Robert T. Young - "The Church: Is It to Care or to Fight?" (November 26, 1978)

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-	Sunday, November 26th, 11 AM service.	0:04
	(organ music)	4:00
-	Let us pray.	12:11
	Oh Almighty God, who pourest out on all who desire it,	12:13
	the spirit of grace and of supplication.	12:18
	Deliver us when we draw near to thee,	12:22
	from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind.	12:25
	That with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections	12:29
	we may worship thee in spirit and in truth,	12:33
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	12:37
	Amen.	12:40
	(organ music)	12:43
	(choir singing)	14:54
	Dearly beloved, we have come to gather	16:15
	in the presence of Almighty God, our heavenly Father,	16:19
	to render thanks for the great benefits	16:24
	that we have received at His hands.	16:27
	To set forth His most worthy praise.	16:31
	To hear His holy word.	16:35
	And to ask for ourselves, and on behalf of others,	16:37
	those things that are necessary for our life	16:42
	and for our salvation.	16:46
	And so that we may prepare ourselves	16:49
	in heart and mind to worship Him, let us with	16:52
	penitent and obedient hearts confess our sins,	16:58
	that we may obtain forgiveness	17:03
	by His infinite good and mercy.	17:05
	Oh God, Lord of our life,	17:10
	whose will is to have your people at peace in your presence,	17:13
	how grieved we are that again and again	17:18
	we choose to break your heart.	17:21
	You have shown us the length and breadth	17:25
	of your caring for us,	17:27
	in your son, our Savior Jesus Christ.	17:29
	Yet we mistrust you nonetheless	17:33
	and dare to spurn your love.	17:36
	You have given us the keys to your heart,	17:39
	yet we have bolted the doors of our hearts against you.	17:43
	We have turned away from you	17:47
	and have attempted to live as gods unto ourselves.	17:50
	We have been arrogant, indifferent, and uncaring.	17:54
	Forgive us, we pray, for your namesake.	17:58
	Grant that we once again may hear the word of your love	18:02
	and will, and thrill to it in glad response.	18:07
	Deliver us out of the harried and joyless worlds	18:11
	that we have created for ourselves, and in which	18:15
	we live, and bring us into the light,	18:18
	and peace, and joy of your presence.	18:22
	Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done,	18:25
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	18:29
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	18:32
	Amen.	18:35
	The Lord is gracious and merciful.	18:51
	Slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.	18:54
	This is the message we have heard	18:59
	from Him and proclaim to you.	19:01
	That God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.	19:04
	If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,	19:09
	we have fellowship with one another and the blood	19:13
	of Jesus His Son cleanses from all sin.	19:17
	Let us give thanks for God is good,	19:23
	and God's love is everlasting.	19:26
-	Thanks be to God, whose love is everlasting.	19:30
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy we've been gifted.	19:34
	Thanks be to God, who has promised to be with us.	19:38
	Amen.	19:43
-	We're very pleased to welcome you	19:45
	this morning to this service of worship.	19:47
	It is an appropriate time to pause and reflect	19:52
	as we give thanks for God's gifts to us.	19:57
	And as we move toward the end of this fall semester,	20:02
	and as we begin the holy season of Advent,	20:08
	we're glad to have you worship with us today.	20:13
	We note with sadness and real shock	20:19
	the unexpected death yesterday morning	20:24
	of retired professor Robert C. Cox,	20:29
	a long-time coach and Professor	20:33
	of Physical Education at Duke University.	20:36
	Memorial services will be held on Tuesday at 11 AM	20:40
	at the Duke Memorial Methodist Church on Chapel Hill Street.	20:47
	Our prayers, and yours, of sympathy	20:52
	are offered in behalf of his family	20:56
	and his many, many friends.	21:00
	We hope that you will take notice of the announcement	21:04
	about the forthcoming performance of Handel's Messiah	21:08
	this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.	21:12
	There are still a few tickets left	21:18
	for each of these performances.	21:21
	The tickets may be purchased at Page box office	21:24
	between the hours of 9 AM and 4 PM.	21:29
	We look forward to another outstanding presentation	21:34
	of the Duke Orchestra and the Duke Chapel Choir.	21:40
	The epistle is written in the 15th chapter	21:51
	of the first epistle of Paul the Apostle	21:55
	to the Corinthians, beginning at the 20th verse.	21:58
	But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.	22:11
	The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.	22:16
	For as by man came death, by a man	22:21
	has come also the resurrection of the dead.	22:25
	For as in Adam, all die.	22:30
	So also in Christ shall all be made alive.	22:33
	But each in His own order.	22:39
	Christ the first fruits, then at	22:43
	His coming those who belong to Christ.	22:46
	Then comes the end, when He delivers	22:50
	the Kingdom to God the Father	22:53
	after destroying every rule and every authority and power.	22:56
	For He must reign until He has put	23:02
	all His enemies under His feet.	23:05
	The last enemy to be destroyed is death.	23:09
	For God has put all things in subjection under His feet.	23:13
	But when it says all things are put in subjection under Him,	23:19
	it is plain that He is expected	23:25
	who put all things under Him.	23:27
	When all things are subjected to Him,	23:31
	then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him	23:34
	who puts all things under Him	23:39
	that God may be everything to everyone.	23:42
	The word of the Lord.	23:51
	Would you please stand for the reading of the Gospel?	23:54
	The Holy Gospel is written in the 25th chapter	24:03
	of the Gospel according to St. Matthew.	24:07
	Beginning at the 31st verse.	24:10
	When the Son of man comes in His glory,	24:14
	and all the holy angels with them,	24:17
	then He will sit on His glorious throne.	24:21
	Before Him will be gathered all the nations.	24:25
	And He will separate them one from another	24:28
	as a shepard separates the sheep from the goats.	24:31
	And He will place the sheep on His	24:35
	right hand, but the goats at the left.	24:37
	Then the king shall say to those at His right hand	24:42
	"Come, oh blessed of my Father,	24:46
	"inherit the Kingdom prepared for you	24:49
	"from the foundation of the world.	24:52
	"For I was hungry and you gave me food.	24:55
	"I was thirsty and you gave me drink.	24:59
	"I was a stranger and you welcomed me.	25:03
	"I was naked and you clothed me.	25:07
	"I was sick and you visited me.	25:10
	"I was in prison and you came to me."	25:14
	Then the righteous will answer Him	25:18
	"Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee?	25:21
	"Or thirsty and give thee drink?	25:25
	"And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee?	25:28
	"Or naked and clothed thee?	25:32
	"And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?"	25:35
	And the King will answer then.	25:42
	"Truly I say to you, as you did it unto	25:45
	"one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me."	25:48
	Then He shall say to those at His left hand	25:55
	"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire	25:58
	"prepared for the devil and his angels.	26:02
	"For I was hungry and you gave me no food.	26:05
	"I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.	26:09
	"I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.	26:13
	"Naked, and you did not clothe me.	26:17
	"Sick and in prison and you did not visit me."	26:20
	Then they will answer "Lord, when did we see thee	26:25
	"hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked,	26:28
	"or sick, or in prison, and did not administer to thee?"	26:32
	Then He will answer them "Truly I say to you,	26:38
	"as you did it not to one of the least	26:42
	"of these, you did it not to me."	26:45
	And they will go away into eternal punishment,	26:48
	but the righteous into eternal light.	26:52
	The gospel of the Lord.	26:59
	Praise to you, Lord God.	27:02
	(organ music)	27:04
	(choir singing)	27:18
-	In the name of God, who creates us.	28:12
	Redeems us.	28:18
	And sustains us.	28:21
	Amen.	28:24
	Today in the church here is a Sunday	28:27
	observed as the Sunday of Christ the King.	28:31
	A Sunday we don't observe every year,	28:37
	but only when Easter early on	28:40
	in the church year falls very early.	28:42
	And when the season of Pentecost runs to its limit.	28:47
	It is that Sunday between the season of Pentecost	28:52
	and the first Sunday of the church year,	28:57
	namely the first Sunday of the season of Advent.	28:59
	The gospel lesson for this Sunday shows Christ	29:05
	as the King.	29:09
	And has some disturbing, demanding,	29:13
	and confrontive words in it.	29:17
	Let us listen to the words.	29:22
	"I was hungry, you gave me food.	29:26
	"I was thirsty, you gave me drink.	29:30
	"I was a stranger, you welcomed me in.	29:33
	"Naked, you clothed me.	29:38
	"Sick, you visited me.	29:40
	"In prison, you came to me."	29:43
	"But Lord," they reply, "when did we see you?	29:46
	"When did we see you hungry, or thirsty,	29:53
	"or naked, or a stranger, or in prison, or sick?	29:56
	"And when did we minister to you?"	30:02
	"As you did it to one of the least of these,"	30:08
	the King replies, "you have done it unto me."	30:12
	Our purpose in the church, our purpose	30:19
	as those who follow Jesus the Christ,	30:23
	I believe is very very simple.	30:27
	Very difficult, but very simple.	30:31
	Namely, our purpose is to care.	30:34
	It is to have compassion even as	30:38
	Jesus our Lord has compassion.	30:42
	There's a story told of the missionary	30:49
	who went to preach in India one time.	30:50
	The missionary landed at the airport	30:54
	and made his way along the streets of India.	30:55
	This particular city, to the hotel.	30:59
	Where he was to spend the night	31:02
	and to stay as long as he preached.	31:04
	He made his way along the streets	31:07
	and the sidewalks and up the steps of the hotel,	31:08
	through the lobby, and up to his room.	31:10
	As he did so, everywhere he went it seemed	31:12
	he saw bodies lying all over the street.	31:15
	On the sidewalk, on the steps,	31:18
	even in the lobby of the hotel.	31:20
	He got to his room and he realized	31:25
	that some of those bodies not only	31:26
	were sick and hungry and starving,	31:28
	but some of those bodies indeed	31:31
	even were dying and he was appalled.	31:32
	He had been there preaching for three weeks.	31:37
	He made his way along the same path	31:40
	one night back to his hotel, and got to his	31:42
	hotel room and realized that he had seen	31:44
	no bodies along the way that night.	31:46
	And yet as he sat on the bed and remembered,	31:49
	he had indeed seen those bodies.	31:52
	The scene had been essentially the same	31:54
	as the first night he made his way there.	31:56
	There were bodies lying on the streets	31:58
	and on the sidewalks and on the steps,	32:00
	even in the lobby of the hotel.	32:02
	The only difference was that after three weeks	32:03
	he had grown accustomed to them	32:06
	and he did not even see them.	32:08
	I think there's a parable there for us.	32:14
	And the parable is this.	32:19
	That there are people in need all around us.	32:21
	And the first time we see them, we are appalled,	32:25
	but then as we see them day by day,	32:29
	or week by week, we grow accustomed to them	32:31
	and pretty soon we do not see them at all.	32:34
	The first time in the city of Asheville	32:37
	when I saw a poor woman gathered on a street corner	32:39
	with her three or four children huddled around her,	32:42
	poor and bedraggled and obviously hungry,	32:45
	and probably not even knowing where	32:48
	they would spend the night, I was shocked.	32:49
	The first time I drove through Cherokee	32:52
	out in the mountains of western North Carolina	32:54
	and looked up into one of those coves	32:56
	and saw a little Indian hovel with the wind	32:58
	obviously blowing in from all four directions.	33:01
	I was shocked, even appalled, the first time	33:03
	a 15-year-old girl sat in my office,	33:06
	pregnant, and not knowing what to do	33:09
	and the tears rolling down her cheeks,	33:11
	I was absolutely appalled and most disturbed.	33:13
	The first time I saw a young man	33:20
	convicted at the age of 16 of a crime,	33:23
	and on his way to jail, my heart broke.	33:26
	We see these scenes day by day, week by week,	33:30
	and the first time we see one or the other	33:33
	or all of them, we are shocked, appalled,	33:37
	deeply disturbed, and yet then we grow	33:40
	accustomed to them, and they continue to move	33:43
	around us, and soon, we don't see them at all.	33:45
	Yes, of all of the possibilities of what has happened	33:49
	so shockingly in Guyana, the most disturbing	33:53
	possibility to me is that we may grow	33:57
	accustomed to that, and we may soon	34:00
	get over the shock of it and do nothing at all.	34:02
	George Bernard Shaw once said the worst sin	34:10
	toward our fellow human being is not to hate them,	34:13
	because when we hate somebody we at least	34:15
	acknowledge their presence.	34:18
	The worst sin, he said, toward our fellow	34:19
	human being is not to hate somebody.	34:21
	It is to be indifferent to them.	34:24
	That is the essence of inhumanity.	34:27
	Jesus said by this shall all people know that	34:30
	you're my disciples. How? if you love one another.	34:33
	There are many verses of scripture	34:38
	that I do not understand.	34:40
	There are many that I do understand	34:42
	and understand only too well.	34:43
	There is one that I understand most clearly,	34:46
	and it haunts me night and day.	34:48
	That is the word where Jesus said,	34:51
	"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord'	34:53
	will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who,	34:55
	those who do the will of my Father who is in Heaven."	34:58
	And as I understand the will of our Father	35:03
	in Heaven, it is that we are to	35:05
	love, love, love, care, care, care.	35:07
	So translated, I think that means it doesn't	35:12
	really matter how many times we name	35:14
	the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.	35:16
	It may not even matter how many times	35:18
	we pray to Him, or through Him, or in His spirit.	35:20
	It may not even matter how many times we have	35:24
	our name on church rolls or how much we give,	35:27
	whatever we do. He said, "Not everyone who says to me	35:30
	'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven,	35:34
	but those who do the will of my Father who is in Heaven.	35:37
	His will to love.	35:43
	Robert Reigns prays, I think, for all of us	35:47
	when he says I am ashamed, Lord.	35:50
	You know how I look down on people	35:53
	who don't live the way I think they should.	35:55
	You see my frowns, you hear my condemnations,	35:58
	you watch my scorn tearing other people down.	36:00
	Forgive me.	36:04
	Help me to accept as Jesus accepted Simon,	36:05
	Levi, and the woman, as you accept us all.	36:08
	Thank you for listening.	36:12
	Help me to be a listener.	36:13
	Help me to be a carer.	36:15
	I want to ask us, this morning,	36:21
	the church this morning, some questions.	36:23
	Is it to care, or is it to fight?	36:27
	Is it to study, or is it to act?	36:30
	Is it to work, or is it to worship?	36:34
	Is it to pray, or is it to protest?	36:37
	When should the church care, and when should it fight?	36:40
	Well I believe it should indeed do both,	36:43
	but for the moment, my concern is to see	36:45
	that we know that the church is to care.	36:48
	Why?	36:50
	Our Lord Jesus came caring.	36:51
	And I believe that we who seek	36:55
	to follow Him are called to do no less.	36:56
	But I'm guilty.	37:01
	For I've seen and known of hungry and have not fed.	37:05
	I have been aware of those who are thirsty	37:10
	both physically and spiritually and not given drink.	37:12
	I have been aware of the stranger,	37:16
	and I have not welcomed them in.	37:18
	I have known of those who are naked or who are	37:21
	ill-clothed and have not bothered to clothe them.	37:23
	I've been very much aware of those	37:27
	who are in sick and have not visited.	37:28
	I know of those who are in prison	37:32
	and I have not gone to see them.	37:34
	As a matter of fact, if I may be	37:36
	fully confessional about that this morning,	37:38
	I have never been to a prison	37:40
	to visit somebody in my life.	37:42
	And as I read these words and as I hear God's word	37:45
	in them, the judgment of Christ is upon me.	37:47
	William Stringfellow, episcopal lawyer layman	37:53
	who preached here not too long ago,	37:55
	had a baccalaureate service, in one	37:57
	of his books writes "Christ shunned no one.	37:59
	"Not even adulterers, not even tax collectors,	38:04
	"not even neurotics and psychotics.	38:07
	"Not even those tempted to suicide, not even alcoholics.	38:09
	"Not even poor people.	38:13
	"Not even beggars, not even lepers.	38:14
	"Not even those who ridiculed Him, not even those	38:16
	"who betrayed Him, not even His own enemies.	38:19
	"He shunned no one.	38:22
	"The words that tell the ministry of Christ	38:25
	"are words of sorrow, poverty, rejection,	38:27
	"radical unpopularity, they are words of agony.	38:31
	"It seems ridiculous," he says, "to apply	38:35
	"such words to the ministry of churches nowadays,	38:37
	"yet when these words cannot be truthfully	38:41
	"applied to the ministry of the churches today,	38:43
	"they must then be spoken against the churches	38:46
	"to show how far the churches are from	38:49
	"being the body of Christ engaged	38:52
	"in the ministry of Christ in the world.	38:54
	"When those words cannot be spoken about us then,"	38:57
	he says, "they are to be spoken in judgment against us."	39:00
	Colin Morris in his little book Include Me Out	39:08
	says any true leadership that the church	39:10
	throws up in our day will need these	39:13
	two things, two simple qualities:	39:16
	the ability to feel more deeply	39:19
	and to absorb more punishment.	39:22
	And as I think about myself and think	39:27
	of others whom I know, I wonder if we do not	39:29
	lack much of the deep feeling of compassion	39:31
	that characterize the life of Christ.	39:34
	And I wondered if we really are willing	39:37
	to absorb more punishment for our neighbors.	39:39
	Are we?	39:44
	Stringfellow tells of another experience	39:46
	he had one morning as he was getting ready	39:48
	to catch a plane to fly to make a speech.	39:50
	He was in his law office and the telephone rang.	39:54
	It was a call from an Episcopal priest friend of his.	39:58
	The priest was apparently obviously	40:02
	frantic over the telephone.	40:04
	He said, "Bill, what shall I do?	40:06
	I have a woman in my office here	40:08
	who has three children with her.	40:10
	They have just been kicked out of their apartment.	40:11
	She has no rent, she's been	40:14
	everywhere that she can think of,	40:15
	everywhere that we can think of,	40:17
	to try to get money to pay her rent	40:18
	so that she and the children can move back	40:21
	into that apartment or can find another place	40:22
	to live," and he went on and on and on.	40:25
	And finally, Stringfellow, part out of exasperation,	40:27
	and part I believe, probably out of inspiration,	40:30
	after the man had gone on for a long time	40:33
	finally he said, "What can you do?"	40:35
	He said, "I'll tell you what you can	40:38
	do in that rich church of yours.	40:40
	He said you can sell some of the tapestries	40:42
	on the altar and use that money and pay the rent.	40:45
	For this woman and her children.	40:50
	Our Lord Jesus came caring.	40:54
	And we?	40:57
	Oh we care.	40:59
	We give generous contributions when we worship,	41:01
	or rather at least we give some	41:04
	contributions when we worship.	41:06
	We go through our closets during clothing drives	41:09
	and clean out what we will never possibly	41:12
	wear again and give it to somebody.	41:15
	It reminds me of an experience I had	41:18
	one time in the first church I served.	41:20
	There was a man by the name of John Silvia	41:23
	who always had a beautiful garden.	41:24
	This was our first church and we needed	41:27
	every bit of help we could get.	41:29
	So I went to call on him one day	41:31
	in late summer and he had as usual	41:33
	a beautiful garden out back, and I was so hoping	41:35
	that he would offer to give us something to eat.	41:38
	As I got ready to go Mr. Silvia said, "Bob," said	41:41
	"things are going well in the garden now.	41:43
	As a matter of fact, we've had just	41:46
	a bountiful crop this summer.	41:47
	Said go out and help yourself to a mess of that corn.	41:49
	And if you don't take it, then I'll feed it	41:52
	to the pigs when you leave anyhow."	41:54
	And so we send our cards at Christmastime	42:00
	and our fruit baskets at Thanksgiving.	42:02
	We read the paper or watch TV or listen to the radio	42:05
	and we become concerned, at least for a few minutes.	42:08
	Shocked even sometimes.	42:11
	And then we forget.	42:14
	We think we are caring, and I really believe	42:16
	that most of us, myself included,	42:19
	most of us really do believe that we are caring	42:21
	and that at times, we really indeed are even sacrificing.	42:24
	But sacrificing, for most of us	42:28
	of the ordained clergy, means that	42:30
	we ministers are going to be willing	42:34
	to live just a little bit less affluently	42:35
	than the professor, or the doctor,	42:39
	or the lawyer, or the druggist.	42:41
	And sacrifice for many lay persons	42:43
	whom I know means giving something	42:46
	or doing something that doesn't interfere	42:48
	with fishing, or hunting, or the Democratic Party,	42:50
	or the company that drops in or that will not	42:53
	keep one from buying that new car,	42:55
	or house, or TV, or new furniture.	42:57
	This is sacrifice to many of us.	43:01
	We say I'll sacrifice if,	43:03
	or we say I will care if, and I hear	43:06
	Jesus saying don't give me your ifs.	43:09
	What I want is for you to care.	43:11
	Really care about your brothers and your sisters.	43:14
	I don't want your ifs.	43:17
	So when two-thirds of the world doesn't know	43:22
	where its next meal is coming from,	43:24
	and probably will go to bed hungry tonight.	43:27
	And some 10,000 persons, we are told,	43:31
	may well die of starvation in the next 24 hours,	43:33
	our caring doesn't seem to go very far, does it?	43:37
	But some of you do care.	43:45
	I was talking with one of you this morning.	43:48
	One of the older members of the	43:52
	worshipping congregation today.	43:53
	Who does indeed care, and so do many of you.	43:56
	For some of you have fed the hungry.	44:02
	And have clothed the naked and have visited the sick.	44:05
	Have gone to the prisoner and have	44:08
	given water to the thirsty.	44:09
	And some of you I know have done much much more.	44:11
	I'm not a betting man.	44:16
	But I'll bet you this morning my last dollar	44:20
	that right here on this campus, and in this community,	44:25
	and if you're visiting with us, in whatever	44:28
	community you have come from, there are lonely,	44:30
	sick, hungry, thirsty, prisoners, strange people	44:33
	who need somebody to minister to them.	44:38
	And some of you have.	44:43
	But then...	44:45
	There's an older woman who died after having spent	44:48
	the last three years of her life in a rest home.	44:52
	The last year she was alive, she kept a diary.	44:55
	The diary someone found in her bedside table	45:00
	after she had died, and they picked it up	45:03
	and opened the diary and it read	45:05
	January 1, nobody came.	45:08
	January 2, nobody came.	45:10
	January 3, nobody came.	45:12
	March 15, nobody came.	45:14
	June 17, nobody came.	45:16
	August 23, nobody came.	45:19
	The 10-year-old prayed her prayer one night.	45:26
	Oh God, help those who are poor to have some things.	45:29
	Help those who are on the bottom	45:34
	to come up to the middle, and the she stopped	45:36
	in the middle of her prayer and looked up	45:38
	at her mommy and then she said, "But Mommy,	45:40
	then there won't be anybody on the bottom."	45:42
	And when her mother told me about it	45:46
	I said, "Glory hallelujah, nobody, none of God's	45:47
	children on the bottom of life as we know it today."	45:52
	Do you remember a conversation that Jesus had with Peter?	46:00
	After Jesus was raised from the dead,	46:04
	Jesus and Peter were walking on the beach.	46:06
	Use your imagination with me for a moment	46:10
	and bring this to your mind, Jesus and Peter	46:12
	walking up and down the beach.	46:16
	Jesus has been raised from the dead.	46:18
	He says to Peter, "Peter, do you love me?"	46:21
	Peter says, "Yes Lord, I love you."	46:26
	Jesus says, "Then feed my sheep."	46:28
	They walk a little bit farther down the way	46:31
	and Jesus turns to Peter again	46:33
	and says, "Peter, do you love me?"	46:35
	Peter turns and looks Jesus straight in the face	46:39
	that time, I'm sure, and says, "Lord,	46:42
	yes indeed, you know I love you."	46:45
	He said, "Then feed my sheep."	46:48
	They walk a little bit farther down the way	46:52
	and Jesus turns to Peter for a third time	46:53
	and He says, "Peter, are you sure that you love me?"	46:56
	And Peter turns and looks at Jesus, I'm sure	46:59
	with a quizzical expression on his face,	47:01
	and says, "Lord, didn't you hear me?	47:03
	I told you once, I told you twice,	47:05
	if necessary I'll tell you again, yes indeed	47:08
	I love you," and He said, "Then tend my sheep."	47:10
	Translated, I think that means Jesus	47:13
	telling Peter and telling us love, love, love.	47:16
	Tend, feed, tend.	47:21
	Care, care, care.	47:24
	And so the question this morning I believe is,	47:29
	what is going to happen if you and I do not	47:32
	care enough to show the love of Christ to others?	47:35
	Will the hungry be fed?	47:40
	The stranger received, the lonely visited,	47:42
	the oppressed freed?	47:44
	The widow cared for, the fatherless watched over,	47:46
	the burden relieved, what will happen?	47:49
	You remember, I'm sure, Martin Luther King's last sermon.	47:53
	Moving sermon.	47:57
	Very very powerful sermon.	47:58
	Partly because of what he says near the end.	48:01
	When he says that he's not ready to die,	48:04
	that he may not cross over into the promised land,	48:07
	but he's been to the mountaintop,	48:12
	and he knows that even if he doesn't,	48:13
	his people will, and all of us will.	48:15
	But early on in that sermon, Martin Luther King	48:17
	said some other words that I think are just as powerful.	48:20
	"I remember," he says.	48:24
	"When Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem,	48:27
	"we rented a car to go down from Jerusalem to Jericho.	48:30
	"And as soon as we got on that road I said	48:34
	"to my wife I can see why Jesus used this as	48:36
	"the setting for the parable of the good Samaritan.	48:39
	"It's a winding, meandering road,	48:41
	"it's really conducive to ambushing.	48:43
	"It's really a dangerous road."	48:45
	"You start out in Jerusalem which is about	48:47
	"1,200 feet above sea level, and by the time	48:49
	"you get down to Jericho 15 or 20 minutes later	48:52
	"you're about 2,200 feet below sea level.	48:56
	"In the days of Jesus it came	48:59
	"to be known as the Bloody Pass.	49:00
	"And you know, it's possible that the priest	49:03
	"and the Levite looked over that man on the ground	49:05
	"and wondered if the robbers were still around.	49:08
	"It's possible that they felt that the man	49:10
	"on the ground was merely faking, that he was	49:12
	"acting like he had been beaten and robbed	49:14
	"in order to lure them there for quick and easy seizure.	49:16
	"And so the first question that the priest asked,	49:20
	"the first question that the Levite asked,	49:23
	"was, "If I stopped to help	49:25
	"this man, what will happen to me?"	49:28
	"But then the good Samaritan came by.	49:32
	"And he reversed that question.	49:35
	"He said, 'If I do not stop to help	49:37
	"this man, what will happen to him?'"	49:39
	It seems to me that the latter question is the one for us.	49:46
	If we do not stop to help,	49:49
	what will happen to others?	49:54
	I don't know whether you've ever been around anyone	49:59
	at a moment or at a time when they	50:02
	felt that death was very close.	50:04
	If you have, you know full well.	50:08
	And as you think about your own death,	50:11
	if you think about what you would like to do	50:15
	or say just before you die, I think you and I	50:18
	probably would share something in common.	50:22
	I think I would want to say some of the most important,	50:25
	the most meaningful, the most beautiful,	50:28
	the most loving words I could think of.	50:30
	I think that's the way it is with most people.	50:37
	They save, if they possibly can, their most	50:40
	significant words for just before death.	50:43
	Some of the last words that Jesus ever uttered	50:49
	to His disciples are in the Gospel of Matthew	50:52
	and they go, "I was hungry, you gave me food.	50:56
	I was thirsty, you gave me drink.	51:00
	I was a stranger and you welcomed me.	51:03
	I was naked and you clothed me.	51:06
	I was sick and you visited me.	51:08
	I was in prison and you came to me."	51:11
	The very next words are...	51:14
	"You know that after two days,	51:18
	the Son of man will be crucified."	51:23
	This is how important it is.	51:29
	Jesus wants us to know, just before His death,	51:33
	that we are to care, care, care.	51:38
	We are to love.	51:43
	Herbert Tarr, the author, has some lines	51:45
	that I think are appropriate at this point.	51:50
	As he tells about David, the young man	51:54
	who is about to go off to college.	51:57
	The conductor called all visitors off the train.	52:01
	Oh David, she said as she hugged him.	52:05
	She hugged him to her bosom which smelled	52:09
	of fruits and vegetables and a mother's love.	52:11
	Take care of him, she said.	52:15
	These last words were addressed not to Uncle Asher,	52:18
	nor even to the conductor, but to God.	52:21
	Tante Dvorah spoke to him freely and often.	52:23
	For the Lord, to her way of thinking,	52:27
	was a person sitter to whom loved ones	52:29
	were safely to be entrusted.	52:32
	As well as her senior partner in the business of living.	52:35
	Always accessible and invariably	52:38
	amenable to her petitions of love.	52:41
	David looked at his aunt and his uncle.	52:44
	She with hands chapped and hard	52:47
	from selling fruit and vegetables	52:50
	outdoors in all kinds of weather,	52:52
	her face ruddy and round and invariably smiling.	52:54
	Her heavy body more accustomed	52:59
	to half a dozen sweaters at one time	53:01
	than to just a single coat.	53:03
	Her hair the color of moonlight now,	53:05
	but her dark eyes still very bright.	53:08
	He, Uncle Asher, with his slight wiry body,	53:11
	strong and yet bent from lifting too many	53:15
	fruit and vegetable crates for far too many years.	53:19
	His wind-burned skin, his swarthy face	53:23
	impassive except for his wry mouth.	53:25
	This childless couple, who had taken	53:28
	the orphan David into their home,	53:32
	rearing him since the age of seven,	53:34
	and yet refusing to let him call them	53:37
	Mama and Papa for fear that he would	53:39
	forget who his real parents were.	53:42
	David grabbed their rough peddler's hands	53:45
	in his smooth student hands and said,	53:48
	"How can I ever begin to repay you two	53:50
	for what you've done for me?"	53:53
	Uncle Asher spoke gently and said,	53:55
	"David, there's a saying.	53:57
	The love of parents goes to their children,	54:01
	but the love of their children goes to their children."	54:04
	"That's not so," David said.	54:09
	"I'll always be trying to," and Tante Dvorah	54:11
	interrupted and said, "David, what your Uncle Asher	54:14
	really means and is trying to say is that	54:17
	a parent's love can never be paid back.	54:21
	It isn't to be paid back.	54:26
	It can only be passed on."	54:29
	My friends.	54:35
	The love of God, which you and I have experienced	54:39
	in Jesus Christ, can never be paid back.	54:44
	It can be passed on.	54:51
	Amen.	54:58
	(organ music)	55:06
	(choir singing)	55:41
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	58:21
	We believe in God, who has created, and is creating.	58:25
	Who has come in the truly human Jesus	58:31
	to reconcile and make new.	58:34
	Who works in us and others by the Spirit.	58:37
	We trust God who calls us to be the church.	58:41
	To celebrate life in its fullness.	58:46
	To love and serve others.	58:49
	To seek justice and resist evil.	58:52
	To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.	58:55
	Our judge and our hope.	58:59
	In life, in death, in life beyond death.	59:02
	God is with us.	59:06
	We are not alone.	59:08
	Thanks be to God.	59:10
	The Lord be with you.	59:13
-	And also with you.	59:15
-	Let us pray.	59:16
	Accept, oh Lord, our thanks and praise	59:26
	for all that you have done for us.	59:29
	We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation.	59:33
	For the beauty of this world.	59:37
	For the wonder of life and for the mystery of love.	59:40
	We thank you for the blessing of family and friends.	59:45
	And for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.	59:51
	We thank you for setting us at tasks	59:57
	which demand our best efforts.	1:00:00
	And for leading us to accomplishments	1:00:03
	which satisfy and delight us.	1:00:06
	We thank you also for those disappointments	1:00:09
	and failures that lead us to acknowledge	1:00:13
	our dependence on you alone.	1:00:17
	Above all, we thank you for your son Jesus Christ.	1:00:21
	For the truth of His word and example.	1:00:27
	For His steadfast obedience	1:00:31
	by which He overcame temptation.	1:00:34
	For His dying through which we overcame death.	1:00:37
	And for His rising to life again in which	1:00:43
	we are raised to the life of your Kingdom.	1:00:46
	Grant us the gift of your Spirit.	1:00:51
	That we may know Him and make Him known.	1:00:54
	And through Him, at all times and in all places,	1:00:58
	may give thanks to you in all things.	1:01:02
	Remember, oh Lord, thy church upon Earth.	1:01:06
	Deepen her influence and extend her power for good.	1:01:11
	'Til the kingdoms of this world become	1:01:16
	the Kingdom of our Lord and his Christ.	1:01:19
	We pray for our beloved Lamb.	1:01:23
	For our leaders and governors.	1:01:26
	And for all who have part in public service.	1:01:29
	Make them pure in motive, wise in counsel,	1:01:34
	and strong in action.	1:01:38
	Doing right in the fear of thy holy name.	1:01:41
	Have mercy, oh Lord, upon those	1:01:46
	who are passing through saw trial.	1:01:48
	The poor, the sick, the anxious, the oppressed, the hungry.	1:01:51
	Inspire in us and in our fellow men	1:01:59
	the will to help our suffering brethren.	1:02:02
	Heal, protect, and strengthen them according to their need.	1:02:06
	Comfort those in sorrow with the comfort	1:02:11
	which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.	1:02:14
	We implore thy grace and protection for the ensuing day.	1:02:18
	Keep us temperate in all things.	1:02:23
	And diligent in our several callings.	1:02:26
	Grant us patience under afflictions.	1:02:30
	Give us grace to be just and upright in all our dealings.	1:02:33
	Quiet and peaceable, full of compassion,	1:02:39
	and ready to do good to all men.	1:02:43
	According to our abilities and opportunities.	1:02:46
	Direct us in all our ways.	1:02:50
	Defend us from all dangers and adversities.	1:02:53
	And be graciously pleased to take us,	1:02:57
	and all who are dear to us, under thy	1:03:00
	fatherly care and protection.	1:03:02
	These things and whatever else thou	1:03:07
	shalt see to be necessary and convenient	1:03:09
	to us, we humbly beseech you.	1:03:12
	Through the merits and mediation of your	1:03:15
	Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.	1:03:17
	Amen.	1:03:22
	And now as our Lord has taught us.	1:03:24
	Our Father, who art in Heaven.	1:03:27
	Hallowed be thy name.	1:03:30
	Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:03:32
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:03:36
	Give us this day our daily bread.	1:03:38
	And forgive us our trespasses as we	1:03:41
	forgive those who trespass against us.	1:03:44
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:03:48
	For thine is the Kingdom, and the power,	1:03:53
	and the glory, forever and ever.	1:03:56
	Amen.	1:03:59
	(organ music)	1:04:04
	Oh God, most merciful and gracious.	1:10:26
	Of whose bounty we have all received.	1:10:29
	Accept this offering of thy people.	1:10:33
	Remember in thy love those who have brought it,	1:10:36
	and those for whom it is given.	1:10:40
	And so follow it with thy blessing that it may	1:10:43
	promote peace and goodwill among men	1:10:46
	and advance the Kingdom of our	1:10:50
	Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.	1:10:52
	Amen.	1:10:55
	(organ music)	1:10:58
	(choir singing)	1:11:38
	And now may the peace of God which passed	1:14:36
	with understanding keep your hearts and minds	1:14:38
	in the knowledge and love of God	1:14:42
	and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.	1:14:44
	And the blessing of God almighty,	1:14:48
	the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,	1:14:50
	be amongst you and remain with you always.	1:14:54
	Amen.	1:14:58
	(organ music)	1:15:02

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "The Church: Is It to Care or to Fight?" (November 26, 1978)

Description:

To really care means to sacrifice something. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: We say I'll sacrifice if, or we say, I will care if, and I hear Jesus saying don't give me your ifs. What I want is for you to care.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4c53fg6w

Date:

November 26, 1978

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0990
ref7189_bd0
uachapelsermaud
duke:320346
dcrau001870
ark:/87924/r4c53fg6w
b9e25c82-e914-4774-9644-2e72bca3b11f

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

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This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other 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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Robert T. Young - "The Church: Is It to Care or to Fight?" (November 26, 1978)

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1. Robert T. Young - "The Church: Is It to Care or to Fight?" (November 26, 1978)

Duke University Archives

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Robert T. Young - "The Church: Is It to Care or to Fight?" (November 26, 1978)

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Duke University Archives

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