William H. Willimon - "The Gothic Spirit" (September 8, 1996)

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	(Inspirational organ music)	0:02
-	Good morning.	1:07
	Welcome to the service of worship	1:08
	here at Duke University Chapel.	1:10
	We also welcome those who worship with us	1:12
	on a regular basis.	1:16
	With, from radio station WDNC our service	1:18
	is broadcast live there and then delayed	1:21
	broadcast on the Durham cable channel.	1:25
	This morning our lecturer is the new director	1:30
	of counseling and psychological services	1:33
	here at Duke, Dr. James Clack.	1:35
	Also on this opening Sunday, it's a good time	1:39
	to give thanks for the many talents	1:41
	who make this service possible.	1:44
	Particularly our musicians.	1:46
	Like for them to come forward, those who are up here.	1:49
	A lot of them make this happen every Sunday.	1:52
	First, Donna Sparks, the assistant conductor	1:56
	and she's the director of our various	2:00
	choral activities.	2:03
	Donna's got a big job this year because	2:05
	she is helping with the organization	2:07
	of the choir trip to China.	2:11
	We're going to take 150 choir and choral members	2:13
	to China in January, 10 days.	2:17
	And Donna's a great arranger of that	2:20
	and we thank her for her work.	2:22
	Also, our director of chapel music,	2:25
	Dr. Wynkoop who is leading us again,	2:30
	this year, wide array of choral activity.	2:35
	Our chapel organist, Dr. David Arcus	2:38
	who is the accompanist for the choir	2:42
	and chapel organist throughout the year.	2:44
	At the back at the Flentrop you can see	2:47
	Dr. Robert Parkins who plays during our year,	2:50
	particularly at the Flentrop organ.	2:54
	And our curator of organs is	2:59
	Norman Ryan.	3:05
	I'm not sure where Norman is.	3:06
	We've had some water damage on one of	3:09
	the organs due to the storm.	3:11
	He's been working around the clock on that	3:13
	and we thank Norman Ryan for his work.	3:16
	Our Carillonneur that plays the bells	3:19
	before and after each Sunday service	3:23
	and each afternoon at 5:00 is Samuel Hammond,	3:25
	the University Carillonneur.	3:30
	We thank all of these musicians.	3:33
	You don't see all of them on Sunday but,	3:35
	they make it happen here and make this chapel	3:37
	a very special place to be.	3:40
	And we thank them.	3:43
	And also the returning members of our chapel choir.	3:44
	Thank you.	3:48
	And now, if you would stand for the greeting.	3:49
	Let the sun and the moon and stars	3:55
	praise the Lord.	3:58
Congregation	Let the Heavens praise the Lord.	4:00
-	Let us praise the name of the Lord.	4:02
Congregation	His glory is upon us.	4:05
	(inspirational organ music)	4:09
	(inspirational organ music)	7:03
	(uplifting inspirational music)	9:09
-	[Female Clergy Member] Let us pray.	10:25
	God of glory, as we gather here today	10:27
	at the start of this new academic year,	10:30
	you know that we are all seeking something.	10:34
	You are the God who searches hearts	10:38
	and minds, who knows why we have come.	10:40
	Meet us at our place of greatest need,	10:45
	that we might find restoration and renewal	10:48
	in you.	10:51
	We offer you our burdens and fears,	10:53
	our hopes and desires.	10:56
	Knowing that your love lightens burdens	10:59
	and renews hope.	11:01
	Guide us in the paths that you would	11:04
	have us walk.	11:05
	For we long to lead lives worthy of you.	11:07
	Speak your Word to us once more,	11:10
	that we might hear and obey.	11:13
	In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,	11:16
	Amen.	11:19
	You may be seated.	11:21
-	Let us pray the prayer for illumination.	11:32
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	11:36
	by the power of your Holy Spirit.	11:40
	So that, as the Word is read and proclaimed,	11:42
	we may hear your message with joy this day.	11:46
	Amen.	11:50
	The first reading is from the Apostle Paul's letter	11:52
	to the Romans.	11:54
	Chapter 13, verses eight through 14.	11:55
	Owe no one anything, except to love one another	12:00
	for the one who loves another has fulfilled	12:05
	the law.	12:07
	The commandments, you shall not commit adultery,	12:09
	you shall not murder, you shall not steal,	12:13
	you shall not covet, and any other commandment	12:16
	are summed up in this word:	12:19
	Love your neighbor as yourself.	12:22
	Love does no wrong to a neighbor.	12:25
	Therefore, love is the fulfilling	12:27
	of the law.	12:30
	Besides this, you know what time it is.	12:31
	How it is now the moment, for you to wake	12:35
	from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now	12:37
	than when we became believers.	12:42
	The night is far gone.	12:44
	The day is near.	12:46
	Let us then lay aside the works of darkness	12:48
	and put on the armor of light.	12:51
	Let us live honorably as in the day,	12:54
	not in reveling in drunkenness.	12:57
	Not in debauchery and licentiousness,	12:59
	not in quarreling and jealousy.	13:02
	Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.	13:05
	Make no provisions for the flesh to gratify	13:08
	its desires.	13:11
	This is the Word of the Lord.	13:13
Congregation	Thank the good God.	13:16
	(inspirational choral music)	13:19
	The second reading is from the Gospel according	16:14
	to Saint Matthew.	16:17
	Chapter 18, verses 15 through 20.	16:18
	If another member of the church	16:23
	sins against you, go and point out	16:25
	the fault when the two of you are alone.	16:28
	If the member listens to you, you have	16:31
	regained that one.	16:33
	But if you are not listened to,	16:35
	take one or two others along with you	16:37
	so that every word may be confirmed	16:40
	by the evidence of two or three witnesses.	16:42
	If the member refuses to listen to them,	16:45
	tell it to the church.	16:48
	And if the offender refuses to listen	16:50
	even to the church, let such a one be	16:52
	to you as a gentile and a tax collector.	16:56
	Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth	16:59
	will be bound in Heaven.	17:03
	And whatever you loose on earth	17:05
	will be loosed in Heaven.	17:07
	Again, truly I tell you, if two of you	17:09
	agree on earth about anything you ask,	17:12
	it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven.	17:15
	For where two or three are gathered	17:18
	in my name, I am there among them.	17:20
	This is the Word of the Lord.	17:24
Congregation	Thank you good God.	17:26
-	This morning's psalm is psalm 139	17:35
	verses one through 18 found on pages	17:38
	854 and 855 in your hymnal.	17:40
	Please stand and sing the psalm	17:43
	and Gloria responsible.	17:44
	♪ Oh Lord you have searched me and known me ♪	17:54
	♪ You know when I sit, when I rise ♪	18:01
	♪ All of my moments, my ways and my words ♪	18:06
	♪ You search out my path and my lying down ♪	18:14
	♪ And are acquainted with all my ways ♪	18:19
	♪ Even before a word is on my tongue ♪	18:23
	♪ Behold, oh Lord, you know it altogether ♪	18:30
	♪ You pursue me behind and before ♪	18:36
	♪ And lay your hand upon me ♪	18:40
	♪ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ♪	18:45
	♪ It is high; I cannot attain it ♪	18:51
	♪ Wither shall I go from your spirit ♪	18:57
	♪ Or where shall I flee from your presence ♪	19:02
	♪ If I ascend to Heaven, you are there ♪	19:08
	♪ If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there ♪	19:12
	♪ If I take the wings of the morning ♪	19:17
	♪ And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ♪	19:23
	♪ Even there your hand shall lead me ♪	19:28
	♪ And your right hand shall hold me ♪	19:33
	♪ If I say, only let darkness cover me ♪	19:38
	♪ And the light about me be night ♪	19:42
	♪ Even the darkness is not dark to you ♪	19:46
	♪ The night is bright as the day ♪	19:51
	♪ For darkness is as light with you ♪	19:57
	♪ For it was you who formed my inward parts ♪	20:03
	♪ You knitted me together in my mother's womb ♪	20:08
	♪ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderful ♪	20:15
	♪ Wonderful are your works ♪	20:20
	♪ You know me very well ♪	20:25
	♪ My frame was not hidden from you ♪	20:29
	♪ When I was being made in secret ♪	20:34
	♪ Intricately woven in the depths of the earth ♪	20:39
	♪ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance ♪	20:46
	♪ In your book were written, every one of them ♪	20:52
	♪ The days that were formed for me ♪	20:56
	♪ When as yet there was none of them ♪	21:00
	♪ How profound to me are your thoughts, oh God ♪	21:07
	♪ How vast is the sum of them ♪	21:11
	♪ If I would count them, they are more than the sand ♪	21:16
	♪ I awake, and I am still with you ♪	21:22
	♪ Oh glory be to you, creator ♪	21:28
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪	21:32
	♪ Bless the holy spirit ♪	21:35
	♪ Bless the trinity ♪	21:39
	♪ As it was, a time began ♪	21:42
	♪ It's now and it's forevermore ♪	21:47
-	Please be seated.	21:57
-	Where can I go from your spirit?	22:11
	Where can I flee from your presence?	22:14
	If I ascend into Heaven, you are there.	22:19
	If I make my bed in Sheol,	22:22
	thou art there.	22:28
	Things have been busy here this past week.	22:33
	There is the storm.	22:39
	But if you're a student here, things are busy	22:43
	even without the storm.	22:45
	There are classes to get and to drop	22:47
	and books to be bough and bunks to be built.	22:50
	And I find it interesting that with all that you	22:57
	have to do and with all that you could be doing,	23:03
	you're here.	23:07
	I'm impressed with the stark contrast	23:09
	between how I began my day	23:11
	compared with where I am now.	23:15
	I began my day, as many of you standing	23:16
	over a backyard grill trying to heat	23:19
	a pint of water.	23:21
	(attendees laughing)	23:23
	The veneer of civilization is stripped away	23:26
	so quickly.	23:28
	But here we are.	23:30
	There since seats late 20th century you,	23:32
	amid this neo-Gothic grandeur.	23:39
	Practical utilitarian, terrestrial you	23:45
	in this impractical would-be celestial building.	23:51
	You'll note that it is the nature	24:01
	of Gothic architecture that you just can't	24:03
	keep your eyes fixed on the earth.	24:05
	Inexorably, this building leads your gaze upward.	24:11
	Every line in this building rises upward	24:18
	as if to wrench your gaze off the practical,	24:23
	mundane matters and upward towards Heaven.	24:27
	The mind of God thus invades the mind	24:35
	of humanity.	24:39
	The Gothic arch rooted in earth.	24:42
	Those pillars behind, beside which you sit,	24:47
	they bear tremendous weight.	24:50
	They go down two stories into the earth.	24:52
	And yet, with all that weight,	24:57
	see how they soar.	24:59
	How they reach over you as if branches	25:02
	of trees, as if hands, hands formed	25:05
	into prayer, and to praise.	25:11
	Everything goes up.	25:14
	The Gothic architect wants so much	25:18
	to go up inside that it's forced	25:21
	on the outside to put flying buttresses,	25:23
	buttresses out there.	25:26
	These arches just like hands	25:29
	lifted up in prayer.	25:34
	We are rooted in creaturehood.	25:39
	Our roots go down deep, back millennia.	25:42
	Biology teaches us that we are animals.	25:48
	But, still we are animals who reach up.	25:53
	Who reach out.	25:59
	I think it was Voltaire who said that	26:03
	man is an animal who devours and who defecates	26:05
	and who dies.	26:10
	And then I think it was also Voltaire	26:15
	who said, most human triumphs and tragedies	26:17
	can be ascribed to mans inability to stay	26:21
	in his own room.	26:25
	Psychology portrays us as bundles	26:30
	of instinctual drives.	26:34
	Genetic, hormonal, determined animals	26:37
	we are, and yet how does psychology	26:42
	explain that we do, at times, overcome ourselves.	26:47
	We surprise even us.	26:52
	We rise.	26:56
	We are bound by time.	27:00
	Even at 19, in rare moments,	27:02
	you experience finitude, limits,	27:04
	bodily decay.	27:07
	And yet, maybe something within us deep,	27:10
	longing toward eternity.	27:15
	Who has put such reach in our minds?	27:20
	Such yearning in our souls.	27:24
	After, here at the university,	27:29
	you have put us like a cadaver	27:32
	on a table and you have picked us apart	27:33
	after you have labeled our physiology,	27:37
	analyzed our behavior, rendered us into cause,	27:40
	effect, mechanistic predictability.	27:44
	There is still something about us that cannot be	27:50
	contained, explained, solely within the limits	27:52
	of our creatureliness.	27:57
	We share creaturehood with all the animals	28:01
	and yet something deep in the center of us	28:03
	still wants to soar.	28:06
	Now what is that?	28:09
	As a 6th grader, I learned, heir of the kingdom	28:12
	beneath the skies, often he falls but still	28:17
	he will rise, stumbling, bleeding,	28:20
	falling, beating back yet he holds to	28:23
	the upward track, this is humanity.	28:27
	We go about our daily deeds.	28:34
	We become concerned.	28:37
	We become overly concerned	28:39
	with ourselves.	28:41
	Preoccupied with our health.	28:43
	We curl up on ourselves.	28:47
	We feed upon ourselves.	28:49
	We accumulate stuff.	28:51
	We become consumed by a world that can be	28:54
	circumscribed only within our own ego	28:57
	and yet, what, at the clear note of an organ	29:01
	on Sunday.	29:04
	Or the sound of a single bird singing at you	29:09
	from a pine tree as you make your way	29:12
	on Monday over to Gross Chem.	29:14
	You will rise.	29:18
	You throw off your earthbound bodiliness.	29:20
	And you will shout, I know I was meant for more.	29:25
	What is this in some of you?	29:32
	This uneasiness?	29:34
	This restlessness?	29:37
	The rocking back and forth?	29:39
	The tapping of the toes?	29:40
	Now what is that?	29:42
	Ambition?	29:44
	Youthful, hormonal drives?	29:46
	Perhaps.	29:50
	But might that also be bodily testimonial	29:53
	that you're never quite able to get settled	29:56
	in present arrangements?	30:01
	In the worst perplexities of life,	30:05
	watch yourself.	30:08
	You will ask why rather than submit.	30:10
	Now why would you ask why?	30:17
	Unless you expect there to be somewhere	30:20
	some transcendent Answerer.	30:22
	Something, someone is intruding into your psyche.	30:28
	Whose is that voice in the night?	30:35
	Whose, where, from whence comes that prodding	30:37
	of conscience?	30:41
	Could it be, as the psalmist said,	30:44
	when I awake, I'm still with thee.	30:50
	You, hem me in from in front and behind.	30:53
	You're hand is laid on me.	30:58
	After we have described you, psychologically,	31:02
	sociologically, economically, still you would be	31:05
	restless with our definitions.	31:09
	Still this could never fully explain, contain you.	31:12
	On a Sunday afternoon in the 30s, when this chapel	31:21
	was dedicated, the world stood on the brink	31:25
	of war.	31:30
	And Jack-booted soldiers strutted in the streets	31:31
	of Europe.	31:35
	But speakers gathered here on a Sunday afternoon	31:37
	and praised the building of this chapel,	31:41
	not as some nostalgia trip into the neo-Gothic past.	31:44
	But as a kind of protest against	31:51
	classicist neo-classicist fascism.	31:56
	Ugly architecture is always a component	32:05
	of bad government.	32:08
	And there is something about this Gothic	32:11
	which is playful, which is soaring	32:14
	and exuberant, which is a kind of protest	32:17
	against all fascist, neo-classical,	32:21
	Promethean man, the measure of all things	32:25
	definition of what's going on in the world.	32:29
	This building, which many might have thought	32:33
	was some kind of trip into the past	32:36
	was therefore seen as a kind of clinch-fisted	32:40
	protest to the Nazi's.	32:44
	In the Gothic, we move out beyond	32:50
	the earthbound space.	32:54
	Life has reach.	32:56
	It has color and rhythm and verticality	32:58
	asymmetry.	33:03
	There's lots of places to hide.	33:04
	We noticed and we started printing children's	33:08
	bulletins to use along in the service.	33:12
	We started, we printed up enough.	33:14
	We printed up 20.	33:15
	And then we printed up 30 and then 40.	33:18
	And now each Sunday we give out 60 children's bulletins.	33:20
	Some of you have got a children's bulletin	33:28
	and you're thinking, that's why there's so many	33:29
	pictures in my bulletin.	33:31
	No.	33:32
	(attendees laughing)	33:34
	But the surprising thing is, we didn't know	33:37
	we would have children in the service.	33:40
	But more than one parent has said,	33:42
	you know, I like to bring them to Duke Chapel.	33:44
	There's enough stuff going on here to watch.	33:45
	The building is dark and complex and playful.	33:49
	After 40 days in the wilderness,	33:58
	and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry.	34:01
	Satan offered Jesus bread and yet,	34:07
	even though Jesus needed bread.	34:12
	Even in his great 40 days, 40 nights hunger,	34:17
	bread was not enough.	34:20
	We need bread.	34:24
	But isn't it odd how we need more than bread?	34:27
	Now why can't we be satisfied with just	34:32
	the basic this and that of everyday life	34:34
	on this earth?	34:38
	Why isn't it enough?	34:41
	In the institutes, John Calvin notes,	34:45
	that isn't it interesting when God created water,	34:49
	which would be quite enough to sustain us,	34:54
	that God go on and invent wine.	34:58
	Why is that?	35:02
	A building, as unfortunate as the Duke Law School	35:07
	would've been enough to hold all of us here.	35:11
	We could've stopped with that, but wasn't it great	35:15
	Duke went on and built a place	35:18
	as extravagant and playful and difficult to heat	35:21
	as this?	35:24
	(attendees laughing)	35:26
	There's just something about us that yearns.	35:28
	When Dr. Hague took us down a little village,	35:32
	San Marco in Honduras, where the quest	35:36
	for basic necessities like water and bread	35:41
	consume every waking moment of every day,	35:46
	and yet, in a place so pitifully deprived,	35:50
	they had a church and it was elegantly	35:58
	adorned as best they could.	36:02
	Now, why?	36:06
	Amid life's crushing every day burdens	36:08
	did these people gather to sing	36:11
	and to worship.	36:15
	Because like Jesus said, we do not live	36:18
	even by something so necessary and precious as bread.	36:21
	We reach.	36:27
	Something within you reached towards	36:31
	the eternal like the sweep of the Gothic arch,	36:34
	and I am saying, I think you're here out of that hunger.	36:38
	And to you, this graceful building	36:46
	has opened its arms, has drawn	36:47
	you within, and I'm saying you're here.	36:51
	You're here not to escape from the facts of life.	36:54
	But I am saying you're here because	37:00
	the facts of life, as this place	37:02
	tends to privilege them, are not enough	37:05
	to explain what's going in you and in the world.	37:10
	You're here not to evade reality,	37:15
	but you're here further to penetrate reality.	37:18
	To plumb the depths, to venture out	37:22
	beyond the superficialities.	37:25
	As with every line in this building, you rise.	37:28
	Maya Angelou, here last Sunday afternoon	37:34
	speaking to our freshmen.	37:38
	She writes...	37:41
	You may write me down in history with your	37:45
	bitter, twisted lies.	37:48
	You may trod me in the very dirt,	37:52
	but still like dust, I rise.	37:56
	Just like moons and like suns.	38:02
	With a certainty of the tides,	38:06
	just like hopes springing high.	38:09
	Still, I rise.	38:12
	You may shoot me with your words,	38:15
	cut me with your eyes.	38:18
	You may kill me with your hatefulness,	38:19
	but still like air, I rise.	38:22
	Bringing the gifts that the ancestors gave,	38:26
	I am the dream.	38:30
	I am the hope of the slave.	38:32
	I rise.	38:36
	I rise.	38:38
	I rise.	38:41
	And there you sit.	38:45
	You were brought here by friends	38:47
	or by habit or you were seeking	38:50
	air conditioning.	38:52
	Or maybe you know not what.	38:55
	Maybe you didn't even really want to be here.	38:59
	You have questions about all this,	39:02
	you've got doubts.	39:04
	The service was listed in the weekly	39:07
	events calendar, you're a freshman,	39:08
	you thought you had to go to all the stuff.	39:10
	That's why you're here.	39:12
	(audience laughing)	39:14
	And yet, at the notes of the hymn,	39:16
	amid the soaring arches, you rise.	39:21
	Your voice joined others.	39:28
	And then you knew Jesus was right where he said	39:32
	where just two or three are gathered, I am there.	39:36
	Then you were able to say with another psalmist,	39:42
	I was glad when they said unto me.	39:46
	Let us go to the house of the Lord.	39:48
	This seemingly mundane gathering	39:52
	of thoroughly earthbound human beings	39:54
	became opportunity for meeting,	39:58
	for intrusion by God.	40:01
	We rise.	40:04
	On my way back from my usual afternoon visit	40:09
	to the hospital, I decided to take a little	40:12
	detour, and I dropped by the law office	40:16
	of a man who was in my church.	40:20
	I didn't know him very well.	40:23
	I figured his wife sort of took care	40:24
	of the religion for the family.	40:26
	He came, but it was the end of the day, twilight.	40:28
	The door to the law office was still open.	40:36
	I looked in, no one was in the outer office,	40:38
	everybody had gone home, but I could see	40:40
	a light back in the inner office.	40:42
	He said, who is it?	40:46
	I said, it's the preacher.	40:48
	He said, come on back.	40:51
	I went back.	40:53
	And there he was.	40:56
	He looked tired, his tie down	40:59
	below his collar, shirt open.	41:01
	He said, well, I didn't expect to see you here, preacher.	41:06
	Come on in, I was just about to fix myself a drink.	41:13
	You want a drink?	41:15
	I said, sure, if it's caffeine free, diet.	41:17
	He poured out a couple of drinks,	41:24
	he leaned in his chair, he threw his feet	41:26
	up on this cluttered desk.	41:29
	And I, just making conversation,	41:32
	I said, well, what sort of day have you had?	41:33
	He said, a typical day, miserable.	41:37
	Oh, I said.	41:43
	I'm sorry, what was miserable about your day?	41:44
	Oh, he said, my day began as I helped	41:50
	a couple evict their aging father	41:54
	from his house so they could take	41:57
	everything he owns and put him	42:01
	in a nursing home.	42:03
	All legal.	42:05
	Maybe not particularly moral, but legal.	42:09
	By lunchtime, I was helping a client	42:13
	of mine evade his worker's insurance payments.	42:15
	Again, it's legal.	42:20
	And this afternoon, I have been enabling	42:22
	a woman to ruin her husband's life forever	42:26
	with the sweetest little divorce package	42:30
	you ever saw.	42:32
	That's my day.	42:34
	Well, what could I say?	42:39
	Which, he continued, explains	42:42
	why I'm in your church on Sunday.	42:46
	And I said, well, I confess, I'm feeling	42:51
	a bit overwhelmed, I mean, thinking,	42:54
	what on Earth do I have to say	42:56
	in a sermon that could in some way	42:58
	minister to the kind of days you have here?	43:00
	He said, oh, it's not the sermon	43:04
	I come for, preacher.	43:06
	(audience laughing)	43:08
	It's the building.	43:11
	It's the music.	43:14
	I tell ya, preacher, sometimes I'll go an entire week	43:17
	with nothing beautiful, with nothing good	43:23
	until Sunday.	43:28
	And I'll tell ya, sometimes	43:31
	when that little volunteer choir sings,	43:32
	it is, for me, the difference	43:37
	between life and death.	43:40
	Oh Lord, you search me and you know me.	43:49
	I can't get away from your spirit.	43:53
	Where could I flee from your presence?	43:56
	If I ascend to Heaven, you're there.	44:00
	If I make my bed in Hell,	44:03
	you're there.	44:07
	(soft choir music)	44:23
	(inspirational choral music)	44:56
-	[Female Clergy Member] You may be seated.	47:16
	The Lord be with you.	47:23
Audience	And also with you.	47:26
-	Let us pray.	47:27
	In the stillness of this moment,	47:31
	we are aware that we cannot escape your love, oh God.	47:35
	We can find no place to hide from your presence.	47:41
	You search us out wherever we may be.	47:45
	We may ascend to the highest heavens	47:49
	or descend to the deepest seas,	47:52
	but your embracing love is there.	47:55
	We may seek escape in the busyness of the day,	47:59
	or in the darkness of the night.	48:03
	But your bright, persistent love is there.	48:06
	We may fall into the pits of Hell,	48:10
	but your seeking, forgiving love is there.	48:14
	Thank you, oh God, for your steadfast mercy.	48:20
	Thank you for being there, wherever we may be.	48:24
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	48:29
	Oh God who has planted the seed	48:33
	of eternity within us, be our inspiration	48:36
	as we begin this academic year.	48:40
	Remind us that you have made us	48:43
	in your own image.	48:45
	We are not just a bundle of appetites	48:47
	and desires, for you have put	48:50
	the mark of divinity within each of us.	48:52
	And our souls are restless until they find	48:55
	their rest in you.	48:58
	It is not enough for us to seek our own way.	49:00
	Not because you want to constrain	49:03
	our freedom, but because	49:06
	you have made us for greater things.	49:08
	May this chapel at the center of Duke University	49:12
	be an ever present reminder of your	49:16
	drawing presence, which causes us	49:18
	to aspire for more.	49:21
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	49:23
	Oh, God, you know the hunger deep within us,	49:29
	which cannot be filled by anything	49:33
	the world has to offer.	49:35
	Keep us from chasing false promises of satisfaction.	49:38
	Lead us in our restless thoughts	49:41
	and our unnamed yearning to seek you	49:44
	in the depths of our hearts.	49:48
	Knowing that you were there waiting	49:50
	to fill us with your love,	49:52
	and to lead us in the ways everlasting.	49:55
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	49:58
	Oh, God, you are the hope of all	50:02
	the ends of the Earth.	50:06
	In creation, you divided the waters of chaos.	50:08
	In Christ, you stilled storms,	50:12
	raised the dead, and vanquished	50:15
	demonic powers.	50:18
	We believe that you have power over creation,	50:20
	and yet in your wisdom, you have	50:23
	given creation freedom.	50:26
	It is for this reason that we suffer	50:28
	hurricane, earthquake, and flood.	50:30
	Keep us from calling disaster your justice.	50:34
	Help as we recover from Hurricane Fran,	50:38
	to respond to each other's need	50:41
	with compassion, patience, and love.	50:44
	And teach us in good times and in distress	50:47
	to trust your mercy and power.	50:51
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	50:54
	We carry in our hearts, the names	50:58
	of many who are facing tribulation.	51:01
	Grant them endurance in their suffering	51:04
	and relief from pain.	51:06
	For those who struggle with affliction	51:09
	of the spirit, grant them hope.	51:11
	As you have poured out your love in our hearts,	51:13
	so pour out your compassion.	51:16
	Be present with those who are alone,	51:19
	give peace to those who are troubled,	51:21
	give comfort to those who are dying,	51:24
	and them that mourn.	51:27
	Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.	51:29
	As deep calls to deep, so do we call	51:34
	to you, oh steadfast God.	51:38
	Hear and answer us, we pray,	51:42
	for we call upon you in the name	51:45
	of Jesus Christ, our Lord.	51:46
	Amen.	51:49
	And now let us present the bounty	51:52
	of our lives to the Lord.	51:54
	(soft organ music)	51:59
	(exuberant instrumental music)	53:36
	(Inspirational choral music)	54:14
	(soft organ music)	58:54
	God of amazing grace, before the gifts	1:00:43
	you have given us, our gifts pale	1:00:46
	into insignificance.	1:00:49
	And yet we know that you accept them	1:00:51
	and us just as we are.	1:00:54
	Increase our vision and enlarge	1:00:57
	our compassion that we might embrace our brothers	1:00:59
	and sisters in need as you have embraced us.	1:01:03
	Receive these gifts and love	1:01:07
	and use them and us to further	1:01:09
	your caring in the world.	1:01:11
	And now let us pray with confidence	1:01:14
	as the children of God.	1:01:16
All	Our father who art in Heaven,	1:01:18
	hallowed be thy name.	1:01:21
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:01:23
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:01:26
	Give us this day our daily bread.	1:01:29
	And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive	1:01:31
	those who trespass against us.	1:01:35
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver	1:01:38
	us from evil.	1:01:41
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	1:01:42
	and the glory forever.	1:01:45
	Amen.	1:01:48
	(inspirational choir music)	1:01:53
	(Inspirational choral music)	1:02:50
-	The grace of our Lord and Savior,	1:08:01
	Jesus Christ, and the love of God	1:08:02
	and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:08:04
	be with you now and always.	1:08:06
	(Inspirational choral music)	1:08:12
	(energetic organ music)	1:10:13

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Gothic Spirit" (September 8, 1996)

Description:

Sermon start time: 22:11. Sermon end time: 44:09.
The existence of high gothic churches express the human heart’s yearning for eternity, for something higher and deeper. The preacher argues that, when in crisis, human beings are not satisfied with basic needs alone, but require the presence of a gothic church to help them look up to heaven. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Like Jesus said, we do not live even by something so necessary and precious as bread. We reach. Something within you reaches towards the eternal like the sweep of the Gothic arch, an I am saying, I think you’re here out of that hunger.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4qb9vm58

Date:

September 8, 1996

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Chapter and Verse:

139:7-12

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0495
ref9793_kvy
uachapelsermaud
duke:321711
dcrmv001469
ark:/87924/r4qb9vm58
b7499cce-802d-43e8-933f-491b76682ef9

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "The Gothic Spirit" (September 8, 1996)

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Item Info

1. William H. Willimon - "The Gothic Spirit" (September 8, 1996)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "The Gothic Spirit" (September 8, 1996)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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