Joseph R. Jeter, Jr. - "When the Secret Is Out" (January 2, 1994)

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	("We Three Kings" by the First Baptist Church Bell Ringers)	0:00
-	Good morning and welcome to this service of worship here	3:59
	on the second Sunday after Christmas	4:02
	in Duke University Chapel.	4:03
	We have been led to worship	4:06
	by our guest musicians.	4:09
	They are The Bell Ringers	4:12
	of the First Baptist Church	4:13
	of Henderson, North Carolina	4:14
	and are always welcomed guests here in the chapel	4:16
	under the direction of Mr. Philip Young.	4:20
	Our guest preacher today,	4:23
	it's his first visit here to the chapel,	4:24
	is Dr. Joseph Jeter	4:26
	from Texas Christian University	4:28
	Brite Divinity School.	4:29
	A distinguished homiletician,	4:31
	we're glad to have him with us this morning.	4:33
	And now let us stand for the greeting.	4:35
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	4:41
Congregation	And also with you.	4:45
-	The splendor of Christ shines upon us.	4:47
Congregation	Praise the Lord.	4:49
	("We Three Kings" by pipe organist)	4:55
	♪ We three kings of Orient are ♪	5:40
	♪ Bearing gifts we traverse afar ♪	5:45
	♪ Field and fountain, moor and mountain ♪	5:51
	♪ Following yonder star ♪	5:56
	♪ O star of wonder, star of night ♪	6:02
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright ♪	6:10
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding ♪	6:15
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	6:21
	♪ Born a king on Bethlehem's plain ♪	6:29
	♪ Gold I bring to crown Him again ♪	6:34
	♪ King forever, ceasing never ♪	6:40
	♪ Over us all to reign ♪	6:46
	♪ O star of wonder, star of night ♪	6:51
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright ♪	6:59
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding ♪	7:05
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	7:10
	♪ Frankincense to offer have I ♪	7:18
	♪ Incense owns a Deity nigh ♪	7:23
	♪ Prayer and praising all men raising ♪	7:28
	♪ Worship Him, God on high ♪	7:34
	♪ O star of wonder, star of night ♪	7:40
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright ♪	7:48
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding ♪	7:53
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	7:58
	♪ Myrrh is mine: Its bitter perfume ♪	8:06
	♪ Breaths a life of gathering gloom ♪	8:12
	♪ Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying ♪	8:18
	♪ Sealed in the stone-cold tomb ♪	8:25
	♪ O star of wonder, star of night ♪	8:34
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright ♪	8:43
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding ♪	8:48
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	8:54
	♪ Glorious now behold Him arise ♪	9:02
	♪ King and God and Sacrifice ♪	9:07
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	9:13
	♪ Sounds through the earth and skies ♪	9:19
	♪ O star of wonder, star of night ♪	9:26
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright ♪	9:33
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding ♪	9:39
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	9:44
-	Everlasting God.	9:55
	The radiance of faithful souls.	9:57
	You brought all the nations to your light	10:00
	and kings to the brightness of your rising.	10:03
	Filled the world with your glory.	10:07
	Showed yourself to all the nations.	10:09
	Through Him who is true light	10:12
	and bright and morning star	10:15
	Jesus Christ your son	10:18
	our Lord.	10:20
	Amen.	10:21
	Seated.	10:23
-	Let us pray together	10:33
	the Prayer for illumination.	10:34
	(congregation in unison)	10:37
	Open our hearts
	and minds of God.	10:38
	By the power of your Holy Spirit.	10:40
	So that as the word is read and proclaimed.	10:43
	we may hear with joy what you say to us this day.	10:47
	Amen.	10:51
	This reading is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah	10:53
	the first six verses of chapter 60.	10:56
	Arise, shine, for your light has come.	10:59
	And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.	11:03
	For darkness shall cover the Earth	11:06
	and thick darkness the peoples;	11:08
	but the Lord will arise upon you	11:10
	and his glory will appear over you.	11:13
	Nations shall come to your light	11:16
	and kings to the brightness of your dawn.	11:18
	Lift up your eyes and look around.	11:21
	They all gather together.	11:23
	They come to you	11:25
	your sons shall come from far away	11:27
	and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.	11:29
	Then you shall see and be radiant.	11:33
	Your heart shall thrill and rejoice.	11:35
	Because of the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you	11:38
	the wealth of the nations shall come to you.	11:42
	A multitude of camels shall cover you.	11:45
	The young camels of Midian and Ephah.	11:47
	All those from Sheba shall come.	11:50
	They shall bring gold and frankincense	11:53
	and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.	11:55
	This is the word of the Lord.	11:58
	(in unison with congregation)	12:01
	Thanks be to God.
