William H. Willimon - "Uncomfortable Words" (December 10, 1989)

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	(slow music)	0:02
-	Thursday afternoon in this place	7:50
	the university community took occasion	7:53
	on the anniversary of the signing	7:55
	of the Duke indenture 65 years ago	7:57
	to reflect upon our heritage.	8:00
	To single out those who have made a significant contribution	8:02
	to the university and to recognize recipients	8:06
	of scholarships made possible by the founding family.	8:09
	Today we pause as we do each year in memory	8:14
	of the Duke family to honor all those who have given	8:18
	of themselves in the service to the future	8:22
	by creating and recreating this university.	8:25
	We reaffirm here our pledge of this university	8:29
	to the ideal of service to humanity	8:32
	and we give thanks to those who unselfishly	8:36
	take responsibility for a future that is not theirs.	8:38
	That belongs to other generations.	8:42
	We remember also that this university	8:45
	returns the wealth of the land to its people	8:48
	through respect for knowledge and for truth	8:52
	and through the continuing generosity	8:55
	of those who established it for enduring existence.	8:58
-	Let us pray.	9:05
	Gracious God in your service we find wisdom	9:08
	and light for life.	9:11
	We called a remembrance of founders of our University.	9:14
	We also remember what a privilege it is	9:17
	for us to be the beneficiaries of their generosity	9:20
	in creating a place of learning and research called Duke	9:25
	in the peacefulness of these surroundings,	9:31
	in the tranquility of this bride December day,	9:33
	we confess that we are prone to forget	9:38
	the struggles of fellow students and faculty	9:40
	in places like El Salvador, East Germany,	9:43
	Korea and other places where the life of	9:46
	the Academy collides in dangerous or hopeful ways	9:50
	with the life of the world.	9:54
	Therefore make us to remember how blessed we are to be here	9:57
	what great responsibility is entrusted to our care,	10:00
	how indebted we are to those who have preceded us here	10:05
	Amen.	10:10
	Please join in the litany of commemoration.	10:12
	Almighty and eternal God in whom	10:16
	our mothers and fathers have trusted.	10:17
	We thy children at this time of remembrance	10:20
	offer unto thee our prayers of thanksgiving.	10:23
Congregation	Blessings be to the Lord	10:28
-	For the members of the Duke family.	10:30
	Father, daughters, sons and their spouses,	10:32
	grandchildren and all others in continuing generations	10:35
	until this very day who with concern, compassion, devotion	10:38
	and dedication and by their generosity built on a solid	10:43
	foundation continued a worthy school	10:48
	and provided for education and service	10:52
	beyond even their dreams and expectations.	10:54
	For the pioneering and persevering	11:00
	men and women connected with this University	11:01
	Methodist and Quakers, farmers and merchants,	11:04
	teachers and administrators who in days gone by	11:07
	believed in education and made their beliefs prevail.	11:11
	For the embodiment of their dreams from private school,	11:17
	to academy, to college, to great University founded in hope	11:21
	continued with sacrifice,	11:25
	growing in outreach, serving with commitment.	11:27
	For faculty and staff whose vision	11:33
	was bolstered by their courage,	11:35
	whose patience was tested and found true	11:38
	and whose idealism was implanted	11:40
	in the hearts and minds of others.	11:42
	For the ongoing presence of noble ideas,	11:47
	the blending of Eruditio et Religio	11:50
	the freedom for Responsible academic research and teaching	11:54
	the ongoing respect for both the body and the spirit,	11:58
	pursuit of knowledge in the sciences and the humanities,	12:01
	the realization that the old order changes	12:05
	and new times bring new opportunities,	12:09
	For the future of Duke University established for thy glory	12:15
	and for the enlightenment of the human mind and spirit,	12:19
	for consecration to learning by the young,	12:22
	for the best use of the wisdom of those in later years,	12:25
	for the commitment to growth an enhancement of all persons,	12:28
	for a sense of humor, a spirit of cooperation	12:32
	and a desire for understanding among all	12:36
	within our community and the world.	12:39
	(congregation responds)	12:43
	Amen.	12:53
	I welcome you to this observance of our founders Sunday.	13:03
	Particularly our honored guests and distinguished	13:10
	faculty members and administrators.	13:14
	This afternoon at 5:00 p.m. there will be an organ concert	13:18
	here in the chapel open to all.	13:21
	Dr. Peter Marshall who has been a longtime friend	13:24
	of the chapel and we cordially invite you to the concert.	13:28
	Our preacher scheduled today to be the first	13:33
	Pelham Wilder jr.	13:37
	Distinguished guest preacher Dr. Peter Gomes	13:39
	could not get out of Boston last night and down to Durham	13:43
	so unfortunately Dr. Gomes will not be here today	13:46
	but we do recognize Dr. Pelham Wilder and the inauguration	13:50
	of this guest preacher series in his name.	13:56
	And now let us continue with the worship of God	14:01
	on this second Sunday in the season of Advent.	14:04
	(choir singing)	14:14
-	Be seated.	21:31
	Please join me in the Advent prayer.	21:35
All	Oh Lord God heavenly King	21:39
	in this holy season of Advent	21:43
	we beseech thee so to rule and guide us by the Holy Spirit	21:45
	that we may hear and receive	21:50
	thy holy word with our whole heart.	21:52
	That through thy word we may be sanctified	21:55
	and may learn to place all our trust and hope	21:59
	in Jesus Christ thy son and following Him	22:01
	may be led safely through all evil until through thy grace	22:05
	we come to everlasting life through the same Jesus Christ	22:10
	thy son our Lord.	22:15
	Amen.	22:17
-	Open our hearts and minds Oh God	22:26
	by the power of your Holy Spirit	22:28
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed	22:31
	we might be prepared for the advent of our Savior.	22:34
	Amen.	22:38
	The first lesson is taken from Isaiah.	22:40
	There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse	22:44
	and a branch shall grow out of his roots	22:48
	and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him	22:50
	the spirit of wisdom and understanding.	22:54
	The spirit of counsel and might,	22:57
	the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord	22:59
	and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.	23:03
	He shall not judge by what his eyes see	23:07
	or decide by what his ears hear	23:10
	but with righteousness He shall judge the poor	23:13
	and decide with equity for the meek of the earth	23:16
	and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth	23:19
	and with the breath of His lips he shall slay the wicked.	23:23
	Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist	23:27
	and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.	23:30
	The wolf shall dwell with the lamb	23:34
	and the leopard shall lie down with the kid	23:37
	and the calf and the lion and the fatling together	23:40
	and a little child shall lead them.	23:43
	The cow and the bear shall feed.	23:46
	Their young shall lie down together	23:48
	and the lion shall eat straw like the Ox.	23:51
	The sucking child shall play over the whole of the ass.	23:54
	The weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den.	23:58
	They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain	24:04
	for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord	24:08
	as the waters cover the sea.	24:11
	In that day the root of Jesse shall stand	24:15
	as an ensign to the peoples.	24:18
	Him shall the nations seek	24:20
	and his dwelling shall be glorious.	24:22
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	24:25
	(instrumental music)	24:50
	(choir singing)	27:07
-	The second lesson is taken from	28:45
	Paul's letter to the Romans.	28:48
	For whatever was written in former days	28:51
	was written for our instruction	28:56
	that by steadfastness and by the encouragement	28:59
	of the scriptures we might have hope.	29:03
	May the God of steadfastness and encouragement	29:07
	grant you to live in such harmony with one another	29:12
	in accord with Christ Jesus that together	29:17
	you may with one voice glorified the God and the Father	29:20
	of our Lord Jesus Christ.	29:26
	Welcome one another therefore as Christ	29:29
	has welcomed you for the glory of God.	29:33
	For I tell you that Christ became a servant	29:37
	to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness	29:41
	in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs	29:45
	and in order that the Gentiles	29:51
	might glorify God for His mercy.	29:53
	As it is written therefore I will praise thee	29:57
	among the Gentiles and sing to thy name	30:01
	and again it is said rejoice oh Gentiles with his people	30:05
	and again praise the Lord all Gentiles and let all	30:11
	the peoples praise Him.	30:16
	And further Isaiah says the root of Jesse shall come.	30:19
	He who rises to rule the Gentiles	30:24
	in Him shall the Gentiles hope.	30:27
	May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace	30:31
	and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit	30:36
	you may abound in hope.	30:41
-	Please stand for the reading of the gospel.	30:53
	The lesson appointed for this day	31:01
	is from the Gospel according to St. Matthew.	31:03
	In those days came John the Baptist	31:07
	preaching in the wilderness of Judea	31:10
	repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.	31:12
	For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah	31:16
	when he said the voice of one crying in the wilderness	31:20
	prepare the way of the Lord.	31:24
	Make His paths straight.	31:26
	Now John wore a garment of camel's hair	31:28
	and a leather girdle around his waist	31:31
	and his food was locusts and wild honey.	31:34
	Then came out to him Jerusalem and all Judea	31:37
	and all the regions about the Jordan	31:41
	and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan	31:43
	confessing their sins.	31:47
	But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees	31:49
	coming for baptism he said to them you brood of vipers	31:52
	who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.	31:57
	Bear fruit that befits repentance	32:02
	and do not presume to say to yourselves	32:04
	we have Abraham as our Father	32:07
	for I say to you God is able from these stones	32:10
	to raise up children to Abraham.	32:14
	Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.	32:17
	Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit	32:21
	is cut down and thrown into the fire.	32:24
	I baptize you with water for repentance	32:28
	but He who is coming after me is mightier than I	32:31
	whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.	32:35
	He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.	32:39
	His winnowing fork is in His hand	32:43
	and He will clear his threshing floor,	32:46
	gather his wheat into the granary	32:50
	but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.	32:52
	The gospel of our Lord.	32:57
	Thanks be to God.	32:59
	Please be seated.	33:01
-	If you want to practice law	33:15
	you've got to first pass the bar.	33:19
	If you wanna get into medical school,	33:22
	first you got to survive organic chemistry	33:24
	and if you want to get to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus	33:28
	you've got to first get past John the Baptist.	33:34
	All over the world Christians are celebrating Advent.	33:40
	The season in which the church prepares itself	33:43
	for the birth of Christ.	33:47
	And throughout the church the first three Sundays	33:52
	of the year of Advent are always given over	33:55
	to readings about John the Baptist	33:59
	and that often collides with us.	34:05
	For here we are preparing for angels and tinsel	34:09
	carols and the cheery glow of Christmas	34:15
	and in comes the Baptist dusty, dressed in a coat	34:18
	of camel hair, reeking of locust and honey.	34:23
	Smelling of poverty and desert discipline.	34:27
	John we are told is out in the wilderness.	34:33
	He refuses to go into the big cities	34:35
	and hobnob with the powerful and the educated.	34:38
	Preferring instead to live out in the wilderness	34:43
	which is a better location for his brand of preaching.	34:46
	Why is it that the church in its wisdom	34:52
	has always demanded	34:56
	that if you really want to see who's in Bethlehem's manger	34:58
	you must first confront this crazy prophet	35:04
	out in the wilderness with sermons as bitter	35:08
	and wild as the terrain.	35:13
	John collides with what we've done to Christmas	35:19
	and to ourselves.	35:23
	John's gaunt figure at Yuletide is striking contrast	35:26
	to the symbol of our Christmases,	35:30
	a jolly fat elf in a red plush suit, bag full of gifts	35:32
	for people who already have too much.	35:37
	So how many Christmas cards have you seen	35:41
	depicting John the Baptist.	35:43
	Greetings from our house to yours.	35:47
	Our thoughts to you at this time of year are best expressed	35:50
	through John the Baptist.	35:54
	You brood of vipers.	35:56
	The ax is laid to the tree.	35:57
	Every tree that does not bear good fruit	35:59
	is thrown into the fire.	36:01
	Merry Christmas.	36:04
	(congregation laughing)	36:06
	John is not a popular figure to work up into ceramics.	36:07
	You won't find him as a character in a crash	36:12
	or on a Hallmark card	36:14
	and yet all the Gospels have him there,	36:18
	right at the beginning,	36:20
	as if to say you cannot meet Jesus until you have met John.	36:22
	As if to say you cannot know why there is Immanuel,	36:28
	God with us, until you know why at the feet of John	36:31
	we needed God with us in the worst sort of way.	36:36
	John intrudes into our Christmases.	36:42
	Christmas brings out the best in us,	36:50
	we sometimes say.	36:54
	Assuming that there is a best within us waiting	36:56
	to be brought out, and here I think Charles Dickens	37:00
	is probably more the former of our opinions of Christmas	37:03
	than the Gospel of Matthew.	37:09
	For Charles Dickens told a story which implies	37:12
	that down deep within us we've all had happy childhoods	37:15
	that are waiting to be evoked at the right time of the year	37:19
	to recover who we really are, or else we're like	37:22
	Ebenezer Scrooge, though we have this tough materialistic	37:25
	calloused exterior if we can be appealed to in the positive	37:30
	sort of way about Christmastime we can find that we are	37:33
	in reality charming sensitive people	37:37
	awaiting to be rediscovered at Christmas.	37:42
	In other words we like to believe that we are good	37:46
	So what need of good people like us	37:53
	for this harsh medicine of repentance	37:55
	John is trying to pour down our throats?	37:57
	And what need of basically good people like us	38:02
	for God to take the trouble	38:05
	to come to a place like Bethlehem to save us	38:07
	since we are after all basically good people	38:10
	who are making progress and thereby	38:13
	quite capable of saving ourselves.	38:15
	And who knows, perhaps we could pull it off,	38:20
	this seasonal attempt at communal	38:27
	and individual self delusion,	38:29
	were it not that we gather in a church	38:33
	and then comes down the aisle ranting	38:35
	John intruding himself into our Christmas pageant	38:41
	casting invective and epithet,	38:45
	demanding that we cleanse ourselves of our delusions	38:48
	with a cold dip in icy Jordan water.	38:53
	The kingdom of heaven is at hand says John the Baptist	38:57
	and we say good at last God is going to come and save us	39:00
	and set us up and do right and soothe us	39:04
	and give us what we need.	39:06
	because after all isn't that the purpose of religion?	39:07
	To make us feel better about ourselves, right?	39:10
	The kingdom of heaven is at hand John preaches	39:15
	therefore repent repent repent turn around.	39:18
	Get different.	39:22
	Let go.	39:24
	Matthew says that folk came out from Jerusalem	39:27
	and submitted to John's baptism confessing their sin.	39:32
	To the academic political religious establishment,	39:40
	John showed no respect.	39:45
	You brood of vipers.	39:48
	Who warned you to flee the coming fire.	39:50
	Bear fruit worthy of repentance	39:53
	and I lean over to my Chapel colleague and say	39:56
	he's talking about the Marxist	40:01
	in the English department not us.	40:02
	Maybe he's speaking of those in social sciences.	40:05
	Only to have John turn to me screaming,	40:10
	And don't say to me I've got Abraham as my father.	40:16
	My family founded this church.	40:23
	I tithe.	40:25
	I voted Democratic in the last election.	40:27
	I have always been opposed to aid to the Contras.	40:29
	Don't try that.	40:33
	You're not indispensable to God.	40:34
	If God wants a people God can raise up a people	40:38
	out of the stones in this river.	40:40
	Nobody's got an inside line.	40:43
	According to John even the chosen,	40:47
	even be enlightened,	40:50
	even the insiders have got to go down	40:51
	and get washed up to be ready.	40:53
	At this point Luke has John tell people	40:59
	what they're to do to repent.	41:01
	They that've got two coats	41:02
	they're to give away one to the poor.	41:03
	But Matthew seems rather to just want to just hold us there	41:07
	in the hot furnace blast of John's judgment.	41:12
	Just to hang there a while and contemplate our situation.	41:15
	For John calls us not just to repent of our sin	41:22
	but to repent of our never-ending	41:27
	human attempt to hide our sin.	41:29
	Because if we were as the TV Christmas specials	41:34
	and the Hallmark cards proclaimed.	41:38
	If we were those people on those cards	41:40
	and in that John Denver Christmas special,	41:43
	we wouldn't need God to come and save us.	41:46
	But we do.	41:53
	Two weeks ago a young man who graduated	41:58
	from Duke two years ago,	42:01
	works in Washington with a congressman,	42:04
	was on his way back from the office	42:06
	and two men jumped him and beat him and with their knives	42:10
	slashed his face.	42:16
	And he said the most devastating aspect of that attack was	42:20
	they never asked for nor did they take his wallet.	42:24
	They just disfigured him for the pure enjoyment of the act	42:30
	and this in the capital of the land	42:39
	of freedom and opportunity.	42:42
	John is out in the wilderness,	42:46
	calling us to admit to the wilderness in which we live.	42:50
	Well of course we say education is the answer.	42:57
	You get enough people thinking right	43:02
	and they will eventually do right, right?	43:05
	An investigator being interviewed	43:10
	concerning the Savings and Loan scandal	43:12
	said last week, "It just doesn't seem right.	43:15
	"Here a guy floats a couple of bad checks,	43:20
	he ends up doing time in the federal pen.	43:23
	"But these guys have corrupted senators and congressmen	43:27
	"and destroyed the savings and loan industry	43:31
	"and are gonna cost every citizen hundreds of dollars	43:33
	and I doubt any of them will ever see the inside of a jail."	43:36
	Okay walls do come down	43:44
	and democracy does seem to be on the rise	43:47
	and the people out in the streets	43:49
	are able to bring down the tyrants.	43:51
	Yes and surely we say this is some evidence	43:54
	that our Christmas optimism is not without some substance.	43:58
	Last week's issue of Time reported that	44:09
	while the telling of anti-semitic jokes	44:14
	rendered one into jail bait under the Communists,	44:18
	anti-semitic jokes are now being told quite openly in public	44:23
	on the streets of Warsaw.	44:28
	You scratch us beneath our Christmas card cheer,	44:34
	our Yuletide jingles,	44:38
	our Norman Rockwellian images of ourselves	44:40
	and we are fitting subjects for the preaching of John.	44:47
	It is as if despite our pretensions and our denials	44:54
	and our seasonal orgies of self-satisfaction	44:58
	it is almost as if we really do need turning around	45:03
	and repenting and confessing of our sin.	45:08
	If we would but flee the shopping mall glitz	45:14
	and wait in the silence of a cold dark December church,	45:17
	we might cleanse ourselves of our moral delusion	45:23
	which would be the beginning.	45:28
	For there is no way to get to Bethlehem	45:32
	without first getting by this fierce prophet	45:35
	who tells us that we are not right as we are.	45:39
	But today we're not just talking about	45:46
	John the Baptist in church.	45:47
	We're talking about him in a university Church	45:49
	and this is just isn't the second Sunday of Advent.	45:51
	This is Founders Sunday.	45:54
	And if John is out of place in a shopping mall	45:59
	he is even more a misfit in a university.	46:02
	But of course this just isn't any old University	46:09
	in the Newsweek top ten with bright boys and girls	46:13
	who could have gone to the Ivy League if they wanted to	46:16
	but they didn't want to because they didn't like	46:19
	snow and ice and came here. (laughter)	46:21
	But rather we're at a university founded by a man	46:25
	like James B Duke who said quoting his dad	46:28
	that if he amounted to anything it was because of the church	46:32
	Maybe it was in that church that Mr. Duke got the message	46:39
	that education is not just detrimental,	46:44
	it is downright demonic	46:48
	if it is left unmolested by religion.	46:52
	So maybe that's why he put the chapel right in the center	46:58
	of his new university.	47:02
	In the hope that while we were going about doing chemistry	47:05
	or drama or philosophy	47:08
	or religion we just have to stumble over it.	47:10
	Get accused by it,	47:14
	have to answer to it lest our knowledge become our undoing.	47:16
	Lest we grow up knowing everything about ourselves	47:20
	except that we are fallen and need repenting	47:24
	and therefore saving in the worst kind of way.	47:28
	When Mr. Duke's great towering church	47:34
	was dedicated in 1935.	47:39
	One speaker after another mounted this pulpit	47:42
	to note that in this new university, unlike others,	47:47
	the chapel was to be the centerpiece and the symbol.	47:52
	And one speaker after another, I read their speeches,	47:57
	said that this chapel was a kind of visible protest	48:02
	against what was happening in many of the universities	48:06
	of Europe in 1935.	48:09
	For at the time we were building this great University	48:12
	fascism was building a vast new world.	48:15
	Many times with the help of the scholars	48:18
	and the scientists and the students.	48:20
	As Goebbels said fascism finds fertile ground	48:27
	within the university.	48:32
	But we might not know that	48:37
	if we had not invited John the Baptist to get dressed up	48:38
	and march in the founders Sunday procession.	48:41
	So I think this university was being true	48:45
	to its peculiar roots	48:48
	and its special Church birthed mission	48:52
	when this year our president stood here	48:56
	and addressed the freshman class.	48:59
	Speaking to them not on how privileged we were	49:02
	to have them among us or how lucky they were to be here	49:05
	but also how determined he was that they might leave here	49:12
	not only well educated but a little less racist	49:17
	than when they came.	49:21
	Came as a shock to our freshmen	49:24
	that their president knew them	49:28
	and cared about their behavior outside the classroom.	49:31
	And dared to put some of this generation's	49:34
	moral discrepancies on the table for discussion.	49:37
	You cannot get wisdom or enlightenment or civilization	49:42
	by your senior year, he seemed to say,	49:45
	without first confronting the fact that	49:48
	when you check into your dorm alcoholism, substance abuse,	49:50
	acquaintance rape and good old-fashioned racism	49:54
	check in with you.	49:57
	Now president Brodie suggested that their racism is related	50:00
	to some psychological problem.	50:02
	Something to do with their mothers.	50:04
	John the Baptist would just call it sin	50:07
	but president Brodie is a psychiatrist not a prophet.	50:10
	He is not John the Baptist	50:14
	and I know I speak for the faculty	50:16
	that we would not want him to be	50:18
	but you see we can take heart that Duke is yet a place	50:21
	which grapples with who we are rather than	50:27
	who we wish to God we were.	50:30
	And a university without that sort of intrusive,	50:33
	bold, moral honesty can be a fearful place.	50:37
	A while back I was talking to a medical student here.	50:44
	A reasonably bright young man working on his MD	50:47
	and his PhD at the same time and I was fascinated	50:50
	by his ability to speak honestly about some of the dilemmas	50:55
	within medical education and within	51:01
	the practice of medicine today.	51:03
	I noted his depth and his insight and asked him	51:07
	how are you enabled to practice medicine in these days	51:11
	without either being captured or crushed by it	51:15
	and he replied well I grew up as a Missouri Synod Lutheran	51:19
	and I said well what does that have to do with it.	51:27
	He said well you wouldn't know	51:30
	but when you grow up in Springfield	51:31
	as a Missouri Synod Lutheran,	51:34
	there's a lot you don't know	51:36
	but one thing you do know is you're sinful.	51:37
	They tell you that all the time.	51:40
	You are a sinner.	51:42
	And more than that they tell you that	51:44
	all human achievement is tainted by sin.	51:46
	Even the most noble human achievement is tainted by sin.	51:50
	Especially the most noble of human achievement,	51:54
	is also a way of working out our sin.	51:57
	And he said therefore every day when I walk into the	52:05
	Medical Center and I face this vast kingdom,	52:07
	this great array of buildings and machines and surgeons	52:10
	and dedicated people and healing and hope and dreams,	52:14
	I say to myself yeah and there's also	52:18
	some idolatry there too probably.	52:21
	That this, as beautiful as it is,	52:26
	is probably a complicated means of also working out our sin	52:29
	and I ask God to forgive me for my part in it.	52:36
	Even when I'm not aware that I'm part of it.	52:42
	And repentance helps me keep it in perspective.	52:47
	I tried this the other day as I went into	52:56
	the Academic Council meeting and it works.	52:58
	So here we are celebrating our human potential,	53:04
	reveling in our marvelous achievements,	53:08
	our glorious attainments and here comes John the Baptist	53:11
	calling us to account.	53:15
	Measuring our lives not on the basis of what nine out of 10	53:17
	Americans believe but on the command of Almighty God.	53:20
	Embracing us with a sobering burst of Jordan water	53:28
	in the face of our pretension.	53:33
	A call to that which this society	53:37
	seems so inept at producing.	53:41
	Namely a people who can speak the truth.	53:44
	So before we rush headlong into Christmas	53:50
	or back to the O.R or the classroom	53:54
	or back to the desk and Alan building or the library	53:57
	or the minister study here in the chapel	54:00
	or to Duke 2nd century or wherever we go from here	54:03
	let's just take a moment an Advent pause	54:08
	to stumble over crazy abrasive John the Baptist.	54:13
	Because we can't get there without first getting past him.	54:19
	Amen.	54:26
	(slow music)	54:31
	(choir and congregation singing)	55:15
-	Let us unite in the confession of our faith.	57:33
All	I believe in God the Father Almighty	57:37
	maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ	57:40
	His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit	57:44
	born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,	57:49
	was crucified, dead and buried.	57:53
	He descended into hell.	57:55
	The third day he rose again from the dead.	57:57
	He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God	58:00
	the Father Almighty from thence He shall come	58:04
	to judge the quick and the dead.	58:07
	I believe in the Holy Spirit,	58:10
	the Holy Catholic Church,	58:12
	the communion of saints,	58:14
	the forgiveness of sins,	58:15
	the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.	58:17
	Amen.	58:22
-	The Lord be with you.	58:24
Congregation	And also with you.	58:25
-	Let us pray.	58:27
	Thou holy and hidden God how can we pray to thee	58:41
	whose ways are not our ways.	58:47
	Who reignest in mystery beyond the realm of time and space	58:50
	Yet how can we not pray to the eternal God	58:56
	who knowest what it is to be human because thou has to come	59:00
	among us as one who took our common life upon Himself	59:05
	to be like us in order that we might be like Him.	59:09
	Hear us Oh God both in our words and in our silence.	59:16
	For it is often the silence that speaks better of our need.	59:21
	Speak thy joy into our silence in this season of expectancy.	59:27
	Breath thy life into our less than life.	59:32
	Not for our sakes only but for the sake of those	59:37
	to whom with thy life in us we may ourselves bring life.	59:40
	Oh God who arth the hope of the ends of the earth,	59:47
	as we celebrate this Founders Sunday	59:52
	with members of our own community,	59:54
	we recognize the complexity and the magnitude	59:56
	of the needs of the world which we are called to serve.	1:00:00
	Hear us now as we pray	1:00:04
	for our sisters and brothers around the globe.	1:00:06
	Let us pray for the peoples of Eastern Europe	1:00:11
	many times crushed by war and burdened with old divisions	1:00:14
	that as ancient bearers of the message of Christ,	1:00:20
	they may bring to all the world	1:00:23
	a message of liberation and reconciliation.	1:00:25
	We remember the people of Poland, East Germany,	1:00:29
	Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania,	1:00:32
	Bulgaria, Albania, the Soviet Union.	1:00:36
	Let us pray for the peoples of Latin America	1:00:42
	struggling upward from oppression and chaos	1:00:45
	into new achievement and hope yet hampered	1:00:48
	by tragic failures of government.	1:00:52
	That they may find their destiny anew and thy purpose.	1:00:55
	We remember the people of El Salvador, Guatemala,	1:00:59
	Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru.	1:01:03
	Let us pray for the peoples of Africa and the Middle East.	1:01:07
	Our ancient ancestral home	1:01:11
	lands of bitter wrongs of hatred and fear,	1:01:14
	of famine and disease yet lands of promise,	1:01:17
	of great natural resources,	1:01:21
	of eager and strong men and women that thou mayst	1:01:24
	bring a message of hope into the midst	1:01:28
	of conflict and despair.	1:01:30
	We remember the people of South Africa, Mozambique,	1:01:33
	the Israeli occupied territories, Lebanon Syria.	1:01:37
	Let us pray for the peoples of Asia and the South Pacific	1:01:42
	that their divisions may be healed,	1:01:46
	their emancipation established and wisdom increased	1:01:49
	to accept from other cultures only that	1:01:52
	which enobles and exults.	1:01:55
	We remember the people of the Philippines	1:01:57
	in their time of trial, the students of Korea and of China.	1:02:00
	Let us pray for the people of our own land.	1:02:06
	Especially for those who shoulder burdens greater	1:02:10
	than they feel able to bear,	1:02:13
	for the poor, the illiterate, the hungry and the homeless.	1:02:16
	For broken families.	1:02:21
	For victims of violence and for those who inflict violence	1:02:23
	For the sick and for the dying.	1:02:28
	Oh everliving God deep beneath all our asking	1:02:33
	here the secret song of every human heart	1:02:37
	even on the darkest of days lauding and magnifying	1:02:41
	thy name for being what thou art.	1:02:44
	Make strong and clear the song of praise within each of us	1:02:48
	to let burst forth at last to thy glory and our salvation.	1:02:52
	In the name of Christ we pray.	1:02:57
	Amen.	1:03:00
	As a forgiving and reconciled people,	1:03:04
	let us offer our gifts	1:03:08
	and ourselves unto God with thanksgiving.	1:03:09
	(fast paced instrumental music)	1:03:13
	(choir singing)	1:05:32
	(fast instrumental music)	1:08:03
	(choir and congregation singing)	1:08:40
-	Gracious God for all that has been we give thanks	1:09:37
	and for all that is and shall be we give thanks.	1:09:43
	Responding to your gracious love among us we pray.	1:09:48
	Our Father who art in heaven,	1:09:52
All	Hallowed be thy name.	1:09:55
	Thy kingdom come.	1:09:58
	Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	1:09:59
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:10:03
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:10:06
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	1:10:09
	and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.	1:10:12
	For thyne is the kingdom, the power and glory forever.	1:10:17
	Amen.	1:10:22
	Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:10:24
	the love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:10:27
	be with you now and always.	1:10:30
	Amen.	1:10:33
	(slow music)	1:10:36
	(choir singing)	1:11:18
	(fast paced instrumental music)	1:14:50

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Uncomfortable Words" (December 10, 1989)

Description:

Sermon start time: 33:15. Sermon end time: 54:27.
The preacher draws his audience’s attention to the striking contrast between John the Baptist’s message of judgment and repentance with the commercialized happy symbols of Christmas nowadays. He argues that without repentance, there is no real joy, and that even remedies such as higher education cannot solve the problems of the world caused by sin. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “John is out in the wilderness, calling us to admit to the wilderness in which we live.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4b853z70

Date:

December 10, 1989

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Advent

Biblical Book:

Matthew

Chapter and Verse:

Matthew 3:1-12

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0160
ref8710_uc9
uachapelsermaud
duke:321531
dcrmv001156
ark:/87924/r4b853z70
f81eef87-3e1b-4ae5-8260-32066fe67469

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

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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 - "Uncomfortable Words" (December 10, 1989)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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