Wallace H. Kirby - "I Wonder Why He Didn't Leave His Name" (July 16, 1989)

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	(organ playing)	0:00
	(silence)	1:18
-	Welcome to Duke University Chapel.	1:32
	We're glad that you're with us.	1:35
	Our distinguished guest preacher today	1:38
	is the Reverend Doctor Wallace Kirby,	1:40
	who is Superintendent of the United Methodist Church,	1:44
	the Durham district, and a long-time friend	1:47
	of the Chapel and Trustee of the University.	1:51
	Dr Kirby is also teaching a course in preaching in the	1:55
	Duke Ministerial Course of Studies School here this summer.	1:58
	One of the nice things about being in the chapel	2:02
	in the summer is the many tourists and visitors	2:05
	who worship with us in summer and we know	2:08
	that many of you are in that group.	2:10
	We are delighted today to have a visit	2:14
	from the Reverend Charlene Cammera,	2:17
	who was minister to the University a few years ago	2:19
	and is now also a district superintendent	2:23
	in the United Methodist Church in Florida.	2:25
	And we welcome all of you who are	2:28
	visiting with us this morning.	2:30
	And now, let us continue our worship of God.	2:32
	(choir singing)	2:45
	(choir singing)	3:03
	(organ playing)	3:25
	(congregation singing)	4:01
	(congregation singing)	4:40
	(congregation singing)	6:01
-	When we gather to praise God,	7:17
	we remember that we are God's people,	7:19
	but we are also people who have preferred our wills	7:21
	to God's will, therefore let us begin	7:24
	by confessing our sin before God and one another.	7:27
	Be seated.	7:31
	Let us pray.	7:42
	Almighty and most merciful God,	7:44
	who knowest the thoughts of our hearts,	7:47
	we confess that we have sinned against thee	7:50
	and done evil in thy sight.	7:53
	We have transgressed thy holy laws.	7:56
	We have neglected thy word and ordinances.	7:59
	Forgive us, oh Lord, we beseech thee,	8:02
	and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things.	8:06
	And being delivered from the bondage of sin,	8:11
	we may bring forth fruit worthy of repentance	8:14
	and henceforth may ever walk in thy holy ways	8:18
	through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen.	8:22
	Hear the good news!	8:31
	Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.	8:32
	That is God's own proof of his love toward us.	8:35
	In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.	8:40
Congregation	(mumbling)	8:45
-	Let us pray.	8:57
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	8:59
	by the power of your holy spirit	9:02
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	9:05
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	9:08
	The first lesson is taken from	9:15
	Paul's letter to the Colossians.	9:16
	Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ	9:19
	by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother,	9:22
	to the saints and faithful brother,	9:27
	faithful brothers and sisters in Christ at Colossi.	9:29
	Grace to you and peace from God our father.	9:33
	When we pray for you, we always thank God,	9:37
	the father of our lord Jesus Christ,	9:40
	because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus	9:43
	and of the love which you have for all the saints	9:46
	because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.	9:49
	Of this, you have heard before in the word of the truth,	9:53
	the gospel which has come to you as indeed	9:57
	in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing.	10:00
	So among yourselves, from the day you heard	10:04
	and understood the grace of God in truth,	10:07
	as you learned it from our beloved Epaphras,	10:10
	a servant with us.	10:13
	He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf	10:15
	and has made known to us your love in the spirit.	10:18
	And so, from the day we heard of it,	10:22
	we have not ceased to pray for you,	10:24
	asking that you may be filled with the knowledge	10:27
	of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding	10:29
	to lead a life worthy of the Lord,	10:34
	pleasing in everything, bearing fruit in every good work,	10:36
	and increasing in the knowledge of God.	10:40
	May you be strengthened with the all power,	10:43
	according to God's glorious might	10:45
	for all endurance and patience,	10:48
	with joy, giving thanks to God the father	10:51
	who has qualified us to share in	10:54
	the inheritance of the saints and light.	10:56
	God has delivered us from the power of evil	10:59
	and transferred us to the kingdom of God's beloved son	11:01
	in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins.	11:05
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	11:09
	Will the congregation please rise	11:12
	and read responsibly with me	11:14
	the Psalter which is found in number 600	11:17
	in the rear of the hymnal.	11:20
	Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me.	11:29
All	Thou knowest me when I sit down and when I rise up	11:33
	and thou discernest my thoughts from afar.	11:37
-	And thou searchest out my path and my lying down.	11:40
All	And for all my ways.	11:45
-	Even before a word is on my tongue	11:48
Congregation	Oh Lord, thou knowest it altogether.	11:51
-	Thou dost beset me behind and before.	11:54
-	And layeth thy hand upon me.	11:58
Briner	Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.	12:01
-	It is high; I cannot attain it.	12:03
Briner	Whither shall I go from the spirit?	12:06
-	Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?	12:09
-	If I ascend to heaven, thou art there.	12:12
Congregation	If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there.	12:16
-	If I take the wings of the morning	12:20
	and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,	12:22
	even there thy hand shall lead me.	12:25
All	And thy right hand shall hold me.	12:29
-	If I say, let only darkness cover me	12:31
All	In the light of God around me be night.	12:34
Briner	Even the darkness is not dark to thee.	12:37
	The night is bright as the day.	12:40
All	For darkness is as light with thee.	12:43
-	How precious to me are thy thoughts, oh God.	12:46
All	How vast is the sum of them.	12:50
-	If I would count them, they are more than the sand.	12:52
All	But I awake and I am still with thee.	12:56
-	Search me, oh God, and know my heart.	12:59
-	Try me and know my thoughts.	13:02
Briner	And see if there be any wicked way in me.	13:05
-	And lead me to the way everlasting.	13:08
	(organ playing)	13:11
	(congregation singing)	13:19
	(organ playing softly)	14:15
	(upbeat organ playing)	14:50
	(choir singing)	15:01
-	A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho	16:09
	and fell among thieves, which wounded him	16:15
	and departed, leaving him half dead.	16:20
	Bessie Glasgow, 75, traveling from Pulaski, Tennessee	16:26
	to Murfreesboro with her daughter and son-in-law,	16:31
	began complaining about shortness of breath.	16:33
	Her son-in-law pulled the car off the highway	16:38
	and Mrs Glasgow stumbled from the vehicle	16:40
	and collapsed in the middle of the road.	16:42
	And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way,	16:48
	and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.	16:52
	Dozens of cars swerved around Mrs Glasgow.	16:57
	And her daughter and son-in-law shouted and waved,	17:01
	trying to get someone to stop and help them.	17:04
	But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed,	17:09
	came to where he was and when he saw him,	17:11
	he had compassion on him and went to him	17:14
	and bound up his wounds.	17:19
	Finally a passing motorist stopped	17:23
	patrolman Ewing Maybury Junior in Franklin, Tennessee	17:25
	and said a woman was laying in the road	17:29
	about five miles along the highway.	17:31
	And set him on his own beast	17:35
	and brought him to the inn and took care of him.	17:37
	By the time Maybury arrived and began attempting	17:41
	cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Mrs Glasgow was dead.	17:44
	Which now of these was neighbor	17:52
	unto him who fell among the thieves?	17:55
	Across the centuries, Jesus Christ has persuaded	18:01
	some billions of human beings to decide,	18:03
	of their own free will, to join him	18:07
	in his ministry of reconciliation.	18:10
	That is an historical reality.	18:13
	It testifies to the reality of his resurrection	18:17
	and of his abiding presence in the stream of human history.	18:21
	There is another equally strong strand	18:27
	in historical reality.	18:30
	His presence has repelled hundreds of millions of people.	18:33
	Not all who come within the orbit	18:38
	of Christ's influence decide to follow him.	18:40
	To be sure, some become mildly fond of him,	18:45
	treat him respectfully, never say an ill word of him,	18:49
	often join in his fellowship whereas others,	18:52
	critically aware that he represents a way of life	18:56
	that collides mildly with the life they desire	18:58
	and pursue, they reject him firmly	19:03
	and work diligently to rid their society	19:06
	of his influence and authority.	19:08
	This dichotomy, this division, has been there	19:12
	from the very beginning of the human race,	19:17
	and Jesus pointed it out again and again and again.	19:20
	He does so today in this timeless,	19:23
	ever-relevant story about true neighborliness.	19:26
	For centuries, the church has called this particular story	19:31
	The Parable of the Good Samaritan.	19:35
	The gospel reading provides the context	19:39
	of the parable as well the story itself.	19:41
	Like us, there were people in Jesus's day	19:45
	who were trying to justify their actions,	19:47
	who were attempting to cover up some of their failures,	19:51
	who were trying to convince themselves	19:55
	that they were righteous because of a record	19:57
	they had kept and the things they had done.	20:02
	One man in particular, a lawyer,	20:07
	an expert on the laws of Moses,	20:09
	decided to see how orthodox Jesus was in his theology.	20:11
	So he approached Jesus.	20:17
	"Tell me, Jesus," he said, "What does a person need	20:19
	to do to live forever in heaven?"	20:23
	Well Jesus knew how to respond to that question,	20:27
	not with an answer but with another question.	20:30
	So he put it right back in the lawyer's lap.	20:32
	"You, sir, are well steeped in the law of Moses.	20:36
	What does the law say that a person must do	20:39
	in order to live forever in heaven?"	20:42
	And the lawyer replied immediately.	20:45
	"It says that you are to love God,	20:47
	and you are to love your neighbor."	20:49
	"That's right," Jesus responded.	20:51
	"Do that and you shall live forever."	20:52
	This lawyer had done a lot of good things.	20:57
	He felt he did sincerely love God,	21:00
	but he knew there were certain kinds of people	21:05
	he did not love as much as he loved himself.	21:08
	And he felt justified in those feelings	21:11
	because certain people did not deserve his love	21:14
	or merit the kind of love that	21:20
	he was willing to give to certain others.	21:21
	So he came out with his second question.	21:24
	"Jesus, which neighbors do you mean?	21:29
	For you know there are certain people	21:32
	who do not deserve my love or merit my love."	21:33
	And that's when Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan.	21:37
	I'll not ask for a show of hands this morning,	21:42
	but I'll wonder how many sermons	21:44
	you have heard on the good Samaritan.	21:45
	I became familiar with this story	21:49
	when I was 12 years of age and our boy scout troop	21:50
	was given the responsibility to have	21:54
	the Sunday school lesson on Sunday morning at camp.	21:56
	Now although one of the scout laws call for reverence,	22:00
	and most of us were pretty reverent,	22:03
	our biblical knowledge was not	22:05
	as keen as it should have been.	22:06
	So when the notice went up on the bulletin board	22:10
	that our troop was responsible	22:13
	for that Sunday school lesson,	22:14
	we gathered in one of the tents	22:16
	and we tried to decide what to teach.	22:18
	Bibles that mothers had packed in our knapsacks	22:22
	were suddenly brought out and we were trying	22:25
	to remember something we had read in that big book.	22:28
	That's when we came to have a deep appreciation	22:33
	for these stories that Jesus told,	22:35
	and one of us remembered the story	22:37
	about this good guy traveling along, getting mugged,	22:38
	and some good Joe coming along to help him.	22:41
	So for the next hour or so, there was a real scavenger hunt	22:45
	in that tent as we searched through	22:47
	that big, big book trying to find that story.	22:49
	Each of us was assigned a certain portion	22:52
	to flip through to see if we could locate it.	22:54
	And finally the story we'd remembered was located.	22:57
	Success came at last.	23:00
	So we decided that one of us would read the story	23:02
	while the others would portray what was taking place.	23:05
	There were lots of volunteers	23:11
	for the role of the good Samaritan.	23:12
	And then we drafted Nathan, who was	23:14
	the smallest in stature, to be the victim.	23:16
	A priest, a Levite, and one donkey	23:20
	took the next three major roles,	23:25
	and the rest of us were robbers.	23:28
	Well the performance that Sunday morning	23:31
	went extremely well until the robbers	23:32
	became very energetic in beating up that poor traveler	23:34
	until he had to yell "hey fellas, go easy;	23:38
	this is just a Sunday school lesson!"	23:40
	Well Sunday school at Camp Cherokee	23:43
	was a howling success that morning.	23:44
	In fact it was so good that we had to repeat it	23:47
	the next year when our troop was assigned the same duty.	23:50
	And I have never forgotten that parable	23:54
	nor have I forgotten any of my young scout friends.	23:58
	The parable itself makes an eloquent, just superb	24:03
	sermon outline, for there are three distinct lessons in it.	24:08
	Don't be like the robbers whose philosophy	24:14
	was "What is yours is mine; I'll take it"	24:17
	or like the two who walked by on the other side	24:22
	who in essence said "What is mine is mine and I'll keep it."	24:24
	But be like the good Samaritan who said	24:29
	"What is mine is yours and I'll share it."	24:32
	And that's a very significant interpretation.	24:36
	In fact I heard one of the student pastors	24:38
	in one of my churches use those three points	24:40
	in a sermon last Sunday morning.	24:43
	But there's something else that has greatly	24:45
	intrigued me about this particular parable.	24:47
	This man did a good deed to help someone.	24:52
	And it was obvious that this was not the first time	24:58
	he had done a good deed to help someone.	25:01
	When Jesus told the story, he did not bother	25:06
	to give the man a name and perhaps he did it intentionally	25:09
	so that when we read the story,	25:14
	we might substitute our name for the good Samaritan.	25:16
	"Let me tell you the most amazing thing	25:23
	that happened with our son," she began her story.	25:25
	A few of us were having dinner together.	25:28
	We were eager to hear Carolyn's story.	25:31
	Her son and his girlfriend had been	25:35
	to Burlington one evening, to a party,	25:37
	and they were on their way back to Raleigh.	25:38
	It was one o'clock in the morning.	25:42
	All of a sudden, on Interstate 85, the car stopped.	25:44
	He coasted it to the shoulder of the road,	25:49
	tried to restart it, but couldn't.	25:51
	He checked under the hood, but apparently	25:53
	everything was in place that should have been in place.	25:55
	He left the hood up and stood outside,	25:58
	hoping that some motorist with mechanical knowledge	26:00
	would stop and lend a helping hand.	26:03
	One car passed.	26:07
	It was driven by a young man in his early 30s perhaps.	26:09
	As he went by, he caught a glimpse of the car	26:16
	and the two young people standing outside.	26:19
	So he went to the Efland turnoff,	26:21
	circled back up, and came back.	26:23
	"I know nothing about motors," he confessed immediately,	26:27
	"but let me take you to the turnoff ahead	26:30
	where there is a Gulf station that is still open."	26:31
	So he delivered the two young people to the Gulf station,	26:34
	waited until the attendant went	26:37
	and checked on the stalled automobile.	26:39
	The verdict: nothing could be done	26:41
	to get the car started until the next day.	26:43
	"Where are you headed?" the stranger asked the two.	26:46
	"We're going to Raleigh."	26:49
	"Well I'm on my way to Durham, but hop in	26:51
	and I'll take you to Raleigh."	26:52
	And on the ride from Efland to Raleigh,	26:54
	the conversation revealed that	26:56
	the stranger was a salesman, lived in Charlotte,	26:58
	had two small children, liked to play golf,	27:03
	had been in High Pointe in business all day,	27:08
	was going to Durham to spend the night	27:10
	and be ready for some appointments the next day.	27:14
	Well he brought the two to Raleigh,	27:17
	waited to see that they got into their homes,	27:19
	was properly thanked, and then drove off.	27:21
	As the son related the story to his parents,	27:25
	his mother asked, "What was his name?"	27:27
	"He didn't say."	27:31
	I wonder why he didn't leave his name.	27:35
	A few summers ago, one of our sons was	27:40
	on his weekly job of mowing grass.	27:43
	He had contracted with the family to do this	27:46
	and was finishing up the last bit of mowing	27:48
	on a heavy, steep, steep embankment in the front yard.	27:50
	The cord to the electric mower got tangled up	27:54
	in a dogwood tree and a sudden jerk tripped the mower over.	27:57
	Our son lost his balance and fell into the rotating blade.	28:01
	His knee was badly cut.	28:06
	A stranger, working in the yard across the street,	28:09
	saw the plight and came to his rescue.	28:14
	He put my son in his van, brought him to our house.	28:16
	My wife was without transportation	28:20
	because an older child had taken her car	28:22
	to do some shopping, so this stranger	28:24
	put my injured son and my wife,	28:27
	took them to the emergency room at the hospital,	28:30
	waited to see that they were taken care of,	28:33
	and that that I had been reached by telephone.	28:35
	Later that evening, when another child was asked	28:39
	to go pick up the bicycle, we learned that	28:42
	this same stranger had gone back	28:44
	to the scene of the accident, put the bike in his van,	28:47
	and brought it to our home.	28:50
	What was his name?	28:53
	You'd be absolutely amazed at what we went through	28:55
	in order to locate the name of that stranger.	28:59
	I've often wondered what the good Samaritan's name was.	29:03
	Here was a man who used his time,	29:07
	his wealth, his possessions,	29:11
	his managerial ability to help someone in need.	29:13
	What was his name?	29:16
	Perhaps it was not given because	29:21
	the Samaritan did not stop to help	29:22
	in order to be declared a hero	29:24
	or to get his name in the newspaper	29:26
	or to enhance his position or to make more sales	29:27
	or to get stroked.	29:31
	If his good deed had been done for recognition,	29:33
	that would have negated it.	29:36
	He would have received his reward.	29:38
	Let's give this man in scripture a name.	29:42
	Let's call him John Samaritan.	29:45
	And let's put John in our world.	29:50
	Can you envision that historical marker?	29:54
	On this spot, in the year 31AD, John Samaritan	29:57
	made his famous act of compassion toward a wounded man.	30:00
	And certainly the hotel where John	30:05
	took the wounded man would have been rebuilt by now	30:08
	and renamed the John Samaritan Inn.	30:10
	You can almost visualize a huge sign	30:14
	standing in the woods next to the hospital.	30:17
	This is the future site of the	30:20
	John Samaritan Home for Beaten Travelers.	30:21
	And of course there would be	30:25
	the John Samaritan Commemorative Medal	30:27
	for helping strangers in trouble.	30:29
	And I can almost see the bumper stickers now.	30:32
	Come and hear John Samaritan, Chaplain of the Jericho Road.	30:34
	After hearing John, the audience will be able	30:39
	to purchase the latest book by Mr Samaritan entitled	30:41
	I'm God's Greatest Gift to Beaten People,	30:44
	which tells again the true story of how	30:47
	John personally saved a beaten, bedraggled traveler.	30:49
	And then perhaps a beautifully engraved invitation	30:55
	will come in the mail one day,	30:57
	and it will read "You are cordially invited	30:59
	to attend the anniversary of John Samaritan's	31:02
	PhD, ThD, DD, aid to beaten travelers."	31:05
	And in no way do I mean to be frivolous	31:10
	or sacrilegious in fantasizing all of that.	31:13
	It's just a way of pointing out that the people in life	31:16
	who truly deserve monuments do not need them.	31:20
	The people in life who truly deserve monuments	31:26
	do not need them.	31:30
	We all remember this man, the good Samaritan,	31:33
	without any of the paraphernalia that our world	31:36
	would use to help us remember him.	31:39
	We remember him	31:42
	because of his neighborliness.	31:45
	And that's what keeps the world going today.	31:47
	That's what keeps the faith alive.	31:50
	That's the story of a host of people	31:53
	who decide to join Jesus in this ministry of reconciliation.	31:55
	People performing acts of kindness, neighborliness,	32:00
	without leaving their names.	32:04
	And that's a call that comes to all of us from the master.	32:08
	A long discourse on what we believe is not necessary	32:12
	or required, a verbalization of what I was	32:15
	and where I've been and what the Lord	32:19
	has done for me is not needed.	32:20
	What is needed is simply to hear Jesus say,	32:22
	"Anyone in need is your neighbor.	32:25
	Do it unto one of the least."	32:30
	This item appeared in a Raleigh newspaper.	32:35
	"City officials have been searching this week	32:37
	for a man they say may have saved the life	32:39
	of a Raleigh child when he ran	32:41
	through New Bern Avenue traffic to stop a runaway car.	32:43
	The incident occurred on Saturday morning,	32:49
	when a boy about three, alone in a parked car,	32:51
	apparently knocked it out of gear.	32:53
	The car rolled along,	32:56
	across two lanes of traffic on New Bern Avenue,	32:58
	across the medium and into the outbound lanes.	33:00
	The man dashed from the entrance of a store	33:04
	through two moving cars, into the rolling car,	33:06
	apparently wrenching his ankle in the process.	33:09
	He guided the car safely across the road	33:14
	and returned to the store, made his purchases,	33:16
	and left without mentioning his name."	33:20
	A minister in New York City writes	33:26
	that he saw a very touching incident on the subway.	33:28
	It was a cold, cold night.	33:31
	The temperature was way below zero.	33:33
	And a woman got on the subway.	33:36
	She was a real mess.	33:38
	Ragged clothing, obviously drunk,	33:41
	she sat down and immediately fell asleep or passed out.	33:45
	The most ragged thing she had on	33:49
	were her gloves or what at one time been gloves.	33:51
	Quite literally, there were more holes	33:56
	than there were glove.	33:59
	Well, her hands were not frostbitten,	34:02
	but the exposed knuckles were so red	34:05
	that they must have been painful.	34:07
	Well the minister sat there looking at this woman,	34:10
	wondering about her, wondering how she spent	34:12
	all of her nights, whether she stayed in the subway,	34:15
	wondering if there was any hope for her.	34:18
	The train stopped and a number of people got off	34:21
	and among them was Puerto Rican teenager	34:24
	who apparently had sat there and watched this woman also.	34:27
	And as he moved toward the door,	34:32
	he slipped off his own gloves	34:36
	and as he passed the woman, he dropped them in her lap,	34:39
	and without stopping, left the train.	34:45
	I wonder why he didn't leave his card.	34:49
	A few seasons ago, UCLA had a champion basketball team	34:55
	and someone asked the coach of the team	34:59
	to explain the phenomenal record	35:00
	of eight basketball championships in nine years.	35:03
	And the coach's reply, "It is amazing	35:06
	what can be accomplished	35:10
	if no one cares who gets the credit."	35:12
	The good Samaritan.	35:18
	I wonder what his name was.	35:21
	It really doesn't matter, does it?	35:25
	Someone relates a very whimsical dream they had	35:28
	about a scene at the pearly gates.	35:31
	A blustering businessman arrived at the main gate	35:34
	and he briskly made his way up to the admission desk	35:38
	and was asking for quick service.	35:41
	Well, St Peter ask him what kind of role	35:44
	he would like to play in heaven.	35:47
	The question took the man by surprise	35:50
	because he had assumed that heaven was a place	35:52
	to receive rewards and not to assume roles.	35:55
	Although he was a church member,	36:00
	he had not given much thought to the nature	36:01
	of the afterlife or preparations for it.	36:03
	But there flashed through his mind,	36:08
	as soon as that question was asked,	36:09
	the words of an old hymn.	36:12
	In fact, it was the only hymn he really knew.	36:14
	He had learned it way back in his Sunday school days.	36:15
	So he gave a line from that old hymn as his answer.	36:18
	I want to be an angel and with the angels stand.	36:23
	And St Peter, very much like a personnel officer,	36:29
	took out pen and paper, looked up the businessman	36:32
	and ask, "Let's see now, what experience do you have?"	36:34
	We can read and talk about this unnamed man in this parable	36:41
	but it will only have real meaning for us	36:47
	when we put our name into it	36:49
	and gain some of his experience in doing good	36:52
	in a gentle, humble,	36:56
	self-forgetting way.	37:00
	I wonder what his name was.	37:06
	Amen.	37:12
	(organ playing)	37:19
	(congregation singing)	37:47
Willimon	The Lord be with you.	40:53
-	And also with you.	40:54
-	Let us pray; be seated.	40:56
	Dear God, we come to you in prayer	41:09
	because you have first come to us in mercy.	41:14
	When we were perishing, you came by our way,	41:20
	reached out to us,	41:25
	bound up our wounds, and restored us to life.	41:28
	Having experienced your extravagant love,	41:33
	we are bold to pray to you,	41:37
	extravagantly to ask you what our hearts desire,	41:41
	for our still-troubled and still-hurting world.	41:46
	As we have drawn near to you in this time of worship,	41:53
	draw us nearer toward our neighbors.	41:57
	We pray for peace in the world.	42:02
	Disarm weapons and silence guns.	42:05
	And put out ancient hate that smolders still	42:09
	or flames in sudden conflict.	42:12
	We pray for enemies as Christ has commanded.	42:17
	Those who scheme against us	42:22
	or who make life difficult for us,	42:25
	these are also children of your love.	42:28
	Preserve us, oh God, from hate or desire for vengeance.	42:33
	We pray for poor people who are hungry	42:40
	or who are housed under terrible conditions	42:43
	or who live in nations burdened terribly with crushing debt.	42:47
	Oh God, you know our many ways	42:53
	of passing by on the other side,	42:56
	looking the other way, ignoring the plight of others.	42:58
	May we see those in great need as our near neighbors.	43:05
	We pray for the sick and the suffering,	43:14
	knowing that you are the originator of life and health,	43:17
	may the hands of those who care for the sick,	43:21
	all doctors and nurses and healthcare persons,	43:24
