William H. Willimon - "The Gift of Interpretation" (September 12, 1993)

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	(organ music)	0:00
Man	Please stand for the greeting.	1:01
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	1:05
Congregation	And also with you.	1:08
Man	The risen Christ is with us.	1:10
Congregation	Praise the Lord.	1:12
	("Holy, holy, holy")	1:14
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	1:55
	♪ Lord God almighty ♪	2:00
	♪ Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee ♪	2:06
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	2:17
	♪ Merciful and mighty ♪	2:22
	♪ God in three persons blessed Trinity ♪	2:28
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	2:39
	♪ All the saints adore Thee ♪	2:45
	♪ Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea ♪	2:50
	♪ Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee ♪	3:01
	♪ Who was, and is, and evermore shall be ♪	3:12
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	3:23
	♪ Though the darkness hide Thee ♪	3:29
	♪ Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see ♪	3:34
	♪ Only Thou art holy ♪	3:45
	♪ There is none beside Thee ♪	3:51
	♪ Perfect in power, in love, and purity ♪	3:56
	(organ solo)	4:08
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	6:40
	♪ Lord God Almighty ♪	6:45
	♪ All Thy works shall praise Thy Name ♪	6:51
	♪ In earth, and sky, and sea ♪	6:55
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	7:02
	♪ Merciful and mighty ♪	7:07
	♪ God in three Persons, blessed Trinity ♪	7:13
-	Let us join together in the Prayer of Confession	7:30
	found on page 890 in your hymn book.	7:33
	Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned	7:49
	against you in thought, word, and deed,	7:53
	by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.	7:57
	We have not loved you with our whole heart;	8:02
	we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	8:05
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.	8:09
	For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,	8:13
	have mercy on us and forgive us;	8:16
	that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,	8:19
	to the glory of your name, amen.	8:24
	Almighty God, have mercy on you.	8:37
	Forgive all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ,	8:40
	strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power	8:44
	of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life, amen.	8:47
	You may be seated.	8:53
-	Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination.	9:03
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	9:07
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	9:10
	so that as the Word is read and proclaimed,	9:12
	we may hear your message with joy this day, amen.	9:16
	The epistle reading is from the 14th chapter	9:22
	of Paul's letter to the Romans, starting with verse one.	9:24
	Welcome those who are weak in faith,	9:29
	but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.	9:32
	Some believe in eating anything,	9:36
	while the weak eat only vegetables.	9:38
	Those who eat must not despise those who abstain,	9:41
	and those who abstain must not pass judgment	9:44
	on those who eat, for God has welcomed them.	9:48
	Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?	9:52
	It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.	9:56
	And they will be upheld,	10:00
	for the Lord is able to make them stand.	10:01
	Some judge one day to be better than another,	10:06
	while others judge all days to be alike.	10:08
	Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.	10:12
	Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord.	10:16
	Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord,	10:20
	since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain,	10:23
	abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.	10:27
	We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.	10:32
	If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die,	10:36
	we die to the Lord, so then, whether we live	10:40
	or whether we die, we are the Lord's.	10:43
	For to this end Christ died and lived again,	10:47
	so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.	10:50
	This is the word of the Lord.	10:54
-	Thank you, God.
-	Our Old Testament lesson is from	11:07
	the fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel.	11:08
	I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house,	11:14
	prospering in my palace.	11:17
	I had a dream which made me afraid, which alarmed me.	11:20
	Therefore, I made a decree that all wise men of Babylon	11:25
	should be brought before me that I might	11:28
	make it known to them for interpretation of the dream.	11:31
	Then, the magicians, the enchanters,	11:35
	the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in,	11:37
	and I told them the dream, but they could not	11:40
