Debra K. Brazzel - "Called to Newness" (August 27, 1995)
MP4
Loading the media player...
Transcript
- Download transcript as:
-
Text
-
PDF
-
WebVTT (includes timecodes)
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (cathedral organ music) | 0:00 | |
| (cathedral organ music) | 1:00 | |
| (cathedral organ music) | 2:06 | |
| (cathedral organ music) | 3:04 | |
| (cathedral organ music) | 4:01 | |
| (cathedral organ music) | 5:02 | |
| - | Good morning. | 5:35 |
| We'd like to welcome you to this service of worship | 5:37 | |
| on orientation Sunday at the start of this academic year. | 5:40 | |
| We'd like to say a special word of welcome to | 5:44 | |
| the new students who are joining us today | 5:47 | |
| and the new members of the chapel choir. | 5:49 | |
| Also to welcome the regular choir back to lead us | 5:51 | |
| in worship for this academic year. | 5:55 | |
| The choir is continuing its auditions | 5:58 | |
| through the coming week for anyone | 6:00 | |
| who is interested in auditioning. | 6:02 | |
| The information is included in your bulletin. | 6:04 | |
| After the service, we will make available | 6:07 | |
| Dr. Willimon's book, "Goodbye High School, Hello College" | 6:10 | |
| for all first year students and you can pick that up | 6:14 | |
| in the narthex on your way out of the chapel. | 6:17 | |
| Also to help welcome you, after the service | 6:20 | |
| we are having lemonade and music | 6:23 | |
| by J.C. Power and Light Company in the chapel basement. | 6:26 | |
| And you access the chapel basement in the entrance | 6:29 | |
| nearest the Bryan Center. | 6:32 | |
| I also want to say a very special happy birthday today | 6:34 | |
| to Miss Allen Clelin, | 6:38 | |
| Alice Clelin. | 6:39 | |
| She is the wife of Dean James T. Clelin, | 6:41 | |
| who was a beloved dean of the chapel for many years. | 6:44 | |
| She is also the oldest member of the congregation | 6:47 | |
| at Duke Chapel and she is celebrating | 6:50 | |
| her 95th birthday today. | 6:52 | |
| Happy birthday, Alice. | 6:54 | |
| Let us continue our worship with a greeting. | 6:56 | |
| Please stand. | 6:58 | |
| The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. | 7:05 | |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 7:08 |
| - | The risen Christ is with us. | 7:10 |
| Congregation | Praise the Lord. | 7:13 |
| ("Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" by Chapel Choir) | 7:15 | |
| ♪ Immortal ♪ | 7:49 | |
| ♪ Invisible ♪ | 7:51 | |
| ♪ God only wise ♪ | 7:54 | |
| ♪ In light inaccessible ♪ | 7:57 | |
| ♪ Hid from our eyes ♪ | 8:02 | |
| ♪ Most blessed and most glorious ♪ | 8:05 | |
| ♪ The Ancient of Days ♪ | 8:10 | |
| ♪ Almighty, victorious ♪ | 8:14 | |
| ♪ Thy great name we praise ♪ | 8:18 | |
| ♪ Unresting, unhasting ♪ | 8:25 | |
| ♪ And silent as light ♪ | 8:28 | |
| ♪ Nor wanting, nor wasting ♪ | 8:33 | |
| ♪ Thou rulest in might ♪ | 8:37 | |
| ♪ Thy justice like mountains ♪ | 8:41 | |
| ♪ High soaring above ♪ | 8:46 | |
| ♪ Thy clouds which are fountains ♪ | 8:50 | |
| ♪ Of goodness and love ♪ | 8:54 | |
| ♪ To all life Thou givest ♪ | 9:01 | |
| ♪ To both great and small ♪ | 9:05 | |
| ♪ In all life Thou livest ♪ | 9:09 | |
| ♪ The true life of all ♪ | 9:14 | |
| ♪ We blossom and flourish ♪ | 9:18 | |
| ♪ As leaves on the tree ♪ | 9:22 | |
| ♪ And wither and perish ♪ | 9:26 | |
| ♪ But nought changeth Thee ♪ | 9:30 | |
| (somber organ music) | 9:37 | |
| ♪ Great Father of Glory ♪ | 11:21 | |
| ♪ Pure Father of light ♪ | 11:25 | |
| ♪ Thine angels adore Thee ♪ | 11:30 | |
| ♪ All veiling their sight ♪ | 11:34 | |
| ♪ All laud we would render ♪ | 11:38 | |
| ♪ O help us to see ♪ | 11:43 | |
| ♪ 'Tis only the splendor ♪ | 11:47 | |
| ♪ Of light hideth Thee ♪ | 11:52 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 12:02 |
| Oh God, in mystery and silence, | 12:06 | |
| You are present in our lives | 12:09 | |
| bringing new life out of destruction, | 12:11 | |
| hope out of despair, | 12:14 | |
| growth out of difficulty. | 12:16 | |
| We thank You that You do not leave us alone | 12:18 | |
| but labor to make us whole. | 12:20 | |
| Help us to perceive Your unseen hand | 12:23 | |
| in the unfolding of our lives | 12:25 | |
| and to attend to the gentle guidance of Your spirit. | 12:28 | |
| That we may know the joy You give Your people this day. | 12:31 | |
| Amen. | 12:36 | |
| Please be seated. | 12:37 | |
| - | Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination. | 12:45 |
| Congregation | Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 12:49 |
| by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, | 12:53 | |
| so that as the Word is read and proclaimed | 12:56 | |
| we may hear Your Word with joy this day. | 13:00 | |
| - | Amen. | 13:03 |
| The Old Testament lesson is from the Book of Jeremiah. | 13:07 | |
| Chapter 1, verses four through 10. | 13:10 | |
| "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying | 13:14 | |
| "before I formed you in the womb I knew you | 13:17 | |
| "and before you were born I consecrated you, | 13:20 | |
| "I appointed you a prophet to the nations. | 13:23 | |
| "Then I said, ah, Lord God, | 13:27 | |
| "truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy. | 13:29 | |
| "But the Lord said to me, | 13:33 | |
| "do not say I am only a boy, | 13:34 | |
| "for you shall go to all to whom I send you | 13:37 | |
| "and you shall speak whatever I command you. | 13:40 | |
| "Do not be afraid of them | 13:43 | |
| "for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. | 13:45 | |
| "Then the Lord put out His hand and touched my mouth | 13:49 | |
| "and the Lord said to me, | 13:52 | |
| "now I have put My words in your mouth. | 13:54 | |
| "See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, | 13:58 | |
| "to pluck up and to pull down, | 14:02 | |
| "to destroy and to overthrow, | 14:05 | |
| "to build and to plant." | 14:07 | |
| This is the Word of the Lord. | 14:10 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 14:13 |
| - | The psalm appointed for this Sunday is Psalm 71, | 14:22 |
| verses one through six, | 14:25 | |
| found on page 794 in your hymnal. | 14:27 | |
| Please rise and sing the psalm and "Gloria" responsively. | 14:30 | |
| (somber organ music) | 14:34 | |
| ♪ In You, O Lord, do I take refuge ♪ | 14:41 | |
| ♪ Let me never be put to shame ♪ | 14:46 | |
| ♪ In Your righteousness deliver me ♪ | 14:51 | |
| ♪ And rescue me ♪ | 14:55 | |
| ♪ Incline Your ear to me and save me ♪ | 14:58 | |
| ♪ Be to me a rock of refuge ♪ | 15:05 | |
| ♪ A strong fortress to save me ♪ | 15:07 | |
| ♪ For You are my rock ♪ | 15:11 | |
| ♪ And my fortress ♪ | 15:13 | |
| ♪ Rescue me, O my God, ♪ | 15:16 | |
| ♪ From the hand of the wicked ♪ | 15:19 | |
| ♪ From the grasp of the unjust and cruel ♪ | 15:23 | |
| ♪ For You, O Lord, are my hope ♪ | 15:30 | |
| ♪ My trust, O Lord, from my youth ♪ | 15:34 | |
| ♪ Upon You I have leaned from my birth ♪ | 15:39 | |
| ♪ It was You who took me from my mother's womb ♪ | 15:43 | |
| ♪ My praise is continually of You ♪ | 15:49 | |
| ♪ All glory be to You, creator ♪ | 15:56 | |
| ♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪ | 15:59 | |
| ♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪ | 16:03 | |
| ♪ Blessed great is He ♪ | 16:06 | |
| ♪ As it was at time began ♪ | 16:10 | |
| ♪ It is now and will be ♪ | 16:14 | |
| ♪ Forever more ♪ | 16:17 | |
| - | You may be seated. | 16:25 |
| - | The New Testament lesson is from the Book of Revelation, | 16:37 |
| chapter 21, verses five through seven. | 16:40 | |
| "And the one who was seated on the throne said, | 16:43 | |
| "See, I am making all things new. | 16:46 | |
| "Also He said, write this for these words | 16:49 | |
| "are trustworthy and true." | 16:53 | |
| "Then He said to me, it is done. | 16:55 | |
| "I am the Alpha and the Omega, | 16:58 | |
| "the beginning and the end. | 17:00 | |
| "To the thirsty, I will give water as a gift | 17:03 | |
| "from the spring of the water of life. | 17:05 | |
| "Those who conquer will inherit these things | 17:08 | |
| "and I will be their God and they will be my children. | 17:11 | |
| "This is the Word of the Lord." | 17:15 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 17:17 |
| - | The Gospel lesson is from the 13th chapter of Saint Luke, | 17:20 |
| Verses 10 through 13. | 17:23 | |
| "Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath | 17:26 | |
| "and just then there appeared a woman with a spirit | 17:29 | |
| "that had crippled her for 18 years. | 17:32 | |
| "She was bent over and was quite unable | 17:35 | |
| "to stand up straight. | 17:38 | |
| "When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, | 17:40 | |
| "woman, you are set free of your ailment. | 17:43 | |
| "When He laid His hands on her, | 17:47 | |
| "immediately she stood up straight | 17:49 | |
| "and began praising God. | 17:52 | |
| "This is the Word of the Lord." | 17:54 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 17:57 |
| ("Let All the World in Every Corner Sing" by Chapel Choir) | 18:17 | |
| ♪ Let all the world in every corner sing ♪ | 18:57 | |
| ♪ My God and King ♪ | 19:08 | |
| ♪ The heavens are not too high ♪ | 19:13 | |
| ♪ His praise may thither fly ♪ | 19:18 | |
| ♪ The earth is not too low ♪ | 19:23 | |
| ♪ His praises there may grow ♪ | 19:27 | |
| ♪ Let all the world in every corner sing ♪ | 19:36 | |
| ♪ My God and King ♪ | 19:49 | |
| ♪ The church with psalms must shout ♪ | 19:54 | |
| ♪ No door can keep them out ♪ | 19:58 | |
| ♪ But, more than all, the heart ♪ | 20:04 | |
| ♪ Must bear the longest part ♪ | 20:08 | |
| ♪ Let all the world in every corner sing ♪ | 20:18 | |
| ♪ My God and King ♪ | 20:31 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 20:38 | |
| - | One of the reasons that I continue to work | 21:12 |
| in an academic setting is that I love this time of year. | 21:15 | |
| The beginning of the school year when approximately | 21:21 | |
| a fourth of our student population is new. | 21:24 | |
| As the overflowing station wagons and minivans | 21:28 | |
| lineup to unload, | 21:32 | |
| the excitement and energy and anxiety are almost palpable. | 21:34 | |
| Sometimes it's hard to tell who's most nervous, | 21:40 | |
| the students or the parents. | 21:43 | |
| You can almost hear the questions, the students worry. | 21:45 | |
| Will I like my roommate? | 21:48 | |
| Will I find friends? | 21:51 | |
| Well I do okay in my classes? | 21:52 | |
| And parents wonder, | 21:55 | |
| will she like it here? | 21:57 | |
| Will she remember what we've taught her? | 21:58 | |
| How will she change? | 22:01 | |
| But in spite of the anxiety and uncertainty, | 22:04 | |
| the very air pulses with life, | 22:07 | |
| enthusiasm and hope | 22:10 | |
| for what is yet to come. | 22:13 | |
| Even for returning students, | 22:15 | |
| faculty, administrators and staff, | 22:17 | |
| the beginning of the academic year is marked | 22:20 | |
| by a sense of new energy and high expectations. | 22:23 | |
| In the beginning, when everything is new, | 22:28 | |
| there are no failures, no disappointments. | 22:31 | |
| Only possibilities. | 22:35 | |
| It is the potential and the unknown quality | 22:37 | |
| of what is new that draws us toward the future. | 22:41 | |
| There's something compelling about newness. | 22:46 | |
| In Revelations, it is the promise of God. | 22:49 | |
| "See? | 22:53 | |
| "I am making all things new." | 22:54 | |
| This cycle of the old giving way to the new | 22:58 | |
| is built into the very nature of things. | 23:01 | |
| It is part of the process by which life renews itself. | 23:05 | |
| And we here in the University sense that. | 23:09 | |
| We need these new beginnings, these fresh young students, | 23:13 | |
| for through them we are all made new. | 23:18 | |
| Together, the future beckons us with a potential | 23:22 | |
| of what is yet to be. | 23:26 | |
| The promise of newness fills us with the hope | 23:29 | |
| that better things lie ahead. | 23:33 | |
| But in the Christian church we also sing | 23:37 | |
| "As it was ere time began | 23:40 | |
| "is now and will be forever more." | 23:44 | |
| There is a tension between the call to the future | 23:48 | |
| and the pull of the past. | 23:52 | |
| The beckoning power of newness | 23:55 | |
| and the holding power of the familiar. | 23:57 | |
| Sometimes it seems that the past holds sway over us. | 24:02 | |
| The energy and enthusiasm that we had at the beginning | 24:07 | |
| of the academic year soon gives way to too busy schedules, | 24:10 | |
| tasks left undone, | 24:14 | |
| expectations unmet. | 24:16 | |
| Even though we hope to do things differently, | 24:19 | |
| to get better organized, | 24:22 | |
| say no to more things, | 24:23 | |
| spend more time with the people we really care about. | 24:25 | |
| Exercise three times a week, lose the 20 pounds | 24:28 | |
| we didn't lose last year | 24:31 | |
| and finish the book we've been working on, | 24:33 | |
| patch up a tense relationship, | 24:35 | |
| even though we hope to do things differently. | 24:38 | |
| To be different. | 24:43 | |
| This year winds up looking very much like last year. | 24:46 | |
| How quickly it seems that the promise of newness | 24:50 | |
| fades into the familiar patterns of the past. | 24:54 | |
| But sometimes we need the familiar. | 25:00 | |
| We draw strength from the past. | 25:03 | |
| From our relationships, our possessions, our identity. | 25:05 | |
| The first thing that every student does | 25:10 | |
| is unpack their stuff. | 25:12 | |
| They can't begin to feel comfortable | 25:14 | |
| until they have familiar things around them. | 25:16 | |
| Every office on campus has some personal belongings | 25:19 | |
| of the people who work in it. | 25:23 | |
| It is our nature as human beings to nest, | 25:25 | |
| to make the space where we work and live familiar. | 25:28 | |
| We need the feeling of being at home in our surroundings. | 25:32 | |
| We cherish the familiar | 25:37 | |
| and hold onto the things that we know. | 25:39 | |
| And sometimes, we struggle to hold onto the past | 25:43 | |
| for fear that all things will pass away. | 25:47 | |
| Even as we look forward eagerly to what has yet to be. | 25:51 | |
| While you rejoiced at your graduation from high school, | 25:56 | |
| saying goodbye to high school friends | 26:00 | |
| was twinged with sadness because you knew | 26:02 | |
| that you would never be together in the same way again. | 26:05 | |
| And even though your parents were filled with pride | 26:09 | |
| as they brought you to Duke University, | 26:12 | |
| they also knew the bitter sweetness | 26:15 | |
| of watching you grow up and away from them. | 26:18 | |
| It is natural for us to want to hold onto the things | 26:25 | |
| that are precious to us. | 26:28 | |
| Our children, our health, our way of life, our knowledge. | 26:30 | |
| And yet, we cannot stop the sands of time | 26:36 | |
| as we search for the familiar sands beneath our feet, | 26:39 | |
| we find that even the sands shift | 26:43 | |
| beneath the wave of change. | 26:46 | |
| "See, I am making all things new." | 26:50 | |
| The tension between the future on the one hand | 26:55 | |
| and the past on the other, | 26:58 | |
| "all things new as it was ere time began | 27:00 | |
| "and will be forever more" | 27:03 | |
| is nothing unusual. | 27:06 | |
| It is nothing more than the rhythm of history | 27:09 | |
| and life itself. | 27:13 | |
| And both are true. | 27:15 | |
| They are part of the same process. | 27:20 | |
| The dynamic of transformation, | 27:22 | |
| the dynamic of change which ties us to the past | 27:24 | |
| and yet calls us to a new future. | 27:28 | |
| Let me outline how this dynamic works | 27:31 | |
| both in our individual and corporate lives. | 27:34 | |
| You and I are creatures of temporality. | 27:38 | |
| We never have enough time because we are it. | 27:41 | |
| We're intricately shaped by time. | 27:45 | |
| If I were to ask you to tell me who you are | 27:47 | |
| you couldn't answer without reference to who you have been. | 27:50 | |
| In every moment you integrate | 27:54 | |
| who you have been into the present. | 27:57 | |
| Your very living forms a trajectory | 27:59 | |
| of continually weaving your past into your present. | 28:02 | |
| The positive experiences and the negative ones, | 28:06 | |
| the peaks and valleys, the highs and the lows, | 28:10 | |
| every experience of your life is woven together | 28:13 | |
| to make your present self. | 28:16 | |
| The first time that you fell in love | 28:19 | |
| and whether that love was returned or rejected, | 28:21 | |
| that experience is still with you. | 28:24 | |
| Those great joys | 28:28 | |
| getting chosen for the job that you wanted, | 28:30 | |
| making an A in your most difficult class, | 28:32 | |
| being excepted to medical school, | 28:35 | |
| the birth of your first child or grandchild. | 28:38 | |
| Those high moments, they're still reverberating | 28:41 | |
| deep inside your soul. | 28:45 | |
| The trauma that you would rather forget. | 28:49 | |
| A failure. | 28:52 | |
| The death of a loved one. | 28:54 | |
| A rape. | 28:56 | |
| Was it last year or 10 years ago? | 28:57 | |
| It's still there. | 29:01 | |
| It's behind you but also present. | 29:03 | |
| Helping to form you. | 29:07 | |
| In your deepest self, every event of your past, | 29:10 | |
| the notable and the boring, the joyous and the sad, | 29:14 | |
| the wonderful and the painful, | 29:18 | |
| they still affect you today. | 29:20 | |
| And who you are cannot be explained | 29:23 | |
| without reference to who you have been. | 29:26 | |
| Who you are is made from a lifetime of experience, | 29:29 | |
| continuously brought into the present. | 29:33 | |
| The past helps shape how you interpret the present, | 29:38 | |
| whether creatively or blindly | 29:42 | |
| or lovingly or fearfully, | 29:45 | |
| in each fresh moment | 29:48 | |
| "as it was ere time began | 29:50 | |
| "is now and will be forever more." | 29:53 | |
| Your past is here. | 29:57 | |
| It's really not way back there somewhere but here. | 30:00 | |
| And yet, God is making all things new. | 30:06 | |
| You're not only shaped by your past, | 30:11 | |
| you're also shaped by the future. | 30:13 | |
| You are men and women, children and youth of the call. | 30:16 | |
| Your call to a future that is yet untasted, | 30:20 | |
| untested. | 30:24 | |
| In the Gospel text read this morning, | 30:27 | |
| the bent over woman was called to a new future. | 30:30 | |
| For 18 years she had lived stooped over. | 30:34 | |
| Her vision of the future was limited | 30:39 | |
| to what she could see at her feet. | 30:41 | |
| It was the only life that she knew. | 30:43 | |
| She didn't think that anything else was possible. | 30:45 | |
| She was trapped by her past | 30:47 | |
| but Jesus saw her and called her and set her free. | 30:50 | |
| The future called her | 30:54 | |
| but she might have decided that it was too risky | 30:57 | |
| to give up the way of life that she had known for so long. | 30:59 | |
| She could have stayed, stuck in the past | 31:03 | |
| but she didn't. | 31:06 | |
| She stood up straight and began praising God. | 31:07 | |
| She excepted God's call to dramatic newness. | 31:10 | |
| She took the risk to stand up | 31:13 | |
| and to step out into an unknown future. | 31:16 | |
| The prophet Jeremiah was also called to a new future. | 31:21 | |
| It was a future that was different from the one | 31:26 | |
| that he had envisioned for himself. | 31:28 | |
| He was a shy, quiet man who wanted most of all to be liked. | 31:30 | |
| But he was called to speak a harsh, bold, | 31:35 | |
| controversial word. | 31:38 | |
| He was called, touched and appointed to a path | 31:40 | |
| that he didn't seek. | 31:44 | |
| The future called him. | 31:46 | |
| The future shaped him. | 31:48 | |
| The future changed him. | 31:50 | |
| For some of you, the call of God to the future | 31:54 | |
| means that you may find yourself seeking a career | 31:58 | |
| or lifestyle that is different than the one | 32:01 | |
| you set out to seek. | 32:04 | |
| It may be different than the one you envision for yourself, | 32:07 | |
| it may be different than the one | 32:10 | |
| your family envisioned for you. | 32:11 | |
| Like Jeremiah, you may at first resist | 32:14 | |
| the call to the future, and yet, | 32:17 | |
| discover yourself known and touched and appointed | 32:20 | |
| and sent into a path and a career that you did not seek. | 32:25 | |
| I've known physicians that have found themselves | 32:31 | |
| caring for migrant farm workers | 32:34 | |
| and math majors who work with the handicapped | 32:36 | |
| and computer programmers who wound up in Divinity school | 32:39 | |
| and engineers who run an orphanage. | 32:42 | |
| God's future sometimes calls us to paths | 32:45 | |
| that we do not seek. | 32:48 | |
| Sometimes the future calls us to let go | 32:51 | |
| of a life that we've known for a long time. | 32:54 | |
| It's risky to let go of what is familiar and comfortable | 32:58 | |
| to step out into the unknown. | 33:02 | |
| It's hard to change old habits and patterns of behavior. | 33:04 | |
| It's almost like being a trapeze artist | 33:08 | |
| when you must let go of one rope | 33:10 | |
| in order to grab another one and the space in between | 33:13 | |
| can be so terrifying. | 33:18 | |
| The first few weeks of school can sometimes feel | 33:22 | |
| like that moment in between the ropes | 33:25 | |
| when you're hanging in thin there. | 33:28 | |
| In between the past that is familiar | 33:30 | |
| and the future that is yet to be. | 33:32 | |
| But you take the risk | 33:36 | |
| and you let go of the rope of home and old friends | 33:38 | |
| because the call of the future promises new friends | 33:41 | |
| and exciting adventure of learning and self discovery, | 33:45 | |
| a new sense of belonging | 33:49 | |
| and a new identity. | 33:51 | |
| There are times in each of our lives | 33:55 | |
| when we are called to something new. | 33:57 | |
| Some transformative moment when we must let go of one thing | 34:00 | |
| and swing out into the unknown. | 34:05 | |
| It might be moving into your first job | 34:08 | |
| or changing jobs or getting married or having children | 34:11 | |
| or caring for aging parents | 34:14 | |
| or making a new life for yourself alone. | 34:17 | |
| Wherever you are on life's journey, | 34:22 | |
| there will be times when you will be called to let go | 34:25 | |
| of the familiar past and reach out to an unknown future, | 34:28 | |
| trusting that you will be able to grab hold | 34:33 | |
| of the promise of God to make all things new. | 34:36 | |
| So who you are is not only the past | 34:43 | |
| which becomes part of your present | 34:47 | |
| but also the future which shapes your present. | 34:48 | |
| And in the present you hold the past and future together | 34:52 | |
| and in that past and future held together | 34:57 | |
| all things new as it was ere time began | 35:00 | |
| is now and will be forever more | 35:04 | |
| the two of them together are what create you, | 35:07 | |
| which means that you're always | 35:12 | |
| in the process of transformation. | 35:14 | |
| Because the past is always increasing | 35:17 | |
| and the future is always moving, | 35:19 | |
| you are moving, you are transformation. | 35:22 | |
| Who you are is continually in the process of change. | 35:26 | |
| Sometimes you notice it more than others | 35:31 | |
| but it never stops being true. | 35:33 | |
| Those things that you wish never happened | 35:38 | |
| that might have been better if they hadn't happened | 35:42 | |
| are yet with you but when you open yourself | 35:45 | |
| to the call of the future, | 35:48 | |
| they can become a resource for the present. | 35:49 | |
| When your friend's parents divorced | 35:52 | |
| and you remembered how you felt when your parents broke up, | 35:55 | |
| you were able to be there with your friend | 35:59 | |
| with an empathy and compassion | 36:01 | |
| that you never would have known. | 36:03 | |
| Or when your coworker lost a family member. | 36:05 | |
| The loss of your own beloved one | 36:09 | |
| became a resource for their healing. | 36:11 | |
| Or the failure in your research became the impetus | 36:15 | |
| for a new and exciting direction in your work | 36:18 | |
| that you would never have taken without the failure, | 36:21 | |
| the future changed your past. | 36:24 | |
| As you call to the future, those things in your past | 36:29 | |
| that you understood one way | 36:32 | |
| become re-contextualized by a new future | 36:34 | |
| so that those things that had been so horrible for you | 36:38 | |
| and really were horrible and it really would've | 36:41 | |
| been better if they never had happened, | 36:44 | |
| that's the truth. | 36:46 | |
| But they did happen and you went through them | 36:48 | |
| but the new future that God calls you to | 36:51 | |
| means that those things in your past | 36:54 | |
| which had been negative now have a way | 36:56 | |
| in which they can be used positively. | 36:59 | |
| Not that they were God's will but that it is God's way | 37:02 | |
| to turn even the most painful experiences in life | 37:05 | |
| into a blessing. | 37:09 | |
| "See, I am making all things new." | 37:11 | |
| The future re-contextualizes the past | 37:16 | |
| and gives it a new usefulness. | 37:21 | |
| This is an important dynamic. | 37:24 | |
| The future can change the past. | 37:27 | |
| It's not that you go back in time and change it. | 37:30 | |
| What happened happened | 37:33 | |
| but the future changes the past by lifting up things | 37:35 | |
| that you hadn't noticed before | 37:39 | |
| and bringing them to a new prominence. | 37:40 | |
| By taking that which had been unusable | 37:43 | |
| and finding a way to use it. | 37:45 | |
| By re-contextualizing the past | 37:48 | |
| so that those things which you couldn't deal with | 37:51 | |
| now you can because you have a new way | 37:54 | |
| of viewing the past. | 37:58 | |
| We are shaped by the past and shaped by the future | 38:01 | |
| and the present is the savoring | 38:05 | |
| of how we weave past and future together. | 38:07 | |
| And in the process, we create our distinctive lives. | 38:12 | |
| We are always being transformed. | 38:16 | |
| We're always with God giving birth to ourselves. | 38:18 | |
| "See, I am making all things new. | 38:22 | |
| "As it was ere time began is now and will be forever more." | 38:24 | |
| God makes all things new. | 38:29 | |
| But if this is the dynamic of change, | 38:34 | |
| which impacts each one of us individually, | 38:36 | |
| it is also the dynamic of change | 38:40 | |
| which impacts us corporately. | 38:42 | |
| There is a power that comes to us individually | 38:46 | |
| and corporately that enables us to move | 38:49 | |
| with the dynamic process of transformation. | 38:51 | |
| It is made up of three things. | 38:55 | |
| The Spirit of God, our communal strength | 38:56 | |
| and our creative response. | 38:59 | |
| Us individually, corporately with God. | 39:02 | |
| These three woven together create the great tapestry | 39:06 | |
| that is all of us. | 39:10 | |
| In the past, present and future, | 39:12 | |
| our lives are woven together to form | 39:15 | |
| a single tapestry of history, | 39:18 | |
| a comprehensive picture of the present | 39:20 | |
| and a vision and trajectory for the future. | 39:23 | |
| Our own stories, one by one, may seem relatively small | 39:28 | |
| but when we add it to the many stories | 39:32 | |
| it takes on a life larger than its own. | 39:35 | |
| Like the many threads that go into the weaving | 39:39 | |
| of the tapestry or the many drops in a single wave. | 39:41 | |
| As we come together as a community at Duke University, | 39:46 | |
| we are shaped in part by our | 39:51 | |
| individual and corporate history. | 39:53 | |
| In the opening convocation, | 39:56 | |
| we remember the past that brought us to the present. | 39:57 | |
| We recalled the transformations that have taken place | 40:01 | |
| over time to create the kind of university, | 40:04 | |
| the kind of community that exists today. | 40:07 | |
| The history shapes in part who we are | 40:11 | |
| and yet history and tradition are always called | 40:15 | |
| to respond to a new future. | 40:19 | |
| If they did not respond to the changing needs | 40:23 | |
| and circumstances of the future, | 40:25 | |
| they would become simply dead, lifeless forms. | 40:27 | |
| A mere shadow of what they had been or could be. | 40:31 | |
| There are a lot of changes on campus this year | 40:37 | |
| and there are many who could resist the changes | 40:41 | |
| and hold onto the past. | 40:44 | |
| But the past is never fixed. | 40:46 | |
| The good old days are dead and gone old days. | 40:49 | |
| The present is found at the intersection | 40:54 | |
| of what has been and what can be. | 40:57 | |
| We have a wonderful heritage | 41:00 | |
| that can be a resource for the present. | 41:03 | |
| But we also must respond creatively | 41:07 | |
| to the new future which calls us. | 41:10 | |
| For the decisions that we make in the present | 41:13 | |
| will set this university and community | 41:15 | |
| upon a trajectory that will lead us into a future | 41:18 | |
| that is yet to be. | 41:21 | |
| We have the opportunity and responsibility | 41:24 | |
| to think carefully and to listen deeply | 41:27 | |
| to the voice of the future that calls us. | 41:30 | |
| There are many voices that would tell us who we should be, | 41:34 | |
| what we should be, | 41:38 | |
| but as a particular kind of community, | 41:40 | |
| a Christian community of faith | 41:43 | |
| at the heart of this university, | 41:46 | |
| we believe there is a distinctive voice | 41:48 | |
| which calls us and beckons us | 41:51 | |
| toward a particular kind of future. | 41:53 | |
| It is the same voice that said, | 41:56 | |
| "See, I am making all things new." | 41:58 | |
| These words are trustworthy and true. | 42:02 | |
| It is the same voice that said, | 42:07 | |
| "To the thirsty I will give water | 42:09 | |
| "as a gift from the spring of the water of life. | 42:11 | |
| "I will be their God and they will be my people." | 42:14 | |
| What would it mean as a university to be called | 42:19 | |
| by future with a thirst quenching God at its center? | 42:23 | |
| How would our priorities or needs shift? | 42:28 | |
| What kind of community would we become? | 42:33 | |
| How would we socialize? | 42:35 | |
| Would we become more exclusive | 42:38 | |
| or would we become more open toward a new togetherness | 42:40 | |
| of race, gender, culture and sexuality? | 42:44 | |
| Would we feel a greater call to service? | 42:49 | |
| To caring for the poor, the sick and the outcast. | 42:51 | |
| How would we treat the least of these in our midst? | 42:56 | |
| For what purposes would our | 43:01 | |
| learning and research be dedicated? | 43:02 | |
| What would it mean to be open to the future | 43:06 | |
| to which God calls us? | 43:10 | |
| Through the dynamic of transformation, | 43:14 | |
| we will collectively determine what kind of community | 43:17 | |
| will exist at Duke University and in the community at large. | 43:21 | |
| The future calls us to a vision of humanity | 43:27 | |
| with God at the center, quenching our thirst, | 43:31 | |
| filling us with water of life. | 43:35 | |
| It is the Spirit of God working in us and through us | 43:38 | |
| individually and collectively, | 43:42 | |
| calling us together to a new future. | 43:45 | |
| Let us rejoice in the call and the promise of God. | 43:51 | |
| "As it was ere time began | 43:56 | |
| "is now and will be forever more." | 43:58 | |
| God makes all things new. | 44:02 | |
| Amen. | 44:06 | |
| ("Be Thou My Vision" by Chapel Choir) | 44:12 | |
| ♪ Be Thou my vision ♪ | 44:50 | |
| ♪ O Lord of my heart ♪ | 44:53 | |
| ♪ Be all else but naught to me ♪ | 44:59 | |
| ♪ Save that Thou art ♪ | 45:03 | |
| ♪ Be Thou my best thought ♪ | 45:08 | |
| ♪ In the day and the night ♪ | 45:11 | |
| ♪ Waking or sleeping ♪ | 45:17 | |
| ♪ Thy presence my light ♪ | 45:21 | |
| ♪ Be Thou my wisdom ♪ | 45:29 | |
| ♪ And Thou my true word ♪ | 45:33 | |
| ♪ Thou ever with me ♪ | 45:38 | |
| ♪ And I with thee Lord ♪ | 45:42 | |
| ♪ Thou and Thou only ♪ | 45:47 | |
| ♪ The first in my heart ♪ | 45:51 | |
| ♪ Great God of Heaven ♪ | 45:56 | |
| ♪ My treasure Thou art ♪ | 46:00 | |
| ♪ Great God of Heaven ♪ | 46:08 | |
| ♪ My victory won ♪ | 46:12 | |
| ♪ May I reach Heaven's joys ♪ | 46:17 | |
| ♪ O bright Heaven's sun ♪ | 46:21 | |
| ♪ Heart of my own heart ♪ | 46:26 | |
| ♪ Whatever befall ♪ | 46:30 | |
| ♪ Still be my vision ♪ | 46:36 | |
| ♪ O Ruler of all ♪ | 46:40 | |
| Priest | The Lord be with you. | 46:49 |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 46:51 |
| - | Let us pray. | 46:52 |
| Immortal invisible God only wise, | 47:03 | |
| You give light to all, to both great and small | 47:07 | |
| and when life grows dim or life turns weak or sour, | 47:11 | |
| You re-create and awake a new life. | 47:16 | |
| Praise be to you, oh God, | 47:20 | |
| that You and no other | 47:23 | |
| are our ultimate architect and builder, | 47:25 | |
| the final teacher and examiner of our lives. | 47:29 | |
| This day, oh Lord, we venture forth into a new year | 47:35 | |
| and many of us into a new community. | 47:37 | |
| In a world where millions toil from dawn to midnight | 47:42 | |
| only to sleep without bed | 47:45 | |
| and without food, | 47:48 | |
| You invite us into the Garden of Eden | 47:51 | |
| called Duke University. | 47:54 | |
| In a world where millions have not one cent for a book, | 47:57 | |
| we live and move among millions. | 48:02 | |
| In a nation of strong and weak, | 48:07 | |
| it is our privilege to work and study | 48:09 | |
| in one of the best universities of the land. | 48:12 | |
| Why, oh Lord, | 48:15 | |
| why us? | 48:17 | |
| Why such a privilege? | 48:20 | |
| Why such an opportunity? | 48:23 | |
| Immortal, invisible God only wise, | 48:27 | |
| You give life to all both great and small. | 48:31 | |
| Lord, in Your mercy. | 48:36 | |
| Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 48:38 |
| - | In a world where life is relentless, | 48:41 |
| the pace driven and hectic, | 48:45 | |
| You, oh Lord, Who rested on the Sabbath give us leisure. | 48:48 | |
| Leisure to think Your thoughts, | 48:53 | |
| leisure to commune with the saints in sages, | 48:57 | |
| saints and sages who span not only generations | 49:01 | |
| but millennia, | 49:04 | |
| saints and sages who span not only lands but continents. | 49:07 | |
| Oh Lord, You give us leisure to attend | 49:13 | |
| to the new and creative, | 49:15 | |
| the perduring and the abiding. | 49:18 | |
| Immortal and invisible God only wise, | 49:22 | |
| attend us in our leisure that we may hear | 49:25 | |
| You're still small voice | 49:29 | |
| wherever you speak. | 49:31 | |
| Lord, in your mercy. | 49:35 | |
| Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 49:37 |
| - | We hear you calling, Lord, through these rich blessings | 49:40 |
| You have loaned us for a season. | 49:43 | |
| Help us to stay focused on You in the midst of such plenty. | 49:47 | |
| Take us to new levels of discipleship and service. | 49:53 | |
| Move among us moment by moment | 49:57 | |
| that we may be remade in Your image | 50:00 | |
| and leave this place to serve You and Your world | 50:04 | |
| more faithfully. | 50:08 | |
| Lord, in your mercy. | 50:11 | |
| Congregation | Hear our prayer. | 50:14 |
| - | Amen. | 50:16 |
| It is our opportunity and our privilege | 50:19 | |
| to worship God with our tides and our offerings. | 50:21 | |
| (somber organ music) | 50:25 | |
| ("When in Our Music God Is Glorified" by Chapel Choir) | 51:40 | |
| ♪ When in our music ♪ | 52:03 | |
| ♪ God is glorified ♪ | 52:07 | |
| ♪ And adoration ♪ | 52:11 | |
| ♪ Leaves no room for pride ♪ | 52:14 | |
| ♪ It is as though ♪ | 52:20 | |
| ♪ The whole creation cried ♪ | 52:22 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 52:29 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 52:34 | |
| ♪ How oft in making music ♪ | 52:39 | |
| ♪ We have found ♪ | 52:44 | |
| ♪ A new dimension ♪ | 52:47 | |
| ♪ In the world of sound ♪ | 52:50 | |
| ♪ As worship moved us ♪ | 52:55 | |
| ♪ To a more profound ♪ | 52:59 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 53:04 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 53:10 | |
| (triumphant trumpet music) | 53:13 | |
| ♪ So has the Church ♪ | 53:23 | |
| ♪ In liturgy and song ♪ | 53:25 | |
| ♪ In faith and love ♪ | 53:31 | |
| ♪ Through centuries of wrong ♪ | 53:33 | |
| ♪ Borne witness to the truth ♪ | 53:38 | |
| ♪ In every tongue ♪ | 53:43 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 53:47 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 53:53 | |
| ♪ And did not Jesus ♪ | 53:58 | |
| ♪ Sing a psalm that night ♪ | 54:01 | |
| ♪ When utmost evil ♪ | 54:05 | |
| ♪ Strove against the light ♪ | 54:09 | |
| ♪ Then let us sing ♪ | 54:14 | |
| ♪ For whom he won the fight ♪ | 54:16 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 54:23 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:28 | |
| (triumphant trumpet music) | 54:33 | |
| ♪ Let every instrument ♪ | 54:52 | |
| ♪ Be tuned for praise ♪ | 54:56 | |
| ♪ Let all rejoice ♪ | 55:00 | |
| ♪ Who have a voice to raise ♪ | 55:03 | |
| ♪ And may God give us ♪ | 55:09 | |
| ♪ Faith to sing always ♪ | 55:12 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 55:17 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 55:23 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 55:31 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 55:36 | |
| ("Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow" by Chapel Choir) | 55:50 | |
| ♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 56:21 | |
| ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ | 56:27 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 56:33 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 56:36 | |
| ♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 56:41 | |
| ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 56:47 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 56:53 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 56:56 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 57:00 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 57:03 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 57:06 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 57:17 |
| Oh Lord God, the author and giver of all good things, | 57:19 | |
| we thank You for all Your mercies | 57:23 | |
| and for Your loving care overall Your people. | 57:25 | |
| We bless You for the gift of life, | 57:30 | |
| for Your protection round about us, | 57:32 | |
| for Your guiding hand upon us, | 57:35 | |
| for the tokens of Your love within us. | 57:39 | |
| We thank You for friendship and duty, | 57:43 | |
| for good hopes and precious memories, | 57:46 | |
| for the joys that cheer us, | 57:50 | |
| yes, for the trials that teach us to trust in You. | 57:52 | |
| Most of all, Lord, we thank You for the saving knowledge | 57:57 | |
| of your Son our Savior, | 58:00 | |
| for the living presence of the comforter, Your Holy Spirit | 58:03 | |
| in Your church and for Your church the Body of Christ. | 58:07 | |
| For the ministry of Word and Sacrament | 58:11 | |
| and all the means of grace, | 58:13 | |
| You have blessed us through these gifts we now bring to You | 58:16 | |
| and these and in all things oh heavenly God | 58:20 | |
| make us wise for a right use of all Your blessings | 58:24 | |
| that we may render an acceptable thanksgiving onto You | 58:29 | |
| all the days of our lives. | 58:32 | |
| Through Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us to say | 58:35 | |
| when we pray. | 58:38 | |
| Congregation | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 58:40 |
| hallowed be thy name. | 58:43 | |
| Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done | 58:45 | |
| on earth, as it is in heaven. | 58:48 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 58:51 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 58:54 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us | 58:56 | |
| and lead us not in temptation, | 59:00 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 59:02 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. | 59:04 | |
| Priest | Amen. | 59:10 |
| ("God of Grace and God of Glory" by Chapel Choir) | 59:19 | |
| ♪ God of grace and God of glory ♪ | 59:57 | |
| ♪ On your people pour your power ♪ | 1:00:02 | |
| ♪ Crown your ancient church's story ♪ | 1:00:08 | |
| ♪ Bring its bud to glorious flower ♪ | 1:00:13 | |
| ♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:00:18 | |
| ♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:00:24 | |
| ♪ For the facing of this hour ♪ | 1:00:29 | |
| ♪ Lo the hosts of evil round us ♪ | 1:00:57 | |
| ♪ Scorn the Christ, assail his ways ♪ | 1:01:03 | |
| ♪ From the fears that long have bound us ♪ | 1:01:09 | |
| ♪ Free our hearts to faith and praise ♪ | 1:01:14 | |
| ♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:01:20 | |
| ♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:01:25 | |
| ♪ For the living of these days ♪ | 1:01:31 | |
| ♪ Cure your children's warring madness ♪ | 1:01:38 | |
| ♪ Bend our pride to your control ♪ | 1:01:44 | |
| ♪ Shame our wanton, selfish gladness ♪ | 1:01:49 | |
| ♪ Rich in things and poor in soul ♪ | 1:01:55 | |
| ♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:02:01 | |
| ♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:02:06 | |
| ♪ Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal ♪ | 1:02:12 | |
| ♪ Save us from weak resignation ♪ | 1:02:20 | |
| ♪ To the evils we deplore ♪ | 1:02:25 | |
| ♪ Let the gift of Your salvation ♪ | 1:02:31 | |
| ♪ Be our glory evermore ♪ | 1:02:37 | |
| ♪ Grant us wisdom, grant us courage ♪ | 1:02:42 | |
| ♪ Serving you whom we adore ♪ | 1:02:48 | |
| ♪ Serving you whom we adore ♪ | 1:02:53 | |
| - | Go forth in peace. | 1:03:05 |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ | 1:03:07 | |
| and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit | 1:03:09 | |
| be with you all. | 1:03:13 | |
| ♪ Lord be ♪ | 1:03:17 | |
| ♪ In my head ♪ | 1:03:20 | |
| ♪ And in my ♪ | 1:03:24 | |
| ♪ Understanding ♪ | 1:03:27 | |
| ♪ Lord be ♪ | 1:03:35 | |
| ♪ In my eyes ♪ | 1:03:38 | |
| ♪ And in my ♪ | 1:03:42 | |
| ♪ Looking ♪ | 1:03:45 | |
| ♪ Lord be ♪ | 1:03:53 | |
| ♪ In my mouth ♪ | 1:03:56 | |
| ♪ And in my ♪ | 1:04:00 | |
| ♪ Speaking ♪ | 1:04:03 | |
| ♪ Lord be ♪ | 1:04:14 | |
| ♪ In my heart ♪ | 1:04:17 | |
| ♪ And in my ♪ | 1:04:22 | |
| ♪ Thinking ♪ | 1:04:25 | |
| ♪ Lord ♪ | 1:04:34 | |
| ♪ Be ♪ | 1:04:36 | |
| ♪ At my end ♪ | 1:04:38 | |
| ♪ And at ♪ | 1:04:47 | |
| ♪ My ♪ | 1:04:51 | |
| ♪ Departing ♪ | 1:04:54 | |
| (dramatic organ music) | 1:05:15 | |
| (dramatic organ music) | 1:06:11 |