C. Eric Lincoln - "Have You Been to Damascus?" (March 20, 1983)

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	(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

Item Info

Title:

C. Eric Lincoln - "Have You Been to Damascus?" (March 20, 1983)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 41:58. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 24:34.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4h41k199

Date:

March 20, 1983

Speaker:

Lincoln, C. Eric (Charles Eric), 1924-2000

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0138
ref7799_46k
uachapelsermaud
duke:320531
dcrau001129
ark:/87924/r4h41k199
4bd6d7e0-63a1-48d0-beb4-f9a233b4530d

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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.

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Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

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