Thomas B. Stockton - "Values Vertigo" (June 15, 1980) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

[Woman] Duke University Chapel, service of worship.

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June 15th, 1980.

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(church organ music)

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(slow instrumental music)

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(dramatic instrumental music)

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[Priest] I greet you in the name and spirit of

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our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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Grace and peace to you, this beautiful, blessed day.

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We gather here to meditate, to celebrate,

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to sing and rejoice, to share,

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to give and receive.

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To open our lives to God and to one another,

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in new and in renewing ways.

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May the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

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be with you, as we pray, and as we hear God's word.

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With the assurance that God hears and answers

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our every petition,

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let us now offer to God our prayer of confession.

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Let us pray.

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Let us pray,

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[Everyone] Lord of all souls,

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everywhere and in all times,

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we admit to sins, great and small, obvious and subtle,

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by which we destroy others.

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Those near and dear to us, the people far away,

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the neighbor close by, the stranger in our midst,

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we acquire rather than share,

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demand rather than give,

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avenge rather than pardon,

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we put other gods before you,

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and learn to live comfortably with what is

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meaningless and false.

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As we are ashamed, pity us.

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As we are aware, strengthen us.

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As we see through the idolatries, forgive us.

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Return us to yourself, that we may live without fear,

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and enjoy our days with exultation.

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[Priest] Let us continue with

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our personal confession to the Lord, our God.

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My friends in Christ, we can be sure,

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as sure as God's spirit lives,

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and as sure as God's word is true,

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that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities,

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nor things present nor things to come,

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nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

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nor anything else in all creation,

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will be able to separate us from the love of God

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in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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May you know and experience that love of God

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in this holy moment.

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Amen.

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Let us give thanks, for God is good.

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And God's love is everlasting.

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[Everyone] Thanks be to God.

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Thanks be to God.

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Thanks be to God.

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[Priest] Amen.

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On this beautiful, beautiful Lord's day,

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this alumni Sunday of Alumni Weekend for this year,

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this Father's Day, this special day of worship,

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may I welcome you back home

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if you are returning as an alumnus.

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May I welcome you if you are visiting with us.

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We're indeed glad to have you come and share in this

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very special time of worship with us here in Duke Chapel.

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I'm sure we have many very special guests this morning.

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Many persons who are special to the life of this university.

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But for some reason, to me, those persons

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who have been alumni of this university

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for fifty years or more,

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seem a little more special than some of the rest of us.

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I wonder if, for just a moment,

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we might ask those of you who are members of

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the Class of 1930, or earlier,

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to stand for just a moment,

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that we might recognize you

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and see who you are among us this day.

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Will you?

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We're pleased to have you,

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and we're pleased to have all of you who are alumni,

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who have come back to your alma mater

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for this good weekend.

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And I trust that it has been a most enjoyable,

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and a very, very pleasant weekend for you.

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I notice some of you using your fans this morning.

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The air conditioning that we had when

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you were a student here is still in operation.

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(assembly laughs)

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Our preacher for this very special day is

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the Reverend Dr. Thomas Stockton,

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currently serving as the senior minister at

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Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte.

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Tom is a graduate of Davidson College,

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an alumnus of the Divinity School of the Class of 1955.

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He has served in the United Methodist Church,

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and more specifically,

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within the bounds of the Western North Carolina Conference,

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in an outstanding way and with real distinction

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wherever he has served.

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His pastorates include his last two at

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Central United Methodist in Asheville,

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and currently at Myers Park in Charlotte.

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He has served in a number of outstanding leadership ways

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in our conference.

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Three or four years ago he served to chair a task force

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on priorities for our conference,

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which in many ways set the agenda for what would be

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important in the life of that conference

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and in the life of our churches for many years to come.

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He serves on the Council on Ministries,

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the Board of Higher Education in Ministry,

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and in other responsible positions in the conference.

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He is known as a caring pastor,

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and a very effective preacher.

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Maybe a little more close to home, though,

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he and his wife Jean, who is with us this morning,

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are the parents of the three children--

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two daughters and a son.

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A daughter who just graduated and is a member of

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the most recent class, Lisa of the Class of 1980.

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Tom, who intends to be a member of the Class of 1982,

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and Shannon, who's still in high school,

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and hopes to be a class,

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or we hope she will be a member of the Class of 1986.

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We are pleased to have Dr. Stockton here this morning.

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As a member of one of the alumni classes gathering

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for this weekend, Tom, we welcome you back to Duke.

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We look forward to the word of God

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which you have come to share with us

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on this very special day.

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Let us continue as we worship the Lord, our God.

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[Neil] Let us pray.

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Prepare our hearts, oh Lord, to accept your word.

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Silence in us any voice but your own.

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That hearing, we may also obey your will

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through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Amen.

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The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis, chapter 25

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verses 24 through 34.

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When her days to be delivered were fulfilled,

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behold, there were twins in her womb.

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The first came forth red,

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all his body like a hairy mantel,

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so they called his name Esau.

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Afterward his brother came forth,

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and his hand had taken hold of Esau's heel.

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So his name was called Jacob.

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Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them.

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When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter,

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a man of the field,

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while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.

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Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game,

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but Rebekah loved Jacob.

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Once when Jacob was boiling pottage,

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Esau came in from the field and he was famished.

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And Esau said to Jacob,

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"Let us eat some of that red pottage, for I am famished."

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Therefore, his name was called Edom.

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Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright."

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Esau said, "I'm about to die.

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"Of what use is a birthright to me?"

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Jacob said, "Swear to me first."

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So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

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Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils.

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And he ate and drank and rose and went his way.

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Thus, Esau despised his birthright.

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Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.

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(church organ music)

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Will the congregation please stand

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for the reading of the gospel.

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The gospel lesson is from Matthew, chapter six

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verses 25 through 33.

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Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.

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What you shall eat, or what you shall drink.

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Nor about your body, what you shall put on.

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Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

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Look at the birds of the air.

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They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns,

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and yet, their Heavenly Father feeds them.

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Are you not of more value than they?

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And which of you, by being anxious,

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can add one cubit to his span of life?

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And why are you anxious about clothing?

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Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

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They neither toil, nor spin,

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yet I tell you even Solomon in all of his glory

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was not arrayed like one of these.

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But if God so closed the grass of the field,

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which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

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will he not much more clothe you, oh men of little faith?

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Therefore, do not be anxious saying, "What shall we eat?"

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Or, "What shall we drink?"

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Or, "What shall we wear?"

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For the Gentiles seek all these things,

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and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

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But seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness,

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and all these things shall be yours as well.

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(church organ music)

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(church choir singing)

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[Thomas] Thank you very much, Mr. Alexander.

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Let us pray.

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Heavenly Father,

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because of the moving of your spirit in this service,

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may we encounter you where we need to meet you,

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in the spirit of the Christ whom we serve.

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Amen.

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Today, we come to worship in the context of Alumni Weekend.

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And I appreciate very much the opportunity

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to share in this experience with you.

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I'm grateful to the committee and especially to Bob Young.

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But I'm grateful to Bob Young also for

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what his ministry has meant to my own children.

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As evidence of the fact of his significance

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in touching lives of young people and faculty

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and the administration and staff here at this university,

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I would say only one word:

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that he practice up his tennis a bit before

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he asks me to be his partner again.

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Now many of us have come here this weekend

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to refurbish old friendships,

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to renew memories of past scholarly endeavors perhaps;

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but more likely, of other types of activities.

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And as we have met with our friends of college days,

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we have no doubt discussed in detail

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where we have been and where we are coming from

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and something of our journeys and adventures

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in these days since we have left Duke.

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We probably have adequately dealt with the past

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during this weekend.

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And so today,

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I'd like for us to go in a different direction.

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To take this significant time

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to re-look where we want to go.

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To ask a question:

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where do we want to be as human beings ten years from now?

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As far as life is concerned,

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will we get there?

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Will we reach the destination that is our goal?

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Back in April, during our government's attempt

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to rescue the hostages from Iran,

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one of the key factors in the failure of that rescue mission

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was the inability of the helicopters

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to reach their destination and to perform their tasks.

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Eight helicopters set off towards

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that remote desert rendezvous.

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Six helicopters were essential for the mission.

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Two did not arrive,

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and another developed hydraulic malfunction.

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And therefore, the mission had to aborted.

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Canceled.

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Newsweek magazine, in describing the whole event,

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said that the second helicopter was lost

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when its gyroscope failed in a blinding sandstorm.

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Dizzied by vertigo,

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the pilots gave up the mission,

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managed to return back to the Nimitz,

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the aircraft carrier from which they had been launched.

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Dizzied by vertigo,

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disoriented, they could not know whether

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they were upside down or right-side up;

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whether or not they were level,

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whether they were going in the right direction

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that they were seeking to travel.

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They were unable to continue toward their destination

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because of physical vertigo.

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Comparison: in our struggle toward

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the goals and' the aims of our lives,

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in our journey to be,

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we are often handicapped,

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we are set off course even in the danger

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of aborted missions, because of values vertigo.

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Disoriented values: misplaced,

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misdirected values of life.

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So disoriented, that we fail to attain

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our destination of life.

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In the twentieth century, it seems to me that

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this is the problem with which we must begin to grapple:

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the values vertigo that threatens the attaining of

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our individual or corporate goals for our day.

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Now of course, this is no mere contemporary problem.

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Neil Williams read the Old Testament scripture

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that concerned Esau.

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You remember, Esau was the young man

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who loved the out-of-doors.

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He enjoyed hunting and fishing and all of

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this type of activity.

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He had a brother, a twin brother,

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who was born a few minutes earlier than he, named Jacob.

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And Jacob was an indoors man.

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He had learned to be proficient in cooking.

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One day, Esau was out in the field.

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It had been a great time for Esau,

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but he was starved to death.

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And as he came near the tent in which they dwelled,

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he could smell the red lentil soup that Jacob was cooking.

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And so he went running in to Jacob and said,

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"Jacob," as the scriptures say, "I must gulp down

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"some of this porridge.

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"Give me some of your soup."

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But Jacob said, "Hold it.

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"Just a minute, brother Esau.

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"I'll trade it.

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"I'll give you the soup if you'll trade me the birthright,

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"the rights of being the firstborn."

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Because Esau had been born just a few moments before Jacob.

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But for Esau, there was no significance to the birthright.

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His value system did not place a great deal of significance

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upon being the firstborn,

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and so he gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup.

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Esau's value of the birthright was of little concern to him.

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His eye was on the soup;

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his stomach was more important than the birthright.

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Now, the importance of the birthright is three-dimensional.

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First, it was of personal value.

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The person with the birthright was of special distinction.

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He had all of the privileges that would come down

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through the generations to the firstborn.

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And the descendants of Abraham had special privilege,

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as well as responsibility.

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This was who Esau could have become,

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but he was unconcerned for the birthright.

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Values vertigo.

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But second, the birthright had social implications.

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Abraham's son, Isaac, was given the birthright.

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Isaac's son, Esau, was given the birthright

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of being the leader of the nation Israel,

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in accomplishing the will of God for the whole people.

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But Esau was unconcerned

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for his responsibility for the other nations.

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Values vertigo.

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But thirdly, this was a divine covenant.

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The Lord God of hosts had given this privilege

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and this responsibility first to Abraham,

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then to Isaac, and then to Esau.

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It was a divine call for Esau.

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But Esau pushed this aside.

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Values vertigo.

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Now, I expect that Esau was not able to understand,

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to grapple with all of the issues involved here.

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But of all of the people in the Old Testament,

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we understand Esau for the man who missed life.

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Tremendous potential and opportunities

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for aliveness for Esau, but he missed it.

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Because of his values vertigo, his values were disoriented.

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Now do we have this?

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Is this a problem merely for those

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who lived generations ago?

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What about your values?

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Are you being enabled to reach the destiny of life

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that you feel is the one you should seek?

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Perhaps you have heard of the herd of goats

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that were gathered in a little clearing in the forest.

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And there was a female tigress, a pregnant female tigress

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who came on the scene, leaped among the goats,

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the goats scattered.

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The tigress fell and gave birth

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to her son and died.

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The goats regathered,

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decided that they would raise the baby tiger, and did so.

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Some months later, a male tiger came upon the scene,

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and he too leaped among the goats, and they all scattered,

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except the little tiger.

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He remained there nibbling the grass.

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And the male tiger came over and saw, nibbling the grass,

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a tiger eating grass!

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He cuffed him over the head and said,

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"You're not supposed to eat grass."

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And with that, the little tiger bleated,

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like a goat makes that sound,

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and the male tiger cuffed him over the head again,

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"That's not the sound of a tiger!"

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The male tiger then picked him up by the nape of his neck,

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took him over to a little pond, leaned over the pond so that

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they could see their reflection.

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And the male tiger said,

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"See, you look like me.

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"You're not a goat.

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"You are a tiger!"

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He then took the baby tiger back to his lair,

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stuffed some red, raw meat down his throat,

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until finally, the little baby tiger drew himself up

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to his full height and let out a tiny roar.

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Then the male tiger said, "Ah, now, we shall hunt together."

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Often, we discover ourselves acting like little goats,

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when God has created us to give the roar of a tiger,

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to fulfill life in all of its goodness all around,

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and we are missing it!

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So often, we are missing ingredients of the goodness of life

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because we are dealing with our value system in a way

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that is not in harmony with that which

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God challenges us to live out.

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Let's examine it for a moment.

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What about our personal values?

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Esau centered it all upon things,

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upon that which he could eat, upon instant gratification.

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Where are we?

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In this day, there is a great deal of discussion

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concerning self-actualization.

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Courses developed, psychological approaches, books written.

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Attaining our highest potential: self-actualization.

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And most all of this is grounded in the theme:

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do your own thing.

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Fulfill my goal, all of that which enables me to be alive,

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with life centered upon me.

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So that the social scientists of our day

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have labeled the seventies, "The Me Decade."

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Simplistically, we see this in a little boy

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of whom I heard the other day

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who sought to gain attention, to pull attention to himself,

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by telling stories.

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Extreme exaggeration.

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He just lied.

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And this bothered his mother.

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One day, as they were sitting round the dinner table,

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he said, "I saw thirty sparrows sitting on a telephone line,

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"and I took out my sling shot,

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"and I killed twenty-nine of them."

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Well this bugged the mother, this exaggeration,

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this story that the little boy thought

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he had to tell to get attention.

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So she went to the Minister, described what was happening,

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and said, "This is your business.

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"I want you to straighten him out."

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Well the Mini·ster thought,

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"If I tell him such a story

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"that is so exaggerated and preposterous,

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"then he will learn his lesson."

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And so the Minister said,

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"Did you know that last Sunday,

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"a lion came in the church.

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"And the lion walked right down the aisle of the church,

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"and I wanted to run but there was no door in the back.

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"As the lion got to the front row,

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"a dog jumped out and attacked the lion and killed him.

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"Now, what do you think about that?"

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And the little boy said,

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"Oh, I understand all about that!

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"That was my dog!"

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(congregation laughs)

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Well, no lesson taught!

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Still the desire to bring attention upon himself.

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I told that bob in our church some time ago,

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and a lady came out and said,

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"Yeah, and it was my pet lion, too."

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(congregation laughs)

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The pulling of attention upon the self.

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The self-actualization team tends to promote self

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to the point where all of our values are centered

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upon what it does for my ego.

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And therefore integrity, and honesty, and fidelity,

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and consideration of others important only

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as it promotes me in the eyes of others.

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And of course, this value system just does not work.

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As Dr. Viktor Frankl expressed it,

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"Self-actualization, in the final analysis,

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"can only be obtained to the extent that a person

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"has embarked on fulfillment of higher meaning and purpose.

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"Reaching the full self is a byproduct."

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If life, if our value system focused upon

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what it does merely for us, then we miss it.

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We miss life.

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And this leads to a reexamination of our social values.

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Esau had the opportunity to have responsibility,

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not only for his own tribe, but for the tribes all around.

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To share the good news that God is alive.

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But Esau had no sense of social responsibility.

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For us in the twentieth century,

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it seems to me that it is going to be imperative for us

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to reexamine our values in the light of

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obvious limitations of our natural resources,

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the continuing increase in the world population,

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the ever-widening gap between

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the very rich and the very poor in our world,

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the ever-rising number of people

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who go to bed hungry every night,

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and the challenge of the gospel

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to share life with every other human being.

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The imperative that our values be focused upon

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not getting for ourselves, but giving for others.

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We understand that our values of

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ever striving for more and better things

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may be evidence of our value vertigo.

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That the simpler lifestyle may be the challenge of God

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for you and me to take very seriously in our day.

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This is the reason,

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when the man who trades our church car every year said,

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"Go and get what you want,"

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the church decided to get a smaller model,

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with better gas mileage, twice the gas mileage.

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This is the reason a man took issue with his city cousin

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for buying a $200 graduation dress for his daughter.

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"Why not?" replied the cousin.

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"How many times does a child go

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"from nursery school to kindergarten?"

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(congregation laughs)

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Now, from the ridiculous to the pertinent.

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This is the reason more and more of the followers

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of Jesus Christ are becoming thrilled

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with giving of time and talent and money and self

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in enabling other people to be lifted up

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out of the dizzy merry-go-round of poverty.

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This is why corporate heads are understanding afresh today,

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that their ultimate responsibility is not merely

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for the bottom line of dividends for the stockholders,

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but also a deep sense of responsibility for the means

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by which that end is gained.

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This is the reason we're all coming

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to the place of understanding that

51:27

if we're going to be truly alive in our day,

51:29

we must ultimately seek to bring new life to people

51:32

who are missing it, not merely here,

51:35

but in every part of the world.

51:39

Now this, then, brings us to a re-look

51:44

at the divine source of our values.

51:46

Esau was not a mean man.

51:53

The writer of Hebrews, of the Epistle of Hebrews, says,

51:56

"Esau was a profane person who sold his birthright

52:00

"for a morsel of meat."

52:06

Profane doesn't mean blasphemous.

52:09

It means just secular.

52:12

That Esau discovered the values of life

52:15

centered merely upon what he wanted.

52:19

He just left God out of the picture.

52:20

And that's our fundamental problem today.

52:25

Realistic values that truly lead to life

52:29

spring out of an authentic relationship with God,

52:33

whom we, as Christians, encounter through devotion

52:38

to Jesus Christ.

52:44

No way, ultimately, to escape values vertigo,

52:47

without God.

52:53

Bob Dylan, for some fifteen years,

52:56

has been at the top of the popular music field.

53:00

Back in the sixties, Bob Dylan sang such songs as

53:03

"Blowin' in the Wind" and

53:06

"The Times They Are A Changin'",

53:08

folk songs of social change.

53:10

With his folk and rock music,

53:14

he has become something of a legend.

53:17

Recently, he has become a Christian.

53:20

As one of his friend's says,

53:25

"Before, he asked the questions.

53:27

"Now, he has some answers."

53:30

In some ways, Bob Dylan exemplified

53:34

some of the characteristics of Esau.

53:37

Dylan, it seems, has always had some insight

53:40

into the deeper values of life, but they were a bit tilted.

53:43

And now he's in the process of bringing them into harmony

53:49

with the values of the kingdom of God.

53:54

One of his recent songs gives a challenge.

53:58

In the rock words and music he sings it,

54:02

"Ya gonna have to serve somebody.

54:07

"Ya gonna have to serve somebody.

54:11

"You may be an ambassador to England or France,

54:15

"you may like to gamble, you may like to dance.

54:18

"You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,

54:21

"you may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

54:24

"But ya gonna have to serve somebody.

54:28

"It may be the devil or it may be the Lord,

54:31

"but ya gonna have to serve somebody."

54:34

♪ You may be an ambassador to England or France ♪

54:42

♪ You may like to gamble, you might like to dance ♪

54:46

♪ You may be the heavyweight champion of the world ♪

54:52

♪ You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls ♪

54:57

♪ But ya gonna have to serve somebody ♪

55:01

Now, if you're like I, even if we can hear it clearly,

55:05

I can't get all of the words most of the time.

55:08

But Bob Dylan is saying it.

55:11

No matter who we may be or what we may accomplish,

55:12

we are going to have to serve somebody.

55:16

He gives a further word in his song,

55:23

"When you gonna wake up?"

55:25

He identifies the one he is seeking to serve.

55:27

"There's a man up on a cross

55:31

"and he's been crucified for you."

55:33

Bob Dylan is saying that our value system

55:38

is going to be constructed around serving somebody.

55:41

Now if God is the shaper of our values,

55:47

then no values vertigo.

55:52

We have them oriented around the ultimate, and therefore,

55:54

we reach our destination of life.

55:58

Let us pray.

56:05

Father, give us wisdom to know

56:10

where our values may be off base.

56:13

Give us power to harmonize our lives with you.

56:18

Then, give us the joy that comes from

56:23

obedient service in the master's name.

56:28

Amen.

56:34

(church organ music)

56:37

(church choir singing)

57:06

[Priest] Let us affirm what we believe.

59:21

[Everyone] We believe in God,

59:24

who has created and is creating.

59:26

Who has come in the truly human Jesus

59:30

to reconcile and make new.

59:33

Who works in us and others by the spirit.

59:36

We trust God, who calls us to be the church:

59:40

to celebrate life and its fullness,

59:45

to love and serve others,

59:49

to seek justice and resist evil,

59:51

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

59:55

our judge and our hope.

59:59

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

1:00:01

God is with us.

1:00:06

We are not alone.

1:00:08

Thanks be to God.

1:00:10

[Priest] The Lord be with you.

1:00:12

[Congregation] And with your spirit.

1:00:15

[Priest] Let us pray.

1:00:16

Oh Lord, our God,

1:00:26

God of truth, beauty, wholeness,

1:00:29

and life, thou who hast made us,

1:00:31

placed us on this Earth, given us lives to live,

1:00:36

claimed us as thine own,

1:00:41

and called us to love thee and to love one another,

1:00:45

we give thee thanks and praise for the holiness of this hour

1:00:49

and the goodness of this day.

1:00:53

We give thee thanks, oh God, for this university,

1:00:58

for its commitment to eruditio et religio,

1:01:02

to the growth of the mind and the spirit.

1:01:06

We give thee thanks for the memories of

1:01:11

this place and its people that hallow and brighten our days.

1:01:13

For those moments of deep and lasting joy known here

1:01:19

that will be with us forever.

1:01:22

For those friends and professors,

1:01:26

for all those who cared for us and nurtured us

1:01:29

and helped us along the way,

1:01:32

we give thee thanks and praise.

1:01:34

Yes, oh Lord our God on this special day,

1:01:37

we give thee thanks for this place,

1:01:41

where we indeed have been strengthened,

1:01:44

in body and mind and in spirit.

1:01:47

Oh Lord, thou hast placed us in the midst of a strange,

1:01:52

perplexing, hurting world.

1:01:58

Help us to identify with the needs

1:02:01

of the longings of others, longings for food and bread,

1:02:03

for shelter and protection,

1:02:07

for health and life in all its fullness.

1:02:09

For being known and treated as children of God

1:02:14

and brothers and sisters to one another.

1:02:16

Help us, oh God, not only to pray for others,

1:02:20

but to work with them, to walk with them,

1:02:23

to fight with them, to care for them,

1:02:26

until finally, one day, pray soon,

1:02:30

thy kingdom will come on Earth as is it is in heaven.

1:02:35

Oh Lord, thou whose son came to show us

1:02:43

how to put our priorities in order.

1:02:47

Help us, one by one and all together as thy church,

1:02:50

to be concerned to serve rather than be served,

1:02:55

to share rather than simply to get,

1:02:59

to give rather than to demand,

1:03:02

to love as well as be loved.

1:03:06

Teach us, oh God,

1:03:10

what is true and pure and lovely and lasting,

1:03:11

what is of eternal value,

1:03:17

and help us through thy grace

1:03:20

to hold fast always to those things.

1:03:22

To thy son, our Savior, we give thee thanks,

1:03:29

as we pray the prayer which our Lord, indeed,

1:03:32

has taught us to pray saying,

1:03:35

[Everyone] "Our Father, who art in heaven,

1:03:38

"hallowed be thy name,

1:03:41

"thy kingdom come.

1:03:43

"Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

1:03:45

"Give us this day our daily bread.

1:03:50

"And forgive us our trespasses,

1:03:53

"as we forgive those who trespass against us.

1:03:55

"Lead us not into temptation,

1:03:59

"but deliver us from evil.

1:04:02

"For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

1:04:04

"and the glory, forever."

1:04:08

[Priest] Amen.

1:04:10

(church organ music)

1:04:16

(man singing)

1:06:01

(church choir singing)

1:07:03

(man singing)

1:07:36

(church choir singing)

1:09:08

We know, oh Christ, that your first commandment

1:12:35

is to love the Lord, our God,

1:12:38

with heart, mind, soul, and strength.

1:12:40

And the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

1:12:42

Now, oh God, through these gifts,

1:12:47

we express again our desire to love and serve you

1:12:48

and our longing to love our neighbor on this Earth.

1:12:53

Bless, oh God, our intentions and our acts,

1:12:57

as we give ourselves to you, anew to you,

1:13:03

through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

1:13:07

Amen.

1:13:10

(church organ music)

1:13:13

(church choir singing)

1:13:53

I know you would want a word of deep, deep appreciation

1:16:57

said to those who have been members of the choir who,

1:17:01

having come back for this weekend,

1:17:04

joined us to sing with our choir

1:17:06

for this summer service of worship.

1:17:08

We're glad to have you back in pews

1:17:11

where you did sing years before.

1:17:13

And especially, you would want me to say a word of

1:17:16

deep appreciation to Mr. John Alexander.

1:17:18

Mr. Alexander, thank you for thrilling us

1:17:21

and blessing us this morning.

1:17:23

It has been good to be together, and now,

1:17:26

without bowing heads or closing eyes,

1:17:29

may I, as one Christian in the name of Christ to another,

1:17:32

offer you this benediction, this blessing:

1:17:37

The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

1:17:43

the love of God,

1:17:47

the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

1:17:49

be with you and with those whom you love,

1:17:53

this day and forever.

1:17:59

(church choir singing)

1:18:07

(dramatic organ music)

1:18:25

Thomas B. Stockton - "Values Vertigo" (June 15, 1980)

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1. Thomas B. Stockton - "Values Vertigo" (June 15, 1980)

Duke University Archives

Thomas B. Stockton - "Values Vertigo" (June 15, 1980)

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Duke University Archives