William H. Willimon - "Love and Death" (April 5, 1992)

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	(organ music)	0:00
	(organ music)	1:37
-	Good morning.	2:10
	This is a very special weekend at Duke,	2:12
	it's the fifth Sunday in Lent.	2:15
	And we're glad that you're here.	2:17
	This Tuesday at 7:30,	2:21
	is the Annual Holocaust Memorial Service here in the chapel.	2:23
	And Sunday morning,	2:29
	next Sunday,	2:30
	we conclude a series that we've been having	2:32
	on science technology and Christian values.	2:35
	That is being held at 9:45 in room 211,	2:39
	in the Divinity School.	2:44
	We'd also remind you that next Sunday is Palm Sunday,	2:46
	and we will meet at 10:50 on the steps of the chapel	2:50
	for a service of the Blessing of the Palms.	2:56
	That will be the beginning of the service,	2:59
	and then tomorrow,	3:01
	and then Palm Sunday eveneing,	3:02
	is our special concert with a choir,	3:05
	with works by Poulenc and Liszt.	3:09
	And now let us stand for the greeting.	3:13
	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	3:21
Congregation	And also with you.	3:24
	Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is in me.	3:26
	Bless God's Holy name.	3:29
Congregation	Bless the Lord O my soul,	3:31
	and forget not all his benefits.	3:33
-	Who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities.	3:36
Congregation	Who redeems your life from the grave,	3:41
	who crowns you with mercy and loving kindness.	3:44
	(organ music)	3:49
	("At the Name of Jesus")	4:25
-	Please be seated.	8:49
	Our prayer of confession is found	8:56
	in the back of the hymnal.	8:58
	Number 892.	8:59
	Let us pray.	9:10
Congregation	Our Heavenly Father	9:12
	who by Thy love has made us,	9:14
	and through Thy love has kept us,	9:17
	and in Thy love with biggest perfect	9:20
	we humbly confess that we have not loved Thee	9:23
	with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.	9:26
	And that we have not loved another	9:31
	as Christ had loved us.	9:33
	Thy life is within our souls.	9:36
	But our selfishness hath hindered Thee.	9:39
	We have not lived by faith	9:42
	we have resisted Thy spirit.	9:44
	We have neglected Thine inspirations.	9:47
	Forgive what we have been.	9:51
	Help us to amend what we are.	9:53
	And in Thy spirit direct what we shall be	9:56
	that thall may us come into the full glory	10:00
	of Thy creation,	10:03
	in us and in all the people.	10:04
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	10:07
	Amen.	10:09
	The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,	10:27
	that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.	10:31
	If anyone sins,	10:35
	we have an advocate with the Father,	10:37
	Jesus Christ the Righteous.	10:39
	And He is the expiation for our sins,	10:41
	and not for ours only,	10:45
	but also for the sins of the whole world.	10:47
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	10:51
-	Let us pray together	11:04
	the Prayer of Illumination.	11:06
	Open our hearts and minds to God	11:09
	By the power of your Holy Spirit,	11:13
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	11:16
	we might hear with joy what You say to us	11:20
	in this Lent season	11:23
	Amen.	11:25
	The first reading is from the words of the prophet Isaiah	11:28
	the 43rd chapter starting with the 16th verse.	11:33
	Thus says the Lord,	11:41
	who makes a way in the sea,	11:44
	a path in the mighty waters,	11:46
	who brings out chariot and horse,	11:49
	army and warrior,	11:52
	they lie down,	11:53
	they cannot rise.	11:56
	They are extinguished,	11:58
	quenched like a wake.	11:59
	Do not remember the former things	12:02
	or consider the things of old.	12:05
	I am about to do a new thing,	12:08
	now it springs forth,	12:12
	do you not perceive it?	12:13
	I will make a way in the wilderness	12:16
	and rivers in the desert.	12:19
	This is the word of the Lord.	12:22
	Thanks be to God.	12:25
	Please join in singing responsively Psalm 126	12:44
	verses one through six found on page 847 in the hymnal.	12:48
	Let us stand for the singing of the song.	12:53
	(organ music)	12:56
	♪ When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion ♪	13:02
	♪ We were like those who dream ♪	13:07
	♪ Then our mouth was filled with laughter ♪	13:11
	♪ And our tongue with shouts of joy ♪	13:16
	♪ Then they said among the nations ♪	13:21
	♪ The Lord has done great things for them ♪	13:25
	♪ The Lord has done great things for us ♪	13:30
	♪ We are glad ♪	13:34
	♪ Restore our fortunes O Lord ♪	13:39
	♪ Like the water courses in the Negeb ♪	13:43
	♪ Those who sow in tears ♪	13:48
	♪ Shall reap with shouts of joy ♪	13:52
	♪ Those who go forth weeping ♪	13:57
	♪ Bearing a seed for sowing ♪	13:59
	♪ Shall come home with shouts of joy ♪	14:03
	♪ Bringing in the sheaves ♪	14:06
	♪ O Glory be to you Creator and to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪	14:11
	♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪	14:17
	♪ Blessed is He ♪	14:20
	♪ As it was at time begun ♪	14:24
	♪ It shall and will be forever more ♪	14:28
	This reading is from Paul's letter to the Philippeans	14:52
	chapter three beginning with the eighth verse.	14:56
	More than that I regard everything as loss	15:02
	because of the surpassing value	15:06
	of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.	15:08
	For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things,	15:12
	and I regard them as rubbish,	15:16
	in order that I may gain Christ	15:19
	and be found in him,	15:22
	not having a righteousness of my own	15:24
	that comes from the law,	15:28
	but one that comes through faith in Christ.	15:30
	The righeousness from God based on faith.	15:34
	I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection	15:41
	and the sharing of His sufferings,	15:45
	by becoming like Him in His death.	15:47
	If somehow I may obtain the resurrection from the dead,	15:51
	not that I have already obtained this,	15:58
	or have already reached the goal,	16:01
	but I press on to make it my own,	16:03
	because Christ Jesus has made me His own.	16:06
	Beloved I do not consider that I have made it my own,	16:11
	but this one thing I do.	16:16
	Forgetting what lies behind	16:21
	and straining forward to what lies ahead.	16:24
	I press on toward the goal,	16:27
	for the prize of the heavenly call	16:29
	of God in Christ Jesus.	16:31
	This is the Word of the Lord.	16:35
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	16:37
	(organ music)	16:42
	(choral singing)	17:01
-	The gospel for this fifth Sunday in Lent	22:51
	is from the 12th chapter of the Gospel of John.	22:54
	Six days before the Passover,	23:03
	Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was,	23:05
	whom Jesus had raised from the dead.	23:10
	There they made him a supper.	23:14
	Martha served and Lazarus was one	23:17
	of those at table with him.	23:19
	Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard	23:22
	and anointed the feet of Jesus,	23:27
	and wiped his feet with her hair.	23:29
	And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment,	23:34
	but Judas Iscariot,	23:39
	one of His disciples,	23:41
	he who was to betray Him,	23:43
	said "Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii	23:46
	and given to the the poor?"	23:50
	This he said,	23:53
	not because he cared for the poor,	23:54
	but because he was a thief.	23:56
	And as he had the money box,	23:58
	he used to take what was put into it.	24:00
	Jesus said "Let her alone.	24:04
	Let her keep it for the day of my burial.	24:08
	The poor you always have with you,	24:14
	but you do not always have me."	24:18
	This is the Word of the Lord.	24:26
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	24:29
	Things are not always as they seem.	24:36
	Rarely is reality flat, simple.	24:42
	Although we ought to know better,	24:49
	our minds tend toward reductionism.	24:50
	Because we so hope that the world	24:57
	might be simpler than it really is.	24:59
	So we keep picking through the richness of reality	25:04
	in the hope that we might uncover	25:09
	the one all-encompassing universal principle,	25:11
	or the three-step plan,	25:18
	or the four spiritual laws,	25:20
	or the one completely uncontested declarative sentence.	25:23
	But alas,	25:31
	reality is ambiguous.	25:32
	It is thick.	25:37
	And that is why poetry is always	25:40
	much more realistic than prose.	25:43
	That is why if you are going to find out something	25:48
	really significant about the world,	25:51
