Thomas G. Long - "What We Don't Know about Jesus" (January 14, 1996)

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	(calm church organ music)	0:01
-	Good morning.	3:46
	We'd like to welcome you to Duke Chapel	3:47
	for this opening Sunday of the spring semester,	3:50
	and also our Martin Luther King Sunday.	3:53
	We'd like to welcome back the chapel choir	3:56
	who is returning from its Christmas recess	3:58
	and we're glad to have their musical	4:01
	leadership again this morning.	4:03
	We also would like to welcome Dr. Paul Jeffrey.	4:05
	Dr. Jeffrey is Director of the	4:09
	Jazz Studies program at Duke University.	4:11
	Our guest preacher today is the Reverend Dr. Thomas G. Long.	4:15
	Dr. Long is the Landey Patton Professor of Preaching	4:20
	and Worship at Princeton Theological Seminary.	4:23
	He will also be our preacher next week.	4:26
	The flowers that you see in front of you	4:31
	this morning have been given to	4:34
	the glory of God by the Anne and	4:36
	Taylor Cole Chapel Endowment Fund.	4:38
	Immediately following the service of	4:41
	worship today, the congregation will be	4:43
	sponsoring a coffee in the chapel basement	4:45
	and we hope you'll be able to stay for that.	4:48
	Let us continue our worship as you stand for the greeting.	4:50
	Let us praise the Lord.	4:59
	God makes our steps secure.	5:05
	Let us speak of God's faithfulness.	5:11
	(calm church organ music)	5:18
	If we claim we have no sin, we deceive	10:27
	ourselves and the truth is not in us,	10:30
	but if we confess our sins, God who is	10:33
	faithful and just will forgive our sins	10:36
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	10:39
	Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.	10:42
	Please join in the prayer of confession found on page 890.	10:45
	Most merciful God, we confess that	10:54
	we have sinned against you in thought,	10:57
	word, and deed, by what we have done	11:00
	and by what we have left undone.	11:04
	We have not loved you with our whole heart.	11:07
	We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	11:10
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.	11:13
	For the sake of your son Jesus Christ,	11:18
	have mercy on us and forgive us that we	11:20
	may delight in your will and walk	11:24
	in your ways to the glory of your name.	11:26
	Amen.	11:30
	Almighty God have mercy upon us.	11:36
	Forgive all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ.	11:39
	Strengthen us in all goodness, and by the	11:43
	power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal light.	11:46
	Amen.	11:50
	You may be seated.	11:52
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	12:04
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	12:08
	by the power of your Holy Spirit.	12:11
	So that, as the word is read and proclaimed,	12:13
	we may hear your message with joy in this day.	12:16
	Amen.	12:20
	The first reading is taken from the book	12:24
	of Isaiah, Chapter 49, beginning with Verse One.	12:25
	Listen to me, oh coastlands.	12:31
	Pay attention, you peoples far away.	12:33
	The Lord called me before I was born.	12:37
	While I was in my mother's womb he named me.	12:40
	He made my mouth like a sharp sword.	12:43
	In the shadow of his hand he hid me.	12:46
	He made me a polished arrow.	12:49
	In his quiver, he hid me away.	12:51
	And he said to me you are my servant,	12:54
	Israel, in whom I will be glorified.	12:57
	But I said I have labored in vain.	13:01
	I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.	13:05
	Yet surely my cause is with the	13:08
	Lord and my reward with my God.	13:10
	And now the Lord says who formed me in the womb	13:14
	to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him,	13:17
	and that Israel might be gathered to him.	13:21
	For I am honored in the sight of the Lord	13:25
	and my God has become my strength.	13:27
	He says it is too light a thing that	13:30
	you should be my servant to raise up the tribes	13:33
	of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel.	13:35
	I will give you as a light to the nations	13:40
	that my salvation may reach to the end of the Earth.	13:42
	Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel	13:46
	and his Holy One, to one deeply despised,	13:49
	abhorred by the nations, slave of rulers.	13:52
	Kings shall see and stand up princes,	13:57
	and they shall prostrate themselves	14:00
	because of the Lord, who is faithful.	14:02
	The Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.	14:04
	This is the word of the Lord.	14:09
	Thanks be to God.	14:11
	The second reading if from Paul's	14:17
	first Letter to the Corinthians.	14:18
	The first chapter, beginning with the first verse.	14:20
	Paul, called to be an apostle of	14:25
	Christ Jesus by the will of God,	14:27
	and our brother Sosthenes, to the church	14:29
	of God that is in Corinth, to those who	14:31
	are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called	14:34
	to be saints, together with all those	14:36
	who in every place call on the	14:39
	name of our Lord Jesus Christ.	14:40
	Both their Lord and ours.	14:42
	Grace to you and peace from God	14:45
	our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.	14:47
	I give thanks to my God always for you.	14:50
	Because of the grace of God that has	14:53
	been given you in Christ Jesus.	14:55
	For in every way you have been enriched in him.	14:57
	In speech and knowledge of every kind.	15:00
	Just as the testimony of Christ has been	15:03
	strengthened among you so that you	15:05
	are not lacking in any spiritual gift.	15:08
	As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.	15:11
	He will also strengthen you to the end	15:15
	so that you may be blameless on	15:18
	the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.	15:19
	God is faithful.	15:22
	By him you are called into the	15:24
	fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.	15:26
	This is the word of the Lord.	15:31
Congregation	Praise be to God.	15:33
-	Our gospel lesson for this day is a story	15:41
	in the first chapter of John about John the Baptist.	15:43
	What has been happening is that John	15:48
	the Baptist has been preaching and	15:50
	baptizing in the Judean wilderness	15:52
	saying something like this world is doomed.	15:54
	There is coming a new world, something much	15:59
	more hopeful from the hand of God,	16:02
	I stand here as a voice in the wilderness	16:04
	saying prepare the way of the Lord.	16:07
	That sounded vaguely revolutionary to the establishment.	16:11
	So they sent investigators to interrogate John.	16:15
	Who are you?	16:18
	What are you doing out here in this godforsaken place?	16:20
	Me, he said, I'm nobody.	16:24
	I'm just a messenger.	16:26
	Pointing to one you do not know.	16:29
	Then this happens.	16:35
	The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him	16:39
	and declared here is the lamb of God	16:43
	who takes away the sin of the world, this is he	16:48
	of whom I said after me comes a man who	16:51
	ranks ahead of me because he was before me.	16:55
	I myself did not know him, but I came	17:01
	baptizing with water for this reason,	17:06
	that he might be revealed to Israel.	17:10
	And John testified I saw the spirit	17:14
	descending from Heaven like a dove and it	17:17
	remained on him, I myself did not know him.	17:20
	But the one who sent me to baptize	17:26
	with water said to me he on whom	17:28
	you see the Spirit descend and remain	17:31
	is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.	17:34
	And I myself have seen and testified this is the son of God.	17:38
	The next day, John again was standing with	17:46
	two of his disciples, and as he watched	17:49
	Jesus walk by he exclaimed look!	17:52
	Here is the Lamb of God!	17:57
	The two disciples heard him say	18:00
	this and they followed Jesus.	18:02
	When Jesus turned and saw them following	18:05
	he said to them what are you looking for?	18:08
	They said to him Rabbi, which is	18:11
	translated teacher, where are you staying?	18:15
	He said to them come and see.	18:19
	They came and they saw where he was	18:24
	staying and they remained with him that day.	18:27
	It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.	18:30
	One of the two who heard John speak and	18:33
	followed him was Andrew, Simon and Peter's brother.	18:35
	He first found his brother Simon and said to him	18:39
	we have found the Messiah, which means anointed.	18:42
	He brought Simon to Jesus who looked	18:46
	at him and said you are Simon, son of John.	18:48
	You are to be called Cephas.	18:53
	Which is translated Peter.	18:56
	This is the word of the Lord.	18:59
Congregation	Praise be to God.	19:01
	(calm church organ music)	19:31
	(choir singing in foreign language)	19:51
-	Most of you who are here this morning are not ministers.	23:17
	You are not preachers.	23:21
	Therefore, you may not know that on	23:24
	the preacher side of lots of pulpits	23:27
	in many churches is a little brass plaque.	23:30
	It is positioned so that those of us	23:35
	who preach will see it just before	23:37
	we stand up to preach our sermons.	23:40
	On the plaque is inscribed a verse from the gospel of John.	23:43
	"Sir, we would see Jesus."	23:49
	Now as you can imagine, in recent years	23:54
	many of those plaques have been updated	23:56
	"Sir or madam, we would see Jesus,"	23:59
	but the point remains the same.	24:03
	It is a reminder to those of us who preach	24:06
	that when all is said and done, people come	24:10
	to a service of Christian worship not	24:14
	to count the snowflakes, or to hear a	24:16
	book review of the hottest title on the	24:20
	New York Times list, or even for meditation	24:22
	and self-reflection, but for an encounter.	24:25
	You have come to encounter the living God, God with us.	24:31
	In Jesus.	24:36
	Preacher, we want to see Jesus.	24:38
	Well you can imagine how that makes preachers feel.	24:44
	Talk about pressure.	24:48
	As one preacher, Fred Craddock has put it,	24:50
	you stand in the pulpit and every word	24:53
	in your pathetic little sermon raises	24:57
	its hand and says may I please be excused?	24:59
	I read once about an old Welsh preacher	25:05
	who was climbing up the staircase into	25:08
	his pulpit and about halfway up he	25:10
	was overcome with the awesomeness of	25:12
	his assignment and he began to back	25:15
	down as if he had seen a ghost.	25:17
	He looked out at the congregation,	25:20
	his face pale with fear, and he said	25:22
	I will not go into that awful place.	25:24
	Fortunately his vocation overcame	25:30
	his intimidation and he climbed	25:33
	back up in the pulpit and he preached.	25:35
	The theologian Karl Barth said the only	25:39
	proper attitude for anyone who	25:41
	stands in a pulpit is embarrassment.	25:43
	Because we do not have, we cannot possess,	25:48
	the one thing we are there to provide,	25:52
	the living encounter with God, it must	25:54
	be given as an act of God's free grace.	25:57
	Which is Barth's way of saying that the	26:01
	preacher is in the same position as the	26:04
	one in the pew, all of us need to see Jesus.	26:06
	The problem is Jesus is notoriously difficult to see.	26:15
	Not because he is like a busy executive	26:20
	who does not have time for us,	26:22
	but because we are hard of seeing.	26:25
	We look for him in the wrong places and in the wrong ways,	26:29
	we look for him through our own presumptions that blind us.	26:32
	You may have read recently about the	26:38
	famous Jesus seminar, it's a collection	26:40
	of 200 New Testament scholars, and in their	26:43
	own way the Jesus seminar wants to see Jesus.	26:47
	But not just any old Jesus, they wanna	26:52
	see the real Jesus, the historical Jesus.	26:54
	I mean we've known for a long time that all	26:58
	of the things recorded in the New Testament	27:00
	that Jesus said and did were not actually	27:03
	done and said by Jesus, the New Testament	27:06
	is written in the faithful memory of	27:10
	the church, and memory forgets and	27:12
	elaborates, adds and subtracts.	27:14
	The Jesus seminar wants to use the tools	27:18
	of historical research to get at the real Jesus	27:20
	underneath the fog of the legend and the myth.	27:24
	They even vote about it.	27:29
	They will be given a saying of Jesus and	27:31
	each member of the seminar tosses a	27:34
	colored bead into a box indicating	27:36
	whether they think it's a true statement or not.	27:39
	A black bead means that's not Jesus.	27:43
	Another colored bead means that's	27:47
	probably not Jesus, another means	27:49
	maybe it's Jesus, another means	27:52
	sounds a lot of Jesus, and a red	27:55
	bead means that's Jesus for sure.	27:58
	Now underneath this there is a serious purpose.	28:03
	They wanna see Jesus.	28:08
	Trapped in the calipers of the historian.	28:12
	Imprisoned in the bell jar of the scientist,	28:16
	here look, we've got him, the real Jesus.	28:19
	The wonderful thing is that the real Jesus is	28:23
	a living presence who keeps eluding their grasp.	28:25
	He's not a historical artifact and he will not	28:30
	remain on the examining table for the autopsy.	28:32
	He keeps spilling over the wall that is	28:36
	built to separate the past from the present.	28:39
	In fact, one of the members of the seminar,	28:44
	a man named Dominic Crossan who has	28:46
	written one of the most ambitious and	28:48
	controversial books about the historical	28:50
	Jesus, had a daydream that he was	28:53
	visited by the living Jesus one day.	28:55
	Jesus came to him and said Dominic, I've read your book.	29:00
	Are you ready now to follow me?	29:07
	No Jesus, said Dominic, I don't think I have the courage,	29:11
	but it was a good book wasn't it, especially the method.	29:15
	It was something, Dominic.	29:19
	Is it enough, Jesus?	29:23
	Is it enough?	29:24
	No, Dominic.	29:27
	It's not enough.	29:29
	We wanna see Jesus.	29:34
	But we are blinded by our presumptions.	29:37
	It's not just the presumptions, by the way	29:40
	the academic community, all of us	29:41
	have presumptions, one of the things	29:43
	that bothers me for example about the	29:45
	Christian Coalition is not the fact	29:47
	that they're involved in politics,	29:49
	I think Christians oughta be involved in politics.	29:51
	It's that they presume to know to be able to see Jesus.	29:54
	They know how Jesus would vote on a balanced budget.	29:59
	They know how Jesus feels about welfare,	30:03
	they know how Jesus casts his ballot	30:05
	on everything, they know so much	30:08
	about Jesus, and I need not be	30:10
	smug about that, I do the same thing.	30:12
	I always see Jesus in my own image.	30:15
	Therefore, it is a wonderful thing when	30:22
	out text today comes to us both as	30:24
	a challenge and a comfort to say to us	30:27
	there is a lot about Jesus we don't know.	30:30
	There is a lot about Jesus that we can't see.	30:34
	Now it would seem that if there is one	30:38
	person in the world who did know Jesus	30:40
	and could point to him and did see	30:43
	him it would be John the Baptist.	30:45
	The one who always points behold the Lamb of God,	30:48
	in fact my image of John the Baptist comes	30:51
	from that wonderful portrait of him in	30:54
	the Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar, France,	30:57
	maybe you've seen it, where he is	31:00
	forever pointing at the crucified Jesus.	31:03
	I must decrease that he may increase.	31:06
	Behold the Lamb of God who takes away	31:09
	the sins of the world, he points at Jesus.	31:12
	Surely John the Baptist knows Jesus.	31:15
	Surely he sees him.	31:17
	But refreshingly, twice in the story,	31:20
	twice for emphasis, John says I didn't know him.	31:23
	My whole ministry was anticipating	31:31
	him, but I didn't know him.	31:34
	John the Baptist stood in the middle of history.	31:39
	I am a voice crying in the wilderness.	31:42
	I know that the world as we know it	31:46
	at hand is not what God intended it to be.	31:48
	God is bringing in something much more	31:51
	hopeful, but I can't quite see it.	31:53
	I don't yet know it.	31:58
	I think a lot of the Christian life is like that.	32:02
	Those of you who teach school and work	32:06
	for the dignity of children in a	32:09
	world that tries to strip it away.	32:11
	Those of you who are in business and strive for	32:15
	fairness and integrity in a world that double deals.	32:18
	Those of you who are in medicine,	32:23
	and work for health in a land of disease.	32:26
	Those of you who are in law and work for justice	32:31
	in an unjust society, all of you who will	32:34
	tomorrow morning get up out of bed and	32:38
	go out and try to make the world a better place,	32:41
	if somebody came to you and said theologically exactly	32:44
	what are you doing, you might not be able to say.	32:48
	You'd be like John the Baptist I suppose.	32:55
	I stand here in the wilderness hoping and striving	32:58
	for a better world, but I cannot yet name it.	33:03
	Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day all	33:12
	across our land, and the story of his life	33:14
	and work will be told and retold, and one	33:18
	of the memories we will have is that story	33:21
	about the very beginning when a tired woman	33:23
	named Rosa Parks, at the end of a long day,	33:27
	when a bus driver said you've gotta get	33:31
	up out of that seat and go back to the rear	33:33
	of the bus where you belong, simply said no.	33:36
	Those who were there said her voice was	33:42
	so soft that you could hardly hear it	33:45
	above the rumble of the bus engine.	33:48
	But she said no.	33:53
	Now in that one word you don't yet	33:58
	have a full Christian theology.	34:00
	What you have is a John the Baptist creed.	34:04
	The world at hand is not the way God intended it.	34:07
	And I am confident that something	34:11
	more hopeful is coming, I cannot yet see it,	34:14
	I cannot name it, but to this world I will say no.	34:17
	I happened to be in Alabama on the 25th	34:25
	anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery.	34:28
	The man who is the mayor of Selma, Alabama	34:32
	today is the same man who was mayor 25 years ago.	34:35
	He was standing on the platform at the anniversary,	34:39
	beside him was George Wallace in a wheelchair.	34:42
	Behind him were people who had	34:46
	marched, now aging and graying.	34:48
	He looked at the crowd and he said	34:52
	25 years ago Governor Wallace and I were wrong.	34:53
	We were wrong.	34:59
	We thought this was outside agitation.	35:01
	We did not know that it was the coming of justice.	35:04
	I didn't even know, said John the Baptist.	35:12
	My whole ministry was pointing	35:15
	toward him, but I didn't even know him.	35:17
	If John the Baptist discovered that he	35:23
	could only see Jesus as he worked in	35:25
	the middle of his ministry, the same truth was	35:28
	discovered the next day by John's own disciples.	35:31
	When Jesus went by, John said look,	35:35
	there's the Lamb of God, and a couple	35:37
	of John's disciples began to follow	35:40
	Jesus, but at a strategic distance.	35:41
	Jesus turned around and noticed them following	35:45
	and said what are you looking for?	35:48
	Sheepishly they responded well Rabbi, where are you staying?	35:52
	Which at one level means where do you live,	35:57
	where's your lodging, but at a deeper theological	35:59
	level means where are you working in the world?	36:01
	We'd like to know what this is	36:06
	about before we get too close.	36:07
	What are you doing in the world?	36:09
	To which Jesus responded...	36:11
	Come and see.	36:16
	You can't see Jesus at work in the world at a distance.	36:19
	Like John the Baptist you have to get involved in	36:24
	the middle of it even when you can't name it.	36:27
	Striving for a world of hope and peace,	36:30
	even when you can't quite see it,	36:32
	and then and only then do you see the presence	36:35
	of the living Christ at work in the world.	36:38
	I have a friend who is a minister who	36:43
	was touring Scotland not too long ago	36:45
	and one afternoon he went into a	36:47
	magnificent Scottish cathedral.	36:50
	As it happened, he was the only person	36:53
	there that day, and so he walked around	36:55
	in the emptiness of that vast and holy space.	36:58
	He made his way down the nave and came to the chancel area.	37:04
	This particular cathedral had a winding	37:08
	staircase that led to a lofty pulpit.	37:11
	He stood at the foot of it and looked up and	37:14
	he saw on the pulpit that little brass plaque.	37:17
	He thought to himself I cannot think	37:24
	of anything more inspiring than if	37:27
	I could stand in that pulpit and look out	37:30
	in this great space and read those words	37:32
	"Sir, we would see Jesus."	37:35
	Sensing that no one was around, he ventured up the stairs.	37:40
	When he got up into the tip-top of the pulpit	37:45
	he looked out into the great cathedral,	37:47
	he breathed deeply, and then he looked at the plaque.	37:50
	And to his surprise it read "Remember Edna Bailey."	37:56
	(laughter)	38:01
	Evidently the pulpit was as memorial	38:03
	to some saint named Edna Bailey.	38:05
	At first he was disappointed, he wanted	38:09
	to see "Sir, we would see Jesus."	38:11
	But then it dawned on him that	38:15
	maybe God was teaching him a truth.	38:16
	The only way to see Jesus is to remember Edna Bailey.	38:20
	And Tom Smith.	38:27
	And Francis Wilson.	38:29
	To get involved with the people of God.	38:31
	In doing the work of God in the world.	38:34
	Come and see.	38:38
	Joanna Adams is a minister in Atlanta	38:42
	and for a while she was in charge of a	38:45
	homeless shelter in one of the downtown churches.	38:48
	There is in Atlanta a Christian radio station	38:53
	that has a talk show hosted by a	38:56
	religious Rush Limbaugh, and he	38:58
	interviewed Joanna about the night shelter.	39:01
	He asked her about it, she said well	39:06
	we take in homeless people, we provide	39:08
	lodging and food, and he was clearly suspicious.	39:10
	What does this have to do with	39:14
	the gospel of Jesus Christ?	39:15
	Well, she said, we try to show the	39:18
	compassion of Christ's people.	39:20
	We care for these people, we provide	39:22
	medical care and vocational guidance.	39:23
	You didn't hear my question, what does	39:26
	this have to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ?	39:28
	Well we try to take care not only	39:33
	of their physical needs, said Joanna,	39:34
	but also their spiritual needs, we try	39:36
	to show them compassion, we are	39:39
	concerned for them as human beings.	39:41
	You're not listening to my question, he said,	39:43
	I wanna know where is Jesus Christ in all that.	39:46
	Joanna thought for a minute and then she said...	39:52
	You just have to be there.	39:57
	Come and see, said Jesus.	40:01
	One we do not know is already at	40:06
	work in the world, come and see.	40:08
	And as C.S. Lewis once said, "When the world stands	40:12
	"at the foot of the triumphant throne of Christ,	40:17
	"it will look up and in unison	40:19
	"say so it was you all along."	40:22
-	The Lord be with you.	40:41
Congregation	And also with you.	40:43
-	Let us pray.	40:44
	Oh Lord our God, you have blessed us	40:51
	in countless ways with your wondrous deeds.	40:54
	But there is so much that we don't see.	40:59
	So much that we don't know about you.	41:02
	Yet even in our limited understanding	41:07
	of your glory, we stand in awe of	41:09
	your majesty and graciousness.	41:12
	Accept our words, our prayers, our songs of praise.	41:16
	Teach us to sing out boldly so that our whole lives	41:23
	might proclaim your greatness to all the earth.	41:27
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	41:32
	Lord, we admit that we are hard of	41:37
	seeing, often looking for you in ways	41:38
	and places that are not your ways.	41:41
	Free us from idolatry, from seeing you in our	41:45
	own image, from putting other things in your place.	41:49
	Give us courage to draw near to you.	41:55
	Lead us into your service with your people	41:58
	that we might learn to see your ways	42:02
	in the world and our place in it.	42:05
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	42:10
	Almighty and ever-living God, through your	42:15
	son Jesus Christ you taught us to pray	42:18
	not only for ourselves, but for others,	42:21
	and to give thanks for all of life.	42:24
	Inspire your church with the	42:27
	spirit of power, unity, and peace.	42:29
	Grant that all who trust you may	42:34
	receive your word and live together in love.	42:35
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	42:39
	Lead all people and nations in	42:44
	the ways of justice and goodwill.	42:47
	Remind us of Dr. Martin Luther King's insight,	42:50
	that injustice anywhere is a threat	42:53
	to justice everywhere, that whatever affects	42:56
	one directly affects all indirectly.	42:59
	Therefore let us pray that we may see	43:04
	nothing in isolation, but may know	43:06
	ourselves bound to one another	43:08
	and to all people under Heaven.	43:10
	Make us justice seekers and justice	43:13
	workers for all the world.	43:15
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	43:18
	Direct those in power, in families,	43:23
	institutions, and governments to use	43:26
	their influence to uphold those in need	43:30
	and defend the oppressed and powerless.	43:33
	That this world may claim your rule and know true peace.	43:36
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	43:42
	Comfort and relieve, oh Lord, all who are in trouble.	43:47
	Sorrow.	43:52
	Poverty.	43:54
	Sickness.	43:57
	Grief.	43:59
	Or any other need.	44:02
	Especially those known to us	44:04
	whom we name before you in silence.	44:07
	Heal them, in body, mind, or circumstance.	44:17
	Working in them by your grace wonders	44:23
	beyond all they may dream or hope.	44:26
	Through Jesus Chris our savior, amen.	44:30
	Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.	44:36
	To this peace we were called as	44:39
	members of a single body, let us	44:41
	engage signs of God's peace with one another.	44:44
	Please stand.	44:48
	You may be seated.	45:10
	With gladness, let us present the	45:20
	offerings of our life and labor to the Lord.	45:22
	(gentle saxophone music)	45:39
	(calm church organ music)	57:02
	(choir singing Hallelujah)	57:57
	The Lord be with you.	58:55
Congregation	And also with you.	58:57
-	Lift up our hearts.	58:58
Congregation	We lift them up to the Lord.	59:00
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	59:02
Congregation	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	59:05
-	It is right and a good and joyful thing,	59:07
	always and everywhere, to give thanks to you,	59:10
	almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth.	59:13
	Before the mountains were brought forth,	59:16
	or you had formed the Earth from	59:19
	everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God.	59:21
	You created light out of darkness	59:25
	and brought forth life on the Earth.	59:27
	You formed us in your image and	59:30
	breathed into us the breath of life.	59:32
	When we turned away and our love	59:35
	failed, your love remained steadfast.	59:37
	You delivered us from captivity,	59:40
	made covenant to be our sovereign God,	59:42
	and spoke to us through your prophets.	59:45
	And so with your people on Earth and	59:47
	all the company of Heaven, we praise	59:49
	your name and join their unending hymn.	59:51
	(calm church organ music)	59:54
	♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord ♪	1:00:04
	♪ God of power and might ♪	1:00:08
	♪ Heaven and Earth are full of your glory ♪	1:00:12
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	1:00:17
	♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪	1:00:22
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	1:00:29
-	Holy are you, and blessed is your son Jesus Christ,	1:00:41
	in whom you have revealed yourself,	1:00:44
	our light and our salvation.	1:00:46
	In his baptism, and in table fellowship,	1:00:49
	he took his place with sinners.	1:00:52
	Your spirit anointed him to preach	1:00:55
	good news to the poor, to proclaim release to	1:00:57
	the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind.	1:01:00
	To set at liberty those who are oppressed	1:01:04
	and to announce that the time had	1:01:07
	come when you would save your people.	1:01:08
	By the baptism of his suffering,	1:01:11
	death, and resurrection, you gave	1:01:13
	birth to your church, delivered us	1:01:15
	from slavery to sin and death, and made	1:01:17
	with us a new covenant by water and the spirit.	1:01:19
	On the night in which he gave himself	1:01:24
	up for us, he took bread, gave thanks	1:01:25
	to you, broke the bread, gave it to	1:01:28
	his disciples and said take, eat.	1:01:31
	This is my body given for you.	1:01:34
	Do this in remembrance of me.	1:01:36
	And when the supper was over he took	1:01:39
	the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it	1:01:41
	to his disciples and said drink from	1:01:44
	this all of you, this is the cup	1:01:47
	of the new covenant, poured out for	1:01:49
	you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.	1:01:51
	Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.	1:01:54
	And so in remembrance of these, your mighty acts	1:02:00
	in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves	1:02:02
	in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and	1:02:05
	living sacrifice in union with Christ offering	1:02:08
	for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	1:02:11
	♪ Christ has died ♪	1:02:17
	♪ Christ is risen ♪	1:02:19
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	1:02:21
-	Pour out your Holy Spirit on us	1:02:28
	gathered here, and on these gifts	1:02:30
	of bread and wine, make them be	1:02:32
	for us the body and blood of Christ	1:02:35
	that we may be for the world the	1:02:37
	body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.	1:02:39
	By your spirit make us one with Christ,	1:02:42
	one with each other, and one in	1:02:45
	ministry to all the world, until Christ	1:02:47
	comes in final victory and we	1:02:50
	feast at his heavenly banquet.	1:02:52
	Through your son, Jesus Christ,	1:02:54
	with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,	1:02:56
	all honor and glory is yours,	1:02:58
	Almighty Father, now and forever.	1:03:00
	♪ Amen, amen ♪	1:03:06
	♪ Amen ♪	1:03:11
-	And now, with the confidence of the	1:03:17
	children of God, let us pray together saying	1:03:20
	our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:03:22
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:03:28
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:03:31
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:03:34
	and forgive us our trespasses as	1:03:36
	we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:03:38
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:03:42
	For thine is the kingdom, and the	1:03:46
	power, and the glory forever, amen.	1:03:48
	When we break the bread, is it not a means	1:03:55
	of sharing in the body of Christ?	1:03:59
	When we give thanks over the cup,	1:04:05
	is it not a means of sharing in the blood	1:04:07
	of Christ which cleanses us from all sin?	1:04:09
	The body of Christ, given for you.	1:04:16
	The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.	1:04:22
	This is the Lord's table.	1:04:57
	Our savior invites those who trust him	1:04:59
	to share the feast which he has prepared.	1:05:01
	Won't you come?	1:05:05
	(calm church organ music)	1:05:22
	♪ Shall we gather at the river ♪	1:10:56
	♪ Where bright angel feet have trod ♪	1:11:02
	♪ With its crystal tide forever ♪	1:11:10
	♪ Flowing by the throne of God ♪	1:11:16
	♪ Yes, we'll gather at the river ♪	1:11:23
	♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪	1:11:30
	♪ Gather with the saints at the river ♪	1:11:38
	♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪	1:11:44
	♪ On the bosom of the river ♪	1:11:59
	♪ Where the Savior-King we own ♪	1:12:06
	♪ We shall meet, and sorrow never ♪	1:12:13
	♪ 'Neath the glory of the throne ♪	1:12:19
	♪ Yes, we'll gather at the river ♪	1:12:27
	♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪	1:12:34
	♪ Gather with the saints at the river ♪	1:12:41
	♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪	1:12:47
	♪ Ere we reach the shining river ♪	1:13:03
	♪ Lay we every burden down ♪	1:13:10
	♪ Grace our spirits will deliver ♪	1:13:16
	♪ And provide a robe and crown ♪	1:13:23
	♪ Yes, we'll gather at the river ♪	1:13:31
	♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪	1:13:38
	♪ Gather with the saints at the river ♪	1:13:45
	♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪	1:13:52
	♪ Soon we'll reach the shining river ♪	1:14:10
	♪ Soon our pilgrimage will cease ♪	1:14:17
	♪ Soon our happy hearts will quiver ♪	1:14:24
	♪ With the melody of peace ♪	1:14:30
	♪ Yes, we'll gather at the river ♪	1:14:38
	♪ The beautiful, the beautiful river ♪	1:14:45
	♪ Gather with the saints at the river ♪	1:14:52
	♪ That flows by the throne of God ♪	1:14:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:15:11
-	Please stand.	1:15:34
	Let us pray.	1:15:46
	Gracious God, you have made us one	1:15:49
	with all your people in Heaven and on Earth.	1:15:52
	You have fed us with the bread of life	1:15:55
	and renewed us for your service.	1:15:57
	We give ourselves to you and	1:16:00
	ask that our daily living may be	1:16:02
	part of the life of your kingdom.	1:16:04
	May our love be your love, reaching	1:16:07
	out into the life of the world	1:16:10
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:16:11
	(calm church organ music)	1:16:18
	Go forth in peace to serve God	1:21:23
	and your neighbor in all that you do.	1:21:25
	May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:21:27
	the love of God, and the communion of	1:21:30
	the Holy Spirit be with you and keep you.	1:21:32
	(choir singing)	1:21:38

Item Info

Title:

Thomas G. Long - "What We Don't Know about Jesus" (January 14, 1996)

Description:

Sermon start time: 23:17. Sermon end time: 40:28.
We all long to see Jesus, but we are often so blinded by our own presumptions about who he should be. The only way to see Jesus is to get involved with the people of God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “You can’t see Jesus at work in the world at a distance. Like John the Baptist you have to get involved in the middle of it, even when you can’t name it. Striving for a world of hope and peace, even when you can’t quite see it, and then and only then do you see the presence of the living Christ at work in the world.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4833nc9v

Date:

January 14, 1996

Speaker:

Long, Thomas G., 1946-

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0460
ref9689_27o
uachapelsermaud
duke:321384
dcrmv001437
ark:/87924/r4833nc9v
da2c5241-5a29-4771-8724-9e3aec2c08d8

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.

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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Thomas G. Long - "What We Don't Know about Jesus" (January 14, 1996)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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