Peter J. Gomes - "Religion of the Dawn" (January 10, 1988)

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	(organ music)	0:37
-	Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord,	3:07
	Jesus Christ.	3:08
	We welcome you to this service of worship	3:10
	here at Duke University Chapel.	3:12
	It's a special pleasure for us this week	3:14
	to see so many students back on campus	3:16
	after your holiday break, and we also extend	3:18
	special greetings to our visitors and to those of you	3:20
	in our radio and television audiences.	3:23
	Our preacher for today is the Reverend Doctor Peter Gomms,	3:26
	University Minister and Plummer Professor	3:29
	of Christian Morals at Harvard University.	3:32
	Dr. Gomms is a renowned preacher around the country.	3:35
	An author and university minister,	3:38
	he has graced the Duke Chapel pulpit on several occasions,	3:41
	and has become one of our most beloved guest preachers here.	3:44
	We are especially pleased today that he has been designated	3:48
	the first Howard C. Wilkinson Guest Minister.	3:51
	This endowment has been established by friends	3:55
	and colleagues to honor Dr. Wilkinson,	3:57
	who was the university chaplain here at Duke	4:00
	between 1957 and 1972.	4:03
	We are all so grateful that Dr. Wilkinson	4:06
	and his family are with us today in our service.	4:09
	You are reminded that Carl Vespers will resume	4:13
	this Thursday afternoon, at 5:15 PM,	4:15
	here at the Memorial Chapel.	4:18
	We have a correction to a misprint in today's newspaper.	4:21
	An organ recital by Dr. Monica Umschdett Rossman,	4:25
	associate chapel organist, will be presented next Sunday	4:28
	afternoon, at five o'clock PM, not this Sunday afternoon.	4:31
	Please note the other announcements	4:36
	as they are printed in your bulletins.	4:38
	And now let us continue our worship.	4:40
	(swelling choral music)	4:53
	(organ music)	6:05
	(echoing hymnal music)	6:39
	Almighty God, whose son, our savior,	9:49
	Jesus Christ, is the light of the world,	9:52
	grant that your people, illumined by your word	9:56
	and sacraments, may shine with the radiance	9:59
	of Christ's glory.	10:02
	That he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed,	10:04
	to the ends of the Earth.	10:08
	Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	10:10
	who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,	10:12
	one God, now and forever, amen.	10:14
-	Let us pray.	10:31
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God.	10:34
	By the power of your Holy Spirit,	10:37
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	10:40
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	10:43
	Amen.	10:48
	The first lesson is taken from the Book of Genesis.	10:52
	In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth.	10:57
	The Earth was without form and void,	11:01
	and darkness was upon the face of the deep,	11:05
	and the Spirit of God was moving	11:08
	over the face of the waters, and God said:	11:11
	let there be light.	11:15
	And there was light.	11:17
	And God saw that the light was good.	11:19
	And God separated the light from the darkness.	11:22
	God called the light "day",	11:26
	and the darkness, God called: night.	11:29
	And there was evening, and there was morning.	11:32
	One day.	11:35
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	11:37
	(organ music)	11:43
	(reverent choral music)	11:57
	(organ music)	15:13
	(echoing choral music)	15:26
	The second lesson is taken from Acts.	16:29
	While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through	16:34
	the upper country and came to Ephesus.	16:38
	There, he found some disciples, and he said to them:	16:41
	did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?	16:46
	And they said: no, we have never even heard that there	16:50
	is a Holy Spirit.	16:54
	And he said: into what, then, were you baptized?	16:56
	They said: into John's baptism.	17:00
	And Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance,	17:03
	telling the people to believe in the one	17:09
	who was to come after him.	17:12
	That is Jesus.	17:14
	On hearing this, they were baptized in the name	17:16
	of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands	17:19
	upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them,	17:23
	and they spoke with tongues and prophesized.	17:26
	And there was about 12 of them in all.	17:30
	This ends the reading of the second lesson.	17:34
	(somber choral music)	17:53
	The gospel lesson is taken from Mark.	21:21
	John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,	21:25
	preaching a baptism of repentance	21:29
	for the forgiveness of sins.	21:32
	And there went out to him all the country of Judea,	21:34
	and all the people of Jerusalem,	21:38
	and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan,	21:40
	confessing their sins.	21:45
	Now John was clothed with camel's hair,	21:47
	and had a leather girdle around his waist,	21:50
	and ate locust and wild honey.	21:54
	And he preached, saying: after me comes he who	21:57
	is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals	22:02
	I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.	22:06
	I have baptized you with water,	22:10
	but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.	22:13
	In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth, of Galilee,	22:19
	and was baptized by John in the Jordan.	22:23
	And when he came out of the water,	22:27
	immediately, he saw the heavens opened,	22:29
	and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove.	22:32
	And a voice came from heaven:	22:37
	thou art my beloved son,	22:40
	with thee I am well pleased.	22:43
	This ends the reading of the gospel lesson.	22:46
-	Let us pray.	23:10
	Help us, Lord, to become masters of ourselves,	23:14
	that we may become the servants of others.	23:19
	Take our hands and work through them.	23:23
	Take our minds and think through them.	23:27
	Take our lips and speak through them,	23:31
	and take our hearts and set them on fire.	23:35
	For Christ's sake,	23:40
	amen.	23:43
	First, let me bring you greetings from your brothers	23:52
	and sisters in Christ at Harvard University,	23:57
	in cold Cambridge, almost as cold as it is here,	24:02
	in Durham, North Carolina.	24:07
	In Cambridge, we are rather slow about organizing life	24:10
	to suit our convenience, and so, unlike you,	24:15
	our undergraduates have returned to face	24:20
	the prospect of their fall term examinations,	24:23
	which take place at the end of this month.	24:27
	So I suspect that there is a larger than usual attendance	24:30
	this morning in the university church, in my absence.	24:34
	The fact that so many of you are here this morning,	24:38
	despite the fact that you have already achieved	24:41
	that for which you pray, is indeed a testimony	24:44
	to your faith and your courage, and your hospitality.	24:48
	And I am delighted to share all of that with you.	24:52
	I take as my text the fourth verse of the first chapter	24:56
	of the Book of Genesis.	25:01
	And God said: let there be light.	25:04
	And there was light.	25:08
	And God saw the light, that it was good.	25:11
	This is epiphany.	25:17
	The season of light.	25:19
	And so, this is a sermon about religion of the dawn.	25:23
	Religion that has to do with the rising,	25:30
	sustaining light.	25:34
	Now there are many people, and perhaps you are among them,	25:38
	who hope that at long last	25:42
	we can pack up the cribs	25:46
	and the mangers and the baby Jesus with them,	25:48
	and put them all away for another year.	25:52
	As I look around this chapel, clearly you have already	25:57
	done that; the colored lights and the commercial displays,	26:00
	those few that remain, now look forlorn,	26:06
	rather than festive or exciting.	26:08
	And this snow that blankets the ground,	26:12
	this is no longer a sign of the gentle,	26:15
	natural mantle of Christmas.	26:18
	It is a bloody nuisance, and a reminder	26:21
	that winter is bleak and real and long.	26:25
	And no wonder that we are tired of all of this	26:30
	and prepared to get on with other things.	26:32
	Despite the liturgical efforts of advent,	26:36
	Christmas has been with us since the weeks	26:39
	before Thanksgiving Day, and we are rightly tired of it.	26:42
	And perhaps our first response to this liturgical feast	26:48
	today, the feast of the epiphany,	26:51
	with its rehearsal of all the Christmas events,	26:54
	punctuated now by the star and the three kings,	26:57
	is to say we have had it all,	27:01
	and we have seen it all before.	27:04
	Epiphany, with its Christmas echo,	27:07
	comes to us today like an aging Hollywood actress,	27:10
	of whom it was said well after her prime	27:14
	that she was forgotten, but not gone.	27:17
	The style of Christmas may be just that.	27:22
	Forgotten, but not gone.	27:25
	But the substance of Christmas will not let us go.	27:28
	And we forget it, we neglect it, at our peril.	27:34
	So in a curious, odd way, we Christians who inhabit	27:39
	odd places like this, are fortunate in that the world	27:44
	pays no attention to the epiphany.	27:49
