Robert T. Young - "Homecoming Is Coming Home" (October 29, 1978)

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-	Duke University Chapel service of worship,	0:04
	October 29, 1978.	0:06
	(peaceful organ music)	0:09
	(peaceful organ music)	1:24
	(peaceful organ music)	3:28
	(peaceful organ music)	4:53
	(peaceful organ music)	6:14
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	7:46
	♪ How gracious the lord is ♪	7:50
	♪ Blessed is the man that trusteth in him ♪	7:56
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	8:11
	♪ How gracious the lord is ♪	8:16
	♪ Blessed is the man that trusteth in him ♪	8:22
	♪ Blessed is the man that trusteth in him ♪	8:40
	♪ Blessed is the man that trusteth in him ♪	8:52
	♪ The man that trusteth in him ♪	9:06
	(peaceful organ music)	9:24
	(chorus sings)	10:01
-	Greetings in the name of our lord, Jesus the Christ.	13:46
	With the certainty of God's forgiving love,	13:51
	let us now in the presence of God and our neighbor	13:54
	make our corporate confession of our sin, let us pray.	13:59
	Loving God, who by your love hath made us,	14:05
	and through your love has kept us,	14:09
	and in your love would make us perfect,	14:13
	we humbly confess that we have not loved you	14:16
	with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength	14:20
	and that we have not loved one another as Christ loved us.	14:25
	Your life is within our souls, but selfishness	14:31
	has hindered you.	14:35
	We have resisted your spirit,	14:38
	we have neglected your inspirations.	14:40
	Forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are,	14:44
	and in your spirit, direct what we shall be	14:50
	that you may come into the full glory of your creation	14:54
	in us and all people through Jesus Christ, our lord.	14:59
	Amen.	15:18
	The good news which we celebrate during this service	15:20
	of worship, and every service of worship,	15:23
	is God's great love for us and God's gift to us	15:26
	of life, which includes forgiveness of our sins.	15:31
	Accept this gift and live as redeemed children of God.	15:36
	Let us give thanks for God is good,	15:43
	and God's love is everlasting.	15:46
	Thanks be to God, who is ever present.	15:50
	Thanks be to God, who is ever forgiving.	15:54
	Thanks be to God, who is ever loving, amen.	15:58
	It is always a joy and special privilege to have	16:05
	those of you who are here for Homecoming	16:08
	join us for worship,	16:10
	and our regular congregation is enriched every Sunday	16:13
	by the many other of you who worship with us.	16:16
	We invite you to become a friend of Duke University Chapel.	16:21
	This is an opportunity for us to continue	16:27
	our contact with each other.	16:29
	The leaflet, which you may pick up at the rear	16:32
	of the chapel, describes the special benefits to you	16:35
	and to us that comes to you from becoming	16:40
	a friend of the Chapel.	16:43
	Next Sunday, Mary Lou Williams will join us	16:47
	in one of our festival Sundays,	16:51
	the celebration of All Saints Sunday.	16:53
	You will note in your bulletin an invitation to join	16:58
	in cleaning up Edgemont Community Center	17:01
	this coming Saturday from eight until noon.	17:05
	This afternoon at 4:30, Darlene Gregor	17:11
	will be installed as the new Lutheran campus minister	17:14
	here in this chapel, you are invited to join us for worship.	17:18
	We are especially pleased that Dr. Clellan	17:24
	can serve as our lector on this special Sunday,	17:27
	welcome to your home, Dr. Clellan.	17:30
-	It is good to be back with you.	17:51
	And I've discovered that	17:55
	I would rather read the lesson and read the prayers	17:58
	than preach the sermon,	18:02
	so I'm happy to be at this side of the chapel,	18:04
	hopefully from now on.	18:08
	You will notice that the introduction	18:12
	to the proclamation of the word	18:15
	is a prayer of illumination.	18:18
	Let us pray.	18:22
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord,	18:24
	to accept your word.	18:27
	Silence in us	18:31
	any voice but your own.	18:34
	That hearing we may also obey your will	18:38
	through Jesus Christ, our lord.	18:43
	Amen.	18:49
	The Old Testament lesson is taken from the book of Genesis,	18:52
	45, one to nine, and 24 to 28.	18:58
	Joseph is seeking to make contact with his brethren	19:08
	in Egypt and especially with his old father.	19:12
	It's an emotional moment	19:19
	and chapter 45 begins,	19:22
	"Then Joseph could not control himself before all those	19:24
	"who stood by him, and he cried,	19:28
	"'Make everyone go out from me.'	19:33
	"So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself	19:37
	"known to his brothers.	19:41
