William H. Willimon - "The Right Time" (January 1, 1995)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(instrumental band music) | 0:00 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to Duke Chapel | 3:40 |
on this first Sunday of a new year. | 3:42 | |
We have been gathered for worship | 3:45 | |
by the Crown Chamber Brass with us again | 3:47 | |
to assist in our music today | 3:51 | |
and we welcome them. | 3:53 | |
Tomorrow our chapel choir leaves for a | 3:55 | |
week-and-a-half tour of various cathedrals in England | 3:59 | |
where they will be singing, giving concerts, | 4:04 | |
and we wish our chapel choir well on this tour. | 4:07 | |
Let us stand for the call to worship. | 4:12 | |
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. | 4:18 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 4:22 |
- | The splendor of Christ shines upon us. | 4:24 |
Congregation | Praise the Lord. | 4:26 |
- | Let us rejoice in God's gift of a new year. | 4:28 |
(instrumental band music) | 4:34 | |
♪ Good Christian friends, rejoice ♪ | 5:06 | |
♪ With heart and soul and voice ♪ | 5:10 | |
♪ Give ye heed to what we say ♪ | 5:14 | |
♪ News, news, Jesus Christ is born today ♪ | 5:18 | |
♪ Ox and ass before Him bow ♪ | 5:25 | |
♪ And He is in the manger now ♪ | 5:29 | |
♪ Christ is born today ♪ | 5:34 | |
♪ Christ is born today ♪ | 5:38 | |
♪ Good Christian friends, rejoice ♪ | 5:43 | |
♪ With heart and soul and voice ♪ | 5:47 | |
♪ Now ye hear of endless bliss ♪ | 5:51 | |
♪ News, news, Jesus Christ was born for this ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ He has opened heaven's door ♪ | 6:00 | |
♪ And we are blest forevermore ♪ | 6:04 | |
♪ Christ was born for this ♪ | 6:08 | |
♪ Christ was born for this ♪ | 6:12 | |
♪ Good Christian friends, rejoice ♪ | 6:17 | |
♪ With heart and soul and voice ♪ | 6:20 | |
♪ Now ye need not fear the grave ♪ | 6:25 | |
♪ News, news, Jesus Christ was born to save ♪ | 6:29 | |
♪ Calls you one and calls you all ♪ | 6:35 | |
♪ To gain His everlasting hall ♪ | 6:40 | |
♪ Christ was born to save ♪ | 6:44 | |
♪ Christ was born to save ♪ | 6:48 | |
- | Let us pray. | 6:57 |
Almighty God, who has been the dwelling place | 7:01 | |
of Thy people in all generations, | 7:04 | |
and who in Thy mercy has brought us | 7:08 | |
to the close of another year | 7:10 | |
and the beginning of a new one, | 7:12 | |
we praise Thee for all the way | 7:16 | |
by which Thou has led us | 7:20 | |
and we humbly beseech Thee | 7:22 | |
to continue to us Thy great loving kindness. | 7:24 | |
Help us to cast our weakness on Thy strength | 7:29 | |
that amid all the changes of time | 7:34 | |
in the coming year, | 7:38 | |
we may rest on Thine unchanging love | 7:40 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 7:45 | |
Be seated. | 7:50 | |
- | Let us pray for illumination. | 7:58 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, O God, | 8:01 |
by the power of Your Holy Spirit, | 8:05 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 8:08 | |
we may hear with joy what You say to us | 8:11 | |
at the beginning of a new year, amen. | 8:15 | |
- | Here begins the 21st chapter | 8:21 |
of the revelation of St. John the Divine. | 8:24 | |
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth | 8:28 | |
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away | 8:32 | |
and the sea was no more. | 8:36 | |
And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, | 8:39 | |
coming down out of heaven from God, | 8:44 | |
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. | 8:47 | |
And I heard a great voice from the throne saying, | 8:51 | |
Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. | 8:55 | |
He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, | 8:59 | |
and God Himself will be with them and be their God. | 9:03 | |
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes | 9:09 | |
and death shall be no more. | 9:13 | |
Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore. | 9:16 | |
And the former things have passed away. | 9:21 | |
And He who sat upon the throne said, | 9:26 | |
Behold, I make all things new. | 9:30 | |
And He also said to me, Write this, | 9:35 | |
for these words are trustworthy and true. | 9:38 | |
And He said to me, It is done. | 9:43 | |
