William H. Willimon - "People Don't Change - Do They?" (January 23, 1994)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC 4.0
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP4
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r47659w50?embed=true' height='500px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r47659w50
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(church organ music)	0:00
	(church organ music)	0:19
	(church organ music)	0:39
	(church organ music)	1:01
-	Good Morning.	1:28
	Welcome to the service of worship in Duke University Chapel.	1:29
	Remind you that at the conclusion of service	1:34
	the congregation at Duke Chapel invites you	1:36
	to a coffee fellowship hour downstairs in our lounge.	1:40
	Also, remind particularly you students,	1:46
	that Friday from 11 to two is our annual seminary day.	1:49
	Representatives from various seminaries will be here	1:54
	to talk with students about religious vocations.	1:56
	Now, let us stand for the greeting.	2:02
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	2:08
-	And also with you.	2:11
-	The splendor of Christ shines upon us.	2:13
-	Praise the Lord.	2:16
	(organ church music)	2:20
	(organ church music)	2:33
	(congregation singing hymn)	2:56
	(congregation singing hymn)	3:23
	(congregation singing hymn)	3:57
	(congregation signing hymn)	4:37
	(congregation singing hymn)	5:15
	(organ church music)	5:54
	(congregation singing)	6:20
	(congregation singing)	6:39
-	Would you please turn to page 890	7:00
	in your hymn book for the Confession of Faith.	7:03
	In the midst of an unjust world we have been chosen	7:07
	to bring light, comfort and healing to the oppressed.	7:10
	But we have turned away from this mandate	7:15
	and from those persons who seem unacceptable to us.	7:18
	Often we ourselves cry out as a broken people	7:22
	unable to fulfill God's righteous intentions for us.	7:25
	Let us confess all that separates us from God.	7:29
-	Most merciful God, we confess	7:34
	that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed.	7:37
	By what we have done and by what we have left undone.	7:42
	We have not loved you with our whole heart.	7:46
	We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	7:49
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.	7:53
	For the sake of your son Jesus Christ	7:56
	have mercy on us and forgive us.	7:59
	That we may delight in your will	8:03
	and walk in your ways to the glory of your name.	8:05
	Amen.	8:09
-	Light dawns.	8:13
	God reigns.	8:15
	Evil is overcome.	8:17
	God lifts us up, relieves our fears	8:20
	and strengthens us to stand against	8:24
	enemies without and within.	8:26
	In the name of Jesus Christ we are forgiven.	8:29
	Let us claim the realm of heaven offered to all who repent	8:33
	and follow where Christ leads.	8:37
	Amen.	8:40
	You may be seated.	8:41
-	Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination.	8:51
	Open our hearts and minds oh God	8:56
	by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that as the word	8:59
	is read and proclaimed, we may hear your message	9:03
	with joy this day.	9:06
	Amen.	9:09
	This reading is taken from the third chapter	9:11
	of the book of Jonah beginning with the first verse.	9:14
	The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying,	9:20
	"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city,	9:23
	"and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."	9:27
	So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh,	9:31
	according to the word of the Lord.	9:34
	Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city,	9:36
	a three days' walk across.	9:39
	Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk.	9:43
	And he cried out, "Forty days more,	9:47
	"and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"	9:50
	And the people of Nineveh believed God;	9:54
	they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great	9:57
	and small, put on a sackcloth.	10:01
	This is the word of the Lord.	10:05
-	Thanks be to God.	10:07
-	This reading is from the first chapter	10:11
	of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.	10:13
	Beginning with the 14th verse.	10:16
	Now after John was arrested Jesus came to Galilee	10:20
	proclaiming the good news of God and saying,	10:24
	"The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near,	10:28
	"repent and believe the good news."	10:32
	As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon	10:37
	and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea;	10:41
	for they were fishermen.	10:45
	And Jesus said to them, "Follow me,	10:47
	"and I will make you fish for people."	10:50
	And immediately they left their nets and followed him.	10:53
	As he went a little further he saw James, son of Zebedee,	10:58
	and his brother John who were in their boat,	11:03
	mending their nets.	11:06
	Immediately he called to them	11:08
	and they left their father Zebedee in the boat	11:10
	with the hired me and followed him.	11:13
	This is the word of the Lord.	11:17
-	Thanks be to God.	11:20
-	The great German pastor Helmut Thielicke	11:31
	kept only one picture on his desk	11:37
	in his study at Hamburg.	11:40
	It was a photograph of a group	11:44
	of rather grizzled looking men wearing white robes.	11:47
	Wearing cardboard wings.	11:53
	They were obviously participants in some sort	11:56
	of Christmas pageant.	11:59
	When I asked why that was the one photograph	12:02
	he had on his desk, Thielicke explained	12:05
	that those tough looking men were all prisoners	12:09
	in the penitentiary where he was the chaplain	12:15
	in Germany for a number of years.	12:19
	They were all murderers and thieves.	12:22
	And they all had had their lives transformed by Christ.	12:24
	Those thugs and those white robes and wings,	12:32
	Thielicke said, were an ever present reminder	12:38
	to him as a preacher, in the power of Christ.	12:41
	People to change.	12:47
	And a preacher should keep a picture like that	12:52
	in front of him and her in going about	12:57
	the task of preaching.	13:00
	Because a preacher is probably the last person	13:04
	in the world truly to believe that truth.	13:06
	Now I know that many of you believe	13:11
	that about the worst thing that could happen	13:14
	to a preacher is not to be heard;	13:15
	not to be listened to in a sermon.	13:19
	I work on these sermons, believe it or not.	13:24
	(congregation chuckling)	13:27
	I don't sleep well on Saturdays.	13:27
	Routinely refuse invitation to keg parties.	13:29
	All because I want to be heard.	13:32
	I want to do everything in my power to communicate;	13:36
	to be listened to.	13:40
	To be heard.	13:41
	Or so I say.	13:44
	I'm preaching.	13:48
	I'm just pouring my heart out in a sermon.	13:49
	I look out there among you,	13:51
	someone is glancing at her watch.	13:53
	Someone else obviously going over next week's grocery list.	13:56
	There's someone down on the third pew from the right,	14:01
	his hand has inched ever so slowly down the pew	14:04
	toward this vision of sophomoric pulchritude	14:08
	seated next to him.	14:11
	You're not listening!	14:12
	And that, you would think, is about the worst thing	14:16
	that could happen to somebody in the business	14:18
	of communication and speaking.	14:20
	But no, there is something worse for a preacher	14:25
	than not to be heard.	14:29
	And that is to be heard.	14:33
	That's right!	14:38
	To be heard.	14:39
	To be heard right down to the very depths of your being.	14:40
	And when I'm honest I must confess	14:47
	that there is something about me that takes a kind of	14:49
	comfort in the reassurance that you don't hear;	14:51
	That you cannot hear.	14:57
	And that even if you did hear, it probably wouldn't make	14:58
	any fundamental difference in your life.	15:02
	You wouldn't change.	15:06
	And I expect that I do this as a kind of	15:10
	mechanism of defense.	15:12
	Because the power to make a difference in peoples' lives,	15:16
	particularly the power to change their lives,	15:20
	is an awesome, frightening power.	15:23
	How many times have I urged people	15:28
	to do this or do that in a sermon?	15:31
	And yet I do so with a sense of nervousness now	15:35
	for I can't get out of my head the memory	15:38
	of a few years ago preaching a sermon	15:40
	urging people to be more truthful	15:43
	in their dedication to Christ.	15:46
	That afternoon, three o'clock, got a phone call.	15:48
	Voice on the other end said that,	15:53
	"My wife and I came home, we had prayer."	15:55
	"After service today we decided to sell everything we have	15:59
	"and volunteer for mission work in South America."	16:02
	And I said, "I was just preaching."	16:08
	(congregation laughs)	16:13
	You only have 20 minutes to get this stuff out!	16:14
	You can't qualify everything sufficiently!	16:16
	See what I mean?	16:21
	If there's one thing worse than to be	16:22
	not to be heard, it is to be heard.	16:25
	It's when you really hear.	16:30
	Take Jonah for instance.	16:36
	Today's first lesson.	16:39
	Bit of the story of history's most reluctant prophet, Jonah.	16:41
	A baptist preacher living in Des Moines	16:49
	is called by God to go preach to the Iraqis in Baghdad.	16:51
	And he is shocked!	16:59
	Jonah says, I, a bible believing person like me,	17:00
	I would never be over there with people like that.	17:03
	And yet the voice of God persists.	17:07
	It relentlessly persists through a chain	17:10
	of all sorts of wild events until finally,	17:12
	Jonah says, all right, all right, I'll go.	17:16
	But it won't do any good.	17:19
	There's no point in my going over there.	17:20
	I'll go darn it!	17:22
	I'll go.	17:23
	And so he goes and he preaches in Baghdad.	17:24
	He preaches a short sermon with a very bad attitude.	17:29
	He gets finished.	17:33
	Closes the bible, says the benediction.	17:35
	Prepares to head for the bus and for home.	17:37
	But there is this stampede of people!	17:41
	They rush down!	17:43
	They throw their bodies down!	17:45
	They say they've been saved!	17:46
	They want to be, the say they've been born again!	17:49
	They all want to be baptized!	17:51
	All these hundreds of people!	17:52
	Everybody in the whole city of Nineveh repents!	17:54
	All the beings repent!	17:59
	In fact, this wasn't read in the scripture.	18:00
	You can check this out at home.	18:02
	But it says even the cattle repented!	18:03
	(congregation chuckles)	18:06
	You ever seen a cow repent?	18:08
	(congregation laughing)	18:10
	It's a wondrous thing.	18:14
	(congregation laughing)	18:16
	Thomas Espies from Texas,	18:18
	he can explain it to you later.	18:20
	(congregation laughing)	18:22
	Even the cattle repent!	18:24
	And Jonah just hates it.	18:30
	He ends by saying, I'd rather die than live.	18:36
	I'd rather die than live in a world	18:44
	where God is so unpredictable.	18:50
	I don't want to live where	18:56
	there's a possibility of such newness!	18:57
	Such devastating change!	19:00
	Oh we, oh we say we want change.	19:05
	But we, like Jonah, are quite comfortable	19:09
	in a world where the status quo is fixed eternally.	19:12
	And we are sure fixed in our mind exactly	19:16
	what God would do and would not do!	19:19
	Where God would go!	19:21
	Where God wouldn't!	19:22
	What people could get saved.	19:23
	And what couldn't.	19:25
	We like it that way.	19:26
	Oh we, we at times we will whine about	19:30
	the present state of affairs.	19:33
	But in our other moments we admit we're quit comfortable.	19:37
	In a world of fixedness.	19:45
	Nobody ever gets cured of alcoholism.	19:48
	Amen!	19:52
	Some people are just born with certain	19:53
	social attitudes fixed in them	19:56
	deterministically through economic	19:57
	and social, cultural, class factors!	20:00
	Amen!	20:03
	You can't teach and old dog new tricks.	20:04
	I've seen this as a pastor.	20:10
	People will come for counseling and say,	20:11
	"I've got this big problem and I need you	20:14
	"to help me to think about doing something about it."	20:18
	"What can I do?"	20:19
	And I listen and I naively say,	20:21
	"Well, you can do this..."	20:23
	No, no!	20:25
	I couldn't do that!	20:26
	That would be ridiculous!	20:27
	That wouldn't work!	20:28
	I say then, "You maybe could try this..."	20:29
	No, no!	20:31
	That would require...	20:32
	No, no!	20:34
	A few years ago I was on a panel.	20:37
	And the panel was discussing racism in the church.	20:39
	And someone on the panel said	20:44
	that while racism was still a big problem,	20:46
	she was happy to note that it seemed to be less a problem	20:49
	than it was, say 20 years ago, in her own experience.	20:53
	That while there was still much to do,	20:58
	the good news was much progress	21:00
	had been made on our racial attitudes.	21:02
	Well, a couple members of the panel where just indignant!	21:05
	How dare you say that we're less racist today	21:09
	than we were 30 years ago!	21:12
	Racism is still as big a problem than it's ever been!	21:13
	It's terrible!	21:16
	What are you talking about?	21:17
	Nothing has changed!	21:19
	Later, some cynic said that the amount of racism	21:22
	in any organization is in direct relationship	21:26
	to the number of people who make a living	21:30
	finding racism in an organization.	21:32
	Change is threatening because it requires shifts of power.	21:39
	It requires realignments that can be painful.	21:44
	Few things are more frightening to people	21:52
	in the business of change than change.	21:56
	And so the philosopher Schopenhauer	22:02
	and his world, his will and idea	22:04
	sums it all up in saying	22:10
	everybody believes himself to be perfectly free.	22:12
	And thinks that in a moment he can commence another life.	22:17
	That he can become another person.	22:22
	But through experience he finds, to his astonishment,	22:25
	he is not free; his life is subjected to necessity.	22:29
	That in spite of all our resolutions, he does not change.	22:34
	And that from the beginning of his life	22:40
	he must play the part which he has undertaken;	22:42
	play it to the very end.	22:48
	In today's gospel, Jesus calls people to repent.	22:56
	Which is a fancy biblical word for change.	23:00
	And then we're given a couple of examples.	23:04
	Couple of people fishing, going about their business.	23:06
	Jesus says, "Come follow me."	23:08
	And they follow.	23:12
	When Jesus comes calling us to be born again,	23:15
	to start fresh, let go, venture forth	23:18
	proclaiming that there's a power let loose	23:22
	in the world for new.	23:25
	That God is yet able to work wonder!	23:27
	I want you to note that he did not draw a big crowd.	23:33
	Maybe this is what faith is.	23:39
	Maybe faith is not swallowing every word	23:41
	of the bible without choking.	23:44
	But maybe faith	23:47
	is the adventurous relationship to a living God.	23:52
	A willingness to come to church on Sunday morning	23:56
	and be shocked by the intrusions of God's power	23:59
	to work wonder.	24:04
	Jonah thought that faith meant being fixed.	24:07
	To know for sure what God would do	24:11
	and wouldn't do and with whom God would do it.	24:14
	Faith for Jonah was to have everything figured out	24:20
	and certain and sure and fixed.	24:23
	And Jonah got surprised!	24:24
	And he hated God for it.	24:28
	I wonder in your life,	24:34
	I wonder in your life right now,	24:35
	where is that territory that is off limits to God?	24:39
	For Jonah it was Nineveh.	24:45
	What is that land where God will not venture for you?	24:47
	What are those issues upon which you	24:54
	have already made a settled arrangement?	24:57
	The final decision.	25:02
	Who are the people in your life on whom	25:06
	you've given up hope and closed the door?	25:09
	Having lost faith they'll ever change.	25:16
	Oh, keep assuring yourself people don't change!	25:21
	Amen!	25:24
	Keep telling yourself God is not able	25:25
	to work any new thing.	25:27
	And the warning of today is:	25:32
	You, like Jonah, may be in for a jolt.	25:34
	Now we're going to come to the Lord's table.	25:42
	And you know that for centuries a debate raged	25:46
	in the church about this bread and this wine.	25:49
	What happens?	25:54
	What happens here in this mystery?	25:55
	You know, there was some Christians who said	25:59
	what happens is called trans-substantiation.	26:01
	Though the bread continue to look like bread,	26:05
	that bread when the priest prays the prayer,	26:07
	is miraculously transformed into the very	26:10
	the flesh of Christ.	26:13
	I don't know about that.	26:17
	I know that in Corinthians Paul tells the church	26:20
	at Corinth that there is a transformation	26:23
	that occurs when you commune.	26:26
	But it's not in the bread and the wine, it's in you.	26:30
	We, many though we are, become one	26:34
	'cause it's one loaf from which we partake.	26:37
	And St. Augustine told his congregation	26:40
	when you bring that bread and wine	26:43
	and put it on the altar, that's you on the altar.	26:44
	That's you blessed and broken and handed out for the world!	26:46
	You become the body of Christ!	26:50
	Now this morning, I don't need you to believe	26:58
	that this wine is somehow miraculously	27:01
	transformed into blood.	27:04
	No, I need you to believe something even more wondrous.	27:09
	I need you to believe that you in partaking of this bread	27:17
	and wine can be transformed;	27:22
	trans-substantiated.	27:27
	Don't come down here.	27:31
	Don't hold out your empty hands.	27:32
	Don't dare let this bread and wine settle	27:36
	deep into your being if you don't wanna risk change.	27:38
	(clears throat)	27:48
	There was this sophomore I knew	27:50
	and she had her path here at Duke all mapped out.	27:53
	And next thing I knew she had taken a lurch to the left	27:57
	and she told me she was gonna spend her summer	28:01
	down in Atlanta working in a hospital	28:03
	for indigent men infected with AIDS.	28:06
	And she made this move that was what she was doing	28:11
	with her life.	28:16
	End of the year, one of the last Sundays of the school year,	28:18
	her mother had come over to visit her.	28:21
	I said to her mother, "I am so excited about your daughter!"	28:22
	"I just think what she's doing this summer	28:25
	"is just wonderful!"	28:27
	The mother said, "Do you?"	28:30
	"Yes!"	28:32
	"Yes!" "I just think that's just wonderful!"	28:33
	"What Christian witness!"	28:35
	"Go down there, work in inter-city Atlanta,	28:36
	"those men with AIDS."	28:38
	The mother said, "Well how would you feel	28:40
	"if it were your daughter?"	28:41
	I said, "Oh, if it were my daughter,	28:43
	"I'd be of course terrified!"	28:44
	(congregation chuckles)	28:46
	I heard the mother say as she went on out of the chapel,	28:51
	"God I hate preachers!"	28:56
	(congregation laughing)	28:59
-	The Lord be with you.	29:09
-	And also with you.	29:11
-	Let us pray.	29:13
	God of mercy, we come before you humbled	29:20
	and grateful that you have not abandoned us	29:24
	once and for all to our hardheartedness	29:28
	and stubbornness.	29:32
	Though we live in a world that is constantly changing,	29:34
	we are terrified of change.	29:38
	We long for things that are constant,	29:42
	controllable, dependable.	29:45
	Perhaps that's why we resist change so strongly.	29:49
	Clinging to the status quo, however bad it might be.	29:53
	Relieve our fears that change is always for the worse.	29:59
	Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.	30:05
	Lord we don't seek change for the sake of change	30:10
	but openness to your power to change	30:14
	and transform us into disciples of Christ.	30:16
	When we acknowledge our own inability to change	30:21
	even the most simple things about ourselves:	30:25
	our weight, our work habits, our tempers,	30:28
	we're tempted to doubt your ability to make us holy anew.	30:32
	And when we look at the problems in our world	30:38
	we are overwhelmed by their magnitude	30:41
	and tempted to despair that anyone,	30:45
	even you, can really make a difference.	30:48
	Forgive us for our unbelief and help us to trust your power	30:53
	to change us and even the world we live in.	30:58
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	31:02
	Transform us into loving disciples of Jesus Christ	31:08
	so that we might become instruments of your change	31:12
	rather than resistors to your transforming presence	31:16
	in the world.	31:19
	Teach us to love as you love.	31:22
	Show each of us ways that we might offer compassion	31:25
	and kindness.	31:29
	Mold us into reflections of Christ.	31:30
	And build us into communities that reflect your glory.	31:33
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	31:38
	You have said that when we care for those you love,	31:43
	we reveal our love for you.	31:47
	We pray that our lives may be expressions	31:50
	of love manifested in service to others.	31:53
	We pray especially for those	31:57
	who mourn the loss of loved ones.	31:59
	That they may experience comfort in the midst of grief.	32:02
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:07
	We pray for those that are unemployed,	32:12
	that they may be find meaningful work	32:14
	and a means to support themselves and their families.	32:16
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:20
	We pray for those who are confused	32:25
	or struggling with an important decision,	32:27
	that they may find guidance and direction in you.	32:30
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:34
	We are mindful of those who are ill	32:39
	and pray that they may be healed and know your wholeness	32:42
	even in the midst of brokenness.	32:45
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:48
	We pray for those who live with violence,	32:52
	that they may know peace.	32:55
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	32:58
	And we pray for those who are in despair,	33:03
	that they may find the way that you open	33:06
	to those who seek you and that they may know	33:08
	the hope of your transformation.	33:11
	Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.	33:14
	We are grateful for the many ways you care for us	33:19
	and for your power to transform us	33:22
	into more than we ever thought we could be.	33:25
	Guide us in our public and private lives,	33:28
	that we might reflect the love that we've received	33:31
	and become the body of Christ given for the world.	33:36
	In the name of Christ, amen.	33:39
	As a community who shares the love and power of Christ,	33:45
	let us offer one another signs of love and peace.	33:49
	Please stand.	33:52
	(congregation murmuring)	33:59
-	You may be seated.	34:16
	God has abundantly blessed us and called us to be	34:25
	a community that blesses others.	34:28
	Let us rejoice now in what we have been given	34:30
	and what is ours to share.	34:33
	(organ music playing)	34:42
	(organ music playing)	35:00
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	35:18
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	35:36
	(choir signing offertory hymn)	35:56
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	36:20
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	36:48
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	37:20
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	38:08
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	38:34
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	38:57
	(choir singing offertory hymn)	39:26
	♪Amen ♪	40:06
	(organ music playing)	40:19
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	40:52
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	40:58
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:05
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:08
	♪ Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪	41:13
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	41:20
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:27
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:30
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:33
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:37
	♪ Alleluia ♪	41:40
-	Let us join together in the Prayer of Thanksgiving.	41:52
	The Lord be with you.	41:56
-	And also with you.	41:57
-	Lift up your hearts.	41:59
-	We lift them up to the Lord.	42:01
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	42:02
-	It is right to give our thanks and praise.	42:05
-	It is a right and a good and joyful thing	42:08
	always and everywhere to give thanks to you	42:10
	Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.	42:13
	You are the one who sent the prophets of old	42:18
	to speak words of truth to us.	42:20
	To show us the way towards light.	42:22
	Even when we rebelled against your way,	42:26
	you did not desert us but continued to love us	42:28
	that you might transform us into your people.	42:32
	And so with your people on earth	42:36
	and all the company of heaven we praise your name	42:39
	and join their unending hymn.	42:42
	(organ music playing)	42:47
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	42:54
	♪ God of power and might ♪	42:58
	♪ Heaven and earth are full of your glory ♪	43:04
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	43:10
	♪ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ♪	43:13
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	43:20
	Holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ.	43:32
	By the baptism of his suffering,	43:37
	death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church.	43:38
	You delivered us from slavery to sin and death.	43:42
	And made a new covenant with us by water and the spirit.	43:46
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us,	43:51
	he took bread, gave thanks to you,	43:54
	broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,	43:57
	"Take, eat, this is my body given for you."	44:00
	"Do this is remembrance of me."	44:05
	And when the supper was over he took the cup,	44:09
	gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said,	44:11
	"Drink from this all of you, this is my blood	44:15
	"of the new covenant, poured out for you	44:17
	"and many for the forgiveness of sins."	44:20
	"Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."	44:22
	And so in remembrance of these your mighty acts	44:26
	in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves in praise	44:29
	and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice	44:33
	in union with Christ offering for us	44:37
	as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	44:40
	(organ music playing)	44:43
	♪ Christ has died ♪	44:48
	♪ Christ has risen ♪	44:50
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	44:52
-	Pour out your holy spirit on us gathered here	45:00
	and on these gifts of bread and wine.	45:02
	Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ	45:05
	that we may be for the world the body of Christ	45:07
	redeemed, transformed by his blood.	45:11
	By your spirit make us one with Christ.	45:15
	One with each other.	45:18
	And one in ministry to all the world	45:19
	until Christ comes in final victory	45:22
	and we feast at his heavenly banquet.	45:25
	Through your son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit	45:28
	and your holy church, all honor and glory is yours	45:31
	almighty God now and forever.	45:34
	(organ music playing)	45:37
	♪ Amen ♪	45:41
	♪ Amen ♪	45:44
	♪ Amen ♪	45:46
	And now with the confidence of children	45:55
	we pray as our Lord has taught:	45:56
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	45:58
	Thy kingdom come.	46:03
	Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.	46:04
	Give us this day our daily bread.	46:08
	And forgive us our trespasses.	46:11
	As we forgive those who trespass against us.	46:13
	And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.	46:16
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	46:20
	and the glory forever.	46:24
	Amen.	46:26
	We, though many that we are, become one	46:28
	for this one loaf for which we all partake.	46:31
	When we break the bread is it not a means	46:34
	of sharing in the body of Christ?	46:36
	When we give thanks over the cup, is it not a means	46:40
	of sharing in the blood of Christ?	46:43
	Come to the Lord's table.	46:47
	(organ music playing)	46:57
	(organ music playing)	47:26
	(organ music playing)	47:55
	(choir singing communion hymn)	48:02
	(choir singing communion hymn)	48:31
	(choir singing communion hymn)	49:13
	(choir singing communion hymn)	49:59
	(choir singing communion hymn)	50:59
	(organ music playing)	51:16
	(organ music playing)	51:53
	(choir signing communion hymn)	52:10
	(choir singing communion hymn)	52:44
	(choir singing communion hymn)	53:32
	(choir signing communion hymn)	54:23
	(choir signing communion hymn)	55:09
	(choir singing communion hymn)	56:00
	(choir singing communion hymn)	56:59
	(organ music playing)	57:33
-	Please stand.	57:57
	Bountiful God, we give thanks	58:00
	that you have refreshed us at your table.	58:03
	Strengthen our faith.	58:06
	Increase our love for one another	58:08
	and send us forth into the world in courage and peace.	58:10
	Rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.	58:13
	Amen.	58:17
	(organ music playing)	58:21
	(choir singing recessional hymn)	59:01
	(choir signing recessional hymn)	59:32
	(choir singing recessional hymn)	1:00:19
	(choir singing recessional hymn)	1:00:53
	(choir singing recessional hymn)	1:01:12
	(choir singing recessional hymn)	1:01:33
-	The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ	1:02:03
	be with you and abide with you now and always.	1:02:07
	(choir singing)	1:02:17
	(choir singing)	1:02:30

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "People Don't Change - Do They?" (January 23, 1994)

Description:

Sermon start time: 11:31. Sermon end time: 29:03.
Change is hard. Faith is to believe that there is really a power from God that is able to work through the very depths of our souls to bring change. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Maybe faith is not swallowing every word of the bible without choking. But maybe faith is the adventurous relationship to a living God. A willingness to come to church on Sunday morning and be shocked by the intrusions of God’s power to work wonder.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r47659w50

Date:

January 23, 1994

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Epiphany

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0354
ref9363_726
uachapelsermaud
duke:321532
dcrmv001339
ark:/87924/r47659w50
05b2c1cf-2183-469c-8eaa-dab71a535ebd

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

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.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

William H. Willimon - "People Don't Change - Do They?" (January 23, 1994)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives