William H. Willimon - "Repent" (February 20, 1994)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 0:00 | |
♪ From all inordinate and sinful affections ♪ | 0:03 | |
♪ And from all the deceits of the world, the flesh ♪ | 0:08 | |
♪ And the devil ♪ | 0:12 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 0:15 | |
♪ From all false doctrine, heresy ♪ | 0:18 | |
♪ And schism, from hardness of heart ♪ | 0:21 | |
♪ And contempt of thy Word and commandment ♪ | 0:25 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 0:30 | |
♪ From lightning and tempest ♪ | 0:34 | |
♪ From earthquake, fire, and flood ♪ | 0:36 | |
♪ From plague, pestilence, and famine ♪ | 0:39 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 0:44 | |
♪ From all oppression, conspiracy ♪ | 0:48 | |
♪ And rebellion, from violence, battle, and murder ♪ | 0:50 | |
♪ And from dying suddenly and unprepared ♪ | 0:55 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 1:00 | |
♪ By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation ♪ | 1:04 | |
♪ By thy holy Nativity and submission to the Law ♪ | 1:07 | |
♪ By thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation ♪ | 1:12 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 1:18 | |
♪ By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat ♪ | 1:21 | |
♪ By thy Cross and Passion ♪ | 1:24 | |
♪ By thy precious Death and Burial ♪ | 1:27 | |
♪ By thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension ♪ | 1:31 | |
♪ And by the Coming of the Holy Ghost ♪ | 1:35 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 1:40 | |
♪ In all time of our tribulation ♪ | 1:43 | |
♪ In all time of our prosperity, in the hour of death ♪ | 1:46 | |
♪ And in the day of judgment ♪ | 1:51 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 1:55 | |
♪ We sinners do beseech thee to hear us ♪ | 1:58 | |
♪ O Lord God, and that it may please thee to rule ♪ | 2:01 | |
♪ And govern thy holy Church Universal in the right way ♪ | 2:05 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 2:11 | |
♪ That it may please thee to illumine ♪ | 2:16 | |
♪ All bishops, priests, and deacons ♪ | 2:18 | |
♪ With true knowledge and understanding of thy Word ♪ | 2:21 | |
♪ And that both by their preaching and living ♪ | 2:24 | |
♪ They may set it forth, and show it accordingly ♪ | 2:27 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 2:33 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 2:37 | |
♪ To bless and keep all thy people ♪ | 2:39 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 2:42 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 2:46 | |
♪ To send forth laborers into thy harvest ♪ | 2:48 | |
♪ And to draw all people into thy kingdom ♪ | 2:52 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 2:57 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 3:01 | |
♪ To give to all people increase of grace ♪ | 3:03 | |
♪ To hear and receive thy Word ♪ | 3:05 | |
♪ And to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit ♪ | 3:08 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 3:14 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 3:19 | |
♪ To bring into the way of truth ♪ | 3:20 | |
♪ All such as have erred, and are deceived ♪ | 3:22 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 3:28 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 3:33 | |
♪ To give us a heart to love and fear thee ♪ | 3:34 | |
♪ And diligently to live after thy commandments ♪ | 3:38 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 3:43 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 3:48 | |
♪ So to rule the hearts of thy servants ♪ | 3:49 | |
♪ The President of the United States ♪ | 3:52 | |
♪ And all others in authority, that they may do justice ♪ | 3:55 | |
♪ And love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth ♪ | 4:00 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 4:05 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 4:11 | |
♪ To make wars to cease in all the world ♪ | 4:12 | |
♪ To give to all nations unity, peace, and concord ♪ | 4:16 | |
♪ And to bestow freedom upon all peoples ♪ | 4:22 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 4:27 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 4:32 | |
♪ To show thy pity upon all prisoners and captives ♪ | 4:33 | |
♪ The homeless and hungry ♪ | 4:37 | |
♪ And all who are desolate and oppressed ♪ | 4:39 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 4:44 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 4:48 | |
♪ To give and preserve to our use the bountiful fruits ♪ | 4:50 | |
♪ Of the earth, so that in due time all may enjoy them ♪ | 4:53 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 4:59 | |
♪ That it may please thee to inspire us ♪ | 5:04 | |
♪ In our several callings, to do the work which thou givest ♪ | 5:06 | |
♪ Us to do with singleness of heart as thy servants ♪ | 5:11 | |
♪ And for the common good ♪ | 5:16 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 5:18 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 5:23 | |
♪ To preserve all who are in danger by ♪ | 5:24 | |
♪ Reason of their labor or their travel ♪ | 5:27 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 5:31 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 5:35 | |
♪ To preserve, and provide for, all women in childbirth ♪ | 5:37 | |
♪ Young children and orphans, widowed ♪ | 5:42 | |
♪ And all whose homes are broken or torn by strife ♪ | 5:45 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 5:51 | |
♪ That it may please thee to visit the lonely ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ To strengthen all who suffer in mind, body, and spirit ♪ | 5:58 | |
♪ And to comfort with thy presence ♪ | 6:02 | |
♪ Those who are failing and infirm ♪ | 6:05 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 6:09 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 6:13 | |
♪ To support, help, and comfort all ♪ | 6:15 | |
♪ Who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation ♪ | 6:17 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 6:23 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 6:27 | |
♪ To have mercy upon all people ♪ | 6:28 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 6:32 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 6:36 | |
♪ To give us true repentance, to forgive us all our sins ♪ | 6:37 | |
♪ Negligences, and ignorances, and to endue us with ♪ | 6:42 | |
♪ The grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives ♪ | 6:47 | |
♪ According to thy holy Word ♪ | 6:50 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 6:53 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 6:58 | |
♪ To forgive our enemies, persecutors ♪ | 6:59 | |
♪ And slanderers, and to turn their hearts ♪ | 7:01 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:06 | |
♪ That it may please thee ♪ | 7:10 | |
♪ To strengthen such as do stand ♪ | 7:11 | |
♪ To comfort and help the weak-hearted ♪ | 7:13 | |
♪ And to raise up those who fail ♪ | 7:17 | |
♪ And finally to beat down Satan under our feet ♪ | 7:20 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:26 | |
♪ That it may please thee to grant ♪ | 7:30 | |
♪ To all the faithful departed eternal life and peace ♪ | 7:31 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:38 | |
♪ That it may please thee to grant that ♪ | 7:42 | |
♪ In the fellowship of all the saints ♪ | 7:45 | |
♪ We may attain to thy heavenly kingdom ♪ | 7:47 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:53 | |
♪ Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us ♪ | 7:57 | |
♪ Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us ♪ | 8:02 | |
♪ O Lamb of God, that takest away ♪ | 8:07 | |
♪ The sins of the world ♪ | 8:10 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 8:12 | |
♪ O Lamb of God, that takest away ♪ | 8:16 | |
♪ The sins of the world ♪ | 8:18 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 8:20 | |
♪ O Lamb of God, that takest away ♪ | 8:23 | |
♪ The sins of the world ♪ | 8:26 | |
♪ Grant us thy peace ♪ | 8:28 | |
♪ O Christ, hear us ♪ | 8:32 | |
♪ O Christ, hear us ♪ | 8:34 | |
♪ Lord have mercy upon us ♪ | 8:37 | |
♪ Lord have mercy upon us ♪ | 8:40 | |
♪ Lord have mercy upon us ♪ | 8:44 | |
♪ Our Father, who art in heaven ♪ | 8:47 | |
♪ Hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come ♪ | 8:51 | |
♪ Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven ♪ | 8:55 | |
♪ Give us this day our daily bread ♪ | 9:00 | |
♪ And forgive us our trespasses ♪ | 9:03 | |
♪ As we forgive those who trespass against us ♪ | 9:06 | |
♪ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ♪ | 9:10 | |
♪ For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory ♪ | 9:15 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 9:20 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 9:22 | |
♪ Oh Lord, let thy mercy be showed upon us ♪ | 9:24 | |
♪ As we do put our trust in thee ♪ | 9:28 | |
♪ Let us pray ♪ | 9:32 | |
♪ Almighty God, who hast promised to hear the petitions ♪ | 9:34 | |
♪ Of those who ask in thy Son's Name ♪ | 9:39 | |
♪ We beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ear ♪ | 9:42 | |
♪ To us who have now made our prayers ♪ | 9:46 | |
♪ And supplications unto thee, and grant that those things ♪ | 9:49 | |
♪ Which we have asked faithfully according to thy will ♪ | 9:54 | |
♪ May be obtained effectually ♪ | 9:58 | |
♪ To the relief of our necessity ♪ | 10:01 | |
♪ And to the setting forth of thy glory ♪ | 10:04 | |
♪ Through Jesus Christ our Lord ♪ | 10:08 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 10:11 | |
♪ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ♪ | 10:15 | |
♪ And the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost ♪ | 10:18 | |
♪ Be with us all evermore ♪ | 10:22 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 10:26 | |
- | You may be seated. | 10:38 |
Let us pray the prayer for illumination together. | 10:46 | |
- | Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 10:51 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 10:54 | |
so that as the Word is read and proclaimed, | 10:57 | |
we may hear your message to us, this first Sunday of Lent. | 11:00 | |
Amen. | 11:05 | |
- | This lesson is from | 11:09 |
the ninth chapter of Genesis, | 11:10 | |
beginning with the eighth verse. | 11:12 | |
"Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, | 11:18 | |
"'As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you | 11:22 | |
"'and your descendants after you | 11:25 | |
"'and with every living creature that is with you. | 11:27 | |
"'the birds, the domestic animals, | 11:30 | |
"'and every animal of the Earth with you, | 11:32 | |
"'as many as came out of the ark. | 11:35 | |
"'I establish my covenant with you, | 11:37 | |
"'that never again shall all flesh | 11:40 | |
"'be cut off by the waters of a flood, | 11:41 | |
"'and never again shall there be | 11:44 | |
"'a flood to destroy the earth.' | 11:46 | |
"God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant | 11:48 | |
"'that I make between me and you | 11:52 | |
"'and every living creature that is with you, | 11:54 | |
"'for all future generations. | 11:56 | |
"'I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign | 11:59 | |
"'of the covenant between me and the Earth. | 12:02 | |
"'When I bring clouds over the Earth, | 12:05 | |
"'and the bow is seen in the clouds, | 12:07 | |
"'I will remember my covenant, that is between me and you, | 12:09 | |
"'and every living creature of all flesh, | 12:13 | |
"'and the waters shall never again | 12:15 | |
"'become a flood to destroy all flesh. | 12:17 | |
"'When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember | 12:20 | |
"'the everlasting covenant between God | 12:24 | |
"'and every living creature of all flesh that is on Earth'. | 12:26 | |
"God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant, | 12:30 | |
"'that I have established between me | 12:34 | |
"and all flesh that is on the Earth.'" | 12:35 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 12:40 | |
- | Thanks be to God. | 12:42 |
- | This lesson is from | 12:49 |
the first chapter of Saint Mark, | 12:50 | |
beginning with the ninth verse. | 12:52 | |
"In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee | 12:57 | |
"and was baptized by John in the Jordan. | 13:01 | |
"And just as he was coming up out of the water, | 13:04 | |
"he saw heavens torn apart and the Spirit | 13:06 | |
"descending like a dove on him. | 13:09 | |
"And a voice came from heaven 'You are my Son, the beloved, | 13:11 | |
"'with you I am well pleased.' | 13:16 | |
"And the Spirit immediately drove | 13:19 | |
"him out into the wilderness. | 13:20 | |
"He was in the wilderness 40 days, tempted by Satan. | 13:23 | |
"And he was with the wild beasts, | 13:27 | |
and the angels waited on him. | 13:29 | |
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, | 13:31 | |
"proclaiming the good news of God, | 13:34 | |
"and saying 'The time is fulfilled. | 13:36 | |
"'And the kingdom of God has come near. | 13:39 | |
"'Repent and believe in the good news!'" | 13:41 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 13:45 | |
- | Thanks be to God. | 13:47 |
(soft organ music) | 13:59 | |
♪ Salvation is created ♪ | 14:39 | |
♪ Salvation is created ♪ | 14:46 | |
♪ Is created ♪ | 14:58 | |
♪ In midst of the Earth ♪ | 15:09 | |
♪ O, God ♪ | 15:34 | |
♪ O, our God ♪ | 15:44 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 15:52 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 16:06 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 16:16 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 16:26 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 16:37 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 16:47 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 17:00 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 17:11 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 17:21 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 17:33 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 17:53 | |
- | Can we be honest for just five minutes? | 18:44 |
Even though this is Chicago. | 18:47 | |
Thus begins a poem by Carl Sandberg. | 18:52 | |
And in a way thus has begun this service. | 18:59 | |
For on this first Sunday of Lent, our choir, | 19:04 | |
which normally helps you to get happy and high, | 19:09 | |
leads us in the Great Litany, a penitential act of honesty, | 19:14 | |
which redundantly, laboriously reiterates | 19:21 | |
that we are, despite our best intentions, | 19:24 | |
sinful. | 19:30 | |
We are not right. | 19:34 | |
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy. | 19:37 | |
Let's be honest, we sin. | 19:42 | |
Some years ago the Wall Street Journal published | 19:49 | |
one of it's most provocative editorials, | 19:52 | |
which began with the line: | 19:57 | |
"When is the last time you have had | 19:58 | |
"a good conversation about sin?" | 20:01 | |
And then the Wall Street Journal editorial | 20:07 | |
cataloged some of the evidence of moral demise | 20:10 | |
that was then capturing the headlines. | 20:16 | |
The Clarence Thomas hearings, | 20:20 | |
the William Kennedy Smith affair, oops! | 20:24 | |
An addicted culture, and on and on, | 20:28 | |
and then the editorial commented | 20:32 | |
"sin is not something that many people, | 20:36 | |
"including most of our churches, | 20:38 | |
"have spent much time talking about. | 20:41 | |
"through the years of the cultural | 20:44 | |
"and the sexual revolution. | 20:47 | |
"But we will say this for sin, | 20:50 | |
"it at least offered one a frame of reference | 20:53 | |
"for personal behavior, and when that frame was dismantled, | 20:56 | |
"when everyone was left to his or her own devices, | 21:02 | |
"it now appears that many people's wrecked lives | 21:09 | |
"could have used a road map. | 21:13 | |
"Ministers and priests gave way voluntarily | 21:17 | |
"to clinics and counselors, | 21:20 | |
"instead of giving your kid a dressing down, | 21:23 | |
"you now give him or her a condom. | 21:25 | |
"The ministers of the therapeutic say | 21:29 | |
"that the dressing down is now useless | 21:31 | |
"because kids don't know what you're talking about anyway, | 21:33 | |
"and by now they may be right." | 21:37 | |
Now the Wall Street Journal thereby implies | 21:43 | |
that a healthy sense of sin, | 21:46 | |
honesty about our condition, | 21:49 | |
is readily available to any thinking, sensitive American. | 21:53 | |
To the sort of people who would read | 21:58 | |
editorials in the Wall Street Journal. | 22:00 | |
And yet, I fear that any psychiatrist, | 22:05 | |
as well as the person in charge of the chapel refrigerator, | 22:08 | |
would tell you that the truth about us is hard to come by. | 22:13 | |
We lie. | 22:19 | |
Particularly, do we lie about ourselves. | 22:21 | |
"I'm not all that rich!", we say, despite the facts. | 22:27 | |
"Anyone would have done exactly the same thing | 22:34 | |
"that I did in the same situation." | 22:37 | |
"Everybody does stuff like that his sophomore year!" | 22:42 | |
And our self-deception comes so naturally. | 22:47 | |
For we experience ourselves as frail, vulnerable creatures, | 22:52 | |
who must carefully polish the persona, Jung. | 22:58 | |
We must feed the necessary illusions of the superego, Freud. | 23:05 | |
We must hide behind and answer our class, Marx. | 23:12 | |
Doctor Brody has given me a book. | 23:20 | |
Anytime that you're given a book from a psychiatrist, | 23:26 | |
by a psychiatrist, and he says "you need to read this", | 23:30 | |
(congregation laughs) | 23:35 | |
The book is a wonderful book. | 23:38 | |
It's by George Vaillant and it is called | 23:39 | |
"The Wisdom of the Ego". | 23:43 | |
And it's a book about the complex mechanism of defense. | 23:46 | |
Those creative psychic means by which we defend ourselves | 23:51 | |
from the unpleasant facts about ourselves. | 23:56 | |
From the devastating onslaughts of reality. | 24:00 | |
Far from being negative says Doctor Vaillant, | 24:04 | |
our defense mechanisms are wonderfully idiosyncratic means | 24:08 | |
through which the brain devises to shield us | 24:13 | |
from the cold facts about ourselves. | 24:17 | |
Defenses are positive coping mechanisms. | 24:20 | |
So don't expect too much honesty from me. | 24:25 | |
'Cause I am extremely well defended. | 24:29 | |
In fact, one of the interesting things is Doctor Vaillant | 24:33 | |
believes that our defense mechanisms, far from being | 24:37 | |
something that are just fixed in us at infancy, | 24:40 | |
that our defense mechanisms actually improve | 24:43 | |
and complexify as we grow older, | 24:46 | |
as we attain more education. | 24:49 | |
Which suggests to me that people at a university | 24:54 | |
are about as well defended, | 24:58 | |
and therefore about as dishonest, as anybody. | 24:59 | |
Increasing education only provides us | 25:05 | |
with more adept and complex rationalization. | 25:07 | |
But then maybe a psychiatrist might say, | 25:14 | |
that our elaborate defenses, and our denial of sin, | 25:16 | |
are in a way, by themselves, validation. | 25:21 | |
Evidence for sin's stark reality. | 25:27 | |
I would have no need to look good in my charitable giving. | 25:33 | |
I wouldn't need to be seen by you | 25:38 | |
on the third pew from the right in chapel. | 25:39 | |
I wouldn't, I would not need to defend my innocence, | 25:44 | |
to proclaim my victimization, | 25:47 | |
if it were not that, down deep, | 25:51 | |
I know my complicity. | 25:56 | |
Our sin, our sin is so deep, | 26:01 | |
it's so connected, it's insidious. | 26:06 | |
I wear clothes from J.C. Penney that I bought at a bargain, | 26:11 | |
due to the underpaid labor of women in Jamaica. | 26:19 | |
I eat Tyson's Chicken, plucked by | 26:25 | |
minimum salaried black women in North Carolina, | 26:28 | |
some of whom have paid for their lives for my chicken. | 26:32 | |
I benefit from a university created | 26:37 | |
in great part from the ravages of tobacco. | 26:40 | |
But now, why mention all that, why bring that up? | 26:47 | |
What do you want me to do? | 26:51 | |
Flagellate myself for being tenured at Duke? | 26:52 | |
Forsake my ill-plucked Tyson's Chicken | 26:55 | |
for equally ill-picked vegetables at Wellspring? | 26:58 | |
I mean what good would that do? | 27:01 | |
Ollie North, running for the senate in Virginia. | 27:04 | |
Self-confessed liar to Congress. | 27:09 | |
He who padded his own home with government proceeds, | 27:11 | |
when asked on "Larry King Live" about that, | 27:17 | |
he said "Hey, I don't want to dwell on the past, | 27:21 | |
"what good does it do to dredge up | 27:24 | |
"all that ancient history?" | 27:26 | |
And Tonya says, "I don't worry about that kind of stuff, | 27:32 | |
"I've got my eyes fixed on the future. | 27:35 | |
"And if I make any money off this thing, | 27:39 | |
"I'm going to give it to the Special Olympics." | 27:40 | |
Well now what good does it do | 27:45 | |
to rub our noses in this stuff, | 27:47 | |
to press this ancient history? | 27:50 | |
Garry Wills recounts that there was a time | 27:54 | |
when a woman of unsavory experience was delicately, | 27:57 | |
but somewhat cruelly, referred to as | 28:02 | |
as a woman who has a past. | 28:07 | |
She has a past. | 28:12 | |
Well, Ollie North has a past. | 28:15 | |
So do I. | 28:20 | |
I've got a past. | 28:24 | |
I don't know how to get over it either, by myself. | 28:26 | |
I remember as a child that day, rummaging around, | 28:30 | |
looking for something in a seldom opened drawer. | 28:33 | |
And there I saw this yellowed piece of paper | 28:36 | |
with elegant, ancient handwriting on the paper, | 28:38 | |
and on the paper it says "Received from Robert Ashmore", | 28:42 | |
my great-great-great-grandfather, | 28:47 | |
"Received from Robert Ashmore for a sum of $100, | 28:49 | |
"a young Negro woman about 20 years of age." | 28:55 | |
John Hope Franklin says in a recent book "The Color Line", | 29:05 | |
that we Americans are never going to do anything | 29:10 | |
about the race line, the color line, | 29:12 | |
until we're willing to have a history. | 29:15 | |
But Doctor Franklin, what do you want us to do? | 29:23 | |
What do you want us to do, dredge up ancient history, | 29:28 | |
parade around behind the choir in sackcloth and ashes, | 29:30 | |
for something done 200 years ago | 29:33 | |
by my great-great-great-grandfather? | 29:36 | |
Now what good would that do? | 29:38 | |
The other day a student asked me, | 29:43 | |
"You were in a fraternity?" | 29:46 | |
(congregation laughs) | 29:50 | |
And I said, "Yes, I was, what of it?" | 29:53 | |
And he said "Oh, I guess like this, | 29:57 | |
"is this what you call like, atonement or something?" | 29:59 | |
(congregation laughs) | 30:02 | |
You've got a past! | 30:06 | |
You've got ways that you're tied in with the principalities | 30:07 | |
and the powers you don't even know about. | 30:11 | |
And when you do know about it, | 30:17 | |
you'll lack the power to do anything about it. | 30:19 | |
And what can you do? | 30:24 | |
Develop evermore stable and elaborate mechanisms | 30:28 | |
of defense and denial? | 30:31 | |
"The darker the shadow inside", Jung said, | 30:36 | |
"the brighter the mask on the outside." | 30:40 | |
And what's to be done? | 30:49 | |
The Christian faith has an odd response. | 30:55 | |
You can repent. | 31:00 | |
Jesus arrives on the scene in Mark's Galilee | 31:03 | |
and he says the good news! | 31:08 | |
Repent. | 31:13 | |
Our claim is that Christ gives us the resources, | 31:16 | |
for maybe the first time in our life, to be honest. | 31:21 | |
If we can be honest for just about 10 minutes | 31:28 | |
in the Great Litany, | 31:30 | |
then maybe we can be honest for about 40 days of Lent, | 31:32 | |
and then maybe we can be honest the rest of our lives. | 31:36 | |
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy. | 31:41 | |
And because he does have mercy, | 31:48 | |
we can be honest. | 31:54 | |
We don't have to come forward | 31:59 | |
with some heroic act of revelation. | 32:01 | |
We don't have to polish the mask, | 32:06 | |
'cause he sees the shadow we're attempting | 32:11 | |
to hide beneath the persona. | 32:13 | |
We don't have to loudly assert our innocence, | 32:18 | |
'cause after we nailed him to a cross, | 32:22 | |
there's nobody here with clean hands. | 32:24 | |
We need not vainly lie about our past. | 32:30 | |
'Cause he knows our history. | 32:36 | |
He has made our history his. | 32:39 | |
Because he loves us, because he embraces us. | 32:44 | |
Dies for us, and repeatedly returns to us. | 32:48 | |
Despite our sin. | 32:54 | |
That's why we confess. | 32:59 | |
His strong love provides us what we need to tell the truth. | 33:04 | |
I tell you, there is no greater gift to the Christian faith, | 33:13 | |
there is no larger grace than this: | 33:17 | |
You can repent. | 33:22 | |
I know some of you have heard me tell the story | 33:29 | |
of the medical resident here | 33:31 | |
who once told me that he was, | 33:36 | |
since he had been in medical residency, | 33:38 | |
he was just so glad he was a Lutheran. | 33:41 | |
"Now why are you glad you're a Lutheran?", I asked. | 33:45 | |
He said "Well, I'm not only a Lutheran, | 33:47 | |
"I'm a Missouri Synod Lutheran." | 33:49 | |
And one thing Missouri Synod Lutherans | 33:52 | |
are real big on is sin. | 33:55 | |
He said "We really stress sin. | 33:57 | |
"I didn't learn a lot in the catechism, | 33:59 | |
"but I learned one thing: I am sinful. | 34:01 | |
"And that's such a great help." | 34:05 | |
I said, "Now why is that a great help?" | 34:08 | |
And he said "Well, each morning as I walk into | 34:10 | |
"the medical center and I see this great, | 34:13 | |
"glorious thing arrayed before me, | 34:15 | |
"I say to myself, 'You know, a lot of good | 34:19 | |
"'is going to be done here today, | 34:23 | |
"'but a lot of bad will be done here today | 34:27 | |
"'and most of the time we don't know | 34:31 | |
"'the difference until it's over.'" | 34:33 | |
Lord have mercy. | 34:38 | |
"It's such a gift!", he said. | 34:43 | |
"I meet people who have to make it work out right. | 34:45 | |
"I know people who can't fail. | 34:50 | |
"I know people who've either got to lie about it | 34:51 | |
"or blame it on somebody else. | 34:55 | |
"Because I'm a Lutheran I just sit there and say | 34:58 | |
"'You know, I don't think we're going to get it right. | 35:00 | |
"'God's going to have to make it right.'" | 35:05 | |
You're not right. | 35:13 | |
You haven't done right, and I'm not just talking about | 35:16 | |
what you did last night in the dorm either. | 35:18 | |
You got a history. | 35:21 | |
You got a history you can't begin to tell, | 35:24 | |
but in Jesus Christ, God tells us that's alright. | 35:29 | |
He's freed us from the suffocating burden | 35:36 | |
of self-generated righteousness. | 35:40 | |
He looks down from the very cross we nailed him to | 35:45 | |
and says, | 35:52 | |
"Brothers and sisters, | 35:55 | |
I love you still." | 35:59 | |
(soft organ music) | 36:09 | |
♪ Lord, who throughout these 40 days ♪ | 36:41 | |
♪ For us did fast and pray ♪ | 36:48 | |
♪ Teach us with thee to mourn our sins ♪ | 36:55 | |
♪ And close by thee to stay ♪ | 37:02 | |
♪ As thou with Satan didst contend ♪ | 37:12 | |
♪ And didst the victory win ♪ | 37:20 | |
♪ O give us strength in thee to fight ♪ | 37:27 | |
♪ In thee to conquer sin ♪ | 37:34 | |
♪ As thou didst hunger bear and thirst ♪ | 37:43 | |
♪ So teach us, gracious Lord ♪ | 37:50 | |
♪ To die to self, and chiefly live ♪ | 37:58 | |
♪ By thy most holy word ♪ | 38:06 | |
♪ And through these days of penitence ♪ | 38:15 | |
♪ And through thy Passiontide ♪ | 38:23 | |
♪ Yea, evermore, in life and death ♪ | 38:30 | |
♪ Jesus, with us abide ♪ | 38:38 | |
♪ Abide with us, that so this life of suffering overpast ♪ | 38:48 | |
♪ An Easter of unending joy we may attain at last ♪ | 39:02 | |
- | You may be seated. | 39:21 |
In the season of sacrifice, | 39:28 | |
we are invited to reexamine our use | 39:30 | |
of all the resources and abilities | 39:33 | |
that God allows us to manage. | 39:35 | |
What shall we do with the gifts we have been given? | 39:38 | |
Let our gifts, and our whole lives, praise God. | 39:42 | |
(gentle organ music) | 39:59 | |
♪ Let thy holy presence ♪ | 40:59 | |
♪ Thy holy presence, thy holy presence ♪ | 41:04 | |
♪ Thy holy presence, thy holy presence ♪ | 41:13 | |
♪ Come upon us ♪ | 41:19 | |
♪ We pray ♪ | 41:28 | |
♪ Thy holy presence, thy holy presence ♪ | 41:38 | |
♪ Thy holy presence, thy holy presence ♪ | 41:52 | |
♪ Thy holy presence, thy holy presence ♪ | 42:05 | |
♪ Come up on us we pray ♪ | 42:15 | |
♪ Let thy holy presence ♪ | 42:55 | |
♪ Thy holy presence ♪ | 43:01 | |
♪ Thy holy presence ♪ | 43:07 | |
♪ Thy holy presence ♪ | 43:11 | |
♪ Thy holy presence ♪ | 43:17 | |
♪ Come upon us, O God ♪ | 43:20 | |
♪ O God ♪ | 43:34 | |
♪ Thy holy presence ♪ | 43:41 | |
♪ Come upon us ♪ | 43:51 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 44:10 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 44:26 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 44:43 | |
(organ music) | 45:14 | |
♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 45:54 | |
♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪ | 46:03 | |
♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 46:13 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 46:23 | |
- | Let us pray. | 46:38 |
Gracious God, we remember your steadfast love and mercy, | 46:40 | |
which have given us the gift of repentance, | 46:46 | |
removed our shame and sin, | 46:49 | |
and drawn us into the covenant of salvation with you. | 46:53 | |
Through these offerings we give thanks for your patience, | 46:58 | |
persistence, and loving kindness. | 47:01 | |
Direct these gifts humbly offered toward the realization | 47:05 | |
of your purposes for us and for your Creation. | 47:09 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 47:13 | |
- | And now may the grace of God, Father, | 47:20 |
Son and Holy Spirit be with you now and always, amen. | 47:22 | |
(loud organ music) | 47:30 | |
(singing drowned out by organ music) | 47:45 |