William H. Willimon - "Is This Any Way for a King to Behave?" (December 19, 1993)

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	(organ music)	0:01
	(choir singing)	0:15
	(organ music)	1:02
	♪ O come all ye faithful ♪	1:14
	♪ Joyful and triumphant ♪	1:18
	♪ O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem ♪	1:23
	♪ Come and behold him ♪	1:31
	♪ Born the King of Angels ♪	1:35
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	1:39
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	1:43
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	1:47
	♪ Christ the Lord ♪	1:53
	♪ Sing choirs of angels ♪	1:58
	♪ Sing in exhalation ♪	2:02
	♪ Sing all ye citizens of heaven above ♪	2:06
	♪ Glory to God ♪	2:14
	♪ Glory in the highest ♪	2:19
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	2:23
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	2:27
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	2:31
	♪ Christ the Lord ♪	2:36
	♪ O yes Lord we greet thee ♪	2:42
	♪ Born this happy morning ♪	2:47
	♪ Jesus to thee be the glory given ♪	2:51
	♪ Word of the Father now in flesh appearing ♪	3:00
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	3:08
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	3:12
	♪ O come let us adore him ♪	3:17
	♪ Christ the Lord ♪	3:22
	(organ music)	3:32
	(choir singing hymns)	3:34
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:30
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:35
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:41
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:46
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:53
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:15
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:21
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:27
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:32
	(congregation stirring)	5:43
-	We have already been led to worship	5:47
	on this the fourth Sunday in Advent	5:49
	by the North Carolina Boy Choir,	5:51
	under the direction of Mr. Bill Graham,	5:55
	they are always welcome	5:57
	for this yearly visit here in Duke Chapel.	5:59
	Tomorrow night at 7:30 the North Carolina Boy Choir	6:04
	will be giving their Christmas concert	6:07
	here in Duke Chapel, tickets will be available at the door.	6:10
	And now, as we approach the babe at Bethlehem	6:16
	let us continue our worship.	6:20
	(congregation stirring)	6:27
	(organ music)	6:33
	(choir singing hymns)	6:43
	Let us stand for the greeting.	8:23
	Show us your mercy O Lord.	8:29
Congregation	And grant us your salvation.	8:32
-	Truth shall spring up from the earth.	8:34
Congregation	And righteousness shines down from heaven.	8:37
	(organ music)	8:40
	(choir singing hymns)	9:24
-	Let us pray.	11:29
	Gracious and holy God, you have led us apart	11:32
	from the busy world into the quiet of this house of worship.	11:36
	Grant us grace to worship you	11:42
	in spirit and in truth.	11:44
	Lift our hearts with the wings of song.	11:48
	Heal our souls with the balm of prayer.	11:51
	Enlighten our minds with the words of scripture	11:56
	and interpretation.	11:59
	And newly enable us to dedicate our strength,	12:01
	our substance and our service to your work in the world.	12:05
	We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.	12:09
	You may be seated.	12:14
	(congregation stirring)	12:16
Carolene	Let us pray together	12:28
	the prayer for illumination.	12:29
All	Open our hearts and minds O God	12:33
	by the power of your holy spirit.	12:36
	So that as the word is read and proclaimed	12:39
	we might be changed by your advent among us, amen.	12:43
	This reading about God's covenant with King David	12:49
	is taken from the Second Book of Samuel, Chapter Seven,	12:53
	starting with Verse One.	12:58
	Now when the King was settled in his house	13:01
	and the Lord had given him rest	13:04
	from all his enemies around him,	13:06
	the King said to the prophet Nathan,	13:09
	"See now, I am living in a house cedar	13:12
	"but the ark of God stays in a tent."	13:17
	Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind,	13:21
	"for the Lord is with you."	13:27
	But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan,	13:30
	"Go and tell my servant David" thus says the Lord.	13:34
	Are you the one to build me a house to live in?	13:40
	I have not lived in a house since	13:44
	the day I brought up the people of Israel	13:47
	from Egypt to this day.	13:50
	But I have been moving about in a tent	13:52
	and a tabernacle.	13:55
	Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel	13:58
	did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders	14:03
