Robert T. Young - "On Taking Things up Again" (January 2, 1977)
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| - | Sunday service, January 2nd, 1977. | 0:04 |
| (tone beeps) | 0:12 | |
| (joyous organ music) | 0:42 | |
| (joyous music continues) | 2:49 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 4:00 |
| Oh, holy God, | 4:04 | |
| Your word is near, | 4:05 | |
| Your grace is near. | 4:09 | |
| Come to us, then, with mildness and power. | 4:12 | |
| Do not let us be deaf to You. | 4:16 | |
| Help us to be open and receptive, | 4:20 | |
| that we may worship You | 4:25 | |
| in spirit and in truth. | 4:27 | |
| Amen. | 4:31 | |
| Amen. | 4:32 | |
| (lively organ music) | 4:36 | |
| (group singing indistinctly) | 5:08 | |
| (organ music and singing continues) | 6:17 | |
| We deceive ourselves, but not God, | 7:46 | |
| when we say we have no need | 7:50 | |
| to make a confession of our sins. | 7:52 | |
| With the assurance that we can receive forgiveness | 7:56 | |
| and be made whole, let us now make our corporate confession. | 8:01 | |
| Let us pray. | 8:08 | |
| Ever blessed God who came in great humility, | 8:10 | |
| we are slow to live for Christ, | 8:15 | |
| we know Him to be true, | 8:19 | |
| but we turn to worship personal gods and public idols. | 8:21 | |
| We have little care for the poor or those of different skin | 8:27 | |
| or for folk in ravage villages across the sea, | 8:33 | |
| or even for our neighbor across the street or down the hall. | 8:37 | |
| The valleys are deep, gouged out by many a pretense. | 8:43 | |
| The hills are high, built by our human pride. | 8:48 | |
| So we confess our sins. | 8:54 | |
| Only by You are they understood. | 8:56 | |
| Only when offered to You can they be forgiven | 9:00 | |
| and the sting of them dropped. | 9:04 | |
| Forgive us and help us to forgive others and ourselves, | 9:07 | |
| then set us to build the King's highway, | 9:12 | |
| that the valleys may be filled, | 9:16 | |
| and the hills made low, through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 9:18 | |
| Amen. | 9:23 | |
| Amen. | 9:40 | |
| Accept God's forgiveness and this promise; | 9:42 | |
| "Behold, I make all things new." | 9:47 | |
| Believe this, and live this. | 9:52 | |
| Amen. | 9:56 | |
| ("I Wonder As I Wander") | 10:07 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 10:16 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 10:22 | |
| ♪ How Jesus my Savior ♪ | 10:28 | |
| ♪ Did come for to die ♪ | 10:33 | |
| ♪ For poor on'ry people ♪ | 10:39 | |
| ♪ Like you and like I ♪ | 10:43 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 10:49 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 10:57 | |
| ♪ When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall ♪ | 11:06 | |
| ♪ With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all ♪ | 11:14 | |
| ♪ But high from God's heaven ♪ | 11:22 | |
| ♪ The star's light did fall ♪ | 11:26 | |
| ♪ And the promise of ages ♪ | 11:32 | |
| ♪ It then did recall ♪ | 11:39 | |
| ♪ If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing ♪ | 11:47 | |
| ♪ A star in the sky or a bird on the wing ♪ | 11:54 | |
| ♪ Or all of God's angels in heav'n for to sing ♪ | 12:01 | |
| ♪ He surely could have it ♪ | 12:10 | |
| ♪ 'Cause He was the King ♪ | 12:18 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 12:27 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 12:32 | |
| ♪ How Jesus the Savior ♪ | 12:38 | |
| ♪ Did come for to die ♪ | 12:43 | |
| ♪ For poor on'ry people like you and like I ♪ | 12:48 | |
| ♪ I wonder as I wander ♪ | 12:57 | |
| ♪ Out under the sky ♪ | 13:05 | |
| - | Hear the reading from Isaiah the 40th chapter; | 13:26 |
| "Why do you say, oh, Jacob, | 13:32 | |
| and speak, oh, Israel; | 13:34 | |
| 'My way is hid from the Lord | 13:36 | |
| and my right is disregarded by God'? | 13:39 | |
| Have you not known? | 13:42 | |
| Have you not heard? | 13:44 | |
| The Lord is everlasting God, | 13:46 | |
| the Creator of the ends of the Earth. | 13:49 | |
| He does not faint or grow weary. | 13:51 | |
| His understanding is unsearchable. | 13:54 | |
| He gives power to the faint, | 13:57 | |
| and to him who has no might, He increases strength. | 14:00 | |
| Even youths shall faint and be weary, | 14:05 | |
| and young men shall fall down exhausted, | 14:08 | |
| but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, | 14:11 | |
| and they shall mount up with wings like eagles, | 14:16 | |
| and they shall run and not be weary, | 14:20 | |
| and they shall walk and not faint." | 14:23 | |
| Hear the second reading from the first chapter of Hebrews; | 14:28 | |
| "In many and various ways, | 14:35 | |
| God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets. | 14:38 | |
| But in these last days, | 14:42 | |
| He has spoken to us by a Son | 14:44 | |
| whom He appointed as the heir of all things, | 14:47 | |
| through whom also He created the world. | 14:52 | |
| He reflects the glory of God, | 14:55 | |
| and bears the very stamp of His nature, | 14:58 | |
| upholding the universe by the word of His power. | 15:01 | |
| When He had made purification for sins, | 15:06 | |
| He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, | 15:09 | |
| having become as much superior to angels, | 15:13 | |
| as the name He has obtained is more excellent than theirs. | 15:17 | |
| For to what angel did God ever say, | 15:21 | |
| 'Thou art my son. | 15:25 | |
| Today I have begotten thee'? | 15:27 | |
| Or, again, 'I will be to him a Father, | 15:30 | |
| and he shall be to Me a son.' | 15:34 | |
| And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, | 15:39 | |
| He says, 'Let all God's angels worship Him.' | 15:41 | |
| Of the angels, He says, | 15:46 | |
| 'Who makes his angels, winds, | 15:49 | |
| and His servants, flames of fire?' | 15:51 | |
| But of the Son He says, | 15:55 | |
| 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. | 15:57 | |
| Thy righteous scepter is the scepter of Thy kingdom. | 16:01 | |
| Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. | 16:05 | |
| Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee | 16:09 | |
| with the oil of gladness beyond Thy comrades. | 16:13 | |
| And Thou, Lord, didst form the earth in the beginning, | 16:18 | |
| and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. | 16:22 | |
| They will perish, but Thou remainest. | 16:25 | |
| They will all grow old like a garment, | 16:29 | |
| like a mantle, Thou wilt roll them up, | 16:33 | |
| and they will be changed. | 16:36 | |
| But Thou art the same, and Thy years will never end.' | 16:38 | |
| But to the angels, has He ever said, | 16:45 | |
| 'Sit at My right hand | 16:48 | |
| till I make Thine enemies a stool for Thy feet'?" | 16:50 | |
| Here ends the reading of God's Word for today. | 16:53 | |
| Amen. | 16:58 | |
| (joyous organ music) | 16:58 | |
| (group singing indistinctly) | 17:08 | |
| Let us affirm what we believe. | 17:46 | |
| We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 17:49 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 17:54 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 17:58 | |
| Who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 18:01 | |
| We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 18:05 | |
| to celebrate life at its fullest, to love and serve others, | 18:09 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 18:15 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 18:19 | |
| our Judge and our Hope, | 18:23 | |
| in life, in death, in life beyond death, | 18:26 | |
| God is with us. | 18:30 | |
| We are not alone. | 18:33 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 18:35 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 18:37 | |
| - | And with your spirit. | 18:39 |
| - | Let us pray. | 18:40 |
| Oh holy and loving God, | 18:50 | |
| we give You thanks for our past and our future. | 18:53 | |
| We are grateful that every day | 18:58 | |
| offers us new opportunities and new possibilities. | 19:00 | |
| We celebrate the beginning of a new year | 19:05 | |
| and pray Your guidance as we move into the unknown future. | 19:08 | |
| We give You thanks for being alive today, for this Earth, | 19:14 | |
| for food and light and rest, | 19:20 | |
| for family and friends, | 19:24 | |
| and the joys of celebrating Your gift to us. | 19:27 | |
| We are thankful that You came to us in human form, | 19:33 | |
| that You humbled yourself that we might be free. | 19:38 | |
| That You became poor, that we might be rich. | 19:43 | |
| That You became human, | 19:49 | |
| that we might become Your true sons and daughters. | 19:52 | |
| Hear us now as we pray for our brothers and sisters. | 19:57 | |
