Robert T. Young - "Why Do They All Come?" Founders' Day (December 12, 1976)
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| - | Founder's Day service, December 12th, 1976. | 0:05 |
| (gentle serene music) | 1:19 | |
| (lively gospel music) | 3:33 | |
| (gentle serene music) | 6:26 | |
| (gentle poignant music) | 10:56 | |
| (gentle suspenseful music) | 16:28 | |
| (lively piano music) | 17:46 | |
| ("Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above") | 18:29 | |
| - | Hear these words from the first letter of John. | 25:30 |
| "If we claim to be sinless, | 25:36 | |
| we are self-deceived and strangers to the truth. | 25:39 | |
| If we confess our sins, | 25:45 | |
| God is just, and maybe trusted to forgive our sins | 25:49 | |
| and cleanse us from every kind of wrong." | 25:54 | |
| With this assurance, | 25:59 | |
| let us make our corporate confession. | 26:02 | |
| Congregation | Oh Lord, Creator of all things, | 26:08 |
| source of all truth, | 26:12 | |
| we ask your forgiveness for the sins of the man, | 26:15 | |
| the pride of thinking that we are masters | 26:20 | |
| of all creation and history. | 26:23 | |
| Our slackness, our compulsion | 26:26 | |
| and our work in this university, | 26:29 | |
| our doubts about your will power to make all things new. | 26:32 | |
| We ask your forgiveness for a lack of sense of history | 26:38 | |
| for thinking all the world begins and ends with us, | 26:43 | |
| for our too easy acceptance of our heritage, | 26:48 | |
| for those who will suffer | 26:53 | |
| because of our unconcerned about the future. | 26:55 | |
| Help us as we worship you | 27:00 | |
| to come to a truer knowledge of ourselves, | 27:03 | |
| knowing that we cannot have from you. | 27:07 | |
| God be merciful to us for we are sinners. | 27:10 | |
| Amen. | 27:28 | |
| Remember those assuring words from the first letter of John. | 27:30 | |
| "If we confess our sins, God is just, | 27:35 | |
| and may be trusted to forgive our sins | 27:40 | |
| and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. | 27:44 | |
| Rejoice, dear people of God, | 27:49 | |
| and accept this love and forgiveness | 27:52 | |
| and become a part of the new creation." | 27:56 | |
| Amen and amen. | 27:59 | |
| (gentle solemn music) | 28:12 | |
| ("Oh Taste and See How Gracious the Lord Is") | 28:23 | |
| - | The Psalm is tested-clad | 30:33 |
| that it becometh welleth just to be thankful. | 30:35 | |
| We take this occasion each year to be especially grateful | 30:40 | |
| for the generosity of the Duke Family to this university. | 30:45 | |
| For close to a century now, | 30:50 | |
| our institutional life has been nourished | 30:52 | |
| by the Duke family's concern for us. | 30:54 | |
| In 1890, | 30:58 | |
| Washington Duke help bring Trinity College to Durham. | 30:59 | |
| And then the succeeding years, his family, | 31:03 | |
| and particularly his sons; Benjamin Newton duke, | 31:06 | |
| and then James Buchanan Duke, stood by us constantly | 31:10 | |
| and enabled us to grow towards excellence. | 31:15 | |
| They have been this institution's prime enablers. | 31:18 | |
| Plain people who grew up as farmers, | 31:23 | |
| the family was deeply rooted | 31:26 | |
| in the good earth of Piedmont, North Carolina. | 31:28 | |
| Scantily educated themselves, | 31:32 | |
| they nevertheless possessed the breadth of vision | 31:34 | |
| to want educational opportunities for others. | 31:37 | |
| They love the Methodist Church and they took its teachings, | 31:41 | |
| its institutions and its agents to their hearts. | 31:46 | |
| We and countless others have been the beneficiaries | 31:51 | |
| of that Methodist-inspired pattern of giving. | 31:54 | |
| Tar heels and southerners, | 31:59 | |
| the Dukes were all so broadly national in their thinking. | 32:02 | |
| They consistently befriended their black neighbors | 32:06 | |
| and their institutions long before our federal laws | 32:10 | |
| had accepted practice required equal opportunity. | 32:15 | |
| We gratefully remember and honor this family | 32:20 | |
| that still stands by Duke University | 32:23 | |
| for it becometh welth just to be thankful. | 32:26 | |
| - | Let us continue our Thanksgiving | 32:36 |
| and rejoicing for these who founded this university | 32:38 | |
| in our Litany of Commemoration. | 32:43 | |
| Almighty and eternal God, in whom our parents trusted, | 32:47 | |
| we, their children, on this day of remembrance, | 32:53 | |
| offer onto you our Litany of Commemoration. | 32:57 | |
| (Congregation speaking off mic) | 33:02 | |
| For the Duke family, father, daughter, sons and their wives, | 33:06 | |
| grandchildren and continuing generations, | 33:11 | |
| who with wonder and surprise, | 33:15 | |
| by (indistinct) and tenacity, laid a good foundation, | 33:18 | |
| built a worthy school and provided for exciting growth | 33:23 | |
| beyond their kin in years unseen. | 33:29 | |
| Congregation | We give you thanks and praise. | 33:33 |
| - | For the men and women of this state, | 33:38 |
| Methodists and Quakers, farmers and merchants, | 33:41 | |
| teachers and administrators who believed in education | 33:46 | |
| and made their belief prevail. | 33:51 | |
| Congregation | We give You thanks and praise. | 33:55 |
| - | For the embodiment of their dreams, | 33:58 |
| private school, academy, college, university, | 34:00 | |
| founded in hope, continued with perseverance, | 34:05 | |
| growing an outreach, established and assurance. | 34:10 | |
| Congregation | We give You thanks and praise. | 34:15 |
| - | For educators whose vision was matched by that courage, | 34:18 |
| whose patience was tempered by their indignation, | 34:23 | |
| whose idealism was moderated by their awareness of sin. | 34:27 | |
| Congregation | We give You thanks and praise. | 34:33 |
| - | For the continuance of good ideas, | 34:36 |
| the union of truth and reverence, | 34:39 | |
| the freedom of responsible, academic thought | 34:43 | |
| and the right of public concern, | 34:46 | |
| the joint care of the body and the spirit, | 34:50 | |
| the linking of science and humanities, | 34:53 | |
| the realization that the old order changes. | 34:57 | |
| Congregation | We give You thanks and praise. | 35:01 |
| - | For the future of our university established to your glory | 35:04 |
| and for the relief of the human condition, | 35:10 | |
| for the consecration of the discontent of the young, | 35:14 | |
| for wisdom and the conservatism of the middle-aged, | 35:18 | |
| for resiliency and the abstinence of the old, | 35:22 | |
| for understanding, cooperation | 35:26 | |
| and a sense of humor within our community. | 35:29 | |
| Congregation | We give You thanks and praise. | 35:33 |
| - | And to you, we shall ascribe, as is most due, | 35:36 |
| all praise and glory, world without end. | 35:40 | |
| Congregation | Amen. | 35:45 |
| - | From the 120 second Psalm, | 35:57 |
| "I was glad when they said to me, | 36:00 | |
| 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.' | 36:02 | |
| Our feet have been standing within your gates oh, Jerusalem, | 36:06 | |
| Jerusalem built as a city which is bound firmly together | 36:10 | |
| to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, | 36:15 | |
| as was decreed for Israel, | 36:18 | |
| to give thanks to the name of the Lord. | 36:20 | |
| Their thrones for judgment were set, | 36:24 | |
| the thrones of the house of David. | 36:26 | |
| Pray for the peace of Jerusalem | 36:29 | |
| may they prosper who love you. | 36:31 | |
| Peace be within your walls and security within your towers | 36:34 | |
| for my brethren and companion's sake, I will say, | 36:38 | |
| 'Peace be within you.' | 36:41 | |
| For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God, | 36:44 | |
| I will seek your good." | 36:47 | |
| And now, as we read from St. John, | 36:49 | |
| let the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel. | 36:52 | |
| "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God | 37:00 | |
| and the word was God. | 37:03 | |
| He was in the beginning with God, | 37:05 | |
| all things were made through him | 37:08 | |
| and without him was not anything made that was made. | 37:10 | |
| In him was life and the life was the light of man. | 37:14 | |
| The light shines in the darkness | 37:18 | |
| and the darkness has not overcome it. | 37:20 | |
| There was a man sent from God whose name was John. | 37:23 | |
| He came for a testimony, to bear witness to the light, | 37:27 | |
| that all who might believe through him, | 37:32 | |
| he was not the light | 37:35 | |
| but he came to bear witness to the light. | 37:37 | |
| The true light that enlightens every man | 37:40 | |
| was coming into the world. | 37:43 | |
| He was in the world and the world was made through him. | 37:45 | |
| Get the world, knew him not. | 37:49 | |
| He came to his own home and his own people received him not. | 37:51 | |
| But to all who received him, who believed in his name, | 37:56 | |
| he gave the power to become children of God | 38:01 | |
| who were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, | 38:04 | |
| nor the will of man but of God. | 38:09 | |
| And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, | 38:12 | |
| full of grace and truth, we have beheld his glory, | 38:15 | |
| glory as the only son from the father. | 38:20 | |
| Here ends the reading of the lesson for the day. | 38:24 | |
| (gentle piano music) | 38:28 | |
| ♪ Glory be to the Father ♪ | 38:38 | |
| ♪ And to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ♪ | 38:42 | |
| ♪ As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be ♪ | 38:51 | |
| ♪ World without end ♪ | 39:00 | |
| ♪ Amen amen ♪ | 39:04 | |
| - | Let us affirm what we believe. | 39:14 |
| Congregation | We believe in God | 39:17 |
| who has created and is creating, | 39:20 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 39:23 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 39:27 | |
| who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 39:30 | |
| We trust God who calls us to be the church, | 39:34 | |
| to celebrate and its fullness, to love and serve others, | 39:39 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 39:45 | |
| to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 39:49 | |
| our judge and our hope | 39:53 | |
| and life and death and life beyond death, | 39:56 | |
| God is with us, we are not alone. | 40:01 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 40:05 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 40:08 |
| - | And in your spirit. | |
| - | Let us pray. | 40:11 |
| We give you thanks oh God | 40:22 | |
| for the beauty and majesty of this building, | 40:25 | |
| for the glory of the music | 40:30 | |
| and the dedication of the people who serve you. | 40:33 | |
| We are grateful and thankful that this is a place, | 40:37 | |
| a holy place, where we meet you again and again. | 40:43 | |
| And because we meet you in this place, all of our meetings | 40:48 | |
| and all of our places can become holy places. | 40:54 | |
| Oh God, we give you thanks | 41:00 | |
| for those whose visions and dreams, | 41:02 | |
| knowledge and work made possible this magnificent organ, | 41:06 | |
| which will help us glorify and magnify your name. | 41:11 | |
| And also we give you thanks for those countless people | 41:18 | |
| whose work often unseen and unnamed, | 41:24 | |
| is essential to our study and work and worship. | 41:28 | |
| Those hosts of people who plan and organize and type, | 41:33 | |
| who cook and clean and serve, | 41:38 | |
| who sweep and mop and move chairs. | 41:42 | |
| We are grateful that this university and this chapel | 41:47 | |
| not only celebrates importance and value | 41:51 | |
| of those to whom the public gives praise and acclaim, | 41:54 | |
| but that also those who serve | 41:59 | |
| in quiet dignity and anonymity. | 42:02 | |
| Hear us now, oh God, our prayers of intercession. | 42:07 | |
| For those with power who control | 42:13 | |
| and affect the lives of others, | 42:16 | |
| we pray that that egos and that exalted positions | 42:20 | |
| will not blind them to the needs and the concerns | 42:25 | |
| of all those who have no such power or prestige. | 42:28 | |
| For those people who are sick in mind and body, | 42:35 | |
| those who are in continuous pain and suffering, | 42:40 | |
| those who are near death, | 42:45 | |
| comfort and sustain these your people oh God, | 42:47 | |
| and send your spirit to guide | 42:50 | |
| and uphold all who minister to their needs. | 42:53 | |
| For those people who are cold in body or cold in spirit, | 42:59 | |
| those who are hungry | 43:05 | |
| and those who hunger after righteousness, | 43:07 | |
| made this advent season be a time | 43:11 | |
| for the beginning of a new life for them. | 43:14 | |
| And now God, we pray for all people | 43:19 | |
| who are separated from their families, from those they love, | 43:22 | |
| by distance, by anger, by hatred, by misunderstanding, | 43:27 | |
| by death, by illness, | 43:32 | |
| send your healing spirit so that none will be cut off | 43:35 | |
| because of pride or vengeance or lack of forgiveness. | 43:40 | |
| And we pray for those teachers | 43:46 | |
| and students who are nearing the end of the semester, | 43:49 | |
| that the pressure of work, of grading and being graded | 43:52 | |
| may not become destructive and dehumanizing, | 43:56 | |
| and that all which is done maybe used to serve | 44:00 | |
| some part of your creation. | 44:04 | |
| And hear us now as we pray for ourselves oh God, | 44:08 | |
| teach us each day to ask what you would have us do, | 44:12 | |
| help to perform our task with diligence and humility. | 44:17 | |
| And we commit our lives to these concerns | 44:23 | |
| which we have lifted to you in our prayers. | 44:27 | |
| That you may use us as healing instruments | 44:32 | |
| of your love and service. | 44:34 | |
| And all this we pray | 44:38 | |
| in the spirit of Jesus who taught us to pray. | 44:40 | |
| Congregation | Our Father who art in heaven, | 44:44 |
| hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 44:47 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 44:52 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 44:57 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 45:00 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 45:03 | |
| Lead us not to temptation but deliver us from evil. | 45:07 | |
| For thy is the kingdom, the power and the glory, | 45:12 | |
| forever and ever, amen. | 45:17 | |
| - | Persons who worship in this Duke Chapel | 45:22 |
| have been most generous in their response to community needs | 45:25 | |
| especially the Edge Mark Christmas House. | 45:30 | |
| You will find information about this project | 45:33 | |
| in your bulletin. | 45:36 | |
| All of the offering from today's service | 45:38 | |
| will go to a special fund | 45:42 | |
| to help provide heat for some members in this community | 45:45 | |
| who otherwise would have a cold winter. | 45:49 | |
| This is a community project | 45:53 | |
| supported by several of the local churches. | 45:54 | |
| You are invited to the Christmas service here | 45:59 | |
| at five o'clock Tuesday, | 46:02 | |
| a time to sing your favorite Christmas music, | 46:04 | |
| to hear Heather Elkins, Stewart Henry and Reynolds Price | 46:07 | |
| read from their favorite Christmas stories. | 46:12 | |
| Many of you here are already friends of the Duke Chapel, | 46:16 | |
| a group which is becoming more and more important | 46:21 | |
| in the life of this chapel. | 46:24 | |
| You will find information about this program | 46:27 | |
| in your bulletin, and we invite you to respond. | 46:31 | |
| It's always a special joy to worship here on Sunday | 46:36 | |
| because of the majesty of the building, | 46:41 | |
| the beauty of the music, the power of the preaching, | 46:43 | |
| and to worship with such a great host of people, | 46:48 | |
| many who worship with us regularly, | 46:52 | |
| others who have visitors in the community. | 46:54 | |
| This is a special time and a special place for worship. | 46:58 | |
| And today we want to welcome those of you | 47:03 | |
| who've come from many different places | 47:06 | |
| for this Founder's Day and for this important time | 47:09 | |
| in the life of the University and the Chapel, | 47:12 | |
| the dedication of the Flentrop organ, | 47:15 | |
| a truly glorious time. | 47:19 | |
| And we are glad that you have joined us | 47:21 | |
| for our regular morning worship. | 47:24 | |
| Welcome and may God bless you. | 47:28 | |
| - | In the name of God who creates, redeems and sustains us. | 47:42 |
| Have you ever stopped to think | 47:51 | |
| about how many people come to Duke Chapel? | 47:52 | |
| Who they are and why they come? | 47:58 | |
| For they come in ones, in twos, in families. | 48:03 | |
| They come as couples dating, couples planning to be married, | 48:06 | |
| couples already married, elderly couples. | 48:09 | |
| They come in groups, very young, | 48:13 | |
| kindergartners, elementary age, high school groups, | 48:16 | |
| choruses, choirs, bands, teams, classes. | 48:20 | |
| They come as tour groups, college choirs, | 48:24 | |
| and glee clubs and drama groups. | 48:28 | |
| College students by the carload are the bus-full, | 48:31 | |
| elderly persons in groups of all sizes and all kinds. | 48:35 | |
| Groups from prisons, from homes for the handicap, | 48:40 | |
| the mentally ill, special education classes, | 48:45 | |
| emotionally disturbed, children's homes, | 48:49 | |
| homes for the aging. | 48:53 | |
| Groups of businessman and business women, | 48:55 | |
| government officials, foreign dignitaries, | 48:58 | |
| corporate executives that come from on-campus, | 49:01 | |
| out of the offices, the classrooms, the labs, | 49:05 | |
| the dining halls, the union building, the library, | 49:08 | |
| Allen Building, the hospital, the operating rooms, | 49:11 | |
| the waiting rooms, the intensive care units. | 49:15 | |
| They come from board meetings and committee meetings, | 49:19 | |
| they come before bowl games and after bowl games, | 49:22 | |
| they come before exams and during exams and after exams. | 49:26 | |
| They come on Monday morning, Tuesday night, | 49:30 | |
| Wednesday evening, Thursday noon, Friday afternoon, | 49:33 | |
| Saturday at 10 and Sunday at 11. | 49:37 | |
| They come from all races and all nations, | 49:41 | |
| men and women, boys and girls, | 49:43 | |
| rich and poor well-dressed and barely dressed. | 49:45 | |
| Mink stoles and sack cloth. | 49:49 | |
| They come in boots and blue jeans and blazers and barefoot. | 49:52 | |
| They come long hair, short hair and no hair. | 49:58 | |
| They come Christian, non-Christian, agnostic, atheist, | 50:02 | |
| other faith and no faith. | 50:06 | |
| I know they all come. | 50:09 | |
| I have been here now three and a half years | 50:12 | |
| and I've been in this place | 50:14 | |
| at almost every possible time of day or night, | 50:15 | |
| and for almost all of our programs and services, | 50:18 | |
| and I've seen them come. | 50:22 | |
| Often and I've asked myself, why do they come? | 50:24 | |
| Why to this place and this time on this day | 50:28 | |
| and in this occasion? | 50:32 | |
| Why do they all come to Duke Chapel? | 50:33 | |
| Duke Chapel described by Aldous Huxley as, | 50:37 | |
| "The most successful essay in neo-Gothic that I know." | 50:41 | |
| A really splendid piece of architecture, | 50:45 | |
| Duke Chapel designed by the late Horace Trumbauer, | 50:48 | |
| designed as the first and built as the last | 50:52 | |
| of the original West Campus buildings. | 50:55 | |
| First used in 1932 at Commencement, dedicated in 1935. | 50:57 | |
| This building, would you believe it now my friends | 51:02 | |
| costs only $2, 201,000. | 51:05 | |
| Estimates indicate that it would cost | 51:10 | |
| from 20 to $50 million to build it today, | 51:12 | |
| that is if it could be built again as it is now. | 51:16 | |
| Duke Chapel, 291-feet long, 63-feet wide, | 51:20 | |
| with the transepts or the arms of the cross, | 51:25 | |
| 121-feet across, it is 210-feet high, | 51:28 | |
| and the seating capacity is 1, 850 | 51:35 | |
| or on many Sundays and for many special programs, | 51:38 | |
| that seating capacity is not nearly enough. | 51:41 | |
| But I'm not suggesting this morning to the Board of Trustees | 51:44 | |
| or anyone else that we build a bigger new chapel | 51:46 | |
| or start a building fund drive to enlarge this one. | 51:50 | |
| Why do they all come? | 51:53 | |
| More than one and a half million persons | 51:58 | |
| have signed the guest register in this chapel | 52:00 | |
| since it's doors were open. | 52:03 | |
| We estimate that now over 200,000 persons | 52:04 | |
| frequent this place every year. | 52:08 | |
| This place my friends, | 52:09 | |
| for those of you who do not worship here regularly, | 52:11 | |
| is virtually fill and often running over | 52:13 | |
| every Sunday of the academic year, | 52:17 | |
| when an average of some 1500 of us | 52:19 | |
| gather in here to worship. | 52:22 | |
| The choir, under Ben Smith's leadership, | 52:23 | |
| now has 220 persons in it, | 52:26 | |
| the largest student group on campus. | 52:29 | |
| Standing-room only crowds for three Messiah performances, | 52:32 | |
| standing-room only for, | 52:36 | |
| I'm sure the three inaugural recitals on the new organ, | 52:38 | |
| and over 1000 students gathered in here last Monday evening | 52:41 | |
| for not a Saturday night, but a Monday night sneak preview | 52:45 | |
| of the playing of the Flentrop organ. | 52:49 | |
| For 11 services here | 52:52 | |
| in a period of three weeks in this month, | 52:53 | |
| there will be almost 19,000 persons present | 52:56 | |
| and worshiping God and sharing in this place. | 52:59 | |
| Those who come for worship | 53:04 | |
| and for special programs are only a part, | 53:07 | |
| there is a steady stream of persons in and out of the chapel | 53:12 | |
| in constant use of this chapel for prayer and meditation | 53:17 | |
| from eight o'clock in the morning until 11 o'clock at night. | 53:20 | |
| People do come to place. | 53:23 | |
| Why do they all come? | 53:26 | |
| Why do you come? | 53:29 | |
| Why do I come? | 53:31 | |
| Why do we come? | 53:32 | |
| I've asked that question many times, | 53:35 | |
| and I want to suggest three reasons this morning. | 53:37 | |
| First they come because of the grandeur of the building | 53:39 | |
| and all of the magnificence attached to it. | 53:43 | |
| Where can you find a view any more inspiring or impressive | 53:47 | |
| than the view you get as you round the circle | 53:51 | |
| and head down the long drive toward the chapel? | 53:54 | |
| In the brilliant sunshine, | 53:58 | |
| with the sky blue background around it, | 54:00 | |
| in the spring when dogwoods nestle around it | 54:03 | |
| and enfolded in the winter | 54:06 | |
| when the snow occasionally covers it. | 54:07 | |
| In the dark gray, dismal days, like today, | 54:11 | |
| in the Moonlight, when it glistens in the golden beams. | 54:15 | |
| Day or night, hot or cold, any season, | 54:20 | |
| this building with all its awesomeness | 54:23 | |
| and architectural Gothic splendor, | 54:25 | |
| is attractive and most impressive. | 54:28 | |
| People come from all over the world just to see the building | 54:32 | |
| or hear the organs or look at the windows | 54:34 | |
| or view the woodcarvings. | 54:37 | |
| You see, this buildings with its carvings and its windows | 54:38 | |
| and its organs and its sculpture, is symbolic. | 54:42 | |
| And we all need some symbols. | 54:47 | |
| Symbols to strengthen us and renew us and sustain us. | 54:51 | |
| In spite of what this building costs, | 54:55 | |
| what it would cost to replace it, | 54:57 | |
| in spite of its architectural dignity | 54:59 | |
| and height and depth and shape, | 55:01 | |
| in spite of the coldness of the stone | 55:03 | |
| and the length of the center aisle, | 55:05 | |
| we can never, never, never place a real value | 55:07 | |
| on the message conveyed by the building in and of itself. | 55:11 | |
| The stone and art here speak to our need | 55:17 | |
| for reverence and humility | 55:19 | |
| in the face of that which is numinous and mysterious. | 55:21 | |
| They tell of our questing minds and spirits ever seeking | 55:25 | |
| yet never quite finding the ultimate truth. | 55:29 | |
| That tale of our basic need to have some places | 55:34 | |
| and some moments in life set apart as hallowed and sacred. | 55:38 | |
| This building invites the frustrated | 55:47 | |
| and fear-filled student to come and sit and pray | 55:49 | |
| and meditate and be touched by God's spirit. | 55:54 | |
| It beckons the anxious and worried and hopeful mother | 55:58 | |
| or father or husband or wife | 56:02 | |
| of someone lying in the hospital for healing by our doctors | 56:04 | |
| and by God's spirit to come and be still and be reassured | 56:08 | |
| and find strength to walk out those doors again | 56:14 | |
| and go back to the hospital room to face life or death. | 56:17 | |
| The chapel calls to the faculty member to come in | 56:25 | |
| and think soberly of the expectations | 56:28 | |
| and responsibilities he or she must face, | 56:32 | |
| to see more clearly the unique opportunities | 56:35 | |
| for influencing and shaping young lives that are ours here. | 56:38 | |
| They come for solace and for strength, | 56:45 | |
| they come for hope and for assurance, | 56:48 | |
| they come restless and frightened and lonely and sad, | 56:51 | |
| they come weary and weighted and wounded and worried, | 56:55 | |
| they come with joy and Thanksgiving and gratitude, | 56:59 | |
| they come to pray to listen, to rejoice, to celebrate, | 57:02 | |
| they come in silence, wait in silence and go in silence, | 57:05 | |
| they come curious and questioning and seeking. | 57:10 | |
| They come my friends because not only is this Duke Chapel, | 57:13 | |
| but this is the house of God. | 57:17 | |
| This is the building on this campus and on this earth | 57:21 | |
| that was dedicated on June second, 1935, | 57:26 | |
| to the worship listen of God, Almighty, | 57:30 | |
| the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ | 57:34 | |
| of whom every family in earth and in heaven is named. | 57:36 | |
| The building itself is a symbol of grace and forgiveness, | 57:41 | |
| a promise of new life and hope for the future. | 57:46 | |
| It's spires stands tall and its doors open wide. | 57:49 | |
| They come in the second place | 57:57 | |
| because of the services conducted in this chapel. | 57:58 | |
| The worship services every Sunday morning here | 58:02 | |
| involve anywhere from four or 500 to over 2000. | 58:05 | |
| And I remember summer before last, | 58:08 | |
| I guess it was when Peter Golmes, | 58:10 | |
| the Minister to the University at Harvard University, | 58:12 | |
| was to preach here in, I guess the last Sunday in June, | 58:14 | |
| no it's first Sunday in July, | 58:18 | |
| and I was somewhat apologetically saying to him, | 58:19 | |
| I say, "Peter Net, | 58:22 | |
| we won't have quite as many people in the chapel tomorrow | 58:24 | |
| because this is the summer and it's an off Sunday." | 58:27 | |
| I said, "We'll probably will only have | 58:30 | |
| maybe six or 700 people." | 58:31 | |
| And his mouth dropped open, he said, "You, what?" | 58:34 | |
| I said, "Well, you know," | 58:37 | |
| and I really didn't want to brag too much. | 58:39 | |
| But from anywhere from five or 600 people | 58:43 | |
| to over 2000 persons gathered here every Sunday morning | 58:46 | |
| to worship Almighty God in word, in prayer, in scripture, | 58:50 | |
| song, hymn, anthem, organ music, sacrament, offering, | 58:55 | |
| dedication, renewal, recommitment, | 58:59 | |
| and in community with others who are seeking to know God | 59:02 | |
| and love God and serve God. | 59:05 | |
| The choral music here attracts thousands of people | 59:07 | |
| to this place every year. | 59:11 | |
| Every Sunday, during the academic year, | 59:12 | |
| the choir offers to God | 59:14 | |
| and shares with us two magnificent anthems. | 59:16 | |
| And the variety of anthems is great from "Amazing Grace" | 59:19 | |
| and Jesus walked this long, some valet to Psalm 100 | 59:22 | |
| and Sanctus. | 59:26 | |
| How often do all of us leave this place | 59:27 | |
| moved and touched memorably | 59:30 | |
| by the triumphant and sounds of this choir | 59:32 | |
| of unmatched distinction and ability? | 59:34 | |
| And folks come here Sunday after Sunday, | 59:37 | |
| just to hear the choral music. | 59:40 | |
| They come to hear all of the performances of Messiah, | 59:42 | |
| the B Minor Mass or Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony", | 59:44 | |
| done with the North Carolina Symphony. | 59:47 | |
| Music inspires and draws us here. | 59:50 | |
| And we know we have been in the presence of God. | 59:53 | |
| The organ music appeals to thousands of persons here | 1:00:00 | |
| every year. | 1:00:03 | |
| The organ concerts by master organists | 1:00:05 | |
| from around the world with international reputations, | 1:00:08 | |
| are thrilling to experience, | 1:00:11 | |
| and the organ preludes and postlude and hymn accompanate | 1:00:13 | |
| from our own accomplished and gifted organists, | 1:00:16 | |
| add beauty and movement to our worship. | 1:00:19 | |
| Often hundreds remain | 1:00:23 | |
| after the Benediction has been pronounced, | 1:00:25 | |
| to hear the postlude and to give a rousing applause | 1:00:27 | |
| to the music that is performed on the organ. | 1:00:30 | |
| And now the new Flentrop organ | 1:00:34 | |
| with the distinctive, inimitable musical splendor | 1:00:36 | |
| that it provides, will continue to enrich and inspire. | 1:00:40 | |
| No one knows really how many people come here | 1:00:44 | |
| because of the music | 1:00:48 | |
| for this is one unique and very personal way | 1:00:51 | |
| which God has of revealing his grace to young and old, | 1:00:55 | |
| to meet our every need or hope or dream or aspiration. | 1:01:01 | |
| When words fail in this place, | 1:01:06 | |
| and they often do, | 1:01:11 | |
| music continues to proclaim the good | 1:01:14 | |
| and glad news of God's amazing grace and matchless love. | 1:01:17 | |
| Many come here also | 1:01:25 | |
| because of the variety of preachers we have. | 1:01:26 | |
| We try to plan the preaching schedule | 1:01:30 | |
| to represent a wide range of theological | 1:01:32 | |
| and biblical and social perspectives, | 1:01:35 | |
| from the very conservative and evangelical | 1:01:37 | |
| like David Hubbard, | 1:01:40 | |
| President of Fuller Theological Seminary, | 1:01:41 | |
| and Billy Graham and Tom Skinner, | 1:01:44 | |
| to liberal persons like Bill Coffin | 1:01:46 | |
| and James Cohen and Phillip Potter. | 1:01:48 | |
| In addition, many outstanding and competent Duke persons | 1:01:51 | |
| graced this pulpit with their insight and their inspiration. | 1:01:55 | |
| And so my friends, I tell you my belief that they all come | 1:02:00 | |
| because of the building itself. | 1:02:04 | |
| They come because of the services | 1:02:07 | |
| and the programs and the music, the message they tell. | 1:02:09 | |
| But there is another reason yet to be told. | 1:02:12 | |
| We heard it as President Sanford | 1:02:17 | |
| read the gospel lesson for us. | 1:02:18 | |
| "In the beginning was the word | 1:02:20 | |
| and the word was with God and the word was God. | 1:02:23 | |
| In him was life, and the life was the light of all persons. | 1:02:26 | |
| That's light shines in the darkness. | 1:02:30 | |
| So the word of God became a person | 1:02:32 | |
| and took up his abode in our being, | 1:02:35 | |
| full of grace and full of truth, | 1:02:38 | |
| and we looked with our own eyes upon his glory | 1:02:40 | |
| and from him, we have received grace upon grace | 1:02:43 | |
| for grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." | 1:02:47 | |
| That my friends I believe is why they all come, | 1:02:50 | |
| because the word that is God's love, God's self, | 1:02:57 | |
| God's very being, God's person, God's oneness, | 1:03:02 | |
| God as God really is became one of us. | 1:03:06 | |
| We come to this place, thousands upon thousands, | 1:03:11 | |
| one by one, two by two, group by group, | 1:03:15 | |
| because God in Christ has come to us. | 1:03:17 | |
| We come to God because he has first come to us. | 1:03:22 | |
| We gather together because God brings us together. | 1:03:25 | |
| We come along because God loves us | 1:03:28 | |
| as if each one of us were an only-child. | 1:03:31 | |
| You are, I am, all belong to God, | 1:03:35 | |
| but each belongs to God also. | 1:03:38 | |
| We come into company of others | 1:03:42 | |
| because it is good to hear God's word. | 1:03:44 | |
| "I was glad when they said unto me, | 1:03:46 | |
| 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" | 1:03:48 | |
| And so the word became a person and thereby offered new life | 1:03:53 | |
| and hope and joy and abundant life and salvation | 1:03:56 | |
| and a deeper life and eternal life to you and to me, | 1:03:59 | |
| and you say, "In this place, in Duke Chapel? | 1:04:02 | |
| Bob, are you serious?" | 1:04:07 | |
| And I say, "Surely, and you'd better believe it." | 1:04:10 | |
| For if that is not why we are here, | 1:04:14 | |
| if that is not what our souls seek and may find, | 1:04:17 | |
| if that is not what is offered here, | 1:04:20 | |
| if that is not what we may find here, know here, share here, | 1:04:23 | |
| renew here, carry from here and offer to a hungry, | 1:04:27 | |
| hurting, starving, broken, and needy world, | 1:04:31 | |
| then we'd better pack it up my friends. | 1:04:34 | |
| We better close the doors and sell the organ pipes | 1:04:36 | |
| and auction off the pews and give every alumnus and alumni, | 1:04:40 | |
| a piece of the stained glass windows and seal this place off | 1:04:43 | |
| for real tragedy will have befallen on us. | 1:04:47 | |
| Tragedy, not like we ordinarily think of it, | 1:04:51 | |
| but tragedy like I heard of the other day, | 1:04:54 | |
| "For tragedy is not what we suffer," someone said, | 1:04:56 | |
| "Tragedy is what we miss." | 1:04:59 | |
| And if in the midst of all of the glory | 1:05:02 | |
| of this building and music and service, | 1:05:05 | |
| we miss the real message | 1:05:08 | |
| that God loves us with an everlasting love, | 1:05:09 | |
| that God has come in Christ Jesus to redeem us | 1:05:13 | |
| and make us whole, that God in Christ has come to save us | 1:05:16 | |
| and all of our sisters and brothers around the world, | 1:05:20 | |
| then are coming here, will have all been in vain. | 1:05:23 | |
| They all come to this place because the word became flesh | 1:05:29 | |
| and lives among us. | 1:05:34 | |
| Full of grace and full of truth, | 1:05:36 | |
| we come with belief and unbelief like the graffiti | 1:05:39 | |
| that was written on a concentration camp wall. | 1:05:42 | |
| "I believe in the sun even when it is not shining, | 1:05:45 | |
| I believe in love even when I feel it not, | 1:05:48 | |
| I believe in God even when God is silent." | 1:05:50 | |
| So we come and believe and in unbelief. | 1:05:54 | |
| Like the words sung in Bernstein's "Mass", | 1:05:58 | |
| which speak for all of us at one time or another, | 1:06:01 | |
| "I don't know why I should live if only to die." | 1:06:03 | |
| Well, I'm not gonna buy it. | 1:06:09 | |
| I'll never say credo. | 1:06:11 | |
| How can anybody say credo? | ||
| I want to say credo. | 1:06:19 | |
| We come, they all come because they want, | 1:06:25 | |
| we want to say "Credo". | 1:06:29 | |
| I believe because of the stark and startling reality | 1:06:33 | |
| that here God is in flesh, in Jesus. | 1:06:38 | |
| When God wanted to come to us fully, | 1:06:42 | |
| it was not by sending a new set of commandments. | 1:06:44 | |
| It was not by way of a letter or a phone call or telegram | 1:06:46 | |
| or even the new Mailgram, | 1:06:49 | |
| but it was by way of the word made flesh | 1:06:53 | |
| in human form, in a body. | 1:06:55 | |
| Flesh and blood and spirit and personality, | 1:06:58 | |
| longing, crying, telling jokes, working, sweating, hoping, | 1:07:01 | |
| eating, drinking, living life to its fullest and its finest, | 1:07:05 | |
| dying and being raised to new life. | 1:07:09 | |
| That is why they all come | 1:07:15 | |
| because God has come in Christ. | 1:07:22 | |
| I close with an incident | 1:07:27 | |
| from Alice Phillip's little book, "Spire and Spirit", | 1:07:28 | |
| which tells of many of the experiences of many people | 1:07:33 | |
| who have frequented this place. | 1:07:38 | |
| She tells of a class of special children | 1:07:42 | |
| who came from a nearby state institution. | 1:07:46 | |
| They came here to worship | 1:07:53 | |
| and to lead others of us in worship. | 1:07:55 | |
| Listen to their statement of faith, | 1:07:59 | |
| the credo of these special children of God. | 1:08:04 | |
| "I believe that I belong to the family of God. | 1:08:11 | |
| I believe in God, my father, the one I can trust, | 1:08:16 | |
| even when he is hard for my mind to understand. | 1:08:22 | |
| I believe in Jesus, my brother, | 1:08:28 | |
| in whose life I see the goodness of God. | 1:08:30 | |
| I believe in myself with the spirit of gladness alive in me. | 1:08:34 | |
| I believe in this unfinished world | 1:08:41 | |
| where both the joy and the hurts are real. | 1:08:43 | |
| By faith, I try to look out of myself | 1:08:48 | |
| to see this world as best I can. | 1:08:51 | |
| By faith, I try to move myself | 1:08:54 | |
| to live in this world as best I can. | 1:08:56 | |
| By faith, I try to give myself | 1:08:59 | |
| to help in this world as best I can. | 1:09:02 | |
| By faith, I try to share myself, | 1:09:06 | |
| to stand by others as best I can. | 1:09:10 | |
| And when my life is nearly done, I will look back to see | 1:09:15 | |
| that whenever I walked by faith in God, my father, | 1:09:23 | |
| in Jesus, my brother, | 1:09:28 | |
| and in the spirit of gladness within me, | 1:09:31 | |
| I will say it has been good, | 1:09:34 | |
| it has been very good. | 1:09:39 | |
| Amen. | 1:09:44 | |
| And they closed their service | 1:09:46 | |
| with a prayer which included these words, | 1:09:48 | |
| "You have made us oh God, how glad we are that you did? | 1:09:54 | |
| We have come to church today to say thank you | 1:10:03 | |
| that we are important enough | 1:10:10 | |
| to be a part of what you want in your world. | 1:10:13 | |
| This is a good time to rejoice that we are alive. | 1:10:19 | |
| Today is a special day to be glad. | 1:10:26 | |
| I am grateful to God | 1:10:36 | |
| that Mr. Duke wanted the central building on this campus | 1:10:41 | |
| to be a great towering church. | 1:10:50 | |
| In the name of God, creator, Redeemer and sustainer. | 1:10:57 | |
| Amen. | 1:11:06 | |
| (calm piano music) | 1:11:13 | |
| (lively music) | 1:11:53 | |
| (singing in Italian) | 1:14:58 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:19:43 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:19:52 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:20:01 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:20:04 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:20:06 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:20:11 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪ | 1:20:16 | |
| (lively piano music) | 1:21:04 | |
| - | Oh, holy God, | 1:22:23 |
| receive our offerings which we present to you, | 1:22:25 | |
| and with them, our selves, our souls and bodies, | 1:22:30 | |
| so that we may become a part of your new creation. | 1:22:36 | |
| We pray in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 1:22:43 | |
| (lively music) | 1:22:58 | |
| The love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ | 1:27:13 | |
| and the fellowship of the holy spirit | 1:27:18 | |
| be with you this day and forever more. | 1:27:21 | |
| ♪ Amen amen amen ♪ | 1:27:28 | |
| ♪ Amen amen amen ♪ | 1:27:36 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:27:39 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:27:41 | |
| (calm piano music) | 1:27:53 |
