Donald Mackay - "Who Is I AM?" (June 18, 1967)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(uplifting organ music) | 0:04 | |
(congregation singing) | 0:39 | |
- | Let us offer unto God | 3:07 |
our prayers of confession and for pardon. | 3:09 | |
Let us pray. | 3:13 | |
All mighty and eternal God, | 3:16 | |
Thou, searcher of the hearts of men, | 3:19 | |
with sorrow we acknowledge before Thee | 3:22 | |
the faults and failures, which haunt our memories. | 3:25 | |
We acknowledge our failure to be true, | 3:30 | |
even to our own accepted standards. | 3:33 | |
Our self-deception in the face of temptation, | 3:37 | |
our choosing of the worse, when we knew the better. | 3:41 | |
We acknowledge our failure to apply to ourselves | 3:47 | |
the standards of conduct we demand of others, | 3:50 | |
our complacence toward wrongs, | 3:55 | |
that do not touch our own case, | 3:57 | |
and our over-sensitiveness to those that do. | 4:01 | |
Our hardness of heart toward our neighbor's faults, | 4:06 | |
and our readiness to make allowance for our own. | 4:10 | |
In thy Holy presence, | 4:15 | |
we confess our faults and our failures, | 4:16 | |
knowing that they are our sins. | 4:21 | |
Yet, Lord God, we believe in Thee. | 4:25 | |
Help our unbelief. | 4:31 | |
We love Thee, | 4:34 | |
yet, not with a perfect heart as we would. | 4:37 | |
We long to serve Thee, | 4:42 | |
yet, not with our full strength. | 4:45 | |
We trust in Thee, | 4:49 | |
yet, not with our whole mind. | 4:53 | |
Forgive our past disloyalties, | 4:57 | |
accept our present purposes, | 5:01 | |
and grant us Thy blessing, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. | 5:04 | |
And hear these words of assurance from the New Testament. | 5:12 | |
"If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, | 5:18 | |
and will forgive our sins, | 5:24 | |
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." | 5:27 | |
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, | 5:32 | |
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. | 5:37 | |
Therefore, be of good courage. | 5:44 | |
And now as our Savior Christ hath taught us, | 5:50 | |
we humbly pray together, saying | 5:53 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, | 5:57 | |
hallowed be Thy name. | 6:00 | |
Thy kingdom come. | 6:03 | |
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. | 6:05 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 6:10 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 6:13 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 6:15 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 6:19 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 6:22 | |
For Thine is the kingdom, | 6:25 | |
and the power, and the glory, forever. | 6:26 | |
Amen. | 6:31 | |
(solemn organ music) | 6:36 | |
(choir singing a cappella) | 7:29 | |
Brethren, it is unusual for any announcements to be made | 8:55 | |
at the University service of worship. | 9:00 | |
But since this is the beginning of a new term, | 9:03 | |
on behalf of the chapel staff, | 9:07 | |
I would like to welcome those of you, | 9:10 | |
who have come to summer school. | 9:12 | |
Especially to those of you, | 9:15 | |
you who have come to Duke for the first time. | 9:17 | |
You will notice that, during the summer | 9:21 | |
the services are at 9:30 in the morning, | 9:24 | |
instead of at 11 o'clock, | 9:27 | |
though the service is broadcast at 11, being taped just now. | 9:30 | |
I wish we could have started your first Lord's day | 9:36 | |
with better weather. | 9:38 | |
There was a minister in Scotland, | 9:41 | |
who all opened his service with a prayer of thanksgiving. | 9:42 | |
And on a day like this, | 9:46 | |
the congregation wondered what he would say. | 9:48 | |
And he began, "O God, we thank Thee | 9:50 | |
