Nancy Ferree-Clark - "Too Good to Be True?" (April 7, 1991)

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	(organ playing)	0:01
	(organ playing)	0:17
	(organ playing)	0:33
	(organ playing)	0:47
	(organ playing)	1:13
	(organ stops)	1:39
-	Good morning and welcome to this service of worship	1:59
	on this second Sunday of Easter.	2:01
	Today is our annual Crop Walk,	2:05
	which leads from the steps of the chapel at 1:00 pm.	2:07
	Crop walk for world hunger and overseas relief.	2:11
	In recognition of the Crop Walk,	2:15
	all of today's offering has been designated	2:18
	for the Blanket Fund of the Crop program.	2:21
	Last year when we received an offering	2:26
	for the purposes of purchasing blankets for refugees,	2:29
	we were able to purchase over 700 blankets,	2:33
	which were sent to places of need around the world,	2:36
	and we invite you to give generously.	2:39
	Call your attention to the pronouncements and activities	2:41
	in the bulletin, particularly the visit	2:45
	of Madeleine L'Engle, the distinguished writer,	2:47
	poet, will be visiting our campus this coming week.	2:51
	Also next Sunday evening, our choir	2:56
	will be performing Mozart's Requiem here in the chapel.	3:00
	The second hymn is sung in honor of Thomas,	3:06
	who is often designated this Sunday in the scripture	3:10
	and the sermon, and we will sing verses 1 and 6	3:15
	through 9 of the second hymn.	3:20
	Now let us stand for the greeting.	3:23
	Christ is risen.	3:30
Audience	Christ is risen.	3:31
-	Glory and honor, dominion and power be to God	3:34
	forever and ever.	3:36
Audience	Christ is risen.	3:38
	Hallelujah.	3:41
	(organ playing)	3:42
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	4:06
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	4:10
	♪ Day when our Lord was raised ♪	4:15
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	4:20
	(choir drowned out by organ)	4:25
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	4:45
	♪ Blest day that to be hallowed forever ♪	4:49
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	4:54
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	4:58
	(singing drowned out by organ)	5:03
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	5:25
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	5:29
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	5:35
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	5:39
	(singing drowned out by organ)	5:45
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	6:05
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	6:09
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	6:15
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	6:18
	(singing drowned out by organ)	6:25
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	6:44
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	6:49
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	6:54
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	6:58
	(singing drowned out by organ)	7:05
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	7:24
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	7:28
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	7:33
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	7:37
	(singing drowned out by organ)	7:43
	♪ Hail thee festival day ♪	8:03
	♪ Blest day to be hallowed forever ♪	8:07
	♪ Day wherein Christ arose ♪	8:12
	♪ Breaking the kingdom of death ♪	8:16
	(organ playing softly)	8:32
-	Let us pray.	8:54
	Gracious God, we gather,	8:59
	because you have acted in human history,	9:00
	breaking the bonds of death,	9:05
	setting the oppressed free from sin	9:07
	and death.	9:10
	You have brought new life where before there was none.	9:12
	You have acted in our lives	9:16
	and brought us forth from death to life.	9:19
	Therefore we gather,	9:23
	confident that we gather in the name	9:26
	of the risen and reigning Lord.	9:28
	Amen.	9:32
	Be seated.	9:34
	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	9:44
	O living God, bring us forth from death to life.	9:47
	So that as the scriptures are read	9:52
	and your word is proclaimed,	9:54
	we might be brought to a sure and living faith	9:56
	in your lordship.	10:00
	Amen.	10:02
	Our first lesson is from The Book of Acts.	10:06
	"Now the whole group of those who believed	10:11
	were of one heart and one soul.	10:14
	And no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.	10:16
	But everything they owned was held in common.	10:20
	With great power the apostles gave their testimony	10:23
	to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,	10:26
	and great grace was upon them all.	10:29
	There was not a needy person among them	10:33
	for, as many as owned land or houses, sold them,	10:36
	and brought the proceeds of what was sold	10:39
	and laid it at the apostles' feet.	10:42
