James T. Cleland - "Holiness and the Commonplace" (January 13, 1957); James Cannon - "Christian Faith" (February 10, 1957)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(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 |