William H. Willimon - "Divine Divestment" (October 13, 1991)

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	(reverent organ music)	0:01
-	Good morning and welcome to this service	4:35
	of worship here in Duke Chapel.	4:37
	All of today's offering has been designated	4:42
	by the Duke Campus Ministry Committee	4:45
	to go to victims of the fire	4:48
	in Hamlet, North Carolina.	4:52
	We urge you to give generously	4:55
	to those victims and their families.	4:58
	Also, call your attention to various activities	5:01
	this week here in Duke Chapel.	5:04
	Thursday there will be a vigil	5:07
	in front of the chapel at 11 p.m.	5:10
	Wednesday, if you're on campus,	5:14
	our lunchtime concerts have become a popular	5:16
	way to take a break during the day.	5:20
	Also, this Sunday we began a three week series	5:24
	on Sunday mornings beginning at 9:45	5:27
	on anger and spiritual growth	5:31
	with professor Miram Anne Glover-Weatherington	5:33
	of the Duke Divinity School,	5:36
	and you're invited to participate in that series	5:38
	on Sunday mornings.	5:42
	And now let us stand for the greeting.	5:44
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	5:52
Congregation	And also with you.	5:55
William	The risen Christ is with us.	5:57
Congregation	Risen is the Lord.	6:00
	(reverent organ music)	6:02
	♪ O worship the King ♪	6:34
	♪ All glorious above ♪	6:38
	♪ And gratefully sing ♪	6:42
	♪ God's power and God's love ♪	6:46
	♪ Our Shield and Defender ♪	6:50
	♪ The Ancient of Days ♪	6:54
	♪ Pavilioned in splendor ♪	6:58
	♪ And girded with praise ♪	7:02
	♪ O tell of God's might ♪	7:08
	♪ O sing of God's grace ♪	7:12
	♪ Whose robe is the light ♪	7:16
	♪ Whose canopy space ♪	7:20
	♪ Whose chariots of wrath ♪	7:24
	♪ The deep thunderclouds form ♪	7:28
	♪ And dark is God's path ♪	7:33
	♪ On the wings of the storm ♪	7:36
	♪ The earth with its store ♪	7:43
	♪ Of wonders untold ♪	7:47
	♪ Almighty, Thy power ♪	7:51
	♪ Hath founded of old ♪	7:55
	♪ Established it fast ♪	7:59
	♪ By a changeless decree ♪	8:03
	♪ And round it hath cast ♪	8:07
	♪ Like a mantle, the sea ♪	8:11
	♪ Thy bountiful care ♪	8:18
	♪ What tongue can recite ♪	8:22
	♪ It breathes in the air ♪	8:26
	♪ It shines in the light ♪	8:30
	♪ It streams from the hills ♪	8:34
	♪ It descends to the plain ♪	8:37
	♪ And sweetly distills ♪	8:43
	♪ In the dew and the rain ♪	8:46
	♪ Frail children of dust ♪	10:32
	♪ And feeble as frail ♪	10:36
	♪ In Thee do we trust ♪	10:41
	♪ Nor find Thee to fail ♪	10:44
	♪ Thy mercies how tender ♪	10:48
	♪ How firm to the end ♪	10:52
	♪ Our maker, defender, ♪	10:56
	♪ Redeemer, and friend ♪	10:59
-	Let us join together in prayer.	11:11
	Gracious and holy God,	11:17
	we come to you because you have first come to us.	11:19
	We know you because you have revealed yourself.	11:24
	Give us in this morning hour of worship	11:28
	a sense of your spirit breathing through us.	11:32
	Lift our hearts with the wings of song.	11:35
	Heal our souls with the balm of prayer.	11:39
	Enliven our minds with the words	11:44
	of scripture and interpretation.	11:47
	And newly enable us to dedicate our strength,	11:50
	our substance, and our service to your work in the world.	11:55
	We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.	12:00
	You may be seated.	12:05
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	12:17
All	Open our hearts and minds, O God,	12:22
	by the power of your holy spirit,	12:25
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	12:28
	we might hear with joy	12:32
	what you say to us this day, amen.	12:34
-	The first reading is taken	12:41
	from the third chapter of Genesis.	12:43
	"They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden	12:49
	"at the time of the evening breeze.	12:53
	"And the man and his wife hid themselves	12:56
	"from the presence of the Lord God	12:59
	"among the tress of the garden.	13:01
	"But the Lord God called to the man and said to him,	13:04
	"'Where are you?'	13:07
	"He said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden,	13:10
	"'and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.'	13:13
	"He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?	13:19
	"'Have you eaten from the tree	13:24
	"'of which I commanded you not to eat?'	13:25
	"The man said, 'The woman, whom you gave to be with me,	13:28
	"'she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.'	13:32
	"Then the Lord said to the woman,	13:37
	"'What is this that you have done?'	13:40
	"The woman said, 'The serpent tricked me, and I ate.'	13:42
	"The Lord God said to the serpent,	13:48
	"'Because you have done this,	13:50
	"'cursed are you among all animals,	13:51
	"'and among all wild creatures.	13:53
	"'Upon your belly you shall go,	13:56
	"'and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.	13:58
	"'I will put enmity between you and the woman,	14:02
	"'and between your offspring and hers.	14:05
	"'He will strike your head	14:07
	"'and you will strike his heel.'	14:09
	"To the woman, he said, 'I will greatly increase	14:13
	"'your pangs in childbearing,	14:16
	"'in pain you shall bring forth children,	14:19
	"'yet your desire shall be for your husband,	14:22
	"'and he shall rule over you.'	14:24
	"And to the man he said, 'Because you have listened	14:28
	"'to the voice of your wife,	14:31
	"'and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you,	14:32
	"'you shall not eat of it.	14:36
	"'Cursed is the ground because of you.	14:38
	"'In toil you shall eat of it	14:41
	"'all the days of your life.	14:42
	"'Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.	14:45
	"'And you shall eat the plants of the field.	14:48
	"'By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,	14:51
	"'until you return to the ground,	14:55
	"'for out of it you were taken.	14:57
	"'You are dust, and to dust you will return.'"	15:00
	This is the word of the Lord.	15:06
All	Thanks be to God.	15:08
-	The congregation will please sing responsively	15:19
	Psalm number 90, verses one through 12,	15:21
	found on page 809 in the hymnal.	15:24
	Please stand for the singing of the song.	15:27
	(reverent organ music)	15:32
	♪ Lord you have been our dwelling place ♪	15:39
	♪ In all generations ♪	15:43
	♪ Before the mountains were brought forth ♪	15:46
	♪ Or ever you had formed the Earth and the world ♪	15:50
	♪ From everlasting to everlasting, you are God ♪	15:56
	♪ You turn us back to the dust ♪	16:03
	♪ And say turn back, O mortal ones ♪	16:06
	♪ For a thousand years in your sight ♪	16:11
	♪ Are like yesterday when it is past ♪	16:14
	♪ Or as the watch in the night ♪	16:19
	♪ You sweep them away ♪	16:24
	♪ They are like a dream ♪	16:26
	♪ Like grass which is renewed in the morning ♪	16:29
	♪ In the morning it flourished and is renewed ♪	16:34
	♪ In the evening it fades and withers ♪	16:40
	♪ For we are consumed by your anger ♪	16:45
	♪ By your wrath we are overwhelmed ♪	16:50
	♪ You have set our iniquities before you ♪	16:54
	♪ Our secret sins in the light of your countenance ♪	16:59
	♪ For all our days pass away under your wrath ♪	17:06
	♪ Our years come to an end like a sigh ♪	17:11
	♪ The days of our life are threescore and ten ♪	17:16
	♪ But if in the strong they be fourscore ♪	17:21
	♪ Even then their span is only toil and trouble ♪	17:27
	♪ They are soon gone, and we fly away ♪	17:31
	♪ Who considers the power of your anger ♪	17:38
	♪ The awesomeness of your wrath ♪	17:42
	♪ So teach us to number our days ♪	17:46
	♪ That we may receive a heart of wisdom ♪	17:50
	♪ O glory be to you creator ♪	17:57
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪	18:00
	♪ And to the Holy Spirit, the trinity ♪	18:03
	♪ As it was ere time began ♪	18:10
	♪ Is now and will be forevermore ♪	18:14
-	The second reading is from the Epistle to the Hebrews.	18:37
	"Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest	18:43
	"is still open, let us take care	18:47
	"that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.	18:51
	"For indeed, the good news came to use just as to them.	18:55
	"But the message they heard did not benefit them,	19:00
	"because they were not united by faith	19:03
	"with those who listened.	19:06
	"For we who have believed enter that rest,	19:09
	"just as God has said, 'As in my anger I swore	19:12
	"'they shall not enter my rest.'	19:16
	"Though his works were finished	19:19
	"at the foundation of the world."	19:21
	This is the word of the Lord.	19:25
All	Thanks be to God.	19:27
	(tender organ music)	19:37
	♪ Lord, thou hast been our refuge ♪	19:53
	♪ From one generation to another ♪	20:01
	♪ Oh God ♪	20:09
	♪ Our help ♪	20:12
	♪ In ages past ♪	20:15
	♪ Before the mountains were brought forth ♪	20:22
	♪ Or ever the earth and the world were made ♪	20:26
	♪ Thou are God ♪	20:32
	♪ From everlasting ♪	20:35
	♪ And world without end ♪	20:38
	♪ Thou turnest man to destruction ♪	20:45
	♪ Again thou sayest ♪	20:52
	♪ Come again ♪	21:00
	♪ Ye children of man ♪	21:03
	♪ For a thousand years in thy sight ♪	21:07
	♪ Are but as yesterday ♪	21:13
	♪ Seeing as that is past ♪	21:22
	♪ As a watch in the night ♪	21:27
	♪ As soon as though scatterest them ♪	21:38
	♪ They are even as asleep ♪	21:45
	♪ And fade away ♪	21:52
	♪ Suddenly ♪	21:56
	♪ Like the grass ♪	22:00
	♪ In the morning ♪	22:04
	♪ It is green ♪	22:08
	♪ And groweth up ♪	22:12
	♪ But in the evening ♪	22:15
	♪ It is cut down ♪	22:19
	♪ And withered ♪	22:24
	♪ For we consume away ♪	22:29
	♪ In thy displeasure ♪	22:36
	♪ And are afraid at thy ♪	22:42
	♪ Wrathful indignation ♪	22:49
	♪ For when thou art angry ♪	22:55
	♪ All our days are gone ♪	23:00
	♪ We bring our years to an end ♪	23:05
	♪ As a tale that is told ♪	23:13
	♪ The years of our age ♪	23:20
	♪ Are threescore years and ten ♪	23:23
	♪ And though men be so strong ♪	23:29
	♪ That they come to fourscore years ♪	23:33
	♪ Yet is their strength but labor and sorrow ♪	23:39
	♪ So passeth it away ♪	23:46
	♪ And we are gone ♪	23:51
	♪ Turn thee again, O Lord ♪	23:58
	♪ At the last ♪	24:06
	♪ Be gracious ♪	24:13
	♪ Unto thy servants ♪	24:17
	♪ Be gracious unto ♪	24:19
	♪ Thy servants ♪	24:24
	♪ O satisfy us ♪	24:27
	♪ With thy mercy ♪	24:31
	♪ And that soon ♪	24:34
	♪ So shall we rejoice and be glad ♪	24:37
	♪ All the days ♪	24:44
	♪ All the days ♪	24:48
	♪ Of our lives ♪	24:54
	(reverent organ music)	25:03
	♪ Lord ♪	25:50
	♪ Thou has been our refuge ♪	25:53
	♪ From one generation to another ♪	25:58
	♪ Before the mountains were brought forth ♪	26:17
	♪ Or ever the earth and the world were made ♪	26:22
	♪ Thou art God ♪	26:27
	♪ From everlasting ♪	26:31
	♪ And world without end ♪	26:34
	♪ And the glorious majesty ♪	26:43
	♪ Of the Lord be upon us ♪	26:49
	♪ Prosper though, O prosper though ♪	27:10
	♪ Prosper though, O prosper though ♪	27:15
	♪ O prosper though ♪	27:24
	♪ Prosper though ♪	27:26
	♪ O prosper though ♪	27:36
	♪ O prosper though ♪	27:46
-	Hear the Gospel.	28:23
	"As he was heading out on a journey,	28:28
	"a man ran up and knelt before him and asked,	28:30
	"'Good teacher, what must I do	28:34
	"'to inherit eternal life?'	28:35
	"And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good?	28:39
	"'No one is good but God alone.	28:42
	"'You know the commandments, do not kill,	28:44
	"'do not commit adultery, do not steal,	28:46
	"'do not bear false witness, do not defraud,	28:48
	"'honor your father and your mother.'	28:51
	"And he said, 'Teacher, all of these	28:55
	"'have I observed from my youth.'	28:58
	"And Jesus, looking at him, loved him,	29:02
	"and said to him, 'You lack one thing.	29:06
	"'Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor.	29:11
	"'And you will have treasure in heaven.	29:17
	"'Come, follow me.'	29:19
	"At that saying his countenance fell.	29:23
	"And he went away sorrowful,	29:26
	"because he had great possessions.	29:28
	"And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,	29:31
	"'How hard it will be for those who have riches	29:34
	"'to enter the kingdom of God.'	29:37
	"And the disciples were amazed at his words,	29:40
	"but Jesus said to them again,	29:43
	"'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God,	29:45
	"'it is easier for a camel	29:48
	"'to go through the eye of a needle,	29:50
	"'than for a rich one to enter the kingdom of God.'	29:53
	"They were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,	29:57
	"'Well then who can be saved?'	30:01
	"Jesus looked at them and said,	30:04
	"'Our people, it is impossible.	30:07
	"'But not with God, for all things are possible with God.'"	30:11
	This is the word of the Lord.	30:19
All	Thanks be to God.	30:22
-	The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard,	30:25
	returned home from a grand church service one Sunday morning	30:28
	and wrote with disgust of what happened there.	30:35
	"In the magnificent cathedral,	30:41
	"the Honorable and Right Reverend Geheime-General	30:43
	"Ober-Hof Pradikant, the elect favorite	30:46
	"of the fashionable world,	30:49
	"appears before an elect company	30:52
	"and preaches with great emotion upon a text	30:55
	"that he himself hath selected.	30:58
	"Quote, 'God hath elected the base things of the world,	31:01
	"'and the things that are despised.'	31:06
	"And nobody laughs."	31:11
	Today I am to preach on Mark 10:17-27,	31:18
	the story of Jesus and the rich man.	31:23
	Now, Rick Lischer, Professor of Preaching	31:28
	at the Divinity School was supposed to preach on this text.	31:30
	I thought that I had written him a letter	31:34
	asking him to preach on this text.	31:35
	Three weeks ago Rick told me that he had not heard about it,	31:40
	that he had not received a letter from me,	31:43
	and that he was planning to go to his	31:45
	40th high school reunion.	31:48
	But, of course, that's no excuse.	31:52
	He was supposed to preach on this text.	31:55
	So I had to leave a beach house	31:57
	and get into my $15,000 car	32:01
	and drive to my $150,000 home	32:03
	to preach to you on this text.	32:06
	And I am wondering when I am done	32:10
	if anybody will laugh.	32:12
	Let us first put this episode with Jesus in proper context.	32:18
	Jesus has just blessed the children.	32:22
	We read about that last week.	32:27
	Jesus one day was lecturing to his people on theology,	32:30
	everybody trying to pay attention,	32:33
	everybody taking notes.	32:35
	And his disciples said, "Jesus, send these	32:38
	"children away, we cannot pay attention."	32:41
	Someone had pulled somebody's hair,	32:44
	someone was rolling with someone else	32:46
	in the dirt behind them.	32:47
	"Jesus, send these children away	32:49
	"so that we can pay attention."	32:51
	You remember what Jesus did on that occasion?	32:55
	He reached out into the crowd and he took a child	33:00
	and pulled the child up front next to him	33:02
	and he blessed the child.	33:09
	He put the child in the midst of them.	33:12
	In other words, these small, helpless,	33:18
	ignorant, dependent, vulnerable, dependent little child,	33:22
	the one whom we place at the margins	33:26
	of our great society,	33:29
	Jesus put in the middle of them.	33:32
	We tend to put children out on the fringes	33:38
	of our society, we marginalize them.	33:41
	After all they are unproductive,	33:43
	they are dependent, they are vulnerable.	33:46
	We have progressed in this society to the point	33:50
	where we treat our very old and our very young	33:53
	in exactly the same way.	33:57
	We institutionalize them.	33:59
