William D. Gates - "What I See - What I Do" (January 15, 1984)

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	(rousing organ music)	0:03
	(heartfelt organ music)	0:18
	(intense organ music)	1:28
	(rousing organ music)	3:21
	(dramatic organ music)	5:33
	(soft organ music)	6:54
	♪ Glorious now behold Him arise ♪	9:06
	♪ King and God and Sacrifice. ♪	9:12
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia! ♪	9:19
	♪ Sounds through the earth and skies. ♪	9:27
	♪ Oh-Oh ♪	9:34
	♪ Star of wonder, star of night, ♪	9:38
	♪ Star with royal beauty bright, ♪	9:46
	♪ Westward leading, still proceeding, ♪	9:54
	♪ Guide us to thy perfect Light ♪	10:02
	(rousing organ music)	10:17
	♪ Sing praise to God who reigns above ♪	11:03
	♪ The God of all creation, ♪	11:08
	♪ The God of power, the God of love ♪	11:15
	♪ The God of our salvation ♪	11:21
	♪ With healing balm my soul is filled ♪	11:28
	♪ And every faithless murmur stilled: ♪	11:34
	♪ To God all praise and glory. ♪	11:41
	♪ What God's almighty power hath made ♪	11:50
	♪ His gracious mercy keepeth, ♪	11:56
	♪ By morning glow or evening shade ♪	12:03
	♪ His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth ♪	12:09
	♪ Within the kingdom of His might ♪	12:16
	♪ Lo, all is just and all is right: ♪	12:22
	♪ To God all praise and glory. ♪	12:29
	♪ The Lord is never far away ♪	12:37
	♪ But through all grief distressing, ♪	12:44
	♪ An ever present help and stay ♪	12:50
	♪ Our peace and joy and blessing. ♪	12:57
	♪ As with a mother's tender hand ♪	13:03
	♪ God gently leads the chosen band: ♪	13:09
	♪ To God all praise and glory. ♪	13:16
	♪ Thus, all my toilsome way along ♪	13:24
	♪ I sing aloud Thy praises, ♪	13:31
	♪ That earth may hear the grateful song ♪	13:37
	♪ My voice unwearied raises. ♪	13:44
	♪ Be joyful in the Lord, my heart ♪	13:51
	♪ Both soul and body bear your part: ♪	13:57
	♪ To God all praise and glory. ♪	14:04
	♪ Let all who name Christ's holy name ♪	14:13
	♪ Give God all praise and glory; ♪	14:19
	♪ Let all who own His power proclaim aloud ♪	14:26
	♪ The wondrous story! ♪	14:33
	♪ Cast each false idol from its throne ♪	14:39
	♪ For Christ is Lord, and Christ alone: ♪	14:45
	♪ To God all praise and glory. ♪	14:52
-	God, whom we gather, thundered His Word	15:06
	and will to Moses at Mount Sinai,	15:08
	whispered His Word and will to Elijah at Mount Horeb,	15:12
	acted out His Word and will in Jesus at Bethlehem to Calvary	15:16
	and in the resurrection.	15:21
	God still imparts His Word and will today	15:24
	as persons such as you and me,	15:28
	through Scripture, through the church,	15:31
	through the church, made lively and true and relevant	15:35
	by the Holy Spirit.	15:38
	Come, let us worship God,	15:40
	praying together our confession.	15:45
Congregation	Oh wondrous hope, God of the promise,	16:01
	on whom we rely for life and its meaning,	16:04
	we confess that we have sinned against you,	16:08
	by abandoning hope, by failing to hear	16:11
	and accept your promises,	16:15
	by relying on ourselves as both source	16:17
	and object of our own faith.	16:20
	Forgive us, we pray.	16:23
	Once more, open our hearts to your mercy,	16:25
	our minds to your promise,	16:28
	our hands to our neighbor in need.	16:31
	Restore us to faith in your providing care,	16:34
	and guiding love,	16:37
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	16:39
-	Who is in a position to condemn?	17:15
	Only Christ and Christ died for us.	17:17
	Christ rose for us, and more than that,	17:23
	Christ reigns in power for us.	17:26
	Christ prays for us.	17:29
	If we are in Christ, then we become new persons altogether.	17:32
	The past is finished, it is done with, it is gone,	17:39
	and everything becomes fresh and new and life again	17:44
	is full of possibility.	17:48
	My friends, believe the good news of the gospel.	17:51
	In Jesus who was and is the Christ,	17:55
	you and I are forgiven.	17:59
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	18:04
	and God's love is everlasting.	18:07
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	18:11
	Amen.	18:14
	Thanks be to God.	18:15
	Bless it be to us.	18:17
	Thanks be to God.	18:19
	Who gives us peace.	18:21
-	It is a delight to introduce and to welcome	18:26
	to the Duke University Chapel pulpit this morning,	18:30
	Mr. William Gates.	18:34
