Franklin W. Young - "Thanksgiving Prolegomena" (November 22, 1970)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(praise and worship music) | 0:34 | |
Preacher | Let us walk and run to God. | 4:50 |
Our unison prayer of confession. | 4:53 | |
Let us pray. | 4:57 | |
Oh, we tell no God and most merciful father, | 5:00 | |
we confess and acknowledge here before the divine majesty | 5:04 | |
that we are miserable sinners | 5:09 | |
that in us there is no goodness. | 5:12 | |
But since we are displeased with ourselves, | 5:15 | |
from the sin that we have committed against thee, | 5:19 | |
and do sincerely repent of the same, | 5:22 | |
we most humbly beseech thee for Jesus Christ sake | 5:26 | |
to show thy mercy upon us, | 5:31 | |
to forgive us all our sins | 5:34 | |
and to increase thy holy spirit in us, | 5:37 | |
help us to bring forth such fruit as maybe agreeable | 5:41 | |
to thy most blessed will. | 5:45 | |
Not because of the way they knows the lord | 5:48 | |
but the merit of the ideally beloved son, Jesus Christ, | 5:51 | |
our only savior, amen. | 5:57 | |
Hear those comfortable words of assurance | 6:02 | |
from the first chapter of John. | 6:06 | |
Our sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake, amen. | 6:10 | |
(worship music) | 6:21 | |
The scripture today would be selected versus | 7:08 | |
from the Psalm 116. | 7:10 | |
"I love the Lord because he has heard | 7:16 | |
the voice of my supplication. | 7:19 | |
I found trouble and sorrow. | 7:22 | |
Then I called out in the name of the Lord. | 7:25 | |
Oh Lord deliver me, I was brought low and he saved me | 7:28 | |
and now has delivered my soul from death, | 7:34 | |
my eyes, tears, and my feet from stumbling. | 7:37 | |
What can I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me, | 7:43 | |
I will pay my vows to the Lord. | 7:49 | |
The very presence of all these people | 7:51 | |
I will offer to thee sacrifice of Thanksgiving. | 7:55 | |
Call upon the name of the Lord, praise lord." | 8:00 | |
(worship music) | 8:05 | |
The Lord be with you, let us pray. | 8:45 | |
We thank the Lord that we have thy wisdom, | 8:58 | |
lying at the mercy of every seeking mind | 9:01 | |
all thy most wonderful in the realm of truth. | 9:06 | |
We thank the Lord that we have thy water river and sea, | 9:12 | |
hill and valley, polished and filled for our dwellings | 9:18 | |
All thy most audience in the realm of beauty, | 9:23 | |
we thank the Lord that we have thy self, | 9:29 | |
but our guide and breath for our most hateful | 9:32 | |
in the realm of the love. | 9:38 | |
Thanks be to thee, for the live, | 9:41 | |
unspeakable gift this day and forever more. | 9:44 | |
Let us put unto God a special prayer of Thanksgiving | 9:51 | |
for the harvest, almighty God, our heavenly father, | 9:56 | |
we give thanks and praise that thy mercy thou | 10:03 | |
has brought us through the savior of another year. | 10:07 | |
And that according to thy promise, | 10:11 | |
see time and privacy have not reached | 10:14 | |
blessed be the thou has crowned the year | 10:20 | |
with like goodness and has bestowed upon us | 10:23 | |
the kindly fruit of the earth, | 10:25 | |
we pray thee to grant us grace, | 10:29 | |
that we may receive them rightfully | 10:31 | |
and use them carefully with own comfort for relief, | 10:35 | |
from those that are needy and for the glory of thy name. | 10:41 | |
Let us all put a prayer of intercession for others. | 10:50 | |
Oh Lord God merciful and mighty, | 10:55 | |
help those whom we have neglected to help, | 10:59 | |
set a right, those who we've caused to stumble, | 11:05 | |
visit those whom we have neglected to visit | 11:12 | |
bringing back those whom we have led astray, | 11:18 | |
cheer the hearts of those whom we have made sad | 11:24 | |
that are with the courts of thy love. | 11:30 | |
Those of whom, I would love, has grown old, | 11:33 | |
save them all, oh Lord and have mercy upon us. | 11:40 | |
For the sake of Christ our lord. | 11:49 | |
And let us all put a prayer of supplication | 11:54 | |
that we may have the graces of Christian character. | 11:59 | |
All thou and whose boundless being or laid upon | 12:04 | |
