William H. Willimon - "Get Ready for a Fight" (August 21, 1994)

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-	Karen Tucker for being our organist this morning.	0:00
	She has helped us out frequently this summer.	0:03
	She's a professor at the Divinity School,	0:06
	teaching in areas of worship, but she is obviously	0:09
	a multi-talented person, and we thank her	0:12
	for her presence with us this summer.	0:14
	Next Sunday, the school year begins here in Duke Chapel,	0:18
	with a glorious service for orientation Sunday.	0:22
	Please note the note in the bulletin	0:26
	about our choir auditions.	0:29
	Let us stand for the greeting.	0:33
	Come to this place of God's visitation and blessing.	0:38
	Every one is welcome here.	0:41
	(congregation mumbling)	0:44
	In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek,	0:51
	slave nor free, male nor female.	0:54
	(congregation mumbling)	0:57
	We gather to celebrate God's revelation in Jesus,	1:04
	while others worship the same God in other ways.	1:07
	(congregation mumbling)	1:11
	(lively organ music)	1:20
	♪ A mighty fortress is our God ♪	2:04
	♪ A bulwark never failing ♪	2:10
	♪ Our helper, He amid the flood ♪	2:17
	♪ Of mortal ills prevailing ♪	2:24
	♪ For still our ancient foe ♪	2:32
	♪ Doth seek to work us woe ♪	2:38
	♪ His craft and power are great ♪	2:43
	♪ And armed with cruel hate ♪	2:50
	♪ On Earth is not his equal ♪	2:56
	♪ Did we in our strength confide ♪	3:05
	♪ Our striving would be losing ♪	3:13
	♪ Were not the right man or side ♪	3:21
	♪ The man of God's own choosing ♪	3:27
	♪ You ask who that may be ♪	3:35
	♪ Christ Jesus it is he ♪	3:41
	♪ Lord Sabaoth his name ♪	3:48
	♪ From age to age the same ♪	3:54
	♪ And he must win the battle ♪	4:01
	♪ And though this world with devils filled ♪	4:11
	♪ Should threaten to undo us ♪	4:18
	♪ We will not fear for God has willed ♪	4:26
	♪ His truth to triumph through us ♪	4:33
	♪ The prince of darkness grim ♪	4:41
	♪ We tremble not for him ♪	4:48
	♪ His rage we can endure ♪	4:54
	♪ For lo his doom is sure ♪	5:01
	♪ One little word shall fell him ♪	5:07
	♪ That word above all earthly powers ♪	5:17
	♪ No thanks to them abideth ♪	5:24
	♪ The spirit and the gifts are ours ♪	5:32
	♪ Through him who with us sideth ♪	5:39
	♪ Let goods and kindred go ♪	5:48
	♪ This mortal life also ♪	5:54
	♪ The body they may kill ♪	6:01
	♪ God's truth abideth still ♪	6:08
	♪ His kingdom is forever. ♪	6:15
-	Let us pray.	6:29
	Oh God, you have created us for yourself.	6:33
	You have made our minds restless until they embrace	6:37
	your purpose as our own.	6:41
	Our hearts aimless, until they adopt your will as our own.	6:43
	And our hands profitless, until they seize your task	6:50
	as our own.	6:55
	We praise you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,	6:58
	in whom you have revealed the person you created us to be.	7:01
	Let your revelation never cease, until our minds and hearts	7:07
	and hands, are wholly committed to your service, amen.	7:12
	You may be seated.	7:20
-	Please join me together	7:32
	as we pray the Prayer for Illumination.	7:33
All	Open our hearts and minds	7:37
	Oh God, by the power of your Holy Spirit,	7:40
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	7:44
	we might hear your message with joy this day, amen.	7:47
-	A reading from the gospel, according to Saint John.	7:54
	Chapter six, versus 56 through 69.	7:57
	"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, abide in me.	8:02
	"And I in them, just as the living father sent me.	8:06
	"And I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me	8:10
	"will live because of me.	8:14
	"This is the bread that came down from Heaven,	8:16
	"not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died.	8:19
	"But the one who eats this bread will live forever."	8:23
	He said these things while he was teaching	8:27
	in the Synagogue at Capernaum.	8:29
	When many of his disciples heard it, they said,	8:32
	"This teaching is difficult.	8:35
	"Who can accept it?"	8:37
	But Jesus, being aware	8:38
	that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them,	8:40
	"Does this offend you?	8:44
	"Then what if you were to see the Son of Man	8:46
	"ascending to where he was before?"	8:48
	"It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless.	8:51
	"The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.	8:56
	"But among you, there are some who do not believe."	9:00
	For Jesus knew from the first, who were the ones	9:04
	that did not believe and who was the one	9:06
	that would betray him.	9:09
	And he said, "For this reason, I have told you	9:10
	"that no one can come to me,	9:14
	"unless it is granted by the Father."	9:16
	Because of this, many of his disciples turned back	9:19
	and no longer went about with him.	9:22
	So Jesus asked the 12, "Do you also wish to go away?"	9:25
	Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go?	9:30
	"You have the eternal words of life.	9:35
	"We have come to believe and know	9:38
	"that you are the holy one of God."	9:41
	This is the word of the Lord.	9:44
Congregation	Praise be to God.	9:46
-	Today's Psalm is number 84,	9:54
	found on page 805 in your hymnal.	9:56
	Please stand and sing the Psalm responsively.	9:59
	♪ How lovely is your dwelling place, oh Lord of Hosts ♪	10:14
	♪ My soul longs, faints for the courts of the Lord ♪	10:21
	♪ My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God ♪	10:31
	♪ Oh God of hosts, my ruler and my God ♪	10:40
	♪ At your alters even the sparrow finds a home ♪	10:47
	♪ And the swallow a nest for herself ♪	10:54
	♪ where she may lay her young ♪	10:58
	♪ Blessed are those who dwell in your house ♪	11:03
	♪ Ever singing your praise ♪	11:10
	♪ Blessed are those whose strength is in you ♪	11:16
	♪ And om whose hearts are the highways to Zion ♪	11:22
	♪ As they go through the valley of tears ♪	11:29
	♪ They make it a place of springs ♪	11:35
	♪ The early rain also covers it with pools ♪	11:38
	♪ They go from strength to strength ♪	11:45
	♪ The God of gods will be seen in Zion ♪	11:50
	♪ Oh Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer ♪	11:57
	♪ Give ear, oh God of Jacob ♪	12:03
	♪ Behold our shield, oh God ♪	12:09
	♪ Look upon the face of your anointed ♪	12:15
	♪ For a day in your courts is better ♪	12:22
	♪ Than a thousand elsewhere ♪	12:27
	♪ I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God ♪	12:32
	♪ Than dwell in the tents of wickedness ♪	12:41
	♪ For the Lord God is a sun and shield ♪	12:48
	♪ And bestows favor and honor ♪	12:54
	♪ No good thing does the Lord withhold ♪	13:00
	♪ From those who walk uprightly ♪	13:06
	♪ Oh Lord of Hosts blessed are those who trust in you ♪	13:12
	(tranquil organ music)	13:26
	(congregation singing)	13:34
-	You may be seated.	14:21
	(tranquil organ music)	14:55
	(soloists singing in foreign language)	15:10
-	The Epistle lesson for today	19:36
	is from Ephesians 6.	19:39
	Finally, be strong in the Lord	19:44
	and in the strength of his might.	19:46
	Put on the whole armor of God	19:49
	that you may be able to stand against the wiles	19:51
	of the Devil	19:54
	for we are not contending against flesh and blood	19:56
	but against the principalities,	19:59
	against the powers, against the world rulers	20:01
	of this present darkness,	20:04
	against the spiritual host	20:06
	of wickedness in the heavenly places.	20:08
	Therefore take the whole armor of God	20:12
	that you may be able to withstand the evil day	20:16
	and having done all to stand,	20:19
	stand therefore having girded your loins	20:23
	with truth and having put on the breastplate	20:27
	of righteousness and having shod your feet	20:30
	with the equipment of the Gospel of peace.	20:32
	Besides all these, taking the shield of faith	20:37
	with which you can quench the flaming darts	20:42
	of the evil one	20:44
	and take the helmet of salvation	20:45
	and the sword of the spirit	20:47
	which is the word of God.	20:50
	Pray at all times in the spirit	20:53
	with all prayer and supplication.	20:55
	To that end, keep alert with all perseverance	20:57
	making supplication for all the saints.	21:00
	And also for me	21:04
	that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly	21:06
	to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel	21:10
	for which I am an ambassador in chains	21:14
	that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.	21:19
	This is the word of the Lord.	21:26
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	21:29
-	Be strong in the Lord.	21:33
	Put on the whole armor of God	21:37
	that you may be able to stand.	21:40
	Now, one of the reasons that we love the Bible,	21:45
	one of the reasons we keep reading it over	21:49
	and over again	21:51
	is that you find that it's not the same Bible.	21:54
	Oh, it's the same words	22:00
	but we're not the same readers.	22:03
	And that accounts for why many you've had the experience	22:06
	of hearing some biblical text	22:10
	over and over again	22:14
	and yet there is that moment	22:17
	when you hear that text	22:19
	as if for the first time.	22:21
	There are texts, there are biblical stories	22:23
	that mean absolutely nothing to you at 19	22:26
	but you wake up at 30	22:29
	and it's as if a hand reaches out	22:31
	and grabs you by the neck	22:34
	and shakes you up and down.	22:35
	And you're changed.	22:38
	The world is re-described accurately.	22:41
	And that's one reason we keep reading scripture.	22:46
	And for me, this describes my own impression	22:52
	with Ephesians 6.	22:56
	Ephesians 6 has never been one	23:00
	of my favorite passages of scripture.	23:02
	All this talk about the sword	23:04
	and the shield and taking the armor of God	23:06
	and I think it's because of the opinion engendered in me	23:09
	in college ROTC toward the U.S. Army.	23:13
	I was in ROTC	23:18
	I eventually was commissioned a first lieutenant	23:19
	in the armored division	23:21
	even though I never saw a tank.	23:23
	And I have often wondered	23:26
	what on Earth is all this talk	23:28
	about these military metaphors of the sword and the shield	23:29
	and the armament.	23:33
	And what does that have to do with the religion	23:34
	of the prince of peace?	23:36
	I am uncomfortable as mixing of these crusading metaphors	23:40
	with the religion of Jesus.	23:44
	And yet, it may be	23:49
	that we've come again to the right time	23:53
	to hear this scripture right.	23:57
	I met him about this time of the year.	24:03
	It was his first week.	24:06
	New student on the Duke campus.	24:09
	First year student, freshman	24:11
	and I could tell he was a little tentative,	24:13
	a little anxious about being a new student here on campus	24:16
	and we talked	24:20
	and when I saw him about three weeks later	24:22
	and I asked him, "Well, how are you fitting in	24:25
	"in the university?	24:27
	"How are things going?"	24:28
	And he said, "Fine, I really like it.	24:29
	"I'm really liking the place."	24:31
	And he said,	24:34
	"I'm really finding it quite an amazing experience."	24:35
	And I said, "In what way is it an amazing experience?"	24:39
	He said, "Well, take just this morning.	24:42
	"I went to breakfast in the U Room	24:44
	"and it was eight o'clock and the place was filled	24:48
	"right before morning classes and I had to look around	24:51
	"to get a table	24:53
	"and I saw this guy sitting over at a table,	24:54
	"I asked him if I could sit with him.	24:56
	"He said yes.	24:58
	"We sat down, we are our cornflakes in silence	24:59
	"and then he asked me well,	25:02
	"what year are you here at Duke?	25:04
	"And I said that I was a freshman.	25:07
	"And he said well, I'm a freshman too.	25:09
	"And we started talking	25:12
	"and he asked me the same question you asked,	25:13
	"how do you like it here at the university?	25:15
	"And I said well, fine.	25:17
	"Of course, there's been things to adjust to	25:19
	"and there've been things that I've encountered	25:22
	"that make me kind of uncomfortable	25:24
	"but I'm dealing with that.	25:26
	"He asked me well, what are the things	25:29
	"that you've been dealing with that kind	25:31
	"of make you uncomfortable.	25:32
	"I said, well, I guess I kinda look	25:35
	"at things differently than a lot of people around here.	25:38
	"You see, I'm a Christian."	25:41
	With that he said this guy drops his fork,	25:46
	his mouth drops open	25:48
	and he says, "I don't believe that.	25:50
	"You, a Christian?"	25:53
	He said, "That's unbelievable, I'm a Christian too.	25:54
	(congregation laughing)	25:57
	"Right here at breakfast in the university	25:58
	"run into a Christian, I can't believe that.	26:01
	"Well, we exchanged phone numbers	26:05
	"and all of sudden we'd have to get together again."	26:07
	Now I tell you, that conversation	26:10
	would not have been held here 30 years ago.	26:13
	20 years ago.	26:18
	I tell you something,	26:20
	something is new.	26:22
	There has been a kind of seismic shift	26:23
	in American public life	26:26
	and things are different for us.	26:28
	I'm wondering, maybe this Ephesians 6,	26:33
	telling you don't go out there unarmed,	26:39
	don't go out there ill-equipped,	26:42
	you better get your sword and a shield,	26:44
	I'm wondering if that kind of talk makes more sense	26:45
	to people say of today's younger generation	26:50
	than it did to my generation?	26:56
	'Cause I grew up in Bible Belt Greenville, South Carolina	27:00
	where home and church and school	27:03
	all worked together in a vast conspiracy,	27:05
	to kind of make us Christian.	27:08
	Being Christian was kind of the normal,	27:11
	natural American thing to do.	27:12
	You became Christian just by drinking the water,	27:14
	breathing the air.	27:16
	You couldn't even buy a gallon of gas on Sunday morning	27:18
	when Sunday school was in session.	27:20
	I don't think my parents ever worried	27:23
	about whether or not I would grow up Christian.	27:25
	It was the only game in town.	27:27
	And yet I woke up a few years ago	27:31
	and realized that whether or not my parents	27:32
	were justified in believing that,	27:34
	I don't meet anybody who believes that today.	27:36
	I don't meet any young parents,	27:41
	Baptists, Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, Lutherans.	27:43
	I just don't meet anybody who thinks their children	27:46
	will grow up affirming this faith	27:49
	just by living in a certain neighborhood	27:52
	and drinking the water,	27:54
	breathing the air.	27:55
	There is a new sense	27:57
	that if our young will affirm this faith,	27:58
	it will be as a kind of counter-cultural act.	28:02
	We'll have to be intentional about it.	28:06
	And so suddenly this talk of defensive armament begins	28:10
	to make sense.	28:15
	But we're not contending just against flesh and blood,	28:18
	we're contending, it's like there's something,	28:21
	somebody in charge of some kind of an assault	28:25
	against the faith.	28:28
	You better not go out there unarmed.	28:29
	And from what I can observe,	28:33
	main line liberal Protestantism	28:35
	has been the last to get the message of this.	28:37
	That the world has shifted,	28:41
	that that comfortable arrangement we once had	28:44
	with this culture has ended.	28:46
	There'll be no more props or free passes or crutches	28:49
	for the church.	28:53
	If our young grow up affirming this faith,	28:54
	we'll have to do it to them.	28:58
	We'll have to be intentional about it.	29:00
	Of course, I woke up this week	29:05
	to be informed by Bob Booth,	29:07
	on Good Morning America	29:09
	that I was fortunate enough to live	29:10
	in the best city in the United States.	29:12
	(congregation laughing)	29:15
	And I confess, I went through the day a little depressed	29:17
	worrying about the people like in Des Moines.	29:19
	If this is the best place anyway,	29:21
	(congregation laughing)	29:25
	even in this good place,	29:27
	increasing numbers of people	29:32
	are starting to feel like that freshman,	29:33
	like it's if you're Christian,	29:35
	it's like you're a member of some kind	29:37
	of new minority faith.	29:39
	It's no longer the natural, normal thing to do.	29:42
	I was out in Texas speaking	29:46
	and after my series of sermons,	29:48
	we had a kind of discussion session	29:50
	and during the discussion session,	29:52
	my host preacher said to me	29:55
	with the laypeople there,	29:58
	"You know, you seem to have such a negative view of culture.	30:00
	"You seem to have such a negative view of the world."	30:04
	And I said "Well, yes, I'm from South Carolina.	30:07
	"Maybe that has something to do with it.	30:10
	"But okay, maybe this is a great place to live	30:13
	"but I notice you have a burglar alarm on your church.	30:16
	"Let's turn it off tonight	30:20
	"and just see if Wichita Falls is a great place to live."	30:21
	I think we're just reading the situation a bit differently.	30:25
	On the way out, after the discussion,	30:30
	I passed a group of women in animated conversation.	30:34
	One of the group said to me,	30:38
	"We're talking about you."	30:40
	I said, "What?"	30:41
	And she said, "Well, we don't know	30:42
	"that you preachers know how tough it is out there."	30:46
	"Tough?"	30:51
	She said, "Yeah.	30:54
	"We're all public school teachers here in town.	30:54
	"And we don't know if you know what it's like.	30:59
	"I'm talking about a sixth grader on heroin.	31:03
	"I'm talking about an eighth grader	31:06
	"who's been abandoned by her parents	31:08
	"both of whom are physicians in Wichita Falls.	31:10
	"I'm talking about that kind of thing."	31:13
	and I said, "Well, your preacher thinks	31:18
	"this is a great place to live."	31:20
	And said, "Yeah, he's never been in a middle school	31:21
	"in his life.	31:23
	"He doesn't know."	31:24
	I said, "Well, get back in there	31:26
	"and tell your minister what you need to survive."	31:27
	You come to church on Sunday morning,	31:34
	we're talking about the birds and the bees	31:35
	and the flowers	31:37
	and you're thinking about what you'll encounter	31:38
	on Monday morning in the office.	31:40
	I thought about those teachers	31:44
	when a little later I was in a church	31:47
	where this woman told me	31:49
	that she was the convener	31:50
	of the public school teachers prayer group.	31:51
	Meets every Wednesday morning in that church at six o'clock.	31:55
	They have prayer, somebody presents a case study	31:58
	from some aspect of her work	32:03
	that calls into question her faith,	32:07
	her ethical responsibilities of Christian	32:10
	and then they pray for God to give them strength	32:12
	to resist in an inhuman situation.	32:16
	I predict, you heard it here first,	32:22
	I predict that is the wave of the future	32:25
	for the American church.	32:29
	It's as if we're up against something.	32:33
	And so a popular book this year	32:38
	has been by Yale Law professor, Stephen Carter.	32:40
	"The Culture of Disbelief."	32:43
	And Carter analyzing legal decisions	32:47
	in the last couple of decades looking at the treatment	32:50
	of religion and the media says,	32:53
	we live in a culture of disbelief	32:55
	where it's as if there's a sort of policing function	32:58
	in the media	33:02
	on TV, in the movies, in our law courts	33:04
	which makes sure that if religion is spoken of in public,	33:09
	it is mostly as a matter of ridicule.	33:13
	If you look at court briefs about religion,	33:19
	Carter says it is as if there is only one explanation	33:22
	that there are still people running loose	33:25
	who honor God	33:27
	and that is they are mentally unbalanced in some way	33:28
	and need to be protected from themselves.	33:32
	And I recall years ago, William Buckley saying,	33:36
	"It maybe at a nice dinner party in the northeast	33:39
	"you can bring up religion around the dinner table once	33:43
	"but if you bring it up twice,	33:47
	"you will never be invited back to dinner."	33:49
	The culture of disbelief.	33:54
	Even in my nice number one city, Durham,	34:00
	middle-class, manicured neighborhood,	34:04
	there is an increasing awareness	34:07
	on Sunday morning that we're moving	34:09
	to something different than the rest of the world.	34:13
	It's as if the world is buying a different set of goods,	34:16
	marching to the beat of a different drummer.	34:19
	These words from Ephesians,	34:27
	the writer says were written in chains.	34:30
	The writer to the Ephesians wrote these words in jail,	34:34
	the source of some of the best early Christian writing.	34:37
	His world looked at Christians then	34:41
	and saw in them a challenge	34:43
	to the way the world does business.	34:45
	Our world looks at us and deals with us	34:48
	not by throwing us in jail	34:51
	but rather by ignoring, ridiculing us	34:52
	but still, we're up against something.	34:57
	You better not go out of those doors unarmed.	35:01
	A recent study of college students	35:07
	who became involved	35:11
	in harmful religious cults said	35:12
	that the one thread running through the history	35:16
	of these students' lives	35:22
	was that they came to college	35:24
	with very little religious education,	35:27
	with very little sophisticated understanding	35:31
	about religious faith,	35:34
	very little grounding	35:36
	and this, the study said, left them peculiarly vulnerable	35:39
	for the first religious claims	35:44
	that came blowing through town	35:46
	promising to overwhelm their great sense of inadequacy.	35:49
	You better not go out there unarmed.	35:55
	In fact, I'm saying that's probably a reason	35:58
	that you've gotten out of bed	36:02
	and come over today.	36:03
	You're seeking to be equipped	36:06
	and my role as a preacher	36:09
	is not as it once might have been	36:11
	to sort of helpfully nudge basically nice people	36:14
	toward basically good majority American goals.	36:17
	My job is to give you a shield and a buckler	36:22
	and a sword and armament.	36:25
	Notice that all the armament mentioned here in Ephesians	36:29
	is mainly of a defensive nature.	36:31
	What you need to resist.	36:34
	There is a new awareness	36:36
	that as you go about your life Monday through Saturday,	36:39
	you're up against something.	36:42
	So pray for me.	36:47
	Pray that I might speak the word of God boldly	36:49
	and pray for yourselves that you might be given the grace	36:55
	to resist, to go against the grain,	37:01
	to be named by other powers	37:05
	than the principalities and powers	37:08
	which have us in their grip.	37:10
	Pray that we might speak the word of God	37:12
	with a new boldness.	37:16
	Amen.	37:21
	(tranquil organ music)	37:34
	(congregation singing)	38:10
Preacher	The Lord be with you.	40:57
Congregation	And also with you.	40:58
-	Let us pray.	41:00
	You may be seated.	41:01
	Oh God, your word of centuries ago reaches our ears.	41:12
	Speaking in images that are sometimes foreign	41:18
	but sometimes so familiar we are stunned	41:23
	by their power.	41:26
	Be strong in the Lord.	41:29
	Put on the whole armor of God	41:32
	that you may be able to stand.	41:35
	We hear these words spoken in triumph	41:40
	by one in chains.	41:43
	Beaten but not broken,	41:45
	persecuted but not forsaken.	41:49
	Quite honestly we don't know whether to be terrified	41:54
	or comforted by these words.	41:57
	They terrify us	42:03
	because they proclaim the reality	42:04
	that following Jesus is not always easy.	42:06
	We want it to be easy,	42:11
	we want our Christianity to be something pleasant	42:14
	that completes a full and productive life.	42:17
	We want a world where everyone holds Christian values,	42:22
	even if they don't hold Christian beliefs.	42:26
	We want a gentle, caring world,	42:29
	characterized by politeness, if not love.	42:33
	But that's not the world we live in.	42:39
	In fact, it is often a hostile, brutal world.	42:41
	At best, it has become indifferent	42:46
	to Christian beliefs,	42:48
	at worst, openly antagonistic.	42:50
	We don't want to need the armor of God	42:56
	but it is promised to us nevertheless	43:00
	for times such as these.	43:03
	For times when violence is a daily fact of reality	43:07
	and human life is held cheaply.	43:11
	For times when value systems conflict	43:16
	and Christian beliefs are considered naive and ignorant.	43:19
	For times when our planet	43:26
	and our very existence is endangered	43:28
	by self-serving, callous exploitation.	43:30
	For times when power is sought for its own sake	43:36
	and wielded as a weapon.	43:40
	For times when our economic, cultural	43:45
	and spiritual survival are threatened	43:47
	from without and within.	43:50
	For times when the power of evil seems so strong	43:55
	and the power of peace so inadequate.	43:58
	For times like these	44:04
	when we are at risk of dangers, real and imagined	44:06
	which we name before you.	44:12
	The promise of strength	44:21
	and protection in the midst of danger	44:22
	is a bittersweet word of comfort.	44:25
	It opens our eyes to the reality	44:27
	of the world we live in	44:30
	yet also assures us that no matter what,	44:32
	we are never alone.	44:36
	We may be beaten but not broken,	44:38
	persecuted but not forsaken.	44:41
	Give us courage to face the world with confidence	44:47
	guided by your truth,	44:50
	emboldened by your spirit.	44:52
	Help us stand firmly against evil	44:57
	in whatever forms we find it	44:59
	and help us live as those who display love	45:02
	as a shield of strength	45:06
	to a world which finds love in oddity.	45:08
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord	45:13
	who shows us the triumphant power of love.	45:16
	Amen.	45:20
	Let us offer ourselves	45:24
	and our gifts in thanksgiving to the Lord.	45:26
	(tranquil organ music)	45:35
	(lively organ music)	46:25
	♪ The Lord is Christ given ♪	46:42
	(soloists singing)	46:46
	♪ The Lord is Christ given ♪	46:54
	(soloists singing)	46:57
	♪ My salvation ♪	49:39
	(lively organ music)	50:07
	♪ Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow ♪	50:57
	♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪	51:03
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	51:09
	♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ♪	51:17
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	51:23
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	51:30
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	51:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:43
-	Let us pray.	51:55
	Almighty God, giver of every good and perfect gift,	51:58
	teach us to render to you all that we have	52:03
	and all that we are	52:07
	that we may praise you not with our lips only	52:09
	but with our whole lives,	52:13
	resisting evil with the armor of love	52:16
	that we may turn the duties,	52:21
	the sorrows and the joys of all our days	52:22
	into a living sacrifice to you	52:27
	through our Savior Jesus Christ	52:31
	who taught us to pray.	52:34
All	Our Father, who art in Heaven,	52:36
	hallowed by thy name,	52:39
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	52:41
	on Earth as it in Heaven.	52:44
	Give us this day our daily bread	52:47
	and forgive us our trespasses	52:50
	as we forgive those	52:52
	who trespass against us	52:54
	and lead us not into temptation	52:56
	but deliver us from evil	52:59
	for thine is the kingdom, and the power	53:01
	and the glory forever.	53:05
	Amen.	53:06
	(lively organ music)	53:10
	♪ Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love ♪	53:47
	♪ Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee ♪	53:56
	♪ Opening to the sun above ♪	54:00
	♪ Melt the clouds of sin and sadness ♪	54:05
	♪ Drive the dark of doubt away ♪	54:10
	♪ Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day ♪	54:14
	♪ All Thy works with joy surround Thee ♪	54:27
	♪ Earth and Heaven reflect Thy rays ♪	54:31
	♪ Stars and angels sing around Thee ♪	54:36
	♪ Center of unbroken praise ♪	54:41
	♪ Field and forest, vale and mountain ♪	54:46
	♪ Flowery meadow, flashing sea ♪	54:51
	♪ Singing bird and flowing fountain call us ♪	54:55
	♪ To rejoice in Thee ♪	55:01
	♪ Thou art giving and forgiving ♪	55:08
	♪ Ever blessing, ever blessed ♪	55:12
	♪ Wellspring of the joy of living ♪	55:17
	♪ Ocean depth of happy rest ♪	55:22
	♪ Thou our Father, Christ our Brother ♪	55:27
	♪ All who live in love are Thine ♪	55:32
	♪ Teach us how to love each other ♪	55:36
	♪ Lift us to the joy divine ♪	55:41
	♪ Mortals, join the happy chorus ♪	55:49
	♪ Which the morning stars began ♪	55:54
	♪ Father love is reigning o'er us ♪	55:59
	♪ Brother love binds man to man ♪	56:04
	♪ Ever singing, march we onward ♪	56:09
	♪ Victors in the midst of strife ♪	56:13
	♪ Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life ♪	56:18
-	Let us pray.	56:34
	The Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,	56:36
	the love of God	56:37
	and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now	56:39
	and always, amen.	56:42
	(lively organ music)	56:46

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Get Ready for a Fight" (August 21, 1994)

Description:

Sermon start time: 21:33. Sermon end time: 37:22.
Paul uses military language to talk about the Christian walk because the world is a hostile, inhospitable place for discipleship. The preacher argues that contemporary America has declared war upon the Gospel in the most subtle of ways, so subtle that sometimes we don't know we're losing the battle until it's too late. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “You’re seeking to be equipped, and my role as a preacher is not as it once might have been to sort of helpfully nudge basically nice people toward basically good, majority American goals. My job is to give you a shield and a buckler and a sword and armament.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4dr2pq4r

Date:

August 21, 1994

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Ephesians

Chapter and Verse:

Ephesians 6:10-20

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0386
ref9458_mar
uachapelsermaud
duke:321643
dcrmv001368
ark:/87924/r4dr2pq4r
1f98a057-5575-4488-a9f8-2cadc8dbaa25

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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 - "Get Ready for a Fight" (August 21, 1994)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Get Ready for a Fight" (August 21, 1994)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Get Ready for a Fight" (August 21, 1994)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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