Howard C. Wilkinson and C. G. Newsome - "What Is Religion All about Anyway?" (September 5, 1971)
MP3
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (bright organic piano music) | 0:04 | |
| - | If we say we have no sin, | 5:49 |
| we deceive ourselves, | 5:53 | |
| and the truth is not in us. | 5:56 | |
| Therefore, let us all offer onto God, | 6:00 | |
| our unison prayer of confession, and for pardon. | 6:03 | |
| Let us pray. | 6:09 | |
| Almighty God. We humbly confess that we are guilty people. | 6:12 | |
| We cannot count the sins that we have done, | 6:19 | |
| nor can we remember all the evil thoughts of our hearts. | 6:22 | |
| We have neglected thy word, | 6:27 | |
| and up taken lightly thy mercies. | 6:30 | |
| We have not turned away from violence and vanity. | 6:33 | |
| We therefore, do not deserve the forgiveness | 6:39 | |
| for which we pray, | 6:42 | |
| but we ask thee to grant that we may from the heart, | 6:44 | |
| be turned to thee, and that we may be reconciled to thee, | 6:48 | |
| through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. | 6:54 | |
| And hear these words of assurance of forgiveness | 7:00 | |
| from the Old and the New Testaments. | 7:04 | |
| "Who is liken unto God | 7:09 | |
| who pardons iniquity, | 7:12 | |
| and passes over transgression, | 7:15 | |
| because He delights in steadfast love. | 7:20 | |
| He will have compassion upon us. | 7:24 | |
| He will tread out and equities underfoot. | 7:28 | |
| He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. | 7:33 | |
| Jesus said, 'Him that cometh to me, | 7:40 | |
| I will not cast out.' | 7:46 | |
| Our sins are forgiven for His sake, | 7:49 | |
| therefore, be of good courage." | 7:55 | |
| (bright organic piano music) | 8:01 | |
| (congregation hymning) | 9:18 | |
| - | The scripture lesson today, | 12:05 |
| is taken from the fourth chapter of Joshua: 15-24. | 12:07 | |
| The context from which this passage comes, | 12:14 | |
| is the story of Joshua leading the nation of Israel | 12:18 | |
| across the Jordan. | 12:23 | |
| The high priests have been holding | 12:26 | |
| the Ark of the Covenant in the Jordan River, | 12:28 | |
| and holding back the waters of the Jordan, | 12:32 | |
| so that the people of Israel could pass through the river. | 12:35 | |
| And the Lord said to Joshua, "Command the priests | 12:40 | |
| who bear the Ark of the testimony | 12:44 | |
| to come up out of the Jordan. | 12:46 | |
| Joshua, therefore commanded the priests, | 12:48 | |
| come up out of the Jordan. | 12:51 | |
| And when the priest bearing | 12:54 | |
| the Ark of the covenant of the Lord | 12:55 | |
| came up from the midst of the Jordan, | 12:58 | |
| and the soles of the priests feet | 13:01 | |
| were lifted up on dry ground, | 13:03 | |
| the waters of the Jordan returned to their place | 13:05 | |
| and overflowed all its banks as before. | 13:08 | |
| The people came up out of the Jordan | 13:12 | |
| on the 10th day of the 1st month. | 13:15 | |
| And they encamped in Gilgal on the east borders of Jericho. | 13:18 | |
| And those 12 stones, which they took out of the Jordan, | 13:23 | |
| Joshua set up in Gilgal. | 13:27 | |
| And he said to the people of Israel, | 13:30 | |
| 'When your children ask their fathers in time to come, | 13:32 | |
| what do these stones mean? | 13:37 | |
| Then you shall let your children know, | 13:39 | |
| Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground, | 13:41 | |
| for the Lord, your God dried up | 13:45 | |
| the waters of the Jordan for you | 13:47 | |
| until you passed over | 13:50 | |
| as the Lord, your God did to the Red Sea, | 13:52 | |
| which he dried up for us until we passed over. | 13:55 | |
| So, that all the peoples of the earth may know | 13:59 | |
| that the hand of the Lord is mighty.'" | 14:02 | |
| (bright organic piano music) | 14:07 | |
| (congregation hymning) | 14:16 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 14:50 |
| - | And be with you also. | 14:53 |
| Let us pray. | 14:54 | |
| Let us offer the prayer of Thanksgiving | 15:03 | |
| for knowledge and wisdom. | 15:05 | |
| Oh God, truth, and beauty, and goodness, | 15:10 | |
| we thank thee that thou hast reveal thyself, | 15:14 | |
| in the honesty of the mind | 15:18 | |
| that will not be content with a lie, | 15:21 | |
| in the sensitivity of the heart, | 15:25 | |
| that will not be satisfied with the unseemly, | 15:28 | |
| and in the courage of the will, | 15:33 | |
| that refuses to be reconciled to the mean. | 15:36 | |
| Grant us so to seek after truth, | 15:41 | |
| to follow after beauty, | 15:45 | |
| and to strive after goodness, | 15:47 | |
| that we may be sons and daughters of thine, | 15:51 | |
| like thy son, even Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 15:55 | |
| Let us offer a Prayer of Intercession | 16:03 | |
| for the world in trouble. | 16:06 | |
| Oh God, the Father, | 16:11 | |
| who has made of one blood | 16:14 | |
| all the nations of the earth, | 16:16 | |
| we pray that strength and courage abundant | 16:19 | |
| be given to all who work for a world of reason, | 16:23 | |
| and understanding. | 16:27 | |
| We pray that the good which lies in every man's heart, | 16:31 | |
| made day by day be magnified. | 16:35 | |
| We pray that men will come to see more clearly, | 16:40 | |
| not that which divides them, | 16:45 | |
| but that which unites them. | 16:48 | |
| We pray that each hour may bring us closer | 16:53 | |
| to a final victory, | 16:56 | |
| not of nation over the nation, | 16:59 | |
| but of man over his own evils and weakness. | 17:03 | |
| And this, we pray for Jesus Christ, say. | 17:08 | |
| And let us offer a Prayer of Supplication | 17:16 | |
| for our university. | 17:19 | |
| Our mighty and eternal God, who are alpha and omega, | 17:23 | |
| the beginning and the end, | 17:29 | |
| we commend onto thee the class of 1975, | 17:33 | |
| and all who are in this place for the first time, | 17:39 | |
| gathered from diverse places, | 17:45 | |
| strangers to one another, | 17:49 | |
| they're well-known to thee | 17:51 | |
| sojourners in our midst, | 17:54 | |
| give them confidence without pride, | 17:59 | |
| the knowledge that they are a chosen people, | 18:04 | |
| yet without arrogance. | 18:08 | |
| A sense of entering into worldly heritage, | 18:12 | |
| to maintain and to further what is true, | 18:16 | |
| and beautiful, and good | 18:20 | |
| in the colleges and in the university. | 18:24 | |
| So, we consciously bring out a university into thy presence, | 18:30 | |
| thou has dean it, God, in the past, | 18:37 | |
| continue with us in the days that lie ahead. | 18:42 | |
| And now as our savior Christ has taught us, | 18:51 | |
| we humbly pray together saying, | 18:54 | |
| our Father who art in heaven, | 18:58 | |
| hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 19:01 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 19:06 | |
| Give us this day, our daily bread, | 19:10 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 19:14 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 19:16 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, | 19:20 | |
| but deliver us from evil, | 19:23 | |
| for thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 19:26 | |
| and the glory forever. Amen. | 19:28 | |
| - | Before commencing the sermon, | 20:02 |
| let me make an announcement. | 20:05 | |
| Those of you who are freshmen, | 20:08 | |
| have received a great deal of information | 20:11 | |
| in printed form and verbally, | 20:13 | |
| about what to expect and not to expect at Duke University. | 20:16 | |
| Contrary to one thing you may have read, or have been told, | 20:21 | |
| the Sunday morning service in this chapel, | 20:27 | |
| important as it is, | 20:31 | |
| is certainly not the only time that there is something | 20:33 | |
| that is worshipful and something of value | 20:38 | |
| that takes place here in this chapel. | 20:41 | |
| We will very soon be resuming the daily chapel services, | 20:44 | |
| which we had the latter part of the spring. | 20:48 | |
| And also, on frequent occasions during the year, | 20:52 | |
| there will be important musical services here | 20:55 | |
| through which the gospel is communicated | 20:59 | |
| as importantly as it is, | 21:02 | |
| in such things as this great sermon | 21:04 | |
| that you're gonna hear in a little bit. | 21:06 | |
| One of those, and the very first one will be today. | 21:10 | |
| And I want to emphasize the importance | 21:15 | |
| and the greatness of this one today. | 21:19 | |
| At four o'clock, here in the chapel, | 21:23 | |
| the Ciompi Quartet will play, | 21:25 | |
| and will play the music which you have found already, | 21:29 | |
| probably on the last page | 21:32 | |
| of this morning's chapel bullet. | 21:34 | |
| We have, we think a great musical organization | 21:37 | |
| in our chapel choir. | 21:41 | |
| There is another very great musical organization | 21:43 | |
| that is associated with the chapel, | 21:46 | |
| and that is the world famous Ciompi Quartet. | 21:49 | |
| I urge you to hear them in the chapel at four o'clock today. | 21:53 | |
| Well, you good people are about to hear a dialogue sermon. | 22:00 | |
| In case you were wondering what two of us are doing | 22:04 | |
| standing up here in front, | 22:07 | |
| at the moment, the program calls for a sermon. | 22:09 | |
| - | Some of you probably wondered | 22:12 |
| when you saw two of us come out. | 22:14 | |
| Whether that meant the sermon was going to be twice as long, | 22:16 | |
| but we're sure you, that won't be the case. | 22:20 | |
| - | Actually, those C.G, all sermons are dialogues sermons. | 22:22 |
| And the chief difference between this one and the others, | 22:27 | |
| is that in this dialogue, both sides will be heard. | 22:31 | |
| - | Well, what do you mean by that, Champlain? | 22:37 |
| - | Well, I mean that almost always, | 22:39 |
| when one person gets up to preach a sermon all by himself, | 22:41 | |
| you know, a filibuster, | 22:45 | |
| there is a silent partner who is dialoguing with him. | 22:47 | |
| And that silent partner is the man and the pew. | 22:51 | |
| The preacher opens his mouth and says, | 22:55 | |
| "All of you folks out there in the congregation are sinners. | 22:57 | |
| The man out in the pew, doesn't open his mouth, | 23:02 | |
| but he's silently thinking, | 23:05 | |
| how about that man up in the pulpit? | 23:06 | |
| Is he a sinner too? | 23:08 | |
| - | And that's probably true. | 23:10 |
| And I think it is also true that even though | 23:12 | |
| you and I are going to be standing up here, | 23:14 | |
| engaging in a dialogue between our ourselves, | 23:17 | |
| the freshmen sitting there and the pews | 23:20 | |
| are going to be second guessing both of us. | 23:22 | |
| - | Right you are. | 23:24 |
| Speaking of these freshmen. | 23:26 | |
| That's how we got ourselves into this topic, | 23:28 | |
| which we were examining today. | 23:31 | |
| Earlier in the summer, | 23:33 | |
| as chaplain and I sent out a letter | 23:35 | |
| to all incoming freshmen, | 23:37 | |
| asking them to return a card to me, | 23:38 | |
| on which they were to indicate their religious preference, | 23:41 | |
| or lack of it. | 23:44 | |
| And then I passed along this information | 23:46 | |
| to the various denominational chaplains. | 23:48 | |
| Well, at the bottom of the cards, | 23:51 | |
| was room for a question or a comment. | 23:54 | |
| Quite a few wrote questions, | 23:58 | |
| which added up to this big question, | 24:00 | |
| which we were facing in this dialogue sermon. | 24:02 | |
| What is religion all about anyway? | 24:05 | |
| - | Chaplain Wilkinson you frightened me when you say that. | 24:09 |
| Do you mean to imply that you | 24:13 | |
| and I have a responsibility in sermon | 24:14 | |
| to answer that big question? | 24:17 | |
| - | Now, look who's scaring who. | 24:20 |
| When you phrase it the way you did, | 24:22 | |
| you put panic into me too. | 24:23 | |
| So, to comfort both of us, | 24:26 | |
| and to avoid misleading our friends there in the pew, | 24:27 | |
| let's agree that we're going to chicken out on any pretense | 24:31 | |
| to give a full and sufficient answer | 24:35 | |
| to the question of what religion is all about. | 24:37 | |
| Simply attempt to explore the question, | 24:40 | |
| and to hint at some directions | 24:43 | |
| in which all of us can move | 24:46 | |
| as we seek to find our own answers to this question. | 24:49 | |
| - | Yes. I think that's a more realistic posture to take. | 24:52 |
| However, I do think it is possible for us, | 24:56 | |
| even in a 25 minute sermon, | 24:59 | |
| to identify some of the false notions | 25:01 | |
| which some people have regarding this question. | 25:03 | |
| - | What do you mean, C.G? | 25:06 |
| - | Well, I mean that a great many intelligent people | 25:07 |
| seem to have some pretty unintelligent ideas | 25:10 | |
| of what religion is all about. | 25:13 | |
| And even if we can't say today | 25:16 | |
| all of the things religion means, | 25:18 | |
| we can begin by bulldozing some of those false notions. | 25:20 | |
| - | Like what, for instance? | 25:23 |
| - | We'll like, for example, | 25:25 |
| like the idea that religion is getting guards | 25:27 | |
| to see to it, that we beat Florida | 25:29 | |
| in football this Saturday. | 25:31 | |
| Or that we prayed to God to help us napalm | 25:33 | |
| the women and children in Vietnam. | 25:35 | |
| Or the idea that God wants black folks to be subservient | 25:37 | |
| to the whites. | 25:42 | |
| Or the notion that religion consistent entirely | 25:43 | |
| of just going to church. | 25:45 | |
| Or the thought that a person is religious in proportion | 25:46 | |
| to how many verses of the Bible he has memorized. | 25:49 | |
| Or the belief that a person is religious, | 25:52 | |
| if he claims to believe everything in the Bible, | 25:54 | |
| or the Apostle's Creed. | 25:56 | |
| And that he's not religious, | 25:58 | |
| if he questions any part of it or- | 25:59 | |
| - | Wait a minute. | 26:01 |
| You're going just a little fast for me. | 26:03 | |
| Before you add anything else to your catalog | 26:06 | |
| of what you call unintelligent ideas. | 26:09 | |
| How about my asking you a question | 26:13 | |
| about each one of those you've already mentioned? | 26:14 | |
| - | Okay. | 26:16 |
| - | All right. Let's start with the first one, | 26:18 |
| the one about getting God on our side | 26:20 | |
| in Saturday's game at Tampa, Florida. | 26:23 | |
| Are you implying that religion | 26:26 | |
| has nothing to do with winning football games? | 26:28 | |
| - | Before I tackle that question, | 26:32 |
| (congregation laughing) | 26:34 | |
| let me make it perfectly clear, that I am a football player. | 26:35 | |
| That I very much prefer winning over losing. | 26:39 | |
| And that when I'm in a game, | 26:42 | |
| I do everything I know to do, that will help my team to win. | 26:43 | |
| Have I made that much clear? | 26:46 | |
| - | You have, both by your rhetoric just now, | 26:48 |
| and by your performance on the football team. | 26:50 | |
| But what were you gonna add to that? | 26:53 | |
| - | Well, I was going to add, | 26:55 |
| that God is intelligent enough to know | 26:57 | |
| that the members of the Florida Football team | 27:00 | |
| have a keen desire to win also. | 27:02 | |
| And God loves them as much as he loves me. | 27:05 | |
| Therefore, I'm not going to kid myself into thinking | 27:09 | |
| that I can coach God, | 27:11 | |
| into giving me an unfair advantage | 27:13 | |
| over Florida next Saturday. | 27:16 | |
| And by the same token, | 27:18 | |
| I'm not afraid that some prayerful player on their team | 27:19 | |
| is going to trick God into giving them | 27:23 | |
| an unfair advantage over us. | 27:25 | |
| - | I'm glad to hear you put the matter in those terms. | 27:27 |
| But you still haven't fully answered my question | 27:30 | |
| about whether religion has nothing to do | 27:33 | |
| with winning football games? | 27:35 | |
| - | Okay. Well, the only other thing I'll say about that, | 27:37 |
| in my opinion, if a person is truly religious, | 27:42 | |
| it tends to make him do a better job | 27:46 | |
| of every worthwhile thing he sets himself to do. | 27:48 | |
| It makes him more unselfish, more in with the discipline, | 27:51 | |
| more responsible in his attitude toward his fellow man, | 27:55 | |
| and things like that. | 27:59 | |
| So, in that sense, religion makes a player a better player, | 28:01 | |
| than he might otherwise be. | 28:04 | |
| - | Okay, then. | 28:07 |
| Now, let me ask you what you meant | 28:09 | |
| about bulldozing the idea that religion | 28:11 | |
| is a way to get God, to help us | 28:14 | |
| napalm the poor people of Vietnam? | 28:16 | |
| - | Well, the unfortunate conclusion | 28:19 |
| we come to from reading history books, | 28:21 | |
| is that ever since the time of Christ, | 28:23 | |
| so-called Christian nations have tried to claim | 28:26 | |
| crisis blessings on their walls against other nations. | 28:29 | |
| And again, and again, we have seen two nominally, | 28:32 | |
| Christian nations fighting each other, | 28:35 | |
| both praying to the same God | 28:37 | |
| to help them slaughter each other. | 28:39 | |
| And how stupid do we think God is? | 28:41 | |
| - | I'll say Amen to that. | 28:43 |
| I'm not even going to ask you a question | 28:46 | |
| about the third false notion that you listed. | 28:48 | |
| You remember it was the one which has held suede, | 28:51 | |
| for much too long in America to the effect | 28:54 | |
| that religion endorsed the practice of black people | 28:57 | |
| always being subservient to white people. | 29:01 | |
| Whether it was under a system of political slavery, | 29:04 | |
| or under a system of economics slavery, | 29:08 | |
| which is just as bad. | 29:11 | |
| I recall the short poem, which Countee Cullen wrote | 29:13 | |
| about a white woman whom he knew, | 29:18 | |
| who was real big on church attendance. | 29:21 | |
| And here was the poem which Countee Cullen wrote about her. | 29:23 | |
| "She thinks that even up in heaven, | 29:28 | |
| her class lies late in snores, | 29:30 | |
| while poor black cherubs | 29:33 | |
| rise at seven to do celestial chores." | 29:35 | |
| Any such concept proposed as this, | 29:40 | |
| should be labeled for what it is, | 29:42 | |
| absolutely pure blasphemy." | 29:44 | |
| I do however, wanna raise a question | 29:48 | |
| about your comments on church attendance, | 29:50 | |
| and memorizing portions of the Bible? | 29:53 | |
| Would I be right if I guess that activities | 29:56 | |
| such as that, can be important, | 29:59 | |
| so long as we don't treat them | 30:02 | |
| as being the major thrust of religion? | 30:05 | |
| - | I could perhaps agree with that way of stadium. | 30:09 |
| Except that I think we ought to point out that some pastors, | 30:12 | |
| some parents, and some church offices, | 30:15 | |
| have emphasized church's attendance to such an extent | 30:18 | |
| that without actually saying so. | 30:21 | |
| They have created the impression | 30:24 | |
| that church attendance is what religion consist of. | 30:26 | |
| - | Okay. I get your point, C.G. | 30:29 |
| And I assume, unless you correct me, | 30:31 | |
| that you feel approximately the same way | 30:34 | |
| about memorizing portions of scripture, | 30:36 | |
| about reciting the Apostle's Creed, and so on? | 30:39 | |
| You know, several years ago, I heard Dr. Carl Michaelson, | 30:42 | |
| then of Drew University give a modern parable | 30:47 | |
| about the Bible, | 30:51 | |
| while, by the way, he was preaching a sermon | 30:53 | |
| right here in this chapel. | 30:55 | |
| He said, "Let's imagine that a group of Duke students | 30:57 | |
| wanna go to Raleigh. | 31:04 | |
| They ask about the way to get there, | 31:06 | |
| and they're told to go west of the campus, | 31:08 | |
| get on 15 501 bypass, and then follow the signs. | 31:12 | |
| Well, a fellow student decides later | 31:17 | |
| that he wants to join the group in Raleigh. | 31:20 | |
| So, he jumps in his car, goes to the 15th, 501 bypass, | 31:22 | |
| follow the signs. | 31:26 | |
| Speeding on his way to Raleigh, | 31:28 | |
| he went on the east end of Durham. | 31:29 | |
| He spots the car of his friends, | 31:32 | |
| parked at the side of the highway, | 31:35 | |
| and sees the friends seated on the ground in a circle. | 31:38 | |
| So, he stopped his car and walks back to the group, | 31:43 | |
| and asked what on earth they're doing. | 31:46 | |
| They point to a highway sign in the middle of their circle | 31:50 | |
| and the sign reads, 'To Raleigh.' | 31:52 | |
| And it has an arrow pointing toward Raleigh. | 31:57 | |
| And the student who arrived late is mystified | 32:00 | |
| and asks what that has to do | 32:03 | |
| with they're sitting on the ground. | 32:04 | |
| They answered that they wanted to go to Raleigh, | 32:06 | |
| and that they found a sign, which said, 'To Raleigh.' | 32:08 | |
| So they have reached their destination. | 32:12 | |
| Dr. Michelson said that the logic | 32:15 | |
| of that hypothetical group, | 32:17 | |
| is no worse than the logic of those who make the Bible | 32:20 | |
| the center of their religion, | 32:25 | |
| rather than God himself." | 32:27 | |
| - | Point well made. | 32:31 |
| Chaplain Wilkinson, we've been identifying | 32:33 | |
| a few of the false notions of what religion is all about. | 32:35 | |
| Now, perhaps we should suggest some directions | 32:39 | |
| in which a person could move | 32:41 | |
| to find an affirmative answer to the question. | 32:43 | |
| - | Okay. In the brief time that we have, | 32:47 |
| we'll have to be very selective. | 32:51 | |
| There is a verse in the Bible, | 32:54 | |
| which gives a brief and succinct answer to that question, | 32:56 | |
| a positive answer. | 33:01 | |
| And it suggests that the answer to a sacred question, | 33:03 | |
| is to be found in the secular order. | 33:07 | |
| What is religion all about? | 33:11 | |
| James 1:27 answers it this way. | 33:13 | |
| "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father, | 33:18 | |
| is to look after orphans and widows in their distress, | 33:23 | |
| and to keep himself uncontaminated by the world." | 33:28 | |
| So, when we ask a sacred question, what is pure religion? | 33:33 | |
| We receive a secular answer. | 33:39 | |
| Get involved in solving the poverty problem. | 33:41 | |
| - | That seems to be the clear implication of this verse | 33:45 |
| in the Episcopal James. | 33:48 | |
| But is that typical of the Bible in general, | 33:50 | |
| or is it an exception? | 33:53 | |
| - | Well, I will say that from my own studies of the Bible | 33:55 |
| and from reading the reliable studies of others, | 33:59 | |
| more competent in textual matters than I am. | 34:02 | |
| And I see some of 'em sitting in the congregation right now, | 34:05 | |
| so I have to watch my words. | 34:08 | |
| I have come to the conclusion, | 34:13 | |
| that the thrust of the Judeo Christian scriptures | 34:15 | |
| as a whole, is definitely in this direction. | 34:19 | |
| And one of the finest examples of it, | 34:25 | |
| is the passage in Joshua, | 34:27 | |
| which Lucy Austin read a little while ago. | 34:29 | |
| Let me briefly summarize the story. | 34:33 | |
| The ancient Israelites were in slavery to the Egyptians. | 34:38 | |
| They cried out to their masters for Liberty | 34:42 | |
| and they were denied. | 34:46 | |
| They cried out to Jehovah God, | 34:47 | |
| and He sent Moses to lead them up out of slavery. | 34:51 | |
| As they fled their captors, | 34:55 | |
| they were in danger next from the sea. | 34:57 | |
| They later recorded that Jehovah took up personal interest | 35:02 | |
| in their delivery, | 35:06 | |
| both from their captors and from the sea. | 35:08 | |
| But the end is not yet. | 35:12 | |
| They were next in the wilderness, | 35:14 | |
| now without food, now without water. | 35:16 | |
| They later recorded that there cries to Jehovah | 35:19 | |
| brought action, food and water came by Jehovah's acts. | 35:22 | |
| Lastly, as they prepared to cross over Jordan | 35:29 | |
| into the promised land, | 35:31 | |
| Jehovah provided an able leader in Joshua. | 35:33 | |
| Now, comes the part which intrigues us. | 35:39 | |
| As they passed through a dry river bed | 35:42 | |
| on their way directly into the promised land, | 35:45 | |
| Joshua wisely commanded that one representative | 35:48 | |
| from each of the 12 tribes, | 35:52 | |
| picked up a stone from the Riverbed and carry it with him. | 35:55 | |
| And then, when all the Israelites encamped, | 36:01 | |
| they piled these 12 stones together. | 36:03 | |
| Joshua knew how short memories sometimes are, | 36:07 | |
| and he knew how quickly important events | 36:12 | |
| can play from the attention of a people | 36:15 | |
| as new and younger generations come on the scene, | 36:17 | |
| who were not present when those events happened. | 36:20 | |
| So, he said to the Israelites, | 36:23 | |
| "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, | 36:27 | |
| what do these stones mean? | 36:32 | |
| Then you shall let your children know." | 36:35 | |
| Know of what? | 36:39 | |
| "Let them know that God has been active and mighty | 36:41 | |
| in the every day problems | 36:45 | |
| of the secular lives of the people. | 36:47 | |
| He was active in freeing them from slavery, | 36:50 | |
| active in rescuing them from the sea, | 36:52 | |
| active in solving their inadequate food situation, | 36:55 | |
| and in getting them a decent place to live." | 36:59 | |
| Well, Chaplain Wilkinson you said, | 37:02 | |
| this story is a fine example | 37:03 | |
| of how the religious questions have secular answers. | 37:05 | |
| But can you sharpen the folks on this a bit? | 37:09 | |
| - | Okay. When the 12 stalls were placed in a pile | 37:11 |
| in the promised land, they became along with the ark, | 37:15 | |
| the chief religious symbols, | 37:19 | |
| because they were there by God's command. | 37:22 | |
| So, the people began to think of them | 37:26 | |
| as the place where God was. | 37:28 | |
| Their religion was in those stones, they felt. | 37:31 | |
| If someone had asked these Israelites | 37:36 | |
| to point toward their God, | 37:38 | |
| they probably would have pointed toward those stones, | 37:39 | |
| or at least would have felt that those stones | 37:42 | |
| were a sacred place where God | 37:44 | |
| would be more likely found than anywhere else. | 37:47 | |
| But Joshua shattered this idea by his insistence, | 37:51 | |
| that the only meaning of these sacred stones | 37:56 | |
| was that God was basically not in those stone, | 37:59 | |
| but that He was out in the secular world, | 38:04 | |
| hard at work, freeing slaves, delivering people from danger, | 38:07 | |
| solving the hunger problem, | 38:12 | |
| and seeking to find a decent home for the homeless. | 38:13 | |
| - | Well, then is it valid to draw any comparisons | 38:18 |
| between those stones and say, | 38:21 | |
| for example, the stones in this chapel? | 38:23 | |
| - | Well, in my opinion, C.G, | 38:29 |
| it not only is valid to draw a comparison between them, | 38:30 | |
| but it is theologically accurate to say | 38:35 | |
| that the stones of this chapel, | 38:37 | |
| were intended to serve almost precisely | 38:41 | |
| the same religious function as those 12 stones | 38:44 | |
| that Joshua commanded about. | 38:48 | |
| Namely, to remind the old generations | 38:51 | |
| and inform each new generation, | 38:55 | |
| that God is mighty in action to relieve the distress | 38:59 | |
| of the poor, the hungry, the ill-housed, | 39:02 | |
| and those in slavery. | 39:06 | |
| The function of these stones here, is to say, | 39:08 | |
| God is out there, not here basically. | 39:13 | |
| Last Sunday, Stafford Wing of the UNC music faculty | 39:18 | |
| sang here in this chapel, | 39:22 | |
| "Handles great prayer, thanks be to thee." | 39:24 | |
| And it was rooted in this mighty drama from Joshua. | 39:28 | |
| "Thanks be to thee, Lord, our God," he sang, | 39:32 | |
| "Thy people has thou lead safe through the sea." | 39:36 | |
| It wasn't talking about church, | 39:41 | |
| and yet that's what we sing in church. | 39:43 | |
| Now, to summarize it, we can put it this way. | 39:46 | |
| The function of our coming together | 39:50 | |
| within the stones of these walls, | 39:52 | |
| is to learn to detect the signs of God's handiwork | 39:56 | |
| in the secular world, | 40:02 | |
| and to dedicate ourselves here, | 40:04 | |
| to joining with Him in that work. | 40:07 | |
| So, what is religion all about? | 40:11 | |
| These stones, this chapel, this service of worship, | 40:14 | |
| this Bible, not as an end in themselves. | 40:21 | |
| Indeed, they become hindrances rather than helps. | 40:27 | |
| If we substitute them for walking with God, | 40:30 | |
| through the slums, the ghettos, | 40:34 | |
| and the war-torn refugees of a secular world, | 40:35 | |
| they can, however, be very helpful | 40:39 | |
| if they teach us what religion is really all about. | 40:42 | |
| - | Well, it comes down to this then, | 40:47 |
| that we can't always build a house | 40:50 | |
| and put a saying of sign on it, saying "God's House," | 40:52 | |
| and then expect thereby to capture God in that house. | 40:56 | |
| If we try this sort of trick, | 41:00 | |
| we may find that God is far away, | 41:01 | |
| trying to stop a war in Vietnam, for example, | 41:04 | |
| or is actively seeking to get a promised land | 41:07 | |
| for people trapped in the ghetto. | 41:10 | |
| We can't always put God out of just any bottle | 41:12 | |
| that we've decided to stick a God label. | 41:16 | |
| - | The stones of this chapel are of your hometown church, | 41:19 |
| are not any more sacred | 41:25 | |
| than the stones of a gambling casino, | 41:27 | |
| unless they come to mean for us, | 41:30 | |
| that our God is leading us into service | 41:34 | |
| for those in trouble in the world. | 41:36 | |
| Do you remember the reply which Jesus gave | 41:41 | |
| to the disciples of John The Baptist? | 41:44 | |
| When John was in prison, they approached Jesus and asked, | 41:47 | |
| "Are you he who should come or do we look for another?" | 41:50 | |
| What was the reply of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 41:56 | |
| Did He point to a building which he had erected | 42:02 | |
| with his own hands, | 42:04 | |
| and said, "see, I'm the one to come | 42:07 | |
| because I built this building." | 42:09 | |
| Or did he recite an Orthodox creed and then say, | 42:12 | |
| "Hear that, that proves I'm the Messiah." | 42:16 | |
| Did He spend waves of learning theological rhetoric | 42:20 | |
| important as all those are? | 42:24 | |
| No. You remember His reply, | 42:27 | |
| "Go and tell John what you hear and see, | 42:31 | |
| the blind are receiving their sight. | 42:36 | |
| The lame people are walking. | 42:38 | |
| Lepers are cleansed. | 42:40 | |
| The deaf are hearing. | 42:41 | |
| The dead are being raised alive, | 42:43 | |
| and the poor are hearing good news." | 42:45 | |
| Perhaps as each of us seeks to answer for himself, | 42:49 | |
| this great question, what is religion all about anyway? | 42:54 | |
| He will find it profitable to search in that direction. | 42:58 | |
| Let us pray. | 43:03 | |
| Almighty God, our heavenly father, | 43:06 | |
| the God of our fathers and our forefathers, | 43:09 | |
| who led captives out of captivity. | 43:13 | |
| Who led safely, thy people through the sea | 43:16 | |
| and the wilderness, | 43:21 | |
| and across the rivers, | 43:22 | |
| and through every time of danger, | 43:24 | |
| and every place of toil. | 43:27 | |
| Lead us now in this day, on our campus, and in our world, | 43:29 | |
| we make this prayer with confidence | 43:35 | |
| because we believe it is thy world. | 43:38 | |
| And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. | 43:42 | |
| (bright organic piano music) | 43:46 | |
| (congregation hymning) | 44:06 | |
| - | Oh, God in whom we live and move and have our being, | 51:44 |
| here we and present onto thee, | 51:49 | |
| our silver and our gold, | 51:53 | |
| a symbol of ourselves, | 51:56 | |
| to be a reasonable, holy, | 51:59 | |
| and living sacrifice unto thee | 52:03 | |
| through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 52:07 | |
| And unto God's gracious mercy and protection, | 52:14 | |
| do I commit you, | 52:18 | |
| may the blessing of God come upon you abundantly. | 52:21 | |
| May it keep you strong and tranquil | 52:26 | |
| in the truth of His promises | 52:30 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 52:33 | |
| (congregation hymning) | 52:43 | |
| (bright organic piano music) | 54:32 |