McMurry S. Richey - "Dreams, Deeds, and Wisdom of the Years" (June 20, 1976)
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| ♪ Almighty ♪ | 0:15 | |
| ♪ Father ♪ | 0:19 | |
| ♪ Incline thine ♪ | 0:22 | |
| ♪ Ear ♪ | 0:27 | |
| ♪ Bless us ♪ | 0:30 | |
| ♪ And all those ♪ | 0:34 | |
| ♪ Who have gathered ♪ | 0:38 | |
| ♪ Here ♪ | 0:43 | |
| ♪ Thine ♪ | 0:47 | |
| ♪ Angel ♪ | 0:48 | |
| ♪ Send us ♪ | 0:50 | |
| ♪ Who shall defend ♪ | 0:55 | |
| ♪ Us all ♪ | 0:59 | |
| ♪ And fill with grace ♪ | 1:05 | |
| ♪ All who ♪ | 1:12 | |
| ♪ Dwell ♪ | 1:16 | |
| ♪ In ♪ | 1:18 | |
| ♪ This place ♪ | 1:21 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:27 | |
| - | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:43 |
| the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 1:46 | |
| be with us all. | 1:49 | |
| Let us pray. | 1:50 | |
| Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, | 1:53 | |
| all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden. | 1:57 | |
| Cleanse and inform our hearts and minds | 2:02 | |
| this day by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, | 2:04 | |
| that we may truly love you | 2:08 | |
| and worthily praise your holy name, | 2:11 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 2:14 | |
| Amen. | 2:17 | |
| (bright organ music) | 2:19 | |
| ♪ Praise to the Lord the Almighty ♪ | 2:58 | |
| ♪ The King of creation ♪ | 3:02 | |
| ♪ O my soul, praise Him ♪ | 3:08 | |
| ♪ For He is your health ♪ | 3:11 | |
| ♪ And salvation ♪ | 3:15 | |
| ♪ Come, all who hear ♪ | 3:20 | |
| ♪ Now to his temple draw near ♪ | 3:23 | |
| ♪ Join me in glad adoration ♪ | 3:29 | |
| ♪ Praise to the Lord ♪ | 3:38 | |
| ♪ Who o'er all things ♪ | 3:41 | |
| ♪ So wondrously reigneth ♪ | 3:44 | |
| ♪ Shelters thee under His wings ♪ | 3:49 | |
| ♪ Yea, so gently sustaineth ♪ | 3:53 | |
| ♪ Hast thou not seen ♪ | 4:00 | |
| ♪ How thy desires e'er have been ♪ | 4:03 | |
| ♪ Granted in what He ordaineth ♪ | 4:09 | |
| ♪ Praise to the Lord ♪ | 4:18 | |
| ♪ Who doth prosper thy work ♪ | 4:21 | |
| ♪ And defend thee ♪ | 4:24 | |
| ♪ Surely His goodness ♪ | 4:29 | |
| ♪ And mercy here daily attend thee ♪ | 4:32 | |
| ♪ Ponder anew ♪ | 4:40 | |
| ♪ What the Almighty can do ♪ | 4:44 | |
| ♪ If with His love He befriend thee ♪ | 4:49 | |
| ♪ Praise to the Lord ♪ | 4:58 | |
| ♪ O let all that is in me ♪ | 5:01 | |
| ♪ Adore Him ♪ | 5:05 | |
| ♪ All that hath life and breath ♪ | 5:09 | |
| ♪ Come now with praises ♪ | 5:13 | |
| ♪ Before Him ♪ | 5:16 | |
| ♪ Let the amen ♪ | 5:20 | |
| ♪ Sound from His people again ♪ | 5:24 | |
| ♪ Gladly forever ♪ | 5:30 | |
| ♪ Adore Him ♪ | 5:33 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 5:39 | |
| - | Will you join me now in the prayer of corporate confession | 5:55 |
| and then in words of silent prayer of confession. | 6:00 | |
| Let us pray. | 6:05 | |
| - | Forgive us most gracious, Lord. | 6:08 |
| What we have done to increase the pain of the world. | 6:11 | |
| Pardon the unkind word, the impatient gesture, | 6:16 | |
| the hard and selfish deed, | 6:20 | |
| the failure to show sympathy, | 6:23 | |
| and kindly help where we had the opportunity | 6:25 | |
| or failed to seek it. | 6:29 | |
| We beseech you to enable us so to live | 6:31 | |
| the rest of our lives, | 6:35 | |
| that we may daily endeavor to lessen the flood | 6:37 | |
| of human sorrow and add to the sum of blessedness, | 6:40 | |
| both in our own lives and in the lives | 6:44 | |
| of those who come in contact with us. | 6:48 | |
| Amen. | 6:51 | |
| - | The God of our faith, | 7:09 |
| who is always more ready to hear than we to pray, | 7:11 | |
| and who gives us more than we either desire or deserve, | 7:15 | |
| pours down upon us an abundance of mercy, | 7:19 | |
| hardening and delivering us from our sins, | 7:23 | |
| confirming and strengthening us in all goodness, | 7:26 | |
| and bringing us the promise of life everlasting. | 7:30 | |
| Blessing and honor, glory and power | 7:34 | |
| be unto the Lord our God. | 7:37 | |
| Amen. | 7:40 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 8:03 | |
| ♪ My soul ♪ | 8:35 | |
| ♪ Doth magnify ♪ | 8:41 | |
| ♪ The Lord ♪ | 8:48 | |
| ♪ And my spirit ♪ | 8:52 | |
| ♪ Hath rejoiced ♪ | 8:58 | |
| ♪ In God ♪ | 9:04 | |
| ♪ My Savior ♪ | 9:08 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 9:11 | |