	you best use art rather than the scientific method.	25:55
	And that is why	26:01
	irony is always more true to life	26:04
	than the periodic table of the elements.	26:08
	Because things are hardly ever as they first appear.	26:13
	And we do not like this.	26:21
	Most of what we call intellect	26:25
	is a kind of futile human reductionism.	26:27
	Because we so want some sure handle on life.	26:32
	A grip on reality.	26:38
	And therefore we tend to reduce reality	26:42
	to what can be handled and what can be gripped.	26:45
	Thus our world shrinks to the limited confines	26:52
	of what we know absolutely for sure,	26:57
	which isn't much.	27:00
	We inhabit too little a world.	27:07
	Alas things are hardly ever as they first appear.	27:12
	And that is why you will always learn more	27:17
	by listening to John's Gospel,	27:20
	than by reading the Book of Proverbs.	27:22
	Today's Gospel.	27:29
	A week before Palm Sunday,	27:33
	Jesus is at Bethany,	27:35
	at home and sitting at the table	27:39
	with his good friends Mary,	27:41
	Martha and their brother Lazarus.	27:42
	And it is a pleasure to find such a scene	27:48
	embedded in the Gospel of John,	27:50
	this weird Gospel of John,	27:52
	it is good to finally find something	27:54
	with which we can absolutely identify,	27:56
	they're at home,	27:59
	they're sitting around the table,	28:00
	the scene suggests a kind of domestic earthly ambience.	28:01
	Jesus is at table with His three good friends	28:09
	and a good meal.	28:12
	Martha, the ever practical one,	28:15
	is out in the kitchen preparing the meal.	28:17
	And we know the dinner table is a place of chitchat,	28:22
	polite conversation,	28:26
	conviviality,	28:27
	good manners.	28:28
	And with so many weird things in the Gospel of John,	28:33
	it is good to find something that we know,	28:36
	because if there is one thing sure about us,	28:39
	it is that we need food.	28:41
	We're animals after all,	28:44
	whatever else we may be.	28:46
	And what can be more earthly carnal,	28:53
	more ordinary and mundane,	28:55
	than the sharing of food?	28:59
	But it is Jesus who is the guest at this table,	29:05
	and at least in John's Gospel,	29:10
	whenever Jesus appears,	29:11
	things are never as they first would seem.	29:15
	Jesus is there.	29:21
	Jesus is there and that's a tipoff	29:24
	that the earthly,	29:26
	the mundane,	29:27
	is about to be cracked open,	29:28
	exposed,	29:30
	unfolded into the eternal.	29:32
	Now I want you to put this dinner party	29:38
	over at Mary and Martha's house into context.	29:40
	Do you remember what happens right before this story?	29:45
	This dinnertime episode occurs	29:49
	immediately after Jesus has just raised	29:53
	their brother Lazarus from the dead.	29:57
	And that's a weird story.	30:02
	They come to Jesus saying "Your good friend Lazarus	30:05
	is sick unto death.	30:08
	Come quickly!"	30:09
	And Jesus says "Great we'll wait here	30:09
	two or three more days."	30:11
	And by the time he gets to Mary and Martha's house,	30:14
	Martha comes out and gives Jesus a piece of her mind.	30:19
	She said, "Don't rush.	30:22
	"He's been in the tomb now about three days."	30:26
	And then in the elegant King James English	30:29
	she said "Lord He now stinketh."	30:32
	(laughter)	30:36
	Jesus is unfazed.	30:39
	He comes, sticks his head in the door of the tomb,	30:40
	and has the stone rolled away,	30:44
	and says "Lazarus come out!"	30:46
	And then Lazarus comes out all wrapped up like a mummy	30:48
	and Jesus says "Unbind him.	30:51
	Let him go!"	30:53
	And that is that.	30:54
	Jesus enters this place of death to bring forth life.	30:58
	When Jesus showed up at that tomb,	31:02
	the tomb of Lazarus became the womb of Lazarus.	31:05
	He is raised.	31:09
	But John says it was just a little too much weirdness	31:14
	for the Sanhedrin,	31:18
	the guardians of the religious status quo.	31:21
	With Jesus rolling through town	31:25
	and bringing these dead corpses back to life,	31:27
	"From that day on," John says,	31:31
	"they took counsel how they could kill him."	31:33
	You say you're surprised that religious people	31:40
	would have this reaction?	31:42
	You say you thought that religion	31:43
	was about the business of bringing	31:45