	make known to me the dream's interpretation.	11:43
	At last, Daniel came in before me	11:47
	and I told him the dream.	11:52
	The visions of my head as I lay on my bed were these.	11:55
	Behold, a tree in the midst of the earth	11:59
	with its height was great.	12:01
	A tree grew and became strong.	12:03
	Its top reached the heavens.	12:05
	It spread to the whole earth,	12:07
	its leaves were fair and abundant,	12:09
	and in it was food for all,	12:12
	the beasts of the field found shade under the tree.	12:13
	I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in the bed,	12:18
	and behold, a holy one came down from Heaven.	12:21
	He cried aloud and said, "Cut down the tree,	12:23
	"cut off its branches, strip off its leaves,	12:26
	"scatter its fruit, let beast flee from under its branches,	12:28
	"but leave the stump.	12:33
	"Let them be a sign."	12:37
	Then Daniel was dismayed for a moment,	12:42
	for his thoughts alarmed him, and the king said,	12:46
	"Daniel, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you,"	12:50
	but he answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those	12:54
	"who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies?	12:58
	"The tree you saw which grew and became strong	13:01
	"with its top reaching in the heavens,	13:04
	"whose leaves were fair and fruit abundant	13:06
	"in under which the beasts of the field found shade.	13:09
	"It is you, oh king, who have grown and become strong.	13:12
	"Your greatness has grown and reaches to the heaven	13:17
	"and your dominion to the ends of the earth."	13:19
	And, where is that Holy One from Heaven	13:22
	said, "Hue down the tree and destroy it,	13:25
	"but leave its stump and its roots.	13:27
	"This is the interpretation, oh king.	13:30
	"It is the decree of the Most High,	13:33
	"which is come upon my Lord, the king.	13:34
	"You shall be driven from among people.	13:37
	"Your dwelling shall be with beasts of the field.	13:40
	"You'll eat grass like an ox, oh one who is most high,	13:42
	"and as it was commanded to leave the stump	13:48
	"and the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be sure	13:51
	"for you for the time that you know that Heaven rules.	13:54
	"Therefore, oh king, my counsel to you	13:58
	"is break off your sins by practicing righteousness,	14:01
	"your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed,	14:04
	"and may, thereby, your tranquility be lengthened."	14:08
	All this came to King Nebuchadnezzar.	14:13
	At the end of 12 months, he was walking on the roof	14:16
	of his royal palace, and the king said,	14:18
	"Is not this great Babylon which I have built	14:21
	"with my mighty power, and for the glory of my majesty?"	14:25
	And, while these words were still in the king's mouth,	14:29
	there fell a voice from heaven,	14:31
	"Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom has departed from you.	14:33
	"You shall be driven from among men.	14:37
	"Your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field."	14:39
	Immediately, the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar.	14:43
	He was driven from among men, he ate grass like an ox,	14:46
	his body was wet with the dew of heaven	14:49
	'til his hair grew long as eagle's feathers,	14:52
	and his nails were like birds claws.	14:54
	At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,	14:58
	lifted up mine eyes to heaven.	15:00
	Reason returned to me, I blessed the Most High	15:03
	and praised and honored Him.	15:05
	Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor	15:09
	the king of Heaven, for all His works are right	15:12
	and His ways are just, and those who walk in pride,	15:16
	He is able to bring low.	15:21
	I think it was Voltaire who said,	15:29
	"History is a long story of	15:33
	"wooden shoes clogging upstairs	15:37
	"and silk slippers going down."	15:41
	Or, as Mary said in her Magnificat,	15:46
	"The Lord scatters the proud,	15:48
	"but lifts up those of low degree,"	15:51
	and I don't know how much you know about history.	15:56
	If you're a student, I don't know about anything	15:58
	because	16:01
	one of the purposes of a university,	16:02
	one of the functions of faculty, is to convince students	16:06
	how little they know, that's sort of the purpose of exams.	16:10
	I had a student last year	16:14
	in a seminar of mine and I gave him a C.	16:16
	Later I saw him, he said, "You know, I thought that	16:22
	"I had learned a lot during that seminar.	16:25
	"I thought that I had grown a lot and changed,	16:28
	"but then after I got the C, I realized	16:31
	"I didn't learn as much as I thought I learned."	16:33
	And, that's kind of a function of faculty.	16:37
	The purpose is to convince you that	16:40
	you will never know enough,	16:43
	even after four years, to ever be faculty.	16:44
	And, you pay your tuition, and we live off your tuition,	16:47
	and knowledge kind of dribbles from the top down	16:51
