Thomas G. Long - "The Living Out of Dreams" (June 24, 1990)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(pipe organ music) | 0:00 | |
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- | Good morning, and welcome to this | 2:32 |
service of worship here in Duke Chapel. | 2:33 | |
Our guest preacher today is the Reverend Dr. Thomas Long, | 2:37 | |
Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary, | 2:42 | |
and always a very popular and well appreciated | 2:46 | |
visitor here in Duke Chapel. | 2:51 | |
Our lector is Chaplin Herbert Strange, | 2:53 | |
who has been in residence at Duke Divinity School | 2:55 | |
in a continuing education program this past year | 2:59 | |
and has been active in the life of the chapel. | 3:01 | |
We're glad you're here. | 3:05 | |
We particularly welcome those who worship | 3:06 | |
with us through the closed circuit | 3:08 | |
television system in the Duke hospitals. | 3:10 | |
And now, let us continue our worship of God. | 3:14 | |
♪ Praise be O Lord above ♪ | 3:22 | |
♪ Sing His salvation ♪ | 3:27 | |
♪ Bless His name, Jehovah's grace ♪ | 3:31 | |
♪ In these holy halls ♪ | 3:35 | |
♪ Earth shall be glad ♪ | 3:40 | |
♪ All ye hands now be joyful ♪ | 3:43 | |
♪ Christ redeems the earth O the righteous King ♪ | 3:48 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 3:54 | |
(pipe organ music) | 4:01 | |
♪ Sing praise to God who reigns above ♪ | 4:43 | |
♪ The God of all creation ♪ | 4:50 | |
♪ The God of power, the God of love ♪ | 4:56 | |
♪ The God of our salvation ♪ | 5:02 | |
♪ With healing balm my soul is filled ♪ | 5:08 | |
♪ And every faithless murmur stilled ♪ | 5:14 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 5:20 | |
♪ The Lord is never far away ♪ | 5:29 | |
♪ But through all grief distressing ♪ | 5:35 | |
♪ An ever present help and stay ♪ | 5:42 | |
♪ Our peace and joy and blessing ♪ | 5:48 | |
♪ As with a mother's tender hand ♪ | 5:54 | |
♪ God gently leads the chosen band ♪ | 6:00 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 6:07 | |
♪ Thus all my toilsome way along ♪ | 6:16 | |
♪ I sing aloud thy praises ♪ | 6:22 | |
♪ That earth may hear the grateful song ♪ | 6:28 | |
♪ My voice unwearied raises ♪ | 6:34 | |
♪ Be joyful in the Lord, my heart ♪ | 6:41 | |
♪ Both soul and body bear your part ♪ | 6:47 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 6:53 | |
♪ Let all who name Christ's holy name ♪ | 7:02 | |
♪ Give God all praise and glory ♪ | 7:09 | |
♪ Let all who own His power proclaim ♪ | 7:16 | |
♪ Aloud the wondrous story ♪ | 7:23 | |
♪ Cast each false idol from its throne ♪ | 7:29 | |
♪ For Christ is Lord and Christ alone ♪ | 7:36 | |
♪ To God all praise and glory ♪ | 7:43 | |
- | Gracious God, Your people gather before You this day | 7:57 |
knowing that when we come into Your presence | 8:04 | |
we are coming before the true God | 8:06 | |
who lightens all darkness, | 8:10 | |
the God who loves justice and commands mercy | 8:12 | |
and acts of loving kindness. | 8:16 | |
Therefore, in this hour of worship, | 8:19 | |
we pray that each false idol might be | 8:22 | |
cast out of our lives, that we might be drawn | 8:26 | |
toward ever deepened allegiance | 8:30 | |
to Your will through Your Word. | 8:33 | |
Thus Your people pray. Amen. | 8:37 | |
Be seated. | 8:41 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:52 |
Open our hearts and minds, O God, | 8:54 | |
by the power of Your Holy Spirit | 8:57 | |
so that as the Word is read and proclaimed | 9:00 | |
we might hear with joy what You say to us this day. Amen. | 9:04 | |
The first lesson is taken | 9:11 | |
from Paul's letter to the Romans. | 9:12 | |
"Therefore, as sin came into the world | 9:16 | |
"through one human being and death through sin, | 9:19 | |
"and so death spread to all humankind | 9:23 | |
"because all sinned, sin indeed | 9:26 | |
"was in the world before the law was given, | 9:30 | |
"but sin is not counted where there is no law. | 9:33 | |
"Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, | 9:38 | |
"even over those whose sins were not | 9:42 | |
"like the transgression of Adam, | 9:44 | |
"who was a type of the one who was to come. | 9:47 | |
"But the free gift is not like the trespass. | 9:51 | |
"For if many die through the trespass of one, | 9:55 | |
"much more have the grace of God | 9:59 | |
"and the free gift in the grace of that one person, | 10:01 | |
"Jesus Christ, abounded for many. | 10:04 | |
"And the free gift is not like the | 10:08 | |
"effect of that one person's sin. | 10:10 | |
"For the judgment following one trespass | 10:13 | |
"brought condemnation, but the free gift | 10:16 | |
"following many trespasses brings justification. | 10:19 | |
"If because of the trespass of one, | 10:24 | |
"death reigned through that one, | 10:27 | |
"much more will those who receive | 10:30 | |
"the abundance of grace and the free gift | 10:32 | |
"of righteousness reign in life | 10:34 | |
"through the one person, Jesus Christ. | 10:37 | |
"Then, as the trespass of one led to condemnation for all, | 10:41 | |
"so the act of righteousness of one leads | 10:46 | |
"to acquittal and life for all. | 10:49 | |
"For as by the disobedience of one, | 10:52 | |
"many were made sinners, so by the obedience | 10:55 | |
"of one many will be made righteous." | 10:58 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 11:02 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 11:06 |
- | Please stand, and let us chant together the Psalm. | 11:09 |
(pipe organ music) | 11:14 | |
♪ Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High ♪ | 11:22 | |
♪ Who abide in the shadow of the Almighty ♪ | 11:27 | |
♪ Will say to the Lord ♪ | 11:30 | |
♪ My refuge and my fortress ♪ | 11:34 | |
♪ My God in whom I trust ♪ | 11:38 | |
♪ For the Lord will deliver you ♪ | 11:42 | |
♪ From the snare of the fowler ♪ | 11:45 | |
♪ And from the deadly pestilence ♪ | 11:48 | |
♪ And will cover you with his pinions ♪ | 11:52 | |
♪ Under the Lord's wings you will find refuge ♪ | 11:55 | |
♪ God's faithfulness is a shield and buckler ♪ | 12:00 | |
♪ You will not fear the terror of the night ♪ | 12:06 | |
♪ Nor the arrow that flies by day ♪ | 12:11 | |
♪ Or the pestilence that stalks in darkness ♪ | 12:15 | |
♪ Or the destruction that wastes at noonday ♪ | 12:20 | |
♪ A thousand may fall at your side ♪ | 12:25 | |
♪ Ten thousand at your right hand ♪ | 12:28 | |
♪ But it will not come near you ♪ | 12:32 | |
♪ You will only look with your eyes ♪ | 12:36 | |
♪ And see the punishment of the wicked ♪ | 12:40 | |
♪ Because you have made the Lord your refuge ♪ | 12:45 | |
♪ The Most High your permutation ♪ | 12:49 | |
♪ No evil shall befall you ♪ | 12:53 | |
♪ No scourge come near your tent ♪ | 12:57 | |
(pipe organ music) | 13:02 | |
♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪ | 13:13 | |
♪ Praise to our Redeemer ♪ | 13:19 | |
♪ Glory be to the Sustainer ♪ | 13:27 | |
♪ Ever three and ever one ♪ | 13:34 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ | 13:42 | |
♪ And now it ever shall be ♪ | 13:50 | |
- | A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. | 14:07 |
"A disciple is not above the teacher, | 14:13 | |
"nor a servant above the one who is served. | 14:17 | |
"It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher | 14:21 | |
"and the servant like the one who is served. | 14:24 | |
"If they have called the householder Beelzebul, | 14:27 | |
"how much more will they malign those of that household. | 14:31 | |
"So have no fear of them. | 14:36 | |
"For nothing is covered that will not be revealed | 14:39 | |
"or hidden that will not be known. | 14:42 | |
"What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light. | 14:46 | |
"And what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. | 14:51 | |
"And do not fear those who kill | 14:56 | |
"the body but cannot kill the soul. | 14:57 | |
"Rather fear the one who can destroy | 15:01 | |
"both soul and body in hell. | 15:03 | |
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? | 15:07 | |
"And not one of them will fall to the ground | 15:11 | |
"without the will of God. | 15:13 | |
"But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. | 15:16 | |
"Fear not, therefore, you are | 15:20 | |
"of more value than many sparrows. | 15:23 | |
"So everyone who acknowledges me before others, | 15:26 | |
"I also will acknowledge before God | 15:30 | |
"my Father who is heaven, but whoever denies | 15:32 | |
"me before others, I also will deny | 15:36 | |
"before God who is in heaven." | 15:40 | |
This is the Gospel of Christ. | 15:43 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 15:46 |
(pipe organ music) | 16:00 | |
♪ All people that on earth do dwell ♪ | 16:18 | |
♪ Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice ♪ | 16:27 | |
♪ Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell ♪ | 16:35 | |
♪ Come ye before Him and rejoice ♪ | 16:44 | |
♪ The Lord we know is God indeed ♪ | 16:55 | |
♪ Without our aid He did us make ♪ | 17:04 | |
♪ We are His folk, He doth us feed ♪ | 17:12 | |
♪ And for His sheep He doth us take ♪ | 17:21 | |
♪ O enter then His gates with praise ♪ | 17:33 | |
♪ Approach with joy His courts unto ♪ | 17:41 | |
♪ Praise, laud, and bless His name always ♪ | 17:50 | |
♪ For it is seemly so to do ♪ | 17:59 | |
♪ For why, the Lord our God is good ♪ | 18:12 | |
♪ His mercy is forever sure ♪ | 18:21 | |
♪ His truth at all times firmly stood ♪ | 18:29 | |
♪ And shall from age to age endure ♪ | 18:38 | |
(pipe organ music) | 18:50 | |
♪ To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 18:59 | |
♪ The God whom heaven and earth adore ♪ | 19:07 | |
♪ From men and from the angel host ♪ | 19:15 | |
♪ Be praise and glory ever more ♪ | 19:23 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 19:42 | |
- | From the 28th chapter of Genesis, | 20:06 |
the familiar story of Jacob's ladder and Jacob's dream. | 20:10 | |
"Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. | 20:19 | |
"He came to certain place and stayed there | 20:24 | |
"for the night, for the sun had set. | 20:27 | |
"Taking one of the stones of the place, | 20:32 | |
"he put it under his head and lay down in that place. | 20:35 | |
"And he dreamed that there was a ladder | 20:40 | |
"set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, | 20:43 | |
"and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. | 20:46 | |
"And the Lord stood beside him and said, | 20:53 | |
"'I am the Lord, the God of Abraham | 20:56 | |
"'your father and the God of Isaac. | 21:00 | |
"'The land on which you lie I will give | 21:03 | |
"'to you and to your offspring. | 21:06 | |
"'And your offspring shall be like | 21:10 | |
"'the dust of the earth, and you shall | 21:12 | |
"'spread abroad to the west and to the east | 21:15 | |
"'and to the north and to the south. | 21:18 | |
"'And all the families of the earth | 21:20 | |
"'shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. | 21:22 | |
"'Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, | 21:28 | |
"'and will bring you back to this land. | 21:33 | |
"'For I will not leave you until I have | 21:35 | |
"'done what I have promised to you.' | 21:38 | |
"Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, | 21:42 | |
"'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.' | 21:46 | |
"And he was afraid and said, | 21:51 | |
"'How awesome is this place. | 21:53 | |
"'This is none other than the house of God. | 21:57 | |
"'This is the gate of heaven.'" | 21:59 | |
The Word of the Lord. | 22:03 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 22:06 |
- | Over the past few years, my good friend, | 22:11 |
Will Willimon, has on several occasions | 22:15 | |
invited me to be the guest preacher here in Duke Chapel. | 22:18 | |
I love this place. | 22:23 | |
I love to come here. | 22:25 | |
And every time he invites me, I eagerly accept. | 22:27 | |
Now, what you may not know is that when you accept | 22:32 | |
the responsibility of being the guest preacher | 22:36 | |
in Duke Chapel for a Sunday, the next thing | 22:39 | |
that happens is that you receive | 22:41 | |
a packet of information from the Chapel office. | 22:45 | |
It has a lot of things in it. | 22:49 | |
For example, it has an exceedingly complicated memo | 22:51 | |
about the rather apocalyptic acoustics in this room | 22:55 | |
and how to handle them. | 23:00 | |
Stand 12 to 15 inches away from the microphone. | 23:02 | |
Speak loudly, but do not shout. | 23:08 | |
That sort of thing. | 23:10 | |
You also receive in the packet of information | 23:13 | |
a letter that says, "Now the ecumenical | 23:16 | |
"Lectionary scripture lessons for your Sunday | 23:20 | |
"when you will preach are these." | 23:24 | |
And then, there is a list of three scripture lessons | 23:26 | |
chosen from the Lectionary. | 23:30 | |
My letter received the ones that you found | 23:32 | |
in your bulletin, the reading from Romans, | 23:35 | |
the reading from Matthew, and the | 23:37 | |
one I just did from Genesis. | 23:38 | |
The letter goes on to say, "You don't | 23:41 | |
"have to preach on one of those if you don't want to, | 23:43 | |
"but it is the custom in this place to do so." | 23:47 | |
(congregation laughing) | 23:51 | |
I think it's a good custom, and I always choose to do so | 23:53 | |
though I tease Will that he always | 23:57 | |
seems to invite me on a Sunday | 24:01 | |
when the Lectionary lessons are | 24:04 | |
absolutely the driest, most obscure, | 24:06 | |
and impenetrable passages in all of the bible. | 24:09 | |
I secretly fear that he gives the other | 24:14 | |
guest preachers the really nice passages. | 24:17 | |
(congregation laughing) | 24:20 | |
You know, the ones that soar. | 24:21 | |
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. | 24:22 | |
"Faith, hope, love, these three, | 24:26 | |
"but the greatest of these is love." | 24:28 | |
I suspect the other preachers get those. | 24:31 | |
I generally get the Levitical instructions | 24:34 | |
for the construction of priestly garments. | 24:37 | |
(congregation laughing) | 24:40 | |
Or the requirements for the sacrifice of a young bullock. | 24:44 | |
(congregation laughing) | 24:48 | |
But today, Will, I can't complain. | 24:51 | |
On this Sunday, I have no complaint. | 24:56 | |
The Lectionary has given us magnificent | 24:58 | |
and powerful passages, including this familiar | 25:00 | |
and beloved story from the 28th chapter of Genesis. | 25:04 | |
You know it well. | 25:07 | |
We call it Jacob's ladder, and, in fact, | 25:09 | |
many of us have even sung about it | 25:12 | |
at church camp and in Sunday school. | 25:14 | |
"We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 25:16 | |
"We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 25:19 | |
"We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 25:21 | |
"Soldiers of the cross." | 25:25 | |
You know how the story goes. | 25:29 | |
Jacob is traveling from Beer-sheba to Haran. | 25:31 | |
It gets to be nightfall so he stops to rest for the night. | 25:36 | |
He has no straw for a mattress | 25:41 | |
so he lies down on the hard earth. | 25:44 | |
He even takes a stone as his pillow. | 25:47 | |
But even on this uncomfortable bed, | 25:52 | |
he manages somehow to sleep, | 25:54 | |
and not only to sleep but also to dream. | 25:56 | |
Oh, does he ever dream. | 26:02 | |
He sees a ladder extending all the way from earth to heaven | 26:05 | |
with magnificent angels ascending and descending. | 26:10 | |
And suddenly there is the very presence of God | 26:15 | |
whispering to him the holy and ancient promise. | 26:18 | |
"I am the God of your ancestors, | 26:22 | |
"and I will be your God too. | 26:26 | |
"I will remain with you forever." | 26:30 | |
Forever. Forever. Forever. | 26:34 | |
In the morning, Jacob wakes up and says, | 26:42 | |
"How awesome is this place. | 26:46 | |
"Surely God was in this place, and I didn't even know it. | 26:50 | |
"I'm going to call this Bethel, the house of God." | 26:53 | |
So, I've got a good text. | 27:00 | |
In fact, there is an embarrassment of riches in this text. | 27:02 | |
It's hard to know where to fasten | 27:06 | |
our attention in this story. | 27:08 | |
Students of the bible even have a debate | 27:10 | |
about what is the most powerful aspect of this story. | 27:14 | |
Some of them say the most powerful thing about this story | 27:20 | |
is not what happened but to whom it happened. | 27:24 | |
God is present all through the bible. | 27:30 | |
God makes promises everywhere. | 27:32 | |
The astounding thing about this story | 27:34 | |
is that God is present and makes promises | 27:37 | |
to that scruffy little shyster, Jacob. | 27:39 | |
It's true, you know. | 27:44 | |
Jacob is a con artist and a hustler. | 27:45 | |
His name Jacob even means "grabber." | 27:48 | |
Long before P.T. Barnum ever said it, | 27:53 | |
Jacob could have said, "There's a sucker born every minute." | 27:55 | |
In fact, according to the story, | 28:00 | |
there was a sucker born just the minute before he was. | 28:02 | |
His dim-witted, | 28:06 | |
molasses brained twin brother Esau. | 28:09 | |
And sure enough, if you put Jacob and Esau | 28:13 | |
in the same room, you know what's going | 28:15 | |
to happen, and it inevitably does. | 28:17 | |
Jacob hustles Esau out of his blessing and his birthright. | 28:20 | |
Step right up, Esau. | 28:25 | |
Pick a card, any card. | 28:27 | |
Some people think the most powerful thing | 28:31 | |
about this story is that the presence | 28:35 | |
and the promises of God come not to the pure | 28:38 | |
and the holy but to the stained and the broken, | 28:43 | |
like Jacob. | 28:50 | |
Hasidic Jews have a story they love to tell. | 28:53 | |
It's a story about three pious Jews | 28:57 | |
who heard about a magnificent rabbi in a distant city | 29:00 | |
who could teach all the wisdom of the Torah. | 29:04 | |
So, they decided on the holiday Yom Kippur | 29:08 | |
that they would travel to this | 29:11 | |
distant city and sit at this rabbi's feet. | 29:13 | |
They were so excited about their trip | 29:17 | |
that they left on this journey far away | 29:19 | |
without taking along any food, any water, or any money. | 29:22 | |
And, sure enough, they had traveled | 29:27 | |
only a day or so before they realized | 29:28 | |
they were hungry and thirsty and tired and broke. | 29:31 | |
And one of them said, "What are we going to do? | 29:36 | |
"We're going to perish on this trip." | 29:38 | |
And another said, "It's not a commandment | 29:41 | |
"that a Jew should perish. | 29:43 | |
"In fact, the Torah gives us permission | 29:46 | |
"to do whatever we must do to preserve our lives. | 29:48 | |
"Well, what shall we do?" | 29:51 | |
After thinking about it, they came up with a scheme. | 29:54 | |
One of them would pretend to be a rabbi. | 29:57 | |
The others would pretend to be his assistants. | 30:01 | |
They would go to the next village, | 30:06 | |
surely thinking that a village would | 30:08 | |
take care of a rabbi, a holy man. | 30:10 | |
Well, none of them wanted to be the deceiver | 30:14 | |
so they drew straws, and the one who got | 30:16 | |
the short straw had to dress up as a fake rabbi. | 30:18 | |
They went to the village, and, sure enough, | 30:23 | |
no sooner had the village seen them coming | 30:26 | |
at a distance that everyone in the village | 30:28 | |
shouted with joy, "A rabbi is coming, a rabbi is coming." | 30:30 | |
When they arrived in the village, | 30:35 | |
the innkeeper gave them accommodations and spread | 30:36 | |
before them a magnificent feast of meat and wine. | 30:39 | |
When they had eaten, however, the innkeeper | 30:45 | |
came up to the fraudulent rabbi and said, | 30:49 | |
"Rabbi, I am so grateful to God that you are here. | 30:53 | |
"My son is ill. | 30:57 | |
"As a matter of fact, he is in his room | 31:00 | |
"at this very moment upstairs dying. | 31:02 | |
"Please go to him and pray. | 31:07 | |
"God will not refuse the prayers of a holy rabbi." | 31:10 | |
The pretend rabbi gulped and looked at his friends | 31:17 | |
who looked back at him as if to say, | 31:21 | |
"Don't back out on us now, go." | 31:23 | |
So, reluctantly, he followed the father | 31:27 | |
to the room of the dying boy. | 31:29 | |
After a while, he came out. | 31:32 | |
His face expressionless, and he said nothing. | 31:36 | |
The next day the three friends | 31:43 | |
traveled off on their journey, | 31:44 | |
but the townspeople wouldn't let them walk. | 31:46 | |
No, no, they gave them horses and a coach to take them | 31:48 | |
so they could ride in style saying, | 31:52 | |
"You can bring these back on your return." | 31:53 | |
When they returned having had a magnificent Yom Kippur, | 31:58 | |
they became very anxious and fearful | 32:03 | |
as they approached this village, | 32:05 | |
especially the one who had pretended to be the rabbi. | 32:06 | |
Even more so, when they saw coming at a distance, | 32:10 | |
the father of the boy waving his arms furiously in the air. | 32:13 | |
But when he got close, | 32:19 | |
he embraced the one who had pretended to be the rabbi | 32:22 | |
saying, "Oh, rabbi, your prayers were answered. | 32:28 | |
"Not an hour after you left, | 32:31 | |
"my son got up from his bed healed." | 32:34 | |
The friends looked at their companion. | 32:40 | |
Is he really a rabbi? | 32:44 | |
And when they got him in private, | 32:47 | |
they said, "What did you do?" | 32:48 | |
He said, "I didn't know what to do. | 32:52 | |
"I stood beside the boy's bed. | 32:53 | |
"I didn't know what to do, and then I felt | 32:55 | |
"a silent prayer well up inside. | 32:57 | |
"Oh, Master of the universe, | 33:02 | |
"don't let this man and his son be punished because of me. | 33:06 | |
"I am a deceit, a fraud, a pretender. | 33:11 | |
"But, O God, they don't know, and they think | 33:15 | |
"if they boy dies it will be because of You. | 33:19 | |
"I am nothing, but for the sake of this man | 33:22 | |
"and his boy would it hurt to heal him?" | 33:27 | |
The Hasidim tell that story to remind us | 33:34 | |
that no one of us can pray any prayer but that one. | 33:37 | |
"I am a deceit and a fraud. | 33:43 | |
"I am nothing, O God. | 33:45 | |
"But not because of me, because of You, heal." | 33:49 | |
Or as the apostle Paul put it, | 33:56 | |
"We have this treasure in clay pots | 33:58 | |
"so that it will be abundantly clear | 34:02 | |
"that the extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us." | 34:04 | |
Some people think the most powerful thing | 34:11 | |
about this story is to whom it happened, | 34:13 | |
that the presence and promise of God came to one like Jacob. | 34:17 | |
Other people say, no, the most powerful thing | 34:24 | |
about this story is not to whom it happened. | 34:27 | |
The most powerful thing about this story | 34:30 | |
is where it happened. | 34:32 | |
If you read the text closely, the text | 34:35 | |
makes it abundantly clear that this appearance of God | 34:37 | |
happened in a place called nowhere. | 34:41 | |
It happened it says "in a certain place" as if to | 34:46 | |
underscore the fact that it is a place that has no name. | 34:49 | |
As if to say the encounter with the living God | 34:54 | |
does not always occur in the expected shrines, | 34:57 | |
but in the place and at a time where we least expect it. | 35:03 | |
Like the little boy who was chasing | 35:09 | |
his sister around the dining room table | 35:10 | |
trying to snatch her pigtails. | 35:13 | |
She was squealing with fear and trying | 35:16 | |
to get away from him, but he was gaining on her. | 35:18 | |
And so, she suddenly wheeled around, | 35:20 | |
looked him in the eye, and said, | 35:23 | |
"Behold, the Lord is in this place." | 35:25 | |
The purpose of this text say some is to startle us | 35:32 | |
with precisely that sort of announcement, | 35:35 | |
"Behold, the Lord is in this unexpected place." | 35:37 | |
Not trapped behind stained glass, | 35:41 | |
but expect to encounter the living God | 35:44 | |
when the refrigerator is humming, | 35:47 | |
the kids are off at school, and there is | 35:48 | |
one more pot of coffee left on the stove. | 35:51 | |
Or in a grungy room at a Holiday Inn | 35:57 | |
on some journey to nowhere. | 36:00 | |
That's Bethel, the house of God. | 36:05 | |
Well, maybe so, but I think there is | 36:12 | |
one more thing about this story | 36:17 | |
that claims our interest. | 36:21 | |
And that is that rather curious | 36:24 | |
and fascinating line that says | 36:26 | |
that on Jacob's ladder the angels | 36:30 | |
were both ascending and descending. | 36:33 | |
The angels of God were both traveling | 36:37 | |
from earth to heaven and from heaven to earth. | 36:40 | |
So what? | 36:45 | |
In the biblical world, angels are messengers. | 36:47 | |
And that picture makes it clear | 36:51 | |
that in Jacob's dream there are messages | 36:53 | |
not only being sent from earth to heaven, but there are also | 36:57 | |
messages of God from heaven coming to earth. | 37:01 | |
Most of our dreaming, you know, is a one way street. | 37:08 | |
My daughter graduated from high school last week. | 37:15 | |
And at her graduation, the commencement speaker | 37:20 | |
gave one of the usual, "You must have a dream | 37:23 | |
"and follow your dream" speeches. | 37:26 | |
He even paraphrased Robert Kennedy when he said, | 37:30 | |
"Some look at the world as it is and say why? | 37:34 | |
"I dream of a world that isn't yet and say why not? | 37:37 | |
"Have a dream," he told them, "and follow that dream." | 37:43 | |
It was a noble speech, a courageous thought. | 37:46 | |
But when you get right down to it, | 37:52 | |
even our grandest dreams are only | 37:55 | |
our best wishes cast large. | 37:59 | |
As Walt Disney's Cinderella puts it, | 38:05 | |
"A dream is what your heart wishes when you're fast asleep." | 38:07 | |
Well, if that is true, than even our best dreams | 38:14 | |
can only lead us, but they cannot | 38:17 | |
transform us. | 38:22 | |
And that is why it is important to note in this story, | 38:25 | |
there are angels descending | 38:30 | |
from heaven to earth. | 38:35 | |
And Jacob may have a dream, but the God in his dream | 38:38 | |
has him and will not let him | 38:42 | |
go until he is transformed. | 38:47 | |
At first, Jacob does not understand this. | 38:54 | |
He wakes up from the dream, and he says basically, | 38:56 | |
"If you will clothe me, and you will feed me, | 39:00 | |
"and you will take care of me, and you will give me land, | 39:02 | |
"I'll let you be my God." | 39:06 | |
In other words, "Take a card, God, any card." | 39:09 | |
Unchanged, but then there is that other night | 39:17 | |
when the Holy One comes to wrestle with him by the river. | 39:23 | |
And when Jacob walks away, he has a limp, | 39:29 | |
and a new name, and a new mission to make | 39:36 | |
peace with Esau, and he is transformed. | 39:40 | |
I was back home in Atlanta recently and heard | 39:48 | |
that Grace Thompson had passed away | 39:52 | |
at 80-something years of age. | 39:55 | |
You probably don't remember Grace Thompson. | 39:58 | |
No reason for you to. | 40:01 | |
She was the daughter of a streetcar conductor | 40:03 | |
in Birmingham, Alabama who fell in love | 40:06 | |
with an Atlanta boy, married him, moved to Atlanta. | 40:08 | |
They had some children. | 40:11 | |
She became a secretary at the state capital | 40:12 | |
to help support the family. | 40:15 | |
And she became interested in politics and law, | 40:18 | |
and so when the children were old enough, | 40:20 | |
she kept her day job. | 40:22 | |
But she went to night school and got a law degree. | 40:23 | |
And in 1954 she absolutely astonished | 40:27 | |
her family by announcing that she | 40:31 | |
was going to run for the Governor of Georgia. | 40:33 | |
There were nine candidates in 1954, eight men and Grace. | 40:37 | |
There were nine candidates, but there was one issue, | 40:43 | |
the 1954 Supreme Court decision | 40:46 | |
integrating the public schools. | 40:49 | |
Eight of the candidates appealed | 40:51 | |
to the worst instincts of the citizens of Georgia | 40:53 | |
stirring up racial hatred. | 40:56 | |
One candidate, Grace, said that she thought | 40:59 | |
the decision was just and fair | 41:03 | |
and that all citizens of goodwill should support it. | 41:05 | |
She encouraged the people of Georgia | 41:10 | |
to say Grace at the polls. | 41:11 | |
Not many of them did. | 41:15 | |
She ran dead last. | 41:17 | |
In 1962 she decided to run for governor again. | 41:21 | |
The tensions were high on the racial issue | 41:26 | |
in Georgia, but Grace took her message | 41:30 | |
of reconciliation out there into the state. | 41:32 | |
And she ran dead last again. | 41:35 | |
In fact, there were threats on her life as she campaigned, | 41:40 | |
so much so that her family began to | 41:43 | |
travel with her and to campaign with her. | 41:44 | |
And on one campaign stop, she went to Louisville, Georgia. | 41:46 | |
If you've ever been to Louisville, | 41:50 | |
you know that the centerpiece of that town is not a | 41:51 | |
courthouse, not a town square, but an old slave market. | 41:54 | |
Grace chose to stand under the canopy of that place | 42:00 | |
where human beings had been bought and sold | 42:04 | |
to make her campaign speech to a gaggle | 42:06 | |
of Georgia farmers and merchants. | 42:10 | |
She pointed at the roof above her, and she said, | 42:14 | |
"This has passed away, and the new has come. | 42:17 | |
"And it is time for Georgians of all colors | 42:23 | |
"to join hands and work together." | 42:27 | |
Somebody in the crowd said, "Are you a communist?" | 42:31 | |
"No," she shook her head. | 42:38 | |
"Well, where'd you get those gall darn ideas?" | 42:40 | |
She paused for a minute, | 42:45 | |
pointed at the steeple of a nearby church, | 42:49 | |
and said, "Over there in Sunday school." | 42:53 | |
Grace had a dream, but more than that, she had a God | 43:02 | |
who had her and transformed her | 43:08 | |
and gave her the ministry of the cross of Jesus Christ. | 43:14 | |
So, sing it loud. | 43:22 | |
We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 43:24 | |
We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 43:26 | |
We are climbing Jacob's ladder. | 43:28 | |
But don't forget the next line. | 43:32 | |
Soldiers of the cross. | 43:34 | |
(pipe organ music) | 43:44 | |
♪ A charge to keep I have ♪ | 44:07 | |
♪ A God to glorify ♪ | 44:12 | |
♪ A never-dying soul to save ♪ | 44:17 | |
♪ And fit it for the sky ♪ | 44:22 | |
♪ To serve the present age ♪ | 44:29 | |
♪ My calling to fulfill ♪ | 44:35 | |
♪ O may it all my powers engage ♪ | 44:41 | |
♪ To do my Master's will ♪ | 44:46 | |
♪ Arm me with jealous care ♪ | 44:52 | |
♪ As in Thy sight to live ♪ | 44:58 | |
♪ And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare ♪ | 45:03 | |
♪ A strict account to give ♪ | 45:09 | |
♪ Help me to watch and pray ♪ | 45:16 | |
♪ And still on Thee rely ♪ | 45:22 | |
♪ O let me not my trust betray ♪ | 45:27 | |
♪ But press to realms on high ♪ | 45:33 | |
- | [Rev. Dr. Willimon] The Lord be with you. | 45:45 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 45:46 |
- | Let us pray, be seated. | 45:48 |
O God, | 46:04 | |
O God, who made ordinary folk like us, | 46:08 | |
deceivers and incompetents though we may be, | 46:14 | |
into Your people that we | 46:20 | |
might be a royal priesthood, | 46:27 | |
that we might offer intercession and prayer for all people. | 46:33 | |
Hear us as we pray. | 46:38 | |
Dear Lord, who has chosen and thought it a good thing | 46:42 | |
to make a nation of priests out of nobodies, | 46:45 | |
hear us as your priests pray. | 46:51 | |
For all who toil in the burden and heat of the summer day | 46:55 | |
in forest and on farm, in mine and factory, on land and sea, | 47:02 | |
that they may enjoy the fruits of their industry, | 47:10 | |
that they might not be defrauded of their rightful due, | 47:15 | |
and that we may never cease to be mindful of our debt | 47:19 | |
to so many remembering with gratitude | 47:26 | |
the multitude of services which must be performed | 47:30 | |
to make our life tolerable. | 47:33 | |
We pray for all those who have authority over other people, | 47:38 | |
whether it be in business or school or government, | 47:43 | |
that they may never use it selfishly | 47:48 | |
for themselves or their party, their class, their race, | 47:50 | |
but may be guided to do justice and to love mercy, | 47:56 | |
to walk humbly, remembering whose servants they are. | 48:00 | |
We pray for those who have been worsted | 48:07 | |
in the struggle of life, whether by the inhumanity | 48:09 | |
of their fellows or their own limitations, | 48:14 | |
or by those hazards of life which beset all people. | 48:19 | |
We pray that they may contend against injustice | 48:24 | |
without bitterness, that they might overcome | 48:27 | |
their own weakness with diligence, | 48:31 | |
that they might learn to accept with patience | 48:35 | |
that which cannot be altered. | 48:38 | |
We pray for the rulers of the nations | 48:42 | |
that they may act wisely and without pride, | 48:45 | |
seeking always to promote peace among the peoples | 48:49 | |
and establish justice in our common life. | 48:53 | |
Look with pity, our Father, upon the world and its sorrow | 48:58 | |
and upon the sighing of Your children, | 49:04 | |
for we are engulfed by the evil of our own contriving. | 49:08 | |
May those who suffer because they are guilty | 49:13 | |
learn the godly sorrow of true repentance | 49:17 | |
and the freedom that it gives. | 49:21 | |
May those who suffer innocently | 49:24 | |
have a vision of the suffering of Christ | 49:28 | |
and know that there is redemption in their pain. | 49:30 | |
If we have mediated Your wrath to the guilty, | 49:36 | |
help us also to be instruments of Your mercy to them. | 49:40 | |
If the innocent sufferers of the world | 49:46 | |
have brought the knowledge of mercy to us, | 49:48 | |
help us now to be servants of your love toward them, | 49:51 | |
binding up their wounds, stilling their hunger, | 49:55 | |
restoring them to home and family. | 50:00 | |
Grant, O Lord, that through Your grace | 50:04 | |
the world which glorifies itself may die | 50:07 | |
and a new world, a new world which we are fearful | 50:12 | |
even to dream may be born, | 50:17 | |
a world which gives You the glory. | 50:21 | |
And now, O God, we pray for all | 50:26 | |
who are in special need of Your grace, | 50:28 | |
for the sick in Duke hospitals and those who care for them. | 50:33 | |
O Lord, we commend to Your mercy | 50:39 | |
all who are in anxiety or distressed, | 50:41 | |
particularly hungry multitudes in Asia or Africa | 50:44 | |
who suffer from want of daily bread. | 50:48 | |
We pray for the people of Iran | 50:52 | |
suffering terribly under recent earthquake. | 50:55 | |
O God, before whom to bow is to stand, | 51:02 | |
and whom to know is to know ourselves | 51:08 | |
and what we are and what we ought to be, | 51:11 | |
save us from all vain pretension about ourselves | 51:17 | |
so that we might rightly intercede for others. | 51:22 | |
And so, that under Your judgment | 51:27 | |
and always by Your mercy, we may find our true selves. | 51:30 | |
Amen. | 51:37 | |
It is our custom in Duke University Chapel | 51:41 | |
that all of the offering goes to alleviate human suffering | 51:44 | |
here at home and around the world. | 51:49 | |
This past year over $40,000 in gifts | 51:52 | |
was sent from Duke Chapel to a wide array of human need. | 51:55 | |
Therefore, we invite you to offer yourself | 51:59 | |
and your gifts as we give generously. | 52:01 | |
(pipe organ music) | 52:07 | |
♪ Allelu ♪ | 54:20 | |
♪ Allelu ♪ | 54:39 | |
♪ Allelu, Allelu, ♪ | 54:50 | |
♪ Allelu, Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia ♪ | 54:54 | |
♪ O praise ye the Lord ♪ | 55:09 | |
♪ Praise God in His temple ♪ | 55:14 | |
♪ Praise ye the Lord ♪ | 55:20 | |
♪ In the firmament of His power ♪ | 55:24 | |
♪ O praise Him for His might ♪ | 55:29 | |
♪ And the greatness of His wonders ♪ | 55:35 | |
♪ O praise Him, praise Him ♪ | 55:40 | |
♪ According to His majesty ♪ | 55:46 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ | 55:52 | |
♪ With the sound of the trumpet ♪ | 55:54 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ | 55:58 | |
♪ With the lute and the harp ♪ | 56:00 | |
♪ Praise the Lord with the lute and the harp ♪ | 56:02 | |
♪ Praise the Lord with the timbrel ♪ | 56:05 | |
♪ The timbrel and the dance ♪ | 56:08 | |
♪ O praise Him with the organ ♪ | 56:12 | |
♪ And the instrument of strings ♪ | 56:16 | |
(pipe organ music) | 56:20 | |
♪ Praise Him, praise Him ♪ | 56:27 | |
♪ Upon the loud cymbals ♪ | 56:31 | |
(pipe organ music) | 56:36 | |
♪ Praise Him, praise Him ♪ | 56:43 | |
♪ Upon the high sounding cymbals ♪ | 56:47 | |
♪ Let every thing that hath breath ♪ | 56:53 | |
♪ Every thing that hath breath ♪ | 56:57 | |
♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪ | 57:02 | |
♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪ | 57:07 | |
♪ O praise ye the Lord ♪ | 57:14 | |
♪ Praise God in His temple ♪ | 57:18 | |
♪ O praise ye the Lord ♪ | 57:24 | |
♪ In the firmament of His power ♪ | 57:29 | |
♪ O praise Him for His might ♪ | 57:34 | |
♪ And the greatness of His wonders ♪ | 57:39 | |
♪ O praise Him, O praise Him ♪ | 57:43 | |
♪ According to His majesty ♪ | 57:49 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ | 57:55 | |
♪ With the sound of the trumpet ♪ | 57:56 | |
♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ | 58:00 | |
♪ With the lute and the harp ♪ | 58:02 | |
♪ Praise the Lord with the timbrel ♪ | 58:06 | |
♪ The timbrel and the dance ♪ | 58:10 | |
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 58:14 | |
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 58:18 | |
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 58:22 | |
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 58:26 | |
(pipe organ music) | 58:43 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 59:00 | |
♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪ | 59:06 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 59:12 | |
♪ Praise God above you heavenly hosts ♪ | 59:20 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 59:26 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 59:33 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 59:39 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 59:47 | |
- | Almighty God, it is a good and joyous thing | 59:59 |
to give You thanks, to give You thanks | 1:00:03 | |
by our presence here, by the words | 1:00:07 | |
of our songs and our music, | 1:00:10 | |
by the inspiration of Your Word, and by these gifts. | 1:00:12 | |
We know that Your work is beyond our hearts, | 1:00:19 | |
beyond our homes, beyond this place, | 1:00:23 | |
that Your work is throughout the universe, | 1:00:25 | |
the universe which You created and called good. | 1:00:29 | |
You have continued to bless us to this day | 1:00:33 | |
with Your Word, through Your daily gifts to us, | 1:00:35 | |
our friends, our families, through bread, | 1:00:39 | |
through opportunity and also by Your Word. | 1:00:43 | |
In gratitude for all of your gifts, therefore, | 1:00:48 | |
accept these our gifts and use them in Your work. | 1:00:51 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, | 1:00:58 | |
hallowed by thy name, | 1:01:01 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:01:04 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 1:01:07 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 1:01:10 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 1:01:13 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:01:15 | |
And lead us not into temptation | 1:01:19 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 1:01:22 | |
For thine is the kingdom, the power, | 1:01:24 | |
and the glory forever. Amen. | 1:01:27 | |
Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, | 1:01:33 | |
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 1:01:36 | |
be with you now and always. | 1:01:39 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 1:01:47 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 1:01:54 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 1:01:59 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 1:02:08 | |
(pipe organ music) | 1:02:19 | |
♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪ | 1:02:58 | |
♪ On Your people pour Your power ♪ | 1:03:03 | |
♪ Crown Your ancient church's story ♪ | 1:03:08 | |
♪ Bring its bud to glorious flower ♪ | 1:03:13 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:03:19 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:03:24 | |
♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:03:30 | |
♪ Lo, the hosts of evil round us ♪ | 1:03:37 | |
♪ Scorn Thy Christ, assail his ways ♪ | 1:03:43 | |
♪ Fears that hath too long have bound us ♪ | 1:03:48 | |
♪ Free our hearts to faith and praise ♪ | 1:03:54 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:03:59 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:04:05 | |
♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:04:11 | |
♪ Cure Your children's warring madness ♪ | 1:04:18 | |
♪ Bend our pride to Thy control ♪ | 1:04:24 | |
♪ Shame our wanton, selfish gladness ♪ | 1:04:29 | |
♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪ | 1:04:35 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:04:40 | |
♪ Lest we miss Your kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:04:46 | |
♪ Lest we miss Your kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:04:52 | |
♪ Save us from weak resignation ♪ | 1:05:00 | |
♪ To the evils we deplore ♪ | 1:05:06 | |
♪ Let the gift of Your salvation ♪ | 1:05:12 | |
♪ Be our glory evermore ♪ | 1:05:17 | |
♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:05:24 | |
♪ Serving Thee whom we adore ♪ | 1:05:29 | |
♪ Serving Thee whom we adore ♪ | 1:05:35 | |
- | [Rev. Dr. Willimon] Let us go forth in the name of Christ. | 1:05:48 |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 1:05:51 |
(pipe organ music) | 1:05:54 | |
(pipe organ music) | 1:07:48 |