Peter J. Gomes - "Religion of the Dawn" (January 10, 1988)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:37 | |
- | Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord, | 3:07 |
Jesus Christ. | 3:08 | |
We welcome you to this service of worship | 3:10 | |
here at Duke University Chapel. | 3:12 | |
It's a special pleasure for us this week | 3:14 | |
to see so many students back on campus | 3:16 | |
after your holiday break, and we also extend | 3:18 | |
special greetings to our visitors and to those of you | 3:20 | |
in our radio and television audiences. | 3:23 | |
Our preacher for today is the Reverend Doctor Peter Gomms, | 3:26 | |
University Minister and Plummer Professor | 3:29 | |
of Christian Morals at Harvard University. | 3:32 | |
Dr. Gomms is a renowned preacher around the country. | 3:35 | |
An author and university minister, | 3:38 | |
he has graced the Duke Chapel pulpit on several occasions, | 3:41 | |
and has become one of our most beloved guest preachers here. | 3:44 | |
We are especially pleased today that he has been designated | 3:48 | |
the first Howard C. Wilkinson Guest Minister. | 3:51 | |
This endowment has been established by friends | 3:55 | |
and colleagues to honor Dr. Wilkinson, | 3:57 | |
who was the university chaplain here at Duke | 4:00 | |
between 1957 and 1972. | 4:03 | |
We are all so grateful that Dr. Wilkinson | 4:06 | |
and his family are with us today in our service. | 4:09 | |
You are reminded that Carl Vespers will resume | 4:13 | |
this Thursday afternoon, at 5:15 PM, | 4:15 | |
here at the Memorial Chapel. | 4:18 | |
We have a correction to a misprint in today's newspaper. | 4:21 | |
An organ recital by Dr. Monica Umschdett Rossman, | 4:25 | |
associate chapel organist, will be presented next Sunday | 4:28 | |
afternoon, at five o'clock PM, not this Sunday afternoon. | 4:31 | |
Please note the other announcements | 4:36 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins. | 4:38 | |
And now let us continue our worship. | 4:40 | |
(swelling choral music) | 4:53 | |
(organ music) | 6:05 | |
(echoing hymnal music) | 6:39 | |
Almighty God, whose son, our savior, | 9:49 | |
Jesus Christ, is the light of the world, | 9:52 | |
grant that your people, illumined by your word | 9:56 | |
and sacraments, may shine with the radiance | 9:59 | |
of Christ's glory. | 10:02 | |
That he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed, | 10:04 | |
to the ends of the Earth. | 10:08 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, | 10:10 | |
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, | 10:12 | |
one God, now and forever, amen. | 10:14 | |
- | Let us pray. | 10:31 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God. | 10:34 | |
By the power of your Holy Spirit, | 10:37 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 10:40 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 10:43 | |
Amen. | 10:48 | |
The first lesson is taken from the Book of Genesis. | 10:52 | |
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. | 10:57 | |
The Earth was without form and void, | 11:01 | |
and darkness was upon the face of the deep, | 11:05 | |
and the Spirit of God was moving | 11:08 | |
over the face of the waters, and God said: | 11:11 | |
let there be light. | 11:15 | |
And there was light. | 11:17 | |
And God saw that the light was good. | 11:19 | |
And God separated the light from the darkness. | 11:22 | |
God called the light "day", | 11:26 | |
and the darkness, God called: night. | 11:29 | |
And there was evening, and there was morning. | 11:32 | |
One day. | 11:35 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 11:37 | |
(organ music) | 11:43 | |
(reverent choral music) | 11:57 | |
(organ music) | 15:13 | |
(echoing choral music) | 15:26 | |
The second lesson is taken from Acts. | 16:29 | |
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through | 16:34 | |
the upper country and came to Ephesus. | 16:38 | |
There, he found some disciples, and he said to them: | 16:41 | |
did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? | 16:46 | |
