William H. Willimon - "What Are You Doing Here?" (January 14, 1990)

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	(soft organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning, and welcome to this service of worship	0:44
	on the second Sunday after Epiphany.	0:47
	Tonight, here in the chapel, at 6:00 p.m.,	0:51
	we shall have a service of commemoration and celebration	0:55
	of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.	0:58
	The service has been formed	1:02
	by our own black campus minister, John Wilson.	1:05
	John will be our lector for today's service.	1:10
	Dr. C. Eric Lincoln will be speaking.	1:14
	The North Carolina Central Choir	1:18
	along with the Duke Chorale will be singing,	1:20
	and it'll be a great service here this evening.	1:22
	And because this is the first Sunday of a new semester,	1:27
	we have our choir back with us,	1:30
	the choir got together for rehearsal all yesterday morning	1:32
	and again this morning, and they are the element	1:37
	that makes worship in Duke Chapel so special.	1:42
	We're glad they're back with us.	1:45
	Now, let us continue the worship of God.	1:47
	♪ In thee is gladness ♪	1:54
	♪ Amid all sadness ♪	1:56
	♪ Jesus sunshine of my heart ♪	1:59
	♪ By thee are given the gifts of heaven ♪	2:04
	♪ Thou the true redeemer art ♪	2:09
	♪ Our souls thou makest ♪	2:15
	♪ Our bonds thou breakest ♪	2:17
	♪ Who trusts thee surely hath built securely ♪	2:20
	♪ And stands forever ♪	2:25
	♪ Alleluia ♪	2:28
	♪ Our hearts are pining to see thy shining ♪	2:31
	♪ Dying or living to thee are cleaving ♪	2:36
	♪ Naught can us sever ♪	2:42
	♪ Alleluia ♪	2:45
	(majestic organ music)	2:50
	♪ The first noel ♪	3:38
	♪ The angels did say ♪	3:41
	♪ Was to certain poor shepherds ♪	3:45
	♪ In fields as they lay ♪	3:49
	♪ In fields where they ♪	3:53
	♪ Lay keeping their sheep ♪	3:57
	♪ On a cold winter's night ♪	4:01
	♪ That was so deep ♪	4:05
	♪ Noel ♪	4:09
	♪ Noel ♪	4:12
	♪ Noel ♪	4:14
	♪ Noel ♪	4:16
	♪ Born is the king of Israel ♪	4:18
	♪ They looked and saw ♪	4:29
	♪ And saw a star ♪	4:33
	♪ Shining in the East ♪	4:37
	♪ Beyond them far ♪	4:41
	♪ And to the earth it gave great light ♪	4:45
	♪ And so it continued both day and night ♪	4:53
	♪ Noel ♪	5:02
	♪ Noel ♪	5:04
	♪ Noel ♪	5:06
	♪ Noel ♪	5:08
	♪ Born is the king of Israel ♪	5:11
	♪ And by the light of that same star ♪	5:21
	♪ Three wise men came from country far ♪	5:29
	♪ To seek for a king was their intent ♪	5:37
	♪ And to follow that star wherever it went ♪	5:46
	♪ Noel ♪	5:54
	♪ Noel ♪	5:56
	♪ Noel ♪	5:59
	♪ Noel ♪	6:01
	♪ Born is the king of Israel ♪	6:04
	♪ This star drew nigh to the northwest ♪	6:14
	♪ O'er Bethlehem it took its rest ♪	6:22
	♪ And there it did both stop and stay ♪	6:30
	♪ Right over the place where Jesus lay ♪	6:39
	♪ Noel ♪	6:47
	♪ Noel ♪	6:49
	♪ Noel ♪	6:51
	♪ Noel ♪	6:54
	♪ Born is the king of Israel ♪	6:56
	(majestic organ music)	7:05
	♪ Then entered in those wise men three ♪	7:47
	♪ Full reverently upon the knee ♪	7:54
	♪ And offered there in his presence ♪	8:03
	♪ Their gold and myrrh and frankincense ♪	8:11
	♪ Noel ♪	8:20
	♪ Noel ♪	8:22
	♪ Noel ♪	8:24
	♪ Noel ♪	8:26
	♪ Born is the king of Israel ♪	8:29
-	Almighty God, whose Son our Savior, Jesus Christ	8:45
	is the light of the world, grant that thy people,	8:49
	illumined by the word and sacraments	8:53
	may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory,	8:56
	that he may be known, worshiped and obeyed	8:59
	to the ends of the earth, through the same Jesus Christ	9:02
	our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit,	9:05
	liveth and reigneth, one God, now and forever, amen.	9:09
	(congregation shuffling)	9:16
-	Let us join in unison for our prayer for illumination.	9:25
All	Open our hearts and minds, O God,	9:30
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	9:34
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	9:36
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	9:40
	Our first lesson is found in the book of Isaiah.	9:46
	The servant of God speaks through the prophet Isaiah.	9:52
	Listen to me, O coastlands,	9:58
	and hearken, you nations from afar.	10:00
	The Lord called me from the womb,	10:03
	and from the body of my mother, God named my name.	10:06
	God made my mouth like a sharp sword,	10:12
	in the shadow of God's hands, I was hidden.	10:16
	God made me a polished arrow,	10:21
	in the quiver I was hidden away.	10:24
	And God said to me, "You are my servant,	10:27
	"Israel, in whom I will be glorified."	10:30
	But I said, "I have labored in vain,	10:34
	"I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity,	10:38
	"yet surely my right is with the Lord,	10:43
