William H. Willimon - "Seeing Is Believing" (January 25, 1987)

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	(dramatic organ music)	0:00
	(footsteps)	3:03
	(people talking)	3:08
	(footsteps)	3:20
-	Grace and peace to you in the name	4:44
	of the Lord Jesus Christ.	4:46
	We welcome you to this service of worship	4:48
	at Duke University Chapel	4:50
	on this third Sunday after Epiphany.	4:52
	And we also send greetings to all those	4:55
	in our television and radio audience.	4:57
	We pray that you will receive a blessing from this service.	4:59
	Our preacher for today is the Reverend Doctor	5:02
	William H. Willimon, minister to the university.	5:04
	This afternoon at five o' clock p.m. an organ recital	5:08
	will be presented by Yuko Hayashi	5:11
	of the New England Conservatory Faculty in Boston.	5:13
	All are invited.	5:17
	And on Wednesday and Thursday of this week,	5:19
	beginning at four o' clock p.m. a forum entitled	5:22
	Human Sexuality and Religious Perspectives	5:26
	will be held in the Von Canon Hall in the Bryan Center.	5:29
	Resource persons representing Protestant, Catholic	5:33
	and Jewish traditions will be present at this event	5:36
	and leading the discussions.	5:39
	The public is invited to attend.	5:41
	Please note the remaining announcements	5:44
	as they are printed in your bulletins.	5:46
	And now let us continue our worship.	5:49
	(footsteps)	5:52
	(choir softly singing)	6:09
	♪ Unto the Lord ♪	6:47
	♪ Behold ♪	6:51
	(choir voices blend together)	6:54
	(organ music)	7:16
	(congregation voices blend together)	7:52
	(shuffling)	10:14
	(organ music)	10:17
	(congregation voices blend together)	11:21
-	When we gather to praise God,	12:07
	we remember that we are a people	12:10
	who have preferred our own wills to the Lord's.	12:12
	Accepting God's power to become new persons in Christ,	12:16
	let us confess our sins before God and one another.	12:21
	Please be seated.	12:25
	(shuffling)	12:27
	(chairs squeaking)	12:29
	(Congregation joins) Almighty and most merciful God,	12:35
	who knoweth the thoughts of our hearts,	12:38
	we confess that we have sinned against thee	12:41
	and done evil in thy sight.	12:43
	We have transgressed thy holy laws we have neglected	12:46
	thy word and ordinances.	12:51
	Forgive us, oh Lord, we beseech thee	12:53
	and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things	12:56
	that, being delivered from the bondage of sin,	13:01
	we may bring forth fruit worthy of repentance	13:04
	and henceforth may ever walk in thy holy ways.	13:08
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	13:12
	Hear the good news.	13:17
	Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.	13:20
	That is God's own proof of his love toward us.	13:24
	In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.	13:28
Congregation	In the name of Jesus Christ,	13:33
	we are forgiven.	13:35
-	Amen.	13:37
	(papers shuffling)	13:38
	(footsteps)	13:41
-	Let us pray.	13:44
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God.	13:48
	By the power of your Holy Spirit	13:51
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	13:54
	as your holy table has spread	13:57
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	14:00
	Amen.	14:05
	The first lesson is taken from Isaiah.	14:07
	But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish.	14:12
	In the former time the Lord brought	14:16
	into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,	14:19
	but in the latter time God will make glorious	14:24
	the way of the sea,	14:27
	the land beyond the Jordan,	14:29
	Galilee of the nations.	14:31
	The people who walked in darkness	14:34
	have seen a great light;	14:36
	those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,	14:39
	on them has light shined.	14:42
	Thou hast multiplied the nation;	14:45
	thou hast increased its joy.	14:48
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	14:52
	(creaking)	14:55
	(organ music)	14:59
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	15:12
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	15:15
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	15:20
	♪ The Lord is the strong hold of my life ♪	15:27
	♪ I will never be afraid ♪	15:32
	♪ When evil ones try to kill me ♪	15:36
	♪ It is they who stumble and fall ♪	15:41
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	15:47
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	15:50
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	15:54
	♪ Though an army marches against me ♪	16:02
	♪ I will have no fear in my heart ♪	16:07
	♪ Thou war breaks out against me ♪	16:12
	♪ Even then would I trust in the Lord ♪	16:16
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	16:22
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	16:25
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	16:30
	♪ There is one thing I ask of the Lord ♪	16:37
	♪ For this only do I long ♪	16:43
	♪ To live in the Lord's house all my life ♪	16:47
	♪ To see the glory of the Lord ♪	16:52
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	16:58
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	17:02
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	17:06
	♪ Even time of trouble I shall be safe ♪	17:14
	♪ I will hide in your sheltering tent ♪	17:20
	♪ I shall be with dear God ♪	17:26
	♪ Lifted high up on a rock ♪	17:30
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	17:35
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	17:38
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	17:43
	♪ I shall triumph over my foes ♪	17:51
	♪ I will offer a sacrifice of joy ♪	17:56
	♪ I will sing a song ♪	18:02
	♪ I will sing praises to the Lord ♪	18:06
	♪ The Lord is my light ♪	18:11
	♪ The Lord is my refuge ♪	18:15
	♪ Of whom shall I be afraid ♪	18:19
	(organ music)	18:29
	♪ Glory be to God He reigns ♪	18:37
	♪ (Voices meld together) ♪	18:44
	♪ Glory be to Christ the Savior ♪	18:52
	♪ (Voices meld together) ♪	19:00
	(chairs squeaking)	19:00
-	The Gospel is taken from Matthew.	19:36
	Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested,	19:40
	he withdrew into Galilee and leaving Nazareth	19:45
	he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea	19:49
	in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,	19:53
	that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah	19:57
	might be fulfilled.	20:00
	The land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,	20:03
	toward the sea, across the Jordan,	20:06
	Galilee of the Gentiles.	20:09
	The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,	20:12
	and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death,	20:17
	light has dawned.	20:21
	From that time, Jesus began to preach saying,	20:24
	"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"	20:28
	As he walked by the Sea of Galilee,	20:33
	he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter,	20:35
	and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea,	20:40
	for they were fishermen.	20:45
	And he said to them,	20:47
	"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."	20:49
	Immediately they left their nets and followed him.	20:54
	And going on from there he saw two other brothers,	20:58
	James the son of Zebedee and John his brother,	21:03
	in the boat with Zebedee their father,	21:07
	mending their nets, and he called them.	21:10
	Immediately they left the boat	21:14
	and their father and followed them.	21:16
	This ends the reading of the Gospel.	21:21
	(papers shuffling)	21:24
-	Only a couple of weeks from now	21:32
	many otherwise rational people	21:36
	will be spending good money to buy a dozen red roses	21:40
	to send to their beloved	21:44
	when a three worded	21:46
	love note	21:52
	would say much the same and for a lot cheaper.	21:54
	Why do they send the roses?	21:58
	Because, they might respond,	22:00
	actions speak louder than words.	22:05
	Or as the character sings in the Broadway show,	22:08
	don't tell me, show me.	22:12
	And God knows this,	22:17
	because in the Bible, God not only speaks	22:19
	through words, the words of the law and the prophets,	22:25
	the sermons of Jesus, the letters of Paul,	22:29
	but God also is revealed through signs	22:32
	and symbols.	22:37
	"This shall be a sign unto you.	22:39
	You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes	22:41
	lying in a manger."	22:46
	A flag,	22:48
	a handshake,	22:51
	a kiss, a dozen red roses,	22:53
	a cross, a wedding ring, a loaf of bread,	22:55
	a chalice of wine.	22:59
	All of this signs,	23:02
	which say more than words.	23:05
	A symbol has a way of opening up a	23:10
	deeper level of reality than would be available to us	23:16
	without the symbol, without the sign.	23:21
	Try to explain to someone what you felt	23:25
	when you saw some magnificent painting	23:28
	when that person has never seen the painting.	23:33
	Try to explain to someone what you felt	23:36
	when you saw the movie last night	23:38
	when they've never seen the movie.	23:40
	It's difficult.	23:43
	Now, unfortunately, in our rather abstracted,	23:45
	word-oriented, verbal, rational, literal environment,	23:49
	particularly the kind we create around a university,	23:54
	it is easy to overlook the power of the symbolic.	24:01
	Sometimes, for instance, you hear protestant Christians	24:07
	say things like,	24:10
	"Oh the bread of Holy communion is just a symbol of Christ."	24:11
	Just a symbol?	24:18
	Talk of that kind implies that there	24:21
	is something more than the symbolic.	24:23
	Namely the verbal and the literal,	24:26
	but you see the point I'm trying to make	24:29
	is that nothing is merely a symbol.	24:31
	That something is not more than the symbolic, but less.	24:36
	It'd be more accurate to say that something	24:41
	is only a word because words tend to be generalized,	24:44
	abstract, vague, intangible.	24:50
	That lump in your throat that you feel	24:55
	when you see our country's flag	24:58
	pass by in a parade	25:00
	or the cross a top your church's steeple.	25:02
	Or, for that matter, a Nazi swastika	25:06
	or a Ku Klux Klan burning cross.	25:11
	Can you really say these are just symbols?	25:13
	It is part of the very nature of symbols	25:20
	that they evoke, they open up a level of reality	25:23
	which would be inaccessible to us	25:28
	without reference to the symbol.	25:31
	You just can't say it any other way.	25:32
	And of course for us Christians, Jesus is the supreme	25:37
	visible, tangible expression of God's love.	25:42
	As the scriptures today say,	25:47
	"The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light."	25:49
	The people who once could only hear and speak now see.	25:55
	The scripture we love to read at Christmas,	26:02
	"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.	26:05
	Full of grace and truth we beheld his glory,	26:09
	the glory of the only begotten of the Father.	26:12
	And from his fullness we have received grace upon grace.	26:15
	Now no one has ever seen God.	26:19
	The only son, who was in the bosom of the Father,	26:25
	he has made him known."	26:29
	And sometimes we get confused	26:34
	into thinking that Christianity	26:37
	is mainly a spiritual matter.	26:38
	As if our faith was mostly a matter of heavenly, ethereal,	26:42
	intangible, other worldly, spiritual things.	26:47
	But nothing could be further from this faith	26:51
	as Jesus presented it.	26:54
	You know how Jesus had a way of taking	26:58
	the everyday stuff of life coins, and mustard seeds,	27:00
	and the lilies of the field and water, bread, wine,	27:05
	and using this stuff	27:11
	to help open up	27:15
	the presence of God right here in our midst.	27:16
	Jesus was God in the flesh.	27:21
	By his very presence, Jesus witnessed to the love of a God	27:24
	who in God's great love chose to reveal himself	27:32
	through earthly, physical, tangible, material	27:35
	objects and actions.	27:39
	As John Calvin says in his Institutes,	27:43
	"God never forgets that we are animals,	27:45
	and so God chooses to deal with us in ways	27:50
	that are thoroughly creaturely."	27:52
	Ways that creatures can understand	27:55
	like water and wine and bread.	27:58
	I think one of the main differences between Christianity	28:04
	and religions which have no incarnation	28:08
	is this attitude toward material things.	28:12
	Archbishop William Temple says,	28:18
	"Christianity is the most avowedly materialistic	28:21
	of all the world's great religions."	28:24
	There may be religions	28:27
	in which	28:31
	in which the stuff of life food and this earth	28:32
	are looked upon as evil	28:36
	or as an impediment towards religious growth,	28:38
	but Christianity is not one of those religions.	28:42
	The difference between Christianity and a religion	28:46
	which has not incarnation of the difference	28:48
	between receiving a love note from someone you love	28:50
	and an embrace from somebody you love.	28:53
	The note is fine, the words are okay,	28:56
	but nothing beats the embrace.	28:58
	And every time we look at Jesus we're reminded	29:03
	that our God was not content to stay aloof up	29:06
	in the clouds in some spiritual Shangri-La	29:08
	but our God came here in this earth where we live	29:11
	in the flesh.	29:18
	Some people look for a religion which is weird,	29:22
	other worldly, ethereal,	29:27
	angelic, spiritual,	29:30
	untouched by human hands and Mother Earth.	29:32
	Christianity is not that kind of religion.	29:37
	We believe that you cannot separate body from soul,	29:41
	sex from love, job from vocation,	29:45
	earth from heaven, money from religion.	29:48
	"God likes matter," declared C.S. Lewis,	29:54
	"because God invented it."	29:57
	And we can thank God	30:01
	because we know that we are flesh and blood, men, women,	30:04
	we live here on earth,	30:11
	not in some spiritual Shangri-La.	30:15
	Here.	30:20
	With Junior's spilled oatmeal in the mornings,	30:22
	and with cancer that does not heal,	30:26
	with gnawing hunger and parched lips,	30:30
	this is where we live,	30:34
	and this is where God chooses to meet us.	30:37
	Israel always saw food as a gift from God.	30:43
	We get our custom of saying grace before we eat meals	30:47
	from the Jews.	30:50
	And that is a sort of stunning activity,	30:53
	when you think about it,	30:55
	to sit down with something so creaturely and mundane	30:56
	as the consumption of food	30:59
	and to say this act is holy.	31:02
	The presence of this stuff reminds us	31:06
	of the ever present love of God	31:09
	who gives us what we need.	31:11
	Israel's God was the God who gave manna in the wilderness	31:14
	and water from the rock.	31:17
	The ravens fed Elijah to keep God's prophet from perishing.	31:19
	Here is a God who, according to the Psalmist,	31:24
	"satisfies the one who is thirsty	31:27
	and the hungry fills with good things."	31:31
	That glorious line from Psalm 34,	31:34
	"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."	31:38
	So how typical of Jesus.	31:44
	How very Jewish of Jesus.	31:46
	When he came to the end of his earthly ministry,	31:49
	together with his friends	31:52
	in an upper room	31:55
	and engage in one of the most common,	31:57
	everyday of human activities,	32:00
	the sharing of food with friends.	32:04
	And to lift this up as an image of his entire ministry.	32:07
	At all those meals,	32:16
	when Jesus broke bread with his disciples,	32:18
	we beheld the glory of God.	32:21
	Right here as close as the food we eat,	32:24
	the things we touch and hold dear,	32:27
	the Lord Jesus on the night	32:32
	in which he was betrayed took bread.	32:33
	And when he had given thanks, he broke the bread and said,	32:37
	"This is my body given for you."	32:40
	Now of course, Christ, we believe, is always present	32:46
	everywhere at every time and place	32:49
	but we believe that he is particularly	32:53
	intensely present here at the table.	32:56
	If Christ were contained in every rock and glade and tree	33:02
	as a pantheist claims,	33:05
	it wouldn't make much sense to talk about his presence.	33:08
	We don't often talk about the presence of oxygen.	33:11
	A fish is probably not particularly	33:15
	impressed by the presence of water.	33:17
	No, while God is universally present	33:21
	at all times and places,	33:25
	it's important not to let this universal presence	33:28
	swallow up the particular presence.	33:31
	Those moments in life when we experience	33:35
	the nearness of God with particular	33:38
	and undeniable intensity.	33:40
	Would we ever experience the universal presence of God	33:45
	if we were not pointed to that presence by a host	33:48
	of signs and symbols and moments.	33:50
	It is part of our human need to seek some ark,	33:54
	some tabernacle, some holy of holies,	33:58
	some place, some time set apart	34:00
	when God seems (clears throat)	34:04
	near and real to us.	34:06
	Things,	34:09
	like a Bible,	34:12
	or bread, or wine or this building	34:14
	or other people seated next to you.	34:16
	These become illuminations, catalysts	34:20
	by which we experience the presence of God.	34:23
	As Leo the Great once said of the Lord's Supper,	34:26
	"It makes conspicuous the presence of God."	34:30
	Without the bread, without the wine,	34:36
	without the congregation, without...	34:37
	we might miss that presence.	34:41
	In a sermon Saint Augustine said,	34:44
	"It is not that the church take some ordinary, unholy bread	34:49
	and sticks it on the altar and then some priest	34:54
	says a prayer over it and makes it holy.	34:56
	No, it is that the priest takes that ordinary,	35:00
	every day bread and points to it and says,	35:05
	gift of God, holy."	35:09
	Of course there's always someone seated	35:13
	on the third or fourth row who says,	35:15
	"Wait a minute.	35:16
	That bread up on the altar looks suspiciously	35:18
	like the bread I had for breakfast this morning.	35:20
	When I ate it for breakfast, I didn't think of it as holy."	35:24
	To which the church says,	35:29
	Yes.	35:31
	That's the point.	35:32
	So maybe after you eat this bread here you'll go back	35:35
	and eat breakfast differently tomorrow morning.	35:38
	You'll be able to see the near presence of God	35:43
	in just the stuff of life.	35:47
	On the night in which he was betrayed and given up to death,	35:52
	the Lord Jesus gathered with his disciples,	35:55
	and he took bread and he blessed it	35:59
	and gave it.	36:02
	He blessed bread.	36:05
	One of the most basic and ordinary of human creations.	36:08
	Before the bread, there had been the seed scattered	36:13
	across the Judean hillside	36:17
	and then there was the farmer to plow the seed	36:20
	and then it was fertilized and the rains watered the earth	36:24
	and the seed grew and then it was harvested and gathered	36:28
	and ground into flour and the flour was mixed	36:32
	with the shortening and the milk and the salt, the yeast.	36:36
	It became batter and then dough and then human hands	36:39
	kneaded it and shaped it into loaves	36:43
	and then it was baked to golden brown	36:45
	and all of the that, the soil, the seed,	36:47
	the sower, the miller, the baker, the earthly,	36:53
	the corporeal, the commercial, the creaturely,	36:58
	the material, this stuff of every day life,	37:00
	it was blessed.	37:05
	Claimed by Christ.	37:07
	This visible sign of God's presence,	37:09
	it all became sacramental.	37:11
	Never again after that blessing	37:17
	can you look upon a field of grain	37:21
	or a pair of human hands	37:26
	or a loaf of bread	37:29
	or a slice of breakfast toast	37:32
	in quite the same way,	37:36
	in quite the same casual way.	37:39
	Seeing is believing.	37:42
	(footsteps)	37:49
	(organ music)	37:54
	(shuffling)	38:06
	(voices of congregation blend together)	38:18
-	The Lord be with you.	39:12
Congregation	And also with you.	39:14
-	Let us pray.	39:15
	(shuffling)	39:17
	(chairs squeaking)
	Our kind and gracious God,	39:32
	as we bow in reverence before thy infinite majesty,	39:36
	lead us into the blessedness of the mystery	39:41
	of true communion with thee.	39:43
	Bestow upon us the peace which quiets every misgiving.	39:47
	And the trust which fills the soul with gladness.	39:52
	We offer now these prayers for others,	39:57
	asking that we may learn to serve thee	40:00
	with generous hearts.	40:02
	Let us pray for peace in our world.	40:06
	For the people of South Africa,	40:10
	Central America, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Northern Ireland,	40:13
	bestow upon the leaders of all the nations the wisdom	40:19
	to rule justly and the courage to do so with compassion	40:23
	and forgiveness.	40:28
	Let us pray for the sick and for the afflicted.	40:31
	For those suffering from chronic or terminal disease,	40:36
	from mental illness or the problems of aging.	40:41
	Provide for them homes of dignity and peace.	40:45
	Let us pray for the poor and the neglected.	40:50
	Bless them with thy healing presence, oh God,	40:54
	and use us, thy servants,	40:58
	as vessels of grace in their midst.	41:00
	Let us pray for thy holy Catholic church.	41:03
	Fill it with all truth and in all truth with all peace.	41:08
	Where it is right, strengthen it.	41:13
	Where it is in want, provide for it.	41:16
	Where is is divided, reunite it.	41:20
	Let us pray for those who are surrounded by injustice,	41:26
	terror, disease and death.	41:29
	Heal the broken, comfort the dying, strengthen the fearful.	41:34
	Bless those who battle against injustice	41:41
	and alert each of us to the manner	41:44
	in which we may contribute to a better world.	41:45
	These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	41:51
	whose light shines into the darkness for all eternity.	41:55
	Amen.	42:01
	And now, in the spirit of thanksgiving,	42:06
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	42:08
	(organ music)	42:15
	(footsteps)	42:20
	(shuffling)	42:44
	(coughing)	43:18
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	43:39
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	43:46
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	43:54
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	43:58
	♪ Tell among the people ♪	44:02
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	44:04
	♪ The deeds ♪	44:07
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	44:12
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord ♪	44:19
	♪ Sing praises, praises to the Lord ♪	44:22
	(organ music)	44:30
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	44:36
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	44:38
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	44:42
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	44:46
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	44:49
	(dramatic organ music)	44:52
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	45:04
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	45:10
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	45:18
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	45:22
	♪ Tell among the people ♪	45:26
	♪ Tell among the people the deeds ♪	45:28
	♪ The deeds ♪	45:31
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	45:37
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord ♪	45:43
	♪ Sing praises ♪	45:46
	♪ Praises to the Lord ♪	45:47
	(dramatic organ music)	45:54
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	46:01
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	46:03
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	46:07
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	46:10
	♪ Who dwells in Zion ♪	46:13
	(dramatic organ music)	46:17
	♪ The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed ♪	46:33
	♪ A stronghold in times of trouble ♪	46:39
	♪ And those who know thy name ♪	46:42
	♪ Put their trust in thee ♪	46:45
	♪ For thou the Lord has not forsaken those who seek thee ♪	46:49
	♪ The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed ♪	46:56
	♪ A stronghold in times of trouble ♪	47:00
	♪ And those who know thy name ♪	47:04
	♪ Put their trust in thee ♪	47:07
	♪ For thou the Lord has not forsaken those who seek thee ♪	47:10
	♪ The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed ♪	47:18
	♪ A stronghold in times of trouble ♪	47:22
	♪ And those who know thy name ♪	47:26
	♪ Put their trust in thee ♪	47:29
	(dramatic organ music)	47:33
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	47:41
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	47:48
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord ♪	47:55
	♪ Sing praises ♪	47:57
	♪ Praises to the Lord ♪	47:59
	♪ (Softly) Tell among the people ♪	48:05
	♪ (Louder) Tell among the people ♪	48:10
	♪ (Louder) Tell among the people ♪	48:15
	♪ (Louder) Tell among the people ♪	48:19
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	48:24
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	48:31
	♪ Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion ♪	48:38
	♪ Dwells in Zion ♪	48:43
	(organ music)	48:51
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	49:19
	♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪	49:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:31
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:35
	♪ Praise God above ye heavenly hosts ♪	49:39
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	49:45
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:51
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:54
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:01
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:04
	♪ Amen ♪	50:12
-	The Lord be with you.	50:23
Congregation	And also with you.	50:25
-	Lift up your hearts.	50:26
Congregation	We lift them to the Lord.	50:28
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	50:29
Congregation	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	50:32
-	It is truly right to glorify you, oh God,	50:35
	creator and sovereign of the universe.	50:38
	You call all worlds into being	50:41
	by your appointment the seasons come and go.	50:44
	You bring forth bread from the earth	50:47
	and create the fruit of the vine.	50:49
	You made us in your image	50:51
	and gave us dominion over the world.	50:52
	Earth yielded its treasure and	50:55
	from your hand we receive blessing on blessing.	50:57
	Therefore, with all your people and all ages	51:01
	in the whole company of heaven,	51:05
	glorifying joining with them and giving voice	51:08
	for every creature under heaven we acclaim you	51:11
	and glorify your name as we say,	51:13
	(congregation joins) Holy, holy, holy Lord,	51:16
	God of power and might,	51:18
	heaven and earth are full of your glory.	51:21
	Hosanna in the highest.	51:23
	Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.	51:25
	Hosanna in the highest.	51:29
	We remember with joy Holy God	51:31
	and bless you for your boundless love	51:34
	through your son Jesus Christ	51:37
	though he was rich, for our sake, he became poor.	51:39
	When he was hungry, he resisted temptation	51:43
	to make bread for himself	51:45
	that he might be the bread of life for others.	51:47
	When the multitudes were hungry he fed them.	51:51
	He broke bread with those whom others scorned.	51:53
	The greedy he drove out of the temple.	51:56
	On the night he offered himself up for us,	51:59
	he took bread and gave thanks to you,	52:01
	broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,	52:04
	"Take, eat, this is my body given for you.	52:07
	Do this in remembrance of me."	52:11
	And when the supper was over he took the cup	52:14
	and gave thanks to you	52:16
	and gave it to his disciples and said,	52:17
	"Drink ye all of this.	52:20
	This is the blood of the new covenant	52:21
	poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins."	52:24
	On the day you raised him from the dead,	52:29
	he was recognized by his disciples	52:31
	in the breaking of bread	52:33
	and continued to appear in their midst.	52:36
	As he ate in the presence and gave them food	52:39
	in the power of the Holy Spirit.	52:42
	Granted in praise and thanksgiving,	52:44
	we now may be a living sacrifice,	52:47
	holy and acceptable to your will	52:49
	that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith.	52:51
	(congregation joins) Christ has died.	52:54
	Christ is risen.	52:56
	Christ will come again.	52:58
	Send the power of your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts.	53:00
	And through your son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit,	53:04
	in your holy church all glory and honor be yours,	53:07
	Almighty God, now and forever.	53:09
	Amen.	53:13
	(Congregation joins) Our Father, who art in heaven,	53:14
	Hallowed be thy Name.	53:17
	Thy Kingdom come.	53:19
	Thy will be done in earth,	53:21
	as it is in heaven.	53:22
	Give us this day our daily bread.	53:24
	And forgive us our trespasses,	53:27
	as we forgive them that trespass against us.	53:29
	And lead us not into temptation,	53:32
	but deliver us from evil.	53:34
	For thine is the kingdom,	53:36
	and the power, and the glory,	53:38
	Forever.	53:40
	Amen.	53:41
	When we break the bread,	53:44
	is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ?	53:45
	When we give thanks over the cup,	53:50
	is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ?	53:52
	Be seated.	53:57
	(organ music)	53:59
	(shuffling)	54:07
	(chair squeaks)	54:11
	(footsteps)	54:18
	♪ Tell myself my soul will (voices blend together) ♪	55:06
	(organ music)	56:21
	♪ (Choir voices blend together) ♪	56:39
	(footsteps)	59:09
	(organ music)	59:16
	(coughs)	59:34
	(shuffling)	59:36
	♪ Bread of the world in (voices blend together) ♪	1:02:18
	♪ My heart and soul will trust thee (voices blend) ♪	1:02:27
	♪ My whole (voices blend together) ♪	1:02:36
	♪ (Choir voices blend together) ♪	1:02:45
	(organ music)	1:02:56
	♪ (Choir voices blend together) ♪	1:02:58
	(Choir voices blend together)	1:02:59
-	Let us pray.	1:05:12
	We give you thanks Almighty God	1:05:13
	that you have refreshed us through the healing power	1:05:15
	of this gift of life.	1:05:19
	We pray that in your mercy that you would strengthen us	1:05:21
	in faith toward you, in fervent love toward one another	1:05:24
	for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.	1:05:27
	Amen.	1:05:31
	(organ music)	1:05:34
	♪ Hail to the Lord's Anointed ♪	1:06:17
	♪ Great David's greater Son ♪	1:06:22
	♪ Hail in the time appointed ♪	1:06:28
	♪ His reign on earth begun ♪	1:06:33
	♪ He comes to break oppression ♪	1:06:39
	♪ To set the captive free ♪	1:06:44
	♪ To take away transgression ♪	1:06:49
	♪ And rule in equity. ♪	1:06:55
	♪ He comes with succor speedy ♪	1:07:02
	♪ To those who suffer wrong ♪	1:07:08
	♪ To help the poor and needy ♪	1:07:13
	♪ And bid the weak be strong ♪	1:07:19
	♪ To give them songs for sighing ♪	1:07:24
	♪ Their darkness turn to light ♪	1:07:30
	♪ Whose souls, condemned and dying ♪	1:07:35
	♪ Are precious in his sight ♪	1:07:41
	♪ He shall come down like showers ♪	1:07:49
	♪ Upon the fruitful earth ♪	1:07:54
	♪ Love, joy, and hope, like flowers ♪	1:08:00
	♪ Spring in his path to birth ♪	1:08:05
	♪ Before him on the mountains ♪	1:08:10
	♪ Shall peace, the herald, go ♪	1:08:16
	♪ And righteousness, in fountains ♪	1:08:21
	♪ From hill to valley flow ♪	1:08:27
	♪ To him shall prayer unceasing ♪	1:08:35
	♪ And daily vows ascend ♪	1:08:39
	♪ His kingdom still increasing ♪	1:08:45
	♪ A kingdom without end ♪	1:08:50
	♪ The tide of time shall never ♪	1:08:56
	♪ His covenant remove ♪	1:09:01
	♪ His name shall stand forever ♪	1:09:07
	♪ That name to us is love ♪	1:09:12
-	Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ	1:09:24
	the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:09:27
	go forth and be with you now and always.	1:09:30
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:42
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:47
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:52
	(organ music)	1:10:07
	(shuffling)	1:10:12

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Seeing Is Believing" (January 25, 1987)

Description:

Sermon start time: 21:32. Sermon end time: 37:47.
The preacher argues that the Incarnation is both visible and tangible and therefore supreme symbol that expresses and reveals God's love. Jesus witnesses to a God who chose to use earthly physical objects and actions to convey revelation. The preacher moves Holy Communion as a sign of God’s particular material presence in the Church. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “It is part of the very nature of symbols that they evoke, they open up a level of reality which would be inaccessible to us without reference to the symbol.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r40c4t09n

Date:

January 25, 1987

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Isaiah

Chapter and Verse:

Isaiah 9:1-4

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0018
ref8284_qq9
uachapelsermaud
duke:321360
dcrmv001018
ark:/87924/r40c4t09n
b0028756-3cec-4063-921a-b058ee6a0a82

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "Seeing Is Believing" (January 25, 1987)

Transcript

Item Info

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Duke University Archives