William H. Willimon - "The Invitation" (April 29, 1990)

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	(choir singing)	0:00
-	[Reverend Willimon] Welcome to this service of worship	3:41
	on the third Sunday of Easter.	3:43
	We have been led in worship by Mister Richard Cox	3:48
	and the university choral of	3:52
	the university of North Carolina, Greensboro.	3:54
	One of the great musical groups in our state.	3:58
	You may recall that last year	4:02
	when the university choral visited us	4:04
	we were without electricity on west campus.	4:07
	They did so well we've invited them back	4:12
	with lighting this time and they do well	4:14
	in the light or in the dark	4:17
	and we're glad that they're with us.	4:18
	Leading our service today is	4:21
	the Reverend David O. Jenkins	4:24
	who is the United Methodist campus minister	4:26
	and also Joseph Hester	4:30
	Presbyterian campus minister intern.	4:32
	They represent two of our active	4:36
	campus ministry groups here on the Duke campus	4:38
	and the Reverend Jenkins led a group of	4:42
	25 students from Duke on a work team to Jamaica	4:45
	over spring break, which was funded in great part	4:49
	through the contributions of worshipers	4:52
	here in Duke Chapel	4:54
	and we're glad to have them leading us today.	4:56
	There's an error in the bulletin.	4:58
	Next week's service will be as usual	5:00
	at 11am, and not at 11:45.	5:03
	Let us stand and sing the hymn	5:06
	as we continue our worship.	5:08
	(organ music)	5:10
	(congregation singing)	5:37
-	[Reverend Jenkins] Let us pray.	8:06
	We have come to this place, oh Lord	8:09
	because you have adopted us	8:12
	and as your daughters and sons	8:15
	we have come to love you	8:19
	to need you and to praise you.	8:21
	Gathered together, what we do here	8:25
	our singing, our preaching, our praying	8:28
	our listening, our waiting	8:32
	collected into worship as you transform us	8:35
	into a worshiping community	8:39
	in your name and by your grace we come before you.	8:42
	Amen.	8:47
Joseph Hester	Let us pray.	8:58
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God	9:01
	by the power of your holy spirit	9:04
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	9:07
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	9:09
	Amen.	9:13
	The first lesson is taken from the Book of Acts.	9:16
	Peter, standing with the eleven	9:21
	addressed the Judeans.	9:23
	"Let all the house of Israel therefore know	9:26
	"assuredly that God has made this Jesus	9:28
	"whom you crucify both Lord and Christ."	9:30
	Now when the Judeans heard this	9:35
	they were cut to the heart and said to Peter	9:37
	and the rest of the Apostles	9:40
	"Brothers and sisters, what shall we do?"	9:43
	And Peter said to them	9:46
	"Repent and be baptized, every one of you	9:48
	"in the name of Jesus Christ	9:51
	"for the forgiveness of your sins	9:53
	"and you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit	9:56
	"for the promise is to you and to your children	9:59
	"and to all that are far off.	10:02
	"Everyone whom this Lord, our God calls."	10:04
	And Peter testified with many other words	10:09
	and exhorted them, saying	10:11
	"Save yourselves from this crooked generation."	10:13
	So those who received Peter's word were baptized	10:17
	and there were added that day about 3000 souls.	10:21
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	10:25
-	Let us stand and read responsibly	10:35
	Psalm number 116 beginning at verse 12.	10:38
	What shall I return to the Lord for all my benefits?	10:50
	I will lift up the cup of salvation	10:55
	and call in the name of the Lord.	10:57
	I will pay my vows to the Lord	11:00
	in the presence of all his people.	11:02
	Precious is the sight of the Lord	11:06
	is the death of his faithful ones.	11:08
	Oh Lord, I am your servant.	11:11
	I am your servant, the child of your handmaid.	11:14
	You have loosed my bonds.	11:19
	I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving	11:22
	and call on the name of the Lord.	11:26
	I will pay my vows to the Lord	11:29
	in the presence of all his people	11:31
	in the courts of the house of the Lord	11:34
	in your midst of Jerusalem.	11:36
	Praise the Lord.	11:39
	(organ music)	11:41
	(choir singing)	11:49
-	The second lesson is taken from the Book of First Peter.	12:45
	And if you invoke as father the God	12:51
	who judges each one impartially	12:53
	according to their deeds	12:55
