John H. Westerhoff - "Religion or Faith? But When the Son of Man Comes, Will He Find Faith on Earth?" (August 29, 1976)
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| (gentle orchestral music) | 0:06 | |
| - | Blessed be God, Creator, Redeemer, and sustainer. | 12:18 |
| - | Blessed is the Redeemer, now and forever. | 12:24 |
| Amen. | 12:28 | |
| - | Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, | 12:29 |
| all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. | 12:34 | |
| Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts | 12:39 | |
| by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, | 12:41 | |
| that we may perfectly love you, | 12:45 | |
| and worthily magnify your Holy name | 12:47 | |
| through Christ our Lord. | 12:50 | |
| - | Amen. | 12:53 |
| - | Amen. | 12:54 |
| (congregation praying) | 12:56 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 13:04 | |
| - | And also with you. | 13:06 |
| - | Let us pray. | 13:07 |
| Lord, of all power and might, | 13:10 | |
| the author and giver of all good things, | 13:13 | |
| grant in our hearts the love of your name, | 13:16 | |
| increase in us true religion, | 13:19 | |
| nourish us with all goodness, | 13:22 | |
| and bring forth in us the fruit of good works | 13:25 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 13:29 | |
| who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, | 13:32 | |
| one God forever and ever. | 13:36 | |
| - | Amen. | 13:39 |
| - | The responsive reading is number 568. | 13:41 |
| It is to be read antiphonally | 13:46 | |
| with those of you on the left | 13:48 | |
| as you face the altar reading first, | 13:49 | |
| and those of you on the right facing the altar responding. | 13:53 | |
| Praise to our God. | 13:57 | |
| "I waited patiently for the Lord." | 14:01 | |
| - | "He inclined to me and heard my cry." | 14:04 |
| - | "He drew me up from the desolate pit. | 14:08 |
| "out of the miry bog." | 14:11 | |
| - | "And set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure." | 14:13 |
| - | "He put a new song in my mouth." | 14:18 |
| - | "A song of praise to our God." | 14:21 |
| - | "Many will see and fear." | 14:24 |
| - | "And put their trust in the Lord." | 14:26 |
| - | "Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust." | 14:29 |
| - | "Who does not turn to the proud, | 14:32 |
| "to those who go astray after false gods." | 14:35 | |
| - | "Thou has multiplied O Lord, my God, | 14:39 |
| "thy wondrous deeds and thy thoughts toward us." | 14:42 | |
| - | "None can compare with thee." | 14:46 |
| - | "We're out to proclaim and tell of them." | 14:49 |
| - | "They would be more than can be numbered." | 14:52 |
| - | "Sacrifice and offering thou does not desire." | 14:55 |
| - | "But thou has given me an open ear." | 14:59 |
| - | "Burnt offering and sin offering thou has not required." | 15:02 |
| - | "Then I said, 'Lo, I come in the roll of the book, | 15:07 |
| 'it is written of me.'" | 15:11 | |
| - | "'I delight to do thy will, O my God.'" | 15:13 |
| - | "'Thy law is within my heart.'" | 15:17 |
| - | "I have told the glad news of deliverance | 15:20 |
| "in the great congregation." | 15:22 | |
| - | "Lo, I have not restrained my lips, | 15:25 |
| "as thou knowest, O Lord." | 15:28 | |
| - | "I have not hid thy saving help within my heart." | 15:30 |
| - | "I have spoken of thy faithfulness and thy salvation." | 15:34 |
| - | "I have not concealed thy steadfast love." | 15:38 |
| - | "And thy faithfulness from the great congregation." | 15:42 |
| - | "Do not thou, O Lord, withhold thy mercy from me." | 15:46 |
| - | "Let thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness | 15:50 |
| "ever preserve." | 15:53 | |
| (gentle music) | 15:58 | |
| - | This morning's old Testament lesson | 20:22 |
| is from 32nd chapter of Genesis. | 20:24 | |
| "The same night he arose and took his two wives, | 20:28 | |
| "his two maids, and his 11 children | 20:30 | |
| and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. | 20:32 | |
| "He took them and sent them across the stream, | 20:34 | |
| "and likewise, everything that he had, | 20:36 | |
| "and Jacob was left alone. | 20:39 | |
| "And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. | 20:41 | |
| "When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, | 20:44 | |
| "he touched the hollow of his thigh | 20:46 | |
| "and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint | 20:49 | |
| "as he wrestled with him. | 20:50 | |
| "Then he said, 'let me go for the day it's breaking.' | 20:52 | |
| "But Jacob said, 'I will not let you go, | 20:54 | |
| "'unless you bless me.' | 20:58 | |
| "And he said to him, 'What is your name?' | 20:59 | |
| "And he said, 'Jacob.' | 21:01 | |
| "Then he said, 'Your name shall no more be called Jacob, | 21:03 | |
| "'but Israel for you have striven with God and with men | 21:05 | |
| "'and have prevailed.' | 21:08 | |
| " Then Jacob asked him, 'Tell me, I pray, your name.' | 21:09 | |
| "But he said, 'Why is it that you asked my name?' | 21:13 | |
| "And there he blessed him. | 21:16 | |
| "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel | 21:17 | |
| "saying, 'For I have seen God face to face, | 21:20 | |
| "'and yet my life is preserved.'" | 21:22 | |
| (gentle orchestral music) | 21:26 | |
| The new Testament lesson is from the 18th chapter of Luke. | 23:12 | |
| "And he told him a parable | 23:16 | |
| "to the effect that they ought always to pray | 23:17 | |
| "and not lose heart. | 23:20 | |
| "He said, in a certain city, | 23:21 | |
| "there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man. | 23:23 | |
| "And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him | 23:26 | |
| "and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' | 23:29 | |
| "For a while he refused, | 23:33 | |
| "but afterward he said to himself, | 23:34 | |
| "'Though I neither fear God nor regard man, | 23:36 | |
| "'yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her | 23:39 | |
| "'or she will wear me out by her continual,'" | 23:42 | |
| excuse me, "'coming.' | 23:47 | |
| "And the Lord said, | 23:50 | |
| "'Hear what the unrighteous judge says, | 23:51 | |
| "'and will not God vindicate his elect | 23:53 | |
| "'who cry to him day and night. | 23:55 | |
| "'Will he delay long over them? | 23:56 | |
| "'I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. | 23:58 | |
| "'Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, | 24:01 | |
| "'will He find faith on earth.'" | 24:03 | |
| Here ends the reading of the New Testament. | 24:06 | |
| (gentle orchestral music) | 24:08 | |
| - | May the words of my mouth | 24:56 |
| and the meditations of our hearts | 24:58 | |
| be acceptable in your sight oh Lord, | 25:01 | |
| our judge, and our Redeemer. | 25:04 | |
| Amen. | 25:07 | |
| Our text this morning is taken | 25:10 | |
| from the 18th chapter of the gospel according to St. Luke. | 25:11 | |
| Where we read, | 25:15 | |
| (foreign language) | 25:18 | |
| "But when the son of man comes, | 25:26 | |
| "will He find faith on earth." | 25:29 | |
| More than half a century after the death and resurrection | 25:34 | |
| of Jesus Christ, a Palestinian physician, | 25:37 | |
| a convert to Christian faith, and an advocate of oppressed | 25:41 | |
| marginal people wrote for the politician Theophilus | 25:46 | |
| his understanding of the good news. | 25:50 | |
| Toward the close of his testament | 25:53 | |
| before his account of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem, | 25:55 | |
| he records a number of parables. | 26:00 | |
| One of the last concerns, prayer, or the spiritual life. | 26:03 | |
| Like Jesus' other parables, | 26:08 | |
| it is a small story with a large point, | 26:10 | |
| told as a joke, at least part of whose point seems to be | 26:14 | |
| that silly questions deserve silly answers. | 26:21 | |
| And in this particular case, | 26:25 | |
| the silly question had to do with God's faithfulness. | 26:27 | |
| Recall our lesson. | 26:32 | |
| Recall how Jesus makes the humorous analogy | 26:34 | |
| between God and a crooked judge, | 26:36 | |
| who refuses to hear the case | 26:40 | |
| of a certain poor oppressed widow, | 26:42 | |
| presumably because he knows there's nothing in it for him. | 26:44 | |
| Nevertheless, so the story goes, she keeps on hounding him | 26:49 | |
| until he finally hears her case | 26:54 | |
| just to get her out of his hair. | 26:56 | |
| Someone it seems wanted to know if it pays | 26:59 | |
| to have faith in God. | 27:02 | |
