John W. Vannorsdall - "On Hailing Caesar" (October 18, 1987)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(solemn music) | 0:00 | |
- | Grace and peace to you | 0:51 |
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. | 0:52 | |
We welcome you to this service of worship | 0:55 | |
at Duke University Chapel | 0:57 | |
on this 20th Sunday after Pentecost. | 0:58 | |
We trust that you will receive a blessing during this time. | 1:02 | |
We also extend greetings to those of you | 1:05 | |
in our radio and television audiences. | 1:07 | |
Our preacher for this morning | 1:10 | |
is the Reverend Doctor John W. Vannorsdahl, | 1:11 | |
President of Lutheran Theological Seminary. | 1:14 | |
Dr. Vannorsdahl preaches and lectures regularly | 1:18 | |
throughout the country. | 1:21 | |
He's been a preacher for the Lutheran Series | 1:22 | |
for the Protestant Hour since 1976. | 1:24 | |
He's also published widely, | 1:28 | |
and his most recent book is a collection of sermons | 1:30 | |
entitled Dimly Burning Wicks. | 1:33 | |
Prior to his current position, | 1:36 | |
Dr. Vannorsdahl served as university chaplain | 1:37 | |
at Yale University for 10 years. | 1:40 | |
We welcome Dr. Vannorsdahl to our pulpit today. | 1:43 | |
We are indebted to the Charlotte Children Choir | 1:47 | |
of Queens College | 1:50 | |
for their participation in our service this morning. | 1:51 | |
They are directed by Dr. Elizabeth Campbell. | 1:54 | |
Please note the other announcements | 1:58 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins. | 2:00 | |
And now let us continue our worship. | 2:02 | |
(choir singing) | 2:20 | |
(solemn music) | 3:12 | |
(congregation singing) | 3:48 | |
Almighty and everlasting God, | 6:34 | |
increase in us the gifts of faith, | 6:37 | |
hope, | 6:40 | |
and charity, | 6:41 | |
and that we may obtain what you promise, | 6:43 | |
make us love what you command | 6:47 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, | 6:50 | |
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, | 6:52 | |
one God forever and ever. | 6:55 | |
Amen. | 6:58 | |
- | Let us pray. | 7:11 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 7:15 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit | 7:18 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 7:21 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 7:25 | |
Amen. | 7:29 | |
The first lesson today | 7:32 | |
is taken from the book of Ruth. | 7:33 | |
"In the days when the judges ruled | 7:37 | |
"there was a famine in the land, | 7:38 | |
"and a certain man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn | 7:40 | |
"in the country of Moab, | 7:43 | |
"he and his wife and his two sons. | 7:46 | |
"The name of the man was Elimelech | 7:50 | |
"and the name of his wife Naomi, | 7:52 | |
"and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. | 7:55 | |
"They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. | 8:00 | |
"They went into the country of Moab and remained there. | 8:03 | |
"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, | 8:07 | |
"and she was left with her two sons. | 8:11 | |
"These took Moabite wives. | 8:13 | |
"The name of the one was Orpah | 8:15 | |
"and the name of the other Ruth. | 8:17 | |
"They lived there about 10 years, | 8:19 | |
"and both Mahlon and Chilion died, | 8:21 | |
"so that the woman was bereft of her two sons | 8:24 | |
"and her husband. | 8:27 | |
"Then she started with her daughters-in-law | 8:30 | |
"to return from the country of Moab, | 8:31 | |
"for she had heard in the country of Moab | 8:34 | |
"that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. | 8:35 | |
"So she set out from the place where she was | 8:40 | |
"with her two daughters-in-law, | 8:42 | |
"and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. | 8:45 | |
"But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, | 8:48 | |
"'Go, return each of you to her mother's house. | 8:51 | |
"'May the Lord deal kindly with you, | 8:54 | |
