Robert T. Young - "The Seen and the Unseen" (November 7, 1976)
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| (gentle instrumental music) | 0:12 | |
| (gentle instrumental music continues) | 0:58 | |
| (moves into upbeat music) | 1:05 | |
| (upbeat music continues) | 1:28 | |
| (ends into slow trumpet music) | 2:33 | |
| Pastoress | This is one of our | 3:13 |
| most glorious festival Sundays. | 3:14 | |
| We're especially pleased to have John Hardy, | 3:18 | |
| and the UNC jazz band with us again this year | 3:21 | |
| and want to express our thanks to Meredith Marcellus, | 3:25 | |
| who is filling in for Ben Smith. | 3:30 | |
| People have ask us, | 3:33 | |
| is it appropriate to respond to this service | 3:36 | |
| by clapping with the music or after the music? | 3:39 | |
| We want to assure you, | 3:43 | |
| this is a time of great celebration. | 3:45 | |
| So, follow the lead of the spirit | 3:49 | |
| by clapping or amening or whatever you think is appropriate. | 3:52 | |
| Some of you already know | 3:58 | |
| that Ben Smith's father died last week. | 4:00 | |
| He is at home today with his mother. | 4:05 | |
| Three years ago Ben suggested | 4:09 | |
| that we celebrate All Saints Sunday in this way. | 4:11 | |
| So, we want to dedicate this service to Ben, | 4:16 | |
| and to the memory of his father. | 4:21 | |
| It is right and good that we do so. | 4:24 | |
| Now, a very special welcome to you to this service, | 4:28 | |
| especially to you parents and other visitors. | 4:32 | |
| We are always pleased to have you with us in the service, | 4:36 | |
| and to have opportunities to meet you and get to know you. | 4:41 | |
| One last announcement. | 4:47 | |
| Last Sunday, Bob Young sermon was a letter | 4:49 | |
| to the next president of the United States. | 4:53 | |
| Many people have an expressed a desire | 4:57 | |
| to sign this letter which will now be sent | 4:59 | |
| to president elect Carter. | 5:03 | |
| If you would like to do so, after the service, | 5:06 | |
| the ushers will have copies of the sermon, | 5:10 | |
| and a sheet on which you may sign your name | 5:13 | |
| as you leave the chapel. | 5:16 | |
| Now, we would like to make a request that those | 5:19 | |
| of you who have some space between you, | 5:22 | |
| would move toward the center aisle | 5:25 | |
| so that people who are standing may find seats. | 5:28 | |
| Let us continue in our worship of God, amen. | 5:33 | |
| ♪ When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound ♪ | 5:43 | |
| ♪ And time shall be no more ♪ | 5:46 | |
| ♪ And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair ♪ | 5:48 | |
| ♪ When the saved diverse shall gather ♪ | 5:52 | |
| ♪ Over on the other shore ♪ | 5:55 | |
| ♪ And the roll is called up yonder I'll be there ♪ | 5:57 | |
| ♪ When the roll ♪ | 6:01 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there ♪ | 6:03 | |
| ♪ When the roll ♪ | 6:07 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there ♪ | 6:08 | |
| ♪ When the roll ♪ | 6:11 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder ♪ | 6:12 | |
| ♪ When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there ♪ | 6:19 | |
| (soothing piano music) | 6:28 | |
| (moves into slow Christian music) | 6:59 | |
| (slow Christian music continues) | 7:38 | |
| (slow Christian music continues) | 8:29 | |
| (slow Christian choir music) | 9:16 | |
| (ends into intense slow music) | 10:15 | |
| The congregation be seated. | 10:48 | |
| Let us join in our co-operate confession of sin. | 10:59 | |
| Forgive us, oh Lord. | 11:04 | |
| For we acknowledge ourselves as type of a common people | 11:07 | |
| of the men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire, | 11:13 | |
| who feel the blessing of God, | 11:18 | |
| the loneliness of night of God, | 11:21 | |
| the surrender required, the deprivation inflicted. | 11:24 | |
| Who fear the injustice of others | 11:30 | |
| less than the justice of God, | 11:33 | |
| who fear the hand at the window, | 11:36 | |
| the knock at the door, the words of our peers, | 11:39 | |
| the threats of the commonplace, | 11:44 | |
| the conflict with evil, | 11:47 | |
| less than we fear the love of God. | 11:49 | |
| We acknowledge our trespass, our weakness, our fault. | 11:53 | |
| We acknowledge that sin of the world is upon our head, | 11:59 | |
| that the blood of the martyrs and the agony of saints | 12:04 | |
