Robert T. Young - "The Recovery of the Lost" (July 13, 1980)

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-	Duke University Chapel service of worship,	0:04
	July 13th, 1980.	0:07
	(lively organ music)	0:14
	(lively organ music)	1:58
	(somber organ music)	3:20
	(lighthearted organ music)	11:13
	(soft organ music)	13:21
	(organ music rises)	13:42
	(echoey choral singing)	18:56
	(powerful organ music)	19:52
	(echoey choral singing)	20:27
-	Brothers and sisters of the household of faith,	22:40
	the Scriptures remind us that all have sinned	22:43
	and come short of the glory of God.	22:46
	Let us therefore, in unison,	22:49
	confess our sins before almighty God.	22:52
	Let us pray.	23:02
	Almighty and most merciful God,	23:05
	we have erred and strayed from thy ways, like lost sheep.	23:08
	We have followed too much	23:13
	the devices and desires of our own hearts.	23:15
	We have offended against thy holy laws.	23:19
	We have left undone those things	23:23
	which we have ought to have done.	23:26
	And we have done those things	23:28
	which we ought not to have done.	23:30
	But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.	23:33
	Spare thou those, O God,	23:37
	who confess their faults.	23:40
	Restore thou those who are penitent	23:42
	according to thy promises declared unto all people,	23:46
	in Christ Jesus, our Lord.	23:51
	And grant, O most merciful God, for his sake,	23:53
	that we may hereafter	23:58
	live a godly, righteous, and sober life,	24:00
	to the glory of thy holy name.	24:05
	Amen.	24:08
	Hear these words of assurance	24:39
	as we find them recoded in holy Scripture.	24:40
	Wait for the Lord.	24:45
	Be strong and let your heart take courage.	24:47
	Yea, wait for the Lord.	24:52
	There is therefore now no condemnation	24:56
	for those who are in Christ Jesus,	24:59
	who walk not according to the flesh,	25:02
	but according to the spirit.	25:05
	The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,	25:09
	that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.	25:13
	Let us give thanks for God is good	25:22
	and God's love is everlasting.	25:25
	Thanks be to God, who's love has made us.	25:28
	Thanks be to God, who's mercy forgives us.	25:33
	Thanks be to God, who's promise secures us.	25:37
	Amen.	25:42
	Let us pray.	25:57
	Prepare our hearts, O Lord,	25:59
	to accept your word.	26:01
	Silence in us any voice but your own,	26:05
	that hearing, we may also obey your will,	26:09
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	26:14
	Amen.	26:17
	The Old Testament lesson is from Exodus, chapter 32,	26:19
	verses one and seven to 14.	26:24
	When the people saw that Moses delayed	26:29
	to come down from the mountain,	26:31
	the people gathered themselves together to Aaron,	26:34
	and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us,	26:37
	"as for this Moses, the man who brought us up	26:44
	"out of the land of Egypt,	26:47
	"we do not know what has become of him."	26:49
	And the Lord said to Moses,	26:53
	"Go down, for your people, whom you brought up	26:56
	"out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.	27:00
	"They have turned aside quickly	27:04
	"out of the way which I commanded them.	27:07
	"They have made for themselves a molten calf,	27:09
	"and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it,	27:13
	"and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel,	27:16
	"'who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'"	27:20
	And the Lord said to Moses,	27:24
	"I have seen this people,	27:26
	"and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.	27:28
	"Now therefore let me alone,	27:32
	"that my wrath may burn hot against them	27:35
	"and I may consume them.	27:38
	"But of you I will make a great nation."	27:40
	But Moses besought the Lord his God, and said,	27:44
	"O Lord, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people,	27:49
	"whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt	27:53
	"with great power and with a mighty hand?	27:56
	"Why should the Egyptians say,	28:00
	"'With evil intent did he bring them forth,	28:03
	"'to slay them in the mountains,	28:05
	"'and to consume them from the face of the earth'?	28:08
	"Turn from thy fierce wrath,	28:12
	"and repent of this evil against thy people.	28:14
	"Remember Abraham, remember Isaac, and Israel, thy servants,	28:18
	"to whom thou didst swear by thine own self,	28:24
	"and didst say to them,	28:27
	"'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven,	28:30
	"'and all this land that I have promised	28:34
	"'I will give to your descendants,	28:36
	"'and they shall inherit it for ever.'"	28:39
	And the Lord repented of the evil	28:42
	which he thought to do to his people.	28:45
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	28:50
	Amen.	28:54
	(soft organ music)	29:01
	(echoey choral singing)	29:19
	Will the congregation please stand	31:43
	for the reading of the Gospel lesson?	31:45
	The Gospel lesson is from St. Luke, chapter 15,	31:50
	verses one to 24.	31:54
	Now the tax collectors and sinners	31:57
	were all drawing near to hear him.	31:59
	And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured,	32:02
	saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."	32:06
	So he told them this parable,	32:10
	What man of you, having a hundred sheep,	32:13
	if he has lost one of them,	32:17
	does not leave the 99 in the wilderness,	32:19
	and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?	32:22
	And when he has found it,	32:27
	he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.	32:29
	And when he comes home,	32:31
	he calls together his friends and his neighbors,	32:33
	saying to them, "Rejoice with me,	32:36
	"for I have found my sheep which was lost."	32:38
	Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven	32:42
	over one sinner who repents	32:46
	than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.	32:49
	Or what woman, having 10 silver coins,	32:55
	if she loses one coin,	32:58
	does not light a lamp and sweep the house	33:00
	and seek diligently until she finds it?	33:03
	And when she has found it,	33:06
	she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,	33:08
	"Rejoice with me,	33:10
	"for I have found the coin which I had lost."	33:12
	Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God	33:15
	over one sinner who repents.	33:19
	And he said there was a man who had two sons,	33:23
	and the younger of them said to his father,	33:26
	"Father, give me the share of property that falls to me."	33:29
	And he divided his living between them.	33:33
	Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had	33:36
	and took his journey into a far country,	33:39
	and there he squandered his property in loose living.	33:43
	And when he had spent everything,	33:46
	a great famine arose in that country,	33:49
	and he began to be in want.	33:51
	So he went and joined himself	33:53
	to one of the citizens of that country,	33:55
	who sent him into his fields to feed swine.	33:57
	And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate,	34:01
	and no one gave him anything.	34:06
	But when he came to himself, he said,	34:09
	"How many of my father's hired servants	34:13
	"have bread enough and to spare,	34:15
	"but I perish here with hunger!"	34:18
	I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him,	34:21
	"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.	34:26
	"I am no longer worthy to be called your son,	34:29
	"treat me as one of your hired servants."	34:32
	And he arose and came to his father.	34:36
	But while he was yet at a distance,	34:39
	his father saw him and had compassion,	34:42
	and ran and embraced him and kissed him.	34:45
	And the son said to him,	34:49
	"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,	34:51
	"I am no longer worthy to be called your son."	34:55
	But the father said to his servants,	34:59
	"Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him,	35:02
	"and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet,	35:05
	"and bring the fatted calf and kill it,	35:10
	"and let us eat and make merry.	35:12
	"For this my son was dead, and is alive again.	35:15
	"He was lost, and is found."	35:20
	And they began to make merry.	35:23
	Here ends the reading of the Gospel lesson.	35:27
	(powerful organ music)	35:31
	(echoey choral singing)	35:40
-	Let us pray.	36:34
	Now may the words of my lips	36:36
	and the meditations of all our hearts	36:38
	be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,	36:41
	our strength and our redeemer.	36:44
	Amen.	36:47
	The sermon this morning	36:49
	is based on one of the most beautiful,	36:52
	most beloved, and most remembered passages	36:56
	in all of Scripture.	37:02
	Jesus had a way of telling unforgettable stories,	37:05
	parables, we call them.	37:10
	Stories with a simple yet profound meaning.	37:13
	Stories from everyday life.	37:17
	Stories with both a present and an eternal dimension	37:20
	of meaning attached to them.	37:24
	The three stories we just heard as our gospel lesson,	37:29
	have to do with lost-ness,	37:33
	with becoming lost, with being lost	37:37
	and with being found.	37:42
	They had to do with the kingdom of God,	37:46
	not some far-off, beyond death, ethereal,	37:49
	unknown, and unreal experience in life,	37:53
	but the ever-present, ever-available,	37:57
	always-searching presence of God	37:59
	or reign of God, or rule of God, or reality of God.	38:02
	Something for the here and now for this very moment.	38:09
	They have to do with being or becoming lost	38:15
	and with being found or becoming restored.	38:18
	They have to do with every child of God.	38:22
	They have to do therefore with you and with me.	38:26
	Lost-ness, being found,	38:31
	being restored or being accepted,	38:35
	knowing once again, life, and purpose and meaning.	38:38
	But first of all, it may be important for us	38:44
	to establish what it is to be lost, quote-unquote.	38:47
	What is it?	38:50
	Have you ever been lost in the sense in which	38:53
	Jesus is trying to speak to us here?	38:56
	Some of us have heard a great deal about being lost	39:01
	and being found,	39:04
	about being lost and being saved,	39:07
	about being lost and restored or lost and made whole.	39:10
	Lost in the theological biblical sense has many meanings,	39:14
	both important and personal.	39:18
	Lost, among other things, means some of these:	39:22
	it means to feel alone, all alone.	39:26
	It means to feel estranged or separated or pulled apart.	39:30
	Lost means to feel unwanted, unloved,	39:36
	unneeded, uncared for, undeserving.	39:39
	Lost means feeling empty, worthless,	39:44
	hopeless, scared, frightened,	39:48
	unsure, anxious, worried.	39:50
	It means to feel alienated, separated,	39:54
	not at home, not where one really knows that one belongs,	39:59
	it means to feel confused or condemned	40:04
	or despairing or futile.	40:06
	It means to feel uncaring about the past,	40:09
	unsure of the present and uncertain of the future.	40:12
	Lost means that, at least temporarily,	40:17
	we are not who we are,	40:21
	we are not where we are created to be,	40:23
	and maybe not even sure of why we are at all.	40:27
	As someone wrote recently,	40:32
	"It's as if something outside of us is over,	40:34
	"maybe even forever, and inside us,	40:39
	"we seem very, very empty."	40:43
	Lost.	40:47
	Ever feel lost?	40:51
	Sure.	40:54
	Surely, all of us have in one or other	40:55
	at one time or another.	40:58
	And so Jesus has a way to telling stories,	41:01
	simple stories with profound meaning	41:03
	so that we get caught up in them,	41:05
	understand them, remember them,	41:08
	and hopefully find our lives changed	41:09
	by the power which God in Christ gives us through them.	41:12
	Since we all know something about what it is to be lost,	41:18
	it's no wonder that the people came to hear our Lord.	41:22
	But look with me again, if you will,	41:25
	at how Luke begins this passage,	41:27
	how he sets the scene for these stories.	41:29
	He writes: "Now the tax collector and the sinners	41:33
	"were all drawing near to hear him."	41:36
	And he goes on.	41:44
	"And the scribes and the Pharisees murmured,	41:46
	"saying, 'This man eats with sinners,	41:50
	"'this man receives sinners and eats with them.'"	41:54
	It's a rather interesting setting, I think.	41:58
	Note who it is that draws near to hear him,	42:01
	and who it is that comes and murmurs.	42:09
	The good folk, the religious people,	42:13
	the United Methodist, the Presbyterians,	42:16
	the Baptists, Episcopalians and the Catholics, if you will.	42:18
	Those who thought they were in,	42:22
	the ones who thought they had it made	42:25
	were the ones who came to murmur	42:28
	about Jesus and around Jesus.	42:30
	But the sinners, the outcasts, the ones who were hopeless,	42:33
	the ones who were on the outside	42:36
	religiously, socially and politically,	42:39
	the ones who were lost knew and felt it and believed it	42:41
	were the ones who came close to Jesus,	42:45
	not to murmur, but to hear.	42:47
	To hear a word of hope, a word of assurance,	42:51
	a word of reassurance, a word of acceptance,	42:55
	a word of affirmation.	42:58
	We really do not know why Jesus or Luke	43:02
	put these three particular stories together,	43:06
	whether it was planned and deliberate,	43:09
	or whether they were put there	43:12
	and it just happened that way, no one really knows today.	43:15
	But as they are, they seem to have been joined together	43:20
	and told in a sequence for a purpose.	43:24
	For as they come, they tell of three different ways	43:27
	one comes to experience lost-ness.	43:32
	The lost sheep tells, among other things,	43:37
	of unintentional lost-ness.	43:41
	The lost coin tells, among other things,	43:44
	of accidental lost-ness.	43:46
	And the lost son, if we can use that title for a moment,	43:49
	tells of intentional or deliberate lost-ness.	43:54
	There is an intentional and unintentional lost-ness	44:01
	that happens to us like that of the sheep.	44:05
	When we get so absorbed in what we are doing at the moment,	44:08
	as the sheep was either eating grass or trying	44:12
	to find food for itself;	44:15
	we get so caught up in the experiences of the moment,	44:17
	we become so preoccupied with the needs	44:20
	and the desires of the moment	44:23
	that we find ourselves often lost	44:25
	when we aren't even aware of it.	44:28
	Often this happens while we're doing good	44:32
	and helpful and important and even necessary things.	44:34
	Eating the grass and feeding itself was both helpful	44:38
	and necessary for the sheep.	44:41
	It is so very, very true of even you and me,	44:44
	I believe, that we, like the sheep,	44:50
	just go along with our busy, phrenetic,	44:54
	active, good lives,	44:57
	that we wake up one day or one moment	45:00
	and our sense of direction, our sense of belonging,	45:03
	our feeling of being lost becomes very, very real to us.	45:08
	And we wonder how it happened or what happened,	45:13
	and then realize that it was all quite unintentional.	45:15
	It just happened.	45:21
	There is an accidental lost-ness that we often know.	45:25
	That is the experience that we all have had	45:32
	that things happen to us over which we have had	45:34
	absolutely no control whatsoever.	45:37
	We become critically ill.	45:42
	Someone near and dear to us dies or is tragically killed,	45:45
	war comes, disease strikes, illness overtakes us;	45:49
	a job is lost simply because money is short.	45:53
	There are some moments, some experiences,	45:58
	some things in life that we have to endure.	46:00
	And we feel lost, helpless, undone,	46:05
	confused, overwhelmed at times,	46:08
	and the fault clearly is not ours, not ours at all.	46:10
	Someone else, something other than us	46:16
	caused the situation, but it is we who suffer.	46:20
	The 52 hostages being held in Iran is a perfect example.	46:25
	Neither they nor their loved ones	46:30
	are responsible for their captivity.	46:33
	But they and their friends and their families	46:36
	surely are despairing, lost, even hopeless at times.	46:39
	And yet the fault is not theirs, not theirs at all.	46:43
	There is a lost-ness that we may simply have to endure	46:47
	just because it comes and not because we have caused it	46:50
	or done anything at all to bring it about.	46:54
	The coins being lost was accidental.	46:57
	It was not its own fault at all.	47:00
	There is a lost-ness that is intentional	47:08
	or deliberate and chosen.	47:10
	We all know something of this.	47:14
	The younger son had some pretty good ideas	47:18
	about what he was asking for,	47:21
	what he was giving up, where he was headed	47:24
	and what he was doing.	47:29
	Granted, life, after he left home,	47:31
	may indeed have turned on him.	47:34
	He may have suffered setbacks that he was not anticipating.	47:36
	Hopeful, promising plans may have gone awry.	47:40
	Someone else may have done him in.	47:43
	That may well indeed have been the case.	47:46
	That usually is the case when we end up lost.	47:51
	Something, or somethings, happen	47:56
	that we do not plan for,	48:01
	or someone, or several someones,	48:03
	do not do as we want or need or expect them to do.	48:08
	That is most always the way it is.	48:13
	My friends, if I may say so,	48:18
	the fault lies in the someones or in the somethings	48:22
	that lie inevitably down the road.	48:25
