Peter J. Gomes - "On Being Particular" (October 22, 1978)

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-	Duke University Chapel service of worship	0:01
	October 22nd, 1978.	0:04
	(beep)	0:07
	(slow organ music)	0:19
	(flowing organ music)	1:08
	(flowing organ music)	2:09
	(flowing organ music)	3:02
	(flowing organ music)	3:58
	(flowing organ music)	4:52
	(flowing organ music)	5:46
	(flowing organ music)	7:18
	(flowing organ music)	7:57
	(flowing organ music)	8:44
	(flowing organ music)	11:35
	(flowing organ music)	12:06
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	12:31
	♪ How gracious the Lord is ♪	12:34
	♪ Blessed is the man ♪	12:40
	♪ That trusteth in him ♪	12:47
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	12:55
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	12:58
	♪ How gracious the Lord is ♪	13:01
	(choir singing various parts)	13:06
	♪ Blessed is the man that trusteth in him ♪	13:20
	(choir singing)	13:31
	♪ Trusteth in him ♪	13:46
	(slow organ music)	13:59
	(flowing organ music)	14:27
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	14:39
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	15:27
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	16:05
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	16:54
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	17:34
-	Be seated please.	18:28
	I greet you in the name and in the spirit	18:35
	of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.	18:38
	Grace and peace be with you.	18:43
	As God is merciful, accepting, and forgiving,	18:47
	we are called to reflect, repent, and to confess.	18:53
	Assured that God has sent our Lord Jesus Christ	19:00
	into the world not to condemn us	19:03
	but that through Christ we might be saved,	19:06
	be made authentic and whole, we join together	19:11
	to confess our sin.	19:14
	Let us pray.	19:17
	Oh God, we confess that we have not loved you	19:20
	or our neighbor as we should.	19:23
	We have often neglected opportunities of good.	19:27
	Sometimes we have done actual harm.	19:32
	Our consciences accuse us over trials	19:36
	and we remain blind to your weightier demands.	19:39
	We resolve to turn from the sins we know.	19:43
	We ask you to show us the sins we do not recognize.	19:47
	We resolve to forgive any who have wronged us	19:50
	and to seek reconciliation with any from whom	19:54
	we are estranged.	19:57
	Now, we beg your pardon and ask your help.	20:00
-	Hear these, our prayers of confession, oh God,	20:38
	Paul writes, for I am certain neither death nor life	20:43
	nor angels nor principalities, nor things present	20:51
	nor things to come, nor powers, nor heighth nor depth,	20:54
	nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate	20:59
	us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.	21:05
	Amen.	21:10
	Let us give thanks for God is good	21:15
	and God's love is everlasting.	21:18
	(congregation responds)	21:24
	May I say a word of welcome to you this morning?	21:37
	It is our privilege and our joy together in this place	21:42
	to worship God and to celebrate with thanksgiving	21:45
	the gifts which God bestows upon us	21:49
	in this day and in this time.	21:51
	I remind you tonight of the organ concert	21:55
	scheduled tonight here in the chapel.	21:59
	Lady Susi Jeans, guest organist from England	22:02
	will be playing this, our second organ concert of this year.	22:06
	The program you will find listed on the back	22:12
	of the bulletin.	22:14
	The concert is scheduled to begin at seven o'clock	22:16
	and I urge you to come and share in this significant	22:20
	moment with us.	22:22
	Included also in the bulletin is an announcement	22:26
	about two days of refection upon theological education	22:29
	and careers in the ministry.	22:33
	Beginning Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock	22:36
	and going through Thursday afternoon at 3:30,	22:39
	a very special program has been planned.	22:42
	Helen Krotwell and Marilyn Massey, others on the chapel	22:46
	staff and in the department of religion	22:50
	with guests from theological schools around the country	22:53
	here to share with us and to offer insight	22:56
	about careers in ministry today.	22:59
	If you're an undergraduate or a graduate student,	23:01
	or in one of the professional schools and are interested	23:05
	in these things, we invite you to come	23:08
	and share in them with us.	23:09
	The Reverend Dr. Peter Gomes is our guest preacher	23:13
	for today, a graduate of Bates College	23:15
	and of Harvard Divinity School.	23:19
	One known as a historian, as a writer, lecturer, teacher.	23:22
	One also known for his wit and grace and charm.	23:29
	Also known as an accomplished organist.	23:34
	Dr. Gomes has been to Duke before	23:39
	giving a series of lectures here, some three years ago	23:42
	and also preaching in Duke chapel.	23:46
	He currently serves as minister to Memorial Church	23:49
	at Harvard University and as Plummer Professor	23:54
	of Christian Morals in the School of Divinity there.	23:57
