Bishop W. McFerrin Stowe - "The Source of Hope for Tomorrow" (December 14, 1969)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:03 | |
(choir singing faintly) | 4:18 | |
(trumpet music) | 5:50 | |
(choir singing) | 8:17 | |
(trumpet music) | 8:29 | |
(choir singing) | 8:53 | |
(trumpet music) | 8:57 | |
(choir singing) | 9:13 | |
(trumpet music) | 9:23 | |
(choir singing) | 9:45 | |
(organ music) | 10:21 | |
(trumpet music) | 10:45 | |
(choir singing) | 10:51 | |
(trumpet music) | 11:51 | |
- | Let us offer unto God our prayers of confession | 12:27 |
and for pardon. | 12:33 | |
Let us pray. | 12:36 | |
Almighty and eternal God | 12:40 | |
whose majesty we acknowledge, | 12:44 | |
whose praise we sing, | 12:49 | |
whose goodness we know, whose mercy we need. | 12:53 | |
Hear us now in our prayer of confession | 13:01 | |
and for pardon. | 13:06 | |
For deceitful hearts and crooked thoughts, | 13:10 | |
for barbed words spoken deliberately, | 13:17 | |
for thoughtless words spoken hastily, | 13:24 | |
for envious eyes, for ears that listen to inequity, | 13:31 | |
for greedy hands, | 13:42 | |
for wandering and loitering feet, | 13:47 | |
for haughty Looks. | 13:52 | |
Have mercy upon us, oh, God. | 13:57 | |
In asking thy forgiveness | 14:04 | |
we claim no right to be forgiven, | 14:07 | |
but cast ourselves upon thy love, | 14:14 | |
we plead no merit, no dessert. | 14:19 | |
We plead no extenuating circumstances. | 14:26 | |
We plead no persuasion of others. | 14:31 | |
We see only for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 14:36 | |
And hear these words of assurance | 14:50 | |
of the forgiveness of sins, | 14:52 | |
especially at Christmas time. | 14:57 | |
The word of God to Joseph before the birth of our Lord | 15:02 | |
was, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, | 15:06 | |
for he shall save his people from their sins." | 15:16 | |
And the New Testament comment on that statement is, | 15:24 | |
"This is a faithful saying, | 15:30 | |
and worthy of all acceptation | 15:34 | |
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." | 15:39 | |
Therefore be of good courage and let us offer onto God | 15:50 | |
in unison a prayer of thanksgiving. | 15:57 | |
Oh, mighty God whose mercy is over all thy works, | 16:04 | |
we praise thee for the blessings, | 16:11 | |
which have been brought to mankind by thy holy church | 16:14 | |
throughout the world. | 16:19 | |
We bless thee for the grace of thy sacraments, | 16:22 | |
for our fellowship in Christ with thee and with one another, | 16:26 | |
for the teaching of the scriptures | 16:33 | |
and for the preaching of thy word, | 16:35 | |
we thank thee for the holy example of thy saints | 16:39 | |
in all ages, for thy servants departed this life | 16:43 | |
in thy faith and fear, | 16:49 | |
and for the memory and example of all that has been true | 16:53 | |
and good in their lives. | 16:58 | |
And we humbly beseech thee | 17:01 | |
that we may be numbered with them | 17:04 | |
in the great company over of the redeemed in heaven | 17:07 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 17:12 | |
And now, as our savior Christ have taught us, | 17:18 | |
we humbly pray. | 17:21 | |
Our father who art in heaven, | 17:24 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 17:28 | |
thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. | 17:33 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 17:39 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 17:43 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 17:46 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 17:51 | |
but deliver us from evil, | 17:54 | |
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 17:57 | |
and glory forever, amen. | 18:01 | |
(organ music) | 18:09 | |
The scripture is found in the first chapter of the gospel | 18:57 | |
according to Saint John, beginning of the first verse. | 19:02 | |
In the beginning was the word. | 19:12 | |
And the word was with God, and the word was God. | 19:16 | |
The same was in the beginning with God. | 19:24 | |
All things were made by him | 19:28 | |
and without him was not anything made that was made. | 19:32 | |
In him was life, and the life was the life of man. | 19:39 | |
And the light shineth in darkness, | 19:47 | |
and the darkness comprehendeth it not. | 19:50 | |
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. | 19:56 | |
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light | 20:04 | |
that all men through him might believe. | 20:10 | |
He was not that light, but was set to bear witness | 20:15 | |
of that light. | 20:21 | |
That was the true light, | 20:24 | |
which lighted every man that cometh then to the world. | 20:26 | |
He was in the world, and the world was made by him. | 20:32 | |
And the world knew him not. | 20:41 | |
He came unto his own and his own receiveth him not. | 20:45 | |
But as many have received him to them gave he power | 20:53 | |
to become the sons of God. | 20:58 | |
Even to them that believe on his name, | 21:02 | |
which was born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, | 21:08 | |
nor the will of man, but of God. | 21:14 | |
And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. | 21:20 | |
And we beheld his glory, | 21:24 | |
the glory as of the only begotten of the father, | 21:27 | |
full of grace and truth. | 21:32 | |
Here endeth the reading of the scripture. | 21:37 | |
(organ music) | 21:43 | |
(choir singing) | 21:55 | |
(organ music) | 22:38 | |
(choir singing) | 23:26 | |
The Lord be with you. | 28:32 | |
(audience speaking faintly) | 28:34 | |
Let us pray. | 28:37 | |
Let us offer onto God the litany of commemoration. | 28:47 | |
Oh, mighty and eternal God, in whom our fathers trusted, | 28:53 | |
we, their children, on this day of remembrance | 29:02 | |
offer onto thee our litany of commemoration. | 29:07 | |
(audience speaking faintly) | 29:13 | |
For the men and women of this state, | 29:18 | |
Methodist and Quakers, farmers and merchantmen, | 29:22 | |
teachers and administrators who believed in education, | 29:28 | |
and made their belief prevail. | 29:34 | |
(audience speaking faintly) | 29:39 | |
For the embodiment of their dreams, | 29:42 | |
private school, academy, college, university | 29:46 | |
founded in hope, | 29:55 | |
continued with perseverance, | 29:58 | |
growing in our preach, | 30:03 | |
established in assurance. | 30:05 | |
(audience speaking faintly) | 30:09 | |
For educators whose vision was matched | 30:13 | |
by their courage, whose patience was tempered | 30:17 | |
by their indignation, | 30:22 | |
whose idealism was moderated by their awareness of sin. | 30:26 | |
(audience speaking faintly) | 30:33 | |
For the Duke family, fathers, | 30:37 | |
sons and their wives, | 30:42 | |
grandchildren in continuing generation | 30:45 | |
who with wonder and surprise, | 30:52 | |
bewilderment and tenacity laid a good foundation, | 30:56 | |
built a worthy school | 31:02 | |
and provided for exciting growth beyond their kin | 31:05 | |
in years unseen. | 31:10 | |
We give thee thanks and praise. | 31:13 | |
For the continuance of good ideas, | 31:18 | |
the union of truth and reverence, | 31:22 | |
the freedom of responsible academic thought | 31:27 | |
and right to public concern, | 31:31 | |
the joint care of the body and the spirit, | 31:35 | |
the linking of science and humanities, | 31:40 | |
the realization that the old order changeth. | 31:45 | |
We give thee thanks and praise. | 31:51 | |
For the future of our university | 31:55 | |
established to thy glory and for the relief of man's estate, | 32:00 | |
for the consecration of the discontent of the young, | 32:08 | |
for wisdom and the conservatism of the middle aged, | 32:14 | |
for resiliency in the obstinacy of the old, | 32:20 | |
for understanding, cooperation, | 32:26 | |
and the sense of humor within our community. | 32:31 | |
Hear us, we beseech thee, oh, Lord. | 32:36 | |
And to thee we shall ascribe, as is most due, | 32:40 | |
all praise and glory, world without end, amen. | 32:46 | |
(faint organ music) | 33:00 | |
(faint organ music) | 35:22 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 35:26 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 35:31 | |
♪ Sanctus dominus deus sabaoth ♪ | 35:34 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 35:46 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 35:50 | |
♪ Sanctus dominus deus sabaoth ♪ | 35:54 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 36:06 | |
♪ Sanctus ♪ | 36:10 | |
♪ Sanctus dominus deus sabaoth ♪ | 36:14 | |
♪ Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua ♪ | 36:23 | |
♪ Hosanna in excelsis ♪ | 36:33 | |
♪ Hosanna in excelsis ♪ | 37:00 | |
♪ Hosanna in excelsis ♪ | 37:17 | |
♪ Hosanna ♪ | 37:31 | |
♪ Hosanna in excelsis ♪ | 37:35 | |
♪ In excelsis ♪ | 37:41 | |
(trumpet music) | 37:52 | |
♪ Hosanna ♪ | 38:28 | |
♪ Benedictus qui venit ♪ | 39:14 | |
♪ In nomine Domini ♪ | 39:23 | |
♪ Hosanna in excelsis ♪ | 39:31 | |
(organ music) | 40:19 | |
(choir singing) | 40:45 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 40:59 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:02 | |
(choir singing) | 41:08 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:22 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:25 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:29 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:32 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 41:36 | |
(organ music) | 41:46 | |
Here we offer and present onto thee, oh, God, our gifts. | 41:59 | |
As of the cradle of thy son, | 42:07 | |
gold because he reigns as our kin, | 42:11 | |
frankincense because he lives as our high priest. | 42:17 | |
Myhrr because he died for our wellbeing. | 42:25 | |
Accept him for we bring them in gratitude and in love. | 42:32 | |
To his honor, and to thy glory. | 42:40 | |
Amen. | 42:47 | |
In the name of the father, and of the son, | 43:19 | |
and of the holy spirit, amen. | 43:25 | |
On this Sunday in advent, I greet you, | 43:32 | |
and on this day on which we celebrate the founding | 43:38 | |
of this university, | 43:42 | |
for me is a high privilege to stand in this pulpit, | 43:47 | |
to come into this chapel, | 43:52 | |
which is the most beautiful chapel in America. | 43:57 | |
One of the three or four most beautiful chapels | 44:01 | |
in the world. | 44:04 | |
To come to a place where I, as a student, | 44:07 | |
at times was bored beyond words, | 44:12 | |
and at times was lifted to some new height, | 44:18 | |
and life was made a bit different. | 44:24 | |
And so I come today to join with you in our celebrations. | 44:29 | |
And for our (indistinct) beginning | 44:37 | |
I would call to your attention the words read to you | 44:42 | |
in the scripture | 44:46 | |
where John seeking to interpret to the Greek world | 44:49 | |
something of a meaning of a coming of Jesus | 44:54 | |
said that he was a light who had come in darkness. | 44:59 | |
The king James translation says, | 45:07 | |
"And the darkness comprehended it not." | 45:10 | |
A more graphic translation is, | 45:16 | |
he was a light that came in the darkness, | 45:21 | |
and the darkness has never put it out. | 45:24 | |
Three things I want to say today. | 45:30 | |
One, | 45:34 | |
I want to recognize that, which some of the keenest thinkers | 45:37 | |
of our day are saying, | 45:41 | |
and that is that we are facing | 45:44 | |
a possible destruction of civilization. | 45:47 | |
This is being said, not by the prophets | 45:54 | |
from the pulpits, primarily, | 45:57 | |
but from a scientist and a sociologist. | 46:00 | |
A second thing I want to say is, | 46:06 | |
in spite of the darkness here and there, | 46:11 | |
I see some glimmers of light. | 46:16 | |
It may not be sunset. | 46:21 | |
It might be sunrise. | 46:27 | |
And the third thing I want to say is | 46:32 | |
that a university, such as Duke, | 46:35 | |
has a part to play | 46:40 | |
if there is hope for a creative future. | 46:44 | |
So first, | 46:51 | |
the basic problem of our time is not Vietnam, | 46:55 | |
as deep as that problem is, | 46:59 | |
the most difficult problem of all time is not racism, | 47:05 | |
as much as I'm sure it must be eliminated. | 47:13 | |
The most fundamental problem of our time | 47:21 | |
is the problem of survival. | 47:25 | |
My neighbor in Topeka, the eminent Dr. Karl Menninger | 47:31 | |
said recently that our major problem is not hunger, | 47:37 | |
nor is it war or peace, | 47:47 | |
but literal question and with literal answer | 47:51 | |
of what must we do to be saved. | 47:55 | |
This is a physical question, and not just one of the spirit. | 48:01 | |
It is one of the spirit as well. | 48:06 | |
Speaking in Topeka on Thursday of this week, | 48:12 | |
up across the University of Kansas, | 48:15 | |
speaking to a conference | 48:20 | |
on the saving of our resources, | 48:22 | |
said the price of environmental pollution | 48:30 | |
is the ultimate destruction of the world in which we live. | 48:33 | |
Dr. Ross McKinney went on to say, | 48:41 | |
if we ignore environmental pollution, | 48:44 | |
we will destroy everything wonderful | 48:48 | |
about the world in which we live. | 48:51 | |
There will be no tomorrow for our children | 48:54 | |
or our grandchildren. | 48:59 | |
Pollution, which seemed to be just the dirtying up | 49:02 | |
of streams for a while | 49:06 | |
now has become a threat of extinction. | 49:10 | |
The greenhouse may soon be here, | 49:16 | |
as we with our smog build such a condition | 49:21 | |
that the temperature going up five degrees on average, | 49:28 | |
and the ice caps begin to melt, | 49:33 | |
and the whole Eastern seaboard is under the Atlantic ocean. | 49:36 | |
This is a scientist speaking, not the preacher. | 49:43 | |
Survival is our problem. | 49:50 | |
Last summer, I had the privilege | 49:56 | |
of being in Oak Ridge in Tennessee | 49:58 | |
for two weeks with a nuclear scientist. | 50:00 | |
The thing they said was, | 50:06 | |
our basic problem is the problem of population control. | 50:11 | |
If we can control the population, | 50:19 | |
we can likely meet the other problem. | 50:23 | |
But if we cannot, | 50:26 | |
the other problems cannot be solved. | 50:29 | |
Pollution, hunger, health, sociological relationships. | 50:33 | |
And you see, it's not just a matter | 50:41 | |
any longer of family planning, | 50:43 | |
it's going to be a model of national planning | 50:48 | |
and world planning. | 50:52 | |
Families of themselves and by themselves | 50:55 | |
cannot control this. | 50:58 | |
For those who need most to understand the control | 51:03 | |
or those who are least likely to enter into the control. | 51:07 | |
Dr. Leroy Augenstein writing recently said, | 51:15 | |
and he carries it to the ridiculous, | 51:22 | |
"The average increase in population per year | 51:26 | |
throughout the world is 2%. | 51:30 | |
If we continue to increase it 2% per year, | 51:35 | |
the world population will double in a short 35 years." | 51:39 | |
And this is correct. | 51:43 | |
"There will be one, | 51:46 | |
if this continues to increase at the same rate | 51:50 | |
for 500 to 600 years, | 51:53 | |
there will be one square yard per person | 51:57 | |
on the whole earth. | 52:00 | |
Then in 1700 years at our present rate, | 52:03 | |
the sheer physical mass of people | 52:12 | |
would exceed the mass of the earth itself." | 52:16 | |
Our problem is the problem of survival. | 52:22 | |
The college students on this campus | 52:31 | |
and the whole of our campus of America | 52:33 | |
have lived every day of their life | 52:40 | |
in the shadow of a mushroom cloud. | 52:44 | |
They do not know what it means to live in a day | 52:50 | |
when there's not the threat of annihilation. | 52:54 | |
Complete and ultimate annihilation. | 53:00 | |
It is not surprising that a generation like this | 53:05 | |
rises up with deep concerns | 53:08 | |
about what is happening in our world. | 53:12 | |
If they did not, we need to be more concerned about them. | 53:14 | |
And who knows what day some madman, some fool | 53:22 | |
may push the button. | 53:30 | |
The sword of Damocles is nothing to compare | 53:34 | |
with a threat of a mushroom cloud. | 53:38 | |
Our problem is survival. | 53:43 | |
We have rejoiced as the men of America | 53:51 | |
walked on the moon. | 53:57 | |
I looked out and see the moon, | 54:00 | |
and it seems an impossibility that actually men | 54:02 | |
have stepped upon this, and walked on this, | 54:07 | |
and yet this is true. | 54:10 | |
But the stepping on the moon may not be | 54:14 | |
the most significant part of all this. | 54:17 | |
For you see, those who are best informed tell us | 54:21 | |
that they who control outer space | 54:28 | |
will control the earth. | 54:33 | |
The day the telescope is so carefully | 54:37 | |
and so magnificently perfected that actually | 54:42 | |
ants can be counted on the sidewalk | 54:47 | |
a hundred miles beneath some object in space. | 54:52 | |
A laser beam is being perfected, | 54:58 | |
so the say, very soon it will be able | 55:01 | |
to be aimed so carefully | 55:05 | |
that if I step out of my front door, | 55:11 | |
a laser beam from a hundred miles up | 55:15 | |
can pick me out and eliminate me from life. | 55:20 | |
Our problem is the problem of survival. | 55:31 | |
The last time I was on the Duke campus, | 55:38 | |
I was honored very greatly | 55:41 | |
by receiving an honorary degree. | 55:44 | |
It was a graduation that some of you remember. | 55:48 | |
When in the midst of a graduation | 55:52 | |
president Knight stood and said | 55:56 | |
that he had received a warning | 56:00 | |
that a bomb had been placed in the field house. | 56:03 | |
The (indistinct) was not sure, | 56:07 | |
and certainly it likely was not the case, | 56:10 | |
but they were advised to move everyone out. | 56:12 | |
He stood as a captain of a ship, | 56:17 | |
and we did not know then that they had said | 56:20 | |
the bomb would explode at 11 o'clock, | 56:22 | |
and 11 o'clock came, and he stood, | 56:26 | |
and watched us as we marched out. | 56:29 | |
It was an act of heroism | 56:33 | |
that I'm not sure was known by many. | 56:35 | |
Of course, there was no bomb. | 56:42 | |
But in our day, that which was a scare on this campus | 56:45 | |
may be the reality of our existence. | 56:53 | |
There may be a bomb ticking away. | 57:02 | |
Our problem is the problem of survival. | 57:07 | |
But there's a second thing I want to say, | 57:17 | |
and that is that in spite of the fact | 57:21 | |
that there are desperate circumstances | 57:27 | |
in our relationships one with another, | 57:31 | |
our incapacity to face up to reality, | 57:36 | |
our stupidity in not changing things that must be changed. | 57:41 | |
In spite of a fact, there is deep | 57:48 | |
and possibly tragic danger, | 57:54 | |
I see that in which I find hope. | 57:59 | |
In fact, I have a theology of hope, | 58:05 | |
and I think probably it begins, | 58:10 | |
well, I think it begins at Bethlehem. | 58:14 | |
About six weeks ago, I was in the holy land. | 58:18 | |
I went again out of Jerusalem over a hill | 58:25 | |
and down a valley, over another high hill, | 58:28 | |
a rocky, barren hill, | 58:31 | |
and then looking across the valley I saw Bethlehem. | 58:34 | |
And as always happens with me, | 58:43 | |
I could not but feel the words of Phillips Brooks, | 58:49 | |
"Oh, little town of Bethlehem, | 58:56 | |
how still we see thee lie above thy deep | 58:59 | |
and dreamless peace, asleep the silent stars go by." | 59:04 | |
I went to Bethlehem, | 59:13 | |
and there I saw the source of my hope. | 59:19 | |
And that is, it seems to be that, | 59:25 | |
which comes into our world, | 59:29 | |
born of a baby in the most unexpected place, | 59:36 | |
and in that birth something happened | 59:44 | |
that the world has never been able to rid itself of. | 59:48 | |
We tried to get rid of Christmas, | 59:56 | |
and wonder when it is we're going to throw away | 59:58 | |
this childish remembrance of gifts and songs, | 1:00:01 | |
and yet it keeps coming back each year. | 1:00:07 | |
In some way we know there's something deeper | 1:00:11 | |
than the (indistinct), | 1:00:14 | |
and greater even than the song of "Jingle Bells". | 1:00:16 | |
There's something here that has deeper meaning, | 1:00:23 | |
and when one walks to Bethlehem, | 1:00:28 | |
one begins to understand | 1:00:33 | |
that a star shone in the night, | 1:00:35 | |
and the star still shines. | 1:00:41 | |
That a light came in darkness, | 1:00:46 | |
the light of God's love, | 1:00:48 | |
and the darkness has never been able to put it out. | 1:00:51 | |
That the angels sang, fear not, | 1:00:58 | |
for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, | 1:01:03 | |
which shall be to all people, | 1:01:07 | |
for unto you is born this day in the city of David, | 1:01:09 | |
our savior, a baby was born. | 1:01:13 | |
And this is where hope is born for me. | 1:01:21 | |
That into a world as bleak and barren as that world was, | 1:01:27 | |
a baby was born and the world was changed. | 1:01:33 | |
And across the years babies are born, | 1:01:39 | |
new ideas are born, new institutions are born, | 1:01:44 | |
and the world is changed. | 1:01:47 | |
A baby was born, | 1:01:53 | |
and a man learned how to treat milk, so it would be safe. | 1:01:57 | |
And learned how to give to those | 1:02:06 | |
who had been ravaged by some mad dog shots, | 1:02:10 | |
and they would live for the first time in all of history. | 1:02:14 | |
His name was Louis Pasteur, a baby was born. | 1:02:19 | |
In our day, when I was in Duke with dread | 1:02:29 | |
that drove us one summer from where we were working | 1:02:33 | |
to another section in the state was infantile paralysis. | 1:02:37 | |
But a baby had been born, | 1:02:42 | |
and one day we went to school, to the school building | 1:02:45 | |
with our children, each of us took a little cube of sugar | 1:02:50 | |
with something dropped on it, | 1:02:54 | |
and we swallowed the cube of sugar. | 1:02:55 | |
And we fear no more the crippling, | 1:03:00 | |
deadly effects of poliomyelitis. | 1:03:06 | |
A baby was born. | 1:03:11 | |
And babies are continuing to be born. | 1:03:15 | |
And ideas are coming to birth, | 1:03:20 | |
we went from the holy land over to Athens, | 1:03:24 | |
and there, as I stood on the Acropolis, | 1:03:28 | |
I changed my first love, | 1:03:31 | |
Rome has always been my first love, | 1:03:33 | |
a great city, a magnificent city, | 1:03:36 | |
but someway I left my first love, | 1:03:39 | |
and standing there, Athens became the city of my choice. | 1:03:43 | |
For as I stood there and looked around me, | 1:03:50 | |
I knew I stood in the cradle of a Western world | 1:03:53 | |
where Socrates and philosophy was born, | 1:03:58 | |
philosophers, but someway it came to fucus here, | 1:04:03 | |
where Aristotle came into being, | 1:04:07 | |
and science was launched. | 1:04:10 | |
Where architects learned the secrets and. | 1:04:14 |