Clyde Fant - Sermon Untitled (October 16, 1988)

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	(organ music)	0:00
	("Ave Maria" arranged by Sergei Rachmaninoff)	0:31
	♪ Ave Maria ♪	0:35
	♪ Gratia plena ♪	0:41
	♪ Maria ♪	0:49
	♪ Gratia plena ♪	0:54
	♪ Dominus ♪	1:08
	♪ Tecum ♪	1:21
	♪ Et benedicta tu ♪	1:24
	♪ In mulieribus ♪	1:37
	♪ Et benedictus ♪	1:39
	♪ Fructus ventris ♪	1:45
	♪ Et benedictus ♪	1:53
	♪ Fructus ventris ♪	1:54
	♪ Ave Maria ♪	2:00
	♪ Mater dei ♪	2:11
	♪ Ora pro nobis peccatoribus ♪	2:13
	♪ Mortis nostrae ♪	2:23
	♪ Amen ♪	2:29
-	Good morning and welcome to this	2:54
	worship service at Duke University Chapel.	2:56
	Our preacher for today is the Reverend Dr. Clyde Fant,	3:00
	dean of the Chapel at Stetson University.	3:03
	Our preacher for next Sunday is the	3:08
	Reverend Doctor Will Willamen, minister to the	3:09
	University, and now, let us worship God.	3:12
	("Praise my soul the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte)	3:18
	(congregation and choir begin singing )	3:49
	♪ Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; ♪	3:51
	♪ To his feet your tribute bring. ♪	3:55
	♪ Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, ♪	4:01
	♪ Evermore his praises sing. ♪	4:06
	♪ Alleluia ♪	4:11
	♪ Alleluia ♪	4:14
	♪ Praise the everlasting King! ♪	4:17
	♪ Praise him for his grace and favor ♪	4:26
	♪ To his people in distress ♪	4:31
	♪ Praise him, still the same as ever ♪	4:36
	♪ Slow to chide ♪	4:42
	♪ And swift to bless ♪	4:43
	♪ Alleluia ♪	4:46
	♪ Alleluia ♪	4:49
	♪ Glorious in his faithfulness ♪	4:52
	♪ Fatherlike he tends and spares us ♪	5:00
	♪ Well our feeble frame he knows ♪	5:06
	♪ In his hand he gently bears us ♪	5:11
	♪ Rescues us from all our foes ♪	5:17
	♪ Alleluia ♪	5:23
	♪ Alleluia ♪	5:25
	♪ Widely yet his mercy flows ♪	5:28
	(organ interlude)	5:34
	♪ Angels, in the height of glory ♪	5:44
	♪ You behold him face to face ♪	5:50
	♪ Saints on high bow down before him ♪	5:55
	♪ Dwellers all in time and space ♪	6:01
	♪ Alleluia ♪	6:07
	♪ Alleluia ♪	6:10
	♪ Praise with us the God of grace ♪	6:12
-	Let us pray.	6:24
	Almighty and everlasting God, who in Christ	6:27
	has revealed thy glory among the nations,	6:31
	preserve the works of thy mercy	6:35
	that thy church throughout the world	6:37
	may persevere with steadfast faith	6:40
	in the confession of thy Name.	6:42
	Through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord,	6:45
	who liveth and reigneth with thee	6:49
	and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever amen.	6:50
-	Let us pray.	7:06
	Open our hearts and minds oh God	7:09
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	7:12
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	7:15
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	7:19
	The first lesson is taken from Genesis.	7:27
	"And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai, your wife,	7:32
	you shall not call her name Sarai,	7:39
	but Sarah shall be her name.	7:45
	I will bless her and moreover	7:49
	I will give you a son by her,	7:53
	I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations.	7:57
	Kings of peoples shall come from her.'	8:03
	Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed	8:08
	and said to himself, 'Shall a child	8:13
	be born to a man who is a hundred years old?	8:17
	Shall Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child?'	8:23
	The Lord said, 'I will surely return to you	8:31
	in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.'	8:36
	And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him,	8:44
	and now Abraham and Sarah were old,	8:49
	advanced in age.	8:54
	It had ceased to be with Sarah	8:57
	after the manner of women, so Sarah laughed to herself,	9:00
	saying, 'After I have grown old, and	9:07
	my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?'	9:11
	The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah	9:16
	laugh and say, "shall I indeed bear a child	9:20
	now that I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord?	9:25
	At the appointed time I will return to you	9:33
	in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.'	9:37
	But Sarah denied, saying,	9:44
	'I did not laugh.' for she was afraid.	9:47
	He said 'No, but you did laugh.'	9:52
	The Lord visited Sarah as he had said	9:57
