Robert T. Young - "A New Covenant Is Risky Indeed" (September 7, 1980)

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	(organ music)	0:17
	(choir singing)	9:23
-	God has given us life but we have not lived.	17:07
	We have been called to freedom,	17:11
	but we have the burden heavy.	17:13
	The anxiety painful.	17:16
	In fear and pride we have turned from the Lord our God	17:18
	to live in self deceit and to serve other lords.	17:23
	May we admit together our willfulness and our weakness	17:27
	in denying the life that is ours to live.	17:32
	Let us confess our sin.	17:35
	Let us pray.	17:44
	Forgive us God, for our confusion is often like a storm	17:46
	that blurs our vision and clouds our minds.	17:51
	We understand the need to struggle for material gain,	17:55
	but fail in our struggle for spiritual gain.	17:59
	We understand the need to relax with a good book,	18:03
	but fail to seek the peace of the presence of Christ.	18:07
	We understand the need for social harmony and justice,	18:11
	but fail to promote them in our own lives.	18:16
	We understand the need for sensitivity	18:19
	in human relationships,	18:22
	but fail to care for one another as our Lord cares for us.	18:24
	O Lord our God, our confusion often leads us to sin	18:30
	and to suffer.	18:35
	We ask now for the forgiveness of Christ.	18:37
	We pray from the depths of our hearts.	18:40
	O Lord we have wronged you, ourselves, and others about us.	18:43
	O Lord we truly repent and confess our mistakes,	18:49
	our transgressions and our sins.	18:54
	O Christ in mercy, do forgive us.	18:57
	Listen, here is good news, Jesus said,	19:14
	"I will never turn away anyone who comes to me."	19:18
	Jesus the Christ has come to forgive us,	19:22
	accept us as we are,	19:25
	set us free and make us who we were meant to be.	19:28
	Let us give thanks for God is good	19:34
	and God's love is everlasting.	19:36
	Thanks be to God, by whose love we are created.	19:40
	Thanks be to God, by whose mercy we are redeemed.	19:44
	Thanks be to God, by whose grace we are led into the future.	19:49
	We welcome you this morning to Duke University Chapel	19:56
	to our service of worship.	20:00
	We are pleased that you can be here with us	20:02
	as you gather as the Duke community,	20:05
	friends, students, parents, faculty, administrators.	20:08
	We are pleased that you are here.	20:14
	We trust that God's presence will be felt	20:16
	and that you will be inspired as you leave	20:19
	in service this morning.	20:22
	Let me call to your attention and invite each one of you	20:26
	to participate in a service of Eucharist,	20:29
	immediately following our morning worship service.	20:33
	It will be in the Memorial Chapel,	20:36
	and you are invited to attend.	20:39
	We would like to lift up the fact	20:43
	that we do need volunteer ushers and attendants here	20:46
	in the chapel to help us on Sunday mornings.	20:50
	If you are interested in serving in this way,	20:53
	please contact the chapel basement office	20:56
	and we would be glad to hear from you.	20:59
-	Let us pray.	21:15
	Prepare our hearts o Lord to accept your word.	21:18
	Silence in us any voice but your own,	21:22
	that hearing we may also obey your will,	21:26
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	21:30
	The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 31,	21:36
	verses 31 through 34.	21:41
	Behold, the days are coming says the Lord,	21:45
	when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel	21:50
	and the house of Judah.	21:54
	Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers	21:57
	when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land	22:00
	of Egypt, my covenant which they broke,	22:03
	though I was their husband, says the Lord.	22:07
	But this is the covenant which I will make with the house	22:12
	of Israel after those days says the Lord.	22:15
	I will put my law within them and I will write it	22:20
	upon their hearts, and I will be their God,	22:23
	and they shall be my people.	22:28
	And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor	22:31
	and each his brother saying, know the Lord.	22:35
	For they shall all know me,	22:39
	from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord.	22:42
	For I will forgive their inequity	22:47
	and I will remember their sin no more.	22:50
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	22:55
	Amen.	22:59
	The epistle lesson is from the first letter of Peter,	23:02
	chapter two verses four through 10.	23:06
	Come to Him to that living stone rejected by men,	23:12
	but in God's sight chosen and precious.	23:17
	And like living stones,	23:22
	be yourselves built into a spiritual house.	23:24
	To be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices	23:28
	acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.	23:33
	For it stands in scripture,	23:39
	behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen	23:42
	and precious, and he who believes in Him	23:49
	will not be put to shame.	23:54
	To you therefore who believe He is precious,	23:58
	but for those who do not believe,	24:02
	the very stone which the builders rejected	24:06
	has become the head of the corner.	24:10
	And a stone that will make men stumble,	24:14
	a rock that will make them fall.	24:18
	For they stumble because they disobey the word	24:22
	as they were destined to do.	24:25
	But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,	24:30
	a holy nation, God's own people,	24:33
	that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him,	24:36
	who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.	24:40
	Once you were no people, but now you are God's people.	24:46
	Once you had not received mercy,	24:52
	but now you have received mercy.	24:55
	Here ends the reading from the epistle, amen.	24:59
	(choir singing)	25:23
	Will the congregation please stand for the reading	28:58
	of the gospel lesson.	29:00
	The gospel lesson is from	29:08
	Luke chapter 22 verses 14 through 20.	29:09
	And when the hour came, He sat at table,	29:16
	and the apostles with Him.	29:21
	And He said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat	29:24
	this Passover with you before I suffer.	29:28
	For I tell you, I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled	29:32
	in the kingdom of God.	29:37
	And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said,	29:40
	take this and divide it among yourselves for I tell you	29:45
	that from now on, I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine	29:51
	until the kingdom of God comes.	29:56
	And He took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it	30:00
	and give it to them saying, this is my body,	30:05
	which is given for you.	30:11
	Do this in remembrance of me,	30:13
	and likewise the cup after supper saying, this cup,	30:17
	which is poured out for you,	30:22
	is the new covenant in my blood.	30:25
	(choir singing)	30:31
-	Grace to you and peace, from the Lord our God	31:32
	who has made us, who has indeed redeemed us,	31:36
	and who does indeed sustain us, amen.	31:42
	This week as all of us know,	31:48
	marks the beginning of a new year for all of us here	31:52
	in this university community.	31:55
	Beginnings of new years it seems to me,	31:59
	are always filled with ambivalent,	32:03
	ambiguous, uncontrollable feelings.	32:07
	Feelings of excitement and fear,	32:12
	expectation and anxiety,	32:16
	anticipation and dread,	32:20
	wanting and not wanting,	32:24
	wanting to move in and wanting to move out,	32:27
	wanting to stay and wanting to go home,	32:31
	reaching out to others and pulling back into one's self,	32:36
	being cocky and certain,	32:40
	being frightened and scared to death.	32:43
	This is the beginning of a new year for you and me,	32:48
	for all of us in this place and at this particular time.	32:51
	It's good to have new beginnings,	32:56
	when we can lay aside what has been,	32:59
	can wipe the slate clean of all that is old and worn,	33:03
	can start all over again	33:08
	with the past over and done with.	33:10
	This is the beginning of a new year.	33:14
	So I've been thinking about what that does mean	33:18
	for you and me and for all of us this year.	33:20
	New relationships, new experiences, new ideas,	33:25
	new people, new ways,	33:31
	new thoughts, new challenges, new decisions,	33:34
	new opportunities, new freedoms.	33:38
	Which means danger, risk and unknown.	33:42
	It means good and bad, helpful and hurtful,	33:47
	destructive and constructive.	33:52
	It means being faithful and unfaithful,	33:55
	being responsible and irresponsible.	33:58
	Yes this is the beginning of a new year,	34:01
	a time to think about among other things,	34:03
	covenants which we may make with God,	34:07
	with others and with ourselves.	34:10
	So let's think for a few minutes about covenant	34:13
	in the biblical sense and see what this may mean to us.	34:16
	A covenanting relationship with God is one in which	34:21
	you and I are free to enter,	34:25
	we are free to remain in that relationship or we are also	34:28
	free to withdraw from that relationship.	34:32
	Covenant in the biblical sense shows that God	34:36
	is the one who takes the initiative.	34:40
	God is the initiator,	34:43
	the primary actor, the motivator, the mover,	34:45
	the one who comes to us.	34:47
	Covenant with God means two things, basically.	34:51
	It means that we are privileged to receive and to benefit	34:55
	from God's gracious acts.	34:58
	It means also that we are invited to join with God	35:02
	in caring for others and in caring for the world.	35:06
	Covenant, then, is God's act and our response.	35:11
	The call for us to participate in covenant with God	35:18
	I believe goes all the way back to beginning,	35:21
	all the way back to creation itself.	35:24
	In the image of God, God created them male and female	35:26
	created God them, Imago Dei,	35:31
	in the image of God.	35:35
	This call I believe also is seen in the experiences	35:38
	of Noah, of Moses, of Abraham,	35:41
	Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus,	35:45
	the disciples, the early church.	35:49
	Covenanting with God means, chosen, claimed,	35:53
	called, commitment,	35:58
	commonality, community, communion.	36:01
	In covenant God does take the initiative.	36:05
	God makes promises to us.	36:11
	God assumes responsibility.	36:14
	God provides for us on the way of our pilgrimage.	36:17
	God gives us signs along the way.	36:22
	God's call to covenant is not always when we want it	36:27
	to come. It surely wasn't for Moses.	36:31
	God's call to us is not always when we are ready.	36:35
	It wasn't for Jeremiah.	36:38
	God's call is not always what we expect or want	36:41
	or are looking for. It certainly wasn't for Noah.	36:44
	God's call to us to enter into covenant	36:48
	does not always lead to success or victory	36:51
	or to our coming out on top.	36:53
	God's call to us does not always take us immediately	36:57
	into the promised land.	37:02
	It is high risk I believe to wait upon the Lord.	37:06
	To listen to the word of the Lord.	37:12
	To respond to the voice of God.	37:15
	To enter into covenant with God.	37:18
	Like Michael Quoist writes in his book, Prayers,	37:21
	"Lord, you seized me and I could not resist you.	37:25
	"I ran for a long time, but you followed me.	37:30
	"I took bypaths, but you knew them.	37:34
	"You overtook me, I struggled, you won.	37:37
	"Here I am Lord, out of breath no fight left in me	37:42
	"and I've said yes, almost unwillingly	37:45
	"when I stood there trembling	37:51
	"like one defeated before his captor,	37:52
	"your look of love fell on me.	37:55
	"The die is cast Lord, I can no longer forget you	37:58
	"for I recognized you without seeing you.	38:03
	"I felt you without touching you,	38:07
	"I understood you without hearing you.	38:09
	"Marked by the fire of your love	38:13
	"I can no longer forget you Lord."	38:15
	Yes it is high risk to enter into covenant with God.	38:21
	It just may be that it will rain on us for 40 days	38:25
	and 40 nights.	38:29
	Or it just may mean that we will wander as did Abraham	38:31
	for many years in the land headed toward Canaan.	38:34
	Or it may mean as it did for the people of Israel,	38:39
	wandering for 40 years in the wilderness	38:42
	before they reached the promised land.	38:44
	Or it may mean as it did for our Lord Jesus	38:47
	after he was baptized, it may mean 40 days and 40 nights	38:50
	in the wilderness.	38:55
	It is high risk to enter into covenant with God.	38:57
	But you know, we have some strange notions most of us,	39:03
	or some of us anyhow, in our heads and hearts and minds	39:07
	and in our very souls about what life and faith,	39:12
	living and believing about what entering into covenant	39:15
	with God is all about.	39:18
	We seem to believe that covenant with God is what we do.	39:20
	No I don't think so.	39:25
	It is what God has done, is doing and will do in us,	39:27
	with us, to us and for us, and it is we who respond.	39:31
	We seem to believe that covenant means deliverance,	39:38
	and we act as if it means deliverance right now,	39:43
	right this moment, this very instant.	39:46
	From bondage to freedom, from guilt to forgiveness,	39:50
	from oppression to release,	39:54
	from slavery to the promised land.	39:56
	One things my friends I have learned in reading	40:00
	and studying the Old Testament and the New Testament,	40:03
	and in trying to understand God's dealing	40:07
	with our forbears in the faith,	40:09
	has been very important and very helpful to me	40:11
	and I share it with you this morning.	40:14
	Somehow or other I had the notion that if you were saved,	40:18
	if you only believed, if you simply trusted in God,	40:22
	if you truly responded to God's call,	40:25
	if you entered into covenant with God,	40:28
	you immediately were delivered,	40:30
	were made whole, were released, were freed,	40:32
	were set upon dry land.	40:35
	I believed that if you simply responded and said,	40:40
	"Yes I believe, I trust in God,	40:43
	"I accept God's love and grace,	40:45
	"I want to be faithful and obedient and responsible,"	40:48
	then God would take you at once into the promised land.	40:51
	And so, there I was.	40:59
	I had heard and felt somehow or other and in some way	41:04
	or another God speak and call and come to me.	41:08
	I had tried as best I could to respond, to be faithful	41:11
	and obedient and loving and caring,	41:15
	and yet I seemed not to have arrived.	41:18
	I was still wandering, I was still in the desert.	41:21
	I was still filled with questions and doubts	41:25
	and uncertainty and ambiguity.	41:29
	I was still aware that	41:32
	life just did not make sense.	41:35
	There were and there are still things I do not understand	41:39
	or know or see clearly.	41:42
	The point is, that I am not in the promised land.	41:46
	Any of you ever have that feeling?	41:53
	That you think you have heard and felt a word from God?	41:58
	That you feel like you've tried to respond and to obey	42:05
	and yet you feel like you are still not	42:08
	in the promised land?	42:11
	If so, I have a word for you and for me,	42:14
	a word I believe from the Lord, that that is the way	42:18
	that covenant and life and faith	42:24
	and living and believing are intended to be.	42:28
	At least that's the way they really are.	42:33
	As I read in the Old Testament and in the New Testament	42:38
	about covenanting experiences of God with Noah and Moses	42:40
	and Abraham and Isaiah and Jeremiah, with Jesus	42:45
	and with the early church, I read of no experiences	42:49
	at all	42:53
	where the people of God move immediately from covenant	42:56
	to the promised land.	42:59
	There is always in between covenant and the promised land,	43:01
	there is always wilderness.	43:05
	Wilderness, always.	43:10
	Always.	43:15
	For Noah and his family,	43:19
	for Moses and the children of Israel,	43:22
	for Jesus and the disciples and indeed for you and me.	43:26
	Then I think somehow or other we have the notion	43:33
	that covenant with God is something that we are to control.	43:35
	Not at all.	43:39
	If I understand the word of God in scripture and in the life	43:41
	of the church it is that God is in control.	43:45
	The call and the claim and the covenant often come to us	43:49
	when we are not ready.	43:52
	Someone has said that there are three images	43:54
	in the New Testament that are covenanting	43:57
	or are receiving images:	43:59
	baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Holy Spirit.	44:03
	Let me show I think rather clearly how we within the church	44:09
	somehow or other feel like we are in control	44:14
	of the life of faith which is ours.	44:18
	It's seen very simply in the way we express ourselves.	44:21
	We think baptism is something we do.	44:25
	We think the Lord's Supper is something we take.	44:29
	We think the Holy Spirit is something that we have.	44:33
	Three very possessive controlling verbs:	44:39
	to do, to take, to have.	44:44
	It's easy to see if that is our language,	44:47
	and I think it is for many of us,	44:50
	it's easy to see why some of us think that we are in charge.	44:52
	But baptism is not something we do,	44:56
	it is something we receive.	44:59
	The Lord's Supper is not something we take, it is something	45:01
	that we receive.	45:04
	The Holy Spirit is not something we have,	45:05
	it is something we receive.	45:08
	Covenant, my friends, affirms who God is,	45:11
	who each of us is, and who we are all together.	45:15
	Covenant means I will be your God	45:19
	and you shall be my people, yes it does, all the way,	45:21
	fully, totally, freely,	45:26
	wholly, unreservedly, unconditionally,	45:28
	obediently and faithfully,	45:30
	but that's risky business my friends.	45:33
	Risky yes, risky indeed.	45:36
	Listen to some of the words of some of the hymns	45:39
	that we sing, that we sing I think coolly and calmly	45:41
	and casually.	45:45
	Breathe on m e breath of God, fill me with life anew,	45:46
	that I may love what thou dost love	45:51
	and do what thou dost do.	45:54
	I will go where you want me to go dear Lord,	45:59
	I will do what you want me to do dear Lord.	46:02
	Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.	46:09
	Thou art the potter, I am the clay.	46:12
	Mold me, make me after thy will while I am waiting,	46:15
	yielded and still.	46:21
	Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.	46:27
	Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,	46:32
	mold me, make me, fill me, use me.	46:36
	Spirit of the the living God, fall afresh on me.	46:44
	Covenant often comes when we're not ready.	46:50
	It often comes when and where we do not want it.	46:54
	Covenant often means a responsibility that we don't care	46:57
	to take on as it did for Moses and Jeremiah and Isaiah	47:01
	and for Jesus.	47:05
	It's risky business to enter into covenant with God.	47:07
	For we may end up working with people that we don't want	47:12
	to work with.	47:14
	We may end up fighting for causes that are not popular	47:17
	that we'd rather leave alone.	47:20
	We may end up dealing with issues that we're not quite ready	47:23
	to deal with.	47:27
	It may mean fighting for the rights of minority persons,	47:29
	Native Americans, Blacks and others in this country.	47:32
	It may mean working for causes for the rights of women,	47:37
	for the passage of ERA or something as significant	47:41
	or as important as that.	47:44
	It may mean struggling against that which	47:48
	the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us	47:52
	about just as he was leaving office after serving two terms	47:55
	in the presidency.	47:59
	It may mean struggling against	48:00
	the military industrial complex as it is established	48:02
	in this country.	48:06
	It may mean that some of us will counsel with those	48:07
	who seek to become conscientious objectors.	48:10
	It could mean, my young friends,	48:14
	to you, those of you who began,	48:18
	or those of you who are continuing your life on this campus,	48:20
	it may mean saying no to the use of drugs	48:23
	or alcoholic beverages, or to loose and irresponsible sex.	48:27
	It may mean not lying or cheating	48:32
	or stealing not only stealing some thing	48:34
	that belongs to somebody else,	48:37
	it also may mean not stealing or taking some idea	48:38
	or some thought or some writing that belongs	48:42
	to somebody else.	48:45
	It may mean joining some of us for a march on Washington	48:48
	the first weekend in October.	48:52
	A pilgrimage of suffering	48:54
	and hope to Washington National Cathedral.	48:55
	It may mean, my friends, that we'll get dirty sometimes,	48:59
	that we may be smelly and stinking.	49:02
	That some of us may get our hair messed up,	49:05
	those of us who have hair, or our clothes messed up.	49:07
	It may mean that we will be seen with the poor	49:12
	and the outcast, with the radical and the revolutionary.	49:15
	It may mean taking up a cross, literally.	49:19
	It may mean taking up a cross all alone	49:24
	or all together.	49:28
	If therefore, the next few weeks, the next year,	49:32
	the next four years, or even the rest of your life	49:36
	as was the case for Moses,	49:39
	if this period of time whatever it is	49:41
	seems like a wilderness as you chart a new life,	49:44
	as you begin a new way,	49:46
	as you search for a new truth,	49:48
	as you live out a new covenant,	49:50
	just remember that it's okay to be in the wilderness.	49:52
	Some pretty good folks have been there,	49:59
	and they're still there with us.	50:02
	Folks like Moses	50:05
	and Jeremiah	50:11
	and Abraham	50:14
	and Jesus.	50:17
	For even there, right there in the wilderness	50:19
	there is the certainty and the assurance	50:24
	that God's presence is there.	50:26
	And we have signs to help us along the way	50:30
	like the manna for the children of Israel,	50:32
	like the pillar of cloud by day	50:35
	and the pillar of fire by night,	50:36
	we still have signs like that,	50:38
	we still have a rainbow that comes in the day.	50:40
	We still have bread and wine,	50:44
	a towel and a basin,	50:50
	we still have a cross.	50:55
	This cup, which is poured out for you and for many,	51:00
	is the new covenant in my blood.	51:06
	It's risky business to enter into covenant with God.	51:12
	Risky indeed.	51:19
	Amen.	51:24
	(orchestral music)	51:50
	(choir singing)	52:09
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	55:32
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	55:37
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	55:42
	to reconcile and make new.	55:45
	Who works in us and others by the Spirit.	55:48
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	55:52
	to celebrate life and it's fullness.	55:57
	To love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil.	56:00
	To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge	56:05
	and our hope.	56:10
	In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us,	56:12
	we are not alone.	56:19
	Thanks be to God, the Lord be with you.	56:21
	Let us pray.	56:27
	O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,	56:38
	We come to praise you this morning,	56:45
	for your faithfulness to us.	56:48
	We come to thank you for the covenants	56:51
	that you have established with your people.	56:54
	Covenants that call us to justice and mercy,	56:57
	forgiveness and righteousness, repentance and faith.	57:01
	May we be able to see that your covenants are a sign	57:07
	of your revelation to us, and your great love for us.	57:11
	O God we ask that you visit us today	57:17
	with your healing word,	57:20
	for we are a people who come into your presence	57:23
	with many wounds, heartaches and sicknesses.	57:27
	Bind us up in the power of your word,	57:33
	strengthen us with the promise of your word,	57:37
	inspire us with the truth of your gospel.	57:41
	Enter our lives this day in a new way	57:46
	that we might be changed, never to be the same again.	57:49
	O Lord our God, fill us now with your grace	57:56
	that we might embody the life	58:00
	and example of Jesus, the Christ.	58:02
	Help us to know and be assured that we are daughters	58:06
	and sons of a covenant relationship.	58:11
	You are our God, we are your people.	58:15
	This promise we have made and now seek to fulfill.	58:19
	Enable us then to see signs of this covenant around us,	58:25
	and within us as we relate to one another	58:31
	and to your creation.	58:35
	Come and stir within our souls,	58:38
	that we might feel your spirit and rejoice in your presence.	58:41
	May we be restless o God, until we find our source of life	58:47
	in you and all of your creation.	58:53
	For we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	58:56
	the initiator of the new covenant,	59:00
	who taught us to pray saying,	59:03
	our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name,	59:06
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	59:11
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	59:15
	Give us this daily our daily bread	59:18
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	59:21
	who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation,	59:24
	but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom,	59:30
	and the power and the glory forever, amen.	59:34
	(organ music)	59:43
	(choir singing)	1:00:49
	Oh God as we offer these gifts of money to you,	1:07:45
	help us also to be able to offer ourselves.	1:07:48
	Take our bodies, our minds, and spirits	1:07:53
	and use them in your ministry in your world, amen.	1:07:56
	(organ music)	1:08:17
	We know now in the certain knowledge	1:12:38
	that we are made in God's image and that we are destined	1:12:42
	for fulfillment in God's eternal service.	1:12:44
	(choir singing)	1:12:58
	(organ music)	1:13:37

	(lively organ music)	0:36
	(tranquil organ music)	5:23
	♪ Beautiful ♪	11:22
	♪ Savior ♪	11:25
	♪ Lord of all nations ♪	11:30
	♪ Son of God ♪	11:38
	♪ And Son of Man ♪	11:44
	♪ Glory and honor ♪	11:54
	♪ Praise, adoration ♪	12:01
	♪ Now and forevermore ♪	12:08
	♪ Be thine ♪	12:15
	♪ Now and forever ♪	12:20
	♪ More ♪	12:30
	♪ Be thine ♪	12:33
	(lively organ music)	12:44
	♪ Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee ♪	13:20
	♪ God of glory, Lord of love ♪	13:24
	♪ Hearts unfold like flow'rs before Thee ♪	13:28
	♪ Op'ning to the sun above ♪	13:33
	♪ Melt the clouds of sin and sadness ♪	13:37
	♪ Drive the dark of doubt away ♪	13:41
	♪ Giver of immortal gladness ♪	13:46
	♪ Fill us with the light of day ♪	13:50
	♪ All Thy works with joy surround Thee ♪	13:58
	♪ Earth and heav'n reflect Thy rays ♪	14:02
	♪ Stars and angels sing around Thee ♪	14:06
	♪ Center of unbroken praise ♪	14:11
	♪ Field and forest, vale and mountain ♪	14:15
	♪ Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea ♪	14:20
	♪ Singing bird and flowing fountain ♪	14:24
	♪ Call us to rejoice in Thee ♪	14:29
	♪ Thou art giving and forgiving ♪	14:36
	♪ Ever blessing, ever blest ♪	14:40
	♪ Wellspring of the joy of living ♪	14:44
	♪ Ocean depth of happy rest ♪	14:49
	♪ Thou our Father, Christ our Brother ♪	14:54
	♪ All who live in love are Thine ♪	14:57
	♪ Teach us how to love each other ♪	15:02
	♪ Lift us to the joy divine ♪	15:06
	♪ Mortals, join the happy chorus ♪	15:14
	♪ Which the morning stars began ♪	15:18
	♪ Father love is reigning o'er us ♪	15:22
	♪ Brother love binds man to man ♪	15:27
	♪ Ever singing, march we onward ♪	15:31
	♪ Victors in the midst of strife ♪	15:35
	♪ Joyful music leads us sunward ♪	15:40
	♪ In the triumph song of life ♪	15:44
	(joyful organ music)	15:51
-	When we gather to praise God,	17:56
	we remember that we are the people of God	17:59
	who have preferred our will	18:02
	to the divine will.	18:04
	Accepting the power that God offers to us	18:06
	to become new persons in Christ,	18:09
	let us now confess our sins before one another	18:12
	and before God.	18:16
	Let us pray.	18:27
-	Oh God, whose spirit searches all things	18:29
	and whose love bears all things,	18:33
	encourage us to draw near to you in sincerity and truth.	18:36
	Save us the worship of the lip	18:42
	while our hearts are far away.	18:44
	Save us from the useless labor	18:47
	of attempting to conceal ourselves from you	18:50
	for you search and know our hearts.	18:53
	Enable us to lay aside all those cloaks	18:57
	and disguises which we wear	19:00
	in the light of day	19:03
	and here to bear ourselves	19:05
	with all our weaknesses, failures	19:07
	and sin before your sight.	19:10
	Make us strong enough to bear the vision of truth	19:13
	and to have done with all falsehood,	19:17
	pretense and hypocrisy	19:20
	so that we may see things as they are	19:23
	and hear no more.	19:26
	Enable us to look upon the law	19:28
	which has borne with us	19:31
	and the heart that suffers for us.	19:33
	Help us to acknowledge our dependence	19:36
	in the purity that abides our uncleanness,	19:39
	the patience that forgives our faithlessness,	19:43
	the truth that forebears all our falsity and compromise.	19:47
	Forgive all our unfaithfulness	19:52
	and indifference to you and your call to us.	19:54
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	19:59
-	Amen.	20:02
	In a moment of silence now,	20:05
	let us each make our personal confession to God.	20:07
	Hear the good news.	20:26
	Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.	20:28
	That is God's own proof of his love toward us.	20:32
	In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.	20:36
	Let us give thanks for God is good	20:41
	and God's love is ever lasting.	20:44
-	Thanks be to God	20:47
	whose love has made us.	20:49
	Thanks be to God whose mercy forgives us.	20:52
	Thanks be to God whose promise secures us.	20:56
-	Amen.	21:00
	We welcome you this beautiful morning	21:03
	to Duke University Chapel	21:06
	to our service of worship.	21:08
	It is obvious that we have	21:11
	a standing room crowd only here this morning	21:13
	and for that reason,	21:17
	as I greet you and welcome you,	21:18
	I would like to urge each of you	21:21
	who are fortunate enough to have a seat,	21:23
	if there is any room at all,	21:26
	if you could move to the middle.	21:29
	Some of these persons standing in the wings	21:31
	and on the aisles might have a seat,	21:34
	so as I'm sharing in this time of reading,	21:37
	would you adjust yourselves if possible.	21:39
	Thank you.	21:42
	We are glad that you have come to worship with us here	21:48
	at Duke University Chapel.	21:52
	We know that we have extra people here this morning	21:55
	to hear and to welcome the Reverend Andrew Young,	21:59
	former ambassador to the United Nations.	22:03
	We are very pleased and especially glad	22:07
	to welcome Andrew here this morning in our midst.	22:09
	We look forward to the word of God	22:13
	that he will share with us today	22:16
	and we invite you to stay after the service	22:18
	and join him in a time of meeting and greeting	22:21
	in the Narthex.	22:25
	Thank you for your cooperation.	22:31
	Let us pray.	22:41
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord	22:46
	to accept your word,	22:48
	silence in us any voice but your own.	22:50
	That hearing that we may also obey your will	22:54
	for Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	22:58
	The Old Testament lesson	23:05
	is from Proverbs' ninth chapter,	23:07
	verses eight through 12.	23:11
	"Do not reprove a scoffer	23:14
	"or he will hate you.	23:16
	"Reprove a wise man	23:18
	"and he will love you.	23:20
	"Give instruction to a wise man	23:22
	"and he will be still wiser.	23:26
	"Teach a righteous man	23:29
	"and he will increase in learning.	23:31
	"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom	23:34
	"and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.	23:38
	"For by me your days will be multiplied	23:43
	"and years will be added to your life.	23:47
	"If you are wise, you are wise for yourself.	23:50
	"If you scoff, you alone will bear it."	23:55
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	24:00
	Amen.	24:04
	(choir singing)	24:16
-	Will the congregation please stand	26:49
	for the reading of the Gospel lesson.	26:52
	The Gospel lesson is from Luke chapter 14,	27:00
	verses 25 through 33	27:05
	and Matthew 10 verses 29 through 33.	27:08
	"Now, great multitudes accompanied him	27:13
	"and he turned and said to them,	27:17
	"if anyone come to me,	27:19
	"and does not hate his father	27:21
	"and mother and wife and children and brothers	27:24
	"and sisters, yet and even his own life,	27:29
	"he cannot be my disciple.	27:33
	"Whoever does not bear his own cross	27:36
	"and come after me, cannot be my disciple.	27:39
	"For which of you desiring to build a tower	27:43
	"does not first sit down and count the cost	27:46
	"whether he has enough to complete it,	27:51
	"otherwise when he has made a foundation,	27:54
	"and is not able to finish,	27:58
	"all who see it begin to mock him, saying this men began	28:00
	"to build and was not able to finish.	28:06
	"Or what king going to encounter another king in war	28:10
	"will not sit down first	28:15
	"and take council whether he is able	28:18
	"with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000.	28:21
	"And if not, while the other is yet a great way off,	28:28
	"he sends an embassy	28:33
	"and asks terms of peace.	28:35
	"So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all	28:38
	"that he has cannot be my disciple.	28:42
	"Are not sparrows two a penny?	28:47
	"Yet without your Father's leave,	28:50
	"not one of them can fall to the ground.	28:53
	"As for you, even the hairs of your head	28:57
	"have all been counted,	29:00
	"so have no fear, you are worth more	29:03
	"than any number of sparrows.	29:06
	"Whoever then will acknowledge before men,	29:09
	"I will acknowledge him before my Father in Heaven	29:12
	"and whoever disowns me before men,	29:18
	"I will disown him before my Father in Heaven."	29:21
	Here ends the reading of the Gospel lesson.	29:27
	(lively organ music)	29:30
	(congregation singing)	29:38
-	It's indeed a difficult pleasure for me	30:32
	to be with you this morning.	30:34
	Difficult not only because the airline took me into...	30:36
	...know what their lives were all about.	30:43
	Seeing that somebody would help me figure out	30:47
	what my life was all about.	30:51
	I didn't wanna hear the words of wisdom.	30:54
	I didn't wanna hear the quotations from the Great Book.	30:58
	I think back over the times that I sat,	31:02
	sometimes sleepily in a college chapel [mic cuts out]	31:06
	Yet I guess because my own child is in this chapel	31:22
	and as a father, I realize now that she's gone,	31:28
	there's so much that she doesn't know about me	31:31
	that I had no chance to share.	31:34
	I dare to take the risk.	31:38
	I dare to take the risk to try to help you understand	31:41
	how God can work	31:47
	in an individual's life,	31:50
	almost in spite of them.	31:53
	I sat through college chapels	31:59
	and I went through four years of college	32:01
	and the day of graduation was probably for me more	32:06
	of a day of judgment than any other day I've known	32:09
	for I felt as though I had been weighed in the balance	32:13
	and found wanting.	32:16
	I knew I was to go out into the world,	32:18
	having achieved some sense of status,	32:21
	having learned something of the wisdom of men and women	32:25
	and yet I was only aware of how much I didn't know.	32:30
	I had been through college largely	32:35
	because my parents sent me	32:37
	and it was expected of me to go.	32:39
	And my father expected me to be a dentist	32:42
	and I loved the courses related to the predental course.	32:45
	I was fascinated with biology and botany.	32:50
	I enjoyed the study of chemistry and psychology	32:54
	and the mysteries of physics	32:57
	and difficult though it was,	32:59
	it seemed to open up an understanding	33:02
	of the world that I had never known before	33:04
	and yet none of them answered the question	33:08
	that was deepest in my heart and that is why?	33:10
	I knew about the world, I knew a bit of the history.	33:16
	I had read a little of the literature.	33:20
	I understood some of the mysteries of science	33:22
	but I had no concept of the meaning of it all	33:25
	and it was essentially that absence of meaning	33:30
	on graduation day	33:32
	that made me feel terribly inadequate	33:35
	to face the world in which we live	33:40
	and yet it was not long after that	33:43
	that it all began to fall in place.	33:45
	It essentially began to fall in place	33:48
	as I began to see the meaning of life.	33:50
	Not in relation to myself and my parents,	33:54
	not even in relationship to my friends and colleagues	33:58
	or the standards expected of me	34:02
	by my former teachers	34:06
	and by the society of which I was a part	34:09
	but as all of a sudden it dawned on me	34:13
	that perhaps even me and you	34:15
	are numbered by the very hairs on our heads.	34:20
	That if not a sparrow falls to the ground,	34:24
	save our heavenly Father know of it.	34:26
	And if the very hairs on our head are numbered,	34:30
	is not consistent	34:33
	with those things which I had been studying	34:35
	that a universe which is so ordered	34:37
	from the structure of its planets,	34:40
	down to the rhythm	34:42
	and motion of its individual molecules and atoms,	34:45
	is it not consistent and probable	34:49
	that we who are those creatures	34:53
	in the midst of this,	34:58
	who have some sense of personhood,	35:01
	who can conceive of things beyond ourselves	35:06
	and within ourselves,	35:10
	is it not also probable	35:13
	that our lives,	35:18
	that each of our lives,	35:20
	has a particular purpose and meaning?	35:23
	And all of a sudden things began to be different	35:26
	because I wasn't searching the world	35:30
	to find a career. I wasn't searching	35:32
	with people to find a job.	35:36
	Somehow all of a sudden,	35:39
	the words of the hymn "Lead Kindly Light"	35:43
	which I had read as Mahatma Gandhi's favorite hymn,	35:46
	lead kindly light amid encircling gloom,	35:50
	lead thou me on.	35:54
	The path is dark and I am far from home.	35:56
	Lead thou me on.	36:00
	Guide thou my feet.	36:02
	I do not ask to see the distant scene.	36:05
	One step, enough for me.	36:09
	And having made the decision	36:12
	that I would take the next step,	36:14
	and if God would reveal to me the next step	36:17
	that I must take,	36:20
	that very day that one step would lead to another	36:22
	and that perhaps I might find my way	36:28
	through this wilderness below as the spirtuals call it.	36:32
	And that began one of the most fascinating journeys	36:37
	that I could imagine.	36:40
	For things have happened to me since then	36:42
	that were far beyond my capacity to understand	36:46
	or comprehend or even dream	36:49
	and I find myself now halfway through my life,	36:53
	perhaps maybe more than that,	36:56
	but still, not knowing what the future holds,	36:59
	still as an unemployed former ambassador,	37:04
	former Congressman, still sometime preacher	37:07
	wondering where my life will lead me.	37:11
	The difference between now and the days	37:15
	when I was in school	37:18
	was that it really doesn't make any difference anymore.	37:21
	I don't have to know what the future may hold	37:24
	because somewhere along the way,	37:28
	I got to know him who holds the future	37:30
	and the future that God holds for us	37:34
	is far more magnificent	37:40
	than our wildest dreams	37:43
	and our most exciting visions,	37:44
	for I found myself going to seminary.	37:47
	Not because I wanted to be a minister particularly.	37:51
	But because I knew I had to learn a bit more	37:54
	about the meaning of our lives.	37:58
	I had to understand the scriptures more.	38:00
	I had to get some sense of the philosophy of religion.	38:03
	Just for my own sake.	38:08
	And while I had ambitions to continue some	38:13
	of my college frivolities,	38:18
	it didn't seem to work out that way.	38:22
	That everything I had planned on,	38:25
	seemed to fail	38:28
	and it was almost as though my failures	38:30
	were my education	38:32
	and now, in a way,	38:34
	I thank God for them,	38:35
	particularly the little girl I was so fascinated with.	38:37
	For as our ways parted,	38:42
	I thought the end of the world had come	38:46
	and yet it was probably a wonderful parting for both of us.	38:49
	As I looked at an athletic career	38:55
	and thought of going on perhaps trying	38:57
	to make it to the Olympics,	39:00
	I found myself attracted	39:03
	to a responsibility	39:05
	to a recreation program	39:08
	in a little country town in Alabama	39:11
	and I really didn't wanna be in Alabama,	39:14
	I wanted to be in New York,	39:16
	running with the Pioneer Track Club	39:18
	but there was some appeal	39:20
	from a conference superintendent	39:22
	that this is a community	39:25
	that has had not had any organized youth programs	39:26
	for some years	39:30
	and we really need you to help our children	39:32
	through this summer	39:36
	in something so corny as a Bible school.	39:37
	And why I would give up running	39:42
	to go to Alabama to a Bible school, I don't know.	39:44
	And yet that seemed to be the wise choice,	39:47
	it seemed to be where whatever spirit was stirring within me	39:50
	was leading and it was out of that experience	39:55
	in the rural South	39:58
	that I began to piece together	40:00
	what my roots were about,	40:03
	what my life had come from.	40:05
	I began to get the first sense	40:09
	of the rich and deep culture	40:10
	of a rural black community,	40:14
	uncontaminated pretty much	40:17
	by some of the modern notions	40:19
	that were a part of my black middle class upbringing	40:24
	and it was in that context	40:28
	that a sense of commitment	40:30
	to social change in America began to emerge	40:32
	because you couldn't preach to children	40:35
	and realize that there was little	40:38
	or no opportunity of a future for them	40:40
	because their parents couldn't vote,	40:44
	because their schools were totally segregated and inferior,	40:46
	because they had almost no economic opportunity	40:50
	to get beyond the limits	40:55
	of a sharecropper existence.	40:58
	And it all of a sudden didn't seem right	41:00
	that I had had so many blessings	41:03
	and so many benefits	41:05
	and here were young people,	41:08
	many of whom were as bright and far brighter than I,	41:09
	whose talents were being squandered,	41:16
	simply because a segregated society	41:19
	denied them the opportunities.	41:22
	I also happened to meet a little country girl down there	41:25
	which ended up as Paula's mamma	41:27
	but that's sort of an aside	41:30
	that made everything else worthwhile.	41:32
	But I go into this in such detail	41:35
	because the ways God leads	41:38
	somehow is mysterious,	41:44
	it defies the standards of the world	41:47
	and yet it's wonderful.	41:52
	One would think that this kind of faith	41:56
	should not be too hard	42:00
	and yet, separating, discerning the will	42:03
	of God from your own will,	42:07
	how to really purify ourselves	42:10
	in some sense so that we can cast off all	42:13
	of those things which tend to interfere	42:17
	with our coming to an understanding	42:19
	of what God might do with us	42:21
	is really quite a challenge.	42:24
	It was amazing for us in seminary	42:26
	whereas we began to study	42:29
	and as we began to think of our futures,	42:31
	we began to try to chart the direction	42:34
	and I can remember one young fellow	42:38
	who was beginning to say that God had called him	42:41
	to pastor a church in South Dakota	42:44
	and the salary was very generous	42:47
	for preachers in those days.	42:49
	It was $3,000 a year.	42:51
	But then the conference superintendent	42:54
	from Wisconsin came by	42:55
	and there was a church that was paying $3,800 a year	42:57
	and all of a sudden God had called him to Wisconsin	43:01
	instead of North Dakota	43:04
	and finally, he ended up in Ohio pastoring a church,	43:06
	perhaps because the salary was $4,200 a year.	43:11
	Now, it was fairly clear to all of us,	43:17
	including him, that his call	43:19
	was somehow influenced	43:23
	not by what he thought to be the will of God	43:26
	but by what he thought	43:29
	to be the most immediate monetary gratification.	43:32
	And it's very interesting	43:36
	as we look at our lives	43:38
	and as we begin to try to decide	43:41
	what it is that God wants us to do,	43:43
	one of the first things we learn	43:45
	is that we really can't decide that alone.	43:46
	But somehow that has to be decided	43:50
	in the context of a church	43:52
	and the scriptures,	43:56
	that any of us alone	43:58
	will get pulled into our own emotional needs,	44:01
	will get pulled into those complexes	44:05
	and complications of our inner being,	44:09
	that we haven't fully sorted out yet	44:12
	and we will begin to think	44:15
	that the strange needs and desires within us	44:17
	are the will and guidance of God.	44:21
	But somehow the church in the scripture	44:23
	provides a protection against that.	44:25
	Yes, when you begin to get notions	44:30
	and when you begin to have understandings of life,	44:32
	somehow in reading through the scriptures,	44:35
	there is a judgment upon your own feelings	44:41
	and from that judgment upon your own feelings,	44:44
	you get to evaluate your feelings	44:46
	and you get to try to decide just what it is	44:49
	that is the motivating force	44:53
	in this particular decision.	44:55
	But when I say church,	44:57
	I don't just mean a congregation	44:59
	that meets at 11 o'clock every Sunday morning.	45:03
	Essentially I'm talking about two	45:07
	or three gathered together in his name	45:09
	and in some way, that kind of small intimate fellowship,	45:12
	that communion which may be in a Bible study group	45:18
	which combines the comradery of the church	45:22
	with the judgment and inspiration of the scriptures,	45:26
	but sometimes one can find the church sitting	45:30
	around the table in a pizza parlor.	45:34
	When things began to get relaxed	45:37
	and somebody dares to break down the shallow conversation	45:39
	and say something that's really deep and meaningful	45:45
	in their own lives,	45:50
	and that calls upon the others	45:52
	to begin to be a bit more honest.	45:55
	Whenever we are honest with ourselves	45:57
	and with each other,	46:00
	in the presence of two or three or more,	46:02
	and the more diverse the church, the better.	46:06
	One of the good things about racial integration	46:10
	is that the very presence	46:13
	of the mixture puts different cultural perspectives	46:15
	in the decision making.	46:20
	One of the good things about having a university	46:21
	that's no longer just upper middle class	46:24
	but that also has some poor people	46:27
	that by their virtues and abilities	46:29
	and hard work have an opportunity to study side by side	46:32
	with people who are privileged more monetarily by birth	46:36
	is that the different viewpoints,	46:43
	it's what the church would call	46:46
	in the early church, the ecumenical principle.	46:47
	It's that the church is the whole family of God	46:51
	and the more of that family that's represented	46:56
	in the decision-making process,	46:59
	the more accurate	47:02
	and the more in keeping with the will of God	47:04
	is likely to be the decision.	47:07
	And so, in talking about one's future,	47:10
	the presence of a student from Iran	47:14
	or the presence of a student from Africa,	47:17
	the presence of a student from Europe	47:19
	whose parents went through the turmoil	47:21
	of the Holocaust or the war,	47:24
	the presence of the differing traditions	47:26
	that make up our society	47:29
	essentially strengthen our ability	47:31
	to understand what God is doing in our midst	47:34
	and in our lives.	47:37
	But even when it's just the two or three	47:39
	of your most intimate friends,	47:43
	that's far better than trying to make the decision alone	47:46
	and when one can find guidance	47:50
	across generational lines,	47:53
	when one can seek out the wisdom	47:56
	and advice not only of the counselors	47:58
	and the chaplains	48:01
	but some of the elderly people	48:03
	who worked in quote menial employment	48:07
	around university facility.	48:11
	I always found that in people who do hard, menial work,	48:14
	people who get little or no monetary	48:19
	or cultural gratification from their employment,	48:22
	somehow they have found deep within some	48:26
	of the secrets of the meaning of life	48:30
	that may have eluded us	48:33
	who are more distracted	48:35
	by the conventional wisdom	48:38
	and the prevailing mood of our time.	48:40
	So this life of faith,	48:43
	this believing that you are God's child,	48:45
	that God does have a plan for your life	48:49
	requires a certain leap of faith,	48:52
	a leap of faith that is best determined	48:55
	in the company of other believers.	48:58
	The more diverse the believers, the better.	49:01
	But still that leaves us with the job of faith.	49:04
	And I don't know why it's so hard	49:08
	for us to accept a life of faith	49:10
	for we live a life of faith in man.	49:13
	I was reminded of it coming in this morning.	49:16
	There was fog at the Raleigh-Durham Airport.	49:20
	But if the pilot had said we're going in	49:26
	on an instrument landing,	49:28
	I would have been quite relaxed	49:29
	for I would have known	49:32
	that in an instrument landing in the fog,	49:33
	the technology of man is such	49:35
	that he could find the runway	49:37
	and we'd make it safe	49:39
	and I wouldn't have batted an eyelash	49:41
	or even had a moment's concern about it.	49:43
	Instead, he took us to Greensboro	49:46
	and coming down the expressway in Greensboro,	49:49
	not quite sure which way we're going,	49:54
	looking here and there,	49:56
	I realized how much faith is required	49:58
	to drive an expressway.	50:00
	Cars running 70 miles an hour	50:02
	in spite of the law, side by side.	50:05
	The slightest variation	50:09
	on the part of either one	50:11
	and everybody's destroyed	50:13
	and yet we put trust and faith	50:15
	in the engineers who designed those vehicles.	50:18
	We put trust and faith in the mechanics	50:21
	who repair them and keep them maintained,	50:23
	we put trust and faith	50:26
	in the creatures who drive them	50:29
	and yet when it comes time to put trust	50:31
	and faith in God,	50:34
	we all of a sudden become highly rational critical beings	50:36
	and we wonder can we trust him?	50:41
	I would say that as one looks	50:44
	at the probabilities,	50:48
	as one looks at the patterns of existence,	50:50
	as one looks at the timelessness of creation,	50:53
	the continuation of order	50:58
	in the midst of chaos,	51:00
	as one looks at his revelation in Jesus Christ,	51:02
	as one looks at his actions	51:06
	in the lives of others around us,	51:08
	as one enjoys the foundation	51:11
	of a great university,	51:13
	which came from a religious commitment	51:14
	to help men and women know and understand.	51:18
	As one looks at a hospital which comes out	51:23
	of a commitment made	51:26
	with man and God to heal the sick.	51:29
	As one looks at our great fields,	51:34
	that feed the hungry of the world,	51:37
	surely in the midst of the kind of order	51:39
	and pattern of life that we know,	51:43
	the revelation of God	51:47
	and the power of God	51:48
	and the meaning of God in our life is ever present.	51:50
	And so I would say to you do not be anxious	51:53
	about your life	51:56
	for your heavenly Father knows your need	51:58
	far greater than you	52:01
	and not a sparrow falls to the ground,	52:03
	save he knows of it.	52:06
	And the very hairs of your head are numbered	52:08
	and that if you can trust in God,	52:12
	that he can do for you more than you or I	52:16
	or anyone else, including your parents,	52:21
	could do for you.	52:25
	That as I have seen myself move	52:27
	from not being able to vote	52:30
	on a road from Selma to Montgomery,	52:33
	to going into the Congress	52:36
	and wondering how I got there,	52:39
	certainly in 1965,	52:40
	we could not conceive of that	52:42
	and yet there seemed to be a pulling apart	52:45
	of black and white	52:47
	and somebody said if in a district	52:49
	like Atlanta, Georgia,	52:51
	which is majority white,	52:52
	a young black person with your background runs for Congress	52:54
	and if a black and white coalition comes together,	52:59
	it will represent a new South.	53:02
	It will represent a healing of old wounds.	53:06
	And I began to think of the letter	53:10
	to the Ephesians about a ministry of reconciliation,	53:13
	breaking down dividing walls of hostility	53:18
	that have separated people	53:21
	and bringing them together using the frail	53:22
	and often corrupt vehicle of politics	53:25
	and yet somehow in the City of Atlanta,	53:28
	in that Fifth Congressional District,	53:31
	we were able to heal some of the old wounds	53:33
	and we were able to overcome those traditions which divide	53:36
	and we were able to become more like God's children	53:41
	for we respected and understood each other	53:46
	and we profited and learned from our differences.	53:49
	Moving on to a United Nations.	53:53
	Something that was unimaginable	53:55
	and yet it was also unimaginable	53:57
	that a peanut farmer	54:00
	would get to the White House.	54:01
	(congregation laughing)	54:03
	But all of this somehow was part	54:04
	of something of a movement	54:08
	of forces across this land	54:11
	and of forces across the Earth	54:13
	and I was not the least bit concerned	54:16
	about a United Nations position	54:20
	and yet, after a visit to Africa	54:23
	and after leaders from 29 African nations said,	54:26
	"The US has abandoned us,	54:30
	"you've left us to the communists.	54:33
	"Somehow you have to get back in the business	54:35
	"of helping us develop democratic societies	54:38
	"that respect human rights	54:42
	"and that exist by the rule of the majority"	54:43
	and coming back and realizing	54:48
	that there was that kind of expectation	54:51
	that the United States that perhaps popularized the notion	54:53
	of human rights,	54:57
	that the United States through its churches	54:58
	which went the world telling men, women and children	55:00
	that they were God's children,	55:04
	that somehow the world was now asking us	55:06
	to live up to our preachments of the last 100 years	55:09
	and help us to share democracy,	55:13
	help us to share the values	55:15
	of our Judeo-Christian heritage with them.	55:17
	And so the path of God leads on.	55:20
	Not always up, sometimes down	55:25
	but in the words of the scripture,	55:28
	one must know that whether it's up or down,	55:30
	one's soul is always heavenly bound	55:33
	and we might not know what the future may hold	55:36
	but we know him who holds the future	55:40
	and in the tradition of Southern black clergy	55:43
	that if you take one step, the Lord will take two.	55:48
	That somehow there is a sprit moving across the land	55:52
	and that if one is faithful,	55:57
	somehow God will lead.	56:00
	More and more I hear people singing now the words	56:02
	of a modern Gospel song	56:05
	in the midst of their confusion	56:07
	as an affirmation of faith.	56:09
	Lord, I don't feel in no ways tired.	56:11
	I've come too far from where I've started from.	56:14
	Nobody told me that the way would be easy	56:17
	but I don't believe that he brought me this far	56:20
	to leave me.	56:24
	I don't believe that God has brought you	56:25
	to this university,	56:27
	invested in you the kind of instruction,	56:29
	the kind of opportunity, the kind of exposure,	56:33
	the kind of intelligence,	56:35
	the kind of wealth, the kind of access to technology	56:36
	to leave you.	56:40
	Certainly the hungry must be fed,	56:42
	certainly the naked must be clothed	56:45
	and the sick must be healed,	56:47
	certainly continued political order	56:49
	must come from the chaos that surrounds us	56:51
	and you as God's children	56:55
	somehow in the hollow of his hand	56:57
	must somehow find a way	57:01
	to let him lead you in the paths of service,	57:04
	in the paths of suffering perhaps	57:09
	but certainly in the paths of joy and meaning and love.	57:12
	Let us pray.	57:17
	Almighty God,	57:20
	we come before thee like a full fountain	57:22
	knowing that we are empty pitchers	57:27
	with no merit of our own.	57:29
	Fill our hearts and our minds.	57:34
	Inspire us with thy love,	57:38
	convict us in thy compassion.	57:42
	Extend to us the wisdom and the discipline	57:45
	that will enable us	57:49
	to seek and to find thee	57:51
	and to know that we have been found by thee.	57:56
	That we are worthy not by merit	58:01
	but by thy suffering love	58:06
	through thy son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ	58:11
	in whose name we pray, amen.	58:15
	(lively organ music)	58:25
	(congregation singing)	58:54
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	1:01:09
-	We believe in God	1:01:12
	who has created and is creating,	1:01:14
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:01:17
	to reconcile and make new,	1:01:21
	who works in us and others by the Spirit.	1:01:24
	We trust God who calls us to be the church	1:01:27
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	1:01:32
	to love and serve others,	1:01:35
	to seek justice and resist evil.	1:01:38
	To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	1:01:41
	our judge and our hope.	1:01:45
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	1:01:48
	God is with us.	1:01:53
	We are not alone.	1:01:55
	Thanks be to God.	1:01:57
-	The Lord be with you.	1:01:59
-	And with you.	1:02:01
-	Let us pray.	1:02:03
	Oh Christ, we remember that you walked	1:02:16
	over hills of Galilee	1:02:19
	and through dusty roads	1:02:22
	of the countryside healing, teaching and preaching,	1:02:24
	dealing and meeting with all kinds of people.	1:02:29
	You came upon the afflicted	1:02:33
	and gave them comfort.	1:02:35
	At your touch, the blind received their sight,	1:02:38
	the deaf heard, the lame walked	1:02:42
	and the dead were raised	1:02:45
	and we see that their hearts rejoiced	1:02:48
	and gave thanks.	1:02:51
	Even so, today come and touch those	1:02:53
	who are sick,	1:02:57
	those in more pain than they can bear,	1:02:59
	those who are dying, the crippled and the blind.	1:03:02
	Touch them from suffering and illness	1:03:08
	of the soul.	1:03:11
	Touch those who are lonely and broken hearted,	1:03:13
	the disappointed and the discouraged,	1:03:18
	the depressed and the indifferent.	1:03:21
	Touch and heal these	1:03:24
	that they too may rejoice and give thanks.	1:03:26
	Oh Christ, we remember that you rebuked the hypocrites	1:03:31
	of long ago, exposing shallow piety,	1:03:36
	cheap faith and self-centered religion	1:03:40
	for what it was.	1:03:44
	Even so today,	1:03:46
	rebuke our hypocrisy.	1:03:48
	If there is any phoniness in our professed loyalty	1:03:51
	to you, if we indeed,	1:03:55
	wear a mask of counterfeit love	1:03:58
	that hides a heart of indifference,	1:04:01
	if there is prejudice underneath a thin veneer	1:04:04
	of tolerance, expose us for what we are	1:04:08
	that at least we may be honest	1:04:14
	before your Almighty presence.	1:04:16
	Oh Jesus, we remember that you taught your followers	1:04:21
	the high cost of discipleship.	1:04:26
	You told them that to become a follower	1:04:30
	would be demanding,	1:04:33
	there would be sacrifices to make,	1:04:35
	crosses to bear.	1:04:37

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "A New Covenant Is Risky Indeed" (September 7, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1): 31:32. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 58:20.
In this sermon, Robert T. Young preaches on what it means to enter into a covenant with God and the risks it involves. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Covenant affirms who God is, who each of us is, who we are altogether. Covenant means ‘I will be your God and you shall be my people.’”

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4d795s00

Date:

September 7, 1980

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

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Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1111
ref7434_4ik
uachapelsermaud
duke:320286
dcrau001990
ark:/87924/r4d795s00
9bcd6e3e-4f55-4a6d-90f8-17c856ab94e7

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United States
North Carolina
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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Robert T. Young - "A New Covenant Is Risky Indeed" (September 7, 1980)

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