William H. Willimon - "Who Is in Charge Here?" (November 19, 1989)

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	(organ music)	0:00
	(lively organ music)	0:32
-	Good morning.	1:47
	And welcome to this service of worship here at	1:47
	Duke University Chapel on this 27th Sunday after Pentecost.	1:49
	We are delighted to see each of you here.	1:54
	We welcome our many visitors and especially those of you	1:56
	in our radio and television audiences.	1:59
	Our preacher for this morning's service is the	2:02
	Rev. Dr. William H. Willimon,	2:04
	Minister to the University, or rather, Dean of the Chapel,	2:06
	and his services are printed and distributed each week	2:09
	at the conclusion of the service.	2:12
	You will find them in the north ex	2:14
	as you leave the chapel.	2:15
	We also thank our lecturer, Dr. Stanley Hauerwas,	2:17
	who is professor of Theological Ethics	2:20
	at Duke Divinity School.	2:22
	Please note the remaining announcements as they are	2:24
	printed in your bulletins.	2:26
	And now, let us continue our worship.	2:28
	(organ music)	2:34
	(congregation singing)	3:37
	(congregation singing)	4:45
	(congregation singing)	5:20
	(organ music)	6:47
	Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written	8:38
	for our learning, grant so us to hear them,	8:40
	to read, to learn, and inwardly digest them,	8:45
	that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed	8:49
	hope of eternal life, which you have given us in our	8:52
	Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you	8:55
	and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.	8:59
	Amen.	9:03
-	Will you pray with me?	9:22
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	9:25
	by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that as the Word	9:28
	is read and proclaimed, we might hear with joy	9:32
	what you say to us this day.	9:36
	Amen.	9:39
	From the book of Malachi comes this Word of God.	9:45
	For behold the day comes burning like an oven,	9:50
	when all the arrogant, and all the evil doers	9:53
	will be stubble.	9:56
	The day that comes shall burn them up says the God of Hosts,	9:58
	so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.	10:02
	But for you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness	10:08
	shall rise with healing in its wings.	10:11
	You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall,	10:14
	and you shall tread down the wicked,	10:18
	for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet,	10:20
	on the day when I act says the God of Hosts.	10:24
	Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes	10:28
	and ordinances that I commanded him	10:32
	at Horeb for all Israel.	10:34
	Behold before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes,	10:37
	I will send Elijah the prophet and he will turn the hearts	10:42
	of the parents to their children, and the hearts	10:46
	of children to their parents,	10:49
	lest I come and smite the land with a curse.	10:51
	The Word of God for the people of God.	10:55
	(choir singing)	11:30
	(choir singing)	13:19
	(choir singing)	14:03
-	Please stand for the Responsive Reading of the Soldier.	17:28
	God is seated at the Divine Council,	17:42
	and in the midst of the gods holds judgment.	17:45
Congregation	How long will you judge unjustly	17:49
	and show partiality to the wicked?	17:51
-	Give justice to the weak and the orphan,	17:54
	maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.	17:57
Congregation	Rescue the weak and the needy,	18:01
	deliver them from the hand of the wicked.	18:03
-	They have neither knowledge nor understanding.	18:06
	They walk about in darkness.	18:09
	All the foundations of the Earth are shaken.	18:11
Congregation	By sin, were gods not like offspring	18:14
	all hopeful.	18:19
-	[Associate Dean Of The Chapel] Nevertheless, you shall die	18:20
	like mortals, and fall like any prince.	18:22
-	Rise, oh God, judge the Earth, for to you	18:26
	belongs all nations.	18:29
	(organ music)	18:33
-	The Epistle lesson comes	19:38
	from the book of Thessalonians.	19:39
	Now we command you friends in the name of our Lord	19:44
	Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any	19:47
	brother or sister who is living in idleness,	19:49