	"And he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it	19:45
	"and the household of Pharaoh heard it.	19:51
	"And Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph.	19:54
	"'Is my father still alive?'	20:02
	"But his brothers could not answer him,	20:07
	"for they were dismayed at his presence.	20:09
	"So Joseph said to his brothers,	20:14
	"'Come near to me, I pray you.'	20:18
	"And he said, 'I am your brother Joseph,	20:22
	"'whom you sold into Egypt, and now do not be distressed	20:27
	"'or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here,	20:35
	"'for God sent me before you to preserve life.	20:42
	"'For the famine has been in the land these two years	20:49
	"'and there are yet five years in which there will be	20:53
	"'neither plowing nor harvest.	20:57
	"'And God sent me before you to preserve you	21:02
	"'for the remnant on earth and to keep alive	21:04
	"'for you many survivors.	21:08
	"'So it was not you who sent me here, but God.	21:12
	"'And he has made me a father to Pharaoh	21:19
	"'and lord of all his house and ruler	21:24
	"'over the land of Egypt.'"	21:29
	And then we move from there to the 24th verse	21:34
	of the same chapter.	21:38
	"Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed	21:44
	"he said to them, 'Do not quarrel on the way.'	21:47
	"So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land	21:53
	"of Canaan to their father Jacob and they told him	21:56
	"Joseph is still alive and he is ruler	22:02
	"over all the land of Egypt.	22:07
	"And Jacob's heart failed him	22:13
	"and he fainted, for he did not believe them.	22:18
	"But when they told him all the words of Joseph	22:23
	"which he had said to them, and when he saw	22:25
	"the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him,	22:28
	"The spirit of their father Jacob revived, and he said,	22:32
	"'It is enough.	22:39
	"'Joseph my son is still alive,	22:43
	"'I will go and see him before I die.'"	22:49
	Here endeth the Old Testament lesson.	22:55
	(peaceful organ music)	23:01
	(chorus sings)	23:27
	The New Testament lesson	26:54
	is taken from the gospel according to Saint Luke,	26:58
	the 15th chapter, verses 11 to 24.	27:01
	Let the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel	27:08
	and remain standing for the "Gloria Deo"	27:13
	after the gospel has been read.	27:17
	"And Jesus said there was a man	27:22
	"who had two sons.	27:27
	"And the younger of them said to his father,	27:30
	"'Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.'	27:34
	"And he divided his living between them.	27:41
	"Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had	27:47
	"and took his journey into a far country.	27:51
	"And there he squandered his property in loose living.	27:56
	"And when he had spent everything,	28:03
	"a great famine arose in that country.	28:06
	"And he began to be in want.	28:10
	"So he went and joined himself to one	28:14
	"of the citizens of that country	28:16
	"who sent him into his fields to feed swine,	28:19
	"and he would gladly have fed on the pods	28:27
	"that the swine ate and no one gave him anything.	28:30
	"But when he came to himself, he said,	28:38
	"'How many of my father's hired servants	28:42
	"'have bread enough and to spare,	28:46
	"'but I perish here with hunger?	28:51
	"'I will arise and go to my father	28:56
	"'and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned	29:00
	"'against heaven and before you.	29:04
	"'I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.	29:08
	"'Treat me as one of your hired servants.'	29:13
	"And he arose and came to his father,	29:19
	"but while he was yet at a distance,	29:22
	"his father saw him	29:26
	"and had compassion, and ran, and embraced him,	29:29
	"and kissed him.	29:35
	"And the son said to him, 'Father,	29:38
	"'I have sinned against heaven,	29:41
	"'and before you.	29:44
	"'I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'	29:47
	"But the father said to his servants,	29:53
	"'Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him.	29:56
	"'And put a ring on his hand,	30:03
	"'and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf	30:06
	"'and kill it, and let us eat and be merry	30:10
	"'for this, my son, was dead and is alive again.	30:15
	"'He was lost and is found.'	30:22
	"And they began to be merry.	30:26
	"Now his elder son was in the field,	30:30
	"and as he came and drew near to the house,	30:33
	"he heard music and dancing.	30:36
	"And he called one of the servants and asked him	30:40
	"what this meant, and he said to him,	30:43
	"'Your brother has come, and your father has killed	30:46
	"'the fatted calf because he has received him	30:51
	"'safe and sound.'	30:54
