Juanita Bass Wright - "Free to Leave" (May 18, 1980)

Download
- Rights
- No Re-Use
  In Copyright
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44m91r3n?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44m91r3n
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(peaceful organ music)	0:02
	(peaceful organ music)	2:42
	Grace to you and peace	10:48
	from the Lord our God who makes us	10:51
	who redeems us, and sustains us.	10:54
	Serve the Lord with gladness.	10:59
	Come into His presence with thanksgiving.	11:02
	Enter His gates with praise.	11:06
	Give thanks to God.	11:09
	Bless the Lord always, for the Lord is good.	11:11
	His steadfast love endures forever	11:16
	and His faithfulness to all generations.	11:20
	Come now.	11:24
	Let us worship the Lord, our God.	11:25
	Amen.	11:29
	(uplifting organ music)	11:31
	If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,	16:01
	and the truth is not in us.	16:05
	But if we confess our sins,	16:08
	God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins	16:10
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	16:14
	Therefore, let us humbly confess our sins to God	16:18
	and ask for forgiveness through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	16:22
	Let us pray.	16:26
-	Almighty God, You have lifted up	16:38
	our Lord Jesus from death into life eternal	16:41
	and set Him over people and nations.	16:45
	We confess that we have not bowed before Him	16:48
	or acknowledged His rule in our lives.	16:52
	We have gone along with the way of the world	16:56
	and been careless of fellow human beings.	16:59
	Forgive us, O God, and let us out of sin.	17:03
	Make us people who live to praise you	17:07
	and to obey the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ,	17:11
	who is king of the world and head of the church.	17:15
	Amen.	17:19
-	Let us continue with our silent prayers of confession.	17:21
	(silence)	17:26
	Amen.	17:52
	May the almighty and merciful God	17:54
	grant into all who are truly penitent	17:58
	pardon and forg iveness of all sin,	18:01
	time for the renewing of life,	18:05
	and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.	18:08
	The peace and the forgiveness of God is with you.	18:12
	Amen.	18:16
	Let us give thanks, for God is good	18:19
	and God's love is everlasting.	18:23
-	Thanks be to God, whose love has made us.	18:27
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy forgives us.	18:31
	Thanks be to God, whose promises sustain us.	18:36
-	Amen.	18:43
	May I say a word of welcome to you this day,	18:44
	this day on which we gather in this very special place	18:48
	to worship the Lord, our God,	18:51
	to gather in fellowship with one another,	18:53
	and to hear the Word of God as it speaks to us,	18:56
	to our needs, and to our hopes.	18:59
	Some of you have begun a session of summer school,	19:02
	studies already.	19:06
	It seems there is not much break in between.	19:07
	We wish you well in your endeavors this summer,	19:11
	and may cool weather surround you wherever you go.	19:14
	Our preacher for this day	19:21
	is the assistant minister to the university,	19:24
	the Reverend Juanita Bass Wright,	19:27
	who has blessed us and graced us with the Word before	19:31
	and who will bless us and grace us	19:35
	as God speaks t hrough her again this morning.	19:37
	Duke University lost one of its most beloved	19:41
	and faithful servants last Saturday evening.	19:45
	Dr. Frank deVyver died suddenly	19:50
	as he and his wife were on the their way	19:53
	to the theater in London.	19:55
	All of us who have known him, loved him,	19:58
	and been enriched by his life here among us	20:02
	grieve his loss and extend our love and prayers	20:06
	to Marion, his wife, and to their daught er and her family.	20:10
	A special service of thanksgiving	20:15
	and gratitude for the life of Dr. Frank deVyver	20:20
	will be held here in the chapel	20:24
	this Wednesday at three o'clock.	20:26
	You and others who wish to share in the service	20:29
	are invited to come as we celebrate	20:33
	and give thanks for his life at that time.	20:36
	Let us continue with the worship of the Lord, our God.	20:40
-	Let us pray.	20:54
	Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to accept Your Word.	20:58
	Silence in us any voice but Your own,	21:02
	that hearing, we may also obey Your will,	21:06
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	21:10
	Amen.	21:12
	The New Testament lesson is from Acts Chapter 16,	21:15
	verses six through 10 and 16 through 34.	21:19
	And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia	21:26
	having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit	21:30
	to speak the Word in Asia.	21:32