	and not in accord with tradition	19:52
	that you receive from us.	19:54
	For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us.	19:56
	We were not idle when we were with you.	19:59
	We did not eat anyone's bread without paying,	20:02
	but would toil and labor.	20:05
	We worked night and day that we	20:06
	might not burden any of you.	20:09
	It was not because we have not the right,	20:12
	but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate.	20:14
	For even when we were with you, we gave you this command,	20:18
	whoever will not work, let them not eat.	20:22
	For we hear that some of you are living in idleness,	20:26
	mere busybodies, not doing any work.	20:30
	Now such persons we command and exhort in the	20:34
	Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness	20:37
	and to earn their own living.	20:40
	Friends, do not be weary in well doing.	20:43
	Will you please stand for the Gospel?	20:49
	From the 21st Book of Luke, we read.	20:59
	And as some spoke of a temple, how it was adorned	21:04
	with noble stones and offerings, Jesus said,	21:07
	"As for these things which you see the days will come	21:12
	when there shall not be left here one stone upon another	21:15
	that will not be thrown down."	21:19
	And they asked, "Teacher, when will all this be?	21:22
	And what will be the sign when this is about to take place?"	21:26
	And Jesus said, "Take heed that you are not led astray	21:31
	for many will come in my name saying I am the One,	21:35
	and the time is at hand.	21:39
	Do not go after them.	21:41
	And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified,	21:43
	for this must first take place,	21:48
	but the end will not be at once.	21:50
	Then Jesus said to them, "Nations will rise against	21:54
	nation, and kingdom against kingdom.	21:57
	There will be great earthquakes and in various places	22:01
	famines and pestilence.	22:04
	And there will be terrors and great signs from Heaven.	22:07
	But before all this they will lay their hands on you	22:10
	and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues	22:14
	and prisons, and you will be brought before kings	22:18
	and governors for my name's sake.	22:21
	This will be a time for you to bear testimony.	22:24
	Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate	22:28
	beforehand how to answer.	22:31
	For I will give you a mouth and wisdom,	22:33
	which none of your adversaries will be able to	22:36
	withstand or contradict.	22:38
	You will be delivered up even by parents, and brothers,	22:40
	and sisters, and relatives, and friends,	22:43
	and some of you they will put to death.	22:46
	You will be hated for all by my name's sake.	22:50
	But not a hair of your head will perish.	22:53
	By your endurance you will gain your lives.	22:56
	The Gospel of Jesus Christ.	23:00
-	Our new hymnal	23:22
	is somewhat unusual among the hymnals	23:26
	of the church in that it contains all 150	23:29
	Psalms of Israel.	23:35
	This seems to me to be a good thing, and yet I am haunted	23:38
	by the results of a survey which we did here a few years	23:41
	ago in which we asked you which aspects of chapel worship	23:45
	you liked the best, and which ones you liked least.	23:49
	And at the bottom of the list were the Psalms.	23:53
	And I suppose that's natural, because when we enter	23:58
	the Psalms, we have the impression that we	24:02
	are in a world that we know not.	24:04
	Many of them are strange.	24:09
	And the Bible, which is old already, the Psalms are some	24:12
	of the oldest parts of the old Bible.	24:17
	The Psalms were the hymn book of ancient Israel.	24:21
	But most of us are not poets.	24:25
	The Psalms invite us to enter an unaccustomed world,	24:28
	to walk paths we do not usually tread.	24:32
	And of all the old Psalms,	24:39
	could any seem more old,	24:42
	and therefore more unfamiliar than today's Psalm, Psalm 82.	24:45
	When we hear this Psalm we wander amidst its stanzas	24:52
	looking for a familiar face.	24:55
	In other Psalms we find a reassuring I, I, I.	24:58
	I would rather be a door keeper in the house of the Lord,	25:03
	than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.	25:06
	Psalm 84.	25:08