	to the lowly students, and it's a nice system,	16:54
	particularly for those on top.	16:58
	And, who could be more on top than King Nebuchadnezzar?	17:04
	Great Nebuchadnezzar, you met him last week,	17:08
	great Oriental potentate.	17:11
	Yet, even tyrants dreams,	17:15
	are caught alone in their beds at night,	17:20
	sometime between three and four in the morning	17:23
	with the palace quiet, still.	17:26
	And there, great Nebuchadnezzar says,	17:32
	"I had a dream,	17:37
	"and I was afraid."	17:41
	Nobody dares disturb powerful people at night.	17:45
	Powerful people who, after a day of managing	17:50
	and making decisions, you don't call them at night,	17:52
	but sometimes nightmares intrude,	17:56
	disrupt, bubble up from the unconscious, and	18:02
	suggest, even to powerful people,	18:05
	that there may be a world out there	18:08
	beyond the area of their management and control and order,	18:10
	and if you're a powerful person,	18:16
	a nightmare like that is enough	18:18
	to scare the wits out of you.	18:20
	I doubt that there were many voices intruding	18:23
	into Nebuchadnezzar's day.	18:25
	All the little toteys and bureaucrats which surrounded him,	18:28
	I'm sure every time he opened up his mouth, they said,	18:31
	"Oh, what a wonderful idea, that is a marvelous idea,	18:33
	"oh great King Nebuchadnezzar."	18:38
	But, at night,	18:42
	sleeping alone, as powerful people often do,	18:45
	sometimes there is an intrusive voice,	18:50
	and the voice in the dream speaks.	18:56
	A great tree spreading out all over all the earth	18:58
	with all the earth clustered	19:02
	for shade and fruit under its branches,	19:04
	and the great tree,	19:08
	there is a voice, "Cut it down!"	19:10
	And, King Nebuchadnezzar is frightened,	19:13
	because there, it suggests that there may be something	19:18
	going on out there, something beyond royally managed systems	19:22
	of knowledge distribution and power,	19:26
	and all the king's magicians and enchanters	19:31
	cannot make sense of the dream, and so,	19:33
	this doesn't surprise you,	19:37
	he calls in little Daniel	19:39
	to interpret the dream,	19:43
	and there is little Daniel	19:45
	on the margins of the powerful court,	19:47
	just waiting to be called in,	19:50
	and little Daniel, young adult, Jew, exiled,	19:53
	knows what the king does not know,	19:57
	and you witness, once again in this story,	20:01
	a subtle shift of power, a shift of power from the great	20:04
	omnipotent, autonomous king down to little Daniel.	20:08
	He has knowledge which can save a king.	20:13
	If you will notice, if you've been here before	20:19
	in these Daniel stories, there is a kind of gap	20:21
	between the generations here.	20:24
	It is the duty in these stories	20:27
	of the old to manage and hold onto,	20:30
	and it is the duty of the young	20:34
	to dream, to probe, and to interpret.	20:37
	We are witnessing here what Walter Brueggemann has called	20:43
	a dismantling of the credentialed.	20:46
	It reminds you of the scene just over the altar	20:51
	here in the chapel, a scene that I don't think appears	20:54
	in any other Christian church in that place in the world.	20:58
	Little Jesus standing before the scholars of the temple.	21:01
	Little Jesus standing up to the department of the religion,	21:05
	putting them through their paces.	21:09
	Little Jesus, knowing more than people with PhDs.	21:11
	Little Jesus, playing the role of Little Daniel,	21:14
	speaking truth to power.	21:18
	In the dream, there's this huge tree,	21:21
	and the whole world huddled for protection under the tree.	21:24
	The tree is freestanding, and it's self-sufficient,	21:28
	and it is stable and powerful, it is the pex Babylonia,	21:32
	looking after the whole world through its military might,	21:36
	and the intruding voice says, "Cut it down,"	21:41
	and Nebuchadnezzar trembles, and the all-powerful king	21:47
	is confronted with some higher power,	21:52
	some greater thing going on than even Babylonia,	21:54
	God,	21:59
	and it's little Daniel who tells him about it.	22:01
	Nebuchadnezzar is stupid.	22:05
	He can't figure out the dream	22:08
	because he doesn't know any higher reality,	22:10
	he doesn't know any greater power	22:13
	than the one within his own empire.	22:14
	Daniel, young adult,	22:18
	small, exiled Jew,	22:21
	he is the wise one because in the words of the prophets,	22:24
	it is God,	22:29
	and not kings, who rules the world.	22:31
	Little Daniel has a harsh truth to tell the king,	22:36
	words nobody in the court would've dared speak,	22:39
	"It is you, oh king, who shall be cut down."	22:43
	Well, for a year, nothing happens, and	22:49
	the king thinks that maybe that dream that he had	22:53
	was the result of a bad meal followed by a bad night,	22:55
	and who is he to go around listening	22:59
	to this little Jewish freshman?	23:01