| ♪ For He ♪ | 9:20 | |
| ♪ Hath regarded ♪ | 9:22 | |
| ♪ The lowest state ♪ | 9:25 | |
| ♪ Of His faithful servant ♪ | 9:27 | |
| ♪ For behold ♪ | 9:34 | |
| ♪ From henceforth ♪ | 9:37 | |
| ♪ All generations ♪ | 9:39 | |
| ♪ Shall call ♪ | 9:43 | |
| ♪ Me blessed ♪ | 9:49 | |
| ♪ For He ♪ | 9:58 | |
| ♪ That is mighty ♪ | 10:00 | |
| ♪ Hath done ♪ | 10:04 | |
| ♪ To me ♪ | 10:08 | |
| ♪ Great things ♪ | 10:11 | |
| ♪ And holy ♪ | 10:19 | |
| ♪ Is His name ♪ | 10:27 | |
| ♪ And His mercy ♪ | 10:34 | |
| ♪ Is on them ♪ | 10:43 | |
| ♪ That fear Him ♪ | 10:47 | |
| ♪ From generation ♪ | 10:51 | |
| ♪ To generation ♪ | 11:02 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 11:08 | |
| ♪ He hath shown strength with His arms ♪ | 11:15 | |
| ♪ He hath scattered the crowd ♪ | 11:22 | |
| ♪ In the imaginations of their hearts ♪ | 11:27 | |
| ♪ He hath put down the mighty ♪ | 11:36 | |
| ♪ From their sins ♪ | 11:40 | |
| ♪ And exalted ♪ | 11:47 | |
| ♪ Them ♪ | 11:54 | |
| ♪ The Lord decreed ♪ | 11:56 | |
| ♪ He hath filled ♪ | 12:03 | |
| ♪ The hungry ♪ | 12:06 | |
| ♪ With good things ♪ | 12:08 | |
| ♪ And the rich ♪ | 12:11 | |
| ♪ He hath sent empty away ♪ | 12:14 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 12:20 | |
| ♪ He hath opened ♪ | 12:25 | |
| ♪ His servant Israel ♪ | 12:28 | |
| ♪ In remembrance ♪ | 12:32 | |
| ♪ Of His mercy ♪ | 12:39 | |
| ♪ As He spake ♪ | 12:46 | |
| ♪ To our fathers ♪ | 12:53 | |
| ♪ To ♪ | 13:00 | |
| ♪ Abraham ♪ | 13:02 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 13:13 | |
| ♪ And to ♪ | 13:18 | |
| ♪ His seed ♪ | 13:21 | |
| ♪ Forever ♪ | 13:29 | |
| (contemplative organ music) | 13:38 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 14:26 | |
| - | The Scripture is the 90th Psalm. | 14:50 |
| "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place | 14:54 | |
| in all generations. | 14:57 | |
| Before the mountains were brought forth | 15:00 | |
| or ever thou has formed the earth and the world | 15:03 | |
| from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. | 15:07 | |
| Thou turnest back to the dust, | 15:11 | |
| turnest back man to the dust, | 15:13 | |
| and sayest turn back, O children of men, | 15:16 | |
| for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday | 15:21 | |
| when it is passed or as a watch in the night, | 15:25 | |
| thou dost sweep men away. | 15:30 | |
| They are like a dream, like grass which is renewed | 15:34 | |
| in the morning. | 15:39 | |
| In the morning it flourishes and is renewed. | 15:41 | |
| In the evening it fades and withers, | 15:45 | |
| for we are consumed, not by thy anger, | 15:49 | |
| but by thy wrath we are overwhelmed. | 15:53 | |
| Thou has set our iniquities before thee, | 15:58 | |
| our secret sins in the light of thy countenance, | 16:02 | |
| for all our days pass away under thy wrath. | 16:07 | |
| Our years come to an end, like a sigh. | 16:12 | |
| The years of our life are three score and 10, | 16:16 | |
| or even by reason of strength, four score. | 16:20 | |
| Yet their span is but toil and trouble, | 16:25 | |
| they are gone and we fly away. | 16:29 | |
| Who considers the power of thy anger and thy wrath | 16:33 | |
| according to the fear of thee? | 16:37 | |
| So teach us to number our days, | 16:40 | |
| that we may get a heart of wisdom. | 16:43 | |
| Return, O Lord, how long? | 16:47 | |
| Have pity on thy servants. | 16:50 | |
| Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love, | 16:53 | |
| that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. | 16:57 | |
| Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us | 17:02 | |
| and as many years as we have seen evil. | 17:07 | |
| Let thy work be manifest to thy servants | 17:12 | |
| and thy glorious power to their children. | 17:16 | |
| Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us | 17:20 | |
| and establish thou the work of our hands upon us. | 17:23 | |
| Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." | 17:28 | |
| Here endeth the reading of the Scripture. | 17:33 | |
| (bright organ music) | 17:37 | |
| ♪ Glory be to the Father ♪ | 17:46 | |
| ♪ And to the Son ♪ | 17:50 | |
| ♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪ | 17:53 | |
| ♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ | 17:59 | |
| ♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪ | 18:03 | |
| ♪ World without end ♪ | 18:08 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 18:12 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 18:14 | |
| - | Remain standing for the affirmation of faith. | 18:20 |
| We are not alone. | 18:25 | |
| We live in God's world. | 18:27 | |
| - | We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 18:29 |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 18:34 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 18:37 | |
| who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 18:40 | |
| We trust God who called us to be the church, | 18:44 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness, | 18:48 | |
| to love and serve others, | 18:51 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 18:54 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 18:57 | |
| our judge and our hope, | 19:01 | |
| in life and death and life beyond death. | 19:03 | |
| God is with us. | 19:08 | |
| We are not alone. | 19:10 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 19:12 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 19:14 |
| - | Hear our prayer. | 19:16 |
| - | Let us pray. | 19:17 |
| O Lord, we offer up to you in prayer this morning | 19:30 | |
| our hopes, our fears and our lives, | 19:35 | |
| the students, faculty, employees, alumni, | 19:40 | |
| and visitors to this campus. | 19:44 | |
| We lift up to you, Lord, our hopes for this university. | 19:47 | |
| May it continue to widen the horizons | 19:52 | |
| of those who study here, | 19:54 | |
| provide a decent and humane workplace | 19:57 | |
| for all those who are its employees, | 20:00 | |
| and sustain a climate that nurtures and stimulates | 20:04 | |
| the pursuit of truth and knowledge. | 20:07 | |
| As worshipers who come before you, O Lord, this morning | 20:11 | |
| from many places and many denominational backgrounds, | 20:15 | |
| we lift up to you our hopes for your church. | 20:19 | |
| We pray that the people of God and our generation | 20:22 | |
| may be as true to your purposes | 20:27 | |
| as those who came before us. | 20:29 | |
| Help us to show forth the presence of Christ | 20:32 | |
| in the world in which we live, | 20:35 | |
| and to show our unity with all who believe in you. | 20:38 | |
| As men and women caught in a world of change, | 20:44 | |
| we lift up our hopes for peace and justice | 20:49 | |
| for all your children here in this community, | 20:53 | |
| throughout our land and across the globe. | 20:59 | |
| We pray, especially this morning, | 21:04 | |
| for the people of Lebanon and South Africa, | 21:07 | |
| and wherever pain and suffering set brother against brother | 21:11 | |
| and sister against sister. | 21:16 | |
| O Lord, we also lift up to you this morning our fears. | 21:20 | |
| We are fearful of so much. | 21:26 | |
| We fear people who are different from us, | 21:28 | |
| who are younger or older, | 21:31 | |
| of a different color or station or nationality. | 21:34 | |
| Help us, we pray, to know that all people | 21:40 | |
| are your children, and give us the courage | 21:44 | |
| to reach out across the divisions of age | 21:48 | |
| and class and race to recognize the potential, | 21:50 | |
| the dignity and the God-given worth of each person, | 21:55 | |
| no matter how different or strange | 22:00 | |
| he or she may appear to us. | 22:03 | |
| And help us, too, O Lord, to overcome our fears | 22:07 | |
| of the unknown, of the future which awaits us. | 22:10 | |
| Give us strength, we pray, | 22:16 | |
| to accept illness and the loss of loved ones. | 22:18 | |
| Give us the courage to help others overcome their fears | 22:23 | |
| and give us the imagination we so sorely need | 22:28 | |
| to find new ways to respond to the needs of others. | 22:32 | |
| Finally, O Lord, we pray for ourselves, | 22:38 | |
| not with pride or for selfish reasons, | 22:43 | |
| but because we know that we need your presence in our lives | 22:47 | |
| if we are to truly serve you in thought and word and deed. | 22:53 | |
| Be with us in times of trouble and doubt, | 22:59 | |
| use us to fulfill your purposes on this planet, | 23:03 | |
| and keep us and our loved ones safe in your loving care. | 23:08 | |
| We offer up these prayers in the name | 23:14 | |
