Millard Fuller - "Theology of the Hammer" (August 14, 1988)

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	(Ave Maria hymn)	0:00
	(hymn singing in foreign language)	1:45
	(imposing organ music)	4:23
-	Good morning.	5:40
	We welcome all of you to Duke University Chapel	5:41
	for this very special Sunday.	5:44
	We thank Laura Baxter for her singing	5:49
	that has prepared us for worship.	5:52
	Surely, we will hear from the community choir	5:56
	made up of members from the following churches,	5:58
	Epworth United Methodist, the Durham Choral,	6:02
	Westminster Presbyterian, Duke Memorial United Methodist,	6:06
	Duke Chapel, First Presbyterian, Immaculate Conception,	6:10
	Watts Street Baptist, Eno River Unitarian	6:13
	and St. Paul's Lutheran.	6:16
	And we thank them for sharing their gifts with us today.	6:18
	We also welcome as one of our lecturers today	6:24
	the Reverend Noah Kvireh,	6:28
	who comes to us from Ghana,	6:30
	participating in a 1,200-mile walk for Habitat for Humanity.	6:32
	In one of his book, Frederick Buechner says	6:39
	that in God's continual flirtation with the world,	6:41
	He drops handkerchiefs to remind us	6:45
	that He is present and busy in our world,	6:49
	and we call these handkerchiefs Saints.	6:52
	We're pleased to have among us,	6:55
	in our community and in Duke Chapel today,	6:57
	someone that we look to as evidence	7:00
	of God's flirtation with the world,	7:04
	Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity.	7:06
	Looking at his life and his witness,	7:10
	we are reminded of the high calling we have as Christians.	7:12
	He's founded a movement which has united people	7:16
	of many different creeds and nations and races,	7:19
	in providing housing for those	7:23
	who would not otherwise have housing,	7:25
	and it is an honor to welcome	7:28
	this outstanding Christian leader to the chapel today.	7:29
	We also welcome, as is a tradition at Duke University,	7:33
	the 1988 Duke football team and their coaches,	7:38
	and we're glad they're with us today.	7:42
	Now let us continue our worship.	7:45
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	8:00
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	8:04
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	8:07
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	8:11
	♪ A hammer ♪	8:15
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	8:27
	♪ I'd hammer in the morning ♪	8:30
	♪ I'd hammer in the evening ♪	8:34
	♪ All over this land ♪	8:38
	♪ I'd hammer out hope ♪	8:42
	♪ I'd hammer out promise ♪	8:45
	♪ I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters ♪	8:49
	♪ Spread God's love everywhere ♪	8:55
	♪ Show God's children that we care ♪	8:58
	♪ All over this land ♪	9:02
	(imposing organ music)	9:11
	♪ All people that on earth do dwell ♪	9:46
	♪ Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice ♪	9:55
	♪ Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell ♪	10:04
	♪ Come ye before Him and rejoice ♪	10:12
	♪ Know that the Lord is God indeed ♪	10:25
	♪ Without our aid He did us make ♪	10:35
	♪ We are His flock, He doth us feed ♪	10:44
	♪ And for His sheep He doth us take ♪	10:52
	♪ O enter then His gates with praise ♪	11:05
	♪ Approach with joy His courts unto ♪	11:14
	♪ Praise, laud, and bless His name always ♪	11:23
	♪ For it is seemly so to do ♪	11:32
	♪ Because the Lord our God is good ♪	11:44
	♪ His mercy is forever sure ♪	11:54
	♪ His truth at all times firmly stood ♪	12:03
	♪ And shall from age to age endure ♪	12:12
-	Gracious God, we do not always know how to praise you,	12:27
	much less how to serve you.	12:32
	Therefore, we gather to worship.	12:34
	May our praise be embolden through the support	12:37
	of our brothers and sisters and Christ,	12:40
	whose voices invite ours.	12:43
	May our service to You in the world	12:46
	be strengthened by the hearing and celebration of Your word.	12:50
	In this hour of worship we pray.	12:54
	Amen.	12:57
	Be seated.	12:59
-	Let us pray.	13:09
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	13:12
	by the power of Your Holy Spirit	13:16
	so that, as the word is read and proclaimed,	13:19
	we might hear with joy what You say to us this day.	13:24
	Amen.	13:29
	The first lesson is taken from the book of Isaiah.	13:32
	"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet,	13:37
	"declare to my people their transgression,	13:45
	"to the house of Jacob their sins.	13:49
	"Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways,	13:53
	"as if they were a nation that did righteousness,	14:00
	"and did not forsake the ordinance of their God.	14:04
	"They ask of me righteous judgment.	14:08
	"They delight to draw near to God.	14:13
	"Why have we fasted, and thou seest did not?	14:18
	"Why have we humbled ourselves,	14:23
	"and thou takest no knowledge of it?	14:25
	"Behold, in the day of your fast	14:29
	"you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.	14:33
	"Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight,	14:39
	"and to hit with wicked fist.	14:46
	"Fasting like yours this day,	14:49
	"will not make your voice to be heard on high.	14:52
	"Is such the fast that I choose,	14:58
	"a day for a man to humble himself?	15:01
	"Is it to bow down his head like a rush,	15:04
	"and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?	15:08
	"Will you call this a fast,	15:13
	"and a day acceptable to the Lord?	15:16
	"Is not this the fast that I choose,	15:20
	"to loose the bonds of wickedness,	15:25
	"to undo the thongs of the yoke,	15:28
	"to let the oppressed go free,	15:32
	"and to break every yoke?	15:36
	"Is it not to share your bread with the hungry	15:40
	"and bring the homeless poor into your house;	15:44
	"when you see the naked, to cover him,	15:49
	"and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?	15:52
	"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,	15:58
	"and your healing shall spring up speedily;	16:03
	"your righteousness shall go before you;	16:07
	"the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.	16:10
	"Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;	16:16
	"you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'	16:21
	"If you take away from your midst the yoke,	16:28
	"the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,	16:32
	"if you pour yourself out for the hungry	16:37
	"and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,	16:41
	"then shall your light rise in the darkness	16:45
	"and your gloom be as the noonday.	16:49
	"And the Lord will guide you continually	16:54
	"and satisfy your desire with good things	16:57
	"and make your bones strong;	17:02
	"and you shall be like a watered garden,	17:05
	"like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.	17:12
	"And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;	17:16
	"you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;	17:20
	"you shall be called the repairer of the breach,	17:25
	"the restorer of streets to dwell in."	17:30
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	17:35
Graebe	Let us stand and read responsibly	17:47
	the psalter which is number 582 in your hymnals.	17:49
	"The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty."	18:01
Crowd	"The Lord is robed; he is girded with strength"	18:06
Graebe	"Yey, the world is established."	18:09
Crowd	"It shall never be moved."	18:12
Graebe	"Thy throne is established from of old."	18:14
Crowd	"You are from everlasting."	18:17
Graebe	"The floods have lifted up, oh Lord.	18:19
	"The floods have lifted up their voice."	18:22
Crowd	"The floods lift up their roaring."	18:25
Graebe	"Mightier than the thunders of many waters,	18:27
	"mightier than the waves of the sea."	18:30
Crowd	"The Lord on high is mighty!"	18:34
Graebe	"Thy decrees are very sure."	18:36
Crowd	"Holiness befits your house,	18:39
	"oh Lord, forevermore."	18:42
	(imposing organ music)	18:44
	(choral singing)	18:52
-	Be seated.	19:41
	The second lesson is taken	19:53
	from the second letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.	19:56
	Second Corinthians, chapter eight,	20:05
	reading from verse 13 to 15.	20:09
	Let us hear the word of God.	20:12
	"I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened,	20:17
	"but that as a matter of equality	20:25
	"your abundance at the present time	20:29
	"should supply their want,	20:33
	"so that their abundance may supply your want,	20:36
	"that there may be equality.	20:42
	"As it is written,	20:47
	"He who gathered much had nothing over,	20:50
	"and he who gathered little had no lack."	20:56
	Here ends our reading.	21:02
	May the Lord's name be praised.	21:03
	Amen.	21:05
	(soft music)	21:08
	♪ O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder ♪	21:37
	♪ Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made ♪	21:48
	♪ I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder ♪	21:59
	♪ Thy power throughout the universe displayed ♪	22:09
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	22:20
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	22:30
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	22:39
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	22:48
	♪ When through the woods and forest glades I wander ♪	23:08
	♪ And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees ♪	23:18
	♪ When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur ♪	23:27
	♪ And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze ♪	23:37
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	23:46
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	23:55
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	24:05
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	24:15
	♪ When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation ♪	24:37
	♪ And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart ♪	24:47
	♪ Then I shall bow with humble adoration ♪	24:57
	♪ And then proclaim, My God, how great Thou art ♪	25:07
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	25:17
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	25:27
	♪ Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee ♪	25:36
	♪ How great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪	25:47
-	Reading from the New Testament.	26:23
	Matthew the sixth chapter.	26:24
	Give ear to this one verse.	26:27
	Verse 10.	26:30
	"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done	26:33
	"on earth, as it is in heaven."	26:38
	It's a great privilege and a joy for me	26:44
	to be here in Duke University Chapel	26:47
	on this beautiful Sunday morning.	26:51
	I'm grateful to Dr. Willimon for his kind invitation	26:54
	to speak on this occasion this morning,	26:59
	and I appreciate all of you being here	27:03
	to share in this service.	27:06
	I'm sure you will agree that we have already been blessed	27:09
	by the wonderful music,	27:12
	both the music sang to us by the talented soloists	27:15
	and by this Theology of the Hammer choir.	27:20
	You are now so named.	27:25
	All of these folks from these different churches	27:28
	really blends in beautifully	27:31
	with what I want to share with you this morning.	27:33
	The topic of my sermon or talk	27:35
	is the Theology of the Hammer.	27:39
	You know, we Christians are very good	27:44
	at differing with one another about just about everything.	27:48
	We Christians can't even agree	27:52
	on how the preacher ought to dress.	27:55
	We Christians can't agree on how often to talk communion,	27:58
	or even what it means.	28:02
	We can't agree on whether to have	28:04
	Wednesday night prayer service,	28:06
	or whether to even have a Sunday night service,	28:08
	or whether even to have Sunday school.	28:11
	We can't agree on the humanity of Jesus,	28:14
	that's in the news a lot these days	28:19
	about this new movie that's got everybody's attention.	28:21
	We Christians can't even agree on how to pronounce Jesus.	28:25
	Of course, we in South Georgia, where I come from,	28:31
	we know the correct way.	28:33
	It's Jesus.	28:35
	We also know how to pronounce God correctly.	28:39
	It's God.	28:41
	And the Lord.	28:44
	But Habitat for Humanity,	28:48
	a movement in our time,	28:51
	is bringing together	28:54
	a broad array of people in Christendom	28:58
	who normally don't have that much to do with one another.	29:02
	While we might work in a workplace together	29:05
	but we don't praise God together,	29:07
	we don't even talk about God very much together.	29:09
	If we do, we end up disagreeing in short order.	29:12
	A year ago, we had a	29:17
	big event in Charlotte, North Carolina.	29:21
	It was the biggest, most ambitious undertaking	29:25
	that we had ever done in the work of Habitat for Humanity.	29:30
	We decided that we wanted to try to build	29:34
	an entire city block of houses in five days.	29:37
	14 houses we would put up, beginning on Monday morning	29:42
	and by Friday afternoon we would be through with them	29:46
	and we would move the families in.	29:49
	We put the word out that we wanted to do this,	29:53
	and people came from the east and the west	29:56
	and the north and the south,	29:59
	from 28 states and two Canadian provinces,	30:01
	and 350 of us gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina	30:04
	on Sunday afternoon,	30:08
	and working with several hundred people	30:10
	from the Charlotte community,	30:12
	we started putting up those 14 houses on Monday morning.	30:14
	Former president Jimmy Carter	30:20
	and his wife Rosalynn were there,	30:21
	I was there with my wife,	30:23
	and people from 86 churches in Charlotte, North Carolina	30:25
	came together to participate in this exciting event.	30:30
	It was going to be a tremendous undertaking.	30:37
	Well, we gathered under a big tent on Monday morning,	30:42
	and we had a devotional time together.	30:45
	We sang a couple of songs and we grabbed our hammers	30:48
	and the episcopal priest	30:51
	and the most conservative baptist minister	30:54
	in the city of Charlotte,	30:57
	charged off together to drive nails on the first house	30:58
	on the first row that we were building.	31:03
	They really didn't know each other before that week.	31:06
	And they discovered as they worked throughout the week,	31:10
	that it didn't matter	31:13
	whether you were liberal or conservative.	31:14
	What mattered was whether you could hit the nail or not.	31:16
	And they got to be friends before the week was out.	31:20
	Well, we started there on Monday morning	31:25
	hammering away at those nails and sawing the boards	31:27
	and getting the walls up	31:29
	and before nightfall we had all of the walls up	31:31
	on all 14 houses,	31:34
	we had the windows in, we had the doors in,	31:36
	we had the thrusters up, we had the roof on,	31:38
	and it was exciting to see how an entire city block	31:41
	had taken shape in just one day.	31:44
	The next morning the Charlotte Observer	31:48
	had a headline one page one.	31:50
	"Christian commitment at work."	31:52
	And they had a picture in full color at the top of the page	31:55
	of what the site looked like early on Monday morning,	31:59
	what it looked like at noon,	32:01
	and what it looked like at the end of the day.	32:03
	It was a striking difference in each photograph.	32:05
	The next morning we came back, we had another devotion	32:09
	we went to work, we began to saw the boards,	32:12
	and put on the siding, and put on the shingles,	32:14
	and about 11 o'clock I had a reason,	32:18
	I forget what it was,	32:22
	but I had some reason to go up to our headquarters,	32:23
	the ground that we were working on there,	32:26
	the property that had these houses on it	32:29
	was slightly sloping.	32:31
	And up at the high ground, we had our little headquarters.	32:33
	And there in the headquarters we had telephones,	32:38
	and we had a message center, and we had the blueprints.	32:40
	That was the nerve center of the whole operation.	32:43
	And I went up to take care of some business,	32:46
	and I stepped out of the office	32:48
	after I had been in there for a few moments,	32:50
	and I saw a local, he was obviously a local person,	32:53
	standing in the middle of the street	32:56
	looking at this incredible scene of hundreds of people	32:58
	working, building 14 houses simultaneously.	33:03
	And he was fascinated by what he was seeing.	33:08
	And in a loud voice, to no one in particular,	33:11
	he exclaimed, "My goodness, those folks.	33:14
	"I wonder who's paying all these people."	33:18
	And I thought a question like that should be answered,	33:23
	so I sided to him and I said,	33:25
	"Sir, nobody is paying these people.	33:27
	"They are all volunteers."	33:31
	He said, "No!"	33:34
	I said, "Yeah!"	33:36
	He said, "Do these people know these families	33:38
	"that are getting these houses?"	33:41
	I said, "No, they're all strangers."	33:42
	He said, "People don't do things like that."	33:45
	He said, "It's almost 100 degrees.	33:48
	"You mean these people are out here volunteering their time,	33:50
	"working for nothing to build houses	33:53
	"for folks they don't even know?"	33:55
	I said, "Yeah, but", I said, "it's worse than you think."	33:56
	He said, "What?"	34:01
	I said, "These folks are not only working for nothing,	34:01
	"they paid a lot of money to come here to work for nothing."	34:04
	(crowd laughing)	34:07
	He said, "Why are they doing it?"	34:10
	I said, "Because they've got the love	34:14
	"of Jesus in their hearts."	34:18
	"Man", he said, "that show enough religion."	34:21
	I went on about my business	34:27
	back down to the construction site,	34:29
	and continued to work,	34:32
	but I couldn't get what he had said out of my mind.	34:33
	"Show enough religion."	34:37
	You know, it doesn't matter how we pronounce Jesus,	34:40
	or even how often we go to church,	34:44
	or how much theology we know.	34:46
	What matters is whether we put it into practice.	34:53
	I believe, and I suspect most of you here believe,	34:59
	that we are not saved	35:03
	by how many houses we build in the world,	35:04
	or by how many hungry folks we feed.	35:06
	As a Christian I believe that we're saved	35:10
	by the blood of Jesus.	35:15
	We are saved by the grace of God,	35:17
	through the gift of His son.	35:20
	But what is the correct response to that gift of salvation?	35:23
	It seems to me that the scriptures are very very clear.	35:28
	That our response should be a life of service,	35:33
	a life of sharing, a life of giving, a life of caring.	35:38
	And we who are privileged to be a part	35:45
	of the growing ministry of Habitat for Humanity	35:48
	believe that this is one part, one way,	35:51
	one manifestation of the love of Christ in the world	35:55
	that is reaching out and serving	36:00
	in respond to the gift that God gave to us through Christ.	36:04
	This little idea of Habitat for Humanity	36:09
	originated in South Georgia	36:12
	at a Christian community called Koinonia Farm.	36:15
	I went there with my wife, Linda,	36:19
	and we began to work with Dr. Clarence Jordan,	36:22
	quite a theologian himself, a Greek scholar,	36:25
	the man who, with another couple and his wife Florence,	36:29
	had founded Koinonia Farm back in the '40s.	36:33
	They'd come under intense pressure by the Ku Klux Klan	36:36
	and the white citizens councils	36:39
	because of working interracially.	36:41
	But that violence had subsided somewhat	36:44
	and there were some questions	36:46
	about even the future of Koinonia Farm,	36:47
	and God lead me and my wife there.	36:52
	And with Dr. Clarence Jordan	36:55
	we began to talk about a ministry	36:57
	that we could start	37:00
	that would give expression to God's love in the world.	37:04
	A ministry that would bring	37:07
	the different segments of Christendom together,	37:09
	all of the churches that are so divided,	37:11
	and bring us together in a ministry	37:14
	that we called initially Koinonia Partners.	37:17
	And we started what we called partnership farming	37:20
	and partnership industries and partnership housing.	37:23
	And time this morning will not permit me	37:27
	to talk about anything but the housing component	37:29
	of what we did,	37:32
	but around us there in South Georgia	37:33
	we had a lot of neighbors who lived in substandard housing.	37:35
	In what we euphemistically call in South Georgian,	37:40
	which you hear in North Carolina also call I think, shacks.	37:43
	Usually uninsulated, unpainted,	37:47
	usually one room wide, substandard housing.	37:50
	Not suitable for human habitation.	37:53
	And we said, let's start a ministry	37:55
	that will provide housing for these people	37:59
	who are too poor to go to the bank,	38:01
	and we will use the economic system out of the Bible,	38:03
	what we call the economics of Jesus,	38:06
	no profit, no interest,	38:08
	calling upon the low income families	38:11
	to help build their own house,	38:12
	and to challenge volunteers from all of the churches	38:14
	using this Theology of the Hammer to bring us together,	38:18
	realizing we don't agree theologically on a lot of things,	38:21
	but we can agree on the imperative of the gospel	38:24
	to love one another,	38:27
	and to let that love be manifested	38:28
	in concrete, specific ways.	38:30
	And so we started building houses,	38:32
	and announced to our neighbors	38:34
	that our goal was to eliminate poverty housing	38:36
	in Sumter County, Georgia.	38:39
	Right away they wanted to know	38:42
	where we were going to get the money.	38:43
	Now Sumter County is a relatively small county	38:45
	as counties go, about 27,000 people,	38:47
	but about half of our citizens lived in substandard housing.	38:50
	And as people asked us where we were going to get the money,	38:54
	we said we're going to get it from God,	38:57
	and we even pronounced it right.	38:59
	We said, "God."	39:01
	And they said, "No, we mean,	39:03
	"really where are you going to get the money?"	39:04
	And we said, "That's really where we're going to get it."	39:08
	Well, everybody thought we were crazy, utopian dreamers.	39:10
	It would take millions of dollars	39:14
	just to build everybody a house in Sumter County	39:15
	that needs one,	39:18
	and that's just absolutely impossible to even think about,	39:19
	even to dream about.	39:22
	But we knew what the Bible said.	39:25
	Without a vision the people perish.	39:28
	We knew what the Bible said.	39:30
	With God all things are possible.	39:32
	And we were doing this thing as partners,	39:35
	as Clarence Jordan used to say,	39:39
	as junior associates with the Lord God Almighty.	39:40
	We sensed that this was something	39:44
	that God was pushing us to do.	39:46
	He was calling us to do it.	39:49
	And so we started building houses.	39:51
	One and then another, and another.	39:53
	And we were there almost five years,	39:55
	and had built quite a number of houses.	39:57
	About 30 in one place,	39:59
	then started another project,	40:00
	we put up another 30 houses.	40:01
	And then Linda and I began to wonder	40:04
	if we could make this idea work in a third world country.	40:06
	And so in 1973, we loaded up our four children,	40:11
	and moved to the nation of Zaire, the old Belgian Congo.	40:15
	And we started 114 houses	40:19
	in the capital city of Equateur region.	40:22
	And then we went into the southern part	40:24
	of the Equateur region and started 300 more houses,	40:26
	and then 12 years ago, in 1976,	40:29
	we returned to the United States,	40:32
	we went back to Americus, Georgia,	40:35
	got us an old house in a slam neighborhood	40:37
	of Americus, Georgia,	40:41
	and set up the international headquarters	40:42
	of Habitat for Humanity,	40:45
