Frank Baker - "Brother Saul" (October 15, 1972)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(choir singing) | 0:04 | |
(organ music) | 0:57 | |
(choir singing) | 1:36 | |
(organ music) | ||
♪ Field and forest, vale and mountain ♪ | 2:37 | |
♪ Flowery meadow, flashing sea ♪ | 2:41 | |
♪ Shouting bird and flowing fountain ♪ | 2:47 | |
♪ Call us to rejoice in Thee ♪ | 2:51 | |
♪ Thou art giving and forgiving ♪ | 2:59 | |
♪ Ever blessing, ever blest ♪ | 3:04 | |
♪ Wellspring of the joy of living ♪ | 3:09 | |
♪ Ocean depth of happy rest ♪ | 3:14 | |
♪ Thou our Father, Christ our Brother ♪ | 3:19 | |
♪ All who live in love are Thine ♪ | 3:24 | |
♪ Teach us how to love each other ♪ | 3:28 | |
♪ Lift us to the joy divine ♪ | 3:33 | |
(organ music) | 3:39 | |
♪ Mortals join the mighty choir ♪ | 4:54 | |
♪ Which the morning stars began ♪ | 4:58 | |
♪ Father love is reigning over us ♪ | 5:03 | |
♪ Brother love binds man to man ♪ | 5:08 | |
♪ Ever singing, march we onward ♪ | 5:13 | |
♪ Victors in the midst of strife ♪ | 5:17 | |
♪ Joyful music leads us sunward ♪ | 5:22 | |
♪ In the triumph song of life ♪ | 5:27 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 5:34 | |
- | As we come together this morning, | 5:42 |
we know that our transgressions as individuals | 5:45 | |
and groups have been frequent. | 5:48 | |
We choose this time and this place to make our public | 5:51 | |
confession to God and our neighbors of our corporate | 5:54 | |
and individual transgressions. | 5:58 | |
Let us pray. | 6:00 | |
(choir singing) | 6:13 | |
Oh, holy and righteous God, we acknowledge before thee | 6:41 | |
that we do not fear thee and that we do not love thee | 6:46 | |
above all things. | 6:50 | |
We do not delight in prayer nor take pleasure in thy word. | 6:52 | |
We do not really love our neighbor. | 6:57 | |
We lack the conscience that should accompany | 6:59 | |
our Christian profession. | 7:02 | |
Our hearts are divided, crossed by doubts | 7:04 | |
and guilty desires. | 7:08 | |
We accuse ourselves before thee, oh God, | 7:10 | |
and we implore thee whose nature and whose name is love | 7:13 | |
to forgive us, and in forgiving, to heal us | 7:18 | |
so that in our lives we'll finally be changed. | 7:22 | |
Amen. | 7:27 | |
I acknowledge my sin to thee and I did not hide my inequity. | 7:29 | |
Then didst thou forgive the guilt of my sin. | 7:35 | |
The Lord redeems the life of his servants. | 7:38 | |
None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. | 7:42 | |
Let us pray the Lord's Prayer. | 7:47 | |
Our father who art in heaven, | 7:50 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 7:53 | |
Thy kingdom come, | 7:55 | |
thy will be done | 7:57 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 7:59 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 8:02 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 8:05 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 8:08 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 8:12 | |
but deliver us from evil | 8:14 | |
for thine is the kingdom | 8:17 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 8:18 | |
Amen. | 8:22 | |
(soft organ music) | 8:31 | |
(choir singing) | 10:07 | |
(organ music) | 11:18 | |
(choir singing) | 11:32 | |
(soft organ music) | 14:49 | |
Lord be with you. | 15:13 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 15:15 |
- | Let us pray. | 15:16 |
Praise is due to thee, oh God in Zion | 15:24 | |
and to thee shall boughs be performed. | 15:28 | |
Oh, thou who hearest prayer. | 15:31 | |
To thee shall all flesh come on thee account of sins. | 15:34 | |
When our transgressions prevail over us, | 15:38 | |
thou dost forgive them. | 15:42 | |
blessed is he whom thou dost choose and bring near | 15:44 | |
to dwell in thy courts. | 15:49 | |
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house | 15:52 | |
and thy holy temple. | 15:56 | |
By dread deeds, thou dost answer us with deliverance. | 15:58 | |
Oh God, of our salvation, | 16:03 | |
who art the hope of the ends of the Earth | 16:05 | |
and of the fartherest seas, | 16:08 | |
who by thy strength has established the mountains, | 16:11 | |
being girded with might. | 16:15 | |
Who dost still the roaring of the seas, | 16:17 | |
the roaring of their waves, | 16:21 | |
the tumult of thy peoples | 16:23 | |
so that those who dwell at the Earth's fartherest bounds | 16:25 | |
are afraid at thy signs. | 16:30 | |
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning | 16:33 | |
and the evening to shout for joy. | 16:36 | |
Though visitest the Earth and waterest it. | 16:39 | |
Thou greatly enriches it. | 16:43 | |
The river of God is full of water. | 16:45 | |
Thou providest their grain | 16:48 | |
for so thou hast prepared it. | 16:51 | |
Thou waterest the furloughs abundantly, | 16:53 | |
setting its ridges, | 16:57 | |
softening it with showers | 16:59 | |
and blessing it's growth. | 17:01 | |
Thou crownest the year with thy bounty. | 17:03 | |
The tracks of thy chariot drip with fatness, | 17:07 | |
the pastures of the wilderness drip, | 17:10 | |
the hills gird themselves with joy, | 17:13 | |
the meadows clothe themselves with green, | 17:16 | |
they shout and sing together for joy. | 17:19 | |
Amen. | 17:23 | |
Let us continue our prayers | 17:25 | |
with prayers of intercession and supplication. | 17:28 | |
Almighty and most merciful God, | 17:32 | |
we feel intensely moved to offer our prayers | 17:35 | |
for all those people in this world who need your love | 17:39 | |
and the love of their neighbors. | 17:44 | |
Enable us to be good and effective neighbors. | 17:46 | |
Help us to move from thinking about others, | 17:50 | |
to taking action for them. | 17:53 | |
Even those we may know nothing about. | 17:56 | |
We pray for people everywhere who are affected | 17:59 | |
and threatened by the effects of pop progress. | 18:03 | |
We remember particularly the newly discovered | 18:07 | |
Stone Age peoples in our world | 18:10 | |
who have to cope with being studied, | 18:13 | |
the victims of automated war | 18:15 | |
and those whose jobs have been taken over by machines. | 18:18 | |
We pray for people everywhere | 18:23 | |
who are subjected to violence of every kind in our world. | 18:25 | |
Those who are being killed and killing in war | 18:30 | |
on our streets, | 18:33 | |
in our prisons, | 18:35 | |
by drugs, | 18:36 | |
by starvation, | 18:38 | |
by discrimination, | 18:39 | |
by neglect. | 18:41 | |
Help us to remember that people need more | 18:43 | |
than the absence of bullets for an active and healthy life | 18:46 | |
and help us to work for both the absence of bullets | 18:51 | |
and the other necessities that people need. | 18:55 | |
We offer our prayers for all those that we misunderstand | 18:59 | |
and for ourselves, when we are misunderstanding. | 19:03 | |
We know we often misunderstand those | 19:07 | |
who do not live as we do. | 19:10 | |
Whether they be on the other side of the world | 19:13 | |
or across our state or next door. | 19:16 | |
Give us the courage to listen to others | 19:19 | |
and the strength to begin to live in harmony | 19:22 | |
with those who are different from ourselves. | 19:25 | |
We pray also for those who are uncared for, | 19:29 | |
those who are sick | 19:33 | |
and those who are dying. | 19:34 | |
Help us to bring warmth and affection | 19:36 | |
into the lives of those who feel unwanted, | 19:39 | |
to nourish and strengthen the body and the spirit | 19:42 | |
of those who are suffering an illness. | 19:45 | |
And when we have exhausted our ability to prevent death, | 19:48 | |
we ask your comfort and blessing for those who are dying. | 19:52 | |
And finally, dear God, | 19:57 | |
we ask your guidance and blessing for our own lives. | 19:59 | |
Give us good health as we move into the winter months. | 20:03 | |
Give us freedom within our spirit | 20:07 | |
so that we can change and grow | 20:10 | |
without fear our inhibition, | 20:12 | |
and give us the courage and the ability | 20:15 | |
to help the people who need us in our world. | 20:18 | |
All this we ask in the name of our God and Christ. | 20:22 | |
Amen. | 20:26 | |
The lesson is written in the first letter of John, | 20:42 | |
beginning in the second chapter | 20:46 | |
at the ninth verse. | 20:48 | |
"He who says he is in the light | 20:52 | |
and hates his brother is in the darkness still. | 20:55 | |
He who loves his brother abides in the light | 20:59 | |
and there is no cause for stumbling. | 21:02 | |
But he who hates his brother is in the darkness | 21:05 | |
and walks in the darkness | 21:08 | |
and does not know where he is going | 21:10 | |
because the darkness has blinded his eyes. | 21:13 | |
I am writing to you, little children, | 21:17 | |
because your sins are forgiven for his sake. | 21:19 | |
I am writing to you, fathers, | 21:22 | |
because you know him who is from the beginning. | 21:25 | |
I am writing to you, young men, | 21:29 | |
because you have overcome the evil one. | 21:32 | |
I write to you, children, because you know the father. | 21:35 | |
I write to you, fathers, | 21:40 | |
because you know him who is from the beginning | 21:43 | |
and the word of God abides in you | 21:46 | |
and you have overcome the evil one. | 21:48 | |
Do not love the world or the things in the world. | 21:52 | |
If anyone loves the world, | 21:56 | |
love for the father is not in him. | 21:58 | |
For all that is in the world, | 22:00 | |
the lust of the flesh | 22:02 | |
and the lust of the eyes | 22:04 | |
and the pride of light | 22:05 | |
is not of the father, but is of the world. | 22:07 | |
And the world passes away and the lust of it. | 22:10 | |
But he who does the will of God abides forever." | 22:14 | |
Here ends the lesson. | 22:18 | |
(organ music) | 22:21 | |
(choir singing) | 22:30 | |
Let us join together in the unison affirmation of faith. | 23:02 | |
We believe in God | 23:07 | |
who has created and is creating. | 23:10 | |
Who has come in the true man, Jesus | 23:13 | |
to reconcile and make new. | 23:16 | |
Who works in us and others by his spirit. | 23:19 | |
We trust him. | 23:23 | |
He calls us to be in his church, | 23:25 | |
to celebrate his presence, | 23:27 | |
to love and serve others, | 23:30 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 23:32 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 23:36 | |
our judge and our hope | 23:39 | |
in life, in death, in life beyond death. | 23:42 | |
God is with us. | 23:46 | |
We are not alone. | 23:48 | |
Thanks be to God. Amen. | 23:50 | |
- | Let us pray. | 24:04 |
May the words of my mouth | 24:10 | |
and the meditations of our hearts | 24:13 | |
be acceptable in thy sight. | 24:16 | |
Oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer. | 24:19 | |
Amen | 24:23 | |
By his own confession, | 24:28 | |
Saul of Tarsus | 24:31 | |
was a narrow minded stickler for the old ways | 24:33 | |
in religion. | 24:38 | |
He seems to have taken both pride and joy | 24:40 | |
in putting down the Jesus people | 24:44 | |
who were trying to turn the world upside down. | 24:48 | |
And then his life was changed completely | 24:53 | |
by a vision. | 24:57 | |
A vision of Jesus. | 24:59 | |
And also, I believe, | 25:02 | |
by two words | 25:04 | |
spoken to him by one of the intended victims of his campaign | 25:07 | |
to stamp out the Christians. | 25:11 | |
From this transforming personal experience | 25:15 | |
came the new theme which he proclaimed to his life's end, | 25:19 | |
summarized in his second letter to the Corinthians, | 25:24 | |
chapter five, verse 17. | 25:27 | |
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, | 25:31 | |
he is a new creature. | 25:35 | |
Old things are passed away. | 25:39 | |
Behold, all things are become new." | 25:42 | |
As a symbol of this tremendous change in his own life, | 25:48 | |
he took a new name, | 25:52 | |
Saul the Pharisee | 25:54 | |
became Paul, the Christian. | 25:57 | |
Keeping in mind Paul's insistence that a man | 26:02 | |
could be made new | 26:05 | |
by coming into spiritual touch with Jesus Christ, | 26:07 | |
a principle which is just as true today as 19 centuries ago, | 26:12 | |
I want to direct your attention to those two words | 26:17 | |
which illustrate some of the ways in which this change | 26:22 | |
took place for him and for others. | 26:25 | |
There are two accounts of the occasion | 26:30 | |
when they were spoken. | 26:33 | |
Saul had been struck blind | 26:35 | |
during a thunderstorm on his way to liquidate | 26:38 | |
the Christian group in Damascus. | 26:42 | |
The first account related by Luke | 26:45 | |
tells how a leading Christian of Damascus, Ananias, | 26:48 | |
entered the house of Judas in straight street | 26:52 | |
where the blinded Saul had been taken by his companions. | 26:56 | |
Ananias entered into the house, | 27:01 | |
and putting his hands on him said, | 27:05 | |
"Brother Saul, | 27:08 | |
the Lord, even Jesus, | 27:10 | |
that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, | 27:13 | |
hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight | 27:17 | |
and be filled with the Holy Ghost. | 27:21 | |
And immediately," Luke goes on, | 27:24 | |
"there fell from his eyes as it had been scales | 27:27 | |
and he received sight forth with | 27:31 | |
and arose and was baptized." | 27:34 | |
The second account was given by Paul himself | 27:39 | |
as he pleaded in Hebrew | 27:43 | |
with a crowd of Jerusalem Jews | 27:46 | |
who were threatening his life. | 27:49 | |
"One Ananias, | 27:52 | |
a devout man according to the law, | 27:55 | |
having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, | 27:58 | |
came unto me and stood and said unto me, | 28:02 | |
'Brother Saul, receive thy sight.' | 28:06 | |
And the same hour, I looked up upon him." | 28:10 | |
The accounts differ in detail, | 28:16 | |
but both agree on the essence of what Ananias said. | 28:19 | |
He began with the words, "Brother Saul," | 28:23 | |
and ended, "receive thy sight." | 28:27 | |
It seems to me that the simple | 28:32 | |
opening address | 28:35 | |
is in some ways of more importance | 28:38 | |
than the dramatic climax. | 28:40 | |
Before we can fully appreciate this, however, | 28:44 | |
we need to realize that both men | 28:46 | |
were living in the middle of a near Eastern spy story. | 28:50 | |
And both knew it. | 28:56 | |
This is what gives these two words such significance. | 28:59 | |
For Ananias, | 29:05 | |
they were a demonstration | 29:07 | |
of the new courage | 29:09 | |
that had come to him because of his acceptance | 29:12 | |
of Christianity. | 29:14 | |
Try to place yourself in his shoes, | 29:17 | |
or perhaps I should say his sandals. | 29:21 | |
Paul later testified | 29:24 | |
that Ananias was a devout and prominent Jew, | 29:27 | |
highly respected by the Jewish community in Damascus. | 29:31 | |
Undercover, however, | 29:36 | |
he was also a member of Jewish sector, who in Antioch | 29:39 | |
far to the north, where perhaps already being nicknamed | 29:42 | |
Christians, | 29:46 | |
because they maintained that Jesus of Nazareth | 29:48 | |
was the long awaited Jewish Messiah, | 29:50 | |
the Christ. | 29:53 | |
Jesus himself had already been executed as a criminal. | 29:56 | |
And Saul had begun to ferret out his followers | 30:00 | |
in Jerusalem. | 30:03 | |
After Stephen had been stoned to death, | 30:05 | |
the survivors were driven either into exile | 30:09 | |
or underground. | 30:14 | |
They dare only meet for worship in private. | 30:16 | |
Gaining entry by passwords and secret signs. | 30:20 | |
Now Saul left Jerusalem | 30:25 | |
with the authority to eradicate the Christians in the north, | 30:28 | |
including Damascus. | 30:32 | |
Then came his blinding vision of Jesus. | 30:35 | |
Ananias of Damascus | 30:43 | |
also had a vision of Jesus, | 30:45 | |
challenging him to visit a repentant Saul | 30:48 | |
and to welcome him to the Christian community. | 30:53 | |
A dream it surely was. | 30:57 | |
Or a nightmare. | 31:00 | |
Suppose Saul himself had started the rumors, | 31:02 | |
which for three days had been percolating | 31:07 | |
through the narrow streets of Damascus. | 31:10 | |
The unlikely rumors that he had come under the spell | 31:13 | |
of the same Jesus who's followers he was persecuting | 31:17 | |
and that he was now seeking their help. | 31:21 | |
This was one of the oldest tricks | 31:25 | |
in the secret agent's manual. | 31:28 | |
How to penetrate the enemies in a circle in 10 easy lessons. | 31:31 | |
If his instincts were wrong, Ananias knew | 31:37 | |
he might well find himself a second Stephen, | 31:41 | |
stoned to death. | 31:45 | |
Worse still, he would furnish a key by which Saul | 31:48 | |
might unlock the secrets of the Christians in Damascus. | 31:52 | |
Their meeting places, their names, | 31:56 | |
their degree of involvement. | 31:58 | |
But he was convinced from past experience | 32:02 | |
that he could distinguish the voice of the Lord in his mind | 32:06 | |
from the voice of pride, | 32:12 | |
of self-preservation. | 32:15 | |
He was sure that Jesus was calling him. | 32:17 | |
And so he went. | 32:20 | |
Whether it was to death | 32:23 | |
and possible disaster for the Christians, | 32:25 | |
or to begin a new chapter in the history of Christianity. | 32:28 | |
And the new courage that had come to him | 32:33 | |
from his master, Christ, was shown that its greatest | 32:36 | |
as he walked into your Saul's presence saying, | 32:40 | |
"Brother, Saul, | 32:44 | |
the Lord, even Jesus, | 32:46 | |
hath sent me." | 32:49 | |
Through the ages since, | 32:52 | |
many other men and women | 32:54 | |
have similarly been summoned to put their reputations, | 32:56 | |
their lives on the line at the call of Jesus Christ. | 33:00 | |
To attempt tasks seemingly beyond their capacity. | 33:05 | |
I think of Hugh Bourne, | 33:12 | |
a Staffordshire carpenter, | 33:14 | |
who after his conversion in 1799, | 33:16 | |
felt called upon to preach, | 33:20 | |
but dare not. | 33:22 | |
He wrote down an account of his religious experience | 33:24 | |
in the hope of converting a friend. | 33:28 | |
The reading of this led to the spiritual awakening | 33:31 | |
of several men who pressed Bourne to preach, | 33:34 | |
and did it to such good effect that eventually, | 33:38 | |
he was given the new courage to attempt the impossible task. | 33:41 | |
All the time he was preaching, however, | 33:47 | |
he held his left hand over his eyes | 33:50 | |
so that he could not see the congregation. | 33:54 | |
He also attempted to shut them out of his thought | 33:59 | |
and to speak as if he were addressing one person only. | 34:02 | |
Bourne became one of the founders of the | 34:09 | |
Primitive Methodist Connection. | 34:11 | |
And 40 years later, conducted successful missions in Canada | 34:14 | |
and the USA. | 34:19 | |
We too, in one way or another, | 34:22 | |
are called to serve God. | 34:25 | |
We too are ready with excuses. | 34:28 | |
I can't stand up in public. | 34:32 | |
I can't sing. | 34:35 | |
I can't give a pint of blood. | 34:38 | |
I can't risk my reputation. | 34:42 | |
There are so many things we can't do. | 34:44 | |
Paul said, | 34:48 | |
"I can do all things | 34:50 | |
through Christ who strengthens me." | 34:54 | |
If Christ needs us, | 34:58 | |
he will surely strengthen us | 35:01 | |
with new courage | 35:04 | |
for the venture to which he calls us. | 35:06 | |
The new courage of Ananias, | 35:11 | |
as demonstrated by those two words, "Brother Saul," | 35:14 | |
made possible a new vision for Saul. | 35:18 | |
There are various theories about Saul's blindness, | 35:23 | |
which was possibly caused by shock, | 35:26 | |
and were certainly accompanied by a vision, | 35:29 | |
perhaps aided by a flash of lightning. | 35:32 | |
Now came another shock. | 35:35 | |
A prominent Jew was telling him | 35:38 | |
that he was also a Christian | 35:41 | |
and that he had been sent by the Lord Jesus to Saul | 35:46 | |
as to a seeking fellow Christian. | 35:49 | |
"Brother Saul," he said. | 35:53 | |
He trusted the arch enemy of the Christians. | 35:58 | |
Called him brother. | 36:03 | |
Luke's narrative states that, | 36:06 | |
"As it were, scales fell from Saul's eyes | 36:08 | |
and he looked up and saw Ananias." | 36:12 | |
Restored sight was indeed a precious gift. | 36:18 | |
But it was a physical symbol | 36:22 | |
of something even more precious, | 36:25 | |
the new spiritual vision which then came to Saul. | 36:28 | |
Til that moment he had been blind and numb, | 36:32 | |
not knowing what to do. | 36:36 | |
He was a sophisticated man, | 36:39 | |
trained at Tarsus University | 36:41 | |
and Jerusalem Seminary. | 36:44 | |
He knew the subtle forces at work in people's minds | 36:47 | |
and really expected no help in his distress | 36:52 | |
from the underground persecuted Christians. | 36:56 | |
But here was Ananias come to change all this. | 37:00 | |
The spiritual impact Jesus had made | 37:04 | |
upon this man | 37:08 | |
had made him both kind and courageous | 37:11 | |
in confronting Saul. | 37:15 | |
What a Jesus this was, truly the son of God, | 37:18 | |
reconciling man to God | 37:22 | |
and man to man | 37:25 | |
and making them new men in him. | 37:27 | |
Notice that this new vision is two-sided. | 37:31 | |
Saul received it | 37:37 | |
because Ananias gave it. | 37:40 | |
We also may be involved in either side of this process. | 37:44 | |
Some years ago, | 37:50 | |
a Lebanese Methodist told of a missionary hospital | 37:51 | |
built for poor people in this same Syria. | 37:54 | |
Jealous, people spread the rumor that any patients | 37:58 | |
would be used for experiments, | 38:01 | |
perhaps slaughter. | 38:03 | |
As a result, nobody would go no matter how ill they were. | 38:05 | |
Then one morning on a walk, | 38:10 | |
the mission doctor saw a dog with a broken leg | 38:12 | |
and took it into the hospital. | 38:15 | |
His first patient. | 38:17 | |
One can imagine the wagging of tongues, | 38:19 | |
the dreadful predictions. | 38:22 | |
And then the dog was discharged. | 38:25 | |
Well on the way to recovery. | 38:27 | |
A different word now went around. | 38:30 | |
"Look here, if the doctor was kind to a street dog, | 38:32 | |
surely he won't hurt us." | 38:37 | |
Soon, human patients came | 38:39 | |
and found the missionary a true friend. | 38:42 | |
They came because the demonstration of his | 38:47 | |
instinctive desire to heal | 38:50 | |
had given them a new vision | 38:52 | |
of what Christianity really meant. | 38:54 | |
And so, if Christ touches our lives, | 38:58 | |
we shall surely be the means of transmitting a new vision | 39:03 | |
of service and love and courage | 39:07 | |
to those who say that Christianity makes no difference. | 39:09 | |
A new man, a new woman in Christ | 39:13 | |
will introduce others, sometimes quite unwittingly, | 39:17 | |
to the Christ who makes people anew. | 39:22 | |
The words | 39:28 | |
brother Saul | 39:30 | |
furnished not only a two-sided demonstration | 39:31 | |
of new courage for Ananias and a new vision for Saul, | 39:35 | |
they also heralded | 39:40 | |
a new fellowship | 39:42 | |
between those two persons | 39:45 | |
and between many millions of individuals and groups | 39:47 | |
of people from that time till this. | 39:49 | |
Most revolutionary movements fling up a new term | 39:53 | |
which becomes a password, | 39:58 | |
a battle cry, | 40:01 | |
a symbol. | 40:02 | |
In the French revolution, it was citoyen, citizen. | 40:04 | |
The sign of a democracy | 40:08 | |
taking over from an aristocracy. | 40:11 | |
In the Russian revolution, it was tovarishch, | 40:16 | |
comrade, mate. | 40:20 | |
The sign of a people's army | 40:23 | |
marching against Capitalism. | 40:25 | |
Workers of the world unite. | 40:28 | |
And so, in the Christian revolution, | 40:32 | |
the key word on the human plane was | 40:36 | |
brother. | 40:39 | |
It sprang from the our father, | 40:41 | |
about whom Jesus constantly spoke | 40:44 | |
and to whom he taught his followers to pray. | 40:47 | |
It was foreshadowed in his words, | 40:50 | |
"Whosoever shall do the will of God, | 40:53 | |
the same is my brother and sister and mother." | 40:55 | |
We form the family of those who love God. | 41:00 | |
In the progress of this powerful idea, | 41:07 | |
the words of Ananias, | 41:10 | |
"brother Saul," | 41:12 | |
constitute an important landmark. | 41:14 | |
Jesus had spoken of thy brother | 41:17 | |
but before Ananias, | 41:21 | |
there is no record | 41:24 | |
of anyone addressing a non-kinsmen | 41:26 | |
as brother together with his personal name. | 41:30 | |
Either in the Old Testament or the new. | 41:34 | |
Even though it does indeed seem likely | 41:38 | |
that Ananias learned this practice | 41:40 | |
from the apostles in Jerusalem. | 41:42 | |
Ananias set a standard for Saul, | 41:46 | |
which he passed on and made familiar throughout | 41:49 | |
the Western world. | 41:52 | |
Constantly, we find him using the term, brother | 41:54 | |
in a spiritual sense. | 41:56 | |
A beloved brother. | 41:58 | |
Our brother, Apollos. | 42:00 | |
Timothy, our brother. | 42:03 | |
Titus, our brother. | 42:05 | |
Epaphroditus, my brother. | 42:07 | |
And so down the Christian centuries, | 42:11 | |
in monasteries, in ecclesiastical hierarchies, | 42:14 | |
in evangelistic campaigns, | 42:18 | |
in the British Trade Union Movement, | 42:20 | |
largely inspired by Methodist lay-preachers, | 42:22 | |
in various brotherhoods and fraternities, | 42:26 | |
note the title you Latin scholars, | 42:29 | |
Christian culture has proclaimed that it stands | 42:32 | |
for the fellowship of a family. | 42:35 | |
Sometimes the word brother | 42:39 | |
has been spoken tongue-in-cheek. | 42:42 | |
Mumbled somewhat insincerely. | 42:46 | |
But at its best, it is like our father. | 42:49 | |
A gospel in itself. | 42:53 | |
A reminder of the wonderful new fellowship | 42:57 | |
into which Christians enter. | 43:00 | |
Or should enter. | 43:02 | |
Let me illustrate this worldwide Christian fellowship | 43:04 | |
by the simple story of a book | 43:08 | |
presented to the Duke Divinity School in 1970. | 43:11 | |
It is a translation of the Greek New Testament | 43:15 | |
into Syriac, | 43:19 | |
the language of Damascus. | 43:21 | |
Similar to the Aramaic which Jesus himself spoke. | 43:24 | |
It contains also a Latin translation and notes | 43:28 | |
by Martin Trostius of Westphalia, Germany. | 43:32 | |
It was printed in Upper Saxony | 43:36 | |
in 1621 and is bound in vellum. | 43:39 | |
The book therefore, originated in Palestine | 43:43 | |
and the Mediterranean world, | 43:46 | |
was prepared and printed in Northern Europe. | 43:49 | |
It employs five languages. | 43:53 | |
Once belonged to a well-known Bishop | 43:57 | |
of the Church of England. | 43:59 | |
Was bought in Scotland by a British Methodist | 44:01 | |
and was eventually deposited in an American University. | 44:05 | |
And all along the way, | 44:10 | |
through diverse centuries, | 44:12 | |
diverse lands, | 44:15 | |
diverse tongues, | 44:17 | |
it was handled reverently | 44:19 | |
because it enshrined a message | 44:22 | |
which was brought to the world nearly 2,000 years ago, | 44:25 | |
but remains to this day, | 44:30 | |
fresh and vigorous | 44:33 | |
and life transforming. | 44:36 | |
A new spiritual relationship | 44:39 | |
with a man of Palestine | 44:42 | |
who became the savior of the world. | 44:44 | |
A relationship which offers new courage, | 44:48 | |
new vision, | 44:53 | |
a new fellowship. | 44:55 | |
As brother Saul once said, | 44:58 | |
and as we now have from today, | 45:01 | |
"If any man be in Christ, | 45:05 | |
he is a new creature." | 45:09 | |
Amen. | 45:13 | |
Let us pray. | 45:15 | |
Oh thou, | 45:21 | |
who art the light of the minds that know thee, | 45:23 | |
the life of the souls that love thee, | 45:27 | |
and the strength of the wills that serve thee. | 45:31 | |
Help us so to know thee, | 45:35 | |
that we may truly love thee. | 45:37 | |
So to love thee | 45:40 | |
that we may fully serve thee, | 45:42 | |
whom to serve is perfect freedom | 45:45 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 45:48 | |
Amen. | 45:51 | |
(organ music) | 45:54 | |
(choir singing) | 46:22 | |
(soft organ music) | 49:41 | |
(woman singing) | 50:20 | |
(choir singing) | 52:26 | |
(organ music) | 54:39 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 55:17 | |
♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 55:22 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:27 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:30 | |
♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪ | 55:35 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 55:40 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:46 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:49 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:52 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:55 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:58 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:06 | |
- | All that we have, | 56:14 |
we have of thee, | 56:16 | |
creator and preserver of mankind. | 56:18 | |
Accept these gifts which we now bring before thee | 56:21 | |
and help us to make the whole of life an offering | 56:25 | |
and every thought a prayer. | 56:29 | |
We would seal this, our worship | 56:31 | |
in a renewed consecration of ourselves | 56:34 | |
and our coming days to thy service. | 56:37 | |
Through Jesus, the Christ, amen. | 56:40 | |
Find comfort in the steadfast love of God. | 56:48 | |
Depart from evil and do good. | 56:52 | |
Seek peace and pursue it. | 56:56 | |
Amen. | 56:59 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 57:07 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 57:14 | |
(choir singing) | 57:21 | |
(bell ringing) | 58:24 | |
(organ music) | 58:38 |