	And it was distributed to each as any had need.	10:45
	This is the word of the Lord.	10:50
Audience	Thanks be to God.	10:53
-	Our psalm is Psalm 133,	11:01
	found on page 850 in the hymnal.	11:05
	Please stand as we sing responsively.	11:07
	(organ playing)	11:10
	♪ Behold how good and pleasant it is ♪	11:17
	♪ When we live together in unity ♪	11:21
	(audience singing drowned out by organ)	11:26
	♪ It is like to dew of Hermon ♪	11:43
	♪ Which falls on the mountains of Zion ♪	11:46
	(audience singing drowned out by organ)	11:50
	♪ All glory be to you, O God ♪	11:59
	♪ And to Jesus Christ, our savior ♪	12:02
	(audience singing drowned out by organ)	12:06
	♪ As it was since time began ♪	12:12
	(audience singing drowned out by organ)	12:16
-	Our second lesson is from the First Letter of John.	12:30
	"We declare to you which was from the beginning	12:36
	what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,	12:40
	what we have looked at and touched with our hands	12:44
	concerning the word of life.	12:47
	This life was revealed.	12:50
	And we have seen it and testified to it,	12:53
	and declare to you the eternal life	12:55
	that was with the father,	12:58
	and which was revealed to us.	13:00
	We declare to you what we have seen and heard	13:05
	so that you also may have fellowship with us.	13:07
	And truly our fellowship is with the father.	13:10
	And with his son, Jesus Christ.	13:13
	We are writing these things so that our joy	13:16
	may be complete.	13:20
	This is the message that we have heard from Him	13:21
	and we proclaim to you,	13:26
	that God is light,	13:28
	and in him is no darkness at all.	13:31
	If we say that we have fellowship with him	13:34
	while we are walking in darkness, we lie.	13:37
	We do not do what is true.	13:41
	But if we walk in the light,	13:43
	as He Himself is in the light,	13:45
	we have fellowship with one another.	13:47
	And the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.	13:51
	If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,	13:55
	and the truth is not in us.	14:00
	But if we confess our sins,	14:03
	He is faithful and just,	14:06
	and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us	14:08
	from all unrighteousness.	14:11
	If we say that we've not sinned we make him a liar	14:15
	and his word is not in us.	14:17
	My little children, I am writing you these things	14:20
	that you may not sin.	14:24
	But if anyone does sin,	14:27
	we have an advocate with the Father,	14:29
	Jesus Christ the righteous,	14:32
	and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,	14:36
	and not for ours only,	14:39
	but also for the sins of the whole world."	14:41
	This is the word of the Lord.	14:48
Audience	Thanks be to God.	14:50
-	And our gospel lesson for this second Sunday of Easter	14:54
	is from the Gospel of John.	14:57
	"When it was evening on that day,	15:04
	the first day of the week, the doors of the house	15:07
	being shut for fear of the Jews,	15:10
	Jesus came and stood among them and said,	15:12
	'Peace be with you.'	15:16
	After he said this he showed them his hands	15:19
	and his side.	15:21
	Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.	15:22
	Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you.	15:27
	As the Father has sent me,	15:32
	so I send you.'	15:35
	And when he said this, he breathed on them and said,	15:37
	'Receive the Holy Spirit.	15:41
	If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.	15:43
	If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'	15:47
	But Thomas, who was also called the Twin,	15:52
	one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came.	15:56
	So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.'	15:59
	But Thomas said, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails	16:03
	in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails,	16:07
	and my hand in his side,	16:11
	I will not believe.'	16:14
	A week later the disciples were again at the house,	16:16
	and Thomas was with them.	16:19
	Although the doors were shut, Jesus came	16:21
	and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.'	16:24
	Then he said to Thomas,	16:28
	'Put your finger here and see my hands.	16:31
	Reach out your hand and put it in my side.	16:33
	Do not doubt, but believe.'	16:36
	Thomas answered, 'My Lord, my God.'	16:39
	Jesus said to him,	16:46
	'Have you believed because you have seen me?	16:48
	Blessed are those who have not seen and yet	16:51
	have come to believe.'	16:55
	Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence	16:58
	of his disciples which are not written in this book.	17:01
	But these are written so that you may come to believe.	17:04
	For Jesus is the messiah, the son of God,	17:09
	and that through believing you might have life	17:12
	in His name."	17:16
	This is the word of the Lord.	17:19
Audience	Praise to God.	17:23
	(organ plays softly)	17:41
	(choir singing in Latin)	17:55
	(choir singing in Latin)	18:10
	(choir singing in Latin)	18:23
	(choir singing in Latin)	18:38
	(choir singing in Latin)	18:54
	(choir singing in Latin)	19:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:19
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:21
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:22
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:24
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:26
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:28
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:30
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:32
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:34
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	19:41
-	Do I detect this morning the look of relief	20:01
	on a few of your faces?	20:03
	Now that we've made it through Easter Sunday,	20:07
	thank goodness things can settle back down to normal.	20:08
	I've been around this place long enough	20:12
	to know how a few of you at least feel	20:14
	about all those enthusiastic hallelujahs	20:17
	and those festive peels on the Caroline	20:20
	at 6:00 in the morning.	20:22
	Not to mention all the related Easter paraphernalia	20:24
	like dyed eggs and marshmallow baby chicks.	20:27
	And to be quite honest, I would have to agree	20:31
	there is certainly more than one approach to Easter.	20:34
	After all, we're talking about one of the great	20:38
	unsolved mysteries of all time,	20:42
	an empty tomb.	20:44
	How did we ever come to expect people	20:47
	to be so comfortable, so confident,	20:49
	when they talk about it anyway?	20:54
	Emptiness, as you know,	20:56
	if you've had much experience dealing with it,	20:58
	isn't all that easy to get a handle on.	21:01
	Unlike Christmas with all its familiarity,	21:05
	you cannot turn emptiness into a pageant,	21:09
	or string it with lights.	21:13
	It doesn't usually move people to give presents	21:15
	and go caroling through the neighborhood.	21:18
	In fact, emptiness is almost impossible to depict.	21:20
	Think for a minute of the thousands of paintings	21:25
	of the Nativity, not to mention the crucifixion,	21:28
	which we as church hold dear to our collective memory.	21:32
	But can you name for me three well known paintings	21:36
	of the empty tomb?	21:39
	Unlike the Easter Bunny, emptiness is not warm and fuzzy	21:42
	by a long stretch of the imagination.	21:46
	It isn't even friendly and uplifting,	21:48
	as we in the church like to think of ourselves.	21:51
	It is disconcerting, at the very least,	21:55
	and as we heard in last Sunday's sermon	21:58
	from Mark's gospel, it is even frightening.	22:00
	And so today's gospel as a continuation of John's	22:04
	account of the Easter story depicts	22:07
	what is for many of us a more familiar response	22:11
	to the empty tomb, skepticism.	22:14
	Thomas the Twin wasn't around for Jesus'	22:18
	first appearance to the disciples,	22:22
	and so he says he won't believe,	22:23
	until he touches Jesus' wounds.	22:27
	In so doing he becomes Doubting Thomas	22:31
	for the rest of time.	22:34
	Have you ever thought about how it is that history	22:36
	chooses to label a person?	22:38
	Take Thomas as an example.	22:41
	We know from earlier references in John's gospel	22:44
	that Thomas is courageously devoted to Jesus.	22:47
	Willing to confront death in order to be with him,	22:51
	and willing to ask the tough questions	22:54
	when no one else will.	22:56
	We also know that a non-canonical gospel bears	22:59
	his name and that tradition associates him	23:01
	with a mission to India.	23:05
	Still what we remember him for is this text	23:07
	and his doubt.	23:12
	Perhaps because in the midst of so many towering	23:14
	examples of faith in the New Testament	23:17
	we are encouraged by knowing at least one disciple	23:20
	who shares our moments of doubt.	23:24
	If you were too much of a skeptic	23:27
	to enjoy church last Sunday, welcome back.	23:29
	This is your Sunday.	23:32
	Especially for those of you who have been told	23:34
	by someone in the church that a faithful disciple	23:36
	never expresses doubt, let this text provide	23:39
	a bit of reassurance.	23:43
	According to John's depiction of the resurrection	23:45
	and the events that surrounded it,	23:47
	there is more than one way to become a believer.	23:49
	If we take his entire 20th chapter into account	23:54
	we find several responses to Jesus resurrection	23:57
	appearances.	24:00
	The beloved disciple believed with no evidence	24:02
	whatsoever beyond the empty tomb,	24:05
	while Peter, having witnessed the same thing,	24:07
	returned home at that point, unbelieving.	24:10
	Mary Magdalene believed because of a word,	24:14
	her name, which when spoken by Jesus,	24:17
	evoked recognition of an enduring and life-giving	24:20
	relationship.	24:24
	The ten disciples believed because they saw the Lord	24:25
	with their very eyes.	24:28
	But for Thomas, faith could come only with difficulty.	24:30
	There was too much at stake.	24:35
	He said he could be sure only after physical contact.	24:37
	But whether he actually touched Jesus is not clear	24:40
	from the text.	24:44
	Rather, Jesus told him to put his hand in his side	24:46
	and not to be faithless, but believing.	24:50
	To which he simply responded in exuberant affirmation,	24:52
	"My Lord, my God!"	24:56
	Whatever happened in Thomas' heart and mind	25:00
	in that instant we will never know.	25:03
	But what that moment does give us is hope	25:06
	that we too may transcend our self-imposed spiritual,	25:10
	emotional and intellectual limitations	25:15
	to make the leap of faith.	25:17
	Not just to the point where we can say,	25:20
	"Well, yes, there is a sense in which one can speak	25:22
	of resurrection, but to proclaim the risen Christ,	25:25
	my Lord and my God."	25:29
	Thomas' example is compelling not only for his doubt	25:32
	but for his willingness to be convinced.	25:36
	His openness to mystery.	25:38
	To proclaim Jesus as Lord meant for Thomas,	25:41
	and later for the whole church,	25:45
	not only a personal relationship with Christ	25:47
	but complete abandonment unto God.	25:50
	Something he certainly could not expect	25:53
	to always understand.	25:55
	In doing so he acknowledged Jesus as Lord	25:57
	over every power in this world, including death.	26:00
	To identify Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter rabbi	26:04
	who died on a cross as Christ the Lord meant	26:08
	that he truly believed.	26:12
	How shallow our own convictions seem in comparison	26:16
	when we feel the need to water down the mystery	26:19
	of the resurrection to make it somehow more believable,	26:22
	turning it into a problem to be solved.	26:25
	For instance, it's easy for us to say that resurrection	26:29
	is really Christ living on in our memory,	26:32
	that his words are still among us	26:35
	and that his name will never pass out of this world.	26:37
	But can't this be said about a lot of people?	26:42
	Plato, Shakespeare,	26:45
	Thomas Jefferson, to name a few.	26:48
	Such an understanding of resurrection is so general	26:50
	it no longer has real power.	26:53
	It also is self centered to the extent that it suggests	26:55
	that Christ lives among us because we're still	26:59
	talking about him.	27:02
	He owes his resurrection to us, more or less,	27:04
	which is precisely a reversal of God's true intentions.	27:07
	St. Paul dealt with similar sentiments	27:12
	when he had to deal with questions	27:14
	regarding the resurrection.	27:16
	How are dead people raised,	27:18
	and what sort of body do they have when they come back,	27:20
	they asked him in Corinthians I.	27:23
	To which he replied,	27:26
	"We teach what Scripture calls	27:27
	the thing that no eye has seen and no ear has heard.	27:30
	Things beyond the mind of men and women,	27:35
	all that God has prepared for those who love him."	27:38
	The power of the resurrection is not a problem	27:42
	to be solved, but a gift to be received.	27:45
	Christ has revealed to us a life	27:49
	over which death has no power.	27:52
	The promise of eternal life is ours to keep.	27:55
	Why then do we persist in our hesitance	27:59
	by thinking, even if we don't say it,	28:02
	it's simply too good ti be true?	28:05
	To suggest that something is too good to be true	28:08
	is to reveal an attitude toward truth, of course.	28:11
	And it is exactly that attitude which the resurrection	28:15
	calls into question,	28:18
	and which I would like to address for a moment.	28:19
	Truth from this narrow perspective	28:22
	means what you see is what you get.	28:26
	The world is a tormented, rotten place	28:28
	full of people looking out only for themselves	28:31
	with no hope for things getting better.	28:33
	And based on what we witness around us	28:37
	day in and day out, that is to a great extent true.	28:39
	How can we live in our current state of affairs	28:43
	and not be acutely aware of the brokenness,	28:46
	the limitations of our world?	28:49
	But there are those times when,	28:52
	usually rather unexpectedly,	28:54
	we experience something right in the midst	28:57
	of our very ordinary circumstances	29:00
	which reveal another truth, a deeper truth,	29:02
	which transforms the ordinary into something	29:06
	quite extraordinary.	29:09
	Have you ever happened upon a spring rain,	29:12
	grumbling perhaps, that you forgot your umbrella,	29:15
	only to catch the smell of a world drenched	29:19
	in such freshness and beauty	29:21
	you didn't even mind the muddy ground	29:23
	beneath your feet?	29:25
	Have you ever watched the biggest Scrooge	29:27
	in the choir, that is if we have any,	29:30
	singing Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,	29:33
	and witnessed his transformation	29:35
	into a member of a heavenly chorus	29:37
	before your very eyes?	29:39
	Have you ever read a fairy tale	29:41
	so compelling that you were suddenly transported	29:45
	beyond the boundaries of your everyday world	29:47
	and were convinced that the characters	29:50
	just might live happily ever after?	29:53
	Have you ever experienced a lump in your throat,	29:57
	a tear in the corner of your eye, even once,	30:00
	that told you you had glimpsed something truly eternal?	30:04
	Something too good to be true,	30:07
	yet mysteriously more convincing in its truthfulness	30:10
	than anything else you ever knew?	30:14
	If so, then saying, "It's too good to be true"	30:17
	isn't good enough as a way of writing off	30:20
	the reality of the mystery of the resurrection.	30:23
	After living through a period of history	30:28
	where we have sought to discount mystery	30:30
	and its relevance to the modern world,	30:32
	we are learning that mystery often embodies	30:35
	a deeper truth than our surface-level reading	30:37
	of the facts.	30:40
	Scientists speak of intelligent life among the stars.	30:42
	Physicists say, at the speed of light, there is no time.	30:46
	Doctors talk seriously about life after death.	30:50
	At last it seems we're willing to face the reality	30:54
	that we must live with, and even respect	30:57
	the mysteries of life which we are a part of.	31:00
	Whatever we do matters, say the astrophysicists,	31:04
	so tightly interrelated is the universe.	31:07
	They speak of the butterfly effect, which says,	31:12
	as I understand it, as an example that the effects	31:14
	of a butterfly being injured anywhere on Earth	31:17
	are felt in galaxies thousands of light-years away.	31:20
	Perhaps, just maybe it does make a difference	31:25
	to tell a story, to sing a song,	31:29
	to offer a prayer, all very mysterious things	31:32
	in and of themselves, when you think about it.	31:37
	While delivering the Buechner lectures	31:41
	on preaching at Yale Divinity School a few years back,	31:42
	Frederick Buechner spoke of the popularity	31:46
	and the power of fairy tales in particular	31:48
	to evoke this world of mystery	31:52
	that moves us and transforms us.	31:54
	In his lectures he suggested that somehow	31:57
	in listening to a fairy tale,	32:01
	we sense that in that world,	32:03
	as distinct from our own,	32:05
	marvelous and impossible things truly happen.	32:07
	Though it is a world where goodness is pitted	32:11
	against evil, and love against hate,	32:13
	and where it may be difficult to be sure	32:17
	who belongs to which side,	32:19
	it still is a world where the battle	32:21
	goes ultimately to the good,	32:24
	and where in the long run,	32:26
	all creatures good and evil alike,	32:28
	are revealed as what they truly are.	32:31
	The ugly duckling becomes a great swan.	32:34
	The frog is revealed to be a prince.	32:38
	And the beautiful but wicked queen	32:40
	is unmasked at last in all her ugliness.	32:42
	In these tales of transformation,	32:47
	Buechner writes, the ones who live happily ever after,	32:49
	as by no means everybody does in fairy tales,	32:53
	are transformed into what they have it in them	32:56
	at their best to be.	32:59
	The beast falls sick for love of beauty	33:02
	and lies dying in his garden	33:05
	when she abandons him until she runs out of,	33:07
	returns out of compassion and says,	33:10
	that for all of his ugliness she loves him	33:13
	and will marry him.	33:15
	No sooner has she kissed him on his snout	33:17
	than he himself becomes beautiful	33:20
	with royal blood in his veins.	33:22
	In a story known as The Happy Hypocrite,	33:25
	Buechner tells of a rake named Lord George Hell,	33:28
	who falls in love with a saintly girl.	33:32
	And in order to win her love,	33:35
	covers his bloated features with the mask of a saint.	33:37
	The girl is deceived and becomes his bride,	33:41
	and they live together happily	33:44
	until a woman from his wicked past	33:45
	turns up to expose him for the scoundrel	33:47
	she knows him to be,	33:50
	and challenges him to take off his mask.	33:52
	Having no choice, sadly he takes it off.	33:56
	And lo, the saint's mask is the face	34:00
	of the saint he has become by wearing it in love.	34:03
	One of the great masters of the modern fairy tale,	34:09
	J.R.R. Tolkien, writes of this quality,	34:12
	when he says, "The fairy tale does not	34:15
	deny the existence of sorrow and failure.	34:18
	The possibility of these is necessary	34:20
	to the joy of the deliverance.	34:23
	Rather it desires universal final defeat.	34:25
	Giving a fleeting glimpse of joy,	34:29
	joy beyond the walls of the world,	34:31
	poignant as grief."	34:34
	As Buechner interprets it, fairy tales	34:37
	offer us an acceptable way to believe in happiness	34:39
	which is both inevitable and endless.	34:43
	Let there be doubt that the world where this happiness	34:47
	happens is as full of darkness as our own world,	34:50
	which is why these stories are as poignant as grief	34:54
	and bring tears to our eyes.	34:57
	Tears to our eyes because it might so easily	35:00
	not have happened	35:03
	because there are the wicked ones to whom	35:04
	it does not happen,	35:07
	because darkness persists right alongside happiness.	35:08
	Still the tears that come at the climax	35:13
	of a fairy tale are essentially joyous ones	35:17
	because we have caught a glimpse of,	35:20
	however fleeting, triumph,	35:22
	if not of goodness, at least of hope,	35:25
	our hearts, if not our heads, are converted	35:28
	to a better way.	35:32
	Why do we let ourselves believe when we hear	35:35
	a fairy tale and hold ourselves back	35:37
	when we hear the gospel?	35:40
	How tragic when we in the church,	35:43
	stewards of the greatest mystery of all,	35:46
	are tempted to reduce the deep mystery of our faith	35:49
	to a manageable size.	35:51
	When the message of the gospel calls us to do	35:54
	just the opposite.	35:56
	Ask and it will be given to you.	35:58
	Seek and you will find.	36:00
	"Truly I say to you,	36:03
	if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,	36:04
	you will say to this mountain,	36:08
	'Remove hence to yonder place,'	36:09
	and it will be moved,	36:11
	and nothing will be impossible to you.'	36:13
	They who believe in me, though they die,	36:16
	yet shall they love."	36:19
	The wild and joyful promise of the gospel	36:22
	is too easily reduced to promises more easily kept.	36:24
	The faith that can raise the dead becomes faith	36:29
	that can only make life more bearable until death.	36:32
	The promise of Easter challenges us	36:38
	to move beyond our "I wasn't born yesterday,	36:40
	I'm from Missouri" attitude.	36:42
	In our heart of hearts we are also from somewhere else.	36:45
	We're from the Land of Oz,	36:50
	from Narnia,	36:52
	from Middle Earth,	36:54
	where we're free to believe more than we ever	36:55
	were allowed to dream before.	36:57
	If with part of ourselves we are men and women	37:00
	of the world who share the unbelief of the world.	37:03
	With a deeper part still,	37:08
	the part where our best dreams come from,	37:10
	it as if we were indeed born yesterday,	37:13
	or almost yesterday,	37:16
	because we are also all of us children still.	37:18
	No matter how forgotten and neglected,	37:23
	there is a child in each one of us	37:26
	who lives in a world where nothing is too familiar	37:28
	or unpromising	37:31
	to open up into a deep and transforming mystery,	37:33
	and once we've stepped into it,	37:37
	the world in which we always thought we lived	37:39
	can never entirely be home again.	37:42
	Remember Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz?	37:45
	Even after she returned to Kansas,	37:48
	she keeps coming back again and again to Oz	37:51
	in the books that follow,	37:54
	because Oz not Kansas is where he heart is after all.	37:56
	Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe,	38:03
	Jesus said to Thomas.	38:08
	It isn't necessary or even possible to prove	38:10
	or explain the truth, for the depth of its mystery	38:13
	lies beyond our capacity to comprehend.	38:17
	Christ calls us simply to become his little children,	38:21
	hungry to hear and ready to receive the deep mystery	38:24
	at the heart of the Christian faith	38:28
	as a rare and precious gift.	38:30
	Darkness and light have met,	38:34
	and the light is the glorious victor.	38:37
	If it's a story too good to believe,	38:41
	it's certainly too good not to believe.	38:44
	Christ is risen indeed.	38:48
	Hallelujah, hallelujah.	38:50
	(organ playing)	38:56
	(organ playing)	39:15
	♪ O sons and daughters, let us sing! ♪	39:25
	♪ The King of heaven, the glorious King ♪	39:32
	♪ Over death today rose triumphing ♪	39:39
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	39:46
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	39:49
	♪ When Thomas first the tidings heard ♪	39:55
	♪ How they had seen the risen Lord ♪	40:02
	♪ He doubted the disciples' word ♪	40:08
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	40:15
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	40:18
	♪ My pierced side, O Thomas, see ♪	40:24
	♪ My hands, My feet, I show to thee ♪	40:31
	♪ Not faithless but believing be ♪	40:38
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	40:45
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	40:48
