Elizabeth Achtemeier - "Sure Promise" (November 27, 1994)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(tranquil organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | I welcome you on this the first Sunday | 2:34 |
in the Christian season of Advent, | 2:38 | |
a time of repentance and preparation | 2:41 | |
for the nativity of our Lord. | 2:44 | |
We welcome back to the Duke Chapel pulpit today | 2:48 | |
a good friend, Elizabeth Achtemeier, | 2:51 | |
professor at Union Seminary | 2:55 | |
and one of this country's outstanding preachers | 2:57 | |
and teachers, teacher of preachers | 3:01 | |
and we're glad to have Betty back with us today. | 3:05 | |
Our lector is Mr. Jason McStoots, | 3:09 | |
a undergraduate here at Duke, | 3:12 | |
member of our chapel choir | 3:15 | |
and we're pleased that he's come in early | 3:17 | |
from his Thanksgiving vacation | 3:19 | |
to be our lector today | 3:21 | |
and as always we welcome our guest musicians, | 3:23 | |
the Crown Chamber Brass. | 3:26 | |
Let us stand for the greeting. | 3:29 | |
I will hear what the Lord has to say. | 3:34 | |
(congregation mumbles) | 3:38 | |
Peace for all people and for God's friends. | 3:41 | |
(congregation mumbles) | 3:46 | |
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. | 3:49 | |
(congregation mumbles) | 3:53 | |
(lively brass band music) | 4:00 | |
(congregation sings) | 4:48 | |
Let us pray. | 8:08 | |
Oh merciful God, | 8:11 | |
you sent your messengers the prophets | 8:13 | |
to preach repentance | 8:17 | |
and to prepare the way for our salvation. | 8:19 | |
Give us grace at this the beginning | 8:23 | |
of the season of Advent. | 8:26 | |
To heed their prophetic warnings | 8:29 | |
and forsake our sin | 8:31 | |
that we may celebrate aright the commemoration | 8:34 | |
of the nativity that we may await with joy | 8:36 | |
the coming and glory of Jesus Christ our redeemer | 8:41 | |
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, | 8:46 | |
one God forever and ever. | 8:49 | |
Amen. | 8:53 | |
Be seated. | 8:54 | |
- | Let us pray together the prayer for illumination. | 9:03 |
- | [Lector And Congregation] Open our hearts and minds, | 9:06 |
oh God by the power of your Holy Spirit | 9:08 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 9:12 | |
we may hear your message with joy this day. | 9:15 | |
Amen. | 9:19 | |
- | The Old Testament reading | 9:21 |
is taken from Jeremiah chapter 33 verses 14 through 16. | 9:22 | |
The days are surely coming, says the Lord | 9:28 | |
when I will fulfill the promise I made | 9:31 | |
to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. | 9:33 | |
In those days and at that time | 9:36 | |
I will cause a righteous branch | 9:38 | |
to spring up for David | 9:39 | |
and he shall execute justice | 9:41 | |
and righteousness in the land. | 9:43 | |
In those days, Judah will be saved | 9:45 | |
and Jerusalem will live in safety | 9:47 | |
and this is the name by which it will be called, | 9:49 | |
the Lord is our righteousness. | 9:52 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 9:55 | |
Congregation | Thank you, God. | 9:56 |
- | The Psalm appointed for this day | 10:00 |
is Psalm 25 verses one through 10 | 10:02 | |
found on page 756 in your Hymnal. | 10:05 | |
Please stand and sing the Psalm and Gloria responsibly. | 10:08 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 10:15 | |
♪ To you, oh Lord, I lift up my soul ♪ | 10:23 | |
(congregation sings) | 10:29 | |
♪ Let none that wait for you ♪ | 10:46 | |
♪ Be put to shame ♪ | 10:48 | |
(congregation sings) | 10:51 | |
♪ Make me to know your ways, oh Lord ♪ | 10:59 | |
(congregation sings) | 11:03 | |
♪ Lead me in your truth ♪ | 11:08 | |
♪ And teach me ♪ | 11:12 | |
(congregation sings) | 11:16 | |
♪ Be mindful of your mercy, oh Lord ♪ | 11:28 | |
♪ And of your steadfast love ♪ | 11:31 | |
♪ For they have been from of old ♪ | 11:35 | |
(congregation sings) | 11:40 | |
♪ Good and upright is the Lord ♪ | 12:02 | |
♪ Therefore the Lord instructs in us in the way ♪ | 12:06 | |
♪ And leads the humble in what is right ♪ | 12:12 | |
♪ And teaches them the way ♪ | 12:17 | |
(congregation sings) | 12:22 | |
♪ All glory be to you creator ♪ | 12:40 | |
♪ And to you Jesus Christ our savior ♪ | 12:43 | |
(congregation sings) | 12:47 | |
♪ As it was at time began ♪ | 12:54 | |
(congregation sings) | 12:58 | |
Be seated. | 13:10 | |
The epistle today is from 1 Thessalonians | 13:16 | |
chapter three verses nine through 13. | 13:19 | |
How can we thank God enough for you in return | 13:24 | |
for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? | 13:27 | |
Night and day we pray most earnestly | 13:31 | |
that we may see you face to face | 13:33 | |
and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. | 13:35 | |
Now may our God and Father himself | 13:38 | |
and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you | 13:40 | |
and may the Lord make you increase | 13:44 | |
and abound in love for one another and for all | 13:45 | |
just as we abound in love for you | 13:48 | |
and may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness | 13:51 | |
that you may be blameless before our God | 13:54 | |
and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus | 13:56 | |
with all his saints. | 13:58 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 14:00 | |
Congregation | Thank you, God. | 14:02 |
(lively inspirational brass band music) | 14:11 | |
- | Before I read the New Testament lesson, | 17:08 |
just let me say it is always a pleasure | 17:10 | |
and an honor for me to worship with you | 17:14 | |
in this chapel. | 17:17 | |
Our New Testament lesson | 17:21 | |
is taken from the gospel according to Luke, | 17:22 | |
the 21st chapter beginning at the 25th verse. | 17:24 | |
Jesus is speaking here about the end of world history | 17:28 | |
and the coming of the kingdom of God on Earth. | 17:33 | |
And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars | 17:38 | |
and upon the Earth distress of nations | 17:43 | |
in perplexity of the roaring of the sea and the waves. | 17:45 | |
Men and women fainting with fear and with foreboding | 17:50 | |
of what is coming on the world | 17:53 | |
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken | 17:56 | |
and then they will see the Son of Man | 17:59 | |
coming in a cloud with power and great glory. | 18:01 | |
Now, when these things begin to take place, | 18:05 | |
look up and raise your heads | 18:08 | |
because your redemption is drawing near | 18:10 | |
and he told them a parable. | 18:15 | |
Look at the fig tree and all the trees. | 18:18 | |
As soon as they come out in leaf | 18:21 | |
you see for yourselves and know | 18:23 | |
that the summer is already near, | 18:24 | |
so also when you see these things taking place, | 18:27 | |
you know that the kingdom of God is near. | 18:31 | |
Truly I say to you this generation will not pass away | 18:35 | |
'til all has taken place. | 18:39 | |
Heaven and Earth will pass away | 18:42 | |
but my words will not pass away. | 18:44 | |
But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts | 18:47 | |
be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness | 18:50 | |
and cares of this life | 18:53 | |
and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare | 18:55 | |
for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face | 18:59 | |
of the whole Earth | 19:02 | |
but watch at all times, | 19:04 | |
praying that you may have strength to escape | 19:07 | |
all these things that will take place | 19:09 | |
and to stand before the Son of Man. | 19:12 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 19:15 | |
(congregation mumbles) | 19:19 | |
Shortly after World War II | 19:22 | |
my husband and I were graduate divinity students | 19:24 | |
at Heidelberg University in Germany. | 19:28 | |
During a vacation from university classes, | 19:32 | |
we rode our bicycles from Southern Germany up to Denmark. | 19:35 | |
City after German city that we rode through lay still | 19:40 | |
in ruins from Allied bombing during the war. | 19:43 | |
And at one place where we stopped | 19:47 | |
to eat our lunch beside the road, | 19:49 | |
there were the shattered ruins of a stone church. | 19:51 | |
Only one wall of the church remained | 19:56 | |
and on the place where the alter had been, | 20:00 | |
someone had nailed together a wooden cross, | 20:02 | |
but on that one remaining wall | 20:06 | |
an unknown German had chalked the words | 20:08 | |
of our morning text. | 20:10 | |
Heaven and Earth will pass away | 20:13 | |
but my words will not pass away. | 20:15 | |
Jesus promised to his disciples | 20:19 | |
that though we blow up this world | 20:22 | |
so that nothing of it remains, | 20:24 | |
his word for the future from his God | 20:26 | |
and his salvation for his faithful followers | 20:28 | |
will come to pass. | 20:31 | |
It is a word we need in our atomic age, isn't it? | 20:35 | |
As you all know, there are a lot of ideologues, | 20:39 | |
various groups who are trying | 20:42 | |
to identify God with the natural world these days. | 20:44 | |
God is simply the vital force we find in nature, | 20:48 | |
they tell us, the energy in all living things. | 20:51 | |
Or God is some numinous spirit | 20:56 | |
that is under, in and through all being. | 20:58 | |
Or God is primal matrix, Gaia, the great goddess, | 21:01 | |
Mother Earth from which all existence has come forth. | 21:06 | |
But what if we incinerate Mother Earth, dear friends? | 21:12 | |
What if some terrorist looses the final missile? | 21:17 | |
What if our power and greed and selfishness finally destroy | 21:22 | |
the world of nature | 21:26 | |
so that there is no bird left to sing on a bush | 21:29 | |
and no air left to breathe | 21:31 | |
and no light to penetrate the radioactive dust | 21:34 | |
that envelops the planet? | 21:37 | |
Is God then gone too, destroyed as all nature is destroyed? | 21:40 | |
No, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ | 21:47 | |
is other than nature and he is more than nature. | 21:49 | |
Heaven and Earth may pass away | 21:54 | |
but my word will not pass away. | 21:56 | |
And the faithful can still be taken into the fellowship | 22:00 | |
of his eternal kingdom. | 22:03 | |
And that's a promise we need too | 22:06 | |
in the midst of our crumbling culture. | 22:07 | |
All the old values, institutions, authorities | 22:11 | |
seem to be passing away now | 22:14 | |
but so many of us have the idea | 22:17 | |
that our God was identified with those fading certainties. | 22:19 | |
We thought that God was the God of American democracy. | 22:23 | |
The God of the American way of life. | 22:28 | |
And now we find ourselves desperately trying | 22:32 | |
to preserve that way. | 22:34 | |
God was the God of American prosperity | 22:38 | |
and Anglo Saxon religion and loving nuclear families, | 22:40 | |
of decent schools and peaceful streets | 22:46 | |
and effective civil authorities | 22:48 | |
and as we experience our culture's chaos | 22:51 | |
undermining those firm foundations | 22:54 | |
of our former lives, | 22:56 | |
we get the awful feeling sometimes | 22:57 | |
that perhaps there is no longer a God in charge. | 22:59 | |
But our text brings a promise to overcome all | 23:04 | |
of our fear and confused anxiety. | 23:07 | |
Heaven and Earth, your culture and mine | 23:10 | |
may pass away | 23:14 | |
but my words will not pass away. | 23:17 | |
Long after our society and our way of life | 23:20 | |
are but short paragraphs in a history book, | 23:24 | |
the words of God spoken by our Lord will still come to pass. | 23:26 | |
So, just what are these words | 23:33 | |
that Jesus speaks to us here | 23:35 | |
from the gospel according to Luke? | 23:37 | |
What is the content of these words | 23:39 | |
that are so certain and lasting? | 23:41 | |
What is the whole shape of the promise | 23:45 | |
that is given the faithful here? | 23:47 | |
The promise is that our Lord Jesus Christ | 23:51 | |
will come again as he came once at Bethlehem | 23:54 | |
but this time he will return as our risen | 23:58 | |
and exalted Lord to set up his rule | 24:01 | |
over all the Earth. | 24:03 | |
You see, always on this first Sunday in Advent, | 24:06 | |
the church looks in two directions. | 24:09 | |
It looks back to remember the birth of Jesus | 24:12 | |
who was laid in a manger | 24:15 | |
but it also looks forward to the promised return | 24:18 | |
of Christ when he comes to establish his kingdom. | 24:21 | |
Now, to be sure, we do not know | 24:26 | |
when that second coming will be. | 24:27 | |
As Jesus says in the book of Acts, | 24:30 | |
it is not for you to know the times or seasons | 24:31 | |
which the Father has fixed by his own authority | 24:35 | |
but the scriptures tell us | 24:39 | |
that when that takes place and the kingdom comes, | 24:41 | |
then God himself will be with us | 24:44 | |
and wipe every tear from our eyes | 24:48 | |
and death shall be no more. | 24:50 | |
Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore | 24:54 | |
for the former things will have passed away | 24:58 | |
and the faithful will inherit eternal life | 25:02 | |
in God's good new heaven and Earth | 25:06 | |
and that says our text is Jesus' sure promise to us. | 25:09 | |
It is, however, the faithful, | 25:16 | |
the faithful who trust their whole lives to Christ | 25:19 | |
who will inherit that kingdom. | 25:22 | |
Take heed to yourself, says our Luke in text, | 25:24 | |
lest your hearts be weighed down | 25:27 | |
with dissipation and drunkenness | 25:29 | |
and cares of this world | 25:31 | |
so that you cannot stand before the Son of Man. | 25:33 | |
In other words, when Christ comes again, | 25:38 | |
he's going to evaluate and judge our lives. | 25:40 | |
Have we trusted him and therefore walked in his ways? | 25:44 | |
Have we been his followers, his disciples? | 25:49 | |
Now, we are not used to seeing | 25:55 | |
and conducting our whole lives | 25:56 | |
in relation to God in Jesus Christ of course, | 25:58 | |
even we good church people are not used to that. | 26:01 | |
When we make our crucial decisions | 26:05 | |
we so rarely think about God. | 26:07 | |
For example, our marriage is getting rockier every day | 26:11 | |
and so, we ask should we get a divorce? | 26:14 | |
Our questions always are could I make it on my own | 26:18 | |
or would it be better for the kids | 26:22 | |
or what will this mean for my financial future | 26:24 | |
or can I reenter the job market? | 26:27 | |
But our question seldom is is this divorce the will of God? | 26:30 | |
Or we deal with all those burning issues of our time | 26:37 | |
with the proper use of sex, | 26:41 | |
with homosexuality and AIDS, | 26:43 | |
with unwed mothers and single-parent homes | 26:46 | |
and abortion on demand | 26:49 | |
and we talk in terms of rights and needs, | 26:50 | |
in terms of money and legislation | 26:53 | |
but we seldom stop to ask what is the will of God? | 26:55 | |
We do not see ourselves always related | 27:02 | |
to God and Jesus Christ | 27:05 | |
as the ones made in his image | 27:08 | |
who cannot be understood | 27:10 | |
in our personhood except in relation to him. | 27:12 | |
As the ones who never can go from his presence | 27:16 | |
though in the highest hell, | 27:19 | |
in the highest heaven or the deepest hell. | 27:21 | |
As the ones whose names he has engraved | 27:25 | |
on the palm of his hand he tells us | 27:27 | |
and whom he never forgets | 27:31 | |
though earthly mother and father should forget us | 27:33 | |
and all our friends desert us | 27:35 | |
but human life was made to be lived | 27:39 | |
in the company of our God, | 27:42 | |
our God revealed in Jesus Christ | 27:45 | |
whose will is set forth in the scriptures. | 27:47 | |
We human beings were created to glorify God | 27:52 | |
and enjoy him forever as the confession has it. | 27:55 | |
And so, our gospel lesson tells us | 28:00 | |
that when Christ returns, | 28:02 | |
he's going to ask us how well we have done | 28:04 | |
with that purpose for our living. | 28:06 | |
Or as Luke puts it elsewhere, | 28:11 | |
when the Son of Man comes, | 28:12 | |
will he find faith on the Earth? | 28:14 | |
Now, you and I are likely to flunk the test of course | 28:19 | |
because we have not lived in fellowship | 28:24 | |
with our God very often | 28:26 | |
nor have we rejoiced in his commands | 28:28 | |
and made our lives a shining witness, | 28:32 | |
a glorification of his love and lordship. | 28:34 | |
And so, there will be a judgment, friends, | 28:38 | |
a final eternal decision of life or death | 28:42 | |
and though heaven and Earth may pass away, | 28:48 | |
that word will not pass away. | 28:50 | |
Indeed there is already taking place in our world | 28:54 | |
a foretaste of that judgment. | 28:57 | |
How does Luke describe it in his 21st chapter? | 29:00 | |
He says nation will rise against nation | 29:03 | |
and kingdom against kingdom. | 29:05 | |
There will be great earthquakes | 29:08 | |
and in various places famines and pestilences | 29:09 | |
for great distress shall be upon the Earth | 29:13 | |
and wrath upon this people, | 29:15 | |
the stress of nations in perplexity | 29:18 | |
and men and women fainting with fear | 29:20 | |
and with foreboding of what is coming upon the world. | 29:23 | |
And though that is apocalyptic language | 29:27 | |
our Lord is using in the first century AD, | 29:29 | |
we can pretty well fit it together | 29:33 | |
with what we hear on the evening news. | 29:35 | |
We too live in an apocalyptic age | 29:39 | |
and the distress and fear and pestilence | 29:44 | |
are still very much with us. | 29:46 | |
This generation will not pass away | 29:49 | |
'til all this has taken place, Jesus says | 29:51 | |
and our generation, like every generation, | 29:54 | |
knows those calamities | 29:57 | |
because our God works his judgment upon our sin, | 30:00 | |
not only at the end of the world | 30:03 | |
but now, ever anew in our time and place. | 30:05 | |
You see, God is not mocked. | 30:11 | |
When we ignore his will and presence, | 30:15 | |
we reap ruinous results. | 30:17 | |
God gives us over to our willful ways | 30:21 | |
and let's us wallow in their consequences. | 30:24 | |
Or God returns our violence, our hatreds, | 30:28 | |
our lusts, our corruptions | 30:31 | |
and our distortions of life upon our own heads. | 30:34 | |
Surely, he says to us through the prophet Ezekiel, | 30:38 | |
with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm | 30:41 | |
and with wrath poured out, | 30:44 | |
I will be king over you. | 30:45 | |
God is Lord of our lives | 30:50 | |
and he will not be less than that. | 30:53 | |
And our lives belong to him alone | 30:57 | |
and he will destroy every other loyalty | 30:59 | |
that would claim them. | 31:01 | |
And you and I and our sin-stricken planet | 31:05 | |
face God's final assessment of us | 31:09 | |
not only at the end of time | 31:11 | |
but now and tomorrow | 31:14 | |
and the next day. | 31:17 | |
So, you see, this text from Luke, | 31:20 | |
for this the first Sunday in Advent | 31:22 | |
is not only a joyful promise, | 31:24 | |
that Christ will return to set up his rule | 31:27 | |
though heaven and Earth shall pass away, | 31:30 | |
it is also a warning to be prepared for that coming | 31:32 | |
that we may survive in the final judgment | 31:37 | |
and enter into the eternal realm of goodness | 31:41 | |
which is known as the kingdom of God. | 31:43 | |
Take heed to yourselves, Jesus tells his disciples, | 31:46 | |
watch at all times | 31:51 | |
praying that you may have strength | 31:54 | |
to escape all these things that will take place | 31:55 | |
and to stand before the Son of man. | 31:57 | |
Take heed, | 32:00 | |
take heed and do not forget the presence | 32:03 | |
of your God with you every moment of your life. | 32:05 | |
And follow, follow daily | 32:10 | |
what he commands you through the scriptures. | 32:13 | |
Watch, look for his actions in your daily round, | 32:17 | |
his guidance, his forgiveness, | 32:22 | |
his admonition and expect and act as if his kingdom | 32:24 | |
really is coming near. | 32:28 | |
And pray at all times. | 32:31 | |
Pray for the one gift that can give us eternal life, | 32:35 | |
namely God's mercy. | 32:38 | |
For let's face it, friends, | 32:42 | |
you and I do not stand a chance | 32:43 | |
of being acquitted in that final judgment | 32:45 | |
anymore than we can claim innocence and righteousness | 32:47 | |
for our lives yesterday and today. | 32:50 | |
I think the older I get, the more deeply I know | 32:54 | |
that I literally have not a ghost of a chance | 32:57 | |
of claiming any good deed or pious commitment | 33:02 | |
that would qualify me for eternal life | 33:06 | |
in the company of my God. | 33:08 | |
As our Psalm passage says in a following verse, | 33:12 | |
for thy name's sake, oh Lord, | 33:15 | |
pardon my guilt for it is great. | 33:17 | |
Oh Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. | 33:22 | |
That is the only prayer that you and I can lay | 33:27 | |
before the judge of all the Earth. | 33:30 | |
But when we pray that prayer, good Christian friends | 33:34 | |
in the midst of our chaotic world, | 33:37 | |
when apocalyptic terrors surround us | 33:41 | |
and our sins lay heavy on our hearts, | 33:43 | |
our Lord Jesus gives us one more promise | 33:48 | |
in our scripture lesson. | 33:50 | |
When these things begin to take place, | 33:52 | |
look up and raise your heads | 33:54 | |
because your redemption is drawing near. | 33:56 | |
When we cast ourselves on the mercy of our Lord, | 34:02 | |
when we trust him with our eternal lives, | 34:08 | |
when in the midst of our imperfect days | 34:13 | |
with all of our blunders and wrongs | 34:15 | |
and forgetfulness of our God, | 34:18 | |
marring even our finest moments, | 34:20 | |
when we nevertheless turn to our Lord Christ | 34:24 | |
and plead his grace | 34:27 | |
and surrender ourselves to his loving guidance, | 34:29 | |
then friends, then our redemption begins to draw near | 34:32 | |
and then too we have his promise | 34:39 | |
of everlasting good in his kingdom | 34:41 | |
for he comes, friends, he surely comes | 34:46 | |
to set up his rule over all the Earth | 34:51 | |
and by his love and mercy and sacrifice for you | 34:55 | |
and for me, he can take even us, | 34:59 | |
even us into that eternal realm of life. | 35:04 | |
And you see, that is a promise that is forever sure | 35:09 | |
though heaven and Earth pass away. | 35:14 | |
Amen. | 35:18 | |
(tranquil brass band music) | 35:28 | |
(congregation sings) | 36:31 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 38:46 |
(congregation mumbles) | 38:48 | |
Let us pray. | 38:49 | |
Be seated. | 38:50 | |
Oh God, who speaks to us | 39:03 | |
in the signs of the times, | 39:07 | |
in the moon and in the stars, | 39:11 | |
in the change of the seasons from fall to winter, | 39:14 | |
all these things of your creation speak to us. | 39:19 | |
Oh God, who speaks to us in our yearnings, | 39:25 | |
yearnings too deep for words, | 39:30 | |
yes, even in our forebodings and fears, | 39:35 | |
grant us grace this Advent | 39:40 | |
to lift up our heads, | 39:44 | |
to hear your abiding word, | 39:47 | |
to see our salvation drawing nigh, | 39:50 | |
Lord, in your mercy heard our prayer. | 39:54 | |
Lord, we confess that we are too easily pleased, | 40:02 | |
contenting ourselves with mere earthly pleasures, | 40:07 | |
that which we can touch and have and hold, | 40:12 | |
things, accumulations, fleeting passions, | 40:17 | |
momentary enthusiasm, confining ourselves | 40:25 | |
to merely secular programs for human betterment, | 40:28 | |
merely political dreams of a new world. | 40:34 | |
Life up our heads. | 40:40 | |
Make us eager and believing | 40:43 | |
of your promise to make for us much more of the future | 40:46 | |
than we could make merely for ourselves. | 40:52 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 40:57 | |
In the light of your sure, bold promises to us, | 41:04 | |
we are bold to pray | 41:08 | |
for our great needs. | 41:11 | |
Living as we do in one of the most violent societies | 41:16 | |
on Earth, we pray for children, | 41:20 | |
for children here in Durham | 41:26 | |
who are hungry and need food, | 41:28 | |
children who deserve better schools | 41:32 | |
than we have provided, | 41:34 | |
who yearn for peace in their homes | 41:38 | |
and among their families, | 41:41 | |
who are fearful to walk their neighborhood streets. | 41:44 | |
Lord, because you were so vulnerable | 41:50 | |
and you loved the little ones, | 41:53 | |
we pray for these most vulnerable little ones. | 41:55 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 41:58 | |
With the onset of winter | 42:05 | |
and your Son's Advent among us, | 42:08 | |
we rush to buy more things, things we don't need, | 42:11 | |
our brothers and sisters in our own town fear | 42:18 | |
that they will be cold for lack of fuel. | 42:22 | |
Teach us our responsibility and complicity | 42:28 | |
in their want. | 42:33 | |
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer. | 42:36 | |
And for the victims of war and civil strife, | 42:42 | |
for those who perish from too much | 42:47 | |
and for those who die by having too little, | 42:51 | |
for those who are lonely or confused, | 42:56 | |
for those whose pain makes this Sunday a dark gloomy day, | 43:04 | |
we pray your light. | 43:13 | |
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer. | 43:16 | |
Come, oh come Emanuel, this spring on high, | 43:22 | |
word that remains, promises that are fulfilled, | 43:25 | |
liberator of captives, | 43:31 | |
recovery of sight to the blind, come | 43:32 | |
and make good your sure promises to us. | 43:36 | |
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer. | 43:42 | |
Amen. | 43:46 | |
During this time of national Thanksgiving, | 43:51 | |
we have been reminded of how much our lives | 43:54 | |
have been blessed. | 43:57 | |
This past year, the offerings at Duke Chapel | 43:59 | |
gave $40,000 to community needs here and afar. | 44:03 | |
All of the offerings in this chapel go to help the needs | 44:11 | |
of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. | 44:16 | |
I urge you to give generously. | 44:20 | |
(lively brass band music) | 44:32 | |
(lively organ music) | 50:09 | |
(congregation sings) | 50:56 | |
Lord, we do not deserve all the gifts | 51:57 | |
which you have showered upon us, | 52:03 | |
gifts of family and friends and food, | 52:06 | |
a holiday from work, | 52:11 | |
the gifts of your word, | 52:14 | |
the gifts of your sometimes painful yet always healing truth | 52:18 | |
and so, in thanksgiving | 52:26 | |
for all of these undeserved blessings | 52:29 | |
we pray that you would receive these our gifts | 52:31 | |
as signs of our thanks, | 52:35 | |
use them for your good. | 52:38 | |
And now we pray as we have been taught by our Lord Jesus. | 52:42 | |
- | [Congregation And Minister] Our Father who art in heaven, | 52:47 |
hallowed be they name, | 52:51 | |
they kingdom come, they will be done | 52:53 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 52:57 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 53:00 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 53:03 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 53:05 | |
Lead us not into temptation | 53:09 | |
but deliver us from evil | 53:12 | |
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. | 53:14 | |
Amen. | 53:20 | |
(lively inspirational music) | 53:24 | |
(congregation sings) | 53:54 | |
- | And now may the grace and peace of God, | 56:06 |
Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you now | 56:08 | |
and always, amen. | 56:12 | |
(lively inspirational music) | 56:17 |