John M. Stapleton - "The Ultimate Sovereignty" (June 30, 1991)

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	(organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning and welcome to worship	6:04
	in the Duke University Chapel.	6:05
	Only those of you who've worshiped here over several years	6:08
	can fully appreciate the comfort of this room.	6:10
	Those of us who antedate the air conditioning system here	6:13
	are particularly grateful this day	6:16
	when the weather forecast promises 90 degrees,	6:18
	that we have air conditioning comfort in which to worship.	6:22
	It's always a pleasure and privilege	6:25
	for me to participate in the service.	6:27
	Today especially so because I have the honor	6:29
	of presenting to you our new Assistant Dean of the Chapel	6:32
	and Director of Religious Life,	6:37
	the Reverend Debra Brazzel.	6:40
	Reverend Brazzel comes to us from the Dallas area	6:42
	where she trained for ministry	6:46
	at Perkins School of Theology	6:48
	at Southern Methodist University,	6:51
	where she was a campus minister	6:54
	and served on the staff of a local church.	6:56
	And most recently, was director of the Bethlehem Center,	6:59
	which is a center focusing upon inner city ministry	7:03
	in the city of Dallas.	7:08
	For those of you who have been parts	7:11
	of certain committees know what an anxious time it is	7:13
	when there's a change of staff.	7:16
	It has been, for those of us close to the chapel,	7:17
	and we were delighted that	7:21
	we had a number of strong candidates,	7:22
	but delighted more so that Debra accepted the invitation	7:26
	of the University to assume this position.	7:29
	Debra, we welcome you and the wonderful gifts you bring,	7:32
	and welcome you to this community.	7:35
-	Thank you.	7:37
-	So glad to have you.
	We also welcome today as our preacher,	7:40
	the Revered John Stapleton,	7:42
	who was pastor at the Trinity United Methodist Church	7:44
	in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.	7:47
	Those of us in theological education	7:50
	and ordained ministry have known his name	7:53
	from publications and teaching,	7:55
	so it's a real treat to have him with us today.	7:57
	Both Dr. Stapleton and Reverend Brazzel	7:59
	will be glad to greet you in the rear of the chapel	8:02
	at the end of the service.	8:07
	By the way, I did forget to mention,	8:10
	and let me do mention at this time,	8:12
	that Debra is married to Mr. Geoffrey Dunkak,	8:13
	and they are now living in their home.	8:18
	Actually, Debra's been here for a couple of weeks already.	8:19
-	Two weeks.	8:23
-	So.
	Thank you, Debra.	8:24
-	Thank you.
-	One announcement that is not in the bulletin	8:25
	that you might like to know about,	8:27
	there will be a choir songfest this afternoon at 6:00 pm	8:31
	to benefit the homeless shelter.	8:35
	The songfest will be at Mount Gilead Church	8:38
	at 404 Dowd Street.	8:41
	Participating choirs are Mount Gilead,	8:43
	the Greater Joy Choir, and the Mount Zoar Choir.	8:46
	The preacher for the occasion will be	8:50
	the Reverend James Daniel of the Mount Gilead church.	8:51
	So would you stand.	9:01
	Lift up your heads, o' people of God,	9:07
	to meet the glorious ruler of all worlds.	9:09
	(congregation answering)	9:13
	Who shall ascend to the hill of God	9:19
	and who shall stand in God's holy place?	9:21
Congregation	Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.	9:25
-	Make merry before God with all your being.	9:31
	Praise God with instruments and singing.	9:33
	(congregation answering)	9:37
	(organ music)	9:46
	♪ Immortal, invisible, god only wise ♪	10:15
	♪ In light inaccessible hid from our eyes ♪	10:22
	♪ Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days ♪	10:30
	♪ Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise ♪	10:37
	♪ Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light ♪	10:46
	♪ Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might ♪	10:53
	♪ Thy justice like mountains high soaring above ♪	11:01
	♪ Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love ♪	11:08
	♪ To all life Thou givest, to both great and small ♪	11:18
	♪ In all life Thou livest, the true life of all ♪	11:25
	♪ We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree ♪	11:32
	♪ And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee ♪	11:39
	♪ Great Father of glory, pure Father of light ♪	12:47
	♪ Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight ♪	12:54
	♪ All praise we would render; O help us to see ♪	13:02
	♪ 'Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee ♪	13:09
-	Let us pray.	13:24
	Oh God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments	13:26
	by loving you and our neighbor.	13:29
	Grant us the grace of your holy spirit	13:32
	that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart,	13:35
	and united to one another with pure affection	13:38
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	13:42
	who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit,	13:43
	one God forever and ever, amen.	13:47
-	Let us pray.	14:03
All	Open our hearts and minds oh god,	14:09
	by the power of your holy spirit,	14:12
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	14:15
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen.	14:19
-	The first reading is taken from II Book of Samuel.	14:27
	In this passage, David is attempting to	14:30
	more firmly establish his monarchy	14:33
	by making Jerusalem the religious center	14:36
	for a United Israel.	14:39
	He has already captured Jerusalem	14:41
	and declared it the political capital for his monarchy	14:45
	in his efforts to strengthen his new rule	14:47
	over the northern and southern tribes of Israel.	14:50
	To accomplish this, David is moving the Ark,	14:53
	the symbol of God's covenant with Israel, to Jerusalem.	14:57
	Listen now for the word of God.	15:01
	David, again, gathered all	15:06
	the chosen people of Israel, 30,000.	15:08
	David and all the people with him set out	15:12
	and from Baalah in Judah to bring up from there	15:15
	the Ark of God, which is called by the name	15:18
	of the Lord of Hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim.	15:22
	They carried the Ark of God on a new cart	15:26
	and brought it out of the house of Abinadab,	15:29
	which was on the hill.	15:31
	Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab,	15:33
	were driving the new cart with the Ark of God,	15:36
	and Ahio went in front of the Ark.	15:39
	David and all the house of Israel were dancing	15:42
	before the Lord with all their might,	15:45
	with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines	15:47
	and castanets and cymbals.	15:52
	When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon,	15:55
	Uzzah reached out his hand to the Ark of God	15:58
	and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it.	16:00
	The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah,	16:04
	and God struck him there	16:07
	because he reached out his hand to the Ark,	16:08
	and he died there beside the Ark of God.	16:11
	David was angry because the Lord had burst forth	16:15
	with an outburst upon Uzzah,	16:18
	so that place is called Perez-uzzah, to this day.	16:20
	David was afraid of the Lord that day.	16:25
	He said, how can the Ark of the Lord come into my care?	16:28
	So David was unwilling to take the Ark of Lord	16:32
	into his care in the City of David.	16:35
	Instead, David took it to the house	16:39
	of Obed-edom, the Gittite.	16:41
	The Ark of Lord remained in the house	16:44
	of the Obed-edom the Gittite three months,	16:46
	and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.	16:49
	It was told King David, the Lord has blessed	16:53
	the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him	16:56
	because of the Ark of God.	17:00
	So David went and brought up the Ark of God	17:02
	from the house of Obed-edom	17:04
	to the City of David with rejoicing.	17:06
	And when those who bore the Ark of the Lord	17:09
	had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.	17:11
	David danced before the Lord with all his might.	17:17
	David was girded with a linen ephod,	17:21
	so David and all the house of Israel	17:23
	brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting	17:27
	and with the sound of the trumpet.	17:29
	This is the word of the Lord.	17:33
Congregation	This is the word.	17:36
-	Please stand for the singing of the Psalm,	17:48
	which is found on page 755.	17:50
	(organ music)	17:57
	♪ The Earth is the Lord's ♪	18:03
	♪ And the fullness thereof ♪	18:05
	♪ The world and all who dwell therein ♪	18:09
	♪ Our God has founded it upon the seas ♪	18:13
	♪ And established upon the waters ♪	18:18
	♪ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord ♪	18:23
	♪ Who may stand in His holy place ♪	18:27
	♪ Those who have clean hands and pure hearts ♪	18:33
	♪ Who does not lift up his soul to an idol ♪	18:38
	♪ Or swear deceitfully ♪	18:44
	♪ They will receive blessing from the Lord ♪	18:48
	♪ And vindication from the God of their salvation ♪	18:53
	♪ Such is the generation of those who seek the Lord ♪	18:58
	♪ Who seek Your face, O God of Jacob ♪	19:04
	♪ Lift up your heads, O gates ♪	19:10
	♪ And be lifted up, O ancient doors ♪	19:13
	♪ That the ruler of glory may come in ♪	19:18
	♪ Who is the ruler of glory ♪	19:23
	♪ The Lord is strong and mighty ♪	19:27
	♪ The Lord mighty in battle ♪	19:30
	♪ Lift up your heads, O gates ♪	19:34
	♪ Be lifted up O ancient doors ♪	19:37
	♪ That the ruler of glory may come in ♪	19:43
	♪ Who is this ruler of glory ♪	19:48
	♪ The Lord of hosts ♪	19:53
	♪ Our God is the King of Glory ♪	19:55
	♪ All glory be to You O God ♪	20:01
	♪ And to Jesus Christ, our savior ♪	20:04
	♪ O Holy Spirit, the Trinity ♪	20:08
	♪ As it was since time began ♪	20:15
	♪ It is now and will be forever more ♪	20:19
-	Our second reading is from Paul's second letter	20:40
	to the Corinthians, hear now the word of God.	20:43
	Now as you excel in everything,	20:47
	in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost earnestness,	20:49
	and in our love for you,	20:54
	so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.	20:56
	I do not say this as a command,	21:01
	but I am testing the genuineness of your love	21:03
	against the earnestness of others.	21:07
	For you know the generous act of our Lord, Jesus Christ,	21:09
	that though he was rich, for your sakes, He became poor	21:13
	so that by his poverty, you might become rich.	21:17
	And in this matter, I am giving my advice.	21:21
	It is appropriate for you,	21:25
	who began last year not only to do something,	21:27
	but even to desire to do something.	21:30
	Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness	21:33
	and your earnestness may be matched	21:38
	by completing it according to your needs.	21:39
	For if the eagerness is there,	21:43
	the gift is acceptable according to what one has,	21:45
	not according to what one does not have.	21:49
	I do not mean that there should be relief	21:52
	for others and pressure on you,	21:54
	but it is a question of a fair balance	21:56
	between your present abundance and their need	21:59
	so that their abundance may be for your need	22:03
	in order that there may be a fair balance.	22:07
	As it is written, the one who had much,	22:10
	did not have too much,	22:14
	and the one who had little,	22:17
	did not have too little.	22:19
	This is the word of the Lord.	22:22
Congregation	This is the Word.	22:25
	(organ music)	22:35
	♪ Hear my prayer, O God ♪	22:59
	♪ Turn not from me ♪	23:04
	♪ Hearken unto the voice of my supplication ♪	23:11
	♪ I will call on God ♪	23:24
	♪ He alone will be my salvation ♪	23:29
	♪ He endureth ♪	23:39
	♪ He endureth for all generations ♪	23:45
	♪ O Lord Almighty, turn not ♪	23:57
	♪ Turn not Thyself from me ♪	24:06
	♪ Turn not Thyself from me ♪	24:13
	♪ I pray Thee, O Lord God ♪	24:20
	♪ O hear my prayer ♪	24:28
	♪ O hear my prayer ♪	24:35
-	This reading is taken from the Gospel	25:18
	according to Saint Mark.	25:20
	Listen now for God's word to us, this day.	25:21
	Now there was a woman who had been suffering	25:26
	from hemorrhages for 12 years.	25:28
	She had endured much under many physicians,	25:32
	and had spent all that she had,	25:35
	and she was no better, but rather grew worse.	25:37
	She had heard about Jesus	25:43
	and came up behind Him in the crowd	25:44
	and touched his cloak.	25:47
	For she said, if I but touch his clothes,	25:49
	I will be made well.	25:52
	Immediately her hemorrhage stopped,	25:55
	and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.	25:57
	Immediately aware that power had gone forth from Him,	26:03
	Jesus turned about in the crowd and said,	26:06
	Who touched my clothes?	26:09
	And His disciples said to Him,	26:12
	you see the crowd pressing in on you,	26:14
	how can you say, who touched me?	26:16
	But Jesus looked all around to see who had done it.	26:19
	The woman, knowing what had happened to her,	26:24
	came in fear and trembling, fell down before Him,	26:27
	and told Him the whole truth.	26:31
	He said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well.	26:34
	Go in peace and be healed of your disease.	26:40
	This is the word of the Lord.	26:45
Congregation	This is the word.	26:48
-	Once more, let us be together in prayer.	26:59
	Almighty God, you have indeed promised	27:04
	that you would not turn your face from us.	27:08
	So now in words, let us hear your word.	27:12
	Dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.	27:17
	In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.	27:22
	Duke Chapel, Duke University,	27:32
	June 30th, 1991.	27:36
	A few million years, and here we are,	27:42
	some would say, beasts, who have learned something	27:46
	about love and other important matters.	27:50
	And learned the rather delicate art of shaving.	27:54
	Here we are, picking out just here and there,	28:01
	almost 1,500 years,	28:07
	as Augustine was writing the City of God,	28:10
	as the barbarians were overwhelming Rome.	28:14
	A few hundred years into what has been called	28:19
	the Scientific Revolution.	28:22
	About 100 years of Freudian psychology.	28:26
	14th year since the death of Elvis Presley.	28:31
	(audience laughing)	28:34
	11th year of the reign of Saddam Hussein.	28:38
	I was rather interested to note the other day	28:45
	that it's the 54th year or,	28:47
	if I'm not completely wrong,	28:50
	the 54th year of someone named Jane Fonda.	28:52
	Second year or so of Madonna-mania.	28:58
	A third or fourth year of Gorby-mania.	29:04
	About the third year of the term	29:08
	of our brother and President, George Bush.	29:10
	But also, June 30th,	29:16
	the 1991st year	29:20
	of the reign of Jesus Christ,	29:23
	and still world struggles with the issues of sovereignty.	29:27
	Forgive my poor words, but when I say that,	29:34
	I have something in mind like	29:37
	who is really in charge of things?	29:39
	Who really reigns?	29:42
	To whom does the Earth really belong?	29:45
	To whom do I belong and to whom do you belong?	29:50
	Who really is in charge of it all?	29:55
	What is going on?	29:58
	What values really count?	30:02
	What finally can we ultimately, all of us, depend on.	30:05
	What is finally and conclusively	30:09
	and ultimately sovereign?	30:12
	Those are the questions among all of others	30:17
	that the world and people like us keep struggling with.	30:20
	But am I wrong, am I not right to say,	30:27
	totally right to say that for people like us,	30:30
	when the questions come and the perplexities arise,	30:33
	we know very well, do we not, how to respond?	30:37
	Are we not kin?	30:44
	And do we not experience the same compulsions,	30:45
	and I do call them that,	30:51
	the same compulsions that those Jews felt	30:54
	as in their worship, the Psalm that we sang	30:59
	just a moment ago, emerged?	31:02
	With us it's probably something like	31:09
	getting up this morning, waking up this morning,	31:11
	hopping out of bed,	31:17
	some of us dragging out of bed,	31:20
	others of us staggering out of bed,	31:23
	some of us, if you're like me,	31:27
	you just kind of very carefully roll over	31:30
	and get up very carefully.	31:33
	And yet, there it was about that as the sun came,	31:38
	inevitably, under or into the window.	31:42
	The sun, inevitably, into the window,	31:47
	a kind of compulsiveness about it,	31:49
	and I found, as I suspect some of you found,	31:53
	being who you are, a people of faith,	31:57
	and being who I am, a man of faith,	32:01
	poor as all of our faith can be.	32:03
	Something like this is the day the Lord hath made,	32:07
	stumbling into the shower,	32:13
	and sometimes I have found,	32:17
	and I suspect you have found,	32:19
	that faith comes over us almost like a song	32:22
	in the shower when you don't always even remember the words.	32:26
	And even if it's not a song of faith,	32:32
	maybe a song of faith interrupts that song,	32:33
	or at least a memory of that song of faith,	32:37
	and you find yourself saying almost despite yourself,	32:42
	the Earth is Lord's, the fullness thereof.	32:47
	You get breakfast, if you're a breakfast person,	32:54
	you get with your companion,	32:57
	come to church maybe, or just by yourself,	32:59
	you come with, I dare say,	33:04
	I will be bold enough to say,	33:07
	with a certain thrill of anticipation,	33:09
	a certain race of the heart,	33:12
	a certain compulsion, to use the word again, of the heart.	33:15
	You almost can't help it and you come,	33:20
	and as you walk into this place	33:23
	and you hear the bells ringing	33:24
	and you hear the organ playing,	33:26
	there is something in your heart that says,	33:28
	lift up your head, ye gates.	33:31
	Be lifted up, o ancient doors.	33:34
	You come into this place	33:40
	singing a song of praise.	33:43
	Don't get me wrong.	33:49
	I'm not saying that you did not come without any doubts,	33:52
	but I am saying you came in spite your doubts.	33:57
	Do not get me wrong.	34:03
	I did not say that you did not come	34:06
	perhaps dragging a set of despair and impediment.	34:08
	Despair, broken kingdoms, defeated rules,	34:13
	empty, meaningless relationships,	34:20
	and yet somehow you gathered that despair up into your faith	34:24
	and you brought it into this place, almost,	34:29
	maybe completely,	34:33
	because you really just couldn't help it.	34:35
	Maybe you did come in a kind of stupor,	34:40
	and yet you knew that here you would find a certain clarity.	34:44
	You did come full of perplexities, full of confusions,	34:49
	dragging a whole bunch of tragedies,	34:54
	and yet, and yet you couldn't quite help it.	34:58
	Lift up your heads, o ye gates,	35:03
	and be ye lifted up, the everlasting doors.	35:07
	Faith is like that, praise is like that.	35:12
	It comes over us, it requires us,	35:17
	it brings us in here to this place,	35:20
	regardless sometimes, and in spite of,	35:25
	and because of doubts, despair,	35:30
	perplexities, confusion.	35:35
	But for us professedly Christians,	35:40
	and there is something else,	35:43
	who is this ruler of glory?	35:46
	The Psalm requires that the ruler of glory may come in,	35:50
	everybody wants that ruler to come in,	35:54
	everybody sang it, everybody was yearning for it,	35:59
	everybody's hoping for it.	36:02
	But we Christians have always found in this psalm	36:06
	a certain intensification.	36:09
	It has enlarged itself.	36:12
	We have had to enlarge it to embrace Jesus Christ	36:14
	as the ruler of glory, as the ultimate sovereign.	36:20
	Again, we need to be very careful here, do we not?	36:27
	This is not rulers as we think of rulers,	36:32
	Kings and Queens as we ordinarily think Kings and Queens.	36:35
	No, this is a ruler who came to give his life	36:41
	as a ransom for many.	36:45
	This is a ruler who became obedient unto death,	36:48
	a ruler born of a lowly peasant woman,	36:52
	a ruler who was rich,	36:57
	so as the Church reflected,	37:01
	was rich, but for our sakes,	37:04
	became poor.	37:08
	Obedient unto death, carrying the burden	37:12
	of the world's sin unto His cross.	37:16
	And even in the psalm, the early church decided very quickly	37:21
	that it was not just a psalm to be sung	37:27
	proclaiming the rule of Jesus Christ in places like this,	37:30
	and in worlds like ours,	37:34
	but even into the depths of hell,	37:37
	even to hell,	37:42
	Jesus Christ was ruler of glory.	37:45
	Yeah, that's who we are.	37:52
	And so we come here, how many of us,	37:55
	not having some time	37:59
	experienced to the incalculable	38:00
	and inevitable claim of His life	38:05
	upon our life?	38:09
	How many of us?	38:11
	How many of us have not come to this place	38:13
	having experienced His forgiveness?	38:17
	He knows that He can forgive us,	38:22
	and we have felt our sins forgiven.	38:26
	We know that,	38:31
	we have allowed Him to touch us.	38:35
	Who can ascend to the holy hill?	38:38
	He who has pure hands and a clean heart.	38:41
	Not always, but the good news of the Gospel is,	38:45
	is that in terms of this psalm,	38:51
	he has descended the hill to us.	38:54
	And if we want to reach forth, like some sick,	38:59
	despairing woman,	39:03
	we too can be forgiven and healed,	39:06
	and we know that we have been forgiven and healed.	39:10
	This is why we are here.	39:14
	How many of us have come here,	39:19
	or some other place,	39:23
	time after time after time,	39:25
	we have come and found that His meaning touches us	39:28
	if we let His meaning touch us?	39:34
	His meaning touches us and gives us courage	39:37
	and hope for the future,	39:41
	the courage to go on living	39:45
	for all of the reasons, despite all the reasons	39:47
	that we have maybe for not living,	39:50
	but we have discovered in Him courage	39:54
	and hope and love.	39:57
	Love surpassing thought and fantasy.	40:01
	All thought, all fantasy,	40:05
	and so Jesus Christ,	40:09
	we say, became flesh, the word became flesh,	40:12
	dwelt among us full of grace and truly greater	40:17
	than our whimsical mercy,	40:21
	greater than our Earthbound moralities,	40:24
	thunder and lightning from the sky have saved us.	40:28
	We have beheld His glory.	40:33
	Glory as of the only begotten son of the Father,	40:37
	and from his fullness have we all	40:41
	received grace upon grace.	40:45
	Duke Chapel, July 30th,	40:53
	1991st year of His reign.	40:57
	This is less a sermon, I guess, than it is a statement	41:06
	of your and my celebration.	41:11
	Who is this ruler of glory?	41:17
	He is Jesus Christ and we are here,	41:21
	almost because we can't help it,	41:26
	despite our despair, despite our doubts,	41:30
	despite all of the reasons we could give	41:33
	and excuses we could manufacture	41:37
	for not being here,	41:40
	but we are here.	41:43
	We can hardly help it.	41:45
	Now there is a kind of hiddenness to this rulership.	41:51
	Not a kind of hiddenness, let's just go ahead and say it is	41:57
	sometimes and often, and more often than not, hidden.	42:00
	And even though it is hidden,	42:06
	we somehow find that we cannot resist the fact	42:07
	that it is truth, it is strict truth,	42:11
	it is truth of truth, it is hope of hopes.	42:15
	It is love of love.	42:20
	We just can't deny that,	42:23
	despite all of the contradictions	42:27
	that human life can throw up against it.	42:30
	Even in the depths of evil,	42:37
	even in the depths of evil it can be experienced,	42:41
	it can be known, it can be hoped for,	42:45
	this rulership of Jesus Christ.	42:50
	Let me explain.	42:57
	I'm sure that some of you have stood,	43:00
	at one time or another, as I stood a few years ago,	43:02
	a little place, a little suburb	43:08
	of Munich, Germany called Dachau.	43:10
	I had taken the subway out there and a bus	43:15
	on a very cold, wintry day.	43:20
	Snow was falling, as the Rosetti poem has it,	43:25
	snow upon snow,	43:30
	a wintry, desolate day.	43:34
	I wandered with just one or two other people	43:38
	into that Death Camp of Hitler's Germany,	43:41
	the scene along with other Death Camps of those days	43:48
	of the awful Holocaust.	43:53
	Six million of God's children had been	43:56
	systematically oppressed, put to death.	43:59
	I wandered by myself and was by myself	44:05
	in the little gas ovens, and I say little.	44:10
	I couldn't imagine that they would have been so small.	44:13
	Let that pass for whatever that means.	44:19
	I saw the shower rooms where innocent people	44:23
	had been taken so called for cleansing purposes,	44:27
	but really so that gas could be released	44:32
	through the shower heads,	44:36
	and they could all be ruthlessly exterminated.	44:38
	I looked up above me and saw gallows,	44:43
	saw gallows where people had been hung,	44:46
	some of them, instead of being gassed.	44:52
	But then again, those little ovens,	44:56
	those gas ovens where some of them,	45:00
	some of them not even completely dead,	45:04
	had been burned, had been cremated.	45:08
	I stood there trying to take it all in.	45:14
	And old poem of TS Eliot came to me.	45:18
	It was a favorite among students of my generation.	45:22
	A lot of us here, I guess, some of us at least	45:27
	have heard that old song.	45:32
	Maybe it's an old, Southern song.	45:34
	♪ Here we go 'round the mulberry bush ♪	45:38
	♪ Here we go 'round the mulberry bush ♪	45:41
	♪ Here we go 'round the mulberry bush ♪	45:44
	♪ So early in the morning ♪	45:46
	Apologies to the singers here.	45:50
	TS Eliot took that old song	45:55
	and put it in a poem of his,	45:57
	and kind of intensified it.	46:00
	He put it this way,	46:03
	♪ Here we go 'round the prickly pear ♪	46:04
	♪ The prickly pear, the prickly pear ♪	46:08
	♪ Here we go 'round the prickly pear ♪	46:11
	♪ At five o'clock in the morning ♪	46:14
	My cliff notes on the poem,	46:19
	other people besides people at Duke read cliff notes.	46:22
	Cliff notes on the poem says	46:27
	there is no physical action in the poem.	46:29
	To which, with my lay response,	46:33
	I'm tempted to say, nonsense.	46:35
	Around and 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round	46:39
	and 'round and 'round a meaningless existence,	46:42
	except in the Eliot poem that bores on through,	46:45
	bores and bores and bores down into another world	46:48
	with his images of dying stars and shadowy kingdoms	46:55
	of dead valleys, of tumid rivers.	47:02
	'Round and 'round and 'round and 'round,	47:07
	and for my generation,	47:12
	and for the generation of our fathers and mothers,	47:14
	the poem itself bores on through until it ends.	47:18
	Same cadence, same rhythm.	47:24
	♪ This is the way the world ends ♪	47:29
	♪ This is the way the world ends ♪	47:32
	♪ This is the way the world ends ♪	47:36
	♪ Not with a bang, ♪	47:40
	♪ but a whimper ♪	47:44
	Somebody who knows more about poetry than I do,	47:51
	I guess, writing in a recent issue	47:54
	of The New Yorker Magazine said TS Eliot is too tame now	47:56
	for the savagery we have accumulated.	48:01
	I'm not so sure.	48:05
	At least he wasn't for me.	48:08
	I am not aware,	48:10
	I am not aware that any death, however explosive,	48:12
	does not end sometimes with an uttered sigh,	48:15
	sometimes with an unuttered sigh.	48:20
	I am not sure that anyone, at any death,	48:23
	does not end ones world, not with a bang,	48:27
	but a whimper.	48:33
	I'll swear to you, at least that's all	48:37
	I could think about that day as I stood there	48:40
	in the gas ovens.	48:44
	And then I'll swear to you again,	48:46
	I'll swear to you again as I stood there all by myself,	48:49
	whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know.	48:55
	But I'll swear to you that I heard music.	48:59
	Music from way up high, high, high music,	49:04
	maybe like children's voices,	49:09
	maybe like angels voices, unearthly voices,	49:12
	up high and descending down in curling,	49:17
	wafting like smoke, in and around,	49:21
	and in and around those little gas ovens.	49:25
	Music, it went like this.	49:30
	Same cadence, same rhythm.	49:35
	♪ For thine is the Kingdom ♪	49:39
	♪ The power and the glory ♪	49:44
	♪ For thine is the kingdom ♪	49:48
	♪ Forever and forever ♪	49:53
	Even in a place like that,	50:02
	even in a life like that,	50:04
	even in a situation like that,	50:07
	even an experience like that,	50:09
	even there, we have discovered	50:12
	and can discover	50:17
	the good news of the rulership of Christ.	50:19
	Your program notes state that I was once	50:27
	a member of the faculty at Emory University.	50:32
	And a time came when we decided we needed	50:37
	to break ground for a chapel,	50:41
	and we were able to get,	50:46
	because of His close ties	50:50
	with the university and other persons there,	50:52
	we were able to get there one of George's favorite sons	50:56
	to come and break ground for us.	51:01
	A favorite son by the name of Jimmy Carter	51:05
	then President of the United States.	51:09
	What a flurry of preparations there were	51:14
	to get ready for Jimmy, if we dared call him that.	51:19
	A flurry of preparations,	51:24
	and I will never forget,	51:25
	that we were sitting there in that great hall	51:27
	waiting for him,	51:32
	all of us blase academics,	51:35
	of us objectively thinking people,	51:40
	and we couldn't help ourselves.	51:44
	We almost felt impelled to celebrate,	51:46
	we really couldn't help ourselves,	51:50
	one of the members, a native German on our faculty,	51:53
	said, trying to explain his own feelings and our feelings.	51:59
	"There is something," he says, "about power.	52:02
	"There is something about ze power of ze state."	52:05
	He grew up in Hitler's Germany, he should know.	52:09
	And that awesome feeling we had as we sat there,	52:13
	pins and needles, and finally the word came	52:19
	out of the Heavens, Ladies and Gentlemen,	52:23
	the President of the United States.	52:28
	And he came striding in,	52:34
	and we almost couldn't help ourselves.	52:37
	We had to get to our feet and cheer and applaud.	52:40
	Now, that's as true as it goes,	52:48
	friends.	52:53
	June 30th, 1991,	52:55
	ladies and gentlemen,	53:02
	Jesus Christ, the savior,	53:05
	the ruler of the world.	53:10
	That, too, ladies and gentlemen,	53:15
	more than anything else, that, too,	53:19
	more than anything else.	53:23
	Let us pray.	53:32
	Even so, come Lord Jesus,	53:39
	come, amen.	53:45
	(organ music)	53:54
	♪ My faith looks up to thee ♪	54:17
	♪ Thou Lamb of Glory ♪	54:23
	♪ Savior divine ♪	54:28
	♪ Now hear me while I pray ♪	54:34
	♪ Take all my guilt away ♪	54:39
	♪ O let me from this day ♪	54:46
	♪ Be wholly thine ♪	54:51
	♪ May thy rich grace impart ♪	54:59
	♪ Strength to my fainting heart ♪	55:05
	♪ My zeal inspire ♪	55:11
	♪ As thou hast died for me ♪	55:16
	♪ O may my love to thee ♪	55:22
	♪ Pure, warm, and changeless be ♪	55:28
	♪ A living fire ♪	55:34
	♪ While life's dark maze I tread ♪	55:43
	♪ And griefs around me spread ♪	55:49
	♪ Be thou my guide ♪	55:55
	♪ Bid darkness turn to day ♪	56:00
	♪ Wipe sorrow's tears away ♪	56:07
	♪ Nor let me ever stray ♪	56:13
	♪ From thee aside ♪	56:18
	♪ When ends life's transient dream ♪	56:28
	♪ When death's cold, sullen stream ♪	56:34
	♪ Shall o'er me roll ♪	56:39
	♪ Blessed Savior, then in love ♪	56:45
	♪ Fear and distrust remove ♪	56:51
	♪ O bear me safe above ♪	56:58
	♪ A ransomed soul ♪	57:03
-	The Lord be with you.	57:15
	Let us pray.	57:18
	O ruler of the universe, o savior of the world,	57:35
	remember the peoples of the world divided	57:41
	into many nations and tongues.	57:44
	We remember them.	57:47
	Deliver us from every evil	57:50
	which obstructs your saving purpose	57:51
	and fulfill your promises of old	57:55
	to establish your kingdom of peace.	57:58
	O prince of peace, deliver us from the curse of war	58:03
	and all that it unleashes upon your good creation.	58:08
	Lord, in your mercy,	58:14
All	Hear our prayer.	58:17
-	O source of truth and righteousness,	58:20
	deliver us from perpetuating unflattering	58:23
	and distorting stereotypes of other peoples and nations.	58:27
	Lord, in your mercy,	58:33
All	Hear our prayer.	58:35
-	O sovereign God of every nation and race,	58:39
	deliver us from narrow loyalties	58:43
	and selfish isolation.	58:46
	Lord, in your mercy,	58:51
All	Hear our prayer.	58:54
-	O thou who emptied and humbled yourself	58:58
	out of love for sinners,	59:00
	deliver us from fear and distrust	59:03
	of other nations and peoples,	59:05
	from false pride, from self-deceit.	59:09
	Lord, in your mercy,	59:16
All	Hear our prayer.	59:18
-	O fount of every blessing,	59:22
	giver of every good gift, deliver us from lust	59:24
	for riches and power which divide the peoples everywhere	59:29
	from your love, with an everlasting love.	59:35
	Lord, in your mercy,	59:40
All	Hear our prayer.	59:43
-	Suffering servant who is exalted on a humiliating cross,	59:47
	that we might be recipients of your incomprehensible love,	59:52
	save us from confidence and weapons of war,	59:57
	and from want of faith and the power	1:00:02
	of God's justice and gracious will.	1:00:05
	Lord, in your mercy,	1:00:11
All	Hear our prayer.	1:00:14
-	Holy spirit, advocate, and comforter	1:00:17
	of those who call upon you in faith,	1:00:20
	deliver us from every thought, word, and deed	1:00:24
	which divide the human family	1:00:29
	and separate us from the realization	1:00:32
	of your love in this life.	1:00:34
	Lord, in your mercy,	1:00:40
All	Hear our prayer.	1:00:43
-	Amen.	1:00:45
	Our Lord said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.	1:00:49
	It is our privilege to worship God	1:00:53
	through the offering of our gifts.	1:00:56
	(organ music)	1:01:11
	♪ Lift up your heads ♪	1:01:57
	♪ O ye gates ♪	1:01:59
	♪ And be ye lifted up ♪	1:02:02
	♪ Ye everlasting doors ♪	1:02:04
	♪ And the King of glory shall come in ♪	1:02:06
	♪ Who is the King of glory? ♪	1:02:12
	♪ The King of Glory ♪	1:02:16
	♪ Who is the King of Glory ♪	1:02:18
	♪ Who is the King of Glory ♪	1:02:20
	♪ The Lord strong and mighty ♪	1:02:23
	♪ The Lord strong and mighty ♪	1:02:25
	♪ Strong and mighty in battle ♪	1:02:28
	♪ Lift up your heads ♪	1:02:30
	♪ O ye gates ♪	1:02:33
	♪ And be lifted up ♪	1:02:35
	♪ Ye everlasting doors ♪	1:02:37
	♪ And the King of Glory shall come in ♪	1:02:40
	♪ And the King of Glory shall come in ♪	1:02:44
	♪ Who is the King of Glory ♪	1:02:49
	♪ Who is the King of Glory ♪	1:02:52
	♪ Who is the King of Glory ♪	1:02:54
	♪ The Lord of all of Hosts ♪	1:02:56
	♪ The Lord of all Hosts ♪	1:03:01
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:06
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:09
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:11
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:14
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:17
	♪ The King of Glory ♪	1:03:19
	♪ The Lord of all Hosts ♪
	♪ He is the King of all of Hosts ♪	1:03:27
	♪ The Lord mighty ♪	1:03:39
	♪ The King ♪	1:03:41
	♪ Of glory ♪	1:03:43
	♪ The Lord of all ♪	1:03:49
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:53
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:03:56
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:00
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:02
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:05
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:07
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:09
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:17
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:20
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:22
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:24
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:26
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:29
	♪ The Lord of Hosts ♪	1:04:31
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:33
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:41
	♪ He is the King of Glory ♪	1:04:44
	♪ Of Glory ♪	1:04:48
	(organ music)	1:05:04
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:05:38
	♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪	1:05:44
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:05:51
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:05:53
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessing blow ♪	1:05:58
	♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪	1:06:04
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:11
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:14
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:17
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:20
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:24
-	Let us pray.	1:06:38
	Oh Lord, our sovereign and ruler,	1:06:42
	you are the author of abundant life,	1:06:45
	eager to share your all with all your creatures.	1:06:49
	We bring these gifts to acknowledge our love,	1:06:54
	to thank you that you have equally given	1:06:59
	your abundant self to us.	1:07:02
	Bless our gifts that they may extend your life giving work	1:07:06
	to those with greatest need.	1:07:11
	We pray that as you bless these gifts	1:07:15
	to extend your saving work in your world,	1:07:18
	you will bless us that by your grace,	1:07:23
	we may be agents of your reconciling love.	1:07:27
	Wherever we live and work,	1:07:32
	through Jesus Christ our Lord,	1:07:35
	who taught us when we pray to say,	1:07:38
All	Our father, who art in Heaven.	1:07:42
	Hallowed be thy name,	1:07:45
	they kingdom come, they will be done,	1:07:48
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:07:51
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:07:53
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:07:56
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:07:58
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:08:02
	but deliver us from evil.	1:08:05
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	1:08:07
	and the glory forever, amen.	1:08:10
-	Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,	1:08:15
	the love of God, the rich fellowship	1:08:18
	and communion of the Holy Spirit,	1:08:21
	be with us all this day and forever more.	1:08:23
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:33
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:35
	♪ Amen ♪	1:08:38
	(organ music)	1:08:46
	♪ Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates ♪	1:09:13
	♪ Behold, the King of glory waits ♪	1:09:20
	♪ The King of kings is drawing near ♪	1:09:26
	♪ The Savior of the world is here ♪	1:09:33
	♪ Fling wide the portals of your heart ♪	1:09:43
	♪ Make it a temple, set apart ♪	1:09:49
	♪ From earthly use for heaven's employ ♪	1:09:56
	♪ Adorned with prayer and love and joy ♪	1:10:03
	♪ Redeemer, come, with us abide ♪	1:10:13
	♪ Our hearts to thee we open wide ♪	1:10:19
	♪ Let us thy inner presence feel ♪	1:10:27
	♪ Thy grace and love in us reveal ♪	1:10:33
	♪ Thy Holy Spirit lead us on ♪	1:10:43
	♪ Until our glorious goal is won ♪	1:10:50
	♪ Eternal praise, eternal fame ♪	1:10:57
	♪ Be offered, Savior, to thy name ♪	1:11:04
	(organ music)	1:11:20

Item Info

Title:

John M. Stapleton - "The Ultimate Sovereignty" (June 30, 1991)

Description:

Sermon start time: 26:59. Sermon end time: 53:50.
Jesus Christ has been crowned in the heavens as the ruler of this world, and that truth compells us, despite our doubts and despair, to come to church to praise him. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Who is this ruler of glory? He is Jesus Christ, and we are here almost because we can’t help it, despite our despair, despite our doubts, despite all of the reasons we could give and the excuses we could manufacture for not being here. But we are here. We can hardly help it.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4br8mx48

Date:

June 30, 1991

Speaker:

Stapleton, John M.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0238
ref8961_zng
uachapelsermaud
duke:321622
dcrmv001228
ark:/87924/r4br8mx48
22cb758f-99d4-46e1-b632-fa7199765cc7

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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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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