William H. Willimon - "The Way of Peace" (December 6, 1987)

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	(bright music)	0:01
	(somber music)	0:49
	(quiet rustling)	2:29
-	Good morning and welcome	2:46
	to this service of worship	2:47
	on the second Sunday in Advent.	2:48
	We're glad that you're here.	2:51
	We're particularly thankful for our choir.	2:53
	The choir has sung two performances	2:55
	of The Messiah this weekend	2:58
	and has a third this afternoon.	2:59
	This is quite an accomplishment,	3:02
	particularly for our students in the choir.	3:05
	Since we're moving towards exams and	3:07
	we don't often take time to thank our choir,	3:10
	but I know that I express for you our appreciation	3:13
	of their being here today and	3:15
	preparing music for this service.	3:18
	The choir is a special part of worship here.	3:20
	Next Sunday is our annual Founder's Sunday service.	3:24
	The Reverend Doctor Thomas Stockton will be the preacher,	3:28
	and we invite you for that service.	3:31
	And now let us continue our worship.	3:35
	♪ Beautiful Savior ♪	3:45
	♪ Lord of the nations ♪	3:50
	♪ Son of God ♪	3:57
	♪ And Son of man ♪	4:02
	♪ Glory and honor ♪	4:11
	♪ Praise adoration ♪	4:18
	♪ Now and forever more be mine ♪	4:24
	♪ Now and forever more ♪	4:36
	♪ Be mine ♪	4:48
	(light organ music)	4:59
	♪ Lo, he comes with clouds descending ♪	5:39
	♪ Once for mortal sinners slain ♪	5:45
	♪ Thousand thousand saints attending ♪	5:50
	♪ Swell the triumph of his train ♪	5:55
	♪ Alleluia ♪	6:00
	♪ Alleluia ♪	6:03
	♪ Alleluia ♪	6:06
	♪ Christ appears on earth to reign ♪	6:09
	♪ Christ appears on earth to reign ♪	6:14
	♪ Every eye shall now behold him ♪	6:23
	♪ Robed in dreadful majesty ♪	6:28
	♪ We who set at naught and sold him ♪	6:33
	♪ Pierced and nailed him to the tree ♪	6:39
	♪ Deeply wailing, deeply wailing ♪	6:44
	♪ Deeply wailing ♪	6:50
	♪ Shall the true Messiah see ♪	6:52
	♪ Shall the true Messiah see ♪	6:58
	♪ Those dear tokens of his passion ♪	7:06
	♪ Still his dazzling body bears ♪	7:12
	♪ Cause of endless exultation ♪	7:17
	♪ To his ransomed worshipers ♪	7:23
	♪ With what rapture, with what rapture ♪	7:29
	♪ With what rapture ♪	7:35
	♪ Gaze we on those glorious scars ♪	7:37
	♪ Gaze we on those glorious scars ♪	7:43
	♪ Yea, amen, let all adore thee ♪	8:48
	♪ High on thine eternal throne ♪	8:53
	♪ Savior, take the power and glory ♪	9:00
	♪ Claim the kingdom for thine own ♪	9:05
	♪ Alleluia ♪	9:12
	♪ Alleluia ♪	9:14
	♪ Alleluia ♪	9:18
	♪ Thou shalt reign and thou alone ♪	9:21
	♪ Thou shalt reign and thou alone ♪	9:28
-	When we gather to praise God	9:41
	we remember that we are a people	9:44
	who have preferred our wills to the Lord's.	9:46
	Accepting God's power to become new persons in Christ.	9:50
	Let us confess our sins before God and one another.	9:54
	Please be seated.	10:00
All	Oh Almighty God, give us grace	10:11
	to approach Thee at this time	10:14
	with penitent and believing hearts.	10:17
	We confess that we have sinned against Thee	10:20
	and are not worthy to be called Thy children.	10:23
	Yet do Thou in mercy keep us as Thine own.	10:26
	Grant us true repentance and forgive us all our sins,	10:31
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	10:36
	Amen.	10:39
-	Hear the good news,	10:40
	Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.	10:43
	That is God's own proof of His love toward us.	10:46
	In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.	10:50
Congregation	In the name of Jesus Christ,	10:54
	you are forgiven.	10:56
-	Let us pray.	11:18
All	Open our hearts and minds oh God,	11:21
	by the power of your Holy Spirit.	11:24
	So that as the word is read and proclaimed	11:26
	we might be prepared for the advent of our Savior.	11:30
	Amen	11:34
-	The old testament scripture comes from the prophet Isaiah.	11:39
	The 40th chapter, beginning with the first verse.	11:43
	Comfort ye,	11:49
	comfort ye my people.	11:51
	Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem	11:55
	and cry to her that her warfare is ended.	11:59
	That her iniquity is pardoned.	12:02
	That she has received from the Lord's hand	12:05
	double for all her sins.	12:08
	A voice cries,	12:12
	in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.	12:15
	Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	12:18
	Every valley shall be lifted up	12:23
	and every mountain and hill made low.	12:25
	The uneven ground shall become level	12:29
	and the rough places a plain.	12:32
	And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.	12:35
	And all flesh shall see it together,	12:38
	for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.	12:41
	A voice says, cry.	12:45
	And I say,	12:49
	what shall I cry?	12:50
	All flesh is as grass	12:53
	and all it's beauty is like the flower of the field.	12:55
	The grass withers, the flower fades	12:59
	when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.	13:02
	Surely the people is as grass.	13:06
	The grass withers, the flower fades	13:10
	but the word of our God will stand forever.	13:13
	Get you up to a high mountian oh Zion,	13:19
	Harold of good tidings.	13:21
	Lift up your voice with strength oh Jerusalem.	13:24
	Herold of good tidings.	13:27
	Lift it up, fear not,	13:30
	say to the cities of Judah,	13:34
	behold your God.	13:36
	Behold the Lord God comes with might	13:38
	and His arm rules for Him.	13:41
	Behold His reward is with him	13:44
	and his recompense before him.	13:46
	He will feed his flock like a shepherd.	13:51
	He will gather the lambs in his arms.	13:55
	He will carry them in his bosom	13:59
	and gently lead those that are with young.	14:03
	Here ends the reading of the old testament.	14:09
	(organ music)	14:20
	♪ Oh Lord hear me when I call to you ♪	14:37
	♪ Be merciful and answer me ♪	14:43
	♪ I'll seek the Lord my heart has said ♪	14:54
	♪ Do not hide your face from me oh Lord ♪	14:59
	♪ Do not turn away in anger ♪	15:06
	♪ You are my help and comfort ♪	15:10
	♪ Oh Lord hear me when I call to you ♪	15:16
	♪ Be merciful and answer me ♪	15:23
	♪ Do not give me up forsake me ♪	15:33
	♪ Oh God my Savior ♪	15:40
	♪ Thou my father and mother forsake me ♪	15:45
	♪ You oh Lord will take care of me ♪	15:51
	♪ Oh Lord hear me when I call to you ♪	15:57
	♪ Be merciful and answer me ♪	16:04
	♪ Show me your ways oh Lord ♪	16:14
	♪ Lead me on the path to safety ♪	16:19
	♪ I shall sing the goodness of the Lord ♪	16:25
	♪ God's mercy shall be with me night and day ♪	16:30
	♪ Oh Lord hear me when I call to you ♪	16:36
	♪ Be merciful and answer me ♪	16:43
	♪ Oh in the Lord ♪	16:54
	♪ Be strong take courage ♪	16:56
	♪ Put your trust in God the Lord ♪	17:01
	♪ Oh Lord hear me when I call to you ♪	17:08
	♪ Be merciful and answer me ♪	17:15
-	The second lesson is taken	17:52
	from the second epistle of Peter.	17:54
	The third chapter beginning with the eighth verse.	17:58
	But do not ignore this one fact brethren.	18:05
	That with the Lord,	18:09
	one day is as a thousand years.	18:11
	And a thousand years as one day.	18:14
	The Lord is not slow about His promise,	18:18
	as some count slowness,	18:21
	but is forbearing toward you.	18:23
	Not wishing that any should perish	18:25
	but that all should reach repentance.	18:29
	But the day of the Lord will come like a thief	18:33
	and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise	18:36
	and the elements will be dissolved with fire.	18:40
	And the earth and the works that are upon it	18:44
	will be burned up.	18:47
	Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,	18:51
	what sort of persons ought you to be	18:54
	in lives of holiness and godliness.	18:56
	Waiting for, and hastening, the coming of the day of God	18:58
	because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved	19:02
	and the elements will melt with fire.	19:06
	But according to His promise	19:11
	we wait for new heavens and a new earth	19:14
	in which righteousness dwells.	19:17
	Therefore beloved, since you wait for these	19:21
	be zealous to be found by Him without spot or blemish	19:24
	and at peace.	19:31
	And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation.	19:34
	So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you	19:39
	according to the wisdom given him.	19:42
	Speaking of this as he does in all his letters.	19:45
	Here ends the reading of the epistle.	19:50
-	In just a moment I want	20:01
	to speak to you about politics.	20:02
	Do I detect a groan from this congregation?	20:07
	You say that you haven't come here	20:12
	to hear about politics.	20:13
	You say that you're fed up	20:16
	by this time with politicians and politics.	20:18
	I suppose this means that you are uninterested in	20:23
	whether or not I've ever smoked a marijuana cigarette,	20:27
	or cheated on exams in divinity school.	20:29
	It's none of your business	20:34
	where I get the material for my sermons.	20:35
	You say that you are here to prepare for Christmas	20:40
	and not to hear a campaign speech.	20:43
	You've come to hear an advent	20:46
	song of hope	20:49
	and expectancy.	20:51
	When old Zachariah was informed that his old,	20:55
	childless wife Elizabeth was going to have a baby,	20:58
	Zachariah broke into song.	21:02
	And I want you to listen to Zachariah's song now	21:07
	as the choir sings it.	21:09
	I want you to listen for the politics	21:12
	beneath the poetry.	21:15
	Because I think you will hear a message there that	21:18
	is as political as it is poetic.	21:20
	Today we should remind ourselves	21:24
	that the advent of the Christ child	21:26
	is also a political event.	21:29
	(organ music)	21:39
	♪ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel ♪	21:45
	♪ He has come to His people and set them free ♪	21:52
	♪ He has raised up for us a mighty Savior ♪	21:58
	♪ Born of the house of his servant David ♪	22:05
	♪ Through his holy prophets he promised of old ♪	22:11
	♪ That He would save us from our enemies ♪	22:17
	♪ From the hands of all who hate us ♪	22:23
	♪ He promised to show mercy to our fathers ♪	22:29
	♪ And to remember his holy covenant ♪	22:35
	♪ This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham ♪	22:42
	♪ To set us free from the hands of our enemies ♪	22:49
	♪ Free to worship him without fear ♪	22:57
	♪ Holy and righteous in His sight ♪	23:02
	♪ All the days of our life ♪	23:06
	♪ You my child shall be called ♪	23:10
	♪ The prophet of the most high ♪	23:13
	♪ For you will go before the Lord ♪	23:17
	♪ To prepare His way ♪	23:20
	♪ To give His people knowledge of salvation ♪	23:25
	♪ By the forgiveness of their sins ♪	23:30
	♪ In the tender compassion of our God ♪	23:36
	♪ The dawn from on high shall break upon us ♪	23:42
	♪ To shine on those who dwell ♪	23:49
	♪ In darkness and the shadow of death ♪	23:52
	♪ And to guide our feet into the way of peace ♪	23:58
-	In case you missed it,	24:21
	the third week of October was designated as	24:22
	peace with justice week.	24:27
	By the National Council of Churches.	24:30
	To enable us to celebrate our one week	24:33
	for peace with justice.	24:36
	The National Council of Churches	24:37
	sent all of us pastors a packet of materials.	24:39
	And in our packet there was a poster.	24:43
	And the poster consisted of a globe,	24:46
	a world, that was upheld by about half a dozen	24:51
	different colored hands.	24:56
	Get the point?	24:59
	If we can just get all of these brown,	25:01
	and black, and white hands working together	25:04
	We can uphold the world for peace with justice.	25:07
	The Arabs had a turtle, the Greeks had Atlas,	25:11
	we have the multi-colored hands of the	25:15
	National Council of Churches upholding the world.	25:17
	We've got the whole world in our hands.	25:21
	One thing I noticed about the peace with justice poster	25:27
	was that there was a dove,	25:30
	a dove of peace in the upper right hand of the poster.	25:32
	And the dove of peace appears to be flying	25:37
	away from the world.	25:40
	Peace with justice,	25:46
	it's become a popular slogan in churches.	25:48
	A person who parks his Volvo near my Mazda	25:52
	has recently placarded his car	25:54
	with a bumper sticker reading,	25:56
	If you want peace, work for justice.	25:58
	Peace with justice.	26:01
	I thought about that bumper sticker.	26:05
	When I read the gospel for today,	26:07
	the song of old daddy-to-be, Zachariah.	26:11
	Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,	26:15
	for he has visited and redeemed his people,	26:19
	that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies	26:22
	might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness.	26:25
	Days shall dawn upon us from on high	26:30
	to give light to those that sit in darkness	26:32
	and in the shadow of death.	26:35
	To guide our feet	26:39
	in the way of peace.	26:42
	Here is a song which speaks of peace.	26:46
	But not, I think, the way of the peace with justice	26:50
	bumper sticker.	26:53
	For old Zachariah, young Mary, the angels,	26:55
	all who broke into song on that first Christmas,	26:59
	were unified in their assertion that peace	27:04
	is something that God makes, a gift of God,	27:07
	not the product of enlightened, national self-interest.	27:13
	Because what needed doing, for those oppressed	27:18
	first century Jews, like Zachariah,	27:20
	was to great, so utterly beyond the bounds of	27:24
	human imagination or human initiative	27:27
	that only a visit by God could do it.	27:31
	Zachariah,	27:35
	Zachariah's song is more than a sweet Christmas carol.	27:38
	It is a victory chant, it is politics	27:42
	in the most Christian sense of the word.	27:45
	I think it could be demonstrated that history	27:49
	says that peace is not the fruit of our work	27:52
	to get justice.	27:57
	Violence is usually the result of our efforts	27:58
	to make peace.	28:02
	Much, much violence and more than a little war	28:04
	occurs precisely at the point when we	28:07
	tire of sitting around like Mary or Zachariah	28:10
	and praying for peace or singing hymns about God	28:13
	and at last take matters into our own hands	28:17
	to set things right.	28:20
	Today liberation theologians	28:23
	urge us to, "take sides for justice."	28:26
	But of course once you take sides,	28:30
	once the enemy is identified and named,	28:32
	it becomes tough to tell the peace makers	28:36
	from the war makers.	28:38
	Everybody is carrying a gun.	28:40
	And have you ever met a soldier anywhere	28:43
	that told you he was fighting on the side of injustice?	28:45
	No.	28:49
	The only way today to tell the,	28:51
	who the real peace makers are, in any conflict,	28:53
	is to ask which side is being supported	28:56
	by the National Council of Churches.	28:58
	(congregation laughing)	29:00
	Words like peace, justice, liberation,	29:01
	these great big words that preachers and theologians	29:05
	just love to use,	29:09
	words used with equal dexterity	29:13
	by the oppressor to maintain power	29:16
	and by the oppressed to get power,	29:21
	are so beloved because	29:26
	generally we can make the mean anything we please.	29:28
	I think one reason that we Christians learn	29:33
	that now we've got to attach justice to peace	29:35
	is that we discovered	29:40
	that mere pronouncement of peace was inadequate.	29:41
	Impassioned calls for peace,	29:44
	we learned, can often be just another means	29:47
	of the established maintaining their power	29:49
	at the expense of somebody else's justice.	29:53
	So we join justice to peace.	29:56
	By so doing we are preserved from the charge	29:59
	that we Christians want peace at any price.	30:01
	Peace at the expense of somebody else's justice.	30:05
	Thus we liberals can call for peace in Nicaragua,	30:09
	the elimination of the Contras and at the same time	30:14
	praise the Sandinistas.	30:18
	We want peace but not if peace means	30:20
	calling on the Sandinistas to be non-violent,	30:22
	since they are fighting for justice.	30:26
	Violence is regrettable but permissible	30:29
	as long as it's in the interest of justice.	30:33
	So by linking justice with peace you see	30:37
	we're able to work both sides of the street.	30:39
	Violence is bad but permissible	30:42
	as long as it's violence trying to get justice.	30:44
	Once we've fought for and won justice	30:48
	we'll have peace, which is the fruit of justice.	30:50
	While Christians don't desire violence,	30:55
	like everybody else, we want power.	30:57
	Power to set things right.	31:01
	And there's no way for us to set things right	31:04
	without coercion and violence.	31:06
	But as long as our violence is in	31:11
	the interest of justice it's okay.	31:12
	Well if peace has become the result of violence,	31:17
	we're right to start worrying about the way we talk.	31:22
	Peace with justice I'm afraid,	31:27
	has become such a popular slogan.	31:30
	Even of Methodist bishops.	31:32
	Not because Christians have at last learned	31:36
	that Jesus really means for us	31:38
	to care for those who have little.	31:39
	But rather, I believe, if you want peace work for justice,	31:43
	reflects Christian accomodation to ideologies	31:50
	which are not Christian.	31:53
	It enables us to join in struggles for justice	31:56
	whenever and wherever we label them as such,	31:59
	without having to qualify our actions	32:03
	by specifically Christian criteria.	32:06
	Our slogan enables us to void the worst of all	32:11
	possible contemporary fates,	32:14
	namely to be relegated to the fringes of society.	32:16
	To be deemed politically irrelevant by the powers that be,	32:21
	never to be invited to lunch at the White House.	32:25
	In today's heavily politicized church,	32:29
	I think we want to be useful	32:34
	within the present scheme of things,	32:37
	rather than to dream about God's future scheme of things.	32:40
	We want to be useful rather than faithful.	32:46
	Modern people like us value power	32:50
	above everything else.	32:53
	Power to change the world,	32:54
	joining our multicolored hands to set things right.	32:56
	But the difficulty for Christians is	33:00
	that setting things right, in itself,	33:02
	is not the supreme moral action.	33:04
	The supreme moral action, from a peculiarly	33:08
	Christian point of view, is to live and to die as Christ.	33:11
	Christians become such a problem in the modern world	33:19
	because we define words like peace and justice,	33:23
	not within the parameters of what is deemed effective,	33:29
	nor even from the mouths of those whom we privilege	33:33
	with the label oppressed.	33:36
	Rather our words, our lives,	33:39
	are defined by the story of Jesus Christ.	33:43
	This peculiar story, and it is more peculiar that you know,	33:48
	this peculiar story that we're preparing to tell	33:52
	once again this Christmas, defines the meaning of peace.	33:57
	The meaning of justice.	34:02
	But history shows time and again	34:07
	that we Christians have demonstrated our desire	34:08
	for power by our willingness to pick up the gun,	34:11
	to take sides,	34:14
	to forget our story,	34:16
	to name our enemies and work for justice.	34:17
	Do politics the world's way rather than God's way.	34:21
	Oh we may have conflict and moral compromises,	34:25
	violence, but at least we have the satisfaction	34:29
	that we haven't just sat around and prayed for justice	34:32
	or sung about peace, we've done something.	34:35
	And yet the point I hear in the scriptures	34:40
	this second Sunday of advent is this:	34:42
	If you'll listen,	34:46
	to the Christmas story,	34:48
	the songs of young Mary or old Elizabeth and Zachariah,	34:51
	I think you will hear the repeated insistence,	34:58
	that scandalous counter cultural notion	35:02
	that it is up to God to come and save us,	35:05
	or we are without hope.	35:10
	Who did the singing on that first advent?	35:14
	It wasn't Judean zealots plotting revolution	35:18
	or Roman legionaries putting down revolution.	35:22
	It wasn't tenured professors driving Volvos.	35:26
	It was people on the bottom.	35:31
	The weak, the forgotten, the old.	35:35
	The poor, the desperate, old barren women,	35:38
	young pregnant women,	35:41
	old men.	35:44
	For such people God wasn't someone that we turn to	35:45
	after we've done what's practical.	35:50
	God was their only hope.	35:53
	Oh it's easy for me to cry peace, justice.	35:57
	Because revolution costs me nothing.	36:01
	But these stories remind me that there	36:05
	are more people in this world.	36:07
	People like Mary, Elizabeth, Zachariah,	36:11
	those shepherds,	36:14
	who will never get their just desserts	36:17
	come revolution or not,	36:19
	if God is not for them.	36:24
	The people who broke into song that first advent	36:29
	were people who had never had anything to sing about	36:31
	their whole lives.	36:34
	What they waited on and prayed for	36:38
	could not be achieved through mere government.	36:41
	A bigger piece of the pie, power to the people,	36:44
	Marxist or democratic.	36:47
	Land reform, a chicken in every pot, the world bank.	36:49
	In fact I think this story teaches us to be	36:55
	very suspicious of all politics.	36:58
	Left or right.	37:01
	Because we know how this story ends.	37:04
	And we remember that the people who put the child	37:08
	of a Elizabeth and Zachariah to death,	37:11
	the people who put to death the child of Mary and Joseph,	37:14
	would tell you that they did so	37:20
	for the cause of peace with justice in Judea.	37:23
	Like us they were more interested in what works	37:30
	than in what God wants.	37:34
	To the extent that we Christians allow secular	37:38
	ideologies of the left or the right,	37:41
	Marxist or any other, to determine the shape and the limits	37:44
	of our political vision,	37:48
	we forfeit our ability to see the world as it really is,	37:50
	namely, a place where principalities and powers	37:53
	insist on the right to determine who people are,	37:57
	where Caesar quickly co-ops all movements	38:01
	for his purposes and Satan masquerades as an angel of light.	38:04
	In such a climate,	38:09
	Christians lose anything interesting to say to the world	38:12
	because we merely parrot back the world's slogans.	38:15
	What if the current popular notion of history	38:21
	as a long picture of human self-liberation	38:23
	is in direct opposition to the Christian claim	38:29
	that we become free men and women,	38:32
	not through ourselves and our earnest efforts,	38:35
	but only by the courageous determination	38:38
	to deal with the world as God has dealt with us.	38:42
	It all sounds good that Christians should work with others,	38:48
	even those who do not share Christian convictions	38:54
	in the cause for peace and justice,	38:56
	after all everybody believes in peace,	38:58
	everybody believes in justice,	39:00
	even those who don't believe in Jesus.	39:03
	But the difficult thing is that for Christians,	39:08
	justice is a word that awaits definition.	39:11
	Justice has no meaning for us outside the will	39:16
	and the purposes of God.	39:19
	Jesus gives new definition to words	39:23
	like peace and justice, happiness, life.	39:25
	By coming first to an old couple,	39:30
	and old childless, poor, hopeless, powerless,	39:33
	futureless couple,	39:37
	like Elizabeth and Zachariah, God shows us justice.	39:38
	We do the story of Jesus an injustice	39:45
	when we act as if it were not peculiar,	39:49
	as if the vision and witness of Jesus	39:52
	could be encapsulated as a mere struggle	39:55
	for a bigger piece of the pie.	39:58
	There is no way to know what we Christians mean	40:02
	when we talk of peace and justice,	40:04
	without reference to this peculiar Christmas story,	40:08
	a story of how, because we were unable to save ourselves,	40:13
	by ourselves,	40:18
	God stole into human history one night at Bethlehem	40:21
	and saved us.	40:29
	To the extent that God's church allows it's imagination	40:32
	to be captured	40:35
	by conventional definitions of peace and justice,	40:37
	of the left or the right,	40:42
	Olit North or Daniel Ortega,	40:44
	we forfeit our ability to help the oppressed in a godly way.	40:48
	We lose our ability to stand against the limits	40:54
	of the present order.	40:57
	We offer the oppressed	40:59
	not justice, but the palliative	41:01
	of utopian dreams, class struggle,	41:04
	or doom them to continued resentment	41:07
	at not being as ruthless as Caesar is	41:10
	in getting what he wants.	41:12
	In lieu of salvation feed them slogans.	41:16
	In the days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus	41:24
	that all the world should be enrolled.	41:27
	This was the first enrollment when Quirinius	41:30
	was governor of Syria.	41:32
	And Joseph went up from Galilee	41:34
	from the city of Nazareth to Judea,	41:35
	the city of David which is called Bethlehem.	41:38
	You see the story?	41:43
	That's how we tell the story.	41:45
	We tell the story	41:47
	by reference to who was in power in Washington	41:50
	or the Kremlin.	41:52
	By the telling who is in power in Rome,	41:55
	this was Augustus, Quirinius was the governor.	41:58
	This was during the peace of Augustus,	42:01
	the pax Augustiana.	42:03
	When things were so peaceful because you had	42:06
	such a ruthless dictator, with his heal on all of the world.	42:08
	This is history, who was in power politically.	42:14
	But don't you see what Luke is doing?	42:20
	Already, by the time this story was first being told,	42:23
	Luke's readers noticed a strange irony.	42:27
	Where is Augustus now, 100 years later?	42:30
	Where is Quirinius?	42:32
	Nobody even remembers Quirinius,	42:33
	he doesn't even rate a foot note in the pages of history.	42:35
	These two politicians, once so powerful in their own day,	42:38
	are rotting in their graves.	42:42
	This Quirinius who, for the stroke of a pen,	42:45
	could send these oppressed Jews marching across Judea	42:48
	to enroll, he had to enroll them	42:52
	to keep track of these Jews.	42:54
	Where are these men now?	42:56
	And that little baby, for whom there was no room	43:00
	even at the inn,	43:04
	that little baby and his people are turning	43:05
	Augustus's world upside down.	43:08
	And a smile breaks out across the face of the church	43:14
	when we realize,	43:17
	the way God does things.	43:19
	Now an old man's song	43:23
	may not sound an effective way.	43:25
	But I believe the place to begin a Christian	43:30
	struggle for peace and justice is here,	43:32
	standing beside old Zachariah,	43:37
	telling our stories and singing our songs.	43:40
	Rather than get our foot in Caesar's door	43:47
	by speaking enough like the powerful	43:50
	to get a seat on the cabinet,	43:52
	our energies might be better used	43:55
	in creating an alternative to Caesar's solutions.	43:57
	That visible alternative	44:01
	is the church.	44:04
	God's attempt to create a place of peace and justice	44:07
	where we might be saved from the disasters	44:12
	of our attempts to take matters into our own hands.	44:15
	And to define the meaning of life	44:18
	solely on our terms.	44:20
	Here,	44:24
	is the advent of that peace which passes all understanding.	44:26
	Sing of the one	44:32
	who came to us	44:35
	because we couldn't get together and come to Him.	44:37
	The one who comes through the tender mercy of our God	44:42
	to give light to those who sit in darkness,	44:47
	to guide our feet	44:52
	in the way of peace.	44:55
	(organ music)	45:04
	♪ Of the Father's love begotten ♪	45:42
	♪ Ere the worlds began to be ♪	45:47
	♪ He is Alpha and Omega ♪	45:53
	♪ He the source, the ending He ♪	45:58
	♪ Of the things that are, that have been ♪	46:04
	♪ And that future years shall see ♪	46:10
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	46:15
	♪ O ye heights of heaven adore Him ♪	46:22
	♪ Angel hosts, His praises sing ♪	46:27
	♪ Powers, dominions, bow before Him ♪	46:32
	♪ And extol our God and King ♪	46:37
	♪ Let no tongue on earth be silent ♪	46:43
	♪ Every voice in concert ring ♪	46:50
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	46:54
	♪ Christ, to Thee with God the Father ♪	47:01
	♪ And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee ♪	47:06
	♪ Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving ♪	47:11
	♪ And unwearied praises be ♪	47:16
	♪ Honor, glory, and dominion ♪	47:22
	♪ And eternal victory ♪	47:28
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	47:33
-	The Lord be with you.	47:44
Congregation	And also with you.	47:45
-	Let us pray.	47:47
	Oh eternal God,	48:01
	Father and mother to us all	48:03
	with whom nothing is impossible.	48:06
	As we journey toward the manger in Bethlehem,	48:10
	our hearts yearn for communion with Thee.	48:14
	We come as shepherds out of our curiosity,	48:19
	our loneliness, our longing to know Thee.	48:22
	We come as wise men, regarded as strangers,	48:27
	journeying from afar.	48:32
	Prone to look in the wrong places.	48:35
	We come as Elizabeth and Zachariah,	48:39
	believing in miracles.	48:42
	We come as Mary and Joseph,	48:45
	seeking to answer the call to obedience	48:49
	which requires us to give our very lives unto Thee.	48:52
	We come in response to the angels singing,	48:58
	having heard them proclaim the good news,	49:02
	seeking to join in their song of jubilation.	49:06
	Help us oh God in these days of preparation	49:11
	for the coming of the holy child,	49:14
	that we may come to Thee, truly ready	49:17
	to receive Thee.	49:20
	We pray Thee redeeming God,	49:24
	to bless those for whom there is little joy	49:27
	in this holy season.	49:29
	Bless those who are aged and forlorn.	49:33
	For those who are overcome by a sense of worthlessness.	49:37
	Bless those who have suffered loss	49:43
	and are acutely aware of their grief in this season.	49:46
	Bless those who are poor,	49:51
	those who are forsaken,	49:54
	those who are unemployed.	49:57
	Bless those who are ill	50:00
	and must spend this time of joy in pain.	50:01
	Bless those who are hungry and long to be filled.	50:05
	Bless those who are far from home	50:11
	or even are without a home.	50:14
	Who are lonely and forgotten among strangers.	50:17
	We beseech the reconciling God,	50:21
	send Thy spirit among all the world's people	50:24
	this blessed season.	50:28
	Make this a time when those who are estranged	50:31
	may be reconciled.	50:33
	Make this a time when those who have drifted apart	50:36
	will find each other again.	50:38
	Make this a time when the vision of peace on earth	50:42
	will be rekindled within each of us	50:45
	and genuine strides toward that peace may be made.	50:49
	We thank Thee oh loving God for the greatest	50:55
	and best gift of all,	50:57
	Jesus Christ our Lord.	50:59
	That he took our common life upon him	51:01
	to be like us,	51:04
	in order that we might be like him.	51:06
	May Christ be born again within the hearts of each of us.	51:11
	This we ask for Thy love's sake.	51:16
	Amen.	51:20
	And in the spirit of thanksgiving,	51:24
	for the greatness of God's love toward us	51:27
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God.	51:29
	(gentle organ music)	51:35
	(choir singing in foreign language)	55:00
	(booming drum music)	56:10
	(singing in foreign language)
	(triumphant organ music)	56:57
	(singing in foreign language)
	(soft organ music)	58:43
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	59:07
	♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪	59:13
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:21
	♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪	59:25
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	59:31
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:37
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:40
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:43
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:46
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:49
	♪ Amen ♪	59:58
-	Most merciful God,	1:00:09
	who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance	1:00:11
	and to prepare the way for our salvation.	1:00:14
	We give Thee thanks for the many joys of this season,	1:00:18
	for the spirit of goodwill which reigns	1:00:22
	ever so briefly in our land.	1:00:24
	For the desire to give more than to receive.	1:00:27
	For the quiet preparation of advent	1:00:30
	which cleanses and renews our weary hearts.	1:00:32
	Most of all we thank Thee for the gift of love	1:00:36
	thy son, Jesus Christ, who shows us the way of peace	1:00:39
	and in His name we pray.	1:00:44
All	Our Father, who art in heaven	1:00:47
	hallowed be thy name.	1:00:50
	They kingdom come, Thy will be done	1:00:51
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:00:54
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:00:57
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:00:59
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:01:02
	And lead us not into temptation	1:01:05
	but deliver us from evil.	1:01:07
	For thine is the kingdom, the power	1:01:09
	and the glory forever, amen.	1:01:12
	("Savior of the Nations, Come")	1:01:16
	♪ Savior of the nations, come ♪	1:01:42
	♪ Show the glory of the Son ♪	1:01:48
	♪ Every people, stand in awe ♪	1:01:54
	♪ Praise the perfect Son of God ♪	1:02:00
	♪ Not of human seed or worth ♪	1:02:08
	♪ But from God's own mystic breath ♪	1:02:15
	♪ Fruit in Mary's womb begun ♪	1:02:21
	♪ When God breathed the Word, his Son ♪	1:02:28
	♪ Wondrous birth ♪	1:02:36
	♪ Oh, wondrous child ♪	1:02:38
	♪ Of the virgin undefiled ♪	1:02:43
	♪ Mighty God and man in one ♪	1:02:49
	♪ Eager now his race to run ♪	1:02:56
	♪ God the Father is his source ♪	1:03:04
	♪ Back to God he runs his course ♪	1:03:10
	♪ Down to death and hell descends ♪	1:03:17
	♪ God's high throne he reascends ♪	1:03:23
	♪ He leaves heaven to return ♪	1:03:32
	♪ Traveling where dull hellfires burn ♪	1:03:39
	♪ Riding out, returning home ♪	1:03:45
	♪ As the Savior who has come ♪	1:03:52
	♪ God the Father's precious Son ♪	1:04:00
	♪ Girds himself in flesh to run ♪	1:04:07
	♪ For the trophies of our souls ♪	1:04:14
	♪ Longer than this round earth rolls ♪	1:04:21
	♪ Shining stable in the night ♪	1:04:29
	♪ Breathing victory with your light ♪	1:04:36
	♪ Darkness cannot hide your flame ♪	1:04:43
	♪ Shining bright as Jesus' name ♪	1:04:49
-	Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:05:02
	the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:05:05
	be with you now and always.	1:05:08
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:13
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:22
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:33
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:41
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:47
	♪ Amen ♪	1:05:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:06:11
	(exuberant music)	1:06:31
	(gentle music)	1:07:39

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Way of Peace" (December 6, 1987)

Description:

Sermon start time: 20:01. Sermon end time: 44:59.
The preacher argues that peace is not achievable by human work, which brings violence, but is instead completely a gift of God who brings justice to the oppressed. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Peace is something that God makes, a gift of God, not the product of enlightened, national self-interest.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4vd6pk61

Date:

December 6, 1987

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Luke

Chapter and Verse:

Luke 1:68-79

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0060
ref8423_ljf
uachapelsermaud
duke:321697
dcrmv001060
ark:/87924/r4vd6pk61
bd8546e0-b815-4c3f-8ede-71eca5ad11db

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

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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 - "The Way of Peace" (December 6, 1987)

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Duke University Archives