	"But he was angry and refused to go in.	30:57
	"His father came out and entreated him.	31:04
	"But he answered, 'Lo these many years	31:09
	"'I have served you and I never disobeyed your command,	31:14
	"'yet you never gave me a kid that I might make merry	31:20
	"'with my friends.	31:26
	"'But when this son of yours came,	31:29
	"'who has devoured your living with harlots,	31:33
	"'you killed for him the fatted calf.'	31:36
	"And he said to him, 'Son,	31:41
	"'you were always with me.	31:45
	"'All that is mine is yours.	31:48
	"'It was fitting to make merry and be glad,	31:52
	"'for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive.	31:54
	"'He was lost and is found.'"	32:01
	And may God bless unto us this reading	32:07
	from his holy word.	32:12
	(peaceful organ music)	32:16
	(chorus sings)	32:30
-	It seems that there are still some people coming in.	33:26
	Let me ask you, if you will, to move	33:31
	toward the center aisles so that those who are	33:33
	still coming might find a seat without too much disturbance.	33:36
	I'm sure there are a number of folks, like me,	33:40
	last night or this morning you didn't know whether	33:43
	to move your clock upward, forward, or backward.	33:45
	So at 12:30 today there may still be some folks coming in.	33:49
	I hope you did enjoy that extra hour of sleep last night.	33:54
	Somehow or other, I like this time of the year better	33:58
	than the spring of the year when it goes the other way.	34:00
	This morning, a potpourri on homecomings,	34:06
	old and new, and what they mean to us.	34:12
	Churches have homecomings.	34:18
	Clans have homecomings.	34:21
	Fraternal orders, fraternities, sororities,	34:25
	service clubs, civic clubs have homecomings.	34:28
	Families have homecomings, even colleges	34:33
	and universities have homecomings.	34:37
	It seems as if there are homecomings around us	34:42
	almost all the time.	34:45
	It's almost as if Thomas Wolfe's advice	34:47
	that you can't go home again	34:50
	is being ignored by all of us.	34:53
	Homecoming.	34:57
	When we say it,	35:00
	coming home,	35:03
	calls up all kinds of good images and good feelings.	35:07
	Dinner on the grounds,	35:13
	marching bands and football games,	35:16
	dances and concerts,	35:20
	warm greetings,	35:24
	new acquaintances, renewed friendships,	35:26
	familiar sights and sounds,	35:31
	warm thoughts, good feelings, pleasant memories.	35:34
	Why homecoming?	35:41
	Why have this kind of experience?	35:44
	Why go home?	35:47
	Or why come back home?	35:51
	What is there about home that attracts us,	35:57
	entices us, or draws us,	35:59
	that is all of us	36:02
	at one time or other.	36:05
	It's impossible for me to think of home and homecoming	36:09
	without thinking of Robert Frost's inimitable words	36:14
	in "Death of a Hired Man."	36:18
	Warren and Mary are sitting on the porch	36:23
	talking in the moonlight about Old Silas,	36:28
	Silas the hired man who has come back to them	36:33
	to die.	36:37
	And Warren says, "Home is that place	36:38
	"where when you go there,	36:43
	they have to take you in."	36:47
	And Mary replies,	36:51
	"I should've called it	36:55
	"something like,	36:58
	"somehow it is something	37:00
	you don't have to deserve."	37:03
	And so it is, home, homecoming.	37:09
	But just a few lines earlier, Mary has a word	37:14
	that I'd like to repeat and apply to us here, now,	37:17
	Homecoming Weekend at Duke University, 1978,	37:22
	for what she says about what Silas lacks	37:28
	reminds me intensely, and deeply, and movingly	37:30
	of precisely what you and I this morning have.	37:33
	She says in talking about Silas,	37:38
	"Poor Silas,	37:42
	"nothing to look backward to with pride,	37:44
	"and nothing to look forward to with hope."	37:49
	Terrible words to be said about someone.	37:58
	"Nothing to look backward to with pride,	38:03
	"and nothing to look forward to with hope."	38:06
	And my word this morning is that those of you	38:10
	whom I know in this place and at this time,	38:14
	and myself included, are exactly at the other	38:16
	end of the pole.	38:20
	We have much to look backward to with pride	38:24
	and perhaps we have even more to look forward to with hope.	38:28
	Homecoming means coming home.	38:36
	And I guess every human being wants to have	38:40
	that sense of being at home,	38:43
	of having a place to be, a place to stand	38:47
	as Elton Trueblood puts it.	38:51
	A feeling that we really do have a home.	38:53
	We want to experience that sense of identity	38:56
	and of belonging,	38:59
	that somehow or other we do associate with home.	39:03
	And so I think it's important this morning	39:09
	to know that homecoming has a solid basis in scripture,	39:10
	it's not something that Duke's public relations office	39:13
	or alumni office dreamed up.	39:16
	Homecoming happens in the Old Testament	39:20
	and in the New Testament all the time all over the place	39:22
	and this morning I'd like for us to look at three of these.	39:25
	First is the experience of Jacob and his older sons,	39:29
	leaving Canaan, that is home really for them,	39:33
	to go to the youngest son, Joseph, for a new,	39:37
	a real homecoming that will bring all the family	39:41
	back together again, the father and some of the children	39:44
	leaving one home to go to another home	39:48
	to bring all the family together.	39:51
	The second is the experience of what undoubtedly	39:52
	is the most famous homecoming in all of literature,	39:57
	the return of the younger brother	40:03
	to the loving, waiting father.	40:06
	And the third is an experience which we've not read	40:09
	for one of the lessons this morning,	40:12
	but the experience of Jesus as it's recorded	40:14
	in the fourth chapter of the gospel of Luke	40:17
	when Jesus had his first homecoming.	40:19
	He had just been baptized and had just gone	40:22
	through the experience of the temptation	40:24
	and he went back home to the synagogue and read	40:27
	the Scripture, and he preached his first sermon,	40:29
	and what a homecoming.	40:32
	The first story of Jacob and his sons	40:35
	going to Egypt, to Joseph.	40:38
	The father going to a new home	40:43
	I think tells us some things about homecoming	40:46
	and that is that homecoming is always full of surprises,	40:50
	things are never quite as we expect them to be,	40:54
	or want them to be, or remember them as having been.	40:57
	I'll never forget a visit that Jackie and I made	41:03
	along with our four children,	41:05
	an experience of going back home.	41:08
	And Jackie had just recently started collecting	41:12
	old antique fruit jars,	41:14
	antique quart and half-gallon jars.	41:17
	And so one day I happened to mention to her	41:21
	that we just had literally hundreds of these fruit jars	41:23
	down in the cellar of our old home place.	41:26
	So one day all six of us drove the 120 miles	41:30
	from Boone to Asheville to visit my old home place	41:34
	and to get some of those fruit jars.	41:37
	My mother had long ago sold the old home place,	41:41
	25 acres or so, and I hadn't seen our home place	41:44
	in some five or six years.	41:48
	So the six of us drove up the hill,	41:50
	out the little winding road, and came across a little knoll	41:53
	to where my home used to be.	41:57
	It had been sold to the County Board of Education.	42:01
	The school board had built a school bus parking lot	42:04
	and garage there.	42:09
	And as we drove onto our, what was, our property,	42:12
	I looked and behold there was a big maintenance garage	42:17
	where they were working on school buses	42:22
	and where our old home place was was leveled over	42:24
	and covered with asphalt.	42:28
	So much for those fruit jars.	42:31
	But my surprise was probably no greater than that	42:36
	of some of you at coming home this weekend,	42:38
	or coming back to Duke recently,	42:40
	finding men students on East Campus,	42:44
	women students on West Campus.	42:50
	Some of you alumni about the same age as I am,	42:55
	some of you men who used to have to go to the parlor	42:58
	and have your date called down while you waited,	43:03
	find things just a little bit different now.	43:07
	Some of you who remember that when Duke students	43:13
	were not to drink alcoholic beverages	43:16
	anytime, anywhere,	43:20
	find it a little bit different now	43:25
	with beer in the CI,	43:28
	wine in the Steak Room,	43:31
	and alcoholic beverages readily available	43:34
	in dorm rooms and front yards, and lounges.	43:37
	Some of you here may even be old enough to remember	43:42
	when women students, that is coeds,	43:45
	had to be in at 1 a.m. on Saturday night	43:49
	or Sunday morning, and at 11 or 12 o'clock	43:52
	the rest of the week.	43:57
	Things are just	44:00
	a little bit different in some ways.	44:03
	Homecoming does remind us of the past,	44:07
	reveals to us that things are always changing.	44:10
	They're always different in reality	44:14
	from what they are in our memories.	44:16
	Homecoming is always filled with surprises.	44:20
	It took much to convince Jacob, old as he was,	44:26
	that he had a new homecoming awaiting him,	44:30
	that he really could pack up his things,	44:33
	leave Canaan, and head for Egypt and a real family reunion	44:35
	with all of his children.	44:39
	Joseph, the younger brother,	44:43
	the unwanted and the unappreciated one,	44:45
	had been sold by his brothers years before into slavery.	44:50
	He was reassuring them now,	44:56
	not to be disturbed or angry about having sold him,	44:59
	for surely this was a part of God's plan,	45:02
	and then God speaks a word for then and for now	45:05
	through Joseph to his brothers, for he says, Joseph does,	45:09
	"For God sent me before you	45:13
	to preserve life."	45:17
	That's the surprising and the beautiful thing	45:21
	that Jacob learned and that we indeed learn	45:23
	at homecoming time that God does send	45:25
	other persons before us	45:28
	to preserve life for us.	45:31
	How many people?	45:36
	Who are they this morning as we recall them?	45:38
	What did they do, and how did they love, and care,	45:43
	and reach out to us?	45:46
	Who are the others in your life and mine	45:47
	who have been sent before us to preserve life for us?	45:50
	In the midst of the changes, and the surprises,	45:58
	and the differences, that is the real word this morning,	46:00
	that those who went before us, and we who go before others	46:06
	are reminded that God does send us before	46:12
	to preserve life.	46:16
	It was Bertrand Russell who once wrote,	46:19
	"It is necessary to care deeply	46:21
	"for things that will not come to pass	46:24
	"until long after we are gone."	46:27
	The second homecoming incident	46:35
	is that of Jesus returning home	46:39
	just after his baptism and temptation,	46:42
	preaching his first sermon and getting a taste	46:45
	of what homecomings can really be like.	46:48
	For Jesus found out that homecoming	46:53
	confronts us with reality,	46:54
	homecoming places new demands on us,	46:57
	and homecoming can, at times,	47:01
	be a tough experience.	47:04
	Jesus, according to Luke, came to Nazareth,	47:07
	where he had been brought up.	47:11
	He read some Scripture from Isaiah,	47:13
	reading, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me	47:15
	to preach good news to the poor,	47:17
	to proclaim release to the captives,	47:19
	to set at liberty those who are oppressed."	47:21
	Beautiful words from the Book of Isaiah.	47:26
	His hometown folks thought that he read well.	47:29
	Some of them even came up to him afterwards	47:33
	and said, "You have a beautiful voice."	47:35
	And then he said, "Today, this Scripture	47:40
	"has been fulfilled in your presence."	47:42
	They liked that.	47:45
	Hometown boy makes good.	47:47
	"He's one of us," they said, and they all,	47:50
	according to Luke, quote, "spoke well of him."	47:52
	But Jesus went on.	47:55
	He could hear them say, "Physician, heal yourself,"	47:59
	and then he said, "No prophet is ever acceptable	48:03
	"in his own country."	48:08
	And then he proceeded to show them why.	48:10
	Jesus then made specific by illustration	48:12
	the general word of Scripture that he had just read	48:17
	from Isaiah. He says that there was a famine	48:20
	in the time of Elijah, and there were many widows in Israel.	48:23
	And you would think that God would send Elijah	48:28
	to care for the widows of Israel, but he says	48:31
	Elijah was sent to none of them; rather to a widow	48:34
	in hated Sidon.	48:38
	And then he says there were many lepers in Israel	48:43
	in the time of Elijah.	48:45
	You would think that God would've sent Elijah	48:49
	to cleanse the lepers in Israel, but no,	48:51
	none of those in Israel was cleansed,	48:55
	only one from Syria	48:58
	and that's all it took.	49:01
	After these words, listening to Jesus's first homecoming,	49:02
	when they heard this, all in the synagogues were filled	49:07
	with wrath and they rose up and put him out of the city.	49:10
	Welcome home, Jesus.	49:15
	That's the real world,	49:19
	Jesus's, yours, and mine.	49:21
	We love to hear Scripture read, it sounds good	49:24
	and makes us feel good, but when it gets very specific	49:27
	new demands may be placed on us, and we may not like that.	49:32
	We all like the beautiful, high-sounding phrases,	49:38
	the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.	49:41
	It has anointed me to preach good news to the poor,	49:43
	to proclaim release to the captives.	49:46
	We all love the word, it's the application of the word	49:48
	that causes us trouble.	49:53
	Listen to some words this morning	49:56
	about Duke University, my friends,	49:57
	about our aims and about our principles.	50:00
	As you leave today, you may read on the bronze plaque	50:04
	in the middle of the quad out front,	50:07
	"The aims of Duke University are to assert	50:12
	"a faith in the eternal union of knowledge and religion	50:18
	"set forth in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ,	50:24
	"the son of God,	50:29
	to advance learning in all lines of truth,	50:32
	"to defend scholarship against all	50:37
	false notions and ideals,	50:39
	"to develop a Christian love of freedom and truth,	50:44
	"to promote a sincere spirit of tolerance,	50:49
	"to discourage all partisan and sectarian strife,	50:53
	"and to render the largest permanent service	50:58
	"to the individual, the state, the nation, and the church.	51:01
	"Unto these ends shall the affairs of this university	51:05
	"always be administered."	51:10
	Did you know that that plaque was	51:13
	in the center of the university?	51:15
	Did you know that those words	51:19
	make up the aims of this university?	51:22
	But listen to some more about Duke University	51:27
	and the hospital.	51:30
	James B. Duke wrote in 1924, "I have selected	51:31
	"Duke University as one of the principal objects	51:35
	"of this trust because I recognize that education,	51:37
	"when conducted," listen, "when conducted along sane	51:41
	"and practical, as opposed to	51:45
	dogmatic and theoretical lines	51:48
	"is, next to religion, the greatest civilizing influence.	51:51
	"I have selected hospitals as another of the principle	51:57
	"objects of this trust, because I recognize that they	52:00
	"have become indispensable institutions, not only by way	52:03
	"of ministering to the comfort of the sick,	52:08
	"but in increasing the efficiency of mankind	52:10
	"and in prolonging life."	52:13
	About the School of Nursing,	52:18
	"The School of Nursing is committed to promoting	52:21
	health and welfare.	52:25
	Nursing practice involves interacting with human beings	52:27
	under stress, frequently over long periods of time,	52:32
	providing comfort and support in times of pain,	52:36
	anxiety, loneliness, and helplessness."	52:40
	About the law school,	52:46
	which has some very famous alumni.	52:50
	"The Duke Law School	52:55
	strives to give such training as is necessary	52:59
	to a right and successful practice of the profession,	53:02
	to awaken in young students of the law	53:07
	faith in and admiration for the profession,	53:10
	to develop in them	53:14
	a living sense of honor and justice,	53:16
	and to fit them in moral character	53:21
	for the delicate duties which belong	53:25
	to this ancient and noble profession."	53:27
	About the Divinity School,	53:33
	"Education," Mr. Duke wrote, "is, next to religion,	53:36
	"the greatest civilizing influence."	53:43
	And then listen who he advises to be taught here.	53:47
	"And I advise that courses at this institution	53:50
	"be arranged first with special reference	53:54
	"to the training of preachers, teachers,	53:58
	"lawyers, and physicians,	54:02
	because these persons,	54:06
	"by precept and example,	54:08
	can do most to uplift mankind."	54:12
	There is absolutely nothing wrong with the words	54:20
	of the principles upon which this university	54:24
	and its various schools is founded.	54:27
	The demand, the cry, the call, the expectation	54:31
	is not to do or to be anything radical or extreme today,	54:35
	but simply to be that which we and others before us	54:41
	have committed ourselves to be.	54:47
	It's like James Forbes said in a sermon here	54:51
	on Tuesday evening, "You don't have to be a flaming radical,	54:54
	"a raving feminist, a wild-eyed socialist	54:59
	"to get in trouble today.	55:04
	"All you have to do is be Christian,	55:05
	"to do a little kingdom carrying,	55:10
	"and then you're in trouble."	55:15
	We don't have to be any wild, overly zealous,	55:19
	quixotic Duke people in order to be of service,	55:23
	or to help others, or to fulfill our calling,	55:26
	all we have to do is to fulfill the aims	55:29
	and the principles of this university.	55:32
	Perhaps this morning what we need is another homecoming	55:35
	like the one Jesus experienced.	55:38
	Perhaps I need it,	55:45
	and maybe I'm the only one for whom I can speak	55:47
	this morning, but perhaps we who make up Duke University	55:50
	today need a homecoming that shadows our false pride,	55:54
	that breaks some of our haughty arrogance,	56:00
	that cracks through our selfish isolation,	56:04
	that bursts our high academics and our rich elitism,	56:09
	that disturbs our sense of independence and security,	56:15
	that levels at least a little bit our smug,	56:20
	self-centered, self-satisfied ways.	56:23
	Perhaps we need a homecoming	56:26
	where the word of the Lord becomes	56:30
	specific, very specific,	56:33
	to each one of us.	56:38
	Then there is the homecoming that gives us grace,	56:41
	that offers us forgiveness and acceptance,	56:45
	that loves us with an everlasting love.	56:48
	The story is of the younger brother who took	56:51