	He asked himself, "Wait a minute, is this not Babylon	23:04
	"which I have made for my glory, so I can rule the world?"	23:09
	Everything is in monologue when you're in power,	23:14
	I, me, my, reminds you of a story Jesus told, doesn't it?	23:17
	The rich farmer, successful, settles back into	23:23
	his easy chair and says, "I have big barns,	23:27
	"I have full barns, I can take ease."	23:32
	We would call him a successful, powerful, prudent person.	23:36
	The angel of God calls him	23:39
	"fool, you shall die."	23:42
	The story of Nebuchadnezzar's demise is ruthless and swift.	23:48
	While the words were still in the king's mouth,	23:54
	a voice not bound by the empire,	23:58
	and usual methods of knowledge distribution,	24:02
	a voice intrudes, and he is cut down.	24:07
	It is swift, he is reduced to the level of insanity,	24:10
	of living just like an animal,	24:14
	eating grass, long fingernails.	24:17
	He wanders as a kind of half man, half beast.	24:19
	It's quite a contrast, isn't it,	24:24
	to that once powerful, autonomous king	24:26
	strolling about on his roof, looking at his empire,	24:29
	and it is that moment,	24:34
	that the king gets smart, right there,	24:37
	and the king says, "Praise and extol and honor	24:41
	"the king of Heaven for all of His works of truth,	24:43
	"His ways of justice, He is able to bring low	24:46
	"those who walk in pride."	24:50
	Now, that's quite an epistemological move for a king	24:56
	who earlier thought he was God.	24:59
	It is the knowledge move that is at the heart of the gospel.	25:03
	How is it that Alcoholics Anonymous puts it?	25:09
	"We were powerless over our own lives,	25:13
	"we had to reach out to a power greater than our own."	25:15
	So, it's not just a story about royal debasement.	25:22
	It's a story about the gift of knowledge,	25:26
	the grace to realize we are not God,	25:29
	and I'm sure that little Daniel, at 19,	25:35
	didn't know	25:38
	everything about the intricacies of power politics,	25:39
	about international relations,	25:43
	but he knew one thing,	25:46
	one Jewish Christian thing	25:48
	that made him wiser than anybody, even the king,	25:52
	Daniel knew that God, not nations, rules the world.	25:55
	That all of us,	25:59
	even the most powerful and greatest of us,	26:01
	with chevrons on our sleeves, stands accountable,	26:04
	and I think the story says, if you just know that,	26:10
	you know a great deal.	26:14
	The fear of the Lord	26:17
	is the beginning of wisdom.	26:20
	This is knowledge you cannot get out of the library.	26:25
	You get it here in worship on Sunday.	26:29
	If you will note please, the story ends with Nebuchadnezzar	26:33
	bowed in worship, great royal body bent	26:37
	in worship and praise to almighty God.	26:42
	Worship is what makes you smart.	26:46
	I had this student in my class who, the first day of class,	26:52
	introduced himself as a Christian fundamentalist.	26:56
	"On guard," I said to myself, and yet,	27:01
	he impressed me	27:06
	with a wisdom beyond his years,	27:09
	and I remember when I asked the class to write a paper,	27:12
	"my philosophy of life",	27:15
	I noticed that about 80% of the class said,	27:17
	"I believe in the golden rule."	27:20
	Golden rule, do unto others you would have them do unto you.	27:22
	Everybody believed in the golden rule.	27:25
	I noticed that my young fundamentalist	27:28
	also invoked the golden rule,	27:30
	but here's what he said about the golden rule,	27:33
	"do unto others you'd have them do unto you",	27:38
	that's what you're supposed to do, you do.	27:40
	Here's what he said,	27:42
	"The golden rule, which by the way,	27:43
	"isn't what Jesus called it,	27:45
	"is insufficient for morality.	27:48
	"How could I possibly do to others	27:53
	"what I would like them to do to me?	27:56
	"I'm sinful,	27:58
	"my desires for myself are often warped by	28:00
	"my own self deceit, my self-centeredness.	28:03
	"Often, the things that I want for myself,	28:07
	"I found out belatedly are selfish, ill conceived.	28:11
	"Why should I project my own selfishness on others	28:15
	"as some sort of moral principle?	28:18
	"I don't really know what I want for myself.	28:21
	"My knowledge is limited by my youth, my inexperience,	28:25
	"my sin,	28:29
	"therefore, I've found that I have to ask Jesus	28:31
	"to help me decide what I want in life,	28:34
	"Jesus to teach me what to want.	28:38
	"Only then might I ever be free to do unto others	28:42
	"as they ought to have done unto them."	28:48
	Now, I don't know about you,	28:55
	but I find such wisdom rather amazing in 19 years of life.	28:56
	I believe, here is a wisdom rooted in worship,	29:03
	in the every Sunday acknowledgement of God.	29:07
	I'm sure there's a lot that that freshman does not know,	29:13
	but he knew this, God, not king's rules.	29:17
	Both kings and freshmen are accountable	29:23
