Stanley A. Williams, III - Sermon Untitled (February 18, 2001)
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| - | Good morning. | 0:09 |
| Okay, have to work with this mic. | 0:10 | |
| I'd just like to open by thanking all of you | 0:13 | |
| for being here, I thank God for the opportunity | 0:16 | |
| to just speak before you and I understand that | 0:19 | |
| there are actually a couple people out here | 0:22 | |
| who have never been in Duke Temple before. | 0:25 | |
| This includes undergrads. | 0:28 | |
| This is a good time to say, | 0:30 | |
| "Oh mom, I went to church today." | 0:32 | |
| Just go ahead and get that extra Christmas present, | 0:34 | |
| or whatever. | 0:36 | |
| Just looking out for you guys. | 0:39 | |
| If you would, just bow with me for a word of prayer, please. | 0:41 | |
| Righteous creator, we thank you for this moment, | 0:47 | |
| we thank you for this space. | 0:50 | |
| I ask that you use me, father, as your vessel, | 0:52 | |
| that your will be done and that you take me out | 0:55 | |
| so that I can make your sound, father. | 0:58 | |
| In your son's name we pray, amen. | 1:02 | |
| Okay kids, pop quiz time. | 1:07 | |
| Complete the following famous quote. | 1:09 | |
| "To err is human, to forgive?" | 1:12 | |
| Good job. | 1:16 | |
| Since the beginning of time, people have attempted | 1:18 | |
| to understand human behavior, | 1:22 | |
| we just have to know what makes us act the way that we do. | 1:23 | |
| Nothing satisfies our curiosity so much as a good answer | 1:28 | |
| to the question, why? | 1:31 | |
| For example, it's pretty rare that we remember the date | 1:34 | |
| when Susan Smith reported her children as missing, | 1:38 | |
| but I bet that every person in here remembers the fate | 1:40 | |
| of those children and I'd go even as far to say | 1:43 | |
| that you remember thinking, "Why, why would someone | 1:46 | |
| "do that to their own children?" | 1:50 | |
| And then came up with your own ideas about | 1:52 | |
| why she did it. | 1:54 | |
| Even though psychology is a fairly young field, | 1:57 | |
| the desire to understand human behavior is ageless. | 1:59 | |
| Whenever we lack the ability to quench the why, | 2:03 | |
| we often rely on the all-encompassing answer, | 2:06 | |
| "Oh, it's human nature." | 2:09 | |
| It's human nature. | 2:12 | |
| Somehow this phrase, this "human nature" | 2:13 | |
| becomes all the rationalization that we need. | 2:17 | |
| Ancient philosophers such as (mumbles) spend their | 2:20 | |
| time and energy trying to explain just what | 2:23 | |
| human nature is. | 2:25 | |
| Contemporary theorists, modern scholars, politicians, | 2:27 | |
| preachers, teachers, and even good old moms and dads | 2:30 | |
| are getting in on the act now. | 2:33 | |
| Human nature has been used to justify everything | 2:36 | |
| from the conquering of other nations to adultery, | 2:39 | |
| from lying to protect others, | 2:43 | |
| to killing to protect ourselves. | 2:45 | |
| Now, you might see human nature as an innate drive | 2:48 | |
| to preserve human life. | 2:51 | |
| Someone else may sum it up by saying that human nature | 2:53 | |
| is sinful. | 2:55 | |
| Unfortunately, despite centuries of all the progress | 2:57 | |
| that we've made as human beings, | 3:00 | |
| we still don't have an answer to this question. | 3:03 | |
| So let's see what God has to say about the matter. | 3:05 | |
| This morning's passage from the gospel of Luke | 3:09 | |
| is the physicians account of the sermon on the mount | 3:11 | |
| and the attitudes. | 3:14 | |
| But our text, however, doesn't begin with Jesus saying, | 3:15 | |
| "Blessed are the poor in spirit, | 3:18 | |
| "blessed are the pure in heart." | 3:20 | |
| Jesus doesn't even praise the peacemakers in what | 3:22 | |
| we've heard today. | 3:24 | |
| Instead, we walk in on, "But I seance you with cheer, | 3:25 | |
| "love your enemies and do good to them which hate you. | 3:30 | |
| "Bless them that curse you and pray for them, (mumbles)." | 3:34 | |
| And somebody's out there probably thinking, | 3:39 | |
| "There's nothing wrong with that, sounds fine." | 3:42 | |
| And that's true that it does sound like something typical | 3:45 | |
| of what we expect Jesus to tell a multitude | 3:48 | |
| of newly healed bodies, mended hearts, renewed minds, | 3:51 | |
| and lost souls finding their way home. | 3:54 | |
| But then Jesus goes ahead and instead of changing | 3:57 | |
| the subject and telling a parable that even the | 4:01 | |
| disciples always failed to misunderstand, | 4:03 | |
| just goes ahead and says to them, | 4:06 | |
| "By the way, you should treat people the way that | 4:08 | |
| "you want to be treated. | 4:11 | |
| "I realize that it is human nature to treat them | 4:14 | |
| "the way they treat you, but I'm a little more than human | 4:16 | |
| "and you've been acting a little less." | 4:20 | |
| But it's true, we do act a little less, | 4:24 | |
| it is our nature. | 4:27 | |
| We don't get mad, we get even, amen? | 4:28 | |
| Just checking. | 4:32 | |
| According to the gospel we get nothing new out of | 4:34 | |
| loving those that love us already. | 4:37 | |
| It's already in our nature to care for those | 4:39 | |
| closest to us. | 4:41 | |
| After all, we trust that they would do the same for us. | 4:42 | |
| Jesus takes our concept of human nature | 4:45 | |
| and offers us a challenge. | 4:48 | |
| Love your enemies and do good without looking for | 4:50 | |
| anything in return. | 4:53 | |
| Because, hey, you'll be rewarded by God. | 4:54 | |
| We'll even throw you in an accept you as our | 4:57 | |
| very own family. | 4:59 | |
| In a way, Jesus questions our interpretations of humanity | 5:02 | |
| and love. | 5:05 | |
| It's as if treating others the way that we've been | 5:07 | |
| treated isn't enough. | 5:09 | |
| I know somebody out there just thought, | 5:11 | |
| "But how can that be? | 5:13 | |
| "It's the basic principle we live by. | 5:14 | |
| "This is all about the golden rule, the golden rule, | 5:16 | |
| "that's what we were taught when we were in school | 5:18 | |
| "growing up." | 5:20 | |
| Look at where the golden rule got us. | 5:21 | |
| Look at where the gold rule got us. | 5:23 | |
| Look at where the golden rule got us. | 5:26 | |
| Looking out for us, especially at the cost of them, | 5:30 | |
| is a notion that our nation has used to equalize | 5:33 | |
| separation, to imply and assert inequality, | 5:36 | |
| and to justify acts of intolerance. | 5:39 | |
| Looking out for us is part of the reason that our | 5:42 | |
| nation is in it's current shape. | 5:45 | |
| But we are not without hope or beyond redemption. | 5:47 | |
| I think that sometimes we just stop at the golden rule | 5:51 | |
| because to do more, to do give the coat after | 5:55 | |
| we've been robbed of our cloak, | 5:58 | |
| to give our last loaf of bread instead of the few | 6:00 | |
| slices that we've been (mumbles), | 6:03 | |
| it leaves us vulnerable. | 6:05 | |
| And that fear of vulnerability, in turn, | 6:08 | |
| comes from our faith being small. | 6:10 | |
| I mean, let's face it, we have mouths to feed, | 6:13 | |
| we have bills to pay, and you want to know that after | 6:15 | |
| working 40 or more hours a week that you can still | 6:17 | |
| manage to make your ends meet. | 6:19 | |
| It's just a part of life. | 6:22 | |
| I'm notorious for saying, "It's hard sometimes." | 6:24 | |
| My ends need not even meet, just as long as they can | 6:27 | |
| wave at each other, I'll be fine. | 6:29 | |
| (laughter) | 6:32 | |
| I mean we're doing the very best that we can, | 6:33 | |
| how can God ask us to do something | 6:36 | |
| outside of our very nature? | 6:38 | |
| The answer lies in trusting God. | 6:41 | |
| It's written on our money, but not in our hearts. | 6:43 | |
| Trusting in the face of uncertainty is a lesson that | 6:47 | |
| every graduating senior, every parent with a child | 6:50 | |
| moving out and on, every person in the middle | 6:53 | |
| of a career change, every person upon whom the doctors | 6:56 | |
| have given up, has to learn. | 6:59 | |
| Without a doubt in my mind I know in this room | 7:03 | |
| that we have witnesses, we are in the midst of | 7:06 | |
| walking, talking miracles. | 7:08 | |
| The past four years for me have been an exercise in faith | 7:11 | |
| and patience. | 7:14 | |
| On May 13 I believe at noon, maybe 10:15 I will have | 7:16 | |
| completed my academic undergrad career here at | 7:19 | |
| Duke University. | 7:22 | |
| At the moment, I still don't know where I'll continue | 7:24 | |
| my studies or where I'll be living, | 7:26 | |
| except for outside of my parents house. | 7:29 | |
| (laughter) | 7:32 | |
| My concern, in spite of my uncertain future, | 7:33 | |
| is that I won't be able to provide for my | 7:35 | |
| five month old God son in the way that I want to. | 7:37 | |
| I have no doubt that I'll be fine, | 7:41 | |
| because I know that within my heat my God will not allow | 7:42 | |
| neither my God son nor myself to go without. | 7:46 | |
| But it's hard to trust God. | 7:51 | |
| It's hard to trust God in a society that encourages | 7:53 | |
| our independence and frowns upon people working together. | 7:55 | |
| However, only after we as individuals learn to take care | 7:59 | |
| of each other and ourselves will God heal our land. | 8:02 | |
| We're afraid to move beyond the golden rule, | 8:07 | |
| to give without reciprocity, because doing so leaves us | 8:11 | |
| vulnerable and that idea just frightens us. | 8:14 | |
| Dependency is often seen as a stigma, | 8:17 | |
| as if it just makes us somehow weak. | 8:20 | |
| We're too proud to admit that we need each other | 8:23 | |
| and that's why so many of our fellow humans have fallen. | 8:25 | |
| In truth, vulnerability is part of our humanity. | 8:28 | |
| Now, I just want you to imagine with me and just | 8:34 | |
| think about the manner in which our bodies | 8:37 | |
| are assembled. | 8:39 | |
| I'm no bio major, so I'm probably sure I'm gonna | 8:41 | |
| get something wrong, forgive me. | 8:43 | |
| But while animals have, most animals have a hard protective | 8:45 | |
| outer shell or an exoskeleton, | 8:48 | |
| we have this sensitive, soft, fleshy skin. | 8:52 | |
| That's our outer covering. | 8:56 | |
| Beneath the skin is our skeleton, which is hard, | 8:58 | |
| but even that, at our core, is held up by fibers | 9:02 | |
| and more soft organs. | 9:06 | |
| Our core is soft, our core is vulnerable. | 9:09 | |
| In this passage Jesus is just trying to convey | 9:15 | |
| that we don't have to worry about making out | 9:18 | |
| ends meet anymore. | 9:20 | |
| Trusting God is the beginning of faith. | 9:21 | |
| Doing good when we're treated badly comes out of | 9:24 | |
| the growth of that faith. | 9:27 | |
| We have to learn to reach beyond what we know, | 9:29 | |
| what we see, and what we feel. | 9:31 | |
| To quote Emerson, "The faith that stands on authority | 9:34 | |
| "is not faith." | 9:37 | |
| The more we trust, the more God will move on our behalf | 9:40 | |
| and the greater our reward. | 9:42 | |
| But we need that challenge, we need to step beyond | 9:45 | |
| the known. | 9:47 | |
| It's in those moments of those moments of uncertainty, | 9:48 | |
| those moments of weakness, those moments of vulnerability | 9:51 | |
| that we are most human and closest to God. | 9:54 | |
| Jesus was trying to show us that in moments like those, | 9:59 | |
| we become more than human. | 10:02 | |
| The divinity within each of us shines through. | 10:04 | |
| The God within us connects to the God above. | 10:08 | |
| Jesus says that if we love our enemies, | 10:11 | |
| we'll be called the children of the highest. | 10:14 | |
| As such, our attempts at unbridal autonomy | 10:17 | |
| are not only nugatory, they're also outside of | 10:19 | |
| the will of God. | 10:23 | |
| Imagine, if you will, just being a teenager again | 10:24 | |
| and shouting at your parents, "I don't need you." | 10:27 | |
| If your parents let you live, | 10:34 | |
| you should count your blessings. | 10:36 | |
| If you go out on your own, imagine how hard your life | 10:39 | |
| would be. | 10:42 | |
| Life might be bearable, but it's certainly going to be | 10:43 | |
| a lot harder without their love and support. | 10:46 | |
| We need them. | 10:48 | |
| We need them. | 10:50 | |
| The same is true with God. | 10:52 | |
| It's only natural for offspring to resemble their parents. | 10:54 | |
| Birds should give birth to birds and dogs to dogs. | 10:57 | |
| It'd be unnatural for us to plant apple seeds | 11:01 | |
| and get an orange growth. | 11:04 | |
| Such an act would forge you to look back | 11:07 | |
| and inquire what the parents were. | 11:09 | |
| We're told that we should treat people better than | 11:11 | |
| we've been treated because we're the children of God. | 11:13 | |
| And even God is kind of the unthankful and to the evil. | 11:15 | |
| When we go beyond the golden rule, | 11:20 | |
| we show that we trust God enough to handle things | 11:22 | |
| in our life and take care of the situations that we're in, | 11:25 | |
| as well as us. | 11:28 | |
| Faith without (mumbles), after all is death. | 11:29 | |
| Granted, it is a lot easier for me to stand up here | 11:33 | |
| and say than it is to live. | 11:36 | |
| However, we're not without testimonies. | 11:38 | |
| During the civil rights movement, | 11:40 | |
| leaders such as Martin Luther King emphasized | 11:43 | |
| not resorting to base deplorable acts of violence | 11:45 | |
| to create change. | 11:48 | |
| Instead, people across the country got together, | 11:49 | |
| trusting God and acting on faith, | 11:52 | |
| petitioning, boycotting, rallying, and organizing. | 11:55 | |
| In the end, those people show the entire world | 11:59 | |
| the power of nonviolent protest. | 12:02 | |
| The entire world learned that it's possible for us | 12:04 | |
| to be meek, but not weak. | 12:07 | |
| It's only by the grace of God and because of the struggle | 12:11 | |
| of those four (mumbles) that I can stand before you today. | 12:13 | |
| It's through trusting God and moving beyond | 12:16 | |
| the golden rule that (mumbles) has ended in South Africa. | 12:19 | |
| The nation is attempting to reconcile itself | 12:23 | |
| and become whole. | 12:25 | |
| They're not perfect, but they are trying. | 12:27 | |
| South Africa serves as a great example to us | 12:30 | |
| and our very own land. | 12:32 | |
| Now, last month as part of the Martin Luther King Day | 12:33 | |
| celebration there was a discussion here about Derm | 12:37 | |
| during the civil rights movement and the road to | 12:40 | |
| reconciliation. | 12:42 | |
| We can move beyond hate crimes, | 12:44 | |
| we will be free of sexism, racism, | 12:46 | |
| and the other intolerances and injustices plaguing | 12:49 | |
| our land. | 12:51 | |
| Going beyond the golden rule can make us, | 12:53 | |
| once and for all, and at long last, | 12:55 | |
| one nation under God, indivisible with liberty | 12:59 | |
| and justice for all. | 13:03 | |
| Friedrich Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil says, | 13:06 | |
| "It is inhuman to bless when one is being cursed." | 13:09 | |
| It is unnatural and it completely goes against our | 13:13 | |
| nature of getting vengeance. | 13:17 | |
| Well, maybe. | 13:20 | |
| If his definition of humanity relies on somebody | 13:23 | |
| constantly risking absurdity and death | 13:25 | |
| just to make sure they alone gain. | 13:28 | |
| At any rate, I'm just willing to be that there's | 13:32 | |
| a little bit more to humanity than relentlessly | 13:34 | |
| pursuing autonomy. | 13:36 | |
| Something more than taking care of those people that I like, | 13:38 | |
| or the ones who treat me the way that I want to be treated, | 13:42 | |
| or that say they love me. | 13:44 | |
| There's much more. | 13:47 | |
| It is inhuman to bless when one is being cursed. | 13:49 | |
| He's absolutely right, it is inhuman, | 13:53 | |
| it's divine. | 13:57 |