William H. Willimon - "Count the Cost" (September 10, 1989)

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	(organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning.	0:53
	And welcome to this service where we will celebrate	0:53
	the Lord's communion here at Duke University Chapel.	0:55
	We extend greetings to each of you.	0:59
	We are delighted to have you here and also remember	1:01
	those of you in our radio and television audiences.	1:03
	Our preacher for this service today	1:08
	is the Reverend Doctor William H. Willimon,	1:10
	dean of the chapel.	1:12
	Our lecturer is Doctor Richard Cox,	1:14
	dean of residential life.	1:16
	I'd like to draw your attention to the calendar	1:19
	of events for this week at the chapel,	1:21
	as they are printed in your bulletin.	1:23
	Along with the regular weekly events,	1:25
	you will find listed there a special forum	1:27
	being held on Tuesday evening this week at 7:30 PM,	1:30
	in the chapel basement lounge, entitled:	1:33
	Homosexuality and the Church,	1:36
	a Theological and Pastoral Response.	1:38
	This discussion features Doctor Stanley Hauerweiss,	1:41
	Doctor Mary McClintock-Fulkerson,	1:44
	and the Reverend James Creech as panelists,	1:46
	with Dean Willimon as the moderator.	1:49
	All are welcome.	1:51
	We are also delighted to be able to welcome our new	1:53
	members to the chapel choir today for the first time.	1:56
	Please note the remaining announcements	2:00
	as they are printed in your bulletins,	2:01
	and now let us continue our worship	2:04
	as we join and stand singing together, number 74.	2:06
	(organ music)	2:11
	(reverberating hymnal music)	2:49
	(organ music)	5:20
	(reverberating choral music)	6:37
	When we gather to praise God,	7:22
	we recognize that we are a people who have preferred	7:24
	our own wills to the Lord's.	7:27
	As we accept God's power to become new persons in Christ,	7:30
	let us confess our sins before God and one another.	7:35
	Please be seated.	7:39
	Almighty and most merciful God,	7:53
	who knowest the thoughts of our hearts,	7:56
	we confess that we have sinned against thee,	7:59
	and done evil in thy sight.	8:02
	We have transgressed thy holy laws.	8:05
	We have neglected thy word and ordinances.	8:08
	Forgive us, O Lord, we beseech thee,	8:11
	and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things,	8:14
	that being delivered from the bondage of sin,	8:19
	we may bring forth fruit worthy of repentance,	8:22
	and henceforth may ever walk in thy holy ways.	8:26
	Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,	8:30
	amen.	8:33
	If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just.	8:49
	And will forgive our sins	8:54
	and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	8:55
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	8:59
-	Let us join together in the prayer for illumination.	9:08
	Open our hearts and minds, O God,	9:12
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	9:15
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	9:17
	we might hear with joy what you say to us this day.	9:21
	Amen.	9:25
	The first lesson this morning is taken	9:31
	from the book of Ezekiel.	9:33
	The word of the Lord came to me.	9:36
	O mortal, speak to your people and say to them:	9:38
	if I bring the sword upon a land,	9:42
	and the people of the land take a person from among them,	9:45
	and make that person their sentry,	9:48
	and if the sentry sees the sword coming upon the land,	9:51
	and blows the trumpet and warns the people,	9:54
	then if any who hear the sound of the trumpet do not	9:58
	take warning and the sword comes and takes them away,	10:01
	their blood shall be upon their own heads.	10:06
	They heard the sound of the trumpet,	10:09
	and they did not take warning.	10:11
	Their blood shall be upon themselves.	10:13
	But if they had taken warning,	10:16
	they would have saved their lives.	10:18
	But if the sentry sees the sword coming	10:22
	and does not blow the trumpet so that the people	10:24
	are not warned, and the sword comes, and takes any of them,	10:27
	they are taken away in their iniquity.	10:32
	But their blood, I will require at the sentry's hand.	10:34
	So you, O mortal, I have made a sentry	10:39
	for the house of Israel.	10:42
	Whenever you hear a word from my mouth,	10:45
	you shall give them warning from me.	10:48
	If I say to the wicked: O wicked one, you shall surely die.	10:51
	And you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn	10:56
	from their way, the wicked shall die in their iniquity,	10:58
	but their blood I will require at your hand.	11:02
	But if you warn the wicked to turn from their wicked ways,	11:07
	and they do not turn from their wicked ways,	11:10
	they shall die in their iniquity.	11:13
	But you will have saved your life.	11:16
	And you, O mortal, say to the house of Israel,	11:19
	thus have you said, our transgressions	11:22
	and our sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them.	11:25
	How then can we live?	11:30
	Say to them: as I live, says the Lord God.	11:32
	I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.	11:37
	But that the wicked turn from their ways and live.	11:39
	Turn back, turn back from your evil ways,	11:43
	for why will you die, O house of Israel?	11:47
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	11:51
	(organ music)	12:13
	(intricate choral music)	12:23
-	Please stand as we read the psalm responsively.	15:49
	Blessed are those whom you chasten, O God.	15:59
	And whom you teach out of your law to give them respite	16:02
	from days of trouble.	16:06
	Until a pit is dug for the wicked.	16:08
	(echoing response)	16:11
	Who rises up for me against the wicked?	16:23
	Who stands up for me against the evildoers?	16:26
	If God had not been my help,	16:30
	my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.	16:32
	(echoing response)	16:37
	Can wicked rulers be allied with you,	16:49
	who frame mischief by statute?	16:52
	They band together against the life of the righteous,	16:54
	and condemn the innocent to death.	16:58
	(echoing response)	17:01
	(sonorous organ music)	17:09
	(reverberating hymnal music)	17:18
-	Today's gospel is from the Gospel According to Luke.	18:17
	Now great multitudes accompanied him,	18:23
	and he turned and he said to them:	18:26
	if anyone comes to me and does not hate	18:29
	his or her own father and mother and wife and children	18:32
	and brothers and sisters, yes, even his or her own life,	18:35
	then that one cannot be my disciple.	18:41
	Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me,	18:44
	cannot be my disciple.	18:47
	For which of you desiring to build a tower	18:51
	does not first sit down and count the cost?	18:55
	Whether he has enough to complete it?	18:58
	Otherwise, when he's laid a foundation and is not	19:01
	able to finish, all who see it begin to mock, saying:	19:04
	this one began to build, but was not able to finish.	19:07
	Or what king going to encounter another king in war	19:12
	will not sit down first and take counsel,	19:15
	whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him	19:18
	who comes against him with 20,000?	19:21
	And if not, while the other is yet a great way off,	19:26
	he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace,	19:28
	so therefore whoever of you does not renounce	19:31
	all that he has cannot be my disciple.	19:34
	Salt is good.	19:37
	But if salt has lost its taste,	19:40
	how shall its saltiness be restored?	19:43
	It is fit neither for the land nor the dunghill.	19:46
	People throw it away.	19:49
	He who has ears to hear, let him hear.	19:52
	How many of you were here last Sunday?	20:01
	Don't raise your hands.	20:03
	But even if you weren't here, I can give you a quick summary	20:06
	of the sermon: we were at a party with Jesus.	20:08
	Jesus, we noted, loves to party.	20:13
	And because many of you are party animals yourselves,	20:17
	this sounded great.	20:20
	You can forget your petty, moralistic religion	20:22
	of rules and regulations.	20:26
	Jesus proclaims religion of hope and hilarity.	20:28
	Jesus is determined to have everyone at his party,	20:33
	particularly the lowest and the least and the lost.	20:36
	Let go.	20:42
	Party.	20:44
	Which all sounds good.	20:45
	A little too good, you say.	20:48
	Is that why Jesus, in Luke's 14th chapter,	20:54
	switches immediately from party talk	20:59
	to cost of discipleship talk?	21:04
	What fool would build a tower, Jesus asked,	21:08
	if he didn't sit down and figure out	21:12
	how much brick he needed?	21:13
	Otherwise, he might begin to build and run out	21:15
	and he would be mocked by his neighbors.	21:18
	What king goes to war and does not first sit down	21:22
	and figure out if he's got enough to do the job?	21:24
	Count the cost.	21:29
	Don't sign up for the course	21:32
	until you inquire about the exam.	21:35
	Don't go to the bookstore and buy your books	21:38
	before you price the book list.	21:43
	Put your name on the roll.	21:46
	Count the cost.	21:48
	Now, if you were here last Sunday,	21:52
	you are probably saying to yourself:	21:54
	isn't this typical?	21:57
	Last Sunday was all grace and acceptance,	21:59
	free and flowing.	22:03
	Christianity was called a party and salvation	22:05
	was offered for nothing, but now,	22:08
	Dean Wassalick has gotten to the preacher	22:12
	about that party sermon.	22:14
	(laughing)	22:16
	Now for the fine print, the hidden qualifications.	22:18
	What Jesus offers is free, but,	22:23
	any time anybody offers you something,	22:29
	what is your first question?	22:33
	How much is this gonna cost?	22:36
	Go ahead, try it for 30 days, no obligation!	22:40
	Then just try to get your name off our mailing list.	22:44
	Won't cost you a penny, gratis, free.	22:48
	Although you'll be indebted to me for the rest of your life.	22:52
	You weren't born yesterday,	22:55
	you know there's no free lunch.	22:58
	So now after proclaiming God's free grace, we get the bill.	23:01
	Alright, Jesus, how much does this really cost?	23:07
	Great multitudes accompanied him, said Luke.	23:13
	The Jesus movement is catching on, becoming popular.	23:18
	And so Jesus turns to the crowd and says:	23:23
	if anyone comes after me,	23:28
	and does not hate his own father,	23:32
	mother, yes even his or her own life,	23:34
	you can't be my disciple.	23:38
	That's tough talk.	23:43
	That's a high cost.	23:45
	At Duke, we've only asked for about $13,000 for tuition.	23:48
	And asked you to leave your folks until Thanksgiving.	23:56
	Jesus costs more.	24:01
	How many of you, even at your comparatively early age,	24:04
	have had to bury a mother or a father,	24:09
	a sister or a brother; don't raise your hands.	24:12
	But if you've ever had to let go like that,	24:16
	you can testify to the high cost Jesus is demanding.	24:19
	Rather than celebrate his high ratings	24:27
	in the popularity polls, Jesus turns to the crowds	24:30
	and speaks of the high cost of discipleship.	24:35
	Hate mother, hate father, brother, sister.	24:40
	Take up your cross and follow.	24:44
	Count the cost.	24:49
	Jesus is no spiritual guru muttering ethereal truth.	24:52
	Not some self help technician who for $9.95 plus postage	24:57
	will set you up for life.	25:02
	Jesus is dangerous and he's demanding	25:04
	and an expensive operator.	25:08
	Inviting people on the most costly trip ever taken.	25:11
	So this isn't a course in religion 101.	25:15
	Where we all sit back in class and take a few notes	25:20
	and think lazy thoughts about God.	25:23
	Receive a few interesting but essentially cheap insights.	25:27
	And then collect our books and go to lunch.	25:32
	This is Jesus; this is discipleship.	25:35
	And in case anybody thinks we're gonna get out of this	25:40
	with one morning a week, come Sundays,	25:42
	when it's not raining, 10 percent off of the top,	25:46
	after taxes, Jesus lays his cards on the table, face up.	25:49
	As it turns out, he is playing for your house,	25:56
	your Honda, your dog, your microwave,	26:01
	the shirt off your back, father, mother, brother, sister.	26:03
	You cut cards with Jesus,	26:09
	you're apt to walk away picked clean.	26:10
	Don't begin a tower until you figure out	26:15
	if you can, if you've got the brick.	26:17
	Don't go to battle until you calculate	26:21
	just how much you're willing to lose.	26:24
	Finally, he says, whoever does not renounce all	26:27
	that he or she has cannot be mine.	26:33
	We're talking the hard sell here.	26:39
	We're talking big money.	26:43
	Just how much will this cost, Jesus?	26:48
	And he says, standing in the middle of the showroom,	26:53
	leaning back on one of the new models,	26:55
	flicking his cigar: well, if you gotta ask,	26:58
	you probably can't afford it.	27:03
	But okay, how much?	27:05
	And then looking you straight in the eye, he says:	27:09
	let's say I take your father, your mother,	27:11
	your brother, your sister.	27:15
	Let's say you give me everything you've got.	27:16
	Even your Calvin Kleins and the ballpoint pen.	27:18
	In short, your whole life.	27:21
	Now is that a deal or is that a deal?	27:25
	Now, lest that deal seem to be a good deal too much,	27:28
	I remind you the unpleasant thought that your whole life,	27:32
	your whole life is what you're going to end up paying anyway	27:36
	whether you pay it to Jesus or to IBM.	27:40
	Because in the end, it will be the end.	27:44
	For each of us.	27:50
	Because in the end, everybody here has got to let go	27:52
	of mother and father and brother and sister,	27:54
	everything you've got, Calvin Kleins, everything,	27:57
	in short, life itself.	28:00
	In the end.	28:03
	We're talking death here.	28:05
	There are no pockets in a shroud.	28:09
	As Robert Capon says: in the end,	28:13
	you're an empty-handed, dead duck loser.	28:14
	Whether you go to the cross with Jesus or not.	28:17
	So it's never a question of whether or not	28:21
	you'll eventually pay the piper.	28:23
	It's a question of which piper you're gonna pay.	28:26
	Princeton student, being interviewed a few years ago	28:33
	on the prospect of a US intervention after	28:37
	the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.	28:41
	Reply: there is nothing worth dying for.	28:45
	Which means of course, in the end,	28:52
	that she shall have the unpleasant task	28:54
	of dying for absolutely nothing.	28:56
	You're gonna pay, and someday you'll have to let it all go.	29:02
	Relatives, possessions, achievements.	29:06
	Everybody pays in the end.	29:09
	But whom shall we pay?	29:15
	Take up your cross and follow me, says Jesus.	29:17
	Let us be reminded that the one who utters these tough words	29:22
	is on his way to taking up his cross.	29:26
	This soon to be dead Jesus is urging death upon us.	29:30
	This one, though he was God's own son,	29:35
	let go, stripped down, died, and urging us to do the same.	29:39
	This one, who by every standard with which the world	29:45
	measures the value of people was a born loser,	29:50
	is urging us to follow him and be losers as well.	29:55
	All of that stuff you think is so valuable.	30:02
	Parents and family and marriage and possessions	30:05
	and achievements and even life itself,	30:08
	throw it away, just come blow it all with me.	30:13
	Let go, cut loose, get down, come die with me.	30:19
	Now, from what I can see, this is not what most	30:26
	of the world is in the market for.	30:29
	I bet those multitudes trotting after Jesus	30:33
	got just a good deal smaller,	30:35
	after this sermon.	30:39
	I bet his Nielsen ratings took a nosedive.	30:43
	People do not come out in droves to hear someone say	30:46
	that one wins by losing.	30:50
	And perhaps that is why Jesus concludes this passage	30:57
	with imagery of salt.	31:00
	Salt is great stuff, but only in small quantities.	31:04
	With salt, a little goes a long way.	31:10
	As salt, Jesus's disciples are never too numerous.	31:14
	On this campus or anywhere else.	31:20
	But Jesus says: that's okay.	31:23
	Because it takes just a little salt.	31:26
	It takes me just a few disciples	31:30
	to turn this world upside down.	31:35
	But, he warns, if salt loses its taste,	31:39
	it is not fit for the dunghill.	31:45
	He who has ears to hear, hear.	31:49
	If salt, if we as disciples become insipid,	31:54
	preferring instead the sugar substitutes of success,	31:58
	rather than the salt of Jesus's own death,	32:02
	we're not gonna save anybody.	32:06
	The world is already feeding on Nutrasweet religion	32:07
	of moral and spiritual and material achievement.	32:11
	Brownie point tallying, idolatry to parents and family	32:15
	and possessions and all the other crafty ways	32:19
	that we attempt to grasp life for ourselves,	32:22
	rather than letting go and letting God.	32:27
	And who needs more disciples of that?	32:32
	If you've got ears to hear, hear.	32:36
	Jesus saves only losers.	32:39
	He has come to seek and to save who?	32:41