all treasures of wisdom, truth and holiness | 12:06 | |
grant us through constant fellowship with thee | 12:12 | |
the true graces of Christian Character, | 12:15 | |
Grace us courage whether in suffering or in death, | 12:20 | |
the grace of preparedness thus we entered into temptation. | 12:27 | |
The grace to treat others as we would have others treat us, | 12:34 | |
the grace of charity that we may refrain from his judgment. | 12:41 | |
The grace of silence, that we may refrain from hate speech, | 12:48 | |
the grace for forgiveness toward all who have wronged us. | 12:55 | |
The grace of tenderness towards all those who are weaker, | 13:01 | |
the grace of steadfast in continuing to desire | 13:06 | |
that thou will do as thou we pray. | 13:12 | |
Lord, tamper with tranquility our manhood activity | 13:19 | |
that we may do out of where the very great simplicity. | 13:27 | |
Now, as our savior Christ taught us, | 13:37 | |
we humbly pray together. | 13:40 | |
"Our father who at in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 13:43 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth | 13:48 | |
as it is in heaven. | 13:53 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us | 13:55 | |
our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass | 13:59 | |
against us and lead us, not into temptation, | 14:03 | |
but deliver us from evil for thy is the kingdom | 14:07 | |
and the power and the glory forever, amen." | 14:11 | |
And the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts | 14:35 | |
acceptable in Christ sake all our strength and our redeemer. | 14:42 | |
This is Thanksgiving Sunday and our Duke Chapel calendar. | 14:55 | |
I don't think it was fine in the light of eventualities | 15:04 | |
that we have today or my remarks, | 15:10 | |
perhaps things may I have to say maybe | 15:17 | |
more appropriate than I had planned. | 15:24 | |
It is appropriate that on this Sunday, | 15:29 | |
we direct our thoughts toward the celebration | 15:33 | |
of a demand in our national history, | 15:38 | |
which comes as close as any other do have | 15:41 | |
a deep religious roots and significance. | 15:44 | |
At least it has been symbolized in this way. | 15:50 | |
I need not rehearse for any of you, | 15:55 | |
the meaning of that event in our national history, | 15:58 | |
our need, I dwell upon the obvious gratitude we have, | 16:04 | |
or it might be thoughtless and neglect things, | 16:10 | |
but when mindful, we're thankful. | 16:17 | |
I do not propose to direct your attention today to this. | 16:25 | |
I do propose, excuse me, to direct your attention today, | 16:32 | |
rather to this human phenomenon, | 16:36 | |
this human project of giving thanks | 16:41 | |
of acknowledging and expressing gratitude, | 16:47 | |
the phenomenon as search, | 16:51 | |
and here, I'm not primarily concerned to look | 16:54 | |
at the phenomenon from the psychological point of view, | 16:57 | |
intending to pay close attention to the meaning | 17:02 | |
of this attitude as such. | 17:07 | |
What I wish to consider in particular are certain dimensions | 17:12 | |
of the larger environment in which Thanksgiving | 17:19 | |
and giving thanks occurs today. | 17:24 | |
It's not a matter of discovering something new. | 17:33 | |
It is a matter of reminding ourselves, | 17:37 | |
recalling what we are experiencing | 17:42 | |
re-correcting, so that the environment | 17:48 | |
may be full of ingredients, | 17:54 | |
which show off or threatened giving thanks | 17:57 | |
with thee sickness or death. | 18:02 | |
Let's assume that we're all reasonably | 18:11 | |
sensitive to our environment. | 18:15 | |
Would you then agree with the following, | 18:18 | |
that the terrible and the tragic cry, | 18:24 | |
which took the lives of the Marshall university students | 18:26 | |
staff will cast the dark cloud over any giving thanks. | 18:32 | |
That the grim consequences of the cyclone | 18:42 | |
which revenged Pakistan and the surrounding region, | 18:46 | |
will create cast a dark shadow | 18:52 | |
over any thanks giving would do. | 18:55 | |
These are two shocking events of the immediate past. | 19:03 | |
What are the nagging war continuing | 19:11 | |
to take its toll of lives, | 19:14 | |
distributed its offerings of suffering and hardship, | 19:17 | |
where will it fit into our season of Thanksgiving? | 19:23 | |
I need not continue this recital | 19:33 | |
of aspects of our total environment (indistinct) | 19:38 | |
to each one of you, for each one of you, | 19:46 | |
there would be no difficulty in bringing notice | 19:52 | |
of aspects of our environment, moving personal dramas, | 19:58 | |
which you have not and will not right public intentions. | 20:05 | |
Nevertheless, they are effective | 20:13 | |
aspects in our lives. | 20:23 | |
Now, I suppose we might try to shut out of our mind, | 20:27 | |
all of this in our rarefying | 20:35 | |
of our environmental atmosphere. | 20:39 | |
We might say I would exclude from my mind | 20:43 | |
anything except those things for which I can be | 20:46 | |
truly grateful and offer genuine thanks. | 20:49 | |
As we might say, I just won't pay any attention | 20:58 | |
to those elements, destructive of our air | 21:07 | |
or water (mumbles), | 21:13 | |
but I wonder how many of us could pull this off | 21:18 | |
in this day and age? | 21:25 | |
I believe phrase one of the contemporary songs | 21:30 | |
gives a pretty good summary of a not uncommon feeling | 21:36 | |
regarding certain dimensions of our environment. | 21:42 | |
In these words, get the word off my back. | 21:46 | |
How do you not know the world when it is on your back? | 21:55 | |
But isn't it the subtle encroach of the world, | 22:04 | |
which is just as threatening as the dramatic | 22:10 | |
pathos of sudden calamity | 22:14 | |
that preys on my back is very suggestive | 22:20 | |
or it conveys the impression not only of being weighted down | 22:26 | |
by the sense of being caught and a grass concerning, | 22:34 | |
which we have the awful temptation to believe | 22:38 | |
that we can do nothing, (mumbles) | 22:41 | |
We know that the terrible strains and goals frustrations | 22:49 | |
antagonism in society, in families, | 22:52 | |
between parents and children, between husbands and wives | 22:58 | |
at those points where they seem often most manageable | 23:04 | |
or not to be fully understood | 23:09 | |
apart from the unpredictable | 23:13 | |
and relatively uncontrollable pressures and demand, | 23:15 | |
after vacillating changing social | 23:23 | |
and economic structure of our existence. | 23:26 | |
We know we live in a society whose mechanisms | 23:34 | |
for the provision of what used to be simple need | 23:38 | |
like food, clothing, shelter, government | 23:41 | |
are so complexes to suggest that personhood is cipher hood | 23:48 | |
in such a condition where the solution to issues | 23:57 | |
is in the decisions regarding issues | 24:02 | |
seem so far from our present personal experience. | 24:05 | |
It is not strange that we tend to discount our own | 24:09 | |
personal responsibility for the movements | 24:14 | |
and developments within our social order. | 24:17 | |
Furthermore, it is not strange that we experience it | 24:21 | |
as a part of our environment which is on our backs. | 24:28 | |
(musical drum beating) | 24:34 | |
We seem to be living in an environment which is closing in, | 24:38 | |
on us from the outside | 24:42 | |
posing as an impenetrable web that threatens to cast | 24:46 | |
such a shadow over all our existence | 24:51 | |
as to discourage us from thinking it can be penetrated. | 24:55 | |
One might say this aspect of our environment | 25:02 | |
is referred to in the rumor going around | 25:05 | |
that man lives in a closed world | 25:09 | |
and is totally subjected to it. | 25:13 | |
That rumor is the most persuasive | 25:19 | |
force ever oppressive ingredient in our (mumbles). | 25:24 | |
We can add to this a very mostly related or not new rumor, | 25:33 | |
which has recently gained some new momentum | 25:43 | |
in substantiation and the publicizing of the researches | 25:46 | |
of Dr. Jose Delgado of the Yale University | 25:50 | |
School of Medicine experimenting with wild animals. | 25:55 | |
Delgado has some remarkable accomplishments | 26:01 | |
to his credit in the field of electrical stimulation | 26:05 | |
of the brain. | 26:11 | |
And most recently he has through the improvement | 26:14 | |
of mechanical devices managed to establish the direct | 26:18 | |
non-sensory communication between a computer | 26:24 | |
and the brain of a Chimp leading to control | 26:32 | |
the conduct of that animal. | 26:39 | |
Dr. Delgado is the prophet of a new society, | 26:44 | |
which he calls cycle civilized. | 26:49 | |
Dr. Delgado has said, quote, "the human race, | 26:56 | |
is an evolutionary turning point. | 27:00 | |
We're very close to having the power to construct | 27:03 | |
our own metal function through a knowledge of genetics, | 27:06 | |
which I think will be complete within the next 25 years. | 27:12 | |
And through a knowledge of the cerebral mechanisms, | 27:17 | |
which underlie our behavior." | 27:21 | |
The question is what sort of humans would we like? | 27:25 | |
Ideally, Duke is black | 27:31 | |
that only our cities are very badly planned. | 27:35 | |
We as human beings are Duke | 27:39 | |
that results in both cases are disasters. | 27:43 | |
Dr. Delgado has concerned shares | 27:50 | |
with most enlightened people, | 27:53 | |
or he believes that something must be done | 27:57 | |
about man's destructive (mumbles) and realities of love. | 27:59 | |
His researches have prompted quite a discussion | 28:09 | |
among the specialists on technical graphs, | 28:13 | |
Towards layman. | 28:19 | |
However, the principle question is posed | 28:21 | |
by those technical experts. | 28:28 | |
Fear that cycle civilization always is a threat | 28:32 | |
to human freedom and arouses all the thoughts of the dangers | 28:39 | |
involved in the mass control of human conduct. | 28:44 | |
I am not at this point, entering basis on technical route. | 28:52 | |
And I refer to this matter to point to one | 29:02 | |
facet of our environment. | 29:05 | |
I refer to the continuous implications | 29:09 | |
of much of our plans for man that | 29:12 | |
we are in the last analysis thanks, | 29:16 | |
mainly object of manipulation | 29:21 | |
when asked to respond to those specialists | 29:27 | |
who believe that the danger of abuse | 29:30 | |
in the use of electrical stimulation | 29:33 | |
of the brain in humans is great. | 29:35 | |
Dr. Delgado's reported to her said, | 29:40 | |
I suppose that to primitive man, | 29:44 | |
the idea of diverting the course of a river | 29:47 | |
would have seen religious. | 29:52 | |
This is an interesting analogy plan | 29:57 | |
to diverting the course of a river. | 30:04 | |
Obviously the question is, this mark, | 30:09 | |
or rather on treatment of a river. | 30:14 | |
I only refer to this to illustrate the environment | 30:23 | |
in which a mark a question mark | 30:27 | |
is repeatedly placed alongside man. | 30:30 | |
As he in any sense ultimately distinct from his world? | 30:35 | |
Is he an object truly destined to succumb to that, | 30:45 | |
which is on his back and the environment | 30:50 | |
on his back seems says closed in upon itself | 30:55 | |
as it is upon here. | 31:01 | |
These are aspects of the environment, | 31:09 | |
in which the act of giving (mumbles) | 31:14 | |
in contemplating the particular dimension, | 31:26 | |
these particular dimensions of the environment | 31:29 | |
of our giving thanks. | 31:33 | |
I wish to suggest one line of scripture | 31:36 | |
or our consideration as we thank. | 31:40 | |
They are the words of the apostle Paul, | 31:49 | |
which are found near the conclusion of his first letter | 31:51 | |
to the best of the loss and they are thee | 31:54 | |
" Rejoice always, pray constantly | 32:02 | |
give thanks in all circumstances | 32:12 | |
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". | 32:19 | |
I am not pretending to unload that passage of it to me, | 32:29 | |
In the first place I couldn't because I'm sure I don't know | 32:36 | |
all that Paul meant by those closing words. | 32:41 | |
Furthermore, I am sure that he meant each one of us | 32:47 | |
to find its meaning as it points to a decisive | 32:52 | |
illuminating empowering dimension | 32:59 | |
in the environment of our world. | 33:04 | |
Let me say this much. | 33:11 | |
If we take these words seriously, | 33:14 | |
I infer the following from what Paul says | 33:18 | |
from the word rejoice always, | 33:27 | |
we can infer that at all time, | 33:32 | |
no matter how the environment seems or looks | 33:37 | |
to allies there is an ever-present ground for joy, | 33:42 | |
from the words give thanks in all circumstances, | 33:53 | |
we can infer that in all circumstances, | 34:03 | |
there is a ground for giving thanks and thanks giving | 34:07 | |
furthermore, I believe we can infer | 34:16 | |
that we are asked not to close our eyes | 34:18 | |
to any of the circumstances of our environment, | 34:22 | |
but rather to confront them. | 34:27 | |
In deed Paul seems to imply that unless we do confront them, | 34:31 | |
we are not adequately comprehending full context | 34:37 | |
in which we give thanks or the full meaning | 34:44 | |
of giving thanks from the words pray constantly. | 34:50 | |
I believe we can infer | 35:00 | |
that Paul is saying there is the possibility | 35:03 | |
of a conversation taking place | 35:07 | |
in which we are involved in the world. | 35:09 | |
And that it is a possibility of that conversation | 35:17 | |
which opens and leads out on to the ground | 35:25 | |
that is ever present source of rejoicing and that ground, | 35:32 | |
that is the source of giving thanks in all circumstances. | 35:40 | |
And from the words or this is the will of God | 35:49 | |
in Jesus Christ for you. | 35:52 | |
I believe we may infer that the language | 35:55 | |
of that conversation is to be found in Jesus Christ, | 36:00 | |
The interpretation of that conversation | 36:10 | |
in world indeed he establishes a conversation | 36:15 | |
between the ground of joy and Thanksgiving. | 36:19 | |
That prophet Paul is ultimately creative | 36:26 | |
and indestructible limited only by the openness of mankind, | 36:30 | |
to enter into that conversation. | 36:40 | |
In one dramatic word elsewhere. | 36:45 | |
Paul seeks to get the substance of the conversation | 36:49 | |
by saying that Christ is God's yes, | 36:52 | |
To all his promises to mankind. | 36:59 | |
It is yes, conveyed in the living and live giving image, | 37:06 | |
of one who did not get a word off his back | 37:12 | |
but saw and seeks, to carry that word back | 37:19 | |
into a conversation, | 37:25 | |
a conversation with the only one who's yes to life | 37:30 | |
can ultimately overcome a devastating | 37:35 | |
suspicion of our environment. | 37:39 | |
The suspicion that deadly ignore, | 37:43 | |
depersonalizing, dehumanizing, | 37:48 | |
destructive things making circus that can be our word. | 37:52 | |
Yes, is the last word, | 37:58 | |
The only one who's yes to life can offer that ground of joy, | 38:03 | |
which is omnipresent and that ground, | 38:09 | |
which renders Thanksgiving a possibility | 38:12 | |
in the face of all circumstances. | 38:16 | |
This then, I would call Paul's prolegomena to Thanksgiving, | 38:24 | |
The reminder are, and the call to a conversation, | 38:36 | |
Which conversation all believe he is the crucial ingredient | 38:45 | |
in the understanding transfiguring | 38:53 | |
and transforming of the total environment | 38:56 | |
of Thanksgiving and giving thanks. | 39:01 | |
Next Thursday (mumbles) | 39:05 | |
It is the conversation without which | 39:11 | |
the ecological balance of human and humane life | 39:14 | |
and especially the light of Thanksgiving | 39:20 | |
and giving thanks is threateningly disturbed. | 39:23 | |
Take this prolegomena, rest with it, live with it, | 39:33 | |
rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstance, | 39:44 | |
pray constantly while this is the will of God | 39:51 | |
in Jesus Christ for you. | 39:57 | |
In the name of the father and of the son, | 40:02 | |
and of the holy spirit, amen | 40:04 | |
(sharp worship music) | 40:09 | |
All thanks come up to you God | 58:15 | |
our silver and our gold (indistinct) | 58:19 | |
As the symbol of ourselves, | 58:25 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ our lord. | 58:28 | |
(mumbles) | 58:35 | |
(sharp worship music) | 59:03 |