James T. Cleland - "Holiness and the Commonplace" (January 13, 1957); James Cannon - "Christian Faith" (February 10, 1957)

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	(object thuds)	0:03
	(gentle organ music)
-	Sunday morning, January 20th, 1957.	0:06
	Preaching, Dr. James Cannon, dean of the divinity school.	0:11
	♪ And amen ♪	0:16
	♪ And amen ♪	0:19
	♪ And amen ♪	0:21
	(people singing simultaneously)	0:25
	♪ O holy man ♪	0:51
	♪ Immanuel ♪	0:56
	(gentle organ music)	1:05
	(upbeat organ music)	1:23
	♪ Praise to the Lord, the Almighty ♪	1:56
	♪ The King of creation ♪	2:00
	♪ O my soul, praise Him ♪	2:06
	♪ For He is thy health and salvation ♪	2:09
	♪ All ye who hear ♪	2:16
	♪ Now to His temple draw near ♪	2:19
	♪ Now sing in glad adoration ♪	2:24
	♪ Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things ♪	2:33
	♪ So wondrously reigneth ♪	2:37
	♪ Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth ♪	2:43
	♪ Hast thou not seen ♪	2:52
	♪ How thy desires all have been ♪	2:56
	♪ Granted in what He ordaineth ♪	3:01
	♪ Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work ♪	3:09
	♪ And defend thee ♪	3:14
	♪ Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee ♪	3:19
	♪ Ponder anew what the Almighty can do ♪	3:28
	♪ If with His love He befriend thee ♪	3:37
	♪ Amen ♪	3:45
	(person coughs)	3:59
-	Let us offer unto God our unison prayer of confession.	4:03
	Let us pray.	4:10
	Our most merciful father,	4:13
	we confess before the that we have done little	4:16
	to forward thy kingdom in the world	4:19
	and to a advanced thy glory.	4:23
	We would humble ourselves before the for our past neglects	4:26
	and seek for mercy and forgiveness.	4:31
	Pardon our shortcomings.	4:35
	Give us greater zeal for thy glory,	4:38
	make us more ready and diligent by our prayers,	4:42
	by our gifts and by our examples	4:46
	to spread abroad the knowledge of thy truth	4:50
	and to enlarge the boundaries of the kingdom.	4:54
	May the love of Christ constrain us	4:58
	and may we do all to thy glory	5:01
	through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.	5:04
	And now as our savior Christ hath taught us,	5:09
	we humbly pray,	5:12
	our father who art in heaven,	5:15
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	5:18
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	5:23
	Give us this day our daily bread	5:28
	and forgive us our trespasses	5:31
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	5:34
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil	5:38
	for thine is the kingdom and the power	5:44
	and the glory forever.	5:47
	Amen.	5:51
	(gentle piano music)	5:54
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	6:24
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	6:29
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	6:33
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	6:37
	♪ The gospel of peace ♪	6:42
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	6:44
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	6:49
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	6:53
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	6:57
	♪ Are they that preach us the gospel of peace ♪	7:01
	(singers singing simultaneously)	7:05
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	7:26
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	7:30
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	7:32
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	7:36
	♪ He that preach us the gospel of peace ♪	7:41
	♪ To all the nations ♪	7:50
	(vocalizing drowns singers)	7:53
	♪ To all the nations ♪	7:59
	(vocalizing drowns singers)	8:02
	♪ To all the nations ♪	8:08
	♪ Is gone forth the sound of their words ♪	8:12
	♪ Is gone forth the sound of their words ♪	8:16
	♪ To all the nations ♪	8:20
	♪ Is gone forth the sound of their words ♪	8:25
	♪ Throughout all the lands ♪	8:28
	♪ Their glad tidings ♪	8:32
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	8:38
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	8:42
	♪ How lovely are the messengers ♪	8:46
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	8:51
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	8:53
	♪ That preach us the gospel of peace ♪	8:57
	(organ music decrescendos)	9:05
	(objects rustling)	9:22
	(organ music ends)	9:36
	(paper rustling)	9:38
-	Our scripture lesson is the 19th Psalm.	9:40
	"The heavens declare the glory of God;	9:48
	and the firmament sheweth his handy work.	9:53
	Day under day uttereth speech,	9:59
	and night under night sheweth knowledge.	10:03
	There is no speech nor language where their voice	10:09
	is not heard.	10:12
	Their line is gone out through all the earth,	10:16
	and their words to the end of the world.	10:20
	In them, hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.	10:24
	Which is as a bride groom coming out of his chamber,	10:29
	and rejoices as a strong man to run a race.	10:34
	His going forth is from the end of the heaven,	10:41
	and his circuit under the end of it;	10:46
	and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.	10:51
	The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:	10:57
	the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.	11:04
	The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:	11:12
	the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.	11:19
	The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever:	11:26
	the judgements of the Lord are true	11:33
	and righteous altogether.	11:36
	More to be desired are they than gold,	11:40
	yeah, than much fine gold:	11:44
	sweeter also then honey and the honeycomb.	11:48
	Moreover by them is thy servant warned:	11:54
	and in keeping of them there is great reward.	11:59
	Who can understand his errors?	12:05
	Cleanse thou me from secret faults.	12:10
	Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;	12:15
	let them not have dominion over me:	12:21
	then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent	12:26
	from the great transgression.	12:30
	Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,	12:34
	be acceptable in thy sight,	12:39
	O Lord, my strength,	12:43
	and my redeemer."	12:47
	This is God's word to us through the 19th Psalm.	12:51
	(upbeat organ music)	12:59
	♪ Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side ♪	13:51
	♪ Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain ♪	14:01
	♪ Leave to thy God to order and provide ♪	14:11
	♪ In ev'ry change ♪	14:21
	♪ He faithful will remain ♪	14:24
	♪ Be still, my soul ♪	14:30
	♪ Your best, your heav'nly friend ♪	14:34
	♪ Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end ♪	14:40
	♪ Be still, my soul; thy God will undertake ♪	14:52
	♪ To guide the future as he has the past ♪	15:01
	♪ Our hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake ♪	15:11
	♪ All now mysterious shall be bright at last ♪	15:21
	♪ Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know ♪	15:30
	♪ His voice who ruled them while he thrived below ♪	15:40
	♪ Be still, my soul; the hour is hast'ning on ♪	15:51
	♪ When we shall be forever with the Lord ♪	16:01
	♪ When disappointment ♪	16:10
	♪ Grief, and fear are gone ♪	16:14
	♪ Sorrow forgot ♪	16:20
	♪ Love's purest joys restored ♪	16:24
	♪ Be still my soul ♪	16:30
	♪ When change and tears are past ♪	16:34
	♪ All safe and blessed ♪	16:40
	♪ We shall meet at last ♪	16:45
	♪ Amen ♪	16:52
-	The Lord be with you	17:00
	(congregation speaks faintly)	17:02
	Let us pray.	17:03
	Almighty and eternal God	17:12
	who hath created us in thine own image,	17:16
	who has sustained us even when we forgot thee,	17:21
	and who hath redeemed us to be thy chosen children,	17:26
	we worship thee.	17:32
	We worship the because of thy power and thy love,	17:35
	because of thy greatness and thy goodness,	17:42
	because thou art our God and we are thy sons and daughters.	17:48
	We do praise and thank thee O God	17:59
	for all great and simple joys,	18:03
	for the gift of wonder and the joy of discovery,	18:07
	for the everlasting freshness of experience,	18:13
	for all that comes to us through sympathy	18:19
	and through sorrow,	18:23
	and for the joy of work attempted and achieved,	18:25
	for musicians, poets, and craftsmen	18:31
	and for all who work in farm and color	18:37
	to increase the beauty of life,	18:41
	for the likeness of Christ in ordinary people,	18:46
	therefore burns courage and kindness,	18:51
	and for all obscure and humble lives of service.	18:57
	For all these great and simple joys,	19:02
	we give the humble and hearty thanks.	19:06
	Almighty God who has called us through Jesus Christ	19:13
	to be thy children,	19:17
	grant us so to know Christ and his life	19:20
	that the same mind which was in him may be in us.	19:25
	Give us so to know Christ and his death	19:32
	that we may not glory, save in his cross,	19:37
	whereby the world is crucified unto us,	19:42
	and we unto the world.	19:47
	Give us so to know Christ and the power of his resurrection	19:50
	that like as he was raised from the dead by thy glory,	19:55
	we also may walk in newness of life.	20:00
	Almighty God our father	20:09
	in whom there is a time for all things,	20:12
	we pray thee for a right view of our academic work.	20:18
	Guard us from too much study,	20:25
	which works perspective, withers friendship	20:29
	and serves an unhealthy ambition or evasion.	20:35
	Deliver us likewise or Lord from too little study,	20:42
	which denies our right to be here	20:48
	and betrays our responsibility to our school	20:53
	and to ourselves.	20:58
	Help us to carry out with maturity and faithfulness	21:01
	all the work we are justly given to do	21:06
	in the spirit of him	21:11
	who worked for thee and for us.	21:14
	And the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ,	21:20
	be with us all evermore.	21:25
	Amen.	21:30
	(upbeat organ music)	21:35
	(organ music decrescendos)	24:45
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	24:55
	♪ And again I say, rejoice ♪	24:59
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	25:04
	♪ And again I say, rejoice ♪	25:08
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	25:13
	♪ And again I say, rejoice ♪	25:17
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	25:22
	♪ And again I say, rejoice ♪	25:26
	♪ Be careful for nothing ♪	25:31
	♪ Be careful for nothing ♪	25:34
	♪ But in every thing by prayer and supplication ♪	25:37
	♪ With thanksgiving let your requests ♪	25:43
	♪ Be made known unto God ♪	25:47
	♪ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding ♪	25:53
	♪ Shall keep your hearts and minds ♪	26:00
	♪ Through Jesus Christ our Lord ♪	26:03
	♪ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding ♪	26:08
	♪ Shall keep your hearts and minds ♪	26:14
	♪ Through Jesus Christ our Lord ♪	26:18
	♪ Through Jesus Christ our Lord ♪	26:22
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	26:30
	♪ And again I say, rejoice ♪	26:34
	♪ Rejoice in the Lord always ♪	26:38
	♪ And again, again ♪	26:43
	♪ Again I say, rejoice ♪	26:46
	♪ And again, again I say, rejoice ♪	26:50
	♪ Again I say, rejoice ♪	26:57
	(upbeat organ music)	27:07
	(upbeat organ music)	27:33
	(organ drowns singers)	27:58
	♪ Amen ♪	28:27
	Oh God, the Father of all mercies,	28:34
	accept these gifts which we give	28:38
	to the service of thy house	28:41
	and grant that thy servants may have thankful hearts.	28:44
	And bless, we beseech thee O Lord,	28:50
	this preview, which now we dedicate and set apart	28:53
	for the service of the holy church;	29:00
	that it may be used always and only	29:04
	to thy glory	29:10
	and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.	29:12
	Amen.	29:19
	(gentle organ music)	29:27
	(footsteps approaching)	29:41
	(objects rustling)	29:44
-	Some weeks eight months ago	29:52
	when I was first asked to render this service,	29:54
	I selected, as a topic, faith.	30:04
	In an unguided moment,	30:11
	I decided maybe that was too much territory	30:14
	to roam around there and so,	30:19
	I published in the book, in the subject, Christian faith,	30:22
	but that's still plenty big.	30:27
	The point of,	30:34
	beginning of, what I have to say is the first	30:37
	cause of the apostles creed.	30:43
	"I believe in God the Father Almighty,	30:48
	maker of heaven and earth."	30:55
	(clears throat) Belief and faith are the stock-in-trade	31:01
	of religion.	31:08
	This is what we offer	31:13
	and proclaim in opposition	31:16
	to those who are skeptical or unbelieving or scorning.	31:20
	(person sighs)	31:29
	The point I want to make is,	31:30
	that the Supreme object of faith	31:34
	is God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.	31:37
	Now there are other clauses of the apostles creed.	31:45
	And there's a certain danger in selecting only one	31:51
	even though it's the first one;	31:57
	unless	32:00
	it'd be thought or felt, but yeah, there's not important.	32:03
	They are important, it's all one creed.	32:08
	But after all, that whole creed is a little too much	32:12
	for one discourse.	32:16
	But now, while this is a supreme object of our faith,	32:23
	God the Father Almighty,	32:27
	there are contributory faiths,	32:30
	many of which lead to, and are a part,	32:36
	of a full, final faith in God the Father Almighty.	32:41
	They might be called perhaps	32:49
	something like, lesser loyalties,	32:53
	which my must be sublimated into the great loyalty,	32:58
	and must be tested by the degree to which they lead to,	33:04
	faith in God the Father Almighty.	33:11
	I suppose someone else might find a larger number	33:18
	of such contributory attitudes.	33:21
	I put down six,	33:30
	and that may be too many.	33:36
	The first point I wanna make.	33:40
	Faith is not just confidence,	33:45
	faith, a belief in externals.	33:48
	As for instance, the powers of nature.	33:54
	Yet a strong element,	34:00
	of such belief is a necessary part	34:03
	of faith in God the Father Almighty.	34:08
	The scripture lesson which was read asserts,	34:16
	"The heavens declare the glory of God,	34:19
	and the firmament sheweth his handiwork."	34:23
	Our Lord said, "Consider the Lilies of the field,	34:29
	how they grow;	34:34
	they toil not, neither do they spin:	34:37
	and yet I say unto,	34:42
	that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed	34:44
	like one of these.	34:49
	Wherefore, if God so close the grass of the field,	34:53
	which to-day is,	34:59
	and to-morrow is cast into the oven,	35:02
	shall he not much more clothe you,	35:07
	O ye of little faith?"	35:11
	We must have faith in the orderly processes of nature,	35:16
	which sustain our universe,	35:23
	and in many ways, order our lives.	35:26
	What kind of science can we develop	35:32
	unless we can count on the orderly processes of nature.	35:35
	We change no law of nature.	35:44
	We discover laws of nature, which we were unaware of before,	35:49
	and we cooperate with laws of nature,	35:58
	but we do not make any laws of nature.	36:07
	And the degree to which we can understand them	36:11
	and work with them and have them work for us	36:15
	is the foundation of our scientific development.	36:21
	If somebody gets up on top of this town and jumps off,	36:30
	he's gonna break a leg or kill himself.	36:32
	That's the law of nature.	36:35
	Now, he can have a parachute of something to break his fall.	36:37
	So, he is understanding the law of nature;	36:43
	cooperating with, making use of it.	36:49
	An airplane does not fly in defiance of the laws of nature,	36:55
	but by an understanding of dynamics.	37:00
	And if there's a failure,	37:07
	even 200 feet up,	37:11
	the law of gravity is gonna pull you down to the earth	37:14
	and kill you;	37:17
	like you did one boy yesterday who stole a airplane	37:20
	to try it out.	37:23
	The second part that I wanna make.	37:30
	We cannot repose our faith upon faith in education,	37:35
	knowledge or wealth	37:42
	to lead us to the full awareness and fellowship with God.	37:47
	I suppose in our community	37:57
	we have come more nearly than other communities	37:59
	to think that there is power in education,	38:02
	a material success,	38:10
	that will be sufficient basis for our faith.	38:16
	But, for the poor and ignorant,	38:22
	they still need this inferior way	38:30
	of faith in God,	38:36
	"We have degrees.	38:37
	Our Papas have plenty of money.	38:40
	We are assured of big salaries when we're going to College."	38:43
	Those are not sure foundations	38:51
	upon which faith in God	38:55
	may rest.	38:59
	Now, of course, we believe in education	39:01
	or we'd have to go to business,	39:04
	but not as the chief object of faith	39:07
	nor the chief purpose of our life.	39:10
	The third part I wanna make,	39:18
	that it is not just faith in ourselves	39:20
	that is sufficient for us, not just faith in ourselves.	39:25
	The power of confident living	39:32
	is not alone sufficient for our lives.	39:36
	We need, of course, a large measure of self confidence,	39:44
	and we need to push forward in developing	39:49
	those aspects of our personalities	39:52
	in which we have not been sufficiently confident.	39:56
	But self confidence is helpful only as a school master,	40:02
	to use Paul's trade, a school master to lead us to Christ.	40:08
	We cannot make gods of ourselves	40:14
	and say all the powers necessary for the development	40:18
	of my life and my fellowship with God are in my own hands.	40:21
	In this connection,	40:31
	I want to emphasize with strong approval	40:32
	a statement made from this pulpit not many weeks ago;	40:36
	to the fact that we need not and should not expect in life	40:43
	freedom from all anxieties.	40:51
	There seems to be a very strong, shall I say,	40:58
	school of thought or belief in our time	41:01
	becoming widely popular that somehow we should attain	41:06
	to a life a world in a time in which nobody had any anxiety.	41:10
	Reminds me of,	41:20
	when David Harum has said, "A certain amount of fleas	41:25
	is good for a dog,	41:28
	it keeps him from forgetting he's the dog."	41:29
	What kind of life would we have	41:34
	in which there were no anxieties?	41:37
	Not quite truly; a man topples over, a person toppled over	41:40
	sometimes when their whole life is one great, big	41:44
	unhealthy anxiety; I recognize that. (clears throat)	41:49
	In the school over which I preside,	41:58
	there are several hundred young preachers.	42:01
	I know they have anxiety because they'll load 'em on me.	42:06
	Most of them,	42:13
	a wonderful man, fine people.	42:15
	Occasionally, one doesn't live up to expectations.	42:21
	Dr. Few, our former great president,	42:32
	responded saying to young teachers:	42:35
	"Don't be discouraged.	42:36
	Remember the Lord himself had only 12 students	42:40
	and one of them went straight to the devil."	42:44
	(man laughing)	42:48
	There must be anxieties in all of our lives.	42:49
	To what extent do we profit by anxieties	42:55
	and rise above them, make them minister thy way.	43:01
	We are not, in the religious life, assured at any time	43:09
	of freedom	43:14
	from temptation,	43:16
	from trial,	43:20
	from struggle, from pain and physical death.	43:22
	They are parts of our experience,	43:29
	they're in our lives	43:33
	and they are not removed by just saying,	43:37
	"Well, I have faith.	43:40
	Let these things be gone.	43:41
	I'll have no trouble."	43:43
	The fourth point I wanna make,	43:49
	that it is not just faith in faith	43:51
	which is adequate.	43:57
	We say something like this.	44:02
	"I have faith,	44:04
	is not that all in need?	44:06
	I have the Methodist faith, the Presbyterian faith,	44:10
	I know the Shorter Catechism and the Westminster Confession.	44:14
	I have the Catholic faith.	44:18
	There it is my faith, a massive structure."	44:21
	Of what?	44:27
	Of other men's lives and mind.	44:29
	Just subscribing to some great system of faith	44:35
	does not mean that I believe in God the Father Almighty,	44:41
	maker of heaven and earth.	44:48
	(paper rustling)	44:53
	In dealing with young people,	44:56
	I find often they come with this question,	44:57
	"Professor, I want to live the good life,	45:03
	and I've struggle and tried to follow the teachings	45:06
	and the preachings.	45:09
	Why do I not, why can I not have the simple faith	45:13
	that my mother had?	45:19
	Why is not my faith that which my father had	45:21
	or my preacher?	45:28
	I do not find what they said and felt and believed.	45:31
	Was their faith gives mine?" (clears throat)	45:37
	That was their faith.	45:45
	Your mother, as mine, may have been a saintly character,	45:48
	but my mother's beliefs are impossible for me.	45:54
	My father's theology is not my theology.	46:01
	It's not a question of not having the faith	46:05
	that somebody else had;	46:09
	good as it is.	46:12
	Student came to me once, said,	46:16
	"if I were an African chief, I'd do and be so and so."	46:17
	Well I said, "Let's look at that."	46:21
	An African chief can be an African chief and you can be you,	46:26
	but you cannot be an African chief.	46:31
	It's not your father's faith,	46:35
	your mother's faith, your preacher's faith,	46:40
	it's your faith.	46:42
	The fifth part I wanna make is that,	46:47
	I'm not talking of just blind faith, unquestioning faith.	46:49
	I'm doing a little injustice	46:57
	to one of my great friends of the Bible.	46:59
	They taught Job, and giving such a summary treatment	47:02
	at this point;	47:04
	"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him."	47:09
	That's just one of the aspects of Job,	47:16
	but that's what I think I have in my name.	47:18
	Of course, there are trials and tribulations	47:22
	for people of faith.	47:26
	In our marriage vow we say,	47:29
	"This vow will hold in sickness and in health,	47:34
	in poverty as well as in wealth."	47:39
	What then is the place of doubt in faith?	47:46
	If I have any doubts, do I have a faith?	47:51
	One of the great Protestant theologians,	48:03
	probably the greatest of our time, is Dr. Paul Tillich,	48:06
	who had preached from this pulpit	48:10
	and is a stimulating writer and a profound thinker.	48:12
	His latest book is on the "Dynamics of Faith".	48:17
	I picked up an popular weekly news magazine,	48:26
	I think that was two weeks ago.	48:31
	And what I turned and seen, or turned out to be, a review	48:35
	of Paul Tillich's latest book on the "Dynamics of Faith".	48:39
	This is the way the article is headed,	48:43
	"Three cheers for doubt."	48:47
	Rather flipping flippant way of describing Paul Tillich.	48:51
	And I wonder how he would respond to it.	48:58
	I can only read a brief passage from this article,	49:04
	which is quoting the part of Tillich's book	49:07
	which deals as a place of doubt in faith.	49:10
	"Doubts", claims Tillich, "is one of the dynamics of faith.	49:14
	Faith and doubt," says Dr. Tillich,	49:22
	"have been contested in such a way	49:25
	that the quiet certainty of faith	49:29
	has been praised as a complete removal of doubt.	49:34
	To attain such a state is a natural and justified desire	49:41
	of every human being.	49:46
	But even if it is attained,	49:50
	as in people who are called saints	49:54
	or in others who are described as firm in their faith,	49:58
	the element of doubt, though conquered,	50:04
	is not lacking.	50:10
	In the saints, it appears", that is dead appears,	50:14
	"according to holy legend,	50:19
	as a temptation which increases in power	50:23
	with the increase of saintliness."	50:28
	(paper rustling)	50:32
	I've been never tempted to misuse great power and say,	50:38
	"Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower might be"	50:42
	cause I haven't had it,	50:45
	but every great responsibility has in it	50:48
	the seeds of its own temptation and its own doubt.	50:52
	I wanna give two examples.	50:58
	First, subtle John, the Baptist.	51:02
	Now, when John in the prison	51:10
	heard of the works of the Christ,	51:12
	he sent two of his disciples to him	51:15
	and said, "Art thou he that should come	51:19
	or look we for another?"	51:26
	Some interpret this or say that this is a collapse	51:32
	of John Baptist faith.	51:35
	I do not so regard it, but is a high watermark of his faith.	51:41
	The hope, the messianic hope of Israel,	51:45
	of his people,	51:48
	still stood with him	51:52
	even though once again, there has been a false Messiah.	51:56
	The history of Israel showed many messiahs	52:03
	before Jesus who turned out to be false.	52:07
	And the history of Judaism after Jesus produced scores	52:11
	of false messiahs;	52:16
	some even later 18th century,	52:20
	led people off into death and suffering,	52:22
	claiming to be the Messiah.	52:26
	But John is saying, "Yes, I oppose my faith	52:29
	even if you are not the Messiah,	52:32
	I oppose my I faith in God the Father Almighty,	52:34
	the maker of heaven and earth who has promised.	52:37
	And his promises stand true."	52:41
	Our Lord himself	52:48
	prayed that this cup pass from me.	52:51
	Great drops of blood fell from his prayer in that agony	52:58
	in the garden.	53:03
	There was some doubt there,	53:10
	but he came out saying what?	53:13
	"Not my will, but thine be done."	53:17
	The way of faith is like the secret of riding a bicycle,	53:25
	you just got to keep on riding.	53:29
	When you stop riding you topple off.	53:34
	Now, the sixth point I wanna make is, it's St. Paul,	53:41
	says that "The resurrection of Christ	53:46
	is the foundation of Christian faith."	53:50
	This is his passage	53:54
	in 1 Corinthians 15th chapter, verses 12-20.	53:55
	"I hear many preachers, glory preachers and theologians	54:03
	deny him, say that 'In Christianity, the cross is central'."	54:08
	I would not, by any means, minimize the significance	54:15
	of the cross, the crucifixion of Christ.	54:20
	But then in what St. Paul said,	54:24
	he said, "It's the resurrection.	54:27
	Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead,	54:30
	has say some among you that there is no	54:36
	resurrection of the dead?	54:40
	But if there been no resurrection of the dead,	54:43
	then is Christ not risen.	54:47
	And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,	54:51
	and your faith is also vain.	54:57
	Ye, and we are found false witnesses of God	55:02
	because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,	55:08
	whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not.	55:15
	For as the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.	55:22
	And as Christ be not risen, our faith is vain.	55:26
	You are yet in your sins.	55:31
	Then they also, which have fallen asleep in Christ,	55:35
	are perished.	55:38
	If, in this life, only we have hope in Christ,	55:41
	we are, of all men, most miserable.	55:44
	But now is Christ risen from the dead	55:49
	and become the firstfruits of them that slept."	55:52
	There were then no Christians before Pentecost.	56:00
	The fullness of Christian faith was not revealed	56:06
	until the whole work of Christ was completed.	56:09
	In the incarnation, the life, the teachings of Jesus,	56:15
	the crucifixion, the resurrection,	56:21
	and in the coming of the holy spirit;	56:25
	he said, "Tarry in Jerusalem	56:27
	till the holy spirit come among you."	56:30
	And when the holy spirit came, the church was formed.	56:32
	(preacher clears throat)	56:39
	There is a sense then in which we must press beyond	56:44
	even faith in Christ.	56:50
	Paul's passage says, "We have testified of God,	56:55
	that he raised up Christ."	56:59
	Before anything else, beyond everything else,	57:05
	I believe in God, the Father Almighty,	57:11
	the maker of heaven and earth.	57:15
	May we pray.	57:20
	(mechanism whirring)	57:23
	(person coughs)	57:29
	Our Father, we pray for thy confidence,	57:30
	and trust and understanding in thee,	57:33
	which can and does give us	57:39
	faith adequate for ourselves,	57:44
	for our time,	57:47
	that sustains and guides us	57:50
	in all the chances and changes of life.	57:53
	And now, may grace, mercy and peace	58:04
	from God, our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ,	58:10
	be upon you and remain with you always.	58:15
	(man clears throat)	58:25
	(man sniffs)	58:29
	♪ Amen ♪
	♪ Amen ♪	58:40
	(person coughs)	58:43
	♪ Amen ♪	58:51
	♪ Amen ♪	59:02
	♪ Amen ♪	59:14
	♪ Amen ♪	59:27
	(bells ringing)	1:00:05
	(object thuds)

-	Sunday morning, January 13th, 1957.	0:04
	Preacher the Reverend Professor James T Cleland,	0:08
	Dean of the Chapel.	0:11
	(bright pipe organ music)	0:14
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	0:38
	(choir singing faintly)
	(bright pipe organ music)	0:45
	(soft pipe organ music)	1:08
	(choir singing faintly)
	(bright pipe organ music)	2:00
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	2:55
	(choir singing faintly)
-	Let us lift our hearts in the unison prayer of confession.	3:15
	Let us pray.	3:23
	Oh, merciful father, we confess before thee	3:26
	that we have done little to forward thy kingdom in the world	3:31
	and to advance thy glory.	3:35
	We would humble our ourselves before thee	3:38
	for our past neglect and seek for mercy and forgiveness.	3:41
	Pardon our shortcomings.	3:48
	Give us greater zeal for thy glory.	3:50
	Make us more ready and diligent by our prayers,	3:54
	by our gifts, and by our examples	3:59
	to spread abroad the knowledge of thy truth	4:03
	and to enlarge the boundaries of thy kingdom.	4:07
	May the love of Christ constrain us.	4:11
	And may we do all to thy glory	4:14
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	4:18
	And now as our savior Christ has taught us,	4:23
	let us continue to pray.	4:27
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	4:30
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	4:33
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	4:38
	Give us this day our daily bread,	4:42
	and forgive us our trespasses	4:45
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	4:47
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	4:51
	For thine is the kingdom and the power	4:56
	and the glory forever. Amen.	5:00
	(gentle pipe organ music)	5:06
	(bright pipe organ music)	5:34
	(bright pipe organ music)	5:39
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	6:26
	(gentle pipe organ music)	6:31
	(choir singing faintly)
	(bright pipe organ music)	6:50
	(choir singing faintly)
	(soft pipe organ music)	7:25
	(bright pipe organ music)	7:30
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	7:54
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	8:15
	(gentle pipe organ music)	8:20
	(choir singing faintly)
	(bright pipe organ music)	9:01
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	9:14
-	Let us hear the word of God	9:36
	as it is contained in the scriptures of the Old Testament	9:40
	in the book of the prophet Zechariah	9:45
	part of the 14th chapter,	9:48
	"Behold, a day the Lord is coming	9:54
	when the spoil taken from you will be divided	9:58
	in the midst of you.	10:02
	For I will gather all the nations	10:06
	against Jerusalem to battle.	10:08
	And the city shall be taken and the houses plundered	10:11
	and the women ravished.	10:16
	Half of the city shall go into exile,	10:20
	but the rest of the city shall not be cut off.	10:23
	Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations	10:29
	as when he fights on a day of battle.	10:33
	On that day, his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives	10:37
	which lies before Jerusalem on the east.	10:40
	And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two	10:45
	from east to west by a very wide valley	10:48
	so that one half of the mount shall withdraw northward	10:53
	and the other half southward.	10:56
	And the valley of my mountain shall be stopped up	11:00
	for the valley of the mountain shall touch the side of it.	11:04
	And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake	11:09
	in the days of Josiah King of Judah.	11:12
	Then the Lord your God will come	11:17
	and all the holy ones with him.	11:21
	On that day, there shall be neither cold nor frost.	11:25
	And there shall be continuous day, not day and not night.	11:30
	For an evening time, there shall be light.	11:36
	And on that day, there shall be inscribed	11:41
	on the bells of the horses.	11:44
	Holy to the Lord.	11:47
	And the pots in the house of Lord	11:51
	shall be as the bowls before the altar	11:53
	and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah	11:57
	shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts	11:59
	so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them	12:03
	and boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them.	12:06
	And there shall no longer be a trader	12:11
	in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day. Amen.	12:14
	May God bless unto us the reading of his holy word.	12:24
	(gentle pipe organ music)	12:33
	(gentle pipe organ music)	13:04
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	13:37
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	14:12
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	14:46
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	15:22
	(choir singing faintly)
-	The Lord be with you.	15:30
	(congregation speaking faintly)	15:31
	Let us pray.	15:33
	Oh, God above all	15:48
	whose greatness is beyond our understanding,	15:52
	whose holiness is beyond our imagination,	15:58
	and whose love is measureless.	16:04
	How uplifting it is even to think upon thee.	16:07
	Like the welcome embrace of a father's arms	16:15
	to the returning prodigal,	16:19
	like the tenderness of a mother's voice	16:24
	in the darkness of a long night.	16:28
	And still again	16:34
	like the sharply spoken commands of a drill Sergeant.	16:35
	So to us oh, God is the sound of thy name.	16:42
	Even more impressive is the feeling of our hearts	16:51
	as we worship thee.	16:57
	We thank thee for this place and for this hour	17:04
	and for the call to worship, which we have answered.	17:12
	In the acts of adoration and confession,	17:20
	in the offering of thanksgiving and supplication,	17:26
	may we grow weary of our old selves	17:31
	and long to be separated from our spiritual past.	17:36
	May we see the possibility of transformation	17:41
	by thy regenerating power.	17:44
	May we see that life can be radiant	17:48
	and wholesome and victorious.	17:51
	Maybe know that duty can be regarded as a privilege.	17:56
	May we discover that the only evil	18:01
	is separation from thee.	18:05
	Today, oh, Lord we pray thee to press close upon us.	18:09
	Still our turbulent spirits rebuke our doubts.	18:16
	Strengthen every element of good within us.	18:21
	Enlighten our minds with thy eternal truth.	18:27
	Remain near us oh, Father.	18:33
	Enable us to be worthy sons and daughters.	18:40
	Begotten of thy love cared for through all our days.	18:44
	Never beyond thy sight, and never out of thy care.	18:52
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	19:05
	(gentle pipe organ music)	19:16
	(gentle pipe organ music)	20:08
	(gentle pipe organ music)	21:01
	(gentle pipe organ music)	22:27
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	23:08
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	24:03
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	24:59
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	25:22
	(gentle pipe organ music)	25:52
	(choir singing faintly)
	(gentle pipe organ music)	26:14
	(choir singing faintly)
-	Accept oh, Lord these offerings thy people make onto thee	26:35
	and granted the cause to which they are devoted	26:41
	may prosper under thy guidance.	26:45
	To the glory of thy name,	26:49
	through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.	26:52
	(gentle pipe organ music)	26:59
-	Let us pray.	27:30
	Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts	27:34
	be acceptable in thy sight.	27:40
	Oh, Lord ours strength and our Redeemer. Amen.	27:44
	I suppose there are many of us here this morning	27:58
	who read a chapter of the Bible every day.	28:02
	We began to do this as youngsters	28:08
	and the usage has continued.	28:11
	If one asked us the reason for this daily Bible reading,	28:16
	some of us would have to admit	28:22
	that it's merely a matter of continuing custom.	28:24
	Others would defend the practice by appealing to the dictum	28:30
	that it's never wise to give up a good habit	28:36
	until you have something better to put in to place.	28:41
	Now in that chapter per day routine,	28:47
	we regularly run across versus that baffle	28:52
	or intrigue or tantalize us.	28:57
	I came across just such a verse,	29:03
	and I want to share with you now my reflections upon it.	29:06
	The verse is in Zechariah in the last chapter.	29:12
	Now Old Testament scholars have divided Zechariah	29:18
	into two parts.	29:21
	The first half chapters one to eight	29:24
	is fairly straightforward commentary	29:27
	on the re building of the temple in Jerusalem	29:31
	after the return from the Babylonian exile around 5:20.	29:35
	But the second half chapters nine to 14	29:43
	is almost a no man's land for the lay reader	29:49
	of holy (speaks faintly).	29:55
	There is no agreement amongst scholars on its date,	29:58
	its authorship or the reason for its writing.	30:04
	And therefore, as you realize, there is no unanimity	30:10
	on its meaning.	30:13
	Its date may be placed anywhere from 333 BC	30:16
	time of Alexander the Great,	30:22
	to 165 BC, the time of Judas Maccabeus.	30:25
	Worse than that, the chapters read in places	30:33
	like a transcript of spiritual delirium treatments.	30:39
	It's not an easy book to understand,	30:47
	even with the help of a good commentary.	30:50
	Now, two verses in the last chapter.	30:54
	In fact, the last two verses in the book	30:57
	are the ones which pulled me up with a (speaks faintly)	31:01
	and led me to this sermon.	31:04
	Here they are.	31:06
	Again, because they were read	31:07
	as part of the scripture lesson.	31:08
	"And on that day, there shall be inscribed	31:11
	on the bells of the horses, Holy to the Lord.	31:14
	And the pots in the house of the Lord	31:20
	shall be as the bulls before the altar.	31:22
	And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah	31:25
	shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts	31:28
	so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them	31:30
	and boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them.	31:34
	And there should be no longer traders..."	31:38
	That is merchants.	31:40
	"In the house of the Lord of hosts on that day."	31:41
	Well, what an earth are we gonna do with that?	31:47
	Well, let's see what we can do with it.	31:49
	First, we'd better find out what second Zacharia...	31:53
	That's his correct name?	31:56
	What he's getting at in this 14th chapter	31:58
	It's a description of new earth,	32:03
	which will be the outcome of the last days.	32:07
	It's a pep talk to the faithful,	32:13
	encouraging them in a time of national disaster	32:17
	with the hope of ultimate victory.	32:22
	When God himself surrounded by the heavenly hosts moves in.	32:25
	Then God will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem.	32:32
	It will become an international religious capital	32:37
	because all nations of the world will flow to order.	32:42
	And the amazing thing is this,	32:49
	that everything done in Jerusalem will be holy.	32:52
	Everything done will have God's okay stamped upon it.	33:00
	Now to dramatize that fact,	33:07
	the author gives us two simple, surprising examples.	33:09
	"On the bells of the horses,	33:15
	there will be inscribed Holy to the Lord."	33:20
	Now what in the Old Testament was inscribed	33:28
	with the words holy to the Lord.	33:31
	Only the breastplate of the high priest.	33:35
	And only in his more sacrificial garments.	33:41
	That which the law Exodus 28:36 said,	33:46
	"Should be inscribed	33:50
	only on the breastplate of the high priest	33:51
	will now be on the bells of the horses."	33:55
	Now that's quite a jump.	33:59
	From sacrificial investments to horses bridals.	34:02
	And to drive home the point of universal holiness	34:06
	in the redeemed Jerusalem he offers another illustration.	34:10
	Jerusalem will be so free from anything unclean	34:15
	that any part or vessel may be taken at random from anywhere	34:21
	to be used for the sacrificial flesh.	34:28
	There will be no need for merchants in the temple courts	34:32
	to sell pilgrims special vessels,	34:36
	exclusively consecrated to the Lord of hosts.	34:39
	Any old pot will do	34:43
	because everything in Jerusalem	34:46
	will have God's (speaks faintly)upon it.	34:49
	Now that brethren is a consummation divinely to be wished.	34:53
	And that is part of second Zacharia vision	35:00
	of the newJerusalem.	35:05
	Now watch the universal truth behind those horses bells	35:08
	and cooking utensils.	35:12
	Isn't it something like this?	35:16
	In the kingdom of God, the common everyday life	35:20
	will be so completely under the eye of God	35:29
	that there will be a thorough smashing of the barrier	35:36
	between the sacred and the secular.	35:42
	This piece of equipment will not be stamped sacred	35:47
	and that piece of paraphernalia will not be labeled secular.	35:53
	This mode of action will not be designated holy,	35:59
	and that form of behavior will not be termed, profane.	36:05
	Everything. Every aspect of common life will be holy.	36:13
	Now, such an interpretation is a wee bit too much	36:21
	for most religious folk to swallow.	36:30
	They don't deny that all will be holy in the new Jerusalem,	36:36
	but they do deny that it has anything to do with horses	36:42
	or kitchen utensils.	36:48
	Only what is sacred on earth	36:56
	will continue as sacred in heaven.	36:59
	And that brethren is a desperate thought.	37:04
	Think for example of my own religious tradition,	37:10
	you mean that every day in heaven	37:13
	will be like the Scottish Sabbath?	37:16
	Then it'll be hell, that's all.	37:22
	It is no, he was being silly.	37:24
	With sermons and Psalm singing and Sunday clothes.	37:28
	No interesting reading, no games, no whistling, no laughter.	37:33
	It'll be worse than solemn.	37:42
	It'll be sanctimonious	37:44
	For others, life in the kingdom	37:50
	will be a little transcription of the revelation	37:52
	of St. John, the divine. (coughs)	37:56
	We shall spend our time throwing down our golden crowns	38:01
	around the throne on the edge of the glassy sea.	38:07
	Which seems to me a useless occupation	38:12
	(speaks faintly) both of dignity and humor.	38:15
	Or else, we shall sit listening to the choir,	38:21
	practicing eternally.	38:24
	(congregation laughing)
	Which makes one long for deafness	38:28
	as a blessed infirmity.	38:31
	(congregation laughing)
	And the unknown author of second Zechariah says,	38:37
	"To Presbyterians and literalists	38:41
	a plague on both your houses."	38:44
	You misunderstand God and religion and life.	38:48
	All that we normally do on earth, eating and sleeping	38:53
	and drinking and working and playing	38:58
	will be continued as the kind of living,	39:01
	which God believes is natural.	39:04
	That is in accordance with his will.	39:07
	Driving a horse will be as is an action	39:12
	and sacrificing on the alter.	39:16
	There is the breakdown of any barrier	39:20
	between the secret and the secular.	39:25
	Holiness universal.	39:29
	Now all this is quite interesting, you remark,	39:33
	but what has it got to do with us?	39:36
	Certainly, what on earth has it to do with us?	39:40
	The end of the world has not come.	39:46
	God has not set up the new Jerusalem.	39:50
	Even if this apocalyptic prophet	39:55
	has predicted with accuracy, the life of the kingdom,	39:57
	it isn't here yet.	40:02
	So, what is the point of all this for us?	40:04
	What is the point?	40:07
	Well, hold your horses a minute.	40:08
	According to the Christian faith	40:13
	with the life and the preaching of Jesus Christ	40:18
	And with the establishment of the church	40:24
	under the guidance and control of the holy spirit,	40:27
	the kingdom of God has been inaugurate.	40:32
	We who claim the name of Christian	40:40
	are already members of the kingdom.	40:43
	We are supposed to behave so far as in (speaks faintly),	40:48
	as if we belonged to the kingdom.	40:54
	The final advent of the new Jerusalem is not yet.	41:00
	It's still in the future.	41:07
	Nevertheless, that is where our citizenship is.	41:09
	And even here on earth, we are supposed to conduct ourselves	41:17
	to the best of God's ability in us as his folk.	41:23
	The church as Paul pointed out is a colony of the kingdom.	41:31
	It's part of the mother country set in hostile territory.	41:37
	Insofar as we are members of the church,	41:43
	we are already in the kingdom and are supposed to behave	41:46
	according to the the rules and the regulations?	41:51
	No, there are no rules and regulations.	41:54
	According to the kind of life that love would make us lead	41:58
	even here on earth.	42:05
	Our ordinary going out and coming in,	42:09
	our sitting and up rising	42:12
	are supposed to be worthy of God's approval	42:17
	of the descriptive adjective holy,	42:22
	that is acceptable to him.	42:26
	You know what this means in the home?	42:31
	It's making sure that God is recognized	42:36
	as the center of the life of the home.	42:38
	Take, for example eating.	42:46
	Food is not something to be considered	42:51
	either as fuel or as the be all and end all of existence.	42:54
	It is a sustaining provision	43:03
	for which grace is gladly spoken...	43:06
	Notice this.	43:12
	Oddly said, and mumbled in embarrassment	43:13
	or relegated to the most junior member present.	43:19
	And those of you who do say grace vary the grace used	43:26
	so that it may always have a joyful sense	43:30
	of newness or surprise.	43:34
	Here is a chuckling grace for breakfast,	43:38
	unless you're on a low fat diet.	43:41
	One that is both unusual and Orthodox.	43:44
	Now that's a nice combination.	43:48
	Unusual and Orthodox.	43:51
	Our thanks for eggs and butter toast Fathers, Son	43:55
	and Holy Ghost.	43:59
	(congregation laughing)
	You can't pick on me for heresy on that one.	44:04
	That's completely Orthodox.	44:08
	It's Trinitarian and it's to the point.	44:10
	Be sure you know the menu	44:15
	(congregation laughing)
	before you use it.	44:17
	Though, just (speaks faintly).	44:18
	Recover family prayers, the corporate worship	44:22
	of the closely knit community.	44:26
	Do you ever think of this?	44:29
	That the family is the prototype of heaven?	44:30
	God's a father, men are son, men and women is children.	44:34
	It's in the family you understand God and the kingdom	44:41
	And therefore in family prayers	44:46
	pray about the ordinary everyday life	44:48
	who it's hard to smash a family, which prays together.	44:52
	Especially if the prayers deal with the common life.	44:59
	Whom then becomes more than a dormitory cafeteria	45:04
	with a garage attached?	45:08
	Even washing dishes is holy to the Lord	45:12
	and the stove becomes an altar.	45:15
	Don't we pray, give us each day our daily bread?	45:18
	Why then isn't the cooking and the eating of it holy	45:23
	and the cleaning up and active thanksgiving?	45:27
	Or think of the church.	45:33
	It's not merely the place of the great Sunday service	45:36
	and the occasional celebration of the Lord supper,	45:40
	it is thee part of space set aside	45:45
	somewhere where the whens of life is sought.	45:55
	The meaning of that in baptism.	45:59
	And the weather of life in the funeral service.	46:03
	And between that the whole of life	46:09
	looked at in terms God.	46:13
	That's why in Glasgow, Cathedral	46:17
	there is an annual service for the town council.	46:20
	It's called the Kirking of the town council.	46:24
	The last four Lord promise have all been Roman Catholics,	46:29
	but they've all read the lesson at that service	46:32
	in the cathedral.	46:35
	They even had a service there	46:37
	for the Glasgow & District Churches Badminton Association.	46:39
	That's why there's a service even here during Greek week	46:45
	which may well reduce the number	46:51
	against the incidents of dirty rushing.	46:53
	Did you know that at 8:30 AM before the Duke Navy game,	46:57
	15 Protestant members of the Navy team	47:02
	received the communion in the side Chapel?	47:05
	Now that isn't just big magic before a game,	47:11
	If it had been big magic, why would the Navy	47:15
	have asked the a Duke Dean to be the celebrant?	47:18
	No, it's just the offering of their athletic skill to God.	47:23
	It was a good precedent	47:29
	to that in the juggler of Notre-Dame.	47:30
	(indistinct) student once asked me to help him	47:33
	prepare an order of worship for the dedication of a furnace.	47:38
	The dedication of a furnace.	47:44
	My first (speaks faintly) was glory be to God. A furnace.	47:47
	And he said, "Yes, glory be to God. A furnace."	47:52
	And then he said, "Why not we dedicate alters, and Bibles,	47:57
	and pulpits and (speaks faintly)?	48:02
	Why can't we dedicate the furnace?	48:05
	My congregation has saved up for three years	48:08
	for this oil burner.	48:12
	It means much to them.	48:14
	It therefore means something to God."	48:15
	Well, I told him there wasn't much	48:18
	in the Bible about furnaces	48:20
	and what was there was not particularly pleasant,	48:22
	(congregation laughing)	48:25
	but he (speaks faintly) and we wrote the service	48:30
	and he used it.	48:34
	And he told me afterwards	48:37
	that when the prayer of dedication was over,	48:39
	the furnace went off with our glorious bang,	48:42
	just whoosh (speaks faintly).	48:45
	Well that's alright.	48:47
	All the furnace did was to turn the prayer into a litany.	48:48
	And that's pretty good.	48:52
	(congregation laughing)
	When you get responses.	48:54
	That furnace had invisibly inscribed upon it,	48:58
	holy to the Lord.	49:03
	We lack imagination in our use of the sanctuary	49:07
	so often, too often.	49:12
	That is because we continue to draw the line	49:16
	between the sacred and the secular	49:19
	and we draw it too markedly.	49:22
	All our motives are good.	49:25
	We're trying to save the holy from infection,	49:27
	but I think sometimes we are over (speaks faintly)	49:33
	in a way that God isn't.	49:37
	Thank God.	49:39
	But is our everyday life on earth really holy?	49:42
	Of course it not.	49:46
	We're not yet in the kingdom.	49:47
	We're still in the world.	49:51
	We have to be in world.	49:52
	And what is the world?	49:54
	The world is society	49:57
	as it is organized apart from God,	50:00
	society as it is organized apart from God.	50:06
	And there we must live part our days.	50:10
	And yet surely there is a chance for witness,	50:17
	for holy behavior still left us.	50:23
	Certainly in the democracies.	50:27
	Last June I worshiped in Glasgow University	50:29
	at a special service.	50:32
	A service for the commemoration of benefactors.	50:36
	And at one point in the service	50:42
	the rubric reads that is the stage direction.	50:43
	The congregation standing,	50:47
	the principle shall reap the role of benefactor	50:50
	and the called commemoration.	50:55
	And his first words are,	50:57
	"It is our bound and duty to commemorate thankfully	50:59
	before all mighty God.	51:03
	Although our benefactor	51:06
	by whose liberality this college and university	51:08
	has maintained the studies of godliness and sound learning	51:12
	and beginning with the Bishop of Glasgow in 1451,	51:17
	He comes right down to the alumni	51:22
	who gave their lives in the Second World War	51:24
	because arts and science, medicine, engineering, and law	51:29
	as well as divinity are holy to the Lord."	51:37
	A man may hear a call to the chair of convincing	51:44
	or Naval Architecture to biochemistry or to Spanish	51:49
	just as clearly as the call to the religious professorship	51:56
	of New Testament.	52:00
	Do you know how the mid-winter dance	52:04
	at one new England prep school finishes?	52:06
	With prayers and anthems in the Chapel.	52:11
	How do the students and their dates react?	52:16
	They are embarrassed to modification the first time.	52:19
	And then they actually look forward to it.	52:25
	It'd be very difficult now to stop that good tradition.	52:31
	I spoke to you from this pulpit	52:35
	about Eric Liddell, the Olympics sprinter.	52:37
	He ran well in the 100, the 220, the 440.	52:41
	Why? Because it was competitive fun,	52:45
	but also as you remember,	52:48
	(speaks faintly) to the greater glory of God.	52:50
	Why are so many folk married in church	53:00
	instead of before a justice of the peace or a judge?	53:03
	Custom? Of course.	53:06
	Convention? Sure.	53:09
	The bride's desire for a show, bless her heart,	53:12
	but not entirely.	53:19
	That's the interesting thing.	53:20
	Not entirely.	53:23
	They want this new joint life to be holy to the Lord.	53:25
	And if they remember that it can be	53:35
	and the secular disappears absorbed by the holy.	53:39
	Think of this yourselves	53:45
	brethren with regard to this university	53:46
	study in the dorm, while eating.	53:49
	In the gym dating.	53:54
	Is holy to the Lord and impossible inscription.	53:58
	If so, why?	54:04
	How do you think our Lord would react	54:10
	to this sermon?	54:12
	He was born in a stable.	54:16
	He grew up in an ordinary home.	54:19
	His contemporaries by and large	54:23
	missed his spiritual genius	54:26
	because they insisted on drawing the line	54:29
	between the sacred and the secular.	54:32
	And they dismissed him with the comment,	54:35
	"He's a carpenter.	54:37
	We know his family."	54:39
	He found God in the commonplace,	54:43
	in the flowers of the field,	54:45
	in the fall of a sparrow, in the change of the year,	54:47
	in a few cents, put by a widow woman,	54:52
	in a collection plate.	54:55
	And before he died, he took the ordinary foot	54:59
	of a Judean table, bread and wine.	55:04
	And made it so holy to the Lord	55:12
	that 20 centuries later we keep on repeating his actions.	55:15
	Maybe he had read second Zacharia.	55:23
	And maybe he behaved as if the kingdom were already here.	55:28
	Maybe we are supposed to do likewise	55:35
	so far as in us lies.	55:39
	What more should I say?	55:44
	Just this: here again the last verses	55:46
	of the last chapter of Zacharia.	55:52
	"And on that day, there shall be inscribed	55:57
	on the bells of the horses, Holy to the Lord.	56:02
	And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah	56:10
	shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts	56:14
	so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them	56:19
	and boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them.	56:22
	And there shall no longer be a trader	56:28
	in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day."	56:31
	He that had ears to hear, let him hear.	56:38
	And let us pray.	56:45
	Oh God, our father	56:52
	assist us in the normal routine of our daily living	56:56
	to know thee more clearly,	57:02
	to love thee more dearly, and to follow thee more nearly	57:07
	in the spirit of thy son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.	57:14
	And may the blessing of the Lord come upon you abundantly.	57:20
	May it keep you strong and tranquil	57:26
	in the truth of his promises	57:29
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	57:32
	(gentle pipe organ music)	57:38
	♪ Amen ♪	57:41
	♪ Amen ♪	57:50
	♪ Amen ♪	57:59
	♪ Amen ♪	58:11
	♪ Amen ♪	58:24
	♪ Amen ♪	58:38
	♪ Amen ♪	58:59

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "Holiness and the Commonplace" (January 13, 1957); James Cannon - "Christian Faith" (February 10, 1957)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r41j9c90w

Date:

January 13, 1957
February 10, 1957

Speaker:

Cleland, James T. (James Tough), 1903-1974

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0031
ref5283_xoy
uachapelsermaud
duke:628191
dcrau002082
ark:/87924/r41j9c90w
599e6778-8e23-4ed4-a551-a21529e7bffe

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

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This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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James T. Cleland - "Holiness and the Commonplace" (January 13, 1957); James Cannon - "Christian Faith" (February 10, 1957)

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Duke University Archives