	of Israel, whom I commanded to shepard my people, Israel?	14:07
	Saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"	14:13
	Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David,	14:19
	thus says the Lord of host,	14:24
	"I took you from the pasture,	14:27
	"from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel	14:30
	"and I have been with you wherever you went	14:36
	"and have cut off all your enemies from before you	14:40
	"and I will make for you a great name,	14:45
	"like the name of the great ones of the Earth.	14:48
	"And I will appoint a place for my people Israel	14:52
	"and will plant them so that they may live	14:57
	"in their own place and be disturbed no more.	15:00
	"And evil-doers shall afflict them no more.	15:05
	"As formally from the time that I appointed judges	15:09
	over my people Israel.	15:13
	"And I will give you rest from all your enemies."	15:16
	Moreover, the Lord declares to you	15:21
	that the Lord will make you a house.	15:25
	Your house	15:28
	and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.	15:29
	Your throne shall be established forever.	15:35
	This is the word of the Lord.	15:40
All	Thanks be to God.	15:44
-	This reading is from the first chapter of	15:47
	the Gospel according to Saint Luke.	15:50
	Beginning with the 26th verse.	15:54
	In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God	15:57
	to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,	16:02
	to a virgin engaged to a man	16:05
	who's name was Joesph of the House of David.	16:08
	The virgin's name was Mary.	16:13
	And he came to her and said,	16:16
	"Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you."	16:18
	But she was much perplexed by his words	16:23
	and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.	16:26
	The angel said to her,	16:31
	"Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God	16:33
	"and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son	16:39
	"and you will name him Jesus.	16:44
	"He will be great,	16:48
	"and will be called the son of the most high	16:50
	"and the Lord God will give to him	16:54
	"a throne of his ancestor David.	16:56
	"He will reign over the House of Jacob forever	17:01
	"and of his kingdom there will be no end."	17:05
	Mary said to the angel,	17:10
	"How can this be, since I am a virgin?"	17:12
	The angel said to her,	17:17
	"The Holy Spirit will come upon you	17:19
	"and the power of the most high will overshadow you.	17:23
	"Therefore, the child to be born will be holy	17:28
	"he will be called son of God	17:33
	"and now your relative Elizabeth in her old age	17:38
	"has also conceived a son	17:42
	"and this is the sixth month for her,	17:45
	"who was said to be barren.	17:48
	"For nothing will be impossible with God."	17:51
	Then Mary said,	17:56
	"Here am I the servant of the Lord,	17:58
	"let it be with me according to your word."	18:03
	Then the angel departed from her.	18:08
	This is the word of the Lord.	18:11
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	18:15
	(organ music)	18:27
	(choir singing hymns)	18:43
	(organ music)	19:51
	(choir singing hymns)	20:14
	(organ music)	21:02
	(choir singing hymns)	21:23
-	Twice within a 200-year period	22:32
	on the shores of the cruel and beautiful Mediterranean	22:35
	a man was called, during his lifetime,	22:40
	the son of God.	22:46
	The first was named Octavius.	22:50
	Octavius Caesar, born to one of Rome's most noble	22:54
	and powerful families.	22:57
	He was called the son of God	23:00
	because he had been so successful	23:03
	at ruling the empire with an iron fist, like God.	23:07
	At subduing all of Rome's subjugated nations	23:12
	and improving the economy.	23:17
	And so the poet Virgil called him filius Dei, son of God	23:19
	and after he died he was known simply as God.	23:25
	The second man to be so acclaimed	23:32
	was named simply Jesus,	23:37
	and he was born at the very bottom rung	23:41
	of Palestinian society,	23:44
	born to poor peasant parents.	23:48
	They called him, some, after he died the son of King David	23:55
	but that could never hide Jesus' humble origins.	24:01
	And therein I think lies our problem with Christmas.	24:08
	Today's scriptures are about kings,	24:16
	but they're about very different kinds of kings.	24:20
	The first lesson is about mighty King David,	24:25
	the greatest of all of Israel's kings.	24:29
	King David has now subdued his enemies	24:32
	and things are at last at peace	24:35
	and so King David in a magnanimous mood	24:37
	decides to go on a great royal building program.	24:39
	He says, "Is it right	24:43
	"that I dwell in this fine palace of cedar	24:44
	"but the almighty God of Israel dwells in a tent,	24:47
	"a portable tabernacle?"	24:51
	And so he announces a great royal building program	24:54
	to build God a great temple of cedar.	24:57
	"Surely God will be flattered" he says to the prophet.	25:02
	After all, a capital city ruled over by such a wise	25:06
	and powerful king, ought to have a temple	25:10
	to show it's relationship with God.	25:13
	To show the world that God and King David are tight.	25:16
	The response of God is a shock.	25:23
	God tells King David that he's been quite content	25:27
	to dwell in a tabernacle, a tent.	25:30
	He has no need of a house of cedar,	25:33
	in fact God tells King David,	25:36
	"I am not mighty because I live in a grand palace.	25:40
	"I am who I am because of the people whom I make.	25:45
	"I made you, I made you king	25:51
	"I gave you your palace, I gave you everything you have.	25:54
	"Would you presume to build a house for me?"	25:58
	This God will not be some tamed house pet of a God	26:05
	for the King of Israel, this God is large,	26:08
	uncontainable, on the move,	26:12
	this God will come and go as he pleases.	26:14
	Not at our bidding, this God won't be contained by us	26:18
	or our mighty kings.	26:22
	And in a way this conversation between God	26:26
	and King David is a wonderful prelude to today's gospel,	26:29
	that beautiful, beloved story of the nativity in Luke.	26:34
	'Cause when we talk about important matters	26:40
	we usually follow the same order	26:45
	as the readings this morning.	26:47
	We always start by talking about large,	26:48
	important, powerful people.	26:52
	Just like today's lessons	26:55
	we start by talking about King David.	26:56
	What is King David doing this morning	26:59
	up in the palace in Jerusalem?	27:01
	What new public works projects has King David announced	27:03
	to juice up the economy?	27:07
	We read this morning's newspaper	27:09
	and there you will see headlines	27:11
	about large important people with important names	27:13
	in important places like London or Moscow or Washington.	27:18
	When we begin important matters that's the way we began	27:25
	with important people living in important places.	27:28
	This is the way we define power,	27:32
	this is the way we expect kings to act.	27:36
	But then we read the second lesson from Luke's gospel	27:41
	and we realize that we are face-to-face	27:45
	with a very different way of discussing what's important.	27:47
	Note that we are not in Washington or Moscow,	27:52
	we're out in Galilee,	27:57
	a dusty little forgotten corner of the world	28:00
	in a place called Nazareth.	28:02
	God's people had been anticipating	28:06
	a new king to come into their world.	28:10
	Scholars at the university in	28:14
	the Department of Religion have been pouring over	28:16
	the sacred scriptures, seeking,	28:18
	groping for some text to say when this king will come	28:20
	and where and who.	28:24
	Wise men in the East have been scouring the heavens,	28:27
	looking for some sign of this great king.	28:30
	And then there's a flutter of wings	28:36
	and the messenger Gabriel is sent Earthward	28:39
	with an announcement from God.	28:44
	And where does that angel Gabriel go?	28:47
	To a town in Galilee named Nazareth,	28:51
	to a virgin, engaged to a man who's name was Joesph.	28:56
	Now we know Washington, and we know Rome	29:04
	but who knows Nazareth?	29:07
	And we know Caesar, we've heard of Octavius, Augustus.	29:12
	But who is this Mary and who is this Joesph?	29:19
	You see we think like King David.	29:25
	We expect if we're going to meet God,	29:28
	we will meet God up at the temple,	29:30
	in the capital city among the learned	29:33
	and the powerful and the famous.	29:35
	But Luke says that's not the way God did things,	29:39
	does things.	29:44
	'Cause our God appears to come among people like us,	29:47
	in places like here.	29:51
	If God chose to make an entrance into the world	29:55
	in a place like Nazareth,	29:58
	among people like Mary and Joesph,	30:01
	then there's hope that God might come among us in Durham.	30:04
	And when you think about it,	30:12
	isn't that really true to your own experience	30:13
	of how God comes to you?	30:18
	I know that there are some of you this morning	30:21
	who really have had the proverbial mountaintop experience.	30:23
	There on a high mountain, overlooking the valley.	30:27
	There on the rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset,	30:30
	you felt God.	30:33
	Or maybe it was in some grand cathedral	30:37
	in some grand and glorious place like this one.	30:39
	But I suspect that most of you could testify	30:45
	that God has met you in much more ordinary,	30:50
