C. Eric Lincoln - "Have You Been to Damascus?" (March 20, 1983)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(lively orchestral music) | 0:03 | |
(choral music) | 9:14 | |
(organ music) | 10:20 | |
♪ All praise to God, who reigns above ♪ | 11:00 | |
♪ The God of all creation ♪ | 11:05 | |
♪ The God of wonders, power, and love ♪ | 11:10 | |
♪ The God of our salvation ♪ | 11:16 | |
♪ With healing balm my soul He fills ♪ | 11:22 | |
♪ The God who every sorrow stills ♪ | 11:28 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 11:34 | |
♪ What God's almighty power hath made ♪ | 11:43 | |
♪ His gracious mercy keepeth ♪ | 11:49 | |
♪ By morning dawn or evening shade ♪ | 11:55 | |
♪ His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth ♪ | 12:01 | |
♪ Within the kingdom of His might ♪ | 12:07 | |
♪ Lo, all is just and all is right ♪ | 12:13 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 12:19 | |
♪ The Lord is never far away ♪ | 12:28 | |
♪ But through all grief distressing ♪ | 12:34 | |
♪ An ever present help and stay ♪ | 12:40 | |
♪ Our peace and joy and blessing ♪ | 12:47 | |
♪ As with a mother's tender hand ♪ | 12:53 | |
♪ God gently leads the chosen band ♪ | 12:59 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 13:05 | |
♪ Thus, all my toilsome way along ♪ | 13:15 | |
♪ I sing aloud Thy praises ♪ | 13:21 | |
♪ That earth may hear the grateful song ♪ | 13:27 | |
♪ My voice unwearied raises ♪ | 13:33 | |
♪ Be joyful in the Lord, my heart ♪ | 13:40 | |
♪ Both soul and body bear your part ♪ | 13:46 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 13:53 | |
♪ Let all who name Christ's holy name ♪ | 14:50 | |
♪ Give God all praise and glory ♪ | 14:56 | |
♪ Let all who own His power proclaim ♪ | 15:02 | |
♪ Aloud the wondrous story ♪ | 15:08 | |
♪ Cast each false idol from its throne ♪ | 15:14 | |
♪ For Christ is Lord, and Christ alone ♪ | 15:21 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 15:27 | |
- | It is the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit | 15:41 |
that we are the children of God. | 15:45 | |
And if children, then heirs. | 15:48 | |
Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ | 15:50 | |
provided we suffer with Jesus in order | 15:54 | |
that we may also be glorified with Christ. | 15:58 | |
When we are honest with ourselves, | 16:03 | |
we admit that there are times when our bones are dry | 16:05 | |
and our thread of life is snapped. | 16:10 | |
Let us confess our separation from one another, | 16:13 | |
from our neighbor, and from the very source of life. | 16:17 | |
Let us pray. | 16:21 | |
Gracious God, whose mercy is higher than the heavens, | 16:34 | |
wider than our wanderings, | 16:39 | |
and deeper than all sin, | 16:41 | |
receive back unto Yourself, | 16:43 | |
Your bewildered and broken people. | 16:45 | |
Forgive our folly and excess, | 16:48 | |
our coldness to human sorrow, | 16:51 | |
our envy of those who prosper and are at ease, | 16:54 | |
our passions for the things of the moment | 16:58 | |
that perish in the grasping, | 17:00 | |
our indifference to those treasures of the spirit | 17:03 | |
which are life and peace, | 17:06 | |
our neglect of Your wise and gracious laws, | 17:08 | |
and so change our hearts and turn all our desires | 17:12 | |
to Your way and Your will | 17:16 | |
that we may love that which You approve | 17:19 | |
and do that which You command, | 17:22 | |
and with strength and resolution walk in uprightness | 17:25 | |
and charity to the serving of others | 17:29 | |
and the glory of Your Holy Name. | 17:32 | |
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. | 18:08 | |
A broken and contrite heart, oh God, | 18:13 | |
we know You will not despise. | 18:16 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. | 18:19 | |
Let us give thanks for God is good | 18:24 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 18:26 | |
Thanks be to God Whose love creates us. | 18:29 | |
Thanks be to God Whose mercy redeems us. | 18:33 | |
Thanks be to God Whose grace leads us into the future. | 18:37 | |
We welcome you this beautiful Sunday morning, | 18:44 | |
the fifth Sunday of Lent, | 18:47 | |
and pray for you on your spiritual journey | 18:50 | |
during this holy season, | 18:52 | |
of blessing this morning and all the days ahead | 18:54 | |
as we pilgrim together as disciples | 18:57 | |
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. | 19:01 | |
We are pleased this morning to welcome | 19:06 | |
the Northfield Mount Hermon Orchestra | 19:09 | |
under the direction of Robert A. Mark, conductor, | 19:12 | |
and the conductor of the Mount Hermon Singers, | 19:17 | |
Sheila Heffernon Sullivan. | 19:20 | |
This group of singers and orchestra is | 19:23 | |
from Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, | 19:25 | |
and we are delighted to welcome them | 19:27 | |
to our service of worship today | 19:29 | |
and look forward to the beautiful music | 19:31 | |
they will share with us. | 19:33 | |
As many of you know, the CROP Walk begins | 19:38 | |
at one o'clock today from Wallace Wade Stadium, | 19:40 | |
here at Duke University's campus. | 19:43 | |
We hope many of you will be participating | 19:46 | |
in that annual event which works to alleviate | 19:48 | |
causes of hunger and also gives aid, | 19:52 | |
not only through Church World Service, | 19:55 | |
but to local projects as well. | 19:58 | |
You are invited this afternoon | 20:02 | |
at five o'clock to attend an organ recital | 20:04 | |
here in the chapel. | 20:07 | |
The guest organist today is Margaret Mueller | 20:09 | |
of Salem College in Winston-Salem. | 20:12 | |
There is no charge, | 20:16 | |
and the public is cordially invited to attend. | 20:17 | |
Immediately following our service of worship this morning, | 20:22 | |
there will be a service of Holy Communion | 20:26 | |
here in the Memorial Chapel. | 20:29 | |
You are invited to stay and remain for that service | 20:31 | |
as we come together and receive the sacrament | 20:34 | |
of Holy Communion. | 20:38 | |
We are in need of a regular nursery attendant | 20:42 | |
now in the chapel for our Sunday morning worship service. | 20:46 | |
If you are interested and, in particular, | 20:51 | |
are a student through work study, | 20:53 | |
we would like to invite you to consider | 20:56 | |
this way of serving the chapel and this community. | 20:58 | |
A student is needed from 9:30 to 12:30 | 21:02 | |
on Sunday mornings, and if you are interested, | 21:05 | |
please call our chapel office. | 21:08 | |
I hope that you have read and noticed | 21:14 | |
the insert in your bulletin this morning, | 21:16 | |
Peacemaking in a Nuclear Age. | 21:19 | |
The University has completed its first full week | 21:22 | |
of seminars, dialogues, and presentations | 21:25 | |
by very famous persons who are on our campus | 21:30 | |
to dialogue with us about this very important issue. | 21:34 | |
We invite your participation through the rest | 21:39 | |
of the events beginning tomorrow | 21:41 | |
and going through Wednesday, March the 30th. | 21:43 | |
Duke Campus Ministry and the chapel are both sponsors | 21:48 | |
of this Peacemaking in a Nuclear Age, | 21:51 | |
and we invite your prayerful participation | 21:54 | |
in these days ahead. | 21:58 | |
Many of you have gotten word this week | 22:04 | |
of the illness of our minister to the University, | 22:07 | |
Dr. Robert T. Young. | 22:12 | |
And I want to bring a word of pastoral concern | 22:14 | |
about how he is to all of us this morning. | 22:18 | |
Some of you know that Bob was hospitalized | 22:22 | |
and admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit | 22:25 | |
of Duke Hospital earlier this week. | 22:28 | |
He wants you to know his condition. | 22:31 | |
He has undergone tests | 22:35 | |
and there is word that there is some blockage of arteries. | 22:37 | |
However, there is no surgery indicated at this time. | 22:42 | |
And we expect that Dr. Young will be hospitalized | 22:47 | |
for a few more days and then will begin undergoing | 22:50 | |
treatment for rehabilitation. | 22:55 | |
The important word that Bob and his family | 22:59 | |
want me to share with you this morning is | 23:01 | |
that they have felt genuinely overwhelmed | 23:05 | |
by your very gracious response of cards, | 23:07 | |
of calls, of visits, of flowers, | 23:12 | |
of your deep expression for them | 23:16 | |
and concern for Bob. | 23:18 | |
And most especially Bob has asked | 23:20 | |
that you know that he has felt the power | 23:23 | |
and presence of you through your prayers | 23:27 | |
which have continued to surround him. | 23:30 | |
We know that Bob is listening this morning | 23:34 | |
by radio to our service and we extend our love | 23:36 | |
and concern and prayers to him | 23:39 | |
and all of his family this morning. | 23:42 | |
We are grateful this morning to have as our guest preacher | 23:47 | |
a beloved person on Duke University's campus. | 23:52 | |
The Reverend Doctor C. Eric Lincoln | 23:57 | |
has preached many times for is here in the chapel | 24:00 | |
and we are grateful that he is here | 24:03 | |
on this Lenten Sunday morning to share | 24:06 | |
with us God's Word again. | 24:09 | |
Dr. Lincoln is a professor | 24:12 | |
in the department of Religion here. | 24:14 | |
He is well loved and respected by his colleagues | 24:16 | |
as well as students who continue to relate to him | 24:20 | |
as friend, as teacher, and as counselor. | 24:24 | |
You will note in the bulletin his many achievements | 24:28 | |
and accomplishments, his life of service, | 24:31 | |
and his genuine dedication as a teacher | 24:35 | |
and professor among us for many, many years. | 24:38 | |
We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Lincoln this morning. | 24:43 | |
We look forward to the word that God | 24:46 | |
has laid upon his heart to share with us. | 24:48 | |
The sermon title is, "Have You Been to Damascus?" | 24:52 | |
- | Let us pray. | 25:06 |
Almighty God in whom are hid all the treasures | 25:10 | |
of wisdom and knowledge, | 25:13 | |
open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things | 25:15 | |
out of Your Word, | 25:18 | |
and give us grace that we may clearly understand | 25:20 | |
and heartily choose the way of You love. | 25:23 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 25:26 | |