	Where we pay people to look after them	34:02
	because they are not productive,	34:04
	they have no place in this society.	34:06
	They are, dependent,	34:13
	needy, small.	34:17
	And the curious thing that day	34:22
	was that Jesus took those whom we put out	34:24
	on the fringe of our society,	34:26
	and put them right in the middle of his disciples.	34:30
	Those whom we regard as a distraction	34:35
	from paying attention to the really	34:39
	important things of life,	34:40
	Jesus put in the midst of his disciples	34:42
	as a kind of last ditch effort	34:45
	to get us to pay attention.	34:47
	It's as if Jesus wanted to say	34:51
	you want to get into my kingdom,	34:53
	well the only way to get into my kingdom	34:55
	is to be very, very small.	34:58
	Only children get into my kingdom.	35:03
	The small, the little, the vulnerable,	35:05
	the needy, the dependent.	35:07
	There are gonna be no adults in my kingdom,	35:09
	they'll be no self-sufficient, autonomous, liberated	35:11
	independent adults, there'll just be these children.	35:14
	Let the children come to me, this is the kingdom.	35:20
	Here is a kingdom with a very small door.	35:23
	At any rate, my point is that Jesus	35:30
	has just shocked his disciples	35:32
	by pulling a child out of the crowd	35:35
	and putting the child in the midst of them.	35:37
	Now, as fate would have it that episode is followed	35:41
	by another in which an anything	35:44
	but weak, needy, dependent, small child	35:47
	comes forth to Jesus.	35:50
	Mark says that the person who came to Jesus that day	35:53
	was a rich man.	35:56
	Matthew, when he tells this story,	35:59
	says that he was a young, rich man.	36:00
	Luke says that he was a ruler.	36:03
	But all three gospels, when they describe this event,	36:06
	they all agree on one thing,	36:09
	that whether he was a ruler or whether he was young,	36:10
	they all agree he was rich.	36:16
	And this rich young man comes up to Jesus	36:20
	saying that he wants some of this eternal life,	36:22
	which Jesus has to offer.	36:25
	Evidently, despite the fact that he has achieved	36:28
	and gotten so much in life,	36:31
	he doesn't have eternal life.	36:34
	And so he asked Jesus, "Jesus, what have I got to do	36:37
	"to inherit eternal life?"	36:41
	Note what he's asking, what must I do.	36:43
	Evidently this young man had been very good at his doing.	36:47
	Eternal life is just another way of saying	36:53
	kingdom of God in Mark's Gospel.	36:55
	How can I, what do I need to do	36:59
	to get into your kingdom?	37:01
	Asked this young man who has been so successful	37:05
	at getting into the world's kingdoms.	37:10
	And Jesus responds, "You want to get into this kingdom,	37:15
	"well it's just simple, it's simple.	37:19
	"All you gotta do is to obey all the commandments of God.	37:21
	"Don't worship anything but God,	37:26
	"don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie,	37:28
	"don't be envious of anything your neighbor's got.	37:30
	"Stuff like that, that's all you gotta do."	37:34
	Now, I've always expected that invoking	37:39
	the anything but simple to follow commandments,	37:42
	maybe Jesus expected this high achiever to recoil	37:45
	and say something like, "Oh gosh Jesus,	37:49
	"when you put it like that, I mean why should I be going	37:52
	"out looking for other stuff to do	37:54
	"when I've already been such a failure	37:56
	"at doing all that other stuff about religion	37:58
	"that I knew about before."	38:01
	But I told you this young man was a success.	38:04
	He's ah- he's a hardcore success.	38:08
	So he replied, "Hey Jesus, I've done all that stuff	38:12
	"since I was a kid in Sunday school."	38:16
	Evidently this young man is a bigger success	38:20
	than even Jesus thought.	38:22
	Because he's not only been successful at getting	38:25
	material stuff, but he's been very successful	38:27
	at getting ethical religious stuff.	38:31
	He is a success at religion.	38:34
	Now I think in the context of that day	38:40
	his success in keeping the Ten Commandments	38:43
	would not have come as a great surprise	38:46
	to the audience gathered there.	38:48
	After all, he's rich.	38:51
	And because he's rich this means that's he got plenty	38:53
	of free time on his hands to be religious.	38:56
	If he wants to study the Bible	39:01
	and what the Bible commands,	39:02
	he's got enough free time to do it.	39:04
	If he wants to take off a weekend	39:06
	and go out on a religious retreat	39:08
	and think religious thoughts, he can spare the time.	39:10
	He can afford it.	39:13
	And no wonder that the Bible rather uniformly teaches	39:15
	that rich people have been blessed by God.	39:18
	Their material well-being is a concrete sign	39:21
	that God has blessed them.	39:24
	Very well remember, years ago one of the first	39:32
	churches I served, I was urging this woman	39:36
	to become more active in the church.	39:39
	"Come to church more often," I said.	39:42
	And she told me, "Preacher, I work six days a week,	39:45
	"10 hours a day as a waitress.	39:50
	"And on many Sunday mornings I hurt so bad	39:54
	"I can't get out of bed and come to church."	39:57
	Then very embarrassingly she told me,	40:02
	"There are many Sundays that my feet are so swollen	40:07
	"I can't get into my Sunday shoes.	40:11
	"And I don't want to be embarrassed at church."	40:16
	Because they thought that rich people were blessed	40:24
	with enough free time to afford to be religious,	40:27
	to obey the Bible, to hire expensive psychotherapists	40:32
	to help them with their problems,	40:36
	to pay expensive tuition and come to great universities,	40:37
	and ponder the great mysteries of life	40:41
	and to examine their lives.	40:43
	You can imagine their shock	40:47
	when they are told by Jesus,	40:50
	when he turns to this spiritually and materially successful	40:56
	young man and says, "So you've succeeded	41:00
	"in obeying the Ten Commandments, well, great.	41:04
	"Then let me ask you to do just one teeny weeny	41:07
	"more little thing for God, okay.	41:09
	"Go, sell everything you've got,	41:13
	"give it to the poor.	41:18
	"Come follow me and you'll be in the kingdom."	41:20
	To everybody's amazement, Jesus considered	41:27
	this young man's wealth and privilege	41:30
	not as a sign of divine favor	41:35
	but as a great big problem.	41:37
	Strip down, raffle your Porsche,	41:41
	liquidate your portfolio, break free, cut it loose.	41:43
	Give it to the poor.	41:47
	In other words, strip down, throw away your crutches.	41:50
	Become weak, little, small, poor, vulnerable.	41:54
	Because didn't I say earlier you cannot get in here	41:57
	unless you're a little child?	41:59
	Didn't I tell you this kingdom	42:04
	has a very, very small door?	42:06
	And with that, Mark says this rich young man	42:12
	slumped down and got real depressed.	42:15
	And he slinked back into his Porsche and he drove away.	42:19
	You see this is a call story.	42:27
	This is a call story, it's very similar	42:30
	to many of the other call stories in Mark.	42:32
	Someone here is being called to be a disciple,	42:34
	to come follow me.	42:38
	Somebody's being invited to join up with Jesus.	42:40
	Interestingly enough, in those stories of Jesus	42:45
	calling an invitation in Mark,	42:49
	people thus far have come forward and followed.	42:52
	But in this story, the young man walks away.	42:57
	And the story says he walks away because he's rich.	43:04
	And as he's walking away Jesus turns around to his disciples	43:11
	and he says, around the disciples, the church, us,	43:14
	and he says, "Man, it is hard to get one of these rich ones	43:20
	"in to my kingdom, it is hard."	43:25
	One of the disciples said, "Well how hard is it, Jesus?"	43:28
	And he said, "It's hard, it is hard.	43:31
	"In fact I would say it is just about as hard	43:35
	"to get one of these rich people in my kingdom	43:37
	"as it is to ... to shove a camel	43:39
	"through they eye of a needle.	43:45
	"It's that hard."	43:46
	Now can you see why I wanted Rick Lischer	43:51
	to preach on this text, today?	43:53
	Because of course, by the standards of that world,	43:57
	no by the standards of this world, we're rich.	44:02
	You know where we would find our place in this story.	44:09
	We are the rich young man walking away.	44:12
	He is us all over.	44:18
	Anuradhi Vittachi in his book, "Earth Conference One,"	44:25
	asked us, in order to picture the economic condition	44:31
	of the world, he asked us to picture ourselves	44:34
	as members of a village that has 100 families.	44:37
	He says, "If this metaphorical village	44:43
	"consists of 100 families,	44:46
	"65 of those families cannot read.	44:51
	"Some 80 families have no members of their families	44:55
	"who have ever flown in aeroplanes.	44:59
	"And 75 have no drinking water at home.	45:03
	"About 60 families occupy only 10% of the village.	45:09
	"While just seven own 60% of all the land in the village.	45:16
	"And only one family out of 100	45:24
	"has anyone in the family with a university education."	45:29
	This rich young man is us all over.	45:39
	By the way, I really wish I could help you with this text	45:44
	about easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle	45:46
	than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.	45:49
	I wish I could help you with this,	45:51
	I wish I could tell you that you take the word,	45:53
	the word for camel here and you change one letter	45:55
	in the original and it's rope.	45:58
	No, I mean besides it wouldn't be that easy	46:02
	to get a rope through the eye of a needle anyway.	46:05
	Around the 9th century there was some creative	46:09
	homiletician who said that there was a gate,	46:11
	a very narrow gate in Jerusalem,	46:15
	and so Jesus isn't talking about an actual eye of a needle,	46:17
	he's talking about this narrow gate	46:20
	that was called The Eye of the Needle.	46:22
	No, there is no such gate in Jerusalem.	46:26
	I am sure that was the invention	46:31
	of a preacher like me, who back in the 9th century	46:33
	had to preach this text to a congregation like us.	46:39
	So the disciples spoke for us all	46:44
	when they said to Jesus, "God, who can be saved?"	46:47
	And Jesus replies, "It's hard, it's just, it's hard.	46:53
	"It's impossible for rich people	47:00
	"to enter God's kingdom."	47:03
	But then Jesus follows up,	47:08
	"You know, I'd say it's impossible	47:09
	"for anybody to enter the kingdom.	47:11
	"Just impossible."	47:16
	But with a twinkle in his eye he says,	47:20
	"With God, on the other hand,	47:22
	"everything is possible."	47:25
	Just in you case you watched that previous episode	47:31
	with Jesus blessing the little children.	47:33
	Asking these little children to come follow him,	47:37
	just in case you thought that following Jesus	47:39
	was something nice and sweet and easy,	47:40
	Mark tells us this story.	47:46
	We can only come to Jesus as a small, weak, needy,	47:50
	little child.	47:53
	There's nothing sweet or easy about it, it's hard.	47:57
	And as a preacher I must fight my inclination	48:03
	to make this thing sound easy.	48:06
	It's hard, as Jesus says,	48:09
	in fact come to think of it, it's impossible.	48:11
	Then Jesus says, "With God,	48:14
	"with God even this is possible."	48:16
	It is even possible for someone who is rich	48:22
	to divest and get into the kingdom.	48:24
	And I don't know whether this is good news or bad.	48:30
	'Cause Jesus has clearly taught that you can't	48:36
	get in this kingdom, this kingdom of the small door,	48:38
	unless you're small and needy and weak	48:40
	and vulnerable and empty handed.	48:42
	How can we get in this kingdom	48:47
	when we're all grown up and self-sufficient,	48:48
	and autonomous, and well to do,	48:50
	and we've scored high on the SAT?	48:52
	Jesus says, "Well...	48:56
	"Well, with God it's uh- it's possible."	48:58
	That is with God it is possible	49:04
	that given enough time and enough life	49:06
	it is even possible that we will get stripped down,	49:08
	made small, impoverished, divested.	49:14
	With God, that's possible?	49:19
	We have been initiated into the world's kingdoms.	49:27
	The hymns that we sing are "I'm just a material girl,"	49:32
	or "It's money that matters."	49:36
	It is very tough for us to even imagine the possibility	49:42
	that it might be possible for us to let go,	49:46
	throw away our crutches, strip down,	49:49
	and wrench our fingers off that grip	49:55
	of those things to which we so ruthlessly cling.	49:58
	But with God, Jesus promises, it just may be possible.	50:04
	And I don't know whether this is	50:09
	a promise by Jesus, or a threat.	50:11
	As we go through life accumulating our things	50:17
	and getting our advanced degrees	50:21
	and earning our salaries and driving our cars	50:22
	and paying our mortgages, we just better look back	50:24
	over our shoulder,	50:26
	'cause just when we get all secure and set up	50:30
	and fixed and insured,	50:32
	well there may just be that old pursuer behind us	50:37
	ready to jump us.	50:39
	To divest us.	50:42
	'Cause with God, it's possible.	50:46
	After I have spiritualized this text,	50:53
	rationalized it, there it sits in the corner	50:55
	just grinning and staring at me.	50:57
	And we all exclaim, "It's hard!"	51:03
	Who can be saved, and the text say oh well it's,	51:09
	it's possible.	51:14
	It's possible.	51:18
	She went to Honduras with the Duke Chapel mission work team	51:21
	on a spring break.	51:24
	She went down to Honduras to help the poor in Honduras.	51:26
	She spent her spring break living with	51:31
	this poor family down there,	51:33
	sleeping on this dirt floor at night,	51:34
	living up in the hills in a little hut	51:36
	without electricity, without running water.	51:39
	In the evenings, she loved to sit with the family	51:43
	around the fire and they would sing	51:47
	and they would tell stories.	51:52
	She was in a family where the elders	51:57
	were cherished and honored.	51:59
	And the little ones were adored.	52:02
	When she got back on campus she said,	52:08
	"That family made me think of my family.	52:10
	"Compared with that poor family in Honduras	52:17
	"my family is dysfunctional."	52:20
	"I wonder why it is we have so much	52:26
	and yet so little of what really matters."	52:31
	Isn't that odd, she went to Honduras to help the poor,	52:37
	and she got help.	52:43
	She went down there rich,	52:46
	she came back poor.	52:50
	Which I guess is good news.	52:55
	'Cause Jesus says nobody who's rich and big	52:59
	can get into his kingdom.	53:01
	With God, even the impossible is possible.	53:07
	Or is this bad news?	53:13
	You make the call.	53:16
	C.S. Lewis once noted that,	53:21
	"Now all things are possible.	53:24
	"All things are possible,	53:27
	"it is even possible to get a large camel	53:29
	"through the small eye of a needle.	53:35
	"That's possible.	53:39
	"But it will be extremely hard on the camel."	53:44
	(congregation laughing)	53:49
	(reverent organ music)	53:54
	♪ What does the Lord require ♪	54:22
	♪ For praise and offering ♪	54:26
	♪ What sacrifice, desire ♪	54:31
	♪ Or tribute did you bring ♪	54:35
	♪ Do justly, love mercy ♪	54:40
	♪ Walk humbly with your God ♪	54:45
	♪ Rulers of earth, give ear ♪	54:51
	♪ Should you not justice know ♪	54:55
	♪ Will God your pleading hear ♪	55:00
	♪ While crime and cruelty grow ♪	55:04
	♪ Do justly, love mercy ♪	55:09
	♪ Walk humbly with your God ♪	55:15
	♪ Masters of wealth and trade ♪	55:21
	♪ For whom you work and toil ♪	55:25
	♪ Think not to win God's aid ♪	55:29
	♪ If be your commerce soiled ♪	55:34
	♪ Do justly, love mercy ♪	55:39
	♪ Walk humbly with your God ♪	55:44
	♪ How shall our lives fulfill ♪	55:51
	♪ God's law so hard and high ♪	55:55
	♪ Let Christ endue our will ♪	55:59
	♪ With grace to fortify ♪	56:03
	♪ Then justly, in mercy ♪	56:08
	♪ We'll humbly walk with God ♪	56:14
-	The Lord be with you.	56:27
Congregation	And also with you.	56:29
-	Let us pray, you may be seated.	56:30
	O God, amid the toil and troubles of life	56:41
	we admit that we focus too much on ourselves	56:46
	and things we can accumulate.	56:50
	We are puffed up with our accomplishments	56:53
	and pride of success.	56:56
	We consider ourselves righteous,	56:59
	but our hearts are hardened.	57:02
	Truly we are like the rich man	57:05
	who turned away from Jesus	57:07
	because the cost of discipleship was just too high.	57:09
	We cling to our possessions,	57:15
	but our spiritual lives are bankrupt.	57:17
	Reveal our poverty and spiritual emptiness to us,	57:21
	that we might turn toward you	57:26
	and become as children, small, needy,	57:29
	vulnerable, dependent.	57:34
	For truly we can do nothing apart from you,	57:37
	and our salvation is as hard for us to accomplish	57:41
	as for a camel to go through they eye of a needle.	57:45
	There would be no hope for us	57:49
	were we left to our own power,	57:52
	possessions, intelligence, and righteousness.	57:54
	But we give you thanks that through your grace	58:00
	all things are possible,	58:03
	even for such a stiff-necked and prideful people as us.	58:05
	Teach us, Lord, to live like children,	58:11
	open-hearted, trusting, giving,	58:15
	absolutely dependent upon you.	58:19
	For you remind us that Christ is the champion of the small.	58:22
	That the last will become first,	58:27
	and the first will become last.	58:29
	Those whom we have marginalized and considered least	58:32
	are first in your concern.	58:36
	We pray that you would make them first in our concern,	58:39
	that you would open our eyes and hearts	58:43
	to see and respond to their needs.	58:46
	The children who are abused and neglected.	58:50
	The elderly who are forgotten and devalued.	58:54
	The poor in our inner cities and rural areas	58:58
	who are scorned and feared.	59:03
	The sick who are considered expendable	59:06
	and a drain on resources.	59:09
	Those in third world countries who are labeled second-class,	59:12
	and used to meet our insatiable material desires.	59:16
	O God, teach us to care for all those	59:22
	who are small and marginalized,	59:25
	for to such belong the kingdom of God.	59:28
	And when we turn toward you as the small and vulnerable,	59:32
	when we put you first in our lives,	59:36
	then we will know that you can accomplish	59:39
	what is impossible by our own efforts.	59:42
	Then we will know that even when life is difficult	59:46
	salvation has come and enteral life is a reality.	59:50
	For this we give you thanks and praise,	59:56
	through Jesus Christ our Lord who has come	59:59
	that even we might have eternal life, amen.	1:00:02
	With gladness let us present the offerings	1:00:11
	of our life and labor to the Lord.	1:00:13
	(soft organ music)	1:00:22
	(reverent organ music)	1:00:45
	♪ We praise thee, O God ♪	1:00:52
	♪ We acknowledge thee ♪	1:00:57
	♪ To be the Lord ♪	1:01:01
	♪ All the earth doth worship thee ♪	1:01:06
	♪ The Father everlasting ♪	1:01:14
	♪ To thee all angels cry aloud ♪	1:01:21
	♪ The heavens, and all powers therein ♪	1:01:28
	♪ To thee Cherubin and Seraphin ♪	1:01:35
	♪ Continually do cry ♪	1:01:41
	♪ Holy ♪	1:01:46
	♪ Holy ♪	1:01:50
	♪ Holy ♪	1:01:54
	♪ Lord God of Sabbath ♪	1:01:59
	♪ Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty ♪	1:02:09
	♪ Of thy glory ♪	1:02:15
	♪ The glorious company of the Apostles ♪	1:02:25
	♪ Praise thee ♪	1:02:31
	♪ The goodly fellowship of the Prophets ♪	1:02:35
	♪ Praise thee ♪	1:02:40
	♪ The noble army of martyrs ♪	1:02:44
	♪ Praise thee ♪	1:02:48
	♪ The holy Church throughout all the world ♪	1:02:49
	♪ Doth acknowledge thee ♪	1:02:55
	♪ The Father ♪	1:02:59
	♪ Of an infinite majesty ♪	1:03:04
	♪ Thine honorable true ♪	1:03:10
	♪ And only Son ♪	1:03:15
	♪ Also the Holy Ghost ♪	1:03:20
	♪ The comforter ♪	1:03:25
	♪ Thou art the King of Glory ♪	1:03:53
	♪ O Christ ♪	1:03:56
	♪ Thou art the everlasting Son ♪	1:04:03
	♪ Of the Father ♪	1:04:06
	♪ When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man ♪	1:04:13
	♪ Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb ♪	1:04:18
	♪ When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death ♪	1:04:22
	♪ Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven ♪	1:04:29
	♪ To all believers ♪	1:04:33
	♪ Thou sittest at the right hand of God ♪	1:04:37
	♪ In the glory of the Father ♪	1:04:40
	♪ We believe that thou shalt come ♪	1:04:47
	♪ To be our Judge ♪	1:04:51
	♪ We therefore pray thee, help thy servants ♪	1:04:55
	♪ Whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood ♪	1:05:00
	♪ Make them to be numbered with thy Saints ♪	1:05:05
	♪ In glory ♪	1:05:10
	♪ Everlasting ♪	1:05:18
	♪ O Lord, save thy people ♪	1:05:33
	♪ And bless thine heritage ♪	1:05:39
	♪ Govern them ♪	1:05:46
	♪ And lift them up for ever ♪	1:05:48
	♪ Day by day ♪	1:05:53
	♪ We magnify thee ♪	1:05:57
	♪ And we worship thy name ♪	1:06:01
	♪ Ever world without end ♪	1:06:05
	♪ Vouchsafe, O Lord ♪	1:06:13
	♪ To keep us this day ♪	1:06:18
	♪ Without sin ♪	1:06:24
	♪ O Lord, have mercy upon us ♪	1:06:29
	♪ Have mercy upon us ♪	1:06:37
	♪ O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us ♪	1:06:42
	♪ As our trust is in thee ♪	1:06:53
	♪ O Lord ♪	1:07:01
	♪ In thee ♪	1:07:06
	♪ Have I trusted ♪	1:07:09
	♪ Let me never ♪	1:07:18
	♪ Be confounded ♪	1:07:21
	♪ Let me never be confounded ♪	1:07:30
	(reverent organ music)	1:07:53
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:08:46
	♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪	1:08:53
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:08:59
	♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪	1:09:06
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	1:09:13
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:09:19
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:09:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:09:31
-	Let us pray.	1:09:44
	God of the rich and the poor,	1:09:46
	lift us from our limited views of faithfulness.	1:09:50
	Free us from our dependence on things	1:09:54
	so we can move from living protectively	1:09:58
	to sharing without counting the cost.	1:10:01
	Remind us that all that we have	1:10:04
	and all that are comes from you.	1:10:08
	May we give not for reward	1:10:11
	but in joyous thanksgiving.	1:10:14
	Now let us pray together the prayer Jesus taught us.	1:10:18
All	Our father, who art in heaven,	1:10:22
	hallowed be thy name.	1:10:25
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:10:27
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	1:10:30
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:10:32
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:10:35
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:10:38
	Lead us not into temptation,	1:10:41
	but deliver us from evil.	1:10:44
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	1:10:46
	and the glory forever, amen.	1:10:49
-	God promises eternal life as a gift,	1:10:54
	not as a status we can earn.	1:10:57
	With God, all things are possible.	1:11:00
	Let us go forth as children with Christ,	1:11:04
	rejoicing in the power and goodness of God.	1:11:07
	And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ	1:11:12
	and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:11:14
	be with you all.	1:11:18
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:22
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:30
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:36
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:46
	(reverent organ music)	1:12:03
	♪ Our God, our help in ages past ♪	1:12:27
	♪ Our hope for years to come ♪	1:12:32
	♪ Our shelter from the stormy blast ♪	1:12:38
	♪ And our eternal home ♪	1:12:44
	♪ Under the shadow of Thy throne ♪	1:12:51
	♪ Still may we dwell secure ♪	1:12:57
	♪ Sufficient is Thine arm alone ♪	1:13:03
	♪ And our defense is sure ♪	1:13:09
	♪ Before the hills in order stood ♪	1:13:17
	♪ Or Earth received her frame ♪	1:13:23
	♪ From everlasting Thou art God ♪	1:13:28
	♪ To endless years the same ♪	1:13:35
	♪ A thousand ages in Thy sight ♪	1:13:42
	♪ Are like an evening gone ♪	1:13:48
	♪ Short as the watch that ends the night ♪	1:13:54
	♪ Before the rising sun ♪	1:14:01
	♪ Time, like an ever rolling stream ♪	1:14:08
	♪ Bears all its sons away ♪	1:14:14
	♪ They fly, forgotten, as a dream ♪	1:14:20
	♪ Dies at the opening day ♪	1:14:26
	♪ Our God, our help in ages past ♪	1:14:34
	♪ Our hope for years to come ♪	1:14:40
	♪ Be Thou our guard while troubles last ♪	1:14:46
	♪ And our eternal home ♪	1:14:52
	(reverent organ music)	1:15:37

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Divine Divestment" (October 13, 1991)

Description:

Sermon start time: 30. Sermon end time: 53:48.
Wealth takes people’s attention away from God. This is why Jesus asks the rich young man to give up his wealth. The preacher argues that it’s hard for the rich to relinquish wealth, but that with God everything is possible. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jq0t907

Date:

October 13, 1991

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Mark

Chapter and Verse:

Mark 10:17-27

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0252
ref9005_wtk
uachapelsermaud
duke:321492
dcrmv001242
ark:/87924/r4jq0t907
fc977efd-f1cb-42b5-8caf-5b075254f14f

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 - "Divine Divestment" (October 13, 1991)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Divine Divestment" (October 13, 1991)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Divine Divestment" (October 13, 1991)

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Duke University Archives

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