William H. Willimon - "Building God's House" (September 11, 1994)

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	(solemn organ music)	0:00
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	0:20
	♪ Lord God almighty ♪	0:25
	♪ Early in the morning ♪	0:30
	♪ Our song shall rise to Thee ♪	0:34
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	0:41
	♪ Merciful and mighty ♪	0:46
	♪ God in three Persons ♪	0:51
	♪ Blessed Trinity ♪	0:56
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	1:03
	♪ All the saints adore Thee ♪	1:08
	♪ Casting down their golden crowns ♪	1:13
	♪ Around the glassy sea ♪	1:18
	♪ Cherubim and seraphim ♪	1:24
	♪ Falling down before Thee ♪	1:29
	♪ Which were, and are ♪	1:35
	♪ And evermore shall be ♪	1:39
	♪ Holy, holy, holy, ♪	1:47
	♪ Though the darkness hide Thee ♪	1:52
	♪ Though the eye of sinful man ♪	1:58
	♪ Thy glory may not see ♪	2:02
	♪ Only Thou art holy ♪	2:09
	♪ There is none beside Thee ♪	2:14
	♪ Perfect in power ♪	2:19
	♪ In love, and purity ♪	2:23
	(solemn organ music)	2:30
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	3:55
	♪ Lord God Almighty ♪	4:01
	♪ All Thy works shall praise Thy Name ♪	4:06
	♪ In earth, and sky and sea ♪	4:10
	♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪	4:16
	♪ Merciful and mighty ♪	4:22
	♪ God in three Persons ♪	4:27
	♪ Blessed Trinity ♪	4:32
-	Let us pray.	4:43
	O God, all things come from you, and you are in all things.	4:46
	Yet you are not confined to what we can see or imagine.	4:54
	You are beyond our highest and deepest thoughts of you.	5:00
	The tallest mountains and the deepest seas	5:05
	are as nothing before you.	5:09
	The far reaches of time and space are your design.	5:12
	Your vastness and glory are beyond imagination.	5:16
	And yet you attend to the most insignificant details,	5:21
	even to our petty concerns.	5:26
	We stand before you in awe, but also with confidence,	5:29
	knowing that you have called us children and inheritors.	5:35
	Speak to us of all that you would have us do and be	5:40
	in the name of Christ our Lord, amen.	5:44
	You may be seated.	5:49
	(pews creaking)	5:51
-	Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination.	6:03
All	Open our hearts and minds,	6:07
	O God, by the power of your Holy Spirit,	6:09
	so that as the Word is read and proclaimed,	6:13
	we may hear your message with joy this day.	6:17
-	The first lesson is taken from the book of James,	6:24
	chapter three, verses one through 12:	6:27
	Not many of you should become teachers,	6:33
	my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach	6:35
	will be judged with greater strictness.	6:39
	For all of us make many mistakes.	6:42
	Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect,	6:45
	able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.	6:49
	If we put bits into the mouths of horses	6:53
	to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies.	6:55
	Or look at ships, though they are so large	6:59
	that it takes strong winds to drive them,	7:03
	yet they are guided by a very small rudder	7:06
	wherever the will of the pilot directs.	7:08
	So also the tongue is a small member,	7:12
	yet it boasts of great exploits.	7:15
	How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire,	7:18
	and the tongue is a fire.	7:21
	The tongue is placed among our members	7:24
	as a world of iniquity.	7:27
	It stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature,	7:29
	and is itself set on fire by hell.	7:34
	For every species of beast and bird,	7:38
	of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed	7:41
	and has been tamed by the human species.	7:44
	But no one can tame the tongue,	7:48
	a restless evil, full of deadly poison.	7:50
	With it we bless the Lord and Father,	7:54
	and with it we curse those	7:57
	who are made in the likeness of God.	7:58
	From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.	8:01
	My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.	8:06
	Does a spring pour forth from the same opening	8:10
	both fresh and brackish water?	8:13
	Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives?	8:16
	Or a grape vine figs?	8:21
	No more can saltwater yield fresh.	8:23
	This is the Word of the Lord.	8:28
All	Thanks be to God.	8:31
-	Today's psalm is found on page 751	8:40
	in the hymnal, verses seven through 10.	8:42
	Please stand and sing the psalm and Gloria responsively.	8:46
	(pews creaking)	8:50
	(solemn organ music)	8:52
	♪ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul ♪	8:59
	♪ The testimony of the Lord is sure ♪	9:06
	♪ Making wise the simple ♪	9:10
	♪ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart ♪	9:15
	♪ The commandment of the Lord is pure ♪	9:22
	♪ Enlightening the eyes ♪	9:26
	♪ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever ♪	9:31
	♪ The ordinances of the Lord are true ♪	9:38
	♪ And righteous altogether ♪	9:43
	♪ More to be desired are they than gold ♪	9:48
	♪ Even much fine gold ♪	9:52
	♪ Sweeter also than honey ♪	9:56
	♪ And drippings of the honeycomb ♪	9:59
	♪ All glory be to you, O Creator ♪	10:05
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪	10:09
	♪ And to the Holy Spirit, blessed Trinity ♪	10:14
	♪ As it was ere time began ♪	10:21
	♪ Is now and will be forevermore ♪	10:26
-	You may be seated.	10:37
	(pews creaking)	10:39
-	The second reading is from the Gospel of Mark	10:52
	chapter eight, verses 27 through 38:	10:55
	Jesus went on with his disciples	11:01
	to the villages of Cesarea Philippi.	11:03
	And on the way he asked his disciples,	11:06
	"Who do people say that I am?"	11:09
	And they answered him, "John the Baptist,	11:12
	"and others, Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets."	11:15
	He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"	11:21
	Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah."	11:26
	And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.	11:30
	Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo	11:35
	great suffering and be rejected by the elders,	11:38
	the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed,	11:42
	and after three days rise again.	11:46
	He said all this quite openly.	11:49
	And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.	11:54
	But turning and looking at his disciples,	11:58
	he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan!	12:01
	"For you are setting your mind not on divine things,	12:05
	"but on human things."	12:09
	He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them,	12:11
	"If any want to become my followers,	12:15
	"let them deny themselves	12:19
	"and take up their cross and follow me.	12:20
	"For those who want to save their life will lose it,	12:24
	"and those who lose their life for my sake,	12:28
	"and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.	12:31
	"For what will it profit them	12:36
	"to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?	12:38
	"Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?	12:41
	"Those who are ashamed of me and of my words,	12:47
	"in this adulterous and sinful generation,	12:50
	"of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed	12:53
	"when he comes in the glory of his Father	12:57
	"with the holy angels."	13:00
	This is the Word of the Lord.	13:03
All	Thanks be to God.	13:05
	(pews creaking)	13:10
	(solemn organ music)	13:11
	(singing in foreign language)	13:32
	(pews creaking)	17:27
-	The lesson from Second Samuel, chapter seven:	17:39
	Now when the king was settled in his house,	17:47
	and the Lord had given him rest	17:50
	from all of his enemies around him,	17:52
	the king David said to the prophet Nathan,	17:55
	"See, now I am living in a house of cedar,	18:00
	"but the ark of God stays in a tent."	18:03
	Nathan said to the king, "Well go,	18:07
	"do all that you have in mind, for the Lord is with you."	18:10
	But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan:	18:15
	"Go, tell my servant King David, 'Thus says the Lord:	18:19
	"'Are you the one to build me a house to live in?	18:25
	"'I have not lived in a house since the day	18:30
	"'I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day,	18:32
	"'but I have been moving, I've been moving about	18:36
	"'in a tent and a tabernacle.	18:39
	"'Wherever I have moved about	18:42
	"'among all the people of Israel,	18:44
	"'did I ever speak a word to any of the tribal leaders	18:46
	"'of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel,	18:49
	"'saying, "why have you not built me a house of cedar?"'	18:53
	"Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David,	19:00
	"'Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture,	19:04
	"'from following the sheep,	19:10
	"'to be prince over my people Israel,	19:11
	"'and I have been with you wherever you went.	19:15
	"'I have cut off all of your enemies from before you.	19:17
	"'I will make you a great name,	19:22
	"'like the name of the great ones of the earth,	19:24
	"'and I will appoint a place for my people Israel,	19:26
	"'and I will plant them so they may live in their own place	19:30
	"'and be disturbed no more, and the evildoers	19:35
	"'shall afflict them no more, as formerly,	19:38
	"'from the time that I appointed judges	19:41
	"'over my people Israel.	19:43
	"'And I will give you rest from all your enemies.	19:45
	"'Moreover, the Lord declares to you	19:49
	"'that the Lord will make you a house.	19:52
	"'Your house, your kingdom,	19:57
	"'shall be made sure forever before me.	20:00
	"'Your throne shall be established forever.'"	20:04
	This is the Word of the Lord.	20:10
	[Congregation] Thanks be to God.	20:14
-	A young woman of my acquaintance has recently graduated	20:16
	in architecture from a nearby university.	20:20
	But she surprised me by saying	20:26
	that she will not become an architect.	20:29
	And when I asked her why, she replied,	20:34
	"I fear I lack the requisite character to be an architect.	20:40
	"'Cause an architect has power over people."	20:46
	An architect determines what quality of life	20:52
	will occur within our space.	20:55
	An architect forms the world.	21:00
	And I remembered a critique of Paul Rudolph,	21:06
	the architect who was the designer	21:10
	of notable architectural disasters at Yale University.	21:12
	I remember a critic said, "Mr. Rudolph should never	21:17
	have been entrusted with so much power to define people."	21:21
	And I'm thinking about architects because today's scripture	21:29
	from Second Samuel, which you have heard,	21:32
	is an account of a royal architectural program.	21:35
	King David decides to build God a great house of cedar.	21:40
	All kings want to be architects.	21:47
	Kings and architecture always go together.	21:52
	Last fall I saw something that I had wanted	21:57
	to see ever since my freshman year,	21:59
	when I had taken a course in art history.	22:02
	We got to go to the Temple of Karnak in Egypt.	22:04
	It must be seen at Luxor to be believed,	22:09
	the Temple of Karnak,	22:13
	the largest religious building in the world.	22:15
	Twenty people can stand atop any	22:19
	of the great columns at Luxor.	22:23
	Even today in ruin, it is utterly stupendous.	22:28
	And yet, there is also something about Karnak	22:33
	which is somber, oppressive.	22:36
	Of course, it's supposed to be oppressive,	22:41
	for it was the temple embodying the very zenith	22:44
	of Pharaonic power in Egypt.	22:48
	It is the embodiment of royal power.	22:51
	And so the temple is supposed to step	22:54
	on mere mortals like me.	22:56
	It's meant to overwhelm with the omnipotence,	22:59
	the stability, and the eternality of the king,	23:02
	and it succeeds brilliantly.	23:07
	I recall a similar, but decidedly less artistic, impression	23:10
	when, with the Chapel Choir, we were in Warsaw	23:14
	and we entered the Great Hall of the People	23:17
	that dominates contemporary Warsaw,	23:21
	certainly the ugliest civic architecture I have ever seen.	23:24
	The Communists ought to be consigned	23:29
	to the seventh circle of hell	23:31
	on the basis of architecture alone,	23:33
	and the way they have ruined Moscow and Warsaw	23:35
	and other places forever with buildings even uglier	23:38
	than the Duke Physics and Biology buildings.	23:42
	(congregation laughing)	23:45
	And of course, it was no fluke	23:47
	that Adolph Hitler's favorite pastime was architecture.	23:49
	His greatest dream was the demolition	23:55
	and the rebuilding of Berlin,	23:57
	and he succeeded in one of his dreams.	23:59
	Hitler's House of German Art in Munich	24:04
	is perhaps der Fuhrer's greatest architectural achievement.	24:08
	It is utterly cold and inhuman,	24:12
	and of a scale too vast for pictures or people.	24:15
	What I'm saying in all this, it is interesting	24:21
	how architecture and power are eternal lovers.	24:23
	Now King David appears to be more enlightened	24:30
	than some of the rulers I have mentioned.	24:34
	Unlike Mao or Stalin or Hitler,	24:36
	David sees the error	24:40
	in his royal building programs, and he decides	24:42
	that having built himself this great palace,	24:46
	it is high time that he, David,	24:49
	builds a house for God as well.	24:52
	"See here," says King David to the prophet Nathan,	24:57
	"I've got this great palace.	25:02
	"But God Almighty lives in a lousy tent, a tabernacle."	25:04
	And in a great act of royal generosity,	25:09
	King David proposes to build a suitable house for God.	25:12
	Suitable housing for God, a temple for the great God	25:18
	who is now God of a great nation like Israel,	25:23
	with a great king like David.	25:27
	"The Lord is with you," says Nathan.	25:31
	Now if David had been King Louis XIV,	25:34
	he might have built just a little chapel,	25:36
	a little wing on Versailles, just a little place for God.	25:38
	But no, this is the Bible,	25:41
	where politicians are tight with God.	25:43
	And so David proposes to build God this vast, great temple.	25:45
	And his court chaplain Nathan gives him the okay.	25:51
	But after sleeping on it overnight,	25:57
	the prophet Nathan does a flip-flop.	25:59
	Something there is about this great show of royal generosity	26:01
	that just doesn't sit well with God.	26:06
	Nathan announces, "Wait a minute, the Lord says	26:09
	"that he will build you a house."	26:13
	If any houses are to be built,	26:18
	if any dynasties are to be established,	26:20
	it will be by the building of God,	26:23
	and not King David.	26:27
	Now what we're listening in here	26:31
	is a politically charged conversation	26:32
	between King David	26:36
	and The King.	26:40
	We're listening in on a debate	26:46
	about what is a real king.	26:51
	We're hearing a critique of our definitions of royalty,	26:56
	our conceptions about how real power is housed.	27:00
	God isn't fooled by David's seemingly magnanimous offer	27:07
	of a holy house.	27:11
	The text begins, you'll recall,	27:13
	when the king was settled in his house.	27:15
	King David is now settled.	27:20
	He has defeated all of his enemies.	27:22
	He's not going out on any more military adventures.	27:24
	He is settled, he is fixed, he is secure	27:27
	from the assaults from without, and there is now peace	27:31
	and prosperity and a great new world order.	27:34
	And now, set up in his elegant house of cedar,	27:38
	King David decides that he will provide suitable housing	27:41
	for God, a place to settle God.	27:44
	See?	27:50
	What first appeared to be this great act of royal generosity	27:52
	is more ambiguous than we first supposed.	27:55
	David, as an oriental potentate,	27:59
	needs a god commensurate with his newly-achieved power.	28:02
	This great new house for God is only an extension	28:07
	of King David's great plans for himself.	28:13
	When Israel was a desert tribe,	28:18
	a rag-tag nomadic bunch in the wilderness,	28:20
	a portable god, living the nomadic life in a tent,	28:23
	well that may have been sufficient.	28:27
	But now a great empire, above all with a great king,	28:28
	needs a more established, predictable, settled deity.	28:32
	And God doesn't fall for it.	28:40
	God is not impressed.	28:43
	Seems to have no need to settle down	28:45
	and be domesticated in Israel.	28:47
	Notice, when the Lord speaks,	28:51
	he addresses David as "my servant David."	28:52
	God asks, "Are you the one to build me a house to live in?"	28:58
	The king may need a house, a big house to feel secure	29:05
	and powerful in his reign, but not Yahweh.	29:09
	God has been roaming about, God has been on the move	29:13
	in a tent, in a tabernacle, since God adopted Israel.	29:17
	And God is not going to settle down any time soon.	29:21
	Then follows a series of statements	29:25
	in the first person singular by God.	29:27
	"I took you, I have been with you,	29:30
	"I have cut off all your enemies, I will make you,	29:32
	"I will appoint a place for my people."	29:35
	You see?	29:37
	The action has shifted from what David says	29:38
	he's going to do for God,	29:41
	to what God has done for David,	29:44
	thus subtly shifting power,	29:48
	asking each of us	29:53
	to rearrange our images about who is really king.	29:54
	If there's going to be any establishment	30:01
	of kingly houses done, it'll be done by God	30:02
	and not by David.	30:06
	The Kingdom of Israel is not established	30:09
	by David and his plans, by his public works programs	30:11
	and great architectural monuments.	30:14
	God shall establish the house of Israel.	30:17
	Second Samuel seven is the very foundation	30:22
	for the messianic hopes of Israel,	30:25
	the hope of the Jewish people	30:27
	that after David's rule,	30:32
	after the fall of Jerusalem in about 600 B.C.,	30:35
	that one day Israel could look forward to a time	30:40
	when there would be a new king from the house of David,	30:44
	who would rule forever.	30:48
	And yet the interesting thing for me,	30:51
	and don't you love this about the faith of Israel,	30:53
	the interesting thing is that with this hopeful expectation,	30:56
	there is also a critique, a warning	31:00
	against false messianic expectation,	31:03
	a deconstruction of kings, a critique of their power.	31:07
	David seeks royal accommodations for God,	31:12
	and yet God's home making and house building	31:15
	are quite different from ours.	31:19
	This great God just won't be tamed.	31:23
	And when the Temple was at last built,	31:29
	Israel referred to the Temple,	31:31
	Israel referred to the Temple	31:35
	as the resting place for God's feet.	31:36
	This great, impressive temple, as great as it is,	31:41
	it can't contain the God of Israel.	31:45
	It's just like a footstool, a little resting place	31:46
	for the feet of God.	31:49
	Now here's my question.	31:53
	Why are you here at this great temple,	31:56
	this house of God, this morning?	32:00
	Have we not come to Duke Chapel in great part	32:04
	in the hope that we, like David,	32:07
	might build God a great house in our hearts?	32:11
	A home?	32:16
	You've heard people sometimes speak in this way.	32:18
	"Since I took Jesus into my heart."	32:22
	Or, "Since I have brought God into my life."	32:26
	Speaking of Jesus as if Jesus were some sort	32:32
	of good luck charm that you carry around in your pocket.	32:35
	But here is a text which reminds us,	32:39
	this God will not be tamed, taken in by us, housebroken.	32:41
	God builds us homes.	32:48
	This God is free.	32:51
	You don't take Jesus anywhere.	32:53
	He takes you places.	32:56
	And we think of this story later, in the New Testament.	33:00
	Luke tells of the story of the birth of Jesus,	33:03
	and Luke links Mary to a man named Joseph	33:06
	of the house of David.	33:12
	You see what Luke is doing?	33:13
	He's connecting Jesus' birth to the house of David	33:14
	and all those messianic expectations.	33:18
	Mary, little peasant Mary, is being connected	33:20
	to great King David.	33:24
	And yet the curious thing is,	33:26
	there's nothing in Mary's circumstances,	33:28
	she was a poor, young, peasant woman,	33:30
	connects her with our conventional notions of royalty.	33:32
	But this God doesn't need a palace to work in,	33:40
	a fine house, a throne.	33:43
	This God is free, this God roams.	33:45
	And Luke tells how this God roamed down into Nazareth,	33:49
	down into the ghetto, to a peasant house,	33:53
	to a poor woman named Mary.	33:56
	This peripatetic God will not be tamed.	33:59
	Earlier, God talked to David secondhand,	34:06
	through the prophet Nathan.	34:10
	Now, God addresses Mary directly through the angel Gabriel.	34:12
	And I tell you that all of this is meant	34:17
	to rearrange our images of God, and how and where God works.	34:20
	Our God may be a king, but he's busy,	34:25
	not up in the palace where kings are housed,	34:29
	but down in the ghetto among the meek and the lowly.	34:32
	Earlier, God did his work through King David.	34:36
	But you get to the Gospel of Luke, and now God is working	34:39
	through young, peasant women like Mary.	34:42
	This God roams.	34:47
	The writer Dan Wakefield wrote a book called "Returning,"	34:53
	which chronicles Wakefield's move	34:58
	out of the Church as a college student,	35:01
	and then a secular, rather chaotic life lived	35:04
	until middle age, when he found himself drawn	35:07
	back toward the Church.	35:10
	And when Wakefield was just getting his feet wet	35:13
	in Christianity, just exploring a little bit of the faith,	35:16
	he went to a cocktail party and the host excitedly told him,	35:21
	"Dan, Henri Nouwen is here at the party."	35:26
	Henri Nouwen, yes, the monk that writes	35:29
	on spiritual matters, the professor at Harvard.	35:32
	Yes, he wanted to meet Henri Nouwen.	35:36
	And so over the potato chips and dip,	35:38
	he comes up and offers his hand and says,	35:41
	"Oh, Mr. Nouwen, I've been so helped	35:43
	"by your books on prayer and the spiritual life,	35:45
	"and I want you to know that I am	35:48
	"now moving back towards Jesus.	35:50
	"I've found some needs in my life,	35:52
	"and I'm reaching out for Jesus to help me with these."	35:54
	Wakefield says Henri Nouwen looks up from the potato chips	35:58
	and says, "Jesus isn't the answer to your personal problems,	36:01
	"he's about more than that," and walked off.	36:04
	(congregation laughing)	36:08
	Wakefield said he was very surprised	36:11
	to get that reaction from Henri Nouwen.	36:13
	But I think more was his surprise	36:19
	to get that reaction from God.	36:21
	This God is about more, this God is big, roams untamed.	36:27
	This God is free to be working among the lowly	36:35
	down in Bethlehem or Jarvis or even Hanes,	36:38
	than having lunch at the White House.	36:42
	It's a hard lesson to learn.	36:48
	We keep building these houses for God.	36:51
	But ours is a living, true God	36:56
	who lives in a tent, is on the move.	37:00
	He was obviously miserable.	37:07
	He said he'd grown up in a small Baptist church	37:10
	in eastern North Carolina.	37:12
	But here at Duke he'd taken a religion course or two,	37:15
	and engaged in late-night dormitory bull sessions.	37:18
	He had heard, and he'd seen things here	37:21
	he'd never seen or heard at home.	37:24
	His faith, he said, had been cast into crisis.	37:28
	"A few months ago," he said, "I was certain	37:33
	"about my relationship with God.	37:36
	"But now it feels as if my faith	37:39
	"is just slipping through my fingers.	37:41
	"I'm worried that may be losing my religion.	37:45
	"I'm afraid that God may be leaving me."	37:48
	I, knowing about this argument between King David	37:58
	and King Yahweh over permanent housing	38:03
	for kings, I agreed.	38:06
	"Yeah," I said, "this God is tough	38:11
	"to keep penned down in one place."	38:13
	And then I ventured,	38:18
	"Perhaps God is not leaving you.	38:21
	"Maybe the living, big, unmanageable God,	38:28
	"is just leading you to a new home."	38:34
	Amen.	38:43
	(pews creaking)	38:48
	(solemn organ music)	38:50
	♪ The church's one foundation ♪	39:34
	♪ Is Jesus Christ, her Lord ♪	39:39
	♪ She is his new creation ♪	39:44
	♪ By water and the Word ♪	39:50
	♪ From heaven he came and sought her ♪	39:55
	♪ To be his holy bride ♪	40:00
	♪ With his own blood he bought her ♪	40:06
	♪ And for her life he died. ♪	40:11
	♪ Elect from every nation ♪	40:17
	♪ Yet one o'er all the earth ♪	40:23
	♪ Her charter of salvation ♪	40:28
	♪ One Lord, one faith, one birth ♪	40:33
	♪ One holy name she blesses ♪	40:39
	♪ Partakes one holy food ♪	40:44
	♪ And to one hope she presses ♪	40:50
	♪ With every grace endued. ♪	40:55
	♪ Though with a scornful wonder ♪	41:02
	♪ We see her sore oppressed ♪	41:07
	♪ By schisms rent asunder ♪	41:13
	♪ By heresies distressed ♪	41:18
	♪ Yet saints their watch are keeping ♪	41:24
	♪ Their cry goes up, how long ♪	41:29
	♪ And soon the night of weeping ♪	41:35
	♪ Shall be the morn of song ♪	41:41
	♪ 'Mid toil and tribulation ♪	41:48
	♪ And tumult of her war ♪	41:53
	♪ She waits the consummation ♪	41:59
	♪ Of peace forevermore ♪	42:04
	♪ 'Till with the vision glorious ♪	42:10
	♪ Her longing eyes are blessed ♪	42:15
	♪ And the great church victorious ♪	42:21
	♪ Shall be the church at rest ♪	42:26
	♪ Yet she on earth hath union ♪	42:33
	♪ With God the three in one ♪	42:39
	♪ And mystic sweet communion ♪	42:44
	♪ With those whose rest is won ♪	42:49
	♪ O happy ones and holy ♪	42:55
	♪ Lord give us grace that we, ♪	43:00
	♪ Like them, the meek and lowly ♪	43:06
	♪ On high may dwell with thee ♪	43:11
Debra	The Lord be with you.	43:20
Congregation	And also with you.	43:22
-	Let us pray, you may be seated.	43:23
	Please respond to each petition	43:28
	with the words hear our prayer.	43:30
	O God of the tabernacle, you are ever on the move,	43:39
	pushing out the boundaries that we would set,	43:45
	bringing new life and hope.	43:49
	Help us perceive your unseen hand	43:53
	in the unfolding of history and the shaping of our lives.	43:58
	Help us trust and attend to the gentle guidance	44:04
	of your Spirit, building us up,	44:08
	leading us into new paths,	44:13
	molding us for your purposes.	44:16
	Lord, in your mercy,	44:20
All	hear our prayer.	44:22
-	We give thanks for your bountiful blessings,	44:25
	for the beauty of creation and the intricate ways	44:29
	you have provided for every human and non-human creature.	44:33
	Lord in your mercy,	44:39
All	hear our prayer.	44:41
-	Though we have so many reasons to be grateful,	44:44
	we often get bogged down by the day-to-day concerns of life.	44:47
	Free us from the anxieties	44:52
	that grip us and sap our energies.	44:56
	Free us from our tendency to hold tightly to life	44:58
	and to try to control all outcomes.	45:03
	Remind us that all things are ultimately in your hands.	45:07
	Teach us to seek you in hope through prayer,	45:13
	that we might know the peace that only you can give.	45:16
	Lord in your mercy,	45:21
All	hear our prayer.	45:23
-	Lord, there are so many things we need to pray about	45:25
	for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world.	45:30
	In this time of communal prayer,	45:37
	we lift our individual and communal concerns to you,	45:40
	knowing that each prayer is received and worked out	45:46
	for the good of those who love you.	45:49
	Be with us as we pray that not our will,	45:52
	but your will, will be done.	45:56
	Lord in your mercy,	46:13
All	hear our prayer.	46:15
-	You have called us to be a community of faith	46:18
	that shares in one another's joys and sorrows,	46:21
	hopes and fears.	46:24
	Therefore we name some of our common concerns before you.	46:27
	We pray especially for those in our community	46:32
	and world who are suffering,	46:34
	that those who are sick may be healed,	46:37
	that those who are estranged	46:41
	from family or friends may be reconciled,	46:43
	that those who are grieving may be comforted,	46:48
	especially the families of those who died	46:51
	in the crash of flight 427,	46:53
	that those who are anxious may find peace,	46:58
	that those who are in despair may know hope,	47:03
	that those who live with war may know peace.	47:07
	Lord in your mercy,	47:12
All	hear our prayer.	47:15
-	Help us, Lord, learn to be attentive to the needs	47:17
	of one another, that this might be	47:21
	a more caring community, a more caring world.	47:23
	Fill us with your divine grace,	47:27
	that each one of us might follow	47:30
	wherever you lead us into loving service.	47:32
	Help us reach out in compassion,	47:36
	as you have reached out to us,	47:38
	that all the world might know the hope of your salvation.	47:40
	In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	47:45
	We have been blessed with resources	47:51
	we are privileged to share.	47:53
	From our rich heritage, let us give with joy.	47:55
	(gentle organ music)	48:02
	(pews creaking)	49:02
	(peaceful organ music)	49:18
	♪ O how amiable are thy dwellings ♪	49:35
	♪ Thou Lord of hosts ♪	49:43
	♪ My soul hath a desire and longing ♪	49:54
	♪ to enter into the courts of the Lord ♪	50:02
	♪ My heart and my flesh rejoice ♪	50:08
	♪ In the living God ♪	50:15
	♪ Yea the sparrow hath found her a house ♪	50:25
	♪ And the swallow a nest ♪	50:32
	♪ Where she may lay her young ♪	50:36
	♪ Even thy altars ♪	50:43
	♪ O Lord of hosts ♪	50:48
	♪ My King and my God ♪	50:55
	♪ Blessed are they that dwell in thy house ♪	51:05
	♪ They will be always praising thee ♪	51:14
	(exciting organ music)	51:28
	♪ The glorious majesty ♪	51:35
	♪ Of the Lord our God be upon us ♪	51:38
	♪ Prosper thou the work ♪	51:48
	♪ Of our hands upon us ♪	51:51
	♪ O prosper thou ♪	52:00
	♪ Our handiwork ♪	52:07
	♪ O prosper thou ♪	52:14
	♪ Our handiwork ♪	52:19
	♪ O God ♪	52:40
	♪ Our help ♪	52:46
	♪ In ages past ♪	52:50
	♪ Our hope ♪	52:59
	♪ For years to come ♪	53:03
	♪ Our shelter ♪	53:13
	♪ From the stormy blast ♪	53:20
	♪ And our ♪	53:30
	♪ Eternal ♪	53:35
	♪ Home ♪	53:42
	(solemn organ music)	53:51
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	54:24
	♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪	54:30
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	54:35
	♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪	54:43
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	54:49
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	54:55
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	55:02
	♪ Alleluia ♪	55:09
-	Let us pray.	55:21
	Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise	55:23
	for all that you have done for us.	55:26
	We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation,	55:29
	the beauty of this world, the wonder of life,	55:33
	and the mystery of your love.	55:36
	May these gifts that we offer in gratitude	55:39
	bring light to those who walk in darkness,	55:43
	and hope to those who live in despair.	55:46
	May they be used to accomplish your purposes,	55:49
	which are always greater and beyond the limits	55:52
	we would place upon you.	55:56
	Help us to follow wherever you lead.	55:58
	In the name of Christ,	56:01
	who taught us to pray together, saying:	56:02
All	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	56:05
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	56:10
	on earth as it is in heaven.	56:13
	Give us this day our daily bread	56:16
	and forgive us our trespasses,	56:18
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	56:21
	Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	56:24
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	56:29
	and the glory forever.	56:32
	Amen.	56:34
	(solemn organ music)	56:36
	♪ Immortal, invisible ♪	57:09
	♪ God only wise ♪	57:14
	♪ In light inaccessible ♪	57:17
	♪ Hid from our eyes ♪	57:22
	♪ Most blessed, most glorious, ♪	57:25
	♪ The Ancient of Days, ♪	57:29
	♪ Almighty, victorious ♪	57:33
	♪ Thy great name we praise ♪	57:37
	♪ Unresting, unhasting ♪	57:44
	♪ And silent as light ♪	57:48
	♪ Nor wanting, nor wasting ♪	57:52
	♪ Thou rulest in might ♪	57:56
	♪ Thy justice like mountains ♪	58:00
	♪ High soaring above ♪	58:05
	♪ Thy clouds which are fountains ♪	58:09
	♪ Of goodness and love ♪	58:13
	♪ To all life thou givest ♪	58:19
	♪ To both great and small ♪	58:23
	♪ In all life thou livest ♪	58:27
	♪ The true life of all ♪	58:31
	♪ We blossom and flourish ♪	58:36
	♪ As leaves on the tree ♪	58:40
	♪ And wither and perish ♪	58:44
	♪ But nought changeth thee ♪	58:48
	♪ Thou reignest in glory ♪	58:55
	♪ Thou dwellest in light ♪	58:59
	♪ Thine angels adore thee ♪	59:03
	♪ All veiling their sight ♪	59:08
	♪ All laud we would render ♪	59:12
	♪ O help us to see ♪	59:16
	♪ 'Tis only the splendor ♪	59:20
	♪ Of light hideth thee ♪	59:25
	(powerful organ music)	59:30
-	The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	59:53
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	59:56
	be with you now and always.	59:59
	♪ God be in my head ♪	1:00:03
	♪ And in my understanding ♪	1:00:10
	♪ God be in my eyes ♪	1:00:21
	♪ And in my looking ♪	1:00:29
	♪ God be in my mouth ♪	1:00:41
	♪ And in my speaking ♪	1:00:49
	♪ God be in my heart ♪	1:01:04
	♪ And in my thinking ♪	1:01:12
	♪ God be at mine end ♪	1:01:25
	♪ And... ♪	1:01:39

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Building God's House" (September 11, 1994)

Description:

Sermon start time: 20:16. Sermon end time: 38:44.
God's homemaking and house building are different from our own. We worship a God who does not live up at the palace where kings are supposed to be housed, but instead lives down in the ghetto with the meek and lowly. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Here is a text which reminds us, this God will not be tamed, taken in by us, housebroken. God builds us homes. This God is free. You don’t take Jesus anywhere. He takes you places.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4qr4p55m

Date:

September 11, 1994

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

2 Samuel

Chapter and Verse:

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0389
ref9468_4wy
uachapelsermaud
duke:321514
dcrmv001371
ark:/87924/r4qr4p55m
9cab7415-20be-4ab3-be58-264cd30d863b

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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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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William H. Willimon - "Building God's House" (September 11, 1994)

Transcript

Item Info

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Duke University Archives