Charlene P. Kammerer - "Not Just Wishful Thinking" (November 27, 1983)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(contemplative choral music) | 0:03 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07 | |
(angelic choral music) | 1:13 | |
(reverent organ music) | 1:31 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 3:22 | |
(reverent choral music) | 3:39 | |
(reverent choral music) | 7:21 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 8:27 | |
♪ Let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 8:31 | |
♪ Sing alleluia, praise His name forevermore ♪ | 8:33 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 8:38 | |
♪ Let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 8:43 | |
♪ Sing alleluia, praise His name forevermore ♪ | 8:45 | |
♪ Shout, sing, and dance ♪ | 8:50 | |
(lilting choir music) | 8:53 | |
♪ Shout, sing, and dance ♪ | 9:04 | |
(lilting choir music) | 9:07 | |
♪ Shout, sing, let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 9:14 | |
♪ Let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 9:18 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 9:20 | |
(lilting choir music) | 9:24 | |
♪ Shout, sing, let songs of joy break forth ♪ | 9:31 | |
♪ Sing hallelujah ♪ | 9:34 | |
♪ Sing for joy ♪ | 9:35 | |
♪ Sing hallelujah ♪ | 9:36 | |
♪ Sing for joy ♪ | 9:37 | |
(lilting choir music) | 9:39 | |
♪ Praise his name forevermore ♪ | 9:43 | |
(pitch pipe blows) | 9:55 | |
(upbeat choir music) | 10:01 | |
(pitch pipe blows) | 11:14 | |
(lively choir music) | 11:20 | |
♪ Yes, my Lord ♪ | 13:14 | |
(reflective choir music) | 13:24 | |
(lively choir music) | 13:37 | |
(reverent organ music) | 14:11 | |
(reverent choir music) | 15:10 | |
- | Rest assured that the God whom we gather | 17:20 |
to worship in His glorious goodness | 17:24 | |
is ready and able to respond personally to you | 17:26 | |
in your particular need and mood. | 17:30 | |
Some of you are here ready to shout with the psalmist, | 17:34 | |
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord." | 17:36 | |
Some of you are here who are echoing | 17:40 | |
the anguish of the psalmist, | 17:42 | |
"Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. | 17:44 | |
"Lord, hear my voice." | 17:48 | |
Some of you are here looking for direction from the Word | 17:52 | |
of God, "More to be desired are they than gold, | 17:54 | |
"sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." | 18:00 | |
Some of you are here, yearning for fellowship with God. | 18:04 | |
"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, | 18:08 | |
"so panteth my soul after thee, O God." | 18:12 | |
Come on this first Sunday in Advent. | 18:16 | |
Let us worship God. | 18:20 | |
If we are not careful, if we are not alert, | 18:26 | |
even our awareness of the calendar | 18:31 | |
can become an avenue to sin. | 18:33 | |
The twin goods of recollection and anticipation | 18:36 | |
can hypnotize us, so that we do not see | 18:40 | |
the crucial issues of our day. | 18:44 | |
From such sin, Good Lord deliver us. | 18:49 | |
Let us confess together. | 18:53 | |
Come, O Yahweh, to this occasion of repentance. | 19:09 | |
Open your ears to our confession, | 19:14 | |
even as we open our souls to your mercy. | 19:18 | |
Our sin weighs heavy upon us. | 19:22 | |
Our guilt is a burden. | 19:25 | |
We neglect your world and its peoples. | 19:27 | |
Lusting after privilege and place, we misuse our power. | 19:31 | |
Nations rage, and the ground trembles | 19:36 | |
with the machines of war. | 19:40 | |
The Earth is stained with blood. | 19:42 | |
Love is thwarted, and the neighbor injured. | 19:45 | |
Forgive, O Lord, our sin. | 19:49 | |
Arouse in us a passion for the wellbeing of the other. | 19:52 | |
Empower us to realize your vision of a world at peace, | 19:57 | |
that tools of war will give way to implements of healing, | 20:03 | |
that reconciliation will replace division, | 20:08 | |
that nations will embrace your lordship. | 20:12 | |
And in this season of your coming, | 20:16 | |
quicken our sense of mystery and surprise | 20:19 | |
through Jesus Christ, our light and our salvation. | 20:22 | |
Amen. | 20:28 | |
My friends, my sisters, my brothers, | 21:09 | |
when we confess, the past, our pasts | 21:12 | |
do not vanish, but they change, | 21:16 | |
and we are no longer enslaved to them. | 21:22 | |
There is before us a future that is fresh | 21:26 | |
and new and full of possibility. | 21:30 | |
This is what happens when we confess. | 21:35 | |
Know and believe the good news, that in Jesus who was | 21:40 | |
and is the Christ, you and I are forgiven. | 21:44 | |
Let us give thanks, for God is good, | 21:51 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 21:53 | |
(congregation murmurs) | 21:57 | |
His love creates us. | 21:59 | |
- | Thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us. | 22:01 |
Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future. | 22:05 | |
- | It is a delight to welcome this faithful remnant | 22:14 |
to the chapel and the service of worship | 22:18 | |
on this first Sunday in Advent. | 22:21 | |
We can tell that most of the students are not with us yet, | 22:24 | |
and we look forward to their return | 22:27 | |
and worshiping with us in the days ahead. | 22:30 | |
We welcome as our guests this morning, | 22:37 | |
the Broughton Vocal Ensemble, who have provided us | 22:40 | |
the gift of their voices and their talent this morning. | 22:44 | |
I understand that this is their sixth time | 22:49 | |
to be at Duke Chapel, and we anticipate | 22:52 | |
their coming back in the months ahead. | 22:56 | |
We are grateful for your presence | 23:00 | |
and the gift that you have brought us. | 23:01 | |
Mr. Kraig McBroom is the leader of this ensemble. | 23:05 | |
Been asked to let you know that Advent booklets, | 23:12 | |
prepared by the worship committee, | 23:17 | |
are available to you, to each of you this morning, | 23:21 | |
and will be made available to you | 23:23 | |
at the hostess desk at the rear of the chapel. | 23:25 | |
And you may pick those up on your way out. | 23:29 | |
This booklet of writings reflect | 23:33 | |
on the meaning of Advent, as we move | 23:37 | |
toward that day of Christ's birth. | 23:41 | |
It is a good way to discipline yourself | 23:46 | |
for a time of meditation and reflection each day, | 23:49 | |
and do encourage you to pick up | 23:54 | |
one of those before you leave. | 23:55 | |
We look forward, this morning, to the sermon | 23:59 | |
by the Reverend Charlene Kammerer, | 24:01 | |
whose sermon this morning is Not Just Wishful Thinking. | 24:05 | |
- | Let us pray. | 24:17 |
O Lord our God, open our eyes, | 24:20 | |
that we may behold wondrous things out of your Word. | 24:22 | |
And let the words of my mouth and the meditation | 24:25 | |
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, | 24:28 | |
O Lord, our strength and our redeemer, amen. | 24:31 | |
The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah, | 24:36 | |
chapter two, verses one through five. | 24:39 | |
"The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, | 24:42 | |
"saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. | 24:45 | |
"It shall come to pass in the latter days | 24:48 | |
"that the mountain of the house of the Lord | 24:51 | |
"shall be established as the highest of the mountains, | 24:53 | |
"and shall be raised above the hills. | 24:56 | |
"And all the nations shall flow to it. | 24:58 | |
"And many people shall come and say, | 25:01 | |
"Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, | 25:03 | |
"to the house of the God of Jacob, | 25:06 | |
"that he may teach us His ways, | 25:09 | |
"and that we may walk in His paths. | 25:10 | |
"For out of Zion shall go forth the law | 25:13 | |
"and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. | 25:16 | |
"He shall judge between the nations | 25:19 | |
"and shall decide for many peoples, | 25:21 | |
"and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, | 25:23 | |
"and their spears into pruning hooks. | 25:26 | |
"Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, | 25:29 | |
"neither shall they learn war anymore. | 25:32 | |
"O house of Jacob, come. | 25:35 | |
"Let us walk in the light of the Lord." | 25:37 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old Testament lesson. | 25:39 | |
The epistle lesson is from Romans, | 25:43 | |
chapter 13, verses eight through 14. | 25:45 | |
"Owe no one anything, except to love one other, | 25:49 | |
"for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. | 25:53 | |
"The commandments, you shall not commit adultery, | 25:56 | |
"you shall not kill, you shall not steal, | 25:59 | |
"you shall not covet, and any other commandments, | 26:02 | |
"are summed up in this sentence: | 26:05 | |
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. | 26:07 | |
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor. | 26:10 | |
"Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. | 26:13 | |
"Besides this, you know what hour it is, | 26:16 | |
"how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. | 26:19 | |
"For salvation is nearer to us now | 26:22 | |
"than when we first believed. | 26:24 | |
"The night is far gone. | 26:26 | |
"The day is at hand. | 26:28 | |
"Let us then cast off the works of darkness | 26:30 | |
"and put on the armor of light. | 26:33 | |
"Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, | 26:35 | |
"not in reveling and drunkenness, | 26:39 | |
"not in debauchery and licentiousness, | 26:42 | |
"not in quarreling and jealousy. | 26:44 | |
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions | 26:47 | |
"for the flesh to gratify its desires." | 26:50 | |
Here ends the reading from the epistle lesson. | 26:53 | |
(reverent choral music) | 27:19 | |
Will the congregation please stand | 30:00 | |
for the reading of the Gospel lesson? | 30:02 | |
The Gospel lesson is from Matthew, | 30:08 | |
chapter 24, verses 36 to 44. | 30:10 | |
"But of that day and hour, no one knows, | 30:14 | |
"not even the angels of heaven, | 30:17 | |
"nor the Son, but the Father only. | 30:18 | |
"As were the days of Noah, so will be | 30:22 | |
"the coming of the Son of Man. | 30:24 | |
"For as in those days before the flood, | 30:27 | |
"they were eating and drinking, | 30:30 | |
"marrying and giving in marriage, | 30:31 | |
"until the day when Noah entered the ark. | 30:34 | |
"They did not know until the flood | 30:37 | |
"came and swept them all away. | 30:38 | |
"So will be the coming of the Son of Man. | 30:41 | |
"Then, two men will be in the field. | 30:44 | |
"One is taken and one is left. | 30:47 | |
"Two women will be grinding at the mill. | 30:50 | |
"One is taken and one is left. | 30:52 | |
"Watch, therefore, for you do not know | 30:55 | |
"on what day your Lord is coming. | 30:57 | |
"But know this, that if the householder had known | 31:00 | |
"in what part of the night the thief was coming, | 31:04 | |
"he would have watched and would not have | 31:06 | |
"let his house be broken into. | 31:09 | |
"Therefore, you also must be ready, | 31:11 | |
"for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." | 31:14 | |
Here ends the reading from the Gospel lesson, amen. | 31:18 | |
(triumphant organ music) | 31:22 | |
(triumphant choir music) | 31:30 | |
- | Let us pray. | 32:29 |
O Lord our God, prepare our hearts and minds | 32:34 | |
to receive you and your Word once again | 32:38 | |
in this holy season. | 32:42 | |
In Christ's name we pray, amen. | 32:44 | |
Ready or not, Advent is here. | 32:52 | |
I was thinking this morning that perhaps for the rest | 32:57 | |
of the season, we might need to engage | 33:00 | |
the Duke basketball players to light our Advent wreath. | 33:02 | |
We have survived the effects of The Day After film | 33:09 | |
this week, at least temporarily. | 33:13 | |
And I know that our belts are all loosened | 33:17 | |
following our annual Thanksgiving binge | 33:20 | |
of festival and feast. | 33:23 | |
The Soviets this week have backed away | 33:27 | |
from the arms table of control talk, | 33:29 | |
apparently in reaction | 33:34 | |
to the continued deployment of U.S. missiles. | 33:35 | |
A ceasefire in the PLO civil war | 33:40 | |
in Lebanon has been negotiated. | 33:44 | |
A. James Armstrong, President of the National Council | 33:48 | |
of Churches and a bishop in the United Methodist Church, | 33:53 | |
resigned both positions last week, | 33:58 | |
citing personal problems, | 34:03 | |
physical and emotional exhaustion as the reasons. | 34:05 | |
Perhaps Linda Robins says it best, | 34:12 | |
"The long road to Christmas begins | 34:16 | |
"in absolute darkness and winds painfully | 34:19 | |
"through Advent, one candle at a time." | 34:23 | |
The vision this prophet Isaiah had so long ago | 34:30 | |
still, to me, seems rather farfetched. | 34:35 | |
