Clyde Fant - Sermon Untitled (October 16, 1988)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:00 | |
("Ave Maria" arranged by Sergei Rachmaninoff) | 0:31 | |
♪ Ave Maria ♪ | 0:35 | |
♪ Gratia plena ♪ | 0:41 | |
♪ Maria ♪ | 0:49 | |
♪ Gratia plena ♪ | 0:54 | |
♪ Dominus ♪ | 1:08 | |
♪ Tecum ♪ | 1:21 | |
♪ Et benedicta tu ♪ | 1:24 | |
♪ In mulieribus ♪ | 1:37 | |
♪ Et benedictus ♪ | 1:39 | |
♪ Fructus ventris ♪ | 1:45 | |
♪ Et benedictus ♪ | 1:53 | |
♪ Fructus ventris ♪ | 1:54 | |
♪ Ave Maria ♪ | 2:00 | |
♪ Mater dei ♪ | 2:11 | |
♪ Ora pro nobis peccatoribus ♪ | 2:13 | |
♪ Mortis nostrae ♪ | 2:23 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 2:29 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to this | 2:54 |
worship service at Duke University Chapel. | 2:56 | |
Our preacher for today is the Reverend Dr. Clyde Fant, | 3:00 | |
dean of the Chapel at Stetson University. | 3:03 | |
Our preacher for next Sunday is the | 3:08 | |
Reverend Doctor Will Willamen, minister to the | 3:09 | |
University, and now, let us worship God. | 3:12 | |
("Praise my soul the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte) | 3:18 | |
(congregation and choir begin singing ) | 3:49 | |
♪ Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; ♪ | 3:51 | |
♪ To his feet your tribute bring. ♪ | 3:55 | |
♪ Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, ♪ | 4:01 | |
♪ Evermore his praises sing. ♪ | 4:06 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 4:11 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 4:14 | |
♪ Praise the everlasting King! ♪ | 4:17 | |
♪ Praise him for his grace and favor ♪ | 4:26 | |
♪ To his people in distress ♪ | 4:31 | |
♪ Praise him, still the same as ever ♪ | 4:36 | |
♪ Slow to chide ♪ | 4:42 | |
♪ And swift to bless ♪ | 4:43 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 4:46 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 4:49 | |
♪ Glorious in his faithfulness ♪ | 4:52 | |
♪ Fatherlike he tends and spares us ♪ | 5:00 | |
♪ Well our feeble frame he knows ♪ | 5:06 | |
♪ In his hand he gently bears us ♪ | 5:11 | |
♪ Rescues us from all our foes ♪ | 5:17 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 5:23 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 5:25 | |
♪ Widely yet his mercy flows ♪ | 5:28 | |
(organ interlude) | 5:34 | |
♪ Angels, in the height of glory ♪ | 5:44 | |
♪ You behold him face to face ♪ | 5:50 | |
♪ Saints on high bow down before him ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ Dwellers all in time and space ♪ | 6:01 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 6:07 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 6:10 | |
♪ Praise with us the God of grace ♪ | 6:12 | |
- | Let us pray. | 6:24 |
Almighty and everlasting God, who in Christ | 6:27 | |
has revealed thy glory among the nations, | 6:31 | |
preserve the works of thy mercy | 6:35 | |
that thy church throughout the world | 6:37 | |
may persevere with steadfast faith | 6:40 | |
in the confession of thy Name. | 6:42 | |
Through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord, | 6:45 | |
who liveth and reigneth with thee | 6:49 | |
and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever amen. | 6:50 | |
- | Let us pray. | 7:06 |
Open our hearts and minds oh God | 7:09 | |
by the power of your Holy Spirit, | 7:12 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed | 7:15 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day, amen. | 7:19 | |
The first lesson is taken from Genesis. | 7:27 | |
"And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai, your wife, | 7:32 | |
you shall not call her name Sarai, | 7:39 | |
but Sarah shall be her name. | 7:45 | |
I will bless her and moreover | 7:49 | |
I will give you a son by her, | 7:53 | |
I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations. | 7:57 | |
Kings of peoples shall come from her.' | 8:03 | |
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed | 8:08 | |
and said to himself, 'Shall a child | 8:13 | |
be born to a man who is a hundred years old? | 8:17 | |
Shall Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child?' | 8:23 | |
The Lord said, 'I will surely return to you | 8:31 | |
in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.' | 8:36 | |
And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him, | 8:44 | |
and now Abraham and Sarah were old, | 8:49 | |
advanced in age. | 8:54 | |
It had ceased to be with Sarah | 8:57 | |
after the manner of women, so Sarah laughed to herself, | 9:00 | |
saying, 'After I have grown old, and | 9:07 | |
my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?' | 9:11 | |
The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah | 9:16 | |
laugh and say, "shall I indeed bear a child | 9:20 | |
now that I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? | 9:25 | |
At the appointed time I will return to you | 9:33 | |
in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.' | 9:37 | |
But Sarah denied, saying, | 9:44 | |
'I did not laugh.' for she was afraid. | 9:47 | |
He said 'No, but you did laugh.' | 9:52 | |
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said | 9:57 | |
and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised | 10:03 | |
and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham | 10:08 | |
a son in his old age, at the time | 10:12 | |
of which God had spoken to him. | 10:17 | |
Abraham called the name of his son | 10:21 | |
who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac, | 10:25 | |
and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac | 10:32 | |
when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. | 10:37 | |
Abraham was a hundred years old when his | 10:45 | |
son Isaac was born to him, and Sarah said | 10:50 | |
'God has made laughter for me. | 10:55 | |
Everyone who hears will laugh over me.' | 11:02 | |
And she said, 'Who would have said to Abraham | 11:07 | |
that Sarah would suckle children? | 11:10 | |
Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.' " | 11:14 | |
This ends the reading of the First Lesson. | 11:22 | |
Woman | Please stand for the reading from the Psalter. | 11:34 |
How long oh Lord wilt thou look on? | 11:44 | |
Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions, | 11:48 | |
then I will thank thee in the great congregation. | 11:53 | |
In the mighty throng I will praise thee. | 11:57 | |
Congregation | Let not those rejoice over me | 12:01 |
who are wrongfully my foes, | 12:03 | |
let those not wink with the eye | 12:06 | |
that hate me without a cause. | 12:09 | |
- | For they do not speak peace, | 12:12 |
but against those who are quiet in the land, | 12:15 | |
they conceive words of deceit. | 12:18 | |
Congregation | They opened their mouth wide against me, | 12:21 |
they said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it. | 12:25 | |
- | Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not silent, | 12:31 |
O Lord, be not far from me. | 12:35 | |
Bestir thyself, and awake for my right, | 12:39 | |
for my cause, my God and my Lord. | 12:42 | |
Congregation | Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according | 12:47 |
to thy righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me. | 12:50 | |
- | Let them not say to themselves, | 12:56 |
aha, we have our hearts' desire, | 12:58 | |
let them not say, we have swallowed him up. | 13:01 | |
Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether | 13:05 | |
who rejoice at my calamity, let them be clothed with shame | 13:10 | |
and dishonour who magnify themselves against me. | 13:14 | |
Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy, | 13:19 | |
and be glad, and say evermore, | 13:22 | |
Congregation | Praise the Lord who | 13:26 |
delights in the welfare of his servant. | 13:28 | |
- | Then my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness | 13:31 |
and of thy praise all the day long. | 13:34 | |
Congregation | Amen. | 13:38 |
(organ intonation) | 13:40 | |
("Glory Be to God Creator") | 13:48 | |
- | The Second Lesson is taken from Hebrews. | 14:42 |
"Since then we have a great high priest | 14:48 | |
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. | 14:55 | |
Let us hold fast our confession | 15:02 | |
for we have not a high priest who is unable | 15:07 | |
to sympathize with our weakness, | 15:12 | |
but one who in every respect | 15:15 | |
has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. | 15:18 | |
Let us then with confidence draw near | 15:23 | |
to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy | 15:28 | |
and find grace to help in time of need." | 15:34 | |
This ends the reading of the Second Lesson. | 15:40 | |
The Gospel lesson is taken from Mark. | 15:46 | |
"And James and John the sons of Zebedee | 15:53 | |
came forward to him and said to him, | 16:01 | |
'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.' | 16:07 | |
And he said to them, 'What do you want me to do for you?' | 16:14 | |
and they said to him, 'Grant us to sit | 16:23 | |
one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.' | 16:27 | |
But Jesus said to them, 'You | 16:34 | |
do not know what you are asking. | 16:37 | |
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink | 16:41 | |
or be baptized with the baptism with which | 16:45 | |
I am baptized?' And they said to him, 'We are able.' | 16:49 | |
And Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I drink, | 16:56 | |
you will drink, and with the baptism with which | 17:01 | |
I am baptized, you will be baptized, | 17:05 | |
but to sit at my right hand or at my left | 17:09 | |
is not mine to grant, but it is for those | 17:14 | |
for whom it has been prepared.' | 17:18 | |
And when the ten heard it, they began | 17:23 | |
to be indignant at James and John | 17:27 | |
and Jesus called to them and said to them, | 17:32 | |
'You know that those who are supposed to rule | 17:39 | |
over the Gentiles lord it over them, | 17:42 | |
and their great men exercise authority over them, | 17:46 | |
but it shall not be so among you, | 17:52 | |
but whoever would be great among you | 17:56 | |
must be your servant, and whoever would be | 17:59 | |
first among you must be slave of all, | 18:03 | |
for the Son of Man also came not to be served, | 18:09 | |
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' " | 18:15 | |
(organ intonation) | 18:31 | |
(choir singing) | 18:57 | |
- | There was once an old man who always | 22:09 |
had great difficulty staying awake in church. | 22:11 | |
It was in the days when a warden | 22:16 | |
would walk the aisles with a long birch rod | 22:18 | |
and tap anyone on the shoulder who began nodding. | 22:22 | |
So on this particular Sunday when | 22:26 | |
the old man fell asleep, the warden came forward | 22:27 | |
and tapped him gently upon one shoulder. | 22:31 | |
The old man went on sleeping, so the warden then | 22:34 | |
tapped him a bit harder on the other shoulder. | 22:39 | |
The man continued to sleep, whereupon | 22:43 | |
the pastor frowned, and shook his head, | 22:46 | |
and then the warden took his stick | 22:51 | |
and struck the old man on top of the head | 22:54 | |
and knocked him out of the pew into the aisle | 22:56 | |
and the old man was sprawled out in the aisle face down | 22:59 | |
and after a moment, he lifted his head, | 23:04 | |
squinted one eye open, and said, | 23:08 | |
"Hit me again, I can still hear him." | 23:12 | |
(congregation laughter) | 23:16 | |
Now I doubt that the preacher got | 23:24 | |
a laugh out of that, but at least the rest of us did. | 23:25 | |
What is it that makes something funny anyhow? | 23:30 | |
A surprising amount of effort has been devoted to that | 23:35 | |
by philosophers and theologians and comedians | 23:39 | |
all the way from the near side with Bill Cosby | 23:43 | |
to the Far Side with Gary Larson. | 23:46 | |
From Shakespeare to Cyrano or Steve Martin, | 23:51 | |
whichever you prefer, from Freud to Bergson, | 23:54 | |
from Kierkegaard to Niebuhr, they have asked | 23:59 | |
the same question, what makes something funny. | 24:03 | |
And what do they tell us? | 24:06 | |
They tell us that something is funny | 24:08 | |
if it is absurd, ludicrous, surprising. | 24:11 | |
For example if you take a child to the circus | 24:19 | |
and a clown walks in with paint on his face | 24:22 | |
and a bulbous nose and slips down | 24:25 | |
on a banana peel and falls down on the floor, | 24:28 | |
you're not going to laugh at all, | 24:32 | |
but the child will burst his sides laughing. | 24:34 | |
You see, you know that clowns are supposed | 24:39 | |
to do things like slipping on banana peels, | 24:42 | |
and it's not funny to you, but it's hilarious | 24:44 | |
to the child to see a grown up dressed in | 24:48 | |
silly clothes with paint on his face | 24:50 | |
and a big nose falling down on the floor. | 24:52 | |
Life has a strange way whatever our age | 24:57 | |
of bringing the absurd to us, and sometimes | 25:03 | |
we laugh, and sometimes we cry. | 25:07 | |
In our text this morning Abraham laughed. | 25:13 | |
After all, what could be more ludicrous | 25:18 | |
than to tell a 100 year old man with a 90 year old wife | 25:22 | |
congratulations, you're going to have a baby. | 25:26 | |
Just about the time Abraham and Sarah | 25:31 | |
were ready to send out invitations | 25:34 | |
to their golden wedding anniversary or maybe | 25:37 | |
their diamond wedding anniversary, who knows, | 25:39 | |
God said I am going to give you a baby. | 25:43 | |
Abraham said to himself sure, | 25:49 | |
exactly what we need. | 25:53 | |
Here we've followed you, you unknown desert god | 25:57 | |
halfway around the world on the promise | 26:00 | |
that you would give us a great family | 26:03 | |
and you haven't done it and now that we're too old | 26:05 | |
to have children, maybe you're gonna make a | 26:10 | |
little joke with old Abraham, ah, | 26:13 | |
you're gonna tell old Abraham and | 26:15 | |
Sarah now you're gonna have a baby. | 26:17 | |
Well Abraham fell down on his face laughing, | 26:21 | |
that's what the Scripture says, | 26:25 | |
and Sarah got the silly giggles behind the tent flap. | 26:28 | |
And God said to Abraham, what is she laughing at? | 26:32 | |
And Sarah said, biting the side | 26:38 | |
of her mouth, hey, I'm not laughing. | 26:40 | |
And God said you are too. | 26:44 | |
So God got into a tis-tain't argument with Sarah | 26:48 | |
but you can hardly blame God, it's no fun being laughed at. | 26:52 | |
I can still remember my first date, | 26:56 | |
it was almost my last date. | 26:59 | |
I was 13 and this girl called me up | 27:03 | |
and invited me to go to a dance with her, | 27:05 | |
a sodality dance. | 27:10 | |
Now she was Catholic | 27:14 | |
and I was Baptist, | 27:18 | |
and I knew precious little about dancing | 27:20 | |
and absolutely nothing about what a sodality was, | 27:23 | |
but I did know it was a good thing to go on a date | 27:26 | |
and so the girl told me, you need to wear a costume, | 27:33 | |
we're having a costume party, it's a costume dance. | 27:39 | |
And I said great, what do I wear? | 27:43 | |
She said a costume, that's what a costume party is. | 27:45 | |
Well then I had to decide what to wear | 27:50 | |
I thought it sounded like a lot of fun | 27:52 | |
I figured though that everybody would have chosen | 27:54 | |
the things that you would first think of those days, | 27:59 | |
maybe Superman suit | 28:03 | |
or a Batman costume | 28:07 | |
or something like that, so I chose Captain Midnight. | 28:09 | |
Captain Midnight has long since passed | 28:14 | |
into the realm of collectible comic books, | 28:18 | |
but I decided I would go dressed | 28:22 | |
as Captain Midnight, so I told my mother. | 28:23 | |
I said mother I've got to get a costume. | 28:26 | |
She said what is it, I said it's a Captain Midnight | 28:29 | |
costume and she said it's okay, we'll make it. | 28:35 | |
I said mother it has a cape, a yellow cape. | 28:40 | |
She said it's no problem we'll make it. | 28:44 | |
I said how are we gonna make a yellow cape, she says | 28:47 | |
it's no problem, we'll take a yellow crayon | 28:50 | |
and crayon it and we iron it and it makes it permanent. | 28:52 | |
And I said mother, are you sure this is gonna be alright? | 28:58 | |
She said don't worry, it'll be fine. | 29:04 | |
So the night of the dance, my dad takes me, | 29:07 | |
I'm wearing black leotards or something like that | 29:10 | |
a crayon yellow cape, and a little black | 29:14 | |
eye mask perched up on my forehead. | 29:16 | |
We go to pick up Sally Collette, she comes out | 29:19 | |
dressed like a gypsy, which except for a few | 29:22 | |
extra bangles around her neck, | 29:26 | |
was the way she dressed all the time. | 29:28 | |
I was a little disappointed but I thought, | 29:32 | |
well a gypsy costume, that's a costume. | 29:35 | |
So my dad let us out in front of the old | 29:39 | |
YWCA and said | 29:42 | |
I'll be back to get you at 10. | 29:45 | |
We went inside, I didn't know a single person there. | 29:48 | |
All those kids went to St. John's. | 29:53 | |
That wasn't the worst of it though. | 29:56 | |
I was the only person there in costume. | 30:00 | |
There was one guy over in the corner | 30:06 | |
that had on a sailor cap and everybody else | 30:09 | |
had on just tee shirts and blue jeans. | 30:11 | |
I've got on a yellow cape, black leotards, | 30:13 | |
and a little mask on top of my forehead. | 30:16 | |
I'm 13, right, I'm dying. (congregation laughter) | 30:20 | |
Honest to God, I don't know where Sally went, | 30:29 | |
and I don't care where Sally went. | 30:31 | |
I turned around and slipped out after a few minutes | 30:33 | |
and sat in the adjoining room on an old | 30:38 | |
horsehair sofa with one of those lamps with a | 30:40 | |
40 watt bulb and fringe around the edges | 30:43 | |
and ate vanilla wafers while a kind lady | 30:46 | |
kept bringing me little cups of red punch | 30:49 | |
and asking me "are you alright?" And | 30:53 | |
"don't you wanna go back into the dance?" | 30:55 | |
and I stood it about an hour and then I | 31:00 | |
couldn't stand it anymore and I went outside | 31:02 | |
and I hid in the hedge next to the brick wall | 31:05 | |
across from the Trailways bus depot | 31:09 | |
and I watched the buses come and go until finally | 31:11 | |
I fished out the only nickel I had and went over | 31:14 | |
and put it in the pay phone and I told my dad | 31:16 | |
dad, if you love me, come and get me. | 31:19 | |
(congregation laughs) | 31:22 | |
And if it hadn't been for the lime sherbet | 31:25 | |
on the way home, the whole evening | 31:30 | |
would have been a total waste. | 31:32 | |
It's no fun being laughed at and sometimes | 31:35 | |
the pain of laughter can be the worst of all pains. | 31:40 | |
Aristotle told us we laugh generally | 31:47 | |
at those who are deformed or have defects. | 31:52 | |
Cicero said we laugh at the ugly and the strange. | 31:57 | |
Quintillian said laugher is generally in derision. | 32:02 | |
But the truth is, the one | 32:08 | |
who is doing the laughing | 32:13 | |
or the one being laughed at is not the only one in pain | 32:18 | |
sometimes the one doing the laughing | 32:21 | |
is showing their pain by their laughing. | 32:23 | |
For example, sarcastic laughter of Abraham and Sarah | 32:27 | |
barely concealed their bitterness and cynicism. | 32:30 | |
After all, God had made them a promise | 32:36 | |
and that promise had not come true. | 32:39 | |
We're told that great comedians are born | 32:44 | |
from the people who have suffered the most. | 32:48 | |
From the persecution of the Jews to the | 32:53 | |
slavery of the blacks, frequently | 32:55 | |
pain has been the birth pangs of laughter. | 32:58 | |
Kierkegaard says the comic is our way | 33:05 | |
of escaping despair, if only for a minute, | 33:09 | |
and therefore it carries within it a seed of hope | 33:12 | |
and because of that Kierkegaard says faith, | 33:18 | |
laughter is a prelude to faith. | 33:23 | |
It is not faith itself, but it is a prelude to faith. | 33:26 | |
It acknowledges I do not run the world, | 33:32 | |
I am not in charge of things, I can make a mistake. | 33:37 | |
I don't control your life and so I can celebrate | 33:42 | |
your joys at the same time | 33:47 | |
I can laugh at my own humanity. | 33:50 | |
The tragic person asserts against | 33:55 | |
finitude and falls into despair. | 34:00 | |
The comic person asserts against the same | 34:05 | |
finitude, and laughs at the pretense of divinity. | 34:08 | |
On that great day then, God showed up | 34:17 | |
at the tent with a smile | 34:21 | |
and said | 34:26 | |
Abraham, surprise. | 34:28 | |
And it was true, old Sarah | 34:35 | |
was going to have a baby. | 34:41 | |
What's going on here? | 34:45 | |
God was showing them as God is showing us | 34:50 | |
that God's promise is always born out of the impossible. | 34:55 | |
The promise of our lives which we | 35:02 | |
cannot make come true, God can make true. | 35:05 | |
The promise of God is always born of the impossible. | 35:11 | |
I've been struck in the last year | 35:16 | |
in the study of the Scripture, that is not only | 35:19 | |
a message of the New Testament, that is the message | 35:22 | |
of the Bible all the way through. | 35:25 | |
There is one great consistent message and that is | 35:28 | |
God's promise is always born out of the impossible. | 35:33 | |
From Noah's ark to the Resurrection, that is the message. | 35:38 | |
From Abraham and Sarah's child Isaac | 35:43 | |
to Hannah's child Samuel, to Elizabeth's child John, | 35:48 | |
to Mary's child Jesus, that's the story. | 35:53 | |
The promise of God comes out of the impossible. | 35:58 | |
What we cannot do for ourselves | 36:02 | |
God can do for us. | 36:07 | |
Later on Paul will say, now I understand it, | 36:11 | |
it's like that so none of us can boast and say | 36:17 | |
look what we've accomplished, but rather | 36:21 | |
we would have gratitude for God. | 36:24 | |
So the baby was born to the geriatric couple | 36:30 | |
and the next time that Sarah laughed | 36:37 | |
is the first and last time in the whole Bible | 36:40 | |
that laughter is not derision, | 36:45 | |
but pure joy. | 36:49 | |
And Sarah says, who can believe this? | 36:53 | |
That my old husband should have a child, | 36:59 | |
that I in my old age should have a baby? | 37:03 | |
And she told Abraham I know already | 37:09 | |
what we are going to name him, | 37:11 | |
we're going to name him Isaac, laughter. | 37:14 | |
And it must have been much more than average fun | 37:23 | |
the first time they chucked little laughter | 37:26 | |
under the chin and little laughter laughed. | 37:30 | |
Later, Isaiah | 37:40 | |
will pick up this story | 37:44 | |
it will come back to Israel in another time | 37:47 | |
of great pain, of captivity, | 37:51 | |
a time of the impossible | 37:55 | |
and like a football coach at halftime, Isaiah says, | 37:58 | |
in Isaiah 51, listen to me, | 38:01 | |
anybody | 38:06 | |
who's looking for deliverance, you who seek the Lord, | 38:07 | |
look to the rock from which you were hewn, | 38:13 | |
and to the quarry from which you were digged. | 38:18 | |
Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you | 38:22 | |
for when he was just one person I called him | 38:26 | |
and I blessed him and I made him many. | 38:29 | |
For the Lord will comfort Zion, the Lord | 38:35 | |
will comfort all her waste places and will make | 38:38 | |
her wilderness like an Eden, her | 38:41 | |
desert like the garden of the Lord. | 38:44 | |
Joy and gladness will be found in her, | 38:47 | |
thanksgiving and the voice of song. | 38:50 | |
That's what God said to Israel | 38:53 | |
in her depression | 39:01 | |
and that's what God says to me and to you | 39:04 | |
in our times of depression and despair as well, | 39:09 | |
when our hurtling lives have smashed | 39:14 | |
dead end up against an immovable force | 39:18 | |
we never thought would touch our lives. | 39:23 | |
When life has stamped a great canceled | 39:26 | |
across all the promises of faith. | 39:29 | |
Now boys, the football coach used to say, | 39:36 | |
now we're going to find out what you're made of. | 39:38 | |
Yes, and we as the children of God too need to | 39:42 | |
look back to the rock from whence we are hewn | 39:47 | |
and to see what we're made of. | 39:51 | |
We're made of tough material, | 39:56 | |
rugged old Abraham and Sarah, yes, | 40:01 | |
but also | 40:06 | |
a clown in a carpenter's suit, | 40:09 | |
a buffoon in a royal robe, | 40:13 | |
a dying man with a sign tacked over his head | 40:17 | |
lampooning his life King of the Jews, | 40:22 | |
a dying man with a dirty reed | 40:28 | |
for a scepter in his hand and a thorn crown on his brow. | 40:31 | |
Remember this, | 40:39 | |
the kingdom still rides in | 40:42 | |
on a donkey, the promise | 40:46 | |
always comes forth from tombs. | 40:51 | |
God could have had the last laugh on Abraham and Sarah, | 40:56 | |
but God let them have it, | 41:01 | |
and God does the same for us, | 41:05 | |
the last laugh | 41:09 | |
is God's and yours. | 41:12 | |
Let's pray together. | 41:18 | |
Oh God, we who are the most humorous of all your creation, | 41:27 | |
ask you to come to us | 41:37 | |
in our despair | 41:41 | |
when our lives are barren and our hopes are stillborn, | 41:45 | |
resurrect our dreams | 41:53 | |
from the tombs. | 41:58 | |
By the hand of the carpenter clown | 42:01 | |
who lives and promises | 42:09 | |
and fulfills evermore. | 42:13 | |
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen. | 42:16 | |
(organ music) | 42:25 | |
(choir singing) | 42:58 | |
Woman | The Lord be with you. | 45:25 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 45:27 |
Woman | Let us pray. | 45:29 |
Oh God of Sarah and Abraham, Lord of all generations, | 45:39 | |
hear our prayers of wonder and praise | 45:47 | |
for your steadfast love from age to age. | 45:50 | |
We thank you for touching the lives | 45:54 | |
of those who have gone before us. | 45:57 | |
And we thank you for their testimony with us still. | 46:00 | |
We remember with joy your faithfulness | 46:05 | |
and goodness to them, to us, and to all people. | 46:08 | |
We honor and glorify you | 46:13 | |
for your mighty works done in this community of faith. | 46:15 | |
Hear our prayers for those who have not yet | 46:20 | |
heard or claimed your promise. | 46:24 | |
Open their eyes and ears by the power of your Holy Spirit | 46:28 | |
that they may know and worship you. | 46:33 | |
Grant to your church we pray the zeal | 46:36 | |
to proclaim your loving kindness with deeds and words | 46:40 | |
that the homeless, the sick, the imprisoned | 46:45 | |
and the persecuted may discover with gladness | 46:50 | |
divine mercy in your covenant people. | 46:54 | |
Gracious God our savior, we pray for all who have answered | 46:59 | |
your call to follow you in paths of service. | 47:05 | |
Grant courage to those who want to be disciples | 47:09 | |
but waver when they learn the cost. | 47:12 | |
Comfort those who drink from a cup | 47:17 | |
of suffering today, that they may know | 47:20 | |
their trials are not without purpose. | 47:22 | |
Make plain the path for those committed | 47:26 | |
to faithful living who are uncertain of the way. | 47:28 | |
Deliver us and all your children | 47:33 | |
from pride, unbelief and small mindedness | 47:36 | |
as you continue to make covenant with your people. | 47:41 | |
By your holy spirit, teach your disciples | 47:46 | |
to value patience more than prestige, | 47:50 | |
sanctity more than salary, | 47:54 | |
righteousness more than riches, | 47:58 | |
always with an eye to glorifying | 48:01 | |
Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name we pray, amen. | 48:04 | |
And now in response to the word read and proclaimed, | 48:12 | |
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 48:16 | |
(organ music) | 48:23 | |
("Blessed Are They whom Thou Hast Chosen" by Tchaikovsky) | 49:27 | |
♪ How blessed are they ♪ | 49:29 | |
♪ How blessed are they ♪ | 49:33 | |
♪ Whom thou hast chosen ♪ | 49:42 | |
♪ Chosen and taken ♪ | 49:55 | |
♪ Whom thou hast chosen and taken ♪ | 50:02 | |
♪ Unto thee oh Lord ♪ | 50:08 | |
♪ How blessed are they ♪ | 50:13 | |
♪ How blessed are they ♪ | 50:19 | |
♪ How blessed are they ♪ | 50:25 | |
♪ Whom thou has taken unto thee ♪ | 50:35 | |
♪ Oh Lord ♪ | 50:43 | |
♪ Their memory is from generation ♪ | 50:48 | |
♪ To generation ♪ | 50:55 | |
♪ From generation ♪ | 51:00 | |
♪ To generation ♪ | 51:06 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:20 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:25 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:32 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:35 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:38 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:41 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:44 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:47 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:50 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 51:54 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 52:00 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 52:10 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 52:17 | |
(organ music) | 52:28 | |
("Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow") | 53:20 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 53:41 | |
♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ | 53:47 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 53:52 | |
♪ Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host ♪ | 53:59 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ♪ | 54:05 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 54:11 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 54:17 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 54:23 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 54:31 | |
Woman | Almighty God, the source | 54:41 |
of all our comfort and joy, receive these gifts | 54:44 | |
as we dedicate them and ourselves anew unto thee. | 54:48 | |
Consecrate for us the experience and resolves | 54:53 | |
of this hour, and lead us in the way | 54:56 | |
of true understanding and fruitful service | 54:59 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 55:03 | |
who taught us to pray together, saying, | 55:06 | |
Our Father who art in heaven | 55:09 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, | 55:12 | |
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. | 55:16 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 55:21 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we | 55:24 | |
forgive those who trespass against us, | 55:27 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 55:30 | |
but deliver us from evil, for thine | 55:33 | |
is the kingdom, and the power, | 55:36 | |
and the glory, forever, amen. | 55:38 | |
("Rejoice the Lord is King") | 55:45 | |
♪ Rejoice, the Lord is King ♪ | 56:20 | |
♪ Your Lord and King adore ♪ | 56:24 | |
♪ Rejoice, give thanks and sing ♪ | 56:29 | |
♪ And triumph evermore ♪ | 56:32 | |
♪ Lift up your heart ♪ | 56:39 | |
♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪ | 56:44 | |
♪ I say, rejoice ♪ | 56:48 | |
♪ Jesus, the Savior, reigns, ♪ | 56:56 | |
♪ The God of truth and love ♪ | 57:01 | |
♪ When He has purged our stains ♪ | 57:06 | |
♪ He took his seat above ♪ | 57:10 | |
♪ Lift up your heart ♪ | 57:16 | |
♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪ | 57:21 | |
♪ I say, rejoice! ♪ | 57:26 | |
♪ His kingdom cannot fail ♪ | 57:33 | |
♪ He rules o'er earth and heav'n ♪ | 57:38 | |
♪ The keys of death and hell ♪ | 57:44 | |
♪ Are to our Jesus giv'n ♪ | 57:47 | |
♪ Lift up your heart ♪ | 57:53 | |
♪ Lift up your voice, rejoice, again ♪ | 57:59 | |
♪ I say, rejoice ♪ | 58:04 | |
♪ Rejoice in glorious hope ♪ | 58:14 | |
♪ Our Lord and judge shall come ♪ | 58:17 | |
♪ And take His servants up ♪ | 58:22 | |
♪ To their eternal home ♪ | 58:26 | |
♪ Lift up your heart, ♪ | 58:33 | |
♪ Lift up your voice! rejoice, again ♪ | 58:38 | |
♪ I say, rejoice! ♪ | 58:43 | |
- | And now may the peace of God which passes all | 58:54 |
understanding keep your hearts and minds | 58:57 | |
in the knowledge and love of God | 59:00 | |
and of Jesus Christ our Lord and the blessing | 59:03 | |
of God almighty, father, son, and Holy Spirit | 59:06 | |
be with you now and evermore, amen. | 59:11 | |
(organ music) | 59:16 |
Item Info
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