John David Lee - "The Faith of an Historian" Alumni Sunday (June 13, 1982)

Download
- Rights
- No Re-Use
  In Copyright
  More Rights Info
- Files (2)
- MP3 Part 1
- MP3 Part 2
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4g15tr5v?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4g15tr5v
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

Speaker 1	Then number three.	0:03
	God moves in mysterious ways.	0:05
	His wonders to perform.	0:08
	God's ways are past finding out,	0:12
	wrote the psalmist.	0:15
	But we believe, as Christians,	0:16
	that he has a way of revealing them to us, if we ask.	0:18
	The problem is that we so often	0:24
	refuse to recognize those ways when he shows them to us.	0:26
	Here, I think, is one of the great and useful lessons,	0:31
	which the years bring,	0:33
	which is not always revealed to the young.	0:35
	And if you will allow me	0:39
	a little personal reference at this point,	0:39
	let me say that as I have come to look back over my life,	0:42
	I can see many things much clearer	0:45
	than I could see them when they happened.	0:47
	For example, as I look back over my life	0:51
	I can see that the events and experiences	0:54
	which seemed the most unfortunate	0:56
	have turned out to be the most rewarding and enriching.	0:58
	The time I was fired from my first job,	1:03
	I thought the world had come to an end.	1:06
	I'd been happy in it.	1:09
	I thought I had been fruitful	1:11
	and fulfilling in performing it,	1:13
	but apparently that had not been the case.	1:15
	But as I look back on it,	1:18
	it seems I can see it as an opportunity	1:20
	which I would never have made for myself.	1:23
	Being the kind of person I am,	1:26
	I let myself get into a comfortable rut,	1:28
	and then I let myself luxuriate in it.	1:30
	And I might have spent the rest of my career in that job,	1:34
	but God didn't want me to stay there.	1:37
	He wanted me somewhere else.	1:41
	He knew I wouldn't make a change on my own,	1:43
	and the only way he could get me out of it	1:47
	was to get me kicked out,	1:48
	and so he worked it out.	1:50
	And every time I have found myself kicked out of one place,	1:52
	it has been defined a place	1:57
	of greater contribution for such gifts as I have.	1:58
	God never closes one door but that he opens another.	2:02
	And he does it sometimes in such strange ways.	2:08
	And in my own case I find myself	2:11
	often echoing Martin Luther.	2:13
	God has led me like an old bind horse.	2:16
	He does this, too, in His attitudes and actions	2:22
	of our relations with other people	2:25
	as well as with our own inner nature.	2:27
	I said earlier, that God demands certain obedience from us	2:29
	because he is what he is.	2:35
	He insists that if we are to be His faithful children,	2:39
	we must be what he wants us to be.	2:42
	There are certain things which he will not tolerate.	2:46
	He has set certain rules for us	2:49
	in His plan for our universe,	2:51
	and we obey those laws or we break ourselves upon them.	2:53
	Not always right away.	2:58
	Not necessarily payment on demand every Saturday night.	3:00
	But sooner or later, the I.O.U.s fall due.	3:04
	I read once of an experience	3:11
	told by a man named Author Gordon	3:13
	writing in a letter to his godson.	3:15
	I remember very well the occasion he wrote in the letter,	3:18
	when I first heard the phrase	3:21
	keep your eye on the Law of the Echo.	3:23
	Coming home from boarding school,	3:29
	some of the youngsters were in a dining car on a train,	3:31
	you see how long ago this was.	3:33
	Somehow the talk got around	3:36
	to the subject of cheating on exams.	3:37
	And one boy readily admitted that he cheated all the time.	3:40
	He said that he found it both easy and profitable.	3:45
	Suddenly, a mild looking man	3:49
	sitting all alone at a table across the aisle	3:51
	leaned forward and spoke up.	3:54
	"Yes," he said to the boy who boasted of his cheating,	3:56
	"all the same if I were you,	4:01
	I'd keep my eye on the echo.	4:04
	The Law of the Echo."	4:09
	"Is there really such a thing?"	4:10
	asked the godfather of his grandson.	4:11
	His godson.	4:14
	Is the universe actually arranged	4:15
	so that whatever you send out,	4:18
	honesty or dishonesty, kindness or cruelty,	4:20
	ultimately comes back to you?	4:24
	It's hard to be sure.	4:27
	And yet, since the beginning of recorded history,	4:29
	mankind has had the conviction,	4:32
	based partly on intuition, partly on observation,	4:34
	that in the long run, we do, indeed, reap what we sow.	4:38
	And then number four.	4:46
	When the night is darkest, you can see the stars.	4:49
	The house I live in in San Francisco,	4:55
	stands at the foot of two small hills called Twin Peaks.	4:58
	Some of you may have seen them.	5:01
	They're not the highest point in the city,	5:04
	but they do rise from the lower ground to a certain height.	5:05
	Often, as I drive up to San Francisco	5:09
