Clarence G. Newsome - "Living Without Walls" (August 4, 1991)

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	(organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning and welcome to this special service	6:47
	of worship here in Duke University Chapel.	6:48
	I am Will Willimon, the Dean of the Chapel	6:51
	and it is my privilege to welcome you,	6:54
	particularly our special guests,	6:57
	the singers and the leaders	6:59
	of the Brightleaf Music Workshop.	7:02
	The Brightleaf Workshop is one of the	7:05
	things for which we in the Triangle Area	7:08
	are intensely proud.	7:11
	This is their second visit to	7:12
	Duke Chapel and these young singers	7:14
	and their dedicated musical leaders	7:17
	are a bright spot in the life of our chapel.	7:19
	And I know that they will bless you today	7:24
	as they did many of us	7:27
	in their presentations yesterday.	7:29
	They have another concert they will be doing this afternoon.	7:32
	We wish them well.	7:36
	We hope they've had a profitable time in our city	7:38
	and wish them godspeed as they return back home.	7:40
	Our guest preacher today	7:45
	is the Reverend Dr. C.G. Newsome.	7:47
	You can see in the bulletin that he is someone	7:51
	of whom we are very proud.	7:53
	He's a product of Duke University.	7:55
	Had a distinguished athletic career here	7:57
	and then combine that with a distinguished academic career	8:00
	and he is now the acting Dean of the Chapel	8:05
	at Howard University in Washington.	8:07
	We welcome him back to the chapel.	8:11
	Now let us stand and join together in the greeting.	8:14
	Come, children of the Creator	8:21
	to learn the fear of God.	8:22
Congregation	(indistinct) And I will also.	8:25
-	God is near to the brokenhearted	8:31
	and saves the crushed in spirit.	8:32
	(congregation speaks indistinctly)	8:36
-	Many are the afflictions of the righteous,	8:41
	but God delivers them from their pain.	8:43
	(congregation speaking indistinctly)	8:47
	(organ music)	8:55
	♪ How firm a foundation ♪	9:13
	♪ Ye saints of the Lord ♪	9:17
	♪ Is laid for your faith ♪	9:21
	♪ In His excellent word ♪	9:25
	♪ What more can He say ♪	9:29
	♪ Than to you He hath said ♪	9:34
	♪ To you who for refuge ♪	9:38
	♪ To Jesus have fled ♪	9:43
	♪ Fear not, I am with thee ♪	9:50
	♪ O be not dismayed ♪	9:54
	♪ For I am thy God ♪	9:57
	♪ And will still give thee aid ♪	10:02
	♪ I'll strengthen and help thee ♪	10:06
	♪ And cause thee to stand ♪	10:12
	♪ Upheld by My righteous ♪	10:15
	♪ Omnipotent hand ♪	10:20
	♪ When through the deep waters ♪	10:27
	♪ I call thee to go ♪	10:31
	♪ The rivers of woe ♪	10:35
	♪ Shall not thee overflow ♪	10:40
	♪ For I will be with thee ♪	10:44
	♪ Thy troubles to bless ♪	10:50
	♪ And sanctify to thee ♪	10:53
	♪ Thy deepest distress ♪	10:58
	♪ When through fiery trials ♪	11:05
	♪ Thy pathway shall lie ♪	11:10
	♪ My grace, all sufficient ♪	11:13
	♪ Shall be thy supply ♪	11:18
	♪ The flame shall not hurt thee ♪	11:23
	♪ I only design ♪	11:27
	♪ Thy dross to consume ♪	11:31
	♪ And thy gold to refine ♪	11:35
	♪ The soul that on Jesus ♪	11:43
	♪ Hath leaned for repose ♪	11:48
	♪ I will not ♪	11:51
	♪ I will not desert to his foes ♪	11:54
	♪ That soul, though all hell ♪	12:01
	♪ Should endeavor to shake ♪	12:05
	♪ I'll never, no, never ♪	12:10
	♪ No, never forsake ♪	12:15
-	Great art Thou, Lord	12:27
	and greatly to be praised.	12:28
	Great is Thy power.	12:31
	Thee we would praise without ceasing.	12:33
	Thou callest us to delight in Thy praise,	12:36
	for Thou hast made us for Thyself	12:39
	and our hearts are restless	12:42
	till they rest in Thee.	12:45
	To whom would the Son and Holy Spirit	12:48
	all glory, praise and honor be ascribed	12:50
	both now and evermore, amen.	12:54
	Be seated.	12:59
-	Let us pray.	13:10
All	Prepare our hearts, O God,	13:12
	to accept Your Word.	13:15
	Silence in us any voice but Your own,	13:18
	that hearing, we may also obey Your will	13:21
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	13:25
-	The first reading is taken from the second book of Samuel.	13:31
	The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife	13:35
	bore to David and it became very ill.	13:39
	David therefore pleaded with God for the child.	13:44
	David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.	13:47
	The elders of his house stood beside him,	13:53
	urging him to rise from the ground, but he would not.	13:56
	Nor did he eat food with them.	14:01
	On the seventh day, the child died	14:04
	and the servants of David were afraid to tell him	14:07
	that the child was dead, for they said,	14:11
	While the child was still alive, we spoke to him	14:14
	and he did not listen to us.	14:19
	How then can we tell him the child is dead?	14:21
	He may do himself some harm.	14:25
	But when David saw	14:29
	that his servants were whispering together,	14:30
	he perceived that the child was dead	14:33
	and David said to his servants,	14:35
	Is the child dead?	14:38
	They said, He is dead.	14:41
	Then David rose from the ground,	14:44
	washed, anointed himself and changed his clothes.	14:47
	He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.	14:52
	He then went to his own house	14:56
	and when he asked,	14:58
	they set food before him and he ate.	15:00
	Then his servants said to him,	15:04
	What is this thing that you have done?	15:07
	You fasted and wept for the child, while it was alive.	15:09
	But when the child died, you rose and ate food.	15:14
	He said, While the child was still alive,	15:19
	I fasted and wept, for I said,	15:23
	Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me	15:26
	and the child may live.	15:31
	But now he is dead.	15:33
	Why should I fast?	15:35
	Can I bring him back again?	15:37
	I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.	15:40
	Then David consoled his wife, Bathsheba,	15:46
	and went to her and lay with her,	15:49
	and she bore a son	15:52
	and he named him Solomon.	15:54
	The Lord loved him.	15:57
	This is the Word of the Lord.	16:00
All	Thanks be to God.	16:02
-	Please stand for the psalter.	16:08
	The psalm is found on page 770	16:14
	beginning at verse 11.	16:17
	Come, O children, listen to me.	16:29
	I will teach you the fear of the Lord.	16:31
Congregation	Which of you desires life	16:34
	and covets many days to enjoy good?	16:37
-	Keep your tongue from evil	16:40
	and your lips from speaking deceit.	16:42
Congregation	Depart from evil and do good.	16:45
	Seek peace and pursue it.	16:48
-	The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,	16:50
	and the ears of the Lord hear their cry.	16:52
Congregation	The face of the Lord	16:56
	is against evildoers, to cut off	16:57
	the remembrance of them from the earth	17:00
William	When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears	17:03
	and delivers them out of all their troubles.	17:06
Congregation	The Lord is near to the brokenhearted	17:08
	and saves the crushed in spirit.	17:11
-	Many are the afflictions of the righteous,	17:14
	but the Lord delivers them.	17:17
Congregation	The Lord keeps all their bones.	17:19
	Not one of them is broken.	17:22
-	Evil shall slay the wicked,	17:24
	and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.	17:27
Congregation	The Lord redeems the life of His servants.	17:31
	None of those who take refuge in God will be condemned.	17:34
	(organ music)	17:39
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	17:48
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer Lord ♪	17:55
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	18:03
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	18:09
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	18:18
	♪ Now and evermore shall be ♪	18:25
-	You may be seated.	18:37
	This reading is from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.	18:46
	So then remember that at one time, you Gentiles by birth	18:53
	call the uncircumcision by those who call	18:58
	the circumcision a physical circumcision	19:02
	made in the flesh by human hands.	19:06
	Remember that you were at that time without Christ,	19:10
	being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel	19:14
	and strangers to the covenants of promise,	19:18
	having no hope and without God in the world.	19:22
	But now in Jesus Christ, you who were once far off	19:26
	have been brought near by the blood of Christ.	19:32
	For He is our peace.	19:36
	In His flesh, He has made both groups into one	19:38
	and has broken down the dividing wall.	19:42
	That is, the hostility between us.	19:46
	He has abolished the law	19:50
	with its commandments and ordinances	19:52
	that He might create in Himself	19:54
	one new humanity in place of the two,	19:57
	thus making peace and reconcile both groups to God	20:01
	in one body through the cross,	20:06
	thus putting to death that hostility through it.	20:10
	So He came and proclaimed peace to you	20:15
	who were far off and peace to those who were near.	20:18
	For through Him, both of us have access	20:23
	in one spirit to the Father.	20:27
	So then you are no longer strangers and aliens	20:29
	but you are citizens with the saints	20:33
	and also members of the household of God,	20:36
	built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets	20:40
	with Christ Jesus Himself as the Cornerstone.	20:45
	In Him, the whole structure is joined together	20:49
	and grows into a holy temple in the Lord,	20:54
	in whom you also are built together spiritually	20:58
	into a dwelling place for God.	21:03
	This is the Word of the Lord.	21:07
All	Thanks be to God.	21:10
	(instrumental music)	21:32
	(singing in a foreign language)	21:37
	(instrumental music)	23:45
	(singing in a foreign language)	24:11
-	This reading is taken from the gospel	25:13
	according to Saint John.	25:16
	So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus	25:19
	nor His disciples were there,	25:22
	they themself got into the boats	25:26
	and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.	25:28
	When they found Him on the other side of the sea,	25:33
	they said to Him,	25:36
	Rabbi, when did You come here?	25:37
	Jesus answered them, Very truly I tell you,	25:41
	you are looking for Me	25:45
	not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill	25:48
	of the loaves.	25:53
	Do not work for the food that perishes,	25:55
	but for the food that endures for eternal life,	25:58
	which the Son of Man will give you.	26:02
	For it is on Him that God the Father has set His seal.	26:06
	Then they said to Him,	26:10
	What must we do to perform the works of God?	26:12
	Jesus answered them, This is the work of God,	26:17
	that you believe in Him whom He has sent.	26:22
	So they said to Him,	26:26
	What sign are You going to give us then,	26:28
	so that we may see it and believe You?	26:31
	What work are You performing?	26:35
	Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness	26:38
	as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.	26:42
	Then Jesus said to them,	26:47
	Very truly I tell you,	26:50
	It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven,	26:52
	but it is My Father who gives you the true bread for heaven.	26:56
	For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven	27:00
	and gives life to the world.	27:04
	They said to Him, Sir, give us this bread always.	27:07
	Jesus said to them,	27:12
	I am the Bread of Life.	27:14
	Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry	27:16
	and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.	27:19
	This is the Word of the Lord.	27:23
All	Thanks be to God.	27:27
-	Good morning.	27:40
	To my good friend, Dr. William Willimon,	27:44
	dean of this grand chapel,	27:47
	to Dr. Putnam,	27:51
	to all my friends,	27:54
	old and new and this glorious	27:58
	sanctuary which I call home,	28:02
	it feels so good to be back here.	28:06
	After nearly 20 years on this campus,	28:11
	there came upon where I could scarcely imagine	28:16
	ever leaving here after three degrees	28:20
	and almost a decade on the faculty.	28:23
	And then came that day when someone	28:27
	made me an offer I could not refuse.	28:30
	And even then it was difficult.	28:34
	I said to my wife, I said,	28:35
	Lynn, who is, by the way, an A.B. Duke scholar,	28:37
	so she's back home also.	28:41
	I can't imagine leaving Perkins Library.	28:44
	She said, Well,	28:49
	there's the Moorland-Spingarn Center at Howard.	28:50
	And besides, there's a Library of Congress in Washington.	28:54
	I said, That's right.	28:58
	I said, Well, I can't imagine	29:00
	leaving the vicinity of Duke Chapel.	29:05
	She said, Well, there is Rankin Chapel at Howard.	29:10
	And besides, there's the National Cathedral in Washington	29:14
	and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.	29:18
	I said, that's right, but I can't imagine	29:21
	leaving my good friends, my colleagues.	29:25
	She said, Well, you have, I'm sure,	29:29
	good friends and colleagues in the making at Howard.	29:33
	And besides, there are all those senators and c--	29:37
	On second thought, maybe you ought to reconsider.	29:40
	(audience laughing)	29:42
	I did reconsider, but decided that	29:47
	God would have me elsewhere at this juncture in my life	29:50
	and so I bring you greetings from	29:53
	the Howard School of Divinity over which I now preside	29:56
	as acting dean.	29:59
	The School of Divinity at Howard	30:01
	is one of 18 schools and colleges	30:02
	spread out over five campuses	30:05
	comprising Howard University in Washington.	30:08
	And I invite each of you to come by	30:11
	and see our resplendent campus in Northeast Washington	30:13
	when you're in the area.	30:17
	Let us pray.	30:18
	Almighty God, we ask now that You will cast	30:22
	the divine golden cords beyond	30:26
	the battlements of heaven	30:30
	and draw us nearer to Thee	30:34
	and Thy purpose through the preached word,	30:38
	amen.	30:42
	Living without walls.	30:45
	Living without walls.	30:51
	Perhaps you will join me just for a few minutes	30:55
	in looking at this beautiful passage	30:58
	in the second chapter of the book of Ephesians,	31:04
	verses 11 through 22	31:08
	and focus at the outset with me	31:11
	on verse 14.	31:14
	Here the author	31:20
	purportedly a Pauline disciple	31:24
	of the next generation	31:28
	depicts Christ in a	31:32
	most fascinating way.	31:35
	Christ is depicted	31:41
	as our peace.	31:45
	That is, as the embodiment of the very bond	31:50
	of our peace,	31:56
	in that He has broken down	31:59
	and replaced	32:04
	the wall of hostility	32:07
	that divides us at all levels	32:11
	of our social life.	32:17
	Now when it comes to describing divisions	32:23
	among men and women,	32:29
	the wall metaphor is very old.	32:32
	It's been used many many times.	32:37
	Indeed if each of us had a proverbial dollar	32:43
	for each time this metaphor has been used,	32:48
	we would all be beyond the financial problems	32:54
	posed by an economy in recession.	32:59
	But then it was not	33:06
	this wall	33:11
	as a symbol of human divisiveness	33:13
	that captured my attention.	33:17
	What caught my eye was	33:22
	the sense in which the metaphor	33:25
	in the context of this verse, verse 14,	33:30
	implies the foolishness	33:36
	of building walls	33:42
	for the purpose of securing peace.	33:46
	I'm so glad to see so many young people	33:52
	in the congregation today,	33:54
	and as I look at this group behind me	33:56
	and in front of me too here today singing,	33:59
	I'm reminded of how important my stint	34:01
	in the chapel choir became to my success	34:05
	at this institution.	34:10
	But I'm also reminded how, at an early age,	34:12
	my parents began to inculcate into me	34:17
	this notion of the foolishness of building walls	34:21
	in order to secure peace.	34:26
	Throughout the history of humankind,	34:30
	the building of walls figures prominently	34:34
	in the effort of people to secure peace,	34:39
	to have peace and to secure it.	34:43
	There are numerous biblical accounts of such.	34:47
	One that comes foremost to mind this morning	34:52
	is the story of Nehemiah's commitment	34:57
	to rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem	35:02
	following its destruction	35:06
	by Babylonian forces	35:10
	in the summer of 586 B.C.	35:13
	For Nehemiah, the peace of Jerusalem	35:19
	was integrally tied up with reconstructing	35:23
	the great wall that once surrounded the city.	35:28
	The temple once refurbished and the inhabitants	35:34
	of the city could be secure as he saw it	35:39
	only if the wall were rebuilt.	35:43
	And so it was rebuilt.	35:48
	And so great a wall was it	35:52
	that at the dedication ceremony,	35:54
	Nehemiah was able to organize	35:57
	a magnificent procession	36:00
	atop the wall.	36:04
	A procession consisting of all the princes	36:08
	of Judah and two great companies	36:13
	of men who walked perhaps 10 to 12 abreast,	36:16
	resplendent in their finest robes,	36:21
	bedecked in their finest jewels	36:24
	and gold adorned all around.	36:28
	And yet, it's ironic.	36:36
	For all that Nehemiah did in getting the wall rebuilt,	36:40
	it's ironic that little was	36:45
	actually accomplished	36:49
	in the way of securing peace for the city.	36:53
	You see, there is something	36:58
	about the nature of walls.	37:02
	Often, walls arouse	37:08
	hostility and enmity	37:12
	both without and within	37:16
	their boundaries.	37:21
	In the book of Nehemiah, for example,	37:24
	we are informed that the wall	37:29
	intensified	37:33
	hostility between the Jews and their enemies,	37:36
	the Samarians and the Ammonites, the Astradites,	37:40
	the Amorites, as my oldest daughter would say,	37:45
	all those dites.	37:48
	(audience laughing)	37:50
	And at the same time,	37:52
	the same wall fostered dissension	37:55
	among the Jews themselves.	37:59
	The enemies of the Jews stood some distance back,	38:01
	I imagine on a slight incline	38:06
	and looking in the direction of Jerusalem	38:08
	saw the Jews busy rebuilding the wall,	38:11
	asking themselves, do they really intend	38:14
	to go through with this project of rebuilding the wall?	38:17
	We just tore it down.	38:20
	We made a pile of ashes.	38:22
	We made rubbish out of that wall.	38:25
	Are they going to rebuild?	38:27
	If so, we will lay it waste again.	38:28
	Nehemiah had to contend with	38:33
	the design of his enemies to interfere	38:35
	with the project of rebuilding the wall.	38:38
	But then among the Jews themselves dissension arose.	38:42
	Many a person went to Nehemiah and complained	38:49
	about all the time given to rebuilding the wall	38:52
	and the concern that some would have to sell their children	38:56
	into slavery in order to get food	39:01
	to eat, because they did not have time to raise food	39:05
	in the fields on account of that wall.	39:10
	Walls have a very curious nature.	39:16
	To be sure, they serve a positive function and purpose.	39:19
	I will leave it though in the interest of time	39:23
	to your imagination to identify those times	39:26
	when walls are necessary.	39:30
	As I look back over the course of history	39:34
	and I think about the Great Wall around China	39:36
	built during the Ching Dynasty.	39:40
	Or as I think about the great Berlin Wall.	39:43
	Or even as I think about this little fence	39:46
	that my wife and I built around our house	39:49
	when we were living in Northern Durham County.	39:52
	I can't help but think that walls have at best	39:56
	a very limited purpose and use.	39:59
	We built this little fence around our backyard	40:02
	so that we could keep our baby daughter safe, so we thought.	40:06
	And everyday, both my wife and I	40:09
	kept peering out of the window.	40:12
	I suppose we spent as much as a half an hour	40:14
	to 45 minutes each day peering out the window	40:17
	to see if the neighbor's children had torn the fence down	40:19
	at any point.	40:24
	No peace of mind.	40:26
	Our first proposition is this.	40:29
	Building walls does not secure peace.	40:33
	And yet, each of us goes about our daily living	40:37
	as if the inverse were true.	40:40
	Daily, even hourly,	40:43
	we build all sorts of walls around us.	40:47
	Individually and collectively as families,	40:53
	as special interest groups,	40:56
	as communities, as denominations,	40:58
	as nations, as races.	41:02
	We let our opinions and we let our customs.	41:07
	We let our habits and we let our biases.	41:11
	We allow our preferences and our wishes	41:16
	and our desires and our ambitions, our aspirations.	41:21
	We let all these things misserve us.	41:25
	Properly understood they should serve us in a way	41:32
	that they enrich the meaning of our living	41:35
	in a way that we can appreciate the variety	41:40
	and the diversity of God's handiwork.	41:44
	But too often, they serve us as walls,	41:49
	which keep others unnecessarily at bay.	41:53
	Walls behind which we seek psychical and emotional	41:58
	and spiritual space	42:03
	in a futile attempt to be at peace.	42:07
	We cannot find peace in this way	42:13
	and the author of Ephesians was well aware of it.	42:17
	In the King James translation of this passage,	42:23
	there is also reference in the 14th verse	42:27
	to the middle wall partition in the temple,	42:31
	which restricted Gentiles to the outer part	42:38
	of the sanctuary.	42:42
	Only Jews by law and by custom	42:45
	were allowed to go beyond the partition	42:51
	into the inner sanctum where sat the ark of the covenant.	42:55
	Reference to this partition is significant	43:02
	for the author wishes to convey symbolically	43:07
	that Christ renders obsolete and irrelevant	43:11
	all things that would divide humankind.	43:18
	It's as if only Duke graduates could come	43:24
	through the portals of the back of this	43:29
	resplendent chapel.	43:31
	The author of Ephesians wishes to convey	43:36
	that all partitions have been	43:41
	rendered meaningless	43:44
	by the life and the death	43:48
	and the resurrection of Christ Jesus	43:50
	and meaningless to Christians, to Jews, to Gentiles.	43:52
	Meaningless.	43:57
	When we try to understand why we are so often divided	44:01
	by our opinions and our customs and our biases and so forth,	44:04
	it becomes apparent that we are prone in our culture	44:09
	to confuse happiness with peace.	44:13
	Happiness is not synonymous with peace, I maintain.	44:17
	Happiness may be derivative of peace	44:23
	but certainly by my standards,	44:26
	peace cannot be reduced to happiness.	44:29
	Perhaps happiness, we can agree, is a mood	44:33
	which comes and goes.	44:37
	A mood which we sometimes mistake for peace.	44:39
	Maybe we could argue that happiness	44:43
	akin to bliss, let us say,	44:46
	is something of a process.	44:48
	Maybe for some of us even,	44:50
	a process of pursuing avenues of escape	44:53
	from reality without dying.	44:56
	Daily I'm seeing people in the Washington area	45:00
	who are trying to get out of life without dying.	45:03
	Trying to be happy without really living.	45:07
	The way in which this drug culture has now	45:11
	so gotten its ugly hands around the spiritual neck	45:13
	of this nation is a sight to behold.	45:18
	Do you know that now in many of the funerals in Washington,	45:21
	the drug dealers arrive at the service	45:25
	not to pay tribute to the person slain,	45:29
	but to shoot the casket during the service?	45:34
	To make sure that the person is dead, so to speak.	45:39
	Where are we in our attempt in this society	45:45
	to be at peace, mistaking happiness or bliss	45:49
	for that matter for peace?	45:54
	Peace, I maintain, is a process.	45:56
	But it's a process of being made whole.	46:01
	Made whole by becoming one with God	46:07
	and one with our fellow men and fellow women.	46:10
	This is precisely the connotation of the word peace	46:16
	as it is derived from its Greek root, eirene,	46:20
	from which we get the name Irene.	46:24
	This word I find most fascinating because	46:27
	in part it means to be at rest.	46:30
	We ask, what does being at rest	46:34
	have to do with peace?	46:36
	Well, it means being at rest	46:38
	because something is whole.	46:40
	How is that connected with peace?	46:43
	Well, when we think about it,	46:46
	we only have friction and tension at the point	46:47
	that something is divided.	46:51
	When things can rub against things,	46:54
	we then have tension and friction.	46:55
	The thing cannot be at rest there.	46:58
	But when something is whole and complete,	47:02
	it is at rest and it is at peace.	47:05
	We ask ourselves as we move towards closing	47:10
	how might we enter into this peace?	47:13
	This process of becoming whole.	47:17
	This brings us to our second proposition	47:21
	which is peace is possible, I maintain,	47:23
	only through our faith in Christ Jesus.	47:27
	In Ephesians, we're told that Christ Jesus,	47:32
	having preached and having pursued peace,	47:34
	even unto the cross is our peace.	47:36
	Jesus is the means, the process	47:41
	by which we become whole.	47:43
	As our peace, we are made one	47:47
	when we enter into Christ Jesus.	47:50
	By the power of the resurrection,	47:54
	God meets us in our faith,	47:57
	receives us as we are.	47:59
	Different though we be by appearance, by habit, by custom.	48:01
	God takes us and creates out of the many,	48:06
	one new humanity.	48:10
	One body with one mind	48:14
	and one wheel, reconcilable to God.	48:16
	Interestingly, in Christ, we are not changed	48:22
	in the way that we lose all distinctiveness as individuals,	48:25
	as communities, as nationalities,	48:29
	as racial groups.	48:32
	In a sense, we do not cease to be who we are.	48:35
	What ceases is the priority of superficial things	48:40
	over our lives.	48:45
	And as a result,	48:47
	we become what we can be in Christ Jesus	48:49
	and in Christ Jesus, we can be at peace.	48:54
	For in His flesh, enmity was brought to an end.	49:00
	All customs and ordinances	49:05
	and commandments were abolished in terms of having priority	49:07
	over our lives.	49:12
	And then here's our final proposition.	49:17
	There is peace when we live without walls.	49:19
	For when we live without walls,	49:26
	God works through Christ Jesus,	49:28
	even as we are in Christ to fashion and to mold	49:31
	and to reshape and to transform our lives	49:34
	so that we can become, as it were, living stones.	49:38
	And with these living stones,	49:45
	God, the Master Builder,	49:47
	begins to build divine walls.	49:50
	Not walls to divide, but walls to unite	49:56
	and to bind together.	50:01
	And in this unity, this binding together,	50:05
	there is peace for these living stones	50:08
	are fashioned and shaped and built	50:12
	into a living temple, a breathing, pulsating,	50:15
	living church, living Christian community	50:20
	in which indwells the God who is peace.	50:24
	It's as if God takes a life and transforms it.	50:30
	So much like David, many of us	50:33
	hold out until the very end and when the end comes,	50:36
	we recognize that God is in control of life	50:39
	and when we give in to God's sovereignty,	50:43
	here comes the flood of blessing.	50:46
	God takes a life.	50:50
	He doesn't care what condition it is when He finds it.	50:51
	He transforms it.	50:54
	He makes it into a living stone	50:56
	and He places it upon the foundation of the apostles.	50:58
	Then He takes another	51:02
	and He transforms it into a living stone	51:03
	and He lays it next to that other life.	51:05
	And He takes another one and He lays it	51:08
	to the one laid before.	51:10
	And He binds all of these living stones	51:12
	with the blood of Christ Jesus.	51:14
	And He builds His living temple.	51:17
	To the end that we might be at peace,	51:22
	I say today, let us all commit ourselves	51:26
	to living without walls,	51:30
	for when we live without walls, there is peace.	51:31
	We have peace with ourselves, we have peace with others.	51:37
	We have peace to live together	51:41
	and peace to work together.	51:44
	We have peace to play together	51:47
	and peace to grow together.	51:48
	When we live without walls,	51:52
	we have the peace of God.	51:55
	Amen.	52:00
	(organ music)	52:04
	♪ Christ is made the sure foundation ♪	52:35
	♪ Christ the head and cornerstone ♪	52:42
	♪ Chosen of the Lord and precious ♪	52:50
	♪ Binding all the church in one ♪	52:57
	♪ Holy Zion's help forever ♪	53:05
	♪ And her confidence alone ♪	53:13
	♪ To this temple, where we call Thee ♪	53:22
	♪ Come, O Lord of Hosts, today ♪	53:30
	♪ With Thy faithful lovingkindness ♪	53:38
	♪ Hear Thy people as they pray ♪	53:45
	♪ And Thy fullest benediction ♪	53:54
	♪ Shed within its walls alway ♪	54:00
	♪ Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants ♪	54:10
	♪ What they ask of Thee to gain ♪	54:18
	♪ What they gain from Thee forever ♪	54:25
	♪ With the blessed to retain ♪	54:35
	♪ And hereafter in Thy glory ♪	54:41
	♪ Evermore with Thee to reign ♪	54:50
	♪ Laud and honor to the Father ♪	55:00
	♪ Laud and honor to the Son ♪	55:08
	♪ Laud and honor to the Spirit ♪	55:15
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	55:23
	♪ One in might and one in glory ♪	55:30
	♪ While unending ages run ♪	55:38
-	The Lord be with you.	55:51
Congregation	And also with you.	55:52
-	Let us pray.	55:54
	Be seated.	55:55
	O Christ, to whom we were once strangers,	56:02
	separated by our walls.	56:07
	We pray to You, having been by Your grace	56:11
	brought near to You.	56:15
	Lord, hear our prayer.	56:17
	Hearing the clamor of war, violence in Yugoslavia,	56:22
	continuing suffering in Iraq,	56:26
	we remember that You preached peace.	56:29
	We pray for those who make peace.	56:34
	Particularly this week, we pray for those	56:37
	who work for peace and the breaking of walls in the Mideast.	56:40
	Lord,	56:46
All	Hear our prayer.	56:47
-	This bright summer day, we are reminded	56:51
	of the goodness and beauty of Your creation.	56:53
	A creation where we have not always been good stewards	56:56
	of Your gifts.	56:59
	For all those who work for most just distribution	57:02
	of the earth's bounty.	57:05
	For those who strive to preserve the earth from the ravages	57:07
	of ecological exploitation, Lord,	57:10
All	Hear our prayer.	57:15
-	In our health.	57:18
	We pray this day for those who are sick.	57:20
	In our vacation joys,	57:23
	we pray for those who are forced to work without rest.	57:26
	In our happiness, we intercede	57:32
	for those this day who are sad.	57:36
	We pray for Pastor and the members of Cresset Baptist Church	57:41
	after their destructive fire yesterday.	57:46
	Lord,	57:50
All	Hear our prayer.	57:51
-	For our preacher and his work in training	57:54
	men and women for ministry.	57:57
	For the church's need for bold, competent,	58:00
	spirit-filled leaders for tomorrow.	58:02
All	Lord, hear our prayer.	58:05
-	For the many young voices who have enriched our worship,	58:08
	for hard-working, gifted	58:13
	and under-appreciated music teachers	58:14
	who tune young voices,	58:18
	we give thanks.	58:20
	We pray for a world in which every young person	58:22
	might have the opportunity	58:25
	to use to the fullest	58:27
	those gifts which You have given.	58:30
	Lord,	58:33
All	Hear our prayer.	58:34
-	Give us what we need, O God,	58:36
	in order that we might fulfill Your promise of living	58:40
	with hope and thanksgiving.	58:45
	Grant peace in our hearts,	58:48
	peace with our neighbor.	58:51
	O let us sing our song	58:54
	and may our song be heard.	58:57
	Lord,	59:01
All	Hear our prayer.	59:02
-	Amen.	59:04
	All of today's offering goes to the work	59:06
	of Project Build, a program in which	59:09
	dedicated Duke undergraduates	59:13
	are put in places of human need in our area.	59:15
	We invite you to give generously.	59:19
	(instrumental music)	59:31
	♪ The promise of living ♪	1:00:16
	♪ With hope and thanksgiving ♪	1:00:23
	♪ Is born of our loving ♪	1:00:32
	♪ Our friends and our labor ♪	1:00:38
	♪ The promise of growing ♪	1:00:52
	♪ With faith and with knowing ♪	1:00:58
	♪ Is born of our sharing ♪	1:01:03
	♪ Our love with our neighbor ♪	1:01:08
	♪ The promise of living ♪	1:01:21
	♪ The promise of growing ♪	1:01:27
	♪ Is part of our singing ♪	1:01:33
	♪ In joy and thanksgiving ♪	1:01:38
	(organ music)	1:01:51
	♪ For many a year we've known ♪	1:01:59
	♪ These fields and known all the work that makes them yield ♪	1:02:02
	♪ Are you ready to lend a hand to work ♪	1:02:07
	♪ Ready to lend a hand together ♪	1:02:10
	♪ The blessings of harvest ♪	1:02:16
	♪ We plant each row ♪	1:02:18
	♪ With seeds of grain ♪	1:02:20
	♪ And Providence sends us the sun and the rain ♪	1:02:22
	♪ By lending a hand ♪	1:02:26
	♪ By lending an arm ♪	1:02:29
	♪ Bring out from the farm ♪	1:02:30
	♪ Bring out the blessings of harvest ♪	1:02:33
	(indistinct singing)	1:02:45
	♪ Let's sing our song with our hearts ♪	1:03:11
	♪ And find a promise in that song ♪	1:03:15
	♪ The promise of living ♪	1:03:23
	♪ The promise of growing ♪	1:03:26
	♪ The promise of ending ♪	1:03:31
	♪ Is labor and sharing ♪	1:03:38
	♪ And loving ♪	1:03:42
	(organ music)	1:04:02
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:05:14
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	1:05:21
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:05:27
	♪ Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪	1:05:35
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:05:42
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:05:47
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:05:54
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:06:01
-	What a well-sung song	1:06:16
	for young voices listed in praise.	1:06:17
	For a bright summer day	1:06:21
	and all the other of Your gifts, great and small,	1:06:24
	we give thanks,	1:06:27
	offering our gifts as sign of our gratitude	1:06:29
	and praying as we have been taught.	1:06:34
All	Our Father, who art in heaven,	1:06:37
	hallowed be Thy name.	1:06:40
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,	1:06:42
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:06:46
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:06:48
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:06:51
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:06:54
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:06:58
	but deliver us from evil.	1:07:01
	For Thine is the kingdom	1:07:03
	and the power and the glory forever.	1:07:05
-	Amen.	1:07:09
	For our benediction, I've asked that the choir sing again,	1:07:12
	Not to us, O Lord, but to Your glory.	1:07:16
	They will sing it after the closing hymn,	1:07:20
	Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.	1:07:23
	(organ music)	1:07:29
	♪ Guide me O Thou great Jehovah ♪	1:07:57
	♪ Pilgrim through this barren land ♪	1:08:02
	♪ I am weak, but Thou art mighty ♪	1:08:08
	♪ Hold me with Thy powerful hand ♪	1:08:13
	♪ Bread of heaven, bread of heaven ♪	1:08:20
	♪ Feed me till I want no more ♪	1:08:24
	♪ Feed me till I want no more ♪	1:08:30
	♪ Open now the crystal fountain ♪	1:08:38
	♪ Whence the healing stream doth flow ♪	1:08:43
	♪ Let the fiery, cloudy pillar ♪	1:08:48
	♪ Lead me all my journey through ♪	1:08:54
	♪ Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer ♪	1:08:59
	♪ Be Thou still my Strength and Shield ♪	1:09:05
	♪ Be Thou still my Strength and Shield ♪	1:09:11
	♪ When I tread the verge of Jordan ♪	1:09:18
	♪ Bid my anxious fears subside ♪	1:09:24
	♪ Death of death and hell's destruction ♪	1:09:30
	♪ Land me safe on Canaan's side ♪	1:09:35
	♪ Songs of praises, songs of praises ♪	1:09:41
	♪ I will ever give to Thee ♪	1:09:47
	(organ music)	1:10:11
	(singing in foreign language)	1:10:16
	(organ music)	1:12:23
	(singing in a foreign language)	1:12:42
	(organ music)	1:13:34

Item Info

Title:

Clarence G. Newsome - "Living Without Walls" (August 4, 1991)

Description:

We falsely live under the pretence that building walls to separate us from others will bring us peace. Instead, these dividing walls only bring enmity both without and within. It is only through our faith in Christ that we can have peace, and this faith demands the tearing down of those dividing walls. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 27:40. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 52:02.
Key quotation: “Christ renders obsolete and irrelevant all things that would divide humankind.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4n58d17h

Date:

August 4, 1991

Speaker:

Newsome, Clarence G. (Clarence Geno), 1950-

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0243
ref8976_c1s
uachapelsermaud
duke:321670
dcrmv001233
ark:/87924/r4n58d17h
d9d26c3c-bcf0-474a-8063-c76d8e170097

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

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

Rights Note:

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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