Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (July 7, 1996)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(tranquil organ music) | 0:01 | |
- | Good morning. | 2:31 |
I'd like to welcome you to Duke Chapel. | 2:32 | |
We are privileged to have with us | 2:35 | |
in the ministry of worship | 2:36 | |
the Reverend Dr. William B, Lawrence, | 2:38 | |
the Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry | 2:40 | |
at Duke Divinity School as the presiding minister. | 2:43 | |
Also as a lector, Miss Eliza Ferguson | 2:47 | |
who is a graduate student at Duke | 2:49 | |
in French History and a member of the congregation | 2:52 | |
and Eliza is getting ready | 2:54 | |
to spend a year in Paris studying. | 2:56 | |
We also welcome Mr. Sean Turner, | 2:59 | |
a graduate of Duke Divinity School | 3:02 | |
in the Class of 1996 | 3:04 | |
and he is also departing this summer | 3:06 | |
for a year in Yorkshire | 3:08 | |
to serve a church there. | 3:10 | |
We are grateful for their leadership | 3:12 | |
with us in this service. | 3:13 | |
As you may know, many in faith communities | 3:16 | |
have been concerned about the threats | 3:19 | |
against predominantly black churches | 3:21 | |
in North Carolina | 3:23 | |
and across the South. | 3:24 | |
On Wednesday, July 10th at seven o'clock p.m., | 3:27 | |
Duke Memorial United Methodist Church downtown | 3:30 | |
is hosting a prayer vigil | 3:34 | |
to pray for an end to these threats | 3:36 | |
and for peace in our community. | 3:38 | |
We hope you will be able to attend. | 3:40 | |
And now let us continue with the call to worship. | 3:43 | |
Please stand as we pray together. | 3:46 | |
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. | 3:53 | |
(congregation mumbling) | 3:56 | |
Blessed be God's glorious name forever. | 3:59 | |
(congregation mumbling) | 4:03 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 4:08 | |
(congregation singing) | 4:41 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:08 |
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open. | 8:12 | |
All desires known. | 8:17 | |
And from you, no secrets are hidden. | 8:20 | |
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts | 8:25 | |
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit | 8:28 | |
that we may perfectly love you | 8:31 | |
and worthily magnify your holy name | 8:34 | |
through Christ our Lord, amen. | 8:38 | |
You may be seated. | 8:43 | |
- | Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination. | 8:52 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, oh God | 8:56 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit | 8:59 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 9:02 | |
we may hear your message with joy this day. | 9:06 | |
Amen. | 9:09 | |
- | The Old Testament reading | 9:13 |
is from the book of Genesis, | 9:14 | |
chapter 24 verses 34 through 38, | 9:16 | |
42 through 49 and 58 through 67. | 9:21 | |
So he said, I am Abraham's servant, | 9:27 | |
the Lord has greatly blessed by master | 9:31 | |
and he has become wealthy. | 9:34 | |
He has given him flocks and herds, | 9:36 | |
silver and gold, | 9:39 | |
male and female slaves, camels and donkeys | 9:41 | |
and Sarah, my master's wife bore a son to my master | 9:45 | |
when she was old | 9:50 | |
and he has given all that he has. | 9:51 | |
My master made me swear saying, | 9:55 | |
you shall not take a wife for my son | 9:58 | |
from the daughters of the Canaanites | 10:00 | |
in whose land I live | 10:03 | |
but you shall go to my father's house | 10:05 | |
to my kindred and get a wife for my son. | 10:07 | |
I came this day to this spring | 10:12 | |
and said, oh Lord, the God of my master Abraham, | 10:14 | |
if now you will only make successful the way I am going. | 10:19 | |
I am standing here by this spring of water. | 10:23 | |
Let the young woman who comes out to draw | 10:27 | |
to whom I shall say, please give me a little water | 10:29 | |
from your jar to drink | 10:33 | |
and who will say to me, | 10:34 | |
drink and I will water your camels also. | 10:36 | |
Let her the woman who the Lord has appointed | 10:40 | |
for my master's son. | 10:42 | |
Before I had finished speaking in my heart, | 10:45 | |
there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar | 10:49 | |
on her shoulder | 10:51 | |
and she went down to the spring and drew. | 10:53 | |
I said to her, | 10:56 | |
please, let me drink. | 10:57 | |
She quickly let down the jar from her shoulder | 10:59 | |
