William H. Willimon - "Jesus Goes to School" (December 22, 1991)

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	♪ Heard the sounds of the angel voices ♪	0:00
	♪ Ringing out so sweetly, ringing out so clear ♪	0:07
	♪ Have you seen the star shining out so brightly ♪	0:15
	♪ As a sign from God that Christ the Lord is here ♪	0:22
	♪ Have you heard the news that they bring from heaven ♪	0:30
	♪ To the humble shepherds who have waited long ♪	0:38
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	0:47
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	0:50
	♪ Hear the angels sing their joyful song ♪	0:55
	♪ He is come in peace in the winter's stillness ♪	1:05
	♪ Like a gentle snowfall in the gentle night ♪	1:12
	♪ He is come in joy, like the sun at morning ♪	1:20
	♪ Filling all the world with radiance and with light ♪	1:27
	♪ He is come in love as the child of Mary ♪	1:35
	♪ In a simple stable we have seen his birth ♪	1:43
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	1:51
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	1:54
	♪ Hear the angels singing peace on earth ♪	1:59
	♪ He will bring new light to a world in darkness ♪	2:10
	♪ Like a bright star shining in the skies above ♪	2:17
	♪ He will bring new hope to the waiting nations ♪	2:25
	♪ When he comes to reign in purity and love ♪	2:32
	♪ Let the earth rejoice at the Savior's coming ♪	2:40
	♪ Let the heavens answer with the joyful morn ♪	2:48
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	2:56
	♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪	3:00
	♪ Hear the angels singing, Christ is born' ♪	3:04
	♪ Hear the angels singing, Christ is born' ♪	3:13
-	Good morning.	4:29
	I welcome you to the service of worship here in Duke Chapel.	4:31
	We have been already led to worship	4:33
	by the North Carolina Boy Choir	4:37
	under direction of Mr. Bill Graham	4:39
	and we welcome them for their annual visit here.	4:43
	The North Carolina Boy Choir	4:46
	will have the annual Christmas concert here in the chapel	4:48
	at four this afternoon.	4:52
	Remind you that there are two Christmas Eve services	4:56
	in the chapel.	5:00
	At 5:30 p.m. the service of Carols and Holy Communion	5:00
	and at 11 our annual service of Lessons and Carols.	5:07
	And now let us stand for the reading.	5:14
	Show us your mercy, oh Lord.	5:22
Congregation	And grant us your salvation.	5:25
-	Truth shall spring up from the Earth.	5:27
Congregation	And righteousness	5:30
	shall look down from heaven.	5:31
	(imposing organ music)	5:35
	♪ O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands ♪	5:42
	♪ Serve the Lord with gladness ♪	5:47
	♪ And come before his presence with a song ♪	5:50
	♪ Be ye sure that the Lord he is God ♪	5:58
	♪ It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves ♪	6:05
	♪ We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture ♪	6:12
	♪ O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving ♪	6:20
	♪ And into his courts with praise ♪	6:26
	♪ Be thankful unto him ♪	6:34
	♪ And speak good of his Name ♪	6:37
	♪ For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting ♪	6:41
	♪ And his truth endureth ♪	6:48
	♪ From generation to generation ♪	6:52
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	7:06
	♪ And to the Son ♪	7:12
	♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪	7:16
	♪ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be ♪	7:20
	♪ World without end ♪	7:29
	♪ Amen ♪	7:34
	(imposing organ music)	7:44
	♪ Angels from the realms of glory ♪	8:18
	♪ Wing your flight o'er all the earth ♪	8:23
	♪ Ye who sang creation's story ♪	8:28
	♪ Now proclaim Messiah's birth ♪	8:34
	♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪	8:40
	♪ Worship Christ, the newborn king ♪	8:45
	♪ Shepherds, in the field abiding ♪	8:53
	♪ Watching o'er your flocks by night ♪	8:59
	♪ God with us is now residing ♪	9:04
	♪ Yonder shines the infant light ♪	9:10
	♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪	9:15
	♪ Worship Christ, the newborn king ♪	9:21
	♪ Sages, leave your contemplations ♪	9:29
	♪ Brighter visions beam afar ♪	9:35
	♪ Seek the great Desire of nations ♪	9:40
	♪ Ye have seen his natal star ♪	9:46
	♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪	9:52
	♪ Worship Christ, the newborn king ♪	9:57
	♪ Saints before the altar bending ♪	10:06
	♪ Watching long in hope and fear ♪	10:12
	♪ Suddenly the Lord, descending ♪	10:17
	♪ In His temple shall appear ♪	10:23
	♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪	10:29
	♪ Worship Christ, the newborn king ♪	10:35
-	Let us pray.	10:48
	Oh God of the Coming One how we long for salvation	10:52
	and how we tremble at its advent.	10:57
	Yet we trust; we will not be afraid,	11:01
	for you have promised that the child	11:05
	leaping in the world's womb	11:08
	will exceed our hopes and expel our fears.	11:10
	The labor is beginning, Lord.	11:16
	Soon the earth shall be in the throes of birth.	11:19
	Let the Coming One come	11:24
	and let us, the brothers and sisters of this Child of Peace,	11:27
	feel the glory of nativity.	11:32
	Amen.	11:36
	You may be seated.	11:38
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	11:54
All	Open our hearts and minds, oh God	11:59
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	12:03
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	12:06
	we might be changed by Your advent among us.	12:09
	Amen.	12:13
	This reading is from the letter to the Hebrews.	12:17
	The 10th chapter beginning with the fifth verse.	12:21
	"Consequently when Christ came into the world he said,	12:27
	"sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,	12:32
	"but a body you have prepared for me;	12:36
	"in burnt offerings and sin offerings	12:39
	"you have taken no pleasure.	12:43
	"Then I said, see, God, I have come to do your will, O God'	12:46
	"in the scroll of the book it is written of me.	12:53
	"When he said above,	12:57
	"you have neither desired nor taken pleasure	12:59
	"in sacrifices and offerings	13:03
	"and burnt offerings and sin offerings.	13:05
	"These are offered according to the law.	13:09
	"Then he added, see, I have come to do your will.	13:14
	"He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.	13:19
	"And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified	13:24
	"through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ	13:29
	"once for all."	13:32
	This is the Word of the Lord.	13:35
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	13:38
	(imposing organ music)	13:46
	♪ My soul doth magnify the Lord ♪	13:54
	♪ And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior ♪	14:00
	♪ For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden ♪	14:10
	♪ For behold from henceforth ♪	14:25
	♪ All generations shall call me blessed ♪	14:32
	♪ For He that is mighty hath magnified me ♪	14:43
	♪ And holy is His Name ♪	14:53
	♪ And His mercy is on them that fear Him ♪	14:59
	♪ Throughout all generations ♪	15:09
	♪ He hath showed strength with His arm ♪	15:14
	♪ He hath scattered the proud ♪	15:19
	♪ In the imagination of their hearts ♪	15:23
	♪ He hath put down the mighty from their sea ♪	15:39
	♪ And hath exalted the humble and meek ♪	15:46
	♪ He hath filled the hungry with good things ♪	15:54
	♪ And the rich He hath sent empty away ♪	16:01
	♪ He remembering His mercy hath holpen His servant Israel ♪	16:12
	♪ As he promised to our forefathers ♪	16:24
	♪ Abraham and his seed for ever ♪	16:29
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	16:49
	♪ And to the Son ♪	16:56
	♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪	16:59
	♪ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be ♪	17:04
	♪ World without end ♪	17:19
	♪ Amen ♪	17:26
-	The gospel for this fourth Sunday of advent	17:52
	is from the second chapter of Luke.	17:57
	"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus	18:03
	"that all the world should be enrolled.	18:06
	"This was the first enrollment,	18:10
	"when Quirinus was governor of Syria.	18:12
	"And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.	18:15
	"And Joseph also went up from Galilee,	18:18
	"from the city of Nazareth, to Judea,	18:21
	"to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,	18:24
	"because he was of the house and lineage of David,	18:29
	"to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed,	18:32
	"who was with child.	18:35
	"And while they were there,	18:37
	"the time came for her to be delivered.	18:38
	"And she gave birth to her first-born son	18:41
	"and wrapped him in swaddling cloths,	18:44
	"and laid him in a manger,	18:46
	"because there was no place for them in the inn.	18:48
	"And at the end of eight days,	18:53
	"when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus,	18:54
	"the name given by the angel	18:58
	"before he was conceived in the womb.	19:00
	"And when the time came for their purification	19:03
	"according to the law of Moses,	19:05
	"they brought him up to Jerusalem	19:07
	"to present him to the Lord.	19:09
	"Now his parents went to Jerusalem	19:13
	"every year at the feast of the Passover.	19:14
	"And when he was 12 years old,	19:18
	"they went up according to custom	19:19
	"and when the feast was ended, as they were returning,	19:22
	"the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.	19:25
	"His parents did not know it,	19:29
	"supposing him to be in the company	19:31
	"they went on a day's journey,	19:33
	"and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances;	19:36
	"and when they did not find him,	19:39
	"they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.	19:41
	"After three days they found him in the temple,	19:44
	"sitting among the teachers,	19:48
	"listening to them and asking them questions;	19:51
	"and all who heard him were amazed	19:54
	"at his understanding and his answers.	19:56
	"And when they saw him they were astonished.	19:59
	"His mother said to him, son, why have you treated us so?	20:02
	"Behold, your father and I	20:05
	"have been looking for you anxiously.	20:06
	"He said to them, how is it that you sought me?	20:09
	"Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?	20:12
	"They did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.	20:17
	"And he went down with them and came to Nazareth,	20:21
	"and was obedient to them.	20:26
	"His mother kept all these things in her heart.	20:28
	"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature,	20:32
	"and in favor with God and humanity."	20:37
	This is the Word of the Lord.	20:42
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	20:45
-	I want you to look at a scene.	20:52
	It is found over the altar here at Duke Chapel	20:56
	or what we call the reredos.	21:00
	One of the three scenes carved in lime wood over the altar.	21:03
	It's hard to see if you're in the congregation.	21:07
	The boys in the choir can see it well.	21:09
	It is a scene that is drawn	21:11
	on the front of today's bulletin.	21:14
	There over the high altar you see the boy Jesus	21:17
	standing before the elders, the teachers in the temple.	21:23
	I've traveled a good deal,	21:32
	I guess I've been in hundreds of churches.	21:34
	I've taught Liturgy and Christian Iconography	21:37
	in the Divinity School,	21:39
	and I can say that, as far as I know,	21:42
	there is no other Christian church in the entire world	21:46
	that has that particular scene in so prominent a location.	21:53
	Duke Chapel is the only one.	21:59
	Now why would that scene be put over the altar	22:03
	at a University Chapel?	22:07
	Another thing.	22:13
	We know almost nothing about Jesus' childhood.	22:15
	In fact, we know absolutely nothing about him	22:21
	from his birth in Bethlehem	22:24
	until he was a grown man about 30 years old,	22:27
	except for this one scene.	22:30
	The only childhood episode	22:31
	that the Gospels tell is this one.	22:35
	The boy Jesus standing before the teachers in the temple.	22:38
	Did Jesus help out Joseph in the carpenter shop?	22:42
	We don't know.	22:45
	Did he ever accompany his mother Mary	22:47
	on her trips to the market?	22:49
	We don't know.	22:50
	The only thing we know about Jesus' childhood is this.	22:52
	He was an unbelievably good student of the Bible.	22:58
	He was so good that at 12 years,	23:01
	about the age of a Jewish boy's Bar Mitzvah,	23:04
	he astonished the scholars up in the temple	23:08
	with his knowledge of the Bible.	23:12
	How many of you are in the sixth grade?	23:15
	Can you imagine yourself going over	23:19
	to the Duke Department of Religion	23:21
	and debating biblical interpretation	23:24
	with the scholars who teach there?	23:26
	Well, that's what Jesus did.	23:28
	At age 12, he went up to the temple,	23:29
	he debated the scholars in the temple over Scripture	23:32
	and they were amazed.	23:36
	You can see their amazement on their faces in our carving.	23:39
	Now, I ask you out of all the possible things	23:46
	to tell us about Jesus' childhood,	23:51
	why did Luke chose only this?	23:55
	Out of all the possible episodes from the life of Jesus,	23:58
	why would it have been chosen by somebody	24:02
	to be one of the three most important scenes	24:04
	from Jesus' life to put over the altar at Duke Chapel?	24:09
	Why is that?	24:13
	Now I know that many of you are on vacation from school.	24:18
	Last thing you want to think about is school.	24:23
	You're here to forget school.	24:26
	But I just want you to think about this.	24:29
	We don't know anything about Jesus	24:33
	from his birth at Bethlehem until he was a grown man	24:35
	except this one thing:	24:39
	He was a great student of the Bible.	24:43
	He just amazed those scholars in the temple.	24:46
	He amazed these people who'd spent their whole lives	24:50
	pouring over the Scriptures.	24:53
	He just amazed them.	24:55
	Now why would that scene be selected?	24:59
	Well, here's what I think.	25:03
	I think that that scene of the little boy Jesus	25:07