	particularly those in Duke hospitals,	43:28
	may their hands be as your hands	43:31
	in their healing and caring work.	43:35
	We pray for the dying,	43:39
	for those who are coming close to the final mystery.	43:42
	Give them enjoyment in their last days.	43:46
	May they keep their human dignity.	43:50
	And enable them to walk through that door to death unafraid,	43:54
	confident in your love.	43:59
	Pray for those whose tears are not yet dry,	44:04
	who listen for loved voices and look for	44:07
	still-familiar faces in their loss and bereavement.	44:09
	May they feel your empathetic presence	44:15
	as one who knew not only what it means to grieve,	44:19
	but also promise to prepare a place for us	44:24
	in your spacious eternal love.	44:28
	And we pray for families, for parents and children,	44:32
	whether amidst their daily task or on vacation.	44:36
	May they enjoy one another and honor one another,	44:40
	live peacefully cherishing and forgiving one another	44:46
	almost as much as we are cherished	44:52
	and forgiven by your great mercy.	44:54
	Hear our prayers this day, oh God,	44:58
	in the name of our lord Jesus Christ	45:01
	who promised always to pray with us and for us.	45:05
	Amen.	45:11
	As a forgiven and reconciled people,	45:14
	let us now offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	45:15
	(organ playing)	45:24
	(choir singing)	46:26
	(choir singing)	48:46
	(organ playing)	50:12
	(congregation singing)	50:43
-	Gracious God, we give you thanks for all the gracious ways	51:44
	that you have come into our lives	51:49
	with the gift of unexpected rain,	51:51
	the joy of sunny summer days, the glory of music,	51:55
	and all the ways that you intrude upon our existence	52:01
	with your ever-seeking, ever-prodding, ever-merciful love.	52:05
	We thank you for the stories of the good news	52:11
	that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has told us,	52:14
	that we retell to one another to remind us	52:18
	of your nature, of your glory and your will for our lives.	52:21
	And this day we thank you for all of our neighbors,	52:26
	near and far, that intrude upon us,	52:29
	giving us new duties and responsibilities	52:33
	and also new evidence of your grace.	52:36
	For our families and friends, our business associates,	52:39
	our fellow students,	52:43
	our neighbors far away whom we may never know their names,	52:46
	but who are dear to you and therefor	52:50
	our brothers and sisters, for all the ways	52:52
	that you enrich our lives, accept these our gifts	52:56
	as token of our thanks for your presence among us	52:59
	in its many facets and use these gifts to your glory	53:03
	and in furtherance of your kingdom.	53:07
	We pray; we pray as we have been taught.	53:08
	Our father, who art in Heaven,	53:13
	hallowed be thy name.	53:16
	Thy kingdom come; thy will be done	53:18
	on earth as it is in heaven.	53:21
	Give us this day our daily bread,	53:23
	and forgive us our trespasses,	53:25
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	53:28
	And lead us not into temptation,	53:31
	but deliver us from evil.	53:34
	Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.	53:36
	Amen.	53:40
	(organ playing)	53:43
	(choir and congregation singing)	54:26
-	Now may the grace of our lord and savior Jesus Christ,	58:12
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	58:16
	be with you now and always.	58:18
	(chorus singing)	58:26
	(organ playing)	58:37

Item Info

Title:

Wallace H. Kirby - "I Wonder Why He Didn't Leave His Name" (July 16, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 16:09. Sermon end time: 37:12.
True Christian service is marked by anonymity rather than a desire to be acknowledged and praised for your deeds. This is the central lesson the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “The people in life who truly deserve monuments do not need them. We all remember this man, the good Samaritan, without any of the paraphernalia that our world would us to help us remember him. We remember him because of his neighborliness.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4m03zc47

Date:

July 16, 1989

Speaker:

Kirby, Wallace H.

Biblical Book:

Colossians

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0140
ref8646_e3o
uachapelsermaud
duke:321582
dcrmv001136
ark:/87924/r4m03zc47
eecba04c-95de-4e60-944c-711eea08e127

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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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