Charlene P. Kammerer - "Clues from the Good Shepherd" (May 13, 1984)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(soft music) | 0:03 | |
(audience member coughs) | 1:45 | |
(soft music) | 1:50 | |
(audience member coughs) | 6:15 | |
(soft music) | 6:39 | |
(audience member coughs) | 9:30 | |
(audience member coughs) | 9:44 | |
(soft music) | 9:55 | |
(quick footsteps) | 15:43 | |
(soft music) | 16:11 | |
(organ music) | 18:27 | |
(choir singing off mic) | 19:09 | |
- | Greetings to you from the Lord God Almighty, | 22:51 |
creator of earth and the heavens. | 22:53 | |
We gather here today to worship God, | 22:57 | |
and to that same and only God | 23:00 | |
we present our fears and our hopes, | 23:03 | |
regarding the boycott of the summer Olympics | 23:04 | |
regarding the production of the MX Missile, | 23:11 | |
regarding our concern for the studies | 23:15 | |
in which we are again involved, | 23:17 | |
our plans for a summer change of pace, | 23:20 | |
our desire to hear afresh God's word of chastisement, | 23:24 | |
forgiveness, direction, encouragement. | 23:29 | |
Come let us eagerly worship God, | 23:34 | |
and to God let us make our honest confession of our sin. | 23:38 | |
(audience rustling) | 23:43 | |
Oh God, the source of our being, | 23:56 | |
our very destiny. | 24:00 | |
The guide of our pilgrim days. | 24:02 | |
By your power is Jesus raised to be Savior of all people, | 24:05 | |
Lord of all nations, | 24:10 | |
but now we confess other allegiances. | 24:12 | |
Too often we give our substance | 24:16 | |
to capture the mirage, | 24:17 | |
our affections to things that perish. | 24:20 | |
We are careless in our relationships with others. | 24:24 | |
We would rather believe the rumor, | 24:27 | |
than be set free by the truth. | 24:30 | |
So now, we cry pardon for idolatries, | 24:33 | |
mercy upon our failures, | 24:36 | |
make us a people who lives to bare you, | 24:39 | |
women and men who heed Jesus's call to lively discipleship. | 24:43 | |
In the name of him who is the Christ, | 24:48 | |
and brother to all, Amen. | 24:50 | |
For this declaration is true and worthy of our acceptance. | 25:22 | |
That Christ Jesus came into the world to redeem sinners. | 25:26 | |
Our sin we have confessed, | 25:31 | |
our desire to be forgiven we have acknowledged. | 25:35 | |
Our longing to be changed we have proclaimed. | 25:39 | |
Praise be to God for the miracles of pardon, | 25:44 | |
of restoration, of new strength. | 25:48 | |
Through Jesus Christ these miracles happen. | 25:53 | |
In him and through him, we are forgiven. | 25:56 | |
Let us give thanks for God is good, | 26:03 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 26:07 | |
Thanks be to God who's love creates us. | 26:10 | |
Thanks be to God who's mercy redeems us. | 26:14 | |
Thanks be to God who's grace leads us into the future. | 26:18 | |
To parents, to students returning for summer classes, | 26:27 | |
to newlyweds, to those into their marriages for many years, | 26:34 | |
to each of you and to all of you, | 26:42 | |
in Christ name greeting on this fourth Sunday at Easter. | 26:45 | |
It is good to have you worship in this place, | 26:50 | |
to be apart of the worship of God. | 26:53 | |
To hear God's word proclaimed. | 26:57 | |
And a special word of welcome | 27:00 | |
to the Immaculate Conception Ringers and Bell Choir | 27:01 | |
and to their director. | 27:06 | |
It is a delight to have their music | 27:08 | |
in the chapel this morning, | 27:10 | |
music at once grand and so very delicate. | 27:12 | |
We thank you for being here this day. | 27:17 | |
- | Let us pray. | 27:35 |
Oh Lord our God, open our eyes, | 27:38 | |
that we may behold wondrous things in your word. | 27:41 | |
And let the words of my mouth, and the mediations | 27:46 | |
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, | 27:49 | |
our strength and our redeemer, amen. | 27:53 | |
The Old Testament lesson is the 23rd Psalm. | 28:00 | |
The Lord is my shepherd, | 28:05 | |
I shall not want. | 28:07 | |
He makes me lie down in green pastures, | 28:10 | |
he leads me beside still waters. | 28:13 | |
He restores my soul. | 28:17 | |
He leads me in paths of righteousness, | 28:20 | |
for his name's sake. | 28:23 | |
Even though I walk through | 28:26 | |
the valley of the shadow of death, | 28:27 | |
I fear no evil, | 28:31 | |
for thou art with me. | 28:33 | |
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. | 28:36 | |
Thou preparest a table before me | 28:40 | |
in the presence of my enemies. | 28:43 | |
Though anointest my head with oil, | 28:46 | |
my cup overflows. | 28:49 | |
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me | 28:52 | |
all the days of my life | 28:56 | |
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. | 28:59 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old Testament. | 29:04 | |
The epistle lesson is from 1 Peter 2:19-25. | 29:09 | |
For one is approved if mindful of God | 29:20 | |
he endures pain while suffering unjustly. | 29:24 | |
For what credit is if when you do wrong | 29:29 | |
and are beaten for it you take it patiently? | 29:33 | |
But, if you right and suffer for it, | 29:37 | |
you take it patiently, | 29:41 | |
you have God's approval. | 29:43 | |
For to this you have been called | 29:46 | |
because Christ also suffered for you | 29:49 | |
leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. | 29:53 | |
He committed no sin, no guile was found in his lips. | 30:00 | |
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. | 30:06 | |
When he suffered, he did not threaten, | 30:12 | |
but he trusted to him who judges justly. | 30:16 | |
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree | 30:22 | |
that we might die to sin | 30:27 | |
and live to righteousness. | 30:30 | |
By his wounds you have been healed, | 30:34 | |
for you were straying like sheep, | 30:39 | |
but have now returned to the shepherd | 30:42 | |
and guardian of your souls. | 30:44 | |
Here ends the reason from the epistle lesson. | 30:48 | |
(audience rustling) | 30:56 | |
(soft music) | 31:33 | |
(soft footsteps) | 34:20 | |
Will the congregation please stand | 34:37 | |
for the reading of the gospel lesson? | 34:39 | |
The gospel lesson is from John 10:1-10. | 34:48 | |
Truly, truly I say to you, | 34:55 | |
he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, | 34:58 | |
but climbs in by another way, | 35:02 | |
that man is a thief and a robber. | 35:05 | |
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. | 35:09 | |
To him the gatekeeper opens. | 35:15 | |
The sheep hear his voice, and he calls | 35:18 | |
his own sheep by name and leads them out. | 35:21 | |
When he has brought out all his own, | 35:26 | |
he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, | 35:28 | |
for they know his voice. | 35:32 | |
A stranger they will not follow, | 35:35 | |
but they will flee from him, | 35:38 | |
for they do not know the voice of strangers. | 35:40 | |
This figure Jesus used with them, | 35:45 | |
but they did not understand what he was saying, | 35:48 | |
so Jesus again said to them, | 35:52 | |
truly, truly I say to you I am the door of the sheep, | 35:56 | |
all who came before me are thieves and robbers, | 36:02 | |
but the sheep did not heed them. | 36:06 | |
I am the door, if anyone enters by me | 36:10 | |
he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. | 36:15 | |
The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy. | 36:23 | |
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. | 36:29 | |
Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson, amen. | 36:35 | |
(organ music) | 36:40 | |
(choir singing off mic) | 36:48 | |
Let us pray. | 37:59 | |
Oh Lord, may the words of my mouth | 38:04 | |
and the meditations of our hearts | 38:07 | |
be acceptable in your sight, | 38:10 | |
oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer, amen. | 38:12 | |
The time between Easter and Pentecost | 38:21 | |
has been called the Significant Pause by Karl Barth. | 38:24 | |
The lessons today for us, | 38:30 | |
about the shepherd images in scripture, | 38:32 | |
lift up an essential part of our life of faith | 38:35 | |
together as a community. | 38:38 | |
Together, for me, they have functioned | 38:41 | |
like a kaleidoscope of images about Jesus, | 38:44 | |
and hearing them anew, I hope that they can | 38:49 | |
help us to remember who Jesus is. | 38:52 | |
I'm struck by the fact that Jesus had a way with language. | 38:58 | |
It seemed in his hand, | 39:04 | |
figures of speech exploded into new meaning. | 39:06 | |
Just when we think we can predict | 39:11 | |
a conclusion from Jesus' words, | 39:13 | |
the meaning itself shifts, and the image, | 39:16 | |
like the colors and patterns of a kaleidoscope. | 39:20 | |
And like the original hearers, | 39:25 | |
just when we feel like we have grasped the true meaning, | 39:28 | |
Jesus seems to break it open, turn it over for us, | 39:32 | |
and it explodes again for us in his careful hand. | 39:37 | |
He took the objects that were most familiar | 39:44 | |
in his listeners lives, | 39:47 | |
and he gave them new depth of meaning. | 39:50 | |
This is exactly what happens as Jesus shares his insight | 39:53 | |
on the familiar figures of sheep and shepherds. | 39:58 | |
In John's gospel we are shepherds, | 40:04 | |
and yet we are also sheep, Jesus is gate, | 40:07 | |
and Jesus is shepherd, | 40:13 | |
Jesus is shepherd and lamb. | 40:16 | |
The sheep are guarded, and yet they are led to slaughter. | 40:20 | |
Jesus makes it clear to us that there is simply no imagery | 40:27 | |
that can satisfy either the glory or the anguish | 40:31 | |
that he has for his people. | 40:36 | |
According to John, the images that Jesus presents of himself | 40:40 | |
are the door and the shepherd. | 40:45 | |
Now they are both characteristic in our ears | 40:48 | |
of biblical language. | 40:51 | |
Long before the time of Jesus, | 40:54 | |
King David was himself described | 40:57 | |
as the shepherd ruler of his nation. | 41:00 | |
Moses too was acclaimed in pastoral language | 41:04 | |
in the Old Testament as shepherding a flock, | 41:08 | |
the children of God. | 41:12 | |
But primarily for Israel, the God Yahweh | 41:14 | |
had been the true shepherd of his people, | 41:18 | |
portrayed unforgettably in the shepherd's Psalm | 41:22 | |
which we heard read for us this morning. | 41:26 | |
But in the New Testament then it is Christ himself | 41:30 | |
who becomes identified as the good shepherd, | 41:35 | |
the one who finally gave his life for the sheep. | 41:39 | |
The parable that Jesus speaks, | 41:45 | |
seems to me to contain some acid criticisms | 41:47 | |
of false shepherds, or what he called thieves and robbers. | 41:51 | |
It reminds of similar prophetic indictments | 41:57 | |
of incompetent leadership. | 42:01 | |
The evangelist John probably had in mind | 42:05 | |
both the bogus messiahs of his time, | 42:09 | |
and some of the more headstrong leaders | 42:13 | |
of the church in his day. | 42:16 | |
Perhaps they fulfilled in the original hearing, | 42:19 | |
the warning words of our Lord, | 42:23 | |
beware of false prophets | 42:26 | |
who come to you in sheep's clothing, | 42:29 | |
but inwardly are ravenous as wolves. | 42:32 | |
Today I'm aware that a rural Appalachian town in Kentucky | 42:37 | |
is still reeling from the shock | 42:42 | |
of discovering that a man without a license | 42:45 | |
has been practicing medicine in their community now | 42:49 | |
at their mission hospital for a year and a half. | 42:53 | |
This particular man had worked | 42:58 | |
for another doctor in another state, | 43:00 | |
and upon the death of that physician, | 43:03 | |
he forged his own medical credentials. | 43:06 | |
These simple mountain people had placed their faith in him, | 43:11 | |
had taken him at his word, | 43:16 | |
and indeed had entrusted their lives to him, | 43:19 | |
and now they are stunned and crushed. | 43:23 | |
It seems that society is never | 43:27 | |
without it's messianic pretenders, | 43:30 | |
and salvation hucksters. | 43:33 | |
The scriptures remind us | 43:36 | |
that only Christ is the good shepherd. | 43:38 | |
He alone will lay down his life for the sheep, | 43:42 | |
and this he does in the eyes of John, | 43:47 | |
willingly and gladly. | 43:50 | |
For his only concern is their welfare. | 43:52 | |
The true leader among us must share | 43:57 | |
that spirit of sacrificial service, | 44:01 | |
concerned for the welfare of all those in his or her care, | 44:04 | |
rather than for personal safety or prestige. | 44:10 | |
I'm reminded that on the occasion of my ordination | 44:17 | |
a favorite aunt of mine gave me a present of a statue. | 44:21 | |
The statue is a shepherdess | 44:26 | |
enfolding a lamb to her breast, | 44:29 | |
and in that image for me says that always | 44:33 | |
it is the servants role and that of a shepherd | 44:37 | |
to be in ministry, | 44:41 | |
and I hope that I shall never forget that image. | 44:43 | |
Alternating with this appealing figure | 44:48 | |
of the good shepherd for us in the scriptures | 44:51 | |
is yet another figure, | 44:55 | |
for to speak of Christ as the door to the sheepfold | 44:58 | |
begins to sound rather strange to our ears, | 45:02 | |
but in a simple agrarian society | 45:07 | |
this was also a familiar word picture. | 45:10 | |
To speak of Christ as the door is also | 45:15 | |
a striking way of describing | 45:18 | |
the gathering of the people of God. | 45:21 | |
And the church itself, within the security of this fold, | 45:24 | |
is under God's and Christ's protection. | 45:29 | |
What Jesus was trying to say | 45:34 | |
in even using this language though, | 45:36 | |
is that the door is also a means of exit, | 45:40 | |
as well as entrance. | 45:44 | |
For the sheep go in and they come out. | 45:46 | |
The church and this chapel too, | 45:50 | |
whose doors only open inward and not outward, | 45:54 | |
will become an insulated ghetto. | 45:59 | |
That kind of church will simply be a refuge from the world, | 46:03 | |
rather than an entrance into it. | 46:09 | |
The people of God must not only be called together | 46:13 | |
to worship in the community of the church, | 46:16 | |
but somehow we must also be involved in a society | 46:20 | |
where the good shepherd is abundantly at work. | 46:25 | |
Now for many of us I'm aware that sheep and shepherds | 46:30 | |
are not familiar images for us out of our own experience. | 46:34 | |
If you are anything like me, | 46:40 | |
most of my contact with sheep has occurred | 46:42 | |
in petting zoos in different communities across our country, | 46:46 | |
and I'm aware then for many of us it is quite possible | 46:52 | |
to end up with a romanticized view | 46:56 | |
of what life must have been like | 46:59 | |
for the Palestinian shepherd and the wooly lambs. | 47:02 | |
I remember distinctly, being in a classroom one day | 47:08 | |
where a group of us were trying in vain to relate, | 47:12 | |
to really experience the shepherd image of scripture. | 47:16 | |
Our professor was attempting mightily | 47:21 | |
to open our eyes and minds to a new experience, | 47:24 | |
but then something else happened. | 47:29 | |
A quiet voice spoke from the back row of the room, | 47:33 | |
"I was a shepherd boy while growing up". | 47:38 | |
It was the voice of Henry Mizerewah, | 47:43 | |
who was an exchange student to us from Zimbabwe. | 47:47 | |
Henry began talking, and he filled us | 47:51 | |
with stories from his childhood | 47:54 | |
of what it meant to be a shepherd. | 47:57 | |
He talked to us about being alone at a young age, | 48:00 | |
of tending his flock, | 48:06 | |
of providing and finding their pasture, | 48:09 | |
of leading them through dangers and storms, | 48:13 | |
of clearing away endlessly poisonous plants | 48:17 | |
so that they could graze on safe pasture, | 48:22 | |
of nursing and binding up their wounds, | 48:26 | |
of delivering their lambs. | 48:30 |
- | And on, the stories poured forth, | 0:03 |
and, suddenly, for all of us in that room, | 0:06 | |
the image took on new life | 0:10 | |
as it was enfleshed with the person of Henry Miseroa. | 0:13 | |
It was apparent to us that this shepherd knew his sheep | 0:19 | |
and he was willing to be responsible for their welfare. | 0:24 | |
He agonized over the nurture of his flock | 0:29 | |
and he risked his own life to protect them. | 0:33 | |
It was like finally seeing a whole new perspective | 0:37 | |
in the kaleidoscopic images of John's gospel. | 0:42 | |
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life | 0:49 | |
"and have it to the full." | 0:53 | |
It is Jesus that offers the gift | 0:56 | |
of this new quality of existence. | 0:59 | |
For the synoptic gospels out of the eyes of Matthew, | 1:03 | |
Mark, and Luke, we call it the Kingdom of God. | 1:08 | |
For the apostle Paul, he called it salvation. | 1:14 | |
For Tillich, a theologian, he called it the new being. | 1:19 | |
For Bultmann, he called it authentic existence. | 1:25 | |
For this evangelist, John, the other gospel, | 1:30 | |
he calls it life, eternal life. | 1:34 | |
Life to the full. | 1:39 | |
What specific, then, does this passage offer | 1:42 | |
regarding that gift of life | 1:45 | |
which John considers so precious? | 1:48 | |
Jesus himself did not invent the imagery of shepherding, | 1:53 | |
but we see that he did turn that image | 1:58 | |
to his own important use. | 2:02 | |
Upon hearing Jesus talk, | 2:05 | |
the first hearers already carried | 2:08 | |
their own connotations of what he must have been saying. | 2:10 | |
You see, they would have remembered Ezekiel's contrast | 2:15 | |
between false and true shepherds out of their scriptures. | 2:19 | |
They would have remembered the self-aggrandizing | 2:24 | |
political leaders of the time | 2:28 | |
had been branded as false prophets. | 2:31 | |
The coming Messianic King out of the scriptures | 2:35 | |
would be the one and only true shepherd. | 2:39 | |
Jesus' use of this kind of language surely recalled | 2:43 | |
these associations of the people. | 2:48 | |
Immediately after his sharing them, | 2:52 | |
the people demanded of him, | 2:55 | |
"If you are this Messianic King, | 2:58 | |
"if you are the Christ, then just tell us plainly." | 3:01 | |
The Synoptics remembered Jesus moved by the crowds | 3:08 | |
who seemed to gather around him like shepherdless sheep. | 3:13 | |
And the Synoptics also point out to us the Pharisees | 3:19 | |
who are described as having very little care | 3:24 | |
for these same crowds and the same outcasts. | 3:27 | |
It is to their callousness that Jesus responds | 3:32 | |
with a parable about a shepherd. | 3:37 | |
In contrast with these, whose religion seemed to be | 3:41 | |
more concerned with doctrine and rules | 3:45 | |
than with needs of persons, | 3:48 | |
Jesus and his movement and life of loving concern | 3:51 | |
brought abundant life to those people around him. | 3:56 | |
I've discovered that there are three parables | 4:02 | |
packed into this kaleidoscopic passage of John. | 4:06 | |
The first shows to us that there is only one way | 4:12 | |
to enter the sheep fold, the way of the true shepherd, | 4:16 | |
for whom that gate is opened. | 4:21 | |
So, any violent Messianic pretender | 4:25 | |
or even rule-bound religious leader | 4:29 | |
has tried other ways to enter this state of life, | 4:34 | |
and yet has done so, often, with disastrous results. | 4:39 | |
The second image out of the parable comes to us | 4:45 | |
reminding us of Joshua. | 4:49 | |
For out of the scriptures of the Old Testament, | 4:53 | |
Joshua, like the shepherd, led his people out. | 4:56 | |
The strong soldier in him, Joshua, | 5:01 | |
had been commissioned as the one who would lead them out | 5:05 | |
and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord | 5:08 | |
may not be as sheep which have no shepherd. | 5:12 | |
Jesus seemed to think of his ministry in these terms. | 5:18 | |
The third parable out of John | 5:23 | |
is his "I am the door" saying. | 5:26 | |
The one point of this saying is that | 5:30 | |
the door leads to salvation | 5:33 | |
found by passing through and living in the life of Jesus. | 5:37 | |
Being led by him, we are told that we can lead life | 5:43 | |
to the full. | 5:48 | |
Now, my question for us today is the question | 5:50 | |
that Jesus asked of the original hearers. | 5:54 | |
Do we, my friends, have the ears to hear | 5:59 | |
this very simple message about Jesus | 6:03 | |
as the door and Jesus as the shepherd? | 6:08 | |
You see, the critics of Jesus' day could not hear, | 6:13 | |
much less understand these words. | 6:17 | |
We are told that they assume that any legitimate leader | 6:22 | |
must first win the endorsement of the academic | 6:27 | |
and ecclesiastical community. | 6:31 | |
However, Jesus' life and ministry and words | 6:36 | |
proved that truth was respecter of persons. | 6:41 | |
It may well be shunned by those who are sophisticated | 6:46 | |
and somehow incredibly find hospitality | 6:51 | |
among the commoners. | 6:55 | |
Jesus, the good shepherd, comes to us again today | 6:59 | |
with this promise. | 7:04 | |
"I am come that you might have life | 7:07 | |
"and have it to the full." | 7:10 | |
And so we say together as a community of faith, | 7:13 | |
thanks be to God for such a gift of life. | 7:17 | |
And now I simply want to share with you, | 7:27 | |
just for a moment, a pastoral word. | 7:31 | |
It has been my privilege and joy | 7:37 | |
to share in ministry with you and among you | 7:40 | |
for these four years. | 7:44 | |
(struggling back tears) | 7:48 | |
I have more I want to say. | 8:12 | |
(solemn chuckle) | 8:16 | |
I am grateful for this special place | 8:28 | |
called Duke University Chapel, | 8:32 | |
for you have called forth from me and so many others | 8:37 | |
gifts of ministry and blessed me and so many others | 8:42 | |
on our way. | 8:48 | |
And as I go to serve a local church, | 8:51 | |
I know that I will carry you with me in my heart. | 8:56 | |
Your lives, your ministry, and this place. | 9:02 | |
Also, I have every confidence that the future | 9:09 | |
of Duke Chapel will be great. | 9:14 | |
It will keep faith with its past | 9:19 | |
and it will continue to call for the very best | 9:23 | |
in lives of service from everyone here | 9:27 | |
and I simply want to say, for that, | 9:33 | |
God's blessings be with you all. | 9:36 | |
Amen and Amen. | 9:39 | |
("The King of Love My Shepherd Is") | 9:50 | |
♪ The King of love my shepherd is, ♪ | 10:22 | |
♪ Whose goodness faileth never; ♪ | 10:29 | |
♪ I nothing lack if I am his ♪ | 10:37 | |
♪ And he is mine forever. ♪ | 10:44 | |
♪ Where streams of living water flow, ♪ | 10:55 | |
♪ My ransomed soul he leadeth ♪ | 11:02 | |
♪ And, where the verdant pastures grow, ♪ | 11:09 | |
♪ With food celestial feedeth. ♪ | 11:17 | |
♪ Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, ♪ | 11:28 | |
♪ But yet in love he sought me, ♪ | 11:35 | |
♪ And on his shoulder gently laid, ♪ | 11:43 | |
♪ And home, rejoicing, brought me. ♪ | 11:50 | |
♪ In death's dark vale I fear no ill, ♪ | 12:01 | |
♪ With thee, dear Lord, beside me, ♪ | 12:08 | |
♪ Thy rod and staff my comfort still; ♪ | 12:16 | |
♪ Thy cross before to guide me. ♪ | 12:24 | |
♪ Thou spreadst a table in my sight; ♪ | 12:33 | |
♪ Thine unction grace bestoweth; ♪ | 12:41 | |
♪ And, oh, what transport of delight ♪ | 12:49 | |
♪ From thy pure chalice floweth! ♪ | 12:56 | |
♪ And so, through all the length of days, ♪ | 13:06 | |
♪ Thy goodness faileth never. ♪ | 13:13 | |
♪ Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise ♪ | 13:21 | |
♪ Within thy house forever. ♪ | 13:29 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 13:47 |
- | We believe in God | 13:50 |
who has created and is creating, | 13:53 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus | 13:56 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 13:59 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 14:02 | |
We trust God who calls us to be the Church | 14:05 | |
to celebrate life in its fullness, | 14:10 | |
to love and serve others, | 14:13 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 14:16 | |
proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 14:19 | |
our Judge and our Hope. | 14:22 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 14:25 | |
God is with us. | 14:30 | |
We are not alone. | 14:32 | |
Thanks be to God. | 14:35 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 14:37 |
- | And also with you. | 14:39 |
- | Let us pray. | 14:40 |
Come, Holy Spirit, | 14:54 | |
come into the prayers that we cry out for all peoples | 14:56 | |
for their healing, for their redemption, | 15:01 | |
for their being surprised by your presence | 15:05 | |
and the laughter of your mercy. | 15:10 | |
Do overcome our meager faith. | 15:14 | |
Empower our words, yes, but also our silences | 15:17 | |
with that love which loves without fear. | 15:22 | |
Brood in us and sigh in us those grievances and sorrows, | 15:27 | |
the ache and loneliness of all who need our intercession. | 15:33 | |
Take us out of our obsessions with ourselves | 15:39 | |
and into their need. | 15:43 | |
Give us the trust that knows that beyond our asking | 15:47 | |
is yourself | 15:50 | |
gathering, comforting, mending, causing us to be, | 15:53 | |
and giving meaning to our existence. | 16:04 | |
Lord God, in a world still awaiting the justice | 16:11 | |
that rolls down as waters, righteousness is a mighty stream. | 16:15 | |
Where knowledge is plentiful, but wisdom's scarce. | 16:22 | |
We pray for this University, | 16:27 | |
its students, faculty, administrators, | 16:30 | |
employees and many friends. | 16:37 | |
As together our understanding increases, | 16:41 | |
quicken and deepen, also, our sense of responsibility. | 16:45 | |
That we become more humane | 16:51 | |
and, through us, the world more habitable. | 16:54 | |
Oh, God who makes nations to rise and fall, | 16:59 | |
we pray for our nation in this time of political campaigning | 17:04 | |
and decision making. | 17:07 | |
Deliver us from apathy, or cynicism, | 17:10 | |
or neglect of opportunity. | 17:16 | |
Make us mindful that a future is being created. | 17:20 | |
Remembering how often we pray that your Kingdom come, | 17:25 | |
your Will be done on earth as in Heaven. | 17:29 | |
Do, now, enable us to examine with fresh and open minds | 17:34 | |
all issues and persons. | 17:39 | |
Being neither captive to past commitments, | 17:43 | |
nor ensnared by narrow self-interest. | 17:47 | |
May the great hopes of our faith motivate our choices. | 17:53 | |
The cause of peace, of justice, | 17:57 | |
of mercy for all of your children | 18:02 | |
be strengthened by what we do. | 18:05 | |
Oh, God, from whose first fire came the light | 18:11 | |
that dispelled primeval darkness | 18:15 | |
and gave creation its birth, | 18:18 | |
the pillar whose fire led your captive people | 18:22 | |
from slavery into freedom, | 18:25 | |
whose tongues of fire burned away a confusion of tongues | 18:29 | |
and left one new people the Church. | 18:33 | |
Abide, we pray, with your daughter and servant, Shirley, | 18:39 | |
going soon to a new place to minister among | 18:44 | |
and with a different people. | 18:47 | |
Grant her continued energy and courage | 18:50 | |
and that sacred vision from whence all caring comes | 18:56 | |
and without which our labor is in vain | 19:00 | |
and which brings a joy above all joy. | 19:04 | |
Accompany her and her family in their journey | 19:09 | |
away from this place and to that new place | 19:11 | |
that will be their home. | 19:15 | |
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, | 19:19 | |
in whom we are called to be both free and responsible, | 19:22 | |
and whom we received this prayer that we declare together, | 19:27 | |
- | Our Father, who art in Heaven, | 19:32 |
hallowed be thy name. | 19:36 | |
Thy Kingdom come, | 19:38 | |
thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. | 19:40 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 19:45 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 19:48 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 19:50 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 19:54 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 19:56 | |
For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory | 19:58 | |
forever, Amen. | 20:04 | |
(footsteps) | 20:14 | |
(hand bell choir playing lightly) | 21:07 | |
("Sheep May Safely Graze" by J.S. Bach) | 21:13 | |
(organ slowly building) | 26:29 | |
("All Creatures of Our God and King") | 27:19 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 27:38 | |
♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪ | 27:45 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 27:52 | |
♪ Praise him above, ye heavn'ly host ♪ | 28:01 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 28:08 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 28:15 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 28:22 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 28:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 28:38 | |
- | Called, oh God, to be your people, | 28:50 |
to do justice, to love kindness, | 28:55 | |
and to walk humbly with you, our creator. | 28:59 | |
Give us now those things that we need | 29:04 | |
to minister and to be a faithful people. | 29:07 | |
That our discipleship might be full and fruitful. | 29:11 | |
In your Son's name we work and minister and pray, | 29:18 | |
Amen. | 29:22 | |
("Lead On, O King Eternal!") | 29:26 | |
♪ The day of resurrection! ♪ | 30:09 | |
♪ Earth, tell it out abroad, ♪ | 30:14 | |
♪ The passover of gladness, ♪ | 30:19 | |
♪ The passover of God. ♪ | 30:24 | |
♪ From death to life eternal, ♪ | 30:29 | |
♪ From sin's dominion free, ♪ | 30:34 | |
♪ Our Christ has brought us over ♪ | 30:40 | |
♪ With hymns of victory. ♪ | 30:45 | |
♪ Let hearts be purged of evil ♪ | 30:52 | |
♪ That we may see aright ♪ | 30:57 | |
♪ The Lord in rays eternal ♪ | 31:03 | |
♪ Of resurrection light, ♪ | 31:08 | |
♪ And list'ning to his accents, ♪ | 31:13 | |
♪ May hear, so calm and plain, ♪ | 31:18 | |
♪ His own "All hail!" and hearing, ♪ | 31:24 | |
♪ May raise the victor strain. ♪ | 31:29 | |
♪ Now let the heav'ns be joyful, ♪ | 31:36 | |
♪ Let earth its song begin, ♪ | 31:41 | |
♪ Let all the world keep triumph ♪ | 31:47 | |
♪ And all that is therein. ♪ | 31:52 | |
♪ Let all things, seen and unseen, ♪ | 31:57 | |
♪ Their notes of gladness blend; ♪ | 32:02 | |
♪ For Christ the Lord has risen, ♪ | 32:08 | |
♪ Our joy that has no end! ♪ | 32:13 | |
- | And, now, may the love of God | 32:26 |
and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 32:28 | |
and the strength which comes from the Holy Spirit | 32:32 | |
be with you this day and empower you always, | 32:34 | |
Amen. | 32:39 | |
(organ playing slow building fugue) | 32:45 |