	his inheritance, went away, squandered his life	56:54
	in loose living, came to his senses, returned home,	56:58
	and then, my friends, I don't know of any words	57:03
	in all the words that have ever been penned	57:06
	that are any more beautiful or are more meaningful	57:10
	than the words that Luke writes here where he tells	57:13
	about how the father, while he yet saw him at a distance,	57:15
	saw him, and had compassion on him, and ran,	57:21
	and threw his arms around him, and kissed him,	57:25
	and embraced him.	57:28
	Welcome home, my child.	57:32
	That, my friends, is homecoming.	57:39
	May I say another personal word this morning.	57:44
	Most of us, now not all of us, for sure,	57:47
	because unfortunately home is not a pleasant memory	57:53
	for everyone, but most of us	57:57
	are loved far more than we deserve,	58:03
	and far more than we dare to ask	58:07
	by those who care for us back home.	58:12
	We are loved,	58:20
	that's God's word	58:23
	to you and to me	58:28
	this Homecoming.	58:32
	Homecoming is hearing again the old, old story,	58:37
	many old, old stories,	58:42
	and so for our hymn this morning	58:45
	rather than sing the one in the bulletin,	58:47
	I'd like for us to join together with all the fervor,	58:49
	and joy, and meaning that we can muster	58:54
	to sing together hymn number 149,	58:58
	"I Love to Tell the Story,"	59:02
	hymn number 149.	59:06
	Will you stand as we sing.	59:08
	("I Love to Tell the Story")	59:12
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	59:51
	♪ Of unseen things above ♪	59:56
	♪ Of Jesus and his glory ♪	1:00:01
	♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪	1:00:07
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:00:12
	♪ Because I know 'tis true ♪	1:00:17
	♪ It satisfies my longings ♪	1:00:22
	♪ As nothing else can do ♪	1:00:27
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:00:33
	♪ 'Twill be my theme in glory ♪	1:00:38
	♪ To tell the old, old story ♪	1:00:44
	♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪	1:00:49
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:00:56
	♪ More wonderful it seems ♪	1:01:01
	♪ Than all the golden fancies ♪	1:01:06
	♪ Of all my golden dreams ♪	1:01:12
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:01:17
	♪ It did so much for me ♪	1:01:22
	♪ And that is just the reason ♪	1:01:27
	♪ I tell it now to thee ♪	1:01:33
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:01:38
	♪ 'Twill be my theme in glory ♪	1:01:44
	♪ To tell the old, old story ♪	1:01:49
	♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪	1:01:54
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:02:01
	♪ 'Tis pleasant to repeat ♪	1:02:06
	♪ What seems each time I tell it ♪	1:02:12
	♪ More wonderfully sweet ♪	1:02:17
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:02:22
	♪ For some have never heard ♪	1:02:27
	♪ The message of salvation ♪	1:02:33
	♪ From God's own holy word ♪	1:02:38
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:02:44
	♪ 'Twill be my theme in glory ♪	1:02:50
	♪ To tell the old, old story ♪	1:02:55
	♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪	1:03:00
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:03:07
	♪ For those who know it best ♪	1:03:12
	♪ Seem hungering and thirsting ♪	1:03:18
	♪ To hear it like the rest ♪	1:03:23
	♪ And when in scenes of glory ♪	1:03:28
	♪ I sing the new, new song ♪	1:03:34
	♪ 'Twill be the old, old story ♪	1:03:39
	♪ That I have loved so long ♪	1:03:44
	♪ I love to tell the story ♪	1:03:50
	♪ 'Twill be my theme in glory ♪	1:03:55
	♪ To tell the old, old story ♪	1:04:01
	♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪	1:04:06
	♪ Amen ♪	1:04:13
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	1:04:23
	We believe in God, who has created, and is creating,	1:04:27
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:04:32
	to reconcile and make new,	1:04:36
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	1:04:39
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	1:04:44
	to celebrate life in its fullness,	1:04:49
	to love and serve others,	1:04:52
	to seek justice and resist evil,	1:04:55
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen	1:04:59
	our judge and our hope.	1:05:03
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	1:05:07
	God is with us, we are not alone,	1:05:12
	thanks be to God.	1:05:16
	The congregation be seated, please.	1:05:21
	The lord be with you.	1:05:28
	(congregation answers)	1:05:30
	Let us pray.	1:05:32
	Oh holy God, we bow in the mystery of your presence,	1:05:37
	aware of the beauty of your world,	1:05:45
	and also of the terrors known and yet to come	1:05:49
	which mar the beauty of your natural world,	1:05:53
	aware of the deep meaning possible in our lives,	1:05:59
	and also aware of the brokenness, and unfulfillment,	1:06:04
	and emptiness which haunts us.	1:06:10
	Aware of the communities which support us	1:06:14
	and also those which destroy us and our neighbor.	1:06:19
	We rejoice, oh God, that you do not abandon us	1:06:25
	with our terror, or our brokenness,	1:06:29
	our fears, or our loneliness.	1:06:33
	And so we pray, oh God, for those we know	1:06:38
	who are facing an uncertain or fearful future	1:06:43
	because of separation from health, or from work,	1:06:47
	from life, from loved ones, or from hope.	1:06:53
	Encompass them in your sustaining spirit.	1:07:01
	And oh God, we pray that you will bless us.	1:07:05
	Bless our bodies that we may treat them	1:07:09
	as temples of your spirit,	1:07:12
	worthy of your incarnation.	1:07:15
	Bless our hands and our minds that we may use them	1:07:20
	for kingdom carrying.	1:07:24
	And bless, oh God, our memories and our dreams	1:07:28
	that we may not be bound to our past or to our future.	1:07:33
	Redeem our past and our future that we may live	1:07:39
	responsibly in the present, instruments of healing,	1:07:43
	of love, of hope, of wholeness,	1:07:49
	instruments for creating peace and justice.	1:07:54
	And we pray all this in the spirit of Jesus who prayed,	1:07:59
	our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:08:04
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:08:10
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:08:14
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	1:08:18
	our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:08:22
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:08:28
	but deliver us from evil,	1:08:31
	for thine is the kingdom, and the power,	1:08:34
	and the glory forever, amen.	1:08:38
	(peaceful organ music)	1:09:07
	(chorus sings)	1:09:13
	("Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow")	1:16:13
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:16:30
	♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪	1:16:36
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:16:42
	♪ Praise him above ye heavenly host ♪	1:16:49
	♪ Praise, father, son, and holy ghost ♪	1:16:55
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:17:01
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:17:07
-	Almighty God, the source of all of our comfort and joy,	1:17:34
	receive us and these our gifts as we dedicate them	1:17:40
	and ourselves anew unto you.	1:17:47
	We pray in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, amen.	1:17:50
	(peaceful organ music)	1:17:57
	(chorus sings)	1:18:27
-	And may you find home wherever you go,	1:21:26
	and go with assurance that the blessing of almighty God,	1:21:30
	our creator, redeemer, and sustainer is yours	1:21:36
	this day and forever.	1:21:41
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:46
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:53
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:00
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:07
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:14
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:23
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:36
	(peaceful organ music)	1:22:52

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "Homecoming Is Coming Home" (October 29, 1978)

Description:

Sermon start time: 34:06. Sermon end time: 59:11.
Homecoming is usually thought of as coming home to something familiar, but it always presents something new. Regardless of whatever homecoming, God will accept anyone who comes home to God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: The father, while he yet saw him at a distance, saw him, and had compassion on him, and ran, and threw his arms around him, and kissed him, and embraced him. Welcome home, my child. That, my friends, is homecoming.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r41v5bt94

Date:

October 29, 1978

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0985
ref7179_y6m
uachapelsermaud
duke:320998
dcrau001865
ark:/87924/r41v5bt94
8259954b-9910-49f4-adff-bf4d36f25ceb

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

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Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other 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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Robert T. Young - "Homecoming Is Coming Home" (October 29, 1978)

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Duke University Archives