	and announced to everybody that we had changed our goal.	40:48
	We had lifted out sights a little bit.	40:51
	Our goal now was to eliminate poverty housing in the world.	40:54
	Well, we realized it'd take a little longer	41:00
	than Sumter County, but the idea was the same.	41:02
	The principle is the same.	41:05
	Again, with God all things are possible.	41:07
	And we literally invited the world to join us	41:10
	in a great adventure.	41:14
	An adventure for God.	41:16
	An adventure that would bring the churches together.	41:18
	An adventure that would let us	41:21
	take out of the sanctuary our lights,	41:23
	and let them shine in the world	41:26
	so that the world can see our good works	41:28
	and glorify our father who is in heaven.	41:30
	And so we set up this little headquarters,	41:34
	just a handful of us.	41:36
	But first there was a little group	41:38
	that formed out in Immokalee, Florida,	41:39
	that wanted to build houses for my good workers.	41:42
	There was a little group in Saint Antonio, Texas,	41:44
	and another one in Johns Island, South Carolina,	41:47
	and then a group came to us from the Mountains of Tennessee,	41:50
	and Morgan Scott Counties,	41:53
	and all of these people said,	41:54
	"This sounds like a dream we would like to be a part of."	41:56
	And they began to raise money.	42:00
	They began to put up simple,	42:02
	but good and solid houses for God's people in need.	42:04
	And the dream grew and it expanded.	42:08
	And over the years God has blessed it,	42:11
	and we've come to the time now and to the point	42:13
	where we have work underway in 277 cities	42:17
	in the United States.	42:22
	We're building houses for the poor in three towns in Canada,	42:24
	and we're in 59 places in 26 other countries.	42:28
	So in 28 nations we are putting up houses,	42:32
	every one of which is a sermon manifesting the love of God.	42:35
	And we have brought together	42:40
	all of these different churches.	42:41
	We've brought together people, black and white,	42:43
	and rich and poor, conservative and liberal,	42:46
	and together we are using this Theology of the Hammer	42:48
	to build to the glory of God,	42:52
	and so that we might be a part	42:55
	of bringing the kingdom of God,	42:57
	which we visualize in heaven to this earth,	43:00
	as Jesus taught us all to pray	43:03
	and to live our lives in such a way	43:05
	that we bring that about.	43:07
	This year we are building 2,000 houses,	43:10
	an average of six a day.	43:13
	We walked into Durham yesterday,	43:16
	and we went by the building site	43:19
	and had a dedication and a celebration	43:21
	where four houses had risen up from the earth	43:23
	in just this past week.	43:26
	And then we walked on down a few blocks	43:28
	and dedicated another house,	43:30
	which is nearing completion for a family.	43:31
	And the family spoke there at the dedication.	43:34
	We always have a dedication and we present a Bible,	43:37
	and give the family an opportunity to speak.	43:41
	And the father of that family yesterday	43:43
	spoke in such a moving way	43:45
	about what a simple house means to a family,	43:47
	to a mama and a papa and to their children.	43:51
	The last week of June,	43:54
	we started our big Habitat house raising walk	43:57
	in Portland Maine,	44:00
	and Pastor Noah Kvireh and myself,	44:02
	and several hundred other people	44:05
	had been walking from Portland Maine	44:07
	1200 miles to Atlanta, Georgia,	44:09
	as a part of our overall campaign	44:12
	to make shelter a matter of conscience,	44:15
	to help many other people buy into this vision	44:19
	that everybody ought to have	44:23
	at least a simple, decent house in which to live.	44:24
	And simultaneously we're starting the work	44:28
	in Portland Maine.	44:31
	We went to Atlanta, Georgia.	44:33
	Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn again,	44:35
	this time with 1,200 people started putting up 20 houses	44:37
	to be built in just five days.	44:42
	I flew down on Wednesday to join them,	44:45
	and then rejoined the walk on Sunday back in Boston.	44:47
	But these 1,200 people in Atlanta	44:51
	put up housing in five days for 84 people,	44:54
	the members of those 20 families.	44:58
	And one of the families that we built a house for	45:01
	was a man named Miren Turner.	45:04
	He was a hard-working man, a very fine man,	45:07
	but a relatively unskilled man.	45:12
	He had a job, he was working in the city of Atlanta,	45:15
	but he didn't make enough money to even rent	45:18
	the smallest apartment that he could find,	45:20
	and so for four months he had lived in the streets.	45:22
	He had slept on park benches,	45:27
	he had slept on the grass with his three children.	45:29
	He was chosen to have a home,	45:33
	and he and I worked together	45:34
	on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,	45:36
	putting the roof on this new house.	45:37
	He was so happy, he was just beside himself with joy	45:39
	about getting a simple place	45:43
	for himself and his children to live.	45:46
	And then on Friday afternoon	45:48
	we gathered on a grassy spot across the road	45:49
	from where these houses where built,	45:53
	and we had a ceremony	45:55
	of presenting the keys to these families,	45:57
	and all 20 of the families were there,	45:58
	and we gave them their keys.	46:00
	There had been no house there on Monday,	46:02
	and on Friday it was finished.	46:04
	With the grass planted, the shrubbery and the flowers,	46:05
	and the appliances, everything, finished.	46:08
	And on Saturday morning all of those families	46:12
	moved into their new houses.	46:15
	So often we who have a house,	46:19
	so often we who have food,	46:21
	so often we who have clothing	46:23
	we sort of lose touch with those	46:25
	who don't have those basic necessities of life,	46:28
	and we don't realize what it means to a family	46:31
	to have something like a tub to take a bath in.	46:34
	Just before Christmas, we built a new home for a family	46:40
	down in Americus, Georgia,	46:43
	and the mother of that family is named Berdie Wien	46:46
	and she and her husband and their children	46:50
	had never been able to have a good house	46:53
	in their whole life.	46:55
	They were in their 30s but had never had a house	46:56
	with a bathtub in it.	46:59
	Just before Christmas, their house was finished,	47:01
	they moved in,	47:04
	and Berdie who's a very talkative, wonderful woman,	47:05
	she called over to Habitat office there in Americus	47:08
	on Monday morning,	47:11
	and she said, "We moved in.	47:11
	"Praise God, we moved in!"	47:13
	She was so excited she just couldn't contain her joy.	47:15
	And she said, "When I moved in our house,	47:20
	"I just went from room to room looking through there,	47:23
	"and it was so beautiful,	47:25
	"and finally I got to the bathroom and I saw that tub."	47:26
	And she said, "I turned the water on,	47:30
	"and it was so warm and it was so nice,	47:31
	"and it was cold outside and the water was so good.	47:33
	"I just couldn't stand it.	47:35
	"I closed the door, I locked the door,	47:36
	"I took all my clothes off,	47:38
	"and I took a bath right in the middle of the afternoon."	47:39
	And she said, "The bath made me feel so good."	47:42
	She said, "I went to bed early that night,	47:45
	"and I was sleeping like a baby,	47:47
	"but at three o'clock in the morning I woke up,	47:49
	"and all I could think about was how good that bath felt.	47:51
	"So I got out of bed, I went back in there,	47:53
	"and ran that thing full of water	47:55
	"and I took myself another bath."	47:56
	We dedicated a house in New London, Connecticut,	48:02
	on the way down on this walk.	48:05
	And the mother of the family came forward,	48:09
	and I presented her with the Bible.	48:12
	She received the Bible, and with tears in her eyes,	48:13
	she said a few words, and then she left the podium,	48:17
	and began to go back toward her seat.	48:20
	But she couldn't just go and sit down,	48:23
	she hadn't said enough.	48:27
	She began to shout.	48:29
	I don't know if any of you have ever been in a church	48:31
	where a folk shouted.	48:32
	I don't imagine you have a whole lot of shouting in here.	48:34
	But I've been to a lot of services	48:38
	where folks get so full of the spirit,	48:39
	they shout, they say "Glory, hallelujah!	48:42
	"Praise God Almighty!"	48:46
	And this woman began to shout.	48:47
	And we had a lot of New England white folks there,	48:50
	and they were scared.	48:57
	They didn't know that the Lord might appear any minute.	49:00
	But this woman went on for a full minute	49:04
	just shouting, and shouting, and shouting.	49:06
	When she got all of her shouts out, she took her seat.	49:11
	But she had to express the joy that was in her heart,	49:15
	just because she was going to get a house.	49:21
	Simple things in life mean so much.	49:26
	Something like a roof.	49:31
	Something like a good floor under your feet.	49:34
	An exciting thing to me about this ministry	49:39
	we call Habitat for Humanity,	49:43
	is not just that we are building these houses,	49:46
	but it's how we build them.	49:50
	Someone asked one of the home owners	49:53
	down in Charlotte, North Carolina,	49:54
	what she felt about her new house,	49:56
	and she said, "I love my house, it's wonderful."	49:58
	But she said, "The thing that means the most to me,	50:01
	"is how it came to be."	50:04
	And that's what's so wonderful about this ministry.	50:09
	It's how God has brought us together.	50:12
	It's how God is helping us as Christians,	50:15
	and as concerned and caring people,	50:18
	to go out into the world and let the world see	50:21
	that we are not just good for shining light on ourselves,	50:24
	but that we're good to shine the light	50:30
	of the Lord, God Almighty,	50:32
	on a needy, hurting world,	50:34
	and we're out there building these houses	50:38
	to the glory of God.	50:41
	And we, as we are blessing others who need a decent home,	50:44
	we find that we ourselves	50:48
	are being blessed most of all.	50:51
	And we are going to eliminate poverty housing.	50:55
	We're going to eliminate poverty housing	50:58
	because we need to eliminate poverty housing.	50:59
	Everybody in the world is made in the image of God,	51:03
	whether they're a Christian or not,	51:06
	whether they are black or white, rich or poor,	51:08
	the whole crowd of humanity is made in the image of God.	51:10
	And Habitat for Humanity serves all of humanity,	51:14
	regardless of whether they are Christian or not,	51:17
	regardless of whether they're American or not,	51:20
	regardless of whether they believe politically	51:22
	as we do or not.	51:25
	We know that God loves them and that's sufficient for us.	51:27
	And so in Ghana, we are building houses.	51:31
	And in 10 places in Nicaragua.	51:34
	And we're building them in Haiti.	51:37
	And we're in the Dominican Republic.	51:39
	And we're in the Philippines,	51:41
	in the Solomon Islands, in Papua New Guinea.	51:42
	And all around the world, these houses are going up.	51:45
	We know that as an organization	51:48
	we cannot build literally every house that is needed,	51:50
	but we are in the nature of a conscience,	51:52
	we are in the nature of salt,	51:55
	and leaven, and yeast and light,	51:57
	and we're out there in the name of Christ,	51:59
	putting these houses up	52:01
	so that others can see them and be inspired by them.	52:03
	The government, business.	52:05
	Everybody has got to buy into this idea,	52:08
	and they will as we continue to be faithful to it.	52:12
	We expect to put up 4,000 houses next year,	52:15
	a dozen a day.	52:17
	But it can only be done as more and more people of good will	52:19
	more and more people of God buy into this idea	52:23
	and say, "We do not want people in our community,	52:27
	"we do not want people in our nation	52:30
	"living in substandard housing.	52:32
	"We do not want people made in the image of God	52:34
	"laying in the streets like a bunch of animals.	52:36
	"No, we will not put up with that.	52:39
	"No, we will not tolerate that.	52:41
	"We will do whatever is necessary	52:42
	"in order to solve this problem."	52:46
	It's happening, friends.	52:48
	This is a movement of God's spirit in our time.	52:50
	I really believe that.	52:52
	It's an exciting thing to be a part of,	52:54
	and if you haven't already driven some nails,	52:56
	if you haven't already gotten your thumb hit with a hammer,	52:59
	come on and participate in the Theology of the Hammer.	53:03
	Let us get out here in the highways and byways,	53:06
	and build everybody in the whole wide world	53:08
	a decent, simple house in which to live.	53:12
	Thank you.	53:15
	(crowd applauding)	53:18
	(imposing organ music)	53:41
	♪ Make me a captive, Lord ♪	54:19
	♪ And then I shall be free ♪	54:23
	♪ Force me to render up my sword ♪	54:28
	♪ And I shall conqueror be ♪	54:33
	♪ I sink in life's alarms ♪	54:38
	♪ When by myself I stand ♪	54:44
	♪ Imprison me within thine arms ♪	54:49
	♪ And strong shall be my hand ♪	54:54
	♪ My heart is weak and poor ♪	55:02
	♪ Until it master find ♪	55:06
	♪ It has no spring of action sure ♪	55:11
	♪ It varies with the wind ♪	55:16
	♪ It cannot freely move ♪	55:21
	♪ Till thou hast wrought its chain ♪	55:26
	♪ Enslave it with thy matchless love ♪	55:32
	♪ And deathless it shall reign ♪	55:37
	♪ My power is faint and low ♪	55:45
	♪ Till I have learned to serve ♪	55:50
	♪ It lacks the needed fire to glow ♪	55:55
	♪ It lacks the breeze to nerve ♪	56:00
	♪ It cannot drive the world ♪	56:06
	♪ Until itself be driven ♪	56:11
	♪ Its flag can only be unfurled ♪	56:16
	♪ When thou shalt breathe from heaven ♪	56:22
	♪ My will is not my own ♪	56:31
	♪ Till thou hast made it thine ♪	56:36
	♪ If it would reach a monarch's throne ♪	56:42
	♪ It must its crown resign ♪	56:47
	♪ It only stands unbent ♪	56:53
	♪ Amid the clashing strife ♪	56:58
	♪ When on thy bosom it has leant ♪	57:04
	♪ And found in thee its life ♪	57:10
-	The Lord be with you.	57:21
Crowd	And also with you.	57:23
-	Let us pray.	57:24
	You may be seated.	57:25
	Almighty God, we pray for the church and the world.	57:36
	May all who confess Your name be united in Your truth,	57:41
	live together in Your love,	57:45
	and reveal Your glory in this world.	57:46
	We pray, Gracious God,	57:51
	that You will guide the people of this land and all nations	57:52
	in the ways of justice and peace.	57:56
	We pray for the day when all people	57:59
	will be freed from oppression and bondage,	58:01
	and when poverty will cease.	58:04
	May all our work be done for the common good,	58:08
	and may it fulfill the gifts and need of all people.	58:10
	Dear Lord, give us a reverence for the good earth	58:15
	as Your own creation,	58:18
	help us to use its resources rightly,	58:20
	to the services of others, and to Your honor and glory.	58:23
	We pray a joyous prayer of thanksgiving	58:30
	for the witness of Habitat for Humanity.	58:32
	We are so very thankful for the builders, the walkers,	58:36
	the hands that prepared the food	58:40
	that we have enjoyed together,	58:42
	the houses that have been raised,	58:44
	those who live in new homes,	58:46
	those who have worked hard	58:49
	to make this national house raising walk,	58:50
	and the entire dream of Habitat for Humanity possible.	58:54
	May those who have labored	58:59
	on this frontier of truth and love	59:01
	find their lives so richly blessed	59:05
	by Your continued presence.	59:07
	They may be able to follow Your will in their lives.	59:10
	Comfort and heal those who suffer in body, mind or spirit,	59:16
	people without homes, those who are hungry or sick,	59:22
	those whose hearts are so hardened	59:27
	that they do not know the joy of giving	59:31
	so that others might have a new chance.	59:34
	Give courage and hope in their troubles,	59:38
	and bring them the joy of Your salvation.	59:41
	We command Dear Lord to Your mercy all who have died	59:45
	that Your will for them may be fulfilled	59:49
	and we pray that we may all share with Your Saints	59:52
	in Your eternal kingdom.	59:56
	All these things we pray in Christ's name.	59:59
	Amen.	1:00:03
	We're so very happy that today's offering	1:00:06
	will go to benefit Habitat for Humanity.	1:00:09
	In response to God's good gifts,	1:00:13
	let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	1:00:17
	(soft piano music)	1:01:08
	♪ I was hungry ♪	1:02:03
	♪ And you had no meat for me ♪	1:02:08
	♪ I was thirsty ♪	1:02:20
	♪ And you would not give me drink ♪	1:02:26
	♪ I was a stranger ♪	1:02:37
	♪ And you would not take me in ♪	1:02:44
	♪ Naked and you would not clothe me ♪	1:02:53
	♪ Sick and you would not visit me ♪	1:03:01
	♪ In jail and you would not come to me ♪	1:03:11
	♪ Would not come to me ♪	1:03:17
	♪ Lord when were you hungry ♪	1:03:29
	♪ We did not see your need ♪	1:03:32
	♪ Lord when were you sick ♪	1:03:36
	♪ We did not see you bleed ♪	1:03:39
	♪ Lord, when were you in jail ♪	1:03:43
	♪ We did not see you there ♪	1:03:46
	♪ Were you wearing a disguise ♪	1:03:50
	♪ If so, it was not fair ♪	1:03:53
	♪ If you did not do it ♪	1:04:05
	♪ To the least of these my little ones ♪	1:04:11
	♪ Then you did not do it unto me ♪	1:04:23
	♪ I was hungry and you ♪	1:04:43
	♪ Someone is waiting ♪	1:05:07
	♪ Right outside your door ♪	1:05:16
	♪ Someone is waiting ♪	1:05:24
	♪ Whom you've never seen before ♪	1:05:31
	♪ Not the thousands or the millions ♪	1:05:39
	♪ Who crowd the city streets ♪	1:05:48
	♪ But someone is lying at your feet ♪	1:05:57
	♪ Someone is lying at your feet ♪	1:06:18
	(imposing organ music)	1:07:13
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:07:39
	♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪	1:07:46
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:52
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:55
	♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪	1:08:00
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:08:06
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:12
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:15
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:19
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:22
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:26
	♪ Amen ♪	1:08:34
-	Earth and all stars, loud rushing planets,	1:08:44
	sing to the Lord a new song!	1:08:48
	Engines and steel, loud pounding hammers,	1:08:51
	sing to the Lord a new song!	1:08:55
	Limestone and beams, loud building workers,	1:08:57
	sing to the Lord a new song!	1:09:01
	Gracious God, we give you thanks for this time of worship,	1:09:04
	for this time when your word is rightly proclaimed,	1:09:08
	and we are given an opportunity to respond.	1:09:11
	We thank you for Millard Fuller,	1:09:15
	and the gift of Habitat for Humanity.	1:09:17
	And hereby we offer ourselves and our gifts	1:09:20
	for that good work,	1:09:24
	praying as we have been taught.	1:09:27
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,	1:09:29
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:09:34
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:09:37
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:09:40
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:09:43
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:09:45
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:09:49
	For thine is the kingdom,	1:09:53
	and the power, and the glory, forever.	1:09:55
	Amen.	1:09:59
	(imposing organ music)	1:10:02
	♪ Earth and all stars, loud rushing planets ♪	1:10:45
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:10:52
	♪ O victory, loud shouting army ♪	1:10:59
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:11:06
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:11:14
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:11:21
	♪ Hail, wind, and rain, loud blowing snowstorm ♪	1:11:31
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:11:38
	♪ Flowers and trees, loud rustling dry leaves ♪	1:11:46
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:11:53
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:12:01
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:12:08
	♪ Trumpet and pipes, loud clashing cymbals ♪	1:12:18
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:12:26
	♪ Harps, lute, and lyre, loud humming cellos ♪	1:12:33
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:12:41
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:12:48
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:12:55
	♪ Engines and steel, loud pounding hammers ♪	1:13:06
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:13:13
	♪ Limestone and beams, loud building workers ♪	1:13:21
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:13:28
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:13:35
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:13:43
	♪ Classrooms and labs, loud boiling test tubes ♪	1:13:53
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:14:01
	♪ Athlete and band, loud cheering people ♪	1:14:08
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:14:16
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:14:23
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:14:31
	♪ Knowledge and truth, loud sounding wisdom ♪	1:14:42
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:14:50
	♪ Daughter and son, loud praying members ♪	1:14:58
	♪ Sing to the Lord a new song ♪	1:15:06
	♪ He has done marvelous things ♪	1:15:14
	♪ I, too, will praise him with a new song ♪	1:15:22
-	May the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,	1:15:36
	the love of God,	1:15:39
	and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:15:40
	go with you and be with you now and always.	1:15:42
	Amen.	1:15:46
	Let's walk.	1:15:48
	♪ If I had a hammer ♪	1:15:52
	♪ I'd hammer in the morning ♪	1:15:56
	♪ I'd hammer in the evening ♪	1:16:00
	♪ All over this land ♪	1:16:04
	♪ I'd hammer out hope ♪	1:16:08
	♪ I'd hammer out promise ♪	1:16:12
	♪ I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters ♪	1:16:16
	♪ Spread God's love everywhere ♪	1:16:22
	♪ Show God's children that we care ♪	1:16:26
	♪ All over this land ♪	1:16:30
	(imposing organ music)	1:16:40

Item Info

Title:

Millard Fuller - "Theology of the Hammer" (August 14, 1988)

Description:

Christians have a tendency to disagree on just about everything when it comes to doctrine and liturgical practice. What can bring us together and unite us, though, is the theology of the hammer. That is to say, we can agree that the Gospel requires that we respond to the grace of God by going out and serving the world. Habitat for Humanity is witness to the fact that working together to serve the poor can bring all types of Christians together. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 26:44. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 53:18.
Key quotation: “Come on and participate in the Theology of the Hammer. Let us get out here in the highways and byways, and build everybody in the whole wide world a decent, simple house in which to live.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4nv99r9x

Date:

August 14, 1988

Speaker:

Fuller, Millard

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0092
ref8496_hb1
uachapelsermaud
duke:321549
dcrmv001092
ark:/87924/r4nv99r9x
139d36a3-d21b-42dc-a955-a1d767d07f60

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.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Millard Fuller - "Theology of the Hammer" (August 14, 1988)

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

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