Gilleasbuig MacMillan - "The Church Is for Healing" (February 29, 1976) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(coughing)

0:15

♪ At his feet the six winged seraph ♪

0:28

♪ Cherubim with sleepless eye ♪

0:36

♪ Veil their faces to the presence ♪

0:44

♪ As with ceaseless voice they cry ♪

0:52

♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪

1:01

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:11

♪ Lord most high ♪

1:13

(uplifting organ music)

1:25

(choral singing)

1:49

(congregation chatting quietly)

4:48

-

If we say we have not sinned,

5:00

we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

5:04

If we confess our sins,

5:11

God can be trusted to forgive us our sins.

5:14

Therefore, let us offer unto God

5:21

our unison prayer of confession.

5:24

Let us pray.

5:28

Oh God of peace, we turn aside from an unquiet world,

5:31

seeking rest for our spirits and light for our thoughts.

5:37

We bring our work to be sanctified,

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our wounds to be healed, our sins to be forgiven,

5:46

our hopes to be renewed, our better selves to be quickened.

5:52

Oh thou in whom there is harmony, draw us to thyself

5:58

and silence the discords of our lives.

6:04

Thou who art one in all, and in whom all are one,

6:08

take us out of the loneliness of self

6:13

and fill us with the fullness of thy truth and love.

6:17

Thou whose greatness is beyond our highest praise,

6:21

lift us above our common littleness

6:26

and our daily imperfections.

6:29

Send us visions of the love that is in thee,

6:32

and of the good that may be in us.

6:36

Amen.

6:40

And now in silence, let us offer unto God

6:42

our own prayers of confession.

6:46

And hear these words of assurance of forgiveness

7:06

from the New Testament:

7:11

The righteous shall live by faith.

7:13

The tax collector beat his breast saying,

7:19

"God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

7:23

Jesus said, "I tell you,

7:29

"this man went down to his house justified,

7:33

"right with God."

7:38

Blessed are we whose iniquities are forgiven

7:42

and whose sins are covered.

7:47

Amen.

7:51

(coughing)

7:53

(gentle organ music)

7:58

♪ Let this mind ♪

9:00

♪ Be in you ♪

9:04

♪ Which was also ♪

9:07

♪ In Christ Jesus ♪

9:10

♪ Let this mind ♪

9:16

♪ Be in you ♪

9:21

♪ Which was also ♪

9:25

♪ In Christ Jesus ♪

9:29

♪ Who ♪

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♪ Being in the form of God ♪

9:38

♪ Thought it not robbery ♪

9:44

♪ To be equal ♪

9:50

♪ With God ♪

9:55

♪ But made himself ♪

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♪ Of no reputation ♪

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♪ And took upon him ♪

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♪ The form of a servant ♪

10:41

♪ And took upon himself ♪

10:47

♪ The form of a servant ♪

10:52

♪ And was made ♪

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♪ In the likeness ♪

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♪ Of man ♪

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♪ And being found in fashion ♪

11:30

♪ As a man ♪

11:36

♪ He humbled himself ♪

11:41

♪ He humbled himself ♪

11:48

♪ And became obedient ♪

11:55

♪ Unto death ♪

12:03

♪ Even death ♪

12:07

♪ Of the cross ♪

12:11

♪ The death ♪

12:15

♪ Of the cross ♪

12:19

♪ Wherefore God also ♪

12:40

♪ Hath highly exalted him ♪

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♪ And given him a name ♪

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♪ Which is above ♪

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♪ Every name ♪

13:08

♪ That at the name of Jesus ♪

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♪ Every knee should bow ♪

13:20

♪ And that every tongue ♪

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♪ Should confess ♪

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♪ That Jesus ♪

13:37

♪ Christ is ♪

13:44

♪ Lord ♪

13:49

♪ Let this mind ♪

14:07

♪ Be in you ♪

14:11

♪ Which was also ♪

14:15

♪ In Christ Jesus ♪

14:18

♪ Let this mind ♪

14:33

♪ Be in you ♪

14:38

-

The scripture lesson this morning

15:13

is from the Gospel of Mark.

15:15

Let the congregation rise.

15:16

I read from the second chapter, the first 13 verses:

15:26

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days,

15:32

it was reported that he was at home,

15:36

and many were gathered together,

15:38

so that there was no longer room for them,

15:40

not even about the door.

15:43

And he was preaching the word to them.

15:46

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic

15:49

carried by four men.

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And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,

15:55

they removed the roof above him.

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And when they had made an opening,

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they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.

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And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

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"My son, your sins are forgiven."

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Now some of the scribes were sitting there

16:19

questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak thus?

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It is blasphemy.

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Who can forgive sins but God alone?

16:27

And immediately, Jesus, perceiving in his spirit

16:32

that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them,

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"Why do you question thus in your hearts?

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"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,

16:44

"your sins are forgiven,

16:47

"or to say rise, take up your pallet and walk?

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"But that you may know that the son of man

16:54

"has authority on Earth to forgive sins."

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He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise,

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"take up your pallet and go home."

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And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet,

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and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed,

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and glorified God, saying,

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"We never saw anything like this."

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Jesus went out again beside the sea,

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and all the crowd gathered about him,

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and he taught them the gospel of our Lord.

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Praise be to God.

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(inspiring organ music)

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♪ Glory to the Father ♪

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♪ And to the son ♪

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♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪

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♪ As it was in the beginning ♪

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♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪

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♪ World without end ♪

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♪ Amen, Amen ♪

18:10

-

Let us affirm our faith.

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We are not alone.

18:24

We live in God's world.

18:26

We believe in God, who has created and is creating.

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Who has come in the truly human Jesus

18:35

to reconcile and make new.

18:39

Who works in us and others through the spirit.

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We trust God, who calls us to be the church,

18:47

to celebrate life and its fullness,

18:52

to love and serve others,

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to seek justice and resist evil,

18:58

to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,

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our judge and our hope.

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In life, in death, in life beyond death,

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God is with us.

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We are not alone.

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Thanks be to God.

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The Lord be with you.

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-

And with your spirit.

19:24

-

Let us pray.

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(pews creaking)

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Let our first prayer be one of thanksgiving.

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For the life which thou has given and preserved,

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for the world in which we dwell,

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and for the hope of everlasting blessedness,

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we thank thee, oh God.

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For the difficulties and distresses which have molded us,

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and for the consolations which have refreshed our weariness,

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we thank thee, oh God.

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For comfort and help,

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in sorrow, in pain,

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in bereavement, we thank thee, oh God.

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For the warnings of thy spirit speaking to our spirits,

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when the sky was bright and all men spoke well of us,

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we thank thee, oh God.

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For the life and doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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for his love and sacrifice,

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for his boundless compassion,

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and for the glorious company of those who have followed him

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in weakness unto victory,

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we thank thee, oh God.

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Our second prayer is one of intercession for others.

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Just as I entered the service, I was handed this note.

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A friend of Dr. Paul Lehman,

21:16

distinguished theologian and friend of many of us here.

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A friend has asked that we offer prayers

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for Dr. Lehman's son Peter,

21:29

who is ill in Raritan Valley Hospital in New Jersey.

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Therefore, before I pray aloud for you,

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let us in quietness pray for this boy,

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and for his parents.

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Our God, we present unto thee these prayers for Peter,

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and for his parents,

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as we now pray her all kinds of folk.

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Oh God, it was taught us that we are members one of another,

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and has formed us for fellowship with one another.

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Hear our prayers of intercession.

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We bring before thee our world,

22:31

torn, destruct, anguished.

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Grant strength and courage abundant

22:39

to all who work for a world of reason and understanding,

22:41

especially for the United Nations.

22:47

We bring before thee our own nation,

22:53

land of privilege and opportunity,

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land of prejudice and irreverence,

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land of memory and of hope.

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Grant us to realize that what unites us

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is more lasting than what divides us.

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We pray for our Tar Heel state,

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which seldom looks to the past,

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which is encouraged by the present,

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which has a measure of enthusiasm about its future.

23:26

We thank thee that its conservatism is not diehardism,

23:30

that its races are not in continual opposition,

23:35

and that its leadership has been aware of needs and rights.

23:40

We pray for our civic community,

23:47

so often set in rivalry to our academic fellowship,

23:49

where town and gown avoid rather than despise each other.

23:55

Teach us that we are members one of another,

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and that it is good for brethren to dwell in unity.

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Hear this, our prayer of intercession

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and grant that some child now born

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may actually see that faction

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and war have ceased,

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that there is peace on Earth

24:24

among folk of goodwill.

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Amen.

24:31

And let me add one note there that if any of you

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can respond to the request for blood

24:38

for young Peter Lehmann,

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call the chapel office for further information.

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And now let us pray a prayer of supplication for ourselves.

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Oh thou in whose boundless being are laid up all treasures

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of wisdom, truth and holiness,

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grant us through constant fellowship with thee

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the true graces of Christian character.

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The grace of courage,

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whether in suffering or in danger.

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The grace of preparedness, lest we enter into temptation.

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The grace of charity,

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that we may refrain from hasty judgment.

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The grace of silence, that we may refrain from hasty speech.

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The grace of forgiveness towards all who have wronged us.

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The grace of tenderness towards all who are weaker.

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The grace of steadfastness in continuing to desire

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that thou wilt do as now we pray.

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And let us sum up all our prayers in the words

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that Jesus taught his disciples, saying:

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Our father who art in Heaven,

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hallowed be thy name.

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Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

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on Earth as it is in Heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread,

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and forgive us our trespasses,

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as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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And lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from evil,

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for thine is the kingdom and the power

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and the glory forever.

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Amen.

26:43

I would at this time thank the minister of the university,

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who has allowed me to take part in this service

26:53

with a fellow Scott.

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I haven't worked with a fellow Scott for a long, long time.

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I'm sorry I cannot pronounce his first name

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as it is printed in the bulletin.

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But you see, this man speaks the ancient language

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of Scotland, the Gaelic, as well as English.

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He's minister of the great St. Giles Cathedral,

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which the Roman Catholics built and the Episcopalians swiped

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and the Presbyterians laid hands on and kept.

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(congregation laughs)

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He is also domestic chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen,

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because the queen becomes a member of the Church of Scotland

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when she crosses the border from England.

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I'm not sure she becomes a Presbyterian,

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but she worships in the Church of Scotland.

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This man comes from the Highlands,

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where the Scots believe that the Gaelic language,

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the Gaelic, was the language spoken in the Garden of Eden

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before the fall of man.

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And to be fair to both sexes, before the fall of woman, too.

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Sir, we welcome you to the pulpit of our university chapel.

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Our ears are open to hear you expound a word from God.

28:28

-

I have received your welcome and your invitation

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with very great pleasure.

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It is a source of great joy to me to be here.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son

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and of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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It seems to me not unreasonable

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that in this period of the Christian year

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between Christmas and Easter,

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particularly on the Sunday before Lent,

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the church should give consideration to those things

29:11

which happened between our Lord's birth and his death.

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And in particular, it seems perfectly proper

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to think about Jesus the teacher and Jesus the healer.

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Jesus in his own lifetime

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quite obviously both taught and healed,

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if we are to believe the record and testimony

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of the New Testament.

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What is less well understood

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and perhaps less popularly believed

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is that his teaching and his healing were not divided.

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Neither was one the consequence of the other.

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Neither was either to be separated from himself.

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Jesus was not a kindly man who had certain things to say,

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which were more or less useful to the future generations,

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and who incidentally along the road,

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because he was a compassionate chap,

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was nice to people and helped them.

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You cannot set apart Jesus' gigantic claim

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to be the son of God and the savior of the world

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from his claim to be the healer

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and the forgiver of men's sins.

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Jesus came, and John the Baptist pronounced him

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to be the son of God, and Jesus said in reply,

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"You will see the angels of God ascending

30:42

"and descending upon the son."

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And that was one way of saying

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that Jesus went out into Galilee preaching the Kingdom.

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For what was the kingdom which he preached?

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Might it be that one aspect of his kingdom

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was his healing and his teaching?

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That the healing which Jesus gave

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and the teaching which he proffered were not chance benefits

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enjoyed by those few people whom he happened to meet,

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but were pointers and signs

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to a future blessedness, a future kingdom,

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which it was Jesus' will that the whole human race

31:26

should one day enjoy and inherit.

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It seems to me therefore perfectly justifiable

31:36

to leap across almost 2,000 years of Christian tradition,

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to bypass a million problems of textual criticism,

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and to ignore a vast library of theological erudition

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in order to make the simple claim

31:54

that healing is at the center of the church's work,

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that Christianity has to do with healing.

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Such healing must be a healing which is related

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to the healing of Jesus and how he saw it.

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Such healing must also not be restricted

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to substitutes for the doctors,

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to supernatural magic which bypasses the natural processes.

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It must be a healing which takes into account the skills

32:33

and knowledge of medicine.

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It must also be a healing which is much more

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than the healing of diseased bodies,

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much more even than the healing of diseased minds.

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It must be the restoration of broken communities.

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It must be the reestablishment of broken relationships.

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It must be the creation of justice

32:57

where there was injustice.

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And though we say it so glibly,

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and ought to say it with such wretched anguish,

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it must also include the healing of the broken church.

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Healing is of the essence

33:18

of the life and purpose of the Christian Church.

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That is, if you believe in the church.

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I spoke recently last week

33:31

to one of our Scottish representatives

33:33

at the World Council of Churches assembly

33:35

in Nairobi in December.

33:38

Some of you here may have been there.

33:41

After listening to him talk about what happened there,

33:43

about his own reactions to it and his own experience of it,

33:46

I asked him a question which went like this.

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Did you find that the assembly was in truth

33:55

an assembly of Christians

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rather than an assembly of churches, or of the church?

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I think he understood the point I was making,

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and he replied emphatically in the affirmative.

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Clearly the two phrases or the two ideas

34:13

are not mutually exclusive.

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You can talk about an assembly of Christians

34:18

and mean exactly the same as somebody else means

34:21

by talking about an assembly of the church.

34:24

The point I make nonetheless

34:27

was that there are two attitudes, which are a division.

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There are two attitudes towards the church

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which mark a quite clearly separated approach to it.

34:36

They do not correspond to those who are in the church

34:41

on a Sunday morning, as distinct from those who are out,

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because it is possible for those

34:51

who are in the church Sunday by Sunday

34:53

not to take an attitude of belief in the church.

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The two attitudes I'd put briefly like this.

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There is the attitude of whole, those who believe

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that the church is essential to Christianity.

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That Jesus, in some sense of the word need, needs, needed,

35:10

and will need a church.

35:14

That without a church, there is no salvation.

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And those on the other hand who believe

35:22

that the church is in that sense nonessential.

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However useful it may be,

35:29

however more useful and beneficial it could be

35:32

if purified and revitalized,

35:35

doubtless in the direction

35:38

in which they would like to revitalize it,

35:39

but essentially that it is not essential.

35:41

Now it is possible to be involved in all the paraphernalia

35:45

of ecclesiastical organization.

35:50

Indeed, to be a dominating authority

35:53

within the Christian Church,

35:55

and yet in your heart of hearts,

35:57

not to believe in the church.

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And it is a real question which seems to me

36:05

to be essential for the future of the church that we pose.

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Is the church essential to the carrying out

36:12

of the healing and the teaching which Jesus gave,

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and which was inseparable from himself?

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Certainly, Christian orthodoxy would stand by

36:28

the essential character of the church.

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It is sometimes supposed

36:38

and supposed in almost complete ignorance

36:39

that one of the ways of distinguishing

36:43

the Roman Catholic communion

36:45

from the so-called Protestant churches

36:48

is that for a Roman Catholic, the church is essential,

36:51

almost supplementing

36:54

and bypassing personal faith.

36:57

Whereas for a Protestant, characteristically,

37:01

faith is a personal matter

37:03

and a matter of individual discipleship,

37:06

while the church for a Protestant

37:09

becomes a convenient institution

37:11

whereby individual believers gather,

37:14

support each other, and clarify their insights.

37:18

Such a distinction bears an almost unbelievable ignorance

37:22

when it is made of the history of both the Roman Catholic

37:27

and the churches of the Reformation.

37:31

For on both sides in their historic documents

37:35

and in their historic confessions,

37:38

and in their historic catechisms,

37:40

have recognized and recognized clearly

37:43

both the objective and the subjective side of the church.

37:47

That the church is certainly composed of those

37:52

who have made individual commitment,

37:54

but that the church is much more

37:59

than the sum of its members.

38:01

That the church is a divine and not a human institution.

38:04

That the church is objectively there,

38:09

and does not depend on you and I being part of it.

38:13

Might be said, however,

38:17

that such doctrines and such catechisms

38:20

have been promulgated by the clergy,

38:23

who were in the pay of the church

38:26

and who quite clearly found it important

38:27

that the church should be defended and preserved.

38:31

For one thing, their bread depended on it.

38:34

And so you could say that a high doctrine of the church

38:37

is naturally promoted by clergy

38:40

because it's in their interest to do so.

38:43

Therefore I persist in asking the question,

38:47

does the church

38:51

follow as an essential consequence

38:54

from the teaching of Jesus?

38:57

Did Jesus teach that a church was necessary?

38:59

I ask this because I believe there are many people today

39:05

within and around the Christian community

39:09

who believe in their heart of hearts

39:12

that faith is a matter of individual belief,

39:14

individual response, individual feeling,

39:17

individual behavior,

39:21

and is only incidentally a matter of the church.

39:23

I believe there are many people

39:29

on both your side of the Atlantic and mine

39:31

who believe in their heart of hearts

39:35

that the church is not the principle vehicle

39:37

of Christian discipleship, and who want to bypass it.

39:41

Who believe that faith is so essentially a matter

39:46

of private judgment and private emotion

39:49

that by some form of logic which eludes me,

39:56

they find their internal judgments more objective

40:02

than the tradition of the church Catholic.

40:08

Therefore, because of that prevailing attitude,

40:11

I believe it to be important to raise the question,

40:14

did the teaching of Jesus demand a church anyway?

40:18

I also ask the question against the sorrowful awareness

40:25

that the church has let the teaching of Jesus so badly down.

40:31

Not only have we fallen short of those ideals

40:39

which in the gospels we have set ourselves,

40:45

but our persistent preoccupation

40:49

with precisely those attitudes of religion

40:53

which Jesus so trenchantly condemned

40:56

have led us to be a handicap to the gospel

41:00

rather than a handmaid.

41:06

It is therefore with reticence

41:09

that any preacher must face the question,

41:11

is the church essential?

41:15

But equally he must pause before saying it is not.

41:19

I believe that the concern for individual faith

41:26

above the faith of the church,

41:31

for making personal belief more important to you

41:33

than the belief of the church,

41:38

is a natural expression of the sort of culture during,

41:40

through which our Western world has been traveling

41:45

these past three or 400 years.

41:48

I believe it is a passing phase.

41:50

I believe that already one can see the signs

41:54

of a more sophisticated notion of corporate living

41:57

and corporate thinking coming back.

42:01

But it seems to me that because it is so much

42:05

an expression of our culture to see things individually,

42:10

which is in itself a contradiction,

42:16

that it is to me important that we raise the question

42:19

of how essential a shared perspective is

42:23

to Christian people.

42:28

Perhaps the most obvious,

42:35

and the most deeply powerful,

42:38

persuasive handicap in facing this question,

42:42

did Jesus teach that a church was needed

42:48

to pursue his healing-teaching work?

42:51

Is the fact that of course Christianity is not founded

42:55

upon the teaching of Jesus at all,

42:57

in the sense that a great teacher

43:02

leaves a school behind him,

43:05

who devote themselves in the years which follow him

43:07

to reinterpreting his teaching,

43:11

to disentangling his complexity,

43:14

and to promoting his research and his work

43:17

in the direction which he inaugurated.

43:20

Jesus is not the funder

43:24

of a cult of Jesus ideologists.

43:28

Jesus is not the establisher of a school

43:33

of what can sometimes be called a philosophy of life,

43:38

although it is somewhat of a prostitution

43:42

of the word philosophy to say so.

43:44

The Christian faith is established upon the church

43:47

of the resurrection under the Holy Spirit,

43:50

which is very different from saying

43:54

that the Christian religion is founded

43:57

upon the teaching of Jesus.

43:59

I dare say it is possible to establish a sort of a religion

44:02

on what happened before Holy Week.

44:08

Forget the cross, forget the resurrection, forget Pentecost,

44:11

forget the establishment of the church.

44:17

Forget Christian tradition and try to establish a religion,

44:19

as many people I think would like to do,

44:23

upon the teaching of Jesus,

44:27

upon his human earthly existence before his cross.

44:29

I dare say it is possible,

44:33

but it would not be the Christianity

44:36

which has permeated the life of Christendom

44:38

for almost 2,000 years.

44:41

And also this.

44:44

If any of you are disposed to establish

44:47

for yourself such a religion,

44:49

I would strongly advise you not to base your information

44:52

upon the gospels of the New Testament.

44:57

While the gospels of the New Testament were written so much

45:00

in the light of the cross, the resurrection

45:03

and the Holy Spirit in the church,

45:06

that it is impossible to separate in them

45:10

those things which reflect

45:13

what the historical Jesus did and said,

45:15

and those things which the disciples of the risen Christ

45:19

in his church saw him subsequently to have been.

45:23

I don't know where else you'll find information

45:28

about the historical Jesus

45:30

on which to found your new religion,

45:32

but I do think in the interest of integrity,

45:34

you should not look to the New Testament.

45:37

And that first seems a matter of intense peculiarity,

45:42

that I should persist with asking the question,

45:46

did Jesus teach a church?

45:50

But I'm going to do it.

45:54

Because I believe that the future of Christianity,

45:56

and in many ways, the future of our whole civilization,

45:59

and I mean now the civilization of the world,

46:03

may depend on the degree to which people understand

46:06

the essential nature of the church in Christianity.

46:11

And because so many people wish to bypass

46:17

the doctrine of St. Paul about the body of Christ,

46:20

who wish to evade the cross and resurrection,

46:23

who wish to consider the Holy Spirit to be not for them,

46:27

and to found their religion upon his teaching,

46:30

even though that is but one element

46:33

in the establishment of Christianity.

46:36

For the future healing of the world,

46:40

I believe we must say,

46:44

can you out of the teaching of Jesus

46:47

insofar as we can discover it

46:49

regard him as having claimed the essential necessity

46:54

of a church?

46:58

Well?

47:02

Jesus proclaimed

47:04

the unconditional mercy of God.

47:08

And he proclaimed also that the chief impediment

47:11

to receiving that mercy was goodness, not badness.

47:14

The so-called Protestant churches have proclaimed

47:21

for far too long that God preferred good people

47:24

to bad people when the entire history of Jesus

47:27

stands for the opposite.

47:30

Those who feel deep down in their heart of hearts

47:36

that they do not need the mercy of God

47:41

are those who are incapable of receiving it.

47:45

Whereas those who know how much they do receive it

47:49

are more open to it.

47:53

How can we receive this mercy of God?

47:57

Only by being as open to our fellows

48:02

as we are open to God.

48:06

Forgive us our trespasses,

48:08

as we forgive those who trespass against us does not mean

48:09

that God is the celestial accountant in the sky

48:13

who adds up at the end of a day the number of times

48:17

we have forgiven our fellows and says,

48:20

ah, yes, she has only forgiven her fellows

48:22

so much of their trespasses,

48:27

I shall be incapable of forgiving her hers.

48:29

That is not the Christian doctrine of God.

48:32

The Christian doctrine of God

48:34

is that his forgiveness is offered unconditionally,

48:36

but that those who are not open to their fellows cannot,

48:41

with an absolute cannot, be open to him.

48:46

Therefore, it seems to me

48:52

that in that very essential proclamation of forgiveness,

48:54

the Christian community is primordially set forth.

48:58

Only within a community of mutual forgiveness

49:04

is it possible to receive the mercy of God.

49:08

To receive the mercy of God on your own

49:11

is a certain recipe

49:16

for encouraging that self-preoccupation,

49:18

which is the eternal hallmark of egocentric piety.

49:22

And the ethics of Jesus calling for a trust in him

49:29

who clothed the lilies,

49:34

calling for our reliance upon him

49:36

who counts the very hairs upon your head,

49:39

is surely incompatible

49:42

with that pietistic self-preoccupation

49:46

which Jesus found the chief stumbling block to his message,

49:49

and which has been so much the hallmark

49:54

of religion ever since.

49:56

Trusting in God depends on a selflessness.

49:59

Certainly Christianity may require self-discipline,

50:04

and the Protestant churches have proclaimed self-discipline

50:07

for four centuries,

50:10

but does it not more need self-abandonment?

50:12

The forgetfulness of oneself,

50:17

rather than the self-centered controlling of oneself.

50:20

And Jesus preached the Kingdom.

50:25

A kingdom which was surely whatever it was,

50:29

and the scholars have argued interminably,

50:31

but for one thing, because they're paid to,

50:33

over what the Kingdom of God was.

50:36

Surely, whatever they say,

50:39

it's more likely to be a community than an individual soul.

50:40

I believe very little,

50:49

and I stand by the faith of the church.

50:54

I worship very poorly,

50:58

but I am caught up in the worship of the church.

51:01

I believe it to be the duty and calling of the church today

51:05

to be the church.

51:10

I believe that our principle contribution

51:13

to the healing processes of mankind

51:16

does not lie in our aping the social services.

51:20

In our pretending that by setting up church schools

51:25

or church hospitals or church forms of social relief,

51:29

we are somehow expressing something Christian.

51:32

Rather than by following prevailing trends,

51:37

which any decent-minded citizen would also see and do,

51:41

I believe it to be our principle contribution

51:45

to be the church.

51:49

To set forth as a community that reconciliation

51:52

which Jesus came and died to give.

51:56

And I believe that losing ourselves

52:00

in that community of reconciliation

52:03

is our principle Christian contribution

52:07

to the healing of the world.

52:10

And if the ecumenical movement is simply a recognition

52:16

that people can be friendly over walls

52:22

without knocking the walls down,

52:25

then the ecumenical movement

52:28

has been the cruelest false hope

52:30

to have been dangled before a divided humanity

52:33

in the 20th century.

52:36

Healing is so desperately needed at every level.

52:39

I urge you to consider that our activism,

52:47

our social work may pall into insignificance

52:54

compared to what, by God's spirit,

53:01

we may be led to be,

53:05

and that through this community, by which,

53:08

odd though it may seem, he has chosen to redeem the world,

53:13

the world may yet be redeemed.

53:18

Let us pray.

53:25

Almighty God,

53:33

who hast established the church as thy body,

53:36

save us from imagining that we who are but little limbs,

53:41

mere small fingers of thy body,

53:48

save us some imagining that we can reflect thy mind

53:52

or heart on our own.

53:56

Save us from imagining that we can believe on our own,

53:59

but lead us by thy grace

54:04

to be more truly thy body.

54:08

For Jesus' sake, amen.

54:14

(uplifting organ music)

54:24

♪ Make me a captive, Lord ♪

55:05

♪ And then I shall be free ♪

55:10

♪ Force me to render up my sword ♪

55:15

♪ And I shall conqueror be ♪

55:20

♪ I sink in life's alarms ♪

55:25

♪ When by myself I stand ♪

55:30

♪ Imprison me within thine arms ♪

55:36

♪ And strong shall be my hand ♪

55:41

♪ My heart is weak and poor ♪

55:48

♪ Until it master find ♪

55:52

♪ It has no spring of action sure ♪

55:58

♪ It varies with the wind ♪

56:03

♪ It cannot freely move ♪

56:08

♪ Till thou hast wrought its chain ♪

56:13

♪ Enslave it with thy matchless love ♪

56:19

♪ And deathless it shall reign ♪

56:24

♪ My power is faint and low ♪

56:31

♪ Till I have learned to serve ♪

56:36

♪ It wants the needed fire to glow ♪

56:41

♪ It wants the breeze to nerve ♪

56:46

♪ It cannot drive the world ♪

56:51

♪ Until itself be driven ♪

56:57

♪ Its flag can only be unfurled ♪

57:02

♪ When thou shalt breathe from Heaven ♪

57:07

♪ My will is not my own ♪

57:14

♪ Till thou hast made it thine ♪

57:19

♪ If it would reach the monarch's throne ♪

57:24

♪ It must its crown resign ♪

57:29

♪ It only stands unbent ♪

57:35

♪ Amid the clashing strife ♪

57:40

♪ When on thy bosom it has leant ♪

57:45

♪ And found in thee its life ♪

57:51

♪ Amen ♪

57:58

(foreboding organ music)

58:19

(choral singing)

1:01:07

(choral singing)

1:02:11

(choral singing)

1:04:24

(foreboding organ music)

1:08:17

(dramatic choral singing)

1:08:20

(uplifting organ music)

1:08:57

♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪

1:09:23

♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪

1:09:30

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

1:09:36

♪ Praise him above, ye heavenly host ♪

1:09:44

♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪

1:09:50

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

1:09:56

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

1:10:03

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:10:09

♪ Amen ♪

1:10:18

-

Here we offer and present unto thee, oh God,

1:10:32

our minted and our printed blood,

1:10:36

the symbol of ourselves,

1:10:40

to be a reasonable, holy,

1:10:43

and lively sacrifice unto thee

1:10:46

in the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.

1:10:50

Amen.

1:10:55

(uplifting organ music)

1:10:58

♪ Hope of the world ♪

1:11:37

♪ Thou Christ of great compassion ♪

1:11:42

♪ Speak to our fearful ♪

1:11:48

♪ Hearts by conflict rent ♪

1:11:52

♪ Save us, thy people ♪

1:11:58

♪ From consuming passion ♪

1:12:02

♪ Who by our own false hopes ♪

1:12:07

♪ And aims are spent ♪

1:12:11

♪ Hope of the world ♪

1:12:18

♪ God's gift from highest heaven ♪

1:12:22

♪ Bringing to hungry ♪

1:12:28

♪ Souls the bread of life ♪

1:12:32

♪ Still let thy spirit ♪

1:12:38

♪ Unto us be given ♪

1:12:42

♪ To heal Earth's wounds ♪

1:12:48

♪ Hope of the world ♪

1:12:58

(indistinct choral singing)

1:13:02

-

May the blessing of God come upon you abundantly.

1:15:12

May it keep you strong and tranquil

1:15:17

in the truth of his promises

1:15:21

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1:15:24

♪ Amen ♪

1:15:30

♪ Amen ♪

1:15:37

♪ Amen ♪

1:15:44

♪ Amen ♪

1:15:49

♪ Amen ♪

1:15:56

♪ Amen ♪

1:16:04

♪ Amen ♪

1:16:17

Gilleasbuig MacMillan - "The Church Is for Healing" (February 29, 1976)

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1. Gilleasbuig MacMillan - "The Church Is for Healing" (February 29, 1976)

Duke University Archives

Gilleasbuig MacMillan - "The Church Is for Healing" (February 29, 1976)

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Duke University Archives