	Bill is our student preacher for 1983 and 1984,	18:36
	selected by a committee of the Duke Campus Ministry,	18:42
	a taskforce of the worship committee of that group,	18:47
	and selected from a number of those who made themselves	18:51
	available for this purpose.	18:54
	Bill, I don't know whether they realize what they've done,	18:59
	but they've let two Presbyterians in this morning.	19:01
	We're grateful for that.	19:04
	Bill is a junior this year.	19:08
	He is a drama student on his way to dentistry school.	19:12
	I'm not sure how that works together,	19:20
	but Bill has assured me that it does.	19:22
	But as a technician, he has explained to me	19:25
	that he is one who loves to work with his hands,	19:28
	and he says that that, perhaps,	19:32
	is the relationship between the two.	19:35
	We shall see.	19:37
	We are glad that Bill will be with us,	19:39
	and is with us this morning.	19:43
	We're glad that his mother has been able to fly down	19:46
	from New York to be with Bill this weekend,	19:48
	this very special weekend,	19:52
	and to be with us this morning worshiping in Duke Chapel.	19:54
	Nancy, we are glad that you are here.	19:58
	Bill, as you will note in the bulletin,	20:02
	has declared an interest in a number of things,	20:03
	including warm climates.	20:07
	He says that's what attracted him to North Carolina,	20:10
	and to Duke University.	20:13
	Bill, I'm afraid, this morning, we have failed you,	20:15
	but Mrs. Gates assured us that in New York,	20:20
	it was even colder and whiter,	20:23
	and so, perhaps, this will suffice as the warm climate	20:25
	for the weekend, at least.	20:28
	Bill, we look forward to your proclamation of the Word.	20:31
	What I see, what I do.	20:34
-	Let us pray.	20:47
	Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy Scriptures	20:50
	to be written for our learning,	20:54
	grant that we may, in such ways,	20:56
	hear them, read them, mark them,	20:58
	study them, learn and inwardly digest them,	21:02
	that by patience and comfort of your holy Word,	21:06
	we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope	21:09
	of everlasting life, which you give us	21:12
	in our Savior, Jesus Christ.	21:15
	Amen.	21:18
	The Old Testament lesson is from Ecclesiastes chapter one,	21:22
	verses two through nine, and chapter two,	21:27
	verses 21 through 23.	21:30
	Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.	21:37
	Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.	21:40
	What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils	21:44
	under the sun?	21:47
	A generation goes, and a generation comes,	21:49
	but the earth remains forever.	21:53
	The sun rises and the sun goes down,	21:56
	and hastens to the place where it rises.	21:59
	The wind blows to the south	22:02
	and goes round to the north.	22:04
	Round and round it goes, and on its circuit,	22:07
	the wind returns.	22:10
	All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.	22:13
	To the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.	22:17
	All things are full of weariness.	22:22
	A man cannot utter it.	22:25
	The eye is not satisfied with seeing,	22:27
	nor the ear filled with hearing.	22:30
	What has been is what will be.	22:33
	And what has been done is what will be done,	22:36
	and there is nothing new under the sun.	22:40
	Sometimes, a man who has toiled with wisdom	22:44
	and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed	22:47
	by a man who did not toil for it.	22:51
	This also is vanity, and a great evil.	22:54
	What has a man from all the toil and strain,	22:58
	with which he toils beneath the sun?	23:01
	For all his days are full of pain,	23:03
	and his work is a vexation.	23:06
	Even in the night, his mind does not rest.	23:09
	This, also, is vanity.	23:12
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	23:16
	The New Testament lesson is from Colossians chapter three,	23:21
	verses one through five, and verses nine through 11.	23:24
	If, then you have been raised with Christ,	23:31
	seek the things that are above,	23:34
	where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.	23:36
	Set your minds on things that are above,	23:39
	and not on things that are on earth.	23:42
	For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.	23:45
	When Christ, who is our life appears,	23:51
	then you also will appear with Him in glory.	23:53
	Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you:	23:56
	fornication, impurity, passion,	24:00
	evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry.	24:03
	Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off	24:09
	the old nature with its practices,	24:12
	and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed	24:15
	in knowledge after the image of its creator.	24:19
	Here, there cannot be Greek and Jew,	24:23
	circumcised and uncircumcised,	24:25
	barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man,	24:27
	but Christ is all and in all.	24:31
	Here ends the reading from the New Testament lesson.	24:35
	(dramatic organ music)	24:46
	♪ He comes to us ♪	24:54
	♪ As one unknown ♪	24:56
	♪ Without a name ♪	25:00
	♪ Without a name ♪	25:04
	♪ As of old by the lakeside ♪	25:07
	♪ He came ♪	25:11
	♪ He came to those men ♪	25:15
	♪ Who knew him not ♪	25:19
	♪ He speaks to us ♪	25:24
	♪ He speaks the same word: ♪	25:27
	♪ Follow ♪	25:31
	♪ Follow ♪	25:34
	♪ Follow thou me ♪	25:38
	♪ And sets us to the tasks ♪	25:45
	♪ Which He has to fulfill ♪	25:48
	♪ For our time ♪	25:52
	♪ He commands ♪	26:02
	♪ And to those who obey Him ♪	26:07
	♪ Whether they be wise or simple ♪	26:16
	♪ He will reveal Himself ♪	26:23
	♪ Reveal Himself ♪	26:31
	♪ In the toils ♪	26:38
	♪ The conflicts ♪	26:42
	♪ The sufferings ♪	26:45
	♪ Which they shall pass through ♪	26:53
	♪ In His fellowship ♪	27:01
	♪ And, as an ineffable mystery ♪	27:14
	♪ They shall learn ♪	27:33
	♪ Shall learn ♪	27:37
	♪ Shall learn in their own experience ♪	27:41
	♪ Who He is ♪	27:51
-	Will the congregation please stand	28:27
	for the reading of the New Testament lesson?	28:29
	The gospel lesson is from Luke chapter 12,	28:35
	verses 13 through 21.	28:38
	One of the multitude said to Him,	28:42
	"Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."	28:44
	But He said to him, "Man, who made me judge	28:48
	"or divider over you?"	28:52
	And He said to them, "Take heed and beware	28:54
	"of all covetousness.	28:57
	"For a man's life does not consist in the abundance	28:59
	"of his possessions,"	29:01
	and He told them a parable, saying,	29:03
	The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully,	29:06
	and he thought to himself, what shall I do?	29:09
	For I have nowhere to store my crops,	29:12
	and he said, I will do this.	29:15
	I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,	29:18
	and there, I will store all my gain and my goods.	29:21
	And I will say to my soul,	29:24
	soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.	29:27
	Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.	29:30
	But God said to him, "Fool, this night,	29:34
	"your soul is required of you,	29:37
	"and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?"	29:39
	So is he who lays up treasure for himself	29:43
	and is not rich toward God.	29:46
	Here ends the reading from the gospel.	29:50
	Amen.	29:54
	(rousing organ music)	29:55
	(choir singing in a foreign language)	30:04
-	Good morning.	31:03
	I've been in the middle of the Duke forest,	31:07
	and received a better response from that greeting.	31:09
	Let me try again.	31:13
	Good morning.	31:16
Congregation	Good morning.	31:17
-	Thank you.	31:18
	Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.	31:21
	Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.	31:24
	A generation goes and a generation comes,	31:29
	but the earth remains forever.	31:32
	The author of our text, Qoheleth,	31:36
	has an apparently dismal outlook on life.	31:39
	He, in fact, hated life at one time,	31:42
	because of what it denied him.	31:45
	All his toils, all his labor, it appeared to be vanity.	31:47
	Nothing Qoheleth worked for under the sun lasted,	31:52
	and nothing he did appeared to change anything.	31:55
	Just as the material wealth Job had accumulated	32:01
	throughout his life was taken from his grasp	32:04
	by the hand of God,	32:06
	the fortunes amassed by Qoheleth could also	32:08
	be reduced to nothing.	32:10
	Our author here despaired,	32:14
	because he had spent most of his life	32:16
	accumulating a great fortune he knew would not last.	32:17
	Of course, Qoheleth did not expect	32:22
	to take his checking account with him,	32:23
	but what disturbed him was that all his wealth	32:26
	and fortune could be claimed by someone	32:29
	who maybe did not deserve it.	32:31
	After he had left God's green earth,	32:34
	he would have no control over the wealth accumulated	32:36
	by his honest labor.	32:40
	What kind of justice exists when you work hard	32:42
	all your life, only to have your fortune,	32:44
	your entire life's endeavors, dissipated once you're gone?	32:47
	The vanity of all his labors hits him hard across the face.	32:53
	He begins to question the worth of all his work,	32:57
	the value of all his labor.	33:00
	"Well, my work," he says.	33:03
	"My years and years of back-breaking labor	33:05
	"have netted me a good living, a fine life,	33:08
	"a good family, and actually, enough money	33:10
	"to finance a healthy retirement for half a dozen people.	33:13
	"But what good is that?	33:18
	"It won't take care of itself.	33:20
	"In fact, with a couple of bad investments downtown,	33:21
	"this could all be gone	33:25
	"by the time the market closes tomorrow."	33:26
	The vanity of labor.	33:30
	Qoheleth despaired, not only because his wealth	33:33
	was vulnerable, but it was ineffective.	33:35
	It changed nothing.	33:37
	Every morning, he goes to work,	33:41
	and every morning, he returns home,	33:42
	but the labor of his day changes nothing.	33:46
	His work brings home the bread,	33:50
	but is ineffective in solving	33:51
	any one of the litany of problems	33:52
	that has plagued the world since the fall:	33:55
	disease, war, murder, stealing, corruption.	33:57
	The list goes on.	34:00
	Both near and far, life rolled on, unaffected.	34:03
	His wealth and his labor could not change	34:08
	the overwhelming wrong he saw in the world.	34:10
	He felt futility, because of his ineffectiveness.	34:13
	He felt injustice because his honest work	34:17
	was not properly rewarded.	34:20
	Qoheleth feels confused because this was not	34:23
	the kind of world he believed in.	34:27
	It was not the kind of life he thought he should have.	34:30
	"What has happened to the righteous God	34:35
	"who watches over our lives," he asks.	34:37
	"The God I was taught to believe in would not have let	34:40
	"this kind of world exist.	34:42
	"Where is the meaning in our existence	34:46
	"if our work means nothing, accomplishes nothing?"	34:48
	The writer of Ecclesiastes struggles to see God,	34:55
	to understand his relationship with God.	35:00
	Our author searches for answers.	35:05
	He looks to God in heaven to explain the world around him.	35:07
	Dear God, what has happened?	35:11
	Can all this be right?	35:13
	Does not your hand guide us through our days	35:15
	and practice justice on this earth?	35:17
	Silence.	35:20
	He met with a silent heaven.	35:22
	His traditional perception of God	35:26
	did not answer his questions.	35:28
	A new way of understanding God was needed.	35:30
	Our author now searched for a new way	35:33
	to reestablish his relationship with God.	35:35
	Qoheleth, in a sense, is the first scientific	35:40
	thinker of the Bible.	35:43
	His efforts to understand his relationship with God	35:44
	and to find some meaning for his life	35:48
	employ the scientific method of study.	35:51
	The proposition, followed by observation,	35:54
	ending in a conclusion.	35:57
	We know that God created the universe,	36:00
	and everything in it.	36:02
	If we observe this creation,	36:05
	perhaps we can understand God through His creation.	36:07
	From his observations,	36:12
	Qoheleth makes two important discoveries.	36:14
	First, God has given us eternity,	36:18
	represented in the endless cycles of the sun,	36:21
	and the season and in our own cycles,	36:23
	as we go from dust to dust,	36:26
	and secondly, the fate which befalls each one of us	36:29
	during the time when we are not dust	36:33
	is governed by chance.	36:36
	Because our lives are governed by chance,	36:38
	Qoheleth divides this eternity into units of tomorrows.	36:40
	Qoheleth seems himself toiling away in a present	36:46
	which cannot change tomorrow,	36:50
	but will comprise tomorrow.	36:52
	He lives not for the 50 or 100 tomorrows from now,	36:56
	but for the tomorrow that comes	37:00
	when the sun rises again in the east.	37:02
	The time that lies between now	37:06
	and 100 tomorrows from now is governed by chance.	37:08
	We may not see those tomorrows,	37:13
	and so the fortune saved for those days is wasted.	37:15
	The labor expended to accumulate that fortune, vanity,	37:19
	and so a resolution.	37:24
	Eat and drink and find enjoyment in our work.	37:27
	Be happy today, for the gift of life,	37:30
	because we may not have tomorrow.	37:33
	Isn't this the same message we received from Colossians?	37:38
	Put to death all our material wealth.	37:41
	We are saved by Christ, the Son of God.	37:43
	Look to the heavens and it can be yours.	37:46
	The parable of the rich man, in Luke,	37:51
	also tells us that it is the fool who acquires	37:52
	a great fortune and adopts the philosophy,	37:56
	eat, drink, and be merry,	37:59
	for I have enough money left for 10 lives.	38:00
	That night, God takes the rich man's soul.	38:05
	That life was wasted in storing treasures for himself,	38:07
	and not for God.	38:12
	Our lives do not consist of an abundance of material wealth.	38:14
	That soul was rich in the wealth of life,	38:19
	but poor in the wealth of God.	38:22
	It's all very simple, all very easy to understand.	38:25
	God awaits in heaven, Christ died for our salvation.	38:30
	Look to heaven first, and what we need here on earth	38:33
	will be ours.	38:36
	Why the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes?	38:39
	Why the despair?	38:43
	Vanity of vanity, all is vanity.	38:46
	Why do I feel so akin to Qoheleth,	38:51
	to the deep feelings of some injustice?	38:54
	Why do I search, as did Qoheleth,	38:59
	for a renewed purpose and direction for my labor,	39:01
	for a renewed relationship with God?	39:05
	I suppose I'm just difficult.	39:08
	Maybe it was my 7th grade science teacher,	39:12
	who spouted scientific words of wisdom at me,	39:15
	and hounded me with the phrase,	39:19
	empirical thinking, young man.	39:20
	The scientific method of thinking is where it's at.	39:23
	Or perhaps it was my 9th grade English teacher,	39:27
	who suggested we all keep abreast of current world events,	39:30
	and maybe it was Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises,	39:37
	which takes its title from the first few lines of our text.	39:41
	And maybe it was a combination of a hundred different things	39:45
	that make me what I am right now.	39:48
	I feel very close to the words of this text.	39:52
	In fact, if I were alive 2,000 years ago,	39:57
	I believe I could have written this text.	40:00
	There's a struggle, I struggle.	40:03
	I struggle for the sight and the wisdom	40:07
	that Qoheleth found to answer some of his questions.	40:10
	I struggle to find that new relationship with God.	40:14
	For me, it is not as easy as Colossians tells us,	40:19
	seek the things that are in Christ,	40:22
	He died for our salvation,	40:23
	put to death what is earthly in you,	40:25
	and when Christ rises again, we will rise with Him.	40:27
	We are alive now.	40:31
	All this does matter to me.	40:34
	Our lives are a gift from God.	40:38
	We work every day to make the tomorrows,	40:40
	but the injustices.	40:44
	What purpose has our labor when we cannot control	40:48
	the world around us?	40:50
	How do you feel when you sit in your living room	40:53
	and watch the news on TV, the news that is rarely good	40:55
	and always so removed from our lives?	40:59
	And how do you feel when one of the hundreds	41:04
	of senseless disasters affects your life,	41:06
	hits home somewhere?	41:10
	It hurts.	41:13
	A year and a half from now, I will graduate.	41:17
	But one of my classmates will not graduate with me.	41:21
	The fate of Flight 007 has prevented that.	41:26
	I feel frustrated, small, ineffective.	41:30
	My hands are tied.	41:36
	All that out there, all that is out of my control,	41:38
	out of my reach, yet it affects me,	41:43
	and it wasn't right, it wasn't fair,	41:47
	no reason exists for that happening.	41:52
	I am angry and I want vengeance.	41:55
	What kind of God, I thought.	41:59
	Certainly not the Santa Claus God I was taught of	42:01
	in Sunday School, the God that watches over each of us,	42:03
	knows when we've been bad or good.	42:06
	I reel and question.	42:10
	What is the truth of the matter?	42:12
	The questions from Ecclesiastes take on life for me.	42:14
	What purpose, what direction does my labor have?	42:18
	What good is it?	42:22
	I never could've prevented that plane from going down.	42:23
	I can never do anything to change what has happened.	42:26
	I can jump up and down, yell and scream,	42:28
	dear God, you didn't stop that from happening,	42:30
	but I want to.	42:33
	If you can't take care of this world, let me.	42:35
	I will.	42:38
	That's the silence I usually receive.	42:45
	It is frightening to think we have an eternity	42:50
	of this in front of us.	42:53
	It will never stop.	42:56
	The sun goes down, and the sun comes up,	42:59
	and races across the sky, to the place where it again sets.	43:03
	A generation goes, and a generation comes.	43:08
	In many ways, not a happy thought,	43:13
	but God has given us these tomorrows.	43:17
	We can do what we wish with our time.	43:20
	I follow a philosophy of living that has its origins	43:24
	as a law, an unwritten law of the woods	43:29
	shared by the people of the woods.	43:32
	It protects the one thing that we know God has given to us	43:36
	and remains a constant in all our lives,	43:38
	our home, this earth.	43:41
	A generation goes, and a generation comes,	43:45
	but the earth remains forever.	43:47
	The story was told to me, and to many other students	43:51
	of the Hotchkiss School.	43:55
	By an English teacher there, Mr. Blair Torrey.	43:57
	This law calls upon all who live,	44:01
	travel or hike in the woods to leave their campground	44:03
	just a little bit better than when they found it.	44:07
	This one simple rule, this code of honor,	44:12
	joins these people together in a vital kinship.	44:16
	Without knowing one another,	44:19
	without knowing who spent the night before	44:21
	in this campground or in this cabin,	44:22
	or knowing who passed this way before.	44:25
	They take pride in and find security in helping out	44:29
	the next person in line,	44:32
	because someone helped them out.	44:33
	No task here is insurmountable.	44:36
	It's a case of many hands making light work.	44:38
	How easy it is to replace the logs you used	44:43
	for a fire the night before,	44:45
	or to repair a hole in the roof,	44:48
	so the next person does not arrive in the middle	44:49
	of a rainy night to find a shelter	44:52
	that is as wet inside as it is outside.	44:55
	Think how nice it is to come upon a campground	44:59
	that is well taken care of,	45:02
	a cabin clean with firewood stacked	45:04
	neatly in the corner, ready to burn.	45:06
	How many lives have been saved because someone took the time	45:10
	to replace the logs they had used?	45:14
	How grateful would you feel upon finding a campground	45:18
	left ready for you to use?	45:22
	You can see the strength in this bond,	45:25
	between the people of the woods,	45:28
	and you can see how quickly this bond grows and spreads.	45:29
	One person affects a number of people, who, in turn,	45:34
	affect a number of people.	45:36
	Pretty soon, we have an entire network of people	45:38
	working together, not in the same place at the same time,	45:40
	and probably never seeing each other,	45:44
	but what they do for each other remains behind,	45:47
	as a testimony to the bond.	45:50
	You can see also, how it takes only one or two people	45:54
	to muck up the entire operation.	45:57
	What if one person does not replace that firewood	46:00
	in the middle of the winter?	46:05
	What if?	46:08
	A choice was made.	46:10
	Someone else will do it.	46:11
	We do have the power to choose.	46:14
	That's how we arrived here, remember?	46:16
	7th grade, empirical thinking, young man.	46:18
	Yep.	46:22
	Look around, survey the situation.	46:24
	I don't have time to replace the wood.	46:27
	Someone else will do it.	46:28
	Maybe.	46:31
	Maybe that someone is just a little too cold,	46:33
	a little too tired, didn't have the energy	46:36
	to collect some wood.	46:38
	Maybe they were counting on that fire.	46:40
	Maybe, maybe it's too late.	46:44
	No one has moved mountains with this philosophy yet,	46:49
	but the bond is there, the kinship strong.	46:53
	It is up to us to take advantage of this kinship	46:58
	and to help it grow,	47:01
	feel the obligation to the person next to you,	47:03
	behind you, in front of you.	47:06
	Feel that obligation and pick up on it.	47:10
	We never have a control over the larger scheme of things,	47:13
	and our control over the direction	47:18
	of our nation steadily declines.	47:19
	We are losing control, but I do not advocate passivity	47:22
	or a dissipation of our time and labor.	47:26

