Harold C. Warlick, Jr. - "Fresh Every Day" (July 2, 1995)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(lively organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | Good morning, we'd like to welcome you to Duke Chapel. | 3:13 |
Our guest preacher is the Reverend, Dr. Harold C. Warlick. | 3:17 | |
Dr. Warlick serves as minister to the university | 3:20 | |
as well as Professor of Religion | 3:24 | |
and Chairman of the Department of Religion and Philosophy | 3:26 | |
at High Point University. | 3:30 | |
He has been a regular guest in our pulpit here, | 3:32 | |
and we're glad to welcome | 3:35 | |
he and his wife, Diane, this morning. | 3:36 | |
This is Fourth of July weekend. | 3:39 | |
As we celebrate the birth of our nation, | 3:42 | |
let us be mindful of the gift of freedom | 3:45 | |
that we have received and the sacrifices | 3:47 | |
that have been made to secure it and to maintain it. | 3:51 | |
May each of us exercise our freedom responsibly, | 3:54 | |
with justice and mercy. | 3:58 | |
Let us continue our worship with a greeting, please stand. | 4:00 | |
Come, let us worship almighty God. | 4:09 | |
(muffled congregation response) | 4:13 | |
Come, let us honor Christ Jesus. | 4:18 | |
Congregation | Let us honor Christ in our hearts, | 4:23 |
and our minds and our spirits. | 4:25 | |
- | Come, let us be filled with the spirit of the living God. | 4:28 |
(muffled congregation response) | 4:33 | |
(energetic organ music) | 4:38 | |
(muffled congregation singing) | 5:02 | |
(muffled congregation singing) | 5:50 | |
(muffled congregation singing) | 6:51 | |
(lively organ music) | 7:52 | |
(muffled congregation singing) | 8:14 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:42 |
Oh God, source of all beauty and goodness, | 8:45 | |
your grace comes fresh every day. | 8:50 | |
In each new day, you give us light. | 8:54 | |
We praise you for your never failing love | 8:57 | |
that satisfies our needs and shows us the way to follow. | 9:00 | |
We rejoice in your constant care, | 9:06 | |
for you are faithful in love for all people, | 9:10 | |
offering your salvation through Jesus Christ. | 9:13 | |
Help us so to follow that our lives may reflect his love | 9:17 | |
and return to you all praise and glory, | 9:22 | |
by all that we say and do. | 9:26 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ our lord, Amen. | 9:28 | |
You may be seated. | 9:33 | |
- | Please join me in the Prayer for Illumination. | 9:47 |
- | [Lector & Congregation] Open our hearts and minds, oh God. | 9:52 |
By the power of your holy spirit, so that as the word | 9:55 | |
is read and proclaimed, we may hear your message | 9:59 | |
with joy this day, Amen. | 10:03 | |
- | The first reading is from the Second Book of Kings, | 10:10 |
chapter two, verses one and two and six to 14. | 10:14 | |
Now when the lord was about to take Elijah | 10:22 | |
up to heaven by a whirlwind, | 10:24 | |
Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. | 10:27 | |
Elijah said to Elisha, | 10:31 | |
"Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." | 10:34 | |
But Elisha said, "As the Lord lives," | 10:39 | |
"and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." | 10:43 | |
So they went down to Bethel. | 10:48 | |
Then Elijah said to him, "stay here, for the Lord" | 10:51 | |
"has sent me to the Jordan." | 10:55 | |
But he said, "as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live," | 10:58 | |
"I will not leave you." | 11:03 | |
So the two of them went on. | 11:06 | |
50 men of the company of prophets also went | 11:09 | |
and stood at some distance from them, | 11:12 | |
as both were standing by the Jordan. | 11:14 | |
Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up | 11:18 | |
and struck the water. | 11:21 | |
The water was parted to the one side and to the other, | 11:24 | |
until the two of them crossed on dry ground. | 11:28 | |
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, | 11:32 | |
"Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you." | 11:36 | |
Elisha said, "please let me inherit a double share" | 11:42 | |
"of your spirit." | 11:46 | |
He responded, "you have asked a hard thing," | 11:48 | |
"yet if you see me as I am being taken from you," | 11:53 | |
"it will be granted you." | 11:57 | |
"If not, it will not." | 11:59 | |
As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire | 12:03 | |
and horses of fire separated the two of them, | 12:07 | |
and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. | 12:10 | |
Elisha kept watching and crying out, | 12:14 | |
"Father, Father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" | 12:17 | |
But when he could no longer see him, | 12:21 | |
he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. | 12:24 | |
He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him | 12:29 | |
and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. | 12:32 | |
He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him | 12:36 | |
and struck the water saying, | 12:39 | |
"where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" | 12:41 | |
When he had struck the water, the water was parted | 12:45 | |
to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. | 12:48 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 12:55 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 12:57 |
- | The psalter appointed for this morning is psalm 77, | 13:07 |
verses one to two and 11 to 20 found on page 798 | 13:10 | |
of your hymnal. | 13:14 | |
Please rise and sing the psalm and the Gloria responsively. | 13:15 | |
(soft organ music) | 13:21 | |
♪ I cried out to God, my love that God may give me. ♪ | 13:30 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 13:39 | |
♪ I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord ♪ | 13:56 | |
♪ I will remember your wonders of old ♪ | 14:01 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 14:06 | |
♪ Your way, oh God, is holy ♪ | 14:18 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 14:22 | |
♪ You are the God who works wonders ♪ | 14:28 | |
♪ You manifested your might among the peoples ♪ | 14:33 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 14:38 | |
♪ When the water saw you, oh God ♪ | 14:50 | |
♪ When the water saw you, they were afraid ♪ | 14:54 | |
♪ The very deeps trembled ♪ | 15:00 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 15:03 | |
♪ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind ♪ | 15:19 | |
♪ Your lightning's illumined the world ♪ | 15:24 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 15:27 | |
♪ Your way was through the sea, ♪ | 15:32 | |
♪ Your path through the great waters ♪ | 15:35 | |
♪ Yet your footprints were unseen ♪ | 15:39 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 15:42 | |
♪ Oh glory be to you, creator ♪ | 15:51 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪ | 15:54 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 15:58 | |
♪ As it was a time began ♪ | 16:05 | |
(muffled choir and congregation singing) | 16:10 | |
You may be seated. | 16:20 | |
- | The second reading is from Galatians, | 16:35 |
chapter one, verses 13 - 25. | 16:39 | |
For freedom, Christ has set us free. | 16:44 | |
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again | 16:48 | |
to a yolk of slavery, for you were called to freedom, | 16:51 | |
brothers and sisters. | 16:56 | |
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity | 16:58 | |
for self-indulgence, but through love, | 17:01 | |
become slaves to one another. | 17:04 | |
For the law is summed up in one commandment. | 17:07 | |
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. | 17:11 | |
If, however, you bite and devour one another, | 17:14 | |
take care that you are not consumed by one another. | 17:18 | |
Live by the spirit, I say, and do not gratify | 17:22 | |
the desires of the flesh. | 17:26 | |
For what the flesh desires is opposed to the spirit, | 17:29 | |
and what the spirit desires is opposed to the flesh. | 17:33 | |
For these are opposed to each other | 17:37 | |
to prevent you from doing what you want. | 17:40 | |
But if you are led by the spirit, | 17:43 | |
you are not subject to the law. | 17:45 | |
Now the works of the flesh are obvious. | 17:49 | |
Fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, | 17:51 | |
sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, | 17:56 | |
dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, | 18:01 | |
and things like these. | 18:05 | |
I am warning you as I warned you before. | 18:07 | |
Those who do such things | 18:10 | |
will not inherit the kingdom of God. | 18:11 | |
By contrast, the fruits of the spirit are love, | 18:15 | |
joy, peace, patience, kindness, | 18:19 | |
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. | 18:24 | |
There is no law against such things. | 18:31 | |
And those who belong to Christ Jesus | 18:35 | |
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. | 18:38 | |
If we live by the spirit, | 18:43 | |
let us also be guided by the spirit. | 18:45 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 18:49 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 18:51 |
(uplifting organ music) | 19:09 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 19:29 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 20:43 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 22:03 | |
- | The Gospel reading is from Luke, chapter nine, | 23:39 |
beginning at verse 57. | 23:43 | |
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, | 23:48 | |
"I will follow you wherever you go." | 23:52 | |
And Jesus said to him, | 23:55 | |
"foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests." | 23:57 | |
"But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." | 24:02 | |
To another he said, "follow me," but he said, | 24:07 | |
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." | 24:13 | |
But Jesus said to him, | 24:18 | |
"Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you," | 24:20 | |
"go and proclaim the kingdom of God." | 24:24 | |
Another said, "I will follow you, Lord," | 24:28 | |
"but let me first say farewell to those at my home." | 24:33 | |
Jesus said to him, "no one who puts their hand to the plow | 24:37 | |
and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." | 24:42 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 24:48 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 24:50 |
- | We're delighted that you have chosen to spend this weekend | 25:02 |
preceding our celebration of the Fourth here in worship. | 25:07 | |
One of the most improbable and difficult things in life, | 25:15 | |
is the effort to take something that was so meaningful, | 25:20 | |
so alive, so vital to one generation, | 25:25 | |
preserve it, and give it to another generation. | 25:30 | |
As we prepare to explode the fireworks, | 25:35 | |
to listen to the well-crafted patriotic speeches, | 25:39 | |
for the well-rehearsed patriotic music, | 25:43 | |
even as we prepare to simply lie on the couch, | 25:48 | |
as I am prone to do, and watch a ball game, | 25:52 | |
how can we make the experience of freedom ours today? | 25:57 | |
Author William Gibson describes an effort | 26:06 | |
that happened in his own life. | 26:11 | |
His mother had died, and if you've ever lost your mother, | 26:14 | |
you know what a void is in your life. | 26:19 | |
Gibson said that he was worried about his faith. | 26:24 | |
He felt that his mother had been a strong woman, | 26:29 | |
that she possessed a firmer belief in God than he possessed, | 26:34 | |
and he wanted to recapture his mother's faith. | 26:39 | |
So he went over to her home, | 26:44 | |
he picked up her gold-rimmed spectacles, | 26:47 | |
he took off the counter her faded dog-eared prayerbook. | 26:52 | |
Then he went over to what had been | 26:58 | |
his mother's favorite chair. | 27:00 | |
He sat in the chair and very gently and carefully | 27:04 | |
began to open the pages of her prayerbook. | 27:09 | |
He tried to hear the words about God | 27:13 | |
that she must've heard. | 27:17 | |
He tried to then put on her gold-rimmed spectacles | 27:20 | |
and look at the words and see if he could see | 27:25 | |
the same kind of God that his mother must have seen. | 27:31 | |
He said it did not work. | 27:36 | |
He could not hear the words his mother had heard. | 27:39 | |
He could not see the God his mother had seen. | 27:43 | |
It's very difficult to stoke the fires | 27:49 | |
of another generation's experience. | 27:52 | |
Every generation has to reclaim the beliefs for themselves. | 27:56 | |
Every generation has to renew daily the things | 28:03 | |
that are preserved and packaged and handed to it. | 28:07 | |
If you go to a bookstore and you look | 28:11 | |
in the religion section, | 28:14 | |
you will certainly become aware of one thing. | 28:17 | |
Angels are making a big comeback in the media. | 28:20 | |
I went in Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million in Tennessee | 28:26 | |
and half the religion section was devoted to angels. | 28:29 | |
Angels are big now. | 28:33 | |
But if you look at the scriptures, | 28:37 | |
you'll be impressed with one thing. | 28:39 | |
The angels' voices are always urgent. | 28:43 | |
The Bible reports that angels are always urgent | 28:47 | |
when they talk to human beings. | 28:50 | |
It's like a clear cry being given | 28:53 | |
to a sleepyhead to wake up. | 28:56 | |
They always say get going, | 28:59 | |
don't look at the past, do it now. | 29:01 | |
Joseph has a dream. | 29:05 | |
Herod is slaughtering all of these innocent babies. | 29:07 | |
And an angel comes in the dream and says, | 29:11 | |
Joseph get going, don't stop, move out. | 29:13 | |
Get going now. | 29:18 | |
Philip in the Book of Acts is contemplating his faith. | 29:20 | |
An angel comes to him and says, Philip, | 29:24 | |
stop, get up, go quickly. | 29:27 | |
An angel speaks to Elijah. | 29:32 | |
Elijah is depressed and despondent and wanting to goof off | 29:34 | |
and just lie there and wait for death. | 29:38 | |
And the angel says, Elijah, get up, get something to eat, | 29:41 | |
start moving, don't look back. | 29:45 | |
An angel comes to Peter in prison, | 29:48 | |
and Peter is simply sitting on the floor, | 29:51 | |
waiting to be rescued. | 29:53 | |
And the angel says, Peter, get up, | 29:56 | |
strap your sandals, start moving. | 29:57 | |
The angels always say the same thing. | 30:01 | |
Do it now. | 30:04 | |
There's an urgency in the voice of Jesus | 30:06 | |
in the lectionary gospel. | 30:10 | |
Follow me, he says. | 30:12 | |
This is one of the most misunderstood gospel texts | 30:16 | |
in all of scripture. | 30:21 | |
One man wants to go and bury his father. | 30:24 | |
Jesus says, let the dead bury the dead. | 30:28 | |
You come and follow me, it's urgent. | 30:31 | |
Another person comes to Jesus and says, | 30:35 | |
Jesus I'll follow you, but let me stop and go home, | 30:37 | |
say goodbye to the family, pay all the bills, | 30:41 | |
get the household in order, and then I'll follow you. | 30:45 | |
Jesus says, don't put your hand on the plow | 30:49 | |
and look in the rear-view mirror. | 30:51 | |
Get going. | 30:54 | |
The Bible has a persistent theme. | 30:56 | |
All of the great spiritual values | 30:59 | |
have to be urgently gathered fresh. | 31:01 | |
They can't be embalmed, preserved, passed on | 31:05 | |
from one generation to the next. | 31:10 | |
We can't pickle Christ and give him to our children. | 31:12 | |
We can't slouch looking through the rear-view mirror. | 31:18 | |
When I was growing up in childhood, | 31:24 | |
our family had a very strange group of neighbors. | 31:26 | |
We had a family that lived next door, | 31:32 | |
and I call the young man my age, Pickle Keller. | 31:34 | |
The Kellers were funny people. | 31:39 | |
They were all pickled. | 31:41 | |
They shopped for groceries once every four months. | 31:44 | |
They would purchase half a cow, have it cut up, | 31:49 | |
put it in the freezer, start eating the meat at the top, | 31:53 | |
and eat all the way down to the bottom of the freezer. | 31:56 | |
My mother warned me never to go have lunch | 32:00 | |
at the Kellers' home, because you never knew | 32:02 | |
how old some of that meat was at the bottom of the freezer. | 32:06 | |
In fact, it looked almost like this stole. | 32:11 | |
The Kellers never bought anything fresh. | 32:16 | |
They went to a warehouse and they bought not a box, | 32:20 | |
not a case, but a barrel of cereal, and they would eat | 32:25 | |
all the way down to the bottom of the barrel | 32:30 | |
until it tasted like nachos down there at the bottom, | 32:32 | |
and then they would go out and buy another barrel. | 32:35 | |
Mrs. Keller canned fruits and vegetables. | 32:39 | |
She would put them on a shelf once a year. | 32:42 | |
They would eat out of the jars | 32:44 | |
literally until the next year came | 32:46 | |
and she could can more fruit and vegetables. | 32:49 | |
When it came to values and to living, | 32:52 | |
the Kellers lived a pickled lifestyle. | 32:55 | |
Father Keller was a patriot. | 32:59 | |
Everyone knew he was a patriot for two reasons. | 33:01 | |
He always told you he was a patriot, and secondly | 33:05 | |
he wore a probably three sizes too small military uniform | 33:08 | |
in every Memorial Day parade. | 33:14 | |
He'd fought in the big one, World War II, | 33:17 | |
he called it the big one, but he had not voted | 33:20 | |
in a presidential election | 33:23 | |
since he voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt. | 33:25 | |
He never did anything civic in the community. | 33:29 | |
He'd secured his patriotism long ago. | 33:32 | |
He said once you're a patriot, you're always a patriot. | 33:35 | |
The Kellers were pickled in their religion. | 33:40 | |
On Christmas, they came to church | 33:43 | |
every time the doors were open. | 33:46 | |
They came to Sunday School, worship, evening worship, | 33:47 | |
and the Christmas Eve candlelight communion. | 33:52 | |
No one would see them again until Easter, | 33:55 | |
and then they would do the same thing. | 33:58 | |
Finally on the Fourth of July, they would come back again. | 34:01 | |
In some church in America today, | 34:04 | |
the descendants of the Keller family are worshiping. | 34:06 | |
They will not be back until Thanksgiving. | 34:09 | |
Got enough religion when I was a boy to last me a lifetime, | 34:15 | |
father Keller said. | 34:19 | |
They subscribed to the adage that if you train them right | 34:22 | |
when they're little, they'll grow in the direction | 34:25 | |
in which they've been trained. | 34:28 | |
Well if ever a group of people should understand | 34:31 | |
the urgency of daily renewal, it should be those of us | 34:34 | |
who call ourselves inheritors | 34:38 | |
of the Judeo-Christian scripture, | 34:40 | |
and Methodism in particular. | 34:43 | |
As a good Anglican, John Wesley subscribed to the three ways | 34:46 | |
to verify religious truth. | 34:51 | |
Scripture, tradition, and reason. | 34:54 | |
But to these three, John Wesley added a fourth, experience. | 34:58 | |
That religion must be validated by experience. | 35:04 | |
You see, the Methodists are the only Protestant group | 35:09 | |
to have been born not in the Reformation | 35:13 | |
but in the Enlightenment. | 35:16 | |
Curiosity about the world, the daily renewal of life, | 35:19 | |
the daily application of the scientific method, | 35:24 | |
a primacy on experience. | 35:28 | |
Those things were born in the Enlightenment. | 35:31 | |
John Wesley's contemporaries were not popes and priests | 35:34 | |
and clerical rebels from the Dark Ages. | 35:39 | |
John Wesley's contemporaries were Isaac Newton, | 35:43 | |
Faraday, Rousseau, and Benjamin Franklin. | 35:46 | |
John Wesley and his friends breathed | 35:51 | |
the fresh renewal of daily life. | 35:54 | |
They wanted a relevant faith, a vital faith, | 35:57 | |
a faith that would be for today. | 36:01 | |
In like manner, the quest for renewal in scripture | 36:04 | |
does not begin with Jesus saying, | 36:07 | |
don't put your hand on the plow and look backward. | 36:09 | |
But it begins with the very formation | 36:12 | |
of the Israelite people in the wilderness. | 36:14 | |
The Book of Exodus contains an amazing story. | 36:17 | |
The people are hungry like many of us get between now | 36:21 | |
and one o'clock, and they're wandering in the wilderness, | 36:24 | |
and they're griping to Moses, | 36:27 | |
we had better food to eat than this in Egypt. | 36:29 | |
Give us bread. | 36:34 | |
Give us something to eat. | 36:36 | |
So Moses prayed to God, and manna appeared | 36:40 | |
on the bushes of the tamarisk plants, | 36:45 | |
and this manna was there every morning. | 36:48 | |
And Moses said, now you've got to renew it every day. | 36:51 | |
Just pick enough for that day, and then go out | 36:55 | |
and get some more the next day. | 36:57 | |
But some people were shrewd. | 37:00 | |
They said, we can save up this stuff. | 37:02 | |
They began to collect it, and when they got up | 37:07 | |
the next morning, they found that what they had tried | 37:11 | |
to protect and preserve and keep for the future | 37:13 | |
had a foul odor and was full of worms. | 37:17 | |
The Bible is telling us that our relationship with God | 37:22 | |
has to be renewed each day, | 37:25 | |
or it begins to become oppressive. | 37:27 | |
Some values cannot be pickled. | 37:31 | |
They cannot be handed on and transformed | 37:34 | |
from one generation to the next. | 37:37 | |
They have to be won every day, | 37:40 | |
or they begin to give off an odor and turn rotten. | 37:42 | |
You can't keep yesterday's sentiment for the future. | 37:47 | |
Look at patriotism. | 37:50 | |
Some people try to gather eloquent sentiments | 37:52 | |
and statements and embalm them and say I'm for America, | 37:55 | |
and wave the flag, and then rest on their laurels. | 38:00 | |
A patriot is someone who is doing something | 38:04 | |
for American civilization right now. | 38:07 | |
A patriot is not someone who has an embalmed notion | 38:10 | |
against the welfare state or against creeping socialism, | 38:14 | |
but hasn't done one thing positive to legislate | 38:19 | |
and help and care and feed America now. | 38:22 | |
We have Duke University and other universities like it | 38:27 | |
not because we just need better doctors and better lawyers | 38:30 | |
and more artists and more professionals and more teachers, | 38:34 | |
but because we need a better civilization | 38:38 | |
and more informed citizens. | 38:41 | |
And just as we no longer gather our civilization fresh | 38:44 | |
each day, we tend to lose it, it spoils. | 38:47 | |
This summer I taught a course entitled, | 38:51 | |
"Perspectives on the Good Life." | 38:54 | |
We just finished it, | 38:56 | |
and there were 17 students in the class. | 38:57 | |
I decided that I would stimulate the class | 39:01 | |
by having an in-class exercise. | 39:03 | |
I brought in a professional auctioneer, | 39:06 | |
gave each student $200,000 in paper money, | 39:09 | |
and decided to auction off values. | 39:15 | |
So we put up on the blackboard 40 items. | 39:21 | |
Things like a new car of your choice, a new home, | 39:25 | |
a happy marriage, freedom, | 39:30 | |
world peace, good health, | 39:33 | |
unlimited tickets to any sporting events in America. | 39:37 | |
And as the auctioneer chanted his sing-song cadence, | 39:44 | |
the bidding was off and running. | 39:49 | |
You could see the students playing it cagey, | 39:51 | |
trying to save some of their money to purchase items | 39:55 | |
on down the line. | 39:58 | |
And I knew when we got halfway through | 40:01 | |
that I had plenty of good sermon material, | 40:04 | |
because believe it or not, unlimited tickets to sporting | 40:07 | |
events in America sold for twice as much as world peace. | 40:11 | |
The auctioneer finally pointed to freedom | 40:18 | |
and was ready to auction freedom off, | 40:22 | |
and when he started to open his mouth, | 40:26 | |
a young woman jumped out of her seat and screamed, | 40:28 | |
"I bid $200,000!" | 40:32 | |
The auctioneer patiently said, | 40:38 | |
"Don't you want to start a little lower?" | 40:40 | |
"No," she declared. | 40:45 | |
"Somebody else might get it and I want it!" | 40:48 | |
"I bid all I've got, $200,000!" | 40:50 | |
She got it. | 40:55 | |
No one else had all their money left. | 40:57 | |
Her name is Gabriella, she's an immigrant from Romania, | 41:01 | |
a previous communist country. | 41:07 | |
After class, as I was leaving the chapel, | 41:11 | |
another student came up to me and said, Dr. Warlick, man, | 41:14 | |
can you believe Gabriella spent her whole wad on freedom? | 41:17 | |
She didn't get anything else. | 41:24 | |
I got good health, a new car of my choice, and a new house. | 41:26 | |
And all she got was freedom, | 41:32 | |
and she could've gotten that cheaper. | 41:35 | |
Why'd she do that? | 41:38 | |
All I could think of to say was her freedom is fresh. | 41:43 | |
And ours has been preserved and embalmed | 41:49 | |
and handed down to us. | 41:54 | |
There's a big difference as to where it fits | 41:57 | |
in your sense of urgency. | 42:00 | |
And like manna, the church has to win its life every day | 42:04 | |
or it will lose it. | 42:07 | |
The spirit of mainline Protestantism has been in trouble | 42:08 | |
in America, not because people don't enjoy | 42:12 | |
being Protestants, but because unless it's renewed each day | 42:15 | |
and with each generation, it begins to grow stiff | 42:20 | |
and inflexible and give off a smell. | 42:23 | |
It matters little how dedicated John Wesley was | 42:27 | |
to his Christ. | 42:31 | |
It matters little how dedicated the charter members | 42:33 | |
of this chapel were to its construction. | 42:37 | |
It matters little how much money James B. Duke, | 42:42 | |
St. Nicotine gave to build a chapel. | 42:46 | |
It does not matter from this perspective how dedicated | 42:51 | |
your parents were to Christ. | 42:56 | |
And frankly it may not matter how dedicated you were | 43:00 | |
when you were converted to Christianity. | 43:04 | |
Religion cannot be embalmed. | 43:08 | |
It cannot be saved up. | 43:11 | |
It cannot be pickled and passed on even in stained glass | 43:13 | |
and Gothic structure. | 43:17 | |
We have to win our faith every day or we lose it. | 43:19 | |
If you don't leave this chapel today, | 43:23 | |
July the 2nd, 1995, with a closer feeling of God | 43:25 | |
than when you came through the doors, | 43:32 | |
then you aren't closer to God, period. | 43:35 | |
Now is when we live. | 43:40 | |
Jesus was right on the mark when he said | 43:43 | |
if you seek to save your life, you lose it. | 43:45 | |
Education has to be gathered fresh or it spoils. | 43:51 | |
Go to college, go to Duke, go to High Point, go to Harvard, | 43:57 | |
go to Yale, pay a fortune, obtain an education. | 44:00 | |
Become a professional, a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, | 44:05 | |
and then after 10 years of confining your reading | 44:11 | |
to the sports pages of the daily newspaper | 44:16 | |
and listening to what the men and women say | 44:19 | |
in the restaurant at the coffee table, | 44:22 | |
see how opinionated, how prejudiced, how chauvinistic, | 44:25 | |
how bitter and narrow you have become. | 44:30 | |
A mind that is not gathered fresh begins to spoil. | 44:34 | |
Some years ago, I had a wonderful seminary education | 44:39 | |
at Harvard University. | 44:42 | |
You don't really care. | 44:43 | |
You don't care what I preached about last Sunday. | 44:45 | |
You want to know when is he going to stop? | 44:49 | |
Can he lift up Christ and stimulate us in Duke Chapel today | 44:52 | |
before we go to lunch? | 44:56 | |
The awareness of freedom, the joy of democracy, | 44:59 | |
the privilege of being able to worship with whom you wish, | 45:03 | |
how you wish, where you wish, and how | 45:07 | |
has to be gathered fresh every time you sit in your pews. | 45:12 | |
All worthwhile values that are truly worthwhile | 45:16 | |
cannot be embalmed, pickled, and brought forward | 45:19 | |
as things of the past. | 45:22 | |
They have to be fresh, | 45:24 | |
so pray a new prayer of thanks for your freedom today. | 45:26 | |
Not the same old one. | 45:31 | |
Regardless of the sorrow, the anxiety, the perspective | 45:33 | |
that you brought to this place of worship, | 45:37 | |
thank God for today's blessings. | 45:39 | |
Go forth grateful for those who came here | 45:43 | |
to worship with you. | 45:45 | |
If you have something nice to say to someone that will build | 45:47 | |
them up and make them feel better, say it now. | 45:51 | |
And lest we become tempted to rest on our pickled prosperity | 45:57 | |
from the past, I'll remind you that we are still | 46:02 | |
a nation under siege. | 46:05 | |
We are still a church under siege. | 46:07 | |
The Cold War's over. | 46:11 | |
We have kept ruthless dictators at bay, | 46:13 | |
but we are still a society under siege. | 46:17 | |
We are still a church under siege. | 46:20 | |
One out of every seven Americans is poor. | 46:23 | |
One out of every four pre-school children | 46:27 | |
comes from a poor family. | 46:31 | |
There are more poor children in New York City | 46:34 | |
than there are citizens | 46:39 | |
in the developing nation of Botswana. | 46:41 | |
There are more poor children in Los Angeles | 46:46 | |
than there are citizens in Botswana. | 46:50 | |
And we worry so much about the world scene, and we should, | 46:55 | |
but there are more poor children in Chicago | 47:01 | |
than there are citizens in Botswana. | 47:06 | |
Every day in our nation's streets, 65 Americans | 47:12 | |
are killed with handguns. | 47:18 | |
That's more people than are killed | 47:21 | |
in five years in Australia, three years in Great Britain, | 47:24 | |
and one year in Canada. | 47:30 | |
We lose more people by handguns each day | 47:34 | |
than are killed in most of the developed nations | 47:37 | |
of the world in years. | 47:40 | |
So we have to pick our justice fresh. | 47:44 | |
We have to create freedom anew. | 47:47 | |
We have to arise and go, to hurry, to do it now. | 47:51 | |
Important things have to be gathered fresh. | 47:58 | |
Do not put your hand to the plow and look behind you. | 48:01 | |
This is not only your time to live. | 48:05 | |
This is your only time to live | 48:11 | |
and to proclaim the kingdom of God. | 48:16 | |
This is not only your time to take up space | 48:20 | |
and to breathe and to live, this is your only time to live | 48:24 | |
and to proclaim the kingdom of God. | 48:31 | |
So be it. | 48:34 | |
(calming organ music) | 48:42 | |
(choir and congregation singing indistinctly) | 49:08 | |
(choir and congregation singing indistinctly) | 50:32 | |
(choir and congregation singing indistinctly) | 51:17 | |
Lector | The Lord be with you. | 51:30 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 51:32 |
Lector | Let us pray. | 51:34 |
You may be seated. | 51:37 | |
Almighty and ever-living God, | 51:48 | |
by your Apostle, you taught us to pray | 51:51 | |
not only for ourselves, but for others, | 51:55 | |
and to give thanks for all of life. | 51:58 | |
We are especially this day for the gift of freedom. | 52:02 | |
For the freedom to make choices about how we will live | 52:07 | |
and whom we will serve. | 52:12 | |
Inspire us and your whole church with a fresh experience | 52:16 | |
of your spirit, of power, unity, and peace. | 52:21 | |
Grant that we may urgently seek to receive your word | 52:28 | |
and to follow you without looking back. | 52:32 | |
Give us a renewal of life daily, | 52:37 | |
that we may remain close to you and live together in love. | 52:40 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 52:47 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 52:49 |
- | Lead all nations in the way of justice and freedom. | 52:52 |
Direct those who govern that they may rule fairly, | 52:57 | |
maintain order, uphold those in need, | 53:01 | |
and defend oppressed people. | 53:06 | |
That this world may claim your rule and know true peace. | 53:09 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 53:14 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 53:17 |
- | Guide the people of this land and of all the nations | 53:19 |
in the ways of justice and good will. | 53:22 | |
Inspire us today to fresh generosity and commitment | 53:26 | |
that we may honor one another and serve the common good. | 53:32 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 53:37 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 53:39 |
- | Give us all a reverence for the Earth as your creation, | 53:41 |
that we may use its resources rightly in the service | 53:45 | |
of others and to your honor and glory, | 53:49 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 53:52 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 53:55 |
- | Give grace to all who proclaim the gospel through word | 53:58 |
and sacrament and deeds of mercy. | 54:01 | |
That by their teaching and example, | 54:05 | |
they may bring others into your fellowship. | 54:07 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 54:11 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 54:14 |
- | Comfort and relieve, oh Lord, all who are in trouble. | 54:16 |
Sorrow, poverty, sickness, | 54:22 | |
grief, or any other need, | 54:27 | |
especially those known to us | 54:32 | |
whom we name before you in silence. | 54:34 | |
Heal them in body, mind, or circumstance. | 54:43 | |
Working in them by your grace, | 54:47 | |
wonders beyond all they may dream or hope. | 54:49 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 54:54 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 54:56 |
- | Hear our prayers, almighty God, | 54:58 |
in the name of Jesus Christ, who prays with us and for us. | 55:02 | |
To him, be praise forever and ever, Amen. | 55:08 | |
The Earth and all it contains belonged to the Lord, | 55:16 | |
the world and those who live in it. | 55:20 | |
With gladness, let us present the offerings | 55:23 | |
of our life and labor to the Lord. | 55:25 | |
(calming organ music) | 55:32 | |
(calming organ music) | 57:07 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 57:38 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 58:55 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 1:00:05 | |
(indistinct singing) | 1:01:56 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 1:02:34 | |
(dramatic organ music) | 1:03:12 | |
(choir and congregation singing indistinctly) | 1:03:43 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 1:03:53 | |
(choir and congregation singing indistinctly) | 1:04:01 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 1:04:12 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 1:04:18 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:04:25 | |
Lector | God of all mercies, we give you humble thanks | 1:04:37 |
for your goodness and loving kindness that is given anew | 1:04:41 | |
every day to us and to all whom you have made. | 1:04:46 | |
We bless you for our creation, for daily preservation, | 1:04:51 | |
and all the blessings of this life, | 1:04:58 | |
especially the gift of freedom. | 1:05:00 | |
Above all we give thanks for your immeasurable love | 1:05:03 | |
and the redemption of the world by our Lord, Jesus Christ. | 1:05:07 | |
For the means of grace and for the hope of glory. | 1:05:11 | |
And we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies | 1:05:16 | |
that with truly thankful hearts, | 1:05:21 | |
we may show forth our praise, | 1:05:23 | |
not only with our lips but in our lives, | 1:05:26 | |
by giving up ourselves to your service, | 1:05:29 | |
and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness | 1:05:33 | |
all our days. | 1:05:37 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you | 1:05:39 | |
and the holy spirit, the honor and glory | 1:05:43 | |
throughout all ages, Amen. | 1:05:46 | |
Let us pray together the Lord's Prayer. | 1:05:51 | |
All | Our father, who art in heaven, | 1:05:54 |
hallowed be thy name. | 1:05:57 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:05:59 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:06:03 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 1:06:06 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 1:06:09 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 1:06:12 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:06:15 | |
For thine is the kingdom and the power | 1:06:21 | |
and the glory forever, Amen. | 1:06:24 | |
(energetic organ music) | 1:06:30 | |
(all singing indistinctly) | 1:07:18 | |
(all singing indistinctly) | 1:08:17 | |
(all singing indistinctly) | 1:09:18 | |
- | Go forth in peace, renewed by the power of the living God. | 1:10:15 |
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, | 1:10:20 | |
and the communion of the holy spirit | 1:10:24 | |
be with you and keep you. | 1:10:25 | |
♪ Alleluia, Amen, Amen ♪ | 1:10:31 | |
(energetic organ music) | 1:10:46 | |
(energetic organ music) | 1:12:28 | |
(organ music ends) | 1:13:01 |