	The Lord is my shepherd, whom shall I fear?	25:10
	But in this Psalm, we find no such	25:16
	point of familiar contact.	25:19
	Neither the familiar troubled heart of the Psalms.	25:22
	As a heart longs for flowing streams,	25:26
	so longs my soul for Thee.	25:30
	Psalm 42.	25:32
	Nor the exuberant shout of praise.	25:34
	The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?	25:37
	Psalm 82 we wander, grope for point of contact.	25:43
	But did you notice as we were repeating this Psalm,	25:51
	we were in a world that we do not know?	25:55
	We have found ourselves in a divine council,	25:59
	a great heavenly assembly, a congress of gods,	26:02
	in which all the gods are seated about.	26:06
	Can you picture it?	26:10
	It's a strange world, one of the oldest parts of the Bible,	26:12
	we think.	26:15
	Back to a day when there were still many gods,	26:18
	and the world was run by a consortium of divine beings.	26:20
	Thus in this Psalm 82, we have reached back, way back,	26:26
	to our dim past, before monotheism, before one God.	26:30
	When there was still a God for agriculture,	26:35
	and then there was another God for health,	26:38
	a God who lived in one part of the world,	26:41
	and a God who lived in another,	26:43
	a God of one nation, and a God of another nation.	26:45
	And periodically, these gods would all get together	26:49
	for a great council of the gods.	26:52
	And that's where we come in.	26:55
	We're talking in Psalm 82 about the day when our God,	26:59
	Yahweh, is his proper name, translated in our Bibles,	27:04
	the Lord.	27:09
	When Yahweh got up and indicted	27:10
	all of the other gods for misconduct.	27:12
	How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality	27:16
	to the wicked, Yahweh wants to know.	27:19
	What kind of gods are you anyway?	27:22
	You take bribes from the rich.	27:25
	You divvy out favors and life on the basis	27:29
	of how much a person has.	27:31
	You take the side of the wealthy against the poor.	27:34
	And in this Psalm, Yahweh attacks them	27:38
	and accuses them of having neither	27:40
	knowledge nor understanding.	27:44
	You walk in darkness, the foundations	27:46
	of the world are shaken.	27:48
	In another place, Isaiah, made fun of these idols	27:53
	which we create for ourselves.	27:57
	They know not, they do not discern, God has shut their eyes.	28:00
	They have minds, but they cannot understand.	28:05
	Shall I fall down before a block of wood?	28:07
	These so called gods, blind as bats, stupid, impotent.	28:11
	But we ask ourselves, why then must we sing this song?	28:18
	We are modern, more sophisticated people.	28:23
	We have no heavenly assembly in the sky,	28:27
	no convention of the gods.	28:30
	Why should we be made to sing Psalm 82?	28:32
	All the foundations of the Earth are shaken, says the Psalm.	28:40
	The foundations of the whole world are shaking.	28:46
	Does that sound more modern?	28:50
	And why shouldn't the foundations of the world shake,	28:53
	says the Psalmist.	28:56
	With a bunch of incompetent, bribe-taking, unjust gods	28:57
	trying to run things, no wonder the whole Earth	29:01
	is toppling on its foundations.	29:04
	What do you expect anyway,	29:06
	from such a bunch of divine nincompoops?	29:08
	My mother, upon her return from the Soviet Union	29:13
	a number of years ago, told her bridge club that she	29:17
	had stopped worrying about the Russian's desire to	29:21
	take over the world, after experiencing their	29:23
	inability even to run a hotel.	29:26
	These fake gods, as crime in the streets,	29:31
	the oppressed are being victimized by the very	29:36
	governments that claim to be protecting them.	29:39
	The whole world is trembling at the foundations,	29:42
	due to these silly, incompetent, inept gods.	29:45
	And it was right here that our God, Yahweh, the Lord,	29:50
	strides in and accuses and condemns them.	29:55
	You shall die.	30:00
	You shall fall like any prince.	30:04
	So much for you gods.	30:08
	You shall perish just like you were mortals.	30:11
	Dying in your own corruption, like some petty politician,	30:15
	choking to death on the smoke of his own cigar.	30:19
	By the time the Psalm ends, by the time this great	30:24
	convention of the gods ends, there's only one God	30:27
	left standing in the great heavenly assembly,	30:32
	Yahweh, the Lord, standing there alone,	30:35
	amidst the people's great acclamation.	30:41
	Arise, oh God, judge the Earth,	30:44
	because to Thee belong all the nations.	30:47
	The Psalm, you see, is making a claim about governance.	30:52
	The Psalm, for all of its primitive, mythopoetic images	30:58
	is a very sophisticated assertion	31:03
	about who is in charge here.	31:05
	The Psalm is old and primordial, which is to say deep	31:10
	and true and real.	31:14
	It is an old attempt to talk about what is now	31:18
	deep and primordial and primitive within us.	31:23
	Namely our continuing innate polytheism.	31:26
	We're all born polytheists, assuming that the world	31:32
	consists of many gods, rival deities squabbling over	31:36
	their own turf, rather than one God over all,	31:40
	above all, for all.	31:44
	We are born polytheists.	31:46
	Monotheism, on the other hand, you've got to be taught.	31:48
	So, we think of Sunday morning as a day together	31:55
	and give Yahweh his due.	32:01
	Sunday morning is a time to get together and to say	32:03
	some good things about the Lord.	32:06
	But on whose altar will we lay ourselves on Monday morning?	32:09
	Are you an expert on foreign policy?	32:17
	He asked me after the sermon.	32:20
	Well, gee, no, I.	32:22
	Well, all right then.	32:24
	Would you stick to religion and stay out of politics?	32:25
	You've got your God called religion.	32:31
	Then there's the God called politics.	32:34
	The world is subdivided into these	32:38
	realms of competing deities.	32:40
	You read a news magazine like Time, and	32:45
	you got a current event section, and a art section,	32:48
	and a sex section, and then way back on the last page,	32:52
	they got two columns for the religion section.	32:55
	And if you count up the columns, you can learn	32:58
	a lot about our gods.	33:00
	"We've got the chapel for those people	33:05
	who want to be religious", she said.	33:07
	"What are those people doing over in the Bryan Center	33:10
	handing out pamphlets?"	33:12
	See, I'm suggesting that we really haven't outgrown	33:16
	the mythology attacked in Psalm 82,	33:20
	with its assault on the heavenly council of gods.	33:25
	I'm suggesting that the religion of Israel,	33:29
	and therefore Jesus, is always a debate about	33:32
	the number of gods.	33:36
	Just how many gods are there?	33:37
	Sunday morning is a battleground between the God	33:41
	and all the other gods.	33:45
	The Psalm says that in the great assembly of all the gods	33:51
	one day the Lord rose up and condemned them to death.	33:55
	This whole allegedly divine world, with its powers,	34:01
	and its principalities, and its gods, and its rival deities	34:05
	was rendered in one stroke, impotent.	34:10
	Psalm 82 is an account of deicide.	34:14
	We enter this Psalm in the world of many gods,	34:19
	but by the time we're finished singing this song,	34:23
	we have left forever the world of the gods.	34:27
	Now when we bow down, we can worship in only one direction.	34:32
	Now human life can have only one referent, one aim.	34:38
	Now our ultimate loyalties can have only one object.	34:43
	Now the people of the world have only one protector,	34:48
	belong to only one family.	34:53
	The universe got rearranged.	34:58
	Human life is no longer split, divided, torn asunder	35:01
	by claims of conflicting deities.	35:06
	Reality now has integrity.	35:08
	Hear oh Israel, Yahweh, your God is one.	35:12
	So, you see after Psalm 82, I can't stand up before you and	35:20
	after the death of the gods at the hand of Yahweh,	35:27
	I cannot stand up before you and speak about the economic	35:32
	sphere, or the issue of race, or claim	35:36
	that this is a purely political matter.	35:42
	We can no longer slice up reality in the manner	35:46
	of the Duke curriculum.	35:49
	We can no longer structure the universe in the way	35:52
	that the Duke campus is arranged.	35:54
	Over there is the kingdom of the God of business,	35:58
	and then over there is this world of law and justice,	36:01
	and then back there beyond the pines,	36:04
	is the realm of science.	36:06
	No, hear oh Israel, the Lord your God is one.	36:09
	And you've got to worship this one God with all your	36:12
	heart, soul, and mind, and strength,	36:14
	and everything you've got.	36:15
	Remembering that day long ago,	36:18
	when your God rose up and killed all the others.	36:22
	Our God, this one that answers to the name of Yahweh,	36:29
	this Lord, as the commandments say, is a jealous God.	36:34
	A jealous God, there were gods that wanted	36:40
	only a part of you.	36:43
	There were gods that wanted to be the God	36:46
	of just one little nation.	36:48
	The praise of just one race.	36:50
	But here is a jealous God that tolerates no rival lovers.	36:54
	And yet, that is not at the heart of it, really.	37:01
	That is not the motivation for God's killing	37:03
	of the other gods in this Psalm.	37:08
	If you will note in the Psalm 82, the gods are condemned	37:13
	to death, and note this, because it'll be on the exam,	37:16
	the gods are condemned to death because of their	37:21
	inability to create justice in the world.	37:25
	They, for all of their claims of divinity, cannot	37:30
	"Give justice to the weak and the orphan.	37:35
	"They cannot maintain the right of the afflicted	37:39
	"and the destitute.	37:42
	"They cannot rescue the weak and the needy,	37:44
	"and deliver them from the hand of the wicked."	37:47
	Now there were gods who were really into nature.	37:55
	Like to go out in trees, and roll in the grass,	37:59
	and be nature.	38:02
	And there were other gods who were really	38:04
	into sex and fertility	38:06
	and the exuberant rhythms of life.	38:09
	There were gods that just got all excited	38:14
	about beauty and aesthetics.	38:16
	But you see, Yahweh is into justice.	38:20
	He's a God who gets all excited over the treatment	38:26
	of those on the bottom of society.	38:32
	That's Yahweh's thing.	38:34
	And for those on the bottom, who've got no power,	38:39
	and no voice, and no means of helping themselves,	38:44
	they've got no hope,	38:50
	other than a God who is just.	38:53
	When they go to the grocery store, or when they're	38:58
	dragged before a judge, they tremble.	39:03
	They tremble before those with wealth and power.	39:07
	Who shall intercede for them?	39:11
	What lawyer would take their case?	39:15
	The gods of economics, the gods of the legal system,	39:19
	of politics, of education, these gods that were	39:23
	supposed to be protecting and looking	39:26
	out for them have failed.	39:28
	Justice is perverted.	39:30
	The world's foundations are shaken.	39:32
	Debt piles up.	39:36
	The rich become richer, and the poor perish from	39:37
	lack of life's bare necessities.	39:40
	And therefore, Yahweh strides into the divine council	39:44
	and just sweeps them away.	39:48
	Now the Lord is going to take the cause of the weak.	39:52
	Now the Lord is going to go in and plead the case	39:56
	of the orphan, and the afflicted, and the destitute.	39:59
	The Psalm suggests that whenever the foundations of	40:05
	your world or your life shake, and don't they seem	40:08
	to be shaking, it's just real good to know who's in charge.	40:13
	The implied claim of the Psalm is that justice cannot	40:22
	be the sole creation of governments, or empires,	40:25
	or economics, or universities, or other systems	40:29
	whereby we work out our continuing idolatry.	40:33
	No false God can do that.	40:37
	It takes a real God to take charge	40:41
	and steady the Earth's foundations.	40:45
	A God whose claim is over all the nations.	40:48
	To take charge and show us the justice we cannot	40:53
	create for ourselves.	40:56
	The assertion is that we cannot worship this God	41:00
	without also caring about the matters that concern this God.	41:05
	There are gods that don't give a rip about the weak,	41:11
	or the orphan, the rights of the afflicted,	41:15
	or the destitute.	41:18
	And those gods died.	41:19
	And now, there's only one God left, the real one,	41:23
	who cares enough about human justice to make the cause	41:27
	of the oppressed his own.	41:30
	And we cannot gather here on Sunday morning	41:33
	and sing songs to the real God without going	41:36
	out of here on Monday and sharing in his judgment	41:39
	upon injustice, and inequality,	41:44
	and suffering, and oppression.	41:48
	So, it takes a lot to sing a Psalm like 82.	41:51
	'Cause everybody already knows how to sing	41:56
	the alma maters, and the national anthems, and	41:58
	the praise of false, dead gods.	42:02
	Remember, we're all polytheists quite naturally,	42:05
	but you've got to be trained to sing a song for Yahweh,	42:09
	the one true living God to whom belong all the nations.	42:14
	And that's why we have to get you here on Sunday morning,	42:19
	and we have to teach you to sing a monotheistic medley.	42:23
	Going over it again and again, for what may be 3,000 years,	42:26
	until you can sing it by heart, until the justice	42:31
	that we demand from God is the justice we learn	42:34
	to embody in our own lives.	42:37
	In a forthcoming book on the preaching	42:42
	of Martin Luther King,	42:43
	Richard Lischer says that King was attempting to transfer	42:45
	the congregation's Sunday morning experience of God's	42:49
	victory into the political realm.	42:52
	And that's not a bad definition of good preaching.	42:57
	If we could get you to sing about one God,	43:02
	one just God here on Sunday morning, you might find	43:05
	yourself humming the same tune on Monday morning.	43:08
	Well, the last thing that was said to me	43:16
	before I left my office on Thursday afternoon	43:18
	was said to me by a first year Divinity School student,	43:21
	who said, "I can't believe you're gonna	43:24
	try to preach on Psalm 82."	43:27
	I got cold feet.	43:30
	I went home thinking, "I wonder if the	43:31
	bulletin's been printed yet.	43:33
	I wonder could we change this?	43:35
	What am I doing?	43:37
	Nobody wants to hear about Psalm 82."	43:41
	I turned on the car radio.	43:46
	The news report was that six priests and two women	43:52
	had been murdered and mutilated in El Salvador.	43:59
	Probably, it is thought, at the hands of a government	44:04
	that our administration has just asked another	44:08
	$52 million to help support.	44:11
	And I found myself, despite myself, humming	44:20
	an old Gospel song.	44:24
	Arise oh God, and judge the Earth,	44:29
	because to you belong the nations.	44:34
	Amen.	44:40
	(organ music)	44:44
	(congregation singing "My Jesus, I Love Thee")	45:16
	("My Jesus, I Love Thee")	45:55
-	Let us pray.	47:06
	Almighty God, you've breathed into us the breath of life,	47:20
	and called us to be your people.	47:25
	As men and women of different races, traditions,	47:28
	cultures, and experiences, we come together as the church	47:31
	to form one body to the glory of Christ on Earth.	47:36
	Help us to be what you have called us to be.	47:41
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	47:44
	God of all, you give us wealth and the Earth,	47:49
	and in the seas, air to breath, water to drink,	47:52
	and all that is needful for human life.	47:57
	We pray for those who know little of your bounty,	48:00
	for whom the Earth is a cruel desert,	48:04
	and existence a constant struggle.	48:07
	We acknowledge that their burdens should be our burdens.	48:10
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	48:14
	Gracious God, you have called us to love one another,	48:19
	but because we do not know how to do so,	48:22
	you tell us to start with a sister or brother at our side.	48:25
	We pray for any from whom we are estranged.	48:30
	Bless them, and bless us in our future	48:33
	relationships with them.	48:37
	We pray for our families, our friends, and all	48:39
	whom we meet day by day, and their particular needs,	48:43
	we ask You to bless them.	48:48
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	48:51
	Creating God, You are present in every part of	48:54
	human experience.	48:57
	We hold before you the infant cuddled in a parent's arms,	48:59
	young men and women struggling to make life decisions,	49:04
	the sick and infirm, battling with	49:08
	weakness and incapacity,	49:10
	the dying, soon to experience your new creation.	49:13
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	49:18
	Redeeming God, we pray for those lands where	49:22
	brother and sister fight sister and brother,	49:25
	divided by arbitrary borders, ideology, or religion.	49:29
	We pray for those lands where extremes of wealth and poverty	49:34
	are bitterly divisive.	49:38
	We pray for those innocent victims who fall prey	49:41
	to senseless violence, especially for the people	49:44
	of El Salvador in their hour of suffering.	49:48
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	49:52
	Sustaining God, we pray for all who have grown weary	49:57
	in the race of life.	50:00
	For those who weep, and those who can no longer weep,	50:02
	for those who feel the anguish, and for those who	50:07
	have lost the capacity to feel,	50:09
	for those who live in homes full of strife,	50:12
	and for those who have no home.	50:16
	Oh Lord, renew us by your Spirit.	50:19
	Oh living Lord, we pray for the whole human family.	50:23
	You alone, can give victory over the violence of the world	50:26
	and of our hearts.	50:30
	Save us, oh Lord, give us the will and	50:31
	the power to share in your victory.	50:35
	For it is in your Holy Name we pray.	50:38
	Amen.	50:42
	In the spirit of Thanksgiving for the mighty acts of God,	50:46
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	50:49
	(organ music)	50:58
	(choir singing)	52:47
	(choir singing)	54:27
	(organ music)	58:56
	(congregation singing)	59:47
	Oh kind and gracious God whose love is unfailing and	1:00:45
	whose mercies are new every day,	1:00:48
	diverse that we are in age and outlook,	1:00:51
	we are one in our desire to voice our gratitude unto Thee.	1:00:54
	We thank Thee for everything that speaks to us and Thee.	1:00:58
	For the splendor of this house of worship,	1:01:02
	for the affection and constancy of our friends,	1:01:05
	for the inspiration of great art and natural beauty,	1:01:09
	and most especially for the revelation of Thy self	1:01:12
	in Jesus Christ, and for the sending of His Spirit	1:01:15
	into our hearts.	1:01:19
	Give us such an awareness of this all-encompassing love.	1:01:21
	That in all times and in all places, we may sing	1:01:24
	Thy praise forevermore.	1:01:28
	This we pray in the name of the One who taught us	1:01:30
	to pray with kindness.	1:01:32
All	Our Father, who art in Heaven,	1:01:34
	hallowed be Thy name,	1:01:37
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,	1:01:39
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:01:42
	Give us this day, our daily bread,	1:01:43
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:01:46
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:01:49
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:01:52
	For Thine is the kingdom, the power,	1:01:55
	and the glory forever.	1:01:59
	Amen.	1:02:01
-	And now go forth in peace, and be of good courage.	1:02:04
	Hold fast that which is good, rejoicing in the power	1:02:08
	of the Holy Spirit.	1:02:12
	And may the blessings of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit	1:02:14
	be with you all, now and forevermore.	1:02:17
	Amen.	1:02:21
	(choir singing)	1:02:27
	(organ music)	1:04:10
	(congregation singing)	1:04:51
	(congregation singing)	1:06:13
	(organ music)	1:07:49
	(organ music)	1:08:58

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Who Is in Charge Here?" (November 19, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 23:22. Sermon end time: 44:41.
The preacher expounds on how the message of Psalm 82 becomes true today when the world turns to false gods and idols looking for prosperity and hope. The preacher calls for monotheistic worship to the one true God who brings justice. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “The religion of Israel, and therefore Jesus, is always a debate about the number of gods. Just how many gods are there?”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4tb0z931

Date:

November 19, 1989

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0157
ref8701_k9x
uachapelsermaud
duke:321735
dcrmv001153
ark:/87924/r4tb0z931
726a866d-e668-40ef-bafe-12c3eb96a055

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 - "Who Is in Charge Here?" (November 19, 1989)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Who Is in Charge Here?" (November 19, 1989)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Who Is in Charge Here?" (November 19, 1989)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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