	and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised	10:03
	and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham	10:08
	a son in his old age, at the time	10:12
	of which God had spoken to him.	10:17
	Abraham called the name of his son	10:21
	who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac,	10:25
	and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac	10:32
	when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.	10:37
	Abraham was a hundred years old when his	10:45
	son Isaac was born to him, and Sarah said	10:50
	'God has made laughter for me.	10:55
	Everyone who hears will laugh over me.'	11:02
	And she said, 'Who would have said to Abraham	11:07
	that Sarah would suckle children?	11:10
	Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.' "	11:14
	This ends the reading of the First Lesson.	11:22
Woman	Please stand for the reading from the Psalter.	11:34
	How long oh Lord wilt thou look on?	11:44
	Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions,	11:48
	then I will thank thee in the great congregation.	11:53
	In the mighty throng I will praise thee.	11:57
Congregation	Let not those rejoice over me	12:01
	who are wrongfully my foes,	12:03
	let those not wink with the eye	12:06
	that hate me without a cause.	12:09
-	For they do not speak peace,	12:12
	but against those who are quiet in the land,	12:15
	they conceive words of deceit.	12:18
Congregation	They opened their mouth wide against me,	12:21
	they said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it.	12:25
-	Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not silent,	12:31
	O Lord, be not far from me.	12:35
	Bestir thyself, and awake for my right,	12:39
	for my cause, my God and my Lord.	12:42
Congregation	Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according	12:47
	to thy righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me.	12:50
-	Let them not say to themselves,	12:56
	aha, we have our hearts' desire,	12:58
	let them not say, we have swallowed him up.	13:01
	Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether	13:05
	who rejoice at my calamity, let them be clothed with shame	13:10
	and dishonour who magnify themselves against me.	13:14
	Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy,	13:19
	and be glad, and say evermore,	13:22
Congregation	Praise the Lord who	13:26
	delights in the welfare of his servant.	13:28
-	Then my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness	13:31
	and of thy praise all the day long.	13:34
Congregation	Amen.	13:38
	(organ intonation)	13:40
	("Glory Be to God Creator")	13:48
-	The Second Lesson is taken from Hebrews.	14:42
	"Since then we have a great high priest	14:48
	who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.	14:55
	Let us hold fast our confession	15:02
	for we have not a high priest who is unable	15:07
	to sympathize with our weakness,	15:12
	but one who in every respect	15:15
	has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.	15:18
	Let us then with confidence draw near	15:23
	to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy	15:28
	and find grace to help in time of need."	15:34
	This ends the reading of the Second Lesson.	15:40
	The Gospel lesson is taken from Mark.	15:46
	"And James and John the sons of Zebedee	15:53
	came forward to him and said to him,	16:01
	'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.'	16:07
	And he said to them, 'What do you want me to do for you?'	16:14
	and they said to him, 'Grant us to sit	16:23
	one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.'	16:27
	But Jesus said to them, 'You	16:34
	do not know what you are asking.	16:37
	Are you able to drink the cup that I drink	16:41
	or be baptized with the baptism with which	16:45
	I am baptized?' And they said to him, 'We are able.'	16:49
	And Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I drink,	16:56
	you will drink, and with the baptism with which	17:01
	I am baptized, you will be baptized,	17:05
	but to sit at my right hand or at my left	17:09
	is not mine to grant, but it is for those	17:14
	for whom it has been prepared.'	17:18
	And when the ten heard it, they began	17:23
	to be indignant at James and John	17:27
	and Jesus called to them and said to them,	17:32
	'You know that those who are supposed to rule	17:39
	over the Gentiles lord it over them,	17:42
	and their great men exercise authority over them,	17:46
	but it shall not be so among you,	17:52
	but whoever would be great among you	17:56
	must be your servant, and whoever would be	17:59
	first among you must be slave of all,	18:03
	for the Son of Man also came not to be served,	18:09
	but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' "	18:15
	(organ intonation)	18:31
	(choir singing)	18:57
-	There was once an old man who always	22:09
	had great difficulty staying awake in church.	22:11
	It was in the days when a warden	22:16
	would walk the aisles with a long birch rod	22:18
	and tap anyone on the shoulder who began nodding.	22:22
	So on this particular Sunday when	22:26
	the old man fell asleep, the warden came forward	22:27
	and tapped him gently upon one shoulder.	22:31
	The old man went on sleeping, so the warden then	22:34
	tapped him a bit harder on the other shoulder.	22:39
	The man continued to sleep, whereupon	22:43
	the pastor frowned, and shook his head,	22:46
	and then the warden took his stick	22:51
	and struck the old man on top of the head	22:54
	and knocked him out of the pew into the aisle	22:56
	and the old man was sprawled out in the aisle face down	22:59
	and after a moment, he lifted his head,	23:04
	squinted one eye open, and said,	23:08
	"Hit me again, I can still hear him."	23:12
	(congregation laughter)	23:16
	Now I doubt that the preacher got	23:24
	a laugh out of that, but at least the rest of us did.	23:25
	What is it that makes something funny anyhow?	23:30
	A surprising amount of effort has been devoted to that	23:35
	by philosophers and theologians and comedians	23:39
	all the way from the near side with Bill Cosby	23:43
	to the Far Side with Gary Larson.	23:46
	From Shakespeare to Cyrano or Steve Martin,	23:51
	whichever you prefer, from Freud to Bergson,	23:54
	from Kierkegaard to Niebuhr, they have asked	23:59
	the same question, what makes something funny.	24:03
	And what do they tell us?	24:06
	They tell us that something is funny	24:08
	if it is absurd, ludicrous, surprising.	24:11
	For example if you take a child to the circus	24:19
	and a clown walks in with paint on his face	24:22
	and a bulbous nose and slips down	24:25
	on a banana peel and falls down on the floor,	24:28
	you're not going to laugh at all,	24:32
	but the child will burst his sides laughing.	24:34
	You see, you know that clowns are supposed	24:39
	to do things like slipping on banana peels,	24:42
	and it's not funny to you, but it's hilarious	24:44
	to the child to see a grown up dressed in	24:48
	silly clothes with paint on his face	24:50
	and a big nose falling down on the floor.	24:52
	Life has a strange way whatever our age	24:57
	of bringing the absurd to us, and sometimes	25:03
	we laugh, and sometimes we cry.	25:07
	In our text this morning Abraham laughed.	25:13
	After all, what could be more ludicrous	25:18
	than to tell a 100 year old man with a 90 year old wife	25:22
	congratulations, you're going to have a baby.	25:26
	Just about the time Abraham and Sarah	25:31
	were ready to send out invitations	25:34
	to their golden wedding anniversary or maybe	25:37
	their diamond wedding anniversary, who knows,	25:39
	God said I am going to give you a baby.	25:43
	Abraham said to himself sure,	25:49
	exactly what we need.	25:53
	Here we've followed you, you unknown desert god	25:57
	halfway around the world on the promise	26:00
	that you would give us a great family	26:03
	and you haven't done it and now that we're too old	26:05
	to have children, maybe you're gonna make a	26:10
	little joke with old Abraham, ah,	26:13
	you're gonna tell old Abraham and	26:15
	Sarah now you're gonna have a baby.	26:17
	Well Abraham fell down on his face laughing,	26:21
	that's what the Scripture says,	26:25
	and Sarah got the silly giggles behind the tent flap.	26:28
	And God said to Abraham, what is she laughing at?	26:32
	And Sarah said, biting the side	26:38
	of her mouth, hey, I'm not laughing.	26:40
	And God said you are too.	26:44
	So God got into a tis-tain't argument with Sarah	26:48
	but you can hardly blame God, it's no fun being laughed at.	26:52
	I can still remember my first date,	26:56
	it was almost my last date.	26:59
	I was 13 and this girl called me up	27:03
	and invited me to go to a dance with her,	27:05
	a sodality dance.	27:10
	Now she was Catholic	27:14
	and I was Baptist,	27:18
	and I knew precious little about dancing	27:20
	and absolutely nothing about what a sodality was,	27:23
	but I did know it was a good thing to go on a date	27:26
	and so the girl told me, you need to wear a costume,	27:33
	we're having a costume party, it's a costume dance.	27:39
	And I said great, what do I wear?	27:43
	She said a costume, that's what a costume party is.	27:45
	Well then I had to decide what to wear	27:50
	I thought it sounded like a lot of fun	27:52
	I figured though that everybody would have chosen	27:54
	the things that you would first think of those days,	27:59
	maybe Superman suit	28:03
	or a Batman costume	28:07
	or something like that, so I chose Captain Midnight.	28:09
	Captain Midnight has long since passed	28:14
	into the realm of collectible comic books,	28:18
	but I decided I would go dressed	28:22
	as Captain Midnight, so I told my mother.	28:23
	I said mother I've got to get a costume.	28:26
	She said what is it, I said it's a Captain Midnight	28:29
	costume and she said it's okay, we'll make it.	28:35
	I said mother it has a cape, a yellow cape.	28:40
	She said it's no problem we'll make it.	28:44
	I said how are we gonna make a yellow cape, she says	28:47
	it's no problem, we'll take a yellow crayon	28:50
	and crayon it and we iron it and it makes it permanent.	28:52
	And I said mother, are you sure this is gonna be alright?	28:58
	She said don't worry, it'll be fine.	29:04
	So the night of the dance, my dad takes me,	29:07
	I'm wearing black leotards or something like that	29:10
	a crayon yellow cape, and a little black	29:14
	eye mask perched up on my forehead.	29:16
	We go to pick up Sally Collette, she comes out	29:19
	dressed like a gypsy, which except for a few	29:22
	extra bangles around her neck,	29:26
	was the way she dressed all the time.	29:28
	I was a little disappointed but I thought,	29:32
	well a gypsy costume, that's a costume.	29:35
	So my dad let us out in front of the old	29:39
	YWCA and said	29:42
	I'll be back to get you at 10.	29:45
	We went inside, I didn't know a single person there.	29:48
	All those kids went to St. John's.	29:53
	That wasn't the worst of it though.	29:56
	I was the only person there in costume.	30:00
	There was one guy over in the corner	30:06
	that had on a sailor cap and everybody else	30:09
	had on just tee shirts and blue jeans.	30:11
	I've got on a yellow cape, black leotards,	30:13
	and a little mask on top of my forehead.	30:16
	I'm 13, right, I'm dying. (congregation laughter)	30:20
	Honest to God, I don't know where Sally went,	30:29
	and I don't care where Sally went.	30:31
	I turned around and slipped out after a few minutes	30:33
	and sat in the adjoining room on an old	30:38
	horsehair sofa with one of those lamps with a	30:40
	40 watt bulb and fringe around the edges	30:43
	and ate vanilla wafers while a kind lady	30:46
	kept bringing me little cups of red punch	30:49
	and asking me "are you alright?" And	30:53
	"don't you wanna go back into the dance?"	30:55
	and I stood it about an hour and then I	31:00
	couldn't stand it anymore and I went outside	31:02
	and I hid in the hedge next to the brick wall	31:05
	across from the Trailways bus depot	31:09
	and I watched the buses come and go until finally	31:11
	I fished out the only nickel I had and went over	31:14
	and put it in the pay phone and I told my dad	31:16
	dad, if you love me, come and get me.	31:19
	(congregation laughs)	31:22
	And if it hadn't been for the lime sherbet	31:25
	on the way home, the whole evening	31:30
	would have been a total waste.	31:32
	It's no fun being laughed at and sometimes	31:35
	the pain of laughter can be the worst of all pains.	31:40
	Aristotle told us we laugh generally	31:47
	at those who are deformed or have defects.	31:52
	Cicero said we laugh at the ugly and the strange.	31:57
	Quintillian said laugher is generally in derision.	32:02
	But the truth is, the one	32:08
	who is doing the laughing	32:13
	or the one being laughed at is not the only one in pain	32:18
	sometimes the one doing the laughing	32:21
	is showing their pain by their laughing.	32:23