| For those who are beginning a new life together, | 20:03 | |
| that they may find peace and fulfillment and permanence | 20:07 | |
| in the relationship. | 20:12 | |
| For those who are beginning a new job, | 20:15 | |
| that they may find satisfaction | 20:18 | |
| and a sense of value in their work. | 20:20 | |
| For those who have found no response | 20:26 | |
| to their longings and affections, | 20:28 | |
| that they may find hope and love. | 20:31 | |
| For those who lack the most vital necessities, | 20:37 | |
| that their life may be abundant | 20:41 | |
| with that which they most need. | 20:44 | |
| And, oh God, we pray for the health | 20:47 | |
| of all those who are ill. | 20:49 | |
| Due opportunities for those who have failed. | 20:53 | |
| For confidence and energy for those who are disappointed. | 20:57 | |
| And we pray for those who are ill-used and in poverty, | 21:04 | |
| that they may meet with justice. | 21:09 | |
| Help us, oh God, also to pray | 21:13 | |
| for those people who cause poverty and hunger and injustice. | 21:14 | |
| And now, send Your Spirit to us, | 21:23 | |
| to open our eyes and ears | 21:26 | |
| so that we may see You where we are afraid to look, | 21:30 | |
| hear You in voices which offend our ears. | 21:36 | |
| Oh God, we often seek You in the spectacular | 21:41 | |
| and the extraordinary, | 21:45 | |
| and yet You come to us in the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, | 21:47 | |
| the diseased, the imprisoned, the lowly. | 21:53 | |
| Teach us to see You, | 21:59 | |
| hear You, touch You, | 22:01 | |
| know where You really are, | 22:05 | |
| and not where we would like for You to be. | 22:08 | |
| All this we pray | 22:13 | |
| in the Spirit of the One who taught us to pray together; | 22:14 | |
| "Our Father who art in Heaven, | 22:19 | |
| hallowed be Thy name. | 22:23 | |
| Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, | 22:25 | |
| on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 22:29 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 22:32 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 22:35 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 22:38 | |
| Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 22:42 | |
| For Thine is the kingdom and the power | 22:47 | |
| and the glory, forever and ever." | 22:50 | |
| Amen. | 22:54 | |
| We are sorry that Annette Hook is sick with a cold | 22:56 | |
| and could not sing today, | 22:59 | |
| but we appreciate John Hanks substituting for her. | 23:01 | |
| It was one year ago on the first Sunday of this past year | 23:05 | |
| that we began celebrating holy communion | 23:09 | |
| after the morning worship in the Memorial Chapel. | 23:13 | |
| We invite you to begin the new year | 23:16 | |
| by celebrating communion. | 23:19 | |
| - | May I say a word of welcome to you on this, | 23:45 |
| the first Sunday of the new year? | 23:47 | |
| We apologize for the coolness of this place, | 23:51 | |
| but when the temperature stays in the 20s and below, | 23:54 | |
| there just seems to be nothing we can do to warm it up. | 23:57 | |
| So, I suggest that maybe you might want | 24:00 | |
| to scoot a little closer together to be warm this morning. | 24:02 | |
| "Now may the words of my lips and the meditations | 24:13 | |
| of our hearts, O God, be acceptable in Thy sight." | 24:15 | |
| For we pray through Christ, our Lord, amen. | 24:20 | |
| In Roman mythology, | 24:27 | |
| Janus was the god of beginnings and endings. | 24:30 | |
| Shown with two heads, | 24:37 | |
| one looking backward, | 24:40 | |
| and one looking forward. | 24:43 | |
| This is January. | 24:46 | |
| This is, particularly, the 1st of January. | 24:50 | |
| As we all look back, | 24:56 | |
| and as we all look ahead, | 24:59 | |
| looking back to the past and looking ahead to the future | 25:04 | |
| calls forth ambivalent feelings in most, if not all, of us. | 25:07 | |
| Somewhat like those feelings expressed | 25:13 | |
| by the contemporary preacher/theologian who writes, | 25:15 | |
| "What I recall and what was | 25:20 | |
| are not the same. | 25:24 | |
| What I have intended and what I have done are not the same. | 25:27 | |
| Where I have gone | 25:32 | |
| and where I have wished to go are different. | 25:34 | |
| My past is not there, as I remember it, | 25:38 | |
| for most of the bad has slipped out somewhere. | 25:42 | |
| My future is not as I expect it, | 25:47 | |
| for much of the good will slip out of it somewhere." | 25:50 | |
| So on this first Sunday of the year, 1977, | 25:57 | |
| we recall what was and what was intended. | 26:00 | |
| We recall where we intended to go, and where we have gone. | 26:05 | |
| The past surely is not quite as we remember it. | 26:10 | |
| And the future surely will not be quite | 26:14 | |
| as we expect it to be. | 26:17 | |
| There is a word in the writings of Paul, | 26:21 | |
| in his little book to the church at Philippi, | 26:27 | |
| Philippians 3:13-14, | 26:29 | |
| that seems highly appropriate as a word | 26:33 | |
| to begin the new year. | 26:35 | |
| "One thing I do," he writes, | 26:37 | |
| "One thing I do; forgetting what lies behind, | 26:40 | |
| and straining forward to what lies ahead, | 26:46 | |
| I press on toward the goal of the upward call of God | 26:50 | |
| in Christ Jesus." | 26:55 | |
| John DeFoore pens this poem in a letter to a friend; | 26:58 | |
| "Why | 27:04 | |
| is suffering so fruitful, | 27:06 | |
| and joy so barren? | 27:10 | |
| Why can I so quickly forget the moment I laughed | 27:14 | |
| and remember so well my despair and my tears? | 27:17 | |
| I hate tragedies, fruitful womb! | 27:21 | |
| When God's child comes close to livingness, | 27:24 | |
| why is he closest to death? | 27:27 | |
| Can spirit, eternal love, only be born | 27:32 | |
| on the abyss of extinction? | 27:35 | |
| Has anguish more commonness for us than ecstasy, Dan?! | 27:39 | |
| But cannot life | 27:45 | |
| marry joy and beget children? | 27:48 | |
| Does only the prisoner know freedom? | 27:53 | |
| Could not, cannot, | 27:58 | |
| the free person know freedom unscarred with chains? | 28:00 | |
| Does a man hear his ninth symphony only when he is deaf? | 28:06 | |
| If life is reality and no fantasy, | 28:13 | |
| why does it so well in the shadow of dissolution? | 28:16 | |
| Does creation | 28:22 | |
| beget a child so imperfect | 28:24 | |
| that he must die before he can begin to live?" | 28:27 | |
| What is it that makes life? | 28:35 | |
| Is it only tragedy? | 28:40 | |
| Can we who think we are free really know freedom | 28:43 | |
| without having to go into prison? | 28:47 | |
| Does life only have meaning when we come close to losing it? | 28:51 | |
| How do we begin to live? | 28:57 | |
| Can life be good in the light as well as in the dark, | 29:02 | |
| in the day, as well as in the night? | 29:06 | |
| What is it | 29:09 | |
| that makes life, yours or mine, or anyone's? | 29:11 | |
| Carl Sandburg has a word in his poem, "Timesweep". | 29:17 | |
| "Tell me," he writes, | 29:22 | |
| "About any strong, beautiful wanting, | 29:25 | |
| and there is your morning, | 29:30 | |
| my morning, everybody's morning." | 29:33 | |
| And what's in a morning? | 29:38 | |
| What is in a wanting? | 29:40 | |
| What is in a strong and beautiful wanting? | 29:42 | |
| Morning is hope. | 29:45 | |
| Morning is new, is fresh, is clear, is open-ended, | 29:47 | |
| is uncluttered, is possibility. | 29:51 | |
| Morning is uncommitted. | 29:55 | |
| Morning is free. | 29:57 | |
| It is the dew drops | 29:59 | |
| and soft sun's rays. | 30:02 | |
| It is fresh footprints in the snow. | 30:04 | |
| Morning, any morning, is a new start. | 30:09 | |
| Everybody's morning is a time | 30:13 | |
| when we can take things up again. | 30:15 | |
| Do we not all need a time for stopping, | 30:21 | |
| resting, looking at life, being renewed, | 30:25 | |
| and then taking up those things of life again? | 30:29 | |
| "One thing I do," Paul said, | 30:35 | |
| "Forgetting those things which lie behind, | 30:38 | |
| I press on toward the goal for the prize | 30:41 | |
| of the upward call of God | 30:45 | |
| in Christ Jesus, my Lord." | 30:48 | |
| Forgetting, I press on. | 30:51 | |
| The end of one year and the start of a new year | 30:57 | |
| is a very good time to forget. | 31:02 | |
| And as I think about last year in my own life, | 31:07 | |
| there is much I would like to forget. | 31:10 | |
| The hurt I have caused. | 31:15 | |
| The hurt I have not helped to heal. | 31:20 | |
| The hurt I have suffered. | 31:25 | |
| The wrong decisions I have made. | 31:30 | |
| The wrongs in this community, | 31:35 | |
| on this campus, and in other places, | 31:37 | |
| which I have not helped to right. | 31:40 | |
| The wrongs which I have ignored or have been indifferent to, | 31:44 | |
| or the wrongs which I have said, | 31:47 | |
| "Hey, they're okay after all." | 31:48 | |
| The people I have not visited in jails or hospitals | 31:53 | |
| or homes or institutions or families. | 31:57 | |
| I was reading in Christian Century, | 32:00 | |
| an article entitled, "The Christmas Visit", | 32:02 | |
| and I thought this would be a charming, | 32:04 | |
| uplifting kind of little tale | 32:06 | |
| of somebody going to visit somebody on Christmas day. | 32:09 | |
| But it was the telling of a visit to a mental hospital | 32:14 | |
| by a middle-aged man to see his mother. | 32:16 | |
| He finishes by saying, | 32:23 | |
| "You say, | 32:27 | |
| 'I'll see you soon,' | 32:29 | |
| and she says, 'Come back real soon now,' | 32:32 | |
| but do either of you really mean it or believe it?" | 32:38 | |
| Yes, I'd like to forget my failures | 32:44 | |
| to visit those who are lonely and ignored. | 32:47 | |
| I'd like to forget the sloppy job | 32:53 | |
| that I've done at times this past year as a father, | 32:54 | |
| as a husband, as a preacher, as a pastor, | 32:58 | |
| as a minister of my Lord's Gospel. | 33:03 | |
| I'd like to forget some of the poor work | 33:07 | |
| that I have done when other's expectations were high | 33:09 | |
| or, even worse still, when I knew, | 33:12 | |
| I knew that I could do better than I really had done! | 33:16 | |
| I'd like to forget some of the sin I have committed. | 33:20 | |
| The things I have done which I should not, | 33:26 | |
| and the things I have not done which I should have done. | 33:28 | |
| I'd like to forget my failure to pray more, | 33:33 | |
| study more, | 33:37 | |
| write and read | 33:39 | |
| and prepare myself mentally and spiritually more. | 33:40 | |
| Yes, I don't know about you, but there is much, | 33:44 | |
| very much, I'd like to forget in 1976. | 33:48 | |
| But there are some things I cannot forget! | 33:52 | |
| For example, there are those moments which I cannot forget | 33:54 | |
| when I have really hurt. | 33:57 | |
| And there are those moments I cannot forget | 34:01 | |
| when I have known true beauty, in nature, | 34:03 | |
| in reading, in a relationship, in worship, in this place. | 34:05 | |
| When I have known true beauty at home. | 34:11 | |
| There is those moments which I cannot forget, | 34:15 | |
| those moments of love, love given. | 34:17 | |
| Yes, and love received. | 34:20 | |
| There are those moments of affirmation | 34:23 | |
| which I cannot forget, | 34:25 | |
| moments of affirmation way beyond what I deserve, | 34:26 | |
| but surely not beyond what I want or what I need, | 34:29 | |
| nor beyond what I am grateful for. | 34:34 | |
| There are those moments of hope which I cannot forget, | 34:38 | |
| at home with our family, | 34:41 | |
| as new levels of maturity and understanding have come. | 34:43 | |
| Those moments of hope, which I have known within myself. | 34:47 | |
| There is a very real sense in which I must say, | 34:52 | |
| "I cannot forget. | 34:54 | |
| I do not want to. | 34:56 | |
| I will not forget some of what lies behind." | 34:58 | |
| And Carl Sandburg again, in his little poem, "High Moments", | 35:02 | |
| writes, "Remembering high loveliness hovers in time | 35:07 | |
| and is made of passing moments. | 35:13 | |
| I have kept high moments, | 35:16 | |
| for they go round and round in me." | 35:18 | |
| And I have kept mine. | 35:24 | |
| But, as Paul so aptly reminds us, | 35:28 | |
| there is a time to forget what lies behind. | 35:30 | |
| Some of those things which we might forget; | 35:37 | |
| forget any personal grudges which we have toward others. | 35:40 | |
| Anyone can be bitter and resentful, | 35:45 | |
| but it takes someone who cares about others, | 35:48 | |
| who is willing to forgive as he or she seeks to be forgiven, | 35:51 | |
| to forget past personal hurt and move on | 35:55 | |
| to good and healthy attitudes. | 35:58 | |
| So let us forget, | 36:01 | |
| and move beyond hatred and suspicion and jealousy. | 36:04 | |
| Forget those things which cause anxiety or worry. | 36:11 | |
| Jesus said, "Take no thought about tomorrow. | 36:14 | |
| Be not anxious." | 36:17 | |
| Constant worry and anxiety | 36:19 | |
| often belie a lack of faith in God. | 36:21 | |
| If God is really in charge of your life, or my life, | 36:24 | |
| then let God be in charge. | 36:27 | |
| Let us put our trust in God, | 36:31 | |
| stop worrying, and get on with living. | 36:33 | |
| Forget those times, those moments, those experiences, | 36:38 | |
| those feelings of unfaithfulness to God. | 36:41 | |
| All of us have sinned | 36:45 | |
| and have been less than what God intended us to be. | 36:46 | |
| But constant brooding over how bad one has been, | 36:49 | |
| or how much one has failed, | 36:53 | |
| or how careless and indifferent to God one has been, | 36:55 | |
| can be a kind of self-pity | 36:58 | |
| that borders on pride and self-righteousness. | 37:00 | |
| If we confess our sin, | 37:03 | |
| it is God who is faithful and just, not we! | 37:04 | |
| And it is God who forgives us | 37:08 | |
| through the blood of Jesus Christ. | 37:10 | |
| And that is why, in corporate worship here every week, | 37:12 | |
| we have time to confess, | 37:16 | |
| then receive pardon and assurance, | 37:19 | |
| and forget. | 37:23 | |
| Forget some of our demands from life and from others. | 37:26 | |
| One of the things that continues to impress and amaze me is | 37:31 | |
| how much some people demand or expect from other people. | 37:34 | |
| And for Christians, particularly, this seems incongruous. | 37:39 | |
| After all, there was a point in life when each | 37:43 | |
| of us who claims the name of Christ surrendered all | 37:46 | |
| for the sake of Christ. | 37:50 | |
| Paul wrote, "It is not I, but Christ, | 37:53 | |
| who really counts in life." | 37:56 | |
| How much more pleasant and satisfying life would be | 37:58 | |
| for many others | 38:03 | |
| if we were willing to give up self some | 38:05 | |
| for the sake of others? | 38:10 | |
| If we are to take things up again, | 38:14 | |
| then we must first lay them down. | 38:15 | |
| That is, we must put them behind us. | 38:17 | |
| If we are to press on toward the mark | 38:20 | |
| of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, | 38:22 | |
| we must forget what lies behind. | 38:25 | |
| It was Meister Eckhart who wrote, | 38:27 | |
| "Only the hand that erases | 38:29 | |
| can write the true thing. | 38:33 | |
| Only the hand that erases | 38:36 | |
| can write the true thing." | 38:39 | |
| Forget, erase, | 38:41 | |
| write, press on. | 38:44 | |
| This matter of taking things up again, of pressing on, | 38:46 | |
| it is not really new. | 38:49 | |
| It is as old as the story of Adam and Eve | 38:51 | |
| who looked back on the luxury of the Garden of Eden | 38:53 | |
| and then started out to earn their living | 38:56 | |
| by the sweat of the brow. | 38:58 | |
| It's as old as the story | 39:00 | |
| of Noah and his family leaving the ark, | 39:02 | |
| looking out on all the desolation that surrounded them | 39:04 | |
| and then turning to start life all over again. | 39:08 | |
| It's the story of Moses turning aside from the burning bush | 39:12 | |
| and going back to Egypt to persuade Pharaoh | 39:15 | |
| to let his people go so that they might start life anew. | 39:18 | |
| It is the story of the people of Israel living in Egypt, | 39:22 | |
| leaving Egypt, struggling 40 years to settle, | 39:26 | |
| and to start life all over again in the Promised Land. | 39:29 | |
| It's a story of Jesus being baptized, | 39:32 | |
| being driven into the wilderness, | 39:34 | |
| and returning to Nazareth to start His life all over again. | 39:37 | |
| It's the story of the woman taken in adultery, | 39:41 | |
| publicly accused, personally forgiven, | 39:44 | |
| and perennially restored to begin life again. | 39:47 | |
| It's the story of all of the disciples, walking with Jesus, | 39:51 | |
| listening to Jesus, following Jesus, believing Jesus, | 39:55 | |
| believing in Jesus, and then leaving Jesus on Good Friday. | 39:59 | |
| Only to be called to try to start life all over again | 40:05 | |
| on Easter morning. | 40:08 | |
| The story of taking things up again, of beginning life anew, | 40:11 | |
| of pressing on, is a people's story. | 40:16 | |
| It is a corporate story. | 40:19 | |
| But it is also a person's story. | 40:20 | |
| It is first a story of a community, | 40:23 | |
| and then it is a story of an individual, both. | 40:25 | |
| It is life coming to a point of decision and change, | 40:29 | |
| even at times coming to an apparent end, | 40:32 | |
| only to begin again, only to be taken up again. | 40:35 | |
| Wherever you turn in the Bible, | 40:39 | |
| you find it filled with stories of men and women who, | 40:42 | |
| for one reason or another, | 40:45 | |
| had to take life up again. | 40:48 | |
| David Barber writing, in this weeks' Time Magazine writes | 40:54 | |
| about the coming of President Elect Carter to Washington, | 40:57 | |
| and says, "He comes to Washington | 41:01 | |
| as a man of high expectation, | 41:06 | |
| in a time when the people have low hopes." | 41:10 | |
| Is that true? | 41:17 | |
| There comes a point when we forget what lies behind, | 41:20 | |
| when we press on | 41:23 | |
| toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus | 41:24 | |
| and take up life all over again. | 41:27 | |
| Life is to be taken up again, as Paul suggests, | 41:31 | |
| with us moving toward a goal, | 41:34 | |
| not moving just hither and yon. | 41:36 | |
| Moving with a purpose, that is, with something ahead of us, | 41:39 | |
| that is, moving toward a clear end in view. | 41:42 | |
| Seeing what it is toward which we go, | 41:46 | |
| toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. | 41:50 | |
| This movement is God initiated. | 41:55 | |
| It is God who calls us, through Christ. | 41:59 | |
| Paul's theology is Christ-centered through and through, | 42:03 | |
| and it is no less so in this passage, | 42:06 | |
| it is the risen and living Spirit of Christ | 42:09 | |
| that enables us to forget the past. | 42:12 | |
| I can't do it on my own! | 42:14 | |
| It is the Spirit of Christ that empowers us | 42:19 | |
| to strain forward to what lies ahead. | 42:22 | |
| I cannot do that on my own. | 42:25 | |
| It is the Spirit of Christ which inspires us | 42:28 | |
| to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ. | 42:30 | |
| I surely cannot move toward God on my own. | 42:33 | |
| So what is it that we need | 42:39 | |
| as we look back on '76 | 42:43 | |
| and look forward to '77? | 42:48 | |
| I don't really know | 42:53 | |
| how one forgets the past. | 42:56 | |
| I don't really even know how one presses on | 43:00 | |
| toward the prize of the upward call | 43:03 | |
| of God in Christ Jesus, except, | 43:05 | |
| perhaps, to say simply, | 43:09 | |
| and honestly, | 43:13 | |
| and personally, | 43:15 | |
| Lord guide me, | 43:18 | |
| guide me into tomorrow, into next year, | 43:23 | |
| into my life, whatever it is, | 43:27 | |
| with all of its potential or lack of it, | 43:29 | |
| with all of its possibilities or lack of them. | 43:31 | |
| Lord, guide me. | 43:35 | |
| The inspiration for that simple word came to me | 43:41 | |
| as I read a prayer poem written by | 43:43 | |
| the Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil. | 43:49 | |
| Archbishop Dom Helder Camara; | 43:54 | |
| "Lord, guide me. | 44:00 | |
| If You try me, | 44:05 | |
| send me out into the foggy night | 44:10 | |
| so that I cannot see my way. | 44:15 | |
| Even if I stumble, | 44:21 | |
| this I beg, | 44:25 | |
| that I may look and smile serenely, | 44:29 | |
| bearing witness that You are with me, | 44:35 | |
| and that I walk in peace. | 44:40 | |
| Lord, | 44:45 | |
| if You try me, | 44:47 | |
| send me out into an atmosphere too thin for me to breathe, | 44:50 | |
| and I cannot feel the earth beneath my feet. | 44:56 | |
| But let my behavior show others | 45:02 | |
| that they cannot part me forcibly from You | 45:05 | |
| in whom we breathe and move and are. | 45:11 | |
| Lord, | 45:19 | |
| if You let hate hamper and trap me, | 45:21 | |
| twist my heart, disfigure me, | 45:26 | |
| then give my eyes His love | 45:32 | |
| and peace. | 45:37 | |
| My face, | 45:39 | |
| the expression of the Christ." | 45:42 | |
| Let us pray. | 45:50 | |
| Oh God, | 45:57 | |
| as one year ends, | 46:03 | |
| as another begins, | 46:08 | |
| may we seek to do as Paul himself | 46:15 | |
| sought to do; | 46:19 | |
| to forget what lies behind, | 46:23 | |
| to strain toward what lies ahead | 46:30 | |
| and to press on | 46:36 | |
| toward the upward call | 46:39 | |
| which You have for us | 46:42 | |
| in Christ Jesus. | 46:45 | |
| Lord, | 46:49 | |
| at the beginning | 46:53 | |
| of a new year, | 46:56 | |
| guide us. | 46:59 | |
| Guide us personally, | 47:03 | |
| and guide us all together, | 47:08 | |
| through Jesus Christ who says, | 47:14 | |
| with loud and strong affirmation, | 47:18 | |
| that we might hear and that we might believe, | 47:23 | |
| "I am Alpha and Omega, | 47:26 | |
| the beginning and the ending. | 47:30 | |
| Those who believed in Me | 47:35 | |
| shall live, and live abundantly." | 47:40 | |
| Through this same Christ we pray, | 47:45 | |
| amen. | 47:49 | |
| Amen. | 47:51 | |
| ("Hark the Herald Angels Sing") | 47:54 | |
| ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ | 48:45 | |
| ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ | 48:50 | |
| ♪ Peace on Earth and mercy mild ♪ | 48:55 | |
| ♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪ | 49:00 | |
| ♪ Joyful all ye nations rise ♪ | 49:06 | |
| ♪ Join the triumph of the skies ♪ | 49:11 | |
| ♪ With angelic host proclaim ♪ | 49:16 | |
| ♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem ♪ | 49:21 | |
| ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ | 49:26 | |
| ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ | 49:31 | |
| ♪ Christ by highest Heaven adored ♪ | 49:39 | |
| ♪ Christ the everlasting Lord ♪ | 49:44 | |
| ♪ Late in time behold Him come ♪ | 49:50 | |
| ♪ Offspring of the virgin's womb ♪ | 49:55 | |
| ♪ Veiled in flesh the Godhead see ♪ | 50:00 | |
| ♪ Hail the incarnate Deity ♪ | 50:05 | |
| ♪ Pleased with us in flesh to dwell ♪ | 50:10 | |
| ♪ Jesus our Immanuel ♪ | 50:16 | |
| ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ | 50:21 | |
| ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ | 50:26 | |
| ♪ Hail the heav'n-born Prince of peace ♪ | 50:35 | |
| ♪ Hail the Son of Righteousness ♪ | 50:40 | |
| ♪ Light and life to all He brings ♪ | 50:45 | |
| ♪ Risen with healing in His wings ♪ | 50:50 | |
| ♪ Mild He lays His glory by ♪ | 50:56 | |
| ♪ Born that man no more may die ♪ | 51:01 | |
| ♪ Born to raise the some of earth ♪ | 51:06 | |
| ♪ Born to give them second birth ♪ | 51:12 | |
| ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ | 51:17 | |
| ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ | 51:22 | |
| (peaceful organ music) | 51:50 | |
| ("This Endris Night") | 54:43 | |
| ♪ The other night I saw a light ♪ | 54:56 | |
| ♪ A star as bright as day ♪ | 55:02 | |
| ♪ And ev'r among a maiden sung ♪ | 55:08 | |
| ♪ Bye bye baby lullay ♪ | 55:14 | |
| (soft organ music continues) | 55:21 | |
| ♪ This virgin here who had no fear ♪ | 55:31 | |
| ♪ Unto her son did say ♪ | 55:37 | |
| ♪ I pray thee son grant me a boon ♪ | 55:42 | |
| ♪ To sing bye bye lullay ♪ | 55:48 | |
| ♪ That child or man who whoever can ♪ | 56:04 | |
| ♪ Be merry on this day ♪ | 56:09 | |
| ♪ And blessings brings so I shall sing ♪ | 56:15 | |
| ♪ Bye bye baby lullay ♪ | 56:21 | |
| ♪ Bye bye baby lullay ♪ | 56:31 | |
| ("All Creatures of Our God and King") | 56:59 | |
| ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 57:20 | |
| ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 57:25 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:31 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:34 | |
| ♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts ♪ | 57:38 | |
| ♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 57:44 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:49 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:52 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:55 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 57:58 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 58:02 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 58:10 | |
| - | Here, O God, we offer and present unto You ourselves, | 58:21 |
| our souls, and bodies | 58:27 | |
| to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice. | 58:30 | |
| We humbly beseech You to accept this offering | 58:36 | |
| and use it for Your work | 58:40 | |
| to make known Your love to all people | 58:43 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 58:47 | |
| Amen. | 58:50 | |
| (lively organ music) | 58:53 | |
| (group sings indistinctly) | 59:29 | |
| Go into this new year with the confidence | 1:01:32 | |
| that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:01:36 | |
| the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 1:01:40 | |
| will go with you and be with you. | 1:01:45 | |
| Amen. | 1:01:48 | |
| (organ music) | 1:01:54 | |
| (people conversing) |