William H. Willimon - "The Trinity: God's Unprofessional Nearness" (June 10, 1990)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
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(Reverend Willimon mumbles) | 3:55 | |
- | This evening aside from the hymn, the (mumbles) ensemble | 4:04 |
will be giving a free concert | 4:09 | |
as part of our summer arts program. | 4:11 | |
Also, on June 14th at five p.m. (mumbles) | 4:16 | |
giving a demonstration (mumbles) | 4:23 | |
You can see for yourself on June 14th. | 4:32 | |
(Reverend Willimon mumbles) | 4:35 | |
Dr. Peter (mumbles) from Johannesburg, South Africa | 4:40 | |
will be visiting and preaching in our Sunday service. | 4:44 | |
And, now let's continue our worship of the Lord. | 4:48 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 4:59 | |
(organ playing) | 5:36 | |
(organ playing) | 6:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 6:17 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 6:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 7:14 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 7:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 8:14 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 8:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 9:14 | |
- | Let us pray together, the opening collect. | 9:30 |
Holy God, You have given us grace by the confession | 9:35 | |
of the faith of Your holy church to acknowledge the mystery | 9:40 | |
of the eternal trinity, and in the power | 9:45 | |
of Your divine majesty to worship the unity, | 9:49 | |
keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, | 9:53 | |
and bring us at last to see Your eternal glory, | 9:57 | |
one God, now and forever, amen. | 10:01 | |
- | Let us pray together. | 10:17 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God. | 10:21 | |
By the power of Your Holy Spirit so that | 10:23 | |
as the Word is read and proclaimed, we might hear with joy | 10:27 | |
what You say to us this day, amen. | 10:32 | |
The first lesson is taken from the book of Deuteronomy. | 10:37 | |
For ask now of the days that are passed | 10:43 | |
which were before you since the days that God | 10:46 | |
created humanity upon the earth, and ask from one end | 10:50 | |
of heaven to the other whether such a great thing as this | 10:54 | |
has ever happened or was ever heard of. | 10:58 | |
Did any people ever hear the voice of a God speaking out | 11:01 | |
of the midst of a fire as you have heard and still live? | 11:05 | |
Or has any God ever attempted to go and take a nation | 11:09 | |
from the midst of another nation by trials, by signs, | 11:14 | |
by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand | 11:18 | |
and an outstretched arm and by great terrors | 11:23 | |
according to all that the Lord, your God did for you | 11:26 | |
in Egypt before your eyes? | 11:29 | |
To you it was shown that you might know | 11:32 | |
that the Lord is God. | 11:35 | |
There is no other. | 11:37 | |
Out of heaven, God spoke to you in order to discipline you, | 11:39 | |
and on earth, you saw God's great fire, and you heard | 11:43 | |
God's words out of the midst of the fire, | 11:48 | |
and because God loved your ancestors | 11:50 | |
and chose their descendants after them, | 11:53 | |
and brought you out of Egypt with God's own presence | 11:57 | |
and great power, driving out before you nations greater | 12:00 | |
and mightier than yourselves to bring you in, | 12:04 | |
to give you their land for an inheritance as that this day. | 12:08 | |
Know therefore this day and lay it to your heart | 12:13 | |
that the Lord is God in heaven above | 12:17 | |
and on the earth beneath. | 12:20 | |
There is no other. | 12:23 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 12:27 | |
Thanks be to God. | 12:29 | |
Man | Let us stand and chant responsively to song. | 12:35 |
♪ Rejoice in the Lord, all you righteous ♪ | 12:49 | |
♪ Delight in praise, oh You are bright ♪ | 12:53 | |
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 12:57 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 12:59 | |
♪ Sing to the Lord our new song ♪ | 13:07 | |
♪ Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts ♪ | 13:11 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 13:16 | |
♪ The Lord loves righteousness and justice ♪ | 13:25 | |
♪ The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord ♪ | 13:29 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 13:35 | |
♪ The Lord gathers the waters of the sea as in our pardon ♪ | 13:45 | |
♪ And puts the deeps in stored houses ♪ | 13:51 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 13:55 | |
♪ For the Lord spoke, and it came to be ♪ | 14:05 | |
♪ The Lord commanded, and it stood forth ♪ | 14:10 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 14:14 | |
♪ The council of the Lord stands forever ♪ | 14:25 | |
♪ The thoughts of God's heart to all generations ♪ | 14:28 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 14:33 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 14:57 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 15:29 | |
Man | Be seated. | 15:44 |
- | The second lesson is taken from Paul's second letter | 15:54 |
to the Corinthians. | 15:56 | |
Examine yourselves to see whether you are holding | 16:01 | |
to your faith. | 16:04 | |
Test yourselves. | 16:05 | |
Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? | 16:08 | |
Unless indeed you failed to meet the test. | 16:12 | |
I hope You will find out that we have not failed, | 16:15 | |
but we pray, God, that you may not do wrong. | 16:20 | |
Not that we may appear to have met the test, | 16:23 | |
but that you may do what is right, though we may seem | 16:25 | |
to have failed. | 16:29 | |
For we cannot do anything against the truth | 16:31 | |
but only for the truth, for we are glad when we are weak | 16:34 | |
and You are strong. | 16:39 | |
What we pray for is your improvement. | 16:41 | |
I write this while I am away from you | 16:44 | |
in order that when I come I may not have to be severe | 16:48 | |
in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me | 16:51 | |
for building up and not for tearing down. | 16:55 | |
Finally, my friends, farewell. | 16:58 | |
Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, | 17:02 | |
live in peace, and the God of love and peace | 17:07 | |
will be with you. | 17:11 | |
Greet one another with the Holy kiss. | 17:13 | |
All the saints greet you. | 17:15 | |
The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, | 17:17 | |
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | 17:21 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 17:24 | |
Thanks be to God. | 17:28 | |
This reading is from the gospel according to St. Matthew. | 17:32 | |
Now, the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain | 17:38 | |
to which Jesus had directed them, and when they saw Jesus, | 17:41 | |
they worshiped Jesus, but some doubted, | 17:45 | |
and Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven | 17:48 | |
and on earth has been given to me. | 17:54 | |
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, | 17:56 | |
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, | 17:59 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe | 18:03 | |
all that I have commanded you, and I am with you always | 18:06 | |
to the close of the age." | 18:12 | |
And, this, my friends, ends the reading of the gospel. | 18:15 | |
Thanks be to God. | 18:19 | |
(organ playing) | 18:23 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 18:44 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 19:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 19:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 20:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 20:44 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 21:14 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 21:45 | |
- | "Did any people ever hear God speaking out of the midst | 22:20 |
"of a fire as you have heard? | 22:23 | |
"Or has any God ever attempted to go and take a nation | 22:27 | |
"for himself? | 22:30 | |
"Out of heaven, he let you hear his voice." | 22:32 | |
In a pastoral counseling course in seminary, | 22:39 | |
some professor told me that a mark of good counseling | 22:42 | |
was distance. | 22:47 | |
A counselor has got to be close enough | 22:52 | |
to the counselee to care, | 22:56 | |
and yet distant enough, | 22:59 | |
objectively, dispassionately, | 23:02 | |
to reflect and to advise. | 23:05 | |
Professional distance, | 23:09 | |
isn't that what they call it? | 23:11 | |
It is that distance assumed by doctors and lawyers | 23:13 | |
and ministers who work with people, | 23:18 | |
so that they're involved but not too closely involved, | 23:21 | |
and I confess that | 23:26 | |