	And when they had come opposite Mysia,	21:34
	they attempted to go into Bithynia,	21:37
	but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them.	21:41
	So passing by Mysia,	21:45
	they went down to Troas,	21:48
	and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.	21:51
	A man of Macedonia was standing beseeching him and saying,	21:55
	come over to Macedonia and help us.	22:00
	And when he had seen the vision,	22:05
	immediately, we sought to go on into Macedonia,	22:07
	concluding that God had called us	22:11
	to preach the gospel to them.	22:14
	As we were going to the place of prayer,	22:17
	we were met by a slave girl	22:20
	who had a spirit of divination	22:22
	and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying.	22:26
	She followed Paul and us crying,	22:31
	this men are servants of the most high God	22:35
	who proclaimed to you the way of salvation,	22:38
	and this she did for many days.	22:43
	But Paul was annoyed and turned and said to the spirit,	22:46
	I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,	22:51
	and it came out that very hour.	22:56
	But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone,	23:00
	they seized Paul and Silas	23:04
	and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.	23:06
	And when they had brought them to the magistrates,	23:10
	they said, these men are Jews	23:13
	and they are disturbing our city.	23:16
	They advocate customs which it is not lawful	23:19
	for us Romans to accept or practice.	23:23
	The crowd joined in attacking them,	23:27
	and the magistrates tore the garments off them	23:30
	and gave orders to beat them with rods.	23:33
	And when they had inflicted many blows upon them,	23:37
	they threw them into prison,	23:41
	charging the jailer to keep them safely.	23:44
	Having received this charge	23:48
	he put them into the inner prison	23:51
	and fastened their feet in the stocks.	23:53
	But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying	23:57
	and singing hymns to God,	24:00
	and the prisoners were listening to them.	24:03
	And suddenly, there was a great earthquake	24:06
	so that the foundations of the prison were shaken,	24:10
	and immediately, all of the doors were opened	24:14
	and everyone's fetters were unfastened.	24:17
	When the jailer woke	24:21
	and saw that the prison doors were open,	24:22
	he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,	24:25
	supposing that the prisoners had escaped.	24:29
	But Paul cried with a loud voice,	24:32
	do not harm yourself, for we are all here.	24:35
	And he called for lights and rushed in,	24:39
	and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas	24:43
	and brought them out and said,	24:47
	men, what must I do to be saved?	24:50
	And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus	24:54
	and you will be saved, you and your household.	24:58
	And they spoke the Word of the Lord to him	25:03
	and to all that were in his house,	25:06
	and he took them the same hour of the night	25:09
	and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once	25:12
	with all his family.	25:16
	Then he brought them up into his house	25:19
	and set food before them,	25:22
	and he rejoiced with all his household	25:24
	that he had believed in God.	25:27
	The Epistle lesson is from Revelation 22,	25:31
	verses 12 through 17 and 20.	25:36
	Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense	25:42
	to repay everyone for what he has done.	25:46
	I am the Alpha and the Omega,	25:50
	the first and the last,	25:53
	the beginning and the end.	25:55
	Blessed are those who wash their robes,	25:58
	that they may have the right to the tree of life	26:01
	and that they may enter the city by the gates.	26:05
	Outside are the dogs and sorcerers	26:09
	and fornicators and murderers and idolaters	26:12
	and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.	26:16
	I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you	26:21
	with this testimony for the churches.	26:24
	I am the root and the offspring of David,	26:27
	the bright morning star.	26:30
	The spirit and the bride say, come,	26:33
	and let him who hears say, come,	26:37
	and let him who is thirty come.	26:41
	Let him who desires take the water of life without price.	26:44
	He who testifies to these things says,	26:50
	surely, I am coming soon.	26:54
	Amen.	26:57
	Come, Lord Jesus.	26:58
	Will the congregation please stand	27:02
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	27:04
	The gospel lesson is from Luke Chapter 24,	27:13
	verses 44 through 53.	27:17
	Then He said to them, these are my words	27:22
	which I spoke to you while I was still with you,	27:25
	that everything written about me in the Law of Moses	27:29