And they said: no, we have never even heard that there | 16:50 | |
is a Holy Spirit. | 16:54 | |
And he said: into what, then, were you baptized? | 16:56 | |
They said: into John's baptism. | 17:00 | |
And Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, | 17:03 | |
telling the people to believe in the one | 17:09 | |
who was to come after him. | 17:12 | |
That is Jesus. | 17:14 | |
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name | 17:16 | |
of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands | 17:19 | |
upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, | 17:23 | |
and they spoke with tongues and prophesized. | 17:26 | |
And there was about 12 of them in all. | 17:30 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 17:34 | |
(somber choral music) | 17:53 | |
The gospel lesson is taken from Mark. | 21:21 | |
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, | 21:25 | |
preaching a baptism of repentance | 21:29 | |
for the forgiveness of sins. | 21:32 | |
And there went out to him all the country of Judea, | 21:34 | |
and all the people of Jerusalem, | 21:38 | |
and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, | 21:40 | |
confessing their sins. | 21:45 | |
Now John was clothed with camel's hair, | 21:47 | |
and had a leather girdle around his waist, | 21:50 | |
and ate locust and wild honey. | 21:54 | |
And he preached, saying: after me comes he who | 21:57 | |
is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals | 22:02 | |
I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. | 22:06 | |
I have baptized you with water, | 22:10 | |
but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. | 22:13 | |
In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth, of Galilee, | 22:19 | |
and was baptized by John in the Jordan. | 22:23 | |
And when he came out of the water, | 22:27 | |
immediately, he saw the heavens opened, | 22:29 | |
and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. | 22:32 | |
And a voice came from heaven: | 22:37 | |
thou art my beloved son, | 22:40 | |
with thee I am well pleased. | 22:43 | |
This ends the reading of the gospel lesson. | 22:46 | |
- | Let us pray. | 23:10 |
Help us, Lord, to become masters of ourselves, | 23:14 | |
that we may become the servants of others. | 23:19 | |
Take our hands and work through them. | 23:23 | |
Take our minds and think through them. | 23:27 | |
Take our lips and speak through them, | 23:31 | |
and take our hearts and set them on fire. | 23:35 | |
For Christ's sake, | 23:40 | |
amen. | 23:43 | |
First, let me bring you greetings from your brothers | 23:52 | |
and sisters in Christ at Harvard University, | 23:57 | |
in cold Cambridge, almost as cold as it is here, | 24:02 | |
in Durham, North Carolina. | 24:07 | |
In Cambridge, we are rather slow about organizing life | 24:10 | |
to suit our convenience, and so, unlike you, | 24:15 | |
our undergraduates have returned to face | 24:20 | |
the prospect of their fall term examinations, | 24:23 | |
which take place at the end of this month. | 24:27 | |
So I suspect that there is a larger than usual attendance | 24:30 | |
this morning in the university church, in my absence. | 24:34 | |
The fact that so many of you are here this morning, | 24:38 | |
despite the fact that you have already achieved | 24:41 | |
that for which you pray, is indeed a testimony | 24:44 | |
to your faith and your courage, and your hospitality. | 24:48 | |
And I am delighted to share all of that with you. | 24:52 | |
I take as my text the fourth verse of the first chapter | 24:56 | |
of the Book of Genesis. | 25:01 | |
And God said: let there be light. | 25:04 | |
And there was light. | 25:08 | |
And God saw the light, that it was good. | 25:11 | |
This is epiphany. | 25:17 | |
The season of light. | 25:19 | |
And so, this is a sermon about religion of the dawn. | 25:23 | |
Religion that has to do with the rising, | 25:30 | |
sustaining light. | 25:34 | |
Now there are many people, and perhaps you are among them, | 25:38 | |
who hope that at long last | 25:42 | |
we can pack up the cribs | 25:46 | |
and the mangers and the baby Jesus with them, | 25:48 | |
and put them all away for another year. | 25:52 | |
As I look around this chapel, clearly you have already | 25:57 | |
done that; the colored lights and the commercial displays, | 26:00 | |
those few that remain, now look forlorn, | 26:06 | |
rather than festive or exciting. | 26:08 | |
And this snow that blankets the ground, | 26:12 | |
this is no longer a sign of the gentle, | 26:15 | |
natural mantle of Christmas. | 26:18 | |
It is a bloody nuisance, and a reminder | 26:21 | |
that winter is bleak and real and long. | 26:25 | |
And no wonder that we are tired of all of this | 26:30 | |
and prepared to get on with other things. | 26:32 | |
Despite the liturgical efforts of advent, | 26:36 | |
Christmas has been with us since the weeks | 26:39 | |
before Thanksgiving Day, and we are rightly tired of it. | 26:42 | |
And perhaps our first response to this liturgical feast | 26:48 | |
today, the feast of the epiphany, | 26:51 | |
with its rehearsal of all the Christmas events, | 26:54 | |
punctuated now by the star and the three kings, | 26:57 | |
is to say we have had it all, | 27:01 | |
and we have seen it all before. | 27:04 | |
Epiphany, with its Christmas echo, | 27:07 | |
comes to us today like an aging Hollywood actress, | 27:10 | |
of whom it was said well after her prime | 27:14 | |
that she was forgotten, but not gone. | 27:17 | |
The style of Christmas may be just that. | 27:22 | |
Forgotten, but not gone. | 27:25 | |
But the substance of Christmas will not let us go. | 27:28 | |
And we forget it, we neglect it, at our peril. | 27:34 | |
So in a curious, odd way, we Christians who inhabit | 27:39 | |
odd places like this, are fortunate in that the world | 27:44 | |
pays no attention to the epiphany. | 27:49 | |
And the world is quite prepared to go back to normal. | 27:53 | |
And in fact, it already has done so. | 27:56 | |
There are no office epiphany parties. | 28:00 | |
There are no epiphany cards. | 28:03 | |
There are no epiphany greetings or gifts or dinner parties. | 28:06 | |
It is all over, they have left that to us. | 28:11 | |
But that neglect on their part allows us the leisure | 28:16 | |
to reflect upon the great mystery of the birth | 28:21 | |
of Jesus Christ, unencumbered | 28:25 | |
by all of that stuff, | 28:30 | |
with which the world burdens his birth. | 28:32 | |
We can consider the birth of Jesus Christ | 28:36 | |
removed from the unfair competition | 28:40 | |
of the real world's pleasure. | 28:44 | |
Epiphany belongs to us. | 28:47 | |
Like the three kings, we may be lost | 28:51 | |
and we may be late, but for a moment, | 28:54 | |
at the dawn of a new era, the dawn of a new age, | 28:57 | |
a new year, and a new day, we have the manger, | 29:03 | |
the baby, the holy family all to ourselves. | 29:09 | |
No shepherds lurking in the wings, | 29:15 | |
no angelic chorus humming away, | 29:18 | |
no animals intruding, | 29:22 | |
no hordes of holiday worshipers | 29:24 | |
and shoppers and those who come to midnight mass | 29:28 | |
for a whiff of wax and sentiment. | 29:32 | |
They are all gone. | 29:35 | |
We are left, just Jesus and us. | 29:38 | |
We have the intimacy of the incarnation, | 29:44 | |
all to ourselves. | 29:49 | |
Now epiphany means: manifestation. | 29:54 | |
As a university congregation, you all know that, of course. | 29:56 | |
Manifestation, display, appearance. | 30:00 | |
And in church talk, it is that season | 30:04 | |
in which God appears and reveals himself | 30:07 | |
in ever-increasing circles to the world. | 30:10 | |
And this season begins with the discovery of God | 30:14 | |
in Jesus Christ by those curious scholars of the east, | 30:17 | |
the wise men. | 30:23 | |
The older liturgical formulas, | 30:25 | |
particularly of the eastern church, | 30:27 | |
all remind us that epiphany is not a day, | 30:29 | |
it is not even an event, it is not even a season. | 30:33 | |
Epiphany is a process of divine disclosure. | 30:39 | |
God's making himself real, | 30:45 | |
visible, tangible, | 30:49 | |
seen and known in our lives | 30:51 | |
and in our world. | 30:55 | |
It is the season of the discovery of God. | 30:58 | |
Men and women are enabled to see things | 31:03 | |
which ordinarily would be hidden from our eyes. | 31:06 | |
And to see, as we all know, is not just to observe. | 31:11 | |
And not simply to behold, | 31:15 | |
but to see is to understand. | 31:18 | |
That's what it means to see something. | 31:22 | |
We say: I see. | 31:26 | |
We say: I see what you are talking about. | 31:29 | |
We say: I see what you mean. | 31:33 | |
It is not just looking upon, it is seeing | 31:36 | |
and understanding, and taking, too, ourselves. | 31:41 | |
And so this is that season of God's revealing himself | 31:45 | |
so that we might see him with our own eyes. | 31:50 | |
And the means by which one is enabled to see, | 31:55 | |
illumination, enlightenment, | 31:59 | |
insight, vision, imagination, | 32:02 | |
these are the gifts of wisdom | 32:07 | |
that are given to us. | 32:11 | |
And thus the metaphor of epiphany is always light. | 32:14 | |
Dawning, the new day, and the source of that light, | 32:18 | |
the object of that light, are one and the same: | 32:24 | |
God. | 32:29 | |
God said: let there be light. | 32:31 | |
And there was light. | 32:35 | |
And God saw the light, that it was good. | 32:38 | |
Light is good. | 32:43 | |
Now, the wise men are guided to the manger of Jesus | 32:48 | |
by the light of the star. | 32:54 | |
Now I noticed that in Dr. Willerman's study, | 32:59 | |
there is a very large engraving, 19th century engraving, | 33:01 | |
of Cologne Cathedral. | 33:06 | |
Now, I don't know why Cologne Cathedral hangs | 33:09 | |
in the chapel office at Duke University. | 33:13 | |
This building doesn't bear any resemblance | 33:16 | |
to the Cologne Cathedral. | 33:18 | |
But the point of Cologne Cathedral is, | 33:20 | |
a few years ago when I was there, | 33:22 | |
I was taken on a grand tour of Cologne Cathedral, | 33:24 | |
and by the very faithful, pious German guide | 33:27 | |
who took me around, was taken to a chapel | 33:30 | |
behind the high altar, and there he told me | 33:33 | |
with fervent Christian faith and flawless German, | 33:37 | |
that here were deposited the mortal remains | 33:41 | |
of the three kings, to whom Cologne Cathedral is dedicated. | 33:45 | |
Now, I have no idea how and why the magi of the east | 33:50 | |
made it to the Rhine River, and repose in splendor | 33:54 | |
in that 19th century gothic cathedral, | 33:58 | |
but faith is a wonderful thing, and there they are. | 34:01 | |
So Cologne, the wise men, Will Willerman's etchings, | 34:06 | |
they all put us in mind of the wise men, | 34:11 | |
who are the objects of the day, | 34:14 | |
and they are guided to the manger of Jesus | 34:15 | |
by the light of a star. | 34:18 | |
It is God who gives them that star, | 34:21 | |
and it is by God they are led by that star, | 34:25 | |
until the star leads them to God. | 34:29 | |
It is a full and complete circle. | 34:34 | |
And God is in it, beginning, middle, and end. | 34:38 | |
And lo the star which they had seen in the east | 34:44 | |
went before them until it came where, | 34:47 | |
to rest over the young child. | 34:50 | |
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly, | 34:52 | |
with great joy; going into the house, | 34:56 | |
they saw the child with Mary, his mother, | 34:59 | |
and they fell down and worshiped him. | 35:02 | |
God enabled them to find himself. | 35:07 | |
Now you and I are more than likely tempted to make | 35:14 | |
academic, scholarly, even theological heroes | 35:17 | |
of these wise people, these magi, these kings, | 35:22 | |
these sages, these professors, these intellectuals. | 35:27 | |
They appeal to our scholarly vanity. | 35:32 | |
Scholars in their studies in the libraries | 35:35 | |
and the laboratories of the world, | 35:38 | |
who by their wit, skill in science and in logic, | 35:40 | |
and at great personal risk and adventure, | 35:44 | |
like the explorers of old, pursue their research | 35:48 | |
until they discover that baby, | 35:53 | |
and shout a collective and royal: eureka! | 35:56 | |
We have found the kid! | 36:00 | |
And get themselves a noble prize of some sort or other. | 36:02 | |
That, we can all understand. | 36:07 | |
But the child was not lost. | 36:10 | |
The child was never lost. | 36:14 | |
The wise men were lost. | 36:17 | |
The theologians, the intellectuals, | 36:20 | |
the dawns, the scholars, the scientists, | 36:22 | |
they were the ones who were lost. | 36:24 | |
Had they missed the star, they would have been | 36:28 | |
in deep trouble, and even following the star | 36:31 | |
as best they could, they were still forced, | 36:35 | |
as you recall, to ask advice of King Herod. | 36:37 | |
Not a smart move for such wise men, wouldn't you think? | 36:41 | |
They were like those English, Italian, and Spanish | 36:46 | |
explorers of the 16th century, who having been lost | 36:49 | |
at sea for months and years, when finally they bumped | 36:53 | |
into land, claimed that they had discovered it, | 36:58 | |
when it was always there, and even when they were not. | 37:02 | |
Such is the vanity of our species. | 37:07 | |
No, the wise men are important, | 37:11 | |
and we hold them up on this day, a feast day, | 37:13 | |
but not for the reason we would like to think. | 37:16 | |
It is neither their cleverness nor ours that deserves | 37:20 | |
much credit here. | 37:25 | |
The wise men are important because | 37:28 | |
they were truly enlightened. | 37:31 | |
That is to say, they allowed themselves | 37:35 | |
to be guided. | 37:39 | |
They followed the light wherever it took them. | 37:41 | |
They looked to the dawn | 37:47 | |
as the end and the beginning | 37:50 | |
of their enterprise. | 37:53 | |
They were smart enough to know | 37:55 | |
they were not smart enough. | 37:59 | |
True enlightenment is what epiphany is all about. | 38:04 | |
Knowing that which is truly worth the knowing, | 38:09 | |
seeing that which is truly worth the seeing. | 38:13 | |
Seeking that which is truly worth finding. | 38:18 | |
We have to liberate that term, enlightenment, | 38:23 | |
you and I, from the clutches of the 18th century, | 38:26 | |
where it is so easily mistaken for arrogant intellect, | 38:30 | |
or a surly science, where those two things | 38:34 | |
are so easily mistaken for the real thing. | 38:39 | |
For true enlightenment acknowledges that we are led, | 38:43 | |
we are guided, we are moved, you and I, | 38:48 | |
to discover what has always been there, | 38:52 | |
and awaits us. | 38:57 | |
The true enlightenment, and hence the truly enlightened, | 38:59 | |
have to do with the growing, gradual, evolving, | 39:03 | |
dawning process that God leads us to himself, | 39:08 | |
and to all truth. | 39:14 | |
Our little wisdom, our little science and skill, | 39:17 | |
indeed, even our own heroic efforts and activities | 39:21 | |
are but part of the process of the divine disclosure. | 39:24 | |
Disclosure of god, | 39:30 | |
of all truth and goodness and beauty. | 39:34 | |
And when we find it, we discover truly | 39:38 | |
that it has found us. | 39:43 | |
And we respond as did those sages, | 39:47 | |
in the only way possible. | 39:50 | |
Not by writing a book or going on a talk show, | 39:53 | |
or franchising our discovery. | 39:58 | |
We respond by falling to our knees, | 40:01 | |
lost in wonder, love, and praise. | 40:05 | |
The only response to true enlightenment, | 40:12 | |
is to be found in the first case, on our knees. | 40:16 | |
God's first act | 40:25 | |
was to fill the world with light. | 40:28 | |
The first dawn was an expression of his own confidence | 40:32 | |
in his creation; | 40:37 | |
stars and the star have been the agents | 40:39 | |
of the dawn ever since, and the language of God | 40:43 | |
is the language of light, of dawn, of morning. | 40:48 | |
By dawn, that early morning light, | 40:54 | |
the Lord is raised from the dead. | 40:56 | |
By the light of an errant star, the manger king | 41:00 | |
is revealed to the Earth. | 41:04 | |
People that walked in darkness have seen a great light, | 41:08 | |
and it is always darkest before the dawn. | 41:12 | |
To be enlightened is to be among those | 41:17 | |
who go gaily in the dark, because they have caught | 41:21 | |
something of that light. | 41:25 | |
We know the wise men, | 41:29 | |
for their journey is our own journey. | 41:32 | |
Less wise than we think we are, | 41:36 | |
less wise and more lost | 41:40 | |
than we think we are, not where we ought to be | 41:43 | |
and frequently late, but as Eliot puts it: | 41:47 | |
no longer at home in the old dispensation. | 41:50 | |
We, like they, make our way | 41:55 | |
as best we can in the dark. | 41:59 | |
Groping for hints and signs, guesses, | 42:03 | |
impelled onward by the growing, dawning light. | 42:08 | |
Sustained in the dark by that very hope. | 42:14 | |
It means you have to lead, we have to lead, | 42:20 | |
wherever we are, where we are most comfortable and familiar. | 42:24 | |
We have to go where we must go, and where we ought to be, | 42:30 | |
no matter where it is. | 42:34 | |
Where our hopes and where our expectations lead us. | 42:37 | |
Perhaps in this journey you are summoned by angels, | 42:42 | |
like the frightened shepherds on the hillside. | 42:47 | |
And will go even unto Bethlehem or anyplace else | 42:51 | |
that they direct you. | 42:54 | |
Perhaps it is your curiosity and your powers of mind | 42:57 | |
and imagination that stir you onward, | 43:02 | |
and you will be led like the three kings. | 43:06 | |
Perhaps even it is obedience to the whisperings | 43:10 | |
of angels in the night-time, | 43:15 | |
like Mary and Joseph. | 43:19 | |
Perhaps it is the need for warmth, and light, | 43:23 | |
and companionship, such as draw people to this place | 43:26 | |
on the coldest and the darkest night of the year, | 43:32 | |
to celebrate the mysteries of Christmas Eve. | 43:36 | |
Perhaps it's Hardy's heartfelt longing | 43:40 | |
to see the oxen kneel. | 43:43 | |
Or, with Eliot, to arrive where we started | 43:46 | |
and know the place for the first time. | 43:50 | |
Whatever it is that impels you on your journey of faith, | 43:55 | |
it is God who sustains you. | 44:00 | |
It is God who starts with you. | 44:04 | |
It is God who hangs out the light, | 44:07 | |
so that you can see your way. | 44:10 | |
And it is God who enables us to see himself, | 44:13 | |
so that at the end of our journey, | 44:17 | |
we will see even as we are seen, | 44:20 | |
and we will know, even as we are known. | 44:23 | |
Only with God can we find God. | 44:29 | |
We can only lose God if there is God to be lost. | 44:32 | |
And only with God can we see God, | 44:36 | |
for the light which God made and found good | 44:40 | |
at the beginning of creation, | 44:44 | |
was made so that you and I | 44:47 | |
might live not in darkness, | 44:52 | |
but indeed, in light, | 44:55 | |
at the dawn of God's new day. | 44:58 | |
This is what epiphany is all about. | 45:04 | |
The process of enlightenment, | 45:08 | |
whereby we simply do not more and more | 45:12 | |
about less and less, the nature of a university education, | 45:15 | |
but we know more and more about that which is worth knowing. | 45:21 | |
Our vision grows, our insight is deepened, | 45:27 | |
our imagination is quickened, | 45:31 | |
and our eyes move | 45:35 | |
from darkness into light. | 45:38 | |
And when we see what we are meant to see, | 45:42 | |
like those kings, we will fall to our knees, | 45:46 | |
and we will offer them the best that we have. | 45:52 | |
Thanks be to God, who calls us out of darkness, | 45:58 | |
into his marvelous light. | 46:04 | |
Amen. | 46:11 | |
(organ music) | 46:37 | |
(echoing choral music) | 47:26 | |
- | Lord be with you. | 50:02 |
Let us pray. | 50:05 | |
Oh, eternal God, | 50:18 | |
who has created the light and has called it good, | 50:21 | |
once again we pray for thy help. | 50:27 | |
Not that we might do greater things, | 50:31 | |
but that we might do better things. | 50:33 | |
Not that we might be spared life's pain, | 50:36 | |
but that we might become wise and enlightened. | 50:41 | |
Not that we might have all things to enjoy life, | 50:46 | |
but that we might be grateful | 50:51 | |
that thou hast given us life to enjoy all things. | 50:54 | |
We lift these prayers for others before thee, | 51:01 | |
grateful for the abundance of thy mercy towards us. | 51:05 | |
Bless, oh Lord, all those who would make credible the gospel | 51:10 | |
in this unbelieving age, all those who earnestly work | 51:17 | |
for peace, all who live on less in order to share | 51:21 | |
with those who have less than they need. | 51:26 | |
All who plead the cause of the orphan, | 51:31 | |
the prisoner, and the oppressed. | 51:33 | |
All who stand in any company to challenge slurs | 51:38 | |
against another group, help to expose prejudice. | 51:41 | |
All who have trained themselves to listen | 51:46 | |
with genuine concern to those who seek a consoling presence. | 51:48 | |
We pray, gracious God, for those of us burdened | 51:56 | |
not by too little, but by too much. | 51:59 | |
For those who have so much power | 52:04 | |
that they have grown indifferent to the gifts | 52:07 | |
and claims of others. | 52:09 | |
For those who have so much knowledge | 52:13 | |
that they have grown proud and self-sufficient, | 52:15 | |
and lost the common touch. | 52:18 | |
Those who have so much wealth that they prize possessions | 52:22 | |
more than people. | 52:25 | |
Those who have so many choices, | 52:29 | |
they can hardly see the way clear | 52:32 | |
to know their own hearts and lives. | 52:34 | |
We pray, ever-living God, for the sick, | 52:40 | |
and the afflicted. | 52:43 | |
For those suffering from mental illness, | 52:46 | |
or the problems of aging. | 52:49 | |
Provide for them homes of dignity and peace. | 52:52 | |
Grant those who seek to care for them the necessary skill, | 52:57 | |
the patience, and the compassion | 53:01 | |
as they carry out their task. | 53:04 | |
We beseech thee eternal God, for the deep | 53:06 | |
and unspoken needs within this congregation. | 53:09 | |
Bless this gathering, whatever our reasons may be | 53:14 | |
for coming here, and may the light of thy love | 53:17 | |
shine through us eternally, | 53:23 | |
that we may see even as we are seen. | 53:26 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, | 53:31 | |
our Lord and savior, the light of the world. | 53:33 | |
Amen. | 53:37 | |
And now, in the spirit of thanksgiving, | 53:41 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God. | 53:43 | |
(serene choral music) | 55:53 | |
(echoing choral music) | 57:38 | |
(organ music) | 1:02:44 | |
(reverent choral music) | 1:03:01 | |
Almighty God, creator of all that was and is, | 1:04:11 | |
and is to come, diverse though we are in age | 1:04:14 | |
and in outlook, we are one in our desire | 1:04:18 | |
to voice our gratitude unto thee. | 1:04:20 | |
Thank thee for our time and place | 1:04:24 | |
in history in this new year, | 1:04:26 | |
for the vision of a better world, | 1:04:28 | |
for friends and loved ones who mediate | 1:04:30 | |
thy loving care to us, and for new truths, | 1:04:32 | |
which are revealed to us through the church. | 1:04:36 | |
All thy works praise thee, and in that chorus, | 1:04:39 | |
we gratefully join. | 1:04:42 | |
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, | 1:04:44 | |
who taught us to pray with confidence. | 1:04:46 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 1:04:49 | |
Thy kingdom come, they will be done, | 1:04:54 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:04:57 | |
Give us this day our daily bread. | 1:04:59 | |
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those | 1:05:02 | |
who trespass against us. | 1:05:05 | |
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:05:07 | |
Thine is the kingdom, the power, | 1:05:11 | |
and the glory, forever. | 1:05:14 | |
Amen. | 1:05:17 | |
(organ music) | 1:05:23 | |
(reverent choral music) | 1:05:45 | |
- | And now, go forth in peace and be of good courage. | 1:08:40 |
Hold fast to that which is good, rejoicing | 1:08:44 | |
in the power of the Holy Spirit, | 1:08:46 | |
and may the blessing of God, Creator, Christ, | 1:08:49 | |
and Holy Spirit, be with you all, | 1:08:52 | |
now and forevermore. | 1:08:54 | |
(swelling choral music) | 1:09:05 | |
(organ music) | 1:10:27 |