Barney L. Jones - "Sacred Tower - Secular City" (June 9, 1985)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(upbeat music) | 0:02 | |
- | Welcome to Duke Chapel, particularly our alumni | 7:44 |
who are here for this alumni weekend. | 7:47 | |
I am William Mulliman, minister to the University. | 7:51 | |
50 years ago this week, Duke University Chapel | 7:56 | |
was formally dedicated in a great service of worship. | 8:00 | |
We gather to commemorate that day and the 50 years of | 8:04 | |
service of this chapel, some of you were present on that | 8:08 | |
day of dedication and we're delighted that you're here. | 8:14 | |
We also welcome those in the wider community who worship | 8:20 | |
with us on radio station WDNC. | 8:24 | |
Our guest preacher today is the Reverend Doctor Barney | 8:29 | |
Jones beloved teacher of a generation of Duke students | 8:35 | |
came through his courses in the department of religion. | 8:39 | |
And we welcome him today. | 8:43 | |
Let us continue our worship. | 8:46 | |
(choir singing inaudibly) | 8:54 | |
(upbeat music) | 9:39 | |
- | Almighty and everlasting god who hast built thy | 15:25 |
church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. | 15:29 | |
Jesus Christ himself being the Chief cornerstone. | 15:34 | |
We pray thee to inspire the church universal with the | 15:38 | |
spirit of truth, unity and concord. | 15:42 | |
Grand unto all who confess thy holy name such | 15:46 | |
purity of heart and strength of purpose that no selfish | 15:50 | |
passion may hinder us from knowing thy will | 15:55 | |
and no weakness from doing it. | 15:59 | |
In thy light may we see life clearly | 16:02 | |
and in thy service find perfect freedom. | 16:05 | |
Through Jesus Christ our lord, amen. | 16:09 | |
- | Let us pray. | 16:25 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh god | 16:29 | |
your holy spirit so that as the word is read in plain, | 16:33 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day | 16:39 | |
of joyful remembrance, amen. | 16:43 | |
In the year that King Uzziah died, | 16:51 | |
I saw the lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up | 16:54 | |
and his train filled the temple. | 16:59 | |
Above him stood the seraphim, each had six wings. | 17:02 | |
With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet | 17:06 | |
and with two he flew and one called to another and said | 17:10 | |
holy, holy, holy is the lord of hosts, the whole earth | 17:16 | |
is full of his glory and the foundations of the threshold | 17:21 | |
shook at the voice of him who called, the | 17:26 | |
house was filled with smoke and I said woe is me | 17:29 | |
for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips | 17:33 | |
and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips. | 17:38 | |
For my eyes have seen the king, the lord of hosts. | 17:43 | |
Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand | 17:48 | |
a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. | 17:52 | |
And he touched my mouth and said behold, this has touched | 17:57 | |
your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin forgiven | 18:01 | |
and I heard the voice of the lord saying whom | 18:07 | |
shall I send and whom will go for us? | 18:11 | |
(upbeat music with inaudible singing) | 18:41 | |
The second lesson is from Saint Paul's letter to | 23:29 | |
the church of Ephesus but now in Christ Jesus | 23:32 | |
you who once were far off have been brought near | 23:37 | |
in the blood of Christ, for he is our peace who has | 23:40 | |
made us both one and has broken down the dividing | 23:45 | |
wall of hostility by abolishing in his flesh the law | 23:48 | |
of commandments and ordinances that he might create in | 23:53 | |
himself one new man in place of the two thus making peace | 23:56 | |
and might reconcile us both to god in one body through the | 24:02 | |
cross thereby bringing the hostility to an end. | 24:06 | |
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off | 24:11 | |
and peace to those who were near for through him we both | 24:15 | |
have access and one spirit to the father so then you | 24:19 | |
are no longer strangers and sojourners but you are | 24:24 | |
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household | 24:27 | |
of god built upon the foundation of the apostles | 24:31 | |
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone | 24:34 | |
in whom the whole structure is joined together | 24:39 | |
and grows into a holy temple in the lord, | 24:42 | |
in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place | 24:45 | |
of god in the spirit, here ends the reading of the epistle. | 24:49 | |
The gospel for the morning is from Saint Matthew. | 24:57 | |
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, | 25:01 | |
he ask his disciples, who do men say that the son of man is? | 25:05 | |
And they said some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah | 25:11 | |
and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. | 25:16 | |
He said to them but who do you say that I am? | 25:20 | |
Simon Peter replied you are the Christ, the son of the | 25:25 | |
living god and Jesus answered him blessed are you son | 25:29 | |
bore Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you | 25:34 | |
but my father who is in heaven and I tell you you are Peter | 25:39 | |
and on this rock I will build my church. | 25:45 | |
And the powers of death shall not prevail against it. | 25:48 | |
The gospel of our lord, amen. | 25:53 | |
- | The grace of our lord Jesus be with you. | 26:17 |
Good morning. | 26:22 | |
Marjory and I are honored | 26:26 | |
to be guests of the University | 26:29 | |
for this 50th anniversary | 26:32 | |
of the dedication of the chapel. | 26:34 | |
Those of you who are privileged to know Dean Kelland | 26:37 | |
will understand the sense of personal distinction I feel | 26:41 | |
in being designated a James T. Kleland Visiting Preacher. | 26:46 | |
This morning our lectors have been Professor Pellum Wilder | 26:52 | |
who has long supported this chapel so faithfully and well | 26:57 | |
and President Sanford | 27:02 | |
under who's leadership the chapel | 27:05 | |
is now possessed of a growing endowment. | 27:08 | |
Their participation adds even more | 27:13 | |
to the meaning of this service for us. | 27:16 | |
The scripture lesson the President read | 27:24 | |
from the prophecy of Isaiah | 27:26 | |
was chosen with the chapel anniversary in mind. | 27:29 | |
Isaiah's memorable vision in the temple, | 27:34 | |
in which he saw and experienced | 27:39 | |
the reality of god | 27:41 | |
revealed in awesome majesty and power | 27:44 | |
occurred in the year in which Uzziah, king of Judah, died. | 27:48 | |
The historian John Bright observes | 27:55 | |
that under the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah, | 27:58 | |
in fame second only to Solomon, | 28:03 | |
Judah reached the summit of its power. | 28:06 | |
Fostering a mood of trust and confidence in the resources | 28:09 | |
and agencies of the government, | 28:14 | |
indeed a reliance upon King Uzziah himself | 28:17 | |
to maintain the security and well being of Judah, | 28:21 | |
this supposition of strength became Judah's weakness, | 28:26 | |
according to Isaiah, it was precisely the self-confidence, | 28:30 | |
this reliance and trustful dependence | 28:36 | |
upon the political and military establishment | 28:39 | |
that blinded Judah to the reality | 28:43 | |
that the ultimate ground of her being, | 28:46 | |
that upon which her emergence and continued existence as a | 28:49 | |
nation had always depended, was in the final reckoning, | 28:53 | |
not human but divine. | 28:58 | |
Within the mind of the prophet, | 29:02 | |
there seemed to exist a vital connection | 29:03 | |
between the death of Uzziah, the great leader | 29:06 | |
and Isaiah's vision in the temple. | 29:10 | |
"In the year the Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." | 29:13 | |
Perhaps it was with a prophet, as is it often with us, | 29:20 | |
that the irrevocable hand of death | 29:24 | |
unmasks our illusion of self-sufficiency | 29:28 | |
and exposes our radical dependence | 29:33 | |
upon the divine ruler. | 29:36 | |
None can long evade the sobering truth | 29:41 | |
that we are contingent beings and death comes alike to all. | 29:44 | |
Not improbably, out of an awareness of this kind, | 29:50 | |
Isaiah came to the conviction, | 29:55 | |
already well established in Hebrew religion | 29:57 | |
that the basic sin of man is | 30:01 | |
his prideful rejection of this radical dependence upon God | 30:04 | |
for his very existence and well being. | 30:09 | |
Rightfully, we may say prideful rejection | 30:14 | |
because as lordly human beings, | 30:19 | |
we are prone to ignore or to reject | 30:21 | |
our preacherly natures | 30:25 | |
and to think of ourselves as creator | 30:27 | |
and master of our life and destiny. | 30:31 | |
We may come finally to rely wholly upon human wisdom | 30:35 | |
and means of our own devising | 30:41 | |
for our existence and security. | 30:43 | |
Conversely for Isaiah, | 30:48 | |
true wisdom and the essence of religion | 30:50 | |
lay at last in dependence upon God. | 30:53 | |
In an unfaltering trust in him and in complete loyalty | 30:58 | |
and obedience to his will. | 31:02 | |
This insight with this acknowledgement of human finiteness | 31:06 | |
and the dependence of all life upon God | 31:10 | |
gave structure to Isaiah's political and social philosophy. | 31:14 | |
He saw that there is a pride of nation | 31:20 | |
corresponding to the pride of self | 31:24 | |
and yet the principal of death | 31:27 | |
applies to nations as well as to its citizens, | 31:29 | |
nations rise and fall. | 31:33 | |
One has but to search the ruins of once great cities | 31:37 | |
and flourishing empires to accept and adjust | 31:40 | |
to this relentless eventuality. | 31:44 | |
So, in this concrete eventful way, history has documented | 31:49 | |
Isaiah's prophecy, it has displayed the transient, | 31:54 | |
ephemeral and contingent nature of once proud and powerful | 31:59 | |
and self reliant nations set over against | 32:05 | |
and subordinate to the transcendent and enduring majesty | 32:09 | |
of God who rules the destinies | 32:14 | |
of all nations great and small. | 32:17 | |
There is the further haunting relevance of Isaiah's | 32:21 | |
censure of Judah for her trustful reliance upon | 32:25 | |
political alliance and military power | 32:30 | |
as the line of defense for national security. | 32:34 | |
The very weapons of war in Judah's arsenal | 32:39 | |
would be used as instruments of her own final destruction. | 32:44 | |
Throughout his prophecy, | 32:49 | |
Isaiah's perspective was theocentric. | 32:51 | |
That is, for this elder statesmen of Judah, | 32:55 | |
God was the strength of the nation | 32:59 | |
and her portion forever. | 33:03 | |
As we have noted, this God centered character of Isaiah's | 33:07 | |
personal fate lay at the very heart of Hebrew religion. | 33:11 | |
From its inception, the 10 commandments revealed to Moses | 33:16 | |
begin with the words "I am the lord your God who brought you | 33:22 | |
up out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage." | 33:27 | |
"You shall have no other gods before me." | 33:31 | |
Centuries later, the same centrality of devotion to god | 33:36 | |
was voiced by the Deuteronomic reformers. | 33:41 | |
"Hear of Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" | 33:45 | |
"and you shall love the lord your god with all your heart | 33:50 | |
and with all your soul and with all your might." | 33:54 | |
Thus when Jesus was asked which commandment is first of all, | 33:58 | |
he replied unhesitatingly with this same historic charge | 34:04 | |
adding significantly that we should love God with our mind, | 34:09 | |
as well as with our heart and soul and strength. | 34:15 | |
The primacy of God and his kingdom is omnipresent | 34:21 | |
and foremost in his teaching and his preaching. | 34:26 | |
Mark tells us at the very outset of his ministry, | 34:31 | |
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God | 34:35 | |
and saying, "the time is fulfilled," | 34:40 | |
"the kingdom of God is at hand." | 34:43 | |
The good news of the gospel was not then | 34:46 | |
in the first instance good news about women and men | 34:50 | |
but good news about God for women and men. | 34:55 | |
With Jesus, | 35:01 | |
when we acknowledge and reverence God as creator and ruler, | 35:03 | |
we know who we are and who's we are, | 35:08 | |
where we come from, where we are bound. | 35:13 | |
We know to whom we respond and to whom, finally, | 35:17 | |
we are answerable, it is God and in him only | 35:21 | |
that we live and move and have our being. | 35:26 | |
Hear the memorable words of the great church father, | 35:30 | |
Augustine come readily to mind. | 35:33 | |
"Oh lord, thou has made us for thyself" | 35:36 | |
"And our hearts are restless until" | 35:40 | |
"they find our rest in thee." | 35:43 | |
Using philosophical language, | 35:46 | |
Augustine described God as absolute being, | 35:49 | |
all apart from God, non being. | 35:54 | |
God as ultimate reality, all apart from god unreality. | 35:58 | |
God as complete existence, | 36:03 | |
all apart from God, non existence. | 36:06 | |
In so far as we move toward God and live in him, | 36:10 | |
we affirm our being, our reality, our existence. | 36:14 | |
But when we move away from God and live, as it were, | 36:20 | |
apart from him, we slip toward non being, | 36:24 | |
unreality and non existence. | 36:28 | |
To lose this theocentric orientation | 36:33 | |
and commitment is thus not only to lose perspective | 36:35 | |
of the meaning and nature of our existence | 36:40 | |
but more profoundly, it is to suffer a catastrophic loss | 36:43 | |
of status as creatures made in the image of God, | 36:48 | |
as citizens of his kingdom, as children of the king. | 36:53 | |
This affirmation of God as creator and ruler in national | 37:00 | |
and world affairs as well as in personal affairs | 37:04 | |
was echoed in the infant days of our republic | 37:08 | |
by none other than Benjamin Franklin. | 37:12 | |
With the Federal convention of 1787, | 37:16 | |
apparently mired in fruitless discussion, | 37:18 | |
Franklin recalled the attention of his colleagues to God | 37:22 | |
who had brought them through the ravages of war | 37:27 | |
and who could now lead them in the building of a nation. | 37:30 | |
Franklin is speaking, in this situation of the convention, | 37:34 | |
groping as it were in the dark to find political truth | 37:39 | |
and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, | 37:43 | |
"how does it happen that we have not hear the too once" | 37:47 | |
"thought of humbly applying to the father of lights" | 37:49 | |
"to illuminate our understanding." | 37:53 | |
"In the beginning of the conflict with Great Britain," | 37:57 | |
"when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers" | 38:00 | |
"in this hall for divine protection." | 38:04 | |
"Our prayers were heard and they were graciously answered." | 38:07 | |
"Have we now forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine | 38:11 | |
that we no longer need his assistance?" | 38:16 | |
"I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live," | 38:20 | |
"the more convincing proofs I see of this truth," | 38:23 | |
"that God governs in the affairs of men." | 38:27 | |
"And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his" | 38:31 | |
"notice,is it probable that an empire can rise without his" | 38:34 | |
"aid?" We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writing" | 38:38 | |
"that except the Lord build the house," | 38:43 | |
"they lay but in vain that build it." | 38:46 | |
"I firmly believe this and I also believe that without" | 38:49 | |
"his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political" | 38:53 | |
"building no better than the builders of Babel." | 38:57 | |
Franklin's words drawn from the old and new testaments | 39:04 | |
bespoke the tradition and conviction of the principal | 39:09 | |
settlers of our country, their first design was the glory | 39:12 | |
of God and the advancement of his kingdom. | 39:18 | |
God had delivered many of them from English bondage, | 39:22 | |
had brought them through the dangers of the sea to a new | 39:26 | |
promised land, here in the wilderness they would | 39:30 | |
build a new Zion, accordingly one of their earliest concerns | 39:34 | |
along with the construction of home and churches | 39:40 | |
was the establishment of colleges of liberal education | 39:44 | |
for the training of ministers of the gospel and the pious | 39:48 | |
nature of the leaders of government and society. | 39:52 | |
It is a matter of reckon that the colleges of colonial | 39:57 | |
America were largely religious in origin and character. | 40:01 | |
Eruditio et Religio, Dukes motto was their creed | 40:07 | |
and their practice, one after another, Harvard, | 40:14 | |
William and Mary, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, | 40:20 | |
Oberlin, Trinity, later to be Duke University, | 40:24 | |
owed their establishment and support to the church | 40:30 | |
and to those who's personal faith and education philosophy | 40:34 | |
was Christ and God-centered. | 40:38 | |
Article one of the by laws of this university boldly | 40:43 | |
reaffirms an ongoing commitment | 40:48 | |
to this theocentric tradition. | 40:51 | |
The aims of Duke University are to assert a faith in | 40:55 | |
the eternal union of knowledge and religion set forth | 40:58 | |
in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ, the son of | 41:03 | |
God, to advance learning in all lines of truth, | 41:07 | |
to defend scholarship against all false notions and ideals. | 41:12 | |
To develop a Christian love of freedom and truth, | 41:17 | |
to promote a sincere spirit of tolerance, to discourage | 41:23 | |
all partisan and sectarian strife and to render | 41:27 | |
the largest permanent service to the individual, | 41:32 | |
the state, the nation and the church. | 41:35 | |
Under these ends shall the affairs of | 41:40 | |
the university always be administered. | 41:43 | |
The full wording of these aims reveals that the | 41:48 | |
benefactor and the leaders of the new university | 41:51 | |
had in mind a union of religion and education | 41:55 | |
that was in no way narrowly providential, | 41:59 | |
sectarian or parochial, this was further amplified | 42:05 | |
in a Presidential address entitled Duke University | 42:10 | |
Architecture Proclaims the Centrality of the | 42:12 | |
Spiritual in the Life of Man. | 42:16 | |
It was delivered to the first graduating class on this | 42:19 | |
campus by Doctor Few, in it he had this to say. | 42:22 | |
And if Duke University is to have this unity | 42:30 | |
and round completeness by which he means the constructive | 42:32 | |
and harmonious partnership of Eruditio et Religio, | 42:37 | |
it must ever cherish some galvanizing central principle | 42:43 | |
that will hold it from disintegration. | 42:48 | |
On this campus, the chapel hard by the library | 42:51 | |
and the laboratories and cooperating with the university | 42:55 | |
in it's every effort to promote truth and serve humanity | 42:59 | |
is not only central but with it's stained glass, | 43:03 | |
its vaulted roof and noble spirals will dominate the place. | 43:07 | |
This is intended to be symbolic of the truth that the | 43:12 | |
spiritual is the central and dominant | 43:17 | |
thing in the life of man. | 43:20 | |
Can this ideal be realized in our world | 43:23 | |
and can religion and education in its highest forms | 43:26 | |
ever engage successfully in a great formative common | 43:31 | |
undertaking to make this a | 43:34 | |
better world than man has yet known? | 43:36 | |
Duke University is founded in that faith, to promote | 43:41 | |
this sort of synthetic power is the | 43:46 | |
highest mission of Duke University. | 43:49 | |
Clearly, for few, the expressed aims of the infant | 43:54 | |
University were of the nature of a contract, | 43:58 | |
a sacred bond representing an institutional covenant | 44:03 | |
between it's honored past and it's anticipated future. | 44:06 | |
But in the half century that has passed and moving into the | 44:13 | |
company of elite universities, Duke has changed | 44:16 | |
substantially from the days when President Few proudly left | 44:21 | |
his office to show casual visitors around the campus | 44:25 | |
and made key faculty appointments from his vest pocket. | 44:30 | |
Time makes ancient good uncouth and our founding creed | 44:36 | |
particularly in its religious character is now seen more | 44:41 | |
as a sincere and devout expression of early intention | 44:45 | |
than as a legally and morally binding modern guide to | 44:50 | |
our future, in terms of it's expressly affirmation, | 44:55 | |
the aims of the university are now more written upon | 45:01 | |
a tablet of stone than upon the heart. | 45:05 | |
In step with other institutions which we have mentioned, | 45:10 | |
Duke has moved steadily and purposefully toward becoming | 45:14 | |
a secular, rather than a religiously or explicitly | 45:18 | |
Christian oriented University. | 45:22 | |
One should not be mislead by the continuing legal ties | 45:26 | |
that Duke has with the Methodist Church which are no | 45:32 | |
longer vital or dynamic or even by the presence within it | 45:35 | |
of a strong divinity school and department of religion. | 45:40 | |
For nowhere is the true and present character of the aims | 45:46 | |
and purposes of a university more accurately portrayed than | 45:50 | |
in its prescribed curriculum which sets forth it's academic | 45:55 | |
requirements and it's educational philosophy. | 46:01 | |
Here in stark contrast to it's motto, Eruditio et Religio, | 46:06 | |
Duke requires no religious knowledge whatever of those | 46:14 | |
to whom it admits to the college and significantly none, | 46:21 | |
absolutely none of those upon whom it confers the | 46:26 | |
Bachelor's Degree at graduation. | 46:30 | |
It has not always been so with us. | 46:36 | |
In former times, a year of the study of religion was | 46:39 | |
mandated by the college along | 46:43 | |
with other academic requirements. | 46:46 | |
But then at the end of the 40s, in a sudden move, | 46:49 | |
the faculty voted to end the requirement of religion | 46:52 | |
for the undergraduate degree, I was present for that meeting | 46:56 | |
and for the subsequent call meeting of the faculty at which | 47:01 | |
Dean Wanamaker speaking for the university vetoed | 47:04 | |
the prior action as one clearly inconsistent with | 47:10 | |
the stated aims of Duke University. | 47:14 | |
That rational for this position was well, | 47:18 | |
that rational for this position was well understood | 47:21 | |
and appreciated as late as 1959 is evidence by the first | 47:24 | |
progress report of the university committee of long | 47:30 | |
range planning, it began with a statement of the place | 47:33 | |
of Duke University in higher education. | 47:37 | |
Some historical and philosophical foundations | 47:41 | |
and speaking first of all of the moral and religious | 47:46 | |
contribution of Trinity College, it had this to say. | 47:49 | |
From the beginning, there was a strong moral tradition | 47:54 | |
in the history of Trinity College. | 47:58 | |
The college was the creation of the church | 48:01 | |
and as would be expected instruction in religion | 48:04 | |
had it's appropriate place in the curriculum. | 48:07 | |
This fact in itself was nothing more than could be | 48:10 | |
assumed of any church related college. | 48:13 | |
The report goes onto observe that the more important fact | 48:16 | |
was that the leaders who guided Trinity college | 48:19 | |
and the laymen who supported it regarded religion | 48:22 | |
not merely as a formula for the Sabbath but as a living | 48:26 | |
philosophy dedicated among other things to the | 48:30 | |
nurture of learning and truth. | 48:33 | |
This perception was reaffirmed the following fall | 48:37 | |
in a Founder's Day Address by Mr BS Womble, | 48:39 | |
Chairman of the Board of Trustees. | 48:44 | |
On this occasion he said it is appropriate to consider | 48:47 | |
the kind of university Mr Duke envisioned when he | 48:50 | |
made provision for it in the | 48:54 | |
indenture of creating the endowment. | 48:57 | |
It is explicit in the indenture that Mr Duke expect. | 49:02 |
- | University, not only with the highest academic standards, | 0:02 |
but also one in which the principles | 0:07 | |
of the Christian religion should be a guiding principle. | 0:10 | |
But there was to be no stemming of the secular tide. | 0:17 | |
The support for it was too strong, | 0:20 | |
the issue too volatile, | 0:23 | |
the university too traumatized by inner turmoil | 0:25 | |
over control of its policies, | 0:29 | |
to allow for public discussion and debate | 0:31 | |
over this vital issue. | 0:34 | |
Subsequent revisions of the curriculum by the faculty, | 0:36 | |
which once again removed the absolute requirement | 0:39 | |
of religion, met with no opposition from the administration, | 0:42 | |
which recognized the authority of the faculty ordinarily, | 0:46 | |
to determine academic requirements. | 0:50 | |
Time and circumstance suggest | 0:55 | |
that this is not the occasion to deal comprehensively | 0:56 | |
with the secularizing of university. | 1:01 | |
While it should not be supposed | 1:04 | |
that the restoration of the religion requirement | 1:05 | |
would, in and of itself, significantly alter | 1:09 | |
our educational philosophy or reestablish | 1:12 | |
the centrality of the spiritual principle, | 1:16 | |
the elimination of the requirement | 1:19 | |
is a trenchant evidence of the secularizing process. | 1:22 | |
It is curious that the steady, pervasive development | 1:28 | |
about which we have been speaking, | 1:31 | |
has gone largely unacknowledged, | 1:33 | |
or is scarcely perceived by many. | 1:36 | |
In one way, the chapel, unintentionally, | 1:39 | |
contributes to this problem of perception. | 1:43 | |
It has ever been safeguarded | 1:46 | |
and lovingly cared for by every president of Duke, | 1:48 | |
and none more so than by President Sanford. | 1:53 | |
By design, standing majestically at the center | 1:58 | |
of the campus, the chapel suggests the spiritual principle | 2:00 | |
about which President Few spoke, | 2:04 | |
remains the paramount commitment of the university. | 2:07 | |
This being the case, notwithstanding Duke's present | 2:12 | |
more secular orientation, the chapel | 2:15 | |
serves one of its desired purposes well, | 2:18 | |
just as Mr. Duke intended that it should. | 2:24 | |
Time and again he said I want the central building | 2:28 | |
to be a church, which will dominate | 2:31 | |
all the surrounding buildings, | 2:33 | |
because such an edifice would be bound | 2:35 | |
to have a profound effect upon the spiritual life | 2:37 | |
of the young men and young women who come here. | 2:41 | |
Accordingly, Mr. Duke did everything in his power | 2:45 | |
to assure the centrality and dominance of the chapel. | 2:49 | |
At his insistence, this commanding tower | 2:53 | |
rises over the front door, | 2:56 | |
not back over the crossing | 2:59 | |
as on traditional gothic churches. | 3:01 | |
Why is the chapel so high, 200 feet? | 3:04 | |
Visiting school-children ask. | 3:08 | |
Because Mr. Duke chose it to be so. | 3:11 | |
He further specified in the Charter, | 3:14 | |
that no university building should ever be constructed | 3:17 | |
higher than the chapel tower. | 3:19 | |
Clearly, he intended that the chapel with its great tower | 3:22 | |
should express the spiritual uplift, | 3:26 | |
and striving for the best, | 3:29 | |
that he set forth as the goals of the university. | 3:31 | |
Thus, one might say that for Mr. Duke, | 3:36 | |
the chapel was the outward and visible sign | 3:38 | |
of what he intended the inner character | 3:41 | |
of the university to be. | 3:43 | |
Coordinate with architectural design | 3:46 | |
to ensure that the quest for intellectual excellence | 3:49 | |
should not displace the need for good men and true. | 3:52 | |
He specified that only persons of the highest moral | 3:57 | |
and spiritual character | 4:00 | |
were to be obtained as faculty, | 4:03 | |
and only those of sincere and upright character | 4:05 | |
were to be admitted to Duke as students. | 4:08 | |
In these and other ways, he did all that he could | 4:11 | |
to ensure the qualitative distinction and uniqueness | 4:15 | |
of the institution he chose to endow. | 4:19 | |
It has now been 50 years | 4:25 | |
since the chapel was dedicated to the glory of God, | 4:27 | |
and the relief of man's estate. | 4:30 | |
This would seem then an especially opportune time | 4:33 | |
to reflect once more on the sort of institution | 4:36 | |
Mr. Duke intended, | 4:40 | |
and upon what President Few had in mind | 4:43 | |
when he spoke of the soul of the university. | 4:45 | |
I cannot recall anyone speaking | 4:49 | |
of the soul of this university. | 4:54 | |
Surely it has to do with its essence, | 4:58 | |
with what is unique and distinctive about Duke, | 5:00 | |
what sets it apart from other educational institutions, | 5:04 | |
and gives to it a singular character of its own. | 5:08 | |
By itself, the demand for excellence, | 5:12 | |
essential for Duke's quest for greatness, | 5:16 | |
does not provide uniqueness. | 5:18 | |
It is the assumed commitment of every elite university | 5:21 | |
in the land. | 5:25 | |
Our current capital funds campaign | 5:27 | |
for the arts and sciences, | 5:30 | |
an imperative enterprise, | 5:32 | |
when successfully completed, | 5:35 | |
will still leave us far short | 5:37 | |
of some other university endowments. | 5:39 | |
While the struggle for excellence and for endowment | 5:44 | |
must be pressed with maximum vigor and dedication, | 5:46 | |
it will not provide uniqueness, | 5:54 | |
and alone it cannot ensoul the university. | 5:56 | |
Should the university seek to find its soul, | 6:01 | |
to achieve a genuine, genuine, and distinctive place | 6:05 | |
in higher education, | 6:09 | |
it has only to recover and renew commitment | 6:11 | |
to its stated aims and motto. | 6:14 | |
Surely, such a challenge is one of a silent | 6:18 | |
but powerful witnesses of the chapel. | 6:21 | |
Over the last several weeks of reflection | 6:26 | |
upon this anniversary of the chapel and its significance, | 6:28 | |
there came back into my thoughts | 6:31 | |
the remarkable adventure of Admiral Richard E. Byrd, | 6:33 | |
who in 1934 spent a winter alone | 6:38 | |
on the Polar Cap of Antarctica. | 6:41 | |
He made daily walks in darkness over the snowy terrain | 6:45 | |
where there were no landmarks, | 6:48 | |
and the appearance of things was the same | 6:50 | |
in every direction. | 6:52 | |
In order to walk with reasonable safety, | 6:55 | |
he marked a path about 100 yards long. | 6:59 | |
Every three paces, he drove a two-foot bamboo stick | 7:03 | |
into the crust, | 7:06 | |
and along these poles, he strung a line. | 7:08 | |
By running his hand over this, blind-man fashion, | 7:12 | |
he could feel his way back and forth in the worst weather. | 7:16 | |
On clear days, he would extend his path | 7:20 | |
by taking a bundle of bamboo sticks, | 7:23 | |
which stuck in the surface every 30 yards or so, | 7:26 | |
served as a guidepost. | 7:29 | |
When he wanted to return to the shack, | 7:31 | |
he simply retraced his steps, collecting the sticks. | 7:33 | |
One day, being in a fine mood, | 7:38 | |
he took a longer walk than usual. | 7:43 | |
After parading up and down for about a half an hour, | 7:46 | |
he turned to go back. | 7:49 | |
The line of the bamboo sticks | 7:51 | |
was nowhere in sight. | 7:54 | |
In his abstraction, he had walked | 7:56 | |
completely past and beyond it. | 7:59 | |
Wondering which way to turn, he was overwhelmed | 8:02 | |
by the grim realization | 8:06 | |
that he did not know how far he had walked, | 8:08 | |
or in what direction. | 8:11 | |
I am now lost, | 8:13 | |
he told himself. | 8:16 | |
And he was appalled. | 8:17 | |
After what seemed like an eternity of calculation | 8:20 | |
and experimentation, death by freezing | 8:23 | |
a not unlikely prospect, | 8:26 | |
he caught sight of the first of the bamboo sticks, | 8:28 | |
not more than 30 feet away. | 8:32 | |
To use his words, no shipwrecked mariner | 8:34 | |
sighting a distant sail | 8:38 | |
could have been more overjoyed. | 8:39 | |
By way of analogy, | 8:43 | |
let us say that the towering majesty of the chapel | 8:45 | |
is our bamboo stick, | 8:49 | |
embedded in the soil of North Carolina. | 8:52 | |
It may not be overly dramatic to say | 8:56 | |
that without it, we too are lost. | 8:58 | |
And by that, I mean to say | 9:03 | |
that without the influence of this chapel | 9:04 | |
and all that it signifies for the life of Duke, | 9:07 | |
its motto and its aims, | 9:11 | |
we would lose sight of that fullness and completeness | 9:14 | |
which belongs to a God-centered university, | 9:17 | |
one established in the faith, in the eternal union | 9:22 | |
of knowledge and religion, | 9:26 | |
set forth in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ, | 9:28 | |
the Son of God. | 9:31 | |
Hopefully it is not too late for Duke | 9:34 | |
to face the strange dualism | 9:36 | |
of the sacred tower in the midst of the secular university. | 9:39 | |
It owes it both to itself, | 9:45 | |
and to its full constituency, | 9:47 | |
past, present, and future, | 9:50 | |
to examine the intended complimentary relationship | 9:52 | |
between eruditio et religio, | 9:57 | |
with honesty and candor, | 10:00 | |
and thus to reflect anew and with utmost earnestness, | 10:03 | |
upon the destiny of the university | 10:07 | |
as it weighs the tradition of the past with its future. | 10:10 | |
The 50th anniversary of the dedication of the chapel | 10:14 | |
would seem to come at a time | 10:18 | |
when we have an unusual opportunity | 10:22 | |
to reembark upon this urgent task. | 10:25 | |
The sermon, too long, I'm afraid, | 10:32 | |
is now finished. | 10:36 | |
But please allow me the unusual privilege | 10:38 | |
of dedicating my remarks to three persons | 10:41 | |
who vitally affected my experience at Duke. | 10:44 | |
James Truesdale, my professor of Greek, | 10:48 | |
a superb teacher and gentleman | 10:53 | |
who found time to speak of eternal varaties | 10:57 | |
while we were translating Xenophon's "Anabasis". | 11:00 | |
H. Shelton Smith, father of graduate religion in the South, | 11:05 | |
my friend and mentor | 11:11 | |
for my studies in American Christianity. | 11:14 | |
And Hollis Edens, third President of Duke, | 11:17 | |
and one of the dearest and finest men | 11:22 | |
it has ever been my privilege to know. | 11:26 | |
May the love and peace of God be with you. | 11:30 | |
(uplifting gospel organ and horn music) | 11:39 | |
(gospel choir singing) | 12:10 | |
- | Would you join me in the office of rededication. | 13:37 |
Blessed be thy name, oh Lord, | 13:46 | |
that it hath pleased thee to put into the hearts | 13:49 | |
of thy servants, to appropriate and devote this house | 13:52 | |
to thy honor and worship. | 13:57 | |
Now therefore with one accord and with grateful hearts, | 14:00 | |
we dedicate this chapel unto thee, | 14:04 | |
the one, only, living and true God, Father, | 14:07 | |
Son, and Holy Ghost. | 14:11 | |
Amen. | 14:13 | |
God Almighty the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 14:15 | |
of whom every family in Heaven and in Earth is named, | 14:19 | |
to thy worship, we thy children | 14:23 | |
dedicate this chapel. | 14:27 | |
Thou, oh Christ, the King of glory, the everlasting Son | 14:29 | |
of the Father, our Lord and Savior, | 14:33 | |
to the freedom of the spirit | 14:36 | |
and the knowledge of the truth, | 14:38 | |
to the new commandment that we love one another, | 14:40 | |
and to the experience of abundant life, | 14:43 | |
to the religion which thou didst form on Earth, | 14:46 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 14:50 | |
In memory of those who with wise vision | 14:53 | |
did build the foundations of this institution, | 14:55 | |
in faith and hope, | 14:59 | |
and of those who generation after generation, | 15:01 | |
under thy gracious favor have guided its progress | 15:05 | |
and guarded the holy heritage committed to their trust, | 15:08 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 15:13 | |
In memory of those who going forth | 15:15 | |
from our fellowship into the varied ways of life, | 15:19 | |
serve their generation with devotion, | 15:22 | |
and in faith that the sons and daughters of the university | 15:26 | |
shall be citizens worthy of their high calling, | 15:29 | |
and shall add their heritage of noble memories | 15:33 | |
in days to come, | 15:36 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 15:38 | |
That our prayers may be set before these in since, | 15:41 | |
and that the words of our mouths and the meditations | 15:44 | |
of our heart may be acceptable in thy sight, | 15:47 | |
oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer, | 15:50 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 15:54 | |
To the contemplation of beauty, | 15:57 | |
to the understanding of music, | 16:00 | |
to the art of medication, | 16:03 | |
to communion with the unseen and eternal, | 16:05 | |
and to worship in spirit and in truth, | 16:08 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 16:11 | |
That here we may be humbled by the sense of human failure, | 16:14 | |
that we shall not seek a selfish safety | 16:19 | |
from the evil of the world, | 16:22 | |
and all who are weary and are heavy-laden, | 16:25 | |
all who suffer under disappointed, | 16:28 | |
all who are lonely and afraid, | 16:31 | |
may here find rest unto their souls, | 16:34 | |
that we may ever see the vision of a righteousness | 16:37 | |
for which all of us shall labor and pray, | 16:40 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 16:44 | |
That religion, pure and undefiled | 16:47 | |
may dominate all our life, | 16:49 | |
even as this structure rises above halls of learning, | 16:52 | |
and bestows on them its beauty and its strength, | 16:57 | |
we dedicate this chapel. | 17:01 | |
(uplifting gospel organ and choir music) | 17:04 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 18:06 |
- | And also with you. | 18:07 |
- | Let us pray. | 18:09 |
Be seated. | 18:10 | |
(indistinct whispering) | 18:15 | |
Kind and gracious God, | 18:23 | |
hope of all who seek thee and the joy of all who find, | 18:26 | |
having heard thy word, | 18:32 | |
having praised thy name, | 18:35 | |
we are emboldened to pray for the needs of the world. | 18:39 | |
We pray on this day of commemoration for thy church, | 18:44 | |
wherever it is found, | 18:48 | |
upon thy people anew, | 18:51 | |
open anew the empowering winds of the Spirit | 18:55 | |
lest we look for sustenance to sources | 18:59 | |
that were never meant to be our life. | 19:02 | |
Bless thy church, oh God, | 19:05 | |
here at Duke chapel and elsewhere, | 19:07 | |
with leaders who are neither timid nor conventional, | 19:11 | |
with shepherds who love thy sheep, | 19:15 | |
with theologians who unite knowledge and piety, | 19:19 | |
with members for whom religion | 19:25 | |
is a seven-day-a-week affair for life. | 19:27 | |
We pray for the alumni of this university, | 19:33 | |
for this their bittersweet time of reunion and remembrance. | 19:36 | |
Give them gratitude for gifts of teachers, | 19:42 | |
deans, coaches, and friends | 19:46 | |
who nurtured them while they were here. | 19:48 | |
Grant them a renewed sense of dedication | 19:52 | |
to the high purposes of life, | 19:55 | |
the union of religion and erudition, | 19:58 | |
to use their gifts as Christian teachers, | 20:01 | |
Christian lawyers, Christian businesspeople, | 20:05 | |
Christian politicians, Christians in the home, | 20:08 | |
knowing that to those whom much is given | 20:14 | |
will much be required. | 20:18 | |
Remind our alumni this day, | 20:21 | |
of youthful promises made to themselves | 20:25 | |
which they have yet to fulfill. | 20:28 | |
In their remembrance, | 20:32 | |
give them appropriate humility for their success, | 20:34 | |
and gentle graciousness with their failures. | 20:40 | |
Within these walls, oh God, | 20:46 | |
troubled spirits and hurting hearts | 20:48 | |
have gathered for 50 years, | 20:50 | |
and this Sunday is no exception. | 20:53 | |
In the secret places of our hearts, | 20:58 | |
we have needs we know not how to express. | 21:01 | |
Beside us in the pews sit brothers and sisters | 21:05 | |
who have brought their pain to thee. | 21:08 | |
Around the world, in Bangladesh, and Lebanon, | 21:12 | |
and El Salvador, in Afghanistan, human hurt reaches out, | 21:15 | |
hurt so great that nothing shall assuage it | 21:21 | |
save thy divine response. | 21:24 | |
Remembering the times | 21:30 | |
when, in hurt and confusion, | 21:31 | |
we reached out to thee and found thy presence here. | 21:34 | |
We commend our needs | 21:42 | |
and those of others to thee. | 21:44 | |
Amen. | 21:50 | |
And now as a grateful people, | 21:52 | |
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 21:55 | |
(inspirational gospel organ music) | 22:01 | |
(uplifting gospel organ music) | 23:40 | |
(gospel choir singing with organ music) | 24:19 | |
(uplifting gospel choir and organ music) | 29:22 | |
- | Almighty God whose mercy is over all thy works, | 31:09 |
we praise thee for the blessings | 31:14 | |
which thou hast bestowed upon humankind, | 31:16 | |
through thy holy church, | 31:20 | |
throughout the world, | 31:21 | |
and most especially in this hallowed place. | 31:23 | |
We bless thee for the grace of thy sacraments, | 31:27 | |
for our fellowship in Christ, with thee, | 31:31 | |
and with one another, | 31:34 | |
for the teaching of the scriptures, | 31:36 | |
and for the preaching of thy word. | 31:38 | |
We thank thee for the holy example of thy saints | 31:41 | |
in all ages, and for the memory and example | 31:44 | |
of all that has been true and good in their lives, | 31:48 | |
and we humbly beseech thee | 31:53 | |
that we may be numbered with them | 31:55 | |
in the great company of the redeemed in Heaven. | 31:58 | |
These things we pray in the name of Christ, | 32:02 | |
who taught us to pray with confidence. | 32:05 | |
Our Father, who art in Heaven, | 32:08 | |
hallowed be thy name, | 32:11 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 32:13 | |
on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 32:17 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 32:20 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 32:23 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 32:26 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 32:29 | |
but deliver us from evil, | 32:32 | |
for thine is the kingdom, the power, | 32:34 | |
and the glory, forever. | 32:37 | |
Amen. | 32:40 | |
(inspirational horn and organ music) | 32:47 | |
(uplifting gospel choir singing with organ and horn music) | 34:18 | |
- | The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, | 37:32 |
the love of God, | 37:36 | |
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, | 37:37 | |
be with you all now, and always. | 37:39 | |
(uplifting gospel choir singing) | 37:47 | |
(inspirational gospel organ music) | 38:31 | |
(inspirational gospel organ music) | 47:27 |