	conduct yourselves with fear	12:57
	throughout the time of your exile.	12:59
	You know that you were ransom from the futile ways	13:02
	inherited from your ancestors.	13:05
	Not with perishable things such as silver and gold	13:07
	but with the precious blood of Christ	13:10
	like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.	13:13
	Christ was destined before the foundation of the world	13:17
	but was made manifest at the end of times for your sake.	13:20
	You have confidence in God through Christ	13:25
	whom God raised from the dead	13:27
	and glorified so that your faith and hope are in God.	13:29
	Having purified your souls by your obedience	13:35
	to the truth for sincere love of each other	13:37
	love one another earnestly from the heart.	13:40
	You have been born anew.	13:44
	Not of perishable seed, but of imperishable	13:46
	through the living and abiding word of God.	13:49
	This ends the reading of the second lesson.	13:53
	(organ music)	14:07
	(choir singing)	14:16
-	We're in Easter.	17:45
	That time when we went out to the cemetery to look for	17:49
	Jesus crucified and dead	17:54
	only to discover that he was loose	17:59
	pursuing us already back to Jerusalem	18:04
	with that in-breaking of God's kingdom	18:08
	and so appropriately our gospel is a parable about	18:12
	the kingdom.	18:18
	Jesus said, for the kingdom of Heaven	18:21
	is like a householder who went out early	18:24
	in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.	18:27
	After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day	18:30
	he sent them into his vineyard, and going out at about	18:35
	the third hour he saw others standing idle	18:37
	in the marketplace, and to them, he said	18:40
	"You go to the vineyard, too	18:42
	"and whatever is right I will give you."	18:44
	And they went.	18:47
	Going out again about the sixth hour	18:48
	and the ninth hour, he did the same.	18:51
	And about the eleventh hour, he went out	18:54
	and found others standing	18:56
	and he said to them, "Why do you stand here	18:59
	"idle all day?"	19:01
	They said to him, "Because no one has hired us."	19:03
	He said to them, "You go to the vineyard, too."	19:06
	And when evening came the owner of the vineyard	19:09
	said to his steward, "Call the laborers	19:12
	"and pay them their wages beginning with the last	19:15
	"up to the first."	19:20
	And when those hired about the eleventh hour came	19:22
	each of them received a denarius.	19:25
	Now when the first came they thought	19:29
	they would receive more.	19:31
	But, each of them also received a denarius.	19:33
	And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder	19:37
	saying, "These last worked only one hour	19:40
	"and you've made them equal to us	19:42
	"who have borne the burden of the day	19:44
	"in the scorching heat."	19:46
	But he replied to one of them	19:49
	"Friend, I'm doing you no wrong.	19:51
	"Did you not agree with me for a denarius?	19:54
	"Take what belongs to you and go.	19:58
	"I choose to give to this last as I give to you.	20:00
	"Am I not allowed to do what I choose	20:05
	"with what belongs to me?	20:08
	"Or do you begrudge my generosity?"	20:10
	So, the last should be first	20:15
	and the first shall be last.	20:19
	Jesus said that God's kingdom is like	20:26
	the owner of a vineyard who has	20:29
	some grapes to be harvested.	20:31
	And so he goes out into the marketplace	20:34
	early in the day and he hires some workers	20:37
	agreeing to pay them one denarius a day.	20:41
	And they go to work.	20:44
	But at mid morning, he looks over his vineyard	20:47
	and he sees that he is going to need	20:49
	more workers to get the job done.	20:51
	And so he goes back to the marketplace	20:54
	where he encounters some people standing around	20:57
	and he hires them.	21:01
	Even though a third of the day is already over	21:03
	he hires them, telling them that he'll pay them	21:06
	what's right.	21:10
	At noon he goes back downtown	21:12
	and he sees some people hanging out on the street corner	21:14
	and he invites them to come to work in his vineyard	21:19
	telling them that he'll pay them what's right.	21:21
	At three, well he's back downtown	21:25
	where he encounters a couple of young men	21:29
	with nothing to do, idle on the street corner	21:31
	and even though the sun is beginning to move	21:34
	toward the west, well what the heck?	21:38
	He hires them, agreeing to pay them what's right.	21:41
