William H. Willimon - "Defying Chaos with God" (February 10, 1991)

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	(organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning.	4:42
	We welcome you to Duke Chapel on this Sunday.	4:44
	This week we began the Christian season of Lent.	4:49
	We call your attention to the announcements	4:52
	of the Lenten schedule here at the chapel.	4:56
	Beginning with our Ash Wednesday services,	5:00
	this Wednesday in the morning and in the afternoon.	5:03
	We also remind you of the Memorial, the AIDS Quilt	5:07
	that is located in the Bryan Center	5:13
	that is sponsored in part by the chapel	5:16
	and the other activities that are listed in the bulletin.	5:20
	It is our privilege again this year	5:26
	to be sending a work team and to an area of need	5:28
	in the world again, our United Methodist Campus Minister	5:33
	Olly Jinkins is leading a team, like those students	5:38
	who will be participating in this year's work team,	5:42
	to just come up and stand so that you can see them.	5:45
	And Scott Cooper, a freshman, Jackson Tennessee	5:48
	is going to just say a word about the work team	5:52
	which will be the recipient of today's offering.	5:55
	Scott.	5:58
-	Good morning.	6:02
	We are the Duke Work Team en route to Honduras	6:03
	during spring break this year.	6:05
	We are a group of 17 undergraduate and graduate students	6:07
	from various faiths and denominations.	6:10
	We are working for the Ecumenical Christian	6:13
	Commission on Development, which is the only	6:15
	ecumenical organization in Honduras.	6:17
	They have assigned us to begin construction	6:19
	on a desperately needed school and a church center.	6:22
	The church center will be used as a place to worship	6:25
	as well as a training center for teachers,	6:27
	farmers, medical personnel.	6:29
	Many have asked me why I volunteered	6:32
	to spend my spring break doing missions work	6:34
	in a third world nation.	6:36
	I reply that as a Christian,	6:38
	I am called to help those in need.	6:40
	My help should extend beyond the borders of our nation.	6:42
	We are going to an area that desperately needs our help.	6:47
	Honduras is the second poorest country	6:49
	in the western hemisphere.	6:51
	I also reply that I go not only to help, but to learn also.	6:53
	I want to see what it is like	6:58
	to live a third world nation.	6:59
	I want to meet new friends of a different nationality,	7:01
	yet a similar faith.	7:04
	Our trip will cost over $20,000.	7:06
	Your offering this morning will be used	7:08
	to cover part of these expenses.	7:10
	You will know that what you give this morning	7:12
	will go directly to help those who need your help.	7:14
	Thank you very much.	7:17
-	Go down with them.	7:21
	Thank you Scott and Work Team.	7:23
	The Work Team has raised their own expenses themselves,	7:24
	the money that you will provide	7:30
	will help to go for materials which the Work Team	7:32
	will be using and also for the leaders.	7:35
	Now let us stand and,	7:39
	for the greeting.	7:41
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	7:44
Audience	And also with you.	7:48
-	The splendor of Christ shines upon us.	7:49
Audience	Praise the Lord.	7:53
	(organ music)	7:56
	(congregation singing)	8:28
	(words drowned out by organ and echo)	8:29
-	Oh God you are the one who on the first day	12:27
	of creation declared, "Let there be light."	12:31
	And there was light.	12:34
	And you saw that it was good.	12:36
	Since the beginning your light has shone within us,	12:39
	but our sinfulness has eclipsed its brightness.	12:42
	We can no longer see the sun you set above us	12:46
	to illumine our way.	12:49
	Come to us oh healer of blindness,	12:51
	and shine your glory upon our hearts	12:54
	that we might be your witnesses once again.	12:57
	Amen.	13:01
-	Let us pray.	13:12
All	Open our hearts and minds oh God,	13:15
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	13:18
	so that this word is read and proclaimed,	13:21
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	13:24
	Amen.	13:29
	The first reading is taken from the book of Job.	13:31
	Why is light given to one in misery?	13:36
	And life to the bitter in soul who long for death,	13:39
	but it does not come, and dig for it more than	13:43
	for hidden treasures,	13:46
	who rejoice exceedingly and are glad	13:48
	when they find the grave?	13:50
	Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,	13:53
	whom God has fenced in.	13:57
	For my sighing comes like my bread,	13:59
	and my groanings are poured out like water.	14:02
	Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me.	14:05
	And what I dread befalls me.	14:08
	I am not at ease, nor am I quiet.	14:11
	I have no rest but trouble comes.	14:15
	Do not human beings have a hard service on earth?	14:19
	And are not their days like the days of a laborer?	14:22
	Like a slave who longs for the shadow,	14:25
	and like laborers who look for their wages,	14:28
	so I am allotted months of emptiness	14:31
	and nights of misery are apportioned to me.	14:34
	When I lie down I say, when shall I rise?	14:37
	But the night is long and I am full of tossing until dawn.	14:40
	My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt.	14:45
	My skin hardens and breaks out again.	14:48
	My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,	14:52
	and come to their end without hope.	14:55
	Remember that my life is a breath,	14:57
	my eye will never again see good.	15:00
	This is the word of the Lord.	15:04
All	Thanks be to God.	15:07
-	Please stand as we join together as singing	15:12
	responsibly Psalm 50 verses one through six	15:14
	found on page 783.	15:18
	♪ The mighty one, God the Lord, ♪	15:28
	♪ Speaks and summons the Earth ♪	15:33
	♪ From the rising of the sun to its setting ♪	15:35
	(congregation's response drowned out by organ)	15:40
	♪ Our God comes and does not keep silent ♪	15:48
	♪ Before whom is our devouring fire ♪	15:53
	♪ Round about whom is a mighty storm ♪	15:57
	(congregation's response drowned out by organ)	16:02
	♪ Gather to me my faithful ones ♪	16:13
	♪ Who made a covenant with me by sacrifice ♪	16:18
	(congregation's response drowned out by organ)	16:23
	♪ Oh glory be to you oh, God ♪	16:33
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪	16:36
	(congregation's response drowned out by organ)	16:40
	♪ As it was since time began ♪	16:46
	(congregation's response drowned out by organ)	16:50
-	This reading is from the gospel according to Saint Mark.	17:17
	Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter	17:22
	and James and John, and led them up a high mountain	17:24
	apart by themselves.	17:27
	And he was transfigured before them.	17:30
	And his clothes became dazzling white,	17:32
	such as no one on earth could bleach them.	17:34
	And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses	17:37
	who were talking with Jesus.	17:40
	And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good	17:42
	for us to be here.	17:45
	Let us make three dwellings, one for you,	17:46
	one for Moses and one for Elijah.	17:49
	He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.	17:52
	Then a cloud overshadowed them and from the cloud	17:56
	there came a voice.	17:58
	This is my son, the beloved, listen to him.	18:00
	Suddenly when they looked around,	18:05
	they saw no one with them anymore.	18:06
	But only Jesus.	18:09
	As they were coming down the mountain,	18:11
	he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen	18:13
	until after the son of man had risen from the dead.	18:17
	This is the word of the Lord.	18:22
All	Thanks be to God.	18:24
	("Warum ist das licht gegeben" by Brahms)	18:49
	(choir singing in foreign language)	18:52
-	These are words, out of chaos these words of Brother Job.	24:58
	Why is light given to one in misery?	25:04
	Life to the bitter in soul?	25:06
	Job has lost his family, he's lost everything he has,	25:10
	now he sits on an ash heap, body covered in sores.	25:15
	He asks God, "Why?"	25:20
	And these words are being addressed to you in chaos.	25:25
	CNN visions of Persian Gulf water fowl blackened with oil,	25:33
	the doll of an Iraqi child amidst bombed rubble,	25:40
	the beaten face of an English pilot,	25:46
	an old man that has nowhere now to live in Israel.	25:50
	Chaos News Network.	25:57
	Job asks God, "Why is light given to one in misery?"	26:02
	It is dangerous to be invited by the Bible in Job	26:11
	or today's anthem to speak to such a question,	26:15
	to such chaos.	26:18
	Any time a preacher, or I think any of you,	26:20
	attempt to speak about God and human suffering,	26:23
	there's always a danger that we'll risk sounding	26:28
	like Job's friends,	26:31
	Zophar, Bildad, Elihu, Eliphaz,	26:35
	preachers all.	26:40
	Job is their unwilling congregation.	26:43
	And in the face of his loathsome sores	26:47
	and the tragedy of his life, what do these friends	26:50
	of Job preach?	26:54
	Eliphaz.	26:57
	Think now Job, who that was innocent ever perished?	26:59
	Are you perishing?	27:05
	Well let's sit down and figure out	27:06
	what you've done to deserve this.	27:07
	Bildad.	27:11
	Are you suggesting God is unjust?	27:14
	No, you are unjust.	27:18
	Zophar.	27:24
	How dare you ask such questions?	27:25
	Would great God take the time to explain himself	27:27
	to a liar like you?	27:30
	Get well soon, love Zophar.	27:34
	But have we no sympathy for Job's friends?	27:39
	Just listen to us sometimes when we are explaining chaos.	27:42
	It's just God's will.	27:49
	You'll have to learn to accept it.	27:53
	God never puts more on us than we can bear.	27:57
	AIDS? It's their own fault.	28:00
	I'm sure the president knows more what to do	28:05
	in this situation than we do.	28:08
	Oh, we mean well, we mean well,	28:12
	but just pause for a moment and just listen to us	28:14
	as we're busy talking about chaos.	28:18
	And all of our explanations are just this pitiful,	28:23
	Tinker-Toy bridge built over some great abyss.	28:25
	Little mumblings that explain nothing.	28:31
	Upon being told upon the death of her beloved daughter	28:37
	by a friend, this is just God's will,	28:40
	I heard her say,	28:45
	"Listen to yourself."	28:49
	In the face of such pitifully inadequate platitudes	28:54
	no wonder that some are driven to even great despair.	28:57
	She said, "If this is God's will,	29:04
	"then I want no more of this God."	29:06
	Or as Job said, "Why	29:12
	"did God even go to the trouble	29:16
	"to give light to one in such misery?"	29:18
	So most of us, realizing the inadequacy of our theology	29:26
	of chaos have learned to mutter something	29:30
	a bit more sophisticated like, "Uh uh uh"	29:32
	or "Well, we'll be thinking about you."	29:35
	Night before Thanksgiving NPR reporter Linda Wertheimer	29:41
	interviewing children at an elementary school in Texas,	29:47
	interviewed a little boy about 12 years old, I think,	29:53
	whose mother had, whose single parent mother	29:57
	had been deployed in the Gulf during August.	30:00
	He said, "She writes to me nearly every day.	30:05
	"She tells me to do my work, study hard.	30:11
	"But she also tells me she's scared.	30:16
	"And all I pray every night is God,	30:20
	"don't let my mother die."	30:23
	And Miss Wertheimer had enough sense not to say anything.	30:29
	Job says that this world sometimes,	30:39
	all sermons by the Bildads and Zophars and Elihus be damned,	30:42
	this world is not in order, it is not fair.	30:47
	Things don't work out.	30:52
	Why is light given to one in misery?	30:54
	In Robert Coles' new book "The Spiritual Life of Children,"	30:59
	he interviews little Margarita.	31:05
	Margarita's life is circumscribed by the brutal reality	31:10
	of her hillside favela overlooking Rio.	31:14
	She says, "When I look at Jesus up there,"	31:21
	and here she points to the well known Christ of the Andes	31:24
	overlooking Rio, "When I look at Jesus up there,	31:28
	"sometimes I wonder what he's thinking.	31:31
	"He can see all of us, he's got to have an opinion.	31:37
	"I try to talk to him, 'cause he's all I have.	31:41
	"Mamma still works as a maid in Copacabana	31:48
	"even though she coughs and she bleeds."	31:51
	Coles says the mother had tuberculosis	31:56
	and died shortly after this conversation.	31:59
	"A lot of times I ask him why he does things like this."	32:03
	And she waved then her hand in an arc	32:09
	over the squalid favela.	32:11
	"He's got to see what we see.	32:15
	"Mother used to tell us that we'll go to heaven	32:19
	"because we're so poor.	32:20
	"I used to believe her.	32:24
	"But now I know that she just tells us that	32:26
	"to shut us up when we're hungry.	32:28
	"Now when I hear her say it, I look up at him	32:32
	"and I ask him, well what do you say, Jesus?	32:35
	"Do you believe her?	32:40
	"Do you believe the priest who says the same thing?	32:43
	"Do you notice the big car he drives?	32:46
	"Do you notice the nice house he lives in?	32:48
	"What do you think of him?	32:53
	"I shouldn't blame Jesus.	32:57
	"I do though, sometimes.	33:00
	"He's right there, that statue keeps reminding me of him.	33:04
	"And I'm either upset with him, or I'm praying to him	33:11
	"to tell me why the world is like it is."	33:14
	Well Margarita, we could explain to you	33:22
	the historical roots of Brazilian poverty,	33:25
	the difficulties of third world debt.	33:29
	We could mix in a little Augustinian theodicy.	33:31
	But I bet after everything had been said and done,	33:36
	and it took Bildad, Zophar and Elihu about 30 chapters	33:41
	to explain it to Job, I bet after all that's said and done,	33:45
	I bet a smart girl like you, an honest confronter	33:50
	of the chaos like you,	33:54
	would still ask why.	33:59
	I look up at him and I say,	34:05
	"Well, what do you think, Jesus?"	34:08
	And thus Margarita prepares us for Job's second move.	34:14
	Job, man on the ash heap of life, moves	34:19
	from resignation, quiet resignation,	34:23
	oh let the day perish wherein I was born.	34:27
	Why is light given to one in misery?	34:29
	He moves from resignation to clench-fisted defiance.	34:31
	"You're all miserable comforters!" Cries Job.	34:37
	"Shall your vain words have no end?	34:39
	"I am sick of your preachments.	34:42
	"God has broken me.	34:44
	"God has taken me by the neck and just shaken me.	34:45
	"Will God hear my cry?	34:49
	"Oh that he would hear me!	34:51
	"Oh that the All Mighty would answer me."	34:52
	And I think this is when you just love Job.	34:58
	If you've ever been a fellow sufferer, fellow questioner.	35:02
	Ya just love it when he finally rises up	35:07
	off that ash heap, clenches his fist,	35:09
	raves at God, defiantly demands to know why.	35:13
	Job's friends become preachers, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu,	35:20
	Eliphaz, respond to the horror of the chaos	35:23
	in Job's life with the same old tired cliches.	35:28
	God is all powerful.	35:33
	Amen.	35:35
	God makes the rules.	35:36
	Amen.	35:37
	You obey the rules, life will go fine for you.	35:38
	You disobey the rules you're gonna be cursed.	35:43
	Everything is so nice and stable and mathematical.	35:46
	Religion as reassertion of time-honored platitude.	35:51
	This'll all work out for the best.	35:58
	Who that was innocent ever perished?	36:01
	But Margarita looks up into the face	36:08
	of that stone Christ	36:10
	and demands an answer.	36:15
	Job defiantly	36:18
	tells God, see you in court.	36:21
	And finally, finally after the gauntlet is thrown down,	36:27
	38 chapters late, God shows up.	36:30
	"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind."	36:34
	Job 38:1.	36:38
	And what a God Job gets.	36:40
	Who is this one that dares to speak to me?	36:44
	Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?	36:47
	Can you create an ostrich?	36:50
	Have you ever tried to make a giraffe?	36:51
	Who are you?	36:54
	I'm sorry for those of you who thought	36:57
	that we had a smooth talking, well spoken God.	36:59
	This God takes on Job with bombastic, whirlwind rhetoric.	37:04
	Enough of these preacherettes and their sermonettes.	37:10
	I'll do the talking now.	37:13
	And when God answers, God answers Job	37:15
	with a bunch more questions.	37:18
	Insolent questions.	37:21
	Where were you?	37:24
	Who are you?	37:26
	What can you do?	37:28
	In other words, God said to Job, "Shut up."	37:31
	And Job does just that.	37:36
	Oh behold, I've uttered questions, I did not know.	37:37
	I've spoken once, I will not speak twice.	37:41
	I put my hand over my mouth.	37:43
	Dumb, numb, stupefied resignation.	37:47
	I mean, what would he say after all that bombast	37:52
	about can you create a giraffe?	37:55
	Where were you when I made the sun	37:57
	to rise for the first time?	37:59
	Can you make an ostrich?	38:01
	What else could Job do except just	38:05
	to resign himself to silence?	38:07
	Margarita, who do you think you are?	38:12
	Poor, uneducated, young.	38:14
	Your poverty is a complex global, economic,	38:17
	culturally conditioned phenomenon.	38:22
	How in the world could we ever explain it	38:24
	to somebody like you?	38:26
	"We are in our times of chaos but the dumb playthings	38:30
	"of the gods," said Homer.	38:34
	But not of this God.	38:40
	'Cause the story isn't over.	38:44
	If Job's forced resignation, his quieted, dumb capitulation	38:48
	were the end,	38:55
	then we really are to be pitied.	38:58
	Since God has got no answer, I suppose any answer you pick,	39:03
	no matter how trite or nihilistic, is as good	39:07
	as any other answer.	39:10
	Just go ahead, take an answer.	39:11
	But that isn't the story, the end of the story of Job.	39:15
	God speaks a second time.	39:19
	Will you overturn my justice?	39:24
	Will you make me out evil in order	39:29
	to preserve your innocence?	39:32
	Want you to remember those questions,	39:37
	'cause I think they're pivotal here.	39:38
	"Behold," God says, "Behold now behemoth,	39:42
	"which I made even as I made you."	39:48
	Behold behemoth, I made him just like I made you.	39:51
	Behemoth? What is behemoth?	39:54
	Well the footnote in my RSV Bible says,	39:56
	"Behemoth is a Hebrew word for hippopotamus."	39:59
	But no that's not the word.	40:05
	The word is behemoth.	40:07
	Can you draw out leviathan with a fish hook?	40:10
	Will leviathan speak soft words to you?	40:15
	The footnote in my bible says,	40:19
	"Leviathan, that's a Hebrew word for crocodile."	40:21
	No, no that's not the word.	40:24
	The word is leviathan.	40:26
	Leviathan which Isaiah speaks about is	40:28
	that dark torturous serpent.	40:31
	Behemoth.	40:35
	Leviathan.	40:37
	These are two dark ugly creatures	40:40
	known in Canaanite mythology picked up by the Hebrews.	40:43
	Primeval forces which embody great power.	40:48
	They live somewhere down in the depths of the world.	40:52
	Behemoth, leviathan.	40:55
	See what God has done in the second speech?	40:58
	First speech God was talking about the ostrich,	41:00
	the giraffe, the natural world.	41:04
	Now God has moved Job way, way down deep, deep,	41:07
	to the supernatural world.	41:12
	The world way down there, where behemoth and leviathan lurk.	41:17
	And thus God reveals to Job something of what it's like	41:26
	to be God.	41:29
	God reveals something to Job of what it's like	41:34
	to have to run this kind of world.	41:36
	But the vision he gives Job is not of the God	41:40
	or the world that Job or Eliphaz or Bildad or Zophar	41:44
	thought they wanted to see.	41:47
	That is a world of nice, flat, easy moral equations,	41:50
	tit for tat, this for that, no no.	41:53
	God shows Job a deeper cosmos, confusing creation,	41:55
	he takes him way down deep, underneath the surface	42:00
	where behemoth and leviathan live.	42:04
	Can you manipulate behemoth?	42:08
	Well, I made him, just like I made you.	42:11
	Can you pull up mighty leviathan with a fish hook?	42:15
	Can you press down his tongue with a cord?	42:18
	I don't think so.	42:19
	In other words, I hear God say to Job,	42:24
	"Job if you think you can do a better job	42:29
	"with this ambiguous, dark, threatening,	42:31
	"sometimes chaotic, creation,	42:34
	"if you think you can do a better job, go ahead.	42:37
	"Be my guest.	42:42
	"And you may find out something of what it's like to be God.	42:43
	"You'll find out that justice in this world	42:49
	"is a good deal more complicated than you think."	42:52
	Leviathan and behemoth, they just give us just a little,	42:59
	just a hint of that chaos down deep	43:01
	at the heart of the world,	43:05
	that God must wrestle with every day.	43:08
	Can you draw up leviathan with a fish hook?	43:13
	Can you press down his tongue with a cord?	43:15
	I doubt it, and yet I have to get out of bed	43:17
	as God and do that every day.	43:21
	I gotta go out and confront leviathan every day of the week.	43:25
	See, Job has cried out in his chaos,	43:30
	he is desperate to sustain his own innocence.	43:33
	But how much greater the chaos against which God strives?	43:38
	I didn't say this was an answer.	43:45
	At least not the answer Job or we would like.	43:49
	I said it was a picture of reality,	43:54
	against which God struggles.	43:57
	'Cause human suffering, as bad as it is,	44:00
	it's just one little corner of the great chaos	44:02
	of this cosmos.	44:05
	The chaos against which God must battle.	44:09
	So as it turns out God and Job do have a lot in common	44:13
	after all, because like Job,	44:18
	God is also busy attempting to bring some order	44:21
	out of the chaos,	44:26
	some sense out of the craziness.	44:28
	And like Job, God says, I will not give up the battle.	44:31
	For some reason, some reason we do not know,	44:40
	behemoth and leviathan have a place in this world.	44:43
	Even the rule of Almighty God doesn't destroy them.	44:49
	But God will fight them.	44:55
	He's gonna press down leviathan's tongue with a cord.	44:59
	Oh, it's a vision, a big vision of a world	45:04
	that's complex, not simple.	45:08
	It's a world that is full, not only of seemingly pointless	45:10
	animals like the ostrich and the giraffe,	45:13
	but a world that's also filled of chaos.	45:18
	This world is not some mechanism to be picked apart	45:23
	by physicists and biologists, nor is it to be explained	45:26
	to you by preachers,	45:30
	with our little cliches and little moralisms.	45:32
	We can't explain it to you.	45:36
	Simplistic explanations only lead, from what I've observed,	45:40
	to even greater despair when you're walking	45:44
	down some dark alley at 50,	45:47
	and you meet behemoth and leviathan face to face.	45:51
	And these little Sunday school explanations just crumble.	45:56
	God says, "I made behemoth,	46:03
	"just like I made you."	46:08
	Behemoth,	46:14
	that beast,	46:16
	I made him, yeah,	46:17
	just like I made you.	46:19
	And sometimes I don't know which beast	46:23
	causes me the most trouble, behemoth or you.	46:25
	Of all the confusing, chaotic,	46:32
	troubling creatures in this cosmos,	46:34
	are there any so confusing	46:39
	as Job and his brothers and sisters?	46:45
	The trouble that God has handling behemoth	46:49
	and leviathan is nothing compared to the trouble with us.	46:52
	Of what creature could it be said in the bible,	46:57
	the thoughts of his heart are evil	46:59
	from the days of his freshman year?	47:02
	Genesis 8:21.	47:04
	If you think it's tough for me to tangle with leviathan,	47:07
	you oughta see the trouble I have with sophomores	47:10
	and people up at the Pentagon and people, wow it's tough.	47:12
	Yeah, I made behemoth, I made leviathan.	47:17
	And you.	47:21
	And I'm gonna continue to struggle with all of you.	47:22
	So Job says something beautiful.	47:28
	Now, I had heard of you, I had heard of you,	47:30
	but now my eyes see you.	47:33
	Previously Job had heard of a God.	47:37
	A simple God who sat around meting out justice	47:42
	in a stable, orderly clockwork of a world.	47:45
	But now he sees a God who is busy, deep,	47:48
	struggling with chaos, suffering the darkness.	47:52
	And now this God proudly addresses him as my servant Job,	47:56
	and God tells the preachers to shut up.	48:02
	Job, so defiant and questioning,	48:07
	is made in God's very own defiant image.	48:10
	The questions can continue, that's okay.	48:17
	But now we've seen a God.	48:20
	We've seen a God that struggles with the chaos	48:23
	and promises us never to defy it,	48:26
	to give up on it, and always to defy it.	48:30
	So Margarita looks up into that cold stone statue	48:35
	overlooking such human misery, and says Margarita,	48:38
	"My little sister's always crying,	48:44
	"'cause she doesn't get enough food.	48:47
	"I hope Jesus sees everything that goes on down here.	48:50
	"I hope he doesn't just stare out into the ocean	48:56
	"like that statue."	48:58
	Margarita,	49:03
	Jesus is not up looking over Copacabana	49:06
	as some stone-faced statue,	49:11
	impervious to human misery below.	49:14
	No no, Jesus is where we put him.	49:18
	We, put him.	49:22
	Behemoth,	49:25
	leviathan,	49:26
	and us.	49:30
	He's on a cross,	49:32
	beside two thieves,	49:36
	overlooking a garbage dump.	49:37
	And I'll tell you there, he just didn't stare	49:41
	out into the ocean.	49:43
	But he took up the cross.	49:46
	He made war on our chaos,	49:49
	and the world's,	49:53
	as a fellow sufferer.	49:56
	He asked God why, as a fellow questioner.	49:59
	As a fellow defier.	50:05
	(organ music)	50:16
	(choir and congregation singing)	51:05
	(words drowned out by organ and echo)	51:06
Nancy	The Lord be with you.	53:32
Audience	And also with you.	53:34
-	Let us pray.	53:35
	Once again, gracious God,	53:47
	we have gathered to praise your name.	53:50
	That with all the suffering, the sadness	53:53
	and broken dreams which befall us,	53:56
	it is still a gift to be alive.	53:59
	We thank you for the small blessings of the week just past,	54:03
	for the silent reminders of your continuing presence	54:08
	in our lives, for the sun and the rain	54:11
	and the promise of springtime which nature foretells.	54:14
	We thank you even for the coldness and bleakness of winter,	54:19
	without which the splendor of springtime could never be.	54:23
	So too, we thank you for the bitter medicine that heals	54:27
	and for the failures from which we learn more	54:31
	than our successes.	54:34
	Lord in your mercy,	54:37
All	Hear our prayer.	54:38
-	Hear now our prayers of intercessions	54:41
	for those who are in need this day.	54:43
	Let us pray for all who cry out for healing.	54:46
	That you will give patience, courage and faith	54:50
	to all who are disabled by injury or sickness.	54:55
	That you will comfort those who endure continual pain,	54:59
	pouring upon them the healing balm of your spirit.	55:03
	That you will grant fearless confidence to all children	55:08
	stricken with chronic or terminal illness.	55:11
	Lord in your mercy,	55:15
All	Hear our prayer.	55:16
-	Let us pray for all who suffer mental	55:20
	and emotional distress, that you will abide	55:22
	with all who are depressed or despondent,	55:25
	having no one to comfort them.	55:28
	That you will restore all who struggle	55:31
	with demons of the mind to soundness of mind	55:33
	and cheerfulness of heart.	55:36
	That you will draw near to all who have no alternatives	55:39
	to spending their lives within institutions,	55:43
	surrounded by people, yet lonely beyond words.	55:46
	Lord in your mercy,	55:50
All	Hear our prayer.	55:52
-	Let us pray that you would grant eternal rest	55:55
	and peace to those victims of AIDS who we honor	55:57
	through the AIDS quilt, and for all other victims of AIDS,	56:01
	both unknown to us and those whom we name at this time.	56:05
	Steven, Michael, Jim,	56:36
	Roland,	56:40
	Jack,	56:41
	Thomas,	56:43
	Gary,	56:44
	Norb,	56:46
	Woody,	56:48
	Sheldon,	56:49
	David,	56:51
	Wayland,	56:52
	Anson,	56:54
	Tony,	56:56
	Robert,	56:58
	Ed,	56:59
	Jeffrey,	57:01
	Jim,	57:03
	Al,	57:04
	Richard,	57:06
	Gary,	57:08
	Christofer,	57:10
	Vern,	57:11
	Kenny,	57:13
	Scott,	57:15
	Rick,	57:16
	Billy,	57:18
	Michael,	57:19
	Kay,	57:21
	Mark,	57:22
	Kathy,	57:24
	Mimi,	57:26
	Kelly,	57:27
	Tony,	57:29
	Jan,	57:30
	Irma,	57:32
	Ben.	57:33
	Let us pray you would give your wisdom	57:36
	in ample measure to those doctors and researchers	57:38
	seeking a cure for AIDS that you would strengthen	57:41
	family and friends who mourn the loss of loved ones,	57:44
	many in the prime of life and that you would take away	57:47
	the fear and apprehension which distort	57:50
	our understanding of this dreaded disease.	57:53
	Lord, in your mercy,	57:56
All	Hear our prayer.	57:58
-	Let us pray for our enemies not by naming their sins,	58:01
	but by remembering our own.	58:03
	Save us from weak resignation to violence.	58:06
	Forgive us from becoming hardened to the news	58:10
	of their suffering and remind us that they too	58:13
	are fed by the same food.	58:16
	Wounded or killed by the same weapons,	58:18
	have children for whom they have the same high hopes	58:21
	as do we, that we might pray without ceasing	58:24
	for peace in our world.	58:28
	Lord in your mercy,	58:30
All	Hear our prayer.	58:32
-	Oh Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers	58:36
	of all your people.	58:39
	In the greatness of your mercy, look with compassion	58:41
	upon us and all who turn to you for help.	58:44
	For you are gracious oh lover of souls	58:48
	and to you we give glory, now and forever.	58:51
	Amen.	58:55
	In thanksgiving for the mighty acts of God	59:00
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	59:02
	(organ music)	59:06
	("Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren" by Brahms)	1:00:39
	(choir singing in foreign language)	1:01:13
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:31
	(organ music)	1:06:03
	♪ Praise God from whom all mercy flow ♪	1:06:44
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	1:06:50
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:00
	♪ Praise God above in heavenly host ♪	1:07:05
	♪ Praise father, son and holy ghost ♪	1:07:11
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:21
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:24
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:27
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:31
-	Oh eternal God, giver of life and health and peace,	1:07:42
	we thank you for the good news which you have revealed	1:07:47
	to us this day, that you will abide with us until the end.	1:07:50
	We thank you for peace makers who seek to build	1:07:55
	bridges of reconciliation in the midst of our broken world.	1:07:58
	For faithful friends and caring teachers	1:08:02
	who see the best in us when we only can see the worst.	1:08:04
	For good will from unexpected sources	1:08:08
	in times of misery and despair.	1:08:10
	We thank you especially, oh saving God	1:08:13
	for your love in Jesus Christ	1:08:15
	who is for us, the way, the truth and the life	1:08:17
	and in whose name we pray.	1:08:21
All	Our father, who art in heaven,	1:08:23
	hallowed by thy name.	1:08:26
	Thy kingdom come, they will be done	1:08:27
	on earth as it is in heaven,	1:08:30
	give us this day, our daily bread,	1:08:33
	and forgives us our trespasses	1:08:35
	as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.	1:08:37
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:08:40
	deliver us from evil,	1:08:43
	for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.	1:08:45
-	Amen.	1:08:49
	May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace	1:08:52
	in believing so that you may abound in hope	1:08:56
	by the power of the Holy Spirit.	1:09:00
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:07
	(organ music)	1:09:28
	(choir and congregation singing)	1:10:00
	(words drowned out by organ and echo)	1:10:01
	(organ music)	1:13:09

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Defying Chaos with God" (February 10, 1991)

Description:

Sermon start time: 24:58. Sermon end time: 50:10.
This sermon speaks to the issue of theodicy and justice. The preacher complicates the problem of evil by suggesting that God is wrestling with a disorder, suffering, and dark chaos that human beings cannot fathom. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Job, so defiant and questioning, is made in God’s very own defiant image.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r41c1tx0k

Date:

February 10, 1991

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Job

Chapter and Verse:

Job 3:20-26; 7:1-7

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0221
ref8904_uo8
uachapelsermaud
duke:321695
dcrmv001211
ark:/87924/r41c1tx0k
78774420-f7b2-4716-9603-c9f6930603f3

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 - "Defying Chaos with God" (February 10, 1991)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Defying Chaos with God" (February 10, 1991)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Defying Chaos with God" (February 10, 1991)

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Duke University Archives

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