	"and my recompense with my God."	10:47
	And now the Lord says,	10:51
	who formed me from the womb to be God's servant,	10:52
	to bring Jacob back to God,	10:55
	and that Israel might be gathered to God,	10:58
	for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,	11:01
	and my God has become my strength,	11:04
	God says, "It is too light a thing	11:07
	"that you should be my servant	11:10
	"to raise up the tribes of Jacob	11:12
	"and to restore the preserved of Israel.	11:16
	"I will give you as a light to the nations,	11:21
	"that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."	11:25
	Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel	11:31
	and Israel's Holy One,	11:34
	to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,	11:36
	the servant of rulers, "Monarchs shall see and arise,	11:41
	"rulers, and they shall prostrate before them,	11:46
	"because of the Lord, who is faithful,	11:50
	"the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."	11:53
	This concludes the reading of the first lesson.	11:57
	Our second lesson is found in First Corinthians.	12:02
	Paul, called by the will of God	12:08
	to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,	12:12
	and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God	12:15
	which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,	12:19
	called to be saints, together with all those	12:25
	in every place who call on the name	12:29
	of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours.	12:32
	Grace to you, and peace from God our Father,	12:37
	and from the Lord Jesus Christ.	12:41
	I give thanks to God always for you	12:44
	because of the grace of God which was given you	12:47
	in Christ Jesus, that in every way,	12:50
	you were enriched in Christ with all speech	12:54
	and all knowledge, even as the testimony to Christ	12:58
	was confirmed among you.	13:02
	So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift,	13:05
	as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,	13:09
	who will sustain you to the end,	13:13
	guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.	13:17
	Indeed, God is faithful, by whom you were called	13:21
	into the community of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord.	13:25
	Our gospel lesson will be found	13:32
	in the Gospel according to Saint John,	13:35
	John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the lamb of God.	13:38
	John saw Jesus approaching and said,	13:44
	"Behold, the lamb of God,	13:47
	"who takes away the sin of the world.	13:50
	"This is the one of whom I said,	13:54
	"after me comes a person who ranks before me,	13:57
	"for that one was before me.	14:01
	"I myself did not know who it was,	14:04
	"but for this I came baptizing with water,	14:07
	"that the one who was to come might be revealed to Israel."	14:11
	And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend	14:17
	"as a dove from heaven, and it remained on Jesus.	14:22
	"I myself did not know who it was,	14:27
	"but the one who sent me to baptize with water	14:32
	"said unto me, the person on whom you see the Spirit	14:35
	"descend and remain, this is the one	14:39
	"who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.	14:44
	"And I have seen and have borne witness	14:47
	"that this is the Son of God."	14:52
	Thus concludes the reading of the gospel.	14:56
	The word of God, for the people of God.	14:58
-	The Lord called me.	15:11
	He named my name.	15:15
	My office door opened and this young man entered	15:19
	and he plopped down in a chair,	15:24
	and without even a word of introduction, asked	15:26
	"How did you know that you were supposed to be a preacher?	15:32
	"Was there some voice?	15:38
	"Did you take a test?"	15:41
	"Who sent you here?" I asked.	15:44
	"Did Dr. Brody send you over here?"	15:47
	No, he was there for himself, and of course,	15:51
	he really wasn't all that interested	15:54
	in how I got there, but more so,	15:57
	he wanted to know how he could get somewhere.	16:02
	How do you know what you are supposed to do with your life?	16:09
	We're talking about calling, about vocation.	16:14
	At any given moment, it is the question	16:20
	of about 89% of all people walking across the Duke campus.	16:22
	The vocational question.	16:28
	What should I do next year?	16:32
	Should I be in law or graduate school?	16:37
	Where will I be in the fall of 1990?	16:41
	Here in church, it's Epiphany.	16:46
	The season when we celebrate the revelation of Christ	16:49
	and the call, that baptismal call of God upon Jesus.	16:53
	But here at Duke, it's the post-Christmas,	17:01
	second semester senior class panic season.	17:04
