Carlton P. Minnick, Jr. - "The Mark of Discipleship" (May 12, 1985)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(happy bell music) | 0:03 | |
- | I will begin our service this morning | 14:44 |
by my welcoming you to this service of worship | 14:46 | |
in the Duke Chapel on the campus of Duke University. | 14:49 | |
A real joy it is to have all of you here. | 14:52 | |
You will read by the bulletin that both Dr. Wallamin | 14:57 | |
and Miss Furea are out of the city this morning, | 14:59 | |
and it is our joy to be a part of that substitute team | 15:03 | |
of theirs on this significant Sunday | 15:07 | |
in the life of the American family. | 15:13 | |
So for that, we welcome you here, | 15:16 | |
and may I say a world of real welcome | 15:18 | |
to all the Immaculate Conception bell ringers. | 15:20 | |
This is a group of 10 high school students | 15:24 | |
from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church | 15:27 | |
here in Durham. | 15:31 | |
And what a joy it is to have them here | 15:33 | |
and to have them under the direction | 15:35 | |
of Mr. Edmond Tompkins. | 15:37 | |
They will place for us in a few minutes. | 15:39 | |
They will again. | 15:42 | |
And we are pleased to have them here. | 15:44 | |
It is always a great thrill to be a part of worship | 15:47 | |
in the Duke Chapel, and is particularly important | 15:50 | |
and thrilling to me, on this morning, | 15:53 | |
not only to welcome you here, but to share | 15:56 | |
this ordered service with two people | 15:58 | |
who mean much to my in my own life. | 16:00 | |
The elective of the morning service | 16:05 | |
will be Mary Parkerson. | 16:07 | |
Mrs. Parkerson is the director of development | 16:11 | |
for the Duke Chapel and the director | 16:14 | |
of the Friends of the Chapel. | 16:17 | |
And she's dear to me for a good many reasons. | 16:20 | |
First of all, she's dear to me | 16:22 | |
because is she is the wife of my doctor. | 16:24 | |
And he's dear to me | 16:28 | |
because he is the husband of Mary Parkerson. | 16:29 | |
So I got it going and coming. | 16:33 | |
It's a real joy to share the service of worship | 16:34 | |
with one who means so much to me day by day | 16:39 | |
on the Duke campus and whose family friendship | 16:41 | |
is important to me. | 16:43 | |
The preacher for the morning | 16:46 | |
is the Reverend Bishop CP Minnick | 16:48 | |
of Raleigh, North Carolina. | 16:51 | |
I almost feel like a father introducing his son now. | 16:55 | |
And I wouldn't dare attempt to do that. | 17:00 | |
Eight years of my life was spent as the bishop | 17:03 | |
of the church in Virginia. | 17:05 | |
And in those eight years, CP Minnick | 17:07 | |
was one of the leading ministers within all the conference | 17:10 | |
and one of the leading voices of the church. | 17:15 | |
A member of my cabinet, is one of my district | 17:19 | |
superintendents, and then was elected | 17:21 | |
to the highest elective office | 17:24 | |
in the United Methodist Church, | 17:26 | |
and for four years was the bishop | 17:28 | |
of the Jackson, Mississippi, area of the church. | 17:30 | |
Last summer was transferred to Raleigh, North Carolina, | 17:36 | |
and is the bishop of the Raleigh area. | 17:40 | |
Recently, because of its unusual importance | 17:43 | |
across America at this moment, | 17:46 | |
the Counsel of Bishops of the United Methodist Church | 17:49 | |
and three of its most distinguished members | 17:51 | |
to the little land of Nicaragua | 17:55 | |
to make an on-hand survey of all that was going on there, | 17:59 | |
of all that could be found by one who came in. | 18:04 | |
This visit's with Ortega, this visit's with the leadership | 18:09 | |
of the church and of the government in Nicaragua, | 18:12 | |
came back and was reported to the bishops of the church | 18:15 | |
and probably at this moment, this man | 18:20 | |
has lost knowledge of a churchman among us | 18:23 | |
on that strange and difficult land in Central America. | 18:26 | |
So I'm honored to have my son in the ministry, | 18:31 | |
my dear friend, and honored to have Mary | 18:34 | |
be a part of our worship. | 18:38 | |
Let us continue our worship | 18:40 | |
as we sing together hymn number 442. | 18:41 | |
(happy organ music) | 18:47 | |
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock," sayeth the Lord. | 21:28 | |
"If anyone will hear my voice and open that door, | 21:33 | |
"I will come in." | 21:40 | |
Let us be seated and pray. | 21:43 | |
Most merciful God, we confess | 21:52 | |
that we have sinned against you | 21:55 | |
in thought, word, and deed by what we have done | 21:58 | |
and by what we have left undone. | 22:03 | |
We have not loved you with our whole heart. | 22:07 | |
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 22:10 | |
We're truly sorry, and we humbly repent. | 22:14 | |
For the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, | 22:18 | |
have mercy on us and forgive us | 22:22 | |
that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways. | 22:26 | |
To the glory of your name, amen. | 22:31 | |
Hear the good news. | 22:41 | |
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 22:43 | |
That is God's own proof of His love toward us. | 22:47 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 22:54 | |
Amen. | 23:04 | |
- | Let us pray. | 23:17 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 23:20 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit | 23:23 | |
so that as the Word is read and proclaimed, | 23:27 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen. | 23:31 | |
The first lesson is taken from Acts. | 23:38 | |
While Peter was still saying this, | 23:42 | |
the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word. | 23:44 | |
And the believers from among the circumcised | 23:48 | |
who came with Peter were amazed | 23:50 | |
because the gift of the Holy Spirit | 23:53 | |
had been poured out even on the gentiles, | 23:55 | |
for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. | 23:59 | |
Then Peter declared, "Can anyone forbid water | 24:04 | |
"for baptizing these people who have received | 24:08 | |
"the Holy Spirit just as we have?" | 24:10 | |
And he commanded them to be baptized | 24:14 | |
in the name of Jesus Christ. | 24:16 | |
Then they asked him to remain for some days. | 24:19 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 24:24 | |
Would you please stand for the reading of the Psalm 67? | 24:29 | |
You will find this on page 576 in your hymnal. | 24:34 | |
The women will read the regular type. | 24:42 | |
The men will read the bold-faced type. | 24:45 | |
May God be gracious to us and bless us. | 24:56 | |
(men murmuring) | 25:01 | |
That thy way may be known upon Earth. | 25:04 | |
(men murmuring) | 25:08 | |
Let the peoples praise thee, oh God. | 25:11 | |
- | Let all the peoples praise you. | 25:14 |
- | Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. | 25:17 |
(men murmuring) | 25:22 | |
Let the people's praise be, oh God. | 25:28 | |
- | Let all the people's praise be. | 25:31 |
- | The Earth has yielded its increase. | 25:34 |
(men murmuring) | 25:37 | |
God has blessed us. | 25:41 | |
(men murmuring) | 25:43 | |
(happy organ music) | 25:47 | |
Be seated. | 26:47 | |
The second lesson is taken from the first letter of John. | 26:56 | |
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ | 27:01 | |
is a child of God, | 27:04 | |
and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. | 27:07 | |
By this we know that we love the children of God | 27:11 | |
when we love God and obey His commandments, | 27:15 | |
for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. | 27:18 | |
And His commandments are not burdensome, | 27:24 | |
for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, | 27:28 | |
and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. | 27:32 | |
Who is it that overcomes the world | 27:37 | |
but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? | 27:39 | |
This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. | 27:43 | |
Not with the water only, but with the water and the blood. | 27:49 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 27:54 | |
(happy bell music) | 28:44 | |
(happy bell and flute music) | 29:46 | |
(happy bell music) | 31:00 | |
- | Thank you, bell ringers, for that beautiful music. | 32:49 |
I'm sure you noted that the title of the selections | 32:53 | |
just presented was "Agape", meaning love. | 32:58 | |
The sermon topic for this morning is love, | 33:03 | |
the mark of discipleship. | 33:07 | |
What a joy it is to be here this morning, | 33:12 | |
and what a high privilege to be a part | 33:14 | |
of this worship service here in Duke Chapel. | 33:16 | |
What a privilege it is to be a part of worship | 33:21 | |
in such a magnificent setting as this. | 33:23 | |
I'm grateful to Bishop Goodson for his introduction. | 33:27 | |
He was most gracious. | 33:30 | |
But the full persons here who know me | 33:32 | |
added when he got through, under breath, | 33:34 | |
undeserved, untrue, but he's always gracious, | 33:37 | |
always kind, and lavishing praise upon his friends. | 33:42 | |
It's a real joy for me to be a part | 33:47 | |
of a worship service in which he is a participant also. | 33:49 | |
And thank you for coming, | 33:53 | |
be a part of this experience this morning. | 33:55 | |
Hear now the Gospel lesson. | 33:58 | |
It is found in the Gospel | 34:01 | |
according to John, chapter 15, verses nine through 17. | 34:02 | |
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. | 34:11 | |
Abide in my love. | 34:16 | |
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, | 34:18 | |
just as I have kept my Father's commandments | 34:22 | |
and abide in His love. | 34:25 | |
These things I have spoken to you | 34:28 | |
that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. | 34:30 | |
This is my commandment, that you love one another | 34:35 | |
as I have loved you. | 34:39 | |
Greater love has no man than this, | 34:42 | |
that a man lay down his life for his friends. | 34:44 | |
You are my friends if you do what I command you. | 34:48 | |
No longer do I call you servants, | 34:53 | |
for the servant does not know what his master is doing. | 34:56 | |
But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard | 34:59 | |
from my Father I have made known to you. | 35:03 | |
You did not choose me, but I chose you. | 35:07 | |
And I appointed you that you should go | 35:16 | |
and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, | 35:19 | |
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, | 35:24 | |
He will give it to you. | 35:28 | |
This I command you, to love one another. | 35:30 | |
The text for this morning is the 12th verse | 35:38 | |
of the 15th chapter of John's Gospel. | 35:41 | |
This is my commandment, that you love one another | 35:44 | |
as I have loved you. | 35:50 | |
And earlier in this Gospel, John reports Jesus' words, | 35:52 | |
"By this will all people know that you're my disciples | 35:59 | |
"if you love one another". | 36:03 | |
Love is the mark of Christian discipleship. | 36:06 | |
On that night before He was crucified, | 36:12 | |
Jesus and His disciples gathered together | 36:16 | |
in an upper room of in Jerusalem. | 36:17 | |
In the course of the evening, Jesus broke bread | 36:20 | |
and passed it to the disciples saying, | 36:24 | |
"This is my body, which is broken for you". | 36:26 | |
Then he passed a cup of wine to them | 36:30 | |
and said to them as they drank of it, | 36:32 | |
"This is my blood, which is shed for you". | 36:34 | |
And with those words and those actions, | 36:38 | |
He was saying, I love you this much. | 36:40 | |
Later that same evening, Jesus took a towel | 36:45 | |
and a basin of water, and kneeling down | 36:48 | |
before each one of His disciples, | 36:50 | |
He washed the feet of each disciple. | 36:52 | |
And by that action, He was saying to them, | 36:55 | |
I love you this much. | 36:58 | |
It was later that same evening that He spoke | 37:02 | |
to them the words of our text | 37:04 | |
and the other words I quoted from John's Gospel. | 37:06 | |
He said to them, "This is my commandment, | 37:09 | |
"that you love one another as I have loved you. | 37:13 | |
"By this will all people know that you're my disciples, | 37:17 | |
"if you love one another". | 37:19 | |
And it all came into clear focus the next morning, | 37:23 | |
as stretched on a cruel cross, giving His life | 37:26 | |
not for Himself, but for the world. | 37:29 | |
He cried out, "Father, forgive them, | 37:32 | |
"for they know not know what they do". | 37:34 | |
And out of those words and out of that act | 37:36 | |
came this mighty affirmation, | 37:40 | |
this mighty Gospel truth, I love you this much. | 37:42 | |
"Something Beautiful for God" | 37:49 | |
is the title of a book by Malcolm Muggeridge, | 37:50 | |
the British journalist and broadcaster. | 37:54 | |
A little book in which he tells his story | 37:58 | |
of the life and ministry of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. | 37:59 | |
In 1979, Malcolm Muggeridge was sent out to Calcutta, India, | 38:04 | |
to do a documentary film for the British | 38:08 | |
Broadcasting Corporation on the life and ministry | 38:10 | |
of this beautiful and great Christian missionary. | 38:14 | |
During one of the early interviews with Mother Teresa, | 38:20 | |
Malcolm Muggeridge asked her, | 38:22 | |
"Mother Teresa, tell me why you're here | 38:25 | |
"in Calcutta, India, doing this ministry of love". | 38:28 | |
And her response was this. | 38:32 | |
"I came to Calcutta to do something beautiful for God | 38:34 | |
"and something beautiful in the life | 38:39 | |
"of God's children here". | 38:41 | |
And so Malcolm Muggeridge gave to his film, | 38:44 | |
the documentary film which he did, | 38:47 | |
the title "Something Beautiful for God". | 38:49 | |
And the little book which he wrote | 38:52 | |
about her life and ministry, | 38:53 | |
to that book he gave the same title, | 38:56 | |
"Something Beautiful for God". | 38:58 | |
Mother Teresa was born in Yugoslavia in 1910. | 39:01 | |
When she was still a young girl, 12 years of age, | 39:06 | |
she felt in her own life the call of God | 39:09 | |
to give herself to some full-time vocation in the Church. | 39:12 | |
That vocation was not clearly defined. | 39:17 | |
But by the time she reached 18 years of age, | 39:19 | |
it was clearly defined for her. | 39:22 | |
God wanted her to go to India as a missionary. | 39:24 | |
At that time, she knew that the Sisters of Loreto, | 39:28 | |
one of the orders of her church, | 39:31 | |
were working in Calcutta, India, | 39:33 | |
and so she became a part of that order | 39:36 | |
and went to Ireland to a convent of that order | 39:39 | |
to prepare herself for her ministry in India. | 39:42 | |
After a year of preparation, | 39:46 | |
the order sent her out to one of their schools in Calcutta, | 39:48 | |
a high school operated by the Sisters of Loreto. | 39:51 | |
And for the next 17 years of her life, | 39:55 | |
Teresa was a teacher of geography | 39:58 | |
in a lovely setting, a beautiful school | 40:00 | |
with beautiful gardens to which lovely children | 40:03 | |
came each day to be taught. | 40:05 | |
She taught them geography, but she also taught them | 40:07 | |
about the God of the whole world | 40:10 | |
and of the Christ who gave Himself in love for the world. | 40:13 | |
For the next 17 years, she was there teaching. | 40:19 | |
But one day in 1946, she had what she describes | 40:22 | |
as a call within her call, | 40:25 | |
a call to a vocation within a vocation. | 40:28 | |
She heard God saying to her, | 40:30 | |
"Teresa, I no longer need you here in this high school | 40:32 | |
"teaching geography to my children. | 40:35 | |
"I need you in the streets of Calcutta. | 40:38 | |
"I need you out in the slums ministering | 40:40 | |
"and caring in love for the poorest | 40:43 | |
"of the poor among my children". | 40:45 | |
She shared this call with superiors in her order, | 40:48 | |
and they gave consideration to it for a two year period, | 40:51 | |
and during that same period, trained her for the ministry | 40:55 | |
she felt called to do in the slums of Calcutta. | 40:58 | |
At the end of the two year period, | 41:02 | |
they released her from her commitment to the order | 41:03 | |
and set her free to go and do her ministries of love | 41:06 | |
among the poorest of the poor. | 41:11 | |
She took off the habit of her order | 41:13 | |
and dawned the white sorry with the cross of Christ | 41:14 | |
on the shoulder, symbolic of the ministry | 41:18 | |
of self-giving, self-denying love | 41:21 | |
that would characterize her life from that day to this. | 41:26 | |
She went into the slums of Calcutta | 41:31 | |
and with her went some of its students | 41:32 | |
she had taught in the high school, | 41:35 | |
students who also felt called to give themselves | 41:37 | |
in this kind of ministry of love. | 41:40 | |
In the streets of Calcutta, they found hundreds and hundreds | 41:42 | |
of abandoned children, left by families | 41:47 | |
who could no longer care for them, | 41:50 | |
to grow up alone in the streets, most of whom | 41:51 | |
who would eventually die of starvation and disease. | 41:54 | |
She began a home for abandoned for children, | 41:58 | |
that she and her associates acquired a house, | 42:04 | |
and they brought hundreds of these children | 42:07 | |
into the house year after year. | 42:09 | |
They brought them into teach them, | 42:12 | |
but most of all, to love them, and to say to them | 42:15 | |
through their own lives, we care about you, | 42:18 | |
and there's a God who cares about you and loves you | 42:22 | |
and sustains you. | 42:25 | |
They started also a home for the dying. | 42:27 | |
It happened this way. | 42:30 | |
One day as she and an associate were walking out | 42:31 | |
in a Calcutta street, they saw a woman dying in the gutter. | 42:33 | |
In fact, the rats had already begun to gather around | 42:36 | |
to nibble at her flesh. | 42:40 | |
They could not stand the sight of one of God's children | 42:42 | |
dying in this way. | 42:45 | |
And so they gathered up her body | 42:46 | |
and carried it to a nearby abandoned Hindu shrine, | 42:48 | |
and that became the first home for the dying. | 42:53 | |
And over the past of 39 years now, | 42:57 | |
they have brought more than 25,000 people from the streets, | 43:00 | |
dying people in the streets of Calcutta | 43:03 | |
into the home for the dying, | 43:05 | |
and over half of them have recovered | 43:07 | |
as a result of the touch of love and care | 43:10 | |
and ministry from Mother Teresa and her associates. | 43:14 | |
She started a treatment center for lepers. | 43:17 | |
By the medicines provided from the Church around the world | 43:22 | |
and by, again, the touch of her love, | 43:25 | |
God's love through her, so many have found healing | 43:27 | |
and a new lease on life. | 43:33 | |
And so far, some 40 years now, she's been there in Calcutta | 43:36 | |
and has moved out from Calcutta all across the world | 43:40 | |
to do a ministry of serving, caring, self-giving love | 43:43 | |
in response to these words of Jesus in our text. | 43:48 | |
"This is my commandment, that you love one another | 43:51 | |
"as I have loved you. | 43:55 | |
"By this will people know that you're my disciples | 43:57 | |
"if you love one another." | 43:59 | |
As I reflect on the life of this beautiful, beautiful | 44:04 | |
Christian missioner in today's world, Mother Teresa, | 44:08 | |
as I reflect this morning on these words of Jesus, | 44:13 | |
I hear again in the call in my life. | 44:16 | |
I hear again the call to the Church. | 44:18 | |
"Love one another as I have loved you. | 44:21 | |
"By this will the world know that you're my disciples | 44:25 | |
"if you love one another." | 44:30 | |
Surely no word is more descriptive of the life of Jesus | 44:34 | |
than the word love. | 44:37 | |
How often it came from His lips. | 44:38 | |
Love your neighbors, love your enemies, | 44:41 | |
love that you might by sons and daughters of God in Heaven. | 44:43 | |
Love as God loves who sends His rain | 44:49 | |
on the good and the evil and makes the sun to shine | 44:52 | |
on both the just and the unjust. | 44:54 | |
And how often these words are used to describe Him. | 44:59 | |
He had compassion upon them, | 45:02 | |
describing the quality | 45:06 | |
of His self-giving love for others. | 45:10 | |
That New Testament love embodied in Jesus | 45:14 | |
is a love that is always seeking actively | 45:19 | |
the wellbeing and the best life possible for other persons. | 45:24 | |
It's an attitude and approach to people | 45:30 | |
that seeks nothing in return. | 45:32 | |
It's selfless. | 45:34 | |
It loves whether or not the one who's being loved responds. | 45:36 | |
It's a quality of love that, is really love | 45:42 | |
no strings attached, asking nothing in return. | 45:45 | |
It simply affirms, I give myself to you | 45:49 | |
because you're God's child, and I'm God's child, | 45:52 | |
and I've been loved by God. | 45:57 | |
And I'm called to share this love, | 45:58 | |
and I want to share this love with you | 46:00 | |
because you're somebody. | 46:02 | |
You have worth and dignity and value, | 46:04 | |
and I give myself to you and for you | 46:06 | |
and with you in the world. | 46:10 | |
Oh, this love is better understood in relationships | 46:13 | |
and embodiments than it is in verbal definitions. | 46:17 | |
Love is the good Samaritan crossing the road | 46:20 | |
to minister to a Jew who has been beaten up | 46:25 | |
by robbers and left to die. | 46:30 | |
The Samaritan leans over the Jew, | 46:33 | |
though he knows this Jew despises him | 46:35 | |
and feels that he's been cursed | 46:39 | |
if the shadow of a Samaritan falls upon him. | 46:42 | |
He leans over to minister to this man, | 46:45 | |
though this man is the one who has made him an outcast. | 46:48 | |
But expecting nothing in return. | 46:53 | |
He ministers to this man beside the road, | 46:56 | |
that this man might have healing. | 46:59 | |
Love is the father of the prodigal son | 47:02 | |
running down the road to meet the boy | 47:04 | |
who's coming home, embracing him. | 47:06 | |
Welcome home, son. | 47:09 | |
The son has abused everything the father has given him. | 47:10 | |
He's misused all that the father's taught him. | 47:15 | |
And yet, the father says, "Aelcome home, son. | 47:20 | |
"Here's a robe for you, ring for your finger, | 47:22 | |
"shoes for your feet. | 47:25 | |
"I want you back in the family." | 47:28 | |
Love is Jesus saying to a man like Zacchaeus, | 47:30 | |
again who is an outcast, everybody despises him. | 47:34 | |
This is Jesus saying, "Zacchaeus, you are somebody. | 47:38 | |
"You have worth, you have dignity, you have value. | 47:41 | |
"Come down from that tree. | 47:43 | |
"I'm going home with you. | 47:44 | |
"I care about you." | 47:46 | |
Love is Jesus saying to a woman who was about to be stoned | 47:48 | |
for breaking the law, "I do not condemn you. | 47:53 | |
"Go and sin no." | 47:56 |
Pastor | Love is that kind of acceptance and forgiveness. | 0:04 |
Love is Jesus | 0:07 | |
with a cup and a loaf, a towel in the basin | 0:10 | |
stretched all across. | 0:14 | |
I love you | 0:17 | |
this much. | 0:20 | |
Love is caring and caring deeply. | 0:23 | |
Love is caring for those who are addicted to alcohol | 0:29 | |
and other drugs. | 0:34 | |
Love is caring enough to become involved | 0:35 | |
in a redemptive relationship with the one who is addicted | 0:38 | |
and is caring enough to become involved in movements | 0:42 | |
and agencies that seek to minister | 0:45 | |
for the total person imprisoned in such addiction. | 0:49 | |
Love is caring for the lonely, | 0:54 | |
caring enough to be a friend. | 0:57 | |
Love is caring for those who live in our society | 1:02 | |
in conditions that are too miserable | 1:05 | |
and too filthy for any human beings to live in. | 1:07 | |
Love is caring enough to become involved | 1:09 | |
and providing adequate housing | 1:13 | |
and adequate care for all of God's children. | 1:17 | |
Love is caring for the hungry, caring enough to feed them. | 1:19 | |
And in the streets of Durham, and along the streets | 1:25 | |
of every North Carolina city and crossroads, | 1:29 | |
there are hungry people. | 1:34 | |
And if we love, we'll care enough | 1:37 | |
to identify them and seek to meet the need. | 1:39 | |
Love is listening. | 1:45 | |
Love is the son or the daughter | 1:47 | |
who listens to the parent | 1:52 | |
because they love the parent | 1:55 | |
and the parent is worth listening to. | 1:56 | |
Love is the parent who listens to the son or daughter | 1:58 | |
because they're persons of valued worth | 2:02 | |
and deserve to be listened to. | 2:05 | |
Love is dealing with injustice. | 2:13 | |
We live in a society | 2:17 | |
where there is still racism and injustice. | 2:18 | |
Love is caring enough to deal with the traditions, | 2:22 | |
to deal openly and actively with the conditions, | 2:26 | |
the prejudices, the agencies, the institutions | 2:29 | |
that continue to foster injustice and racism. | 2:31 | |
Love cares and cares deeply. | 2:38 | |
In his book, Works of Love, Soren Kierkegaard | 2:41 | |
commenting on Paul's words, love is patient. | 2:46 | |
Writes, love is patient means love waits. | 2:49 | |
And love does wait. | 2:56 | |
Love waits for the slow learner. | 2:58 | |
Love waits for the one who has a handicapping condition | 3:01 | |
and just cannot quite keep up. | 3:05 | |
Love waits for those who are growing older | 3:08 | |
and whose bodies just won't perform quite | 3:12 | |
as quickly as once they did. | 3:15 | |
Love waits, love never rushes on | 3:19 | |
and leaves one of God's children struggling to keep up. | 3:23 | |
Love waits because love cares and cares deeply. | 3:28 | |
Love never treats a person as a thing | 3:33 | |
but as one of worth and valiantly. | 3:37 | |
A person treats persons as persons | 3:40 | |
of worth and value and dignity. | 3:44 | |
There's a delightful story of the little boy | 3:47 | |
who went into a restaurant with his mother and sister. | 3:50 | |
Their waiter came to get the orders | 3:53 | |
and took the order first of the sister, | 3:56 | |
and then of the mother and then turned to the little boy, | 3:59 | |
the young man and said now young man what will you have? | 4:02 | |
And before he could speak up his sister said | 4:05 | |
he wants a hamburger but she ignored the sister | 4:06 | |
and said, young man what did you want? | 4:09 | |
And he said, I want a hamburger. | 4:11 | |
Well what do you want on it and the mother said right away, | 4:13 | |
he wants everything on it but the waiter ignored the mother | 4:15 | |
and said, young man what do you want on it? | 4:19 | |
He said, I want everything on it. | 4:21 | |
As the waiter left, the boy looked at his mother and said, | 4:24 | |
mom, she thinks I'm a person. | 4:28 | |
Love always relates to others whether they be young or old | 4:32 | |
as persons of worth and value, worth living with, | 4:37 | |
worth sharing life with, worth listening to, | 4:42 | |
worth being in communion and communication with. | 4:44 | |
And apart from this, there's no hope for life is there? | 4:48 | |
There's no hope for family life, | 4:52 | |
unless husbands and wives listen to one another, | 4:55 | |
are present to one another because they love, | 5:00 | |
are caring enough to be sensitive to all | 5:03 | |
that is said verbally and what is said non-verbally. | 5:06 | |
There's no hope for world peace and world relationships | 5:13 | |
unless leaders of the world can sit down | 5:15 | |
around the conference tables believing | 5:17 | |
that those across the table are of worth and value, | 5:19 | |
worth living with on this planet, | 5:23 | |
worth caring about, worth saving. | 5:25 | |
There is no hope in interpersonal relationships | 5:32 | |
unless they're characterized by caring, | 5:37 | |
listening, communicating love. | 5:41 | |
Love never despairs. | 5:50 | |
In the sixth chapter of Luke's gospel, | 5:52 | |
we find these words of Jesus, love your enemies. | 5:54 | |
Then there's a footnote. | 5:58 | |
If you look down at the footnote it says this, | 5:59 | |
other ancient authorities have at this point, | 6:02 | |
despairing of no man. | 6:05 | |
Their ancient authorities which put Jesus as saying, | 6:08 | |
love your enemies, despairing of no man. | 6:11 | |
And whether or not those ancient authorities are accurate | 6:14 | |
although some go back to the second century. | 6:18 | |
Whether or not they act but they sure do describe, | 6:21 | |
with accuracy, the life and relationships of Jesus. | 6:24 | |
He never despaired of anyone. | 6:28 | |
Others may have despaired of Judas but not Jesus. | 6:30 | |
Others may have despaired of one like Simon Peter | 6:34 | |
big and blundering and denying but not Jesus. | 6:37 | |
Others may have given up on Zacchaeus but not Jesus. | 6:41 | |
Love doesn't give up. | 6:44 | |
How easy it is to give up. | 6:47 | |
There are some people who just don't respond. | 6:49 | |
We offer love, gestures of love, words of love | 6:54 | |
and they don't respond. | 6:59 | |
In fact, they resist us and reject us | 7:01 | |
and maybe even at times curse us in return | 7:05 | |
but love never despairs. | 7:10 | |
Love never gives up because love is of God | 7:13 | |
and God never gives up on any one of his children. | 7:18 | |
And love is always seeking to enlarge the circle. | 7:23 | |
So long as the person who loves is aware of anyone | 7:27 | |
that needs love out there and is not being loved. | 7:31 | |
Love cannot be satisfied. | 7:35 | |
Edwin Markham wrote a little four line thing. | 7:38 | |
He drew a circle that shut me out. | 7:41 | |
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. | 7:44 | |
But love and I had the wit to win. | 7:46 | |
We drew a circle that took him in. | 7:50 | |
Love is always enlarging the circle of outreach. | 7:54 | |
To take in every person | 7:58 | |
that needs that touch of love. | 8:00 | |
But what does this say to the church? | 8:06 | |
It speaks to us as individual Christians | 8:10 | |
but it speaks to the church for it says, | 8:12 | |
the church of the churches and mission | 8:14 | |
is the community of love. | 8:16 | |
Love is the message, love is the motivation, | 8:18 | |
love is the mission of the church. | 8:21 | |
David Livingstone is one of the great heroes | 8:26 | |
of our Christian tradition. | 8:29 | |
He gave himself, literally spent himself | 8:32 | |
in loving ministry on the continent of Africa. | 8:35 | |
But his body was so broken by sickness, | 8:38 | |
that he could not walk. | 8:41 | |
He had people make a stretcher | 8:42 | |
and literally carry him bodily | 8:45 | |
only into the continent to do more work. | 8:47 | |
There was always one more river he needed to cross | 8:49 | |
because there was one more village in which he needed to go | 8:52 | |
to touch people with the love of Christ. | 8:55 | |
Always one more village, one more village | 8:57 | |
to which he felt called to go | 9:02 | |
that he might touch people with a touch of Christ love. | 9:05 | |
He died on the continent, was brought back | 9:10 | |
to eventually to Westminster Abbey where he lies buried. | 9:12 | |
On his gravestone, are these words along | 9:17 | |
one side of the gravestone are these words, | 9:19 | |
other sheep I have that are not of this fold. | 9:23 | |
Them also I must bring, and they must hear my voice, | 9:25 | |
the words of Jesus that motivated him | 9:28 | |
and compelled him to keep going in ministry of love. | 9:30 | |
Along the other side of that gravestone | 9:34 | |
in the center aisle of Westminster Abbey are these words, | 9:36 | |
may heaven's rich blessing come upon all | 9:41 | |
who will help to heal the open sore of the world. | 9:44 | |
And all over this world, there are open sores. | 9:49 | |
On the new campus in the city of Durham, | 9:55 | |
in the city of Raleigh, all over the state, | 9:58 | |
all over this world, they're hurting people. | 10:00 | |
There are souls that need the healing touch of Christ, | 10:06 | |
they're the lonely who're crying out, | 10:08 | |
touch me someone with friendship and love, | 10:11 | |
they're the hungry who're crying out, | 10:14 | |
touch me with healing, I need food. | 10:15 | |
There're those who've lost the way in life | 10:19 | |
who're crying out, somebody show me the right way, | 10:21 | |
touch me with healing love. | 10:23 | |
They don't always say this by their words | 10:26 | |
but the very condition | 10:29 | |
in which we see them is itself this kind of cry. | 10:30 | |
All over the world they're hurting, lonely, | 10:38 | |
seeking people, who will not find the way, | 10:43 | |
who will not find the healing they need unless you and I, | 10:48 | |
as disciples of Jesus Christ, touch them | 10:51 | |
with his kind of love. | 10:55 | |
On the night before he was crucified, Jesus said, | 11:02 | |
this is my body, this is my blood. | 11:08 | |
On that same night, he washed the disciples feet. | 11:12 | |
On the next morning, he stretched himself out | 11:16 | |
on a cross for you and for me | 11:17 | |
and through all of those actions he was saying, | 11:20 | |
I love you this much. | 11:22 | |
And here today he is saying to us, | 11:27 | |
by this they will know that you are my disciples. | 11:31 | |
If you love one another, | 11:35 | |
love one another as I have loved you. | 11:38 | |
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels | 11:44 | |
but have not love, I'm a noisy gong | 11:47 | |
or a clanging cymbal. | 11:52 | |
If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries | 11:54 | |
and all knowledge and if I have all faith | 11:59 | |
so as to remove mountains | 12:02 | |
but have not love, I am nothing. | 12:05 | |
If I give away all I have, if I deliver my body to be burned | 12:09 | |
but have not love, I gain nothing. | 12:15 | |
Love is patient and kind. | 12:20 | |
Love is not jealous or boastful, | 12:24 | |
it is not arrogant or rude. | 12:28 | |
Love does not insist on its own way, | 12:32 | |
it is not irritable or resentful, | 12:37 | |
it is not rejoicing wrong. | 12:42 | |
Or when bad things happen to others | 12:44 | |
it rejoices only in the right. | 12:47 | |
Love bears all things, believes all things, | 12:50 | |
hopes all things and do is all things. | 12:53 | |
Love never ends. | 12:57 | |
God help us to make love our aim. | 13:03 | |
Amen. | 13:09 | |
(organ playing) | 13:18 | |
Male | As we remain standing, | 15:57 |
let us unite in this historical confession | 15:59 | |
of the Christian faith. | 16:01 | |
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, | 16:04 | |
the maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ | 16:08 | |
his only son, our Lord, | 16:11 | |
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, | 16:13 | |
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, | 16:17 | |
was crucified, dead and buried. | 16:22 | |
The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven | 16:25 | |
and sit at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. | 16:31 | |
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. | 16:35 | |
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, | 16:39 | |
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, | 16:44 | |
the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, amen. | 16:48 | |
The Lord be with you. | 16:56 | |
(audience responding) | 16:58 | |
Let us pray. | 17:01 | |
Almighty and ever living God, | 17:13 | |
whose will is always to do good for them whom you love, | 17:17 | |
and as we have so eloquently heard, | 17:23 | |
your love includes all of us. | 17:27 | |
This is a particularly important Sunday to us | 17:32 | |
in the regular, secular makeup of the year | 17:35 | |
when memories become tender, | 17:42 | |
and the emotions rise near the surface | 17:45 | |
and the instinct to say a word of gratitude | 17:52 | |
to people who brought you life and gave you life | 17:56 | |
and nurtured you in life. | 18:01 | |
Let we pray the upon the families of this land | 18:05 | |
and of all of the lands. | 18:09 | |
Let the dignity and the peace | 18:13 | |
and the integrity of the family | 18:15 | |
may be restored where it is broken | 18:17 | |
and we be surrounded with goodness where it is lacking. | 18:21 | |
For the gift of those who gave us life, | 18:29 | |
we give thee a Thanksgiving. | 18:32 | |
And for the gift of him who gave us eternal life, | 18:35 | |
we give thee the commitment of our own souls. | 18:40 | |
How good it is to be here. | 18:45 | |
We pray for your children all over this earth. | 18:50 | |
For the disturbed lands and 20th century history. | 18:57 | |
For those who cry out for peace and there is no peace. | 19:05 | |
Somewhere, out of the miracle of your love | 19:14 | |
save us from the stupid devastation | 19:19 | |
that we inflict upon ourselves and each other. | 19:24 | |
We have come this day to celebrate your aliveness | 19:32 | |
and to celebrate your resurrection | 19:37 | |
and to affirm it in our own lives. | 19:41 | |
Hear our prayer and accept it. | 19:46 | |
We pray through Jesus Christ, | 19:50 | |
Amen. | 19:54 | |
Let us worship God now with the giving | 19:57 | |
of our tithes and our offerings. | 19:59 | |
(bell-based music) | 21:29 | |
(organ playing) | 26:15 | |
We made bold to bring thee our gifts dear Christ. | 27:49 | |
We bring them to you because of what you have brought to us. | 27:54 | |
All of life is your gift to us. | 27:59 | |
Accept these gifts we pray | 28:04 | |
and hear us as we pray together | 28:08 | |
the prayer which you did teach us to pray. | 28:10 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 28:14 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 28:19 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 28:23 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 28:26 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 28:28 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 28:31 | |
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 28:35 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 28:41 | |
and the glory forever, | 28:44 | |
Amen. | 28:48 | |
(organ playing) | 28:50 | |
If you would hesitate in your pews for a moment | 32:51 | |
following the benediction, the three of us | 32:53 | |
would like to greet you at the rear of the chapel | 32:56 | |
on this unusual day. | 32:59 | |
And now may the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, | 33:03 | |
and the love of God, the Father, and the communion | 33:07 | |
and fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 33:10 | |
rest and abide with us all now and forevermore, amen. | 33:12 | |
(upbeat music) | 33:23 | |
(people shuffling) | 36:45 |