| of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, | 23:17 | |
| who when gathered with His disciples, | 23:20 | |
| taught them to pray together saying, | 23:23 | |
| our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 23:26 | |
| Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 23:31 | |
| on earth as it is in heaven. | 23:34 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 23:37 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 23:40 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 23:42 | |
| Lead us not into temptation, | 23:46 | |
| but deliver us from evil, | 23:49 | |
| for thine is the kingdom and the power | 23:51 | |
| and the glory forever and ever. | 23:54 | |
| Amen. | 23:57 | |
| - | Grace and peace | 24:21 |
| be to all of you. | 24:25 | |
| One measure of the meaning of our lives | 24:31 | |
| may be in terms of the quality of our dreams, | 24:36 | |
| our visions, our intentions for ourselves and our world, | 24:41 | |
| and the deeds by which | 24:48 | |
| we live these out | 24:50 | |
| and proclaim them and test them. | 24:54 | |
| And the seasoned reflection, the wisdom, | 24:58 | |
| as to their faithfulness, | 25:03 | |
| to the supremely good | 25:05 | |
| and right and eternal. | 25:08 | |
| On this alumni Sunday, | 25:12 | |
| we may ask ourselves then about our deeds, | 25:14 | |
| dreams, | 25:19 | |
| and wisdom of the years. | 25:21 | |
| And against the background of that majestic 90th Psalm, | 25:24 | |
| but with the New Testament to turn to as well. | 25:30 | |
| So teach us to number our days | 25:36 | |
| that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom, | 25:39 | |
| or get a heart of wisdom, | 25:43 | |
| as the RSV translates it. | 25:45 | |
| With that verse, | 25:48 | |
| our high school church group | 25:50 | |
| customarily ended its evening meetings. | 25:54 | |
| But in the energetic freshness | 26:00 | |
| and sanguine optimism of youth, | 26:04 | |
| we were hardly aware of the context | 26:08 | |
| of those words. | 26:11 | |
| In a psalm celebrating the eternity of God, | 26:14 | |
| our dwelling place in all generations, | 26:19 | |
| creator of the world and judge of all people. | 26:23 | |
| And by marked contrast | 26:27 | |
| the troubled transience | 26:31 | |
| of humankind, | 26:35 | |
| short of years and full of sin and suffering. | 26:36 | |
| We youngsters were hardly | 26:41 | |
| ready for such | 26:44 | |
| a stark and wise realism | 26:46 | |
| about the human situation. | 26:50 | |
| Indeed, student-oriented generally, | 26:54 | |
| our chapel preaching may seldom look at life | 26:58 | |
| through the 90th Psalm. | 27:02 | |
| Dreams and deeds | 27:04 | |
| loom larger in our agenda | 27:07 | |
| than sobered wisdom | 27:10 | |
| about transient humanity | 27:13 | |
| before the eternal God. | 27:16 | |
| Yet how priceless for humanity | 27:19 | |
| are such youthful dreams, | 27:24 | |
| visions of human possibility, | 27:27 | |
| devotion to their fulfillment? | 27:30 | |
| And alumni Sunday is a good time, | 27:34 | |
| a special time for remembering, | 27:37 | |
| as reunion times are generally. | 27:41 | |
| And this chapel | 27:45 | |
| is a special place for Duke alumni to remember, | 27:47 | |
| to remember the glorious dreams, | 27:53 | |
| the compelling visions, | 27:55 | |
| the high calling by messengers of the Lord. | 27:58 | |
| May I speak to all alumni in reunion | 28:04 | |
| and others in our weekly reunion here | 28:09 | |
| or by radio in common worship, | 28:14 | |
| as I speak a special word | 28:19 | |
| to my own reunion class of 1936. | 28:23 | |
| And will you others of other classes | 28:28 | |
| past or present? | 28:32 | |
| Will you renew your memories | 28:36 | |
| while we think nostalgically of ours? | 28:39 | |
| This chapel loomed large in the vision of our class. | 28:44 | |
| It was just finished and opened when we came. | 28:48 | |
| It was dedicated at the end of our junior year. | 28:53 | |
| And here and the nearby York Chapel | 28:57 | |
| and Page Auditorium | 29:01 | |
| and events of the YM and YWCA, | 29:02 | |
| we were wakened and stirred | 29:08 | |
| from Depression-era struggles | 29:11 | |
| to a new vision of a world that might be | 29:16 | |
| and of our part in it's coming. | 29:20 | |
| Remember the dramatic, | 29:24 | |
| really dramatic social gospel preaching | 29:27 | |
| of Dr. Henry Hitt Crane, | 29:30 | |
| perennial religious emphasis week speaker | 29:34 | |
| who filled Page Auditorium with students | 29:38 | |
| mid-day after day and this chapel at night | 29:42 | |
| and sorority and fraternity chapter rooms | 29:48 | |
| into the late hours in earnest sessions, | 29:51 | |
| calling us out of self-preoccupation | 29:57 | |
| into world responsibility, | 30:02 | |
| out of provincialism, | 30:05 | |
| into radical reform for economic justice | 30:11 | |
| and racial brotherhood and world peace. | 30:16 | |
| Remember that equally prophetic | 30:21 | |
| and deeply spiritual Dean Albert Russell, | 30:26 | |
| steeping our minds into scriptures | 30:30 | |
| and in the faith, | 30:34 | |
| in profound devotion, in discipline study, | 30:36 | |
| calling for earnest service. | 30:42 | |
| And Dean Herbert Herrings open forum Bible class | 30:46 | |
| over in York Chapel, | 30:51 | |
| emphasizing Sunday after Sunday moral integrity, | 30:53 | |
| intellectual inquiry, | 30:59 | |
| the danger of the world's slow stain | 31:02 | |
| to our youthful idealism. | 31:06 | |
| The encouragement of biologist Alexis Carrel's | 31:09 | |
| "Man, The Unknown," | 31:12 | |
| with its long view of human progress and promise. | 31:14 | |
| Remember that luminous Japanese Christian, | 31:20 | |
| Toyohiko Kagawa, | 31:25 | |
| poet and servant of the poor in Kobe's slums, | 31:28 | |
| whose poem "Discovery" | 31:34 | |
| struck fire with its word | 31:37 | |
| that a secret plan is hid in my hand, | 31:39 | |
| that my hand is big, | 31:43 | |
| big because of this plan, | 31:45 | |
| that God who dwells in my hand | 31:48 | |
| knows this secret plan of the things | 31:51 | |
| he will do for the world | 31:54 | |
| using my hand. | 31:57 | |
| And the inter-collegian Journal of the Y, | 32:01 | |
| published that motto of another college, | 32:06 | |
| they only are loyal | 32:11 | |
| to this college | 32:13 | |
| who departing bare their added riches | 32:16 | |
| in trust to all mankind. | 32:20 | |
| So we were stirred to dreams, | 32:24 | |
| to visions of deeds for a world of suffering, | 32:28 | |
| poverty, injustice, | 32:32 | |
| warring nationalism, | 32:35 | |
| and spiritual | 32:38 | |
| and theological uncertainty | 32:41 | |
| and questing. | 32:44 | |
| And we might be of saving surface. | 32:46 | |
| What did your student generation | 32:51 | |
| dream of being and doing? | 32:54 | |
| Were you to be workers, | 33:00 | |
| fighters for civil rights, | 33:02 | |
| for racial justice, | 33:05 | |
| for campus reform, | 33:08 | |
| for responsible use of this earth, | 33:13 | |
| for changing the prisons, | 33:18 | |
| for the poverty programs, | 33:20 | |
| for getting us out of Vietnam, | 33:23 | |
| for the Peace Corps or VISTA? | 33:26 | |
| Well, what did it all come to? | 33:31 | |
| How well did our deeds match our dreams? | 33:38 | |
| What did God do | 33:43 | |
| for the world | 33:46 | |
| using our hands? | 33:48 | |
| Are we sometimes discouraged, cynical, | 33:52 | |
| even reacting against those early dreams | 33:58 | |
| because of our falling short of their realization? | 34:02 | |
| Have we tried a bit and failed much | 34:06 | |
| or not tried very hard or even subverted | 34:11 | |
| or killed our dreams by contrary deeds, | 34:15 | |
| burying them in bad conscience | 34:19 | |
| and specious rationalizations? | 34:23 | |
| Let us be honest, but not too harsh | 34:26 | |
| with ourselves and with others | 34:29 | |
| as we look again | 34:34 | |
| at what is real and true and good. | 34:38 | |
| Possibly we were too extravagantly idealistic, | 34:43 | |
| romantically unrealistic about our own role, | 34:49 | |
| our ability, our devotion, | 34:54 | |
| too susceptible to dramatizing ourselves | 34:58 | |
| as little saviors | 35:03 | |
| when really our power and influence were very little. | 35:05 | |
| Too sanguine, perhaps, about our efforts. | 35:11 | |
| I keep in the wall of my study | 35:16 | |
| a cartoon from that great theologian | 35:20 | |
| Charlie Brown and company, | 35:23 | |
| in which Linus speaks, | 35:27 | |
| "My dad has started a new exercise program. | 35:30 | |
| Every morning he runs a mile. | 35:34 | |
| Of course, he can't always get out to do it every morning. | 35:37 | |
| Sometimes things come up and he's had | 35:41 | |
| to miss a few mornings. | 35:44 | |
| You know how that is. | 35:45 | |
| Actually, he's only done it once." | 35:48 | |
| (crowd murmuring) | 35:51 | |
| Perhaps I ought to put with that another | 35:56 | |
| more confessional than accusing, | 36:00 | |
| in which Charlie Brown says, "Well, this is it. | 36:03 | |
| The last day of the year, and I did it again." | 36:08 | |
| "What?" asked Linus. | 36:13 | |
| "I blew another year." | 36:17 | |
| (crowd murmuring) | 36:20 | |
| And I might say that I blew another day. | 36:23 | |
| Have we expected too much of ourselves, | 36:30 | |
| wanting to see ourselves so significantly | 36:34 | |
| and disappointed in our failures? | 36:38 | |
| Perhaps we were unrealistic about others, | 36:42 | |
| expecting them to follow our dreams | 36:45 | |
| or respond to our reasoning | 36:49 | |
| or pay the cost of change | 36:52 | |
| to gratify our egos as their directors. | 36:55 | |
| Indeed, just to be honest about it. | 36:59 | |
| What about not only their, but our own real dreams, | 37:04 | |
| our governing intentions? | 37:10 | |
| Were we all ambivalent | 37:13 | |
| like all humankind, | 37:17 | |
| holding high dreams, but really rooted | 37:19 | |
| in a kind of pragmatic self-seeking, | 37:23 | |
| individualistically looking out for ourselves, | 37:28 | |
| secretly or even overtly | 37:32 | |
| wanting our pleasure, | 37:36 | |
| our status, our security, | 37:39 | |
| our power? | 37:43 | |
| Was the world's slow stain so effective | 37:45 | |
| long before we realized? | 37:48 | |
| Were we seduced by the conventional wisdom of the world, | 37:51 | |
| where we're taught to look out for number one? | 37:57 | |
| So teach us to number our days. | 38:04 | |
| So teach us | 38:09 | |
| to consider our dreams | 38:12 | |
| and express our deeds | 38:16 | |
| and think over their meaning. | 38:19 | |
| So teach us to number all of these, | 38:23 | |
| that we may get a heart of wisdom. | 38:25 | |
| The inspired wisdom of the 90th Psalm | 38:29 | |
| expresses the worshiping community's realization | 38:32 | |
| of human frailty and iniquity, | 38:36 | |
| of pointed awareness of being like | 38:40 | |
| fresh green grass in the morning | 38:43 | |
| and withered dry by nighttime, | 38:47 | |
| of secret sins fully known only to God the eternal, | 38:51 | |
| of days and years few before His judgment, | 38:57 | |
| and even those toilsome and troubles. | 39:02 | |
| He didn't promise us a rose garden. | 39:06 | |
| Yet in such confessional realization | 39:12 | |
| there is not despair or bitterness, | 39:15 | |
| but recognition of the common human situation | 39:19 | |
| and its limits, and more important, | 39:24 | |
| the vision of God's adequateness, | 39:28 | |
| of God's everlastingness, | 39:31 | |
| our dwelling place in all generations | 39:33 | |
| before the mountains, before the earth, | 39:36 | |
| before the world were brought forth, | 39:39 | |
| the one who can | 39:43 | |
| satisfy us in the morning | 39:45 | |
| with His steadfast love, | 39:47 | |
| that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. | 39:50 | |
| So with the Psalmist we might pray, | 39:55 | |
| let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us | 39:58 | |
| and establish thou the work of our hands upon us. | 40:01 | |
| Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. | 40:05 | |
| Thus with Psalmist and Israel of old | 40:11 | |
| and fellow realists today, | 40:15 | |
| we acknowledge our fleeting mortality, | 40:19 | |
| our failing deeds, | 40:24 | |
| but also the greatness and everlastingness of God | 40:27 | |
| in whom our passing life ultimately finds | 40:32 | |
| whatever meaning it has. | 40:36 | |
| That is realism. | 40:39 | |
| Stalwart, rugged, | 40:41 | |
| inspiring wisdom of the years. | 40:43 | |
| But the story of our life does not end there, | 40:50 | |
| neither in the defiant despair, | 40:56 | |
| nor the | 40:58 | |
| acquiescent penitence of the faithful, | 41:02 | |
| conscious of sin and frailty, | 41:07 | |
| of fleetingness, but of God's certainty. | 41:10 | |
| The story of this chapel | 41:14 | |
| is different. | 41:19 | |
| This chapel is built to witness to, | 41:22 | |
| to celebrate, to express a disturbing, | 41:26 | |
| exciting, higher wisdom yet | 41:30 | |
| of God's striking reversal of the world's | 41:33 | |
| and our usual ways of thinking and value. | 41:37 | |
| So the apostle Paul begins the letter | 41:42 | |
| to the Corinthians | 41:46 | |
| with assertion of the doctrine | 41:48 | |
| of the cross of Jesus Christ. | 41:51 | |
| Sheer folly to the worldly wise, | 41:54 | |
| but the saving, forgiving, | 41:59 | |
| renewing power and wisdom of God, | 42:02 | |
| for those who hear and heed. | 42:05 | |
| Scripture says according to Paul, | 42:08 | |
| I will destroy the wisdom of the wise | 42:12 | |
| and bring to nothing the cleverness of the clever. | 42:15 | |
| Where is your wise man now, | 42:19 | |
| your man of learning or your subtle debater, | 42:21 | |
| limited all of them to this passing age? | 42:24 | |
| God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. | 42:29 | |
| Divine folly, he says, | 42:34 | |
| divine folly is wiser than the wisdom of men | 42:36 | |
| and divine weakness stronger than man's strength. | 42:41 | |
| So that early Christian community, | 42:46 | |
| short of persons of the world's wisdom | 42:50 | |
| or power or position, | 42:54 | |
| was God's instrument | 42:58 | |
| for reversal of human valuing. | 43:01 | |
| Pride, | 43:04 | |
| self-centeredness, | 43:06 | |
| self-seeking. | 43:08 | |
| It was a creation of a new community, | 43:10 | |
| a ministering body of Christ. | 43:14 | |
| You are in Christ Jesus by God's act, | 43:17 | |
| proclaims the apostle, | 43:22 | |
| for God has made him our wisdom. | 43:24 | |
| He is our righteousness. | 43:27 | |
| In Him we are consecrated | 43:30 | |
| and set free. | 43:33 | |
| This is an old way of saying afresh | 43:36 | |
| a new and current word | 43:43 | |
| to us as well as to ancient Corinthians, | 43:46 | |
| that the true being and wisdom and power of God, | 43:50 | |
| the true meaning and use of our life | 43:55 | |
| are to be seen in that caring, | 43:58 | |
| serving, suffering, | 44:02 | |
| crucified, and victorious Christ, | 44:05 | |
| and in the life He stirs within us | 44:08 | |
| as we know ourselves in all our frailty | 44:13 | |
| and our failure and our sin, | 44:17 | |
| forgiven, | 44:21 | |
| restored, | 44:23 | |
| renewed, | 44:25 | |
| and called again to dreams and deeds | 44:27 | |
| for His world of needy people. | 44:30 | |
| There is always a new world, a new life, | 44:34 | |
| a new wisdom pressing on us old grads | 44:39 | |
| and present students, and all who hear. | 44:44 | |
| If we are open to a changing of our thinking | 44:48 | |
| and willing, a conversion of our valuing, | 44:52 | |
| our intentions, our dreams, | 44:56 | |
| a divine wisdom of giving, not getting, | 44:59 | |
| of serving, not dominating, | 45:03 | |
| of freeing, not binding, | 45:06 | |
| of opening, not resisting, | 45:08 | |
| of seeking and finding, | 45:10 | |
| not running away from God's gift and claim in Christ. | 45:12 | |
| Who knows? | 45:19 | |
| God may be reawakening | 45:20 | |
| our dreams just now, | 45:24 | |
| to join with some of our exciting students | 45:27 | |
| in a kind of mutual reinforcement | 45:32 | |
| of seasoned wisdom | 45:36 | |
| and youth's fresh energies, | 45:39 | |
| for a change in our style of life, | 45:43 | |
| to relieve the poor, | 45:47 | |
| to serve and feed a hungry, | 45:49 | |
| suffering world of most people, | 45:53 | |
| to keep the good earth in trust for those to come, | 45:56 | |
| to recover a depth of personal devotion | 46:02 | |
| and a richness of Christian fellowship | 46:07 | |
| and engaging mission | 46:11 | |
| and ministry for our day. | 46:14 | |
| Some of us old timers, older timers | 46:18 | |
| have had some years to test the fleeting values | 46:22 | |
| and wrong ways and self-centered preoccupations of life. | 46:26 | |
| Now we may be ready to learn that we are | 46:31 | |
| in Christ Jesus by God's act, | 46:34 | |
| for God has made Him our wisdom. | 46:37 | |
| He is our righteousness. | 46:42 | |
| In Him we are consecrated and set free. | 46:45 | |
| Consecrated | 46:51 | |
| and set free | 46:54 | |
| for what? | 46:58 | |
| Let us pray. | 47:02 | |
| Dear Master, | 47:12 | |
| in whose life I see all that I would | 47:13 | |
| but fail to be, | 47:17 | |
| let thy clear light forever shine to shame | 47:19 | |
| and guide this life of mine. | 47:23 | |
| Thou what I dream and what I do in my weak days | 47:26 | |
| are always too, | 47:30 | |
| help me oppressed by things undone, | 47:32 | |
| O thou whose deeds and dreams were one. | 47:35 | |
| Amen. | 47:40 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 47:46 | |
| ♪ Dear Master ♪ | 48:20 | |
| ♪ In whose life I see ♪ | 48:22 | |
| ♪ All that I would ♪ | 48:28 | |
| ♪ But fail to be ♪ | 48:31 | |
| ♪ Let thy clear light ♪ | 48:36 | |
| ♪ Forever shine ♪ | 48:40 | |
| ♪ To shame and guide ♪ | 48:45 | |
| ♪ This life of mine ♪ | 48:48 | |
| ♪ Though what I dream ♪ | 48:55 | |
| ♪ And what I do ♪ | 48:58 | |
| ♪ In my weak days ♪ | 49:03 | |
| ♪ Are always two ♪ | 49:06 | |
| ♪ Help me, oppressed ♪ | 49:11 | |
| ♪ By things undone ♪ | 49:15 | |
| ♪ O thou whose deeds ♪ | 49:20 | |
| ♪ And dreams were one ♪ | 49:23 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 49:29 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 49:39 | |
| (bright organ music) | 50:51 | |
| ♪ Let us now ♪ | 50:56 | |
| ♪ Praise famous men ♪ | 50:58 | |
| ♪ And our Fathers ♪ | 51:02 | |
| ♪ That begat us ♪ | 51:05 | |
| ♪ Such as did bear ♪ | 51:11 | |
| ♪ Rule in their kingdoms ♪ | 51:14 | |
| ♪ Men renowned ♪ | 51:19 | |
| ♪ For their power ♪ | 51:22 | |
| ♪ Leaders of the people ♪ | 51:30 | |
| ♪ By their counsels ♪ | 51:34 | |
| ♪ And by their knowledge ♪ | 51:37 | |
| ♪ Such as found out ♪ | 51:44 | |
| ♪ Musical tunes ♪ | 51:48 | |
| ♪ And recited verses ♪ | 51:51 | |
| ♪ In writing ♪ | 51:55 | |
| ♪ All these were honored ♪ | 51:59 | |
| ♪ In their generations ♪ | 52:03 | |
| ♪ And were the glory ♪ | 52:09 | |
| ♪ Of their times ♪ | 52:13 | |
| ♪ And some there be which ♪ | 52:22 | |
| ♪ Have no memorial ♪ | 52:27 | |
| ♪ Who are perished as though ♪ | 52:32 | |
| ♪ They had never been ♪ | 52:38 | |
| ♪ Their bodies ♪ | 52:46 | |
| ♪ Are buried ♪ | 52:51 | |
| ♪ In peace ♪ | 52:55 | |
| ♪ But their name ♪ | 53:01 | |
| ♪ Liveth ♪ | 53:05 | |
| ♪ Forevermore ♪ | 53:08 | |
| (bright organ music) | 53:21 | |
| (bright organ music) | 53:35 | |
| ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 54:44 | |
| ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 54:50 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 54:56 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 54:59 | |
| ♪ Praise Him above, ye heav'nly hosts ♪ | 55:04 | |
| ♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 55:10 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:16 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:19 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:22 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:25 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 55:29 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 55:37 | |
| - | We give you but your own, O Lord, | 55:49 |
| whatever the gift may be. | 55:52 | |
| All that we have is yours alone, | 55:54 | |
| a trust, O God, from thee. | 55:58 | |
| Accept these gifts as symbols of our commitment | 56:01 | |
| to serve you in all that we do. | 56:05 | |
| We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | 56:09 | |
| Amen. | 56:13 | |
| (bright organ music) | 56:17 | |
| (crowd singing indistinctly) | 56:45 | |
| (bright organ music) | ||
| - | Go now, and the Spirit of the Lord go with you. | 59:39 |
| Preach good news to the poor, | 59:43 | |
| proclaim release to the captives | 59:46 | |
| and recovery of sight to the blind, | 59:48 | |
| set at liberty those who are oppressed | 59:51 | |
| so that this may truly be a year | 59:54 | |
| that is acceptable to the Lord our God. | 59:57 | |
| Go now, and the peace of God go with you. | 1:00:01 | |
| Amen. | 1:00:06 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:11 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:16 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:21 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:25 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:33 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:40 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:50 | |
| (church bells ringing) | 1:01:01 | |
| (bright organ music) | 1:01:21 | |
| (dramatic organ music) | 1:04:08 | |
| (dramatic organ music continues) | 1:06:37 | |
| (crowd applauding) | 1:09:55 | |
| (crowd murmuring) | 1:10:03 |
