Robert T. Young - "And Now Look What Has Happened" (December 26, 1976)
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| - | Sunday service December 26th, 1976, 11 o'clock. | 0:03 |
| (Hymn is sung) | 0:28 | |
| (Oh Come All Ye Faithful plays on organ) | 2:04 | |
| - | Pastor] It is the God who said, | 5:54 |
| let light shine out of darkness, | 5:56 | |
| who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the | 5:59 | |
| knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. | 6:02 | |
| Therefore, let us confess our sins. | 6:08 | |
| Let us pray. | 6:14 | |
| In the presence of the celebration of the birth of Jesus. | 6:17 | |
| Our hearts are moved to awe and gratitude, | 6:22 | |
| but also touched by a deep disquiet. | 6:26 | |
| Forgive us for so being involved in the preparation for | 6:30 | |
| Christmas, we missed the quiet benediction of your birth. | 6:34 | |
| Our intentions are good, oh God. | 6:40 | |
| But we get caught up in the business of our lives. | 6:43 | |
| We confess our sin, oh God, | 6:48 | |
| and pray that we can accept the life, and love, | 6:51 | |
| and hope, and peace, you offer to us through Jesus Christ. | 6:55 | |
| And now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, | 7:19 | |
| and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal | 7:23 | |
| comfort and good hope through grace. | 7:26 | |
| Comfort your hearts, and establish them | 7:30 | |
| in every good work and word through Jesus Christ Our Lord. | 7:34 | |
| Amen. | 7:40 | |
| Amen. | 7:41 | |
| (I Wonder As I Wander plays) | 7:44 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 7:57 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 8:04 | |
| ♪ Why Jesus our savior ♪ | 8:09 | |
| ♪ Did come for to die ♪ | 8:13 | |
| ♪ For poor on'ry people like you and like I ♪ | 8:21 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 8:31 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 8:38 | |
| ♪ When Mary birthed Jesus ♪ | 8:46 | |
| ♪ T'was in a cow's stall ♪ | 8:50 | |
| ♪ With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all ♪ | 8:54 | |
| ♪ But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall ♪ | 9:03 | |
| ♪ And the promise of ages ♪ | 9:11 | |
| ♪ It then did recall ♪ | 9:19 | |
| ♪ If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing ♪ | 9:27 | |
| ♪ A star in the sky or a bird on the wing ♪ | 9:35 | |
| ♪ Or all of God's angels in heaven to sing ♪ | 9:45 | |
| ♪ He surely could have it ♪ | 9:53 | |
| ♪ For he was the King ♪ | 10:01 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 10:08 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 10:13 | |
| ♪ How Jesus the savior ♪ | 10:18 | |
| ♪ Did come for to die ♪ | 10:23 | |
| ♪ For poor on'ry people like you and like I ♪ | 10:30 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 10:40 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 10:51 | |
| Pastor | From the writings of the prophet, Jeremiah. | 11:15 |
| Hear the word of the Lord, oh nations, | 11:21 | |
| and declare it in the coastlines of far off. | 11:24 | |
| Say, he who scattered Israel will gather him, | 11:28 | |
| and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. | 11:33 | |
| For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, | 11:37 | |
| and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. | 11:39 | |
| They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, | 11:45 | |
| and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord. | 11:49 | |
| Over the grain, the wine, and the oil, | 11:53 | |
| and over the young flock and the herd. | 11:57 | |
| Their lives shall be like a watered garden, | 12:01 | |
| and they shall languish no more. | 12:05 | |
| Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, | 12:09 | |
| and the young men and the old shall be married. | 12:11 | |
| I will turn their mourning into joy. | 12:16 | |
| I will comfort them and give them gladness. | 12:20 | |
| Gladness for their sorrow. | 12:24 | |
| Will you stand for the reading of the gospel. | 12:31 | |
| The gospel of Luke. The second chapter. | 12:42 | |
| Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, | 12:47 | |
| and this man was righteous, and devout. | 12:51 | |
| Looking for the consolation of Israel, | 12:54 | |
| and the Holy Spirit was upon him. | 12:56 | |
| And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, | 13:00 | |
| that he should not see death before he had | 13:03 | |
| seen the Lord's Christ. | 13:06 | |
| And inspired by the spirit, he came into the temple. | 13:09 | |
| And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, | 13:13 | |
| to do for him, according to the custom of the law, | 13:17 | |
| he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, | 13:20 | |
| Lord, now let us die servant, depart in peace, | 13:25 | |
| according to thy word. | 13:29 | |
| For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, | 13:32 | |
| which thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples. | 13:35 | |
| A light for revelation to the Gentiles, | 13:39 | |
| and for the glory of thy people, Israel. | 13:43 | |
| And his father, and his mother marveled | 13:48 | |
| at what was said about him. | 13:49 | |
| And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, | 13:52 | |
| behold, this child is set for the fall and rising | 13:58 | |
| of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken | 14:02 | |
| and the sword will pierce through your soul also, | 14:10 | |
| that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. | 14:15 | |
| May the Lord bless to our hearing and understanding, | 14:25 | |
| this holy gospel. | 14:28 | |
| (Hymn played on organ) | 14:31 | |
| Let us affirm what we believe. | 15:17 | |
| We believe in God, who has created and is creating. | 15:21 | |
| Who has come and the truly human Jesus, | 15:26 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 15:29 | |
| Who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 15:33 | |
| We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 15:37 | |
| to celebrate life in it's fullness, | 15:42 | |
| to love and serve others, | 15:45 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 15:48 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. | 15:52 | |
| Our judge and our hope in life, in death, | 15:56 | |
| in life beyond death, God is with us. | 16:01 | |
| We are not alone, thanks be to God. | 16:06 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 16:12 | |
| Congregation | And with your spirit. | 16:13 |
| Pastor | Let us pray. | 16:15 |
| Oh Holy Spirit of God. | 16:28 | |
| Thou who art, a gracious and willing guest, | 16:32 | |
| in every heart that with humble spirit will receive thee. | 16:36 | |
| Be present now within our hearts. | 16:43 | |
| Be present in this place, and guide our prayers. | 16:46 | |
| Guide our prayers of Thanksgiving. | 16:51 | |
| For all the gracious opportunities and privileges | 16:59 | |
| of this day and of this good land, | 17:03 | |
| we give thee thanks, oh Lord. | 17:06 | |
| For the rest of this holiday, | 17:12 | |
| for the special peace that comes from | 17:17 | |
| the daily round of deeds, | 17:19 | |
| we give thee thanks, oh God. | 17:22 | |
| And for thine invitation to keep the day Holy | 17:27 | |
| to thy self, oh God, we give thanks. | 17:31 | |
| For this cathedral of prayer, | 17:37 | |
| and for the ministry of public worship, we give thanks. | 17:40 | |
| For all the earthly symbols by which heavenly realities | 17:47 | |
| have today laid firmer, hold upon our souls, | 17:51 | |
| we bless thee, oh God. | 17:53 | |
| For the story, of a manger and the mother of Stardust, | 17:58 | |
| and stable straw, of shepherds, and angels, | 18:04 | |
| we give thee thanks, oh God. | 18:09 | |
| And for all the words that have been read, | 18:14 | |
| and for all the music that has uplifted us, | 18:18 | |
| we give thee thanks. | 18:21 | |
| For the good gift of family and friends, | 18:25 | |
| for the good gift of those who love us, | 18:29 | |
| and the ones who we love, we give thanks, oh God. | 18:30 | |
| And for every evidence of peace on earth, goodwill to men, | 18:35 | |
| we give thee thanks. | 18:41 | |
| Oh thou who has commanded that we love our neighbor, | 18:48 | |
| guide us, that we may pray for others. | 18:53 | |
| We pray for those who are alone today and lonely, | 19:00 | |
| grant them thy nearness. | 19:04 | |
| We pray for all who are powerless and oppressed, | 19:09 | |
| make us to labor for their freedom. | 19:15 | |
| Make us to honor justice, | 19:21 | |
| but correct the foolishness, | 19:25 | |
| and sinfulness of our ways, oh God. | 19:27 | |
| And grant thy freedom and justice to the oppressed. | 19:29 | |
| We pray for all who hunger, for those who are poor and cold. | 19:36 | |
| We pray for all who sin. | 19:45 | |
| Grant them thy forgiveness. | 19:47 | |
| We pray for those who will die today, | 19:51 | |
| take them to thy safe care. | 19:54 | |
| And if there are those for whom no prayer is said today, | 19:59 | |
| let these prayers rise to thee, oh God. | 20:04 | |
| Grant, oh heavenly Father, | 20:14 | |
| that the spiritual refreshment we have these days, enjoyed, | 20:15 | |
| may not be left behind and forgotten, as tomorrow, | 20:21 | |
| we return to the cycle of common tasks. | 20:24 | |
| Here in this Holy Christmas, | 20:28 | |
| is a fountain of inward strength. | 20:31 | |
| Here is a purifying wind that must blow through all our | 20:35 | |
| busy-ness and all our pleasures. | 20:38 | |
| Here is light to enlighten all our road. | 20:41 | |
| Therefore, oh God, | 20:46 | |
| do thou enable us so to discipline our will, | 20:49 | |
| that in the hours of stress, | 20:54 | |
| we may honestly seek after those things | 20:56 | |
| for which we have prayed in the hours of peace. | 20:58 | |
| And 'ere we leave this place. | 21:05 | |
| We commit all our dear ones to thy faithful care, | 21:08 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 21:14 | |
| who hath taught us when we pray to say, | 21:17 | |
| Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, | 21:20 | |
| thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 21:26 | |
| on earth as it is in heaven. | 21:30 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread. | 21:34 | |
| And forgive us our trespasses, | 21:37 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 21:40 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 21:44 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 21:47 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 21:49 | |
| and the power, and the glory, forever. | 21:51 | |
| Amen. | 21:55 | |
| God. | 22:25 | |
| So what? | 22:27 | |
| I get up every morning, | 22:31 | |
| I look the same. | 22:33 | |
| I wonder how I can look so old. | 22:37 | |
| Would there be a difference if I woke up with God? | 22:42 | |
| Would I be cheerful? Transfigured? | 22:46 | |
| Probably not. | 22:49 | |
| Can you tell by looking at a man if he knows God? | 22:52 | |
| Probably not. | 22:57 | |
| Does it mean anything to you? | 22:59 | |
| So what? | 23:02 | |
| Go back in time. | 23:05 | |
| Back until you are very young. | 23:07 | |
| Don't forget to say your prayers, dear. | 23:11 | |
| Remember, God is listening, | 23:14 | |
| and he always knows when you don't say your prayers. | 23:16 | |
| Sure, there are 3 billion, 20 million, | 23:20 | |
| 700 thousand people in the world, | 23:23 | |
| and God is listening to my prayers? | 23:26 | |
| When you were young, maybe God was very real to you. | 23:31 | |
| A little girl played by herself on the living room rug. | 23:34 | |
| She had a pretend friend with whom she was talking. | 23:38 | |
| The little girl's mother walked in and watched for a moment, | 23:43 | |
| dear, who are you talking to? | 23:45 | |
| Godi mom. | 23:47 | |
| Godi. | 23:48 | |
| Godi? | 23:51 | |
| Godi, mother, how could you be so stupid? | 23:52 | |
| I mean, what else is there? | 23:55 | |
| If you have faith, dear, your prayers will be answered. | 23:59 | |
| Just like in the Bible. | 24:02 | |
| Faith can move mountains. | 24:03 | |
| Then when you were a little older, | 24:06 | |
| perhaps you were like Philip | 24:08 | |
| in Somerset Maugham's, 'Of Human Bondage'. | 24:09 | |
| Phillip was very young, and very self-conscious, | 24:11 | |
| and he had a clubbed foot. | 24:14 | |
| He decided he would pray so that his foot would be healed. | 24:17 | |
| He did not want to rush God. | 24:21 | |
| So he set a date about a month in advance for his recovery. | 24:23 | |
| When the morning arrived, | 24:27 | |
| Philip did not look at his foot, | 24:28 | |
| nor would he even feel of it. | 24:31 | |
| After all he had faith, | 24:34 | |
| and God would certainly think he doubted if he, | 24:35 | |
| if he looked right away. | 24:39 | |
| But the good foot touched the clubbed foot, | 24:41 | |
| and it was still a clubbed foot. | 24:45 | |
| If you have faith, dear, your prayers will be answered. | 24:49 | |
| You wanted to believe in God very much. | 24:53 | |
| Doubt never crossed your mind. | 24:55 | |
| God listened to every one of your prayers. | 24:58 | |
| And if you had great faith like Paul, for instance, | 25:01 | |
| he would answer your prayers, | 25:04 | |
| and you could still call him Godi if you wanted to, | 25:05 | |
| but still, maybe he was not quite real to you, God. | 25:08 | |
| He was kind of thin, in a strong sort of way. | 25:12 | |
| He had a white beard, carefully combed. | 25:19 | |
| He would smile the way every grandfather, | 25:22 | |
| especially yours, smiled when you were good. | 25:24 | |
| But when you were bad, he was the Lord mighty in battle. | 25:28 | |
| God is spirit and they that worship him must | 25:32 | |
| worship him in spirit and in truth. | 25:35 | |
| Daddy, what's spirit? | 25:36 | |
| Well, dear, spirit is what people have in their minds, | 25:38 | |
| their heads, I mean. | 25:41 | |
| It's what you think, dear. | 25:42 | |
| Daddy, is God what he thinks? | 25:44 | |
| No, dear, God is what you think. | 25:46 | |
| God is love. | 25:48 | |
| Just like they tell you in Sunday school. | 25:49 | |
| But daddy, I thought God was spirit. | 25:51 | |
| God is, oh, ask your mother, dear. | 25:53 | |
| God is spirit and they that worship him, | 25:58 | |
| must worship him in spirit and in truth. | 26:00 | |
| Two young girls were talking, | 26:02 | |
| do you believe in God? | 26:04 | |
| The younger was eager to talk, but don't laugh, she said. | 26:05 | |
| That's all right. I won't laugh. | 26:08 | |
| Who's taking you to the dance Saturday night? | 26:10 | |
| What's God? | 26:14 | |
| Is God? | 26:17 | |
| What am I going to do about it? | 26:19 | |
| I'm 17 years old! | 26:21 | |
| You see, I've got to know, | 26:24 | |
| and I'm asking you, and you, and you, | 26:27 | |
| and more important your little child will ask you. | 26:31 | |
| And even more important than that, you will ask yourself. | 26:34 | |
| These words, vivid, candid, and pointed, | 26:43 | |
| come from a young lady who is now | 26:46 | |
| at University of Minnesota co-ed. | 26:47 | |
| What's God? | 26:51 | |
| Is God? | 26:54 | |
| Don't laugh. | 26:56 | |
| And don't divert my attention to Saturday night's date, | 26:58 | |
| or the football game, or the weather, | 27:01 | |
| or that new sport jacket you want to know. | 27:03 | |
| You want. | 27:05 | |
| Because I want to know, is God? | 27:07 | |
| And so now it is the morning after Christmas Day, | 27:13 | |
| December 26. | 27:16 | |
| Yesterday was the date of one of the three most significant | 27:18 | |
| days in the life of the church, | 27:22 | |
| and indeed in the life of Jesus Christ. | 27:25 | |
| The other two being Good Friday and Easter Day. | 27:27 | |
| I wish, oh, how I wish this morning, | 27:31 | |
| that I understood Christmas. | 27:35 | |
| How I'd like to have just some slight insight into the | 27:38 | |
| wonder of what it was that took place on that first | 27:42 | |
| Christmas night, or first Christmas morning. | 27:45 | |
| But I do not understand. | 27:48 | |
| I guess that's why the words of Simeon, read in one of our | 27:51 | |
| scripture lessons this morning, | 27:54 | |
| express so much of my feeling of awe and wonder, | 27:55 | |
| the majestic poetic. | 28:00 | |
| And isn't it strange how when confronted by the ultimate, | 28:03 | |
| and by mystery that is beyond our understanding, | 28:08 | |
| poetry is, is one way of expressing the inexpressible? | 28:11 | |
| The poetic words of the (indistinct) reveal | 28:15 | |
| this amazement and this affirmation. | 28:19 | |
| Lord, now let us bow, thy servant depart in peace, | 28:21 | |
| for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. | 28:26 | |
| A light for revelation to the Gentiles. | 28:32 | |
| That's us folks. | 28:36 | |
| And for glory to thy people, Israel. | 28:38 | |
| And now, look what has happened. | 28:44 | |
| Just a few days, a few short days after Jesus was born | 28:50 | |
| and, and Simeon is certain, | 28:54 | |
| the salvation of all peoples is now at hand. | 28:57 | |
| Now present in this little bitty, baby called Jesus, | 29:01 | |
| born of Joseph and Mary. | 29:06 | |
| I wish confronted by the reality of Christ that I could | 29:09 | |
| so confess as Simeon did. | 29:13 | |
| Oh I can confess it. | 29:15 | |
| I do believe it. | 29:18 | |
| I do not understand it. | 29:20 | |
| I feel much like T.S. Eliot describes in his poem, Coker. | 29:23 | |
| In order to arrive at what you do not know, | 29:27 | |
| you must go by a way, which is a way of ignorance. | 29:30 | |
| In order to possess what you do not possess, | 29:36 | |
| you must go by the way of dispossession. | 29:38 | |
| In order to arrive at what you are not, | 29:43 | |
| you must go through the way in which you are not. | 29:45 | |
| And what you do not know is the only thing you know. | 29:48 | |
| And what you own is what you do not own. | 29:53 | |
| Or again, Eliot in, in Little Gidding. | 29:59 | |
| If you come this way, | 30:03 | |
| you would have to put off sense and notion. | 30:05 | |
| You're not here to verify, or instruct yourself, | 30:09 | |
| or inform curiosity, or carry a report. | 30:12 | |
| You are here to kneel where prayer has been valid. | 30:15 | |
| What you do not know is the only thing you know. | 30:23 | |
| And you are here to kneel. | 30:27 | |
| That's how I feel. | 30:31 | |
| That's what I think. | 30:33 | |
| That's the message of the day after Christmas. | 30:35 | |
| And now look what has happened. | 30:39 | |
| Sometimes, I wonder, as I wander out under the sky. | 30:41 | |
| How Jesus the Savior did come for to die. | 30:46 | |
| For poor common people like you and like I. | 30:50 | |
| I wonder as I wander out under the sky. | 30:53 | |
| Yes I do wonder. | 30:57 | |
| On the morning after Christmas we're face-to-face indeed, | 31:00 | |
| we're in the very midst of one of those few | 31:02 | |
| exhilarating moments of life. | 31:05 | |
| A moment, a time, an experience of real wonder | 31:07 | |
| when really all we can do is gasp, and stand back, | 31:10 | |
| and take off our shoes, and bow our heads, | 31:14 | |
| and bow our hearts. | 31:17 | |
| A moment like the late (indistinct) once said. | 31:19 | |
| In describing life, where he said, | 31:23 | |
| for life is truly measured and not by the | 31:25 | |
| number of breaths we take, | 31:27 | |
| but by the number of breaths not taken. | 31:33 | |
| Those occasions when our breath stops in amazement, | 31:37 | |
| an experience, an awareness, an acknowledgement, | 31:46 | |
| a recognition. | 31:50 | |
| That, as Paul puts it, | 31:51 | |
| God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. | 31:52 | |
| Or as John puts it, | 31:56 | |
| the word was made flesh and lives among us. | 31:57 | |
| Or as Matthew puts it, you shall call his name Jesus | 32:01 | |
| for he shall save his people from their sins. | 32:04 | |
| Intellectually, there is a mystery. | 32:07 | |
| Experientially, there is wonder. | 32:10 | |
| And now look with me at what has happened. | 32:15 | |
| Jesus was born. | 32:19 | |
| Jesus. | 32:23 | |
| Man. | 32:24 | |
| Human. | 32:25 | |
| When we were embroiled recently in some non-sexist | 32:28 | |
| language, controversy. | 32:32 | |
| And some of us were trying to take some of the | 32:34 | |
| masculine language out of prayers and hymns and liturgy, | 32:37 | |
| and even out of some passages of scripture. | 32:40 | |
| For example, when Jesus says greater love has no man | 32:44 | |
| than this, that a man should lay down his life for a friend. | 32:47 | |
| I don't think he was talking just about men, | 32:50 | |
| but was saying, greater love has no one than this, | 32:52 | |
| that one should lay down one's life for a friend. | 32:55 | |
| And we were trying to change some of the sexist language | 32:58 | |
| and make it all inclusive. | 33:00 | |
| And someone asked me, are you trying to make Jesus over | 33:02 | |
| into some kind of neuter person? | 33:05 | |
| Are you trying to say that he was not a man? | 33:08 | |
| And I replied, no, not at all. | 33:11 | |
| Jesus was a man. | 33:15 | |
| Scripture says that. | 33:17 | |
| Tradition teaches that. | 33:18 | |
| Our creeds affirm that. | 33:20 | |
| I believe that. | 33:21 | |
| But Jesus was more than man. | 33:22 | |
| Jesus was the fulfillment of personhood for all peoples. | 33:26 | |
| Male and female. He was fully human. | 33:31 | |
| Or as Dr. George Buttrick says, he was painfully human. | 33:37 | |
| Carlyle Marney tells us that, | 33:44 | |
| that the real heresy of the modern church, | 33:46 | |
| is that we never let Jesus' feet quite touch the ground. | 33:48 | |
| And we don't. | 33:54 | |
| We want to keep him above the earth, | 33:56 | |
| hovering somewhere between heaven and earth. | 33:57 | |
| Make of him some kind of curious mixture of God and man, | 34:00 | |
| and angel and spirit. | 34:04 | |
| Someone with a capital S. | 34:05 | |
| Man with a capital M. | 34:07 | |
| But never just human. | 34:09 | |
| Never just man. | 34:10 | |
| Never just a human being like you and me. | 34:11 | |
| No, because for most of us, that's too threatening. | 34:16 | |
| That puts too much pressure on me. | 34:21 | |
| Too much responsibility on me. | 34:23 | |
| There is too much demand for me. | 34:26 | |
| Too much expectation on me. | 34:28 | |
| If Jesus, the man, was just plain, old human, | 34:31 | |
| physical, fleshly person like you and me. | 34:35 | |
| But Jesus, this babe, | 34:39 | |
| this Christ child, could not and did not remain a child. | 34:42 | |
| If so, we would have less problem today | 34:46 | |
| understanding the mystery. | 34:48 | |
| He grew up and became a real human being. | 34:50 | |
| A real human person. | 34:52 | |
| A historical figure. | 34:55 | |
| Some of Jesus' contemporaries thought that he was a prophet. | 34:58 | |
| Some thought that he was Elijah. | 35:01 | |
| Some wanted to make of him a king. | 35:03 | |
| Some thought that he was the expected one. | 35:05 | |
| Some thought even that he was of the devil. | 35:08 | |
| But one thing's for sure, none of the contemporaries, | 35:10 | |
| according to all of the evidence that we have ever doubted | 35:13 | |
| that Jesus was a real man. | 35:16 | |
| A real human being. | 35:21 | |
| And now look what has happened. | 35:24 | |
| God is a human being. | 35:29 | |
| Jesus was human. | 35:33 | |
| He was curious. | 35:37 | |
| He was tempted. | 35:40 | |
| He got tired. He had to rest, had to eat, had to pray. | 35:42 | |
| He cried. He laughed. | 35:46 | |
| He had a human family. He had human friends. | 35:48 | |
| He suffered a human day. | 35:52 | |
| When He was stuck, He bled. | 35:54 | |
| When He was hurt, His heart broke. | 35:58 | |
| He trusted. He loved, He cared, He grew. | 36:01 | |
| You name it, He was human. | 36:05 | |
| But there was more, | 36:09 | |
| where had Jesus been only human. | 36:10 | |
| We would probably not ever have heard of him. | 36:12 | |
| But there is more, He is more. | 36:15 | |
| How much more is the mystery, | 36:17 | |
| and how He is much more, is the mystery. | 36:20 | |
| George Gordon Lord Byron once wrote, if ever man was God, | 36:25 | |
| or if ever God was man. | 36:31 | |
| Jesus Christ was both. | 36:34 | |
| And now look with me if you will, at what has happened, | 36:38 | |
| Jesus was born. | 36:43 | |
| Jesus. | 36:46 | |
| God. | 36:48 | |
| Divine. | 36:50 | |
| And here's the part which I absolutely do not understand. | 36:52 | |
| Jesus divine that is holy. | 36:57 | |
| That is the perfect one. | 37:00 | |
| That is God. | 37:03 | |
| God was in Christ reconciling that is redeeming, | 37:05 | |
| pulling, loving, bringing the world to himself. | 37:09 | |
| How do we know? | 37:12 | |
| Not through any doctrine or creed, or theology, | 37:15 | |
| but through personal, firsthand experience. | 37:19 | |
| Someone said that that the Bible is the most biased book | 37:21 | |
| that has ever been written. | 37:25 | |
| And that's absolutely correct, | 37:26 | |
| because all of the accounts in the New Testament | 37:27 | |
| were written by the most biased people you can | 37:30 | |
| ever possibly imagine. | 37:32 | |
| People who had had a personal firsthand encounter, | 37:34 | |
| or experience with Jesus the Christ, | 37:37 | |
| and they were telling about it. | 37:39 | |
| This Jesus who is God, | 37:42 | |
| is the one who, in the words of Charles Wesley's | 37:44 | |
| great hymn, | 37:49 | |
| Charms our fears. | 37:51 | |
| Bids our sorrows cease. | 37:56 | |
| Breaks the power of canceled sin. | 38:01 | |
| Sets the prisoner free. | 38:05 | |
| Makes the foulest, clean. | 38:09 | |
| His life, and health, and peace. | 38:13 | |
| Listen, he speaks. | 38:18 | |
| And listening to his voice, new life. | 38:20 | |
| The dead, receive. | 38:22 | |
| The mournful broken hearts, rejoice. | 38:23 | |
| The humble poor, believe. | 38:26 | |
| Hear him, ye deaf. | 38:28 | |
| His praise, ye dumb. | 38:30 | |
| You're loosened tongues employ, you blind. | 38:32 | |
| Behold, your savior come and leap, you lame, for joy. | 38:36 | |
| And someone has said of the three ways | 38:42 | |
| of acquiring knowledge, | 38:44 | |
| that is by way of authority, or by reasoning, | 38:45 | |
| or by experience, | 38:48 | |
| only the last is really effective, | 38:49 | |
| and only that which comes through experience stays with us. | 38:51 | |
| And experience tells us, that Jesus was God. | 38:54 | |
| Experience like that of Peter, | 38:59 | |
| where Peter says you are the Christ. | 39:01 | |
| The disciples tried to explain Jesus as less than that. | 39:05 | |
| They talked about him as prophet, as leader, as teacher, | 39:08 | |
| as good man. | 39:12 | |
| But none of these would do. | 39:13 | |
| We can almost imagine how their thoughts | 39:16 | |
| about Jesus developed. | 39:18 | |
| At first, they may have said that God sent him, | 39:21 | |
| but that was too cold, too automatic, | 39:25 | |
| as though God was a bow and Jesus were an arrow. | 39:27 | |
| That wouldn't do. | 39:31 | |
| And then they said, God was with Him. | 39:33 | |
| That was a little bit deeper, and yet, | 39:35 | |
| as I saw more of him, that seemed inadequate also. | 39:38 | |
| And then finally, there was a deeper conviction | 39:42 | |
| that God came in Jesus. | 39:47 | |
| Jesus is God in human form. | 39:51 | |
| God become visible and real in our human experience. | 39:55 | |
| And now look what has happened. | 40:06 | |
| Jesus was born. | 40:09 | |
| Man. | 40:11 | |
| Person. | 40:12 | |
| Fully human. | 40:14 | |
| God, divine. | 40:17 | |
| Messiah. Christ. | 40:19 | |
| Jesus, divine and human. | 40:23 | |
| I do not understand. | 40:26 | |
| I do not understand how or what. | 40:30 | |
| I think I have some slight understanding of the why, though. | 40:34 | |
| And that is that Jesus was born to change lives, | 40:40 | |
| and to change this world. | 40:44 | |
| Jesus was born to give hope, | 40:47 | |
| to show love, | 40:51 | |
| to bring peace, | 40:53 | |
| to care for you and me, | 40:56 | |
| and for every other child of God. | 40:58 | |
| Jesus was born to bring to loneliness, a presence. | 41:04 | |
| To bring to sin, a forgiveness. | 41:11 | |
| To bring to a estrangement, and atonement. | 41:16 | |
| To bring to separation, a reconciliation. | 41:21 | |
| To bring to hunger and heartache, a hope. | 41:26 | |
| To bring to tragedy and death, | 41:31 | |
| and how our hearts bleed in this community, this week, | 41:36 | |
| for those close at home, and those neighbors in Durham | 41:39 | |
| who have suffered tragedy. | 41:44 | |
| To bring to tragedy and death, | 41:49 | |
| a new life. | 41:54 | |
| So you see why, when I say that I | 41:58 | |
| do not understand what has happened. | 42:02 | |
| I must say that. | 42:07 | |
| For I really don't. | 42:10 | |
| But understanding not, I still believe. | 42:13 | |
| For there is something magnetic. | 42:19 | |
| There is something mystical. | 42:20 | |
| There is something mysterious about Christmas, | 42:22 | |
| and we're drawn to it. | 42:25 | |
| Yet in all its wonder and mystery, | 42:29 | |
| we still know not how to respond | 42:31 | |
| on the day after Christmas. | 42:34 | |
| And it reminds me of the story that Abraham Lincoln told | 42:37 | |
| of the little girl who wanted a set of building blocks, | 42:41 | |
| letters, with which she could make out words for Christmas. | 42:45 | |
| She was given this set of 26 blocks and she worked with them | 42:51 | |
| all day long on Christmas day, | 42:54 | |
| and come evening and come time for her to go to bed, | 42:56 | |
| she was worn out and weary, | 42:59 | |
| and as she knelt to say her prayers, she said, oh Lord, | 43:00 | |
| I'm too tired, and too sleepy to pray. | 43:04 | |
| There are the letters. | 43:07 | |
| You spell it out for yourself. | 43:08 | |
| My friends, God in Christ has spelled it out for us. | 43:13 | |
| That's what has happened. | 43:20 | |
| Lord, | 43:25 | |
| now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. | 43:27 | |
| In the face of such mystery, such wonder, such miracle. | 43:34 | |
| What is there to do, but to stand in awe? | 43:40 | |
| What is it? | 43:46 | |
| I'm not sure. | 43:48 | |
| But let me quote for you some lines from De Profundis, | 43:51 | |
| as Oscar Wilde wrote them from his jail cell. | 43:56 | |
| And then let me paraphrase that same line, | 44:01 | |
| the words which Wilde wrote were, | 44:06 | |
| Everyone is worthy of love, | 44:11 | |
| except him who thinks that he is. | 44:15 | |
| Love is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling. | 44:20 | |
| And these words should be on the lips, | 44:25 | |
| and in the hearts of those who receive love. | 44:28 | |
| Domine non sum dignus. | 44:32 | |
| Oh Lord, I am not worthy. | 44:35 | |
| What has happened? | 44:42 | |
| I do not know. | 44:45 | |
| But I know and believe only that everyone | 44:47 | |
| is worthy of Christ, | 44:51 | |
| except him or her who thinks that he or she is, | 44:52 | |
| for Christ is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling. | 44:56 | |
| And these words should be on the lips, | 45:00 | |
| and in the hearts of those who receive him. | 45:02 | |
| Domine nom sum dignus. | 45:05 | |
| Oh Lord, I am not worthy. | 45:08 | |
| Lord, | 45:15 | |
| now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. | 45:20 | |
| For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. | 45:26 | |
| In the name of the father, and the son, and the Holy Spirit. | 45:33 | |
| Amen. | 45:40 | |
| (What Child is This plays on organ) | 45:46 | |
| (Coventry Carol plays) | 50:34 | |
| ♪ Lully lullay thou little tiny child ♪ | 50:52 | |
| ♪ Sleep well lully lullay ♪ | 51:01 | |
| ♪ And smile in dreaming little one ♪ | 51:10 | |
| ♪ Sleep well lully lullay ♪ | 51:21 | |
| ♪ Oh sisters two what may we do ♪ | 51:31 | |
| ♪ To preserve on this day ♪ | 51:42 | |
| ♪ This poor youngling for whom we sing ♪ | 51:51 | |
| ♪ Farewell lully lullay ♪ | 52:02 | |
| ♪ Herod the king in his raging ♪ | 52:13 | |
| ♪ Set forth upon this day ♪ | 52:23 | |
| ♪ By his decree no life spare thee ♪ | 52:31 | |
| ♪ All children young to slay ♪ | 52:42 | |
| ♪ The woe is me poor child for thee ♪ | 53:09 | |
| ♪ And ever mourn and say ♪ | 53:21 | |
| ♪ For thy parting neither say nor sing ♪ | 53:28 | |
| ♪ Farewell lully lullay ♪ | 53:41 | |
| (Hallelujah hymn plays on organ) | 54:00 | |
| - | Our eyes have seen thy salvation, oh God. | 56:07 |
| We bless thee for thy gifts so freely given. | 56:11 | |
| Grant now to bless these gifts of ours. | 56:15 | |
| And each one who gives. | 56:18 | |
| And make us strong to do thy will | 56:20 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 56:22 | |
| Amen. | 56:25 | |
| (Joy to the World plays on organ) | 56:29 | |
| - | May the God of hope fill you with all joy, and peace, | 59:29 |
| and believing. | 59:32 | |
| So that by the power of the Holy Spirit, | 59:35 | |
| you may this day and forever more abound in hope | 59:38 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 59:41 | |
| Amen. | 59:43 | |
| (Gloria in Excelsis Deo hymn plays on organ) | 59:57 |