	The season when we try to think of somewhere to go	17:09
	after Duke in order to convince our parents	17:12
	that they have not wasted their money on Duke tuition.	17:15
	I know there's someone out there who's seated	17:20
	down at the dinner table, in the days after Christmas,	17:22
	and to whom was said, A major in art history	17:28
	is all well and good, my dear,	17:33
	but what do you plan to do to make money?	17:35
	We envy, therefore, Isaiah's claim,	17:40
	when he says that he knew what God wanted him to do	17:44
	from the womb, from the body of my mother, he named my name.	17:47
	And we wonder how Paul could say in today's epistle,	17:55
	that he was called by the will of God	17:59
	to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,	18:02
	or how John the Baptist could say	18:05
	in today's gospel, that he knew	18:07
	that he was called to baptize.	18:09
	From the womb.	18:14
	Early, from the body of my mother,	18:17
	he named my name, said Isaiah.	18:20
	And we wonder how that could be.	18:27
	A voice, Gloria, get thee	18:30
	to a prestigious Eastern law school	18:33
	and study corporate taxation.	18:35
	John, called by the will of God	18:39
	to be a professor of Latin American history.	18:40
	Alice, sent by God to clone genes.	18:44
	Isaiah said that he was called from the first.	18:50
	His name was on God's list from,	18:54
	the Lord called me from the womb,	18:57
	from the body of my mother, he named my name,	19:00
	he made my mouth to be a sharp-edged sword.	19:03
	In the shadow of his hand, he hid me, like a polished arrow.	19:08
	You don't hear vocational claims like that	19:15
	being made much these days, do you?	19:18
	For us, the notion of call, of vocation,	19:22
	has been reduced to something that you do	19:28
	because you chose to do it.	19:31
	I am here because I decided to be here, we say.	19:36
	I just can't make up my mind	19:44
	over what to do with my life.	19:48
	This rather odd modern notion of call	19:54
	is the result of our modern infatuation with autonomy.	19:58
	Do your own thing, self-actualize,	20:03
	self-assert, self-fulfill.	20:06
	Our society elevates the uncalled life.	20:10
	A life which is referred to no purpose beyond one's self.	20:15
	I am where I am because I listen to my voice.	20:20
	I gotta be me.	20:25
	There is no direction in life other than the one	20:27
	that originates within me.	20:29
	We have, says Erik Erikson, made ourselves	20:33
	into our own favored children.	20:38
	A stubborn ideology of autonomy deludes us	20:43
	into thinking that there is no voice	20:48
	to be spoken over our lives,	20:53
	no voice more significant than our own.	20:55
	It's hard to hear a voice	21:03
	when we're listening only to ourselves.	21:07
	We can't imagine a voice, you are my servant,	21:12
	in whom I will be glorified.	21:15
	But perhaps that's why we do identify	21:20
	with the rest of the text from Isaiah,	21:23
	where the prophet, in despair, says,	21:28
	"I have labored in vain,	21:30
	"I have spent my life for nothing but vanity."	21:33
	It's hard to hear the voice of another	21:40
	speaking over our lives, penetrating the uterine wall,	21:44
	for we are so busy speaking to ourselves.	21:48
	When he talked to himself,	21:53
	Isaiah heard that voice of despair.	21:54
	I have labored in vain, I have spent my life for nothing,	22:00
	Perhaps depression, despair, is the result	22:05
	of self-derived vocation,	22:09
	because one finds eventually that a self-initiated call	22:13
	is no match for the vicissitudes of life,	22:18
	because when I base my life and my choice of direction	22:23
	and my expenditure of myself solely	22:28
	on what I want to do with my life,	22:30
	I set myself up for despair.	22:35
	Because my wants are fickle.	22:38
	They twist and they turn with the wind.	22:42
	I usually choose based on my assessment	22:46
	of possibilities for happiness.	22:51
	But no path ensures continual happiness,	22:54
	and so what do you do then, we ask.	22:59
	Gosh, perhaps I chose wrongly.	23:03
	I wonder if I had all the facts.	23:05
	Is this really what I want to do?	23:08
	I have labored in vain, I have spent myself for nothing.	23:14
	Or worse, we come to admit that we are here	23:22
	simply because we were put here.	23:26
	There really isn't vocation, no.	23:30
	In the modern world, it's all a matter	23:33
	of sociological, economic, racial, gender determination.	23:35
	You are here because you are stuck here.	23:40
	This summer, there was a TV program	23:44
	about gangs in Los Angeles,	23:46
	about youth gangs in Los Angeles,	23:51
	but when the reporter got around	23:53
	to interviewing gang members,	23:55
	he wasn't interviewing young people,	23:57
	he was interviewing men in their 30s,	23:58
	standing on a street corner, drinking cheap wine,	24:00
	talking about the times they've been out of jail,	24:04
	in and out of jail, bragging about their gang membership.	24:06
	And when the reporter asked these people why,	24:10
	one looked at him in disbelief and said,	24:13
	"Man, I was born in Watts."	24:16
	You need any other explanation?	24:19
	And there was a touching scene in the same program	24:26
	when a Los Angeles police officer,	24:28
	who was also born in Watts, looked out	24:31
	on the playground of an elementary school	24:34
	at the little children playing, and he just wept,	24:36
	because he knew that very few	24:41
	of them would make it out alive.	24:42
	Vocation, I was born in Watts.	24:48
	From my mother's womb, I was fated.	24:54
	But let us not be so smug.	25:02
	I was born in Scarsdale, from my mother's womb,	25:06
	fated for Duke, which you note,	25:09
	they do not call it the Duke vocations office, the place	25:12
	where you go to meet representatives from IBM or GE,	25:17
	no, they call it the Duke Placement Service.	25:21
	You may think that you're going to IBM	25:25
	because that's what you want to do,	25:27
	that's what you chose to do, but no, no.	25:28
	You're giving your life because you got	25:32
	put there, placed there.	25:33
	While still in the fetal stage,	25:37
	mommy decided that you would be trained to be useful.	25:40
	It's either personal choice or the grim hand	25:45
	of deterministic fate, that's what vocation	25:49
	has become for us.	25:52
	To assert with Isaiah that one is named,	25:56
	claimed, called by God,	25:58
	is not to point to some datable experience,	26:04
	a moment when your name was written large	26:06
	across the evening sky followed by an arrow	26:09
	pointing you to New Haven,	26:12
	no such claim is made by the prophet here for the call.	26:15
	Rather, I think, Isaiah is claiming that life	26:20
	is meant to be lived with a theonomous cast,	26:27
	that life can be somehow caught up in the purposes of God.	26:32
	That a life which is attached to divine work	26:39
	can have greater significance than that life itself.	26:44
	Call, biblical call is rarely an event, a phone call,	26:50
	the result of the completion of a questionnaire.	26:56
	Call, biblical call is a process	27:00
	of having yourself referred to the workings of God	27:04
	before you decide and choose where to go next.	27:09
	When Isaiah says that he was called	27:14
	from the womb of his mother, he is not speaking	27:16
	of a datable event, what he is saying is,	27:19
	is the marvel that somehow his life had the freedom	27:24
	to march to a different drummer,	27:27
	because early, early on, his life felt claimed	27:29
	and defined and shaped by one greater than himself,	27:33
	even before he decided to choose or do anything.	27:37
	And what is more needed in a self-absorbed,	27:43
	self-actualized world than this invigorating sense	27:48
	that one is called?	27:55
	How pitiful we are, strutting about,	27:59
	bragging of our liberation, our freedom, our choice,	28:03
	even as we march lockstep to somebody else's drumbeat,	28:07
	or else trudge wearily back to the office.	28:12
	We didn't choose, we were placed, we were fated here.	28:15
	What you need is some means of turning your fate	28:22
	into your destiny, some means	28:27
	of giving our little hamstrung lives significance	28:31
	beyond that of our own creation.	28:35
	We need somebody to call us.	28:39
	No wonder he had forced his way into my office	28:45
	that day and grilled me about how I got here.	28:48
	Because he was rightly eager for something	28:53
	to which to give his life, some ascendancy of purpose,	28:56
	some word spoken over his future	29:00
	more significant than his own selection	29:04
	of a pigeonhole after narrowing it down	29:07
	to his three best offers.	29:09
	He wanted to know that he was called,	29:13
	that somebody up there, out there	29:16
	was doing something worthy through him	29:18
	and his high SAT scoring,	29:21
	prestigiously educated little life.	29:23
	He wanted to be called.	29:25
	I think that only this, at 22,	29:30
	can preserve us from the I have labored in vain,	29:35
	I have spent my life for nothing at 40.	29:40
	Christ lays bare the truth that self-actualization	29:48
	is what we think it is.	29:53
	That the realization of ourselves comes	29:58
	as a byproduct of interesting yourself	30:00
	in something greater than yourself.	30:05
	We need a call.	30:10
	Our call from God may be like that of Isaiah,	30:13
	the exercise of a mouth like a sharp sword	30:16
	in a world of co-opted speech and smooth talk.	30:21
	So God may have called you to be the one lawyer left,	30:26
	the first physician to hit town,	30:31
	the most promising professor who is a witness	30:35
	to what is true rather than to the lies	30:38
	to which we enslave ourselves	30:42
	and which enslave many of our professions.	30:44
	God needs people to turn their back	30:48
	upon the world's definitions of success and power,	30:50
	people who take the time to have children,	30:55
	to make people rather than money,	30:58
	to speak, to do, to enact, to embody the truth.	31:00
	Think back on your own life, and think how	31:05
	superficial your own life would have been	31:08
	if you had not met a coach	31:13
	who just believed that there was nothing more important	31:16
	in this life than fencing well.	31:19
	Or a teacher who was just so totally absorbed	31:23
	in the beauty of geometry.	31:25
	A parent who really believed that she was serving God	31:29
	when she was putting up with raising you.	31:34
	God deliver you from professors who just teach for a living	31:39
	or because they're afraid of real work.	31:44
	God, send us professors who are just obsessed,	31:47
	given over totally, to chemistry.	31:51
	You deserve to be taught by people	31:55
	who don't just teach for a living,	31:57
	but they are called to teach.	31:59
	In his great autobiography, Harry Emerson Fosdick,	32:04
	I remember had a memorable chapter entitled,	32:07
	Great Ideas That Have Used Me.	32:10
	A used life is a meaningful life,	32:16
	provided that the ideas that use you are true.	32:21
	And I wish for all of you a life	32:27
	that is evoked by call.	32:31
	Professor George Marsden, when he was being interviewed	32:36
	for a position here at our divinity school,	32:39
	was asked by a colleague, "You've never taught	32:41
	"at a divinity school, how would you be handling	32:45
	"people who called to the Christian ministry?"	32:49
	And Marsden responded that he had been teaching	32:52
	at Calvin College, and there, in that bastion	32:55
	of Reformed education, he said,	32:57
	"Well, you know, at Calvin, we assume that everybody's	33:00
	"called by God to do whatever they do.	33:02
	"You can't sign up for a major unless you can demonstrate	33:04
	"that somehow by majoring in accounting	33:07
	"you're gonna serve God that way."	33:09
	We're talking about that sort of claim.	33:13
	And despite the nasty things which I sometimes say	33:18
	to them and about them, this is really one of the great joys	33:21
	I have in working with musicians.	33:25
	You can't imagine how invigorating it is	33:29
	to be around people here in the chapel,	33:32
	who are so utterly absorbed in something greater	33:36
	and more interesting and more demanding than their own ego.	33:40
	Sometimes people accuse musicians	33:44
	of having big egos, and I would be the last person	33:46
	to say that our director of music is a shrinking violet,	33:50
	but what sometimes appears to the untrained eye	33:53
	as gigantic ego in musicians is often someone	33:58
	given totally to the making of good music.	34:04
	If it's worth doing, it's worth staying down here	34:09
	all day Saturday when the rest of the world	34:12
	is out looking after themselves, to look after this music.	34:14
	"People, this is Handel, for God's sake,"	34:20
	I heard one director scream at his choir.	34:22
	"We're going to do it the way Handel deserves."	34:24
	For God's sake, indeed.	34:29
	And not for our own,	34:33
	do we find ourselves caught up, lost,	34:36
	given over, absorbed in our vocation.	34:41
	Be it the making of music or the making of babies,	34:46
	the making of laws, the relieving of suffering,	34:50
	to whatever God has called you.	34:54
	And I believe that God still calls people,	35:00
	it's just that we modern people lack the language	35:04
	to talk about it, we lack the insight	35:06
	to know when God is busy working on us,	35:09
	because God rarely hits us over the head with a call.	35:16
	I didn't say that your call would be spoken	35:21
	in some definitive way or some datable moment,	35:23
	or something about which	35:27
	you can tell everybody at the fraternity.	35:28
	Nothing in Isaiah will permit us to claim that.	35:33
	But what can be claimed is that someone listening	35:37
	more for the expression of God's purposes	35:42
	than merely to the voice of one's ego,	35:48
	someone who really expects to be used by God	35:52
	for important work, the person who clings,	35:57
	through thick and thin to the conviction	36:00
	that God knows his or her name	36:03
	and has purposes and plans for his or her life,	36:07
	that person shall not be disappointed.	36:13
	Amen.	36:19
-	The Lord be with you.	36:33
-	And also with you.
-	Let us pray.	36:36
	Almighty God, whose Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ,	36:42
	is the light of the world, you breathed into us	36:46
	the breath of life, and called us by name to be your people.	36:50
	As men and women of different races,	36:57
	traditions, cultures and experiences,	37:00
	we come together as the church	37:04
	to form one body to the glory of Christ on earth.	37:06
	Help us, in the face of forces which would oppose us,	37:10
	to be what you have called us to be.	37:14
	O God, who art the hope of the ends of the earth,	37:19
	hear us while we pray.	37:21
	Let us pray for those who are hindered in the race of life	37:25
	through no fault of their own.	37:29
	For the disabled, the handicapped, and the weak.	37:31
	Let us pray for all whose livelihood is insecure,	37:36
	for the hungry, the hopeless and the destitute,	37:40
	for those who are overworked,	37:45
	downtrodden and disappointed in life.	37:47
	Let us pray for prisoners and captives	37:52
	and for all who live under oppressive governments,	37:55
	for all who suffer because of their faithfulness to truth,	37:59
	for those who shoulder the responsibilities	38:04
	of restructuring whole nations in the face	38:07
	of hopeful yet unsettling change.	38:09
	Let us pray for children whose surroundings	38:14
	hide them from your love and beauty,	38:17
	for those who suffer because of strife at home,	38:20
	and for those who struggle	38:24
	to maintain peace within their families.	38:25
	Let us pray for the sick and the infirm,	38:29
	especially for all patients in Duke Hospital,	38:33
	for all who are growing weary with the journey of life,	38:36
	for all who are passing through the valley of death,	38:40
	and for those who walk with them.	38:44
	Let us pray for those who are in doubt	38:48
	and must endure the dark night of the soul,	38:50
	for those who are confused or oblivious	38:54
	to your will for their lives,	38:57
	for those who are blinded by mistrust or cynicism,	38:59
	unable to hear your call.	39:04
	Let us pray for the unspoken needs of this congregation,	39:07
	and for all who are forgotten by us but dear to you.	39:11
	O Morning Star, who beamest truth and light into our lives,	39:17
	grant us hope which will rise above frustrations,	39:22
	patience which will endure the strain of waiting,	39:26
	and openness to thy word, which enables us	39:30
	to discern thy will for our lives and not simply our own.	39:33
	This we pray, for thy name's sake, amen.	39:38
	Christ invites to his table all who love him	39:46
	and who desire to live in peace with one another.	39:50
	Let us stand and offer each other	39:53
	signs of God's peace and love.	39:55
	(congregation shuffling)	39:58
	(people chattering)
	As a forgiven and reconciled people,	40:17
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	40:20
	(congregation shuffling)	40:26
	(majestic organ music)	40:33
	("Behold, The Lamb of God" by Georg Friederich Handel)	42:32
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	42:48
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	42:54
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:00
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:03
	♪ That taketh away ♪	43:06
	♪ The sins of the world ♪	43:12
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:17
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:20
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:24
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:26
	♪ That taketh away ♪	43:33
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	43:38
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	43:43
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:48
	♪ Behold the lamb of God ♪	43:53
	♪ That taketh away ♪	43:59
	♪ That taketh away ♪	44:03
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:11
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:14
	♪ That taketh away ♪	44:20
	♪ That taketh away ♪	44:27
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:32
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:35
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:39
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:44
	♪ That taketh away ♪	44:49
	♪ The sin of the world ♪	44:54
	(majestic organ music)	45:04
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	46:49
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	46:55
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:02
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:05
	♪ Praise God above ye heavenly hosts ♪	47:10
	♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪	47:16
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:22
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:25
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:28
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:32
	♪ Alleluia ♪	47:35
-	Please join me in the great thanksgiving	47:49
	on page 17 of the hymnal.	47:52
	The Lord be with you.	47:57
-	And also with you.
-	Lift up your hearts.	48:01
-	We lift them up to the Lord.
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	48:04
Congregation	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	48:07
William	Blessed are you, Lord our God,	48:09
	our light and our salvation,	48:11
	before the mountains were brought forth,	48:13
	or you had formed the earth, you alone are God.	48:15
	And so with your people on earth	48:20
	and all the company of heaven, we praise your name	48:21
	and join their unending hymn.	48:25
	(gentle organ music)	48:28
	♪ Holy holy holy Lord ♪	48:38
	♪ God of power and might ♪	48:42
	♪ Heaven and earth are full of your glory ♪	48:47
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	48:51
	♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪	48:56
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	49:03
William	Truly holy are you, Father,	49:14
	in the fullness of time you revealed yourself	49:17
	and your blessed son, Jesus Christ, the light of the world.	49:19
	Through him, we are called and baptized into your service.	49:23
	You sent a star to guide wise men	49:27
	to where the Christ was born.	49:29
	In every age, you have led persons	49:31
	from far distances to him.	49:33
	In his baptism and table fellowship,	49:35
	he identified with sinners, preached good news to poor	49:37
	and released the captives, set free the oppressed,	49:40
	and announced the time that you would come	49:44
	and save your people.	49:46
	On the night his disciples betrayed and deserted him,	49:48
	he took bread and gave thanks to you,	49:50
	broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples	49:53
	and said, "Take, eat, this is my body, given for you.	49:55
	"Do this in remembrance of me."	49:59
	And when the supper was over, he took the cup,	50:02
	gave thanks to you and gave it to his disciples	50:05
	and said, "Drink from this, all of you,	50:07
	"for this is my blood for the new covenant,	50:10
	"poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins.	50:12
	"Do this as often as you drink it,	50:15
	"in remembrance of me."	50:18
	His presence has continued with his people,	50:20
	baptized into him, and in the breaking of bread	50:23
	and the sharing of the cup in Jerusalem,	50:25
	and all Judea and Samaria,	50:28
	and even to the ends of the earth.	50:30
	And so in remembrance of these, your mighty acts	50:32
	in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves	50:34
	in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice,	50:37
	in union with Christ's offering for us,	50:41
	as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	50:44
	(majestic organ music)	50:47
	♪ Christ has died ♪	50:57
	♪ Christ is risen ♪	50:59
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	51:01
William	Send the power of your Holy Spirit on us	51:09
	and on these gifts, that in the breaking of bread	51:12
	and the drinking of wine, we may know	51:16
	the presence of the living Christ,	51:18
	be one body in him and look forward	51:21
	to his coming in final victory.	51:23
	All honor and glory is yours,	51:26
	Almighty Father, now and forever.	51:28
	(majestic organ music)	51:33
	♪ Amen ♪	51:42
	♪ Amen ♪	51:44
	♪ Amen ♪	51:47
All	Our Father, who art in heaven,	51:55
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	51:57
	thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.	52:01
	Give us this day our daily bread	52:04
	and forgive us our trespasses	52:06
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	52:09
	And lead us not into temptation,	52:12
	but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom	52:14
	and the power and the glory forever, amen.	52:17
William	When we break the bread,	52:24
	is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ?	52:25
	When we give thanks over the cup,	52:29
	is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ?	52:31
	Come to the Lord's table.	52:36
	(congregation shuffling)	52:43
	(gentle organ music)	53:00
	♪ Here O my Lord ♪	53:40
	♪ I see thee face to face ♪	53:44
	♪ Here would I touch and handle things unseen ♪	53:50
	♪ Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace ♪	54:00
	♪ And all my weariness upon thee lean ♪	54:11
	♪ This is the hour of banquet and of song ♪	54:22
	♪ This is the heavenly table spread for me ♪	54:32
	♪ Here let me feast and feasting still prolong ♪	54:42
	♪ The hallowed hour of fellowship with thee ♪	54:52
	♪ Here would I feed upon the bread of God ♪	55:03
	♪ Here drink with thee the royal wine of heaven ♪	55:13
	♪ Here would I lay aside each earthly load ♪	55:24
	♪ Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven ♪	55:34
	♪ Too soon we rise ♪	55:45
	♪ The symbols disappear ♪	55:50
	♪ The feast though not the love is past and gone ♪	55:56
	♪ The bread and wine remove but thou art here ♪	56:06
	♪ Nearer than ever still my shield and sun ♪	56:17
	♪ Feast after feast thus comes and passes by ♪	56:28
	♪ Yet passing points to the glad feast above ♪	56:38
	♪ Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy ♪	56:49
	♪ The lamb's great bridal feast of bliss and love ♪	56:59
	(gentle organ music)	57:10
	♪ O food to pilgrims given ♪	58:16
	♪ O bread of life from heaven ♪	58:24
	♪ O manna from on high ♪	58:32
	♪ We hunger Lord supply us ♪	58:40
	♪ Nor thy delights deny us ♪	58:45
	♪ Whose hearts to thee draw nigh ♪	58:52
	♪ O stream of love past telling ♪	59:06
	♪ O purest fountain welling ♪	59:13
	♪ From out the Savior's side ♪	59:21
	♪ We faint with thirst revive us ♪	59:27
	♪ Of thine abundance give us ♪	59:36
	♪ And all we need provide ♪	59:43
	♪ O Jesus by thee bidden ♪	59:53
	♪ We here adore thee hidden ♪	1:00:01
	♪ In forms of bread and wine ♪	1:00:08
	♪ Grant when the veil is risen ♪	1:00:15
	♪ We may behold in heaven ♪	1:00:23
	♪ Thy countenance divine ♪	1:00:31
	(gentle organ music)	1:00:44
	♪ Break forth O beauteous heavenly light ♪	1:02:10
	♪ And usher in the morning ♪	1:02:18
	♪ O shepherds shrink not with affright ♪	1:02:27
	♪ But hear the angel's warning ♪	1:02:35
	♪ This child now weak in infancy ♪	1:02:44
	♪ Our confidence and joy shall be ♪	1:02:51
	♪ The power of Satan breaking ♪	1:03:00
	♪ Our peace eternal making ♪	1:03:09
-	Won't you stand for the benediction?	1:03:24
	Go in peace to serve God and your neighbor,	1:03:30
	in all that you do.	1:03:32
Congregation	We are sent in Christ's name.	1:03:35
-	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ	1:03:37
	and the love of God and the communion	1:03:39
	of the Holy Spirit be with you all.	1:03:41
	♪ God be in my head ♪	1:03:48
	♪ And in my understanding ♪	1:03:55
	♪ God be in mine eyes ♪	1:04:06
	♪ And in my looking ♪	1:04:12
	♪ God be in my mouth ♪	1:04:23
	♪ And in my speaking ♪	1:04:30
	♪ God be in my heart ♪	1:04:42
	♪ And in my thinking ♪	1:04:51
	♪ God be at mine end ♪	1:05:01
	♪ And in my departing ♪	1:05:13
	(majestic organ music)	1:05:38
	♪ O Morning Star ♪	1:06:24
	♪ How fair and bright ♪	1:06:27
	♪ Thou beamest forth in truth and light ♪	1:06:30
	♪ O sovereign meek and lowly ♪	1:06:37
	♪ Thou root of Jesse ♪	1:06:46
	♪ David's son ♪	1:06:49
	♪ My Lord and master thou hast won ♪	1:06:52
	♪ My heart to serve thee solely ♪	1:06:59
	♪ Thou art holy ♪	1:07:07
	♪ Fair and glorious ♪	1:07:14
	♪ All-victorious ♪	1:07:17
	♪ Rich in blessing ♪	1:07:20
	♪ Rule and might o'er all possessing ♪	1:07:25
	♪ Thou heavenly brightness ♪	1:07:36
	♪ Light divine ♪	1:07:40
	♪ O deep within my heart now shine ♪	1:07:42
	♪ And make thee there an altar ♪	1:07:50
	♪ Fill me with joy and strength to be ♪	1:07:59
	♪ Thy member ever joined to thee ♪	1:08:05
	♪ In love that cannot falter ♪	1:08:13
	♪ Toward thee longing ♪	1:08:21
	♪ Doth possess me ♪	1:08:28
	♪ Turn and bless me ♪	1:08:32
	♪ Here in sadness ♪	1:08:35
	♪ Eye and heart long for thy gladness ♪	1:08:41
	♪ What joy to know ♪	1:08:51
	♪ When life is past ♪	1:08:55
	♪ The Lord we love is first and last ♪	1:08:58
	♪ The end and the beginning ♪	1:09:05
	♪ He will one day ♪	1:09:15
	♪ O glorious grace ♪	1:09:18
	♪ Transport us to that happy place ♪	1:09:22
	♪ Beyond all tears and sinning ♪	1:09:30
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:37
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:41
	♪ Come Lord Jesus ♪	1:09:45
	♪ Crown of gladness ♪	1:09:48
	♪ We are yearning ♪	1:09:52
	♪ For the day of your returning ♪	1:09:58
	(majestic organ music)	1:10:09
	(uplifting organ music)	1:10:53
	(people chattering)

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "What Are You Doing Here?" (January 14, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: 15:11. Sermon end time: 36:20.
The preacher defines vocation as a call by God to the service of God. He argues that the contemporary understanding, which reduces vocation to a self-centered choice of profession, only brings despair and disappointment. The preacher calls for a life submitted to the great purpose of God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Call, biblical call, is a process of having yourself referred to the workings of God before you decide and choose where to go next.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4dj58x8g

Date:

January 14, 1990

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0164
ref8725_t69
uachapelsermaud
duke:321660
dcrmv001160
ark:/87924/r4dj58x8g
33556bd2-1218-4c40-946e-ac305a3e8b4c

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 - "What Are You Doing Here?" (January 14, 1990)

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1. William H. Willimon - "What Are You Doing Here?" (January 14, 1990)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "What Are You Doing Here?" (January 14, 1990)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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