Robert T. Young - "For God so Loved the World" (January 25, 1981)

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	(high pitched beeping)	0:03
	(soft organ music)	0:13
	(humming)	6:20
	(chattering)	6:22
	♪ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord ♪	6:28
	♪ For my soul shall exalt in my God ♪	6:33
	♪ For he has clothed me ♪	6:38
	♪ With the garments of salvation ♪	6:40
	♪ He has covered me ♪	6:45
	♪ With the robe of righteousness ♪	6:48
	♪ As a bridegroom, as a bridegroom ♪	6:53
	♪ Decks himself in the robe, decks himself in the robe ♪	6:56
	♪ As a bride adorns herself with her jewels ♪	7:00
	♪ Adorns herself with her jewels ♪	7:06
	♪ With her jewels ♪	7:11
	♪ For as the earth springs forth its sprouts ♪	7:18
	♪ And as a garden causes what is sown ♪	7:23
	♪ And as a garden causes what is sown to spring up ♪	7:27
	♪ To spring up ♪	7:32
	♪ So the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord ♪	7:36
	♪ Will cause righteousness and praise ♪	7:41
	♪ Will cause righteousness and praise ♪	7:45
	♪ To spring forth ♪	7:49
	♪ To spring forth ♪	7:52
	♪ To spring forth ♪	7:54
	♪ Before all our nations ♪	7:57
	(soft organ music)	8:11
	(muffled choir singing)	8:34
-	Be seated.	12:09
	We have been unwilling to be faithful.	12:16
	We have failed to take seriously	12:20
	our responsibility to other persons,	12:22
	and we ignore the tragedy of human separation.	12:25
	Hear then, oh God, our prayer for forgiveness.	12:30
	Oh God, we depart from what has gone	12:36
	for better or for worse.	12:39
	We strike upon the hopeful opportunities	12:42
	of the days yet to come.	12:45
	However, let us not forget our mistakes of the past.	12:47
	Deliver us, Lord, from the arrogance of prejudice,	12:52
	the delusion of pride,	12:56
	the extravagance of greed,	12:59
	the pity of uninvolvement.	13:02
	Turn not away from us, oh Lord,	13:04
	in the presence of our iniquities.	13:07
	Forgive us, renew us, inspire us,	13:10
	that we may evolve maturely beyond	13:15
	our crooked paths of yesterday.	13:17
	This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.	13:21
	Amen.	13:25
	May Almighty God,	13:46
	who caused light to shine out of darkness,	13:48
	shine in our hearts,	13:51
	cleansing us from all our sins	13:53
	and restoring us to the light	13:56
	of the knowledge of God's glory	13:59
	in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.	14:01
	Amen.	14:05
	Let us give thanks for God is good	14:08
	and God's love is everlasting.	14:10
	Thanks be to God	14:14
	whose love has made us.	14:16
	Thanks be to God	14:17
	whose mercy forgives us.	14:20
	Thanks be to God	14:22
	whose promise secures us.	14:24
	Amen.	14:27
	We welcome you this morning	14:29
	to the university service of worship	14:30
	here at Duke University Chapel.	14:33
	It is a day of national rejoicing	14:36
	as we welcome home	14:38
	our American hostages from Iran.	14:40
	And we surely join in prayer and thought	14:44
	with these 52 Americans as they return home,	14:46
	and with their families,	14:51
	as somehow they begin now to begin now to,	14:53
	begin to face the future and what lies ahead.	14:56
	Our prayers, our love and thoughts	15:00
	surround them in this reentry time.	15:03
	You will note in the bulletin that	15:07
	the American Cross Bloodmobile	15:09
	will be here tomorrow on campus.	15:12
	We invite you to come and participate.	15:15
	It will be in the chapel basement area,	15:18
	Monday and Tuesday.	15:20
	Please come by if you can be a possible donor	15:23
	to this worthy cause.	15:26
	You will also note that we are receiving	15:29
	applications for Student Preacher Sunday	15:32
	to be March the 1st of this year.	15:35
	We invite any student, undergraduate or graduate,	15:39
	to consider applying for this opportunity	15:43
	to preach in Duke Chapel.	15:46
	You are welcome to submit an application.	15:48
	We will schedule an interview for you	15:51
	and we look forward to meeting with some of you	15:53
	for this very special occasion.	15:56
-	Let us pray.	16:14
	Oh Lord our God,	16:17
	you have given your Word	16:19
	to be a lamp unto our feet	16:21
	and a light unto our path.	16:24
	Grant us grace to receive your truth	16:27
	in faith and love.	16:29
	That by it, we may be prepared	16:32
	unto every good word and work,	16:34
	to the glory of your name.	16:37
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	16:40
	The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah chapter nine,	16:46
	verses two through seven.	16:50
	The people who walked in darkness	16:54
	have seen a great light.	16:56
	Those who dwelled in a land of deep darkness	16:59
	on them has light shined.	17:02
	Thou hast multiplied the nation.	17:06
	Thou hast increased its joy.	17:08
	They rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest.	17:11
	As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.	17:15
	For the yoke of his burden	17:20
	and the rod for his shoulder,	17:22
	the rod of his oppressor,	17:24
	thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.	17:26
	For every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult,	17:31
	and every garment rolled in blood	17:35
	will be burned as fuel for the fire.	17:38
	For unto us a child is born.	17:42
	To us, a Son is given.	17:46
	And the government will be upon his shoulder.	17:49
	And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor,	17:52
	Mighty God, Everlasting Father,	17:57
	Prince of Peace.	18:01
	Of the increase of his government and of peace,	18:04
	there will be no end.	18:07
	Upon the throne of David	18:09
	and over his kingdom to establish it.	18:11
	To uphold it with justice and with righteousness.	18:15
	From this time forth and forevermore.	18:20
	The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.	18:24
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	18:28
	Amen.	18:31
	(soft organ music)	18:42
	(muffled choir singing)	18:46
-	Will the congregation please rise	20:20
	for the reading of the New Testament?	20:22
	The Gospel is from John chapter three,	20:28
	verses 16 through 21.	20:31
	For God so loved the world	20:35
	that he gave his only Son,	20:38
	that whoever believes in him	20:40
	should not perish,	20:43
	but should have eternal life.	20:45
	For God sent the Son into the world,	20:48
	not to condemn the world,	20:50
	but that the world might be saved through him.	20:53
	He who believes in him is not condemned.	20:57
	He who does not believe is condemned already	21:02
	because he has not believed	21:07
	that the light has come into the world.	21:09
	And men love darkness rather than light	21:12
	because their deeds were evil.	21:17
	For everyone who does evil, hates the light,	21:19
	and does not come to the light.	21:23
	Lest his deeds should be exposed.	21:26
	But he who does what is true comes to the light.	21:29
	That it may be clearly seen	21:33
	that his deeds have been wrought in God.	21:36
	Here ends the reading from the Gospel lesson.	21:40
	Amen.	21:43
	(soft organ music)	21:45
	(muffled choir singing)	21:51
-	In the name of the Lord our God,	22:42
	who creates us,	22:47
	who through Jesus Christ redeems us,	22:51
	and who through the power and presence	22:56
	of the Holy Spirit sustains us.	22:58
	Amen.	23:04
	In the Old Testament and the New Testament,	23:08
	in our Holy Bible,	23:14
	in our holy Scriptures and what we Christians	23:18
	call the written Word of God,	23:22
	there are many beautiful, power-filled,	23:25
	unforgettable passages.	23:31
	Passages that I would call,	23:33
	"passages that preach."	23:36
	You can recall them.	23:40
	1 Corinthians 13.	23:43
	The 23rd Psalm.	23:46
	Isaiah 6:1 through 8.	23:50
	Mark 16, where the words,	23:53
	"He is not here, he has risen" are found.	23:56
	Luke chapter 15.	24:01
	John chapter one, verses one through 14.	24:05
	The eighth chapter of the book of Romans.	24:10
	Revelation 21 and 22.	24:13
	Passages that preach.	24:16
	But perhaps the best known, the best remembered,	24:19
	the most often repeated passage	24:22
	in all of Scripture is John 3:16.	24:24
	But as I look at that this morning	24:27
	and ask you to look at it with me,	24:29
	I want us always to keep John 3:16	24:31
	and John 3:17 together.	24:34
	For one feeling I have is that when	24:39
	we think of John 3:16 only,	24:41
	we miss what may be an even greater message,	24:43
	which is found in John 3:17.	24:46
	"For God so loved the world	24:48
	"that he gave his only Son.	24:53
	"That whoever believes in him should not perish,	24:57
	"but have eternal life.	24:59
	"For God sent the Son into the world,	25:01
	"not to condemn the world,	25:06
	"but that the world through him,	25:11
	"might be saved."	25:14
	So for the next few times that I preach,	25:20
	I want to look at some of these passages that preach.	25:24
	These passages that we all know.	25:28
	That have well known, ready made, memorable	25:31
	messages in them.	25:35
	Passages that you could preach about,	25:37
	I have an idea, just as well as I could.	25:39
	Because I feel that now is the time	25:43
	for us within the Christian church	25:46
	to get back to the basics,	25:48
	to see what are our roots,	25:49
	to see what is the faith,	25:51
	what are the passages,	25:53
	what are the words that have made us	25:54
	and that shape us and our lives in Christ.	25:57
	It's like Emil Brunner,	26:03
	the great late Swiss theologian wrote	26:04
	at the beginning of World War II,	26:08
	when he and his people, his country,	26:11
	were threatened,	26:14
	and they knew not what lay ahead.	26:15
	They're drops from everyone	26:21
	of the great words of the Bible.	26:24
	A particularly clear light	26:27
	upon the events of time.	26:30
	We, he wrote in the early 1940s,	26:35
	"we can understand what the issues are today	26:38
	"only when we place ourselves at the highest height.	26:41
	"We can recognize what God requires of us today	26:46
	"only when we reflect upon	26:50
	"the deepest foundations of our faith."	26:51
	He who wants to build a solid house	26:55
	must lay his foundation deep.	26:57
	Superficial things of which there are indeed enough	27:01
	will not really be of service to us today.	27:05
	We want to build our house upon rock,	27:09
	upon God's own Word,	27:11
	upon Jesus Christ and everything that can make	27:13
	God's Word great to us,	27:16
	and that can make Jesus Christ	27:18
	the center of our thinking and our willing.	27:20
	That and that alone is now truly relevant to the times.	27:25
	So for the sermons I preach the next few times,	27:30
	I want to concentrate on those passages	27:33
	that can make God's Word great	27:35
	and can make Jesus Christ	27:38
	the center of our thinking and our willing.	27:41
	Today, John 3:16 through 21.	27:46
	And here we see in just a few words	27:51
	the fullness of God's divine mind	27:54
	and God's divine plan.	27:57
	John wants us to know very simply	28:01
	that God is love.	28:04
	And the first result of God being love	28:09
	is that God sends his Son.	28:11
	And the second result of God's being love	28:16
	is that God is going to save	28:19
	the whole world.	28:22
	John 3:16 or John 3:16 and 17	28:28
	is everybody's text.	28:32
	This is everybody's favorite passage, or one of them.	28:34
	This is the verse everybody knows and remembers.	28:38
	This is the Gospel in miniature,	28:41
	as Martin Luther once said.	28:43
	All of the Bible's message in just a few lines.	28:45
	The entire Word, if you will,	28:50
	in just a few words.	28:52
	And here, John is summarizing Jesus' message.	28:56
	Here John is also summarizing his own message	29:00
	that he writes in the Gospel.	29:04
	If you read carefully the entire Gospel of John	29:07
	all the way through,	29:10
	there's certain words and phrases	29:11
	that occur over and over.	29:13
	Words and phrases that obviously are John's favorite	29:14
	very special words.	29:18
	And so here, in just six verses,	29:21
	John uses his most important	29:24
	and his choice words several times.	29:26
	He uses them to pull all together here	29:30
	in just a few lines.	29:33
	Surely to emphasize for us	29:36
	that this really is at the heart and soul	29:38
	of the message that God and Jesus and he,	29:41
	John, have to give to the world.	29:45
	For then and for now.	29:48
	Words like "love."	29:50
	"Agape."	29:54
	Which occurs 37 times in the Gospel of John.	29:55
	Words like "the world", (speaking foreign language).	30:00
	Words like "the only son."	30:06
	Words like "believes."	30:11
	Words that come from John like "eternal life"	30:17
	or "be saved."	30:22
	Surely this is the gospel in miniature,	30:27
	this is God's word of home, of assurance, of love,	30:29
	of salvation, of new life for all persons	30:32
	given in just a few lines and what a passage,	30:36
	what a message, what beauty, what a word.	30:41
	Thank God for this incomparable word so rich,	30:45
	so rare,	30:49
	indeed, so unforgettable.	30:51
	These words, if we notice, are put in the context of	30:55
	John's gospel just after the story of Nicodemus.	30:58
	Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews,	31:02
	the one who came from the Pharisees,	31:05
	who came to Jesus by night, marveling at all the things	31:06
	that Jesus did and exclaiming that surely Jesus was	31:10
	a teacher come from God for no one can do these things	31:14
	that you do, he said to Jesus,	31:18
	unless that one is from God.	31:20
	Jesus then tells Nicodemus that mysterious word	31:24
	that one must be born again in order to enter	31:28
	into the kingdom of God.	31:32
	Nicodemus, as most of us would, would naturally responds	31:34
	and wants to know how can one be born again,	31:39
	can one possibly enter a second time	31:42
	into one's mother's womb and be born again?	31:45
	And Jesus replies, "unless one is born of water	31:51
	"and the Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God."	31:56
	And then he goes on in just a few words to explain	32:02
	to Nicodemus what he means about	32:05
	being born of water and the Spirit and being born anew	32:07
	and he finishes his words to Nicodemus with these words:	32:12
	"as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,	32:15
	"so must the Son of man be lifted up,	32:18
	"that whoever believes in him,	32:22
	"may have eternal life."	32:25
	Now, those are Jesus' words.	32:32
	I think that John then comes on here	32:36
	with his own words because what Jesus has	32:38
	just told Nicodemus is so important	32:40
	that John wants to be sure that all,	32:44
	all persons hear,	32:48
	and see and understand,	32:50
	and comprehend and believe	32:52
	and thus have eternal life.	32:58
	For these words in this passage this morning	33:02
	are the words of eternal life, my friends.	33:05
	These are the words that show us the way and the truth	33:08
	and the life.	33:11
	These are the words,	33:14
	this is the one who will draw all persons unto himself,	33:17
	Jesus.	33:21
	Jesus who said "so must the Son of man be lifted up	33:23
	"and as the Son of man is lifted up,	33:27
	"he will draw all persons unto him."	33:29
	John.	33:34
	For you see,	33:37
	God loved the world so very much	33:40
	that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him	33:46
	should not perish but have eternal life.	33:51
	For God sent the Son into the world	33:55
	not to condemn the world but that the world	33:58
	through him might be saved.	34:02
	First of all, for God so loved the world,	34:07
	that's what it says.	34:11
	We need to remind ourselves again in this day and time	34:14
	that God does love the world.	34:17
	Surely as the Psalmist wrote, the earth is the Lord's,	34:21
	the world and all who dwell therein,	34:25
	the world, the earth is the Lord's.	34:27
	The way John puts it, for God so loved the world,	34:32
	(speaking foreign language),	34:34
	from which we get the word cosmos,	34:37
	for God so loved everything,	34:41
	the whole universe,	34:45
	the entire cosmos,	34:47
	all that there is surrounding us,	34:52
	all that we have and own and use,	34:55
	all that feeds us, nourishes us, sustains us,	34:58
	all that keeps us going, all animate and inanimate things,	35:01
	there is nothing outside the love of God.	35:07
	For God so loved the world,	35:12
	that is the cosmos.	35:15
	And we need to remind ourselves of that	35:20
	and learn or maybe perhaps learn again how to love	35:21
	and respect and care for the world which God has made	35:25
	and has given us to enjoy.	35:28
	Perhaps the old Genesis concept	35:31
	that we have been created by God to have,	35:35
	you remember the words there?	35:37
	To have dominion over the created order	35:40
	will just not work any longer, my friends.	35:42
	Perhaps even John knew this and John was trying	35:47
	to tell the people in that day	35:49
	and is trying to tell us here,	35:50
	if God so loved the world enough to give the Son,	35:53
	to send the Son and to save the world,	35:57
	then surely we should love the world enough	36:00
	to care for it	36:03
	and to treat it caringly	36:07
	and lovingly	36:11
	and respectfully.	36:13
	There are some frightening words coming to us today	36:17
	by demographers, people who are studying what we are doing	36:20
	with earth's natural resources.	36:25
	Demographers are telling us	36:30
	that we must learn to love the earth.	36:33
	We must learn to be more caring	36:38
	and more careful with the world than we have been	36:41
	for the past 50 years and than we are now.	36:45
	Or the world as we know it,	36:49
	will just absolutely be no more.	36:52
	I was just reading that if we continue consumption	36:57
	at the current rate in the world,	37:01
	many of the natural resources that we have	37:06
	will soon be gone.	37:09
	Aluminum will last 100 years,	37:10
	2081.	37:15
	Copper will last 36 years.	37:18
	Led, 26 years.	37:23
	Natural gas, 38 years.	37:27
	Zinc, 23 years.	37:31
	Tin, 17 years.	37:34
	Petroleum,	37:37
	31 years.	37:40
	Or, at the present rate that we are consuming	37:42
	the natural resources, all of the petroleum that	37:47
	demographers estimate that will be at our disposal	37:51
	will be gone by the year 2012.	37:55
	No wonder God loved and loves the world.	38:02
	God knows that the world must be loved and respected	38:08
	and cared for, replenished wherever possible,	38:11
	God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son.	38:15
	That's how much God loves the world, the cosmos.	38:21
	But somehow rather in our thinking about God	38:27
	and about the world, we think that God is far off somewhere	38:29
	and that the world, the earth, is here and is separated	38:32
	from God, we think that God is way out there somewhere	38:34
	and the world, the earth, is here, not so.	38:37
	Not the God in whom we Christians believe,	38:42
	for God is incarnate, God is in the midst of it all	38:44
	right here in the world.	38:47
	And some poetic lines of	38:51
	G. A. Studdert Kennedy say it beautifully.	38:54
	He says, "how far above the things of earth	38:57
	"is Jesus Christ at God's right hand?	39:01
	"How far away is God?	39:04
	"As far as meaning is from speech,	39:09
	"as beauty from a rose,	39:13
	"as far as music is from sound,	39:16
	"as poetry from prose,	39:19
	"as far as art from cleverness,	39:22
	"as painting is from paints,	39:24
	"as far as signs from sacraments,	39:27
	"as Pharisees from Saints,	39:30
	"as far as love from friendship is,	39:33
	"as reason is from truth,	39:36
	"as far as laughter is from joy,	39:38
	"and early years from youth.	39:41
	"As far as love from shining eyes,	39:43
	"as passion from a kiss,	39:46
	"so far is God from God's green earth,	39:48
	"so far that world from this.	39:52
	"No wonder that God loved the world so much,	39:56
	"for God is as close to the world,	39:58
	"as beauty is close to a rose,	40:00
	"as music is to sound,	40:03
	"as painting is to paint,	40:04
	"as close as signs are to sacraments."	40:06
	No wonder God loved the world that much.	40:13
	But God's loving the world in the second place, I believe.	40:20
	God's loving the world, the cosmos,	40:27
	I believe.	40:33
	Never saved a soul,	40:39
	it never made anyone whole,	40:43
	it never brought anyone into the kingdom of heaven,	40:48
	it never gave anyone eternal life.	40:55
	So,	41:02
	for God so loved the world then	41:04
	must mean that,	41:09
	must mean more than,	41:11
	that God loves the world as the world.	41:13
	And it does.	41:19
	It must.	41:22
	Surely it does.	41:24
	For God so loved the world, yes,	41:27
	sure, absolutely, unequivocally,	41:30
	but how about saying,	41:35
	for God so loved not the world	41:38
	but God so loved all the people of the world?	41:41
	Don't tell me just that God loves the world.	41:48
	Don't tell me just that God	41:54
	loves the world enough to send the Son,	41:56
	for the world is things and elements	41:59
	and creatures and rocks and skies and trees	42:03
	and hills and deserts and stumps and mud and glass	42:08
	and caves and valleys and hills and storms in the night	42:11
	and hail in the rain and fire that burns	42:15
	and wind that destroys.	42:18
	No, please, please, don't tell me just that God loves	42:21
	the world as the world because that really never saved	42:24
	anybody's soul,	42:28
	and it never made anybody whole.	42:31
	So, please, will you tell me that when John says	42:37
	for God so loved the world that what he really meant was	42:42
	for God so loved all the peoples of the world,	42:45
	so much so that God sent his Son that each child	42:52
	who belonged to God might have eternal life.	42:57
	There are times in my life and I'm sure there are times	43:02
	in your life when it is important for us to know	43:06
	that God loves and cares about the world and it is,	43:08
	we must believe that.	43:11
	And we must love the world	43:13
	but there are other times when I really couldn't care less	43:16
	whether God loves the world, what I really want to know	43:20
	is that God loves me.	43:24
	There is a part of me that says	43:29
	yes, it is important to know,	43:31
	that God loves the world.	43:35
	There is another part of me that says, I don't give a damn	43:39
	whether or not God loves the world,	43:44
	what I really want to know deep in my heart and soul	43:47
	is that God loves me	43:50
	and that God loves every brother and sister of mine	43:52
	who lives and walks on the face of this earth,	43:56
	red and yellow, black and white,	43:58
	all are precious in his sight.	44:01
	Jesus, God,	44:05
	loves all the children of the world.	44:07
	Surely it is as Saint Augustine once wrote centuries ago,	44:15
	"God loves each of us,	44:20
	"as if there was only one to love."	44:23
	Each of us surely needs to know and believe that	44:30
	our beginning and our ending are in God, are with God,	44:33
	are in the presence of God, are in the love of God.	44:38
	There's another passage in John where John says,	44:42
	behold the Lamb of God in the first chapter of John	44:45
	where he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away	44:48
	the sin of the world, that's beautiful, that's powerful,	44:51
	that's important, that's rich, that's filled with meaning	44:54
	but don't tell me to behold the Lamb of God	44:57
	who takes away the sin of the world	45:00
	when what I really need is to be told	45:02
	behold the Lamb of God who takes away your sin,	45:04
	and my sin.	45:08
	For God so loved the world, no.	45:14
	For God so loved me,	45:19
	yes.	45:24
	And then in John 3:17, for God sent the Son into the world	45:28
	not to condemn the world but that the world through him	45:31
	might be saved.	45:36
	Would you let me rephrase that?	45:40
	For God sent the son,	45:42
	not to condemn us	45:45
	but that through the son,	45:49
	we might be saved.	45:52
	Not to condemn us,	45:57
	no more condemnation.	45:59
	My friend, if God in Christ is not going to condemn us,	46:03
	who are we to condemn ourselves or,	46:07
	who are we to condemn one another?	46:09
	No more condemnation, not to condemn us.	46:12
	Absolutely beautiful word,	46:17
	that we need today.	46:20
	I know of so many pulpits from which the word,	46:24
	the heavy word of condemnation flows forth	46:28
	Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.	46:31
	But my friends, I, this morning, stand here to tell you	46:36
	I don't know of any child of God this day	46:39
	who needs to be made to feel any more guilty	46:43
	about living the kind of life that he or she is living.	46:46
	I don't know of any child of God upon the face	46:49
	of this earth who needs to be condemned in any way	46:53
	any more whatsoever.	46:56
	Not to condemn us.	47:01
	God sent the Son into the world	47:05
	not to tell us how bad,	47:09
	or evil or wrong or guilty we are,	47:12
	not to condemn us,	47:17
	but to save us.	47:20
	And the Greek word for save here is not	47:25
	"come down that sawdust trail,	47:29
	"and get your heart right with God"	47:31
	or,	47:33
	"fall on your knees and get your soul right with God,"	47:34
	it's not many of the things that we often think	47:37
	being saved today really means.	47:39
	What that Greek word means is to be put in,	47:42
	means is to be put in right relation,	47:44
	it is,	47:47
	it means to be made whole again.	47:47
	So, God sent the Son into the world	47:54
	not to condemn you or me,	47:59
	or any other person	48:01
	but that through that same Son each one of us,	48:05
	every one of us,	48:08
	might be made whole.	48:11
	The year I was in Scotland,	48:18
	I had the privilege of working with a man called	48:20
	the Reverend Willy Wright.	48:22
	He was 71 years old at the time I was there,	48:25
	the year I worked with him.	48:29
	He had been at this same church where he was at that time.	48:31
	He had been at this same church for 35 years.	48:34
	There was no man, there was no person,	48:38
	any more beloved in that community of Rutherglen, Scotland	48:40
	than Willy Wright.	48:45
	He married people, he baptized people, he buried people.	48:51
	He visited those who were sick and those who were shut in,	48:56
	he held the hands of those who were dying,	48:59
	and he stood beside the beds of those who were bereaved	49:01
	and grieving.	49:04
	I have known days on which he had as many as	49:08
	three funerals in one day.	49:11
	One Sunday morning, after we had had a particularly	49:17
	heavy week in that	49:21
	steel mill village congregation.	49:23
	Willy Wright stood before his people,	49:28
	and he said,	49:33
	"my dear friends,	49:35
	"the longer I live with you	49:39
	"and the more I share your struggles and your heartaches	49:42
	"and the hard times and the difficulties that you have,	49:47
	"the more I live life with you,	49:51
	"the less I want to speak	49:56
	a word of condemnation of you	49:58
	"and the more I want to speak a word of love	50:02
	"and compassion for you."	50:07
	Will you stand, please?	50:17
	(chattering)	50:21
	In the old days, they used to line hymns	50:27
	and someone would sing a line	50:29
	and then the congregation would respond.	50:31
	I'd like to line this passage of Scripture	50:35
	and ask you to repeat these words after me, if you will.	50:38
	With full voice and with all the feeling that you have,	50:43
	will you respond?	50:49
	For God so loved the world.	50:52
-	For God so loved the world.	50:54
-	That he gave his only Son.	50:58
-	That he gave his only Son.	51:00
-	That whoever believes in him.	51:02
-	That whoever believes in him.	51:05
-	Should not perish.	51:08
-	Should not perish.	51:10
-	But have eternal life.	51:11
-	But have eternal life.	51:13
-	For God sent the Son into the world.	51:16
-	For God sent the Son into the world.	51:18
-	Not to condemn the world.	51:21
-	Not to condemn the world.	51:23
-	But that the world through him might be saved.	51:25
-	But that the world through him might be saved.	51:28
-	And now will you repeat these words with me?	51:32
	For God so loved the people of the world.	51:38
-	For God so loved the people of the world.	51:42
-	That he gave his only Son.	51:46
-	That he gave his only Son.	51:49
-	That whoever believes in him.	51:51
-	That whoever believes in him.	51:53
-	Should not perish but have eternal life.	51:56
-	Should not perish but have eternal life.	51:59
-	For God sent the Son to us.	52:02
-	For God sent the Son to us.	52:05
-	Not to condemn us.	52:08
-	Not to condemn us.	52:11
-	But that through the Son.	52:13
-	But that through the Son.	52:16
-	We all might be made whole.	52:18
-	We all might be made whole.	52:22
-	And that is the gospel truth.	52:25
	Amen.	52:29
	(soft organ music)	52:36
	(muffled choir singing)	52:47
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	54:48
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	54:51
	who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile	54:56
	and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.	55:01
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	55:07
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	55:11
	to love and serve others,	55:14
	to seek justice and resist evil,	55:17
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	55:20
	our judge and our hope in life, in death,	55:24
	in life beyond death, God is with us,	55:29
	we are not alone.	55:33
	Thanks be to God.	55:36
	The Lord be with you.	55:38
-	And in your spirit.	55:40
-	Let us pray.	55:42
	O Eternal God, you have sent your only Son,	55:56
	Jesus the Christ, to liberate us from the plight of sin	56:01
	and to deliver us from the finality of death.	56:07
	You have clothed him in flesh and invested in him	56:12
	the keys to what is a greater kingdom.	56:17
	Jesus came and lived among us,	56:20
	he identified with us,	56:24
	Jesus gave us love,	56:28
	compassion,	56:31
	joy,	56:33
	peace,	56:35
	and hope.	56:36
	But due to our failure to grasp the spiritual thrust	56:38
	of his message of truth.	56:42
	O God, we have become rich in power and yet poor in spirit.	56:46
	We find ourselves rejoicing in bigotry	56:53
	and yet fail to mourn social injustices.	56:57
	We are deep in pride and yet shallow in humility.	57:02
	We find ourselves inflicting cruelty in our relationships	57:08
	and we stand deficient in mercy.	57:13
	We glutton after iniquity	57:17
	and yet we starve after righteousness.	57:20
	We choose to refine ourselves with false appearances	57:24
	yet remain impure in our hearts.	57:30
	We admit that we are crafty peacemakers	57:35
	around conference tables and yet we are	57:38
	blundering peace breakers in the name of Christian love.	57:41
	We remain complacent in unrighteousness	57:48
	and yet we are unwilling to suffer in the cause	57:51
	of spiritual justice.	57:55
	Lord, on this day, forgive us of our shallow piety	57:59
	and our cushion self-righteousness.	58:03
	Rather, give us compassion, mercy, and forgiveness	58:07
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	58:14
	who came and lived among us,	58:17
	who taught us to pray, saying, our Father who art in heaven,	58:20
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	58:27
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	58:31
	Give us this day our daily bread	58:36
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	58:39
	who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation	58:42
	but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom	58:46
	and the power and the glory forever.	58:52
	Amen.	58:56
	(soft organ music)	59:10
	♪ Behold a star ♪	59:14
	♪ From Jacob shining ♪	59:17
	♪ And a scepter from Israel rising ♪	59:21
	♪ And a scepter from Israel rising ♪	59:27
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob shining ♪	59:34
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob shining ♪	59:41
	♪ And a scepter from Israel rising ♪	59:47
	♪ And a scepter from Israel rising ♪	59:54
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob's shining ♪	59:59
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob's shining ♪	1:00:03
	♪ Behold a star ♪	1:00:08
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob's shining ♪	1:00:12
	♪ Behold a star from Jacob's shining ♪	1:00:19
	♪ From Jacob's shining ♪	1:00:30
	♪ From Jacob's shining ♪	1:00:37
	(soft organ music)	1:00:44
	♪ To reign in glory ♪	1:00:59
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:01:05
	♪ To reign in glory ♪	1:01:12
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:01:19
	♪ To reign in glory ♪	1:01:25
	♪ In glory over the nations ♪	1:01:30
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:01:39
	♪ In glory ♪	1:01:44
	♪ In glory ♪	1:01:46
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:01:50
	♪ To reign in glory ♪	1:02:00
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:02:05
	♪ To reign in glory ♪	1:02:11
	♪ Glory ♪	1:02:18
	♪ Glory ♪	1:02:24
	♪ In glory ♪	1:02:29
	♪ Over the nations ♪	1:02:33
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:02:47
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:02:51
	♪ Of Jacob's shining ♪	1:02:55
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:02:59
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:03:02
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:03:06
	♪ Of Jacob's shining ♪	1:03:10
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:03:15
	♪ Of Jacob's shining ♪	1:03:17
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:03:23
	♪ The star ♪	1:03:28
	♪ Behold the star ♪	1:03:31
	♪ Of Jacob's shining ♪	1:03:36
	♪ Like some bright ♪	1:03:53
	♪ Morning star is he ♪	1:03:59
	♪ The promise ♪	1:04:11
	♪ Of the coming day ♪	1:04:16
	♪ Beyond the night ♪	1:04:27
	♪ Of sorrow ♪	1:04:34
	♪ Break forth ♪	1:04:44
	♪ O Light ♪	1:04:51
	♪ We, our joyful hearts ♪	1:04:57
	♪ Uplifting with thanksgiving ♪	1:05:04
	♪ Hail the brightness ♪	1:05:17
	♪ Of Thy rising ♪	1:05:23
	(soft organ music)	1:05:35
	(soft organ music)	1:06:14
	(muffled choir singing)	1:06:35
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:46
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:48
	(muffled choir singing)	1:06:52
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:06
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:12
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:14
	(muffled choir singing)	1:07:22
-	Eternal God, giver of every good and perfect gift,	1:07:34
	we ask that you seek above all to give yourself to us	1:07:38
	and grant now with these token gifts of our hands	1:07:42
	that we may more fully give ourselves to you	1:07:45
	in joyous obedience and service	1:07:50
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	1:07:53
	(soft organ music)	1:07:58
	(muffled choir singing)	1:08:48
	The Lord bless you and keep you.	1:11:52
	The Lord's face shine upon you	1:11:54
	and be gracious to you.	1:11:57
	The Lord's countenance be upon you	1:12:00
	and give you peace.	1:12:02
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:06
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:13
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:24
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:31
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:39
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:52
	♪ Amen ♪	1:13:04
	(soft organ music)	1:13:25
	(chattering)	1:17:43

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "For God so Loved the World" (January 25, 1981)

Description:

Sermon start time: 22:42. Sermon end time: 52:33.
Young analyzes John 3:16 in depth to express that the message of the Gospel is based in the idea of Love and sacrifice by Christ. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "This is the Gospel in miniature - all of the Bible's message in a few lines, the entire Word in a few words."

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4cz32k6m

Date:

January 25, 1981

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Biblical Book:

John

Chapter and Verse:

John 3:16-21

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1136
ref7488_94p
uachapelsermaud
duke:321229
dcrau002013
ark:/87924/r4cz32k6m
46b373e2-993c-4ada-a185-96ed34691b21

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

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Educational Use Permitted

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Robert T. Young - "For God so Loved the World" (January 25, 1981)

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