Robert E. McClernon - "Our Foolish and Imprudent God" (July 31, 1977)
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| - | Duke University Chapel service of worship night, | 0:04 |
| Sunday after Pentecost, July 31st, 1977. | 0:07 | |
| (gentle organ music playing) | 0:13 | |
| (objects rustling) | 3:37 | |
| (organ music intensifies) | 3:45 | |
| (organ music ends) | 7:45 | |
| ♪ O distant savior ♪ | 7:55 | |
| (singers singing simultaneously) | 7:59 | |
| ♪ That trusteth in him ♪ | 8:11 | |
| ♪ How blessed the man ♪ | 8:19 | |
| ♪ Who trusteth in ♪ | 8:26 | |
| (singers singing simultaneously) | 8:29 | |
| ♪ That trusteth in Jesus ♪ | 8:35 | |
| ♪ The man that trusteth in him ♪ | 8:41 | |
| (upbeat organ music) | 8:55 | |
| (organ drowns singers) | 9:25 | |
| (organ music ends) | 11:38 | |
| - | Brothers and sisters of the household of faith, | 11:48 |
| the scriptures tell us that all have sinned | 11:52 | |
| and come short of the glory of God. | 11:56 | |
| Therefore, let us join together in our prayer of confession. | 12:00 | |
| God, | 12:06 | |
| we come before you knowing we have tried to hide from you, | 12:07 | |
| from one another and from ourselves. | 12:12 | |
| Somehow we have felt that my depending upon our own powers, | 12:16 | |
| we could solve the problems of life. | 12:22 | |
| We have tried to escape by withdrawing from the difficult, | 12:25 | |
| the challenging, the crucifying experiences of life. | 12:30 | |
| We have become trapped in a meaningless round | 12:35 | |
| of insignificant activities | 12:39 | |
| while we have avoided projects we should have done. | 12:42 | |
| We have strayed far from the fullness of life | 12:46 | |
| you have promised us. | 12:50 | |
| Forgive us for our self-centerdness, | 12:52 | |
| our proudness, our weakness, our blindness. | 12:56 | |
| Have mercy upon us that we may become your people anew. | 13:02 | |
| Amen. | 13:08 | |
| Hear these words of assurance from Micah and from Matthew. | 13:46 | |
| "Who is like unto God who pardons iniquity | 13:51 | |
| and passes over transgression? | 13:56 | |
| He does not retain his anger forever | 13:59 | |
| because he delights in steadfast love. | 14:02 | |
| He will again have compassion upon us, | 14:07 | |
| he will tread our iniquities underfoot, | 14:10 | |
| he will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. | 14:13 | |
| Ask and it will be given you, | 14:19 | |
| seek and you will find, | 14:23 | |
| knock and it will be open to you. | 14:26 | |
| For everyone who asks, receives, | 14:30 | |
| and he who seeks, finds, | 14:33 | |
| and to him who knocks, it will be opened." | 14:36 | |
| (person coughing) | 14:52 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 14:55 | |
| ♪ Our psalms for Lord, our God ♪ | 15:08 | |
| ♪ To light thou each light ♪ | 15:15 | |
| ♪ In need ♪ | 15:23 | |
| ♪ And to awake and to renew thy mansion ♪ | 15:26 | |
| ♪ Our psalms to Lord, our God ♪ | 15:45 | |
| ♪ Hear our prayer, O Lord, hear our prayer, O Lord ♪ | 15:51 | |
| ♪ Hear our prayer, O Lord, hear our prayer ♪ | 15:57 | |
| ♪ And to awake and to renew thy mansion ♪ | 16:03 | |
| ♪ Lord help us to order our lives by thy prowess ♪ | 16:15 | |
| ♪ And lead us in the paths of righteousness ♪ | 16:23 | |
| ♪ Lord be our shield, abound us, protect us ♪ | 16:30 | |
| ♪ Save the Earth from sorrow, from pain and from mourn ♪ | 16:38 | |
| ♪ And never give us the will to do evil ♪ | 16:45 | |
| ♪ Shelter us beneath the shadow of thy wings ♪ | 16:52 | |
| ♪ Our psalms O Lord, our God ♪ | 17:07 | |
| ♪ To light thou each light in need ♪ | 17:14 | |
| ♪ And to awake and to renew thy mansion ♪ | 17:25 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 17:37 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 17:42 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 17:47 | |
| (footsteps approaching) | 18:11 | |
| (man clears throat) | 18:17 | |
| Our scripture lesson is from St. Paul's first letter | 18:21 | |
| to the congregation at Corinth, | 18:25 | |
| the first chapter. | 18:27 | |
| "For the word of the cross is folly to those | 18:31 | |
| who are perishing. | 18:34 | |
| But to us who are being saved, | 18:36 | |
| it is the power of God. | 18:38 | |
| For it is written, | 18:41 | |
| I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, | 18:42 | |
| and the cleverness of the clever, I will thwart. | 18:45 | |
| Where is the wise man? | 18:49 | |
| Where is the scribe? | 18:52 | |
| Where is the debater of this age? | 18:55 | |
| Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? | 18:58 | |
| For since in the wisdom of God, | 19:03 | |
| the world did not know God through wisdom. | 19:04 | |
| It pleased God through the folly of what we preach | 19:08 | |
| to save those who believe. | 19:10 | |
| For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, | 19:14 | |
| but we preach Christ crucified, | 19:18 | |
| a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. | 19:21 | |
| But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, | 19:26 | |
| Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. | 19:30 | |
| For the foolishness of God is wiser than men | 19:34 | |
| and the weakness of God is stronger than men." | 19:40 | |
| Here ends our morning lesson. | 19:47 | |
| (upbeat organ music) | 19:50 | |
| (organ music drowns singers) | 19:59 | |
| (upbeat organ music ends) | 20:32 | |
| Let us affirm what we believe. | 20:33 | |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 20:37 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 20:43 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 20:46 | |
| who works in us and others by the spirit. | 20:49 | |
| We trust God who calls us to be the church | 20:53 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullness, | 20:58 | |
| to love and serve others, | 21:02 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 21:04 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 21:08 | |
| our judge and our hope | 21:12 | |
| in life, in death. | 21:15 | |
| In life beyond death, God is with us. | 21:17 | |
| We are not alone. | 21:22 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 21:24 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 21:27 | |
| (congregation responding) | 21:29 | |
| Let us pray. | 21:31 | |
| With joy and thanksgiving, | 21:44 | |
| we raise our prayers unto thee, O God | 21:45 | |
| with joy that thou who once came to save us | 21:50 | |
| dost come again and again, | 21:53 | |
| with thanks that thou has not awaited our readiness to come, | 21:57 | |
| but prepared thine own way to deliver us. | 22:00 | |
| Oh Lord, our Lord, | 22:04 | |
| how wonderful his dying name in all the universe. | 22:07 | |
| Thankful we are and joyful | 22:12 | |
| that thought art always timely and timeless, | 22:16 | |
| that thy judgment does not cancel out thy love, | 22:20 | |
| that thy love is not bound by our affections, | 22:25 | |
| that thy presence knows no bounds. | 22:31 | |
| Oh Lord, our Lord, | 22:35 | |
| how wonderful is thy name in all the universe. | 22:37 | |
| With joy and thanks, we would count my blessings, | 22:42 | |
| but they outnumber the stars. | 22:46 | |
| We would measure thy grace, | 22:49 | |
| but it exceeds our imagination. | 22:51 | |
| We would fathom thy mercy, | 22:55 | |
| yet it eludes our minds to lay hold of it. | 22:58 | |
| Oh Lord, our Lord, | 23:02 | |
| our Savior and Redeemer, | 23:04 | |
| how magnificent is nine name in all the universe. | 23:07 | |
| We would that all persons everywhere | 23:13 | |
| might know thee in the depths of thy mercy and love. | 23:15 | |
| Inspire thy church everywhere | 23:20 | |
| that we might find ever new and fresh ways | 23:22 | |
| to share the good news of a saving Lord. | 23:25 | |
| O King of the universe, | 23:30 | |
| we would that all the world might know thy justice | 23:31 | |
| and we do earnestly pray for the establishment of thy piece. | 23:35 | |
| We pray thee, temper the violence of hatred and anger, | 23:41 | |
| restrain the hand of the oppressor, | 23:46 | |
| inspire the governments of nations | 23:50 | |
| to find adequate means for the distribution | 23:52 | |
| of the natural resources of our world, | 23:55 | |
| lead all persons everywhere toward thy righteousness. | 23:58 | |
| Oh thou who knows there's no other | 24:06 | |
| the face of loneliness and despair, | 24:07 | |
| we are particularly prayerful now | 24:11 | |
| for those who grieve the loss of someone near and dear, | 24:13 | |
| and for those who face the prospects of a future alone. | 24:18 | |
| We remember especially the widow and widower, | 24:23 | |
| the newly separated and divorced, | 24:27 | |
| the abandoned child or parent, | 24:31 | |
| we pray thy special presence and peace for these. | 24:35 | |
| We are mindful too for those who face a slow | 24:40 | |
| and painful death, | 24:43 | |
| that they may partake of the strength | 24:46 | |
| of thy strength in extraordinary ways. | 24:48 | |
| And for those, we pray too, | 24:52 | |
| who grieve their own eminent death, | 24:54 | |
| that they may be released from the power of death | 24:58 | |
| to live in fullness for themselves and others | 25:00 | |
| their last days. | 25:05 | |
| Thou who are the provider of providers, | 25:09 | |
| you know our special individual needs. | 25:12 | |
| We pray for each other here gathered | 25:17 | |
| that grace may rule our mutual lives, | 25:20 | |
| that our lives may show forth thy praise, | 25:24 | |
| that thou might watch our going out and our coming in, | 25:28 | |
| that we both live and die in thy piece. | 25:33 | |
| Keep us close to thee. | 25:38 | |
| Ever faithful in little things and great | 25:41 | |
| for thou art truly our treasure and our life, | 25:44 | |
| the holder of our heart and the guardian of our lives. | 25:49 | |
| Oh Lord, our Lord, | 25:54 | |
| how magnificent his thy name in all the universe. | 25:57 | |
| Let us join now in the prayer | 26:04 | |
| our Lord has taught us, saying: | 26:06 | |
| our father who art in heaven, | 26:08 | |
| hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 26:12 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 26:17 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 26:22 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 26:25 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us | 26:28 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, | 26:32 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 26:35 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power, | 26:38 | |
| and the glory forever. | 26:42 | |
| Amen. | 26:45 | |
| - | Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father, | 27:00 |
| and from the Lord, Jesus Christ. | 27:03 | |
| "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men | 27:07 | |
| and the weakness of God is stronger than men." | 27:11 | |
| It was a profound insight of Saint Paul, | 27:17 | |
| which gave us that phrase, "The foolishness of God." | 27:22 | |
| Like many phrases struck off in moments of insight, | 27:29 | |
| it contains more truth than perhaps its author intended. | 27:35 | |
| "The foolishness of God," | 27:41 | |
| that would have been hard pressed to enter my ears | 27:45 | |
| if as a boy | 27:49 | |
| I had heard it in any context other | 27:51 | |
| than a line tossed off by the preacher on his way | 27:56 | |
| to the invitation hymn. | 28:00 | |
| We knew that preachers sometimes said silly things | 28:03 | |
| just before the invitation hymn, | 28:07 | |
| and we could forgive them that foolishness, | 28:11 | |
| fill as we thought they thought they were | 28:15 | |
| with an ecstasy ordinary folk rarely experienced. | 28:18 | |
| But it would have been foolish for us | 28:24 | |
| to talk about the foolishness of God | 28:28 | |
| for we were not foolish people. | 28:32 | |
| We were anti-intellectual, | 28:36 | |
| we did know far more than even you can imagine | 28:40 | |
| about the snares of Satan planted hither and yon | 28:45 | |
| in all institutions of so-called higher education, | 28:49 | |
| but we were decidedly not foolish. | 28:55 | |
| And if we were not foolish, then how could God be foolish? | 29:00 | |
| For after all, | 29:05 | |
| was not God like us? | 29:06 | |
| I was reared as a Greek, as no doubt were most of you. | 29:11 | |
| Although to plebeian to be at home | 29:19 | |
| in the culture delights of Athens, | 29:21 | |
| we were Greeks nonetheless. | 29:25 | |
| We, Southwest Missourians, were Greeks | 29:28 | |
| and that we had chosen reasonableness and prudence | 29:32 | |
| as our ideals. | 29:36 | |
| And to these we added whatever were believed | 29:38 | |
| to be reasonable and prudent fellow travelers | 29:42 | |
| with reason and prudence. | 29:46 | |
| And so, I was taught to place my bets carefully. | 29:50 | |
| I was taught to expect to receive only what I had earned | 29:56 | |
| and to give to anyone only what she deserved. | 29:59 | |
| In the ethos of my so-called formative years, | 30:05 | |
| it was made plain that a successful person, | 30:10 | |
| that is someone who would benefit and earn the pride | 30:13 | |
| of his family and his community, | 30:16 | |
| should not fritter time away dreaming. | 30:20 | |
| Curiosity, whatever one might have of that commodity, | 30:24 | |
| should be directed toward whatever would feather | 30:29 | |
| someone's nest. | 30:32 | |
| Calculate what you do, | 30:35 | |
| always keeping an eye on the eventual return with interest | 30:38 | |
| of every investment. | 30:43 | |
| keep your nose clean, play the game, | 30:46 | |
| don't make a fool of yourself, | 30:50 | |
| And by all means, wear a clean pair of underwear | 30:52 | |
| in case you have an accident and are taken to the hospital. | 30:56 | |
| (people laughing faintly) | 30:59 | |
| Now, of course, it wasn't all that way, | 31:02 | |
| and some of us did not learn our lessons well. | 31:07 | |
| If all of us had learned that lesson, | 31:12 | |
| then maybe the free enterprise system would have worked | 31:15 | |
| and we would have all become fabulously wealthy | 31:20 | |
| and lived happily ever after. | 31:24 | |
| Anyway, | 31:28 | |
| we were taught that we should be out early in the day | 31:29 | |
| for the other birds getting worms and imitating ants | 31:33 | |
| and dealing with matters of consequence; | 31:38 | |
| something like the snatch of dialogue | 31:43 | |
| from the little prince. | 31:45 | |
| "'Don't you see?' I said to the prince. | 31:47 | |
| 'I am very busy with matters of consequence.' | 31:49 | |
| He stared at me thunderstruck. | 31:54 | |
| 'Matters of consequence?!' He said; | 31:57 | |
| and looked at me there with my hammer in my hand, | 31:59 | |
| my fingers black with engine grease, | 32:03 | |
| bending over an object, which to him was extremely ugly, | 32:05 | |
| 'You talk about just like a grownup.' | 32:09 | |
| And that made me a little ashamed. | 32:14 | |
| He was really very angry with me. | 32:17 | |
| He tossed his golden curls in the breeze | 32:20 | |
| and went on relentlessly: | 32:22 | |
| 'I know a planet where there is a certain | 32:24 | |
| red-faced Gentlemen. | 32:27 | |
| He's never smelled a flower, | 32:29 | |
| he's never looked at a star. | 32:32 | |
| He has never done anything in his life, | 32:34 | |
| but add up figures. | 32:37 | |
| And all day long he says, just like you, | 32:39 | |
| 'I am busy with matters of consequence, | 32:42 | |
| and that makes him swell up with pride, | 32:47 | |
| but he is not a man, he is a mushroom'." | 32:51 | |
| Now I don't believe that one should say bad things | 32:57 | |
| about mushrooms. | 33:01 | |
| I think that it's all well and good to be a mushroom, | 33:04 | |
| provided one was created to be a mushroom. | 33:08 | |
| But what if you were created to be a people | 33:12 | |
| and not a mushroom? | 33:14 | |
| And what if the gospel of the foolish and imprudent God | 33:18 | |
| is for people who are not always busy | 33:22 | |
| with matters of consequence? | 33:25 | |
| What if our salvation | 33:29 | |
| is dependent upon our at least entertaining the possibility, | 33:32 | |
| implausible though it may be, | 33:37 | |
| that there may be wisdom in foolishness. | 33:41 | |
| You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent | 33:46 | |
| and have revealed them to babes. | 33:51 | |
| Why did Jesus have to say that? | 33:56 | |
| Why should he have said that only a little child | 34:01 | |
| can see the kingdom? | 34:04 | |
| I agree with you, | 34:07 | |
| something about the ability to trust | 34:10 | |
| is being alluded to here, | 34:13 | |
| but couldn't more be involved? | 34:17 | |
| Did Jesus say what he said? | 34:21 | |
| Because he knew what you and I already know | 34:25 | |
| in the secret place of our own heart, | 34:30 | |
| that there is something about God, | 34:34 | |
| an essential, irreducible something | 34:39 | |
| central to God's nature and to our own being | 34:43 | |
| made well and whole, | 34:46 | |
| which cannot be known, | 34:50 | |
| cannot be entered into, | 34:52 | |
| cannot be received so long as you and I limit ourselves | 34:54 | |
| to that wise, calculating, adult, | 35:00 | |
| right-handed masture style | 35:05 | |
| of being in the world. | 35:07 | |
| Imagine | 35:11 | |
| that most of us need to believe that God is deliberate | 35:14 | |
| and purposeful. | 35:20 | |
| And therefore, | 35:24 | |
| I suspect that we are grateful that we can, with Paul, | 35:25 | |
| talk about the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. | 35:28 | |
| We recognize, of course, | 35:35 | |
| that her intentions are frequently obscure | 35:38 | |
| and her purposes run far deeper than we can hope to follow. | 35:43 | |
| So we say, "How unsearchable are his judgments | 35:47 | |
| and how inscrutable his ways". | 35:50 | |
| But all the while, | 35:54 | |
| we want to believe that his judgments, | 35:56 | |
| no matter how unsearchable, | 35:59 | |
| and her ways, no matter how inscrutable, | 36:01 | |
| are still wise and prudent as we have been taught | 36:05 | |
| to define wisdom and prudence. | 36:10 | |
| There are some people who, oddly enough, | 36:15 | |
| enjoy making comparisons between the teachings of Jesus | 36:20 | |
| and his contemporaries, such as Hillel or Epictetus. | 36:25 | |
| One purpose of this exercise seems to be | 36:32 | |
| to show that these teachers were as wise | 36:35 | |
| or wiser than Jesus. | 36:38 | |
| Well, that may be true. | 36:41 | |
| Perhaps Jesus wasn't the wisest person who ever lived. | 36:44 | |
| As a matter of fact, | 36:51 | |
| isn't the absence of wisdom one mark of his teaching? | 36:52 | |
| Why should we listen to him, if only with our ears, | 37:00 | |
| when he says to us, "Do not resist one who is evil, | 37:04 | |
| but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, | 37:08 | |
| turn to him the other also. | 37:11 | |
| And if anyone forces you to go one mile, | 37:13 | |
| go with him two miles." | 37:16 | |
| If you are looking for wise sayings my friend, | 37:20 | |
| surely that is not a wise saying. | 37:23 | |
| Why should you, why should I, | 37:29 | |
| listen to Jesus when he insists, | 37:32 | |
| "Love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you"? | 37:36 | |
| Is there anything more foolish than that? | 37:42 | |
| Or when he says, "Take no thought for your life | 37:47 | |
| what you shall eat or what you shall drink, | 37:51 | |
| nor yet, for your body what you shall put on." | 37:54 | |
| Do you know how long you would survive | 37:56 | |
| if you took that saying, that foolish saying | 37:59 | |
| and thought it wise? | 38:02 | |
| Why should we listen to that absurd man? | 38:06 | |
| And those foolish and imprudent words of his, | 38:11 | |
| it surely isn't because he or his words are prudent, | 38:16 | |
| nor can it be because we can justify their reasonableness | 38:22 | |
| or prove the truth of his being. | 38:28 | |
| If we listen to him at all with only a half an ear, | 38:32 | |
| it will be because we are willing to be open | 38:37 | |
| to the possibility that foolishness may sometimes be truth | 38:41 | |
| and truth may sound very foolish. | 38:46 | |
| It will be, I think. | 38:51 | |
| Because these words seem to answer. | 38:54 | |
| There's more reasonable and prudent words | 38:58 | |
| of other teachers do not | 39:01 | |
| to something strange and deep in the nature of the world | 39:04 | |
| and therefore in ourselves. | 39:12 | |
| I am to love my enemy because God sends his rain | 39:15 | |
| upon the just and the unjust and causes his sun | 39:20 | |
| to rise upon the evil and good alike. | 39:24 | |
| I am to be free from anxious care. | 39:29 | |
| Why? | 39:33 | |
| Because the birds do not sow or reap or gather into barns | 39:34 | |
| and yet God feeds them. | 39:41 | |
| And the lilies toil not nor spin | 39:44 | |
| and yet Solomon in all his glory | 39:47 | |
| was not clothed like even one of these. | 39:51 | |
| Could any words seem more foolish? | 39:56 | |
| And yet, something some of us sense in the world about us | 40:02 | |
| and in our own hearts | 40:08 | |
| will not permit us to forget those words | 40:11 | |
| nor allow us to deny their truth without qualification. | 40:16 | |
| We use the word "prodigal" | 40:23 | |
| in naming one of Jesus's parables, | 40:26 | |
| the parable of the prodigal son. | 40:28 | |
| The adjective might suitably be applied | 40:33 | |
| to more than one such story | 40:36 | |
| for it appears that our Lord's parables | 40:40 | |
| are filled with prodigals. | 40:45 | |
| And even in that particular one in Luke chapter 15, | 40:50 | |
| there are three prodigals: | 40:53 | |
| the son who wasted his life in a mean and cramped spirit, | 40:56 | |
| the son who wasted his inheritance | 41:01 | |
| in seeking, as we would say today, | 41:03 | |
| to actualize his potentialities and freedom, | 41:05 | |
| and the father who, so it seemed, | 41:10 | |
| wasted his love by giving it to a boy | 41:14 | |
| who did not deserve it. | 41:18 | |
| The prodigal, in a more profound sense, is the latter. | 41:21 | |
| The father dividing his wealth with the disobedient | 41:27 | |
| and unworthy son | 41:30 | |
| and then watching eagerly for this boy to return home | 41:32 | |
| and then running to meet him when he appears afar off, | 41:35 | |
| falling on his neck and kissing him | 41:39 | |
| and calling for fancy clothes for him | 41:41 | |
| and the fatted calf for a welcome home party. | 41:44 | |
| Was there ever such a foolish, such an imprudent, | 41:47 | |
| such a prodigal father as that? | 41:51 | |
| Jesus told many such stories. | 41:57 | |
| Do you remember the parable of the prodigal employer? | 42:01 | |
| The one who insisted on paying everyone a full day's wage | 42:07 | |
| no matter when during the day that person came to work? | 42:11 | |
| Do you remember the uncalculating and imprudent Samaritan | 42:16 | |
| whose care for a stranger overflows | 42:22 | |
| all bounds of reason and duty? | 42:25 | |
| Do you remember the foolish sower, | 42:30 | |
| most of whose seed is wasted, | 42:32 | |
| and the silly, silly host who fills the chairs | 42:34 | |
| at his banquet table with riffraff from off the back alleys | 42:38 | |
| of this world? | 42:42 | |
| We read about prodigal kindness | 42:45 | |
| from an imprudent God given in good measure, | 42:49 | |
| pressed down, shaken together, | 42:54 | |
| and as though that were not more than enough, running over. | 42:56 | |
| And doesn't the cross show this same foolishness, | 43:03 | |
| the same and calculating extravagant goodness? | 43:11 | |
| Wouldn't it have been wiser to understand | 43:18 | |
| that love cannot make its way where selfishness and fear | 43:22 | |
| are so firmly entrenched, | 43:26 | |
| that you really cannot afford to be so generous, | 43:30 | |
| so concerned about people, so giving up yourself, | 43:33 | |
| because if you are, then sooner or later, | 43:37 | |
| someone is bound to take advantage of you. | 43:39 | |
| Wouldn't it have been more prudent, more realistic | 43:45 | |
| to realize that something | 43:53 | |
| can go so terribly wrong with people | 43:56 | |
| that they cannot receive | 44:01 | |
| or even tolerate the goodness of God | 44:03 | |
| that they, you and I feel the judgment | 44:08 | |
| of that goodness so strongly | 44:12 | |
| that they, we, cannot bear the thought of it, | 44:14 | |
| much less the sight of it, | 44:18 | |
| and for this reason, nail the son of God to a tree | 44:20 | |
| and crucify the Lord of glory? | 44:24 | |
| And besides, | 44:31 | |
| it's all so foolish, | 44:35 | |
| so much against the grain of the calculating, prudent wisdom | 44:40 | |
| of this world; | 44:48 | |
| of our world, of the world you and I live in, | 44:50 | |
| and the world some of us are working like mad | 44:53 | |
| and becoming mad in the process of our working to create. | 44:56 | |
| Such a foolish, foolish God, | 45:03 | |
| Such an imprudent Messiah. | 45:08 | |
| It is no wonder that reasonable people, | 45:12 | |
| mature men and women such as you and I, | 45:18 | |
| people who in putting off childishness | 45:23 | |
| lost childlikeness as well. | 45:26 | |
| It is no wonder that we would call it all folly. | 45:30 | |
| But the word of the gospel is this, | 45:37 | |
| "In such pride, we cannot ultimately succeed | 45:44 | |
| for the foolishness of God is wiser than men | 45:52 | |
| and the weakness of God is stronger than men. | 45:58 | |
| If we would have peace, | 46:05 | |
| our wisdom must, in the end, | 46:09 | |
| yield to the wonder of God's folly, | 46:13 | |
| and our proud self-sufficiency | 46:19 | |
| give way to the relentless, though gentle, luring | 46:23 | |
| of God's imprudent love." | 46:29 | |
| Amen. | 46:34 | |
| Let us pray. | 46:36 | |
| We have tried to be worldly wise, | 46:46 | |
| we have tried to be calculating and prudent, O God, | 46:53 | |
| and we are still frightened, | 47:00 | |
| we are still driven, | 47:05 | |
| we are still defensive, we are not a whole. | 47:10 | |
| Do not give us up | 47:17 | |
| even when we ignore thee, | 47:20 | |
| when we deny thee, | 47:27 | |
| when we defy thee. | 47:30 | |
| O holy presence, holy spirit, | 47:34 | |
| come with healing in thy wings, | 47:39 | |
| lead us to the fountain of life | 47:44 | |
| whence living waters flow. | 47:47 | |
| Reveal unto us the everlasting arms, | 47:51 | |
| let us feel the healing power of Gilead's balm | 47:56 | |
| and make us whole by thy foolish, imprudent, | 48:01 | |
| amazing grace. | 48:08 | |
| Amen. | 48:10 | |
| ("Amazing Grace" playing) | 48:13 | |
| ♪ Amazing grace! How sweet the sound ♪ | 48:42 | |
| ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ | 48:50 | |
| ♪ I once was lost, but now am found ♪ | 48:57 | |
| ♪ Was blind, but now I see ♪ | 49:05 | |
| ♪ 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear ♪ | 49:13 | |
| ♪ And grace my fears relieved ♪ | 49:20 | |
| ♪ How precious did that grace appear ♪ | 49:28 | |
| ♪ The hour I first believed ♪ | 49:36 | |
| ♪ Through many dangers, toils, and snares ♪ | 49:44 | |
| ♪ I have already come ♪ | 49:52 | |
| ♪ 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far ♪ | 50:00 | |
| ♪ And grace will lead me home ♪ | 50:08 | |
| ♪ The Lord has promised good to me ♪ | 50:16 | |
| ♪ His Word my hope secures ♪ | 50:24 | |
| ♪ He will my shield and portion be ♪ | 50:32 | |
| ♪ As long as life endures ♪ | 50:40 | |
| ♪ Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail ♪ | 50:48 | |
| ♪ And mortal life shall cease ♪ | 50:57 | |
| ♪ I shall possess ♪ | 51:04 | |
| ♪ Within the veil ♪ | 51:09 | |
| ♪ A life of joy and peace ♪ | 51:13 | |
| (organ drowns singers) | 51:22 | |
| (objects rustling) | 51:31 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 51:37 | |
| (gentle organ music ends) | 52:51 | |
| (singers singing in foreign language) | 52:55 | |
| ♪ Hosana ♪ | 53:49 | |
| ♪ Hosana, hosana in excelsis ♪ | 53:52 | |
| ♪ Hosana, hosana ♪ | 53:57 | |
| ♪ In excelsis ♪ | 54:00 | |
| ♪ Hosana, hosana in excelsis ♪ | 54:04 | |
| ♪ Hosana, hosana in excelsis ♪ | 54:09 | |
| ♪ Hosana, hosana in excelsis ♪ | 54:15 | |
| (upbeat organ music) | 54:27 | |
| (slow tempo organ music) | 55:28 | |
| (organ music accelerates) | 55:47 | |
| (organ drowns singing) | 56:03 | |
| ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 56:15 | |
| (organ drowns singing) | 56:23 | |
| ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 56:35 | |
| ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 56:42 | |
| ♪ Alleluia ♪ | 56:48 | |
| (organ music ends) | 57:03 | |
| - | O God most merciful and gracious, | 57:05 |
| of whose bounty we have all received, | 57:08 | |
| accept this offering of thy people, | 57:11 | |
| remember in thy love those who have brought it | 57:15 | |
| and those for whom it is given, | 57:18 | |
| and so follow it with thy blessing | 57:22 | |
| that it may promote peace and goodwill among people | 57:24 | |
| and advance the kingdom | 57:28 | |
| of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. | 57:30 | |
| Amen. | 57:34 | |
| (upbeat organ music) | 57:36 | |
| (organ drowns singers) | 58:07 | |
| (organ music ends) | 1:00:31 | |
| Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly | 1:00:35 | |
| above all that we ask or think, | 1:00:38 | |
| according to the power that worketh in us, | 1:00:41 | |
| and to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus | 1:00:43 | |
| throughout all ages, world without end. | 1:00:46 | |
| (gentle organ music) | 1:00:50 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:53 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:00:58 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:01:03 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:01:07 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:01:14 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:01:21 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:01:29 | |
| (upbeat organ music) | 1:01:41 | |
| (upbeat organ music ends) | 1:07:29 | |
| (people laughing) | 1:07:34 |