"'as you have dealt with the dead and with me. | 8:56 | |
"'The Lord grant that you may find a home, | 8:59 | |
"'each of you in the house of her husband!' | 9:01 | |
"And then she kissed them, | 9:04 | |
"and they lifted up their voices and wept. | 9:07 | |
"And they said to her, 'No, | 9:10 | |
"'we will return with you to your people.' | 9:12 | |
"But Naomi said, 'Turn back, my daughters; | 9:15 | |
"'why will you go with me? | 9:17 | |
"'Have I yet sons in my womb | 9:19 | |
"'that they may become your husbands? | 9:20 | |
"'Turn back, my daughters; | 9:23 | |
"'go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. | 9:24 | |
"'If I should say I have hope, | 9:29 | |
"'even if I should have a husband this night | 9:31 | |
"'and should bear sons, | 9:34 | |
"'would you therefore wait till they are grown? | 9:36 | |
"'Would you therefore refrain from marrying? | 9:39 | |
"'No, my daughters, | 9:42 | |
"'for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake | 9:43 | |
"'that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.' | 9:45 | |
"Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. | 9:49 | |
"And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. | 9:52 | |
"And she said, 'See, your sister-in-law has gone back | 9:57 | |
"'to her people and to her gods; | 10:00 | |
"'return after your sister-in-law.' | 10:02 | |
"But Ruth said, 'Entreat me not to leave you, | 10:05 | |
"'or to return from following after you, | 10:08 | |
"'for where you go, I will go; | 10:10 | |
"'and where you lodge, I will lodge. | 10:13 | |
"'Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. | 10:16 | |
"'Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. | 10:22 | |
"'May the Lord do so to me, and more also, | 10:25 | |
"'if even death parts me from you.' | 10:29 | |
"And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, | 10:32 | |
"she said no more. | 10:35 | |
"So the two of them went on | 10:37 | |
"until they came to Bethlehem." | 10:39 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 10:43 | |
- | Please stand as we read this altar responsively. | 10:51 |
Praise the Lord. | 11:02 | |
I will praise the Lord as long as I live. | 11:07 | |
Put not your trust in princes. | 11:15 | |
When his breath departs, he returns to his earth. | 11:22 | |
Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob | 11:29 | |
who made heaven and earth, | 11:35 | |
who keeps faith forever. | 11:40 | |
The Lord sets the prisoners free. | 11:48 | |
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. | 11:54 | |
The Lord watches over the sojourners. | 11:59 | |
He upholds the widow and the fatherless. | 12:02 | |
The Lord will reign forever. | 12:09 | |
(solemn music) | 12:18 | |
(choir singing) | 12:27 | |
- | The second lesson is taken from Paul's first letter | 13:29 |
to the Thessalonians. | 13:33 | |
"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, | 13:36 | |
"To the church of the Thessalonians | 13:38 | |
"in God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ: | 13:40 | |
"Grace to you and peace. | 13:44 | |
"We give thanks to God always for you all, | 13:46 | |
"constantly mentioning you in our prayers, | 13:49 | |
"remembering before our God and Father | 13:51 | |
"your work of faith and labor of love | 13:54 | |
"and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. | 13:57 | |
"For we know, family beloved by God, | 14:01 | |
"that he has chosen you, | 14:05 | |
"for our gospel came to you not only in word, | 14:07 | |
"but also in power and in the Holy Spirit | 14:10 | |
"and with full conviction. | 14:14 | |
"You know what kind of men we proved to be among you | 14:17 | |
"for your sake. | 14:19 | |
"And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, | 14:21 | |
"for you received the word in much affliction, | 14:25 | |
"with the joy of the Holy Spirit, | 14:28 | |
"so that you became an example | 14:30 | |
"to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. | 14:32 | |
"For not only has the word of the Lord | 14:35 | |
"sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, | 14:37 | |
"but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, | 14:40 | |
"so that we need not say anything. | 14:44 | |
"For they themselves report | 14:47 | |
"concerning us what a welcome we had among you, | 14:49 | |
"and how you turned to God from idols | 14:51 | |
"to serve a living and a true God, | 14:54 | |
"and to wait for his Son from heaven, | 14:57 | |
"whom he raised from the dead, | 14:59 | |
"Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." | 15:01 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 15:06 | |
(choir singing) | 15:31 | |
The gospel lesson is taken from Matthew. | 18:23 | |
"Then the Pharisees went and took counsel | 18:27 | |
"how to entangle him in his talk. | 18:29 | |
"And they sent their disciples to him, | 18:32 | |
"along with the Herodians, | 18:34 | |
"saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are true | 18:36 | |
"'and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for none, | 18:39 | |
"'for you do not regard the position of any. | 18:43 | |
"'Tell us then what you think. | 18:46 | |
"'Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?' | 18:49 | |
"But Jesus, aware of their malice, | 18:53 | |
"said, 'Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? | 18:57 | |
"'Show me the money for the tax.' | 19:01 | |
"And they brought him a coin. | 19:04 | |
"And Jesus said to them, | 19:06 | |
"'Whose likeness and inscription is this?' | 19:08 | |
"They said, 'Caesar's.' | 19:11 | |
"Then he said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar | 19:13 | |
"'the things that are Caesar's, | 19:17 | |
"'and to God the things that are God's.' | 19:20 | |
"When they heard it, they marveled. | 19:23 | |
"And they left him and went away." | 19:26 | |
This ends the reading of the gospel lesson. | 19:30 | |
- | May the words of my mouth | 19:45 |
and the meditation of our hearts | 19:47 | |
be acceptably in thy sight, oh Lord, | 19:50 | |
our strength and our redeemer. | 19:53 | |
Amen. | 19:57 | |
I thank you for the privilege of being able to worship | 20:02 | |
with you again | 20:06 | |
in the Duke Chapel. | 20:08 | |
What you may not understand is that your ministry here | 20:11 | |
has had its impact on the larger church as well, | 20:15 | |
largely through the gifts of your ministers. | 20:20 | |
So I bring you not only greetings, but thanks, | 20:24 | |
from those of us who have profited | 20:28 | |
from what you are and do. | 20:31 | |
A long time ago, when I first joined | 20:37 | |
the sub junior varsity debate team in high school, | 20:41 | |
I quickly discovered that I didn't know | 20:48 | |
a single thing about debating | 20:50 | |
and that the coach had no time to teach me. | 20:53 | |
He suggested that I visit a professor | 20:57 | |
at a nearby college who was well known | 21:01 | |
as a public speaker and debater. | 21:04 | |
So I made an appointment. | 21:06 | |
"Well, young man, | 21:07 | |
"what can I do for you?" | 21:10 | |
"I like to learn to be a good debater." | 21:12 | |
"Well," he said leaning back, | 21:17 | |
"first you collect all the information you can on the topic, | 21:20 | |
"and then you create a dilemma for the opposition." | 21:26 | |
Now, dilemma was not a word we used very often in my home, | 21:32 | |
so he explained it. | 21:38 | |
"You just ask them a question of such a nature | 21:42 | |
"that if they answer it one way, they lose, | 21:47 | |
"and if they answer it the other way, they lose." | 21:52 | |
The professor seemed satisfied | 21:59 | |
that he'd said all that I needed to know, | 22:01 | |
so I thanked him and walked home saying to myself, | 22:05 | |
"What was that all about?" | 22:09 | |
But now 100 years later, | 22:12 | |
I at least recognized a dilemma when I see it. | 22:16 | |
Seminary presidents are well acquainted with lose-lose. | 22:22 | |
The pharisees sent some of their disciples to see Jesus. | 22:29 | |
First, they baited the trap. | 22:33 | |
"Teacher, we know that you're a person of integrity. | 22:37 | |
"You tell the truth, you say it as it is. | 22:40 | |
"You're afraid of no one." | 22:44 | |
So we have a question. | 22:49 | |
Should we pay taxes to Caesar, | 22:54 | |
or not? | 22:58 | |
That's a dilemma. | 23:01 | |
If Jesus said, | 23:06 | |
"Of course you should pay taxes." | 23:09 | |
then | 23:11 | |
he would be considered a collaborator | 23:13 | |
by his own people. | 23:16 | |
And if he said, "No, you should not pay taxes to Caesar." | 23:17 | |
he would lose again. | 23:21 | |
This time, the Romans would take him away. | 23:22 | |
The debaters of that age | 23:27 | |
had sprung their trap. | 23:30 | |
It was a lose-lose situation. | 23:32 | |
But Jesus was quick-witted. | 23:36 | |
He patted his robe and he discovered | 23:38 | |
that he had no Roman coins with him. | 23:40 | |
"Let me see one of yours," he said. | 23:44 | |
And it turned out that the trappers | 23:48 | |
did in fact carry Roman coins, so they gave him one. | 23:51 | |
"Whose face and inscription are these?" | 23:55 | |
"Caesar's," they said. | 24:01 | |
"Well, | 24:03 | |
"you have Caesar's coins, | 24:05 | |
"pay Caesar's tax, | 24:08 | |
"but | 24:11 | |
"render to God the things which are God's." | 24:14 | |
So the hunters went home empty handed. | 24:18 | |
And while that ended the debate for that day, | 24:24 | |
it certainly did not end the issue of when | 24:27 | |
or whether | 24:31 | |
Christians should hail Caesar | 24:33 | |
and pay Caesar's tax. | 24:36 | |
In some years later, | 24:41 | |
after the congregations of Christian had begun to form, | 24:44 | |
the Saint Paul wrote to the Congregation at Rome. | 24:49 | |
"Let every person," he said, | 24:54 | |
"be subject to the governing authorities. | 24:57 | |
"Whoever resist the authorities | 25:01 | |
"resists what God has appointed. | 25:04 | |
"Those who resist will incur judgment." | 25:08 | |
"Pay all of them their due, | 25:12 | |
"taxes to whom taxes are due, | 25:14 | |
"revenues to whom revenues are due, | 25:16 | |
"respect to whom respect is due, | 25:19 | |
"honor to whom honor is due." | 25:21 | |
But there is another occasion | 25:28 | |
recorded in the book of Acts | 25:30 | |
in which the apostles were teaching in Jerusalem. | 25:32 | |
Converts were made in large numbers. | 25:36 | |
People were crowding around the apostles to hear the gospel, | 25:38 | |
and the priests were concerned | 25:42 | |
and they had them arrested, theses apostles, | 25:44 | |
and the apostles were brought before the counsel | 25:46 | |
and the high priest said in effect, | 25:49 | |
"We told you to stop it. | 25:51 | |
"We are the authorities, | 25:55 | |
"but you continue to fill all Jerusalem with your teachings, | 25:57 | |
"you violated our authority." | 26:02 | |
And Peter responded, "We must obey God, | 26:05 | |
"rather than human beings." | 26:12 | |
So, | 26:15 | |
the issue is not easily resolved | 26:16 | |
by resort to biblical texts. | 26:19 | |
Paul says that we are to obey civil authorities | 26:22 | |
to pay taxes, | 26:25 | |
and he finds | 26:26 | |
government | 26:28 | |
a gift of God. | 26:29 | |
Peter, in a different circumstance, | 26:32 | |
says that he and the other apostles must obey God, | 26:34 | |
rather than the authorities. | 26:38 | |
And between the two, | 26:41 | |
between Peter's | 26:44 | |
adherence to God first | 26:47 | |
and Paul's affirmation of civil authority | 26:50 | |
lies the enigmatic answer of Jesus | 26:53 | |
to the disciples of the pharisees, | 26:58 | |
"Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's, | 27:00 | |
"and unto God that which is due to God." | 27:05 | |
Let me argue first | 27:11 | |
with Saint Paul | 27:16 | |
for a hearty hail | 27:18 | |
to Caesar. | 27:21 | |
Support obedience to human authority. | 27:24 | |
T.S. Eliot once wrote | 27:27 | |
that it's hard for those | 27:30 | |
who lived next to the police station | 27:31 | |
to believe in the possibility of the triumph of violence. | 27:33 | |
And since most white middle-class Americans | 27:37 | |
live next to a police station, | 27:40 | |
it's easy for us | 27:43 | |
to ignore the possibility of chaos. | 27:45 | |
Easy for us to take the law for granted, | 27:49 | |
to skirt the law when it suits us, | 27:52 | |
to be critical of the law to deprecate authority. | 27:56 | |
We can be careless of the law and nose thumbers | 28:00 | |
because we have seldom been in danger from chaos. | 28:04 | |
When we get up our courage | 28:09 | |
and march in front of the White House, | 28:10 | |
we are protected, we find, by a ring of police. | 28:12 | |
It's a heady gentile protest | 28:16 | |
without fear of being clubbed. | 28:18 | |
When we go to a massive demonstration | 28:21 | |
where all hell could break lose, | 28:23 | |
there are the sturdy marshals, | 28:26 | |
hand-picked, well-trained, | 28:28 | |
our people with yellow arm bands, green arm bands, | 28:30 | |
making sure that everything is well-ordered, | 28:35 | |
and we'll have first aid | 28:38 | |
if we think from the crush or direction | 28:39 | |
if we need a restroom, | 28:42 | |
but sometimes | 28:45 | |
violence comes close. | 28:48 | |
I was in grade school when I first saw it | 28:52 | |
at a basketball game. | 28:55 | |
Two Cleveland high school teams playing one another, | 28:56 | |
and one from a predominantly black school | 29:00 | |
and another from a predominantly white school. | 29:03 | |
It was a close game and a fight broke out in the stands, | 29:06 | |
and it began to spread. | 29:09 | |
My father who was the coach of one of the teams | 29:12 | |
pushed me under the scorekeeper's table, | 29:15 | |
picked up the blank pistol used by the time keeper | 29:18 | |
and fired it in the gymnasium. | 29:22 | |
In the momentary silence which followed, he shouted, | 29:25 | |
"Let's play basketball." | 29:28 | |
And the police moved in and the game continued, | 29:30 | |
and I have never seen my father so shaken. | 29:34 | |
Chaos | 29:38 | |
had come close. | 29:40 | |
Years later, | 29:45 | |
in the early '70s, I was the chaplain at a college | 29:46 | |
and had invited William Kunstler to speak. | 29:51 | |
2,000 students filled the auditorium. | 29:54 | |
As at most schools, it was a volatile time. | 29:59 | |
When the old civilities no longer obtained, | 30:03 | |
Kunstler was late. | 30:08 | |
The noise level increased. | 30:11 | |
The students began to stamp their feet in rhythm | 30:14 | |
and the whole building began to tremble. | 30:16 | |
Some of them began to stand on their seats | 30:20 | |
and took up a rhythmic chant. | 30:23 | |
The president of the college and I | 30:25 | |
standing at the back knew | 30:26 | |
that something had to happen quickly. | 30:28 | |
Fortunately, at that moment, Kunstler arrived, | 30:32 | |
but the president said to me later, | 30:36 | |
"The distance between our being a community of scholars | 30:40 | |
"and a mob | 30:45 | |
"is a very short distance." | 30:48 | |
And that day | 30:52 | |
we had come very close | 30:54 | |
to being a mob. | 30:57 | |
It's hard for those of us who are gathered | 31:01 | |
in the majesty of this chapel | 31:03 | |
to appreciate the fact that this morning | 31:05 | |
there are 500,000 Americans in jail cells. | 31:07 | |
It is hard for young men and women | 31:13 | |
graduating from seminary | 31:15 | |
devout and educated and kneeling before the alter | 31:18 | |
to commit themselves to a sacred ministry | 31:21 | |
to comprehend how many of their colleagues, | 31:23 | |
and perhaps they themselves in time to come | 31:25 | |
will seduce their counselee | 31:28 | |
and commit adultery with their parishioners. | 31:31 | |
Hail Caesar. | 31:36 | |
Be you tyrant, republic, or something in between, | 31:39 | |
it is your job to make me safe from my neighbors, | 31:43 | |
to keep the roads open for travel and commerce, | 31:47 | |
to adjudicated conflicts, | 31:50 | |
to curb my rapacious ways, | 31:52 | |
my depredations upon the common good | 31:54 | |
by threat of punishment or by reward | 31:57 | |
to provide some minimal order in this land. | 32:00 | |
Though I chafe, resent, and attack him, | 32:04 | |
I will give Caesar his due | 32:09 | |
and give thanks to God | 32:12 | |
when Caesar insists upon my connectedness | 32:14 | |
and thereby makes freedom possible | 32:19 | |
in spite of all the sin and evil | 32:22 | |
which is our collective lot. | 32:25 | |
Render unto Caesar what is due. | 32:28 | |
Break the law at the peril of all of us. | 32:35 | |
On the other hand, | 32:43 | |
now | 32:45 | |
with Peter in Jerusalem. | 32:47 | |
On the other hand, | 32:49 | |
render unto God | 32:51 | |
the things which are Gods. | 32:54 | |
You shall love the Lord your God | 32:59 | |
with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. | 33:01 | |
Said Peter to the high priest, | 33:05 | |
"We must obey God, rather than human authority." | 33:07 | |
And so, | 33:13 | |
although it was the law | 33:16 | |
that blacks be segregated and excluded, | 33:18 | |
some Christians, black and white, | 33:23 | |
and some Jews and some humanitarians, | 33:25 | |
came to believe that in God's sight, | 33:27 | |
this was both unjust by civil standards | 33:32 | |
and a sin before God. | 33:37 | |
And so they broke the civil law | 33:40 | |
and defied the authorities. | 33:44 | |
And so, | 33:46 | |
likewise, | 33:49 | |
although the law required all young men | 33:52 | |
to register for the draft, | 33:54 | |
some Christians and Jews came to believe | 33:57 | |
that in God's site | 33:59 | |
military service required them to kill, | 34:01 | |
rob them of their freedom to say no to killing, | 34:06 | |
and so | 34:09 | |
they broke | 34:12 | |
the law | 34:14 | |
and defied the civil authorities. | 34:15 | |
But the prime example in all of history, human and divine, | 34:20 | |
is Jesus Christ | 34:24 | |
who was warned time and again | 34:27 | |
that he was disrupting the civil order | 34:30 | |
with his preaching, | 34:33 | |
attacking the religious and civil foundations | 34:35 | |
upon which the current order was based, | 34:38 | |
warned, | 34:43 | |
and yet could not change his course. | 34:47 | |
His ultimately loyalty was to God. | 34:52 | |
This conflict between what civil and religious authorities | 34:57 | |
thought necessary for the good of society | 35:01 | |
and what Jesus found necessary in obedience to God, | 35:06 | |
were the horizontal and the vertical of the cross, | 35:11 | |
the unsentimental consequence of two realities | 35:15 | |
for which there was no other resolution, | 35:19 | |
render unto God | 35:25 | |
the things which are God's. | 35:27 | |
Now I realize that that there is no comfort | 35:33 | |
of the gospel in today's text. | 35:36 | |
I come to worship much as most of you | 35:43 | |
with my personal disasters, my sins, | 35:47 | |
my need to be embraced and warmed | 35:50 | |
and raised again in hope. | 35:52 | |
But today, | 35:53 | |
this personal address of the gospel, this warming, | 35:55 | |
this lifting from our knees | 35:59 | |
has to be found from in other texts, | 36:01 | |
in the hymns, the prayers, and sermons remembered | 36:03 | |
because it is not in this passage from Saint Matthew, | 36:06 | |
but it would have been wrong I think | 36:12 | |
in the days of the bicentennial of the constitution | 36:15 | |
and the Caesar text | 36:19 | |
to ignore the issues which they present, | 36:21 | |
of how we render unto | 36:27 | |
Caesar what belongs to Caesar | 36:30 | |
and to God | 36:33 | |
what belongs to God. | 36:35 | |
I've been thinking about this chapel | 36:36 | |
and its centrality at Duke. | 36:40 | |
Is it central because here students and faculty | 36:43 | |
have met their personal need or longing | 36:47 | |
for Christ's compassion? | 36:50 | |
Do you come because your hearts are warmed? | 36:54 | |
Or is it because here most people acknowledge | 37:00 | |
the supremacy of God in all things | 37:04 | |
and the chapel is set central and honored by our presence | 37:06 | |
because we want to say God is central in all things? | 37:10 | |
I frankly see a far more profound possibility. | 37:14 | |
I see a chapel | 37:22 | |
where men and women come | 37:24 | |
who are now | 37:29 | |
and will be Caesar's people, | 37:31 | |
must be Caesar's people, | 37:35 | |
rendering unto Caesar what is due. | 37:36 | |
I see you come also as God's people, | 37:40 | |
called by a vision of a future | 37:43 | |
which has come in Christ, | 37:45 | |
or for Jews still coming, | 37:48 | |
and to whom you owe an ultimate loyalty. | 37:51 | |
And at this place, | 37:55 | |
with these two necessary loyalties pressing on your hearts, | 37:56 | |
you, too, will be crucified with Christ. | 38:01 | |
The crossbar is the realities of the world | 38:05 | |
where laws condemn, and lawyers argue, and jails are built. | 38:09 | |
That is your world and mine. | 38:13 | |
Upright | 38:17 | |
is the vision of a larger truth | 38:19 | |
which is not yet but is sure to come. | 38:22 | |
You come here either naive about yourselves, | 38:26 | |
nor hopeless with the world's cruel reality. | 38:30 | |
You come into this cruciform structure, dare to come, | 38:34 | |
not because you have disavowed Caesar, | 38:38 | |
or somehow been able to put the law behind you, | 38:41 | |
or because you've even laid hold of God, | 38:46 | |
but precisely | 38:49 | |
because here neither the necessity of Caesar | 38:52 | |
nor the promise of God is ignored, | 38:56 | |
because here the witness is made | 39:01 | |
that the one nailed to the ends of these two realities | 39:05 | |
was raised from the dead and foreshows the future. | 39:09 | |
This was the week that the French playwright, Anouilh, died. | 39:17 | |
The author of a modern version | 39:22 | |
of the ancient Greek classic, Antigone. | 39:24 | |
And rendering unto Caesar and unto God | 39:29 | |
are the dramatic theme | 39:34 | |
of | 39:37 | |
Anouilh's Antigone. | 39:38 | |
As you all remember, there's been a rebellion in Thebes | 39:41 | |
where Creon is king. | 39:46 | |
And his nephew, one of the rebels, | 39:49 | |
lies dead outside the city gates. | 39:52 | |
Antigone insists that her brother | 39:56 | |
have a proper burial. | 40:01 | |
Creon, the king, refuses for reason of state. | 40:04 | |
"Don't think," says Creon, | 40:10 | |
"that I am not as offended as you are. | 40:12 | |
"By the thought of that meat rotting in the sun, | 40:15 | |
"in the evening when the breeze comes in off the sea, | 40:18 | |
"you can smell it in the palace, and it nauseates me. | 40:22 | |
"But I refuse even to shut my window. | 40:26 | |
"I know it's stupid, monstrously stupid, | 40:29 | |
"but the people of Thebes have got to have their noses | 40:33 | |
"rubbed in it a little longer. | 40:36 | |
"if this feather-headed rabble I govern | 40:38 | |
"are understand what's what, | 40:41 | |
"that stench has got to fill the town for a month." | 40:43 | |
"You're a loathsome man." | 40:49 | |
Responded Creon, | 40:56 | |
"I agree." | 40:59 | |
Hail Caesar | 41:03 | |
and | 41:07 | |
praise God from whom flows some new | 41:09 | |
and larger vision. | 41:13 | |
Amen. | 41:17 | |
(solemn music) | 41:36 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 43:39 |
Let us pray. | 43:42 | |
Most gracious God | 43:56 | |
who art above us, and in us, and through us, | 43:58 | |
we bow in prayer before thee, | 44:04 | |
seeking a new awareness they reality | 44:07 | |
and of they life-giving presence. | 44:11 | |
In so doing, we offer these prayers for others | 44:15 | |
that in our remembering of their needs | 44:19 | |
we may be reminded of our own neediness | 44:23 | |
as we stand in utter dependency upon thee. | 44:26 | |
Let us pray for those who suffer in our world, | 44:32 | |
for the masses of starving people, | 44:36 | |
that whatever language they may speak, | 44:40 | |
their cried of anguish will be heard. | 44:42 | |
For homeless people everywhere, | 44:46 | |
for those who dwell on the streets of our nation's cities, | 44:50 | |
for thousands of refugees who roam the earth | 44:55 | |
searching for a home, | 44:58 | |
for runaway children, | 45:01 | |
that each may find a place of rest and understanding. | 45:04 | |
Let us pray for those who are bereaved | 45:10 | |
over the loss of a loved one, | 45:14 | |
over news of a debilitating illness, | 45:17 | |
over memories of happier days gone by, | 45:21 | |
that they healing presence | 45:25 | |
may restore them to fullness of life. | 45:27 | |
Let us pray for those | 45:32 | |
caught in the struggles of discernment. | 45:33 | |
For all those contemplating life-changing decisions, | 45:37 | |
grant them wisdom. | 45:41 | |
For those who seek to know thee, yet struggle to believe, | 45:44 | |
grant them the courage necessary to take the leap of faith. | 45:49 | |
For leaders of all the nations, | 45:54 | |
that they may understand and respond | 45:58 | |
to the needs of all the world's people | 46:00 | |
and lead us in the pathway of peace. | 46:03 | |
Let us pray for all who feel unloved or unwanted. | 46:08 | |
For those who seek to enter themselves or others, | 46:13 | |
for those who indulge in material excesses, | 46:18 | |
attempting to fill and interior void, | 46:22 | |
for those who lived within institutions surrounded by people | 46:27 | |
yet lonely beyond words, | 46:32 | |
heal these thy children, oh God, | 46:36 | |
that they may appreciate the unique worth | 46:39 | |
which thou has bestowed upon them. | 46:41 | |
These and the many unspoken concerns of this congregation, | 46:46 | |
we lift unto thee redeeming God, | 46:50 | |
trusting in thy goodness, | 46:53 | |
confident in thy power to heal, | 46:56 | |
grateful that thou art love for all eternity. | 46:59 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. | 47:05 | |
Amen. | 47:08 | |
And now in the spirit of Thanksgiving, | 47:12 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God. | 47:14 | |
(solemn music) | 47:22 | |
(choir singing) | 50:06 | |
Almighty God, | 53:57 | |
we thine unworthy servants | 53:59 | |
do give the most humble and hearty thanks | 54:01 | |
for all thy goodness and loving kindness to us | 54:03 | |
and to all men and women. | 54:07 | |
We bless thee for our creation, preservation, | 54:09 | |
and all the blessings of this life, | 54:13 | |
but above all, for thine inestimable love | 54:15 | |
and redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ | 54:18 | |
for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. | 54:22 | |
And we beseech thee, | 54:25 | |
give us that due sense of all thy mercies | 54:27 | |
that our hearts may be eternally thankful | 54:30 | |
and that we may show forth thy praise | 54:33 | |
not only with our lips, but in our lives, | 54:35 | |
by giving up ourselves to thy service | 54:39 | |
and by walking before thee in holiness | 54:42 | |
and righteousness all our days. | 54:44 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ | 54:47 | |
who taught us to pray with confidence. | 54:50 | |
Our Father who art in heaven, | 54:53 | |
hallowed be thy Name, | 54:56 | |
thy kingdom come, | 54:58 | |
thy will be done, | 55:00 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 55:01 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 55:04 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 55:06 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 55:09 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 55:12 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 55:15 | |
For thine is the kingdom, | 55:17 | |
and the power, and the glory forever. | 55:18 | |
Amen. | 55:22 | |
(solemn music) | 55:37 | |
(congregation singing) | 56:08 | |
Now go forth in peace and be of good courage. | 58:23 | |
Hold fast to that which is good, | 58:26 | |
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. | 58:29 | |
And may the blessing of God, | 58:32 | |
creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit | 58:35 | |
be with you all now and forevermore. | 58:37 | |
Amen. | 58:40 | |
(choir singing) | 58:45 | |
(pipe organ music) | 59:33 |