William H. Willimon - "Don't Think for Yourself" (November 3, 1991)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
- | In selling Christmas cards and greetings. | 0:01 |
Those can be for purchase outside of the chapel today | 0:04 | |
as you go forth. | 0:08 | |
It is good to have you. | 0:11 | |
This is always a special service here in the chapel | 0:12 | |
as we remember the saints of the past who guide us yet. | 0:14 | |
Now, let's stand for the greeting. | 0:20 | |
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. | 0:27 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 0:30 |
- | The risen Christ is with us. | 0:32 |
Congregation | Praise the Lord. | 0:34 |
("For All the Saints") | 0:37 | |
(organ music) | 0:40 | |
♪ For all the saints who from their labors rest ♪ | 1:13 | |
♪ Who thee by faith before the world confessed ♪ | 1:21 | |
♪ Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest ♪ | 1:30 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:38 | |
♪ Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might ♪ | 1:50 | |
♪ Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight ♪ | 1:58 | |
♪ Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light ♪ | 2:08 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 2:16 | |
♪ O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold ♪ | 2:28 | |
♪ Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old ♪ | 2:36 | |
♪ And win with them the victor's crown of gold ♪ | 2:45 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 2:54 | |
♪ O blest communion, fellowship divine ♪ | 3:06 | |
♪ We feebly struggle, they in glory shine ♪ | 3:14 | |
♪ Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine ♪ | 3:24 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 3:33 | |
♪ And when this fight is fierce, the warfare long ♪ | 3:45 | |
♪ Steals on the ear the distant triumph song ♪ | 3:54 | |
♪ And hearts are brave again and arms are strong ♪ | 4:03 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 4:11 | |
(organ music) | 4:22 | |
♪ From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast ♪ | 5:34 | |
♪ Through gates of pearl stream in the countless host ♪ | 5:43 | |
♪ Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 5:53 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 6:01 | |
Debra | Eternal God, we praise you for the great company | 6:22 |
of all those who had finished their course in faith | 6:26 | |
and now rest from their labors. | 6:30 | |
Congregation | We praise you for those dear to us | 6:33 |
we now name before you. | 6:36 | |
(Congregation speaking over one another) | 6:41 | |
- | To all of these, grant your peace. | 6:50 |
Congregation | Let perpetual light shine upon them | 6:53 |
and help us so to believe where we have not seen | 6:57 | |
that your presence may lead us through our years. | 7:01 | |
- | And bring us at last with them | 7:05 |
into the joy of your home not made with hands, | 7:08 | |
but eternal in the heavens. | 7:12 | |
Congregation | Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 7:15 |
- | You may be seated. | 7:19 |
- | Let us pray together the prayer for illumination. | 7:37 |
Congregation | Open our hearts and minds, O God, | 7:44 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 7:47 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 7:50 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen. | 7:54 | |
- | The first reading is taken from the book of Deuteronomy. | 8:06 |
"Now this is the commandment, | 8:13 | |
"the statutes, and the ordinances | 8:16 | |
"that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe | 8:20 | |
"in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, | 8:24 | |
"so that you and your children and your children's children | 8:29 | |
"may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life | 8:34 | |
"and keep all his decrees | 8:38 | |
"and his commandments that I am commanding you, | 8:40 | |
"so that your days may be long. | 8:44 | |
"Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently | 8:48 | |
"so that it may go well with you | 8:52 | |
"and so that you may multiply greatly | 8:55 | |
"in a land flowing with milk and honey | 8:58 | |
"as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. | 9:02 | |
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. | 9:08 | |
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart | 9:15 | |
"and with all your soul | 9:18 | |
"and with all your might. | 9:20 | |
"Keep these words that I am commanding you today | 9:23 | |
"in your heart. | 9:27 | |
"Recite them to your children | 9:30 | |
"and talk about them when you are at home | 9:32 | |
"and when you are away, | 9:35 | |
"when you lie down and when you rise. | 9:37 | |
"Bind them as a sign on your hand. | 9:41 | |
"Fix them as an emblem on your forehead | 9:45 | |
"and write them on the doorposts of your house | 9:49 | |
"and on your gates." | 9:52 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 9:58 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 10:00 |
- | And this reading is from the Gospel according to Mark. | 10:06 |
"One of the scribes came near | 10:16 | |
"and heard them disputing with one another | 10:19 | |
"and seeing that Jesus answered them well, | 10:22 | |
"he asked him, 'Which commandment is the first of all?' | 10:25 | |
"Jesus answered, 'The first is, | 10:34 | |
"'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. | 10:39 | |
"'You shall love the Lord, your God, | 10:46 | |
"'with all your heart and with all your soul | 10:48 | |
"'and with all your mind and with all your strength. | 10:51 | |
"'And the second is this, | 10:55 | |
"'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. | 10:58 | |
"'There is no other commandment greater than these.' | 11:03 | |
"Then the scribe said to him, 'You are right, teacher. | 11:07 | |
"'You have truly said that God is one | 11:14 | |
"'and besides God, there is no other | 11:18 | |
"'and to love God with all the heart | 11:22 | |
"'and with all the understanding and with all the strength | 11:23 | |
"'and to love one's neighbor as oneself, | 11:27 | |
"'this is much more important | 11:31 | |
"'than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.' | 11:33 | |
"When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, | 11:41 | |
"he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' | 11:45 | |
"And after that, no one dared to ask him any question." | 11:53 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 12:04 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 12:06 |
(calm saxophone music) | 12:31 | |
- | Undoubtedly, you have seen the movie | 16:58 |
"The Dead Poet's Society". | 17:00 | |
In that movie, an energetic teacher | 17:04 | |
at an exclusive prep school | 17:07 | |
is depicted as opening up the mind | 17:11 | |
of his hung-up, privileged young students | 17:13 | |
by urging them to quote, "Think for yourselves. | 17:18 | |
"Don't trust what your parents have told you, | 17:25 | |
"don't trust what you've always heard. | 17:27 | |
"The important thing is to think for yourselves." | 17:29 | |
In one scene, he rips up a textbook, | 17:32 | |
telling them, "No, don't th... listen to the experts, | 17:35 | |
"think for yourselves." | 17:38 | |
A friend of mine noted that despite the movie's claim | 17:43 | |
that this teacher was somehow liberating his students | 17:49 | |
from social convention, | 17:55 | |
it would be hard to think of a more conformist | 17:58 | |
and socially conventional message in today's context | 18:02 | |
than to give young people the advice, think for yourselves. | 18:07 | |
If there ever were a day | 18:12 | |
when such advice was deemed radical, | 18:14 | |
that day has passed. | 18:17 | |
In fact, here's how the president of Yale University | 18:21 | |
welcomed the freshmen to Yale last year. | 18:23 | |
He told them, "The faculty can guide you, | 18:28 | |
"we can take you to the frontiers of knowledge, | 18:30 | |
"but we cannot supply you with a philosophy of education | 18:34 | |
"any more than we can supply you with a philosophy of life. | 18:37 | |
"This has got to come from your own active learning, | 18:42 | |
"from your own choices, your own decisions. | 18:45 | |
"Yale expects you to take yourself seriously. | 18:49 | |
"Think for yourself." | 18:53 | |
In other words, the university has absolutely no clue | 18:58 | |
what you're supposed to be doing here. | 19:02 | |
(congregation laughs) | 19:05 | |
Oh, we've got this smorgasbord of courses and professors, | 19:06 | |
we've got this curriculum. | 19:10 | |
But whether it all adds up to something called wisdom | 19:12 | |
by the time you graduate, | 19:17 | |
well, that's really up to you. | 19:18 | |
The important thing is that you think for yourself. | 19:20 | |
And it appears that we are thinking for ourselves. | 19:29 | |
A few weeks ago, I received a letter from a woman, | 19:35 | |
written in the shaky handwriting. | 19:39 | |
She's in her late 70s. | 19:41 | |
She wrote me and in her letter, | 19:45 | |
she enclosed a clipping from an article | 19:46 | |
that appeared in the Raleigh newspaper. | 19:51 | |
I think the Durham newspaper | 19:53 | |
protected the citizens of Durham | 19:54 | |
from this particular story. | 19:57 | |
But it was a newspaper article | 19:59 | |
describing how, during the Gulf War, | 20:01 | |
American troops had buried alive | 20:04 | |
700 to 800 Iraqi soldiers in their trenches. | 20:08 | |
One of the G.I.s said, | 20:14 | |
"Well, by the time we got there, | 20:15 | |
"there was nothing but hands and arms | 20:16 | |
"sticking up out of the sand." | 20:18 | |
In her letter, she said, | 20:23 | |
"Why did not we hear about this? | 20:25 | |
"Have you mentioned this in one of your sermons? | 20:28 | |
"Have you mentioned this in one of your prayers? | 20:30 | |
"Where is the moral voice of our churches?" | 20:32 | |
Well, one possible reply is, "Look, lady, it's called war. | 20:39 | |
"The old rules just don't apply. | 20:46 | |
"It's always a nasty business. | 20:48 | |
"Besides, when it comes to burying people alive, | 20:51 | |
"you've got your opinions, I've got mine. | 20:54 | |
(congregation laughs) | 20:56 | |
"The important thing is that each of us | 20:58 | |
"thinks for ourselves, right?" | 20:59 | |
Ironically, when I got her letter, | 21:04 | |
I had been reading this new book, | 21:06 | |
"The Day America Told the Truth". | 21:08 | |
That book says that 91% of us admit that we lie routinely. | 21:14 | |
31% of us who are married | 21:20 | |
admit to having an extramarital affair lasting over a year. | 21:23 | |
86% of youth lie regularly to their parents. | 21:28 | |
75% lie regularly to their best friends. | 21:34 | |
One in five Americans loses his or her virginity | 21:38 | |
before the age of 13. | 21:41 | |
2,245 New Yorkers were murdered | 21:44 | |
by their fellow citizens last year, | 21:49 | |
an increase of 18%. | 21:53 | |
By the way, when asked, | 21:57 | |
religion plays no role | 21:59 | |
in shaping the opinions of 2/3s of those | 22:02 | |
who are asked their opinions about sex. | 22:06 | |
Well, it's a lie here, an extramarital affair there, | 22:12 | |
and before long, | 22:15 | |
it's hands and arms sticking up out of the sand. | 22:16 | |
We really are thinking for ourselves. | 22:21 | |
Now, an alternative epistemology is asserted | 22:27 | |
in today's text from Jesus and from Deuteronomy. | 22:31 | |
Deuteronomy, "Keep these words that I'm commanding you today | 22:39 | |
"in your heart. | 22:43 | |
"Recite them to your children. | 22:43 | |
"Talk about them when you're at home and when you're away. | 22:45 | |
"Fix them as an emblem on your forehead. | 22:48 | |
"Write them on the ... doorposts of your house | 22:50 | |
"and on your gates." | 22:52 | |
And the words, these words that Deuteronomy is referring to, | 22:55 | |
are the words of the law of Israel, Torah. | 22:59 | |
Torah, better translation of Torah than law, I suppose, | 23:03 | |
is teaching, the teaching of Israel. | 23:08 | |
Or more literally, the finger pointing in the direction. | 23:12 | |
Torah is not so much the law, | 23:18 | |
the law that we're not to break, | 23:21 | |
but it is the divine finger pointing us | 23:23 | |
in the direction we ought to walk. | 23:27 | |
Torah. | 23:30 | |
Now, interestingly enough, in Mark's Gospel | 23:33 | |
when Jesus is asked about life's big questions, | 23:35 | |
he simply refers them to Deuteronomy... | 23:38 | |
to Torah! | 23:43 | |
Good Jew that he was, Jesus simply said, | 23:47 | |
"Look, you know the answer. | 23:50 | |
"We're to love God with all of our heart | 23:51 | |
"and soul and mind and strength | 23:52 | |
"and our neighbor as ourselves." | 23:56 | |
This is Torah, truth. | 23:59 | |
So, you may not know a lot about Jesus. | 24:05 | |
You may not be clear on everything | 24:07 | |
that he said and did and taught, | 24:10 | |
but today's text says if you know this about Jesus, | 24:13 | |
it's all you need to know for now. | 24:20 | |
Love God with everything that you've got, | 24:23 | |
to the very depths of your soul, | 24:25 | |
and your neighbor as yourself, class dismissed. | 24:28 | |
People who follow Jesus, | 24:37 | |
just like those in Israel before us, | 24:39 | |
are people who do not bow down to other gods, | 24:43 | |
be they called by the name Eros | 24:49 | |
or last January, Mars, IBM, M-Way or USA. | 24:53 | |
We're just real funny about who we'll worship. | 24:59 | |
We do not use labels like faggot, kink, nigger, broad, | 25:05 | |
preferring instead to refer to people as sister, brother. | 25:09 | |
We have a very odd notion | 25:15 | |
of who our next door neighbors are. | 25:17 | |
Love God with everything you've got | 25:22 | |
and then your neighbor as yourself. | 25:24 | |
Take these words, advises Deuteronomy, | 25:27 | |
teach them to your kids. | 25:30 | |
Paint them over the door to your dormitory room. | 25:34 | |
Brand these on your forehead. | 25:36 | |
Tattoo them on your biceps. | 25:37 | |
Take these words and just ... | 25:40 | |
drill them into yourself | 25:44 | |
so that you won't forget. | 25:46 | |
Here we have come into a collision | 25:51 | |
with an alternative way of knowing, | 25:53 | |
a culturally disruptive epistemology. | 25:58 | |
Alas, you have been the willing victims | 26:04 | |
of a mode of education | 26:07 | |
which has taught you to always locate the normative answer | 26:10 | |
exclusively within your own experience, | 26:16 | |
as though your own experience, | 26:21 | |
particularly, your racial, gender, cultural experience, | 26:24 | |
could yield insight on the spot. | 26:30 | |
Think for yourself. | 26:34 | |
And that's why most of my sermons | 26:38 | |
begin with your experience, | 26:39 | |
because I have a hunch | 26:44 | |
that's the only thing you really trust. | 26:45 | |
And so I begin my sermons, you know, | 26:47 | |
always groping around for some point of contact | 26:49 | |
with what you already know. | 26:51 | |
But Torah, on the other hand, | 26:56 | |
always begins with what you could not know | 27:00 | |
unless somebody had told it to you. | 27:03 | |
"Hear O Israel, the Lord, your God, is one." | 27:07 | |
Don't think for yourself. | 27:13 | |
Thinking in Israel, thinking with Jesus, | 27:15 | |
begins as an auditory act. | 27:18 | |
You notice those verbs hear, listen, speak, tell. | 27:20 | |
Unlike Yale or many of my sermons, | 27:29 | |
Israel did not expect her young | 27:31 | |
to devise insight via personal conjuring. | 27:33 | |
You don't have to be the author of your own faith, | 27:41 | |
for here is a massive faith | 27:47 | |
that lies way outside the limited confines | 27:49 | |
of your individual psyche. | 27:53 | |
Israel's sons and daughters | 27:56 | |
don't have to invent the secrets to life. | 27:58 | |
Their parents love them enough to tell them the secrets. | 28:03 | |
And it is no coincidence that in today's text, | 28:08 | |
wisdom is depicted as an exchange between an elder | 28:12 | |
and someone of the younger generation, | 28:18 | |
as the giving of an intergenerational gift. | 28:22 | |
Being 19 years old is just way too tough | 28:25 | |
