C. Eric Lincoln - "The Beauty of Being One" (October 7, 1979)
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| - | Duke University Chapel service of worship, | 0:03 |
| October 7, 1979. | 0:06 | |
| (organ music) | 0:10 | |
| (choir singing) | 5:16 | |
| (organ music) | 6:32 | |
| (choir singing) | 7:04 | |
| - | You may be seated. | 10:50 |
| I greet you this morning, this beautiful morning | 11:01 | |
| in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | 11:04 | |
| This is the day which the Lord hath made. | 11:09 | |
| Let us rejoice and be glad in it. | 11:13 | |
| Let us pray together now the responsive prayer | 11:19 | |
| of confession and concern for others, | 11:23 | |
| which you will find printed in the bulletin. | 11:27 | |
| Let us pray. | 11:31 | |
| Lord, you made the world and everything in it. | 11:33 | |
| You created the human race of one kind | 11:38 | |
| and gave us the earth for our possession. | 11:41 | |
| (audience responding) | 11:46 | |
| Lord, we have been divisive in our thinking, | 11:54 | |
| in our speech, in our actions. | 11:57 | |
| We have classified and imprisoned one another. | 12:01 | |
| We have fenced each other out by hatred and prejudice. | 12:06 | |
| (audience responding) | 12:13 | |
| Lord, you mean us to be a single people | 12:19 | |
| ruled by peace, feasting in freedom, free from injustice, | 12:23 | |
| truly human men and women responsible and responsive | 12:29 | |
| in the life we lead, the love we share, | 12:35 | |
| the relationships we create. | 12:39 | |
| (audience responding) | 12:45 | |
| Lord, pour out among us the tongues of your spirit | 12:51 | |
| that we may each burn with compassion for all who | 12:56 | |
| hunger for freedom and humanness, | 13:01 | |
| that we may be doers of the word | 13:05 | |
| and so speak with credibility about | 13:08 | |
| the wonderful things you have done. | 13:12 | |
| (audience responding) | 13:16 | |
| Amen. | 13:29 | |
| Our scripture lesson for today is from the | 13:34 | |
| 12th chapter of the Epistle of First Corinthians. | 13:37 | |
| Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. | 13:48 | |
| And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. | 13:54 | |
| And there are varieties of working, but it is the same God | 14:00 | |
| who inspires them in everyone. | 14:06 | |
| For just as the body is one and has many members | 14:12 | |
| and all the members of the body, though many are one, | 14:16 | |
| so it is with Christ. | 14:20 | |
| For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, | 14:25 | |
| Jews or Greeks, slaves or free | 14:29 | |
| and all were made to drink of one spirit. | 14:33 | |
| Here ends today's scripture lesson. | 14:38 | |
| All praise and glory be to God. | 14:41 | |
| Amen. | 14:44 | |
| - | So this is the era of the celebration of the self. | 15:11 |
| The more we despair of systems and institutions, | 15:17 | |
| the more often the failure of alliances and coalitions, | 15:22 | |
| the more certain the inability of cabbles and clicks | 15:29 | |
| to deliver us from the confrontations which overwhelm us | 15:35 | |
| and threaten us with non being. | 15:39 | |
| The more predictable is the retreat | 15:42 | |
| into the fortress of the self. | 15:46 | |
| And this retreat, which is so characteristic of our times, | 15:52 | |
| begins with the withdrawal from contact. | 15:56 | |
| The avoidance of the stress | 16:02 | |
| of intercourse with other human beings, | 16:07 | |
| the abandonment of negotiation, | 16:11 | |
| the premature conclusion that we are up against a wall | 16:16 | |
| and that the wall is somehow | 16:21 | |
| the people out there, the nasty, | 16:25 | |
| despicable people with whom | 16:30 | |
| we have to deal in our daily grace. | 16:33 | |
| And then we conclude that since the wall is not going | 16:38 | |
| to crack according to the diagram of our personal interests, | 16:41 | |
| and so we simply withdraw. | 16:48 | |
| We suddenly discover the beauties of ethnicity, | 16:53 | |
| the satisfactions of racial identification, | 16:57 | |
| the hideous chauvinism of the rituals of tribalism | 17:02 | |
| and we consider ourselves as saved | 17:08 | |
| by the reinforcement of the psychological clones conjured up | 17:13 | |
| behind these walls of race or ethnicity | 17:17 | |
| or religious denomination | 17:21 | |
| or whatever social entity it is into which we have retreated | 17:22 | |
| from the necessity of dealing with the larger world. | 17:28 | |
| But are we saved? | 17:34 | |
| Probably not. | 17:38 | |
| The racial or the ethnic or the tribal or the | 17:40 | |
| denominational clones which represent our new security, | 17:44 | |
| turn out not to be clones at all. | 17:49 | |
| They may be white like us or black like us or Methodist, | 17:54 | |
| or Democrats or whatever, but in the final analysis | 17:58 | |
| they turn out to be people. | 18:03 | |
| People. | 18:06 | |
| And we still have to deal with them just as we would | 18:07 | |
| have to deal with those others from whose presence | 18:12 | |
| we have sought to withdraw. | 18:17 | |
| They will oppose us. | 18:21 | |
| They will love us. | 18:24 | |
| They will hate us. | 18:27 | |
| They will misunderstand us, just like those other people | 18:29 | |
| out there in the larger world. | 18:34 | |
| Just like those other people we found to be inconsequential | 18:38 | |
| to our destiny and to our sense of fulfillment. | 18:43 | |
| And so the next step is to make the final, | 18:48 | |
| the absolute retreat into the fortress self. | 18:51 | |
| And there we indulge ourselves with all the narcissistic | 18:56 | |
| fantasies and hedonistic self rewards | 19:00 | |
| which are symptomatic of our sickness. | 19:04 | |
| But if God is merciful, sooner or later, | 19:08 | |
| we discover that the fortress self | 19:13 | |
| is not a fortress at all. It is a barricade. | 19:18 | |
| It is a barricade behind which | 19:23 | |
| we have committed self imprisonment. | 19:25 | |
| We find that we are self removed from the world of reality | 19:30 | |
| and from the bittersweet promise of human intercourse. | 19:36 | |
| There was a man whose name was Nicodemus, | 19:40 | |
| who when he heard that Jesus was passing his way, | 19:43 | |
| climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a better | 19:45 | |
| perspective on the world down below. | 19:48 | |
| But Jesus' advice to Nicodemus was to come down, | 19:51 | |
| come down in the press of the crowd | 19:56 | |
| and get the dust of the road on your feet. | 20:00 | |
| We are never as distinctive, | 20:05 | |
| never as remote, | 20:11 | |
| as we might like to be. | 20:14 | |
| Paul's reminder to the Galatians of his age | 20:17 | |
| and of ours is that, in the final analysis, | 20:21 | |
| there is neither Jew nor Greek. | 20:26 | |
| There is neither bond nor free. | 20:29 | |
| There is neither male nor female. | 20:31 | |
| We are all one. | 20:35 | |
| We are one and our oneness is the | 20:38 | |
| distinctive beauty of being human. | 20:41 | |
| We are one, and this is the | 20:46 | |
| crown ingenious of God's creation. | 20:49 | |
| We may be of many faiths, but there is but one God, | 20:54 | |
| and though there be many nations, there is but one humanity. | 20:58 | |
| Though we're revel in the spectrum of diversities | 21:03 | |
| which distinguish us as members of this race or that, | 21:07 | |
| this culture or some other, and though we celebrate | 21:11 | |
| every available nuance of human expression to establish | 21:15 | |
| our wanted individuality, our separateness as persons, | 21:19 | |
| human individuality can only be confirmed | 21:25 | |
| in the context of human negotiation and human intercourse. | 21:30 | |
| There is no way, there is no way for man | 21:36 | |
| to survive as man | 21:41 | |
| apart from his relation to his fellow man. | 21:44 | |
| There is no way in which man can be human | 21:49 | |
| all by himself. | 21:53 | |
| We are one, and one we will be, | 21:56 | |
| created by one God through one will or one substance, | 22:01 | |
| many members of one body working together, | 22:06 | |
| each according to his gifts | 22:11 | |
| toward one end and one destiny. | 22:13 | |
| And the recognition of our oneness is our | 22:17 | |
| love and appreciation for one another. | 22:21 | |
| Lord, let me love. | 22:27 | |
| Let loving be a symbol of grace that warms my heart | 22:31 | |
| and let me find thy loving hand to still me when I tremble | 22:36 | |
| at thy command to love all humankind. | 22:41 | |
| Lord, let me love though love may be the losing | 22:46 | |
| of every sacred treasure I possess. | 22:49 | |
| Lord, make my love the pattern of thy choosing | 22:52 | |
| and let thy will dictate my happiness. | 22:58 | |
| I have no wish to wield the sword of power, | 23:02 | |
| I want no man to lead at my command, | 23:05 | |
| nor let my critics feel constrained to cower | 23:09 | |
| for fear of some reprisal at my hand. | 23:14 | |
| Lord, teach me mercy. | 23:18 | |
| Let me be the winner of every man's respect and simple love, | 23:22 | |
| for I have known thy mercy, though a sinner | 23:28 | |
| whenever I have sought thy peace above. | 23:33 | |
| Lord, lead me love the lowly and the humble forgetting not | 23:36 | |
| the mighty and the strong, and give me grace | 23:40 | |
| to love those who may stumble. | 23:44 | |
| Nor let me seek to judge of right or wrong. | 23:48 | |
| Lord, let my parish be the world unbounded | 23:52 | |
| by any vain pretense of race or clan. | 23:57 | |
| Let every hateful doctrine be unfounded | 24:03 | |
| and make thy love | 24:09 | |
| a love of man for man. | 24:12 | |
| Let us pray. | 24:16 | |
| Oh gracious Heavenly Father, we bow to thee | 24:18 | |
| in thanksgiving and gratification for the | 24:21 | |
| many blessings though has showered upon us. | 24:25 | |
| We are especially grateful | 24:29 | |
| that we are members of that great aggregation | 24:32 | |
| which was created in thine own image | 24:37 | |
| and wherever man may be throughout the world on this Sunday, | 24:40 | |
| would though plant in each soul and in each heart | 24:47 | |
| the recognition that we are of one body, of one image, | 24:52 | |
| that we belong to one Father, created through one love | 24:58 | |
| in Christ's name. | 25:03 | |
| Amen. | 25:05 | |
| - | On this Lord's Day, which we as Christians throughout | 25:20 |
| the world celebrate as worldwide communion Sunday, | 25:26 | |
| may I, in the name and in the spirit of Christ | 25:32 | |
| extend to you this invitation. | 25:37 | |
| Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love Him | 25:40 | |
| and who desire to live in peace and love with one another. | 25:47 | |
| And so my friends in Christ, | 25:53 | |
| may the peace of the Lord be with you. | 25:54 | |
| (audience responding) | 25:59 | |
| As forgiven and reconciled people, | 26:01 | |
| let us now in these moments ahead | 26:05 | |
| offer ourselves and our gifts to the Lord our God. | 26:07 | |
| Amen. | 26:13 | |
| (organ music) | 26:22 | |
| (choir singing) | 27:05 | |
| Be seated please. | 33:52 | |
| Let us offer to God this prayer | 34:03 | |
| of thanksgiving and consecration. | 34:05 | |
| Let us pray. | 34:08 | |
| Lift up your hearts. | 34:10 | |
| (audience responding) | 34:13 | |
| Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. | 34:15 | |
| (audience responding) | 34:19 | |
| - | Oh God, it is right that we should | 34:23 |
| always and everywhere give you thanks and praise. | 34:26 | |
| Only you are God. | 34:30 | |
| You created all things and call them good. | 34:32 | |
| You made us in your image. | 34:36 | |
| Even when we rebelled against your love, | 34:40 | |
| you did not desert us. | 34:43 | |
| You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our God | 34:46 | |
| and King and spoke to us through your prophets. | 34:51 | |
| Therefore, we join the entire company of heaven | 34:56 | |
| and all your people now on earth | 34:59 | |
| in worshiping and glorifying you. | 35:02 | |
| - | Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, | 35:07 |
| heaven and earth are full of your glory. | 35:12 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 35:16 | |
| Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. | 35:18 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 35:22 | |
| We thank you, Holy God, that you love the world so much | 35:24 | |
| you sent your only son to be our savior. | 35:29 | |
| The Lord of all life came to live among us. | 35:33 | |
| He healed and taught people, ate with sinners | 35:36 | |
| and won for you a new people by water and the spirit. | 35:39 | |
| We saw His glory. | 35:44 | |
| Yet He humbled Himself in obedience to your will, | 35:46 | |
| freely accepting death on a cross. | 35:49 | |
| By dying, He freed us from unending death, | 35:53 | |
| by rising from the dead He gave us everlasting life. | 35:56 | |
| We remember that on the night in which He | 36:01 | |
| gave himself up for us, the Lord Jesus took bread. | 36:02 | |
| After giving you thanks, He broke the bread, | 36:06 | |
| gave it to his disciples and said, | 36:10 | |
| Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. | 36:14 | |
| When the supper was over, He took the cup. | 36:21 | |
| Again, He returned thanks to you. | 36:25 | |
| He gave the cup to His disciples and said, | 36:28 | |
| drink from this, all of you, | 36:32 | |
| for this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood | 36:35 | |
| poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins. | 36:39 | |
| When we eat this bread and drink this cup, | 36:44 | |
| we experience anew the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ | 36:47 | |
| and look forward to His coming in final victory. | 36:51 | |
| Christ has died. | 36:55 | |
| Christ is risen. | 36:57 | |
| Christ will come again. | 36:59 | |
| We remember and proclaim with gratitude, Holy God, | 37:02 | |
| what your son has done for us in his life and death, | 37:05 | |
| in his resurrection and ascension. | 37:08 | |
| Accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving | 37:11 | |
| in union with Christ's offering for us | 37:16 | |
| as a reasonable and holy surrender of ourselves. | 37:18 | |
| Send the power of your Holy Spirit on us, | 37:22 | |
| gathered here out of love for you and on these gifts. | 37:26 | |
| Help us know in the breaking of this bread the presence of | 37:31 | |
| Christ who gave his body and blood for all people. | 37:35 | |
| Make us one with Christ, one with each other and in one | 37:39 | |
| in service to all people through your son Jesus Christ | 37:44 | |
| with the Holy Spirit in your holy church. | 37:49 | |
| All glory and honor is yours God Almighty. | 37:52 | |
| In unity with Christ and with each other, we pray. | 37:57 | |
| Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 38:02 | |
| thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth | 38:08 | |
| as it is in heaven. | 38:11 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our | 38:13 | |
| trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 38:17 | |
| Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 38:22 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. | 38:27 | |
| Amen. | 38:32 | |
| Because there is one loaf, we, many as we are | 38:35 | |
| are one body for it is one loaf of which we all partake. | 38:42 | |
| When we break this bread, is it not a means | 38:53 | |
| of sharing in the body of Christ? | 38:55 | |
| When we give thanks over this cup, | 39:02 | |
| is this not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ? | 39:05 | |
| And so my dear friends, in these moments just ahead | 39:12 | |
| we offer to you the body of Christ, which is given for you, | 39:14 | |
| and the blood of Christ, which is shed for you. | 39:21 | |
| The members of the choir will come first and make | 39:25 | |
| two concentric circles around the table of our Lord. | 39:27 | |
| The ushers will then assist you to and from | 39:31 | |
| this communion table. | 39:34 | |
| We invite all who gather in the name and in the spirit | 39:36 | |
| of Christ to come and receive as our Lord | 39:39 | |
| has invited us so to do. | 39:42 | |
| And may the blessing of God be with you as we | 39:45 | |
| break bread and share the cup together. | 39:47 | |
| Amen. | 39:50 | |
| (organ music) | 40:03 | |
| Jesus said, I am the vine, ye are the branches. | 46:19 | |
| By their fruits, you shall know them. | 46:24 | |
| Arise dear friends and go in peace and may the love | 46:27 | |
| of Christ which is of the first fruits be with you | 46:30 | |
| and show forth from you through Christ our Lord. | 46:34 | |
| Amen. | 46:39 | |
| (organ music) | 46:49 | |
| (choir singing) | 49:54 | |
| That you love one another as I have loved you. | 54:52 | |
| Now, dear friends as in Christ as we have received | 54:58 | |
| the body and blood of our Lord and have received again | 55:02 | |
| the gifts of His love, arise and go in peace | 55:06 | |
| and may the peace of God be always with you. | 55:10 | |
| Amen. | 55:15 | |
| (organ music) | 55:19 | |
| (choir singing) | 58:34 | |
| The way, the truth and the life. | 1:03:12 | |
| Now, dear friends, arise and go in that way. | 1:03:15 | |
| Understand that truth and know that life | 1:03:20 | |
| through Christ who loves us. | 1:03:24 | |
| Amen. | 1:03:28 | |
| (organ music) | 1:03:31 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:07:28 | |
| Paul writes, and now abides faith, hope, love, | 1:12:04 | |
| these three, but the greatest of these is love. | 1:12:08 | |
| Now dear friends in Christ, having received again | 1:12:13 | |
| the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:12:15 | |
| go and share that love in His name and in His spirit. | 1:12:18 | |
| Amen. | 1:12:22 | |
| (organ music) | 1:12:40 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:15:51 | |
| John writes, for God so loved the world, | 1:19:36 | |
| He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him | 1:19:42 | |
| should not perish but have eternal life. | 1:19:46 | |
| Rise, beloved, and in that assurance may you and we all | 1:19:50 | |
| go forth knowing that the Lord, our God does love us | 1:19:54 | |
| and is with us, and knowing that we may | 1:19:58 | |
| share that love with others. | 1:20:02 | |
| In the name of our Lord Christ, Amen. | 1:20:05 | |
| As these persons are seated, there may be some | 1:20:15 | |
| in the congregation who will want to receive | 1:20:19 | |
| the bread and the wine where you are. | 1:20:21 | |
| If so, there are two ministers who will come | 1:20:25 | |
| and offer you the bread and wine where you're seated. | 1:20:29 | |
| If you will simply identify yourself so that they | 1:20:34 | |
| may share the sacrament with you in these moments. | 1:20:37 | |
| (organ music) | 1:20:46 | |
| - | Will you join me now in the prayer | 1:22:43 |
| of thanksgiving and commitment. | 1:22:45 | |
| You have given yourself to us, oh Lord. | 1:22:52 | |
| (audience responding) | 1:22:56 | |
| Your love has made us a new people. | 1:22:59 | |
| (audience responding) | 1:23:03 | |
| Your glory has filled our hearts. | 1:23:08 | |
| (audience responding) | 1:23:12 | |
| Amen. | 1:23:16 | |
| (organ music) | 1:23:18 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:23:41 | |
| - | As we have received the blessed gift of the body and blood | 1:26:41 |
| of our Lord in the name and spirit of Christ, | 1:26:45 | |
| may I now offer you this blessing. | 1:26:50 | |
| The grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, | 1:26:55 | |
| the love of God and the fellowship and communion of the | 1:27:00 | |
| Holy Spirit be with you and with those whom you love | 1:27:04 | |
| this day and forever. | 1:27:10 | |
| (choir singing) | 1:27:17 | |
| (organ music) | 1:28:45 |