-	Today's psalm is psalm 72	12:06
	the first 14 verses.	12:08
	Let us stand and read responsively.	12:10
	Give the king your justice oh God.	12:19
Congregation	And your righteousness to the royal son.	12:22
-	May he judge your people with righteousness	12:25
Congregation	And your poor with justice	12:28
-	Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,	12:30
	and the hills, in righteousness.	12:32
Congregation	May he defend the cause of the poor	12:35
	of the people.	12:37
	give deliverance to the needy,	12:39
	and to crush their oppressor.	12:40
-	May he live while the sun endures,	12:42
	and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.	12:44
Congregation	May he be like rain that falls	12:48
	on the mown grass	12:51
	like showers that water the earth.	12:52
-	In his days may righteousness flourish,	12:55
	peace abound, till the moon be no more.	12:58
Congregation	May he have dominion from sea to sea	13:01
	and from the River to the ends of the earth.	13:05
-	May his foes bow down before him,	13:08
	and his enemies lick the dust.	13:10
	May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles	13:12
	render him tribute.	13:15
	May the kings of Sheba and Seba	13:16
	bring gifts.	13:18
Congregation	May all kings fall down before him	13:20
	all nations serve him.	13:23
-	For he delivers the needy when they call	13:25
	the poor and those who has no helper.	13:28
Congregation	He has pity on the weak and the needy,	13:31
-	and saves the lives of the needy.	13:34
Congregation	From oppression and violence	13:37
	he redeems their life	13:39
	and precious is their blood in his sight.	13:41
	(congregation singing)	13:53
-	This reading is taken from the	14:49
	second chapter of the gospel according to Saint Matthew	14:50
	beginning with the first verse.	14:54
	In the time of King Herod	14:56
	after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea	14:58
	wise men from the east came to Jerusalem asking:	15:02
	Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?	15:04
	For we observed his star	15:08
	at its rising	15:09
	and have come to pay him homage.	15:10
	When King Herod heard this he was frightened	15:13
	and all Jerusalem with him.	15:15
	And calling together all the chief priests	15:17
	and scribes of the people,	15:19
	he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.	15:21
	They told him,	15:24
	In Bethlehem of Judea;	15:25
	for so it has been written by the prophet	15:27
	And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,	15:30
	are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;	15:33
	for from you shall come a ruler	15:36
	who is to shepherd my people Israel.	15:37
	Then Herod secretly called for the wise men	15:40
	and learned from them	15:43
	the exact time when the star had appeared.	15:44
	Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying:	15:47
	Go and search diligently for the child,	15:49
	and when you have found him,	15:51
	bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.	15:53
	When they had heard the king, they set out;	15:57
	and there, ahead of them,	16:00
	went the star that they had seen at its rising,	16:01
	until it stopped over the place where the child was.	16:04
	When they saw that the star had stopped,	16:07
	they were overwhelmed with joy.	16:09
	On entering the house,	16:12
	they saw the child with Mary his mother;	16:13
	and they knelt down and paid him homage.	16:16
	Then, opening their treasure chests,	16:18
	they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.	16:21
	And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,	16:25
	they left for their own country by another road.	16:29
	This was the word of the Lord.	16:33
-	[Minister And Congregation] Thank you God.	16:36
	(unknown song by the Bell Ringers)	16:44
-	The epistle lesson this morning	19:52
	is from the letter to the Ephesians	19:53
	in the third chapter	19:55
	verses one through 12.	19:56
	This is the reason that I Paul	19:59
	am a prisoner for Christ Jesus	20:02
	for the sake of you gentiles.	20:03
	For surely you have already heard	20:06
	of the commission of God's grace	20:08
	that was given me for you.	20:10