	Peter, we welcome you back to Duke	24:02
	and we look forward eagerly and with genuine expectations	24:04
	to the word of God as you come to share it with us	24:09
	on this holy day.	24:14
-	Let us pray.	24:27
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord, to accept your word.	24:30
	Silence in us any voice but your own	24:36
	that hearing we may also obey your will	24:40
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	24:44
	The Old Testament lesson this morning is from	24:49
	the 24th chapter of Joshua, verses 14 through 28.	24:52
	Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity	24:57
	and in faithfulness.	25:01
	Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond	25:03
	the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord.	25:06
	And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord,	25:10
	choose this day who you will serve,	25:13
	whether the gods your fathers served in the region	25:16
	beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites	25:19
	in whose land you dwell.	25:21
	But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.	25:23
	Then the people answered, far be it from us	25:29
	that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods	25:32
	for it is the Lord our God who brought us	25:35
	and our fathers up from the land of Egypt,	25:38
	out of the house of bondage, and who did those great	25:40
	signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way	25:44
	that we went and among all the peoples	25:47
	through whom we passed.	25:51
	And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples,	25:52
	the Amorites who lived in the land.	25:55
	Therefore we also will serve the Lord	25:58
	for he is our God.	26:01
	But Joshua said to the people you cannot serve the Lord	26:04
	for he is a holy God.	26:08
	He is a jealous God.	26:10
	He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins	26:12
	if you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods,	26:16
	then he will turn and do you harm and consume you	26:18
	after having done you good.	26:23
	And the people said to Joshua, nay, but we will	26:26
	serve the Lord.	26:29
	Then Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses	26:31
	against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord	26:35
	to serve him and they said we are witnesses.	26:37
	He said, then put away the foreign gods	26:41
	which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord,	26:45
	the God of Israel.	26:48
	And the people said to Joshua, the Lord our God	26:51
	we will serve and his voice we will obey.	26:54
	So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day	27:00
	and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem	27:03
	and Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God	27:07
	and he took a great stone and set it up there	27:10
	under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord	27:13
	and Joshua said to all the people behold,	27:17
	this stone shall be a witness against us	27:20
	for it has heard all the words of the Lord	27:24
	which he spoke to us.	27:26
	Therefore, it shall be a witness against you	27:29
	lest you deal falsely with your God.	27:32
	So Joshua sent the people away,	27:35
	every man to his inheritance.	27:37
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	27:40
	Amen.	27:43
	(slow organ music)	27:45
	♪ If ye love me ♪	28:12
	♪ Keep my commandments ♪	28:18
	(choir singing in parts)	28:26
	♪ And he ♪	28:44
	(choir singing in parts)	28:47
	♪ Abide with you forever ♪	28:55
	(choir singing in parts)	29:01
-	The New Testament lesson for this morning	29:28
	is from the 11th chapter of Acts verses 19 through 30.	29:31
	Now those who were scattered because of the persecution	29:36
	that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia,	29:40
	and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word	29:43
	to none except Jews.	29:46
	But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene,	29:49
	who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also,	29:52
	preaching the Lord Jesus.	29:56
	And the hand of the Lord was with them	29:58
	and a great number that believed turned to the Lord.	30:01
	News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem	30:05
	and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.	30:09
	When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad	30:12
	and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord	30:16
	with steadfast purpose for he was a good man,	30:19
	full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.	30:22
	And a large company was added to the Lord.	30:25
	So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,	30:29
	and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.	30:32
	For a whole year they met with the church	30:36
	and taught a large company of people.	30:38
	And in Antioch the disciples were	30:41
	for the first time called Christians.	30:44
	Now in these days prophets came down	30:47
	from Jerusalem to Antioch and one of them named Agabus	30:49
	stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would	30:54
	be a great famine over all the world and this took place	30:58
	in the days of Claudius Caesar.	31:01
	And the disciples determined, every one according	31:05
	to his ability, to send relief to the brethren	31:08
	who lived in Judea and they did so, sending it to the elders	31:12
	by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.	31:15
	Here ends the reading from the New Testament.	31:17
	All praise and glory be to God.	31:20
	Amen.	31:22
	(slow organ music)	31:25
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	31:39
-	Let the words of my mouth	32:37
	and the meditations of our hearts always	32:40
	be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord our strength	32:44
	and our redeemer, amen.	32:50
	The text is written in the 26th	32:58
	verse of the 11th chapter	33:03
	of the Acts of the Apostles	33:06
	and in Antioch the disciples were,	33:11
	for the first time, called Christians.	33:14
	I don't know what it is like to do banking	33:22
	here in Durham, North Carolina.	33:26
	But if it is anything at all like doing banking	33:31
	in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is one of life's continuing	33:36
	and major irritations.	33:42
	There are, of course, the long lines.	33:46
	There are the cashiers who disappear as soon	33:50
	as you reach the end of that line	33:54
	but even worse than that	33:58
	is when you finally obtain your destination	34:01
	at the end of that long line, produce your check	34:06
	on an account that you have had in this bank for many years	34:12
	and you are then asked by the cashier	34:17
	do you have any identification?	34:21
	Now we all put up with this.	34:26
	We meekly submit our university cards	34:29
	or our drivers license	34:32
	or a fuel bill or something of that sort	34:35
	and we wait for the clerk and for the computer	34:39
	to verify for us who we are.	34:43
	Now I know one lady who didn't and from her story	34:49
	I have received inspiration though I never knew her.	34:55
	She was the widow of not one but of two professors	35:01
	in our university and she was a redoubtable resident	35:05
	of that community for many years.	35:09
	She went into the bank on this day in question.	35:14
	She presented herself at the teller's window	35:18
	and when the young woman behind the counter asked her	35:21
	in that annoyingly efficient voice,	35:24
	do you have any ID?	35:28
	Our lady drew herself up in full stature and said	35:31
	young woman, I have banked in this bank	35:36
	since before you were born.	35:39
	I know perfectly well who I am.	35:42
	Who, may I ask, are you?	35:45
	(audience laughing)	35:49
	One's identity is a very particular	35:53
	and precious thing,	35:58
	especially these days when it is so easy to lose one's	36:00
	identity or not have it count for very much.	36:05
	An identity is a very particular thing.	36:11
	It sets one apart from others and it gives one a place	36:16
	to stand in an anonymous world.	36:21
	To lose one's identity	36:26
	is to lose that security that says to us and to others	36:29
	I am not just anybody.	36:35
	I am somebody and I am not just somebody	36:38
	but to borrow a phrase from God,	36:44
	I am who I am.	36:47
	Anyone who has experienced the loss of a wallet	36:51
	or of credit cards or of the numerous personal and legal	36:55
	documents which we keep and carry to prove who we are	37:00
	knows the horror of having to reconstruct	37:06
	such an identity from scratch.	37:09
	The point is an identity is	37:13
	an exercise in particularity	37:16
	and to lose an identity is to	37:21
	literally lose one's place	37:24
	and conversely, to find one's place,	37:27
	to discover who you are	37:32
	is literally to be recalled to life.	37:34
	Now both of the lessons from Scripture this morning	37:42
	have to do with the establishment of an identity.	37:45
	They are exercises in particularity.	37:51
	The Old Testament experience is amplified by that colorful	37:56
	challenge of Joshua.	38:01
	Choose ye this day whom you will serve.	38:04
	As for me and my house,	38:08
	we will serve the Lord.	38:12
	We know Joshua's story.	38:16
	We know how he had survived as a valiant warrior	38:19
	and a victorious judge of ancient Israel.	38:25
	From the book that bears his name, we know that he did not	38:29
	accomplish his identity with ease.	38:34
	But when the push had finally come to the shove	38:38
	and he had rehearsed the litany of obligation	38:43
	that he and his heirs had owed the Lord	38:47
	he identified himself with the house of God.	38:51
	Choose this day whom you will serve.	38:57
	Whether the gods your fathers served in the region	39:01
	beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites	39:04
	in whose land you dwell.	39:08
	But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.	39:10
	Choose whom you will serve. And they did.	39:16
	They joined Joshua and his house and they became known	39:21
	as the Lord's people.	39:26
	They were not the people of the Amorites.	39:29
	They were not the people of the gods beyond the river.	39:33
	They were the Lord's particular people.	39:37
	The people of him who had elected their father Abraham	39:41
	brought them out of Egypt and by his mighty hand	39:47
	preserved them to the present day.	39:52
	Once you were no people, remarked a later prophet.	39:56
	But now you are God's people	40:01
	and that is a very particular thing.	40:04
	The second stances are different but no less dramatic	40:10
	and pungent in the second lesson	40:14
	from the Acts of the Apostles.	40:17
	The episode at Antioch follows upon two remarkable events.	40:20
	The stoning of Stephen and the conversion of Paul.	40:26
	Both of these were formative elements for the infant	40:31
	community of the followers of the risen Jesus	40:35
	and both certainly had to do with the growing notoriety	40:39
	attending the roving bands of preachers and exhorters	40:44
	confronting people throughout the Greco-Roman world	40:48
	in the name of this Christ.	40:52
	Before this time, the persecuted and the dispersed followers	40:55
	of Jesus spoke to nobody but to their fellow Jews.	41:00
	But at verse 11 of the 20th chapter we read	41:06
	there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene	41:11
	who, one coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also	41:16
	preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord	41:20
	was with them and a great number that believed	41:24
	turned to the Lord.	41:28
	News of this successful preaching reached	41:30
	the church at Jerusalem.	41:33
	They were pleased with the results and they sent Barnabus	41:35
	to help in the work and he went in search of Paul	41:38
	and brought him also to Antioch and they all remained there	41:43
	preaching and witnessing.	41:46
	For a whole year, they met with the church and taught	41:49
	a large company of people and in Antioch	41:52
	for the first time the disciples were called Christians.	41:57
	It was in this Greek city	42:04
	that the followers of Jesus, whom they called the Christ,	42:07
	became known by his name, Christians,	42:12
	and in that sense they were seen as,	42:16
	they were defined as belonging to him,	42:20
	known by his name, an identity,	42:24
	a particularity.	42:30
	Now in some sense, these biblical examples notwithstanding,	42:34
	the conventional wisdom suggests that the religious	42:40
	and the particular are, if not inconsistent with	42:44
	one another, at least at odds.	42:50
	The religious speaks to the universal, so we are told,	42:54
	and particularity, well that is just what it is,	42:59
	and to it might even be applied the term parochial	43:04
	or regional or provincial and efforts to relate	43:09
	the religious to the particular,	43:14
	no matter how ever strenuous, always appear to be doomed	43:17
	to both failure and ridicule.	43:22
	Take, for example, the famous instance of Fielding's	43:26
	Tom Jones wherein Tom's tutor in divinity	43:30
	seeks to acquaint Tom with religion.	43:35
	By religion, of course, I mean the Christian religion.	43:39
	By the Christian religion, of course, I mean	43:43
	the Protestant religion.	43:46
	And by the Protestant religion, of course,	43:48
	I mean the church of England.	43:51
	Now all of us perhaps smile at that,	43:55
	especially when we consider the sorry state	43:58
	of the church of England in Fielding's 18th Century	44:01
	and from that time to well into our own	44:06
	most of us in the west have sought to correct	44:09
	what we perceive to be that reduction to an absurdity,	44:12
	to take into account the universality of the religious	44:18
	experience and the narrowing down, almost to the vanishing	44:21
	point of parochial and provincial distinctions.	44:25
	In this instance, particularity is clearly the enemy	44:31
	of religion and if it cannot be eliminated	44:35
	it at least ought to be minimized.	44:38
	If we could find, for example,	44:42
	a universal religious solvent	44:45
	to apply to the disturbing and often conflicting	44:48
	particularities that beset us, how much better off	44:51
	we would be?	44:56
	They say of us Baptists, where two or three	44:59
	are gathered together in my name, there will surely be three	45:03
	or four churches.	45:08
	In theological parlance, the scandal of division	45:12
	refers to the infinite variety of the religious experience	45:17
	within Christianity, not to mention Christianity	45:22
	among the other religious experiences of the world.	45:25
	It is in itself, the Christian faith,	45:30
	the scandal of particularity.	45:34
	Perhaps from the time of Antioch onward there has been	45:37
	the persistent notion in the west that unity is the ideal.	45:40
	One flock and one shepherd.	45:45
	Unity of Christ, church, and community.	45:48
	Ecumenical visions were founded upon this ideal	45:53
	and many are still nourished by it.	45:57
	I would suggest that to a very large degree this chapel	46:00
	and the witness that it maintains so faithfully in pulpit	46:05
	and in pew are a continuing	46:09
	example of that ideal.	46:12
	All of this notwithstanding, however, I am prepared	46:16
	to pose to you that one is religious not in general	46:20
	but in particular and that particularity,	46:26
	rather than a scandal or an embarrassment,	46:31
	is truly the only authentic ground by which an identity	46:35
	is established and maintained and without which	46:40
	any hope beyond particularity is impossible.	46:44
	This is a hard lesson posed, especially in these times	46:50
	of crumbling distinctions.	46:54
	But that is no reason to avoid it and perhaps we may take	46:57
	example if not comfort from the	47:01
	secular sources around us.	47:04
	Just as it seems that the churches are avoiding any	47:08
	of the particular lines of identification that would give	47:13
	them place and park in the world, we find that in the	47:18
	secular world around us, people are rediscovering	47:22
	their own particular identity.	47:27
	Many of us grew up in high school on the American history	47:32
	theory of the melting pot.	47:36
	That is, all of us from our varied backgrounds and places	47:39
	were thrown into a large cauldron set a brewing on Ellis	47:44
	Island and what was dished out after a reasonable amount	47:48
	of cooking and simmering was an indistinguishable product	47:54
	known as an American.	47:58
	It was very unfashionable until a few years ago	48:02
	for any of us except the very rich and the very secure	48:06
	descendants of the Mayflower to explore our genealogy.	48:11
	We had come here to avoid the particular	48:17
	and we rejoiced in being embraced by the universal	48:21
	American experience.	48:26
	But in recent years, we have discovered that it is	48:29
	cool to be ethnic.	48:33
	It is very good to find wrapped up in one's family closet	48:36
	or tree some old country relation	48:41
	who could not speak the English very well,	48:45
	who was a part of that formative	48:49
	experience in the 80s and the 90s.	48:51
	My own people have rediscovered to the ringing of the cash	48:56
	register as well as to the rising notes of the critics	49:00
	their own roots and all of us have discovered	49:06
	the advantages of finding out from whence we have come.	49:10
	In a reverse version of snobbery, we no longer look	49:16
	for the distinguished, the special, and the gifted	49:20
	on our family tree but we must needs find enough rascals	49:25
	to justify the research.	49:30
	Now it is important to realize that in so many things	49:35
	it is the secular world that always gives the cue	49:39
	and the key to the church and perhaps the church,	49:44
	the Christian church in particular, might now begin	49:49
	to take some comfort form the notion that in the midst	49:52
	of our common and shared experience	49:57
	it is indeed alright to be particular.	50:01
	Such a consciousness as this has its religious dimension.	50:06
	The so-called Jesus movement and the renewal of interest	50:10
	in Christian charismatic experience, this is but a part	50:14
	of this phenomenon.	50:18
	Catholics, particularly since the second Vatican council,	50:21
	are finding new sources of strength and identity	50:25
	within their very own traditions and American Jews,	50:29
	exercising the freedom to choose, are choosing	50:34
	in increasing numbers to rediscover and reaffirm	50:37
	the ancient roots of their faith, so much so that	50:41
	orthodoxy is experiencing a mild revival	50:45
	and religious consciousness, especially among	50:49
	the assimilated young Jews, is in the ascendance.	50:52
	What are we wishy-washy Protestants to say	50:58
	to all of this?	51:03
	Many deplore any rise in particularity as dangerous	51:05
	to the tender social contract.	51:09
	Some see within it the seeds of arrogant bigotry	51:12
	and an impediment to a desirable global neighborliness.	51:16
	Some suggest that the scandal of division is a luxury	51:21
	that the world in its present state can ill afford.	51:26
	These are indeed wise cautions and we should heed them	51:31
	even as we pick our way in what my particularity calls	51:34
	a fallen order.	51:39
	However, I cannot escape the overwhelming reality	51:42
	of my own experience and to be particular is not so much	51:45
	as to be choosy but peculiar.	51:50
	That I catch a glimpse of God and the universality of things	51:55
	from my particular vantage point in history	51:59
	in a particular corner of the world	52:03
	with a particular set of limits and options.	52:06
	We are molded by a particular set of circumstances,	52:10
	our lot cast with a particular set of characters	52:14
	and our opportunities of perception and action ranged	52:17
	within a particular context.	52:22
	Because of this, it is mine to say yes to Joshua's	52:25
	challenge and mine once more to cast my lot with those	52:29
	at Antioch who were first called Christians.	52:33
	Even more than that, because of this, it is my task,	52:37
	my unremitting chore to be faithful to the highest demand	52:42
	that this particular expression of God's grace	52:46
	requires of me.	52:49
	In other words, I must seek to understand and appropriate	52:52
	the best of what it has meant and now means	52:56
	to be a Christian, to affirm the particularity of my calling	52:59
	for by knowing who I am and from whence I am come	53:05
	I may better be able to understand and honor	53:10
	the particularity and the calling of others	53:14
	with whom by nature and necessity I am neighbor.	53:18
	This is what it means to be a particular people.	53:23
	Not long ago, one of America's distinguished rabbis	53:29
	preached from the pulpit of a university church	53:34
	where I serve at Cambridge and he did so at my invitation.	53:37
	He came as an unrepentant Jew	53:42
	and he did so in the context of an unrepentant	53:46
	Protestant Christian celebration of worship.	53:50
	Because he came to us, he was no less a Jew.	53:54
	Because he was with us, we were no less Christian.	53:58
	Together we sought to learn from each other	54:03
	and indeed from the God in whose love and care	54:06
	we both are kept.	54:09
	He did not ask to change what we customarily do there.	54:11
	He did not say clean up your language, watch your act,	54:16
	I'm coming.	54:21
	We did not refrain from the name of Jesus	54:23
	or the invocation of the blessed and undivided trinity.	54:26
	I did not ask him to hedge his sermon.	54:31
	What we did ask of each other was to be taken seriously	54:35
	for what we are, for we both were agreed that religion	54:39
	in general is no religion at all.	54:44
	To be a Christian I suggest, especially in these days,	54:50
	is not so much to seek the security of the ancient	54:54
	confessions and the authority of canon in church,	54:57
	important though these are.	55:01
	But to be a Christian in the light both of a secular world	55:04
	and of the religious experiences of others	55:09
	is in the light of both of these realities	55:13
	to behold as a new and wondrous thing	55:16
	capable of unimaginable diversity, beauty, and power,	55:20
	what it means for us to belong to Christ Jesus	55:26
	as the Lord not only of our history and of our future	55:32
	but of our lives and of our present	55:37
	wrestling, not resting with the implications of that	55:41
	imperfect truth, until the perfect day shall come	55:45
	and we shall all know even as we are known.	55:51
	Now unto God, the father, the son, and the holy ghost,	55:59
	creator, sustainer, and redeemer, be all glory and power,	56:04
	dominion and might, from this day forward	56:09
	and ever forevermore.	56:12
	Amen.	56:15
	(triumphant organ music)	56:27
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	56:48
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	58:16
-	With one voice let us affirm what we believe.	58:29
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	58:34
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	58:40
	reconciled and made new.	58:43
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	58:46
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	58:50
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	58:55
	to love and serve others,	58:58
	to seek justice and resist evil,	59:01
	proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.	59:04
	Our judge and our hope.	59:08
	In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.	59:11
	We are not alone.	59:18
	Thanks be to God.	59:20
	Be seated please.	59:22
	The Lord be with you.	59:31
	Let us pray.	59:34
	Oh Lord our God, great is your name and greatly	59:37
	to be praised.	59:45
	We offer this prayer of thanksgiving,	59:48
	intercession and supplication.	59:51
	Oh God, loving creator, we thank you	59:56
	for your creating power,	1:00:01
	that you have made all things and made them well.	1:00:07
	That you have given us all things richly to enjoy.	1:00:13
	The beauty and the goodness of this fair earth	1:00:21
	and for your loving grace which can make all things new.	1:00:27
	We give thanks and praise to you, oh God.	1:00:35
	God, we pray today for your holy church.	1:00:42
	Give to your church a deep passion for the souls	1:00:47
	of all people.	1:00:49
	That we will never be content until all have experienced	1:00:53
	your love and your grace.	1:00:57
	Give to your church such a passion for social justice	1:01:02
	that the church, both as individuals and as one body,	1:01:08
	will come to be the conscience of this land.	1:01:12
	That we will earnestly work for those things	1:01:17
	that give help to the bodies and hope to the spirits	1:01:20
	of your children.	1:01:25
	Give to your church, oh one and holy God,	1:01:29
	that particularity and that unity in which all persons	1:01:36
	are recognized for their true worth and dignity.	1:01:40
	That unity in Christ in which all barriers	1:01:45
	are broken down and we respectfully become true brothers	1:01:48
	and sisters one to another.	1:01:53
	On this day especially, oh loving and holy God,	1:01:59
	we would ask that you would bless the life and ministry	1:02:04
