William B. Lawrence - "The Taste of Bitter Dessert" (July 23, 1995)
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Transcript
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(inspirational choral music) | 0:13 | |
(mellow organ music) | 3:04 | |
- | Grace and peace to you | 3:57 |
in the name of Lord, Jesus Christ. | 3:58 | |
And welcome to this celebration | 4:00 | |
of holy Eucharist here at Duke Chapel. | 4:01 | |
We are delighted to welcome each of you | 4:04 | |
here today. | 4:05 | |
As our guest preacher, we welcome | 4:07 | |
to our pulpit, the Reverend Dr. William B. Lawrence. | 4:09 | |
Dr. Lawrence is Professor of the Practice | 4:12 | |
of Christian Ministry and Associate Director | 4:14 | |
of the JM Ormond Center for Research, | 4:17 | |
Planning and Development at Duke Divinity School. | 4:20 | |
We look forward to his message today. | 4:24 | |
We also welcome as our lecturer, the Reverend | 4:26 | |
Dr. Russell Richey, Associate Dean | 4:28 | |
for Academic Programs and Professor of Church History | 4:30 | |
at the Divinity School. | 4:33 | |
We are privileged to enjoy music | 4:35 | |
in our service today provided by the Moses Hogan Choral | 4:38 | |
from New Orleans, Louisiana. | 4:41 | |
This distinguished choir and their conductor, | 4:43 | |
Mr. Moses Hogan are in Durham for the weekend | 4:46 | |
as guest of the Brightleaf Music Workshop. | 4:49 | |
We are indebted to them for giving this time | 4:52 | |
to us today in their busy schedules. | 4:54 | |
They'll be leaving tonight for a long bus trip | 4:56 | |
back to New Orleans. | 4:59 | |
This afternoon they will be performing | 5:00 | |
a concert of sacred and popular music | 5:02 | |
here at the chapel at 3:00 p.m. | 5:05 | |
Admission is free and the public is invited | 5:07 | |
to attend. | 5:10 | |
Immediately after church today, the congregation | 5:12 | |
at Duke Chapel invites you to enjoy refreshments | 5:14 | |
in the South Arcade which is just | 5:17 | |
to the right of the front steps as you exit | 5:19 | |
the building. | 5:22 | |
If you have questions regarding the congregation | 5:23 | |
or any other aspects of the chapels ministry, | 5:25 | |
please direct your questions to one of our members | 5:28 | |
who will be hosting that event. | 5:31 | |
And now let us stand for the greeting. | 5:33 | |
Create in me a clean heart, oh God. | 5:42 | |
All | Renew a right spirit within me. | 5:45 |
- | Open my lips, oh Lord. | 5:49 |
- | My mouth will declare Your praise. | 5:51 |
(inspirational choral music) | 5:55 | |
When we gather to praise God, | 9:45 | |
we recognize that we are evoking people | 9:46 | |
who have failed to do God's will. | 9:50 | |
Therefore let us confess our sins | 9:52 | |
before God and one another. | 9:54 | |
Most merciful God. | 9:58 | |
We confess that we have sinned against you. | 10:00 | |
All | In thought, word and deed, | 10:03 |
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. | 10:06 | |
We have not loved you with our whole heart. | 10:09 | |
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 10:13 | |
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. | 10:17 | |
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, | 10:20 | |
have mercy on us and forgive us. | 10:24 | |
That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, | 10:27 | |
to the glory of your Name. | 10:32 | |
Amen. | 10:36 | |
Almighty God have mercy on you, | 10:47 | |
forgive all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, | 10:49 | |
strengthen you in all goodness, | 10:54 | |
and by the power of the Holy Spirit | 10:57 | |
keep you in eternal life. | 11:00 | |
Amen. | 11:03 | |
- | Let us pray the prayer for illumination. | 11:17 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God. | 11:21 | |
All | By the power of your Holy Spirit, | 11:24 |
so that as the word us read and proclaimed, | 11:27 | |
we may hear your message with joy this day. | 11:31 | |
Amen. | 11:34 | |
The gospel reading is from Luke 10:38-42. | 11:38 | |
Now as they went on their way, | 11:48 | |
he entered a certain village where a woman | 11:50 | |
named Martha welcomed him into her home. | 11:53 | |
She had a sister named Mary who sat | 11:57 | |
at the Lord's feet and listened to what | 12:01 | |
he was saying. | 12:04 | |
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks | 12:07 | |
so she came to him and asked, | 12:11 | |
"Lord, do you not care that my sister | 12:14 | |
"has left me to do all the work by myself? | 12:18 | |
Tell her then to help me." | 12:22 | |
But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, | 12:26 | |
you are worried and distracted by many things. | 12:32 | |
"There is need of only one thing. | 12:36 | |
"Mary has chosen the better part which will | 12:39 | |
"not be taken away from her." | 12:43 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 12:48 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 12:50 |
The Old Testament lesson is from Amos 8:1-12. | 12:54 | |
This is what the Lord, God showed me. | 13:02 | |
A basket of summer fruit. | 13:05 | |
He said, "Amos, what do you see?" | 13:08 | |
And I said, "a basket of summer fruit." | 13:11 | |
Then the Lord said to me, "the end has come | 13:14 | |
"upon my people, Israel, I will never again | 13:18 | |
"pass them by. | 13:22 | |
"The psalms of the temple shall become wailing's | 13:24 | |
"in that day," says the Lord, God. | 13:27 | |
"The dead bodies shall be many, cast out | 13:30 | |
"in every place, be silent. | 13:33 | |
"Hear this, you that trample on the needy, | 13:40 | |
"and bring to ruin the poor of the land saying, | 13:43 | |
"when will the new moon be over so that we may | 13:48 | |
"sell grain and the sabbath so that we may | 13:50 | |
"offer wheat for sale? | 13:54 | |
"We will make the ephah small and the shekel great | 13:57 | |
and practice deceit with false balances, | 14:00 | |
buying the poor for silver | 14:04 | |
and the needy for a pair of sandals. | 14:06 | |
And selling the sweepings of the wheat. | 14:09 | |
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob | 14:13 | |
"Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. | 14:16 | |
"Shall not the land tremble on this account, | 14:20 | |
"and everyone mourn who lives in it, | 14:24 | |
"and all of it rise like the Nile, | 14:27 | |
"and be tossed about and sink again, | 14:29 | |
"like the Nile of Egypt? | 14:32 | |
"On that day," said the Lord, God, | 14:35 | |
"I will make the sun go down at noon | 14:38 | |
"and darken the earth in broad daylight. | 14:42 | |
"I will turn your feasts into mourning | 14:45 | |
"and all your songs into lamentation. | 14:49 | |
"I will bring sackcloth on all loins | 14:53 | |
"and baldness on every head. | 14:56 | |
"I will make it like the mourning for an only son | 14:58 | |
"and the end of it like a bitter day. | 15:02 | |
"The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, | 15:06 | |
"when I will send a famine on the land, | 15:09 | |
"not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, | 15:12 | |
"but of hearing the words of the Lord. | 15:15 | |
"They shall wander from sea to sea, | 15:19 | |
"and from north to east, | 15:22 | |
"they shall run to and fro, | 15:24 | |
"seeking the word of the Lord, | 15:27 | |
"but they shall not find it." | 15:30 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 15:33 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 15:36 |
- | Let us pray. | 15:49 |
May the words spoken be the word | 15:58 | |
that you spoke, oh Lord. | 16:01 | |
May the word heard be the word you proclaim. | 16:05 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 16:10 | |
and of the Holy Spirit. | 16:12 | |
Amen. | 16:14 | |
(clears throat) | 16:17 | |
During the past few weeks, a syndicated | 16:19 | |
national columnist named James J. Kilpatrick | 16:23 | |
has written a number of fascinating pieces | 16:27 | |
on a very important topic. | 16:30 | |
Not Medicare and health care for the elderly. | 16:34 | |
Not the 1996 Presidential election. | 16:38 | |
And certainly not the OJ Simpson trial. | 16:41 | |
What Mr. Kilpatrick has been writing about | 16:45 | |
is the English language. | 16:47 | |
To be specific, he's been writing | 16:49 | |
about heteronyms. | 16:53 | |
All of us learned in elementary school, | 16:57 | |
I trust, that synonyms are different words | 16:59 | |
that have the same meaning. | 17:02 | |
And everyone who has ever tried to take | 17:04 | |
a scholastic aptitude exam, the SAT, | 17:07 | |
has struggled with the peculiarities | 17:09 | |
of antonyms. | 17:11 | |
Which are different words with opposite meanings. | 17:13 | |
Mr. Kilpatrick's heteronyms are words | 17:16 | |
with the same spelling but unrelated meanings. | 17:19 | |
Like, minute and minute. | 17:23 | |
Or resume and resume. | 17:27 | |
Now the grammar lesson is almost over, | 17:31 | |
hang on with me. | 17:34 | |
But let me mention one other. | 17:35 | |
Homonyms. | 17:38 | |
Homonyms are words which sound alike | 17:41 | |
but have different spellings and different meanings. | 17:43 | |
For example, the other day I read a book | 17:45 | |
that had a red cover. | 17:49 | |
Or, that mechanic would have finished fixing | 17:51 | |
my brakes if he hadn't taken so many breaks. | 17:55 | |
Homonyms. | 18:00 | |
For those of us who like puzzles and poetry, | 18:03 | |
homonyms are wonderfully entertaining. | 18:05 | |
And for those of us who are waiting to hear | 18:08 | |
the word of the Lord, they can be indispensable. | 18:10 | |
But we have to listen carefully. | 18:15 | |
For God can speak not only in English | 18:19 | |
but in other tongues. | 18:22 | |
So God said, "Amos, what do you see?" | 18:25 | |
And Amos answered, "a basket of summer fruit." | 18:30 | |
and God said to Amos, "the end has come." | 18:35 | |
Now it's abut that point in the reading | 18:41 | |
of the lesson when you and I begin to wonder | 18:43 | |
if we dozed off between the verses. | 18:45 | |
How in the world did we get from a basket | 18:48 | |
of summer fruit, which Amos received as a gift | 18:50 | |
from God, to an announcement the end has come? | 18:54 | |
And the end of what, pray tell? | 18:59 | |
The answers have to do with a Hebrew homonym. | 19:03 | |
Two different words that sound alike | 19:07 | |
and one means summer fruit and the other | 19:10 | |
means end. | 19:13 | |
So what God delivered to Amos as a vision | 19:17 | |
of summer fruit was God's word that the end | 19:20 | |
was at hand. | 19:23 | |
Back in the early days of my pastoral ministry, | 19:26 | |
parishioners were trying to be exceedingly | 19:30 | |
helpful in so many ways and they looked | 19:33 | |
for an abundance of meanings to help me | 19:35 | |
translate my recent theological education | 19:37 | |
into the practice of ministry in the real world. | 19:40 | |
One of them was Tony. | 19:44 | |
Tony heard me preach a few times and apparently | 19:47 | |
Tony and his wife decided that what this | 19:50 | |
young pastor who is a descendant of Welsh | 19:53 | |
and English coal miners really needed | 19:55 | |
was a good Italian meal. | 19:57 | |
Tony had been raised in an ethnic neighborhood | 20:01 | |
in New York City. | 20:03 | |
He had never learned to speak any other language | 20:06 | |
than Italian until he was 12 years old. | 20:08 | |
Over the years Tony had become an actor, | 20:12 | |
a dancer and a computer engineer. | 20:14 | |
But through it all, he believed that | 20:18 | |
what matters best in life is revealed in food. | 20:20 | |
He and his wife invited us to their home | 20:25 | |
on a Saturday. | 20:27 | |
They told us to arrive at 3:00 in the afternoon | 20:29 | |
and they told us not to eat lunch. | 20:32 | |
We sat at the table at 3:00. | 20:36 | |
And the experience began. | 20:39 | |
Appetizers, then soup. | 20:42 | |
Then salad, then pasta in the form | 20:46 | |
of impressive portions of lasagna. | 20:50 | |
Then veal surrounded by vegetables. | 20:54 | |
Then dessert. | 20:59 | |
And finally, at the end, there came | 21:02 | |
to the center of the table, | 21:04 | |
a bowl of fresh fruit. | 21:07 | |
It was 9:00. | 21:10 | |
The meal had taken six hours | 21:12 | |
and between each of the seven courses, | 21:16 | |
there had been time for extended conversation | 21:18 | |
covering all manner of theological, | 21:21 | |
pastoral, cultural and political issues. | 21:23 | |
All that time and all that talk | 21:27 | |
had made it possible for us to savor | 21:30 | |
every portion of the meal. | 21:32 | |
Proper beverages had moistened every morsel. | 21:34 | |
And at 9:00 when it was coming to a close, | 21:38 | |
none of us felt uncomfortably full. | 21:41 | |
Dessert had been sweet and light. | 21:44 | |
And then the bowl of fruit appeared. | 21:48 | |
It was a sign that the time of feasting | 21:50 | |
was over. | 21:52 | |
That a wonderful day had come to an end. | 21:54 | |
God said, "Amos, what do you see?" | 21:58 | |
And Amos answered, "a basket of summer fruit." | 22:01 | |
God said to Amos, "The end has come." | 22:06 | |
Not just the end of the meal however. | 22:13 | |
But the end. | 22:16 | |
Not just the end of feasting. | 22:19 | |
But the end. | 22:22 | |
Not just the end of bright conversation | 22:24 | |
and comfortable fellowship, but the end. | 22:27 | |
The end of economic prosperity. | 22:30 | |
The end of cultural civility. | 22:32 | |
The end of national security. | 22:35 | |
The end of religious activity. | 22:37 | |
The end of all festivity. | 22:39 | |
From time to time in our own age | 22:44 | |
we hear the voices of so called prophets | 22:45 | |
telling us that the end of the age is coming. | 22:48 | |
They say they can read the signs | 22:52 | |
of the times, that they can discern God's plan | 22:54 | |
for a great climactic moment | 22:57 | |
which will be the end of the age. | 22:59 | |
Sometimes we listen for awhile, | 23:03 | |
but mostly we don't. | 23:05 | |
Sometimes we're troubled by what they tell us | 23:07 | |
about the signs that the end is near | 23:10 | |
but then we go on. | 23:12 | |
Occasionally we wonder about their capacity | 23:14 | |
for destruction of others and themselves | 23:17 | |
and we remember David Koresh. | 23:19 | |
Amos heard God say, "the end has come." | 23:23 | |
So Amos took a year off from his work | 23:29 | |
as a shepherd and a caretaker of fig trees | 23:31 | |
and he went up to Israel to make | 23:33 | |
the announcement. | 23:36 | |
But Amos arrived in the kingdom of Israel | 23:38 | |
about 750 years before the birth of Jesus | 23:40 | |
at a time when Israel was at its most prosperous, | 23:43 | |
most politically secure, most religiously active. | 23:46 | |
He announced that he had seen a vision | 23:50 | |
of a basket of summer fruit and that the time | 23:52 | |
of the end had come and his message found | 23:54 | |
few listeners. | 23:58 | |
They were feasting. | 24:00 | |
It was the best of times. | 24:01 | |
The temples and religious shrines | 24:02 | |
were overflowing. | 24:04 | |
It was the most outwardly religious era | 24:05 | |
in Israel's history. | 24:08 | |
The markets were growing. | 24:10 | |
They could hardly wait for a religious | 24:12 | |
holiday to end or a sabbath day | 24:14 | |
to come to a close so they could return | 24:15 | |
to business and find a way to raise | 24:18 | |
a price here or shave the weight there. | 24:21 | |
To squeeze a few more ounces out of their | 24:24 | |
suppliers grain or squeeze a few more pennies | 24:26 | |
profit out of the poor customers who bought | 24:28 | |
their fruit. | 24:31 | |
"The end of this has come," Amos said. | 24:33 | |
The end of corrupt commerce. | 24:36 | |
The end of empty religious rituals. | 24:39 | |
The end. | 24:42 | |
At times he was ignored. | 24:45 | |
At other times, he was beaten. | 24:48 | |
His only authority was this self-proclaimed | 24:51 | |
vision from God. | 24:53 | |
None of his message seemed consistent | 24:56 | |
with the signs of the times. | 24:58 | |
But somebody did bother to write his words down. | 25:00 | |
And then, within scarcely | 25:05 | |
a generation, the end came. | 25:08 | |
An enemy overran the nation of Israel. | 25:15 | |
The religious shrines, gone. | 25:17 | |
The people, dispersed. | 25:19 | |
The basket of summer fruit | 25:22 | |
had been a true vision. | 25:23 | |
The feast had ended. | 25:25 | |
And Israel was left with a taste | 25:28 | |
of a bitter dessert. | 25:30 | |
I have some Christian friends | 25:32 | |
who tell me that 1996 will be the year. | 25:35 | |
The year of the end, they say. | 25:40 | |
Not the end of the Clinton presidency. | 25:43 | |
Not the end of the Republican control | 25:45 | |
of Congress, nothing that trivial. | 25:47 | |
They say that 1996 will be the end. | 25:49 | |
Because God has revealed it, they say. | 25:54 | |
And they say it calmly and quietly | 25:57 | |
and with a peculiar sense of assurance. | 26:01 | |
I have another friend who might not | 26:07 | |
necessarily agree about the date. | 26:08 | |
But he goes about his work as a professional | 26:11 | |
theologian with a sense of impending doom. | 26:14 | |
During a meeting at which I attended, | 26:18 | |
he spoke with remarkable personal candor. | 26:19 | |
He surveyed the present age in his comments | 26:23 | |
and then he said, "the future of the world | 26:25 | |
"is envisioned for us in Bosnia." | 26:29 | |
And he went on to say that all of us | 26:34 | |
are living on the edge of interethnic self-destruction. | 26:36 | |
And according to Tom Gjelton books, | 26:42 | |
Sarajevo Diary, the Head of the Bosnian Serbs, | 26:44 | |
Momčilo Krajišnik promised a year and a half ago, | 26:46 | |
in January 1994 that one day the battle | 26:50 | |
for Sarajevo would be fought. | 26:54 | |
"And when it is over, he said, it will be | 26:57 | |
"easier to count the living than it will be | 26:59 | |
"to count the dead." | 27:02 | |
So Amos told Israel to see things | 27:04 | |
from the perspective of the end. | 27:08 | |
And voices today are offering visions | 27:10 | |
of the end. | 27:13 | |
And for those who have been feasting, | 27:15 | |
it will mean a taste of bitter dessert. | 27:17 | |
But wait a minute. | 27:19 | |
Wait a minute. | 27:21 | |
It would also mean the end | 27:24 | |
of the rich and powerful exploiting the poor. | 27:26 | |
It would also mean the end of the age | 27:31 | |
when war can destroy peace. | 27:34 | |
It would also mean the end of addiction, | 27:37 | |
the end of abuse, the end of AIDS. | 27:39 | |
To see things from the perspective | 27:44 | |
of the end might be a way to find | 27:46 | |
the promises of God again. | 27:48 | |
It was 30 years ago, I was an undergraduate | 27:53 | |
on this campus. | 27:57 | |
And through the offices of the campus | 27:59 | |
ministry program, a man named Joe Matthews | 28:01 | |
arrived for a weekend retreat. | 28:04 | |
He dared us in that weekend to acknowledge | 28:07 | |
the possibility that if we looked at life | 28:10 | |
from the end, we could find God's promises. | 28:11 | |
For every decision he had to make, | 28:17 | |
for every decision we have to make, | 28:20 | |
he said this. | 28:24 | |
"Take a spiritual and emotional walk | 28:27 | |
"over the edge of your life, | 28:31 | |
"over to the edge of your grave. | 28:34 | |
"Stand on your toes, he said, bounce | 28:38 | |
"on the edge of your grave and take a look, | 28:40 | |
"if you dare, over your shoulder, behind you, | 28:43 | |
"there at the hole in the ground | 28:46 | |
"and then look back over the span of your life, | 28:48 | |
"to this decision, today's moment. | 28:52 | |
"Today's challenge and determine from | 28:56 | |
"the perspective of the end, what you should do | 29:00 | |
"with your life now." | 29:04 | |
And Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. | 29:08 | |
It was the end all right. | 29:12 | |
It was the end of his ministry on earth. | 29:14 | |
It was the end of the journey | 29:18 | |
that had allowed him to speak the truth | 29:20 | |
to overly busy people like Martha. | 29:21 | |
It was the end of his physical opportunities | 29:25 | |
on earth to show his followers what happens | 29:27 | |
when you touch a leper in his name. | 29:30 | |
You don't get leprosy, you cure the leper. | 29:32 | |
It was the end of those sacred moments. | 29:39 | |
When someone would meet Jesus on the road | 29:41 | |
and ask him a difficult theological question like, | 29:43 | |
"who is my neighbor?" | 29:46 | |
and Jesus would answer with a story | 29:48 | |
about a mugging victim and a couple of | 29:50 | |
thoughtless religious leaders | 29:53 | |
and a Samaritan. | 29:56 | |
A story that's not only about neighborliness | 29:58 | |
but about our deliverance from fear | 30:01 | |
and racism and self-centeredness. | 30:03 | |
When all those moments of teaching | 30:07 | |
and healing were at an end when | 30:09 | |
they gathered in the upper room. | 30:12 | |
Jesus had warned them what was going to happen. | 30:14 | |
This would be their last supper together, they knew. | 30:16 | |
Then in the midst of the meal he took break, | 30:22 | |
gave thanks and broke the bread and he gave | 30:25 | |
it to them with words of promise and power. | 30:29 | |
He took wine and he spoke to them | 30:33 | |
of his blood but then said this isn't | 30:35 | |
about his doom, it's about their deliverance. | 30:37 | |
And the next events moved very quickly. | 30:41 | |
There was prayer in the garden. | 30:44 | |
There was a kiss. | 30:46 | |
Then a cross. | 30:48 | |
Then a tomb. | 30:49 | |
And within three days some of them | 30:51 | |
was leaving town, walking to Emmaus. | 30:53 | |
And there he was again. | 30:57 | |
In their midst with presence and power, | 30:59 | |
breaking bread again, promising that his church | 31:03 | |
would receive his power to forgive, | 31:07 | |
to heal, to make peace, to give new life. | 31:10 | |
Suddenly the perspective of the end | 31:16 | |
is a gift. | 31:18 | |
"A gift of new beginnings for us," he said. | 31:20 | |
A gift of new beginnings for all of his servants | 31:23 | |
in the church. | 31:26 | |
A gift of new beginnings to announce salvation. | 31:28 | |
To the people and the systems of the world. | 31:31 | |
And ever since that day, here and there, | 31:35 | |
in moments of great despair, the church has | 31:38 | |
heard that promise, felt that power, | 31:41 | |
and moved. | 31:42 | |
Back in 1870, in a section in the city of Chicago | 31:45 | |
where many people were crowded together. | 31:49 | |
Anybody who had an ounce of moral conscience | 31:53 | |
would have had cause to surrender to despair. | 31:55 | |
In that neighborhood, housing was overcrowded, | 31:59 | |
disease ridden, dangerous. | 32:01 | |
Healthcare practically nonexistent. | 32:06 | |
And when one wanted to paint a picture | 32:10 | |
of hopelessness, Chicago in this neighborhood | 32:13 | |
in 1870 would have been it. | 32:15 | |
One description said that they did have | 32:17 | |
three churches in the neighborhood, | 32:19 | |
but they also had 270 saloons, 85 wine houses, | 32:21 | |
seven opium dens, eight gambling dens, | 32:26 | |
and 92 houses of prostitution. | 32:29 | |
And into that scene, stepped a Methodist woman | 32:31 | |
named Lucy Rider Meyer, who established | 32:35 | |
a school to train deaconesses. | 32:38 | |
And by the turn of the century, | 32:41 | |
she and her colleagues had taught | 32:43 | |
and deployed 2,000 women whose faith | 32:45 | |
and work transformed horrible death | 32:49 | |
into hopeful resurrection. | 32:52 | |
Surely there were voices telling her, | 32:56 | |
the task was too immense. | 32:58 | |
The times too hopeless. | 33:00 | |
The despair too deep. | 33:02 | |
The cost too high. | 33:04 | |
There's no doubt there were voices | 33:07 | |
telling Amos that if he really believed | 33:09 | |
in his vision of the end, he shouldn't | 33:12 | |
even have bothered telling anybody | 33:14 | |
about it let alone having someone | 33:16 | |
write it down. | 33:18 | |
Just as many felt it was pointless | 33:21 | |
for Jesus to tell his disciples | 33:24 | |
when his ministry on earth was at an end, | 33:26 | |
to take bread, give thanks, | 33:30 | |
break it and give it. | 33:34 | |
But the witness of the scripture is that God | 33:40 | |
has yet to run out of visions to reveal. | 33:43 | |
That God has yet to run out of peacemakers | 33:48 | |
to commission. | 33:50 | |
That God has yet to run out of servants to call. | 33:52 | |
That God has yet to run out of the poor | 33:56 | |
who need to be served. | 33:58 | |
In fact, God has invited us, you and me, | 34:00 | |
to a banquet this morning. | 34:03 | |
A banquet where we can feast with Jesus | 34:05 | |
on the food of heaven. | 34:07 | |
The food that he took for which he | 34:10 | |
gave thanks. | 34:13 | |
Broke and gave. | 34:15 | |
So that we might have a taste | 34:18 | |
of resurrection and new beginning by | 34:20 | |
his presence and power and that we might | 34:22 | |
decide even today, from the perspective of the end | 34:25 | |
of our days, that we might decide today | 34:28 | |
to follow him once more. | 34:31 | |
Amen. | 34:35 | |
(background chatter) | 34:42 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 34:49 |
All | And also with you. | 34:52 |
- | Let us pray. | 34:52 |
Oh loving God, you hear our prayers | 34:58 | |
before we speak, and answer before we know our need. | 35:01 | |
Though we cannot pray, may your spirit pray in us, | 35:07 | |
drawing us to you and toward our neighbors on Earth. | 35:11 | |
Let us pray for all prophets and saints | 35:17 | |
in our midst, who, like Amos, awaken us | 35:20 | |
from our sloth, that they may continue | 35:24 | |
to hold their torches high in a world darkened | 35:27 | |
by prejudice, greed, and self-centeredness, | 35:31 | |
may they ever be obedient, and may we | 35:35 | |
be obedient to that heavenly vision. | 35:38 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 35:41 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 35:42 |
- | Let us pray for the church, make it strong | 35:46 |
and love, and in all good work, and establish | 35:50 | |
it int he faith revealed in the saints. | 35:54 | |
Weave it together in one great tapestry | 35:58 | |
of different colors and textures, | 36:00 | |
yet united in its witness to you, | 36:02 | |
the creator and redeemer of all. | 36:05 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 36:08 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 36:09 |
- | Let us pray for those who govern our country, | 36:13 |
who make, administer, or judge our laws, | 36:17 | |
or who work for the betterment of our communities. | 36:20 | |
May new bridges of understanding and mutual | 36:24 | |
forebearance enable a greater vision | 36:27 | |
of peace and justice for all to flourish | 36:29 | |
in our land and in our world. | 36:32 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 36:35 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 36:38 |
- | Let us pray for any who do not believe, | 36:41 |
who feel hopeless beyond any consolation, who have | 36:44 | |
no examples to inspire them to dream dreams. | 36:48 | |
Open their eyes to see beyond | 36:52 | |
the brokenness of our world, | 36:54 | |
the wonders of your love displayed in Jesus | 36:57 | |
of Nazareth, and to answer his call. | 36:59 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 37:02 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 37:05 |
- | Let us pray for our enemies | 37:08 |
as Christ commanded, for those who oppose us | 37:10 | |
or scheme against us, also children of your love. | 37:14 | |
Shield us from infectious hate or desire for vengeance. | 37:19 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 37:25 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 37:27 |
- | Let us pray for all who are in sorrow or need, | 37:31 |
sickness or adversity. | 37:34 | |
Guard those who suffer from the ravages of war, | 37:37 | |
starvation, inadequate healthcare, | 37:40 | |
have mercy on those to whom death draws near. | 37:43 | |
Bring consolation to those in sorrow or mourning, | 37:48 | |
and to all grant the strength of your presence, | 37:51 | |
surrounding them with your loving care. | 37:55 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 37:58 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 38:01 |
- | Let us pray in thanksgiving for those who have | 38:03 |
loved and served you in your church on Earth | 38:06 | |
who now rest in their labors, as we gather | 38:09 | |
around the communion table, we give thanks | 38:12 | |
for their lives. | 38:15 | |
Keep us in fellowship with all your saints, | 38:16 | |
and bring us at last to the joy of your heavenly kingdom. | 38:20 | |
Lord, in your mercy... | 38:24 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 38:26 |
- | Gracious God, you have poured out your power | 38:29 |
upon us, instilling your possibilities within us. | 38:32 | |
Free us from any false identities which ensnare | 38:36 | |
us, and empower us to claim the clarion call | 38:40 | |
you have given us to follow the law of love. | 38:43 | |
In the name of Christ, we pray. | 38:47 | |
Amen. | 38:50 | |
Christ invites to his table | 38:54 | |
all who love him and seek to live in peace | 38:55 | |
with one another, therefore, | 38:59 | |
let us stand as we offer one another signs | 39:01 | |
of love and reconciliation. | 39:03 | |
(background chatter) | 39:06 | |
As a forgiven and reconciled people, | 39:26 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves | 39:28 | |
unto God with thanksgiving. | 39:30 | |
(soft inspirational music) | 39:43 | |
(Inspirational choral music) | 41:09 | |
(inspirational organ music) | 44:35 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 45:53 | |
♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪ | 46:00 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 46:07 | |
♪ Praise God above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 46:16 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 46:23 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 46:30 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 46:37 | |
The Lord be with you. | 46:56 | |
All | And also with you. | 46:58 |
- | Lift up your hearts. | 46:59 |
All | And also yours. | 47:01 |
- | Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 47:02 |
All | We give you thanks and praise. | 47:05 |
- | It is right and a good and joyful | 47:08 |
thing always and everywhere to give thanks | 47:10 | |
to you, almighty God, creator of heaven and Earth. | 47:13 | |
You formed us in your image and breathed | 47:17 | |
into us the breath of life. | 47:20 | |
When we turned away and our love failed, | 47:22 | |
your love remained steadfast. | 47:25 | |
You delivered us from captivity, | 47:28 | |
made covenant to be our sovereign God | 47:30 | |
and spoke to us through your prophets, | 47:33 | |
and so, with your people on Earth | 47:35 | |
and all the company of heaven, we praise your name | 47:37 | |
and join their unending hymn. | 47:39 | |
All | Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and mind, | 47:42 |
heaven and Earth are full of your glory, | 47:47 | |
Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes | 47:50 | |
in the name of the Lord, Hosanna the highest. | 47:53 | |
- | Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. | 47:57 |
Your spirit anointed him to preach good news | 48:01 | |
to the poor, to proclaim release | 48:04 | |
to the captives, and recovering of sight | 48:06 | |
to the blind, to set at liberty | 48:08 | |
those who are oppressed, and to announce | 48:11 | |
that the time had come when you would save | 48:13 | |
your people. | 48:16 | |
He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners, | 48:17 | |
by the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, | 48:22 | |
you gave birth to your church, | 48:25 | |
delivered us from slavery and sin and death, | 48:27 | |
and made with us a new covenant by | 48:30 | |
water and the spirit, when the Lord Jesus | 48:32 | |
ascended, he promised to be with us always, | 48:35 | |
and the power of your word and holy spirit. | 48:38 | |
On the night in which he gave himself | 48:42 | |
up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, | 48:44 | |
broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, | 48:47 | |
and said, take, eat, this is my body, | 48:50 | |
which is given for you. | 48:54 | |
Do this, and remembrance of me. | 48:56 | |
When the supper was over, he took the cup, | 48:59 | |
gave thanks to you, gave it to his | 49:03 | |
disciples and said, drink from this, all of you, | 49:05 | |
this is my blood of the new covenant, | 49:08 | |
poured for you and for the many | 49:10 | |
for the forgiveness of sins. | 49:12 | |
Do this as often as you drink it | 49:14 | |
in remembrance of me. | 49:15 | |
And so, in remembrance of these, | 49:20 | |
you mighty acts in Jesus Christ, | 49:21 | |
we offer ourselves in praise | 49:23 | |
and thanksgiving as a holy | 49:25 | |
and living sacrifice in union with | 49:27 | |
Christ offering for us as we proclaim | 49:30 | |
the mystery of faith. | 49:33 | |
All | Christ has died, Christ has risen, | 49:35 |
Christ will come again. | 49:38 | |
- | Pour out your holy spirit on us gathered here | 49:40 |
and on these gifts of bread and wine. | 49:43 | |
Make them be, for us, the body and blood | 49:46 | |
of Christ, that we may be for the world, | 49:49 | |
the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. | 49:51 | |
By your spirit, make us one with Christ, | 49:55 | |
one with each other, and one in ministry | 49:57 | |
to all the world until Christ comes | 50:00 | |
in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. | 50:02 | |
Through your son, Jesus Christ with the holy spirit | 50:06 | |
in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, | 50:08 | |
almighty father, now and forever. | 50:12 | |
Amen. | 50:15 | |
And now, with the confidence of the children | 50:17 | |
of God, we are bold to pray. | 50:19 | |
All | Our Father who art in heaven, | 50:21 |
hallowed be thy name. | 50:23 | |
Thy kingdom come. | 50:25 | |
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. | 50:27 | |
Give us this day our daily bread; | 50:30 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 50:33 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us; | 50:35 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 50:38 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 50:40 | |
For thine is the kingdom, power, and glory, forever. | 50:43 | |
Amen. | 50:47 | |
- | When we break the bread, is it not a means | 50:54 |
of sharing in the body of Christ? | 50:56 | |
When we give thanks over the cup, | 51:03 | |
is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ? | 51:05 | |
(soft inspirational music) | 51:22 | |
(inspirational organ music) | 53:24 | |
♪ Let us break bread together ♪ | 56:49 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 56:54 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 56:58 | |
♪ Let us break bread together ♪ | 57:03 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 57:10 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 57:13 | |
♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ | 57:19 | |
♪ With my face to the rising sun ♪ | 57:33 | |
♪ O Lord, have mercy on me ♪ | 57:55 | |
♪ On me ♪ | 58:03 | |
♪ O Lord, have mercy ♪ | 58:07 | |
♪ On me ♪ | 58:15 | |
♪ On me ♪ | 58:20 | |
♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ | 58:25 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 58:33 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 58:39 | |
♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ | 58:45 | |
♪ On our knees ♪ | 58:52 | |
(Harmonizing) | 58:59 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 59:16 | |
(harmonizing) | 59:26 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 59:33 | |
(gentle organ music) | 59:54 | |
(inspirational choral music) | 1:00:21 | |
Please stand as we pray. | 1:01:56 | |
Eternal God, we give you thanks | 1:02:05 | |
for this holy mystery in which you have | 1:02:07 | |
given yourself to us. | 1:02:09 | |
Grant that we may go into the world | 1:02:11 | |
in the strength of your spirit | 1:02:13 | |
to give ourselves for others in the name | 1:02:15 | |
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 1:02:18 | |
Amen. | 1:02:21 | |
(inspirational choral music) | 1:02:23 | |
- | And now, wherever you go, may God go with you. | 1:05:43 |
Whatever you need, may God provide. | 1:05:49 | |
Whenever you falter, may God forgive. | 1:05:54 | |
And when, at the end of your days, | 1:06:00 | |
you lay yourself down for the last time, | 1:06:04 | |
may God raise you up for all time. | 1:06:07 | |
Amen. | 1:06:12 | |
(soft inspirational music) | 1:06:15 |