	to standards of judgment, not of their own devising.	29:26
	All of this exists, not autonomously or independently,	29:32
	but in dialogue with God's grace.	29:37
	In just a moment, you're gonna come to the Lord's table,	29:43
	and you're going to reach out empty hands,	29:46
	and you're going to stand there,	29:49
	needy and empty,	29:51
	and I tell you,	29:56
	that is the predominant posture of Christian knowing.	29:58
	If you know this, you know much.	30:04
	The fear of the Lord	30:08
	is the beginning of wisdom.	30:11
-	The Lord be with you.	30:26
-	And also with you.
-	Let us pray.	30:30
	Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,	30:40
	Heaven and Earth are full of your glory,	30:46
	Hosanna in the highest.	30:50
	Merciful and mighty God, we come before you	30:55
	with hearts full, our songs of praise rise upon	30:59
	the still coolness of the morning, for it is then,	31:04
	before the business of the day sets in,	31:09
	that we remember, you alone are God.	31:13
	Everything in earth and sky and sea praises your name,	31:20
	for all your works are truth, and your ways justice.	31:26
	Holy, holy, holy Lord, teach us to sing joyful praises	31:34
	to you with all the fullness of our being.	31:39
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	31:45
	Almighty God, we so often act as if we do not know	31:50
	that ultimately, you are in charge of our life	31:55
	and this world that we call our own.	32:01
	We deny you all day long, yet in your mercy,	32:04
	you do not deny us.	32:10
	Who are we that you are mindful of us?	32:14
	We give thanks for your desire and your power	32:18
	to bridge the cathom that we create between you and us,	32:21
	and we stand in awe of your act of self giving	32:26
	through your son Jesus Christ, who became one of us	32:30
	that we might be restored as one of yours.	32:35
	As we receive the gift of his body and blood this day,	32:40
	remind us that as we receive Christ, so we receive you,	32:45
	and you receive us, Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:51
	Merciful God, help us to live in the world	32:59
	as people who know that you are God.	33:03
	Move us to live for you rather than self.	33:06
	Help us discern between what is true and false	33:11
	so that we may resist the powers that would conform us	33:16
	to the world's values, and stand fast	33:19
	in your truth and justice.	33:23
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	33:27
	Open our eyes to recognize the suffering around us,	33:32
	and show us the ways that we can respond	33:37
	with our own unique gifts.	33:39
	Empower us to embody acts of mercy toward the hungry,	33:42
	the oppressed, the imprisoned, the naked,	33:47
	and all those you call us to serve.	33:50
	Guide our acts of mercy that they may be pure of heart	33:54
	and reflections of your grace,	33:58
	rather than prideful exhibitions.	34:00
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	34:04
	Lord, we also pray for the leaders in our world	34:09
	that they too may lean that only you are God.	34:12
	Teach them that power is the gift that can be snatched away	34:16
	from those who abuse it in an instant.	34:21
	Remind them that they, like those they rule,	34:25
	are ultimately dependent upon your power and your mercy.	34:28
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	34:34
	We pray a special prayer today for the leaders of Israel	34:38
	and the PLO that they may put aside pride and past hurts	34:43
	to come to a peaceful solution in the Middle East	34:48
	for Israelis and Palestinians.	34:52
	Give them the courage to resist the efforts of those	34:56
	who would destroy the peace process,	34:58
	and help them to look to you to create	35:01
	a higher reality than they have ever imagined.	35:05
	We pray for these and all things in the name	35:09
	of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, believing in the power	35:12
	of your Holy Spirit to accomplish them and more,	35:16
	in the name of Christ, amen.	35:21
	Let us stand as we offer one another	35:26
	signs of God's love and peace.	35:28
	(audience murmuring)	35:32
	Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to the Lord.	35:56
	(organ music)	36:00
	(choir singing hymn)	37:03
	(organ solo)	40:28
	(choir singing hymn)	41:24
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	41:36
	(choir singing hymn)	41:43
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	41:56
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	42:02
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	42:08
-	Let us join in the prayer of thanksgiving.	42:21
	The Lord be with you.	42:24
-	And also with you.
-	Lift up your hearts.	42:27
-	We lift them to the Lord.
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	42:30
Congregation	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	42:32
-	It is right in the good and joyful thing always	42:35