| Instead of responding, "Don't be silly, of course it does," | 27:04 | |
| Jesus tells a funny tale about a crooked judge. | 27:09 | |
| "Come now," says Jesus. | 27:14 | |
| "If one such as the crooked judge | 27:16 | |
| "can be pushed to respond to the needs of a poor outcast, | 27:18 | |
| "how much more will the God of Abraham and Sarah, | 27:22 | |
| "the God of Moses and Miriam, the God of the oppressed, | 27:25 | |
| "the hurt, the outsider, the God of liberation and justice, | 27:29 | |
| "respond to the needs of all His," | 27:34 | |
| or should it also be her, | 27:38 | |
| "Children?" | 27:39 | |
| Isn't it rather comic to have to explain it all over again. | 27:41 | |
| Of course, God is faithful. | 27:46 | |
| Of course it makes good sense to have faith in God. | 27:48 | |
| Have we forgotten how God freed us | 27:53 | |
| when we were in bondage in Egypt? | 27:55 | |
| And how Miriam led our fore parents | 27:57 | |
| in music and dance exclaiming, | 27:59 | |
| "Sing to the Lord, | 28:02 | |
| "for He has risen up in triumph, | 28:04 | |
| "the horse and the rider He has hurled into the sea." | 28:06 | |
| Of course, God has been, is, and will be faithful. | 28:12 | |
| Even to entertain the question of God's faithfulness | 28:17 | |
| is funny. | 28:21 | |
| But then the joke's over, | 28:23 | |
| for Jesus contemplates another sort of question. | 28:25 | |
| His mood turns to pathos as he wonders aloud, | 28:29 | |
| will we be faithful? | 28:34 | |
| That question isn't so funny. | 28:37 | |
| When the son of man comes, | 28:40 | |
| will He find faith on earth? | 28:43 | |
| Will He? | 28:46 | |
| For those of us who have been called to live and serve God | 28:48 | |
| within a university, a child of the enlightenment, | 28:51 | |
| a guardian of secularism, | 28:55 | |
| that question has particular poignancy. | 28:57 | |
| And I for one, as a Christian professor | 29:01 | |
| in possession of both the birth certificate | 29:05 | |
| of those called, named, legitimated, and blessed | 29:08 | |
| by the high priests of academia, | 29:11 | |
| and the ultimate birth certificate | 29:15 | |
| of those who have been called, named, | 29:17 | |
| baptized, and blessed by God, | 29:19 | |
| I'm haunted by the implications of Jesus' probing question, | 29:22 | |
| "When the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" | 29:27 | |
| It's a question which ought haunt us all. | 29:33 | |
| And for it is through faith that our estrangement | 29:36 | |
| from self, and neighbor, and God is overcome. | 29:38 | |
| It is through faith that we are made whole. | 29:42 | |
| It is through faith that our lives | 29:45 | |
| are given meaning and purpose. | 29:46 | |
| It is indeed through faith that we know ourselves | 29:49 | |
| as the children of God and the recipients of God's promises. | 29:52 | |
| About God, Jesus never has any question. | 29:58 | |
| About us, He has a question. | 30:02 | |
| Surely the son of man will come. | 30:05 | |
| Surely liberation, justice, peace, whole community, | 30:08 | |
| and the wellbeing of all God's children will be. | 30:12 | |
| God will be faithful, | 30:16 | |
| but will we be faithful? | 30:19 | |
| When the son of man comes will he find faith on earth? | 30:21 | |
| Now that's the important question. | 30:26 | |
| The deadly serious question. | 30:28 | |
| There is every reason to believe, although no surety, | 30:31 | |
| that when the son of man comes he will find religion, | 30:36 | |
| especially in the university. | 30:40 | |
| That is, there will at least be one lone scholar | 30:43 | |
| in the stacks of the library, | 30:46 | |
| studying the documents and artifacts of the Christian faith. | 30:48 | |
| We in the academic world have a natural propensity | 30:53 | |
| for investigating every known phenomena in history. | 30:56 | |
| Surely religion, the outward manifestations | 31:00 | |
| and expressions of faith will be among the plethora | 31:04 | |
| of what some will consider the minutia | 31:08 | |
| placed under the microscope of objective scrutiny. | 31:11 | |
| To speak of religion, is to speak of institutions, | 31:17 | |
| documents, artifacts, ceremonials, customs, | 31:21 | |
| creedal statements, and codes of conduct. | 31:25 | |
| As such religion can be studied. | 31:28 | |
| Indeed, it can also be taught objectively. | 31:31 | |
| And while such efforts are to be defended | 31:37 | |
| and indeed encouraged, | 31:39 | |
| they're not of ultimate significance. | 31:41 | |
| Faith on the other hand is a very different matter. | 31:44 | |
| And faith is deeply personal and dynamic. | 31:48 | |
| Faith is a total act of the personality. | 31:51 | |
| Faith is not tentative, | 31:55 | |
| a result of some purely rational process. | 31:56 | |
| Faith is affectional, | 32:00 | |
| a relationship to God which embraces the whole person, | 32:02 | |
| and about which it is difficult to be truly objective. | 32:06 | |
| Faith is a particular form of existence | 32:11 | |
| encompassing our hearts, minds, and wills. | 32:14 | |
| To be sure faith always expresses itself in religion. | 32:18 | |
| And as such religion provides us with the means | 32:22 | |
| by which we come to faith. | 32:24 | |
| Religion then is the witness of faith. | 32:27 | |
| Religion is also a stimulant to faith, | 32:31 | |
| but religion is not an end in itself. | 32:35 | |
| Only faith is an end. | 32:38 | |
| Bach wrote his B minor mass as an expression of his faith. | 32:41 | |
| Whenever I sing or hear sung the B minor mass, | 32:46 | |
| I am moved to faith. | 32:49 | |
| But to know all about the B minor mass | 32:51 | |
| does not make any real significance in my life. | 32:53 | |
| What use is it to know all about religion? | 32:58 | |
| Or for that matter, what use is it to practice religion | 33:01 | |
| without having faith? | 33:04 | |
| Can the practice of religion or the knowledge of religion | 33:07 | |
| without faith save us? | 33:10 | |
| Of course, not. | 33:13 | |
| Recall the jailers question to Paul and Silas. | 33:15 | |
| "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? | 33:18 | |
| And Paul and Silas replied, "Believe." | 33:22 | |
| The jailer asked what could be done to be saved, | 33:27 | |
| and in one sense they did not tell him to do anything. | 33:31 | |
| Instead, they simply told him to have faith. | 33:35 | |
| Oh, it's so much he easier to have religion | 33:40 | |
| and to be religious than to have faith. | 33:43 | |
| It's so much easier to join a church, | 33:46 | |
| attend services of worship, study all about the Bible, | 33:49 | |
| the history of the church, | 33:53 | |
| what Christians believe, or about what is right and wrong. | 33:54 | |
| But the question is when the son of man comes, | 33:58 | |
| will He find faith on earth? | 34:01 | |
| As a teacher I know how much easier it is | 34:05 | |
| to teach about grace than to live a life informed by | 34:07 | |
| an expressive of grace. | 34:10 | |
| And not long ago, I led a youth conference in Alabama | 34:13 | |
| on the theme "Love for Nothing." | 34:16 | |
| The planners had arranged a program of speakers, | 34:19 | |
| films, seminars, and the like, | 34:22 | |
| to help the 400 participants learn about | 34:24 | |
| God's acceptance of the unacceptable. | 34:27 | |
| But there was one experience they did not arrange, | 34:31 | |
| the most significant of all. | 34:35 | |
| And by evening of the first day, | 34:38 | |
| it was discovered that over $200 was missing | 34:39 | |
| from people's rooms. | 34:42 | |
| As you might guess, hostility and anger filled the air. | 34:45 | |
| There were accusations and despair. | 34:49 | |
| After two hours of confusion, | 34:52 | |
| I did the only thing I knew to do. | 34:54 | |
| I read from the gospel according to St. John, | 34:57 | |
| the story of the woman detected in adultery. | 35:01 | |
| Remember how the religious leaders | 35:05 | |
| wanted Jesus to condemn her? | 35:06 | |
| But Jesus only said, | 35:09 | |
| "Let the one who is faultless throw the first stone." | 35:11 | |
| And when no one did he said to the woman, | 35:15 | |
| "Has no one condemned you?" | 35:18 | |
| "No one, sir," she replied. | 35:21 | |
| "No more do I," said Jesus. | 35:23 | |
| "You may go, sin no more." | 35:26 | |
| Following that word, I prayed for God's grace among us. | 35:31 | |
| And at the end of the prayer | 35:35 | |
| the young man who had stolen the money came forward | 35:36 | |
| to make his confession. | 35:38 | |
