William H. Willimon - "The End of Religion" (November 17, 1991)
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| (calm music) | 1:25 | |
| - | Good morning welcome to this service of worship | 2:11 |
| here in Duke University Chapel. | 2:13 | |
| Call to your attention the organ recital | 2:16 | |
| which will be here this afternoon | 2:18 | |
| and also the alternative Christmas | 2:21 | |
| which we are cooperating | 2:26 | |
| with the Divinity School in sponsoring | 2:27 | |
| and call to your attention the announcement in the bulletin | 2:31 | |
| about the alternative Christmas program and their Bazaar | 2:33 | |
| which will be on November the 20th. | 2:38 | |
| You will notice special music | 2:43 | |
| today by our choir as we end | 2:46 | |
| these last Sunday's of the Christian year | 2:50 | |
| in November the biblical texts | 2:53 | |
| take on an apocalyptic quality | 2:56 | |
| and the music today mirrors that special quality | 2:58 | |
| of these texts. | 3:01 | |
| You will also notice that the sermon text today | 3:04 | |
| comes from the Epistle to the Hebrews | 3:07 | |
| an Epistle thought to be written to early Jewish Christians, | 3:11 | |
| that's ironic considering | 3:16 | |
| the events on campus in the last two weeks. | 3:17 | |
| Last Sunday a large group | 3:23 | |
| gathered on the steps of the chapel | 3:24 | |
| to commemorate Kristallnacht | 3:27 | |
| that day of terror against | 3:30 | |
| the Jewish communities in Germany | 3:33 | |
| in response to the | 3:37 | |
| ad in The Chronicle about the Holocaust, | 3:40 | |
| the religious life staff here at Duke | 3:42 | |
| is having an ad that is coming out in the Chronicle | 3:46 | |
| and they've asked me to read | 3:49 | |
| portions of it to you as we begin our worship today. | 3:50 | |
| We the religious life staff at Duke University | 3:57 | |
| stand in solidarity with Jewish brothers and sisters | 4:00 | |
| in our dismay over the Chronicle's decision | 4:03 | |
| to accept the Holocaust revisionists ad. | 4:06 | |
| We totally reject the claims of this ad | 4:09 | |
| and are appalled that it's lies should be presented | 4:11 | |
| as scholarship. | 4:14 | |
| We believe that this ad | 4:16 | |
| was designed to foster hatred | 4:17 | |
| against a particular religious and ethnic group, | 4:19 | |
| and we share the pain of the Jewish community. | 4:21 | |
| We acknowledge with sadness, | 4:25 | |
| the role that our own religious communities | 4:27 | |
| have played in the past, | 4:29 | |
| through our silent complicity | 4:30 | |
| with the atrocities of the Holocaust. | 4:32 | |
| We've had abundant evidence | 4:34 | |
| of our tendency to dehumanize one another | 4:36 | |
| and justify violence through | 4:38 | |
| racial religious and ethnic difference. | 4:40 | |
| We affirm that all persons are created by God, | 4:43 | |
| we call upon the Duke community | 4:47 | |
| to seek ways to foster respect and understanding, | 4:48 | |
| we will continue to encourage dialogue | 4:52 | |
| among persons of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds, | 4:55 | |
| through such activities | 4:59 | |
| as the Annual Interfaith Seder, | 5:00 | |
| the annual Holocaust remembrance service | 5:03 | |
| at Duke chapel | 5:05 | |
| and Duke chapels annual educational programs | 5:07 | |
| on jewish-christian relations. | 5:10 | |
| We pledge to sponsor a variety of activities | 5:12 | |
| to encourage better understanding | 5:15 | |
| about the Holocaust | 5:16 | |
| during our Holocaust Remembrance Week in the spring. | 5:18 | |
| We pledge to continue in a more intentional manner | 5:22 | |
| to seek ways to struggle with this issue | 5:25 | |
| to foster understanding and respect of all people, | 5:29 | |
| we ask for forgiveness | 5:33 | |
| for the many times that we have failed | 5:34 | |
| to exemplify this ideal. | 5:36 | |
| May God grant us grace | 5:39 | |
| That our thoughts attitudes words and actions | 5:40 | |
| may build genuine community | 5:43 | |
| and this is signed | 5:46 | |
| by members of the religious life staff at Duke. | 5:47 | |
| Let us stand for the greeting. | 5:52 | |
| The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. | 5:57 | |
| - | And also with you. | 6:02 |
| - | The risen Christ is with us. | 6:03 |
| - | Praise the Lord. | 6:06 |
| ♪ Glory to God, and praise and love ♪ | 6:28 | |
| ♪ Be ever, ever given, ♪ | 6:33 | |
| ♪ By saints below and saints above, ♪ | 6:38 | |
| ♪ The church in earth and heaven ♪ | 6:42 | |
| ♪ On this glad day the glorious sun ♪ | 6:49 | |
| ♪ Of righteousness arose; ♪ | 6:54 | |
| ♪ On my benighted soul he shone ♪ | 6:58 | |
| ♪ And filled it with repose ♪ | 7:03 | |
| ♪ Sudden expired the legal strife, ♪ | 7:10 | |
| ♪ 'Twas then I ceased to grieve, ♪ | 7:15 | |
| ♪ My second, real, living life ♪ | 7:19 | |
| ♪ I then began to live ♪ | 7:24 | |
| ♪ Then with my heart I first believed, ♪ | 7:31 | |
| ♪ Believed with faith divine, ♪ | 7:35 | |
| ♪ Power with the Holy Ghost received ♪ | 7:41 | |
| ♪ To call the Savior mine ♪ | 7:46 | |
| ♪ I felt my Lord's atoning blood ♪ | 7:53 | |
| ♪ Close to my soul applied, ♪ | 7:57 | |
| ♪ Me, me he loved, the Son of God, ♪ | 8:03 | |
| ♪ For me, for me he died ♪ | 8:07 | |
| ♪ I found and owned his promise true, ♪ | 8:14 | |
| ♪ Ascertained of my part, ♪ | 8:19 | |
| ♪ My pardon passed in heaven I knew ♪ | 8:24 | |
| ♪ When written on my heart, ♪ | 8:29 | |
| ♪ O for a thousand tongues to sing ♪ | 8:36 | |
| ♪ My dear Redeemer's praise ♪ | 8:41 | |
| ♪ The glories of my God and King, ♪ | 8:46 | |
| ♪ The triumphs of his grace ♪ | 8:51 | |
| ♪ My gracious Master and my God, ♪ | 8:58 | |
| ♪ Assist me to proclaim, ♪ | 9:02 | |
| ♪ To spread through all the earth abroad ♪ | 9:08 | |
| ♪ The honors of thy name ♪ | 9:12 | |
| ♪ Jesus, the name that charms our fears, ♪ | 9:20 | |
| ♪ That bids our sorrows cease, ♪ | 9:24 | |
| ♪ 'Tis music in the sinner's ears, ♪ | 9:29 | |
| ♪ 'Tis life, and health, and peace ♪ | 9:34 | |
| ♪ He breaks the power of canceled sin, ♪ | 9:41 | |
| ♪ He sets the prisoner free, ♪ | 9:46 | |
| ♪ His blood can make the foulest clean, ♪ | 9:51 | |
| ♪ His blood availed for me ♪ | 9:55 | |
| ♪ He speaks, and listening to his voice ♪ | 10:03 | |
| ♪ New life the dead receive, ♪ | 10:08 | |
| ♪ The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, ♪ | 10:13 | |
| ♪ The humble poor believe ♪ | 10:17 | |
| ♪ Hear him, ye deaf, his praise, ye dumb, ♪ | 10:25 | |
| ♪ Your loosened tongues employ, ♪ | 10:29 | |
| ♪ Ye blind, behold your Savior come, ♪ | 10:34 | |
| ♪ And leap, ye lame, for joy ♪ | 10:39 | |
| ♪ Look unto him, ye nations, own ♪ | 10:45 | |
| ♪ Your God, ye fallen race ♪ | 10:50 | |
| ♪ Look, and be saved through faith alone, ♪ | 10:56 | |
| ♪ Be justified by grace ♪ | 11:00 | |
| ♪ See all your sins on Jesus laid, ♪ | 11:08 | |
| ♪ The Lamb of God was slain, ♪ | 11:13 | |
| ♪ His soul was once an offering made ♪ | 11:18 | |
| ♪ For every soul of man ♪ | 11:23 | |
| ♪ Harlots and publicans and thieves, ♪ | 11:29 | |
| ♪ In holy triumph join ♪ | 11:34 | |
| ♪ Saved is the sinner that believes ♪ | 11:39 | |
| ♪ From crimes as great as mine ♪ | 11:44 | |
| ♪ Murderers and all ye hellish crew, ♪ | 11:52 | |
| ♪ Ye sons of lust and pride, ♪ | 11:57 | |
| ♪ Believe the Savior died for you, ♪ | 12:02 | |
| ♪ For me the Savior died ♪ | 12:07 | |
| ♪ With me, your chief, you then shall know, ♪ | 12:41 | |
| ♪ Shall feel your sins forgiven ♪ | 12:46 | |
| ♪ Anticipate your heaven below ♪ | 12:51 | |
| ♪ And own that love is heave ♪ | 12:56 | |
| - | Praise God for the gift of music. | 13:10 |
| Let us pray. | 13:12 | |
| We thank you O God | 13:16 | |
| for calling us into your church | 13:18 | |
| to be your people we have | 13:21 | |
| gathered God of grace and wisdom | 13:23 | |
| because we have heard your call, | 13:26 | |
| you have reached out to us in Jesus Christ, | 13:29 | |
| you have touched us with your spirit, | 13:33 | |
| and we have turned toward you seeking to love | 13:36 | |
| as we have been loved. | 13:40 | |
| We call upon your holy name | 13:42 | |
| empower us to worship and serve you | 13:45 | |
| walking gently on this earth, | 13:48 | |
| through the grace of Jesus Christ. | 13:51 | |
| Amen. | 13:54 | |
| You may be seated. | 13:56 | |
| - | Let us pray together the prayer for illumination. | 14:05 |
| Open our hearts and minds Oh God | 14:09 | |
| by the power of your Holy Spirit | 14:11 | |
| so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 14:14 | |
| we might hear with joy | 14:17 | |
| what you say to us this day, Amen. | 14:19 | |
| The first reading is taken from the Book of Daniel, | 14:26 | |
| the seventh chapter starting with the ninth verse. | 14:29 | |
| As I watched Thrones were set in place | 14:34 | |
| and an ancient one took his throne | 14:37 | |
| his clothing was white as snow | 14:40 | |
| and the head of his head, hair of his head like pure wool | 14:43 | |
| his throne was fiery flames | 14:47 | |
| and its wheels were burning fire, | 14:49 | |
| a stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence | 14:53 | |
| a thousand thousands served him | 14:58 | |
| and ten thousand times ten thousand | 15:01 | |
| stood attending him, | 15:04 | |
| the court sat in judgment | 15:06 | |
| and the books were opened. | 15:09 | |
| I watched then because of the noise | 15:12 | |
| of the arrogant words | 15:14 | |
| that the horn was speaking. | 15:15 | |
| And as I watched the Beast was put to death | 15:18 | |
| and its body destroyed | 15:23 | |
| and given over to be burned with fire. | 15:25 | |
| As for the rest of the beasts, | 15:30 | |
| their dominion was taken away | 15:32 | |
| but their lives were prolonged | 15:35 | |
| for a season and a time. | 15:37 | |
| As I watched in the night visions, | 15:42 | |
| I saw one like a human being coming | 15:44 | |
| with the clouds of heaven, | 15:47 | |
| and he came to the ancient one | 15:50 | |
| and was presented before him. | 15:52 | |
| To him was given Dominion and glory and | 15:55 | |
| kingship that all peoples nations and | 15:57 | |
| languages should serve him. | 16:00 | |
| His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion | 16:04 | |
| that shall not pass away | 16:07 | |
| and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed. | 16:10 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 16:14 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 16:16 |
| - | The psalm is number 145 on page one, | 16:32 |
| I mean number 145 verses 8 through 13 | 16:35 | |
| found on page 857. | 16:38 | |
| Please stand and sing responsively. | 16:40 | |
| ♪ The Lord is gracious and merciful ♪ | 16:50 | |
| ♪ Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love ♪ | 16:55 | |
| ♪ The lord is good to all, ♪ | 17:02 | |
| ♪ His compassion is for all his creation ♪ | 17:05 | |
| ♪ All your works shall give thanks to you O Lord ♪ | 17:11 | |
| ♪ And your faithful ones shall bless you ♪ | 17:16 | |
| ♪ They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom ♪ | 17:21 | |
| ♪ And tell of your love ♪ | 17:26 | |
| ♪ To make known to all people your mighty deeds ♪ | 17:30 | |
| ♪ And the glorious splendor of your kingdom ♪ | 17:36 | |
| ♪ Your kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom ♪ | 17:41 | |
| ♪ And your dominion endures throughout all generations ♪ | 17:45 | |
| ♪ All glory be to you Creator ♪ | 17:52 | |
| ♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior, ♪ | 17:55 | |
| ♪ Grant your Holy Spirit, Blessed Trinity ♪ | 17:59 | |
| ♪ As it was begun 'er time began ♪ | 18:05 | |
| ♪ Praise God, him the King, forever more ♪ | 18:09 | |
| - | This reading is from the | 18:31 |
| 10th chapter of Hebrews | 18:32 | |
| beginning with the 11th verse. | 18:34 | |
| And every priest stands day after day at his service, | 18:39 | |
| offering again and again | 18:43 | |
| the same sacrifices that can never take away sins, | 18:45 | |
| but when Christ had offered for all time | 18:50 | |
| a single sacrifice for sins, | 18:52 | |
| he sat down at the right hand of God | 18:55 | |
| and since then has been waiting | 18:59 | |
| until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet. | 19:00 | |
| For by a single offering | 19:06 | |
| he has perfected for all time, | 19:08 | |
| those who are sanctified, | 19:11 | |
| and the Holy Spirit also testifies to us | 19:14 | |
| for after saying, "This is the Covenant | 19:18 | |
| "that I will make with them after those days," says the Lord | 19:22 | |
| "I will put my laws in their hearts | 19:26 | |
| and I will write them on their minds" | 19:29 | |
| He also adds, | 19:32 | |
| "I will remember their sins | 19:34 | |
| "and their lawless deeds no more. | 19:37 | |
| "Where there is forgiveness of these, | 19:42 | |
| "there is no longer any offering for sin." | 19:45 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 19:49 | |
| Congregation | Praise be to God. | 19:51 |
| - | This reading is taken | 20:00 |
| from the Gospel according to Saint Mark, | 20:01 | |
| the 13th chapter starting at the 24th verse. | 20:04 | |
| But in those days after that suffering | 20:11 | |
| the Sun will be darkened | 20:15 | |
| and the moon will not give its light | 20:17 | |
| and the stars will be falling from heaven | 20:20 | |
| and the powers in the heavens will be shaken, | 20:23 | |
| then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds, | 20:27 | |
| with great power and glory, | 20:31 | |
| then he will send out the angels | 20:33 | |
| and gather his elect from the four winds, | 20:36 | |
| from the ends of the earth | 20:40 | |
| to the ends of heaven. | 20:41 | |
| From the fig tree learn its lesson | 20:45 | |
| as soon as its branch becomes tender | 20:48 | |
| and puts forth its leaves, | 20:51 | |
| you know that summer is near. | 20:54 | |
| So also when you see these things taking place, | 20:57 | |
| you know that he is near | 21:01 | |
| at the very gates. | 21:04 | |
| Truly I tell you | 21:06 | |
| this generation will not pass away, | 21:09 | |
| until all these things have taken place, | 21:12 | |
| heaven and earth will pass away | 21:16 | |
| but my words will not pass away, | 21:18 | |
| but about that day or hour, no one knows | 21:22 | |
| neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, | 21:26 | |
| but only the Father. | 21:30 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 21:33 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 21:36 |
| ♪ Blessed is he that readeth, ♪ | 22:05 | |
| ♪ That heareth the words of this prophecy, ♪ | 22:09 | |
| ♪ And keep those things which are written ♪ | 22:13 | |
| ♪ For the time ♪ | 22:16 | |
| ♪ Is at hand ♪ | 22:21 | |
| ♪ Behold, he cometh with clouds ♪ | 22:25 | |
| ♪ Every eye shall see him, ♪ | 22:37 | |
| ♪ And they also which pierced him ♪ | 22:40 | |
| ♪ And all kindreds of the earth ♪ | 23:07 | |
| ♪ Shall wail, shall wail, ♪ | 23:12 | |
| ♪ Shall wail because of him ♪ | 23:16 | |
| ♪ Even so, amen ♪ | 23:23 | |
| ♪ I John, who also am your brother, ♪ | 23:34 | |
| ♪ And companion in tribulation, ♪ | 23:38 | |
| ♪ Was in the isle, called Patmos, ♪ | 23:42 | |
| ♪ And I John, saw these things ♪ | 23:46 | |
| ♪ Behold the Lord opened in heaven ♪ | 24:04 | |
| ♪ And a great voice I heard was as trumpet calling ♪ | 24:19 | |
| ♪ He said ♪ | 24:35 | |
| ♪ I am the Alpha and Omega, ♪ | 24:39 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ | ||
| ♪ I am he who died ♪ | 24:48 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ | ||
| ♪ And liveth forever and ever ♪ | 24:57 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ | ||
| ♪ And I will show these things ♪ | 25:14 | |
| ♪ Which shall be hereafter ♪ | 25:26 | |
| - | Every priest stands day after day | 26:25 |
| offering again and again the same sacrifice, | 26:28 | |
| but when Christ had offered | 26:34 | |
| for all time the single sacrifice for sin, | 26:35 | |
| he sat down at the right hand of God. | 26:38 | |
| Okay class take out a paper and pen, | 26:45 | |
| pop quiz time. | 26:48 | |
| I suspect that from what I saw on campus last night | 26:50 | |
| many of you have been neglecting | 26:55 | |
| your Christianity homework, | 26:57 | |
| here's a pop quiz that consists of | 26:59 | |
| one multiple choice question, | 27:01 | |
| listen carefully, question is this. | 27:04 | |
| Which of the following is not a religion? | 27:07 | |
| A: High-fiber cereal. | 27:13 | |
| B: The National Association of Scholars. | 27:18 | |
| C: The Wall Street Journal. | 27:22 | |
| D: The Christian faith. | 27:24 | |
| You can pick only one, | 27:28 | |
| which of the following is not a religion | 27:29 | |
| high-fiber cereal, | 27:31 | |
| the National Association of scholars, | 27:32 | |
| the Wall Street Journal or D the Christian faith? | 27:33 | |
| Times up, hand in your papers, | 27:39 | |
| you got it right if you pick D, the Christian faith, | 27:42 | |
| oh but you say you also always thought | 27:46 | |
| that Christianity was a religion | 27:48 | |
| well a lot that you learned | 27:50 | |
| in Des Moines has needed correcting | 27:51 | |
| why not what you think about Christianity? | 27:54 | |
| No the Christian faith is not a religion, | 27:56 | |
| here is a definition. | 28:02 | |
| Religion is the attempt by human beings | 28:04 | |
| to establish a right relationship between themselves | 28:07 | |
| and whatever it is outside themselves | 28:11 | |
| that they think will give them life, | 28:13 | |
| that's religion, | 28:18 | |
| religion by my definition is any attempt | 28:22 | |
| to get a handle on the way the world is run, | 28:25 | |
| to plug into the power, | 28:28 | |
| to find the program | 28:30 | |
| that will lead you to meaning | 28:32 | |
| or happiness or self-esteem | 28:35 | |
| or whatever you think gives a person life | 28:37 | |
| and that program may be about God | 28:43 | |
| or about the good life or about good sex | 28:46 | |
| or whatever a person believes will give life significance, | 28:49 | |
| still it is a religion | 28:55 | |
| the person who gulps down | 28:59 | |
| great quantities of cereal containing sawdust | 29:00 | |
| to hedge his bets on good health, | 29:05 | |
| the professor who forces down you | 29:08 | |
| large quantities of Shakespeare | 29:10 | |
| in order to protect you from the ravages of Alice Walker, | 29:12 | |
| the anxious observer of the Dow Jones average, | 29:16 | |
| all of these can be said to be religious | 29:19 | |
| in a way that Christianity is not. | 29:22 | |
| Religions all have certain things in common, | 29:27 | |
| for instance all religions have three things in common, | 29:30 | |
| they all have creeds in common, creeds, | 29:33 | |
| something that you are told | 29:36 | |
| if you will get your head straight about | 29:38 | |
| which will encourage correct thinking, | 29:41 | |
| will give you an edge on life, | 29:45 | |
| all religions have cults | 29:49 | |
| that is certain practices | 29:52 | |
| that are evoked by those creeds, | 29:54 | |
| certain rituals and habits | 29:56 | |
| that they must go through. | 29:58 | |
| I don't jog for the fun of it, | 30:02 | |
| I do it to get somewhere else, | 30:06 | |
| nobody eats oat bran because it tastes good. | 30:08 | |
| We don't get advanced degrees | 30:16 | |
| for the sheer joy of gaining knowledge, | 30:18 | |
| no these are sort of cultic practices | 30:21 | |
| to move us somewhere else | 30:23 | |
| and then a third thing | 30:25 | |
| that all religions have is certain conduct | 30:26 | |
| proscribed, prescribed behavior | 30:30 | |
| which if you get it right will land you in Nirvana | 30:34 | |
| or on Wall Street or in St. Petersburg | 30:38 | |
| or wherever you think it is that | 30:40 | |
| religion ought to get you in order to set you up. | 30:43 | |
| Creed, cult, conduct. | 30:47 | |
| Now need I say that a necessary byproduct | 30:52 | |
| of all religion is therefore fatigue | 30:54 | |
| because every religion is always insisting | 30:59 | |
| that there just certain things | 31:01 | |
| that you've got to think right, do right, get right | 31:02 | |
| in order to be right, | 31:05 | |
| people are forever flunking religion. | 31:07 | |
| Now there are uptight, | 31:12 | |
| terribly difficult to get right religions like golf, | 31:14 | |
| just when you master the 9-iron, | 31:21 | |
| there's always the Niblick, | 31:22 | |
| staring at you from the bag, | 31:23 | |
| demanding that you get it right too | 31:24 | |
| and then there are laid-back, | 31:27 | |
| there're relaxed religions like psychotherapy | 31:29 | |
| where you just lie on a couch | 31:33 | |
| and you free-associate about your mother | 31:35 | |
| but in every religion | 31:38 | |
| there's always gonna be creed | 31:39 | |
| and then there will be cult | 31:41 | |
| and then there will be conduct, | 31:42 | |
| just things that simply must be gotten right | 31:44 | |
| if you are to be right. | 31:47 | |
| In other words that relationship | 31:52 | |
| to that something beyond ourselves, | 31:54 | |
| religion always tells us is mainly up to us, | 31:57 | |
| it's a result of something that we think | 32:00 | |
| or we do, we say | 32:02 | |
| and it is so tiresome | 32:07 | |
| because it is so difficult to get it right | 32:11 | |
| no matter how much we watch what we eat, | 32:17 | |
| gobbling up large amounts of brown rice, | 32:20 | |
| well there's always someone the next day | 32:23 | |
| on Good Morning America | 32:25 | |
| to tell us oh no, no, no, you got that all right, | 32:27 | |
| you're supposed to be eating bulgur wheat instead, | 32:29 | |
| sorry for you kid no relationship | 32:31 | |
| to the ultimate in life for you | 32:33 | |
| so religion is not only a recipe for fatigue | 32:37 | |
| but it is a one-way ticket to failure | 32:41 | |
| because the harder you try, | 32:46 | |
| particularly the more conscientious you are, | 32:47 | |
| the more apt you are to be impressed | 32:49 | |
| that you just haven't gotten it right. | 32:52 | |
| Oh, religion will sometimes tell you | 32:58 | |
| that it really loves that source of the ultimate | 32:59 | |
| that lies outside of itself | 33:03 | |
| with which it is trying to establish a relationship | 33:06 | |
| but in fact it's not love that motivates religion, | 33:09 | |
| it's appeasement or self-protection, | 33:15 | |
| control is really the goal of all religion, | 33:20 | |
| some key, some formula, some program to control, | 33:24 | |
| bean sprouts and oat bran I love you forget it, | 33:30 | |
| it's called work, it's hard work, | 33:34 | |
| it's tiresome work, fatigue producing work | 33:37 | |
| to get it right but it hardly ever is, | 33:40 | |
| we can eat broccoli and brown rice | 33:44 | |
| only to get clobbered by an asteroid | 33:47 | |
| and we can offer up the blood of our sons and daughters | 33:49 | |
| out in the desert for some new world order | 33:52 | |
| only to have them enslaved to the Emir's oil. | 33:56 | |
| Nobody ever got an A-plus on the exam called religion | 34:02 | |
| but the trouble with religion is that A-plus | 34:07 | |
| is the only grade worth having | 34:09 | |
| and they get it right or lose it, the world of religion, | 34:12 | |
| so religion is always a one-way ticket to failure | 34:17 | |
| and we're all born religious | 34:24 | |
| that is we come into this world just desperate | 34:29 | |
| to find some way for us | 34:33 | |
| to establish some relationship | 34:38 | |
| with that ultimate source of | 34:40 | |
| meaning or being outside ourselves, | 34:41 | |
| we're just born religious. | 34:44 | |
| Lying in our bassinet when we're a baby, | 34:47 | |
| we noticed quite by accident | 34:50 | |
| that certain facial contortions | 34:51 | |
| will bring paroxysms of glee in our parents, | 34:54 | |
| oh look at the camera the baby just laughed, | 34:57 | |
| well then we do it again, it produces the same effect, | 35:00 | |
| we think we may have discovered the key | 35:03 | |
| to managing our parents, | 35:05 | |
| later we notice whenever Aunt Hildegard comes to visit | 35:09 | |
| that if you curtsy | 35:13 | |
| she'll come with a fiber | 35:16 | |
| so that means at anytime the old lady comes into the room | 35:19 | |
| we just drop to our knees | 35:22 | |
| and if we get good enough at that afterwards | 35:26 | |
| there's the Angier B. Duke Scholarship Competition | 35:27 | |
| and then a major in electrical engineering | 35:32 | |
| and then it's just on and on and on | 35:35 | |
| but we never can seem to quite get it right | 35:41 | |
| despite going through life, | 35:48 | |
| changing our creeds and our cults and our conduct | 35:49 | |
| we just can never seem to get it right | 35:52 | |
| now here's the point of the sermon from Hebrews | 35:57 | |
| Jesus came to put an end to religion, | 36:03 | |
| religion as something that human beings have got to do | 36:11 | |
| to somehow get right with God, | 36:15 | |
| to have a correct relationship with God | 36:17 | |
| interested Jesus even less than golf. | 36:20 | |
| Religion is that which we do when we really get serious | 36:25 | |
| about cutting down our cholesterol | 36:29 | |
| or when we really hunker down | 36:31 | |
| and give everything we've got to our career | 36:33 | |
| or when we really finally clean up our act morally speaking | 36:36 | |
| separating the good from the bad, | 36:41 | |
| the saved from the damned, | 36:42 | |
| the in from the out, | 36:43 | |
| this could have interested Jesus | 36:44 | |
| to no account. | 36:50 | |
| Jesus never got into what we call religion, | 36:53 | |
| that anxious, tiring, fatigue producing, | 36:57 | |
| ultimately futile attempt to get right with God | 37:01 | |
| because in him, in Jesus, God made it right. | 37:04 | |
| Jesus made the only sacrifice ever needed | 37:14 | |
| to get right with God, | 37:20 | |
| the writer of Hebrews saint of the temple, | 37:24 | |
| in the temple the priests work day and night | 37:27 | |
| coming before God, coming before God, | 37:31 | |
| offering sacrifice for our sins, | 37:34 | |
| why did the priests work so hard | 37:36 | |
| well Psalm 50 tells us | 37:38 | |
| offer to God a thanksgiving | 37:41 | |
| and pay your vows to the Most High | 37:43 | |
| and I will deliver you, | 37:46 | |
| you see you put your money in here, you get this, | 37:47 | |
| quid pro quo, this for that, | 37:50 | |
| the temple was off-limits for lay people | 37:56 | |
| only the priest could go into the Holy of Holies | 37:59 | |
| and on Yom Kippur the priest | 38:02 | |
| walked into the Holy of Holies | 38:04 | |
| and he made sacrifice for our sins | 38:06 | |
| but as Hebrew says it was an annual sacrifice for our sin, | 38:10 | |
| you had to do it again and again every year, | 38:14 | |
| there's religion for you, | 38:19 | |
| no sooner have you finished your sacrifice | 38:21 | |
| then it's next Sunday | 38:25 | |
| and you have to start the whole thing over again, | 38:26 | |
| you get up you come down to the chapel | 38:30 | |
| and you come out after being | 38:31 | |
| all forgiven and made fresh and clean | 38:33 | |
| and you're feeling good | 38:35 | |
| and you say yes I got this right, | 38:36 | |
| on the way out the door of the chapel, | 38:37 | |
| somebody bumps into you, | 38:38 | |
| you say hey watch it buddy | 38:39 | |
| well then he shoves you back, you shove him, | 38:41 | |
| hey how long did your purity last this Sunday, | 38:43 | |
| you have to start the whole thing over again, it's so tiring | 38:48 | |
| and Hebrews notes that in the temple | 38:53 | |
| there weren't any chairs for the priest, | 38:55 | |
| Hebrews says that in the temple | 39:00 | |
| the priest always had to stand up, | 39:02 | |
| well of course they stood | 39:05 | |
| if some priest is gonna be offering atonement for my sin | 39:06 | |
| he's going to have a full-time job, | 39:10 | |
| he'll never get a day off, | 39:11 | |
| he'll never be able to take a seat and lounge around | 39:13 | |
| cuz no matter how beautiful the music, | 39:18 | |
| no matter how stunningly right everything is, | 39:22 | |
| the prayers, the sermon, the readings | 39:24 | |
| this priest is just gonna have to be kept | 39:29 | |
| perpetually, breathlessly running back and forth | 39:30 | |
| between my sin and the altar of God. | 39:34 | |
| The very busyness of the priest, | 39:39 | |
| the fact that there is no chair in the Holy of Holies | 39:44 | |
| is for the writer of Hebrews testimony | 39:47 | |
| to the failure of religion. | 39:49 | |
| Every priest stands day after day at his service | 39:53 | |
| offering again and again the same sacrifices | 39:57 | |
| that can never take away sin. | 40:00 | |
| Then the writer of Hebrews remembers the Prophet Jeremiah | 40:06 | |
| who predicted that there would be one day | 40:11 | |
| when we would not be running back and forth | 40:14 | |
| back and forth from the altar | 40:16 | |
| when if God had something to say to us, | 40:18 | |
| God would just write it on the heart | 40:20 | |
| when that something beyond ourselves | 40:25 | |
| would be so close to us that it would be part of us. | 40:27 | |
| In contrast to the standing posture of priests, | 40:36 | |
| see I'm standing right now | 40:39 | |
| even as I talked to you, | 40:41 | |
| in contrast to that posture Jesus sits, | 40:43 | |
| where is Jesus during the service | 40:49 | |
| well he's lounging over there, he's seated, | 40:51 | |
| when Christ offered up for all time | 40:55 | |
| a single sacrifice for sin he sat down | 40:57 | |
| at the right hand of God, | 41:00 | |
| the veil in the temple | 41:02 | |
| separating us between God was ripped in two at his death, | 41:04 | |
| in his great gift he put religion out of business | 41:10 | |
| now there is just no point | 41:16 | |
| in getting on some treadmill of right thoughts, | 41:18 | |
| right actions, right words | 41:20 | |
| because that right relationship that we so desperately seek | 41:23 | |
| was made right in him. | 41:26 | |
| Now all we must do is just trust that he | 41:33 | |
| has done what needed to be done. | 41:38 | |
| Now class I'll admit to Christianity in its attempt | 41:43 | |
| to trust what Jesus did | 41:47 | |
| has often made use of the forms of religion, | 41:50 | |
| that's probably why you may have answered | 41:53 | |
| A, B, or C when you should have answered D, | 41:55 | |
| we have sometimes made use of the forms of religion | 41:58 | |
| to get across this radically non-religious message, | 42:02 | |
| in fact if you look at your bulletin today's service | 42:08 | |
| you'll see there, creed, cult, conduct | 42:10 | |
| but my point is please, please | 42:15 | |
| don't take any of that seriously, | 42:17 | |
| there is nothing in this service, | 42:21 | |
| there is nothing that in anything I've said | 42:23 | |
| and that the choir's sung | 42:25 | |
| that can establish a right relationship between you and God, | 42:28 | |
| all of that is there is a kind of joke's on us reminder | 42:33 | |
| that Jesus has already established a right relationship | 42:39 | |
| between us and God | 42:44 | |
| and now he has taken his seat. | 42:46 | |
| Prayer is not a con job to get God to be gracious, | 42:53 | |
| God already is grace, | 42:56 | |
| we don't baptize, we don't break bread, | 43:00 | |
| we don't read scripture in order to beg God to show up, | 43:02 | |
| God's already here, | 43:06 | |
| that's why Jesus sits, | 43:10 | |
| that's why we call it Gospel, good news. | 43:13 | |
| If it were religion, it would still be the bad news | 43:20 | |
| that there's still something for us to do to get right, | 43:24 | |
| some door to be unlocked, | 43:27 | |
| some ritual to be gone through, | 43:29 | |
| some little sin to be purged, | 43:31 | |
| some inadequate idea to be gotten straight on | 43:33 | |
| but we're here this morning not to get right | 43:41 | |
| but because in Jesus this thing | 43:44 | |
| between us and God | 43:47 | |
| has been made right, | 43:48 | |
| we don't sing in order to get somewhere with God, | 43:52 | |
| we sing because we've already arrived. | 43:57 | |
| Now as Robert Capon says | 44:03 | |
| you'd think the church with our great big | 44:04 | |
| gone out of the religion sign over our door, | 44:06 | |
| you might think people would be | 44:10 | |
| just be breaking down the door to get in here, | 44:11 | |
| now as we said we're all born religious, | 44:16 | |
| we come into this world | 44:19 | |
| just assuming that there's got to be some | 44:21 | |
| creed, cult, or conduct that we can get | 44:22 | |
| to get the key and so we breathlessly try to | 44:24 | |
| batter down God's door | 44:29 | |
| when the door's already open. | 44:34 | |
| Look at Jesus, | 44:38 | |
| seated, then look at us, | 44:40 | |
| oh we're so busy trotting back and forth, | 44:44 | |
| trying to get right conduct, right help, right thinking | 44:45 | |
| and there he is seated for Heaven's sake | 44:49 | |
| now granted there may be some | 44:54 | |
| who argue religion has its place, | 44:55 | |
| our scurrying about to eat right, | 44:59 | |
| think right, look right, do right | 45:01 | |
| is testimony that down in our hearts | 45:03 | |
| we think maybe we're not right, | 45:06 | |
| we are not good lovers, | 45:10 | |
| we are not good livers, we are not good dyers | 45:13 | |
| yet for all of our inner thoughts | 45:18 | |
| about our nagging inadequacies, Hebrews said, | 45:20 | |
| our repeated little sacrifices, | 45:23 | |
| these can never take away sin, | 45:27 | |
| maybe by the way you may be saying right now | 45:33 | |
| well wait a minute isn't there good | 45:35 | |
| that is God certified true religion | 45:36 | |
| and then bad religion? | 45:38 | |
| Forget it, | 45:42 | |
| Jesus never told us to do anything in some | 45:44 | |
| do this, get that quid pro quo sense, | 45:47 | |
| we just will never be able to substitute our control | 45:52 | |
| for His grace, if we're gonna be rightly related to God, | 45:57 | |
| it's gonna be because of something he has done | 46:03 | |
| not what we do, it's called Grace | 46:06 | |
| and Hebrews has a joyful him that he's done it, it's over, | 46:13 | |
| God's got no more quarrel with us | 46:17 | |
| and so we come up to the cash register | 46:22 | |
| fumbling in our wallet trying to find a bill | 46:24 | |
| large enough to pay and we get up there | 46:26 | |
| and the guy at the cash register says | 46:28 | |
| oh excuse me your bill has been paid | 46:30 | |
| by that man seated over there in the corner. | 46:32 | |
| When he got through he just sat down | 46:40 | |
| at the right hand of God, it was over, | 46:41 | |
| tortured in conscience, | 46:48 | |
| painfully aware of his own inadequacies, | 46:51 | |
| John Bunyan heard God say in grace abounding, | 46:53 | |
| Senator, thou thinkest that because of thy sin, | 47:01 | |
| and infirmities I cannot save thy soul | 47:06 | |
| but behold my son is seated beside me | 47:10 | |
| and upon him I look not upon thee | 47:16 | |
| and I will deal with thee | 47:21 | |
| according as I am pleased with him. | 47:26 | |
| ♪ Lo he comes with clouds descending ♪ | 48:39 | |
| ♪ Once for favored sinners slain ♪ | 48:48 | |
| ♪ Thousand thousand saints attending ♪ | 48:57 | |
| ♪ Swell the triumph of his train ♪ | 49:07 | |
| ♪ Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia ♪ | 49:17 | |
| ♪ God appears, on earth to reign ♪ | 49:31 | |
| ♪ Every eye shall now behold him ♪ | 49:43 | |
| ♪ Robed in dreadful majesty ♪ | 49:52 | |
| ♪ Those who set at nought and sold him ♪ | 50:01 | |
| ♪ Pierced and nailed him to the tree ♪ | 50:11 | |
| ♪ Deeply wailing ♪ | 50:22 | |
| ♪ Deeply wailing ♪ | 50:26 | |
| ♪ Deeply wailing ♪ | 50:31 | |
| ♪ Shall the true Messiah see ♪ | 50:36 | |
| ♪ Those dear tokens of his passion ♪ | 50:48 | |
| ♪ Still his dazzling body bears, ♪ | 50:57 | |
| ♪ Cause of endless exultation ♪ | 51:06 | |
| ♪ To his ransomed worshipers ♪ | 51:16 | |
| ♪ With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture, ♪ | 51:26 | |
| ♪ Gaze we on those glorious scars! ♪ | 51:40 | |
| ♪ Yea, Amen! let all adore thee, ♪ | 51:51 | |
| ♪ High on thine eternal throne; ♪ | 52:01 | |
| ♪ Savior, take the power and glory: ♪ | 52:10 | |
| ♪ Claim the kingdom for thine own: ♪ | 52:20 | |
| ♪ Alleluia! ♪ | 52:29 | |
| ♪ Alleluia! ♪ | 52:34 | |
| ♪ Alleluia! ♪ | 52:39 | |
| ♪ Come quickly, come, Lord, come ♪ | 52:43 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 52:58 |
| Audience | And also with you. | 52:59 |
| - | Let us pray, you may be seated. | 53:01 |
| God of grace, we give thanks to you, | 53:09 | |
| we proclaim the glory of your kingdom, | 53:13 | |
| we tell of your power, | 53:17 | |
| we declare to all the world your mighty deeds | 53:19 | |
| and glorious splendor. | 53:22 | |
| We bless your name Lord | 53:25 | |
| for by your grace are we saved | 53:27 | |
| by your mercy forgiven | 53:30 | |
| by your forbearance accepted | 53:33 | |
| by your love restored | 53:36 | |
| and by this grace are we made gracious | 53:40 | |
| and by this mercy merciful | 53:43 | |
| and by this forbearance forbearing | 53:47 | |
| and by this love loving. | 53:50 | |
| This is so not because of anything we have done | 53:53 | |
| but because of what you have done. | 53:57 | |
| As the author of Hebrews declared, | 54:01 | |
| "every priest stands daily at services | 54:03 | |
| "offering repeatedly the same sacrifices | 54:07 | |
| "which can never take away sins | 54:09 | |
| "but Jesus Christ once and for all | 54:12 | |
| "embodied our relationship with you | 54:16 | |
| "and the Holy Spirit works at all times | 54:20 | |
| "to write its good news upon our hearts." | 54:23 | |
| Yes our salvation is already accomplished | 54:28 | |
| not by our acts but by your act | 54:32 | |
| not in another world but in this world | 54:36 | |
| not in another time but in this time. | 54:41 | |
| All this you have promised and still more | 54:45 | |
| for in your boundless love you had vowed | 54:50 | |
| I will remember your sins and misdeeds no more. | 54:53 | |
| All is done, all is forgiven | 54:59 | |
| even before our wavering even before our failing | 55:04 | |
| even before our pleading | 55:10 | |
| even before our trembling. | 55:13 | |
| How can we not bless your name? | 55:16 | |
| For you have given to us | 55:19 | |
| what we could never gain for ourselves | 55:21 | |
| no matter how diligently we practiced religion | 55:24 | |
| no matter what creed, cult and conduct we have followed. | 55:28 | |
| Who are you Oh God? | 55:35 | |
| Who remembers your creatures | 55:37 | |
| but no more their sin? | 55:40 | |
| You are everything and no thing | 55:43 | |
| you are the terrifying door into the unknown | 55:47 | |
| and the comforting embrace at the threshold. | 55:51 | |
| Yours is a name terrible in its mystery | 55:55 | |
| Daniel imagined you as the Ancient of Days, | 55:59 | |
| he saw you seated on a throne of flames, | 56:03 | |
| your raiment white as snow | 56:07 | |
| and your hair like pure wool. | 56:09 | |
| Another prophet conceived you as mother | 56:12 | |
| he uttered your word to Israel. | 56:15 | |
| Can a woman forget her sucking child | 56:18 | |
| that she should have no compassion | 56:21 | |
| on the child of her womb? | 56:23 | |
| I will not forget you | 56:25 | |
| and Jesus regarded you as father | 56:29 | |
| he told of your present provision | 56:32 | |
| even for the birds of the air | 56:34 | |
| and the lilies of the field. | 56:36 | |
| Oh Lord we call upon your name | 56:39 | |
| which is above every name | 56:42 | |
| and gives meaning to all names. | 56:45 | |
| Usher us through the door of your kingdom | 56:49 | |
| and we shall serve you whose realm is eternal | 56:52 | |
| and whose Dominion is everlasting | 56:57 | |
| in the name of Jesus Christ we pray amen. | 57:00 | |
| Freely we have received God's grace, | 57:07 | |
| freely let us give out of our abundance. | 57:10 | |
| (organ playing) | 57:41 | |
| "Visions of St. John by John Ness Beck" | 57:45 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 1:05:05 |
| God of grace whose heart abounds with gifts | 1:05:08 | |
| receive this offering as a sign of our gratitude and love, | 1:05:13 | |
| bless it and guide it's use | 1:05:19 | |
| that it may reach and touch those who hunger, | 1:05:21 | |
| who hurt, who seek new hope | 1:05:25 | |
| may they as we, know the joy of your everlasting presence | 1:05:28 | |
| and may your love and ours go with every gift amen. | 1:05:34 | |
| Now let us pray together as the redeemed | 1:05:41 | |
| children of God. | 1:05:44 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, | 1:05:46 | |
| hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, | 1:05:49 | |
| thy will be done on earth | 1:05:52 | |
| as it is in heaven. | 1:05:55 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 1:05:57 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 1:05:59 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us | 1:06:02 | |
| lead us not into temptation | 1:06:05 | |
| but deliver us from evil | 1:06:08 | |
| for thine is the kingdom | 1:06:10 | |
| and the power and the glory forever amen, | 1:06:12 | |
| Because Christ sits at the right hand of God, | 1:06:17 | |
| there is no need for us to earn our salvation. | 1:06:21 | |
| All has been accomplished on our behalf. | 1:06:25 | |
| Grace, mercy and peace | 1:06:29 | |
| have been given to us. | 1:06:31 | |
| Let us accept the gifts of God with joy | 1:06:33 | |
| may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 1:06:37 | |
| and the love of God | 1:06:39 | |
| and the communion of the Holy Spirit | 1:06:41 | |
| be with you all. | 1:06:43 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:06:48 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:06:55 | |
| ♪ Amen. ♪ | 1:07:02 | |
| (organ playing) | 1:07:34 | |
| ♪ All my hope is firmly grounded ♪ | 1:08:11 | |
| ♪ In our great and living Lord ♪ | 1:08:16 | |
| ♪ Who whenever I most need him ♪ | 1:08:23 | |
| ♪ Never fails to keep his word ♪ | 1:08:29 | |
| ♪ Him I must ♪ | 1:08:35 | |
| ♪ Wholly trust ♪ | 1:08:38 | |
| ♪ God the ever good and just ♪ | 1:08:41 | |
| ♪ Tell me who can trust our nature ♪ | 1:08:50 | |
| ♪ Human weak and insecure ♪ | 1:08:57 | |
| ♪ Which of all the airy castles ♪ | 1:09:04 | |
| ♪ Can the hurricane endure ♪ | 1:09:09 | |
| ♪ Build on sand ♪ | 1:09:15 | |
| ♪ Nought can stand ♪ | 1:09:18 | |
| ♪ By our earthly wisdom planned ♪ | 1:09:21 | |
| ♪ But in every time and season ♪ | 1:09:31 | |
| ♪ Out of love's abundant store ♪ | 1:09:38 | |
| ♪ God sustains his whole creation ♪ | 1:09:44 | |
| ♪ Fount of life for evermore ♪ | 1:09:50 | |
| ♪ We who share ♪ | 1:09:56 | |
| ♪ Earth and air ♪ | 1:09:59 | |
| ♪ Count on his unfailing care ♪ | 1:10:02 | |
| ♪ Thank O thank our great Creator ♪ | 1:10:11 | |
| ♪ Through his only Son this day ♪ | 1:10:18 | |
| ♪ He alone the heavenly Potter ♪ | 1:10:24 | |
| ♪ Made us out of earth and clay ♪ | 1:10:29 | |
| ♪ Quick to heed ♪ | 1:10:35 | |
| ♪ Strong the deed ♪ | 1:10:38 | |
| ♪ He shall all his people feed ♪ | 1:10:41 | |
| (organ playing) | 1:10:52 |