	♪ No longer Thomas then denied ♪	40:53
	♪ He saw the feet, the hands, the side ♪	41:00
	♪ "Thou art my Lord and God," he cried ♪	41:07
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	41:14
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	41:17
	♪ How blessed are they who have not seen ♪	41:23
	♪ And yet whose faith has constant been ♪	41:29
	♪ For they eternal life shall win ♪	41:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	41:43
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	41:46
-	The Lord be with you.	41:56
Audience	And also with you.	41:58
-	Let us pray.	42:00
	Be seated.	42:01
	God who speaks,	42:11
	God who listens...	42:14
	Having listened to you in word read and word preached,	42:19
	we are bold to ask that you listen to us.	42:25
	Hear us, O God, as we pray for our needs	42:29
	and those of the world.	42:32
	We're only one Sunday away from Easter.	42:36
	And yet it does not take long for Easter power,	42:41
	Easter glory,	42:46
	Easter joy to fade.	42:48
	Therefore we pray, give us that	42:53
	which we cannot have on our own.	42:55
	A sure and living faith in you	43:00
	and your love and righteousness.	43:02
	Our Lord is risen.	43:08
	He has returned to his frightened disciples	43:10
	to encourage them.	43:12
	And yet our church	43:16
	locks its doors...	43:18
	Trembles in uncertainty,	43:21
	mutes its voice.	43:25
	Therefore we pray,	43:28
	give us a church	43:31
	which is bold,	43:34
	outspoken,	43:37
	courageous, to speak and to embody your truth.	43:39
	Give us a church	43:45
	which dares to be as disruptive as you were on Easter.	43:48
	We pray for those who, despite Easter,	43:54
	continue to suffer, and who suffer this day.	43:58
	We pray for the suffering refugees in Iraq.	44:04
	We pray for the sick in body or mind,	44:10
	particularly those who are ill or under treatment	44:13
	in the Duke hospitals, who worship with us.	44:16
	We pray for victims of violence.	44:22
	Whether it be violence sanctioned and justified	44:25
	by governments...	44:28
	Or violence at the hands of spouses,	44:31
	parents or children in the home...	44:35
	Especially in this place	44:40
	do we pray this day for all students.	44:43
	Living at a confusing and exciting time in life.	44:46
	Students exposed to so much.	44:53
	Uncertain of their future,	44:56
	daily put to the test.	44:59
	Be with all those who study at this	45:02
	and other places of learning.	45:06
	One week away from Easter, O God, it amazes us	45:10
	how quickly faith begins to fade.	45:15
	We hear the Easter message of life	45:19
	and wonder if it is too good to be true.	45:22
	And so our prayer to you, O God,	45:28
	lifting up to you some of the pain still present	45:29
	in a post-Easter world,	45:32
	our prayer is prayed in the conviction	45:35
	that you are Lord of life.	45:39
	That you are God over death and sin.	45:43
	That the facts of death and sin to which the world	45:49
	would have us adjust,	45:53
	these facts do not have the last word.	45:55
	And that Easter is both good and true.	46:00
	And as witness to the reality of Easter,	46:08
	we have prayed that your Easter power	46:12
	might be released in all places of life.	46:15
	Amen.	46:21
	As a forgiven, reconciled, resurrected people,	46:25
	I remind you that all of today's offerings	46:29
	will go for the Crop Blanket appeal	46:34
	to alleviate suffering around the world.	46:37
	(organ playing)	46:54
	(choir singing in Latin)	47:05
	(choir singing in Latin)	47:20
	(choir singing in Latin)	47:31
	(choir singing in Latin)	47:43
	(choir singing in Latin)	47:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:07
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:15
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:20
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:26
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:32
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:35
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	48:40
	(choir singing in Latin)	48:46
	(choir singing in Latin)	48:59
	(choir singing Latin)	49:12
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:34
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:37
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:40
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:42
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:45
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:48
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:54
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	49:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:02
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:05
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:07
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	50:12
	(organ playing)	50:19
	(organ playing)	50:32
	(organ drowning out choir)	50:53
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:03
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:07
	(organ drowning out choir)	51:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:22
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:28
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:31
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	51:34
-	Please join in the litany of thanksgiving.	51:48
	Haga wandered in the desert	51:51
	with nothing to shield her child	51:53
	from the broiling sun.	51:55
	(muffled audience response)	51:57
	After the flood, God sent a rainbow of hope	52:03
	and promise.	52:06
	(muffled audience response)	52:07
	Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, a refugee with nothing.	52:19
	(muffled audience response)	52:23
	The Good Samaritan covered the wounds of a beaten man	52:30
	and took him to be cared for.	52:34
	(muffled audience response)	52:37
	After He had risen,	52:46
	Jesus returned to his followers,	52:48
	charging them to care for his sheep.	52:50
	(muffled audience response)	52:52
	Jesus' name we offer these gifts	53:03
	of healing and patience.	53:05
	Amen.	53:08
	Our father who art in Heaven,	53:10
	hallowed be thy name,	53:13
	thy kingdom come,	53:15
	thy will be done,	53:17
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	53:18
	Give us this day our daily bread	53:21
	and forgive us our trespasses,	53:23
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	53:25
	and lead us not into temptation,	53:28
	but deliver us from evil.	53:31
	Thine is infinite power and glory forever.	53:34
	Amen.	53:39
	Now may be the grace of our risen Lord and savior,	53:42
	Jesus Christ, go with you and be with you	53:45
	now and always.	53:48
	(organ playing)	53:52
	(choir vocalizing)	53:56
	(organ playing)	54:15
	(organ playing)	54:32
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	54:47
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	54:51
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	54:55
	♪ The strife is over ♪	55:02
	♪ The battle done ♪	55:06
	♪ The victory of life is won ♪	55:10
	♪ The song of triumph has begun ♪	55:17
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	55:25
	♪ The powers of death have done their worst ♪	55:33
	♪ But Christ their legions has dispersed ♪	55:40
	♪ Let shouts of holy joy outburst ♪	55:48
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	55:56
	♪ The three sad days are quickly sped ♪	56:03
	♪ He rises glorious from the dead ♪	56:11
	♪ All glory to our risen head ♪	56:20
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	56:28
	♪ Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee ♪	56:36
	♪ From death's dread sting thy servants free ♪	56:43
	♪ That we may live and sing to thee ♪	56:51
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	56:59
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	57:07
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	57:11
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	57:15
	(organ playing)	57:33
	(organ playing)	57:50
	(organ playing)	58:07
	(organ playing)	58:24
	(organ playing)	58:46
	(organ playing)	59:01

Item Info

Title:

Nancy Ferree-Clark - "Too Good to Be True?" (April 7, 1991)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 20:01. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 38:55.
Focusing on doubting Thomas' inability to believe without and Buechner's work on gospel as fairytale, Ferree-Clark encourages listeners to embrace the great mystery of the resurrection. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: It isn’t necessary or even possible to prove or explain the truth, for the depth of its mystery lies beyond our capacity to comprehend. We are simply to be come as little children, hungry to hear and ready to receive the deep mystery at the heart of the Christian faith as a rare and precious gift. Darkness and light have met, and the light is thte glorious victor. If it’sa story too good to believe, it’s certainly too good not to believe!

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4fq9qm10

Date:

April 7, 1991

Speaker:

Ferree-Clark, Nancy

Liturgical Calendar:

Easter

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0229
ref8928_hw3
uachapelsermaud
duke:321426
dcrmv001219
ark:/87924/r4fq9qm10
593ffc50-3976-4b79-b353-2878bd8ba451

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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English

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United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

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Nancy Ferree-Clark - "Too Good to Be True?" (April 7, 1991)

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