William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service (May 13, 1989)

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	(lively organ music)	0:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:45
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:48
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:50
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:53
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:55
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	3:58
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:01
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:06
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:08
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:13
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:15
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:19
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:21
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:22
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:27
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:29
	(lively organ music)	4:35
	(congregation singing)	5:12
	(dramatic organ music)	7:45
	(choir singing)	8:48
-	When we gather to praise God,	9:32
	we remember that we are a people	9:34
	who have preferred our own wills to the Lord's.	9:36
	Therefore as we accept God's power to become new persons	9:39
	in Christ, let us confess our sins before God	9:43
	and one another.	9:48
	Please be seated.	9:49
All	Most merciful God, we confess	10:07
	that we have sinned against you in thought,	10:10
	word and deed	10:14
	by what we have done	10:15
	and by what we have left undone.	10:17
	We have not loved you with our whole heart.	10:20
	We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves,	10:23
	we are truly sorry	10:27
	and we humbly repent for the sake of your son Jesus Christ,	10:29
	have mercy on us and forgive us	10:34
	that we may delight in your will	10:37
	and walk in your ways	10:40
	to the glory of your name.	10:41
	Amen.	10:44
-	For as the heavens are high above the Earth,	10:47
	so great is God's steadfast love toward those	10:50
	who fear him.	10:53
	As far as the east is from the west,	10:55
	so far does God remove our transgressions from us.	10:58
	Amen.	11:04
	Good afternoon and welcome	11:07
	to this 1989 Baccalaureate Service	11:09
	at Duke University.	11:11
	Our preacher for this service	11:13
	is the Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon,	11:14
	Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry	11:17
	at Duke Divinity School	11:20
	and minister to Duke University.	11:21
	He has served in this capacity since 1984.	11:24
	Prior to that time, Dr. Willimon	11:28
	was a United Methodist Pastor	11:30
	in the South Carolina Annual Conference	11:32
	and Professor of Worship at Duke Divinity School.	11:34
	He's a much beloved minister to all of here	11:38
	at the university	11:40
	and a widely acclaimed preacher and author	11:42
	throughout the country.	11:44
	Our lector for today's service	11:47
	is Dr. H. Keith H. Brodie,	11:48
	James B. Duke Professor of Psychiatry and Law,	11:51
	Adjunct Professor of Psychology	11:54
	and president of Duke University.	11:56
-	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	12:06
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	12:09
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	12:11
	we might hear with joy	12:14
	what you say to us this day.	12:16
	The first lesson is taken from the book of Job.	12:19
	But where shall wisdom be found	12:22
	and where is the place of understanding?	12:25
	It cannot be gotten for gold	12:28
	and silver cannot be weighed as its price.	12:30
	It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,	12:33
	in precious onyx or in sapphire.	12:37
	Golden glass cannot equal it	12:40
	nor can it be exchanged for jewels or fine gold.	12:42
	No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal,	12:47
	the price of wisdom is above pearls.	12:50
	The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it	12:54
	nor can it be valued in pure gold.	12:58
	Whence then comes wisdom	13:01
	and where is the place of understanding?	13:04
	It is hid from the eyes of all living	13:07
	and concealed from the birds of the air.	13:10
	Abaddon and death say we have heard a rumor	13:13
	of it with our ears.	13:16
	God understands the way to it	13:19
	and he knows its place	13:21
	for he looks to the ends of the Earth	13:24
	and sees everything under the heavens.	13:26
	When he gave to the wind its weight	13:30
	and meted out the waters by measure,	13:32
	when he made a decree for the rain	13:34
	and a way for the lightning and the thunder,	13:37
