Eugene Taylor Sutton - "Quiet! The Church Is Being Born" (May 19, 1991)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(choir singing hymn) | 0:01 | |
(choir singing hymn) | 1:00 | |
(church organ music) | 6:49 | |
(Choir singing hymn) | 8:17 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to this service of worship | 10:04 |
here at Duke University Chapel on this Pentecost Sunday, | 10:07 | |
when we celebrate the birthday of the church. | 10:10 | |
We're delighted to see each of you here. | 10:13 | |
We are pleased to welcome back to the chapel | 10:15 | |
for their second visit of recent weeks, | 10:18 | |
the North Carolina Boy's Choir | 10:20 | |
directed by Mr. William Graham. | 10:22 | |
They will be performing here in the chapel | 10:24 | |
for their annual Spring concert. | 10:26 | |
Uh, you'll have to watch for that date in our announcements, | 10:28 | |
and we are most appreciative of their enthusiastic | 10:31 | |
participation in our service. | 10:33 | |
We are also pleased to welcome as today's preacher | 10:36 | |
the Reverend Eugene T. Sutton | 10:38 | |
who is Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship | 10:40 | |
at New Brunswick Theological Seminary | 10:43 | |
in New Brunswick, New Jersey. | 10:45 | |
In addition to his teaching responsibilities there, | 10:47 | |
he is also completing a PhD in Theology and Communications | 10:49 | |
at Princeton Theological Seminary. | 10:54 | |
Mr. Sutton has also served the church as a local pastor | 10:56 | |
and campus minister. | 11:00 | |
We welcome him for his first visit to the Duke Campus. | 11:02 | |
Our lector for this morning service | 11:05 | |
is the Dr. Robert Durden, | 11:08 | |
Professor in the History Department, here at Duke. | 11:09 | |
All interested singers are invited to join the summer choir | 11:12 | |
by attending an organizational rehearsal | 11:15 | |
to be held this Wednesday evening at 6:25 p.m. | 11:18 | |
here in the chapel. | 11:21 | |
No auditions are necessary for this choir. | 11:22 | |
Following this Wednesday's rehearsal, | 11:25 | |
the choir will rehearse only on Sunday mornings | 11:27 | |
in preparation for the Sunday services. | 11:30 | |
Please note the remaining announcements | 11:33 | |
and they are printed in your bulletins. | 11:35 | |
And now, please stand for the greeting. | 11:37 | |
Our help is in the name of the Lord | 11:46 | |
who created heaven and earth. | 11:48 | |
Congregation | Sing loud to he who created the earth. | 11:51 |
Sing praises to the Lord, Hallelujah! | 11:56 | |
Preacher | He rides in the heavens | 11:58 |
and sends forth his mighty voice. | 11:59 | |
Congregation | Hallelujah! | 12:02 |
Preacher | How wonderful is God in his holy places, | 12:04 |
the god of Israel, giving strength and power to his people. | 12:07 | |
- | Hallelujah! | 12:13 |
- | All who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. | 12:15 |
Lord, send forth your spirit | 12:20 | |
and renew the face of the Earth. | 12:22 | |
- | Hallelujah! | 12:24 |
(Church organ music) | 12:28 | |
(choir and congregation sing) | 13:11 | |
- | Spirit, we call and many are the names | 15:35 |
by which we call you. | 15:39 | |
You are Creator, father and mother, you are provider, | 15:41 | |
bread and wine, you are counselor, guide and beacon, | 15:45 | |
you are helper, talent and will, you are reconciler, | 15:51 | |
bridge and the first step, you are presence, host and guest. | 15:56 | |
our names for you gush forth as waters from desert springs, | 16:02 | |
they team as creatures in the seas. | 16:07 | |
Our God who art in heaven hallowed be thy names, | 16:09 | |
come to us on Earth as in heaven, amen. | 16:13 | |
- | Let us pray. | 16:35 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 16:38 |
by the power of your holy spirit so that as the word | 16:41 | |
is read and proclaimed, we might hear with joy | 16:45 | |
what you say to us this day, amen. | 16:49 | |
- | The first reading is taken from the book of Genesis. | 16:55 |
"Now, the whole earth had one language and the same words | 16:59 | |
and as they migrated from the East | 17:05 | |
they came up on a plane in the land of Shinar | 17:08 | |
and settled there. | 17:12 | |
And they said to one another, | 17:14 | |
'come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.' | 17:16 | |
and they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. | 17:21 | |
Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city | 17:26 | |
and a tower with it top in the heavens | 17:31 | |
and let us make a name for ourselves, | 17:34 | |
otherwise, we shall be scattered abroad | 17:38 | |
upon the face of the whole Earth.' | 17:40 | |
The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, | 17:44 | |
which mortals had built. | 17:48 | |
And the Lord said, 'look, they are one people | 17:50 | |
and they have all one language | 17:54 | |
and this is only the beginning of what they will do. | 17:57 | |
Nothing that they propose to do | 18:00 | |
will now be impossible for them. | 18:03 | |
Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, | 18:06 | |
so that they will not understand one another speech.' | 18:11 | |
So, the Lord scattered them abroad | 18:15 | |
from there over the face of all the Earth | 18:17 | |
and they left off building the city, | 18:21 | |
therefore, it was called Babel | 18:24 | |
because the lord, there, confused the language | 18:27 | |
of all the Earth and from there, | 18:31 | |
the Lord scattered them abroad | 18:33 | |
over the face of all the Earth." | 18:35 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 18:39 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 18:41 |
- | This reading is from The Gospel According to Saint John. | 18:46 |
"When the advocate comes, | 18:53 | |
whom I will send to you from the father, | 18:54 | |
the spirit of truth who comes from the father, | 18:57 | |
he will testify on my behalf. | 19:00 | |
You, also, are to testify | 19:04 | |
because you have been with me from the beginning. | 19:05 | |
I did not say these things to you from the beginning | 19:11 | |
because I was with you. | 19:14 | |
But now I am going to him who sent me | 19:16 | |
yet none of you asked me, 'where are you going?' | 19:19 | |
but because I have said these things to you, | 19:24 | |
sorrow has filled your heart, nevertheless, | 19:28 | |
I will tell you the truth: | 19:31 | |
It is to your advantage that I go away | 19:33 | |
for if I do not go away, | 19:37 | |
the advocate will not come to you. | 19:39 | |
But if I go, I will send him to you and when he comes, | 19:42 | |
he will prove the world wrong about sin | 19:47 | |
and righteousness and judgment. | 19:50 | |
About sin because they do not believe in me. | 19:54 | |
About righteousness because I am going to the father | 19:58 | |
and you will see me no longer. | 20:01 | |
About judgment because the ruler of this world | 20:04 | |
has been condemned. | 20:08 | |
I still have many things to say to you | 20:10 | |
but you cannot bear them now. | 20:13 | |
When the spirit of truth comes | 20:16 | |
he will guide you into all the truth, | 20:19 | |
for he will not speak on his own | 20:22 | |
but will speak whatever he hears and he will declare to you | 20:24 | |
the things that are to come. | 20:29 | |
He will glorify me because he will take what is mine | 20:32 | |
and declare it to you, all that the father has is mine. | 20:37 | |
For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine | 20:43 | |
and declare it to you." | 20:47 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 20:50 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 20:53 |
(Church organ music) | 21:07 | |
"Requiem aeternam dona eis" | 21:12 | |
♪ Dona eis, oh domine ♪ | 21:26 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 21:33 | |
♪ Requiem aertnam ♪ | 21:39 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 21:45 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 21:52 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:00 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:03 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 22:06 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:16 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 22:22 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:29 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:36 | |
♪ Requiem aeternam ♪ | 22:42 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:54 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 22:58 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 23:01 | |
♪ Dona eis oh, domine ♪ | 23:11 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 23:17 | |
♪ Sempiternam requiem ♪ | 23:24 | |
♪ Sempiternam requiem ♪ | 23:31 | |
♪ Sempiternam requiem ♪ | 23:37 | |
♪ Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Domine ♪ | 23:43 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 23:50 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 23:58 | |
♪ Dona eis domine ♪ | 24:01 | |
♪ Sempiternam requiem ♪ | 24:05 | |
♪ Dona eis oh domine ♪ | 24:13 | |
♪ Dona eis requiem ♪ | 24:19 | |
♪ Sempiternam requiem ♪ | 24:27 | |
- | The word of God continues for us this morning | 25:05 |
in the book of Acts, | 25:08 | |
the second chapter beginning at verse one. | 25:09 | |
Listen for the word of God. | 25:15 | |
"When the day of Pentecost had come | 25:17 | |
the disciples were all together in one place | 25:20 | |
and suddenly from Heaven, there came a sound | 25:24 | |
like the rush of a violent wind | 25:26 | |
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. | 25:30 | |
Divided tongues, as of Fire appeared among them | 25:34 | |
and a tongue rested on each of them. | 25:39 | |
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit | 25:43 | |
and began to speak in other languages | 25:46 | |
as the spirit gave them ability. | 25:48 | |
Now, there are devout Jews from every nation | 25:52 | |
under Heaven living in Jerusalem | 25:54 | |
and at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered | 25:59 | |
because each one heard them speaking | 26:04 | |
in the native language of each. | 26:07 | |
Amazed and astonished, they asked, | 26:10 | |
'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? | 26:12 | |
And how is it that we hear, each of us, | 26:17 | |
in our own native language? | 26:20 | |
Parthians, Meads, Elamites, and resonance of Mesopotamia, | 26:22 | |
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, | 26:28 | |
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya | 26:33 | |
belonging to Sireen, and visitors from Rome, | 26:37 | |
both Jews and Proselytes, Cretans and Arabs. | 26:41 | |
In our own languages, we hear them speaking | 26:46 | |
about God's deeds of power.' | 26:49 | |
All were amazed and were perplexed, saying to one another, | 26:53 | |
'What does this mean?' But others sneered and said, | 26:58 | |
'They are filled with new wine.' | 27:03 | |
But Peter, standing with the 11, raised his voice | 27:06 | |
and addressed them saying, | 27:10 | |
'Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem | 27:12 | |
let this be known to you and listen to what I say; | 27:15 | |
indeed, we are not drunk as you suppose | 27:19 | |
for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. | 27:24 | |
No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel. | 27:28 | |
In the last days it will be, God declares, | 27:32 | |
that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh | 27:34 | |
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy | 27:39 | |
and your young men shall see visions | 27:43 | |
and your old men shall dream dreams. | 27:45 | |
Even upon my slaves, both men and women, | 27:48 | |
in those days, I will pour out my spirit | 27:51 | |
and they shall prophesy. | 27:55 | |
And I will show the importance in the heaven above | 27:58 | |
and signs on the earth below: blood and fire, | 28:01 | |
smokey mist, the sun shall be turned to darkness | 28:05 | |
and the moon to blood before the coming | 28:08 | |
of the Lord's great and glorious day. | 28:11 | |
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord | 28:14 | |
will be saved.'" | 28:18 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 28:22 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 28:24 |
- | The sermon is entitled, 'Quiet, The Church is Being Born.' | 28:29 |
Let us pray to God for inspiration. | 28:34 | |
Dear Lord, tell us what we need to hear | 28:40 | |
and show us what we need to do | 28:46 | |
to become disciples of Jesus Christ, | 28:49 | |
amen. | 28:54 | |
Today is a special day for me, | 28:58 | |
it being the first time I've stepped foot | 29:01 | |
in the state of North Carolina | 29:04 | |
since the death of my grandparents. | 29:06 | |
I spent all of my Summers in North Carolina | 29:10 | |
at a place about an hour south of Fayetteville | 29:13 | |
in the area around Hope Mills, | 29:17 | |
right around the community of Swans Creek | 29:20 | |
on the old Chicken Foot Road, | 29:23 | |
that's where my grandparents on my father's side lived. | 29:26 | |
Trying to eke out an existence of farming | 29:30 | |
in that rough country. | 29:33 | |
Daddy Rob, my grandfather. | 29:35 | |
Miss Ellen, my grandmother. | 29:38 | |
Saints of God, hard working people | 29:41 | |
who live the life of suffering and some injustice | 29:44 | |
but yet worked hard so that their sons and their daughters | 29:48 | |
and their grandsons and granddaughters | 29:52 | |
could have opportunity as I have now | 29:56 | |
of being before you today. | 29:58 | |
When I am here in this state I think of them. | 30:01 | |
I last saw them when I was in high school. | 30:06 | |
I had committed my life to Jesus Christ, | 30:08 | |
or I should say, recommitted my life, | 30:11 | |
I was just following what they wanted me to do | 30:14 | |
and I claimed faith for my own. | 30:16 | |
In high school I went back down to Swans Creek | 30:19 | |
to tell Daddy Rob and Miss Ellen what had happened to me. | 30:23 | |
I went with his friend of mine | 30:26 | |
and I remember the scene well in their living room | 30:29 | |
and I proclaimed to them, | 30:32 | |
"Daddy Rob, Miss Ellen I am a Christian." | 30:33 | |
and we cried and we hugged and we had | 30:38 | |
tears of joy | 30:42 | |
and I left and it was the last time I ever saw them. | 30:45 | |
I am here today because of them and my parents. | 30:49 | |
This is a special day for me. | 30:54 | |
It's a special day in the life of my family also. | 30:56 | |
Even as I stand here now, my wife is kneeling | 30:59 | |
in the church to which we belong in New Jersey, | 31:03 | |
an Episcopal church, and probably, | 31:06 | |
in a few minutes from now, | 31:09 | |
the bishop will lay hands on her and she will be received | 31:11 | |
into that communion together with my children. | 31:14 | |
She is praying for me now, I am praying for her. | 31:18 | |
This is a special day. | 31:22 | |
It's also a special day, isn't it, | 31:24 | |
in the life of the church. | 31:26 | |
For in this day we celebrate, not only little celebrations | 31:28 | |
like I just gave to you, but we all celebrate together | 31:33 | |
what has been called the birthday of the church, | 31:38 | |
the day of Pentecost, commonly called wits Sunday | 31:40 | |
in many of our churches. | 31:44 | |
That day when we celebrate that occasion | 31:46 | |
when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in power | 31:49 | |
so that they could be witnesses to the world. | 31:53 | |
It was a glorious day, a strange day, | 31:55 | |
a day filled with excitement. | 31:59 | |
Tom Long tells the story of teaching | 32:02 | |
his young Sunday school class students | 32:06 | |
about the specialness of this day. | 32:09 | |
He was telling them about the glories of Pentecost. | 32:11 | |
Of course, we celebrate it now as the tail end | 32:14 | |
of the great 50 days of Easter, | 32:17 | |
the resurrection of Jesus, his Ascension into heaven, | 32:20 | |
and the coming of the Holy Spirit. | 32:23 | |
Dr. Long described to those kids | 32:25 | |
the coming of the Holy Spirit, | 32:28 | |
first in the wind and the tongues of fire | 32:30 | |
and the witnessing that the disciples did | 32:33 | |
and the carrying on outside and he proclaimed to them, | 32:35 | |
"Kids, our church was born on this day." | 32:38 | |
And a young girl with a frown on her face replied to him, | 32:43 | |
"well, I think my family was absent that day." | 32:48 | |
And I think she's right. | 32:53 | |
My family must have been absent | 32:56 | |
because that doesn't seem to describe | 32:57 | |
the church as I know it | 32:59 | |
and maybe the church as you know it also. | 33:01 | |
Most of us being members of Christ's Church, | 33:03 | |
probably Protestant, | 33:07 | |
probably main-line denominational churches, | 33:09 | |
that kind of excitement, that kind of experience | 33:12 | |
that we read about in this new testament lesson | 33:15 | |
doesn't seem to characterize our church. | 33:18 | |
If it happened at all at one time, | 33:22 | |
well, we must have been absent. | 33:25 | |
It was a strange day, it was a strange occurrence. | 33:28 | |
The disciples huddled in that upper room. | 33:31 | |
Was it that same room where Jesus had washed their feet? | 33:34 | |
Where they had had that last meal with him? | 33:38 | |
Where they had gathered later in fear | 33:42 | |
and Jesus appeared to them? | 33:44 | |
They were gathered, all of them, in that one place | 33:47 | |
praying the church in prayer, | 33:50 | |
waiting for the promised counselor as was promised by Jesus. | 33:53 | |
And in the midst of that prayer service, | 33:57 | |
I would like to have seen that one. | 33:59 | |
We don't have prayer services like that | 34:01 | |
in the Episcopal Church, at least not where I'm from. | 34:03 | |
In the midst of that prayer service, | 34:07 | |
there came a sound like a rushing wind, | 34:10 | |
violently flowing through that house. | 34:13 | |
The wind of the spirit in Hebrew Ruchbah. | 34:17 | |
Was it the same wind that blew across the face of the Earth, | 34:20 | |
creating order, creating a world out of chaos? | 34:24 | |
That wind, that anemos, the Greek word, | 34:28 | |
the wind and the spirit | 34:31 | |
that Jesus had talked about in the New Testament | 34:32 | |
that will blow wherever it wills? | 34:35 | |
That wind blowing through the house. | 34:38 | |
And also there appeared tongues of fire | 34:40 | |
or something as like tongues of fire, | 34:44 | |
descending upon them. | 34:47 | |
Recalling the words of John the Baptist, | 34:49 | |
that he baptized with water but Jesus who comes after him | 34:52 | |
will baptize with the spirit and with fire. | 34:56 | |
Where as in Jesus's birth the Spirit came | 34:59 | |
in the form of a dove, now the spirit comes as fire | 35:01 | |
to burn and to give power for witness. | 35:05 | |
And with all of that commotion happening in the house, | 35:09 | |
wind & fire, exclamations I'm sure, speech, | 35:12 | |
it couldn't be contained in that house. | 35:16 | |
Something was breaking loose, something was breaking open. | 35:19 | |
It spilled out into the streets | 35:22 | |
and as they were out in the streets | 35:26 | |
those disciples, the devout Jews | 35:29 | |
and proselytes from all over the world | 35:32 | |
heard what was going on and they saw it | 35:34 | |
and they were bewildered and they were amazed. | 35:36 | |
That was a strange sight, I think, at least to us. | 35:39 | |
The scripture passage says, "and with this sound, | 35:44 | |
those on Lookers gathered and were bewildered." | 35:49 | |
What sound was that? | 35:54 | |
Was it the sound of the wind? I think not. | 35:56 | |
They were used to wind blowing around, | 35:59 | |
they were used to the sounds that wind makes | 36:02 | |