and said, drink and I will also water your camels. | 11:02 | |
So I drank and she also watered the camels. | 11:06 | |
Then I asked her, | 11:10 | |
whose daughter are you? | 11:11 | |
She said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son | 11:13 | |
who Milcah bore to him. | 11:17 | |
So I put the ring on her nose | 11:19 | |
and the bracelets on her arms. | 11:21 | |
Then I bowed my head | 11:24 | |
and worshiped the Lord | 11:25 | |
and blessed the Lord, | 11:27 | |
the God of my master Abraham | 11:28 | |
who had led me by the right way | 11:31 | |
to obtain the daughter of my master's kinsmen for his son. | 11:33 | |
Now then, if you deal loyally and truly with my master, | 11:38 | |
tell me and if not, tell me | 11:42 | |
so that I many turn either to the right hand | 11:45 | |
or to the left. | 11:48 | |
So they sent away their sister Rebekah | 11:50 | |
and her nurse along with Abraham's servant | 11:53 | |
and his men and they blessed Rebekah | 11:57 | |
and said to her, may you, our sister become thousands | 11:59 | |
of myriads, may your offspring gain possession | 12:04 | |
of the gates of their foes. | 12:08 | |
Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, | 12:10 | |
mounted the camels and followed the man. | 12:13 | |
Thus the servant took Rebekah | 12:16 | |
and went his way. | 12:18 | |
Now, Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi | 12:20 | |
and was settled in the Negev. | 12:24 | |
Isaac went out in the evening to walk | 12:26 | |
in the field and looking up, | 12:28 | |
he saw camels coming | 12:30 | |
and Rebekah looked up | 12:32 | |
and went she saw Isaac, | 12:34 | |
she slipped quickly from the camel | 12:36 | |
and said to the servant, | 12:38 | |
who is the man over there walking | 12:40 | |
in the field to meet us? | 12:42 | |
The servant said, | 12:44 | |
it is my master. | 12:45 | |
So she took her veil and covered herself | 12:47 | |
and the servant told Isaac all the things he had done. | 12:50 | |
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. | 12:54 | |
He took Rebekah and she became his wife | 12:58 | |
and he loved her. | 13:01 | |
So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. | 13:03 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 13:07 | |
Congregation | Praise be to God. | 13:10 |
- | The Psalm appointed for today is number 72 | 13:19 |
verses one through eight found | 13:21 | |
in your Hymnal on page 795. | 13:23 | |
All stand and sing the Psalm and Gloria responsively. | 13:25 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 13:31 | |
♪ Give the king your justice, O God ♪ | 13:41 | |
♪ Thy righteousness unto the king's son ♪ | 13:47 | |
♪ May he judge our people with righteousness ♪ | 13:53 | |
♪ And thy poor with judgment ♪ | 13:59 | |
♪ Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people ♪ | 14:04 | |
♪ And the hills in righteousness ♪ | 14:10 | |
♪ He shall judge the poor of the people ♪ | 14:15 | |
♪ He shall save the children of the needy ♪ | 14:23 | |
♪ May he live while the sun endures ♪ | 14:31 | |
♪ And as long as the moon throughout our generations ♪ | 14:36 | |
♪ He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass ♪ | 14:43 | |
♪ As showers that water the Earth ♪ | 14:51 | |
♪ In his days, may righteousness flourish ♪ | 14:57 | |
♪ And peace abound 'til the moon be no more ♪ | 15:02 | |
♪ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea ♪ | 15:09 | |
♪ And from the river unto the ends of the Earth ♪ | 15:16 | |
♪ All glory be to you, creator ♪ | 15:24 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪ | 15:27 | |
♪ And in Christ Jesus throughout all generations ♪ | 15:32 | |
♪ As it was time at time began ♪ | 15:40 | |
(congregation mumbling) | 15:45 | |
♪ Forevermore ♪ | 15:49 | |
- | Please be seated. | 15:55 |
- | The New Testament reading | 16:07 |
is from the seventh chapter of Saint Paul's letter | 16:08 | |
to the Romans beginning with the 15th verse. | 16:10 | |
I do not understand my own actions | 16:15 | |
for I do not do what I want | 16:19 | |
but I do the very thing I hate. | 16:21 | |
Now if I do what I do not want, | 16:24 | |
I agree that the law is good. | 16:26 | |
But in fact, it is no longer I that do it, | 16:29 | |
but sin that dwells within me. | 16:32 | |
For I know that nothing good dwells within me. | 16:35 | |
That is in my flesh. | 16:39 | |
I can will what is right | 16:42 | |
but I cannot do it | 16:43 | |
for I do not do the good I want | 16:45 | |
but the evil I do not want | 16:48 | |
is what I do. | 16:50 | |
Now if I do what I do not want, | 16:52 | |
it is no longer I that do it | 16:56 | |
but sin that dwells within me. | 16:58 | |
So I find it to be a law | 17:01 | |
that when I want to do what is good, | 17:02 | |
evil lies close at hand | 17:05 | |
for I delight in the law of God | 17:07 | |
in my inmost self | 17:10 | |
but I see in my members another law | 17:12 | |
at war with the law in my mind | 17:15 | |
making me captive to a law of sin | 17:18 | |
that dwells within my members. | 17:21 | |
Wretched man that I am, | 17:24 | |
who will rescue me from this body of death? | 17:26 | |
Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. | 17:30 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 17:34 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 17:37 |
(tranquil organ music) | 17:59 | |
(choir singing) | 18:04 | |
- | The Gospel lesson is taken | 20:39 |
from the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew | 20:40 | |
verse 16 through 19 | 20:44 | |
and 25 through 30. | 20:46 | |
But to what will I compare this generation? | 20:50 | |
It is like children sitting in the marketplace | 20:54 | |
and calling to one another. | 20:56 | |
We played the flute for you | 20:58 | |
and you did not dance. | 21:00 | |
We wailed and you did not mourn. | 21:02 | |
For John came neither eating nor drinking | 21:06 | |
and they said he has a demon. | 21:08 | |
The Son of Man came eating and drinking | 21:12 | |
and they said, look, | 21:14 | |
a glutton and a drunkard, | 21:16 | |
a friend of tax collectors and sinners. | 21:18 | |
Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. | 21:21 | |
At that time Jesus said, | 21:26 | |
I thank you, Father, | 21:28 | |
Lord of Heaven and Earth | 21:30 | |
because you have hidden these things | 21:32 | |
from the wise and the intelligent | 21:34 | |
and have revealed them to infants. | 21:36 | |
Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. | 21:39 | |
All things have been handed over to me | 21:44 | |
by my Father | 21:46 | |
and no one knows the Son except the Father | 21:47 | |
and no one knows the Father | 21:50 | |
except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses | 21:52 | |
to reveal him. | 21:55 | |
Come to me, all you that are weary | 21:58 | |
and carrying heavy burdens | 22:02 | |
and I will give you rest. | 22:03 | |
Take my yolk upon you | 22:06 | |
and learn from me | 22:08 | |
for I am gentle and humble in heart | 22:10 | |
and you will find rest for your souls. | 22:14 | |
For my yolk is easy and my burden is light. | 22:17 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 22:23 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 22:25 |
- | This past Thursday, | 22:39 |
we celebrated the 4th of July, | 22:40 | |
the birth of our country | 22:43 | |
and the great gift of our freedom. | 22:45 | |
Freedom is a value that we hold dear | 22:49 | |
and well we should | 22:53 | |
for it is a privilege that has been hard won | 22:54 | |
and hard kept. | 22:57 | |
Many people have worked to protect the gift of freedom | 23:00 | |
on the battlefields and in our courts, | 23:04 | |
in our schools and in our churches, | 23:07 | |
in our public spheres | 23:10 | |
and in our private lives. | 23:12 | |
Freedom must never be taken for granted | 23:15 | |
or it can be lost quickly | 23:18 | |
through violent forces which overtake it | 23:20 | |
or slowly, almost imperceptibly | 23:24 | |
through the subtle but no less destructive forces | 23:28 | |
which bind it link by link | 23:32 | |
until we are burdened with unbearable restrictions | 23:35 | |
which chain our liberties. | 23:38 | |
It might be difficult to find very many values | 23:42 | |
that Americans can agree upon | 23:45 | |
but freedom is one of them. | 23:48 | |
So when Jesus says, | 23:52 | |
"Take my yolk upon you," | 23:54 | |
it is understandable that some of us might pull back | 23:59 | |
with caution and resistance. | 24:03 | |
We don't wanna be yolked to anything or anyone. | 24:07 | |
It threatens our hard-won freedom | 24:11 | |
to decide for ourselves | 24:13 | |
who we will be and what we will do with our lives. | 24:16 | |
We wanna be faithful, | 24:20 | |
we wanna know God | 24:22 | |
but in our own way and on our own terms. | 24:24 | |
The idea of being yolked, | 24:30 | |
submitting ourselves to Christ's authority | 24:33 | |
over our lives, agreeing to be obedience | 24:37 | |
to his will, allowing ourselves to be led | 24:40 | |
rather than to decide. | 24:44 | |
The idea of being yolked | 24:48 | |
is a concept that is difficult | 24:50 | |
for most of us to embrace. | 24:53 | |
We like having more control than that | 24:56 | |
even with God. | 24:58 | |
We prefer to know what the rules are | 25:00 | |
and to figure out how to meet them on our own. | 25:02 | |
We're good at doing what is necessary | 25:06 | |
to get ahead in school, in business | 25:08 | |
in social circles, | 25:11 | |
so why should our spiritual life be any different? | 25:13 | |
Just tell us what the requirements are | 25:17 | |
and we'll decide how best to fulfill them. | 25:20 | |
We're a can-do society, | 25:23 | |
a community of high achievers | 25:26 | |
and we know how to come out on top. | 25:28 | |
But it is precisely to a community | 25:32 | |
like us that Jesus was speaking | 25:36 | |
when he prayed, | 25:39 | |
"Thanks you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth | 25:40 | |
"because you have hidden these things from the wise | 25:44 | |
"and revealed them to infants." | 25:48 | |
The privileged communities that Jesus addressed. | 25:52 | |
The Pharisees and the Scribes, | 25:55 | |
the educated and the affluent | 25:58 | |
thought they had it all figured out. | 26:00 | |
They were literate, | 26:04 | |
they knew the law | 26:05 | |
and they spent enormous amounts of time | 26:07 | |
and energy and money to follow | 26:09 | |
and obey its minute details. | 26:12 | |
They had figured out the rules | 26:16 | |
and thought that in the process they had figured out | 26:18 | |
what it took to please God | 26:21 | |
and consequently, to gain God's favor. | 26:23 | |
As Barbara Brown Taylor says, | 26:28 | |
"In their hands, God's law became a heavy yolk, | 26:30 | |
"a bulky, burdensome thing | 26:34 | |
"that they were nonetheless willing | 26:37 | |
"to bear because they wanted to stay on top." | 26:39 | |
They were the ones who knew the rules, | 26:43 | |
they were the skilled law keepers | 26:45 | |
who held the places of privilege in Jewish society. | 26:48 | |
In matters of religion, | 26:52 | |
they were the most diligent and most accomplished. | 26:53 | |
They were simply better than the common people | 26:58 | |
around them and they were in control. | 27:01 | |
That's why Jesus was such a threat | 27:05 | |
to their well-ordered existence | 27:07 | |
when he said that even infants | 27:09 | |
could understand how God was revealed | 27:13 | |
and what God required. | 27:16 | |
Even infants could understand | 27:19 | |
that it had to do with the quality of relationship | 27:21 | |
between God and us | 27:24 | |
and between us and other people. | 27:26 | |
It had to do with putting God first | 27:29 | |
and loving everyone and everything that God loved. | 27:33 | |
And perhaps more to the point, | 27:38 | |
it couldn't be manipulated. | 27:41 | |
It was easy. | 27:43 | |
It was easy to understand. | 27:45 | |
But it couldn't be manipulated or controlled | 27:49 | |
by those who thought they had it all figured out. | 27:53 | |
Jesus exposes the foolishness | 27:57 | |
of our attempts to control God | 28:01 | |
by following a set of rules | 28:03 | |
or by accruing points for good deeds done. | 28:05 | |
In our truest moments, | 28:10 | |
we know that we can't ever do enough | 28:13 | |
to please God, to be worthy before God. | 28:16 | |
For we know that the capacity for good | 28:20 | |
and for evil lies within each one of us. | 28:22 | |
Still, sometimes it seems easier to trust | 28:26 | |
in our own capacity to know | 28:29 | |
and to do what is right | 28:31 | |
than to risk losing our freedom | 28:34 | |
by accepting the yolk of Christ. | 28:36 | |
We fear that his yolk would be a much greater burden | 28:40 | |
which would squeeze all the joy out of life | 28:45 | |
and make it one long march | 28:48 | |
of duty and drudgery, | 28:50 | |
always demanding more and more and more of us. | 28:53 | |
But nothing could be farther from the truth. | 29:01 | |
Jesus said, "My yolk is easy | 29:06 | |
"and my burden is light." | 29:10 | |
It was God's desire through Jesus Christ | 29:14 | |
to lighten our burden, | 29:18 | |
to increase rather than diminish our freedom. | 29:20 | |
As Taylor says, | 29:25 | |
"It isn't about pushing ourselves to do more, to be more, | 29:26 | |
"all God has ever asked is that we belong to him. | 29:33 | |
"The burden that Jesus offers is much lighter | 29:38 | |
"than the one we design for ourselves. | 29:41 | |
"The yolk easier." | 29:44 | |
No longer do we have to listen to that nagging inner voice | 29:47 | |
that says you've got to do more, | 29:52 | |
you've got to be more | 29:54 | |
in order to earn God's love. | 29:56 | |
There are no pre-qualifying exams | 29:59 | |
that you have to pass before you come to Jesus. | 30:02 | |
We have nothing to prove | 30:05 | |
and perhaps even more importantly, | 30:07 | |
nothing to fear. | 30:10 | |
For the yolk is not a heavy, shackled chain | 30:13 | |
or freedom but a way of coming into relationship | 30:16 | |
with him so that our burdens might be shared | 30:20 | |
and our load lightened. | 30:24 | |
Have you ever seen pictures of two animals yolked together? | 30:28 | |
They're joined at the neck by a wooden frame | 30:33 | |
that allows them to work together | 30:36 | |
and with a well-matched pair, | 30:39 | |
they can work all day | 30:40 | |
without wearing out | 30:42 | |
because under a shared yolk, | 30:44 | |
one can rest while the other pulls. | 30:46 | |
They can take turns bearing the brunt of the burden | 30:49 | |
and cover for each other | 30:53 | |
without ever laying down the load. | 30:55 | |
At the end of the day, | 30:58 | |
they may be tired but they're not exhausted | 30:59 | |
because they have worked together as a team. | 31:03 | |
When we accept the yolk of Christ, | 31:08 | |
he doesn't add to our burden, | 31:12 | |
he takes our burden upon himself | 31:15 | |
to share the load. | 31:19 | |
We are in a sense joined at the neck. | 31:21 | |
His mind and our mind working together | 31:25 | |
to share the burdens of life | 31:28 | |
and to fulfill the requirements of love. | 31:30 | |
We become a team | 31:34 | |
and with his help, we can accomplish more | 31:36 | |
than we ever could individually. | 31:39 | |
One scholar points out | 31:44 | |
that the yolk is not one that Jesus imposes | 31:45 | |
but one that he wears. | 31:50 | |
It is as if he is saying become my yolk mate | 31:53 | |
and learn how to pull the load by working together | 31:58 | |
beside me and watching how I do it. | 32:01 | |
The heavy labor will seem lighter | 32:06 | |
when you allow me to help you with it. | 32:08 | |
When we become yolked to Jesus, | 32:13 | |
it is as if we become apprentices | 32:16 | |
who work beside him to learn | 32:19 | |
through watching and doing. | 32:22 | |
What it means to be his disciples. | 32:24 | |
When we decide that we want to become a follower of Jesus, | 32:28 | |
and it is our choice alone, | 32:32 | |
it means that we commit ourselves to a learning process. | 32:36 | |
We don't start out having it all right | 32:40 | |
and we don't need to. | 32:43 | |
We only have to be willing to let Jesus teach us | 32:45 | |
how to deal with the problems that we face, | 32:49 | |
how to develop our best skills and minimize our weaknesses, | 32:52 | |
how to grow and change. | 32:57 | |
How to let go of the things that get in the way. | 33:00 | |
How to be obedient | 33:04 | |
even when it is difficult. | 33:06 | |
How to be in a loving relationship. | 33:09 | |
How to serve. | 33:12 | |
It is important to note | 33:16 | |
that when we put on the yolk of Christ, | 33:17 | |
we don't know exactly what paths we will travel together | 33:21 | |
and what work we will share. | 33:25 | |
That's difficult for some of us | 33:28 | |
who like to have everything planned out, | 33:29 | |
goals set, every contingency prepared for. | 33:32 | |
It is possible that we may get led | 33:37 | |
in a direction that we never would have gone on our own. | 33:40 | |
I know because if you had asked me 15 years ago | 33:43 | |
what I would now be doing in my life, | 33:46 | |
serving as a minister | 33:49 | |
would not even have been in the list of possibilities. | 33:50 | |
But I've never been sorry | 33:55 | |
that I followed this strange, unpredictable path. | 33:57 | |
Sometimes stumbling and hesitant to be sure, | 34:01 | |
but also rewarding and fulfilling in ways | 34:06 | |
that I never could have planned. | 34:09 | |
It's hard for us to let go | 34:13 | |
of our need to control our lives | 34:15 | |
and follow where Jesus leads | 34:17 | |
but we can take the risk | 34:19 | |
because he's gentle and humble in heart. | 34:22 | |
He never imposes himself upon us | 34:25 | |
but lovingly invites, waiting for us to come to him | 34:28 | |
when we decide that we're ready. | 34:33 | |
We can trust him | 34:37 | |
because he's trustworthy. | 34:38 | |
The yolk that he offers is the yolk of love | 34:41 | |
and the desire to serve us. | 34:44 | |
Isn't that amazing? | 34:48 | |
We are able to serve God | 34:50 | |
because in Christ, God serves us. | 34:53 | |
Because he has walked the paths that we have walked, | 34:59 | |
and suffered the pains | 35:02 | |
that we have suffered, he knows us intimately | 35:04 | |
and he has our best interests at heart. | 35:08 | |
He leads us gently, | 35:11 | |
challenging us to greater faithfulness | 35:14 | |
yet ever sensitive to our weaknesses | 35:17 | |
and our needs. | 35:20 | |
We may be led into some unexpected and surprising ways | 35:22 | |
of serving but it is never against our will | 35:26 | |
and it is never beyond our strength to endure | 35:30 | |
for as we take Christ's yolk upon us, | 35:35 | |
we discover deep down, | 35:37 | |
all the way down, rest for our souls. | 35:41 | |
Christ understands that the burdens | 35:47 | |
which most weigh heavily upon us, | 35:50 | |
the ones which wear us out | 35:53 | |
are not so much the physical ones | 35:57 | |
but the spiritual and emotional ones. | 36:00 | |
It is not as much the financial struggle | 36:04 | |
as the worry about tomorrow. | 36:07 | |
It is not so much living without the loved one | 36:11 | |
as the emptiness left in the heart. | 36:14 | |
It is not so much the illness itself | 36:18 | |
as the fear of death. | 36:21 | |
It is not so much the rape | 36:24 | |
as the terror we live again and again. | 36:25 | |
It is not so much the failure | 36:31 | |
as the fear of rejection. | 36:33 | |
It is not so much the offense against us | 36:36 | |
but the anger which hardens the heart. | 36:40 | |
It is the burdens of the soul | 36:44 | |
which wear us out | 36:46 | |
and make us feel most alone. | 36:48 | |
Christ invites the weary and heavily burdened | 36:52 | |
to let him share our load | 36:56 | |
and give us the kind of deep inner rest | 36:59 | |
that we could never find on our own. | 37:01 | |
I have a friend here from Liberia | 37:06 | |
and we recently discussed the civil war in his country. | 37:08 | |
People killing each other in the streets, | 37:12 | |
the lack of food and water, | 37:15 | |
no phones, no power, | 37:18 | |
no transportation in or out of the city. | 37:20 | |
There've even been reports of cannibalism | 37:23 | |
among the waring factions. | 37:26 | |
My friend, a young man in his 20s, | 37:29 | |
already lives with the scars of one civil war | 37:32 | |
and the memory of the unspeakable atrocities | 37:36 | |
that he saw as he tried to escape his country | 37:39 | |
and now he must bear the anxiety of another war, | 37:43 | |
not knowing whether his family is alive or dead. | 37:46 | |
I ask him, "How do you do it? | 37:51 | |
"How do you live with what you've seen? | 37:55 | |
"How do you bear the uncertainly, the worry | 37:59 | |
"for your family?" | 38:03 | |
And he said to me, | 38:07 | |
"It is impossible to bear. | 38:08 | |
"It is impossible to forget or to forgive, | 38:11 | |
"it is impossible to work, | 38:15 | |
"to eat, to sleep | 38:17 | |
"yet for the yolk of Christ, | 38:21 | |
"which shares my burden and gives me rest." | 38:25 | |
And looking into his eyes, I believed him | 38:32 | |
for they were there a peace | 38:36 | |
and a rest that were not of this world. | 38:38 | |
When we're yolked with Christ, | 38:44 | |
we're able to bear even the impossible burdens | 38:47 | |
because we don't have to bear them alone. | 38:51 | |
In him we find rest for our souls. | 38:55 | |
Rest from the guilt that we can't escape. | 38:58 | |
Rest from the fears which plague our dreams. | 39:02 | |
Rest from the anger that won't let us go. | 39:05 | |
Rest from the wounds that won't heal. | 39:09 | |
In the yolk of Christ, | 39:13 | |
we find rest for our souls | 39:14 | |
and freedom from the heavy burdens that we carry. | 39:18 | |
Every night, on Fridays in the Tzai community in France, | 39:24 | |
there's a service around the cross. | 39:29 | |
In a very moving ritual, | 39:33 | |
an icon of the cross is laid on the floor | 39:35 | |
and people are invited to come forward | 39:39 | |
and to literally lay their burdens upon Jesus. | 39:42 | |
For hours people come to the cross. | 39:46 | |
Young and old from all over the world, | 39:49 | |
the affluent and the poor. | 39:52 | |
Life-long Christians, new Christians | 39:55 | |
and those who are simply searching. | 39:57 | |
With foreheads pressed against every inch | 40:00 | |
of the cross, they share their burdens with Christ | 40:03 | |
and as they walk away, | 40:08 | |
often with tears of gratitude, | 40:09 | |
you can see that the load has been shifted | 40:12 | |
and the burden is easier to bear | 40:16 | |
because it is borne by two. | 40:19 | |
This simple, moving service | 40:23 | |
offers a visible symbol of the invitation | 40:26 | |
that Jesus Christ extends to all of us. | 40:30 | |
Come to me, all you that are weary | 40:37 | |
and that are carrying heavy burdens | 40:40 | |
and I will give you rest. | 40:43 | |
Take my yolk upon you | 40:48 | |
and learn from me | 40:50 | |
for I am gentle and humble in heart | 40:52 | |
and you will find rest for your souls. | 40:55 | |
For my yolk is easy | 40:59 | |
and my burden is light. | 41:02 | |
(lively organ music) | 41:17 | |
(congregation singing) | 42:02 | |
- | May I invite you to be seated | 44:39 |
and join me in prayer. | 44:41 | |
The Lord be with you. | 44:52 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 44:54 |
- | Let us pray. | 44:56 |
Oh God, who in your only son Jesus | 45:00 | |
has invited us to come to you with our burdens | 45:04 | |
and find rest. | 45:09 | |
We accept your invitation. | 45:11 | |
From within the walls of this place | 45:16 | |
that is built to your glory and for our comfort, | 45:18 | |
we come to you. | 45:23 | |
From within the bounds of this nation | 45:26 | |
that began by declaring its trust | 45:28 | |
in your providence and its trust in our freedom, | 45:30 | |
we come to you. | 45:35 | |
From within the limits of our own conditions | 45:39 | |
of status and circumstance, | 45:41 | |
age and ethnicity, | 45:44 | |
health and hope, | 45:47 | |
we come to you. | 45:50 | |
Lord, in your mercy. | 45:53 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 45:56 |
- | Oh God, in your infinite love, | 45:58 |
you have room for all of our needs and more. | 46:02 | |
We can name them | 46:08 | |
and you can grant us rest from them. | 46:11 | |
We call them cancer and stroke, | 46:15 | |
AIDS and Alzheimer's, | 46:20 | |
we call them hunger and loneliness, | 46:23 | |
addiction and abuse. | 46:26 | |
We call them fear and guilt. | 46:30 | |
Ignorance and injustice. | 46:34 | |
We know what they are doing to our loved ones. | 46:39 | |
We know what they are doing to our neighbors. | 46:43 | |
We know what they are doing to ourselves. | 46:47 | |
But we cannot carry them much longer. | 46:51 | |
So wrap them in the emotions of our hearts. | 46:55 | |
Let us pack them into our words of prayer | 46:59 | |
and grant that we can bring them to your throne of grace | 47:03 | |
and ask you to grant us rest. | 47:07 | |
Lord, in your mercy. | 47:11 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 47:14 |
- | We pray for those who help us along the way | 47:16 |
and for the burdens they carry in their lives. | 47:20 | |
We pray for those who stoop in the fields to labor, | 47:24 | |
that crops might grow and be harvested | 47:29 | |
and that we might have food to eat. | 47:31 | |
We pray for those who gather for worship | 47:35 | |
in houses dedicated to your name | 47:39 | |
and to your people's comfort | 47:42 | |
that they might worship you in freedom and security | 47:45 | |
and be unafraid that the fires of hell | 47:50 | |
will touch them | 47:54 | |
or the fires of Earth will touch their houses of praise. | 47:56 | |
We PRAY for those who step into pulpits day after day | 48:02 | |
to preach that your church might be spiritually nourished. | 48:05 | |
We pray foR those who stare inTO laboratory microscopes | 48:12 | |
that diseases might yield their secrets | 48:17 | |
and reveal their cures. | 48:19 | |
We pray for those who police our streets, | 48:23 | |
for those who dance in our theaters, | 48:27 | |
for those who compete in our arenas, | 48:31 | |
for those who pursue justice in our courts, | 48:35 | |
for those who make music in our halls and homes, | 48:39 | |
that all might find joy and peace | 48:43 | |
in serving you | 48:46 | |
and in sharing those same gifts with us. | 48:49 | |
Lord, in your mercy. | 48:53 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 48:56 |
- | And grant that all who grieve this day | 48:58 |
will find healing and hope in their own hearts | 49:01 | |
as they surrender their loved ones | 49:05 | |
to your eternal mercy and everlasting care. | 49:07 | |
Remind us that your love is not limited | 49:11 | |
to this place, this land | 49:13 | |
or this lifetime. | 49:17 | |
For those whom we love | 49:20 | |
but can no longer see, | 49:21 | |
we pray your grace and heavenly blessing | 49:24 | |
as we name them in the silence of their hearts. | 49:27 | |
Lord, in your mercy. | 49:37 | |
Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 49:40 |
- | All of these things we bring to your throne of grace | 49:41 |
in the name of the Father and of the Son | 49:46 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, amen. | 49:49 | |
Congregation | Amen. | 49:52 |
- | As the people of God | 49:57 |
who have been blessed with the gift of life, | 49:58 | |
so we in thanksgiving to God return signs | 50:01 | |
and symbols of those gifts | 50:05 | |
and with words of thanksgiving, | 50:07 | |
and tangible gifts, | 50:10 | |
we offer ourselves and our lives | 50:13 | |
to the Lord. | 50:15 | |
Let us prepare to offer those gifts. | 50:17 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 50:23 | |
(choir singing) | 51:41 | |
(dramatic organ music) | 54:32 | |
♪ Praise God from Whom all blessings flow ♪ | 55:08 | |
♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ | 55:15 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 55:20 | |
♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 55:28 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 55:34 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 55:41 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 55:47 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 55:54 | |
- | Let us pray. | 56:06 |
To you, oh Lord, we turn in prayer. | 56:10 | |
As the humble servants who have received gifts | 56:14 | |
in abundance from you, | 56:17 | |
from the first gift | 56:20 | |
of a breath of life that was ours | 56:22 | |
to the dying moment | 56:25 | |
when we will surrender our lives, | 56:26 | |
our souls and spirits unto you at last. | 56:29 | |
Our lives are filled with the journey of gifts from you. | 56:32 | |
For the love we have received within family | 56:38 | |
and household, for the love | 56:41 | |
that sustains and nourishes us throughout the ages | 56:43 | |
and the faithfulness of your church. | 56:46 | |
For the gifts of music | 56:49 | |
that fill houses of worship and halls for concerts, | 56:50 | |
for the gifts of material blessings, | 56:55 | |
that have enabled us to find leisure | 56:58 | |
and comfort as well as food and care. | 57:01 | |
For all of the blessings that you have granted | 57:07 | |
to us, oh Lord, | 57:09 | |
our offers in sacrifice and praise returning thanksgiving | 57:12 | |
to you are but tokens to your glory | 57:18 | |
of all that is ours | 57:23 | |
and now, oh Lord, we pray your blessing | 57:25 | |
upon these material gifts that we have offered | 57:27 | |
that they might be both signs and tokens | 57:31 | |
of the thanksgiving of our hearts | 57:34 | |
as well as means of ministry to all of your people. | 57:36 | |
Oh Lord, let your blessing accompany every gift given | 57:41 | |
and every heart offered | 57:47 | |
that we will find not only peace within our lives | 57:50 | |
and with you but with our neighbors as well | 57:54 | |
whom you have called Us to serve. | 57:58 | |
In gratitude and thanksgiving, | 58:01 | |
we give you praise and glory | 58:03 | |
and dare to call upon you the way your son, | 58:06 | |
our Savior Jesus Christ has taught us. | 58:09 | |
All | Our Father how arT in Heaven, | 58:13 |
hallowed be thy name, | 58:17 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 58:18 | |
on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 58:22 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 58:25 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 58:28 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 58:30 | |
and lead not into temptation | 58:34 | |
but deliver us from evil | 58:36 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 58:39 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 58:40 | |
Amen. | 58:44 | |
(lively organ music) | 58:46 | |
(congregation singing) | 59:29 | |
- | And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:02:38 |
the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit | 1:02:41 | |
be with you and keep you. | 1:02:44 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:02:50 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 1:02:52 | |
(dramatic organ music) | 1:03:03 |