The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel, | 25:31 | |
chapter 33, verses 14 through 16. | 25:34 | |
Again, though I say to the wicked, | 25:40 | |
You shall surely die, | 25:42 | |
yet if he turns from his sin | 25:44 | |
and does what is lawful and right, | 25:46 | |
if the wicked restores the pledge, | 25:48 | |
gives back what he has taken by robbery, | 25:52 | |
and walks in the statutes of life, | 25:55 | |
committing no iniquity, | 25:58 | |
he shall surely live. | 26:01 | |
He shall not die. | 26:03 | |
None of the sins that he has committed | 26:05 | |
shall be remembered against him. | 26:07 | |
He has done what is lawful and right. | 26:10 | |
He shall surely live. | 26:13 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old Testament. | 26:17 | |
The epistle lesson is from Acts, | 26:21 | |
chapter seven, verse 58 through chapter eight, verse three, | 26:24 | |
and chapter nine, verses one through nine. | 26:31 | |
Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; | 26:36 | |
and the witnesses laid down their garments | 26:39 | |
at the feet of a young man named Saul. | 26:42 | |
And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, | 26:45 | |
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." | 26:48 | |
And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, | 26:52 | |
"Lord, do not hold this sin against them." | 26:56 | |
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. | 27:00 | |
And Saul was consenting to his death. | 27:05 | |
And on that day a great persecution arose | 27:10 | |
against the church in Jerusalem; | 27:13 | |
and they were all scattered throughout the region | 27:15 | |
of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. | 27:18 | |
Devout men buried Stephen, | 27:22 | |
and made great lamentation over him. | 27:25 | |
But Saul was ravaging the church, | 27:28 | |
and entering house after house, | 27:31 | |
he dragged off men and women | 27:33 | |
and committed them to prison. | 27:36 | |
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder | 27:41 | |
against the disciples of the Lord, | 27:43 | |
went to the high priest and asked him | 27:45 | |
for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, | 27:48 | |
so that if he found any belonging to the Way, | 27:51 | |
men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. | 27:55 | |
Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, | 28:01 | |
and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. | 28:04 | |
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, | 28:09 | |
"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" | 28:13 | |
And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" | 28:16 | |
And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; | 28:21 | |
"but rise and enter the city, | 28:25 | |
"and you will be told what you are to do." | 28:27 | |
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, | 28:32 | |
hearing the voice but seeing no one. | 28:34 | |
Saul arose from the ground; | 28:40 | |
and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; | 28:42 | |
so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. | 28:45 | |
And for three days he was without sight, | 28:51 | |
and neither ate nor drank. | 28:55 | |
Here ends the reading from the epistle lesson. | 28:58 | |
(organ and choral music) | 29:48 | |
♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ | 29:49 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 36:26 | |
The Gospel lesson is from John, | 37:21 | |
chapter eight, verses one through 11. | 37:23 | |
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. | 37:28 | |
Early in the morning he came again to the temple; | 37:32 | |
all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. | 37:35 | |
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman | 37:41 | |
who had been caught in adultery, | 37:43 | |
and placing her in the midst they said to him, | 37:45 | |
"Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. | 37:49 | |
"Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. | 37:54 | |
"What do you say about her?" | 37:59 | |
This they said to test him, | 38:03 | |
that they might have some charge to bring against him. | 38:06 | |
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. | 38:10 | |
And as they continued to ask him, | 38:15 | |
he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is | 38:17 | |
"without sin among you be the first | 38:21 | |
"to throw a stone at her." | 38:25 | |
And once more he bent down and wrote | 38:29 | |
with his finger on the ground. | 38:33 | |
But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, | 38:36 | |
beginning with the eldest, | 38:41 | |
and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. | 38:43 | |
Jesus looked up and said to her, | 38:49 | |
"Woman, where are they? | 38:52 | |
"Has no one condemned you?" | 38:55 | |
She said, "No one, Lord." | 38:58 | |
And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. | 39:01 | |
"Go, and do not sin again." | 39:06 | |
(organ music) | 39:14 | |
(congregation sings) | 39:22 | |
- | Will you pray silently with me | 40:22 |
that on behalf of Robert Young, | 40:25 | |
minster to the University, | 40:30 | |
that his recovery may be rapid | 40:33 | |
and that he may be soon returned | 40:37 | |
to the ministry he loved so much? | 40:40 | |
Let us pray silently together. | 40:45 | |
We thank Thee, oh God, for this day. | 41:02 | |
We thank Thee for the beauties of nature | 41:07 | |
which have burst forth in full bloom. | 41:11 | |
We thank Thee for the hundreds of people | 41:17 | |
who have come here to share | 41:20 | |
in Thy holy worship. | 41:24 | |
We thank Thee for the ministry | 41:27 | |
in which we are permitted to participate. | 41:31 | |
We thank Thee for all of the good things | 41:35 | |
with which Thou has blessed us. | 41:39 | |
And we bow to Thee in gratitude | 41:42 | |
and in prayer. | 41:48 | |
Amen. | 41:52 | |
I have chosen for my sermon topic today | 41:58 | |
what may seem to you to be | 42:02 | |
a strange question, | 42:06 | |
"Have You Been to Damascus?" | 42:09 | |
We could say that since this is the season | 42:15 | |
for going and talking about going, | 42:20 | |
if it were not for the particular place, | 42:25 | |
perhaps it would not seem so strange after all. | 42:29 | |
For within the coming weeks, | 42:35 | |
we shall be saying to each other, | 42:37 | |
"Have you been here? | 42:41 | |
"Have you been there? | 42:42 | |
"Will you being going elsewhere?" | 42:43 | |
We will be saying to our friends, | 42:46 | |
"Have you been to London? | 42:48 | |
"Have you been to Madrid? | 42:52 | |
"Have you been to Paris? | 42:55 | |
"Johannesburg? | 42:58 | |
"Aberdeen? | 42:59 | |
"Tahiti? | 43:01 | |
"Mexico City?" | 43:03 | |
And as the names tumble from our lips, | 43:07 | |
we will conjure up memories | 43:13 | |
of what our visits to these particular places | 43:17 | |
may have been. | 43:21 | |
Those who have been to London | 43:25 | |
will perhaps remember the fog. | 43:27 | |
They might remember the double decker buses, | 43:32 | |
the bobbies on bicycles, two by two, | 43:36 | |
Big Ben, | 43:40 | |
and perhaps they might remember as I do, | 43:44 | |
steak and kidney pie. | 43:48 | |
Those who have been to Paris | 43:52 | |
will remember, no doubt, the Eiffel Tower, | 43:56 | |
the Seine, the Sorbonne, | 44:00 | |
the Arc de Triomphe, | 44:05 | |
the French people. | 44:09 | |
Those who have been to Moscow | 44:14 | |
will remember Red Square, | 44:18 | |
the Kremlin, | 44:21 | |
the tomb of Lenin, | 44:23 | |
the harsh winters. | 44:29 | |
Those who have been to Johannesburg, as I have, | 44:34 | |
will remember the city that looks | 44:40 | |
like any hometown USA, | 44:43 | |
the Kentucky Fried Chicken places, | 44:49 | |
the Holiday Inns, | 44:53 | |
the Coca Cola signs, | 44:57 | |
the IBMs, the Apple computers, | 45:01 | |
the Chevrolets. | 45:04 | |
And they may also remember, sadly, as I do, | 45:07 | |
the Johannesburg that is not hometown USA, | 45:12 | |
for there one senses the pervasiveness | 45:18 | |
of fear and hatred | 45:21 | |
and un-freedom and death. | 45:26 | |
And tries to blot out the memory, as I have, | 45:30 | |
of ever having the experience of being there. | 45:36 | |
But, | 45:42 | |
there are other places | 45:44 | |
that we think about | 45:48 | |
and we revel in the memory | 45:51 | |
of the experiences that we have had there. | 45:53 | |
But why Damascus? | 45:56 | |
Who has been to Damascus? | 46:00 | |
Why would anybody want to go to Damascus? | 46:04 |
- | That Damascus is the oldest city | 0:04 |
continuously inhabited in the world. | 0:08 | |
So there is a great deal of history in Damascus. | 0:12 | |
It is true perhaps that they still make | 0:18 | |
the finest sword steel in the world, | 0:22 | |
a commodity for which Damascus was prominent for centuries. | 0:27 | |
Perhaps they even still make the Damask cloth | 0:34 | |
with a double-facing that we in the West | 0:39 | |
have come to treasure so much | 0:43 | |
for our dining linens and other fine tapestries. | 0:46 | |
But none of these would be sufficient | 0:52 | |
as a reason for making a journey to Damascus. | 0:58 | |
What is it in this ancient | 1:03 | |
capital of ancient Syria | 1:07 | |
that would bring one to that city? | 1:12 | |
Not gold. | 1:16 | |
Not silver. | 1:20 | |
Not political aggrandizement. | 1:23 | |
But Damascus represents for us | 1:28 | |
a certain rendezvous, | 1:34 | |
a certain meeting, | 1:38 | |
a unique kind of confrontation. | 1:42 | |
The meaning of Damascus | 1:49 | |
is not in the city itself, | 1:54 | |
but in the intentions of those | 2:00 | |
who have traveled there | 2:05 | |
and who symbolically | 2:10 | |
have experienced the confrontation | 2:17 | |
which has turned their lives around. | 2:23 | |
The prototype of the Damascus experience | 2:31 | |
was a man whose name was Saul. | 2:38 | |
We know him primarily by his Roman name, | 2:44 | |
Paul. | 2:49 | |
But he was born a member of the tribe of Benjamin, | 2:51 | |
and he was named for Saul, | 2:57 | |
the first king of Israel. | 3:01 | |
And we need to take a look | 3:05 | |
at this man, this man Saul, | 3:09 | |
for in him and in his experiences | 3:13 | |
perhaps we may find the clue | 3:18 | |
that creates for each of us | 3:23 | |
a sense of compulsion | 3:27 | |
that drives us inevitably | 3:31 | |
toward some Damascus of our own. | 3:35 | |
Who was this Saul? | 3:42 | |
What is his significance? | 3:46 | |
Why was his trip to Damascus | 3:50 | |
of such great importance to us and to all history? | 3:54 | |
Let us look closely at him | 4:00 | |
that we may better discern what kind | 4:03 | |
of an individual he was. | 4:06 | |
Well, we know first of all that he was a young man, | 4:11 | |
that he was a young man proud of his youth, | 4:16 | |
proud of his family, proud of his learning, | 4:21 | |
proud of his city, proud of his Roman citizenship, | 4:27 | |
proud of his Jewishness, | 4:33 | |
proud of the fact that he was a Pharisee | 4:36 | |
and that he had studied with the best teachers of his time. | 4:40 | |
He was a man who stood on the edge of destiny | 4:47 | |
trying to determine precisely who he was | 4:53 | |
and how his life would be spent. | 4:59 | |
And so he took up with a certain group | 5:06 | |
as young men and women often do | 5:11 | |
in the search for his identity | 5:16 | |
in an effort to determine precisely where he belonged. | 5:20 | |
So, we first see him | 5:28 | |
engaged in an act | 5:33 | |
of rather dubious propriety. | 5:39 | |
For, | 5:45 | |
our first vision of Saul | 5:48 | |
is as a well-educated, well-dressed, | 5:52 | |
well-appearing young man | 5:58 | |
who found himself in the midst of a rabble, | 6:02 | |
which was engaged in stoning Stephen to death | 6:08 | |
because of his confessions of Christianity. | 6:13 | |
And there stood Paul holding the cloaks. | 6:17 | |
He was not yet sufficiently wretched | 6:23 | |
to participate in the actual murder of Stephen. | 6:29 | |
And yet, he valued the contacts of those | 6:36 | |
who did participate. | 6:42 | |
He wanted to be not completely in, | 6:44 | |
but he wanted to thought well of | 6:49 | |
by those who were in. | 6:53 | |
And so, there he stood holding the cloaks | 6:57 | |
and consenting to the murder | 7:03 | |
of Stephen. | 7:08 | |
And here I must digress for a moment | 7:11 | |
because of things that have happened in recent weeks | 7:16 | |
that perhaps bring a striking parallel. | 7:22 | |
I am talking about the parallel situation | 7:27 | |
of the ritual murder | 7:34 | |
in the Bedford bar just a few nights ago, | 7:38 | |
a situation in which | 7:44 | |
a group of young people | 7:48 | |
found themselves caught up in a situation | 7:52 | |
in which a woman was done to death. | 7:58 | |
No, I know she was not dead physically | 8:04 | |
but to all intents and purposes, | 8:08 | |
her life has come to an end. | 8:10 | |
And perhaps when the psychologists and the psychiatrists | 8:15 | |
get through with examining the causative factors, | 8:20 | |
they will find that not sexual gratification | 8:24 | |
but murder, ritual murder, | 8:30 | |
symbolic murder was the motivation there. | 8:35 | |
Somehow the significance of who held the coats | 8:41 | |
and who did the cheering and even who was actually | 8:47 | |
in contact with this hapless victim | 8:51 | |
is all lost, lost in the larger question | 8:56 | |
of what in the world has happened to civilization? | 9:02 | |
How is it that here in 20th century America, | 9:09 | |
we could find anywhere in any tavern in any town | 9:14 | |
15 or 20 human beings | 9:22 | |
who could engage in an act like this, | 9:28 | |
who could tolerate an act like this, | 9:33 | |
who could be consenting in an act like this? | 9:37 | |
What in the world | 9:42 | |
has happened to America? | 9:46 | |
Is personal gratification, sexual or otherwise, | 9:52 | |
so compelling? | 9:58 | |
Is self-respect so degraded? | 10:01 | |
Is respect for the community, | 10:08 | |
the community of others among whom we live, | 10:10 | |
so eroded | 10:16 | |
that there are no factors of any vision left? | 10:19 | |
Will we do anything? | 10:25 | |
Is there nothing we will not do? | 10:27 | |
How about the law? | 10:31 | |
Have we lost all respect for the law? | 10:36 | |
One is appalled by the fact | 10:41 | |
that after the attack took place, nobody ran away. | 10:44 | |
The fun continued by reminiscence and by recalling | 10:50 | |
what had gone on the previous two hours. | 10:54 | |
If this is the kind of civilization | 10:59 | |
we have to offer to the rest of the world, | 11:05 | |
what kind of hope is there? | 11:10 | |
If the murder in the Bedford bar | 11:15 | |
represents the cryptic consensus of feelings | 11:21 | |
we harbor about society and the individuals who comprise it, | 11:26 | |
then the Holocaust in Germany, a mere 40 years ago, | 11:32 | |
was nothing but a prelude | 11:39 | |
of the fire that is still to come. | 11:42 | |
There are other signs for us to see | 11:47 | |
that keep telling us | 11:52 | |
that this vaunted civilization | 11:56 | |
of ours has somewhere gone wrong. | 11:59 | |
But our preference seems to be | 12:05 | |
to ignore the signs | 12:10 | |
and to get on with the last big party. | 12:14 | |
I'm sorry for my personal need | 12:20 | |
to digress from Saul and to talk about Bedford. | 12:26 | |
But perhaps in the final analysis, | 12:32 | |
they are one and the same. | 12:35 | |
But in any case, Saul in his day | 12:38 | |
was among the consenters, | 12:43 | |
the consenters to the structures of evil, | 12:47 | |
which characterize his times. | 12:53 | |
And he liked the headiness | 12:57 | |
of the company he kept. | 13:04 | |
These were the in-people. | 13:08 | |
These were the swinging people. | 13:11 | |
These were the avant-garde. | 13:15 | |
These were the bright young folk, | 13:19 | |
the next generation of leaders, | 13:21 | |
and he was prominent among them. | 13:24 | |
And in keeping with his expectations | 13:28 | |
for the future, for his own future, | 13:33 | |
he became more and more avid, | 13:37 | |
more forthright in his search for approval | 13:41 | |
at the expense of others. | 13:45 | |
And so we see that he has moved | 13:49 | |
from being merely a consenter to the death of Stephen. | 13:52 | |
But now we find that he is organizing | 13:58 | |
vigilante groups of his own, | 14:02 | |
that he has gone to the high priests for papers | 14:05 | |
so that he might search the countryside | 14:10 | |
and drag out all those Christians he could find | 14:15 | |
and bring them bound to Jerusalem | 14:20 | |
that they might be prosecuted. | 14:25 | |
We can see | 14:29 | |
his counterpart in contemporary times. Let's go, guys. | 14:32 | |
Load up your pickup truck and your vans, | 14:36 | |
and let's go out and get the Christians. | 14:39 | |
Let's bring 'em back. | 14:42 | |
See that they are discomfited | 14:45 | |
as much as possible. | 14:49 | |
And on one such expedition | 14:53 | |
that Saul had organized | 14:58 | |
to go away to Damascus | 15:02 | |
seeking to do evil, | 15:06 | |
something happened to him. | 15:11 | |
Perhaps it was a day very much like today | 15:14 | |
with the sun beaming down | 15:18 | |
with the beauty of nature being expressed all along the way. | 15:22 | |
And we can see Paul out there on the Damascus road | 15:29 | |
with his colleagues hurrying, hurrying | 15:32 | |
that they might get to the city perhaps before nightfall | 15:36 | |
in order that they might search out the fugitives | 15:40 | |
and chain them and bring them down to Jerusalem. | 15:46 | |
And as they journeyed along, | 15:52 | |
suddenly there was a blinding light | 15:56 | |
and our young hero, our young protagonist | 16:02 | |
found himself lying prone upon the ground, | 16:06 | |
senseless. | 16:12 | |
Something had shaken the hell out of Paul. | 16:15 | |
And when he came to himself, | 16:21 | |
he knew not where he was nor what had happened. | 16:25 | |
All he knew | 16:28 | |
was that something had taken hold of him | 16:32 | |
and whatever it was | 16:38 | |
left him subdued and submissive | 16:42 | |
and ready to listen. | 16:47 | |
And when he listened, he heard a voice that said to him, | 16:49 | |
why do you persecute me? | 16:54 | |
Why do you persecute me? | 16:58 | |
Why couldn't you have gone about your business | 17:01 | |
weaving cloth and building tents | 17:05 | |
and studying in the temple or whatever it is | 17:07 | |
that you want to do, preparing to be a rabbi? | 17:08 | |
Why do you persecute me? | 17:13 | |
And it was at that time he noted also that he couldn't see. | 17:17 | |
He couldn't see. | 17:23 | |
If ever you are without your sight after having had it, | 17:28 | |
you'll know something of the terrible | 17:36 | |
dilemma in which Saul found himself. | 17:41 | |
How could he chase Christians if he couldn't see? | 17:45 | |
How could he do any of the things | 17:49 | |
that brought him so much pleasure? | 17:50 | |
What was going to happen to his professional life | 17:53 | |
as he prepared for the rabbinate? | 17:56 | |
He couldn't see, he was blind. | 17:59 | |
Not only was he blind, | 18:01 | |
but for the first time in his life, | 18:05 | |
he was helpless. | 18:09 | |
Somebody, | 18:11 | |
somebody had to take him by the arm | 18:14 | |
and lead him into the city. | 18:21 | |
Somebody had to take care of the reservations | 18:25 | |
for his living quarters. | 18:30 | |
Somebody had to feed him. | 18:33 | |
Somebody had to do everything | 18:36 | |
that he had always done for himself. | 18:39 | |
He was blind. | 18:42 | |
He was out of favor with God. | 18:45 | |
And he was scared. | 18:50 | |
Well, the long and the short story is that | 18:54 | |
they sent a Christian whose name was Ananias to see Paul. | 18:58 | |
And Ananias healed his sight | 19:02 | |
and protected him. | 19:06 | |
And Paul became in time | 19:09 | |
the greatest promoter of the Christian cause | 19:14 | |
that history has yet produced. | 19:22 | |
But before this could happen, | 19:27 | |
he had to make his trip | 19:32 | |
to Damascus. | 19:37 | |
He had to have his confrontation | 19:39 | |
with reality. | 19:45 | |
He had to come to terms | 19:48 | |
with himself, | 19:53 | |
with his God, and with his destiny. | 19:56 | |
The significant journeys we make in this life | 20:03 | |
may have little to do with geography, | 20:08 | |
but they are the journeys from darkness to light. | 20:13 | |
Perhaps from implacability | 20:20 | |
to reasonableness. | 20:24 | |
From toleration to acceptance. | 20:28 | |
From destruction to support. | 20:35 | |
From hatred to love. | 20:40 | |
From bitterness to appreciation. | 20:45 | |
The road to Damascus | 20:51 | |
is long, and it is uncertain. | 20:57 | |
It is filled with possibilities, | 21:02 | |
possibilities for evil as was Paul's original intent, | 21:07 | |
possibilities for good. | 21:12 | |
Pray that on your way to do evil, | 21:17 | |
that you may be blinded | 21:26 | |
by the light of your own insufficiency, | 21:33 | |
that you like Paul may hear a voice | 21:38 | |
that calls you back | 21:45 | |
to the responsibility of being what you are | 21:51 | |
and what you can become. | 21:56 | |
Those people in the Bedford bar, and here I go again, | 22:00 | |
and all of the people | 22:06 | |
who have encouraged | 22:12 | |
and who share the responsibility for Bedford | 22:15 | |
by having distanced themselves from responsibility at home | 22:22 | |
are people | 22:32 | |
who have | 22:35 | |
refused to be responsible, | 22:41 | |
refused to accept responsibility, | 22:47 | |
refused to see the relationship | 22:51 | |
between their nonfeasance | 22:56 | |
and what is happening to the society at large. | 23:01 | |
There is a world out there, but it is still to be won. | 23:07 | |
It is a world of men and women in the mass, yes. | 23:15 | |
But it is also a world of | 23:20 | |
human individuals, | 23:24 | |
human individuals | 23:29 | |
locked in intimate struggle against the arts. | 23:32 | |
And even though we preen, and we prance | 23:38 | |
and we prate with the doubtful confidence | 23:43 | |
of jesters and fools, | 23:48 | |
in our hearts we know all too well | 23:53 | |
that unless we learn to live for each other, | 23:58 | |
and that right early, | 24:05 | |
we may not live at all. | 24:09 | |
That is the lesson | 24:13 | |
of Damascus. | 24:18 | |
If you have never been there, | 24:22 | |
God grant | 24:26 | |
that you may be going soon. | 24:29 | |
(organ hymnal music) | 24:43 | |
(congregation singing) | 25:10 | |
- | As the people of God, let us affirm what we believe. | 27:09 |
We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 27:13 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus | 27:18 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 27:21 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 27:24 | |
We trust God who calls us to be the church | 27:27 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 27:32 | |
to love and serve others, | 27:34 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 27:37 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 27:40 | |
our judge and our hope. | 27:44 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. | 27:46 | |
We are not alone. | 27:52 | |
Thanks be to God. | 27:54 | |
The Lord be with you. | 27:57 | |
- | And also with you. | 27:58 |
- | Let us pray. | 28:00 |
In this precious holy Lenten season, | 28:14 | |
let us come in peace today and pray to the Lord God Almighty | 28:18 | |
for the world in need of desperate reconciliation and peace | 28:24 | |
that a spirit of hope may grow among nations and peoples. | 28:29 | |
We pray this day, oh Lord. | 28:34 | |
For the church of Jesus Christ | 28:37 | |
that it may be filled with truth and love | 28:39 | |
and may be eager to serve as ambassadors for Christ, | 28:43 | |
we pray to you, oh Lord. | 28:47 | |
For the mission of the church that in faithful witness | 28:50 | |
it may preach the gospel to the very ends | 28:54 | |
of the earth, we pray to you, oh Lord. | 28:57 | |
For those who do not yet believe | 29:02 | |
and for those who have lost their faith | 29:05 | |
that they may receive the light of the gospel, | 29:08 | |
we pray to you, oh Lord. | 29:11 | |
For the poor, the persecuted, the sick | 29:14 | |
and all who suffer today, for refugees, | 29:18 | |
prisoners, and all who are in danger, | 29:22 | |
that they may be relieved and protected, | 29:25 | |
we pray to you, oh Lord. | 29:28 | |
For all those who have been in our hearts | 29:31 | |
and in our private prayers, | 29:34 | |
for our families, friends, and neighbors, | 29:36 | |
that they may live in joy, peace, and health, | 29:39 | |
we pray to you, oh Lord. | 29:43 | |
For ourselves, for the forgiveness of sins, | 29:46 | |
and for the grace of the Holy Spirit | 29:49 | |
to amend and change our lives, we pray to you, oh Lord. | 29:51 | |
We thank you Lord for all the blessings of this life, | 29:58 | |
and we will exalt you, oh God, our King | 30:01 | |
and praise your name forever and ever | 30:05 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us to pray saying, | 30:08 | |
our father who art in heaven | 30:14 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 30:17 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, | 30:21 | |
give us this day our daily bread | 30:25 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 30:27 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 30:30 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil | 30:33 | |
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 30:38 | |
and the glory forever, amen. | 30:41 | |
I want to say a word now about a special offering | 30:46 | |
that we will be receiving today here in the chapel. | 30:49 | |
Several times a year, the Duke Campus Ministry | 30:53 | |
Advisory Council determines on its own | 30:56 | |
what special offering should be received in the chapel. | 31:00 | |
And on this day, the close of Black Student Weekend here | 31:04 | |
at Duke University, Duke Campus Ministry has chosen | 31:08 | |
to direct the offering to go | 31:13 | |
to the Reginaldo Howard Scholarships. | 31:16 | |
The Reggie Howard Scholarship Fund is the only merit stipend | 31:20 | |
for minority students here at Duke. | 31:25 | |
Each year, it can award up to 10 $1,000 four-year grants | 31:28 | |
each year to incoming freshmen. | 31:35 | |
We want to encourage you to give generously | 31:38 | |
to this special offering today | 31:40 | |
that we might extend our hands and hearts | 31:43 | |
to better enable minority students | 31:46 | |
to have a good place here at Duke University. | 31:49 | |
The Reggie Howard Scholarship Fund was started | 31:53 | |
and named following the tragic death | 31:56 | |
of Reggie Howard in 1976. | 31:59 | |
Reggie Howard was the first black student | 32:03 | |
ever to be elected president | 32:06 | |
of the student body here at Duke. | 32:08 | |
We honor his memory. | 32:11 | |
We ask for your support and urge | 32:13 | |
that you give generously to this special offering today. | 32:15 | |
(orchestra warming up) | 32:31 | |
("Zadok the Priest" by Handel) | 33:27 | |
♪ Zadok ♪ | 35:28 | |
♪ The priest ♪ | 35:32 | |
♪ And Nathan ♪ | 35:37 | |
♪ The prophet ♪ | 35:42 | |
♪ Anointed ♪ | 35:48 | |
♪ Solomon king ♪ | 35:54 | |
♪ And all the people rejoiced ♪ | 36:08 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:15 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:19 | |
♪ And all the people rejoiced ♪ | 36:21 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:28 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:32 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:35 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:38 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:41 | |
♪ And all the people rejoiced ♪ | 36:44 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:51 | |
♪ Rejoiced ♪ | 36:54 | |
♪ And said ♪ | 36:57 | |
♪ God save the king ♪ | 37:04 | |
♪ Long live the king ♪ | 37:07 | |
♪ God save the king ♪ | 37:11 | |
♪ May the king live forever ♪ | 37:14 | |
♪ Amen, amen, alleluia, alleluia, amen ♪ | 37:20 | |
(vocalizing) | 37:26 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 37:35 | |
♪ Amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪ | 37:36 | |
♪ God save the king ♪ | 37:55 | |
♪ Long live the king ♪ | 37:58 | |
♪ May the king live forever ♪ | 38:01 | |
♪ Amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪ | 38:06 | |
♪ Alleluia, amen ♪ | 38:10 | |
(vocalizing) | 38:13 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:17 | |
♪ May the king live ♪ | 38:19 | |
♪ May the king live ♪ | 38:22 | |
♪ Forever, forever, forever ♪ | 38:25 | |
♪ Amen, amen, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 38:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:34 | |
(Vocalizing) | ||
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:41 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 38:44 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:49 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 38:50 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 38:53 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 38:56 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:01 | |
♪ Long live the king ♪ | 39:08 | |
♪ God save the king ♪ | 39:11 | |
♪ Long live the king ♪ | 39:14 | |
♪ May the king live ♪ | 39:17 | |
♪ May the king live forever ♪ | 39:20 | |
♪ Forever, forever, amen, amen ♪ | 39:26 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia, amen ♪ | 39:30 | |
(vocalizing) | 39:34 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 39:38 | |
(vocalizing) | ||
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 39:49 | |
♪ Amen, alleluia ♪ | 39:52 | |
♪ Amen, alleluia, amen ♪ | 39:54 | |
♪ Amen, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 39:58 | |
("Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow") | 40:12 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 40:33 | |
♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪ | 40:38 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 40:45 | |
♪ Praise him above ye heavenly host ♪ | 40:52 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 40:59 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 41:05 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 41:11 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 41:18 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:27 | |
Thine, oh God, is the greatness and the power | 41:38 | |
and the glory and the victory, for all that is | 41:41 | |
in the heavens and in the earth is yours. | 41:45 | |
Yours is the kingdom, oh God, | 41:48 | |
and you are exalted as creator above all, amen. | 41:50 | |
("A Mighty Fortress is our God" by Martin Luther) | 41:57 | |
(congregation singing) | 42:49 |