William H. Willimon - "Ordinary People" (October 21, 1990)

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	(organ music)	0:00
-	[Reverend Willimon] Good morning, and welcome to	5:19
	this Parents Sunday here in Duke Chapel.	5:21
	Our presence here today signifies	5:25
	one of the unusual aspects of life	5:27
	at Duke University from its beginning	5:30
	and that is the unique blending of	5:33
	religion and erudition	5:36
	and your presence here symbolizes	5:38
	that that tradition continues	5:41
	and we're particularly glad to have	5:43
	the parents of our students with use today.	5:46
	This evening at 5pm there will be an free organ concert	5:50
	Christina Regech will be playing	5:56
	the Flentrop organ in concert.	5:59
	I've also been asked to announce	6:02
	that Amnesty International	6:04
	one of the ministries of the chapel	6:06
	has a signup table out front at the end	6:08
	of the service for prisoners of conscience in Cuba	6:11
	they're focusing on this year	6:15
	would like your participation.	6:17
	And now let us continue our worship.	6:20
	Stand.	6:25
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	6:32
Congregation	And also with you.	6:34
-	The risen Christ is with us.	6:36
-	Praise the Lord.	6:38
	(organ music)	6:40
	("Praise the Lord, O My Soul")	7:18
-	[Reverend Ferree-Clark] God of Abraham and Ruth	12:25
	you call us to embark on a journey of faith.	12:28
	We stand before you ready to hear your call	12:32
	and to follow where you lead	12:35
	for you have claimed us by your mercy	12:38
	and set before us eternal promises in Jesus Christ	12:41
	with whom we live to give you all glory	12:45
	in the power of the Holy Spirit.	12:48
	Amen.	12:51
	Join with me in the prayer for illumination.	13:10
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God	13:13
	by the power of your holy spirit	13:16
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	13:19
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	13:23
	Amen.	13:27
	A reading from the Book of Ruth.	13:33
	"In the days when the judges ruled	13:38
	"there was a famine in the land	13:40
	"and a certain man of Bethlehem and Judah	13:43
	"went to live in the country of Moab.	13:45
	"He, and his wife, and two sons.	13:48
	"The name of the man was Elimelech	13:52
	"and the name of his wife, Naomi.	13:53
	"And the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion.	13:56
	"They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem and Judah.	14:00
	"They went into the country of Moab	14:04
	"and remained there but Elimelech	14:06
	"the husband of Naomi, died	14:09
	"and she was left with her two sons.	14:11
	"These took Moabite wives	14:14
	"the name of the one was Orpah	14:16
	"and the name of the other, Ruth.	14:18
	"When they had lived there about ten years	14:21
	"both Mahlon and Chilion also died	14:23
	"so that the woman was left without her two sons	14:27
	"and her husband.	14:30
	"Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law	14:32
	"from the country of Moab	14:34
	"for she had heard in the country of Moab	14:36
	"that the Lord had considered his people	14:39
	"and given them food.	14:41
	"So she set out from the place	14:44
	"where she had been living	14:46
	"she and her two daughters-in-law	14:47
	"and they went on their way to go back	14:49
	"to the land of Judah.	14:51
	"But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law	14:54
	"Go back, each of you, to your mother's house.	14:56
	"May the Lord deal kindly with you	15:00
	"as you have dealt with the dead and with me.	15:02
	"The Lord grant that you may find security	15:06
	"each of you in the house of your husband.	15:08
	"Then she kissed them and they wept aloud.	15:11
	"They said to her, no	15:15
	"we will return with you to your people.	15:16
	"But Naomi said, turn back, my daughters.	15:20
	"Why will you go with me?	15:22
	"Do I still have sons in my womb	15:25
	"that they may become your husbands?	15:27
	"Turn back, my daughters, go your way	15:30
	"for I am too old to have a husband.	15:32
	"Even if I thought there was hope for me	15:36
	"even if I should have a husband tonight	15:38
	"and bear sons, would you then wait	15:40
	"until they were grown?	15:43
	"Would you then refrain from marrying?	15:45
	"No my daughters, it has been far more bitter	15:48
	"for me than for you because the hand of the Lord	15:51
	"has turned against me.	15:54
	"Then they wept aloud again.	15:56
	"Orpah kissed her mother-in-law	15:59
	"but Ruth clung to her.	16:00
	"So she said, see, your sister-in-law has gone back	16:03
	"to her people and to her Gods.	16:05
	"Return after your sister-in-law.	16:07
	"But Ruth said, do not press me to leave you	16:11
	"or to turn back from following you.	16:14
	"Where you go, I will go.	16:16
	"Where you lodge, I will lodge.	16:19
	"Your people shall be my people	16:22
	"and your God, my God.	16:24
	"Where you die, I will die.	16:27
	"There will I be buried.	16:29
	"May the Lord do thus and so to me	16:32
	"and more as well if even death parts me from you.	16:34
	"When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her	16:40
	"she said no more to her.	16:43
	"So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.	16:46
	"When they came to Bethlehem,	16:49
	"the whole town was stirred because of them	16:51
	"and then women said, is this Naomi?	16:53
	"She said to them, call me no longer Naomi.	16:58
	"Call me Mara, for the almighty has dealt bitterly with me.	17:01
	"I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty.	17:06
	"Why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt	17:11
	"harshly with me, and the amighty has brought	17:13
	"calamity upon me?	17:16
	"So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite	17:19
	"her daughter-in-law who came back with her	17:22
	"from the country of Moab.	17:24
	"They came to Bethlehem at the beginning	17:27
	"of the barley harvest.	17:29
	"This is the word of the Lord."	17:33
Congregation	Praise be to God.	17:35
-	Please stand as we join together	17:38
	in singing responsibly Psalm 146	17:39
	found on page 858 in your hymnal.	17:43
	(organ music)	17:49
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. ♪	17:55
	(congregants singing)	18:02
	♪ Put not your trust in princes ♪	18:13
	♪ In mortals in hope there is no help. ♪	18:16
	(congregants singing)	18:22
	♪ Happy are those whose help is in the God of Jacob ♪	18:32
	(congregants singing)	18:38
	♪ Who made Heaven and Earth ♪	18:42
	♪ The sea and all that is in them ♪	18:46
	(congregants singing)	18:50
	♪ The Lord sets the prisoners free ♪	19:02
	(congregants singing)	19:05
	♪ The Lord lifts up those who are bogged down ♪	19:10
	(congregants singing)	19:15
	♪ The Lord watches over the sojourners ♪	19:19
	(congregants singing)	19:23
	♪ The Lord will reign forever ♪	19:33
	♪ Your God, oh Zion ♪	19:36
	♪ From generation to generation ♪	19:39
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	19:44
	♪ Oh Glory be to you oh God ♪	19:48
	♪ And to Jesus Christ, our savior ♪	19:52
	(congregants singing)	19:55
	♪ As it was since time began ♪	20:01
	(congregants singing)	20:05
-	[William J. Griffith] The second reading	20:26
	is from the gospel according to Saint Matthew.	20:27
	"Then the Pharisees went and plotted	20:32
	"to entrap him in what he said.	20:35
	"So they sent their disciples to him	20:39
	"along with the Herodians	20:41
	"saying, teacher, we know that you are sincere	20:43
	"and teach the way of God in accordance with truth	20:49
	"and show deference to no one	20:52
	"for you do not regard people with partiality.	20:55
	"Tell us then what you think.	21:00
	"Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?	21:04
	"But Jesus, aware of their malice, said	21:10
	"Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?	21:15
	"Show me the coin used for the tax.	21:19
	"And they brought him a denarius.	21:23
	"Then he said to them, whose head is this	21:26
	"and whose title?	21:31
	"They answered, the emperor.	21:33
	"Then he said to them, give therefore	21:37
	"to the emperor the things that are the emperor's	21:40
	"and give to God the things that are God's.	21:44
	"When they heard this, they were amazed	21:50
	"and they left him and went away.	21:53
	"This is the word of the Lord."	21:57
Congregation	Praise be to God.	21:59
	(orchestra music)	22:16
	("Praise the Lord, O My Soul")	22:32
-	It's Parents' Weekend,	26:53
	and by happy act of divine serendipity	26:55
	the lectionary has assigned as the first reading	27:00
	the book of Ruth.	27:04
	The book of Ruth is a family story,	27:07
	an ancient novella perhaps three thousand years old.	27:10
	It's an old story, and I believe it	27:15
	to be a true story because it is a story	27:18
	about a family that's in trouble.	27:23
	It's a story about a middle class family	27:27
	that hits on hard times and has to move	27:30
	to a strange land, and a father who dies,	27:34
	leaving a widow and two sons ill prepared for,	27:38
	and two sons who marry women	27:44
	of another religion and race,	27:46
	and a mother-in-law who does not understand	27:49
	her daughters-in-law and yet finds herself	27:53
	yoked to them in misery.	27:56
	It's a story about a family that's beset with problems	28:00
	and bills to pay and children who won't do right	28:05
	and mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and tensions.	28:10
	In other words, it's a story about	28:15
	a family like yours, like mine.	28:17
	Ordinary people.	28:21
	Or am I doing a disservice to your family?	28:25
	It's Parents' Weekend,	28:29
	and there many of you with mom and dad.	28:31
	Maybe your family doesn't have such problems.	28:33
	And if so, then that makes your family extraordinary.	28:38
	But our story, the story of Ruth	28:44
	is about an ordinary family.	28:47
	A family where it's tough to be in the family	28:50
	and there are tensions and difficulties	28:53
	of over-loving one another.	28:57
	It's an ordinary family.	29:00
	A Duke student told me last week	29:04
	that she had quite a dilemma over Parents' Weekend	29:06
	cause she's got to split her Parents' Weekend	29:08
	between two sets of parents.	29:10
	She's got her father and his new wife	29:13
	over at one motel across town.	29:16
	She's got her mother and her fiance,	29:18
	and it's tough, gets complicated in families sometimes.	29:20
	It's complicated to be in a family, particularly	29:29
	if you are in an ordinary family.	29:31
	Our story is set during the time	29:36
	when the judges ruled Israel.	29:39
	A time when according to the last verse	29:42
	of the Book of Judges, there was chaos	29:45
	in the land and everybody did	29:48
	what was right in his own eyes.	29:51
	There was violence in the streets	29:55
	and political intrigue and corruption	29:57
	in places high and low.	30:00
	In short, it was a tough time to have a marriage,	30:04
	a tough time to be in a family,	30:07
	and as if this moral chaos were not enough,	30:10
	there is economic disaster now as well.	30:13
	The first verse of the Book of Ruth:	30:18
	"There was a famine in the land." A famine.	30:20
	And we see pictures of little children	30:24
	with bloated bellies	30:26
	and hungry beggars wandering the streets.	30:27
	It was an ugly time.	30:30
	And Naomi and her husband	30:34
	leave their home in Bethlehem	30:37
	and they travel out to the wilds of Moab.	30:40
	They hear that things are better in Moab.	30:45
	Have any of you ever been to Moab?	30:51
	It's a rough, out-of-the-way sort of place.	30:54
	You don't want to go to Moab unless	30:57
	you're miserable wherever you presently are.	30:59
	Back in Genesis after Abraham and Lot parted,	31:03
	we a re told that Lot went out into the wilderness	31:07
	and he lived in a cave in the wilderness	31:10
	with his two daughters.	31:12
	And one day his daughters looked at their father	31:14
	and said, he's getting old and we're getting old,	31:17
	and we've got no prospect for husbands.	31:20
	And so they get their father drunk--	31:23
	it's in the book of Genesis--	31:25
	and they go in to their father.	31:27
	Nine months later they give birth to two sons	31:30
	and one of them is named Moab	31:35
	which Genesis says became the father of the Moabites.	31:39
	Parents, I know that you think this is	31:44
	an inappropriate bible story for your children	31:46
	but I'm trying to explain why a life	31:50
	out in Moab was no picnic!	31:52
	You had to really be desperate to improve	31:54
	your lot by moving to Moab.	31:56
	And Naomi and her husband are desperate;	32:00
	they are hungry. And so they take their two sons	32:02
	and they move out to Moab.	32:05
	And wouldn't you know it,	32:09
	no sooner have they unpacked	32:10
	then their boys are dating Moabite girls.	32:12
	It's complicated because now Naomi is a single parent--	32:17
	her husband died right after she got to Moab.	32:21
	And how she wishes that her husband were there	32:26
	to help her during this time of difficulty,	32:29
	to help her deal with the problem of	32:32
	her boys' infatuation with these Moabite girls.	32:34
	Why is it, she wonders, do foreign women	32:37
	always look more attractive?	32:40
	But Naomi is a single parent,	32:42
	and like a lot of single parents,	32:44
	she just gets by the best that she can.	32:46
	Naomi says to her oldest son Mahlon,	32:50
	"Mahlon, it's not that	32:54
	"what's-her-name is a bad girl--"	32:59
	"Her name is Ruth, mother."	33:03
	"Alright, it's not that Ruth is a bad girl,	33:06
	"it's just that she has not had	33:10
	"the advantages that our family has had.	33:12
	"She has a different value system than we do.	33:15
	"She's just a little..."	33:18
	"She's just a little Moabite, is that	33:20
	"what you're trying to say, mother?"	33:23
	Well, Naomi gets about as far with this argument	33:25
	as some of you have with your sons and daughters	33:28
	in similar situations.	33:30
	Besides, where's Mahlon gonna find a	33:33
	nice, respectable, middle-class churchgoing girl	33:35
	out here in Moab?	33:39
	And just a few months later,	33:41
	Naomi has two Moabite daughters-in-law on her hands	33:43
	and she tries to make the best of it.	33:49
	"Dear," she says to Ruth one day.	33:54
	"You're so pretty, you're so naturally pretty.	33:57
	"Don't you think you could get along	33:59
	"with just a tad less eyeliner?"	34:01
	(laughter)	34:03
	And to her other daughter-in-law she says,	34:06
	"You know, a low cut gold lamé blouse is okay,	34:10
	"but do you think for church?"	34:14
	It's tough being a mother-in-law.	34:19
	But it's about to get tougher,	34:22
	because both of Naomi's sons die	34:25
	and Naomi is left alone with two daughters-in-law	34:29
	that she hardly knows, much less likes.	34:32
	And so, after the death of her two sons	34:36
	Naomi says, "Girls,	34:39
	"I'm going back home to Bethlehem.	34:43
	"I'm going back home to my own people.	34:46
	"I'm a single woman with no marketable skills,	34:50
	"no prospect for a marriage, I mean no future.	34:54
	"I can't help you.	34:59
	"You are young, you are attractive--	35:02
	"in a Moabite sort of way."	35:05
	(laughter)	35:07
	"Go help yourselves.	35:09
	"You don't need a dependent old lady	35:12
	"like me around.	35:14
	"You go on back and you live with your people	35:17
	"right here in Moab."	35:19
	And what her daughters-in-law say surprises Naomi.	35:22
	"You are our people.	35:28
	"We will go with you."	35:32
	Well Naomi tries to talk some sense into them.	35:35
	"Look, you are women, you are unmarried women.	35:37
	"We live in a patriarchal society	35:41
	"(even though at 1000 B.C. we don't know it's patriarchal	35:43
	"yet until the feminists told us later)." (laughter)	35:46
	"You are poor, you are unmarried,	35:49
	"you are vulnerable women, you are Moabites.	35:52
	"Why don't you stay here where there's some hope for you?"	35:55
	And Orpah decides to leave, but	36:00
	Ruth clung to Naomi.	36:04
	She clung to Naomi.	36:08
	It's the same Old Testament word	36:09
	that's used in Genesis to talk about marriage:	36:11
	"For this reason a man shall leave	36:14
	"his mother and his father	36:17
	"and he shall cling to his wife.	36:19
	"They shall become one flesh."	36:22
	Ruth clung to Naomi, just like marriage.	36:25
	She refused to leave this old woman.	36:30
	Naomi said, "Even if I should get a husband	36:35
	"up in Bethlehem,	36:40
	"I am long past the age of having children.	36:41
	"I can have no more sons for you, my dear."	36:45
	But Ruth countered Naomi's pleadings	36:50
	with pleadings of her own,	36:53
	with one of the most beloved speeches	36:57
	in the entire Bible.	36:59
	"Entreat me not to leave you	37:02
	"or to return from following you	37:05
	"for where you go, I will go.	37:08
	"Your people shall be my people	37:13
	"and your God shall be my God.	37:15
	"And where you die I will die	37:20
	"and there I'll be buried."	37:24
	Ruth, a Moabite, a single woman	37:28
	and it appears if Ruth is just	37:34
	throwing her life away for no one more important	37:36
	than her mother-in-law.	37:41
	Earlier in Genesis, when Abraham and Sarah	37:46
	were told to pack up their things and move out	37:48
	to a strange new land, they knew not where,	37:50
	God promised them, "I will bless you	37:53
	"I will be with you, I'll make something out of you."	37:55
	But Ruth ventures forth with no promises.	38:00
	She links her life to Naomi with absolutely nothing	38:07
	any more substantial than an affection	38:10
	that a young woman has for an older one.	38:13
	It's a story, therefore, about these strange yokings.	38:17
	These unusual linkages and clingings that occur	38:23
	in an ordinary family.	38:29
	Yokings and linkages made all the more strange, I think,	38:34
	because you and I live in a culture	38:40
	that does not understand such claiming	38:42
	and clinging of one person to another.	38:45
	We've got trouble understanding this story	38:50
	not because it's 3000 years old,	38:52
	but because we've constructed a society	38:56
	which acts as if it were possible	38:59
	to be a full human being with no attachments	39:01
	and no claims and no clinging between people.	39:05
	For us the individual,	39:09
	the sovereign individual, is everything.	39:11
	Liberated, self-sufficient, autonomous, standing alone.	39:14
	We've devised an educational system	39:20
	to match our ideology of the individual.	39:22
	Here, like most places, we educate through detachment.	39:26
	We detach you from your family,	39:31
	we move you out of home,	39:33
	we put you into the hands of strangers,	39:35
	we abandon you to your peer group in Pegram,	39:37
	and after we have completely detached you	39:39
	from mama and daddy and tradition and community	39:42
	we give you a degree	39:44
	and we thereby imply that the only way	39:46
	to get wisdom in this world	39:49
	is by making everybody a stranger	39:51
	to everybody else.	39:53
	And we're genuinely shocked when someone	39:56
	comes along, younger or older,	39:59
	and makes a claim on our lives.	40:01
	Like parents who've got opinions	40:05
	about their children's behavior	40:07
	or children who turn and hold us parents to account.	40:10
	We're shocked, cause we've defined freedom	40:16
	as the fewest possible number of attachments.	40:21
	Of course, such a definition of freedom	40:26
	makes things like marriage and family	40:29
	and childbearing virtually incomprehensible.	40:31
	After all, why would anybody wanna limit	40:36
	his or her options	40:38
	by becoming unnecessarily tied down	40:42
	to the messy complications of another human being?	40:46
	And the strange thing is that	40:53
	many of us are feeling anything but free.	40:54
	Parents, in a well intentioned effort	40:59
	to give our children freedom,	41:02
	abandon our children	41:06
	to the most tyrannical master of all:	41:09
	their peers.	41:13
	Our old people perish in isolation	41:16
	and selfishness, stored in vast communes	41:19
	of the retired who have no responsibilities	41:22
	and no claim upon themselves by anyone	41:25
	other than themselves.	41:29
	Irresponsibility is ugly if it occurs	41:32
	in somebody who's seventeen or somebody who's seventy.	41:36
	Marriage becomes a contract between	41:40
	two friendly strangers who band together	41:43
	to meet individual needs.	41:46
	And so the story of Ruth and Naomi,	41:50
	these two strangers bound together	41:52
	in a hostile world, strikes us as strange.	41:56
	The story asserts that parents and family	42:03
	and children and in-laws are an invitation	42:07
	to expose ourselves to strangers,	42:12
	to become vulnerable to another human being,	42:17
	to link our future to some project	42:21
	greater than ourselves.	42:24
	To be in any family, any marriage,	42:27
	is always to venture forth like Ruth and Naomi	42:30
	into some uncharted territory	42:33
	where you've got no guarantees for the future,	42:36
	only the confidence that the future--	42:42
	even the worst of futures--is a lot more bearable	42:46
	when you bear it with someone else.	42:50
	Well, I don't have time to go into the rest of the story,	42:55
	but I can tell you that right after Ruth and Naomi	42:58
	got up to Bethlehem, Naomi got busy	43:02
	and she found Ruth a husband.	43:05
	Well, he wasn't much of a husband,	43:08
	this Boaz, but he did the job.	43:10
	"He's too old for me," says Ruth.	43:12
	"Ha, old men are good in marriage," says Naomi.	43:15
	"Besides, he's the only man you've got."	43:19
	This Naomi had been round the block a few times.	43:24
	"You get over to that threshing floor."	43:28
	And Ruth bore a son eventually,	43:31
	up in Bethlehem.	43:34
	Ruth, a woman, a single woman	43:37
	vulnerable at the dead end of her life	43:40
	with no future, no hope,	43:43
	she had a child up in Bethlehem.	43:45
	And some people say that this story is a parable	43:51
	because the child of Ruth was named Obed,	43:56
	and Obed became the father of Jesse,	44:00
	and Jesse became the father of David,	44:03
	and eventually David became the father of Joseph,	44:07
	Joseph the carpenter.	44:11
	And he and Mary had a son named Joshua--	44:13
	"God saves"--Jesus, up at Bethlehem.	44:17
	You see, Ruth, a foreign Moabite woman,	44:25
	through the strange twistings and turnings	44:31
	of providence, becomes the means of salvation	44:34
	for Israel, for us.	44:37
	Bethlehem baby's reminds all of us	44:42
	that this is a family story.	44:44
	But it's not just an isolated story	44:46
	about an ordinary family like yours and mine.	44:49
	It's a story about the ordinary whole human family,	44:52
	about the ways that God can use our little ordinary families	44:58
	from New Jersey in spectacularly extraordinary ways.	45:01
	'Cause God always saves through ordinary people	45:08
	like Ruth and Naomi and Joseph and Mary	45:11
	who do ordinary duties like getting married,	45:17
	and having babies, and putting up with daughters-in-law,	45:20
	in ordinary families like yours and like mine	45:24
	if we'd just stick together,	45:29
	if we would just cling to one another	45:31
	through thick and thin and trust God	45:36
	to use our little ordinary fidelity to one another	45:39
	extraordinarily the world to bless.	45:46
	A quote from George Eliot's Middlemarch:	45:53
	"The good of the world is dependent on	45:58
	"quite unhistoric acts,	46:03
	"and that things are not so ill	46:06
	"between you and me as they might have been	46:08
	"is half owing to the number who lived	46:14
	"faithfully a hidden life	46:17
	"and now rest in unvisited tombs."	46:22
	Amen.	46:28
	(organ music)	46:32
	(congregation singing)	47:14
-	Oh eternal God who has called us	49:50
	to live together in unity	49:53
	in the splendor of this holy time and place	49:56
	open our eyes to behold your gracious	50:00
	and loving hand in all your work.	50:02
	Empower us to rejoice in each moment of our lives	50:05
	that in celebrating your goodness	50:10
	we may learn to serve you with gladness.	50:12
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:16
	Oh God of Ruth and Naomi	50:20
	you show us the way to live faithful lives	50:23
	of commitment and perseverance.	50:26
	Strengthen us in our times of weakness	50:28
	that we may never waver in our devotion	50:31
	to those who are closest to our hearts	50:34
	that we may remain open to your surprising	50:36
	interventions in our lives.	50:39
	Especially we pray for all families in crisis	50:42
	that you would restore broken relationships	50:46
	and strengthen them for the future	50:49
	through your gifts of forgiveness and reconciliation.	50:51
	Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.	50:55
	Oh creating God, in giving us dominion	51:00
	over things on earth you made us fellow creators	51:03
	in your creation.	51:07
	Give us wisdom and reverence	51:09
	so to use the resources of nature	51:10
	that no one may suffer from our abuse of them	51:13
	and that generations yet to come	51:16
	may continue to praise you for your bounty.	51:18
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	51:21
	Oh redeeming God, you showed us	51:26
	the way of peace as you gave yourself for others.	51:28
	We pray that your holy and life-giving spirit	51:32
	may so move every human heart in every land	51:35
	that barriers which divide us may fall	51:39
	suspicions vanish and hatred cease	51:42
	and that our divisions being healed	51:46
	all may dwell in peace.	51:48
	Lord in your mercy, here our prayer.	51:51
	Oh sustaining God, in revealing yourself to us	51:55
	as a servant you taught us that the first	51:59
	shall be last and the last, first.	52:01
	We remember before you all poor and neglected persons	52:04
	whom we too quickly and easily dismiss.	52:08
	The homeless and the destitute, the sick and the dying	52:11
	and all who have none to care for them.	52:15
	Help us to heal those who are broken	52:19
	in body or spirit and to lighten their burdens	52:21
	by acts of mercy.	52:24
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	52:26
	Oh God of love, as we face the daily doubts	52:30
	and uncertainties in our lives	52:34
	grant us the grace to know	52:36
	what you would have us to do.	52:38
	May your spirit of wisdom save us	52:40
	from foolhardy choices and direct us	52:42
	in the way of truth.	52:44
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	52:47
	These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ	52:51
	our redeemer and our Lord, amen.	52:53
	As a people called to live in committed relationship	52:59
	to God and to one another, let us offer	53:02
	our gifts and ourselves unto God.	53:05
	(orchestral music)	53:32
	(choir singing)	53:43
	(organ music)	1:01:48
	(congregation singing)	1:02:18
-	Our kind and gracious God	1:03:14
	that we are alive, that the seasons unfold	1:03:16
	in their glorious array	1:03:20
	that time spent with family and friends	1:03:22
	renews and refreshes us	1:03:24
	your name be praised.	1:03:26
	We thank you for the life of faith	1:03:29
	which teaches us the value of commitment	1:03:31
	and for those who have stood by us	1:03:33
	in the best and the worst of times.	1:03:35
	Especially we thank you for your faithfulness	1:03:38
	to us, your people	1:03:41
	and to the bounty of your love	1:03:42
	and so with all your people in every corner	1:03:45
	of creation we count it joy to praise your name.	1:03:47
	This we pray, the name of the one	1:03:50
	who taught us to pray with confidence.	1:03:52
	Our father, who art in Heaven.	1:03:55
	Hallowed be thy name.	1:03:57
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:03:59
	on earth as it is in Heaven.	1:04:02
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:04:04
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:04:07
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	1:04:08
	and lead us not into temptation	1:04:12
	but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom	1:04:14
	the power and the glory forever.	1:04:18
	Amen.	1:04:21
	And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ	1:04:24
	the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit	1:04:27
	be with you all now and forever more, amen.	1:04:30
	(choir singing)	1:04:36
	(organ music)	1:06:40
	(congregation singing)	1:07:24
	♪ Go in peace and serve the Lord ♪	1:11:15
	♪ In the name of Christ ♪	1:11:20
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:25
	(organ music)	1:11:32

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Ordinary People" (October 21, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: 26:53. Sermon end time: 46:32.
Retelling the story of Ruth and Naomi, the preacher argues that God saves through ordinary people. If we trust God to use our ordinary fidelity to one another, God will bless the world with his extraordinary love. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "To be in any family, any marriage, is always to venture forth like Ruth and Naomi into some uncharted territory where you've got no guarantees for the future, only the confidence that the future--even the worst of futures--is a lot more bearable when you bear it with someone else."

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4319sh6w

Date:

October 21, 1990

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Ruth

Chapter and Verse:

Ruth 1:1-16

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0205
ref8853_onn
uachapelsermaud
duke:321346
dcrmv001196
ark:/87924/r4319sh6w
8572ed05-9c3b-4ab2-add3-989c6e2cdd76

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 - "Ordinary People" (October 21, 1990)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Ordinary People" (October 21, 1990)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Ordinary People" (October 21, 1990)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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