David Lambert - "A Modern Affirmation" (April 20, 1975)
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| (choir singing brightly) | 0:03 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 0:48 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:42 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 1:55 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 2:02 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 2:22 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 2:29 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 2:38 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 3:18 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 3:25 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 3:34 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 3:46 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 3:55 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 4:14 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 4:21 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 4:29 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 4:44 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 4:49 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 5:07 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:14 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 5:22 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 5:36 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 5:41 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 5:59 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:06 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 6:15 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:30 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 6:34 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 6:53 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 6:59 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 7:08 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 7:23 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 7:28 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 7:47 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 7:54 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 8:03 | |
| - | Remember the words from the 1st letter of John. | 8:26 |
| "If we claim to be sinless, we are self-deceived | 8:30 | |
| and strangers to the truth. | 8:34 | |
| And if we say we have committed no sin, | 8:37 | |
| we make him out to be a liar, | 8:40 | |
| and then his word has no place in us." | 8:42 | |
| And so, in preparation for hearing | 8:46 | |
| and receiving God's word again, | 8:50 | |
| let us make our corporate confession. | 8:52 | |
| Let us pray. | 8:56 | |
| Almighty God, we come before you as a disobedient church. | 8:58 | |
| Our loyalty to you has been lost | 9:04 | |
| in the conflict of human loyalties. | 9:07 | |
| Our own self-interest | 9:11 | |
| has made us insensitive to your commands. | 9:12 | |
| Our past is precious to us | 9:16 | |
| and we have allowed it to set limits upon the present | 9:19 | |
| and the future. | 9:23 | |
| Our worship and service have been feeble. | 9:25 | |
| We have not responded in love to you | 9:29 | |
| nor to the needs of our neighbors. | 9:32 | |
| Break our apathy and our arrogance | 9:35 | |
| with the judgment of your love. | 9:38 | |
| Then in mercy, heal us, O Holy Spirit, | 9:41 | |
| causing us as a community to be born anew, | 9:46 | |
| in Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 9:51 | |
| Hear our prayers, O Lord. Amen. | 10:18 | |
| Remember and believe | 10:22 | |
| some other words from the 1st letter of John. | 10:23 | |
| "If we confess our sins, God is just | 10:28 | |
| and may be trusted to forgive our sins | 10:32 | |
| and cleanse us from every kind of wrong." | 10:35 | |
| Accept this forgiveness | 10:40 | |
| and give thanks for this hope which is ours. Amen. | 10:42 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 10:49 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 11:26 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 13:17 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 13:58 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:02 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:08 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:12 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:18 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:22 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 14:38 | |
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 14:42 | |
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 14:48 | |
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 14:55 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 14:59 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 15:05 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 15:10 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Praising song ♪ | 15:34 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 15:36 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 15:39 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 15:44 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Another praising song ♪ | 15:57 | |
| ♪ Another praising song ♪ | 16:00 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 16:03 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another praising song ♪ | 16:21 | |
| ♪ Sing to the Lord another ♪ | 16:27 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 16:29 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Another praising song ♪ | 16:59 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:02 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Praising song ♪ | 17:18 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:21 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 17:30 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 17:36 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord ♪ | 17:39 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:42 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord ♪ | 17:45 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:48 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Sing to the Lord ♪ | 17:55 | |
| - | The scripture this morning | 18:20 |
| is taken from the letter of James, | 18:22 | |
| selections from chapters one, two, and three. | 18:25 | |
| "But be doers of the word | 18:36 | |
| and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. | 18:38 | |
| For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, | 18:43 | |
| he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror, | 18:48 | |
| for he observes himself and goes away | 18:54 | |
| and at once forgets what he was like. | 18:58 | |
| But he who looks into the perfect law, | 19:02 | |
| the law of liberty and perseveres, | 19:05 | |
| being no hearer that forgets, but a doer that acts, | 19:08 | |
| he shall be blessed in his doing. | 19:14 | |
| If anyone thinks he is religious | 19:19 | |
| and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, | 19:22 | |
| this man's religion is vain. | 19:27 | |
| Religion that is pure and undefiled | 19:31 | |
| before God and the Father is this: | 19:34 | |
| to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, | 19:38 | |
| and to keep oneself unstained from the world. | 19:42 | |
| What does it profit my brethren | 19:53 | |
| if a man says he has faith, but he has not works? | 19:55 | |
| Can his faith save him? | 20:01 | |
| If a brother or sister is ill-clad | 20:05 | |
| and in lack of daily food | 20:08 | |
| and one of you says to them, | 20:11 | |
| 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled.' | 20:14 | |
| without giving them the things needed for the body, | 20:18 | |
| what does it profit? | 20:22 | |
| So faith by itself, if it has no works is dead. | 20:24 | |
| Who is wise and understanding among you? | 20:38 | |
| By his good life, | 20:42 | |
| let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. | 20:44 | |
| But if you have bitter jealousy | 20:49 | |
| and selfish ambition in your heart, | 20:52 | |
| do not boast and be false to the truth. | 20:55 | |
| This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, | 20:59 | |
| but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. | 21:04 | |
| For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, | 21:12 | |
| there will be disorder and every vile practice. | 21:17 | |
| But the wisdom from above is first pure, | 21:23 | |
| then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, | 21:28 | |
| full of mercy and good fruits, | 21:33 | |
| without uncertainty and insincerity. | 21:36 | |
| And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace | 21:41 | |
| by those who make peace." | 21:45 | |
| Thus endeth the reading. | 21:49 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 21:51 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 22:01 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 22:26 | |
| - | Let us affirm our faith corporately. | 22:35 |
| We are not alone. | 22:38 | |
| - | We live in God's world. | 22:40 |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 22:42 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus | 22:48 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 22:51 | |
| Who works in us and others by his spirit. | 22:54 | |
| We trust him, he calls us to be his church, | 22:58 | |
| to celebrate his presence, to love and serve others, | 23:03 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 23:09 | |
| to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 23:12 | |
| our judge and our hope. | 23:16 | |
| In life and death, in life beyond death, | 23:19 | |
| God is with us. | 23:24 | |
| We are not alone. | 23:26 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 23:28 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 23:31 |
| (congregation speaking faintly) | 23:33 | |
| Let us pray. | 23:34 | |
| O Holy God, | 23:44 | |
| we bow and wonder at the mystery of all of your creation, | 23:46 | |
| the marvel of the changing seasons, | 23:50 | |
| the beauty of the flowers and trees, | 23:53 | |
| the fierceness of the winds, the joy and pain of friends. | 23:55 | |
| We thank you, O God for every triumph of the spirit, | 24:02 | |
| for the joys of truth, for the joys of people know, | 24:06 | |
| and the struggle with mystery and the unknown. | 24:10 | |
| For the joys of hands at work, at prayer, at play; | 24:14 | |
| for the joys of the seeing eye and the understanding heart | 24:19 | |
| and the creative spirit. | 24:24 | |
| For all these joys and others we know, we give you thanks. | 24:27 | |
| O Holy God, we are concerned people. | 24:34 | |
| We are concerned for those we love who are suffering, | 24:39 | |
| who are in despair, who are sick, who cannot find work, | 24:43 | |
| who have unresolved in a turmoil. | 24:51 | |
| We are concerned for those we do not know | 24:56 | |
| who are suffering because of war or hunger | 24:59 | |
| or loneliness or unemployment, | 25:04 | |
| many because of our own selfishness. | 25:08 | |
| We lift all these people to your loving care. | 25:13 | |
| And O God, we know that we are instruments | 25:17 | |
| of your loving care. | 25:21 | |
| Deliver us from petty concerns about ourselves. | 25:25 | |
| That we may respond to that which we value most | 25:30 | |
| in ourselves and others. | 25:33 | |
| Strengthen us to stand steady in this shaken world | 25:37 | |
| and to respond to the needs around us. | 25:41 | |
| Discipline us to sharpen our inside and open our hearts | 25:46 | |
| that we may share the need and glory of our human destiny | 25:52 | |
| with one another. | 25:56 | |
| And O God, we are an anxious people. | 26:00 | |
| It is difficult for us to take no thought for the moral. | 26:04 | |
| We feel the pressure of too much work, | 26:09 | |
| of too many demands, of unfinished papers, | 26:12 | |
| of approaching exams, of the unending request for our time, | 26:17 | |
| our energy and love. | 26:25 | |
| When these precious mount upon us, O God, calm our souls | 26:29 | |
| that our minds and bodies may function effectively. | 26:34 | |
| If we are alone and the tasks seem more than we can do, | 26:39 | |
| or if done, not welcome by the world, | 26:43 | |
| reveal your presence to us that we may labor with your help, | 26:47 | |
| that we may find lasting meaning in our lives. | 26:55 | |
| Turn us from dreams of fall glory | 26:59 | |
| to work in the commonplace circumstances, | 27:03 | |
| and disclose to us the miracle of your grace | 27:06 | |
| in unexpected places. | 27:11 | |
| All these things we pray in the spirit of our Lord | 27:15 | |
| who taught us to pray, saying, | 27:18 | |
| "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; | 27:21 | |
| thy kingdom come; | 27:27 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 27:30 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread; | 27:34 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 27:38 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us; | 27:40 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 27:44 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 27:50 | |
| and the power and the glory, | 27:52 | |
| for ever and ever. | 27:55 | |
| Amen. | 27:57 | |
| You are invited to two special gospel sings today: | 27:59 | |
| One at one o'clock on the quad, | 28:04 | |
| which will be a picnic if you have one to bring. | 28:06 | |
| It will be the Mountain Folk singing gospel songs. | 28:09 | |
| And then at three o'clock in Baldwin Auditorium, | 28:13 | |
| there will be a Black Gospel sing. | 28:16 | |
| All of these are free. | 28:18 | |
| We welcome to our pulpit today David Lambert. | 28:21 | |
| We pray that we may open our hearts, | 28:26 | |
| and we give thanks that God will speak through him. | 28:28 | |
| Welcome David. | 28:32 | |
| - | Thank you. | 28:39 |
| I would first like to say good morning to all of you | 28:42 | |
| and to the many of my friends | 28:45 | |
| and fraternity brothers who have come this morning | 28:46 | |
| and who may have never seen the inside of the chapel before, | 28:49 | |
| I would like to say, make yourselves at home. | 28:53 | |
| I'm sure I speak to the regular chapel ministry | 28:56 | |
| when I say you're welcome to come back at any time. | 28:58 | |
| I'm sure many of you are wondering what motivated me, | 29:03 | |
| a mere freshman, ex pre-med student here at Duke | 29:06 | |
| (congregation laughing) | 29:09 | |
| to volunteer to preach a sermon in Duke Chapel. | 29:10 | |
| Well, believe me, all through last week | 29:14 | |
| as this morning was approaching | 29:16 | |
| and I was becoming more and more nervous, | 29:18 | |
| I asked myself that same question many times. | 29:20 | |
| To answer it, I'd like to bring you up to date | 29:24 | |
| on a little personal history. | 29:26 | |
| I've attended church in my hometown all my life | 29:29 | |
| and I've always found its activities | 29:32 | |
| to be worthwhile and enjoyable. | 29:34 | |
| Our youth group did things | 29:37 | |
| ranging from house painting for an elderly couple | 29:38 | |
| to spending all night at a drive-in movie together, | 29:41 | |
| which raised a few eyebrows in the church to say the least. | 29:44 | |
| But coming to Duke was a different story. | 29:48 | |
| I had no group of long-time friends | 29:51 | |
| waiting to greet me on Sunday morning. | 29:53 | |
| So, I began to ask, "Why go to church?" | 29:55 | |
| This question particularly plagued me | 29:59 | |
| right after the alarm went off each Sunday morning. | 30:01 | |
| So I took a couple of religion courses here | 30:05 | |
| and I found them to be very interesting and beneficial. | 30:08 | |
| I can't say that I've answered all the questions I have | 30:12 | |
| about my faith, | 30:14 | |
| but I think I've reached a better understanding of it | 30:16 | |
| and of its value to me | 30:18 | |
| which I would like to be to you this morning. | 30:20 | |
| I chose the book of James | 30:24 | |
| as the scriptural basis for my words | 30:26 | |
| because I think its author was faced with | 30:28 | |
| and answered many of the same questions | 30:30 | |
| concerning Christianity that are facing the church today. | 30:32 | |
| James saw his religion as a way of life, | 30:37 | |
| not only as a profession of belief. | 30:40 | |
| To him belief was a catalyst for action. | 30:43 | |
| In his letter, he reiterates Jesus' commandments | 30:46 | |
| to be doers of the word and not hearers only. | 30:49 | |
| I recently read a magazine article | 30:53 | |
| about the conflict in Northern Ireland, | 30:56 | |
| and it echoed to me the importance of those words | 30:59 | |
| as it be again with an anonymous quote, | 31:02 | |
| "Northern Ireland has too many Catholics | 31:05 | |
| and twice as many Protestants, but very few Christians." | 31:07 | |
| So I think we can see that being a Christian today | 31:12 | |
| requires more than a casual association | 31:14 | |
| with a certain denomination or institution. | 31:17 | |
| So this morning, I would like to examine | 31:21 | |
| the conditions and situations | 31:23 | |
| affecting the Christian person today, | 31:25 | |
| and let's see if we can shape the results | 31:27 | |
| into a balanced combination of hearing and doing | 31:29 | |
| into a modern affirmation of faith. | 31:33 | |
| The first condition I would like to examine | 31:37 | |
| is one which many persons see as a stumbling block | 31:39 | |
| to the growth and strengthening of their faith, | 31:42 | |
| and that is rationalization. | 31:45 | |
| I think we can agree that the many advancements | 31:48 | |
| and discoveries made in the various fields of science | 31:50 | |
| and also the widespread acceptance | 31:54 | |
| and use of the scientific method of thinking in general | 31:55 | |
| have had a profound effect | 31:59 | |
| on the everyday living of each of us. | 32:00 | |
| Many feel that these discoverings are showing the Bible | 32:03 | |
| to be a little more than a dated book of history | 32:06 | |
| and inaccurate history at that. | 32:10 | |
| (inhales) Pardon the cold. | 32:11 | |
| But a cover story in Time Magazine entitled, | 32:14 | |
| "How True is the Bible?" | 32:17 | |
| states that recent archeological attempts | 32:20 | |
| at uncovering the actual events | 32:22 | |
| behind the writings of the Bible are showing that the Bible | 32:24 | |
| is a much more accurate book of history | 32:27 | |
| than many first thought. | 32:30 | |
| This study has enabled us to see the cultural roots | 32:32 | |
| behind our religion | 32:34 | |
| and to see that many of our sacred writings | 32:36 | |
| were a direct result | 32:38 | |
| of situations that occurred historically in the lives | 32:40 | |
| and time period of the early believers. | 32:43 | |
| But this definitely does not mean that because | 32:46 | |
| we are in a very different type of civilization now, | 32:48 | |
| that the Bible is to be ruled outdated and irrelevant. | 32:51 | |
| For the beauty and value of much of our religious writings | 32:56 | |
| is that they are universal | 32:59 | |
| and condescend any passage of time or change in environment | 33:01 | |
| such as the commandment of Jesus, | 33:05 | |
| you shall love your neighbor as yourself. | 33:07 | |
| Surely those words are as powerful and perfect now | 33:11 | |
| as when they were first uttered. | 33:14 | |
| So I think that if we combine the rational | 33:17 | |
| and faith approaches to the study of the Bible, | 33:19 | |
| we can come out ahead with a better understanding | 33:21 | |
| of the origins and some insights | 33:24 | |
| into the future of our religion. | 33:26 | |
| Through scientific study, | 33:29 | |
| we can see that much of our Bible | 33:31 | |
| is in fact a history of a specific people | 33:32 | |
| living in a specific time. | 33:35 | |
| This should not however serve to weaken our faith | 33:38 | |
| or weaken the impact of the Bible's message. | 33:41 | |
| Instead, it should give it new meaning and relevance, | 33:44 | |
| where we can then see the Bible not as an entity, | 33:48 | |
| but as a foundation on which we can build | 33:51 | |
| and keep on building. | 33:54 | |
| So as our growing world presents to us new problems, | 33:56 | |
| we should look to our religious teachings | 34:00 | |
| for inspiration and guidance, | 34:02 | |
| and then try our best to create new | 34:05 | |
| and better solutions to those problems. | 34:06 | |
| This is where faith comes in. | 34:10 | |
| Much of the Bible's message will never be able to be proven | 34:12 | |
| through archeological research. | 34:15 | |
| We must trust then and believe that this message, | 34:18 | |
| this guidance and inspiration | 34:21 | |
| can enable us to live the kind of life we aspire to live, | 34:23 | |
| one which will grant us both happiness and satisfaction. | 34:27 | |
| This brings me to the second point in the list of factors | 34:32 | |
| which I feel should be a part | 34:35 | |
| of our modern affirmation of faith. | 34:36 | |
| And I think this second factor is the vital link | 34:39 | |
| that holds together our balance of hearing and doing. | 34:41 | |
| It is initiative. | 34:45 | |
| Initiative is just a more pleasing sounding word for effort. | 34:47 | |
| And the best example I can think of | 34:52 | |
| to illustrate the place of initiative | 34:53 | |
| in a modern affirmation is by recalling the effort it takes | 34:56 | |
| for a lot of us to get out of bed | 35:00 | |
| and get the church on Sunday mornings. | 35:01 | |
| To make it, we have to overcome tremendous temptations | 35:03 | |
| to sleep late or sit at home and read the comics. | 35:07 | |
| But hopefully, the benefits attained | 35:11 | |
| from attending a service | 35:13 | |
| outweighs the hardships occurred in getting there. | 35:14 | |
| And it takes a good amount of initiative | 35:18 | |
| to decide just how we are going to channel | 35:20 | |
| the hearing of the word and to the doing. | 35:22 | |
| Our religion teaches us to love. | 35:26 | |
| We must decide the specifics of how, who, when and where. | 35:28 | |
| I think this need for Christian initiative | 35:34 | |
| is very well illustrated in a quote | 35:36 | |
| from James Scherer's "Global Living Here and Now." | 35:38 | |
| It reads, "We should not only feed the poor, | 35:41 | |
| but also seek to uncover | 35:44 | |
| some of the root causes of their poverty. | 35:46 | |
| Otherwise our children will in the future | 35:49 | |
| be condemned to performing the same good works | 35:52 | |
| for the children of the poor as was the case in the past." | 35:54 | |
| And Henry B. Clark of the Religion Department here at Duke | 35:59 | |
| says in his book "Escape from the Money Trap", | 36:02 | |
| that if you are not part of the solution, | 36:05 | |
| really a part of it, involved with it, committed to it, | 36:07 | |
| then you are a part of the problem. | 36:11 | |
| But if the doing of the word requires the most initiative, | 36:15 | |
| I think it also provides the greatest satisfaction. | 36:18 | |
| There are plenty of volunteer opportunities available to us | 36:21 | |
| if only we look for them. | 36:24 | |
| And the only requirement for many | 36:26 | |
| is the giving of one's time and self. | 36:28 | |
| The satisfaction received for making this kind of effort | 36:32 | |
| can be compared to that of watching someone | 36:35 | |
| unwrap a Christmas gift | 36:38 | |
| that you have picked out especially for him. | 36:39 | |
| Each of you is both giving | 36:42 | |
| and receiving joy at the same time. | 36:43 | |
| So, initiative balances well | 36:46 | |
| on a scale of hearing and doing. | 36:48 | |
| I think the wide variety of opportunities | 36:53 | |
| for service available | 36:55 | |
| and the satisfaction gains from meeting them | 36:57 | |
| brings us to the third condition of our modern affirmation, | 36:59 | |
| and that is the realization | 37:04 | |
| that our faith is both a personal and a positive thing. | 37:05 | |
| We must each decide what we believe | 37:09 | |
| and just what we seek to accomplish with those beliefs. | 37:12 | |
| I'm sure each of you has had a different reaction | 37:16 | |
| to my words this morning, | 37:19 | |
| but hopefully you can each benefit from them in some way. | 37:22 | |
| For some, that may mean getting a better understanding | 37:26 | |
| of their own convictions by realizing | 37:29 | |
| that they're in complete disagreements with mine. | 37:31 | |
| But I think a realization | 37:34 | |
| and acceptance of man's differences | 37:36 | |
| must be incorporated in our affirmation. | 37:38 | |
| This means breaking through | 37:42 | |
| many of our handed down prejudices against race, | 37:43 | |
| sex, and nationality, | 37:46 | |
| and seeing that other lifestyles and cultures | 37:48 | |
| are as valid and acceptable as our own. | 37:51 | |
| James Scherer says that modern technology and communication | 37:54 | |
| are forcing man to see himself | 37:58 | |
| not a only as a citizen of a certain nation | 38:00 | |
| or as a believer in a certain religion, | 38:03 | |
| but as a member of the whole human race. | 38:06 | |
| Man is becoming a global creature | 38:09 | |
| charged with the task of preserving and bettering his world | 38:12 | |
| through cooperation with all other men. | 38:16 | |
| So I think we must realize | 38:20 | |
| that giving love to our neighbor | 38:21 | |
| must be done on equal terms. | 38:23 | |
| It does not mean trying to shape him | 38:26 | |
| into an exact replica of ourselves. | 38:28 | |
| So, man the global creature is also man the individual. | 38:32 | |
| He is looking for a way of life that will bring happiness | 38:37 | |
| and satisfaction to himself, and hopefully he is looking | 38:40 | |
| for a way to pass that happiness on to others. | 38:44 | |
| So, our modern affirmation should be a positive one. | 38:48 | |
| One which gives man a guideline for living | 38:51 | |
| and not a set of rules. | 38:54 | |
| One which inspires him to give love | 38:56 | |
| and allows him the freedom and initiative to choose how. | 38:58 | |
| I think we have thus arrived | 39:03 | |
| at the right balance of hearing and doing the word, | 39:04 | |
| which makes up our modern affirmation. | 39:07 | |
| We can see that a combination of rationality and faith | 39:11 | |
| will ensure that we continually learn | 39:16 | |
| new ways to cope with our existence, | 39:17 | |
| and that we make proper use of that knowledge. | 39:20 | |
| And a good amount of initiative is required of us | 39:23 | |
| to ensure that our faith | 39:26 | |
| does not remain merely a spoken set of ideals, | 39:27 | |
| but that through our efforts, | 39:31 | |
| it becomes a real and thrusting force | 39:33 | |
| as we try to make those ideals a reality | 39:35 | |
| to help us better ourselves and our world. | 39:38 | |
| We can see that our faith allows each of us | 39:42 | |
| to choose his own paths by which he wishes to live. | 39:45 | |
| Using that faith to bring him enjoyment and fulfillment. | 39:48 | |
| I never used to like | 39:55 | |
| reciting the Confession of Sin in the bulletin each week | 39:56 | |
| because I felt a little offended | 40:00 | |
| at being told that I was not giving | 40:03 | |
| and doing as much as I should, | 40:05 | |
| but I finally saw this paragraph as the very positive thing | 40:08 | |
| and the eternal thing of our faith. | 40:14 | |
| The first commandment of Christianity is to love. | 40:17 | |
| And though man has advanced | 40:22 | |
| and developed tremendously over the last 2000 years, | 40:23 | |
| he has yet to exhaust the many needs | 40:27 | |
| and opportunities for the giving of love. | 40:29 | |
| And if we will allow our faith to constantly grow | 40:33 | |
| and develop as man himself grows and develops, | 40:36 | |
| then I think it can remain a powerful source | 40:41 | |
| for the giving and channeling of love | 40:44 | |
| and for the betterment of ourselves and our society. | 40:47 | |
| Let us pray. | 40:51 | |
| Father, help us to live the way we would like to live | 40:58 | |
| and the way which you would have us to live. | 41:03 | |
| And give us the wisdom to see that we can do both. Amen. | 41:06 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 41:14 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 41:45 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 42:51 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 43:25 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 44:15 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 45:05 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 45:32 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 46:52 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 47:53 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 48:00 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 48:03 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 48:06 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 48:10 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 48:12 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 49:37 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 49:40 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 50:15 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 50:25 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 50:37 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 50:47 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 50:54 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 51:04 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 51:09 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 51:24 | |
| - | Eternal God, giver of every good and perfect gift, | 51:36 |
| who seeks above all gifts to give yourself to us, | 51:42 | |
| grant that with these token gifts of our hands | 51:47 | |
| we may more fully give ourselves | 51:52 | |
| in joyous obedience and service, | 51:56 | |
| and so doing open our hearts to the gift of yourself to us | 52:00 | |
| through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. | 52:07 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 52:12 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 52:55 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 53:39 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 54:24 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 55:10 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 55:57 | |
| Grant O Lord, that what has been said with our lips, | 56:29 | |
| we may believe in our hearts, | 56:34 | |
| and that what we believe in our hearts, | 56:38 | |
| we may practice in our lives. | 56:41 | |
| And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 56:44 | |
| and the love of God, | 56:47 | |
| and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us forever. | 56:48 | |
| (choir singing brightly) | 56:54 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 57:07 | |
| (bell ringing) | 57:19 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 57:34 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:00:26 | |
| (congregation speaking faintly) | 1:00:55 |