Stuart C. Henry - "Living at Sixes and Sevens" Divinity School Graduation (May 10, 1975)
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| (organ playing) | 0:19 | |
| (choir singing) | 2:15 | |
| - | Grace and peace to you from God, | 4:36 |
| our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 4:38 | |
| [Congregation] Amen. | 4:42 | |
| - | The risen Christ is with us. | 4:44 |
| [Congregation] Praise the lord. | 4:46 | |
| - | When we gather to praise God, | 4:50 |
| we remember that we are his people | 4:53 | |
| who have preferred our | 4:57 | |
| wills to his. | 4:59 | |
| Accepting his power to become new persons in Christ. | 5:01 | |
| Let us confess our sin before God. | 5:06 | |
| And one another. | 5:10 | |
| [Group] Eternal father, | 5:13 | |
| we confess that often we have failed to be an obedient | 5:16 | |
| church. | 5:19 | |
| We have not done your will. | 5:21 | |
| We have broken your law. | 5:24 | |
| We have rebelled against your love. | 5:25 | |
| We have not loved our neighbors. | 5:28 | |
| We have not heard the cry of the needy. | 5:31 | |
| Forgive us, we pray. | 5:34 | |
| Free us for joy for obedience through Jesus Christ, | 5:37 | |
| Our Lord. | 5:41 | |
| Amen. | 5:42 | |
| - | Hear the good news | 5:52 |
| Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 5:55 | |
| That is God's own proof of his love toward us | 6:00 | |
| in the name of Jesus Christ, | 6:05 | |
| you are forgiven. | 6:07 | |
| [Group] In the name of Jesus Christ, | 6:11 | |
| you are forgiven. | 6:13 | |
| Glory to God. | 6:15 | |
| Amen. | 6:16 | |
| (organ begins) | 6:25 | |
| (choir singing) | 6:47 | |
| - | Lord open our hearts and minds | 11:22 |
| by the power of your holy spirit, | 11:24 | |
| that as the scriptures are read, | 11:27 | |
| and your word proclaimed, | 11:29 | |
| we may hear with joy, | 11:31 | |
| what you say to us today. | 11:34 | |
| Amen. | 11:38 | |
| - | The scripture reading tonight | 11:56 |
| is taken from the 13th chapter | 11:58 | |
| of the gospel of Matthew. | 12:00 | |
| That same day Jesus went out of his house | 12:05 | |
| and was sitting on the seashore | 12:08 | |
| and such great crowds gathered about him, | 12:11 | |
| that he got into a boat | 12:14 | |
| and sat down in it | 12:16 | |
| while all the people stood on the shore. | 12:19 | |
| And he told them many things, in figures, | 12:24 | |
| his disciples came up and said to him, | 12:28 | |
| 'why do you speak to them in figures,' | 12:31 | |
| he answered, | 12:36 | |
| 'you are permitted to know the secrets of the | 12:38 | |
| kingdom of heaven, | 12:40 | |
| but they are not. | 12:43 | |
| For people who have, | 12:45 | |
| will have more given to them | 12:48 | |
| and will be plentifully supplied. | 12:50 | |
| And from people who have nothing, | 12:54 | |
| even what they have will be taken away. | 12:56 | |
| This is why I speak to them in figures | 13:01 | |
| because though they look, | 13:04 | |
| they do not see. | 13:06 | |
| And though they listen, | 13:10 | |
| they do not hear or understand.' | 13:11 | |
| The kingdom of heaven is like a man | 13:17 | |
| who sowed good seed in his field. | 13:18 | |
| But while people were asleep | 13:21 | |
| his enemy came and sowed weeds | 13:23 | |
| among the wheat and went away. | 13:26 | |
| And when the wheat came up and ripened, | 13:29 | |
| the weeds appeared too, | 13:33 | |
| and the owner's slaves came to him | 13:35 | |
| and said 'was not the seed | 13:37 | |
| good that you sowed in your field, sir?' | 13:39 | |
| So where did these weeds come from? | 13:43 | |
| He said to them, 'this is some enemies doing.' | 13:46 | |
| And they said to him, | 13:51 | |
| 'do you want us to go and gather them up?' | 13:53 | |
| But he said, 'no.' | 13:58 | |
| For in gathering up the weeds, | 14:00 | |
| you may also uproot the wheat. | 14:02 | |
| Let them both grow together until harvest time. | 14:05 | |
| And when we harvest, | 14:10 | |
| I will direct the reapers to gather up the weeds first | 14:12 | |
| and tie them up in bundles to burn, | 14:16 | |
| but get the wheat into my barn. | 14:19 | |
| And his disciples came up to him and said, | 14:24 | |
| 'explain to us the figure of the weeds in the field.' | 14:26 | |
| He answered 'the sower who sows the good seed | 14:31 | |
| is the son of man. | 14:35 | |
| The field is the world. | 14:38 | |
| The good seed is the people of the kingdom. | 14:41 | |
| The weeds are the wicked. | 14:44 | |
| The enemy who sold them is the devil. | 14:49 | |
| The harvest is the close of the age | 14:53 | |
| and the reapers | 14:57 | |
| are angels.' | 14:59 | |
| So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned, | 15:01 | |
| this is what will happen at the close of the age. | 15:05 | |
| The son of man will send out his angels | 15:09 | |
| and they will gather up out of his kingdom | 15:12 | |
| all of the causes of sin and wrongdoers | 15:14 | |
| and throw them into the blazing furnace. | 15:18 | |
| There they will wail and grind their teeth. | 15:21 | |
| Then the upright will shine out like the son | 15:26 | |
| in their father's kingdom. | 15:28 | |
| Let him who has ears, | 15:32 | |
| listen, | 15:34 | |
| God aid and bless our understanding of this, | 15:37 | |
| his most holy word. | 15:39 | |
| - | In the name of the father, | 16:03 |
| and of the son, | 16:04 | |
| and the holy spirit. | 16:06 | |
| Amen. | 16:08 | |
| When it was noised abroad | 16:21 | |
| that Jesus of Nazareth would pass by. | 16:22 | |
| Women forgot loaves in the oven and men deserted their | 16:26 | |
| plows in the fields. | 16:30 | |
| They followed him sometimes far into the night. | 16:34 | |
| They sought this Jesus, | 16:38 | |
| not so much to see him, | 16:40 | |
| as to discover something about themselves. | 16:42 | |
| For if it comes to that, there was, | 16:48 | |
| it seems, little enough beauty that they should desire him. | 16:50 | |
| The wretched second century Celsius, | 16:55 | |
| who wrote against Christians, | 16:58 | |
| reported that the body of Jesus was small, | 17:00 | |
| ill favored and ignoble. | 17:04 | |
| Now it could not have been to look upon him. | 17:08 | |
| The urgency was simpler. | 17:11 | |
| Thou lists the true explanation | 17:15 | |
| is suggested in the acts of John, | 17:18 | |
| whose writer says that Jesus was often small and uncommonly. | 17:20 | |
| And then again, | 17:26 | |
| as reaching onto heaven, | 17:28 | |
| now where the unerring instinct that | 17:30 | |
| the heretics frequently enjoy, | 17:34 | |
| origin understands the matter. | 17:38 | |
| How could Celsius or anyone, | 17:41 | |
| he asked, overlook the fact that our Lord's body varied | 17:43 | |
| according to the capacity of the observer, | 17:47 | |
| it's apparent such, as was necessary, for each individual. | 17:51 | |
| And as for the words, | 17:56 | |
| many which Jesus spoke, | 18:00 | |
| they had heard before. | 18:01 | |
| But when he said them, | 18:04 | |
| they always pointed beyond themselves, | 18:06 | |
| moreover, a parent's words and acts at times | 18:10 | |
| resolved into what he was | 18:15 | |
| and then the veil of the flesh could not cloak the mystery | 18:18 | |
| and the secret of his person shown through with a radiance | 18:22 | |
| whiter than all of herman snows. | 18:26 | |
| And then, and then, in full reflected glory, | 18:30 | |
| they discovered something, | 18:35 | |
| saw something, | 18:37 | |
| about themselves and the meaning of their lives. | 18:38 | |
| It was for this reason that they followed him. | 18:43 | |
| The man was a prophet. | 18:46 | |
| Truly, he came to them in the place of God. | 18:49 | |
| Now, contemplation of the divine | 18:53 | |
| had always awed the Hebrews into silence. | 18:56 | |
| When they remembered the majesty of the most high, | 19:01 | |
| they hid their faces and were mute. | 19:04 | |
| No imagination could bridge the great Gulf | 19:07 | |
| between the natural and the supernatural. | 19:11 | |
| They stood on the perilous ledge of existence, | 19:14 | |
| trembling at their own futility. | 19:17 | |
| 'What was a mortal,' the Hebrew ask, | 19:21 | |
| that God should be mindful of a handful of dust. | 19:23 | |
| In the voice from the whirlwind almost mocking, | 19:28 | |
| echoed the anxiety. | 19:31 | |
| 'Can you make a whale, Job?' | 19:33 | |
| So of course the Hebrews were fascinated by one who could | 19:38 | |
| narrow the gap between themselves and the infinite. | 19:42 | |
| We have too often fallen into the trap of making God | 19:46 | |
| a personification of nature, | 19:50 | |
| but nature is rarely predictable | 19:53 | |
| and never quite trustworthy. | 19:55 | |
| Somehow every prophet knows this. | 19:58 | |
| And when Jesus came preaching, | 20:01 | |
| folk listened to him because he found them where they were, | 20:03 | |
| but led them far beyond. | 20:07 | |
| As with any true prophet, | 20:11 | |
| his primary focus was experience, | 20:12 | |
| his interest in theology, | 20:16 | |
| only incidental, | 20:18 | |
| his compassion extended to all, | 20:20 | |
| but his attention was directed to the hungry, | 20:23 | |
| the frightened, the leprous, | 20:26 | |
| and those too condemned to move with deadly routine | 20:29 | |
| between tedium and monotony and back again, | 20:33 | |
| yet the prophet examines, | 20:38 | |
| the commonplace details of daily life | 20:40 | |
| in such a way that they become windows into eternity. | 20:43 | |
| Now we understand this technique, | 20:48 | |
| whatever theology we have come to, | 20:51 | |
| we have because we have come to it after reflection | 20:54 | |
| on our own inner histories. | 20:58 | |
| It is after we have stumbled, | 21:01 | |
| that we ask the meaning of these stones. | 21:03 | |
| It is after the stranger has departed that we realize we | 21:08 | |
| have entertained an angel unaware, | 21:11 | |
| and it is own some gray morning that we wake and confess. | 21:15 | |
| Surely the Lord was in this place. | 21:19 | |
| And I knew it not. | 21:22 | |
| Such insight we have at times, | 21:24 | |
| the prophet has it ever. | 21:27 | |
| And he lives in the practice of the presence. | 21:29 | |
| With Jesus, it was a sensitivity almost unbelievable. | 21:33 | |
| We cannot put him in a line with others because there is no | 21:38 | |
| line and there are no others. | 21:42 | |
| So when folk heard that Jesus was passing by, | 21:46 | |
| they went out as to a prophet, | 21:49 | |
| this is why they followed him. | 21:52 | |
| He spoke to them of God and he did so in words that they | 21:55 | |
| could understand | 21:59 | |
| and accept. | 22:01 | |
| The method of Jesus, often as not, was the use of parable, | 22:03 | |
| the theologian may be difficult to understand. | 22:08 | |
| He may even be a word merchant, | 22:12 | |
| who worships his own clever ability, | 22:16 | |
| seeking to invent values rather than to discover them, | 22:19 | |
| guilty of the fatal error | 22:24 | |
| of equating truth with chivalry. | 22:26 | |
| But the prophet, the prophet speaks of details of life, | 22:29 | |
| which all know | 22:34 | |
| of a man who built a tower or owed a debt, | 22:36 | |
| of violence on the highway, | 22:41 | |
| of a woman who lost a coin, | 22:43 | |
| of a tiny seed, | 22:46 | |
| of a torn garment. | 22:48 | |
| These details are familiar to any culture, even commonplace. | 22:51 | |
| Yet to the enlightened eyes of the prophet, | 22:56 | |
| they have extra dimensions | 22:58 | |
| and the stories in which they | 23:01 | |
| occur become not simply the record of what might have | 23:03 | |
| happened to us. | 23:06 | |
| They are our stories because they have happened to us. | 23:08 | |
| So in love and hope, I suggest to you at this point, | 23:13 | |
| at this hour, and in this place, | 23:19 | |
| a parable of Jesus which may speak to you, | 23:24 | |
| which may increase your capacity to give and to bless, | 23:27 | |
| because it sheds light upon the kind of world | 23:31 | |
| and the kind of life to which you surely go. | 23:35 | |
| And does so in commonplace, familiar to tale, | 23:40 | |
| which you recognize, | 23:44 | |
| it is the parable of the wheat and the tares. | 23:46 | |
| This evening, we may not allow ourselves | 23:51 | |
| the luxury of considering whether the parable, | 23:54 | |
| as it was read in the evening lesson, | 23:57 | |
| is a rewriting of a mark and parable, | 24:00 | |
| or even of a lost one, | 24:03 | |
| nor will we exhaust the meanings, | 24:05 | |
| or the possible meanings of the passage, | 24:08 | |
| but let us see what appear to be some inescapable | 24:12 | |
| implications of the account as it stands, | 24:16 | |
| and as it was read. | 24:20 | |
| The situation is commonplace indeed. | 24:23 | |
| A field was sewn with good seed. | 24:26 | |
| It is suddenly overgrown with weeds. | 24:29 | |
| The weeds thrive along with the wheat. | 24:32 | |
| They are inseparable. | 24:35 | |
| And so they grow, wheat and tares together. | 24:37 | |
| Was life ever any different? | 24:41 | |
| Not in the New Testament community. | 24:44 | |
| Surely you remember there were saints in Caesar's household. | 24:47 | |
| The hermit suffered temptation, | 24:52 | |
| Paul limped along on feet of clay, | 24:55 | |
| Judas mingled with the 12. | 24:58 | |
| But this is how life is, | 25:01 | |
| always mixed, | 25:03 | |
| always alloyed, | 25:05 | |
| and the world to which you go, | 25:08 | |
| the world in which you will live, | 25:10 | |
| the parish which you will serve, | 25:12 | |
| the class that you will teach, | 25:14 | |
| the community that you will establish. | 25:15 | |
| Yes, | 25:17 | |
| and the heart with which you will consider these things, | 25:18 | |
| all. | 25:21 | |
| All are wheat and tares phenomenon. | 25:22 | |
| You will have little opportunity, | 25:25 | |
| most of you, to offer yourself as martyrs, | 25:28 | |
| with dramatic lights | 25:31 | |
| and the accompaniment of a stirring chorus | 25:32 | |
| sung by angelic choirs, | 25:35 | |
| there is not much incidental music in most lives. | 25:38 | |
| The paths we walked through, the fields, | 25:43 | |
| will lie where the wheat and tares are near choked together. | 25:45 | |
| It is to this kind of world that you go. | 25:51 | |
| And so to this kind of world and the life that is in it, | 25:53 | |
| that I direct your attention. | 25:58 | |
| It is a world of wheat and tares, | 26:00 | |
| or as I have suggested a world of sixes and sevens, | 26:02 | |
| that is a dicing term. | 26:07 | |
| It is more than that though, for those familiar, | 26:10 | |
| with the rules of the game, | 26:13 | |
| it denotes a situation in which the player wins nothing. | 26:16 | |
| Although the prize is always just a point away, | 26:20 | |
| with the next toss of the dice. | 26:24 | |
| It is a world where nothing golden ever happens. | 26:26 | |
| Yet you dare not take the opportunity to quit, | 26:31 | |
| for then you lose all. | 26:35 | |
| Rarely do you succeed, rather, you just keep playing. | 26:37 | |
| Although the zest for the game | 26:41 | |
| has long since gone out of you. | 26:43 | |
| At sixes and sevens, good points and bad points. | 26:46 | |
| So equally balanced that you are frustrated. | 26:50 | |
| This is the world as it is. | 26:54 | |
| Simon Magus may have inspired Goethe. | 26:57 | |
| Balaam's ass spoke the truth. | 27:00 | |
| Verily, the world is mixed, | 27:03 | |
| sooner or later, you will recognize, | 27:05 | |
| in a grotesque member of your parish, | 27:09 | |
| or a worker at your side, | 27:11 | |
| one who could teach Saint Augustine something about grace. | 27:14 | |
| The world is mixed, but more can, must be said. | 27:19 | |
| If this is to be your world. | 27:25 | |
| What does the present parable offer as consolation | 27:27 | |
| and guidance to you who will live in it? | 27:31 | |
| Well, first of all, | 27:36 | |
| there is the acknowledgement that evil exists. | 27:37 | |
| A tare is not a stock of wheat that did not develop, | 27:42 | |
| that had no opportunity to realize or express itself. | 27:47 | |
| A tare is a weed. | 27:52 | |
| Moreover, the wheat stalk is not a tear that found itself. | 27:54 | |
| The wheat is wheat and the tares are tares. | 27:59 | |
| The two belong to different worlds. | 28:03 | |
| Speculate as you will regarding the identity | 28:06 | |
| of one who sewed the tares, | 28:10 | |
| that one is still different from the sower | 28:12 | |
| who scattered the wheat. | 28:15 | |
| And even if he be Thomas, your twin, for Thomas is twin | 28:17 | |
| to us all. | 28:22 | |
| Even if he be Thomas, your twin, | 28:24 | |
| he is your twin and not yourself. | 28:26 | |
| Of him and of his mischief, | 28:30 | |
| the Lord of the wheat must say | 28:32 | |
| 'an enemy hath done this.' | 28:36 | |
| If you live in a wheat and tares world, | 28:38 | |
| you will then acknowledge that these are not the same, | 28:41 | |
| and immediately a question will arise, | 28:45 | |
| 'but who sowed the tares?' | 28:47 | |
| And more pressing? | 28:50 | |
| 'Why was it ever permitted?' | 28:51 | |
| Whence came these weeds, it does not make sense. | 28:54 | |
| Their presence is absurd, | 28:57 | |
| absurd as some writers of the theater intend | 28:59 | |
| not because the world is ridiculous, | 29:03 | |
| but because it makes no sense. | 29:06 | |
| The situation defies reason, | 29:11 | |
| or if there is reason that reason escapes you | 29:13 | |
| and your ability, | 29:17 | |
| escapes your ability to communicate it to your parish, | 29:19 | |
| your counselees, your friends. | 29:22 | |
| So it's just the same as if there were no reason. | 29:25 | |
| Now there is in the parable, | 29:28 | |
| a word for those which speak | 29:31 | |
| to the basic quad that plagues us. | 29:34 | |
| The prophet, it is true | 29:37 | |
| addresses himself to matters of golden calves | 29:39 | |
| and the barefoot poor. | 29:42 | |
| Yet those who hear, | 29:44 | |
| always know that what troubles the prophet, | 29:46 | |
| more than these unfortunate situations, | 29:49 | |
| is the perspective out of which these problems arise. | 29:52 | |
| For it is ignorance | 29:57 | |
| and lust that bring us kneeling before a fetish | 30:01 | |
| and greed, which keeps all the money | 30:04 | |
| and the shoes for ourselves. | 30:06 | |
| In the worst of crises, | 30:08 | |
| the word of realism is not that these are times | 30:10 | |
| that try mans pockets, | 30:15 | |
| even when such is the case. | 30:17 | |
| Rather the word is these are times that try mans souls. | 30:19 | |
| And exactly here is the beginning of wisdom. | 30:24 | |
| We begin by acknowledging that there is evil, | 30:28 | |
| but we must understand that it is not possible for us to rid | 30:32 | |
| ourselves of all of it. | 30:36 | |
| And that we compound the tragedy when we attempt to destroy | 30:38 | |
| the evil, | 30:41 | |
| simply by attacking the manifestation of it | 30:43 | |
| and not the sin that gave it genesis. | 30:47 | |
| For just as surely as we try to root up all the tares, | 30:50 | |
| just so surely, shall we root up the wheat at the same time. | 30:54 | |
| It is the case of the folk who burned down the house | 30:59 | |
| to be rid of vermin. | 31:02 | |
| Paul reminds us and truly that the law has made nothing | 31:04 | |
| perfect. | 31:09 | |
| We are likely to forget his word as we drive toward order | 31:11 | |
| and perfection, even as these prizes escape us. | 31:14 | |
| Yet, Satan has never yet cast out Satan. | 31:19 | |
| Violence begets violence. | 31:23 | |
| The truism is written into the record of our failure, | 31:25 | |
| which it explains. | 31:29 | |
| Consider however much our tradition may be emancipation. | 31:31 | |
| Our history is slavery, | 31:37 | |
| because we have striven in the wrong way, | 31:40 | |
| trying only to uproot the weeds. | 31:43 | |
| We kill the dragon and leave his teeth | 31:46 | |
| scattered over the fields, seeking to slay murder, | 31:48 | |
| we only multiply. | 31:52 | |
| Sadly, we are the folk who are hell bent for heaven, | 31:54 | |
| and we have not realized | 31:58 | |
| that one does not take heaven by force. | 31:59 | |
| Then what do we do? | 32:03 | |
| The parable makes it rather plain. | 32:05 | |
| We work quietly and faithfully | 32:07 | |
| without growing weary or bitter. | 32:11 | |
| What an insipid thing to say, | 32:16 | |
| even Paul had now and then to deal with the growth center | 32:19 | |
| in current, yes, and so may you, | 32:23 | |
| but as a rule, work faithfully, | 32:26 | |
| the gospel is filled with gentle directives, | 32:29 | |
| which without drama or flamboyance suggest that the way to | 32:32 | |
| salvation is not necessarily sensational. | 32:36 | |
| Zacchaeus is called to come down from a tree, | 32:41 | |
| where the fishermen are told to cast their nets | 32:44 | |
| on the other side of the boat, | 32:47 | |
| angry brothers are asked to forgive and try again. | 32:49 | |
| Hungry multitudes are bidden to sit down on the green grass. | 32:53 | |
| And man are invited to a sacrament | 32:58 | |
| when only the scraps are left from a meal | 33:00 | |
| that was meager to begin with. | 33:04 | |
| Just cherish the wheat and nourish the goodness. | 33:06 | |
| Yet, this turns out to be the right procedure, | 33:11 | |
| as it was for the gentle Francis who scattered love, | 33:14 | |
| where he had found hatred and lived peacefully, | 33:19 | |
| when he was plunged | 33:23 | |
| into the midst of man with warring emotions. | 33:24 | |
| Thus do you achieve, | 33:27 | |
| the meek inherit the kingdom, | 33:29 | |
| as well as the earth, | 33:32 | |
| for the kingdom is in their midst. | 33:34 | |
| Let the wheat and the tares grow together. | 33:36 | |
| Yet, have a care that you do not succumb to sloth. | 33:39 | |
| It is a deadly sin, | 33:43 | |
| and someone ought to say a good word for diligence. | 33:45 | |
| You must work for goodness. | 33:49 | |
| You must cherish the wheat, | 33:52 | |
| else the field will run completely to weeds, | 33:54 | |
| or put it in this way, | 33:58 | |
| the parable comes from Jesus's Jewish background. | 33:59 | |
| Let us therefore remember a warning from the Mischnah. | 34:04 | |
| It is not thou part to finish the task, | 34:08 | |
| yet thou are not free to desist from it. | 34:11 | |
| Evil is never completely overcome. | 34:17 | |
| We work to accomplish an impossible impossibility, | 34:19 | |
| knowing that we can never finally achieve, | 34:24 | |
| yet for the sake of that which we have seen, | 34:27 | |
| unable to turn back. | 34:30 | |
| All of this is illogical and wild, | 34:33 | |
| but remember that no one was ever yet burnt at the stake for | 34:36 | |
| the sake of a logical conclusion. | 34:41 | |
| Men go to their death because they have looked upon | 34:43 | |
| what the American Indians used to call the vision, | 34:47 | |
| splendid. | 34:51 | |
| Something indescribable, | 34:52 | |
| but unforgettable. | 34:54 | |
| The world seems at sixes and sevens to us | 34:57 | |
| because we do not look beyond our noses, | 35:00 | |
| whatever refugee from Eden lives, an aliment and a wheat | 35:03 | |
| field sown with tares. | 35:08 | |
| That one must work where he is, | 35:10 | |
| but work for goodness. | 35:12 | |
| If all you see is the wheat and the tares, | 35:14 | |
| then you misread the situation. | 35:17 | |
| And are no better than the gamester | 35:21 | |
| who chances all on the roll of the dice. | 35:23 | |
| The Mischnah had declared dicing, | 35:26 | |
| infamous and excused players of the game | 35:28 | |
| and excluded them from the right to give evidence | 35:32 | |
| in a court of justice. | 35:35 | |
| Fair enough, | 35:37 | |
| for people who see life only in terms of sixes and sevens, | 35:39 | |
| do not know the truth when they meet it, | 35:43 | |
| how could they be relied upon in court? | 35:45 | |
| So the temptation grows upon us, | 35:49 | |
| unable to analyze the world intellectually, | 35:52 | |
| to understand it logically, | 35:56 | |
| we refuse to live by faith. | 35:59 | |
| Thus do we sin against Plato and Paul | 36:01 | |
| and they will be avenged. | 36:06 | |
| If we be incapable of intellect and unwilling of faith, | 36:09 | |
| then we must march to our death by catch words, | 36:15 | |
| we may be pleasant enough, even pious, | 36:19 | |
| but we shall be conquered finally, | 36:24 | |
| by the only enemy that matters, | 36:25 | |
| the enemy within. | 36:28 | |
| As the years passed, | 36:31 | |
| our masks will deteriorate and our piety will crack, | 36:32 | |
| but we need not sin against Plato or Paul. | 36:37 | |
| Indeed, we might make friends of both, | 36:42 | |
| knowing that reason is sufficient | 36:46 | |
| so long as it keeps its eye turned upward, | 36:49 | |
| where the son of God shines on the just, and the unjust, | 36:52 | |
| the good and the bad, | 36:56 | |
| the wheat and the tares, in such dazzling light, | 37:00 | |
| that it is possible to see in it. | 37:04 | |
| That light is faithful. | 37:07 | |
| When one tends that wheat, | 37:09 | |
| and nourishes and protects and cherishes it, | 37:12 | |
| that it is a faithful life to strive for goodness to move | 37:16 | |
| toward the impossible possibility, | 37:20 | |
| never doubting that the Lord of the harvest | 37:23 | |
| is just that, | 37:26 | |
| nor ever forgetting that even the corns of wheat | 37:28 | |
| that fall onto the ground and die | 37:31 | |
| are finally brought to life again. | 37:34 | |
| Amen | 37:39 | |
| and amen. | 37:40 | |
| And God bless you. | 37:42 | |
| - | And let us stand as we unite in the apostles creed, | 37:51 |
| this historic confession of the Christian faith. | 37:55 | |
| [Congregation] I believe in God, the father almighty, | 38:01 | |
| maker of heaven and earth | 38:04 | |
| and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, | 38:06 | |
| who was conceived by the holy spirit, | 38:10 | |
| born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, | 38:12 | |
| was crucified, dead and buried. | 38:17 | |
| The third day, he rose from the dead. | 38:20 | |
| He ascended into heaven | 38:23 | |
| and siteth the right hand of God, the father almighty. | 38:25 | |
| From whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. | 38:29 | |
| I believe in the holy spirit, the holy Catholic church, | 38:33 | |
| the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, | 38:38 | |
| the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. | 38:42 | |
| Amen. | 38:46 | |
| (organ begins) | 38:49 | |
| (congregation singing) | 39:03 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 39:34 |
| I bid your prayers for God's people throughout the world, | 39:41 | |
| for this gathering and for the ministry of all Christians, | 39:46 | |
| pray, brothers and sisters, for the church. | 39:50 | |
| I bid your prayers for peace among men | 40:03 | |
| for goodwill among nations, | 40:07 | |
| and for the wellbeing of all people. | 40:08 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, for justice and for peace. | 40:11 | |
| I bid your prayers for the poor, the sick, the hungry, | 40:28 | |
| the oppressed, | 40:32 | |
| for those in captivity. | 40:35 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 40:38 | |
| for those in any need or trouble. | 40:40 | |
| I bid your prayers for all who seek God | 40:53 | |
| or a deeper knowledge of him. | 40:56 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 41:00 | |
| that they may find and be found of him. | 41:01 | |
| I bid your thanksgiving for our life together in this place, | 41:14 | |
| for the pursuit of truth, | 41:19 | |
| for the gifts of understanding and hope. | 41:21 | |
| Give thanks, brothers and sisters, for God's great goodness. | 41:26 | |
| Praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has | 41:40 | |
| been honored and pray | 41:44 | |
| that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day, | 41:47 | |
| Hasten oh, father, the coming of your kingdom | 42:02 | |
| and grant that we, your servants, | 42:04 | |
| who now live by faith, | 42:06 | |
| may with joy, behold your son at his coming | 42:08 | |
| and glorious majesty. | 42:11 | |
| Even Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. | 42:14 | |
| Amen. | 42:19 | |
| - | We shall wait to pass the peace at the close of each table | 42:29 |
| during the holy communion. | 42:34 | |
| The elements of the Lord's Supper will represent | 42:39 | |
| our offering to God. | 42:41 | |
| And these elements will be presented during the singing of | 42:44 | |
| the communion hymn. | 42:47 | |
| Now, maybe join together in the singing. | 42:50 | |
| Jesus Thou Joy of Loving Hearts, number 329. | 42:53 | |
| (organ begins) | 43:02 | |
| (congregation singing) | 43:34 | |
| - | Remain standing | 46:19 |
| and let us give thanks together and responsibly. | 46:20 | |
| The Lord is with you. | 46:24 | |
| [Congregation] And with you, also. | 46:28 | |
| - | Lift up your hearts. | 46:29 |
| [Congregation] We lift them up to our Lord. | 46:31 | |
| - | Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 46:33 |
| [Congregation] It is right | 46:36 | |
| that we should always give thanks. | 46:37 | |
| - | Father, it is right that we should always | 46:39 |
| and everywhere give thanks and praise. | 46:43 | |
| Only you are God, | 46:46 | |
| you created all things and call them good. | 46:48 | |
| You made us in your own image. | 46:52 | |
| Even when we rebelled against your love, | 46:55 | |
| you did not desert us. | 46:59 | |
| You delivered us from captivity | 47:01 | |
| and made covenant to be our God and king | 47:04 | |
| and spoke to us through your prophets. | 47:08 | |
| Therefore, we joined the entire company of heaven | 47:11 | |
| and all your people now on earth | 47:15 | |
| in worshiping and glorifying you, saying | 47:18 | |
| [Congregation] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power | 47:23 | |
| and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. | 47:27 | |
| Hosanna in the highest, | 47:31 | |
| blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, | 47:33 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 47:36 | |
| Let us pray. | 47:40 | |
| We thank you, father, that you love the world so much. | 47:45 | |
| You sent your only son to be our savior. | 47:50 | |
| The Lord of all life came to live among us. | 47:54 | |
| He healed and taught men, | 47:59 | |
| ate with sinners, | 48:00 | |
| and won for you on new people | 48:02 | |
| by water and the spirit, we saw his glory, | 48:05 | |
| yet he humbled himself in obedience to your will, | 48:09 | |
| freely accepting death on a cross. | 48:14 | |
| By dying, he freed us from unending death, | 48:17 | |
| by rising from the dead, | 48:21 | |
| he gave us everlasting life. | 48:23 | |
| on the night in which he gave himself up for us, | 48:26 | |
| the Lord Jesus took bread. | 48:30 | |
| After giving you thanks, | 48:33 | |
| he broke the bread, | 48:35 | |
| gave it to his disciples and said, | 48:37 | |
| take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you. | 48:39 | |
| When the supper was over, he took the cup. | 48:44 | |
| Again, he turned thanks to you, | 48:48 | |
| gave the cup to his disciples and said, drink from this, | 48:50 | |
| all of you. | 48:54 | |
| This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, | 48:56 | |
| poured out for you, and for many, | 48:59 | |
| for the forgiveness of sins. | 49:03 | |
| When we eat this bread and drink this cup, | 49:06 | |
| we experience anew the presence of the Lord, | 49:08 | |
| Jesus Christ, and look forward to his coming. | 49:11 | |
| Christ has died. | 49:16 | |
| Christ has risen. | 49:18 | |
| Christ will come again. | 49:19 | |
| We remember and proclaim, heavenly father, | 49:21 | |
| what your son has done for us in his life and death, | 49:24 | |
| in his resurrection and ascension, | 49:30 | |
| accept our sacrifice of praise and Thanksgiving, | 49:33 | |
| in union with Christ offering for us | 49:37 | |
| as a reasonable and holy surrender of ourselves, | 49:40 | |
| send the power of your holy spirit on us. | 49:44 | |
| Grant here out of your love for us and on these gifts, | 49:48 | |
| help us to know and the breaking of this bread | 49:52 | |
| and the drinking of this wine, | 49:57 | |
| the presence of Christ who gave his body | 49:59 | |
| and blood for mankind, make us one Christ, | 50:02 | |
| one with each other and one in service to all mankind. | 50:07 | |
| And now let us pray that prayer, | 50:12 | |
| which our Lord taught his disciples to pray. | 50:15 | |
| When he taught them to pray saying, | 50:18 | |
| [Congregation] Our father, | 50:20 | |
| who art in heaven, | 50:22 | |
| hallowed be thy name, | 50:24 | |
| thy kingdom come, | 50:26 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 50:28 | |
| Give us this day, | 50:32 | |
| our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, | 50:33 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us | 50:36 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, | 50:40 | |
| but deliver us from evil, | 50:43 | |
| for thine is the kingdom | 50:45 | |
| and the power and the glory forever. | 50:47 | |
| Amen. | 50:50 | |
| - | Because there is one loaf, | 50:56 |
| we many as we are, are one body, | 50:59 | |
| for it is one loaf of which we all partake. | 51:03 | |
| When we give thanks and pour the cup. | 51:11 | |
| Is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ? | 51:23 | |
| The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, given to you. | 51:32 | |
| The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, shared with you. | 51:41 | |
| Now we invite you to commune with us | 53:05 | |
| at the direction of the ashes. | 53:07 | |
| The congregation may be seated, as others take communion. | 53:10 | |
| Yeah, I think you've got to pour two more of these cups, | 53:20 | |
| if you will. | 53:23 | |
| (organ playing softly) | 53:25 | |
| And now you share the peace of God with those of you who | 55:34 | |
| took communion with you by yearning and shaking hands with | 55:37 | |
| those around you and saying 'peace of God, be with you." | 55:40 | |
| (organ playing softly) | 55:46 | |
| Now will you share the peace with those | 59:17 | |
| who communed with you? | 59:19 | |
| (organ playing softly) | 59:22 | |
| Now will you share the peace with those | 1:06:09 | |
| who have communed with you? | 1:06:10 | |
| (organ playing) | 1:06:14 | |
| Amen. | 1:06:39 | |
| (priest speaking indistinctly) | 1:07:06 | |
| - | You have given yourself to us, Lord. | 1:07:58 |
| [Congregation] Now we give ourselves for others. | 1:08:02 | |
| - | Your love has made us a new people. | 1:08:05 |
| [Congregation] As a people of love, | 1:08:08 | |
| we will serve you with joy. | 1:08:09 | |
| - | Your glory has filled our hearts. | 1:08:11 |
| [Congregation] Help us to glorify you in all things. Amen. | 1:08:15 | |
| - | Amen. | 1:08:19 |
| (organ playing) | 1:08:21 | |
| (priest speaking indistinctly) | 1:11:53 | |
| (organ playing) | 1:12:10 |