-	As Thoreau said it best,	0:03
	I aspire to live deliberately	0:05
	to affect the quality of the day.	0:07
	I live and work today for today,	0:11
	and for the hopes of a tomorrow.	0:14
	This apparently secular philosophy	0:17
	requires a giant's leap to faith	0:21
	and belief in God.	0:22
	I must believe that all the world,	0:25
	right and wrong, is heading towards some destination.	0:26
	I try to make the most of my gift from God, my life.	0:32
	To live wholeheartedly in this world today	0:37
	is to affirm life and to acknowledge this gift from God.	0:40
	But the leap is great and I struggle.	0:46
	I may not see God this semester, or the next.	0:51
	Until then, I look around my campground	0:56
	here at Duke to see if I've forgotten	1:00
	to pick up anything I brought with me.	1:03
	I think I need to collect some firewood.	1:08
	(organ and choir music)	1:16
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	3:51
	We believe in God, who has created	3:55
	and is creating, who has come	3:58
	in the truly human Jesus to reconcile and make new.	4:01
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	4:05
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church.	4:09
	To celebrate life in its fullness,	4:14
	to love and serve others,	4:17
	to seek justice and resist evil.	4:19
	To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	4:23
	our judge and our hope.	4:27
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	4:30
	God is with us, we are not alone.	4:34
	Thanks be to God.	4:38
	The lord be with you.	4:41
-	(all together) Amen.	4:44
-	Let us pray.	4:45
	How can, how dare we pray to you,	5:00
	oh holy and hidden one?	5:03
	Whose ways are not our ways,	5:06
	who reigns in awful mystery	5:10
	beyond the realm of space and time.	5:12
	And yet, and yet how can we not pray to you,	5:17
	you who knows what it is to be human,	5:22
	because you dwelt among us as human.	5:26
	Breaking with us the bread of our affliction,	5:30
	drinking deep of the cup of our despair.	5:34
	How can we not pray to you,	5:38
	when it is your very spirit alive within us	5:40
	that moves us to pray?	5:44
	Hear oh God, the prayer of all of your children everywhere.	5:48
	For forgiveness and healing,	5:53
	for courage, for faith,	5:56
	prayers for the needs of others,	5:59
	prayers for peace among the desperate nations.	6:02
	Whether you give or withhold what we ask,	6:08
	whether you answer us in words	6:11
	that burn like fire, or in silence that burns like fire,	6:13
	increase in us the awareness that you	6:20
	are always more near to us than our breathing.	6:22
	That your will for us is love.	6:26
	And deep beneath our asking,	6:31
	so deep beneath that we are all but deaf to it ourselves.	6:34
	Hear, oh God, the secret song of every human heart.	6:39
	Praising you.	6:44
	Rejoicing with the morning stars that you create us,	6:46
	and that we are yours.	6:51
	Make strong and wild this secret song.	6:54
	Until it bursts forth at last,	6:58
	to your glory, and our salvation,	7:01
	oh you who are the God no less of those	7:08
	who know you than of those who love you well.	7:10
	Be present with us at the times of choosing.	7:15
	When time stands still, and all that lies	7:20
	behind and before us are caught up	7:23
	in the mystery of a moment.	7:27
	Be present especially with the young,	7:31
	who must choose between many voices.	7:35
	Cause them to know how much an old world	7:39
	needs their youth, and their gladness,	7:43
	and their restlessness.	7:48
	Cause them to know that there are words	7:51
	of truth and healing that will never	7:53
	be spoken unless they speak them.	7:55
	Deeds of compassion and courage	7:59
	that won't be done unless they do them.	8:02
	Help them not to mistake success for victory,	8:08
	or failure for defeat.	8:11
	Grant that they may never be entirely content	8:15
	with whatever bounty the world bestows upon them.	8:18
	But that they may at last know	8:22
	that they were created not for happiness,	8:24
	but for joy.	8:29
	And that joy is to those alone	8:31
	who sometimes with tears in their eyes	8:35
	commit themselves in love to you	8:38
	and to the human family.	8:42
	Lead them and all your world ever deeper	8:46
	into the knowledge that the human family is one,	8:48
	and that there can never really be joy for any	8:54
	until there is joy for all.	8:57
	The ugly with the beautiful.	9:01
	The criminal with the child.	9:03
	The enemy with the friend.	9:07
	Lord, give us eyes to see ourselves	9:10
	and each other more nearly as you see us.	9:13
	To see beneath each face we meet,	9:17
	and beneath even our own faces.	9:20
	Your face.	9:23
	We do pray this prayer, and make these pleas,	9:29
	in the name of Jesus Christ, who teaches us to pray.	9:33
	Our father, who art in heaven,	9:38
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	9:41
	thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.	9:46
	Give us this day our daily bread,	9:51
	and forgive us our trespasses,	9:54
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	9:56
	And lead us not into temptation,	10:00
	but deliver us from evil,	10:02
	for thine is the kingdom,	10:04
	and the power, and the glory, forever, amen.	10:07
	(orchestra music)	10:15
	(choir and organ together)	12:07
-	By our lives, oh God, and these gifts	19:37
	which we bring to your service and the ministry,	19:40
	we declare our faith.	19:44
	We ask now that by your spirit	19:47
	you capture us with the vision	19:49
	that you have for this world.	19:51
	A place where love reigns, and peace is at home.	19:54
	We do pray and seek to serve.	20:00
	In your son's name, amen.	20:04
	(uplifting organ music)	20:11
	(choir and orchestra together)	20:59
-	I remind you of the celebration of the Eucharist	23:13
	immediately after this service in Memorial Chapel,	23:15
	and invite you to participate in that service with us.	23:19
	And now, may the grace of our lord Jesus Christ	23:23
	and the love of God, and the fellowship	23:27
	of the Holy Spirit be with you this day,	23:29
	in this place, and forever, wherever you may be.	23:32
	(choir singing)	23:50
	(playful organ music)	24:14

Item Info

Title:

William D. Gates - "What I See - What I Do" (January 15, 1984)

Description:

The preacher considers the weight of the assertion made by the author of Ecclesiastes that all our work is in vain because we can neither keep the fruits of it when we die nor can we change the larger scope of history through it. In light of this, the preacher exhorts that we should focus on small, daily actions that build a bond of kinship and love for one another and the earth. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 31:03. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 1:13.
Key quotation: “To live wholeheartedly in this world today is to affirm life and acknowledge this gift from God.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49z90s1q

Date:

January 15, 1984

Speaker:

Gates, William D.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0189
ref7901_l0c
uachapelsermaud
duke:320545
dcrau001179
ark:/87924/r49z90s1q
ec951f84-f253-4a52-81cd-90e92008436f

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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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 D. Gates - "What I See - What I Do" (January 15, 1984)

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1. William D. Gates - "What I See - What I Do" (January 15, 1984)

Duke University Archives

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William D. Gates - "What I See - What I Do" (January 15, 1984)

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Duke University Archives

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