Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (May 1, 1983)

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	(reverent organ music)	0:03
	(choir sings all together)	4:18
	(reverent organ music)	5:41
	(choir sings with organ)	6:02
Charlene	Oh God, our creator and redeemer,	10:23
	lord of all life, we acknowledge and confess	10:26
	our failures and sins, at home and at work,	10:29
	in the world and in the church,	10:33
	we acknowledge that in our homes, we have not always	10:35
	lived together in unity and love.	10:38
	We have ofttimes been discourteous and inconsiderate,	10:41
	uncharitable and unforgiving, and we have not shared fully	10:45
	in the tasks and duties of family life.	10:50
	For all these things, forgive us, oh Lord.	10:53
	We confess that we have not always worked hard	10:57
	and honestly, we have sometimes withheld	11:00
	the help and service of the praise and reward due to others,	11:03
	and we have not done everything	11:07
	with single mindedness out of reverence for you.	11:09
	For all of these things, forgive us, oh Lord.	11:13
	We acknowledge that, as citizens, we have not shared	11:17
	responsibly in the affairs of neighborhood and nation.	11:20
	We have been too preoccupied with our rights	11:25
	and advantages, and too little concerned	11:27
	with the needs and welfare of others,	11:30
	and we have lacked the zeal and courage	11:33
	to strive for justice and peace.	11:36
	For all of these things, forgive us, oh Lord.	11:38
	We confess, as members of your church, that we have	11:42
	broken our vows and have failed to live up to our calling.	11:46
	We have neglected prayer and worship,	11:50
	and have disobeyed your word read and spoken to us,	11:52
	and we have been slothful in service	11:56
	and unfaithful in witness.	11:59
	For all these things, forgive us, oh Lord, amen.	12:02
	Hear this good news, there is absolutely nothing	12:29
	that can separate us from the providence of God	12:33
	or the love of Jesus Christ, in the name of Christ,	12:36
	our sins are forgiven, let us then give thanks	12:40
	for God is good and God's love is everlasting.	12:44
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us,	12:49
	thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us,	12:52
	thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	12:57
	We welcome you this beautiful Spring day,	13:03
	here, the fourth Sunday after Easter.	13:06
	We are glad that you are worshiping with us	13:09
	together here in Duke University Chapel.	13:12
	As we approach the end of the academic year here at Duke,	13:15
	and look toward graduation, another time of endings	13:20
	and beginnings, we want to pause	13:24
	to give thanks for all that has been	13:27
	in the life of the chapel this past year.	13:31
	Today, we are grateful for the gifts	13:35
	and music of the Elon College Choir,	13:38
	as they have come to be with us, and we are	13:41
	especially grateful to their director, Doctor James Glen.	13:43
	We are very pleased to honor all of our attendants	13:47
	who have so faithfully served this chapel this year	13:52
	with their presence and participation.	13:56
	One student's name was omitted from that list,	13:59
	and as you read these lists, I would like you to include	14:03
	Wendy Knight, who served as an attendant.	14:07
	We are especially grateful for the gifts	14:11
	and ministry and presence among us,	14:13
	of Debbie McCloud, divinity school student,	14:16
	and our head chapel attendant for this past year.	14:20
	We are also extremely grateful for the presence and ministry	14:24
	of those who have been our ushers this year.	14:27
	All of our attendants in the chapel are students and friends	14:32
	of Duke Chapel from the community and beyond.	14:37
	We are grateful for their presence	14:40
	and their ministry among us.	14:42
	Today is a very special day in the life of our chapel here,	14:45
	and in the life of Duke University.	14:51
	It is a day of celebration that together we join	14:54
	with Bob Young, now dean of Duke University Chapel,	14:57
	as we celebrate his ministry among us	15:03
	and his beginning ministry in a new place	15:06
	to which God has called him.	15:09
	There will be a reception honoring Bob and Jackie Young	15:13
	immediately following the service of worship this morning	15:17
	here on the lawn at the South Transept entrance.	15:21
	We invite you to come to give greetings to Bob	15:25
	and members of his family, to celebrate with us,	15:28
	and we look forward to President Sanford	15:33
	making a presentation and statement of appreciation	15:36
	on our behalf as a university community.	15:40
	This morning, as we look now toward the future,	15:45
	the Reverend Doctor Robert T. Young will preach	15:48
	his last sermon of this year, here in the chapel,	15:51
	and the sermon title is, "Beginning at the End."	15:55
Woman	Let us pray.	16:11
	Almighty and most merciful God,	16:14
	you have given the Bible to be	16:17
	the revelation of your great love to us,	16:18
	and of your power and will to save us.	16:21
	Grant that our study of it may not be in vain,	16:24
	by the callousness or carelessness of our hearts,	16:28
	but that by it, we may be confirmed in penitence,	16:31
	lifted to hope, made strong for service,	16:34
	and above all, filled with the true knowledge	16:38
	of you and of your son Jesus Christ, amen.	16:41
	The Old Testament lesson is from Psalm 118:21-24.	16:46
	"I thank thee, that thou hast answerest me,	16:54
	and hast become my salvation.	16:56
	The stone which the builders rejected	16:58
	has become the head of the corner.	17:00
	This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes.	17:03
	This is the day which the Lord has made,	17:07
	let us rejoice and be glad in it, amen."	17:10
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	17:15
	The epistle lesson is from Revelation 21:1-5.	17:19
	"Then I saw a new heaven, and a new earth,	17:26
	for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,	17:29
	and the sea was no more, and I saw the holy city	17:32
	New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven,	17:36
	prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.	17:39
	And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,	17:43
	'Behold, the dwelling of God is with men,	17:46
	he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.	17:50
	And God himself will be with them.	17:54
	He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,	17:57
	and death shall be no more,	18:01
	neither shall there be mourning,	18:03
	nor crying, nor pain, anymore.	18:04
	For the former things have passed away.'	18:07
	And he who sat upon the throne said,	18:10
	'Behold, I make all things new.'"	18:12
	Here ends the reading of the epistle lesson.	18:16
	(reverent organ music)	18:38
	(choir sings all together with organ)	19:04
Woman	Will the congregation please stand	22:30
	for the reading of the gospel?	22:31
	The gospel lesson is from John 16:16-22.	22:37
	"'A little while, and you will see me no more.	22:44
	Again, a little while, and you will see me.'	22:47
	Some of his disciples said to one another,	22:49
	'What is this that he says to us?	22:52
	A little while, and you will see me no more,	22:55
	and again, a little while, and you will see me,	22:57
	and because I go to the father.'	23:00
	They said, 'What does he mean by little while?'	23:03
	Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him.	23:06
	So he said to them, 'Is this what you are asking yourselves,	23:09
	what I mean by saying a little while	23:13
	and you will not see me, and again,	23:16
	a little while, and you will see me?	23:18
	Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament,	23:20
	but the world will rejoice, you will be sorrowful,	23:25
	but your sorrow will turn into joy.	23:28
	When a woman is in travail, she has sorrow,	23:31
	but when she is delivered of her child,	23:34
	she no longer remembers the anguish,	23:36
	for the joy that a child is born into the world.	23:38
	So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again	23:42
	and your hearts will rejoice, and no one	23:45
	will take your joy from you.'"	23:49
	Here ends the reading of the gospel lesson.	23:52
	(reverent organ music)	23:55
	(choir joins with the organ)	24:03
Dr. Young	Be seated, please.	24:48
	You have to give me just a moment	24:53
	to get accustomed to the choir	24:55
	sitting in front of me, it's the first time	24:57
	I've seen the whites of their eyes on Sunday morning.	24:59
	They have gathered, some of them,	25:04
	together down here in front, and some have even intimated	25:06
	that they might become an amen corner during the service,	25:09
	so if you hear something a little extraordinaire,	25:12
	that's the choir, folks, and please excuse them.	25:15
	It is good to see you out front.	25:19
	I hope the view of your minister is a little better	25:22
	from front than it is from behind.	25:25
	May I take just a moment for a personal word?	25:29
	This is the last service in which I will preach a sermon	25:33
	while having the title of minister to the university	25:38
	and dean of the chapel, I hope I will have the privilege	25:41
	of being invited back, and thus will be here	25:44
	on other occasions, but as Charlene has indicated,	25:47
	and has been so gracious in her remarks,	25:51
	this is a very special day for me and for our family.	25:55
	Ten years of one's life is a long time,	25:59
	but I want you to know this morning	26:02
	that those ten years have been invested out of love	26:04
	and with real, real joy.	26:08
	It has been a rare and honored privilege	26:13
	to serve God in this position,	26:15
	and in this place.	26:19
	I told Jack Adams I do get a lump in my throat	26:22
	every time I line up behind the choir	26:25
	and come into this service, and that was true this morning,	26:26
	and it was true the first time, and many times in-between.	26:29
	But I want to say a word of deep appreciation	26:33
	to those of you who have worshiped here in this place,	26:36
	and thus have given support, not only to me,	26:40
	but to all of us who have been privileged to work here.	26:43
	I trust that every occasion has been a time	26:47
	of deep enrichment for your soul,	26:50
	and that each occasion has also called you	26:53
	to leave this place to serve God and your neighbor	26:55
	more lovingly and more meaningfully and more effectively.	26:58
	We leave here, as you can imagine,	27:02
	with very mixed emotions, but I want you to know also	27:03
	that I'm grateful for the members of the chapel staff,	27:07
	who have worked well and cooperatively	27:11
	and have been responsible, not only for worship,	27:13
	but for many of the special services	27:17
	we've been privileged to have here.	27:19
	A special word from me to Jackie Andrews,	27:23
	who has served for eight years	27:25
	as secretary and administrative assistant.	27:27
	Her loyalty and her work have made my job much, much easier.	27:32
	You folks who are friends, have blessed me.	27:37
	And as we go to Charlotte...	27:42
	I'm not sure I was supposed to say that.	27:45
	(crowd laughs)	27:47
	As we leave here	27:50
	(crowd laughs)	27:51
	I want you to know that you will go with me,	27:56
	and I want you also to know that my prayers,	28:00
	my love, and a lot of my heart	28:03
	will stay with you in this place.	28:06
	God bless you all, let us pray.	28:09
	And now, oh lord, take us in a very special way,	28:17
	and use these moments which lie ahead	28:20
	for the deepening of our souls, and for the hearing	28:23
	of your word, which you have for us in this place this day.	28:27
	Speak to us, in the name and spirit of Christ,	28:33
	for it is in his name that we pray, amen.	28:36
	The psalmist writes, "This is the day	28:42
	which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."	28:44
	Is this a beginning or is it an ending?	28:50
	Jesus spoke to his disciples and said,	28:54
	"A little while and you will see me no more,	28:56
	again, a little while, and you will see me."	28:58
	Is this a beginning, or is it an end?	29:01
	John, in Revelation, in the last book of our Scripture,	29:05
	writes to the early church, "Then I saw	29:08
	a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven	29:10
	and the first earth had passed away,	29:13
	and he who sat upon the throne said,	29:16
	'Behold, I make all things new.'"	29:18
	Is this a beginning, or is this an end?	29:23
	Life is full of beginnings and endings for all of us.	29:28
	The time of graduation for some of you	29:32
	among the Duke University class of 1983, is here.	29:34
	Is this a beginning or an ending?	29:38
	Cold and snow and warmth and rain begin,	29:42
	winter ends and spring begins,	29:46
	life is a series of transitions, of changes, for all of us,	29:49
	ending, beginning, beginning, ending.	29:54
	Some of that we like, some of it we do not like.	29:57
	But it's like a divinity school student friend of mine	30:02
	said to me recently, "We are people who do not care much	30:04
	for endings, we are people of beginnings.	30:08
	We celebrate beginnings, but we want to forget endings."	30:12
	And I think she's right.	30:18
	What I want to say this morning is very, very simple.	30:20
