Samuel Proctor - "Being Christian When We Are Ahead in Life" (May 1, 1994)
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Transcript
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(pleasant bell music) | 0:05 | |
(joyful bell music) | 3:26 | |
- | Good morning. | 7:07 |
Welcome to Duke Chapel. | 7:08 | |
Our distinguished guest preacher today | 7:09 | |
is Dr. Samuel Proctor. | 7:11 | |
We're so glad that he has accepted | 7:14 | |
a position at the Divinity School | 7:15 | |
as Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, | 7:18 | |
for it has given us the opportunity | 7:21 | |
to have him here several times this year. | 7:23 | |
And we hope that that will be | 7:25 | |
a trend that we can continue. | 7:26 | |
Welcome again, Dr. Proctor. | 7:28 | |
We also welcome the Raleigh Ringers | 7:31 | |
and their director, David M. Harris. | 7:33 | |
We're grateful for their music leadership this morning. | 7:36 | |
Please stand as we continue our worship with the greeting. | 7:39 | |
Christ is risen. | 7:48 | |
Congregation | Christ is risen indeed. | 7:50 |
- | Glory and honor, dominion and power | 7:52 |
be to God for ever and ever. | 7:55 | |
Congregation | Christ is risen, hallelujah. | 7:58 |
("Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Sky") | 8:03 | |
♪ Christ, whose glory fills the skies ♪ | 8:35 | |
♪ Christ, the true, the only Light ♪ | 8:40 | |
♪ Sun of Righteousness, arise ♪ | 8:46 | |
♪ Triumph o'er the shades of night ♪ | 8:51 | |
♪ Dayspring from on high, be near ♪ | 8:57 | |
♪ Daystar, in my heart appear ♪ | 9:02 | |
♪ Dark and cheerless is the morn ♪ | 9:10 | |
♪ Unaccompanied by Thee ♪ | 9:16 | |
♪ Joyless is the day's return ♪ | 9:21 | |
♪ Till Thy mercy's beams I see ♪ | 9:27 | |
♪ Till Thou inward light impart ♪ | 9:33 | |
♪ Glad my eyes, and warm my heart. ♪ | 9:39 | |
♪ Visit then this soul of mine ♪ | 10:02 | |
♪ Pierce the gloom of sin and grief ♪ | 10:08 | |
♪ Fill me, Radiancy divine ♪ | 10:13 | |
♪ Scatter all my unbelief ♪ | 10:19 | |
♪ More and more Thyself display ♪ | 10:25 | |
♪ Shining to the perfect day ♪ | 10:31 | |
- | Let us pray. | 10:43 |
Oh God, you have created us for yourself. | 10:46 | |
You have made our minds restless | 10:50 | |
until they embrace your purpose as our own, | 10:53 | |
our hearts aimless until they adopt your will as our own, | 10:57 | |
and our hands profitless until they | 11:02 | |
seize your task as our own. | 11:05 | |
We praise you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, | 11:09 | |
in whom you have revealed the person you created us to be. | 11:13 | |
Let your revelation never cease until our minds and hearts | 11:19 | |
and hands are wholly committed to your service. | 11:24 | |
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. | 11:29 | |
You may be seated. | 11:33 | |
- | Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination. | 11:49 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, O God, | 11:54 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 11:57 | |
so that as the Word is read and proclaimed, | 12:00 | |
we might hear your Word with joy this day. | 12:03 | |
Amen. | 12:07 | |
- | The first lesson is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, | 12:09 |
Chapter 11, from the beginning of the first verse. | 12:14 | |
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, | 12:20 | |
"Get up and go towards the south to the road | 12:23 | |
"that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza." | 12:26 | |
This is the wilderness road. | 12:30 | |
So he got up and went. | 12:32 | |
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, | 12:35 | |
a court official of the Candace, or queen, | 12:37 | |
of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. | 12:41 | |
He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home, | 12:47 | |
seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. | 12:52 | |
Then the Spirit said to Philip, | 12:58 | |
"Go over to this chariot and join it." | 13:00 | |
So Philip ran up to it and heard | 13:04 | |
him reading the prophet Isaiah. | 13:06 | |
He asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?" | 13:09 | |
He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" | 13:14 | |
Then he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. | 13:19 | |
Now the passage of the scripture | 13:23 | |
that he was reading was this: | 13:25 | |
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, | 13:28 | |
and like a lamb silent before its shearer, | 13:32 | |
so he does not open his mouth. | 13:35 | |
In his humiliation, justice was denied him. | 13:38 | |
Who can describe this generation? | 13:42 | |
For his life was taken away from the earth. | 13:45 | |
The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, | 13:49 | |
"may I ask you, does the prophet say this? | 13:52 | |
About himself, or somebody else?" | 13:55 | |
Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture | 13:59 | |
he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. | 14:03 | |
As they were going along the road, they came to some water, | 14:08 | |
and the eunuch said, "Look, here's some water! | 14:11 | |
"What is to prevent us from being baptized?" | 14:15 | |
He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, | 14:18 | |
Philip and the Eunuch, went down into the water, | 14:22 | |
and Philip baptized him. | 14:25 | |
When they came up out of the water, | 14:28 | |
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. | 14:30 | |
The eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. | 14:34 | |
But Philip found himself in Azotus, | 14:39 | |
and as he was passing through the region, | 14:43 | |
he proclaimed the good news to all the towns | 14:45 | |
until he came to Caesarea. | 14:48 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 14:52 | |
(congregation speaking faintly) | 14:55 | |
- | The Psalter is found on page 753 in your hymnbook. | 15:14 |
Please stand and read responsively verses 25 to 31. | 15:18 | |
From you comes my praise in the great congregation. | 15:31 | |
Congregation | My vows I will pay | 15:35 |
before those who worship the Lord. | 15:37 | |
- | The poor shall eat and be satisfied. | 15:40 |
Congregation | Those who seek the Lord | 15:44 |
shall praise the Lord. | 15:45 | |
May your hearts live forever. | 15:47 | |
- | All the ends of the earth shall remember | 15:50 |
and turn to the Lord. | 15:52 | |
Congregation | And all the families of the nations | 15:54 |
shall worship before the Lord. | 15:56 | |
- | For dominion belongs to the Lord | 15:59 |
who rules over the nations. | 16:01 | |
Congregation | All who sleep in the earth | 16:04 |
shall bow down to the Lord. | 16:05 | |
- | All who go down to the dust shall bow before the Lord, | 16:08 |
and I shall live for God. | 16:12 | |
Congregation | Posterity shall serve the Lord. | 16:15 |
- | Each generation shall tell of the Lord | 16:18 |
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn. | 16:20 | |
Congregation | Surely the Lord has done it. | 16:25 |
("Glory Be To Our Creator") | 16:29 | |
♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪ | 16:36 | |
♪ Praise to our Redeemer, Lord ♪ | 16:43 | |
♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪ | 16:50 | |
♪ Ever three and ever one ♪ | 16:58 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ | 17:05 | |
♪ Now and evermore shall be ♪ | 17:12 | |
- | The second lesson is taken from 1 John, chapter four, | 17:30 |
beginning with the seventh verse. | 17:36 | |
Beloved, let us love one another because love is from God. | 17:40 | |
Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. | 17:46 | |
Whoever does not love, does not know God, for God is love. | 17:51 | |
God's love was revealed among us in this way. | 17:58 | |
God sent his only son into the world | 18:02 | |
so that we might believe through him. | 18:05 | |
And this is love: Not that we loved God, | 18:08 | |
but that he loved us and sent his son | 18:12 | |
to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. | 18:14 | |
Beloved, since God loved us so much, | 18:19 | |
we also outta love one another. | 18:24 | |
No one has ever seen God. | 18:27 | |
If we love another, God lives in us, | 18:29 | |
and his love is perfected in us. | 18:33 | |
By this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, | 18:36 | |
because he has given us of his Spirit. | 18:41 | |
And we have seen and do testify | 18:45 | |
that the Father has sent his Son as the savior of the world. | 18:47 | |
God abides in those who confess that Jesus | 18:53 | |
is the Son of God, and they abide in God. | 18:56 | |
So we have known and believed the love that God has for us. | 19:01 | |
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, | 19:06 | |
and God abides in them. | 19:12 | |
Love has been perfected among us in this, | 19:16 | |
that we may have boldness on the day of judgment | 19:19 | |
because as he is, so are we in this world. | 19:23 | |
There is no fear in love. | 19:28 | |
But perfect love casts out fear, | 19:30 | |
for fear has to do with punishment, | 19:34 | |
and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. | 19:37 | |
We love because he loved us first. | 19:42 | |
Those who say, I love God and hate | 19:45 | |
their brothers or sisters are liars. | 19:49 | |
For those who do not love a brother or sister, | 19:52 | |
whom they have seen, cannot love God who they haven't seen. | 19:55 | |
The commandment we have from him is this: | 20:01 | |
Those who love God must love | 20:05 | |
their brothers and sisters also. | 20:08 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 20:11 | |
(congregations speaking faintly) | 20:15 | |
(joyful organ music) | 20:17 | |
(pleasant bell music) | 20:56 | |
- | The Gospel, this morning, the good news, | 25:23 |
is taken from the Gospel According to Saint John, | 25:26 | |
the 15th chapter, beginning with verse one. | 25:31 | |
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. | 25:39 | |
He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. | 25:45 | |
Every branch that bears fruit he prunes | 25:50 | |
to make it bear more fruit. | 25:53 | |
You have already been cleansed by the word | 25:56 | |
that I have spoken to you. | 25:59 | |
Abide in me as I abide in you. | 26:02 | |
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself | 26:05 | |
unless it abides in the vine, | 26:10 | |
neither can you unless you abide in me. | 26:13 | |
I am the vine, you are the branches. | 26:18 | |
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, | 26:21 | |
because apart from me you can do nothing. | 26:26 | |
Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away | 26:30 | |
like a branch and withers; | 26:34 | |
such branches are gathered, | 26:36 | |
thrown into the fire, and burned. | 26:38 | |
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, | 26:41 | |
ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. | 26:45 | |
My Father is glorified by this, | 26:50 | |
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. | 26:53 | |
This is the Word of the Lord. | 27:00 | |
- | Let me say how grateful I am, once again, | 27:16 |
to be privileged to worship with you here | 27:20 | |
in this glorious chapel, and to enjoy the fellowship | 27:24 | |
of the staff and the members of the congregation | 27:28 | |
who participate in the service. | 27:32 | |
It is no ordinary thing to try to be prepared | 27:36 | |
for this responsibility several times in a year. | 27:40 | |
But when I looked over there and saw | 27:44 | |
some of the music that the bell choir was using | 27:46 | |
and saw the gymnastics that some of them | 27:51 | |
had to go through to get that bell struck on time, | 27:53 | |
I was very grateful that all I | 27:57 | |
had to do was give this sermon. | 27:58 | |
(laughing) | 28:00 | |
On being Christian when we are ahead in life. | 28:06 | |
This sermon is inspired by a parable of Jesus | 28:11 | |
found in the 18th chapter of the | 28:15 | |
Gospel According to Matthew, | 28:17 | |
and it begins at the 23rd verse. | 28:19 | |
I'm reading from the New English Bible. | 28:22 | |
The Kingdom of Heaven, therefore, | 28:26 | |
should be thought of in this way: | 28:28 | |
There was once a king who decided | 28:31 | |
to settle accounts with the men who served him. | 28:33 | |
At the outset, there appeared before him | 28:37 | |
a man who debt ran into millions. | 28:41 | |
Since he had no means of paying, | 28:45 | |
his master ordered him to be sold to meet the debt, | 28:48 | |
with his wife, his children and everything he had. | 28:53 | |
The man fell prostrate at his master's feet. | 28:59 | |
"Be patient with me," he said, "and I will pay in full". | 29:04 | |
And the master was so moved with pity | 29:10 | |
that he let the man go and remitted the debt. | 29:13 | |
But no sooner had the man gone out than he met | 29:19 | |
a fellow-servant who owed him a few pounds. | 29:24 | |
And catching hold of him, he gripped him by the throat, | 29:29 | |
and said, "Pay me what you owe me." | 29:33 | |
The man fell at his fellow-servant's feet, and begged him, | 29:37 | |
"Be patient with me, and I will pay you". | 29:42 | |
But he refused, and had him jailed | 29:45 | |
until he should pay the debt. | 29:49 | |
The other servants were deeply distressed | 29:52 | |
when they saw what had happened, | 29:54 | |
and they went to their master and told him the whole story. | 29:56 | |
He accordingly sent for the man. | 30:01 | |
"You scoundrel," he said to him, | 30:03 | |
"I remitted the whole of your debt when you appealed to me; | 30:07 | |
"were you not bound to show your fellow-servant | 30:13 | |
the same pity as I showed you?" | 30:16 | |
And so angry was the master that he condemned the man | 30:20 | |
to torture until | 30:24 | |
he should pay the debt in full. | 30:26 | |
On being Christian when we are ahead in life. | 30:32 | |
When I served as president of a small college in Virginia, | 30:39 | |
it was routine for the president | 30:43 | |
to get to know the students one by one. | 30:45 | |
There weren't that many of them, about 900 or so. | 30:47 | |
It was also frequently the case | 30:51 | |
that I had to get involved with helping students | 30:53 | |
who did not have means to stay in school. | 30:57 | |
Often I would solicit churches for scholarships | 31:01 | |
for students with promise and ability, | 31:04 | |
but who were with limited means. | 31:07 | |
One of my most talented students | 31:10 | |
throughout the entire time I was there | 31:13 | |
went out and met with great success. | 31:16 | |
In fact, he became the president of two institutions | 31:20 | |
in a very short while. | 31:25 | |
He was dismissed from both of them, sadly, | 31:28 | |
because he lost the favor of students, | 31:32 | |
faculty, trustees, alumni, and community leadership. | 31:34 | |
And when I asked some of his friends confidentially, | 31:40 | |
one after another, his closest friends, what had happened, | 31:43 | |
he was so far ahead in life, fine looking, | 31:49 | |
intellectually superior, very extrovertive, verbal, | 31:53 | |
charismatic, but he was severely egotistical, | 31:59 | |
extremely self-regarding, profanely selfish | 32:05 | |
and uncharitable, and quick to use | 32:10 | |
anyone he found to promote himself. | 32:14 | |
And after a few months anywhere, | 32:17 | |
these traits about him became glaring. | 32:20 | |
And on of them said this to me, | 32:24 | |
the very words of the subject today. | 32:26 | |
One of them said, Sam, he is a person | 32:29 | |
who does not know how to act | 32:32 | |
when he is way ahead in life. | 32:34 | |
This is an awful thing to have to say about anyone, | 32:39 | |
but even more troubling when said about | 32:43 | |
a person committed to Christ and who | 32:45 | |
is pledged to follow the example of Jesus. | 32:47 | |
How should persons behave when they look up | 32:51 | |
and see that they are way ahead in life? | 32:54 | |
Jesus told this parable about a man | 32:58 | |
who owed his lord an awful lot of money. | 33:01 | |
It's hard to translate exactly with inflation | 33:05 | |
in another currency in another era, | 33:08 | |
but this translation says he owed in the millions | 33:10 | |
and could not pay the debt. | 33:14 | |
He was asked for the money and threatened with enslavement | 33:16 | |
of himself and his whole family, and he was in deep trouble. | 33:19 | |
His whole life was about to cave in. | 33:25 | |
He fell on his face, he was pleading, | 33:29 | |
and then the lord to whom he owed the money | 33:32 | |
showed mercy and forgave the whole debt. | 33:35 | |
The whole debt! | 33:38 | |
Then with this clean slate, he had it made. | 33:41 | |
He was in a go condition, as we would say. | 33:46 | |
His troubles were behind him. | 33:50 | |
Suddenly he was way ahead in life. | 33:53 | |
Then he ran upon another buddy | 33:56 | |
who owed him just a few dollars, | 33:59 | |
and look at how he carried on. | 34:04 | |
He demanded payment in full right away. | 34:06 | |
This servant made the same plea | 34:10 | |
that he had made just a little while earlier. | 34:12 | |
The servant could not pay, | 34:16 | |
and the one who had been forgiven jumped on him, choked him. | 34:18 | |
The Bible says he took him by the throat, | 34:24 | |
beat him and dragged him to jail, | 34:28 | |
and ordered him to be tortured | 34:31 | |
until he could pay the whole debt. | 34:32 | |
This is how he behaved after he had been set free | 34:37 | |
of his debt, which was many times larger. | 34:40 | |
It's almost comical, this parable. | 34:44 | |
It's so simple. | 34:47 | |
But this is a parable about human behavior | 34:49 | |
and how we seem to forget our benefactions | 34:53 | |
and behave so unseemly when we find out | 34:56 | |
that we are free and we have gotten way ahead in life. | 34:59 | |
The one who had his debt forgiven | 35:05 | |
behaved in very familiar ways. | 35:07 | |
We've all seen this. | 35:08 | |
He had come out the winner. | 35:11 | |
He had gotten over. | 35:13 | |
The heavy burden was lifted. | 35:16 | |
He was in a cruising condition, | 35:19 | |
and sadly, what often accompanies such feelings | 35:20 | |
is looking down in contempt on others | 35:25 | |
who were no so smart, not quite so clever, | 35:28 | |
not so lucky, not yet out of the tangled cords | 35:33 | |
of missed opportunities, poor timing, | 35:37 | |
weak connections, false starts, | 35:42 | |
questionable people skills, and strategic blunders. | 35:45 | |
And there they are, drifting in mediocrity and average | 35:51 | |
success, while others have emerged | 35:55 | |
way ahead in life. | 35:59 | |
Now Jesus is referring to God's forgiveness, we know that, | 36:02 | |
and what a burden it is to labor | 36:07 | |
under the weight of unforgiven sin. | 36:09 | |
That's what the parable is all about. | 36:11 | |
The parable illustrates how generously God has forgiven sin, | 36:14 | |
and how begrudging we are toward others | 36:19 | |
who need forgiveness from us. | 36:22 | |
So beginning right there, | 36:24 | |
we understand what the parable is saying. | 36:26 | |
But then we make the application even broader | 36:29 | |
to other aspects of life and see how it fits us | 36:31 | |
in our handling all of the blessings and benefactions | 36:35 | |
in our lives that give us such a release, | 36:39 | |
such a forward thrust, a premium advantage, | 36:42 | |
and see how we behave when we are ahead. | 36:46 | |
And strangely, it seems that those who get ahead | 36:52 | |
somehow manage to stay ahead. | 36:55 | |
Nothing breeds success like success. | 36:59 | |
Momentum somehow multiplies, and acceleration | 37:03 | |
picks up in quantum degrees. | 37:08 | |
And whatever it was that put us out front | 37:10 | |
seems to work well, and the gap just widens | 37:13 | |
between our position and whoever is trailing us. | 37:18 | |
It seems that way. | 37:22 | |
The man in Jesus' parable got ahead because he borrowed | 37:24 | |
a large sum of money and had his debt forgiven. | 37:28 | |
He had not really earned his position of advantage, | 37:32 | |
but there he was treating another with stern | 37:36 | |
self-righteousness when he had been thrust ahead | 37:38 | |
by someone else's mercy, someone else's generosity. | 37:42 | |
And often, these are the worse offenders, | 37:47 | |
those whose success is flaky and unearned. | 37:50 | |
And those of us who need to be most careful | 37:57 | |
are the ones who are ahead because they really earned it. | 37:59 | |
They worked hard, they made sacrifices, | 38:05 | |
they studied hard, they lived frugally, | 38:09 | |
made prudent decisions, deferred pleasures, | 38:13 | |
saved money, invested wisely, told the truth, | 38:17 | |
lived above reproach, and arrived way ahead in life. | 38:23 | |
My generation is very much threatened | 38:27 | |
by all of this because we came along | 38:30 | |
when there were not all of these loans | 38:33 | |
and grants and fellowships. | 38:35 | |
Almost everybody I know who was a schoolmate of mine | 38:37 | |
was making a great sacrifice to get through school. | 38:41 | |
These are the ones who really have to be careful | 38:45 | |
and need to ask the question over and over again, | 38:49 | |
how should a Christian behave who's way ahead in life | 38:52 | |
and who believes that he deserves all of it? | 38:56 | |
Well, Jesus made it perfectly clear how not to behave | 39:02 | |
when we are ahead, and hardly anyone could miss the point. | 39:06 | |
Jesus told one parable after another to warn us | 39:11 | |
on how to behave and how not to behave | 39:15 | |
when we found ourselves ahead. | 39:19 | |
He told about a man whose crops had yielded bountifully, | 39:21 | |
and who had filled his barn to overflowing. | 39:25 | |
He bragged about his abundance and decided | 39:29 | |
that rather than share with others, | 39:32 | |
he would just build bigger barns. | 39:34 | |
And he said, soul, take thine ease. | 39:37 | |
We've got enough now and for the foreseeable future. | 39:41 | |
Now that's how not to behave, | 39:46 | |
and Jesus said that God came that night | 39:48 | |
and said, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. | 39:51 | |
The point is obvious to everyone. | 39:55 | |
There was no hint, incidentally, | 39:58 | |
that he had robbed or exploited anyone. | 40:00 | |
There is no suggestion that he had done anything wrong. | 40:03 | |
All he did was be successful. | 40:07 | |
He used his intelligence. | 40:10 | |
He practiced sound agriculture, no doubt. | 40:13 | |
He used good seeds, and he kept the weeds down, | 40:16 | |
and kept the parasites away. | 40:20 | |
And when you add that to God's free sunshine | 40:23 | |
and God's free rainfall, and God's chemicals in the soil, | 40:27 | |
and God's genetic secrets, and reproductive secrets, | 40:32 | |
that causes everything to come out just fine. | 40:36 | |
And when you put your little genius | 40:41 | |
to God's inexhaustible benefits, look out, | 40:44 | |
You just may get way ahead in life. | 40:48 | |
Then you've got the problem, how do I behave | 40:52 | |
when I found out that I used | 40:55 | |
what God gave so generously, | 40:58 | |
and I applied what was given to me as a person, | 41:01 | |
and then I practiced what my parents | 41:05 | |
and my teachers taught me, and I did not violate any rules. | 41:08 | |
My soul, you could hardly miss like that. | 41:12 | |
Then comes the temptation to behave like this man behaved, | 41:16 | |
whose whole debt was forgiven. | 41:21 | |
Jesus told about a pharisee and a tax collector | 41:23 | |
who went into the temple to pray. | 41:26 | |
The pharisee stood in one aisle and declared | 41:28 | |
how far ahead he was on the moral scale. | 41:31 | |
He had not sinned at all. | 41:35 | |
He was way ahead, and he pointed | 41:37 | |
to the publican, the tax collector. | 41:40 | |
Oh, tax collectors were despised people. | 41:42 | |
They were around there collecting taxes | 41:46 | |
from their own people on a commission | 41:48 | |
to give the money to the Roman procurator | 41:51 | |
so that an occupation army could be paid. | 41:54 | |
Now you know they didn't like him. | 41:57 | |
And there he was standing over there, | 42:00 | |
ashamed of what he was doing. | 42:02 | |
He would not even lift up his eyes | 42:04 | |
unto heaven, the Bible says. | 42:06 | |
He held his head down and beat his breast and said, | 42:09 | |
Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. | 42:12 | |
And Jesus' parable says that the Lord did have mercy on him, | 42:16 | |
and he came down from the temple justified. | 42:21 | |
He told about a priest and a Levite | 42:26 | |
out there on the Jericho road | 42:28 | |
who came upon a poor victim of a robbery, | 42:29 | |
a man left for dead. | 42:32 | |
His clothes stripped from him, unconscious, could not speak. | 42:35 | |
So one did not know what tribe he belonged to. | 42:39 | |
One could not hear whether he said sibboleth or shibboleth. | 42:43 | |
There he is unconscious and naked, | 42:47 | |
unable to identify himself. | 42:50 | |
And there were two persons of the leadership class, | 42:53 | |
way ahead in life, who looked down on him, | 42:56 | |
took no chances of dealing with an impure stranger | 43:00 | |
who might have belonged to another group of people, | 43:04 | |
with no ID on him at all, | 43:08 | |
and they passed by on the other side. | 43:11 | |
A priest and a Levite, leaders in the community, | 43:14 | |
way ahead in life. | 43:19 | |
But a Samaritan, who was looked down upon by everybody, | 43:22 | |
had compassion, cared for him, | 43:26 | |
while those who were way ahead in life | 43:30 | |
showed him nothing but benign neglect. | 43:33 | |
So what are the lessons that we learn now | 43:37 | |
on how we ought to behave? | 43:39 | |
So many of us have been so richly blessed, | 43:41 | |
and many of us are sensitive about this, | 43:45 | |
and want to be scrutinous about how we act | 43:48 | |
in the light of our forward position in the world. | 43:52 | |
So when we look at ourselves in the light of what | 43:56 | |
Jesus taught, what is the message that we get? | 43:58 | |
Well we learn that so much of our well-being | 44:02 | |
is due to the benefactions that we did not earn | 44:04 | |
or deserve, and just as they were passed on to us, | 44:07 | |
the least that we can do is to pass them | 44:11 | |
on to others who did not enjoy such sponsorship. | 44:13 | |
Most of us are like the man whose huge debt was forgiven, | 44:18 | |
and we ought to remember that in all | 44:22 | |
of our dealings with others. | 44:24 | |
We've got some debts that we're not really asked to pay. | 44:26 | |
That has put us way ahead in life. | 44:30 | |
When I attended college, I had as scholarship donated | 44:33 | |
by an anonymous benefactor in New Hampshire. | 44:36 | |
I didn't know the donor at all. | 44:38 | |
There I was in a small college with my tuition paid | 44:41 | |
by somebody many, many miles away, | 44:44 | |
way up there in New Hampshire, | 44:47 | |
and I was in Richmond, Virginia. | 44:49 | |
And so I asked over and over again, what was his name? | 44:52 | |
No one would tell me. | 44:55 | |
They thought I was gonna ask him for more money, | 44:56 | |
and I was if I could of gotten his name. | 44:58 | |
But they wouldn't give me his name. | 45:01 | |
I did not know the man at all, did not ask for this charity. | 45:03 | |
I did not select myself to receive it, it just came to me. | 45:09 | |
And in the days of the deep depression, | 45:14 | |
I'm sure I could not have stayed in college without that. | 45:16 | |
I could not even thank the donor | 45:20 | |
because the donor remained anonymous. | 45:22 | |
Well here's something you'll find hard to believe. | 45:25 | |
The truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. | 45:28 | |
20 years later, I was the president of that college, | 45:33 | |
and Mrs. Lighter, my secretary, called me on the phone | 45:37 | |
and said there's someone who wants to speak with you | 45:40 | |
and will not tell what it is about what he wants to say. | 45:43 | |
And sitting in my office with me was a young fella, | 45:47 | |
sitting there trembling and crying, | 45:51 | |
saying that he was approaching his last semester | 45:53 | |
and was stone broke, had borrowed all he could. | 45:57 | |
No one in the family could help him, | 46:00 | |
and he was about to be leave school. | 46:02 | |
I checked on him and he told me his average was straight As, | 46:05 | |
one of our summa cum laude graduates coming up. | 46:08 | |
And there he was. | 46:12 | |
He had married young and had two infant children. | 46:13 | |
His wife could not work because | 46:16 | |
these were babies at her feet. | 46:18 | |
And there he sat with this story, all of this sad report. | 46:21 | |
About to graduate and no funds for his last semester. | 46:26 | |
As we talked, this telephone rang and I took the call, | 46:29 | |
and guess who it was? | 46:34 | |
An old, old cracked voice of an elderly man | 46:37 | |
asking me if I were the same Samuel Proctor | 46:41 | |
whom he had helped in that school 20 years earlier. | 46:45 | |
I told him that I was, and then I told him | 46:49 | |
how much I wanted to thank him but I was not allowed to. | 46:52 | |
He exchanged a few words of felicity, | 46:55 | |
then asked me this question. | 46:58 | |
Do you know, are you ready for this? | 47:00 | |
Do you know of another student | 47:03 | |
who needs help such as I gave to you. | 47:06 | |
I said, sir, you won't believe this, | 47:10 | |
but I've got a basketcase sitting in front of me right now. | 47:12 | |
I gave the phone, they talked for a while. | 47:18 | |
The man was so impressed he said to my secretary, | 47:21 | |
give me all the information about him, | 47:25 | |
and do you know that that man paid his tuition | 47:26 | |
for that last semester and paid his way | 47:29 | |
all the way through Harvard University's medical school. | 47:33 | |
And today, if you should go to Richmond, Virginia, | 47:38 | |
you'll find in the Yellow Pages | 47:40 | |
the name of Charles Cummings, | 47:43 | |
one of the fine, successful Richmond physicians. | 47:45 | |
Whenever I go to Richmond for anything, | 47:50 | |
he finds out that I'm there, | 47:52 | |
he comes, he wants to introduce me. | 47:55 | |
He heaps on me such gratitude that I really feel guilty. | 47:58 | |
All I did was answer the telephone. | 48:02 | |
(congregation laughing) | 48:05 | |
I was just the agent whereby the same | 48:07 | |
benefit that put me ahead in life, | 48:09 | |
put him ahead in life too. | 48:11 | |
And thank God he has created now a scholarship fund | 48:14 | |
that will be there for a long time to help other | 48:19 | |
young people coming along who run out of money. | 48:22 | |
That's easy. | 48:26 | |
That's how to behave when we're way ahead in life. | 48:27 | |
All we have to do is to remember how we got over, | 48:31 | |
and then help someone else. | 48:34 | |
The problem is, not all of us remain fully aware | 48:37 | |
of how we got over, and therefore feel no obligation. | 48:40 | |
That's what the parable was all about. | 48:45 | |
In a matter of seconds, the man forgot | 48:48 | |
the great debt that had been forgiven. | 48:51 | |
He did not know how to behave | 48:53 | |
when he found himself ahead in life. | 48:55 | |
Now it may not be possible always | 48:59 | |
to do this on a one on one basis. | 49:01 | |
I was just lucky that someone happened | 49:03 | |
to come by, and the case was easy. | 49:06 | |
Sometimes it may be done through | 49:08 | |
institutions that we support. | 49:10 | |
Sometimes it may be done through something | 49:13 | |
as remote as our tax dollars that enable | 49:15 | |
our government to answer needs in distant lands | 49:19 | |
that we can't get a handle on at all. | 49:22 | |
Or even help persons right here in our own country | 49:27 | |
who are far removed from our own circle. | 49:30 | |
It takes some imagination to see in these situations an | 49:33 | |
opportunity to be Christian when we are way ahead in life. | 49:38 | |
The saddest thing I have seen in recent times | 49:43 | |
has been for Christian people, in the name of prudence, | 49:45 | |
and all other kinds of placebos and that sort of thing, | 49:51 | |
using all kinds of deceptive language | 49:56 | |
to line up behind the most begrudging | 49:58 | |
and mean-spirited causes that I have ever heard of, | 50:01 | |
and behave as though they never knew Jesus at all. | 50:05 | |
When we're ahead in life, we need to pass on to others | 50:09 | |
those acts of grace that put us so far ahead. | 50:12 | |
We've seen some awesome problems | 50:16 | |
arising in our society recently | 50:18 | |
lots to do with the fact that so many persons | 50:20 | |
never had the interventions that you and I | 50:23 | |
have been able to take for granted. | 50:26 | |
I know the difference between my life | 50:29 | |
and the lives of some of the failures that I have seen, | 50:32 | |
and I can blame them for all of it if I want to, | 50:35 | |
but I can close my eyes and just remember | 50:38 | |
the interventions that came into my life | 50:41 | |
that did not come near their lives. | 50:44 | |
Look further, now, and see that even when we think | 50:47 | |
we've earned our favored position in life, | 50:50 | |
it sounds commendable and honorable, | 50:52 | |
but a closer look shows that even the most spartan | 50:55 | |
of us really began with the huge debt | 50:58 | |
of which we may not even have been aware. | 51:02 | |
A long time friend of our family is Bishop Kelly. | 51:07 | |
Many of you know her, she's been here to preach. | 51:10 | |
Bishop Kelly of the United Methodist Church. | 51:12 | |
Oh, she's a remarkable person, a dynamic preacher, | 51:14 | |
and a wonderful Christian leader. | 51:17 | |
She was widowed when she was rather young. | 51:20 | |
I knew her husband well, and her family. | 51:22 | |
In fact, when she was a grown woman, she went back | 51:24 | |
to college and she was a student of mine also. | 51:27 | |
Oh, I tell you, I've been run out of | 51:30 | |
some of the nicest places in this country. | 51:32 | |
I've had some of the finest students you can imagine. | 51:34 | |
She reared her children, she began preaching. | 51:37 | |
When her husband died, see, the congregation | 51:40 | |
told the Bishop we don't want another pastor, | 51:42 | |
we just want the pastor's wife to be our pastor. | 51:45 | |
And you know, if you say that loudly enough | 51:48 | |
you just might get it, and they got what they wanted. | 51:49 | |
Before she knew it, she was moving up in the church. | 51:52 | |
Moved up fast. | 51:56 | |
She became a bishop in record breaking time. | 51:58 | |
I think the only one who broke her record | 52:00 | |
was Ambrose of Milan, who was made | 52:02 | |
a bishop two weeks after baptism. | 52:05 | |
But Bishop Kelly was next with her rapid rise. | 52:08 | |
She grew up in Ohio where her father | 52:12 | |
was a Methodist minister. | 52:15 | |
And in one old run down church | 52:17 | |
that they gave to her father, | 52:20 | |
there was a deep cellar underneath | 52:23 | |
the church with a dirt floor. | 52:25 | |
And someone had dug a hole in the cellar | 52:29 | |
about three feet in diameter and about 10 feet deep. | 52:32 | |
It was covered with a manhole, | 52:37 | |
and then with boards lying over it to disguise it. | 52:39 | |
Her three brothers found it and they took their baby sister, | 52:44 | |
isn't it awful what brothers will do to a baby sister? | 52:49 | |
They convinced her to let them | 52:53 | |
let her down in this strange hole. | 52:55 | |
There she was with her tender young self | 52:59 | |
trying to placate the wishes of her macho brothers, | 53:01 | |
and here they let her down there with a rope. | 53:05 | |
It looked like a well. | 53:07 | |
And her brothers did this to her. | 53:09 | |
Let her down there until her feet touched the bottom, | 53:11 | |
and she had to yell up and tell what it was that she saw. | 53:14 | |
Well luckily it was only about 10 feet deep, | 53:18 | |
she came out safely. | 53:20 | |
I heard her tell that story with her bishop's robe on | 53:22 | |
at a large ecumenical gathering out in Ohio. | 53:25 | |
And I thought to myself, those bad boys | 53:28 | |
took that tender little sister and never dreamed | 53:32 | |
that one day she would be a bishop, | 53:35 | |
and there they are letting a bishop of the church | 53:38 | |
down in a deep hole in the basement of that old church. | 53:40 | |
Well, I've been reminded of that many times. | 53:45 | |
But then she became bishop of the church, | 53:50 | |
and she became bishop of the church | 53:54 | |
and had an assignment there in Ohio. | 53:57 | |
And she went back to that old church | 54:00 | |
and studied it's history, and my soul, | 54:02 | |
guess what she found out? | 54:06 | |
That old church was an underground railroad station | 54:08 | |
where slaves were received, and hidden, | 54:14 | |
and fed, and clothed, and sent on to another safe station | 54:17 | |
on the underground railroad network. | 54:22 | |
And she learned that the hole in the basement | 54:26 | |
of that church was where a slave was hidden | 54:29 | |
from time to time in case the bounty hunters would come, | 54:32 | |
they could not find the slave. | 54:36 | |
And here she was, a black woman, | 54:39 | |
bishop in the United Methodist Church | 54:43 | |
with so much memory and such a reminder | 54:47 | |
that long before she was a Methodist bishop, | 54:51 | |
way back in those early days in Ohio, | 54:56 | |
there was someone so concerned about slaves | 54:59 | |
escaping to freedom that they would take the risk | 55:03 | |
of digging a hole like that and hiding a slave | 55:07 | |
until it was safe for that slave to move on. | 55:12 | |
No doubt, she'd never had any idea | 55:16 | |
that such activity had gone on in that old church | 55:19 | |
to which her father had been assigned. | 55:22 | |
But this is the lesson we learn about life. | 55:24 | |
Things that we don't even know about happen in our behalf. | 55:28 | |
It's sort of like what appears to be randomness | 55:34 | |
is not so random after all. | 55:37 | |
There's a quiet providence out there | 55:40 | |
that shapes our future while we are asleep. | 55:43 | |
Some facts were coming together and creating | 55:48 | |
synergistic and novel situations out of which | 55:50 | |
new syntheses appeared and intersected her life. | 55:55 | |
And we benefit in marvelous ways | 56:00 | |
and find ourselves strangely ahead in life. | 56:02 | |
And then when we act as though we did it | 56:06 | |
all ourselves, we have to be reminded | 56:07 | |
that we're debtors whose debts have been canceled | 56:10 | |
by the grace of God and we should pass it on | 56:14 | |
to someone else less fortunate. | 56:18 | |
Finally, the parable is really told | 56:21 | |
to remind us of the grace of God, | 56:24 | |
who does not measure what is given to us. | 56:25 | |
God's grace is boundless and it demonstrates | 56:28 | |
how we should show mercy and compassion to others. | 56:30 | |
Broadening this truth ad this principle | 56:34 | |
to it's wider application, we are where we are | 56:37 | |
ultimately because God has provided | 56:40 | |
circumstances that we could not contrive. | 56:43 | |
God had character building elements | 56:47 | |
poured into our lives that we did not control. | 56:50 | |
Relatives, neighbors, friends, | 56:54 | |
helped us in our early days of growth. | 56:57 | |
Discipline crept into our lives by some | 57:00 | |
people who cared deeply about us. | 57:03 | |
Love was showered on us. | 57:05 | |
Initiative and accountability were taught to us | 57:07 | |
at the hands of so many silent witnesses | 57:10 | |
that we are burdened with an infinite debt, | 57:14 | |
and it took all of that to get us where we are. | 57:17 | |
Look at what we inherited, a free society, | 57:21 | |
a decent standard of living, the company | 57:24 | |
of sages and martyrs found in the books in these libraries, | 57:27 | |
the institutions of public education, | 57:31 | |
great universities, private and endowed, | 57:34 | |
and supported by tax dollars, a nation safe | 57:37 | |
from invading armies, preventive medicine, | 57:40 | |
loving parents, stable governments, | 57:43 | |
protection from tyrants and fascists. | 57:45 | |
Oh, the list is long! | 57:48 | |
A fellow stopped me in Raleigh the other day, | 57:51 | |
I was preaching at a convention over there. | 57:53 | |
And he said, when are you going to Norfolk again? | 57:55 | |
I don't know, why do you ask? | 57:58 | |
He said, there's a woman 98 years old | 58:01 | |
who was a friend of your mother. | 58:03 | |
She's now paralyzed and in an old folks home, | 58:06 | |
and she asked me had I ever seen you, | 58:09 | |
and he said when you see him, tell him I'm here | 58:12 | |
and if he ever comes through here, stop by to see me. | 58:15 | |
I'm not going to wait until some trip | 58:19 | |
carries me to that place. | 58:21 | |
That was one of those ladies who would stop me | 58:24 | |
on the street and tell me not to do this and to do that. | 58:27 | |
She's the one who used to give me figs | 58:30 | |
off her fig bush and dishes of ice cream | 58:33 | |
and pat me on my cheek and give me encouragement. | 58:36 | |
She's the one who affirmed me over and over again, | 58:39 | |
and you know what I'm gonna do? | 58:42 | |
I'm gonna go way outta my way and find | 58:44 | |
my way to that senior citizen's home. | 58:46 | |
And if she can't say a word to me, I'm gonna just | 58:49 | |
stay there until she gets tired of looking at me, | 58:52 | |
because I want to behave like a Christian | 58:56 | |
when I'm way ahead in life. | 58:58 | |
And then apply that to the society at large and the persons | 59:04 | |
out there who need our ministrations so badly, | 59:08 | |
and here we are hung up about our success? | 59:11 | |
And the way to prove ourselves most accomplished is | 59:14 | |
to remember how to behave as a Christian | 59:17 | |
when we are way ahead in life. | 59:21 | |
Not long ago I was in the office | 59:23 | |
of Doug Wilder there in Richmond. | 59:25 | |
Now he's a student of mine also. | 59:26 | |
He used to sleep in my philosophy class. | 59:29 | |
(congregation laughing) | 59:31 | |
when I reminded him of that, well, he slept because | 59:33 | |
he was working in the John Marshall Hotel | 59:36 | |
and he didn't have a lot of time to get from | 59:38 | |
the hotel to class, and he just slept when he got to class. | 59:40 | |
Well, I asked him how far it was from that office | 59:44 | |
where we were sitting talking to 17th and Main Street. | 59:49 | |
What's the distance between the capitol and 17th and Main? | 59:53 | |
He said, oh, Dr. Proctor, it's only about four blocks | 59:57 | |
and I can almost see it from here. | 1:00:00 | |
I said, Doug, do you remember that it was in 1865 | 1:00:03 | |
at 17th and Main that a Mr. Lumpkin had a jail. | 1:00:07 | |
An old jail for incorrigible slaves. | 1:00:12 | |
And after the Emancipation, the jail was surplus. | 1:00:16 | |
Nobody needed the jail anymore. | 1:00:19 | |
And the black Baptists were trying to find a place | 1:00:22 | |
to buy some real estate to start a college. | 1:00:24 | |
No one would sell them real estate to start a college. | 1:00:27 | |
No one would rent them space. | 1:00:30 | |
But Mr. Lumpkin had a jail, and the black Baptists | 1:00:32 | |
said they would buy the jail if they could get the money. | 1:00:37 | |
So they sold chicken and sweet potato pie | 1:00:39 | |
and fish and all of that until they could raise the money. | 1:00:42 | |
Then the white Baptists of Richmond learned about it | 1:00:45 | |
and they gave a contribution, | 1:00:47 | |
then the American Baptists Home Mission Society | 1:00:50 | |
from Philadelphia made a contribution, | 1:00:52 | |
and the next thing they knew, in 1865, | 1:00:53 | |
they were buying Mr. Lumpkin's jail. | 1:00:57 | |
Ah! | 1:01:00 | |
And then they converted those cell blocks into classrooms. | 1:01:01 | |
Ripped out those bars at the windows | 1:01:05 | |
and put in clean window panes. | 1:01:08 | |
Took the whipping posts and made lecterns out of them. | 1:01:11 | |
And there Doug Wilder and I, sitting in his office. | 1:01:16 | |
I said, Doug, you know, you finished Virginia Union | 1:01:18 | |
and I finished Virginia Union, | 1:01:21 | |
and that's where Virginia Union started. | 1:01:23 | |
Four blocks from here in Lumpkin's jail. | 1:01:26 | |
You and I are alumni of Mr. Lumpkin's jail. | 1:01:31 | |
Here you are, the governor of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia, | 1:01:37 | |
and I'm down there teaching at Duke Divinity School. | 1:01:41 | |
Doug this is a burden on us. | 1:01:45 | |
We've got to learn how to behave as Christians | 1:01:48 | |
when we're way ahead in life. | 1:01:51 | |
May God bless you all. | 1:01:55 | |
("O Word of God Incarnate") | 1:01:59 | |
♪ O Word of God incarnate ♪ | 1:02:41 | |
♪ O Wisdom from on high ♪ | 1:02:47 | |
♪ O Truth unchanged, unchanging ♪ | 1:02:52 | |
♪ O Light of our dark sky ♪ | 1:02:58 | |
♪ We praise Thee for the radiance ♪ | 1:03:03 | |
♪ That from the hallowed page ♪ | 1:03:09 | |
♪ A lantern to the footsteps ♪ | 1:03:14 | |
♪ Shines on from age to age ♪ | 1:03:20 | |
♪ The Church from her dear Savior ♪ | 1:03:28 | |
♪ Received the gift divine ♪ | 1:03:33 | |
♪ And still that light she lifteth ♪ | 1:03:38 | |
♪ O'er all the earth to shine ♪ | 1:03:44 | |
♪ It is the sacred blessing ♪ | 1:03:49 | |
♪ Where gems of truth are stored ♪ | 1:03:55 | |
♪ It is the heaven-drawn picture ♪ | 1:04:00 | |
♪ Of Christ, the living Word ♪ | 1:04:06 | |
♪ Our savior is a banner ♪ | 1:04:14 | |
♪ Before God's host unfurled ♪ | 1:04:19 | |
♪ It is a shining beacon ♪ | 1:04:25 | |
♪ Above the darkling world ♪ | 1:04:30 | |
♪ It is the chart and compass ♪ | 1:04:36 | |
♪ That, o'er life's surging sea ♪ | 1:04:42 | |
♪ 'Mid mists and rocks and quicksands ♪ | 1:04:47 | |
♪ Still guide, O Christ, to Thee ♪ | 1:04:53 | |
♪ O make Thy Church, dear Savior ♪ | 1:05:01 | |
♪ A lampstand of pure gold ♪ | 1:05:06 | |
♪ To bear before the nations ♪ | 1:05:12 | |
♪ Thy light, that all behold ♪ | 1:05:17 | |
♪ O teach Thy wandering pilgrims ♪ | 1:05:23 | |
♪ By this their path to trace ♪ | 1:05:29 | |
♪ Till, clouds and darkness ended ♪ | 1:05:34 | |
♪ They see Thee face to face ♪ | 1:05:40 | |
Debra | The Lord be with you. | 1:05:51 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 1:05:53 |
- | Let us pray, you may be seated. | 1:05:55 |
Please respond to each petition | 1:05:58 | |
with the words, Lord, hear our prayer. | 1:06:00 | |
Gracious God, we give thanks for this time of worship. | 1:06:07 | |
A time to slow down the pace of our lives | 1:06:12 | |
and to reflect upon your many graces. | 1:06:15 | |
Truly all the blessings we enjoy | 1:06:19 | |
are gifts from your abundant mercy. | 1:06:22 | |
We give thanks for all that you have provided for us. | 1:06:26 | |
Giving us not only life, but life abundant. | 1:06:30 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:06:36 | |
Lord, we pray that your word may be planted in us. | 1:06:41 | |
Prepare our hearts and minds to receive it | 1:06:46 | |
with understanding, that we may become fertile ground. | 1:06:49 | |
Plant it deeply that it may stand | 1:06:54 | |
in the face of hardship or success. | 1:06:57 | |
Nurture it that the roots of your Word may not wither | 1:07:01 | |
in the midst of the world's cares or successes. | 1:07:05 | |
Finally, make us fruitful as disciples of Jesus Christ, | 1:07:09 | |
who offer grace and mercy and generosity to one another, | 1:07:14 | |
even as we have received all of these and more from you. | 1:07:20 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:07:26 | |
Compassionate God, you have encouraged | 1:07:31 | |
us to pray for on another. | 1:07:34 | |
Therefore, with trust in your great love, | 1:07:37 | |
we offer our prayers for the world. | 1:07:40 | |
Let us pray for the church. | 1:07:43 | |
Lord, we pray for the church | 1:07:51 | |
of Jesus Christ around the world. | 1:07:53 | |
As the scattered seed brings forth grain one hundred fold, | 1:07:56 | |
may your church which is scattered as seed on the wind | 1:08:01 | |
also bring forth bounteous fruit as we learn to live | 1:08:04 | |
as those who are Christians in the world | 1:08:10 | |
in our success as well as in our hardship. | 1:08:14 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:08:18 | |
Let us pray for the homeless, | 1:08:23 | |
the hungry, and victims of disaster. | 1:08:25 | |
God, you suffer with those who suffer. | 1:08:40 | |
We pray to you for those who are denied | 1:08:43 | |
what they need to live, and those whose dreams | 1:08:45 | |
have been shattered by war and disaster, | 1:08:49 | |
especially in Rwanda and Bosnia. | 1:08:52 | |
Reach out and bring healing through | 1:08:56 | |
the hands of your faithful people. | 1:08:58 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:09:01 | |
Let us pray for the sick and the grieving. | 1:09:07 | |
Holy Comforter, Healing Spirit, grant your peace | 1:09:18 | |
to those who are sick and those who grieve, | 1:09:23 | |
especially those listening in Duke Hospital this morning. | 1:09:26 | |
Radiate through their lives with the light of your presence, | 1:09:30 | |
that renewed health and strength may be theirs. | 1:09:34 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:09:38 | |
Let us pray for our community. | 1:09:43 | |
Lord, you call us into community with one another, | 1:09:54 | |
yet so often we fail to reflect your vision for us. | 1:09:58 | |
Overcome the walls of fear and suspicion | 1:10:02 | |
and narrowness that separate us. | 1:10:05 | |
Help us learn to appreciate our differences | 1:10:09 | |
as signs of strength, and bring us into unity | 1:10:12 | |
with one another through your spirit of love, | 1:10:15 | |
that we might create humane communities where all people | 1:10:18 | |
are empowered to realize the fullness of life. | 1:10:22 | |
Especially be with us as we make decisions | 1:10:27 | |
about our public schools, that we might strive | 1:10:29 | |
not only protect our self interest, but to create | 1:10:33 | |
a school system where all our children might flourish. | 1:10:37 | |
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 1:10:42 | |
Let us pray for ourselves. | 1:10:48 | |
God of hope and new life, help us to see the joy | 1:11:02 | |
in abundant life you intend for us. | 1:11:06 | |
Grant us your peace. | 1:11:09 | |
Peace which is not the absence of trouble, but the awareness | 1:11:11 | |
of your guiding presence in all that we do. | 1:11:14 | |
Use our lives for the building of your kingdom. | 1:11:18 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. | 1:11:21 | |
Now let us give ourselves and our gifts | 1:11:26 | |
as signs of our thanksgiving. | 1:11:29 | |
(pleasant bell music) | 1:11:50 | |
("The Doxology Hymn") | 1:16:05 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 1:16:32 | |
♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪ | 1:16:39 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:16:46 | |
♪ Praise God above, ye heav'nly host ♪ | 1:16:54 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 1:17:01 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:17:08 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:17:11 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:17:15 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:17:18 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 1:17:22 | |
- | Let us pray. | 1:17:34 |
We give thanks, O God, for every gift received, | 1:17:37 | |
and for each gift we are blessed in giving. | 1:17:40 | |
May these gifts bring light to those who walk in darkness, | 1:17:44 | |
hope to those who live in despair, | 1:17:48 | |
and justice to those who are oppressed. | 1:17:51 | |
Grant to each giver a sense of participation | 1:17:54 | |
in the most important opportunity of all, | 1:17:57 | |
to share your love with the world. | 1:18:00 | |
To this end, we dedicate our offerings and ourselves | 1:18:03 | |
as we pray together: | 1:18:07 | |
All | Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 1:18:09 |
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done | 1:18:14 | |
on earth, as it is in heaven. | 1:18:17 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 1:18:20 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 1:18:22 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:18:24 | |
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 1:18:28 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 1:18:33 | |
and the glory forever. | 1:18:36 | |
Amen. | 1:18:37 | |
("Sing, With All the Sons of Glory") | 1:18:40 | |
♪ Sing with all the saints in glory ♪ | 1:19:13 | |
♪ Sing the resurrection song ♪ | 1:19:17 | |
♪ Death and sorrow, earth's dark story ♪ | 1:19:22 | |
♪ To the former days belong ♪ | 1:19:26 | |
♪ All around the clouds are breaking ♪ | 1:19:31 | |
♪ Soon the storms of time shall cease ♪ | 1:19:35 | |
♪ In God's likeness we awaken ♪ | 1:19:40 | |
♪ Knowing everlasting peace ♪ | 1:19:45 | |
♪ O what glory, far exceeding ♪ | 1:19:52 | |
♪ All that eye has yet perceived ♪ | 1:19:56 | |
♪ Holiest hearts, for ages pleading ♪ | 1:20:01 | |
♪ Never that full joy conceived ♪ | 1:20:05 | |
♪ God has promised, Christ prepares it ♪ | 1:20:10 | |
♪ There on high our welcome waits ♪ | 1:20:15 | |
♪ Ev'ry humble spirit shares it ♪ | 1:20:19 | |
♪ Christ has passed the eternal gates ♪ | 1:20:24 | |
♪ Life eternal! Heav'n rejoices ♪ | 1:20:31 | |
♪ Jesus lives who once was dead. ♪ | 1:20:36 | |
♪ Shout with joy, O deathless voices ♪ | 1:20:40 | |
♪ Child of God, lift up your head ♪ | 1:20:45 | |
♪ Patriarchs from distant ages ♪ | 1:20:49 | |
♪ Saints all longing for their heav'n ♪ | 1:20:54 | |
♪ Prophets, psalmists, seers, and sages ♪ | 1:20:58 | |
♪ All await the glory giv'n ♪ | 1:21:04 | |
♪ Life eternal! O what wonders ♪ | 1:21:12 | |
♪ Crowd on faith; what joy unknown ♪ | 1:21:16 | |
♪ When, amidst earth's closing thunders ♪ | 1:21:21 | |
♪ Saints shall stand before the throne ♪ | 1:21:26 | |
♪ Oh, to enter that bright portal ♪ | 1:21:31 | |
♪ See that glowing firmament ♪ | 1:21:36 | |
♪ Know, with you, O God immortal ♪ | 1:21:40 | |
♪ Jesus Christ whom you have sent ♪ | 1:21:45 | |
Debra | May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:21:55 |
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 1:21:58 | |
be with you and keep you in grace, | 1:22:01 | |
love, and fellowship with one another. | 1:22:04 | |
Amen. | 1:22:07 | |
(joyful organ music) | 1:22:09 |
Item Info
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