Debra K. Brazzel - "Called to Newness" (August 27, 1995)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
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- | 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 |