James T. Cleland - "Jesus: Dead, but Raised" (April 14, 1974)

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-	I will look for you at the service	0:03
	and also this afternoon.	0:06
	I think you've (indistinct)	0:11
	we don't know, this is a mess, right?	0:16
-	(indistinct)	0:19
-	But you and I both agreed with the director	0:20
	the we would share that theme with the instrumentals,	0:23
	we don't know when they are coming or anything.	0:25
	Be here at 6:00, be out by 6:15 outside.	0:29
	All right, let's sing up those words.	0:34
	When do we form up?	0:36
	At 6:30 we come back here?	0:40
	(indistinct)	0:43
	I'm sorry (indistinct)	0:46
	(liturgical music)	1:26
-	If we say we have no sin,	9:45
	we deceive ourselves	9:50
	and the truth is not in us,	9:54
	but if we confess our sins,	9:59
	God is faithful and just,	10:03
	and will forgive us our sins	10:07
	and cleanse us	10:11
	from all unrighteousness.	10:13
	Let us confess our sins to all mighty God.	10:17
	Oh, holy God,	10:21
	on this joyous Easter Sunday,	10:24
	it is difficult for us to confess our sin.	10:27
	We give thanks.	10:31
	We rejoice.	10:33
	We are exhilarant,	10:34
	but we pray, oh God,	10:37
	that our rejoicing will not blind us	10:39
	to the needs of the world.	10:41
	That our affirmation of the resurrection	10:44
	will not damn the continuing reality of the crucifixion.	10:47
	So now, oh God, we come before you as a disobedient church,	10:52
	our loyalty to you has been lost	10:59
	in the conflict of human loyalties.	11:01
	Our own self-interest	11:04
	has made us insensitive to your command.	11:06
	Our past is precious to us,	11:10
	and we have allowed it to set limits	11:13
	upon the present and the future.	11:15
	Our worship and service have been feeble.	11:18
	We have not responded in love to you	11:22
	nor to the needs of our neighbor and the campus,	11:26
	break our apathy and our arrogance	11:29
	with the judgment of your love	11:33
	and the assurance of the resurrection faith.	11:35
	Then in mercy heal us, oh, Holy Spirit,	11:39
	causing us as a community	11:43
	to be born and new in Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	11:46
	Let us continue with our individual	11:54
	personal prayers to God.	11:57
	God shows his love for us	12:24
	and that while we were yet sinners,	12:29
	Christ died for us.	12:32
	He himself bore our sins on the cross	12:36
	that we might die to sin	12:40
	and live to righteousness.	12:42
	The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.	12:46
	I declare unto you	12:52
	in the name of Jesus Christ	12:54
	we are forgiven,	12:58
	amen.	13:03
	(liturgical musical)	13:06
-	Let us hear the word of God.	20:15
	On this mountain,	20:21
	the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples	20:23
	a feast of fat things,	20:25
	a feast of wine on the lees,	20:28
	of fat things full of marrow,	20:31
	of wine on the lees will be refined.	20:34
	And he will destroy on this mountain,	20:37
	the covering that is cast over all peoples,	20:40
	the veil that is spread over all nations.	20:44
	He will swallow up death forever,	20:48
	and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces	20:52
	and the reproach of his people	20:58
	he will take away from all the earth	21:00
	for the Lord has spoken.	21:03
	It will be said on that day,	21:07
	"Lo this is our God,	21:10
	"we have waited for him that he might save us.	21:13
	"This is the Lord,	21:17
	"we have waited for him.	21:19
	"Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."	21:22
	Let the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel.	21:36
	But on the first day of the week at early dawn,	21:52
	they went to the tomb,	21:55
	taking the spices which they had prepared,	21:57
	and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.	22:02
	But when they went in,	22:06
	they did not find the body.	22:08
	While they were perplexed about this,	22:11
	behold two men stood by them in dazzling apparel,	22:13
	and as they were frightened	22:20
	and bowed their faces to the ground,	22:21
	the men said to them,	22:24
	"Why do you seek the living among the dead?	22:26
	"Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee,	22:30
	"that the son of man must be delivered	22:35
	"into the hands of sinful men and be crucified,	22:38
	"and on the third day rise."	22:43
	And they remembered his words,	22:46
	and returning from the tomb,	22:49
	they told all this to the 11	22:51
	and to all the rest.	22:54
	Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary,	22:57
	the mother of James,	23:00
	and the other women with them	23:02
	who told this to the apostles.	23:05
	Here ends the reading of the lesson.	23:09
	(liturgical music)	23:13
-	Let us affirm our faith.	23:57
	We are not alone.	24:01
	We live in God's world.	24:03
	We believe in God	24:06
	who has created and is creating,	24:08
	who has come in the true man Jesus,	24:11
	to reconcile and make new,	24:14
	who works in us and others by his spirit.	24:17
	We trust him.	24:21
	He calls us to be in his church,	24:23
	to celebrate his presence,	24:26
	to love and serve others,	24:29
	to seek justice and resist evil,	24:32
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	24:35
	our judge and our hope,	24:39
	in life, in death,	24:41
	in life beyond death, God is with us.	24:44
	We are not alone.	24:48
	Thanks be to God.	24:50
	The Lord be with you.	24:53
-	And with your spirit.	24:55
-	Let us pray.	24:56
	Christ, the lamb of God is sacrificed for us.	25:05
	Now has Christ been raised from the dead,	25:11
	he is risen, as he said.	25:15
	Thanks be to God who gives us the victory	25:18
	through our Lord Jesus Christ.	25:22
	Oh God, most high,	25:25
	all praise and thanks be to you this day	25:29
	for the multitude of your loving kindnesses to us	25:32
	and to all of your children.	25:36
	It is neat and right	25:40
	that we should praise you at all times, surely,	25:41
	but especially this day,	25:46
	we sing praises to your name	25:47
	because you have brought eternal life to light	25:50
	through the joyous victory of our Lord, Jesus Christ.	25:54
	Having overcome the sharpness of death,	26:00
	we give thanks that he opened the way of life to us	26:03
	and that because he lives, we live also.	26:07
	Oh merciful father,	26:14
	we commend to you this day	26:17
	all persons who in any way at all are afflicted,	26:19
	relieve those who suffer,	26:25
	restore health and strength to those who are sick.	26:28
	In Christ our Lord, who is truly resurrection in life,	26:33
	let the heavy laden find strength to endure	26:38
	and let those who now are in the valley of the shadow	26:42
	see the light of life eternal.	26:48
	Give to the lonely and the sorrowing the assurance	26:51
	that nothing can ever separate them from your love,	26:55
	which we know in Jesus Christ.	27:00
	We pray for all those dear to us,	27:05
	especially those from whom we are parted	27:10
	and who come	27:12
	clearly to mind this day,	27:15
	those whom we name in our hearts now before you,	27:19
	may they rejoice with us this holy day	27:28
	and rejoice in the hope	27:32
	that we do indeed have an inheritance in your presence	27:33
	that is incorruptible and undefiled	27:37
	and lasts forever.	27:40
	And now, oh God, as we wait upon you in faith and hope,	27:44
	may we know your will and serve you acceptably and lovingly	27:49
	all the days of our life.	27:54
	Help us to love	27:59
	as you love us.	28:01
	In the name of Christ who taught us to pray,	28:05
	praying together,	28:07
	our father who art in heaven,	28:10
	hallowed be thy name,	28:14
	thy kingdom come,	28:17
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,	28:18
	give us this day, our daily bread	28:22
	and forgive us our trespasses	28:26
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	28:29
	and lead us not into temptation,	28:32
	but deliver us from evil.	28:36
	For thine is the kingdom,	28:38
	the power and the glory forever and ever, amen.	28:40
	Let me say a word of welcome in the name of Christ to you	28:50
	on this blessed Easter day	28:55
	as you have come to this particular place	28:59
	to rejoice in the good news that Christ is raised.	29:01
	If you worship here regularly, it's good to have you back.	29:06
	If you're visiting,	29:11
	we pray that God's spirit and love will be very	29:12
	present to you	29:16
	not only in the moments when you worship here,	29:17
	but as you leave.	29:20
	Tonight at Seven o'clock,	29:24
	a very special service.	29:27
	The North Carolina Symphony and the Duke Chapel choir	29:31
	will join together	29:34
	in presenting for,	29:36
	"Rejoicing by us All,"	29:38
	Mahler's resurrection symphony.	29:41
	You are invited at Seven tonight.	29:44
	It is a distinct privilege	29:50
	for all of us who know and love Jim Clelland	29:55
	to wait now, as he in the name of Christ,	30:00
	brings us the word of God	30:05
	on this glad Easter day.	30:08
	Dr. Clelland.	30:11
-	The grace of the risen Lord	30:24
	be with us all.	30:27
	Easter is the oldest	30:32
	of the festivals of the Christian Church.	30:34
	Easter has every right to this primacy	30:39
	because it is the historical starting place of our faith.	30:45
	As Saint Paul puts it quite bluntly,	30:53
	if Christ was not raised,	30:58
	then our gospel is null and void	31:04
	and so is your faith.	31:09
	No Easter then no Christian Church,	31:14
	as we know it,	31:20
	or there might have persisted	31:22
	a small association of Jesus followers,	31:25
	perhaps calling themselves the Nazarenes	31:30
	with the "Sermon on the Mount,"	31:36
	as their gospel.	31:39
	They however would have been obliterated by the Romans	31:42
	in A.D 70,	31:46
	along with the Sadducees and the Essenes	31:49
	when Jerusalem was destroyed.	31:54
	Moreover, no Easter	31:58
	then no Christmas	32:01
	and no Friday	32:05
	called good.	32:08
	Now, why is such a statement made so emphatically?	32:12
	Without Easter, Good Friday would have been	32:18
	for the followers of Jesus, Bad Friday.	32:21
	The tag end of a fallen carpenter	32:27
	who had become an itinerant preacher	32:32
	and whose life ended as a crucified criminal	32:35
	done to death on the double charge	32:40
	of treason and blasphemy.	32:45
	Such a Friday would be remembered as the triumph of evil.	32:49
	Why should Jesus' birth be celebrated at Christmas	32:57
	if there is no truth in the Easter message.	33:02
	But Easter does three things.	33:08
	First, it vindicates God.	33:11
	Jesus did not of himself rise from the dead,	33:18
	he was raised from the dead	33:24
	by God.	33:28
	That's the key thought in the first sermon	33:31
	preached by Saint Peter.	33:34
	God raised him to life again,	33:37
	because it could not be	33:41
	that death should keep him	33:44
	in its grip.	33:48
	As an old Scotsman put it in his Scotts vernacular	33:51
	thinking about Easter,	33:55
	God's the boy.	33:57
	And if you look up the word boy	34:00
	in the Scott's dialect dictionary,	34:02
	it means a smart, clever, capable fellow.	34:03
	Now that's what God is,	34:09
	a smart, clever, capable fellow.	34:11
	It's an interesting, but valid reaction to Easter.	34:15
	Second, Easter placed God's imprimatur,	34:20
	his stamp of approval on Jesus.	34:25
	God endorsed Jesus.	34:29
	No up stack, nothing stands in the way.	34:33
	Peter's way of announcing this	34:39
	in that same first sermon was,	34:41
	"Let all Israel accept as certain	34:44
	"that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified,	34:49
	"both Lord and Messiah,"	34:55
	two high titles.	35:00
	As the late Henry Sloane Coffin put it,	35:04
	"The indisputable Easter fact	35:07
	"is that Jesus was our more potent factor in Jerusalem	35:11
	"in the weeks and months after his death and calvary	35:18
	"than when he rode into the city amid the crowds	35:23
	"or sat with his disciples in the upper room."	35:27
	And third, the Easter message encourages us today,	35:35
	as Paul discovered and proclaimed,	35:40
	"The spirit of the risen Christ	35:43
	"can take possession of a person.	35:47
	"I live," and then he denies it,	35:52
	"yet not I,	35:56
	"Christ lives in me	35:59
	"and the life I now live in the flesh,	36:03
	"I live by faith in the son of God who loved me	36:07
	"and gave himself for me."	36:11
	Moreover, that fact meant for Paul	36:14
	and for Christians down the centuries	36:17
	that this indwelling spirit of the risen Christ	36:21
	is an earnest,	36:26
	a pledge	36:29
	of continuing life with Jesus	36:31
	in the presence of God hereafter.	36:36
	Now, do we begin to appreciate	36:40
	why Easter is the primary festival in the Christian year,	36:41
	more important than Christmas, than Good Friday.	36:48
	No Easter,	36:54
	no Christianity	36:57
	in anything like the form that it has been transmitted	37:00
	for 19 centuries.	37:05
	But you ask, how can this be?	37:08
	A man raised from the dead.	37:12
	It's hard for us who are oriented by science	37:19
	and encouraged to be, "Objective,"	37:24
	to accept Easter.	37:30
	With the various and contradictory accounts	37:34
	of the resurrection amount to anything	37:38
	in a court of law.	37:43
	It's a valid and constantly recurring question.	37:46
	Take for instance,	37:49
	who saw the risen Jesus first?	37:51
	Now you got a choice.	37:57
	Was it Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, Salome,	37:59
	Joanna, Peter, the two men from the mist,	38:05
	or again, what kind of body did the risen Jesus have?	38:12
	It was recognizable, sometimes,	38:20
	but it could appear and disappear.	38:26
	It more than once entered into a room	38:30
	where the disciples had gathered	38:33
	behind locked doors.	38:36
	Jesus' first word to them on those occasions	38:41
	was a very wise one.	38:44
	It was, "Shalom," peace.	38:46
	They were startled, terrified, worried.	38:52
	We let Paul come to our help again,	38:58
	he tells the Corinthians that there is a difference	39:01
	between an earthly body and a spiritual body,	39:05
	adding that flesh and blood	39:11
	cannot inherit the kingdom of God,	39:17
	which says something to the custom of embalming.	39:22
	But it is the same person	39:29
	who once possess the earthly body	39:33
	who will inherit the spiritual body.	39:38
	The Eastern message then is one of assurance.	39:42
	It vindicates God, it validates Jesus, it encourages us.	39:46
	However, you ask me again,	39:53
	what can we accept as a sample valid proof	39:55
	of the resurrection?	40:01
	There are two facts	40:04
	separated by almost 2000 years	40:06
	and yet intimately related,	40:11
	which make up an answer.	40:14
	The first is, the transformation of the 11 disciples,	40:17
	from the lying, disappointed, puzzled crowds,	40:24
	puzzled cowards of Friday,	40:32
	into the stalwart witnesses	40:36
	for a living spirit of Jesus,	40:39
	who no law court,	40:42
	no jail cell,	40:44
	no hostile mob,	40:46
	no cruel death	40:49
	could alter or subdue.	40:51
	They were Christians,	40:55
	Jesus Christ's men,	40:58
	backed by a group of women	41:01
	who were never again lying or cowardly.	41:04
	And the second proof is like unto it,	41:09
	the living Christian community today	41:13
	in which the spirit of Jesus	41:17
	still lives and acts	41:20
	through its members.	41:24
	Your participation in this service this morning	41:27
	is a witness to the resurrection,	41:35
	which is the key stone of Christian faith	41:38
	and love and hope.	41:42
	For years, almost too many to number,	41:47
	I have searched for a visible symbol of Easter.	41:50
	The crucifix won't do,	41:57
	that's the symbol of the Friday before Easter.	42:00
	The empty cross won't do,	42:06
	it signifies nothing except maybe	42:10
	that it's waiting for the next victim	42:13
	and his name is Legion.	42:18
	And then last November,	42:21
	I came upon a Roman Catholic church, newly built,	42:24
	impressive in its modern architecture.	42:30
	I went inside and knelt,	42:35
	suspended over the altar was a great cross	42:39
	with a curved figure of Jesus.	42:45
	It is a stunning piece of work,	42:48
	but the even more stunning fact	42:53
	is that Jesus	42:56
	is not fastened to the cross.	42:58
	His outstretched arms	43:03
	are above the horizontal bar, that much,	43:05
	and they are beginning to reach upwards.	43:10
	His feet are free from the nails.	43:15
	This is not the Jesus who was taken down from the cross	43:20
	by friendly human hands,	43:25
	this is Jesus, the Christ, being taken up by God,	43:29
	an anticipation of the resurrection.	43:35
	A priest spoke to me.	43:40
	I told him of my excitement	43:43
	and my delight in at long last	43:46
	finding a symbol for Easter.	43:49
	He told me that it was planned, designed and made	43:53
	as a sign of the resurrection.	44:00
	It may be unique in the United States.	44:02
	I wish there were one more.	44:07
	Where?	44:11
	Here.	44:13
	We have a great unseen cross	44:16
	a top the Reredos.	44:19
	It's eight feet high.	44:22
	You never can see it.	44:26
	Perhaps one day	44:30
	it will be floodlit, perhaps.	44:32
	And perhaps they will be given to the chapel,	44:39
	a carved figure of Jesus	44:43
	to accompany that Reredos Cross,	44:48
	like the one in the parish church of St. Margaret Mary	44:54
	in Winter Park,	44:59
	the sign and symbol of the Easter Christ.	45:02
	And now the choir will finish this meditation for me.	45:08
	The anthem begins quietly	45:14
	with the odd recognition of Jesus crucified, crucifixes.	45:17
	It ends in triumph with the blessed affirmation	45:24
	of Jesus resurrected, it resurrects it.	45:29
	It's good to be a fellow worker with such a choir	45:34
	and with such musicians,	45:40
	so let it be.	45:44
	(liturgical music)	45:54
-	As Jesus ultimately gave his life,	55:57
	so we also got to give at least a portion of our lives,	56:01
	as we give these gifts now,	56:08
	we give ourselves to witness, to serve, to love.	56:11
	Use us, oh God, to fulfill the ministry of Christ's love,	56:17
	to and for	56:22
	all persons,	56:25
	amen.	56:28
	(liturgical music)	56:31
	Now may the God of peace	1:00:25
	who grew up out again from the dead,	1:00:27
	our Lord Jesus Christ,	1:00:29
	the great shepherd of the sheep,	1:00:31
	by the blood of the eternal covenant,	1:00:34
	he equipped you with everything good	1:00:37
	that you may do his will,	1:00:39
	working in you that which is pleasing in his sight,	1:00:42
	through Jesus Christ,	1:00:46
	to whom be glory this day and forever and ever.	1:00:49
	(liturgical music)	1:00:59
	(bell ringing)	1:02:12
	(liturgical music)	1:02:26

	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	0:05
Peter	The Lord is risen.	2:49
	And the voice from the throne said,	2:56
	"Behold, I make all things new."	2:58
	(indistinct responses)	3:03
	Amen and amen.	3:12
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	3:16
	(upbeat instrumental music)	3:30
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	5:22
	(upbeat instrumental music)	5:51
	The proof of God's amazing love is this	10:50
	that it was while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.	10:57
	It is in the same Jesus, because we have faith in him	11:04
	that do he dare with confidence	11:08
	to approach all mighty God,	11:11
	let us confess our sins to God.	11:15
	Oh, holy God.	11:20
	On this joy as Easter Sunday,	11:22
	it is difficult for us to confess our sin.	11:25
	We give thanks.	11:29
	We rejoice.	11:31
	We are exhilarated, but we pray, oh God,	11:32
	that our rejoicing will not blind us	11:37
	to the needs of the world.	11:39
	That our affirmation of the resurrection	11:42
	will not the continuing reality of the crucifixion.	11:45
	So now, oh God, we come before as a disobedient church,	11:49
	our loyalty to you has been lost	11:56
	in the conflict of human loyalties.	11:58
	Our own self interest has made us	12:02
	insensitive to your command.	12:04
	Our past is precious to us	12:07
	and we have allowed it to set limits	12:10
	upon the present and the future.	12:12
	Our worship and service have been feeble.	12:15
	We have not responded in love to you	12:19
	nor to the needs of our neighbor and the campus.	12:22
	Break our apathy and our arrogance	12:27
	with the judgment of your love	12:30
	and the assurance of the resurrection faith.	12:33
	Then in mercy heal us, oh holy spirit,	12:37
	causing us as a community to be born a new	12:41
	in Jesus Christ our Lord.	12:46
	Amen.	12:49
	Let us continue in silent,	12:51
	personal confession and prayer with God.	12:54
	This statement is completely reliable	13:19
	and should be accepted everywhere.	13:23
	Christ Jesus entered the world to rescue sinners.	13:26
	If any person is in Christ,	13:31
	that person becomes new all together.	13:33
	The past is finished and gone.	13:37
	Everything has become fresh and new.	13:41
	God's mercy never ends.	13:46
	I tell you in the name of Jesus Christ,	13:51
	we are forgiven.	13:56
	Amen.	14:00
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	14:04
	(upbeat instrumental music)	14:50
	Let us hear the word of God.	20:51
	On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples	20:57
	a feast of fat things,	21:02
	a feast of wine on the lees of fat things full of marrow	21:05
	of wine on the lees well-refined	21:11
	and he will destroy on this mountain	21:15
	the covering that is cast over all peoples	21:17
	the veil that is spread over all nations.	21:21
	He will swallow up death forever,	21:25
	and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces	21:29
	and the reproach of his people.	21:33
	He will take away from all the earth	21:35
	for the Lord has spoken.	21:38
	It will be set on that day Lord, this is our God.	21:42
	We have waited for him that he might save us.	21:48
	This is the Lord.	21:52
	We have waited for him.	21:54
	Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.	21:57
	Let the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel.	22:04
	"But on the first day of the week at early Dawn,	22:16
	they went to the tomb, (clears throat)	22:20
	taking the spices which they had prepared,	22:22
	and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.	22:26
	But when they went in, they did not find the body.	22:31
	While they were perplexed about this	22:36
	behold two men stood by them in dazzling apparel,	22:38
	and as they were frightened	22:44
	and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,	22:45
	"Why do you seek the living among the dead?"	22:50
	"Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee,	22:55
	that the son of man must be delivered	23:00
	into the hands of sinful men and be crucified	23:02
	and on the third day rise."	23:08
	And they remembered his words and returning from the tomb,	23:11
	they told all this to the 11 and to all the rest.	23:15
	Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna	23:20
	and Mary the mother of James	23:24
	and the other women with them	23:26
	who told this to the apostles."	23:28
	Here, ends the reading of the lesson.	23:32
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	23:36
	Let us affirm our faith.	24:20
	We are not alone.	24:23
	We live in God's word.	24:26
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	24:29
	who has come in the true man, Jesus	24:34
	to reconcile and make new	24:37
	who works in us and others by his spirit.	24:40
	We trust him.	24:45
	He calls us to be in his church to celebrate his presence,	24:47
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	24:53
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen	24:59
	our judge and our hope	25:03
	in life in death.	25:06
	In life beyond death,	25:08
	God is with us.	25:11
	We are not alone.	25:13
	Thanks be to God.	25:15
	The Lord be with you.	25:19
	(indistinct responses)	25:21
	Let us pray.	25:22
	The Lord is risen, indeed.	25:33
	Hallelujah.	25:36
	I am he that lives and was dead, says the Lord	25:40
	and behold, I am alive forevermore, hallelujah.	25:44
	Oh God, spirit of life of love, of hope,	25:51
	creator, Redeemer, and life giver.	25:58
	It is you O God who guides the stars	26:02
	in their mysterious paths, way out beyond our reach.	26:05
	You who laid the foundations and the principles	26:11
	for this universe in which we live.	26:14
	And it is you who cares for and helps the growth	26:19
	and fulfillment of every living thing.	26:22
	We know you have a destiny and a place for each of us	26:28
	here and in the world to come.	26:32
	And we know you help us find our place	26:35
	when we try to find it in fellowship with you,	26:39
	we know you are always with us.	26:44
	Thanks be to you oh God.	26:48
	Especially this day oh God.	26:53
	We know and feel your presence in the raised life	26:55
	and spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, for he was crucified.	26:59
	He was dead.	27:04
	Now he is raised,	27:06
	raised to live and be with us	27:09
	and with every person who receives his spirit,	27:13
	oh, how we need to be raised oh God,	27:18
	raised from hopeless doubt,	27:22
	indifferent despair and endless death.	27:25
	We need affirmation.	27:30
	We need assurance.	27:31
	We need life.	27:33
	God of all mercies.	27:35
	Listen now, as we your children lift up our sisters	27:38
	and brothers before you,	27:43
	those who mourn, those who suffer,	27:46
	those who hurt, those in prison,	27:50
	those alone, all alone,	27:55
	those hungry,	27:58
	and those who are just weary and tired	28:01
	father in your mercy sustain and support them	28:06
	all the day long.	28:10
	And when the shadows lengthen and night draws nigh	28:13
	help all of us to feel secure in your love.	28:16
	Oh, what a great day this is Lord, for,	28:22
	for those of us who claim Christ as Lord	28:26
	help us this day and in the days to come	28:31
	to know that neither death, nor life, nor angels,	28:37
	nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,	28:41
	nor powers, nor height, nor depth,	28:46
	nor anything else in all your creation	28:50
	shall be able to separate us from your love,	28:54
	which we know in Christ Jesus.	28:58
	For, oh God, Christ has come, lived, died	29:02
	and been raised for us for now and forever.	29:09
	And now let us pray the prayer,	29:17
	which our Lord has taught us, praying,	29:19
	our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,	29:22
	thy kingdom come,	29:28
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	29:31
	Give us this day, our daily bread	29:35
	and forgive us our trespasses	29:39
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	29:41
	and lead us not into temptation,	29:46
	but deliver us from evil	29:49
	for thine is the kingdom and the power, the glory forever.	29:51
	Amen.	29:58
	On this joyous, glad Easter day	30:06
	in the name of Christ may I welcome you to this place	30:13
	and to this service of celebration	30:17
	of the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.	30:20
	If you worship here regularly,	30:24
	it's good to have you where you belong.	30:27
	If you're visiting, we rejoice in your presence just as much	30:32
	and pray that for whatever reason you have come	30:36
	from whatever place you have come,	30:39
	God's spirit, the love of Christ	30:42
	might become very, very real to you in this holy hour.	30:46
	We are pleased and grateful that the worship services	30:54
	from Duke Chapel, as many of you know,	30:59
	have been broadcast each Sunday for 35 years	31:04
	on radio station, WDNC.	31:07
	We appreciate this long and good	31:11
	and mutually beneficial relationship.	31:14
	New station management though,	31:19
	has decided to discontinue the service	31:21
	with today's broadcast, being the last on WDNC.	31:24
	Beginning next Sunday	31:29
	so that those of you who do worship by radio, when not here,	31:31
	you may know the services will be broadcast on WDBS	31:36
	on FM at 107.1 on the FM dial.	31:42
	We are pleased that WDBS we'll be broadcasting	31:48
	the service live at 11 o'clock each Sunday,	31:51
	and that there will be no break	31:55
	in these services being heard	31:57
	by those who worship with us by radio.	31:59
	Tonight at seven, o'clock a very special,	32:04
	rich, meaningful service awaits you, us.	32:09
	As the North Carolina Symphony	32:16
	and this Duke Chapel choir will join together	32:17
	in a presentation of the Mahler Resurrection Symphony.	32:21
	You are invited, seven o'clock tonight.	32:25
	Again, we rejoice in your presence this day,	32:31
	and now we rejoice	32:35
	as the beloved Dean emeritus of his chapel,	32:36
	Dr. James T. Clelin brings to us the word of God	32:41
	on this glad Easter day, Dr. Clelin.	32:45
Dr. James	The grace of the risen Lord be with us all.	33:04
	(coughs)	33:09
	Easter is the oldest of the festivals	33:13
	of the Christian Church.	33:16
	Easter has every right to this primacy	33:20
	because it is the historical starting place of our faith.	33:26
	As St. Paul puts it quite bluntly.	33:34
	If Christ was not raised,	33:38
	then our gospel is null and void.	33:42
	And so is your faith.	33:48
	No Easter then no Christian Church, as we know it.	33:53
	Oh, there might have, pre-existed	34:00
	a small association of Jesus' followers,	34:04
	perhaps (indistinct)	34:09
	with the sermon on the mountain (mumbles).	34:14
	They however, would have been obliterated by the Romans	34:20
	in AD70 (indistinct) when Jerusalem was destroyed.	34:24
	Moreover no Easter, no Christmas	34:36
	and no Friday, (mumbles).	34:42
	(inaudible talks)	34:46
	Without Easter, Good Friday	34:54
	would have been for the followers of Jesus, Bad Friday.	34:56
	(inaudible talks)	35:03
	Why should Jesus's birth be celebrated in Christmas	35:33
	if there is no truth to the Easter story.	35:38
	But Easter does three things,	35:44
	first it vindicates God.	35:47
	Jesus did not have himself rise from the dead.	35:53
	He was raised from the dead by God.	35:58
	(inaudible talks)	36:04
	God raised him to life again (indistinct).	36:10
	(inaudible talks)	36:14
	God endorsed Jesus, no obstruct, nothing stands in the way.	37:03
	Peter's way of announcing this in that first sermon	37:10
	was let all Israel accept as certain	37:14
	that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified	37:20
	both Lord and Messiah.	37:26
	Hey, may not have been before his death.	37:28
	God has made him through the resurrection, Lord and Messiah.	37:31
	And as the late Henry Sloane coffin put it,	37:38
	"The indisputable Easter fact	37:41
	is that Jesus was a more potent figure in Jerusalem	37:44
	in the weeks and months after his death in Calvary."	37:50
	And then when he rode into the city, amid the crowds	37:56
	or sat with his disciples in the upper room.	38:00
	Third, the Easter message encourages us today.	38:06
	As Paul discovered and proclaimed	38:12
	the spirit of the risen, Jesus	38:15
	can take possession of a person.	38:18
	Remember how Paul put it?	38:20
	"I live yet, not I, but Christ lives in me	38:22
	and the life I now live in the flesh,	38:33
	I live by faith in the son of God who loved me	38:37
	and gave himself for me."	38:43
	Moreover, that fact meant for Paul	38:46
	and for Christians down the ages	38:49
	that this indwelling spirit is a nearness,	38:52
	a pledge of continuing life,	38:58
	eternal life with Jesus in the presence of God hereafter.	39:02
	Now do we begin to appreciate	39:10
	why Easter is the primary festival of the Christian year,	39:12
	more important than Christmas, than good Friday.	39:19
	No Easter, no Christianity in anything like the forum	39:25
	in which it has been transmitted for 19 centuries.	39:31
	But you ask how can this be,	39:37
	a man raised from the dead?	39:43
	It's hard for us who are oriented by science	39:50
	and encouraged to be quote, "Objective", end of quote,	39:55
	to accept Easter.	40:01
	Would the various and contradictory accounts	40:05
	of the resurrection amount to anything today	40:09
	in a court of law,	40:14
	it's a valid and constantly recurring question.	40:18
	Take a for instance,	40:20
	who saw the risen Jesus first?	40:22
	Now wouldn't you think there'd be unanimity on that?	40:26
	But it wasn't Mary Magdalene,	40:29
	the other Mary, Salome, Joanna, Peter,	40:32
	the two men from Amyris.	40:41
	But, again, what kind of a body did the risen Jesus have?	40:44
	It was recognizable sometimes,	40:54
	but it could appear and disappear.	40:58
	It more than once entered into a room	41:02
	where the disciples had gathered behind locked doors.	41:05
	Jesus' first word to them on the first occasion	41:11
	was a wise man wise, when all he said was Shalom, peace.	41:15
	He saw that they looked startled, terrified, worried.	41:24
	Well, let Paul come to our help again.	41:31
	He tells the Corinthians that there is a difference	41:35
	between unearthly body and a spiritual body,	41:39
	but in each case, the noun is the word body	41:46
	adding that flesh and blood	41:50
	cannot inherit the kingdom of God.	41:53
	But it is the same person	41:58
	who once possessed the earthly body	42:01
	who will inherit the spiritual body.	42:05
	The Easter message then is one of assurance.	42:09
	It vindicates God, it validates Jesus, it encourages us.	42:11
	However you ask me,	42:19
	what can we accept as somewhat valid evidence	42:22
	for the resurrection?	42:29
	There are two facts separated by almost 2000 years	42:31
	and yet intimately related, which make up an answer.	42:37
	The first is the transformation of the 11 disciples	42:42
	from the lying disappointed puzzled cowards	42:50
	of Friday into the tall what witnesses	42:57
	for a living spirit of Jesus.	43:02
	No law court, no jail cell, no hostile mob,	43:04
	no cruel death could subdue or alter them.	43:10
	They were Christians, Christ men backed by a group of women.	43:16
	They were never, again, lying, never cowardly.	43:23
	And the second is like unto the first,	43:28
	the living Christian community today	43:31
	in which the spirit of Jesus still lives.	43:36
	And acts through the members,	43:40
	your participation in the service this morning,	43:42
	either within the chapel or with a last thanks to WDNC	43:47
	for the last time over that station on the air,	43:55
	you and that radio congregation	44:00
	are witnesses to the resurrection.	44:03
	Otherwise, why would you be here?	44:05
	Why would you be listening?	44:08
	Now the resurrection,	44:11
	which is the key stone of the Christian faith	44:12
	and love and hope.	44:15
	For years, almost too many to number	44:18
	I've searched for a visible sign and symbol of Easter.	44:23
	The crucifix won't do	44:30
	that is the symbol of the Friday before Easter.	44:33
	The empty cross won't do, it signifies nothing,	44:39
	except maybe that it's waiting for the next victim.	44:47
	And his name is Legion.	44:53
	And there's last November in Florida,	44:56
	I came up a Roman Catholic church,	45:01
	newly built impressive in its modern architecture.	45:05
	I went inside and note,	45:11
	suspended over the altar was a great cross	45:15
	with a card figure of Jesus.	45:20
	It is us stunning piece of work,	45:23
	but the even more stunning fact	45:29
	is that Jesus is not fastened to the cross.	45:34
	His outstretched arms	45:42
	are that height above the horizontal bar.	45:44
	They are not horizontal.	45:49
	They are stretched upwards.	45:52
	His feet are free from the nails.	45:56
	This is not the Jesus who was taken down from the cross	46:01
	by friendly human hands.	46:06
	This is Jesus the Christ being taken up by God	46:10
	and anticipation of the resurrection.	46:16
	A priest spoke to me.	46:19
	I told him my excitement and my delight in at long loss,	46:21
	finding a symbol for Easter.	46:27
	He told me that it was planned, designed and made	46:31
	as a sign of the resurrection.	46:38
	It may be unique in the United States.	46:41
	I wish that were one more.	46:46
	Where?	46:50
	Here.	46:52
	Do you realize sitting there	46:55
	that we have an eight foot wooden cross top the radars.	46:56
	Chapel (indistinct) told me that for two years back there in	47:04
	the back of the church, I never saw it.	47:07
	I'm sure you can't see it now.	47:09
	Whoever built the windows and made the rear doors	47:12
	just collided.	47:14
	Somebody blundered beautifully, beautifully.	47:15
	(brethren laughing)	47:19
	But perhaps so that you may see the cross	47:23
	one day it will be floodlit, one day.	47:27
	That means that seven years, at least at least.	47:32
	(brethren laughing)	47:36
	And perhaps one day and this'll be about 14 years.	47:40
	The chapel will possess a carved figure of Jesus	47:45
	to a company that rear doors cross	47:51
	like the one in the parish of St. Margaret Mary	47:55
	in Winter Park,	48:00
	the sign and the symbol of the Easter Christ.	48:02
	Now the choir will finish this meditation for me.	48:10
	The Anthem begins quietly	48:15
	with the odd recognition of Jesus crucified, crucifixes.	48:18
	It ends in triumph with the blessing affirmation	48:24
	of Jesus resurrected it resurrects.	48:28
	Let me tell you, brethren it's good to be a fellow worker	48:34
	with choir and musicians like these people.	48:37
	So let it be.	48:42
	(bright upbeat music)	48:55
	(upbeat instrumental music)	52:22
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	56:43
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	57:41
Peter	Oh, God, we know we need you	58:54
	more than you need us.	58:56
	We know we need your gifts more than you need ours.	59:00
	We offer these gifts and we offer ourselves again	59:04
	as ministers of your love	59:07
	to help bind all peoples together in Christ	59:10
	in the name of our risen Lord,	59:16
	we offer these gifts and ourselves.	59:17
	Amen.	59:21
	(bright upbeat instrumental music)	59:24
	Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead,	1:03:25
	our Lord Jesus Christ,	1:03:31
	the great shepherd of the sheep	1:03:34
	by the blood of the eternal covenant,	1:03:37
	equipped you with everything good	1:03:40
	that you may do his will	1:03:44
	working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight,	1:03:47
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord	1:03:52
	to whom be glory, dominion, majesty,	1:03:55
	and power forever and ever.	1:04:00
	(bright upbeat music)	1:04:06
	(bright upbeat music)	1:04:16
	(bell ringing)	1:05:22
	(upbeat instrumental music)	1:05:36

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "Jesus: Dead, but Raised" (April 14, 1974)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4br8rh6h

Date:

April 14, 1974

Speaker:

Cleland, James T. (James Tough), 1903-1974

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0700
ref6602_sw2
uachapelsermaud
duke:628112
dcrau002677
ark:/87924/r4br8rh6h
dd750bbb-2b0b-4373-9ba0-9e0e054999ac

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.

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This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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James T. Cleland - "Jesus: Dead, but Raised" (April 14, 1974)

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1. James T. Cleland - "Jesus: Dead, but Raised" (April 14, 1974)

Duke University Archives

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James T. Cleland - "Jesus: Dead, but Raised" (April 14, 1974)

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