Chesley C. Herbert, Jr. - "Toward a Governing Belief" (August 11, 1963)
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(orchestral music) | 0:05 | |
(orchestral music) | 0:11 | |
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- | Let us join in our unison prayer of confession. | 2:50 |
Let us pray. | 2:55 | |
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 2:57 | |
Maker of all things. | 3:01 | |
Judge, of all men, | 3:03 | |
we acknowledge and be wail our manifold sins and wickedness, | 3:05 | |
which we from time to time, | 3:09 | |
most grievously have committed by thought, word, indeed, | 3:11 | |
against thy divine majesty provoking most justly | 3:16 | |
thy wrath and indignation against us. | 3:20 | |
We do earnestly repent and are heartedly sorry | 3:23 | |
for these our misdoings. | 3:27 | |
The remembrance of them is grievous unto us. | 3:29 | |
Have mercy upon us most merciful Father for thy son, | 3:32 | |
our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. | 3:36 | |
Forgive us all that is passed and grant that we may ever | 3:39 | |
hear after serve and please the in newness of life | 3:43 | |
to the honor and glory of thy name | 3:48 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 3:51 | |
Hear these words of assurance. | 3:56 | |
The Lord is gracious and full compassion, | 3:59 | |
slow to anger and of great mercy. | 4:02 | |
The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies | 4:06 | |
are over all His works. | 4:09 | |
The Lord is not to them that call upon Him in truth. | 4:13 | |
He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. | 4:17 | |
He also will hear their cry and save them. | 4:22 | |
Amen. | 4:26 | |
And now as our savior, Jesus Christ has taught us, | 4:28 | |
let us pray together saying our Father who at in heaven, | 4:32 | |
hallowed be thy name thy Kingdom come | 4:36 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven | 4:40 | |
give us this day, our daily bread | 4:44 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 4:47 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 4:49 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 4:52 | |
but deliver us from evil | 4:55 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 4:57 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 4:59 | |
Amen. | 5:03 | |
(gentle orchestral music) | 5:09 | |
(choir singing) | 5:50 | |
The scripture lesson for this morning is found | 7:33 | |
in the 16th chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, | 7:36 | |
But about midnight, | 7:48 | |
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God | 7:50 | |
and the prisoners were listening to them. | 7:54 | |
And suddenly there was a great earthquake | 7:57 | |
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken | 8:01 | |
and immediately all the doors were opened | 8:04 | |
and everyone's fed out were unpackened. | 8:08 | |
When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors | 8:12 | |
were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, | 8:15 | |
supposing that the prisoners had escaped. | 8:20 | |
But Paul cried with a loud voice, | 8:24 | |
"Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." | 8:28 | |
And he called for lights and rushed in | 8:34 | |
and trembling with fear. | 8:37 | |
He fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out | 8:38 | |
and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?" | 8:42 | |
And they said, "believe in the Lord, Jesus, | 8:48 | |
and you will be saved you and your household." | 8:51 | |
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him | 8:57 | |
and to all that were in his house. | 8:59 | |
And he took them the same hour of the night | 9:02 | |
and washed their wounds. | 9:05 | |
And he was baptized at once with all his family. | 9:07 | |
Then he brought them up into his house | 9:12 | |
and set food before of them. | 9:14 | |
And he rejoiced with all his household | 9:16 | |
that he had believed in God. | 9:20 | |
Here, the lesson ends. | 9:23 | |
(orchestral music) | 9:27 | |
(orchestral music) | 10:09 | |
(choir singing) | ||
The Lord be with you. Let us pray. | 13:16 | |
Oh, eternal God who calls us to worship the in spirit | 13:24 | |
and in truth, look upon us with mercy | 13:28 | |
as we worship and adore thee, | 13:32 | |
order what is disordered in our lives, | 13:35 | |
bring our minds to thy truth | 13:39 | |
and our hearts to thy love | 13:41 | |
that in fellowship with all thy church, | 13:44 | |
we may hear thy voice and be able to answer thee | 13:47 | |
with humble trust and willing obedience, | 13:51 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 13:55 | |
Our father, who at the Giver of every good and perfect gift. | 13:59 | |
We thank thee for our creation in thy on image | 14:04 | |
for the preserving mercy, through all the days of our life, | 14:08 | |
for the protection and comfort of our homes, | 14:13 | |
for all those who love us and whom we love. | 14:16 | |
For healing and sickness, | 14:21 | |
deliverance in danger and comfort in sorrow. | 14:23 | |
For the work given us to do and the strength | 14:28 | |
with which to do it. | 14:32 | |
Above all, we thank thee, | 14:35 | |
for the coming of thy Son into the world | 14:36 | |
for the life giving words he spoke, | 14:39 | |
for the merciful works he did, | 14:42 | |
for his bitter suffering and death on the cross | 14:45 | |
and for his mighty resurrection, from the grave. | 14:49 | |
For these and all God blessings unto us, | 14:53 | |
we give thee most hearty thanks | 14:57 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 14:59 | |
Almighty God, our father who hears us | 15:04 | |
when we pray for others, | 15:07 | |
hear us as we pray for all those | 15:10 | |
who are burden by guilt and anxiety, | 15:12 | |
for those who see no purpose or meaning in their lives. | 15:17 | |
Oh Lord grant us the power of thy love | 15:23 | |
and forgiveness might become real for them | 15:25 | |
that they may come to see infinite meaning in life, | 15:29 | |
lived in response to thee, hear us, our Father, | 15:33 | |
as we pray for all those in positions of power, | 15:40 | |
we pray, especially for the president | 15:45 | |
of the United States and his family in their time of sorrow. | 15:47 | |
We pray also for the other leaders of this nation, | 15:53 | |
grant them the spirit of wisdom | 15:57 | |
that their maybe justice and peace at home | 16:00 | |
and that through obedience to thy law | 16:04 | |
they may glorify thy name | 16:06 | |
among all the nations of the earth. | 16:08 | |
We give thee most grateful thanks | 16:12 | |
for the signing of a Test-Ban Treaty. | 16:14 | |
May this act be the beginning of a more genuine peace | 16:17 | |
among the nations of the world. | 16:21 | |
Hear us oh Lord, as we pray for thy church, | 16:25 | |
fill it with truth where it is corrupt purged, | 16:29 | |
where it is an error correct it, | 16:35 | |
where it is the prisoner of this world set it free, | 16:39 | |
where it is right strengthen and confirm it | 16:44 | |
where it is and want supply it, | 16:49 | |
where it is divided and torn apart heal it | 16:53 | |
for the sake of Jesus Christ. | 16:58 | |
Most merciful Father. | 17:02 | |
We pray for all those who are distressed with poverty, | 17:05 | |
sickness, sorrow, or who are afflicted in body or mind, | 17:09 | |
especially for all those known to us, | 17:16 | |
whom at this time we name in our hearts before thee, | 17:19 | |
may it please thee, | 17:28 | |
to comfort and relieve them according to their need | 17:29 | |
and give them patience in their suffering. | 17:33 | |
This, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 17:37 | |
Oh, thou who are more ready to hear | 17:44 | |
than we to pray and who know us to our necessities | 17:45 | |
before we ask and our ignorance in asking here, | 17:50 | |
hear our prayers of petition. | 17:55 | |
Answer us according to our need and give us that peace, | 17:59 | |
which the world cannot take away. | 18:03 | |
Oh, thou who has called us to be thy sons | 18:07 | |
and daughters make us poor in spirit | 18:10 | |
that ours may be the Kingdom of Heaven, | 18:14 | |
make us to mourn for sin, that we may be comforted | 18:17 | |
by thy grace. | 18:22 | |
Make us meek that we may inherit the earth. | 18:25 | |
Make us to hunger and thirst after righteousness | 18:31 | |
that we may be filled. | 18:35 | |
Make us pure in heart that we may see thee. | 18:39 | |
Make us peace makers that we may be called thy Children, | 18:45 | |
make us willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake | 18:51 | |
that ours may be the Kingdom of Heaven, | 18:56 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, | 19:00 | |
Oh thou in whom we live and move and have our being | 19:05 | |
at this time, we offer and present unto thee ourselves, | 19:09 | |
our spirits and bodies, our thoughts and desires, | 19:14 | |
our words and deeds to be a reasonable holy | 19:19 | |
and living sacrifice under thee, | 19:23 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 19:27 | |
(gentle orchestral music) | 19:35 | |
(choir singing) | 21:36 | |
(orchestral music) | 23:34 | |
(choir singing) | 24:16 | |
Almighty God from whose bounty we have all received, | 24:51 | |
accept this offering of thy people. | 24:57 | |
And so follow it with thy blessing | 24:59 | |
that it may promote peace and goodwill among men | 25:02 | |
and advance thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 25:07 | |
Amen. | 25:12 | |
(gentle orchestral music) | 25:15 | |
Let us bow in a few moments of silent prayer. | 25:47 | |
Amen. | 26:00 | |
As a text, these words from the 31st verse | 26:06 | |
of the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, | 26:11 | |
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. | 26:15 | |
Several weeks ago, Mr. Walter Lippmann, | 26:23 | |
writing his column about the Supreme court decision | 26:27 | |
on Bible reading and prayer in the public schools | 26:31 | |
wrote these words. | 26:35 | |
"The reason for the experiments with religion | 26:37 | |
in the public schools is I believe | 26:41 | |
that there is a growing disenchantment | 26:45 | |
with the results of holy secularized education. | 26:48 | |
There is here the hardest problem of education. | 26:54 | |
It is the problem of what to teach about the nature of man | 26:59 | |
and the universe around him and how to provide the boy | 27:04 | |
and girl with governing beliefs | 27:09 | |
that will make them civilized, | 27:13 | |
governing beliefs that will make them civilized." | 27:16 | |
Recently, a drama critic, Mr. Harold Hobson | 27:23 | |
was bemoaning the vulgarity of the contemporary stage. | 27:27 | |
And he wrote these words. | 27:33 | |
"We are living in an age, | 27:35 | |
which is without confidence and without faith | 27:37 | |
at such a time, it would be naive to expect | 27:42 | |
the drama of ringing and positive assertion." | 27:46 | |
These comments, and many others, which could be cited. | 27:52 | |
I believe confirm our own observation that we are living | 27:57 | |
in a time of turmoil, of change, of drastic upheaval | 28:02 | |
when the foundations on which our spiritual lives | 28:09 | |
and those of our ancestors rested | 28:13 | |
are being shaken an uncertain time, | 28:16 | |
a time of doubt, an earthquake type of time. | 28:19 | |
And at a time like this, we are led to seek the essentials, | 28:25 | |
to try to find what Mr. Lippmann called | 28:32 | |
a governing belief that will make us civilized | 28:36 | |
in an earthquake time, such as this, | 28:43 | |
I believe we can sympathize with the Jailer of Philippi | 28:45 | |
who in the middle of the night was shaken from his rest | 28:49 | |
by conversion of nature. | 28:53 | |
He awoke to find that the doors of the prison were open | 28:57 | |
and having long ago decided what he would do | 29:02 | |
if ever that should happen | 29:05 | |
and his prisoners should be escaped | 29:06 | |
that he would end his life quickly | 29:09 | |
rather than suffer the agonizing torture | 29:11 | |
of his Roman over Lords. | 29:14 | |
When he had proved unfaithful to them, | 29:16 | |
he made plans to kill himself quickly with his sword. | 29:18 | |
When a voice called out "do thyself no harm. | 29:23 | |
We are all here." | 29:26 | |
And then he realizing suddenly that his life was spared | 29:29 | |
and that he was now to live a life and sensing | 29:36 | |
that he had been saved from death | 29:41 | |
to a life that was meaningless | 29:45 | |
and without very deep foundations of faith, | 29:47 | |
he spoke to the man of religion, Paul and Salus, and said, | 29:52 | |
"What must I do to be saved?" | 29:56 | |
Saved from meaningless, saved from frustration, | 29:59 | |
saved from doubt and uncertainty. | 30:03 | |
And they gave the answer. And the words about text, | 30:06 | |
"Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved." | 30:09 | |
What does our Christianity offer to those | 30:17 | |
who are seeking a governing belief, | 30:20 | |
looking toward a faith | 30:24 | |
that will make life rich and meaningful. | 30:26 | |
This old and familiar text suggests to us, | 30:30 | |
certainly some of the factors in our faith | 30:33 | |
and these three key words, Jesus Christ, Lord. | 30:38 | |
It seems to me, might fruitfully occupy | 30:43 | |
our thought for a few minutes. | 30:45 | |
Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, | 30:47 | |
the Man who lived and toiled and taught some 19 | 30:53 | |
and a half centuries ago, | 30:57 | |
most people admit and assert | 31:01 | |
that his character appeals to them. | 31:05 | |
This Man of Galilee, that they admire Him, | 31:08 | |
that they esteem His life, that their hearts are stirred | 31:12 | |
as they think of the way | 31:17 | |
in which He met the problems of living. | 31:19 | |
The Christian goes further than this and holds that Jesus | 31:23 | |
was the best man who ever lived, | 31:28 | |
that He provides the standard for goodness. | 31:32 | |
Some years ago, | 31:36 | |
a little boy came home from Sunday school singing | 31:37 | |
a little Sunday school song, Jesus went about doing good. | 31:40 | |
The Bible tells me so. He helped the poor. | 31:46 | |
He helped the blind. | 31:50 | |
He said to all be good, be kind, | 31:53 | |
Jesus went about doing good. | 31:57 | |
The Bible tells me so, | 31:59 | |
and that little boy's parents realized | 32:01 | |
that here was basis of a belief and they told one another. | 32:04 | |
And in their hearts, they resolved | 32:10 | |
that they would try to build on that | 32:12 | |
fundamental that Jesus was a good man, | 32:14 | |
that His quality of goodness provides the standard, | 32:19 | |
the criterion for goodness. | 32:24 | |
And if our little boy was to become a good man, | 32:28 | |
he must have this as a basis. | 32:32 | |
One of the first books Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote | 32:35 | |
was entitled "The Manhood of the Master" | 32:38 | |
and in that book, which is still a most helpful little book, | 32:41 | |
Dr. Fosdick cites the scripture | 32:44 | |
to analyze the character of Jesus of Nazareth, The Man, | 32:48 | |
and the various chapters of that little book, | 32:54 | |
familiar to many of you I'm sure give the characteristics | 32:56 | |
of the Man, Jesus, the Masters Joy, the Masters Sincerity, | 33:00 | |
the Masters Loyalty, His endurance, His magnanimity, | 33:06 | |
His fearlessness, and so on. | 33:11 | |
Not only do Christians admire the character of Jesus, | 33:16 | |
many non-Christians do | 33:21 | |
also in his recent thought provoking book, | 33:23 | |
Bishop John Robinson, the book's title, as many of you know, | 33:28 | |
is "Honest to God" Bishop Robinson has this to say, | 33:33 | |
"Naturalism has on the whole been remarkably favorable | 33:38 | |
to Christianity in the realm of Christology. | 33:42 | |
Once the dogma of his deity has been put outta the way | 33:47 | |
the humanist picture of Jesus is noticeably sympathetic." | 33:51 | |
Those of other religions look upon Jesus | 33:59 | |
with admiration and esteem as the Goodman, | 34:02 | |
the Man for others, we understand that Mahatma Gandhi, | 34:07 | |
a Hindu had a picture of Jesus in his study. | 34:12 | |
And there is a story from Hinduism | 34:17 | |
by whose authenticity I cannot vouch, | 34:19 | |
but which I believe to be essentially true | 34:22 | |
about a group of Hindu men who gathered | 34:25 | |
to have a rather wild party. | 34:28 | |
And they had employed a funny man, | 34:30 | |
a adjuster to come and amuse them with his jokes. | 34:32 | |
And they were not necessarily to be clean jokes, | 34:37 | |
unsolid funny stories. | 34:42 | |
And so the funny man practiced dirty jokes | 34:45 | |
and the men who had gathered to be amused, | 34:48 | |
laughed up rowlessly at the obscenity. | 34:51 | |
And then as he moved along and as the atmosphere was right, | 34:56 | |
he began cracking some dirty jokes using the name, | 34:59 | |
the some of the gods of Hinduism in his jokes | 35:03 | |
and his heroes. | 35:07 | |
These Hindus adherence to the religion of Hinduism | 35:08 | |
laughed even louder as their own gods | 35:13 | |
were used in connection with dirty stories. | 35:16 | |
And then the funny man thought he would come | 35:20 | |
toward his climax and he told a dirty joke | 35:22 | |
using the name Jesus. | 35:26 | |
And there was silence. | 35:30 | |
And he tried again, | 35:33 | |
he told another obscene story using the name Jesus | 35:34 | |
and the silence was ominous. | 35:40 | |
And he tried once more using the name Jesus | 35:43 | |
telling a dirty story to these Hindus adherence of Hinduism. | 35:48 | |
And they hustled him out of the room. | 35:55 | |
They would have none of it. | 35:58 | |
Jesus of Nazareth, the apex of human virtue, | 36:01 | |
the criterion and standard of goodness, Jesus, | 36:07 | |
the best man who ever lived. | 36:11 | |
But as we move toward a governing belief, | 36:15 | |
we take a second step and the Word is Christ. | 36:18 | |
The anointed of God | 36:22 | |
to say that Jesus is the Christ | 36:26 | |
to give Him that title is the base a philosophy of God, | 36:30 | |
of life and of the universe on this good character | 36:35 | |
of Jesus of Nazareth. | 36:40 | |
And we need such a philosophy of life | 36:44 | |
when trouble comes to us at times, | 36:46 | |
I have had anonymous phone calls, | 36:50 | |
telephone would ring and a voice at the other end would say | 36:53 | |
something like this to me, | 36:57 | |
"I am not a member of your church. | 36:58 | |
You do not know who I am, but you are a minister. | 37:01 | |
And I am deeply troubled. | 37:05 | |
Life has fallen in on me. My troubles are so great. | 37:07 | |
Things are so bad that I'm thinking about ending it all. | 37:11 | |
I wonder if you, | 37:14 | |
a minister could say something to me over the telephone | 37:15 | |
for just a minute or two, that would help me live | 37:19 | |
my difficult life." | 37:23 | |
Our dear friends, what would you say | 37:26 | |
if you had such a phone call | 37:29 | |
when that has happened to me a few times, | 37:32 | |
I've tried to talk to that unknown, unseen, | 37:34 | |
troubled human spirit about Jesus the Christ, | 37:39 | |
the fact that in Jesus the Christ, | 37:43 | |
we see the meaning of life that we find in him, | 37:47 | |
health and strength and understanding | 37:52 | |
for the troubles of life. | 37:55 | |
Jesus at the Last Supper, | 37:57 | |
according to the gospel of John said to the Inquirer, | 37:59 | |
he that have seen me, have seen the Father. | 38:03 | |
And one statement of the basic essential | 38:08 | |
of the Christian faith is four words of one syllable. | 38:10 | |
God is like Christ. | 38:14 | |
That is to say was Jesus kind then God is kind, | 38:19 | |
did Jesus love poor and unfortunate people? | 38:25 | |
Then God loves poor and unfortunate people. | 38:29 | |
Did Jesus forgive those who did him wrong? | 38:33 | |
Then God forgives us. | 38:36 | |
When we do him wrong that Jesus love sinful people so much | 38:38 | |
that he was willing to lay down his life to save them | 38:43 | |
from their sinfulness, then their friends, when we do wrong, | 38:47 | |
we wound again the very heart of God. | 38:52 | |
Dr. Stanley Jones put this general idea in words | 38:57 | |
that I think are exceptionally meaningful and beautiful. | 39:01 | |
If the heart of the universe is like this gentle heart | 39:05 | |
that broke upon the cross for me, | 39:10 | |
he can have my I heart without qualification or reservation. | 39:14 | |
Christ makes God known. Jesus Christ, the revealer of God. | 39:21 | |
And our faith tells us that if we would keep step | 39:29 | |
with this mighty universe, | 39:32 | |
this mysterious us universe in which we live, | 39:34 | |
we must catch step with the Christ. | 39:37 | |
One day a hungry multitude was following Jesus | 39:43 | |
and the disciples said, "Send them away." | 39:46 | |
And Jesus said, "You feed them." | 39:50 | |
"Impossible." They said we can't feed them. | 39:52 | |
But Jesus, then using the spirit of sharing | 39:56 | |
and taking what was available, | 40:00 | |
fed to 5,000 in a marvelous way. | 40:04 | |
There's a great crowd today that's hungry. | 40:09 | |
The American Negro hungry for his long denied rights | 40:12 | |
and opportunities. | 40:17 | |
The teaming masses of Latin America, | 40:19 | |
having been denied their rights, | 40:22 | |
hungry for a place where they can live worth fully. | 40:24 | |
Non-Christians unconsciously hungering for Christ. | 40:30 | |
What is our response? We tend to say, "Send them away." | 40:36 | |
I'm troubled with my own troubles. | 40:41 | |
I don't wanna bother with them. Send them away. | 40:44 | |
Don't bother me with them. | 40:47 | |
But Jesus, the Christ. | 40:50 | |
Identifys himself with the least of these, the hungry, | 40:52 | |
and he painted a picture | 40:58 | |
of a great division of all humanity. | 41:00 | |
And on the left hand, the condemned side with those two | 41:03 | |
whom he said I was hungry and you fed me not. | 41:07 | |
I'd like not to be in that crowd. | 41:15 | |
We take one more step and use the third word, | 41:20 | |
Lord Jesus Christ is Lord. | 41:23 | |
That was the early baptismal confession. | 41:28 | |
When one confessed, Jesus Christ is Lord. | 41:32 | |
That meant Caesar is not Lord. | 41:35 | |
And one ran the risk of being put to death for the faith. | 41:38 | |
Jesus, the man stirs our deepest admiration, | 41:43 | |
our feelings of great understanding and sympathy Christ. | 41:48 | |
The anointed of God appeals to our minds. | 41:54 | |
But when we call Him Lord, that's an act of the will. | 41:58 | |
And we come to Him in faith, in trust, in commitment, | 42:03 | |
we surrender self to one greator than the self. | 42:10 | |
And thus, we come to self realization. | 42:16 | |
We experience when we really, | 42:21 | |
from the depths of our being with our total self, | 42:24 | |
make the affirmative response to the divine | 42:28 | |
and acclaim Jesus Christ is Lord, | 42:31 | |
we experience what the fathers called conversion. | 42:35 | |
This year as many of you know, | 42:41 | |
we Methodists are celebrating the 225th anniversary | 42:43 | |
of John Wesley's Aldersgate Experience. | 42:47 | |
But what happened at Aldersgate | 42:50 | |
before that time, John Wesley, | 42:52 | |
a priest of the church of England believed of course, | 42:54 | |
that Jesus was the best man who ever lived. | 42:57 | |
And of course he based his understanding of the universe | 43:00 | |
on the Christ, the revealer of God, | 43:05 | |
but being a very capable man with an excellent mind | 43:10 | |
and a marvelous grasp of what was going on. | 43:13 | |
He was trusting somewhat in John Wesley for salvation. | 43:17 | |
And I'm inclined to think that one key | 43:22 | |
to the understanding of the Aldersgate Experience | 43:24 | |
lies in the words I felt I did trust in Christ Christ. | 43:28 | |
Christ alone for salvation, | 43:35 | |
no longer trusting in John Wesley and his ability, | 43:40 | |
but now surrendering to Christ as Lord, | 43:44 | |
we may find an illustration of this | 43:50 | |
from the realm of economics, not long back, | 43:53 | |
I heard a speak an expert on Buyer Seller Relationships. | 43:55 | |
And he was telling us that the manufacturer | 44:01 | |
used to be the important factor | 44:04 | |
in economics that people could sell | 44:07 | |
whatever they could make. | 44:10 | |
But in recent years, | 44:12 | |
it's been reversed now with the models | 44:14 | |
of modern technology, we can make whatever we can sell. | 44:17 | |
Consumer acceptance of the manufactured product | 44:23 | |
is the crucial factor now, | 44:27 | |
the horseless carriage had to wait for quite a while | 44:31 | |
for consumer acceptance until the vast | 44:36 | |
modern automobile industry came into being | 44:41 | |
until the public had faith in | 44:46 | |
and accepted horseless carriage and the automobile, | 44:49 | |
the manufacturer was somewhat helpless. | 44:55 | |
Color television is beginning to gain consumer acceptance, | 44:58 | |
but it has not yet fully done. | 45:03 | |
And only when it does will be colored television industry | 45:06 | |
come to its own. | 45:11 | |
God's love made known to us in Christ | 45:14 | |
awaits our acceptance. | 45:19 | |
As someone has beautifully said, | 45:23 | |
"We must accept his acceptance of us." | 45:25 | |
Behold I stand at the door and knock, set the Lord. | 45:31 | |
If any man will hear my voice and open the door, | 45:39 | |
I will come in. | 45:43 | |
So then perhaps this is the key to a governing belief. | 45:46 | |
The commitment of the total self to God | 45:50 | |
as He is made known to us in Jesus Christ, the Lord. | 45:54 | |
This is Thomas saying my Lord and my God. | 46:00 | |
It is Martin Luther saying, here I stand, | 46:06 | |
I cannot do otherwise. | 46:11 | |
God helped me. | 46:13 | |
It is Martin Neal preferring to remain in the Nazi prison | 46:16 | |
to having his freedom, | 46:21 | |
compromising his total conviction and loyalty | 46:22 | |
and devotion to Christ. | 46:27 | |
Bishop Paul Cannon some years ago | 46:29 | |
said faith is not belief in spite of evidence. | 46:31 | |
It is life in scorn of consequence. | 46:37 | |
Mr. Casey Woo, who was the mayor of Shanghai | 46:43 | |
recently wrote a historical novel, | 46:48 | |
entitled the "Lane of Eternal Stability" | 46:51 | |
in which he gives the history of his beloved China | 46:55 | |
from the beginning of the 20th century, | 46:58 | |
up to close to the present time when the ancient traditions | 47:02 | |
of China were overthrown and the communists took over | 47:06 | |
one of the moving incidents in this book by Mr. Woo | 47:11 | |
tells of the death of the Widow Lawn, | 47:15 | |
the Widow Lawn had been an ignorant peasant woman | 47:20 | |
who came in contact with the American Christian Mission, | 47:23 | |
became a Christian, | 47:27 | |
studied her fine abilities were given expression. | 47:28 | |
And she became a skilled surgeon in the mission. | 47:32 | |
Then when the communist swept over | 47:36 | |
and destroyed the mission totally, this capable woman, | 47:39 | |
the Widow Lawn was the head of a gorilla band | 47:43 | |
fighting the communist. | 47:46 | |
Then Pat Kong, a very prominent communist, | 47:49 | |
the grandson of the benefactor of the Widow Lawn, | 47:53 | |
a wonderful old man Paul, | 47:58 | |
Pat Kong pretended to be anti communist, | 48:01 | |
even though he was a leading communist, | 48:05 | |
he joined it himself to the Gorilla Band. | 48:08 | |
And then through treachery, | 48:11 | |
he had the band destroyed and the Widow Lawn, | 48:13 | |
and two of the other leaders were imprisoned | 48:17 | |
and were awaiting horrible death by torture | 48:21 | |
and Pat Kong, this communist who had been so treacherous | 48:27 | |
to this good woman whom he had known | 48:31 | |
and who had helped him when he was a boy, | 48:34 | |
came into her prison cell and found her reading the Bible. | 48:37 | |
And he undertook to tell her | 48:41 | |
that if she would only confess communism, | 48:43 | |
if she would only renounce her anti communism | 48:46 | |
and become a communist, | 48:49 | |
she could be spared the horror of the death by torture, | 48:51 | |
which laid just ahead for her. | 48:55 | |
She read the Bible, apparently oblivious | 48:57 | |
to Kat Kong's appeals and finally in desperation, | 49:00 | |
he said to her, "Please listen to me." | 49:05 | |
And then in our quote from the Mr Woo's book, | 49:09 | |
"You listened to me." She said with a curious smile. | 49:13 | |
He would always remember your grandfather Holl | 49:17 | |
was a great Confucian scholar as you know, | 49:21 | |
I've been wondering how he would conduct himself | 49:25 | |
under my presence circumstances. | 49:28 | |
I am uncertain he would choose the same course, | 49:31 | |
but I doubt if he would be able to go through all this | 49:35 | |
with the same composed state of mind. | 49:39 | |
You see, as I told you before, | 49:43 | |
here is the difference between Philosophy and religion, | 49:47 | |
Philosophy gives man wisdom, but not necessarily strength. | 49:52 | |
Religion gives both. | 49:58 | |
This dear friends points toward our faith, | 50:03 | |
a governing belief that sustains us | 50:08 | |
and will save humanity come, what may. | 50:13 | |
Will you please stand for a brief closing prayer | 50:21 | |
and the benediction. | 50:25 | |
Oh God, our Heavenly Father, | 50:34 | |
we think of Jesus Christ our Lord. | 50:36 | |
All may each one of us this day, | 50:41 | |
as we meditate upon Him right here, thy Son, | 50:44 | |
our Savior renew our dedication to him | 50:49 | |
and to claim him, Lord of all. | 50:55 | |
The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, | 51:02 | |
the love of God and the communion | 51:06 | |
of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | 51:09 | |
(gentle orchestral music) | 51:16 | |
(choir singing) | 51:19 |