James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

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	(choir sings indistinctly)	0:03
	♪ Amen ♪	1:36
-	Let us unite our voice in our unison prayer	1:44
	of confession and for pardon.	1:47
	Almighty and most merciful Father,	1:51
	we confess that we have sin against thy law	1:54
	and against thy truths,	1:58
	neither with heart nor soul nor strength	2:00
	have we loved thee,	2:04
	nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves.	2:06
	We confess especially that we have not loved thee	2:10
	with all our minds.	2:15
	We have not honored thy (indistinct) or our thinking.	2:17
	Fearful we pray thee to have mercy upon us,	2:21
	forgive the sins we have done to please ourselves,	2:26
	and the sins we have done to please others.	2:30
	Forgive us those sins which we know	2:34
	and those sins which we know not.	2:37
	Forgive them all of thy great goodness,	2:40
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	2:44
	Amen.	2:46
-	Let us say now the words of assurance.	2:53
	The Lord is gracious and merciful,	2:57
	slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.	2:59
	This is the message we have heard from him	3:03
	and proclaimed to you, that God is light	3:06
	and in him is no darkness at all.	3:09
	If we walk in the light, as he is in the light,	3:11
	we have fellowship with one another	3:15
	and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.	3:17
	If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just,	3:22
	and will forgive our sins	3:26
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	3:27
	For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,	3:31
	that whoever believes in him should not perish	3:35
	but have eternal life.	3:37
	(gentle organ music)	3:42
-	Let us stand and read responsibly	4:24
	the prayer of thanksgiving number 627.	4:26
	Blessed be thou, Lord, the God of Israel.	4:37
-	Our father, for ever and ever.	4:41
-	Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power,	4:44
	and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty.	4:46
-	For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.	4:50
-	Thine is the kingdom, O Lord.	4:54
-	And thou art exalted as head above all.	4:56
-	Both riches and honor come of thee.	4:59
-	And thou reignest over all.	5:02
-	And in thine hand are power and might.	5:04
-	And in thine hand it is to make great,	5:08
	and to give strength unto all.	5:11
-	Now we thank thee, our God.	5:13
-	And praise thy glorious name.	5:16
	(gentle organ music)	5:38
	(choir sings indistinctly)	6:06
-	The scripture lesson today is according to Luke 10:25-37.	10:19
	And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,	10:28
	saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"	10:31
	He said to him, "What is written in the Law?	10:37
	How do you read it?"	10:40
	And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God	10:41
	with all your heart and with all your soul	10:45
	and with all your strength and with all your mind,	10:48
	and your neighbor as yourself."	10:52
	And he said to him, "You have answered right,	10:56
	do this, and you will live."	10:59
	But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,	11:01
	"And who is my neighbor?"	11:06
	Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem	11:08
	to Jericho, and he fell among robbers,	11:12
	who stripped him and beat him and departed,	11:16
	leaving him half dead.	11:19
	Now by chance a priest was going down that road,	11:23
	and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.	11:27
	So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,	11:31
	passed by on the other side.	11:35
	But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was,	11:38
	and when he saw him, he had compassion.	11:43
	He went to him and bound up his wounds,	11:46
	pouring on oil and wine.	11:49
	Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn	11:51
	and took care of him.	11:54
	And the next day he took out two denarii	11:57
	and gave them to the innkeeper, saying,	11:59
	'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend,	12:03
	I will repay you when I come back.'	12:07
	Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor	12:10
	to the man who fell among the robbers?"	12:13
	He said, "The one who showed mercy on him."	12:16
	And Jesus said to him, "Go, and do likewise."	12:19
	(cheerful organ music)	12:29
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	12:36
	♪ And to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ♪	12:39
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	12:47
	♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪	12:51
	♪ World without end, amen, amen ♪	12:55
-	The Lord be with you.	13:22
-	And with your spirit.	13:24
-	Let us pray.	13:25
	Worth art our Lord and God	13:35
	to receive honor, thanks and praise for by thy will	13:38
	were all things made.	13:41
	Look with favor, O Lord, upon this world,	13:44
	its nations and cultures, homes and schools,	13:47
	arts, commerce, and industry,	13:51
	the occupations and leisure of all,	13:54
	look with mercy, O Christ,	13:58
	upon all men and every human need, the joy and the triumph,	13:59
	the conflict and failure,	14:05
	the anxiety, fear, hate and despair.	14:07
	We set before thee our land and every nation.	14:12
	Grant wisdom, justice, and mercy to all leaders	14:16
	and all citizens that thy will may be fulfilled	14:20
	in fruitful peace.	14:24
	We set before thee the needs of every man.	14:27
	Have compassion upon those who call out to thee,	14:31
	and also upon those whose want is their only prayer.	14:35
	We remember and ask thy blessing upon all who are oppressed	14:41
	because of race, religion, or ideology,	14:45
	for all imprisoned by wealth or position,	14:49
	by poverty or insecurity, for our enemies and detractors,	14:53
	and our friends and families.	14:59
	We ask thy blessing and presence among us	15:03
	in times of work, rest, and play.	15:07
	And among all men whose present lot is suffering and dying.	15:11
	On this day, O Lord,	15:18
	we pray for all students everywhere in the world,	15:20
	for those who find their work too difficult,	15:25
	for those who are perplexed by the world in which they live,	15:29
	for those who are isolated and without friends,	15:34
	for those who suffer persecution hardship	15:39
	as a result of war, revolution or political upheaval,	15:42
	for those who are hungry and cold,	15:48
	for those whose freedom is endangered,	15:52
	for those who are persecuted and imprisoned,	15:56
	ill in body and mind,	15:59
	and hampered by intellectual opposition.	16:02
	Remember, O Lord, those among us who are in despair	16:07
	because their hopes have collapsed,	16:11
	those who are blinded by success or comfort,	16:14
	those who are looking for a cause to serve.	16:18
	Remember also and watch over all universities and colleges,	16:23
	centers of research	16:28
	and those who live, serve and administer these.	16:29
	We pray especially for this campus.	16:33
	Heal its divisions, bless its endeavors,	16:37
	watch over all its people, renew its life,	16:42
	that all men here may find truth, joy, and hope.	16:47
	All this we ask in this time of our common need	16:53
	and in our uncertain anticipation,	16:57
	uniting now and making bold to say,	17:01
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	17:04
	hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;	17:07
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	17:11
	Give us this day our daily bread;	17:15
	and forgive us our trespasses	17:18
	as we forgive those who trespass against us;	17:20
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	17:24
	For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory	17:29
	forever and ever.	17:33
	Amen.	17:34
-	When one really grasps the intent and the import	18:05
	of what Jesus was saying in that story	18:12
	about a certain Samaritan, and a woebegone traveler	18:16
	on the Jerusalem Jericho road,	18:24
	then a subject reflection is not why Jesus was crucified	18:29
	on a Bad Friday some centuries ago,	18:37
	but why he was not lynched much earlier	18:43
	in his public ministry.	18:49
	This parable, which was read as our scripture lesson	18:52
	is loaded with racial, cultural and religious dynamite, TNT.	18:56
	And it may not be inappropriate at this juncture	19:07
	in the life of our university to reflect upon it.	19:10
	The look and narrative opens, innocently enough,	19:17
	one of the experts in the Jewish law	19:22
	asked Jesus a test question:	19:25
	"Master, what must I do to be sure	19:30
	of inheriting eternal life?"	19:36
	Now, wouldn't you assume	19:41
	that Jesus would've been delighted to tell him?	19:43
	It's a good question.	19:48
	Kind of thing Jesus was dealing with all the time.	19:51
	But he didn't answer.	19:55
	He said, "What do you think yourself	19:59
	from your study of the law?"	20:03
	The lawyer was quick to reply, "Love God and neighbor	20:06
	as much as your love yourself," which answer by the way	20:13
	is the very one that Jesus himself gave on another occasion	20:20
	when he was asked what was primary in the law.	20:26
	And Jesus said to the legal expert, "You're right.	20:31
	Why don't you try it?"	20:37
	However, the questioner wasn't finished.	20:42
	He had another point for consideration,	20:46
	"But who is my neighbor?"	20:50
	Now here's a chance for a group discussion.	20:55
	A bull session or neighborliness,	21:01
	the beginning of a free university.	21:03
	But not for Jesus.	21:06
	He told a story about a man who was beaten up	21:09
	on the Jerusalem Jericho road, a 17-mile stretch	21:15
	which Josephus described as desolate and rocky.	21:21
	And Jerome about four centuries later described	21:27
	as the red or the bloody wave.	21:30
	Makes one think of the road	21:35
	from the Duke hospital to Hanes House after midnight.	21:36
	Now a priest saw the victim and passed by on the other side.	21:45
	So did a Levite, a kind of assistant priest.	21:51
	Now a third person is bound to turn up	21:56
	in this kind of a story.	21:59
	Do you know the kind of person he ought to be?	22:02
	Since the first two were Jewish ecclesiastics, more or less,	22:06
	the third character should be a Jewish layman.	22:11
	But he wasn't.	22:16
	And that's because an unusual storyteller	22:19
	was telling this story.	22:22
	We know the third person as the Good Samaritan,	22:26
	which is a contradiction in terms for any Jew.	22:32
	The Samaritans were to the Jews	22:39
	what the English would call "bloody bastards."	22:42
	And what Americans would label "lousy half-breeds."	22:46
	Their stock was not pure	22:51
	and their religion was a hodgepodge.	22:54
	When the Jews really wished to insult Jesus,	22:57
	here's how they taunted him:	23:01
	"Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan	23:03
	and that you're possessed of a demon?"	23:08
	That's what a Jew thought of a Samaritan.	23:12
	But this was the kind of man	23:15
	whom Jesus made the hero of his parable,	23:17
	despised, rejected, segregated,	23:21
	but outgoing, generous, even extra in his desire to help.	23:27
	Jesus turned an interesting academic query	23:36
	with theological and ethical overtones	23:40
	into a racial problem.	23:45
	He pictured a man, an outsider at that,	23:48
	who seemed to love his neighbor as much as he loved himself.	23:55
	And then Jesus twisted the questioner's question	24:05
	and asked him, "Which of these three acted like a neighbor	24:10
	to the gangsters' victim?"	24:17
	And so help me, the intelligent perplexed lawyer	24:20
	couldn't say the Samaritan.	24:28
	He would've choked on the word in such a context.	24:32
	And so he answered, "the one who showed kindness."	24:39
	Now, wouldn't you think	24:45
	that Jesus would've dropped the matter at that?	24:46
	Not he.	24:51
	He had one more sentence to say: "Go and do as he did."	24:53
	I wonder what he did.	25:03
	Now, let us go back to the lawyer's original question	25:07
	and let us ask it of two of the dramatic personae	25:11
	in the parable.	25:15
	It's a good question in the light	25:17
	of the campus disturbance of the past week	25:20
	and in view of the fact that today is designated	25:24
	as the World Day of Prayer for Students.	25:28
	Who is my neighbor?	25:33
	Let us ask the certain Samaritan first	25:37
	for we know his answer.	25:39
	It can be summarized and generalized in four words:	25:43
	He who needs me.	25:48
	He who needs me.	25:53
	It's a simple as that.	25:54
	CG Montefiore, the Jewish scholar of the New Testament,	25:57
	has put the matter very briefly and beautifully	26:02
	in his commentary on this parable,	26:05
	which he describes as one of the simplest	26:08
	and noblest among the noble gallery of parables.	26:11
	Here's what he says:	26:17
	"Love, it tells us, must know no limits of race	26:18
	and ask no inquiry," and ask no inquiry,	26:24
	"who needs me is my neighbor,	26:32
	when at the given time and place I can help,	26:36
	whom at the given time and place I can help with my love,	26:40
	he is my neighbor."	26:44
	Now the Samaritan is just an actor in a dramatic sketch,	26:48
	but he's not unlike Jesus.	26:53
	When Peter tried to sum up the character of Jesus	26:56
	very briefly in a sermon,	27:00
	he said without any other elaboration,	27:02
	"he went about doing good."	27:05
	He went about doing good.	27:10
	It's quite an epitaph.	27:13
	Now who would agree with it?	27:14
	Oh, there was a young couple at a wedding	27:16
	in Cana of Galilee.	27:21
	There was a Roman army officer whose servant was sick.	27:24
	There was a woman, an adulteress,	27:30
	rescued from death by stoning.	27:34
	And there was another woman	27:38
	beside a well in Samaria, another Samaritan.	27:40
	There was a dying thief on a cross.	27:46
	Now, what does this mean for us	27:53
	with so many foreign students in our midst?	27:54
	What does it mean for us with the Afro-American students	28:00
	in our midst, who have acted and yielded and cried	28:03
	"It ain't over"?	28:08
	And it ain't.	28:11
	There are men and women in need.	28:16
	The criterion is not that a man in need be worthy.	28:20
	It's dangerous to argue from silence.	28:28
	But I have my doubts that the Samaritan asked	28:31
	the beat up traveler if he liked Samaritans.	28:35
	Or if he'd be able to repay any expenses of the Medicare.	28:40
	Or if he really were worth saving.	28:47
	"Here is a man who needs me," is the only justifying answer.	28:52
	Now, the folk around here who know that	28:57
	are doctors and nurses,	29:00
	those who ministered to bruised policemen	29:04
	and gassed students last Friday.	29:07
	Their ministry has little to do with liking a patient.	29:12
	It has much to do with goodwill to a fellow creature,	29:18
	to any fellow creature, to all fellow creatures.	29:24
	It is this attitude so central in the Christian faith	29:32
	that I miss so much in student and faculty opinion,	29:37
	which I read and hear.	29:41
	Goodwill to all members of the community,	29:44
	to Allen building as well as to Flowers building,	29:49
	to the indoor stadium as well as to the library,	29:54
	to trustees as well as to janitors,	30:00
	the campus cops as well as the cheerleaders.	30:04
	Christian's job is to go about doing good	30:10
	and his ministry is primarily one of reconciliation,	30:14
	the restoration of harmony or the recreation of friendship.	30:20
	Now this may not be as exciting	30:26
	as leading an attack on injustice	30:30
	or even as defending an established position,	30:33
	but it is the sine qua non of groups	30:39
	who expect to live together	30:44
	other than in a perpetual cold war.	30:48
	Both sides polarized with temper strained	30:53
	need to see in gentle, but affirmative action	30:58
	the personal, individual ministry of reconciliation,	31:03
	as well as the necessary committee confrontations	31:09
	and the everlasting turn of many a (indistinct) directives.	31:14
	My neighbor is he who needs me, ordinary me.	31:20
	Now, let's ask the wounded traveler, "Who is your neighbor?"	31:29
	Now, assuming that the victim was a Jew,	31:38
	he has a most embarrassing story to tell.	31:42
	It was a Samaritan of all outcasts	31:48
	who dressed my wounds, transported me to an inn,	31:53
	paid for my lodging	32:00
	and guaranteed to underwrite any extra costs.	32:03
	What a humiliation.	32:08
	What an exquisite humiliation.	32:13
	What an exquisite life saving humiliation.	32:19
	Who is my neighbor?	32:25
	He who helps me.	32:27
	Anyone who helps me, Samaritan, Jew, Roman, Greek.	32:30
	He who puts his hand under my elbow.	32:37
	He who steadies me.	32:42
	He who picks me up.	32:44
	I'll never feel quite the same way about Samaritans again.	32:48
	Jesus himself knew this kind of neighbor.	32:56
	Peter who gave him a home and paid his temple tax	33:01
	on at least one occasion.	33:08
	The friendship of Martha and Mary and Lazarus at Bethany,	33:11
	especially during the last week of his life.	33:17
	Some Pharisees who warned him that Herod was asking for him,	33:22
	and so afforded Jesus the chance	33:31
	to escape across the border.	33:34
	The rich women who ministered unto him of their substance.	33:38
	I wonder if Jesus knew Joseph of Arimathea	33:45
	who gave the body of Jesus its last resting place.	33:50
	Who is my neighbor?	33:55
	He who helps me.	33:58
	I wonder if my attitude towards Jews	34:03
	is influenced, even molded by the fact	34:06
	that when I was 12, a Jewish fellow classmate	34:09
	saved me from drowning.	34:14
	He had the wonderful name of Jackie Paradise.	34:18
	Certainly, paradise fount for me.	34:23
	I wonder if my attitude toward Blacks	34:28
	is shaped by the huge Negro truck driver,	34:32
	as big as Mr. William Jones in the dining hall,	34:38
	who changed a wheel on my overloaded Chevrolet	34:43
	somewhere near Amherst, Virginia,	34:49
	as my wife and I were driving first to Duke	34:53
	in September, 1945.	34:57
	The fact that he would accept no money for his help	35:01
	still lingers with me.	35:05
	Who is my neighbor?	35:08
	He who helps me.	35:10
	And he has been Jewish and Black,	35:14
	as well as Scottish and white.	35:19
	Yet this kind of attitude all by itself	35:24
	is not going to solve academic problems for Afro-Americans	35:27
	or cultural difficulties for foreign students.	35:33
	That is going to require thoughtful student opinion	35:38
	and considered faculty recommendations	35:44
	and debated trustee decisions	35:50
	and detailed administrative policy.	35:54
	But the machinery of implementation	35:58
	may be lubricated by kindness, understanding, concern.	36:03
	And those of us who bear the name of Christian	36:12
	are going to have to work hard at it.	36:16
	It was Sydney Smith, the divine conversationalist, who said	36:21
	"You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan	36:27
	without the oil and the two pence.	36:33
	Kind words are not enough.	36:40
	It takes oil and a beast and two pence plus.	36:44
	That may be important to remember on a day of prayer.	36:53
	Words are not enough.	36:58
	There's still truth in the Latin adage,	37:02
	laborare est orare, to work is to pray,	37:06
	and it may well be that he who helps	37:14
	is in fact praying.	37:18
	Who is my neighbor?	37:21
	He who helps me. Ordinary me.	37:24
	So if Jesus had specifically spoken	37:30
	to the lawyer's question,	37:33
	he might have given a double answer.	37:36
	He who needs you.	37:40
	He who helps you.	37:42
	If the Lord loveth a cheerful giver,	37:45
	he probably also loves a cheerful receiver.	37:48
	We have all this double relationship to others	37:53
	giving and receiving, helping and needing.	37:57
	And some of us are able all to help	38:03
	because our needs have been so well supplied	38:07
	by God, by parents, by friends, by fellow Christians.	38:11
	And so as we enter another week	38:21
	not knowing what a day may bring forth,	38:24
	let us remember this par of unexpected boundless love,	38:29
	where a man is sketched for us	38:37
	who evidently did love his neighbor as he loved himself.	38:41
	And let us remember in our contacts with black and white,	38:49
	with native born and aliens, our neighbors,	38:55
	that God has given each of us two hands,	39:03
	one to receive with and the other to give with.	39:09
	Amen. Let us pray.	39:19
	Almighty God, God and Father of all folk,	39:25
	who see us thy angry puzzled children,	39:32
	living in trouble and troubled sometimes,	39:37
	teach us again and again the way of love,	39:42
	granting us the sense, common and divine,	39:49
	to spell it out for daily living right where we are,	39:55
	that this campus may be a community of neighbors	40:02
	who both give and receive	40:08
	in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.	40:13
	Amen.	40:19
	(bright organ music)	40:24
	(choir sings indistinctly)	40:44
	(light cheerful organ music)	42:27
	(dramatic organ music)	45:00
	(choir sings indistinctly)	45:04
	(bright organ music)	46:31
	♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪	47:23
	♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪	47:29
	♪ Praise him above, ye heav'nly host ♪	47:36
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	47:42
	♪ Amen ♪	47:49
-	Of your own bounty, O Lord, we give to you.	47:57
	Grant that the fruits of our labor	48:02
	rendered in love of thy cause may be by your blessing,	48:05
	be factual for the extension of your kingdom	48:10
	and the glory of your name,	48:13
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	48:15
-	O Lord, bless thee and keep thee,	48:28
	the Lord make his face shine upon thee	48:30
	and be gracious unto thee,	48:32
	the Lord lift up his continents upon thee,	48:34
	and give thee peace.	48:37
	In the name of the Father and of the Son	48:39
	and of the Holy Ghost.	48:41
	♪ Amen ♪	48:46
	♪ Amen ♪	48:53

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44t6k472

Date:

February 16, 1969

Speaker:

Cleland, James T. (James Tough), 1903-1974

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0468
ref6141_fhk
uachapelsermaud
duke:628520
dcrau002459
ark:/87924/r44t6k472
c661cddb-e7a1-4d08-826b-d61cffa921db

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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English

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United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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

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James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

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1. James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

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James T. Cleland - "A Parable with a Twist" (February 16, 1969)

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