	The fault, the responsibility lies immediately at hand	48:28
	with the individual, with the younger son	48:31
	or with you or with me.	48:33
	When the original, first, intentional decision is made	48:36
	to move from the familiar to the strange,	48:42
	to leave home, whatever or wherever home may be,	48:45
	and head toward the far country,	48:48
	to leave the known and secure and safe and sure	48:50
	and move toward the unknown, the unclear	48:54
	and, often, the unsafe.	48:57
	A young person doesn't intentionally become a drug addict.	49:04
	He doesn't start out to have people take advantage of him	49:13
	or to do him in and sell him drugs.	49:18
	It's just that went he decides to take that first puff	49:24
	of pot, or take that first pill,	49:28
	he does know what he is doing.	49:34
	And a certain inevitability of consequence is the result,	49:38
	it's the initial decision which is determinative	49:43
	and over which he does have some responsibility.	49:47
	A young couple do not start out,	49:56
	prior to marriage or out of wedlock,	50:00
	to get the young woman pregnant.	50:05
	That is not the objective, I've never heard	50:08
	any couple say that that was their objective.	50:11
	But the initial decision to have sex	50:17
	without proper precaution,	50:19
	or to have sex outside marriage	50:23
	is the initial, the basic decision.	50:26
	And the result, it seems to me,	50:31
	is inevitable once that first decision is made,	50:32
	and the couple do have some responsibility	50:37
	and some control over that initial decision.	50:40
	A doctor doesn't start out	50:49
	to be totally absorbed in his work,	50:53
	to spend almost all his time away from his family,	50:57
	to become estranged from friends and loved ones.	51:01
	But once he decides that the income is most important,	51:07
	that many fees are essential,	51:12
	that a certain lifestyle is a must,	51:16
	then it seems to me that the result is inevitable,	51:20
	and it's that basic initial decision	51:23
	or decision-like process over which	51:26
	he or she does have some control.	51:29
	Lost, separated, all alone.	51:35
	It is the initial, intentional, known,	51:40
	deliberate decision that begins it all.	51:44
	But the beauty of these stories, my friends,	51:50
	is that the emphasis is not on the lost-ness.	51:57
	The real message is found in the search,	52:03
	the going after, the receiving home,	52:07
	that which overcomes the lost-ness.	52:10
	The unforgettable part is that God's search for us	52:13
	never, never ends.	52:17
	I don't know whether you heard them or not	52:21
	but some of the words in the story	52:23
	of the woman and the lost coin really tell it all.	52:25
	I believe about who God is and what God is like.	52:28
	The woman will, as Luke says,	52:33
	light a lamp and sweep the house	52:37
	and seek diligently until she finds the coin.	52:42
	Not until she's gone over the house once,	52:49
	not until she's gone over the house twice,	52:52
	or three times, or five times,	52:54
	not until she has swept it and cleaned it six times,	52:57
	not until she has done anything,	53:01
	but she will search diligently until she finds it.	53:03
	Just so, I believe,	53:09
	God will seek diligently, will search endlessly	53:12
	and will accept forgivingly	53:18
	until our lost-ness is overcome,	53:22
	until we are at one in God's presence.	53:26
	Notice now, if you will, what happens in each story	53:33
	when the lost is found: the shepherd calls together	53:36
	his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,	53:39
	"Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.	53:41
	"Come rejoice with me."	53:45
	The woman, when she has found her lost coin,	53:47
	calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,	53:51
	"Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin	53:54
	"which I had lost; come friends, neighbors,	53:57
	"let us rejoice together."	54:00
	The father whose son came home said to his servants,	54:01
	"Brings quickly the best robe and put it on him,	54:04
	"and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet,	54:08
	"and bring the fatted calf and kill it,	54:11
	"and let us eat and make merry,	54:13
	"for this, my son was dead and is alive again;	54:15
	"he was lost and is found," and they began to make merry.	54:19
	Come, friends, neighbors, all, let us rejoice,	54:23
	for that which was lost is found,	54:26
	that which was dead is alive,	54:28
	that which was away has come home.	54:30
	The final word of these stories then is joy,	54:34
	it is rejoicing, it is making merry, it is celebration.	54:36
	There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents	54:41
	than over 99 who need no repentance.	54:47
	The emphasis is not on being lost but on being found,	54:51
	not on where the lost has been	54:55
	but on where the lost supposed to be.	54:58
	The emphasis is not on going away but is on coming home.	55:02
	If I read this story, these stories correctly at all,	55:11
	there is something in them that when you and I are lost,	55:18
	whatever our feelings of lost-ness may be,	55:25
	alienation, separation, loneliness, estrangement,	55:28
	emptiness, hopelessness, whatever;	55:31
	whatever our sense of lost-ness may be,	55:34
	if I read these stories correctly,	55:36
	it says something to the effect that when we are lost,	55:39
	our value to God increases 100-fold.	55:43
	For it isn't the 99 who are of concern to our Lord,	55:50
	or to the shepherd.	55:55
	It isn't the coins that the woman has in her hand	55:57
	or in her drawer.	56:00
	It's the one lost coin that is of real value to her.	56:03
	Maybe there is something about our value to God	56:13
	that becomes transformed,	56:18
	and we become of even far greater value	56:23
	than we have ever been before	56:25
	when we are lost.	56:29
	For it is then that God's love and God's grace	56:32
	come after us to seek diligently	56:35
	until we are find,	56:38
	to search endlessly until we are recovered,	56:41
	to accept forgivingly until we know and believe	56:45
	and feel that we are at home,	56:50
	back home where God longs and longs earnestly for us to be.	56:54
	We come back now to the very opening of this passage.	57:02
	Now the tax collectors and the sinners	57:07
	were all drawing near to hear him.	57:09
	And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured.	57:15
	Who can object when the lost is found?	57:20
	Well some people do.	57:28
	Who dare to grumble	57:34
	when all are saved?	57:39
	Well some people I know do.	57:44
	But not God.	57:50
	No, thank God, not God.	57:53
	For God rejoices eternally	58:00
	at the recovery of any who is lost.	58:05
	Amen.	58:13
	Our hymn, rather than the one you see	58:16
	in the order of service, is one which picks up	58:19
	this theme and says it both in word and music.	58:24
	Hymn number 67,	58:28
	"The King of Love My Shepherd Is".	58:32
	(soft organ music)	58:35
	♪ The King of love my Shepherd is ♪	59:00
	♪ Whose goodness faileth never ♪	59:06
	♪ I nothing lack if I am his ♪	59:12
	♪ And he is mine for ever ♪	59:18
	♪ Where streams of living water flow ♪	59:29
	♪ My ransomed soul he leadeth ♪	59:35
	♪ And where the verdant pastures grow ♪	59:41
	♪ With food celestial feedeth ♪	59:47
	♪ Perverse and foolish oft I strayed ♪	59:56
	♪ But yet in love he sought me ♪	1:00:03
	♪ And on his shoulder gently laid ♪	1:00:09
	♪ And home, rejoicing, brought me ♪	1:00:15
	♪ In death's dark vale I fear no ill ♪	1:00:25
	♪ With thee, dear Lord, beside me ♪	1:00:31
	♪ Thy rod and staff my comfort still ♪	1:00:37
	♪ Thy cross before to guide me ♪	1:00:44
	♪ Thou spread'st a table in my sight ♪	1:00:54
	♪ Thy unction, grace bestoweth ♪	1:01:00
	♪ And O what transport of delight ♪	1:01:07
	♪ From thy pure chalice floweth ♪	1:01:13
	♪ And so through all the length of days ♪	1:01:24
	♪ Thy goodness faileth never ♪	1:01:31
	♪ Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise ♪	1:01:36
	♪ Within thy house for ever ♪	1:01:42
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	1:02:01
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	1:02:04
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:02:09
	to reconcile and make new,	1:02:12
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	1:02:16
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	1:02:19
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	1:02:24
	to love and serve other, to seek justice and resist evil,	1:02:27
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	1:02:33
	our judge and our hope.	1:02:37
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	1:02:40
	God is with us, we are not alone.	1:02:45
	Thanks be to God.	1:02:49
	The Lord be with you--	1:02:52
-	And with your spirit.
-	Let us pray.	1:02:56
	O Lord, our God, the author and giver of all good things,	1:03:06
	we thank you for all your mercies	1:03:11
	and for your loving care over all your creatures.	1:03:14
	We bless you for the gift of life,	1:03:19
	for your protection round about us,	1:03:21
	for your guiding hand upon us,	1:03:25
	and for the tokens of your love within us.	1:03:28
	We thank you for friendship and beauty,	1:03:33
	for good hopes and precious memories,	1:03:36
	for the joys that cheer us	1:03:40
	and the trials that teach us to trust in you.	1:03:43
	Most of all, we thank you for the saving knowledge	1:03:48
	of your son, our savior.	1:03:52
	Remember, O Lord, your church upon Earth.	1:03:56
	Deepen her influence and extend her power for good	1:04:01
	till the kingdoms of this world become	1:04:06
	the kingdom of our Lord and of the Christ.	1:04:08
	We pray for our beloved land, for our leaders and governors,	1:04:13
	and for all who have part in public service.	1:04:20
	Make them pure in motive, wise in counsel,	1:04:24
	and strong in action,	1:04:29
	doing right in the fear of your holy name.	1:04:32
	God in heaven, look in mercy upon our	1:04:36
	distraught and fevered world.	1:04:40
	Forgive our mistaken ambitions,	1:04:42
	the selfish passions and the presumptuous claims.	1:04:46
	Remove all suspicion and bitterness from among the nations,	1:04:52
	and bring them to peace and concord	1:04:56
	by the redeeming love of Christ.	1:04:59
	Have mercy, O Lord, upon those who are passing	1:05:02
	through severe trial:	1:05:05
	the poor, the sick, the anxious,	1:05:08
	the oppressed, those who are in danger	1:05:13
	from the fury of the elements	1:05:16
	or from the violence of our race.	1:05:19
	Inspire in us the will to help all who suffer.	1:05:22
	Heal, protect and strengthen according to their need.	1:05:27
	Comfort those in sorrow with the comfort	1:05:33
	which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.	1:05:35
	We pray for our own dear ones, wheresoever they are,	1:05:39
	that surrounded by your love, they may be kept	1:05:44
	in health and joy and abide in safety and peace.	1:05:47
	Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom,	1:05:54
	who knows our necessities before we ask	1:05:56
	and our ignorance in asking,	1:06:00
	we pray you to have compassion upon our infirmities.	1:06:03
	And those things which, for our unworthiness,	1:06:07
	we dare not, and for our blindness, we cannot ask.	1:06:10
	Grant us, Lord, for the worthiness of thy son Jesus Christ	1:06:16
	in whose name we offer our prayer.	1:06:22
	And say together, our Father who art in Heaven,	1:06:26
	hallowed by thy name,	1:06:31
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:06:33
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:06:37
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:06:40
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:06:43
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:06:45
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:06:50
	but deliver us from evil,	1:06:52
	for thine is the kingdom,	1:06:55
	and the power and the glory forever.	1:06:57
	Amen.	1:07:02
	(soft organ music)	1:07:05
	(echoey choral singing)	1:07:58
	(powerful organ music)	1:12:49
	O Lord, our God, send thy holy spirit	1:14:04
	to cleanse our hearts, to hallow our gifts	1:14:08
	and to perfect the offering of ourselves to you,	1:14:13
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	1:14:16
	Amen.	1:14:19
	(powerful organ music)	1:14:22
	(echoey choral singing)	1:14:57
	The Lord bless you can keep you.	1:17:08
	The Lord make his face to shine upon you	1:17:11
	and be gracious unto you.	1:17:13
	The Lord lift up his countenance upon you	1:17:15
	and give you peace.	1:17:18
	Amen.	1:17:21
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:25
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:33
	(fast-paced organ music)	1:17:43
	(congregation chattering)	1:24:01

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "The Recovery of the Lost" (July 13, 1980)

Description:

Being "lost" does not mean a person is without hope. God has special love and care for those who are lost. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "The good folk, the religious people...those who thought they were 'in,' the ones who thought they had it made, were the ones who came to murmur about Jesus and around Jesus. But the sinners, the outcasts, the ones who were hopeless, the ones who were on the outside...the ones who were lost and knew it and felt it and believed it were the ones who came close to Jesus: not to murmur, but to hear."

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4ft8f094

Date:

July 13, 1980

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1103
ref7418_gpo
uachapelsermaud
duke:321205
dcrau001982
ark:/87924/r4ft8f094
0b66565d-1a9e-4f5f-8d39-f7eff8b09b24

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

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Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert T. Young - "The Recovery of the Lost" (July 13, 1980)

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