	of Pope John Paul the second as he seeks to lead	1:02:07
	and to serve in your name and in your will.	1:02:13
	May he bring hope to a divided church	1:02:18
	and to a hurting world.	1:02:21
	Gracious God, you have shown us in the works and in the	1:02:26
	words of Jesus that you do care, both for our bodies	1:02:29
	and our souls.	1:02:32
	Protect us alike in body and in soul.	1:02:35
	Give us bodies, healthy and whole, minds at rest	1:02:41
	and at peace, souls that seek not only those things	1:02:45
	of the world but also seek those things	1:02:49
	which are unseen and eternal.	1:02:51
	Bless us therefore, gracious God, in body, soul and spirit	1:02:55
	that we may live this life well and at the end	1:03:00
	find life truly and eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord	1:03:04
	who taught the first disciples and who teaches us	1:03:11
	to pray in his name.	1:03:13
	Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:03:15
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:03:22
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:03:25
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	1:03:28
	our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us	1:03:32
	and lead us not into temptation	1:03:38
	but deliver us from evil.	1:03:41
	For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.	1:03:43
	Amen.	1:03:49
	(slow organ music)	1:03:59
	(flowing organ music)	1:05:17
	(choir singing in foreign language)	1:06:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	1:07:11
	(choir singing in foreign language)	1:08:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	1:09:03
	(flowing organ music)	1:10:17
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	1:10:34
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:10:48
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:10:50
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:06
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:09
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:12
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:15
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:19
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:27
-	Lord, we present to you our gifts, the sacrifices	1:11:39
	of our love.	1:11:42
	Help us, oh God, to do more than that.	1:11:44
	May be indeed present ourselves, our bodies, our minds,	1:11:48
	our spirits, as living sacrifice, praying that they may be	1:11:51
	holy and acceptable to you in the name and in the spirit	1:11:56
	of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray.	1:12:01
	Amen.	1:12:05
	(flowing organ music)	1:12:14
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	1:12:52
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	1:13:59
	(congregation singing hymn with organ)	1:14:37
-	My friends in Christ, go forth remembering	1:15:48
	that wherever you go, you bear the name Christian.	1:15:52
	Bear the name carefully for you are not your own.	1:15:56
	Bear the name gratefully for you were bought	1:16:03
	with a price.	1:16:06
	Bear the name joyfully for the spirit of Christ is yours.	1:16:08
	Now may the blessing of God almighty,	1:16:16
	creator, redeemer, and comforter be with you	1:16:19
	and remain with you and with those whom you love	1:16:23
	this day and forever.	1:16:27
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:33
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:40
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:46
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:01
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:09
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:22
	(slow organ music)	1:17:40
	(flowing organ music)	1:18:32
	(flowing organ music)	1:19:46
	(flowing organ music)	1:20:40
	(flowing organ music)	1:21:38
	(flowing organ music)	1:22:40
	(flowing organ music)	1:23:30

Item Info

Title:

Peter J. Gomes - "On Being Particular" (October 22, 1978)

Description:

There is no such thing as religion in general, only particular religious expressions. Thus, we must be faithful to the particularity of our identity as Christians and to the particularity of our own religious expressions. Only then will we be able to best minister to others in their own particularity. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 32:37. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 56:17.
Key quotation: “One is religious not in general but in particular…particularity, rather than a scandal or an embarrassment, is truly the only authentic ground by which an identity is established and maintained.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4cc0v74p

Date:

October 22, 1978

Speaker:

Gomes, Peter J.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0984
ref7177_m7z
uachapelsermaud
duke:320532
dcrau001864
ark:/87924/r4cc0v74p
19758a83-e202-4ccb-af4a-4fcaacf530bc

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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