William H. Willimon - "His Finest Hour" (March 20, 1994)
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Transcript
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- | Thank you Dr. Wynkoop for that musical instruction. | 0:00 |
Like to call to your attention, a couple of announcements. | 0:04 | |
Next Sunday, beginning with Palm Sunday evening, | 0:08 | |
we will have nightly services of worship in Duke Chapel | 0:11 | |
for Holy Week, and hope you'll be able to attend those. | 0:15 | |
This evening, there is a musical concert | 0:19 | |
by Dr. David Arcus featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach. | 0:22 | |
Would you please stand now as we continue | 0:27 | |
our worship with a greeting. | 0:29 | |
Create in me a clean heart, oh God. | 0:38 | |
(audience chants indistinctly) | 0:41 | |
Open my lips, oh Lord. | 0:44 | |
(audience chants indistinctly) | 0:47 | |
(organ music) | 0:51 | |
(crowd singing worship song) | 1:40 | |
Let us pray. | 6:02 | |
We have come to this place to be | 6:09 | |
in your presence, Lord Christ. | 6:11 | |
We come seeking to be healed by your touch. | 6:14 | |
To be a part of community where your love | 6:17 | |
and kindness flow freely. | 6:20 | |
To know the Joy of sins forgiven. | 6:23 | |
To be filled with the power and courage to face | 6:26 | |
the struggles of each new day. | 6:29 | |
To sing our praises, to share our offerings | 6:32 | |
to be made whole and to be fed your life renewing word. | 6:37 | |
Grant that we may receive the full measure of blessings | 6:43 | |
each of our lives need, as we worship | 6:47 | |
and praise your name, Oh Lord, amen. | 6:50 | |
You may be seated. | 6:55 | |
- | Let us pray together the prayer for illumination. | 7:07 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 7:12 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit. | 7:15 | |
So that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 7:18 | |
we may hear your message to us this Lenten season. | 7:21 | |
Amen. | 7:26 | |
The first lesson is taken from the 31st chapter | 7:28 | |
of Jeremiah, starting with verse 31. | 7:31 | |
The days are surely coming, says the Lord. | 7:36 | |
When I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel | 7:39 | |
and the House of Judah. | 7:43 | |
It will not be like the covenant that I made | 7:45 | |
with their ancestors when I took them by the hand | 7:47 | |
to bring them out of the land of Egypt. | 7:51 | |
A covenant that they broke. | 7:54 | |
Though I was their husband, says the Lord. | 7:56 | |
But this is the covenant that I will make | 7:59 | |
with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord. | 8:02 | |
I will put my law within them. | 8:07 | |
And I will write it on their hearts | 8:09 | |
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. | 8:12 | |
No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, | 8:17 | |
know the Lord, for they shall all know me. | 8:21 | |
From the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord. | 8:25 | |
For I will forgive their iniquity | 8:29 | |
and remember their sin no more. | 8:32 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 8:35 | |
Crowd | Thanks be to God. | 8:38 |
- | Today's psalm is number 51 versus one through 17, | 8:45 |
found on pages 785 and 786 in the Hymnal. | 8:50 | |
Please stand and sing the psalm and glory responsibly. | 8:55 | |
♪ Have mercy on me, oh God according to your steadfast love ♪ | 9:07 | |
(crowd sings) | 9:15 | |
♪ Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity ♪ | 9:24 | |
♪ And cleanse me from my sin ♪ | 9:29 | |
(crowd sings) | 9:33 | |
♪ Against you, you only, have I sinned ♪ | 9:44 | |
♪ And done that which is in evil in your sight ♪ | 9:49 | |
♪ So that you are justified in your sentence ♪ | 9:55 | |
♪ And blameless in your judgment ♪ | 10:00 | |
(crowd sings) | 10:05 | |
♪ Behold, you desire a truth in the inward being ♪ | 10:20 | |
♪ Therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart ♪ | 10:26 | |
(crowd sings) | 10:33 | |
♪ Make me hear with joy and gladness ♪ | 10:46 | |
♪ Let the bones which you have broken rejoice ♪ | 10:51 | |
(crowd sings) | 10:57 | |
♪ Create in me a clean heart, Oh God ♪ | 11:08 | |
♪ And put on you and right spirit within me ♪ | 11:13 | |
(crowd sings) | 11:18 | |
♪ Restore to me the joy of your salvation ♪ | 11:29 | |
♪ And sustain in me a willing spirit ♪ | 11:35 | |
(crowd sings) | 11:40 | |
♪ Deliver me from death, Oh God ♪ | 11:51 | |
♪ God of my salvation ♪ | 11:56 | |
♪ And my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance ♪ | 11:59 | |
(crowd sings) | 12:06 | |
♪ For you have no delight in sacrifice ♪ | 12:17 | |
♪ Where I to give a burnt offering you would not be pleased ♪ | 12:22 | |
(crowd sings) | 12:30 | |
♪ Oh glory be to you, creator ♪ | 12:46 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪ | 12:50 | |
(crowd sings) | 12:54 | |
♪ As it was, our time began ♪ | 13:01 | |
(crowd sings) | 13:05 | |
Please be seated. | 13:16 | |
(choir sings worship song) | 13:39 | |
- | It has been said that an appreciation for irony | 16:19 |
is the last intellectual gift to be developed. | 16:24 | |
Irony. | 16:30 | |
The gap between the apparent and the intended, | 16:31 | |
a sense of meaning beyond the literal, | 16:37 | |
an embrace of incongruity, | 16:42 | |
is the summit of intellectual ability. | 16:45 | |
In this morning, John's Gospel and I | 16:50 | |
are going to see just how smart you are. | 16:52 | |
Here is today's gospel for this fifth Sunday of Lent. | 16:55 | |
Now among those who went up to worship | 17:03 | |
at the festival were some Greeks. | 17:04 | |
They came to Philip. | 17:07 | |
Said to him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. | 17:09 | |
Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip | 17:12 | |
went and told Jesus. | 17:14 | |
Jesus answered, "The hour has come | 17:17 | |
for the son of man to be glorified. | 17:20 | |
Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat | 17:24 | |
falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain. | 17:27 | |
But if it dies, it bears much fruit. | 17:34 | |
Those who love their life, lose it. | 17:38 | |
And those who hate their life in this world | 17:42 | |
will keep it for eternal life. | 17:45 | |
Whoever serves me must follow me. | 17:48 | |
And where I am, there will my servant be also. | 17:52 | |
Whoever serves me, the Father will honor." | 17:56 | |
Now my soul is troubled, what shall I say, | 18:00 | |
Father, save me from this hour? | 18:04 | |
No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. | 18:06 | |
Father, glorify your name. | 18:12 | |
Then a voice came from heaven. | 18:16 | |
I have glorified it, I will glorify it again. | 18:18 | |
The crowd standing there heard it | 18:23 | |
and said that it was thunder. | 18:24 | |
Others said an angel has spoken to him. | 18:27 | |
Jesus answered, this voice has come | 18:31 | |
for your sake, not for mine. | 18:33 | |
Now is the judgment of this world. | 18:37 | |
Now is the ruler of this world driven out. | 18:41 | |
And when I'm lifted up from the earth, | 18:44 | |
I will draw all people unto myself. | 18:48 | |
He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die. | 18:54 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 18:59 | |
Thanks be to God. | 19:02 | |
In Tom Wolfe's novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, | 19:07 | |
we're introduced to a man in his prime. | 19:11 | |
A man at the peak on the top, in control. | 19:15 | |
Sherman McCoy has hit his stride. | 19:20 | |
He likes to refer to himself as master of the universe. | 19:25 | |
This is Sherman's hour. | 19:29 | |
Then, by chance, dialing his mistress | 19:33 | |
from a payphone on the street, | 19:36 | |
he mistakenly dials his own home. | 19:39 | |
His wife answers, he calls her my his mistress's name. | 19:42 | |
Disaster. | 19:48 | |
Now, is his hour. | 19:50 | |
Now, Sherman's chickens come home to roost. | 19:54 | |
Now, begins the painful unraveling of Sherman's empire. | 19:57 | |
Story ends in a courtroom where Sherman is humiliated | 20:03 | |
before the world, his great elevated hour of glory | 20:09 | |
becomes in 300 pages, Sherman's hour of degradation. | 20:14 | |
An old Southern saying says, the higher a monkey climbs | 20:22 | |
up the ladder, the better you can see his derriere. | 20:26 | |
Although that's not exactly how they say it. | 20:31 | |
For many the top of the ladder of success | 20:36 | |
becomes the gibbet from which they hang. | 20:39 | |
The hour of glory becomes the hour of doom. | 20:44 | |
Oh, Tanya, we hardly knew you. | 20:48 | |
When a person is high and lifted up, | 20:53 | |
say like on the podium, at the Olympics, | 20:55 | |
you can get a good view of the person. | 21:00 | |
The world takes a look. | 21:03 | |
When is your hour? | 21:07 | |
When are you at your prime, hitting your stride, | 21:11 | |
on top, high, lifted up? | 21:13 | |
In January, I flew to Chicago. | 21:18 | |
I was met at O'Hare airport by a limousine. | 21:21 | |
It took me, deposited me at a hotel, in the room, | 21:24 | |
there were flowers and fruit. | 21:27 | |
7:30 I was escorted in to a crowded hotel ballroom. | 21:30 | |
2,000 people were there, gathered. | 21:35 | |
There was a huge choir and orchestra. | 21:37 | |
In grand procession, I was led down to the podium. | 21:41 | |
On my way, a woman reached out and she said, | 21:45 | |
"I've come all the way Sioux City to hear you. | 21:48 | |
I just love your writing." | 21:51 | |
I strode to the podium, I was high, I was lifted up | 21:55 | |
14 feet above the assembled crowd. | 21:58 | |
I spoke, there was sustained applause, | 22:01 | |
I was led back down, led out of the ballroom. | 22:05 | |
On my way out, same woman comes up to me. | 22:08 | |
And looks at me with a look of amazement on her face | 22:12 | |
and she says, "Wait a minute. | 22:15 | |
You're not Frederick Buechner | 22:18 | |
(crowd laughs) | 22:19 | |
It was my hour. | 22:24 | |
When is your hour? | 22:29 | |
When is Jesus' hour? | 22:31 | |
That's a pregnant phrase in the gospel of John. | 22:35 | |
My hour. | 22:39 | |
The hour has come for the son of man | 22:41 | |
to be glorified, announces Jesus. | 22:43 | |
At last, we shall see his hour, his glory. | 22:48 | |
We have waited these 40 days of Lent | 22:53 | |
throughout the gospel of John, for his hour. | 22:56 | |
His glorious hour. | 23:01 | |
You remember back at the back at the wedding at Cana | 23:03 | |
of Galilee John two. | 23:05 | |
When the wine runs out at the wedding | 23:07 | |
and Mary pesters Jesus. | 23:10 | |
You remember what Jesus answered? | 23:13 | |
Mama, leave me alone, it's not my hour. | 23:15 | |
It wasn't his hour. | 23:19 | |
After Jesus finished one of his lectures up at Jerusalem, | 23:23 | |
the authorities were so incensed by what he said, | 23:28 | |
they tried to bust him. | 23:30 | |
But John says they failed because John says | 23:31 | |
it wasn't his hour. | 23:35 | |
The crowd there noted, this man has done so many things, | 23:39 | |
so miraculously, it's hard to believe | 23:42 | |
that even the Messiah could do more. | 23:44 | |
And such talk really got at the authorities | 23:47 | |
comparing this uneducated Galilean to the Messiah. | 23:51 | |
His hour had not yet come. | 23:59 | |
You couldn't look at him and see who he was. | 24:01 | |
Again, in the temple, Jesus dared to declare, | 24:06 | |
"I and the Father are one, if you know me, | 24:11 | |
you know the Father." | 24:14 | |
They tried to arrest him for such talk. | 24:16 | |
But John says his hour had not yet come. | 24:18 | |
And now today, fifth Sunday of Lent, | 24:24 | |
Jesus abruptly announces, | 24:28 | |
"The hour has now come. | 24:33 | |
The hour has now come the son of man shall be glorified." | 24:37 | |
Now is the hour at last, for Jesus to be lifted up, | 24:42 | |
now is the hour of glory. | 24:47 | |
There'll be no more of his cat and mouse business. | 24:51 | |
This infernal dubiousness about who Jesus really is, | 24:54 | |
that so infuriates throughout the gospel of John. | 24:57 | |
Now is his lifted up power of glory. | 25:01 | |
And it's about time. | 25:06 | |
When Jesus raised dead Lazarus from the tomb, | 25:10 | |
even Jesus critics' knew. | 25:13 | |
The whole world has gone after him. | 25:17 | |
John's gospel is always down on the world. | 25:21 | |
The world is a place of deceit, of constant opposition | 25:25 | |
and misunderstanding of Jesus. | 25:29 | |
But now, you get to the 12th chapter, | 25:32 | |
now everyone has gone after him, even the Greeks. | 25:34 | |
Kappa Sigs. | 25:37 | |
Everybody now wants to see Jesus. | 25:40 | |
It's his glory. | 25:43 | |
At last, the whole world has become | 25:44 | |
a Palm Sunday parade after Jesus. | 25:46 | |
It is his hour, it is his hour. | 25:49 | |
Jesus, who previously has been so coy | 25:53 | |
about who he really is, now says | 25:56 | |
the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. | 25:59 | |
And there with the spotlight upon him. | 26:06 | |
The whole world goes after him, even the Greeks. | 26:10 | |
Having given the most spectacular miraculous | 26:14 | |
performance of his life, | 26:17 | |
the raising of Lazarus from the dead. | 26:19 | |
High, gloriously acclaimed by a popular. | 26:22 | |
Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you. | 26:28 | |
Unless a seed falls to the earth, it cannot bear fruit. | 26:34 | |
If you love your life, you'll lose your life. | 26:41 | |
But if you lose your life, | 26:46 | |
you will eternally find your life. | 26:49 | |
The hour is about to become the hour." | 26:55 | |
Welcome back to the gospel of John. | 27:01 | |
The gospel of irony. | 27:06 | |
Oh the irony, how this glorious talk of exaltation | 27:09 | |
is mingled with mention of the earth and death and loss. | 27:13 | |
And we sense the irony, the bitter irony, | 27:23 | |
which is the gospel. | 27:26 | |
Jesus is just about to be high and lifted up. | 27:29 | |
This lonely, scorned Galilean is about to be exalted | 27:34 | |
by the world up to an elevation | 27:38 | |
where we shall have a good view. | 27:41 | |
A good view not only of Jesus, but also the world. | 27:45 | |
We're about to see the world for what it really is. | 27:49 | |
He's about to be lifted up on a cross. | 27:57 | |
Some said it thundered when he speak it. | 28:03 | |
Now is the judgment of this world. | 28:06 | |
Now shall the ruler of this world be driven out. | 28:10 | |
And when I am lifted up, oh the bitter irony | 28:14 | |
in him, is the world's day of judgment. | 28:21 | |
His hour is our hour. | 28:26 | |
Oh you who devoutly believed that we are basically good. | 28:30 | |
Oh you who long to believe that we are making progress. | 28:37 | |
That Bosnia is a temporary setback. | 28:43 | |
That the UN is our best hope. | 28:47 | |
That a BA degree and a BMW are morally neutral events. | 28:49 | |
That there's nothing wrong with us | 28:54 | |
that a few sessions of therapy couldn't cure. | 28:56 | |
Look at this one whom we nail to the wood | 28:59 | |
and lift over our ash heap Golgotha. | 29:03 | |
He is our judgment. | 29:06 | |
This is our hour. | 29:09 | |
Now, is the judgment of this world | 29:16 | |
some time between noon and three, Good Friday. | 29:18 | |
His cross, though it was made out of wood, | 29:25 | |
becomes our mirror. | 29:27 | |
In his cross, we see ourselves. | 29:30 | |
In his cross, we get a good view of our religious best. | 29:34 | |
This is really the best that the world can do, isn't it? | 29:40 | |
His cross. | 29:44 | |
Jesus had a way of bringing out the worst in us. | 29:47 | |
His hour is our hour. | 29:52 | |
Nevertheless, he said, "When I am lifted up, | 29:57 | |
I will draw all people unto myself." | 30:04 | |
His cross is our stark mirror, | 30:09 | |
our severe judgment, our reality check. | 30:12 | |
Ironically, his cross is also our salvation, our life. | 30:17 | |
His death is simultaneously his exaltation. | 30:23 | |
We thought that we would lift him up by nailing him up. | 30:29 | |
God raised him up, oh, the irony of it. | 30:33 | |
It's a mystery. | 30:39 | |
How death leads to life. | 30:42 | |
How our sin leads to our salvation, it's a mystery. | 30:46 | |
About this time last week, I was living with some others | 30:55 | |
from Duke in a little Honduran village. | 30:58 | |
And in the morning, if you look just over the mountain, | 31:02 | |
you could see El Salvador, | 31:05 | |
that troubled country. | 31:10 | |
About this exact Sunday of the year, | 31:14 | |
Archbishop Oscar Romero stood up at a mass. | 31:19 | |
And he read today's gospel. | 31:26 | |
From the gospel of John, chapter 12. | 31:29 | |
The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. | 31:34 | |
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, | 31:37 | |
it remains only grain. | 31:41 | |
But it dies, it bears much fruit. | 31:43 | |
In a short homily, Archbishop Romero said, | 31:50 | |
"You've just heard the gospel of Christ | 31:57 | |
from John's 12th chapter. | 31:59 | |
That one must not love oneself so much as to avoid | 32:03 | |
getting involved in the risk of life | 32:06 | |
that history demands of us. | 32:09 | |
That those who try to fend off danger | 32:13 | |
will lose their lives. | 32:15 | |
But whoever, out of love for Christ, gives himself | 32:18 | |
in service of others will live. | 32:21 | |
Like the grain of wheat that dies, | 32:24 | |
but it only apparently dies. | 32:26 | |
If it didn't die, it would remain alone. | 32:28 | |
Only in undoing itself does it produce harvest." | 32:33 | |
Romero lived what he preached. | 32:41 | |
The government of El Salvador propped up | 32:45 | |
by military contributions form our government. | 32:49 | |
Hated Romero for his outspoken solidarity with the poor. | 32:54 | |
Just after he spoke those words, | 33:02 | |
Archbishop Romero turned to the altar | 33:04 | |
to proceed with the mass. | 33:06 | |
A shot rang out, Romero slumped to the floor | 33:09 | |
just beneath the huge crucifix. | 33:12 | |
Blood poured from his mouth and his nose, | 33:15 | |
turning his white vestments, his purple stole, red. | 33:20 | |
Romero died as he preached. | 33:28 | |
Shortly before he died, he confided to a friend. | 33:34 | |
Sure, I have often been threatened with death. | 33:39 | |
Nevertheless, as a Christian, | 33:43 | |
I don't believe in death without resurrection. | 33:45 | |
If they kill me, I shall rise in the Salvadorian people. | 33:49 | |
If God accepts the sacrifice of my life, | 33:54 | |
though I do not believe I am called to be a martyr, | 33:57 | |
let my blood be seed of freedom. | 34:02 | |
Let my death, if it is accepted by God, | 34:05 | |
be for the liberation of my people | 34:08 | |
and a witness of hope for the future. | 34:10 | |
A Bishop will die, but the church of God, | 34:13 | |
which is the people of God, will rise from the earth. | 34:17 | |
Oh, the irony. | 34:26 | |
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, | 34:31 | |
there is no new life. | 34:36 | |
Unless you lose, you will not find. | 34:38 | |
His death is our life, his cross, our salvation. | 34:42 | |
His hour, our hour. | 34:45 | |
He is lifted up his arms embrace and then like a magnet, | 34:48 | |
like a great magnet, his cross draws all toward him. | 34:52 | |
It's just as if out of some weird, loving magnetism, | 34:59 | |
the cross lifts us up out of the mire. | 35:04 | |
Out of the muck, pulling, drawing out of the alleyways | 35:08 | |
in the subterranean depths all until everything | 35:12 | |
is revealed and all are lifted up and drawn toward him | 35:17 | |
in this act of cosmic redemption. | 35:22 | |
I can't explain it, John can't explain it. | 35:28 | |
We just step back and wonder. | 35:33 | |
One final word of warning. | 35:39 | |
We are entering the most sacred hour of the Christian year. | 35:44 | |
Holy mysteries are about to be worked out among us. | 35:50 | |
And you're gonna feel, you're gonna feel, | 35:56 | |
say, within the next 300 hours, | 36:00 | |
a kind of tug, a kind of pull upon the soul. | 36:04 | |
Like a magnet. | 36:11 | |
You'll see your life reflected in a mirror so truthful, | 36:14 | |
it pierces the soul. | 36:20 | |
You'll want to turn away. | 36:24 | |
You'll try to resist. | 36:26 | |
You'll search for things to crowd out, you're weak. | 36:30 | |
You'll want to run back toward the world. | 36:35 | |
But you're gonna fail. | 36:39 | |
Because this is his hour. | 36:43 | |
This is his hour when he should be lifted up. | 36:47 | |
Now, all shall be drawn to him. | 36:51 | |
Now, he shall have his way with us. | 36:56 | |
His hour is destined to be yours as well. | 37:02 | |
Look, he is drawing you unto himself. | 37:06 | |
It is his hour. | 37:13 | |
(organ music) | 37:21 | |
(crowd sings worship song) | 37:57 | |
The lord be with you. | 40:33 | |
Crowd | And also with you. | 40:34 |
- | Let us pray, please seated. | 40:36 |
Lord Jesus, who for our sakes, endured | 40:50 | |
the pain of the cross. | 40:54 | |
Utter humiliation before the world. | 40:58 | |
Mercifully grant that we might follow your example | 41:02 | |
of patience and self-giving. | 41:06 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 41:10 | |
Lord Jesus, you suffered at the hands of violent men. | 41:20 | |
You faced the principalities and powers with courage. | 41:26 | |
We pray for all those who suffer this day in your name. | 41:31 | |
We pray for the (mumbles), murdered and worshiped | 41:37 | |
last Sunday in South Africa. | 41:40 | |
For the priest murdered yesterday in Italy. | 41:44 | |
Grant us courage, to witness to our faith | 41:49 | |
in your kingdom despite the enmity of the world. | 41:52 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 41:58 | |
Lord Jesus, in a world at war, you preached peace. | 42:07 | |
Peace to those far off. | 42:12 | |
Peace to those who are near. | 42:14 | |
We intercede for the war-torn, | 42:17 | |
war-threatened people of Bosnia, of Northern Ireland, | 42:19 | |
Israel, Palestine, North and South Korea. | 42:25 | |
Guide our feet in the way of peace. | 42:30 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 42:35 | |
Lord Jesus, bless all whose lives | 42:44 | |
are closely linked to ours. | 42:47 | |
Our friends and families, those dear to us, | 42:50 | |
whom we now name before you in our hearts. | 42:54 | |
Grant us grace to love one another as Christ loved us. | 43:03 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 43:09 | |
Lord Jesus, comfort heal all who suffer this day, | 43:18 | |
in body, mind, spirit. | 43:22 | |
Particularly, we pray for those | 43:25 | |
who join us in the Duke hospitals. | 43:27 | |
Give them courage, hope, in their time of trouble. | 43:31 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 43:37 | |
Lord Jesus, we commend at your mercy, all who died. | 43:46 | |
That your will for them might be made full. | 43:53 | |
May we be given a share with all your saints | 43:56 | |
in your eternal kingdom. | 43:59 | |
♪ Let us pray to the Lord, have mercy ♪ | 44:02 | |
As we pray in the name of our Lord and savior, Jesus, amen. | 44:11 | |
As the people to whom many gifts have been given, | 44:19 | |
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 44:22 | |
(organ music) | 44:28 | |
(crowd sings worship song) | 45:34 | |
- | Let us pray. | 51:39 |
Oh God, you have called us to be faithful in all things. | 51:42 | |
Receive these gifts as an honest expression of our faith, | 51:47 | |
our gratitude, our love, and our witness | 51:52 | |
as we re-dedicate our lives to you in this simple, | 51:57 | |
yet vital act of faith. | 52:01 | |
Magnify the power of these gifts, we pray. | 52:05 | |
To spread your peace and love throughout the land. | 52:08 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray | 52:12 | |
always together, saying, Our Father, | 52:15 | |
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 52:19 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will will done | 52:23 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 52:26 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread | 52:28 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 52:31 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 52:34 | |
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. | 52:37 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 52:42 | |
and the glory forever, amen. | 52:45 | |
(organ music) | 52:49 | |
(crowd sings worship song) | 53:29 | |
Go in peace to serve God in your neighbor | 56:07 | |
in all that you do. | 56:09 | |
May the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, | 56:11 | |
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit | 56:13 | |
be with you and keep you, amen. | 56:16 | |
(crowd sings worship song) | 56:23 |