	And how the mystery was made known to me by revelation	20:12
	as I wrote above in a few words.	20:15
	A reading of which will enable you	20:18
	to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.	20:20
	In former generations	20:25
	this mystery was not made known to humankind	20:26
	as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles	20:29
	and prophets by the spirit.	20:33
	That is the gentiles have become fellow heirs.	20:36
	Members of the same body.	20:40
	And sharers in the promise of Christ Jesus	20:42
	through the gospel.	20:45
	Of this gospel	20:47
	I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace	20:48
	that was given me by the working of his power.	20:51
	Although I am the very least of the saints	20:55
	this grace was given to me	20:59
	to bring to the gentiles	21:01
	the news of the boundless riches of Christ.	21:03
	And to make everyone see	21:06
	what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages.	21:08
	Hidden in God who created all things.	21:14
	So that through the church	21:18
	the wisdom of God	21:19
	in its rich variety might be made known	21:20
	to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.	21:23
	This was in accordance with the eternal purpose	21:28
	that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.	21:31
	In whom we have access to God	21:34
	in boldness and confidence	21:36
	through faith in Him.	21:40
	This is the word of the Lord.	21:43
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	21:45
-	Sisters and brothers	21:48
	I greet you in the name of Christ.	21:49
	And I give thanks for the opportunity	21:52
	to be in worship with you today.	21:54
	It is a long way from Texas to Duke Chapel.	21:58
	The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives	22:04
	was invited to speak at a major university last year.	22:07
	And he began his remarks by saying,	22:12
	"The invitation to speak here	22:15
	"fills me with a great deal of humidity."	22:18
	(congregation laughing)	22:22
	Fills me too.	22:27
	And I'm grateful	22:30
	for the privilege of this pulpit this morning.	22:32
	This is not my first trip to North Carolina.	22:35
	My first trip came in 1964.	22:39
	And that's 30 years ago.	22:45
	I was at a college church conference	22:48
	at a beautiful place called Montreat.	22:50
	One day at lunch	22:54
	I was eating with a young man who was a stranger to me.	22:57
	When suddenly he said to me,	23:01
	"Would you like to see God?"	23:05
	I thought about that a minute and,	23:09
	"Yeah.	23:14
	"Yeah I would."	23:15
	And he said, "Good.	23:19
	"Come by my room tonight after the session.	23:22
	"I have this stuff that will do it for us."	23:26
	(congregation laughing)	23:30
	Would you have gone?	23:35
	I didn't go that night.	23:41
	Not because I was afraid of frying my brains.	23:44
	I didn't know any better.	23:47
	I had never heard of LSD in 1964.	23:49
	And I didn't go	23:55
	not because I was afraid that	23:56
	we were not meant to see God and live.	23:58
	That in the presence of God	24:01
	we would melt like those people in Raiders of the Lost Ark.	24:02
	And I didn't go for the other side of that reason;	24:09
	because I was afraid	24:12
	maybe the experience wouldn't measure up.	24:13
	What if you saw God and it was no big deal?	24:15
	No I didn't go	24:22
	because I was 21 years old	24:26
	and I thought to myself,	24:30
	"If I see God tonight	24:32
	"what's the point in tomorrow?	24:37
	"Why go on?	24:41
	"Why go to school?	24:44
	"Why try to learn anything?	24:45
	"Why try to make a difference?"	24:46
	I didn't go.	24:52
	Did I miss my chance?	24:55
	So you see the theological enterprise	24:59
	simply tries to put a frame	25:02
	around the ineffable mystery and silence of God.	25:05
	And I had someone tell me	25:11
	they could take me right to the heart of the mystery.	25:12
	Would you have gone?	25:16
	What I learned from this	25:21
	is that the mystery of God	25:24
	is a very scary thing.	25:27
	And our text, our epistle text for this morning,	25:31
	as strange as it is	25:35
	speaks to us about that very thing.	25:38
	The letter to the Ephesians	25:42
	is unlike any other letter attributed to Paul	25:44
	in the New Testament.	25:47
	There's none of the intimacy	25:48
	none of the passion of the other letters.	25:49
	"You are my light in my life.	25:52
	"I thank God so every time I think about you."	25:54
	No, none of that.	25:57
	None of that here.	25:58
	This letter	26:03
	whether it was written by Paul	26:05
	or for the love of Paul by a follower	26:07
	comes to us in Barth's words	26:11
	as a letter from a stranger.	26:14
	A letter from a stranger.	26:21
	Not just a stranger	26:25
	but a stranger whose veiled in mystery.	26:26
	And here we sit this morning	26:30
	at the very threshold of a new year	26:33
	that is veiled in mystery to us.	26:35
	Granted we're a little dulled and slowed	26:38
	by too much food and football.	26:41
	But still anxious about the possibilities	26:44
	that are up ahead	26:47
	and to top it all off	26:48
	we're gathered this morning	26:50
	as virtual strangers.	26:53
	I know very few of you	26:56
	and most of you do not know me.	26:58
	And I understand we have many holiday visitors among us.	27:01
	And so here we are	27:09
	sharing for these few minutes	27:10
	and possibly never again.	27:12
	And what we share	27:17
	is that we have chosen to come to church this morning	27:19
	to look for word from the Lord.	27:23
	So what word does the apostle bring?	27:28
	The mystery of God's salvation	27:32
	hidden for ages	27:35
	has been revealed to me	27:37
	so that I can preach it to you.	27:40
	Now that's where this text gets interesting.	27:45
	God's plan of salvation was a mystery.	27:48
	A mystery for thousands of years	27:52
	and then finally at the perfect time	27:55
	it was revealed in Jesus Christ	27:57
	and God's plan,	28:00
	God's secret then became an open book.	28:01
	Do you see how troublesome that is?	28:06
	Having a secret	28:11
	is a two-headed problem.	28:13
	It's a problem in front and a problem in back.	28:16
	It's awful to have a secret that you can't tell.	28:19
	What's the point in having a secret	28:25
	if you can't say to someone,	28:27
	"Now don't tell this to anyone but..."	28:29
	It's awful to have a secret you can't tell.	28:34
	It's like the preacher	28:37
	who couldn't get up a sermon for Sunday morning	28:38
	and so he called in sick	28:41
	and went out to play golf.	28:42
	And hit a hole in one.	28:46
	(congregation laughing)	28:48
	Is this text the first century equivalent to that?	28:54
	Does the apostle say,	28:59
	"I have a secret	29:00
	"I can't stand it	29:02
	"it's a secret I have to tell you."	29:03
	The other side's a problem too.	29:07
	Because once a secret is out	29:10
	it loses, like salt, it's savor.	29:13
	Once the secret has been told	29:17
	and everybody knows it	29:19
	it becomes flat and lifeless.	29:23
	"Have you heard about--"	29:25
	"Oh, I've heard, I've heard."	29:26
	The early Christians knew that.	29:30
	And so some of them decided	29:32
	well, we'll keep this secret about Jesus Christ	29:34
	and we'll just dole it out to a few people at a time.	29:37
	We'll just give it to a few folk	29:41
	who can learn the secret passport,	29:43
	the secret password.	29:45
	We called them gnostics.	29:49
	They weren't bad people.	29:50
	They just wanted to keep the secret	29:52
	fresh and vital and alive	29:54
	but the letter to the Ephesians	29:57
	and our history, our tradition,	29:58
	says that they were wrong.	30:00
	I once heard Fred Craddock preach a sermon	30:05
	in which he reminded us that when the disciples	30:07
	went out as sort of an advance party for Jesus	30:10
	and they went out saying,	30:12
	"The messiah is coming!	30:14
	"The messiah is coming!"	30:15
	And the people began running	30:16
	and they got all excited.	30:18
	"The messiah is coming!"	30:19
	And then one day	30:23
	a group was walking down the road	30:25
	and the disciples were saying,	30:27
	"Come come, the messiah is here.	30:28
	"And it's Jesus."	30:34
	And they could hardly get a crowd.	30:38
	The messiah is here?	30:41
	And it's he? (chuckling)	30:46
	What time's the Cowboy game start anyway?	30:51
	Lots of things are more interesting in anticipation	30:57
	than they are in reality.	31:00
	And here the apostle throws modesty to the wind	31:02
	and he says,	31:04
	"The secret's been revealed to me	31:05
	"and I tell it to you."	31:07
	But the one thing about that is;	31:09
	how about us Paul?	31:11
	It's been 2000 years man.	31:14
	Sure it was an exciting secret	31:19
	when you first preached it.	31:21
	But how about us Paul?	31:25
	We have at TCU a little in-house bulletin	31:31
	that's creatively titled The TCU Bulletin.	31:34
	{congregation chuckling)	31:38
	And not long ago	31:41
	there was a notice that said:	31:42
	Geology graduate student Debra Malek	31:43
	has just received notice that her paper,	31:47
	her geology paper entitled	31:51
	Hypabyssal Alkalic Intrusions in Terlingua, Texas	31:53
	has been accepted for publication.	31:58
	Now that caught my attention	32:01
	because of the Terlingua, Texas.	32:03
	You see I've been to Terlingua.	32:05
	It's a ghost town down in the Big Bend country	32:08
	best known for occasional chili cook offs	32:11
	where they whip up a concoction	32:15
	that's said to make a Louisiana man cry.	32:17
	(congregation laughing)	32:21
	Of hypabyssal alkalic intrusions I knew nothing.	32:24
	But Ms. Malek knows.	32:31
	She has a precise understanding of what she means.	32:34
	I remember some interesting rock formations.	32:40
	But here's the difference	32:44
	between her language world and mine.	32:45
	She knows precisely	32:50
	what she means	32:52
	when she makes a statement.	32:54
	And I almost never do.	32:57
	Her language is what we call steno language,	33:01
	reporter language,	33:03
	the language of the stop sign.	33:05
	When you see a stop sign on the street	33:07
	what did it mean yesterday?	33:09
	It meant stop.	33:12
	What does it mean today?	33:14
	It means stop.	33:15
	What will it mean tomorrow?	33:16
	It will mean stop.	33:19
	The language I work with most of the time	33:23
	is tensive language,	33:25
	confessional language,	33:27
	the language of the Cross.	33:29
	I see a Cross and it means...	33:32
	it means more than I can say.	33:39
	Ms. Malek has no doubts.	33:44
	She knows what hypabyssal alkalic intrusions are.	33:48
	But when I look at the words	33:53
	I see hyp meaning under like hypodermic.	33:56
	I see abyss meaning bottomless.	34:00
	And I see some soda ash,	34:04
	a layer of soda ash underneath	34:06
	that which is bottomless.	34:09
	And I'm still working on that.	34:12
	It's still a mystery to me.	34:17
	Here we stand with one foot in the new year	34:20
	and the word comes to us from Paul;	34:23
	God's plan for salvation has been revealed	34:25
	and it's Jesus.	34:28
	And I suspect that most of us have	34:31
	at one time or another	34:33
	made that confession	34:34
	and if pressed	34:36
	we would say that we believe in it.	34:37
	But it's still a mystery.	34:43
	How God saves us through Jesus	34:46
	is still a mystery.	34:49
	Paul's experience is not enough.	34:52
	1993's experience is not enough.	34:55
	We have to confront again and again	35:00
	the language of our faith.	35:02
	We have to ask questions.	35:04
	We have to listen.	35:06
	We have to analyze our own experience and feelings.	35:07
	We have to share our joys and concerns	35:11
	in the faith community	35:14
	because this is a mystery.	35:15
	This is not a secret	35:17
	that's interesting only the first time.	35:19
	You see Ms. Malek has figured out	35:23
	hypabyssal alkalic intrusions	35:25
	and that's done	35:27
	and if she's to keep her edge	35:29
	she must move on to other secrets	35:30
	because that secret	35:32
	was only interesting for her the first time.	35:33
	But God's secret has to be uncovered anew	35:37
	within every person who hears it.	35:41
	And this leads me to the second factor	35:46
	that makes the text compelling.	35:48
	The apostle writes:	35:52
	The mystery was made known to me by revelation	35:53
	which was not made known in other generations.	35:56
	That is how the gentiles are fellow heirs,	35:59
	members of the same body,	36:03
	and partakers of Jesus Christ through the gospel.	36:05
	And while at first reading	36:10
	we might think that what Paul is doing here	36:12
	is bragging about the secret that was given to him.	36:14
	In reality he's talking about the secret that's given to us.	36:17
	Gentiles.	36:24
	Foreigners.	36:26
	Outlanders.	36:29
	Fellow heirs of the gospel.	36:31
	Interpreted and entrusted	36:34
	with the secret of God in Jesus Christ.	36:36
	A secret that is so great	36:38
	that every time it comes out	36:40
	the world becomes new.	36:44
	It was the fourth Sunday in Advent	36:48
	in Hispaniola	36:52
	in the year 1511.	36:55
	Less than 20 years after the arrival of Columbus	36:58
	and already some 90% of the indigenous population	37:02
	had perished at the hands of the Spaniards.	37:06
	A little priest	37:11
	named Antonio de Montesinos	37:14
	stood up on that fourth Sunday in Advent	37:18
	and preached a sermon entitled:	37:20
	The Rock Hard Wilderness of the Spanish Heart.	37:22
	And he said to the people,	37:27
	"The voice of Christ declares that you are in mortal sin.	37:28
	"And will live and die by it	37:32
	"because of the cruelty and tyranny	37:35
	"that you practice upon these innocent people."	37:37
	As you can imagine the Spaniards were outraged.	37:42
	Montesinos was hauled before the governor	37:45
	and the Father Superior of the Dominicans	37:48
	and told that he would preach again the next Sunday	37:50
	and would retract everything that he had said.	37:53
	Well it was Christmas Sunday.	37:57
	And everybody who was anybody in New Spain	38:01
	was in church.	38:04
	Father Montesinos mounted the pulpit	38:07
	and he began his sermon.	38:10
	"What I said before	38:14
	"I say again."	38:17
	And he gave it to them with the other barrel.	38:21
	He told them the secret once again	38:24
	just to make sure that they got it.	38:26
	Well this is the last that we ever hear	38:30
	of father Antonio de Montesinos.	38:32
	But it's not the last of the secret.	38:36
	Because there was a young man in church	38:39
	on that Christmas Sunday in 1511	38:41
	named Bartolomé de las Casas.	38:43
	He heard Montesino's sermon	38:46
	and was so moved that he became a priest.	38:48
	The first bishop of the Americas	38:51
	and became known as the defender of the Indians.	38:53
	And thus from the very beginning	38:55
	of European colonization	38:57
	oppression has been there	38:59
	but so has God's secret.	39:01
	Jesus came for all people.	39:04
	The Spaniards of 1511 knew that.	39:10
	But it had been so encrusted	39:13
	with the greed of their own hearts	39:15
	that they couldn't hear it.	39:18
	Until a little priest and one young man	39:21
	voiced the secret in their midst	39:24
	and they were greatly disturbed	39:26
	as if they had never heard it before	39:28
	and the world became new in 15 and 12.	39:30
	My mother died last month	39:38
	after a long and difficult battle	39:41
	with Alzheimer's and assorted other infirmities.	39:43
	If you've been there	39:48
	you know how difficult it is	39:49
	to watch the mind of someone you love	39:51
	retreat from you day by day.	39:55
	Last year after five years of caring for mother at home	39:59
	Dad could no longer maintain the constant care	40:02
	that she required	40:05
	and mother moved to live in a nursing home.	40:06
	Thanksgiving was coming	40:10
	and Dad asked me apologetically,	40:13
	"Do you think Mama could come home for Thanksgiving?"	40:14
	I was skeptical about it.	40:20
	I talked to the doctor.	40:22
	The doctor told me that Alzheimer's patients	40:24
	frequently do not do well	40:27
	outside their familiar environment.	40:28
	But I decided, let's do it.	40:33
	Dad took over her best dress	40:36
	and with the help of the staff	40:38
	got her dressed and her hair fixed.	40:40
	Before she came over to our house	40:43
	they walked around the nursing home	40:45
	and everybody said to her how pretty she looked.	40:46
	While Dad was bringing Mom	40:51
	I went toward Dallas to pick up my Uncle Jack,	40:53
	Mother's older brother,	40:55
	who also suffers from Alzheimer's.	40:58
	I brought them in.	41:02
	I knew that it was the last time	41:03
	that they would see each other in this world.	41:05
	But I was very afraid	41:08
	that they would not recognize each other.	41:10
	When I walked in with Jack	41:13
	and they saw each other	41:15
	they began walking toward each other	41:17
	and fell into each other's arms.	41:19
	And after a long while	41:23
	Jack looked down at her and said,	41:25
	"Oh we had some times didn't we kid?"	41:29
	And my mother looked up	41:35
	and in a moment of perfect clarity she said,	41:36
	"We sure did."	41:41
	They had some times.	41:46
	And I, who have made my life telling that secret	41:49
	which has so often become tattered and worn	41:53
	in my own poor understanding	41:57
	saw it afresh in that moment of incredible grace	42:01
	in front of the fireplace.	42:04
	The world became new.	42:08
	You see God's plan of salvation	42:12
	is found for us in Jesus.	42:15
	And that is good news of love	42:19
	and justice	42:22
	and mercy and peace.	42:25
	And this good news is for all people.	42:27
	Not just the powerful.	42:31
	Not just the mentally sharp.	42:34
	But all people.	42:37
	Far as the curse is found.	42:39
	The curse of heretical exclusiveness	42:43
	in first century Ephesus.	42:46
	The curse of systemic oppression in Hispaniola in 1511.	42:49
	The curse of Alzheimer's in Fort Worth in 1993.	42:56
	May the secret of God's love for us	43:02
	be heard this year.	43:05
	In Bosnia.	43:08
	In Palestine.	43:11
	In South Africa, in Sri Lanka, in Ireland, in Durham.	43:13
	Wherever, whenever, however	43:20
	this message comes to us in 1994	43:23
	my prayer is that we will be open to it	43:27
	that we will open our eyes and our hearts to the secret	43:32
	and watch the years and miles between	43:37
	Paul	43:40
	and Antonio	43:41
	and Helen	43:43
	melt away.	43:46
	That we and all those who have come before	43:48
	and all who will come after	43:52
	may be strangers no longer.	43:54
	But fellow heirs,	43:58
	members of the same body	44:01
	and sharers of the promise in Christ Jesus	44:04
	through the gospel.	44:07
	All power and honor and glory be to God forever.	44:10
	Amen.	44:15
	(pipe organ music)	44:23
	(congregation singing)	44:24
-	The Lord be with you.	46:47
Congregation	And also with you.	46:49
-	Let us pray, be seated.	46:50
	Gracious God.	47:02
	How full are our hearts	47:06
	now that the gracious mystery	47:08
	kept secret for the ages	47:11
	has dawned upon us.	47:14
	In the Babe of Bethlehem	47:17
	the hopes and fears of all the years	47:19
	are called up into your loving purposes	47:23
	and made manifest for us.	47:27
	The brightness of your star enlightens our darkness.	47:32
	We pray for the press of darkness.	47:38
	We pray for victims of war and civil strife.	47:42
	The peoples of Angola and Somalia,	47:47
	Northern Ireland,	47:50
	Sri Lanka,	47:53
	Bosnia,	47:54
	Herzegovina.	47:55
	We pray for those who have suffered	48:00
	due to the criminal acts of others.	48:03
	We pray for victims of crime.	48:06
	We pray for those who have spent the holidays alone.	48:11
	We pray for those for whom the holidays have been	48:19
	a painful reminder of the death of somebody that they love.	48:23
	O Lord we pray for all those	48:31
	who during this time of year are cold	48:35
	or homeless,	48:39
	unemployed	48:42
	or just lonely.	48:45
	We pray for all those	48:49
	who are sick or infirm	48:52
	particularly those in Duke Hospital.	48:54
	And we pray for all youth	49:00
	faced with challenges and temptations.	49:04
	We pray for our young people.	49:08
	O light to our darkness send your light	49:13
	to all in darkness.	49:17
	Send your light to all who walk	49:20
	in the valley of the shadow of death.	49:22
	Be for us that mystery	49:27
	which is at the very heart of everything.	49:30
	A mystery deeper than our puny explanations.	49:35
	A mystery more wonderful than our flat understanding.	49:40
	The great glorious joyful mystery	49:47
	of God with us.	49:52
	Amen.	49:57
	Let us now offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	50:00
	("O Come, All Ye Faithful" by The Bell Ringers)	50:33
	("The First Noel" by The Bell Ringers)	51:25
	("Away in a Manger" by The Bell Ringers)	52:19
	("Joy to the World" by The Bell Ringers)	53:34
	("Silent Night" by The Bell Ringers)	54:09
	(pipe organ music)	56:06
	(congregation singing)	56:43
-	Gracious God.	57:39
	We thank you for all of your gifts.	57:39
	Especially do we thank you	57:43
	for the gift of your son Jesus	57:44
	Our savior, our way, our light.	57:47
	The gift of your son	57:52
	reminds us how dependent on our lives	57:53
	upon your beneficence	57:56
	for all the things that make our lives	57:58
	rich and good and worth living.	58:00
	For all these gifts we give thanks	58:03
	returning but a portion of your generosity	58:05
	back to you for your work in the world.	58:10
	And now we pray	58:14
	as our Lord and Savior has taught us.	58:15
	(reciting with congregation)	58:18
	Our Father, who art in heaven,
	hallowed be thy Name,	58:21
	thy kingdom come,	58:23
	thy will be done,	58:24
	on earth as it is in heaven.	58:26
	Give us this day our daily bread.	58:28
	And forgive us our trespasses,	58:31
	as we forgive those	58:34
	who trespass against us.	58:35
	And lead us not into temptation,	58:38
	but deliver us from evil.	58:40
	For thine is the kingdom,	58:42
	and the power, and the glory,	58:44
	forever.	58:46
	Amen.	58:48
	("The First Noel" by the pipe organist)	58:51
	♪ The First Noel, the Angels did say ♪	59:41
	♪ Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay ♪	59:49
	♪ In fields where they lay keeping their sheep ♪	59:58
	♪ On a cold winter's night that was so deep ♪	1:00:06
	♪ Noel, Noel, ♪	1:00:15
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:00:19
	♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪	1:00:24
	♪ They looked up and saw a star ♪	1:00:35
	♪ Shining in the East beyond them far ♪	1:00:42
	♪ And to the earth it gave great light ♪	1:00:51
	♪ And so it continued both day and night ♪	1:01:00
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:01:08
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:01:12
	♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪	1:01:17
	♪ And by the light of that same star ♪	1:01:28
	♪ Three wise men came from country far ♪	1:01:36
	♪ To seek for a king was their intent ♪	1:01:45
	♪ And to follow the star wherever it went ♪	1:01:54
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:02:03
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:02:07
	♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪	1:02:12
	♪ This star drew nigh to the northwest ♪	1:02:24
	♪ O'er Bethlehem it took its rest ♪	1:02:32
	♪ And there it did both stop and stay ♪	1:02:41
	♪ Right over the place where Jesus lay ♪	1:02:50
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:02:59
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:03:03
	♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪	1:03:09
	♪ Then entered in those wise men three ♪	1:03:20
	♪ Full reverently upon their knee ♪	1:03:29
	♪ And offered there in his presence ♪	1:03:38
	♪ Their gold, and myrrh, and frankincense. ♪	1:03:48
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:03:57
	♪ Noel, Noel ♪	1:04:01
	♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪	1:04:07
-	Now by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ	1:04:21
	and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:04:25
	be with you now and always.	1:04:27
	Amen.	1:04:30
	(pipe organ music)	1:04:37

Item Info

Title:

Joseph R. Jeter, Jr. - "When the Secret Is Out" (January 2, 1994)

Description:

The secret of God's saving love for all people in Jesus Christ never grows old and tired. It must be uncovered anew in each person who hears it. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 21:48. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 44:18.
Key quotation: “God’s secret has to be uncovered anew within every person who hears it.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4j679b8t

Date:

January 2, 1994

Speaker:

Jeter, Joseph R., Jr.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0351
ref9354_nas
uachapelsermaud
duke:321428
dcrmv001336
ark:/87924/r4j679b8t
33c20050-2671-41b8-9bb0-642aeb8c77a9

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Limited Re-Use

Unknown Rights-Holder

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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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