Nancy Ferree-Clark - "The Mind of Christ" (September 30, 1990)

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	(organ music)	0:07
-	Good morning.	3:28
	And welcome to the service of worship	3:29
	here at Duke University Chapel	3:31
	on this 17th Sunday after Pentecost.	3:32
	We are delighted to be able to join	3:35
	with each of you in celebrating	3:37
	the sacrament of Holy Eucharist.	3:38
	I'd like to thank the reverend David O. Jenkins	3:41
	who is campus minister to	3:43
	the Wesley United Methodist Fellowship here at Duke	3:45
	for serving as our presiding minister today.	3:47
	And Ms. Debbie Luther,	3:50
	coordinator of the Graduate	3:52
	and Professional Students Fellowship	3:53
	for serving as lector.	3:55
	We also are indebted to our communion servers	3:57
	who are divinity students	3:59
	and members of the campus ministry.	4:00
	And to our ushers, who include both student ushers	4:03
	and members of the congregation at Duke Chapel.	4:06
	The ushers provide an invaluable service to us	4:08
	each Sunday morning, and we are truly grateful to them.	4:11
	I'd like to remind you of an organizational meeting	4:15
	which is happening this afternoon at two o'clock	4:18
	in the chapel basement for all students interested	4:20
	in participating in a spring break work team in Costa Rica.	4:23
	Please note the remainder of the announcements	4:28
	as they are printed in you bulletins.	4:30
	And now, please stand for the greeting.	4:33
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	4:41
Congregation	And also with you.	4:44
-	The risen Christ is with us.	4:46
Congregation	Praise the Lord.	4:49
	(organ music)	4:52
	(choir and congregation singing)	5:28
	(organ music continues)	7:20
	(choir and congregation singing)	8:58
-	Because we are sinners	9:39
	God has given us the great and wonderful possibility	9:41
	to confess and be forgiven.	9:44
	So let us remain standing and confess our sins before God.	9:48
	Page 891 in the hymnal.	9:52
	Let us pray.	9:58
All	Almighty and merciful God;	10:00
	we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.	10:03
	We have followed too much the devices	10:08
	and desires of our own hearts.	10:10
	We have offended against thy holy laws.	10:13
	We have left undone those things	10:16
	which we ought to have done;	10:19
	and we have done those things	10:21
	which we ought not to have done.	10:23
	But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.	10:26
	Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults.	10:29
	Restore thou those who are penitent;	10:34
	according to thy promises declared in Christ Jesus our Lord.	10:37
	And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake;	10:42
	that we may hereafter live a godly,	10:46
	righteous, and sober life,	10:49
	to the glory of thy holy Name.	10:52
	Amen.	10:54
-	If we confess our sins	11:15
	God is faithful and just	11:18
	and will forgive our sins	11:21
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	11:23
All	Thanks be to God.	11:27
-	You may be seated.	11:29
-	Let us pray.	11:41
All	Open our hearts and minds, O God,	11:44
	by the power of your holy spirit	11:47
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	11:50
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	11:53
	Amen.	11:58
-	The first lesson comes to us from the book of Exodus.	12:01
	Moses said to the Lord;	12:06
	see you have said to me bring up this people.	12:09
	But you have not let me know whom you will send with me.	12:13
	Yet you have said, I know you by name	12:18
	and you have also found favor in my sight.	12:21
	Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways.	12:25
	So that I may know you and find favor in your sight.	12:30
	Consider too that this nation is your people.	12:34
	He said, my presence will go with you	12:38
	and I will give you rest.	12:41
	And he said to Him, if your presence will not go	12:44
	do not carry us up from here.	12:48
	For how shall it be known	12:50
	that I have found favor in your sight?	12:52
	I and your people unless you go with us.	12:55
	In this way we shall be distinct,	12:59
	I and your people from every people	13:02
	on the face of the earth.	13:04
	The Lord said to Moses;	13:07
	I will do the very thing that you have asked.	13:09
	For you have found favor in my sight	13:12
	and I know you by name.	13:15
	Moses said;	13:18
	show me your glory, I pray.	13:19
	And He said;	13:22
	I will make all my goodness pass before you	13:24
	and will proclaim before you the name the Lord.	13:27
	And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,	13:31
	and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.	13:34
	But He said;	13:38
	you cannot see my face,	13:39
	for no one shall see me and live.	13:42
	And the Lord continued;	13:45
	see there is a place by me	13:47
	where you shall stand on the rock	13:50
	and while my glory passes by	13:52
	I will put you in a cleft in the rock.	13:55
	And I will cover you with my hand	13:58
	until I have passed by.	14:00
	Then I will take away my hand	14:03
	and you shall see my back.	14:05
	But my face, shall not be seen.	14:08
	This is the word of the Lord.	14:11
All	Thanks be to God.	14:14
-	Would you please stand	14:16
	for the singing of the Psalm number 99,	14:17
	found on page 819 and 820 in your hymnal.	14:20
	(organ music)	14:28
	♪ The Lord reigns ♪	14:37
	♪ Let the peoples tremble ♪	14:38
	♪ The Lord sits enthroned upon the cherubim ♪	14:42
	♪ Let the earth quake ♪	14:45
	(congregation singing)	14:48
	♪ Let them praise your great and wondrous name ♪	14:58
	(congregation singing)	15:02
	♪ Mighty ruler, lover of justice ♪	15:06
	♪ You have established equity ♪	15:10
	(congregation singing)	15:13
	♪ Extol the Lord our God ♪	15:21
	♪ worship at the Lord's footstool ♪	15:24
	(congregation singing)	15:27
	♪ Moses and Aaron were among God's priest ♪	15:31
	♪ Samuel also was among those who called upon God's name ♪	15:36
	(congregation singing)	15:42
	♪ They kept God's testimonies ♪	15:53
	♪ And the statutes God gave them ♪	15:56
	(congregation singing)	16:00
	♪ Extol the Lord our God ♪	16:13
	♪ And worship at his holy mountain ♪	16:16
	(congregation singing)	16:20
	(organ music)	16:28
	(choir and congregation singing)	16:37
-	You may be seated.	17:27
	The second lesson is taken	17:35
	from Paul's letter to the Philippians.	17:37
	If then there is any encouragement in Christ,	17:42
	any consolation from love,	17:46
	any sharing in the spirit,	17:48
	any compassion and sympathy,	17:51
	make my joy complete.	17:54
	Be of the same mind	17:57
	having the same love	17:59
	being in full accord and of one mind.	18:01
	Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,	18:06
	but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.	18:10
	Let each of you look not to your own interest,	18:15
	but to the interest of others.	18:18
	Let the same mind be in you	18:21
	that was in Christ Jesus	18:23
	who, though he was in the form of God,	18:25
	did not regard equality with God	18:28
	as something to be exploited.	18:31
	But emptied himself taking the form of a slave	18:33
	being born in human likeness.	18:37
	And being found in human form	18:40
	he humbled himself and became obedient	18:43
	to the point of death;	18:46
	even death on a cross.	18:48
	Therefore God also highly exalted him	18:51
	and gave him the name that is above every name.	18:55
	So that at the name of Jesus	18:59
	every knee should bend	19:01
	in Heaven and on earth	19:03
	and under the earth.	19:05
	And every tongue should confess	19:07
	that Jesus Christ is Lord	19:09
	to the glory of God the Father.	19:11
	Therefore my beloved	19:15
	just as you have always obeyed me,	19:16
	not only in my presence	19:20
	but much more now in my absence,	19:22
	work out your own salvation in fear and trembling.	19:25
	For it is God who is at work in you	19:29
	enabling you both to will and to work	19:32
	for his pleasure.	19:35
	This is the word of the Lord.	19:38
ALL	Thanks be to God.	19:40
-	The Gospel reading comes from	19:45
	the book according to Saint Matthew.	19:46
	"What do you think?	19:51
	A man had two sons.	19:53
	He went to the first and said,	19:55
	'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'	19:57
	He answered, 'I will not.'	20:01
	But later he changed his mind and went.	20:04
	The father went to the second and said the same,	20:08
	and he answered, 'I go, sir.'	20:10
	But he did not go.	20:13
	Which of the two did the will of his father?"	20:16
	They said, "The first."	20:19
	Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you,	20:21
	the tax collectors and the prostitutes	20:25
	are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.	20:27
	For John came to you in the way of righteousness,	20:31
	and you did not believe him,	20:34
	but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him.	20:36
	And even after you saw it,	20:40
	you did not change your minds and believe him."	20:43
	This is the word of the Lord.	20:47
All	Thanks be to God.	20:49
-	"Make my joy complete,"	21:00
	Saint Paul writes to he Philippians,	21:02
	"and be of one mind.	21:04
	Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,	21:07
	but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.	21:11
	Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,	21:16
	who though he was in the form of God	21:19
	did not regard equality as something to be exploited,	21:22
	but emptied himself taking the form of a slave."	21:26
	Perhaps no passage in Paul's epistles	21:33
	is more eloquent in its appeal to the Church,	21:36
	or stronger in its basis for the appeal	21:39
	than this beloved text.	21:42
	We are called to imitate the humility of Christ	21:44
	because he revealed to us	21:47
	God's own nature as that of a servant.	21:49
	Jesus' self-emptying and humiliation on the cross	21:54
	are not to be seen as a step away from God's true nature.	21:57
	Rather, his humility revealed the limitlessness	22:01
	of God's love for all of humanity.	22:05
	And thereby he was glorified.	22:08
	The way to Heaven for each of us,	22:12
	Paul underscores in this text,	22:13
	points downward before it points upward.	22:16
	And so humility, downward mobility,	22:20
	as a way to discipleship,	22:24
	is highly touted in the scriptures and in the Church.	22:25
	"All who humble themselves will be exalted."	22:29
	"Whoever becomes humble like this child,	22:32
	is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven,"	22:35
	we read in the Gospels.	22:37
	"Clothe yourselves with humility	22:39
	in your dealings with one another," Peter writes,	22:41
	"For God oppresses the proud,	22:44
	but gives grace to the humble."	22:46
	Yet for all its significance to Christianity,	22:50
	humility is a relatively unpopular virtue.	22:53
	Have you noticed?	22:56
	I spent several of the past days	22:58
	just looking for examples of it all over campus.	23:00
	And as you might have imagined,	23:03
	it wasn't that easy to come up with.	23:04
	As they say in the admissions office,	23:07
	prospective Duke students	23:08
	don't prepare all those great resumes and videos	23:10
	just to show how modest they are.	23:13
	I did hear of a few faculty members	23:16
	who are rather well known	23:17
	for attempting to instill a type of humility	23:18
	in their students in the classroom.	23:22
	And in years past, various university traditions	23:24
	have even existed to actually keep certain groups	23:28
	in a humble frame of mind.	23:32
	For instance,	23:34
	I recently learned that up until	23:35
	the late '50s or early '60s,	23:37
	right here at our beloved Duke,	23:40
	there was a rule that said	23:42
	all the freshmen had to wear beanies	23:44
	with their class year on it if they were male,	23:46
	or blue and white bows if they were female	23:49
	to indicate their humble status as freshmen.	23:52
	Now everyone had to wear the beanies and bows	23:55
	until the Duke/Carolina football game	23:57
	and if Duke won,	23:59
	the beanies and the bows could be put away for good.	24:00
	But if Duke lost,	24:03
	they had to be worn the rest of the semester.	24:05
	Now just call the university archivist	24:09
	if you don't believe me.	24:10
	He has pictures to prove it and even more stories.	24:11
	Do you know about the tradition that said	24:15
	freshmen were strictly forbidden	24:16
	to sit on those steps out in front of the chapel	24:18
	in order to make room for	24:21
	the upper class students to socialize?	24:22
	Fortunately, such blatant, enforced regard	24:26
	of others as better than yourself	24:29
	is no longer a part of the way we do things here,	24:31
	outside of fraternity rush at least.	24:34
	For while they may have succeeded	24:38
	in humiliating some students,	24:40
	such practices have little to do with humility.	24:42
	But I am sad to reflect on the fact	24:46
	that we have only limited progress	24:48
	in becoming the kind of people	24:50
	who actually value humility more than ambition,	24:52
	or compassion more than competition.	24:56
	In fact we've pointed ourselves	25:01
	almost in the opposite direction	25:02
	by valuing more and more a way of knowing	25:05
	and of being in the world that distances and separates,	25:08
	before it builds up and becomes one mind	25:13
	as Saint Paul exhorts the Philippians to do.	25:16
	I have come to believe that,	25:19
	especially we as a community which places knowledge	25:21
	at the very heart of our identity	25:24
	are vulnerable to a kind of arrogance	25:26
	which can inhibit the growth of community	25:29
	and the deepening of faith.	25:31
	Let me try to spell this out just a little more clearly.	25:34
	Parker Palmer, a Christian philosopher and sociologist,	25:37
	writes about a way of knowing	25:41
	in which we seek to control the world around us.	25:43
	A kind of knowing that most of us are very familiar with	25:47
	through our formal educations.	25:50
	Through this very objective approach to learning	25:52
	we have sought to make ourselves	25:55
	the masters of the world	25:57
	by distancing ourselves from that which we know.	25:59
	We have even constructed our language	26:02
	in a manner that attempts to describe reality in this way.	26:04
	Take the word "fact", for example,	26:08
	which is so crucial to the kind of knowledge we prize.	26:11
	It comes from the Latin word meaning to make,	26:15
	also related to words such as "manufacture" or "artifact".	26:18
	From this perspective,	26:22
	the knower stands as a master builder in the midst of chaos	26:24
	trying to construct a livable world with our facts.	26:28
	Or take the word "objective",	26:32
	meaning to put against, to oppose.	26:34
	We value knowledge that enables us	26:38
	to coerce the world into meeting our needs.	26:40
	Even though it may put us in a detached,	26:43
	adversarial relationship with each other and our world.	26:46
	Thus our knowledge of the atom, for example,	26:50
	has brought us into opposition to the ecology of the earth.	26:53
	And even represents a threat to our survival.	26:57
	We'll take the word "reality",	27:01
	its root meaning being property, possession, a thing.	27:02
	We seek to know reality in order to lay claim to things,	27:06
	to own, and to control them.	27:12
	And so we see that with control as a primary motive	27:14
	for our pursuit of knowledge,	27:18
	we generate knowledge that moves us not	27:21
	toward the building of community,	27:23
	but potentially toward its destruction.	27:24
	Add to that the way in which the whole culture	27:28
	of the academic community	27:30
	with its system of rewards and punishments	27:31
	comprises a hidden curriculum	27:35
	which can have greater influence	27:37
	over the lives of the learners	27:39
	than the advertised curriculum.	27:41
	A business school may offer courses	27:44
	in team management and collective work styles,	27:46
	or a divinity school courses in compassion.	27:49
	But if the culture of those schools	27:52
	requires students to survive through competition,	27:54
	then competition, and not compassion or cooperation	27:57
	are the real lessons taught and learned.	28:01
	Contrast these approaches to learning	28:05
	to the image at the root of the word "truth."	28:08
	It comes from the same root	28:12
	that gives rise to the word troth.	28:14
	In case you've ever wondered	28:16
	what a troth is as in the vow;	28:18
	I pledge thee my troth.	28:21
	With this person, with this word	28:24
	a person enters a covenant with another.	28:25
	A pledge to engage in a mutually accountable	28:28
	and transforming relationship in the face of unknown risk.	28:32
	To devote oneself to the truth as compared to the facts	28:37
	therefore implies entering into a relationship	28:42
	of accountability.	28:45
	Though it does not mean turning away	28:47
	from objective realities	28:48
	to a completely subjective form of knowledge.	28:50
	Rather what is different is our relation to the facts.	28:53
	Truth requires the knower	28:58
	to become interdependent with the known.	29:00
	Consider as an example,	29:04
	one of the most memorable discussions of truth	29:06
	found in scripture.	29:09
	When Jesus is being tried before Pilate who asks,	29:10
	"What is truth?"	29:14
	As we hear this story read each year at Palm Sunday,	29:17
	we hear Pilates question as either a cynical sneer	29:20
	or a despairing sigh.	29:24
	The problem however lies not in the word "truth",	29:27
	but in the word "what."	29:29
	Pilate obsessed by the whatness of truth	29:32
	wants to objectify Jesus to get a handle on him	29:37
	by forcing him into this category of king.	29:41
	He wants to make Jesus somehow a comprehensible,	29:44
	a dispensable entity in the political terms of his time.	29:48
	But the truth standing before Pilate	29:52
	is not an object out there,	29:54
	but a subject who would enter Pilate's life	29:57
	and change it.	30:00
	By refusing to enter into a relationship with Jesus	30:02
	Pilate puts himself beyond the reach of truth.	30:05
	Eventually he agrees to murdering the one	30:09
	who embodies truth and who called for his conversion	30:12
	in favor of an objective reality	30:16
	that appeared to keep him in control.	30:19
	This example reminds us that in Christian understanding	30:23
	truth is not a concept that works,	30:26
	but an incarnation that lives.	30:30
	Christian tradition understands	30:33
	truth to be embodied in personal	30:34
	flesh and blood terms.	30:36
	The terms of the one who said,	30:39
	"I am the way, the truth, and the life."	30:40
	Jesus calls us all to truth but not in the form	30:45
	of creeds, or theologies, or facts.	30:47
	His call to truth is a call to community.	30:51
	With him, with each other, with creation, and its creator.	30:54
	And the speaking of that truth	30:59
	becomes the living of our lives.	31:01
	When we are honest with ourselves	31:05
	I guess we have to admit that most of us	31:07
	are really more comfortable	31:09
	with this objectivist approach to knowledge	31:10
	because like Adam and Eve, we want information	31:13
	that eliminates mystery and puts us in charge of our world.	31:16
	Ask any faculty member who has announced	31:21
	that there will be no lecture this year	31:23
	in what had traditionally been a lecture course,	31:25
	say organic chemistry.	31:28
	And that students will be	31:29
	collectively assuming responsibility for the class.	31:31
	They'll devise the syllabus, design their own projects,	31:34
	and make class presentations.	31:37
	Such an approach, though infinitely more engaging	31:40
	in terms of relationships, is apt to	31:43
	initially at least, to be greeted with great anxiety.	31:45
	We don't like being vulnerable.	31:49
	As Parker Palmer puts it	31:51
	above all, want to avoid a knowledge	31:53
	that calls for our own conversion.	31:55
	We want to know in ways that allow us	31:58
	to convert the world.	32:02
	But we don't want to be known	32:03
	in ways that require us to change as well.	32:05
	And therein, my friends, lies the rub of this lesson.	32:09
	As the church at Philippi was finding out	32:13
	when Paul wrote his apostle to them,	32:16
	even the strongest communities	32:18
	have to work at changing in the ways	32:20
	that the Christian truth calls them to change.	32:23
	Like regarding others as better than themselves.	32:26
	Doing nothing, nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.	32:29
	Looking not to their own interest,	32:35
	but to the interest of others.	32:36
	As Jesus revealed throughout his life	32:40
	and especially in his death,	32:42
	his truth calls for obedience.	32:44
	Obedience, not in the sense of an obligation	32:47
	to follow some distant command	32:50
	from some distant authority.	32:52
	But obedience in the sense of listening,	32:54
	the meaning of its Latin root.	32:57
	Jesus' own example of obedience	33:00
	is that of letting go of his own desires	33:02
	in order to hear God's word and respond to it	33:04
	without hesitation or limitation.	33:07
	When used by Jesus the word obedience	33:11
	as no negative connotations	33:14
	such as we are likely to associate with it.	33:15
	But rather it is the expression	33:18
	of his most intimate relationship.	33:19
	Listening and responding in love.	33:23
	Thus the Christian community call to live in truth	33:27
	looks to the example of Christ	33:29
	as one who was obedient, who listened,	33:31
	and responded to the will of God.	33:34
	"Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice",	33:37
	Jesus says to Pilate.	33:41
	Such a commitment to listen, not only to God,	33:43
	but to the voices of sisters and brothers in community	33:45
	implies an ability to lay aside one's own interest,	33:49
	to attend to the needs of others.	33:53
	How can anyone expect to be a good listener	33:56
	when he or she is consumed with self interest	33:58
	or blinded by ambition or conceit,	34:01
	or maybe just too busy	34:04
	with one's own activities to be bothered.	34:05
	The pluralistic nature of our world	34:09
	demands even more humility.	34:11
	More listening than we as Christians	34:13
	have been willing to give.	34:16
	In the natural world we must give voice to the earth.	34:18
	To the vegetation that clothes it,	34:21
	and the wild beasts that inhabit it	34:23
	to learn of their relatedness to our lives.	34:25
	In our pluralistic society	34:29
	we are called to listen attentively	34:31
	to diverse voices and views for the claims they make on us.	34:33
	Black and White,	34:38
	women and men,	34:39
	Christian and Jew,	34:41
	gay and straight,	34:42
	young and old.	34:44
	Not only will our understanding be deepened	34:47
	but our ability to love will be increased	34:49
	as we submit ourselves to truthful,	34:52
	obedient living in community.	34:55
	And so today we find ourselves	34:58
	with our mini voices gathered around the communion table	35:00
	as a reenactment of God's truth in our lives.	35:04
	To eat any meal together is to meet at the level	35:07
	of our most basic need I suppose.	35:10
	It's hard to be conceited with wine on your lapel	35:12
	or breadcrumbs on your chin.	35:15
	But to eat this particular meal together	35:18
	is to acknowledge our most basic humanness	35:21
	involving our need not just for food	35:24
	but for each other.	35:26
	To speak and to listen,	35:28
	to hear and to respond.	35:30
	I need you to help fill my emptiness	35:33
	just as you need me to help fill yours.	35:36
	Isn't that at least a part of why God put us here?	35:39
	Together we abandon ourselves to Christ	35:43
	to mold us and shape us as he will.	35:46
	As you're walking the aisle this morning	35:51
	to receive your portion of the holy meal,	35:52
	I have just one favor to ask of you.	35:55
	Would you humbly look at each face as you see it	35:57
	and just revel in it for a moment?	36:01
	In your mind remember to say,	36:03
	Christ died for you.	36:06
	That jerk, that phony, that egotist,	36:09
	that cheat, that saint.	36:14
	Christ died for you, my brother.	36:18
	Christ died for you, my sister.	36:21
	Thanks be to God.	36:25
-	The Lord be with you.	36:39
Congregation	And also with you.	36:40
-	Let us pray.	36:42
	On the eve of the United Nation Summit on Children, O Lord,	36:50
	we offer you our prayers.	36:54
	God you know what it's like to be a child.	36:59
	That's how you came to us	37:02
	and often how you come to us still.	37:04
	We pray these prayers for children	37:09
	knowing you understand each child's life.	37:11
	Knowing you have already died for each child.	37:15
	Rejoicing that you offer each of us	37:18
	adoption as your children.	37:21
	We pray for those children and students here at Duke	37:26
	who have lived in fear of their parents.	37:29
	Who have been beaten, or beaten down emotionally.	37:33
	Who do not have a secure home	37:38
	but come home afraid of who their parents are.	37:40
	Lord in you mercy, hear our prayer.	37:44
	We pray for those children	37:51
	who have been abandoned by their parents.	37:52
	Left with relatives, or neighbors.	37:56
	Abandoned to institutions.	37:59
	Abandoned to trash cans and alleys.	38:02
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	38:07
	We pray for those children of war.	38:14
	Those children killed and wounded because of our wars.	38:18
	The children left orphaned because of our wars.	38:24
	Those children used as pawns and protection.	38:26
	The children trained to kill others.	38:32
	We pray for the children	38:36
	of the neighborhoods and cities at war.	38:37
	Shot in their beds and schools.	38:40
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	38:44
	For the children who are born	38:51
	mentally or physically handicapped	38:53
	to families who don't want them	38:55
	and receive them like an albatross	38:58
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	39:04
	We pray for the children born dying	39:10
	with AIDS or other diseases.	39:14
	Lord in you mercy, hear our prayer.	39:18
	For those children who find themselves hopeless	39:23
	and wanting to die,	39:27
	we ask that you enter their lives	39:30
	and be their hope.	39:32
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	39:35
	For those children who find themselves	39:41
	caring for their ill or aging parents	39:43
	we ask your blessings and give you thanks	39:46
	for this life of sacrifice and love.	39:49
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	39:54
	We pray for the Church.	40:01
	That we would be the kind of people	40:04
	who welcome the gifts of children into our lives,	40:06
	however they come to us.	40:09
	We pray for the Church	40:12
	that we could be a peaceful people	40:13
	offering our children homes, communities,	40:16
	and worlds of peace.	40:20
	We pray that children and parents	40:24
	could forgive one another	40:26
	and model the forgiveness we have all received from you.	40:28
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	40:34
	We pray for our own childhoods, Lord.	40:39
	Giving you thanks for how we were sustained,	40:43
	loved, fed, raised in faith.	40:47
	For those parents and grandparents	40:54
	who lived saintly lives before us we give you thanks	40:56
	and in silence now we name those names.	41:01
	For the pastors, Sunday school teachers,	41:13
	and school teachers, youth counselors,	41:16
	and church people who taught us of the faith	41:19
	we give you great thanks	41:22
	and name them now with grateful hearts.	41:24
	And we pray for our own childhood memories.	41:40
	That you would heal us of the pain,	41:43
	and loss, and hurt of those years.	41:45
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	41:49
	We pray for the Church's ministry of baptism.	41:55
	That you would enable us to keep the promises made there	41:58
	and made on our behalf.	42:01
	Help us take responsibility in the Church	42:04
	for raising one another's children as we promise.	42:07
	For how our children teach us how to parent well	42:11
	we give you thanks.	42:15
	Lord in you mercy, hear our prayer.	42:18
	We pray for all those students here at Duke	42:23
	who will be parents one day.	42:26
	That you begin in them the transformation of their lives	42:29
	into the kind of people who will raise their children	42:32
	in faith, joy, patience, trust, and love.	42:36
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	42:44
	And we offer you our whole lives	42:50
	knowing that you have adopted us	42:52
	as your sons and daughters	42:54
	and called us into the kind of humility	42:56
	that reminds us of our adoption as your children.	43:00
	As your children we come to you prayer,	43:07
	in joy, and in hope.	43:09
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	43:12
	In the name of the blessed trinity, world without end.	43:16
	Amen.	43:21
	Christ invites to his table all who love him	43:25
	and who desire to live in peace with one another.	43:30
	Let us stand and offer each other	43:34
	signs of God's peace and love.	43:36
	As thankful people, we offer God our ties,	43:59
	our offering, and gifts of sacrifice of our lives.	44:02
	Let us come before the Lord with or offering.	44:06
	You may be seated.	44:09
	(organ music)	44:13
	(choir singing)	44:59
	(choir singing continues)	49:58
	(organ music)	50:46
	(choir and congregation singing)	51:29
-	Let us join in the Great Thanksgiving	52:31
	found on page 17 in your hymnal.	52:33
	The Lord be with you.	52:41
Congregation	And also with you.	52:43
-	Lift up your hearts.	52:44
Congregation	We lift them up to the Lord.	52:46
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	52:48
Congregation	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	52:50
-	We give thanks because you were God	52:53
	even before time began.	52:55
	You have seen every sun rise, every day begin	52:58
	since you first gave form to our home, the Earth.	53:01
	You launched into your universe.	53:04
	Shaped its hills and filled its seas when space was ready.	53:06
	You brought life out of the waters	53:11
	and in time made us in your image, male and female.	53:13
	Yet we were not content with such a paradise.	53:17
	We rebelled putting our wills before yours.	53:20
	Even then we found you boundless in love.	53:24
	Time after time you reached out your hand	53:27
	to touch our lives with loving kindness.	53:29
	You led us from captivity	53:32
	to life in the land you promised.	53:33
	You made covenant to take us to be your people	53:36
	to love an to cherish,	53:39
	and we took you as God and ruler	53:41
	promising to forsake all others.	53:43
	You put your words on the lips of women and men.	53:46
	They spoke your words of law,	53:49
	gave themselves in the struggle for justice,	53:51
	and taught us to sing your glory.	53:53
	And so with your people on earth	53:56
	and all the company of Heaven,	53:58
	we praise your name and join their unending hymn.	54:00
	(organ music)	54:03
	♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord ♪	54:12
	♪ God of power and might ♪	54:17
	♪ Heaven and earth are full of your glory ♪	54:21
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	54:27
	♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪	54:31
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	54:38
	Full indeed are Heaven and earth of your glory	54:50
	holy Lord God.	54:53
	When time was ready, you the creator of all that is,	54:54
	sent Christ to be a creature like us.	54:58
	Instead of a servant you sent your own son	55:01
	that he might be a servant of all.	55:04
	Christ alone, he who is closest to your heart,	55:06
	he made you known to us.	55:10
	Walking among us, Jesus the Christ	55:12
	performed great signs to reveal his glory.	55:14
	He spoke as one having authority	55:17
	that we might trust your love and obey your law.	55:20
	When his hour had come he drank the cup of suffering	55:24
	and accepted the baptism of death.	55:27
	Like a lamb he was led away from the living,	55:29
	but as your son he was raised from the grave.	55:32
	Having triumphed over death he left our sight	55:35
	that his spirit might fill our hearts	55:38
	as we await the completion of all things in him.	55:40
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us	55:45
	the Lord Jesus took bread in his hands.	55:47
	Lifting his eyes to Heaven he gave you thanks,	55:50
	broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,	55:53
	"Take, eat.	55:56
	This is my body which is given for you."	55:58
	When supper was finished, he took cup.	56:01
	Again he offered thanks to you,	56:04
	gave the cup to his disciples and said,	56:06
	"Drink from this, all of you.	56:08
	This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood	56:10
	poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.	56:12
	Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."	56:17
	And so in remembrance of these	56:21
	your mighty acts in Jesus Christ	56:23
	we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving	56:24
	as a holy and living sacrifice	56:27
	in union with Christ offering for us	56:30
	as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	56:32
	(organ music)	56:35
	♪ Christ has died ♪	56:45
	♪ Christ is risen ♪	56:47
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	56:49
	Send, we pray, your holy spirit on us	56:58
	gathered here out of love for you and on this offering.	57:00
	May your spirit make real the signs	57:04
	that through breaking bread and drinking wine together	57:06
	we may know Christ present among us.	57:09
	By the spirit make us one with the goodness of Christ	57:12
	as you made him one with our sinfulness.	57:15
	That we may be one with each other	57:17
	and one in service to all you have created.	57:19
	Through you son, Jesus Christ	57:23
	with the Holy Spirit and your holy church	57:24
	all honor and glory is yours almighty God now and forever.	57:27
	(organ music)	57:31
	♪ Amen ♪	57:40
	♪ Amen ♪	57:42
	♪ Amen ♪	57:45
	And now let us pray with the confidence	57:53
	of the children of God.	57:55
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	57:56
	hallowed be thy name;	57:59
	thy kingdom come,	58:01
	thy will be done,	58:03
	on earth as it is in heaven.	58:04
	Give us this day our daily bread,	58:06
	and forgive us our trespasses,	58:09
	as we forgive those who trespass against us;	58:11
	and lead us not into temptation,	58:14
	but deliver us from evil.	58:16
	For thine is the kingdom, the power,	58:18
	and the glory forever.	58:21
	Amen.	58:22
	(organ music)	58:33
	(choir singing)	59:02
	(organ music continues)	1:00:42
	(choir singing)	1:05:26
	(organ music continues)	1:08:34
	(choir singing)	1:09:04
-	Let us pray.	1:09:40
	Pour out upon us the spirit of your love, O Lord	1:09:43
	and unite the wills of those whom you have fed	1:09:47
	with one heavenly food.	1:09:49
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	1:09:51
	Amen.	1:09:54
	Please stand for the Benediction.	1:09:55
	Go in peace to serve God,	1:10:04
	and your neighbor in all that you do.	1:10:06
	(congregation responding)	1:10:09
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:10:11
	and the love of God,	1:10:13
	and the communion of the Holy Spirit	1:10:14
	be with you all.	1:10:16
	(choir singing)	1:10:22
	(organ music)	1:10:42
	(choir and congregation singing)	1:11:09
	(organ music continues)	1:13:29
	(choir singing)	1:14:18
	(organ music)	1:14:31

Item Info

Title:

Nancy Ferree-Clark - "The Mind of Christ" (September 30, 1990)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 21:00. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 36:27.
We aim to understand the world so to dominate it, which leads us to arrogance. However, humility and obedience to Jesus Christ and our community are distinguishing markers of our faith. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Truth requires the knower to become interdependent with the known.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r48g8fz3s

Date:

September 30, 1990

Speaker:

Ferree-Clark, Nancy

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0202
ref8844_m05
uachapelsermaud
duke:321701
dcrmv001193
ark:/87924/r48g8fz3s
6063df54-0f90-4abf-a4e4-11ddbf656f70

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

Unknown Rights-Holder

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This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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