	standing before the great teachers in the temple	25:10
	was remembered by Luke,	25:15
	was selected for carving over the altar of Duke Chapel,	25:17
	over a University Chapel altar.	25:23
	It is there for anybody who is young enough	25:27
	or small enough to remember what it's like to be in school.	25:31
	It is there for you.	25:38
	Now I'm all grownup	25:41
	and I'm beyond the reach of formal education.	25:42
	But if I try I can remember	25:46
	what it was like to be in school.	25:48
	I can remember a few things.	25:50
	I remember the smell for instance.	25:53
	Every school I've ever been in smells.	25:57
	Well, it's not a bad smell exactly,	26:01
	it's just a smell like a school.	26:03
	I don't know where they get that smell.	26:06
	(congregation laughing)	26:08
	Another thing I can remember about schools	26:10
	is there are no telephones.	26:13
	There's only one telephone in any school I've ever been in.	26:14
	It's up at the office.	26:17
	It's guarded by this large person.	26:19
	(congregation laughing)	26:23
	It's the same person that stands guard	26:23
	over the permission slips and the stapler.	26:25
	I don't know why they don't have more telephones in schools.	26:29
	I guess they feel like you leave a telephone out in the open	26:31
	some geometry teacher might try to use it, call out	26:36
	and everything would break up into anarchy.	26:39
	I think it's once they get you in school,	26:41
	they don't like you making contact with the outside world.	26:43
	One of my fondest memories of school though	26:52
	is being sent by the teacher	26:54
	to look for a three-pronged adapter plug.	26:57
	I was always the one sent for that.	27:02
	Everybody else hated me for it.	27:03
	(congregation laughing)	27:06
	You know, the teacher would come in on Monday morning,	27:08
	she would take one look at us and groan and she would say,	27:10
	"All right class, it's Monday.	27:16
	"We're going to have a filmstrip	27:17
	"on rubber cultivation in Borneo."	27:20
	(congregation laughing)	27:24
	Curtis Clinkscales would raise his hand.	27:25
	"Well, isn't this a course in algebra though?"	27:27
	"Shut up," she would explain.	27:29
	And then we would struggle to the get the screen up	27:32
	and she would get the filmstrip out of the canister	27:36
	and unpack the projector	27:40
	and then she would look at the cord of the projector	27:42
	and she's say, "Give me a break.	27:44
	"Williston, William, whatever.	27:48
	"Go get the three-pronged plug adapter."	27:50
	And then I would be loose	27:54
	for maybe 10 or 15 glorious minutes.	27:55
	Go down by the Band room.	27:57
	No, they don't have it.	27:59
	Try Social Studies.	27:59
	Over to Social Studies.	28:00
	They're always showing filmstrips.	28:02
	They said they don't have one.	28:03
	Finally, end up at the office.	28:06
	Person there at the office,	28:09
	"You can't use the telephone."	28:11
	I said, "I'm looking for a three-pronged adapter plug."	28:12
	"We don't have it.	28:17
	Go back to the classroom.	28:18
	"They don't have it."	28:20
	And then she did what any respectable person	28:23
	in her situation would do.	28:26
	She went to the door, she looked up and down the hall,	28:27
	make sure that the principle wasn't there,	28:30
	turned her back discreetly to the class	28:32
	and then she ripped that third plug off that plug,	28:36
	shoved it in the receptacle and she said,	28:39
	"Now boys and girls is your chance	28:43
	"to learn more about rubber cultivation in Borneo	28:45
	"than anybody else in Greenville."	28:47
	(congregation laughing)	28:50
	You remember school?	28:56
	It's hard to remember school sometimes,	28:58
	particularly when you get all grown up.	28:59
	Adult, mature.	29:03
	It's hard to remember.	29:06
	But occasionally, even when you're grown up,	29:08
	you can remember,	29:10
	maybe it's when you leave a little one at the door	29:11
	of this great big building	29:15
	and you think to yourself,	29:16
	"Gosh, six years old, that's young to be here."	29:17
	Or you go back for your parent-teacher conference	29:22
	and this person is explaining the demands of geometry to you	29:26
	and you say, "Oh yes, yes, now I remember.	29:30
	"Yes, now I remember why I hated geometry so much	29:31
	"when I was a kid."	29:36
	You can remember if you try.	29:38
	I know I'd forgotten what school was like.	29:43
	I mean, what school was really like.	29:44
	Till a few years ago here at Duke, I decided to start over	29:47
	and this time to learn German for good.	29:50
	Took a freshman introductory Germany course.	29:55
	It was me and eight first-year students	30:00
	in this German course.	30:05
	I'd forgotten what it was like to be in school,	30:06
	to be small, to drag into class, to be called on,	30:10
	to be made to answer in front of everybody ese.	30:14
	The teacher would say,	30:18
	"Mr. Willimon, what is a preposition with accusative."	30:19
	And I'd say, "Ah, let's see.	30:23
	"I think it's bei and mit."	30:24
	And she said, "What?	30:27
	"You've had all week to study this."	30:28
	(speaking in a foreign language)	30:30
	Friday before Homecoming.	30:34
	On her way out of the door, she blithefully announced,	30:36
	"Oh by the way, we're going to have a quiz on Monday,	30:40
	"everything we've had thus far."	30:42
	And went out the door.	30:44
	I said to the rest of the class, "It's Homecoming.	30:45
	"Don't any of you have any plans for the weekend?	30:47
	"I do.	30:49
	"Go in there and tell her we don't want a quiz on Monday."	30:51
	(congregation laughing)	30:54
	They said, "Hey, you tell her.	30:56
	"You're the old one in the class, you tell her."	30:57
	(congregation laughing)	30:59
	It was a busy weekend for me.	31:02
	I'd just forgotten what it's like, you know,	31:07
	to get to school, to have to answer,	31:09
	to have to be good in so many different subjects.	31:11
	To be small.	31:17
	You see, I had forgotten.	31:20
	School.	31:21
	School has a way of making you the smallest	31:23
	you'll ever be in your whole life.	31:26
	In my Freshman Seminar last year at Duke	31:33
	there was this young woman,	31:36
	she didn't speak the whole class.	31:38
	Right at the end of the semester,	31:40
	one night during class, she made a comment	31:41
	and it was the most succinct,	31:44
	absolutely perfect comment to make in class,	31:47
	just astounded the whole class.	31:50
	She made it in this beautifully mellifluous accent,	31:52
	similar to my own.	31:57
	After I class I ask her,	31:59
	"I ought to jerk you up.	32:00
	"What have you sat there	32:02
	"the whole semester you haven't opened your mouth.	32:03
	"Why haven't you spoken up in class?"	32:05
	She said, "Well, I'm from a little southern town.	32:07
	"I went to this little high school.	32:10
	"These people just know so much more than I do.	32:13
	"They've just been around more than I have."	32:15
	I'd forgotten that she was a student.	32:20
	She was still in school.	32:24
	Can you remember what that's like?	32:26
	Small, vulnerable, not wishing to appear stupid.	32:28
	There are few things more horrible in life	32:35
	than the derisive laughter of a classroom,	32:40
	particularly when that laughter is led	32:44
	by someone called a teacher.	32:47
	And I've been known, even in middle age,	32:51
	to wake up in a cold sweat at night	32:54
	having this awful nightmare that I was sent to the board	32:56
	to conjugate a verb in Latin.	32:59
	If you think, you can remember it.	33:03
	School can make you feel the smallest	33:09
	you'll ever feel again in life.	33:12
	But occasionally, occasionally the tables are turned.	33:16
	A little boy was sent home one day from school	33:23
	with a note pinned to his coat.	33:25
	"Thomas is too dumb to learn.	33:27
	"School is a waste for him."	33:31
	His mother clenched her fist and said,	33:35
	"If the school cannot teach him, I will."	33:37
	His name was Thomas Alva Edison.	33:42
	And this Sunday's Gospel, this Sunday's Christmas gift	33:51
	is a little story about little Jesus in school.	33:55
	A little boy from a poor, powerless, uneducated family	34:01
	is seen standing before the scholars up at the temple.	34:07
	And he is instructing them	34:15
	rather than being instructed by them.	34:17
	Can you see it from where you sit?	34:21
	You have to be small to see it	34:25
	but if you're small enough maybe you can see it fine.	34:26
	The story, this little story is childlike,	34:33
	it's small, it's like a fairytale	34:36
	told right at the beginning of Jesus' life.	34:41
	It's a little story like fairytales	34:43
	told and lovingly retold by children.	34:46
	It's a story about Jack outwitting the great giant.	34:49
	It's a story about Little Red Riding Hood	34:55
	putting one over on the Great Big Bad Wolf.	34:57
	It's a Bible story like little David	35:01
	standing before great, big, massive Goliath.	35:04
	It's little Jesus before the great big scholars	35:07
	up at the temple.	35:12
	It's a story about all of that.	35:14
	It's a childlike snapshot,	35:19
	family photo of the little boy Jesus,	35:21
	uncomplicated, playful, improbable, easy to remember.	35:24
	It's a story I think told with delight	35:31
	by people who do not do well on the SAT,	35:34
	those who do not have access	35:38
	to powerful thoughts and big ideas.	35:40
	It's a story told by those who cannot get	35:45
	to the great books of the Western world,	35:50
	who don't even fill out the admissions application	35:53
	because they can't stand one more rejection.	35:56
	People who when they hear the word University,	35:59
	hear a place they will never know.	36:03
	People who, when they hear the word school,	36:09
	get a sick feeling right here in the stomach.	36:13
	For whom was this story told?	36:19
	I think it was told for those people	36:23
	who, when they hear this story,	36:24
	down in the depths of their hearts say,	36:27
	"You tell 'em, Jesus."	36:29
	I believe it was for the little people.	36:34
	It is a story told to electrify	36:37
	the small, the weak and the vulnerable	36:39
	by reminding them on whose side God is on,	36:42
	by reminding them what God's advent into our power-laden,	36:47
	so smart and sophisticated world really means.	36:51
	At his birth, mother Mary sang a little lullaby.	36:58
	The boys sang it just a few moments ago.	37:01
	God is going to bring down the mighty from their thrones	37:05
	and lift up the little ones, those of low degree.	37:09
	You're seeing it happen right before your very eyes	37:13
	in the story of little Jesus at the temple.	37:16
	I think it is a story meant to unnerve the scholars,	37:19
	to make uneasy those who know the Bible	37:24
	backwards and forward.	37:29
	People who always have just the right Bible verse	37:31
	and chapter on the tip of their tongue for every argument.	37:34
	I think this little story means to create a new world	37:40
	where deliverance is at hand for those who are small	37:43
	and where those on the bottom	37:46
	get to go up to the head of the class.	37:48
	And little Jesus knows more	37:50
	than even people with a Duke PhD.	37:53
	So in a way, this is everybody's story,	37:57
	this little story of little Jesus up at the temple	38:02
	astounding the big teachers.	38:04
	It's everybody's story because, in a funny way,	38:08
	everybody gets to be small someday.	38:14
	I wish I could tell you, sixth-graders,	38:19
	I wish I could, you know,	38:21
	that the bigger you get, more mature you become,	38:23
	the more certain you become	38:26
	that you have absolutely the right answers	38:28
	for every question in life.	38:30
	I wish I could tell you that.	38:31
	Alas.	38:33
	Sometimes the older you get,	38:36
	the more vulnerable you get.	38:40
	'Cause no matter how old or adult or smart you get	38:46
	there is that day when everybody gets to be small.	38:50
	It may happen in a school or in a hospital	38:55
	or even around the family dinner table.	38:58
	And this story says,	39:04
	he's been there.	39:07
	He knows what it's like first hand.	39:11
	He's been there at school.	39:15
	Luke says that after amazing the scholars in the temple,	39:18
	Jesus went obediently back home to his parents	39:21
	where he increased in wisdom and in stature,	39:25
	which is a fancy Bible way of saying he grew up.	39:28
	But I think he never got so big	39:33
	that he forgot what it was like	39:35
	to stand before the educational, political,	39:40
	intellectual, economic powers that be	39:43
	and be made to answer.	39:46
	He never got so tamed or refined	39:49
	that he got over his adolescent tendency	39:51
	to stand before the great powers that be as a kid	39:54
	and to make them answer the tough questions.	40:01
	Later in Luke, Jesus says,	40:09
	"They'll drag you into law courts.	40:13
	"They'll take you before kings, before councils.	40:14
	"Don't worry what you're supposed to answer.	40:17
	"Holy Spirit will tell you what to answer.	40:21
	"'Cause I've been there.	40:25
	"They're just the sort of big wigs	40:29
	"that I love to amaze and astonish."	40:31
	In a couple of days we're going to celebrate	40:41
	the birth of the baby Jesus.	40:43
	When the great, powerful God of the whole Universe	40:48
	chose to come among us, he chose to come as a baby.	40:50
	I want you to think about that.	40:58
	He came weak, vulnerable, small.	41:03
	And the glad tidings of Christmas is that,	41:09
	in a way, he never grew up.	41:16
	Thank God.	41:21
	(imposing organ music)	41:26
	♪ Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming ♪	42:15
	♪ From tender stem hath sprung ♪	42:22
	♪ Of Jesse's lineage coming ♪	42:29
	♪ As men of old have sung ♪	42:36
	♪ It came, a flower bright ♪	42:44
	♪ Amid the cold of winter ♪	42:50
	♪ When half-gone was the night ♪	42:57
	♪ Isaiah 'twas foretold it ♪	43:07
	♪ The Rose I have in mind ♪	43:15
	♪ With Mary we behold it ♪	43:22
	♪ The virgin mother kind ♪	43:29
	♪ To show God's love aright ♪	43:38
	♪ She bore to men a Savior ♪	43:44
	♪ When half-gone was the night ♪	43:50
	♪ This Flower, whose fragrance tender ♪	44:01
	♪ With sweetness fills the air ♪	44:08
	♪ Dispels with glorious splendor ♪	44:16
	♪ The darkness everywhere ♪	44:23
	♪ True man, yet very God ♪	44:32
	♪ From sin and death He saves us ♪	44:38
	♪ And lightens every load ♪	44:45
Debra	The Lord be with you.	45:01
Congregation	And also with you.	45:03
-	Let us pray.	45:04
	You may be seated.	45:05
	Oh God, at this time each year we remind ourselves	45:14
	that you have come and continue coming into our lives.	45:21
	You shatter reason to expectations,	45:27
	give wonder and awe	45:31
	and fulfill promises little understood.	45:33
	You bring down the proud and lift up the lowly	45:38
	when you come once again into the world	45:42
	as small, weak and vulnerable.	45:46
	You call us also to become	45:51
	the small, weak and vulnerable before you	45:53
	so that we might be astonished	45:58
	by all that you have done and will do in our world.	46:00
	You call us to recapture a sense of innocence and wonder	46:06
	so that we might learn and be guided by your wisdom.	46:11
	Precious Lord, let us be small	46:15
	so that we might witness once again	46:19
	Your power and Your ability	46:21
	to accomplish great things through the little ones.	46:24
	And we pray this morning for all those	46:29
	who are small, weak, vulnerable.	46:31
	For students who anxiously await	46:36
	the outcome of exams and papers	46:38
	wondering was I good enough?	46:41
	Give them the assurance of Your divine worth,	46:45
	keep them questing for Your truth.	46:48
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	46:52
	For teachers who commit their lives to instructing others	46:58
	how to grow in stature and wisdom.	47:02
	Remind them what it's like to sit at your feet and learn.	47:06
	Keep them open to the hard questions.	47:11
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	47:15
	For children who are dependent upon others	47:21
	for their very existence.	47:23
	Keep them safe and secure.	47:26
	Teach us to value and love them as You do.	47:29
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	47:34
	For those who are powerless in this society,	47:40
	the homeless, the poor, the abused,	47:43
	the mentally ill, the elderly.	47:49
	Indwell them with Your power.	47:54
	Remind us that these are first in Your eyes	47:57
	and should be first in our care.	48:01
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	48:05
	For those who hold power	48:11
	and a false sense of their importance,	48:13
	remind them that they too are small.	48:16
	Teach them the joy of shared power and dependence upon you.	48:20
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	48:26
	For those who are ill and have no control	48:32
	over what is happening to their bodies,	48:35
	give them Your healing touch and Your peace.	48:39
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	48:43
	For Haitians, Croatians, Vietnamese, Salvadorans	48:49
	and all who are disposed,	48:57
	give them the assurance that You always make a place	49:00
	for those with no place.	49:04
	Give them a home that is safe and secure.	49:07
	In Your mercy, come, oh come, Emmanuel.	49:12
	Oh God, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,	49:18
	we are filled with a sense of wonder.	49:22
	This child who has been born among us to bring new life	49:25
	was not born among the mighty but the lowly,	49:31
	not among the ruling but the ruled,	49:34
	not among the rich but the poor,	49:38
	not among the favored but the outcast.	49:41
	We rejoice in Your power to lift up the lowly	49:45
	and accomplish the salvation of the world through a child.	49:50
	Amen.	49:56
	God does not desire our sacrifices and offerings	50:00
	apart from our giving of self.	50:04
	Bring your all to this time of giving.	50:07
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	50:33
	♪ Lullaby baby ♪	50:36
	♪ Now reclining ♪	50:40
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	50:43
	♪ Hush, do not wake the infant king ♪	50:47
	♪ Angels are watching, stars are shining ♪	50:54
	♪ Over the place where he is lying ♪	51:01
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	51:12
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	51:20
	♪ Lullaby baby ♪	51:23
	♪ Now a-sleeping sing lullaby ♪	51:27
	♪ Hush, do not wake the infant king ♪	51:34
	♪ Soon will come sorrow with the morning ♪	51:40
	♪ Soon will come bitter grief and weeping ♪	51:48
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	51:59
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	52:07
	♪ Lullaby baby ♪	52:10
	♪ Now a-dozing sing lullaby ♪	52:13
	♪ Hush, do not wake the infant king ♪	52:21