when it rustles through the trees. | 36:04 | |
They may have felt the wind. | 36:06 | |
I don't think that's why the people gathered. | 36:07 | |
Why they were bewildered. | 36:10 | |
Was it fire or something that seemed like fire, | 36:12 | |
an excitement an electricity running through | 36:16 | |
that strange group of disciples? | 36:19 | |
It may have been but yet, | 36:22 | |
I think that people were used to religious nuts, as it were, | 36:25 | |
being excited about their religion. | 36:29 | |
Was it really just gibberish, | 36:31 | |
those proclaiming some kind of good news? | 36:32 | |
Was that the sound that gathered and bewildered the people? | 36:35 | |
I think not. | 36:39 | |
In those days as today, we are used to people | 36:41 | |
carrying placards proclaiming from, | 36:45 | |
not only housetops, but from street corners, | 36:48 | |
some strange religious message. | 36:51 | |
We are bombarded by religious messages. | 36:53 | |
Nothing unusual about that. | 36:57 | |
That will not bewilder anyone. | 37:00 | |
I invite you to come with me one day | 37:02 | |
to New York City as I frequently am. | 37:05 | |
I'm used to people shouting out a religious message to me. | 37:07 | |
But yet I think the sound that bewildered them | 37:12 | |
was the knowledge that what those disciples were saying, | 37:16 | |
in their excitement, they understood. | 37:19 | |
It was as if I were in Times Square on a Sunday morning | 37:24 | |
and that which someone is shouting out to me | 37:29 | |
in a strange language, I stopped and said, | 37:31 | |
"Oh my gosh! I understand what they're saying, | 37:34 | |
it speaks to me. | 37:36 | |
A crowd will gather then and the crowd will be bewildered | 37:38 | |
because they understand it. | 37:42 | |
They were confused because they understood, | 37:46 | |
they understood that if this gospel were to be true, | 37:50 | |
if this good news that they were proclaiming | 37:54 | |
was indeed the case, then the world that they knew it | 37:57 | |
could never be the same. | 38:01 | |
It would be turned upside down, topsy-turvy. | 38:03 | |
And for that they were bewildered. | 38:08 | |
Here on Duke University's campus I think we know something | 38:11 | |
about strange sounds in languages being spoken here. | 38:15 | |
Academic disciples, if you will, | 38:21 | |
come from all over the world to this campus | 38:23 | |
to learn, perhaps. | 38:26 | |
They are on a pilgrimage of sorts and when they come here | 38:27 | |
I'm sure it's something like a mini United Nations | 38:31 | |
and the trick is to try to find some kind of common ground, | 38:35 | |
some understanding among the languages. | 38:39 | |
It is ironic, isn't it, however, | 38:43 | |
that there is much confusion in an academic community, | 38:45 | |
on a campus the confusion of different voices. | 38:50 | |
The irony is that for the disciples here, | 38:54 | |
we understand that there will be confusion. | 38:58 | |
In fact, you might say we understand the confusion. | 39:00 | |
And the disciples of old were confused | 39:05 | |
because they understood. | 39:10 | |
But we have disciples from all over the world | 39:12 | |
and it's a trick to try to understand them. | 39:13 | |
Linguists tell US that there are 2796 languages | 39:16 | |
spoken around the world, | 39:21 | |
not counting that of American teenagers. | 39:23 | |
And to try to understand it all, | 39:26 | |
and when you add dialect to it, | 39:28 | |
how in the world are we going to come to common ground? | 39:31 | |
Even within the English language | 39:33 | |
there is some difference between British English | 39:35 | |
and that which the British call American. | 39:38 | |
George Bernard Shaw a hundred years ago proclaimed | 39:42 | |
that we on both sides of the Atlantic | 39:45 | |
are two peoples separated by a common tongue. | 39:47 | |
Well, at Duke University there are many tongues | 39:54 | |
and they aren't all foreign. | 39:56 | |
There are interdepartmental languages. | 39:58 | |
The language of economics doesn't understand wholly | 40:01 | |
the language of of sociology. | 40:04 | |
They think that they're speaking gibberish. | 40:07 | |
The language of the religion department is sometimes | 40:10 | |
not the same language as the science department | 40:14 | |
and they talk past each other | 40:16 | |
in a search to get to common ground. | 40:18 | |
And there are different languages | 40:22 | |
based on where we come from. | 40:24 | |
There is the language of African American students. | 40:26 | |
It's English but it's a language of a people | 40:31 | |
who have a different history than the mainstream students. | 40:34 | |
There's the language of white students, | 40:39 | |
there's the language of black students. | 40:40 | |
There's a language of women and the language of men. | 40:43 | |
The language of young and of old. | 40:46 | |
Even in the Divinity School | 40:49 | |
the language of the liberationists, | 40:51 | |
the language of the traditionalists, | 40:54 | |
the language of the conservatives and liberals, | 40:56 | |
of feminist, of evangelicals. | 40:59 | |
I think that the world of Duke University | 41:02 | |
is not unlike the world of Jerusalem | 41:06 | |
when the church was born. | 41:09 | |
Can the church be born in the midst of this confusion, | 41:12 | |
of this noise? | 41:16 | |
The point I'm making in all of this is that the church | 41:18 | |
was born in the midst of noise and confusion, | 41:22 | |
not decently and in order. | 41:25 | |
The church was Pentecostal before it was Presbyterian | 41:28 | |
and I say that as one in the reformed tradition. | 41:33 | |
Lest you think I'm being flippant about an ordered | 41:37 | |
and liturgical piety and lest you believe | 41:39 | |
that I'm saying that we should all get up out of our seats | 41:44 | |
and start clapping and shouting and go out into the world | 41:47 | |
proclaiming what God has done for us. | 41:50 | |
Lest you don't think or lest you do think | 41:53 | |
that I do not appreciate ordered worship. | 41:56 | |
I will remind you that I am a Christian | 42:00 | |
in the reformed tradition and of a liturgical piety. | 42:04 | |
I am also a member of the Episcopal Church. | 42:10 | |
But that's not the whole story about me. | 42:13 | |
You should also know that I was raised a Baptist | 42:17 | |
and there's something of a Baptist in me. | 42:21 | |
If you peel away this reformed and high liturgical guard, | 42:23 | |
there's a Baptist that's just lurking to break out. | 42:29 | |
I think if you peel back this liturgical skin, | 42:34 | |
Baptist blood will flow. | 42:37 | |
It's safe to say that we Baptists like our religion hot. | 42:39 | |
Or at least more than lukewarm. | 42:44 | |
We like to get excited about it and we like to say so. | 42:47 | |
In fact, as I preach around, I preach in Baptist churches | 42:50 | |
and AME Churches and liturgical churches. | 42:54 | |
I like to get people involved | 42:57 | |
because that's what religious mean to me. | 43:00 | |
I think you ought to know that sometimes it's hard | 43:05 | |
for someone who believes that if the worship service | 43:09 | |
is not is to be quiet then maybe | 43:14 | |
it's no worship service at all. | 43:17 | |
And when I'm in a black Baptist Church, | 43:19 | |
we like to go back and forth with each other | 43:21 | |
and establish community that way. | 43:24 | |
And I reminded by my Baptist friends | 43:26 | |
that Pentecostal power is not accompanied | 43:29 | |
always by silence. | 43:33 | |
Picture with me if you will, a Baptist woman | 43:35 | |
as she finds her way into the chapel | 43:40 | |
at New Brunswick Theological Seminary where I serve. | 43:42 | |
I proudly service at Seminary, | 43:46 | |
which is the oldest seminary in North America. | 43:48 | |
It is run and operated by the Reformed Church in America, | 43:51 | |
the oldest Protestant denomination in North America | 43:55 | |
with a continuous ministry and if you get any of those words | 43:58 | |
out of that you've messed it up it's not true. | 44:02 | |
The Dutch reformed and Dutch Calvinists. | 44:05 | |
She finds her way into our Chapel | 44:09 | |
and the Reverend dr. | 44:12 | |
Arnold Vanderklomperdigsma | 44:15 | |
is holding forth and preaching | 44:20 | |
in all of his liturgical guard and Genevan tabs. | 44:22 | |
She finds her way there, he preaches | 44:25 | |
and he's doing a pretty good job. | 44:27 | |
And in the middle of the sermon | 44:28 | |
she stands up and shouts "Amen!" | 44:30 | |
And all the good people at the chapel turn their heads. | 44:32 | |
But this rather excites | 44:38 | |
the reverend Doctor Vanderklomperdigsma. | 44:39 | |
And so he starts preaching all the more fervently | 44:42 | |
and in the middle of the sermon she shouts out again, | 44:45 | |
"Hallelujah!" | 44:46 | |
And all the good people of the chapel turn their head again. | 44:47 | |
"What was that?" | 44:50 | |
But this just excited the Reverend so much | 44:52 | |
that he left the pulpit and went down the aisle | 44:55 | |
and started waving the Bible around | 44:57 | |
and rightly dividing the word of truth | 44:59 | |
and she met him halfway and said, | 45:02 | |
"That's right! You preach that word now." | 45:03 | |
Well, that was too much for the good people of our Chapel | 45:07 | |
and the reformed and liturgical traditions. | 45:11 | |
So they escorted the woman out north exit | 45:13 | |
and had a word with her and said, | 45:15 | |
"Madam, what's going on in there?" | 45:17 | |
And she said, "I can't help it. | 45:20 | |
When I hear preaching like that, I just get religion." | 45:22 | |
And one of the students said to her, | 45:27 | |
"Well Madam, this is a seminary Chapel, | 45:29 | |
this is no place to get religion." | 45:32 | |
(Congregation laughs) | 45:34 | |
"Shh, shh, | 45:39 | |
Madam, we are worshiping, | 45:42 | |
the church is being formed don't make a sound." | 45:45 | |
The silence of the church. | 45:51 | |
The Silence of the church is well documented | 45:54 | |
in the world, isn't it? | 45:56 | |
Thank God those disciples left the upper room | 45:59 | |
and went outside so that you and I are here today. | 46:02 | |
Unlike some who receive an experience of the Holy Spirit | 46:06 | |
but you get the feeling that it's something only for them, | 46:11 | |
it's something that only edifies them | 46:14 | |
and they only want to gather and be edified | 46:16 | |
and they don't care about the world. | 46:18 | |
The disciples went out but all too frequently. | 46:21 | |
You and I know that the church, when it enters the world, | 46:25 | |
becomes strangely silent. | 46:29 | |
The world my friends, we say, is going to hell. | 46:32 | |
The world is beset by problems, economic, | 46:37 | |
racial injustice problems, social problems, | 46:41 | |
problems between groups, economic groups, | 46:47 | |
problems of hunger, problems of homelessness | 46:50 | |
and all too often the church, | 46:54 | |
we are worshiping so nicely here | 46:55 | |
but when we leave the doors we dare not say a word. | 46:58 | |
The silence of the church in the world. | 47:03 | |
You know what I mean. | 47:07 | |
But that Pentecostal experience | 47:09 | |
that's described in the New Testament | 47:11 | |
is not only talking about the silence of the church | 47:13 | |
in the world, but it has a lot to say | 47:15 | |
about the silence of the church in the church. | 47:17 | |
The silence of the church in the church | 47:21 | |
where even in the church body, | 47:23 | |
we are strangely silent with one another. | 47:26 | |
Do we dare think that any one of us | 47:30 | |
will say to a Christian brother or friend in church | 47:33 | |
or in our fellowship how it is with our soul? | 47:37 | |
Dare we speak words of comfort to one another? | 47:41 | |
Do we visit each other in our homes | 47:45 | |
and in the midst of our despair of our families | 47:48 | |
dare we speak hope? | 47:51 | |
Do we see each other in our hospital rooms | 47:54 | |
that we visit one another there | 47:57 | |
and dare do we speak the word healing? | 48:00 | |
Do we see each other in nursing homes | 48:05 | |
on the tail end of life and do we go there | 48:07 | |
and speak the word resurrection? | 48:11 | |
Do we speak to one another? | 48:15 | |
Do we know one another in our churches? | 48:17 | |
Many friends tell me who are trying to find churches | 48:20 | |
that it seems as if no one cares that they're there. | 48:24 | |
The silence of the church in the church, | 48:28 | |
not speaking, consigning worship | 48:31 | |
only to those ordained clerics, | 48:34 | |
the professional ones who speak. | 48:36 | |
But laity are never to speak, much less shout. | 48:39 | |
The silence of the church. | 48:46 | |
We like our churches, I hope you like yours. | 48:47 | |
I love mine in all of its liturgical beauty. | 48:50 | |
But isn't there something in us | 48:53 | |
that cries out for something more? | 48:55 | |
Avery and Marsh wrote a song about Pentecost | 49:01 | |
entitled, "If There Is A Holy Spirit" | 49:05 | |
The refrain of that song is, | 49:09 | |
If there is a Holy Spirit, | 49:11 | |
if there is a Heavenly Dove, | 49:13 | |
I would like to see it and hear it | 49:16 | |
changing this whole world with love. | 49:18 | |
All the old religion has burned out in me | 49:22 | |
all the wide-eyed wonder of my youth, | 49:26 | |
God relight the light that was turned out in me, | 49:29 | |
give me back some joy, hope and truth. | 49:34 | |
Lots of what the church does seems like a game to me | 49:39 | |
with the same group playing all the time | 49:44 | |
everything they do seems much too tame for me | 49:47 | |
Like a pleasant Christmas pantomime. | 49:51 | |
Take away the doubts that toss and turn in me | 49:56 | |
and give me answers I can use right now. | 49:59 | |
Let the brilliant flame of passion burn in me, | 50:03 | |
Oh God, descend or arise in me somehow. | 50:07 | |
If there is a Holy Spirit, | 50:12 | |
if there is a heavenly dove, | 50:14 | |
I would like to see it and hear it | 50:16 | |
changing the my world with love. | 50:20 | |
No, the church cannot be ultimately born | 50:24 | |
in silence but in noise. | 50:28 | |
The noises of Pentecost: Wind, Fire, | 50:32 | |
and speech. | 50:37 | |
This is the way in which the church was born, | 50:39 | |
this is the way that the world was born, | 50:41 | |
it's the way, in which we were born | 50:44 | |
and it is the way in which we will be born again. | 50:47 | |
When my son my smallest son, | 50:51 | |
my youngest son Benjamin was born | 50:54 | |
I was able to be in the delivery room. | 50:57 | |
I remember the sounds of new birth, do you? | 51:01 | |
The sound of screams of one in pain, | 51:05 | |
the encouraging sounds of a devoted husband | 51:11 | |
to count and to breathe. | 51:15 | |
The sounds of a staff in encouraging, "Push now, push!" | 51:18 | |
The shriek of joy, of wonder and maybe some fear | 51:24 | |
when I head appeared. | 51:29 | |
The sound of a baby crying into a new world. | 51:32 | |
The sound of those were gathered outside and whom I've met. | 51:37 | |
I remember the sounds of birth, | 51:42 | |
something new and exciting is happening | 51:44 | |
and I remember well when my son Benjamin | 51:49 | |
first said Mama and Dada | 51:53 | |
and it was as if when he spoke that and we responded, | 51:58 | |
a whole new world opened up for him. | 52:01 | |
A world formed by language, by speech, forming community. | 52:05 | |
I believe people, that as we give speech | 52:12 | |
to that which has happened within us, | 52:17 | |
our world will no longer be characterized by Babel | 52:20 | |
that was read about in the Old Testament, | 52:24 | |
but by Jerusalem of the New Testament, | 52:27 | |
forming the church, creating community, | 52:31 | |
giving witness to the spirit, the spirit of God within us. | 52:35 | |
It can happen, can you hear it? | 52:40 | |
(church organ music) | 52:56 | |
(chorus and congregation singing) | 53:21 | |
Preacher | The Lord be with you. | 55:20 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 55:23 |
- | Let us pray. | 55:24 |
When the day of Pentecost had come | 55:26 | |
they were all together in one place | 55:28 | |
and all of the many foreigners heard the witnesses | 55:31 | |
speaking in their own tongue. | 55:33 | |
(congregation responds) | 55:36 | |
Speak in the language of our need, | 55:43 | |
let us hear how our deepest hungers, desires and aspirations | 55:46 | |
can be fulfilled by your goodness and in your service. | 55:50 | |
(congregation responds) | 55:56 | |
Speak in the language of our fear, | 56:02 | |
let us hear, however, worries about the future | 56:04 | |
and about each other and about ourselves | 56:07 | |
can find rest your providential care. | 56:10 | |
(congregation responds) | 56:14 | |
Speak in the language of our guilt, | 56:20 | |
let us hear how our confessed shame for wrong things done | 56:23 | |
and good things undone is covered by your forgiveness. | 56:28 | |
(congregation responds) | 56:32 | |
Speak in the language of our gratitude, | 56:38 | |
let us hear how our honest thanks relates us, | 56:41 | |
not only to those with whom we live, | 56:45 | |
but also to you, the Lord and giver of life. | 56:47 | |
(congregation responds) | 56:52 | |
Speak to us in the language of joy, | 56:58 | |
let us hear how our gladness and our delight, | 57:00 | |
not only brighten this world, | 57:03 | |
but honor you who made the world. | 57:05 | |
(congregation responds) | 57:09 | |
Speak to us in the language of hope, | 57:14 | |
let hear how our yearning and our expectations | 57:17 | |
are not just wishful thinking but responses to your promise. | 57:21 | |
(congregation responds) | 57:26 | |
And now, in thanksgiving and in celebration | 57:46 | |
that the holy spirit is truly in our midst, | 57:48 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God. | 57:50 | |
You may be seated. | 57:54 | |
(church organ music) | 58:08 | |
(choir singing) | 58:16 | |
Oh God, you have spoken | 1:04:18 | |
and we have received the gift of life. | 1:04:19 | |
You have opened your hand and we have been fed. | 1:04:23 | |
You have touched with fire | 1:04:26 | |
and our tongues have been loosened to sing your praise. | 1:04:28 | |
You have opened the ears of your people | 1:04:31 | |
and barriers to understanding how come tumbling down. | 1:04:34 | |
we thank you, oh God, for all you have bestowed upon us | 1:04:38 | |
and now we offer you these gifts in return. | 1:04:42 | |
Take our offerings, our witness, our lives | 1:04:45 | |
to benefit all your Human family. | 1:04:48 | |
May your glory be known among us and in all the world. | 1:04:51 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ | 1:04:55 | |
who taught us to pray with confidence. | 1:04:58 | |
All | Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. | 1:05:00 |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 1:05:05 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:05:07 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 1:05:10 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 1:05:13 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:05:15 | |
Lead us not into temptation but deliver Us from evil, | 1:05:18 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 1:05:23 | |
the power and the glory forever, amen. | 1:05:24 | |
And now go forth in peace and be of good courage, | 1:05:30 | |
hold fast that which is good, | 1:05:34 | |
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit | 1:05:37 | |
and may the blessings of God the father, Son and Holy Spirit | 1:05:40 | |
be with you all Now and forever more, amen. | 1:05:44 | |
(Church organ music) | 1:05:51 | |
(congregation and choir singing) | 1:05:58 |
Item Info
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