I am the Alpha and the Omega. | 9:46 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 9:51 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 9:54 |
(instrumental band music) | 10:08 | |
- | Here begins the third chapter | 12:39 |
of the book of Ecclesiastes. | 12:41 | |
For everything there is a season, | 12:45 | |
for a time and a time for every matter under heaven. | 12:48 | |
A time to be born and a time to die. | 12:53 | |
A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted. | 12:57 | |
A time to kill and a time to heal. | 13:01 | |
A time to break down and a time to build up. | 13:05 | |
A time to weep and a time to love. | 13:10 | |
A time to mourn and a time to dance. | 13:14 | |
A time to cast away stones | 13:18 | |
and a time to gather stones together. | 13:20 | |
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. | 13:23 | |
A time to seek and a time to lose. | 13:29 | |
A time to keep and a time to cast away. | 13:33 | |
A time to rend and a time to sow. | 13:37 | |
A time to keep silence and a time to speak. | 13:42 | |
A time to love and a time to hate. | 13:46 | |
A time for war and a time for peace. | 13:50 | |
What gain has the worker from his toil? | 13:55 | |
I have seen the business that God has given | 13:59 | |
to the sons of men to be busy with. | 14:02 | |
He has made everything beautiful in its time. | 14:05 | |
Also He has put eternity into man's mind | 14:09 | |
yet so that cannot find out what God has done | 14:13 | |
from the beginning to the end. | 14:16 | |
I know that there is nothing better for them | 14:20 | |
than to be happy and enjoy themselves | 14:23 | |
as long as they live. | 14:26 | |
Also that it is God's gift to man | 14:28 | |
that everyone should eat and drink | 14:31 | |
and take pleasure in all his toil. | 14:35 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 14:39 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 14:41 |
- | I wanted to mention that our lector this morning | 14:51 |
is our chapel carillonneur, Sam Hammond | 14:54 | |
who blessed so many during our Christmas services. | 14:57 | |
And offering the prayers for us this morning | 15:03 | |
is Dr. Richard Hayes, professor of New Testament | 15:05 | |
at the Divinity School. | 15:09 | |
We have just lived through one of the happiest | 15:14 | |
times of the year, Christmastide. | 15:18 | |
And we are entering, at least what is for me, | 15:23 | |
one of the most melancholy times, New Years. | 15:27 | |
At Christmas, all things brighten | 15:33 | |
and glow with hope and cheer. | 15:38 | |
We all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge | 15:42 | |
who spent his life in miserliness | 15:45 | |
but at Christmas, at Yuletide he is transformed. | 15:50 | |
And aren't we all? | 15:56 | |
Shakespeare recalls in Hamlet | 15:59 | |
the tradition that at Christmastide, | 16:01 | |
time is transformed. | 16:05 | |
For one glorious night, all time redeemed | 16:07 | |
by Christ's birth. | 16:12 | |
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes | 16:16 | |
wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated. | 16:19 | |
The bird of dawning singeth it all night long. | 16:22 | |
And then they say, no spirit can walk abroad. | 16:27 | |
The nights are wholesome and no planets strike. | 16:31 | |
No fairy takes, nor witch has power to charm. | 16:34 | |
So hallowed and so gracious is that time. | 16:39 | |
Christmas carols speak of O holy night. | 16:46 | |
Bethlehem, when the hopes and the fears | 16:50 | |
of all the years are met in thee tonight. | 16:53 | |
How different that time, | 16:59 | |
say, than the time of New Year's. | 17:03 | |
New Year's is a depressing non-event, | 17:07 | |
dreamed up by restaurants and makers of Cold Duck. | 17:10 | |
Another year has ended and another year has begun, | 17:15 | |
which means that you are one year older, | 17:20 | |
one year closer to your end. | 17:23 | |
Happy New Year. | 17:27 | |
(congregation laughing) | 17:28 | |
And there's always something a little too earnest | 17:31 | |
about New Year's Eve parties. | 17:35 | |
Why do so many people celebrate | 17:40 | |
New Year's by inebriation, | 17:43 | |
unless to mask New Year's depression. | 17:47 | |
New Year's, you flip a page on the calendar. | 17:52 | |
Whoopie, 1995. | 17:57 | |
And though we rarely have church on New Year's Day, | 18:02 | |
we do this year | 18:05 | |
and our assigned scripture is appropriately depressing. | 18:08 | |
Poetry from the book, | 18:12 | |
the rarely preached book of Ecclesiastes. | 18:15 | |
For everything there is a season | 18:20 | |
and a time for every matter under heaven. | 18:24 | |
A time to be born. | 18:28 | |
A time to die. | 18:31 | |
A time to plant. | 18:34 | |
A time to pluck up what is planted. | 18:36 | |
A time to kill. | 18:40 | |
A time to heal. | 18:42 | |
Now there was a time when I thought these words beautiful. | 18:46 | |
Sung in the '60s, was it by the Kinks or the Birds, | 18:51 | |
I can't remember. | 18:54 | |
For everything turn, turn, turn, | 18:56 | |
there is a season, turn, turn, turn. | 18:59 | |
You can think these words beautiful | 19:06 | |
until you read them closely in context. | 19:07 | |
And beautiful words though they may be | 19:12 | |
read closely, they are also dark words. | 19:17 | |
A time to weep and a time to laugh. | 19:23 | |
A time to mourn and a time to dance. | 19:27 | |
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. | 19:30 | |
A time to keep silence and a time to speak. | 19:34 | |
A time to love, a time to hate. | 19:37 | |
A time to make war, a time for peace. | 19:41 | |
See, everything has its time. | 19:45 | |
We were told in Genesis that the seasons | 19:49 | |
would just roll and continue. | 19:52 | |
Ecclesiastes says time passes, | 19:57 | |
the seasons roll along. | 20:00 | |
A time for this, a time for that. | 20:02 | |
But then Ecclesiastes asks, | 20:07 | |
what gain have the workers from their toil? | 20:10 | |
I have seen what God gives us to be busy with | 20:15 | |
and where does it lead? | 20:19 | |
And what good comes of all our toil? | 20:21 | |
That's a dark thought. | 20:28 | |
Look back on 1994. | 20:31 | |
You made 12 car payments. | 20:35 | |
You painted the bedroom and the bath. | 20:38 | |
You shampooed the downstairs carpet. | 20:41 | |
But what gain had you from such toil? | 20:43 | |
There is a time | 20:48 | |
to write checks. | 20:51 | |
A time to pay taxes, a time to paint bedrooms, | 20:54 | |
a time to care for the carpet, | 20:56 | |
a time for Democrats, | 20:58 | |
a time for Republicans | 21:00 | |
and a time to die. | 21:03 | |
How old do you think was the one | 21:10 | |
who wrote these words in Ecclesiastes? | 21:12 | |
Maybe you picture him as say, a young cynic, | 21:17 | |
sitting alone in his dorm room reading Sartre, | 21:21 | |
making sarcastic comments about the capitalist rat race. | 21:25 | |
I remember a student who this past fall said to me, | 21:30 | |
my old man gave his life for GM. | 21:33 | |
He sacrificed his health, he sacrificed his marriage, | 21:38 | |
his happiness, and what good did it do | 21:42 | |
when GM laid him off? | 21:47 | |
Or do you think that maybe these are the words | 21:54 | |
of an embittered, resentful older person, | 21:56 | |
cast aside by the family, | 22:01 | |
sitting alone in an apartment | 22:04 | |
where the telephone never rings. | 22:06 | |
Looking back upon a life and saying, | 22:11 | |
well, now what good does the worker have from his toil? | 22:13 | |
It's depressing. | 22:20 | |
I have seen the busyness that God has given us | 22:24 | |
to be busy with. | 22:27 | |
He has made everything suitable for its time. | 22:30 | |
Moreover, He has put a sense of past and future | 22:33 | |
into their minds | 22:36 | |
and yet they cannot find out what God has done. | 22:39 | |
See, the writer is not just simply talking about | 22:47 | |
how time passes, about how the seasons roll along | 22:50 | |
one after another, boringly trudging | 22:54 | |
each season followed by another. | 22:58 | |
A time for this, a time for that. | 23:01 | |
No, the writer is saying that there is | 23:05 | |
not just a time but there is a right time | 23:08 | |
for every matter under heaven. | 23:12 | |
There's a right time to speak. | 23:15 | |
There's a right time to keep silent. | 23:19 | |
There's a right time. | 23:21 | |
One of Aesop's fables says | 23:26 | |
it is wisdom to do the right thing | 23:29 | |
at the right time. | 23:33 | |
The philosophers, particularly the Stoics | 23:39 | |
made much of this, | 23:43 | |
that there is a right time and a wrong time for everything | 23:45 | |
and much of philosophy devoted itself | 23:50 | |
to the discernment of the right time. | 23:53 | |
I mean, you think about it. | 23:58 | |
Isn't that really what education is all about? | 23:59 | |
Whether you're a philosophy major or not. | 24:03 | |
Learning, growing, training in one's ability | 24:05 | |
to know the right time. | 24:10 | |
'Cause everything, if you think about it, | 24:14 | |
everything is a matter of proper timing. | 24:16 | |
I go to seek advice of a stockbroker, | 24:22 | |
what kind of advice am I seeking? | 24:25 | |
Is this a time to buy | 24:27 | |
or is this a time to sell? | 24:30 | |
Recently a doctor told me that timing is everything | 24:36 | |
in a proper diagnosis. | 24:40 | |
If a patient comes to a doctor too soon, | 24:43 | |
the complaints are vague, unspecific, | 24:47 | |
hard to pinpoint, tough to diagnosis. | 24:50 | |
Alas, if the patient waits too long to come to the doctor, | 24:54 | |
the disease has spread too far | 24:58 | |
and therapy is impossible. | 25:00 | |
Mark Twain wrote that | 25:06 | |
the difference between the right word | 25:09 | |
and the almost right word is a difference | 25:12 | |
between lightning and a lightning bug. | 25:15 | |
And when you think about it, | 25:21 | |
the same could be said for timing. | 25:23 | |
The difference between the right time | 25:25 | |
and the almost but unfortunately not right time | 25:29 | |
is a great difference. | 25:33 | |
This past summer I read Garry Wills' book on leaders | 25:38 | |
and after reading that book, I was really impressed | 25:43 | |
that leadership is a matter of the right time. | 25:47 | |
Leadership is not just simply a matter of talented people. | 25:52 | |
Lots of people have great talents. | 25:55 | |
But the great leader has the right talents | 26:00 | |
at the right time. | 26:04 | |
Winston Churchill, for instance, | 26:08 | |
was the right man for England | 26:09 | |
in the time of war | 26:11 | |
but the wrong leader in the time of peace. | 26:14 | |
And so we come to speak of the man of the hour | 26:18 | |
or we talk about an idea whose time has come. | 26:22 | |
There's a time to make peace | 26:28 | |
but as Neville Chamberlain found out, | 26:30 | |
earnestly desiring to make peace | 26:33 | |
in a time where Hitler roamed, | 26:35 | |
there is a time to make war. | 26:39 | |
Chamberlain was the right man | 26:42 | |
at the wrong time. | 26:46 | |
Shakespeare again. | 26:50 | |
There comes a tide in the affairs of men | 26:53 | |
which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. | 26:55 | |
Omitted, all the voyage of their life | 26:59 | |
is bound in shallows and in miseries. | 27:03 | |
In all things, whether it be birth or death | 27:08 | |
or politics, love, war, economics, planting, harvesting, | 27:10 | |
there is a right time. | 27:15 | |
And so naturally the philosophers | 27:20 | |
sought to cultivate those sensibilities | 27:22 | |
whereby people would learn, | 27:24 | |
whereby they might know the right time. | 27:28 | |
Aristotle advises moderation | 27:33 | |
is a key to knowing when is the right time to act, | 27:37 | |
when is the right time to be silent. | 27:42 | |
Today we build elaborate computer models. | 27:45 | |
We erect an institute of public policy. | 27:50 | |
We hire economists to advise us. | 27:53 | |
We consult astrologers. | 27:56 | |
A whole pseudoscience has arisen. | 27:59 | |
Futurism, to predict and to prognosticate, | 28:02 | |
to know the right time. | 28:07 | |
And Ecclesiastes says | 28:15 | |
that all of that is a lie. | 28:18 | |
Vanity of vanities. | 28:23 | |
Ecclesiastes, while agreeing | 28:28 | |
there is a right time for everything, believes | 28:31 | |
only God knows it. | 28:37 | |
Only God knows when the right time is. | 28:41 | |
How do you know when it is the right time? | 28:48 | |
Only God knows, says Ecclesiastes. | 28:50 | |
God is God and we are not. | 28:56 | |
Now we normally think of God's distance from us | 29:00 | |
in terms of knowledge or power. | 29:03 | |
God is omniscient or God is omnipotent and we're not. | 29:06 | |
But today, New Year's, | 29:11 | |
Ecclesiastes bids us to think of the difference, | 29:15 | |
the distance between us and God | 29:19 | |
as a matter of knowing the time. | 29:21 | |
As a teacher, | 29:30 | |
I've learned the hard way that there is a kind of | 29:32 | |
teachable moment in teaching. | 29:36 | |
That sacred moment | 29:40 | |
when the listener becomes a learner | 29:43 | |
and the eyes light up. | 29:49 | |
You can see in the classroom, | 29:50 | |
you can see the eyes light up. | 29:52 | |
The light bulb going on. | 29:54 | |
You can see it in the eyes | 29:56 | |
and the heartbeat quickens | 29:58 | |
and you know this is the right time. | 30:01 | |
Alas, the way I figured, | 30:08 | |
about 80%, all right, 85% of what I teach | 30:09 | |
is the right information | 30:14 | |
but it's at the wrong time. | 30:17 | |
Oh, to be granted in the classroom | 30:21 | |
the wisdom to know the right time | 30:23 | |
when the student is at last receptive | 30:26 | |
and eager to learn that which I am longing to teach. | 30:29 | |
But I'll tell you this, after two decades of teaching, | 30:38 | |
I know as little how to predict or how to prepare | 30:40 | |
that time as I did when I first slithered into the classroom | 30:44 | |
as a freshman. | 30:47 | |
Don't you think that the, maybe the older you get, | 30:52 | |
those of you who've gotten older, | 30:54 | |
don't you think | 30:55 | |
that the older you get, the more you have to admit | 30:58 | |
how often it has been in life | 31:02 | |
that you have done something right | 31:04 | |
but you did it at the wrong time? | 31:06 | |
Either one pushed one children's too far, too soon | 31:09 | |
or either one missed a golden opportunity | 31:14 | |
or one jumped forward prematurely | 31:17 | |
when one should have stood still. | 31:19 | |
It would be wisdom, great wisdom | 31:23 | |
to know the right time. | 31:25 | |
But Ecclesiastes says, forget it. | 31:29 | |
You can't. | 31:32 | |
You're not God. | 31:35 | |
There are just way too many things out of your control. | 31:38 | |
I think these words in Ecclesiastes, | 31:46 | |
I think they were written by somebody over 65, | 31:51 | |
what do you think? | 31:54 | |
At last year's baccalaureate, | 31:59 | |
I confessed to the graduates | 32:01 | |
my own ineptitude at discerning the right time. | 32:04 | |
A few years ago, I was giving a series of lectures | 32:09 | |
in West Germany and I encountered this Duke sophomore | 32:11 | |
of my acquaintance | 32:15 | |
who was spending the year studying | 32:17 | |
and running about in Germany. | 32:19 | |
And we got to talking about the situation | 32:22 | |
then in East Germany. | 32:24 | |
And he said to me, | 32:28 | |
I was talking with this girl | 32:29 | |
that I met in a bar in Leipzig | 32:31 | |
who told me that she expects East Germany | 32:33 | |
to fall within the next few weeks. | 32:36 | |
What, I asked in astonishment. | 32:40 | |
Well, let me tell you something, kid. | 32:43 | |
I have been meeting with some of the most | 32:45 | |
distinguished professors in two | 32:46 | |
of the best universities in Germany | 32:48 | |
and I can tell you that they tell me | 32:51 | |
that nothing is going to change here in Germany | 32:53 | |
at least through this decade. | 32:56 | |
Well, this girl said that she knows some people | 33:00 | |
over in Leipzig that are. | 33:02 | |
I said, look, I hope that by your junior year | 33:04 | |
you will be able to get more accurate information | 33:08 | |
than that to be derived from random people in bars. | 33:11 | |
(congregation laughing) | 33:16 | |
Two weeks later, I was home, got home, end of the day, | 33:18 | |
flipped on the TV, November 7th, Berlin Wall was down. | 33:21 | |
It would be wisdom | 33:30 | |
always to know the right time | 33:33 | |
but Ecclesiastes says there is an even greater wisdom | 33:39 | |
and that wisdom is to face the facts, | 33:46 | |
to accept our finite, limited creaturely status. | 33:50 | |
There is way too much outside our ability to control | 33:56 | |
and therefore to predict. | 34:01 | |
Time, the right time, | 34:05 | |
is in God's hands. | 34:09 | |
It's not in our hands. | 34:11 | |
I think that's why so many of the New Testament writers | 34:15 | |
enjoy speaking about the right time. | 34:19 | |
Romans 5:6, for while we were still weak, | 34:23 | |
at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. | 34:29 | |
Nobody at the crucifixion thought it was the right time. | 34:36 | |
Paul speaks in Galatians 4 | 34:41 | |
of the fullness of time, the pregnancy of time. | 34:44 | |
When the right time had come, Paul says, | 34:50 | |
God sent His Son. | 34:53 | |
These writers are saying, | 34:57 | |
you see that Jesus came at the right time, | 34:58 | |
time which only God knew. | 35:02 | |
In graciousness, God somehow makes our fumbling, | 35:07 | |
inept, unknowing time | 35:10 | |
about 80% of which, as I said, is the right, | 35:14 | |
is the wrong time. | 35:16 | |
God makes this into His time. | 35:20 | |
There are just certain, wonderful gifted moments | 35:24 | |
when God somehow catches up our untimely actions | 35:29 | |
into the right time. | 35:35 | |
And our fumbling, staggering ineptitude | 35:39 | |
becomes somehow woven | 35:42 | |
into the purposes of God. | 35:45 | |
Christmas is such a time. | 35:50 | |
It was the right time. | 35:54 | |
Course they didn't know it. | 35:57 | |
Mary and Joseph, as they went about | 35:59 | |
paying taxes, visiting relatives, | 36:02 | |
getting engaged, having babies, | 36:04 | |
receiving visitors from the East, | 36:06 | |
they didn't know it was the right time. | 36:09 | |
God knew. | 36:13 | |
In the story of the first nativity | 36:18 | |
is a bunch of ordinary people stumbling around, | 36:19 | |
doing what they think they're supposed to do | 36:21 | |
and somehow God just reaches in and makes it right. | 36:23 | |
As a pastor, when a young couple comes to me | 36:30 | |
thinking about marriage, that's usually what they say. | 36:33 | |
They'll say, we're waiting to get married | 36:37 | |
until we can be sure it's the right time. | 36:40 | |
And I usually say, | 36:45 | |
after years of pastoral experience, forget it. | 36:47 | |
It's always the wrong time to get married. | 36:52 | |
You never have enough money to pay for it | 36:56 | |
or security or maturity or balance or. | 36:58 | |
So I find it best just to go ahead and join hands, | 37:03 | |
close your eyes and take the plunge off the cliff. | 37:05 | |
Poor Duke things. | 37:11 | |
Many of them have so planned and programmed | 37:14 | |
their lives up to this point | 37:16 | |
that they expect all life to be a series | 37:17 | |
of the right actions and the right places | 37:20 | |
at the right time. | 37:24 | |
But even if they scored 1350 on the SAT, | 37:27 | |
even though they know a lot about nuclear physics, | 37:32 | |
they cannot know the right time. | 37:35 | |
But I bet there are many here today who can testify | 37:41 | |
if we had the time. | 37:44 | |
Many who got married at the wrong time | 37:47 | |
can today testify that in God's great grace | 37:50 | |
their bad timing was transformed | 37:56 | |
into God's right time. | 37:59 | |
And I think that's why Ecclesiastes says, | 38:03 | |
look, there's nothing better than to go ahead, | 38:05 | |
have something to drink, have something to eat, | 38:08 | |
take pleasure in today. | 38:10 | |
Go on about your life, | 38:14 | |
eating, drinking, taking pleasure in the time that you have. | 38:16 | |
And one day you look back and wonder of wonders, | 38:22 | |
it was really the right time. | 38:29 | |
The truth I have tried to tell this New Year's Day | 38:37 | |
is not one which modern people want to hear. | 38:41 | |
That is, you and I are not gods unto ourselves. | 38:50 | |
We cannot know the right time. | 38:57 | |
And yet here is the good news. | 39:02 | |
Wherever your life may take you | 39:06 | |
in the coming 1995, | 39:08 | |
the seasons of your life are held | 39:13 | |
in God's hand | 39:17 | |
and by God's grace, | 39:21 | |
all shall be well. | 39:24 | |
(instrumental band music) | 39:36 | |
♪ Our God, our help in ages past ♪ | 40:05 | |
♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ | 40:12 | |
♪ Our shelter from the stormy blast ♪ | 40:19 | |
♪ And our eternal home ♪ | 40:26 | |
♪ Under the shadow of Your throne ♪ | 40:35 | |
♪ Still may we dwell secure ♪ | 40:42 | |
♪ Sufficient is Thine arm alone ♪ | 40:50 | |
♪ And our defense is sure ♪ | 40:57 | |
♪ Before the hills in order stood ♪ | 41:05 | |
♪ Or earth received her frame ♪ | 41:12 | |
♪ From everlasting Thou are God ♪ | 41:19 | |
♪ To endless years the same ♪ | 41:26 | |
♪ A thousand ages in Thy sight ♪ | 41:34 | |
♪ Are like an evening gone ♪ | 41:41 | |
♪ Short as the watch that ends the night ♪ | 41:49 | |
♪ Before the rising sun ♪ | 41:56 | |
♪ Time, like an ever rolling stream ♪ | 42:06 | |
♪ Bears all who breathe away ♪ | 42:13 | |
♪ They fly forgotten, as a dream ♪ | 42:20 | |
♪ Dies at the opening day ♪ | 42:27 | |
♪ O God, our help in ages past ♪ | 42:36 | |
♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ | 42:44 | |
♪ Be Thou our guide while life shall last ♪ | 42:51 | |
♪ And our eternal home ♪ | 43:00 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 43:14 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 43:16 |
- | Let us pray. | 43:18 |
Lord God, You have ordered the times and the seasons. | 43:27 | |
Help us to discern the season rightly. | 43:33 | |
We lift up to You our prayers of intercession | 43:36 | |
for all Your people. | 43:40 | |
For those who welcome new births | 43:43 | |
and for those who face the time of death, | 43:47 | |
grant them trust in You, | 43:50 | |
the Author of life. | 43:53 | |
Whether we live or die, we are Yours. | 43:55 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 43:58 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 44:00 |
- | For those who plant new seeds | 44:02 |
and for those who will reap the harvest, | 44:04 | |
grant them faith in You, | 44:08 | |
the One who gives growth without our knowing how. | 44:10 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 44:15 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 44:17 |
- | For those who feel constrained to kill | 44:20 |
and for those who practice the healing art, | 44:24 | |
grant them an abiding awe for the gift of life | 44:28 | |
that You have entrusted to us. | 44:31 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 44:34 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 44:35 |
- | For those who tear down the work of the past | 44:37 |
and for those who build anew, | 44:40 | |
direct the work of their hands | 44:43 | |
for You are the master architect and builder | 44:46 | |
without whom all our building is in vain. | 44:50 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 44:54 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 44:55 |
- | For those who weep and for those who laugh, | 44:57 |
for those who mourn and for those who dance, | 45:02 | |
grant them the comfort promised by our Lord Jesus | 45:06 | |
and the startling joy that anticipates | 45:10 | |
His coming kingdom in which even dry bones will dance. | 45:13 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 45:19 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 45:21 |
- | For those who embrace | 45:24 |
and are joined in marriage, | 45:27 | |
and for those who refrain from embracing, | 45:30 | |
grant that our embracing may reflect | 45:33 | |
the love with which Christ has embraced us | 45:36 | |
and also that our abstinence | 45:40 | |
may empower our service of Your kingdom. | 45:42 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 45:46 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 45:48 |
- | For those who treasure up the past | 45:50 |
and for who cast it all away | 45:52 | |
in order to follow Your call, | 45:56 | |
grant them discernment to know what things | 45:59 | |
You would have us preserve | 46:01 | |
and what things hinder us | 46:04 | |
from following You. | 46:06 | |
Lord, in Your mercy | 46:08 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 46:11 |
- | For those who keep silence | 46:12 |
and for those who speak, | 46:14 | |
grant them wisdom to know when to listen, | 46:16 | |
when to fall hush in an unstilled world | 46:19 | |
and how at last to speak truly of You, | 46:24 | |
for You are the word through whom | 46:28 | |
all creation has come into being. | 46:30 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 46:34 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 46:36 |
- | For those who embody Your love in the world | 46:37 |
and for those who hate evil, | 46:40 | |
grant them the purity of heart | 46:43 | |
to recognize Your enemies | 46:46 | |
and the grace to overcome evil | 46:49 | |
with the surpassing love of Christ. | 46:52 | |
Lord, in Your mercy | 46:56 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 46:58 |
- | For those who suffer the terrors of war | 47:00 |
and for those who seek to make peace, | 47:03 | |
may it not be too late. | 47:07 | |
Grant them respite from their suffering and success | 47:10 | |
in their ministries of reconciliation | 47:13 | |
for You have already made peace | 47:16 | |
through the blood of the cross, | 47:19 | |
putting our enmities at an end. | 47:21 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 47:24 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 47:26 |
- | Thus, Lord, at the beginning of this new year, | 47:29 |
we turn to You in penitence and hope, | 47:32 | |
continuing to trust in You. | 47:36 | |
We look for the promised consolation of the new Jerusalem | 47:39 | |
in which mourning and crying and pain | 47:44 | |
will be no more | 47:47 | |
and You will wipe away every tear from our eyes. | 47:49 | |
Lord, in Your mercy, | 47:53 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 47:55 |
- | We pray all these things trusting in the mercies | 47:58 |
of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 48:01 | |
Let us now offer to God our tithes and offerings. | 48:07 | |
(instrumental band music) | 48:22 | |
(organ music) | 52:17 | |
♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 52:41 | |
♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ | 52:47 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 52:54 | |
♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 53:02 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 53:09 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 53:16 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 53:22 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 53:29 | |
- | Almighty God, You are the One | 53:43 |
who holds in the palm of Your hand | 53:46 | |
all the times of our lives. | 53:49 | |
Therefore as an old year ends and a new one begins, | 53:52 | |
it is meet and right | 53:56 | |
that we should gather around Your altar | 53:57 | |
to seek Your grace | 54:01 | |
in the coming year, | 54:04 | |
to reach out for Your guidance | 54:06 | |
in all that we do and say. | 54:08 | |
And now to offer ourselves | 54:11 | |
as gifts to You. | 54:13 | |
You have blessed us with so much | 54:16 | |
during the past year | 54:19 | |
and we know that You shall bless us again. | 54:22 | |
Therefore out of our gratitude for Your grace | 54:25 | |
we offer these our gifts | 54:30 | |
in praise and thanksgiving of all the gifts | 54:32 | |
that You offer to us, | 54:35 | |
particularly the gift of Your dear Son, | 54:37 | |
our Savior, Jesus Christ. | 54:39 | |
Keep us, we pray, in the coming year. | 54:43 | |
For all that has been, we give thanks. | 54:47 | |
For all that shall be, we give thanks, | 54:51 | |
praying as we have been taught, | 54:55 | |
All | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 54:57 |
hallowed be Thy name, | 55:00 | |
Thy kingdom come, | 55:02 | |
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 55:04 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 55:08 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 55:11 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 55:14 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 55:17 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 55:20 | |
For Thine is the kingdom | 55:22 | |
and the power, and the glory forever, amen. | 55:24 | |
(organ music) | 55:30 | |
♪ Joy to the world, the Lord is come ♪ | 56:00 | |
♪ Let earth receive her King ♪ | 56:06 | |
♪ Let every heart prepare Him room ♪ | 56:11 | |
♪ And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing ♪ | 56:17 | |
♪ And heaven, and heaven and nature sing ♪ | 56:23 | |
♪ Joy to the world, the Savior reigns ♪ | 56:32 | |
♪ Let men their songs employ ♪ | 56:37 | |
♪ While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains ♪ | 56:42 | |
♪ Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy ♪ | 56:48 | |
♪ Repeat, repeat the sounding joy ♪ | 56:53 | |
♪ No more let sins and sorrows grow ♪ | 57:01 | |
♪ Nor thorns infest the ground ♪ | 57:06 | |
♪ He comes to make His blessings flow ♪ | 57:11 | |
♪ Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found ♪ | 57:17 | |
♪ Far as, far as the curse is found ♪ | 57:23 | |
♪ He rules the world with truth and grace ♪ | 57:31 | |
♪ And makes the nations prove ♪ | 57:37 | |
♪ The glories of His righteousness ♪ | 57:42 | |
♪ And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love ♪ | 57:48 | |
♪ And wonders, wonders of His love ♪ | 57:54 | |
- | May the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, | 58:06 |
the love of God | 58:09 | |
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 58:10 | |
be with you now and always, amen. | 58:12 | |
(organ music) | 58:18 |