	from some place on the peninsula	5:12
	from the south where I have been,	5:15
	as I look out over that magnificent harbor	5:17
	and see it as it lies there,	5:21
	ringed with all the lights on every side.	5:23
	I find myself echoing words worth	5:28
	Earth hath not anything to show more fair than this.	5:31
	I never tire of seeing it.	5:37
	But there are times when I want something else.	5:40
	The street in front of my house is heavily traveled,	5:44
	and the street lights are bright.	5:46
	So that when I tire of the noise and lights,	5:49
	I get in my car and drive up the winding way	5:51
	to the top of Twin Peaks.	5:54
	The lights of the city are still on.	5:57
	They are bright below.	5:59
	As I turn my eyes up and away from them,	6:02
	I see the stars which I cannot see from my house.	6:04
	To me, that is a parable of our lives.	6:09
	We live in a world of light and sound,	6:13
	of noise and distraction.	6:16
	Events crowd upon us.	6:18
	Crises come in our lives.	6:20
	The darkness closes down	6:23
	until we think the stars have all gone out.	6:25
	We lose someone we love,	6:28
	and the sun no longer shines.	6:29
	But it is just at those times	6:31
	that the light we call God can reveal itself to us.	6:34
	My friend Grace Noll Crowell put it better than I can.	6:40
	"If but one message I may leave behind,	6:44
	one single word of comfort for my kind, it would be this,	6:48
	oh brother, sister, friend,	6:52
	whatever life may bring, what God may send,	6:56
	no matter what the clouds live soon or late,	7:01
	take heart and wait.	7:04
	Despair may tangle darkly at your feet.	7:08
	Your faith be dim and hope once cool and sweet be lost.	7:12
	But suddenly, above a hill a heavenly lamp	7:17
	set on a heavenly sill will shine for you	7:21
	and point the way to go.	7:24
	How well I know.	7:27
	For I have waded through the dark,	7:29
	and I have seen the stars shine	7:31
	in the darkest sky repeatedly.	7:33
	It has not failed me yet.	7:36
	And I am sure God never will forget to light His lamp.	7:39
	If we but wait for it.	7:44
	It will be lit."	7:47
	And so we come to the place	7:52
	to which we have been moving all along.	7:53
	The faith of this historian least comes down to this.	7:57
	We can rely in the phrase of David Livingstone	8:01
	on the perfect word of a perfect gentleman.	8:04
	When our Lord Jesus Christ said	8:08
	I and the Father are one.	8:09
	He meant what he said.	8:12
	If God is dependable, so is Jesus.	8:14
	When he came down to earth, he came from his Father.	8:19
	He was commissioned to bring us to a realization that	8:24
	His way of life was the only one that would work.	8:28
	He went with his dearest friends	8:31
	to the Mount of Transfiguration	8:33
	where the evangelist tells us	8:34
	He appeared to them in a guise white and glistening	8:36
	such as never brought by any bleaching agent on Earth.	8:39
	He came down from that experience to heal a sick child.	8:43
	As though to show his disciples	8:48
	that religious experience is of no use	8:49
	unless it is put to work for our fellow needy human beings.	8:53
	He went on with His work until that night,	8:59
	when in the Garden of Gethsemane	9:02
	he perspired great drops of blood.	9:03
	God said to him, "Will you still go on?"	9:06
	And he said, "I will."	9:10
	And he kept on 'till that trial	9:12
	before Pilate when he was condemned to death.	9:14
	And God said, "Will you still go on now?"	9:17
	And he said he would.	9:21
	And so he went out to that place on Calvary Hill and died.	9:23
	The safest soul that ever was, really.	9:27
	He knew, as you and I know,	9:31
	because we have learned it from him that	9:32
	we know that right is right.	9:37
	That it is not good to lie.	9:39
	That love is better than spite.	9:42
	And a neighbor than a spy.	9:45
	We know that passion needs the leash of a sober mind.	9:48
	We know that generous deeds some sure reward shall find.	9:52
	That the ruler must obey.	9:57
	That the giver shall increase.	10:00
	That duty lights the way for the beautiful feat of peace.	10:04
	And in the darkest night of the year	10:09
	when the stars have all gone out,	10:10
	that courage is better than fear,	10:12
	that faith is truer than doubt.	10:15
	And fierce though the fiends may fight,	10:18
	and long though the angels hide.	10:20
	We know that truth and right	10:23
	have the universe on their side.	10:26
	And that somewhere beyond the stars	10:30
	is a love that is better than hate.	10:32
	When the night lets down her bars,	10:36
	I shall see him,	10:39
	and I will wait.	10:42
	Let us pray.	10:47
	Grant us, oh God,	10:50
	such a vision of thy being and thy beauty.	10:52
	That in the light of it we may do thy work,	10:56
	without haste and without rest.	10:59
	Amen.	11:03
	(pages flipping)	11:05
	(organ plays)	11:11
	♪ Oh love that will not let me go ♪	11:42
	♪ I rest my weary soul in thee ♪	11:49
	♪ I give thee back the life I owe ♪	11:55
	♪ That in thine ocean depths its flow ♪	12:02
	♪ May richer, fuller be ♪	12:07
	♪ Oh light that followest all my way ♪	12:17
	♪ I yield my flickering torch to thee ♪	12:23
	♪ My heart restores its borrowed ray ♪	12:30
	♪ That in thy sunshine's blaze its day ♪	12:37
	♪ May brighter, fairer be ♪	12:43
	♪ Oh joy that seekest me through pain ♪	12:53
	♪ I cannot close my heart to thee ♪	12:59
	♪ I trace the rainbow through the rain ♪	13:06
	♪ And feel the promise is not vain ♪	13:13
	♪ That morn shall tearless be ♪	13:19
	♪ Oh cross that liftest up my head ♪	13:29
	♪ I dare not ask to fly from thee ♪	13:36
	♪ I lay in dust life's glory dead ♪	13:43
	♪ And from the ground there blossoms red ♪	13:50
	♪ Life that shall endless be ♪	13:56
	♪ Amen ♪	14:06
Speaker 2	Let us affirm what we believe.	14:15
Congregation	We believe in God,	14:18
	who has created and is creating.	14:20
	Who has come in the truly human Jesus	14:23
	to reconcile and make new,	14:26
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	14:28
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	14:32
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	14:36
	to love and serve others,	14:39
	to seek justice and resist evil,	14:41
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	14:44
	our judge and our hope.	14:47
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	14:50
	God is with us.	14:53
	We are not alone.	14:55
	Thanks be to God.	14:57
Speaker 2	The Lord be with you.	14:59
Congregation	Also with you.	15:00
Speaker 2	Let us pray.	15:02
	Oh God, eternal spirit,	15:16
	grant us grace to worship you	15:19
	in spirit and in truth.	15:21
	You have so made us that the glory of our lives	15:24
	is not in things below us that we master,	15:27
	but in fact, in the divine above us that masters us.	15:31
	Grant us an hour of such spiritual wealth,	15:36
	captured by a vision of the Christ-like life.	15:40
	Lifted out of our very littleness by dedication to values	15:43
	and to your everlasting purposes.	15:48
	Cleanse us from our evil, our mean ambitions,	15:52
	that we may be ready for this transforming experience.	15:56
	Grant us honesty in confronting and confessing our sins,	16:01
	sincerity in making restitution	16:05
	where we have wronged others,	16:08
	humility in seeking your forgiveness,	16:10
	and resolution by your grace to amend our lives.	16:13
	You, oh God, must see us	16:18
	a generation victorious over the hazards of war,	16:20
	and yet, frustrated and confused by the problems of peace.	16:25
	From a dismaying world,	16:30
	we have come into this, your sanctuary.	16:32
	Here we pray for this hour of spiritual insight,	16:36
	that we may see afresh the light,	16:40
	which even this darkness has not been able to put out.	16:43
	Marshal within us in these momentous times	16:48
	such resources of the spirit,	16:51
	that we may be able to withstand in the evil day.	16:54
	Minister to our personal, intimate needs,	16:59
	oh Spirit of the living God, walk through this place now	17:03
	and be the help and comfort,	17:08
	the inspiration and sustenance of our souls.	17:10
	Hear now the unspoken prayers	17:15
	that rise in silence from the deeps of our hearts,	17:18
	and to those needs that can find no voice	17:22
	say for your ear alone,	17:24
	minister according to the riches of your grace.	17:27
	In Christ Jesus, our Lord, the One who came, lived,	17:31
	and who lived among us teaching us to pray saying,	17:36
Congregation	Our Father, who art in heaven,	17:41
	hallowed be thy name.	17:44
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.	17:46
	On earth as it is in heaven.	17:49
	Give us this day, our daily bread,	17:51
	and forgive us our trespasses	17:54
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	17:56
	Ann lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	18:00
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	18:04
	and the glory, forever.	18:07
	Amen.	18:09
	(organ plays)	18:19
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	19:05
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	19:09
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	19:14
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	19:18
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	19:23
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	19:28
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	19:32
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	19:37
	(organ plays)	19:42
	♪ Let the moderation ♪	19:47
	♪ Be known unto all men ♪	19:50
	♪ Let the moderation ♪	19:53
	♪ Be known unto all men ♪	19:55
	♪ The Lord is at hand ♪	19:59
	♪ The Lord is at hand ♪	20:02
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	20:05
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	20:10
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	20:14
	♪ And again, again ♪	20:19
	♪ Again I say, rejoice ♪	20:23
	♪ And again, again I say, rejoice ♪	20:28
	♪ Again I say, rejoice ♪	20:35
	♪ Be careful for nothing ♪	20:46
	♪ But in everything ♪	20:49
	♪ By prayer and supplication with thankgsgiving ♪	20:52
	♪ Let your requests be made known unto to God ♪	20:58
	♪ Be careful for nothing ♪	21:05
	♪ But in everything ♪	21:09
	♪ By prayer and supplication with thankgsgiving ♪	21:12
	♪ Let your requests be made known unto to God ♪	21:18
	♪ And the peace of God ♪	21:25
	♪ Which passeth all understanding ♪	21:28
	♪ Shall keep your hearts and minds ♪	21:34
	♪ Through Jesus Christ, the Lord ♪	21:40
	♪ And the peace of God ♪	21:47
	♪ Which passeth all understanding ♪	21:50
	♪ Shall keep your hearts and minds ♪	21:57
	♪ Through Jesus Christ, the Lord ♪	22:03
	♪ Through Jesus Christ, the Lord ♪	22:10
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	22:18
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	22:23
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	22:28
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	22:32
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	22:37
	♪ And again, I say, rejoice ♪	22:43
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord, always ♪	22:47
	♪ And again, again, ♪	22:52
	♪ Again, I say, rejoice ♪	22:56
	♪ And again, again, I say rejoice ♪	23:01
	♪ Again, I say, rejoice ♪	23:08
	(organ plays)	23:18
	(congregation sings)	24:11
	♪ Alleluia ♪	25:10
	♪ Alleluia ♪	25:13
	♪ Alleluia ♪	25:17
	♪ Alleluia ♪	25:21
Speaker 2	Oh Lord, our God,	25:40
	send down upon us your Holy Spirit,	25:41
	to cleanse our hearts, to hallow our gifts,	25:44
	and to perfect the offering of ourselves to you	25:48
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	25:51
	Amen.	25:54
	(organ plays)	25:56
	♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪	26:33
	♪ On thy people pour thy power ♪	26:39
	♪ Crown thine ancient church's story ♪	26:45
	♪ Bring her bud to glorious flower ♪	26:51
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	26:56
	♪ For the facing of this hour ♪	27:02
	♪ For the facing of this hour ♪	27:08
	♪ Lo the hosts of evil 'round us ♪	27:16
	♪ Scorn thy Christ, assail his ways ♪	27:22
	♪ From the fears that long have bound us ♪	27:28
	♪ Free our hearts to faith and praise ♪	27:33
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	27:39
	♪ For the living of these days ♪	27:45
	♪ For the living of these days ♪	27:51
	♪ Cure thy children's warring madness ♪	27:59
	♪Bend our pride to thy control ♪	28:05
	♪ Shame our wanton selfish gladness ♪	28:11
	♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪	28:16
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	28:22
	♪ Lest we miss thy kingdom's goal ♪	28:28
	♪ Lest we miss thy kingdom's goal ♪	28:34
	♪ Set our feet on lofty places ♪	28:42
	♪ Gird our lives that they may be ♪	28:48
	♪ Armored with all Christ-like graces ♪	28:54
	♪ In the fight to set men free ♪	29:00
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	29:06
	♪ That we fail not man nor thee ♪	29:12
	♪ That we fail not man nor thee ♪	29:18
	♪ Save us from weak resignation ♪	29:28
	♪ To the evils we deplore ♪	29:34
	♪ Let the search for thy salvation ♪	29:40
	♪ Be our glory evermore ♪	29:46
	♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪	29:52
	♪ Serving thee whom we adore ♪	29:58
	♪ Serving thee whom we adore ♪	30:04
	♪ Amen ♪	30:13
	The Lord bless you and keep you,	30:24
	the Lord's face shine upon you,	30:27
	and the Lord's countenance be lifted up upon you	30:31
	and give you peace.	30:34
	♪ Amen ♪	30:43
	♪ Amen ♪	30:51
	♪ Amen ♪	30:57
	♪ Amen ♪	31:07
	(organ plays)	31:23

	(uplifting organ music)	0:03
	(calm organ music)	2:21
	(mellow organ music)	6:48
	(uplifting choir singing)	10:23
-	Grace and peace be onto you from God, our creator	14:46
	and Jesus Christ, our redeemer in the faith.	14:50
	All we, like sheep have gone astray,	14:55
	we have everyone to turn to our own way.	14:58
	Let us confess our sins together.	15:02
	Oh Lord, our God hear and receive	15:18
	our words of confession.	15:21
	We desire enlightenment but exercise greed.	15:23
	We strive for improvement but experience pride.	15:27
	We hope for immortality but squander life.	15:31
	We talk about equality but harbor unjust attitudes.	15:35
	We believe in righteousness	15:40
	but twist it to self-righteousness.	15:42
	We struggle for spirituality but give in easily.	15:45
	We listen to the word but forget it's significance.	15:50
	We entertain sacrifice but balk	15:53
	at the actual practice of it.	15:56
	We say, preach, believe and profess one way of life,	15:59
	but we live, act and behave a different way	16:04
	of life altogether.	16:07
	Oh Lord, we pray that you will help us keep our deeps	16:10
	in line with our words.	16:13
	Hear our pray through Christ, our Lord, amen.	16:16
	For as the heavens are high above the earth,	16:50
	so great is Gods steadfast love toward those who fear him.	16:53
	As far as the east is from the west, so far does God	16:58
	remove our transgressions from us.	17:02
	Therefore, let us give thanks, for God is good	17:05
	and Gods love is everlasting.	17:08
	Thanks be to God who's love creates us.	17:11
	Thanks be to God who's mercy redeems us.	17:15
	Thanks be to God who's grace leads us into the future.	17:19
	We welcome you this alumni reunion Sunday	17:27
	here to worship with us in Duke University Chapel.	17:30
	It is the second Sunday after Pentecost in the season	17:34
	of the church year and we hope indeed that your spirit's	17:37
	will be refreshed and renewed as we celebrate	17:41
	God's love together in this place.	17:45
	We welcome all of you who are returning to Duke,	17:49
	whether it's been a long time since you've been away,	17:52
	or whether you have graduated fairly recently.	17:55
	We welcome especially the reunion classes of 1932,	17:59
	37, 42, 47,	18:05
	52, 57, 62,	18:08
	67 and 72, and as always	18:13
	the half century club, those persons who graduated	18:17
	50 years ago.	18:21
	We are quite pleased that returning alumni	18:23
	who sang in the Duke University Chapel Choir	18:26
	have also chosen to sing with the choir again this morning.	18:29
	We look forward to the special gift	18:33
	of music they will share.	18:36
	Our guest preacher this morning,	18:40
	the Reverent Doctor John David Lee,	18:43
	is himself a 50 year graduate of Duke University.	18:46
	He was a native of Jacksonville, North Carolina,	18:51
	reared in Graham, North Carolina.	18:55
	Graduated from Duke with a AB degree in 1932,	18:58
	he also obtained his bachelor of divinity here in 1934.	19:02
	Going on to Boston University for the PHD in 1937.	19:08
	He has been an ordained United Methodist Minister,	19:15
	has been serving in the North Georgia conference	19:19
	and also the North Carolina conference with membership.	19:22
	He has served as a professor of church history,	19:27
	both at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University	19:30
	and the Virginia Theological Seminary	19:35
	in Alexandria, Virginia.	19:38
	He has been a Chaplin in his ministry,	19:41
	serving in the United States Navy,	19:43
	serving aboard an aircraft a carrier in the South Pacific	19:46
	during the war years of World War II.	19:50
	The Reverent Doctor Lee was ordained an episcopal priest	19:54
	in Grace Cathedral in 1949.	19:58
	He is now the Canon Pastor at Grace Cathedral.	20:02
	He has served many parishes throughout California,	20:06
	Nebraska and Connecticut.	20:09
	We are delighted and pleased to welcome him	20:12
	back to Duke on this special day	20:15
	and we look forward to the message that he brings to us.	20:17
	The Reverent Doctor Dennis Campbell is serving	20:22
	as lector today.	20:25
	Doctor Campbell is the director or continuing education	20:26
	at the divinity school and himself a graduate	20:30
	in the class of 1967.	20:33
	You are invited to attend an organ recital	20:38
	at four o'clock this afternoon here in the chapel.	20:41
	Mister Shane Dotey will be our organist,	20:45
	this is part of the summer organ recital series	20:49
	and we hope that many of you will be able to join us	20:52
	for this special event.	20:55
	We have sad news to bring and share with you	21:00
	on this alumni Sunday.	21:03
	Doctor Frank Laycock died very suddenly yesterday afternoon	21:06
	while playing tennis here at Duke.	21:12
	He has been an active and faithful worshiper	21:16
	in Duke Chapel for many years.	21:19
	He has enjoyed life to it's fullest and we extend	21:22
	our heartfelt sympathy to Caroline, his wife,	21:27
	and to other members of his family,	21:30
	and to all of us who will mourn his loss.	21:32
	The memorial service for Doctor Laycock is scheduled	21:36
	for this Tuesday at one o'clock in the afternoon	21:39
	here in the chapel.	21:44
-	Let us pray.	21:59
	Oh Lord, our God, you have given your word to be a lamp	22:04
	unto our feet and a light unto our path.	22:09
	Grant us grace to receive your truth and faith and love.	22:14
	That by it we may be prepared	22:19
	unto every good word and work,	22:21
	to the glory of your name	22:24
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	22:26
	Hear now this lesson from the epistle for this day	22:32
	taken from Paul's letter to the church at Rome	22:36
	in the 15th chapter, verses four through 13.	22:39
	For whatever was written in former days was written	22:46
	for our instruction, that by steadfastness	22:49
	and by the encouragement of the scriptures	22:53
	we might have hope.	22:56
	May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you	22:58
	to live in such harmony with one another,	23:02
	in accord with Christ, Jesus, that together you may	23:05
	with one voice glorify the God and father	23:09
	of our Lord Jesus Christ.	23:12
	Welcome one another therefore as Christ has welcomed you,	23:15
	for the glory of God, for I tell you	23:20
	that Christ became a servant to the circumcised	23:24
	to show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promises	23:29
	given to the patriarchs and in order that the gentiles	23:33
	might glorify God for his mercy.	23:37
	As it is written, therefore I will praise the	23:41
	among the gentiles and sing to thy name.	23:45
	And again, it is said, rejoice oh gentiles	23:50
	with his people and again, praise the Lord all gentiles	23:53
	and let all the peoples praise him.	23:59
	And further, Isiah says, the root of Jesse shall come,	24:03
	he who rises to rule the gentiles,	24:09
	in him shall the gentiles hope.	24:12
	May the God of hope fill you with al joy and peace	24:16
	in believing so that by the power of the holy spirit,	24:21
	you may abound in hope.	24:26
	Thus, end of the lesson from the epistle for this day.	24:30
	(calm organ music)	24:44
	(female opera singing)	25:32
	(choir and opera singing)	28:21
	Let us stand now for the reading from The Holy Gospel.	29:35
	The gospel lesson for this second Sunday	29:47
	after Pentecost is taken from	29:50
	Saint Luke in the fourth chapter verses 16 to 30.	29:54
	And he came to Nazareth here he been brought up,	30:02
	and he went to the synagogue as his custom was	30:07
	on the Sabbath Day, and he stood up to read.	30:10
	And there was given to him the book of the prophet Isiah.	30:16
	He opened the book and found the place where it was written.	30:20
	The spirit of the Lord is upon me,	30:25
	because he has anointed me	30:28
	to preach good news to the poor.	30:30
	He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives	30:33
	and recovering of sight to the blind,	30:36
	to setup liberty, those who are oppressed.	30:40
	To proclaim the acceptable gear of the Lord,	30:44
	and he closed the book and gave it back	30:48
	to the attendant and sat down.	30:51
	And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him,	30:54
	and he began to say to them, today, this scripture	30:59
	has been fulfilled in your hearing.	31:02
	And all spoke well of him and wondered	31:05
	at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth,	31:08
	and they said, is this not Joseph's son?	31:12
	And he said to them, doubtless,	31:20
	you will quote to me this proverb,	31:22
	physician, heal yourself.	31:25
	What we have heard you did at Capernaum,	31:29
	do hear also in your own country.	31:33
	And he said, truly I say to you no prophet	31:38
	is acceptable in his own country.	31:41
	But in truth I tell you there were many widows	31:44
	in Israel the days of Elisha,	31:48
	when the heaven was shut up three years and six months.	31:50
	When there came a great famine over all the land,	31:54
	and Elisha was sent to none of them,	31:58
	but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon	32:01
	to a woman who was a widow.	32:05
	And there were many lepers in Israel in that time	32:08
	of the prophet Elisha,	32:11
	and none of them was cleanses, but only Naamen the Syrian.	32:14
	When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled	32:20
	with wrath and they rose up and put him out of the city	32:24
	and led him to the brow of the hill	32:31
	on which their city was build,	32:33
	that they might throw him down headlong.	32:36
	But passing through the midst of them he went away.	32:40
	Thus endeth the lesson from the Holy Gospel for this day.	32:46
	May God's rich blessings be unto us,	32:51
	that we may rightly hear and understand him holy word, amen.	32:54
	(orchestral choir singing)	33:02
-	In the name of the father, the son	33:53
	and the holy ghost, amen.	33:55
-	Don't let anybody ever tell you	34:09
	that dreams do not come true.	34:12
	When I was a student at Duke sitting on Sundays	34:16
	where you are now sitting, listening to the preacher	34:20
	of the morning, I used to dream of the day	34:23
	when I would be standing here in the pulpit in his place.	34:27
	It's taken a long time, 50 years, in fact,	34:33
	but my dream has finally come true.	34:38
	You can imagine, at least those of you	34:46
	who are of my generation,	34:49
	there is an almost irresistible temptation to reminisce,	34:52
	but I will spare you that at some cost to myself.	34:58
	Some years before his death,	35:05
	when Winston Churchill returned to his prep school	35:08
	Eaton for a 50th reunion of his class,	35:12
	he was asked to speak.	35:17
	And he chose as his subject, 50 years on.	35:19
	It's very exciting for me to be here on this occasion.	35:25
	It's exciting because I realize anew,	35:33
	the purpose of this University,	35:39
	and it's exciting to be a part of it.	35:43
	To know that here, on this campus	35:46
	there is a great hospital dedicated	35:51
	to the healing of human hurt,	35:54
	and that at the center of the campus	35:58
	there is this magnificent temple to the worship of God,	36:02
	reminding us always that this is our major duty,	36:07
	as well as privilege.	36:13
	Reminding us that Duke University thinks the worship	36:16
	of God is more important of basketball or football teams,	36:20
	and basketball and football coaches.	36:25
	I thought I might use that phrase of Churchill's	36:29
	and then I decided that I would prefer to use another.	36:35
	I wasn't sure what he meant and so I decided I would use	36:39
	the faith of an historian,	36:43
	which is what I have always considered myself to be.	36:44
	At least that is the feeling	36:48
	which most of my teaching ministry has been spent.	36:50
	During the course of World War II a journalist	36:55
	asked Charles A. Beard, distinguished historian	36:58
	at Columbia University if he would summarize,	37:01
	or if he could summarize the lessons of history	37:05
	in a few words, which shows you the effrontery	37:07
	of some journalists and the patience of some historians.	37:11
	Yes, said Beard, I can do it in four sentences,	37:16
	and which he proceeded to give his four statements,	37:21
	which seemed to him to sum up the meaning	37:25
	of men's life here on earth.	37:28
	I thought about those four statements when I started	37:33
	to prepare this sermon and I looked for the clipping	37:36
	that I had made which listed them.	37:39
	I must have put it away too carefully because I was not able	37:42
	to find it and I can only recall the first two.	37:45
	So I will use them and add to it my own,	37:49
	and thus come up with four	37:52
	even though they may not necessarily be the same.	37:54
	Let me begin first with Euripides,	37:58
	whom the gods would destroy,	38:03
	they first make mad with power.	38:06
	And that's not precisely the was Euripides wrote it	38:10
	but it's the way Beard changed it adding the last two words.	38:13
	And let me add a prescript here before I go any further.	38:18
	The Greek playwright believed in many gods and goddesses	38:22
	and so he sued the concept in the plural.	38:25
	You and I ask Christians would wanna see it another way.	38:29
	Whom God would destroy, he first makes mad with power,	38:33
	but we do not believe in a God who drives men to madness.	38:39
	We believe in a God who created man in his image	38:44
	and asks from us, love and loyalty and obedience.	38:48
	Our God is the God we worship a creator, father,	38:55
	redeemer, son and sustainer, spirit.	38:59
	He cares for us so much that he gave the patriarchs	39:04
	to guide his children.	39:08
	The judges to mediate between them and him,	39:10
	the prophets to turn them from their unfaithful ways.	39:14
	And finally when all else had failed,	39:18
	he came in the form of Jesus Christ to redeem his people.	39:21
	But the price God paid for wanting us to love	39:28
	and serve him was to give us the freedom	39:31
	to say yes or no to him.	39:34
	With the freedom of choice, God gave us the freedom	39:38
	to chose other ways than his.	39:40
	And over and over again men have taken the bit	39:44
	in their teeth and gone as the bible puts it,	39:47
	whoring after other Gods.	39:50
	Some of you may have watched the recent TV special called,	39:55
	Inside the Third Reich, telling the story of Albert Spear,	39:59
	the architect of that idea.	40:04
	I watched it, and as I watched it I found myself transported	40:09
	back in time to the year 1938	40:13
	and I made my first trip to Europe.	40:17
	And I was back standing in a crowd at the time	40:20
	when Germany had just taken Austria over	40:24
	listening to Adolf Hitler tell of the glorious future	40:27
	of the Third Reich.	40:31
	The man was a maniac but even I with my limited knowledge	40:34
	of the German language could not help but be moved	40:37
	by the eloquence of this house painter	40:40
	who had gathered so much power to himself	40:43
	that he could not be content without more and more.	40:45
	And as we know, he died at last in a bunker in Berlin,	40:49
	because as Victor Hugo would have said of him,	40:53
	as he said of Napoleon, God grew tired of him.	40:56
	And again and again in our lifetimes we have seen people	41:01
	on small and larger stages become unbalanced	41:05
	with this greed for power.	41:08
	Even now, we see it every day and how foolish it all is.	41:11
	A nation that spends billions of dollars	41:18
	on sophisticated military hardware and computerized weapons,	41:20
	only to be rendered impotent by a mob of poor,	41:26
	ragged, screaming, Islamic students,	41:29
	are to appreciate the irony of how powerless	41:33
	the powerful can be.	41:36
	Still, as a nation and as individuals we continue	41:40
	to reach out to grasp it.	41:43
	All power corrupts, we have been told,	41:46
	and absolute power corrupts absolutely.	41:48
	And still God allows those who insist on inquiring it	41:52
	to go on and, because of it.	41:55
	He does not make them mad, but he will not keep them from it	41:59
	if they insist on it.	42:04
	Number two, the mills of God grind slowly.	42:08
	They grind exceeding small.	42:13
	I knew this sentence long before I knew Longfellow	42:17
	who wrote it.	42:19
	And then I came across a parody of it which goes,	42:20
	and considering what they have to grind,	42:24
	it's a wonder they grind at all.	42:26
	And it's quite true that sometimes we wonder why	42:29
	God does not get discouraged at us humans,	42:32
	that we make such little progress toward	42:36
	what he would have us be.	42:39
	The other day I was reading an interview	42:42
	with the author James Clavell who wrote Shogun	42:43
	and Nobel House and a number of other things.	42:46
	The interviewer asked him if our confrontation	42:49
	with Soviet Russia was simply a matter of politics,	42:52
	or if it was a matter of life and death.	42:55
	It's a matter of life and death, he said.	42:59
	Look at history, he continued.	43:02
	And that's a big problem in America,	43:05
	because nobody looks at history anymore,	43:07
	nobody knows anything about the past.	43:10
	There was a study done recently, he went on,	43:13
	by one of the major magazines on foreign policy.	43:15
	They asked students some very	43:19
	simple foreign policy questions	43:20
	and the results were astounding.	43:22
	The students knew nothing.	43:27
	Clavell said that when his youngest child was 12	43:29
	she was asked in public school where Denmark was	43:31
	and she thought it was a province of Canada.	43:35
	And it was George Santayana, was it not,	43:38
	who made the well known statement that	43:41
	those people who will not learn the lessons of history	43:43
	are destined to repeat them.	43:46
	We may be a people ignorant on foreign policy	43:51
	but we are not a patient people.	43:54
	We want things done yesterday.	43:57
	There's a story told of Wedell Phillips who was a strong	44:00
	and fiery preacher in favor of the abolition of slavery	44:03
	in New England, before the civil war.	44:06
	He came home one night, bone weary	44:10
	from a speaking engagement	44:12
	at which he had been unmercifully heckled.	44:14
	As he flung himself into his chair, his wife asked,	44:17
	what's the matter Wendell?	44:20
	The matter my dear, Phillip said dejectedly,	44:23
	is that I'm in a hurry and God isn't.	44:25
	You see, God's got all time and all eternity	44:30
	and we haven't.	44:35
	We want to put an end over night to nuclear proliferation.	44:37
	We want an end to violence in our society.	44:42
	We want the say on the use of handguns prohibited,	44:45
	or at least controlled.	44:48
	We want an end to war and threats of war.	44:50
	We want and equitable society,	44:53
	but we can't have them over night.	44:56
	We've had war since the caveman learned	44:59
	that he can club anybody he disliked and be free	45:01
	from his enemy.	45:04
	Back in the 30s Angela Morgan	45:06
	wrote a poem entitled, God prays.	45:09
	It begins by telling of a sleepless night	45:12
	in which she prays that God	45:16
	would put an end to strife between nations.	45:17
	And the Lord God whispered and said to me,	45:22
	these things shall be, these things shall be.	45:24
	Nor help shall come from the scarlet skies	45:29
	till the people rise.	45:31
	Till the people rise, my arm is weak.	45:34
	I cannot speak till the people speak.	45:38
	When men are dumb, my voice is dumb.	45:41
	I cannot come till my people come.	45:45
	If the people rise, if the people rise I will answer them	45:49
	from the swarming skies,	45:54
	where Hercules and hosts of might	45:56
	shall spring to splendor overnight.	45:58
	Blazing systems of sun and star are not so great	46:01
	as my people are,	46:05
	nor chanting angels are so sweet to hear	46:08
	as the voice of nations freed from fear.	46:10
	They are my mouth, my breath, my soul.	46:14
	I wait their summons to make me whole.	46:19
	And so God waits, and prays that we will do out part	46:23
	so he can do his.	46:28

Item Info

Title:

John David Lee - "The Faith of an Historian" Alumni Sunday (June 13, 1982)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 00:03. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 46:31.
Speaking from a historian’s perspective, the preacher claims four things he sees in God throughout history: 1) God gives free will to humanity, yet this free will is easily destroyed by power; 2) God has eternal time and patience to work on humanity; 3) God’s wisdom is mysterious yet effective; 4) God’s strength is best shown in time of darkness and weakness. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4g15tr5v

Date:

June 13, 1982

Speaker:

Lee, John David

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0084
ref7691_mqo
uachapelsermaud
duke:320886
dcrau001076
ark:/87924/r4g15tr5v
70802326-4a5c-45f6-a100-e7ff34321524

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

John David Lee - "The Faith of an Historian" Alumni Sunday (June 13, 1982)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives