Edgar H. Nease, Jr. - "Identifying God" (July 30, 1972)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
Priest One | Well then disappointed | 0:04 |
by the contrast between | 0:05 | |
what we are meant to be | 0:07 | |
and what we are, | 0:09 | |
but we come back ashamed of our performance | 0:13 | |
yet aware that we are not quite ourselves | 0:19 | |
when we stay away from thee. | 0:24 | |
We ask in humble confidence for forgiveness | 0:27 | |
for more than forgiveness, | 0:33 | |
we ask for thy spirit within us | 0:38 | |
and that our own self-centered lives | 0:41 | |
may be displaced by thy presence | 0:45 | |
to the end that we may behave like men and women | 0:48 | |
whom thou has made thy known | 0:54 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 0:57 | |
Hear these words of a shortness of pardon | 1:03 | |
from the first letter of John, | 1:06 | |
our sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake. | 1:11 | |
With that in mind, let us now offer unto God | 1:21 | |
our unison prayer of Thanksgiving. | 1:25 | |
Oh father in heaven who of thy great mercy | 1:30 | |
has brought us to the beginning of another day. | 1:34 | |
Give us thankful hearts | 1:38 | |
as we recall thy continued goodness toward us. | 1:41 | |
We thank thee oh Lord | 1:45 | |
for all thy gifts to ourselves | 1:48 | |
and to all the children for which we have, | 1:51 | |
or have not prayed for help, recreation and refreshment. | 1:55 | |
For interest in our work and power to do it. | 2:02 | |
For all duties and trusts committed to us | 2:07 | |
for all progress in things for which we care | 2:11 | |
for the companionship for fellow students and teachers | 2:15 | |
for all who have helped us with spiritual guidance | 2:20 | |
or correction from the unity of those who live in the spirit | 2:24 | |
and for the pardon of our sins | 2:30 | |
and the inspiration of thy presence. | 2:32 | |
Amen. | 2:36 | |
(liturgical music playing) | 2:40 | |
Let us hear the word of God as it is contained | 6:27 | |
in the scriptures of the new Testament, | 6:30 | |
in the gospel according to St. Matthew, | 6:33 | |
the sixth chapter at the seventh verse | 6:37 | |
part of the sermon on the Mount. | 6:43 | |
And in praying do not heap up empty phrases | 6:50 | |
as the Gentiles do | 6:56 | |
for they think that they will be heard for their many words, | 6:59 | |
do not be like them. | 7:05 | |
Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. | 7:08 | |
Pray then like this. | 7:14 | |
Our Father who art in heaven, | 7:18 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 7:21 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 7:30 | |
Give us this day, | 7:36 | |
our daily bread and forgive us our debts. | 7:38 | |
As we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us, | 7:43 | |
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 7:50 | |
For if you forgive men their trespasses, | 7:57 | |
your heavenly Father also will forgive you. | 8:01 | |
But if you do not forgive men, their trespasses, | 8:08 | |
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. | 8:13 | |
And when you fast do not look dismal like the hypocrites | 8:20 | |
for they disfigure their faces | 8:28 | |
that their fasting may be seen by men. | 8:30 | |
Truly I say to you, they have their reward, | 8:36 | |
but when you fast anoint your head, wash your face | 8:42 | |
that your fasting may not be seen by men, | 8:50 | |
but by your Father who is in secret | 8:54 | |
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. | 8:59 | |
He render the morning vessel. | 9:06 | |
(liturgical music playing) | 9:11 | |
The Lord be with you. | 9:55 | |
Crowd | And also with you. | 9:58 |
Priest One | Let us pray. | 9:59 |
Let us offer unto God, three prayers of intercession. | 10:09 | |
First, the genital intercession, | 10:14 | |
oh Lord God, merciful and mighty | 10:18 | |
help those whom we have neglected to help. | 10:22 | |
Set our right those whom we have caused to stumble, | 10:28 | |
visit those whom we have neglected to visit, | 10:35 | |
bring back those whom we have led astray | 10:41 | |
cheer the hearts of those whom we have made sad. | 10:46 | |
They're all with the cords of thy love | 10:51 | |
those for whom our love has grown cold, | 10:54 | |
save them all oh Lord and have mercy upon us. | 11:01 | |
For the sake of Christ our Lord | 11:08 | |
Let us offer a prayer of intercession for the sick | 11:14 | |
in the Duke hospital and Watts hospital | 11:17 | |
and Lincoln hospital | 11:20 | |
in the nursing homes at home. | 11:22 | |
Oh Lord, we doust feel the pain of the world. | 11:27 | |
Look down upon all sick and suffering persons, | 11:30 | |
old and young and fold them with thy love | 11:35 | |
that in the midst of pain, they may find thy presence | 11:41 | |
to doctors or nurses, grant considered hearts | 11:47 | |
and healing hands. | 11:52 | |
And if it be thy will get health again in body and soul | 11:55 | |
for thy tender mercy seat. | 12:00 | |
Let us offer a prayer of intercession for prisoners of war. | 12:05 | |
Oh, mighty God who threw thy profits and thy son | 12:13 | |
hast instructed the church to proclaim release | 12:17 | |
to the captives and liberty for those who are pressed. | 12:21 | |
Hear our special prayer of intercession for our countrymen | 12:27 | |
who are prisoners of war or missing in action, | 12:32 | |
whom we would neither forget, nor abandon. | 12:38 | |
Be with them. | 12:44 | |
Be our representative. | 12:46 | |
Be thou the comforter | 12:50 | |
remedy the folly, | 12:54 | |
the wrong doing of those who led us into this conflict, | 12:56 | |
which has so little obvious meaning | 13:01 | |
and who depend on others, the young, | 13:04 | |
the drafted, the out of place | 13:08 | |
to carry out their doubtful strategy. | 13:12 | |
Yet their fault is our fault because we elected them. | 13:17 | |
We can do so little for our fellows who are prisoners. | 13:26 | |
We have to leave them in thy hands. | 13:31 | |
We commit them to the asking thee, | 13:35 | |
asking thee to keep reminding us, | 13:38 | |
to remember them | 13:42 | |
and let us offer a prayer of supplication for ourselves. | 13:47 | |
Eternal God in whom is our health and our peace. | 13:53 | |
How may we utter our need of thee? | 13:58 | |
Our minds need thee to give them poise. | 14:03 | |
Our wills need thee, to give them strength. | 14:08 | |
Our hearts need thee to give them quiet. | 14:12 | |
We need thee, as we worry about a better world, | 14:18 | |
very urgent is our need of thee | 14:23 | |
if we are to face persistent evil | 14:26 | |
with hopeful determination. | 14:28 | |
Oh thou understand'est us better than we do ourselves, | 14:33 | |
grant unto us a healing hearkening consciousness | 14:39 | |
of thy presence | 14:44 | |
and now as our savior Christ has taught us | 14:47 | |
we humbly pray together. | 14:50 | |
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 14:53 | |
thy kingdom come. | 14:59 | |
They will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 15:01 | |
Give us this day, | 15:06 | |
our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. | 15:07 | |
As we forgive those who trespass against us | 15:11 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 15:15 | |
but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom | 15:18 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 15:22 | |
Amen. | 15:27 | |
Priest Two | One does not return to his alma mater. | 15:44 |
without recalling many episodes and experiences. | 15:46 | |
Many of which I dare not recall publicly. | 15:52 | |
The temptation to reminisce is tremendous | 15:58 | |
about the days here and singing in this choir | 16:01 | |
and other activities. | 16:04 | |
I shall forego that temptation and simply say, | 16:07 | |
I am happy and honored to be here this morning | 16:10 | |
and to preach from this pulpit. | 16:16 | |
The story is told of a minister who was in the habit | 16:20 | |
of preaching a children's sermon every Sunday morning. | 16:23 | |
He began on this particular Sunday by asking the question, | 16:28 | |
what is it that lives in trees, | 16:33 | |
gathers nuts, has a bushy tail and two little beady eyes? | 16:37 | |
A youngster on the front seat immediately answered, God. | 16:42 | |
As part of the congregation sat in amazement | 16:48 | |
and the other part, tittered in amusement, | 16:52 | |
the father marched down to the front pew | 16:54 | |
ushered the boy out. | 16:56 | |
And before adding a few stripes to the seat of his fancy, | 16:57 | |
he said, son, why did you answer the minister this way? | 17:01 | |
The boy said, oh dad, I knew it was a squirrel, | 17:05 | |
but he ought to have been talking about God. | 17:09 | |
You know, I think the boy had a point. | 17:13 | |
We talk so much these days about social ills, | 17:17 | |
about the problems of man, the troubles in our world. | 17:22 | |
We continuously speak about buildings and budgets | 17:27 | |
about bombs and brotherhood. | 17:30 | |
And certainly all of these are important | 17:33 | |
and need to be talked about. | 17:35 | |
But all to seldom do we get around to talking | 17:38 | |
about God. | 17:42 | |
God is the most taken for granted fact or entity | 17:45 | |
in our world today. | 17:49 | |
This is precisely the reason that the God is dead philosophy | 17:52 | |
arose some years ago. | 17:56 | |
We had said so little about God | 17:59 | |
that God had ceased to be real. | 18:02 | |
But church is blame, to some extent at least | 18:07 | |
for much of this attitude. | 18:10 | |
Our literature, our teaching, our preaching, | 18:13 | |
have been so man oriented that God has been bypassed. | 18:18 | |
He has been assumed rather than a circuit. | 18:24 | |
And as a result, | 18:29 | |
we have raised two or more generations of people | 18:30 | |
of which most of us here this morning are a part. | 18:33 | |
who believe in God, | 18:37 | |
but who do not know how to identify God. | 18:39 | |
Some months ago, a poll was taken of youth | 18:45 | |
and their attitudes and philosophy of life. | 18:49 | |
One of the questions I asked was, do you believe in God? | 18:52 | |
And it was heartening to find | 18:55 | |
that 90% of our young people today to believe in God, | 18:56 | |
but then when the questions were asked | 19:00 | |
as to how would you identify God? | 19:02 | |
How would you describe God? | 19:04 | |
What would you say about God? | 19:06 | |
There was a complete vacuum, | 19:08 | |
no answers of available. | 19:10 | |
You see, we have an identity crisis on our hands. | 19:13 | |
Not only about self, as many of us are asking, who am I? | 19:17 | |
What is my place in the world? | 19:19 | |
But we have an even greater identity crisis | 19:21 | |
when it comes to God. | 19:23 | |
Who is God? | 19:25 | |
What is He doing in this world? | 19:27 | |
What is his relationship or my relationship to Him? | 19:30 | |
All too often, we have falsely identified God. | 19:35 | |
Dr. Theodore Runyon of Candler school of Theology | 19:40 | |
at Emory University has said | 19:43 | |
one of the reasons that God is dead for so many people, | 19:45 | |
is that we have identified him with the established order, | 19:49 | |
which has now rapidly changing. | 19:53 | |
How true. | 19:57 | |
As we have blasted man into outer space, | 19:59 | |
we have blasted many a man's concept of God | 20:02 | |
into smithereens. | 20:05 | |
As we have learned to control birth and life and death, | 20:09 | |
to some extent our faith in God has diminished. | 20:12 | |
As we have learned to knock down mountains and build | 20:19 | |
superhighways and super structures and skyscrapers. | 20:21 | |
Yes and to get our answers out of computers, | 20:25 | |
we have begun to question the greatness of God. | 20:30 | |
In short, as the old order changes | 20:35 | |
and gives way to a new order | 20:37 | |
God just isn't as big or is near or as real | 20:39 | |
as he once was. | 20:44 | |
For the things which we have attached to God | 20:47 | |
and by which we have identified God | 20:51 | |
have either changed or are in the process of changing. | 20:55 | |
And so we do not quite know what to say about God. | 21:00 | |
How do we, how can we then identify God today? | 21:06 | |
The ancient Hebrews had this problem. | 21:12 | |
And I suppose to some extent, | 21:15 | |
every generation has this problem. | 21:17 | |
At first for the Hebrews, | 21:20 | |
God was a rather abstract entity known by the rather obscure | 21:21 | |
name of I am. | 21:27 | |
Later he became known as Yahweh a mountain God | 21:31 | |
who dwelt in Mount Sinai or as | 21:35 | |
more commonly known in those days Mount Horeb. | 21:38 | |
But he was always a far away God. | 21:43 | |
Removed, removed from the people | 21:46 | |
a God who commanded at the distance. | 21:49 | |
This was not unlike the concept of God | 21:54 | |
that other cultures and their beginnings had too. | 21:56 | |
For instance, the Greeks had as their chief God Zeus | 21:59 | |
who dwelled on Mount Olympias | 22:03 | |
and no one dared approach Zeus or Mount Olympus. | 22:05 | |
The Romans had as their chief God Jupiter | 22:10 | |
who dwelled high in the heavens above all peoples. | 22:13 | |
The Germans had as their God, | 22:18 | |
one known as Wotan who dwelled | 22:20 | |
in the deep dark forest of Germany, away from people. | 22:23 | |
That even as the Hebrews made their way | 22:29 | |
into the promised land, God was still remote. | 22:32 | |
Oh, he changed his residence from Mount Sinai | 22:37 | |
to the Ark of Covenant and into, | 22:40 | |
into the holy of Holies in the temple. | 22:41 | |
But no one was ever able to get near God was inaccessible | 22:43 | |
except to the chief priest. | 22:47 | |
He was always the mighty sovereign, | 22:50 | |
the powerful God one who was high and lifted up | 22:54 | |
away just by and large. | 22:58 | |
This was the main concept of God | 23:03 | |
throughout the Old Testament. | 23:05 | |
Although every once in a while, | 23:08 | |
there was a breakthrough when men saw God as accessible and | 23:10 | |
even personal, this was the exception rather than the rule. | 23:14 | |
God was somewhat akin to the Oriental emperor. | 23:19 | |
He was to be admired, obeyed | 23:25 | |
respected and even feared | 23:29 | |
always at a distance. | 23:33 | |
The Psalmist in the 29th Psalm | 23:38 | |
pretty well sums up the concept | 23:40 | |
the idea of God in the old Testament, | 23:43 | |
when he writes the voice of the Lord is upon the waters. | 23:46 | |
The God of glory thunders, | 23:52 | |
the voice of the Lord is powerful. | 23:55 | |
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. | 23:58 | |
The Lord sits in throne over the floods. | 24:03 | |
The Lord sets in throne as keen forever. | 24:07 | |
Now Jesus brought out the humanness | 24:14 | |
and the closeness of God to man. | 24:17 | |
He did not take away from the divinity of God | 24:21 | |
nor take away from the power or the majesty of God. | 24:24 | |
He simply made God accessible, new, more understanding. | 24:27 | |
And he did so with one little word. | 24:34 | |
He called him Father. | 24:38 | |
As you read the new Testament, | 24:42 | |
you find this reference to God over and over again. | 24:44 | |
As Jesus speaks of Him and speaks to Him, Father. | 24:47 | |
In the very earliest days of his life, | 24:52 | |
as he was there in Jerusalem with his father and mother | 24:54 | |
and attending his first Passover festival. | 24:57 | |
And he became lost when, | 25:02 | |
when found again by his parents and they asked him | 25:05 | |
where he had been and what he had been doing, he said, | 25:08 | |
did you not know I must be doing my Father's business. | 25:10 | |
When the disciples came to him and asked him, | 25:16 | |
how do we pray? | 25:18 | |
He said to begin with these words, | 25:21 | |
our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 25:22 | |
Constantly he is referring to God as Father | 25:28 | |
as depicted in the scripture reading this morning. | 25:32 | |
The last words upon his lips there on the cross were Father, | 25:36 | |
Father forgive them for what they do. | 25:40 | |
Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. | 25:45 | |
One new Testament scholar has said that the chief reason | 25:52 | |
that the new Testament is really new | 25:55 | |
is the fundamental shift it brings about | 25:58 | |
in our understanding of God, | 26:00 | |
that is knowing him as a Father. | 26:03 | |
This concept of God, as a father | 26:08 | |
has opened up a whole new vista. | 26:11 | |
And yet it is a Vista though 1900 or more years old | 26:15 | |
a vista that far too few of us have ever really seen. | 26:19 | |
If you'd like for us to look more closely at it this morning | 26:27 | |
that we might put further identify God. | 26:29 | |
For you see identifying God has much to do with living, | 26:34 | |
living meaningfully and purposefully. | 26:39 | |
From this very pulpit some years ago, | 26:44 | |
that I heard the Dean of this chapel | 26:48 | |
make this statement that I shall never forget. | 26:50 | |
He said many things in class that I forgot, | 26:54 | |
but this from the pulpit, I never forgot. | 26:56 | |
He said the most important thing in a man's life | 27:00 | |
is what he believes about God. | 27:03 | |
A man's belief about God hinges on how he identifies God. | 27:10 | |
So it is, we ask what kind of a father is God?. | 27:19 | |
I would suggest, first of all | 27:24 | |
this morning that God is a prudent Father. | 27:26 | |
He knows what to do for His children. | 27:31 | |
On one occasion, | 27:36 | |
Jesus asks some men as they were gathered around | 27:37 | |
how many of you would give to your son a stone | 27:39 | |
if he asks for bread? | 27:42 | |
Or how many of you would give to your son a snake | 27:45 | |
if he asks for a fish? | 27:49 | |
The man looked at him and he said, oh, | 27:53 | |
of course we wouldn't give our son such things. | 27:55 | |
We love our sons. | 27:57 | |
Then Jesus said, ah yes. | 27:58 | |
Then if you as mortals, | 28:00 | |
know how to give good gifts to your children, | 28:02 | |
how much more so does our heavenly Father know | 28:05 | |
how to give good gifts to His children? | 28:09 | |
You see God is wise in knowing what we need, | 28:14 | |
He knows us better than we know ourselves. | 28:19 | |
He knows our needs before even we are aware of them. | 28:22 | |
He is not fooled by our whims or our schemes | 28:27 | |
by the charades we play or the masks we wear. | 28:30 | |
When I was a boy in high school, I played some basketball. | 28:35 | |
One evening as I got ready to leave the house | 28:39 | |
and go down to the gym for the game, | 28:41 | |
my father stopped me and told me | 28:43 | |
that he wanted me to return immediately | 28:46 | |
from the gym to home. | 28:48 | |
And I've been staying up rather late | 28:50 | |
and then had not gotten my rest | 28:52 | |
and that I must come directly home. | 28:54 | |
He knew what was best for me. | 28:58 | |
But as the game progressed, I, | 29:02 | |
I looked up into the stands | 29:03 | |
and I saw a certain blonde headed little girl | 29:05 | |
that had captured my attention | 29:07 | |
for the previous few months. | 29:09 | |
And it just so happened that after the game had ended, | 29:12 | |
she was available to be taken home. | 29:15 | |
It was the only gentlemanly thing to do. | 29:19 | |
Now we went directly from the gym to her home. | 29:23 | |
I didn't linger at her door. | 29:29 | |
Well, not for long anyway. | 29:32 | |
And then in order to make up lost time, | 29:35 | |
I ran about three fourths of the way home. | 29:38 | |
Then I walked in very calmly and casually and | 29:42 | |
my father looked at me and he said, how was the game? | 29:45 | |
And I thought I had been successful. | 29:49 | |
I said oh the game was great, we won. | 29:51 | |
And then he said, | 29:54 | |
and how was the walk home with Betty tonight? | 29:55 | |
He hadn't been there. | 30:00 | |
No one had told him. | 30:02 | |
He just knew. | 30:05 | |
Now if an earthly father knows our schemes and our plan, | 30:09 | |
most assuredly our heavenly Father likewise knows. | 30:16 | |
We do not fool him as to our actions or our needs. | 30:22 | |
As a prudent father | 30:30 | |
He is not insensitive to our aches or pains | 30:31 | |
to our doubts or our disturbances. | 30:35 | |
Jesus knew this in the Garden of Gethsemane. | 30:39 | |
He knew it as He hung on the cross. | 30:41 | |
He called on God, not out of desperation, | 30:44 | |
not with a sense of futility. | 30:47 | |
He called on God because He knew that his Father was aware, | 30:50 | |
of his hurt and his pain of the disturbance in his life | 30:55 | |
of the need of a decision to be made. | 30:59 | |
And he knew that God, His Father was directing him | 31:01 | |
to make the decision that was important, | 31:06 | |
not only for his own life, | 31:10 | |
but for the lives of others. | 31:13 | |
And so you see, because God is a prudent father. | 31:16 | |
We too can pray for direction. | 31:20 | |
For He knows and He wills for us that which is best. | 31:24 | |
But not only is he a prudent Father. | 31:33 | |
He is also a pardoning Father. | 31:36 | |
Jesus told the most gripping story to make this point. | 31:41 | |
He said there was a father who had two sons. | 31:46 | |
He loved them equally well, | 31:48 | |
but one of these boys was an adventuresome soul. | 31:50 | |
A boy who was very self-willed who wanted his way, | 31:52 | |
who had come to the point | 31:55 | |
that he wanted to buck the establishment. | 31:57 | |
So he came to his father and said, | 32:00 | |
give me that which belongs to me. | 32:02 | |
I want to go make my own way. | 32:03 | |
He wasn't ready. | 32:07 | |
But the father nevertheless | 32:08 | |
gave him that portion which belonged to him. | 32:09 | |
And the boy went out to make his own way | 32:12 | |
to do his own thing. | 32:14 | |
And after a while he had lost or spent | 32:15 | |
everything that he had. | 32:18 | |
In order to survive he had to take the most menial task | 32:21 | |
that was available in this foreign land. | 32:24 | |
That of tending swine. | 32:28 | |
One day as he was out in the hog pen, | 32:32 | |
in the mud of the hog pen, | 32:36 | |
amid the stench of the hog pen | 32:38 | |
he came to himself. | 32:42 | |
He realized that in his father's home, | 32:45 | |
no one had to do this, | 32:48 | |
but there was a better place in life for him. | 32:51 | |
And so he swallowed his pride and went home. | 32:53 | |
Now here's the point. | 32:57 | |
Jesus pointed out that the father | 33:00 | |
did not lecture the boy. | 33:04 | |
When he returned, he did not lay down demands. | 33:07 | |
He opened up the best that he had | 33:13 | |
gave a banquet and forgave him for what he had done. | 33:16 | |
Jesus said, this is precisely what God does. | 33:22 | |
When a child sins, when he becomes selfish, | 33:27 | |
when he leaves the places that he ought to be, | 33:30 | |
and then returns home | 33:34 | |
he finds not only a welcome, but a full pardon. | 33:37 | |
The story is told of a boy who repeatedly disobeyed | 33:44 | |
his father by doing a certain act. | 33:49 | |
The father looking up from his newspaper said, son, | 33:53 | |
if you do that again, | 33:55 | |
I'm going to send you to the attic without your supper. | 33:56 | |
And you'll have to spend the night there. | 34:00 | |
The boy was persistent. | 34:03 | |
He repeated the act. | 34:04 | |
The father had to be consistent. | 34:05 | |
So he took the boy, | 34:08 | |
gave him a glass of water and a piece of bread | 34:10 | |
and sent him up to the attic for the night. | 34:12 | |
The minutes the hours ticked on | 34:16 | |
and the boy became frightened, but he knew he had to stay. | 34:18 | |
And then as the dark began to settle into the attic, | 34:24 | |
he heard steps down below. | 34:27 | |
And it was a shaft of light as the door opened. | 34:29 | |
And he saw his father coming up into the attic | 34:32 | |
in his hand was a glass of water and a piece of bread. | 34:37 | |
That father came over to where the boy was seated, | 34:43 | |
crooked his arm and placed the head of that boy | 34:46 | |
upon his shoulder. | 34:50 | |
And there, the boy spent the night, | 34:53 | |
in the safety and comfort of his fathers arms. | 34:55 | |
That lad never forgot that night. | 35:02 | |
As an older man, he recalled it many times. | 35:05 | |
And before a large gathering, he said that night, | 35:08 | |
I learned more about the forgiving love | 35:11 | |
of a heavenly father | 35:15 | |
than I had ever learned before or realized since. | 35:18 | |
You see, this is our God. | 35:24 | |
He reaches far beyond our wildest expectations | 35:28 | |
to pardon. | 35:33 | |
Of all His virtues, none exceeds his pardoning power. | 35:35 | |
Not only is he a prudent Father and a pardoning Father, | 35:45 | |
he is a personal plus Father. | 35:50 | |
He is more than my father. | 35:54 | |
He is our Father. | 35:58 | |
He's the Father of all people. | 36:01 | |
He's the Father of the red man, the black man, | 36:04 | |
the yellow man and the white man. | 36:06 | |
He's a Father of the ignorant and the learning. | 36:08 | |
And he's the Father of the rich and the poor. | 36:10 | |
And we never fully know God as a Father | 36:13 | |
until we realize this truth about Him. | 36:18 | |
Someone once prayed | 36:24 | |
God bless me and my wife, Mary and our son, John, | 36:25 | |
we three and no one else. | 36:28 | |
We cannot so separate ourselves from others and truly pray. | 36:32 | |
We limit God when we do this. | 36:37 | |
We make him exclusive. | 36:40 | |
And this is completely contrary to His nature. | 36:42 | |
For He is the God and the Father of all man-kind. | 36:47 | |
And only as we identify ourselves with others, | 36:53 | |
irregardless of race or color of creed | 36:56 | |
others as our brothers, | 36:59 | |
others as partners with us on this planet ship earth, | 37:01 | |
do we then come to know God in the realest sense, | 37:06 | |
a college boy changed his plans one Christmas instead of | 37:16 | |
taking the gifts and giving them to his friends and | 37:21 | |
fraternity brothers and even to his family, | 37:23 | |
he decided to take a family on the other side of the tracks | 37:26 | |
and the tenements section. | 37:29 | |
That evening just before Christmas on Christmas Eve, | 37:33 | |
as he had finished sharing with these people, | 37:36 | |
he left and later he wrote of that experience. | 37:40 | |
God was never so real to me as on that night, | 37:44 | |
when I walked down those tenements steps. | 37:49 | |
You see it was by sharing with others | 37:55 | |
by coming to realize that there were others in this world | 37:58 | |
different than himself, | 38:01 | |
that he came to know the greatness and the vastness of God. | 38:03 | |
He came in that night to be able to know God | 38:09 | |
truly as our Father. | 38:12 | |
In April of this year, | 38:18 | |
I had the privilege of attending the general conference | 38:19 | |
for the United Methodist Church in Atlanta. | 38:21 | |
Perhaps the most thrilling thing to me there was, | 38:26 | |
was the appearance of Bishop, Abel Muzorewa. | 38:29 | |
Bishop of United Methodist church in Rhodesia. | 38:34 | |
But more than that, | 38:36 | |
the man who has been selected | 38:37 | |
to head the United front of the Rhodesian | 38:38 | |
and their fight for justice and independence | 38:40 | |
and a right to live. | 38:45 | |
When Bishop Muzorewa flew into London, | 38:49 | |
the parliament called a special session to hear it. | 38:52 | |
When he flew into New York city, | 38:57 | |
there was a special session called at the United nations | 38:59 | |
that they might hear him. | 39:01 | |
When he came to Atlanta for the general conference, | 39:04 | |
the program was shifted in order that the delegates | 39:06 | |
might hear this man of God. | 39:09 | |
A man who has been not on revolution in the world, | 39:12 | |
but on reconciliation. | 39:14 | |
And he spoke to us telling us what he hoped to do | 39:16 | |
for the black peoples of this country. | 39:18 | |
We were thrilled and when he had finished, | 39:22 | |
we stood as one to applaud him. | 39:23 | |
And in the midst of the applause, | 39:26 | |
there came a different sound. | 39:28 | |
Someone was singing. | 39:31 | |
And then as we looked, | 39:35 | |
we saw that the Bishop had approached the microphone | 39:35 | |
and his two bodyguards beside him | 39:38 | |
and they were singing a hymn in their native tongue. | 39:39 | |
And as I listened, I didn't recognize the words, | 39:45 | |
but I recognize the tune. | 39:48 | |
They were singing what a friend we have in Jesus. | 39:50 | |
And as they came across that phrase, oh, | 39:54 | |
our sins and griefs to bear | 39:56 | |
I suddenly realized that God sent His son, | 40:01 | |
not just for my sins, | 40:04 | |
but for the sins of every person in that auditorium. | 40:06 | |
For every a person across the world. | 40:10 | |
No how I identified with those people and how I realized | 40:14 | |
that God was not only mindful of ed niece, | 40:18 | |
but he was mindful of every person by name | 40:21 | |
in that whole place. | 40:23 | |
I tell you, | 40:28 | |
it's a marvelous moment when we see God in a personal way. | 40:30 | |
But it is a magnificent moment | 40:38 | |
when we see him as personal plus. | 40:41 | |
My dear friends, God is not dead. | 40:47 | |
He is alive and he is for real. | 40:51 | |
I would pray this morning that each of us | 40:55 | |
through this experience of worship | 40:57 | |
and through the days ahead in our own personal pursuits | 40:59 | |
might get to know Him better. | 41:03 | |
That each of us might know Him in truth | 41:07 | |
as a prudent Father a pardoning Father | 41:09 | |
and a personal plus Father. | 41:14 | |
For then and only then do we become alive. | 41:19 | |
And are for real. | 41:25 | |
Let us pray. | 41:32 | |
Almighty God thou who art our Father. | 41:36 | |
We praise thy name for all thy blessings. | 41:43 | |
We asked that through this hour of worship, | 41:50 | |
there might be revelations to us individually | 41:51 | |
that we might come to understand thee and know thee better, | 41:56 | |
especially then we might learn thee, | 42:02 | |
as a prudent, pardoning, personal yes | 42:05 | |
but personal plus Father. | 42:10 | |
But then we too might be alive | 42:15 | |
and count for something worthwhile | 42:20 | |
for it is in thy holy name through Christ Our Lord, we pray. | 42:25 | |
Amen. | 42:30 | |
(liturgical music playing) | 42:35 | |
(choir singing indistinctly) | 43:00 | |
Priest One | All things come of thee oh God, | 52:41 |
our silver and our gold. | 52:45 | |
And of our, of thy known have we given thee | 52:48 | |
as the symbol of ourselves, | 52:52 | |
accept them in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, | 52:56 | |
our Lord. | 53:03 | |
May the blessing of God come upon you abundantly, | 53:08 | |
may it keep you strong and tranquil in the truth | 53:14 | |
of His promises through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 53:19 | |
(choir singing) | 53:31 | |
(bell ringing) | 54:39 | |
(liturgical music playing) | 54:57 |
Item Info
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