	And the world is quite prepared to go back to normal.	27:53
	And in fact, it already has done so.	27:56
	There are no office epiphany parties.	28:00
	There are no epiphany cards.	28:03
	There are no epiphany greetings or gifts or dinner parties.	28:06
	It is all over, they have left that to us.	28:11
	But that neglect on their part allows us the leisure	28:16
	to reflect upon the great mystery of the birth	28:21
	of Jesus Christ, unencumbered	28:25
	by all of that stuff,	28:30
	with which the world burdens his birth.	28:32
	We can consider the birth of Jesus Christ	28:36
	removed from the unfair competition	28:40
	of the real world's pleasure.	28:44
	Epiphany belongs to us.	28:47
	Like the three kings, we may be lost	28:51
	and we may be late, but for a moment,	28:54
	at the dawn of a new era, the dawn of a new age,	28:57
	a new year, and a new day, we have the manger,	29:03
	the baby, the holy family all to ourselves.	29:09
	No shepherds lurking in the wings,	29:15
	no angelic chorus humming away,	29:18
	no animals intruding,	29:22
	no hordes of holiday worshipers	29:24
	and shoppers and those who come to midnight mass	29:28
	for a whiff of wax and sentiment.	29:32
	They are all gone.	29:35
	We are left, just Jesus and us.	29:38
	We have the intimacy of the incarnation,	29:44
	all to ourselves.	29:49
	Now epiphany means: manifestation.	29:54
	As a university congregation, you all know that, of course.	29:56
	Manifestation, display, appearance.	30:00
	And in church talk, it is that season	30:04
	in which God appears and reveals himself	30:07
	in ever-increasing circles to the world.	30:10
	And this season begins with the discovery of God	30:14
	in Jesus Christ by those curious scholars of the east,	30:17
	the wise men.	30:23
	The older liturgical formulas,	30:25
	particularly of the eastern church,	30:27
	all remind us that epiphany is not a day,	30:29
	it is not even an event, it is not even a season.	30:33
	Epiphany is a process of divine disclosure.	30:39
	God's making himself real,	30:45
	visible, tangible,	30:49
	seen and known in our lives	30:51
	and in our world.	30:55
	It is the season of the discovery of God.	30:58
	Men and women are enabled to see things	31:03
	which ordinarily would be hidden from our eyes.	31:06
	And to see, as we all know, is not just to observe.	31:11
	And not simply to behold,	31:15
	but to see is to understand.	31:18
	That's what it means to see something.	31:22
	We say: I see.	31:26
	We say: I see what you are talking about.	31:29
	We say: I see what you mean.	31:33
	It is not just looking upon, it is seeing	31:36
	and understanding, and taking, too, ourselves.	31:41
	And so this is that season of God's revealing himself	31:45
	so that we might see him with our own eyes.	31:50
	And the means by which one is enabled to see,	31:55
	illumination, enlightenment,	31:59
	insight, vision, imagination,	32:02
	these are the gifts of wisdom	32:07
	that are given to us.	32:11
	And thus the metaphor of epiphany is always light.	32:14
	Dawning, the new day, and the source of that light,	32:18
	the object of that light, are one and the same:	32:24
	God.	32:29
	God said: let there be light.	32:31
	And there was light.	32:35
	And God saw the light, that it was good.	32:38
	Light is good.	32:43
	Now, the wise men are guided to the manger of Jesus	32:48
	by the light of the star.	32:54
	Now I noticed that in Dr. Willerman's study,	32:59
	there is a very large engraving, 19th century engraving,	33:01
	of Cologne Cathedral.	33:06
	Now, I don't know why Cologne Cathedral hangs	33:09
	in the chapel office at Duke University.	33:13
	This building doesn't bear any resemblance	33:16
	to the Cologne Cathedral.	33:18
	But the point of Cologne Cathedral is,	33:20
	a few years ago when I was there,	33:22
	I was taken on a grand tour of Cologne Cathedral,	33:24
	and by the very faithful, pious German guide	33:27
	who took me around, was taken to a chapel	33:30
	behind the high altar, and there he told me	33:33
	with fervent Christian faith and flawless German,	33:37
	that here were deposited the mortal remains	33:41
	of the three kings, to whom Cologne Cathedral is dedicated.	33:45
	Now, I have no idea how and why the magi of the east	33:50
	made it to the Rhine River, and repose in splendor	33:54
	in that 19th century gothic cathedral,	33:58
	but faith is a wonderful thing, and there they are.	34:01
	So Cologne, the wise men, Will Willerman's etchings,	34:06
	they all put us in mind of the wise men,	34:11
	who are the objects of the day,	34:14
	and they are guided to the manger of Jesus	34:15
	by the light of a star.	34:18
	It is God who gives them that star,	34:21
	and it is by God they are led by that star,	34:25
	until the star leads them to God.	34:29
	It is a full and complete circle.	34:34
	And God is in it, beginning, middle, and end.	34:38
	And lo the star which they had seen in the east	34:44
	went before them until it came where,	34:47
	to rest over the young child.	34:50
	And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly,	34:52
	with great joy; going into the house,	34:56
	they saw the child with Mary, his mother,	34:59
	and they fell down and worshiped him.	35:02
	God enabled them to find himself.	35:07
	Now you and I are more than likely tempted to make	35:14
	academic, scholarly, even theological heroes	35:17
	of these wise people, these magi, these kings,	35:22
	these sages, these professors, these intellectuals.	35:27
	They appeal to our scholarly vanity.	35:32
	Scholars in their studies in the libraries	35:35
	and the laboratories of the world,	35:38
	who by their wit, skill in science and in logic,	35:40
	and at great personal risk and adventure,	35:44
	like the explorers of old, pursue their research	35:48
	until they discover that baby,	35:53
	and shout a collective and royal: eureka!	35:56
	We have found the kid!	36:00
	And get themselves a noble prize of some sort or other.	36:02
	That, we can all understand.	36:07
	But the child was not lost.	36:10
	The child was never lost.	36:14
	The wise men were lost.	36:17
	The theologians, the intellectuals,	36:20
	the dawns, the scholars, the scientists,	36:22
	they were the ones who were lost.	36:24
	Had they missed the star, they would have been	36:28
	in deep trouble, and even following the star	36:31
	as best they could, they were still forced,	36:35
	as you recall, to ask advice of King Herod.	36:37
	Not a smart move for such wise men, wouldn't you think?	36:41
	They were like those English, Italian, and Spanish	36:46
	explorers of the 16th century, who having been lost	36:49
	at sea for months and years, when finally they bumped	36:53
	into land, claimed that they had discovered it,	36:58
	when it was always there, and even when they were not.	37:02
	Such is the vanity of our species.	37:07
	No, the wise men are important,	37:11
	and we hold them up on this day, a feast day,	37:13
	but not for the reason we would like to think.	37:16
	It is neither their cleverness nor ours that deserves	37:20
	much credit here.	37:25
	The wise men are important because	37:28
	they were truly enlightened.	37:31
	That is to say, they allowed themselves	37:35
	to be guided.	37:39
	They followed the light wherever it took them.	37:41
	They looked to the dawn	37:47
	as the end and the beginning	37:50
	of their enterprise.	37:53
	They were smart enough to know	37:55
	they were not smart enough.	37:59
	True enlightenment is what epiphany is all about.	38:04
	Knowing that which is truly worth the knowing,	38:09
	seeing that which is truly worth the seeing.	38:13
	Seeking that which is truly worth finding.	38:18
	We have to liberate that term, enlightenment,	38:23
	you and I, from the clutches of the 18th century,	38:26
	where it is so easily mistaken for arrogant intellect,	38:30
	or a surly science, where those two things	38:34
	are so easily mistaken for the real thing.	38:39
	For true enlightenment acknowledges that we are led,	38:43
	we are guided, we are moved, you and I,	38:48
	to discover what has always been there,	38:52
	and awaits us.	38:57
	The true enlightenment, and hence the truly enlightened,	38:59
	have to do with the growing, gradual, evolving,	39:03
	dawning process that God leads us to himself,	39:08
	and to all truth.	39:14
	Our little wisdom, our little science and skill,	39:17
	indeed, even our own heroic efforts and activities	39:21
	are but part of the process of the divine disclosure.	39:24
	Disclosure of god,	39:30
	of all truth and goodness and beauty.	39:34
	And when we find it, we discover truly	39:38
	that it has found us.	39:43
	And we respond as did those sages,	39:47
	in the only way possible.	39:50
	Not by writing a book or going on a talk show,	39:53
	or franchising our discovery.	39:58
	We respond by falling to our knees,	40:01
	lost in wonder, love, and praise.	40:05
	The only response to true enlightenment,	40:12
	is to be found in the first case, on our knees.	40:16
	God's first act	40:25
	was to fill the world with light.	40:28
	The first dawn was an expression of his own confidence	40:32
	in his creation;	40:37
	stars and the star have been the agents	40:39
	of the dawn ever since, and the language of God	40:43
	is the language of light, of dawn, of morning.	40:48
	By dawn, that early morning light,	40:54
	the Lord is raised from the dead.	40:56
	By the light of an errant star, the manger king	41:00
	is revealed to the Earth.	41:04
	People that walked in darkness have seen a great light,	41:08
	and it is always darkest before the dawn.	41:12
	To be enlightened is to be among those	41:17
	who go gaily in the dark, because they have caught	41:21
	something of that light.	41:25
	We know the wise men,	41:29
	for their journey is our own journey.	41:32
	Less wise than we think we are,	41:36
	less wise and more lost	41:40
	than we think we are, not where we ought to be	41:43
	and frequently late, but as Eliot puts it:	41:47
	no longer at home in the old dispensation.	41:50
	We, like they, make our way	41:55
	as best we can in the dark.	41:59
	Groping for hints and signs, guesses,	42:03
	impelled onward by the growing, dawning light.	42:08
	Sustained in the dark by that very hope.	42:14
	It means you have to lead, we have to lead,	42:20
	wherever we are, where we are most comfortable and familiar.	42:24
	We have to go where we must go, and where we ought to be,	42:30
	no matter where it is.	42:34
	Where our hopes and where our expectations lead us.	42:37
	Perhaps in this journey you are summoned by angels,	42:42
	like the frightened shepherds on the hillside.	42:47
	And will go even unto Bethlehem or anyplace else	42:51
	that they direct you.	42:54
	Perhaps it is your curiosity and your powers of mind	42:57
	and imagination that stir you onward,	43:02
	and you will be led like the three kings.	43:06
	Perhaps even it is obedience to the whisperings	43:10
	of angels in the night-time,	43:15
	like Mary and Joseph.	43:19
	Perhaps it is the need for warmth, and light,	43:23
	and companionship, such as draw people to this place	43:26
	on the coldest and the darkest night of the year,	43:32
	to celebrate the mysteries of Christmas Eve.	43:36
	Perhaps it's Hardy's heartfelt longing	43:40
	to see the oxen kneel.	43:43
	Or, with Eliot, to arrive where we started	43:46
	and know the place for the first time.	43:50
	Whatever it is that impels you on your journey of faith,	43:55
	it is God who sustains you.	44:00
	It is God who starts with you.	44:04
	It is God who hangs out the light,	44:07
	so that you can see your way.	44:10
	And it is God who enables us to see himself,	44:13
	so that at the end of our journey,	44:17
	we will see even as we are seen,	44:20
	and we will know, even as we are known.	44:23
	Only with God can we find God.	44:29
	We can only lose God if there is God to be lost.	44:32
	And only with God can we see God,	44:36
	for the light which God made and found good	44:40
	at the beginning of creation,	44:44
	was made so that you and I	44:47
	might live not in darkness,	44:52
	but indeed, in light,	44:55
	at the dawn of God's new day.	44:58
	This is what epiphany is all about.	45:04
	The process of enlightenment,	45:08
	whereby we simply do not more and more	45:12
	about less and less, the nature of a university education,	45:15
	but we know more and more about that which is worth knowing.	45:21
	Our vision grows, our insight is deepened,	45:27
	our imagination is quickened,	45:31
	and our eyes move	45:35
	from darkness into light.	45:38
	And when we see what we are meant to see,	45:42
	like those kings, we will fall to our knees,	45:46
	and we will offer them the best that we have.	45:52
	Thanks be to God, who calls us out of darkness,	45:58
	into his marvelous light.	46:04
	Amen.	46:11
	(organ music)	46:37
	(echoing choral music)	47:26
-	Lord be with you.	50:02
	Let us pray.	50:05
	Oh, eternal God,	50:18
	who has created the light and has called it good,	50:21
	once again we pray for thy help.	50:27
	Not that we might do greater things,	50:31
	but that we might do better things.	50:33
	Not that we might be spared life's pain,	50:36
	but that we might become wise and enlightened.	50:41
	Not that we might have all things to enjoy life,	50:46
	but that we might be grateful	50:51
	that thou hast given us life to enjoy all things.	50:54
	We lift these prayers for others before thee,	51:01
	grateful for the abundance of thy mercy towards us.	51:05
	Bless, oh Lord, all those who would make credible the gospel	51:10
	in this unbelieving age, all those who earnestly work	51:17
	for peace, all who live on less in order to share	51:21
	with those who have less than they need.	51:26
	All who plead the cause of the orphan,	51:31
	the prisoner, and the oppressed.	51:33
	All who stand in any company to challenge slurs	51:38
	against another group, help to expose prejudice.	51:41
	All who have trained themselves to listen	51:46
	with genuine concern to those who seek a consoling presence.	51:48
	We pray, gracious God, for those of us burdened	51:56
	not by too little, but by too much.	51:59
	For those who have so much power	52:04
	that they have grown indifferent to the gifts	52:07
	and claims of others.	52:09
	For those who have so much knowledge	52:13
	that they have grown proud and self-sufficient,	52:15
	and lost the common touch.	52:18
	Those who have so much wealth that they prize possessions	52:22
	more than people.	52:25
	Those who have so many choices,	52:29
	they can hardly see the way clear	52:32
	to know their own hearts and lives.	52:34
	We pray, ever-living God, for the sick,	52:40
	and the afflicted.	52:43
	For those suffering from mental illness,	52:46
	or the problems of aging.	52:49
	Provide for them homes of dignity and peace.	52:52
	Grant those who seek to care for them the necessary skill,	52:57
	the patience, and the compassion	53:01
	as they carry out their task.	53:04
	We beseech thee eternal God, for the deep	53:06
	and unspoken needs within this congregation.	53:09
	Bless this gathering, whatever our reasons may be	53:14
	for coming here, and may the light of thy love	53:17
	shine through us eternally,	53:23
	that we may see even as we are seen.	53:26
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	53:31
	our Lord and savior, the light of the world.	53:33
	Amen.	53:37
	And now, in the spirit of thanksgiving,	53:41
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	53:43
	(serene choral music)	55:53
	(echoing choral music)	57:38
	(organ music)	1:02:44
	(reverent choral music)	1:03:01
	Almighty God, creator of all that was and is,	1:04:11
	and is to come, diverse though we are in age	1:04:14
	and in outlook, we are one in our desire	1:04:18
	to voice our gratitude unto thee.	1:04:20
	Thank thee for our time and place	1:04:24
	in history in this new year,	1:04:26
	for the vision of a better world,	1:04:28
	for friends and loved ones who mediate	1:04:30
	thy loving care to us, and for new truths,	1:04:32
	which are revealed to us through the church.	1:04:36
	All thy works praise thee, and in that chorus,	1:04:39
	we gratefully join.	1:04:42
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	1:04:44
	who taught us to pray with confidence.	1:04:46
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:04:49
	Thy kingdom come, they will be done,	1:04:54
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	1:04:57
	Give us this day our daily bread.	1:04:59
	Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those	1:05:02
	who trespass against us.	1:05:05
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:05:07
	Thine is the kingdom, the power,	1:05:11
	and the glory, forever.	1:05:14
	Amen.	1:05:17
	(organ music)	1:05:23
	(reverent choral music)	1:05:45
-	And now, go forth in peace and be of good courage.	1:08:40
	Hold fast to that which is good, rejoicing	1:08:44
	in the power of the Holy Spirit,	1:08:46
	and may the blessing of God, Creator, Christ,	1:08:49
	and Holy Spirit, be with you all,	1:08:52
	now and forevermore.	1:08:54
	(swelling choral music)	1:09:05
	(organ music)	1:10:27

Item Info

Title:

Peter J. Gomes - "Religion of the Dawn" (January 10, 1988)

Description:

Epiphany is a season of God's divine disclosure of Godself to us. It is only by God's light that we can come to know God, and when we do, the only appropriate response is to fall on our knees like the Magi and worship God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 23:14. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 46:13.
Key quotation: “Only with God can we see God, for the light which God made and found good at the beginning of creation, was made so that you and I might live not in darkeness, but indeed in light at the dawn of God’s new day.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4hd7p73c

Date:

January 10, 1988

Speaker:

Gomes, Peter J.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0066
ref8438_72i
uachapelsermaud
duke:321669
dcrmv001066
ark:/87924/r4hd7p73c
8338711e-3ce8-4d4c-8b73-b230a8a01562

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For 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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Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

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