James T. Cleland - "On Getting into Heaven or Hell" (July 13, 1969)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ playing) | 0:05 | |
(choir singing) | 0:09 | |
- | The Lord is in his holy temple. | 2:27 |
Let all the earth keep silence before him. | 2:29 | |
I was glad when they said unto me, | 2:33 | |
we will go into the house of the Lord. | 2:35 | |
Do be seated. | 2:38 | |
Let us humbly confess our sins to God, our heavenly father. | 2:44 | |
Most holy and merciful father, | 2:49 | |
we confess to you and to one another, | 2:52 | |
under the whole communion of saints in heaven and earth, | 2:55 | |
that we have sinned against you, by what we have done, | 3:00 | |
and by what we have left undone. | 3:04 | |
We have not loved you with our whole heart | 3:07 | |
and mind and strength. | 3:10 | |
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 3:12 | |
We have not had in us, the mind of Christ. | 3:16 | |
We have grieved your Holy Spirit. | 3:20 | |
You alone know how often we have sinned and grieved you | 3:23 | |
by wasting your gifts, by wandering from your ways, | 3:28 | |
by forgetting your love. | 3:32 | |
Forgive us, we pray you most merciful father, | 3:34 | |
and free us from our sin. | 3:38 | |
Renew in us, again, the grace and strength | 3:41 | |
of your Holy Spirit for the sake of Jesus Christ, | 3:44 | |
your son, our savior. Amen. | 3:48 | |
Here are the words of assurance. | 3:52 | |
God shows his love for us, | 3:55 | |
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. | 3:58 | |
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. | 4:03 | |
The old has passed away. | 4:07 | |
Behold, the new has come. | 4:10 | |
All of this is from God who, through Christ, | 4:14 | |
reconciled us to himself. | 4:18 | |
If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, | 4:22 | |
Jesus Christ, the righteous, | 4:26 | |
and He is the expiation for our sins. | 4:29 | |
And not for ours only, | 4:32 | |
but also for the sins of the whole world. | 4:35 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly father, who of his great mercy, | 4:39 | |
have promised forgiveness of sins, | 4:43 | |
to all those who turn to him | 4:46 | |
with true repentance and sincere faith, have mercy upon you, | 4:49 | |
pardon and deliver you from all your sins, | 4:55 | |
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, | 4:58 | |
and bring you to everlasting life | 5:02 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. | 5:05 | |
(organ playing) | 5:20 | |
(choir singing) | 6:03 | |
The scripture lesson, is written in the 25th chapter | 7:40 | |
of the gospel according to Saint Matthew, | 7:45 | |
verses 31 through 46. | 7:48 | |
"When the son of man comes in his glory | 7:53 | |
"and all the angels with him, | 7:56 | |
"then will he sit on his glorious throne. | 7:59 | |
"Before him will be gathered all the nations | 8:02 | |
"and he will separate them one from another, | 8:05 | |
"as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. | 8:08 | |
"And he will place the sheep on his right hand, | 8:12 | |
"but the goats at the left. | 8:16 | |
"Then the king shall say to those that his right hand, | 8:19 | |
"'Come oh, blessed of my father. | 8:23 | |
"'Inherit the kingdom prepared for you | 8:25 | |
"'from the foundation of the world. | 8:27 | |
"'For I was hungry and you gave me food. | 8:31 | |
"'I was thirsty and you gave me drink. | 8:34 | |
"'I was a stranger and you welcomed me. | 8:39 | |
"'I was naked and you clothed me. | 8:42 | |
"'I was sick and you visited me. | 8:44 | |
"'I was in prison and you came to me. | 8:47 | |
"Then the righteous will answer him, | 8:52 | |
"'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed thee? | 8:55 | |
"'Or thirsty and gave thee drink? | 8:59 | |
"'Or when did we see that you were a stranger | 9:02 | |
"'and welcomed thee? | 9:05 | |
"'Or naked and clothed thee? | 9:07 | |
"'And when did we see thee sick | 9:09 | |
"'or in prison and visit thee?' | 9:11 | |
" And the king will answer them, | 9:15 | |
"'Truly, I say to you, | 9:18 | |
"'as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, | 9:20 | |
"'ye did it to me.' | 9:23 | |
"And he will say to those at his left hand, | 9:26 | |
"'depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, | 9:29 | |
"'prepared for the devil and his angels. | 9:32 | |
"'For I was hungry and you gave me food. | 9:36 | |
"'I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. | 9:40 | |
"'I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. | 9:43 | |
"'Naked, and you did not clothe me. | 9:47 | |
"'Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.' | 9:49 | |
"Then they will answer, | 9:54 | |
"'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty | 9:55 | |
"'or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, | 10:00 | |
"'and did not minister to thee?' | 10:04 | |
"Then he will answer them, | 10:07 | |
"'Truly, I say to you, | 10:10 | |
"'as you did it not to one of the least of these, | 10:12 | |
"'ye did it not to me.' | 10:14 | |
"And they will go away into eternal punishment, | 10:17 | |
"but the righteous into eternal life." | 10:20 | |
Here endeth the morning's lesson. | 10:24 | |
(organ playing) | 10:28 | |
(choir singing) | 10:34 | |
The Lord be with you. | 11:04 | |
Congregation | And with your spirit. | 11:05 |
- | Let us pray. | 11:07 |
Let us say together our unison prayer of thanksgiving. | 11:09 | |
For all the things for which we have never given you thanks, | 11:13 | |
oh Lord, we humbly bow our hearts. | 11:16 | |
For common things of earth, | 11:20 | |
which sustain our bodies and health and strength. | 11:22 | |
Though we pay scout attention to them, we thank you. | 11:26 | |
For far off things and the ages past, | 11:30 | |
or in lands distant from us, | 11:33 | |
which enlarge our heritage and expand our horizons, | 11:36 | |
we give you thanks. | 11:40 | |
For invisible things of heaven and earth, | 11:42 | |
which sweeten life with beauty and grace, | 11:45 | |
we express our thanks. | 11:49 | |
For things of the spirit, | 11:51 | |
which disclosed to us the grace, | 11:53 | |
and sanctify the passing time with eternal meaning, | 11:56 | |
we give you thanks. | 12:00 | |
For things bought with a great price, | 12:02 | |
given to us without cost, | 12:05 | |
by which we are deepened and heightened | 12:08 | |
to the measure of Christ, our Lord, we give you thanks. | 12:10 | |
Though there'll be no end to your gifts, | 12:15 | |
help us to number them | 12:17 | |
as they are revealed to us day by day. Amen. | 12:19 | |
And now let us pray for others and ourselves. | 12:29 | |
In peace, in the peace of God from above, | 12:34 | |
let us pray to our Lord. | 12:38 | |
For the peace, unity and faithful service | 12:41 | |
of the churches of God in this and every land, | 12:45 | |
we beseech thee to hear us, oh Lord. | 12:49 | |
For all Christian people, their are ministers and teachers, | 12:52 | |
that by word and example, they may bring many to faith | 12:58 | |
and obedience in Christ. | 13:02 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 13:05 | |
For those in authority among the nations, | 13:07 | |
and especially for the president, the Congress, | 13:10 | |
and the Supreme court of the United States, | 13:14 | |
that they may govern with justice | 13:17 | |
and promote peace and unity among all men. | 13:20 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 13:24 | |
For all on whose labor we depend, | 13:27 | |
especially those whose duty brings them into danger, | 13:30 | |
that they may have courage and strength | 13:34 | |
to serve the common good. | 13:36 | |
Hear us oh Lord. | 13:39 | |
For those who seek out knowledge and guide our thought, | 13:41 | |
for those who help us laugh and play, | 13:45 | |
the truth and beauty, they give joy to daily life. | 13:48 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 13:53 | |
For all who suffer, the poor and lonely, | 13:56 | |
the sick and afflicted, | 14:01 | |
the tempted and the bereaved. | 14:03 | |
For prisoners and those who are oppressed or persecuted, | 14:06 | |
that they may have strength to be delivered. | 14:11 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 14:15 | |
For those who are enemies of the gospel of Christ, | 14:17 | |
and who wrong their fellow men, that they may be reconciled. | 14:20 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 14:25 | |
For the dying that they may rise to eternal life. | 14:28 | |
And for the departed that they may rest in peace. | 14:32 | |
Hear us oh Lord. | 14:37 | |
For our astronauts who will soon embark | 14:39 | |
upon new explorations of thy universe, | 14:42 | |
that their journey may be conducted in safety. | 14:45 | |
Hear us, oh Lord. | 14:49 | |
Let us commit ourselves one to another and to our God. | 14:52 | |
Lord have mercy. | 14:57 | |
Let us ask the Lord brotherly love | 14:59 | |
by the help of his Holy Spirit. | 15:02 | |
And for each one of us, the grace of a holy life. | 15:04 | |
Lord have mercy. | 15:09 | |
Let us remember before God, all who are near and dear to us, | 15:11 | |
those present and those absent. | 15:16 | |
That we may love and serve one another | 15:20 | |
in the bond of Christ. | 15:22 | |
Lord have mercy. | 15:24 | |
Let us pray for our community and nation, | 15:27 | |
that in all things, we may be honest and just, | 15:30 | |
and free from prejudice, bitterness, sprain and fear. | 15:34 | |
Lord have mercy. | 15:40 | |
Heavenly father, you have promised to hear what we ask | 15:42 | |
in the name of your son. | 15:46 | |
We pray you accept and fulfill our petitions. | 15:49 | |
Not as we ask in our ignorance and unworthiness, | 15:53 | |
nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know, | 15:57 | |
and love us in your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 16:01 | |
Amen. | 16:06 | |
And now we are bold to say, our father in heaven, | 16:07 | |
holy be your name, your kingdom come, | 16:12 | |
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 16:16 | |
Give us today our daily bread. | 16:21 | |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. | 16:23 | |
Save us on the time of trial and deliver us from evil. | 16:29 | |
For yours is the kingdom, | 16:35 | |
the power and the glory forever, amen. | 16:37 | |
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God | 16:41 | |
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, | 16:44 | |
be with us always, amen. | 16:47 | |
- | Grace to you and peace from God, our father, | 17:10 |
and the Lord, Jesus Christ. | 17:14 | |
Do you know what a parable is? | 17:19 | |
Do you remember learning about it in Sunday school? | 17:24 | |
I know that you can tell me the names | 17:30 | |
of some of the parables. | 17:32 | |
The good Samaritan, the prodigal son, | 17:35 | |
the wise and foolish virgin, the talents. | 17:40 | |
But can you define the word parable? | 17:45 | |
Here is the definition which I learned | 17:52 | |
in a Sunday school class in Glasgow, | 17:54 | |
a parable is an earthly story, | 17:59 | |
with a heavenly meaning. | 18:04 | |
Parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. | 18:07 | |
Do you know why I remember that? | 18:12 | |
Because a classmate, | 18:15 | |
on being asked to repeat the definition said, | 18:17 | |
"A parable is a heavenly story with no earthly meaning." | 18:21 | |
(congregation laughing) | 18:25 | |
And there are many folk, even here this morning, | 18:29 | |
who think just that. | 18:33 | |
Parable is a short story usually, | 18:36 | |
though not always, with one main point, | 18:40 | |
which seeks to teach a spiritual or ethical lesson | 18:46 | |
by making use of ordinary everyday events and experiences. | 18:51 | |
Like a woman sweeping a room to find a lost coin, | 18:56 | |
or a shepherd hunting for a sheep, | 19:03 | |
which had become separated from the flock. | 19:06 | |
Or a traveler who was beaten up | 19:11 | |
on the Jerusalem-Jericho road. | 19:15 | |
Now this morning's lesson, which Mr. Shepherd read for us, | 19:20 | |
is listed under the heading parable, | 19:27 | |
but it hardly fits in with the... | 19:32 | |
Either with the usual definition | 19:35 | |
or the normal subject matter. | 19:38 | |
For the scene, is heaven. | 19:41 | |
The time, is the end of the world or of the age. | 19:45 | |
The setting, is the last judgment. | 19:51 | |
It does seem to be a heavenly story with no earthly meaning. | 19:56 | |
And yet here are two estimates of Matthew, 25:31-46. | 20:02 | |
One interpreter says, "This passage, | 20:09 | |
"is one of the supreme glories of the New Testament." | 20:14 | |
And Montefiore, the famous Jewish commentator, | 20:21 | |
says of this passage, "No pure account, | 20:27 | |
"no more exquisite delineation of Christian philanthropy | 20:33 | |
"was ever penned. | 20:38 | |
"It is broad, liberal and truly religious." | 20:41 | |
Now that is a Jewish scholar's estimate. | 20:47 | |
I hope to show you that this is a heavenly story | 20:52 | |
with a very earthly meeting. | 20:56 | |
Will you think along with me about it? | 20:59 | |
The setting of the parable | 21:03 | |
is eschatological and apocalyptic. | 21:06 | |
Now doesn't that sound awful, as well as in comprehensible? | 21:10 | |
Let me try to explain it. | 21:15 | |
Jesus is sitting, talking with his disciples | 21:17 | |
at the end of a ministry which has failed. | 21:22 | |
There are a few folk who are loyal to him, | 21:29 | |
though they don't understand him. | 21:34 | |
But he has been rejected and despised of men, | 21:37 | |
all kinds of men. | 21:43 | |
So his mind turns to the idea | 21:46 | |
that the end of this old world maybe near. | 21:49 | |
God may intervene dramatically | 21:57 | |
with legions of the heavenly armies | 22:01 | |
and establish his kingdom either on a renewed earth, | 22:05 | |
or in heaven. | 22:09 | |
There will be a day of testing, a final exam. | 22:13 | |
When those who are not approved for membership in heaven, | 22:20 | |
will be separated and excluded from those authenticated | 22:25 | |
as citizens of the kingdom of God. | 22:31 | |
Now Jesus' picture of the last things, | 22:35 | |
is entirely conventional in its setting, | 22:39 | |
though not in it's content. | 22:43 | |
He uses the imagery of his Jewish contemporaries | 22:46 | |
with all the nations gathered before the throne | 22:51 | |
of the King Messiah, | 22:54 | |
to hear the endless verdict. | 22:57 | |
They're separated into two classes, | 23:00 | |
white sheep and black goats, | 23:03 | |
which colors we must remember, are first century | 23:07 | |
Palestinian distinction without any eternal significance. | 23:12 | |
The sheep, those on the right, are approved on six counts. | 23:18 | |
They fed, watered, welcomed, clothed, | 23:24 | |
called on and visited the King Messiah. | 23:30 | |
And that floored the righteous. | 23:36 | |
They knew that someone had blundered | 23:41 | |
in deciding the quality points. | 23:45 | |
And one can almost hear their minds working | 23:48 | |
along this kind of a line, sir, your honor, your majesty, | 23:51 | |
someone has made a lulu of a mistake. | 23:58 | |
Someone has fouled up the celestial IBM cards, | 24:05 | |
great cards. | 24:11 | |
When did any one of us see you, of all people, | 24:14 | |
hungry or thirsty or a stranger | 24:18 | |
or in need of clothes or in hospital | 24:23 | |
or in jail and sought to look after to you? | 24:28 | |
You know we would have done it gladly, | 24:34 | |
but to our best remembrance, we didn't. | 24:37 | |
Sir, you've got the wrong gang. | 24:43 | |
Though thank you very much, | 24:48 | |
and all that kind of thing, you know. | 24:50 | |
And the Rigo judge answered, | 24:55 | |
"You did it quite unconsciously, | 24:57 | |
"quite unknowingly to me. | 25:01 | |
"Because what ever you did, | 25:06 | |
"however insignificant for one of my brothers on earth, | 25:09 | |
"however humble, you did it for me. | 25:15 | |
"Come on in, you deserve it." | 25:21 | |
And you can see the worthy sheep looking at one another, | 25:28 | |
scratching their heads and saying, | 25:32 | |
"Well, it doesn't make sense, but if it's okay by him, | 25:35 | |
"it's okay by us." | 25:41 | |
And the unintentional saints go marching in, | 25:45 | |
thoroughly embarrassed and astonishingly amused. | 25:50 | |
And then the judge turns to the black goats, | 25:57 | |
and he says, "Go to hell." | 26:03 | |
Now this rendition upsets my wife, | 26:09 | |
because she doesn't think that the king Messiah, | 26:15 | |
especially if he be Jesus, would use language like that. | 26:19 | |
Well, verse 41 says, | 26:26 | |
in the good old authorized King James version, | 26:28 | |
and agreed to buy the revised standard version, | 26:32 | |
and the new English Bible, | 26:35 | |
"Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire | 26:38 | |
"prepared for the devil and his angels." | 26:44 | |
Which seems to me to be a highfalutin way | 26:48 | |
of saying, go to hell. | 26:52 | |
But like Queen Victoria and some of you here, now listening, | 26:56 | |
my wife is not amused. | 27:01 | |
Neither are the folk on the left. | 27:05 | |
They are all upset. | 27:10 | |
And their unspoken reaction is, | 27:13 | |
"Sir, your honor, "your majesty, | 27:15 | |
"there has been a terrible mistake made somewhere. | 27:20 | |
"Some bookkeeper has goofed magnificently. | 27:25 | |
"We would have been the first people | 27:30 | |
"to take care of any of your needs on earth. | 27:33 | |
"Food, drink, introductions to the right people, | 27:36 | |
"clothing, sickness. | 27:42 | |
"We would even have visited you in jail. | 27:45 | |
"Though why you would have landed there is beyond our ken. | 27:49 | |
"Do you realize that we are pillars of the church? | 27:54 | |
"Not flying buttresses supporting from the outside. | 27:59 | |
"But pillars, folk who hold up your church from the inside. | 28:04 | |
"One of my brothers is on the board of stewards | 28:11 | |
"in the Methodist church. | 28:14 | |
"Another is an Episcopalian Bess Truman. | 28:16 | |
"And I'm a Presbyterian elder on the Kirk session. | 28:20 | |
"My wife is always the Madonna in the Christmas pageant. | 28:25 | |
"Don't you know us? | 28:30 | |
"What did we do wrong? | 28:33 | |
"Where did we go wrong?" | 28:34 | |
And the judge will tell them, | 28:39 | |
"You paid no personal conscious attention to the poor, | 28:41 | |
"the underprivileged, the down and almost out, | 28:48 | |
"who are, you'll never believe this, | 28:55 | |
"my brothers and sisters. | 28:59 | |
"So go away. | 29:03 | |
"You wouldn't be happy in heaven anyhow, | 29:07 | |
"among all that spiritual riffraff, | 29:11 | |
"as you must have considered them." | 29:15 | |
And, listen to this, and according to the editing | 29:19 | |
of Matthew, Mark and Luke, | 29:24 | |
the sheep and the goats was the last parable | 29:30 | |
which Jesus ever told. | 29:35 | |
The last parable he ever told. | 29:41 | |
Now isn't that a word from God in this parable? | 29:50 | |
I know that one must be canny | 29:55 | |
about constructing a theology from these picture stories, | 29:58 | |
at least so the biblical and systematic theologians warning. | 30:03 | |
And yet the parable seemed to have been the main vehicle | 30:09 | |
of Jesus' teaching when he talked. | 30:14 | |
And one New Testament scholar, | 30:19 | |
goes so far as to say about this parable, | 30:21 | |
"Few passages so disclosed the mind of Christ | 30:25 | |
"as this one does." | 30:30 | |
What Jesus seems to offer here, | 30:36 | |
is the test, | 30:40 | |
positive and negative for entrance into heaven and hell. | 30:42 | |
What is it? | 30:52 | |
Well, let's ask a question or two. | 30:54 | |
What lands a person in hell? | 30:57 | |
Strangely enough, nothing is said here about any evil | 31:01 | |
which he actually does. | 31:08 | |
What are known as the sins of commission, commission. | 31:11 | |
It is what a person doesn't do, | 31:18 | |
the sins of omission, which damn him. | 31:23 | |
He may be a respectable sort of soul | 31:30 | |
in the eyes of his neighbors, | 31:33 | |
but his final score is, no runs, no hits, no errors. | 31:35 | |
He's an all round cipher. | 31:43 | |
Nothing like Tomlinson in Kipling's poem. | 31:46 | |
He is insensitive to others, | 31:51 | |
blind to needs not his own, | 31:55 | |
separated, except superficially, | 31:59 | |
from those who are not of the same past, race, denomination. | 32:03 | |
He is impassive, unconcerned | 32:11 | |
and unfeeling outside his own circle. | 32:15 | |
He may pass for a good man, | 32:20 | |
but it's good in the worst sense of the word. | 32:24 | |
There's no breadth to his vision, no depth to his spirit. | 32:30 | |
No great dimension to his heart. | 32:35 | |
On the other hand, what gets a person into heaven? | 32:41 | |
Strangely enough, his good deeds for others | 32:47 | |
do not expect and guarantee his entry. | 32:52 | |
In the story, the heaven bound were completely surprised | 32:58 | |
that that was their destination. | 33:04 | |
The end of the line. | 33:08 | |
There is no justification of justification by works | 33:10 | |
in this parable. | 33:16 | |
Their deeds were but the outward and visible sign | 33:19 | |
of an inward character, | 33:24 | |
which was shot through with concern and caring | 33:28 | |
and outgoing goodwill. | 33:34 | |
There is within them, a wellspring of human kindness, | 33:37 | |
which is not exhibited in occasional philanthropy, | 33:43 | |
but in a steady, faithful flow of love. | 33:48 | |
I noticed this, unmotivated, | 33:53 | |
unmotivated by any sense of reward. | 33:58 | |
They are good for nothing. | 34:06 | |
For free. | 34:11 | |
The test then for entrance into heaven or hell is character. | 34:15 | |
Inclusive or exclusive. | 34:21 | |
Other embracing or self seeking. | 34:25 | |
Benevolent or hard-hearted. | 34:30 | |
Do you know what this parable does not tell us | 34:36 | |
in so many words? | 34:39 | |
That the sheep reveal God's character, | 34:42 | |
Jesus' character. | 34:49 | |
And do you know what character is? | 34:53 | |
That which is durably engraved | 34:56 | |
in the deep places of a person's spirit. | 35:02 | |
That which is durably engraved in the deep places, | 35:07 | |
of a person's spirit. | 35:14 | |
Now if character is the test | 35:18 | |
for membership in heaven or hell, | 35:20 | |
there are going to be some surprising folk in both places. | 35:25 | |
Now what does this say to us today? | 35:33 | |
There are just three suggestions, I'm making closing. | 35:35 | |
First, do not despise or poo poo | 35:39 | |
or underestimate these practical, concrete, | 35:45 | |
physical manifestations of a loving spirit. | 35:50 | |
Let one illustration dramatize their exemplary value. | 35:54 | |
Two weeks ago, I talked to you about Albert Schweitzer. | 36:00 | |
Probably one of the few people in the world who has ever | 36:05 | |
earned four doctors' degrees, | 36:09 | |
and must have about 30 others, in fact, | 36:15 | |
Edinburgh university didn't know what to do to honor him. | 36:17 | |
He'd been honored so much, so you know what they did? | 36:20 | |
They gave him two different honorary degrees | 36:23 | |
at the same ceremony. | 36:25 | |
Now when a Scottish university gives you one, | 36:27 | |
that's something. | 36:29 | |
But when they give you two at once.. | 36:31 | |
Well, old Albert Schweitzer | 36:34 | |
came to this country 20 years ago, 20 years ago this month, | 36:37 | |
for his only visit to the United States. | 36:41 | |
He left the train in Chicago to stretch his legs | 36:45 | |
and chat with some friends. | 36:49 | |
Suddenly, he saw a woman | 36:51 | |
struggling to carry two heavy suitcases. | 36:54 | |
And Schweitzer deserted his friends, | 37:00 | |
grabbed the bags and carried them into the train for her. | 37:04 | |
You know, what happened? | 37:10 | |
An ethical chain reaction set in. | 37:12 | |
Overawed and shamed by this display of spiritual gallantry | 37:17 | |
on the part of a 74 year old, | 37:23 | |
several others spotted heavily-laden travelers, | 37:25 | |
and went to their assistance. | 37:30 | |
And I wonder if Schweitzer heard a voice say to him, | 37:33 | |
after he died, | 37:38 | |
"I was a wayfarer, and you carried my bag. | 37:40 | |
"Two of them." | 37:47 | |
Isn't this the kind of thing the BlueJeans | 37:50 | |
do on this campus and in Durham? | 37:53 | |
Isn't this the kind of work which our students do | 37:58 | |
at the VA Hospital and the Spastic Hospital. | 38:00 | |
Aren't some of them, thanks to our offerings, | 38:05 | |
at this university service of worship, | 38:08 | |
acting in this fashion right now, | 38:11 | |
in Bolivia and Nicaragua? | 38:14 | |
And time fails me to tell of the pink ladies | 38:18 | |
and the candy stripers in the hospital auxiliary, | 38:22 | |
and rooms painted at the Negro YWCA. | 38:28 | |
And the day in day out service at Egmond. | 38:33 | |
This parable is being repeated daily, | 38:37 | |
and repeated by people who aren't particularly worried | 38:43 | |
about getting into heaven. | 38:49 | |
Second, let us recognize that there is such a thing | 38:53 | |
as holy, H O L Y, | 38:57 | |
holy secularism. | 39:00 | |
The outgoing goodness of people | 39:04 | |
who make no outward profession of religious commitment. | 39:07 | |
There are many such people on this campus. | 39:13 | |
They love, though they do not recognize God as their father. | 39:17 | |
Though I think he recognizes them as his sons and daughters. | 39:27 | |
Hospital chaplain called me the other day | 39:35 | |
about the dedication of the hospital chapel. | 39:37 | |
It is an interfaith worship center, | 39:43 | |
therefore representatives of Judaism, Roman Catholicism | 39:46 | |
and Protestantism, will have to take part in the service. | 39:51 | |
The chaplain then said, "I want a fourth person. | 39:56 | |
"A representative of the gracious goodness, | 40:01 | |
"which makes no usual credal affirmation." | 40:06 | |
I told him ,I was writing this sermon, | 40:13 | |
and that I just had to agree with him, | 40:18 | |
because of the parable. | 40:21 | |
Evidently our Lord was aware of a holy secularism. | 40:25 | |
And third, and last, but remember this parable, | 40:34 | |
when we think of James Foreman and his black manifesto, | 40:40 | |
demanding $500 million, | 40:47 | |
from the racist religious establishment. | 40:50 | |
If we concentrate on the demands | 40:55 | |
and the interruption of services of worship, | 41:00 | |
and the seizure of buildings, | 41:04 | |
and the disruption of our normal ecclesiastical tenor, | 41:08 | |
then we shall be provoked, and defensive and angry, | 41:12 | |
and probably rightly so. | 41:19 | |
But if we hear what he's really asking us, do you care? | 41:25 | |
Do you care much? | 41:32 | |
Do you care enough? | 41:38 | |
Then in the light of the last parable of Jesus, | 41:43 | |
what are we going to say in response? | 41:49 | |
But after one studies the parable, | 41:55 | |
James Foreman begins to haunt the reader, | 42:00 | |
because we have to answer James Foreman and Jesus. | 42:06 | |
Well, have I made my point? | 42:16 | |
Does this parable seem to be a heavenly story, | 42:18 | |
with an earthly meaning? | 42:23 | |
Is it frask to give us counsel for the direction | 42:26 | |
of our lives in the present | 42:31 | |
rather than to picture what's going to take place | 42:35 | |
in the future? | 42:39 | |
Is it, as Hunter said, | 42:41 | |
one of the supreme glories of the New Testament? | 42:43 | |
What are we gonna do about it? | 42:51 | |
Well, let us concentrate on it now, | 42:54 | |
as we adapt a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi | 42:59 | |
to conclude this sermon. | 43:04 | |
Let us pray. | 43:07 | |
Lord, make us instruments of thy peace. | 43:11 | |
Where there is hatred, Let us sow love. | 43:17 | |
Where there is injury, pardon. | 43:24 | |
Where there is despair, hope. | 43:29 | |
Where there is darkness, light. | 43:35 | |
Where there is sadness, joy. | 43:39 | |
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled | 43:44 | |
as to console. | 43:50 | |
Not so much seek to be understood, | 43:54 | |
as to understand. | 43:57 | |
Not so much seek to be loved, | 44:01 | |
as to love. | 44:07 | |
Amen. | 44:10 | |
(organ playing) | 44:20 | |
(choir singing) | 45:13 | |
(organ playing) | 47:17 | |
(choir singing) | 48:20 | |
(organ playing) | 51:25 | |
(choir singing) | 54:14 | |
Let us pray. | 54:46 | |
All things are thine, | 54:48 | |
no gift have we Lord of all gifts to offer thee, | 54:50 | |
and hence with grateful hearts today, | 54:55 | |
thy noon before thy feet, we lay, amen. | 54:58 | |
And now may the peace of God | 55:03 | |
which passeth all understanding, | 55:04 | |
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God | 55:07 | |
and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 55:11 | |
And the blessing of God almighty, the father, | 55:15 | |
the son, and the Holy Ghost, | 55:18 | |
be amongst you and remain with you always. | 55:21 | |
Amen. | 55:26 | |
(choir singing) | 55:31 | |
(bell clanging) | 56:46 | |
(organ playing) | 57:05 | |
(congregation chattering) | 57:47 | |
(woman vocalizing) | 58:16 | |
(congregation chattering) | 58:22 | |
(whistling) | 1:00:56 | |
(congregation chatter) | 1:01:03 |