William H. Willimon - "Choices" (September 20, 1987)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to Duke University Chapel. | 1:50 |
The flowers today, are given by the office of student life | 1:53 | |
in honor of our parents, who are visiting here this weekend | 1:57 | |
and we welcome you. | 2:01 | |
We also welcome those Duke alumni who are here | 2:02 | |
for your reunion weekends. | 2:05 | |
And now, let us join together in the praise of God. | 2:08 | |
♪ Beautiful Savior, lord of our nations ♪ | 2:22 | |
♪ Son of God and son of man ♪ | 2:36 | |
♪ Glory and honor, praise, adoration ♪ | 2:50 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪ | 3:04 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪ | 3:16 | |
(organ music) | 3:38 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 4:17 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 4:25 | |
♪ Come, brethren follow where our Savior trod ♪ | 4:36 | |
♪ Our king victorious, Christ, the Son of God ♪ | 4:44 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 4:55 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 5:05 | |
♪ Led on their way by this triumphant sign ♪ | 5:15 | |
♪ The hosts of God in conquering ranks combine ♪ | 5:24 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 5:35 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 5:44 | |
♪ Each newborn servant of the crucified ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ Bears on the brow the seal of him who died ♪ | 6:03 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 6:14 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 6:23 | |
♪ O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree ♪ | 6:33 | |
♪ As thou hast promised, draw the world to thee ♪ | 6:42 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 6:54 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 7:03 | |
♪ So shall our song of triumph ever be ♪ | 7:13 | |
♪ Praise to the crucified for victory ♪ | 7:22 | |
♪ Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim ♪ | 7:33 | |
♪ Till all the world adore his sacred name ♪ | 7:42 | |
- | Grant us lord, not to me anxious about earthly things | 8:01 |
but to love things heavenly. | 8:06 | |
And even now, while we are placed among things | 8:08 | |
that are passing away, | 8:12 | |
to hold fast to those that shall endure. | 8:14 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 8:18 | |
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, | 8:20 | |
one God forever and ever. | 8:24 | |
Amen. | 8:27 | |
As a favor to many of you in our congregation | 8:29 | |
who are standing in the aisles, | 8:31 | |
we would ask those of you in the pews | 8:32 | |
to please move towards the center as you take your seats. | 8:34 | |
Thank you. | 8:37 | |
(murmuring) | 8:45 | |
- | Let us pray. | 9:08 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 9:10 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 9:14 | |
so that as the world is read and proclaimed, | 9:17 | |
we might hear with joy, what you say to us this day. | 9:20 | |
Amen. | 9:25 | |
The first lesson, is taken from the book of Isia. | 9:28 | |
Seek the lord why he may be found, | 9:33 | |
call upon him while he is near. | 9:36 | |
Let the wicked forsake his way | 9:41 | |
and the unrighteous one, his thoughts. | 9:43 | |
Let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him. | 9:47 | |
And to our God, for God will abundantly pardon. | 9:52 | |
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, | 9:57 | |
neither are you ways, my ways, says the Lord. | 10:01 | |
For as the heavens are higher than the Earth, | 10:05 | |
so are my ways higher than your ways, | 10:08 | |
and my thought than your thoughts. | 10:12 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 10:15 | |
(organ music) | 10:24 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 10:35 | |
♪ Sing a new song, sing a new song ♪ | 10:39 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 10:43 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 10:47 | |
♪ For God has done marvelous things ♪ | 10:51 | |
♪ Through God's right hand and Holy arm ♪ | 10:56 | |
♪ Salvation comes ♪ | 11:00 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 11:04 | |
♪ Sing a new song, sing a new song ♪ | 11:08 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 11:12 | |
♪ For Lord that they know the victory ♪ | 11:18 | |
♪ God's justice has come to all ♪ | 11:21 | |
♪ For this be your child, your grace ♪ | 11:26 | |
♪ Remember God's love at heart ♪ | 11:30 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 11:35 | |
♪ Sing a new song, sing a new song ♪ | 11:39 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 11:43 | |
(soprano voices sing) | 11:48 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the lord ♪ | 12:05 | |
♪ Sing a new song, sing a new song ♪ | 12:09 | |
♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 12:13 | |
(organ music) | 12:22 | |
♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪ | 12:30 | |
♪ Praise to our Redeemer ♪ | 12:38 | |
♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪ | 12:47 | |
♪ Ever three and ever one ♪ | 12:55 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ | 13:03 | |
♪ Now and ever shall be ♪ | 13:12 | |
- | The gospel lesson is taken from Matthew. | 13:36 |
While the kingdom of heaven is like a house holder | 13:40 | |
who went out early in the morning to hire laborers | 13:44 | |
for his vineyard. | 13:47 | |
After agreeing with laborers for denarius a day, | 13:49 | |
he sent them into his vineyard, | 13:54 | |
and going out about the third hour, | 13:56 | |
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. | 13:59 | |
And to them he said, "You go into the vineyard too, | 14:03 | |
and whatever is right I will give you." | 14:08 | |
So he went. | 14:11 | |
Going out again about the sixth hour, | 14:13 | |
and the ninth hour he did the same. | 14:16 | |
And about the 11th hour, | 14:19 | |
he went out and found others standing. | 14:21 | |
And he said to them, "Why do you stand here idle all day?" | 14:25 | |
They said to him, "Because no one has hired us." | 14:30 | |
He said to them, "You go into the vineyard too." | 14:34 | |
And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard | 14:38 | |
said to his steward, "Call the laborers and pay them | 14:42 | |
their wages, beginning with the last up to the first." | 14:46 | |
And when those hired about the 11th hour came, | 14:52 | |
each of them received a denarius. | 14:56 | |
Now when the first came, | 14:59 | |
they thought they would receive more. | 15:01 | |
But each of them also received a denarius. | 15:03 | |
And on receiving it, they grumbled at the house holder, | 15:07 | |
saying, "These last only worked one hour | 15:12 | |
and you have made them equal to us, who have born | 15:17 | |
the burden of the day and the scorching heat." | 15:20 | |
But he replied to one of them, | 15:24 | |
"Friend, I am doing you no wrong. | 15:27 | |
Did you not agree with me for a denarius? | 15:31 | |
Take what belongs to you and go. | 15:34 | |
I choose to give to this last, as I give to you. | 15:38 | |
Am I not allowed to do what I choose, | 15:43 | |
with what belongs to me? | 15:46 | |
Or do you begrudge my generosity?" | 15:48 | |
So the last will be the first, and the first, last. | 15:51 | |
This ends the reading of the gospel lesson. | 15:57 | |
♪ I will lift up mine eyes to the hills ♪ | 16:19 | |
♪ From whence cometh my help ♪ | 16:26 | |
♪ My help cometh from the Lord ♪ | 16:35 | |
♪ Which made Heaven and Earth ♪ | 16:45 | |
♪ He would not suffer thy foot ♪ | 16:54 | |
♪ Thy foot which keepeth thee ♪ | 17:00 | |
♪ He will not slumber ♪ | 17:08 | |
♪ The Lord is thy keeper ♪ | 17:19 | |
(choir sings hymn) | 17:26 | |
(muffled singing) | 17:30 | |
- | The epistle lesson. | 20:52 |
I thank God in all my remembrance of you, | 20:57 | |
always in every prayer of mine for all of you | 21:00 | |
making my prayer with joy. | 21:03 | |
Thanking you for your partnership in the gospel. | 21:06 | |
And I am sure that he who began a good work in you | 21:12 | |
will bring it to completion. | 21:15 | |
It is right for me to feel thus about you all, | 21:17 | |
because I hold you in my heart. | 21:19 | |
You're all partakers of me, of grace, | 21:23 | |
both in my imprisonment and in my defense | 21:26 | |
for the confirmation of the gospel. | 21:30 | |
For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all | 21:33 | |
with the affection of Christ, Jesus. | 21:37 | |
Yes and I shall rejoice. | 21:41 | |
For I know that through your prayers | 21:43 | |
and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, | 21:45 | |
this will turn out for my deliverance. | 21:48 | |
As it is my eager expectation and hope | 21:50 | |
that I shall not be at all ashamed, | 21:53 | |
but that with full courage now as always, | 21:56 | |
Christ will be honored in my body. | 21:58 | |
Whether by life or by death, | 22:02 | |
for me to live as Christ, and to die is gain. | 22:05 | |
If it is to be life in the flesh, | 22:10 | |
that means faithful labor for me. | 22:12 | |
Yet which is shall choose, I cannot tell. | 22:15 | |
I'm hard pressed between the two. | 22:18 | |
My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, | 22:21 | |
for that is better, but to remain in the flesh | 22:24 | |
is more necessary on your account. | 22:27 | |
Convinced of this, I know that I shall remain | 22:30 | |
and continue with you all, | 22:32 | |
for your progress and joy in the faith, | 22:34 | |
so that in me you may have ample cause to glory | 22:37 | |
in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. | 22:39 | |
"Why do you enjoy preaching in Duke Chapel?" | 22:49 | |
The interviewer asked. | 22:52 | |
And I heard myself replying | 22:55 | |
because it is a great privilege to be with young people | 22:57 | |
who are making so many important decisions in their lives. | 23:02 | |
The way I figure it, | 23:09 | |
of the four or five most important decisions | 23:10 | |
a person will make in life, | 23:14 | |
decisions about career and education and marriage, | 23:18 | |
the chances are, most of these decisions | 23:23 | |
will be made right here at Duke. | 23:25 | |
And it is good to be with people | 23:28 | |
who are at that stage in life. | 23:31 | |
At the age of decision. | 23:33 | |
And it's a particular privilege to be here at Duke, | 23:37 | |
where we have so many gifted and talented young people. | 23:39 | |
Who because of their gifts and talents, | 23:43 | |
have so many more interesting choices to make. | 23:45 | |
Should I go into clinical work or pure research? | 23:49 | |
Should I go to graduate school in French | 23:53 | |
or should I go to the Law School? | 23:54 | |
How wonderful it is to have such interesting alternatives | 23:58 | |
from which to choose. | 24:02 | |
And I know that the students would want me to tell | 24:04 | |
you visiting parents how grateful they are, | 24:06 | |
for all the opportunities you have given them, | 24:09 | |
because with more opportunities, they have more choices. | 24:12 | |
The person whose parents did not enable her | 24:16 | |
to take piano lessons, does not have to choose | 24:18 | |
between a career in music or a career in ballet. | 24:21 | |
The person who spent his 17th year screaming up and down | 24:27 | |
Sunset Blvd at all hours of the night, | 24:31 | |
whose verbal skills were limited to, | 24:34 | |
"What's happening baby?" | 24:35 | |
This person does not have to agonize | 24:37 | |
over which college to attend. | 24:39 | |
Our age revels in choice, | 24:44 | |
and have we Americans ever had so many different, | 24:48 | |
interesting alternatives? | 24:52 | |
Think of your grandparents, your great grandparents, | 24:55 | |
think of your great grandmother. | 24:59 | |
Chances are when she was the age of a Duke freshman, | 25:02 | |
life was less complicated because there were fewer choices. | 25:06 | |
Less complicated and less free. | 25:13 | |
Most people followed a well-worn path, | 25:16 | |
trod by their parents before them. | 25:20 | |
There wasn't this agonizing over what to do with my life. | 25:24 | |
There were few options. | 25:28 | |
And we think less satisfaction | 25:30 | |
because there were few options. | 25:32 | |
My wife remembers talking to her grandmother | 25:35 | |
and asking her, "Grandmother, how did you and Grandfather | 25:37 | |
decide to get married?" | 25:40 | |
And her grandmother looked at her, sort of confused | 25:43 | |
and said, "Well his family owned the farm here, | 25:46 | |
and my family owned the farm here, | 25:49 | |
and we new that if we got married, | 25:51 | |
one day we could combine them and have a larger farm." | 25:53 | |
There wasn't much room for romance in that sort of world | 25:58 | |
was there, | 26:01 | |
agonizing over what ought I to do? | 26:03 | |
And we are glad that that isn't our world. | 26:07 | |
For you and I are apt to judge the happiness of a person | 26:11 | |
on the basis of how many interesting alternatives | 26:17 | |
and choices that person has to make in life. | 26:20 | |
Today a woman is no longer limited to a narrow range | 26:25 | |
of socially acceptable occupations. | 26:29 | |
She can choose, and because she can choose, | 26:32 | |
she seems more fully human, more fully alive. | 26:35 | |
We have constitutional guarantees for freedom of choice. | 26:41 | |
It's difficult to think of someone as a full human being | 26:47 | |
who has no choice. | 26:51 | |
How did you choose your husband? | 26:55 | |
"Well, only one man ever asked me out and, so..." | 26:58 | |
How did you decide to go into preaching? | 27:05 | |
"Well I always thought about a career in science | 27:07 | |
but then I flunked 8th grade algebra | 27:09 | |
and so I thought maybe law school. | 27:11 | |
But then I didn't do well in history either, | 27:13 | |
and so, seminary." | 27:15 | |
No, what kind of reasoning is that? | 27:20 | |
What kind of life is that, | 27:22 | |
with no real choice? | 27:24 | |
For in my choice is my exercise | 27:29 | |
of my highest human potential. | 27:31 | |
I'm not just some vine clinging to whatever | 27:35 | |
I happen to be planted next to. | 27:37 | |
I'm not just some piece of flotsam bobbing along | 27:39 | |
the stream of life, tossed this where and that. | 27:42 | |
I can choose, I can decide, I can shape my destiny. | 27:45 | |
I took this road and I didn't take that one. | 27:50 | |
Oh a generation ago people were not so fortunate. | 27:55 | |
But now we have freedom of choice. | 27:59 | |
More to say yes and to say no. | 28:02 | |
Abortion? | 28:05 | |
It's a choice now. | 28:06 | |
Sexual orientation, lifestyle, marriage, career? | 28:08 | |
Don't you worry about what Mama and Daddy told you to do, | 28:12 | |
or what other people say is right for you. | 28:15 | |
You can choose, decide. | 28:17 | |
Sometimes you parents criticize us here at the university. | 28:20 | |
You say you send them to us right, | 28:23 | |
but then they get their head filled with all sorts | 28:26 | |
of strange ideas and notions, | 28:28 | |
and they want to do things | 28:30 | |
they didn't do back in River City. | 28:32 | |
But this is education. | 28:35 | |
I mean what is eduction except learning | 28:38 | |
about all the interesting choices one has in life, | 28:40 | |
all the different alternatives. | 28:45 | |
Isn't this what growing up means, | 28:47 | |
becoming someone who chooses? | 28:49 | |
And thus it may seem strange to you | 28:55 | |
to take as our text this Sunday | 29:00 | |
a rather confusing testimony of a prisoner, | 29:04 | |
a prisoner named Paul. | 29:10 | |
For who could be any less free, | 29:17 | |
any more devoid of choice | 29:20 | |
than somebody who's in jail. | 29:23 | |
His letter to the Philippians was written while Paul | 29:27 | |
was sitting in a Roman jail awaiting execution. | 29:32 | |
Paul writes, "I want you to know brothers and sisters, | 29:37 | |
that what's happened to me has really served | 29:41 | |
to advance the gospel. | 29:43 | |
So that is has become known throughout | 29:45 | |
the whole Praetorian Guard." | 29:47 | |
What? | 29:51 | |
The leader of the church is in jail. | 29:53 | |
Caesar has Paul. | 29:56 | |
He's been trying to get his hands on him, | 29:58 | |
he's at last got him. | 30:00 | |
And if Caesar has Paul, | 30:01 | |
then Caesar must have the church as well. | 30:02 | |
Oh he's just trying to make us feel better, | 30:07 | |
they said back in Phillipi when they got the letter. | 30:09 | |
Yeah, stiff upper lip and all that. | 30:13 | |
This has served to advance the gospel? | 30:19 | |
A man lies in a hospital bed, | 30:25 | |
both legs broken, | 30:30 | |
body in mummy-like bandages, | 30:32 | |
a mass of bruise and broken bones. | 30:35 | |
You come in to visit him, you say, | 30:37 | |
"Oh I'm so sorry that this terrible thing happened to you." | 30:39 | |
And he says to you, | 30:42 | |
"Oh well, it's not all that bad, | 30:44 | |
I've gotten to catch up on my soap operas." | 30:45 | |
No. | 30:49 | |
I mean there are limits, | 30:51 | |
even to the power of positive thinking, there are limits. | 30:52 | |
Trapped. | 30:56 | |
Paul is in jail, he has no power over his destiny, | 30:58 | |
no way to move forward or to pull back. | 31:02 | |
Paul says that he's gotten to preach the gospel | 31:07 | |
to a couple of Roman GI's, big deal. | 31:11 | |
That really doesn't change his situation. | 31:15 | |
Now if Paul still had some choices, | 31:18 | |
if he really had some meaningful decisions to make, | 31:20 | |
some way to get over or around and out of this predicament, | 31:25 | |
then he might speak of the advance of the gospel, | 31:28 | |
but how here in jail? | 31:31 | |
For have we not agreed that life is only life | 31:35 | |
when there is possibility, and choice, | 31:39 | |
and decision, and alternative. | 31:42 | |
And yet, Paul's letter is a somber reminder | 31:48 | |
that much of our lives is lived | 31:53 | |
where there are no choices, | 31:59 | |
no alternatives. | 32:02 | |
I mean think about how much of your life, | 32:06 | |
even if you're young, how many of the things | 32:10 | |
that make you you, are matters over which | 32:14 | |
you had absolutely no choice, no control, no decision. | 32:17 | |
My name, my gender, my physical appearance, my accent. | 32:23 | |
I know that many of you think that I'm affecting this accent | 32:28 | |
in order to impress you, but no, | 32:31 | |
I just happen to be born in South Carolina, lucky, I guess. | 32:33 | |
Nobody asked me. | 32:38 | |
Harvard's Erik Erikson believes that an infant learns trust | 32:41 | |
in the first months of life, | 32:46 | |
and that if for some reason the infant finds that this world | 32:49 | |
is an untrustworthy place, in those first weeks, | 32:53 | |
that person's ability to trust is damaged forever. | 32:58 | |
Child developmentalists say that we learn half | 33:03 | |
of everything we'll ever know in life by age three. | 33:06 | |
So much that makes us the way we are, emotionally, | 33:12 | |
socially, physically, mentally, is fixed. | 33:17 | |
Matters over which we have no choice. | 33:21 | |
Well how did you decide to become a Methodist? | 33:27 | |
Well I, at age 12, made a study of all the worlds | 33:29 | |
great religions and I narrowed it down | 33:32 | |
to Islam and Christianity. | 33:34 | |
And then I was neck and neck | 33:35 | |
between Presbyterian and Methodism, and then-- | 33:36 | |
No, I got put here. | 33:41 | |
Nobody asked me whether I liked it or not. | 33:43 | |
Let's speak frankly. | 33:49 | |
For most of our lives, we are not dealing with a host | 33:53 | |
of interesting alternatives. | 33:58 | |
Rather we are deciding what to do | 34:00 | |
when there are no alternatives. | 34:03 | |
And what to do then? | 34:09 | |
Oh, you got to choose between Duke | 34:13 | |
and five other nationally ranked prestigious schools, but | 34:17 | |
your parents can tell you that there will be times in life | 34:20 | |
when you won't have such choice. | 34:24 | |
Times in life when the only choice is to somehow live | 34:29 | |
when there is no choice. | 34:32 | |
And what then? | 34:37 | |
What then? | 34:38 | |
Oh you can shake your fist in rage at God. | 34:40 | |
You can offer cynical comments about life. | 34:45 | |
You can distort the face into a howl | 34:48 | |
and climb under a rock somewhere. | 34:51 | |
You can distort the voice into a perpetual whine. | 34:52 | |
Oh I wanted to, but my father never let me... | 34:57 | |
Oh I could have, but you see my wife, she didn't... | 35:01 | |
The professor was down on me from the first day of class, | 35:04 | |
what could I do? | 35:07 | |
Or another way is to que sera, sera. | 35:10 | |
That's the way it is, some are born well, | 35:14 | |
some are born not so well, what can anybody do? | 35:15 | |
My life is just one little spec | 35:17 | |
in this huge pattern of things. | 35:19 | |
Best to adjust and fit in and go with the flow, | 35:21 | |
what can you you do? | 35:23 | |
Paul writes from prison, | 35:28 | |
"I shall rejoice, because I know that through your prayers | 35:33 | |
and the help of the spirit of Christ Jesus, | 35:39 | |
this will turn out for my deliverance. | 35:41 | |
Christ will be honored, | 35:44 | |
whether by life or by death, | 35:47 | |
because for me to life is Christ, to die is gain. | 35:50 | |
Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell, | 35:56 | |
I'm hard pressed between the two." | 35:58 | |
Wait a minute, what is this, which I shall choose? | 36:04 | |
Paul is in prison, he's neither judge nor jury. | 36:08 | |
What possible meaning can there be in his choice. | 36:13 | |
Perhaps prison has disorientated his mental capacities. | 36:18 | |
Or perhaps, just perhaps, Paul is saying | 36:24 | |
there is a way even when there is no way. | 36:31 | |
Listen to this prisoner, this ambassador in chains. | 36:37 | |
Because there's going to be a lot of your life | 36:43 | |
that will be lived in chains as well. | 36:45 | |
Oh some of you are young, gifted, | 36:50 | |
full of possibilities and potential. | 36:51 | |
But it will not always be so. Even for you | 36:56 | |
there will be some closed doors, some brick wall, | 37:00 | |
some way not to go forward or pulled back. | 37:03 | |
For Paul and for us I suppose, | 37:10 | |
the most insurmountable obstacle of all, | 37:13 | |
the greatest closed door is death. | 37:18 | |
Paul speaks of it, he's awaiting execution by Caeser. | 37:25 | |
Death. | 37:31 | |
And when you think about it, | 37:33 | |
all of our little setbacks, | 37:33 | |
and drawbacks, and pullbacks | 37:35 | |
and all the closed doors, | 37:37 | |
and the brick walls, | 37:38 | |
all have behind them this grinning empty face of death. | 37:40 | |
Elsewhere Paul calls him the final enemy. | 37:45 | |
Death, | 37:50 | |
the ultimate no choice situation. | 37:53 | |
And in facing the final enemy, | 37:59 | |
Paul tells his friends at Phillipi, | 38:03 | |
"There is a way, even when there is no way. | 38:08 | |
There is a choice, even when there's no choice. | 38:14 | |
Friends, whether I live or I die, | 38:19 | |
Christ shall be glorified in my body." | 38:23 | |
Whether I live or I die. | 38:28 | |
On the first Sunday of Lent, | 38:35 | |
my friend Grady Hardin stood in this pulpit and preached. | 38:36 | |
And on Monday morning he called to say | 38:40 | |
that the tests he'd had the week before were positive. | 38:42 | |
Even now, his life was in the grip of the enemy. | 38:47 | |
"Thanks for asking me to preach," | 38:52 | |
he said. | 38:53 | |
"That'll be the last sermon he'll let me preach." | 38:54 | |
Oh but there're ways we said, | 38:59 | |
you're lucky to be here at Duke, there are therapies, | 39:00 | |
there's chemicals, there's radiation, things to be done. | 39:02 | |
For the next weeks, he did valiant battle with the enemy. | 39:07 | |
It left him half of what he once was, | 39:11 | |
but each time we would go into his hospital room | 39:16 | |
with tears in eyes, Grady would find something funny | 39:19 | |
and we would laugh, there would be raucous laughter. | 39:23 | |
But every time the laughter died down you could hear him | 39:27 | |
outside pacing the floor, pacing the floor, | 39:30 | |
waiting, waiting for his opportunity to pounce. | 39:32 | |
Impatient with all these former students | 39:35 | |
and these preachers and family and friends, waiting. | 39:37 | |
His day came on a Friday in June. | 39:42 | |
Pentecost. | 39:49 | |
The day in which the spirit of God descended, | 39:52 | |
found Grady's spirit ebbing from him. | 39:55 | |
This journey down this long corridor which had began | 39:59 | |
in Lent, was going to end by Pentecost. | 40:03 | |
You could hear the enemy waiting for us to be done, | 40:12 | |
waiting for the people to be gone. | 40:16 | |
But in his last breath, Grady roused up and led in prayer. | 40:21 | |
Lord support us all the day long, | 40:28 | |
until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, | 40:31 | |
when this busy world is hushed | 40:34 | |
and the fever of life is over, | 40:36 | |
then of thy great mercy grant us safe lodging, | 40:39 | |
holy rest, | 40:44 | |
peace at last. | 40:46 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 40:49 | |
And the door swung open, and there was the enemy | 40:54 | |
with the most forlorn look on his face you ever saw. | 41:00 | |
Cause he had reached in his quiver to finally do the deed | 41:05 | |
and all he had was holy rest | 41:08 | |
and peace at last. | 41:13 | |
Death's great victory party just ruined. | 41:17 | |
And Grady roused briefly, | 41:24 | |
and he stared him in the face and said, | 41:25 | |
"Free at last, thank God, free." | 41:28 | |
And five days later, they gathered in this chapel, | 41:32 | |
and they sang Easter songs. | 41:35 | |
So don't you ever forget one word, some words of a prisoner | 41:41 | |
to other prisoners. | 41:44 | |
Wherever life may take you, whether by life | 41:48 | |
or whether by death, you can choose. | 41:52 | |
Even when there is no way, there is a way. | 41:59 | |
Amen. | 42:06 | |
(organ music) | 42:13 | |
(church hymn being sung) | 42:37 | |
(singing muffled by organ) | 42:41 | |
Female Preacher | The lord be with you. | 44:15 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 44:17 |
Female Preacher | Let us pray. | 44:19 |
Most merciful god, | 44:32 | |
in choosing us to be your people, | 44:36 | |
you have called us into relationship | 44:39 | |
with our sisters and brothers throughout the world. | 44:41 | |
We offer unto you these prayers for others, | 44:46 | |
beseeching you to grant them fullness of life. | 44:49 | |
We pray for people everywhere who seek to know the truth, | 44:54 | |
and who dare to weave it into the fabric | 45:00 | |
of their daily lives. | 45:02 | |
For all who earnestly seek peace | 45:05 | |
and who live lives that embody it. | 45:09 | |
For all who suffer with those who are stricken, | 45:13 | |
whatever there station in life, | 45:17 | |
and to who help to bring the world into new awareness | 45:20 | |
of our own frailties. | 45:23 | |
For all who perceive beauty and order | 45:26 | |
in the midst of chaos and despair. | 45:29 | |
For all who stand up in any way | 45:34 | |
to expose injustice, prejudice and inhumanity, | 45:36 | |
even at the price of their own security. | 45:42 | |
We commend you Savior God, | 45:46 | |
those who stand in special need of prayer this day. | 45:49 | |
For all who bear the burdens of homelessness or unemployment | 45:53 | |
and who suffer the pangs of hunger. | 45:59 | |
For all who endure the trials of sickness and disease. | 46:03 | |
For all who are paralyzed in the face of choices | 46:08 | |
or responsibilities that consume them. | 46:11 | |
For all who are burdened, not by too little, | 46:15 | |
but by too much. | 46:18 | |
Wielding power that renders them indifferent to the needs | 46:20 | |
and rights of others. | 46:23 | |
For all who are overwhelmed by loneliness, despair, | 46:26 | |
or grief, and who question their reasons for living. | 46:30 | |
And we dare to pray, eternal God, even for ourselves. | 46:36 | |
Give us keener self-understanding, | 46:42 | |
lest we think of ourselves more highly, | 46:46 | |
or more lowly than we ought. | 46:49 | |
Give us the sense of what is most vital and most valuable | 46:52 | |
in our lives, lest we squander our years | 46:56 | |
and waste precious energy. | 47:00 | |
Give us a clear and compelling vision of the call | 47:04 | |
to be disciples of Christ, lest we presume our own | 47:06 | |
limited understanding of faith, | 47:11 | |
to be all that you would ask of us, | 47:13 | |
when you have created us to be so much more. | 47:16 | |
We beseech the eternal God for the deep | 47:20 | |
and unspoken needs within each of us. | 47:23 | |
Bless this gathering, whatever our reason may be | 47:27 | |
for coming here and may the light of thy love | 47:30 | |
shine through us eternally. | 47:35 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, | 47:39 | |
our Lord and Savior, amen. | 47:41 | |
And now in the spirit of Thanksgiving, | 47:46 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God. | 47:48 | |
(audience murmurs) | 47:54 | |
(orchestral music) | 48:35 | |
(organ music) | 48:56 | |
(hymn being sung in foreign language) | 52:20 | |
(organ music) | 57:43 | |
(congregation sings church hymn) | 58:00 | |
(organ drowns out singing) | 58:04 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:13 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:16 | |
(congregation singing church hymn) | 58:21 | |
(organ drowns out singing) | 58:25 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:33 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:36 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:39 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:42 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:46 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:54 | |
- | Oh Lord our God, the author and giver of all good things. | 59:06 |
We thank thee for all thy mercy's, | 59:10 | |
and for thy loving care over all thy creatures. | 59:13 | |
We bless thee for the gift of life, | 59:16 | |
for thy protection round about us. | 59:19 | |
For thy guiding hand upon us, | 59:21 | |
and for the tokens of thy love within us. | 59:24 | |
We thank thee for friendship and family, | 59:27 | |
for good hopes and precious memories. | 59:30 | |
For the joys that cheer us and the trials that teach us | 59:33 | |
to trust in thee. | 59:36 | |
Most of all, we thank thee for the saving knowledge | 59:38 | |
of thy son, our Savior Jesus Christ, | 59:40 | |
who taught us boldly to pray. | 59:43 | |
Our Father who art in heaven, | 59:46 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 59:49 | |
Thy kingdom come. | 59:51 | |
Thy will be done | 59:52 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 59:54 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 59:56 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 59:59 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 1:00:01 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 1:00:04 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 1:00:07 | |
For thine is the kingdom, | 1:00:09 | |
and the power, and the glory, forever. | 1:00:10 | |
Amen. | 1:00:14 | |
(organ music) | 1:00:17 | |
♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪ | 1:00:55 | |
♪ On thy people pour thy power ♪ | 1:01:01 | |
♪ Crown your ancient church's story ♪ | 1:01:07 | |
♪ Bring its bud to glorious flower ♪ | 1:01:12 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:01:18 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:01:24 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:01:29 | |
♪ Lo! the hosts of evil 'round us ♪ | 1:01:37 | |
♪ Scorn Thy Christ, assail his ways ♪ | 1:01:42 | |
♪ From the fears that long have bound us ♪ | 1:01:48 | |
♪ Free our hearts to faith and praise ♪ | 1:01:54 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:02:00 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:02:06 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:02:12 | |
♪ Cure thy children's warring madness ♪ | 1:02:20 | |
♪ Bend our pride to thy control ♪ | 1:02:25 | |
♪ Shame our wanton selfish gladness ♪ | 1:02:31 | |
♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪ | 1:02:37 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:02:42 | |
♪ Lest we miss thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:02:48 | |
♪ Lest we miss thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:02:54 | |
♪ Set our feet on lofty places ♪ | 1:03:02 | |
♪ Gird our lives that they may be ♪ | 1:03:07 | |
♪ Armored with all Christ-like graces ♪ | 1:03:13 | |
♪ In the fight to set men free ♪ | 1:03:19 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:03:25 | |
♪ That we fail not man nor thee ♪ | 1:03:31 | |
♪ That we fail not man nor thee ♪ | 1:03:37 | |
♪ Save us from weak resignation ♪ | 1:03:45 | |
♪ To the evils we deplore ♪ | 1:03:50 | |
♪ Let the search for thy salvation ♪ | 1:03:56 | |
♪ Be our glory evermore ♪ | 1:04:02 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:04:07 | |
♪ Serving thee whom we adore ♪ | 1:04:13 | |
♪ Serving thee whom we adore ♪ | 1:04:19 | |
- | And now go forth in peace and be of good courage. | 1:04:30 |
Hold fast to that which is good, | 1:04:34 | |
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. | 1:04:36 | |
And may the blessing of God, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit | 1:04:39 | |
be with you all, now and forevermore. | 1:04:44 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:04:49 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:04:59 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:09 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:17 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:23 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:34 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:05:48 | |
(organ music) | 1:06:10 |