	life from death and doing good for hurting people?	31:49
	Get real.	31:57
	Much of our religion is not about life,	32:00
	it's about control.	32:03
	Management	32:06
	of an often messy and therefore threatening world.	32:08
	Religion is the set of practices and ideas	32:12
	and authorities through which we attempt	32:17
	to manage the unmanageable.	32:20
	That's what I do a lot of times as a pastor.	32:26
	I am called upon to manage life and death	32:28
	and pain and sickness.	32:31
	And I can't have some itinerate,	32:33
	unlicensed faith healer blowing through town,	32:36
	and raising the dead,	32:40
	and spreading power out among all these ordinary people.	32:41
	Power has got to be spread through established,	32:47
	officially recognized and sanctioned channels.	32:50
	You go around raising the dead,	32:55
	you're gonna have housewives conversing	32:57
	with the Virgin Mary in Georgia.	32:59
	You're gonna have people throwing down their	33:03
	crutches on T.V. in Tulsa.	33:04
	Otherwise reasonable folk will be getting born again,	33:07
	and out of control and out of line,	33:10
	and then we'd have a mess.	33:12
	So if you don't know why Lazarus	33:14
	being brought back from the dead	33:16
	lead to Jesus being marked for death,	33:18
	then you don't much about the religion business,	33:21
	or the business of religion.	33:23
	Well despite what the people	33:31
	over at the religion department think about it,	33:32
	Jesus' trick with Lazarus,	33:35
	his sisters Mary and Martha,	33:37
	think it's just great.	33:39
	And they throw this big dinner party over in Bethany	33:41
	in Jesus' honor.	33:44
	And Martha ever the practical one,	33:46
	is out serving in the kitchen.	33:49
	And that's where we expect her to be.	33:54
	But Mary,	33:59
	who was never the practical one,	34:01
	anoints Jesus' feet,	34:04
	by letting down her hair,	34:07
	and smearing this sweet smelling ointment	34:09
	all over the feet of Jesus.	34:11
	Yes George,	34:13
	letting down her hair meant exactly the same thing	34:15
	back there in Bethany that it means on Saturday night	34:18
	in Jarvis at Pegram.	34:21
	She is letting down her hair.	34:25
	She is pouring this high priced,	34:27
	expensive ointment,	34:28
	all over Jesus' feet.	34:30
	Rubbing this on His feet.	34:32
	Now a woman out in the kitchen fixing dinner for Jesus,	34:37
	why that's one thing,	34:41
	that's what we expect.	34:42
	But her sister,	34:46
	letting down her hair and rubbing this salve	34:48
	all over Jesus' feet?	34:51
	Well that's quite another.	34:55
	If you will notice Jesus has only been at this dinner party	34:59
	for maybe five minutes,	35:02
	and already this thing has gotten out of hand.	35:04
	Because somehow once Jesus got there,	35:09
	somehow the erotic got all mixed up with the domestic.	35:11
	And it became a mess.	35:16
	But it's about to get even messier,	35:21
	because Judas,	35:24
	how did Judas get there?	35:25
	Judas,	35:27
	who here is Mr. Propiety,	35:29
	Mr. Bleeding-heart liberal,	35:31
	Mr. President for Habitat of Humanity	35:33
	and Amnesty International,	35:36
	Judas says to Mary,	35:38
	"Why was this perfume not sold,	35:41
	and the money given to feed the poor?"	35:44
	And that's right where we listen up,	35:49
	because we like to think that's we would have said,	35:50
	if we had been there.	35:53
	Why did you spend all this money on choir robes	35:57
	when there are people going hungry in Durham?	36:00
	Why do you illuminate the chapel tower until midnight,	36:06
	when there's a fuel shortage in Pittsburgh?	36:09
	And immediately you think you know	36:14
	what Jesus is going to say.	36:16
	Jesus Mr. Feeder of the poor,	36:18
	Jesus Mr. Friend of the poor condemner of the rich,	36:20
	you already know what Jesus is going to say.	36:24
	Oh yes!	36:27
	Good point Judas.	36:28
	Absolutely right.	36:29
	Cut that out Mary,	36:31
	and sell that perfume to buy low-fat	36:32
	milk solids to send to Russia.	36:34
	But no,	36:38
	Jesus says "Ah let her alone Judas.	36:40
	She's got this oil for the day	36:47
	of my burial.	36:52
	The poor are always with you,	36:55
	but you do not always have me."	37:00
	Nobody anointed feet.	37:08
	If you had some expensive high-priced perfumed ointment,	37:12
	you anointed other parts of the body.	37:17
	Not feet.	37:22
	You don't anoint feet	37:25
	til you're preparing a dead body for burial.	37:26
	And here is Mary,	37:31
	treating Jesus,	37:32
	Mr. Giver of life back to Lazarus,	37:33
	like a dead man.	37:37
	Which of course He is,	37:40
	because we have just been told	37:43
	that the Sanhedrin are out to kill him	37:47
	for messing up their reality	37:50
	by raising Lazarus from the dead.	37:51
	Jesus the giver of life,	37:55
	is here being tenderly prepared by Mary	37:58
	for his upcoming death.	38:02
	But Mary did not know that her act of gracious extravagance	38:06
	prepared Jesus for the greatest act of extravagance of all:	38:12
	The cross.	38:20
	And John says that Judas was not sincere	38:25
	in trotting out his great concern for the poor.	38:28
	No more sincere	38:31
	than are our present day politicians	38:35
	who trot through some poor neighborhood	38:37
	hoping to glean a few votes during the campaign.	38:40
	Nor are we sincere.	38:46
	Because we know don't we,	38:50
	in our better moments,	38:51
	how our great shows of altruism are but a cover	38:52
	for our real selfishness.	38:56
	We use the poor.	39:01
	And by this time in the story,	39:06
	we really ought to have learned	39:08
	not to take Jesus' statement	39:09
	"The poor you will have with you always,"	39:11
	straight.	39:14
	We must not take this statement	39:16
	too seriously in the wrong way.	39:18
	Because there were people at the table	39:21
	that night with Jesus who knew	39:23
	that he was probably quoting Deuteronomy 15,	39:25
	"The poor you will have you always,	39:28
	and you must give to your brother or sister in need	39:30
	with an open hand."	39:36
	This is John's Gospel.	39:40
	And nothing here is supposed to be played straight.	39:43
	The poor we do have with us always,	39:48
	along with our deceit and our moral ambiguity,	39:51
	our mixed motives,	39:56
	our tainted goodness about the poor,	39:57
	it is we are a mess.	39:59
	But you should take seriously,	40:05
	the last words that Jesus spoke at the table	40:09
	that night in Bethany.	40:12
	"You do not always have me."	40:17
	Nothing happened that night at Bethany as we expected.	40:25
	Dead Lazarus lead back into life	40:31
	has lead to Jesus being lead to His death.	40:35
	Martha's mundane meal for Jesus	40:39
	has become Mary's extravagant anointing of Jesus,	40:41
	with more than a touch of the erotic.	40:45
	Mary's sweet perfume now smells of the stench of death.	40:49
	As she has unwittingly prepared the beloved body of Jesus	40:56
	for His burial.	41:00
	And Judas' great show of pity for the poor,	41:04
	is but a cover for his own thievery.	41:08
	And alas,	41:13
	the poor we do always have with us.	41:13
	But not Jesus.	41:19
	Life and death,	41:24
	religion and eros,	41:25
	extravagant love and pompous deceit,	41:26
	the everyday mundane and the mysteriously eternal,	41:29
	and Judas is sitting at the very same table with Jesus.	41:33
	It's John's Gospel and it's a mysterious wonderful mess.	41:39
	But one thing is certain,	41:48
	one thing is sure.	41:50
	We do not have Jesus.	41:54
	If we thought we had Him at the beginning of the meal,	41:58
	we've lost Him by the end.	42:00
	We do not have Jesus.	42:02
	That is,	42:05
	we now know that we really don't know Him,	42:07
	we cannot contain Him,	42:09
	define, pin Him down,	42:11
	anymore than those grave clothes bound dead Lazarus,	42:12
	because we've got a live Jesus.	42:16
	And with Jesus,	42:19
	we're always dancing out,	42:20
	close to the edge.	42:21
	Messily mixing love with death.	42:24
	Extravagance and poverty,	42:27
	the erotic and the deadly,	42:28
	deception at the table with revelation of the future.	42:30
	Our little ordinary deeds toward Him,	42:35
	like Mary's anointing of His feet,	42:39
	have deeper meaning than even we intend.	42:43
	Our little deeds of love are somehow caught up	42:48
	into the larger cosmic purposes of God.	42:51
	And it is hard for us to know	42:55
	whether what we do for Him here on Sunday morning	42:58
	are deeds of extravagant beautiful love,	43:02
	or merely a tragic sinful waste.	43:05
	We do not have Jesus.	43:08
	The bumper sticker read "God said it.	43:20
	I believe it.	43:23
	That settles it."	43:24
	No. No.	43:28
	Unless you can tell without reservation	43:34
	the hour the moment the place	43:35
	where you gave your life to Jesus,	43:37
	you are not saved.	43:40
	No.	43:44
	I think the story's clear,	43:46
	we don't take Jesus anywhere.	43:48
	He takes us places.	43:53
	When He shows up at our table,	43:58
	we go places we would have never gone	44:00
	if left to our own devices.	44:03
	We don't have Jesus.	44:06
	A student,	44:12
	identifying himself as an evangelical,	44:13
	as a Bible believer,	44:16
	which presumably includes believing in the Gospel of John,	44:19
	in criticizing what he perceived to be	44:24
	my mealy-mouthed preaching said,	44:26
	"You need to quit beating around the bush	44:29
	and tell people what they really need to do to get saved!	44:32
	It is so clear in the Bible.	44:36
	No one comes to the Father except by me,	44:39
	it says it there in John's,	44:44
	it says no one,	44:45
	that's no one,	44:47
	comes to the Father but by me.	44:49
	It says but by me nobody is saved except by Jesus."	44:51
	And I said "True.	45:01
	But don't you think the beautiful thing	45:04
	about that is that that statement appears	45:05
	in the Gospel of John?	45:08
	In the Gospel of John,	45:13
	where we almost never knew who He really was,	45:14
	and where He never did what we said,	45:19
	what we thought or expected.	45:23
	Nobody comes to the Father,	45:28
	except by this way which is ambiguous,	45:31
	conflicted,	45:34
	extrvagant,	45:35
	messy,	45:37
	wonderful,	45:38
	deadly,	45:39
	life-giving,	45:40
	we are not asked to have Jesus.	45:44
	We are asked to believe Him,	45:50
	that is to invite Him into our lives,	45:54
	to let Him sit among us at table	46:00
	the way Mary and Martha did.	46:03
	And when He is at our table we cannot confine,	46:07
	define,	46:10
	possess Him.	46:11
	Because Jesus is free and ambiguous and surprising	46:15
	and pushy and life giving.	46:18
	Alas,	46:25
	the poor we have yet with us.	46:27
	Blame it on our selfishness,	46:32
	our inactivity,	46:34
	our insensitivity,	46:35
	our deceit.	46:37
	The poor are yet with us,	46:40
	we have them still.	46:42
	But we do not,	46:47
	we cannot,	46:48
	we never did,	46:49
	have....	46:51
	Jesus.	46:53
	(organ music)	47:05
	("O Love Divine what Hast Thou Done")	47:53
-	The Lord be with you.	50:31
Congregation	And also with you.	50:33
-	Let us pray.	50:34
	With all our heart and with all our mind,	50:47
	let us pray to the Lord saying	50:50
	"Lord in your mercy hear our prayer."	50:52
	Let us pray for the unity of the church.	50:58
	Almighty Father,	51:11
	whose blessed son before His passion prayed	51:13
	for His disciples that they might be one,	51:15
	as You and He are one.	51:19
	Grant that Your church being bound together	51:21
	in love and obedience to You,	51:25
	may be united in one body by the One Spirit.	51:28
	That the world may believe in Him,	51:33
	whom You have sent.	51:35
	Your son Jesus Christ our Lord.	51:37
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	51:42
	Let us pray for the world.	51:47
	God of the nations,	52:04
	whose kingdom rules over all.	52:06
	Have mercy on our broken and divided world.	52:09
	Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all people,	52:14
	and banish from them the spirit that makes for war.	52:18
	That all races and peoples may learn	52:22
	to live as members of one family,	52:25
	and in obedience to Your law.	52:28
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	52:32
	Let us pray for our nation.	52:37
	Almighty God,	52:57
	fount of wisdom and mercy,	52:59
	in Your sight nations rise and fall.	53:02
	Grant wisdom to our leaders,	53:07
	and to those who aspire to the leadership of this nation.	53:09
	That they may search for Your will,	53:14
	see it clearly and act accordingly,	53:17
	where as a nation we have turned from Your path,	53:22
	reverse our ways and help us to repent.	53:26
	Give Your light and truth to guide and to strengthen.	53:31
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	53:37
	Let us pray for those who serve others.	53:46
	Eternal Father whose blessed son	54:04
	came not to be served but to serve.	54:06
	Bless all who follow in His steps,	54:10
	and give themselves to the service of others,	54:13
	that with wisdom patience and courage,	54:16
	they may minister in His name	54:20
	to the suffering,	54:23
	the friendless,	54:24
	and the needy.	54:26
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	54:29
	Let us pray for those who suffer from infirmities,	54:37
	sickness or any trouble.	54:40
	God of compassion,	54:56
	comforter of the afflicted,	54:58
	relieve those who are distressed	55:01
	and heal them in body,	55:03
	mind or circumstance.	55:05
	By our concern,	55:09
	may they know the love You have for them	55:11
	and come to trust You.	55:14
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	55:16
	Let us pray for the faithful who have gone before us,	55:24
	and are at rest.	55:28
	Almighty God,	55:41
	we remember before You those who have lived among us,	55:42
	who have directed our steps in the way,	55:46
	opened our eyes to the truth,	55:49
	inspired our hearts by their witness,	55:52
	and strengthened our wills by their devotion.	55:56
	We honor them in their death,	56:00
	and pray we may be united with them,	56:03
	in the glory of Christ's resurrection.	56:06
	Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer.	56:10
	Into your hands O God,	56:16
	we command to all for whom we pray,	56:18
	trusting in Your mercy,	56:21
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	56:23
	Amen.	56:26
	Let us present the offerings	56:31
	of our life and labor to the Lord.	56:32
	(organ music)	56:37
	(choral music)	58:05
	All things come from You O God,	1:04:20
	and with praise and thanksgiving,	1:04:23
	we return to You what is Yours.	1:04:25
	You created all that is,	1:04:28
	and lovingly formed us in Your image.	1:04:30
	When our love failed,	1:04:34
	Your love remained steadfast.	1:04:36
	You gave Your only son Jesus Christ	1:04:40
	to be our savior,	1:04:42
	that we might have abundant and eternal life.	1:04:44
	All that we are and all that we have,	1:04:48
	is a trust from You.	1:04:52
	And so in gratitude for all that You have done,	1:04:54
	we offer You ourselves and all that we have,	1:04:59
	in union with Christ's offering for us.	1:05:02
	By Your Holy Spirit,	1:05:06
	make us one with Christ,	1:05:08
	one with each other,	1:05:10
	and one in ministry to the world.	1:05:12
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord,	1:05:15
	who taught us to pray saying:	1:05:18
	Our Father who art in heaven,	1:05:21
	hallowed be Thy name.	1:05:24
	Thy kingdom come	1:05:26
	Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	1:05:27
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:05:31
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:05:34
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:05:36
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:05:40
	but deliver us from evil.	1:05:43
	For Thine is the kingdom,	1:05:45
	the power and the glory forever.	1:05:47
	Amen.	1:05:50
	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,	1:05:52
	the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	1:05:55
	be with you all.	1:05:59
	(organ music)	1:06:02
	♪ Amen ♪	1:06:06
	♪ Amen ♪	1:06:08
	♪ Amen ♪	1:06:13
	(organ music)	1:06:28
	("Ah Holy Jesus")	1:07:06

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Love and Death" (April 5, 1992)

Description:

Sermon start time: 24:36. Sermon end time: 46:57.
The preacher speaks to Jesus’ atonement for humanity through the story of Lazarus: Lazarus being led back to life by Jesus led to Jesus being led to his own death. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4k35mv4v

Date:

April 5, 1992

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Lent

Biblical Book:

John

Chapter and Verse:

John 12:1-8

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0278
ref9082_zmp
uachapelsermaud
duke:321513
dcrmv001265
ark:/87924/r4k35mv4v
f7c09d3f-7b58-46e2-ade3-282f19bec8d0

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 - "Love and Death" (April 5, 1992)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Love and Death" (April 5, 1992)

Duke University Archives

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Duke University Archives

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