	For example, sarcastic laughter of Abraham and Sarah	32:27
	barely concealed their bitterness and cynicism.	32:30
	After all, God had made them a promise	32:36
	and that promise had not come true.	32:39
	We're told that great comedians are born	32:44
	from the people who have suffered the most.	32:48
	From the persecution of the Jews to the	32:53
	slavery of the blacks, frequently	32:55
	pain has been the birth pangs of laughter.	32:58
	Kierkegaard says the comic is our way	33:05
	of escaping despair, if only for a minute,	33:09
	and therefore it carries within it a seed of hope	33:12
	and because of that Kierkegaard says faith,	33:18
	laughter is a prelude to faith.	33:23
	It is not faith itself, but it is a prelude to faith.	33:26
	It acknowledges I do not run the world,	33:32
	I am not in charge of things, I can make a mistake.	33:37
	I don't control your life and so I can celebrate	33:42
	your joys at the same time	33:47
	I can laugh at my own humanity.	33:50
	The tragic person asserts against	33:55
	finitude and falls into despair.	34:00
	The comic person asserts against the same	34:05
	finitude, and laughs at the pretense of divinity.	34:08
	On that great day then, God showed up	34:17
	at the tent with a smile	34:21
	and said	34:26
	Abraham, surprise.	34:28
	And it was true, old Sarah	34:35
	was going to have a baby.	34:41
	What's going on here?	34:45
	God was showing them as God is showing us	34:50
	that God's promise is always born out of the impossible.	34:55
	The promise of our lives which we	35:02
	cannot make come true, God can make true.	35:05
	The promise of God is always born of the impossible.	35:11
	I've been struck in the last year	35:16
	in the study of the Scripture, that is not only	35:19
	a message of the New Testament, that is the message	35:22
	of the Bible all the way through.	35:25
	There is one great consistent message and that is	35:28
	God's promise is always born out of the impossible.	35:33
	From Noah's ark to the Resurrection, that is the message.	35:38
	From Abraham and Sarah's child Isaac	35:43
	to Hannah's child Samuel, to Elizabeth's child John,	35:48
	to Mary's child Jesus, that's the story.	35:53
	The promise of God comes out of the impossible.	35:58
	What we cannot do for ourselves	36:02
	God can do for us.	36:07
	Later on Paul will say, now I understand it,	36:11
	it's like that so none of us can boast and say	36:17
	look what we've accomplished, but rather	36:21
	we would have gratitude for God.	36:24
	So the baby was born to the geriatric couple	36:30
	and the next time that Sarah laughed	36:37
	is the first and last time in the whole Bible	36:40
	that laughter is not derision,	36:45
	but pure joy.	36:49
	And Sarah says, who can believe this?	36:53
	That my old husband should have a child,	36:59
	that I in my old age should have a baby?	37:03
	And she told Abraham I know already	37:09
	what we are going to name him,	37:11
	we're going to name him Isaac, laughter.	37:14
	And it must have been much more than average fun	37:23
	the first time they chucked little laughter	37:26
	under the chin and little laughter laughed.	37:30
	Later, Isaiah	37:40
	will pick up this story	37:44
	it will come back to Israel in another time	37:47
	of great pain, of captivity,	37:51
	a time of the impossible	37:55
	and like a football coach at halftime, Isaiah says,	37:58
	in Isaiah 51, listen to me,	38:01
	anybody	38:06
	who's looking for deliverance, you who seek the Lord,	38:07
	look to the rock from which you were hewn,	38:13
	and to the quarry from which you were digged.	38:18
	Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you	38:22
	for when he was just one person I called him	38:26
	and I blessed him and I made him many.	38:29
	For the Lord will comfort Zion, the Lord	38:35
	will comfort all her waste places and will make	38:38
	her wilderness like an Eden, her	38:41
	desert like the garden of the Lord.	38:44
	Joy and gladness will be found in her,	38:47
	thanksgiving and the voice of song.	38:50
	That's what God said to Israel	38:53
	in her depression	39:01
	and that's what God says to me and to you	39:04
	in our times of depression and despair as well,	39:09
	when our hurtling lives have smashed	39:14
	dead end up against an immovable force	39:18
	we never thought would touch our lives.	39:23
	When life has stamped a great canceled	39:26
	across all the promises of faith.	39:29
	Now boys, the football coach used to say,	39:36
	now we're going to find out what you're made of.	39:38
	Yes, and we as the children of God too need to	39:42
	look back to the rock from whence we are hewn	39:47
	and to see what we're made of.	39:51
	We're made of tough material,	39:56
	rugged old Abraham and Sarah, yes,	40:01
	but also	40:06
	a clown in a carpenter's suit,	40:09
	a buffoon in a royal robe,	40:13
	a dying man with a sign tacked over his head	40:17
	lampooning his life King of the Jews,	40:22
	a dying man with a dirty reed	40:28
	for a scepter in his hand and a thorn crown on his brow.	40:31
	Remember this,	40:39
	the kingdom still rides in	40:42
	on a donkey, the promise	40:46
	always comes forth from tombs.	40:51
	God could have had the last laugh on Abraham and Sarah,	40:56
	but God let them have it,	41:01
	and God does the same for us,	41:05
	the last laugh	41:09
	is God's and yours.	41:12
	Let's pray together.	41:18
	Oh God, we who are the most humorous of all your creation,	41:27
	ask you to come to us	41:37
	in our despair	41:41
	when our lives are barren and our hopes are stillborn,	41:45
	resurrect our dreams	41:53
	from the tombs.	41:58
	By the hand of the carpenter clown	42:01
	who lives and promises	42:09
	and fulfills evermore.	42:13
	Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.	42:16
	(organ music)	42:25
	(choir singing)	42:58
Woman	The Lord be with you.	45:25
Congregation	And also with you.	45:27
Woman	Let us pray.	45:29
	Oh God of Sarah and Abraham, Lord of all generations,	45:39
	hear our prayers of wonder and praise	45:47
	for your steadfast love from age to age.	45:50
	We thank you for touching the lives	45:54
	of those who have gone before us.	45:57
	And we thank you for their testimony with us still.	46:00
	We remember with joy your faithfulness	46:05
	and goodness to them, to us, and to all people.	46:08
	We honor and glorify you	46:13
	for your mighty works done in this community of faith.	46:15
	Hear our prayers for those who have not yet	46:20
	heard or claimed your promise.	46:24
	Open their eyes and ears by the power of your Holy Spirit	46:28
	that they may know and worship you.	46:33
	Grant to your church we pray the zeal	46:36
	to proclaim your loving kindness with deeds and words	46:40
	that the homeless, the sick, the imprisoned	46:45
	and the persecuted may discover with gladness	46:50
	divine mercy in your covenant people.	46:54
	Gracious God our savior, we pray for all who have answered	46:59
	your call to follow you in paths of service.	47:05
	Grant courage to those who want to be disciples	47:09
	but waver when they learn the cost.	47:12
	Comfort those who drink from a cup	47:17
	of suffering today, that they may know	47:20
	their trials are not without purpose.	47:22
	Make plain the path for those committed	47:26
	to faithful living who are uncertain of the way.	47:28
	Deliver us and all your children	47:33
	from pride, unbelief and small mindedness	47:36
	as you continue to make covenant with your people.	47:41
	By your holy spirit, teach your disciples	47:46
	to value patience more than prestige,	47:50
	sanctity more than salary,	47:54
	righteousness more than riches,	47:58
	always with an eye to glorifying	48:01
	Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name we pray, amen.	48:04
	And now in response to the word read and proclaimed,	48:12
	let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	48:16
	(organ music)	48:23
	("Blessed Are They whom Thou Hast Chosen" by Tchaikovsky)	49:27
	♪ How blessed are they ♪	49:29
	♪ How blessed are they ♪	49:33
	♪ Whom thou hast chosen ♪	49:42
	♪ Chosen and taken ♪	49:55
	♪ Whom thou hast chosen and taken ♪	50:02
	♪ Unto thee oh Lord ♪	50:08
	♪ How blessed are they ♪	50:13
	♪ How blessed are they ♪	50:19
	♪ How blessed are they ♪	50:25
	♪ Whom thou has taken unto thee ♪	50:35
	♪ Oh Lord ♪	50:43
	♪ Their memory is from generation ♪	50:48
	♪ To generation ♪	50:55
	♪ From generation ♪	51:00
	♪ To generation ♪	51:06
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:20
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:25
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:32
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:35
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:38
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:41
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:44
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:47
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:50
	♪ Alleluia ♪	51:54
	♪ Alleluia ♪	52:00
	♪ Alleluia ♪	52:10
	♪ Alleluia ♪	52:17
	(organ music)	52:28
	("Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow")	53:20
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	53:41
	♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪	53:47
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	53:52
	♪ Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host ♪	53:59
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ♪	54:05
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	54:11
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	54:17
	♪ Alleluia ♪	54:23
	♪ Amen ♪	54:31
Woman	Almighty God, the source	54:41
	of all our comfort and joy, receive these gifts	54:44
	as we dedicate them and ourselves anew unto thee.	54:48
	Consecrate for us the experience and resolves	54:53
	of this hour, and lead us in the way	54:56
	of true understanding and fruitful service	54:59
	through Jesus Christ our Lord,	55:03
	who taught us to pray together, saying,	55:06
	Our Father who art in heaven	55:09
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	55:12
	thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.	55:16
	Give us this day our daily bread	55:21
	and forgive us our trespasses as we	55:24
	forgive those who trespass against us,	55:27
	and lead us not into temptation	55:30
	but deliver us from evil, for thine	55:33
	is the kingdom, and the power,	55:36
	and the glory, forever, amen.	55:38
	("Rejoice the Lord is King")	55:45
	♪ Rejoice, the Lord is King ♪	56:20
	♪ Your Lord and King adore ♪	56:24
	♪ Rejoice, give thanks and sing ♪	56:29
	♪ And triumph evermore ♪	56:32
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	56:39
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪	56:44
	♪ I say, rejoice ♪	56:48
	♪ Jesus, the Savior, reigns, ♪	56:56
	♪ The God of truth and love ♪	57:01
	♪ When He has purged our stains ♪	57:06
	♪ He took his seat above ♪	57:10
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	57:16
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪	57:21
	♪ I say, rejoice! ♪	57:26
	♪ His kingdom cannot fail ♪	57:33
	♪ He rules o'er earth and heav'n ♪	57:38
	♪ The keys of death and hell ♪	57:44
	♪ Are to our Jesus giv'n ♪	57:47
	♪ Lift up your heart ♪	57:53
	♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪	57:59
	♪ I say, rejoice ♪	58:04
	♪ Rejoice in glorious hope ♪	58:14
	♪ Our Lord and judge shall come ♪	58:17
	♪ And take His servants up ♪	58:22
	♪ To their eternal home ♪	58:26
	♪ Lift up your heart, ♪	58:33
	♪ Lift up your voice! rejoice, again ♪	58:38
	♪ I say, rejoice! ♪	58:43
-	And now may the peace of God which passes all	58:54
	understanding keep your hearts and minds	58:57
	in the knowledge and love of God	59:00
	and of Jesus Christ our Lord and the blessing	59:03
	of God almighty, father, son, and Holy Spirit	59:06
	be with you now and evermore, amen.	59:11
	(organ music)	59:16

Item Info

Title:

Clyde Fant - Sermon Untitled (October 16, 1988)

Description:

Laughter is often the birth pangs of hope. In seemingly impossible situations, God's rescue comes to us in the comic absurd, much in the same way that Jesus, the king who road in on a donkey, brought life out of death. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 22:09. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 41:20.
Key quotation: “There is one great consistent message, and that is God’s promise is always born out of the impossible.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4bc3tc1f

Date:

October 16, 1988

Speaker:

Fant, Clyde E.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0339
ref10395_14i
uachapelsermaud
duke:321743
dcrmv001325
ark:/87924/r4bc3tc1f
69510275-2cb2-4a68-9df7-693cf3de7eba

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Clyde Fant - Sermon Untitled (October 16, 1988)

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

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