Robert T. Young - "A Christian's Right to Be a Sinner" (November 9, 1975)

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	(soft, dramatic music)	0:04
	(choir sings)	2:34
	(soft music)	3:45
	(choir sings)	4:17
	(soft music)	6:02
	(choir sings)	7:31
-	Brothers and sisters of the household of faith,	8:30
	the word of God reminds us that we all have sinned	8:34
	and come short of the glory of God.	8:38
	Let us therefore jointly confess our sin together.	8:41
	Dear Lord God, we cannot count the sins that we have done	8:47
	and are still doing.	8:53
	We have forgotten most of them and no longer feel our guilt,	8:55
	whatever is in us and in every power besides grace	9:01
	is sin and condemned.	9:06
	Thus, we must all together despair of ourselves,	9:09
	our works and our powers.	9:14
	We know not what else to do,	9:17
	but to hope and pray for your mercy.	9:20
	As far as grace and faith control us,	9:24
	we are devout through Christ, but where these fail,	9:27
	we know and confess that nothing good is left in us.	9:33
	No matter how long we may live,	9:38
	we shall never find it different.	9:41
	Though we had the holiness of all the saints,	9:44
	there would still be nothing good in what we think, speak,	9:48
	live and do without your divine grace and power.	9:53
	This is our joy and comfort,	9:59
	which you gladly grant poor sinners,	10:02
	that all our sins are forgiven out of pure grace	10:06
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	10:11
	Hear these words of assurance	10:33
	as we find them in the old and new covenants.	10:35
	The Lord is gracious and merciful,	10:39
	slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.	10:43
	Jesus said him who comes to me, I will not cast out.	10:49
	Your sins are forgiven for his sake.	10:58
	Amen.	11:06
	(soft music)	11:10
	(choir sings)	12:01
-	The scripture lesson this morning,	16:32
	I will read from Paul's epistle to the Romans	16:34
	chapter five verses 21, 20 and 21.	16:38
	"Law came in to increase the trespass,	16:45
	"but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more	16:49
	"so that at as sin reigned in death,	16:53
	"grace also might reign through righteousness	16:57
	"to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord".	17:00
	Will the congregation please stand	17:05
	for the reading of the gospel?	17:06
	The gospel according to Luke,	17:15
	chapter seven verses 36 through 50.	17:17
	"One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him.	17:22
	"And he went into the Pharisees house and sat at the table.	17:26
	"And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner,	17:30
	"when she learned that he was sitting at the table	17:33
	"in the Pharisee's house,	17:35
	"brought an alabaster flask of ointment.	17:37
	"And standing behind him at his feet weeping,	17:40
	"she began to wet his feet with her tears	17:44
	"and wipe them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet	17:47
	"and anointed them with the ointment.	17:52
	"Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it,	17:55
	"he said to himself, if this man were a prophet,	17:59
	"he would've known who and what sort of woman this is,	18:03
	"who is touching him, for she is a sinner.	18:06
	"And Jesus answering said to him, Simon,	18:10
	"I have something to say to you.	18:14
	"And he answered, what is it, Teacher?	18:16
	"A certain creditor had two debtors.	18:19
	"One owed 500 denarii and the other 50.	18:22
	"When they could not pay, he forgave them both.	18:27
	"Now which of them will love him the more?	18:31
	"Simon answered, the one I suppose to whom he forgave more.	18:35
	"And he said to him, you have judged rightly.	18:41
	"Then turning toward the woman,	18:45
	"he said to Simon, do you see this woman?	18:46
	"I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet,	18:50
	"but she has wet my feet with her tears	18:54
	"and wiped them with her hair.	18:56
	"You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in,	19:00
	"she has not ceased to kiss my feet.	19:04
	"You did not anoint my head with oil,	19:08
	"but she has anointed my feet with ointment.	19:11
	"Therefore I tell you her sins, which are many, are forgiven	19:15
	"for she loved much,	19:19
	"but he who has forgiven little, loves little.	19:21
	"And he said to her, your sins are forgiven.	19:27
	"Then those who were at the table with him	19:31
	"began to say among themselves,	19:33
	"who is this who even forgives sins?	19:35
	"And he said to the woman, your faith has saved you,	19:38
	"go in peace".	19:42
	May the Lord add his richest blessings	19:45
	to the reading of his scripture.	19:47
	(soft music)	19:49
	♪ Glory be to the father ♪	19:57
	♪ And to the son and to the holy ghost ♪	20:01
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	20:09
	♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪	20:13
	♪ World without end amen, amen ♪	20:18
-	Let us affirm our faith.	20:30
	We are not alone.	20:34
	We live in God's world.	20:36
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	20:38
	who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile	20:44
	and make new, who works in us and others by the spirit.	20:49
	We trust in God who calls us to be the church,	20:55
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	21:00
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	21:03
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	21:09
	our judge and our hope.	21:13
	In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.	21:15
	We are not alone.	21:22
	Thanks be to God.	21:25
	The Lord be with you.	21:28
-	And with your spirit.	21:30
-	Let us pray.	21:32
	Oh Lord, our Lord, creator, redeemer, sustainer,	21:47
	we are bold to approach you in prayer.	21:55
	We come near only at your invitation	22:01
	and because of our compelling need.	22:05
	Like those of old whom you invited to yourself,	22:10
	we too are burdened and heavy laden.	22:14
	We bring to you those areas of our world,	22:21
	where brother and sister are divided	22:24
	to the point of violence.	22:26
	Help all nations to peace that may no longer be threatened	22:30
	but fulfilled in community.	22:35
	We pray longingly for a more just distribution	22:42
	of this world's gifts and goods,	22:44
	both among nations and within nation.	22:48
	We pray especially for those who hunger	22:54
	and for the enlightenment of nations that we can commonly	22:58
	discover ways to respond to the desperately poor.	23:01
	We remember and give thanks for Duke University	23:08
	and the City of Durham.	23:11
	Help us to live together as city and university,	23:15
	that we may bless each other by our very life together.	23:19
	Help us, O Lord respectively, to be good stewards	23:26
	of our distinctive gifts,	23:30
	that we may build each other up	23:33
	and enhance the common life of our area.	23:35
	On this campus, we remember those in Duke Hospital,	23:43
	those who minister and those who profit	23:47
	from their ministries.	23:50
	We give thanks for the skills and gifts of those who serve	23:53
	and pray for fortitude and hope and courage	23:58
	for those who suffer.	24:04
	We remember especially the lonely, the despondent	24:08
	and the hopeless among our university community.	24:12
	Sensitize all of us to be alert and responsive	24:17
	to these who have so much, but suffer so intently.	24:22
	Give us keen ears, large hearts and abundant patience	24:30
	to be present to these particularly	24:35
	who have considerable need.	24:39
	Hear our prayer, O Lord.	24:45
	We come to you as children to a love and kind parent.	24:49
	Remembering our Lord and savior who taught us to pray saying	24:55
	our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	25:00
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	25:06
	on earth as it is in heaven.	25:10
	Give us this day, our daily bread	25:13
	and forgive us our trespass	25:16
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	25:19
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil	25:23
	for thine is the kingdom and the power	25:29
	and the glory forever and ever.	25:32
	Amen.	25:36
-	Included in the bulletin this morning is a leaflet,	25:56
	which I invite you to take and to read,	26:05
	prayerfully consider and personally respond to.	26:11
	Two weeks from today we will receive a special offering,	26:17
	which will include letters from those who worship here	26:23
	that day, written to express the concern	26:27
	for those who hunger.	26:35
	So I invite you to take this and respond to it.	26:38
	What I preach this morning,	26:45
	I preach simply as one fellow human being to another,	26:51
	trying to interpret the word of God by the grace of God.	26:57
	And I invite you to hear it in that same manner.	27:06
	The Pharisees were the good religious church member folk	27:14
	of their day,	27:21
	The pure and the undefiled.	27:23
	Those who lived by the law, knew what was right	27:27
	and did what was right.	27:30
	Into the home of one of these good Pharisees	27:33
	comes a quote "woman of the city", a sinner woman.	27:36
	And it is implied that she's a street walker,	27:42
	a harlot, a prostitute, a whore,	27:45
	one whose arms had held a multitude of man,	27:49
	none of whom was her husband.	27:52
	Luke makes a very special point of wanting us to know	27:56
	precisely who this woman is.	27:59
	For three times during the course of the verses,	28:02
	which made up our lesson from the gospel this morning,	28:06
	he tells us that she is a sinner woman.	28:09
	She came to the feet of Jesus and on the feet of this man	28:14
	who was without sin,	28:17
	this sinner woman poured her ointment as a gift	28:18
	and washed him with her tears and wiped him with the hair	28:22
	of her head.	28:26
	And the good religious man in whose home they were meeting	28:29
	became angry and said to himself,	28:32
	if Jesus were a real prophet,	28:35
	he would've known who and what sort of a woman	28:39
	this is who washed his feet for she is a sinner.	28:41
	Jesus turned to his host and said to him,	28:46
	now look just a minute, Simon.	28:49
	There was a man who had two other men	28:51
	who owed him some money.	28:53
	One of them owed him $500, the other owed him $50.	28:54
	He forgave, neither of them had enough money to pay.	28:58
	He forgave them both.	29:01
	Now, Simon tell me which one do you think	29:02
	would love him the most?	29:06
	Simon said, why Jesus, teacher,	29:08
	the one who had the most forgiven.	29:12
	Jesus looked him right straight in the eye and he said,	29:15
	you have judged rightly, Simon.	29:17
	Now, do you see this woman?	29:20
	When I came into your home,	29:23
	you didn't give me any water for my feet,	29:24
	but she has washed my feet with the tears of her eyes	29:26
	and wiped them with the hair from her head.	29:30
	You didn't kiss me in greeting,	29:33
	but ever since I've been here, she has been kissing me.	29:34
	You didn't anoint my head with oil,	29:39
	but she has put her precious, precious ointment on my feet.	29:41
	Simon, therefore I say to you, this woman's sins,	29:47
	which are many, are forgiven because she has loved.	29:51
	And she has loved very much.	29:55
	Simon, the ones who have very little forgiven	29:58
	are the ones who love very little.	30:01
	And I'm afraid, you may be one of those.	30:06
	But the sins of this poor, fallen woman are forgiven.	30:13
	And the people murmur, they don't like that.	30:19
	Who is this man who forgives sin?	30:25
	Who tells another human being to go in peace?	30:30
	Who associates with bad people?	30:33
	And then when our Lord hears them,	30:38
	he looks straight at the sinner woman and says to her,	30:40
	my friend, your faith has saved you, go in peace.	30:46
	Now, when Jesus said this to the sinner woman,	30:57
	you can bet that the atmosphere in that room was electric.	30:59
	For good religious folk don't like to be shown up.	31:03
	Good people, proper people, respectable people, dare I say,	31:07
	we, don't like to think that bad, unlovable people	31:11
	deserve respect or love from anybody, even from God himself.	31:16
	This has been a tension of the ages.	31:23
	It's a schizophrenic hangup that we in the church	31:25
	have always had, even from the moment of this lesson	31:29
	and have seldom admitted.	31:33
	Why is it that Jesus likes the bad people	31:35
	and condemns the good?	31:39
	Why does he accept the sinner and warn the righteous?	31:42
	Why?	31:46
	I really don't know, but that's the way he lived his life.	31:47
	You recall what he said to the so-called good folk	31:53
	on one occasion?	31:56
	Why he said my friends, you are like whitewashed tombs.	31:58
	You are like graves, that people walk on them	32:01
	and around them and they don't even realize	32:04
	that they're near them	32:06
	or you're like whitewashed (indistinct).	32:08
	Oh, you're pretty and clean.	32:10
	And you look nice on the outside,	32:12
	but you're dead on the inside.	32:14
	Or you remember what Jesus,	32:19
	how he responded on one occasion	32:21
	when some people came up to him	32:23
	and they wanted to talk with him and they said, good master.	32:24
	And then they started to go on and ask him what,	32:28
	and he stopped them right there and he said,	32:30
	oh, why do you call me good?	32:31
	Don't call me good.	32:34
	No one is good save God and God alone.	32:35
	It's a strange paradox that few of us	32:42
	good Christians have ever understood.	32:45
	We can't quite see why Jesus blistered the Pharisees	32:50
	and seemed almost to condone certain kinds of sin.	32:53
	And we have been mostly believers in the law	33:01
	without ever understanding that Jesus went beyond the law,	33:05
	that he saw right into the heart of every single experience	33:09
	of sin and that the only law through which Jesus ever worked	33:13
	was the law of sin.	33:16
	You remember one time when he was asked,	33:18
	which commandment was the greatest?	33:21
	And he replied not by quoting the law or by referring	33:24
	to the Torah or quoting the 10 Commandments,	33:28
	but he said, oh, you've got to love God with all your heart	33:31
	and soul and mind and strength	33:34
	and then you have to love your neighbor as yourself.	33:35
	You have to love, love, love.	33:37
	And so may I tell you this morning, my friends,	33:42
	today, as I hear the word of our Lord and look at his life	33:47
	and then as I look at the Christian Church as I know it,	33:52
	at ministers and at church members I know,	33:56
	at the church's view of sin, of right and wrong,	34:00
	of good and evil, I am a heartsick and a troubled man.	34:03
	I'm troubled because of what I have taught.	34:13
	I'm troubled because of the attitude I have shown.	34:18
	I'm troubled that I have supported pride	34:23
	and prejudiced and have condemned innocence.	34:25
	I have condoned the cruel.	34:29
	I have not loved the unlovable.	34:35
	But so has my church.	34:40
	And so have my fellow Christians.	34:45
	I am disturbed at how much I am a part of the quote system	34:53
	and how much I am a part of the institution of the church.	35:00
	It's disturbing when we realize how distant we do become,	35:05
	how identified you and I can be	35:12
	with the institution of the church.	35:14
	And if you worship regularly or go to church	35:17
	or to Sunday school or Bible study or to a prayer group,	35:19
	then you are a part of it.	35:23
	And this can create a gulf,	35:28
	a real distance between other people and us.	35:31
	Now may I hasten to that I personally	35:35
	would not want to be identified apart from the church,	35:38
	but I want us to be sure and realize this morning	35:41
	that being in the church can separate us from other persons.	35:44
	A woman, student, colleague of yours and mine,	35:50
	came up to me one Sunday after worship and said to me,	35:55
	I have a problem	36:00
	and I really need to talk with someone.	36:03
	But she said, you wouldn't understand	36:05
	because your faith is so strong	36:08
	and mine is so weak and you are so good and I am not.	36:10
	And I could have cried	36:18
	right there.	36:22
	And many times since, even now.	36:27
	Oh if she could only have known	36:33
	what an image I must have been projecting at least to her.	36:37
	So strong, so good.	36:40
	And I could cry.	36:43
	I, who with Paul am among the chief of sinners	36:45
	had given the impression that I was so faithful	36:49
	and so good as to be utterly unapproachable	36:51
	to someone who was in need.	36:54
	I, who with others have a passion for the saving of souls	36:56
	and the making whole of broken persons,	37:00
	appeared to be too godly for the damned,	37:02
	too good for the bad, too good for a sinner	37:05
	who was simply seeking another sinner who could help her	37:08
	find some meaning and goodness in life.	37:11
	Oh God, what a heresy.	37:14
	What a travesty of the gospel.	37:19
	Too good for God's children,	37:22
	too good maybe for one's own good.	37:24
	What an indictment of Christian preaching,	37:27
	of Christian living.	37:29
	What a shame when the shepherd no longer has the smell	37:31
	of his sheep,	37:34
	when there is no identification that one can make	37:35
	with another.	37:38
	Has that happened to you?	37:44
	Other folks look to you, look at you, live with you.	37:48
	Would they come to you and ask for your help?	37:53
	If there was another young person in trouble,	37:57
	my young friends this morning,	37:59
	would that person, would he or she come to you?	38:01
	Or if there was a man with some agonizing burden	38:07
	that he needed to share with some other person,	38:12
	would that man come and talk with you?	38:14
	Or if there was a couple that was having marital problems,	38:18
	that couple across street or in the upstairs apartment	38:22
	or around the corner or on the other side of town,	38:25
	would they come and talk with you?	38:28
	The gulf is wide, the distance is great.	38:33
	And others stand apart and say, I need to talk with someone,	38:36
	but he or she is too good, too faithful.	38:39
	Do they say that?	38:44
	And so my friends this morning,	38:47
	I plead with you for a new look at sin,	38:48
	a new look to see how crucial it is for the Christian	38:53
	to have the right to be a sinner.	38:57
	Why?	39:00
	Well, in the first place, because the Christian is a sinner.	39:01
	Now, Bob Young did not say that,	39:08
	but Bob Young this morning has to say with you,	39:10
	I am a sinner, you are a sinner.	39:13
	And we fool on only ourselves when we think we're not.	39:15
	The scripture says it and says it clearly to all of us,	39:17
	for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,	39:20
	all, not some, but all.	39:23
	And Paul said, Paul wrote while we were yet sinners,	39:27
	Christ died for us.	39:31
	We're all sinners because there is a tendency, a yearning,	39:34
	a temptation, a turning towards sin	39:37
	that's very real to all of us.	39:39
	We do with Paul, those very things	39:41
	that we do not want to do.	39:43
	That's the way we are, really.	39:45
	And we don't like to admit it or think about it.	39:48
	We like to think that we really are good	39:51
	and we spend a great deal of our time and energy	39:53
	telling ourselves how good we really are.	39:55
	We're somewhat like little Jack Corner, you know?	39:58
	Sitting in the corner, saying my what a good boy	40:01
	or a good girl am I, we tell ourselves	40:04
	and we try to get others to tell us,	40:06
	so much so that we built up a whole theology of goodness	40:08
	and reward.	40:12
	And no matter what God's word tells us,	40:12
	we Americans have bought a kind of folk religion	40:15
	that believes that we are rewarded for our good works.	40:18
	That we'll be successful if we try to be good	40:21
	and that we'll go to heaven when we die if we're good.	40:23
	That my friends, as I understand the gospel of our Lord	40:27
	and savior, Jesus Christ is a scandalous distortion	40:30
	of the Christian gospel.	40:33
	It is a complete perversion of what Jesus taught	40:36
	and Paul preached, if that were true,	40:38
	if only the good were rewarded, if that were really true,	40:41
	then there's not a person in this place this morning	40:44
	who would ever make it.	40:46
	Because Jesus said, there is none good save God.	40:48
	And that would mean that only God alone would make it.	40:51
	And so our first task is to accept our sin.	40:58
	Martin Luther, who wrote our prayer of confession	41:02
	which we prayed for this morning,	41:05
	said "sin for all your worth	41:07
	"for God can forgive only a lusty sinner".	41:09
	We don't talk about that very much, do we?	41:14
	What Luther was really meaning	41:18
	was that sometimes it is a good thing	41:20
	to have a real, big, dark black sin as a part of your life,	41:22
	something big enough and obvious enough	41:26
	so that you really do know that you are a sinner.	41:28
	If we know that, then there is no cause for pride,	41:31
	which is the biggest sin of all.	41:35
	The whole effect of this	41:38
	I think is to say that in the plan of God,	41:39
	the forgiven, unpretentious sinner	41:43
	has vastly more potentialities than the proud,	41:46
	puffed up saint.	41:50
	And so this is the place for sinners, right here,	41:57
	in the fellowship of the church.	42:04
	Right here in church.	42:07
	Right here among us, this the place for real sinners.	42:10
	And so this morning I beg God's forgiveness	42:19
	for those times that I have made any of God's children	42:21
	who have come to the church for healing,	42:26
	feel guilty or feel unwanted or feel out of place	42:28
	or feel that we as Christians are too good or too distant	42:34
	or too puritanical or too right to be of help to them.	42:37
	Feel that we wouldn't understand.	42:43
	The folk song goes, oh, sinner man,	42:46
	where are you going to run to?	42:48
	Oh, sinner man, where are you going to run to?	42:50
	Oh, sinner man, where are you going to run to	42:53
	all on that day?	42:55
	Well, when I know that I am and admit that I am a sinnerman,	42:59
	I can run to Jesus and I can find meaning and hope	43:03
	and wholeness there.	43:09
	So that brings me to the second point.	43:11
	And to the other side of this,	43:13
	the thing that keeps us sinners alive and functioning	43:14
	and serving God	43:17
	is that we have someone who can make us whole.	43:19
	I do and you do.	43:28
	Professor Kay Morgan Edwards,	43:31
	a Professor of Preaching at Claremont School of Theology	43:32
	in California writes, "for every one word of judgment	43:35
	"there is in scripture, there are two words	43:38
	"of forgiveness and grace".	43:41
	The epistle to the Hebrews puts it for us,	43:44
	"we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched	43:46
	"by our infirmities,	43:49
	"but we have one who wasn't always tempted just as we are,	43:50
	"yet was without sin".	43:54
	The old Negro spiritual tells us about it,	43:56
	"nobody knows the trouble I've seen.	43:58
	"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.	44:01
	"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.	44:05
	"Nobody knows, but Jesus".	44:08
	Nobody does know the trouble, the temptation, the pain,	44:12
	the loneliness, the turmoil, the agony, or the sorrow,	44:15
	the hurt, the emptiness.	44:18
	Nobody knows but Jesus.	44:20
	But thank God the grace of God tells us	44:23
	that Jesus does know and Jesus does care.	44:26
	For Jesus broke through the narrow, rigid rules	44:30
	of the Pharisees and of other so-called religious folk	44:33
	of his day to give love.	44:36
	And Jesus gave it instinctively	44:38
	to those who knew they were sinners.	44:40
	Remember walking down the road and he looked up in that tree	44:42
	and he said, Zachias, come on, let's go home.	44:44
	I'm going to eat with you.	44:49
	We're gonna have a good time tonight.	44:50
	To the woman who had been condemned by her friends	44:55
	and neighbors, he said to her woman does no man condemn you?	44:57
	Does no man, Lord, she said.	45:03
	Then he said, oh, in this moment I will not condemn you.	45:06
	Go and sin no more.	45:12
	And then for that crowd gathered around,	45:16
	you remember he said, let the one who is without sin	45:17
	be the first one to throw the stone.	45:20
	And nobody even picked up a pebble.	45:22
	And to this sinner woman that Luke writes about,	45:29
	he said, woman, go in peace.	45:36
	Jesus knew the agony of the human heart.	45:42
	And he responded to it with love.	45:44
	Maybe it is precisely because he knew the lives	45:47
	and the struggles of others that he was easy going	45:50
	when it came to the so-called sins of the flesh,	45:53
	which we are most ready to condemn,	45:56
	drinking and dancing and sex and even gentile stealing	45:58
	didn't seem to bother Jesus so much as the sins	46:02
	of the spirit pride and self-righteousness	46:04
	and self-centeredness and judging of others.	46:07
	The self righteous, he laid low every time,	46:10
	but the adulterers, the fornicators, the harlots,	46:14
	the cheaters, he loved and forgave	46:16
	and they went away forgiven.	46:20
	And yet	46:22
	those kind of sinful people are the very ones	46:26
	that we in the church today are ready to condemn to hell.	46:32
	Somehow or other it seems to me that we are not quite	46:36
	on the same wave length as Jesus about sin and sinners.	46:38
	Our view of what is moral	46:42
	is out of focus with the view of Jesus.	46:45
	Jesus was concerned about persons	46:49
	and about what happened to persons.	46:51
	But we get excited over blue laws	46:54
	and massage parlors and smoking and drinking	46:58
	and X-rated movies, the so-called sins of the flesh,	47:01
	but we're not very excited that in most Christian churches,	47:04
	black Americans can still not worship with white Christians	47:08
	or that black Americans can't get a good job or buy a house	47:13
	next to white families or can't join the local	47:16
	country club or in the United Methodist Church,	47:20
	which is my church,	47:28
	and in other churches, black United Methodist ministers	47:30
	can't serve white congregations,	47:33
	the sins of self-righteousness.	47:35
	Or we don't get very excited about the shacks	47:40
	that poor whites live in as we drive by	47:42
	and we see ill clothed, ill fed, dirty, hungry children.	47:44
	And we say, oh yeah,	47:47
	if only their parents had some initiative,	47:50
	if only they had some backbone,	47:53
	if only they worked as I work.	47:55
	And I can hear Jesus whisper to these folks and say, friend,	47:59
	does anyone condemn you?	48:02
	And I can hear some of those little ones look up at Jesus	48:04
	and say, yes, Lord, some in your church.	48:07
	And I'm a part of this church, this Christian Church,	48:18
	this system, and I'm troubled this morning.	48:23
	I'm troubled, but I'm also full of hope.	48:28
	Hope, because I know that there is someone	48:34
	who can make us whole, who can bring us together,	48:37
	who can give us a new sense of meaning.	48:40
	One whose love and mercy and forgiveness	48:43
	can make us new persons.	48:45
	Hope because I think our church can change its view of sin	48:48
	and sinners, of good and evil, of saint and sinner,	48:52
	can change to where we may be more in line	48:55
	with our Lord's view.	48:58
	And the place to begin with this change is right here,	48:59
	right here.	49:05
	To see our own condition and our own need of a savior.	49:08
	Those of us who are in the church,	49:15
	those of us who are the good people.	49:19
	Yes, we good people.	49:24
	For it was Paul after he became a follower of Christ	49:29
	who once wrote "oh wretched man that I am.	49:37
	"Who will save me from this body of sin and death?	49:44
	"Jesus Christ, our Lord".	49:51
	Yes, Jesus can and Jesus will.	49:54
	I know that and I'm here to tell you that this morning.	49:58
	For I've seen enough young, unwed pregnant women	50:03
	and their scared, stiff husbands to be,	50:06
	guilty and despairing, searching for hope.	50:10
	And I've seen some in the church by the grace of God,	50:14
	reach out and touch them.	50:17
	And I've seen those couples become new persons	50:19
	because of love.	50:22
	The love of Christ.	50:24
	I've labored with enough people through the hell of divorce,	50:28
	that I've become convinced that there are some instances	50:34
	and that there are some experiences	50:37
	where only the grace of God	50:39
	and the grace of God only could have brought meaning again.	50:41
	I've heard a 19 year old weepingly admit my life is a mess.	50:48
	And talk with me, not me with him, but he with me	50:54
	about Jesus Christ and of what Jesus could do for him.	50:58
	And then I've seen him and talked with him	51:04
	several weeks later and have heard him say I'm beginning.	51:06
	I'm beginning to find a new way.	51:09
	Yes, I've seen these persons come through struggle and pain	51:15
	and out on the other side, as loving, useful,	51:19
	humble, forgiving, real, gentle, caring spirits.	51:23
	I've seen enough to where I'm convinced	51:30
	that Jesus does have something for us.	51:32
	To where I'm convinced that Christ can save even sinners.	51:37
	I'm ready to believe that we have a savior.	51:47
	A savior who has compassion for us	51:54
	at the point of our greatest need.	51:56
	And so I say to you this morning, we are sinners.	52:02
	We have need of a savior.	52:16
	Christ can be that savior for you and for me.	52:22
	Will you hear the words of Jesus	52:32
	as he spoke them to this woman?	52:34
	"My friend, your faith has made you whole.	52:37
	"Go in peace".	52:45
	Amen and may the peace of God be with you all.	52:52
	Amen.	53:03
	(soft music)	53:09
	(choir sings)	53:59
	(soft music)	56:51
	♪ Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him ♪	58:51
	♪ Praise him angels, in the height ♪	58:56
	♪ Sun and moon, rejoice before him ♪	59:02
	♪ Praise him, all ye stars of light ♪	59:07
	♪ Praise the Lord, for he has spoken ♪	59:13
	♪ Worlds his mighty voice obeyed ♪	59:19
	♪ Laws which never shall be broken ♪	59:24
	♪ For their guidance he has made ♪	59:30
	(soft music)	59:35
	♪ Praise the Lord, for he is glorious ♪	59:45
	♪ Never shall his promise fail ♪	59:51
	♪ God has made his saints victorious ♪	59:57
	♪ Sin and death shall not prevail ♪	1:00:03
	♪ Praise the God of our salvation ♪	1:00:10
	♪ Hosts on high his power proclaim ♪	1:00:17
	♪ Heaven and earth, and all creation ♪	1:00:25
	♪ Laud and magnify his name ♪	1:00:31
	(soft music)	1:00:41
	♪ Worship, honor, glory, blessing ♪	1:00:51
	♪ Lord, we offer unto thee ♪	1:00:57
	♪ Young and old, thy praise expressing ♪	1:01:03
	♪ In glad homage bend the knee ♪	1:01:09
	♪ All the saints in heaven adore thee ♪	1:01:16
	♪ We would bow before thy throne ♪	1:01:22
	♪ As thine angels serve before thee ♪	1:01:28
	♪ So on earth thy will be done ♪	1:01:34
	(soft music)	1:01:50
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:02:11
	♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪	1:02:16
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:02:21
	♪ Praise him above ye heavenly host ♪	1:02:28
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:02:33
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:02:38
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:02:43
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:02:49
	♪ Amen ♪	1:02:56
-	Receive Lord, these, our lows and fishes.	1:03:09
	Even as the Lord, you receive those of the disciples	1:03:13
	and bless them that your ministry of reconciliation	1:03:18
	may continue to grow in this world to your everlasting glory	1:03:23
	and to the welfare of all persons.	1:03:29
	Amen.	1:03:33
	(soft music)	1:03:35
	♪ Immortal, invisible, God only wise ♪	1:04:04
	♪ In light inaccessible hid from our eyes ♪	1:04:11
	♪ Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days ♪	1:04:18
	♪ Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise ♪	1:04:24
	♪ Unresting, unhasting and silent as light ♪	1:04:33
	♪ Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might ♪	1:04:40
	♪ Thy justice, like mountains high soaring above ♪	1:04:47
	♪ Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love ♪	1:04:54
	♪ To all, life thou givest, to both great and small ♪	1:05:03
	♪ In all life thou livest, the true life of all ♪	1:05:09
	♪ We blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree ♪	1:05:16
	♪ Then wither and perish, but naught changeth thee ♪	1:05:24
	(soft music)	1:05:33
-	The Lord bless you and keep you.	1:06:50
	The Lord make his face to shine upon you	1:06:55
	and be gracious to you.	1:06:57
	The Lord lift up his countenance upon you	1:07:01
	and give you peace.	1:07:04
	(choir sings)	1:07:09
	(soft music)	1:07:34

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "A Christian's Right to Be a Sinner" (November 9, 1975)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4cr5sf1s

Date:

November 9, 1975

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0800
ref6800_s0l
uachapelsermaud
duke:628670
dcrau002763
ark:/87924/r4cr5sf1s
f9224eff-711c-48a5-9561-40b365da6139

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert T. Young - "A Christian's Right to Be a Sinner" (November 9, 1975)

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