	and everywhere to give thanks to you,	42:38
	Father almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth,	42:39
	and so with your people on Earth,	42:42
	and all the company of Heaven, we praise your name	42:45
	and join in their unending hymn.	42:48
	(organ music)	42:51
	♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord ♪	43:00
	♪ God of power and might ♪	43:05
	♪ Heaven and earth are full of your glory ♪	43:09
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	43:14
	♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪	43:19
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	43:25
-	Holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ,	43:39
	by the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection,	43:42
	you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery	43:46
	to sin and death, and made with us	43:50
	a new covenant by water and the spirit.	43:52
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us,	43:55
	he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,	43:58
	gave it to his disciples, and said,	44:01
	"Take, eat, this is my body given for you.	44:04
	"Do this in remembrance of me," and when the supper was over	44:08
	he took the cup, gave thanks to you,	44:12
	gave it to his disciples, and said,	44:14
	"Drink from this, all of you.	44:17
	"This is my blood of the new covenant	44:19
	"poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins.	44:20
	"Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."	44:24
	And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts	44:28
	in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise	44:30
	and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice,	44:34
	in union with Christ offering for us	44:37
	as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	44:40
	(organ music)	44:43
	♪ Christ has died, Christ is risen ♪	44:47
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	44:52
-	Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here	44:59
	and on these gifts of bread and wine.	45:01
	Make them be for us, the body and blood of Christ,	45:03
	that we may be for the world a body of Christ	45:06
	redeemed by his blood.	45:10
	By your spirit, make us one with Christ	45:12
	and one with each other, and one in ministry	45:14
	to all the world until Christ comes in final victory	45:17
	and we feast at his heavenly banquet.	45:20
	Through your son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit	45:22
	in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours,	45:25
	Almighty Father, now and forever.	45:28
	(organ music)	45:31
	♪ Amen, amen, amen ♪	45:36
-	Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.	45:49
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	45:53
	on earth as it is in Heaven.	45:56
	Give us this day our daily bread	45:58
	as we forgive us our trespassers,	46:00
	we forgive those who trespass against us.	46:03
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,	46:06
	for thine is the kingdom, the power,	46:10
	and the glory forever, amen.	46:12
	Because there is one loaf, we many, we all become one,	46:17
	for it is one loaf of which we all partake.	46:20
	A cup of blessings which we blessed.	46:23
	Is it not a means of participation in the blood of Christ.	46:26
	Come to the Lord's table.	46:31
	(organ music)	46:37
	(choir singing hymn)	47:20
	(organ solo)	49:33
	(singing in foreign language)	50:52
	(organ music)	55:47
	(choir singing hymn)	55:55
-	Stand for the prayer.	59:18
	Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery	59:24
	in which you've given yourself to us.	59:27
	Granted, we may go into the world in the strength	59:30
	of your Spirit to give ourselves to others,	59:32
	in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.	59:35
	(organ music)	59:40
	(choir singing hymn)	1:00:21
	(organ solo)	1:02:32
-	Peace of God which passes all understanding,	1:03:45
	be in your hearts and minds now and always.	1:03:48
	(choir singing hymn)	1:03:54

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Gift of Interpretation" (September 12, 1993)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gq6rh2q

Date:

September 12, 1993

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Description:

Sermon start time: 15:29. Sermon end time: 30:16.
Using the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s submission to God, the preacher argues that the beginning of wisdom is to fear God and worship God, who is the true ruler of all. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0333
ref9304_noq
uachapelsermaud
duke:321412
dcrmv001319
ark:/87924/r4gq6rh2q
5b702160-949e-460f-a22a-9f7dc84871e3

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Location:

Subject:

Format:

Language:

English

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

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.

Type: