James T. Cleland - "The Pew - Person" (September 9, 1973)
MP3
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (organ music) | 0:03 | |
| (choral music) | 2:06 | |
| - | Can we be seated, please? | 7:12 |
| God is more ready to forgive, | 7:27 | |
| than we are to confess. | 7:31 | |
| The prayer of confession gives us the opportunity | 7:36 | |
| to confess to God, | 7:41 | |
| our willfulness and our weakness. | 7:45 | |
| Let us together, offer unto God this prayer of confession. | 7:52 | |
| Let us pray. | 7:59 | |
| Oh God, | 8:02 | |
| we confess that in the thoughts of our minds, | 8:03 | |
| in the desires of our hearts, | 8:07 | |
| in the words of our lips, and the deeds we have done, | 8:10 | |
| we have sinned against you. | 8:15 | |
| We acknowledge also our sins of omission and negligence, | 8:19 | |
| the duties we have shirked, | 8:24 | |
| the opportunities we have missed, | 8:27 | |
| the words of encouragement and witness we have not spoken, | 8:30 | |
| the deeds of healthfulness and law | 8:35 | |
| we have not performed. | 8:37 | |
| We are truly sorry for all, wherein we have displeased you. | 8:40 | |
| Have mercy upon us, and forgive us our sins, | 8:45 | |
| as we freely forgive those who have sinned against us. | 8:50 | |
| Cleanse our hearts, | 8:55 | |
| and so strengthen us by your Holy spirit, | 8:57 | |
| that we may henceforth walk in newness of life, | 9:00 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 9:04 | |
| Amen. | 9:07 | |
| Let us continue with a moment of private, | 9:09 | |
| personal confession. | 9:13 | |
| Our Lord said, | 9:31 | |
| "Let the person who is without sin cast the first stone. | 9:34 | |
| "And not a rock was cast." | 9:43 | |
| Our sinS, which are many, | 9:48 | |
| when confessed to God are forgiven in Christ's name. | 9:53 | |
| Let us go and sin no more. | 10:02 | |
| And now let us pray the prayer which our Lord has taught us, | 10:10 | |
| praying... | 10:14 | |
| Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 10:16 | |
| thy kingdom come. | 10:21 | |
| Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. | 10:24 | |
| Give us this day, our daily bread, | 10:27 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 10:31 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 10:33 | |
| Lead us not into temptation, | 10:37 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 10:40 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 10:43 | |
| the power, and the glory, forever. | 10:45 | |
| Amen. | 10:48 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 10:51 | |
| (choral music) | 12:01 | |
| Let us hear the word of God as it was recorded first, | 16:12 | |
| in the gospel according to St. Mark, | 16:18 | |
| the 12th chapter, at the 28th verse. | 16:22 | |
| "And one of the scribes came up | 16:30 | |
| "and heard them disputing with one another. | 16:33 | |
| "And seeing that Jesus answered them well, | 16:37 | |
| "asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" | 16:41 | |
| "Now that was not really his question. | 16:50 | |
| "He knew which the first commandment was. | 16:53 | |
| "What he's asking is, | 16:57 | |
| "what kind of commandment is the first of all?" | 16:59 | |
| ""Jesus answered, "The first is hear, Oh Israel, | 17:07 | |
| ""the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. | 17:10 | |
| ""And you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart | 17:14 | |
| ""and with all your soul, and with all your mind, | 17:19 | |
| ""and with all your strength." | 17:23 | |
| "The second is this. | 17:27 | |
| "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. | 17:29 | |
| "There is no other commandment greater than these." | 17:34 | |
| "What Jesus did | 17:41 | |
| "was to put together a verse from Deuteronomy, | 17:42 | |
| "and part of a verse from Leviticus. | 17:46 | |
| "And the scribe said to him, "You're right, teacher. | 17:52 | |
| ""You truly said that God is one, | 17:58 | |
| ""and there is no other, but He. | 18:01 | |
| ""And to love Him with all the heart, | 18:04 | |
| ""and with all the understanding, and with all the strength. | 18:06 | |
| ""and to love one's neighbor, as oneself | 18:10 | |
| ""is much more than all whole burned offerings | 18:14 | |
| ""and sacrifices." | 18:19 | |
| "And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, | 18:21 | |
| ""You are not far from the kingdom of God."" | 18:28 | |
| Now the same story is told also, | 18:37 | |
| in the gospel according to St. Luke, the 10th chapter, | 18:41 | |
| with one important variation. | 18:46 | |
| Luke 10, verse 25. | 18:51 | |
| "Behold, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test saying, | 18:54 | |
| ""Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" | 18:59 | |
| "Jesus said to him, | 19:07 | |
| ""What is written in the law? | 19:09 | |
| ""How do you read?" | 19:13 | |
| "And he answered. | 19:16 | |
| ""You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart | 19:17 | |
| ""and with all your soul, and with all your strength, | 19:21 | |
| ""and with all your mind, | 19:25 | |
| ""and your neighbor as himself." | 19:28 | |
| "This is not Jesus' unique discovery. | 19:34 | |
| "The lawyer knew it. | 19:36 | |
| "Someone in the synagogue | 19:39 | |
| "had put those two verses from the Old Testament together | 19:43 | |
| "before Jesus. | 19:48 | |
| "And Jesus said unto him, "You have answered right. | 19:51 | |
| ""Do this and you will live."" | 19:58 | |
| And may God bless unto us the reading of His word. | 20:06 | |
| (organ music) | 20:13 | |
| (choral music) | 20:21 | |
| Please remain standing. | 20:55 | |
| Let us in unison, affirm our faith. | 20:57 | |
| We are not alone, | 21:03 | |
| we live in God's world. | 21:05 | |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 21:08 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus | 21:13 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 21:16 | |
| Who works in us and others, by His spirit. | 21:19 | |
| We trust Him. | 21:23 | |
| He calls us to be in his church, | 21:25 | |
| to celebrate His presence, | 21:28 | |
| to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, | 21:30 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. | 21:36 | |
| Our judge and our hope. | 21:40 | |
| In life, in death, | 21:43 | |
| in life beyond death, God is with us. | 21:45 | |
| We are not alone. | 21:49 | |
| We believe in God. | 21:52 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 21:54 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 21:57 | |
| - | And with your spirit. | 21:59 |
| - | Let us pray. | 22:01 |
| It is a new day, Oh God, | 22:13 | |
| and we thank you for it. | 22:17 | |
| It is good to be alive, | 22:21 | |
| to see the dawning of another Lord's day, | 22:25 | |
| when we gather in remembrance of our Lord's resurrection. | 22:27 | |
| This is the Lord's day. | 22:32 | |
| Let us rejoice and be glad in it. | 22:37 | |
| We offer you, Oh God, these and other words of thanks. | 22:46 | |
| We thank you for difficult situations, to make us strong. | 22:54 | |
| For sinful and dangerous possibilities, | 23:05 | |
| which keep us alert. | 23:09 | |
| For enemies we have made | 23:14 | |
| when we have stood for right and just causes. | 23:19 | |
| For demanding opposition, | 23:25 | |
| which calls for the best from us. | 23:29 | |
| For pain, which keeps us sensitive | 23:35 | |
| to the needs of our body and spirit. | 23:40 | |
| For friends who care for us, | 23:47 | |
