Nancy Ferree-Clark - "An Unexpected Caller" (March 11, 1990)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(tranquil organ music) | 0:00 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 0:42 | |
(choir singing) | 0:51 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 3:13 | |
(choir singing) | 3:18 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to this service | 6:00 |
of worship at Duke University Chapel | 6:02 | |
on this second Sunday in Lent. | 6:04 | |
We are pleased to welcome each of you here | 6:06 | |
as well as those of you in our radio | 6:08 | |
and television audiences | 6:11 | |
and especially those patients | 6:12 | |
and their families at Duke Hospital. | 6:14 | |
This is the first Sunday of our spring break here on campus | 6:17 | |
and so, in the absence of our chapel choir, | 6:19 | |
we are delighted to be able | 6:21 | |
to welcome the Charlotte Children's Choir | 6:23 | |
to our service and their conductor Dr. Elizabeth P. DeLuca | 6:26 | |
We can thank them not only for their lovely contribution | 6:30 | |
to our service but for their commitment to being here | 6:32 | |
which involved being up in time | 6:35 | |
to leave Charlotte at six o'clock this morning, | 6:37 | |
so we are very pleased that they're with us. | 6:40 | |
I'd also like to thank our lector Dr. William Briner | 6:42 | |
who's Assistant Professor of Radiology | 6:45 | |
at the Duke Medical Center | 6:47 | |
and president of the Duke Chapel Congregation | 6:48 | |
and our presiding minister, | 6:51 | |
the Reverend Dr. Paula E. Gilbert, | 6:53 | |
Assistant Dean for Planning and Special Projects | 6:55 | |
at Duke Divinity School | 6:57 | |
for assisting us in our service today. | 6:59 | |
Please note the remaining announcements | 7:02 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins | 7:03 | |
and now as we continue our journey together | 7:06 | |
through these 40 days of Lent, | 7:08 | |
hear these words of scripture. | 7:10 | |
Rend your hearts and not your garments, | 7:13 | |
return to the Lord your God | 7:16 | |
for the Lord is gracious and merciful, | 7:18 | |
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love | 7:20 | |
and repents of evil. | 7:25 | |
Let us stand and lift our voices together in song. | 7:27 | |
(lively organ music) | 7:32 | |
(congregation singing) | 8:16 | |
- | Let us join together in prayer | 11:31 |
using the prayer as it is printed, number 268 | 11:33 | |
in our hymnal. | 11:38 | |
All | Oh God our deliverer, | 11:43 |
you led your people of old | 11:45 | |
through the wilderness | 11:47 | |
and brought them to the promised land. | 11:48 | |
Guide now the people of your church | 11:51 | |
that following our savior we may walk | 11:54 | |
through the wilderness of this world | 11:58 | |
toward the glory of the world to come. | 12:00 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord | 12:03 | |
who lives and reigns with you | 12:05 | |
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. | 12:07 | |
Amen. | 12:12 | |
- | Let us pray together the Prayer for Illumination. | 12:26 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, oh God | 12:29 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit | 12:32 | |
so as the word is read and proclaimed, | 12:35 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 12:38 | |
Amen. | 12:42 | |
Our first lesson is from the 12th chapter | 12:44 | |
of Genesis versus one through four. | 12:46 | |
Now the Lord said to Abram, | 12:49 | |
go from your country and your kindred | 12:51 | |
and your family's house to the land | 12:54 | |
that I will show you | 12:56 | |
and I will make of you a great nation | 12:58 | |
and I will bless you and make your name great | 13:00 | |
so that you will be a blessing. | 13:03 | |
I will bless those who bless you | 13:06 | |
and the one who curses you, I will curse | 13:09 | |
and by you all the families of the Earth | 13:13 | |
shall bless themselves. | 13:15 | |
So, Abram went as the Lord had told him | 13:18 | |
and Lot with him. | 13:20 | |
Here ends the reading of the first lesson. | 13:22 | |
- | Please stand as we join together | 13:30 |
in singing Psalm 33 verses 18 through 22 | 13:32 | |
found on page 768 in your hymnal. | 13:36 | |
Please note that the Psalm tone for the Psalm | 13:40 | |
and the Gloria will be the same. | 13:42 | |
(lively organ music) | 13:45 | |
♪ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who are faithful ♪ | 13:53 | |
♪ And hope for God's steadfast love ♪ | 13:58 | |
♪ To deliver their soul from death ♪ | 14:02 | |
♪ And to keep them alive in famine ♪ | 14:07 | |
♪ My soul waits for thy word ♪ | 14:12 | |
♪ He is my help and shield ♪ | 14:16 | |
♪ My heart is gladdened by the Lord ♪ | 14:21 | |
♪ Because we trust in God's holy name ♪ | 14:25 | |
♪ Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us ♪ | 14:30 | |
♪ Even as we hope in thee ♪ | 14:37 | |
♪ All glory be to you, oh God ♪ | 14:42 | |
♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪ | 14:46 | |
♪ And to the Holy Spirit, blessed Trinity ♪ | 14:50 | |
♪ As it was since time began ♪ | 14:56 | |
♪ Is now and will be forever more ♪ | 15:01 | |
- | Our second lesson is from the fourth chapter | 15:24 |
of Paul's epistle to the Romans verses one through five | 15:27 | |
and 13 through 17. | 15:31 | |
What then shall we say about Abraham, our ancestor | 15:35 | |
according to the flesh? | 15:38 | |
For if Abraham was justified by works, | 15:40 | |
he has something to boast about but not before God. | 15:43 | |
For what does the scripture say? | 15:48 | |
Abraham believed God | 15:50 | |
and was reckoned to him as righteousness. | 15:52 | |
Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift, | 15:55 | |
but as the worker's due | 15:59 | |
and to one who does not work | 16:01 | |
but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, | 16:03 | |
faith is reckoned as righteousness. | 16:06 | |
The promise to Abraham and to the descendants | 16:09 | |
of Abraham that they should inherit the world | 16:12 | |
did not come through the law | 16:15 | |
but through the righteousness of faith. | 16:17 | |
If it is the adherence of the law, | 16:19 | |
who are to be the heirs, | 16:22 | |
faith is null and the promise is void | 16:23 | |
for the law brings wrath but where there is no law, | 16:27 | |
there is no transgression. | 16:30 | |
That is why it depends on faith in order | 16:33 | |
that the promise may rest on grace | 16:35 | |
and be guaranteed to all their descendants, | 16:37 | |
not only to the adherence of the law | 16:40 | |
but also to those who share the faith of Abraham | 16:42 | |
who is the ancestor of us all as it is written. | 16:45 | |
I have made you the ancestor of many nations | 16:49 | |
in the presence of God in whom Abraham believed | 16:51 | |
who gives life to the dead | 16:55 | |
and calls into existence the things | 16:56 | |
that do not exist. | 16:58 | |
Here ends the reading of the epistle. | 17:00 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 17:21 | |
(choir singing) | 17:28 | |
- | A reading from the gospel according to St. John. | 20:28 |
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, | 20:34 | |
a ruler of the Jews. | 20:38 | |
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night | 20:40 | |
and he said Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher | 20:43 | |
come from God for no one can do these signs | 20:47 | |
that you do except by the power of God. | 20:50 | |
Jesus answered Nicodemus, | 20:54 | |
truly, truly I say to you | 20:57 | |
unless one is born anew, one cannot see the kingdom of God. | 21:00 | |
Nicodemus replied, how can someone be born who is old? | 21:06 | |
Can anyone enter the mother's womb a second time | 21:11 | |
and be born? | 21:14 | |
Jesus answered, truly, truly I say to you, | 21:17 | |
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, | 21:20 | |
one cannot enter the kingdom of God. | 21:23 | |
That which is born of the flesh | 21:27 | |
is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. | 21:28 | |
Do not marvel that I said to you you must be born anew. | 21:33 | |
The wind blows where it wills | 21:37 | |
and you hear the sound of it | 21:39 | |
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. | 21:42 | |
So, it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. | 21:46 | |
Nicodemus said to Jesus, how can this be? | 21:50 | |
Jesus answered are you a teacher of Israel | 21:54 | |
and you do not understand this? | 21:58 | |
Truly, truly I say to you we speak of what we know | 22:00 | |
and bear witness to what we have seen | 22:04 | |
but you do not receive our testimony. | 22:06 | |
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, | 22:09 | |
how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? | 22:13 | |
No one has ascended into heaven | 22:17 | |
but the one who descended from heaven, | 22:19 | |
the Son of Man and as Moses lifted up the serpent | 22:22 | |
in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up | 22:26 | |
that whoever believes in that one may have eternal life. | 22:30 | |
For God so loved the world | 22:35 | |
that he gave his only son | 22:37 | |
that whoever believes in him should not perish | 22:39 | |
but have eternal life | 22:42 | |
for God sent the son into the world | 22:44 | |
not to condemn the world | 22:47 | |
but that the world through him might be saved. | 22:50 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 22:55 | |
I wonder if any of you have been around new parents lately | 23:02 | |
or better yet, maybe some of you are new parents yourselves. | 23:06 | |
If so, it might be nice if one of you | 23:10 | |
were up in the pulpit this morning | 23:12 | |
to proclaim the wonders of new birth | 23:14 | |
as only a new parent can do with the possible exception | 23:17 | |
of a new grandparent | 23:21 | |
who comes in a close second | 23:23 | |
as God's biggest advocate for new life. | 23:24 | |
Completely amazing, an absolute miracle, | 23:28 | |
the most precious gift of our entire lives | 23:32 | |
are typical descriptions of this wondrous event. | 23:35 | |
Our own daughter is now a very grown up | 23:39 | |
19 month old and her father and I still go around gawking | 23:41 | |
at her sometimes as if she were the most amazing creature | 23:45 | |
ever to creep on the face of this Earth. | 23:49 | |
No wonder Jesus decided to talk about new birth | 23:52 | |
in response to Nicodemus' inquiry | 23:56 | |
in today's gospel. | 23:58 | |
It's a universal experience of the miraculous | 24:00 | |
which reduces even the most knowledgeable, | 24:04 | |
the most jaded among us to simple awe and gratitude. | 24:07 | |
And so it is that Jesus points to birth | 24:12 | |
from above as the means of entering | 24:15 | |
the kingdom of heaven. | 24:17 | |
Truly I say to you, unless one is born anew, | 24:19 | |
one cannot see the kingdom of heaven, | 24:23 | |
Jesus declares to Nicodemus. | 24:26 | |
We think we struggle to get at the bottom of these words, | 24:28 | |
so varied and so controversial | 24:30 | |
have their interpretations been over the years | 24:33 | |
but just try putting yourself in Nicodemus' shoes. | 24:36 | |
You see, Nicodemus as a Pharisee and a prominent teacher | 24:40 | |
within his community was absolutely devoted | 24:44 | |
to a strict observance of the law. | 24:47 | |
The Pharisees believed that the law was the perfect word | 24:50 | |
of God containing everything they needed | 24:52 | |
for living a good life | 24:54 | |
and thereby attaining salvation. | 24:56 | |
They were so determined to keep the letter of the law | 24:59 | |
that they actually separated themselves | 25:02 | |
from ordinary life in order to do so. | 25:04 | |
Thus the name Pharisee actually means the separated one. | 25:07 | |
Add to that, Nicodemus' position as a ruler | 25:13 | |
of the Jews. | 25:15 | |
As a member of the Sanhedrin, | 25:17 | |
he was one of a 10-member ruling council | 25:19 | |
that had jurisdiction over every Jew in the world. | 25:22 | |
Their powers included the practice of evaluating | 25:27 | |
and dealing with those who were suspicious | 25:30 | |
of being false prophets. | 25:32 | |
What a remarkable thing | 25:35 | |
that Nicodemus with all of his wealth | 25:37 | |
and prestige and power should want to talk | 25:39 | |
about God with a former carpenter from Nazareth. | 25:42 | |
And so, it was under the cover of night | 25:47 | |
that he called upon Jesus, | 25:49 | |
suggestive of the fact that Jewish leaders only associated | 25:51 | |
with Jesus in secret | 25:54 | |
and of their lack of understanding. | 25:56 | |
Aware of Jesus' miraculous deeds, | 25:59 | |
Nicodemus surmised that Jesus | 26:01 | |
was a teacher come from God | 26:03 | |
but as Jesus soon pointed out, | 26:05 | |
it isn't the outward appearance | 26:07 | |
but the change in a person's life | 26:09 | |
that allows him or her to enter the kingdom of heaven, | 26:12 | |
a new birth. | 26:15 | |
Such language, so baffling to Nicodemus | 26:17 | |
as it is to most of us. | 26:20 | |
How do we imagine a new birth when it's a challenge | 26:22 | |
to get out of bed in the morning? | 26:24 | |
How do we reenter our mother's womb | 26:27 | |
when most of us are nervous about going anywhere | 26:29 | |
that seems a little dark | 26:32 | |
or unfamiliar or maybe just beyond our control. | 26:33 | |
Like Nicodemus, we're doing the best we can trying to play | 26:38 | |
by the rules we've been given. | 26:41 | |
We're good religious folk, | 26:44 | |
just tell us what we need to do | 26:46 | |
and we'll do it the best we possibly can. | 26:47 | |
In order to fully appreciate Nicodemus' quandary, | 26:52 | |
it might be useful to step back | 26:55 | |
just for a moment to reflect on our Old Testament | 26:57 | |
and epistle lessons this morning | 27:00 | |
for a brief review | 27:02 | |
of the Jewish understanding of law versus grace. | 27:04 | |
Going all the way back to Genesis 12, | 27:08 | |
picture Abraham in his old age | 27:10 | |
and his wife Sarah in hers | 27:13 | |
as they receive the news | 27:15 | |
that God is about to make of them a great nation | 27:16 | |
meaning not only land but children, their own children. | 27:20 | |
Well, this would be big news for any octogenarian today | 27:25 | |
but in the 21st century B.C. give or take a few centuries, | 27:29 | |
without a single fertility specialist in sight, | 27:33 | |
this bordered on the preposterous. | 27:36 | |
Remember how Sarah laughed | 27:38 | |
when the angel tried to tell her face to face | 27:41 | |
she was going to have a baby? | 27:43 | |
Quite without explanation, | 27:45 | |
God chose to do for them what they plainly | 27:47 | |
could not do for themselves. | 27:50 | |
They would be blessed with the gift of a child | 27:52 | |
so that they too even in their old age | 27:56 | |
could marvel at the cute feet | 27:58 | |
and the tiny fingers while looking forward | 28:00 | |
to generations of descendants to come | 28:03 | |
who would outnumber the stars. | 28:06 | |
God would make them forebears of a chosen people, | 28:09 | |
not because of their obedience to a law | 28:12 | |
that had not yet been given | 28:14 | |
as the Pharisees later chose to interpret it | 28:17 | |
but as an act of grace, | 28:20 | |
an expression of God's enduring love for his creation. | 28:21 | |
Is it any wonder that the Psalmist refers to God | 28:27 | |
as the deliverer, the one who feeds us in time of famine | 28:30 | |
as we sang in today's Psalm. | 28:35 | |
We simply are told in response to wait. | 28:37 | |
As St. Paul later tried to explain, | 28:42 | |
this promise to Abraham | 28:44 | |
of land and of children became a pivotal point | 28:46 | |
in our salvation history. | 28:50 | |
Through this divine initiative, | 28:52 | |
God restored the original covenantal relationship | 28:54 | |
between God and humankind | 28:57 | |
which had first been established in creation | 28:59 | |
but which was broken through Adam's and Eve's disobedience. | 29:02 | |
Remember last week's sermon on sin. | 29:06 | |
Paul made this point | 29:09 | |
to show that no one can be righteous, | 29:11 | |
that is live in a right relationship to God | 29:13 | |
by works of the law | 29:16 | |
since even the law came about after the covenant | 29:17 | |
had been broken. | 29:21 | |
Only through God's mercy | 29:22 | |
was the relationship upheld through Abraham | 29:24 | |
and so, Abraham is reckoned as righteous Paul writes | 29:28 | |
because he simply trusted God | 29:33 | |
to do what he said he would do. | 29:35 | |
Because the law and circumcision came | 29:38 | |
after this act of trusting God, | 29:40 | |
they could never become the basis of Abraham's relationship | 29:42 | |
to God and so, ever since that time, | 29:46 | |
what held for Abraham, holds true for us as well. | 29:49 | |
We can live in covenant relationship to God | 29:53 | |
only by admitting that our relationship depends | 29:56 | |
on God's grace | 29:59 | |
and not on our own works. | 30:01 | |
All we can offer is our repentance, | 30:03 | |
the admission that we can contribute nothing | 30:06 | |
by our own power to our relationship to God. | 30:08 | |
That we must rely on God | 30:12 | |
and not on ourselves is Paul's constant plea | 30:15 | |
throughout his letters and this he calls faith. | 30:19 | |
Now, to get back to Nicodemus, | 30:23 | |
and the Pharisees, it is well known | 30:25 | |
that the Pharisees refused repentance, | 30:27 | |
the gospels depict them as the chief examples | 30:30 | |
of unrighteousness while they believed | 30:33 | |
that living by law made them righteous. | 30:35 | |
Righteousness here being defined as living | 30:38 | |
within the demands of a relationship. | 30:40 | |
What must it have been like for Nicodemus then | 30:44 | |
as one consumed by legal minutiae | 30:47 | |
and how to live within its bounds | 30:50 | |
to hear Jesus talking about the wind | 30:53 | |
which blows where it will | 30:55 | |
and as a metaphor for being born anew. | 30:57 | |
Don't just do something, stand there, | 31:00 | |
Jesus is trying to get across. | 31:03 | |
It's out of your hands, you can't will your own birth. | 31:05 | |
God's grace is as free, as uninhibited, | 31:11 | |
as unexpected as the wind, | 31:15 | |
even Abraham would testify to that. | 31:18 | |
Jesus reminds us in his encounter with Nicodemus | 31:22 | |
that the heart of Christian faith | 31:25 | |
is not intellectual truth, | 31:27 | |
study commissions or even esoteric theology | 31:30 | |
which can be debated and analyzed | 31:33 | |
and voted upon like the law. | 31:35 | |
At the heart of the Christian faith | 31:39 | |
is a mystery which must be experienced | 31:40 | |
to be known. | 31:44 | |
We are accepted into the family of God | 31:45 | |
by virtue of our very existence, | 31:48 | |
like a newborn, dirty diapers and all. | 31:51 | |
Duke alumna Peggy Payne | 31:57 | |
published a book a couple of years ago | 32:00 | |
about some of God's unexpected ways. | 32:02 | |
When she wrote about a Presbyterian minister | 32:05 | |
named Swayne Hammond, | 32:07 | |
who was serving a church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina | 32:09 | |
of all places | 32:11 | |
and the book is called Revelation. | 32:13 | |
He was the sort of preacher you'd expect | 32:16 | |
to find in a university town, | 32:18 | |
intellectual, educated at Yale, | 32:21 | |
a bit aloof and even a little rigid. | 32:24 | |
As Payne describes Swayne Hammond, | 32:28 | |
sometimes he feels as if his arms | 32:31 | |
are tied to his chest with barbed wire | 32:34 | |
and all around him everywhere he goes, | 32:37 | |
people are reaching over and touching each other | 32:39 | |
as if that were an easy, ordinary thing to do. | 32:42 | |
One day, Swayne Hammond encounters | 32:47 | |
what may be this vocation's ultimate occupational hazard, | 32:49 | |
he literally hears the word of God. | 32:53 | |
The unmistakable voice booms out through the trees | 32:57 | |
near his backyard patio. | 32:59 | |
So, when Swayne discloses this incident to his congregation, | 33:02 | |
they are embarrassed | 33:05 | |
and even appalled but the voice continues to haunt him. | 33:07 | |
You are my beloved son. | 33:12 | |
Do my work with labor and patience. | 33:14 | |
You have sought me, you are chosen, | 33:16 | |
the time is at hand. | 33:19 | |
In the meantime, a 10-year-old boy | 33:22 | |
is permanently blinded in an accident on church property | 33:23 | |
for which Swayne feels responsible. | 33:27 | |
The congregation is deeply distressed | 33:30 | |
and watches with disapproval the increasingly odd behavior | 33:33 | |
of its minister. | 33:36 | |
Swayne finds himself feeling less and less in control | 33:38 | |
and resorting to action | 33:41 | |
that he would never have imagined himself doing before. | 33:42 | |
Like the time Gladys Hinby came to him | 33:46 | |
to pour out her despair over her mother-in-law | 33:50 | |
whom she cared for alone in her own home | 33:53 | |
and who never ceased making demands of her. | 33:56 | |
Her pillow wasn't right, | 33:59 | |
or there wasn't enough ice in the orange juice | 34:01 | |
or if there were, it was too big | 34:03 | |
as she couldn't swallow it. | 34:05 | |
If only my husband were still alive, | 34:07 | |
Gladys cried out, | 34:10 | |
maybe I could stand it a little better. | 34:11 | |
Swayne had heard the same story so many times | 34:15 | |
he felt utterly useless. | 34:17 | |
What does she think I can offer, | 34:20 | |
I haven't helped anybody yet, | 34:21 | |
he berated himself | 34:23 | |
as he muttered a prayer under his breath. | 34:26 | |
First he suggested to Gladys | 34:28 | |
that she should take a vacation | 34:30 | |
or perhaps a course in something | 34:32 | |
like Italian but as she sat stone faced before him, | 34:33 | |
he had to admit, Gladys, I don't know how to help you. | 34:38 | |
Look, Gladys, I'm not, | 34:44 | |
what if, Gladys, I'll come and sit with her, | 34:45 | |
your mother-in-law, this afternoon | 34:48 | |
and you can go to a movie | 34:50 | |
or go get a beach towel and sit out in the sun. | 34:52 | |
That's all I can offer you, I'm sorry. | 34:55 | |
Against Gladys' repeated objections, | 35:00 | |
Swayne showed up at 2:30 that day | 35:02 | |
to stay with her mother-in-law until six o'clock | 35:04 | |
and spent one of the most trying afternoons of his life. | 35:07 | |
She's a raving lunatic and mean too, he thought to himself. | 35:11 | |
I shouldn't be the one having to stay | 35:15 | |
with somebody who's dying. | 35:17 | |
It came to Swayne that afternoon | 35:20 | |
that it was time to leave the ministry all together. | 35:21 | |
He felt like a social worker. | 35:24 | |
People weren't interested | 35:26 | |
in what he had to say about God anymore. | 35:28 | |
As events unfolded, Swayne did submit his resignation | 35:32 | |
admitting his shortcomings and his feelings | 35:36 | |
of powerlessness much to the relief | 35:39 | |
of some of his parishioners | 35:41 | |
but thanks to Gladys Hinby, | 35:44 | |
a movement was instigated to retain Swayne Hammond | 35:46 | |
as their minister and they did. | 35:49 | |
His lack of extreme caution about everything | 35:53 | |
had suddenly made him more open | 35:55 | |
to the spirit's unexpected leading. | 35:58 | |
His trust in God's presence | 36:01 | |
had empowered him to reach out | 36:03 | |
to hurting people, | 36:06 | |
his experience of the refiner's fire | 36:08 | |
had made him into a man of God. | 36:11 | |
In the Christian faith | 36:15 | |
we proclaim that men and women are saved | 36:16 | |
by the mysterious grace of God through Christ | 36:18 | |
and not by our own efforts | 36:22 | |
and that is the good news the church proclaims | 36:24 | |
this Lenten season. | 36:27 | |
We don't have to pretend to be good enough people | 36:29 | |
that Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross | 36:32 | |
in the first place, | 36:34 | |
always in charge, always so sure | 36:36 | |
of ourselves, always coming out on top. | 36:39 | |
Going all the way back to Sarah and Abraham, | 36:43 | |
God has shown his determination | 36:46 | |
to maintain a covenant with us | 36:48 | |
in the most miraculous ways | 36:50 | |
no matter how far we fall short. | 36:53 | |
Our part is simply to recognize | 36:57 | |
our inability to make it on our own | 37:00 | |
and to admit that to God | 37:02 | |
and when you think about it, even a child can do that. | 37:05 | |
This rather remarkable story of Jesus and Nicodemus | 37:10 | |
concludes on a brief but very, very important note. | 37:13 | |
For God so loved the world | 37:19 | |
that he gave his only begotten son | 37:20 | |
that whosoever believeth in him | 37:23 | |
shall not perish but have everlasting life | 37:24 | |
for God sent the son into the world | 37:28 | |
not to condemn the world | 37:30 | |
but that the world through him might be saved. | 37:33 | |
As for Nicodemus, we only hear of him two more times | 37:37 | |
in the scripture. | 37:39 | |
The first time he is defending Jesus | 37:41 | |
in front of some other Pharisees | 37:45 | |
and the second time he is going with Joseph of Arimathea | 37:48 | |
to the tomb of Jesus, | 37:51 | |
this time in broad daylight. | 37:53 | |
He thought he was paying his last respects | 37:56 | |
as he contributed from his great wealth | 37:59 | |
the myrrh and aloes to prepare the body for burial | 38:01 | |
but then came the biggest surprise of all, | 38:05 | |
Jesus was seen alive again, | 38:09 | |
arisen from the grave. | 38:12 | |
Were those the tears of a newborn babe | 38:16 | |
someone saw flowing down Nicodemus's cheeks the next day? | 38:19 | |
(lively organ music) | 38:34 | |
(congregation singing) | 39:13 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 42:02 |
(congregation mumbles) | 42:05 | |
Let us pray. | 42:06 | |
Mighty God, you raise the sun from its grave of night | 42:19 | |
and gather your people to celebrate the dawn | 42:24 | |
for in Jesus Christ you have destroyed death | 42:28 | |
and set us free from its bondage. | 42:30 | |
We praise your might and majesty, great God. | 42:34 | |
God, our deliverer, | 42:39 | |
you did deliver your son, our savior Jesus Christ | 42:41 | |
even to death upon the cross for our salvation | 42:44 | |
and you bring us from death to life | 42:48 | |
and preserve us from all evil. | 42:51 | |
Stir up in us concern for others | 42:54 | |
that in serving them we may be close to Christ | 42:58 | |
who is our servant Lord. | 43:01 | |
Almighty God, in Jesus Christ you did conquer tears | 43:05 | |
by crying and pain by suffering | 43:09 | |
and death by dying. | 43:13 | |
By your tender touch we are healed | 43:16 | |
and comforted in Jesus Christ. | 43:18 | |
Your spirit makes the wounded whole | 43:22 | |
and breathes new life into dry bones. | 43:24 | |
May all persons receive what you alone can give. | 43:27 | |
We pray to you, Almighty God for those deprived | 43:34 | |
of dignity, for people confined by disability or illness, | 43:37 | |
for those who wrestle with doubt or despair. | 43:43 | |
For those confronting the mystery of death, | 43:48 | |
and for those who must pick up the scattered pieces | 43:52 | |
of their lives without the presence of a loved one. | 43:55 | |
Oh God, our creator, you have made of one blood | 44:01 | |
all nations of the Earth, | 44:03 | |
and you sent your son Jesus Christ to preach peace | 44:06 | |
to them that are afar off | 44:09 | |
and to them that are nigh. | 44:11 | |
Grant that all peoples of the world may hear the voice | 44:14 | |
of Jesus calling them to your peace | 44:17 | |
and may your mercy sustain | 44:21 | |
and uphold all peoples everywhere | 44:23 | |
whose communities are torn by war | 44:26 | |
or threatened by violence. | 44:29 | |
Merciful God, by your Holy Spirit you have claimed us | 44:33 | |
to be your people in this world | 44:37 | |
and you have empowered us to show your love. | 44:39 | |
We pray to you for those who hunger and thirst | 44:43 | |
after righteousness, for those who work for unity | 44:46 | |
in your church, | 44:51 | |
for those who do menial task, | 44:54 | |
for those who visit the lonely, | 44:58 | |
for those who are persecuted to their loyalty to Christ | 45:01 | |
for prophets, priests, martyrs and saints | 45:07 | |
and for your church in every land. | 45:10 | |
We offer this prayer in the name of the one | 45:16 | |
who though he was life itself chose death | 45:19 | |
so that we who die may know life eternal, | 45:23 | |
even Jesus Christ our Lord. | 45:27 | |
Amen. | 45:30 | |
Let us now offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 45:35 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 45:41 | |
(choir singing) | 46:16 | |
(lively organ music) | 50:50 | |
(congregation singing) | 51:04 | |
- | Gracious God, receive our thanksgiving | 51:46 |
for the creation of the universe | 51:51 | |
through your word, | 51:53 | |
for making every human being in your image and likeness, | 51:55 | |
for the revelation of your purposes | 51:59 | |
through the law and the prophets. | 52:01 | |
We give you thanks, oh God, for the gift | 52:04 | |
of your son Jesus Christ our Lord | 52:06 | |
for his birth of Mary and for his baptism | 52:09 | |
in the Jordan, for his ministry of preaching, | 52:12 | |
teaching and healing, | 52:15 | |
for his steadfast love in going to Jerusalem, | 52:17 | |
for his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane | 52:21 | |
and his suffering and death on the cross, | 52:23 | |
for his resurrection from the dead | 52:26 | |
and his ascension to glory, | 52:28 | |
for his eternal intercession for us and the outpouring | 52:30 | |
of your spirit on the church. | 52:33 | |
We give you thanks and praise, gracious God | 52:37 | |
for the exquisite beauty of this day | 52:40 | |
and the opportunities of it to render obedience to you. | 52:43 | |
We ask, oh Lord that you will receive these our offerings | 52:48 | |
which we present before you | 52:52 | |
and within ourselves our souls and our bodies | 52:55 | |
as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto you. | 52:59 | |
We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 53:05 | |
who called us friends and taught us to pray saying. | 53:08 | |
All | Our father who art in heaven, | 53:12 |
hallowed be thy name, | 53:15 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 53:18 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 53:21 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 53:24 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 53:27 | |
who trespass against us | 53:31 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 53:34 | |
but deliver us from evil | 53:36 | |
for thine is the kingdom, and the power | 53:38 | |
and the glory forever, amen. | 53:41 | |
- | And now go forth being born of water | 53:47 |
and the spirit | 53:50 | |
and may the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God | 53:52 | |
and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit | 53:56 | |
be with you now and evermore, amen. | 53:59 | |
(lively organ music) | 54:05 | |
(congregation singing) | 54:29 | |
- | Let us go forth in the name of Christ. | 57:12 |
Congregation | Thanks be to the Lord. | 57:16 |
(dramatic organ music) | 57:20 |
Item Info
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