| is upon our heads. | 12:09 | |
| Lord have mercy upon us. | 12:11 | |
| Christ have mercy upon us. | 12:14 | |
| Lord have mercy upon us, amen. | 12:17 | |
| Oh, God of justice and mercy, grant us the assurance | 12:39 | |
| of your forgiving love, | 12:44 | |
| so that we may be restored to a loving relationship to you | 12:47 | |
| and our family and our neighbors and our world | 12:52 | |
| in the spirit of Jesus Christ we pray, amen. | 12:57 | |
| (liturgical music) | 13:25 | |
| (moves into upbeat instrumental music) | 14:19 | |
| (upbeat instrumental music continues) | 14:46 | |
| (uptempo trumpet music) | 15:15 | |
| (upbeat liturgical music) | 16:11 | |
| (liturgical music continues) | 16:55 | |
| (congregation applauding) | 17:21 | |
| Pastor | Very beautiful, | 17:33 |
| letter of Paul to the Romans | 17:38 | |
| at 8:26 | 17:45 | |
| Paul says, "Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness | 17:48 | |
| for we do not know how to pray as we are, | 17:53 | |
| but the spirit himself intercedes | 17:56 | |
| for us with sighs too deep for words, | 17:58 | |
| and he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind | 18:01 | |
| of the spirit. | 18:05 | |
| Because the spirit intercedes for the saints, | 18:06 | |
| according to the will of God. | 18:08 | |
| We know that in everything God works for good | 18:11 | |
| with those who love Him, | 18:13 | |
| who are called according to His purpose, | 18:15 | |
| for those whom He foreknew He also predestined | 18:18 | |
| to be conformed to the image of His Son | 18:22 | |
| in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. | 18:25 | |
| And those whom He predestined He also called, | 18:29 | |
| and those whom He called He also justified. | 18:32 | |
| And those whom He justified, He also glorified. | 18:36 | |
| What then, shall we say to this? | 18:40 | |
| If God is for us, who is against us? | 18:42 | |
| He who did not spare His own son, | 18:45 | |
| but gave him up for us all. | 18:47 | |
| Will He not also give us all things with him, | 18:49 | |
| who shall bring any charge against God's elect? | 18:53 | |
| It is God who justifies, who is to condemn? | 18:56 | |
| It is Christ Jesus who died. | 19:00 | |
| Yes, who was raised from the dead, | 19:02 | |
| who is at the right hand of God, | 19:04 | |
| who indeed intercedes for us, | 19:06 | |
| who shall separate us from the love of Christ? | 19:08 | |
| Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine | 19:12 | |
| or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written, | 19:17 | |
| for thy sake, we are being killed all the day long, | 19:22 | |
| we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. | 19:25 | |
| No, in all these things, | 19:28 | |
| we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. | 19:29 | |
| For, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, | 19:33 | |
| nor principalities, nor things present, | 19:38 | |
| nor things to come nor powers nor height, nor depth, | 19:40 | |
| nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate | 19:45 | |
| us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord." | 19:48 | |
| The writer of the letter to the Hebrews | 19:54 | |
| at the 12th chapter says, | 19:55 | |
| "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great | 19:57 | |
| a cloud of witnesses, | 19:59 | |
| let us also lay aside every weight and sin, | 20:01 | |
| which clings so closely and let us run with perseverance | 20:04 | |
| the race that is set before us, | 20:08 | |
| looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. | 20:10 | |
| Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, | 20:15 | |
| despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the | 20:19 | |
| throne of God." | 20:23 | |
| Will the congregation, please rise to hear the reading | 20:25 | |
| of the gospel. | 20:27 | |
| At the 14th chapter of the gospel according | 20:34 | |
| to Saint John Jesus is teaching the disciples, | 20:36 | |
| our ancestors in the faith. | 20:39 | |
| And he says at the 15th verse, | 20:40 | |
| "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. | 20:43 | |
| And I will pray the father, | 20:47 | |
| and He will give you another counselor | 20:48 | |
| to be with you forever. | 20:50 | |
| Even the spirit of truth. | 20:52 | |
| And the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him | 20:54 | |
| nor knows Him. | 20:57 | |
| You know Him, and He will be among you and within you. | 20:59 | |
| I will not leave you desolate, I will come to you. | 21:04 | |
| Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, | 21:07 | |
| but you will see me | 21:11 | |
| because I live you will live also." | 21:13 | |
| May the Lord bless this reading of his word | 21:16 | |
| to our growth and strength. | 21:19 | |
| (liturgical music) | 21:22 | |
| Pastoress | Let us with one voice affirm what we believe. | 22:03 |
| We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 22:08 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus, | 22:14 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 22:17 | |
| who works in us and others by the spirit, | 22:21 | |
| we trust God who calls us to be the church | 22:25 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness | 22:30 | |
| to love and serve others, | 22:33 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 22:36 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. | 22:40 | |
| Our judge and our hope, | 22:44 | |
| and life and death and life beyond death. | 22:47 | |
| God is with us. | 22:52 | |
| We are not alone. | 22:55 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 22:57 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 22:59 | |
| Congregation | And with your spirit. | 23:01 |
| Pastoress | Let us pray. | 23:03 |
| Oh, holy and loving God hear the prayers | 23:14 | |
| of our intercession and our thanksgiving. | 23:19 | |
| This day, we pray for all people who have responsibilities | 23:24 | |
| for governance and especially | 23:28 | |
| for those who have just been elected | 23:31 | |
| to serve this country, | 23:34 | |
| that they may lead us toward a time of justice and peace, | 23:37 | |
| and fullness of life | 23:41 | |
| for all of your creation, | 23:43 | |
| that they may know the destructive possibilities inherent, | 23:47 | |
| and all power and authority, | 23:52 | |
| and so live and humble obedience to you, | 23:56 | |
| that they may learn the wisdom of restraint, | 24:00 | |
| and the justice of mercy. | 24:04 | |
| And we pray for those people who were not elected, | 24:08 | |
| that they may not become embittered, | 24:13 | |
| but rather find other ways to serve your people. | 24:15 | |
| Oh, holy God, | 24:22 | |
| on this day we acknowledge our affinity, | 24:24 | |
| and celebrate the mystery of our existence. | 24:28 | |
| But we are people who had from our human limitations. | 24:33 | |
| And so we pray for those persons who cannot accept | 24:39 | |
| they're humanist, and become destructive | 24:42 | |
| and their search for the perfect friend, | 24:46 | |
| the perfect marriage, | 24:50 | |
| the perfect community, the perfect job. | 24:52 | |
| And on this day, we pray for the families and communities | 24:57 | |
| which support us, | 25:03 | |
| and for those who are torn by bitterness, | 25:06 | |
| and misunderstanding and mistrust. | 25:09 | |
| We give you thanks for families | 25:13 | |
| and especially for those who have shared | 25:16 | |
| the abundance of their love with those who are alone | 25:20 | |
| and those who had shared, | 25:26 | |
| even to the point of denying themselves, | 25:27 | |
| the abundance of their wealth, | 25:31 | |
| with those who are in need. | 25:34 | |
| Hear us oh, loving God, | 25:38 | |
| as we pray for all who are in special need of your grace, | 25:41 | |
| for the oppressed, for sick and anxious, | 25:48 | |
| for the dying and those who stand in fear of death, | 25:54 | |
| teach them that nothing neither life nor death, | 25:59 | |
| can separate them from your love. | 26:03 | |
| We give you thanks for those who have dedicated their lives | 26:08 | |
| to the healing of broken persons, broken families, | 26:13 | |
| broken communities, and broken nations. | 26:18 | |
| We ask you to use us as instruments of your healing law, | 26:23 | |
| help us to accept the limitations and the possibilities | 26:29 | |
| of our humanity, | 26:33 | |
| and to be open to the guidance of your spirit, | 26:35 | |
| that we may heal the hurt, the broken, the sick, | 26:39 | |
| and able the hungry to be fed. | 26:44 | |
| And all this, we pray in the spirit | 26:49 | |
| of the one who taught us when we pray to pray. | 26:52 | |
| Our father, | 26:57 | |
| who art in heaven, | 26:59 | |
| hallowed be thy name, | 27:01 | |
| thy kingdom come, | 27:03 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 27:05 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 27:10 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses. | 27:14 | |
| As we forgive those who trespass against us. | 27:16 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 27:20 | |
| but deliver us from evil | 27:23 | |
| for thine is the kingdom and the power, | 27:26 | |
| and the glory forever, amen. | 27:30 | |
| Pastor | In the name of God who creates, remakes and | 27:54 |
| sustains us, amen. | 28:01 | |
| Today we observe the Sunday after All Saints' day. | 28:07 | |
| All saints' day has traditionally been that day, | 28:13 | |
| when the Christian Church remembered the saints, | 28:16 | |
| and the martyrs who lived faithfully and who now rest | 28:18 | |
| in the eternal presence of God, | 28:22 | |
| this All Saints Sunday service here in Duke chapel today, | 28:26 | |
| marks the third annual observance we have shared. | 28:31 | |
| And this service has very quickly become a greatly | 28:36 | |
| anticipated and enthusiastically shared worship experience. | 28:39 | |
| So we're glad that you are here to rejoice, to affirm, | 28:44 | |
| to sing, to celebrate, | 28:51 | |
| to celebrate our convictions about life, it's beauty and | 28:55 | |
| goodness and joy for now and for forever. | 28:59 | |
| I want to preach this morning on the theme, | 29:05 | |
| the seen and the unseen in celebration | 29:07 | |
| of All Saints' Sunday, | 29:10 | |
| but I want to preach about those things which | 29:12 | |
| are seen and unseen for one reason. | 29:14 | |
| And one reason only, that is to allow the power in the | 29:16 | |
| presence of God to help us know life now, today fully, | 29:20 | |
| or at least as fully as is possible for anyone of us. | 29:26 | |
| That's what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about | 29:33 | |
| to help us know life and know it fully, | 29:38 | |
| beginning now and lasting forever. | 29:40 | |
| I remember when I was a boy singing | 29:44 | |
| a lot of the good old time gospel songs | 29:46 | |
| in the church back home, as I grew up, | 29:49 | |
| I used to hear the folk sing and I'd join in and sing just | 29:52 | |
| as loudly and lustily not qualitatively, but quantitatively | 29:55 | |
| just as loudly and lustily as any of the | 29:59 | |
| rest in the sweet by and by on Jordan's stormy bank's eyes | 30:01 | |
| stand, or shall we gather at the river? | 30:05 | |
| And they all seem to talk about and sing of something which | 30:09 | |
| was over there, which was after death, | 30:12 | |
| which was beyond life and when I was old enough, | 30:14 | |
| really to begin to think about it, I said, | 30:17 | |
| "But what about now? | 30:19 | |
| What about life as it is today?" | 30:22 | |
| So I preach on the seen and the unseen today, | 30:26 | |
| not to talk about life beyond death, | 30:28 | |
| but to affirm the fullness of life in Christ right now. | 30:31 | |
| So the first thing I want to do is to talk about | 30:37 | |
| the power of the seen. | 30:39 | |
| The power of a presence that is really present at first, | 30:42 | |
| have you ever thought about the adverse and the destructive | 30:49 | |
| effects of a presence, which is not present? | 30:52 | |
| Oh, you know what I mean? | 30:57 | |
| There is nothing any more disturbing or distracting than to | 30:59 | |
| be in someone's presence and be aware that they are not | 31:02 | |
| really present to you, that they are not really with you. | 31:04 | |
| They are there, but they are not there. | 31:09 | |
| You stand talking with somebody in a crowd and we preachers | 31:12 | |
| at annual conferences of the United Methodist church, | 31:16 | |
| are very guilty of this. | 31:18 | |
| You stand talking with somebody in a crowd and the person | 31:20 | |
| that you're talking with all the time | 31:22 | |
| is looking over your shoulder, | 31:24 | |
| hoping that someone else a little more important will come | 31:26 | |
| by so that they can talk with them rather than you. | 31:28 | |
| You can tell if someone is really present to you | 31:32 | |
| and it's a beautiful experience. | 31:35 | |
| Another's eyes really look understandingly into yours. | 31:38 | |
| Someone bends down or over or up to get close to you | 31:44 | |
| and to see your expression, | 31:50 | |
| the clasp of your hand from some people tells you | 31:53 | |
| that that person is really present, | 31:55 | |
| the arm around your shoulder or the arm | 31:59 | |
| around your waist | 32:01 | |
| you see another's lips begin to quiver, | 32:02 | |
| or the head come up in a start | 32:05 | |
| or the shoulders jerk in attentiveness | 32:07 | |
| and you know that that someone is really present to you. | 32:09 | |
| Jesus knew how to be really present to folks. Didn't he? | 32:14 | |
| Jesus had an experience of walking on the road to Emmaus | 32:17 | |
| with some of those who were believers in him, | 32:21 | |
| they were very distraught. | 32:23 | |
| He listened, he questioned, he sympathized, he empathized, | 32:25 | |
| he cared and then later, | 32:28 | |
| as they gathered to eat together in the breaking of the | 32:30 | |
| bread, he was really made known to them. | 32:33 | |
| And then for some strange reason, | 32:35 | |
| the gospel said, "Once he was made known to them, | 32:36 | |
| he disappeared from their midst." | 32:38 | |
| But even as they walked, | 32:41 | |
| even before he made himself known to them, | 32:42 | |
| he was present with them so much so that when he was gone, | 32:44 | |
| they said, "Did not our hearts burn within us | 32:48 | |
| as he talked with us on the road," a present presence, | 32:51 | |
| even when they knew him only as a stranger, | 32:55 | |
| Martha and Mary exclaimed to Jesus, "Oh my Lord. | 32:59 | |
| If you had only been here, our brother would not have died." | 33:05 | |
| They knew the effect that his presence would have, | 33:09 | |
| even in the face of death. | 33:13 | |
| The earliest believers in Christ | 33:18 | |
| had the advantage of the seen Christ. | 33:22 | |
| But if you and I are to believe in Christ, | 33:28 | |
| the only way we have to believe is to believe | 33:30 | |
| in the unseen Christ or to believe in the unseen presence. | 33:33 | |
| Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless, | 33:38 | |
| I will come to you. | 33:41 | |
| I will give you another presence, another comforter, | 33:42 | |
| even the spirit of truth, | 33:45 | |
| which a world can't take away because the world | 33:46 | |
| really doesn't know what it's all about, | 33:49 | |
| but you know, | 33:51 | |
| because that spirit is in you and it will be with you | 33:51 | |
| and it will be with you forever." | 33:54 | |
| So the second thing I want to talk about is the power of the | 33:58 | |
| unseen and its effect upon our lives, | 34:01 | |
| Geoffrey Parrinder in "Something After Death" writes, | 34:06 | |
| "Argument alone rarely convinces people, | 34:12 | |
| but experiences, aroused emotions, which bring convictions. | 34:18 | |
| Can we claim an experience of an unseen life? | 34:24 | |
| Well, I contend that we can, we do, | 34:30 | |
| we must claim experiences of an unseen life. | 34:33 | |
| And these unseen experiences of life are very, | 34:36 | |
| very powerful. | 34:39 | |
| Hebrews list the Honor Roll of early Judaism, | 34:41 | |
| the saints of the children of Israel," | 34:44 | |
| and then says, "With all these people, | 34:48 | |
| we are surrounded by so greater cloud of witnesses | 34:52 | |
| and we lay aside every weight that we put aside | 34:56 | |
| every sin and that we'd run the race | 34:59 | |
| which is before us, unseen presence, | 35:00 | |
| but we're not surrounded just to be surrounded, | 35:05 | |
| but to lay aside every weight to lay aside every sin | 35:09 | |
| and then to run the race that is to live." | 35:12 | |
| Paul writes, "I am persuaded that neither life nor death, | 35:17 | |
| nor height, nor depth, | 35:23 | |
| nor any power nor anything else | 35:25 | |
| in all creation shall be able to separate us | 35:27 | |
| from the love of God, | 35:30 | |
| which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." | 35:31 | |
| Nothing separates us. | 35:34 | |
| There is an unseen presence, | 35:38 | |
| but my friends here unseen is not the same as empty. | 35:42 | |
| Unseen is not the same as void. | 35:46 | |
| Unseen is not the same as being alone. | 35:49 | |
| Unseen is not even the same as being separated. | 35:52 | |
| Unseen is not even the same as distant. | 35:56 | |
| This unseen cloud of witnesses. | 36:00 | |
| Those who are present, but unseen, | 36:03 | |
| all have shared the faith, all have walked with God, | 36:05 | |
| all are still witnesses to God's love. | 36:09 | |
| They have left their mark. They are still supporting. | 36:13 | |
| They are still giving testimony. | 36:16 | |
| They are still interceding for us. | 36:17 | |
| The power of the unseen is quite real. | 36:20 | |
| You students know that, where you know that even though most | 36:24 | |
| of the time, mom and dad are physically back home, | 36:28 | |
| there is still some strange power which they have over you. | 36:33 | |
| You students know that when you take an exam | 36:41 | |
| and the professor is out of the room, | 36:46 | |
| her or his unseen presence | 36:50 | |
| still has some power over you. | 36:55 | |
| You who are dating and have a girlfriend or boyfriend | 37:00 | |
| who is far, far away. | 37:04 | |
| Know the power that that unseen presence has over you | 37:06 | |
| or it better have. | 37:10 | |
| (congregation laughing) | 37:12 | |
| My friends, there are deeper levels of life | 37:18 | |
| where this unseen presence, | 37:20 | |
| this unseen power is meaning and direction to our lives, | 37:22 | |
| for there is an unfathomable depth of meaning and an absent | 37:27 | |
| presence and a present absence of a someone, | 37:31 | |
| the young scene that sustains us and gives us hope | 37:36 | |
| and gives us assurance. | 37:40 | |
| The mother of the son who died prematurely said, | 37:44 | |
| "I have the need to believe that my son exists somewhere, | 37:46 | |
| but I do not know where." | 37:50 | |
| For the father of the son who was killed tragically | 37:53 | |
| speaks of the power of the unseen when he says | 37:56 | |
| "for Ron to live on in memory for our worthy | 37:59 | |
| cause is something I can be proud of," | 38:02 | |
| or as Dr. Henri Nouwen and writes in his beautiful book, | 38:07 | |
| "Reaching Out A Few Times In My Life," | 38:10 | |
| listen to this folks. | 38:15 | |
| "A few times in my life, | 38:17 | |
| I have had this seemingly strange sensation that I felt | 38:19 | |
| closer to my friends in their absence | 38:24 | |
| than in their presence." | 38:27 | |
| Power of the absent presence. | 38:31 | |
| Or as Kahil Gibran tells us | 38:35 | |
| "When you part from your friend, weep not, | 38:37 | |
| for that which you love most in him | 38:41 | |
| may be clearer in his absence. | 38:44 | |
| As the mountain is clearer to the climber from the plane." | 38:48 | |
| Power of the absent presence | 39:15 | |
| the power of the unseen that can say, | 39:20 | |
| as one friend said to another recently after they had been | 39:23 | |
| together a while and were soon depart, | 39:25 | |
| "It is good to be here. | 39:27 | |
| It is good to be together, | 39:29 | |
| but from now on wherever you go or wherever I go, | 39:31 | |
| all the ground between us will be holy ground." | 39:35 | |
| The power of the absent presence, | 39:41 | |
| the power of the unseen like | 39:45 | |
| Elizabeth Kubler Ross tells about in her book | 39:47 | |
| "Death, The Final Stage Of Growth." And I commend it to you. | 39:48 | |
| She tells of her childhood in Switzerland and of how a young | 39:53 | |
| neighbor farmer died and left several children and a wife | 39:56 | |
| to be cared for and of how she and her family | 40:00 | |
| and other families in the community took it upon | 40:06 | |
| themselves to take care of this family and to help take care | 40:08 | |
| of the crops and raise the crops for them for years to come. | 40:11 | |
| And she writes each time we brought in a load of hay, | 40:15 | |
| I was convinced that he could see us. | 40:21 | |
| And I saw his face beam with pride and joy. | 40:25 | |
| How many times my friends | 40:32 | |
| have we felt that some he or she could see us? | 40:36 | |
| And that some he or she from somewhere was beaming with | 40:43 | |
| pride and with real joy, | 40:48 | |
| Joan of Arc in Shaw's play, Saint Joan declared that she | 40:52 | |
| heard voices from God and from God's angels. | 40:54 | |
| Her critics told her that the voices came from her | 40:58 | |
| imagination and she retorted, | 41:01 | |
| "Why, of course. | 41:03 | |
| That's how the messages of God come to us." | 41:05 | |
| The unseen and its power. | 41:09 | |
| Mr. Chuck Houston, | 41:13 | |
| vice president for business affairs of the university was | 41:15 | |
| describing the 1963 American expedition to Mount Everest | 41:17 | |
| recently, an expedition in which he was involved. | 41:21 | |
| And he told about the words of Lute Jerstad. | 41:25 | |
| One of those Americans who actually taught Mount Everest | 41:29 | |
| who writes, "Face to face with this huge mountain. | 41:33 | |
| I feel like a small boy. | 41:38 | |
| I feel some aura of mystery, | 41:42 | |
| some brief encounter with eternity that led the team on the | 41:46 | |
| day that they traversed up across that historic north face, | 41:51 | |
| to feel that they were walking | 41:55 | |
| in the company of the spirits, | 41:57 | |
| Mallory and Somerville and Smith and Norton and all the rest | 42:00 | |
| were climbing there beside them. | 42:05 | |
| Face to face with life. | 42:10 | |
| Often, I feel like a very small boy. | 42:14 | |
| I too feel some aura of mystery about it all. | 42:20 | |
| And then there is an unseen presence, a word of hope, | 42:24 | |
| a deep desire, a feeling, a dream, | 42:28 | |
| a shared moment that someone very present, | 42:30 | |
| but unseen is right there beside me. | 42:33 | |
| And I can go on, not to the top of Mount Everest. | 42:36 | |
| No, but to the very next step in my life." | 42:39 | |
| Sometimes the distant and unseen myths and fantasies | 42:47 | |
| of who a person has been are much more powerful | 42:53 | |
| in their effects upon us | 42:57 | |
| than are the actualities and the realities of life. | 42:59 | |
| And then a word about the power of a present presence, | 43:06 | |
| whether it is seen or unseen. | 43:12 | |
| Henri Nouwen in his book on | 43:16 | |
| Christian Ministry Today, "The Wounded Healer" writes, | 43:18 | |
| "The emptiness of the past and the future | 43:22 | |
| can never be filled with words, | 43:26 | |
| but only by the presence of another." | 43:30 | |
| Maybe, he says, | 43:34 | |
| "After all, someone is waiting for me." | 43:37 | |
| Nouwen in this book in writing ostensibly about counseling | 43:45 | |
| persons who are critically ill in the hospital, | 43:48 | |
| but really talking about how we help each other to live | 43:51 | |
| any time or anywhere contends that | 43:54 | |
| we can endure almost anything, | 43:57 | |
| as long as we know that there is somebody | 44:00 | |
| somewhere waiting for us. | 44:03 | |
| Now it's in this context, | 44:09 | |
| I think the words of Jesus become | 44:10 | |
| vividly alive and meaningful when he says, | 44:13 | |
| "I go to prepare a place for you. | 44:15 | |
| And if I go, I will come again. | 44:18 | |
| I will be waiting for you." | 44:20 | |
| Maybe, maybe we can say someone is waiting for me, | 44:22 | |
| the power of the unseen and the seen | 44:26 | |
| the power of a presence. | 44:30 | |
| That's why the old spiritual, which Meredith Marcellus | 44:32 | |
| and the choir sang here one Sunday | 44:35 | |
| last year has a personal | 44:37 | |
| and intimate and sustaining message. | 44:39 | |
| "His eye is on the sparrow. | 44:41 | |
| And I know he watches me. | 44:46 | |
| I know he cares. I know he cares. | 44:49 | |
| I know he cares for me." | 44:54 | |
| Power of the unseen and the seen. | 45:00 | |
| Or as I read recently, | 45:04 | |
| it takes only one human being who really cares | 45:05 | |
| to make a difference between life and death. | 45:09 | |
| You know that don't you? | 45:18 | |
| But there have been moments in your life as indeed in mine. | 45:20 | |
| When knowing that only one human being really cares | 45:28 | |
| makes all the difference between life and death. | 45:33 | |
| The seen and the unseen, | 45:40 | |
| a present presence. | 45:45 | |
| Here and now to help us live fully today. | 45:49 | |
| Why do we not? | 45:58 | |
| Why do we not know it? | 46:02 | |
| See it? | 46:05 | |
| Feel it? | 46:07 | |
| Accept it? | 46:09 | |
| Live it? | 46:11 | |
| Why is it? The man asked. | 46:14 | |
| Why is it | 46:19 | |
| that we keep bypassing each other? | 46:24 | |
| Always thinking we're on the way | 46:30 | |
| to something or someone more important. | 46:37 | |
| The seen and the unseen. | 46:48 | |
| Now, | 46:54 | |
| amen. | 47:00 | |
| You will understand when we sing the closing hymn, | 47:10 | |
| why we are moving this particular part of our order | 47:15 | |
| of worship to this moment? | 47:21 | |
| Not only does it follow, | 47:23 | |
| hopefully with meaning after the sermon, | 47:26 | |
| but it also will allow all of us in the choir, in the band | 47:30 | |
| and all of us singing together to close the service with one | 47:36 | |
| of the most majestic and moving moments | 47:41 | |
| I think any of us will have experienced. | 47:44 | |
| So I'm going to ask you to join with me now in praying the | 47:47 | |
| prayer of commemoration and commitment at this point, | 47:50 | |
| rather than following the closing hymn. | 47:54 | |
| So will you join with me now, as we pray together, | 47:58 | |
| this prayer when we commemorate those | 48:05 | |
| whom we honor this day, | 48:09 | |
| and when we make new commitments of our own lives, | 48:13 | |
| let us pray. | 48:17 | |
| Eternal God help us this day to remember the unseen | 48:20 | |
| cloud of witnesses who compass us about | 48:24 | |
| those who in every age and generation | 48:28 | |
| witness to their faith in life and in death, | 48:31 | |
| those who by their courage and their sacrifice. | 48:35 | |
| One for us, the freedom and the liberty we enjoy, | 48:39 | |
| those who have served and those who continue to serve | 48:43 | |
| others at the cost of pain of persecution and of death, | 48:48 | |
| those living martyrs who now suffer | 48:53 | |
| at the hands of oppressors and dictators, | 48:56 | |
| and yet remain faithful to Christ in obedience | 48:59 | |
| and in witness, those whom we love | 49:02 | |
| and who have gone to be with you | 49:06 | |
| and whose lives live on in our hearts, | 49:08 | |
| help us to walk worthily of those in whose unseen presence | 49:12 | |
| our lives are lived. | 49:16 | |
| Help us to commit our lives to Christ in such a way | 49:19 | |
| that we may know their courage in danger, | 49:22 | |
| their steadfastness in trial, | 49:26 | |
| their perseverance in difficulty, | 49:29 | |
| their loyalty when loyalty is costly, | 49:32 | |
| their love which nothing can change, | 49:35 | |
| their joy which nothing can take away. | 49:38 | |
| So grant to us in this life, | 49:42 | |
| never forget those who have gone before, | 49:45 | |
| so that in the life to come, | 49:49 | |
| we may share their blessedness through Jesus Christ, | 49:51 | |
| our Lord, amen, amazing grace. | 49:55 | |
| (slow instrumental music) | 50:08 | |
| (gentle Christian music) | 50:37 | |
| (gentle Christian music continues) | 51:10 | |
| (gentle Christian music) | 51:46 | |
| (gentle Christian music continues) | 52:46 | |
| (ambient music) | 53:38 | |
| (ambient music continues) | 54:37 | |
| (quirky trumpet music) | 55:22 | |
| (moves into orchestral music) | 56:13 | |
| (audience clapping) | 56:28 | |
| (orchestral music continues) | 56:33 | |
| (audience clapping continues) | 56:41 | |
| (drum solo music) | 56:50 | |
| (orchestral music continues) | 56:57 | |
| (liturgical music) | 57:33 | |
| (liturgical music continues) | 58:22 | |
| (congregation applauding) | 59:06 | |
| (liturgical music continues) | 59:26 | |
| Pastoress | Oh, God of justice and mercy. | 1:00:15 |
| We give you these gifts, which are symbols of our lives. | 1:00:20 | |
| And in so doing, | 1:00:25 | |
| we give you our lives and pray that you will use them | 1:00:26 | |
| in your service. | 1:00:31 | |
| All this, we pray in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ. | 1:00:33 | |
| Amen. | 1:00:38 | |
| (slow trumpet music) | 1:00:48 | |
| (slow trumpet music continues) | 1:01:20 | |
| (lively liturgical music) | 1:01:36 | |
| (lively liturgical music continues) | 1:02:21 | |
| (lively orchestral music) | 1:03:24 | |
| (lively liturgical music continues) | 1:04:09 | |
| (lively orchestral music continues) | 1:04:45 | |
| Go forth with assurance that God who created you, | 1:05:29 | |
| who redeemed you and who now sustained you | 1:05:35 | |
| will go forth to support you no matter what comes. | 1:05:39 | |
| (lively Christian music) | 1:05:49 | |
| (Church bell chimes) | 1:06:05 | |
| (upbeat instrumental music) | 1:06:21 | |
| (moves into uptempo music) | 1:06:44 | |
| (moves into gentle slow music) | 1:07:20 | |
| (moves into upbeat instrumental music) | 1:07:35 | |
| (energetic music) | 1:08:00 | |
| (lively instrumental music) | 1:08:22 | |
| (moves into uplifting music) | 1:08:48 | |
| (uplifting music continues) | 1:09:14 | |
| (congregation applauds) | 1:09:26 | |
| (congregation cheering) | 1:10:00 | |
| (congregation murmuring) | 1:10:09 |