that the weather is not always like this." | 9:51 | |
At 10:30, at the close of the service, | 9:57 | |
we may go over to the union ballroom, | 10:00 | |
where there will be a discussion period for an hour. | 10:04 | |
(scoffs) Hot coffee will be served. | 10:08 | |
Get ice if we can, | 10:11 | |
but I think it's hot coffee that will be served. | 10:12 | |
You will have a chance to meet our visiting preacher, | 10:15 | |
whom we welcome: the Reverend Donald M Mackey. | 10:19 | |
I'm sure a generation or two ago it was Donald M "Mackeye", | 10:24 | |
but he has a right to pronounce it as he wishes. | 10:29 | |
He is a graduate of our own Divinity School, | 10:32 | |
and is located now in Florida. | 10:36 | |
We do welcome him. | 10:39 | |
If you do not know how to reach the union ballroom, | 10:42 | |
look around for someone who does, | 10:46 | |
and will those who do know, | 10:48 | |
look around for those who don't, and take them. | 10:50 | |
From 10:30 till 11:30 we shall discuss the sermon, | 10:53 | |
or any other tangential topic, which arises from it. | 10:57 | |
And you are very welcome to that discussion group. | 11:01 | |
The Lord be with you. | 11:09 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 11:12 |
- | Let us pray. | 11:13 |
Let us offer unto God our unison prayer of thanksgiving. | 11:18 | |
O Lord, our God, the Author and Giver of all good things, | 11:24 | |
we thank Thee for all Thy mercies, | 11:29 | |
and for Thy loving care over all Thy creatures. | 11:32 | |
We bless Thee for the gift of life, | 11:36 | |
for Thy protection roundabout us, | 11:39 | |
for Thy guiding hand upon us, | 11:42 | |
and for the tokens of Thy love within us. | 11:45 | |
We thank Thee for friendship and duty, | 11:48 | |
for good hopes and precious memories, | 11:51 | |
for the joys that cheer us, | 11:55 | |
and trials that teach us to put our trust in Thee. | 11:57 | |
Most of all, we thank Thee | 12:01 | |
for the saving knowledge of Thy Son, our Savior, | 12:03 | |
for the living presence of Thy Spirit, | 12:07 | |
for Thy church, the Body of Christ, | 12:10 | |
for the ministry of word and sacrament, | 12:13 | |
and all the means of grace. | 12:16 | |
In all these things, O Father, | 12:19 | |
make us wise unto a right use of Thy benefits, | 12:22 | |
that we may render an acceptable thanksgiving | 12:26 | |
unto Thee, all the days of our life. | 12:29 | |
Through Jesus Christ. | 12:32 | |
Amen. | 12:35 | |
We bring before Thee, O God, | 12:38 | |
the troubles and perils of peoples and nations, | 12:39 | |
the sighing of prisoners and captives and refugees, | 12:44 | |
the sorrows of the bereaved, | 12:51 | |
the necessities of strangers, | 12:54 | |
the helplessness of the weak, | 12:57 | |
the despondency of the weary, | 12:59 | |
the failing powers of the aged. | 13:02 | |
O God, draw near to each, | 13:06 | |
for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 13:09 | |
Almighty and eternal God, who did so love the world, | 13:14 | |
that Thou gave us Thine only Son for its redemption, | 13:18 | |
grant unto us such goodwill to all Thy creatures, | 13:23 | |
that we may continue Thy work of reconciliation, | 13:27 | |
bringing to lost souls, the love of the Cross | 13:31 | |
and the power of the resurrection, | 13:36 | |
for their ever-lasting salvation. | 13:39 | |
Oh God, who hast built Thy church upon the foundation | 13:44 | |
of the apostles and prophets, | 13:48 | |
Jesus Christ, himself, being the Chief Cornerstone, | 13:50 | |
save the community of Thy people | 13:55 | |
from cowardly surrender to the world, | 13:58 | |
from rendering onto Caesar what belongs to Thee, | 14:02 | |
from forgetting the eternal gospel, | 14:08 | |
amid the temporal pressures of our trouble days. | 14:11 | |
We pray for the unity of the Church, | 14:17 | |
for her fellowship across embittered lines of race a nation, | 14:21 | |
for her growth in grace, | 14:27 | |
for her building in love, | 14:30 | |
for her enlargement in service, | 14:33 | |
for her increase in wisdom, faith, charity, and power | 14:36 | |
in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, whose church it is. | 14:43 | |
Eternal God, we praise and glorify Thee. | 14:50 | |
We proclaim joy before Thee, | 14:55 | |
for Thy manifest blessings in this community | 14:57 | |
of our university, | 15:00 | |
for the expectation of good, which brought us here, | 15:03 | |
which returns us here, | 15:08 | |
for sound learning and exciting truth, | 15:12 | |
which enlarges our acquaintance with ourselves, | 15:15 | |
with the world, and with Thee. | 15:19 | |
We thank Thee for teachers and counselors, | 15:22 | |
deans and coaches, librarians, and masters of research, | 15:27 | |
stewards and servants and all others, | 15:33 | |
who, sharing of themselves, shares also great truth. | 15:36 | |
We thank Thee for Christian roots in our learning, | 15:41 | |
for the church in campus life, | 15:47 | |
for worship and prayer, | 15:51 | |
and Christian discipline among faculty and students, | 15:55 | |
for this university service of worship. | 16:00 | |
We thank Thee, our God and our Father. | 16:04 | |
O Lord our God, | 16:11 | |
when Thou givest to Thy servants | 16:12 | |
to endeavor any great matter, | 16:14 | |
grant us also to know, that it is not the beginning, | 16:17 | |
but the continuing of the same | 16:22 | |
until it be thoroughly finished, | 16:24 | |
which yieldeth true glory. | 16:27 | |
Through Him, Who, for the finishing of Thy work, | 16:31 | |
laid down His life. | 16:35 | |
And the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, | 16:39 | |
be with us all evermore. | 16:43 | |
Amen. | 16:49 | |
Reverend Mackey | Hear the Word of God, | 17:09 |
as we find it in the book of Exodus, | 17:12 | |
the third chapter and the 14th verse: | 17:18 | |
And God said unto Moses, "I am that I am." | 17:23 | |
And He said, "Thus shallt thou say | 17:29 | |
unto to the children of Israel: | 17:31 | |
'I am have sent me unto you.'" | 17:34 | |
And from the gospel, according to John, | 17:41 | |
the 10th chapter, the 14th through the 16th verses: | 17:44 | |
"I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, | 17:50 | |
and I'm known of mine. | 17:55 | |
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. | 17:58 | |
And I lay down my life for the sheep. | 18:03 | |
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. | 18:07 | |
Them, also, I must bring. | 18:11 | |
And they shall hear my voice. | 18:13 | |
And there shall be one fold and one shepherd." | 18:16 | |
May God add his blessing to this reading from his Holy Word. | 18:22 | |
There is something breath-taking | 18:31 | |
about the beauty of this chapel. | 18:33 | |
Some months ago, I brought two of my children to Durham | 18:36 | |
to see the campus for the first time. | 18:40 | |
And when we rounded the circle, | 18:42 | |
and the chapel came into view, | 18:44 | |
they both involuntarily caught their breath | 18:46 | |
in wonder and surprise. | 18:50 | |
The custodian of the chapel, | 18:54 | |
during my four years here at Duke, | 18:56 | |
was a good friend of mine. | 19:00 | |
And once he told me of a farmer who came here, | 19:03 | |
a man who had not been blessed by opportunities | 19:07 | |
of education, | 19:10 | |
who walked around with him, | 19:13 | |
viewing the beauties of this marvelous building, | 19:15 | |
it's vaulted arches, it's stained glass windows, | 19:19 | |
it's wood carving. | 19:23 | |
And the man could not find words to express himself, | 19:25 | |
until finally he said to the custodian, | 19:30 | |
he said, "You know, this is a hell of a place." | 19:33 | |
Shocking words, I'm sure. | 19:37 | |
And yet, I'm sure they were eloquent words of appreciation, | 19:39 | |
within the range of his vocabulary. | 19:45 | |
The last time I spoke from this pulpit, | 19:49 | |
was at a weekday chapel service, when I was a student here. | 19:52 | |
In the congregation was the founding president | 19:57 | |
of Duke University, William Preston Few. | 20:00 | |
It was the last worship service he ever attended, | 20:03 | |
for later in the week he suffered the stroke | 20:06 | |
that proved fatal. | 20:10 | |
It was a great privilege to know such a man, | 20:12 | |
who could dream great dreams, | 20:15 | |
and inspire men to labor with him for their fulfillment. | 20:18 | |
I bear you greetings from Florida. | 20:26 | |
There are sections of Florida still, | 20:28 | |
where I could wish we were sharing this rainfall. | 20:30 | |
But more specifically from Cape Kennedy, | 20:35 | |
from that section of our country, | 20:38 | |
that might be called Spaceport USA, | 20:39 | |
where the technical genius of modern man is combining | 20:43 | |
to give daring expression | 20:46 | |
to the ancient urge of homo sapiens, to conquer the unknown. | 20:48 | |
Just two weeks ago, I was given the exciting assignment | 20:54 | |
to serve a church in the heart of the missile country, | 20:58 | |
At Cocoa, Florida, on the Indian river, near Cape Kennedy. | 21:01 | |
It is there that NASA, | 21:07 | |
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, | 21:10 | |
is feverishly at work to put a man on the moon. | 21:12 | |
I have been told that, in this area, | 21:17 | |
there is a new definition of the word atheist. | 21:19 | |
It is a person who doesn't believe in NASA. | 21:24 | |
In the Cape Canaveral and Cape Kennedy area, | 21:30 | |
most complex and intricate interweaving | 21:32 | |
of the specialized genius | 21:35 | |
of thousands of engineers and technicians, | 21:36 | |
is combining to enable man, with his vaulting ambition, | 21:40 | |
to venture out beyond the protective shield | 21:44 | |
of the Earth's atmosphere | 21:46 | |
into the unimaginable vastness of interplanetary, | 21:47 | |
and perhaps even someday into inter-stellar space. | 21:51 | |
In the presence of such audacity, | 21:58 | |
in the presence of such insatiable curiosity, | 22:01 | |
in the presence of such determination | 22:06 | |
to press beyond the known to the unknown, | 22:07 | |
it is less difficult to understand how a Hebrew poet, | 22:12 | |
some centuries ago could sing, | 22:15 | |
"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, | 22:17 | |
the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, | 22:22 | |
what is man that Thou art mindful of him, | 22:26 | |
and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? | 22:29 | |
For Thou hast made him a little lower than God himself, | 22:33 | |
and hast crowned him with glory and honor. | 22:38 | |
Thou madest him to have dominion | 22:41 | |
over the works of Thy hands. | 22:43 | |
Thou hast put all things under his feet." | 22:45 | |
The same instinct of wonder caused the Bard of Avon | 22:51 | |
to say, "What a piece of work is a man. | 22:57 | |
How infinite in faculty and reason, | 23:01 | |
how expressed and admirable", | 23:04 | |
and then went on to say, "How like a God". | 23:05 | |
This adventurous and daring creature, man, | 23:11 | |
has been, for a few score generations, | 23:13 | |
posing ultimate questions about himself. | 23:15 | |
Who am I? | 23:19 | |
What is life all about? | 23:21 | |
What is the origin of this world | 23:23 | |
in all its beauty and wonder? | 23:25 | |
And through simple logic, man began to believe | 23:29 | |
that there must be intelligent purpose back of it all. | 23:33 | |
Some source of being, some author, | 23:37 | |
some creator, and sustainer. | 23:40 | |
Man is strange, | 23:43 | |
and curious ideas emerged in the mind of man | 23:44 | |
to give some sort of rational expression to these thoughts, | 23:48 | |
and the idea of God sprang up among the societies of man. | 23:52 | |
But among all these ideas of God, | 23:58 | |
there was one marvelous line of development, | 24:03 | |
which has come down to us as the Hebrew Christian tradition, | 24:05 | |
which finds its written expression | 24:09 | |
in this Book we call the Bible. | 24:10 | |
So strange and wonderful is its record, | 24:13 | |
that it is the judgment of multitudes, | 24:16 | |
that in its pages is told the story | 24:18 | |
of God seeking to reveal himself to man. | 24:21 | |
Such was the case when Moses, a Hebrew refugee from Egypt, | 24:25 | |
tending the flocks of his father-in-law | 24:33 | |
in semi-desert region, of what is now disputed land | 24:35 | |
between Egypt and Israel. | 24:40 | |
You know the story. | 24:44 | |
He saw a bush aflame. | 24:45 | |
And yet, not consumed by the flames. | 24:49 | |
He went aside to observe it. | 24:52 | |
And a voice spoke to him, | 24:56 | |
and told him to take off his shoes, | 24:57 | |
for he stood upon holy ground. | 25:00 | |
There continued then an encounter | 25:03 | |
of Moses with the voice of God. | 25:06 | |
And as he watched the strange sight, | 25:11 | |
and God spoke to him, | 25:14 | |
and gave to him a dangerous and a daring task. | 25:17 | |
And it is in that conversation | 25:22 | |
between Moses and the voice of God, | 25:24 | |
that I find the text for this sermon. | 25:26 | |
The voice of God had said, "Go to Pharaoh and demand that he | 25:30 | |
let my people go." | 25:34 | |
And Moses replied, "Who shall I say has sent me?" | 25:37 | |
And the voice of God replied and said, | 25:41 | |
"You shall say that 'I am' has sent you.' | 25:44 | |
What an enigmatic response that was. | 25:49 | |
"Tell them that 'I am' has sent you." | 25:52 | |
And it is logical then, | 25:58 | |
that you and I might ask the question, "Who is 'I am'?" | 26:00 | |
The Christian faith is an answer to that question. | 26:07 | |
Or better still, Jesus Christ is the answer | 26:11 | |
to that question. | 26:14 | |
If you want to know what God is like, | 26:17 | |
go to Jesus, and you'll find the answer. | 26:19 | |
The daring affirmation of the Christian faith is | 26:25 | |
that in the deeds and in the words of Jesus, | 26:27 | |
God is speaking to man, | 26:31 | |
and filling in the all too brief reply | 26:33 | |
that was made to Moses, | 26:36 | |
when he heard the voice speak from the burning bush | 26:38 | |
and say, "I am." | 26:40 | |
But we may logically ask | 26:45 | |
whether we need to look back 2000 years for truth | 26:47 | |
to guide us in an age of space probes and nuclear power. | 26:50 | |
Just four mornings ago, | 26:56 | |
I stood on the steps of my home beside the Indian river, | 26:57 | |
and, at 2:01 AM, I saw a fiery dawn | 27:02 | |
suddenly illuminate the sky to the north-east of my home. | 27:07 | |
And scattered clouds then cast swiftly moving shadows, | 27:12 | |
eerie in their appearance, | 27:17 | |
as the source of light began to rise, | 27:18 | |
as the Atlas-Agena rocket rose in flame and thunder | 27:23 | |
off the Cape, to start its month-long journey, | 27:28 | |
to probe the atmosphere of Venus. | 27:32 | |
Isn't this a new age into which we are plunging | 27:35 | |
at a reckless pace? | 27:37 | |
Isn't the truth of earlier generations, | 27:40 | |
who did not know what it is to split an atom, | 27:42 | |
or orbit the earth, outdated? | 27:45 | |
Now, it is not difficult to understand | 27:50 | |
how the answer to such a question could be, "Yes!" | 27:52 | |
Especially is this true, if we limit our perspective | 27:56 | |
to the brief span of human history, | 28:00 | |
But if we can see man through the eyes | 28:06 | |
of such a scientist as Teilhard de Chardin, | 28:10 | |
who, in his phenomenon of man, | 28:14 | |
reminds us that the few thousand years | 28:16 | |
of recorded human history is but a split second | 28:18 | |
in the evolutionary development of homo sapiens. | 28:24 | |
We may then more nearly look upon Moses as our contemporary, | 28:27 | |
and Jesus as one who walks ahead of us | 28:32 | |
and beckons us to quicken our pace, and walk by his side. | 28:35 | |
With such a perspective, we can see Christ as contemporary. | 28:41 | |
Indeed, we can see Him far out | 28:47 | |
beyond our willingness to follow or to practice. | 28:49 | |
It is to Jesus then to whom we turn | 28:55 | |
for answer to the question, "Who is 'I am'?" | 28:57 | |
And I contend, that His whole life of deeds and words | 29:03 | |
represents the most winsome, the most challenging, | 29:07 | |
the most commanding, the most ennobling, | 29:11 | |
the most inspiring, the most hope-filled response | 29:15 | |
to that question that can be found. | 29:19 | |
"Who is 'I am'?" | 29:23 | |
Jesus answered the question daringly, astonishingly, | 29:27 | |
in a manner that no mere man could have ever dared | 29:35 | |
to answer. | 29:40 | |
By such words as He spoke to His disciples, | 29:43 | |
saying, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." | 29:46 | |
Or again, "I and the Father are one." | 29:53 | |
Or yet again, by his striking reply to the Pharisees, | 29:59 | |
when he said, "Before Abraham was, I am." | 30:03 | |
Thus, Jesus is the great revelation of God. | 30:11 | |
He is the answer to the most profound question, | 30:16 | |
to which we can address our minds. | 30:19 | |
Whether that may come from a child, who asks his parent, | 30:22 | |
"What is God like?" | 30:26 | |
Or from the philosopher who probes an earnest search | 30:29 | |
for the ground of all being. | 30:32 | |
Jesus says what God is like, when he says, "I am." | 30:36 | |
And this is a familiar expression of Jesus, | 30:41 | |
especially in the gospel of John. | 30:44 | |
There He seeks to describe himself by saying, | 30:47 | |
"I am the light of the world. | 30:50 | |
I am the bread of life. | 30:54 | |
I am the way, the truth, and the life. | 30:57 | |
I am the door." | 31:01 | |
But one of the most richly meaningful ways | 31:05 | |
in which Jesus speaks of himself, | 31:07 | |
is when He says, "I am the good shepherd." | 31:09 | |
You have heard the words read to you. | 31:15 | |
In those words are profound insights into the nature of God | 31:18 | |
and of man, and of our human circumstance. | 31:22 | |
Let me underscore a few of the phrases, which Jesus uses | 31:27 | |
when He speaks of himself as the good shepherd. | 31:30 | |
And as he thus throws light on our human condition, | 31:33 | |
and on the nature and character of God. | 31:38 | |
First of all, | 31:42 | |
when He speaks of himself as the good shepherd, | 31:43 | |
He is speaking of man in a relationship | 31:44 | |
of the shepherd to the sheep. | 31:47 | |
What a difference to the language of the eighth Psalm , | 31:51 | |
that speaks of man | 31:54 | |
as being a little lower than God, himself, | 31:56 | |
crowned with glory and honor. | 31:59 | |
And Jesus here speaks of us in a relationship of sheep. | 32:02 | |
And this is not too complimentary, for we are like sheep. | 32:06 | |
We get lost. | 32:11 | |
We wander off into the briar patches and thickets, | 32:14 | |
and come back ragged and torn. | 32:17 | |
We are unable to defend ourselves from many dangers. | 32:21 | |
We are afflicted with a herd psychology, | 32:25 | |
and can be swept by tides of fear and hate and hysteria. | 32:28 | |
He is a good shepherd. And we need a shepherd. | 32:35 | |
Sometimes we sing the hymn, | 32:40 | |
"Savior, like a shepherd lead us. | 32:41 | |
Much we need Thy tender care." | 32:45 | |
And such is our condition. | 32:49 | |
We need the care of a shepherd God. | 32:52 | |
The old Testament scholar, Gerhard von Rad, | 32:58 | |
says that the Hebrew word, which is translated "I am', | 33:00 | |
or which in Hebrew is translated or given to us as "Yahweh", | 33:04 | |
may well be, and perhaps should be, translated, | 33:11 | |
"I will be for you." | 33:13 | |
And a shepherd is for his flock, | 33:19 | |
ready to defend them, | 33:22 | |
seeking for good pasture and ample water. | 33:25 | |
In this sense it is proper to say that God is "for us". | 33:29 | |
Think of the investment of Almighty God in our welfare. | 33:34 | |
If we take the long view of the biological origin | 33:39 | |
of man over the long centuries, | 33:44 | |
think of the investment of time that is brought to creation, | 33:46 | |
the crowning reality of man. | 33:50 | |
Self-conscious, reflective, | 33:54 | |
able to think, able to think with God, | 33:57 | |
to think God's thoughts after him, | 34:00 | |
brought up out of the most primary forms of life, | 34:03 | |
the investment of creation. | 34:07 | |
And how can we measure the investment in God's own life, | 34:11 | |
that we know in Jesus Christ? | 34:17 | |
Jesus says, "I lay down my life for the sheep." | 34:20 | |
Who can measure the incalculable worth of a man, | 34:25 | |
that would cause the almighty God | 34:30 | |
to pour out the vital essence of divine life itself | 34:32 | |
to preserve and conserve the investment He has | 34:35 | |
in his human creation? | 34:39 | |
If this be true, | 34:41 | |
and by faith we hold it to be ultimate truth, | 34:43 | |
then can we understand how Jesus could say | 34:47 | |
that all of the material creation could be put | 34:50 | |
on one side of the scales, | 34:53 | |
and be more than counterbalanced | 34:55 | |
by the weight and the value of one human soul. | 34:57 | |
Then note how Jesus says, "Other sheep I have, | 35:05 | |
which are not of this fold." | 35:11 | |
How urgent it is | 35:12 | |
that we be aware of God's love for the other sheep. | 35:13 | |
The "chosen people" idea served, I'm sure, great purpose, | 35:20 | |
during the centuries of the children of Israel. | 35:26 | |
But I am sure that we are in an era, | 35:31 | |
when the idea of the "chosen people" can be abused, | 35:33 | |
and be immensely dangerous to humanity. | 35:37 | |
This idea was used in a perverted and twisted form | 35:42 | |
by the Nazis of Germany, | 35:47 | |
and Hitler led the people to believe there | 35:50 | |
in some Aryan myth, | 35:52 | |
that called the German people a "chosen people", | 35:55 | |
who were willing then to forget the other sheep | 35:59 | |
and to forget God's love for others | 36:02 | |
beyond our immediate circle, their immediate circle. | 36:05 | |
I recall how, during the WWII, I saw a diary | 36:09 | |
that was taken from the body of a Japanese soldier, | 36:14 | |
which, when translated, included in it a prayer, | 36:18 | |
that was eloquent in its plea, that said, "God of Japan". | 36:21 | |
And then the petition was, send rain, | 36:27 | |
for it appears that, from the story of the diary, | 36:30 | |
the boy, the young man was dying from thirst, | 36:32 | |
as he hid in a cave for weeks | 36:36 | |
without source of food and water. | 36:40 | |
"God of Japan'. | 36:43 | |
And that idea, of the Japanese as a "chosen people", | 36:45 | |
exclusive of, excluding other nations from the love of God, | 36:49 | |
and the care of God. | 36:53 | |
"Other sheep," Jesus says, "I have, | 36:55 | |
which are not of this fold." | 36:58 | |
How urgent it is for us to be able | 37:01 | |
to broaden our perspective across the world, | 37:04 | |
to include all men as brothers, | 37:07 | |
and recognize them to be a part of the flock of Christ. | 37:11 | |
"Them too," He says, "I must bring." | 37:16 | |
The urgency, the compelling urgency of these words | 37:21 | |
reminds us that the love of God reaches out | 37:24 | |
to include those whom we, | 37:30 | |
with our lesser perspective, | 37:33 | |
so often are willing to call enemies. | 37:35 | |
We do not know | 37:39 | |
what purpose God has created His human children to fulfill. | 37:40 | |
We do not know it fully. We can only, | 37:46 | |
only grasp some hints of God's vast purpose in our creation, | 37:50 | |
but He has invested vast ages of time. | 37:56 | |
And who can measure the costliness of the gift of his Son. | 38:01 | |
And finally, in this passage | 38:08 | |
where Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd, | 38:10 | |
and pours into the imagery of that language | 38:15 | |
insights into our human experience, | 38:18 | |
He speaks of one fold and one shepherd. | 38:23 | |
And here is the inspiration for all ecumenical endeavor. | 38:29 | |
To bring together the peoples of the world | 38:35 | |
into oneness of spirit and the love of God, | 38:37 | |
which love has been made so magnificently known to us | 38:42 | |
in Jesus Christ, | 38:49 | |
who is "I am". | 38:52 | |
He is God present with us in Jesus Christ. | 38:57 | |
"Speak to him, thou, for He heareth. | 39:03 | |
And spirit with Spirit shall speak. | 39:07 | |
Nearer is He than breathing, | 39:11 | |
and closer than hands and feet." | 39:15 | |
Let us pray. | 39:20 | |
Almighty and ever-living God, our Father, | 39:24 | |
we thank Thee for the ancient record | 39:31 | |
that comes to us across the years | 39:33 | |
as a great heritage of faith, | 39:36 | |
through which Thou doest reveal Thyself to us, | 39:40 | |
and doest answer the question that we ask, | 39:45 | |
when we say, "Who is 'I am'?" | 39:50 | |
We thank Thee, O God, for the rich fulfillment | 39:55 | |
of that answer in Jesus Christ, | 40:00 | |
in whom we behold Thee face to face. | 40:04 | |
Bless us each, O God, as we seek to know Thee, | 40:10 | |
and grant us the will and the power to follow Thee | 40:15 | |
in this day and age, as good disciples of Jesus Christ, | 40:19 | |
in whose name we pray. | 40:26 | |
Amen. | 40:29 | |
(organ playing introduction to hymn) | 40:37 | |
(congregation sings) | 41:10 | |
(organ solo) | 44:09 | |
(choir sings) | 45:19 | |
(organ playing introduction) | 47:49 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 48:15 | |
♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ | 48:22 | |
♪ Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 48:29 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 48:37 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 48:47 | |
Oh God, in whom we live and move and have our being, | 48:55 | |
Here we offer and present unto Thee | 49:00 | |
our silver and our gold, | 49:03 | |
the symbol of ourselves, our souls and bodies, | 49:06 | |
our thoughts and our desires, | 49:10 | |
our works and our deeds. | 49:13 | |
To be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto Thee. | 49:16 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 49:23 | |
Amen. | 49:27 | |
- | Now may the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, | 49:30 |
and the love of God, the Father, | 49:33 | |
and the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit | 49:35 | |
rest and abide with you. Now and evermore. | 49:39 | |
(choir sings a cappella) | 49:44 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 49:46 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 49:53 | |
♪ Amen. ♪ | 50:00 | |
(Church bell rings three times) | 50:18 | |
(organ recital: Fugue in G minor, BWV 578, by JS Bach) | 50:28 |
Item Info
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