It is a direct message from God alone. | 34:40 | |
Our pilgrimage in this Advent season begins | 34:45 | |
by hearing this prophet speak God's vision for the world. | 34:48 | |
All the nations are on their own pilgrimage | 34:54 | |
to Zion, the holy dwelling of God, | 34:58 | |
to be taught the ways of Yahweh. | 35:02 | |
The Lord God Yahweh will intervene | 35:06 | |
and arbitrate international disputes, | 35:10 | |
and a universal peace will follow. | 35:14 | |
That is the promise from Isaiah. | 35:18 | |
"Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, | 35:21 | |
"neither shall they learn war anymore." | 35:25 | |
Here it is that the very desires of God are put forth, | 35:29 | |
and central to these yearnings is a new age, | 35:35 | |
a time characterized by faith and righteousness, | 35:40 | |
by brotherhood and sisterhood. | 35:44 | |
Advent once again has dawned upon us, | 35:49 | |
containing at once both threat and promise. | 35:54 | |
I believe that today's scripture | 35:59 | |
reveals both threat and promise, | 36:01 | |
for the themes are all mixed up, | 36:05 | |
and we are bombarded by signs of Advent: | 36:08 | |
readiness, surprise, warning, | 36:13 | |
appropriate behavior, and things that are new. | 36:18 | |
Isaiah's vision to us must be viewed | 36:24 | |
in the context of history and of hope, | 36:27 | |
for even the Holy Scriptures do not permit us, I think, | 36:32 | |
to indulge in the illusion that a time will come | 36:37 | |
within history when there will be no more wars. | 36:41 | |
Isaiah was speaking about what will happen at the very end | 36:47 | |
of history, not as possibility within history. | 36:51 | |
However, we are still called to work | 36:57 | |
to eliminate the causes of war. | 37:00 | |
But we are told that we should not cherish extravagant hopes | 37:04 | |
which will be doomed to inevitable disappointment. | 37:09 | |
The Word of God is clear at this point. | 37:14 | |
Abolition of war is possible only when God's purpose | 37:19 | |
has triumphed in the very consummation of history. | 37:23 | |
Only when the nations have been taught God's ways | 37:28 | |
and walk in those paths, will, in fact, | 37:33 | |
swords be beaten into plowshares. | 37:37 | |
Yes, Isaiah did have a beautiful vision, | 37:41 | |
but peace for all the world and all God's creation | 37:46 | |
rests in no human program or plan, | 37:51 | |
rather in obedience to divine law. | 37:55 | |
What then, where then is the hope | 38:01 | |
that casts Advent into our lives? | 38:06 | |
Isaiah reminds us that we are called to recognize | 38:11 | |
and remember God's centrality in our lives. | 38:16 | |
We are called to walk in God's path | 38:22 | |
and feel and know the Lord's divine light | 38:26 | |
shining upon us and within us. | 38:30 | |
There is a Hebrew word for hope, qavah, | 38:36 | |
whose root means to twist and to twine. | 38:41 | |
It is a word that seems to fit our brand of hoping well, | 38:46 | |
for hope is the possibility that this good thing | 38:52 | |
will happen for us, | 38:57 | |
and that bad thing will not happen. | 39:00 | |
And we, all of us, spend most of our lives | 39:03 | |
twisting together a hundred little strands of hope | 39:08 | |
to make a cable strong enough | 39:13 | |
to pull ourselves through our lives. | 39:16 | |
Frederick Buechner reminds us of hope | 39:21 | |
in his reflections on Advent, | 39:24 | |
which he has called The Hungering Dark. | 39:27 | |
He suggests that for us and our time, hope is | 39:32 | |
the hardest and the rarest virtue among people everywhere. | 39:37 | |
We all still have our hopes, of course, | 39:43 | |
this election year, especially, jaded as we become; | 39:48 | |
the hope that out of all of these faces and voices | 39:53 | |
that we come to know, will emerge a person we can trust; | 39:58 | |
the hope that if the lives of a Gandhi, | 40:04 | |
a John F. Kennedy, a Martin Luther King Jr. | 40:09 | |
cannot transform our hearts, | 40:14 | |
then maybe at least their deaths will break our hearts | 40:17 | |
enough at least to let a little of their humanity in; | 40:23 | |
the hope that if real peace does not in fact | 40:29 | |
come to the world, at least the worst of the killings, | 40:33 | |
in Beiruts all over the world, will stop; | 40:39 | |
the hope that as individuals, you and I | 40:44 | |
can put at bay the falsehoods, | 40:48 | |
cruelties, and disappointments | 40:52 | |
we do battle with all of the time; | 40:54 | |
these familiar old hopes. | 40:59 | |
For most of us, all of our hopes twisted together | 41:03 | |
do make enough hope to live by, hope enough to see | 41:08 | |
a little way into this darkness. | 41:14 | |
In this season of hoping for the impossible, | 41:20 | |
often little children will lead us. | 41:24 | |
One of the reasons is that they are | 41:29 | |
still young enough to believe in mystery. | 41:31 | |
The face of my son transformed fantasy | 41:36 | |
to hope this weekend when he finally got | 41:41 | |
enough courage to sit on Santa's lap. | 41:45 | |
After several years of fear and shyness | 41:50 | |
and being overwhelmed, he was able | 41:56 | |
to march up to the throne, holding his cousin's hand. | 41:58 | |
Nevermind that this shopping mall Santa | 42:05 | |
would surface again in other settings | 42:08 | |
with different beard and eyes and face. | 42:12 | |
Nevermind that this little boy was a bit tongue-tied | 42:16 | |
when asked what was on his wish list. | 42:21 | |
For you see, the name of the game was not I want | 42:26 | |
this or that, or because you've been a good boy. | 42:30 | |
The name of the game was magic, mystery. | 42:37 | |
The moment of touching and naming | 42:42 | |
the goodness and grace that Santa symbolizes | 42:45 | |
for all of us, that was important. | 42:49 | |
My son felt himself worthy to sit on a lap of a stranger, | 42:54 | |
to stroke a beard, to gently hold a hand. | 43:00 | |
Now, I wonder, are we Christians enough | 43:06 | |
to still believe in mystery? | 43:11 | |
Can we say, in this season of Advent, | 43:16 | |
at least maybe to the possibility | 43:20 | |
of the impossible if we can't say yes? | 43:24 | |
This is the very time, this Advent time, | 43:30 | |
when we are vulnerable. | 43:35 | |
We must raise up our heads and look up | 43:38 | |
because our redemption itself is near. | 43:42 | |
Just maybe, Christmas will come again, | 43:47 | |
and a new hope will be born in us. | 43:53 | |
Isaiah's oracle calls us | 43:59 | |
to walk in the light of the Lord. | 44:02 | |
The New Testament Advent story | 44:06 | |
calls us to put on the Christ. | 44:09 | |
As Christians, we always find ourselves caught | 44:13 | |
between the threat and the promise of Advent, | 44:18 | |
for we live in the present age, | 44:22 | |
and yet we live into the new age which is soon to come. | 44:25 | |
We often stand in the dark, but our faces | 44:30 | |
are lit by the coming dawn. | 44:35 | |
We are therefore to cast off the works of darkness | 44:39 | |
and put on Jesus Christ, | 44:44 | |
putting on the armor of light. | 44:47 | |
We are to live as though the new age of God's rule | 44:50 | |
were just around the corner, in fact, | 44:55 | |
in the certainty of it, a certainty so strong, | 44:59 | |
that already the light of this new age | 45:04 | |
is evident in our lives and experience. | 45:07 | |
The whole of our living | 45:11 | |
is an advent situation. | 45:15 | |
I believe that living into Advent | 45:21 | |
is not just wishful thinking. | 45:24 | |
The sentiments in Isaiah's | 45:28 | |
message are not mere poetry. | 45:31 | |
We long for, wish for, God's advent | 45:34 | |
among us all of our lives long. | 45:39 | |
Call to be mindful and alert to that possibility, | 45:43 | |
yet God alone is aware of the time | 45:49 | |
that marks the end of this age and the life to come. | 45:53 | |
It is simply a holy mystery. | 45:58 | |
We must wait with hope and not in panic. | 46:03 | |
Meanwhile, it is important to get on with living. | 46:09 | |
Is it all really just wishful thinking, | 46:14 | |
God's advent among us? | 46:19 | |
Or can we become vulnerable enough | 46:23 | |
to allow God's love story to happen to us? | 46:26 | |
If we believe, trust, | 46:33 | |
and look to God in this season, | 46:37 | |
our hopes will be realized. | 46:40 | |
Let us join together this day with Isaiah and proclaim, | 46:45 | |
"Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." | 46:51 | |
Let us pray. | 46:57 | |
O God, give us back the great hope again | 47:05 | |
that the future is yours, that not even the world | 47:10 | |
can hide you from us forever, that at the end, | 47:15 | |
the one who came will come back in power | 47:19 | |
to work in us joy stronger than we can know or imagine. | 47:24 | |
In Christ's name we pray, amen. | 47:30 | |
(exultant organ music) | 47:39 |
(lively organ music) | 0:03 | |
(congregation sings) | 0:09 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 1:37 |
- | We believe in God, | 1:41 |
who has created and is creating, | 1:43 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus | 1:46 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 1:49 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 1:52 | |
We trust God | 1:56 | |
who calls us to be the church, | 1:58 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 2:01 | |
to love and serve others, | 2:04 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 2:07 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 2:10 | |
our judge and our hope. | 2:14 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 2:16 | |
God is with us. | 2:21 | |
We are not alone. | 2:23 | |
Thanks be to God. | 2:25 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 2:29 |
- | And also with you. | 2:31 |
- | Let us pray. | 2:33 |
Oh Lord of the advent, holy invader, | 2:49 | |
time's comforter. | 2:54 | |
In you all that ever was | 2:57 | |
and is and shall be | 2:59 | |
is made for shining. | 3:02 | |
So do we praise you for your rage towards order | 3:05 | |
before the universe was formed. | 3:08 | |
So do we rejoice in the brightness | 3:13 | |
of your rising against all evil. | 3:16 | |
So do we praise your coming in timelessness | 3:21 | |
to capture time. | 3:25 | |
In this dark century, | 3:28 | |
make of us your people to declare your light. | 3:31 | |
Come now, oh beloved | 3:36 | |
to our wilderness | 3:39 | |
and make in us the crooked paths straight | 3:42 | |
and the rough places plain. | 3:48 | |
Yea, Lord of us all, | 3:53 | |
creator of the air's ocean, | 3:56 | |
juggler of the stars, | 4:00 | |
you whose voice murmurs its music throughout all the Earth, | 4:03 | |
you high and holy one in whom we dare to dream, | 4:09 | |
surely we call upon you in thanksgiving | 4:15 | |
for setting the fires of the blood, | 4:20 | |
teaching the mind to run, | 4:24 | |
breathing into us our souls, | 4:28 | |
for the morning that has broken our darkness | 4:32 | |
both without and within | 4:35 | |
and opens us to fresh possibilities, | 4:38 | |
for the day's procession, | 4:43 | |
its landscapes, varieties, | 4:47 | |
intentions, tastes, | 4:51 | |
silences, | 4:56 | |
dreams, | 4:59 | |
for the intimate moments of love, | 5:02 | |
for yourself, | 5:07 | |
touching, anguishing, | 5:10 | |
persuading, expressing our very beings into life | 5:14 | |
for all of these, oh God, we give you our thanks. | 5:22 | |
Oh merciful one, | 5:33 | |
enter with grace this time of our intercessions, | 5:36 | |
indeed you do bear the pain of the world. | 5:39 | |
Look with compassion on the ill, | 5:44 | |
the sorrowing, the lonely, the imprisoned. | 5:47 | |
Be to the sick a source of health | 5:53 | |
and if health is not possible, | 5:56 | |
then a strength to hope | 5:59 | |
and not despair. | 6:01 | |
Abide with the grieving that theirs may be | 6:04 | |
the certainty that neither death nor life | 6:06 | |
nor things present nor things to come | 6:10 | |
shall separate them from your love. | 6:13 | |
Stand, oh God of comfort | 6:18 | |
as companion of the lonely | 6:20 | |
filling empty places with present love, | 6:23 | |
long times of solitude with lively thoughts of you. | 6:27 | |
Remind us, oh Lord, | 6:34 | |
that your Son was condemned to death | 6:37 | |
and hung on a cross with criminals. | 6:40 | |
Never let us forget that our laws | 6:44 | |
are not necessarily your law, | 6:47 | |
that those we punish are still children of your love. | 6:50 | |
Keep us from condemning those whose crimes | 6:57 | |
are seen in order to cover up our unseen sins. | 6:59 | |
Move us to care for prisoners, | 7:06 | |
to visit them in unpleasant places | 7:09 | |
that they may know that they are still loved sisters | 7:13 | |
and brothers of Jesus Christ your Son. | 7:17 | |
And now Lord God, teach us how to wait actively, | 7:24 | |
faithfully for the time of your coming. | 7:28 | |
As we hear the celebration sung through the ages, | 7:32 | |
remind us that the tidings of great joy | 7:37 | |
are being sung to our age as well | 7:39 | |
if we but listen and heed. | 7:43 | |
Prepare us to receive the Christ | 7:47 | |
when he comes to us as the innocent one, | 7:50 | |
as the jobless who has no place in our system, | 7:55 | |
as the villager crucified by our weapons, | 7:59 | |
as the stranger turned away from our friendship, | 8:04 | |
wherever he comes, in whatever guise, | 8:09 | |
help us to know him | 8:14 | |
and knowing him to make a place for him | 8:17 | |
in our hearts and in our lives. | 8:21 | |
All of these things, oh God, we gather together | 8:27 | |
and pray in the name of your Son | 8:31 | |
who teaches us to pray this prayer together. | 8:34 | |
- | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 8:38 |
hallowed be thy name, | 8:42 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 8:45 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 8:49 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 8:52 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 8:55 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 8:57 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 9:01 | |
but deliver us from evil | 9:04 | |
for thine is the kingdom and the power | 9:06 | |
and the glory forever. | 9:10 | |
Amen. | 9:13 | |
♪ Our father who in heaven above ♪ | 9:57 | |
♪ Hallowed be thy name ♪ | 10:02 | |
♪ Thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come ♪ | 10:04 | |
♪ Thy will be done ♪ | 10:06 | |
♪ Throughout this Earth we pray ♪ | 10:08 | |
♪ Our father who in heaven above ♪ | 10:11 | |
♪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ♪ | 10:15 | |
♪ Throughout this Earth we pray ♪ | 10:18 | |
♪ Our Father who in heaven above ♪ | 10:21 | |
♪ Hallowed be thy name ♪ | 10:24 | |
♪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ♪ | 10:26 | |
♪ Throughout this Earth we pray ♪ | 10:28 | |
♪ Our Father who in heaven above ♪ | 10:32 | |
♪ Hallowed be thy name ♪ | 10:35 | |
♪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ♪ | 10:37 | |
♪ Throughout this Earth we pray ♪ | 10:39 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 10:49 | |
(lively organ music) | 15:58 | |
(congregation sings) | 16:19 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 16:31 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 16:34 | |
(congregation sings) | 16:39 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 16:52 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 16:54 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 16:58 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 17:01 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 17:04 | |
- | Come thou long-expected one. | 17:25 |
Come into our darkness. | 17:28 | |
Give us light, | 17:32 | |
give us vision | 17:34 | |
and create within each of us a sense of urgency | 17:37 | |
to use these gifts in a ministry | 17:42 | |
to the world and people of your creating, | 17:46 | |
in your Son's name, amen. | 17:51 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 18:00 | |
(congregation sings) | 18:54 | |
Go out into the world in peace, | 22:39 | |
have courage, hold on to what is good, | 22:41 | |
return no person evil for evil | 22:45 | |
but rather strengthen the faint hearted, | 22:49 | |
support the weak, | 22:52 | |
help the suffering, honor all men and women, | 22:54 | |
love and serve the Lord rejoicing | 22:59 | |
in the power of the Holy Spirit | 23:01 | |
and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 23:04 | |
and the love of God | 23:08 | |
and the presence of the Holy Spirit disturb you | 23:11 | |
and abide with you | 23:16 | |
and give you great joy in this place | 23:18 | |
and wherever you may go, | 23:24 | |
now and forever. | 23:26 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 23:29 | |
and the Holy Spirit. | 23:31 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 23:36 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 23:44 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 23:52 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 24:02 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 24:08 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 24:21 | |
(lively organ music) | 24:40 | |
(people murmuring) | 28:55 |