D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "A Necessary Tension" (February 6, 1972)
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- | Hear us, we ask Our Father | 0:06 |
as we lift our prayers | 0:07 | |
of adoration and of praise. | 0:10 | |
Oh Lord, thy majesty is shrouded in mystery | 0:15 | |
and thy ways are far beyond our knowing. | 0:22 | |
Yet thou has come to us, | 0:25 | |
in Jesus of Nazareth, | 0:28 | |
and has offered us | 0:31 | |
thy graceful and faithful love. | 0:33 | |
And has caused us to live | 0:36 | |
and to come before thee | 0:39 | |
in rightful worship. | 0:41 | |
We praise thee Oh God, | 0:45 | |
and we acknowledge thee to be our Lord. | 0:47 | |
Thou hast made of one blood, | 0:53 | |
all the nations of mankind oh God, | 0:54 | |
and thou has placed us upon this earth as our home. | 0:58 | |
Thine is the providence by which age, after age, | 1:03 | |
the families of mankind have been fed. | 1:08 | |
Thine is the justice, | 1:12 | |
which amidst the turmoil of history | 1:14 | |
has given it a course and a direction. | 1:16 | |
Thine is the mercy by which men | 1:21 | |
has reached out to his fellow man, | 1:24 | |
with healing that binds up the broken heart, | 1:26 | |
the torn body and the disturbed mind. | 1:30 | |
Thine is the love, oh Lord, | 1:35 | |
that brings light to every day of our lives. | 1:37 | |
and close friendships | 1:41 | |
and associations where openness and trust | 1:44 | |
enable us to speak comfortably to each other. | 1:48 | |
And especially, in our own homes and families | 1:52 | |
where love protects us | 1:56 | |
against all our foes | 1:58 | |
as we with each other, share the love, | 1:59 | |
which thou alone dost impart to us. | 2:03 | |
Oh God, invisible and eternal, | 2:07 | |
thou of 100 names, | 2:11 | |
but ever the same in mercy and in love. | 2:12 | |
To know thee is life, | 2:16 | |
to serve thee is freedom, | 2:18 | |
to enjoy thee as a kingdom, | 2:21 | |
to praise thee as the joy | 2:23 | |
and happiness of our souls. | 2:25 | |
Therefore, oh God, | 2:28 | |
we praise and bless and adore thee. | 2:29 | |
We worship thee, we glorify thee. | 2:32 | |
We give thanks to thee our God, | 2:36 | |
for thy great glory. | 2:39 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly father | 2:43 | |
who stand us both beyond the darkness and the light. | 2:46 | |
Who are hidden by the names we given to thee, | 2:50 | |
and who movest in mystery | 2:53 | |
to touch us to life. | 2:55 | |
Grant us in this hour, | 2:58 | |
the glory and the power of thy presence. | 2:59 | |
Breakthrough, the safe customs of our praise. | 3:04 | |
Turn back the thin devices of our devious fears. | 3:08 | |
And let us hear thy word reverberate, | 3:13 | |
in the high places of our hearts. | 3:16 | |
And in the depths of our need. | 3:19 | |
Oh most merciful God, our father, | 3:25 | |
here at this place, we hear thy word, | 3:27 | |
that tells us what we were meant to be. | 3:31 | |
We stand before the one who created us | 3:35 | |
and has given us life, even thee our God. | 3:38 | |
And here, before the call and the presence of thy holiness, | 3:42 | |
we face our weaknesses, | 3:46 | |
our discouragements and our sins. | 3:49 | |
We say we are a people who would be men and women | 3:55 | |
who see things as they are | 3:58 | |
and who call things by their right names, oh God, | 3:59 | |
whose work is valid and whose world is whole. | 4:03 | |
But the line from the inner integrity of our hopes, | 4:08 | |
to the daily chronicle of our lives and the world | 4:12 | |
has become frayed and unclear and tattered. | 4:16 | |
As persons, some of us have been shoddy, | 4:22 | |
dishonest, and lazy. | 4:25 | |
Drifting into isolation, | 4:28 | |
we have forgotten who we are. | 4:30 | |
Torn by conflicting loyalties, | 4:33 | |
we have become confused about our mission in the world. | 4:36 | |
Succumbing to the tyrannies of our time. | 4:41 | |
We have let integrity and hope and faith | 4:44 | |
slip over to the border of our lives. | 4:49 | |
By our own fault, oh God, | 4:53 | |
we have abandoned the fountain of waters | 4:56 | |
and built broken reservoirs, which hold no waters. | 5:00 | |
We speak well of love. | 5:04 | |
And we curse our enemies. | 5:06 | |
We take pride in our freedom, | 5:08 | |
even as we slide into new slaveries. | 5:10 | |
We cry out against exploitation, | 5:14 | |
as we exploit ourselves and our neighbors. | 5:17 | |
We confess before thee, oh God, | 5:22 | |
that we have daily denied our discipleship. | 5:24 | |
We have worshiped at our small | 5:27 | |
plastic alters of career, | 5:29 | |
of money, of prestige, of race, | 5:32 | |
and of nationalism. | 5:35 | |
And our gods have become idols and demons, | 5:37 | |
which threaten to devour us. | 5:40 | |
All mighty God, our father, | 5:43 | |
have mercy upon us and restore us | 5:46 | |
to the joy of thy salvation. | 5:49 | |
We open our hearts unto thee in repentance, | 5:54 | |
asking for thy grace, thy forgiveness | 5:58 | |
and thy restoration, oh God, our Father. | 6:02 | |
Remembering the ancient promises | 6:06 | |
to thy people of Israel, | 6:08 | |
to whom thou sits through the prophet. | 6:11 | |
If my people which are called by my name, | 6:14 | |
shall humble themselves and pray, | 6:18 | |
and seek my face, | 6:22 | |
and turn from their wicked ways, | 6:24 | |
then will I hear from heaven | 6:27 | |
and will forgive their sin | 6:30 | |
and will heal their land. | 6:33 | |
May it so be in our lives, and in our time. | 6:36 | |
Amen. | 6:42 | |
May we continue to worship, | 6:46 | |
as we render unto God our prayers of Thanksgiving | 6:50 | |
by using the Psalter, number 575. | 6:54 | |
Let us offer unto God, | 7:06 | |
our prayer of Thanksgiving. | 7:08 | |
Praise is due to thee oh God in Zion, | 7:12 | |
and to thee shall vows be performed. | 7:16 | |
All thou who hear us prayer, | 7:19 | |
to thee shall all flesh come on the count of sins. | 7:22 | |
When our transgressions prevail over us, | 7:26 | |
thou dost forgive them. | 7:29 | |
Blessed is he whom thou dost choose | 7:31 | |
and bring near to dwell in thy courts. | 7:34 | |
We shall be satisfied with the goodness | 7:38 | |
of thy house by holy temple. | 7:40 | |
By dread deeds, thou dost answer us with deliverance, | 7:43 | |
oh God, of our salvation, | 7:47 | |
who art the hope of all the ends of the Earth | 7:50 | |
and of the farthest seas, | 7:52 | |
who by thy strength has established the mountains, | 7:55 | |
being girded with might. | 7:59 | |
Who dost still the roaring of the seas, | 8:01 | |
the roaring of their waves, | 8:05 | |
and the tumult of the peoples. | 8:06 | |
So that those who dwell at Earth's farthest bonds | 8:09 | |
are afraid of thy signs. | 8:13 | |
Thou make us the outgoings in the morning | 8:16 | |
and the evening to shout for joy. | 8:18 | |
Thou visitest the earth and waterest it | 8:21 | |
thou greatly enrichest it. | 8:25 | |
Thou providest their grain | 8:27 | |
for so thou has prepared it. | 8:30 | |
Thou waterest its furrows abundantly, | 8:32 | |
settling its ridges, | 8:35 | |
softening with the showers | 8:37 | |
and blessing it's growth. | 8:39 | |
Thou crownest the year with thy bounty, | 8:41 | |
the hills skirt themselves with joy. | 8:45 | |
The meadows clothed themselves with flocks, | 8:48 | |
the valleys deck themselves with grain | 8:51 | |
and they shout and sing together for joy. | 8:54 | |
♪ Children of the Heavenly Father ♪ | 9:44 | |
♪ Safely in His bosom gather ♪ | 9:50 | |
♪ Nestling bird nor star in heaven ♪ | 9:57 | |
♪ Such a refuge e'er was given ♪ | 10:04 | |
♪ God His own doth tend and nourish ♪ | 10:11 | |
♪ In His holy courts they flourish ♪ | 10:18 | |
♪ From all evil things He spares them ♪ | 10:25 | |
♪ In His mighty arms He bears them ♪ | 10:32 | |
♪ Praise the lord in joyful numbers ♪ | 10:40 | |
♪ Your Protector never slumbers ♪ | 10:46 | |
♪ At the will of your Defender ♪ | 10:52 | |
♪ Ev'ry foe man must surrender ♪ | 10:59 | |
♪ Though He giveth or He taketh ♪ | 11:08 | |
♪ God His children ne'er forsaketh ♪ | 11:13 | |
♪ His the loving purpose solely ♪ | 11:21 | |
♪ To preserve them pure and holy ♪ | 11:28 | |
- | Hear the word of God. | 12:47 |
Two days later, | 12:50 | |
there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. | 12:51 | |
Jesus mother was there | 12:54 | |
and Jesus and his disciples | 12:56 | |
had also been invited to the wedding. | 12:58 | |
When all the wine had been drunk, | 13:01 | |
Jesus' mother said to Him, | 13:03 | |
they are out of wine. | 13:05 | |
You must not tell me what to do, woman, | 13:08 | |
Jesus replied, | 13:10 | |
my time has not yet come. | 13:12 | |
Jesus mother then told the servants, | 13:15 | |
do whatever he tells you. | 13:18 | |
The Jews have religious rules about washing. | 13:21 | |
And for this purpose, | 13:25 | |
six stone water jars were there. | 13:26 | |
Each one, large enough to hold between 20 and 30 gallons. | 13:29 | |
Jesus said to the servants, | 13:35 | |
fill these jars with water. | 13:38 | |
They filled them to the brim | 13:41 | |
and then he told them, | 13:42 | |
now draw some water out | 13:44 | |
and take it to the man in charge of the feast. | 13:46 | |
They took it to him and he tasted the water, | 13:50 | |
which had turned into wine. | 13:53 | |
He did not know where this wine had come from, | 13:56 | |
but the servants who had drawn out the water, knew. | 13:58 | |
So he called the bridegroom and said to him, | 14:02 | |
everyone else serves the best wine first. | 14:05 | |
And after the guests have drunk a lot, | 14:09 | |
he serves the ordinary wine, | 14:11 | |
but you have kept the best wine until now. | 14:14 | |
Jesus performed his first of his mighty works | 14:18 | |
in Cana of Galilee. | 14:21 | |
There he revealed his glory | 14:23 | |
and his disciples believed in him. | 14:26 | |
After this, Jesus and his mother, | 14:29 | |
brothers and disciples, went to Capernaum | 14:32 | |
and stayed there a few days. | 14:36 | |
It was almost time for the Jewish feast of Passover. | 14:39 | |
So Jesus went to Jerusalem. | 14:43 | |
In the temple, | 14:46 | |
He found men selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, | 14:47 | |
and also the money changers sitting at their tables. | 14:50 | |
He made a whip from the cords | 14:54 | |
and drove all the animals out of the temple, | 14:56 | |
both the sheep and the cattle. | 14:58 | |
He overturned the tables of the money changers | 15:01 | |
and scattered their coins. | 15:04 | |
And he ordered the men who sold the pigeons. | 15:06 | |
Take them out of here, | 15:09 | |
do not make my father's house, a market place. | 15:11 | |
His disciples remembered that the scripture says | 15:16 | |
my devotion for your house Oh God, | 15:19 | |
burns in me like fire. | 15:21 | |
The Jews came back at him with a question. | 15:26 | |
What miracle can you perform to show us | 15:29 | |
that you have the right to do this? | 15:31 | |
Jesus answered, tear down this house of God. | 15:35 | |
And in three days I will build it again. | 15:39 | |
You are going to build it again in three days, | 15:43 | |
they ask him. | 15:46 | |
It has taken 46 years to build this temple. | 15:48 | |
But the temple Jesus spoke of was his body. | 15:53 | |
When he was raised from death therefore, | 15:57 | |
his disciples remembered that he had said this | 15:59 | |
and they believed the scripture. | 16:03 | |
And the words that Jesus had said. | 16:05 | |
(gentle uplifting music) | 16:11 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 16:56 |
- | And also be with you. | 16:58 |
- | Let us pray. | 16:59 |
Let us offer unto God, | 17:09 | |
our prayers for others and for ourselves. | 17:10 | |
O mighty God who has committed to thy people, | 17:19 | |
the ministry of intercession. | 17:22 | |
Hear us as we pray for others | 17:25 | |
and grant that our hearts | 17:28 | |
may be so filled with peace | 17:29 | |
and with the charity | 17:32 | |
that we may be fit instruments | 17:34 | |
of thy will for our neighbors need. | 17:36 | |
Let us offer a prayer for the whole church of God | 17:40 | |
throughout the world. | 17:43 | |
Most, gracious Father, | 17:47 | |
we humbly beseech thee for thy church, universal, | 17:50 | |
wherever it exists in this ecumenical world, | 17:54 | |
fill it with all truth we ask. | 17:59 | |
And in all truth, all peace | 18:01 | |
where it is in error, reform it, | 18:05 | |
where it is in want, furnish it, | 18:09 | |
where it is right, strengthen and confirm it. | 18:13 | |
And where it rent asunder by divisions, | 18:18 | |
we asked for thy healing presence | 18:24 | |
and the searing presence of thy grace. | 18:27 | |
O Lord, we call on thy spirit, | 18:32 | |
and we ask thy presence and thy power | 18:35 | |
for the sick and the suffering | 18:39 | |
in mind and in body. | 18:41 | |
For those who are made slaves by disease, | 18:45 | |
by drugs, by fear or by affluence, | 18:49 | |
may your love penetrate their condition, | 18:56 | |
quench their hunger and bring peace. | 19:00 | |
We pray for those who are dying and have died this day. | 19:08 | |
Oh God, our father, | 19:13 | |
whether they're in despair, | 19:16 | |
in bitterness or in tranquility and hope, | 19:18 | |
we ask for them, our brothers | 19:24 | |
and sisters thy eternal peace. | 19:26 | |
We call on thy spirit, | 19:31 | |
and we ask thy presence and thy power | 19:32 | |
O Lord, for all who are poor and hungry, | 19:34 | |
for outcasts and exiles, | 19:40 | |
prisoners and victims of war | 19:43 | |
throughout this world. | 19:47 | |
May thy love penetrate their condition | 19:51 | |
and quench their hunger and bring peace. | 19:55 | |
God, our father, we come to thee, | 20:00 | |
with our own needs and petitions, | 20:01 | |
a strange mixture of common men and women. | 20:06 | |
Few among us are truly good. | 20:12 | |
Some of us are truly evil who bear your name, | 20:16 | |
but most of us are never either, | 20:20 | |
but like most men in most places. | 20:24 | |
Some of us are here for love of thee and our brothers. | 20:30 | |
But most of us out of a restless curiosity | 20:34 | |
for want of a better temple. | 20:37 | |
We are men and women of moderation | 20:41 | |
in both virtue and in vice. | 20:43 | |
Which is to say, | 20:47 | |
we maintain appeal neutrality. | 20:49 | |
We have an allergy to risk. | 20:52 | |
We don't often feel, | 20:55 | |
but then we don't often try. | 20:57 | |
Help us O God in our need of new vision, | 21:02 | |
and of a new life. | 21:07 | |
Help us O God, | 21:12 | |
that we may always be men of thy provenance | 21:14 | |
having the courage to place ourselves | 21:20 | |
in the church while placing ourselves | 21:23 | |
in the world. | 21:26 | |
Neither is rebels | 21:28 | |
nor is idle servants | 21:30 | |
nor vagrant innovators, | 21:32 | |
but as true witnesses of thy love. | 21:34 | |
As sources of life, of vision, | 21:38 | |
of prophecy, of the service of the truth in our own time. | 21:42 | |
Grant us thy grace O Lord | 21:50 | |
that we may constantly explore | 21:52 | |
and enlarge the known frontiers | 21:55 | |
of the community of love wherever we find it. | 21:58 | |
That visible geography of spirit | 22:01 | |
so that the church, the people of God, | 22:06 | |
is not a limbo of the restless disembodied, | 22:10 | |
but a true community of incarnate consciousness. | 22:14 | |
Help us by this worship O Lord, | 22:19 | |
to always stand firm at the side of the living, | 22:23 | |
sowing in this sin contaminated air | 22:28 | |
and invisible pollen of joy, | 22:31 | |
and courage and gentleness each to the other. | 22:35 | |
As prophets from above, | 22:40 | |
as servants from within, | 22:43 | |
teachers who are willing to be taught, | 22:47 | |
men and women of communion, | 22:51 | |
men and women who are listeners, | 22:54 | |
agents of faith and the transcendent, | 22:58 | |
but a faith that always includes the world. | 23:01 | |
Push us from these halls of worship | 23:07 | |
toward the narrow door of service and commitment. | 23:11 | |
After the image of Christ we ask, | 23:15 | |
may we know that while there is a lower class | 23:18 | |
as Christians, we are in it | 23:22 | |
while there is a soul in prison | 23:26 | |
as Christians, we are not free | 23:28 | |
while the earth is polluted | 23:32 | |
as Christians, we are unclean. | 23:34 | |
Wherever bombs fall, | 23:39 | |
as Christians, our wholeness is wounded. | 23:41 | |
So send us forth from this place | 23:48 | |
as agents of reconciliation, | 23:53 | |
enable us to walk through this time of confusion | 23:57 | |
and of wars like kings with gladness | 24:00 | |
and with joy and with faith. | 24:04 | |
The principalities and powers | 24:07 | |
vast and mighty cast their shadows of anxiety | 24:10 | |
over every path. | 24:13 | |
Give to the people of God, | 24:16 | |
the quiet confidence of our own integrity, we ask, | 24:19 | |
that we may work while at this day, | 24:25 | |
never fearing the consequences of our devotion | 24:28 | |
to the way of law | 24:31 | |
or the judgment of an uncertain future. | 24:34 | |
Through Jesus Christ, | 24:38 | |
who called us into this community | 24:40 | |
and gave us a gospel | 24:44 | |
and gave us the courage to come before thee, | 24:47 | |
praying together as his people, | 24:51 | |
Our Father who art in heaven, | 24:54 | |
hallowed be thy name, | 24:57 | |
thy kingdom come, | 25:00 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 25:02 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread | 25:06 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 25:09 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 25:12 | |
and lead us, not into temptation, | 25:16 | |
but deliver us from evil | 25:18 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 25:21 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 25:23 | |
Amen. | 25:27 | |
- | Let us pray. | 25:51 |
May the words of my mouth | 25:56 | |
and the meditations of our hearts | 25:58 | |
be acceptable in thy sight. | 26:01 | |
Oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. | 26:05 | |
Amen. | 26:11 | |
Just about a week ago, | 26:20 | |
a lady named Ms. Carole Faraci | 26:23 | |
astounded a white house gathering | 26:27 | |
in honor of the founders of the Reader's Digest | 26:29 | |
by addressing the president of the United States | 26:35 | |
and denouncing the war in Vietnam. | 26:39 | |
The guests who included Bob Hope, | 26:44 | |
Billy Graham and Mrs. Martha Mitchell among others | 26:47 | |
were doubtless as shocked by this | 26:51 | |
as were those of us who saw it later | 26:55 | |
on the evening television news. | 26:58 | |
Out from among the Ray Conniff Singers, | 27:03 | |
stepped a prophet or a prophetess. | 27:07 | |
And one might ask facetiously | 27:11 | |
are the Ray Conniff Singers | 27:13 | |
also among the prophets. | 27:14 | |
Most of the audience was angered, | 27:19 | |
but apparently, satisfied when Ms. Faraci | 27:21 | |
was hustled rapidly and unceremoniously | 27:25 | |
out of the auditorium. | 27:30 | |
Although Mrs. Mitchell was reported to have said, | 27:33 | |
she ought to be torn limb from limb. | 27:37 | |
Fortunately this did not happen. | 27:41 | |
Only slightly less astounding | 27:45 | |
than Ms. Faraci's audacity, | 27:47 | |
were her references in her brief denunciation | 27:51 | |
or declamation to Mr. Nixon's church attendance. | 27:54 | |
Her invoking of the name of Jesus Christ | 28:02 | |
against the war in Vietnam. | 28:06 | |
Her blessing of the Berrigan brothers | 28:10 | |
and Daniel Ellsburg. | 28:15 | |
One recalled at least Eartha Kitt's | 28:19 | |
denunciation of the war | 28:22 | |
in the presence of Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, | 28:23 | |
if not Nathan, before David | 28:27 | |
and Micaiah ben Imlah before the court of Ahab. | 28:30 | |
Now, whatever might be said about the effectiveness | 28:37 | |
or appropriateness of this act, | 28:40 | |
one had to admit that it was a very goody performance. | 28:43 | |
And what of invoking the name of Jesus Christ | 28:49 | |
over all of this? | 28:54 | |
Doubtless for Mrs. Mitchell | 28:57 | |
and millions who agree with her, | 28:59 | |
it simply added blasphemy | 29:03 | |
to effrontery. | 29:06 | |
For many others, | 29:09 | |
it seemed entirely right and appropriate. | 29:12 | |
Now, Ms. Faraci I understand, | 29:18 | |
later conceded that she was not in fact, | 29:20 | |
particularly religious. | 29:23 | |
But her linking of the president's church attendance, | 29:26 | |
the name of Jesus | 29:30 | |
and the heroes of the Roman Catholic peace movement | 29:32 | |
cast up in a graphic way. | 29:37 | |
The issues that now confront | 29:38 | |
and divide Christians and the church. | 29:40 | |
What does it mean to be a Christian? | 29:45 | |
What is the truth or essence of Christianity? | 29:49 | |
Who is Jesus? | 29:54 | |
Where is He? | 29:57 | |
What does he have to do with the war? | 29:59 | |
The Berrigan brothers? | 30:03 | |
The draft and Mr. Nixon's church attendance? | 30:05 | |
Our texts for the morning is the second chapter | 30:12 | |
of the gospel according to John, | 30:14 | |
which recounts the wine miracle of Cana | 30:17 | |
and Jesus cleansing of the temple. | 30:20 | |
It is now the season of epiphany in which the church | 30:24 | |
celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the nations. | 30:28 | |
The narratives of both these incidents recounted, | 30:34 | |
then in the second chapter of the gospel of John, | 30:37 | |
are traditionally read during the season of epiphany. | 30:41 | |
And the association of the miracle | 30:45 | |
at Cana with the epiphany | 30:47 | |
is particularly strong | 30:49 | |
in the traditions of the church. | 30:51 | |
Here, Jesus first manifests his glory | 30:55 | |
and his disciples believe in him, | 30:57 | |
as the scripture says. | 31:00 | |
The miracle itself is in fact, | 31:02 | |
a rather odd one among the miracles of Jesus. | 31:04 | |
Most of Jesus' miracles are healings | 31:08 | |
or demon exorcisms. | 31:11 | |
A few portrayed Jesus rescuing people | 31:14 | |
from physical danger or from debt. | 31:17 | |
Here, he responds to a situation | 31:22 | |
that seems to be at worst an embarrassment. | 31:23 | |
When you out of slits, you're out of beer. | 31:26 | |
Not to worry, Jesus makes it all right in a moment | 31:30 | |
by converting six large jugs full of water | 31:35 | |
into, well over a hundred gallons of wine. | 31:39 | |
You don't believe that? | 31:45 | |
Well, as a matter of fact, | 31:49 | |
there's room for skepticism, | 31:51 | |
but John's point is not that Jesus | 31:55 | |
produces the highest quality of vintage wine, | 31:57 | |
but rather that he fulfills and restores | 32:01 | |
disappointed human expectation. | 32:04 | |
The water of purification | 32:08 | |
does not suffice. | 32:11 | |
The original wine is exhausted. | 32:13 | |
The most one could expect now | 32:16 | |
is second rate stuff. | 32:18 | |
But contrary to all expectations, | 32:21 | |
Jesus provides the finest fruit of the vine. | 32:23 | |
And after the other wine is exhausted. | 32:26 | |
Quite unexpectedly, | 32:30 | |
he affirms natural human hopes. | 32:32 | |
Quite possibly, we should understand | 32:37 | |
that the wine itself is symbolic. | 32:39 | |
It is the divine affirmation of life. | 32:42 | |
The affirmation that bestows life | 32:46 | |
on despairing and dying men. | 32:48 | |
Now this epiphany story | 32:53 | |
embodies a view of Christ. | 32:55 | |
At a certain level, | 32:58 | |
He is a wonder worker, | 32:59 | |
a divine figure, | 33:02 | |
a man possessing uncanny power. | 33:04 | |
This Christ has always been popular. | 33:09 | |
He's still popular today. | 33:12 | |
We very sophisticated Christians | 33:15 | |
who scarcely expect that Christ worked miracles | 33:16 | |
or scarcely believe that Christ worked miracles, | 33:19 | |
much less expect that he may work one for us, | 33:22 | |
might well remember that among his followers, | 33:25 | |
we are still in all probability, a minority. | 33:28 | |
And yet the story wants to say more than that, | 33:33 | |
Jesus can do more than we ask or think in a worldly sense. | 33:35 | |
It means to say that he affirms | 33:41 | |
man's deepest desire and intentionality. | 33:43 | |
He has come that we may have life | 33:49 | |
and have it more abundantly. | 33:51 | |
And he bestows this life without restraint. | 33:54 | |
He bestows it lavishly upon us all, | 33:59 | |
upon Mr. Nixon, | 34:04 | |
the Ray Conniff Singers, | 34:06 | |
Carol Faraci, the radical priests | 34:09 | |
and Mrs. Mitchell as well. | 34:14 | |
In Christ, we see God's graciousness demand, his goodness. | 34:18 | |
And this goodness is free, | 34:23 | |
prevenient, that is God is good to us | 34:26 | |
before we are good to him. | 34:31 | |
But wait, that God and that Christ | 34:36 | |
are glorious, splendid, in fact too glorious. | 34:40 | |
The world is not such a place | 34:48 | |
as to encourage belief in them. | 34:49 | |
If Christ has affirmed us so lavishly and lovingly, | 34:53 | |
why do we still hurt? | 34:57 | |
Or perhaps more to the point, | 35:01 | |
why do we not hurt? | 35:04 | |
When by rights we should. | 35:07 | |
Why do we continue to enjoy affluence and ease | 35:09 | |
when in this rich countries, | 35:12 | |
children still go hungry | 35:14 | |
and people in Vietnam and East Pakistan, | 35:17 | |
Northern Ireland die. | 35:21 | |
The epiphany of Christ | 35:27 | |
who simply blesses things the way they are, | 35:30 | |
is and always has been | 35:34 | |
a pleasant prospect. | 35:37 | |
So the people are deeply shocked | 35:40 | |
and offended at the suggestion that | 35:42 | |
Christ may also be among the dissidents, | 35:44 | |
stirring up trouble, so to speak. | 35:48 | |
Yet, John is not satisfied | 35:54 | |
that Christ should appear only at a wedding feast | 35:55 | |
to enhance the enjoyment of the guest. | 35:58 | |
He does that, says John, | 36:01 | |
he affirms life and the poignant human desire | 36:03 | |
that it should have meaning and purpose. | 36:06 | |
Yet at the same time, | 36:11 | |
he stands over against our ways | 36:13 | |
of affirming, hoarding and ultimately | 36:15 | |
squandering our lives. | 36:19 | |
John is not satisfied to present Jesus | 36:24 | |
at a wedding in Cana only. | 36:27 | |
Alongside this epiphany story, | 36:32 | |
he places another one, | 36:34 | |
the story of Jesus cleansing of the temple. | 36:36 | |
All the other gospels, | 36:41 | |
report that this event that occurred, | 36:42 | |
on Jesus' final visit to Jerusalem. | 36:44 | |
And they're probably right. | 36:49 | |
So John deliberately places the story here | 36:51 | |
at the beginning, rather than at the end. | 36:55 | |
But in doing so, he does not really falsify | 37:01 | |
the history of Jesus. | 37:05 | |
Rather, he exposes its deepest truth. | 37:07 | |
Jesus affirms life. | 37:11 | |
But at the same time, | 37:14 | |
he challenges what we make of it. | 37:15 | |
Thus, He becomes a judge as well as a savior. | 37:19 | |
John shows how Jesus challenges, | 37:24 | |
the corruption that the house of God | 37:26 | |
and in doing so, he suggests that | 37:29 | |
he challenges our corruption of religion, | 37:31 | |
whether on television or in the media | 37:36 | |
or in duke chapel. | 37:39 | |
He challenges us most acutely | 37:42 | |
when we deem ourselves religious. | 37:45 | |
And in this challenge, | 37:49 | |
he risks himself, | 37:51 | |
destroy this temple, | 37:54 | |
this word of Jesus points forward to his own death | 37:58 | |
from which no supernatural powers | 38:02 | |
are in bulk to save him. | 38:04 | |
His protest exposes him to the wrath of the gods | 38:07 | |
who preside over the status quo | 38:11 | |
and Jesus succumbs. | 38:14 | |
He gives his life for his friends | 38:18 | |
as the gospel of John says. | 38:21 | |
And he suggests that those who are his friends | 38:24 | |
will prove themselves to be such | 38:27 | |
by a similar self-giving. | 38:31 | |
So near the beginning of his gospel, | 38:37 | |
John describes in a skillful way | 38:41 | |
in dramatic scenes, | 38:45 | |
the tension that stands at the heart of Christian faith. | 38:48 | |
Moreover, he traces this tension back to Jesus himself. | 38:53 | |
And as much as John may paint | 38:59 | |
over the historical Jesus with the colors | 39:01 | |
of Christian faith and Christian theology. | 39:04 | |
In this, he is essentially correct. | 39:07 | |
Not only theologically, I think, | 39:10 | |
but also historically. | 39:12 | |
The Jesus whom we know from the other gospels | 39:15 | |
also embodies this tension. | 39:18 | |
On the one hand, unlike John the Baptist, | 39:21 | |
he is not an ascetic. | 39:25 | |
He comes eating and drinking | 39:27 | |
much to the displeasure of some pious people. | 39:30 | |
On the other hand, | 39:34 | |
he challenges and judges the status quo | 39:35 | |
and those who are satisfied with it. | 39:38 | |
And finally they kill him. | 39:41 | |
After he is done to death by them, | 39:45 | |
his disciples proclaimed their faith, | 39:48 | |
that he has risen from the dead | 39:50 | |
and indeed offers forgiveness to them. | 39:52 | |
And to those who have killed him, | 39:55 | |
the final word of Jesus is yes to mankind | 39:58 | |
and to life, not no. | 40:02 | |
In this sense Christ, | 40:06 | |
is ultimately relieved of the tension | 40:08 | |
between affirmation and judgment. | 40:12 | |
But in this world, he was and is to the end | 40:17 | |
involved in this tension. | 40:22 | |
In fact, | 40:28 | |
I think it is not inaccurate to say | 40:31 | |
that his ministry was defined by it. | 40:33 | |
Now the temptation of Christians, | 40:41 | |
is and I suppose always has been, | 40:45 | |
to relieve this tension | 40:49 | |
and to relieve it prematurely. | 40:51 | |
It's easier either to affirm the world | 40:55 | |
or to reject it, | 40:59 | |
than to live in critical tension with it. | 41:01 | |
And in the New Testament, | 41:06 | |
there is already evidence of this. | 41:07 | |
Some Christians seem to go on | 41:11 | |
living easily and happily in the world, | 41:12 | |
accepting its ambiguities and evils | 41:14 | |
as though Christ had not judged it. | 41:17 | |
Others reject the world and completely withdraw | 41:20 | |
from marriage from gainful employment, | 41:23 | |
from civil responsibility. | 41:28 | |
Later on, one sees the church affirming | 41:31 | |
and adopting and adapting the institutions | 41:34 | |
and power structures of the world | 41:37 | |
to the extent that its own identity becomes questionable. | 41:38 | |
And this process is perhaps easier to see | 41:45 | |
in the age of Constantine | 41:47 | |
and in the medieval church | 41:49 | |
than it is in the age of prayer, breakfast | 41:51 | |
and white house worship services. | 41:53 | |
And yet it is as real now, | 41:56 | |
as it was then. | 42:00 | |
Conversely, the impulse that led some people | 42:04 | |
in the apostle Paul's time | 42:06 | |
and in his churches to give up their wives and jobs. | 42:08 | |
And the belief that they had already entered into glory | 42:12 | |
or were about to, has never ceased. | 42:14 | |
The rejection of this world in favor of the next, | 42:19 | |
or simply in revulsion from it, | 42:22 | |
is thoroughly understandable. | 42:25 | |
And it has doubtless played a role | 42:28 | |
in the rise of monastic, | 42:30 | |
the rise of gnostic heresy | 42:33 | |
at the fringe of the church, | 42:35 | |
or even in the rise of monasticism | 42:37 | |
within the church. | 42:39 | |
Various present day sex reflect this outlook, | 42:42 | |
it is arguable also that certain forms | 42:47 | |
of Christian social protest | 42:49 | |
contained within them the seeds of such a negative attitude. | 42:52 | |
So Christians frequently seemed to go overboard | 42:58 | |
in the one direction or in the other. | 43:01 | |
And that is entirely understandable, | 43:05 | |
for it is not easy to live intentionally. | 43:07 | |
When men hope for the world to come, | 43:11 | |
for heaven or for eternal life, | 43:13 | |
they express a natural and valid longing | 43:16 | |
for an ultimate resolution of the tension | 43:18 | |
in an affirmation of all | 43:21 | |
that is valid in life and in the world. | 43:23 | |
But to expect such a resolution within this life | 43:27 | |
or within this world is to cherish | 43:30 | |
a vain and delusive hope. | 43:33 | |
If we are to live in this world | 43:36 | |
and we must, | 43:38 | |
we have no other world to live in. | 43:39 | |
How may we deal with this tension? | 43:42 | |
Now, I am very much tempted to say to you | 43:48 | |
that we should strike a nice balance | 43:53 | |
between affirming the world | 43:57 | |
and rejecting it or judging it. | 44:00 | |
And that would be I suppose, | 44:05 | |
a certain truth in saying this. | 44:07 | |
And if we were able to agree | 44:11 | |
on some such resolution of this problem. | 44:12 | |
We might then leave the chapel consoled | 44:16 | |
in the thought that we must neither | 44:18 | |
affirm the world uncritically | 44:20 | |
nor rejected uncompromisingly. | 44:22 | |
And that sounds like a rather neat | 44:27 | |
and reasonable solution, | 44:28 | |
but possibly, just possibly | 44:31 | |
there are times when we should reject it | 44:33 | |
or other times when we should affirm it. | 44:37 | |
And moreover, | 44:42 | |
to live with such a comfortable abstraction | 44:43 | |
could be in fact, | 44:48 | |
to surrender to the gods of whatever is | 44:50 | |
or whoever is the stronger. | 44:55 | |
People in the university, | 44:59 | |
people like ourselves, | 45:01 | |
feel comfortable with abstractions | 45:03 | |
and rightly so, for in a certain sense, | 45:06 | |
abstractions are our business and they have a value | 45:08 | |
and in some cases, even a utility. | 45:12 | |
And yet life itself, | 45:17 | |
life itself has to be lived at the level | 45:20 | |
of the concrete and the specific. | 45:23 | |
And that is disquieting, | 45:26 | |
for example, | 45:31 | |
it was easier for all of us | 45:33 | |
in this intellectual and liberal community | 45:36 | |
to accept the abstract idea of school integration | 45:40 | |
than to accept the fact of our predominantly white children | 45:44 | |
going to predominantly black public schools. | 45:49 | |
When we are realistic, we know that life places, | 45:56 | |
hard choices before us, | 45:59 | |
which cannot be finally dealt with | 46:02 | |
at a purely abstract level. | 46:05 | |
If I could only show you how to strike some balance | 46:12 | |
between affirming what is | 46:16 | |
and standing in judgment over against it, | 46:19 | |
then perhaps those of us who have opposed the war in Vietnam | 46:22 | |
might reassure ourselves that our form of action | 46:26 | |
or inaction has been wiser | 46:30 | |
than the civil disobedience of the Berrigan brothers. | 46:33 | |
Not to mention the impertinence of Ms. Faraci, | 46:37 | |
maybe it has been, | 46:43 | |
I can't answer a question such as that for you, | 46:46 | |
but only for myself. | 46:51 | |
Yet I would not want any one of us | 46:54 | |
to easily, to assume that our way of living | 46:57 | |
with the tension to which Jesus calls us | 47:00 | |
is better than theirs. | 47:02 | |
For when we act and speak in judgment upon this world | 47:05 | |
and do so in the conviction | 47:10 | |
that this world is not what it ought to be or can be. | 47:12 | |
We do not reject the world, | 47:16 | |
but rather affirm it. | 47:20 | |
But when we withdraw, | 47:23 | |
when we withhold ourselves, | 47:26 | |
when we rise above the tumult, | 47:30 | |
when others per force must live in it. | 47:33 | |
When we retreat into the abstract, | 47:37 | |
when others are bleeding in the concrete | 47:41 | |
or on the concrete. | 47:44 | |
What then do we really do? | 47:46 | |
We do not then affirm the world that God has given us. | 47:51 | |
We really reject it. | 47:57 | |
Is this right for us as Christians? | 48:04 | |
Is it right by any accounting? | 48:12 | |
In fact, in the long run, | 48:18 | |
is it even possible? | 48:23 | |
Jesus helped celebrate a wedding feast | 48:28 | |
and then assaulted some people in the temple. | 48:32 | |
What kind of Christ was that? | 48:38 | |
Probably the only kind for a world like that. | 48:43 | |
And the only kind for a world like ours, | 48:51 | |
let us pray. | 48:57 | |
Oh God, give us the strength | 49:06 | |
to change the things we can change, | 49:09 | |
the patience to accept the things we cannot change | 49:13 | |
and the wisdom to know the difference. | 49:18 | |
But if we find ourselves complacent in that wisdom, | 49:21 | |
may we have courage to question | 49:25 | |
whether it comes from you. | 49:28 | |
In Christ's name, | 49:32 | |
Amen. | 49:34 | |
(gentle uplifting music) | 49:38 | |
(organ drowns out choir) | 50:20 | |
- | Receive, Oh Our Father, God, | 1:01:03 |
these goods of our labor | 1:01:06 | |
and the service of our lives | 1:01:10 | |
to be used according to thy will. | 1:01:12 | |
And send us forth, we ask, Oh Lord, | 1:01:16 | |
from this place of worship | 1:01:18 | |
and this time of consecration, | 1:01:21 | |
a graceful ministry of joyous affirmation | 1:01:24 | |
and courageous prophecy | 1:01:31 | |
through the spirit of Christ, | 1:01:34 | |
Our Lord. | 1:01:36 | |
Depart now to be God's people in the world, | 1:01:41 | |
and may you have peace | 1:01:44 | |
with the deep restlessness of God, | 1:01:46 | |
love for all the struggles that lie ahead | 1:01:50 | |
and always joy to fill the cup of all your celebrations. | 1:01:54 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:07 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:16 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:23 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:31 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:35 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:38 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:02:52 |