David L. Bartlett - Sermon Untitled (May 31, 1992)
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Transcript
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(organ playing) | 0:04 | |
- | Good morning and welcome Duke Chapel, | 3:24 |
on this the last Sunday in the Christian season of Easter. | 3:26 | |
This is employee Sunday and we welcome | 3:32 | |
those Duke employees who are with us this morning. | 3:35 | |
Our two lectors are Duke employees, | 3:38 | |
Selden Smith and Maureen Cullins. | 3:41 | |
We also welcome today for the first Sunday | 3:44 | |
of this summer, our summer choir. | 3:47 | |
Under the direction of Donna Sparks. | 3:50 | |
If you're around Durham for the summer | 3:53 | |
and would like to sing in the choir, | 3:54 | |
we invite you to do so and we're glad | 3:57 | |
to have these talented musicians | 4:00 | |
with us for the summer. | 4:02 | |
Our guest preacher today is Dr. David Bartlett, | 4:04 | |
who teaches preaching at Yale Divinity School. | 4:08 | |
This is his first visit here at Duke Chapel | 4:10 | |
and we welcome him as we welcome you. | 4:13 | |
Let us stand for the greeting. | 4:17 | |
Christ is risen. | 4:23 | |
Congregation | The Lord is risen indeed. | 4:25 |
- | Glory and honor, dominion and power | 4:27 |
be to God forever and ever. | 4:28 | |
Congregation | Christ is risen. | 4:32 |
Alleluia. | 4:33 | |
(organ playing) | 4:35 | |
(congregation singing) | 5:22 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:38 |
O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, | 8:41 | |
we have gathered in your presence to sing your praise, | 8:48 | |
and to give thanks for all that you have done for us. | 8:53 | |
We also give thanks this morning | 8:57 | |
for those who work to make this university possible. | 8:59 | |
For the many unsung heroes, | 9:04 | |
and those who unselfishly give so much to make | 9:06 | |
this a wonderful place to be. | 9:10 | |
Bless each employee and all those who have | 9:14 | |
gathered here for worship. | 9:17 | |
Lift up the prayer of each heart | 9:21 | |
into one harmony of worship and service, | 9:23 | |
that we might truly be one body in Christ. | 9:27 | |
Speak to us, spirit of life, in word and melody and quiet, | 9:32 | |
that we may be renewed in our faith | 9:40 | |
and strengthened for your service. | 9:43 | |
This we ask in Christ name, amen. | 9:46 | |
You may be seated. | 9:52 | |
- | Let us pray together for illumination. | 10:03 |
O living God, bring us forth from death to life, | 10:08 | |
so that the scriptures are read and your word is proclaimed, | 10:13 | |
we might be brought to a sure and living faith in you. | 10:18 | |
Amen. | 10:22 | |
The first reading is taken from the acts of the apostles, | 10:24 | |
chapter 16, starting with the 16th verse. | 10:27 | |
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, | 10:33 | |
we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination | 10:37 | |
and brought her owners a great deal | 10:40 | |
of money by fortunetelling. | 10:42 | |
While she followed Paul and us, | 10:45 | |
she would cry out, these men are slaves | 10:47 | |
of the most high God who proclaim to you | 10:51 | |
a way of salvation. | 10:54 | |
She kept doing this for many days. | 10:57 | |
But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said | 11:00 | |
to the spirit, I order you in the name | 11:04 | |
of Jesus Christ to come out of her. | 11:07 | |
And it came out that very hour. | 11:11 | |
But when her owners saw that their hope | 11:14 | |
of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas | 11:16 | |
and dragged them into the marketplace | 11:21 | |
before the authorities. | 11:23 | |
When they had brought them before the magistrates, | 11:25 | |
they said these men are disturbing our city. | 11:27 | |
They are Jews and are advocating customs | 11:32 | |
that are not lawful for us as Romans | 11:35 | |
to adopt or observe. | 11:37 | |
The crowd joined in attacking them, | 11:40 | |
and the magistrates had them stripped | 11:42 | |
of their clothing and ordered them | 11:44 | |
to be beaten with rods. | 11:47 | |
After they had given them a severe flogging, | 11:50 | |
they threw them into the prison | 11:53 | |
and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. | 11:55 | |
Following these instructions, he put them | 11:59 | |
in the innermost cell and fastened their feet | 12:01 | |
in the stocks. | 12:04 | |
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying | 12:07 | |
and singing hymns to God, | 12:10 | |
and the prisoners were listening to them. | 12:12 | |
Suddenly there was an earthquake, | 12:15 | |
so violent that the foundations | 12:17 | |
of the prison were shaken, | 12:19 | |
and immediately all the doors were opened | 12:21 | |
and everyone's chains were unfastened. | 12:23 | |
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, | 12:26 | |
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, | 12:31 | |
since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. | 12:34 | |
But Paul shouted in a loud voice, | 12:39 | |
do not harm yourself, for we are all here. | 12:42 | |
The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, | 12:46 | |
he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. | 12:49 | |
Then he brought them outside and said, | 12:53 | |
sirs, what must I do to be saved? | 12:55 | |
They answered, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ | 12:59 | |
and you will be saved, you and your household. | 13:02 | |
They spoke the word of the Lord to him, | 13:06 | |
and to all who were in his house. | 13:08 | |
At that same hour of the night, he took them | 13:11 | |
and washed their wounds. | 13:14 | |
Then he and his entire family were baptized | 13:15 | |
without delay. | 13:18 | |
He brought them up into the house, | 13:20 | |
and set food before them. | 13:22 | |
And he and his entire household rejoiced | 13:24 | |
that he had become a believer in God. | 13:27 | |
This is the word of God. | 13:30 | |
Thanks be to God. | 13:33 | |
- | The psalm for today is number 97, | 13:44 |
and is found on page 817 in your hymnal. | 13:47 | |
Please stand and join in singing responsively. | 13:51 | |
(organ playing) | 13:56 | |
♪ The Lord reigns ♪ | 14:03 | |
♪ Let the earth rejoice ♪ | 14:04 | |
♪ Let the many coastlines be glad ♪ | 14:07 | |
♪ Clouds and thick darkness surround the Lord ♪ | 14:12 | |
♪ Righteousness and justice are the foundation ♪ | 14:17 | |
♪ Of God's throne ♪ | 14:21 | |
♪ Fire goes before the Lord ♪ | 14:24 | |
♪ And burns up his adversaries round about ♪ | 14:29 | |
♪ The Lord's lightnings illumine the world ♪ | 14:34 | |
♪ The earth sees and trembles ♪ | 14:39 | |
♪ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord ♪ | 14:43 | |
♪ Before the Lord of all the earth ♪ | 14:48 | |
♪ The heavens proclaim God's righteousness ♪ | 14:53 | |
♪ And all the peoples behold God's glory ♪ | 14:59 | |
♪ All the worshipers of images are put to shame ♪ | 15:05 | |
♪ Who make their boast in worthless idols ♪ | 15:09 | |
♪ All gods bow down before the Lord ♪ | 15:13 | |
♪ Zion hears and is glad ♪ | 15:19 | |
♪ And the daughters of Judah rejoice ♪ | 15:23 | |
♪ Because of your judgments O God ♪ | 15:27 | |
♪ For you O Lord are most high over all the earth ♪ | 15:32 | |
♪ You are exalted far above all gods ♪ | 15:38 | |
♪ The Lord loves those who hate evil ♪ | 15:43 | |
♪ Preserves the lives of his faithful ♪ | 15:48 | |
♪ And delivers them from the hand of the wicked ♪ | 15:52 | |
♪ Light dawns for the righteous ♪ | 15:58 | |
♪ And joy for the upright in heart ♪ | 16:02 | |
♪ Rejoice in the Lord O you righteous ♪ | 16:07 | |
♪ And give thanks to God's holy name ♪ | 16:12 | |
♪ All glory be to your creator ♪ | 16:18 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪ | 16:21 | |
♪ And to the holy spirit ♪ | 16:25 | |
♪ Blessed trinity ♪ | 16:28 | |
♪ As it was er' time began ♪ | 16:31 | |
♪ Is now and will be forevermore ♪ | 16:37 | |
You may be seated. | 16:46 | |
- | This reading is from the 22nd chapter | 16:59 |
of the revelation of John. | 17:02 | |
Beginning with verse 12. | 17:03 | |
See, I am coming soon. | 17:07 | |
My reward is with me, to repay according | 17:09 | |
to everyone's work. | 17:11 | |
I am the alpha and the omega, first and the last, | 17:13 | |
the beginning and the end. | 17:17 | |
Blessed are those who wash their robes, | 17:20 | |
so that they will have the right to the tree of life, | 17:22 | |
and may enter the city by the gates. | 17:24 | |
It is I Jesus who sent my angel to you | 17:28 | |
with this testimony for this churches. | 17:31 | |
I am the root and the descendant of David, | 17:34 | |
the bright morning star. | 17:36 | |
The spirit and the bride say come. | 17:39 | |
And let everyone who hears say come. | 17:42 | |
And let everyone who is thirsty come. | 17:46 | |
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. | 17:49 | |
The one who testifies to these things says | 17:55 | |
surely I am coming soon. | 17:57 | |
Amen. | 18:00 | |
Come Lord Jesus. | 18:02 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 18:05 | |
(organ playing) | 18:12 | |
(choir singing) | 18:33 | |
- | The gospel lesson is from the gospel of John, | 20:51 |
the last verses of the 17th chapter. | 20:53 | |
Jesus is praying for his disciples and for us. | 20:56 | |
I ask not only on behalf of these, | 21:03 | |
but also on behalf of those who will believe in me | 21:06 | |
through their word. | 21:10 | |
That they may all be one, as you father are in me | 21:13 | |
and I am in you, may they also be in us. | 21:17 | |
So that the world may believe that you sent me. | 21:23 | |
The glory that you have given me I have given them | 21:28 | |
so that they may be one, as we are one. | 21:31 | |
I in them and you in me, that they may become | 21:36 | |
completely one. | 21:40 | |
So that the world may know that you have sent me | 21:43 | |
and have loved them even as you have loved me. | 21:46 | |
Father, I desire that those also | 21:51 | |
whom you have given me may be with me where I am, | 21:54 | |
to see my glory which you have given me | 21:59 | |
because you loved me before the foundation of the world. | 22:04 | |
Righteous father, the world does not know you, | 22:11 | |
but I know you and these know that you have sent me. | 22:16 | |
I made your name known to them | 22:22 | |
and I will make it known so that the love | 22:24 | |
with which you have loved me may be in them | 22:28 | |
and I in them. | 22:33 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 22:36 | |
Monday was commencement at our university. | 22:48 | |
Someone has said that it's not a university, | 22:54 | |
it's a multiversity. | 22:58 | |
And the truth is it does sometimes seem barely | 23:01 | |
to hang together. | 23:05 | |
All those different disciplines representing quite | 23:07 | |
different ways of understanding the world. | 23:11 | |
This year, a bitter labor dispute, a strike | 23:15 | |
just barely avoided. | 23:19 | |
Graduate students still angry at the administration | 23:22 | |
for low pay. | 23:26 | |
Three whole departments facing possible extinction | 23:29 | |
so that we can meet a shrinking budget. | 23:34 | |
But the band was playing, and the philosophy department | 23:38 | |
who seldom speak to each other were at least | 23:43 | |
marching side by side. | 23:46 | |
The staff, who had briefly started out on strike, | 23:50 | |
was now cheering the students, | 23:53 | |
and the graduate students were almost, | 23:55 | |
for one day, forgiving the administration. | 23:58 | |
It's always splendid and colorful | 24:02 | |
and a little chaotic | 24:07 | |
and very, very fragile. | 24:09 | |
As we marched through the gates | 24:15 | |
onto the quadrangle for the ceremony, | 24:17 | |
I saw standing at the very edge of the spectators | 24:19 | |
two young men, each holding a placard. | 24:24 | |
And on each placard was a verse from the gospel of John, | 24:30 | |
the gospel we just read. | 24:35 | |
On one placard, the sign said I am the way | 24:39 | |
and the truth and the life, says Jesus. | 24:43 | |
And on the other placard, no one comes | 24:47 | |
to the father but by me. | 24:51 | |
It was a kind of remarkable witness | 24:55 | |
to the rigor and unity of the Christian faith, | 24:59 | |
in the midst of a secular multiversity. | 25:03 | |
It sounded quite appropriately a characteristic note | 25:08 | |
from John's gospel. | 25:13 | |
John's gospel often reminds us that as Christians, | 25:15 | |
we are not finally citizens of this world, | 25:20 | |
with all its bustle and its competing ideologies. | 25:24 | |
In the passage we read this morning, | 25:30 | |
Jesus prays for us to be a special separate family. | 25:33 | |
Finding our meaning in our relationship to God, | 25:38 | |
to Christ and to one another. | 25:42 | |
Righteous father, he prays, the world does not know you, | 25:44 | |
but I know you and these whom you have sent to me. | 25:50 | |
In John's gospel, the church stands over against the world. | 25:56 | |
We find our meaning in Christ and in one another. | 26:02 | |
We challenge the multiversity by calling | 26:07 | |
all those people to leave their diversity | 26:11 | |
and come join us in the one true university. | 26:15 | |
The one true united family in the church. | 26:20 | |
The young men with their signs caught | 26:27 | |
the characteristic note of John's gospel just right. | 26:30 | |
We Christians have been blessed with the way | 26:35 | |
and the truth and the life. | 26:38 | |
We stand here a little to one side of your | 26:41 | |
secular parade, | 26:45 | |
and invite you to come over here and join us. | 26:48 | |
That is an honorable way of being Christian | 26:56 | |
in a secular university and a secular world. | 27:00 | |
But it is not the only way. | 27:05 | |
One of the gifts of scripture is that the Bible | 27:09 | |
provides for us a different models of faithfulness. | 27:12 | |
John shows us a kind of faithfulness that says | 27:18 | |
to the world, come over here and join us Christians. | 27:21 | |
Acts shows a different kind of faithfulness, | 27:27 | |
where Christians say to the world, | 27:32 | |
we're coming out there to confront you. | 27:34 | |
This is my first time in Duke's chapel. | 27:40 | |
I know it only by reputation | 27:43 | |
and by my admiration from afar. | 27:45 | |
But as I drove up this morning it became clear | 27:48 | |
that by architecture and geography you are not allowed | 27:51 | |
to be a shrinking violet on this campus. | 27:54 | |
You are almost destined, called I think, | 27:58 | |
to bring the gospel into the midst of secular confusion | 28:03 | |
and conversation and hope. | 28:08 | |
And so at the very least I think the model | 28:11 | |
of the church in Acts serves | 28:14 | |
to supplement the kind of picture | 28:16 | |
of separated Christianity we see in John. | 28:19 | |
Paul and Silas in the story we heard from Acts, | 28:26 | |
do not stand at the side of the road | 28:30 | |
with a sign saying come over here and join us. | 28:32 | |
They march boldly into the midst of the economic | 28:37 | |
and intellectual and political society of their time | 28:40 | |
and say here we are. | 28:44 | |
Pay attention. | 28:47 | |
Their strategy for faithfulness I think, | 28:50 | |
can be a model for us at Duke and Yale | 28:54 | |
and in the secular multiversities of our time. | 28:58 | |
Look how they do it. | 29:03 | |
Paul and Silas speak and act | 29:06 | |
for justice as Christian people. | 29:09 | |
The poor slave girl who cries after them is twice oppressed. | 29:14 | |
She is oppressed by a demonic spirit. | 29:19 | |
She is oppressed by her owners, | 29:23 | |
who exploit her for her pain. | 29:25 | |
She cries out after Paul and Silas, | 29:28 | |
these men are slaves of the most high God. | 29:31 | |
She speaks truth even in her torment | 29:37 | |
until finally Luke says this about the blessed apostle Paul. | 29:39 | |
Paul, very much annoyed. | 29:45 | |
Turned and said to the spirit, come out of her. | 29:50 | |
And the woman is freed from her torment, | 29:55 | |
and useless at last to her owners. | 29:58 | |
Now I love the realism of that passage. | 30:02 | |
Paul finally acts for justice, | 30:07 | |
only when he is so much annoyed | 30:11 | |
by the pushy woman and her strutting exploitation | 30:14 | |
that he is finally nagged into speaking for God's truth. | 30:19 | |
And when we are honest, we will admit that even | 30:25 | |
for Christian people, our love of justice | 30:28 | |
often only emerges when we're nagged | 30:31 | |
or forced or demonstrated into it. | 30:35 | |
What does it mean, according to Acts, | 30:40 | |
to be faithful for justice? | 30:43 | |
It means that when we are nagged and pushed | 30:46 | |
and demonstrated and prodded into seeing | 30:50 | |
the injustice around us and are very much annoyed, | 30:55 | |
as we are bound to be, | 30:59 | |
we will use our annoyance to serve God's justice, | 31:02 | |
not to protect our privilege. | 31:09 | |
Women were not going to find their rightful role | 31:14 | |
in church and society because men benevolently looked out | 31:18 | |
and said let us be just at last. | 31:21 | |
We male leaders in church and society have been nagged | 31:26 | |
and pushed and demonstrated against | 31:30 | |
until we got very annoyed. | 31:33 | |
And when the spirit was with church and society as leaders, | 31:37 | |
we have sometimes, sometimes, been graced | 31:41 | |
to use that annoyance for reconciliation | 31:45 | |
and for justice, and not for building the fortresses | 31:49 | |
of our defense even higher. | 31:53 | |
I grew up in a church which integrated | 31:58 | |
for the first time in the 1950s. | 32:00 | |
Believe me, that church did not integrate | 32:04 | |
because the deacons went out on the streets trying | 32:06 | |
to make it a multiracial congregation. | 32:10 | |
It integrated because some black folk, | 32:14 | |
who everyone said were much too pushy, | 32:17 | |
came down the aisle one Sunday morning | 32:21 | |
at the baptist invitation and asked to join that church, | 32:23 | |
and when they got voted down the first time, | 32:26 | |
they came back the next month | 32:29 | |
and walked down the aisle again, | 32:31 | |
and lots of people in our church got very annoyed. | 32:33 | |
And some people knew that that annoyance was | 32:39 | |
God pushing us towards justice. | 32:43 | |
Christian faithfulness will not avoid annoyance. | 32:47 | |
It may let us use our annoyance | 32:52 | |
to serve God's just realm. | 32:56 | |
Paul and Silas not only act for justice, they evangelize. | 33:02 | |
They bear witness to their faith. | 33:06 | |
Not standing over against the world with their placards, | 33:08 | |
but right there in the midst of the world's hustle | 33:12 | |
and bustle and pain. | 33:15 | |
They luck out, of course. | 33:18 | |
They have a kind of perfect occasion for a witness. | 33:20 | |
There's this huge earthquake, miraculous escape, | 33:22 | |
the jailer asks what every Christian wishes | 33:26 | |
a neighbor would someday ask. | 33:28 | |
What must we do to be saved, | 33:30 | |
no one's ever asked me that question. | 33:31 | |
But it comes to us still, | 33:35 | |
the opportunity to bear witness, | 33:38 | |
to questions that are more subtle, | 33:42 | |
on occasions that are less dramatic, | 33:45 | |
to proclaim our faith in God and in Jesus Christ. | 33:48 | |
Christians like me, maybe like you. | 33:54 | |
We're quick to talk about our favorite book. | 33:58 | |
Our favorite restaurant. | 34:01 | |
A movie you've just got to see. | 34:03 | |
Try it, read it, see it, we say. | 34:05 | |
Why can't we talk about our favorite church | 34:09 | |
or the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. | 34:12 | |
Try it, see it, taste it. | 34:17 | |
Taste and see the Lord is good, says the Psalm. | 34:22 | |
Why can't we just once say that. | 34:27 | |
Paul and Silas seek for justice. | 34:34 | |
They bear witness. | 34:37 | |
And then in a way a minor point, | 34:39 | |
but it struck me as I read the passage this week. | 34:41 | |
Paul and Silas are considerate and kind | 34:44 | |
to the secular authorities who are their oppressors. | 34:48 | |
Considerate, kind, respectful. | 34:52 | |
Those sound like old fashioned, Victorian, | 34:57 | |
Boy Scout virtues. | 35:00 | |
Girl Scout virtues too. | 35:02 | |
But they're not far from the old translation | 35:06 | |
of the greatest Christian virtue, charity. | 35:09 | |
Faith, hope, charity abide. | 35:14 | |
These three. | 35:20 | |
Anyway, after the earthquake, the jailer thinking | 35:22 | |
that his charges have just escaped, | 35:25 | |
is about to kill himself. | 35:28 | |
And you think it would be a golden opportunity | 35:31 | |
for our heroes to leave and leave their old enemy | 35:35 | |
to his own well deserved fate. | 35:40 | |
But no, they stay around out of a kind of odd, | 35:44 | |
1st century Christian politeness. | 35:48 | |
To spare him trouble. | 35:52 | |
Don't harm yourself, Paul calls to the distraught jailer. | 35:55 | |
We are all here. | 36:00 | |
When we Christians take our quest for justice | 36:04 | |
into the world, there is always the danger | 36:08 | |
that our zeal will turn to meanness. | 36:11 | |
Have you noticed the rhetoric | 36:17 | |
around abortion clinics lately? | 36:18 | |
Or at the sites of executions? | 36:22 | |
Usually the placards and the slogans pit Christian | 36:26 | |
against Christian. | 36:30 | |
When I was young we used to sing, naively, | 36:33 | |
they'll know we are Christians by our love, | 36:37 | |
by our love. | 36:40 | |
Now oftentimes, they know we are Christians | 36:43 | |
by our nastiness. | 36:46 | |
It's not right up there with justice and evangelism | 36:52 | |
at the heart of the Christian life. | 36:56 | |
But Paul and Silas do model civility. | 36:59 | |
In the church where we worship, | 37:06 | |
the minister often closes the service | 37:07 | |
with these words. | 37:10 | |
Go forth into the world in peace, | 37:12 | |
charity, kindness. | 37:16 | |
Not a bad charge. | 37:20 | |
Go forth into the world in peace, | 37:25 | |
but not in peace alone. | 37:27 | |
Paul and Silas, notice this, it's so different | 37:29 | |
from us, I think. | 37:32 | |
Paul and Silas go into the world in pride. | 37:33 | |
Pride in who they are as Christian believers. | 37:38 | |
Peace is not enough if it means they have | 37:44 | |
to hide their faith or sneak about being Christian. | 37:47 | |
After the earthquake, the police tell the jailer | 37:53 | |
to let Paul go. | 37:55 | |
And the jailer goes and tells Paul, the magistrate | 37:57 | |
sent word to let you go. | 38:00 | |
Therefore come out now and go in peace. | 38:01 | |
And Paul says, they have beaten us in public. | 38:07 | |
We are uncondemned men who are Roman citizens. | 38:13 | |
Are they going to discharge us in secret? | 38:17 | |
Certainly not. | 38:21 | |
Certainly not. | 38:24 | |
I am not ashamed of the gospel, says Paul elsewhere. | 38:26 | |
And Acts ends with him in prison again, | 38:32 | |
preaching openly. | 38:37 | |
Boldly. | 38:40 | |
When we go out into the world, we go in peace | 38:43 | |
and justice and charity but we also go | 38:47 | |
in openness and honesty and boldness. | 38:50 | |
We do not pretend that we seek justice and love, charity | 38:53 | |
because we are people of goodwill. | 38:58 | |
We are called to justice and charity | 39:02 | |
because we serve the one who died and rose again. | 39:04 | |
We acknowledge our commitments. | 39:10 | |
We are straightforward about our reasons. | 39:12 | |
We claim our citizenship, not only in heaven | 39:16 | |
and not only in the church | 39:20 | |
but here in Duke and Durham and North Carolina | 39:22 | |
and the United States of America. | 39:25 | |
We have every right and every obligation | 39:27 | |
to join the public forum from our Christian convictions. | 39:32 | |
Not to coerce, but to persuade, | 39:38 | |
unashamed, | 39:43 | |
unembarrassed. | 39:46 | |
At that commencement service in New Haven last Monday, | 39:51 | |
we ended as we always end, with a hymn. | 39:55 | |
It's a kind of odd, anachronistic reminder. | 40:00 | |
That in the beginning our multiversity was | 40:05 | |
just a little college. | 40:07 | |
With a purpose unified and clear. | 40:10 | |
To train leaders for church | 40:14 | |
and civil state. | 40:18 | |
In some ways we have come a very far distance | 40:22 | |
from that vision. | 40:27 | |
But there we were with those old words before us. | 40:29 | |
Invited to sing a hymn which took us back | 40:34 | |
and might point us forward too. | 40:39 | |
The faculty did not sing very loudly. | 40:44 | |
No one would confuse us with a great church choir. | 40:47 | |
Some people of course find singing aloud embarrassing. | 40:51 | |
Others I know, found the words hopelessly | 40:56 | |
fantastic and outmoded. | 40:59 | |
But above the polite mumbling and over the sound | 41:03 | |
of the band, I did hear one voice begin, | 41:08 | |
quite loud. | 41:14 | |
Quite clear. | 41:17 | |
O God, beneath thy guiding hand, | 41:20 | |
our exiled fathers crossed the sea. | 41:26 | |
And when they trod the wintry strand, | 41:31 | |
with prayer and psalm they worshiped thee. | 41:36 | |
And then a few more voices, | 41:42 | |
not anything resembling unanimity, | 41:46 | |
but clearly, audibly, unmistakably, | 41:50 | |
a testimony, a witness. | 41:56 | |
And at the last, somewhat, somewhat louder, | 41:59 | |
a quite respectable hope. | 42:05 | |
And here thy name, | 42:10 | |
O God of love, | 42:14 | |
their children's children shall adore. | 42:18 | |
'Til these eternal hills remove | 42:23 | |
and spring adorns | 42:29 | |
the earth no more. | 42:33 | |
And then, perhaps because they knew the notes, | 42:39 | |
or perhaps because they believed it, | 42:45 | |
or intended to believe it, | 42:50 | |
a goodly multitude of voices sang. | 42:53 | |
Amen! | 43:00 | |
Amen. | 43:03 | |
(organ playing) | 43:12 | |
(all singing) | 43:52 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 46:52 |
Let us pray, be seated. | 46:55 | |
We've just sung of the kingship of God | 47:05 | |
over all the world. | 47:10 | |
Let us this day pray | 47:12 | |
for the peace and prosperity | 47:15 | |
of all the peoples of the world. | 47:18 | |
Almighty God we lift our hopes and prayers | 47:22 | |
to you for all the peoples of the world. | 47:25 | |
You know their condition, their need as we do not. | 47:29 | |
And our thoughts of them are poor | 47:34 | |
because we've not cared enough to seek knowledge of them. | 47:36 | |
Accept our prayers as we give expression | 47:41 | |
to the concern in our hearts, as we unite our wills | 47:45 | |
with your own mighty intention of good | 47:51 | |
for all the world's people. | 47:53 | |
We remember before you the peoples of Africa | 47:57 | |
and the Middle East. | 48:00 | |
Ancient home of kings, birth place of our culture, | 48:03 | |
lands of bitter wrong, of ignorance and fear, | 48:07 | |
disease and death. | 48:11 | |
Yet lands of promise. | 48:14 | |
Of great rivers and mountains and plains, | 48:17 | |
eager and strong men and women seeking | 48:20 | |
and finding freedom, seeking and finding you. | 48:23 | |
Particularly we pray for the peoples of Zambia. | 48:27 | |
Of South Africa, of Ethiopia, | 48:34 | |
of Israel. | 48:38 | |
Of Jordan, of Syria, of Lebanon. | 48:41 | |
Pour out your spirit upon people everywhere. | 48:45 | |
We remember before you the peoples of Asia, | 48:50 | |
that their divisions may be healed, | 48:54 | |
their wisdom increased to accept from other cultures | 48:57 | |
only that which ennobles and exalts. | 49:00 | |
Particularly we pray for the divided peoples of Korea. | 49:04 | |
O God who burst the bounds of death on Easter, | 49:11 | |
burst the bonds that enslave us to ourselves | 49:16 | |
and separate us from others. | 49:23 | |
We remember before you the peoples of Latin America, | 49:28 | |
struggling upward from chaos | 49:31 | |
into swift ill achievement and promise. | 49:33 | |
Yet hampered by tragic failures | 49:36 | |
of government and enlightenment. | 49:38 | |
That they may find their destiny anew in your purpose. | 49:42 | |
Particularly we pray for the Earth Summit meeting in Rio. | 49:47 | |
Oh God may we unite with peoples everywhere | 49:52 | |
to care for the earth. | 49:54 | |
We remember before you the peoples of Europe, | 49:59 | |
many times crushed by war and born down with old divisions. | 50:03 | |
That as ancient bearers of the message of Christ, | 50:08 | |
they may again be inspired by your power | 50:11 | |
in their common life. | 50:13 | |
We remember particularly the suffering peoples of Bosnia, | 50:17 | |
Herzegovina, Serbia. | 50:21 | |
O God of peace, pour out your peaceful spirit | 50:25 | |
on suffering people everywhere. | 50:29 | |
We remember before you our own peoples on this continent, | 50:33 | |
proud, tireless, groping for new faith | 50:38 | |
even as they seek to live up to the old. | 50:40 | |
O God we pray that without condescension | 50:44 | |
or overweening trust in our own powers | 50:48 | |
we may humbly play our part in your holy desire | 50:50 | |
for the world's life. | 50:55 | |
This morning do we pray for the homeless, | 50:59 | |
the sick, the bereaved among us. | 51:02 | |
O God, you promised us your comforter, | 51:09 | |
pour out your comforting spirit upon us | 51:13 | |
and upon people everywhere. | 51:16 | |
Grant O God that our imagination may be stretched, | 51:20 | |
to enable us to really feel the poignant needs of others, | 51:24 | |
to really celebrate with vibrant exaltation | 51:29 | |
of people of everywhere. | 51:31 | |
Give us all to dwell in a large place, | 51:35 | |
and make your church strong in every land, | 51:38 | |
a visible witness in every tongue for every people, | 51:42 | |
that Jesus Christ is Lord. | 51:47 | |
Amen. | 51:51 | |
As a people who have received so much, | 51:54 | |
let us offer ourselves and our gifts | 51:57 | |
to the God who has offered so much to us. | 51:59 | |
(organ playing) | 52:06 | |
(choir singing) | 53:23 | |
(organ playing) | 57:02 | |
(choir singing) | 57:23 | |
- | Let us pray. | 58:19 |
We give thanks O God for every gift received | 58:22 | |
and for each gift we are blessed in giving. | 58:26 | |
May these gifts bring light to those | 58:30 | |
who walk in darkness, hope to those who live in despair, | 58:33 | |
and justice to those who are oppressed. | 58:38 | |
Grant each giver a sense of participation | 58:42 | |
in the most important opportunity of all time, | 58:46 | |
to share your love with the world. | 58:50 | |
To this end we dedicate our offerings and ourselves. | 58:53 | |
Amen. | 58:58 | |
Our father, who art in heaven. | 58:59 | |
Hallowed be thy name. | 59:02 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 59:04 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 59:08 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 59:10 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive | 59:13 | |
those who trespassed against us. | 59:16 | |
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 59:19 | |
For thine is the kingdom and the power | 59:23 | |
and the glory forever. | 59:26 | |
Amen. | 59:28 | |
Let us go forth into the world in peace, | 59:31 | |
sharing kindness, promoting justice, | 59:34 | |
witnessing boldly and exemplifying God's love | 59:38 | |
for all people. | 59:43 | |
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 59:45 | |
and the love of God and fellowship of the holy spirit | 59:47 | |
be with you all. | 59:51 | |
(choir singing) | 59:58 | |
(organ playing) | 1:00:10 | |
(all singing) | 1:00:50 | |
(organ playing) | 1:03:30 |