	everyday circumstances.	30:55
	Not in the words of some famous eloquent preacher	30:58
	but rather in the words of a kind friend	31:03
	who knew just what to say at the right moment	31:06
	when you were going through a tough time.	31:08
	Or not on the face of the rim of the Grand Canyon	31:14
	but in the face of a child looking up in delight.	31:17
	Or in the simple clasp of a mother's hand.	31:24
	We shouldn't be surprised that the angel Gabriel	31:29
	wasn't sent to Washington or Moscow,	31:33
	sent though to Nazareth bringing glad tidings	31:35
	to ordinary Mary and everyday Joesph.	31:41
	And here is a gospel truth	31:47
	we've got to learn over and over again:	31:49
	we who have been waiting for Emmanuel, for God with us	31:53
	the coming of the king of kings, lord of lords.	31:57
	We sing hymns as we started this morning,	32:01
	praying for the advent of God into our lives.	32:03
	But maybe God comes among us in ways so ordinary	32:08
	and everyday that we're apt to miss it.	32:12
	We're apt to miss the wonder	32:16
	of God standing beside us right now here.	32:19
	We, like King David, think we've got to build God	32:27
	some grand and glorious house.	32:31
	Some huge theological construction	32:34
	that gets it all tied down and built and big and contained.	32:36
	We gotta get God fixed	32:42
	so that we can pick up the phone whenever we're in the mood.	32:44
	But no, this God is peripatetic,	32:50
	on the move, more comfortable in a tent than in a temple,	32:53
	elusive, free.	32:59
	And Christmas says this great God freely chose to come here.	33:03
	And so for the time being,	33:12
	in these few days before Christmas	33:15
	I'd like you to go out of church	33:19
	pondering these words of the angel Gabriel to Mary,	33:22
	"Greetings favored one,	33:27
	the Lord is with you."	33:31
	The Lord is with you, you while you're running errands	33:36
	or baking cookies or taking gifts or visiting friends.	33:40
	You typing at the computer in your office,	33:45
	you waiting on customers at the store.	33:49
	This God is free, free to go and to come in your life	33:52
	sometimes when you least expect him,	33:56
	maybe even sometimes when you least want him.	33:59
	Not willing to be the tamed, house pet of kings	34:03
	and empires, this God is free	34:06
	to be with someone like you.	34:11
	The Lord is with you.	34:14
	And not up at the top, up at the White House with kings	34:17
	and princes but at your house with you.	34:20
	Not on cloud nine, not up in Washington	34:27
	but here in Galilee in Durham.	34:30
	The Lord is with you.	34:34
	This says our paradigmatic story,	34:37
	this is the way this God does business.	34:41
	Favoring ordinary people like Mary and Joesph,	34:44
	or you or me in places like Nazareth or here.	34:47
	In him all of our definitions of power	34:52
	and what's important and significant get rearranged,	34:56
	turned upside-down, refocused, changed.	34:58
	After the emissary of the great king showed up in Nazareth,	35:03
	get ready for him to show up anywhere, even here.	35:08
	Saying, "Greetings O favored one, the Lord is with you."	35:12
	After centuries and centuries of trying	35:20
	because we could never climb up so high as to get up to God.	35:25
	God climbed down to be with us here.	35:32
	Christmas means more than finding a baby in a stable.	35:40
	It's about our being found by God here.	35:50
	It was Father's Day at the school,	36:00
	a day when the teacher had invited the fathers	36:03
	to come see their children's classroom.	36:06
	It was something the teacher had thought of	36:11
	to try to get fathers more involved	36:13
	in their children's activities and education.	36:16
	But sadly the whole thing was a failure,	36:20
	the world being what it is.	36:23
	Few fathers had found the time to come	36:25
	and so the teacher decided to go around the classroom	36:31
	and simply ask each child	36:33
	what his or her father did for a living.	36:36
	And the first child got up and said,	36:40
	"My father is at the courthouse, downtown	36:43
	"the great courthouse, he's a lawyer."	36:47
	And the second said, "My father is also downtown,	36:52
	"he owns a very large store and he's working there now."	36:56
	And the third child said,	37:01
	"My father's a pharmacist	37:03
	"and he's helping people fill their descriptions."	37:05
	And so it went on in this wealthy, suburban classroom	37:10
	until it came the turn of the little boy	37:14
	who's father was not socially prominent in business	37:16
	or professions.	37:20
	And the little boy stood up	37:23
	and he looked over at his father	37:26
	standing in the back of the classroom.	37:28
	And he didn't know what to say	37:31
	but then he brightened and he said,	37:34
	"My daddy, my daddy is,	37:36
	well he's right here."	37:41
	Before these simple words "my daddy is here"	37:46
	all the worlds of social prominence, power	37:50
	and they just evaporate.	37:53
	Before the blessing of presence,	37:59
	standing beside us,	38:04
	nothing else is like it.	38:08
	So Mary says, "I am blessed among women.	38:13
	"The world holds no power over me anymore,	38:19
	"my God is here."	38:24
	Greetings O favored ones,	38:29
	the Lord is with you.	38:33
	(organ music)	38:41
	(choir singing)	39:20
Debra	The Lord be with you.	42:11
Congregation	And also with you.	42:13
-	Let us pray, you may be seated.	42:15
	O Lord our God, the author	42:28
	and giver of life in all that is good.	42:31
	We thank you for you mercies	42:35
	and for your presence with us in	42:38
	the everyday common places of our lives.	42:40
	How amazing that we worship a God who is Emmanuel,	42:44
	God with us.	42:49
	Like Mary our souls magnify the Lord	42:51
	and our spirits rejoice in God our savior	42:54
	for you have looked with favor upon our lowliness	42:59
	and we like Mary and Elizabeth are blessed.	43:03
	As we sit here in the opulence	43:09
	and beauty of this house of worship	43:11
	we are mindful that you are the God	43:14
	who is not contained in any house.	43:16
	Forgive us for those times when we try to control the where	43:21
	and the when you are available.	43:24
	For the ways we have tried to limit who has access to you	43:29
	and how your favor can be secured.	43:33
	We are those who have strived to be people of power	43:37
	and prestige yet you call us to be the lowly.	43:42
	We have filled ourselves with ideas	43:48
	and things of the world but you call us to be emptied.	43:51
	Lord empty our thoughts of all but your thoughts.	43:58
	Empty our desires of all but your desires.	44:02
	Empty our lives of all but your life.	44:08
	Empty our hopes of all but your hope.	44:14
	Lord in your mercy, come.	44:19
All	O come Emmanuel.	44:22
-	As you call us to be the lowly and the empty.	44:26
	So you call us to care for the lowly	44:29
	and empty around us.	44:32
	At the Christmas season,	44:35
	which has come to stand for family, peace, hope and love.	44:36
	We pray especially for those	44:43
	who are suffering the loss of family.	44:45
	Whether through divorce or death or estrangement.	44:47
	Give them your comfort, Lord in your mercy, come.	44:52
All	O come Emmanuel.	44:58
-	We pray for those who are	45:01
	victims of violence who know no peace.	45:03
	We remember especially the families of Jamal Elliot	45:07
	and Michael Segroves.	45:11
	We pray for those who have lost loved ones to violence	45:13
	and for those who have turned to guns	45:18
	as a means of empowerment.	45:20
	Teach us all a better way to peace.	45:22
	Lord in your mercy, come.	45:26
All	O come Emmanuel.	45:30
-	We pray for those who are in despair,	45:33
	whether through lost jobs or relationships or health.	45:36
	There are so many things in life	45:41
	that can cause us to lose hope.	45:43
	Yet you are the God who brings a way out of no way.	45:46
	Give us your hope, Lord in your mercy, come.	45:50
All	O come Emmanuel.	45:56
-	We pray for those who are	45:59
	without the safety net of friends and family;	46:01
	for the immigrant and the homeless;	46:05
	for victims of domestic abuse and child abuse.	46:07
	Help us become a community	46:12
	that catches those who are without a net.	46:14
	Teach us anew to love one another.	46:18
	Lord in your mercy, come.	46:22
All	O come Emmanuel.	46:25
-	Lord these are only a few of the prayers	46:29
	we would lift up to you.	46:31
	You know the unspoken prayers that fill our hearts.	46:33
	We name these before you.	46:38
	Lord in your mercy, come.	46:54
All	O come Emmanuel.	46:57
-	In Jesus Christ you have also given us	47:00
	an intercessor to pray on our behalf.	47:02
	The prayers that you would pray for us.	47:06
	We listen to what you pray for us this day.	47:09
	Lord in your mercy, come.	47:24
All	O come Emmanuel.	47:27
-	For the gift these prayers	47:30
	and your many mercies have given to us.	47:32
	We give you thanks, Emmanuel, God with us, amen.	47:35
	Let us offer ourselves	47:44
	and our gifts to the Lord who is with us.	47:46
	(congregation stirring)	47:55
	(organ music)	48:07
	(choir singing)	48:14
	(congregation stirring)	49:33
	(upbeat organ music)	49:37
	♪ I saw three ships come sailing in ♪	49:40
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	49:42
	♪ I saw three ships come sailing in ♪	49:45
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	49:47
	♪ And what was in those ships all three ♪	49:50
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	49:53
	♪ And what was in those ships all three ♪	49:56
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	49:58
	♪ Our savior Christ and his lady ♪	50:01
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	50:04
	♪ Our savior Christ and his lady ♪	50:07
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	50:09
	♪ Pray wither sailed those ships all three ♪	50:13
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	50:15
	♪ Pray wither sailed those ships all three ♪	50:18
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	50:21
	♪ Oh, they sailed in to Bethlehem ♪	50:24
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	50:26
	♪ Oh, they sailed in to Bethlehem ♪	50:29
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	50:32
	♪ And all the bells on Earth shall ring ♪	50:35
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	50:37
	♪ And all the bells on Earth shall ring ♪	50:40
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	50:43
	♪ And all the angels in Heaven shall sing ♪	50:46
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	50:49
	♪ And all the angels in Heaven shall sing ♪	50:52
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	50:54
	♪ And all the souls on Earth shall sing ♪	50:57
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	51:00
	♪ And all the souls on Earth shall sing ♪	51:03
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	51:05
	♪ Then let us all rejoice, amain ♪	51:08
	♪ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ♪	51:11
	♪ Then let us all rejoice, amain ♪	51:14
	♪ On Christmas Day in the morning ♪	51:16
	(organ music)	51:27
	(choir harmonizing hallelujah)	52:44
	Let us pray.	53:46
	Lord with us, for your love, protection	53:49
	and guidance we give you thanks.	53:53
	In gratitude we bring	53:56
	the work of our hands for your blessing.	53:58
	May all the efforts supported by these offerings	54:02
	carry forward your vision for the world.	54:05
	Accomplish through these gifts and our efforts	54:09
	that which is impossible by human design alone.	54:12
	That there may be peace, hope and love throughout the world.	54:18
	Unite us as a family of faith, as we pray together.	54:24
	Our Father	54:29
All	Who art in Heaven.	54:30
	Hallowed be thy name.	54:32
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	54:34
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	54:37
	Give us this day our daily bread	54:40
	and forgive us our trespasses	54:43
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	54:45
	And lead us not in to temptation but deliver us from evil.	54:49
	For thine is the kingdom and the power	54:54
	and the glory forever, amen.	54:57
	(organ music)	55:01
	(choir and congregation singing hymns)	55:42
-	And now may the love, the joy and the peace	58:51
	born into our world in the child Bethlehem	58:54
	be born in your life today and always, amen.	58:59
	(organ music)	59:06
	(choir singing)	59:12
	(intense organ music)	1:00:52

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Is This Any Way for a King to Behave?" (December 19, 1993)

Description:

Sermon start time: 22:32. Sermon end time: 18:36.
The preacher parallels the story of God’s refusal to let King David build the temple with the story of the Incarnation; both happened in an ordinary family and place, revealing that though God is too great to be contained, God willingly dwells among ordinary people. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Maybe God comes among us in ways so ordinary and everyday that we’re apt to miss it. We’re apt to miss the wonder of God standing beside us right now, here. We, like King David, think we’ve got to build God some grand and glorious house. Some huge theological construction that gets it all tied down and built and big and contained. We gotta get God fixed so that we can pick up the phone whenever we’re in the mood. But no, this God is peripatetic, on the move, more comfortable in a tent than in a temple, elusive, free.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r40c4t10r

Date:

December 19, 1993

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0349
ref9345_759
uachapelsermaud
duke:321708
dcrmv001334
ark:/87924/r40c4t10r
15b19c66-bd84-420e-b19b-e1c1e8a5cc86

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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 - "Is This Any Way for a King to Behave?" (December 19, 1993)

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Item Info

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Duke University Archives