	One, only as one experience comes to an end	30:23
	and we let that go, can we begin a new experience.	30:27
	Two, the grace of God is present, both at the end	30:32
	and the beginning of our experiences,	30:36
	and three, a new beginning, a beginning at the end,	30:37
	is possible for any one of us at any time.	30:41
	So this morning, no matter where you are	30:46
	in your own personal pilgrimage in life	30:49
	physically, intellectually, spiritually, relationally,	30:52
	no matter where you are in that pilgrimage of yours in life,	30:56
	I want to say to you that God and Christ	30:58
	can give you and me a new beginning, simple, isn't it?	31:01
	And yet, it must be very, very important	31:07
	because this message runs like a golden thread	31:09
	through both the Old Testament and the New Testament,	31:12
	it runs through history, it runs through the life	31:15
	of the Christian church, and it runs through	31:16
	your experiences and mine, beginning at the end.	31:19
	That's what life really is all about, isn't it?	31:22
	We celebrate beginnings, but we want to forget endings,	31:26
	and we do, we do want to forget endings,	31:30
	none of us likes to see a door close in our face,	31:34
	or watch a good movie end, or see the curtain fall	31:38
	on a good play, or the last note	31:41
	of a beautiful piece of music.	31:44
	We don't like to come to the last page of a good book,	31:46
	or see the last leaf fall in the fall,	31:49
	or drink the last drop of a Coca-Cola.	31:52
	We don't like to spend our last dollar,	31:56
	or run out of ink, or see darkness come.	31:59
	We don't like to see death come to a loved one.	32:03
	We'd much rather shake hands in greeting	32:07
	than in parting, none of us likes to kiss goodbye,	32:09
	we really don't care much for endings, she was right.	32:14
	But we do celebrate beginnings, Christmas,	32:18
	which begins, for us, the celebration	32:21
	of the life of Jesus the Christ, our savior.	32:23
	Memorial Day, which for us, in this country,	32:26
	celebrates the end of war and the beginning of peace	32:29
	many times in our history.	32:32
	July 4th, the beginning of a new country,	32:34
	we celebrate Easter, the beginning of a new faith,	32:37
	a new people, a new church under God.	32:40
	New Year's Day, the beginning of new hope	32:43
	and new aspirations, birth, the beginning	32:45
	of new life and new promise,	32:49
	engagement for a couple means new commitments	32:52
	and new tomorrows, a new friend means	32:56
	the beginning of a new relationship for both of us,	32:59
	graduation and commencement, is that an end or a beginning,	33:02
	it's a time to commence, a time to begin anew,	33:05
	truly, it is a new beginning.	33:09
	A new job, a new responsibilities and new opportunities,	33:12
	come when we make those shifts in our life.	33:16
	A wedding, a time to celebrate a new beginning	33:19
	for a couple, and for a marriage, and a new home.	33:23
	We want to forget endings, but we celebrate beginnings.	33:26
	She was so right.	33:29
	But the real problem is with that, however,	33:31
	that we really are never quite sure	33:35
	when an experience is an ending or when it is a beginning.	33:39
	My friends, may I be bold enough this morning	33:43
	to assert to you, and to say to myself,	33:45
	that it really doesn't matter whether	33:47
	an experience we're having is an ending or a beginning	33:49
	because God Almighty is there	33:52
	regardless where we are.	33:55
	We can see it in Scriptures.	34:01
	The Old Testament begins, "In the beginning, God created."	34:04
	Noah celebrated a new beginning at the end of the flood,	34:09
	the exodus for Moses and his people began	34:14
	when captivity ended for them,	34:16
	at the end of Jacob's wrestling with that angel all night,	34:18
	a new life began for him.	34:22
	At the end of his running for as long	34:24
	and as far as he possibly could,	34:26
	Jonah finally succumbed and began a new life.	34:28
	Amos was called in his work in the field	34:31
	and began his prophetic work for God.	34:34
	Mark starts the earliest of the New Testament writings	34:38
	with the words, "The beginning	34:40
	of the gospel of Jesus the Christ."	34:43
	Remember Peter?	34:47
	On one occasion, Peter surely must have felt	34:49
	that the end had come for him.	34:51
	You remember when Jesus said to him, face-to-face,	34:54
	get behind me, Satan?	34:57
	Surely that must have been the end, personally,	34:59
	that kind of confrontation, but remember,	35:03
	just a little later, he said to him,	35:06
	you are Peter, and on this rock,	35:09
	I will build my church.	35:13
	Jesus himself makes many references	35:16
	to new beginnings, except you become	35:18
	as little children, he said.	35:21
	To Nicodemus, he said, you must be born again,	35:25
	you must be baptized by water and the spirit,	35:29
	you must be made new, this, do in remembrance of me.	35:31
	He said, having to do with the sacrament	35:36
	of the Lord's supper, in which,	35:38
	we do become new persons, when we confess and are forgiven	35:40
	and receive the body and blood of our lord and go out anew.	35:44
	But the most powerful, the most dramatic,	35:48
	the most overpowering,	35:54
	experience of a beginning at the end,	35:58
	the one that surely has changed the shape	36:02
	and life of the world and the life	36:06
	of all of us who claim to be Christian,	36:07
	was that ending which we saw with the crucifixion of Jesus,	36:12
	and that beginning which we saw	36:17
	in the new life of the new church.	36:20
	Jesus was condemned and beaten,	36:24
	ordered to be crucified, he was jeered	36:28
	and spat upon, mocked and forced to carry his own cross	36:31
	like carrying your own electric chair	36:37
	to the room where it could be plugged up.	36:40
	He traveled the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows,	36:43
	all alone, at Golgotha, only four	36:46
	of his followers stood by him, three women and one man,	36:50
	on that place, the soldiers had orders to carry out,	36:56
	and, being the good soldiers that they were, they did	37:00
	their duty effectively and completely, for Jesus died.	37:03
	And when darkness came on that awful Friday afternoon,	37:11
	two words described the scene,	37:15
	and those two words are, the end.	37:17
	Thank God, God has the final	37:26
	and the ongoing word,	37:30
	as John Claypool, Baptist, minister, powerfully put it	37:32
	as he watched his 11-year-old daughter die with leukemia,	37:36
	he said, the point is this,	37:39
	life never comes to a complete dead end.	37:41
	You know the story.	37:49
	Jesus' crucifixion was the end.	37:52
	But then, the fullness of God's grace came rolling in,	37:55
	and it became the end which made possible the beginning.	37:58
	Henry Nouwen writes, to live, then,	38:03
	does not mean to take one's endings away,	38:05
	but it's God's way of showing us	38:11
	that our pain is part of a greater pain,	38:12
	that our sorrows are part of a greater sorrow,	38:15
	that our experience is part of a greater experience	38:18
	of the Christ who said, was it not ordained	38:20
	that the Christ should suffer and so enter the glory of God?	38:23
	Was it not ordained that Christ should suffer,	38:27
	that the end should come,	38:29
	so that the beginning could happen,	38:32
	so that he should be made glorious with God.	38:33
	Jesus had to go away.	38:37
	He told his disciples, they did not understand,	38:41
	we still don't understand, but he had to go away	38:43
	so that he could come again, so that he could come	38:46
	as spirit, so that there could be a new beginning,	38:48
	so that there could be life for you and me	38:51
	and for anyone who would call upon Christ in that spirit.	38:54
	In this farewell discourse of Jesus to his disciples,	38:59
	he said, it is for your own good	39:02
	that I am going, because unless I go,	39:06
	the comforter will not come to you,	39:09
	but when the spirit of truth comes,	39:11
	the spirit will lead you.	39:13
	Thus in Christ's absence, a new and more intimate presence	39:16
	became possible, a presence which nurtured	39:20
	and sustained, and nurtures and sustains us	39:23
	in the midst of tribulation.	39:26
	The great mystery of this revelation of God	39:29
	is that God entered into intimacy with us,	39:33
	not only by Christ's coming,	39:37
	but also by Christ's leaving.	39:41
	Indeed, it is in Christ's absence, his ending,	39:47
	that an intimacy with him has become so profound	39:52
	that you and I now, today, 2000 years later,	39:55
	are able to experience new beginnings	39:59
	and to say that Christ dwells with me.	40:01
	Christ dwells in me, Christ is my bread,	40:05
	Christ is my life, I am a new creation in Christ.	40:08
	It is because the ending came and Christ went away	40:13
	that the beginning could happen and Christ could come.	40:16
	Bonhoeffer was absolutely right when he wrote,	40:20
	the God who is with us is the God who forsakes us,	40:23
	before God and with God, we live without God.	40:29
	So only in Jesus' absence do we know the power	40:36
	and the grace of Jesus' presence.	40:39
	The end which makes possible the beginning,	40:44
	which caused Mary to say, he is not here, he is risen,	40:47
	which caused Thomas to say, my Lord and my God,	40:51
	and which caused Peter to say, it is the Lord.	40:55
	Beginning at the end.	41:01
	John Wesley at Aldersgate in May of 1738	41:04
	after he had spent many years in the church of England	41:07
	and had preached for many years,	41:10
	began anew when he said,	41:12
	I felt my heart strangely warmed,	41:14
	I did trust in Christ for the forgiveness of my sins,	41:18
	even mine, and for John Wesley,	41:22
	priest in the church of England,	41:25
	saint to us United Methodists and to others, perhaps,	41:27
	but for John Wesley at that moment,	41:30
	a new beginning took place.	41:32
	G.K. Chesterton, at the turn of the century,	41:36
	said to a preacher friend of his,	41:38
	I've had enough of your doubts,	41:40
	tell me of your affirmations.	41:41
	I don't want any more questions,	41:45
	I don't want any more doubts.	41:46
	I want you to tell me how I can begin life anew.	41:47
	Dag Hammarskjold, perhaps one of the greatest statesmen	41:53
	of this century, writing in his diary	41:56
	in the book, Markings, writing on wit's Sunday in 1961,	42:00
	wrote some powerful words that perhaps many of us could say.	42:05
	He said, I don't know who or what	42:08
	put the question to me, I don't know when	42:11
	the question was even put, I don't even remember	42:13
	answering the question, but at some moment,	42:16
	I did say yes to someone or to something,	42:18
	and from that moment on, I was certain	42:21
	that existence is meaningful, and that therefore,	42:23
	my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.	42:26
	I don't know who put the question,	42:30
	I don't know when it was put,	42:32
	I don't even know how it was put,	42:33
	I may not even know how or when or even if	42:35
	I have answered, but at some moment,	42:38
	I had deep in my soul a feeling	42:39
	that from now on, in self-surrender to God Almighty,	42:42
	life has meaning and purpose.	42:45
	That's when we begin to speak a new language	42:48
	or sing a new song or have a new image of ourselves,	42:50
	that's when we value others as brothers and sisters	42:53
	in a new way, that's when we're sensitive	42:56
	to social issues and political issues	42:58
	out of concern that we haven't had before, perhaps.	43:00
	That's when we become a new creation.	43:04
	Maybe just partly, maybe just partly,	43:07
	but that's when we become a new creation	43:12
	and a new beginning happens.	43:16
	The end which makes possible the beginning.	43:19
	You've been there, perhaps many times,	43:26
	the loss of a loved one, the end,	43:33
	the beginning of a new life in a new way	43:39
	and a new set of relationships for you.	43:43
	A serious illness,	43:50
	the end, pain or despair or fear	43:54
	or anxiety, and then, new life and a new outlook	43:58
	on life for yourself, and perhaps, for others.	44:02
	Graduation time, the end, surely.	44:08
	The end of some friendships, and separation,	44:15
	and facing the unknown, which makes possible new beginnings	44:18
	of life and vocation and commitment.	44:22
	One of the most beautiful beginnings at the end	44:26
	that I've read about was a news story I read	44:29
	in the paper recently, where the parents	44:31
	of a 20-year-old young man, made a decision	44:34
	that's absolutely unforgettable.	44:40
	Their son had been injured in an automobile accident,	44:43
	he was lying near the point of death,	44:45
	and they decided that, rather than hook him up to machines,	44:46
	they would let him die, so that his two kidneys	44:49
	could bring new life to two more, two other individuals.	44:53
	The ending, sure, but the beginning, yes.	44:57
	Carlisle Marnie one time told a story	45:02
	that I'll never forget.	45:04
	It happened in Charlotte, when he was minister	45:08
	at Myers Park Baptist Church, a medical doctor friend of his	45:10
	had a young woman who was a patient	45:16
	and had been a patient of his all her life.	45:18
	She was 23 years old, her limbs, all four of them,	45:22
	were twisted and gnarled, and she had never been out of	45:26

-	her chair in her life.	0:03
	Someone else had to take care of her all the time.	0:06
	And this doctor had treated her for almost all	0:10
	of those 23 years, and one day when he was treating her	0:13
	and examining her, he looked up at her in her face and said,	0:15
	"Elizabeth, sometime with all the pain and the trouble	0:19
	and the difficulty you've had in life," he said,	0:23
	"I'm sure sometimes you must feel as if you wish	0:25
	you had never been born, don't you?"	0:29
	And this 23-year-old girl, he said, he told Marney later,	0:33
	the doctor told Marney later, this 23-year-old girl	0:37
	looked the doctor right straight in the face and said,	0:40
	"I wouldn't have missed it for the world."	0:43
	The end surely.	0:48
	There probably have been many times when folks have looked	0:51
	at your life or at my life and said,	0:53
	"That's the end for that person."	0:55
	But folks, nobody, nobody but you	0:57
	knows what's going on inside, just like that doctor	1:00
	had no way of knowing what was inside this young woman.	1:03
	"I wouldn't have missed it for the world."	1:07
	You've been there.	1:12
	Those endings which make possible beginnings.	1:14
	For surgery has to end before healing can begin.	1:19
	Dating has to end before marriage can begin.	1:22
	And as Jesus reminds us in our gospel lesson this morning,	1:26
	labor pains have to end before birth can take place.	1:29
	And graduation has to end before new beginnings can happen.	1:33
	War has to end before peace can come,	1:37
	and hatred has to end before harmony can happen.	1:40
	And the great affirmation of the Christian faith	1:43
	is surely that dawn follows midnight,	1:47
	that daylight follows darkness,	1:51
	and that life follows death.	1:54
	I'm told that it is an absolutely breathtaking experience	1:59
	to go through the endless caverns in Virginia.	2:02
	Apparently you go as you go on one of the tours,	2:07
	you go from room to room looking at the stalactites	2:10
	and stalagmites and the columns that are,	2:13
	that form absolutely beautiful scenes inside.	2:15
	When visitors come to the last room of the tour,	2:19
	the guide has everyone stand back against the wall,	2:22
	the lights are dimmed and then they're cut off entirely.	2:25
	Then begins the gradual lighting of the formations	2:28
	above this pool of water, the picture is just like	2:31
	looking up on jewels hanging above a miniature lake	2:36
	with the dawn breaking in upon them.	2:39
	A perfect close to a great experience, I understand.	2:43
	And then the guide concludes by saying,	2:48
	this is not the end of the caverns.	2:52
	This is just as far as we go.	2:57
	Our explorers have gone many, many miles beyond this point	3:01
	and they have discovered larger rooms than any of the rooms	3:05
	that we have passed through, and they have seen	3:09
	more beautiful sites than any that you have seen today.	3:11
	This is not the end,	3:15
	this is just as far as we go today.	3:18
	That is why we call them	3:23
	the endless caverns.	3:27
	My friends, life for you and for me	3:30
	is one endless chain of experiences.	3:33
	There is, as Claypool says, no complete dead end,	3:38
	this is just as far as we have gone	3:42
	up to the present moment.	3:45
	This is only the end which we know	3:47
	and we know that there is a new beginning.	3:50
	Surely in Christ, we do believe	3:54
	that there are larger experiences and that there are	3:58
	deeper and more meaningful occasions,	4:00
	that there are grander visions and more beautiful sights	4:03
	and more enriching moments ahead of us	4:06
	than any that we have ever known thus far.	4:08
	Martin Luther, at the height of the reformation,	4:14
	when he was in the midst of turmoil,	4:19
	had a friend say to him one time, said,	4:23
	"Martin, when all of the princes and even the people,	4:26
	"when the church and the state have turned against you,	4:32
	"where will you be then?"	4:36
	And Martin Luther supposedly, so history says,	4:39
	did not flinch or hesitate for one moment.	4:43
	He said, "Then, when all the princes and all the people	4:45
	"have turned against me and when the church and the state	4:48
	"have turned against me, then as now, I will be in the hands	4:51
	"of almighty God."	4:56
	Or as Paul writes, "I am persuaded that neither life	5:01
	"nor death, nor height nor depth, nor angels	5:06
	"nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,	5:11
	"neither life, nor death,	5:15
	nor any other creature	5:18
	"shall be able to separate us	5:22
	from the love of God."	5:26
	In Christ Jesus our Lord.	5:28
	And to God be the glory for ever and ever.	5:33
	Amen.	5:39
	(organ music)	5:54
	(choir singing)	6:20
-	As the people of God let us affirm what we believe.	8:24
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	8:29
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	8:33
	to reconcile and make new.	8:36
	Who works in us and others by the Spirit.	8:39
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	8:43
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	8:47
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	8:50
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	8:55
	our judge and our hope in life, in death,	8:59
	in life beyond death, God is with us,	9:04