without having to make up the world as you go. | 28:30 | |
The stance that you're going to shortly assume | 28:35 | |
here at the Lord's table, | 28:37 | |
you know, with hands outstretched, open, empty, eager, | 28:40 | |
ready to receive the gift of bread and wine, | 28:45 | |
that is the primary biblical posture | 28:48 | |
for how you get wise, for Torah-type wisdom. | 28:51 | |
Alas, parenting and education in our day | 28:59 | |
have become little more | 29:01 | |
than the management of conflicting truth claims, | 29:02 | |
a process of cool consideration of diverse alternatives, | 29:07 | |
some of which may be true. | 29:11 | |
But not here, not in the middle of Deuteronomy, | 29:15 | |
not at the feet of Torah. | 29:18 | |
When your daughter asks, Joshua 4:6, | 29:21 | |
when your daughter asks, "What mean these stones?" | 29:25 | |
You are not to reply, "Well, they may mean | 29:28 | |
"that the Lord might have brought us out of slavery | 29:31 | |
"and chosen us to be obedient to his way | 29:34 | |
"and then it might not." | 29:39 | |
No, in this Torah curriculum, | 29:43 | |
there is only nervy, pushy assertion, | 29:45 | |
passionate assertion of truth, | 29:49 | |
which is reliable and coherent | 29:52 | |
and confident in the face of chaos, | 29:54 | |
narcicisstic subjectivity, | 29:57 | |
hands and feet sticking up out of the sand. | 30:00 | |
I agree with that great theologian Oscar Wilde, | 30:08 | |
who said, "About the worst advice you could give anybody | 30:11 | |
"is be yourself." | 30:15 | |
Don't think for yourself. | 30:19 | |
As Walter Brueggemann says, "Torah is not just for children. | 30:23 | |
"Anomie is not just a danger for the young. | 30:29 | |
"It may surface in what is now conventionally called | 30:33 | |
"the crisis of midlife," listen up, alumni, | 30:37 | |
"or anywhere else. | 30:40 | |
"All persons of whatever age face the threat of darkness." | 30:43 | |
Brueggemann says everybody needs some time of homecoming, | 30:50 | |
when you can return to those sureties | 30:57 | |
which do not need to be defended nor doubted. | 31:00 | |
That's what Torah is, it's homecoming. | 31:05 | |
A Torah-less world in which there are many gods | 31:13 | |
and no neighbors is a world just full of idols and enemies. | 31:17 | |
Maybe that's why we're so fatigued | 31:24 | |
as we rush breathlessly from one worship service to another. | 31:26 | |
Before long, after you've bowed down at enough altars, | 31:32 | |
the only posture you know is that of bowing, | 31:36 | |
so accustomed have we become | 31:41 | |
to submitting to so many different gods, | 31:42 | |
the nation, the corporation, my own ego. | 31:46 | |
All the while, rattling our chains | 31:52 | |
and pitifully asserting how free we are. | 31:54 | |
Having learned to bend ourselves before so many altars, | 31:59 | |
there is almost nothing to which we will not stoop. | 32:03 | |
It's a lie here, a deceit there, | 32:07 | |
until we are quite able to walk past | 32:12 | |
the hands and arms sticking up out of the sand | 32:16 | |
without even a twitch of conscience. | 32:19 | |
The Durham city council has become us all over. | 32:25 | |
With no Torah induced neighbors, | 32:32 | |
the world is only driven by competing savage self-interests. | 32:35 | |
Even the people under our own roof become our enemies. | 32:39 | |
The office becomes a battleground | 32:42 | |
for the war between the sexes. | 32:44 | |
Cultural chaos leads to ethical immobility. | 32:49 | |
We don't make many big moves. | 32:54 | |
Having nowhere to stand, we can't make big moves. | 32:57 | |
A recent Duke graduate... | 33:04 | |
a recent Duke graduate asked his old man | 33:08 | |
late one night when he went back home, | 33:11 | |
"Look, I'm getting ready to go out into life. | 33:15 | |
"Tell me what you know. | 33:19 | |
"Go ahead, tell me if you know something." | 33:22 | |
For this touchingly childlike request, | 33:26 | |
he received an hour of ramblings, | 33:31 | |
a confession about how his old man | 33:36 | |
had had an affair with his secretary when he had been 13, | 33:38 | |
and about how he hated his job | 33:42 | |
and he'd love to chuck it all | 33:44 | |
and just move out to a cabin in the woods | 33:45 | |
and he really despised his marriage | 33:47 | |
and he couldn't trust any of his friends. | 33:49 | |
"Man, you are messed up," said the son. | 33:55 | |
"I'm supposed to be asking you for advice?" | 33:59 | |
Well you see, now he's reduced to thinking for himself. | 34:04 | |
Torah asserts a counter-cultural way of wisdom, | 34:11 | |
which is intergenerational, public, | 34:18 | |
counter-cultural, historical. | 34:20 | |
The beautiful thing is, | 34:25 | |
you don't bear the burden of having to think for yourself. | 34:26 | |
Every time you walk in this building, the chapel, | 34:31 | |
but I think especially today, on All Saints, | 34:34 | |
a host of predecessors leans down out of the windows | 34:39 | |
and tries to speak to you, | 34:44 | |
if we'll dare to listen. | 34:47 | |
They stare down at us from the windows, | 34:50 | |
begging to show us the way. | 34:53 | |
Saints, saints are people who managed to love God | 34:57 | |
more than life itself, | 35:01 | |
managed to love neighbor more than the self, | 35:07 | |
and thereby found true life. | 35:11 | |
Saints are people who just push their way | 35:16 | |
into our modest present | 35:18 | |
and make the God question and the neighbor question | 35:21 | |
the only interesting intellectual questions. | 35:24 | |
Christians are those who've learned to think | 35:30 | |
with the saints. | 35:33 | |
And thereby, we think much more creatively than we could | 35:36 | |
if we'd been left to our own devices. | 35:39 | |
Saint Francis, Martin Luther King, | 35:43 | |
Teresa of Calcutta, Gideon, Mary, | 35:44 | |
they help us to think beyond ourselves. | 35:48 | |
They help us to think despite ourselves. | 35:51 | |
And thereby, in this act of holy remembering | 35:55 | |
and saintly thinking, | 35:58 | |
new options are envisioned. | 36:00 | |
We're encouraged. | 36:02 | |
A new world, not of our own devising, is offered to us. | 36:03 | |
We get some big ideas. | 36:09 | |
Torah and the saintly lives thereby produced | 36:14 | |
is a kind of intelligence by proxy. | 36:19 | |
The philosopher Immanuel Kant once said, | 36:27 | |
"I stand in awe of two things, | 36:30 | |
"the starry heavens above | 36:32 | |
"and the individual law of morality within." | 36:35 | |
I'm still awed by the starry heavens. | 36:44 | |
Debra | The Lord be with you. | 36:58 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 37:00 |
- | Let us pray. | 37:01 |
Almighty God, we confess | 37:07 | |
that we have been an unfaithful people. | 37:10 | |
We have not loved you with all our heart | 37:13 | |
and with all our soul and with all our mind | 37:16 | |
and with all our strength. | 37:20 | |
We have bowed down before other gods | 37:23 | |
and we have sought our own way, | 37:26 | |
rebelliously seeking freedom | 37:29 | |
when true freedom can only be found in you. | 37:32 | |
We have treated our neighbors | 37:36 | |
as suspicious strangers and enemies | 37:38 | |
and we have not even loved ourselves very well. | 37:41 | |
Forgive us for our infidelity | 37:46 | |
and restore us to the paths you have set before us. | 37:48 | |
Lord, in your mercy-- | 37:53 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 37:55 |
- | God, we give thanks that in your wisdom, | 37:58 |
you have not left us to find our own way. | 38:01 | |
You have sent your prophets throughout history | 38:05 | |
to help your people discover what it means to live fully. | 38:08 | |
You gave us your commandments as signposts | 38:13 | |
to point the way to life eternal | 38:16 | |
and when we failed to follow your prophets | 38:19 | |
or your commandments, | 38:22 | |
you sent your own dear Son to reveal your love for us, | 38:24 | |
to free us from the power of sin, | 38:29 | |
and to empower us to love you, ourselves, and our neighbor | 38:32 | |
as you have always intended. | 38:38 | |
We are grateful that you loved us enough | 38:40 | |
to involve yourself so intimately in our lives. | 38:43 | |
You've claimed us as your own children. | 38:47 | |
Help us remember | 38:50 | |
and live up to the heritage we have been given. | 38:52 | |
Lord, in your mercy-- | 38:55 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 38:58 |
- | From the days of the early church to the present, | 39:00 |
your saints have modeled what it means | 39:03 | |
to live as a Christian, | 39:05 | |
as one who has died to self | 39:08 | |
and risen with Christ to live for you. | 39:10 | |
We give thanks for all those | 39:14 | |
who have had the courage | 39:15 | |
to stand up for their faith convictions, | 39:17 | |
for those whose lives have exemplified the Christian faith | 39:20 | |
through loving service to others, | 39:25 | |
and for those who have helped to shape our values | 39:28 | |
and sense of what is truly important in life. | 39:31 | |
Most of all, we give thanks for those | 39:36 | |
who have helped us know that you alone are God | 39:38 | |
and that whatever else we might do or think, | 39:41 | |
our ultimate allegiance belongs to you. | 39:45 | |
Help us learn to model our lives | 39:49 | |
after those saints of the past and of the present | 39:51 | |
who so clearly reflect what it means | 39:56 | |
to live as a faithful Christian. | 39:58 | |
Lord, in your mercy-- | 40:01 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 40:04 |
- | We pray also that you will so shape our lives | 40:06 |
that we may become faithful witnesses to others. | 40:10 | |
Send us out as your redeemed people | 40:15 | |
to serve the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the oppressed, | 40:18 | |
and the downtrodden in our world. | 40:25 | |
May our service to others reflect your love | 40:28 | |
and service for us, | 40:31 | |
that all may believe and come home to you. | 40:33 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. | 40:38 | |
Since Christ has opened his heart to us, | 40:45 | |
let us open our hearts to one another | 40:48 | |
and God will be glorified. | 40:51 | |
Please stand and exchange signs of peace with one another. | 40:53 | |
(congregation murmuring) | 40:59 | |
Freely we have received, freely let us give. | 41:27 | |
You may be seated. | 41:31 | |
♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ | 42:00 | |
♪ The truth goes marching on ♪ | 42:08 | |
♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ | 42:19 | |
♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ | 42:23 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 42:28 | |
♪ When the saints go marching in ♪ | 42:32 | |
♪ Oh, when the revelation comes ♪ | 42:37 | |
♪ Oh, when the revelation comes ♪ | 42:41 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 42:45 | |
♪ When the revelation comes ♪ | 42:50 | |
♪ Oh, when the new world is revealed ♪ | 42:55 | |
♪ Oh, when the new world is revealed ♪ | 42:59 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 43:03 | |
♪ When the new world is revealed ♪ | 43:08 | |
♪ Oh, when they gather round the throne ♪ | 43:13 | |
♪ Oh, when they gather round the throne ♪ | 43:17 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 43:21 | |
♪ When they gather round the throne ♪ | 43:26 | |
♪ Hallelujah brothers, hallelujah sisters ♪ | 43:32 | |
♪ Hear the music going round and around ♪ | 43:36 | |
♪ While the saints go marching up into glory ♪ | 43:40 | |
♪ Oh, hear those angel trumpets sound ♪ | 43:45 | |
♪ Oh, when they crown him King of kings ♪ | 43:49 | |
♪ Oh, when they crown him King of kings ♪ | 43:53 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 43:57 | |
♪ When they crown him King of kings ♪ | 44:02 | |
♪ And when the sun no more will shine ♪ | 44:11 | |
♪ And when the sun no more will shine ♪ | 44:16 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 44:20 | |
♪ When the sun no more will shine ♪ | 44:25 | |
♪ And when the moon has turned to blood ♪ | 44:36 | |
♪ And when the moon has turned to blood ♪ | 44:43 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 44:50 | |
♪ When the moon has turned to blood ♪ | 45:03 | |
♪ And on that hallelujah day ♪ | 45:15 | |
♪ And on that hallelujah day ♪ | 45:19 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be in that number ♪ | 45:24 | |
♪ On that hallelujah day ♪ | 45:29 | |
♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ | 45:34 | |
♪ Oh, now when the saints go marching right in ♪ | 45:39 | |
♪ Oh Lord, I want to be, I want to be in that number ♪ | 45:44 | |
♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ | 45:48 | |
♪ Oh, when they go ♪ | 45:49 | |
♪ Oh, when they march ♪ | 45:51 | |
♪ That saving realm ♪ | 45:52 | |
♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ | 45:53 | |
(calm piano music) | 46:02 | |
(organ music) | 47:03 | |
♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 47:23 | |
♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪ | 47:30 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 47:36 | |
♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 47:44 | |
♪ Praise God the Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 47:51 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 47:58 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 48:05 | |
- | Let us join together in the prayer of thanksgiving. | 48:24 |
The Lord be with you. | 48:29 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 48:31 |
- | Lift up your hearts. | 48:32 |
Congregation | We lift them up to the Lord. | 48:34 |
- | Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 48:35 |
Congregation | It is right to give God thanks and praise. | 48:38 |
- | Blessed are you, God of Abraham and Sarah, | 48:40 |
God of Miriam and Moses, | 48:44 | |
God of Joshua and Deborah, Ruth and David, | 48:46 | |
God of priests and prophets, of apostles and martyrs, | 48:49 | |
of our mothers and fathers, | 48:53 | |
God of our children to all generations. | 48:55 | |
You made us in your image. | 48:59 | |
Even though we sinned and fell short of your glory, | 49:01 | |
you loved the world so much | 49:05 | |
you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be our savior. | 49:06 | |
He delivered us from the slavery to sin and death | 49:10 | |
and made with us a new covenant. | 49:12 | |
And so, with your people in all ages | 49:15 | |
and all the company of heaven, | 49:19 | |
we praise your name and join in their unending hymn. | 49:21 | |
(organ music) | 49:25 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord ♪ | 49:35 | |
♪ God of power and might ♪ | 49:40 | |
♪ Heaven and earth are full of your glory ♪ | 49:45 | |
♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪ | 49:50 | |
♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪ | 49:55 | |
♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪ | 50:02 | |
On the night he offered himself up for us, | 50:14 | |
he took bread, gave thanks to you, | 50:16 | |
broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, | 50:18 | |
and said, "Take, eat, this is my body given for you. | 50:20 | |
"Do this in remembrance of me." | 50:24 | |
When the supper was over, | 50:27 | |
he took the cup, gave thanks to you, | 50:29 | |
gave it to his disciples, and said, | 50:31 | |
"Drink from this, all of you. | 50:33 | |
"This is the blood of the new covenant | 50:36 | |
"poured out for you and many | 50:38 | |
"for the forgiveness of sins. | 50:40 | |
"Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." | 50:43 | |
He has been known to us in the breaking of the bread | 50:46 | |
and in the power of your Holy Spirit. | 50:50 | |
And so, in remembrance of these, | 50:53 | |
your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, | 50:55 | |
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving | 50:58 | |
as a holy and living sacrifice | 51:01 | |
in union with Christ's offering for us | 51:03 | |
as we proclaim the mystery of faith. | 51:07 | |
(organ music) | 51:10 | |
♪ Christ has died ♪ | 51:19 | |
♪ Christ is risen ♪ | 51:22 | |
♪ Christ will come again ♪ | 51:24 | |
Send the power of your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts, | 51:31 | |
that in the breaking of bread and the drinking of this wine, | 51:35 | |
we may know the presence of the living Christ, | 51:37 | |
be one body in him, and grow into his likeness. | 51:40 | |
Renew our communion with all your saints. | 51:46 | |
May we run with perseverance the race set before us, | 51:49 | |
being surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses | 51:52 | |
looking to Jesus, | 51:55 | |
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. | 51:57 | |
Through him, and with him, and in him, | 52:00 | |
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, | 52:01 | |
all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever. | 52:03 | |
(organ music) | 52:07 | |
♪ Amen, amen, amen ♪ | 52:17 | |
Congregation | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 52:31 |
hallowed be thy name. | 52:33 | |
Thy kingdom come, | 52:35 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 52:36 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 52:40 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 52:42 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 52:44 | |
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 52:48 | |
For thine is the kingdom, the power, | 52:52 | |
and the glory forever, amen. | 52:54 | |
- | When we break the bread, | 52:58 |
is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ? | 52:59 | |
When we give thanks over the cup, | 53:03 | |
is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ? | 53:05 | |
Come to the Lord's table. | 53:10 | |
Body of Christ. | 53:13 | |
("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot") | 53:15 | |
(organ music) | 53:19 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 53:38 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 53:46 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 53:51 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 53:59 | |
♪ I looked over Jordan and what did I see ♪ | 54:06 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 54:14 | |
♪ A band of angels coming after me ♪ | 54:19 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 54:27 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 54:33 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 54:41 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 54:47 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 54:55 | |
♪ If you get there before I do ♪ | 55:02 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 55:09 | |
♪ Tell all my friends I'm coming too ♪ | 55:16 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 55:24 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 55:30 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 55:38 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 55:44 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 55:53 | |
♪ I'm sometimes up and sometimes down ♪ | 56:00 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 56:08 | |
♪ But still my soul feels heavenly bound ♪ | 56:14 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 56:22 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 56:29 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 56:37 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 56:43 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 56:51 | |
♪ The brightest day that I can say ♪ | 56:58 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 57:06 | |
♪ When Jesus washed my sins away ♪ | 57:12 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 57:20 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 57:27 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 57:35 | |
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪ | 57:41 | |
♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ | 57:49 | |
(jazzy saxophone and piano music) | 59:08 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:13 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:16 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:18 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:21 | |
♪ Stop and let me tell ya about the coming of the Savior ♪ | 1:04:24 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:26 | |
♪ Stop and let me tell ya about the coming of the Savior ♪ | 1:04:29 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:32 | |
♪ God's gonna up and speak to Gabriel ♪ | 1:04:34 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:37 | |
♪ Go on and look behind the altar ♪ | 1:04:40 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:42 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:45 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:48 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:50 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:53 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:04:55 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:04:58 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:01 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:03 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:06 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:08 | |
♪ Then the time shall be no longer ♪ | 1:05:11 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:14 | |
♪ For the judgment day is coming ♪ | 1:05:17 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:19 | |
♪ Now pick up your silver trumpet ♪ | 1:05:22 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:25 | |
♪ Gonna now blow my trumpet ♪ | 1:05:27 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:30 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:35 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:41 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:43 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:46 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:48 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:51 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:54 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:05:56 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:05:59 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:01 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:04 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:07 | |
♪ Then you'll see the coffins burstin' ♪ | 1:06:09 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:12 | |
♪ See the dry bones come a creepin' ♪ | 1:06:15 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:17 | |
♪ Hell shall be uncapped and burnin' ♪ | 1:06:20 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:22 | |
♪ And the dragon shall be loosened ♪ | 1:06:25 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:28 | |
♪ Then you'll see the moon a bleedin' ♪ | 1:06:31 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:33 | |
♪ You will see the stars a fallin' ♪ | 1:06:36 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:38 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:41 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:44 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:46 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:49 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:51 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:54 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:06:56 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:06:59 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:07:02 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:04 | |
♪ Then you'll see the sinner calling ♪ | 1:07:07 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:09 | |
♪ Down I'm rolling, down I'm rolling ♪ | 1:07:12 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:15 | |
♪ But the righteous will be marching ♪ | 1:07:17 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:20 | |
♪ And the Christians will be rising ♪ | 1:07:23 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:25 | |
♪ Marching to their home in heaven ♪ | 1:07:28 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:31 | |
♪ Marching to their home in Jesus ♪ | 1:07:33 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:36 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:07:39 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:41 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:07:44 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:46 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:07:49 | |
♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:51 | |
♪ In that great gettin' up morning ♪ | 1:07:54 | |
♪ Fare thee well ♪ | 1:07:57 | |
♪ Fare thee well ♪ | 1:08:02 | |
♪ Fare thee well ♪ | 1:08:13 | |
Stand for the benediction. | 1:08:30 | |
The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, | 1:08:36 | |
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 1:08:39 | |
be with you now forever. | 1:08:42 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 1:08:51 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 1:09:03 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:15 | |
("Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above") | 1:09:32 | |
(organ music) | 1:09:37 | |
♪ Come, let us join our friends above ♪ | 1:10:13 | |
♪ Who have obtained the prize ♪ | 1:10:18 | |
♪ And on the eagle wings of love ♪ | 1:10:23 | |
♪ To joys celestial rise ♪ | 1:10:28 | |
♪ Let saints on earth unite to sing ♪ | 1:10:34 | |
♪ With those to glory gone ♪ | 1:10:39 | |
♪ For all the servants of our King ♪ | 1:10:44 | |
♪ In earth and heaven are one ♪ | 1:10:49 | |
♪ One family we dwell in him ♪ | 1:10:56 | |
♪ One church above, beneath ♪ | 1:11:01 | |
♪ Though now divided by the stream ♪ | 1:11:06 | |
♪ The narrow stream of death ♪ | 1:11:11 | |
♪ One army of the living God ♪ | 1:11:17 | |
♪ To his command we bow ♪ | 1:11:22 | |
♪ Part of his host have crossed the flood ♪ | 1:11:27 | |
♪ And part are crossing now ♪ | 1:11:32 | |
♪ Ten thousand to their endless home ♪ | 1:11:39 | |
♪ This solemn moment fly ♪ | 1:11:44 | |
♪ And we are to the margin come ♪ | 1:11:50 | |
♪ And we expect to die ♪ | 1:11:55 | |
♪ Even now by faith we join our hands ♪ | 1:12:00 | |
♪ With those that went before ♪ | 1:12:05 | |
♪ And greet the blood-besprinkled bands ♪ | 1:12:10 | |
♪ On the eternal shore ♪ | 1:12:16 | |
♪ Our spirits too shall quickly join ♪ | 1:12:23 | |
♪ Like theirs with glory crowned ♪ | 1:12:29 | |
♪ And shout to see our Captain's sign ♪ | 1:12:34 | |
♪ To hear his trumpet sound ♪ | 1:12:39 | |
♪ O, that we now might grasp our Guide ♪ | 1:12:45 | |
♪ O, that the word were given ♪ | 1:12:51 | |
♪ Come, Lord of Hosts, the waves divide ♪ | 1:12:56 | |
♪ And land us all in heaven ♪ | 1:13:02 | |
(lively organ music) | 1:13:18 |
Item Info
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