James T. Cleland - "Saint Dad" (November 10, 1968)
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| (soft piano music) | 0:10 | |
| (choir members singing) | 1:29 | |
| (soft praise and worship music) | 2:18 | |
| (choir members singing) | 2:58 | |
| Priest | Grace be to you and peace from God, our father, | 5:30 |
| and from the Lord, Jesus Christ. | 5:33 | |
| Beloved in the Lord, we have been called to freedom, | 5:37 | |
| but we have found the burden of that freedom heavy, | 5:40 | |
| the anxiety painful, | 5:44 | |
| and we as individuals and as groups | 5:46 | |
| have returned to our illusions about life, | 5:49 | |
| and deceits about ourselves. | 5:52 | |
| Let us therefore, in this place, | 5:55 | |
| together as a community of faith, | 5:58 | |
| acknowledge our continued denial of life, | 6:01 | |
| the life that was presented to us by God, in Christ, | 6:05 | |
| and our need as individuals and as groups | 6:09 | |
| for that power, which is beyond, | 6:14 | |
| yet ever present to ourselves. | 6:16 | |
| Come, let us return unto our Lord. | 6:20 | |
| As we offer to him together, | 6:25 | |
| our unison prayer of confession, and for pardon. | 6:27 | |
| Let us pray. | 6:31 | |
| Most heavenly father, | 6:34 | |
| we have done little to advance thy kingdom on earth, | 6:36 | |
| to cultivate a true brotherhood of men, | 6:40 | |
| or to live by love. | 6:43 | |
| We have allowed selfishness and crudeness to blind us. | 6:46 | |
| We have sought holidays | 6:50 | |
| from the ethical principles of Christ. | 6:52 | |
| We have tried to believe that we could sow evil | 6:55 | |
| and not reap evil. | 6:58 | |
| Forgive our sinful stupidity, oh God, | 7:00 | |
| and restore to us righteousness in Jesus Christ. Amen. | 7:04 | |
| Let us hear these words of assurance | 7:12 | |
| and of invitation from our God, | 7:16 | |
| for as the heavens are high above the earth, | 7:20 | |
| so great is his steadfast love | 7:23 | |
| toward those who fear him. | 7:25 | |
| As far as the east is from the west, | 7:27 | |
| so far has he removed our transgressions from us. | 7:31 | |
| The Lord is gracious and merciful, | 7:35 | |
| slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. | 7:39 | |
| And these words from the new testament | 7:45 | |
| to those who accept God's acceptance of them in Christ. | 7:47 | |
| For the love of Christ leaves us no choice. | 7:53 | |
| When once we have reached the conclusion | 7:57 | |
| that one man died for all, | 7:59 | |
| and therefore all mankind has died. | 8:01 | |
| His purpose in dying for all, | 8:05 | |
| was that men while still in life | 8:06 | |
| should cease to live for themselves, | 8:10 | |
| and should live for him who for their sake died | 8:13 | |
| and was raised to life. | 8:17 | |
| From now on therefore, | 8:20 | |
| we regard no one from a human point of view, | 8:22 | |
| even though we once regarded Christ | 8:25 | |
| from a human point of view, | 8:27 | |
| we regard him thus no longer. | 8:29 | |
| When anyone is united in Christ, | 8:32 | |
| he is a new man | 8:35 | |
| in a new world, | 8:38 | |
| amen and amen. | 8:41 | |
| (ambient worship music) | 8:52 | |
| (loud praise and worship music) | 9:56 | |
| (choir members singing loudly) | 10:12 | |
| Today's lesson is from the gospel of Matthew | 13:39 | |
| chapter 1:18-25. | 13:41 | |
| Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. | 13:45 | |
| When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph | 13:48 | |
| before they came together, | 13:51 | |
| she was found to be with the child of the holy spirit | 13:53 | |
| and her husband, Joseph being a just man | 13:56 | |
| and unwilling to put her to shame, | 13:59 | |
| resolved to divorce her quietly, | 14:01 | |
| but as he considered this, behold, | 14:03 | |
| an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, | 14:06 | |
| "Joseph, son of David. | 14:10 | |
| Do not fear to take Mary, your wife, | 14:13 | |
| for that which is conceived in her is of the holy spirit. | 14:15 | |
| She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, | 14:19 | |
| for he will save his people from their sins. | 14:23 | |
| All this took place | 14:26 | |
| to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. | 14:27 | |
| Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, | 14:30 | |
| and his name shall be called Emmanuel, | 14:33 | |
| which means God with us. | 14:36 | |
| When Joseph woke from sleep, | 14:38 | |
| he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. | 14:40 | |
| He took his wife, | 14:43 | |
| but knew her not until she had born a son | 14:45 | |
| and he called his name, Jesus." | 14:47 | |
| May God bless this to our hearing, | 14:50 | |
| this reading from the holy scripture. | 14:52 | |
| (loud praise and worship music) | 15:00 | |
| (choir members singing) | 15:08 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 15:51 | |
| (indistinct congregation chatter) | 15:53 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 15:54 |
| Let us offer unto God, our prayers of thanksgiving. | 16:05 | |
| Oh God. Our true life | 16:11 | |
| in whom and by whom all things live, | 16:15 | |
| thou has commanded us to seek peace | 16:19 | |
| and has promised that they are ready to be found | 16:22 | |
| Thou this does not in openness when we do so. | 16:26 | |
| To know thee oh Lord is life, | 16:32 | |
| to serve thee is freedom, | 16:34 | |
| to enjoy thee is a kingdom, | 16:37 | |
| to praise thee is the joy and the happiness | 16:39 | |
| of the faithful soul, | 16:43 | |
| and so oh, Lord we praise, | 16:45 | |
| bless and adore you. | 16:48 | |
| We worship thee, we glorify thee, | 16:51 | |
| we give thanks to thee for thy great flowing. | 16:55 | |
| We thank thee oh, Lord on this day | 17:00 | |
| for all thy blessings notice and recall, | 17:02 | |
| for shelter and rain, and daily bread. | 17:07 | |
| For work that challenges and gives meaning to our lives, | 17:12 | |
| for the blessings of family and friends, | 17:17 | |
| and for being a part of this community | 17:20 | |
| of learning and teaching. | 17:23 | |
| We thank thee oh God. | 17:26 | |
| We leave before thee our thanks oh Lord, | 17:29 | |
| for unnoticed blessings, | 17:32 | |
| for the temptations under which we were not led, | 17:34 | |
| the prayers thou has loved us too well to answer, | 17:38 | |
| for the sorrows we were spared, | 17:43 | |
| for the limitations imposed on us | 17:46 | |
| to prevent us from wasting ourselves. | 17:48 | |
| We thank thee oh Lord for plans upset, | 17:52 | |
| that they might become less selfish, | 17:55 | |
| and for purposes, Lord | 17:58 | |
| that we might learn to say as did our Lord, | 18:00 | |
| not as I will, but as thou will. | 18:04 | |
| Above all these remembered and unnoticed, | 18:10 | |
| sometimes blessings oh Lord, | 18:12 | |
| we offer thee our thanks for thy wisdom | 18:15 | |
| and thy righteousness, and thy love, | 18:18 | |
| revealed to us in the humanity of the man, Jesus Christ, | 18:22 | |
| thy son and our Lord. | 18:26 | |
| Oh God of mercy and of love | 18:31 | |
| who has commanded us to care for one another, | 18:34 | |
| as thou has cared for us. | 18:38 | |
| Hear our intercessions for our brothers needs, we ask. | 18:40 | |
| Oh Lord, we pray for thy church | 18:47 | |
| and all its branches and members, | 18:50 | |
| uphold thy servants in all quarters of this thy world, | 18:53 | |
| be with those who seek to lift the cross of reconciliation | 18:59 | |
| and the great cities of our world, | 19:02 | |
| where men congregate. | 19:04 | |
| Empower and bless those who carry the concerns of Christ | 19:07 | |
| to those lonely homes in the scattered villages, | 19:12 | |
| in the hills and valleys of this world. | 19:16 | |
| Animate by thy spirit, oh Lord, | 19:20 | |
| the church and this our land we ask. | 19:23 | |
| Make it worthy and beseech thee, | 19:26 | |
| of the great gifts it has received from thee. | 19:28 | |
| Purge from it, all that is self seeking | 19:32 | |
| and subversive of faith and love, and unity. | 19:35 | |
| Oh God, of peace, | 19:42 | |
| give peace we ask this day to troubled hearts, | 19:44 | |
| deliver the tempted, comfort the mourning, | 19:48 | |
| heal those who are aligned in warmth with sickness | 19:53 | |
| and receive we ask oh father, | 19:57 | |
| the souls of those who must die this day. | 19:59 | |
| Oh God, who said it the solitary and families. | 20:04 | |
| We live before thee in our intersections, | 20:08 | |
| the homes and the family life of our people. | 20:11 | |
| Sanctify, especially we ask on this day | 20:16 | |
| to all fathers and sons the joys and the cares | 20:19 | |
| that are the gift of their special relationship. | 20:24 | |
| Knit them together we ask, | 20:28 | |
| by the slew of youth and the strength of mature years, | 20:31 | |
| that each father and son | 20:35 | |
| may learn to serve the other | 20:39 | |
| in love and in faithfulness. | 20:41 | |
| All mighty God, our father, | 20:47 | |
| we leave before thee the concerns | 20:48 | |
| of those here gathered in thy name. | 20:50 | |
| Eternal and heavenly father, | 20:56 | |
| there is no one word to use for all of us. | 20:57 | |
| We bow our hearts before thee, | 21:01 | |
| each a little world in himself, | 21:04 | |
| each with heavy regrets and high hopes of his own, | 21:07 | |
| each with a prayer no other will ever utter, | 21:12 | |
| each with praise no one else can offer. | 21:16 | |
| If we are weary oh, God strengthen us we ask, | 21:21 | |
| if we are proud, humble us, | 21:25 | |
| if we are perplexed enlighten us, | 21:28 | |
| if we are torn by inner strife, | 21:31 | |
| by the mysterious grace, that is thy love | 21:35 | |
| heal us, we ask. | 21:39 | |
| If we are lost in meaningless activities, | 21:41 | |
| gird our wills with thy purpose. | 21:44 | |
| If we are discouraged by our failures, | 21:48 | |
| hearten us by thy merciful compassion. | 21:51 | |
| If we have sinned again and again, | 21:55 | |
| teach us how to continue to repent. | 21:58 | |
| If we have been sinned against, | 22:03 | |
| teach us how to forgive as Christ forgave. | 22:05 | |
| If we are selfish, deepen our love of thee and of man, | 22:09 | |
| that we may cast away our self concern. | 22:14 | |
| Lord, if we are censorious, silence our tongues | 22:18 | |
| until our hearts learn how to understand. | 22:22 | |
| If we are tried in vain to learn to pray, | 22:26 | |
| grant us patience, to wait in silence for thy voice. | 22:29 | |
| Whatever our wilderness may be, | 22:35 | |
| lead us by some Sinai to the promised land, we ask. | 22:38 | |
| Whatever Gethsemanes we may have entered, | 22:43 | |
| disclose to us thy will, | 22:46 | |
| that we may act with deliberate courage | 22:49 | |
| and unhesitating faith. | 22:51 | |
| Whatever heavenly vision thou has granted to us | 22:55 | |
| to fulfill in our earthly labors, | 22:58 | |
| endow us with untiring strength and endurance, | 23:01 | |
| that we may complete that task | 23:07 | |
| to which though has called us | 23:08 | |
| with integrity of soul and steadfastness of purpose. | 23:10 | |
| To the glory of God | 23:15 | |
| and the redemption of the world | 23:17 | |
| through Jesus Christ, thy son and our savior, | 23:19 | |
| who taught us that when Christians gather | 23:24 | |
| together to pray, | 23:27 | |
| they may make bold to say, | 23:29 | |
| our father, which art in heaven, | 23:31 | |
| hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 23:34 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 23:38 | |
| Give us this day, our daily bread, | 23:43 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 23:46 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 23:48 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, | 23:52 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 23:54 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 23:57 | |
| and the power and the glory forever. Amen. | 23:59 | |
| James | Grace to you who worship in this house, | 24:26 |
| and to all who worship with us | 24:30 | |
| move over here. Amen. | 24:32 | |
| This sermon starts with two strikes against it. | 24:38 | |
| First, I am not the sermonic (indistinct), | 24:44 | |
| who many of you expected to see | 24:49 | |
| standing today at this homiletical (indistinct). | 24:52 | |
| Let me assure you that I am not pinch hitting | 24:59 | |
| for my fellow Scott, Dr. David Reed | 25:01 | |
| of Madison avenue, Presbyterian church in New York. | 25:05 | |
| I am merely substituting for him. | 25:09 | |
| Second, this is dad's day, | 25:14 | |
| and who am I to speak to fathers? | 25:17 | |
| My own dad died when I was 12, | 25:22 | |
| and I have sired neither son nor daughter, | 25:26 | |
| but I'm supposed to preach from this pulpit once a month, | 25:31 | |
| and I had yielded my Sunday, | 25:36 | |
| last Sunday to Bishop Nicholas. | 25:38 | |
| So rightfully the chaplain conscripted me for today. | 25:41 | |
| That is the local contemporary situation, | 25:46 | |
| which is one focus of a bifocal sermon. | 25:51 | |
| Now the other focus of unorthodox sermon | 25:56 | |
| is supposed to be a word from God, | 25:59 | |
| a piece of good news, | 26:03 | |
| the gospel becomes incarnate. | 26:06 | |
| Is there anyone in holy writ, | 26:10 | |
| who is somewhat appropriate for dad's day. | 26:14 | |
| What about Joseph? | 26:20 | |
| The foster father of Jesus. | 26:23 | |
| I've always felt sorry for Joseph, | 26:27 | |
| especially at Christmas. | 26:30 | |
| He's a kind of fifth wheel on the (indistinct) tide crash, | 26:34 | |
| if that's not too confused, a figure of speech. | 26:39 | |
| I felt particularly sorry for him | 26:44 | |
| after reading a poem by a woman, | 26:46 | |
| of course entitled, "A ballot of Mary. | 26:49 | |
| Let me share with you the first and last stanzas. | 26:54 | |
| Joseph's words were kindly words. | 26:59 | |
| Joseph's hands were tied | 27:04 | |
| and the thoughts were kindly thoughts, | 27:08 | |
| went across his mind. | 27:11 | |
| Slow she smiled and grateful wise. | 27:15 | |
| Let no hot blue tale, Joseph seemed a sober man | 27:21 | |
| after he woke up. | 27:27 | |
| Yes, the carpenter of Nazareth must've been a sober man | 27:30 | |
| after the archangel of thee announced the issue, | 27:34 | |
| but did you ever think of this question? | 27:38 | |
| What kind of a man was Joseph, | 27:42 | |
| so that Jesus called God, father? | 27:46 | |
| What kind of a man was Joseph, | 27:52 | |
| so that Jesus called God, father? | 27:54 | |
| Let's think about it for a wee while. | 27:59 | |
| There's almost nothing in the new testament | 28:02 | |
| about this man who bore the common | 28:04 | |
| everyday name of Joseph. | 28:07 | |
| He is not mentioned in Mark, | 28:10 | |
| either directly or indirectly. | 28:14 | |
| He disappears from Matthew | 28:18 | |
| at the end of chapter two, | 28:20 | |
| and from Luke, also at the end of chapter two. | 28:23 | |
| The fourth gospel has but, two allusions to him. | 28:27 | |
| In each case, as the father of Jesus, | 28:32 | |
| but a more serious consequence | 28:37 | |
| than the scarcity of references to Joseph, | 28:39 | |
| is the fact that the two basic strata of material | 28:43 | |
| in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke | 28:47 | |
| contradict each other. | 28:50 | |
| In the genealogies, Jesus' family tree | 28:53 | |
| is traced through Joseph. | 28:58 | |
| In the Virgin birth narratives, | 29:03 | |
| paternity is denied to Joseph, | 29:06 | |
| and he vanishes from any further reference | 29:12 | |
| when Jesus was 12 years old. | 29:15 | |
| Of course there is some amazing | 29:20 | |
| and amusing material about Joseph and his son | 29:22 | |
| in the apocryphal gospels of Jesus infancy and youth. | 29:26 | |
| There is but a single sample, | 29:32 | |
| which makes one glad that this kind of stuff | 29:35 | |
| is not in the canonical New Testament. | 29:38 | |
| In making a wooden bed for a rich man, | 29:42 | |
| Joseph discovered that he had cut one side too short. | 29:45 | |
| Jesus took over. | 29:51 | |
| He picked up the shorter plank, | 29:54 | |
| gave his father one end of it, | 29:57 | |
| while he tugged at the other end, | 30:00 | |
| until he pulled it out to match the longer side. | 30:02 | |
| And now I quote, "And his father, Joseph | 30:08 | |
| sweat and marveled | 30:11 | |
| and he embraced the young child, | 30:14 | |
| and kissed him saying, | 30:16 | |
| 'Happy am I, for the God had given me this young child.'" | 30:18 | |
| You've read. | 30:24 | |
| Some of the stories are not as pleasant as this one, | 30:28 | |
| Now, the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, | 30:34 | |
| especially in this century, | 30:37 | |
| has made up for this New Testament neglect. | 30:39 | |
| Joseph is now a saint of the highest order. | 30:43 | |
| He is venerated as second in the holiness | 30:49 | |
| and dignity only to Mary. | 30:53 | |
| He carries the all embracing title, | 30:57 | |
| picked from of the universal church. | 31:00 | |
| Now, however any facts which can be accepted | 31:05 | |
| as somewhat authentic about Joseph, very few. | 31:09 | |
| He was probably a resident of Bethlehem, | 31:16 | |
| who had settled in Nazareth. | 31:20 | |
| He was by praise a (foreign language), | 31:23 | |
| which signified a mechanic in general, | 31:27 | |
| and a carpenter in particular. | 31:32 | |
| He was if you like, a blue collar worker, | 31:35 | |
| owning his own shop, | 31:39 | |
| who taught his son, Jesus, the trade. | 31:42 | |
| He probably died before Jesus left the carpenter shop | 31:46 | |
| to become an itinerary preacher. | 31:51 | |
| There is one passage read as our morning lesson, | 31:55 | |
| which gives us a clue to the character of Joseph. | 31:58 | |
| In the Jewish first century culture, | 32:03 | |
| betrothal preceded marriage, | 32:06 | |
| and differed from marriage. | 32:10 | |
| In that there was no sexual consummation, | 32:14 | |
| until after the marriage ceremony proffered. | 32:18 | |
| Even though a betrothed virgin | 32:22 | |
| was considered a widow if her fiance died. | 32:26 | |
| Now, Mary was found to be with child | 32:32 | |
| before the marriage and Joseph was shaken | 32:36 | |
| by the discovery. | 32:40 | |
| A divine revelation in a dream straightened him out | 32:43 | |
| and he married Mary, | 32:47 | |
| but the intriguing comment is in verse 19. | 32:48 | |
| Joseph being a just man, | 32:53 | |
| and for what, | 32:59 | |
| or yet | 33:02 | |
| unwilling to put Mary to shame, | 33:04 | |
| resolved to divorce her quietly. | 33:08 | |
| Joseph being a just man and for what, or yet | 33:14 | |
| unwilling to put Mary to shame | 33:17 | |
| resolved to divorce her quietly. | 33:19 | |
| The Greek adjective which sums up Joseph's character | 33:22 | |
| in a single word is dikaios. | 33:26 | |
| D-I-K-A-I-O-S, | 33:30 | |
| and the translators tried all kinds of English words | 33:33 | |
| to interpret just, | 33:37 | |
| good, upright, | 33:40 | |
| a man of principle, | 33:43 | |
| law abiding, kind hearted. | 33:46 | |
| Let's look at this word dikaios more closely. | 33:49 | |
| Dikaios is a model forensic term. | 33:54 | |
| You get that? It has a double emphasis. | 33:59 | |
| One in the realm of personal ethics, | 34:04 | |
| the other in the area of legal ethics. | 34:07 | |
| This was inevitable, because for the Jews, | 34:11 | |
| morality and legality | 34:16 | |
| were so interwoven | 34:19 | |
| as to be identical. | 34:21 | |
| If you well know, this is probably the case today. | 34:24 | |
| Well, let's look at these two aspects | 34:28 | |
| separately for the sake of clarity, | 34:30 | |
| realizing however, that they are really inseparable | 34:32 | |
| and thus indistinguishable | 34:38 | |
| in the Jewish framework of the present. | 34:41 | |
| A dikaios man, was a devout servant of God, | 34:45 | |
| who consciously regulated his life | 34:50 | |
| by the standards of the Lord, with a capital L. | 34:53 | |
| These standards and their everyday application | 34:59 | |
| to ordinary life were spelled out to Joseph | 35:03 | |
| in the synagogue services on Saturday. | 35:07 | |
| Now, being so brought up, | 35:11 | |
| Joseph had to divorce his betrothed. | 35:14 | |
| His betrothed but pregnant wife, | 35:19 | |
| who had seemingly been guilty of misconduct. | 35:22 | |
| If he would remain dikaios, | 35:25 | |
| a law abiding citizen of the holy people of Israel, | 35:30 | |
| and then the other side of dikaios asks for a hearing. | 35:36 | |
| There is mercy in dikaios. | 35:42 | |
| Why? God is thee Dikaios, one, | 35:47 | |
| and he is savior as well as judge. | 35:54 | |
| He is not Dikaios, yet a savior. | 36:00 | |
| He is Dikaios, and therefore a savior. | 36:07 | |
| The dikaios man keeps the law, | 36:15 | |
| and he is also fair. | 36:19 | |
| That's why it is difficult | 36:24 | |
| to equate justice with law, | 36:27 | |
| even with law spelled with a capital L, | 36:30 | |
| and especially with any given statute. | 36:33 | |
| Haven't we heard about the distinction | 36:35 | |
| between justice and law and order. | 36:36 | |
| Ideally for the Jew and ideally for us, | 36:42 | |
| they shouldn't be at one. | 36:44 | |
| They are not always sure. | 36:46 | |
| Now, with Joseph aware of this certain emphasis, | 36:49 | |
| is that why he decided to divorce Mary | 36:54 | |
| quietly, secretly, privately. | 36:58 | |
| Montefiore, the distinguished Jewish Commentator, | 37:04 | |
| says that he couldn't do that legally, | 37:07 | |
| but that's hardly the point. | 37:10 | |
| The point is Joseph wanted to do it. | 37:13 | |
| He was dikaios, both in acknowledging the law | 37:18 | |
| and in desiring not to embarrass her. | 37:24 | |
| Now, if that interpretation is correct, | 37:29 | |
| then he saw what others have seen, | 37:31 | |
| but dikaios includes mercy | 37:34 | |
| at one of it's forms. | 37:38 | |
| The dikaios man, never treats a person | 37:40 | |
| worse than he deserves. | 37:45 | |
| He may treat such a person | 37:50 | |
| better than he deserves, | 37:54 | |
| because a person per se is as important as a statute. | 37:58 | |
| The Roman Catholic church certainly believes | 38:05 | |
| that Joseph would not defame his betrothed, | 38:08 | |
| for it has given him the title, | 38:13 | |
| protector of our lady's name. | 38:16 | |
| Now, can we see the influence | 38:21 | |
| of this attitude of Joseph on Jesus? | 38:23 | |
| He is strict with the mothers. | 38:28 | |
| For example, the words spoken to the adulterers, | 38:32 | |
| neither the why could then be, cold and sitting alone. | 38:35 | |
| His conversation with the woman of Sumeria at the well. | 38:42 | |
| Even his disciples raised their eyebrows at that one. | 38:48 | |
| Was his view of God influenced by Joseph's character? | 38:53 | |
| For example the father of the prodigal son, | 38:57 | |
| and the even more lost big brother. | 39:00 | |
| For example his appreciation | 39:04 | |
| of the goodness of ordinary fathers. | 39:06 | |
| If you then, that if you are | 39:10 | |
| know how to give your children, what is good for them? | 39:14 | |
| How much more will your heavenly father | 39:18 | |
| give good things to those who ask him? | 39:20 | |
| Joachim Jeremias, the German scholar | 39:25 | |
| has an interesting essay on Jesus' view of God. | 39:28 | |
| He points out that Jesus unique name for God | 39:31 | |
| was Abba, A-B-B-A. | 39:35 | |
| Now this is an Aramaic word. | 39:39 | |
| Aramaic being the common language of Palestine, | 39:42 | |
| and Abba means my father. | 39:45 | |
| Jeremias is this very distinguished | 39:50 | |
| German scholar and pundit. | 39:54 | |
| He's even willing in the most highly dramatic fashion | 39:57 | |
| to translate it to daddy. | 40:00 | |
| Though he does say, he prefers, dear father. | 40:05 | |
| When Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's prayer, | 40:09 | |
| was the first word Abba? | 40:11 | |
| Now Jeremias doesn't suggest this, | 40:17 | |
| but Clement asked these questions. | 40:20 | |
| Did Jesus call Joseph, abba? | 40:23 | |
| (indistinct) | 40:31 | |
| Did Jesus call God, Abba, | 40:34 | |
| because of what Joseph meant to him? | 40:38 | |
| Is just responsible for Jesus' view of God, | 40:42 | |
| as one who is as good | 40:47 | |
| as a good father? | 40:50 | |
| If so, was it because Joseph was a man of God, | 40:53 | |
| who sought to keep the record of the law, | 40:56 | |
| but realized that its pivot was primary, | 40:59 | |
| and the spirit of the law was determined | 41:02 | |
| by the giver of the law, who acts in grace, | 41:05 | |
| that is in graciousness to his people | 41:09 | |
| when they don't deserve it, | 41:13 | |
| just as a good father does. | 41:16 | |
| If so, then Joseph was a man of grace | 41:22 | |
| and that may be the best translation of dikaios. | 41:27 | |
| A man of grace. | 41:32 | |
| Now, with that analysis of Joseph behind us, | 41:36 | |
| let's think of the fathers we welcome | 41:39 | |
| to this university service of worship on dad's day. | 41:41 | |
| What is a dad? | 41:47 | |
| A guy who's working his son's way through college. | 41:52 | |
| One who strikes a child only in self-defense. | 42:01 | |
| It's so easy to be cynical, even the phobic, | 42:07 | |
| but as I asked the question | 42:12 | |
| in the light of what we've learned about, | 42:13 | |
| and from Joseph, | 42:15 | |
| that, is your son | 42:19 | |
| asked to call God, father, | 42:23 | |
| because of you? | 42:27 | |
| Would you like your son or daughter | 42:30 | |
| to think of God as someone like you? | 42:33 | |
| Are you dikaios? | 42:40 | |
| A man of grace. | 42:44 | |
| Are you going to be, | 42:47 | |
| would you like to be? | 42:50 | |
| George Bernard Shaw tells of a black girl in Africa, | 42:52 | |
| who prayed, "Our grandfather which art in heaven," | 42:56 | |
| because she detested her father. | 43:00 | |
| In fact, she laid him out finally with her not caring. | 43:03 | |
| On the other hand, as a small girl, | 43:08 | |
| my wife thought that the Lord's prayer began, | 43:11 | |
| "Our father who art in heaven, | 43:15 | |
| Howard be thy name." | 43:19 | |
| Now why Howard of all names? | 43:22 | |
| Because that was her minister's first name. | 43:27 | |
| Now, there's a tribute. | 43:32 | |
| I doubt that anyone calls God, James because of me. | 43:36 | |
| Fathers, are your sons the more ready to call God, father, | 43:45 | |
| because of you? | 43:51 | |
| The other day, I was reading a series of paragraphs | 43:54 | |
| by 10 teachers of preaching about preaching today, | 43:57 | |
| and one of them wrote these words | 44:02 | |
| "When you're in the pulpit | 44:05 | |
| I want you to speak to me in a language that I understand. | 44:07 | |
| Remember I'm not too well acquainted | 44:11 | |
| with theological jargon, | 44:13 | |
| so use plenty of illustrations about people like me." | 44:16 | |
| Let me follow his final and write | 44:21 | |
| and conclude this sermon with a illustration. | 44:24 | |
| One which I used in this pulpit, | 44:27 | |
| five years ago next January. | 44:30 | |
| A boy in Brooklyn ran away from home in his early teens. | 44:35 | |
| With a pal, he hitchhiked to a small town in Delaware, | 44:42 | |
| where they asked for shelter overnight | 44:47 | |
| in a police station. | 44:50 | |
| The chief of police commented, | 44:53 | |
| "You kids look like a couple of runaways. | 44:55 | |
| You say you're from Brooklyn. | 44:58 | |
| I'll just telephone and see | 45:01 | |
| if there's a wanted on you." | 45:03 | |
| There was. | 45:08 | |
| He made contact with the boy's father | 45:10 | |
| and asked him if he wanted his son shipped home. | 45:12 | |
| Do you know the answer. | 45:16 | |
| "Oh no. He wants to find out something. | 45:18 | |
| He'll come home when he's ready. | 45:24 | |
| Now, these are the words of a man mature enough | 45:29 | |
| to give freedom to a restless teenager. | 45:33 | |
| The boy came home two weeks later, | 45:38 | |
| apprehensive, afraid he had hurt his father. | 45:43 | |
| Wondering if he could find the right words | 45:48 | |
| to explain why he ran away. | 45:51 | |
| I bet the boy picked up the story in his own words. | 45:55 | |
| As it turned out, it was pop who found the right words. | 45:58 | |
| When I stepped in the front door, | 46:04 | |
| he looked up from his newspaper, | 46:07 | |
| and a wonderfully warm and relieved smile | 46:10 | |
| on towards his face. | 46:13 | |
| Then he gave me a wink and said, | 46:16 | |
| "There's fruit in the icebox, Danny." | 46:18 | |
| The words he had always greeted me with | 46:21 | |
| when I came home from school or playing. | 46:23 | |
| So, nothing had changed between us. | 46:28 | |
| He understood me and my searching, | 46:33 | |
| and my longing. | 46:38 | |
| in the boys words. | 46:41 | |
| Now that father was a man mature enough | 46:43 | |
| to grant mercy to a returned prodigal teenager. | 46:47 | |
| You probably never heard of the father. | 46:52 | |
| He was a Russian immigrant. | 46:55 | |
| A tailor by the name of Jacob Kaminsky, | 46:58 | |
| but you know his son, | 47:03 | |
| Danny Kaye. | 47:06 | |
| Danny Kaye would say that | 47:09 | |
| Jacob Kaminsky was Dikaios. | 47:10 | |
| A man of grace. | 47:16 | |
| He was in the blessed succession of Joseph's. | 47:19 | |
| Then I think your sons would tell you | 47:25 | |
| that could be in such a proverbially succession. | 47:29 | |
| It's not a bad place to be, | 47:34 | |
| for them and for you. | 47:38 | |
| Let us pray. | 47:45 | |
| Our mighty and eternal God, | 47:49 | |
| who's son found an earthly home in Nazareth, | 47:51 | |
| and an earthly father | 47:56 | |
| and teacher in Joseph, | 47:59 | |
| teach us to learn from this path he took, | 48:02 | |
| that allowed us to make unexpected choices, | 48:06 | |
| for thy good purposes, | 48:10 | |
| so that whoever we are, wherever we are, | 48:13 | |
| we may be ready to lead just by | 48:17 | |
| help and grace, | 48:22 | |
| so the well being of Jesus Christ, our Lord, | 48:24 | |
| and this church and thy church, amen. | 48:28 | |
| (soft praise and worship music) | 48:40 | |
| (choir members singing) | 49:13 | |
| (soft praise and worship music) | 50:41 | |
| (choir members singing) | 51:43 | |
| (choir members singing loudly) | 52:59 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:06 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:08 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:11 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:14 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:17 | |
| ♪ The king of glory ♪ | 53:19 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:22 | |
| ♪ Oh, he is the king of glory ♪ | 53:29 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 53:42 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:44 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 53:58 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:01 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:04 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:05 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:06 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:08 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:09 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:11 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:12 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:13 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:14 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:16 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:25 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:27 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:31 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:32 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:33 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:35 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:37 | |
| ♪ From what I know ♪ | 54:38 | |
| ♪ He is the king of glory ♪ | 54:40 | |
| ♪ The king of glory ♪ | 54:48 | |
| ♪ He is my king of glory ♪ | 54:52 | |
| ♪ He is my king of glory ♪ | 54:54 | |
| ♪ Of glory ♪ | 55:00 | |
| (loud praise and worship music) | 55:17 | |
| (choir members singing loudly) | 56:15 | |
| Priest | All mighty God, as we offer these material gifts | 56:50 |
| for the service of thy kingdom, | 56:54 | |
| we ask the thou will deliver us both | 56:56 | |
| from the contempt of money | 56:59 | |
| and the overvaluing of it. | 57:01 | |
| May we use it with reverence for the enrichment of life | 57:03 | |
| and not for it's impoverishment. | 57:08 | |
| Oh Lord, our father, with these material gifts, | 57:10 | |
| we reaffirm our membership | 57:14 | |
| in thy holy church, universal. | 57:16 | |
| Give us grace to belong to it | 57:18 | |
| in spirit and in truth and in deed, amen. | 57:20 | |
| (indistinct chatter) | 57:32 | |
| (choir members singing) | 57:51 | |
| (soft melodious piano music) | 59:37 | |
| (indistinct chatter) | 1:00:04 | |
| (indistinct chatter) | 1:00:23 | |
| (feet stomping) | ||
| (whistling softly) | 1:00:32 |
