Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (September 17, 1995)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:00 | |
Church Member | There's a stand, be careful. | 2:15 |
Yeah. | 2:17 | |
- | Yes. | |
(speaks without microphone) | 2:20 | |
(congregation responds) | 3:03 | |
- | They sweep through our midst in judgment | 3:15 |
(congregation responds) | 3:17 | |
- | Whenever you are calling to us in love | 3:26 |
create in us a clean heart and a renewed spirit | 3:29 | |
(congregation responds) | 3:33 | |
(organ music) | 3:43 | |
(congregation sings) | 4:19 | |
(organ music) | 6:19 | |
(congregation sings) | 8:08 | |
- | Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, | 8:53 |
all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden. | 8:58 | |
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts | 9:04 | |
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, | 9:07 | |
that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify | 9:11 | |
your holy name, through Christ our Lord, Amen. | 9:15 | |
- | Let us pray the prayer for illumination. | 9:35 |
All | Open our hearts and minds oh God, | 9:39 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit. | 9:42 | |
So that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 9:45 | |
we may hear your message with joy this day, Amen. | 9:49 | |
The Old Testament reading is from the book | 9:55 | |
of Jeremiah chapter four verses 11 and 12, | 9:58 | |
and verses 22 through 28. | 10:02 | |
"At that time it will be said to this people | 10:09 | |
and to Jerusalem, a hot wind comes from me | 10:11 | |
out of the barren heights, in the desert | 10:15 | |
towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse. | 10:17 | |
A wind too strong for that. | 10:22 | |
Now it is I who speak in judgment against them, | 10:24 | |
for my people are foolish, they do not know me, | 10:28 | |
they are stupid children, they have no understanding. | 10:31 | |
They are skilled in doing evil, | 10:36 | |
but do not know how to do good. | 10:38 | |
I looked on the earth and lo, it was waste and void, | 10:42 | |
and to the heavens, and they had no light. | 10:46 | |
I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, | 10:50 | |
and all the hills moved to and fro. | 10:53 | |
I looked and lo, there was no one at all, | 10:57 | |
and all the birds of the air had fled. | 11:01 | |
I looked and lo, there was the fruit of the land | 11:05 | |
was a desert, and all it's cities were laid in ruin | 11:09 | |
before the Lord, before His fierce anger. | 11:13 | |
For thus says the Lord, | 11:17 | |
the whole land shall be a desolation. | 11:19 | |
Yet I will not make a full end. | 11:23 | |
Because of this the earth shall mourn | 11:26 | |
and the heavens above grow black, for I have spoken. | 11:29 | |
I have purposed, I have not relented, nor will I turn back. | 11:34 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 11:40 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 11:43 |
- | Today's Psalm is number 14, | 11:53 |
found on page 746 in the hymnal. | 11:55 | |
Please stand and sing the Psalm and Gloria responsively. | 11:59 | |
♪ Fools say in their hearts there is no God. ♪ | 12:09 | |
(congregation sings response) | 12:15 | |
♪ The Lord looks down from heaven on our people. ♪ | 12:26 | |
♪ To see if there are any that are wise who seek after God ♪ | 12:32 | |
(congregation sings response) | 12:39 | |
♪ Have they no knowledge ♪ | 12:56 | |
♪ Evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread ♪ | 12:58 | |
♪ And do not call upon the Lord ♪ | 13:04 | |
(congregation sings response) | 13:10 | |
♪ You would confound the plans of the poor ♪ | 13:22 | |
♪ But the Lord is their refuge ♪ | 13:28 | |
(congregation sings response) | 13:33 | |
♪ Jacob shall rejoice, ♪ | 13:47 | |
♪ And Israel shall be glad ♪ | 13:51 | |
♪ Oh glory be to you creator ♪ | 13:57 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪ | 14:02 | |
♪ And to your Holy Spirit the trinity. ♪ | 14:06 | |
♪ As it was ere time began ♪ | 14:14 | |
♪ Is how it will be forever more. ♪ | 14:19 | |
Please be seated. | 14:30 | |
- | The New Testament lesson is from 1 Timothy chapter one | 14:41 |
verses 12 through 17. | 14:45 | |
"I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, | 14:51 | |
who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithfully, | 14:54 | |
and appointed me to his service. | 14:58 | |
Even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, | 15:01 | |
and a man of violence. | 15:07 | |
But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly | 15:09 | |
in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord | 15:13 | |
overflowed from me, with the faith and love | 15:16 | |
that are in Christ Jesus. | 15:19 | |
The saying is sure, and worthy of full acceptance. | 15:22 | |
That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners | 15:25 | |
of whom I am the foremost. | 15:30 | |
But for that very reason I received mercy, | 15:33 | |
so that in me, as the foremost, | 15:38 | |
Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience | 15:41 | |
making me an example to those | 15:45 | |
who would come to believe in him for eternal life. | 15:46 | |
To the King of the Ages, immortal, invisible, | 15:51 | |
the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen." | 15:56 | |
This is the word of the Lord | 16:04 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 16:07 |
(organ music) | 16:14 | |
(choir sings) | 17:10 | |
(organ music) | 20:38 | |
- | The Gospel lesson is from the book of Luke, | 21:10 |
chapter 15, verses one through ten. | 21:13 | |
"Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near | 21:19 | |
to listen to him, and the pharisees and the scribes | 21:22 | |
were grumbling and saying, | 21:26 | |
this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them. | 21:27 | |
So he told them this parable. | 21:31 | |
Which one of you having a hundred sheep | 21:33 | |
and losing one of them, does not leave the 99 | 21:36 | |
in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost | 21:39 | |
until he finds it. | 21:42 | |
And when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders | 21:45 | |
and rejoices, and when he comes home he calls together | 21:48 | |
his friends and neighbors, saying to them, | 21:52 | |
rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost, | 21:54 | |
just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven | 21:58 | |
over one sinner who repents, than over 99 righteous persons | 22:03 | |
who need no repentance. | 22:07 | |
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, | 22:10 | |
if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, | 22:13 | |
sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it. | 22:17 | |
When she has found it, she calls together her friends | 22:22 | |
and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, | 22:24 | |
for I have found the coin that I had lost. | 22:27 | |
Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence | 22:30 | |
of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." | 22:34 | |
This is the word of the Lord | 22:40 | |
Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 22:42 |
- | In the 15th chapter of Luke, | 22:55 |
Jesus tells three parables | 22:58 | |
that portray the seeking, | 23:01 | |
finding, rejoicing God. | 23:04 | |
In the first parable, Jesus compared God to a shepherd | 23:08 | |
who leaves the flock of 99 sheep in the wilderness | 23:12 | |
to search relentlessly for the one who is lost. | 23:15 | |
He persists in retracing the steps of the flock, | 23:19 | |
looking under bushes, peering into ravines, | 23:22 | |
searching every nook and cranny until the lost one is found. | 23:26 | |
And when he finds the sheep he lifts it into his arms, | 23:30 | |
drapes it over his shoulders and returns home, | 23:34 | |
calling his friends and family to rejoice with him, | 23:38 | |
"I found the lost sheep, come and celebrate with me!" | 23:41 | |
In the second parable God is compared to a woman | 23:47 | |
who turns her house upside down looking for a lost coin. | 23:51 | |
She lights a lamp, sweeps every corner | 23:56 | |
and meticulously goes through everything in the house. | 23:58 | |
Until the coin is finally found, and then she calls out | 24:02 | |
to invite her friends and neighbors to rejoice | 24:06 | |
and help her celebrate, the lost coin has been found. | 24:09 | |
And in the third parable which follows | 24:15 | |
our scripture reading, a father waits at home for years | 24:17 | |
for a wayward son to return. | 24:23 | |
And when he does finally return, | 24:25 | |
he calls out to his neighbors and family and friends | 24:28 | |
and says "Come and rejoice with me, | 24:31 | |
for the one who was lost has been found!" | 24:33 | |
The joy of finding one who has been lost, | 24:38 | |
can't be contained, it has to be shared, | 24:42 | |
it just cries out for a party. | 24:45 | |
We love these images of God as a shepherd, a woman, | 24:50 | |
a father, who persist in seeking the lost, | 24:55 | |
and in welcoming them home again, with abundant joy. | 24:59 | |
Perhaps they remind us of times when we've been lost | 25:04 | |
and we've been comforted by the image of a God | 25:07 | |
who keeps looking for us, no matter how far away we stray. | 25:10 | |
When we are the lost, we can't help but hear these parables | 25:15 | |
as a promise of God not to give up on us. | 25:20 | |
The hope of acceptance and restoration draws us | 25:25 | |
and the scripture says all the tax collectors, | 25:30 | |
and all the sinners were coming near, being drawn | 25:33 | |
to listen to him. | 25:38 | |
When you're on the receiving end | 25:41 | |
of the compassionate relentless efforts of a seeking God, | 25:43 | |
these parables are good news. | 25:47 | |
But not everyone who heard the parables | 25:52 | |
found them good news. | 25:55 | |
Because we're familiar with them, | 25:58 | |
and they're cherished images, we risk not hearing them | 26:00 | |
as they were originally heard. | 26:05 | |
In their Biblical context, addressed to Pharisees | 26:08 | |
and scribes, these parables were shocking, and offensive. | 26:12 | |
These three simple stories would have been | 26:18 | |
anything but comforting to those who criticized Jesus. | 26:21 | |
The text says that the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling | 26:25 | |
saying "This fellow welcomes sinners | 26:28 | |
and eats with them." | 26:33 | |
Breaking Jewish dietary law was a serious offense, | 26:36 | |
which could result in a person being excluded from | 26:40 | |
the religious community. | 26:43 | |
And as far as they were concerned, you can be no better | 26:45 | |
than the people you hang out with. | 26:48 | |
Jesus was keeping bad company. | 26:50 | |
He was hanging out with tax collectors, | 26:54 | |
who were considered traitors to the Jewish people | 26:56 | |
for cooperating with the hated Roman conquerors. | 26:59 | |
Tax collectors were known for using their positions of power | 27:03 | |
to enrich themselves at the expense of their own countrymen. | 27:07 | |
They were ostracized by most of their people, | 27:12 | |
and branded as outcasts by the religious community. | 27:14 | |
Jesus was keeping bad company, he was hanging out | 27:19 | |
with sinners, not just ordinary people | 27:24 | |
who occasionally make a mistake, but immoral people | 27:27 | |
who would have been shunned by polite society. | 27:31 | |
And rejected from the religious community. | 27:34 | |
Jesus was keeping bad company. | 27:37 | |
From the distance of modern times we're at risk | 27:41 | |
of not seeing just how shocking | 27:44 | |
his companions would have been viewed | 27:46 | |
by the everyday middle class religious community. | 27:48 | |
We imagine quaint tax collectors | 27:52 | |
and harmless hookers | 27:56 | |
with a heart of gold, but if this text | 27:58 | |
is to cross the boundaries of space and time, | 28:01 | |
to speak to us with fresh power, we need to reimagine it. | 28:05 | |
In The Preaching Life, Barbara Brown Taylor | 28:11 | |
offers this image. | 28:14 | |
"I don't know how they look to you, but I imagine Jesus | 28:17 | |
down at the plasma bank on Boulevard, standing in line | 28:22 | |
with the hungover men waiting to sell their blood. | 28:26 | |
Or maybe down at the city jail, shooting the breeze | 28:29 | |
with the bail bondsmen who circle like vultures. | 28:32 | |
I imagine him at the Majestic Diner on Ponce De Leon | 28:36 | |
with a crack dealer, a car their, a prostitute with AIDS, | 28:39 | |
buying them all cheese omelets. | 28:44 | |
When I come in, with a sixth grade confirmation class, | 28:46 | |
and sit down a couple of booths away. | 28:50 | |
I imagine the kids getting a load of this, | 28:54 | |
and then beginning to ask me questions, | 28:56 | |
Is that who we think it is? | 28:59 | |
How come you warn us to stay away from people like that, | 29:02 | |
and there he is." | 29:06 | |
That's how it looked to the Pharisees and Scribes. | 29:09 | |
Anyone with children is rightly concerned when their kids | 29:14 | |
start to hang out with the wrong kind of people. | 29:18 | |
We care about what they watch on TV, what they read, | 29:22 | |
what kind of movies they see, who they're friends are. | 29:26 | |
We guard them against evil influences. | 29:29 | |
I have a friend who got involved in drugs | 29:33 | |
at a very young age, in part because of the crowd | 29:36 | |
that he ran around with. | 29:39 | |
He's been fighting a cocaine addiction for years, | 29:41 | |
and has been in several treatment programs. | 29:44 | |
He'll get clean for a while, and promise himself | 29:48 | |
that he'll never use again, but as soon as he's out, | 29:50 | |
he goes back into the same environment, | 29:54 | |
with the same friends, and before long, | 29:56 | |
he's in the same lifestyle, sliding down the slippery slope | 30:00 | |
of drug addiction. | 30:05 | |
We've discussed it many times and I've told my friend | 30:07 | |
that he needs to make a clean break with his past. | 30:10 | |
Start over, make new friends and new relationships | 30:13 | |
which can support a changed lifestyle. | 30:17 | |
It matters what kind of company you keep. | 30:20 | |
In the parables, we may want to stand with Jesus, | 30:26 | |
or with the lost sheep, | 30:32 | |
but I suspect that most of us stand | 30:34 | |
with the Pharisees and the scribes. | 30:38 | |
We try to live upright lives, and we like to be around | 30:42 | |
other people that try to live upright lives. | 30:46 | |
We don't want to be around undesirables, | 30:49 | |
and certainly we don't want our children to be around them. | 30:52 | |
The problem is that there seem to be | 30:57 | |
more and more undesirables all the time. | 30:58 | |
In the gothic wonderland, | 31:02 | |
we sometimes live with the illusion | 31:04 | |
that undesirables are out there, beyond our walls. | 31:06 | |
Yet within the past two week period, two students | 31:11 | |
are kidnapped, the man is beaten and left for dead | 31:15 | |
and the woman is raped, and then three other people | 31:19 | |
are assaulted in Duke Forest, and another woman is raped. | 31:23 | |
The undesirables are spilling over into our world, | 31:29 | |
and most of us agree, or look for security | 31:33 | |
to keep them out, to keep them away from us, | 31:38 | |
more deterrents, more jails, stiffer penalties, | 31:40 | |
higher walls, more guns, we're like the Pharisees | 31:43 | |
in believing that the separation of good and evil | 31:49 | |
are necessary for the well being | 31:52 | |
and the survival of the community. | 31:54 | |
And we are not alone, there's a long scriptural tradition | 31:56 | |
which speaks to this very need. | 32:00 | |
Proverbs chapter one verses 15 and 16, | 32:03 | |
"My child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot | 32:07 | |
from their paths, for their feet run to evil, | 32:11 | |
and they hurry to shed blood." | 32:14 | |
Psalm one verse one, "Happy are those | 32:17 | |
who do not follow the advice of the wicked, | 32:20 | |
or take the path that sinners tread, | 32:22 | |
or sit in the seat of scoffers." | 32:25 | |
1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, | 32:28 | |
"Do not be deceived, | 32:34 | |
bad company ruins good morals." | 32:37 | |
and 2 Corinthians chapter six verse 17, | 32:41 | |
"Come out from them and be separate from them | 32:45 | |
says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean, | 32:48 | |
then I will welcome you." | 32:51 | |
as one scholar put it, Jesus' failure to observe | 32:54 | |
such distinctions between the good and the bad | 32:58 | |
seem dangerous to some, for the moral and religious fiber | 33:02 | |
of the community, and disturbingly radical, | 33:06 | |
especially in regards to the moral instruction of the young. | 33:10 | |
From the perspective of the Pharisees and the scribes, | 33:15 | |
Jesus' habit of keeping company, especially table fellowship | 33:19 | |
with tax collectors, and sinners was inappropriate, | 33:24 | |
repulsive, and socially disruptive. | 33:28 | |
The purpose of religion was to hold up a standard | 33:32 | |
for people to achieve. | 33:35 | |
To show by example and teaching how one might live a life | 33:37 | |
that is pleasing to God. | 33:41 | |
The Pharisees and scribes took this commitment | 33:43 | |
very seriously, and then along came Jesus, | 33:46 | |
eating with tax collectors and sinners. | 33:50 | |
It was one thing to admonish sinners, and challenge them | 33:54 | |
to turn from their evil ways, but quite another | 33:57 | |
to sit down with them, face to face, laughing and talking | 34:01 | |
over a glass of wine, and a meal. | 34:05 | |
But it was exactly to address this attitude | 34:09 | |
and this criticism by the Pharisees, that the parables | 34:13 | |
of the lost sheep, the lost coin, | 34:16 | |
and the lost son, were told. | 34:19 | |
Right away, Jesus pulls them and us, into the parable. | 34:22 | |
"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep, | 34:27 | |
and losing one of them, does not leave | 34:31 | |
the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost, | 34:34 | |
until you find it." | 34:37 | |
Of course the answer is, none of us. | 34:42 | |
By conventional logic, it is a foolish, unprudent, | 34:48 | |
risky thing to do, the shepherd's livelihood | 34:52 | |
would be much more at risk by leaving the 99 | 34:56 | |
than by losing one. | 35:01 | |
The point of the story is that no right minded shepherd | 35:03 | |
would leave the flock for the sake of the one sheep. | 35:07 | |
One can recoup the loss of one sheep, | 35:10 | |
but the loss of 99 sheep left to fend for themselves | 35:13 | |
in the wilderness would bespeak economic disaster | 35:16 | |
for the shepherd. | 35:20 | |
Or what woman would turn her house upside down | 35:23 | |
for a single coin, or then throw a party | 35:26 | |
for all her friends, because she's found it? | 35:29 | |
Surely the cost of the party would far outstrip | 35:32 | |
the value of the coin. | 35:35 | |
Where's the logic in this? | 35:37 | |
Or what father would welcome back a wayward son | 35:41 | |
without one word of correction? | 35:44 | |
Even throwing a party, which would seem to condone | 35:48 | |
his irresponsible reckless behavior. | 35:51 | |
Not one of these parables makes sense | 35:59 | |
according to our standards of logic. | 36:01 | |
In the parables, relationships are inverted, | 36:04 | |
and worlds are unmade, the lost is valued more highly | 36:07 | |
than the many who never strayed? | 36:12 | |
The sinner is welcomed, and the righteous are admonished? | 36:15 | |
What's going on here? | 36:22 | |
Taylor says that the parables are full of problems, | 36:26 | |
not the least of which is that they don't seem to mean | 36:30 | |
what Jesus says they mean, according to his explanations, | 36:32 | |
they're about heaven's joy over one repentant sinner, | 36:36 | |
but the lost sheep doesn't repent as far as I can tell. | 36:40 | |
And the lost coin certainly doesn't. | 36:44 | |
They're both simply found, not because either of them | 36:47 | |
did anything right, but because someone is determined | 36:51 | |
to find them, and does. | 36:56 | |
They are restored, thanks to God's action, | 37:00 | |
not their own, so where does repentance come in at all? | 37:03 | |
Some scholars say that the first two parables are meant to | 37:10 | |
lead us to the third parable, where the son does repent, | 37:13 | |
and return home to his father. | 37:16 | |
Others say that Jesus was making the parables up as he | 37:19 | |
went along, and he didn't really worry | 37:22 | |
about the logical coherence. | 37:24 | |
And still others say that Jesus probably left them | 37:26 | |
open ended for us to figure out for ourselves, | 37:29 | |
and that editors later came along and added the explanation, | 37:31 | |
so that we would be sure to get the meaning. | 37:35 | |
But another possibility exists. | 37:39 | |
The possibility that they aren't about lost sheep, | 37:42 | |
and lost coins and lost sons at all. | 37:46 | |
But parables about good shepherds, | 37:50 | |
and diligent sweepers, | 37:54 | |
and welcoming fathers. | 37:57 | |
Taylor says that if you're willing to be a shepherd, | 38:00 | |
then the story begins to sound different. | 38:06 | |
The accent in what Jesus says falls of a different syllable. | 38:09 | |
Repentance is not so much the issue, but rejoicing. | 38:15 | |
The plot is not about amending our evil ways, | 38:20 | |
but about seeking, and sweeping, and finding, | 38:25 | |
and rejoicing. | 38:30 | |
The invitation is not about being rescued by Jesus | 38:33 | |
over and over again, but about joining him | 38:36 | |
and rounding up God's herd, and recovering God's treasure. | 38:40 | |
It is about questioning the idea that there are certain | 38:46 | |
conditions that the lost must meet | 38:48 | |
before they're eligible to be found, or that there are | 38:51 | |
certain qualities they must exhibit | 38:54 | |
before we will seek them out. | 38:57 | |
It is about trading our high standards | 38:59 | |
for a strong flashlight, | 39:04 | |
and swapping our good examples for a good broom, | 39:06 | |
it is about discovering the joy of finding. | 39:11 | |
Jesus invited the Pharisees and scribes to join the search | 39:17 | |
and join the party. | 39:22 | |
He challenged them to care more deeply about all the people | 39:24 | |
they had given up on, and to be willing | 39:28 | |
to take more risks to find them. | 39:30 | |
It isn't simply enough to separate people | 39:33 | |
according to what we think they are worth. | 39:37 | |
As one scholar says, the Pharisees and scribes murmur, | 39:40 | |
because Jesus gives extravagant value to those | 39:44 | |
who should not merit such attention. | 39:48 | |
But Jesus shows that the worth and value of one sheep | 39:51 | |
is not to be computed according to the market price. | 39:55 | |
He reveals a God who meticulously pursues | 39:58 | |
confused and rebellious creatures. | 40:02 | |
Such searching gives value to the ones being sought. | 40:06 | |
They become treasured and significant, | 40:11 | |
because they're not left for lost, | 40:15 | |
but are made the objects of divine concern. | 40:18 | |
In these parables, we're given a glimpse | 40:22 | |
of the extravagance of a God who loves enough | 40:24 | |
to seek the lost, and bring back the strayed. | 40:27 | |
To bind up the crippled, and strengthen the weak. | 40:30 | |
We're given a glimpse of the extravagance of a God | 40:35 | |
who loves enough to forgive, and to welcome those | 40:38 | |
who repent, and those who are simply found. | 40:42 | |
We're given a glimpse of the extravagance of divine mercy, | 40:47 | |
and the unbounded joy of God when the lost are found. | 40:51 | |
In the parables, Jesus invites us to become shepherds | 40:57 | |
who actively pursue the lost, because it is enough | 41:02 | |
that they are precious to God, and worth being saved. | 41:07 | |
When we treat others, not on the basis | 41:13 | |
of what the world says they're worth, | 41:15 | |
but on the basis of how they are valued by God, | 41:18 | |
then restoration and wholeness become possible. | 41:22 | |
The chasms which separate us, good from evil, | 41:26 | |
and worthy from unworthy, and lost from found, | 41:29 | |
are bridged by an extravagant love which embraces us all, | 41:32 | |
and invites us to celebrate. | 41:37 | |
A pastor in Florida talked about how her congregation | 41:42 | |
became concerned about the plight of the homeless | 41:46 | |
in their city, they could see them wandering the streets | 41:48 | |
at night, sleeping in doorways. | 41:52 | |
She told her congregation, | 41:55 | |
"You know, we've got this big fellowship hall | 41:57 | |
downstairs, why don't we simply invite some of these | 41:59 | |
homeless men to come and spend the night here?" | 42:03 | |
Well, why not, how nice of a church | 42:06 | |
to do something nice for the homeless. | 42:10 | |
The first night 55 homeless men | 42:13 | |
entered the fellowship hall to spend the night. | 42:15 | |
She said "Now you take 55 homeless men off the street, | 42:19 | |
and put them into a Methodist fellowship hall, | 42:24 | |
and you've got problems. | 42:26 | |
First of all we found out that there's a reason | 42:29 | |
why many of them are homeless, nobody wants them. | 42:31 | |
Crazy, sick, offensive, malnourished, addicted, | 42:35 | |
we had never actually met any homeless people. | 42:40 | |
It was rough at first, fights, a robbery, | 42:43 | |
somebody came down to distribute food one night | 42:47 | |
and got roughed up, it was a mess. | 42:50 | |
All we wanted to do was be nice to some homeless people." | 42:53 | |
So what happened? | 42:57 | |
She said "We realized we had two choices, | 42:59 | |
either throw them out, or else do what was necessary | 43:02 | |
to be the sort of place that could show hospitality | 43:06 | |
to 55 homeless people. | 43:10 | |
By the grace of God we chose the latter, medical care, | 43:13 | |
food, counseling, support, hand holding, and listening | 43:17 | |
were developed. | 43:20 | |
Our congregation was converted from a friendly | 43:22 | |
ordinary religious club, protecting it's clubhouse, | 43:25 | |
to a committed bold church, because when we opened our doors | 43:30 | |
to 55 homeless men, | 43:35 | |
guess who else got in with them?" | 43:38 | |
she said, "and if you listened you could hear | 43:40 | |
the faint sound of rejoicing." | 43:44 | |
When we seek the lost | 43:49 | |
we join ourselves to a seeking | 43:53 | |
sweeping, finding, welcoming, | 43:56 | |
loving, partying God. | 43:59 | |
Which one of you will join the search? | 44:04 | |
(organ music) | 44:15 | |
(congregation sings) | 44:59 | |
- | The Lord be with you | 48:05 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 48:06 |
- | Let us pray, you may be seated, | 48:08 |
Lord God we confess that we are the lost. | 48:21 | |
We are foolish people, we do not know you, | 48:27 | |
we are skilled in doing evil, we do not know | 48:34 | |
how to do the good. | 48:39 | |
Our only hope lies in your mercy. | 48:42 | |
Seek us and find us, | 48:47 | |
Lord, in your mercy, | 48:50 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 48:51 |
- | Lord God we thank you that you came into the world | 48:55 |
to save sinners, that you have not given up on us. | 48:58 | |
We praise you and thank you, we rejoice. | 49:05 | |
And we pray that we, as the Church might become | 49:13 | |
in turn, the shepherds and sweepers through which | 49:17 | |
you reach out to find and reclaim a lost world. | 49:22 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 49:28 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 49:30 |
- | For those who are lost in poverty, shunned, | 49:32 |
lost in drug addiction, homeless, we pray for your mercy | 49:38 | |
we pray that you would find them, bring them into the family | 49:48 | |
of your people where they can find restoration. | 49:54 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 49:58 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 49:59 |
- | For those who are lost in sickness or suffering, | 50:01 |
may your mercy find them and bring healing and comfort, | 50:05 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 50:11 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 50:13 |
- | For those who are lost in the nightmare of war | 50:15 |
and conflict, especially in Eastern Europe, may your spirit | 50:19 | |
which seeks out the world, bring peace and reconciliation | 50:26 | |
even in the places where it seems most improbable, | 50:35 | |
where there seems so little hope. | 50:41 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 50:44 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 50:45 |
- | For the congregation at Duke chapel, | 50:50 |
on this 10th anniversary of it's existence, | 50:54 | |
we pray for your special grace, | 50:58 | |
we pray for an increasing clarity of mission, | 51:02 | |
and increasing degree of fellowship with one another, | 51:05 | |
and we pray too for the Church universal, | 51:12 | |
may it be a faithful reflection of your kingdom. | 51:15 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 51:19 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 51:21 |
- | For parents and children seeking each other, | 51:23 |
seemingly lost sometimes to each other, | 51:30 | |
we pray that the word of grace would embrace and sustain | 51:34 | |
the families in our midst, | 51:44 | |
and restore those that have been broken. | 51:46 | |
Help us to find each other, | 51:49 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 51:52 | |
All | Hear our prayer. | 51:54 |
- | Lord through you the worlds that we inhabit | 51:56 |
are unmade, and we find ourselves restored | 51:59 | |
in your new creation, you are the king of the ages, | 52:03 | |
immortal, invisible, the only wise God. | 52:08 | |
To you is all honor and glory forever. | 52:12 | |
We thank you that you hear all these our petitions | 52:16 | |
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 52:20 | |
Let us now offer our tithes and offerings to God. | 52:47 | |
(organ music) | 53:13 | |
(choir sings) | 53:18 | |
(organ music) | 59:16 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 59:50 | |
♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪ | 59:56 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:00:02 | |
♪ Praise God above ye heavenly hosts ♪ | 1:00:09 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 1:00:15 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:00:22 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:00:28 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:00:34 | |
- | Lord God your mercy and kindness | 1:00:47 |
has bestowed upon us riches | 1:00:50 | |
beyond all we could ask or think. | 1:00:52 | |
We give you thanks and praise from our hearts, | 1:00:55 | |
and we give back to you as a sign, | 1:01:00 | |
this token of our thanksgiving, | 1:01:04 | |
we turn to you with grateful hearts, | 1:01:07 | |
and we pray to you in the words taught us | 1:01:10 | |
by Jesus our Lord, | 1:01:13 | |
All | Our Father who art in heaven | 1:01:16 |
hallowed be thy name. | 1:01:19 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:01:21 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 1:01:24 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 1:01:27 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 1:01:29 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:01:32 | |
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:01:36 | |
For thine is the kingdom and the power | 1:01:40 | |
and the glory forever, Amen. | 1:01:43 | |
(organ music) | 1:01:47 | |
(congregation sings) | 1:03:19 | |
- | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:05:44 |
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit | 1:05:46 | |
be with you and keep you. | 1:05:50 | |
(choir sings) | 1:05:57 | |
(organ music) | 1:07:55 |