D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Annunciation" (December 1, 1974)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC 4.0
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49g5mf96?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49g5mf96
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(bright organ music)	0:04
	(bright organ music continues)	1:02
	(bright organ music continues)	2:00
	(bright organ music continues)	2:59
-	Oh, holy God.	3:30
	We wait before your presence.	3:33
	Grant us to prepare ourselves for this hour of worship	3:37
	and this Advent season that we may receive your word anew.	3:43
	We pray in the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, amen.	3:49
	(bright organ music)	3:56
	(bright organ music continues)	4:52
	(bright organ music continues)	5:55
	(bright organ music continues)	6:54
	Let us now, in the presence of all mighty God	7:50
	and our neighbor make our corporate confession of our sin.	7:54
	Let us pray.	7:59
	Ever blessed God, who came in great humility,	8:01
	we are slow to live for Christ.	8:06
	We know him to be true,	8:10
	but we turn to worship personal gods and public idols.	8:12
	We have little care for the poor,	8:18
	or those of different skin,	8:21
	or for folk in ravaged villages across the sea,	8:24
	or even for our neighbor across the street or down the hall.	8:29
	The valleys are deep, gouged out by many a pretense.	8:35
	The hills are high, built by our human crying.	8:41
	So we confess our sins,	8:46
	only by you are they understood,	8:49
	only when offered to you can they be forgiven	8:53
	and the sting of them drawn.	8:57
	Forgive us and help us to forgive others and ourselves.	9:00
	Then set us to build the King's Highway,	9:06
	that the valleys may be filled and the hills laid low,	9:11
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	9:16
	Let us continue in prayer	9:20
	as we make our personal confession,	9:22
	Amen.	9:45
	The good news which we celebrate during this Advent season	9:47
	is God's great love for us and God's gift of life,	9:51
	which includes forgiveness of our sins.	9:57
	Accept this gift and live as true children of God. Amen.	10:01
	(mournful organ music)	10:16
	♪ Turn Thee to me ♪	10:30
	♪ And have mercy ♪	10:36
	♪ For I am desolate ♪	10:44
	♪ And sore distressed ♪	10:54
	♪ Great, great ♪	11:15
	♪ Are the sorrows ♪	11:19
	♪ Of my heart ♪	11:23
	♪ Bring me out of ♪	11:30
	♪ My distress ♪	11:34
	♪ Bring me out of ♪	11:50
	♪ My distress ♪	11:53
	♪ O be merciful ♪	12:13
	♪ Look on my sorrow ♪	12:21
	♪ See mine afflictions ♪	12:25
	♪ And forgive me ♪	12:29
	♪ All my wickedness ♪	12:33
	♪ O, keep my soul ♪	12:39
	♪ In safety ♪	12:43
	♪ Let me never be confounded ♪	12:48
	♪ And deliver me ♪	12:57
	♪ For my hope is in Thee ♪	13:08
	♪ For my hope is in Thee ♪	13:23
	♪ In Thee ♪	13:33
-	Let us hear the word of God	14:01
	as it is contained first in the Old Testament,	14:05
	in the Book of Malachi,	14:10
	the third chapter, verses one to seven.	14:13
	At the request of our preacher,	14:19
	both lessons are being read from the New English Bible.	14:23
	"Look, I am sending my messenger,	14:31
	who will clear a path before me.	14:36
	Suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple.	14:41
	The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight is here.	14:47
	Here already," says the Lord of hosts.	14:54
	"Who can endure the day of his coming?	15:01
	Who can stand firm when he appears?	15:07
	He is like a refiner's fire, like fuller's soap.	15:12
	He will take his seat, refining and purifying.	15:19
	He will purify the Levites	15:26
	and cleanse them like gold and silver.	15:28
	And so they shall be fit to bring offerings to the Lord.	15:33
	Thus, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem	15:39
	shall be pleasing to the Lord,	15:43
	as they were in the days of old,	15:47
	in years long past.	15:50
	I will appear before you in court,	15:55
	prompt to testify against sorcerers,	16:00
	adulterers, and perjurers,	16:03
	against those who wronged the hired laborer,	16:08
	the widow, and the orphan.	16:12
	Who thrust the alien aside	16:16
	and have no fear of me," says the Lord of hosts.	16:20
	"I am the Lord, unchanging,	16:28
	and you two have not ceased to be sons of Jacob.	16:34
	From the days of your forefathers,	16:40
	you have been wayward and have not kept my laws.	16:42
	If you will return to me,	16:49
	I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts.	16:54
	And in the New Testament,	17:02
	the Gospel according to St. Luke,	17:05
	the first chapter, verses 26 to 38.	17:08
	Let us stand for the reading of the Gospel.	17:16
	In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God	17:25
	to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,	17:31
	with a message for a girl	17:37
	betrothed to a man named Joseph,	17:40
	a descendant of David.	17:45
	The girl's name was Mary.	17:48
	The angel went in and said to her,	17:53
	"Greetings, most favored one.	17:56
	The Lord is with you."	18:01
	But she was deeply troubled by what he said,	18:06
	and wondered what this greeting might mean.	18:10
	Then the angel said to her,	18:14
	"Do not be afraid, Mary,	18:17
	for God has been gracious to you.	18:20
	You shall conceive and bear a son,	18:25
	And you shall give him the name Jesus.	18:30
	He will be great.	18:36
	He will bear the title Son of the most High.	18:39
	The Lord God will give him the throne	18:45
	of his ancestor, David,	18:48
	and he will be king over Israel forever.	18:50
	His reign shall never end."	18:54
	"How can this be?" said Mary,	19:01
	"I am still a virgin."	19:07
	The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you	19:11
	and the power of the most high will overshadow you.	19:16
	And for that reason, the holy child to be born	19:20
	will be called Son of God.	19:26
	Moreover, your kinswoman, Elizabeth,	19:32
	has herself conceived a son in her old age.	19:36
	And she who is reputed barren is now in her sixth month.	19:41
	For God's promises can never fail."	19:48
	"Here am I," said Mary,	19:57
	"I am the Lord's servant.	20:02
	As you have spoken, so be it."	20:06
	Then the angel left her.	20:12
	Amen.	20:17
	(glorious organ music)	20:20
-	Let us affirm our faith.	21:00
	We are not alone.	21:03
	We live in God's world.	21:05
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	21:08
	who has come in the true man Jesus	21:13
	to reconcile and make new.	21:17
	Who works in us and others by his spirit.	21:20
	We trust him.	21:24
	He calls us to be his church,	21:26
	to celebrate his presence,	21:29
	to love and serve others,	21:32
	to seek justice and resist evil,	21:35
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	21:38
	our judge and our hope.	21:42
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	21:45
	God is with us.	21:50
	We are not alone. Thanks be to God.	21:52
	The Lord be with you.	21:58
-	And with your spirit.	22:00
-	Let us pray.	22:02
	Oh God, we acknowledge that you are the source	22:12
	of all of our existence.	22:18
	Make us aware of the greatness, the majesty,	22:21
	the wonder of all of your universe	22:26
	and lead us to behold your glory in all places,	22:30
	that we may truly worship and praise you	22:34
	with all of our being.	22:38
	Hear our prayers of thanksgiving.	22:42
	For the life and work of Jesus, the Christ,	22:46
	and for the continuation of his ministry and the church.	22:49
	For the love and support of our families and friends.	22:55
	And for the untallied work of those who care for the sick,	23:01
	the lonely, the homeless, the hungry.	23:06
	We give thanks for those who deny themselves	23:14
	that others may have a more abundant life.	23:19
	For those who, in quietness and with great humility,	23:23
	bring joy to countless lives.	23:27
	Hear our prayers of intercession, oh Lord,	23:33
	for those who are known to us	23:37
	suffer because of our greed.	23:40
	For those who struggle to find meaning	23:46
	and purpose for their lives.	23:48
	For those who search and search and search for work.	23:53
	For those who love and suffer,	24:00
	that their homes may reflect your love and compassion.	24:04
	Hear our prayers for ourselves, oh Lord.	24:12
	Bring the calm of your presence into our restless lives.	24:15
	Silence the too great noise of our living.	24:21
	Quiet the torment of our stormy spirits.	24:24
	This we need, oh Lord,	24:28
	so that we may open our hearts and lives to you.	24:30
	We need to be hushed that we may hear your spirit.	24:36
	Speak through our consciences, oh Lord.	24:43
	Show us the falsity of our excuses and evasions	24:47
	and grant that we may become honest	24:51
	in our response to you and ourselves.	24:54
	Speak through our hopes and plans, we pray.	25:00
	Save us from easy conformity.	25:04
	Speak through our will.	25:11
	You have given us the power to decide,	25:13
	save us from destructive decisions.	25:17
	Speak through the needs of others.	25:23
	We need your support and your strength	25:27
	if we are to respond	25:31
	to the rightful claims others place	25:34
	on our time and our energy	25:37
	and our money and our love.	25:40
	All this we pray in the spirit of the one	25:46
	who taught us to pray saying:	25:49
	Our father who art in heaven,	25:52
	hallowed be by name.	25:56
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	25:59
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	26:02
	Give us this day our daily bread	26:05
	and forgive us our trespasses	26:08
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	26:11
	And lead us not into temptation,	26:15
	but deliver us from evil.	26:18
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power,	26:21
	and the glory, forever and ever, amen.	26:24
	We have planned several very special events	26:32
	for this Advent season.	26:35
	For the first, a service of worship this afternoon	26:37
	at 5:00 PM in this chapel.	26:41
	During this time Dr. Stuart Henry,	26:45
	professor of American Christianity in the Divinity School,	26:48
	will read selections from several poets and dramatists.	26:52
	This is a rare privilege we have, as those of you	26:57
	who have heard Dr. Henry in previous readings know.	27:01
	We invite you to join us for this Advent celebration,	27:05
	today at 5:00 PM here in the chapel.	27:09
	As most of you know, Sam Hammond, our carillonneur,	27:15
	was seriously burned in a fire	27:19
	in his apartment several weeks ago.	27:22
	We are pleased with his recovery.	27:25
	We especially appreciate, and he does,	27:29
	your support and prayers.	27:32
	And we appreciate those who have played the carillon	27:35
	in his absence.	27:38
	Two of his students, Tom Clark and Nancy Furee,	27:39
	have played during the week,	27:43
	and on Sundays, Bill Gurger has been playing,	27:45
	and today Jim Ferguson is playing for us.	27:48
	We thank all of you for the contribution you make	27:52
	to our worship.	27:55
	You will be pleased to know that last Sunday's offering,	27:58
	which was designated to be sent to Oxfam	28:02
	for the relief of hunger, amounted to $1,100.	28:06
	Our preacher today is an outstanding New Testament scholar,	28:13
	professor, administrator, churchman,	28:17
	and also a very good preacher.	28:21
	Welcome to the pulpit of Duke Chapel, Moody Smith.	28:24
-	If I may be indulged, a personal word.	28:41
	It's good to be here among friends	28:44
	and to participate in the leadership	28:48
	of this service of worship	28:50
	with such old and good and true friends	28:53
	as Helen Crowell and Jim Clellan.	28:57
	Friends who are even willing to lie about you a little.	29:04
	Let us pray.	29:08
	May the words of our mouth	29:12
	and the meditations of our hearts	29:15
	be acceptable in thy sight.	29:17
	Oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.	29:20
	What do you suppose you would think	29:30
	if an angel came up to you and said,	29:32
	"You're going to get pregnant."	29:34
	Probably you wouldn't believe him or her.	29:37
	Particularly if you are over 50,	29:41
	under 12, or a male.	29:46
	Or you might not believe	29:51
	that an angel had spoken to you at all.	29:52
	Or perhaps you'd say the only fellow in a white coat	29:57
	I'm going to believe is the doctor.	30:00
	We just don't have a lot to do with angels anymore.	30:05
	Now our text is the annunciation to Mary,	30:10
	and Luke intends to tell us about the miracle.	30:15
	There's no question about that.	30:18
	Mary's astonishment, "How shall this be,	30:20
	for I do not know a man,"	30:23
	is more than matched by our own incredulity.	30:25
	Well, it may be true that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus	30:29
	lived in a world and a time in which angels or demons	30:34
	ascend from below and angels like Gabriel	30:38
	come down from heaven.	30:41
	And it may be that she was somewhat better prepared	30:44
	to see an angel than you or I might be.	30:47
	But it would be wrong on the basis	30:53
	of such an ancient world view	30:55
	to infer that the astounding and miraculous character	30:58
	of the narrative of Jesus' birth	31:02
	is somehow thereby reduced.	31:06
	Indeed, the appearance of the angel already suggests	31:11
	that we are dealing with quite extraordinary events.	31:14
	For Luke, as for Mary,	31:18
	a great miracle is about to take place.	31:21
	Its magnitude is underlined by the lesser miracle	31:25
	of the birth of an infant son	31:28
	to the aged Zechariah and Elizabeth.	31:29
	Yet Zechariah and Elizabeth are married and living together,	31:34
	if elderly, while Mary is an unmarried virgin.	31:39
	Thus the story of the miraculous circumstances	31:44
	surrounding John's conception and birth	31:47
	serves to highlight the even greater miracle	31:50
	of the coming appearance of Jesus.	31:54
	But who can hear and believe such stories nowadays?	31:59
	If I were to tell you that an angel had spoken to me	32:05
	you might not speak to me again.	32:10
	We don't want a lot to do with people	32:13
	who have conversations with angels.	32:17
	Moreover, there are some good reasons	32:21
	for having doubts or questions about this ancient story.	32:23
	In the first place, only Luke and Matthew,	32:29
	in the New Testament, describe Jesus' birth at all.	32:31
	Although they agree that Jesus was conceived	32:36
	prior to and apart from human paternity,	32:38
	their infancy stories are really quite different.	32:42
	They agree only on a few startling details,	32:46
	such as the virginity of Mary.	32:51
	It's also a bit odd that Mary,	32:54
	who we are told was already betrothed to Joseph,	32:58
	is so surprised that the angels promised	33:02
	that she should bear a son.	33:04
	Might she not have assumed that the angel meant	33:05
	after you and Joseph are safely married?	33:08
	But Joseph never comes into the picture,	33:13
	except as the one through whom	33:16
	the Davidic ancestry of Jesus is traced.	33:19
	In fact, in the genealogies of both Matthew and Luke,	33:23
	the Davidic ancestry of Jesus is traced through Joseph.	33:28
	So at least according to some early Christian belief,	33:34
	Jesus was a direct descendant of David,	33:38
	on the side of Joseph.	33:43
	And yet according to our Lucan narrative,	33:45
	Joseph has nothing directly to do with Jesus' birth.	33:48
	And of course, Matthew, in his Gospel,	33:53
	is even more emphatic on this point.	33:56
	And so we are confronted with a kind of anomaly in the text.	33:59
	In fact, there are more than one anomaly in the text.	34:04
	Now, Christians who read these texts	34:10
	and take such matters very seriously,	34:12
	will at this juncture usually go	34:16
	in one of two directions.	34:19
	On the one hand, some may begin to consider the possibility	34:23
	that Jesus' Davidic ancestry was, after all,	34:28
	on the side of Mary,	34:32
	thus Mary and Joseph were themselves remotely kin.	34:35
	But the text says nothing about this.	34:40
	They may also suggest that the angel	34:43
	took Mary so completely by surprise,	34:45
	that she forgot a about old Joseph,	34:48
	whom she may have never met,	34:51
	even though she was already betrothed to him,	34:53
	because betrothal was by parental agreement	34:55
	rather than by romantic attachment, in those days.	34:59
	A few may resort to that age-old story	35:05
	of the three blindfolded gentlemen,	35:07
	Indian gentlemen, I believe,	35:10
	attempting to determine the shape of the elephant	35:12
	by touch alone.	35:15
	You know, one felt his tusks, another felt his ears,	35:17
	the third felt his trunk or whatever.	35:21
	And thus they may say that Matthew and Luke know and tell	35:24
	different aspects of the same story.	35:28
	But it's really not the same story.	35:32
	The points of agreement are more theological than narrative.	35:35
	And moreover, the analogy is imperfect.	35:41
	The gospel writers are not groping after elephants	35:45
	in the dark.	35:49
	On the other hand, some Christians grasp these,	35:52
	and similar difficulties,	35:56
	as confirming some long-held suspicions	35:58
	about these stories of Jesus' birth.	36:01
	They're fine for the ancients,	36:04
	for the elderly, for children,	36:07
	but what man or woman of today can take them	36:10
	with great seriousness?	36:13
	We know, as people of antiquity did not,	36:15
	that virgins do not conceive and bear sons.	36:19
	And then there is the appearance of that angel to Mary.	36:25
	Of course, angels trip lightly onto and off the stage	36:29
	of these stories, as of so many stories in the Bible.	36:34
	But whoever wants to take literally the promise	36:39
	of the virginal birth or conception	36:41
	ought also to be prepared to accept the appearance	36:44
	of the angel Gabriel on the same terms.	36:47
	But as we've already noticed,	36:51
	we don't have a lot of truck with angels anymore.	36:54
	Furthermore, there's a wide range of questions;	37:00
	from the doctrine of the incarnation,	37:03
	to the Christian understanding of sexuality,	37:05
	that just seems to be set in the wrong perspective	37:09
	by these birth narratives.	37:12
	If Jesus was not conceived and born in the normal way,	37:16
	is not human sexuality somehow devalued,	37:20
	and Christ's oneness with mankind put into question?	37:25
	In other words, God seems to have just done it wrong.	37:29
	But both of these approaches, the effort to save	37:34
	the historical credibility of the narrative,	37:37
	and the dismissal of it on grounds of its incredibility	37:41
	or unsuitability, failed to do justice to the biblical text.	37:45
	The annunciation story is not intended	37:52
	to provide answers to certain questions,	37:55
	as important as those questions may be to us.	37:58
	Nor is justice done to story	38:02
	when it's defenders or detractors	38:04
	subject it either to cross examination	38:07
	or to rational explanation.	38:10
	The evangelist is not concerned with the question	38:14
	of how Jesus can be the son of David through Joseph	38:17
	and yet not Joseph's natural son.	38:22
	Although the text appears to say both things.	38:25
	As though oblivious to such questions,	38:30
	Luke later calls Joseph the father of Jesus.	38:33
	The same Joseph is, on the one hand,	38:39
	not responsible for Jesus' conception and birth,	38:41
	and at the same time his earthly parent,	38:45
	or so Luke seems to say.	38:48
	Nor is Luke concerned with the proper Christian teaching	38:51
	about sex and the family.	38:55
	And such a teaching ought not to be inferred from this text.	38:58
	The narrative is about a miracle, a coming miracle,	39:04
	Jesus' conception and birth.	39:10
	The primary miracle is that Mary shall conceive	39:14
	and shall bear a son, Jesus.	39:18
	Jesus, who will be great	39:22
	and will bear the title son of the most high.	39:25
	To him the Lord God will give the throne	39:29
	of his ancestor, David, whose reign shall never end.	39:31
	That's a pretty big miracle.	39:39
	The miracle of the virgin birth or the virginal conception	39:42
	enters in only secondarily.	39:46
	Yet enter it does.	39:48
	Now of course, there's a certain wonder	39:52
	that accompanies every birth.	39:54
	In a sense it's miraculous,	39:58
	as you well know if you're a parent.	39:59
	But this birth is uniquely wonderful.	40:02
	Nevertheless, the point is not a biological curiosity,	40:06
	but the initiative and purpose of God	40:11
	that comes to expression in the birth of Jesus.	40:15
	Now, the Apostle Paul writes,	40:20
	"God was in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world to himself."	40:22
	And John says, "God sent his son into the world.	40:29
	The word became flesh and dwelt among us."	40:35
	And this annunciation story	40:42
	is Luke's way of conveying the same truth.	40:45
	To people like most of us, who live in the 20th century	40:50
	and are Christian by birth and tradition,	40:55
	it may well seem less offensive or more credible	40:58
	to think that the word became flesh and wealth among us	41:01
	than to think that a virgin conceived and bore a son.	41:07
	The noted Roman Catholic New Testament scholar	41:12
	and theologian Father Raymond Brown	41:15
	gets directly to an important theological point	41:18
	when he remarks that Christians, as a rule,	41:21
	believe in the virgin birth	41:24
	because they believe Jesus Christ was the son of God.	41:25
	They do not believe that he was the Christ, or God's son,	41:29
	simply because he was born of a virgin.	41:33
	That Jesus was born of the virgin	41:38
	is in fact taught in the Quran	41:40
	and presumably believed by Muslims.	41:43
	And yet they do not believe that Jesus was the son of God	41:47
	in the sense that the Christian Church	41:51
	has affirmed that he is.	41:53
	So apparently you can believe that Jesus was born	41:57
	under very unusual circumstances	42:00
	without believing what Christians have confessed about him.	42:03
	Now, some of you may feel that the next step,	42:09
	and the logical one, is to say that the virgin birth	42:12
	is after all not so important,	42:15
	or that if one believes that Jesus is the Christ,	42:17
	it does not make any difference	42:21
	whether he believes in angels,	42:23
	the virgin birth, and so forth.	42:25
	And if you want to draw that conclusion, all right.	42:28
	But before we make that move,	42:33
	we ought reflect a little on what we are assuming.	42:35
	Is it actually easier to believe that God,	42:41
	in that carpenter of Nazareth,	42:44
	was reconciling the world to himself.	42:47
	If one wants to believe in the miracle, there's one.	42:51
	Is it really less offensive to the assumptions and tastes	42:56
	of modern men and women that God chose to make himself known	42:59
	through a rejected son of a persecuted people?	43:04
	Is it not astonishing to us that God should reveal himself	43:09
	in poverty, defeat, and death?	43:13
	When we all really take for granted	43:17
	that wealth, victory and life,	43:19
	especially youth, are infinitely more desirable.	43:23
	Is this Jesus the one who will be great,	43:29
	son of the most high, king over Israel forever?	43:33
	Well, if so, all natural and ordinary notions of greatness,	43:40
	divine sonship, and kingship	43:44
	are radically called into question.	43:48
	And yet Luke does not intend in the annunciation	43:53
	to underscore the paradoxical dimension	43:55
	of God's revealing himself in Jesus.	43:58
	That is, he does not emphasize God's revealing his glory	44:01
	in humility and death.	44:04
	Rather he wants, in this text,	44:07
	to celebrate the momentous truth	44:09
	that God has at length visited his people.	44:12
	Long years of barrenness and oppression are at an end.	44:16
	There is cause for joy and celebration.	44:21
	Purposelessness and despair shall not, after all,	44:25
	have the last word.	44:30
	God's promises to Israel and her expectations	44:32
	are not null, void, and empty.	44:36
	Something momentous is now happening.	44:40
	A birth will occur. A son will be born.	44:43
	Peace on earth is proclaimed.	44:45
	Now, it is the first Sunday in Advent.	44:51
	And if Advent means anything,	44:55
	it means people have reason for expectation and for hope.	44:58
	There is a word of encouragement and reassurance	45:04
	that vitally affects the fortunes of mankind	45:07
	and of each one of us.	45:11
	The senseless and demonic slaughter of people,	45:14
	whether by pogrom or incineration,	45:18
	is not the last word.	45:22
	The scenes of horrible hunger and starvation on television	45:26
	that may give us indigestion over dinner,	45:30
	are not the last word in a godless and indifferent world.	45:33
	Domestic strife, heartache, recrimination, alienation,	45:39
	and divorce are not the last word.	45:44
	Economic depression and unemployment are not the last word.	45:49
	Neither are senility, incontinence,	45:56
	and the dissolution of a familiar	46:00
	human personality and character.	46:02
	The last word about us will not be	46:06
	the medical examiner's report.	46:09
	The last word about Mr. Nixon will not be	46:13
	the final medical bulletin	46:15
	from Long Beach Hospital or wherever.	46:17
	The next to last word is that human history	46:23
	is not merely an interesting but dangerous merry-go-round.	46:25
	Something literally epic making has happened. Is happening.	46:31
	We are going somewhere.	46:37
	The next to last word is that the virgin will conceive	46:40
	and bear a son.	46:44
	And the last word is that the God symbolized in that son	46:47
	rules and will rule.	46:51
	The end is God, therefore life is good and we are blessed.	46:54
	Do you believe that?	47:05
	The Gospel according to Luke announces it to us.	47:08
	The annunciation to Mary is, in fact,	47:12
	the announcement of good news.	47:15
	It is gospel, gospel truth. That is, the good news is true.	47:18
	But I cannot tell you how or whether to believe it.	47:25
	Nobody can.	47:32
	Luke tells his story.	47:35
	We repeat it after him.	47:38
	And if at times we hardly believe it	47:41
	or find it hard to believe, that is not surprising.	47:45
	Look around and your suspicions that the world,	47:52
	the good old USA, and Durham, North Carolina	47:58
	are not full of good tidings	48:03
	will unfortunately be confirmed.	48:05
	And yet there is just enough happening or not happening	48:12
	to suggest that this magnificent tale	48:18
	of the Advent of God's rule is not a fairy tale,	48:21
	that is a flight from reality into pleasant fantasy.	48:26
	People in this university community	48:34
	will respond in a tangible, if modest way,	48:37
	to the opportunity to help other people who are starving.	48:40
	A man in Durham, who is himself poor,	48:46
	announces that he will give	48:50
	half his income to famine relief.	48:51
	Justice may not always be done in this world.	48:57
	It certainly is not always done,	49:00
	but sometimes surprisingly it is done.	49:02
	And in the words of Luke,	49:06
	the mighty are put down from their seats.	49:07
	And moreover, this sometimes happens just when and where	49:11
	ordinary people simply fulfill their duties.	49:15
	Remarkably, despite the hatreds and strife	49:22
	that rend the fabric of mankind's unity,	49:26
	the world has been preserved until now.	49:29
	And that in itself is something of a miracle.	49:34
	Of course, there are no grounds for complacency,	49:39
	but there is ground for hope.	49:42
	Christian hope may be hoping against hope,	49:45
	but it is encouraged by tokens of God's graciousness	49:49
	and man's acceptance of that graciousness.	49:54
	And thus, the story that we read this morning	49:58
	still has power to excite and to awaken our expectations.	50:01
	"You shall conceive and bear a son	50:07
	and you shall give him the name Jesus.	50:10
	He will be great.	50:13
	He will bear the title son of the most high.	50:15
	The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David	50:20
	and he will be king over the House of Jacob forever.	50:24
	His reign shall never end."	50:29
	And yet Mary's question, "How can this be?"	50:34
	is still very much our own,	50:38
	whether we think of Jesus' birth	50:41
	or of the promise to mankind which is it conveys.	50:44
	The angel's response refers Mary to God's power,	50:50
	God's power to make real the thing that is promised.	50:53
	And now in Advent,	50:58
	Mary's question arouses hopeful expectation	51:01
	and the anticipation of joy in our own hearts.	51:07
	We too listen for the heaven-sent word of confirmation.	51:13
	The Holy Spirit will come upon you.	51:19
	And the power of the most high will overshadow you.	51:22
	"Here am I," says Mary.	51:29
	"I am the Lord's servant.	51:33
	As you have spoken, so be it."	51:36
	So be it indeed. Amen.	51:42
	(majestic organ music)	51:52
	(majestic organ music continues)	52:44
	(majestic organ music continues)	53:32
	(majestic organ music continues)	54:27
	(tender organ music)	55:13
	(tender organ music continues)	55:48
	(majestic organ music)	56:22
	(singing in foreign language)	56:50
	(majestic organ music)	57:02
	(singing in foreign language)
	(majestic organ music continues)	57:44
	(singing in foreign language)	57:54
	(majestic organ music)	58:52
	(singing in foreign language)
	(glorious organ music)	59:52
	(glorious organ music continues)	1:00:50
-	Almighty God, the source of all of our comfort and joy,	1:02:03
	receive us and these our gifts	1:02:09
	as we dedicate them and ourselves anew unto you.	1:02:14
	Consecrate for us the experience and resolves of this hour	1:02:20
	and lead us in the way of true understanding	1:02:25
	and fruitful service through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	1:02:29
	(glorious organ music)	1:02:36
	(glorious organ music continues)	1:03:29
	(glorious organ music continues)	1:04:29
	(glorious organ music continues)	1:05:29
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:06:19
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:06:23
	be with us all, now and forever more, amen.	1:06:28
	(bell tolling)	1:06:36
	(majestic organ music)	1:06:54
	(majestic organ music continues)	1:07:44
	(majestic organ music continues)	1:08:30
	(majestic organ music continues)	1:09:10

Item Info

Title:

D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Annunciation" (December 1, 1974)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49g5mf96

Date:

December 1, 1974

Speaker:

Smith, D. Moody, Jr.

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0736
ref6671_gz5
uachapelsermaud
duke:628620
dcrau002707
ark:/87924/r49g5mf96
57b0e708-186f-4c0f-9589-d61f3bebca36

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.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Annunciation" (December 1, 1974)

Transcript

Item Info

1. D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Annunciation" (December 1, 1974)

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options

D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Annunciation" (December 1, 1974)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options