	we are not alone, thanks be to God.	9:08
	The Lord be with you.	9:12
-	And also with you.	9:15
-	Let us pray.	9:16
	Oh Lord, our God, this day in awe	9:30
	we are reminded that the cycle of life continues.	9:34
	Death to life, day to night, and night into morning.	9:39
	Birth and rebirth as feast, feelings, seasons, views.	9:45
	To proclaim for us once again the day of the Lord.	9:52
	We find ourselves moving through sorrow to joy,	9:58
	winter to spring, Lent into Easter.	10:03
	We confess that the child in us, our joy for life,	10:09
	is maturing in us, love and life begin again	10:14
	in the daily unfolding promises of your scriptures	10:21
	where you say, Behold, I make all things new.	10:25
	We acknowledge that it is in our prayers	10:31
	where transcendence penetrates the core of our commonness,	10:34
	transforming things as they are	10:41
	to things as they ought to be.	10:44
	The whole of our experience of who we are	10:48
	permeates our prayers this day.	10:51
	Oh Jesus the Christ, come quickly to our lives and hearts	10:56
	for time and again we desperately long	11:02
	to cradle the incarnate within our waiting hearts.	11:06
	To know the cross in our Lenten loathes of pain	11:11
	and discouragement.	11:16
	To herald Easter emerging from every liberation	11:19
	significant or small.	11:24
	To celebrate the Spirit in those opportunities	11:27
	we take to make creation new.	11:31
	Oh God, indeed at every turn, we find that it is life	11:35
	that links us to the Lord, and at every turn,	11:41
	love is revealed.	11:46
	Help us now this day as we turn again	11:49
	to be healed and to be redeemed,	11:54
	for it is through Christ our Lord that we pray,	11:58
	who taught us to pray together, saying,	12:02
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	12:06
	hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come,	12:09
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	12:13
	Give us this day our daily bread,	12:17
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	12:19
	who trespass against us.	12:23
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	12:26
	For thine is the kingdom and the power	12:31
	and the glory forever.	12:33
	Amen.	12:36
	(orchestra playing)	13:17
	(choir singing)	13:57
	(organ playing)	18:10
	(choir singing)	18:30
-	Almighty God, the source of all our comfort and joy,	19:37
	receive us and these our gifts as we dedicate them	19:41
	and ourselves anew unto you.	19:44
	Consecrate for us the resolves of this hour and	19:48
	lead us in your faithful service	19:52
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	19:54
	Amen.	19:57
	(organ playing)	20:00
	("Gloria in Excelsis Deo" by Johann Sebastian Bach)	20:06
	(choir singing)	20:43
	(organ playing)	23:00
	("Joy to the World" by George Frideric Handel)	23:03
	(choir singing)	23:06
-	The grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,	24:20
	the love of God and the communion and fellowship	24:25
	of the Holy Spirit be with you and with those	24:29
	whom you love this day and forever more.	24:36
	(acapella choir singing)	24:49
	(organ playing)	25:55

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (May 1, 1983)

Description:

Life is full of beginnings and endings; it is a series of transitions. In order to weather these changes well, we must do three things: Learn to let go of the old which is ending; remember that the grace of God is in the end of the old experience as well as the beginning of the new; and remember that a new beginning is possible for any of us at any time. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 24:28. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 05:41.
Key quotation: “My friends, life for you and for me is one endless chain of experiences. There is no complete dead end. This is just as far as we have gone up to the present moment. This is only the end which we know, and we know that there is a new beginning. Surely in Christ, we do believe that there are larger experiences and that there are deeper and more meaningful occasions, that there are grander visions and more beautiful sights, and more enriching moments ahead of us than any that we have ever known thus far.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r45q4s13s

Date:

May 1, 1983

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Liturgical Calendar:

Easter

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0146
ref7815_0uu
uachapelsermaud
duke:320302
dcrau001137
ark:/87924/r45q4s13s
ce11c3b0-ce1c-4bb9-a497-e2f2203e03b8

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

Rights:

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Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other 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.

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Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (May 1, 1983)

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1. Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (August 2, 1973)

2. Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (May 1, 1983)

3. Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (September 2, 1973)

Duke University Archives

Robert T. Young - "Beginning at the End" (May 1, 1983)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives