Nothing can convert a hostile world in other words, | 38:13 | |
| but it's experience of Christians | 38:18 | |
| who are one in God and in Christ. | 38:22 | |
| Early in his gospel, | 38:29 | |
| John gives the impression | 38:30 | |
| that believing is so much a gift of God, | 38:32 | |
| that no one else has anything to do with it. | 38:36 | |
| "All who received him, who believed in his name, | 38:41 | |
| he gave the power to become children of God." | 38:46 | |
| In this morning's passage, from his gospel, | 38:52 | |
| that impression is corrected. | 38:56 | |
| At least John explains more fully | 38:59 | |
| how God draws us to faith. | 39:03 | |
| How he does that. | 39:07 | |
| We find that God draws us Christians to faith | 39:09 | |
| through the faith of other Christians. | 39:13 | |
| Faith has an horizontal line in history, | 39:17 | |
| and isn't something that descends vertically from on high. | 39:20 | |
| It is handed to us. | 39:26 | |
| How was it handed to you? | 39:30 | |
| We can turn and look around, | 39:35 | |
| for we also carry it to others and to other generations, | 39:42 | |
| a horrifying thought, maybe, | 39:47 | |
| for it means that the faith of others | 39:50 | |
| is somewhat in our hands. | 39:53 | |
| We are ambassadors sent in Christ's name | 39:57 | |
| to share his good news. | 39:59 | |
| That good news is seen and heard as we live out our life | 40:02 | |
| together as a Christian community. | 40:08 | |
| When Catholics discuss church unity, | 40:16 | |
| we remember our Catholic Church Council, | 40:20 | |
| the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II, | 40:23 | |
| held from 1963 to 65. | 40:27 | |
| The then Pope, Pope John, | 40:31 | |
| declared that he wanted | 40:34 | |
| an ecumenical council of the whole church. | 40:36 | |
| He said this council | 40:40 | |
| would be not only for the spiritual good | 40:42 | |
| and joy of the Christian people, | 40:44 | |
| he desired to invite the separated communities | 40:49 | |
| to seek again that unity | 40:52 | |
| for which so many souls are longing | 40:55 | |
| in these days throughout the world. | 40:58 | |
| Did he mean that he would ask Protestants and Orthodox | 41:03 | |
| to sit down together with the world's Catholic bishops | 41:07 | |
| to discuss how they could overcome their divisions? | 41:11 | |
| It's not that simple, not that direct. | 41:17 | |
| Much had to be done | 41:22 | |
| before a council of that kind could be held. | 41:24 | |
| The Catholic Church first had to renew itself. | 41:28 | |
| The focus of this ecumenical council, all its documents, | 41:34 | |
| stress a Pilgrim church, | 41:39 | |
| a church moving towards Jesus Christ | 41:42 | |
| rather than a movement of return | 41:47 | |
| to the Roman Catholic Church. | 41:50 | |
| In the special decree on ecumenism, | 41:53 | |
| the council asserts that Jesus in his Spirit | 41:56 | |
| is at work in the churches and the communities | 42:02 | |
| beyond the visible borders of the Catholic Church. | 42:04 | |
| The council asserts that believers in Christ | 42:10 | |
| who are baptized are truly reborn, | 42:13 | |
| are truly our brothers and our sisters, | 42:18 | |
| and that God uses their worship | 42:22 | |
| to sanctify and save them. | 42:25 | |
| Among other things, | 42:31 | |
| there is a remarkable admission of guilt. | 42:33 | |
| The council says that the divisions among Christians | 42:37 | |
| are the result of sin on both sides. | 42:41 | |
| The council moves into action in this contrite spirit, | 42:45 | |
| begging forgiveness, | 42:51 | |
| and calling all Catholics under obligation. | 42:54 | |
| All have an obligation to pray and work | 42:59 | |
| for the restoration of unity. | 43:04 | |
| All are called to dialogue according to their ability. | 43:07 | |
| All are called to further common unity and common efforts. | 43:14 | |
| Again, according to their ability | 43:20 | |
| in prayer and in social action. | 43:22 | |
| These aren't mere words or plans, | 43:27 | |
| this is a call to action. | 43:31 | |
| One has always to remember the essential thing though, | 43:35 | |
| the council says, | 43:38 | |
| a personal change of heart, | 43:41 | |
| conversion to the living God through Jesus Christ. | 43:44 | |
| Change of heart for each of us. | 43:50 | |
| Locally, we have action. | 43:55 | |
| Last month, the Catholic diocese of Raleigh | 43:58 | |
| became a member of the North Carolina Council of Churches. | 44:00 | |
| Our Bishop, Joseph Gossman said, | 44:04 | |
| "I've been very concerned with trying to better relations | 44:09 | |
| with the Protestant community in North Carolina. | 44:12 | |
| And the council offers one way of doing it." | 44:16 | |
| I think that the moment | 44:20 | |
| and the movement of Christian unity has God's blessing. | 44:22 | |
| And at the same time, it needs a lot of assistance from us. | 44:27 | |
| In the Parkwood area of Durham, | 44:34 | |
| four Protestant and a Catholic congregation | 44:36 | |
| had joined the Triangle Cooperative Ministries. | 44:40 | |
| In fact, they started it. | 44:45 | |
| This Parkwood group, which is one year old, | 44:47 | |
| is unique because it involves lay persons like yourself, | 44:50 | |
| as well as the clergy. | 44:55 | |
| And because it brings together congregations | 44:57 | |
| of Protestant and Catholic churches | 44:59 | |
| into a worshiping community, | 45:02 | |
| as well as social ministries. | 45:05 | |
| Joint worship services are held on July 4th, | 45:09 | |
| and Thanksgiving for the five congregations. | 45:13 | |
| Father Simione of the Holy Infant Catholic Church | 45:18 | |
| says he personally would like to see the congregations | 45:23 | |
| have joint communion services. | 45:25 | |
| the Lord's supper, or the Eucharist as we call it. | 45:29 | |
| Presently, Pope Paul VI, our living Pope, | 45:34 | |
| does not want Roman Catholics | 45:40 | |
| to participate in Protestant communion services. | 45:41 | |
| Last week during the discussion with the Pope | 45:46 | |
| on possible Anglican-Catholic merger, | 45:48 | |
| the Archbishop of Canterbury | 45:53 | |
| urged the hierarchies of the two bodies | 45:55 | |
| to allow joint communion. | 45:57 | |
| Authorities in both denominations | 46:01 | |
| are reluctant to permit communion. | 46:03 | |
| A lot of us Catholics | 46:08 | |
| feel the pain of the Pope's opposition to joint communion. | 46:10 | |
| And I pray, and I'm hopeful | 46:15 | |
| that this barrier will be removed with time. | 46:16 | |
| But Protestant and Catholic parishes need to dialogue | 46:23 | |
| about the meaning of the Lord's supper. | 46:27 | |
| Catholics feel that worship is incomplete | 46:30 | |
| without the Eucharist, | 46:33 | |
| or the Lord's supper as many Protestants call it. | 46:35 | |
| Does not the mere service of the word, | 46:40 | |
| leave one looking for a model or ideal, | 46:44 | |
| which Jesus spoke of when he said, | 46:47 | |
| "Do this in memory of me." | 46:50 | |
| What is perhaps the earliest recorded testimony | 46:55 | |
| of the Christian people that can be found, as we know, | 46:58 | |
| is in the first letter of the Corinthians. | 47:03 | |
| Quite evidently, Paul considers it | 47:07 | |
| both well-known and unquestioned | 47:09 | |
| when he cites this testimony. | 47:12 | |
| "For I received from the Lord | 47:16 | |
| what I also delivered to you, | 47:18 | |
| that the Lord Jesus, | 47:21 | |
| on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. | 47:23 | |
| And when he had given, he broke it and said, | 47:28 | |
| "This is my body which is for you, | 47:32 | |
| do this in remembrance of me. | 47:37 | |
| In the same way also the cup after supper saying, | 47:41 | |
| "This is the cup in the new covenant in my blood. | 47:45 | |
| Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. | 47:51 | |
| For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, | 47:57 | |
| you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." | 48:02 | |
| This ancient kerygma | 48:08 | |
| encodes the Eucharistic doctrine for Catholics. | 48:10 | |
| It stands for all Catholics and for all Christians too, | 48:15 | |
| as the compass star, | 48:20 | |
| illuminating, orienting, | 48:23 | |
| and guiding our history as a Eucharistic community. | 48:25 | |
| Divisions among Christians of the west | 48:31 | |
| were marked in a prominent way | 48:34 | |
| by disagreements on the Eucharist. | 48:36 | |
| But we today, are we to replay history? | 48:40 | |
| Now we can ask ourselves, | 48:46 | |
| what should be the attitude of a Christian | 48:49 | |
| who lives in quite different times? | 48:51 | |
| After division and generations of estrangement, | 48:55 | |
| today, we witness Christian denominations | 48:59 | |
| and increase in agreement about the Eucharist. | 49:02 | |
| We have each denomination, acknowledging misunderstanding, | 49:07 | |
| for example, the Scottish Presbyterian | 49:12 | |
| and Roman Catholic joint study in 1973 | 49:14 | |
| can state that the sacrifice of masses | 49:18 | |
| rejected by articles of religion | 49:23 | |
| is something that never has been a part | 49:28 | |
| of the authentic teaching of the Roman church. | 49:31 | |
| Never. | 49:35 | |
| We misunderstood it. | 49:37 | |
| There's the Windsor statement, | 49:39 | |
| the United Methodist and Roman Catholic dialogue of 1976 | 49:42 | |
| called "Holiness and Spirituality of the Ordained Ministry." | 49:47 | |
| There's a Roman Catholic Disciple of Christ dialogue. | 49:52 | |
| There's the Baptist-Catholic conference. | 49:56 | |
| And I could name many others. | 49:59 | |
| These records of agreements have amazing accord | 50:04 | |
| on faith in the gift of the Eucharist. | 50:08 | |
| Most pious Catholic devotion | 50:15 | |
| to Jesus' presence in today's world | 50:17 | |
| is centered on the Lord's supper. | 50:20 | |
| Catholics call the Lord's supper, the mass. | 50:24 | |
| knowing what the Eucharist, or the mass | 50:28 | |
| means to the average Catholic, | 50:30 | |
| I am not optimistic about how soon | 50:33 | |
| official church recognition might come | 50:36 | |
| as a result of the theological agreements of commissions. | 50:40 | |
| Theologians of denominations may agree, | 50:45 | |
| but grassroot understanding, | 50:49 | |
| and acceptance by local congregations and their clergy | 50:51 | |
| is another thing. | 50:55 | |
| Until churches develop a way | 50:57 | |
| to bring the dialogue down | 50:59 | |
| to the level of our ordinary people, | 51:00 | |
| I do not expect that all our international agreements | 51:04 | |
| will have concrete results. | 51:08 | |
| What does the command of Jesus at the last supper, | 51:14 | |
| "Do this in remembrance of me," | 51:18 | |
| really mean to you today? | 51:22 | |
| Do you see any way outside of the world of officialdom | 51:27 | |
| that you can ask this question? | 51:32 | |
| The ecumenical movement has to exist in you. | 51:37 | |
| What have you recently discussed with another Christian? | 51:43 | |
| Has it been about your faith in the Lord's supper? | 51:49 | |
| Have you ever thought of joining an ecumenical study group | 51:54 | |
| on the Eucharist? | 51:58 | |
| We are tempted in this time of increasing communications | 52:02 | |
| to forget our differences, | 52:06 | |
| to bypass questions of doctrine and authority, | 52:08 | |
| and simply to come together as friends. | 52:12 | |
| The slogan is offered that doctrine divides | 52:16 | |
| while service unites. | 52:21 | |
| This so-called quickie, or instant, | 52:24 | |
| or pragmatic approach to Christian unity, | 52:26 | |
| ultimately results in confusion. | 52:29 | |
| Further, Jesus's prayer for the church unity | 52:34 | |
| does not mean that we all become alike or the same. | 52:39 | |
| One of the tragedies of the history of the church | 52:45 | |
| has been this tendency of some of its members | 52:48 | |
| to want unity to mean an exaggerated sameness. | 52:51 | |
| You probably can't accuse Catholics of that. | 52:56 | |
| Jesus' description of unity is, | 53:00 | |
| "That they may be one | 53:05 | |
| as you Father are in me and I in you." | 53:07 | |
| Unity or becoming one, | 53:13 | |
| is certainly not becoming the same | 53:17 | |
| or becoming absolutely alike. | 53:20 | |
| Jesus and the Father are united, | 53:23 | |
| but each is distinct and unique. | 53:27 | |
| Unity is the work of God, | 53:33 | |
| but are you impeding God's work? | 53:37 | |
| Are you getting in the way? | 53:41 | |
| What's the old saying? | 53:44 | |
| What you do speak so loudly, | 53:47 | |
| I can't hear what you're saying. | 53:50 | |
| If you're part of the solution, | 53:54 | |
| then you can't be part of the problem. | 53:58 | |
| Just as our acts of disunity frustrate God's plan, | 54:03 | |
| so our acts of integration and unity, | 54:07 | |
| kindness, and love, facilitate its accomplishment. | 54:11 | |
| Let us work. | 54:18 | |
| Study, dialogue, have a change of heart. | 54:20 | |
| Pray for the day when it will be clear to all human beings | 54:26 | |
| that in Christ, we are already one. | 54:32 | |
| In the first scripture reading from the book of Revelation, | 54:38 | |
| we have special emphasis on the word, "come". | 54:42 | |
| In our vision of the Lord's coming, | 54:48 | |
| we must know that we are achieving | 54:50 | |
| a part in the unity which our Lord prayed for | 54:53 | |
| in the gospel selection today. | 54:56 | |
| That unity is our purpose, our work as well. | 54:59 | |
| But in order to achieve it, we have to contemplate it, | 55:06 | |
| have to understand it, | 55:11 | |
| have to spend time, have to come and see it | 55:13 | |
| as something both desirable and achievable. | 55:18 | |
| Remember that Jesus Christ prayed for us | 55:24 | |
| that we may be one as he and his Father are one. | 55:28 | |
| So we must pray the same for Christ's sake. | 55:34 | |
| Jesus was meeting with a group of people | 55:42 | |
| and he said to them, I got a prayer. | 55:44 | |
| The Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Methodist, | 55:51 | |
| the Disciple of Christ, the Lutheran, the Quaker, | 55:57 | |
| the Catholic, the Episcopalian, you and I said, | 56:03 | |
| "Come Lord Jesus, come in, | 56:13 | |
| come back again, come with us now. | 56:17 | |
| Today, we renew our commitment to join you | 56:23 | |
| in bringing about church unity. | 56:27 | |
| Come Lord Jesus." | 56:31 | |
| (serene orchestral music) | 56:49 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 57:30 | |
| (serene orchestral music) | 1:00:02 | |
| ♪ Sing unto the Lord ♪ | 1:00:43 | |
| ♪ Sing unto the Lord ♪ | 1:00:46 | |
| ♪ Sing unto the Lord a new song ♪ | 1:00:49 | |
| ♪ Sing, sing unto the Lord a new song ♪ | 1:00:53 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 1:00:59 | |
| - | In gladness, we receive the gifts of new life | 1:05:12 |
| from you, oh God, | 1:05:16 | |
| and then gladness, | 1:05:18 | |
| we give ourselves and what we have | 1:05:20 | |
| to serve your loving will. | 1:05:24 | |
| We pray in the spirit of the serving Christ, Amen. | 1:05:27 | |
| (serene orchestral music) | 1:05:34 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 1:06:10 | |
| Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell, | 1:08:56 | |
| live in peace and unity, | 1:09:01 | |
| and may the God of love and peace | 1:09:04 | |
| be with you this day and forevermore. | 1:09:08 | |
| (choir singing indistinctly) | 1:09:20 | |
| (cheerful music) | 1:10:31 |