	and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.	27:32
	Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures	27:37
	and said to them, thus it is written	27:40
	that the Christ should suffer	27:44
	and on the third day, rise from the dead	27:46
	and that repentance and forgiveness of sins	27:50
	should be preached in His name to all nations,	27:53
	beginning from Jerusalem.	27:57
	You are witnesses of these things.	28:00
	And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.	28:03
	But stay in the city	28:08
	until you are clothed with power from on high.	28:10
	Then He led them out as far as Bethany,	28:15
	and lifting up His hands, He blessed them.	28:18
	While He blessed them, He parted from them	28:21
	and was carried up into heaven,	28:25
	and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy	28:27
	and were continually in the temple blessing God.	28:30
	(organ music)	28:37
-	Greetings to you on this day	29:44
	known in the life of the church as Ascension Sunday.	29:46
	Greetings in the name of Jesus,	29:51
	the one who was free to leave his disciples	29:54
	to carry on the work he had begun,	29:57
	the one who also promised to remain with them	30:01
	until the close of the age.	30:04
	Let us pray.	30:08
	Mighty God, may the words of my mouth	30:11
	and the meditations of our hearts	30:14
	be acceptable to You this day.	30:17
	Amen.	30:21
	I must confess	30:25
	that up until I started preparation for this sermon,	30:26
	I had never thought much about the ascension of Jesus.	30:31
	I had thought the resurrection was the end of the story	30:36
	as recorded in the gospels	30:39
	and the beginning of the story for me.	30:42
	But if one studies the book of Acts,	30:46
	the reference in Chapter 1 is clearly there.	30:49
	Luke implies it.	30:54
	Indeed, some versions state, he was carried up into heaven,	30:56
	although this may well be an addition to the text in Luke.	31:01
	And Matthew certainly sets the stage for an ascension	31:06
	by having Jesus deliver the closing words	31:10
	of that gospel on the top of a mountain.	31:13
	If I had thought about the ascension at all,	31:18
	I had thought of it in terms of the appearances of Jesus	31:22
	to the disciples stopping at some point,	31:26
	as though He had moved on up to the big time,	31:30
	to a big apartment in the sky,	31:34
	to use the words of the theme song	31:36
	from that popular TV show, The Jeffersons.	31:38
	Because, after all,	31:43
	Jesus does not appear to you and me,	31:47
	and ascension is as good an explanation as any.	31:51
	I shall have to give Reynolds Price,	31:58
	one of Duke's professors of English,	31:59
	as well as a novelist and poet of some renown,	32:02
	some of the credit for bringing me up short	32:05
	about the ascension.	32:08
	Toward the end of April, he read some of his poetry	32:11
	to the annual meeting of Friends of the Chapel.	32:15
	One of those poems was titled "Ascension,"	32:19
	and in it, the phase "free to leave" appears,	32:23
	a phrase which has gone through my mind	32:30
	over and over since that night.	32:33
	I tried to figure out why Jesus was free	32:38
	to leave the disciples.	32:41
	Finally, something began to dawn	32:45
	as I thought and I wondered,	32:47
	as I read and as I searched.	32:49
	It was only after Jesus left	32:54
	that Pentecost, which we celebrate next Sunday,	32:57
	occurred and the church was born.	33:00
	And so Jesus was free to leave	33:06
	because to confine himself to one area	33:09
	of a few hundred square miles	33:12
	would have bound him and his message	33:15
	by time and space.	33:19
	It was after the ascension	33:24
	that the work of the disciples really began.	33:27
	Jesus had sent them out in groups of two before.	33:32
	Jesus had instructed them individually on occasion	33:36
	and most often all together.	33:40
	But it was only when Jesus left them,	33:44
	or when they let him go, that they could assume the work	33:49
	and take it to the world, to Jerusalem,	33:53
	to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.	33:58
	It is as though until Jesus left	34:05
	the disciples could speculate about the future,	34:10
	their future, Jesus' future,	34:14
	what was to be the lot of them all.	34:18
	But when Jesus departed,	34:21
	the disciples were left very much in the present	34:24
	and were faced with having to demonstrate	34:28
	their belief in the world.	34:30
	According to the gospel of John,	34:36
	Jesus told the disciples, it is for your own good	34:39
	that I am going because unless I go,	34:44
	the Advocate will not come to you.	34:48
	But when the spirit of truth comes,	34:52
	he will lead you to the complete truth.	34:55
	So as the disciples witnessed Jesus' entry into glory,	35:02
	they stood at the dawning of a new world.	35:07
	They stood at the beginning of the history of the church.	35:11
	Jesus was free to leave	35:17
	because He had been given to them in a new way,	35:19
	a way that gave them freedom to believe and to act,	35:24
	to develop their faith, to express their love,	35:29
	to accept the Holy Spirit as their guide and comforter.	35:34
	According to the book of Acts,	35:42
	the ascended Jesus appeared to Saul on the Damascus Road.	35:45
	Paul apparently saw little difference	35:52
	between that appearance and the one	35:54
	on the Emmaus Road to the disciples.	35:56
	But that brief appearance of Jesus	36:00
	and subsequent events in Damascus	36:03
	caused Saul to turn his life around,	36:06
	even to change his name, and to begin to work	36:11
	for the cause which he had formerly tried to destroy.	36:15
	Jesus met Saul on the Damascus Road.	36:20
	Jesus left Paul with the Holy Spirit	36:26
	in the city of Damascus,	36:29
	and Paul, freed from his past,	36:32
	began speaking out boldly and openly	36:36
	in the name of the Lord.	36:39
	The reading from the book	36:43
	of the Acts of the Apostles for today	36:44
	is evidence of that happening,	36:47
	for the 16th chapter of Acts contains many different forms	36:50
	of ministry in which Paul engaged.	36:53
	In this chapter, Paul, after an absence of about five years,	36:58
	is returning to Derba and Lystra	37:03
	to see how the church there is doing.	37:06
	And while he's there, he finds Timothy,	37:10
	who would serve as a replacement for Mark,	37:14
	who had previously been with Paul	37:18
	but had gone off with Barnabas.	37:20
	Perhaps Paul's expectation	37:24
	was that Timothy would become his successor.	37:25
	And as they traveled together,	37:30
	Paul received the call in a dream	37:33
	to cross over into Macedonia and help us.	37:36
	On arrival in Neapolis,	37:41
	the seaport of Philippi, a Roman colony,	37:43
	Paul and his companions found no synagogue,	37:47
	so they went to the riverside as a place of prayer.	37:50
	And there they encountered Lydia,	37:55
	a wealthy businesswoman who became a convert to Christianity	37:58
	as a result of that riverside gathering.	38:02
	The church in Europe had its beginnings	38:05
	with Lydia as one of its leaders.	38:09
	Lydia was at the top of the social scale,	38:14
	contrasted to the next character in the drama	38:16
	that unfolds in that chapter.	38:19
	The slave girl is at the bottom.	38:22
	She was considered mad	38:25
	because she could foretell the future.	38:27
	She had fallen into the hands of some unscrupulous men	38:30
	who used her misfortune for their gain.	38:34
	And when Paul cured her,	38:39
	their source of revenue was taken away.	38:41
	Playing on the anti-Semitism of the mob,	38:44
	the men succeeded in having Paul and Silas	38:48
	arrested and put in stocks.	38:50
	And as Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns of praise,	38:55
	at the same time, as the scripture reads,	38:59
	there was a violent earthquake, the jail doors were opened,	39:02
	and prisoners were freed of their chains.	39:06
	The jailer, concerned about how he was to escape	39:11
	the consequences of what had happened,	39:16
	was then converted to belief in Jesus Christ.	39:19
	Even though he had closed the door	39:24
	of the jail on Paul and Silas,	39:26
	the door of salvation was opened to him,	39:30
	and the course of his life was changed,	39:34
	as was that of his whole family.	39:37
	Paul, freed now, visited the home of the jailer	39:41
	and then, after a confrontation with the authorities,	39:45
	went again to Lydia's home to meet with the Christians	39:49
	and to speak words of encouragement to them	39:54
	before continuing his travels to Thessalonica.	39:56
	Paul, using the basis of his faith	40:02
	as a springboard for living,	40:06
	met the demands of each day as they came,	40:08
	and he ministered to those with whom he was in touch,	40:13
	regardless of who or where they were.	40:18
	Paul, not trying to claim Jesus as his own possession,	40:25
	was free to share Jesus with the rest of the world.	40:30
	Paul was able to accomplish	40:38
	an amazing amount of work in his ministry	40:39
	because he had accepted and been empowered	40:42
	by the Holy Spirit as a force that directed him.	40:45
	When you and I look at someone like Paul,	40:53
	it is difficult to think that we could ever be as effective	40:56
	in our ministry as was he.	40:59
	It matters not whether we are clergy or laity.	41:03
	The amount he was able to accomplish	41:06
	is absolutely overwhelming.	41:09
	There are some very hectic days here in the chapel	41:13
	as we try to minister to this university community.	41:16
	But certainly we don't found new churches,	41:20
	to the relief of the downtown churches,	41:23
	or save slave girls or convert jailers.	41:27
	But we don't get thrown in jail either	41:32
	or experience earthquakes and doors opening	41:34
	and chains falling off prisoners.	41:37
	And maybe that's because we have not sung hymns of praise	41:41
	and prayed at the same time like Paul and Silas.	41:44
	But facetiousness aside,	41:48
	how do we look at persons of New Testament fame	41:52
	and their style of ministry and expect to be like them?	41:56
	The answer I have arrived at is this.	42:04
	We don't.	42:08
	We are not New Testament persons	42:10
	working on the frontiers of the faith	42:13
	in the way that they worked.	42:15
	And it would also be naive to suggest	42:18
	that the Jerusalem community offers us	42:20
	a structural model for contempor ary Christianity.	42:24
	We cannot realistically pretend	42:29
	that we are 1st century Jews caught up	42:32
	in a brand new religious movement.	42:34
	Theirs was a unique time.	42:38
	But so is ours.	42:41
	And the beauty of the faith with which we have been left	42:44
	is that it is applicable to whatever time we live.	42:48
	We can compare our enthusiasm with the zeal	42:55
	and boldness of those who comprised the early church.	42:58
	Their commitment is what becomes our model.	43:04
	And we, like Paul, can use our faith	43:09
	as a springboard for living	43:14
	to meet the demands of each day as they come,	43:15
	for Jesus meets us too on whatever road we walk	43:22
	and at a number of different times in our lives perhaps.	43:28
	But our temptation is to hold on to Jesus	43:34
	as though He were ours alone.	43:38
	Often, we are willing to share	43:42
	what Jesus has done for us with other persons,	43:44
	but we are not really willing to share Jesus.	43:49
	We have not learned how to love Jesus,	43:53
	or others for that matter, with open hands,	43:57
	and perhaps that's the point	44:02
	at which we have problems in our ministry.	44:04
	You see, we want Jesus with us,	44:09
	riding shotgun in the car with us,	44:14
	acting as our guardian angel,	44:17
	finding parking places when we need them.	44:20
	We want Him to keep us out of trouble,	44:25
	bring us good grades on tests and papers	44:28
	when we have been irresponsible in our preparation,	44:30
	take away the consequences of our rashness,	44:34
	take away the pain of our living,	44:37
	direct our every movement as we would have it directed.	44:40
	But I believe that what we learn	44:49
	from the story of the ascension	44:51
	and from the model of commitment	44:53
	that Paul and others in the New Testament offer to us	44:55
	is that until we let Jesus go,	44:59
	until we give Him up as our sweet, kind friend	45:05
	and accept Him as Lord of all,	45:10
	we cannot follow Him,	45:13
	for we are too prone to want to control Him	45:17
	so He will control us.	45:20
	In Dostoevsky's The Grand Inquisitor,	45:26
	there is a speech that captures our feeling rather well.	45:31
	As the story goes,	45:37
	Jesus visited Spain during the Inquisition.	45:39
	Everyone recognized him.	45:44
	He healed a blind man.	45:47
	He raised a little girl from the dead	45:49
	as she was being carried in her coffin	45:51
	into the cathedral for her funeral.	45:53
	The Grand Inquisitor, a 90-year-old cardinal,	45:57
	acting on behalf of the church, witnessed these events.	46:01
	He had Jesus arrested and put in prison.	46:07
	And he later came to Jesus in prison	46:12
	to tell Him that He would be burned the next day and why.	46:14
	In part, he said to Jesus,	46:21
	"Thou hast no right to add anything	46:26
	"to what Thou hadst said of old.	46:29
	"Why, then, art Thou come to hinder us?	46:33
	"Thou mayest not take from men the freedom	46:38
	"which Thou didst exalt when Thou wast on Earth.	46:40
	"For 15 centuries, we have been wrestling with Thy freedom,	46:44
	"but now it is ended and over for good.	46:49
	"Today, people are more persuaded than ever	46:55
	"that they have perfect freedom,	46:57
	"yet they have brought their freedom to us	46:59
	"and laid it humbly at our feet.	47:03
	"Didst Thou forget that man prefers peace, and even death,	47:08
	"to freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil?	47:12
	"We have corrected Thy work and have founded it	47:18
	"upon miracle, mystery, and authority.	47:21
	"And men rejoice that they are again led like sheep	47:25
	"and that the terrible gift	47:30
	"that had brought them such suffering	47:31
	"is at last lifted from their hearts."	47:34
	God's entrance into our humanness	47:42
	was not a brief and isolated encounter.	47:46
	God's commitment to us is permanent.	47:50
	I do not mean to imply otherwise.	47:54
	But because that commitment is permanent,	47:58
	we can have confidence and hope	48:01
	and are enabled to carry out	48:03
	a ministry of service in the world.	48:05
	What I am saying is	48:10
	that we cannot hold Jesus prisoner in our hearts.	48:11
	Just as Jesus explained to the disciples	48:17
	that he would leave them and send them a comforter,	48:20
	so that promise is also ours.	48:25
	Our union with Christ identifies us with Him in this life	48:30
	as He moved toward the cross.	48:35
	As the ascended one now become Lord,	48:40
	His claim is on the whole world.	48:43
	Therein lies our hope.	48:47
	His love is over us,	48:51
	not our control over Him.	48:55
	Neither can we accept the ascension as God's final act,	49:01
	for that would be to ignore	49:06
	the ambiguities of human existence today.	49:07
	Rather, Jesus' service, suffering, and obedience unto death	49:12
	were His freedom and His victory.	49:16
	And His transcendence makes authentic for us	49:20
	lives of service and obedience,	49:24
	even if that brings us suffering and death as well,	49:27
	because Jesus has been there before us	49:32
	and overcome what we fear,	49:36
	and therein lies our freedom.	49:40
	While we cannot expect our style of ministry	49:47
	nor our church organization	49:51
	to be those of the New Testament,	49:53
	neither are our frontiers of service	49:56
	those of Paul and the early church.	49:59
	Their task was to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth,	50:03
	which for them were geographic,	50:07
	and Rome appeared to be that end.	50:10
	In our time, the church has spread	50:15
	to those four corners of the world.	50:18
	There is not a country one can name	50:21
	that has not been touched by the Christian church,	50:24
	although we can by no means say	50:28
	that our work is complete in that regard.	50:31
	But our frontiers are likely to be next door,	50:36
	on the university campus, in the classroom,	50:41
	in the office where we work,	50:47
	in the corporation boardroom,	50:50
	in our communities,	50:54
	in our own homes,	50:57
	wherever we find persons poor,	51:00
	hungry, neglected,	51:04
	lonely, frightened,	51:08
	sick, oppressed,	51:11
	wherever there is social, sexual,	51:16
	racial, or economic discrimination,	51:20
	wherever and whenever	51:25
	the love of God appears to be absent.	51:28
	These are the ends of the Earth for us.	51:34
	It is because Jesus was free to leave	51:41
	that we have been freed to carry and act out	51:45
	the message to people everywhere.	51:48
	Evelyn Minshull, a poet, expresses it this way.	51:53
	"No puppet, I.	51:59
	"Christ dissolved those strings I once obeyed,	52:02
	"frenzied, collapsing, danging in despair,	52:05
	"and set me free,	52:09
	"a freedom fraught with terror at the start.	52:12
	"Am I on now?	52:16
	"Was that my cue?	52:17
	"Do you have the script?	52:18
	"Until his patience taught me that there is no script,	52:21
	"just love and ad-libbing his praise.	52:26
	"No strings.	52:31
	"Just ties."	52:34
	Praise be to our God who has set us free.	52:38
	Praise be to God who acts through us.	52:43
	Praise be to God who has not left us alone.	52:48
	Amen, and amen.	52:53
	(gentle organ music)	53:03
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	56:06
-	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	56:10
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	56:15
	to reconcile and make new,	56:18
	who works in us and others by the Spirit.	56:22
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	56:25
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	56:31
	to love and serve others,	56:34
	to seek justice and resist evil,	56:36
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen	56:40
	our judge and our hope.	56:44
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	56:46
	God is with us.	56:51
	We are not alone.	56:53
	Thanks be to God.	56:55
-	The Lord be with you.	56:59
	Let us pray.	57:02
	It is good for us to bless Your holy name, O Lord, our God,	57:13
	to remember Your mercies every morning	57:19
	and Your loving kindnesses every night.	57:21
	We praise You now for life's intangible joys,	57:26
	the lift of a loving voice,	57:31
	the warmth of a child's faith and confidence,	57:35
	the strength that comes from an accepted sorrow,	57:39
	the excitement of a shared and worthy purpose.	57:44
	We praise You most, O God,	57:50
	for faith that lights our way,	57:53
	for everything in us that draws us close	57:57
	to Your love and mercy,	58:00
	for all that just hints at Your presence	58:03
	in this fevered and feverish world of ours,	58:06
	and for Your gift, both unmatched and undeserved,	58:11
	Your only son, even Jesus Christ, our Lord,	58:16
	full of grace and truth who comes to us.	58:20
	Move us, O God, to express the thanks we feel,	58:25
	and forgive us our incessant complaining, we would pray	58:29
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	58:34
	With yearnings which we cannot fully identify,	58:40
	with fears, O God, too personal to express,	58:45
	holding in hostilities which hurt us and break us,	58:50
	weighted with some sense of guilt	58:56
	for having done so little with so very much,	58:58
	we make bowl now, O God, to pray for ourselves.	59:04
	Teach us what it means to live in You	59:08
	and to have You living in us,	59:12
	to rest in You and to hope in You.	59:18
	Let Your presence, O loving Lord,	59:21
	fill those homes where death has come	59:25
	as we remember in this moment especially	59:29
	with gratitude and joy	59:32
	the life and gifts and goodness	59:35
	of our departed friend and brother, Frank deVyver.	59:37
	Let Your wisdom, O Lord, fall like a gentle rain	59:43
	on the dry souls of all of us	59:46
	who are confused and bewildered.	59:49
	Let Your healing light	59:53
	kindle trust in all who are sick or afflicted in any way.	59:56
	And let Your joy overcome the heaviness	1:00:02
	of those who have forgotten how to laugh.	1:00:04
	O God, we would pray	1:00:09
	that You would command us and comfort us,	1:00:12
	for we need both direction and consolation.	1:00:14
	Then, then truly shall our ordered lives confess	1:00:20
	the beauty of Your peace and grace	1:00:26
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	1:00:29
	who comes to us and teaches us to pray	1:00:32
	as we offer now this prayer, O Lord.	1:00:35
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	1:00:39
	hallowed by Thy name,	1:00:42
	Thy kingdom come,	1:00:45
	Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.	1:00:47
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:00:51
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:00:54
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:00:57
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:01:01
	but deliver us from evil	1:01:04
	for Thine is the kingdom	1:01:06
	and the power and the glory forever.	1:01:08
	Amen.	1:01:12
	(heavy, powerful organ music)	1:01:19
	(spiritual organ music)	1:03:29
	(robust organ music)	1:07:01
	Almighty and most merciful God,	1:08:31
	we offer unto You our gifts	1:08:34
	together with our grateful hearts.	1:08:36
	All things do come from You, O Lord,	1:08:39
	and now we return what is Yours to Your use and glory.	1:08:43
	Bless all who give and bless every gift	1:08:47
	that Your love may be made known to others	1:08:51
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	1:08:55
	Amen.	1:08:58
	(light, gentle organ music)	1:09:10
	And now without bowing heads or closing eyes,	1:14:44
	may I offer you in the name of the Lord, our Christ,	1:14:47
	this blessing.	1:14:51
	The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:14:53
	the love of God, the communion and fellowship	1:14:57
	of the Holy Spirit be with you	1:15:01
	and with those whom you love	1:15:04
	this day and forever.	1:15:07
	And let the people say amen.	1:15:11
	(light organ music)	1:15:18

Item Info

Title:

Juanita Bass Wright - "Free to Leave" (May 18, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 29:44. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 52:56.
The temptation is to hold Jesus as though he was ours alone but we cannot hold Jesus prisoner in our hearts. We must let Jesus go and in letting go, we will see the ascended Jesus. The ascended Jesus is the Jesus who was free to leave the disciples, paving the way for the coming of the Spirit and the birth of the church. The Jesus who in leaving, granted the disciples freedom to let go, to accept the Holy Spirit, to develop their faith, to express their love, and to assume their work in the world. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “As the ascended one now become Lord, his claim is on the whole world. Therein lies our hope. His love is over us, not our control over Him.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44m91r3n

Date:

May 18, 1980

Speaker:

Wright, Juanita Bass

Liturgical Calendar:

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1092
ref7396_yii
uachapelsermaud
duke:321001
dcrau001971
ark:/87924/r44m91r3n
72bb3ad7-4e6f-4586-ab45-0602e6b90ee6

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

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.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Juanita Bass Wright - "Free to Leave" (May 18, 1980)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives