Hans J. Hillerbrand - "On Doing the Wrong Thing at the Right Time" (September 24, 1995)

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	(uplifting organ music)	0:05
-	Grace and peace to you	1:51
	in the name of the lord Jesus Christ	1:53
	and welcome to the celebration of Holy Eucharist	1:55
	here at Duke Chapel.	1:57
	We are delighted to welcome all visitors to our campus	1:59
	and we wish you a pleasant stay.	2:02
	Our preacher for this morning's service	2:04
	is the Reverend Dr. Hans Hillerbrand,	2:06
	Chairman of the Duke University	2:08
	department of religion and noted church historian	2:09
	of the Reformation period.	2:12
	We are delighted to welcome Dr. Hillerbrand back	2:14
	to this pulpit.	2:16
	In anticipation of a very special service	2:18
	which is held each year in honor of	2:21
	the St. Francis of Assisi feast day	2:23
	you are invited next Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm	2:26
	to a blessing of the animals service	2:30
	to be held here on our chapel steps.	2:31
	If you are bringing an animal to this service	2:34
	please be in the divinity parking lot	2:36
	where the procession to the chapel steps will begin.	2:38
	Also, immediately following today's service	2:42
	there will be a lemonade reception	2:45
	hosted by the congregation at Duke Chapel	2:47
	held in the chapel basement lounge	2:49
	just below this area.	2:51
	Please note the remaining announcements	2:54
	as they are printed in your bulletins,	2:55
	and now will you please stand for the greeting?	2:57
	Create in me a clean heart, O God.	3:07
	(congregation answering)	3:10
	Open my lips, O Lord.	3:14
	(congregation answering)	3:16
	(uplifting choral music)	3:20
	When we gather to praise God	9:03
	we recognize that we have failed to be the people	9:05
	that God has called us to be.	9:08
	Therefore let us confess our sins	9:10
	before God and one another	9:12
	trusting in God's grace.	9:15
Everyone	Most merciful God,	9:18
	we confess that we have sinned against you	9:20
	in thought, word, and deed	9:23
	by what we have done and by what we have left undone.	9:26
	We have not loved you with our whole heart.	9:30
	We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	9:33
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.	9:37
	For the sake of your son Jesus Christ	9:40
	have mercy on us and forgive us	9:43
	that we might delight in your will	9:46
	and walk in your ways	9:49
	to the glory of your name.	9:50
	Amen.	9:52
-	Almighty God have mercy on you,	10:05
	forgive all your sins through our lord Jesus Christ,	10:08
	strengthen you in all goodness,	10:12
	and by the power of the Holy Spirit	10:15
	keep you in eternal life.	10:17
	Amen.	10:20
-	Let us pray the prayer for illumination.	10:31
Everyone	Open our hearts and minds, O God	10:35
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	10:37
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	10:40
	we may hear your message with joy this day.	10:43
	Amen.	10:47
-	The Old Testament lesson in reading	10:49
	is from the book of Jeremiah.	10:50
	Chapter eight, verse 18	10:52
	through Chapter nine, verse one.	10:54
	My joy is gone.	10:58
	Grief is upon me.	11:00
	My heart is sick.	11:02
	Hark, the cry of my poor people	11:04
	from afar and wide in the land.	11:07
	Is the Lord not in Zion?	11:09
	Is her King not in her?	11:12
	Why have they provoked me to anger with their images?	11:14
	With their foreign idols.	11:17
	The harvest is passed,	11:20
	the summer is ended,	11:22
	and we are not saved.	11:24
	For the hurt of my poor people	11:27
	I am hurt.	11:29
	I mourn and dismay has taken hold of me.	11:31
	Is there no balm in Gillead?	11:34
	Is there no physician there?	11:37
	Why then has the health of my poor people	11:39
	not been restored?	11:42
	Oh that my head were a spring of water	11:44
	and my eyes a fountain of tears	11:46
	so that I might weep day and night	11:49
	for the slain of my poor people.	11:51
	This is the word of the lord.	11:55
-	The gospel reading is from Luke.	12:11
	Chapter 16, verses one through 13.	12:14
	Then Jesus said to his disciples	12:21
	there was a rich man who had a steward	12:26
	and charges were brought to him	12:30
	that this man was squandering his property	12:32
	so he summoned him and said to him,	12:37
	what is this I hear about you?	12:40
	Give me an account of your stewardship	12:44
	because you cannot be my steward any longer.	12:47
	Then, the manager said to himself,	12:52
	what will I do now that my master	12:56
	is taking the position away from me?	12:59
	I am not strong enough to dig	13:03
	and I am ashamed to beg.	13:06
	I have decided what to do	13:09
	so that when I am dismissed as steward	13:12
	some will welcome me into their homes.	13:16
	So, summoning his master's debtors one by one	13:20
	he asked the first,	13:25
	how much do you owe my master?	13:27
	He answered a hundred measures of oil.	13:30
	He said to him, take your bill,	13:36
	sit down quickly and write 50	13:39
	then he asked another,	13:43
	and how much do you owe?	13:46
	He replied, one hundred measures of wheat	13:49
	and he said to him, take your bill	13:52
	and write down 80.	13:56
	The master praised the dishonest steward	13:59
	for his astuteness.	14:03
	For the children of this world	14:06
	are more astute in dealing with their own generation	14:08
	than are the children of light	14:12
	and I tell you make friends for yourselves	14:16
	by means of dishonest wealth	14:19
	so that when it is gone	14:23
	they may welcome you into the eternal homes.	14:25
	Whoever is faithful in very little	14:31
	is faithful also in much	14:34
	and whoever is dishonest in very little	14:37
	is dishonest also in much.	14:41
	If then, you have not been faithful with dishonest will,	14:45
	who will entrust to you the true riches?	14:51
	And if you have not been faithful	14:56
	with what belongs to another,	14:58
	who will give you what is your own?	15:01
	No slave can serve two masters.	15:06
	For a slave will either hate the one and love the other	15:10
	or be devoted to the one and despise the other.	15:15
	You cannot serve God and wealth.	15:21
	This is the word of the lord.	15:27
	So this is the story I am to preach about	15:35
	and I suppose that my first comment	15:40
	should be in all candor to solicit your sympathy	15:43
	for having to preach on such a strange	15:48
	and even weird text	15:51
	and my second comment must be again in all candor	15:53
	that this parable puzzles me to no end.	15:58
	The parable reminds me of a news item	16:02
	in the Wallstreet Journal	16:05
	or of an episode on LA Law	16:07
	but not of a gospel story.	16:10
	But then again,	16:14
	if it were a news item in the Wallstreet Journal	16:15
	it would have a different ending.	16:18
	So the story begins with an informer,	16:21
	a tattle tale, who runs to the owner of a business	16:24
	of a company and tells the owner	16:28
	that his manager, probably the Chief Financial Officer,	16:31
	has blown it.	16:34
	Incompetence, fraud, embezzlement,	16:36
	engaging in risky deals, like the young man	16:40
	of Farren Spank in the far East.	16:43
	It's not quite clear what the accusation actually is	16:45
	but whatever it is, it is sufficient for the owner	16:49
	of the company to fire the manager.	16:53
	And it goes something like this,	16:56
	the owner calls the financial officer in	16:59
	and says, I'm sorry, you've blown it, you're fired.	17:02
	Clean out your desk by 5:00 this afternoon	17:09
	and I want a financial statement of the company.	17:12
	So that's bad news	17:16
	and of course a bad story	17:18
	and the manager begins to realize rather quickly	17:21
	what has happened to him.	17:24
	As we would say, he is in deep yogurt.	17:27
	Having been fired at his age	17:30
	there is a slim chance that he will get another job.	17:33
	He says to himself, I'm too old to start over again	17:37
	and unemployment compensation is peanuts.	17:42
	And so the story takes a rather interesting turn.	17:48
	The manager decides to get together	17:51
	with two of the main clients of the business	17:55
	to make sure that he will land on his feet.	17:58
	And I suspect we can all see them	18:03
	there at the Magnolia Grill, a corner table,	18:06
	one last fling on the expense account	18:08
	and the manager asks the first client,	18:11
	now tell me what do you owe our company?	18:13
	And the answer is we owe you for a hundred ton	18:16
	of West Texas crude	18:19
	and the manager says change that to 50	18:22
	and at the second lunch	18:25
	the manager asks the same question	18:27
	and the answer is, we owe you for 100 tons of wheat	18:30
	and the manager responds, let's make that an even 80	18:35
	and that's the story.	18:42
	Now there are lots of loose ends in that story.	18:44
	We're not told of the owner's reaction	18:47
	to those two power lunches at the Magnolia Grill	18:50
	nor are we told if the accusations	18:54
	against the manager are true or not	18:56
	and so we don't really know	18:59
	if we should feel sympathy for the owner	19:01
	or for his Chief Financial Officer.	19:04
	At any rate, the manager, the Chief Financial Officer	19:07
	does not get a chance to defend himself	19:11
	against the accusations	19:14
	and so on the one hand he may well have been	19:16
	a conscientious employee who became the victim	19:20
	of some office intrigue.	19:24
	That sort of thing happens.	19:25
	Or maybe the manager was a scoundrel,	19:27
	a real scoundrel and finally was caught.	19:31
	That is to say he was fired	19:34
	but then he turns right around	19:37
	and does the same thing all over again.	19:38
	So now what are we to make of this?	19:45
	Above all I suggest to you	19:48
	that Jesus had a real sense of humor	19:50
	because otherwise he would not have told this story.	19:53
	I suspect that Jesus' audience roared with laughter	19:59
	about that street smart manager	20:03
	who outwitted the owner of the business.	20:07
	Remember the way we laughed a few years ago	20:11
	in the movie "Sting" when Paul Redford,	20:16
	Robert Redford and Paul Newman	20:21
	outwitted the Chicago gamblers	20:23
	or how we laughed in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"	20:26
	when Michael Kane tried to outwit Steve Martin	20:29
	and Steve Martin tried to outwit Michael Kane	20:32
	and both were outwitted by a woman.	20:36
	We laugh because sometimes in an intriguing way	20:39
	we suspend our moral judgment and delight	20:44
	that the bad guys and gals come out ahead	20:48
	because at times it's fun	20:52
	to empathize with the scoundrels,	20:54
	especially if they're smart	20:57
	and in our story the manager is in desperate straights.	21:00
	We feel sorry for him	21:05
	because he's in a real predicament.	21:08
	The water is up to his nostrils	21:10
	but then he outwits the owner	21:12
	and makes sure that he lands on his feet	21:14
	and that of course is funny.	21:17
	But it's not very moral	21:22
	because now comes the weird part	21:25
	and that is that Jesus applauds and praises the manager,	21:27
	that scoundrel, and that part,	21:32
	that sentence at the very end of the parable	21:36
	surely is not very funny	21:39
	because we expect Jesus to make a defined pronouncement.	21:43
	To offer moral precepts, even if they at times	21:48
	stun us a little bit.	21:53
	Like the one about turning the other cheek	21:55
	or the one about the meek inheriting the Earth,	21:58
	my goodness, when did that happen the last time?	22:03
	One thing is clear,	22:07
	we surely don't expect Jesus to praise moral turpitude	22:09
	but so says our text,	22:13
	the master praised the dishonest manager	22:15
	for his astuteness.	22:19
	Maybe if we can put it that way	22:23
	Jesus should take a course in business ethics	22:26
	at the Fuqua school or one in ethical issues	22:29
	in the life cycle by my colleague Tom McCullah.	22:32
	Now, the problem of course is not with the story,	22:37
	it's not the story itself.	22:41
	I think it is quite funny,	22:44
	perhaps even alas and alas quite realistic	22:47
	but the trouble is with Jesus' stamp of approval.	22:52
	Cheating your boss twice in a row	22:56
	and then getting praised for it.	23:00
	Now how does that square with Christian ethics?	23:02
	Or to say it another way,	23:06
	how in the world can Jesus praise an embezzler?	23:08
	So I suggest to you our parable	23:14
	can compete for being the most obscure passage	23:17
	in the New Testament.	23:20
	Challenged perhaps only by certain passages	23:21
	in the book of Revelation	23:24
	and Luke himself must have had some problems with the story	23:27
	and with Jesus' commendation afterwards	23:32
	because he adds some explanatory verses	23:35
	to the end of the story	23:39
	but these verses confuse things	23:41
	rather than clarify them.	23:43
	For one in his explanation Luke gets focused	23:46
	on wealth and on money	23:49
	which is nice and good	23:52
	but which really does not seem to be	23:54
	at the heart of the parable	23:56
	and then he adds the verse,	23:58
	the person who can be trusted in little things	24:00
	can also be trusted in big things,	24:03
	and says Luke, we better be skeptical	24:06
	about the person who has faulted in small things	24:09
	because that person surely is not likely	24:13
	to be responsible when it comes to large things either.	24:16
	Now, that's well and good	24:21
	and in fact I should have preached on that verse	24:24
	because that would have been easy	24:28
	since there is so much common sense to it.	24:30
	The only trouble I suspect	24:34
	is had I done so, you would not have had	24:36
	to come to church to hear about it.	24:39
	You might as well have stayed at home	24:42
	particularly on a rainy day like this.	24:44
	Poured yourself another cup of coffee	24:47
	and read Ann Landers	24:49
	because Ann Landers, as an ardent reader of her column,	24:51
	I can testify to that, speaks about this sort of thing	24:55
	in just about every column	24:59
	she does not deal with sex or with in-laws.	25:01
	Every business operates that way	25:05
	and once you think about it	25:09
	that is indeed how we relate	25:11
	without being so told to other people.	25:13
	In short, trust governs relationships.	25:17
	Last semester I had a student	25:23
	who stopped attending class after the first	25:27
	two weeks of the semester	25:31
	and then two weeks before finals,	25:33
	in the meantime he had missed	25:37
	a pile of assignments and was in a heap of trouble,	25:40
	he appeared in my office with this wonderful sentence,	25:43
	Dr. Hillerbrand, I want to talk to you	25:47
	because you are the only person on this campus	25:50
	with whom I feel I can be open and honest.	25:52
	I should have quoted Luke to him	25:57
	but for the purposes of this morning	26:01
	Luke's belaboring the obvious,	26:04
	that simply does not fit the parable.	26:07
	In fact, Luke's explanation once you think about it	26:10
	is the exact opposite of what the story is about.	26:13
	What the manager clearly did was being dishonest	26:18
	and what Jesus clearly did was to praise him	26:23
	and then come the learned New Testament scholars	26:29
	and their exegetical contortions	26:33
	trying to explain this complicated text	26:36
	namely why Jesus praised a scoundrel	26:39
	tend to remind me of a performance	26:43
	of the dance troupe philopolus.	26:45
	Now there's one explanation	26:48
	which has it that the manager included	26:50
	in the original amounts,	26:53
	the interest due the deferred payments,	26:54
	and what he did was simply reduce the debtors accounts	26:58
	by the amount of interest due.	27:01
	I'm sure you got that.	27:04
	He pleased his debtors, acted legally,	27:06
	and put his master in a good light.	27:09
	Wonderful action, wonderful moral.	27:12
	Another explanation is that the amounts	27:15
	included the manager's own commission	27:18
	which he was willing to forfeit	27:20
	in order to gain the client's favor.	27:23
	Well now, I doubt if the hearer's of Jesus' story	27:27
	were familiar with the intricacies of interest taking	27:31
	in business practices.	27:35
	Parables are simple stories as this one is	27:37
	and we should not make them complicated.	27:41
	Just imagine making a simple story	27:44
	out of the White Water affair	27:47
	where you need to have an advanced degree	27:49
	I think in real estate law to understand	27:51
	what went on.	27:54
	The eyes of most of us surely would glaze over.	27:56
	Actually, the story I think is very simple.	28:00
	Jesus commends the manager's prudence	28:05
	in recognizing a catastrophe and doing something about it.	28:08
	The manager was showing prudence	28:15
	in recognizing a catastrophe	28:18
	and then doing something about it.	28:21
	It sounds very simple but it's not very easy	28:25
	because when adversity befalls us	28:29
	we tend to freeze up, become paralyzed,	28:32
	incapable of doing anything but bewale our circumstances	28:37
	and we do that because we have already given up	28:42
	on the present and we live in the future	28:45
	but of course we live in the future	28:49
	the way we imagine it.	28:51
	We all tend to be true believers in Newton's	28:54
	revised law of gravity	28:56
	that the open sandwich always falls face down	28:58
	or what for many is the first law of the universe,	29:01
	that if something can go wrong, it surely will.	29:04
	And it goes like this, you get a C in the first test	29:09
	in Bonkistry or Chemistry	29:12
	and you conclude that it's all over for Med School.	29:15
	You get divorced and you conclude	29:20
	that your life is really over.	29:22
	You read about the crime rate in Durham	29:25
	and you conclude that's that for civilization	29:27
	as we have known it.	29:30
	You're told by your physician that you have cancer	29:32
	and you conclude that there is nothing to live for.	29:36
	You're fired, outplaced,	29:40
	whatever they call it these days,	29:41
	and you conclude that that's the end of your career.	29:43
	Now what all of these scenarios have in common	29:47
	is that they make an assumption about the future	29:51
	and a terribly gloomy one at that.	29:55
	It's called circling the wagons.	29:58
	To protect and to defend yourself.	30:01
	After all, we don't want to fight hopeless causes	30:05
	and the parable of the astute manager	30:10
	tells us that this is the wrong way	30:12
	to look at things and to live our lives.	30:16
	The parable tells us to rise to the occasion	30:20
	and to the challenge of adversity.	30:24
	Buy a bottle of champagne for a friend.	30:27
	Take a day off.	30:30
	Fly a kite on the quad.	30:31
	Be astute, be smart.	30:33
	I'm reminded of the story of a Rabbi	30:38
	who had a friend wanted by the police for burglary.	30:41
	How can that be?	30:46
	Said the Rabbi's disciples.	30:47
	And the Rabbi answered, well everyday this man	30:51
	teaches me something new about how God works	30:55
	in this world.	30:58
	When everyone else is asleep	31:00
	he is diligently at work.	31:03
	While others only know how to lock doors,	31:05
	he is wonderful knowing how to open them	31:09
	and where others go about their work noisily,	31:13
	chatting endlessly, he does his job quietly	31:15
	and unnoticed and the Rabbi concluded	31:21
	my friend is a true artist.	31:25
	Now the Rabbi story is as strange	31:30
	as is our parable but the fact of the matter is	31:34
	that the New Testament has a lot to say about all this.	31:38
	It surely was Jesus' fundamental message	31:42
	that the future is God's future	31:46
	and that we must be open to it.	31:50
	We are called upon to be open to God's coming to us	31:52
	in the unexpected and then do something.	31:58
	Jesus said not to be anxious about our lives,	32:04
	not to be anxious about tomorrow.	32:08
	Jesus said let the days own trouble	32:11
	be sufficient for the day.	32:14
	He told us that worrying about the future	32:17
	will get us nowhere.	32:20
	You know it's exactly like worrying about	32:22
	being on an airplane	32:24
	because once the plane is airborne,	32:27
	there is nothing you can do about the plane crashing	32:29
	and if you're apprehensive about this sort of thing	32:32
	you should not have gotten on the plane in the first place.	32:34
	On the plane you should make plans for the future.	32:37
	Surely it was Jesus' fundamental message	32:42
	to his followers to trust in God's future.	32:46
	Now there's some among us	32:51
	who when they place themselves into God's future	32:53
	confuse God's future with theirs	32:57
	and their future is clear and simple	33:01
	and predictable and manageable.	33:04
	According to that the manager would have	33:08
	quietly applied for unemployment insurance	33:11
	and then read the help wanted ads in the Durham paper.	33:15
	That in short was the manager of the parable	33:20
	until the shoe dropped.	33:24
	But the New Testament tells us	33:27
	that we must let God direct us	33:29
	into the unexpected and so the parable	33:32
	of the astute manager tells us	33:36
	that doing the wrong thing at the right time	33:38
	might mean doing the right thing after all.	33:41
	It tells us that what we see in life	33:45
	is not always the real thing	33:48
	and just when we, as the manager,	33:51
	know that we have it all figured out,	33:55
	something usually happens	33:57
	and Jesus comes into the picture	34:01
	by telling us a funny story	34:02
	which exhorts us to embrace and accept	34:05
	and to live the unexpected.	34:08
	In fact, coming to think of it,	34:13
	that is not only what this story	34:16
	but also what the bread and the wine	34:19
	we are about to receive are all about.	34:23
	Amen.	34:26
Reverend Nancy	The lord be with you.	34:37
Congregation	And also with you.	34:39
-	Let us pray.	34:40
	Almighty God, who reveals grace to us	34:47
	even in the unexpected events of life,	34:52
	with gladness we give thanks for all your goodness.	34:55
	We bless you for the love which has created	34:59
	and which sustains us from day to day.	35:02
	We praise you for the gift of your son,	35:05
	our savior through whom you have revealed	35:07
	your will and grace.	35:10
	We thank you for the Holy Spirit, the comforter.	35:13
	For the church, for the means of grace,	35:16
	for the lives of all faithful and good people,	35:19
	and for the hope of the life to come.	35:22
	Help us to treasure in our hearts	35:25
	all that our lord has done for us	35:27
	and enable us to show our thankfulness	35:30
	by lives that are wholly given to your service.	35:33
	Lord in your mercy,	35:37
	hear our prayer.	35:39
	Let us pray for all who are in sorrow or need,	35:41
	sickness or adversity.	35:45
	Have mercy on those to whom death draws near.	35:48
	Strengthen the weary and bind up the wounds	35:52
	of the broken hearted.	35:55
	Lord in your mercy,	35:58
	hear our prayer.	36:00
	Let us pray for those burdened not by too little	36:02
	but by too much.	36:05
	For those who have so many choices	36:07
	they are consumed by their own desires.	36:09
	For those who have so much wealth	36:13
	that they prize possessions more than people.	36:15
	For those who have so much power	36:19
	they use others for their own gain.	36:21
	Unmask our false securities, O God	36:25
	and teach us to place our trust in you alone.	36:27
	Lord in your mercy,	36:32
	hear our prayer.	36:34
	Let us pray for our families	36:36
	with whom we live day by day.	36:38
	May young and old alike learn from each other	36:41
	by all that we do and say	36:45
	help us to build up the faith and confidence	36:47
	of those we love and when we quarrel	36:49
	help us to forgive quickly.	36:52
	Lord in your mercy,	36:55
	hear our prayer.	36:57
	Let us pray for the places where we work,	37:00
	that we may pursue our vocations with integrity.	37:03
	Teach us how to befriend those with whom we work.	37:07
	To be role models for those who look up to us.	37:10
	Especially we pray for the faculty, staff,	37:14
	and employees of this University.	37:17
	That they may be enabled to create an environment	37:20
	which fosters mutual respect and consideration	37:23
	of the needs of each individual.	37:26
	Lord in your mercy,	37:29
	hear our prayer.	37:30
	Let us pray for the needs of all students.	37:33
	Encourage those filled with self doubt.	37:36
	Uplift those who are down cast.	37:39
	Deliver wise council to those facing difficult decisions.	37:42
	Comfort those who are lonely or afraid.	37:47
	Teach them to value that	37:51
	which is most important in your eyes	37:52
	and not simply the eyes of the world.	37:55
	Lord in your mercy,	37:58
	hear our prayer.	38:00
	Let us pray for the varied society's and cultures	38:02
	which coexist in your world.	38:05
	We thank you that you did not create us	38:07
	to love alone nor did you create us all to be alike.	38:09
	Especially we pray for those who seek	38:14
	through peaceful means to bring about	38:16
	reconciliation between races, cultures, and nations	38:19
	who are in conflict with one another.	38:23
	Lord in your mercy,	38:26
	hear our prayer.	38:28
	Oh saving God, your voice intrudes upon our lives	38:30
	with words of truth containing both judgment and grace.	38:34
	Accept the fervent prayers of your people	38:39
	as we seek to acknowledge our human limitations	38:42
	and to obey your call to discipleship	38:45
	in the greatness of your mercy	38:48
	look with compassion upon us	38:51
	and all who turn to you for help.	38:53
	For you are gracious,	38:56
	oh giver of rain to the just and the unjust	38:58
	and to you we give glory.	39:01
	Amen.	39:04
	Christ our lord invites to his table	39:08
	all who love him and who seek to live in peace	39:10
	with one another.	39:14
	Therefore let us exchange with one another	39:15
	signs of reconciliation and love.	39:17
	Let your light so shine before people	39:43
	that they may see your good works	39:45
	and give glory to god who is in heaven.	39:47
	(slow organ music)	39:59
	(uplifting choral music)	41:06
	(choir singing)	42:53
	(inspirational organ music)	45:19
	(everyone singing)	46:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:23
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:27
	(everyone singing)	46:32
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:45
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:49
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:52
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:56
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	46:59
	The lord be with you.	47:12
Congregation	And also with you.	47:13
Reverend Nancy	Lift up your hearts.	47:15
Congregation	Lift up to the lord.	47:16
-	Let us give thanks to the lord our God	47:19
	(congregation speaking)	47:22
	Blessed are you sovereign of the ages	47:25
	who's strong and loving arms	47:27
	encompass the universe.	47:29
	For with your eternal word and Holy Spirit	47:31
	you are forever one God.	47:34
	Through your word you created all things	47:36
	and called them good	47:39
	and in you we live and move and have our being.	47:40
	When we fell into sin you did not desert us.	47:44
	You made covenant with your people Israel	47:48
	and spoke through teachers and profits.	47:50
	In Jesus Christ your word became flesh	47:53
	and dwelt among us full of grace and truth	47:56
	and so with your people on Earth	48:00
	and all the company of heaven	48:02
	we praise your name and join their unending hymn.	48:04
	(uplifting organ music)	48:07
	♪ Holy holy holy ♪	48:16
	♪ God of power and might ♪	48:21
	(everyone singing)	48:26
	♪ Hosannah in the highest ♪	48:43
	Holy are you and blessed is Jesus Christ	48:56
	who you called Aba Father	48:59
	as a mother tenderly gathers her children	49:01
	you embraced a people as your own	49:04
	and filled them with longing	49:07
	for a peace that would last	49:08
	and for a justice	49:10
	that would never fail.	49:11
	In Jesus' suffering and death	49:13
	you took upon yourself our sin and death	49:15
	offered a perfect sacrifice	49:19
	for the sin of the whole world	49:20
	and destroyed the power of sin and death.	49:22
	You raised from the dead this same Jesus	49:26
	who now reigns with you in glory	49:28
	and poured upon us your Holy Spirit	49:31
	making us the people of your new covenant.	49:33
	On the night before meeting with death	49:36
	Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you,	49:39
	broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,	49:42
	take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,	49:46
	do this in remembrance of me.	49:50
	When the supper was over Jesus took the cup,	49:54
	gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said,	49:57
	drink from this all of you.	50:00
	This is my blood of the new covenant,	50:03
	poured out for you and for many	50:05
	for the forgiveness of sins.	50:07
	Do this as often as you drink it	50:09
	in remembrance of me.	50:11
	When the supper was over Jesus took the cup	50:15
	and he said in remembrance of these, your mighty acts	50:17
	in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves	50:20
	in praise and thanksgiving	50:23
	as a holy living sacrifice.	50:24
	In union with Christ offering for us	50:26
	as we proclaim the mystery of our faith.	50:29
	♪ Christ has died ♪	50:36
	♪ Christ is risen ♪	50:38
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	50:41
	Pour out your holy spirit on us gathered here	50:48
	and on these gifts of bread and wine.	50:51
	Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ	50:54
	that we may be for the world	50:57
	the body of Christ redeemed by Christ blood.	50:58
	As the grain and grapes once disbursed in the fields	51:02
	are now united on this table	51:05
	in bread and wine	51:07
	so may we and all your people be gathered	51:08
	from time and place into the unity	51:11
	of your eternal household and feast at your table forever.	51:13
	Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ	51:17
	in the unity of the Holy Spirit	51:21
	all honor and gory is yours almighty God	51:23
	now and forever.	51:26
	♪ Amen ♪	51:32
	♪ Amen ♪	51:34
	♪ Amen ♪	51:37
	And now we are bold to pray	51:46
	the prayer that Jesus has taught us.	51:48
Everyone	Our father	51:50
	who art in heaven	51:51
	hallowed be thy name	51:52
	thy kingdom come	51:54
	thy will be done	51:56
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	51:57
	Give us this day our daily bread	52:00
	and forgive us our trespasses	52:02
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	52:04
	and lead us not into temptation	52:07
	but deliver us from evil.	52:10
	For thine is the kingdom,	52:12
	the power, and the glory.	52:13
	Forever.	52:15
	Amen.	52:16
	When we break the bread	52:22
	is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ?	52:23
	When we give thanks over the cup	52:29
	is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ?	52:30
	The gifts of God for the people of God.	52:45
	(uplifting organ music)	53:00
	(everyone singing)	54:05
	(uplifting organ music)	58:20
	(everyone singing)	58:35
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	59:13
	(everyone singing)	59:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:21
	(everyone singing)	1:00:27
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:01:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:01:29
	(everyone singing)	1:01:34
	Please stand as we pray.	1:04:45
	Bountiful God, we give thanks	1:04:55
	that you have refreshed us at your table	1:04:57
	by granting us the presence of Christ.	1:05:00
	Strengthen our faith, increase our love for one another,	1:05:03
	and send us forth into the world	1:05:07
	in courage and peace	1:05:09
	rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.	1:05:11
	Amen.	1:05:15
	(uplifting organ music)	1:05:17
	(everyone singing)	1:06:00
	The blessing of the God of Abraham and Sarah,	1:09:06
	the blessing of Jesus Christ born of Mary,	1:09:10
	the blessing of the Holy Spirit	1:09:13
	who broods over us as a mother broods over her children	1:09:14
	go with you and remain with you always.	1:09:18
	Amen.	1:09:20
	(inspirational choral music)	1:09:25

Item Info

Title:

Hans J. Hillerbrand - "On Doing the Wrong Thing at the Right Time" (September 24, 1995)

Description:

Sermon start time: 15:35. Sermon end time: 34:27.
The parable about the shrewd manager appears to be a strange and confusing story in which Jesus comends moral trechery. Yet, it is actually quite simple: in it, Jesus is telling his disciples to welcome the challenge of adversity, to open themselves to the unexpected future of God and to do something in it. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “It surely was Jesus’ fundamental message that the future is God’s future and that we must be open to it. We are called upon to be open to God’s coming to us in the unexpected and then do something.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4cc0v793

Date:

September 24, 1995

Speaker:

Hillerbrand, Hans J.

Biblical Book:

Jeremiah

Chapter and Verse:

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0444
ref9637_hg9
uachapelsermaud
duke:321411
dcrmv001421
ark:/87924/r4cc0v793
60e611a8-104e-4025-9d82-1e7a868ed52f

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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