William H. Willimon - "Returning" (December 5, 1993)

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	(man singing)	0:00
	(organ playing)	0:14
	(man singing)	0:45
	(organ playing)	1:04
-	Welcome to Duke University Chapel	1:56
	on this, the second Sunday in the season of Advent.	1:58
	This weekend our chapel choir	2:03
	has three performances of Messiah	2:05
	to over 5,000 people who've attended these performances.	2:08
	They have one more performance this afternoon.	2:12
	And tickets are still available	2:16
	one hour before the performance here at the chapel.	2:19
	We welcome this morning, leading us in our music,	2:23
	the Southern Piedmont Children's Choir	2:26
	from Asheboro, North Carolina,	2:28
	under the direction of Mr. John Simons	2:31
	and we welcome them for their first visit to Duke Chapel.	2:35
	And now let us stand for the greeting.	2:39
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	2:45
Congregation	And also with you.	2:49
-	Our redemption is drawing nigh.	2:50
Congregation	Praise to the Lord.	2:53
	(organ playing)	2:59
	♪ Oh come oh come ♪	3:44
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	3:46
	♪ And ransom ♪	3:50
	♪ Captive Israel ♪	3:52
	♪ That mourns ♪	3:57
	♪ In lonely exile here ♪	3:59
	♪ Until the Son of God ♪	4:04
	♪ Appear ♪	4:09
	♪ Rejoice ♪	4:11
	♪ Rejoice ♪	4:14
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	4:17
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	4:20
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	4:23
	♪ Oh come, oh wisdom ♪	4:29
	♪ From on high ♪	4:32
	♪ That ordered all things ♪	4:36
	♪ Mightily ♪	4:39
	♪ To us the path ♪	4:43
	♪ Of knowledge show ♪	4:45
	♪ And bless us in our ♪	4:50
	♪ Ways to go ♪	4:53
	♪ Rejoice ♪	4:57
	♪ Rejoice ♪	4:59
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	5:02
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	5:05
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	5:07
	♪ Oh come, oh come ♪	5:13
	♪ Great Lord of might ♪	5:16
	♪ Who to thy tribes ♪	5:21
	♪ On Sinai's height ♪	5:23
	♪ In ancient times ♪	5:27
	♪ Didst give the law ♪	5:30
	♪ In cloud and majesty ♪	5:34
	♪ And awe ♪	5:39
	♪ Rejoice ♪	5:42
	♪ Rejoice ♪	5:44
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	5:47
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	5:50
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	5:53
	♪ Oh, come ♪	6:00
	♪ Thou Root of Jesse's tree ♪	6:01
	♪ And ensign ♪	6:07
	♪ Of thy people be ♪	6:09
	♪ Before thee ♪	6:14
	♪ Rulers silent fall ♪	6:16
	♪ All peoples ♪	6:21
	♪ On thy mercy call ♪	6:23
	♪ Rejoice ♪	6:28
	♪ Rejoice ♪	6:31
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	6:33
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	6:37
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	6:39
	♪ Oh come ♪	6:47
	♪ Thou key of David ♪	6:48
	♪ Come ♪	6:52
	♪ And open wide ♪	6:54
	♪ Our heavenly home ♪	6:56
	♪ Make safe the way ♪	7:00
	♪ That leads on high ♪	7:03
	♪ And close the path ♪	7:08
	♪ To misery ♪	7:10
	♪ Rejoice ♪	7:15
	♪ Rejoice ♪	7:17
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	7:20
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	7:24
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	7:26
	♪ Oh come ♪	7:33
	♪ Thou dayspring ♪	7:35
	♪ Come and cheer ♪	7:37
	♪ Our spirits ♪	7:40
	♪ By thine Advent here ♪	7:42
	♪ Disperse the gloomy ♪	7:47
	♪ Clouds of night ♪	7:50
	♪ And death's dark shadows ♪	7:55
	♪ Put to flight ♪	7:57
	♪ Rejoice ♪	8:01
	♪ Rejoice ♪	8:05
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	8:07
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	8:11
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	8:13
	♪ Oh come ♪	8:20
	♪ Desire of nations ♪	8:22
	♪ Bind ♪	8:26
	♪ Every heart sing ♪	8:28
	♪ Of all mankind ♪	8:30
	♪ Bid though our sad ♪	8:35
	♪ Divisions cease ♪	8:38
	♪ Deliver us from ♪	8:42
	♪ Way to go ♪	8:45
	♪ Rejoice ♪	8:49
	♪ Rejoice ♪	8:52
	♪ Emmanuel ♪	8:55
	♪ Shall come to thee ♪	8:58
	♪ Oh Israel ♪	9:01
-	Let us pray.	9:10
	Come, Christ Jesus,	9:15
	be our guest	9:17
	and may our lives by you be blessed.	9:20
	Come, God, with us,	9:23
	and free us from the false claims	9:26
	of the empires of this world.	9:28
	We are lonely for you and your peace.	9:31
	Come, Emmanuel,	9:36
	and dwell with us.	9:38
	Make us your people ,indeed.	9:40
	The people through whom you bring	9:43
	love and justice to the world.	9:45
	Come, Jesus,	9:49
	and reign.	9:50
	Claim your rightful place in our hearts	9:52
	and in the midst of our community.	9:55
	Plant the seeds of hope among us.	9:58
	Establish God's reign on Earth	10:01
	for we pray as you taught us	10:05
	that God's reign might come in fullness on Earth.	10:08
	Amen.	10:13
	You may be seated.	10:15
-	Please join me in the Prayer for Illumination.	10:27
Everyone	Open our hearts and minds God,	10:32
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	10:37
	so that the word is read and proclaimed.	10:40
	We might be prepared for your Advent among us.	10:44
	Amen.	10:48
-	The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah,	10:51
	chapter 40, starting with verse one.	10:53
	Comfort, oh comfort, my people, says the Lord.	10:58
	Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her	11:02
	as she has served her term.	11:06
	Tell her that her penalty is paid.	11:09
	That she has received from the Lord's hand	11:12
	double for all her sins.	11:14
	A voice cries out	11:18
	in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.	11:20
	Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	11:23
	Every valley shall be lifted up.	11:27
	Every mountain and hill be made low.	11:29
	The uneven ground shall become level	11:33
	and the rough places a plain."	11:36
	Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed	11:39
	and all people shall see it together.	11:42
	For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.	11:45
	A voice says, "Cry out,"	11:48
	and I said, what shall I cry?	11:50
	All people are grass.	11:53
	Their constancy is like the flower of the field.	11:55
	The grass withers, the flower fades	11:58
	when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.	12:01
	Surely the people are grass.	12:04
	The grass withers, the flower fades,	12:07
	but the Word of our God will stand forever.	12:10
	Get you up to a high mountain,	12:14
	oh Zion, herald of good tidings.	12:16
	Lift up your voice with strength,	12:19
	oh Jerusalem, herald of good tidings.	12:21
	Lift it up, do not fear.	12:25
	Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God."	12:27
	See the Lord God comes with might	12:31
	and his arm rules for him.	12:35
	His reward is with him and his recompense before him.	12:37
	He will feed his flock like a shepard.	12:42
	He will gather the lambs in his arms	12:45
	and carry them in his bosom	12:48
	and gently lead those that are with young.	12:50
	This is the Word of the Lord.	12:54
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	12:57
-	The Gospel lesson comes from the Gospel of Mark,	13:00
	chapter one, starting with verse one.	13:03
	In the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ,	13:13
	the son of God,	13:16
	as it is written in the Prophet Isaiah,	13:18
	see I am sending my messenger ahead of you	13:21
	who will prepare your way,	13:25
	the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,	13:28
	"Prepare the way of the Lord.	13:31
	"Make his path straight."	13:34
	John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness	13:37
	proclaiming a baptism of repentance	13:40
	for the forgiveness of sins.	13:43
	And people from the whole Judean countryside	13:46
	and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him	13:50
	and were baptized by him in the River Jordan	13:54
	confessing their sins.	13:57
	Now John was clothed with camel's hair	14:00
	with a leather belt around his waist	14:03
	and he ate locusts and wild honey.	14:06
	He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful	14:09
	"than I is coming after me.	14:13
	"I am not worthy to stoop down	14:16
	"and untie the thong of his sandals.	14:18
	"I have baptized you with water,	14:22
	"but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."	14:25
	This is the Word of the Lord.	14:32
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	14:34
-	The Psalter is found on page 806.	14:41
	We will do verses one through two and eight through 13.	14:44
	Please stand and read responsively.	14:49
	Lord, you showed favor to your land,	15:02
	you restored the fortunes of Jacob.	15:05
Congregation	You forgave their iniquity.	15:09
	You pardoned their sin.	15:12
-	Let me hear what God will speak,	15:15
	for the Lord will speak peace to his people,	15:18
	to his faithful,	15:21
	to those who turn to the Lord in their hearts.	15:23
Congregation	Surely salvation is at hand	15:26
	for those who fear the Lord,	15:29
	that his glory may dwell in our land.	15:31
-	Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet,	15:34
	righteousness and peace will kiss each other.	15:38
Congregation	Faithfulness will spring up	15:43
	from the ground, and righteousness	15:45
	will look down from the sky.	15:47
-	The Lord will give what is good	15:50
	and our land will yield its increase.	15:52
Congregation	Righteousness will go before the Lord,	15:57
	and will make a path for his steps.	15:59
	(organ playing)	16:03
	♪ Glory be ♪	16:12
	♪ To all who came ♪	16:15
	♪ Praise to all ♪	16:19
	♪ Who heed that call ♪	16:22
	♪ Glory be ♪	16:27
	♪ To us the same ♪	16:30
	♪ Forever be ♪	16:34
	♪ And ever ♪	16:38
	♪ As the ocean ♪	16:42
	♪ Love believe ♪	16:46
	♪ Now let ♪	16:50
	♪ Every voice shall heed ♪	16:53
-	You may be seated.	17:01
	(organ music)	17:03
	(gentle piano music)	18:31
	(choir singing)	18:45
	(slow organ music)	20:28
-	That was wonderful music from young voices and	21:58
	this chapel has been a place for wonderful music	22:02
	this entire weekend	22:05
	with the choirs' performances of Messiah.	22:07
	Messiah begins on a somber chord.	22:12
	And then the oratorio	22:16
	climbs until a clear,	22:20
	tenor voice pierces the gloom	22:23
	with these words from Isaiah.	22:26
	"Comfort ye,	22:30
	"comfort ye my people.	22:32
	"The voice of him who cries in the wilderness,	22:36
	"prepare ye the way of the Lord,	22:39
	"make straight in the desert	22:41
	"a highway for our God."	22:44
	Last Sunday in the first lesson and in Debra's sermon,	22:48
	we heard Isaiah speak	22:53
	to people in wilderness,	22:56
	in Babylonian exile,	22:59
	a people lost, orphaned.	23:01
	Isaiah the prophet told those exiles,	23:06
	"We have sinned,	23:11
	"we have become like one who is unclean	23:13
	"like a filthy rag, we fade like a leaf.	23:16
	"In our iniquities, like the wind, they take us away."	23:21
	And it is into this forlorn,	23:27
	self-deprecating exilic gloom	23:30
	that Isaiah at last speaks these words.	23:34
	"Comfort, comfort ye my people,"	23:39
	"says your God.	23:43
	"In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,	23:45
	"make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	23:48
	"Every valley shall be lifted up.	23:52
	"Every mountain and hill shall be made low."	23:54
	It is a prophetic announcement	23:59
	of a divine highway construction program	24:01
	through the wilderness, through the lostness,	24:04
	from Babylonian exile back home.	24:09
	Would you please note that the prophet says	24:14
	that God's highway is a straight road?	24:17
	Ordinarily the way back from Babylonia	24:21
	was a circuitous path around the fertile crescent,	24:24
	around the desert back to Israel.	24:28
	But this road is straight through the desert,	24:33
	right through the wilderness.	24:38
	And note that it is the Lord	24:41
	who will be traveling that road,	24:43
	leading these forlorn exiles homeward.	24:45
	We're hearing an announcement of homecoming.	24:49
	Israel is coming home.	24:54
	My last church was next to the synagogue in Greenville.	25:00
	And the Rabbi and I used to get together	25:04
	for coffee on Mondays	25:06
	and I was noting to the Rabbi one Monday morning	25:08
	that we were being surprised	25:12
	by an influx of young adults	25:15
	coming back to church,	25:18
	young adults, always the hardest group	25:19
	in the church to reach.	25:21
	They're always off on the weekends skiing or something.	25:22
	But they were coming back to church, single, young adults.	25:25
	"What was this?" I asked the Rabbi.	25:28
	"Is this like the Reagan years or our growing conservatism	25:30
	"or what is this?	25:34
	"So do you have this over at the synagogue?"	25:35
	And he said, "Sure, there's hardly a week goes by	25:38
	"I don't have some young person show up and say	25:41
	"I want to be a Jew again.	25:44
	"My parents attended synagogue a couple of times a year	25:47
	"but I want more, I want to be a Jew again."	25:52
	And I said to the Rabbi, "Now, what, what is this?	25:57
	"What do you think this is?"	26:00
	And he said to me,	26:03
	"I think they're looking for their parents."	26:05
	You got a generation that's been raised	26:09
	by another generation so uncertain of its own values	26:11
	it didn't dare try to pass it on to the young.	26:14
	They're looking for roots,	26:17
	looking for an identity.	26:19
	They're looking for their parents.	26:20
	They're looking for home.	26:24
	In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.	26:30
	Make straight in the desert	26:35
	a highway for God.	26:38
	And surely with these words,	26:43
	Isaiah means for us	26:44
	to think of an earlier exodus through the wilderness.	26:46
	If you remember that story,	26:51
	you remember that getting rid of Pharaoh	26:52
	was not the toughest task in the exodus.	26:55
	Because once getting rid of Pharaoh's slavery	26:58
	we had to make the way through the wilderness	27:02
	and that took 40 years of wandering	27:05
	through the wilderness waste	27:08
	to get to the promised land.	27:12
	And by the way, when you hear this word wilderness,	27:14
	you're not to think back to nature freaks	27:17
	living in their pre-fab cabin in the woods.	27:21
	You're not to think about granola visions	27:24
	of a week in the Adirondacks hiking on your vacation.	27:26
	No, you're to think with Biblical wilderness,	27:30
	the place where Israel almost lost it.	27:33
	The wilderness for Israel is a place where wild beasts	27:36
	and apostasy and temptation and sin	27:39
	and a bewildered 40-year wandering	27:43
	with no star to guide.	27:47
	It took Israel 40 years of wandering	27:50
	in the wilderness to get home.	27:53
	I know a man that it took 40 years of wandering	27:57
	in the wilderness to get home.	28:00
	The writer Dan Wakefield in a popular book, "Returning"	28:05
	tells in that book	28:10
	of how he left	28:11
	the church, he left religion,	28:14
	how his life as an adult	28:17
	became unglued, chaotic, confused.	28:19
	And then at midlife,	28:25
	here's how he tells it.	28:28
	"I cannot pinpoint any particular time	28:31
	"when suddenly I believed in God again.	28:34
	"I only know that such belief came to seem as natural	28:38
	"as all but a few stray moments of 25 or more years before	28:43
	"it had been inconceivable.	28:48
	"I realized this while looking at fish.	28:51
	"I'd gone with my girlfriend to the New England Aquarium,	28:56
	"and as we gazed at the astonishingly brilliant colors	28:59
	"of some of the small tropical fish,	29:03
	"reds and yellows, oranges.	29:06
	"As I watch the amazing lights	29:09
	"of the flashlight fish that blinked on	29:12
	"like beacons of some creature in a sci-fi epic.	29:14
	"Suddenly, I wondered how anyone could think	29:19
	"that all of this was the result of some chain	29:22
	"of accidental explosions.	29:25
	"And yet to try to convince me otherwise	29:29
	"five years before would have been hopeless.	29:31
	"Was this what they call conversion?	29:35
	"The term bothered me because it suggested being born again	29:39
	"and like many of my contemporaries,	29:42
	"I had been put off by the melodramatic	29:44
	"nature of that label,	29:46
	"as well as the current political beliefs	29:48
	"that seem to go along with it.	29:50
	"Besides, I didn't feel reborn.	29:52
	"No voice came out of the sky,	29:56
	"no thunderclap struck me.	29:57
	"I was relieved when later	30:01
	"in conversation with our minister,	30:03
	"he explained that the literal translation of conversion	30:06
	"is not rebirth or born again,	30:09
	"but it is turning.	30:12
	"And that's what my own experience with God felt like.	30:16
	"Turning, as if I've been walking in one direction	30:20
	"and then in response to some inner pull,	30:24
	"I turn.	30:28
	"I returned."	30:30
	Get you up to a high mountain oh Zion	30:35
	herald of good tidings.	30:38
	Lift up your voice, say to the cities of Judah,	30:40
	"Here is your God."	30:42
	Wilderness here, is a metaphor	30:47
	for exile homelessness.	30:50
	It was from the wilderness I remind you	30:53
	that John the baptist appeared.	30:56
	And when John Baptist intrudes on the scene	30:59
	here earlier in the Gospel of Mark,	31:03
	he is quoting Isaiah,	31:06
	"Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight."	31:08
	Mark says in the first chapter,	31:12
	the first verse of this probably the first Gospel.	31:14
	This is the beginning of the Good News of Jesus.	31:18
	And the beginning of the Good News of Jesus	31:22
	is an announcement, a voice,	31:24
	a voice crying in the wilderness,	31:27
	"Prepare the way of the Lord, make his highway straight.	31:29
	"Come home."	31:34
	Note that the Good News is that this is God's highway.	31:37
	God brings homeless people back home.	31:44
	This is all from the initiative of God.	31:49
	I teach a first year student seminar	31:52
	here with Marv Hague,	31:55
	called "The search for meaning in life."	31:57
	And I talked to the students about,	32:00
	humanity's search for meaning,	32:03
	and they talked to me about,	32:05
	"The Freshman search for an easy A, and"	32:06
	that's how we enjoy thinking of ourselves	32:11
	as people on a search.	32:13
	We're all searching for meaning	32:15
	and we're searching for God	32:17
	and we're busy searching to answers	32:18
	for life's tough questions.	32:22
	But please note here,	32:27
	that nobody has been searching for God.	32:30
	The text tells us that it is God	32:33
	who is began searching for Israel.	32:36
	This is what God is doing,	32:40
	where God is going,	32:42
	God dragging Israel along behind him	32:44
	down the straight road back home.	32:46
	Nobody asked for John the baptist,	32:49
	John the baptist just intruded among us	32:51
	and this began the Good News.	32:54
	This is why we think the Philosopher Fowler Bach was wrong.	32:57
	Religion is not our projection out there toward God,	33:01
	we need God, so we just dream up some God that we need,	33:04
	no, the story says,	33:08
	God has projected himself towards us.	33:11
	It is God who's made this highway toward us.	33:14
	The way out of the wilderness	33:19
	is a way initiated by God.	33:22
	So the question is not what am I looking for?	33:26
	Or what would it take for me	33:30
	to grope my way back home?	33:32
	The question is,	33:36
	what road is God constructing towards me?	33:38
	What road do you think God might be building	33:44
	towards you this day?	33:46
	Christmas is a time for home coming.	33:51
	You look out on any mid to late December congregation	33:56
	and you will see	33:59
	a lot of exiles come back.	34:01
	You see kids home from the college or for the holidays.	34:05
	Why is relatives from the east bearing gifts?	34:10
	And you always see exiles,	34:14
	come back to church.	34:18
	And you know that sometimes we preachers make wisecracks	34:21
	about these lost sheep	34:24
	who always wander in from the cold every year,	34:26
	about late December around Christmas time.	34:29
	"Where have you been all year?"	34:32
	We ask, or "See you next year on Easter."	34:33
	Wisecracks like that.	34:36
	But why not?	34:39
	Why not homecoming?	34:41
	And why not now?	34:44
	Have you been on exile?	34:47
	What voice has beckoned you back?	34:50
	How was your way been smoothed back?	34:54
	What road is God building back towards you today?	34:59
	Maybe their words,	35:06
	words, spoken by somebody else to somebody else	35:08
	but you heard them as if	35:12
	they were words spoken only to you.	35:14
	Or that face from the past	35:18
	or that vaguely felt, but nevertheless,	35:20
	real annoying sense of yearning,	35:24
	that echo, that echo deep	35:27
	within the soul's memory upon hearing again,	35:29
	a Christmas Carol not really heard since childhood.	35:32
	That coincidence,	35:37
	which may not have been merely coincidental.	35:40
	In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,	35:46
	make straight in the desert,	35:49
	a highway for our God.	35:51
	One of the things used to annoy me as a pastor was	35:58
	these people who would show up at church	36:02
	with little Janie in tow,	36:04
	usually about the fall	36:06
	and they would say, "Do you have a Sunday school class	36:08
	"for six year olds?"	36:11
	And I would say, yes, we do.	36:14
	And they said, "Well, good.	36:15
	"Little Janie is starting school	36:16
	"and she's starting brownies and ballet lessons.	36:18
	"And we thought it would be good if little Janie	36:20
	"would come here about Jesus."	36:22
	And I would think to myself,	36:26
	look, don't do us any favors.	36:28
	This isn't a free babysitting service.	36:31
	I would say to them now,	36:34
	would you be interested in a church school class for adults?	36:35
	And they would say "Oh, no, no, no, we've we've, we...	36:39
	"but little Janie is the brownies in the ballet and Jesus.	36:43
	"And we if we have time, we may come occasionally."	36:48
	It might really tick me off.	36:53
	(congregation laughing)	36:55
	But I was saying this to a psychiatry friend of mine,	36:58
	and my psychiatry, his friend said,	37:02
	"You know, I'm always as a psychiatrist,	37:04
	"kind of skeptical about the reasons	37:07
	"people give for their actions."	37:09
	What happens to people	37:13
	when their oldest child reaches school age?	37:15
	The child is leaving the safe womb of the home,	37:19
	new things are assaulting the family from the outside,	37:24
	parents report they have increasing arguments	37:27
	about values and behavior	37:30
	and many marriages are going	37:34
	through a difficult time of transition	37:35
	and so maybe people unable to come forward and say,	37:40
	"Look, we're scared.	37:45
	"We need help, support."	37:48
	It's easier to come and say,	37:52
	"Look, little Jennie needs help and support	37:54
	"and she needs Sunday school."	37:58
	In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,	38:05
	make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.	38:09
	Wilderness whenever it occurs in Scripture,	38:15
	is a name for that place,	38:18
	that place which is no place,	38:21
	where you lose your way,	38:25
	and you wander from the path	38:27
	and you get lost,	38:31
	and it's dark.	38:33
	Exile is that name for that time	38:36
	when we become enslaved to false gods	38:40
	and we bowed down to the wrong alters	38:44
	and we serve an alien Empire,	38:46
	we sell out, we forget.	38:48
	And here's a voice that calls people home,	38:54
	down a high way God has prepared.	38:59
	Fred Craddick remembers	39:04
	a little girl from one of his early churches.	39:07
	Her parents sent her to church	39:14
	and Fred said he could see the parents	39:16
	that would pull in every Sunday, just before 10:00 o'clock,	39:19
	and they would stop that car in the circular driveway	39:21
	and the little girl would jump out	39:24
	and come to Sunday school.	39:26
	And then they would go on to breakfast or read the paper	39:27
	or whatever they were gonna do.	39:29
	He said it was so convenient.	39:30
	The church had sort of a circular driveway,	39:32
	where they could just pull in,	39:33
	and they just stopped for a moment	39:34
	and they could pull right out.	39:36
	And her father was an executive	39:39
	for the local chemical plant in town	39:42
	and he was upwardly mobile,	39:44
	and he was on his way up, he was ambitious.	39:46
	And the whole town told stories about the parties	39:51
	that they threw at their house every Saturday night.	39:54
	Parties not throwing entertainment value,	39:58
	but rather, as part of the whole upwardly mobile program.	40:01
	And people were invited	40:06
	and there were stories about the wild, vulgar things	40:08
	that took place at those Saturday night parties.	40:12
	But every Sunday, like clockwork,	40:16
	there was the big car pulling in	40:18
	and the door open the little girl jumping out.	40:20
	One Sunday, Craddick says he was preaching,	40:25
	he looked at over the congregation	40:27
	and he noticed that there were two adults	40:29
	sitting with a little girl at her place in the pew,	40:30
	and he thought to himself must be a couple of adult friends	40:35
	that have come with her this morning.	40:40
	But at the end of the service when the final hymn was sung	40:43
	and as was the custom the invitation given.	40:46
	He was shocked to see these two adults coming down the aisle	40:50
	with their little girl.	40:53
	And he realized this was mom and dad.	40:55
	And they came forward and they said	40:59
	they wanted to join the church.	41:00
	And after service, Craddick asked them,	41:03
	"What's going on here?	41:07
	"What does this mean?	41:08
	How did you get down that aisle?	41:11
	How did you get here?	41:13
	And the man said,	41:17
	"Do you know about our parties?"	41:21
	"Yeah, I heard of your parties." said the pastor.	41:23
	"Well, we had one last night again,	41:27
	"and it got a little loud, there was a good bit of drinking,	41:29
	"and it got a little rough	41:32
	"and all the noise downstairs woke up our daughter.	41:35
	"And in the middle of this party,	41:40
	"we looked up and here was our daughter	41:42
	"coming down the stairs.	41:43
	"And she stopped at about the fourth step	41:46
	"and she looked out over the throng,	41:48
	"and she could see that we were eating	41:51
	"and she could see that we were drinking and she said,	41:52
	"Oh, can I have the blessing?	41:57
	"And she just stood there,	42:01
	"and she said, Let us pray.	42:02
	"God is great, God is good,	42:04
	"Let us thank him for our food.	42:07
	"Good night, everybody."	42:11
	And she went back upstairs.	42:14
	And people just stood there and then somebody said,	42:17
	"Well, it's getting late, we better be going."	42:20
	And someone else said,	42:23
	"You know, this has been wonderful but we've got to."	42:24
	And then in 10 minutes, the place was empty.	42:26
	And we gathered up the glasses,	42:31
	picked up the peanuts off the floor,	42:34
	the half sandwiches took them back into the kitchen.	42:35
	And we stood there for a moment in the kitchen	42:40
	and I looked over the tray and I said to my wife,	42:42
	"Where do we think we're going?"	42:48
	God had come out for them.	42:55
	Remembrance.	42:59
	Homecoming.	43:02
	In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord	43:06
	make straight in the desert a highway for God.	43:09
	Every valley should be lifted up,	43:12
	every mountain will be made low.	43:13
	Here is your God.	43:17
	(organ music)	43:28
	(choir singing)	44:12
-	The Lord be with you.	47:18
	(congregation speaking)	47:19
	Let us pray.	47:21
	O God of the straight way	47:35
	we give you thanks for coming to us again and again,	47:38
	through all the desert places of our lives.	47:43
	We are grateful that when we find ourselves	47:48
	lost in the wilderness,	47:51
	with no idea how we wound up so confused,	47:53
	so turned around,	47:58
	you break through	48:01
	making a path through the trackless sands.	48:03
	You find us	48:07
	and you make a way for us out of no way.	48:09
	How awesome is your love for us?	48:16
	Blessing and honor	48:20
	and glory and power be unto the God	48:22
	who has made a straight path to us	48:26
	through the desert.	48:29
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	48:31
	Lord, we give thanks	48:36
	that no matter what desert we have existed in,	48:37
	you meet us there and lead us home.	48:41
	Whether we have been dried out by the demands of work,	48:45
	or school, or family,	48:49
	or whether we have saw the dry wells of success,	48:54
	popularity, or escape,	48:58
	or whether we have simply lost our way	49:03
	through conflicting values,	49:06
	narrow visions, and selfish pursuits.	49:08
	Whatever has dried us out,	49:13
	you come to us	49:16
	like a cool shower to parched land,	49:18
	renewing us,	49:22
	making us a new,	49:24
	for the new possibilities you create,	49:28
	and the comfort you give,	49:30
	we give you thanks,	49:34
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	49:36
	As you have cared for us,	49:41
	so you have also called us to care for one another.	49:43
	Therefore, we offer these prayers not only for ourselves,	49:48
	but for the whole world.	49:52
	For those who are anxious, and afraid.	49:56
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:02
	For those who are ill,	50:07
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:13
	For those who are facing difficult decisions,	50:18
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:25
	For those who are feeling left out, and are alone,	50:31
	especially during the holidays,	50:35
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:41
	For those who are mourning losses,	50:47
	and for those who are feeling deep sadness,	50:50
	because of seasons past,	50:53
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	51:00
	And for those who are feeling especially grateful,	51:05
	and are filled with joy	51:09
	because of some new and wonderful thing in their lives.	51:11
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	51:20
	We ask all these things	51:24
	through the one who's coming is certain,	51:26
	who draws near to us in straight paths.	51:29
	Your son, our Lord Jesus Christ,	51:33
	who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,	51:36
	one God forever and ever,	51:40
	Amen.	51:43
	Let us offer ourselves and our gifts with thanksgiving.	51:47
	(soft organ music)	51:56
	(gentle piano music)	53:31
	(choir singing)	53:44
	(gentle piano music)	56:26
	(choir singing)	56:47
	(organ music)	58:58
	(church singing)	1:00:24
	Let us pray.	1:01:21
	O God, most merciful and gracious	1:01:24
	of whose bounty we have all received,	1:01:27
	accept this offering of your people.	1:01:31
	Remember in your love those who have brought it,	1:01:34
	and those for whom it is given.	1:01:38
	And so follow it with your blessing	1:01:40
	that it may promote	1:01:42
	love and peace	1:01:44
	among all peoples,	1:01:46
	and advance the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:01:48
	who taught us to pray together always saying,	1:01:53
Everyone	"Our Father, who art in heaven,	1:01:56
	"hallowed be thy name,	1:01:59
	"thy kingdom come,	1:02:01
	"thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	1:02:03
	"Give us this day our daily bread	1:02:07
	"and forgive us our trespasses	1:02:10
	"as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:02:13
	"And lead us not into temptation,	1:02:16
	"but deliver us from evil.	1:02:19
	"For thine is the kingdom	1:02:21
	"and the power and the glory forever, Amen."	1:02:23
	(organ music)	1:02:29
	(choir singing)	1:03:00
-	The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:05:08
	and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:05:10
	be with you all	1:05:13
	now and always,	1:05:14
	Amen.	1:05:17
	(organ music)	1:05:25

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Returning" (December 5, 1993)

Description:

Sermon start time: 21:58. Sermon end time: 43:22.
Conversion means turning to God and often occurs in the wilderness where people are lost and enslaved to false gods. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r42n4zz6s

Date:

December 5, 1993

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Isaiah

Chapter and Verse:

Isaiah 40:1-11

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0347
ref9339_k05
uachapelsermaud
duke:321342
dcrmv001332
ark:/87924/r42n4zz6s
16b8a342-e672-4d6a-ae3e-120a209b60e6

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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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 - "Returning" (December 5, 1993)

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Duke University Archives