	The lost, the losing.	32:44
	He has come to raise who?	32:47
	The dead.	32:49
	In short, he's come for us.	32:51
	Because, how tough it is to admit,	32:56
	because we're all born losers.	32:59
	In that we're all born to die.	33:04
	I know that many of you are in excellent shape right now.	33:07
	Duke, world at your feet, can't conceive	33:10
	of hypertension, impotency or even heartburn,	33:13
	but life is not done with you yet.	33:17
	Life, this life, as good as it is,	33:21
	in the end, costs everything you've got.	33:24
	And that's bad news in a world that worships success.	33:28
	But in the words of Jesus, it's good news,	33:33
	because everything you've got just happens to be	33:35
	the exact cost of discipleship.	33:40
	You've already got everything you need to cut you in	33:43
	on the deal; all it costs is just one life,	33:47
	and fortunately, one life is all you've got.	33:51
	Welcome to the party.	33:56
	If you've got ears to hear, use them.	33:59
	He raises us, he takes us, he saves us.	34:01
	Not because we are thrifty, brave, clean, reverent, cheerful	34:04
	but because we are dead, we are losers.	34:08
	And the good news is he likes to party only with the lost.	34:12
	And he likes to raise only the dead.	34:17
	When the church gets all tame and tied down and polite	34:22
	and tight and just another means of helping uptight,	34:26
	overstuffed people hold on to what they've already got,	34:30
	we really aren't worth much to anybody.	34:37
	We deserve no better than to be thrown on the dunghill,	34:40
	of all the other cheap lies about success,	34:46
	and eternal life substitutes	34:49
	that the world is already buying.	34:51
	But I told you last week,	34:56
	I told you last week Jesus is determined to let go,	35:00
	cut loose, strip down and party.	35:03
	He is a high roller, and he's not gonna leave this game	35:05
	until he has taken everything you've got,	35:08
	shirt off your back, your life.	35:10
	I don't know how long it will take you to hide	35:14
	among the multitudes before he calls your hand.	35:16
	And makes you either ante up or leave the table.	35:18
	But I bet he will.	35:23
	A while back, I got a call from a parent.	35:29
	The kind of call university administrators	35:33
	don't like to get: it was an upset parent.	35:35
	I hold you personally responsible for this, he said.	35:39
	Me, I asked, I'm only the minister here.	35:43
	I don't have, I don't have any power.	35:46
	It's just absurd, shouted the father.	35:49
	BS, degree in mechanical engineering from Duke,	35:52
	and she's going to dig ditches	35:57
	with the Presbyterians in Haiti.	35:58
	Well, I said, that is kind of absurd.	36:05
	I doubt she's received much training in that	36:06
	here in our school of engineering.	36:08
	(laughing)	36:10
	But she's probably a fast learner,	36:13
	and I bet will get the hang of it quickly.	36:14
	Look, said the father, this is no laughing matter.	36:19
	I hold you responsible.	36:23
	You've encouraged her.	36:24
	You filled her head with all those religious ideas,	36:27
	you've ingratiated yourself to her,	36:29
	that's why she's up to all this foolishness.	36:31
	Now look, buster, I said, keeping my ministerial composure.	36:36
	(laughing)	36:40
	Who was it that took her to be baptized?	36:44
	He said: well, me.	36:48
	Her mother.	36:51
	I said: well, she told me somebody told her Bible stories.	36:53
	Who told her those Bible stories?	36:57
	Who took her to Sunday school?	36:59
	Who let her go with the Presbyterians on the spring trip	37:02
	to Vale each year?	37:05
	Wasn't that you?	37:08
	Well, well yes, but.	37:11
	Well don't but me, I said, it's your fault.	37:14
	(laughing)	37:17
	She believed all that stuff.	37:19
	You're the reason she's gone and thrown it all away.	37:25
	I believe you're the one that introduced her to Jesus.	37:31
	Not me.	37:34
	But all we ever wanted her to be	37:37
	was just a good Presbyterian, he said.	37:39
	Well, sorry.	37:43
	You messed up.	37:47
	Gone and made a disciple.	37:49
	This Jesus thing can be very expensive.	37:54
	If you've got ears to hear, hear.	37:59
-	The Lord be with you.	38:14
Congregation	And also with you.	38:16
-	Let us pray.	38:18
	Oh eternal God, whose love is unfailing	38:24
	and whose mercies are new every day,	38:27
	you have called us into a life of obedience,	38:31
	where the costs are great, but the reward even greater.	38:33
	We acknowledge the depth of thy saving power	38:39
	as we lift these prayers unto thee, praying not only for	38:42
	ourselves but for our sisters and brothers around the world.	38:46
	Let us pray for all whose livelihood is insecure,	38:52
	for the hungry, the homeless and the destitute.	38:56
	For those who are overworked, downtrodden,	39:01
	and disappointed in life.	39:04
	Let us pray for children whose surroundings hide them	39:08
	from your love and beauty.	39:11
	For all who suffer because of strife at home.	39:14
	And for those who struggle to find lasting solutions	39:18
	to domestic conflicts.	39:21
	Let us pray for all who are hindered in the race of life.	39:24
	For the disabled, the handicapped, the uneducated,	39:29
	the sick, and the infirm.	39:34
	Let us pray for prisoners and captives,	39:38
	and for all who live out their lives	39:41
	in the midst of violence.	39:43
	For all who suffer the injustices of prejudice and bigotry,	39:46
	and for those who seek to overcome hate with love	39:50
	and reconciliation, especially Bishop Desmond Tutu	39:54
	and those South Africans who actively resist	39:58
	the evils of Apartheid.	40:01
	Let us pray for those who work in frontiers of truth,	40:04
	and for those who enrich our lives with beauty and joy.	40:08
	All scientists, explorers, creative artists.	40:13
	Let us pray for those who are in doubt	40:19
	and question their reason for living.	40:21
	For all who are blinded by egotism and self-absorption.	40:25
	For those who suffer for their own wrongdoing, or self pity.	40:30
	O God, you are the hope of the world in all times,	40:36
	and all places.	40:39
	In thy mercy, grant us thy light and thy truth.	40:42
	Even as we count the cost of discipleship,	40:47
	empower us to serve thee with gladness,	40:50
	praising thy name forevermore.	40:53
	This we pray for thy love's sake.	40:56
	Amen.	41:01
	Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,	41:04
	and who desire to live in peace with one another.	41:08
	Therefore, let us offer each other signs	41:11
	of reconciliation and love.	41:13
	(murmuring)	41:17
	And now in thanksgiving, let us offer our gifts	41:41
	and ourselves unto God.	41:44
	(organ music)	41:50
	(somber choral music)	43:11
	(soaring choral music)	45:23
	(reverberating choral music)	46:58
	(epic organ music)	49:31
	(reverent, echoing hymnal music)	49:51
Willimon	The Lord be with you.	50:53
Congregation	And also with you.	50:54
-	Lift up your hearts.	50:55
	(murmuring reply)	50:57
	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	50:58
	(murmuring reply)	51:01
	We give thanks, Father, because you are God,	51:03
	even before time began, you have seen every sunrise,	51:07
	every day begin, since you first gave form	51:11
	to our home, this Earth.	51:14
	Yet we were not content with such a paradise.	51:16
	We rebelled, putting our wills before yours.	51:19
	Even then, we found you boundless in love,	51:22
	time after time you reached out your hand to touch	51:25
	our lives with loving kindness.	51:28
	And we join with those who have lived	51:32
	and those now living in faith, from sunrise to sunset,	51:34
	from south to north, as with one voice	51:38
	in the song of unending praise.	51:41
	Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,	51:44
	heaven and Earth are full of your glory.	51:48
	Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes	51:51
	in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest.	51:55
	Full indeed are heaven and Earth of your glory,	51:58
	holy Lord God, when time was ready,	52:01
	you the creator of all that is sent Christ	52:04
	to be a creature like us.	52:07
	Instead of a servant, you sent your own son,	52:09
	that he might be servant of all.	52:12
	Christ alone made you known to us,	52:14
	walking among us, Jesus the Christ performed	52:17
	great signs to reveal his glory.	52:20
	He spoke as one having authority that we might trust	52:22
	your love and obey your law.	52:25
	When his hour had come, he drank the cup of suffering	52:28
	and accepted the baptism of death,	52:31
	having triumphed over death, he left our sight	52:34
	that his spirit might fill our hearts	52:38
	as we await the completion of all things in him.	52:39
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us,	52:43
	the Lord Jesus took bread in his hands,	52:45
	lifting his eyes toward heaven, he gave you thanks.	52:48
	He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples,	52:51
	and said: take, eat, this is my body given for you.	52:55
	And when the supper was over, he took the cup.	52:59
	Again, he offered thanks to you, gave the cup	53:02
	to his disciples and said: drink from this, all of you.	53:05
	This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood,	53:09
	poured out for you and many for the forgiveness of sins.	53:12
	When we eat this bread and drink this cup,	53:16
	we know anew the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ,	53:18
	and look to the day when he, we shall feast	53:21
	in his eternal kingdom.	53:24
	Now we pray that you would join this memorial	53:27
	made by your priestly people, bound by Earth and time	53:30
	to the heavenly and timeless, offering for us	53:33
	of Christ himself our great high priest.	53:35
	Dying, Christ destroyed our death,	53:39
	rising, Christ restored our life.	53:42
	Christ will come in glory.	53:45
	Send, we pray, your Holy Spirit on us,	53:47
	gathered here out of love for you,	53:49
	and on this offering that Christ may be known,	53:51
	present, standing among us through your Holy Spirit	53:55
	and your holy church, all your people and all your works,	53:59
	glorify and praise you now and forever.	54:03
	Amen.	54:08
	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	54:10
	Thy kingdom come, they will be done,	54:14
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	54:17
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	54:19
	our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.	54:22
	And lead us not into temptation,	54:27
	but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom	54:29
	and the power and the glory forever.	54:32
	Amen.	54:36
	Christ is sacrificed for us; let us now keep the feast.	54:38
	(organ music)	54:47
	(reverberating choral music)	1:01:52
	(organ music)	1:05:06
	(organ music)	1:07:42
	(reverent choral music)	1:07:56
-	Let us stand for the benediction.	1:12:08
	Go in peace to serve God	1:12:20
	and your neighbor in all that you do.	1:12:22
Congregation	We are sent in Christ's name.	1:12:26
-	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God	1:12:28
	and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.	1:12:31
	(layered choral singing)	1:12:41
	(organ music)	1:14:36
	(echoing choral music)	1:15:16
	(intricate organ music)	1:19:19

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Count the Cost" (September 10, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 20:01. Sermon end time: 38:04.
This sermon talks about the cost of discipleship. The preacher argues that whatever one has is the exact cost of discipleship that one needs to give. He challenges his audience to consider what it means for them to truly follow Jesus. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Life, this life, as good as it is, in the end, costs everything you’ve got. And that’s bad news in a world that worships success. But in the words of Jesus, it’s good news, because everything you’ve got just happens to be the exact cost of discipleship.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49p2wn2r

Date:

September 10, 1989

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Luke

Chapter and Verse:

Luke 14:25-33

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0148
ref8670_dir
uachapelsermaud
duke:321409
dcrmv001144
ark:/87924/r49p2wn2r
bd650488-fa9d-46b0-9ba5-b2ff36b804ca

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 - "Count the Cost" (September 10, 1989)

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1. William H. Willimon - "Count the Cost" (September 10, 1989)

Duke University Archives

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William H. Willimon - "Count the Cost" (September 10, 1989)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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