	Finally, at 5pm, one hour before quitting time	21:45
	he's back downtown and now there's almost no one	21:51
	left loitering on the street corner	21:54
	by this late hour of the day.	21:56
	But there are a couple of slackers	21:59
	leaning over against the wall of	22:01
	the unemployment office sharing a bottle of Ripple.	22:03
	And even though it's only one hour before quitting time	22:06
	he hires them as well.	22:10
	Now if you're keeping score, by the end of the day	22:13
	we have different groups of workers in the vineyard	22:16
	who have been hired for twelve hours, for nine hours	22:20
	for six, for three, and for only one hour.	22:24
	Now they will be paid.	22:29
	Now if you will recall, a wage was agreed upon	22:31
	only for those workers who got there first	22:35
	and the wage was a denarius.	22:39
	But this parapatretic padrone pays those	22:43
	who got there last first.	22:47
	To everybody's amazement, he pays those	22:50
	who have worked for only one hour a denarius.	22:52
	And so everybody does some quick figuring	22:58
	and I suppose that means that those who've been there	23:00
	twelve hours are going to get twelve denari,	23:03
	right?	23:08
	Wrong.	23:10
	No, they get what they agreed to work for.	23:12
	A denarius.	23:16
	So there are murmurings of injustice.	23:18
	"What kind of way is this to run a vineyard?"	23:21
	They ask.	23:23
	"No," they are told, "the injustice is only apparent."	23:25
	They agreed to work for a denarius.	23:30
	They got a denarius.	23:33
	Now, Matthew in his	23:36
	editorial postlude to this parable	23:41
	suggests that this parable has something to do	23:45
	with the last shall be first	23:49
	and the first shall be last.	23:52
	And what does that mean?	23:55
	"Oh," said the disciples.	23:59
	"Oh, we get your point, Jesus!	24:02
	"Those Pharisees who have criticized you for	24:05
	"going out and eating and drinking	24:09
	"with sinners, those self righteous Pharisees	24:10
	"that think they know so much	24:13
	"and that they're so religious	24:14
	"they're going to end up on the outside	24:16
	"and those of us that those Pharisees	24:19
	"consider to be such outsiders	24:21
	"are going to end up on the inside, right Jesus?	24:22
	"The first shall be last, the last shall be first."	24:25
	"Oh," said the early church.	24:30
	"Ah, we get your point, Jesus.	24:33
	"Those Jews, those Jews who are supposed to be	24:36
	"God's chosen people.	24:40
	"They've rejected you,	24:41
	"and so now we gentiles,	24:43
	"those of us who were supposed to be last	24:47
	"those of us who had absolutely no claim	24:51
	"whatsoever on the promises of God	24:53
	"we get to be first	24:55
	"and those who have rejected you will be last."	24:57
	Well, we can certainly understand	25:03
	the murmurings of injustice of those Pharisees	25:05
	or those Jews who grumbled over God's generosity	25:08
	in Jesus coming to us and so late in the day, too.	25:13
	After they had believed and suffered	25:19
	because of their belief	25:23
	down through ages of misunderstanding	25:25
	and persecution and exile	25:29
	but that's tough.	25:32
	Even though we are last, we gentiles	25:36
	we get the same generous grace that God	25:40
	offered to them so long ago.	25:44
	The first shall be last, and the last first.	25:47
	God's grace is the same.	25:51
	The wages are the same for those who get there last	25:53
	as to those who get there first.	25:57
	But such an interpretation, I fear	26:02
	does not do justice to the scandal of	26:03
	this little story.	26:06
	The bite of this parable.	26:07
	On the first day of the class	26:14
	first day of the semester	26:16
	the professor says,	26:19
	"Now students, I have this difficult	26:21
	"very complicated math problem	26:25
	"the solution to which shall constitute	26:29
	"your entire grade for the whole semester.	26:31
	"Now, I'm going to go ahead and give you this problem	26:35
	"right now on the first day of the semester	26:38
	"because I want everybody in the class	26:41
	"to make an A.	26:44
	"The goal of this class is for everybody	26:45
	"to make an A	26:47
	"and I urge you to go ahead and begin work	26:48
	"on this problem right away	26:50
	"because it'll be your whole grade."	26:52
	Well you want to do well	26:55
	you don't want to have happen to	26:57
	what happened to you last semester	26:58
	and so you go right out of the class	27:00
	you get over to the library	27:03
	you check out books that will help you	27:04
	solve this problem and you go to work immediately.	27:06
	You begin calculation.	27:09
	And to your surprise	27:13
	you note that during mid February	27:14
	in casual inquiries to other members of the class	27:17
	that the rest of the class, it turns out	27:20
	hasn't even begun to work on the problem.	27:23
	They're gonna be sorry come spring.	27:26
	But of course that's tough	27:30
	that's their business.	27:31
	You've been at work on the problem	27:33
	since the second week of January.	27:35
	The week before the semester ends	27:39
	you are proudly putting the finishing touches	27:40
	on your solution to the problem	27:43
	and you run into Joe Jones in the cafeteria	27:45
	and Joe casually mentions to you	27:48
	that if he works very hard over the next	27:51
	couple of days, staying up for 48 hours straight	27:53
	he just might get the thing finished.	27:56
	And he tells you that there are others	28:00
	who haven't even begun.	28:02
	But of course, there's no hope for them	28:04
	no matter what, but that's their problem.	28:07
	Then comes the last day of the semester.	28:11
	You proudly hand in your work to the professor.	28:14
	And to your shock, everyone else	28:19
	has their work as well.	28:21
	How did they do it?	28:24
	You're about to find out.	28:27
	Amanda Smith says, "Professor Jones,	28:30
	I want to thank you	28:35
	"for helping me figure this thing out last week.	28:36
	"I tell you, why, without your help	28:38
	"I don't know that I would've ever gotten it finished."	28:41
	"Well here it is Professor," says Jane Robinson.	28:46
	"All done, but of course thanks to your kind assistance	28:51
	"yesterday in the library."	28:55
	"Hey," says Joe.	28:58
	"Thanks for coming by the dorm last night."	29:00
	(laughter)	29:03
	"I'm sorry what my roommate said	29:04
	"of course the last person he expected to see	29:06
	"in a dorm was a math professor	29:08
	"but I really appreciate you coming by."	29:09
	You're aghast, they have all finished their work.	29:14
	While you were hard at work	29:18
	finishing this thing out on your own	29:19
	this professor has been all over campus	29:22
	visiting the dorms, he's in the library	29:26
	he's been everywhere helping everybody	29:28
	everybody but you, that is	29:30
	and so you tell him what you think of it.	29:33
	And the professor responds	29:39
	"Wait a minute.	29:41
	"I'm a math professor.	29:43
	"I want people to learn math.	29:45
	"Now why do you begrudge my generosity?	29:46
	"Didn't I make it clear at the beginning of this class	29:49
	"that the goal of the class was for everybody	29:51
	"to get an A?	29:53
	"You were able to finish it on your own, and that's fine.	29:56
	"The others needed a little special attention.	30:00
	"You get an A, and they get an A.	30:04
	"What's wrong with that, am I not doing you right?"	30:08
	Well somehow, it just doesn't feel right.	30:13
	You look at your A.	30:16
	It was what you wanted out of the class	30:17
	but now that everybody's got an A	30:19
	what with the professor's midnight forays	30:21
	into the dorms and everything	30:24
	well it just doesn't feel like an A.	30:25
	Isn't it odd how the professor's graciousness	30:30
	just doesn't feel like graciousness?	30:33
	You see, I don't think we'll get to the scandal	30:39
	of this little story by focusing upon	30:42
	Matthew's probably later editorial comment	30:45
	that the first should be last and the last should be first	30:50
	because that acts as if the scandal of the laborers	30:54
	in the vineyard isn't everybody	30:58
	despite when each arrived got a denarius	31:00
	or if the scandal of the story of the professor is	31:05
	that everybody got an A.	31:07
	But that's not really what gets us about this little story	31:10
	because after all, if you look at the bottom	31:14
	of your RSV Bible in the footnote	31:17
	a denarius a day is not all that great a wage	31:20
	to begin with.	31:22
	While nobody knows the precise value of a denarius	31:24
	we do know that it seems to have taken	31:28
	about a denarius a day to support a laborer	31:30
	and his family just at the level of bare subsistence.	31:34
	A denarius a day is not that generous.	31:39
	I mean, it's not as if this imporier	31:42
	is throwing around money or something.	31:44
	In fact, the story says very little about wages.	31:47
	The main action of the story	31:52
	the plot is in these constant comings and goings	31:55
	of the owner of the vineyard.	32:00
	He goes out very early and he hires workers for the day	32:02
	and that's supposed to be it.	32:07
	But to our surprise, barely three hours later	32:09
	he's back downtown hiring more workers.	32:12
	And then again, and then again, and then again	32:16
	and we wonder why this owner of the vineyard	32:20
	was so bound bent and determined to have everybody	32:24
	off the streets that he could lay his hands on.	32:26
	Were his grapes already overripe?	32:30
	Did he know it was going to rain	32:34
	and the harvest might be ruined?	32:35
	Did he have a soft spot in his heart for the unemployed?	32:38
	We don't know.	32:42
	The story doesn't say.	32:44
	What the story does say and with great detail	32:47
	is that this particular master expended	32:50
	a great deal of gasoline going back and forth	32:54
	back and forth from his vineyard to town	32:57
	picking up anybody off the street	32:59
	who would go and agree to work in his vineyard	33:01
	for what's right.	33:05
	And it's enough to make you ask	33:09
	what is right?	33:10
	What's right?	33:11
	What's justice?	33:13
	I think for us, justice is a matter of giving people	33:15
	what they are worth.	33:20
	Let's see, let's see, you work longer	33:23
	so obviously you should get more.	33:25
	Let's see, you stayed in school, didn't you	33:30
	all the way through your BA, your MA, and your PhD?	33:32
	Oh, well you should get more.	33:35
	You have a higher IQ, then certainly you should get more.	33:39
	That's justice for us.	33:45
	But the funny thing is in the story	33:50
	justice, what's right	33:52
	is determined not by what's right.	33:57
	I mean, after all, he agreed	34:02
	to pay a certain wage, he just ended up	34:04
	paying it to everybody.	34:08
	What's right is determined by	34:10
	the owner's desire for laborers.	34:12
	It isn't that a denarius is so generous	34:15
	the scandal of the story is in	34:19
	this owner's repeated forays in and out	34:21
	in and out to town.	34:23
	It's in the invitation	34:25
	the generosity is in the invitation.	34:27
	He just wouldn't stop going back and forth	34:30
	back and forth, he wouldn't stop calling	34:33
	he wouldn't stop inviting and hiring and seeking	34:35
	and offering.	34:38
	Here it seems is a kingdom which is not	34:41
	structured on justice.	34:44
	What we deserve or what's fair	34:47
	or what's earned.	34:52
	Here is a kingdom structured on something other.	34:55
	Now we may structure our kingdoms on justice	35:01
	or at least we attempt to do so	35:03
	but let's remember that that's our way of doing business.	35:07
	The way God does business, it would seem	35:13
	is quite another matter.	35:16
	When we put a statue of justice over the door	35:19
	to our courthouse, you note what it is?	35:24
	It's a woman who is blindfolded.	35:27
	That's our idea of justice	35:30
	dispassionate, cool, distance, objectivity.	35:32
	That's what we call right.	35:37
	Balanced, blind, objectivity.	35:39
	But God's right may not be our right.	35:45
	Persistent, intrusive invitation	35:50
	not dispassionate, blind justice	35:54
	is the way God's kingdom is structured.	35:58
	We like to think that we get what we have	36:02
	based on our efforts	36:05
	our attempts to be good	36:08
	and our attempts to do good.	36:10
	But the story suggests that we'll get what we'll get	36:14
	based on the invitation, the invitation.	36:18
	The grace in the story, the grace is in	36:22
	the owner's persistent forays into town.	36:25
	The owner won't be happy until everybody is at work	36:28
	in the vineyard.	36:31
	The owner is the professor who won't sleep	36:32
	well at night until everybody in the class	36:34
	gets an A.	36:37
	It's the giver of a banquet that just won't	36:38
	be happy until everybody's inside	36:40
	moving to the music.	36:41
	If all we want is justice from God	36:44
	that's probably all we'll get.	36:46
	Here, take your denarius and go, big deal.	36:48
	But through the master's intrusive, never-ceasing mercy	36:53
	you and I may hope for a little more than justice.	37:01
	More than just what's right.	37:06
	We may get the master persistent,	37:10
	intrusively, relentlessly	37:14
	pursuing us until the midnight hour	37:17
	unhappy until everybody's there.	37:20
	And so I say to you, this is an Evangelical	37:25
	this is an Easter parable.	37:27
	That's why we're telling it to you today.	37:31
	Because it's a story, and I bet you can think of others	37:34
	of a God who refused to leave us alone	37:37
	who just wouldn't let us be with what's right.	37:40
	A God who came out and he sought us out	37:43
	and he found us.	37:46
	Sometimes early and sometimes late.	37:48
	He pursued us into our warped humanity	37:50
	and even when we rejected him and we crucified him	37:55
	and we came out to the cemetery saying	38:00
	"Well, it's all over."	38:01
	As it turned out, it was just beginning.	38:05
	And he pursued us.	38:09
	He pursued us in life, he pursued us in death	38:11
	he pursued us all the way to Hell.	38:15
	He pursued us.	38:19
	You're here this morning not because you've been	38:21
	given what you deserve, I mean	38:24
	who would want that from God?	38:25
	But because you've been invited.	38:29
	Some of you came early and some of you got here late.	38:33
	That's okay.	38:37
	It's the way God does things, relentlessly.	38:38
	And even if you're not here this morning	38:44
	the parable suggest there's still time.	38:46
	Even if you're not really here	38:51
	that's okay, because the good news is	38:54
	he's out looking for you.	38:58
	Eleventh hour workers are as sought by him	39:01
	as those who have been here all day.	39:04
	And maybe if we've been here all day since early morning	39:10
	the funny thing is that the bad news is	39:15
	and the good news is that	39:17
	here's a master who invites, welcomes, pursues everybody	39:21
	even though those that we have spent much of our lives	39:27
	despising and thinking that we deserve more than they.	39:30
	Do you remember a celebration in church	39:38
	on the Sunday you got the news	39:42
	that convicted Watergate crook Charles Colson	39:43
	had been born again?	39:46
	I don't think we had a celebration here.	39:47
	How did you feel when you got the news	39:52
	that convicted cocaine dealer John DeLorean	39:54
	had found the Lord?	39:57
	I don't remember a celebration	39:59
	even though Jesus says Heaven goes wild	40:01
	over just one of these.	40:03
	And last week, reading through the news magazine	40:08
	I said, "Well, it's at last good to see	40:12
	"that Pete Rose finally gets what he deserves."	40:16
	And my wife informed me,	40:20
	"You know, I hear Pete is being born again."	40:22
	I said, "There has got to be a limit to this sort of thing!"	40:25
	(laughter)	40:28
	Murmurings of injustice.	40:31
	Let us get it through our heads	40:34
	that our worth in this vineyard is determined	40:36
	not by what's right, justice	40:39
	but by the invitation, who's called.	40:43
	Our shepherd says he's got other sheep	40:47
	yet to be found into this fold.	40:49
	And the hope, the Easter Evangelical resurrection hope	40:52
	is that the God who has pursued us so in life	40:56
	and I bet some of you could tell a story about that	41:00
	shall pursue us even in death	41:05
	so that in life or in death	41:07
	come early, come late, we're invited.	41:09
	He's out looking for you.	41:14
	The invitation is based not on how hard we've worked	41:16
	or long we've been here but on the mercy	41:21
	the pursuing, never-ending mercy.	41:23
	Amen.	41:28
	(organ music)	41:35
	(congregation singing)	41:59
-	The Lord be with you.	43:49
Congregants	And also with you.	43:51
-	Let us pray.	43:52
	Oh Lord we are here because you have invited us	44:03
	and we give you thanks for such a great	44:08
	mercy-filled invitation.	44:13
	We come before you as a people you have forgiven	44:17
	yet even as forgiven people we still choose	44:22
	to sin and live as if you have not invited us	44:27
	live as if you do not exist.	44:32
	In this silent time of confession	44:37
	teach us how to pray.	44:40
	Teach us how to confess	44:43
	and in that confession, forgive	44:45
	and welcome your forgiveness which heals	44:49
	and sanctifies us.	44:52
	In silence, we pray to you, oh Lord.	44:55
	Forgive us Lord for only wanting the world's justice	45:31
	for being afraid of your grace and mercy	45:37
	forgive us for the violence which is in our lives	45:43
	the violence which is untouched by the prince of peace	45:47
	forgive us for leading false lives	45:56
	for our facades and deceit	46:01
	untouched by your truth about us	46:04
	forgive us for wanting to be anonymous	46:10
	even here in this place with friends	46:13
	even before you.	46:16
	Enable us to trust you and one another	46:21
	as we are fully known by you.	46:24
	Forgive us for all our broken relationships	46:31
	which we nurture, untouched by Christ	46:34
	who has reconciled us with our God.	46:37
	Forgive us for continuing to hate our enemies.	46:43
	We come before you with thanksgiving	46:52
	for this chapel we give you thanks	46:56
	for all the times you have waited for us here	46:58
	for all the times you went into town	47:03
	and brought us here	47:05
	for all the marriages and baptisms	47:08
	and funerals and feasts	47:10
	which are celebrated in this place	47:13
	and make it holy	47:16
	For all the students who sit alone in prayer here	47:19
	for the guests who come to worship	47:26
	for the musicians who fill this place with praise	47:29
	for Will and Nancy who preach good news	47:34
	for those who sweep and repair and tune and type	47:39
	for those who laid stone upon stone	47:48
	and fashioned windows of your stories.	47:53
	Oh Lord, we give you thanks.	47:58
	During this week of exams	48:03
	we pray for all the students here	48:05
	that they would seek wisdom	48:08
	that they would be honest	48:11
	that their security and hope	48:13
	and self image would rest in you.	48:17
	We pray for all teachers that they would seek wisdom	48:22
	that they would know your justice	48:28
	that they would lead such lives of goodness	48:32
	and faith they would be mentors in their	48:35
	relationships with students	48:40
	saints for us here.	48:42
	We pray for those today who are dying	48:49
	friends and strangers to us	48:53
	that they would die faithfully	48:56
	and the church would be faithful to them in their dying.	48:59
	For those who suffer we pray you would	49:05
	enable them to suffer faithfully	49:09
	and that all our pain and struggle	49:13
	might draw us deeper into intimacy	49:15
	with our Christ of the Cross.	49:19
	In this season of Easter	49:24
	enable us to be witnesses to the world	49:27
	of this resurrection, always pointing	49:31
	to the true hope and joy and peace	49:34
	and justice of our God.	49:41
	Oh Lord, God, lamb of God hear our prayers.	49:50
	In the name of the blessed trinity we pray	49:55
	amen.	49:58
	(choir singing)	50:49
	(organ music)	58:30
	(congregation singing)	59:15
-	Oh God of the universe	1:00:15
	for everything good that we have	1:00:17
	and everything good that we are	1:00:20
	we give you thanks.	1:00:22
	Let praise and thanksgiving be ever on our lips	1:00:25
	as you transform us into thankful people.	1:00:28
	Let Jesus be our example even as we pray his prayer.	1:00:33
	Our Father which art in Heaven	1:00:39
	hallowed by thy name	1:00:42
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:00:44
	on earth as it is in Heaven	1:00:47
	give us this day our daily bread	1:00:50
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:00:52
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:00:55
	Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil	1:00:59
	for thine is the kingdom	1:01:04
	the power and the glory forever.	1:01:06
	Amen.	1:01:09
	Go now in peace to love and serve the Lord	1:01:12
	who has invited you into this vineyard	1:01:16
	into his kingdom.	1:01:20
	In the name of the blessed trinity, amen.	1:01:22
	(organ music)	1:01:26
	(congregation singing)	1:01:47
-	[Reverend Willimon] Let us go forth in the name of Christ.	1:04:49
-	Praise be to God.	1:04:51
	(organ music)	1:04:56

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Invitation" (April 29, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 17:45. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 41:30.
The preacher interprets the parable of “hiring workers to work in the vineyard” as a story about the generosity of the vineyard owner rather than about justice according to human perception. The preacher argues that the Kingdom of God is not about being given ''what you deserve," but is, instead, about an invitation. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r40c4t085

Date:

April 29, 1990

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Easter

Biblical Book:

Matthew

Chapter and Verse:

Matthew 20: 1-15

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0178
ref8775_ft3
uachapelsermaud
duke:321750
dcrmv001172
ark:/87924/r40c4t085
8bbbb6ea-4414-4eea-a84a-ab832ec600a4

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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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 - "The Invitation" (April 29, 1990)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives