William H. Willimon - "The Pointlessness of Praise" (October 23, 1988)

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	(choir singing)	0:09
	(choir singing)	0:37
	(drums pounding)	0:56
	(choir singing)	1:29
	(drums pounding)	2:11
	(choir singing)	2:43
-	Morning and welcome to this service of worship,	3:35
	homecoming Sunday here in Duke Chapel.	3:38
	We're glad to have all of our alumni back,	3:41
	and we welcome those of you who worship with us	3:44
	by the Duke television system in the Duke hospital.	3:47
	We're glad to have you with us.	3:52
	We remind you, excuse me, that all of today's offerings	3:54
	goes to the work of Habitat for Humanity,	3:59
	and the new Habitat for Humanity chapter,	4:03
	which has been founded here at Duke University.	4:05
	And now, let us continue our worship.	4:09
	(organ music)	4:13
	(congregation singing)	4:50
	(organ music)	7:27
	(choir and congregation singing)	8:47
-	Let us pray.	9:31
	Almighty and everlasting God,	9:35
	In Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations.	9:37
	Preserve the works of your mercy,	9:42
	that your church throughout the world	9:45
	may persevere with steadfast faith	9:47
	in the confession of your most holy name,	9:50
	through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	9:53
-	Let us pray.	10:06
	Open our hearts and minds, O God,	10:08
	by the power of our Holy Spirit,	10:12
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	10:15
	we might hear the joy, what you say to us this day, amen.	10:19
	The first lesson is taken from the book of Jeremiah.	10:27
	For thus says the Lord, sing aloud with gladness,	10:31
	for Jacob, raise shouts for the chiefs of the nation,	10:35
	proclaim, give praise, and say,	10:39
	the Lord has saved his people,	10:42
	the remnant of Israel, behold I will	10:44
	bring them from the north country	10:48
	and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth.	10:50
	Among them the blind and the lame,	10:53
	the woman with child and her who is in travail together,	10:56
	a great company, they shall return here.	11:00
	With weeping them shall come	11:04
	and with consolations I will lead them back.	11:06
	I will make them walk by brooks of water,	11:09
	in a straight path in which they shall not stumble.	11:12
	For I am a father to Israel,	11:16
	and Ephraim is my firstborn.	11:18
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	11:22
	(organ music)	11:25
	(choir and congregation singing)	11:41
	(male soloist singing)	11:51
	(choir and congregation singing)	12:19
	(female soloist singing)	12:25
	(choir and congregation singing)	12:37
	(male soloist singing)	12:43
	(choir and congregation singing)	13:13
	(female soloist singing)	13:19
	(choir and congregation singing)	13:44
-	The epistle lesson is taken from	14:06
	the book of Hebrews, chapter five, verses five and six.	14:08
	So also Christ did not exalt himself	14:15
	to be made a high priest,	14:18
	but was appointed by him who said to Christ,	14:20
	thou art my son, today I have begotten thee.	14:24
	And as he says also in another place,	14:29
	thou art a priest forever,	14:33
	after the order of Melchizedek.	14:35
	(organ music)	14:42
	(female soloist singing)	15:12
	(choir singing)	15:34
	(organ music)	17:02
-	Let us stand for the reading of the gospel.	17:16
	And they came to Jericho,	17:22
	and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples,	17:24
	and a great multitude, Bartamaeus, a blind beggar,	17:27
	the son of Tomas, was sitting by the roadside.	17:30
	And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,	17:34
	he began to cry out and say,	17:37
	Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.	17:39
	And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent,	17:42
	but he cried out all the more,	17:46
	son of David, have mercy on me.	17:48
	And Jesus stopped and said, call him.	17:51
	They called the blind man, saying to him,	17:54
	take heart, rise, he is calling you.	17:57
	And throwing off his mantle, he sprang up	18:01
	and came to Jesus, and Jesus said to him,	18:03
	what do you want me to do for you?	18:07
	And the blind man said to him,	18:09
	Master, let me receive my sight,	18:12
	and Jesus said to him, go your way,	18:15
	your faith has made you well,	18:18
	and immediately he received his sight	18:20
	and followed on the way.	18:23
	This ends the reading of the gospel.	18:26
	(organ music)	18:29
	(choir and congregation singing)	18:52
-	I suspect that many of you	21:40
	by training, if not by natural inclination,	21:44
	expect something useful to happen now.	21:49
	We've come to the point of the service	21:55
	where the preacher stands up and	21:57
	with luck, manages, when, in about 20 minutes,	22:01
	to say something useful.	22:05
	To say something that makes sense.	22:09
	To say something that's reasonable.	22:10
	You presume that this is the point of preaching.	22:16
	To get to the point.	22:20
	To give you something you can take home with you.	22:22
	Some interesting thought or idea,	22:26
	perhaps some uplifting sentiment.	22:29
	The students are now saying to themselves,	22:35
	"only the alumni are thinking that	22:38
	"something useful is going to happen now,	22:40
	"they've not heard Willimon's sermons."	22:42
	You know, it's a great challenge	22:46
	to be a preacher at a university pulpit.	22:48
	Because, my hunch is that many of you	22:51
	are trained by years of schooling,	22:55
	to listen for a point.	22:58
	A message, a word.	23:01
	And I'm going to take this opportunity	23:05
	to thank those of you who've been good enough	23:06
	to point out to me when my sermons	23:09
	have been illogical, impractical, or just nonsensical.	23:11
	But I want this morning to be honest.	23:16
	To admit up front that I have	23:19
	absolutely nothing useful to say to you today.	23:21
	As far as I know, there is no moral to my remarks.	23:26
	No subliminal message, no thought for the day,	23:32
	no pearl of wisdom, no helpful hints for homemakers.	23:35
	I do not expect you to do anything,	23:40
	go anywhere, work on, campaign for or against	23:43
	anybody, by the end of this sermon.	23:47
	I wanted to be up front about that.	23:49
	Now, the most suspicious of you	23:54
	are on guard at this moment.	23:57
	This is probably one of those	24:01
	preacher tricks, you're thinking.	24:02
	Beware of any preacher who comes to you	24:06
	claiming not to want to	24:08
	put the make on you in a sermon.	24:09
	For what else could be the point of preaching?	24:12
	We're probably going to be told	24:17
	a bunch of silly little stories	24:18
	from Willimon's childhood and,	24:20
	then there'll be a poem, a tear jerking poem,	24:22
	and then, just when our defenses our down	24:26
	and there's a tear in our eye, whap!	24:29
	Come down to the altar as the aeolian plays softly,	24:35
	and make a contribution to the chapel development campaign.	24:39
	Don't lie to me, that's what you're thinking.	24:43
	This is just a preacher trick,	24:46
	a kind of soft sale come-on before	24:48
	the bone crushing blow at the end of the sermon,	24:51
	that's what you're thinking.	24:56
	And you think this of course,	24:59
	because you're all busy, intelligent,	25:01
	achievement orientated people.	25:04
	Slouches do not get into Duke.	25:08
	Come on, you're saying, get on with it.	25:11
	I have not got all day.	25:13
	I've already sat through a long organ prelude,	25:16
	a number of pieces by the choir,	25:18
	a couple of readings, a couple of prayers,	25:20
	it's nearly 11:30, would you get on with it	25:22
	and get to the point?	25:25
	And of course, lot's of people	25:28
	think this is what religion is all about.	25:29
	A student told me just the other day,	25:34
	that while he likes my preaching,	25:37
	I don't hear from those who don't,	25:40
	but while he liked my preaching,	25:42
	he said he didn't come to the chapel that often,	25:44
	because he said, you've always got	25:46
	those banners and those processions	25:48
	and all that other preliminary stuff.	25:50
	He just didn't like all those other preliminaries.	25:56
	All that other stuff, could we go ahead	25:59
	and get to the point.	26:02
	Imagine, you can't imagine,	26:08
	tomorrow morning, going into botany class,	26:11
	professor beginning the lecture by saying,	26:14
	"class, today before I begin my lecture	26:16
	"on the vascular system of coniferous trees,	26:19
	"I want all of you to go out,	26:23
	"and roll in the grass and lie on your back	26:24
	"and look up into the branches	26:27
	"and become intimate with a pine."	26:29
	"Would you get to the point," you'd say.	26:34
	"We're not paying the kind of tuition we pay here	26:36
	"for this kind of poetic dribble.	26:38
	"Go ahead and get to the point."	26:39
	That's what you'd say.	26:44
	And that explains why a number of you are getting edgy, now.	26:47
	Could we skip these long lead-ins,	26:52
	these peripatetic preliminaries please,	26:53
	could we go ahead and get to the point.	26:56
	And of course you're not alone in this way of thinking.	27:00
	As I said, lots of people think	27:04
	this is what religion is all about.	27:05
	We Americans are a no-nonsense,	27:10
	practical, utilitarian, pragmatic people.	27:14
	We approach every human experience	27:19
	always with a question,	27:21
	"well what good will this do?"	27:23
	Principally, what good will this do me?	27:27
	How can I use it?	27:29
	Will it also dice onions and make julienne fries?	27:31
	Will it fold out into a bed?	27:34
	What good will it do?	27:36
	Little wonder then, that we should approach religion,	27:39
	the same way we approach life.	27:44
	That we should think religion	27:49
	is to be judged on the basis of its utility.	27:52
	I don't go to church all that often,	28:00
	but I, I do try to live a good life,	28:02
	and I do try to help people when I can,	28:05
	and after all, I mean, isn't that	28:08
	really the point of religion?	28:11
	Now the scandalous truth can be told.	28:16
	No, that's not the point of religion.	28:19
	That isn't what religion is all about.	28:23
	I bring home a loaf of bread every night,	28:28
	and I allow her to use the remote control on the TV.	28:30
	And after all, isn't that what marriage is all about?	28:33
	No.	28:39
	She said, "George, I love you.	28:42
	"I love you more than words can say.	28:46
	"I love you more than the grains of sand	28:48
	"on the seashore, I love you more	28:51
	"than the stars in the heavens.	28:53
	"I love you," and he said,	28:56
	"Martha, I find you very useful.	29:00
	"Since I have met you, I have	29:07
	"lowered my carbohydrate intake,	29:09
	"and my GPA is up two points."	29:12
	No, no, that's not marriage,	29:16
	that's not love,	29:21
	that's not religion.	29:24
	Religion, religion, religion is one of the most	29:28
	counter-cultural things you can do	29:33
	in this society of utility.	29:35
	Because religion at its very best	29:38
	is so scandalously useless.	29:41
	Every spontaneous amen,	29:47
	every loud raucous hallelujah,	29:51
	every tear that forms in the eye	29:53
	or lump that comes in the throat unexpectedly,	29:56
	that is religion at its purest,	29:59
	most holy, most pointless form.	30:03
	Religion, is an utterly gratuitous affair,	30:09
	before it is anything useful.	30:15
	My text today is from the prophet Jeremiah.	30:21
	And normally, if you know anything about Jeremiah,	30:26
	you know that Jeremiah can be counted on	30:29
	to be one of the crabbiest preachers you've ever met.	30:31
	Jeremiah, a book full of prophetic fire and brimstone,	30:35
	curses, and condemnation, "thus sayeth the Lord,	30:40
	"return, backsliding, wayward adulteress, Israel,	30:44
	"and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you	30:48
	"any longer, turn away backsliding children,	30:50
	"sayeth the Lord of Hosts."	30:54
	And that's very typical of Jeremiah, the prophet of doom.	30:58
	We even have a word for such	31:03
	fire and brimstone laced fulmination.	31:05
	We call it a jeremiad, a,	31:09
	a prophetic cursing, scornful speech,	31:12
	delivered by someone like Jeremiah.	31:18
	But within the book of Jeremiah,	31:23
	there is a break about chapters 30, 31.	31:25
	The prophet who has so harshly criticized Israel,	31:30
	now calls God's people to praise.	31:36
	"For thus says the Lord, sing aloud	31:42
	"with gladness for Jacob,	31:47
	"the Lord has saved his people."	31:50
	Here is the context.	31:55
	Israel has been on exile, Israel has been	31:57
	deported, taken away, one of the many	32:00
	pogroms and deportations and holocaust	32:03
	suffered by God's chosen ones.	32:07
	There has been horrible suffering and sadness.	32:10
	But now at about chapters 30, 31,	32:16
	the prophet announces God is going to reach out	32:18
	and bring God's chosen but oppressed people back home.	32:22
	Including the blind, the lame,	32:28
	pregnant women, even those in labor,	32:32
	who find it hard to travel.	32:35
	God is going to make the road straight.	32:37
	There will be plentiful water along the way.	32:39
	The speech is unqualified, unadulterated,	32:44
	unrestrained good news.	32:48
	This is homecoming, sixth century B.C.	32:50
	Good news!	32:55
	Good news, and I tell you,	32:58
	that doesn't fit our stereotype	33:00
	of the way prophets are supposed to talk, does it?	33:01
	We expect prophets to speak like most preachers.	33:06
	Sermons just chalk full of should, and ought, and must.	33:10
	The gospel presented as imperative.	33:14
	Sunday, oh Sunday, Sunday's a day	33:19
	to heap on ever increasing burdens of responsibility.	33:21
	Sunday, a time for the preacher to tell us	33:26
	all the ways we've gone wrong	33:29
	and what we need to do now to get it right.	33:31
	As Jesus said to some preachers of his day,	33:34
	"you exist to heap burdens on people's back,	33:38
	"you won't lift a finger to take a burden off."	33:41
	But here, is a prophetic word which	33:46
	invites people to praise, only to praise!	33:48
	And I tell you, this is sort of a tough text	33:54
	for a preacher.	33:56
	Sing aloud with gladness, raise shouts of praise!	33:58
	Because the preacher's conditioned	34:03
	just like you, to ask, "okay, okay,	34:06
	"good, but what am I to do with that?"	34:09
	What good will that do?	34:14
	Here's some possibilities.	34:15
	Friends, have you ever wanted to sing?	34:19
	By coming to Duke chapel and following along	34:24
	in your hymnals, our chapel choir	34:26
	can give you a sense of rhythm.	34:28
	Or, you self-satisfied Americans,	34:31
	you ought to be ashamed of how	34:35
	rarely you praise God for all your blessings.	34:37
	Or, medical research has shown	34:40
	that if you just get out of bed each morning	34:44
	and have yourself a good praise session,	34:46
	it'll lower your blood pressure!	34:48
	No, no, no, no.	34:52
	This is not something we should, or ought, or must do.	34:53
	Praise, like joy, is responsive, it's reflexive.	34:57
	You can't decide to be joyful.	35:05
	Joy is rather, the fitting response	35:11
	of the action of someone else upon us.	35:14
	Blind Bartamaeus did not have to be told	35:17
	to be joyful when Jesus touched him	35:20
	and he could see again.	35:24
	Israel didn't have to have instructions	35:25
	on celebration, when the announcement	35:27
	of homecoming was made in Babylon.	35:30
	Praise is like that.	35:33
	Praise, and I don't care whether it's praise of God	35:36
	or any other kind of praise,	35:41
	it is always responsive, reflexive.	35:42
	And in that sense, praise is not pointless.	35:47
	It is the fitting response of good news.	35:51
	I tell you when you've met the right person,	35:56
	and you've spent the perfect evening,	35:59
	and you are on your way back home,	36:02
	you don't have to be told,	36:04
	go out and find a good love song and hum it.	36:06
	You'll be humming.	36:11
	Love is like that.	36:14
	Joy is like that.	36:16
	Love, like Sunday morning worship,	36:20
	is so beautifully non-utilitarian.	36:25
	So liberatingly pointless.	36:30
	Then why do we do it?	36:35
	Let us let 1 John 4:19 give us an answer,	36:37
	if answers be needed.	36:41
	We love, John says,	36:44
	because he first loved us.	36:47
	Praise, holy praise is reflexive.	36:54
	Those all too rare but delicious, holy invitations	36:58
	to join all the company of heaven in unending praise.	37:03
	As C.S. Lewis says, "Joy is the serious business of heaven."	37:10
	The most important job of the church is doxology.	37:16
	I like the way the old Calvinists put it	37:22
	in their catechism, the little child	37:24
	is made to ask, "what is my chief end	37:27
	in life, and in death?"	37:30
	And the response, "my chief end is to	37:33
	glorify God and to enjoy God forever."	37:38
	I like that.	37:42
	That's utilitarian.	37:45
	I like that, that strikes me as so un-Methodist.	37:46
	I think, if we think of Sunday morning,	37:51
	I mean, the image I have is,	37:54
	you've come with your little notepads	37:55
	and the preacher works on you for about 20 minutes.	37:57
	"Okay church, this morning I want	38:00
	"everybody to go out of here and	38:02
	"work on your sexism, your racism,	38:03
	"be nice to people in the cafeteria,	38:05
	"come back next week, I'll give you another assignment.	38:07
	"Let's stand for the benediction."	38:10
	No, no, no, that's really not worship at its best.	38:13
	That's not Sunday at its best.	38:18
	That's too much like Monday to be Sunday.	38:21
	Sunday is a time for ecstasy!	38:25
	Ecstasy, the word comes from the Greek	38:28
	ekstasis, which means literally,	38:30
	to stand outside oneself.	38:33
	To stand outside yourself, to be beside yourself.	38:36
	And I tell you, I don't know about you,	38:40
	but I can't think of anything more difficult	38:41
	for modern, self-conscious, self-absorbed people	38:44
	than to just for one moment on Sunday morning,	38:48
	stand outside of ourselves.	38:51
	We are so busy with ourselves.	38:55
	So self-absorbed.	38:57
	But sometimes, oh sometimes,	39:01
	you know, there you are, wondering,	39:04
	what am I doing here, I, maybe I should've gone	39:07
	to the library, done something useful,	39:10
	rather than sitting here in church singing.	39:12
	How do I look?	39:15
	What am I going to do tomorrow?	39:16
	What about this decision in my life?	39:18
	Where do I go from here?	39:20
	There you are, worrying about all that,	39:21
	anxious, and then, then, sometimes,	39:23
	by the grace of God, something gets hold of you.	39:27
	And suddenly all those self-absorbed questions	39:32
	are just quite beside the point.	39:35
	You, even you, get ecstatic.	39:37
	And you find yourself in the words of the old hymn, lost,	39:40
	in wonder, love, and praise.	39:44
	Now, all of your problems and projects	39:51
	and preoccupations become quite beside the point,	39:53
	and you praise.	39:57
	I tell you, that is enjoyment of God.	40:01
	At its purest, most basic, most enjoyable.	40:05
	Tell me, at the end of this service,	40:13
	if you didn't get the point,	40:15
	my feelings won't be hurt,	40:17
	tell me you got ecstatic,	40:20
	and Greg Fountain and I will be well pleased.	40:24
	Well this past summer this chapel	40:30
	was filled to hear a sermon by Millard Fuller.	40:31
	Alabama born lawyer, who gave away	40:37
	all of his money and went out with his wife	40:40
	to found Habitat for Humanity.	40:42
	Fuller told us about the worldwide work	40:47
	of Habitat, they've built a couple of thousand homes	40:49
	for poor people this year, they plan	40:53
	to build four thousand next year.	40:55
	Fuller was telling us about the presentation	40:59
	of one of his homes.	41:01
	He said, "we're up in New London, Connecticut,	41:04
	"where we presented a house to a woman	41:07
	"and her children who had never had a house of her own.	41:10
	"Well, as usual, we had a little presentation ceremony,	41:15
	"we gave her the keys to the house,	41:18
	"we gave her a bible, then we asked her	41:20
	"if she'd like to say anything to the workers.	41:23
	"But she was just so overcome with joy,	41:26
	"she couldn't say anything,	41:28
	"but on her way back to her seat,	41:30
	"she just began to shout."	41:33
	Fuller said, "now, I don't know whether	41:36
	"any of you people have ever been in a church	41:38
	"where people sometimes shout,	41:40
	"where sometimes they just get so	41:43
	"full of the Holy Spirit and joy	41:44
	"and all that, they just gotta shout.	41:46
	"I doubt that happens," he said,	41:48
	"very often in Duke chapel."	41:49
	But he said, "anyway, she started shouting,	41:53
	"she started shouting," and Fuller said,	41:55
	"there were a lot of New England white folks up there,	41:58
	"they'd never heard this before.	42:02
	"And they didn't know what was	42:05
	"gonna happen next, maybe whether Jesus would come	42:06
	"or something, they was scared."	42:08
	Fuller said,	42:19
	"it was wonderful."	42:22
	(organ music)	42:25
	(choir singing)	42:57
	(organ music)	43:47
	(choir singing)	43:58
-	The Lord be with you.	45:15
Congregation	And also with you.	45:17
-	Let us pray.	45:18
	Spirit of God, the fountain of beauty and goodness,	45:28
	from whom stream all things excellent	45:32
	and life and nature.	45:34
	Open our eyes to see your wonder working	45:36
	and the world and to rejoice in you.	45:39
Congregation	Bless the Lord of my soul,	45:41
	and forget not all of God's senses.	45:45
-	For the constancy and beauty of creation,	45:48
	for the breath of wind, the scent of flowers,	45:52
	the racing clouds, the glory of the trees,	45:55
	for the procession of days and nights,	45:59
	the rhythm of seasons, and the wonder of stars.	46:02
Congregation	Bless the Lord of my soul,	46:06
	and forget not all of God's senses.	46:09
-	For all beauty and human thought and deed.	46:12
	For poet's song and prophet's word,	46:16
	the gift of music and the grace of art.	46:19
	For an ability of character,	46:22
	for the loveliness of friendship,	46:24
	and for the fragrance of souls nourished in peace.	46:26
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	46:30
	and forget not all of God's senses.	46:33
Woman	Calm our too easily disquieted spirits,	46:36
	that they may reflect your presence	46:40
	in all things excellent and of good report.	46:41
	Take the dimness of our souls away,	46:45
	free our hearts from lethargy.	46:48
	Our spirits from discouragement,	46:50
	and our lips from complaining,	46:53
	that we may rejoice in you.	46:55
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	46:58
	and forget not all of God's senses.	47:00
-	For every inward intimation that we are your children.	47:04
	For hours of insight, when we have clearly seen	47:09
	your living presence and have been persuaded of your love.	47:11
	For that we cannot live by bread alone,	47:16
	nor find rest until we rest in you.	47:18
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	47:22
	and forget not all of God's senses.	47:25
-	For all victories of good over evil.	47:28
	Wisdom over ignorance, love over hate.	47:31
	We praise you.	47:35
	For ancient superstitions over past,	47:37
	and ancient oppressions done away.	47:40
	For the evident working of your purpose	47:43
	in the breaking of bondage.	47:45
	The enlargement of opportunity,	47:47
	the victories of peace and the diffusion of light.	47:49
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	47:53
	and forget not all of God's senses.	47:56
-	For courage to endure hazard and hardship,	47:59
	we praise you, for the tutelage of your spirit,	48:02
	teaching us how trials are to be born,	48:06
	and with what answer they are to be beaten back.	48:08
	For spiritual valor to face life's adventures.	48:12
	Neither seducing others nor ourselves seduced by fear.	48:15
	For strength to do what is appointed,	48:20
	and for faith to leave the unsolved mysteries in your care.	48:22
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	48:27
	and forget not all of God's senses.	48:30
Woman	May all our livings speak your praise.	48:33
	By faithful work and wholesome leisure,	48:36
	by daily kindliness, by truthfulness of life	48:39
	and tongue, by secret living in your sight,	48:42
	and outward service for the good of all.	48:46
-	Bless the Lord of my soul,	48:49
	and forget not all of God's senses, amen.	48:51
-	Let us now worship God by the offering	48:56
	of ourselves and our gifts.	48:59
	(organ music)	49:04
	(choir singing)	50:13
	(organ music)	54:53
	(choir and congregation singing)	55:15
-	We give you thanks, O God,	56:23
	for revealing your power in the creation of the universe,	56:25
	and for your providence in the life of the world.	56:28
	For the revelation of your kingdom	56:32
	in our midst, by your son Jesus Christ,	56:33
	who came on earth to manifest	56:36
	and to accomplish your will.	56:39
	For his humble birth, and his holy life,	56:41
	and for his words and miracles.	56:44
	For his sufferings and death,	56:47
	and his entry into kingship by	56:49
	his resurrection and ascension.	56:51
	For the founding of the universal church	56:54
	spread to the ends of the earth,	56:56
	and for the coming of your kingdom within us,	56:58
	by the gifts of your holy spirit.	57:01
	For all these good and gracious gifts,	57:04
	and for the unique gifts we now acknowledge	57:07
	before you in our hearts,	57:10
	we bless your holy name,	57:12
	and praise our Lord taught us saying,	57:14
	"our Father, who art in heaven	57:17
	"hallowed be your name.	57:20
	"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	57:23
	"on earth, as it is in heaven.	57:26
	"Give us this day, our daily bread,	57:29
	"and forgive us our trespasses,	57:32
	"as we forgive those who trespass against us.	57:34
	"and lead us not into temptation,	57:38
	"but deliver us from evil.	57:40
	"For thine is the kingdom,	57:43
	"and the power, and the glory, forever, amen."	57:44
	(organ music)	57:50
	(choir and congregation singing)	58:43
	(organ music)	1:00:22
	(congregation singing)	1:02:08
-	Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,	1:02:46
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:02:49
	be with you and among you, always.	1:02:52
	(choir singing)	1:02:57
	(organ music)	1:03:15

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Pointlessness of Praise" (October 23, 1988)

Description:

Sermon start time: 21:40. Sermon end time: 42:25.
The preacher argues that religion is primarily for the praise and enjoyment of God, though the contemporary notion is to think of religion as utilitarian, failing to experience the joy of worship. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Religion is an utterly gratuitous affair before it is anything useful.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r44x54x5p

Date:

October 23, 1988

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Jeremiah

Chapter and Verse:

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0102
ref8521_8s1
uachapelsermaud
duke:321483
dcrmv001101
ark:/87924/r44x54x5p
31caa28a-1a44-47c3-a19a-7445e52c5d1f

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

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

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William H. Willimon - "The Pointlessness of Praise" (October 23, 1988)

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1. William H. Willimon - "The Pointlessness of Praise" (October 23, 1988)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "The Pointlessness of Praise" (October 23, 1988)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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