William H. Willimon - "Living Sacrifice" (September 2, 1990)

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	(reverent organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning, and welcome to this service of worship	1:05
	here at Duke University Chapel,	1:08
	this 13th Sunday after Pentecost,	1:11
	and Opening Sunday here in the chapel.	1:14
	I thought as we began a new school year	1:17
	it might be a nice opportunity to recognize	1:19
	our musicians who make this service possible,	1:23
	first of all, and we've had some title changes,	1:28
	and promotions among our musicians.	1:31
	We welcome back Dr. Rodney Wynkoop,	1:34
	our director of chapel music,	1:36
	and university choral activities	1:39
	for his second year here in Duke Chapel,	1:40
	and we're glad to have Dr. Wynkoop	1:43
	and his team back with us.	1:45
	Also, Donna Sparks now bears the title	1:49
	of assisting conductor of the Duke Chapel Choir.	1:52
	Donna also conducts our choral vespers	1:55
	each Thursday at 5:15 here in Memorial Chapel.	1:59
	Our organist back at the Flentrop	2:05
	is Dr. Robert Parkins,	2:09
	who this summer received the title of university organist.	2:12
	And David Arcus, who accompanies the choir,	2:17
	is now bearing the title of chapel organist,	2:23
	and you'll get to hear	2:26
	each of these organists in the service today.	2:28
	Dr. Parkins will be improvising	2:31
	on the Flentrop organ during the first hymn,	2:33
	and Dr. Arcus will be improvising	2:36
	on the Aeolian organ during the second hymn,	2:39
	and we're delighted to welcome them back for another year.	2:43
	Our university carillonneur, J. Samuel Hammond,	2:48
	is with us today.	2:51
	Everybody thinks that the carillon is run by a machine.	2:53
	It is not, here is the man who does it.	2:57
	He's usually invisible,	3:00
	but we ask him to come and show himself for us here today.	3:01
	And we thank all of these musicians	3:07
	for their continuing contributions to our worship.	3:09
	I remind you that after the service today	3:14
	we invite everyone for a lemonade	3:16
	out in front of the chapel.	3:17
	I also remind you that we are now	3:21
	having a Sunday morning class at 9:45,	3:24
	in room 211 of the Divinity School, which is open to all.	3:27
	Would you join me now in the greeting.	3:34
	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	3:37
Congregation	And also with you.	3:41
-	The risen Christ is with us.	3:42
Congregation	Praise the Lord.	3:44
	♪ Praise the Lord, all my soul ♪	3:51
	♪ And all that is within me ♪	3:58
	♪ Praise his holy name ♪	4:03
	(exultant organ and brass music)	4:20
	♪ All people that on earth do dwell ♪	5:08
	♪ Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice ♪	5:17
	♪ Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell ♪	5:26
	♪ Come ye before Him and rejoice ♪	5:35
	♪ The Lord, ye know, is God indeed ♪	5:47
	♪ Without our aid He did us make ♪	5:56
	♪ We are his folk, He doth us feed ♪	6:06
	♪ And for his sheep He doth us take ♪	6:15
	♪ Oh, enter then his gates with praise ♪	6:27
	♪ Approach with joy his courts unto ♪	6:36
	♪ Praise, laud and bless his name always ♪	6:45
	♪ For it is seemly so to do ♪	6:54
	♪ For why, the Lord our God is good ♪	7:06
	♪ His mercy is forever sure ♪	7:15
	♪ His truth at all times firmly stood ♪	7:24
	♪ And shall from age to age endure ♪	7:32
	(joyful organ music)	7:44
	(exultant organ and brass music)	9:33
	♪ To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	9:45
	♪ The God whom heaven and earth adore ♪	9:54
	♪ From men and from the angel host ♪	10:04
	♪ Be praise and glory evermore ♪	10:14
	♪ Amen ♪	10:37
-	Let us pray.	11:05
Everyone	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	11:08
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	11:11
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	11:14
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	11:17
-	The first lesson is taken from the book of Exodus.	11:24
	"On the third new moon after the Israelites	11:29
	"had gone out of the land of Egypt,	11:32
	"on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai.	11:34
	"They had journeyed from Rephidim,	11:39
	"entered the wilderness of Sinai,	11:41
	"and camped in the wilderness.	11:43
	"Israel camped there in front of the mountain.	11:45
	"Then Moses went up to God.	11:49
	"The Lord called to him from the mountain, saying,	11:52
	"'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob,	11:55
	"'and tell the Israelites:	11:59
