A. John Wilson III - Sermon Untitled (August 29, 1971)
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Transcript
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(organ drowning out singers) | 0:04 | |
- | Dearly beloved, because we are imperfect people | 0:53 |
we need to confess our imperfections | 0:57 | |
before all mighty God. | 1:00 | |
Let us pray. | 1:02 | |
Our heavenly father, who art rich in mercy | 1:05 | |
toward all those who having missed the way | 1:10 | |
still turn and seek thy face. | 1:13 | |
We bow in contrite prayer to confess our guilt. | 1:17 | |
We are guilty because we failed to do the right as well | 1:21 | |
as we knew to do it. | 1:24 | |
And because we failed to avoid evil as well as we knew how | 1:27 | |
to avoid it. | 1:30 | |
In thy presence, oh God, our customary disguises | 1:33 | |
and comfortable pretenses which work so well | 1:38 | |
with our fellow man do not avail in thy presence. | 1:42 | |
And under the searching light of thy holiness | 1:47 | |
we know ourselves for what we are, | 1:49 | |
imperfect, wayward, who often seek our own wills | 1:53 | |
in spite of our noble aspirations | 1:58 | |
and not withstanding our previous high resolutions. | 2:01 | |
We now admit that the sin of the world is often | 2:07 | |
very much our own sin and that the greed which shocks us | 2:09 | |
when we see it in others hides in our own hearts,. | 2:14 | |
None of us loves justice and mercy enough. | 2:18 | |
But may we receive the grace of humility | 2:24 | |
here in thy presence so that we may cease to defeat thy will | 2:27 | |
for the world by our selfish wills. | 2:32 | |
And may the vision of what we honestly might be convict us | 2:36 | |
of what we are so that thy mercy may redeem us | 2:41 | |
of our sin through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 2:46 | |
In the holy scriptures, we read words of assurance | 2:54 | |
which were intended for people such as ourselves | 2:58 | |
who are contrite about our sins. | 3:02 | |
These words are as far as the east is removed from the west. | 3:07 | |
So far has he removed our transgressions from us. | 3:13 | |
Therefore be of good cheer. | 3:18 | |
Our prayer of Thanksgiving will be led by coach Bob Bostons. | 3:23 | |
- | May we join in the prayer of Thanksgiving. | 3:34 |
Almighty God, our heavenly father, | 3:37 | |
we bless and magnify the holy name | 3:40 | |
for the gift of thy most dearly beloved son, | 3:43 | |
Jesus Christ, our redeemer, and for all his apostles, | 3:46 | |
prophets, martyrs, evangelists, teachers, and pastors | 3:51 | |
whom he has sent abroad into the world | 3:56 | |
for thy holy church universal. | 3:59 | |
The ministry of the (indistinct), | 4:02 | |
the ministry of the ordained. | 4:04 | |
We do give thee hearty thanks for the privilege | 4:06 | |
which each one of us has of bearing witness | 4:10 | |
to the saving grace of our Lord. | 4:12 | |
We express our gratitude. | 4:15 | |
We thank thee for the life, | 4:17 | |
for meaning of health, for friends, for food, for clothing, | 4:19 | |
for all the purposes of Christ | 4:25 | |
which give meaning to these earthly goods. | 4:27 | |
We make our prayer of thanks in Jesus name. | 4:30 | |
Amen. | 4:34 | |
- | This morning, there will be two lessons read | 4:43 |
from the holy scriptures. | 4:45 | |
First, the Old Testament and then later the New Testament. | 4:48 | |
They will be read by the Reverend Dr. James T. Cleland, | 4:51 | |
the dean of the chapel. | 4:55 | |
- | The Old Testament lesson is taken | 5:05 |
from the Book of the Psalms. | 5:07 | |
The first Psalm. | 5:10 | |
Blessed is the man who walks not | 5:15 | |
in the council of the wicked, nor stands | 5:16 | |
in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers. | 5:20 | |
But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law | 5:27 | |
he meditates day and night. | 5:33 | |
He's like a tree planted | 5:37 | |
by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season | 5:40 | |
and its leaf does not wither. | 5:46 | |
In all that he does, he prospers. | 5:51 | |
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff | 5:55 | |
which the wind drives away. | 6:00 | |
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment | 6:03 | |
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous | 6:08 | |
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous | 6:14 | |
but the way of the wicked will perish. | 6:18 | |
Here endeth the first lesson. | 6:24 | |
(warm organ music) | 6:29 | |
(singer vocalizing) | 7:15 | |
♪ Thanks to be thee ♪ | 7:23 | |
♪ Lord God of hosts ♪ | 7:28 | |
♪ Thy broughtest with thee ♪ | 7:38 | |
♪ Israel safe through the sea ♪ | 7:49 | |
(warm organ music) | 8:01 | |
♪ Lord, like a shepherd ♪ | 8:44 | |
♪ Thou hast led us ♪ | 8:51 | |
♪ Thy hand leadeth us ♪ | 8:59 | |
♪ Whatever our sins has been (indistinct) ♪ | 9:07 | |
♪ Thanks be to thee ♪ | 9:26 | |
♪ Lord and God ♪ | 9:40 | |
♪ Thy regal hand has led with ye ♪ | 9:51 | |
♪ Israel safe through the sea ♪ | 10:02 | |
(warm organ music) | 10:15 | |
♪ Thy has safely led ♪ | 10:34 | |
♪ Israel safe through the sea ♪ | 10:47 | |
The New Testament lesson is taken | 11:45 | |
from the Gospel according to St. John, | 11:48 | |
the 13th chapter, verses one to 17. | 11:52 | |
Reading from the version which is known as | 12:00 | |
good news for modern man. | 12:02 | |
It was now the day before the feast of Passover. | 12:08 | |
Jesus knew that his hour had come | 12:14 | |
for him to leave this world and go to the father. | 12:16 | |
He had always loved those who were his own in the world. | 12:23 | |
And he loved them to the very end. | 12:30 | |
Jesus and his disciples were at supper. | 12:36 | |
The devil had already decided that Judas, | 12:40 | |
the son of Simon Iscariot, would betray Jesus. | 12:44 | |
Jesus knew that the father had given him complete power. | 12:51 | |
He knew that he had come from God and was going to God. | 12:58 | |
So Jesus rose from the table, took off his outer garment, | 13:05 | |
and tied a towel around his waist. | 13:14 | |
Then he poured some water into a wash basin | 13:20 | |
and began to wash the disciples' feet | 13:25 | |
and dry them with the towel around his waist. | 13:29 | |
He came to Simon, Peter, who said to him | 13:35 | |
"Are you going to wash my feet. Lord?" | 13:41 | |
Jesus answered him, | 13:47 | |
"You do not know what I am doing, | 13:50 | |
"but you will know later." | 13:54 | |
Peter declared, "You will never at any time wash my feet, | 13:58 | |
"if I do not wash your feet" | 14:09 | |
Jesus answered, "You will no longer be my disciple." | 14:11 | |
Simon and Peter answered, | 14:19 | |
"Lord do not wash only my feet, then. | 14:21 | |
"Wash my hands and head too. | 14:26 | |
Jesus said, "Whoever has taken a bath is completely clean | 14:31 | |
"and does not have to wash himself except for his feet. | 14:38 | |
"All of you are clean, all except one." | 14:46 | |
Jesus already knew who was going to betray him. | 14:54 | |
That is why he said, "All of you except one are clean." | 14:59 | |
After he had washed their feet | 15:10 | |
Jesus put his outer garment back on | 15:13 | |
and returned to his place at the table. | 15:16 | |
"Do you understand what I have just done to you?" He asked. | 15:21 | |
"You call me teacher and Lord, | 15:29 | |
"and it is right that you do so, | 15:36 | |
"because I am, I am your Lord and teacher | 15:39 | |
"and I have just washed your feet. | 15:48 | |
"You then should wash each other's feet. | 15:53 | |
"I have set an example for you | 15:59 | |
"so that you will do just what I have done for you. | 16:03 | |
"I tell you the truth. | 16:11 | |
"No slave is greater than his master. | 16:14 | |
"No messenger is greater than the one who sent him. | 16:20 | |
"Now, you know this truth, | 16:29 | |
"how happy you will be if you put it into practice." | 16:35 | |
Here endeth under the second lesson | 16:43 | |
and may God bless unto us | 16:46 | |
the reading of his word. | 16:49 | |
(bright organ music drowning out singers) | 16:53 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 17:37 |
- | And with your spirit. | 17:39 |
- | Let us pray. | 17:40 |
Eternal God before whom the morning stars | 17:48 | |
first sang together and who hold us in thy hands the destiny | 17:52 | |
of every living thing, we worship thee. | 17:58 | |
Blessed be the name of Jesus who tasted death for every man. | 18:02 | |
And blessed be his glorious name | 18:08 | |
that he is alive forevermore. | 18:10 | |
Oh God who art the Lord of life, | 18:15 | |
we pray thee to come close to each one of us | 18:18 | |
and beyond the power of any spoken human prayer, | 18:22 | |
meet our secret inner needs | 18:26 | |
and especially come to those upon whose lips | 18:30 | |
the song of triumph is very weak, | 18:35 | |
who see no sunshine breaking | 18:38 | |
through the clouds of their shadowed lives. | 18:39 | |
Make their spirits radiant today, | 18:43 | |
even if they had not expected it. | 18:46 | |
Surprise them with hope who have not dared to hope, | 18:49 | |
and bring life to some of us whose spirits are already dead. | 18:54 | |
Oh thou to whom a thousand years | 19:02 | |
are but as yesterday when it is passed | 19:04 | |
and as a watch in the night, | 19:07 | |
speak to us in this holy hour | 19:10 | |
and refresh our souls with new hope. | 19:13 | |
Lift our vision above the disappointments | 19:17 | |
and the griefs of this life and this material world, | 19:20 | |
until we can see and live in terms | 19:25 | |
of thine glorious and eternal kingdom. | 19:28 | |
We makr our prayer in the name of Jesus | 19:33 | |
who has taught us when we come together | 19:36 | |
to pray our father who art in heaven | 19:38 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 19:43 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth | 19:45 | |
as it is in heaven. | 19:49 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread | 19:51 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 19:54 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us | 19:56 | |
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, | 20:00 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 20:04 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 20:06 | |
Amen. | 20:09 | |
We are happy that all of you are here | 20:13 | |
for this football service today. | 20:15 | |
We are grateful to members of the team | 20:18 | |
for receiving the offering at the appropriate time. | 20:21 | |
It is also fitting that we should have some | 20:26 | |
of the coaches involved in our service | 20:29 | |
as we do have two of them today in the leadership | 20:31 | |
of the service. | 20:34 | |
A former part time coach as the preacher. | 20:36 | |
It is certainly appropriate | 20:41 | |
that Jack Wilson should be our preacher for this service. | 20:42 | |
He is no stranger to this chapel, | 20:46 | |
having ministered in it for about three years. | 20:47 | |
Following a distinguished athletic career here at Duke, | 20:51 | |
he received his divinity training here | 20:55 | |
and then served on the staff of the chapel, | 20:59 | |
religious life. | 21:02 | |
Gave excellent service here | 21:04 | |
and then file followed that | 21:05 | |
with a very unusual career at West Point. | 21:07 | |
And now beginning a new phase of his ministry | 21:12 | |
at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington. | 21:14 | |
I am not at all sure | 21:18 | |
that it is a good thing for us to have him | 21:20 | |
on this particular year as our new head football coach | 21:22 | |
Mike McGee begins his career as head coach here, | 21:25 | |
'cause I remember that when Jack was my associate here | 21:30 | |
he told me that when he was playing football | 21:33 | |
Mike McGee gave him the worst punishment | 21:37 | |
that he ever received from anybody | 21:39 | |
in the line when he was playing halfback. | 21:42 | |
And that he always knew | 21:46 | |
if he could get past Mike during the week in practice | 21:48 | |
he could handle anything that our opponents would give | 21:50 | |
to him in the game on Saturday. | 21:52 | |
I got to thinking about it the other day and it may be | 21:55 | |
that Jack will try to even the score here today | 21:57 | |
since he has the pulpit and Mike is in the pew | 22:00 | |
but life is full of risks and we're taking that risk | 22:04 | |
and having Jack Wilson as our preacher today. | 22:07 | |
And Jack, we're very glad to have you | 22:10 | |
and we'll call on you for the sermon. | 22:12 | |
- | It's a pleasure for me to be here this morning | 22:26 |
in which we give particular attention to the presence | 22:32 | |
and the participation of members of the 1971 Duke team. | 22:34 | |
It's a pleasure, not only because I once played | 22:40 | |
and had a great deal to do | 22:44 | |
with the training of the new head coach. | 22:46 | |
I taught him the finer arts of how to smash halfbacks. | 22:52 | |
But also it's a pleasure | 23:02 | |
because I've had the opportunity to see old friends, | 23:03 | |
former coaches who had a great deal to do | 23:06 | |
with my being in the pulpit. | 23:10 | |
Yesterday I had the chance to observe practice. | 23:18 | |
The preparation for what many of us | 23:22 | |
hope will be a successful season. | 23:24 | |
And yesterday, as I attended practice, I was reminded | 23:28 | |
of the fact that human beings tend to blot out | 23:32 | |
the uncomfortable memories | 23:38 | |
And only remember the good ones. | 23:40 | |
I would give anything to be able to participate two weeks, | 23:44 | |
less than two weeks now in Tampa, Florida. | 23:49 | |
But I had real reservations | 23:52 | |
about participating yesterday afternoon. | 23:54 | |
We remember things in the way that we like to remember them. | 23:58 | |
And time goes on. | 24:05 | |
And 10 years later, one realizes | 24:07 | |
that any similarity between what he says | 24:10 | |
and what really happened might be purely coincidental. | 24:13 | |
That's particularly true with regard | 24:17 | |
to past victories and certainly personal accomplishments. | 24:19 | |
This happens in all phases of life. | 24:25 | |
You take, for instance | 24:29 | |
the story of Little Red Riding Hood. | 24:31 | |
Now everyone knows that story. | 24:34 | |
But the story that you know is not the way | 24:38 | |
that it really happened. | 24:40 | |
You see, that's the product of years of myth. | 24:42 | |
If you de mythologize the story, | 24:47 | |
this is the way it really happened. | 24:51 | |
Little Red Riding Hood was ill. | 24:55 | |
And her dear old grandmother who lived alone | 25:00 | |
across the dark forest in a little thatched house | 25:02 | |
decided to visit her ailing grandchild. | 25:06 | |
However, granny had heard that there was a big bad wolf | 25:11 | |
in the forest and she decided to disguise herself | 25:17 | |
as Little Red Riding Hood, | 25:23 | |
so that she would look stronger and younger | 25:27 | |
than she really was | 25:29 | |
and would scare away the big, bad wolf. | 25:31 | |
Pretty smart thinking. | 25:34 | |
But about that time | 25:37 | |
Little Red Riding Hood began to feel much better. | 25:38 | |
She wanted to see granny who lived across the dark forest | 25:42 | |
but having heard that there was a big, bad wolf | 25:46 | |
she decided to disguise herself as a wolf, | 25:49 | |
so that the big bad wolf would not bother her, | 25:54 | |
thinking she was another wolf like himself. | 25:57 | |
Meanwhile, the big bad wolf had had his eye | 26:02 | |
on Little Red Riding Hood for a long time | 26:05 | |
and he finally decided To make his kill. | 26:07 | |
But in order to throw off suspicion, he disguised himself | 26:12 | |
as Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother. | 26:17 | |
So they started out on their respective journeys. | 26:21 | |
Now all of you lineman try to stay with us. | 26:23 | |
(congregation chuckles) | 26:27 | |
The big, bad wolf disguised as grandmother, | 26:31 | |
the grandmother disguised as Little Red Riding Hood, | 26:35 | |
and Little Red Riding Hood disguised as a wolf. | 26:38 | |
Well, the big, bad wolf disguised as grandmother | 26:42 | |
met Little Red Riding Hood disguised as a wolf in the midst | 26:44 | |
of the forest glade. | 26:47 | |
However, the wolf disguised as grandmother was very | 26:50 | |
surprised to see Little Red Riding Hood in wolf's clothing. | 26:54 | |
He was very confused, especially when the wolf said, | 26:57 | |
"Why hello, grandmother. | 27:01 | |
"I was just coming to see you." | 27:02 | |
The wolf didn't know what to say. | 27:06 | |
And in the pause, the grandmother walked up disguised | 27:09 | |
as Little Red Riding Hood. | 27:12 | |
Immediately, everyone became suspicious. | 27:15 | |
Little Red Riding Hood disguised as a wolf knew | 27:22 | |
that she was Little Red Riding Hood | 27:25 | |
and thinking that she was protecting the grandmother who was | 27:28 | |
really the wolf pounced on her grandmother disguised | 27:30 | |
as Little Red Riding Hood and killed her. | 27:33 | |
At this the big, bad wolf disguised as grandmother | 27:37 | |
became so confused because he knew | 27:40 | |
he was really the wolf, that he turned tail and ran. | 27:43 | |
Little Red Riding hood thought | 27:49 | |
that the Big Bad Wolf was really her grandmother, | 27:50 | |
started chasing after him into the woods. | 27:54 | |
Well, a nearby hunter seeing a wolf chasing | 27:57 | |
a little old lady shot and killed the wolf | 28:03 | |
who was really Little Red Riding Hood. | 28:07 | |
The big bad wolf was left, still disguised his grandmother. | 28:12 | |
He fled into the woods where he was attacked | 28:16 | |
and killed by his fellow wolves | 28:20 | |
because they thought he was just another little old lady. | 28:23 | |
That's the revised standard version | 28:29 | |
of Little Red Riding Hood. | 28:33 | |
The moral of that story? | 28:38 | |
It is better to be yourself | 28:42 | |
than to pretend you are someone else. | 28:45 | |
It is better to be yourself | 28:51 | |
than to pretend you are someone else. | 28:53 | |
Being myself. | 28:59 | |
That seems to be the watch word of today's generation. | 29:03 | |
The question of how to live my life. | 29:10 | |
None of us had anything to do | 29:16 | |
with the place or the circumstances of our birth | 29:17 | |
and very few of us will have anything to say | 29:23 | |
about the place and the circumstances of our death, | 29:24 | |
but we have a lot to say about life in between. | 29:29 | |
To be myself. | 29:37 | |
To find my potential, to find my creativity, to do my thing, | 29:40 | |
to get it together. | 29:50 | |
For some of us, our thing | 29:54 | |
at some point in life is athletics. | 29:56 | |
For some of us that becomes our thing | 30:01 | |
for the rest of our life. | 30:03 | |
For others, we shed that and take on new things. | 30:06 | |
It is a burden of life to decide what to do with it. | 30:15 | |
Sometimes it's such a burden that we avoid the question. | 30:23 | |
That's one form of mental illness. | 30:29 | |
I happen to be working now training in a mental hospital | 30:34 | |
and the mentally ill people are people just like you, | 30:42 | |
only more so, only more so. | 30:47 | |
Life becomes for some people too much of a burden | 30:55 | |
and so they create their own world, a world of delusion | 31:01 | |
that perhaps they can handle. | 31:05 | |
And so we search For the most meaningful, | 31:10 | |
the most rewarding way to get ourselves together | 31:14 | |
and make it. | 31:18 | |
We only go around one time. | 31:21 | |
And as one advertisement says, | 31:27 | |
we wanna live it with all the gusto That we can find. | 31:29 | |
Life is complex and it is complex | 31:36 | |
because we are complex. | 31:40 | |
Each of us has all kinds of needs | 31:45 | |
and desires and hopes, and very often our needs conflict | 31:49 | |
with one another. | 31:54 | |
And so my point is that any intelligent person certainly | 31:59 | |
will want to look at every angle and every pattern of life. | 32:04 | |
And in doing that naturally, at some point, we will want to | 32:14 | |
at least consider What Jesus of Nazareth | 32:20 | |
had to say about life. | 32:26 | |
And so in the next few moments, | 32:32 | |
I want us to turn our attention to the scripture lesson | 32:35 | |
that was read for the morning. | 32:41 | |
For in it, we begin to see what Jesus had to say about life. | 32:45 | |
The pattern, the secret, the key, the way. | 32:51 | |
These words, knowing that he was come from God | 32:58 | |
and that he went to God, | 33:06 | |
Jesus arose and took a towel and a basin. | 33:09 | |
And he began to wash their feet. | 33:17 | |
The washing of feet was a common service that was provided | 33:29 | |
in nearly every household of any means. | 33:32 | |
It was done by servants as a courtesy | 33:37 | |
because the people's feet would get dusty and dirty. | 33:41 | |
And this was done as a way of making them | 33:49 | |
feel more comfortable, but it was always done by servants. | 33:50 | |
And surely the disciples were astonished | 33:56 | |
to find their leader | 33:58 | |
kneeling there, washing their feet. | 34:02 | |
But the point is he was doing much more | 34:06 | |
than just making their feet feel comfortable. | 34:08 | |
He was saying something to them. | 34:13 | |
He was non-verbally communicating. | 34:18 | |
He was giving them a message | 34:23 | |
about how to live their one life. | 34:25 | |
This is the way you live life. | 34:31 | |
You get personally involved with | 34:36 | |
and give yourself to other human beings. | 34:40 | |
"You do as I have done to you." | 34:50 | |
Now, the disciples had a very difficult time | 34:59 | |
handling this action. | 35:01 | |
And the reason is because when we remember that so much | 35:08 | |
of the peace of life, the purpose, the direction of life | 35:11 | |
that getting it together comes to us | 35:15 | |
when we begin to find out who we really are, | 35:19 | |
and when we can accept that. | 35:24 | |
That which is beneath the images that we carry around | 35:31 | |
when we can begin to shed the masks and be ourselves. | 35:33 | |
The emotions, the feelings, the desires, the needs. | 35:43 | |
That's the person I'm talking about. | 35:49 | |
That part of us that perhaps we would only share | 35:53 | |
with someone whom we trusted very much. | 35:57 | |
That part of us that is so personal, | 36:03 | |
so deep that if it were to be exposed | 36:06 | |
we would feel awkward and embarrassed. | 36:10 | |
That's the part of us that I'm talking about. | 36:16 | |
And it is that part of the disciples | 36:21 | |
that Christ was able to get to, to reach. | 36:22 | |
All that Peter could say was, | 36:33 | |
"Lord are you going to wash my feet?" | 36:35 | |
Yes, Peter, it's pretty obvious. | 36:44 | |
That's what he's going to do. | 36:47 | |
But that was all that he could say. | 36:50 | |
Then he tried to get out of it. | 36:56 | |
Now I think that helps us to understand the impact. | 37:02 | |
And it has something to say to us. | 37:06 | |
It says that down in the deepest recesses | 37:11 | |
of every man's heart he desires to be loved. | 37:13 | |
Not superficially, not because of what he can produce, | 37:23 | |
but concretely. | 37:30 | |
His weaknesses his needs. | 37:34 | |
Perhaps because of what he cannot produce. | 37:39 | |
He desires to be loved in that way | 37:46 | |
and he desires to love someone else in that way. | 37:51 | |
And so what Jesus was saying with his basin of water | 37:59 | |
is Peter, James, Matthew, and the rest of you, | 38:04 | |
I love that which is really you, that part of you | 38:07 | |
that makes you feel awkward. | 38:15 | |
If you will accept that and trust that I can love you | 38:20 | |
in that way, you will be set free. | 38:26 | |
You will be able to take great risks. | 38:33 | |
You will be able to make changes in your life. | 38:37 | |
You will be able to do good in the world. | 38:41 | |
By becoming personally involved with | 38:50 | |
and giving yourself to other human beings. | 38:54 | |
God's love can come to us in many different ways | 39:07 | |
but it always is a love | 39:14 | |
which pierces through and loves us for who we are. | 39:15 | |
And we usually experience the reality | 39:23 | |
of his love through other persons, just as the disciples | 39:26 | |
experienced it through the actual physical presence | 39:37 | |
And touching of Jesus himself. | 39:41 | |
And once we experience and accept the fact | 39:51 | |
that we really are loved for who we are, we become awkward. | 39:58 | |
But then we move out to embrace the world around us, | 40:06 | |
to love others for who they are, to embrace them | 40:17 | |
with concrete acts, specific action of love and healing. | 40:28 | |
And so what I'm coming around to say is that | 40:42 | |
with all the dichotomies of life | 40:44 | |
and all of the unanswered questions | 40:47 | |
and all of the confusion, | 40:49 | |
somewhere, somehow a decision Is made. | 40:51 | |
A decision to somehow live the most creative life possible. | 40:58 | |
One life to live. | 41:06 | |
One time around. | 41:09 | |
One shot. | 41:14 | |
And we thrust ourselves into life | 41:20 | |
and try to put it together. | 41:25 | |
So many people live waiting to live. | 41:31 | |
When do we begin to get hold of life? | 41:37 | |
Is it In two weeks in Tampa, Florida at 8:00? | 41:46 | |
Is it at the end of this season? | 41:55 | |
Is it the end of this academic year? | 41:59 | |
Is it after I graduate? | 42:02 | |
Is it after I am married? | 42:06 | |
Is it after I have children? | 42:08 | |
Is it after I've been on the job for 10 years? | 42:11 | |
Is it after I retire? | 42:15 | |
When do I begin to live? | 42:17 | |
Many of us live waiting to live, but not so for the man | 42:26 | |
who knows what it is to have had his feet washed. | 42:33 | |
That's what the Christian gospel Is all about. | 42:44 | |
He says, yes, yes to God | 42:54 | |
and this means he says yes to life. | 42:58 | |
He commits himself, his whole being to this pattern of life | 43:03 | |
and is very specific in how he fulfills his call. | 43:14 | |
Whether in athletics or anywhere else, this pattern of life | 43:25 | |
is more than just a philosophy, a set of principles. | 43:41 | |
It is a person. | 43:50 | |
It is Christ himself. | 43:55 | |
You see to tell me how to act and to tell me how to think | 43:58 | |
in a complicated existence is well and good | 44:03 | |
and I appreciate it, but it is not sufficient. | 44:07 | |
It's like the coach keeping me | 44:16 | |
in the locker room and drawing it up on the board | 44:20 | |
but not going with me out there to try it out. | 44:27 | |
Not showing me how. | 44:33 | |
I need someone to show me and the message | 44:41 | |
of the Christian gospel is that Christ | 44:48 | |
shows us how to do it. | 44:56 | |
I have one life to live. | 45:03 | |
How do I live it? | 45:08 | |
There are many answers. | 45:13 | |
One of the answers comes with two words, follow me. | 45:18 | |
I am the way, I am the truth. | 45:33 | |
I am the life. | 45:40 | |
And by this, Jesus meant that fulfilled | 45:48 | |
and meaning full life will come | 45:56 | |
when we get personally involved with | 46:01 | |
and give ourselves to others. | 46:07 | |
Follow me. | 46:20 | |
Do as I have done to you. | 46:25 | |
Let us pray. | 46:37 | |
Almighty God, our father, we search for life. | 46:47 | |
We search to know ourselves and to be ourselves. | 46:58 | |
We search to reach our potential. | 47:09 | |
Oh God, we search For a meaningful and fulfilled life. | 47:17 | |
Help us to find it | 47:29 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 47:38 | |
Amen. | 47:45 | |
(warm organ music) | 47:49 | |
(organ drowning out singers) | 48:28 | |
(solemn organ music) | 50:57 | |
(bright organ music) | 54:06 | |
♪ Sing ye a joyful song unto the lord ♪ | 54:19 | |
♪ Who hath done marvelous, marvelous things ♪ | 54:26 | |
(bright organ music) | 54:32 | |
♪ Praise the lord all the Earth ♪ | 54:35 | |
♪ Sing praises, shout and be joyful ♪ | 54:39 | |
♪ Let the sea roar and all that is therein ♪ | 54:57 | |
♪ The round world and all they that dwell there ♪ | 55:04 | |
♪ Lift your voices, floods and tempests ♪ | 55:13 | |
♪ Mountains, clap your hands for joy ♪ | 55:20 | |
♪ Let the fields laugh and sing with waving corn ♪ | 55:41 | |
♪ And let all the trees of the forest be joyful ♪ | 55:47 | |
(bright organ music) | 56:24 | |
(organ drowning out singers) | 56:50 | |
- | Almighty God, because | 57:52 |
of what has been done for us through Jesus. | 57:55 | |
We bring ourselves to attention here | 57:59 | |
at this alter to dedicate this money and dedicate our lives | 58:02 | |
to the service of Jesus Christ in his name. | 58:08 | |
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding | 58:16 | |
keep your hearts and minds and the knowledge | 58:21 | |
and love of God and of his son. Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 58:23 | |
Amen. | 58:28 | |
(church bells tolling) | 58:31 | |
(bold organ music drowning out singers) | 58:45 |