James Earl Massey - "Looking Beyond Our Laments" (June 9, 1991)
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Transcript
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(church organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | Welcome to this service of worship at Duke University | 2:44 |
chapel | 2:48 | |
on this third Sunday after Pentecost. | 2:49 | |
We are grateful to doctor James Ferguson who is a member | 2:53 | |
of the congregational counsel, for serving as lector today. | 2:56 | |
Our guest preacher is the Reverend Doctor James Earl Massey, | 3:01 | |
Dean of Anderson Theological Seminary in Anderson, Indiana. | 3:06 | |
A noted pastor, preacher and new testament scholar, | 3:12 | |
Doctor Massey preached here at Duke chapel two years ago, | 3:16 | |
and we are grateful that he is back with us today. | 3:20 | |
And now would you stand for the greeting. | 3:25 | |
A symbol with songs on your lips and expectation | 3:33 | |
in your hearts. | 3:37 | |
(everyone mumbles response) | 3:39 | |
Look not to things that are seen but to realities | 3:47 | |
that are unseen. | 3:51 | |
(everyone mumbles response) | 3:53 | |
Give thanks to God among all the people, praise God | 4:00 | |
among all the nations. | 4:05 | |
(everyone mumbles response) | 4:08 | |
(church organ music) | 4:14 | |
(O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing is sung) | 4:36 | |
Oh great and eternal God, | 7:42 | |
abundant in power and mercy, | 7:44 | |
we have hope because of your steadfast love. | 7:48 | |
You bless us and empower us to bless each other. | 7:52 | |
Enable us to receive your unseen hand in the unfolding | 7:57 | |
of our lives. | 8:02 | |
Grant that we may affirm what can be affirm and risk | 8:03 | |
what has to be risked for the sake of human dignity. | 8:08 | |
May we attend to the sometime gentle, and sometime | 8:13 | |
compelling guidance of your holy spirit, that we may know | 8:17 | |
the joy you give your people. | 8:22 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 8:26 | |
(whispers) You may be seated. | 8:31 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:42 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God by the, | 8:44 | |
Everyone | power of your holy spirit | 8:48 |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, we might | 8:50 | |
hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 8:54 | |
- | Amen. | 8:58 |
The first lesson is taken from the 47th chapter | 9:01 | |
of the Book of Genesis. | 9:05 | |
Beginning at the seventh verse. | 9:07 | |
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented | 9:11 | |
him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. | 9:14 | |
Pharaoh said to Jacob, how many are the years of your life? | 9:19 | |
Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my earthly sojourn | 9:25 | |
are one hundred thirty. | 9:29 | |
Few and hard have been the years of my life. | 9:32 | |
They do no compare with the years of the life | 9:36 | |
of my ancestors during their long sojourn." | 9:39 | |
Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from | 9:44 | |
the presence of Pharaoh. | 9:47 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 9:49 | |
Everyone | Praise be to God. | 9:52 |
Singer | The Psalm is number 147, | 10:06 |
found on page 859 and 860. | 10:08 | |
Please stand as we sing responsively. | 10:10 | |
- | Praise the Lord. | 10:22 |
For it is good to sing praises to our God, | 10:23 | |
a song of praise is fitting. | 10:27 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 10:31 | |
The Lord heals the brokenhearted | 10:41 | |
and binds up their wounds. | 10:44 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 10:48 | |
Great is our Lord | 10:57 | |
and an abundant in power, | 10:59 | |
whose understanding is beyond measure. | 11:02 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 11:07 | |
Sing to the Lord, with Thanksgiving. | 11:16 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 11:21 | |
Who covers the heavens with clouds, | 11:26 | |
prepares rain for the Earth, | 11:29 | |
makes grass grow, | 11:32 | |
upon the hills. | 11:35 | |
(everyone singing response) | 11:37 | |
For our Lord takes no delight in the might of a horse, | 11:46 | |
nor pleasure in the strength of our runner. | 11:52 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 11:57 | |
Oh glory be to you oh God, | 12:08 | |
and to Jesus Christ, our savior. | 12:11 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 12:15 | |
As it was | 12:20 | |
since time began, | 12:22 | |
(everyone singing in response) | 12:24 | |
- | The epistle is written in the fourth chapter of Paul's | 12:49 |
second letter to the Corinthians, | 12:53 | |
beginning at the 13th verse. | 12:55 | |
But just as we have the same spirit of faith that | 12:58 | |
is in accordance with scripture, I believed and so I spoke, | 13:01 | |
we also believe and so we speak. | 13:06 | |
Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus, | 13:10 | |
will raise us also with Jesus and will bring us with you | 13:13 | |
into his presence. | 13:18 | |
Yes everything is for your sake so that grace as it extends | 13:20 | |
to more and more people may increase thanksgiving | 13:25 | |
to the glory of God. | 13:29 | |
So we do not lose heart, even though our outer nature | 13:32 | |
is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed | 13:36 | |
day by day. | 13:40 | |
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us | 13:42 | |
for an eternal weight of glory, beyond all measure. | 13:46 | |
Because we look not at what can be seen, | 13:50 | |
but at what cannot be seen. | 13:53 | |
For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot | 13:56 | |
be seen is eternal. | 14:00 | |
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in | 14:03 | |
is destroyed, we have a building from God. | 14:06 | |
A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. | 14:10 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 14:15 | |
Everyone | Praise be to God. | 14:18 |
(Bless Thou the Lord is sung) | 14:22 | |
- | The holy gospel is written in the third chapter | 17:48 |
of the gospel according to St. Mark, beginning | 17:52 | |
at the 20th verse. | 17:55 | |
"And the crowd came together again so that they could | 17:58 | |
not even eat. | 18:01 | |
When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him. | 18:04 | |
For people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." | 18:07 | |
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, | 18:11 | |
"He has Beelzebub and by the ruler of the demons, | 18:15 | |
he casts out demons." | 18:19 | |
And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables. | 18:21 | |
"How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided | 18:25 | |
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand | 18:30 | |
and if a house is divided against itself, | 18:34 | |
that house will not be able to stand. | 18:37 | |
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, | 18:40 | |
he cannot stand, but his end has come. | 18:44 | |
But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder | 18:49 | |
his property without first tying up the strong man. | 18:52 | |
Then indeed, the house can be plundered. | 18:56 | |
Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins | 19:00 | |
and whatever blasphemies they utter. | 19:03 | |
But whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit, | 19:06 | |
can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin | 19:10 | |
for they had said, | 19:15 | |
"He has an unclean spirit." | 19:16 | |
Then his mother and his brothers came and standing outside | 19:20 | |
they sent to him and called him. | 19:24 | |
A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, | 19:27 | |
"Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside | 19:30 | |
asking for you." | 19:33 | |
And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" | 19:35 | |
And looking at those who sat around him he said, | 19:41 | |
"Here are my mother and my brothers. | 19:44 | |
Whoever does the will of God is my brother | 19:47 | |
and sister and mother." | 19:52 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 19:55 | |
Everyone | Praise be to God. | 19:58 |
- | The sermon of the day is based upon Genesis chapter 47 | 20:12 |
verses seven | 20:18 | |
through 11. | 20:21 | |
And the scene in the passage | 20:24 | |
is of an aged Jacob, | 20:27 | |
father of Joseph. | 20:31 | |
Jacob is now in Egypt | 20:35 | |
having come down at the request of his son Joseph | 20:38 | |
because the homeland of Canaan | 20:43 | |
was in distress because of famine. | 20:45 | |
On this particular day, | 20:51 | |
Jacob is standing before Pharaoh. | 20:54 | |
Given audience | 20:58 | |
because Pharaoh has | 21:00 | |
held Joseph | 21:03 | |
in such high honor, | 21:04 | |
that he now wishes to honor the father | 21:07 | |
of this man. | 21:11 | |
As Pharaoh looks over the elderly man, he asks him | 21:15 | |
a very solicitous question, | 21:19 | |
"How old are you?" | 21:23 | |
Jacob replies, | 21:27 | |
but in a very strange mood. | 21:31 | |
One would have expected him in telling his age, | 21:36 | |
to do so with some sense of | 21:40 | |
pleasure. | 21:43 | |
One would have expected him, in being before Pharaoh, | 21:46 | |
to show some sense of appreciation. | 21:51 | |
But none of this comes through in his reply, | 21:55 | |
he tells his age, | 21:58 | |
but he does so in the spirit | 22:01 | |
of unpleasantness. | 22:03 | |
His reply reeks with lament, | 22:07 | |
as if something else is on his mind. | 22:11 | |
Overburdening him so that he does not act reasonably | 22:15 | |
in a place which call for a different mood | 22:20 | |
than what his answer shows. | 22:24 | |
Why does Jacob, | 22:29 | |
answer as he does? | 22:31 | |
Two things, most readily thought as one views the passage. | 22:36 | |
One, | 22:42 | |
I believe Jacob answers with this kind of lament | 22:44 | |
because he is riddled by fear. | 22:51 | |
Fear that he might not live long enough to return to Canaan. | 22:55 | |
This man feels like a refuge, | 23:00 | |
because he's so far from home. | 23:04 | |
His ancestors are buried back in Canaan and he fears | 23:08 | |
that at his age, he won't live long enough to be | 23:11 | |
taken back there alive | 23:16 | |
and that his bones might have to be buried | 23:19 | |
in a foreign soil, | 23:22 | |
Egypt. | 23:25 | |
All of us ought to understand how he felt about | 23:30 | |
a proper burial and being buried in the proper place | 23:33 | |
beside his ancestors. | 23:37 | |
Just a few days ago, there was an electrical contractor | 23:42 | |
who answered the call of my wife to come to the house | 23:46 | |
and see about the outside yard light | 23:50 | |
because it was not working. | 23:54 | |
I was there on the morning that he arrived | 23:58 | |
and he was an old friend so we fell to talking a bit. | 24:01 | |
After he finished his work, we were standing beside | 24:06 | |
the coffee and he said, "You know, I'm an old man now, | 24:09 | |
I'm 77, | 24:14 | |
and I'm not taking anything for granted. | 24:17 | |
I know I don't have much longer to live. | 24:19 | |
I've even picked out my burial place." | 24:23 | |
And he told me the number of the crypt. | 24:26 | |
He told me where it was. | 24:32 | |
I said to him, "But so have I." | 24:35 | |
Perhaps some of you have already picked out the spot | 24:41 | |
where you want your remains to be placed, because we know | 24:44 | |
how important it is | 24:48 | |
to think about our end. | 24:51 | |
That's what's happening to Jacob, | 24:54 | |
he's thinking about his end and he does not want | 24:57 | |
the end to come in Egypt. | 24:59 | |
So he says to Pharaoh, | 25:03 | |
"Few have been the days of my life." | 25:06 | |
Now, it's very strange that he answers Pharaoh | 25:10 | |
that he is 130 years old | 25:14 | |
and assesses those years as having been few. | 25:17 | |
Actually, he lived on for 17 more years and he died | 25:22 | |
at 147 years of age. | 25:26 | |
But he laments that he is not as old as his Father had been | 25:31 | |
when he died, he laments that he is not as old as his | 25:36 | |
Grandfather had been when he died. | 25:40 | |
His Grandfather was Abraham, | 25:42 | |
who died at 175. | 25:45 | |
His Father was Issac, | 25:48 | |
who died at 180. | 25:50 | |
One would ask, why does he want to outdistance his Father | 25:54 | |
and his Grandfather in years? | 25:58 | |
Perhaps for the same reason that you and I wish | 26:02 | |
to outdistance | 26:05 | |
our Father, our Mother, our Grandfather, | 26:07 | |
our Grandmother, the others before them in education, | 26:11 | |
in learning, | 26:17 | |
in experience, | 26:19 | |
in travel, | 26:20 | |
in finances. | 26:23 | |
There's something about us that wants us to exceed | 26:26 | |
those who went before us. | 26:30 | |
Maybe that is it, perhaps nothing more. | 26:32 | |
But we cannot say why Jacob really wanted to outdistance | 26:37 | |
his Father and his Grandfather in the years they spent | 26:41 | |
in the world. | 26:45 | |
At any place, | 26:48 | |
we find those who want to live on | 26:50 | |
and maybe that is his concern. | 26:54 | |
130 years had not been enough and he wants | 26:57 | |
to keep on living. | 26:59 | |
Whoever thinks that they have lived long enough. | 27:00 | |
Was that it? | 27:05 | |
Whatever the answer, the fear was dying | 27:08 | |
outside the homeland. | 27:11 | |
But the lament he raises over this is out of place, | 27:15 | |
while he's being greeted courteously by Pharaoh | 27:19 | |
who did not have to extend an invitation for him | 27:22 | |
to come to court. | 27:26 | |
And his reason for being in Egypt, ought to have excited | 27:30 | |
him to the point that he should have felt glad. | 27:33 | |
Not only to be in Egypt where there was plentiful food, | 27:37 | |
but where he had audience to the one in power. | 27:42 | |
Not to mention having a son, who shared | 27:47 | |
that power with Pharaoh. | 27:50 | |
Of all of our emotions, fear is the one that weakens | 27:57 | |
our judgment the most. | 28:00 | |
And Jacob's judgment is weakened | 28:03 | |
because of this lingering fear | 28:07 | |
that he might die outside his homeland. | 28:11 | |
But a second reason why I believe Jacob responds | 28:17 | |
as he does to Pharaoh, | 28:19 | |
he's filled with remembered frustrations | 28:25 | |
and being in Egypt is just another one. | 28:29 | |
The depth of his disturbance is very evident when | 28:36 | |
he laments his life not only as, | 28:40 | |
few | 28:42 | |
years | 28:43 | |
in extent, | 28:45 | |
but evil | 28:46 | |
in content. | 28:48 | |
Few | 28:51 | |
and evil | 28:52 | |
have been the days of the years of my life. | 28:54 | |
Why does he access his life as having been evil? | 28:58 | |
And the Hebrew word there depicts a life that is accessed | 29:04 | |
as ruined, | 29:09 | |
spoiled, | 29:11 | |
worthless. | 29:12 | |
How and why did a man at this late stage of life | 29:15 | |
look back and think that it was all a ruined thing. | 29:21 | |
Perhaps because he had lived by his wits. | 29:27 | |
Because he had lived by cunning, | 29:33 | |
by ambition, | 29:37 | |
the disregarded principle. | 29:38 | |
Here is a man who had a lack of care for anyone | 29:42 | |
other than himself. | 29:45 | |
And his way of living had led him into some very tragic | 29:47 | |
tangles and had produced for him some very tragic times. | 29:50 | |
Here's a man standing before Pharaoh who had been intent | 29:56 | |
to make things go his way, | 30:01 | |
always, | 30:04 | |
even if he had to force matters by outsmarting other people. | 30:06 | |
As he had done, his older brother Esau by seizing | 30:11 | |
the birthright privileges for himself and was afterward | 30:16 | |
on the run for many years, trying desperately to stay out | 30:19 | |
of his angered brother's reach, so as to escape his | 30:23 | |
angered brother's wrath. | 30:27 | |
If his life was ruined, | 30:31 | |
he ruined it. | 30:34 | |
And we humans, have a way doing that. | 30:37 | |
But as Jacob stood before Pharaoh, lamenting how young | 30:44 | |
he was, | 30:49 | |
at 130, | 30:51 | |
and how evil his life had been by his estimation, | 30:53 | |
he has forgotten how God had been | 30:58 | |
open and responsive to him in the midst of his many crises. | 31:02 | |
God had often blessed the life of this man and I wonder | 31:09 | |
how could he have forgotten all of those times, | 31:13 | |
those great times of vision and presence that God | 31:16 | |
had granted to him in the course of his journey. | 31:20 | |
He has forgotten, | 31:25 | |
how life could be. | 31:29 | |
And he has forgotten how God had given him favor to start | 31:32 | |
over again | 31:35 | |
and over again | 31:36 | |
and over again. | 31:38 | |
I wonder how could this man have forgotten that ladder | 31:41 | |
experience in a dream, | 31:45 | |
when he was getting ready to face Esau whom he had wronged, | 31:49 | |
and God changed the situation for him. | 31:54 | |
How could he have forgotten that night, that all night | 31:58 | |
wrestling match with an angel when he won by valiant | 32:00 | |
struggle, a change of name and a change of direction | 32:05 | |
for his life. | 32:09 | |
How could he could have forgotten that vision | 32:11 | |
time at Bethel? | 32:13 | |
What is that about us that makes the sad times | 32:17 | |
stand out larger in our memories than the glad times? | 32:22 | |
Is memory something with which we calculate | 32:28 | |
and catalog events? | 32:31 | |
Or is it something with which we forget and dismiss them? | 32:35 | |
God had been good, God had been gracious, God had been | 32:41 | |
present, God had been mindful, | 32:44 | |
God had often blessed this man. | 32:48 | |
But now he stands, | 32:51 | |
victimized by a mood | 32:53 | |
and all of those good times with God | 32:55 | |
are somewhere in the past, | 32:59 | |
locked away from his remembrance because of a mood. | 33:01 | |
Out of which he raises a lament. | 33:07 | |
So at a time when one would have expected joy, | 33:11 | |
a sense of appreciation for being where he was, | 33:16 | |
one gets a desultory | 33:21 | |
response. | 33:23 | |
A reply that reeks with unpleasantness, | 33:25 | |
sorrow, and lamentation. | 33:29 | |
Fear, | 33:34 | |
and remembered frustrations | 33:36 | |
occasion this mood. | 33:40 | |
What remembered frustrations make you moody? | 33:45 | |
Always watch how you handle them because a lament | 33:51 | |
cannot only change you countenance making you look downcast, | 33:54 | |
a lament can block your reason and distort your perspective. | 33:58 | |
A lament can make you sorry company. | 34:04 | |
I wonder what Joseph thought as he listened to his aged | 34:09 | |
Father darken the scene in the court with such moody words. | 34:11 | |
And I wonder what Pharaoh thought, | 34:17 | |
as he watched and listened to the old man. | 34:20 | |
In terms of how Joseph felt as he listened to his Father, | 34:29 | |
I'm reminded of an experience | 34:34 | |
recounted by | 34:38 | |
Daddy King, | 34:40 | |
as we affectionately called him. | 34:42 | |
Daddy King told in his autobiography about the bitter days | 34:47 | |
he knew as the son of a sharecropper Father. | 34:50 | |
Growing up in Stock Ridge, Georgia. | 34:53 | |
Their lot on the farm was unreasonably hard, the field | 34:56 | |
work was plentiful, it was never over and the pay | 34:59 | |
his Father received was never a fair share. | 35:02 | |
The man was black, broke, without hope that he would | 35:07 | |
ever own his own land and work for himself. | 35:11 | |
So James Albert King sometimes tried to drown his troubles | 35:14 | |
in strong drink | 35:19 | |
and he had a lot of weekend binges. | 35:22 | |
One season when the farm work was going badly, | 35:26 | |
James King went to Atlanta where his son had gone | 35:30 | |
to complete grade school. | 35:34 | |
James King had been drinking, this was evident to the son | 35:37 | |
and to the school principal who was standing in the office | 35:41 | |
as the Father was speaking so harshly to his son. | 35:44 | |
James King was insisting that his son would have to stop | 35:48 | |
school and return with him to the farm and the boy | 35:51 | |
was pleading and resisting the notion of having to go back. | 35:54 | |
Very soon plain to the principal that he would have | 36:00 | |
to intervene in this argument because the principal knew | 36:02 | |
that the boy was 20 years old and was just now finishing | 36:05 | |
grade school and if he didn't stay on now | 36:10 | |
to complete grade school, | 36:14 | |
chances were he wouldn't get to do so later. | 36:16 | |
So he pleadingly stated to the Father, "Don't ask your | 36:20 | |
son to do this Mr. King. | 36:23 | |
Not when his future's so clearly tied up with his getting | 36:26 | |
an education, we can only give him some of that here, | 36:28 | |
maybe not enough, | 36:33 | |
but let us try | 36:35 | |
and let him stay to get it." | 36:37 | |
James King bit his lip hard, paused despite his anger | 36:41 | |
and then lurched toward the office door | 36:45 | |
and left, | 36:50 | |
his evident | 36:52 | |
state of lamentation | 36:54 | |
etched in the eyes | 36:57 | |
of the principal and the son who was watching. | 36:59 | |
The man's eyes had narrowed in defiance as he headed out | 37:03 | |
along the road that would carry him back to the farm, alone. | 37:06 | |
Having to face things without the help of a son. | 37:10 | |
He walked out loaded with lament, | 37:15 | |
his years still unpleasant, | 37:18 | |
unreasonable, | 37:21 | |
unrewarding and his mind thinking that it was all unfair. | 37:22 | |
His son walked back down the hall, re-entered the classroom | 37:28 | |
from which he'd been summoned, he sat down in his seat | 37:32 | |
and tried to be attentive as the teacher went over | 37:35 | |
the lesson that had been prescribed the previous day. | 37:37 | |
Daddy King says, | 37:42 | |
"I listened, | 37:45 | |
but I was hearing very little after that." | 37:47 | |
There are many things in life that happen to us, | 37:54 | |
that don't allow us to hear very much | 37:58 | |
after those things have taken place. | 38:02 | |
What has happened in your life that has blocked out | 38:06 | |
even the glad times that you should be remembering, | 38:10 | |
because God produced them for you? | 38:15 | |
There are times in life | 38:22 | |
when a lament arises from your heart and mine, | 38:25 | |
there have been those conditions | 38:30 | |
which have made life, at one time or another, unpleasant. | 38:32 | |
There have been those times when we have felt that life | 38:37 | |
is unrewarding for our toil. | 38:40 | |
There are conditions which to any reasonable mind | 38:42 | |
are apparently unreasonable and unfair. | 38:45 | |
As those five times in the life of my wife and myself | 38:50 | |
when we lost children. | 38:54 | |
So at this stage in our lives when we could be in love | 38:59 | |
with grands and perhaps great-grands, | 39:03 | |
we are childless still. | 39:08 | |
Maybe you are thinking about conditions in your life, | 39:13 | |
conditions that you have known, | 39:18 | |
out of which a lament was raised in your heart. | 39:21 | |
We all know what it is to lament and we all know why | 39:25 | |
we sometimes indulge in the moodiness out of which | 39:27 | |
laments arise, but any reasonable mind | 39:30 | |
also knows that moodiness can make us like misfits, | 39:33 | |
like Jacob standing before Pharaoh. | 39:39 | |
So locked in the prison of his mood that his spirit lacks | 39:43 | |
the needed openness to show gratitude for the hospitality | 39:46 | |
now extended to him as a privileged guest in the land. | 39:50 | |
Moods | 39:56 | |
can make | 39:57 | |
us misfits. | 39:58 | |
Lingering laments can effect our work, | 40:01 | |
they can effect our family relationships, | 40:05 | |
lingering laments can effect our friendships, | 40:09 | |
lingering laments | 40:12 | |
can effect our very souls. | 40:15 | |
Thank God there is a way out of the lament mood. | 40:21 | |
There is a way out of the prison house of our feelings. | 40:26 | |
That | 40:31 | |
road of faith, | 40:33 | |
is the way. | 40:35 | |
Faith. | 40:38 | |
Faith that life is not through with us. | 40:40 | |
If only Jacob had know that. | 40:44 | |
If only he had known that he would live for 17 more years. | 40:48 | |
But he's not thinking about that now, he's lamenting. | 40:52 | |
We need faith, not only that life is not through with us, | 40:57 | |
but faith that feelings are never the final fact | 41:00 | |
in anyone's life. | 41:04 | |
We need faith that God still cares about us, that God | 41:06 | |
still knows who we are, God knows where we are, | 41:10 | |
and God knows what is happening to us where we are. | 41:14 | |
Faith. | 41:18 | |
This is the open secret of the courage | 41:21 | |
of my slave ancestors. | 41:24 | |
As they were facing the unyielding demands of their hard | 41:27 | |
lot in life, | 41:30 | |
when their frustrations seemed unrelenting, | 41:32 | |
when their troubles seemed unending, when their sorrows | 41:35 | |
continued to multiply beyond all counting, | 41:40 | |
and when their hopes were like | 41:44 | |
already | 41:47 | |
wrinkled raisins, | 41:49 | |
shriveling more so under the torrid sun, | 41:51 | |
they caught a glimpse of God that helped them to look | 41:56 | |
beyond their laments. | 41:59 | |
Yes indeed, they sang, "Nobody knows the trouble I see, | 42:00 | |
nobody knows my sorrow." | 42:05 | |
But having looked beyond themselves, they caught a vision | 42:07 | |
of the justice and the mercy of almighty God, | 42:11 | |
so they went on to add, | 42:16 | |
"Glory, hallelujah." | 42:18 | |
Lament on the one hand, but a lift on the other | 42:24 | |
because of faith. | 42:28 | |
They made it through the dark valley of slavery | 42:32 | |
because they learned to see beyond their laments, | 42:35 | |
catch a glimpse of the bright mountain peaks | 42:40 | |
of a coming freedom. | 42:43 | |
They looked | 42:47 | |
and God took care of the seeing. | 42:49 | |
In the economy of God, willingness to look in his direction | 42:54 | |
has always been the means for gaining human benefit. | 42:59 | |
Across the pages of scripture, this is writ large. | 43:05 | |
Childless Abraham | 43:10 | |
was told by the Lord, "Look to the heaven, | 43:14 | |
number the stars, | 43:18 | |
so shall your descendants be." | 43:20 | |
And that statement to a man whose wife was barren | 43:24 | |
and he himself | 43:29 | |
was in old age. | 43:31 | |
But he looked, | 43:34 | |
and God took care of the results. | 43:37 | |
Ancient Israel his descendants had to be rebuked again | 43:42 | |
and again by the profits for looking down rather than up, | 43:45 | |
for looking to human alliances with foreign nations | 43:49 | |
for safety instead of trusting fully in their faithful God. | 43:51 | |
The words of Isaiah had a sting in them, which we can feel | 43:57 | |
in the reading, "Woe to those who go down to Egypt | 44:00 | |
for help, who rely on horses, who trust in chariots | 44:03 | |
because they are many and in horsemen because they | 44:07 | |
are very strong. | 44:10 | |
But do not look to the holy one of Israel | 44:11 | |
or consult the Lord." | 44:13 | |
I thought of this, | 44:17 | |
as I read the paper on yesterday | 44:19 | |
and learned about the crowd that was in Washington. | 44:23 | |
Gawking at the military might displayed there, | 44:28 | |
all the new machinery, planes. | 44:32 | |
The President on the occasion | 44:36 | |
was reported to have said, "This is good for America." | 44:40 | |
Was he speaking about the military equipment? | 44:45 | |
Or was he speaking about calling attention to God's | 44:50 | |
favor in the handling and winning of a war? | 44:53 | |
Is the mind of the nation on God and his protection? | 45:02 | |
Or is it on our implements? | 45:08 | |
Do we really trust God? | 45:13 | |
Not that implements are not necessary, | 45:18 | |
rather, | 45:23 | |
faith in God | 45:24 | |
must be first. | 45:26 | |
Have the conditions of your life so narrowed | 45:30 | |
that you no longer look up? | 45:33 | |
Have you lost perspective during your journey? | 45:39 | |
And are you now soured because you fear something important | 45:41 | |
has alluded your grasp? | 45:44 | |
Are you like Jacob, | 45:46 | |
in an emotional rut that ruins you for being | 45:48 | |
in places of privilege, and you not ready | 45:52 | |
to receive, reasonably, what is offered to you? | 45:55 | |
The Genesis record does tell us, | 46:01 | |
thankfully, | 46:04 | |
that Jacob's last years saw him lifting his eyes, | 46:06 | |
looking beyond himself and as he did God | 46:10 | |
gave the old patriarch some prophetic insights | 46:13 | |
for the family members gathered about his bed | 46:15 | |
as he was about to face his end. | 46:18 | |
Chapter 49, | 46:21 | |
tells us what he foresaw for his people. | 46:24 | |
Look beyond your laments and you are going to see something | 46:29 | |
that will enrich your spirit. | 46:35 | |
Look up, | 46:39 | |
catch a fresh vision of the glory and grace | 46:41 | |
of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. | 46:44 | |
His promise still stands, | 46:47 | |
"Come to me. | 46:50 | |
All ye who are weary and heavily laden, | 46:52 | |
I will give you rest," | 46:56 | |
which includes rest from strength-sapping, | 46:59 | |
faith-denying, | 47:02 | |
mind-muddling | 47:03 | |
laments. | 47:05 | |
Look around, catch a fresh awareness of the needs | 47:10 | |
and the hurts of others whose plight | 47:14 | |
calls out for what your hands and your heart could make | 47:17 | |
possible for them | 47:20 | |
if you were only aware of them. | 47:23 | |
Look back, | 47:29 | |
count anew the many blessings you've known | 47:32 | |
because you've seen far too much of the goodness | 47:36 | |
of the Lord to remain a victim of your own moods | 47:39 | |
and forget, | 47:43 | |
that God is good. | 47:44 | |
Look forward and I promise you, you will see a light | 47:50 | |
shining forth from the future and you will also see | 47:54 | |
the outstretched arms of a savior, ready to welcome | 47:57 | |
you as you come to him in prayer, | 48:01 | |
as you come to him in trust, | 48:05 | |
and finally as you come to him in a death | 48:10 | |
that will admit you to the best it can ever be, | 48:13 | |
namely an eternity in his presence. | 48:16 | |
I close with the words of the song poet, | 48:24 | |
"I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest, | 48:28 | |
lay down thou worry one, lay down thy head upon my breast. | 48:34 | |
I came to Jesus | 48:38 | |
as I was, | 48:40 | |
weary, | 48:41 | |
worn, | 48:42 | |
and sad. | 48:43 | |
I found in him a resting place and he has made me glad. | 48:45 | |
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "I am this God-world's | 48:51 | |
light, look onto me, thy morn shall rise | 48:55 | |
and all thy days be bright." | 48:59 | |
I looked to Jesus | 49:03 | |
and I found in him | 49:05 | |
my star, | 49:07 | |
my sun, | 49:08 | |
and in that light of life I awoke | 49:09 | |
'till all my days | 49:14 | |
are done. | 49:16 | |
May God help us to do the same. | 49:20 | |
Amen. | 49:24 | |
(church organ music) | 49:27 | |
- | [Reverend Margaret] The Lord be with you. | 52:41 |
Everyone | And also with you. | 52:44 |
- | Let us pray. | 52:45 |
(whispers) Be seated. | 52:46 | |
Oh God, your name and voice is above every name | 52:53 | |
and every voice, | 52:57 | |
yet you stoop to call us | 53:00 | |
and enfold us | 53:02 | |
and to hear us when we pray. | 53:04 | |
We confess what seems always with us, | 53:08 | |
broken things within us that seem never to mend. | 53:12 | |
Empty places within us, that seem always to ache. | 53:16 | |
Oh God you hand to us fresh everyday, | 53:22 | |
your healing, forgiving, grace. | 53:26 | |
May we accept your never ending acceptance. | 53:30 | |
Lord, in your mercy, | 53:33 | |
Everyone | Hear our prayer. | 53:36 |
- | Oh reconciling God, you have bound us together | 53:39 |
in a common life of faith, | 53:42 | |
bless your church so that we do not lose heart, | 53:45 | |
in the midst of frustrations, tensions, afflictions | 53:49 | |
and perils, | 53:53 | |
may we be renewed by your spirit everyday. | 53:55 | |
Gracious God, you sent your son into the world, | 53:59 | |
reveal him to others through his life in us. | 54:03 | |
Lord in your mercy. | 54:07 | |
Everyone | Hear our prayer. | 54:10 |
- | Thank you for the movings and and the promptings | 54:12 |
of the work of your spirit in this place. | 54:15 | |
We pray that during this summer season, we may be alert | 54:19 | |
and receptive to the needs within this University | 54:23 | |
and chapel community. | 54:27 | |
Especially do we pray for Will and his time in Germany | 54:30 | |
and the lives he touches there. | 54:34 | |
For Nancy as she enters a new phase of her ministry. | 54:37 | |
For Deborah and Janet as they prepare to begin | 54:42 | |
their work here. | 54:46 | |
Lord, in your mercy, | 54:48 | |
Everyone | Hear our prayer. | 54:50 |
- | Oh transforming God, we pray for the suffering people | 54:53 |
in our world, | 54:57 | |
for those who are poor, the victims of society in our own | 54:59 | |
country and in the countries throughout the world, | 55:03 | |
especially those suffering from the divisions caused by war | 55:07 | |
and political factions. | 55:11 | |
The starving and dislocated in Africa. | 55:14 | |
In India and Bangladesh, | 55:17 | |
in Iraq, in Iran, | 55:20 | |
and in cities across this land. | 55:22 | |
For those caught in the throes of the volcanic | 55:26 | |
eruptions in Japan. | 55:28 | |
Move us by your self-giving love, to share | 55:32 | |
with those in need. | 55:34 | |
Lord, in your mercy, | 55:37 | |
Everyone | Hear our prayer. | 55:39 |
- | We pray for the sick and the dying, especially | 55:42 |
those in our local hospitals. | 55:44 | |
And for those who suffer the drain of serving the sick | 55:47 | |
and the mentally and emotionally handicapped. | 55:52 | |
Enlarge our spirit so that we may know how to best love | 55:56 | |
and care for the needy, in our homes, our communities, | 55:59 | |
and around the world. | 56:04 | |
Lord in your mercy, | 56:06 | |
Everyone | Hear our prayer. | 56:08 |
- | Almighty God keep us strong so that in the midst | 56:11 |
of struggle, sacrifice and challenge, we might be always | 56:14 | |
your people, | 56:19 | |
looking unto the things which are eternal. | 56:20 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ who empowers us | 56:24 | |
to be your people. | 56:28 | |
Amen. | 56:31 | |
We often approach God with little but ourselves to offer, | 56:33 | |
God takes our modest gifts and our battered lives | 56:38 | |
and transforms them into heavenly treasures, | 56:42 | |
let us bring our gifts to God. | 56:46 | |
(church organ music) | 56:51 | |
- | Oh holy God we come to your altar with exceeding joy, | 1:02:38 |
grateful that you are with us in all the storms of life. | 1:02:43 | |
You have challenged us with a word that points us beyond | 1:02:48 | |
where we are, in the direction you would have us go. | 1:02:51 | |
Link us together with all your children in every generation | 1:02:56 | |
in the quest for peace and righteous living. | 1:03:00 | |
Use our offerings to support others facing trying days | 1:03:04 | |
and difficult decisions. | 1:03:08 | |
Equip us to be instruments of your holy church, | 1:03:10 | |
serving the outcast, the brokenhearted and the downtrodden | 1:03:14 | |
throughout | 1:03:18 | |
our desperate world. | 1:03:19 | |
Gather us up so that we may play a part in making known | 1:03:22 | |
the infinite riches of your grace. | 1:03:25 | |
In the name of the one who taught us to pray saying, | 1:03:28 | |
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, | 1:03:32 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:03:36 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:03:40 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive | 1:03:42 | |
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass | 1:03:45 | |
against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver | 1:03:49 | |
us from evil. | 1:03:53 | |
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory | 1:03:55 | |
forever and ever, amen. | 1:03:58 | |
And now may God who dwells in mystery and holiness, | 1:04:01 | |
preserve you and yours this day and all the days to come, | 1:04:04 | |
guiding and sustaining you in times of joys and trials, | 1:04:09 | |
and bringing you at last to God's eternal kingdom, | 1:04:13 | |
in the name of the Father and the Son | 1:04:18 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, amen. | 1:04:20 | |
Everyone | (singing) Hallelujah, amen, | 1:04:28 |
amen. | 1:04:33 | |
(church organ music) | 1:04:41 | |
(Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service is sung) | 1:05:26 |
Item Info
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