	"'"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians,	12:00
	"'"and how I bore you on eagles' wings	12:03
	"'"and brought you to myself.	12:05
	"'"Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant,	12:08
	"'"you shall be my treasured possession	12:13
	"'"out of all the peoples.	12:14
	"'"Indeed, the whole earth is mine,	12:16
	"'"but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom	12:19
	"'"and a holy nation."	12:22
	"'These are the words that you shall speak	12:24
	"'to the Israelites.'"	12:26
	This is the word of the Lord.	12:28
Everyone	Thanks be to God.	12:31
-	Please stand as we join together in singing responsively,	12:39
	Psalm 114, found on page 835 in your hymnal.	12:42
	♪ When Israel went forth from Egypt ♪	12:56
	♪ The house of Jacob from a people of strange language ♪	12:59
	♪ Judah became God's sanctuary ♪	13:05
	♪ Israel God's dominion ♪	13:10
	♪ The sea looked and fled ♪	13:14
	♪ Jordan turned back ♪	13:17
	♪ The mountains skipped like rams ♪	13:20
	♪ The hills like lambs ♪	13:24
	♪ Why is it, oh sea, that you flee ♪	13:27
	♪ Oh Jordan, that you turn back ♪	13:31
	♪ Oh mountains, that you skip like rams ♪	13:35
	♪ Oh hills, like lambs ♪	13:40
	♪ Tremble, oh earth, at the presence of the Lord ♪	13:43
	♪ At the presence of the God of Jacob ♪	13:48
	♪ Who turns the rock into a pool of water ♪	13:53
	♪ The flint into a spring of water ♪	13:58
	(reverent organ music)	14:04
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	14:13
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer Lord ♪	14:20
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	14:27
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	14:34
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	14:42
	♪ Now and evermore shall be ♪	14:49
-	You may be seated.	15:01
	The second lesson is taken	15:10
	from St. Paul's letter to the Romans.	15:12
	"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,	15:16
	"by the mercies of God,	15:19
	"to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,	15:21
	"holy and acceptable to God,	15:24
	"which is your spiritual worship.	15:26
	"Do not be conformed to this world,	15:29
	"but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,	15:32
	"so that you may discern what is the will of God,	15:35
	"what is good and acceptable and perfect.	15:39
	"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you	15:43
	"not to think of yourself more highly	15:47
	"than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,	15:49
	"each according to the measure of faith	15:53
	"that God has assigned.	15:55
	"For as in one body we have many members,	15:57
	"and not all the members have the same function,	16:01
	"so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,	16:04
	"and individually we are members one of another.	16:08
	"We have gifts that differ	16:12
	"according to the grace given to us:	16:13
	"prophecy, in proportion to faith;	16:16
	"ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;	16:20
	"the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity;	16:24
	"the leader, in diligence;	16:30
	"the compassionate, in cheerfulness."	16:32
	This is the word of the Lord.	16:36
Everyone	Thanks be to God.	16:39
	(reverent organ music)	16:59
	♪ Many waters cannot quench love ♪	17:05
	♪ Neither can the floods drown it ♪	17:13
	♪ Many waters cannot quench love ♪	17:21
	♪ Neither can the floods drown it ♪	17:28
	♪ Love is strong as death ♪	17:42
	♪ Love is strong as death ♪	17:48
	♪ Many waters cannot quench love ♪	17:57
	♪ Greater love hath no man than this ♪	18:08
	♪ That a man ♪	18:18
	♪ Lay down his life ♪	18:27
	♪ For his friends ♪	18:36
	♪ Who his own self bare our sins ♪	18:46
	♪ In his own body on the tree ♪	18:53
	♪ That we, being dead to sins ♪	19:04
	♪ Should live unto righteousness ♪	19:12
	♪ That we, being dead to sins ♪	19:23
	♪ Should live unto righteousness ♪	19:31
	♪ Should live unto righteousness ♪	19:38
	♪ That we ♪	19:43
	♪ That we, being dead to sins ♪	19:45
	♪ Should live unto righteousness ♪	19:52
	♪ Should live unto righteousness ♪	19:58
	♪ Ye are washed ♪	20:05
	♪ Ye are sanctified ♪	20:10
	♪ Ye are justified ♪	20:15
	♪ In the name of the Lord Jesus ♪	20:20
	♪ Ye are a chosen generation ♪	20:29
	♪ A royal priesthood ♪	20:35
	♪ A holy nation ♪	20:39
	♪ That ye should show forth the praises ♪	20:49
	♪ Of Him who hath called you ♪	20:54
	♪ Out of darkness ♪	21:00
	♪ Out of darkness ♪	21:05
	♪ Into his marvelous light ♪	21:09
	♪ I beseech you, brethren ♪	21:33
	♪ By the mercies of God ♪	21:39
	♪ That ye present your bodies ♪	21:44
	♪ A living sacrifice ♪	21:52
	♪ Holy ♪	21:59
	♪ Holy ♪	22:06
	♪ Acceptable ♪	22:11
	♪ Unto to God ♪	22:16
	♪ Which is your reasonable service ♪	22:25
-	The gospel appointed for this day	23:22
	is from the Gospel According to St. Matthew.	23:24
	"From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples	23:28
	"that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering	23:32
	"at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes,	23:36
	"and be killed, and on the third day be raised.	23:40
	"And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,	23:44
	"'God forbid it, Lord!	23:48
	"'This must never happen to you.'	23:51
	"But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan!	23:53
	"'You are a stumbling block to me,	23:58
	"'for you are setting your mind not on divine things,	24:01
	"'but on human things.'	24:03
	"Then Jesus told his disciples,	24:06
	"'If any want to become my followers,	24:08
	"'let them deny themselves,	24:11
	"'and take up their cross and follow me.	24:13
	"'For those who want to save their life will lose it,	24:16
	"'and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.'"	24:20
	This is the Gospel of our Lord.	24:24
Everyone	Thanks be to God.	24:27
	"By the mercies of God,	24:40
	"present yourselves a living sacrifice,	24:43
	"holy and acceptable to God,	24:46
	"which is your spiritual worship.	24:49
	"Do not be conformed to this world,	24:52
	"but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."	24:56
	I had this man in my last church	25:03
	who frequently greeted me at the end of the service	25:07
	by thrusting into my hand some newspaper article,	25:09
	usually from the Wall Street Journal,	25:13
	in his never-ending quest to educate his preacher.	25:16
	One Sunday, he gave me an article by a national columnist,	25:21
	in which the columnist said,	25:27
	"I wish these preachers,	25:30
	"who are so sure about what we ought to do	25:34
	"on such complicated issues like abortion,	25:36
	"would get out of their ivory towers,	25:39
	"and out into the real world,	25:41
	"and maybe they would see things differently."	25:43
	And as his example of the real world,	25:48
	the columnist told how a young woman	25:53
	had been indicted in Chicago that past week,	25:55
	after her infant child died of malnutrition and rat bites.	25:59
	The implication is, if we Christians could just	26:09
	get out into the real world,	26:13
	we might see things differently.	26:16
	And you've heard that argument before,	26:19
	not just applied to preachers,	26:21
	but applied to Christians in general.	26:22
	If we Christians could only come to face facts,	26:25
	to get in touch with the real world.	26:30
	But such a demand begs the question,	26:37
	where is this real world to which we are to adjust?	26:41
	Who defines what is real?	26:48
	Is the real world a world in which a baby dies	26:49
	of malnutrition and rat bites?	26:53
	Is that the world to which we are to adjust	26:55
	while we're doing our adjusting?	26:59
	At the beginning of this summer,	27:04
	we saw the film "Crazy People."	27:06
	It's not a great movie, but its thesis is quite funny.	27:08
	It tells about a group of inmates	27:12
	at a hospital for the mentally ill,	27:16
	who, through a strange turn of events,	27:18
	are offered high-paying jobs in the advertising industry.	27:21
	And they set about to create ads	27:27
	which are quite a sensation--	27:29
	because these people are so crazy,	27:31
	they don't know any better than to tell	27:33
	advertisements which speak the truth.	27:37
	One of the ads says,	27:40
	"We know you love him, but if he dies,	27:44
	"wouldn't you also like to have $100,000,	27:47
	"and a Mercedes Benz?	27:49
	"John Hancock Life Insurance."	27:51
	(laughter)	27:53
	And these ads written by these crazy people	27:56
	are quite a sensation, because the American public,	27:59
	having been nurtured for so long on lies,	28:02
	greets these truthful ads	28:05
	as something strange and wonderful.	28:07
	Now, in such a crazy, mixed-up world,	28:12
	when we gather,	28:17
	despite the beautiful music, and the charming building,	28:20
	every time we gather here on Sunday,	28:23
	there's always gonna be kind of hard edge	28:26
	in what we do here.	28:29
	And that hard edge is the tension	28:32
	brought about by the confrontation	28:36
	of being caught in a crossfire	28:41
	of a debate over what is real.	28:44
	"By the mercies of God,	28:50
	"present yourselves as a living sacrifice,	28:52
	"holy, acceptable to God, which is your true worship.	28:55
	"Do not be conformed to this world,	28:59
	"but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."	29:03
	"Present yourselves as sacrifice."	29:09
	"Do not be conformed, be transformed."	29:12
	There is our text for today.	29:17
	So, right up front, here on Opening Sunday,	29:20
	let's be honest, and admit that we're all gathered	29:25
	here in the chapel today to engage in a debate	29:29
	over what is real, what is normal.	29:34
	This isn't some course in the Department of Philosophy,	29:41
	in which we may talk about religion as history or sociology,	29:44
	the truth of which makes absolutely no difference,	29:49
	because nobody has any intention	29:52
	of making up his or her mind about the truth anyway.	29:54
	I'm gonna be more honest with you.	29:58
	I am here this morning, as most other Sundays,	30:02
	to convert you,	30:06
	to take as my modest aim, by the end of the service,	30:08
	to get you on that altar up there,	30:12
	to invite you to sacrifice yourself,	30:15
	not by putting a dollar in the plate	30:18
	(although that's all right, as far as it goes),	30:21
	but by putting your body up on that altar,	30:23
	to get you to worship.	30:27
	Of course, the rest of the university	30:31
	is also trying desperately to convert you.	30:33
	The only difference is,	30:38
	like Walter Mondale in the presidential debate,	30:39
	I'll tell you what I plan to do,	30:42
	whereas most of the university,	30:45
	like Ronald Reagan on taxes, will not tell you.	30:47
	(laughter)	30:50
	You come to the university,	30:52
	we put you through various courses.	30:54
	We tell you, "Look, we don't want to force anything	30:57
	"down your throats, we want you to make up your own minds."	31:00
	But the educational philosophy which takes as its goal	31:07
	to help people make up their own minds, is a philosophy,	31:11
	an assumption about what is true, and what is good.	31:18
	So, my point is that at the university	31:23
	is also trying to put the make on you.	31:25
	It is also trying to convert you into a philosophy of life.	31:29
	But the cheap thing about it is	31:34
	that all the while it reassures you	31:37
	that we want you to think for yourself,	31:39
	to make up your own mind--	31:42
	which is a philosophy of life.	31:46
	The funny thing is that most of us	31:50
	have already been converted into those assumptions	31:52
	even before we started paying high tuition.	31:55
	Because our university at its worst	31:59
	is little more than our culture as it already is.	32:05
	And the prevailing philosophy of our culture	32:10
	is that the individual,	32:14
	in his or her sovereignty and autonomy,	32:16
	is the sole center of meaning.	32:19
	Long ago Hannah Arendt noted	32:24
	that the modern secular world destroyed God,	32:27
	and family, and community,	32:30
	throwing people not out into the world,	32:33
	but merely back upon themselves.	32:36
	All we're left with now is the sovereign individual,	32:41
	with absolutely no source of meaning outside the individual.	32:45
	It is a lonely way to go.	32:51
	Is that why the Greek word for the self, "id,"	32:56
	which Freud coined to describe ourselves	33:01
	at our Freudian deepest,	33:05
	is paradoxically the same root for our word "idiot?"	33:08
	Left only to ourselves, we have found,	33:14
	we've got very little of self.	33:17
	And it's against this corrupted consciousness	33:21
	that the church launches its every Sunday assault.	33:24
	To be here in the chapel is to find one's self,	33:29
	one's modern little self,	33:33
	caught in a crossfire between two competing,	33:35
	and quite conflicting, definitions of normality.	33:39
	Against our self-assured, conventional,	33:46
	socially-acceptable definitions of normality,	33:49
	in coming to the chapel on a Sunday morning,	33:53
	you expose yourself to a devastating power,	33:56
	devastating simply because it is true,	34:00
	whereas other powers are not.	34:03
	I'm talking about God, people.	34:05
	It was by this power	34:08
	that a powerless young Jew	34:12
	set our world of abnormality on its ear.	34:15
	Confronted by the pretentious power of the state,	34:21
	the almighty state, he said,	34:24
	"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,	34:26
	"but render to God the things that are God's."	34:28
	Before the self-serving spirit of this age, he countered,	34:34
	"If you would find your life,	34:37
	"the trick is to lose your life."	34:39
	And then he proceeded to go about	34:45
	in such a disconcertingly normal way,	34:47
	healing those who were ill,	34:53
	telling the truth in a world of lies,	34:56
	feeding the hungry, raising the dead, stampeding swine,	35:00
	so that systemic abnormality	35:07
	just simply had to put him away--	35:09
	as it thought, for keeps.	35:15
	For a three dark days it did seem	35:20
	as if the facts of life had won,	35:22
	the facts of life, the almighty status quo had won,	35:24
	as if death had triumphed.	35:29
	And yet, among his paralyzed followers,	35:32
	clinging only to themselves around a simple table,	35:35
	he returned in power,	35:39
	having walked into the very jaws of abnormality,	35:42
	pulled its teeth,	35:46
	and subverted the old order.	35:49
	When the power of life appears	35:53
	in this Jew from Nazareth, named Jesus,	35:56
	systemic abnormality,	36:00
	to which we are always in danger of becoming accustomed,	36:03
	is thrown into utter disarray.	36:07
	I tell you, this is the power	36:12
	that's let loose here on a Sunday morning,	36:13
	when we're at our best.	36:16
	It is the power which summons each one of us by name	36:20
	to submit to transformation.	36:23
	"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed."	36:26
	In the Sunday presence of this power,	36:32
	our fingers are pried loose	36:35
	from their tight grip upon the status quo,	36:38
	and we are wrenched away from the world as it is.	36:41
	I know a junior, a Presbyterian.	36:47
	In Michigan, he says,	36:52
	he never thought much about being a Presbyterian.	36:54
	It was just kind of the way everybody else was.	36:56
	But he came to Duke,	36:59
	and for the first time in his decent	37:02
	and orderly little Presbyterian life, he feels strange.	37:04
	(laughter)	37:08
	He is forced to explain himself to people.	37:11
	"Why do you get up and go to chapel on Sunday morning?"	37:14
	He wasn't really sure why.	37:18
	"What makes you think you're so much better	37:21
	"than everybody else?"	37:23
	It was a new experience for him,	37:28
	being odd, peculiar.	37:31
	Back in Grand Rapids, it was normal to be a Presbyterian.	37:36
	But he's come here, he's abnormal.	37:40
	And the usual question asked of Christians by abnormality	37:44
	is something like, "Well, will it work?"	37:48
	"Is it practical, is it possible?	37:51
	"Above all, can you have this without cost?"	37:53
	But to those who have been ravished	38:01
	by this Sunday divine normality,	38:03
	the questions raised by the world's abnormality	38:07
	are always quite beside the point.	38:11
	'Cause we've gathered here this Sunday,	38:14
	not primarily to address the issues,	38:16
	as the world defines the issues,	38:19
	but rather to upend, and to subvert terrestrial abnormality,	38:23
	which maims and kills everything it touches.	38:28
	Christ did not offer better answers	38:32
	to the social and political questions of his day, or ours.	38:34
	Rather, he trampled death, the supreme lord of abnormality.	38:39
	He gave life to those who are entombed--	38:43
	death always being the choice of abnormality,	38:48
	every time we've been given half a chance to choose.	38:52
	We have demonstrated that there is virtually nothing	38:57
	that we will not transmute into life's antithesis.	39:00
	Food into weapons, aid into coercion,	39:05
	justice into terrorism, love into libido,	39:09
	liberation into tyranny, education into rationalization.	39:13
	In the church's 2,000-year skirmish with death,	39:20
	we've learned that all the money,	39:23
	and power, and good intentions	39:25
	which systemic abnormality musters,	39:28
	can never change such viciousness into virtue,	39:31
	abnormality into normality.	39:35
	Nor can we by our own efforts.	39:39
	Systemic abnormality has a hideous strength,	39:43
	and it is dangerous to underestimate	39:48
	its power to eat us alive,	39:52
	whether you're talking about first-century Judea	39:55
	of the text, or 20th-century Gilbert-Addoms.	39:58
	So, Paul urges us, "Do not be conformed to this world,	40:02
	"but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."	40:06
	And so this Sunday I have beckoned you to come away,	40:10
	to stand apart, to look odd, abnormal,	40:15
	that you might risk being embraced by divine normality.	40:20
	True normality can only be restored	40:27
	when we're given eyes to see what is,	40:30
	and when we are allowed to offer ourselves to it.	40:33
	And so, thus Paul urges us,	40:37
	"By the mercies of God,	40:41
	"present your bodies as a living sacrifice.	40:43
	"This is your true worship."	40:47
	But having nursed on abnormality for so long,	40:51
	there's no way for us to be weaned away,	40:56
	except by drastic alteration of minds and hearts.	41:00
	Human transformation occurs when we are addressed	41:05
	by something which offers us a way to give up ourselves,	41:09
	so that we might better find ourselves.	41:14
	Minds are changed, imaginations are freed,	41:17
	by massive doses of normality,	41:22
	and there's nothing easy about it.	41:25
	That's why it takes work, weekly, every Sunday, work,	41:27
	sitting through sermons, coming to church,	41:33
	going through the motions,	41:35
	praying even even when you don't feel like it.	41:37
	Yes--and suffering. It costs lives.	41:39
	Sunday is dangerous.	41:44
	And maybe that's why Paul uses the image of sacrifice.	41:47
	Sacrifice, it's an image that conjures up	41:51
	screaming animals before stone altars,	41:56
	blood trickling down marble steps,	41:59
	the upraised, flashing knife of a priest,	42:01
	preparing to sacrifice some bleating beast.	42:04
	And the funny thing is, Paul says,	42:10
	that sacrifice is right at the heart of being a Christian.	42:13
	Nobody comes to God without cost.	42:18
	That sacrifice being laid on that bloody altar	42:23
	is sometimes you,	42:26
	which then becomes the basis for everything we do.	42:31
	"Unlike a lot of people on this campus,	42:36
	"I don't drink," he said.	42:38
	"You see, I'm planning on going to medical school.	42:40
	"Therefore I've got to make the best grades I can,	42:43
	"and I've to keep all my brain cells in good working order.	42:46
	"I don't drink."	42:49
	Okay, and that is a basis for morality,	42:52
	although not a particularly altruistic one.	42:56
	But here in today's text,	43:00
	right living, orthopraxy,	43:03
	is related to right worship, orthodoxy.	43:07
	How we live on this campus, Monday through Saturday,	43:15
	flows from how well we've worshiped here on Sunday,	43:18
	from this Sunday collision	43:23
	between abnormality and normality,	43:25
	between the false and the true, between us and God.	43:29
	So, you will note,	43:36
	Paul never urges the church simply to be good.	43:37
	Rather, he says, "By the mercies of God,	43:43
	"present yourselves as a living sacrifice.	43:46
	"This is your true worship.	43:50
	"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed."	43:53
	Here is reality,	43:59
	here is reality of which the Wall Street Journal	44:02
	cannot tell, to lay yourselves on that altar.	44:05
	That's why we have such a big altar,	44:11
	'cause we've got to get so many of you on it.	44:14
	For the hard truth is--	44:19
	you heard it here first--	44:23
	the hard truth is not if you will give your life,	44:26
	but to whom.	44:32
	And many of come here to find	44:36
	that we have been offering ourselves up on smaller altars,	44:38
	to lesser gods.	44:43
	I know a sophomore.	44:48
	Came here last fall, freshman,	44:51
	all buttoned down, sure of himself.	44:54
	Your typical, average, high-SAT-scoring,	44:56
	hyper-achieving freshman.	44:59
	(laughter)	45:01
	One night here in the chapel, during a worship service,	45:02
	he got turned upside down, inside out.	45:07
	So far as I can tell, it has messed him up for good.	45:12
	He gave up a sophomore summer in Vail, or Los Alamos,	45:18
	to build houses for poor people in Georgia.	45:24
	Now, to most of the rest of the campus, that's called odd.	45:29
	Here in the chapel, we call it normal.	45:36
	Amen.	45:42
	(dramatic organ music)	45:45
	(reverent organ music)	48:46
	♪ Take up thy cross, the Savior said ♪	49:19
	♪ If thou wouldst my disciple be ♪	49:26
	♪ Deny thyself, the world forsake ♪	49:33
	♪ And humbly follow after me ♪	49:41
	♪ Take up thy cross, let not its weight ♪	49:52
	♪ Fill thy weak spirit with alarm ♪	50:00
	♪ His strength shall bear thy spirit up ♪	50:08
	♪ And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm ♪	50:16
	♪ Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame ♪	50:26
	♪ Nor let thy foolish pride rebel ♪	50:34
	♪ Thy Lord for thee the cross endured ♪	50:42
	♪ To save thy soul from death and hell ♪	50:50
	♪ Take up thy cross, and follow Christ ♪	51:01
	♪ Nor think till death to lay it down ♪	51:09
	♪ For only those who bear the cross ♪	51:16
	♪ May hope to wear the glorious crown. ♪	51:24
-	Please be seated.	51:37
	God of Abraham and Isaac, of apostles and prophets,	51:50
	in every age you call people to work for you,	51:56
	showing justice, doing mercy,	51:59
	giving purpose to an aimless humanity.	52:03
	By your truth darkness is dispelled,	52:06
	and all people set free to mature in wisdom.	52:09
	In pursuit of that truth	52:13
	we now take our place at Duke University.	52:15
	Receive us unto yourself.	52:19
	Oh God, use us to accomplish your sacred intention.	52:21
Congregation	Amen.	52:26
-	That in this place we will remember	52:28
	those parents, teachers, and friends,	52:30
	who love us, and whose hopes follow us here.	52:33
Congregation	Oh God, make their way.	52:37
-	That we may accept the responsibility of our freedom	52:40
	and the burden of our privilege.	52:43
Congregation	Oh god, be our strength.	52:46
Nancy	That with courage we may doubt,	52:49
	but that we will also place our doubts	52:51
	in the larger faith of Jesus Christ.	52:54
Congregation	Oh God, be our wisdom.	52:57
-	From insulating ourselves with books and words.	53:00
Congregation	Deliver us, oh Lord.	53:04
-	From ignorance that feeds injustice,	53:07
	from indifference that leads to cruelty,	53:09
	and from blind loyalty to false values.	53:12
Congregation	Deliver us, oh Lord.	53:16
-	From hopelessness that cripples us,	53:19
	a self-consciousness that paralyzes us,	53:22
	and from temptations that destroy us.	53:25
Congregation	Deliver us, oh Lord.	53:29
-	Gracious God, in a world where justice	53:31
	does not yet roll down as waters,	53:35
	nor righteousness as a mighty stream,	53:37
	where there is much knowledge, but little wisdom,	53:40
	we pray for this school, its students and faculty,	53:44
	staff and administrators,	53:48
	and for the task in which we now unite.	53:50
	Turn our efforts to good,	53:53
	that as our understanding increases,	53:55
	our responsibility will deepen,	53:58
	for the sake of the future that you give us to create.	54:01
Everyone	Hear us, oh God, amen.	54:06
-	As a forgiven and reconciled people,	54:12
	who have heard the word of God proclaimed,	54:14
	let us offer our gifts and ourselves	54:16
	as a living sacrifice unto God.	54:19
	(reverent organ music)	54:24
	(exultant organ and brass music)	54:54
	♪ I was glad ♪	55:32
	♪ Glad when they said unto me ♪	55:40
	♪ We will go ♪	55:45
	♪ We will go ♪	55:48
	♪ We will go ♪	55:52
	♪ Into the house of the Lord ♪	55:56
	♪ Our feet shall stand in thy gates ♪	56:10
	♪ Our feet shall ♪	56:15
	♪ Stand in thy gates ♪	56:17
	♪ Oh, Jerusalem ♪
	♪ Our feet shall stand ♪	56:23
	♪ Our feet shall stand ♪	56:27
	♪ Shall stand in thy gates ♪	56:30
	♪ Our feet shall stand ♪
	♪ Shall stand in thy gates ♪	56:33
	♪ Our feet shall stand ♪	56:36
	♪ Our feet shall stand ♪	56:40
	♪ Shall stand in thy gates ♪	56:43
	♪ Oh, Jerusalem ♪	56:47
	♪ Jerusalem ♪	57:03
	♪ Is builded ♪	57:09
	♪ Is builded as a city ♪	57:11
	♪ As a city ♪	57:17
	♪ As a city ♪	57:22
	♪ That is at unity ♪	57:24
	♪ In itself ♪	57:34
	♪ Oh, pray for the peace of Jerusalem ♪	58:12
	♪ They shall prosper ♪	58:21
	♪ That love thee ♪	58:27
	♪ Pray for the peace ♪	58:34
	♪ They shall prosper ♪
	♪ That love thee ♪	58:37
	♪ Of Jerusalem ♪	58:41
	♪ They shall prosper ♪
	♪ That love thee ♪	58:46
	♪ They shall prosper ♪	58:49
	♪ That love thee ♪	58:53
	♪ Peace ♪	59:07
	♪ Peace be ♪	59:15
	♪ Within thy walls ♪	59:18
	♪ And plenteousness ♪	59:23
	♪ And plenteousness ♪	59:29
	♪ Plenteousness within they palaces ♪	59:35
	♪ And plenteousness ♪	59:42
	♪ Within thy palaces ♪	59:46
	(reverent organ music)	1:00:18
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:01:00
	♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪	1:01:06
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:01:12
	♪ Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host ♪	1:01:20
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	1:01:26
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:01:33
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:01:40
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:01:47
-	Our kind and gracious God,	1:01:59
	with glad hearts we counted joy together in your house,	1:02:01
	and sing your praise forevermore.	1:02:04
	We thank you for our home on earth,	1:02:07
	and for the joy of living,	1:02:09
	for the challenges you give us,	1:02:11
	and for the work we have to do.	1:02:13
	We thank you for peacemakers	1:02:15
	who seek to build bridges of understanding,	1:02:16
	in the face of this understanding around the world,	1:02:19
	for faithful friends and caring teachers,	1:02:22
	who see the best in us when we can only see the worst,	1:02:24
	and for goodwill from unexpected sources	1:02:28
	in times of depression and uncertainty.	1:02:30
	We thank you especially, oh saving God,	1:02:34
	for your love in Jesus Christ,	1:02:36
	whose sacrificial love inspires us all	1:02:38
	to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto you,	1:02:40
	and in whose name we pray.	1:02:45
Everyone	Our Father who art in heaven,	1:02:47
	hallowed be thy name.	1:02:49
	Thy kingdom come.	1:02:51
	Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.	1:02:53
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:02:57
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:02:59
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:03:01
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:03:05
	For thine is the the kingdom,	1:03:09
	the power, and the glory, for ever, amen.	1:03:11
-	May the God of hope fill you with all joy,	1:03:17
	and peace, and believing,	1:03:20
	so that you may abound in hope	1:03:22
	by the power of the Holy Spirit.	1:03:24
	♪ Amen ♪	1:03:31
	(exultant organ and brass music)	1:03:51
	♪ Praise the source of faith and learning ♪	1:04:52
	♪ That has sparked and stoked the mind ♪	1:04:58
	♪ With a passion for discerning ♪	1:05:06
	♪ How the world has been designed ♪	1:05:13
	♪ Let the sense of wonder flowing ♪	1:05:21
	♪ From the wonders we survey ♪	1:05:28
	♪ Keep our faith forever growing ♪	1:05:36
	♪ And renew our need to pray ♪	1:05:43
	♪ God of wisdom we acknowledge ♪	1:05:53
	♪ That our science and our art ♪	1:06:00
	♪ And the breadth of human knowledge ♪	1:06:08
	♪ Only partial truth impart ♪	1:06:15
	♪ Far beyond our calculation ♪	1:06:23
	♪ Lies a depth we cannot sound ♪	1:06:30
	♪ Where your purpose for creation ♪	1:06:38
	♪ And the pulse of life are found ♪	1:06:46
	♪ May our faith redeem the blunder ♪	1:06:56
	♪ Of believing that our thought ♪	1:07:04
	♪ Has displaced the grounds for wonder ♪	1:07:12
	♪ Which the ancient prophets taught ♪	1:07:19
	♪ May our learning curb the error ♪	1:07:26
	♪ Which unthinking faith can breed ♪	1:07:34
	♪ Lest we justify some terror ♪	1:07:41
	♪ With an antiquated creed ♪	1:07:48
	♪ As two currents in a river ♪	1:07:58
	♪ Fight each other's undertow ♪	1:08:05
	♪ Till converging they deliver ♪	1:08:13
	♪ One coherent steady flow ♪	1:08:20
	♪ May we blend our faith and learning ♪	1:08:27
	♪ Till they carve a single course ♪	1:08:34
	♪ And our seeking, and our yearning ♪	1:08:42
	♪ Join in praising you, the Source ♪	1:08:49
	♪ Praise for minds to probe the heavens ♪	1:08:58
	♪ Praise for strength to breathe the air ♪	1:09:06
	♪ Praise for all that beauty leavens ♪	1:09:13
	♪ Praise for silence, music, prayer ♪	1:09:20
	♪ Praise for justice and compassion ♪	1:09:27
	♪ And for strangers, neighbors, friends ♪	1:09:34
	♪ Praise for hearts and lips to fashion ♪	1:09:41
	♪ Praise for love that never ends ♪	1:09:49
	♪ Go in peace and serve the Lord ♪	1:10:02
	♪ In the name of God ♪	1:10:07
	♪ Amen ♪	1:10:11
	(dramatic organ music)	1:10:18

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Living Sacrifice" (September 2, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: 24:40. Sermon end time: 45:45.
The preacher elaborates on how the self-serving spirit of the world allowed death to become the Lord of Abnormality, trapping and enslaving people. He argues that the hard truth is not about whether you will give your life, but to whom you will give it. He calls upon his audience to offer their lives as living sacrifices to God. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "When the power of life appears in this Jew from Nazareth, named Jesus, systemic abnormality, to which we are always in danger of becoming accustomed, is thrown into utter disarray. I tell you, this is the power that's let loose here on a Sunday morning, when we're at our best. It is the power which summons each one of us by name to submit to transformation."

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gx45878

Date:

September 2, 1990

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Romans

Chapter and Verse:

Romans 12:1-8

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0197
ref8831_yfs
uachapelsermaud
duke:321754
dcrmv001189
ark:/87924/r4gx45878
6457a431-e290-4d92-b979-dc64de0bbebc

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 - "Living Sacrifice" (September 2, 1990)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives