William H. Willimon - "Sin" (July 5, 1987)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
- | The epistle lesson today | 0:19 |
is from Paul's letter to the Romans. | 0:21 | |
I do not understand my own actions | 0:26 | |
for I do not do what I want | 0:29 | |
but I do the very thing that I hate. | 0:32 | |
Now if I do what I do not want, | 0:35 | |
I agree that the Lord is good | 0:37 | |
so then it is no longer I that do it | 0:39 | |
but sin which dwells within me | 0:41 | |
for I know that nothing good dwells within me | 0:45 | |
that is in my flesh. | 0:48 | |
I can rule what is right | 0:50 | |
but I cannot do it | 0:52 | |
for I do not do the good that I want | 0:55 | |
but the evil that I do not want | 0:57 | |
is what I do. | 1:00 | |
Now if I do what I do not want, | 1:02 | |
it is no longer I that do it but sin | 1:03 | |
which dwells within me. | 1:07 | |
So, I find it to be a law | 1:09 | |
that when I want to do right, | 1:11 | |
evil lies close at and. | 1:13 | |
I delight in the law of God | 1:16 | |
in my inmost self | 1:17 | |
but I see in my members | 1:20 | |
another law at war with the law of my mind | 1:22 | |
and making me captive to the law of sin, | 1:27 | |
wretched man that I am, | 1:31 | |
who will deliver me from this body of death? | 1:33 | |
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 1:37 | |
So, then I of myself serve the law of God | 1:42 | |
with my mind but with my flesh | 1:44 | |
I serve the law of sin. | 1:46 | |
There's therefore no condemnation | 1:50 | |
for those who are in Christ Jesus | 1:54 | |
for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus | 1:57 | |
has set me free from the law of sin and death. | 2:00 | |
For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh | 2:04 | |
could not do. | 2:08 | |
Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh | 2:10 | |
and for sin. | 2:14 | |
He condemned sin in the flesh | 2:15 | |
in order that the just requirement | 2:18 | |
of the law might be fulfilled in us | 2:20 | |
who walk not according to the flesh | 2:22 | |
but according to the spirit | 2:24 | |
for those who live according to the flesh set minds | 2:28 | |
on things of the flesh | 2:30 | |
but those who live according to the spirit | 2:32 | |
set their mind on things of the spirit. | 2:36 | |
To set the mind on the flesh is death | 2:39 | |
but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. | 2:43 | |
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile | 2:47 | |
to God and does not submit to God's law, | 2:49 | |
indeed it cannot | 2:52 | |
but you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit. | 2:54 | |
Given the fact the spirit of God dwells in you, | 2:58 | |
anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ | 3:02 | |
does not belong to him | 3:04 | |
but if Christ is in you, | 3:06 | |
although your bodies are dead because of sin, | 3:09 | |
your spirits are alive because of righteousness | 3:12 | |
and if the spirit of him who raised Jesus | 3:16 | |
from the dead dwells in you, | 3:18 | |
he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead | 3:20 | |
will give to your mortal bodies also | 3:23 | |
through his spirit which dwells in you. | 3:27 | |
Isn't this typical? | 3:38 | |
You drag yourself out of bed | 3:41 | |
and come to church | 3:42 | |
and on your vacation too. | 3:44 | |
On a bright summer Sunday and what is the theme for the day? | 3:47 | |
Sin. | 3:53 | |
Out there it's all fireworks and flags and parades | 3:55 | |
but in the church it's sackcloth and ashes. | 3:59 | |
What did the preacher preach on today, Calvin, | 4:05 | |
asked Mrs. Coolidge. | 4:07 | |
Sin, replied the taciturn president. | 4:10 | |
Well, Calvin, what did he say about sin? | 4:14 | |
He said he was against it. | 4:16 | |
But of course that was another day, | 4:20 | |
when preachers still knew the word. | 4:23 | |
Today one is not likely to hear about sin | 4:26 | |