| The camp director seized upon the opportunity | 35:42 | |
| to tell him he was going to send him home. | 35:44 | |
| When someone from the back of the group screamed out, | 35:48 | |
| "Do you wanna stay?" | 35:52 | |
| "Yes," he mumbled. | 35:55 | |
| "Stay, stay," everyone cried in one voice. | 35:58 | |
| Tears filled his eyes, and I cried out, | 36:03 | |
| "Let's sing amazing grace." | 36:06 | |
| And we did, | 36:10 | |
| as one person after another came forward to embrace him. | 36:12 | |
| Oh, but in a university it's so easy | 36:19 | |
| to so engulf ourselves in teaching people about religion | 36:21 | |
| that we forget the centrality of faith. | 36:24 | |
| Skepticism concerning the value of faith | 36:27 | |
| and its place in the university is deeply ingrained. | 36:30 | |
| Intellectuals do not as a rule discuss faith openly, | 36:34 | |
| unless they are theologians | 36:38 | |
| designated by the university to do so. | 36:40 | |
| Living and working in a university can be seductive. | 36:43 | |
| It can lead us to believe that faith and learning | 36:47 | |
| are to be isolated from each other, and even worse, | 36:50 | |
| that is it is enough to study about religion. | 36:54 | |
| That the estrangement of religion in faith | 36:59 | |
| is not unique to the university. | 37:00 | |
| Recently, I completed a research study | 37:04 | |
| of rites of initiation into religious communities | 37:06 | |
| in the South, commonly known as Confirmation. | 37:09 | |
| As a result it was necessary | 37:14 | |
| to develop a typology of in initiatory rites. | 37:16 | |
| Namely, those concerned we with faith commitment, | 37:20 | |
| and those concerned with institutional incorporation. | 37:23 | |
| Regretfully, I found that almost | 37:29 | |
| every church studied was engaged in the latter, | 37:31 | |
| that is with a concern for religion as an end, | 37:35 | |
| rather than faith. | 37:39 | |
| Typically the classes in preparation for this rite | 37:41 | |
| were called membership classes. | 37:44 | |
| In these classes, youth studied mostly | 37:47 | |
| about the meaning of membership. | 37:49 | |
| Information about the Bible, | 37:52 | |
| the church's histories and beliefs were taught, | 37:54 | |
| but a heavy emphasis was placed on learning | 37:57 | |
| about the church as an institution especially, | 37:59 | |
| denominational history, polity, and practice. | 38:02 | |
| Particularly emphasized were the responsibilities | 38:05 | |
| and obligations of members. | 38:08 | |
| More significantly, during the rite | 38:12 | |
| the candidates were asked quickly | 38:15 | |
| a number of questions about their faith. | 38:17 | |
| But then it was typically observed that the minister paused, | 38:20 | |
| looked the candidates in the eyes, | 38:25 | |
| spoke more slowly and listened for a reply. | 38:29 | |
| And what was the question? | 38:35 | |
| It was this. | 38:37 | |
| Will you be loyal to the church, | 38:39 | |
| and support it by your prayers, | 38:41 | |
| your presence, your gifts, and your service? | 38:42 | |
| Would you like to guess what was the important question? | 38:46 | |
| Further we interviewed 100 parents. | 38:50 | |
| We asked them, | 38:52 | |
| would they be upset if their children | 38:53 | |
| were not confirmed? | 38:55 | |
| All 100 said yes. | 38:57 | |
| When we asked why, | 38:59 | |
| the typical response was, | 39:01 | |
| "We will lose them as members of the church." | 39:03 | |
| Not one parent in 100 | 39:07 | |
| expressed a concern for their child's soul or faith. | 39:09 | |
| That when the son of man comes, | 39:15 | |
| will He find faith on earth? | 39:17 | |
| A concern with religion without a concern for faith | 39:22 | |
| is a dead end street. | 39:25 | |
| To demonstrate, let me share a Sufi story, | 39:27 | |
| the Sufis being the prophets of Islam. | 39:31 | |
| It's a story about Nasruddin, | 39:37 | |
| who sometimes took people for trips in his boat. | 39:38 | |
| One day a learned scholar hired him | 39:42 | |
| to ferry him across a very wide river. | 39:44 | |
| As soon as they were afloat, the pedagogue asked Nasruddin | 39:47 | |
| whether it was going to be rough. | 39:51 | |
| "Don't ask me nothing about it," said Nasruddin. | 39:54 | |
| "Have you never studied grammar?" asked the scholar. | 39:59 | |
| "No," said the Mullah. | 40:03 | |
| In that case half your life has been wasted. | 40:06 | |
| The Mullah said nothing. | 40:10 | |
| Soon a terrible storm blew up. | 40:12 | |
| The Mullah's crazy cockleshell was filling with water. | 40:14 | |
| He leaned over towards his companion and asked, | 40:16 | |
| "Have you ever learned to swim?" | 40:20 | |
| "No," said the Pedagogue. | 40:23 | |
| "In that case schoolmaster," said the Mullah, | 40:26 | |
| "All your life is lost because we are sinking." | 40:29 | |
| When the son of man comes, | 40:34 | |
| will He find faith on earth? | 40:36 | |
| It seems that an increased concern with religion | 40:40 | |
| is connected with a decline in faith. | 40:42 | |
| Just wish there's the current frantic evangelistic activity | 40:45 | |
| of seeking members for the institutional church. | 40:48 | |
| As Christian faith weakens, | 40:51 | |
| the church busy's itself with Christianity. | 40:53 | |
| As our personal relations with Christ lapse, | 40:56 | |
| we turn to Christian religion for solace. | 40:58 | |
| With a loss of faith, | 41:01 | |
| the church thinks first of beefing up its church school. | 41:02 | |
| It is as if we believed we have done something important | 41:06 | |
| if we have taught people about the Christian faith. | 41:09 | |
| But there's a big difference | 41:13 | |
| between learning about the Bible | 41:14 | |
| and living as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. | 41:16 | |
| There's a big difference between learning | 41:20 | |
| about the doctrine of salvation and being saved. | 41:22 | |
| There's a big difference between | 41:25 | |
| understanding justification by faith | 41:27 | |
| and being justified by it. | 41:30 | |
| Membership in the church will not save us. | 41:34 | |
| The recitation of the creeds will not save us. | 41:37 | |
| Attendance at worship will not save us. | 41:40 | |
| The study of religion will not save us. | 41:43 | |
| What good is it to know all about what the Bible says? | 41:46 | |
| What happened in the history of the church? | 41:49 | |
| What the Christian can community has believed or believes? | 41:52 | |
| Or what Christians say is right or wrong? | 41:55 | |
| What good is it to be a magnum cum laude atheist? | 41:58 | |
| What good is it to practice religion, | 42:03 | |
| be an active member of the institutional church, | 42:06 | |
| and have no faith? | 42:09 | |
| We are not saved by our knowledge of religion, | 42:12 | |
| we are not saved by our participation in religion, | 42:15 | |
| we are saved by the one and only thing that can save us, | 42:20 | |
| the anguish and love of God. | 42:24 | |
| It is possible to know all about Christianity | 42:28 | |
| and not be Christian, | 42:30 | |
| but when the son of man comes, | 42:33 | |
| will He find faith on earth? | 42:35 | |
| Of course the university is happier and more at home | 42:38 | |
| with departments of religion dedicated | 42:40 | |
| to the dispassionate analysis | 42:43 | |
| of the phenomena called religion, | 42:45 | |
| but the university cannot ignore | 42:47 | |
| or sanction the avoidance of faith. | 42:50 | |
| It cannot hold the issue of faith at arms length | 42:53 | |
| in the name of a dubious objectivity. | 42:56 | |
| Well, the combination of living piety | 42:59 | |
| and intellectual honesty in one community | 43:01 | |
| may appear strange, | 43:04 | |
| it is the only calling possible for a university. | 43:06 | |
| Still the problem is not new. | 43:10 | |
| Two and a half centuries ago, | 43:13 | |
| a struggle emerged within the faculty | 43:15 | |
| of St. Thomas' school in Leipzig. | 43:17 | |
| An unresolved struggle which makes the schism | 43:20 | |
| in the soul of the university today. | 43:23 | |
| It was the struggle between the school's canter, | 43:27 | |
| Johann Sebastian Bach, | 43:30 | |
| and its rector Johann August Ernesti. | 43:32 | |
| Ernesti, a pioneer in historical criticism | 43:37 | |
| in the objective academic study of the Bible, | 43:40 | |
| believed that students should study more and sing less. | 43:44 | |
| Bach thought faith in its musical expression | 43:48 | |
| is more important. | 43:51 | |
| As Chapusso put it, | 43:53 | |
| here we see the tragic conflict | 43:55 | |
| between the last and most mighty musical representative | 43:58 | |
| of the age of faith, and the younger protagonist | 44:01 | |
| of the age of reason and science. | 44:06 | |
| Two epics, two cultures, | 44:08 | |
| two understandings of education were at stake. | 44:11 | |
| The issue of religion or faith had been drawn. | 44:14 | |
| Ernesti wished to make the study of religion | 44:18 | |
| a study which conform to the standards | 44:20 | |
| of classical objective investigation, | 44:23 | |
| the sole purpose of the school. | 44:25 | |
| Bach concerned more for faith, | 44:28 | |
| tried to defend the position | 44:31 | |
| that the biblical text was designed | 44:33 | |
| to release within the reader | 44:35 | |
| an intense sort of spiritual activity, faith. | 44:37 | |
| Ernesti chose religion, | 44:43 | |
| a rationalistic, analytical perspective. | 44:45 | |
| Bach chose faith, | 44:48 | |
| an in intuitional, experiential perspective. | 44:50 | |
| Both made an important contribution | 44:54 | |
| and both need to be affirmed. | 44:56 | |
| But today the university | 44:58 | |
| long committed to Ernesti in the study of religion, | 45:00 | |
| needs to recommit itself to faith, | 45:03 | |
| and thereby liberate scholarship | 45:06 | |
| from the monopoly of discursive analytic prose. | 45:08 | |
| Today, we are called to a revival, | 45:13 | |
| a revival of commitment to faith in the university. | 45:16 | |
| We can never rest our life together in this university | 45:20 | |
| until it encourages and nurtures faith. | 45:23 | |
| Until we find new ways to share faith with each other. | 45:27 | |
| Two decades ago, Radhakrishnan wrote, | 45:31 | |
| "Human societies like human beings live by faith | 45:34 | |
| "and die when faith disappears." | 45:38 | |
| If our society is to recover its health, | 45:42 | |
| it must regain its faith. | 45:44 | |
| The fundamental need of the world far deeper | 45:47 | |
| than any social, political, or economic reform | 45:50 | |
| is a spiritual re-wakening. | 45:53 | |
| A recovery of faith. | 45:56 | |
| Our calling is clear enough, | 46:00 | |
| but still the haunting question of Jesus' remains, | 46:03 | |
| when the son of man comes, will He find faith on earth? | 46:07 | |
| Each of us must respond with our own life. | 46:13 | |
| For as Luther once reminded us, | 46:18 | |
| every person must do his or her own believing | 46:21 | |
| just as each of us will do our own dying. | 46:27 | |
| Amen. | 46:34 | |
| - | In response to the word, let us say what we believe. | 46:52 |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 46:58 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 47:03 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 47:06 | |
| Who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 47:09 | |
| We trust God who calls us to be the church, | 47:12 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness, | 47:17 | |
| to love and serve others, | 47:20 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 47:22 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 47:25 | |
| our judge and our hope, | 47:29 | |
| in life, in death, in life beyond death, | 47:31 | |
| God is with us. | 47:36 | |
| We are not alone. | 47:38 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 47:39 | |
| (gentle music) | 47:42 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 50:58 | |
| - | And be also with you. | 51:00 |
| - | Let us pray. | 51:02 |
| Oh God, ever loving, ever forgiving, ever merciful, | 51:10 | |
| ever present, | 51:17 | |
| we give you thanks for the fullness, the goodness, the joy, | 51:19 | |
| the presence, the promise of life. | 51:23 | |
| And yes, oh God for the assurance of life, | 51:28 | |
| even more abundant than we now know. | 51:30 | |
| It is good to be alive this day, | 51:35 | |
| oh Lord, to walk in the sunshine, | 51:37 | |
| to breathe the fresh air, to be with friends and family, | 51:40 | |
| to hear your word as your spirit speaks | 51:45 | |
| through the written word, | 51:48 | |
| and through the lives of your children. | 51:51 | |
| To know your love deep within our very souls. | 51:54 | |
| We know this day, oh God, | 52:03 | |
| of those who suffer | 52:07 | |
| from disease and weakness, | 52:10 | |
| from starvation and hunger, | 52:13 | |
| from loneliness and neglect, | 52:16 | |
| from confusion and mistrust, | 52:19 | |
| from neglect and rejection, | 52:23 | |
| from hostility and anger. | 52:26 | |
| Yes, Lord, there is pain, and hurt, and suffering. | 52:30 | |
| We know that you know. | 52:38 | |
| For even the hairs of our head are numbered, | 52:41 | |
| and the sands of the sea are counted, | 52:44 | |
| and even the flowers of the field are clothed by you. | 52:48 | |
| How much more, oh caring God, | 52:51 | |
| do you love each of us | 52:56 | |
| as a child of yours? | 52:58 | |
| Help us to love, and care, and reach out. | 53:01 | |
| Help us to help somebody today. | 53:07 | |
| Oh God be merciful to us. | 53:13 | |
| Send the fullness of your saving love to us. | 53:17 | |
| May we have receptive hearts, informed minds, | 53:22 | |
| caring spirits, and serving lives. | 53:28 | |
| As Jesus Christ came to give fullness, | 53:35 | |
| and wholeness, and healing, | 53:39 | |
| and to give the abundant life to others long ago, | 53:41 | |
| may the Spirit of Christ come afresh and anew to us | 53:44 | |
| somehow in some special way in this holy time | 53:50 | |
| of this service a part, oh God. | 53:55 | |
| Give us faith, | 53:59 | |
| even as a grain of mustard seed. | 54:01 | |
| Give us hope that can keep singing even in the darkness. | 54:05 | |
| Give us love which the world cannot give, | 54:10 | |
| and the world cannot take away. | 54:13 | |
| Love which endures forever | 54:17 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 54:24 | |
| we offer these words | 54:28 | |
| and these prayers. | 54:31 | |
| Amen. | 54:35 | |
| Let us confess our sin against God and our neighbors. | 54:41 | |
| First with a period of silent confession, | 54:48 | |
| and then with our prayer of confession. | 54:52 | |
| Let us pray. | 54:57 | |
| Let us pray together. | 55:13 | |
| Most merciful God, | 55:15 | |
| we confess that we have sinned against you | 55:18 | |
| in thought, word, and deed, | 55:21 | |
| by what we have done and by what we have left undone. | 55:25 | |
| We have not loved you with our whole heart, | 55:29 | |
| we have not loved our neighbors or ourselves. | 55:33 | |
| We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. | 55:37 | |
| For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, | 55:41 | |
| have mercy on us and forgive us, | 55:44 | |
| that we may delight it in your will | 55:47 | |
| and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. | 55:49 | |
| Amen. | 55:55 | |
| The mercy of the Lord is everlasting. | 55:57 | |
| Such is the word from God, | 56:02 | |
| which being interpreted for us today | 56:06 | |
| means that now this very moment, | 56:09 | |
| our every past has been accepted. | 56:13 | |
| Our every future is open. | 56:17 | |
| Our every present is offered to us with new possibilities. | 56:20 | |
| Receive now my friends in Christ, | 56:27 | |
| the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. | 56:32 | |
| Amen. | 56:38 | |
| (gentle music) | 56:42 | |
| - | Oh God, we offer these gifts and ourselves, | 1:03:17 |
| our work and our play, our joys and our sorrows, | 1:03:21 | |
| our thoughts and our deeds, just as we are, | 1:03:25 | |
| to be used by you for the sake of others in this community | 1:03:30 | |
| and around the world through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 1:03:35 | |
| who taught us to pray as we pray together. | 1:03:40 | |
| Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, | 1:03:44 | |
| your kingdom come, | 1:03:48 | |
| your will be done on earth as in heaven. | 1:03:50 | |
| - | Give us this day our daily bread. | 1:03:54 |
| Forgive us our sins | 1:03:58 | |
| as we forgive those who sin against us. | 1:04:00 | |
| Save us from the time of trial | 1:04:03 | |
| and deliver us from evil. | 1:04:06 | |
| For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours | 1:04:08 | |
| now and forever. | 1:04:12 | |
| Amen. | 1:04:15 | |
| - | Let us go forth into the world, | 1:04:18 |
| rejoicing in the power of the spirit. | 1:04:21 | |
| - | Thanks be to God. | 1:04:25 |
| (gentle orchestral music) | 1:04:30 | |
| (congregation murmuring) | 1:12:24 |
