Robert C. Gregg - "The Fate of the Rich" (September 25, 1983)

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	(instrumental music)	0:03
	♪ Beautiful Savior ♪	7:42
	♪ Lord of the nations ♪	7:50
	♪ Son of God ♪	7:58
	♪ And Son of Man ♪	8:03
	♪ Glory and honor ♪	8:13
	♪ Praise, adoration ♪	8:20
	♪ Now and forevermore ♪	8:27
	♪ Be Thine ♪	8:34
	♪ Now and forevermore ♪	8:42
	♪ Be Thine ♪	8:56
	(organ music)	9:08
	♪ O how glorious, full of wonder ♪	9:46
	♪ Is Thy name o'er all the earth ♪	9:51
	♪ Thou who wrought creation's splendor ♪	9:55
	♪ Bringing suns and stars to birth ♪	10:00
	♪ Rapt in reverence we adore Thee ♪	10:04
	♪ Marveling at Thy mystic ways ♪	10:09
	♪ Humbly now we bow before Thee ♪	10:14
	♪ Lifting up our hearts in praise ♪	10:18
	♪ When we see Thy lights of heaven ♪	10:25
	♪ Moon and stars, Thy power displayed ♪	10:29
	♪ What is man that Thou shouldst love him ♪	10:34
	♪ Creature that Thy hand hath made ♪	10:39
	♪ Child of earth, yet full of yearning ♪	10:44
	♪ Mixture strange of good and ill ♪	10:48
	♪ From Thy ways so often turning ♪	10:53
	♪ Yet Thy love doth seek him still ♪	10:58
	♪ Thou hast given man dominion ♪	11:05
	♪ O'er thy wonders of Thy hand ♪	11:10
	♪ Made him fly with eagle pinion ♪	11:14
	♪ Master over sea and land ♪	11:19
	♪ Soaring spire and ruined city ♪	11:23
	♪ These our hopes and failures show ♪	11:28
	♪ Teach us more of human pity ♪	11:33
	♪ That we in Thine image grow ♪	11:37
	(organ music)	11:43
	♪ O how wondrous, O how glorious ♪	14:26
	♪ Is Thy name in every land ♪	14:29
	♪ Thou whose purpose moves before us ♪	14:33
	♪ Toward the goal that Thou hast planned ♪	14:37
	♪ 'Tis Thy will our hearts are seeking ♪	14:42
	♪ Conscious of our human need ♪	14:46
	♪ Spirit in our spirit speaking ♪	14:51
	♪ Make us sons of God indeed ♪	14:55
-	On what seems to be a day of confusion,	15:08
	we ask that you give thanks unto the Lord.	15:12
	Call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people,	15:15
	as we confess our sins before God and one another.	15:19
	You may be seated.	15:24
-	Oh Yahweh whose creative power brings into being	15:33
	all that lives.	15:38
	We have heard the challenge of Your prophets	15:40
	and heeded it not.	15:43
	We have received the call of Your Son	15:45
	to courageous discipleship	15:47
	and answered it not.	15:50
	Seeking our own ease, we neglect the hungry at our door.	15:52
	By our violence, we threaten Your earth and its inhabitants.	15:57
	Loyal to our own possessions, we deny your sovereignty.	16:02
	It is convenient, O Lord, to live this way,	16:08
	but it does not satisfy.	16:12
	Our faith withers.	16:15
	Our souls are unfed.	16:17
	Community is broken.	16:19
	Pardon us and sensing Your mercy,	16:21
	may we be moved to be merciful,	16:25
	to pursue justice,	16:29
	to be loyal to You, our Creator	16:31
	and our God.	16:34
	Through Him who is the Way, the Truth, the Life.	16:36
	Amen.	16:40
-	The Lord is in His holy temple.	16:43
	Let all the earth keep silence before Him.	16:46
	Hear these words of assurance	17:29
	as taken from the letter written to the Philippians,	17:31
	the fourth chapter, 11th through 13th verses.	17:35
	Not that I speak in respect of want	17:39
	for I have learned in whatsoever state I am	17:42
	there with to be content.	17:45
	I know both how to be abased	17:47
	and I know how to abound.	17:49
	Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed	17:52
	both to be full and to be hungry,	17:55
	both to abound and to suffer need.	17:57
	I can do all things through Christ	18:01
	which strengtheneth me.	18:03
	Therefore let us give thanks, for God is good	18:06
	and God's love is everlasting.	18:09
-	Thanks be to God	18:12
	whose love creates us.	18:14
	Thanks be to God	18:17
	whose mercy redeems us.	18:19
	Thanks be to God	18:21
	whose grace leads us into the future.	18:22
-	We welcome you on this 18th Sunday after Pentecost	18:27
	and we ask that you take notice	18:31
	of these announcements.	18:33
	The Second Annual Parents' Weekend Showcase Concert	18:36
	will be presented in Duke Chapel	18:40
	on Saturday, October 1st at 8:45.	18:41
	Under the direction of Dr. Paul R. Bryan	18:46
	and Dr. Wiley S. Quinn,	18:48
	the performance will feature the Duke University	18:50
	Wind Symphony, the Duke University Chorale	18:53
	and the Modern Black Mass Choir of Duke University.	18:56
	The public is cordially invited to attend without charge.	18:59
	Today there will be a recital held	19:03
	at 5 o'clock.	19:06
	It will be by William Peterson of Pomona College.	19:09
	Professor Peterson, who holds degrees from Oberlin College	19:13
	and the University of California at Berkeley	19:16
	will perform works by Buxtehude,	19:19
	Sweelinck, Frescobaldi, J.S. Bach,	19:22
	Messiaen and Franck.	19:25
	We are pleased to announce also the opening	19:29
	of Duke University's Mary Lou Williams	19:32
	Center for Black Culture.	19:34
	There will be an Open House in the center today	19:36
	from 1 to 4 p.m.	19:39
	It is located in 02 Union West.	19:41
	And in making that announcement, we also welcome	19:45
	Dr. Edward S. Hill, who is the director	19:47
	of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture	19:49
	and lecturer in the drama program	19:52
	as our lector today.	19:55
	We also would like for the Duke Chapel community	19:57
	to take notice of the new faces	20:00
	around Duke University Chapel.	20:02
	We have as our head chapel attendant	20:05
	who is still in the process of learning,	20:07
	Miss Sharon Adams.	20:08
	And today our speaker, our preacher,	20:10
	our minister is the Reverend Dr. Robert C. Gregg	20:14
	and we are pleased to welcome him in the Duke Chapel pulpit.	20:18
	He is presently Associate Professor	20:23
	of Patristics and Medieval Church History	20:25
	at Duke Divinity School.	20:27
	He is also the one of the Episcopal ministers	20:29
	of Trinity Church in Fuquay-Varina.	20:32
	We welcome Dr. Gregg and his family.	20:35
	We welcome the message	20:37
	and we look forward to hearing	20:39
	the Word of God.	20:41
-	Let us pray.	20:54
	O Lord our God,	20:56
	You have given Your Word to be a lamp unto our feet	20:58
	and a light unto our path.	21:03
	Grant us grace to receive Your truth in faith and love,	21:06
	that by it, we may be prepared	21:11
	unto every good word and work.	21:14
	To the glory of Your name,	21:17
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	21:19
	Our Old Testament lesson is from Amos	21:25
	chapter 6, verses 1 through 7.	21:28
	Shame on you who live at ease in Zion	21:36
	and you, untroubled on the hill of Samaria.	21:40
	Men of mark in the first of nations.	21:44
	You to whom the people of Israel resort.	21:48
	Go look at Calneh.	21:53
	Travel on to Hamath the Great.	21:55
	Then go down to Gath	21:58
	of the Philistines.	22:01
	Are you better than these kingdoms?	22:04
	Or is your territory greater than theirs?	22:07
	You who trust the evil days,	22:11
	thrust the evil days aside	22:14
	and make haste to establish violence.	22:16
	You who lull on beds inlaid with ivory	22:20
	and sprawl over your couches,	22:24
	feasting on lambs from the flock	22:27
	and fatted calves.	22:30
	You who pluck the strings of the lute	22:32
	and invent musical instruments like David.	22:35
	You who drink wine by the bowlful	22:39
	and lord yourselves with the riches of oil	22:42
	but are not grieved at the ruin of Joseph.	22:47
	Now therefore you shall heed,	22:52
	head the columns of exiles	22:56
	that will be the end of sprawling and revelry.	22:59
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	23:05
	The epistle lesson is from 1 Timothy chapter 6	23:10
	verses 6 through 9.	23:15
	They think religion should yield dividends	23:21
	and of course religion does yield high dividends,	23:25
	but only to the man whose resources are within him.	23:30
	We brought nothing into the world	23:35
	and for that matter, we cannot take anything from us	23:38
	when we leave.	23:41
	But if we have food and covering,	23:43
	we may rest content.	23:46
	Those who want to be rich, fall into temptations	23:50
	and snares and many foolish harmful desires,	23:53
	which plague men into ruin and perdition.	23:58
	Here ends the reading from the epistle lesson.	24:05
	(instrumental music)	24:27
	(singing in a foreign language)	24:38
-	Will the congregation please stand	26:54
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	26:56
	The gospel lesson is taken from Luke chapter 16,	27:02
	verses 19 through 31.	27:06
	There was once a rich man	27:13
	who dressed in purple and the finest linen	27:15
	and who feasted in great magnificence every day.	27:19
	At his gate covered with sores, lay a poor man named Lazarus	27:23
	who would have been glad to satisfy his hunger	27:30
	with the scraps from the rich man's table.	27:33
	Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.	27:37
	One day, the poor man died	27:42
	and was carried away by the angels	27:45
	to be with Abraham.	27:48
	The rich man also died and was buried	27:51
	and in Hades, where he was in torment,	27:54
	he looked up	27:57
	and there, far away was Abraham	27:59
	with Lazarus close behind him.	28:03
	Abraham, my father, he called out.	28:05
	Take pity on me.	28:09
	Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water	28:11
	to cool my tongue,	28:16
	for I am in agony in this fire.	28:19
	But Abraham said,	28:24
	Remember, my child, that all the good things	28:26
	fell to you while you were alive	28:31
	and all the bad to Lazarus.	28:33
	Now he has his consolation here	28:36
	and it is you who are now in agony.	28:42
	But that is not all.	28:47
	There is a great chasm fixed between us.	28:49
	No one from our side who wants to reach	28:53
	can cross it.	28:57
	And now, and none may pass from your side to us.	28:59
	Then Father, he replied,	29:05
	will you send him to my father's house	29:08
	where I have five brothers, to warn them,	29:10
	so that they too may not come to this place of torment?	29:13
	But Abraham said,	29:19
	They have Moses and the prophets.	29:21
	Let them listen to them.	29:25
	No, Father Abraham, he replied,	29:28
	but if someone from the dead visits them,	29:30
	they will repent.	29:34
	Abraham answered, If they do not listen to Moses	29:37
	and the prophets, they will pay no heed	29:41
	even if someone should rise from the dead.	29:44
	Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson, amen.	29:49
	(organ music)	29:54
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	30:03
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer Lord ♪	30:09
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	30:16
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	30:23
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	30:31
	♪ Now and ever more shall be ♪	30:38
-	It really is a little harsh,	31:10
	the effect of today's scripture texts	31:15
	on perfectly decent people like you and me	31:19
	on this gorgeous day which might have been spent outdoors.	31:23
	We bestirred ourselves.	31:30
	We put on our more reputable clothing	31:32
	and we came to church with a reasonable sense	31:37
	of gratitude for our lives, for our health	31:41
	and for our prosperity.	31:46
	Running a little short of cash at the end of the month,	31:51
	as long as food points remain	31:55
	is still prosperity by all going global standards.	31:59
	And the truth is that I do feel	32:07
	fairly prosperous and privileged these days.	32:10
	Some holy confirmation of my well-being,	32:17
	some affirmation would have been appreciated,	32:21
	but not this Sunday.	32:28
	Not this Sunday with its appointed texts	32:31
	and readings which are blunt	32:34
	and they are potentially unsettling,	32:39
	should they be taken seriously.	32:43
	Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory,	32:48
	who drink wine in bowls	32:52
	and anoint themselves with fine oils.	32:54
	They shall now be the first to go into exile,	32:57
	and that warning from Amos	33:03
	is followed by exhortations in 1 Timothy.	33:05
	As for the rich in this world,	33:10
	charge them not to be haughty.	33:12
	They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds,	33:16
	liberal and generous,	33:21
	laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future.	33:24
	Then we heard Luke's version of a story,	33:32
	a story with a long history in several cultures.	33:35
	A story about the way tables get turned	33:39
	in the afterlife.	33:43
	The reversal of fortunes.	33:44
	Earlier in Luke's gospel, Mary had sung a song	33:49
	of the Savior God.	33:54
	He has put down the mighty from their thrones	33:58
	and exalted those of low degree.	34:01
	He has filled the hungry with good things,	34:05
	and the rich, He has sent empty away.	34:08
	And now we learn of the rich man,	34:15
	tormented in Hades, desperate for a few drops of water	34:18
	and the other man, Lazarus, the beggar,	34:25
	no pauper in the afterlife,	34:29
	but at ease in the company of Father Abraham.	34:33
	A hellish future awaits the rich and prosperous	34:41
	when things get reversed.	34:45
	When things get set right by God's standard,	34:49
	the well to do will get leveled.	34:52
	For this happy news,	34:59
	we got out of our beds of ivory this morning?	35:02
	Box office receipts indicate that in some of its forms,	35:08
	we like very much the tale of reversed fortunes,	35:15
	trading places and chapters in the life of Rocky	35:20
	the underdog have had their appeal.	35:24
	Do you remember Dave Stoller?	35:29
	He tried to worship Team Cinzano.	35:34
	He tried to become Italian.	35:39
	His friends tried through him,	35:44
	to transcend the status of Cutters	35:47
	in the town gown classism of Bloomington, Indiana.	35:51
	And the whole drama came down to a bicycle race.	35:57
	A bicycle race pitting Dave Stoller against Rod.	36:04
	Rod, the ultra prepster	36:10
	with his fraternity brothers.	36:15
	The magic, the magic of Breaking Away	36:19
	was its invitation to identify	36:25
	with the quest of Dave Stoller,	36:27
	even if as a matter of historical and social fact	36:31
	you and I have much more in common with Rod,	36:36
	Rod the proud, the petulant,	36:40
	the privileged.	36:45
	That film did not make the prosperous uneasy.	36:49
	I am prosperous, I enjoyed it.	36:53
	The film did not make the prosperous uneasy	36:58
	both because the Cutters were not utterly destitute	37:01
	and also because their triumph	37:07
	could not be thought to have changed anything permanently	37:10
	in that town's structure or expectations.	37:13
	People are sensitive about their wealth	37:23
	or lack of it.	37:29
	That's why those who are ostentatious	37:32
	with their credit cards	37:35
	as well as those who talk too much	37:37
	about their relative poverty	37:39
	cause us to squirm.	37:43
	There are some assumptions about prosperity and wealth	37:47
	that we live with and that we live by,	37:51
	but we do not choose to examine.	37:55
	Like the presumed link between bank worth	38:02
	and human worth,	38:06
	between prosperity and intelligence,	38:09
	between financial well-being and a career of diligent work,	38:14
	as if most of us had not come to our life of privilege	38:20
	either by birth or through someone else's labor.	38:25
	The prosperity we enjoy threatens	38:31
	to say something important about us,	38:34
	something defining,	38:37
	perhaps even something accusatory.	38:40
	So we become edgy.	38:46
	People become edgy	38:50
	and this causes some of the well-heeled	38:53
	to ridicule the impoverished,	38:55
	to raise questions about their diligence	38:59
	and it causes some of the poor	39:04
	to believe themselves superior to the rich,	39:06
	at least in virtue, since all gains are supposed	39:08
	to have been ill-gotten, fruits of exploitation.	39:13
	The issues, the suspicions, and the feelings	39:21
	are ancient and they are modern.	39:25
	In the second century,	39:31
	a prosperous parishioner	39:35
	hired a theologian named Clement	39:38
	to solve a problem for him.	39:41
	He wanted it demonstrated	39:45
	that Jesus could not have meant exactly what He said	39:48
	when He compared the odds on a rich man's entry	39:53
	into the kingdom of God with those	39:56
	of a camel's passage through the eye of a needle.	40:00
	And I know of a very devout and wealthy believer	40:06
	who today seeks assurances from professors of divinity	40:12
	that being a Christian is possible without sharing	40:17
	all of one's substance with those in need.	40:22
	I sometimes fantasize with credit to Peter De Vries	40:28
	about a modern church whose front door	40:33
	is in the shape of a needle's eye,	40:36
	the donation of an anxious benefactor.	40:39
	The issues are old and they are presented	40:46
	boldly and with no softening features	40:51
	in Jesus' parable about justice beyond the grave.	40:56
	While alive in this world, the rich man	41:02
	ignored the plight of the diseased man	41:05
	who waited a handout at the gates of his estate.	41:08
	He was even unconcerned with keeping his dogs	41:14
	from adding to Lazarus' miseries.	41:19
	Few lived more sumptuously than the rich man	41:24
	and few knew a more wretched existence than the beggar.	41:28
	And so things went until both men died,	41:33
	but beyond that threshold, all was changed.	41:38
	From Hades,	41:46
	where he is stewing in his own juices,	41:49
	the rich man looks across a broad chasm and sees the beggar.	41:54
	And the beggar reclines in comfort,	42:01
	where the angels have deposited him.	42:03
	The rich man is in shouting distance	42:09
	and he shouts to Abraham to send Lazarus	42:11
	with some drops of water.	42:15
	And in that action, we learn more about the rich man.	42:18
	He did know Lazarus.	42:23
	He did recognize him as the one	42:26
	waiting as his gate.	42:30
	He remembers him as a nobody	42:32
	and he now aims to have Lazarus do	42:37
	a servant's task for him.	42:40
	The rich man is not only in a bad spot,	42:46
	he persists in that same callous behavior	42:50
	that landed him there.	42:54
	He is what we call a very slow learner.	42:57
	So Abraham explains the new state of affairs.	43:04
	Son, remember that you in your lifetime	43:11
	received your good things	43:13
	and Lazarus, in the same way, evil things.	43:16
	But now he is comforted here	43:21
	and you are in anguish	43:24
	and none may cross from where you are to us.	43:27
	The rich man still thinks Lazarus can be used	43:37
	to run errands, but he now realizes	43:42
	that his own cause is lost.	43:46
	Yet there is one remaining possibility.	43:50
	Would Abraham send the beggar back into the world	43:57
	to warn his brothers,	44:01
	to warn them about the price the ungenerous rich will pay	44:04
	at the moment of truth?	44:10
	Answer, it is no use.	44:13
	If they have not learned from Moses and the prophets,	44:19
	the miraculous reappearance of a man who has died	44:23
	will not prove convincing.	44:27
	If they were to change their lives,	44:31
	they would have done it on the basis of available evidence.	44:33
	They are what they are.	44:39
	And there the matter ends.	44:43
	And there the parable ends,	44:47
	not apparently with the intention	44:52
	of creating guilt.	44:56
	Not apparently with the intention	45:00
	of shaming the hearers of the story	45:03
	into acts of mercy, charity.	45:06
	That the wealthy are thick-skinned.	45:12
	That the wealthy are prone to cynicism	45:18
	when appeals are made to their conscience	45:22
	is a fact of life, the parable faces squarely.	45:25
	The story is from beginning to end a warning.	45:33
	If it functions as a scare tactic,	45:40
	at least this warning does not have	45:45
	the character of a bluff.	45:47
	Jesus and His followers plainly believed	45:51
	that the moment of justice,	45:55
	the moment of reversal,	45:58
	the time of the casting down of the mighty	46:01
	and the elevation of the meek,	46:03
	the time when the blessings of the kingdom	46:06
	would be possessed by the poor was at hand.	46:08
	Will this revolution become a reality ever?	46:19
	Are we to await a moment in time	46:28
	or a moment beyond time	46:31
	in which things will be set in a new order	46:33
	with God's definition of fairness prevailing?	46:37
	Like many other modern persons,	46:45
	I have a very difficult time organizing my mind	46:49
	and my life around that concrete possibility.	46:53
	But simply being in this place today	47:02
	and being confronted by these texts and this story,	47:05
	this story which is not a foolish tale	47:10
	about unimportant matters,	47:13
	simply being in this place	47:16
	forces a reassessment of what I make	47:19
	of my privileged status in this present	47:24
	and in whatever future I have.	47:28
	And if one thinks the prospect	47:33
	of a final judgment, a final accounting is unthinkable,	47:36
	then she or he must brood seriously	47:42
	over the alternative.	47:46
	The conditions which produce the hope of a great reversal	47:51
	are just as difficult and more painful to comprehend.	47:55
	The prospect of the continuation.	48:03

Priest	Continuation of inhumane, brutal treatment	0:03
	of human beings, by human beings,	0:08
	with no redress, with no reparations,	0:11
	with no final justice.	0:15
	The clean, unambiguous dispensation	0:22
	of punishment and reward in that story	0:27
	of the rich man and the beggar	0:30
	reminds us of just the clarity we do not have.	0:33
	We cannot possess.	0:38
	For us, as people of hope and belief,	0:43
	the real challenge lies in the prospect	0:49
	of an unresolved present and future.	0:53
	The prospect of a story of humanity	0:59
	which runs to the end and through the end	1:01
	with a mix yield of love and cruelty,	1:04
	victory and tragedy.	1:09
	A reversal of fortunes	1:16
	is something you and I might long for,	1:17
	especially if we managed to disengage ourselves	1:21
	from the rich man and his insensitivities	1:24
	and his deserved fate,	1:27
	but the reality of that prospect, for me at least,	1:31
	takes the from of a summons,	1:36
	a question placed directly before our lives,	1:39
	a test put to my life by the Lord of life,	1:42
	a test to discover what can be counted authentic	1:48
	about my life and in it.	1:53
	What are we, who are the privileged	2:00
	to do with with our prosperity?	2:04
	Jesus' story provides a negative example.	2:09
	The rich man is the upholstered self,	2:14
	the one with no awareness of his connection with the beggar.	2:18
	He is the inhuman human,	2:24
	immune to the law and the prophets, like his brothers.	2:28
	No miracles are offered.	2:34
	They would make no difference.	2:37
	A rich man,	2:42
	a man dead to the needs of another man,	2:45
	a dead man.	2:50
	His story is over.	2:53
	But for the hearer, there remains opportunity.	2:57
	If you recognize anything of yourself	3:03
	in that man's treatment of Lazarus, change.	3:05
	Not later, now.	3:08
	Are we left with a warning,	3:16
	dressed in the story	3:20
	of the rich man?	3:23
	Tend to those in need	3:25
	or count on everlasting torment.	3:29
	I think that is not the parable's last word	3:35
	to the privileged, to people like us	3:39
	who's lives are gifted.	3:43
	In the experience and memory	3:49
	from which we draw our identity,	3:51
	in the law and prophets,	3:55
	in the life of the people marked by the name of Christ,	3:58
	there can be found,	4:01
	not a threat but an invitation.	4:03
	It has been available.	4:11
	It is not new.	4:14
	But it is an invitation	4:19
	which means it is not something compulsory.	4:23
	So while we are busy in the enjoyment of our lives,	4:28
	it is something that could be overlooked.	4:31
	Could be ignored.	4:35
	The one who stands at the center of this community,	4:40
	whose own story has sharper edges	4:43
	than the stories he told,	4:47
	acted out another kind of reversal	4:50
	and he invited his followers to do the same.	4:54
	It is not as if we have not heard of this before.	4:58
	You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ	5:04
	that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor	5:07
	so that by His poverty, you might become rich.	5:11
	What follows from His servanthood	5:19
	is an invitation to become servants to those in need	5:22
	and in spending our lives to discover our lives.	5:29
	That is an invitation to, a way,	5:39
	of being in the world which puzzles the world.	5:42
	It also gives the world an element of surprise	5:48
	it sorely needs and finally, cannot do without.	5:52
	We are those to whom much has been given.	5:58
	The chief gift, the authentic privilege.	6:04
	If we are to trust the lore	6:09
	and experience of our family, this community.	6:12
	The chief gift, the authentic privilege	6:18
	is to share the life of the one who came among us,	6:24
	as one who serves.	6:29
	In the process we discover, again,	6:33
	that that life has it's own logic,	6:35
	it's own wisdom, it's own kind of power.	6:39
	And that kind of reversal of the way you and I live	6:45
	promises to reveal what is durable and credible in our lives	6:50
	because it breaks love open	6:55
	as love has been meant to be broken open.	6:58
	To miss an invitation of that sort	7:04
	is to run the risk of missing the point	7:09
	of having a privileged life.	7:12
	So you and I are meant to hear the invitation	7:18
	and then to act upon it.	7:23
	Let it be so.	7:27
	Amen.	7:30
	(hymnal organ music)	7:38
Female lector	Let us take heed	10:26
	of where we are in our lives	10:26
	and let us affirm what we believe.	10:29
-	[Lector And Congregation] We believe in God	10:32
	who has created and is created	10:34
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	10:37
	to reconcile and make new,	10:40
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	10:43
	We trust God who calls us to be the church	10:46
	to celebrate life and it's fullest,	10:51
	to love and serve others,	10:54
	to seek justice and resist evil,	10:57
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	10:59
	our judge and our hope,	11:04
	in life, in death, in life beyond death,	11:06
	God is with us.	11:11
	We are not alone.	11:13
	Thanks be to God.	11:15
	The Lord be with you.	11:17
Congregation	And also with you.	11:18
Female lector	Let us pray.	11:21
	Oh Lord, God, who delights in a clean heart,	11:33
	we do not come relying on our personal righteousness	11:38
	but trusting solely in the merits of your beloved son,	11:42
	our redeemer, Jesus the Christ.	11:45
	For His sake, forgive us our sins.	11:49
	Create in us a clean heart	11:52
	and renew a loyal spirit within us.	11:54
	Remove from our minds all evil desires.	11:58
	Cast out from our lives all greed and envy,	12:02
	all anger and hatred, all pride and vanity.	12:06
	Spare us, dear Lord, from an accusing conscious.	12:11
	Fill our souls with love for You	12:16
	and a spirit of service to all people.	12:19
	Grant us strength to resist and overcome temptation.	12:23
	Clothe us with the garment of righteousness	12:28
	that Jesus won for us on calvary.	12:32
	Cause us to grow in grace before You	12:35
	and to increase in works of love	12:37
	as long as we live.	12:41
	And when our lives come to a close,	12:43
	give us a place with You in Your kingdom.	12:46
	We offer this prayer to You in the name of the one	12:50
	who taught His disciples to pray saying...	12:53
-	[Lector And Congregation] Our father, Who art in heaven,	12:56
	hallowed be thy name.	13:00
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done	13:02
	on earth as it is in heaven.	13:06
	Give us this day our daily bread	13:08
	and forgive us our trespasses	13:12
	as we forgive those who trespassed against us.	13:14
	And lead us not into temptation	13:18
	but deliver us from evil.	13:21
	For Thine is the kingdom and the power	13:23
	and the glory forever, amen.	13:26
	(hymnal organ music)	13:33
	(choir singing hymn)	15:08
	(hymnal organ music)	20:30
Female Lector	Oh God, these gifts are offered to you,	21:54
	knowing that it is a small acknowledgement	21:57
	of the many blessings we have received from you.	21:59
	Receive this offering dear Lord	22:03
	and sanctify it unto Thyself	22:05
	that it made be used to the glory of Your kingdom.	22:07
	Help us to continue to grow in our giving	22:11
	until we learn to wholly give of ourselves	22:14
	in spirit and in physical labor and in truth.	22:17
	In Christ's name, amen.	22:21
	(hymnal organ music)	22:27
	Receive the blessing of God	26:13
	now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly	26:15
	above all that we ask or think,	26:19
	according to the power that worketh in us,	26:21
	unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus.	26:25
	Throughout all ages,	26:29
	world without end, amen.	26:31
	(choir singing hymn)	26:39
	(organ music)	27:50

Item Info

Title:

Robert C. Gregg - "The Fate of the Rich" (September 25, 1983)

Description:

The Gospel parable, and the other lectionary texts, provide a clear vision for the revolutionary reversal Jesus and his followers believed was imminent: the rich would be brought low and the poor would be lifted up. While this judgment of God's justice serves as a warning, it also serves as an invitation to join in the life of Christ, who gave up his wealth of divinity and became poor that we might be made rich. This is the true privilege. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 31:10. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 07:33.
Key quotation: “The chief gift, the authentic privilege is to share the life of the one who came among us, as one who serves. In the process we discover, again, that that life has its own logic, its own wisdom, its own kind of power. And that kind of reversal of the way you and I live promises to reveal what is durable and credible in our lives because it breaks love open as love has been meant to be broken open.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r45q4s167

Date:

September 25, 1983

Speaker:

Gregg, Robert C.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0170
ref7863_nns
uachapelsermaud
duke:321135
dcrau001161
ark:/87924/r45q4s167
3d2adf7a-04d5-419e-9fce-01cfded9a7f9

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

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

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Robert C. Gregg - "The Fate of the Rich" (September 25, 1983)

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