I've never been too good at professional distance. | 23:28 | |
A while back, a senior came by the office to tell me | 23:33 | |
that he had decided to apply to seminary, and he said, | 23:36 | |
"I know that you can't tell me what to do, | 23:41 | |
"but I'd be interested if you've got any suggestions | 23:43 | |
"about which seminary I ought to attend, | 23:47 | |
"and I said well, you're right, I can't tell you what to do. | 23:50 | |
"It's your life. | 23:52 | |
"You're a member of a denomination other than my own. | 23:53 | |
"I can't tell you what to do. | 23:55 | |
"By the way, which seminary are you thinking of attending?" | 23:58 | |
And he said, "Union, in New York," | 24:02 | |
and I said "No, no! That's all wrong for you! | 24:05 | |
"You wouldn't like it there! | 24:07 | |
"You're supposed to go to Princeton! | 24:09 | |
"Your theology would be better suited to there. | 24:10 | |
"You would like Princeton much better!" and he said, | 24:12 | |
"I'm glad that you can't tell me what to do." | 24:15 | |
(laughter) | 24:20 | |
And, I said look, "I flunked non-directive counseling | 24:22 | |
"in seminary." | 24:26 | |
I've never been too good at professional distance, | 24:30 | |
and I guess, I hope the reason is that I care. | 24:33 | |
Distance, nearness. | 24:38 | |
At the risk of you losing you before the sermon begins, | 24:43 | |
I want to lay my cards on the table and say to you | 24:47 | |
that this is to be a sermon about the Trinity, | 24:50 | |
and therefore, about God. | 24:53 | |
I know that the British preacher Colin Morris says | 24:57 | |
that any preacher with a grain of sense will call in sick | 25:00 | |
on Trinity Sunday, and under no circumstances, | 25:04 | |
would you attempt to preach on the doctrine of the Trinity, | 25:07 | |
but throwing caution to the wind, here we go. | 25:12 | |
The Trinity, the affirmation that God is Father, | 25:18 | |
and Son, and Holy Spirit, | 25:22 | |
strikes many people as some kind of | 25:25 | |
mystery of mathematics. | 25:28 | |
How can one God really equal three persons? | 25:30 | |
But the truth is not a mystery of mathematics, | 25:36 | |
it's a debate about who God is, | 25:40 | |
and I'm betting, I'm hoping | 25:44 | |
that that's why you're here today. | 25:47 | |
Even if you don't know that's why you're here today, | 25:51 | |
you're wondering who God really is, | 25:56 | |
and how it stands between us and God. | 26:00 | |
That was the first question of the Hebrew children | 26:04 | |
after they were free, liberated from Egyptian slavery, | 26:07 | |
they were free, yes, but also hungry, | 26:10 | |
and out of their hunger, they asked, | 26:15 | |
"Is God among us or not?" | 26:17 | |
Exodus 17. | 26:22 | |
And that, I'm betting, is your question | 26:25 | |
this Sunday morning: is God among us or not? | 26:28 | |
Now, Professor Steinberg from Temple University, | 26:34 | |
after studying hundreds of teenagers and their parents, | 26:37 | |
has developed a theory of responsive parenting. | 26:42 | |
Simply put, Dr. Steinberg believes | 26:49 | |
that the single most important key | 26:51 | |
to good relations between parents and teenagers | 26:54 | |
is the parents' constant ability | 26:59 | |
in word and deed | 27:02 | |
to respond to the behavior and personality | 27:04 | |
of the adolescent child. | 27:08 | |
In fact, Dr. Steinberg claims that | 27:11 | |
the more loquacious the parent-- | 27:13 | |
the more time the parent spends talking to | 27:16 | |
and listening to the teenager-- | 27:19 | |
the better adjusted the teenager. | 27:22 | |
And that confirms an opinion of mine, | 27:25 | |
namely, that there is some kind of relationship | 27:28 | |
between good teaching and a lot of talking. | 27:31 | |
The best teachers always seem to be the biggest talkers. | 27:35 | |
I mean, take Sandy Cohen, | 27:39 | |
Durham County Teacher of the Year, | 27:41 | |
or Star Braswell | 27:43 | |
over at Hope Valley Elementary. | 27:44 | |
If you visit their classrooms, as I did, you will find | 27:45 | |
that from the time the bell rings at 8:00 a.m. | 27:50 | |
until the bell rings again at 2:30, it's: | 27:52 | |
"Class, today, we're going to study prepositions-- | 27:55 | |
"that will be enough, John, | 27:58 | |
"would you please get your book and sit down? | 27:59 | |
"So, is this Monday morning or something? | 28:01 | |
"Come on, somebody tell me something about prepositions-- | 28:03 | |
"I don't know, | 28:06 | |
"Gloria, can you? | 28:07 | |
"John, why are you still walking around? | 28:08 | |
"Oh, that's good, Gloria, very good. | 28:10 | |
"Now, somebody else tell me something else | 28:11 | |
"about prepositions-- | 28:13 | |
"John, any time you wanna sit down, | 28:14 | |
"that'll just be fine with me, | 28:16 | |
"we're only having school here-- | 28:17 | |
"Okay, Sharon, good." | 28:18 | |
Communication is the single most important factor | 28:22 | |
in marriage, says counselors David and Vera Mace. | 28:25 | |
I'll go a step further to say that communication | 28:31 | |
is marriage. | 28:35 | |
Marriage is communication--and so is faith. | 28:38 | |
As believers, we can be glad that, as Deuteronomy says | 28:45 | |
our God is among all Gods distinguished | 28:50 | |
for his loquaciousness. | 28:55 | |
Israel's God loves to talk, likes nothing better than | 28:58 | |
in word and deed to communicate, to have communion, | 29:02 | |
to make community, divine closeness. | 29:06 | |
Has their ever been a God, Deuteronomy asks, | 29:10 | |
that wanted to have a people like you, | 29:13 | |
that spoke out of the heavens to you? | 29:15 | |
Paul says that faith comes through hearing | 29:20 | |
- | -and so does the church. | 29:27 |
Presumably, if God had not wanted to talk, | 29:29 | |
we wouldn't be here. | 29:32 | |
We, the church, Israel, are the result of | 29:34 | |
divine communication, | 29:39 | |
divine closeness. | 29:42 | |
Now, come with me to the fourth century, | 29:47 | |
and let's listen in on a debate | 29:50 | |
between Athanasius | 29:53 | |
and Arius. | 29:56 | |
Here is the heart of the debate | 30:01 | |
between Athanasius and Arius: | 30:03 | |
is Jesus Christ really God or not? | 30:05 | |
Athanasius affirmed the Nicene Creed when it said | 30:10 | |
that Jesus is indeed begotten of the Father, God of God, | 30:15 | |
light from light, true God from true God, | 30:19 | |
begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. | 30:22 | |
In other words, Christ was not made out of nothing, | 30:28 | |
as are we, | 30:31 | |
but he was begotten. | 30:35 | |
He was generated from the very substance of God. | 30:37 | |
When we look at Jesus, we're looking at God. | 30:40 | |
Jesus is God's full communication of himself. | 30:44 | |
When we look at Jesus, this Nazarene, | 30:48 | |
we're seeing as much of God | 30:52 | |
as we ever hope to see because in this One | 30:54 | |
is the One who is of one being with the Father. | 31:00 | |
Begotten, not made-- | 31:03 | |
and that was the affirmation which was too much for Arius. | 31:06 | |
Arius rejected the notion that Jesus was fully divine | 31:11 | |
in this way. | 31:15 | |
"After all," asked Arius, | 31:17 | |
"what makes God, God?" | 31:19 | |
"God is God because the great, high, distant, lifted-up God | 31:23 | |
"can never be fully communicated. | 31:27 | |
"Divinity is self-contained. | 31:30 | |
"Divinity is fully complete within itself; | 31:33 | |
"it doesn't need anything else. | 31:35 | |
"Being completely sufficient, self-sufficient, | 31:38 | |
"the Deity has no need to extend itself | 31:42 | |
"or to communicate itself. | 31:45 | |
"Divinity is absolute." | 31:48 | |
Arius rejected the notion | 31:51 | |
that so exalted and self-contained a God | 31:54 | |
should directly involve himself with his creatures, | 31:57 | |
because to do so would be to dirty the hands | 32:02 | |
of this absolute, pure God-- | 32:04 | |
to risk this great God's becoming dependent upon | 32:07 | |
or involved with his little lowly creatures. | 32:12 | |
For Arius, God is more like Roger, | 32:17 | |
the President of General Motors, | 32:21 | |
who deals with people only through his receptionist | 32:23 | |
than like Chrysler's Iacocca, | 32:26 | |
who walks up and down the assembly line | 32:29 | |
and makes commercials. | 32:31 | |
A recent American researcher with the Sony Corporation | 32:34 | |
found that just by daring to ask | 32:39 | |
to speak to the president of Sony, | 32:41 | |
a vice president can be fired. | 32:44 | |
This distance, distance, | 32:47 | |
that's what Arius wanted to maintain. | 32:50 | |
The Trinity is a result of a debate | 32:54 | |
about God's distance or nearness. | 32:57 | |
Is Jesus God, | 33:01 | |
or is he only a kind of intermediary? | 33:04 | |
For Arius, the Nicene Creed and its delineation | 33:09 | |
of the status of Christ and the Holy Spirit | 33:14 | |
as integrally connected, | 33:16 | |
intimate natures of God | 33:19 | |
was a kind of pagan vulgarization of the righteous God. | 33:23 | |
God, God is great, God is up on high, not dependent, | 33:28 | |
not derived, not divisible, not deficient. | 33:33 | |
Arius asks, "who would want a God | 33:37 | |
"who needs us for anything?" | 33:40 | |
"The Son," said Arius, "is not equal to God in any way, | 33:44 | |
"but he is made out of nothing by God. | 33:49 | |
"The Father is alone God, | 33:52 | |
"completely alien to the Son in essence." | 33:54 | |
I suppose in all of Christian history, | 33:59 | |
there has probably never been | 34:03 | |
so noble or exalted a depiction | 34:05 | |
of God's supreme otherness, | 34:07 | |
God's holy distance, | 34:11 | |
than that of Arius. | 34:14 | |
His whole concern was to honor God, to set God up on high | 34:17 | |
where God ought to be. | 34:21 | |
Lifted up high above the contingent, contaminated world | 34:24 | |
of his creatures. | 34:28 | |
Distance, distance. | 34:30 | |
Enter Athanasius, who argued against Arius | 34:34 | |
that Christ's complete, total dependency upon God | 34:40 | |
was supreme validation | 34:46 | |
that Jesus was indeed God. | 34:48 | |
"Being self-contained, superior, distant, is not | 34:53 | |
"the essential mark of divinity," said Athanasius, | 34:59 | |
"but maybe we make distance the mark of God | 35:05 | |
"because above all things, we, human beings, | 35:09 | |
"treasure independence and detachment." | 35:13 | |
I think we would bow before independence | 35:18 | |
before we would bow before God. | 35:20 | |
We imagine that God relates to the world the same way | 35:24 | |
that we would relate to the world if we were God, | 35:27 | |
and for us humans, there can be nothing any worse | 35:31 | |
than to be relegated | 35:36 | |
to dependency on somebody else. | 35:39 | |
"I'm just not ready for marriage 'cause I don't wanna be | 35:45 | |
"dependent on somebody else. | 35:50 | |
"I got to keep my options open." | 35:52 | |
Saving for retirement? | 35:56 | |
"Oh yes, yes, we certainly don't want to be dependent | 35:58 | |
"on our children in our old age." | 36:01 | |
"I'll be glad when I get my degree, | 36:05 | |
"and I can stop being dependent on my old man." | 36:07 | |
It's a fearful thing to us humans to realize | 36:13 | |
that there is another person | 36:16 | |
who can't keep her distance from me, who needs me, | 36:20 | |
and maybe even more frightening | 36:25 | |
is the realization that I need her. | 36:26 | |
Oh, the great comforting distance. | 36:29 | |
Arius felt that the Nicene Creed had dangerously compromised | 36:34 | |
the notion of a distant, absolute God | 36:39 | |
with its affirmation that Jesus, | 36:43 | |
as the Son of God, is dependent to, | 36:46 | |
answerable to, generated by God. | 36:52 | |
Arius asked what kind of God needs manifestations of himself | 36:57 | |
in order to be God? | 37:01 | |
What kind of God would lure himself | 37:04 | |
to dirty His hands in human flesh, | 37:07 | |
to walk the dusty streets of a place like Nazareth? | 37:11 | |
If absolute distance, independence, | 37:17 | |
is the decisive mark of divinity, | 37:21 | |
if it is not the decisive mark of divinity, | 37:25 | |
if distance is not the true Godness, then what is? | 37:30 | |
Here's a clue. | 37:37 | |
The gospel of John says that | 37:40 | |
everything the Father has has been given to the Son. | 37:42 | |
Or in chapter three of John's gospel: | 37:47 | |
because the Father loves the Son, | 37:51 | |
he has given everything to the Son, everything. | 37:54 | |
According to John's gospel, then, | 37:59 | |
what is the decisive mark of God? | 38:01 | |
Giving, self-giving. | 38:05 | |
It is the love by which this God is constantly, effusively | 38:08 | |
communicating himself to his beloved Son. | 38:13 | |
Between this Father and this Son, | 38:18 | |
there is complete, total, mutual self-giving, | 38:20 | |
and so when we look at the Son, | 38:24 | |
we're really looking at the Father as well (John 12:44). | 38:27 | |
Arius' God is a distant God who tenaciously | 38:33 | |
holds on to his divinity, keeping his distance | 38:37 | |
from contingent, painful world of humanity. | 38:42 | |
But Athanasius' God, the God of the Creed, | 38:46 | |
is a dynamic God, eternally engaged | 38:49 | |
in self-giving, self-disclosure, self-communication. | 38:53 | |
The Father holds nothing back from the Son. | 38:58 | |
All the glory that God has got is given to the Son, | 39:03 | |
and the Son, in turn, gives all glory back to the Father. | 39:08 | |
The Holy Spirit, linking the two together, | 39:11 | |
constantly giving. | 39:14 | |
When Arius charged that Athanasius | 39:18 | |
was decimating divine distance, | 39:21 | |
Athanasius counter-charged that | 39:24 | |
Arius' God is an agonos theos. | 39:27 | |
An agonos theos, a sterile God, a sterile God | 39:31 | |
who doesn't generate or beget anything, who doesn't shine, | 39:35 | |
who doesn't reveal-- | 39:39 | |
but the close, triune God of the Trinity | 39:44 | |
is always communicating and shining and giving. | 39:47 | |
When we look at Jesus, we see as much of this God | 39:53 | |
as we hope to see because Jesus is totally | 39:56 | |
one with this God. | 40:00 | |
On the other hand, Jesus is constantly turning us back | 40:03 | |
to God because Jesus is busy giving back to the Father | 40:06 | |
the glory that's been given to him, | 40:10 | |
and that's why our frequent symbol for the Trinity | 40:13 | |
is three interlocking circles, | 40:15 | |
constantly turning within themselves, | 40:17 | |
showing love coming from and going back, | 40:20 | |
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. | 40:24 | |
The Trinity is not some mathematical absurdity | 40:27 | |
that one plus one plus one equals one. | 40:30 | |
The Trinity is a grouping to try to talk about God. | 40:35 | |
What makes God, God? | 40:40 | |
God's perfection is precisely in God's closeness | 40:44 | |
rather than in God's distance, | 40:52 | |
in God's continual communicativeness | 40:55 | |
rather than in God's inscrutable silence. | 40:59 | |
Closeness, closeness-- | 41:04 | |
and this was a God revealed to us in Jesus--close. | 41:07 | |
Remember Jesus told a popular story | 41:12 | |
about a father, had two sons? | 41:16 | |
One asked for his inheritance, and what did the father do? | 41:19 | |
He just gave it to him, and when this prodigal son | 41:22 | |
has blown all of his inheritance, the father welcomed | 41:27 | |
him back home and then gave him a party. | 41:31 | |
And when the older brother pouted | 41:36 | |
because he wanted a party, the father didn't just give him | 41:38 | |
a party, the father gave him absolutely everything, | 41:43 | |
and then, that story worked out so well. | 41:47 | |
Jesus told about another one about a man who was going down | 41:50 | |
from Jerusalem to Jericho, he fell in a ditch. | 41:53 | |
He was beaten up, left for half-dead, and he was passed by | 41:59 | |
by all the good religious people because they had to | 42:02 | |
keep their distance, | 42:04 | |
but then, there was a Samaritan, and he stopped, | 42:08 | |
and he looked down at the man in the ditch, | 42:13 | |
and he gave him a quarter to call the highway patrol. | 42:18 | |
No no, that's what we might've done. | 42:22 | |
No, Jesus said the Samaritan not only stopped, | 42:25 | |
he not only risked his own life, | 42:29 | |
but he ripped up his Brooks Brothers suit | 42:31 | |
and made bandages out of it. | 42:33 | |
He put the bleeding man on the leather seats of his BMW. | 42:35 | |
He took him down to the hospital. | 42:37 | |
He gave the hospital every dime he had, and he said | 42:39 | |
"When I get back, spend anything you need, | 42:42 | |
"I'll give you even more money." | 42:44 | |
You see, when this God gets to giving, | 42:47 | |
he just doesn't know when to stop. | 42:50 | |
Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, | 42:54 | |
is our daily experience of God's communicative extravagance. | 42:58 | |
Oh, but we are so often like Arius. | 43:06 | |
Our God is high and distant, exalted, and lifted up. | 43:10 | |
Our God does not dirty his holy hands in human affairs. | 43:15 | |
Our God is exalted and honored and on high | 43:19 | |
if we've got to nail him up there ourselves, | 43:23 | |
and that's just what we did. | 43:29 | |
We nailed him up there ourselves, hands and feet, | 43:32 | |
and after we got him so high and lifted up off the earth, | 43:37 | |
he turned around and said, "When I am lifted up, | 43:41 | |
"I'm going to draw everything to myself." | 43:46 | |
We don't offer this God any compliment | 43:54 | |
when we impute to this God the same distance | 43:58 | |
through which we encircle our lives. | 44:01 | |