	then he saw it and declared it,	13:40
	he established it and searched it out	13:43
	and he said to man behold,	13:46
	the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom	13:48
	and to depart from evil is understanding.	13:51
	Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,	13:55
	who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?	13:58
	Gird up your loins like a man.	14:03
	I will question you	14:06
	and you shall declare to me	14:07
	where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth?	14:10
	Tell me if you have understanding.	14:13
	Who determined its measurements?	14:16
	Surely you know	14:19
	or who stretched the line upon it	14:21
	or what were its bases sunk	14:23
	or who laid its cornerstone	14:26
	when the morning stars sang together	14:28
	and all the sons of God shouted for joy?	14:31
	Can you lift up your voice to the clouds	14:35
	that a flood of waters may cover you.	14:38
	Can you send forth lightnings	14:41
	that they may go and say to you,	14:43
	here we are, who has put wisdom in the clouds	14:45
	or given understanding to the mists?	14:50
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	14:53
	(dramatic organ music)	14:57
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:01
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:04
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:20
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:24
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:34
	♪ Hallelu ♪	16:36
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	16:39
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	16:42
	♪ Oh praise ye the Lord ♪	16:55
	(choir singing)	17:01
	♪ Praise ye the Lord ♪	17:07
	(choir singing)	17:12
	♪ Oh praise him for he's right ♪	17:18
	♪ And the greatness of his love ♪	17:23
	♪ Oh praise ye ♪	17:29
	♪ Praise ye his majesty ♪	17:33
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	17:41
	♪ Praise the son, praise the Lord ♪	17:43
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the son ♪	17:46
	(choir singing)	17:48
	♪ Praise him ♪	18:21
	♪ Praise him ♪	18:23
	(man singing)	18:26
	♪ Praise him ♪	18:39
	♪ Praise him ♪	18:41
	(choir singing)	18:44
	♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪	19:01
	♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪	19:05
	♪ Oh, praise ye the Lord ♪	19:14
	(choir singing)	19:20
	♪ Oh praise ye the Lord ♪	19:27
	(choir singing)	19:33
	♪ Oh praise him for he's right ♪	19:38
	(choir singing)	19:44
	♪ Oh praise him ♪	19:49
	♪ Oh praise him ♪	19:53
	♪ According to his righteous deed ♪	19:56
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	20:01
	♪ Praise the son, praise the Lord ♪	20:03
	(choir singing)	20:06
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	20:15
	(choir singing)	20:19
-	The congregation will please rise	21:01
	for the reading of the gospel.	21:03
	A reading from the gospel according to St. Matthew.	21:11
	Now when Jesus came into the district	21:15
	of Caesare'a Philippi,,	21:17
	he asked his disciples who do men say	21:19
	that the son of man is?	21:22
	And they said, some say John the Baptist,	21:24
	others say Elijah and others Jeremiah	21:28
	or one of the prophets.	21:32
	He said to them but who do you say that I am.	21:35
	Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ,	21:39
	the son of the living God,	21:43
	and Jesus answered him blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona,	21:45
	for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you	21:50
	but my father who is in heaven.	21:54
	Here endeth the gospel lesson.	21:57
	Thanks be to God.	21:59
	(lively organ music)	22:02
	(congregation singing)	22:10
-	I hope you seniors know	23:13
	what a great honor it is for me	23:15
	to be invited by Dr. Brodie to say a word to you	23:17
	on the occasion of your graduation.	23:22
	You have been one of my favorite classes	23:26
	and I hate to see you go.	23:28
	However, I was late getting here this afternoon	23:31
	and I arrived shortly before three	23:35
	and noticed that as usual one of you is parked	23:39
	in my reserved parking place.	23:43
	(audience laughing)	23:45
	And I thought this is not a completely unhappy occasion.	23:47
	I know that I speak for Dr. Brodie	23:53
	in saying that we have appreciated	23:55
	that your class is not overawed by authority.	23:57
	(audience laughing)	24:01
	Where shall wisdom be found	24:05
	and where is the place of understanding?	24:07
	God understands the way to it and knows its place.	24:10
	This year marks the 23rd anniversary	24:17
	of my attempt to get rid of this part of the Bible.	24:22
	That's right.	24:27
	Even though I'm a preacher, I'm a lot like you,	24:29
	there are parts of the Bible	24:31
	that I like and there I parts I like not.	24:32
	And usually those parts that I like	24:36
	are those that have been read,	24:38
	elicit from me hey, that's what I've always thought	24:40
	but not the book of Job.	24:46
	I first met Job my sophomore year of college.	24:51
	One meets the strangest people	24:56
	in undergraduate religion courses.	24:57
	There we were introduced to Job,	25:00
	a man from the improbable land of Uz,	25:04
	blameless and upright	25:08
	who feared God, turned away from evil.	25:11
	This is the Bible's way of saying that Job	25:14
	was a good man, a very good man,	25:16
	very prosperous, large family.	25:19
	But then Job's world collapses.	25:23
	In six verses he loses everything he has.	25:27
	The worst series of events ever to befall anyone	25:31
	in literature. Still Job is philosophical	25:35
	about his losses.	25:39
	Naked I came	25:40
	into the world from the womb	25:44
	and naked I shall go back to God,	25:45
	the Lord gives, the Lord takes away,	25:48
	blessed be the name of the Lord.	25:51
	Still as things sometimes do, things got worse.	25:53
	Job is struck down by a horrible illness.	25:57
	He is in misery.	26:01
	Mrs. Job advises you ought to curse God and die.	26:04
	Still Job remained faithful though miserable.	26:09
	I will complain of the bitterness of my soul,	26:15
	he says, I loath my life	26:18
	and for 30 chapters,	26:22
	Job sends up loud redundant complaint,	26:24
	something has gone wrong with the world,	26:31
	I did right, I kept my nose clean,	26:34
	I obeyed God and look what I have gotten for it	26:36
	and Job asked God why?	26:40
	He pleads for God to come down	26:45
	and meet him in court	26:48
	and defend himself.	26:50
	I would speak to the Almighty,	26:53
	I would plead my case before God, Job says.	26:55
	In my 19 years, I was really attracted to Job.	27:01
	He sounded like a primitive Jean-Paul Sartre	27:07
	with his existentialist questions.	27:10
	Of course nothing this bad had ever happened to me	27:14
	but I was not so dull as to know	27:17
	that Job was raising the deepest, toughest questions	27:20
	that we'll ever ask, questions.	27:23
	Is God good?	27:29
	If God is good, why is there such suffering and pain	27:32
	in God's world?	27:36
	Oh how Job's questions challenged	27:40
	my sophomoric view of religion.	27:43
	I got the impression that the purpose	27:46
	of religion is to stifle questions.	27:48
	Religious people are people who always have the answers,	27:52
	not the questions,	27:55
	religious people always have the correct response	27:57
	to every sticky situation in life,	28:01
	religious people always have just the right Bible verse	28:04
	on the tip of the tongue.	28:06
	It's just God's will.	28:09
	You've got to accept it on faith.	28:12
	Religious people are people of answers, not questions.	28:16
	But no, here in the Bible, it was Job.	28:22
	Shaking his fist, stamping his feet, raging.	28:28
	Wanting to know why and wanting to know why now?	28:33
	And I loved him for it.	28:37
	All of those sugar-coated simplistic pious answers	28:39
	of Bible-bearing, dormitory prayer group fundamentals,	28:43
	friends just melted before Job's searing questions,	28:46
	these questions and I heard Job ask,	28:50
	where shall wisdom be found?	28:55
	Where is the place of understanding?	28:59
	Humanity doesn't know the way of it.	29:00
	It isn't to be found in the land of the living,	29:04
	it cannot be gotten for gold.	29:07
	Beautiful poetry, beautifully bleak	29:12
	because here I sat in sophomore religion class	29:17
	paying a good deal of gold	29:19
	or at least tuition to get some wisdom	29:21
	but no, Job says, you can forget about it,	29:23
	you won't know anymore why	29:26
	when you leave here than when you came.	29:27
	Wisdom is a secret that only God knows,	29:32
	the God, the same God who afflicted Job	29:36
	and then wouldn't tell him why.	29:40
	Okay.	29:45
	I expect we can take it, we're all big boys and girls.	29:47
	The outlook is a bit bleak,	29:51
	it's a tad nihilistic.	29:52
	But the honesty is refreshing,	29:55
	there's none of this pietistic	29:58
	sentimental religious gibberish for Job.	29:59
	No papering over the great chasm	30:04
	of life's questions with pious platitudes.	30:09
	When I looked for good, evil came.	30:15
	When I prayed for light, I got darkness.	30:20
	It's honest.	30:27
	It's real.	30:29
	It's in the Bible.	30:32
	And of course it's also in life.	30:36
	Russell Baker of The New York Times	30:40
	wrote a book, Growing Up.	30:42
	His autobiography and Baker tells when he was five,	30:47
	his cousin found him playing	30:51
	and told him the terrible news,	30:53
	your father's dead, Kenneth said.	30:56
	He is not, I said.	30:59
	But of course they didn't know the situation.	31:02
	I started to explain, he was sick,	31:03
	he was in the hospital, my mother	31:05
	was going to bring him home right now.	31:07
	He's dead, Kenneth said.	31:10
	An icicle slid into my heart.	31:13
	I started running and screaming he is not	31:16
	but it was a weak argument,	31:20
	and I knew it was so before I even got home.	31:21
	I was right.	31:27
	He was 33 years old.	31:29
	By the time I got home,	31:33
	the women had descended on our house	31:35
	and with 1,000 tasks thy had no time	31:37
	to handle a howling five-year-old	31:40
	and I was sent to Bessie Scott's house.	31:43
	Poor Bessie Scott.	31:46
	All afternoon she listened while I sat in her kitchen	31:49
	and cried myself out.	31:53
	For the first time I thought seriously about God.	31:57
	Between sobs I told Bessie	32:01
	that if God could do things like this,	32:03
	then God was hateful	32:06
	and I had no more use for God.	32:07
	Bessie told me about the peace of heaven	32:10
	and the joy of being among the angels	32:12
	and the happiness of my father who was already there.	32:14
	But her argument failed to quiet my rage.	32:18
	If God loves me,	32:22
	why did he make my father die?	32:23
	Bessie said I would understand some day	32:27
	and she was only partly right.	32:29
	That afternoon, though I could not have phrased it this way,	32:33
	I decided that God	32:39
	was a lot less interested in people	32:42
	than anybody in Morrisonville was willing to admit.	32:46
	And after that day, I never cried again	32:52
	with any real conviction	32:55
	nor expected much of anybody's God except indifference	32:58
	nor love deeply without fear	33:02
	that it would cost me deeply in pain.	33:06
	At the age of five I had become a skeptic	33:10
	and begun to sense	33:14
	that any happiness I might receive in this life	33:15
	was but a prelude to a grim cosmic joke.	33:19
	Why is light given to one that is in misery	33:28
	or life to the bitter in soul	33:34
	who long for death	33:37
	and are happy when at last they reach the grave?	33:41
	It's in the Bible.	33:47
	I heard it my sophomore year.	33:50
	And even though there's a lot you don't know at 19,	33:52
	I knew that in Job I had come face to face	33:56
	with some of the biggest questions	34:00
	I would ever ask.	34:03
	But you say well, what is the purpose	34:08
	of an education if not to raise questions?	34:10
	Right?	34:14
	Socrates.	34:15
	Education consist of questions.	34:17
	At what temperature will nitrogen liquefy?	34:21
	What did Congress do in 1878?	34:23
	Why is light given to the bitter in soul?	34:26
	Questions.	34:31
	Sometimes I think we modern people	34:34
	are more comfortable with questions than answers.	34:36
	Sometimes we modern people seem infatuated with questions.	34:43
	We never get around to the answers.	34:47
	And I suppose that's because questions imply	34:50
	that everything is still open and up for grabs.	34:53
	But answers require that we put our money down,	34:58
	that we move out on the basis	35:00
	of what is rather than whine about what ought to be.	35:03
	Living the answers can be more challenging	35:08
	even than raising the questions.	35:13
	Now see here at Duke we've tried to teach you	35:18
	that the purpose of education	35:20
	is to accept nothing and to question everything	35:22
	and that sounds courageous and intellectual	35:27
	but I tell you this this afternoon	35:31
	that sometimes it takes more courage	35:33
	to live the answers that life puts to us	35:36
	rather than to raise our questions	35:42
	that we put to life.	35:45
	Particularly when the answers do not fit	35:47
	into our flattened modern humanistic scheme.	35:50
	As a sophomore, I thought that the most difficult thing	35:55
	in life was courageously to live	35:58
	with these big, deep questions.	36:00
	But by the time I was a senior	36:05
	and was ready to stop playing school	36:07
	in order to go play life,	36:10
	well, I discovered that the toughest task	36:13
	is to live with unexpected,	36:17
	unwanted answers.	36:21
	Allow me to illustrate from the book of Job.	36:27
	Finally, 38 chapters late, God finally shows up on stage,	36:31
	enters the courtroom	36:37
	and answers Job.	36:40
	Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,	36:42
	who is it that darkens our counsel	36:45
	with these words without knowledge?	36:47
	Gird up your loins like a man.	36:50
	I will question you.	36:53
	Wait a minute, wait a minute says Job.	36:56
	I asked you first.	36:58
	Isn't that just like God, Job probably thought.	37:00
	God answers by asking a question.	37:04
	Why is there undeserved suffering in the world?	37:09
	Why is there injustice and unfairness	37:12
	and heartache and pain, why?	37:15
	I'll tell you why says God.	37:17
	Then God answers.	37:19
	Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world?	37:22
	Tell me.	37:26
	Have you ever commanded the sun to rise	37:28
	since you've been born?	37:30
	Do you know where the mountain goats spring forth?	37:33
	Who let the wild ass go free, tell me that one?	37:38
	Is the wild ox willing to get down and serve you?	37:43
	The wings of the ostrich wave proudly	37:48
	but are they the plumage of love?	37:51
	Behold hippopotamus whom I made as I made you.	37:54
	Can you draw out the crocodile with a fish hook	38:00
	or press down his tongue with a cord?	38:02
	This sort of irrationality goes on for four chapters,	38:07
	this bragging, and swaggering and boasting about	38:10
	which, if you'll note, has absolutely nothing to do	38:14
	with anything that's gone before.	38:17
	Certainly nothing to do with any of the great,	38:20
	deep questions that Job has raised.	38:23
	What do we make out of that?	38:28
	Wild ass, hippopotamus, ostrich feathers,	38:30
	isn't that just like the Bible I thought.	38:34
	We finally gotten down to some good contemporary,	38:36
	deep human questions	38:39
	only to have this shouted down	38:42
	by this bragging and swaggering around	38:44
	and irrelevant nonsense.	38:47
	Why do innocent people suffer?	38:50
	If God is good, why is there injustice	38:52
	and the voice from the whirlwind replies,	38:55
	can you create an ostrich?	38:59
	Now that isn't an answer,	39:03
	but it is an answer.	39:07
	The rabbis note that when God finally replies,	39:11
	God answers by parading past prime examples	39:15
	of wondrous, extravagant,	39:21
	pointless divine creativity.	39:24
	Hippopotami, ostriches, wild asses,	39:29
	all of which have absolutely no earthly use to humanity.	39:34
	Isn't it interesting when God comes up	39:42
	with the things that God is most proud of,	39:43
	he comes up with these creatures	39:46
	that have no point,	39:48
	what good is a hippopotamus?	39:50
	You can't eat it, you can't plow with it,	39:52
	you can't make an aphrodisiac out of it,	39:54
	you can't play catch with it.	39:56
	None of these animals has any practical use.	39:59
	Why would God waste a day,	40:03
	even a day of divine creativity making a crocodile?	40:05
	We don't know, said the rabbis.	40:10
	We don't know.	40:15
	Get the point?	40:17
	We don't know.	40:19
	These utterly useless impractical,	40:22
	apparently pointless creatures	40:24
	are evidence of some sort	40:28
	of big mysterious extravagance of God.	40:29
	God only knows why God wanted mountain goats and crocodiles.	40:33
	Don't ask me to explain unfairness, says God,	40:39
	to somebody who can't even make a sun rise,	40:41
	much less an ostrich	40:46
	and I know what you're thinking.	40:49
	That really isn't much of an answer.	40:51
	But you've heard worse.	40:54
	Why is there suffering?	40:58
	There is suffering because people who sin are punished.	41:01
	Are you suffering?	41:04
	You must have done something wrong then.	41:05
	Are there any other questions?	41:07
	Why was my son coming home for Christmas	41:12
	on Pan Am flight 103?	41:16
	And the TV evangelist replied,	41:21
	for some reason God just meant	41:24
	for those people to be on that plane	41:25
	to teach us a lesson.	41:27
	Any other questions?	41:30
	Now of course we're sophisticated, educated folk,	41:34
	we don't accept such answers.	41:37
	No, what we do is we have a commission of inquiry,	41:40
	we call in the FBI,	41:43
	we sort through the wreckage, we X-ray it,	41:44
	catalog it, why?	41:48
	Pan Am 103 was destroyed by a bomb.	41:50
	Why would somebody kill all those innocent people?	41:54
	Because they're terrorists.	41:58
	Well why?	42:01
	There's certain systemic, economic	42:03
	and political sources of terrorism.	42:05
	Why?	42:08
	Our petty inadequate, though socially	42:12
	and academically acceptable answers	42:14
	just crumble under the weight	42:17
	of such awesome, unresolved why.	42:21
	The trouble is that here you have learned	42:30
	to answer so many questions well.	42:32
	Can you learn to live	42:38
	with some rather unsatisfactory, incomprehensible answers?	42:40
	We've taught you to be so good at questions	42:48
	but are you good at the answers,	42:52
	particularly when the answers do not fit	42:56
	into our little humanistic scheme of things?	42:58
	Sometimes when we don't get the answers we want,	43:04
	we're apt to get depressed and cynical.	43:06
	I'd rather die than live	43:09
	with such answers and irrationality, Job says.	43:11
	But by the end	43:17
	when Job is ready to graduate	43:20
	and has finished Reality 101,	43:21
	Job says,	43:25
	"Though he slay me,	43:29
	"yet I will trust."	43:32
	Could you say that?	43:41
	For this is your day of great joy	43:45
	and accomplishment but I know you're smart enough	43:49
	to know that life will not always be so.	43:53
	Ask your parents about it after the service.	43:57
	So can you, Job asked, can you wherever life	44:01
	may take you from Duke,	44:05
	can you live without knowing for sure	44:08
	the answers to why?	44:12
	More to the point,	44:15
	could you let God be God?	44:18
	Big and real and incomprehensible	44:21
	when God's reasons when calibrated	44:27
	to human scale appear unreasonable?	44:29
	Because in the end there are not always good, tidy answers.	44:35
	But better than even answers, says Job,	44:40
	is the presence,	44:43
	the presence of a God that keeps on talking to us	44:46
	and walking with us,	44:50
	the presence of the God who hung the moon	44:52
	and the stars and makes the sun to rise	44:55
	and formed the hippopotamus in the mud	44:57
	and you in your mother's womb.	44:59
	This God, walking beside you as you go forth	45:03
	into God's great majestic,	45:10
	though sometimes painful and confusing, world.	45:12
	Finally, I think this is all that we know.	45:22
	But fortunately, dear graduates.	45:27
	For the questions of this life,	45:32
	our claim is that this is knowledge enough.	45:35
	Amen.	45:41
	(lively organ music)	45:44
	(congregation singing)	46:36
	(lively organ music)	49:24
	(dramatic organ music)	50:20
	(choir singing)	51:09
-	Please stand as we pray together.	56:07
	Almighty God, as you have granted us a place	56:17
	in this university,	56:21
	hallow to us now this day	56:23
	when we dedicate ourselves to the life	56:26
	and work to which you have called us	56:28
	that we may remember with gratitude	56:31
	the families and friends who have cared for us.	56:33
	(congregation mumbles)	56:37
	That in the life ahead we may keep faith	56:40
	with those who loved us	56:43
	and trusted us and whose hopes follow us.	56:44
	(congregation mumbles)	56:49
	That we may enter with good courage	56:52
	and constant purpose upon the tasks which await us.	56:54
	(congregation mumbles)	56:58
	From all vanity and pride	57:02
	as if our accomplishments were of our sole creation.	57:04
	(congregation mumbles)	57:08
	From neglect of the opportunities	57:11
	which are all about us	57:13
	and from distrust of our ability	57:15
	to meet the duties of each dawning day.	57:17
	(congregation mumbles)	57:21
	That the example of wise and generous people	57:23
	who have gone before us in our families	57:26
	and here in this university,	57:29
	may save us from folly and self-indulgent.	57:31
	(congregation mumbles)	57:35
	More especially, that you would show to us	57:38
	your way of love in all we do or say	57:41
	that we should come to love the Lord our God	57:45
	with our soul and mind and strength	57:47
	and our neighbor as ourselves.	57:50
	(congregation mumbles)	57:53
	These things and whatever else you see needful	57:56
	and right for us, we ask in your holy name, amen.	57:59
	(lively organ music)	58:06
	(choir singing)	58:48

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service (May 13, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 23:13. Sermon end time: 45:42.
In this Baccalaureate Service, the preacher asks graduates to rethink the purpose of education. The wisdom of life does not come from university education, but from God. The toughest aspects in life are not asking difficult questions, but instead, living out the unexpected answers with the help of the presence of God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Living the answers can be more challenging even than raising the questions.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4q81573c

Date:

May 13, 1989

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Job

Chapter and Verse:

Job 28:12,23

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0133
ref8619_azl
uachapelsermaud
duke:321435
dcrmv001129
ark:/87924/r4q81573c
d11eeb61-4b64-4776-89a0-e1829fe957ab

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service (May 13, 1989)

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1. William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service (May 13, 1989)

2. William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service 5:00 pm (May 12, 1989)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "When the Answers Don't Fit the Questions" Baccalaureate Service (May 13, 1989)

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