William H. Willimon - "Get Down and Party" (September 3, 1989)

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-	The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon, Dean of the chapel.	0:02
	Dr. Willimon is currently leading a series of discussions	0:05
	entitled Is it Still Possible to be a Believer at Duke.	0:08
	These discussions occur at 9:45 each Sunday morning	0:12
	prior to the service in room 211, Old Divinity.	0:16
	I'd like to draw to your attention	0:20
	the calendar of events for this week at the chapel,	0:21
	which is printed in your bulletins.	0:24
	You will see there are a number of activities	0:26
	listed for students, and most notably	0:27
	a new fellowship group for undergraduates	0:30
	who will meet at 12:15 after service on Sundays	0:34
	in the chapel basement for free lunch and conversation,	0:37
	and a meeting of graduate and professional	0:40
	student bible study, set for this evening	0:42
	at six o'clock p.m. in the chapel basement,	0:45
	followed by Eucharist.	0:47
	We encourage all interested students	0:49
	to participate in these activities.	0:51
	We are also interested in recruiting students	0:54
	for the Sunday morning service to serve as ushers.	0:56
	All interested persons should contact the chapel office,	0:59
	or Jim Jeffers, the head usher, as soon as possible.	1:02
	I remind you that the Friends of Duke Chapel	1:06
	invite everyone for lemonade on the chapel lawn	1:08
	immediately after today's service.	1:11
	Please note the remaining announcements	1:14
	as they are printed in your bulletins.	1:15
	And now, let us continue our worship.	1:18
	(uplifting music)	1:22
	(operatic liturgical music)	1:48
	(uplifting flute music)	2:59
	(soloist sings indistinctly)	3:09
	(uplifting flute music)	3:36
	(organ music)	3:58
	(choir sings indistinctly)	4:18
	(organ music)	7:04
	(choir sings indistinctly)	8:03
	Grant us, oh Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts.	9:09
	For as you always resist the proud	9:14
	who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake	9:16
	those who make their boast of your mercy.	9:20
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns	9:24
	with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, amen.	9:27
-	Let us pray.	9:45
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	9:47
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	9:50
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	9:53
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	9:56
	The first lesson is from the Book of Ezekiel.	10:03
	The word of the Lord came to me again.	10:06
	What do you mean by repeating this proverb	10:09
	concerning the land of Israel?	10:11
	The fathers have eaten sour grapes,	10:13
	and the children's teeth are set on edge.	10:16
	As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall	10:20
	no more be used by you in Israel.	10:23
	Behold all souls are mine.	10:26
	The soul of the father as well	10:29
	as the soul of the son is mine.	10:31
	The soul that sins shall die.	10:33
	If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right,	10:36
	if he does not eat upon the mountains,	10:41
	or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,	10:43
	does not defile his neighbor's wife,	10:47
	or approach a woman in her time of impurity,	10:50
	does not oppress anyone,	10:53
	but restores to the debtor his pledge,	10:55
	commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry,	10:58
	and covers the naked with a garment,	11:02
	does not lend at interest or take an increase,	11:05
	withholds his hand from inequity,	11:09
	executes true justice between man and man,	11:12
	walks in my statutes, and is careful	11:16
	to observe my ordinances, he is righteous.	11:18
	He shall surely live, says the Lord God.	11:22
	Yet, you say the way of the Lord is not just.	11:25
	Hear now, oh House of Israel, is my way not just?	11:28
	Or is it that your ways are not just?	11:33
	When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness	11:37
	and commits inequity, he shall die for it.	11:40
	For the inequity which he has committed he shall die.	11:44
	Again, when a wicked man turns away	11:48
	from the wickedness he has committed,	11:50
	and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life.	11:52
	Because he considered and turned away	11:57
	from all of the transgressions	11:59
	which he had committed, he shall surely live.	12:01
	He shall not die.	12:04
	Yet the House of Israel says the way	12:06
	of the Lord is not just.	12:09
	Oh House of Israel, hear my ways.	12:11
	Oh House of Israel, are my ways not just?	12:15
	Is it not your ways that are indeed not just?	12:19
	Here endeth the reading of the first lesson.	12:23
-	Please stand as we read the psalm responsively.	12:30
	Oh Lord, who shall dwell on thy holy hill?	12:39
Congregation	He who walks with integrity	12:44
	and practices righteousness,	12:47
	who speaks the truth from his heart.	12:49
-	Who does not slander with his tongue	12:50
	and does no evil to his friend.	12:53
	(congregation murmurs)	12:56
	In whose eyes a reprobate is despised.	12:59
Congregation	But honors those who fear the Lord.	13:03
-	Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.	13:06
	(congregation murmurs)	13:10
	He who does these things.	13:13
Congregation	Shall never be moved.	13:16
	(organ music)	13:20
	(congregation sings indistinctly)	13:30
	(bright organ music)	14:41
	(liturgical choir music)	14:54
	(bright organ music)	16:57
-	The second lesson is from the Epistle to the Hebrews.	17:23
	Let brotherly love continue.	17:27
	Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.	17:29
	For thereby some have entertained angels unawares.	17:32
	Remember those who are in prison,	17:37
	as though in prison with them.	17:39
	And those who are ill-treated,	17:41
	since you also are in the body.	17:43
	Let marriage be held in honor among all,	17:46
	and let the marriage bed be undefiled,	17:49
	for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.	17:52
	Keep your life free from love of money,	17:55
	and be content with what you have.	17:58
	For He has said I will never fail you nor forsake you.	18:01
	Hence, we can confidently say the Lord is my helper.	18:05
	I will not be afraid.	18:10
	What can man do to me?	18:11
	Remember your leaders,	18:14
	those who spoke to you the word of God.	18:15
	Consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.	18:18
	Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.	18:24
	Here endeth the reading from the Gospel.	18:30
	Or from the Epistle.	18:33
-	The scripture which we read on Sunday mornings	18:45
	here in the chapel and from which I preach	18:49
	comes from the ecumenical lectionary.	18:52
	We don't choose these texts, they choose us.	18:56
	And I say that as a way of introduction,	19:01
	because every couple of years, when this particular	19:03
	text rolls around, it always seems to be	19:07
	right at the first of September.	19:10
	And I always get a complaint from Dean Wasiolek.	19:13
	She is interested in getting the school year	19:18
	off to a good start, and she doesn't want the freshmen	19:20
	to get out of hand before Parents' Weekend.	19:23
	And so Dean Wasiolek is always just a little touchy	19:25
	about what I preach on in these first Sundays in September.	19:29
	We have to present a united front	19:33
	against the students, she's always saying.	19:35
	Well, I'm sorry, Dean Wasiolek,	19:39
	the assigned Gospel for this Sunday is once again Luke 14.	19:42
	Party time with Jesus.	19:49
	Now let me say up front that Duke is not a party school.	19:52
	However, midterms notwithstanding,	19:57
	we do manage to have a good time.	19:59
	As we say, we work hard, we play hard.	20:02
	And I beg you to remember the first part of that equation.	20:05
	Don't be like that freshman that I encountered a few years	20:10
	ago in November, wandering across campus mumbling,	20:12
	hey, this is not Disney World.	20:17
	And I say all of that though as a disclaimer.	20:19
	That this really isn't my word, this is from the Bible.	20:23
	And to underscore that, whereas Dean Wasiolek	20:28
	may be put out with your partying,	20:32
	with this Sunday and this text,	20:35
	Jesus is in a decidedly party mood himself.	20:36
	And let the party begin.	20:41
	One Sabbath, he went to dine at the house of a ruler	20:46
	who belonged the the Pharisees, and they were watching him.	20:50
	And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.	20:55
	And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and the Pharisees,	20:57
	saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?	21:00
	But they were silent.	21:05
	And he took him and he healed him, and he let him go.	21:08
	Now he told a parable to those who were invited,	21:12
	when he marked how they chose the places	21:16
	of honor at the table, saying to them,	21:18
	when you are invited to a marriage feast,	21:22
	do not sit down in a place of honor,	21:25
	lest a more eminent person than you be invited.	21:27
	And he who invited you both will come	21:31
	and say to you give place to this one.	21:33
	And then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.	21:37
	But when you're invited, go sit in the lowest place,	21:42
	so that when your host comes,	21:45
	he may say to you, friend, why go up higher.	21:47
	Then you will be honored in the presence	21:51
	of all who sit at table with you.	21:52
	For everyone who exults himself will be humbled.	21:55
	And he who humbles himself will be exalted.	21:59
	He said also to the man who invited him,	22:03
	when you give a dinner or a banquet,	22:06
	do not invite your friends and your brothers and sisters,	22:09
	or your kinsmen and rich neighbors,	22:12
	lest they also invite you in return and you will be repaid.	22:14
	But when you give a feast, invite the poor,	22:19
	the maimed, the blind, the lame.	22:22
	And you will be blessed.	22:27
	Because they cannot repay you.	22:30
	And you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.	22:33
	The gospel of God.	22:39
	Now let me put this chapter 14 in context.	22:42
	In chapter 15 of Luke's gospel,	22:47
	Jesus regales us with accounts	22:50
	of no less than three major parties.	22:52
	There was the party that is thrown	22:55
	after the woman finds the lost coin.	22:56
	And then there is a party on the occasion	22:59
	of the finding of the lost sheep.	23:02
	And this gets us ready for the biggest bash of all,	23:04
	the great homecoming party that is thrown	23:07
	for the lost boy, the prodigal son.	23:10
	But before Jesus gets to all these parties about the lost,	23:15
	he goes to dine at the house of somebody who is neither	23:21
	a loser nor is he lost, a Pharisee.	23:25
	It's Friday night, the Sabbath.	23:30
	The holiest day of the week.	23:34
	Now in order that you might hear this text	23:37
	in all of its shock, permit me to set the scene.	23:40
	Jesus is at a Pharisee's house for a party.	23:46
	It's a party.	23:51
	But this is no couple of kegs at the with the SAEs.	23:52
	No, this is blue blood, stuffy.	23:55
	Sit down dinner for 12 at the Smith-Downings.	23:59
	So I want you to picture a mammoth dining room,	24:04
	and a table as big as a bowling alley.	24:07
	And their crystal chandelier.	24:10
	I want you to make these people the creme de la creme	24:13
	of the town, these are really,	24:16
	I want you to make these people Episcopalians.	24:20
	(audience laughs)	24:23
	These are people that can do an unleveraged buyout of IBM	24:25
	just by passing the hat around the table.	24:27
	We're talking old money here.	24:30
	Snobbish, stuck up, Northeastern old money.	24:33
	This is the Russian beluga and the aged Beaujolais crowd.	24:36
	And there is Jesus, right in the middle of it.	24:42
	Well, at first the evening begins,	24:47
	and there is polite chitchat about this and that,	24:49
	about how wretched the weather was in Newport this summer,	24:51
	and about how Palm Springs just isn't	24:55
	the same since Cher moved in.	24:57
	And then sometime around the third course,	24:59
	the man who's sitting next to Jesus casually comments	25:05
	about how bad his back has been.	25:09
	And without warning, Jesus stands up	25:14
	and he bangs on the sterling goblet before him,	25:16
	and he says, hey everybody, old Percival here	25:19
	says he's got a lousy back.	25:23
	Let's all get together and see if we can heal him.	25:24
	Well, there are gasps all around the table.	25:27
	The hostess says something like, well, I never.	25:30
	And she clutches her brooch.	25:34
	And before anybody can stop Jesus,	25:37
	he is pushing back the beef Wellington,	25:41
	and sliding over the arrangement of orchids,	25:43
	and he's hoisting old Percival, tux and all,	25:46
	patent leather pumps, up on the table.	25:49
	Hey, watch that bowl of creamed cauliflower,	25:52
	shouts Jesus, don't let his feet hit it.	25:54
	I tell you, they have never seen anything like it.	25:57
	Jesus is up on the table now, Percival is up on the table,	26:00
	Jesus has got his sandals off.	26:04
	And he's walking down Percy's back	26:06
	with some kind of massage saying,	26:08
	all right, Percy, suck it all in,	26:10
	and then I want you to let it out.	26:11
	And then he turns around to the host and says,	26:13
	you ought to try something sometime	26:16
	with your old lady like this, she'll love it.	26:18
	By this time, the hostess has fainted.	26:20
	And the host has turned as red	26:22
	as the Chateau de Rothschild '48 that he's been serving.	26:24
	(audience laughs)	26:27
	You see, Jesus healing on the Sabbath	26:30
	isn't just some violation of some obscure religious rule.	26:34
	It's a violation of civility.	26:39
	Social outrage, it is something more akin	26:43
	to the antics of Groucho Marx than to a messiah.	26:46
	Jesus told some parables, but sometimes he acts in parables.	26:52
	And by acting out this parable, he is attacking	26:58
	their whole world view, unsticking the glue	27:01
	that holds their tight little blue blood world together.	27:05
	The Smith-Downings say that they are mortified.	27:12
	They're mortified.	27:16
	And Ms. Jonas Walker-Smith says that she would	27:18
	just rather die than have anything	27:21
	like this happen at one of her parties.	27:23
	She would rather die.	27:26
	You see, what alarms them most is the presence	27:29
	among them of someone who doesn't give a hoot about	27:34
	public opinion or fraternity rush, or Miss Manners.	27:39
	Or even dying itself, it appears.	27:45
	And Jesus confirms it because no sooner is he done	27:50
	walking up and down Percy's back, and Jesus still	27:54
	standing squarely in the middle of the table,	27:58
	straddling the pearl onions and cream sauce,	28:01
	he attacks his fellow guests for acting	28:04
	like he is a social disgrace.	28:07
	You call this slow leak of an affair a party?	28:12
	Look, Percy was in pain.	28:17
	How's he gonna be able to boogie	28:19
	when the band starts up if he's got a bum back?	28:20
	Look, it's a Sabbath people, for heaven's sake!	28:23
	For heaven's sake indeed.	28:26
	Oh yes, yes, they say, we're all doing good, that's fine.	28:30
	Heal all the bad backs you want,	28:34
	become a rabbinic chiropractor for all we care.	28:36
	But all we ask is that you be decent about it.	28:38
	Would you just please,	28:41
	there are ways to do these things,	28:44
	there are respectable, there are fitting ways.	28:47
	An AIDS support group?	28:55
	And in the church?	28:58
	Well of course we're all for doing whatever good we can,	29:00
	but aren't there more fitting locations?	29:03
	AA wants to meet here?	29:10
	In the church parlor?	29:12
	Well, alcoholism is a terrible disease,	29:14
	but the last time those people were in here,	29:17
	they left cigarette butts all over the place.	29:19
	It isn't just that Jesus heals.	29:25
	Everybody's in favor of healing.	29:28
	It's the way he heals.	29:32
	These things ought to be done	29:35
	with a certain sense of propriety.	29:38
	As I recall, that was the older brother's objection	29:42
	to that party that is thrown in Luke 15	29:45
	when the prodigal son comes back home.	29:48
	I remember what the older brother said.	29:52
	Is it fitting, is it fitting, is it proper	29:54
	to throw a party for someone who has wasted	29:58
	all of his father's hard-earned	30:01
	money on loose living with harlots?	30:03
	Is it fitting, is it proper?	30:05
	Propriety and sobriety rhyme with society.	30:08
	Well, propriety and society be hanged.	30:14
	Jesus has come to party.	30:18
	And party he will.	30:21
	He's on a roll now, nobody can figure out how	30:23
	to get him down off the table.	30:25
	So in case they did not get his point with old Percy,	30:29
	he says to them, noting how they've all jockeyed	30:32
	for the best seats at the head table,	30:35
	when you're invited by somebody to a party,	30:39
	don't sit in the best place, lest somebody with a better	30:43
	Dun and Bradstreet than you arrive.	30:46
	And then you'll be embarrassed when	30:48
	you've gotta go down to a lower seat.	30:50
	For everyone who is exalted will be humbled.	30:53
	And everyone who is humble is going to get exalted.	30:58
	Now, as Robert Capon notes, unfortunately,	31:05
	right here, everybody always hears the word humble.	31:07
	Humble.	31:11
	And then we all assume that whereas	31:13
	Jesus is condemning our usual social strategies,	31:15
	he is pushing a new social strategy.	31:19
	Now, rather than the dog eat dog one-upmanship	31:22
	that we are accustomed to, Jesus is now pushing	31:24
	humility as a way to get ahead.	31:27
	Well, you can forget it.	31:30
	Because Jesus is talking here about letting go,	31:31
	stripping down, getting loose	31:35
	of all of these programs and strategies.	31:37
	He's trying to get these stuffed shirts to forget	31:43
	their rules and moral codes, and just go with the flow.	31:45
	Go with the party that erupts since Jesus got here.	31:50
	And I say it's his party because it's clear	31:55
	by this time in the story that Jesus	31:58
	has really just taken over the whole evening.	32:01
	This was not at all what the Smith-Downings had in mind	32:05
	when they planned this evening.	32:09
	And they don't like having their plans messed up.	32:11
	They have lost control.	32:16
	And if there's one thing that they fear	32:17
	more than anything else, it is losing control.	32:19
	Did not they say, we are mortified?	32:23
	Which as far as Jesus is concerned,	32:26
	really isn't all that bad a way to be.	32:29
	Since did not he say, I have come to save who, the lost,	32:32
	and I have come to raise the dead.	32:37
	And Jesus would just die to raise up some mortified people	32:43
	like the Smith-Downings and to get them to party.	32:48
	So having sufficiently gotten the guests,	32:54
	Jesus now tears into the host.	32:57
	He suggests that the next time these Pharisees	33:00
	want to have a really good party,	33:02
	they ought to invite not this crowd	33:04
	of healthy, well-heeled, snobbish, blue blood bores,	33:06
	but they ought to invite the poor.	33:10
	The maimed, the blind, the lame.	33:15
	First it was Percival on the table.	33:20
	And then it was insult the invited.	33:23
	And now it's called harass the hosts	33:25
	by suggesting that they ought to go	33:28
	out and invite all the losers in town.	33:30
	Jesus is at the table of blue-blooded, blue chip winners.	33:36
	Establishment types.	33:41
	People who are just certain	33:45
	that they've got the right ticket.	33:46
	Religious or otherwise.	33:49
	People who think that a fun evening consists	33:52
	of cocktails and polite conversation,	33:55
	mixed with a dash of the old claw your way	33:59
	to the top of the heap one-upmanship.	34:01
	Oh hello, did you hear about my latest book?	34:06
	Oh, I'm sorry, I suppose you didn't hear	34:11
	that I'm a full professor now.	34:14
	Would you believe it, I have acceptances	34:17
	from both Princeton and Yale, what shall I do?	34:20
	People like them.	34:27
	People like us.	34:30
	Fed on the notion that life is about winning.	34:33
	And being at the head of the class, the top of the heap.	34:37
	Best seats in the house.	34:41
	We collide with Jesus at a party.	34:45
	Hey, when you give a party, says Jesus,	34:50
	don't invite those who can repay.	34:52
	What fun is that?	34:55
	Invite to your feast the kind of people that I would invite.	34:57
	The poor, the blind, the crippled, the lame.	35:00
	Because you see, they're losers.	35:05
	They can't repay.	35:07
	God will repay at the resurrection.	35:10
	Thus Jesus delivers his final blow.	35:16
	He is talking to people who have not only lived	35:19
	their whole lives by the books,	35:24
	but have lived their lives by keeping the books.	35:27
	Keeping account, keeping score.	35:31
	I invite you because then you will invite me.	35:34
	Let's be nice to the Woodridges dear,	35:42
	after all, they are on the membership committee at the club.	35:44
	We are such incurable winners.	35:48
	We just can't stop winning.	35:51
	And we will turn our friends, our parties, anything we have	35:53
	into just another strategy for getting ahead.	35:57
	We don't know how to have a good time.	36:00
	We will turn our marriages into that.	36:02
	Last week, in the Durham paper, there was an article	36:04
	about the phenomenon called trophy wives.	36:06
	It appears that business executives on their way up	36:11
	have to have a spouse to match their new status.	36:15
	A trophy wife.	36:19
	And if we'll do that with friends and parties	36:22
	and even marriage, we'll do it with God.	36:24
	We'll treat God in the same bookkeeping way.	36:29
	I'll do right so God's records will tally up.	36:34
	Bookkeepers.	36:39
	So I have to keep my life right,	36:40
	and my children well-behaved, and my grades up,	36:42
	and my nose clean, we are such winners.	36:45
	We assume that God does business	36:48
	the way we do business, by the books.	36:50
	But in Jesus, God lets us know	36:55
	that that way of doing business is over.	36:57
	Because as it turns out, when Jesus gets here,	37:01
	God isn't interested in examining anybody's account,	37:04
	because, well, after what we did to Jesus,	37:07
	we're all living in the red.	37:11
	We're all debtors, we're all losers.	37:13
	Jesus attacks the notion of party	37:20
	giving as a means of getting.	37:23
	A party isn't a party if you must go to it.	37:28
	It's no fun to be with a party with people	37:31
	that you just have to have invited.	37:35
	What's the point of keeping score when God isn't?	37:41
	God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world,	37:46
	but that through him the world might be saved.	37:51
	That's the way John puts it, Luke puts it another way.	37:54
	God sent his son into the world to throw a party.	37:57
	To invite all.	38:01
	So Jesus tries to get his host	38:06
	to kick the habit of bookkeeping.	38:08
	His strategies for winning, so he can, for the first time	38:11
	in his life, start doing business the way God does business,	38:15
	invite the last and the lost.	38:20
	The least and the dead.	38:25
	Because, as it turns out, they're the types	38:29
	with whom God just loves to party with.	38:33
	But if I did that, says Smith-Downing,	38:38
	well then, I'd be the loser, because none of the really	38:42
	important people, none of the really big winners,	38:47
	would have a thing to do with me.	38:51
	Right, says Jesus, you're not so dumb after all,	38:54
	even if you did get your BA at an Ivy League school.	38:58
	Then you'd be a loser, right?	39:04
	But you'd be one of my losers.	39:07
	Because I just love to party over losers.	39:12
	A lost coin, a lost sheep, a lost boy.	39:16
	Why waste your time with these slow leak dinner parties,	39:21
	when you could let go and strip down, and let loose	39:25
	and have a really good time with me and my people,	39:28
	who know how to let go.	39:32
	And throw the biggest party of all, called resurrection.	39:35
	So loosen up.	39:44
	Let go, chill down, unwind, get down.	39:47
	'Cause that's the only way I can get to you, you know.	39:50
	Come on, party!	39:53
	Dean Wasiolek is gonna kill me.	39:58
	(audience laughs)	40:00
	("Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee")	40:03
	♪ Joyful, joyful, we adore thee ♪	40:39
	♪ God of glory ♪	40:42
	♪ Lord of love ♪	40:45
	♪ Hearts unfold like flowers before thee ♪	40:47
	♪ Opening to the sun above ♪	40:51
	♪ Melt the clouds of sin and sadness ♪	40:56
	♪ Drive the dark of doubt away ♪	41:00
	♪ Giver of immortal gladness ♪	41:04
	♪ Fill us with the light of day ♪	41:09
	♪ All thy works with joy surround thee ♪	41:16
	♪ Earth and heaven reflect thy rays ♪	41:20
	♪ Stars and angels sing around thee ♪	41:25
	♪ Center of unbroken praise ♪	41:29
	♪ Field and forest ♪	41:33
	♪ Vale and mountain ♪	41:36
	♪ Flowery meadow ♪	41:38
	♪ Flashing sea ♪	41:40
	♪ Singing bird and flowing fountain ♪	41:42
	♪ Call us to rejoice in thee ♪	41:46
	♪ Thou art giving and forgiving ♪	41:54
	♪ Ever blessing ♪	41:58
	♪ Ever blessed ♪	42:00
	♪ Wellspring of the joy of living ♪	42:03
	♪ Ocean depth of happy rest ♪	42:07
	♪ Thou our Father, Christ our brother ♪	42:11
	♪ All who live in love are thine ♪	42:16
	♪ Teach us how to love each other ♪	42:20
	♪ Lift us to the joy divine ♪	42:25
	♪ Mortals, join the mighty chorus ♪	42:32
	♪ Which the morning stars began ♪	42:37
	♪ Father love is reigning over us ♪	42:41
	♪ Brother love binds man to man ♪	42:46
	♪ Ever singing, march we onward ♪	42:50
	♪ Victors in the midst of strife ♪	42:54
	♪ Joyful music leads us sunward ♪	42:58
	♪ In the triumph song of life ♪	43:02
-	God of Abraham and Isaac, of apostles and prophets,	43:13
	in every age you call people to work for you,	43:18
	showing justice, doing mercy,	43:22
	giving purpose to an aimless humanity.	43:25
	By your truth, darkness is dispelled,	43:29
	and all people set free to mature in wisdom.	43:32
	In pursuit of that truth, we now take	43:36
	our place at Duke University.	43:39
	Receive us unto yourself.	43:42
	Oh God, use us to accomplish your sacred intention.	43:44
Congregation	Amen.	43:49
-	That in this place we will remember those parents,	43:50
	teachers and friends who love us,	43:53
	and whose hopes follow us here.	43:56
	(congregation murmurs)	43:59
	That we may accept the responsibility of our freedom,	44:01
	and the burden of our privilege.	44:05
	(congregation murmurs)	44:08
	That with courage we may doubt, but that we will	44:10
	also place our doubts in the larger faith of Jesus Christ.	44:14
	(congregation murmurs)	44:19
	From insulating ourselves with books and words.	44:21
	(congregation murmurs)	44:26
	From ignorance that feeds injustice,	44:28
	from indifference that yields to cruelty,	44:31
	and from blind loyalty to false values.	44:34
	(congregation murmurs)	44:38
	From hopelessness that cripples us,	44:40
	a self-consciousness that paralyzes us,	44:43
	and from temptations that destroy us.	44:46
	(congregation murmurs)	44:50
	Gracious God, in a world where justice	44:52
	does not yet roll down as waters,	44:55
	nor righteousness as a mighty stream,	44:58
	where there is much knowledge but little wisdom,	45:01
	we pray for this school, its students and faculty,	45:04
	staff and administrators, and for the task	45:08
	in which we now unite.	45:11
	Turn our efforts to good, that as our	45:13
	understanding increases, our responsibility will deepen.	45:16
	For the sake of the future that you give us to create.	45:21
	(congregation murmurs)	45:26
	Amen.
	Let us with gladness present the offerings	45:30
	of our life and labor to the Lord.	45:32
	(organ music)	45:39
	(uplifting liturgical music)	47:51
	(choir sings indistinctly)	48:13
	("Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow")	51:30
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	51:47
	♪ Praise Him ♪	51:54
	♪ All creatures here below ♪	51:55
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:03
	♪ Praise God above, ♪	52:07
	♪ Ye heavenly host ♪	52:10
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	52:13
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:20
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:23
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:26
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:29
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	52:32
-	Almighty God, the author and giver of all good things,	52:47
	we thank Thee for all Thy mercies,	52:51
	and for Thy loving care over all Thy creatures.	52:53
	We bless thee for the gift of life,	52:56
	for the changing of the seasons, and for the constant	52:59
	reminders of Thy love which surround us.	53:02
	We thank thee for the lessons learned from our past,	53:05
	and for the opportunities which challenge us for the future.	53:08
	Most of all, we thank Thee for the saving knowledge	53:12
	of Thy son, our Savior, which gives us cause	53:15
	for celebration from now throughout eternity.	53:18
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,	53:21
	who taught us to pray with confidence.	53:24
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.	53:27
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,	53:31
	on earth as it is in heaven.	53:34
	Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us	53:36
	our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.	53:40
	And lead us not into temptation,	53:44
	but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom,	53:47
	the power and the glory now and forever, amen.	53:50
	And now may the Lord bless you and keep you.	53:56
	May the Lord make a space to shine upon you,	53:59
	and be gracious unto you.	54:01
	May the Lord lift up his countments	54:04
	upon you and give you peace, amen.	54:06
	(uplifting liturgical music)	54:18
	(choir sings indistinctly)	55:03
	(choir sings indistinctly)	58:30
	(organ music)	1:00:11

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Get Down and Party" (September 3, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 18:45. Sermon end time: 40:00.
Jesus heals a person on the Sabbath day while he is enjoying a meal (partying) at a Pharisee's house, offending his host who believes Jesus violated the Law. The preacher argues that Jesus is in fact the real host of the party, and his party welcomes all the people. The preacher criticizes legalism and indicates that it is required of the church to help the needy anywhere anytime. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Propriety and sobriety rhyme with society. Well propriety and society be hanged, Jesus has come to party.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r43j39g14

Date:

September 3, 1989

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Luke

Chapter and Verse:

Luke 14:1-14

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0147
ref8667_jls
uachapelsermaud
duke:321394
dcrmv001143
ark:/87924/r43j39g14
04037025-a862-4495-8768-0ba3d4e01abc

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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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 - "Get Down and Party" (September 3, 1989)

Transcript

Item Info

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Duke University Archives