Here's a God who's always willing to stoop, | 44:05 | |
who never stops giving, a God who welcomes, even seeks | 44:10 | |
our prayer and our praise, our good deeds, | 44:16 | |
and yes, even our sin. | 44:20 | |
In the 55th chapter of the prophet Isaiah, | 44:25 | |
the prophet hears God say, | 44:29 | |
"My thoughts are not your thoughts. | 44:33 | |
"My ways are not your ways. | 44:38 | |
"As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways | 44:42 | |
higher than your ways and my thoughts | 44:46 | |
deeper than your thoughts, | 44:48 | |
which would lead us to think, | 44:52 | |
"You know, maybe Arius was right. | 44:54 | |
"God really is distant and far. | 44:56 | |
"God's ways, God's thoughts, are just high, and they're up, | 45:00 | |
"and they're distant. | 45:03 | |
"How could we ever presume to know such a God, | 45:05 | |
"much less speak to such a God? | 45:08 | |
"How impudent of us little earthlings to presume | 45:10 | |
"to know anything, much less talk to and serve such a God!" | 45:13 | |
But you need to read on in Isaiah 55 to the passage | 45:19 | |
that's not often quoted, where after God talks about | 45:23 | |
how his ways are so different says, | 45:28 | |
"Just as My rain and My snow come down to the earth | 45:31 | |
and water your dry fields, | 45:37 | |
so my Word shall come down | 45:41 | |
and accomplish that that I want from it," says God. | 45:46 | |
You see? | 45:52 | |
God's greatest Godness | 45:54 | |
is that God is so unlike our idea | 45:59 | |
of who God ought to be. | 46:03 | |
Our God, our triune, Trinitarian God is unlike us | 46:07 | |
in that he is so close, so self-giving, so extravagant, | 46:12 | |
just holds nothing back, | 46:19 | |
offers us everything. | 46:23 | |
In the name of the Father, and the Son, | 46:28 | |
and the Holy Spirit, amen. | 46:31 | |
(organ playing) | 46:39 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 47:23 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 48:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 48:30 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 49:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 49:29 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 49:59 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 50:29 | |
Reverend Via | The Lord be with you. | 50:38 |
Congregation | And, also with you. | 50:40 |
- | Let us pray. | 50:41 |
Would you be seated? | 50:43 | |
Oh mighty God, You are the God of the heavens above | 50:50 | |
and the earth beneath. | 50:54 | |
We stand in awe of Your wondrous works of creation | 50:58 | |
and redemption. | 51:02 | |
Blessed be Your name forever. | 51:03 | |
In the days of old, You came to Your people in faithfulness | 51:06 | |
and power promising more than they could ever hope for. | 51:11 | |
As we come to You in this place of beauty, we are reminded | 51:16 | |
of the heritage which is our. | 51:20 | |
We give You thanks for the church of Jesus Christ, | 51:24 | |
which has been a light in the world, for all the saints | 51:27 | |
who have served faithfully throughout the ages, | 51:31 | |
for those in this community and this chapel | 51:35 | |
who are dedicated to the work of Your kingdom. | 51:39 | |
Make Yourself real to us now, | 51:43 | |
more real than we are to ourselves. | 51:48 | |
Remove the blinders from our eyes to see our needs | 51:51 | |
and those of the world. | 51:56 | |
Loosen our tongues so that we may voice prayers | 51:59 | |
for ourselves and for others. | 52:02 | |
Touch the brow that is furrowed by anxiety | 52:05 | |
and make it smooth. | 52:11 | |
Touch the heart that is troubled by loneliness and distress | 52:13 | |
and make it full. | 52:18 | |
Touch the body that is broken by illness or exhaustion | 52:21 | |
and make it whole. | 52:25 | |
Touch the spirit that is hungry for your presence | 52:27 | |
and make it glad. | 52:30 | |
Give to our country and to all the nations, we pray | 52:33 | |
a greater capacity for peace. | 52:38 | |
Give to the leaders of the world clearness of vision | 52:42 | |
and hearts full of mercy and compassion. | 52:47 | |
Let those with power care about the suffering peoples | 52:51 | |
and those who are grasping for a new life of freedom. | 52:55 | |
Let the planners of the future make a place for the people | 52:59 | |
who cannot pay or hope. | 53:03 | |
Make us all sensitive to each other and to where | 53:07 | |
you are moving and working in us and in our world. | 53:11 | |
Let the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms | 53:17 | |
of our Lord, Jesus Christ. | 53:20 | |
In the name of the triune God, we pray, amen. | 53:23 | |
Great is God's mercy to us, and great is the need | 53:30 | |
of the world around us. | 53:34 | |
Let us respond to our gracious God and to the needs | 53:37 | |
of the world with our offerings of our lives and our gifts. | 53:40 | |
(organ playing) | 53:59 | |
(organ playing) | 54:30 | |
(organ playing) | 55:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 55:18 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 55:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 56:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 56:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 57:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 57:45 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 58:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 58:44 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:55 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:00 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:05 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:11 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 59:18 | |
(organ playing) | 59:35 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 59:53 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:00:07 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:00:10 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:00:14 | |
- | Oh eternal God whose mystery is unfathomable | 1:00:54 |
and whose Holiness is awesome. | 1:00:59 | |
Were it not for your manifestations in Jesus Christ, | 1:01:01 | |
we would not dare approach You. | 1:01:05 | |
In Him, Your love is compelling, Your mercy boundless, | 1:01:08 | |
and Your nearness irresistible. | 1:01:14 | |
You speak to us in all Your creation, in all that is | 1:01:17 | |
beautiful, good, and true. | 1:01:22 | |
Our lips and our voices can never give You the praise | 1:01:25 | |
and thanksgiving you deserve. | 1:01:29 | |
As a symbol of our gratitude, we raise to You these gifts | 1:01:31 | |
of toil and love. | 1:01:36 | |
Bless them for service in Your eternal kingdom. | 1:01:38 | |
Bless the giver. | 1:01:42 | |
Oh God, by Your spirit, free us to live better | 1:01:45 | |
than it is in us to do and to walk faithfully with Christ, | 1:01:48 | |
our Lord and Savior, who has the words of eternal life | 1:01:53 | |
and who has taught us to pray saying | 1:01:58 | |
our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. | 1:02:02 | |
Thy kingdom come, They will be done | 1:02:07 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 1:02:10 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 1:02:13 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 1:02:16 | |
who've trespassed against us, | 1:02:20 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:02:22 | |
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory | 1:02:26 | |
forever and ever, amen. | 1:02:30 | |
And, now, oh eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, | 1:02:34 | |
You have gone before us in wind, fire, and cloud | 1:02:40 | |
throughout the ages. | 1:02:45 | |
Go before us now in peace and joy, nourishing us | 1:02:47 | |
with the sunlight of Your holly presence | 1:02:51 | |
so that we may grow in all spiritual graces, | 1:02:54 | |
full of victory and hope this day and forever more, amen. | 1:02:57 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:03:08 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:03:16 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:03:21 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:03:28 | |
(organ playing) | 1:03:42 | |
(organ playing) | 1:04:15 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:04:39 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:05:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:05:30 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:06:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:06:29 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:07:00 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:07:30 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:07:59 | |
(traditional hymn singing) | 1:08:30 | |
Reverend Via | Let us go forth in the name of Christ. | 1:08:40 |
Congregation | Praise be to God. | 1:08:44 |
(organ playing) | 1:08:47 |