Robert T. Young - "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" Easter Service 11:00 am (April 18, 1976)
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| (bright pipe organ music) | 0:03 | |
| - | If some of you have some space between you, | 0:06 |
| would you move together toward the center aisle | 0:08 | |
| so that people who are standing | 0:11 | |
| will be able to be seated during the worship. | 0:13 | |
| Thank you. | 0:18 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 1:03 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:40 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 1:54 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 2:09 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 2:16 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 2:22 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 2:49 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 3:15 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 3:40 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 4:05 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 4:31 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| - | The Lord is risen. | 5:27 |
| - | The Lord is risen indeed. Hallelujah! | 5:31 |
| - | And a voice from the throne said, | 5:35 |
| "Behold, I make all things new." | 5:38 | |
| (congregation speaking faintly) | 5:43 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 5:56 | |
| (soft pipe organ music) | 6:16 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 6:39 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 7:02 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 7:28 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 7:51 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 8:17 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 8:40 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 9:06 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 9:28 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 9:40 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 9:53 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 10:06 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 10:26 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 10:46 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 10:51 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 11:08 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 11:14 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 11:39 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 12:02 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 12:17 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 12:27 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 12:44 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 12:55 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 13:01 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 13:27 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (soft pipe organ music) | 13:47 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 14:14 | |
| - | The Lord is risen. | 14:32 |
| (congregation speaking faintly) | 14:35 | |
| Because the Lord is risen | 14:53 | |
| we can find the courage to see ourselves as we are | 14:56 | |
| with the assurance that God is loving and forgiving | 15:01 | |
| and calls us to confess our sins | 15:07 | |
| so that we can receive and accept forgiveness. | 15:11 | |
| Let us pray. | 15:17 | |
| Oh, Holy God, | 15:20 | |
| - | On this joyous Easter Sunday, | 15:22 |
| it is difficult for us to confess our sin. | 15:25 | |
| We give thanks. | 15:30 | |
| We rejoice. | 15:31 | |
| We are exhilarate, but we pray, oh God, | 15:33 | |
| that our rejoicing will not blind us | 15:38 | |
| to the needs of the world. | 15:41 | |
| That our affirmation of the resurrection | 15:44 | |
| will not dim the continuing reality of the crucifixion. | 15:47 | |
| Break our apathy and our arrogance | 15:53 | |
| with the judgment of your love | 15:57 | |
| and the assurance of the resurrection faith. | 16:00 | |
| Then in mercy heal us, Oh, Holy Spirit. | 16:04 | |
| Causing us as a community to be born anew | 16:09 | |
| in Jesus Christ our Lord. | 16:14 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 16:47 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 16:57 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:19 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 17:41 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 18:11 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 18:37 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| - | Remember Jesus's words, your sins are forgiven. | 18:56 |
| I have come that you might have life and life more abundant. | 19:04 | |
| Behold, I make all things new. | 19:12 | |
| For this, we give thanks and praise. | 19:18 | |
| - | Will you hear the word of God | 19:27 |
| as it is found in the book of Acts? | 19:30 | |
| "Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham | 19:34 | |
| and those among you that fear God, | 19:38 | |
| to us has been sent the message of the salvation | 19:41 | |
| for those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, | 19:45 | |
| because they did not recognize him | 19:49 | |
| nor understand the utterances of the prophets, | 19:52 | |
| which are read every Sabbath, | 19:55 | |
| fulfill these by condemning him. | 19:57 | |
| Though, they could charge him with nothing deserving death, | 20:01 | |
| yet they asked Pilate to have him killed. | 20:05 | |
| And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, | 20:09 | |
| they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. | 20:12 | |
| But God raised him from the dead. | 20:18 | |
| And for many days, | 20:21 | |
| he appeared to those who came up with him | 20:22 | |
| from Galilee to Jerusalem, | 20:25 | |
| who are now his witnesses to the people. | 20:28 | |
| And we bring you the good news, | 20:32 | |
| that what God promised to the fathers, | 20:34 | |
| thus he has fulfilled to us, their children by raising Jesus | 20:37 | |
| as also it is written in the second song, | 20:43 | |
| thou art my son today, I have begotten thee." | 20:47 | |
| Will you now rise to hear the word of God | 20:53 | |
| in the gospel of John. | 20:56 | |
| "Now, when Jesus came, | 21:04 | |
| he found that Lazarus | 21:06 | |
| had already been in the tomb four days. | 21:08 | |
| Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, | 21:11 | |
| and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary | 21:15 | |
| to console them concerning their brother. | 21:19 | |
| When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, | 21:23 | |
| she went and met him while Mary sat in the house. | 21:26 | |
| Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, | 21:30 | |
| my brother would not have died. | 21:36 | |
| And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, | 21:39 | |
| God will give you.' | 21:43 | |
| Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' | 21:46 | |
| Martha said to him, | 21:50 | |
| 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection | 21:52 | |
| at the last day.' | 21:55 | |
| Jesus said to her, | 21:57 | |
| 'I am the resurrection and the life. | 22:00 | |
| He who believes in me though he die yet, shall he live? | 22:05 | |
| And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. | 22:11 | |
| Do you believe this?' | 22:15 | |
| She said to him, 'Yes, Lord. | 22:17 | |
| I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, | 22:20 | |
| he who has coming into the world.' | 22:24 | |
| Then Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb. | 22:28 | |
| It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. | 22:31 | |
| Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' | 22:34 | |
| Martha, the sister of the dead man said to him, | 22:38 | |
| 'Lord, by this time there will be an odor | 22:41 | |
| for he has been dead four days.' | 22:44 | |
| Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you | 22:46 | |
| that if you would believe you would see the glory God?' | 22:49 | |
| So, they took away the stone | 22:52 | |
| and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, | 22:55 | |
| 'Father, I thank you that thou hast heard me. | 22:57 | |
| I knew that thou hears me always. | 23:01 | |
| But I have said this on account of the people standing by | 23:03 | |
| that they may believe that thou did send me.' | 23:07 | |
| When he had said this he with a loud voice, | 23:10 | |
| 'Lazarus, come out.' | 23:14 | |
| The dead man came out his hands and feet bound with bandages | 23:16 | |
| and his face wrapped with a cloth. | 23:21 | |
| Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him and let him go.'" | 23:24 | |
| Here ends the reading of God's holy word. | 23:29 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 23:33 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| - | Let us with one voice affirm our faith | 24:12 |
| using one of the ancient creeds of our church. | 24:16 | |
| I believe in God, | 24:21 | |
| - | The father almighty creator of and earth | 24:22 |
| and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord | 24:27 | |
| who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, | 24:31 | |
| born under the virgin Mary, | 24:34 | |
| suffered under Pontius Pilate, | 24:36 | |
| was crucified, died and was buried. | 24:39 | |
| He descended into hell. | 24:42 | |
| The third day he rose again from the dead. | 24:45 | |
| He ascended into heaven | 24:48 | |
| and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. | 24:51 | |
| The He shall come to judge the living and the dead. | 24:55 | |
| I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, | 24:59 | |
| the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, | 25:04 | |
| the resurrection of the body, and the life of everlasting. | 25:09 | |
| Amen, amen, amen. | 25:14 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 25:19 |
| (congregation speaking faintly) | 25:21 | |
| Let us pray. | 25:23 | |
| Oh, holy God, oh, loving God, | 25:33 | |
| oh, suffering God, God of mercy and justice. | 25:37 | |
| We rejoice that you came to us in human form, | 25:41 | |
| that you know our temptations, our pain, our suffering, | 25:47 | |
| our joys, our hopes. | 25:52 | |
| We give you thanks for Jesus who lived and died | 25:55 | |
| is one of us. | 25:58 | |
| We give thanks for the assurance we celebrated Easter | 26:01 | |
| that nothing can separate us from your love. | 26:04 | |
| Not despair, not defeat, not pain, not rejection, | 26:09 | |
| not failure. | 26:16 | |
| But our memories are short oh, God. | 26:18 | |
| And we need to be reminded daily and weekly. | 26:22 | |
| We give thanks for this day | 26:27 | |
| when we celebrate that death did not destroy | 26:30 | |
| or conquer Jesus our Lord and our Redeemer, | 26:33 | |
| but in our joy and exaltation, | 26:39 | |
| we are surprised that there is a sadness, a darkness, | 26:42 | |
| for we are still struggling. | 26:48 | |
| For we can separate ourselves from each other and from you. | 26:52 | |
| So we lift before you, | 26:59 | |
| those who are separated from those they love | 27:02 | |
| by conflict, anger, illness, death. | 27:06 | |
| And those who are separated from your love. | 27:13 | |
| We live before you those families | 27:19 | |
| whose lives have been shattered by terror of all tragedies. | 27:21 | |
| Those persons whose great courage | 27:27 | |
| and being obedient to your will | 27:29 | |
| has brought them times of hardship and persecution. | 27:33 | |
| We pray for your holy church oh, God, | 27:39 | |
| the body of Christ, which is fractured and broken daily. | 27:42 | |
| I know God, we especially pray for those persons | 27:48 | |
| who cannot worship in a community on this Easter. | 27:52 | |
| Those who through no choice of their own remain at home | 27:56 | |
| or in the hospital sick in mind or body. | 28:00 | |
| And we remember those who care for them. | 28:05 | |
| Send your healing and comforting grace | 28:10 | |
| so that in their apartness, | 28:14 | |
| they may feel united with all who worship you on this day. | 28:16 | |
| Hear us as we bring to you our personal cares. | 28:24 | |
| Some of us are facing limits and disappointments | 28:29 | |
| in our relationships, in our jobs, in our studying. | 28:32 | |
| Help us to accept our human limitations | 28:38 | |
| of our own (speaks faintly), integrity, and commitment | 28:42 | |
| in ways that are redemptive for us and our people. | 28:48 | |
| But oh, God give us courage | 28:54 | |
| to break through those limitations, exploitation, | 28:56 | |
| destructive power, and sensitivity, | 29:00 | |
| which we or others impose on us and others. | 29:03 | |
| Some of us oh, God are facing temptations | 29:10 | |
| in our personal relationships, in our jobs, in our studying. | 29:13 | |
| We are tempted to betray ourselves and you, | 29:19 | |
| as we seek easy success or quick pleasure. | 29:23 | |
| Give us vision, wisdom, strength, and patience. | 29:29 | |
| Send your Holy Spirit to us. | 29:37 | |
| Your spirit who brings us life, | 29:41 | |
| your spirit who helps us love, | 29:44 | |
| your spirit which makes all we do not easy, | 29:48 | |
| but full of meaning. | 29:54 | |
| And hear us oh, God as we he pray the prayer | 29:57 | |
| that Jesus taught us, his disciples to pray. | 30:02 | |
| Our father, | 30:06 | |
| - | Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 30:08 |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 30:15 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 30:19 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 30:23 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 30:25 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 30:29 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power | 30:35 | |
| and the glory forever and ever. Amen. | 30:39 | |
| - | Most of you here and are blessed and enriched | 31:06 |
| and inspired by the music of the Chapel choir many Sundays | 31:13 | |
| throughout the year. | 31:17 | |
| Ben, I would like to take just this moment | 31:21 | |
| before beginning the message for today | 31:26 | |
| to say publicly to all you who are gathered here | 31:31 | |
| and to all who worship with us, otherwise | 31:34 | |
| that it is indeed a joy and an inspiration | 31:38 | |
| to be led in worship by Ben, Bob Perkins at the Oregon | 31:44 | |
| and by the 200 or so members of the Chapel choir. | 31:51 | |
| And this morning, we're blessed | 31:55 | |
| by those who also join us with brass instruments. | 31:56 | |
| And if you think the opening hymn was a joyous experience, | 32:03 | |
| wait until you've heard the second anthem. | 32:10 | |
| So, we praise God for what these folks mean to us | 32:14 | |
| as they tell us of the good news, which God has for us. | 32:19 | |
| Bishop James Armstrong writes | 32:26 | |
| in one of his most recent books, | 32:28 | |
| "Do we as persons have any significance | 32:33 | |
| beyond the space we occupy and the air we breathe?" | 32:40 | |
| That my friends is the real question | 32:50 | |
| on this Easter Sunday morning. | 32:52 | |
| Do we, as persons have any real significance | 32:54 | |
| beyond the space occupy and the air that we breathe? | 32:59 | |
| Easter, this is April 18th, 1976. | 33:06 | |
| The day of resurrection, our words (speaks faintly), | 33:13 | |
| our songs sing of it, our prayer speak to it. | 33:18 | |
| Our creeds affirm it. | 33:22 | |
| Our hearts and minds want to feel it and to know it, | 33:24 | |
| but Easter, what is it? | 33:28 | |
| The day of resurrection. | 33:31 | |
| What does it mean? | 33:33 | |
| What is Easter anyhow? | 33:35 | |
| Well, Easter is a name. | 33:38 | |
| It's a name given to a certain 24 hour period | 33:40 | |
| that we remember and we recall. | 33:43 | |
| Named after the goddess of spring, only a name. | 33:46 | |
| What's in a name? | 33:51 | |
| Easter is a day, a day to which we look forward, | 33:54 | |
| a day of beauty, glorious day, such as today. | 33:58 | |
| A day which reveals the best | 34:01 | |
| and the deepest of our faith to us, | 34:03 | |
| a day that gives meaning to our lives. | 34:05 | |
| What kind of meaning? | 34:10 | |
| Easter is an occasion. | 34:13 | |
| An occasion of gladness and goodness, and joy. | 34:16 | |
| An occasion when we wear our finest and look our best, | 34:19 | |
| an occasion commemorated now for over 1900 years. | 34:23 | |
| What is it we remember? | 34:29 | |
| Easter is an event, a recurring event, | 34:32 | |
| an event that has been described in detail | 34:35 | |
| and debated decisively for centuries. | 34:37 | |
| An event that draws us and captivates us. | 34:40 | |
| What is it that draws us? | 34:45 | |
| Easter is a celebration. | 34:48 | |
| A celebration where we exchange rejoicing for mourning, | 34:50 | |
| where we exchange light for darkness, | 34:56 | |
| quiet on the altar for the purple of penitence | 34:59 | |
| and life for death. | 35:02 | |
| Easter is a continuing presence. | 35:06 | |
| The presence of the ever living, ever loving, | 35:09 | |
| ever real Son of God and son of Mary. | 35:12 | |
| The presence of Jesus, who is the Christ, the Messiah, | 35:15 | |
| our Christ, our Messiah. Easter. | 35:20 | |
| And so, we come to today, Easter 1976. | 35:25 | |
| Phillips Brooks, a great preacher of another generation | 35:29 | |
| begins what he calls very simply, "An Easter Sermon," | 35:32 | |
| with the words, "There is only one subject for today." | 35:35 | |
| Upon this morning, when the grave was broken | 35:41 | |
| and Jesus Christ arose. | 35:45 | |
| Jesus resurrection with all that it means for us | 35:47 | |
| must claim our total thought. | 35:50 | |
| Instinctively, the minds of all of us turned that way. | 35:55 | |
| Many feel a certain sense of exaltation. | 35:59 | |
| The leaping of some unknown spiritual possibility | 36:03 | |
| when Easter morning opens on the earth. | 36:06 | |
| A certain exaltation, Easter. | 36:09 | |
| How very much has happened in three days? | 36:16 | |
| It's been an incredibly long time since Friday. | 36:21 | |
| You remember Friday? | 36:25 | |
| In the darkness, just before dawn on that day, | 36:28 | |
| the soldiers came to the garden. | 36:31 | |
| Judas showed them which one was Jesus. | 36:35 | |
| And the scripture says, "With a kiss." | 36:40 | |
| "I never knew the man," he said. | 36:44 | |
| And in the background, the cock crowed a third time. | 36:46 | |
| "Are you the king of the Jews?" The man asked. | 36:50 | |
| And the reply was very simply, "You have said so." | 36:55 | |
| Which one shall I release to you? | 37:00 | |
| Barabbas or Jesus? Barabbas. | 37:02 | |
| What then shall I do with Jesus? | 37:07 | |
| Crucify him, crucify him. | 37:10 | |
| It's been a long time since Friday. | 37:16 | |
| And there at a place called Golgotha, they crucified him. | 37:20 | |
| Father, forgive them. | 37:28 | |
| Today you shall be with me in paradise. | 37:32 | |
| Woman, behold, your son. | 37:38 | |
| My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I thirst. | 37:43 | |
| Father into your hands, I commend my spirit. | 37:54 | |
| It is finished. | 38:02 | |
| Yes, it's been a long time since Friday, | 38:07 | |
| but have you ever noticed how long time | 38:14 | |
| can seem for you and me for us human beings | 38:16 | |
| during some very crucial life changing moments? | 38:20 | |
| For example, if you are taking an examination, | 38:25 | |
| which you're not prepared for, | 38:27 | |
| that hour in which you have to sit there, | 38:31 | |
| trying to take that examination lasts forever. | 38:33 | |
| The few seconds between the birth of a baby | 38:40 | |
| and that baby's first cry seem endless, don't they? | 38:44 | |
| You expect a call from someone you love | 38:51 | |
| and it doesn't come at the agreed upon time. | 38:54 | |
| And the wait, even though it's just a few minutes, | 38:56 | |
| seems indeterminable. | 38:59 | |
| You wait near the sick room of a loved one | 39:03 | |
| who is near the point of death. | 39:05 | |
| You wait on the word from the doctor | 39:07 | |
| and the moments, the seconds on that clock on the wall, | 39:10 | |
| just seem to stop moving all together, don't day? | 39:12 | |
| Yes, it's been a long time since Friday. | 39:20 | |
| It had been a time of sorrow, real sorrow, | 39:24 | |
| sorrow even unto despair for one of them | 39:27 | |
| as he was walking along with Jesus, | 39:30 | |
| whom he did not recognize said, | 39:32 | |
| "To our Lord, | 39:34 | |
| oh, how we hoped that he would be the one." | 39:38 | |
| Sorrow even unto despair the kind of sorrow | 39:42 | |
| that Mary and Martha were experiencing. | 39:45 | |
| In the gospel lesson, | 39:49 | |
| which chancellor Blackburn read for us today. | 39:50 | |
| Mary and Martha, we are told, | 39:53 | |
| had been sorrowing for at least four days | 39:55 | |
| because their brother Lazarus had been dead | 39:59 | |
| and had been in the tomb for those four days. | 40:01 | |
| And then Martha says to Jesus who comes to Bethany, | 40:06 | |
| just two short miles from Jerusalem, | 40:08 | |
| "Lord, if you had been here, | 40:11 | |
| our brother would not have died." | 40:14 | |
| That's a terrible burden to put on Jesus, isn't it? | 40:18 | |
| How would you like to walk up to someone | 40:22 | |
| and to have them say to you, "Oh, if you had been here, | 40:24 | |
| my friend, my brother, my sister would not have died." | 40:27 | |
| What a terrible burden to put on Jesus? | 40:32 | |
| But then what faith she then shows in Jesus? | 40:36 | |
| But even now is she says, | 40:40 | |
| "I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." | 40:42 | |
| Strange saying, but it's total trust, full faith, | 40:47 | |
| no hesitation, no equivocation, no doubt, no question. | 40:53 | |
| Even now I know she said. | 40:58 | |
| What a beautiful tribute it is to leave our dead ones | 41:04 | |
| confidently and totally in Christ keeping. | 41:11 | |
| This is the faith of those who know Christ. | 41:16 | |
| We leave our loved ones dead, though they may be with Jesus | 41:19 | |
| without any fear or worry now be sure though, | 41:24 | |
| I'm not saying that we do not leave them without hurt, | 41:27 | |
| but we do hurt. | 41:30 | |
| We suffer loss and pain and sadness and sorrow, | 41:32 | |
| but with no fear and with no worry | 41:35 | |
| for Jesus, the Christ is there. | 41:37 | |
| And we leave them with him. | 41:42 | |
| And then Jesus says, "Your brother will rise again." | 41:48 | |
| For most of us, that word would be enough. | 41:52 | |
| The clear, full assurance that those we love | 41:55 | |
| will indeed rise from the dead. | 41:58 | |
| That's okay. | 42:01 | |
| That's enough. | 42:03 | |
| That will do. | 42:04 | |
| Thank you, Lord, that's all I need. | 42:06 | |
| And that was enough for Martha. | 42:10 | |
| For her response was to say | 42:13 | |
| that, "I know that he will rise again | 42:14 | |
| in the general resurrection at the last day." | 42:16 | |
| I think I could relax with that kind of word, couldn't you? | 42:21 | |
| Most of us could. | 42:28 | |
| But there's more, much more, more to come from Jesus | 42:29 | |
| for then he says, | 42:32 | |
| "I am the resurrection and the life. | 42:33 | |
| And he who believes in me though, he die | 42:37 | |
| yet shall he live? | 42:39 | |
| And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." | 42:40 | |
| How much more even Martha herself probably did not know | 42:45 | |
| or understand nor do we? | 42:48 | |
| For those of us who stand in the Judeo | 42:53 | |
| or Christian tradition, | 42:55 | |
| there are very few kind of signal verses in scripture | 42:56 | |
| that lead us to the mountain top of spiritual ecstasy, | 43:01 | |
| or to the very depth of spiritual sureity. | 43:04 | |
| Some of these verses, which come to my mind | 43:09 | |
| and you have some of yours, which are your favorites. | 43:11 | |
| I'm sure in the beginning, God created. | 43:13 | |
| The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. | 43:18 | |
| For God so loved the world that he gave his only son | 43:24 | |
| that whoever believes in him should not perish, | 43:28 | |
| but have eternal life. | 43:30 | |
| Paul's word now abides faith, hope, love, these three. | 43:34 | |
| But the greatest of these he says is love. | 43:37 | |
| And then in the gospel of John, | 43:41 | |
| there are several very famous, very meaningful. | 43:43 | |
| I am passages of Jesus, | 43:46 | |
| but perhaps the greatest of all of these | 43:48 | |
| is this particular word from Jesus, where he says, | 43:50 | |
| "I am the resurrection and the life." Power. | 43:53 | |
| Oh, my friends, if we could only grasp and experience | 43:58 | |
| and come to know some of the power | 44:02 | |
| that Jesus is talking about | 44:04 | |
| when he says I am the resurrection and the life. | 44:06 | |
| For resurrection and life | 44:11 | |
| are what we desperately need today. | 44:12 | |
| We know about crucifixions. | 44:15 | |
| Oh, God, help us how we know about crucifixions. | 44:18 | |
| We read about them in the paper every day, | 44:21 | |
| we walk down the sidewalks and the people we meet | 44:23 | |
| live with crucifixions night and day | 44:26 | |
| Merciless killings, unjust slangs, | 44:31 | |
| the dreadful dreadful tragedy | 44:39 | |
| that has befall in the family of Dr. Myers, | 44:41 | |
| his daughter and her children. | 44:44 | |
| Yes, we know about crucifixions, | 44:51 | |
| but what we really desperately need | 44:55 | |
| is resurrection and life. | 45:00 | |
| Yes, Brooks is right. | 45:02 | |
| There is only one subject for today my friends | 45:03 | |
| and that subject is resurrection and life, | 45:06 | |
| for you and for me. | 45:13 | |
| What we need is a clear, | 45:17 | |
| straightforward affirmation of the resurrection, | 45:19 | |
| which will counter the pain and the confusion | 45:21 | |
| and the despair of a hurting world. | 45:24 | |
| What we need should not be tentative or secondhand | 45:28 | |
| or halting because we are vulnerable and we are hurt. | 45:31 | |
| And what we need is healing, | 45:34 | |
| which can come from resurrection and life. | 45:36 | |
| What we need is no faltering or stamering, | 45:41 | |
| or half-hearted answers to ultimate and eternal questions. | 45:43 | |
| No, not at all, but something that is solid and sure. | 45:47 | |
| Some clear assertions that come from personal experience | 45:50 | |
| like Paul, when he said, "I know and I am persuaded." | 45:54 | |
| Or God raised Jesus on the third day and made him manifest. | 46:04 | |
| Or now in fact Christ has been raised. | 46:10 | |
| George Buttrick says that we Christians have wondered | 46:14 | |
| and worried too much and too long over the resurrection. | 46:17 | |
| And have made it conditional | 46:20 | |
| if Christ be raised from the dead, he says, we say. | 46:21 | |
| When really what we need to do is to move back to the mood | 46:25 | |
| and the power of Paul himself and say, | 46:28 | |
| "Now is Christ raised?" | 46:31 | |
| Easter day is no time for questions, | 46:37 | |
| even for teaching or for moralizing or for investigating, | 46:39 | |
| it's a time for proclamation. | 46:44 | |
| This is why the service this morning in terms of the verbal | 46:46 | |
| word began, the Lord Is Risen. | 46:49 | |
| He is risen indeed. | 46:53 | |
| That's the proclamation, but tells of a student | 46:55 | |
| who while in school at Union Theological Seminary | 46:59 | |
| in New York, | 47:03 | |
| went to hear many of the great preachers | 47:03 | |
| and many of the great sermons in the city of New York. | 47:05 | |
| And he said more often than not, | 47:08 | |
| when he would come out of the services that he attended, | 47:09 | |
| he would come away saying, | 47:12 | |
| "I know that what they say is not true, | 47:14 | |
| but oh, how I wish that it were." | 47:19 | |
| I want to move in this moment now | 47:28 | |
| to a very personal word about resurrection. | 47:32 | |
| And assert a simple but clear statement of my own faith. | 47:40 | |
| I believe in the resurrection now | 47:49 | |
| than at any other point in my life. | 47:54 | |
| There's some reasons for this. | 48:02 | |
| One is that I am growing older. | 48:07 | |
| I'm not that old. | 48:12 | |
| But perhaps as one grows older, | 48:15 | |
| one does indeed have more of a need to believe | 48:19 | |
| that there is more. | 48:22 | |
| None of us has any way of knowing | 48:25 | |
| really how much more there is to this life. | 48:27 | |
| But when you are very young, | 48:31 | |
| one really does not think too often | 48:36 | |
| of a need for another life, | 48:39 | |
| because one thinks that there is surely much, much more | 48:41 | |
| to this life. | 48:46 | |
| But I'm not getting that much older after all, | 48:49 | |
| only one year has lapsed since last Easter. | 48:51 | |
| So, there must be other reasons. | 48:53 | |
| And there are | 48:56 | |
| A second is that I have read and have reread | 48:59 | |
| the gospel accounts of Jesus life and death | 49:01 | |
| and resurrection. | 49:05 | |
| And I am more convinced now than ever before | 49:08 | |
| of the authenticity of the experiences they describe. | 49:12 | |
| After all, on Friday, | 49:17 | |
| this was a criminal who was crucified along with two others. | 49:23 | |
| Surely only the Son of God, only Jesus Christ | 49:29 | |
| could assert I am the resurrection and the life | 49:34 | |
| and could make it come true. | 49:36 | |
| Only Jesus could on Friday be the thief or the criminal | 49:40 | |
| or the victim. | 49:45 | |
| And then on the third day, be acclaimed as Lord. | 49:45 | |
| Surely as the Roman Centurion cried out, | 49:51 | |
| "Surely this man is the son of God." | 49:55 | |
| preposterous, big joke, ridiculous. | 50:00 | |
| Allegiance to a criminal, that's it. | 50:05 | |
| Sure that's the scandal loss. | 50:08 | |
| That's the scandal. | 50:10 | |
| That's the stumbling block to the Jews. | 50:11 | |
| And the (speaks faintly) to the Greeks, unless it is true. | 50:15 | |
| I believe Jesus was raised from the dead. | 50:25 | |
| I believe it is true. | 50:32 | |
| But the other reason perhaps has had more of an impact on me | 50:37 | |
| than even these first two. | 50:42 | |
| That is that in the past 12 months, | 50:48 | |
| I've had some very deep faith renewing experiences | 50:51 | |
| with the deaths of friends or loved ones | 50:57 | |
| that have convinced me that Jesus has gone | 51:03 | |
| to prepare a place for us. | 51:07 | |
| And we'll come again and will take us to himself | 51:10 | |
| that where he is there, we may be also. | 51:14 | |
| A 51 year old mother of three, faithful Christian, | 51:20 | |
| good wife, caring neighbor | 51:26 | |
| dead in March after seven months, struggled with leukemia. | 51:31 | |
| A 25 year old (speaks faintly), hearty, healthy, | 51:39 | |
| athletic assistant basketball coach at VPI | 51:43 | |
| whose parents, both his mother and his father, | 51:48 | |
| are alumni of this university. | 51:53 | |
| The future all glorious to this young man | 51:56 | |
| dead last June after eight months struggle with leukemia. | 52:02 | |
| Our own Sherry (speaks faintly) | 52:09 | |
| who graduated from Duke last May. | 52:12 | |
| About six weeks ago, brutally murdered at age 23. | 52:17 | |
| A 35 year old woman, mother of three, | 52:24 | |
| devout Christian, active in her church | 52:27 | |
| two weeks ago in Hendersonville. | 52:30 | |
| Her estranged husband broke into their home at night, | 52:32 | |
| killed her and himself. | 52:37 | |
| And there are others. | 52:42 | |
| Some close, some friends, some family, | 52:44 | |
| But all of these in all of these lives have been cut short | 52:50 | |
| or friendships have been broken, | 52:53 | |
| or love has been interrupted. | 52:57 | |
| But I believe that friendships triumph over the grave, | 53:02 | |
| I believe that love is too strong even for death. | 53:07 | |
| "Your brother will rise again," Jesus said. | 53:18 | |
| I am the resurrection and the life. | 53:24 | |
| The one who lives and was dead has come. | 53:29 | |
| The one who has for us the keys over death, | 53:33 | |
| hell and the grave. | 53:39 | |
| I now take at face value the words of Jesus, | 53:47 | |
| where he says, "I am the resurrection and the life | 53:57 | |
| he who believes in me though, he die yet shall he live?" | 54:00 | |
| I also take at face value Jesus words | 54:06 | |
| in the 14th chapter of the gospel of John, | 54:09 | |
| where he says, "I go to prepare a place for you. | 54:11 | |
| And if I go and prepare a place for you, | 54:17 | |
| I will come again and receive you unto myself. | 54:20 | |
| That where I am, there you may be also." | 54:25 | |
| In other words my friends Jesus is waiting. | 54:31 | |
| And the fact that Jesus is waiting | 54:36 | |
| has taken on new meaning for me. | 54:38 | |
| And part of that new meaning comes from a little book | 54:40 | |
| by Henri Nouwen who teaches pastoral psychology | 54:42 | |
| at Yale Divinity School. | 54:45 | |
| His little book is entitled the "Wounded Healer." | 54:48 | |
| And in this book he says, "A person can stay alive | 54:53 | |
| as long as there is at least one other person | 54:59 | |
| who is waiting for him or for her." | 55:04 | |
| Let us not diminish the power of waiting | 55:12 | |
| by saying that a life saving relationship | 55:15 | |
| cannot develop in an hour. | 55:18 | |
| One eye movement or one handshake | 55:20 | |
| can replace years of friendship when a man is in need. | 55:23 | |
| Love not only lasts forever, | 55:28 | |
| it needs only a second to come about. | 55:31 | |
| Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." | 55:36 | |
| The look, the word, the wait, the Lord is risen. | 55:41 | |
| He is risen indeed. | 55:53 | |
| Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Amen. | 55:56 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 56:04 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 56:21 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 56:36 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 57:01 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 57:33 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 57:57 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 58:13 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 58:53 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 59:51 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:00:12 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:00:54 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:01:21 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:01:52 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:02:37 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:03:02 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:03:26 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:03:32 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:04:11 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:04:33 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:04:40 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:05:14 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:05:40 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:05:57 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:06:02 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:06:06 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:06:13 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:06:46 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:07:09 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:22 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:25 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:07:29 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:42 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:45 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:49 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:52 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:07:55 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:08:05 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| - | Oh, Holy God, our response to your love for us | 1:08:18 |
| is to fall on our knees and offer you our lives. | 1:08:24 | |
| Bless these monies symbols of our lives. | 1:08:31 | |
| And so bless us | 1:08:36 | |
| that wherever we walk the poor will be cloth, | 1:08:38 | |
| the hungry fed, the oppressed liberated, | 1:08:43 | |
| and the sorrowful comforted. | 1:08:49 | |
| We pray in the spirit of the risen Christ. Amen. | 1:08:52 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:08:58 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:09:23 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:10:01 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:10:39 | |
| (choir singing faintly) | ||
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:12:01 | |
| (gentle pipe organ music) | 1:12:48 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:12:54 | |
| - | And now may the blessing of God | 1:13:51 |
| who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask | 1:13:55 | |
| or conceive through the power of the risen Christ, | 1:14:00 | |
| which is at work among us be with us | 1:14:04 | |
| from now and forever more. | 1:14:08 | |
| Go now in the confidence of God's love and peace. Amen. | 1:14:12 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:14:22 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:14:29 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:14:37 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:14:52 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:15:02 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:15:15 | |
| (bell ringing) | 1:15:34 | |
| (bell ringing) | 1:15:39 | |
| (bell ringing) | 1:15:44 | |
| (bright pipe organ music) | 1:15:56 |
