Thomas C. Davis III - "Serpents and Doves" Matthew 10:16 (July 24, 1977)
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| - | Duke University Chapel service of worship; | 0:04 |
| July 24th, 1977. | 0:07 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 0:14 | |
| (choir sings) | 9:36 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 10:46 | |
| - | We are not God, we act as though we were. | 13:44 |
| Let us confess our sin to the one who is. | 13:49 | |
| Oh, Lord, our God, | 13:55 | |
| even as we sing your praises here, | 13:58 | |
| we realize how reluctant we are to sing them in the world. | 14:02 | |
| And yet, even then, we too often sing empty praises | 14:08 | |
| with our lips, but not our lives. | 14:14 | |
| Though we want to deserve the love of other persons, | 14:18 | |
| we hesitate to risk loving them without assurances. | 14:22 | |
| Though we want to feel needed, | 14:28 | |
| we are afraid to admit our own need | 14:31 | |
| for you and for others. | 14:35 | |
| Though we want above all, to escape from being alone, | 14:38 | |
| we shrink even more from being known as we are. | 14:44 | |
| Free us, oh, God, | 14:49 | |
| from the fears that bring alienation, worse than aloneness, | 14:52 | |
| and open us to the fullness of life | 14:59 | |
| that comes only to those who face it unafraid, amen. | 15:03 | |
| We have confessed our fear. | 15:12 | |
| Let us now accept our assurance from the Psalms. | 15:15 | |
| Let me hear what the Lord God will speak, | 15:20 | |
| for God will speak peace to the people, to the saints, | 15:24 | |
| to those who turn to the Lord in their hearts. | 15:29 | |
| Surely, salvation is at hand | 15:33 | |
| for those who fear the Lord, | 15:36 | |
| that glory may well in our land. | 15:38 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 15:47 | |
| (choir sings) | 16:28 | |
| Our first reading comes from Judges 7, | 18:54 | |
| beginning with verse two: | 18:58 | |
| The Lord said to Gideon, | 19:02 | |
| "The people with you are too many for me | 19:03 | |
| "to give the Midianites into their hands. | 19:06 | |
| "Let Israel (indistinct) themselves against me, | 19:09 | |
| "saying, my own hand delivered me. | 19:12 | |
| "Now, therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people saying, | 19:16 | |
| "Whoever is fearful and trembling, | 19:21 | |
| "let him return home." | 19:24 | |
| And Gideon tested them. | 19:26 | |
| 22,000 returned, 10,000 remained. | 19:29 | |
| And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many. | 19:33 | |
| "Take them down to the water | 19:38 | |
| "and I will test them for you there." | 19:40 | |
| "And he, of whom I say to you, | 19:43 | |
| "This man shall go with you," shall go with you. | 19:46 | |
| "And any of whom I say to you, | 19:50 | |
| "This man shall not go with you," shall not go." | 19:52 | |
| So he brought the people down to the water | 19:57 | |
| and the Lord said to Gideon, | 20:00 | |
| "Everyone that laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, | 20:02 | |
| "you shall set by himself. | 20:07 | |
| "Likewise, everyone that kneels down to drink." | 20:10 | |
| And the number of those that lapped, | 20:13 | |
| putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men. | 20:15 | |
| But all the rest of the people knelt down | 20:20 | |
| to drink the water. | 20:22 | |
| And the Lord said to Gideon, "With the 300 men that lapped, | 20:24 | |
| "I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand, | 20:29 | |
| "and let all the others go, every man to his home." | 20:33 | |
| And from verse 19: | 20:42 | |
| So Gideon and the 100 men who were with him | 20:45 | |
| came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning | 20:48 | |
| of the middle watch, | 20:51 | |
| when they had just set the watch, | 20:53 | |
| and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars | 20:55 | |
| that were in their hands. | 20:58 | |
| And the three companies blew the trumpets | 21:00 | |
| and broke the jars, | 21:03 | |
| holding in their left hand, the torches, | 21:05 | |
| and in their right hands, the trumpets to blow. | 21:07 | |
| And they cried, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon." | 21:11 | |
| They stood every man in his place around the camp, | 21:16 | |
| and all the army ran. | 21:19 | |
| They cried out and fled. | 21:21 | |
| Our second reading comes from the book of Acts 20:17-28: | 21:29 | |
| And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called to him, | 21:44 | |
| the elders of the church. | 21:48 | |
| And when they came to him, he said to them, | 21:50 | |
| "You, yourselves, know how I lived among you all the time | 21:54 | |
| "from the first day I set foot in Asia, | 21:58 | |
| "serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, | 22:02 | |
| "and with trials which befell me | 22:06 | |
| "through the plots of the Jews. | 22:08 | |
| "How I did not shrink from declaring to you, | 22:11 | |
| "anything that was profitable, | 22:14 | |
| "and teaching you in public and from house to house, | 22:17 | |
| "testifying both to Jews and Greeks, | 22:20 | |
| "of repentance to God | 22:24 | |
| "and of faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ." | 22:26 | |
| "And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, | 22:30 | |
| "bound in the spirit; | 22:34 | |
| "not knowing what shall befall me there, | 22:37 | |
| "except that the holy spirit testifies to me in every city | 22:40 | |
| "that imprisonment and affliction await me. | 22:45 | |
| "But I do not account my life of any value | 22:49 | |
| "nor as precious to myself, | 22:54 | |
| "if only I may accomplish my course | 22:56 | |
| "and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus, | 23:00 | |
| "to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. | 23:05 | |
| "And now, behold, I know that all you | 23:12 | |
| "among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom | 23:14 | |
| "will see my face no more. | 23:18 | |
| "Therefore, I testified to you this day, | 23:21 | |
| "I am innocent of the blood of all of you, | 23:24 | |
| "for I did not shrink from declaring to you, | 23:28 | |
| "the counsel of God. | 23:31 | |
| "Take heed to yourself and all the flock, | 23:33 | |
| "which the holy spirit has made you guardians, | 23:36 | |
| "to feed the church of the Lord, | 23:40 | |
| "which he obtained through his blood. | 23:43 | |
| "And now, I commend you to God | 23:47 | |
| "and to the word of his grace, | 23:52 | |
| "which is able to build you up | 23:55 | |
| "and to give you the inheritance among all those | 23:57 | |
| "who are sanctified." | 24:02 | |
| Let us stand now for the reading from the gospel of Matthew: | 24:06 | |
| "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. | 24:19 | |
| "So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. | 24:25 | |
| "Be aware of those who will deliver you up to the councils | 24:30 | |
| "and flog you in their synagogues. | 24:34 | |
| "And you will be dragged before governors | 24:37 | |
| "and kings, for my sake, | 24:40 | |
| "to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. | 24:42 | |
| "When they deliver you up, | 24:46 | |
| "do not be anxious how you are to speak | 24:48 | |
| "or what you are to say, | 24:51 | |
| "for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. | 24:53 | |
| "For it is not you who speak, | 24:58 | |
| "but the spirit of your father speaking through you. | 25:00 | |
| "Brother will deliver up brother to death, | 25:04 | |
| "and the father, his child, | 25:07 | |
| "and children will rise against parents | 25:09 | |
| "and have them put to death, | 25:12 | |
| "and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. | 25:14 | |
| "But he who endures to the end will be saved. | 25:18 | |
| "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, | 25:24 | |
| "for truly, I say to you, | 25:27 | |
| "you will have not gone through all the towns of Israel | 25:29 | |
| "before the Son of Man comes. | 25:33 | |
| "A disciple is not above his teacher | 25:36 | |
| "nor a servant above his master. | 25:39 | |
| "It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher | 25:42 | |
| "and the servant like his master. | 25:45 | |
| "If they have called the master of the house, Beelzebub, | 25:48 | |
| "how much worse will they malign those of his household? | 25:52 | |
| "So have no fear of them, | 25:57 | |
| "for nothing is covered that will not be revealed | 25:59 | |
| "or hidden, that will not be known. | 26:03 | |
| "What I tell you in the dark, | 26:07 | |
| "utter in the light, | 26:09 | |
| "and what you hear whispered, | 26:11 | |
| "proclaim from the housetops. | 26:12 | |
| "And do not fear those who kill the body, | 26:16 | |
| "but cannot kill the soul. | 26:19 | |
| "Rather fear the one who can destroy both body | 26:21 | |
| "and soul in hell. | 26:25 | |
| "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? | 26:28 | |
| "And are not one of them to fall to the ground | 26:32 | |
| "without your father's will? | 26:35 | |
| "But even the hairs of your head are numbered. | 26:38 | |
| "Fear not, therefore, you are of more value | 26:42 | |
| "than many sparrows. | 26:46 | |
| "So everyone who acknowledges me before others, | 26:48 | |
| "I also will acknowledge them before my father, | 26:52 | |
| "who is in heaven. | 26:55 | |
| "But whoever denies me before others, | 26:57 | |
| "I also will deny before my father, who is in heaven." | 27:01 | |
| May the word of the Lord accomplish | 27:09 | |
| what it was sent to accomplish in your lives, amen. | 27:12 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 27:18 | |
| Let us affirm what we believe. | 28:03 | |
| We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 28:06 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 28:11 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 28:15 | |
| who works in us and others by the spirit. | 28:18 | |
| We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 28:22 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness, | 28:27 | |
| to love and serve others, | 28:31 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 28:33 | |
| to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 28:37 | |
| our judge and our hope. | 28:41 | |
| In life in death, in life beyond death, | 28:44 | |
| God is with us, we are not alone. | 28:49 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 28:53 | |
| Be seated. | 28:56 | |
| There is only one short announcement | 29:04 | |
| we need to make this morning, | 29:06 | |
| and regards the inserts in your bulletin. | 29:07 | |
| And the invitation is to those here | 29:11 | |
| or any who may be listening, | 29:13 | |
| that if you have homes or even apartments | 29:15 | |
| that would be available for rent | 29:20 | |
| for students in the fall, | 29:21 | |
| to contact central campus office. | 29:24 | |
| They would do the listing of that residence for free. | 29:27 | |
| The need is very desperate this fall, | 29:31 | |
| to find housing for students who have been accepted | 29:34 | |
| and don't have a place to live. | 29:37 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 29:44 | |
| - | And with your spirit. | 29:46 |
| - | Let us pray. | 29:47 |
| Oh, Lord, may your presence with us this morning, | 29:53 | |
| be as deeply felt as our relief from the heat, | 29:58 | |
| the hardness of the pews, | 30:03 | |
| the broken edges of a heart, | 30:05 | |
| and the slow labor of a woman and her child as they seek | 30:08 | |
| to enter the world together. | 30:13 | |
| Clear a space in the jumble of our minds. | 30:16 | |
| Clear a space and set the lever of your word into place. | 30:22 | |
| Lift what needs lifting in our lives, | 30:29 | |
| into your light and grace. | 30:33 | |
| Overthrow the idols that block your Son of truth. | 30:37 | |
| If this is the season for building up, | 30:43 | |
| build us into your community of faith. | 30:47 | |
| If this is the season for tearing down, | 30:51 | |
| keep our hearts fixed on the promise of a new creation | 30:56 | |
| as our supporting walls crumble. | 31:02 | |
| In this confusing world of wolves and sheep, | 31:06 | |
| power and oppression, | 31:12 | |
| oh, Lord, remind us whose side we are on. | 31:15 | |
| Preserve the serpent and the dove in each of us. | 31:22 | |
| Don't let one consume or flee the other. | 31:27 | |
| We need the tension of your full creation in our lives. | 31:31 | |
| Send us into the world | 31:38 | |
| with the gifts of your wisdom and innocence. | 31:41 | |
| Let us go forth in search of Christ, | 31:47 | |
| who promises that the way will not be easy, | 31:53 | |
| but full of meaning. | 31:57 | |
| And in the words of the wisest and most innocent | 32:02 | |
| of all of your creation, let us pray. | 32:07 | |
| Our father, who art in heaven, | 32:14 | |
| hallowed be thy name; | 32:17 | |
| thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth | 32:20 | |
| as it is in heaven. | 32:25 | |
| Give us this day, our daily bread, | 32:27 | |
| and forgive us our sins as we forgive those | 32:30 | |
| who sin against us. | 32:34 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 32:37 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 32:40 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 32:43 | |
| the power and the glory forever, amen. | 32:45 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 33:01 |
| Dear Lord, will you find the words of my mouth | 33:07 | |
| and the meditation of our hearts acceptable in thy sight. | 33:12 | |
| We pray in the name | 33:19 | |
| of thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 33:21 | |
| I would like to take this opportunity, | 33:27 | |
| which comes to me this morning of addressing | 33:30 | |
| the entire university community assembled at worship, | 33:33 | |
| to say, thank you very much. | 33:38 | |
| From a newcomer to your community, | 33:40 | |
| my family and I moved here about one year ago, | 33:43 | |
| knowing very few people here, | 33:48 | |
| and we have been genuinely and warmly welcomed | 33:51 | |
| by you and others in Durham, | 33:54 | |
| and I say, thank you. | 33:57 | |
| I'm glad to be here, | 33:59 | |
| and glad to be here to share the word of God | 34:01 | |
| with you this morning. | 34:03 | |
| There were several, rather lengthy passages | 34:07 | |
| read this morning, coming to us from the electionary | 34:10 | |
| on this 8th, Sunday after Pentecost. | 34:13 | |
| I would like to reflect on all of those passages | 34:18 | |
| and also from a bit of Psalm 13, | 34:22 | |
| which also comes to us from the electionary. | 34:25 | |
| But I would like to concentrate particularly | 34:29 | |
| on the 16th verse of the 10th chapter of Matthew's gospel, | 34:34 | |
| where Jesus tells his disciples, "Look out, | 34:40 | |
| "I am sending you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. | 34:46 | |
| "Therefore be as shrewd as serpents | 34:53 | |
| "and as innocent as doves." | 34:58 | |
| This was an admonition for a time of waiting. | 35:03 | |
| A time during which the followers of Jesus would have | 35:08 | |
| to contend with a world not yet completely transformed | 35:13 | |
| by the good news. | 35:18 | |
| And for the Christian community, | 35:21 | |
| I would suggest that each passing year makes the living | 35:22 | |
| out of this admonition, more and more difficult. | 35:27 | |
| Living as serpents and doves gets harder and harder; | 35:34 | |
| the more we have to wait for the culmination of our faith, | 35:40 | |
| for the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ. | 35:45 | |
| The plea in the book of Revelation is our plea: | 35:51 | |
| "Come, Lord Jesus, come." | 35:56 | |
| And in waiting for him, some have utterly despaired, | 36:00 | |
| wondering whether it was God for whom they were waiting | 36:06 | |
| or as the dramatist has suggested, | 36:11 | |
| some fantasy (indistinct). | 36:15 | |
| And haven't all the faithful servants, | 36:21 | |
| sometimes found themselves speaking as the author | 36:23 | |
| of the 13th Psalm, | 36:27 | |
| who sings, "How long will you forget me, oh, Lord? | 36:29 | |
| "Forever? | 36:35 | |
| "How long will you hide your face from me? | 36:37 | |
| "How much longer must I endure grief in my soul | 36:41 | |
| "and sorrow in my heart by day and by night? | 36:44 | |
| "How much longer must my enemy have the upper hand of me?" | 36:50 | |
| Well, it is just this feeling on the part of the church, | 36:57 | |
| this agonizing uncertainty in waiting for God to prevail, | 37:02 | |
| that tempts the church to opt either | 37:08 | |
| for the psychologically easier way | 37:12 | |
| of being either serpent or dove, | 37:14 | |
| but not both together. | 37:19 | |
| Serpents and doves never have wanted to hold hands. | 37:23 | |
| Their perspective of the way things are | 37:28 | |
| and their corresponding ways of living | 37:31 | |
| are diametrically opposed. | 37:35 | |
| The serpent is a calculating skeptic | 37:38 | |
| who refuses to be too easily persuaded or taken in. | 37:42 | |
| He or she is a rock-hard realist | 37:48 | |
| who knows all about contests of struggle. | 37:50 | |
| A conniver who is cunningly able to manipulate things | 37:55 | |
| to his or her advantage. | 38:00 | |
| There is a good bit of the serpent in Gideon, | 38:05 | |
| that biblical hero who stealthily tore down | 38:09 | |
| the alters of Baal by night | 38:13 | |
| in order to avoid getting caught. | 38:16 | |
| And who tested God with the fleece, | 38:19 | |
| not once, but twice, to be sure of his mission? | 38:22 | |
| But as we see from scripture, | 38:29 | |
| God would not allow this serpent Gideon | 38:30 | |
| to take matters entirely into his own hands. | 38:33 | |
| God foresaw the danger that lay ahead for a nation | 38:37 | |
| which trusted too much in its own devices. | 38:41 | |
| And so God demanded trust. | 38:46 | |
| God introduced Gideon into a situation | 38:51 | |
| in which he and his soldiers would have | 38:54 | |
| to rely not upon their own resources alone, | 38:57 | |
| but upon the steadfastness of God. | 39:02 | |
| And thus by God's grace, | 39:06 | |
| Gideon became not only serpent, but dove as well. | 39:09 | |
| Now, we are so used to associating | 39:17 | |
| the symbol of dove with peace. | 39:19 | |
| That this dove metaphor applied to the soldier, Gideon, | 39:23 | |
| seems oddly misplaced. | 39:27 | |
| But if we understand the dove, | 39:31 | |
| not primarily as an emblem | 39:34 | |
| for any particular political party or ethical persuasion, | 39:37 | |
| but rather as a symbol of trust. | 39:43 | |
| A self surrendering trust which risks itself | 39:48 | |
| by not depending in the end upon its own resources. | 39:52 | |
| If we look at the dove this way, | 39:56 | |
| then it becomes plausible | 40:00 | |
| to see Gideon as both serpent and dove. | 40:02 | |
| And in fact, a reluctance on our part | 40:07 | |
| to acknowledge the possibility of a synthesis | 40:10 | |
| between dove and serpent, | 40:14 | |
| very likely reflects our own discomfort | 40:19 | |
| in living out this very synthesis ourselves. | 40:22 | |
| After all, it's much easier either to live | 40:26 | |
| by one's own devices, | 40:30 | |
| totally immersed in the world | 40:32 | |
| and fighting its fire with fire | 40:34 | |
| or on the other hand, to strive to live in absolute purity, | 40:37 | |
| in a counter-cultural community | 40:44 | |
| which quite deliberately cuts itself off from the world | 40:47 | |
| in order to avoid corruption. | 40:51 | |
| But both of these extremes are in error. | 40:54 | |
| The error of the first is as we have seen | 40:59 | |
| that it relies too much upon its own calculations | 41:02 | |
| and not upon trust in God, | 41:08 | |
| as Gideon was tempted to do. | 41:11 | |
| In the last few years, | 41:14 | |
| we have witnessed the slackening of social involvement | 41:16 | |
| among some Christian congregations | 41:21 | |
| whose primary concern in years passed was witnessing to God | 41:25 | |
| through social action. | 41:30 | |
| And perhaps, the hymn which we will sing this morning | 41:33 | |
| offers an explanation for this phenomenon. | 41:36 | |
| My heart is weak and poor until it master find. | 41:42 | |
| It has no spring of action sure, | 41:49 | |
| but varies with the wind. | 41:51 | |
| It cannot drive the world until itself be driven. | 41:55 | |
| Its flag can only be unfurled | 41:59 | |
| when thou, oh, God, shall breathe from heaven. | 42:03 | |
| But we have witnessed also the error of the other extreme; | 42:09 | |
| the escape is to flight | 42:12 | |
| from the controversial affairs of the world, | 42:15 | |
| toward a purposely myopic, personal piety. | 42:18 | |
| And if the error of the first extreme can be described | 42:24 | |
| as the loss of one's footing in the shifting | 42:27 | |
| and swirling sands of time, | 42:31 | |
| then the second error is precisely hiding one's head | 42:35 | |
| under those sands to avoid seeing the storms altogether. | 42:39 | |
| But the kind of innocence urged by our text | 42:46 | |
| is not an innocence which plays ostrich, | 42:50 | |
| and nor is it an innocence | 42:55 | |
| which isn't aware of the evils of this world | 42:56 | |
| because it hasn't grown up yet. | 42:59 | |
| Jesus did, in fact, say, | 43:03 | |
| "Let the little ones come unto me, | 43:06 | |
| "for of such is the kingdom of heaven." | 43:09 | |
| And yet in connection with this text this morning, | 43:12 | |
| there is something misleading about seeing the child | 43:17 | |
| as a symbol for innocence. | 43:21 | |
| For here, innocence is not exemplified | 43:25 | |
| by the blind trust of a naive child, | 43:28 | |
| rather it is an innocence intentioned with shrewdness. | 43:33 | |
| And as such, it is fully aware, fully aware, | 43:38 | |
| of the evils of the world. | 43:43 | |
| It is not to be exemplified by the trust of Isaac, | 43:47 | |
| who followed his father's will, | 43:52 | |
| unaware of what was to befall him. | 43:54 | |
| Rather it is to be seen in the trust of Stephen, | 43:59 | |
| Stephen the martyr, who knew full well | 44:04 | |
| that the stones were poised to strike him down. | 44:09 | |
| And this innocence, which we are inspecting, | 44:14 | |
| is to be seen in the trust of Job; | 44:17 | |
| that veteran of faith who showed | 44:20 | |
| through his comments to his friends | 44:23 | |
| that he too was well aware of the ways of the world, | 44:25 | |
| and Job who had suffered much, | 44:31 | |
| but who still trusted in God's love and his power. | 44:34 | |
| And from an unlikely spot, | 44:40 | |
| I would like to take this passage from Robert Pirsig's, | 44:43 | |
| "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." | 44:47 | |
| For it gives us yet another image of this innocence | 44:51 | |
| which is aware of evil, | 44:55 | |
| but remains calm and trusting. | 44:57 | |
| Pirsig writes, "In the fog of an early morning, | 45:02 | |
| in the marshes, | 45:07 | |
| there was a small duck, a teal, | 45:10 | |
| and I had winged it. | 45:15 | |
| And now, it couldn't fly. | 45:18 | |
| And I had run up upon it | 45:21 | |
| and I seized it by the neck. | 45:24 | |
| And before killing it, I had stopped. | 45:28 | |
| And from some sense of the mystery of the universe, | 45:33 | |
| I had stared into its eyes | 45:39 | |
| and they gazed at me so calm. | 45:42 | |
| And so I'm comprehending and yet so aware. | 45:47 | |
| The innocence of this small bird is like the innocence | 45:55 | |
| of the dove, which is its intention with the serpent. | 45:59 | |
| It has suffered, it has stared evil right in the face, | 46:05 | |
| and yet it continues to trust. | 46:11 | |
| How we need just this kind of innocence in the church today? | 46:15 | |
| We need to be pure, yes, | 46:21 | |
| but not by remaining children | 46:24 | |
| and not by hiding our head in the sand. | 46:27 | |
| We must seek a purity which as an interpretation | 46:31 | |
| of the 16th chapter of Luke says, | 46:34 | |
| "Is as wise in its own ways, | 46:38 | |
| "as the sons of darkness are in theirs. | 46:41 | |
| "We need a purity which doesn't run | 46:45 | |
| "from the troubles of the world, | 46:47 | |
| "but rather seeks to infuse its own confidence, | 46:50 | |
| "its own direction and mature optimism into this world." | 46:55 | |
| Paul talks about this kind of purity | 47:01 | |
| in the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, | 47:04 | |
| where he says, "Do all that has to be done | 47:08 | |
| "without complaining or arguing, | 47:13 | |
| "and then you will be innocent and genuine. | 47:15 | |
| "You will be perfect children of God | 47:21 | |
| "among a deceitful and underhand brood, | 47:24 | |
| "and you will shine in the world like bright stars | 47:30 | |
| "because you are offering it, the word of life." | 47:34 | |
| And following the scripture passage from Acts, | 47:41 | |
| which was read this morning, | 47:43 | |
| Paul echoes a warning, | 47:46 | |
| similar to the one which we found in Matthew, | 47:47 | |
| with the exception that this time, | 47:51 | |
| the wolves are inside the flock and not outside. | 47:53 | |
| Paul says, "Be on your guard for yourselves | 47:58 | |
| "and for all of the flock. | 48:03 | |
| "To feed the church of God, | 48:08 | |
| "which he brought with his own blood. | 48:10 | |
| "For I know quite well," continues Paul, | 48:14 | |
| "That when I have gone, fierce wolves will invade you | 48:18 | |
| "and will have no mercy on the flock. | 48:22 | |
| "And even from your own ranks, | 48:25 | |
| "there will be people coming forward | 48:27 | |
| "with a travesty of the truth upon their lips | 48:30 | |
| "to induce the disciples to follow them. | 48:34 | |
| "So be on your guard." | 48:37 | |
| So much for the warning, | 48:40 | |
| but what about the accompanying advice? | 48:41 | |
| It seems to me that Paul would clearly endorse | 48:46 | |
| the admonition from Matthew; "Be as shrewd as serpents | 48:50 | |
| "and as innocent as doves." | 48:55 | |
| Paul knew when to retreat and when to stand firm, | 48:58 | |
| when to parry on sensitive issues | 49:04 | |
| and when to thrust on essential ones. | 49:08 | |
| And Paul, was by no means, lacking in (indistinct). | 49:13 | |
| "Season your speech with salt," he once said, | 49:17 | |
| "So that you know how to answer everyone." | 49:21 | |
| Paul indeed was a diplomat par excellence. | 49:25 | |
| But his cunning never stooped to compromising the good news. | 49:29 | |
| He understood the ways of the world, | 49:36 | |
| but he did not give into them. | 49:38 | |
| He was fully aware of the doctrinal and the political, | 49:40 | |
| and the social forces that were splitting the church | 49:44 | |
| in his own day, | 49:47 | |
| and which would continue to split it as under. | 49:49 | |
| And he urged the church to be on guard against these forces, | 49:53 | |
| but he did not advise the church to isolate itself | 49:57 | |
| in order to protect itself against such threats. | 50:01 | |
| "Beyond guard," said Paul, | 50:06 | |
| "But stay among this deceitful generation | 50:08 | |
| "and don't run from the world. | 50:12 | |
| "You have the word of life | 50:14 | |
| "which this world so desperately needs to hear. | 50:16 | |
| "So stick with it. | 50:20 | |
| "Let your words ring out, | 50:22 | |
| "shine before men and women like bright stars," he says. | 50:25 | |
| As I survey the scene at Duke University, | 50:32 | |
| and as I talk with campus ministers on other campuses, | 50:35 | |
| and as I read of developments in the church, | 50:39 | |
| both nationally and internationally, | 50:42 | |
| I am very much encouraged to see | 50:46 | |
| that serpents and doves are beginning to hold hands. | 50:48 | |
| The extreme positions are still quite evident, of course, | 50:54 | |
| but there is a growing movement of Christians | 50:59 | |
| who are keeping themselves well informed | 51:02 | |
| about affairs in the world, | 51:05 | |
| and who want to understand the social structures | 51:09 | |
| and the forces of this world, | 51:12 | |
| and who want to get involved | 51:15 | |
| in transforming these structures and forces, | 51:17 | |
| but because of their deep love for Jesus Christ. | 51:20 | |
| And it is a matter of much rejoicing | 51:26 | |
| that a socially active Christian leadership is re-emerging; | 51:29 | |
| a leadership which has its roots in genuine piety | 51:34 | |
| and evangelical faith. | 51:40 | |
| It's a hard line to walk between serpent and dove; | 51:43 | |
| between giving into the world and giving up on it. | 51:51 | |
| Nevertheless, this is the disciples' walk, | 51:57 | |
| and it is our charge for a time of waiting. | 52:02 | |
| I will close with a portion of the 40th song, | 52:08 | |
| which reiterates so well, I think, | 52:12 | |
| what I have been trying to say about our mission, | 52:14 | |
| our anxieties, our impatience, our hopes, and our joys, | 52:18 | |
| in this time of waiting for the return of our Lord. | 52:26 | |
| The Psalmist sings, "I waited and waited for Yahweh. | 52:31 | |
| "Now, at last, he has stooped. | 52:37 | |
| "He has stooped to hear me. | 52:40 | |
| "He has heard my cry for help. | 52:43 | |
| "He has put me out of the horrible pit | 52:46 | |
| "and out of the slough of the marshes, | 52:48 | |
| "and he has settled my feet on a rock. | 52:50 | |
| "He has studied my steps. | 52:53 | |
| "I have never kept your righteousness to myself, | 52:57 | |
| "but I have spoken of your faithfulness | 53:01 | |
| "and your saving help, Yahweh. | 53:03 | |
| "I have made no secret of your love and faithfulness | 53:06 | |
| "in the great assembly. | 53:10 | |
| "For your part, Yahweh, | 53:13 | |
| "do not withhold your kindness from me. | 53:16 | |
| "May your love and faithfulness constantly preserve me. | 53:20 | |
| "To me, poor or rich, come quickly Lord, | 53:24 | |
| "my helper, my savior, my God. | 53:30 | |
| "Come and do not delay, amen." | 53:35 | |
| Let us pray. | 53:41 | |
| Our Lord, our God, in a time of waiting, | 53:48 | |
| which is filled with temptations | 53:55 | |
| to go to one extreme or the other, | 53:57 | |
| help us to live in a time of ambiguity. | 53:59 | |
| Help us to learn the art of serpent and dove | 54:05 | |
| until you come again, | 54:11 | |
| and your victory is assured. | 54:13 | |
| Preserve us as workers, | 54:16 | |
| for your grace and your peace. | 54:21 | |
| In Jesus name, we pray, amen. | 54:24 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 54:30 | |
| (choir sings) | 55:11 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 58:19 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 59:44 | |
| (choir sings) | 59:58 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 1:02:31 | |
| (choir sings) | 1:02:55 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 1:03:27 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 1:03:34 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:03:41 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:03:49 | |
| - | Oh, thou, most holy, loving God, | 1:03:57 |
| accept the gifts of our hands, | 1:04:02 | |
| for we give thee, but thine own, amen. | 1:04:06 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 1:04:16 | |
| Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. | 1:08:19 | |
| May the Lord lift the light of love's countenance upon you | 1:08:23 | |
| and give you peace both now and forever more, amen. | 1:08:28 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:08:39 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:08:44 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:08:50 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:08:53 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:02 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:10 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:21 | |
| (gentle instrumental music) | 1:09:34 | |
| (group chattering) | 1:10:53 |