	♪ Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing ♪	52:27
	♪ Then in the grave at last reposing ♪	52:35
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	52:45
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	52:52
	♪ Lullaby, is the baby awaking ♪	52:56
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	53:03
	♪ Hush, do not stir the infant king ♪	53:06
	♪ Dreaming of Easter, gladsome morning ♪	53:13
	♪ Conquering death, its bondage breaking ♪	53:20
	♪ Sing lullaby ♪	53:32
	("Pie Jesu")	53:58
	(imposing organ music)	57:53
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	58:43
	♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪	58:51
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	58:58
	♪ Praise God above, ye heav'nly host ♪	59:06
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	59:13
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	59:20
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	59:27
	♪ Alleluia ♪	59:34
-	Let us pray.	59:48
	With joy and thanksgiving we present our offerings,	59:51
	rejoicing in the opportunity	59:57
	to share with those who are small.	59:59
	We will glorify and praise you with our gifts,	1:00:02
	even as we seek to lend a helping hand	1:00:06
	to our sisters and brothers.	1:00:09
	May Your light shine on them and us	1:00:11
	and penetrate all the shadows that diminish life	1:00:15
	for any of Your children.	1:00:19
	In the name of Christ we pray.	1:00:21
	Amen.	1:00:23
	Now let us pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us.	1:00:26
All	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,	1:00:30
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:00:35
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:00:38
	Give us this day our daily bread.	1:00:41
	And forgive us our trespasses,	1:00:44
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:00:46
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:00:50
	For thine is the kingdom,	1:00:55
	and the power, and the glory, for ever.	1:00:57
	Amen.	1:01:00
	The day is at hand.	1:01:03
	The Savior draws near.	1:01:05
	Let us rejoice in the power of God.	1:01:07
	And now may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ,	1:01:10
	and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	1:01:13
	be with you all.	1:01:17
	Amen.	1:01:18
	(choir singing in a foreign language)	1:01:26
	♪ Once in royal David's city ♪	1:02:49
	♪ Stood a lowly cattle shed ♪	1:02:55
	♪ Where a mother laid her Baby ♪	1:03:02
	♪ In a manger for His bed ♪	1:03:09
	♪ Mary was that mother mild ♪	1:03:16
	♪ Jesus Christ, her little Child ♪	1:03:23
	♪ He came down to earth from heaven ♪	1:03:31
	♪ Who is God and Lord of all ♪	1:03:38
	♪ And His shelter was a stable ♪	1:03:45
	♪ And His cradle was a stall ♪	1:03:52
	♪ With the poor, and mean, and lowly ♪	1:03:59
	♪ Lived on earth our Savior holy ♪	1:04:06
	♪ For He is our childhood's pattern ♪	1:04:16
	♪ Day by day, like us, He grew ♪	1:04:23
	♪ He was little, weak, and helpless ♪	1:04:30
	♪ Tears and smiles, like us He knew ♪	1:04:38
	♪ And He cares when we are sad ♪	1:04:45
	♪ And he shares when we are glad ♪	1:04:52
	♪ And our eyes at last shall see Him ♪	1:05:03
	♪ Through His own redeeming love ♪	1:05:10
	♪ For that Child so dear and gentle ♪	1:05:18
	♪ Is our Lord in heaven above ♪	1:05:26
	♪ And He leads His children on ♪	1:05:34
	♪ To the place where He is gone ♪	1:05:43
	(imposing organ music)	1:05:57

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Jesus Goes to School" (December 22, 1991)

Description:

Sermon start time: 20:52. Sermon end time: 41:23.
Paralleling the child Jesus’ appearance at the Temple with schooling experience, the preacher argues that Jesus has been through the years of being a student, feeling small and not being taken seriously. The preacher reminds his student audience that the gospel is for them, too. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r43b5wq10

Date:

December 22, 1991

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Luke

Chapter and Verse:

Luke 2:41-52

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0261
ref9034_xwb
uachapelsermaud
duke:321571
dcrmv001250
ark:/87924/r43b5wq10
784d309c-66fc-47af-a669-530f899fff5d

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 - "Jesus Goes to School" (December 22, 1991)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Jesus Goes to School" (December 22, 1991)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Jesus Goes to School" (December 22, 1991)

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Duke University Archives

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