James T. Cleland - "To Walk and Not Faint" (September 20, 1970)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(worship piano music) | 0:08 | |
Pastor | Let us be seated, | 6:40 |
and join in the unison prayer of confession, | 6:41 | |
and for pardon. | 6:45 | |
All mighty God, | 6:50 | |
we humbly confess that we are guilty people. | 6:52 | |
We cannot count the sins that we have done, | 6:56 | |
nor can we remember all the evil thoughts of our hearts. | 7:00 | |
We have neglected thy word, | 7:04 | |
and have taken lightly thy mercies. | 7:06 | |
We have not turned away from violence and vanity. | 7:09 | |
We therefore do not deserve the forgiveness | 7:14 | |
for which we pray, | 7:16 | |
but we ask thee to grant | 7:18 | |
that we may from the heart, | 7:21 | |
be turned to thee, | 7:23 | |
and that we may be reconciled to thee, | 7:25 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. | 7:28 | |
If a man is in Christ, | 7:37 | |
he becomes a new person altogether. | 7:39 | |
The past, is finished and gone. | 7:43 | |
Everything has become fresh and new. | 7:46 | |
God's mercies never end. | 7:50 | |
I tell you in the name of Jesus Christ, | 7:53 | |
we are forgiven. | 7:56 | |
Believe the gospel, | 7:58 | |
and live in peace. | 8:00 | |
(worship piano music) | 8:07 | |
The scripture lesson this morning | 13:27 | |
comes from the book of Isaiah, | 13:28 | |
the 40th chapter verses 18 through 31. | 13:30 | |
"To whom then will you liken God, | 13:37 | |
or what likeness compare with Him?" | 13:40 | |
The idle, a Workman casts it | 13:42 | |
and a Goldsmith overlays it with gold, | 13:44 | |
and cast forward silver chains. | 13:47 | |
He who is impoverished | 13:49 | |
chooses for an offering wood that will not rot. | 13:51 | |
He seeks out a skilled craftsman | 13:54 | |
to set up an image that will not move. | 13:56 | |
Have you not known? | 13:59 | |
Have you not heard? | 14:00 | |
Has it not been told you from the beginning? | 14:02 | |
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? | 14:05 | |
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, | 14:08 | |
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. | 14:11 | |
It is He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain | 14:14 | |
and spreads them like tented dwelling. | 14:17 | |
It is He who brings princess to naught, | 14:20 | |
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. | 14:22 | |
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown. | 14:25 | |
Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, | 14:29 | |
when He blows upon them and they wither. | 14:32 | |
And the Tempest carries them off like stubble. | 14:34 | |
"To whom then will you compare me | 14:38 | |
that I should be liking?" | 14:40 | |
says the holy one. | 14:41 | |
Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these. | 14:43 | |
He who brings out their hosts by number, | 14:47 | |
calling them all by name, | 14:49 | |
by the graciousness of his mind, | 14:51 | |
and because he is strong in power, | 14:53 | |
not one he's missing. | 14:55 | |
Why do you say, "oh Jacob didn't speak, Oh Israel." | 14:58 | |
My way is hid from the Lord | 15:01 | |
and my rights is disregarded by my God. | 15:02 | |
Have you not known? | 15:05 | |
Have you not heard? | 15:07 | |
The Lord is the everlasting God, | 15:09 | |
the creator of the ends of the earth. | 15:11 | |
He does not faint or grow weary. | 15:14 | |
His understanding is unsearchable. | 15:16 | |
He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, | 15:18 | |
He increases strength. | 15:22 | |
Even you shall faint and be worried. | 15:24 | |
And young men shall fall exhausted, | 15:26 | |
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. | 15:28 | |
They shall Mount up with wings like Eagles. | 15:32 | |
They shall run and not be worried. | 15:35 | |
And they shall walk and not faint. | 15:37 | |
May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. | 15:40 | |
(worship piano music) | 15:44 | |
The Lord be with you? | 16:25 | |
(crowd murmurs) | 16:27 | |
Let us pray. | 16:29 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly father, | 16:38 | |
we have need to bring many things | 16:42 | |
before you in prayer. | 16:46 | |
Our thanks, and our intersessions for | 16:49 | |
our fellow man, | 16:54 | |
and are prayers for ourselves. | 16:57 | |
Oh God, we do have much, | 17:01 | |
for which to give things. | 17:03 | |
We are grateful for even the failures | 17:06 | |
of our lives, | 17:10 | |
the failures of our unworthy schemes, | 17:12 | |
which forced us to make worthy plans. | 17:14 | |
We thank thee that we did not succeed | 17:19 | |
in our attempts to play God. | 17:21 | |
So that in our frustration, | 17:24 | |
we learned the grace of humility. | 17:26 | |
We express our thanks for friends who encourage us, | 17:30 | |
who recognize our strong points. | 17:34 | |
We are grateful for other friends | 17:38 | |
who help us to see where we are wrong | 17:40 | |
and need to improve. | 17:43 | |
We are thankful that evil is not so strong, | 17:46 | |
but that we can rise above it. | 17:49 | |
When we surrender our wills to thy, | 17:51 | |
and seek thy divine grace. | 17:55 | |
We thank thee four victories of health over disease. | 17:59 | |
Victories of love over hate. | 18:03 | |
Victories of unity over division, | 18:07 | |
of truth over error, | 18:10 | |
of beauty over ugliness, | 18:12 | |
of order over and anarchy. | 18:15 | |
And hearing their | 18:19 | |
victories of peace over war. | 18:22 | |
We express our thanks so God for seed time and harvest, | 18:26 | |
for full barns, full employment, | 18:31 | |
the abundance of industry. | 18:35 | |
for improved distribution, | 18:38 | |
and for a greater sharing of the fruits of honest labor. | 18:41 | |
We thank thee for pioneers | 18:49 | |
who point the way to mark Christian relationships, | 18:50 | |
in the office, | 18:54 | |
in the home, | 18:55 | |
in the market, | 18:56 | |
in the classroom, | 18:58 | |
in the laboratory, | 18:59 | |
in the halls of government. | 19:01 | |
Supremely, we thank thee that while we were yet sinners | 19:03 | |
Christ died for us. | 19:07 | |
And we blessed thee for | 19:10 | |
our hope of the final triumph of righteousness, | 19:12 | |
and the life everlasting, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 19:16 | |
Oh God, from whom we come, | 19:23 | |
and to whom our spirits return, | 19:26 | |
we now remember before thee our fellow student, Celso Pinto, | 19:29 | |
whose sudden and tragic death | 19:35 | |
has made our hearts sad here at the beginning of this year. | 19:37 | |
We acknowledge our unwillingness to believe it has happened. | 19:42 | |
We are humbled, and honored. | 19:46 | |
As we contemplate the uncertainty | 19:49 | |
and the brevity of this earthly existence. | 19:52 | |
So teach us to number our days | 19:55 | |
that we may get a heart of wisdom. | 19:57 | |
Grant that thy holy spirit | 20:01 | |
may comfort his loved ones at home, | 20:03 | |
and his friends here on this campus. | 20:06 | |
Father of all mercies, | 20:12 | |
we lived to thee for healing and strength, | 20:14 | |
all of our needy hearts, | 20:18 | |
are broken purposes, | 20:21 | |
are broken lines. | 20:22 | |
Remembering all thy children everywhere. | 20:24 | |
We pray for this bewildered world. | 20:28 | |
May good sense, justice, law, | 20:32 | |
yet rule throughout the earth, | 20:37 | |
that there may be peace in the middle east, | 20:40 | |
and in the far east, | 20:43 | |
and peace at home. | 20:46 | |
We pray for all whose lives are a wilderness, | 20:50 | |
that thou will water them with loving kindness, | 20:54 | |
until they grow again. | 20:57 | |
We pray for all who are beset by evil of every kind, | 21:00 | |
that they may know thee as they're great deliverer. | 21:05 | |
We pray for those who are afraid, | 21:10 | |
some have real fears, | 21:13 | |
others have subjective dangers, | 21:15 | |
be thou their confidence, | 21:19 | |
to lonely ones do thou show Christ as their elder brother, | 21:22 | |
heal the broken heart, | 21:29 | |
and all who are bowed down to that lift up. | 21:32 | |
Oh God who act more great, | 21:39 | |
more ready to hear than we are to pray. | 21:41 | |
Who knows the petitions of those | 21:45 | |
whose lips are silent. | 21:48 | |
Hear the prayers of every heart, here today. | 21:51 | |
We pray for those who are in authority, | 21:58 | |
that they may be given understanding and devotion. | 22:01 | |
Give our leaders the courage of their convictions, | 22:07 | |
and may they have the right convictions. | 22:12 | |
We pray for our own university | 22:16 | |
on this opening Sunday, | 22:18 | |
for its trustees, | 22:21 | |
its president, | 22:23 | |
its faculty and staff, | 22:25 | |
it's alumni, | 22:28 | |
and especially do we pray for | 22:30 | |
the new students who are beginning here, their education. | 22:33 | |
May they become learners, | 22:39 | |
and ever remain learners. | 22:42 | |
Humble and teachable. | 22:45 | |
And those who have not yet learned | 22:48 | |
grant that they may be delivered from the arrogance | 22:51 | |
of posing as teachers. | 22:54 | |
May all of us students and faculty staff, | 22:57 | |
never seek to graduate from the disciplines of life. | 23:02 | |
May we ever press on to new goals and discover new truth. | 23:07 | |
And therefore we commit ourselves, oh God, unto thee. | 23:13 | |
And place our academic year in thy hands. | 23:20 | |
Making our own the prayer which thy son, | 23:25 | |
Jesus Christ has taught all his disciples to pray saying, | 23:27 | |
our Father who art in heaven, | 23:32 | |
hallowed be thy name, | 23:35 | |
thy kingdom come. | 23:37 | |
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 23:39 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread | 23:42 | |
and forgive us our trespasses. | 23:45 | |
As we forgive those who trespass against us, | 23:48 | |
lead us not into temptation, | 23:51 | |
but deliver us from evil, | 23:53 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 23:55 | |
and the power and the glory forever, amen. | 23:57 | |
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 24:23 | |
be with you all. | 24:26 | |
The first service of a new academic year, | 24:31 | |
is now officially opening Sunday, | 24:36 | |
rather than freshmen Sunday. | 24:40 | |
Therefore the sermon should not be primarily | 24:45 | |
one of introduction to the university service of worship, | 24:48 | |
though we do specially welcome all students, | 24:54 | |
in all the academic disciplines, | 24:58 | |
who out here Duke, | 25:01 | |
for the first time. | 25:03 | |
This service and sermon must | 25:07 | |
somehow be for all of you. | 25:09 | |
New recruits and veterans, | 25:12 | |
persons through and potential graduates. | 25:16 | |
Members of the colleges and up the schools, | 25:22 | |
friends, and camp followers. | 25:26 | |
It's an almost impossible sermonic assignment, | 25:30 | |
to speak to each and all of you. | 25:35 | |
Upset Chubb, variegated you. | 25:39 | |
Yeah, there is one common denominator. | 25:43 | |
You are members of our sojourners in the Duke community, | 25:47 | |
at the university service of worship. | 25:54 | |
Now, puzzling for something to start a train of thought, | 26:00 | |
I recall some words from a meditation, | 26:05 | |
which was read aloud in my home, | 26:08 | |
when I was in my teens. | 26:11 | |
The author was a minister in Tasmania, | 26:15 | |
who published two books a year, | 26:18 | |
for many years. | 26:22 | |
They sold, they still do. | 26:25 | |
His name was Boredom. | 26:29 | |
Boredom, an awkward name for a preacher. | 26:32 | |
And, in his case, quite inappropriate. | 26:37 | |
When he was introduced to the general assembly | 26:41 | |
of the church of Scotland, | 26:43 | |
the moderator did so in one happy sentence. | 26:45 | |
"I present to you the Reverend F W Boredom. | 26:48 | |
whose name is on all our lips. | 26:53 | |
Whose books are in all our studies, | 26:57 | |
and whose illustrations are in all our sermons. | 27:01 | |
Now in one of his sermonic essays, | 27:06 | |
he's dealing with the question, | 27:09 | |
"What is the most trying part | 27:11 | |
of a long journey?" | 27:14 | |
What is the most trying part | 27:17 | |
of a long journey? | 27:20 | |
The first person argued for the beginning, | 27:23 | |
the weary road stretches interminably. | 27:28 | |
The thought of the miles ahead is devastating. | 27:32 | |
Every stick and stone says, | 27:38 | |
"Go back, you not." | 27:41 | |
The second person argued for the end. | 27:45 | |
The body is weary and the feet are blister. | 27:49 | |
The mind is tired and the spirit is unrefreshed. | 27:54 | |
More fork begin than finish. | 28:01 | |
Mr Boredom suggests that they're both wrong. | 28:06 | |
At the start, that is the exhilaration of a challenge. | 28:10 | |
At the end, there are welcome lights | 28:17 | |
and a sense of achievement. | 28:20 | |
But what about the middle stretches | 28:25 | |
out of sight of stopped and finish, | 28:29 | |
and their encouragement? | 28:34 | |
What about the monotony | 28:37 | |
and the grind | 28:39 | |
and the boredom | 28:42 | |
of a long distance Walker? | 28:44 | |
And there was the sermonic thought for the opening surface | 28:48 | |
of the academic year, 1970, 71. | 28:53 | |
I decided to concentrate on the years between | 28:58 | |
the freshmen and the senior. | 29:02 | |
And as I thought about the sophomores and the juniors, | 29:06 | |
and their kinsmen in the schools, | 29:10 | |
that came to mind the passage of scripture | 29:13 | |
which was out in less than. | 29:16 | |
Isaiah 40:18-31. | 29:18 | |
Now why? Well, let's look at it. | 29:23 | |
The setting of Isaiah chapter 40 to 55 was Babylon. | 29:28 | |
While an enforced colony of Jews, | 29:36 | |
had been in exile. | 29:40 | |
Since the destruction of the Jewish state | 29:42 | |
and the sack of Jerusalem | 29:46 | |
in 587 BC. | 29:48 | |
And the unknown author of these chapters, | 29:52 | |
whom the scholars call second or Deutero Isaiah, | 29:56 | |
was a spokesman to them of comfort and hope. | 30:02 | |
He watched the rise of Cyrus of media. | 30:08 | |
And believed that the God of history | 30:14 | |
was using Cyrus | 30:18 | |
to defeat Babylon, | 30:20 | |
and set free the Jews to return to Palestine, | 30:22 | |
and to rebuild Jerusalem. | 30:26 | |
He actually called Cyrus | 30:29 | |
the Messiah, | 30:32 | |
the Christ, | 30:35 | |
which were something of a shock | 30:37 | |
to more conservative Jews. | 30:39 | |
(indistinct) in 539 | 30:43 | |
Cyrus did capture Babylon. | 30:46 | |
And shortly thereafter, | 30:50 | |
he allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem. | 30:52 | |
He aided their subsequent rebuilding. | 30:57 | |
Now second Isaiah, | 31:01 | |
the anonymous prophet of the Babylonian exile, | 31:03 | |
who believed that Yahweh | 31:08 | |
the God of all the world, | 31:10 | |
creator and Redeemer, | 31:13 | |
would you Cyrus, | 31:15 | |
for the wellbeing of the remnant of Israel, | 31:17 | |
in Babylon and in Jerusalem, | 31:21 | |
he wrote a Rhapsody of the anticipated delivery. | 31:24 | |
They who wait for the Lord, | 31:30 | |
shall renew their strength. | 31:33 | |
They will Mount up with wings like Eagles. | 31:37 | |
They shall run | 31:41 | |
and not be weary. | 31:44 | |
They shall walk and not faint. | 31:47 | |
This is his poetic vision of the return from exile. | 31:52 | |
It will begin with enthusiasm with rapture, | 31:57 | |
with heads high, | 32:00 | |
with eyes sparkling, with hopes soaring, | 32:02 | |
the returning exiles will have wing and feet. | 32:06 | |
They'll Mount up with wings as Eagles. | 32:10 | |
The trek will end with a rush. | 32:14 | |
They'll swarm up Zion to the temple site, | 32:16 | |
with the shrine, somehow the worst of the ware, | 32:22 | |
but still the earthly home of their God | 32:26 | |
whose through Cyrus, | 32:31 | |
had ended the expatriation. | 32:33 | |
They shall run and not be weary, | 32:35 | |
but, walk about the middle streets. | 32:38 | |
Day after day after day. | 32:42 | |
When the first ecstasy has gone, | 32:46 | |
and no sight of the holy city, | 32:50 | |
thrills that are (indistinct). | 32:53 | |
Did he see them trudging along the fertile Crescent route | 32:56 | |
up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers | 32:59 | |
down through what once was Syria and Israel, | 33:02 | |
or will the risk the route across the Arabian desert, | 33:06 | |
the dangerous way, without a military escort, | 33:11 | |
will they walk and not think in that long drag. | 33:16 | |
The prophet takes a deep breath | 33:24 | |
and believes that they'll make it | 33:28 | |
on one condition. | 33:30 | |
The inspiration of religion, | 33:33 | |
the faith that their God is in it with them, | 33:37 | |
the prerequisite to mounting and running and walking is | 33:42 | |
they who wait upon the Lord, | 33:48 | |
shall renew their strength. | 33:53 | |
It's faith in God, | 33:56 | |
which will nerve them for | 33:57 | |
the least dramatic part of the journey, | 33:59 | |
when Babylon and Jerusalem are both out of sight. | 34:02 | |
And tension and strain and fatigue sap their strength, | 34:08 | |
and weaken their will, religion. | 34:13 | |
The (indistinct) second Isaiah | 34:17 | |
gives power to the faint and increases strength. | 34:19 | |
God is the comforter. | 34:25 | |
That is the one who makes them wrong together. | 34:27 | |
That is second Isiah's promise | 34:33 | |
he's be a good cheer. | 34:37 | |
And one or more of you | 34:41 | |
looks critically at me and matures maybe. | 34:44 | |
But what is religion? | 34:50 | |
And I look some bewildered at you, | 34:56 | |
and I wonder how I can define and delucidata, | 35:01 | |
for you of different denominations, | 35:07 | |
even have different pastes, | 35:12 | |
to say nothing of the gentle agnostics in our midst, | 35:16 | |
and those who come because of the music | 35:21 | |
and scarcely tolerate the sermon. | 35:23 | |
Well, let me offer you a wide, broad, general definition. | 35:28 | |
One which I have long respected. | 35:33 | |
Religion is self committal | 35:38 | |
to the more themselves, | 35:43 | |
with penetrating synthetic. | 35:46 | |
Religion itself committal to the more themself | 35:50 | |
with penetrating sincerity, | 35:55 | |
and you're rightfully ask me what is the more themselves. | 35:58 | |
There are various answer. | 36:05 | |
But they have one thing in common. | 36:08 | |
Whatever the more than self is. | 36:11 | |
It is God for you. | 36:16 | |
Let's look at some of these gods | 36:21 | |
to which different groups among us we'll give ourselves. | 36:22 | |
There is truth, | 36:28 | |
conformity to facts or reality. | 36:31 | |
Some of you will find it | 36:35 | |
in an algebraic equation, | 36:37 | |
or in the discovery of something new | 36:41 | |
or forgotten, or the better interpreted | 36:45 | |
because of your work. | 36:48 | |
You will hunt for truth with a passion. | 36:52 | |
You give to it on ultimate devotion. | 36:57 | |
This is the quality of the scientific attitude at its best. | 37:02 | |
Do you recall how (indistinct)? | 37:08 | |
Where did it in Paresmith? | 37:10 | |
In the prayer of a scientist? | 37:13 | |
God give me unclouded eyes | 37:16 | |
and freedom from haste. | 37:22 | |
God, given me a quiet and relentless anger | 37:25 | |
against all pretense | 37:30 | |
and all pretentious work, | 37:33 | |
and all work left slack and unfinished. | 37:36 | |
God, give me a restlessness | 37:42 | |
whereby I may neither sleep, | 37:45 | |
nor accept praise | 37:48 | |
till my observed results | 37:51 | |
equal my calculated results, | 37:54 | |
or in pious glee. | 37:57 | |
I discover under assort my error. | 38:00 | |
God, give me strength, | 38:04 | |
Not to trust to God. | 38:08 | |
What will the outcome be? | 38:14 | |
The truth will make you free, | 38:17 | |
or it will make you mad. | 38:22 | |
There is beauty which may be defined as grace | 38:28 | |
or fitness, exciting human enjoyment, | 38:34 | |
unexpected perfection, which satisfied. | 38:39 | |
You may find it in the art museum, | 38:44 | |
on East campus. | 38:47 | |
You may sense it here | 38:49 | |
in this chapel this afternoon, | 38:51 | |
as our Chumpy quartet, | 38:55 | |
fresh from European triumphs this summer, | 38:58 | |
delights and satisfies its listener. | 39:02 | |
Beauty turns up in athletics. | 39:06 | |
The elegance of a Ted Williams at bat. | 39:09 | |
The poise of a quarterback products along | 39:13 | |
your name and, | 39:17 | |
the harmony of a basketball team. | 39:19 | |
And the result is the realization of a perfection | 39:22 | |
which appeals first to the senses, | 39:26 | |
and then to the spirit of the observer, | 39:30 | |
and some worship at that shrine. | 39:36 | |
That is goodness | 39:41 | |
that which is ethically praise worthy. | 39:42 | |
It is the law. | 39:46 | |
The Torah to a Jew. | 39:48 | |
It is the new commandment. | 39:52 | |
The twin new commandments to a Christian. | 39:54 | |
The lover of goodness is not a duty. | 39:58 | |
The true worshiper does not endure God, | 40:02 | |
he enjoys this God. | 40:07 | |
There's a flare to this type of goodness, | 40:11 | |
the Deborah T May have the heart of a Puritan, | 40:16 | |
but he carries himself, like a cavalier. | 40:22 | |
Ms More than a touch of Robin hood and | 40:27 | |
the Scotland temper now | 40:29 | |
in his joyous obedience | 40:32 | |
to the good. | 40:35 | |
And then there is a companionship, | 40:38 | |
the fellowship of people of like-mind. | 40:41 | |
Companionship really means | 40:45 | |
the breaking of bread together. | 40:47 | |
One symbol of willing association. | 40:51 | |
It's what each one of us desires. | 40:55 | |
We were not made to walk alone. | 40:58 | |
It's heard in the whale of the co-end, | 41:03 | |
who said to the Dean of women, | 41:07 | |
"I came here to be went with, | 41:10 | |
and I didn't." | 41:12 | |
And understanding of companionship bridges | 41:17 | |
if it does not close the generation gap, | 41:20 | |
it's a worthy object | 41:24 | |
of self commitment and it is not unknown | 41:27 | |
on this campus. | 41:32 | |
And there Judeo-Christian tradition, | 41:34 | |
one of the dominating strengths | 41:38 | |
in the warp and woof of Western civilization. | 41:40 | |
It's partly Jewish, | 41:45 | |
because it understands | 41:47 | |
that goodness is a mark of the creating | 41:50 | |
and sustaining God | 41:55 | |
and has to be practically expressed in behavior. | 41:58 | |
It's partly Greek, | 42:05 | |
because it has almost accepted the belief | 42:07 | |
that goodness and beauty | 42:11 | |
are intimately related in Godhead. | 42:14 | |
You know how the Greek word for a gentleman was? | 42:19 | |
The combination of two adjectives. | 42:24 | |
Kalos Kagathos. | 42:27 | |
Kalos means beautiful. | 42:30 | |
Agathos means good. | 42:32 | |
The beautiful and the good, | 42:36 | |
that described the gentlemen. | 42:37 | |
It's partially Roman, | 42:42 | |
because it has sought to continue the concept of justice, | 42:45 | |
which undergirds the universe | 42:49 | |
as freedom, human freedom, | 42:53 | |
within a framework of reasonableness and order. | 42:57 | |
And so it says with Keats, | 43:01 | |
that beauty is truth, truth beauty, | 43:03 | |
or with bridges | 43:06 | |
live without thy life | 43:08 | |
between beneath the making sun | 43:10 | |
to beauty, truth, | 43:14 | |
and love in thee are one. | 43:16 | |
Yes, religion is self committed to the more than self. | 43:22 | |
Now, choose that more than self with care. | 43:26 | |
It was 10 due in good | 43:33 | |
stand in the middle stretches of the academic road, | 43:35 | |
a person to whom religion is a reality | 43:40 | |
keeps on keeping on | 43:44 | |
because the living center of his life | 43:48 | |
is a thing of the spirit. | 43:53 | |
Some 15 years ago, Dr AL Sachar, | 43:58 | |
the president of Brandeis university in Massachusetts, | 44:02 | |
spoke at the dedication on his campus, | 44:06 | |
of three chapels, | 44:10 | |
Jewish, Roman Catholic, | 44:13 | |
Protestant, set together. | 44:16 | |
He wrote three short paragraphs from his address. | 44:21 | |
The principle of separation of state and church | 44:25 | |
she's deeply set in American life, | 44:27 | |
from the very beginning about a national existence, | 44:32 | |
it was considered wises, | 44:35 | |
not to bring denominational differences | 44:38 | |
to the Blackboard. | 44:41 | |
From the days of Thomas Jefferson to our own | 44:44 | |
great non-sectarian schools of learning, | 44:47 | |
have therefore striven for complete objectivity | 44:51 | |
in the patterns of their curriculum, | 44:55 | |
and the presentation of their courses. | 44:57 | |
Brandeis university has been set squarely | 45:01 | |
in this lofty framework, | 45:05 | |
and has faithfully chosen its students and its faculty, | 45:07 | |
on the basis of merit, | 45:11 | |
has taught its courses without doctrinal slab, | 45:14 | |
has avoided the slightest temptation to use the classroom | 45:18 | |
as a recruiting ground for denominational loyalty. | 45:22 | |
Yet it has never followed | 45:27 | |
that the religious experience, | 45:29 | |
so basic in our lives, | 45:33 | |
must be deliberately ignored. | 45:36 | |
Young people on a college campus, | 45:39 | |
especially where they're away from home, | 45:43 | |
must have some opportunity to express their faith, | 45:46 | |
to link themselves with the enduring lessons | 45:50 | |
of their historic past, | 45:53 | |
the experience must be made available | 45:56 | |
to them in a meaningful way. | 45:58 | |
This is the theory behind the three chapels, | 46:00 | |
which are being dedicated. | 46:04 | |
Chapels have been erected | 46:07 | |
with the Ray of architectural imagination, | 46:08 | |
to provide each of the great Western faiths with facilities | 46:11 | |
that are adequate and aesthetic. | 46:16 | |
So that those who wish to worship, | 46:19 | |
to meditate, to receive religious counseling, | 46:22 | |
may have here | 46:27 | |
the opportunity which they see. | 46:29 | |
So, it's not something like that, | 46:35 | |
which Duke is trying to say in its motto. | 46:37 | |
Eruditio et Religio, | 46:41 | |
education and devotion, | 46:46 | |
reverence for truth, | 46:50 | |
and a sense of the holy, | 46:53 | |
These are not identified. | 46:57 | |
The motto is not Eruditio est Religio. | 47:00 | |
The two are allies, partners. | 47:06 | |
They are not necessarily identical. | 47:11 | |
This chapel is in name and in fact interdenominational, | 47:15 | |
more than that, | 47:22 | |
it's student weddings have been ecumenical, | 47:23 | |
with priests and ministers officiating together. | 47:28 | |
though, tell it not to the Bishop. | 47:33 | |
Someday this Chapel may be an interfaith shrine, | 47:38 | |
for God is too great to be any one faith monopoly. | 47:46 | |
It's our hope that at the university service of worship, | 47:55 | |
the music, the liturgy, | 47:59 | |
the lessons, the sermon, | 48:02 | |
we'll give you a lift Sunday by Sunday, | 48:05 | |
as you journey through Duke. | 48:07 | |
So that as freshmen, | 48:10 | |
you may Mount up with wings as Eagles. | 48:13 | |
So that as seniors, | 48:17 | |
you'll may run and not be weary. | 48:19 | |
So that as sophomores and juniors | 48:24 | |
in any of the colleges or schools, | 48:27 | |
you may walk | 48:30 | |
and walk and walk | 48:33 | |
and not faint. | 48:38 | |
Let us pray. | 48:42 | |
Oh God, the source about being | 48:46 | |
the goal about desire. | 48:48 | |
The guide of these our Pilgrim days, | 48:51 | |
fill us with thy spirit, | 48:55 | |
that we may have strength for our tasks, | 48:58 | |
wisdom for our responsibilities, | 49:02 | |
insight for the times in which we live, | 49:06 | |
and courage to meet all demands. | 49:10 | |
To thy glory | 49:14 | |
and for our good. Amen. | 49:17 | |
(worship piano music) | 49:22 | |
All mighty God, | 59:38 | |
because thou has prospered the work of our hands upon us. | 59:40 | |
We are able to bring this offering of money. | 59:43 | |
We pray that this may be dedicated to thy service. | 59:47 | |
And that the money which get remains in our possession | 59:51 | |
and all other strengths of ours, | 59:55 | |
may be committed to the glory of Christ in his name. | 59:57 | |
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. | 1:00:06 | |
(worship piano music) | 1:00:18 |