from mainline liberal progressive pulpits | 4:31 | |
or even conservative ones, | 4:33 | |
for today's preachers have exchanged the I am not okay, | 4:36 | |
you're not okay of the past | 4:40 | |
for I'm okay, you're okay. | 4:42 | |
Think positively says Dr. Peel, | 4:46 | |
and for $7.95, Dr. Schuller will teach you | 4:50 | |
the Be Happy Attitudes. | 4:53 | |
Sin, sin is something unpleasant | 4:57 | |
that we put behind us. | 5:00 | |
If it is mentioned at all | 5:03 | |
in places like this, | 5:05 | |
sin is usually social or corporate or systemic. | 5:06 | |
Sin isn't us, it's not you, not me as individuals, | 5:11 | |
sin is something that they're doing in Nicaragua | 5:14 | |
or at the CIA, or sin is something | 5:17 | |
that those evil people up in Washington | 5:20 | |
or in Moscow do, it's not us. | 5:22 | |
You, you and I are doing the best | 5:24 | |
that we can as individuals. | 5:26 | |
Lack of self-esteem is our real problem. | 5:31 | |
We think too little of ourselves. | 5:38 | |
Of course the curious thing | 5:43 | |
is that even as preachers are picking up | 5:44 | |
on self-esteem and self-affirmation, | 5:48 | |
that all of this is occurring precisely at a time | 5:51 | |
when psychology is amassing a great deal of data | 5:53 | |
to suggest that St. Paul was right. | 5:59 | |
The good that we intend to do, | 6:05 | |
we cannot. | 6:09 | |
As Paul says we can in our minds | 6:13 | |
want to do right, | 6:16 | |
but somehow we can't do right. | 6:18 | |
What's wrong? | 6:20 | |
A war is going on in me, says Paul. | 6:23 | |
Now since psychology helped to explain much | 6:30 | |
of our sin away, | 6:33 | |
it might be helpful for psychology | 6:34 | |
to help us rediscover some of its reality. | 6:37 | |
For instance, studies of human personality | 6:40 | |
suggest that there is ample evidence | 6:44 | |
for the Bible's repeated insistence | 6:49 | |
that pride is still the number one human problem. | 6:52 | |
First, psychologists tell us that you and I display | 6:58 | |
what they call a self-serving bias. | 7:03 | |
We tend to take more responsibility | 7:08 | |
for our successes than for our failures. | 7:10 | |
For instance, researchers asked people | 7:14 | |
to perform some simple mathematical test | 7:17 | |
and after they got through they arbitrarily told some people | 7:21 | |
that they had flunked the test | 7:23 | |
and others that they had passed it. | 7:25 | |
Well, I've never been good at mathematics | 7:29 | |
said those who failed. | 7:31 | |
Well, I've always been fairly good in math | 7:34 | |
said those who were told that they succeeded. | 7:37 | |
When we fail at some game, we call it rotten luck. | 7:43 | |
When I succeed at some game, | 7:47 | |
it's because of my superior skill and ability. | 7:49 | |
When I fail at Scrabble, | 7:54 | |
I always say who can get anywhere in this game | 7:58 | |
with a Q and no U, | 8:01 | |
but when I win it's because of my verbal ability. | 8:03 | |
Second, psychologists have noted | 8:08 | |
that you and I suffer repeatedly | 8:10 | |
from favorably biased self-assessment, | 8:12 | |
not negative self-assessment. | 8:15 | |
Drivers, even those who've been hospitalized | 8:18 | |
after a serious traffic accident | 8:22 | |
consistently rate themselves better | 8:25 | |
than average when asked to compare their driving habits | 8:27 | |
in regard to the safety of others. | 8:32 | |
A few months ago, the Educational Testing Service | 8:35 | |
in Princeton asked one million high school seniors | 8:38 | |
to indicate how you compare with other people your age. | 8:42 | |
60% rated themselves as better athletes than their peers | 8:49 | |
and only 6% as worse in athletic ability. | 8:54 | |
In leadership ability, | 8:58 | |
70% said that they were above average, 2% below. | 9:00 | |
And in ability to get along with other people, | 9:06 | |
zero rated themselves below average, | 9:10 | |
and 25% rated themselves in the top 1%. | 9:14 | |
How do I love me? | 9:20 | |
Let me count the ways. | 9:22 | |
And if this is true in everyday life, | 9:26 | |
how much more so it seems to be true | 9:29 | |
in the religious life. | 9:31 | |
Reinhold Niebuhr, who understood our human condition | 9:34 | |
about as well as any contemporary theologian I know, | 9:37 | |
once wrote of the Christian life, | 9:40 | |
"One of the hazards of the Christian life | 9:44 | |
"is that the more you're successful at it, | 9:47 | |
"the more you're subject to various forms | 9:50 | |
"of pride and exhibitionism. | 9:52 | |
"I give myself in one moment to a cause | 9:55 | |
"of the Lord and then I discover in the next moment, | 9:57 | |
"a fleeting honesty, | 10:01 | |
"that I haven't given myself to the Lord at all | 10:03 | |
"but that the self stands outside of myself giving, asking. | 10:06 | |
"Does anybody notice me and my virtue? | 10:12 | |
"Does anybody give me proper credit?" | 10:16 | |
Is it therefore any wonder that psychology | 10:21 | |
has also shown that we consistently tend | 10:23 | |
to overestimate the goodness of our actions. | 10:27 | |
A few years ago in Indiana, | 10:33 | |
people were asked to volunteer | 10:34 | |
to collect for the Cancer Fund, only 4% agreed. | 10:35 | |
That may not seem so surprising to you | 10:41 | |
but it is interesting since a couple of months before, | 10:43 | |
the same people were asked in a study | 10:46 | |
to indicate how they would react | 10:48 | |
if they would receive such a request. | 10:51 | |
And over 70% predicted they would say yes. | 10:53 | |
We've been celebrating this weekend, | 10:59 | |
our holiday of national independence, | 11:01 | |
and you can imagine | 11:03 | |
that what can be said of us as individuals | 11:04 | |
can also be said of us as nations. | 11:06 | |
Not long ago I came across the preamble | 11:11 | |
to the Charter of the United Nations, | 11:14 | |
drawn up on June 1945. | 11:18 | |
Listen to these words | 11:22 | |
on July 5th, 1987. | 11:24 | |
"We the people of the United Nations, | 11:28 | |
"determined to save succeeding generations from war, | 11:32 | |
"to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights | 11:36 | |
"and the dignity and the worth of the human person, | 11:38 | |
"of the equal rights of men and women of nations, | 11:42 | |
"large and small, | 11:45 | |
"to practice tolerance and to live together in peace | 11:47 | |
"as good neighbors, | 11:50 | |
"have resolved now to combine our efforts | 11:52 | |
"and to use our energies to accomplish these goals." | 11:56 | |
And how hollow these words sound | 12:02 | |
after 40 years of contemporary history. | 12:04 | |
The good that we would do, we cannot says Paul. | 12:09 | |
We see ourselves as individuals, | 12:19 | |
as nations, as much better | 12:22 | |
than we are. | 12:26 | |
All of this suggests | 12:31 | |
that we suffer from a superiority complex | 12:32 | |
rather than inferiority. | 12:37 | |
Of course you may be saying, wait a minute, | 12:39 | |
I hear people put themselves down, | 12:42 | |
sometimes I do feel inferior. | 12:44 | |
True. | 12:47 | |
And research indicates that some do not suffer | 12:49 | |
from this self-serving bias to the degree of others. | 12:51 | |
In fact, research indicates | 12:54 | |
that women much less so than men. | 12:56 | |
And yet even in our moments of honesty | 13:00 | |
we know that even our self-disparagement | 13:02 | |
can also be a tactic of self-service. | 13:04 | |
We quickly learn in life | 13:10 | |
that by putting ourselves down | 13:11 | |
can be a way of eliciting strokes from others. | 13:13 | |
Come on now, they say, don't be so hard on yourself, | 13:17 | |
you're really not as bad as all that. | 13:19 | |
I know I've seen lots of people who are heavier than you. | 13:23 | |
From what roots did the Nazi Holocaust and | 13:33 | |
the Nazi terror spring? | 13:35 | |
From German national feelings of inferiority | 13:38 | |
or from feelings of national and racial superiority? | 13:41 | |
But then you say wait a minute, | 13:48 | |
doesn't the Bible say that we are created | 13:49 | |
in the image of God? | 13:51 | |
Are we really so self-deceitful and faults as all this? | 13:54 | |
The Bible says that we are created in the image of God | 14:00 | |
but somewhere between Genesis and Paul's letter | 14:02 | |
to the Romans, | 14:05 | |
we slipped and now God's image in us serves mainly | 14:07 | |
to remind us of the great gap, the distance | 14:12 | |
between who God would have us be | 14:15 | |
and who we are. | 14:18 | |
I do what I do not want. | 14:23 | |
Sin dwells within me. | 14:27 | |
When I want to do right, | 14:30 | |
evil lies close at hand. | 14:33 | |
I delight in the law of God | 14:36 | |
but I see in my members at work another law, | 14:37 | |
at war, making me a captive to sin. | 14:42 | |
And Paul didn't even need a government research grant | 14:49 | |
to discover that. | 14:52 | |
The chief evidence that we are right when we confess | 14:57 | |
that we have done evil in thy sight | 15:01 | |
and transgressed thy laws | 15:03 | |
is when we so vehemently deny | 15:05 | |
that we have done evil in thy sight | 15:07 | |
and transgressed thy laws. | 15:09 | |
Even Time Magazine has a recent issue worried | 15:11 | |
about the ethics of the American people | 15:14 | |
and our leaders who say one thing | 15:18 | |
and do another and treat the truth loosely. | 15:20 | |
Everybody else is doing it. | 15:23 | |
Look, I made a mistake. | 15:27 | |
Are you gonna crucify somebody for a mistake? | 15:28 | |
Whatever happened to forgiveness? | 15:32 | |
And the low blow | 15:36 | |
when the politician who had fallen | 15:38 | |
from his candidacy because of his personal behavior, | 15:40 | |
the low blow is a political cartoon | 15:43 | |
who had this politician saying, | 15:46 | |
Well I can always become a preacher, an evangelist I guess. | 15:48 | |
That hurt. | 15:52 | |
(congregation laughing) | 15:53 | |
And so, perhaps you're saying well, | 15:57 | |
now psychologists have joined the ranks of the preachers | 15:59 | |
of a former day | 16:02 | |
with their sin obsession | 16:05 | |
and their gloom and their doom. | 16:07 | |
Why do you have to be such killjoys? | 16:10 | |
But I ask you, who are the greater killjoys? | 16:15 | |
Those who flatter us | 16:19 | |
and try to delude us into thinking | 16:20 | |
we are basically good selfless souls | 16:22 | |
who can accomplish anything we please, | 16:26 | |
or those who help us to see ourselves as we are? | 16:30 | |
Dr. Schuller's Be Happy Attitudes | 16:36 | |
telling us that we can be happy | 16:40 | |
and successful if we just believe that we are | 16:42 | |
can lead to even greater despair. | 16:47 | |
Shame on you, Paul. | 16:50 | |
If you just had a positive attitude, | 16:52 | |
you could have overcome all this. | 16:54 | |
In seeing how self-interest and illusion infect | 16:59 | |
even our best intentioned actions, | 17:02 | |
we take the first faltering step towards healing. | 17:04 | |
In Alcoholics Anonymous, for instance, | 17:13 | |
Alcoholics Anonymous has learned | 17:16 | |
that there is no journey out of the hell of alcoholism | 17:18 | |
until you take that infamous fourth step, | 17:21 | |
that step in which the recovering alcoholic says | 17:26 | |
we were forced to make a searching inventory of ourselves. | 17:30 | |
The way to healing is the way through the door of honesty. | 17:38 | |
Insights from scripture and psychology agree, | 17:44 | |
we are needy, poor, driven creatures. | 17:48 | |
And the key to our salvation is not positive thinking | 17:52 | |
or self-induced self-esteem | 17:56 | |
but God's grace, | 18:02 | |
which frees us from having to define ourselves solely | 18:04 | |
in terms of our allegedly good achievements. | 18:08 | |
Because the Christian faith says | 18:12 | |
that you get positive self-esteem | 18:15 | |
as a gift | 18:20 | |
from a God who, even in our selfishness and sin, | 18:23 | |
loves us. | 18:29 | |
Paul says, "Wretched man that I am, | 18:33 | |
"who will deliver me from this death?" | 18:37 | |
And then he answers his question. | 18:42 | |
We deliver ourselves not out of fantasies | 18:46 | |
of how good and deserving we are, | 18:49 | |
such attempts are futile because they tend | 18:52 | |
to lead us into even deeper delusion. | 18:55 | |
No, we've got to be delivered by someone else, | 19:00 | |
by someone else's acceptance of us, sin and all. | 19:05 | |
I think we experience at least glimpses | 19:11 | |
of such acceptance in a good marriage | 19:16 | |
or a good friendship. | 19:18 | |
You know that you've got a really good marriage, | 19:20 | |
or you know that someone is really a good friend | 19:23 | |
when you realize that you no longer need | 19:27 | |
to put on a mask | 19:29 | |
or to play some little game. | 19:31 | |
And to try to be someone other than who you are. | 19:35 | |
You're free because someone loves you as you | 19:39 | |
and of course the ironic thing is to be loved like that | 19:44 | |
often frees you to be better | 19:47 | |
than you could have been otherwise. | 19:49 | |
But the first thing is that unbelievable acceptance. | 19:52 | |
It's an infinite relief | 19:58 | |
to at last be rid of all those pretensions and illusions | 20:01 | |
that have made us restless and unhappy for so much of life | 20:04 | |
and so Paul could say not only | 20:09 | |
that he couldn't understand himself, | 20:12 | |
this war within him, this battle between his intentions | 20:15 | |
and his actions, | 20:19 | |
but Paul also could affirm the liberating discovery | 20:23 | |
that there is therefore no condemnation | 20:28 | |
for those who are in Christ Jesus | 20:34 | |
for God has done what the law could not do. | 20:39 | |
No condemnation. No condemnation. | 20:45 | |
No need for the drivel of positive thinking | 20:50 | |
or rather silly acts of self-esteem building | 20:54 | |
and self-image polishing, | 20:58 | |
not because our sin isn't sin, | 21:00 | |
but because God takes us, | 21:03 | |
God take us. | 21:07 | |
I'm not okay, you're not okay, | 21:09 | |
God says that's okay. | 21:12 | |
We're free. | 21:14 | |
No condemnation, for God has done for us | 21:16 | |
what we cannot do for ourselves, | 21:21 | |
namely to love ourselves as we are. | 21:24 | |
People, would you please believe the entire text | 21:31 | |
for this morning? | 21:34 | |
Not only the part about sin, | 21:36 | |
but also the part about grace, | 21:38 | |
because it's very tough to talk about sin | 21:41 | |
like a Christian, | 21:44 | |
and Christians talk about sin | 21:47 | |
from the standpoint of grace, | 21:49 | |
and haven't you had the experience | 21:52 | |
in a good marriage or a deep friendship, | 21:55 | |
but haven't you had the experience | 21:58 | |
of finally summoning up the courage | 21:59 | |
to confess something like, okay, | 22:02 | |
I'll admit that I'm a bit self-centered, | 22:08 | |
I'm sometimes selfish, | 22:11 | |
and she says, | 22:15 | |
a bit self-centered? | 22:17 | |
(congregation chuckling) | 22:18 | |
And you say you knew? | 22:21 | |
And you still took me? | 22:27 | |
You see, I'm talking about that. | 22:32 | |
But that on an even grander, more cosmic scale. | 22:35 | |
You stand there naked, | 22:43 | |
stripped of all delusion and pretension, | 22:45 | |
masks ripped off, standing before the Lord of life, | 22:48 | |
the great holy judge of history, | 22:52 | |
and as Paul says, | 22:56 | |
there is for you, surprise, | 22:57 | |
no condemnation. | 23:03 | |
No condemnation. | 23:06 | |
Repeat after me, no condemnation. | 23:08 | |
- | Having heard the word of God proclaimed, | 23:26 |
we recognize that we are people | 23:29 | |
who prefer our own wills to the Lord's. | 23:31 | |
As we accept God's power to become new persons in Christ, | 23:36 | |
let us confess our sins before God and one another. | 23:40 | |
All | Almighty and most merciful God, | 23:47 |
who knows the thoughts of our hearts, | 23:50 | |
we confess that we have sinned against thee | 23:53 | |
and done evil in thy sight. | 23:56 | |
We have transgressed thy holy laws, | 23:59 | |
we have neglected they word and ordinances. | 24:02 | |
Forgive us, oh Lord, we beseech thee | 24:06 | |
and give us grace and power to put away | 24:09 | |
all hurtful things | 24:12 | |
that being delivered from the bondage of sin | 24:14 | |
we may bring forth fruit worthy of repentance | 24:18 | |
and henceforth may ever walk in thy holy ways | 24:22 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 24:26 | |
Amen. | 24:28 | |
- | Hear the good news. | 24:30 |
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, | 24:33 | |
that is God's own proof of his love towards us. | 24:36 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, | 24:40 | |
you are forgiven. | 24:43 | |
(congregation mumbles) | 24:45 | |
(lively organic music) | 24:50 | |
(congregation singing) | 25:16 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 27:10 |
(congregation mumbles) | 27:13 | |
Let us pray. | 27:14 | |
Oh God of Earth and altar, | 27:24 | |
created of the universe, | 27:26 | |
we bow before thee in humility and in hope. | 27:29 | |
Thy ways have not been our ways, | 27:34 | |
neither have thy thoughts been our thoughts, | 27:37 | |
yet thou hast not forsaken us | 27:41 | |
even as we have passed through the shadows of unbelief. | 27:43 | |
In thy mercy grant us thy light and thy truth. | 27:48 | |
Let them lead us from the road of destruction | 27:52 | |
toward the city of life and peace. | 27:55 | |
Oh God, who art the hope of the ends of the Earth, | 27:59 | |
hear us while we pray. | 28:02 | |
We beseech thee to save us from pride of possession | 28:05 | |
and power, from neglect of opportunity | 28:09 | |
and evasion of responsibility, | 28:12 | |
from failure to consider the needs of others | 28:16 | |
because we desire to live to ourselves alone, | 28:19 | |
from saying what we do not mean, | 28:24 | |
and from striving after what we should not have. | 28:26 | |
We beseech thee, creating God | 28:32 | |
to bless with wisdom, mutual respect | 28:34 | |
and a desire for the common good | 28:38 | |
all public officials, | 28:40 | |
to endow them with the right understanding | 28:43 | |
and a pure purpose | 28:45 | |
and to enable them to rise above self-interest | 28:48 | |
and the larger spheres of human compassion | 28:51 | |
and service to others. | 28:54 | |
We beseech thee, redeeming God | 28:57 | |
to bless thy church universal with faith, | 28:59 | |
courage and a steadfast heart | 29:03 | |
that desiring unity among the nations | 29:06 | |
it may obtain unity within itself | 29:09 | |
that the real enemies of humankind, | 29:13 | |
ignorance, poverty, hunger, disease | 29:16 | |
and all other evils may be known and overcome | 29:20 | |
that the life-giving spirit of Jesus | 29:26 | |
may never languish | 29:28 | |
and that the vision of the kingdom of God | 29:29 | |
may never grow dim. | 29:31 | |
We beseech thee, sustaining God | 29:35 | |
to grant us hope which will rise above frustration, | 29:37 | |
patience which will endure the strain of waiting, | 29:43 | |
goodwill which cannot be offended. | 29:47 | |
Oh eternal God, we commit ourselves unto thee, | 29:52 | |
hasten through us the day when all shall dwell in safety, | 29:56 | |
free from want, free from fear, | 30:00 | |
free to express ourselves openly, | 30:03 | |
free to worship according to the guidance | 30:06 | |
of thy spirit. | 30:08 | |
And thine shall be the kingdom, | 30:10 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 30:13 | |
Amen. | 30:17 | |
The Psalmist has written offer to God a sacrifice | 30:20 | |
of thanksgiving and pay your vows | 30:23 | |
to the most high. | 30:26 | |
Let us present at this time | 30:28 | |
our gifts and ourselves as an offering unto God. | 30:29 | |
(lively organ music) | 30:38 | |
♪ Why should I feel discouraged ♪ | 32:18 | |
♪ Why should the shadows come ♪ | 32:27 | |
♪ Why should my heart feel lonely ♪ | 32:36 | |
♪ And long for heaven and home ♪ | 32:44 | |
♪ When Jesus is my comfort ♪ | 32:53 | |
♪ Oh, my constant friend is He ♪ | 33:02 | |
♪ His eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 33:11 | |
♪ And I know He watches over me ♪ | 33:21 | |
♪ His eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 33:29 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 33:39 | |
♪ I sing because I'm happy ♪ | 33:48 | |
♪ I sing because I'm free ♪ | 33:56 | |
♪ His eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 34:05 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 34:14 | |
(woman singing) | 34:39 | |
♪ For his eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 35:27 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 35:36 | |
♪ Oh, his eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 35:43 | |
♪ I know He watches me ♪ | 35:53 | |
♪ And I sing because I'm happy ♪ | 36:00 | |
♪ I sing because I'm free ♪ | 36:08 | |
♪ His eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 36:18 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 36:27 | |
(woman singing) | 36:51 | |
♪ For is eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 37:38 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 37:46 | |
♪ For his eye is on the shadow ♪ | 37:53 | |
♪ And I know He watches me ♪ | 38:03 | |
♪ Yes, I sing because I'm happy ♪ | 38:11 | |
♪ I sing because I'm free ♪ | 38:19 | |
♪ For his eye is on the sparrow ♪ | 38:27 | |
♪ And I know he watches me ♪ | 38:40 | |
(lively organ music) | 38:58 | |
(congregation singing) | 39:28 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 39:40 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 39:42 | |
(congregation singing) | 39:47 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 39:59 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 40:01 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 40:04 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 40:07 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 40:10 | |
- | Almighty God, creator of all that was | 40:28 |
and is and is to come. | 40:31 | |
Diverse though we are in age and outlook, | 40:34 | |
we are one in our desire to voice our gratitude unto thee. | 40:37 | |
We thank thee for our time and place in history | 40:42 | |
for the vision of a better world, | 40:46 | |
for friends and loved ones who mediate | 40:48 | |
thy loving care to us | 40:51 | |
and for new truths which are revealed to us | 40:53 | |
through the church. | 40:56 | |
All thy works praise thee | 40:57 | |
and in that chorus, we gratefully join. | 41:00 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, | 41:03 | |
who taught us boldly to pray. | 41:06 | |
All | Our father who art in heaven, | 41:09 |
hallowed be thy name, | 41:12 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 41:13 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 41:17 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 41:20 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 41:22 | |
who trespass again us | 41:26 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 41:29 | |
but deliver us from evil | 41:31 | |
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. | 41:33 | |
- | Amen. | 41:38 |
(lively organ music) | 41:46 | |
(congregation singing) | 42:21 | |
- | Grace of our Lord and Savior, | 44:42 |
Jesus Christ, the love of God, | 44:43 | |
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you | 44:46 | |
and remain with you now and always, amen. | 44:48 | |
(lively organ music) | 44:59 |