Lawrence E. Johnson - "Earthly Gods" (August 3, 1980)

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-	Duke University Chapel service of worship,	0:03
	August 3rd, 1980.	0:06
	(uplifting organ music)	0:10
	(choir singing in unison)	6:51
	(uplifting organ music)	7:44
-	We begin our worship in the name of the father,	11:10
	son, and holy spirit.	11:13
	Hear the words of holy scripture.	11:16
	If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just,	11:19
	and will forgive our sins and cleanse us	11:23
	from all unrighteousness.	11:25
	Therefore, let us confess our sins before God, our father.	11:27
	Oh God, who created us in love to be your children,	11:40
	we confess that all too often,	11:46
	we have forgotten our inheritance.	11:48
	You have given us love,	11:51
	and we have been hateful to those around us.	11:54
	You have given us all that is needed for life,	11:57
	and we have claimed that we did it all ourselves.	12:01
	You have promised your presence,	12:05
	and we have cried, why have you forsaken me?	12:08
	You have given us power to be your daughters and sons,	12:12
	and we have said that we cannot.	12:17
	And yet, oh lord, we long to be faithful to you.	12:20
	We search for peace and love.	12:25
	We seek to fill the emptiness inside us.	12:29
	Forgive us, oh loving God, for longing and searching	12:33
	for the very gifts you give us.	12:37
	Open our eyes and our hearts	12:41
	to receive the wonder of your love,	12:43
	to feel the quietness of your peace,	12:47
	to know the constancy of your presence.	12:50
	Amen.	12:54
	Our merciful God has promised forgiveness of sin	13:21
	to those who repent and turn to him in faith.	13:25
	May God keep you in his grace	13:29
	by the power of his holy spirit,	13:32
	and lead you to greater faith and obedience,	13:35
	and bring you at last to live with him,	13:39
	through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen.	13:42
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	13:47
	and God's love is everlasting.	13:49
	Thanks be to God, whose love has made us.	13:53
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy forgives us.	13:57
	Thanks be to God, whose promise secures us.	14:02
	Amen.	14:06
	I would like to welcome each and every one of you	14:08
	here with us this morning.	14:10
	We hope that your worship with us this morning	14:13
	is an inspiration to you,	14:16
	and that you will be blessed with our time together.	14:18
	This morning I would especially like	14:22
	to welcome our guest preacher, Dr. Lawrence Johnson,	14:24
	who is the director of black church affairs	14:28
	at the Duke Divinity School.	14:30
	Dr. Johnson has been a member of the Duke community	14:32
	for a few years now,	14:35
	and we are happy to have him in our pulpit.	14:36
	We are also especially happy this morning	14:40
	to welcome Ms. Edna Duffy, our soloist.	14:43
	Ms. Duffy teaches in Shaker Heights, Ohio.	14:48
	She has many musical accomplishments.	14:52
	She has captivated audiences in both the United States	14:55
	and around the world.	14:59
	And we welcome her to Duke Chapel this morning,	15:01
	and we thank her for the inspiration	15:06
	which she will afford us through her gift of music and song.	15:08
	Let us pray.	15:15
	Almighty God, you speak to us through your word.	15:19
	Grant that we may hear, read, respect, learn,	15:24
	and make the scriptures our own in such a way	15:29
	that the enduring benefit and comfort of the word	15:32
	will help us grasp and hold the blessed hope	15:35
	of everlasting life given us through our savior,	15:38
	Jesus Christ, amen.	15:43
	The first lesson for today is taken	15:48
	from the second chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes,	15:50
	beginning with the first verse.	15:53
	I said to myself, come now,	15:57
	I will make a test of pleasure, enjoy yourself.	16:00
	But behold, this also was vanity.	16:05
	I said of laughter, it is mad,	16:09
	and of pleasure, what use is it?	16:13
	I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine,	16:17
	my mind still guiding me with wisdom,	16:21
	and how to lay hold on folly,	16:24
	'til I might see what was good for the sons of men	16:26
	to do under Heaven during the few days of their life.	16:29
	I made great works.	16:34
	I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.	16:36
	I made myself gardens and parks,	16:40
	and planted them in all kinds of fruit trees.	16:42
	I made myself pools from which	16:46
	to water the forest of growing trees.	16:48
	I bought male and female slaves,	16:51
	and had slaves who were born in my house.	16:53
	I had also great possessions of herds and flocks,	16:57
	more than anyone who had been before me in Jerusalem.	17:00
	I also gathered for myself silver and gold,	17:04
	and the treasure of kings and provinces.	17:07
	I got singers, both men and women,	17:11
	and many concubines, man's delight.	17:14
	So I became great, and surpassed all	17:18
	who were before me in Jerusalem.	17:20
	Also my wisdom remained with me.	17:23
	And whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them.	17:26
	I kept my heart from no pleasure,	17:31
	for my heart found pleasure in my toil,	17:33
	and this was my reward for all my toil.	17:36
	Then I considered all that my hands had done,	17:40
	and the toil I had spent in doing it.	17:43
	And behold, it was all vanity,	17:46
	and as striving after the wind,	17:49
	and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.	17:52
	I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun,	17:57
	seeing that I must leave it to the man	18:01
	who will come after me,	18:03
	and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?	18:04
	Yet he will be the master of all for which I toiled	18:09
	and used my wisdom under the sun.	18:12
	This also is vanity.	18:15
	So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair	18:19
	over the toil of my labors,	18:22
	because sometimes a man who has toiled	18:24
	with wisdom and knowledge and skill	18:26
	must leave all to be enjoyed by a man	18:29
	who did not toil for it at all.	18:31
	This also is vanity, and a great evil.	18:34
	What has a man from all the toil and strain	18:39
	with which he toils beneath the sun?	18:42
	For all his days are full of pain,	18:46
	and his work is a vexation.	18:49
	Even in the night, his mind does not rest.	18:51
	This is also vanity.	18:55
	There is nothing better for a man,	18:59
	that he should eat and drink,	19:01
	and find enjoyment in his toil.	19:03
	This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,	19:07
	for apart from him, who can eat,	19:10
	or who can have any enjoyment?	19:13
	For to the man who pleases his god gives wisdom,	19:16
	and knowledge, and joy.	19:20
	But to the sinner, God gives the work of gathering,	19:23
	and of heaping, only to give one who pleases God.	19:27
	This also is vanity, and as striving after wind.	19:33
	Here ends the scripture reading.	19:38
	(uplifting organ music)	20:02
	(woman singing)	20:05
	The holy gospel is taken from the 12th chapter of Luke,	24:31
	beginning at the 13th verse.	24:34
	Please stand for the reading of the gospel.	24:36
	One of the multitudes said to Jesus,	24:45
	"Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."	24:48
	But Jesus said to him,	24:54
	"Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?"	24:56
	And he said to them,	25:01
	"Take heed, and beware of all covetousness,	25:04
	"for a man's life does consist	25:08
	"in the abundance of his possessions."	25:10
	And he told them a parable, saying,	25:14
	"The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully,	25:17
	"and he thought to himself, what shall I do,	25:22
	"for I have nowhere to store my crops.	25:26
	"And he said, I will do this.	25:29
	"I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,	25:31
	"and there I will store all my grain and my goods,	25:35
	"and I will say to my soul,	25:38
	"soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.	25:41
	"Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.	25:45
	"But God said to the rich man,	25:49
	"fool, this night your soul is required of you,	25:52
	"and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?"	25:56
	So it is with he who lays up treasure for himself,	26:00
	and is not rich toward God.	26:04
	Here ends the reading of the holy gospel.	26:07
	(uplifting organ music)	26:11
	(choir singing in unison)	26:18
	(clearing throat)	27:19
-	We are grateful to God for this opportunity	27:32
	to share in fellowship and	27:37
	communion with God this morning.	27:43
	My heart is abundantly full this morning	27:51
	to have share with us my sister-in-law	27:55
	from Cleveland, Ohio this morning.	27:59
	I know that most of you feel like I do this morning,	28:04
	that's it's pretty hot down here,	28:08
	but I shall attempt to share with you as brief as I can.	28:11
	Keeping in mind the two scripture lessons	28:17
	that were read in your hearing this morning,	28:20
	we hope that you will listen,	28:25
	and not turn me off before I begin.	28:30
	Let us pray.	28:35
	Oh God, open our hearts	28:39
	to receive your word,	28:44
	and let the words of our mouths	28:48
	and the meditation of our hearts	28:50
	be acceptable in thy sight.	28:54
	Oh lord, be thou our strength,	28:59
	and our redeemer.	29:05
	Amen.	29:08
	In addition to the background texts	29:15
	that were read to you this morning,	29:17
	we would like to also to consider for our deliberations	29:22
	Exodus, the 20th chapter,	29:28
	the third and the fourth verses.	29:31
	You shall have no other gods before you.	29:36
	You shall not make for yourself a graven image,	29:42
	or any likeness, or anything that is in Heaven above,	29:47
	or that is in the earth beneath,	29:53
	or that is in the water under the earth.	29:56
	In our discourse for today,	30:02
	the existence of God is not to be argued.	30:06
	It is assumed.	30:10
	For me and the Hebrews,	30:13
	God is not a premise to be proved,	30:16
	but a personality to be experienced.	30:21
	And when you experience the reality	30:25
	of the living God in your soul,	30:27
	then you too can sing with the hymnologists,	30:31
	he's real, he's real,	30:35
	he's real in my soul.	30:39
	Because so much of our lives are so superficial,	30:44
	we really believe that Coke is the real thing.	30:50
	Therefore, our lives are built around substitutes.	30:54
	Instead of lemons, we buy reconstituted lemon juice	30:59
	in a bottle, and call it lemon.	31:05
	Natural fibers for clothing	31:10
	is substituted for synthetic materials.	31:13
	Fake leather and furs are more popular	31:17
	than real leather or fur.	31:21
	Even for amusement, instead of playing on the grassy plains,	31:25
	we substitute, and play on turf fields or lawns.	31:31
	What are we trying to say?	31:38
	Society has brainwashed us to the point of believing	31:41
	that the substitutes are better	31:46
	than the real things in life.	31:48
	This idea and philosophy has become so popular	31:51
	that is has infiltrated our religion.	31:57
	Remember what happened to the Hebrews	32:02
	after being brought out of Egypt?	32:05
	Moses, their leader, had left them	32:08
	to go up into the mountains.	32:10
	No sooner than he was gone,	32:13
	the people became restless, disgruntled, and afraid.	32:16
	They needed something to hold on to,	32:22
	something they could see, they could touch,	32:25
	and they could feel as their god.	32:29
	So they took the gold rings from their ears and fingers,	32:33
	and formed them into a god, a golden calf.	32:37
	One commentator has said, and I quote,	32:43
	"It took God but one night to take Israel out of Egypt,	32:47
	"but it took 40 years of wandering and discipline	32:53
	"to take Israel out of Egypt."	32:58
	Let us try to understand	33:06
	how the 10 commandments came about.	33:09
	We must understand that these people had been surrounded	33:14
	by an idolatrous people,	33:18
	by people who gave their allegiance to more than one god.	33:22
	The new freedom that they now enjoy had not freed them	33:26
	from the bondage of idolatrous worship.	33:30
	For them, this would be a long and painful process.	33:36
	And looking at the 10 commandments,	33:41
	we notice that the first demands ultimate allegiance to God.	33:43
	For our understanding today,	33:50
	the word god will refer to anything worthy or unworthy,	33:53
	to which one gives ultimate devotion and service to.	33:58
	When one gives their ultimate devotion	34:03
	to anything other than God,	34:05
	and makes it the ruling principle in their lives,	34:08
	that thing becomes their god.	34:12
	The earthly gods we speak of today	34:17
	are the gods we create with our hands and our minds.	34:20
	The man-made gods are not dead.	34:26
	They have only changed their dress,	34:30
	and adopted a new lifestyle of deception and allurement.	34:34
	Owen Weatherly, in his book,	34:41
	Ten Commandments in Modern Perspectives,	34:46
	helps us to understand some of the gods	34:51
	we fashion and worship.	34:54
	The first one he talks about is Mariah,	34:58
	the feminine goddess of fate.	35:02
	This goddess informs us there is no use getting upset	35:07
	over poverty, injustice, waste,	35:11
	immorality, incompetence,	35:16
	or the danger of war or the draft.	35:20
	All these things are determined, as they would say,	35:23
	by powers that are beyond our control,	35:28
	or too complex to understand.	35:31
	As one fatalist songwriter once wrote,	35:35
	whatever will be will be.	35:40
	The future is not ours to see.	35:44
	And for us, we accept things as they are,	35:49
	and we are thankful and happy that we happen to be educated,	35:54
	socially acceptable, and economically secure ourselves,	35:58
	and therefore immune to many of life's problems.	36:04
	The goddess of fate is not known	36:10
	or called by Mariah anymore.	36:13
	Her modern name is they.	36:18
	They start all the vicious rumors.	36:21
	They believe and say that a whole people is inferior,	36:24
	because of a certain pigmentation of their skin.	36:28
	Therefore it has to be true,	36:32
	and I must protect myself from them.	36:34
	Don't go to the polls on Tuesday,	36:38
	because they have already decided the issues.	36:40
	Your vote won't count anyway.	36:43
	Don't bother to speak out against war,	36:46
	because they won't pay any attention to one small voice.	36:49
	Don't work for social justice,	36:53
	because they have all the power,	36:55
	and they are going to keep things just as they are now.	36:57
	These attitudes cause the situations like Liberty, Florida,	37:03
	Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida.	37:09
	Traditions, customs, and social policy	37:13
	seems to be firm and set,	37:17
	but no one is willing to ask the question,	37:20
	who made these customs and traditions?	37:24
	The answer, they did.	37:27
	Who has the power to change these customs?	37:30
	The answer, they do,	37:34
	business, industries, and institutions.	37:36
	But in our modern day, we never build an altar	37:40
	to the goddess of fate.	37:43
	We are too sophisticated to acknowledge the existence	37:46
	of such a goddess as Mariah.	37:49
	But every day we bow before the mystic, invisible,	37:53
	life-determining force we call they.	37:57
	We yield to what we imagine to be the determining force	38:01
	we call they.	38:05
	In our day, we follow and accept	38:08
	what is the popular will of the gods.	38:11
	Thus the most aggressive and powerful elements	38:14
	in our society dictates our decisions.	38:18
	Therefore the modern, daring, present, determinous god	38:22
	is constantly being put before the eternal God.	38:26
	The second god that is prominent also among the deities	38:32
	is the god of self.	38:36
	When Greece ruled the world, this god was called Narcissus.	38:39
	He was known to have acquired	38:43
	his particular traits of character,	38:45
	by which he is distinguished among the gods,	38:47
	as a result of having fallen in love	38:50
	with his own reflection in a pool.	38:53
	The modern term for this god is enlightened self interest.	38:57
	This god imposes his image and role	39:02
	throughout every century and every country.	39:05
	He is known by his admirers as self.	39:09
	He is the end and the object of all of his existence.	39:13
	In any action, attitudes, or decision,	39:17
	he is the center.	39:21
	Homage to the god self threatens the very existence	39:24
	of our civilization.	39:27
	Homes break up because the husbands are too much occupied	39:30
	with the puffed-up image of their own importance	39:34
	to take time to understand their wives.	39:38
	Families disintegrate because wives	39:42
	put their own social ambitions before husbands and children,	39:44
	and even before God.	39:49
	Foreign policy, policies, and political parties	39:54
	are shaped to serve the selfish interests	40:00
	of those who control the powers of government.	40:03
	Justice in the courts is interpreted in terms of protecting	40:07
	the social and political and economic advantages	40:10
	of the dominant groups in the community.	40:15
	Large sections of the country's economy	40:19
	are planned and operated for immediate personal gain,	40:22
	without regard for the permanent well-being	40:27
	of all its people.	40:30
	What do you think is happening	40:33
	with the large oil companies in our country today,	40:34
	with the price of oil inflation?	40:38
	Success is our god, by any means necessary,	40:42
	so we scheme to get ahead.	40:47
	We will cheat on examinations if we can get by with it,	40:50
	flatter the teacher to get better grades,	40:55
	spend our money to make a good appearance,	40:58
	dump our friends that get in the way of our progress,	41:01
	date only people who give us prestige,	41:04
	join only the clubs and sororities and fraternities	41:08
	that will allow us to shine as leaders, and so on.	41:11
	If a person is like this, it does not make much difference	41:16
	how many times one goes to church,	41:20
	or to what denomination one belongs.	41:25
	One will use the church just as they use everything else,	41:28
	to get what one wants.	41:33
	This god is for personal success.	41:36
	It is in the service of the god self	41:41
	that we become bigots, dogmatists,	41:44
	demagogues, and dictators,	41:47
	obsessed with the imagined superiority of our own ideals,	41:50
	and intolerant of other people's opinion.	41:55
	Our race, our culture, our religion, our form of government,	41:59
	and our economic system becomes the only ones	42:03
	that's only good.	42:05
	Others are inferior.	42:07
	The god self blinds us to the reality,	42:09
	and deprives us of being objective,	42:13
	and to the good which might act	42:16
	as a redemptive force in our lives.	42:18
	The third god is the pleasure-loving deity.	42:23
	The Romans called this god Bacchus,	42:27
	the god of wine, and reveling, and drunkenness.	42:30
	And as you listened to the scripture this morning	42:35
	in Ecclesiastes, the preacher reminds us	42:38
	of how he attempted to satisfy himself with pleasure	42:42
	by surrounding himself with women, wine, and strong drinks.	42:48
	But he concludes that it was all naught.	42:53
	Every large city has this Bacchus temple.	42:57
	On every street country in the land,	43:01
	more people partake of this cup at his table	43:05
	than at the lord's table.	43:10
	Five million living Americans	43:13
	have been sacrificed on this altar,	43:14
	and this pitiful hoard of helpless alcoholics	43:17
	is being constantly augmented	43:21
	at the rate of 1,500 every day.	43:23
	The fourth god is Erus, Eris,	43:28
	the god of physical attraction and sensual indulgence.	43:32
	It's served with much devotion and fervor,	43:38
	on television, in movies,	43:42
	and pornography is readily available	43:45
	to whomever wishes to view it.	43:47
	Even the toothpaste we brush our teeth with	43:51
	can't be advertised properly unless a pretty girl is there	43:55
	to tell us about its sex appeal.	43:59
	Then there is devotion to Plutus,	44:02
	the divine personification of material values.	44:06
	The philosophy of materialism places material value	44:10
	above moral and spiritual values.	44:14
	The gentiles was confronted with this issue	44:18
	when Jesus reminded them	44:20
	to first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,	44:23
	and all these things will be added unto you.	44:27
	We have heard of people hoarding possessions,	44:32
	dying while living in shanties of starvation,	44:38
	and leaving millions of dollars,	44:42
	and what does this preacher Ecclesiastes remind us?	44:45
	He raises another question with us.	44:49
	After we have hoard all the possessions,	44:52
	whose will it be when we are gone?	44:56
	Some people work for wealth, only to lose their health,	45:03
	with nowhere to enjoy all the abundance	45:09
	that they accumulated.	45:12
	And then there is the service of Vesta,	45:15
	the goddess of hearth, the city, and the state.	45:19
	These are persons devoted to narrow provincialism,	45:23
	a form of absolute nationalism.	45:28
	We give ourselves completely to the state.	45:31
	Example of this were the leaders in Nazi Germany	45:35
	after the killing of six million Jews.	45:39
	In testifying to the international court,	45:42
	they let it be known	45:46
	that they did not feel guilty or responsible,	45:47
	because they had been doing their duty to the state.	45:50
	They simply carried out orders.	45:53
	We have a lot of mindless people these days,	45:57
	who aren't able to think for themselves,	46:05
	who do only take orders.	46:09
	This illustrates how people can give themselves	46:13
	completely to his nation, that he makes the state his god.	46:16
	But there is also another kind of provincialism	46:22
	in our social lives, also.	46:25
	Our god may be our gang or crowd.	46:28
	This group look harmless,	46:31
	but if we let our friends make up our minds for us,	46:34
	and we let them decide what we are going to do,	46:38
	what we think and be,	46:41
	they become a god for us in our lives.	46:44
	But surely, we contemporary Christians don't have idols.	46:48
	You couldn't be talking about us.	46:54
	But let us examine a few.	46:57
	In our contemporary worship service,	47:00
	when we attempt to be relevant,	47:03
	sometimes our aid to worship becomes an object of worship.	47:05
	That is when we give it more attention and real devotion	47:10
	than we give to God himself.	47:13
	We give it more attention and real devotion	47:16
	than we give to God.	47:18
	We can usually identify this by the fuss we make over it,	47:20
	whether it is in the change in the order of worship service,	47:25
	or some new organ we just spent a large sum of money on.	47:29
	And sometimes it can be some who support foreign mission	47:34
	and evangelism with fervent enthusiasm,	47:38
	and has love for all mankind,	47:42
	but that same individual reacts with violent opposition	47:45
	when a minority person or person of a different color	47:49
	of skin desires to hold membership in their church.	47:52
	Just this week, a divinity student and I was talking,	47:57
	and they were sharing with me the nice church	48:01
	that this recent divinity student graduate	48:05
	had been assigned to,	48:09
	and was very elated of the fact that in his neighborhood,	48:11
	there was a black congregation down the street.	48:14
	But the members of the congregation warned the pastor	48:18
	that they would gladly welcome the black members,	48:25
	but they were not ready for them	48:29
	to become members of their church.	48:30
	Maybe it is reasonable to assume	48:34
	that what they are worshiping is not God, but their own idea	48:37
	of what constitutes a desirable religious fellowship.	48:41
	Although we do not have the bronze image or granite statue,	48:45
	but we do have the mental habits and the emotional fixations	48:50
	that can be as equally rigid.	48:55
	All too many of us go to church to worship,	48:58
	end up bowing semi-consciously	49:02
	before nothing more than habit and tradition.	49:04
	What many of us are worshiping today	49:08
	is not the living God, but some custom or tradition.	49:12
	You're worshiping a god you do not know.	49:17
	Martin Luther once said, and I quote,	49:22
	"Whatever thou heart clings to and relies upon,	49:25
	"that is properly thy god."	49:29
	What are your hearts clinging to today?	49:34
	Are you putting God first in your lives?	49:37
	Or are you worshiping your most prized automobile,	49:41
	the Cadillac or the Mercedes Benz,	49:44
	giving it your offerings of oil and polish?	49:47
	Or are you worshiping your house	49:50
	that you have carefully and meticulously coordinated	49:52
	with matching drapes, carpet, and furnishings?	49:57
	What shape is your idol?	50:01
	Do we give first place in our lives to the desires	50:03
	to be considered popular, successful, secure, and powerful?	50:07
	Do we make ourselves gods,	50:13
	obeying our own wills rather than God's will?	50:16
	Or do you follow the commandment,	50:20
	thou shall worship the lord thy God,	50:22
	and him only shall thy serve?	50:24
	Graven images means an idol, or a symbol,	50:27
	or anything in Heaven or on Earth which a man gives himself	50:30
	rather than to God.	50:34
	Thus a graven image might be money or comfort,	50:38
	or selfishness, or pride, or pleasure.	50:41
	We all bow down to such graven images at times, do we not?	50:45
	What is the scripture saying to us today?	50:51
	One, that all of us striving after pleasures and riches	50:55
	is in vain, apart from God.	50:59
	That's what the preacher discovered in Ecclesiastes.	51:02
	Securing material gains, what did he have	51:06
	after all his toils, and who would enjoy it?	51:10
	In the parable of the rich young fool in St. Luke,	51:15
	what did it profit him to tear down his old bonds	51:19
	and build new and larger ones?	51:23
	When the master calls him into judgment,	51:27
	whose will it be?	51:32
	What does it profit a man to gain the whole world,	51:34
	and lose his soul?	51:38
	So often our praises are lauded at the created	51:41
	rather than the creator.	51:48
	We fail to realize that God created the wealth	51:50
	and the materials that we enjoy,	51:54
	and that he can give, and he can take away.	51:58
	So the question is not how much do you own,	52:03
	but how much will you give?	52:07
	Whether it be health of mind and body	52:10
	or the salvation of your soul.	52:12
	You can only secure it by risking it	52:15
	in the business you were made to serve.	52:18
	All that I'm trying to say today	52:22
	is that God must be first in your life.	52:26
	He is the one and only priority that you should have.	52:30
	He is the one who has given us more than anyone else.	52:36
	He has given us his son,	52:42
	death on the cross, a ransom for our sins.	52:47
	And through his death and resurrection,	52:52
	we have been made new creatures in Christ.	52:56
	All those sins and idols have been nailed to the cross	53:01
	and wiped out.	53:07
	And when I think of this,	53:11
	I can think of what God has done for me,	53:14
	and I think of the words of Isaac Watts.	53:18
	When I survey the wondrous cross	53:23
	on which the prince of glory died,	53:27
	my richest gain I count but loss,	53:32
	and pour contempt on all my pride.	53:37
	Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,	53:42
	save in the death of Christ.	53:45
	My god, all the vain things that charm me most,	53:48
	I sacrifice them to his blood.	53:54
	Were the whole realm of nature mine,	53:59
	that were an offering far too small,	54:03
	love so amazing, love so divine,	54:07
	it demands my soul, my life, my all.	54:13
	Giving ourselves to him, surrendering our lives to God,	54:19
	then we will discover that in him, and through him,	54:26
	he maketh all things new.	54:32
	Let us pray.	54:36
	Oh God, the creator of us all,	54:40
	we come surrendering up ourselves,	54:50
	and lying aside the gods that we cherish so much.	54:52
	Help us to give up the small gods in our lives	55:02
	that have crowded you out,	55:06
	and to accept the true and living God	55:10
	that moves and lives in our lives.	55:14
	In your name we pray, amen.	55:19
	(uplifting organ music)	55:32
	(choir singing in unison)	56:18
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	58:48
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	58:51
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	58:57
	to reconcile and make new,	59:00
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	59:03
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	59:07
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	59:12
	to love and serve others,	59:15
	to seek justice and resist evil,	59:18
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.	59:21
	Our judge and our hope, in life, in death,	59:25
	in life beyond death, God is with us.	59:30
	We are not alone.	59:35
	Thanks be to God.	59:37
	Before we join in prayer together today,	59:39
	I would like to invite those of you who wish to join	59:42
	in participation of celebrating the sacrament	59:46
	of the lord's supper to join with us in the memorial chapel	59:48
	in the front of Duke Chapel	59:52
	immediately following this service.	59:53
	Those of you, again, who wish to participate	59:56
	in the gift of bread and wine,	59:59
	the body and blood of our lord, Jesus Christ,	1:00:00
	will meet together for this fellowship meal	1:00:03
	after the service.	1:00:07
	The lord be with you.	1:00:10
	Let us pray.	1:00:14
	God, father of our lord, Jesus Christ,	1:00:24
	we praise you that you sent your son into our world	1:00:28
	to heal and reconcile your fallen people.	1:00:32
	Continue to bless your holy church,	1:00:36
	and grant that through faith, it may realize what it means	1:00:39
	to be the reconciling, healing body of Christ in the world.	1:00:43
	Lord of all nations, we pray for all those	1:00:50
	to whom has been committed the government	1:00:54
	and leadership of the peoples of this earth.	1:00:56
	Especially we pray for our own government,	1:01:00
	and for the government of Iran,	1:01:03
	as they seek council together	1:01:06
	concerning the hostage situation.	1:01:08
	Grant to them the gifts of wisdom, council, and strength,	1:01:12
	that they may fulfill your just and righteous purposes,	1:01:16
	to the good of all people.	1:01:20
	Merciful lord, we pray for all people in need,	1:01:24
	those who are sick, the aged,	1:01:28
	the poor, and the oppressed.	1:01:32
	We especially remember before you those people	1:01:36
	who were injured in the storms of this past week,	1:01:39
	and for our country suffering under the heat wave.	1:01:43
	Heal them by your mighty power, oh lord,	1:01:49
	that they may be comforted in their trial,	1:01:52
	and renewed to serve you in joy.	1:01:55
	Lord, as your son went about healing all manner	1:02:01
	of sicknesses among the people,	1:02:03
	so we pray today that you would continue his gracious work	1:02:06
	of healing among us.	1:02:10
	Bless and provide for our hospitals.	1:02:13
	Grant to physicians, surgeons, nurses,	1:02:16
	and all who serve with them wisdom and skill,	1:02:18
	sympathy and patience, and give your blessing	1:02:22
	to all who work to prevent suffering.	1:02:26
	We ask that you would grant to us	1:02:31
	in this university community renewal of body and spirit.	1:02:33
	Refresh us with a new vigor, that all we do here,	1:02:38
	and wherever we go, may be done to your glory.	1:02:42
	Eternal God, with thanksgiving,	1:02:48
	we remember the faithful of every time and place	1:02:50
	who have died in the faith of Jesus Christ,	1:02:53
	especially remembering those who devoted their lives	1:02:57
	to the healing ministries of the sick and the oppressed.	1:03:00
	Keep us strong in faith toward you,	1:03:06
	and love and kindness to our neighbor,	1:03:09
	that we, by your grace, may be brought to the life eternal.	1:03:12
	These thanksgivings, intercessions, and prayers	1:03:18
	we place before you, oh lord, trusting in your mercy,	1:03:21
	through your son, Jesus Christ, our lord.	1:03:26
	Amen.	1:03:31
	Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:03:33
	Thy kingdom come, they will be done,	1:03:39
	on Earth, as it is in Heaven.	1:03:43
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:03:46
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:03:49
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:03:51
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,	1:03:55
	for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.	1:04:00
	Amen.	1:04:06
	(uplifting piano music)	1:04:22
	(woman singing)	1:04:32
	(uplifting organ music)	1:08:26
	(choir singing in unison)	1:09:20
	Blessed are you, oh lord, our God, maker of all things.	1:10:24
	Through your goodness, you have blessed us with these gifts.	1:10:29
	With them, we offer ourselves to your service,	1:10:33
	and dedicate our lives to the care and redemption	1:10:36
	of all that you have made.	1:10:39
	For the sake of him who gave himself for us,	1:10:41
	Jesus Christ, our lord.	1:10:45
	Amen.	1:10:48
	(uplifting organ music)	1:10:49
	(choir singing in unison)	1:11:28
	And now may the lord bless you and keep you.	1:14:30
	May the lord make his face shine upon you	1:14:33
	and be gracious to you.	1:14:36
	May the lord look upon you with favor,	1:14:38
	and may you go out in peace and serve the lord, amen.	1:14:42
	(choir singing in unison)	1:14:49
	(energetic organ music)	1:15:07
	(uplifting organ music)	1:16:46
	(energetic organ music)	1:21:50

Item Info

Title:

Lawrence E. Johnson - "Earthly Gods" (August 3, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: 27:33. Sermon end time: 54:32.
Are we worshipping the Living God, or are we worshipping idols that have taken the place of God? Success, material things, our own self-interest, nationalism, fear of others, are all modern gods that masquerade as God and infiltrate our churches. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Although we do not have the bronze image, or grand statue, but we do have the mental habits and the emotional fixations that can be as equally rigid. All too many of us go to church to worship, end up buying semi-consciously, before nothing more than habit or tradition. What many of us are worshipping today is not the living god but some custom or tradition. You are worshipping a god you do not know.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4b56dk17

Date:

August 3, 1980

Speaker:

Johnson, Lawrence E.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Exodus

Chapter and Verse:

Exodus 20:3-4

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1106
ref7424_zwl
uachapelsermaud
duke:320846
dcrau001985
ark:/87924/r4b56dk17
3fab4622-dc7f-4bc0-a9ab-377bd41b6b0a

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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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.

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Lawrence E. Johnson - "Earthly Gods" (August 3, 1980)

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Duke University Archives