Daniel M. Schores - "Saints in the Shadows" (June 12, 1966)
MP3
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| - | Entitled, "I Played Their Accompaniment." | 0:04 |
| She was an accompanist to many of the great opera stars. | 0:08 | |
| And in this book, she told of her personal satisfaction | 0:12 | |
| and how she found meaning in life | 0:16 | |
| by being able to make others great. | 0:19 | |
| This is a little different approach to success. | 0:23 | |
| And I wondered how many possible | 0:27 | |
| or potential stars never achieve greatness | 0:30 | |
| because of a poor accompanist. | 0:34 | |
| In a real sense, it takes a saint to be willing | 0:38 | |
| to stay in the shadows of another's honors. | 0:41 | |
| When I use the phrase 'saints in the shadows', | 0:47 | |
| I'm thinking of unknown or little known persons | 0:51 | |
| who have contributed much to life behind the scenes, | 0:56 | |
| the second fiddlers, so to speak. | 1:00 | |
| Those who are willing to stay in the shadows | 1:05 | |
| and yet who contribute so much that is necessary in life. | 1:09 | |
| Society couldn't exist without them. | 1:13 | |
| And yet very often, tribute has never been paid to them. | 1:16 | |
| I guess, in a sense, my sermon is kind of a reaction | 1:22 | |
| to the baccalaureate sermons of the last several weeks | 1:25 | |
| that have been echoing through churches | 1:28 | |
| and college campuses. | 1:30 | |
| For in these baccalaureate addresses, | 1:33 | |
| usually, the speaker is encouraging the graduates | 1:36 | |
| to aim for the stars, to be the tops in their fields. | 1:39 | |
| The truth of the matter is, many those who graduated, | 1:44 | |
| many of the rest of us will never be | 1:47 | |
| the top person in our field. | 1:49 | |
| Where do we find meaning to life? | 1:52 | |
| Where do we find the sense of achievement, | 1:55 | |
| the sense of happiness? | 1:57 | |
| For us, the goal is a little more earthly. | 2:00 | |
| Now I'm not recommending that we settle for second best, | 2:04 | |
| but rather that when we find ourselves | 2:08 | |
| in second place roles, we do our best, | 2:10 | |
| for these other the places | 2:14 | |
| where we're going to spend most of our life. | 2:16 | |
| We find these saints in the shadows in all walks of life. | 2:21 | |
| In the theater, it's usually the supporting actor or actress | 2:27 | |
| that helps make the play. | 2:30 | |
| The wife who puts her husband through college, | 2:34 | |
| never gets the degree, but deserves much of the credit. | 2:37 | |
| Each author recognizes the fact that many contributed | 2:42 | |
| to his work by recognizing them | 2:45 | |
| in the dedication of the book | 2:48 | |
| or on one of the pages in the preface. | 2:51 | |
| And think of many others who stand behind the scenes | 2:57 | |
| whom we never know, | 2:59 | |
| and yet have helped to make others great. | 3:00 | |
| The ghostwriter for the politician, | 3:02 | |
| the economic advisor to a great | 3:06 | |
| business corporation executive, | 3:07 | |
| the maintenance staff here at the university | 3:11 | |
| who make possible the services, | 3:13 | |
| the daily housekeeping chores, | 3:18 | |
| providing and taking care of buildings. | 3:22 | |
| Think in the local church of the volunteers | 3:28 | |
| who teach Sunday school or serve in official positions. | 3:29 | |
| Without them, the organization cannot run. | 3:33 | |
| They must get their glory not from being | 3:36 | |
| in the public spotlight but because they know | 3:39 | |
| that service is needed in whatever role | 3:42 | |
| we're called upon to play. | 3:45 | |
| Have you ever thought about Mrs. Albert Schweitzer? | 3:48 | |
| She too left the luxury of Europe for a jungle career. | 3:52 | |
| And yet her name was not the name | 3:58 | |
| known by millions around the world. | 4:00 | |
| She didn't receive the honors. | 4:03 | |
| Her happiness, her sense of meaning | 4:06 | |
| had to come from sharing in the service | 4:09 | |
| her husband rendered. | 4:13 | |
| Back in 1952, when I was a student here at Duke, | 4:16 | |
| Miss Umeko Kagawa, daughter of the great Japanese Christian | 4:21 | |
| Toyohiko Kagawa, was here at Duke for a few weeks | 4:25 | |
| in an orientation program. | 4:30 | |
| I had the good fortune to become acquainted with her. | 4:33 | |
| And later, she was a guest in our home on couple occasions. | 4:36 | |
| One of the things she confessed to me was that | 4:40 | |
| the hardest thing for her was to overcome | 4:45 | |
| the stigma that her father was great. | 4:48 | |
| She knew this, and yet she wanted to excel | 4:51 | |
| in her own right. | 4:54 | |
| It was a sense of pride. | 4:57 | |
| And she said, "Until I realized that I could be myself, | 4:59 | |
| do things on my own right, I was never quite happy." | 5:04 | |
| To her credit, she did gain this self-confidence | 5:10 | |
| and had a good life of service. | 5:14 | |
| The Bible records many examples of the near-great. | 5:19 | |
| In fact, most of the characters of the Bible | 5:24 | |
| in their own day were not the ones | 5:26 | |
| who would receive nationwide publicity. | 5:29 | |
| There are people who stood behind the scenes, | 5:34 | |
| serving, assisting others, doing their part. | 5:37 | |
| We could give many examples, | 5:45 | |
| but let me refer back to the two | 5:46 | |
| in the scripture lessons of this morning. | 5:49 | |
| Naaman was a great general of the Syrians. | 5:54 | |
| He'd conquered foreign armies. | 5:59 | |
| He was great in the eyes of his people. | 6:03 | |
| And yet he was miserable because he was a leper. | 6:05 | |
| He had tried all the medical cures | 6:10 | |
| offered in his own land without success. | 6:11 | |
| Then one of these little saints in the shadows | 6:16 | |
| appeared on the scene. | 6:19 | |
| The Israelite maid of his wife, | 6:22 | |
| a young girl captured in battle and serving his wife. | 6:25 | |
| It was her suggestion that he'd go to the nation of Israel | 6:30 | |
| and be treated by the prophet. | 6:33 | |
| He took her advice. | 6:38 | |
| Apparently, her own faith and conviction | 6:41 | |
| was quite convincing. | 6:43 | |
| Not only was he cured, | 6:46 | |
| but he was also converted in this visit to Israel. | 6:48 | |
| This little maid, we don't even know her name, | 6:55 | |
| is one of these saints in the shadows | 6:59 | |
| who changed the course of history of her day. | 7:01 | |
| The second example was that of Barnabas | 7:06 | |
| in the New Testament. | 7:08 | |
| Barnabas is continually overshadowed by the figure of Paul. | 7:11 | |
| Most of us aren't even aware of who he was. | 7:15 | |
| But all of us recognize the name of Paul. | 7:19 | |
| And yet it was Barnabas who went to seek out Paul | 7:23 | |
| and convinced him to go on these missionary journeys. | 7:28 | |
| Very likely, it was Barnabas whose wealth | 7:32 | |
| provided the means by which he could travel. | 7:34 | |
| It was Barnabas who opened the way in the Island of Cyprus | 7:39 | |
| that Paul might receive a hearing. | 7:41 | |
| A saint in the shadows, | 7:46 | |
| in the background of another great man, | 7:48 | |
| and yet how important it is to our own religious background | 7:51 | |
| that there was such a man named Barnabas. | 7:56 | |
| All we know about him is that he was a businessman, | 8:00 | |
| a prophet, and a teacher. | 8:03 | |
| And you know there are a few Methodist churches named | 8:07 | |
| after St. Barnabas, but a lot named after St. Paul. | 8:09 | |
| The New Testament is full of many similar instances. | 8:13 | |
| Time and time again, it's the little people | 8:18 | |
| in the background that play important roles in history. | 8:20 | |
| Those who made life worth living | 8:27 | |
| were not all the first line apostles, | 8:28 | |
| the high priests or government officials. | 8:32 | |
| Jesus never promised that we would be famous | 8:40 | |
| if we were to be of service. | 8:46 | |
| If we would be great in the eyes of men, | 8:49 | |
| when we are striving to be great in the eyes of God. | 8:53 | |
| In fact, his standards of success | 8:58 | |
| are rather strange to our ears. | 8:59 | |
| He tells us that to be great, we need to serve others, | 9:02 | |
| for the greatest among you shall be the servant of all. | 9:07 | |
| And one of the sharpest reprimands he had for his disciples, | 9:13 | |
| where when James and John wanted to sit | 9:16 | |
| on the right and left hand of him in the kingdom, | 9:18 | |
| before he felt that there was no room for pride, | 9:22 | |
| for a place of honor to those who sought after it, | 9:27 | |
| Christ again and again, as we recall, | 9:33 | |
| sought out the common people, the forgotten men, | 9:36 | |
| the person of his day who were neglected | 9:42 | |
| with whom he recognized had tremendous potential | 9:45 | |
| for making life worth living. | 9:49 | |
| The problem that most of us face is this very thing | 9:55 | |
| that we will not be the great persons of our day. | 9:58 | |
| I hope some of you will be. | 10:02 | |
| We don't know who will among us. | 10:05 | |
| But to be realistic, most of us are going to always play | 10:09 | |
| on the second string. | 10:14 | |
| Most of us are going to have to face the fact | 10:17 | |
| that in life, we are not going to receive the top honors. | 10:22 | |
| And yet we still want a meaningful, purposeful life. | 10:27 | |
| This doesn't mean that we who are playing in the shadows | 10:32 | |
| lack ambition, nor does it always mean you lack ability. | 10:37 | |
| There are just so many places at the top. | 10:42 | |
| Without the saints in the shadows, | 10:48 | |
| without those who play the second roles, | 10:51 | |
| there'd be no clerks in our stores, | 10:54 | |
| no vice presidents or vice anythings, | 10:57 | |
| no assistant executives. | 11:00 | |
| It'd be very difficult for a football team | 11:04 | |
| or a basketball team to win | 11:06 | |
| because there'd be no one left on the bench to substitute. | 11:07 | |
| There'd be no advisors. | 11:12 | |
| And if everyone sought after the top place, | 11:15 | |
| the world would be a selfish chaos. | 11:18 | |
| This is seen quite clearly in one of the novels | 11:21 | |
| by Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina". | 11:24 | |
| Anna, the main character, is the type | 11:30 | |
| that is always seeking first place. | 11:34 | |
| And yet, she's the one in this story who ends unhappy. | 11:37 | |
| She runs off with a Count whom she's fascinated | 11:41 | |
| because she wants the thrill. | 11:45 | |
| She wants the attention. | 11:48 | |
| Only to find that he's interested in another woman, | 11:51 | |
| and she ends her life in suicide. | 11:55 | |
| In this particular novel, the saint in the shadow is Levin, | 11:58 | |
| her brother-in-law by marriage, | 12:02 | |
| a quiet, unassuming man. | 12:05 | |
| A farm manager who tries to live as a Christian farmer. | 12:10 | |
| And he finds satisfaction in his family, | 12:14 | |
| in his work, in his faith. | 12:16 | |
| One reason why this novel has endured time | 12:20 | |
| is because it's so true to life. | 12:24 | |
| And if we were to look at these characters | 12:29 | |
| over the long range, it's the saint in the shadow | 12:33 | |
| who finds a life worth living. | 12:38 | |
| Well, what then is needed to make our life meaningful? | 12:42 | |
| If it's not fame or success, with quotation marks around it, | 12:47 | |
| what is worth living? | 12:53 | |
| This part of my message is pretty much | 12:57 | |
| of a personal testimony. | 13:00 | |
| And yet, I could find a number of persons | 13:01 | |
| who would support it, much older and wiser than I. | 13:05 | |
| Now I lift up three ingredients. | 13:10 | |
| One, if we want a life worth living, | 13:13 | |
| we need to be needed by someone. | 13:17 | |
| There is a sense in which our lives | 13:21 | |
| are not quite complete until we play | 13:23 | |
| a somewhat indispensable role for someone else. | 13:27 | |
| That might be a family, a loved one, our neighbors. | 13:32 | |
| Social psychologists have long recognized | 13:37 | |
| that affection and response or recognition | 13:39 | |
| are basic ingredients in life | 13:43 | |
| that are sought after by all men. | 13:45 | |
| Someone must find it hard to get along without you, | 13:49 | |
| and you'll feel worthwhile. | 13:53 | |
| We need to serve so as to be needed by others. | 13:56 | |
| I think of a grandmother who raised two young girls. | 14:00 | |
| After the age in which many people have felt useless | 14:05 | |
| as though their life was no longer worth living, | 14:09 | |
| she had meaning and purpose because she was driving | 14:12 | |
| to see these girls raised properly and on through college. | 14:15 | |
| She was needed, and it gave meaning to her life. | 14:19 | |
| I honestly believe that this is part of the appeal | 14:25 | |
| of the Peace Corps. | 14:27 | |
| Persons who ant serve in such a way | 14:30 | |
| that someplace, someone will need their services. | 14:34 | |
| Work, to many, gives meaning to life. | 14:41 | |
| It's one source of satisfaction, yet no doubt, | 14:46 | |
| not the only way. | 14:49 | |
| But when our job becomes a vocation, | 14:51 | |
| a calling by God you serve, | 14:53 | |
| then whatever we do takes on new meaning | 14:56 | |
| and our daily tasks become important | 14:59 | |
| in the place where we're serving. | 15:01 | |
| Some have jokingly said that community service | 15:06 | |
| is kind of make work to keep people, | 15:08 | |
| particularly housewife with nothing else to do | 15:10 | |
| out of mischief. | 15:13 | |
| I don't believe this is true. | 15:14 | |
| It's often the time and the ability to serve | 15:17 | |
| in places of need as a hospital volunteer, | 15:21 | |
| in a local Red Cross chapter, in church groups, | 15:26 | |
| league of women voters, that gives a housewife meaning | 15:31 | |
| and a sense of satisfaction that we all need. | 15:36 | |
| To be needed is the first ingredient I lift up for you. | 15:41 | |
| The second is to set worthy but attainable goals. | 15:45 | |
| Now, there are many ambitious graduates who, | 15:52 | |
| upon getting their degree, leave the school | 15:54 | |
| thinking they're going to change the world. | 15:56 | |
| One layman that I know said, | 15:59 | |
| he knew a lot went out to set the world on fire | 16:02 | |
| but came back to school in a few years to find more matches. | 16:05 | |
| They found that the top places were not always available. | 16:10 | |
| Their talents were not quite as great | 16:13 | |
| as they were led to believe they were. | 16:15 | |
| What I'm concerned about is what happens emotionally | 16:20 | |
| and psychologically to these persons | 16:22 | |
| who fall just slightly short of their ambitious goals. | 16:24 | |
| Most perfectionists are unhappy people | 16:29 | |
| and I think are very difficult to live with. | 16:32 | |
| And yet I don't want to suggest | 16:36 | |
| that we set goals that are too low | 16:38 | |
| that they're no longer a challenge. | 16:41 | |
| They need to be worthy to those of us | 16:44 | |
| who feel called by God to be good stewards | 16:45 | |
| of our time and talents. | 16:48 | |
| So I guess I'm speaking those of us | 16:53 | |
| who do not graduate summa cum laude, | 16:57 | |
| the housewife whose windows still need cleaning | 17:01 | |
| or the businessman who finds | 17:04 | |
| at the end of the week, work still left undone, | 17:05 | |
| 'cause you've just not been able to squeeze it in. | 17:09 | |
| And saying that you're not alone. | 17:12 | |
| One of the signs of maturity in life | 17:17 | |
| is to be able to set goals that are challenging | 17:19 | |
| and yet are capable of attainment. | 17:22 | |
| It takes courage sometimes to accept the place where you are | 17:28 | |
| and then give it your best. | 17:32 | |
| The third ingredient that I would suggest | 17:36 | |
| is needed for life is to be loved. | 17:37 | |
| Human love, of course, can spur us on | 17:43 | |
| to greater achievement. | 17:45 | |
| You can document this by many examples around you. | 17:47 | |
| In fact, we must love in order to be human. | 17:52 | |
| One of the distinguishing marks of mankind. | 17:57 | |
| Again and again, through literature, through scripture, | 18:04 | |
| through contemporary example, we can illustrate the ways | 18:08 | |
| in which through love, men have been regenerated, | 18:12 | |
| been given new encouragement. | 18:17 | |
| Let me give one example from Dostoevsky's novel, | 18:20 | |
| "Crime and Punishment". | 18:23 | |
| In the story, we have a good illustration | 18:26 | |
| of the love of others pulling a man back | 18:31 | |
| into the human fellowship | 18:35 | |
| when he has felt cut off from life. | 18:36 | |
| Raskolnikov, a student, has committed a murder. | 18:41 | |
| Two murders, in fact, a pawnbroker and her sister. | 18:46 | |
| At first, he planned this as a perfect crime. | 18:53 | |
| And yet he realized that his conscience, | 18:56 | |
| his actions all made him feel and look guilty. | 18:59 | |
| In fact, the police suspected him | 19:03 | |
| but had no definite proof. | 19:05 | |
| Time and time again, he was on the verge | 19:08 | |
| of confessing his crime, knowing where he had done wrong, | 19:10 | |
| wanting to find punishment, perhaps? | 19:14 | |
| Forgiveness? | 19:18 | |
| We aren't real sure. | 19:19 | |
| But he's afraid that no one cares enough | 19:22 | |
| to really understand why he did it. | 19:24 | |
| To have sympathy with him. | 19:27 | |
| He feels cut off from the rest of the world. | 19:29 | |
| It's only through the faith in him and in God | 19:33 | |
| and the love of an ex prostitute named Sonia | 19:38 | |
| and the assurance that his mother and his sister | 19:42 | |
| love him and care for him that he gains courage | 19:44 | |
| to go to the police and confess his crime. | 19:47 | |
| Though he is imprisoned, he begins to reconstruct | 19:51 | |
| a new and socially acceptable life | 19:56 | |
| with the regeneration of him | 19:59 | |
| starting from the love of others. | 20:00 | |
| If the love of men can do this to us, | 20:05 | |
| how much more can the love of God | 20:08 | |
| call us back to start over again, to find new strength, | 20:10 | |
| to find the ability to serve in the places of second best? | 20:15 | |
| And how much we need this type of encouragement. | 20:21 | |
| Therefore, as we look at life, we find ourselves concerned | 20:28 | |
| over the fact that we may not be in top places of honor, | 20:33 | |
| success or greatness, and yet still realizing | 20:38 | |
| that God has called us and put us here | 20:42 | |
| to have a life of meaning and purpose. | 20:44 | |
| I suggest to you, to find this meaning, | 20:49 | |
| we want to be needed, we want to be loved, | 20:53 | |
| and we need to have worthy but attainable goals. | 20:59 | |
| Only then can we really find happiness | 21:05 | |
| in living in the shadow. | 21:09 | |
| Many others have. | 21:13 | |
| These are the ones this morning | 21:14 | |
| whom I pay tribute as saints in the shadows. | 21:16 | |
| Thank God for these saints. | 21:20 | |
| Can we stand? | 21:24 | |
| Let us pray. | 21:28 | |
| Oh, blessed Lord, we sought out the common man, | 21:31 | |
| ate at his table, walked with him along dusty roads, | 21:36 | |
| visited with him beside the well and in the marketplace. | 21:41 | |
| Let us (indistinct) strengthening presence | 21:46 | |
| when we are prone to feel | 21:48 | |
| that ours is not an important place of service. | 21:49 | |
| Fill our hearts with the knowledge of thy love. | 21:53 | |
| Teach us through success and through failure | 21:57 | |
| to be thankful yet humble. | 22:00 | |
| Grant meaning to our daily task that we might know | 22:03 | |
| that whatever is done in thy name is worthy of our time. | 22:06 | |
| Lift up our spirits, oh God, | 22:12 | |
| and fill our lives with thy holy presence. | 22:14 | |
| Amen. | 22:17 | |
| And now with the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, | 22:20 | |
| the love of God and the fellowship of his holy spirit | 22:24 | |
| abide with you and keep you now and ever more. | 22:28 | |
| Amen. | 22:32 | |
| (bell ringing) | 22:34 | |
| (liturgical piano music playing) | 22:53 | |
| (loud footsteps) | 25:32 | |
| (people murmuring) | 25:58 | |
| (loud footsteps) | 26:03 | |
| (upbeat music) | 26:13 | |
| (commenter speaking in background) | 26:44 | |
| (upbeat music) | 26:52 | |
| (commenter speaking in background) | 27:50 | |
| (upbeat music) | 28:16 | |
| (commenter speaking in background) | 30:20 | |
| (upbeat music) | 30:46 | |
| (commenter speaking in background) | 31:29 | |
| (upbeat music) | 31:41 |