| who really care in spite of what they know. | 23:51 | |
| For Jesus Christ, and the love with which He loves us. | 23:59 | |
| Since you have said, "Ask, seek, knock," | 24:10 | |
| we offer this prayer of intercession right now, | 24:17 | |
| Oh God, in this chapel. | 24:25 | |
| For listening to these words, | 24:29 | |
| someone feels lonely. | 24:31 | |
| He's hurting. | 24:34 | |
| He's sad. | 24:36 | |
| He's in pain. | 24:39 | |
| He's near death. | 24:42 | |
| He's crying. | 24:44 | |
| He's scared. | 24:47 | |
| He's disturbed. | 24:49 | |
| He's worried. | 24:52 | |
| He's guilt-ridden. | 24:54 | |
| Hear our cries for ourselves and for others. | 24:58 | |
| This day, this week, | 25:05 | |
| some of us must make difficult decisions. | 25:08 | |
| Must face new and disturbing ideas. | 25:13 | |
| Must to meet hard and demanding opposition. | 25:18 | |
| Must face the unknown. | 25:22 | |
| Hear our cries for ourselves and others. | 25:26 | |
| We pray for those who teach, | 25:34 | |
| and those who learn. | 25:38 | |
| For those who wear our ill, and those who treat illness. | 25:41 | |
| For all those who make decisions about our lives | 25:47 | |
| and our futures, | 25:50 | |
| for the president, and Congress, and judges. | 25:53 | |
| For all who have worldly authority over us. | 25:59 | |
| Hear our prayers for ourselves and others. | 26:06 | |
| It is reassuring, Oh God, | 26:13 | |
| to read your word, which says, | 26:18 | |
| "My grace is sufficient for you." | 26:20 | |
| Supply us now, Oh, merciful Lord, | 26:27 | |
| with your forgiving spirit, | 26:34 | |
| your loving concern, | 26:39 | |
| your continued presence. | 26:43 | |
| For we pray in the name, | 26:50 | |
| and in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 26:53 | |
| Amen. | 26:58 | |
| You have heard Him break for us the bread of life, | 27:08 | |
| by the reading of the lessons from God's word this morning. | 27:14 | |
| And momentarily, | 27:23 | |
| we shall hear the Reverend Dr. James T. Cleland, | 27:23 | |
| Dean of the Chapel Emeritus preach. | 27:30 | |
| It's been some time now since he preached in this place, | 27:36 | |
| because officially, anyhow, he retired several months ago, | 27:43 | |
| but actually it appears to me | 27:51 | |
| that he has been just as hard at work | 27:53 | |
| and will continue to be as ever. | 27:56 | |
| For those who have heard him, | 28:01 | |
| and for those of us who would hear this morning, | 28:06 | |
| his word, as he shares God's word. | 28:10 | |
| Let me say Dean Cleland, we welcome you back, | 28:14 | |
| back home to your place here. | 28:19 | |
| And we hear you gladly and joyously, | 28:24 | |
| as on this day, you bring God's message to us. | 28:29 | |
| - | Thank you, Bobby Young. | 28:45 |
| I never thought I'd come back. | 28:51 | |
| I begin to feel like that manager of the Pirates, | 28:54 | |
| who has come back for the fourth time. | 28:57 | |
| Before we turn to the sermon, | 29:02 | |
| may I suggest that those of you, especially the men, | 29:05 | |
| or anybody else who are in jackets, take them off. | 29:09 | |
| I'm going to. | 29:14 | |
| (congregation laughing) | 29:16 | |
| Goes for the choir too, if they want to. | 29:25 | |
| (congregation laughing) | 29:28 | |
| The administration deems it proper | 29:29 | |
| that we worship in this black hole of Kolkata | 29:33 | |
| in the summer, | 29:36 | |
| but let's recognize that it is the house of God, | 29:39 | |
| and not Schrafft's in New York, | 29:41 | |
| so we can take our jackets off, it's all right. | 29:43 | |
| I'm glad to be back. | 29:48 | |
| In some ways, I'm glad to help, if I'm any use. | 29:51 | |
| Let us pray. | 29:57 | |
| Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts | 29:59 | |
| be acceptable in thy sight. | 30:04 | |
| Oh Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. | 30:09 | |
| Amen. | 30:14 | |
| Last December, Duke University granted me leave of absence | 30:22 | |
| from January until June of this year. | 30:28 | |
| Prior to my coming of age retirement, on June 30th. | 30:33 | |
| Where upon my wife suggested for my own sake, | 30:40 | |
| that I stay away from the pulpit for these six months. | 30:45 | |
| I agreed. | 30:53 | |
| And I have abided by the decision with July and August, | 30:55 | |
| except for the last Sunday, thrown in for good measure. | 31:00 | |
| Now, what does one preach about | 31:06 | |
| after so long a voluntary absence from the pulpit? | 31:12 | |
| There's one simple answer. | 31:18 | |
| One of the Royal chaplains in Scotland | 31:21 | |
| asked Edward the seventh, | 31:24 | |
| what his majesty would like the chaplain to preach about | 31:27 | |
| the following Sunday. | 31:31 | |
| The king replied in three words, | 31:33 | |
| "About 20 minutes." | 31:38 | |
| (congregation laughing) | 31:41 | |
| I wish my answer were just that simple. | 31:43 | |
| My first thought was to concentrate | 31:48 | |
| on what I would like to say after so long, | 31:50 | |
| a homiletical absence. | 31:53 | |
| It didn't take me any time to scrap that suggestion. | 31:56 | |
| So conceited, so egocentric, | 32:01 | |
| and probably so irrelevant to your needs and longings. | 32:05 | |
| And yet the idea kept haunting me. | 32:11 | |
| So I turned it round about, and upside down, and inside out. | 32:15 | |
| And the question became, | 32:21 | |
| what would I like to hear about in a sermon | 32:24 | |
| after a long absence from the pew? | 32:29 | |
| I tried to think like a pew person, | 32:35 | |
| instead of a pulpit person. | 32:39 | |
| Supposing I sat where you sit, | 32:43 | |
| as I did during those eight months, | 32:48 | |
| sometimes gladly, sometimes sadly, | 32:51 | |
| what would I want in and from a sermon? | 32:56 | |
| Let's look at the idea together. | 33:02 | |
| First of all, | 33:06 | |
| the sermon should have something to say about God. | 33:07 | |
| It should be penetrated with theology, | 33:16 | |
| which is the doctrine of God. | 33:21 | |
| What is God? | 33:23 | |
| Who is God? | 33:27 | |
| God is the more of themself, | 33:31 | |
| to which each one of us commits the self. | 33:37 | |
| The more than self takes all kinds of forms: | 33:43 | |
| Nationalism, racism, humanism, pacifism, | 33:48 | |
| denominationalism. | 33:58 | |
| Even denominationalism within the denomination, | 34:00 | |
| if one happens to be a Southern Presbyterian. | 34:05 | |
| Since we are worshiping here of our own choice, | 34:10 | |
| our God is, | 34:16 | |
| should be the one revealed in the Judeo-Christian heritage. | 34:19 | |
| Creator, sustainer, redeemer. | 34:28 | |
| He is easier to apprehend, than to comprehend. | 34:35 | |
| William E Hocking, the philosopher spoke one sentence, | 34:43 | |
| "To which each of us can say, Amen at some time, | 34:48 | |
| "I shall always be more certain | 34:54 | |
| "that God is than what God is." | 34:59 | |
| And yet there are sometimes clear glimpses of him. | 35:09 | |
| I once asked a surgeon what crossed his mind | 35:13 | |
| when he was in the middle of a person's heart. | 35:18 | |
| He answered, "You opt to know. | 35:23 | |
| "I think it comes from the Bible." | 35:28 | |
| And then he quoted Psalm 139, verse 14. | 35:32 | |
| "I will praise thee, | 35:38 | |
| "for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. | 35:41 | |
| "Marvelous are thy works, | 35:47 | |
| "and that my soul knoweth right well." | 35:50 | |
| That's what went through his mind | 35:55 | |
| as he was doing open heart surgery. | 35:58 | |
| "I will praise thee, | 36:00 | |
| "for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. | 36:02 | |
| "Marvelous are thy works, | 36:05 | |
| "and that my soul knoweth right well." | 36:06 | |
| Now that doctor has not as yet operated on me. | 36:10 | |
| If he does and the operation is unsuccessful, | 36:17 | |
| I know that I shall die in grace, | 36:23 | |
| not so much because of my faith, but because of his. | 36:28 | |
| Now as Christians, | 36:36 | |
| we add a second library to the library of the Old Testament. | 36:37 | |
| We possess the New Testament, with it's focus | 36:42 | |
| on one of the most soberly God-intoxicated men in history, | 36:49 | |
| Jesus of Nazareth. | 36:58 | |
| We believe that in Jesus, | 37:02 | |
| we have seen the word God become flesh, | 37:04 | |
| in so far as the human frame can encompass in any degree. | 37:09 | |
| The creative force behind, and in, and through the universe. | 37:16 | |
| As a little Italian-American boy put it, | 37:24 | |
| "Jesus is the best picture God ever had took." | 37:28 | |
| The best picture God ever had took. | 37:38 | |
| That's why we celebrate God's love at Christmas, | 37:42 | |
| and God's power at Easter. | 37:45 | |
| And every Sunday, the Lord's day, | 37:48 | |
| can be both, a little Christmas and a little Easter. | 37:51 | |
| Last Sunday, | 37:55 | |
| the recessional was made up of two Christmas hymns. | 37:56 | |
| We also believe that the spirit of God revealed in Jesus | 38:01 | |
| can dwell in our spirits, if we let him. | 38:05 | |
| It is because of Jesus that we say, | 38:11 | |
| God is personal. | 38:14 | |
| In that he is more like a person | 38:18 | |
| than like any other analogy in our experience. | 38:22 | |
| But let us remember this. | 38:28 | |
| God is of little importance, | 38:33 | |
| unless he is off Supreme importance. | 38:37 | |
| I want to hear that in a sermon when I sit in the pew. | 38:45 | |
| You know inevitably, | 38:51 | |
| what the second point of this sermon has to be, man. | 38:52 | |
| Now you who are acquainted with Latin, | 38:59 | |
| will realize that I'm talking of Hummel, mankind, | 39:01 | |
| and not just of Ver, the male of the species. | 39:08 | |
| I'm thinking of the Pupus, who is, if you like, | 39:14 | |
| man embracing woman. | 39:19 | |
| This is a person in the light of the God | 39:23 | |
| whom he/ she considers to be of supreme importance. | 39:28 | |
| For us in the church, that God is as was said, | 39:35 | |
| the one revealed in the Bible | 39:39 | |
| and primarily made known for Christians in Jesus. | 39:41 | |
| Then what kind of Christians should we be? | 39:46 | |
| We're aware of what a mixture each one of is, | 39:52 | |
| Karl Barth, the Swiss theologian, who made such a dent | 39:58 | |
| on both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism | 40:04 | |
| after the Second World War, | 40:08 | |
| talks about the personal crisis common to all of us, | 40:11 | |
| which arises from the contradictions | 40:19 | |
| inherent in human nature. | 40:22 | |
| Crisis which arises from the contradictions | 40:28 | |
| inherent in human nature. | 40:31 | |
| We are self-centered of necessity. | 40:35 | |
| And yet we are other-regarding, | 40:41 | |
| which ought also to be of necessity. | 40:44 | |
| We are tough minded, | 40:50 | |
| yet a concern for others also motivates us. | 40:53 | |
| We say, yes, to the God of our heritage, | 40:58 | |
| and we also say no, | 41:03 | |
| because of the demands of lesser gods. | 41:07 | |
| There's nothing new about this. | 41:10 | |
| Paul worried about it in his letter to the Romans. | 41:13 | |
| And it's interesting to notice | 41:18 | |
| that he was talking as much about his own condition | 41:19 | |
| as that of his readers. | 41:24 | |
| Listen to him. | 41:26 | |
| "I do not do the good I want, | 41:28 | |
| "but the evil that I do not want, is what I do." | 41:34 | |
| And what's his general conclusion? | 41:41 | |
| "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." | 41:43 | |
| We are sinners even as youngsters. | 41:50 | |
| I recall defending myself as a young teenager | 41:54 | |
| to my mother, regarding something I had done. | 41:58 | |
| I said, "Doesn't it show the breadth of my mind?" | 42:03 | |
| She gave me an immediate answer. | 42:11 | |
| "No, it shows the elasticity of your conscience." | 42:14 | |
| Breadth of mind, elasticity of conscience. | 42:23 | |
| What she said still haunts me 55 years later. | 42:28 | |
| Jesus and Paul both hammered on the solution | 42:34 | |
| to this tendency to sin. | 42:37 | |
| Remember that God is to be thought of as, like a father. | 42:39 | |
| He cares for us, and therefore He understands. | 42:44 | |
| We've only to tell Him, we're sorry, He'll do two things, | 42:48 | |
| He'll forgive. | 42:54 | |
| He'll give us strength | 42:57 | |
| the next time we're on to this kind of personal problem. | 42:59 | |
| This is known technically, as salvation by grace. | 43:04 | |
| By graciousness, through faith, through our accepting it. | 43:10 | |
| I'd like to hear about that when I sit in the pew. | 43:16 | |
| There's another point to be stressed. | 43:22 | |
| In the Christ's Theology of Karl Barth, | 43:25 | |
| "These contradictions in human nature, | 43:29 | |
| "are not only in the individual person, | 43:32 | |
| "they're in the social order." | 43:36 | |
| And now as I ask the advice of a colleague | 43:40 | |
| in the department of religion, | 43:42 | |
| about this point in the sermon, | 43:44 | |
| he responded, "Ignore Watergate." | 43:47 | |
| "I shall." (chuckling) | 43:54 | |
| But keep it in the back of your mind. | 43:57 | |
| (all chuckling) | 44:00 | |
| And when we leave this service, | 44:02 | |
| think of it as an illustration | 44:05 | |
| of the contradictions in our social order. | 44:08 | |
| The cause of the underlying opposition is very simple. | 44:14 | |
| We are citizens of two kingdoms. | 44:19 | |
| In so far as we recognize ourselves as sinners, | 44:25 | |
| not in the hands of an angry God, | 44:30 | |
| but saved, that is made healthy by grace. | 44:33 | |
| By the graciousness of one whom we call, Father, | 44:39 | |
| we are citizens of the kingdom of God. | 44:43 | |
| But by birth or naturalization, | 44:46 | |
| we are all but citizens of an earthly kingdom. | 44:49 | |
| Most of us are the United States of America. | 44:53 | |
| That double-citizenship is often a contradiction, | 44:57 | |
| sometimes a problem. | 45:04 | |
| And maybe even at tragedy. | 45:07 | |
| Moreover, it is constantly with us. | 45:12 | |
| We are split personalities. | 45:17 | |
| We are pulled this way and that, | 45:20 | |
| both within ourselves and in our relationship to others, | 45:23 | |
| in a world which is becoming one neighborhood, | 45:29 | |
| without becoming one brotherhood. | 45:37 | |
| we live per force | 45:43 | |
| but not necessarily equally in two kingdoms, | 45:44 | |
| with allegiance to both. | 45:48 | |
| So we compromise, | 45:50 | |
| wondering if it's a sign of a valid breadth of conscience. | 45:52 | |
| Breadth of mind or the outcome of elasticity of conscience. | 45:58 | |
| The churches are not of one mind | 46:03 | |
| in answering the valid questions from the pew, | 46:05 | |
| about Indo-China. | 46:08 | |
| About the tension among the races and within the races. | 46:10 | |
| About the contradictory fact of poverty, amid abundance. | 46:14 | |
| About the ethic of sex. | 46:19 | |
| Let me share just one example. | 46:21 | |
| A friend, a road scholar, | 46:23 | |
| distinguished headmaster, | 46:27 | |
| a state legislator in New England, | 46:30 | |
| an intelligent Christian keeps in touch with me | 46:33 | |
| by letters and visits. | 46:36 | |
| He is now to use his own words, | 46:39 | |
| "Utterly disillusioned with Christendom." | 46:42 | |
| Utterly disillusioned with Christendom. | 46:48 | |
| Why? | 46:52 | |
| Because of North Ireland. | 46:54 | |
| When neither side seems to have heard | 47:00 | |
| of the late Pope John, the 23rd, | 47:03 | |
| that 20th century Martin Luther, | 47:07 | |
| who managed to stay inside the Roman church. | 47:11 | |
| Now what this man in New England | 47:16 | |
| wants in a sermon on this topic, | 47:19 | |
| is that a recognition of the political-religious shambles. | 47:23 | |
| Plus a sensitivity, both to the conflicting backgrounds | 47:32 | |
| and to the frightful difficulty of reconciliation. | 47:40 | |
| With some Christian pointers to a reasonable solution | 47:47 | |
| spoken in goodwill. | 47:53 | |
| I'd like to hear about that in other areas too, | 47:58 | |
| when I sit where you sit. | 48:02 | |
| For if the church has nothing to say | 48:06 | |
| by way of social reconciliation, | 48:08 | |
| then it would be better for it to admit | 48:11 | |
| that it has no message for society. | 48:15 | |
| Whatever it has to say to the individual | 48:20 | |
| in his aloneness with God. | 48:24 | |
| There's a fourth and final thought. | 48:27 | |
| I told another friend about this sermon, | 48:31 | |
| and asked her on what I should focus. | 48:34 | |
| Her reply was instant and brief. | 48:37 | |
| "Preach on Armageddon." | 48:41 | |
| Armageddon. | 48:44 | |
| Now, according to the book of The Revelation, | 48:46 | |
| Armageddon is the place in Palestine | 48:49 | |
| where the final battle will be fought between good and evil. | 48:52 | |
| It is the symbol of the awful fact of judgment. | 48:59 | |
| When God moves in with power. | 49:03 | |
| Now, the suggestion made me think | 49:08 | |
| of a Roman Catholic Army Chaplain's comment | 49:10 | |
| on one of my sermons, which he had just heard. | 49:14 | |
| All he said was, "You didn't give him enough hell." | 49:18 | |
| That may be a valid analysis | 49:25 | |
| of all my preaching down the years. | 49:27 | |
| Have I any defense? Yes. | 49:30 | |
| From the viewpoint of the pew, | 49:33 | |
| what I want to hear is the gospel, | 49:35 | |
| which is not the threat of hell. | 49:38 | |
| It's not even good advice. | 49:43 | |
| It's etymologically good news. | 49:46 | |
| It has never seemed to me that the job of the preacher | 49:51 | |
| is to blast the worshiping congregation as sinners, | 49:54 | |
| to scare folk into heaven, | 49:59 | |
| but rather to woo them and win them into the kingdom. | 50:04 | |
| That was the basic message of Jesus in His teaching. | 50:08 | |
| And did it not receive God's implementer at Easter? | 50:12 | |
| Oh, I appreciate the awareness | 50:17 | |
| of sending the individual in society. | 50:20 | |
| It will always be there. | 50:23 | |
| It'll always have to be dealt with. | 50:24 | |
| But the sermon should have a note of hope, | 50:27 | |
| a word of encouragement, | 50:31 | |
| an emphasis on good news. | 50:34 | |
| It's because of the resurrection, | 50:38 | |
| whether it's gospel of the defeat of sin, | 50:41 | |
| the defeat of death, | 50:44 | |
| and the hope of continuing life with God | 50:47 | |
| and with those we have loved long since and last awhile, | 50:50 | |
| that Christianity is alive at all. | 50:54 | |
| That I want to hear about again and again, | 50:58 | |
| when I am a pew person. | 51:02 | |
| There was a memorial service at Duke some months ago. | 51:05 | |
| The widow had but one insistent request, just one. | 51:08 | |
| That the "Hallelujah chorus" | 51:15 | |
| be played on the organ before the benediction. | 51:18 | |
| It was in the frontal cloth on the altar, | 51:22 | |
| whereas the Easter cloth, gold and white. | 51:26 | |
| And the congregation left in a mood of exultation | 51:32 | |
| and triumph. | 51:37 | |
| Still, whether I were in the pew, it's in these areas | 51:42 | |
| that I would like to hear the Minister reflect aloud. | 51:45 | |
| God, man, society, continuing life... (chuckling) | 51:49 | |
| Though not all at once. (chuckling) | 51:57 | |
| I have dealt with too much this morning. | 52:00 | |
| God would always be primary. | 52:03 | |
| The God who for us, Christians | 52:05 | |
| is basically, though not solely revealed in Jesus. | 52:07 | |
| I think that's what Abraham Lincoln was getting at | 52:15 | |
| when he's reported to have said, | 52:17 | |
| "If the church would ask simply for ascent | 52:19 | |
| "to the savior statement of the substance of the law, | 52:24 | |
| "Thou shall love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart | 52:29 | |
| "and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, | 52:31 | |
| "and thy neighbor as thyself. | 52:34 | |
| "That church would I gladly unite with." | 52:37 | |
| And do you know who says, "I'm into that statement?" | 52:44 | |
| George Bernard Shaw, of all people. | 52:49 | |
| In the preface to "Andrew CLees and the Lion," | 52:55 | |
| listen to the gospel according to Saint Bernard, | 52:59 | |
| just three sentences. | 53:03 | |
| "This man that is Jesus has not been a failure yet, | 53:08 | |
| "for nobody has been sane enough to try his way. | 53:14 | |
| "We've always had a curious feeling, | 53:21 | |
| "that though we crucified Christ on a stick, | 53:24 | |
| "He somehow managed to get hold of the right end of it. | 53:29 | |
| "And if we were better men/ persons, we might try his plan. | 53:34 | |
| "I see no way out of the world's misery, | 53:42 | |
| "but the way which it would have been found by Christ will, | 53:46 | |
| "if He had undertaken the work | 53:51 | |
| "of a modern, practical statement." | 53:53 | |
| And do you think that Jesus might be saying to Shaw | 53:59 | |
| what he said to the lawyer, | 54:03 | |
| in our scripture lesson from Mark? | 54:04 | |
| "You are not far from the kingdom of God." | 54:08 | |
| Or what He said to the lawyer, | 54:15 | |
| in our scripture lesson from Luke? | 54:17 | |
| "You have answered right. | 54:20 | |
| "Do this and you will live." | 54:24 | |
| And in the background, Abraham Lincoln is saying, | 54:29 | |
| "Amen." | 54:35 | |
| So to each of you and to myself, | 54:38 | |
| this early, and another academic year, | 54:41 | |
| I say the only three Spanish words I know, | 54:45 | |
| and cannot really pronounce. | 54:49 | |
| (speaking Spanish) | 54:52 | |
| Which being interpreted is, "Go with God." | 54:54 | |
| Go with the God of Jesus, and of Lincoln, | 54:59 | |
| and even of Shaw. | 55:04 | |
| The God whom I hope you will hear about from this pulpit, | 55:08 | |
| as you worship in the Duke Chapel. | 55:13 | |
| Amen, let us pray. | 55:18 | |
| We believe in thee God, who has created and is creating, | 55:23 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus | 55:28 | |
| to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others, | 55:32 | |
| through thy spirit. | 55:37 | |
| In life and in death, and life beyond death, | 55:41 | |
| thou are with us, we are not alone. | 55:43 | |
| Thanks be to thee. | 55:49 | |
| Amen. | 55:53 | |
| (organ music) | 55:57 | |
| (choral music) | 56:42 | |
| (organ music) | 58:30 | |
| (choral music) | 1:00:05 |
