Thomas B. Stockton - "Sent Where We Do Not Want to Go" (February 25, 1996)
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(choir singing) | 0:04 | |
(people coughing) | 0:24 | |
- | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with you. | 0:47 |
Congregation | And with you. | 0:51 |
- | Good morning. | 0:52 |
Welcome to Duke Chapel. | 0:53 | |
Our guest preacher today is the | 0:55 | |
Reverend Dr. Thomas B. Stockton, | 0:57 | |
Bishop of the United Methodist Church, | 0:59 | |
serving the Richmond area. | 1:01 | |
Dr. Stockton is a native of North Carolina | 1:03 | |
and a graduate of Davidson College and Duke Divinity School. | 1:06 | |
Dr. Stockton serves on the boards of many universities | 1:10 | |
and institutions, including Duke's Board of Trustees | 1:13 | |
and the Board of Visitors for the Divinity School. | 1:17 | |
We are pleased to welcome he and his wife, Jean | 1:20 | |
to this service of worship. | 1:23 | |
Today's the first Sunday of Lent, | 1:25 | |
a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, | 1:27 | |
which began on Ash Wednesday and will end on Holy Saturday. | 1:31 | |
Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "lencten" | 1:36 | |
which means spring. | 1:40 | |
It is a season of preparation for Easter, | 1:42 | |
when we remember our sin in the light of God's | 1:45 | |
redeeming love in Jesus Christ. | 1:48 | |
It is traditional at Duke Chapel to begin this service | 1:50 | |
with The Great Litany, whose extensive list of petitions | 1:54 | |
calls us to repent for our sin. | 1:58 | |
The offertory hymn based upon Psalm 86 | 2:01 | |
is also in the penitential spirit and was written | 2:05 | |
by David Arkis for this service and is being premiered | 2:08 | |
today by our choir. | 2:11 | |
It is our hope that this service, through its prayers, | 2:14 | |
music, readings, and sermon, will prepare us to enter into | 2:18 | |
a Lenten season of prayer, fasting, and self-examination. | 2:22 | |
So that we might prepare ourselves to receive God's | 2:28 | |
great gift of love to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 2:31 | |
We also, in preparing students for the season of Lent, | 2:37 | |
are offering a Lenten meditation guide | 2:41 | |
which is available through the chapel offices | 2:44 | |
in the basement. | 2:46 | |
You can come by either after the service | 2:47 | |
or anytime during the week to pick that up. | 2:49 | |
Let us continue our service of worship with a greeting. | 2:53 | |
Please stand. | 2:56 | |
Create in my a clean heart, oh God. | 3:03 | |
(congregation murmuring an answer) | 3:07 | |
Open my lips, oh Lord. | 3:10 | |
(congregation murmuring an answer) | 3:12 | |
♪ Oh God, the Father, ♪ | 3:16 | |
♪ Creator of Heaven and Earth. ♪ | 3:18 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 3:21 | |
♪ Oh God the Son, Redeemer of the world. ♪ | 3:25 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 3:30 | |
♪ Oh God, the Holy Ghost, ♪ | 3:33 | |
♪ Sanctifier of the faithful ♪ | 3:35 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 3:39 | |
♪ Oh holy blessed and glorious trinity, ♪ | 3:43 | |
♪ One God ♪ | 3:46 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 3:49 | |
♪ Remember not, Lord Christ, our offenses ♪ | 3:52 | |
♪ Nor the offenses of our forbears ♪ | 3:56 | |
♪ Neither reward us according to our sins ♪ | 4:00 | |
♪ Spare us good Lord ♪ | 4:03 | |
♪ Spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed ♪ | 4:05 | |
♪ With thy most precious blood ♪ | 4:08 | |
♪ And by thy mercy, preserve us forever ♪ | 4:10 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 4:15 | |
♪ From all evil and wickedness, ♪ | 4:18 | |
♪ From sin, from the crafts and assaults of the devil ♪ | 4:20 | |
♪ And from everlasting damnation ♪ | 4:24 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 4:28 | |
♪From all blindness of heart ♪ | 4:32 | |
♪ From crime, vain glory, and hypocrisy, ♪ | 4:34 | |
♪ From envy, hatred, and madness ♪ | 4:37 | |
♪ And from all want of charity ♪ | 4:40 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 4:43 | |
♪ From all inordinate and sinful affections ♪ | 4:47 | |
♪ And from the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil ♪ | 4:51 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 4:56 | |
♪ From all false doctrine, heresy, and schism ♪ | 4:59 | |
♪ From hardness of heart and contempt of ♪ | 5:03 | |
♪ Thy word and commandment ♪ | 5:06 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 5:10 | |
♪ From lightening and tempest ♪ | 5:13 | |
♪ From earthquake, fire, and flood, ♪ | 5:15 | |
♪ From plague, pestilence, and famine ♪ | 5:18 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 5:22 | |
♪ From all oppression, conspiracy, and rebellion ♪ | 5:26 | |
♪ From violence, battle, and murder ♪ | 5:30 | |
♪ And from dying suddenly and unprepared ♪ | 5:33 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us ♪ | 5:38 | |
♪ By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation, ♪ | 5:41 | |
♪ by thy holy Nativity and submission to the Law, ♪ | 5:45 | |
♪ by thy baptism, fasting, and temptation, ♪ | 5:49 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us. ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ By thine agony and bloody sweat, ♪ | 5:58 | |
♪ by thy cross and passion ♪ | 6:01 | |
♪ by thy precious death and burial ♪ | 6:03 | |
♪ by thy glorious resurrection and ascension ♪ | 6:06 | |
♪ and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, ♪ | 6:10 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us. ♪ | 6:14 | |
♪ In all time of our tribulation ♪ | 6:18 | |
♪ in all time of our prosperity ♪ | 6:21 | |
♪ in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, ♪ | 6:24 | |
♪ Good Lord, deliver us. ♪ | 6:28 | |
♪ We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, oh Lord God ♪ | 6:32 | |
♪ And that it may please thee to rule and govern ♪ | 6:36 | |
♪ Thy holy church universal in the right way ♪ | 6:39 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 6:44 | |
♪ That it may please thee to illumine all ♪ | 6:49 | |
♪ Bishops, priests, and deacons ♪ | 6:52 | |
♪ With true knowledge and understanding of thy word ♪ | 6:54 | |
♪ And that both by their preaching and living ♪ | 6:58 | |
♪ they may set it forth and shew it accordingly ♪ | 7:01 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:06 | |
♪ That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people, ♪ | 7:10 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:15 | |
♪ That it may please thee to send forth laborers ♪ | 7:20 | |
♪ into thy harvest and to draw all people into thy kingdom ♪ | 7:23 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:30 | |
♪ That it may please thee to give ♪ | 7:34 | |
♪ all people increase of grace, ♪ | 7:36 | |
♪ To hear and receive thy word, ♪ | 7:39 | |
♪ And to bring forth the fruits of the spirit ♪ | 7:41 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:46 | |
♪ That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth ♪ | 7:51 | |
♪ All such as have erred and are deceived ♪ | 7:54 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 7:59 | |
♪ That it may please thee to give us a heart ♪ | 8:05 | |
♪ To love and fear thee, ♪ | 8:08 | |
♪ and diligently to live after thy commandments ♪ | 8:10 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 8:15 | |
♪ That it may please thee so to rule ♪ | 8:20 | |
♪ The hearts of thy servants, ♪ | 8:22 | |
♪ the president of the United States, ♪ | 8:24 | |
♪ And all others in authority, ♪ | 8:27 | |
♪ That they may do justice and love mercy ♪ | 8:30 | |
♪ And walk in the ways of truth ♪ | 8:33 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 8:37 | |
♪ That it may please thee to make wars to cease ♪ | 8:42 | |
♪ In all the world, ♪ | 8:45 | |
♪ To give to all nations unity, peace, and conquer ♪ | 8:47 | |
♪ And to bestow freedom upon all people ♪ | 8:52 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 8:57 | |
♪ That it may please thee to show thy pity ♪ | 9:02 | |
♪ Upon all prisoners and captives, ♪ | 9:05 | |
♪ The homeless and hungry, ♪ | 9:07 | |
♪ And all who are desolate and oppressed ♪ | 9:10 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 9:15 | |
♪ That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use ♪ | 9:19 | |
♪ The bountiful fruits of the Earth ♪ | 9:23 | |
♪ So that in due time, all may enjoy them ♪ | 9:26 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 9:31 | |
♪ That it may please thee to inspire us ♪ | 9:36 | |
♪ In our several callings, ♪ | 9:39 | |
♪ To do the work which thou givest us to do ♪ | 9:41 | |
♪ With semblance of heart as thy servants ♪ | 9:44 | |
♪ And for the common good ♪ | 9:47 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 9:50 | |
♪ That it may please thee to preserve all who are in danger ♪ | 9:55 | |
♪ By reason of their labor or their travel ♪ | 9:58 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 10:03 | |
♪ That it may please thee to preserve and provide for ♪ | 10:07 | |
♪ All women in childbirth, young children and orphans, ♪ | 10:11 | |
♪ Widowed, and all whose homes are broken or torn by strife ♪ | 10:15 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 10:22 | |
♪ That it may please thee to visit the lonely, ♪ | 10:26 | |
♪ To strengthen all who suffer in mind, body, and spirit, ♪ | 10:29 | |
♪ And to comfort with thy presence those who are ♪ | 10:34 | |
♪ Failing and infirmed ♪ | 10:37 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 10:41 | |
♪ That it may please thee to support, help, and comfort ♪ | 10:45 | |
♪ All who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation ♪ | 10:49 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 10:55 | |
♪ That it may please thee to have mercy upon all people ♪ | 11:00 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 11:05 | |
♪ That it may please thee to give us true repentance, ♪ | 11:10 | |
♪ To forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances ♪ | 11:14 | |
♪ And to endue us with the grace of thy holy spirit ♪ | 11:19 | |
♪ To amend our lives according to thy holy word ♪ | 11:23 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 11:29 | |
♪ That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, ♪ | 11:33 | |
♪ Persecutors, and slanderers and to turn their hearts ♪ | 11:37 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 11:42 | |
♪ That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand, ♪ | 11:47 | |
♪ To comfort and help the weak hearted ♪ | 11:51 | |
♪ And to raise up those who fail ♪ | 11:54 | |
♪ And finally, to beat down Satan under our feet ♪ | 11:57 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 12:03 | |
♪ That it may please thee to grant to all the ♪ | 12:07 | |
♪ Faithful departed eternal life and peace ♪ | 12:09 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 12:15 | |
♪ That it may please thee to grant that in the fellowship ♪ | 12:19 | |
♪ With all sayings, we may attain to thy holy kingdom ♪ | 12:23 | |
♪ We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ♪ | 12:29 | |
♪ Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us ♪ | 12:33 | |
♪ Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us ♪ | 12:39 | |
♪ Oh lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 12:44 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 12:50 | |
♪ Oh lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 12:54 | |
♪ Have mercy upon us ♪ | 13:00 | |
♪ Oh lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world ♪ | 13:03 | |
♪ Grant us thy peace ♪ | 13:10 | |
♪ Oh Christ, hear us ♪ | 13:13 | |
♪ Oh Christ, hear us ♪ | 13:16 | |
♪ Lord, have mercy upon us ♪ | 13:19 | |
♪ Christ have mercy upon us ♪ | 13:22 | |
♪ Lord, have mercy upon us ♪ | 13:26 | |
♪ Our father, ♪ | 13:30 | |
♪ Who art in heaven, ♪ | 13:32 | |
♪ Hallowed be thy name, ♪ | 13:34 | |
♪ Thy kingdom come, ♪ | 13:37 | |
♪ Thy will be done, ♪ | 13:39 | |
♪ On earth as it is in heaven. ♪ | 13:41 | |
♪ Give us this day our daily bread ♪ | 13:45 | |
♪ And forgive us our trespasses ♪ | 13:48 | |
♪ As we forgive those who trespass against us ♪ | 13:51 | |
♪ And lead us not into temptation ♪ | 13:56 | |
♪ But deliver us from evil ♪ | 13:59 | |
♪ For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory ♪ | 14:02 | |
♪ Forever ♪ | 14:07 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 14:09 | |
♪ Oh Lord, let thy mercy be shown upon us ♪ | 14:12 | |
(congregation singing response) | 14:18 | |
♪ Let us pray ♪ | 14:22 | |
♪ Oh mighty God, ♪ | 14:26 | |
♪ who hast promise to hear the petitions of those ♪ | 14:27 | |
♪ Who ask in thy son's name, ♪ | 14:31 | |
♪ We beseech thee, mercifully, to incline thy ear to us ♪ | 14:33 | |
♪ Who have now made our prayers and supplications unto thee ♪ | 14:38 | |
♪ And grant that those things which we have asked ♪ | 14:43 | |
♪ Faithfully according to thy will ♪ | 14:46 | |
♪ May be obtained effectually ♪ | 14:49 | |
♪ To the relief of our necessity ♪ | 14:52 | |
♪ And to the setting forth of thy glory ♪ | 14:55 | |
♪ Through Jesus Christ, our Lord ♪ | 14:58 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 15:02 | |
♪ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God ♪ | 15:05 | |
♪ And the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, ♪ | 15:10 | |
♪ Be with us forevermore ♪ | 15:13 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 15:17 | |
(congregation sitting) | 15:24 | |
(people coughing) | 15:31 | |
- | Let us pray the prayer for illumination. | 15:37 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 15:41 | |
by the power of your holy spirit | 15:44 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 15:47 | |
we may hear your message with joy this day. | 15:50 | |
Amen. | 15:55 | |
The epistle was from the apostle Paul's | 15:58 | |
letter to the Romans. | 16:00 | |
Chapter five, verse 12 through 19. | 16:01 | |
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, | 16:06 | |
"and death came through sin, and so death spread to all | 16:11 | |
"because all have sinned. | 16:15 | |
"Sin was indeed in the world before the law, | 16:18 | |
"but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. | 16:21 | |
"Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, | 16:26 | |
"even over those whose sins were not like | 16:29 | |
"the transgression of Adam, | 16:31 | |
"who is a type of the one who was to come. | 16:33 | |
"But the free gift is not like the trespass. | 16:36 | |
"For if the many died through the one man's trespass, | 16:40 | |
"many more surely have the grace of God | 16:44 | |
"and the free gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ | 16:46 | |
"abounded for the many. | 16:50 | |
"And the free gift is not like the | 16:52 | |
"effect of the one man's sin. | 16:53 | |
"For the judgment following one trespass | 16:56 | |
"brought condemnation, but the free gift following | 16:58 | |
"many trespasses brings justification. | 17:02 | |
"If because of the one man's trespass, | 17:05 | |
"death exercised dominion through that one, | 17:08 | |
"much more surely will those who | 17:12 | |
"receive the abundance of grace | 17:13 | |
"and the free gift of righteousness | 17:15 | |
"exercise dominion in life | 17:17 | |
"through the one man, Jesus Christ. | 17:19 | |
"Therefore, just as one man's trespass lead | 17:22 | |
"to the condemnation for all, | 17:25 | |
"so one man's act of righteousness lead to justification | 17:27 | |
"and life for all. | 17:31 | |
"For just as by the one man's disobedience, | 17:33 | |
"the many were made sinners, | 17:36 | |
"so by the one man's obedience, | 17:38 | |
"the many will be made righteous." | 17:40 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 17:44 | |
(congregation mutters response) | 17:46 | |
(person coughing) | 17:56 | |
(instrumental hymn music) | 18:01 | |
(choir singing hymn) | 18:51 | |
- | Choir, you lift our souls. | 24:12 |
And you make Rodney look so good. | 24:15 | |
(congregation laughing) | 24:18 | |
In the gospel, Matthew the 26th chapter, | 24:23 | |
may we stand for the reading of the gospel. | 24:27 | |
"When they had sung a hymn, | 24:38 | |
"they went out to the Mount of Olives. | 24:39 | |
"Then Jesus said to them, | 24:41 | |
"'You will all fall away because of me this night. | 24:43 | |
"'For it is written, I will strike the shepherd | 24:47 | |
"'and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. | 24:49 | |
"'But after I am raised up, | 24:52 | |
"'I will go before you to Galilee.' | 24:53 | |
"Peter declared to him, 'Though they all fall away | 24:56 | |
"'because of you, I will never fall away.' | 24:59 | |
"Jesus said to him, 'Truly I say to you, | 25:02 | |
"'this very night, before the cock crows, | 25:05 | |
"'you will deny me three times.' | 25:08 | |
"Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, | 25:11 | |
"'I will never deny you.' | 25:14 | |
"And so said all of the disciples. | 25:17 | |
"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane | 25:20 | |
"and he said to his disciples, | 25:23 | |
"'Sit here while I go yonder and pray.' | 25:25 | |
"And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, | 25:29 | |
"he began to be sorrowful and troubled. | 25:32 | |
"Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful | 25:36 | |
"'even to death. | 25:39 | |
"'Remain here and watch with me.' | 25:41 | |
"And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, | 25:43 | |
"'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. | 25:47 | |
"'Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will.' | 25:53 | |
"And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping | 25:58 | |
"and he said to Peter, | 26:01 | |
"'So, could you not watch with me one hour? | 26:02 | |
"'Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. | 26:06 | |
"'The spirit itself is willing, but the flesh is weak.' | 26:11 | |
"Again, for a second time, he went away and prayed, | 26:15 | |
"'My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, | 26:18 | |
"'thy will be done.' | 26:22 | |
"And again he came and found them sleeping | 26:25 | |
"for their eyes were heavy. | 26:26 | |
"So leaving them again, he went away | 26:29 | |
"and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. | 26:32 | |
"Then he came to the disciples and said to them, | 26:36 | |
"'Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? | 26:39 | |
"'Behold, the hour is at hand | 26:42 | |
"'and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. | 26:44 | |
"'Rise, let us be going. | 26:48 | |
"'See, my betrayer is at hand.'" | 26:50 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 26:56 | |
(congregation mutters response) | 26:58 | |
Let us be seated. | 27:00 | |
And may we pray. | 27:06 | |
O God, | 27:11 | |
as we have come in these moments to worship you, | 27:12 | |
we have the deep understanding that each one of us | 27:16 | |
is precious to you. | 27:19 | |
And you know that which is happening in our lives. | 27:22 | |
We present ourselves, our innermost beings to you | 27:25 | |
in these moments. | 27:29 | |
Praying that out of that compassionate love of God, | 27:32 | |
we may experience enabling strength | 27:36 | |
for the living of each day. | 27:40 | |
We pray for others who are hurting, asking that | 27:44 | |
out of your love you will be at work in their lives | 27:49 | |
to provide life. | 27:53 | |
Also, may this worship experience this day | 27:56 | |
be one that is pleasing to you. | 28:01 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 28:04 | |
amen. | 28:07 | |
Back during the horror of the Second World War, | 28:11 | |
a Lutheran pastor in Holland took the enormous risk | 28:15 | |
of hiding a Jewish family in his home | 28:19 | |
as they sought to escape the clutches of the Nazi Gestapo. | 28:23 | |
The pastor's family feared that they, too, | 28:28 | |
risked death itself. | 28:31 | |
And one night, the dreaded time came. | 28:34 | |
There was the tromp, tromp, tromp of the Nazi troops, | 28:37 | |
the breaking down of the door, | 28:40 | |
the arrest of the Jewish family and of his family. | 28:42 | |
They were herded into a train, a box car, | 28:47 | |
destined for one of the German' Prisoners of War camps. | 28:51 | |
One of those execution camps. | 28:53 | |
The cattle car was so crowded that they could not lie down, | 28:57 | |
they had to stand throughout the night. | 29:00 | |
As they thought they were going to Dachau or Auschwitz or | 29:02 | |
somewhere where there would be certain death. | 29:06 | |
And then morning came, | 29:10 | |
the train stopped, | 29:12 | |
they were brought out of that cattle car | 29:14 | |
and suddenly they realized, | 29:17 | |
they were not in a prison camp. | 29:20 | |
They were on the edge of Switzerland. | 29:22 | |
They were free. | 29:27 | |
During the night, some local guerrilla group | 29:29 | |
had risked death to change the switches on the tracks | 29:33 | |
so that the train did not go where it was destined to go, | 29:39 | |
it went to the borders of Switzerland. | 29:42 | |
And they were free. | 29:47 | |
And the Dutch pastor, overwhelmed with the prospect, | 29:49 | |
not of death but of life, responded, | 29:51 | |
"What do you do with a gift like that? | 29:56 | |
"What do you do with a gift like that?" | 30:02 | |
Now for those of us who are followers of this Jesus Christ, | 30:08 | |
today is the first Sunday of Lent. | 30:11 | |
A time when we move toward experiencing afresh the gift. | 30:13 | |
What God has done to give us that gift of life. | 30:19 | |
And this is the time for us to examine in the | 30:22 | |
innermost depths of our being, | 30:25 | |
what do we do with a gift like that? | 30:29 | |
One thing that we're doing for a gift like that is | 30:35 | |
we are today. | 30:38 | |
He has called us. | 30:39 | |
He's called us to body, He's called us to fellowship, | 30:40 | |
He's called us to worship. | 30:43 | |
And then He sends us out. | 30:45 | |
He sends us out as servants. | 30:49 | |
Wherever we may live, wherever we may be, He sends us out. | 30:51 | |
And at times, He sends us | 30:55 | |
where we may not want to go. | 30:59 | |
Indeed, | 31:03 | |
Jesus himself was sent where he did not want to go. | 31:05 | |
Matthew describes it. | 31:10 | |
After they had been there in the upper room, | 31:12 | |
they went across the Kidron valley, | 31:14 | |
up to the Mount of Olives, | 31:16 | |
into the Garden of Gethsemane. | 31:18 | |
And Jesus took some of his disciples with him | 31:19 | |
and he flung himself on the ground and he prayed, | 31:21 | |
"Father, | 31:26 | |
"let this cup pass from me. | 31:29 | |
"Nevertheless, whatever it takes to fulfill my mission, | 31:34 | |
"my purpose, I will do it. | 31:38 | |
"If it can be, let this suffering, | 31:41 | |
"this crucifixion pass from me. | 31:44 | |
"But whatever it must take | 31:46 | |
"to bring life | 31:50 | |
"to your children, then let it happen." | 31:53 | |
And then the soldiers came. | 31:59 | |
Judas came. | 32:00 | |
Arrest came. | 32:02 | |
Caiaphas came. | 32:03 | |
Pilate and that mockery of a trial | 32:05 | |
that walk up the Via Dolorosa. | 32:07 | |
Nails driven into hands and feet and that agonizing | 32:09 | |
crucifixion. | 32:14 | |
He was sent to bring life. | 32:16 | |
And though he did not want to go to the cross, | 32:21 | |
that was essential. | 32:24 | |
And so he went. | 32:27 | |
Where he did not want to go. | 32:29 | |
And he became Savior. | 32:34 | |
And that's why he has the right to say to you and me, | 32:37 | |
"Go, feed, clothe, make disciples. | 32:41 | |
"Go and bring life to others. | 32:45 | |
"Go to the poor." | 32:47 | |
Even when we may not want to go. | 32:50 | |
There is that silly story, | 32:58 | |
and some of my divinity school professors here today | 33:00 | |
would say, "You ought not to tell a silly story like this." | 33:04 | |
But it's about the argument that St. Peter had with Satan. | 33:07 | |
Over a baseball game with a beguiling sneer, | 33:12 | |
Satan proposed | 33:16 | |
that they have a game between a select team | 33:18 | |
of the heavenly hosts and his handpicked Hades boys. | 33:21 | |
"Very well," said the gatekeeper to the celestial city, | 33:26 | |
"But you know we'll win. | 33:29 | |
"We have all the best players, | 33:31 | |
"we have all the best coaches." | 33:32 | |
"I know," Satan said calmly, | 33:34 | |
"but we have all the umpires." | 33:36 | |
(laughter) | 33:39 | |
No. | 33:41 | |
No. | 33:42 | |
Even Coach K wouldn't say the refs | 33:44 | |
make all the bad decisions of life. | 33:46 | |
We make those bad decisions. | 33:49 | |
We sin. | 33:51 | |
And because Jesus went where he did not want to go, | 33:54 | |
you and I experience forgiveness | 33:57 | |
and we experience that renewed relationship with God. | 34:01 | |
And therefore He sends us where we may not want to go. | 34:08 | |
First of all, He sends us to difficult situations of caring. | 34:13 | |
The cross, that ultimate act of caring. | 34:18 | |
And He sends us to care, He sends us as government, | 34:22 | |
as church, as individuals | 34:27 | |
to those who are in sorrow, who are in loneliness, | 34:31 | |
who are in sin, who are in the hospitals, | 34:33 | |
who may be down the hall from you in a dorm room, | 34:36 | |
who may be in your own home. | 34:40 | |
Our phone rang late one night a few years ago. | 34:45 | |
The mother was on the line. | 34:50 | |
A family that always were in trouble. | 34:52 | |
The father had died of alcoholism, | 34:55 | |
she worked on the line at the cafeteria, | 34:58 | |
was in church whenever she could be there. | 35:01 | |
The four children, always problems. | 35:03 | |
This night, it was Melvin. | 35:07 | |
"Would you come take Melvin to the hospital? | 35:09 | |
"He's dying." | 35:11 | |
I didn't want to go. | 35:14 | |
But there was that divine nudge to go. | 35:16 | |
We went to the emergency room. | 35:22 | |
The nurses knew Melvin, he had been there often before, | 35:24 | |
and they said, "Take him over there and | 35:26 | |
"we'll work with him in a little while." | 35:28 | |
Have you ever tried to hold down a bull of a young man | 35:30 | |
who's on drugs? | 35:34 | |
Finally, they came, | 35:37 | |
gave him an injection and took care of him. | 35:39 | |
We moved from that church and just a couple of years later, | 35:42 | |
we received a telephone call. | 35:45 | |
Melvin had died. | 35:46 | |
His kidneys just couldn't handle the drugs. | 35:48 | |
But just a few years ago, I received a telephone call | 35:53 | |
from his sister. | 35:56 | |
And she said, "Tom, Christ has found me. | 35:58 | |
"And now I'm working with other families | 36:03 | |
"who've had problems just like ours and, Tom, | 36:06 | |
"I'm alive, | 36:10 | |
"I'm alive." | 36:12 | |
We're sent where we may not want to go | 36:16 | |
to people who are hurting, | 36:20 | |
to whom we can bring life. | 36:22 | |
And then we're sent to difficult situation of justice issues | 36:26 | |
dealing with racism, or capital punishment, | 36:32 | |
or prison reform, or alcohol and drug abuse, | 36:34 | |
or Palestinian experience of injustice, | 36:37 | |
or environmental dangers, or poverty. | 36:40 | |
Where it may not be easy to go. | 36:44 | |
Where it may not be popular to go. | 36:46 | |
Where we may not want to go. | 36:51 | |
Dr. William Friday, | 36:56 | |
former president of the | 37:00 | |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, | 37:01 | |
the light blue school, | 37:05 | |
spoke over here at the dark blue school | 37:06 | |
just a couple of years ago. | 37:08 | |
And he asked some pertinent questions. | 37:10 | |
Have you eaten in a food kitchen lately? | 37:14 | |
Have you attended a literacy class for adults? | 37:18 | |
Have you been to a homeless shelter lately? | 37:21 | |
Dr. Friday said, "I have. | 37:25 | |
"I was self-conscious about going, but I'm grateful I did. | 37:28 | |
"I saw what a million of our fellow North Carolinians | 37:32 | |
"wake up to every morning." | 37:35 | |
Dr. Friday concluded, "Can you imagine what it feels like | 37:38 | |
"to live that way?" | 37:42 | |
Listen to The Observer from rural North Carolina, | 37:44 | |
"Poverty is always being on the edge | 37:47 | |
"of good things going on. | 37:50 | |
"You're never allowed to join in. | 37:52 | |
"You don't ask. | 37:55 | |
"Even for events that are free, | 37:56 | |
"you stand in the shadows and accept. | 37:58 | |
"That's the worst poverty of all, accepting. | 38:02 | |
"Poverty is the color of a bruise, | 38:05 | |
"a birthmark on your soul." | 38:08 | |
I wonder if we here at sophisticated Duke University, | 38:15 | |
or sophisticated United Methodist, wherever we may live. | 38:20 | |
I wonder if we're willing to take that step, | 38:24 | |
to go where we may not want to go, | 38:27 | |
where it may even be dangerous, | 38:30 | |
but where God is calling us. | 38:33 | |
The Christ says, "If you do not follow me to the poor, | 38:36 | |
"you do not follow me." | 38:39 | |
And thirdly, | 38:45 | |
we're sent to be evangels. | 38:47 | |
You remember, after the resurrection, | 38:50 | |
Jesus said to the disciples, "Go and make disciples." | 38:53 | |
Go to those that do not know that God cares about them, | 39:00 | |
even to a cross and resurrection, go and share. | 39:05 | |
You do not have to buttonhole people to be evangelists, | 39:09 | |
we merely say, "God's alive in me. | 39:13 | |
"And God can make the difference in your life." | 39:19 | |
You remember Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye." | 39:25 | |
Holden Caulfield wishes to be somebody who can do | 39:31 | |
something important in his life | 39:34 | |
but he has trouble discovering what he might be. | 39:36 | |
His sister Phoebe asks him, | 39:40 | |
"What do you want to do with your life?" | 39:44 | |
And he said, "You know what I'd like to be | 39:46 | |
"if I had my choice? | 39:49 | |
"You know that song, 'If a body catch a body coming | 39:51 | |
"'through the rye'?" | 39:54 | |
And Phoebe breaks in, | 39:55 | |
"It's if a body meet a body coming through the rye." | 39:57 | |
It's a poem by Robert Burns. | 40:01 | |
Holden continues, | 40:04 | |
"I thought it was if a body catch a body." | 40:05 | |
Well, anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids | 40:06 | |
playing a game on a big field of rye, | 40:12 | |
thousands of little kids and nobody big is around except me. | 40:16 | |
And I'm standing on the edge of this crazy cliff | 40:21 | |
and what I do is, to catch these little children, | 40:25 | |
when they run too close to the edge | 40:28 | |
and are about to fall off, | 40:30 | |
I mean, they're running back and forth | 40:32 | |
and I just step out and catch them before they fall | 40:34 | |
off the cliff. | 40:39 | |
I'd be a catcher in the rye and all. | 40:41 | |
That's what I'd like to be. | 40:45 | |
God in Christ is sending you and me | 40:50 | |
to be catchers. | 40:53 | |
Those who are falling off the edge of life | 40:55 | |
and are missing it. | 40:58 | |
And we draw them back | 41:00 | |
to God's love in Christ | 41:03 | |
so that they may live. | 41:07 | |
Even | 41:09 | |
when we're sent | 41:12 | |
where we may not | 41:14 | |
want to go. | 41:16 | |
Now, | 41:19 | |
back to the master. | 41:20 | |
Sent to be Savior. | 41:22 | |
And he did it. | 41:25 | |
He walked the way of Golgotha, | 41:27 | |
he did not want to go to that cross. | 41:29 | |
He said, "Father, if it's possible for me to | 41:31 | |
"fulfill the mission of bringing life without the cross, | 41:34 | |
"let that be." | 41:37 | |
But in going to be Savior, | 41:41 | |
he came to Good Friday. | 41:44 | |
And so may you and I | 41:49 | |
come to times when we may have to suffer, | 41:53 | |
when we may have to sacrifice and | 41:57 | |
I don't like to think about all of that | 41:59 | |
but that's what we're called to do. | 42:01 | |
That's what Lent calls us to do. | 42:03 | |
To examine where He's sending us, | 42:05 | |
even where we may not want to go. | 42:07 | |
But remember, | 42:13 | |
Sunday came | 42:16 | |
and the Christ walked right through that grave to life. | 42:19 | |
And Sunday comes for you and me. | 42:25 | |
If we have to experience our Fridays, | 42:27 | |
our crucifixions, our sacrifices, | 42:30 | |
there comes that openness of life | 42:33 | |
that nothing finally destroys. | 42:37 | |
Tony Campolo tells of the experience of a school teacher, | 42:43 | |
Miss Thompson. | 42:47 | |
In her fifth grade class, there was a young boy | 42:49 | |
named Teddy Stallard. | 42:52 | |
And Miss Thompson just didn't like him. | 42:54 | |
He didn't study much, he didn't look very neat or clean. | 42:56 | |
She had forgotten that his teachers in the former grades | 43:01 | |
had said that Teddy's mother had died and that | 43:06 | |
Teddy's dad didn't care much about him and | 43:08 | |
didn't help him very much. | 43:11 | |
But at Christmas, all the boys and girls brought | 43:14 | |
gifts to miss Thompson. | 43:17 | |
And after she had opened all of them, | 43:19 | |
she opened Teddy's in a paper bag with a little scotch tape. | 43:21 | |
And out rolled a gaudy rhinestone bracelet | 43:27 | |
with most of the stones missing | 43:31 | |
and a half a bottle of perfume. | 43:33 | |
The children began to giggle | 43:36 | |
but she had sense enough to know to say, | 43:38 | |
"Thank you, Teddy. | 43:43 | |
"I like it on my arm." | 43:45 | |
And she put a little dab of the perfume on her neck. | 43:47 | |
After all of the children had left, | 43:51 | |
Teddy came up to Miss Thompson and said, | 43:54 | |
"Miss Thompson, my mother's bracelet looks so good on you. | 43:56 | |
"And you smell just like she used to smell." | 44:00 | |
Miss Thompson went home that night. | 44:05 | |
Thought about, thought about her approach to teaching. | 44:08 | |
And she became a different teacher. | 44:12 | |
A different teacher to Teddy. | 44:16 | |
Doing things now that she had never wanted to do before. | 44:20 | |
Teddy became a different student. | 44:25 | |
A few years later, Miss Thompson hadn't heard from Teddy | 44:29 | |
for a few years but she received a letter. | 44:32 | |
"Dear Miss Thompson, | 44:34 | |
"I'm graduating from high school. | 44:36 | |
"Second in my class. | 44:39 | |
"Love, Teddy." | 44:42 | |
Four years later, another note. | 44:44 | |
"Dear Miss Thompson, | 44:47 | |
"I'm graduating from college first in my class. | 44:49 | |
"Love, Teddy." | 44:55 | |
And then, a few years later, | 44:58 | |
"Dear Miss Thompson, | 45:01 | |
"I am Teddy Stallard, MD, | 45:02 | |
"how bout that? | 45:06 | |
"And I'm getting married in August, the 23rd, | 45:08 | |
"and I wish you would come and sit | 45:12 | |
"where my mother would normally sit. | 45:14 | |
"You're the only family I have. | 45:16 | |
"Love, Teddy." | 45:21 | |
Miss Thompson went. | 45:26 | |
Went now where she wanted to go. | 45:28 | |
Because, years before, she had gone where she had | 45:32 | |
not wanted to go but where God had pushed her. | 45:37 | |
And now, | 45:44 | |
she was different. | 45:46 | |
And Teddy was different. | 45:49 | |
Because | 45:52 | |
she was willing to go | 45:54 | |
where she had not wanted to go. | 45:56 | |
Let us bow. | 46:04 | |
God, | 46:09 | |
we're so thankful that your son, Jesus Christ, | 46:11 | |
walked the way he had to walk | 46:17 | |
in order to be that giver of life to us. | 46:21 | |
Even though he did not want a cross, | 46:26 | |
yet he was willing to go the route | 46:30 | |
that was essential to be faithful to you. | 46:33 | |
And now in this Lenten season, | 46:39 | |
enable each one of us | 46:41 | |
to be aware of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. | 46:44 | |
Give us sensitivity. | 46:49 | |
Give us alertness. | 46:51 | |
Give us awareness | 46:54 | |
of people around us | 46:56 | |
with whom we should share life and love. | 46:59 | |
Give us awareness of the issues of life | 47:04 | |
that we should be involved with, | 47:06 | |
even if it's | 47:08 | |
unpopular. | 47:11 | |
Give us the courage | 47:13 | |
to be in the midst of a world that is so contrary | 47:16 | |
to your yearnings, but to be faithful. | 47:19 | |
And in the midst of it all, | 47:24 | |
as we go where we may not want to go, | 47:26 | |
but where you are challenging us to be faithful, | 47:29 | |
give to us that deep inner sense of life | 47:33 | |
that comes only from discipleship with the master. | 47:38 | |
In whose name we pray, | 47:44 | |
amen. | 47:47 | |
(hymn music) | 47:49 | |
- | [Woman With Short Brown hair] As Christ loved us and | 50:47 |
gave himself up for us, | 50:48 | |
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, | 50:50 | |
so let us present the offerings of our life | 50:53 | |
and labor to the Lord. | 50:56 | |
You may be seated. | 50:58 | |
(organ playing a calm hymn) | 51:00 | |
(instrumental hymn music) | 51:58 | |
(choir singing a hymn) | 52:22 | |
(instrumental hymn music) | 55:01 | |
(choir singing a hymn) | 55:12 | |
(organ playing hymn music) | 57:39 | |
- | Let us pray. | 58:48 |
God of all mercies, | 58:52 | |
we give you humble thanks for all your goodness | 58:54 | |
and loving kindness to us and to all whom you have made. | 58:57 | |
We bless you for our creation, preservation, | 59:02 | |
and all the blessings of life. | 59:05 | |
But above all, for your immeasurable love | 59:08 | |
in the redemption of the world by our Lord, Jesus Christ. | 59:11 | |
For the means of grace and for the hope of glory. | 59:14 | |
And we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, | 59:19 | |
that with truly thankful hearts, | 59:23 | |
we may show forth your praise not only with our lips, | 59:25 | |
but in our lives. | 59:29 | |
By giving up ourselves to your service | 59:31 | |
and by walking before you in holiness and | 59:33 | |
righteousness all our days. | 59:36 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom, | 59:38 | |
with you in the Holy Spirit be honor and glory | 59:41 | |
throughout all ages, | 59:44 | |
amen. | 59:46 | |
(organ playing hymn) | 59:50 | |
(congregation singing hymn) | 1:00:01 | |
- | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:04:12 |
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost | 1:04:14 | |
be with us all forevermore. | 1:04:17 | |
Amen. | 1:04:20 | |
(choir singing hymn) | 1:04:22 | |
(cheerful organ music) | 1:06:13 |