Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (November 28, 1993)

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-	Good morning, we'd like to welcome you	0:04
	to this first Sunday of Advent and Duke Chapel.	0:06
	Like to call your attention to the Advent wreath	0:09
	which reminds us of God's eternal,	0:12
	never ending presence with us.	0:15
	You'll notice that there are four candles,	0:17
	one of which will be lit for each week of Advent,	0:19
	reminding us of the coming of Jesus Christ,	0:23
	the Light of the world,	0:25
	which we receive a new this Advent season.	0:27
	The reeds on either side	0:31
	of the front entrance of the chapel,	0:32
	the Advent wreath and the red poinsettias	0:34
	had been made possible by the Elizabeth Luciana girl	0:37
	from Memorial endowment	0:40
	established by Dr. and Mrs. James H. Siemens.	0:42
	We are grateful to them for their contributions	0:45
	to our Advent season.	0:48
	Like to also call to your attention	0:51
	that The Messiah will be performed this coming weekend	0:53
	on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,	0:57
	and we hope that you will be able to attend	0:59
	that joyous occasion.	1:01
	Would you please stand as we continue	1:03
	our worship with the greeting.	1:05
	I hear what the Lord God has to say.	1:12
	(congregation speaking)	1:16
	Peace for all people and for God's friends.	1:18
	(congregation speaking)	1:22
	Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord.	1:26
	(congregation speaking)	1:30
	(religious orchestral music)	1:36
-	Let us pray if you will turn to your hymn notes 89.	4:50
	Let us confess together.	5:04
	Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you	5:06
	into word and deed, by what we have done,	5:12
	and by what we have left undone.	5:17
	We have not loved you with our whole heart,	5:20
	we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	5:24
	We are truly sorry,	5:28
	and we humbly repent,	5:30
	for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ.	5:32
	Have mercy on us and forgive us.	5:36
	That we may delight in your will,	5:40
	and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your name.	5:43
	Amen.	5:48
	Almighty God have mercy on you,	6:00
	forgive you of all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ,	6:03
	strengthen you in all goodness	6:08
	and by all power of the Holy Spirit,	6:11
	keep you in eternal life, Amen.	6:14
	You may be sitted.	6:20
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	6:34
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	6:39
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	6:42
	so that as the Word is read and proclaimed,	6:45
	we might be prepared for your Advent among us, Amen.	6:49
	The reading from the Old Testament	6:56
	is taken from the 64th chapter of the book of Isaiah,	6:58
	verses one through nine.	7:02
	Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down	7:06
	so that the mountains would quake at your presence,	7:11
	as when fire kindles, brushwood.	7:14
	And the fire causes water to boil,	7:17
	to make your name known to your adversaries,	7:20
	so that the nations might tremble at your presence.	7:23
	When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,	7:27
	you came down the mountains quaked at your presence.	7:31
	from ages past, no one has heard,	7:36
	no ear has perceived,	7:39
	no eye has seen any God besides you,	7:41
	who works for those who wait for him.	7:46
	You meet those who gladly do right,	7:50
	those who remember you in your ways,	7:53
	but you were angry and we sinned,	7:56
	because you hid yourself, we transgressed.	7:59
	We have all become like one who is unclean,	8:03
	and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.	8:06
	We all fade like a leaf,	8:10
	and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.	8:13
	There is no one who calls on your name	8:18
	or attempts to take hold of you.	8:21
	For you have hidden your face from us,	8:23
	and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.	8:26
	Yet, O Lord, You are our Father,	8:30
	we are the clay, and you are our Potter.	8:33
	We are all the work of your hand.	8:38
	Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,	8:41
	and do not remember iniquity forever.	8:44
	Now consider we are all your people.	8:47
	This is the word of the Lord.	8:52
	(congregation speaking)	8:55
	This reading is from the Gospel according to St. Mark,	8:58
	chapter 13, beginning with the 24th verse.	9:01
	But in those days after that suffering,	9:07
	the sun will be darkened,	9:10
	and the moon will not give its light,	9:12
	and the stars will be falling from heaven,	9:15
	and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.	9:17
	Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds	9:20
	with great power and glory.	9:24
	Then he will send out the angels	9:27
	and gather his elect from the four winds,	9:30
	from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.	9:33
	From the fig leaf learn its lesson.	9:38
	As soon as its branch becomes tender	9:40
	and puts forth its leaves,	9:42
	you know that summer is near.	9:44
	So also, when you see these things taking place,	9:47
	you know that he is near at the very gates.	9:51
	Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away,	9:55
	until all these things have taken place.	10:00
	Heaven and earth will pass away,	10:03
	but my words will not pass away.	10:06
	But about that day or hour no one knows,	10:10
	neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,	10:13
	but only the Father.	10:17
	Beware, keep alert,	10:20
	for you do not know when the time will come.	10:22
	It is like a man going on a journey	10:26
	when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge,	10:29
	each with his own work	10:33
	and commands the door keeper to be on watch.	10:35
	Therefore, keep awake,	10:40
	for you do not know when the master of the house will come	10:41
	in the evening or at midnight,	10:45
	or at cock crow or at dawn.	10:48
	Or else he may find you asleep	10:51
	when he comes suddenly.	10:53
	And what I say to you I say to all, keep awake.	10:55
	This is the Word of the Lord.	11:01
-	Today is the first Sunday of Advent.	11:17
	The first day of the Christian year,	11:20
	the Christian New Year.	11:22
	It is an important day in the Christian calendar,	11:25
	yet it has lost much of its significance for us.	11:28
	We are here today still slightly stuffed from thanksgiving	11:33
	and our eyes have already turned toward Christmas.	11:38
	How could they not?	11:42
	The malls have had Christmas decorations	11:43
	up since the second week in November.	11:46
	The day after thanksgiving	11:49
	is the biggest shopping day of the year	11:50
	and everything was marked down	11:53
	for the big Christmas sale.	11:54
	Empty lots of been transformed into Christmas tree markets.	11:57
	The decorations are up downtown	12:01
	and the annual Christmas parade	12:03
	was held the weekend before thanksgiving.	12:05
	Christmas music is playing on the radio,	12:09
	and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.	12:12
	Given the commercialization of Christmas	12:17
	and the importance it has assumed in our culture	12:19
	as a time for family renewal,	12:23
	it is no surprise that the season of Advent	12:25
	should be overlooked and downplayed.	12:28
	So what is Advent?	12:32
	Is it simply a prelude to Christmas?	12:34
	Is it one more minor tradition	12:37
	to get us ready for the main event on Christmas Eve?	12:40
	It is true that it is one purpose of Advent	12:45
	to prepare us for Christmas.	12:48
	But not the sentimental Christmas of babies and mangers	12:50
	or the commercial Christmas of gifts and feasts.	12:55
	But the Christmas that speaks of a Savior	12:59
	who was born in order that he might suffer,	13:02
	be crucified and resurrected to bring our salvation.	13:06
	Advent means coming.	13:12
	And it reminds us that the incarnate God	13:14
	has come in Jesus the Christ.	13:17
	But it also proclaims	13:21
	that God's work in Christ is incomplete.	13:23
	And that as God has come in Christ,	13:26
	so Christ will come again to judge	13:29
	the living and the dead.	13:33
	Now, you may have come to chapel this morning,	13:36
	hoping to hear a festive sermon to get you in the mood	13:39
	for the Christmas season.	13:42
	But our lectionary scriptures call us	13:45
	to attend to a different reality,	13:47
	a different season.	13:50
	They urge us not to skip over the Advent season,	13:53
	but to spend time exploring its riches and insights.	13:57
	Our Advent text from Isaiah is a lament.	14:02
	And the Gospel passage from Mark has been called,	14:06
	"The Little Apocalypse."	14:09
	Why should we begin the Christian year	14:11
	talking about crisis and lament,	14:15
	the Parousia or second coming of Christ	14:17
	and the final judgment?	14:20
	Don't we get enough bad news every day?	14:23
	You can't turn on television or radio	14:26
	without being inundated with tragedy.	14:28
	Someone has been murdered or raped,	14:31
	someone is at war,	14:33
	someone's home has been destroyed by flood or fire.	14:35
	We're overwhelmed by bad news every day.	14:39
	So why should we start the Christian year	14:44
	with a lament and an apocalyptic mourning?	14:47
	Isn't the overwhelming bad news	14:51
	the very point of Advent?	14:55
	We wouldn't need the Advent, the coming of God,	14:58
	if the world that we lived in was one of peace	15:02
	and goodwill toward all.	15:04
	But the reality is that isn't the world you and I live in.	15:07
	Think about the images of war and destruction	15:12
	you have seen just this year,	15:14
	Somalia, Los Angeles, Bosnia, the Midwest,	15:18
	we've learned to tune out the suffering	15:23
	to filter the horror.	15:26
	To numb ourselves to the reality of violence	15:28
	and injustice and devastation.	15:31
	We prefer to focus to look at	15:35
	accentuate the positive in life,	15:38
	especially when we aren't immediately touched	15:40
	by the tragedies that we see around us.	15:44
	But like it or not deny it or not,	15:47
	we are affected collectively	15:50
	by almost insurmountable problems.	15:53
	Ozone depletion, polluted air and water and land,	15:56
	the threat of nuclear disaster,	16:00
	widespread hunger and poverty	16:03
	and increasing number of regional conflicts,	16:06
	just when we thought peace was in our grasp.	16:08
	As one writer put it,	16:12
	"The situation in the world is not just dangerous,	16:14
	"not just threatening,	16:17
	"it is catastrophic."	16:19
	Or as Walter Brueggemann expresses it,	16:21
	"Humankind has reached the end of its collective rope.	16:24
	"All our schemes for self improvement,	16:28
	"for extricating ourselves from traps	16:31
	"that we have set for ourselves have calmed in nothing."	16:34
	We have now realized	16:39
	at the very deepest level of our being,	16:41
	that we can't save ourselves	16:45
	and that apart from intervention by God,	16:48
	we are totally and irretrievably lost.	16:51
	The lament from Isaiah takes the anxiety	16:56
	and the suffering	17:00
	that are facts of human reality seriously.	17:01
	It is a passionate cry for God's help	17:06
	in the face of desperate circumstances.	17:09
	The Israelites had returned to Jerusalem	17:13
	after the destruction of the temple	17:15
	to find total desolation.	17:17
	Their homes, their sanctuary,	17:19
	all they held most dear had been destroyed.	17:21
	Their cry for God's intervention sounds out	17:25
	with hurt rending resonance	17:28
	to anyone who has ever faced tragedy.	17:31
	Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down	17:35
	so that the mountains would quake at your presence.	17:39
	How we long for signs of God's presence and power,	17:44
	especially in time of need.	17:48
	This lament take seriously our longing for God's Advent,	17:51
	in the midst of pain and tragedy.	17:56
	Advent is a season of longing for God to come down	18:00
	and save us because we know we cannot save ourselves,	18:04
	our world, our families.	18:10
	It is also a season of waiting	18:13
	and hoping even when our cries aren't answered.	18:16
	Isaiah's lament understands	18:22
	that we don't always get what we ask for,	18:24
	what we pray for.	18:28
	Sometimes God doesn't act as we desire.	18:30
	We prayed for the water to stop,	18:35
	but our houses and farms and businesses were washed away.	18:38
	We prayed for healing, but the cancer spread.	18:43
	We prayed for reconciliation, but the marriage failed.	18:48
	We prayed for acceptance of our homosexuality	18:53
	but our families rejected us instead.	18:57
	We prayed for safety but we couldn't stop the rape.	19:02
	We pray for peace but millions died.	19:06
	Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down	19:12
	so that the mountains would quake at your presence.	19:16
	How often we have cried out to God to act on our behalf,	19:20
	or on behalf of someone that we love.	19:25
	What do we do about those times that we cry out	19:28
	and God is silent?	19:31
	This is perhaps the greatest challenge to faith.	19:34
	What do we do when God is silent?	19:37
	Hidden?	19:40
	How does faith respond to such a challenge?	19:42
	Isaiah understood that in times when God is hidden,	19:47
	we have to fall back upon the faith experiences of the past.	19:51
	We have to remember the times when God has intervened	19:56
	to accomplish awesome deeds we did not expect.	20:00
	This lament recalls the exodus from Egypt	20:05
	and the giving of the covenant at Mount Sinai.	20:08
	Those were times in Israel's history	20:12
	when God had acted decisively on her behalf.	20:15
	Advent also recalls Jesus's coming,	20:20
	the dramatic incarnation of God in a child	20:24
	and the subsequent death and resurrection of that child	20:28
	to bring about our salvation.	20:32
	These were times in human history	20:35
	when God tore open the heavens	20:37
	to come down among us and the mountains trembled	20:40
	and human reality was forever changed.	20:43
	Advent wait expectantly	20:48
	for God's intervention on our behalf again,	20:50
	trusting that ours is a God who has acted decisively	20:54
	for us in the past,	20:58
	and who can be counted on us to act in the future,	21:01
	even though God may appear to be silent	21:05
	and hidden in the present.	21:09
	We proclaim this mystery of faith	21:11
	every time we come to the communion table,	21:14
	Christ has died,	21:17
	Christ is risen,	21:19
	Christ will come again.	21:21
	God has acted in the past,	21:24
	God is acting in the present,	21:27
	God will act in the future.	21:30
	Maybe that's key to understanding God's silence.	21:35
	We don't choose or command the ways that God acts.	21:39
	But God does act unexpectedly	21:44
	and decisively for those who wait.	21:48
	Advent is a time of waiting	21:51
	and longing for God to act in surprising new ways	21:54
	to bring justice, reconciliation and healing.	21:59
	Advent is also a time when the Christian church	22:05
	focuses on repentance	22:07
	and renewal of our relationship to God.	22:09
	Isaiah believed that one of the reasons	22:13
	that Israel was estranged from God	22:16
	and hadn't experienced God	22:19
	and felt God is hidden	22:21
	was because they had sinned and become alienated from God.	22:23
	This lament takes seriously	22:28
	the reality of human sinfulness and its consequences.	22:31
	It knows what it is like to be in the grip of sin.	22:35
	The literal translation is melted	22:40
	into the hand of our iniquity.	22:42
	It knows what it is like to be powerless to change,	22:45
	to have lost control over life	22:49
	so that we no longer control sin,	22:52
	but are controlled by it.	22:54
	Sin is more than individual acts of disobedience,	22:57
	but the fundamental distortion in human reality.	23:01
	When we are in the grip of sin,	23:04
	we lose our right relatedness	23:06
	to God, to self, to others	23:09
	and to the whole creation.	23:12
	Our personal relationships, our institutions,	23:14
	our culture, our politics,	23:17
	everything becomes infected by the disease of sin.	23:19
	We are as one unclean	23:25
	and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.	23:28
	When we're in the grip of sin,	23:32
	we are powerless to change because sin	23:34
	permeates everything that we are and everything that we do.	23:37
	Advent, take seriously the pervasiveness	23:44
	of human sin that touches every part of human reality,	23:48
	every part of the creation,	23:54
	and longs for the coming of a God	23:57
	who can free us from the grip of our iniquities.	23:59
	As sinful people,	24:04
	Isaiah knows that they have no right to make claims upon God	24:05
	or to petition God to act in their behalf.	24:09
	Yet his lament does presume to make such claims,	24:13
	because God has been revealed to them as Father.	24:18
	God as father is one who is related to them	24:22
	in a fundamental way.	24:25
	They presume to ask the God who is father	24:27
	to put aside his anger	24:29
	and forgive them for their iniquity,	24:31
	reminding him that he is the potter	24:34
	and they are as clay.	24:37
	He is the Creator with the power to mold them in new ways.	24:39
	This is the God whose hand	24:44
	can free them from the grip of iniquity	24:47
	and mold them into new people.	24:50
	Jesus also spoke of the kingdom of God	24:54
	being like a father who welcomes home	24:56
	the prodigal son with celebration,	25:00
	that one who was lost has been found.	25:02
	It is a fundamental hope of Advent,	25:07
	that God has come to save the lost,	25:10
	and God continues to welcome us home.	25:13
	The Scripture from Isaiah speaks of an Advent hope,	25:19
	characterized by a God who acts decisively	25:23
	to save us from despair and sin	25:26
	in the midst of hopelessness.	25:30
	It yearns for God to come down	25:32
	and mold us as a new people restored to God's family.	25:35
	The Scripture from Mark speaks to an Advent hope,	25:41
	from a little different perspective.	25:44
	It speaks as one who knows the reality	25:47
	of the transformative power of God in Jesus the Christ,	25:50
	saving us, redeeming us,	25:54
	molding us as the people of God.	25:57
	In the Gospel of Mark the Savior has come,	26:00
	the Community of Faith has been formed,	26:03
	and they are left with the promise	26:06
	that Christ will come again.	26:08
	This Scripture reminds us	26:12
	that Advent is a time of watching and waiting	26:13
	for the day when the Son of Man will come	26:16
	in power and glory,	26:19
	and all things will be judged in Christ.	26:21
	The Parousia, or the second coming,	26:25
	has sometimes been a difficult doctrine	26:28
	for the Christian church.	26:30
	Fundamentalist churches have often focused	26:32
	on the second coming as a scare tactic for conversion.	26:35
	And some groups have been preoccupied	26:39
	with predicting when it will happen.	26:41
	We witnessed a dramatic and tragic example of this	26:44
	in the Branch Davidian sect.	26:48
	David Koresh predicted that the end was near	26:51
	and prepared his followers for the end,	26:54
	perhaps even forcing the end upon them	26:57
	when the cult complex was stormed.	27:01
	In our attempts in the mainstream church	27:05
	to shun association with any such as these,	27:08
	we have sometimes lost or denied the reality	27:12
	of the parousia in our own tradition.	27:17
	But the Gospel of Mark invites us to look squarely	27:21
	at what we believe to be true about the end times.	27:24
	What is ultimately true?	27:30
	The doctrine of the Second Coming	27:32
	proclaims that in the end,	27:34
	all time all history, all judgment,	27:37
	all hope, all life belong to God.	27:40
	It speaks powerfully of the Christian belief	27:45
	that Christ will come in final victory	27:49
	and the end belongs to God	27:52
	no matter what the present reality may be.	27:54
	This Advent hope has ultimate confidence in God,	27:59
	and without it, I would suggest	28:04
	that we don't have much to offer	28:05
	to an age as dangerous and catastrophic	28:08
	as the one we live in.	28:11
	This Advent hope takes seriously the reality of sin	28:14
	and tragedy and death in our world,	28:19
	and points to a future	28:22
	when the whole creation will be redeemed in Jesus Christ.	28:24
	It is not enough to say that we have been saved	28:29
	through Christ our Lord.	28:32
	It is not enough to say that we are the church.	28:33
	It is God's will that all of creation,	28:37
	participate in the salvation	28:40
	and that the whole world be transformed	28:43
	by God's Advent in the parousia.	28:46
	One of the dangers of this doctrine	28:51
	has been an other worldly thinking	28:54
	that is passive believing	28:56
	that since the future belongs to God,	28:58
	we should leave the future to God.	29:01
	But lest we fall into the trap	29:03
	of thinking that hope in Christ future	29:05
	relieves us of responsibility for our present.	29:09
	This text reminds us that we have been entrusted	29:13
	with the Master's house	29:17
	and given duties for which we are accountable	29:19
	until the end.	29:22
	We are accountable to God now,	29:24
	for the way we carry out our responsibilities	29:26
	as teachers, accountants, students,	29:29
	researchers, administrators, parents, lawyers,	29:32
	because Christ has come.	29:36
	We have been entrusted	29:39
	with responsibilities in the kingdom,	29:40
	because Christ will come again,	29:43
	we are accountable for how we fulfill those duties.	29:45
	Advent calls us to a watchful expectancy	29:49
	ever ready for the Master's return.	29:54
	Advent calls us to active waiting.	29:57
	Active in fulfilling our role in the kingdom,	30:00
	knowing that the final outcome of our efforts	30:04
	and of all life are in God's hands.	30:07
	This, I think, is a concept in Christian light	30:12
	that can bring us great hope.	30:15
	Sometimes we are involved in efforts	30:18
	and we don't see the immediate results of our work.	30:20
	But this assures us that in the end,	30:24
	God makes all things right.	30:26
	That we are called to be faithful	30:29
	and to leave the consequences and the outcome to God.	30:32
	The Scriptures call us to remember	30:37
	and celebrate the season of Advent.	30:39
	It is a season that is rich and hope and promise.	30:42
	Advent offers us a hope that can stand	30:46
	in the face of despair.	30:49
	Because ours is a God who knows	30:52
	and overcomes the reality of death,	30:54
	Christ has died.	30:57
	It gives us hope	31:01
	that has confidence in God's power to redeem us	31:05
	and mold us a new through Christ our Lord.	31:08
	Christ is risen.	31:12
	It offers a hope which empowers us	31:15
	to act faithfully in God's kingdom,	31:18
	because it knows that the final victory belongs to God.	31:21
	Christ will come again.	31:25
	Christ has died.	31:28
	Christ is risen.	31:30
	Christ will come again.	31:33
	This is the mystery of faith.	31:36
	This is the hope of Advent.	31:38
	Let us celebrate that hope	31:42
	as we feast together today at the Lord's table.	31:43
-	The Lord be with you.	32:00
	(congregation speaking)	32:02
	Let us pray.	32:04
	Oh God, creator,	32:09
	reminders of our creation in you,	32:13
	for you are the hope of all the ends of the earth.	32:19
	Remind us that as a people who journey,	32:25
	we are vessels containing wellsprings of your hope.	32:28
	We bow in your presence in this first day of Advent.	32:35
	A time when we are called to wait and hope	32:40
	in the beginning	32:45
	of your resurrection	32:48
	to help in your forgiveness	32:52
	and your reconciliation,	32:56
	as vessels of water and hope.	33:00
	Help us that in our pouring out,	33:04
	we might bring the power of healing	33:07
	and make hold the bruised world.	33:11
	Let the living waters of your creation encircle us	33:16
	that we may remember we are yours,	33:23
	and be thankful,	33:27
	Lord in your mercy.	33:29
	(congregation speaking)	33:31
	We pray for your community,	33:33
	the world	33:36
	we pray that as the world is created in your image,	33:38
	you would grant us grace to be fearless	33:43
	to contend against evil	33:47
	and make no peace with oppression.	33:51
	Help us that we may reverently use our freedom in you	33:55
	to help employ justice,	34:01
	to the glory of your name,	34:04
	we remember today especially your people	34:07
	in Haiti, and Bosnia,	34:10
	your people in El Salvador, and South Africa,	34:14
	your community here in Durham,	34:19
	and in the utmost part of the world,	34:22
	Lord in your mercy.	34:26
	(congregation speaking)	34:28
	We pray for those who are marginalized.	34:30
	Those who find themselves	34:34
	on the fringes of lives margin.	34:35
	People so dismayed by the burden of life,	34:39
	that it feels so sunken in the valley of despair,	34:43
	so low that they feel	34:47
	they can no longer hear anybody pray.	34:49
	But we pray that you and your love and justice	34:54
	would go down into those valleys of despair	34:59
	and anoint your children with the balm of hope,	35:03
	the vision of comfort.	35:07
	We remember specially the homeless,	35:10
	the hungry, the abused, the battered,	35:13
	wherever you people reach out for your balm of healing,	35:18
	Lord in your mercy.	35:23
	(congregation speaking)	35:25
	Lord, we pray for your church.	35:27
	Your church today is perplexed that she faces	35:30
	the challenges of the task before us.	35:33
	In this season of Advent,	35:37
	baptize your church your fresh	35:40
	in the new life giving Spirit of Christ	35:43
	and help her to proclaim boldly,	35:48
	your kingdom of hope and promise.	35:51
	We remember this community here in the Duke Chapel,	35:55
	your church everywhere,	36:00
	Lord in your mercy.	36:03
	(congregation speaking)	36:06
	Now hear us and grant us your peace,	36:09
	For Christ's sake, Amen.	36:13
	Let us stand an exchange,	36:16
	the peace, the sign of peace.	36:19
	As a reconciled people,	36:54
	let us come together	36:57
	bringing our gifts offerings before the Lord.	36:58
	(religious orchestral music)	37:09
	(religious orchestral music)	39:30
-	The Lord be with you.	44:00
	(congregation speaking)	44:02
	Lift up your hearts.	44:03
	(congregation speaking)	44:05
	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	44:06
	(congregation speaking)	44:09
	It is right and a good and joyful thing,	44:13
	always and everywhere to give thanks to you,	44:16
	Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.	44:19
	You formed us in your image	44:23
	and breathed into us the breath of life.	44:25
	When we turned away and our love failed,	44:28
	your love remained steadfast.	44:31
	You delivered us from captivity,	44:34
	made covenant to be our sovereign God,	44:36
	and spoke to us through your prophets	44:39
	who looked for that day	44:41
	when justice shall roll down like waters,	44:43
	and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.	44:46
	When nations shall not lift up sword against nation,	44:49
	neither shall they learn war anymore.	44:53
	And so with your people on earth	44:56
	and all the company of heaven,	44:58
	we praise your name and join their unending hymn.	45:00
	Holy, holy, holy Lord,	45:04
	God of power and might.	45:07
	Heaven and earth are full of your glory,	45:09
	Hosanna in the highest.	45:12
	Blessed is to you who comes in the name of the Lord	45:14
	Hosanna in the highest.	45:17
	Holy are you and bless it as your son Jesus Christ,	45:20
	whom you sent in the fullness of time	45:24
	to be a light to the nations.	45:26
	You scattered the proud	45:28
	and the imagination of their hearts	45:30
	and have mercy on those who fear you	45:32
	from generation to generation.	45:34
	You put down the mighty from their thrones	45:37
	and exalt those of low degree,	45:40
	you fill the hungry with good things	45:43
	and the rich you send empty away.	45:46
	Your own Son came among us as a servant	45:49
	to be Emmanuel,	45:52
	your presence with us.	45:54
	He humbled Himself in obedience to your will	45:56
	and freely accepted death on the cross.	45:59
	By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection,	46:03
	you gave birth to your church,	46:07
	delivered us from slavery to sin and death,	46:09
	and made with us a new covenant	46:12
	by water and the Spirit.	46:14
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us,	46:16
	he took bread, gave thanks to you,	46:19
	offered it to his disciples and said,	46:23
	"Take, eat.	46:25
	"This is my body which is given for you,	46:27
	"do this in remembrance of me."	46:30
	On the same night, when the supper was over,	46:33
	he took the cup, gave thanks,	46:35
	offered it to his disciples and said,	46:38
	"Drink from this, all of you	46:40
	"for this is the blood of the New Covenant	46:42
	"poured out for you and for many	46:44
	"for the forgiveness of sins.	46:46
	"Do this as often as you shall drink it	46:48
	"in remembrance of me."	46:51
	And so in remembrance of these	46:55
	your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,	46:57
	we offer ourselves and praise and thanksgiving	46:59
	as a holy and living sacrifice,	47:02
	in union with Christ offering for us,	47:05
	as we proclaim The mystery of faith.	47:08
	Christ has died,	47:11
	Christ is risen,	47:13
	Christ will come again.	47:15
	Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,	47:18
	and on these gifts of bread and wine,	47:21
	make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,	47:24
	that we may be for the world, the body of Christ,	47:28
	redeemed by his blood.	47:30
	By your spirit make us one with Christ,	47:33
	one with each other,	47:35
	and one in ministry to all the world	47:37
	until Christ comes in final victory,	47:40
	and we feast at his heavenly banquet,	47:43
	through your Son Jesus Christ,	47:46
	with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,	47:48
	all honor and glory is yours Almighty Father,	47:51
	now and forever, Amen.	47:55
	Let us pray together as Jesus taught us.	47:59
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	48:02
	hallowed be thy name,	48:04
	thy kingdom come,	48:06
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	48:08
	Give us this day our daily bread,	48:12
	and forgive us our trespasses,	48:15
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	48:17
	And lead us not into temptation,	48:20
	but deliver us from evil,	48:23
	for thine is the kingdom and the power	48:25
	and the glory forever, Amen.	48:28
	Because there is one loaf	48:33
	we who are many are one body,	48:35
	because we all partake of the one loaf.	48:38
	The cup over which we give thanks	48:43
	is a sharing in the blood of Christ.	48:46
	The body of Christ given for you.	48:55
	The blood of Christ the cup of salvation.	49:01
	Amen.	49:21
-	The blood of Christ the cup of salvation.	49:28
-	Amen.	49:29
	You're invited to come to the Advent feast,	49:43
	you may be seated.	49:46
	(religious ochestral music)	49:55
	(religious ochestral music)	54:53
	Let us pray.	58:59
	Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery	59:03
	in which you have given yourself to us.	59:07
	Grant that we may go into the world	59:10
	in the strength of your Spirit	59:12
	to give ourselves for others.	59:14
	In the name of Jesus Christ,	59:16
	our Advent Lord, Amen.	59:19
	Would you please stand	59:23
	as we continue our worship	59:24
	with the closing hymn?	59:26
	(religious orchestral music)	59:29
	Go forth in hope.	1:04:47
	May the love of God	1:04:49
	and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ	1:04:50
	and the communion of the Holy Spirit	1:04:52
	be with you and keep you, Amen.	1:04:54
	(religious orchestral music)	1:05:02

Item Info

Title:

Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (November 28, 1993)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 11:17. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 31:48.
God has acted in the past and God will act in the present and future. Advent is a time of waiting and trusting that the Lord will come. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Advent is a time of waiting and longing for God to act in surprising new ways to bring justice, reconciliation, and healing.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4j960q95

Date:

November 28, 1993

Speaker:

Brazzel, Debra K.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0346
ref9336_o1k
uachapelsermaud
duke:321355
dcrmv001331
ark:/87924/r4j960q95
37992119-d054-4b38-bae8-9b007a61185e

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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