James Charlesworth - "Posies or Pessimism" (January 5, 1975)

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	(tender instrumental worship music)	0:04
	(bright instrumental worship music)	1:02
-	Let us pray.	3:06
	Oh Lord our God,	3:10
	as we wait in your presence now	3:14
	for some rich and deep experience with your Spirit,	3:15
	prepare us individually and corporately	3:21
	body, mind, and spirit for true communion with your grace.	3:24
	May we be ready for your coming among us, just now.	3:32
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	3:39
	(bright instrumental worship music)	3:46
	As we rejoice in the good news of Christmas,	8:03
	that is Christ's coming and living among us,	8:08
	we're reminded of his love, which calls us to return to God,	8:13
	to confess openly our need for forgiveness and salvation,	8:19
	and to receive the ever lasting love, which God has for us,	8:25
	his children.	8:30
	Let us now pray together,	8:33
	our prayer of confession.	8:35
	Oh God,	8:39
	even in the midst of our Christmas joy,	8:41
	it is still good for us to remember	8:44
	that salvation in this world is far from complete.	8:47
	There is still war and hatred and useless destruction.	8:52
	There is still a mediocrity, lack of generosity,	8:57
	ignorance, loneliness, poverty, imprisonment.	9:01
	And in the face of all this,	9:07
	we can cry out even on Christmas.	9:09
	Lord have mercy.	9:13
	Love us,	9:15
	do not forsake us this holy day.	9:17
	Amen.	9:20
	God is a spirit and will commune with our spirits	9:24
	as we continue in personal prayer.	9:29
	God's word declares to us,	9:51
	in Christ we have redemption through his blood,	9:56
	the forgiveness of our trespasses,	10:03
	according to the riches of his grace,	10:07
	which he lavishes upon us.	10:12
	Amen.	10:18
	Amen.	10:20
	(tender worship music)	10:23
	♪ I wonder as I wander ♪	10:51
	♪ Out under the sky ♪	10:58
	♪ Why Jesus our Savior ♪	11:04
	♪ Did come for to die ♪	11:11
	♪ For poor on'ry people ♪	11:18
	♪ Like you and like I ♪	11:22
	♪ I wonder as I wander ♪	11:29
	♪ Out under the sky ♪	11:37
	♪ When Mary birthed Jesus ♪	11:46
	♪ Wasn't He accustomed ♪	11:51
	♪ With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all ♪	11:56
	♪ But high from God's heaven ♪	12:04
	♪ A star's light did form ♪	12:09
	♪ And the promise of ages ♪	12:15
	♪ He then did recall ♪	12:23
	♪ If Jesus had wondered why and he rethink ♪	12:32
	♪ A star in the sky ♪	12:38
	♪ Or a bird all knowing ♪	12:42
	♪ But all of God's angels in heaven for to sing ♪	12:48
	♪ He surely could have it ♪	12:56
	♪ For he was the King ♪	13:04
	♪ I wonder as I wander ♪	13:12
	♪ Out under the sky ♪	13:17
	♪ Why Jesus our savior did come ♪	13:22
	♪ For to die ♪	13:33
	Let us hear the reading of God's word,	14:06
	from the Old Testament, the book of Genesis 18:23-33.	14:11
	"Then Abraham drew near and said,	14:22
	'Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?	14:26
	Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city,	14:31
	wilt thou then destroy the place	14:36
	and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it?	14:38
	Far, be it from thee to do such a thing,	14:43
	to slay the righteous with the wicked	14:46
	so that the righteous fare as the wicked.	14:48
	Far be that from thee.	14:51
	Shall not the judge of all the Earth do right?'	14:54
	And the Lord said,	15:00
	'If I find at Sodom 50 righteous in the city,	15:02
	I will spare the whole place for their sake.'	15:07
	Abraham answered,	15:11
	'Behold I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord,	15:14
	I who am, but dust and ashes.	15:17
	Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking,	15:21
	will thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?'	15:26
	The Lord said, 'I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.'	15:31
	Again, he spoke to him and said, 'Suppose 40, are there?'	15:37
	He answered, 'For the sake of 40, I will not do it.'	15:45
	Then he said, 'Oh, let the Lord not be angry,	15:48
	and I will speak.	15:51
	Suppose there are found 30.'	15:53
	He answered, 'I will not do it if I find 30 there.'	15:57
	And he said, 'Behold, I have taken upon myself	16:02
	to speak to the Lord.	16:04
	Suppose 20 are there.'	16:06
	The Lord answered,	16:09
	'For the sake of 20, I will not destroy it.'	16:10
	Then Abraham said, 'Oh, let not the Lord be angry,	16:14
	and I will speak again but this once.	16:17
	Suppose 10 are found.'	16:19
	He answered, 'For the sake of 10, I will not destroy it.'	16:24
	And the Lord went His way	16:31
	when he had finished speaking to Abraham,	16:32
	and Abraham returned to his place."	16:36
	Let the congregation stand	16:43
	for the reading of the Gospel lesson.	16:45
	Reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 11:16-17,	16:51
	"But to what shall I compare this generation?	16:57
	It is like children sitting in the marketplaces	17:06
	and calling to their playmates.	17:09
	We piped to you and you did not dance.	17:12
	We wailed, and you did not mourn."	17:17
	Here ends the reading of the lessons,	17:21
	may God's name be praised.	17:25
	(tender instrumental worship music)	17:28
	Together, let us affirm our faith.	18:12
	We are not alone.	18:17
	We live in God's world.	18:19
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	18:22
	who has come into true man Jesus,	18:27
	to reconcile and make new.	18:30
	Who works in us and others by his Spirit.	18:33
	We trust him,	18:37
	he calls us to be his church,	18:39
	to celebrate his presence,	18:42
	to love and serve others,	18:45
	to seek justice and resist evil,	18:48
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	18:51
	our judge and our hope.	18:55
	In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.	18:57
	We are not alone.	19:04
	Thanks be to God.	19:07
	The Lord be with you.	19:10
	Let us pray.	19:14
	Almighty God, Creator, Redeemer,	19:26
	and Lord of us all.	19:28
	We praise you that in your infinite love and mercy,	19:34
	you have brought us in safety	19:36
	to this the beginning of another year.	19:38
	We thank you oh God, that your love never fails.	19:43
	And that even in our faithlessness and disobedience,	19:48
	you continue your kindnesses toward us.	19:51
	We thank you oh God, for your strength,	19:57
	which sustains us in weakness,	20:00
	for your patience, which bears with us in sin,	20:04
	for your guidance, which leads us in perplexity,	20:10
	and for your comfort, which helps us in distress.	20:17
	As we recall the year passed and anticipate the year ahead,	20:25
	oh God, we seek your grace	20:29
	to allow it to be removed forever from us,	20:33
	those memories and those experiences of the past year,	20:38
	which would in any way continue	20:42
	to hinder or hamper	20:45
	or burden us.	20:49
	To allow to remain ever with us,	20:52
	those memories and those experiences of the past year,	20:56
	which will enable us to find joy and hope and meaning	21:01
	to become more, truly more human	21:07
	and more humane.	21:11
	To live in love, as you desire.	21:13
	May the past instruct us and enlighten us,	21:18
	may the future open to us as opportunity	21:23
	for fullness and for life.	21:27
	And now oh God, we praise you for the gifts	21:34
	of forgiveness and grace.	21:37
	The hope and assurance of eternal life,	21:41
	which we know in Christ Jesus.	21:45
	For the presence of that mysterious wonder	21:49
	of the Holy Spirit,	21:52
	which abides with us always.	21:55
	And for our continuing fellowship with you	21:59
	and with one another.	22:03
	As in the past, oh God,	22:06
	be ever present with us in the future	22:10
	and bring us at last	22:14
	to the glory of your everlasting kingdom.	22:17
	Through Jesus Christ,	22:25
	our savior and our Lord,	22:28
	you taught us to pray, as we pray together,	22:32
	our Father who art in heaven,	22:36
	hallowed be thy name,	22:40
	thy kingdom come,	22:43
	thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.	22:45
	Give us this day our daily bread,	22:50
	forgive us our trespasses,	22:54
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	22:56
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	23:00
	For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.	23:06
	Forever, Amen.	23:10
	Our heavenly father,	23:25
	let your Holy Spirit speak eloquently	23:28
	through our inarticulate thoughts.	23:32
	Amen.	23:36
	"Posies or Pessimism."	23:38
	On the first Sunday of the year,	23:44
	and on the day before epiphany,	23:48
	the traditional day on which our ancestors	23:51
	celebrated the manifestation of Christ, it is baptism.	23:54
	It is appropriate for us to reflect	23:59
	what lies ahead,	24:05
	how can Jesus's life continue to be a living paradigm	24:08
	for authentic human existence.	24:14
	I wonder as I wander out under the sky,	24:17
	how Jesus the savior,	24:21
	came forth to die.	24:24
	Should we take seriously the pessimism	24:29
	of the present economic situation?	24:31
	The runaway inflation and the depressing recession?	24:35
	Should we acknowledge that America is entering	24:40
	a permanent eclipse of its brilliance?	24:44
	Should we join with Abraham and ask God	24:49
	if he is to destroy the wicked	24:52
	along with the just?	24:56
	The just along with the wicked?	25:00
	These are grave issues indeed.	25:04
	But how can a New Testament scholar who is also a Christian	25:08
	contribute to	25:13
	a resolution of modern problems?	25:17
	Is he not essentially a historian, about ancient world?	25:20
	Perhaps he can clarify that modernity	25:27
	did not give birth to economic and social crises,	25:30
	perhaps he can help dismiss the national parochialism	25:34
	and raise the veil of a historical myopia	25:37
	to reveal that suffering is neither a national monopoly	25:41
	nor a modern invention.	25:45
	The myopia is corrected by a look	25:48
	at the Great Plague of the 17th century,	25:50
	which took over 70,000 lives in 1665,	25:54
	to cite the record only in London,	26:01
	and only in September.	26:04
	The few voices not yet silenced,	26:08
	would certainly have joined with Abraham	26:11
	in asking God not to destroy the city.	26:15
	The plague had appeared earlier in the century	26:20
	as one is reminded by plaque and a poem,	26:22
	on the east wall of the Medieval Cathedral	26:26
	in Manchester, England.	26:29
	You see their age and years of grace.	26:33
	I hope that heaven's their dwelling place.	26:37
	Alice five,	26:42
	Robert three,	26:45
	Robert, a son of days,	26:47
	Robert seven,	26:51
	Richard four,	26:53
	James in the first year or his age upon his mother's breast.	26:57
	They livid, they did,	27:04
	and in a day, mother Earth did them risque	27:07
	because of they came that way.	27:11
	Here did their parents' hopes and fears,	27:14
	once all their joy now all their tears,	27:17
	but now they take the lesser rumors,	27:23
	rock it from their cradles	27:26
	to their tombs.	27:29
	When I read the poem for the first time last August,	27:34
	two points pierced my conscience.	27:36
	The extreme youth and sometimes infancy	27:39
	of the children was unnerving.	27:42
	Why had so many died so young?	27:46
	Why was the father Robert Leaver	27:51
	unable to have an heir named after him?	27:56
	In 1635, a Robert Leaver died at the age of three.	28:02
	In 1637, a Robert Leaver died only a few days old,	28:09
	and in 1647 Robert Leaver died at the age of seven.	28:12
	An official of Manchester Cathedral explained to me,	28:18
	that the death of these children	28:21
	was caused by the Great Plague.	28:22
	He went on to explain that it was during that time	28:25
	that the children used to form a circle	28:28
	and sing a rhyme which has now become	28:32
	one of our most popular nursery rhymes.	28:34
	Ring-a-ring-a-rosies, a pocket full of posies,	28:37
	a tissue, a tissue we all fall down.	28:42
	While some published research questions this origin	28:47
	of the little ring song,	28:50
	others suggest that it does evolve	28:53
	from the time of the plague.	28:55
	The ring-a-ring-a-rosies might refer to the red round sores	28:57
	that appeared on the bodies of the victims.	29:03
	The pocket full of posies could refer to the spices carried	29:06
	in order to neutralize the stench in the streets.	29:11
	Their sweet odor conveying hope.	29:16
	The a tissue, a tissue we all fall down,	29:20
	could we spot correspond to the fits of sneezing	29:26
	that proceeded death.	29:29
	The meaning of we all fall down	29:32
	is readily apparent and needs no comment.	29:34
	This little song which children now sing	29:38
	whenever they join hands in a circle,	29:40
	is the monument to man's perennial victory over suffering.	29:43
	The children pipe to us we must dance.	29:47
	They mourn to us, we must lament.	29:51
	Out of smoldering ashes comes another writing.	29:56
	Above Nero's conflagration of Rome	30:00
	arose the crosses of those	30:02
	who clung to a mischievous superstition.	30:04
	As Tacitus described early Christianity.	30:08
	One of those crosses apparently belonged to Paul,	30:12
	and another to Peter.	30:16
	The close follower and perhaps scribe of Peter,	30:19
	attempted to put into writing the origins of Christianity,	30:22
	if ancient tradition and modern research can be followed,	30:26
	in so doing, Mark both created a new literary genre,	30:31
	the Gospel, and developed a new theology of suffering.	30:37
	The gospel, the good news,	30:43
	as that is what the Greek word 'euangelion' means,	30:46
	is that the son of God has come to suffer.	30:50
	The Christology entails an ecclesiology.	30:58
	The crucified one cause others to suffer.	31:04
	Mark reported that Jesus said,	31:09
	"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself	31:11
	and take up his cross and follow me."	31:14
	Scholars are divided regarding the authenticity	31:19
	of this saying,	31:21
	but I think there are some things we can say	31:23
	with some confidence.	31:26
	It is unlikely that Jesus referred so clearly	31:28
	to his own death.	31:31
	Since several passages, especially the agony in Gethsemane	31:34
	before the arrest,	31:37
	would be reduced to a cheap charade.	31:39
	On the other hand, it is probable that	31:44
	walking with his disciples in Galilee,	31:46
	Jesus came upon a man	31:50
	writhling in the last death pangs of crucifixion.	31:51
	This is quite possible since Josephus	31:57
	records that over 200,000 Jews,	32:00
	were put to death during the time of Jesus.	32:06
	Jesus could have appealed to the will	32:14
	to undergo such suffering	32:17
	for the sake of the kingdom of God.	32:19
	If so, the original saying would be parallel to others	32:22
	that he said, such as, "Let the dead bury the dead.	32:25
	Sell what you have, give it to the poor and come follow me."	32:28
	The original meaning of the saying then,	32:36
	would be altered by Mark.	32:38
	He wished to have Jesus refer to his own crucifixion.	32:40
	And wished to call Christians to emulate	32:46
	the early Roman martyrs.	32:49
	Looking back at Jesus's gruesome death,	32:53
	and having witnessed Peter's confession,	32:56
	Mark could have joined with Robert Leaver,	32:59
	and he could have penned the eulogy	33:02
	for the death of the messianic dream.	33:05
	Leaver had written,	33:08
	"Here did their parents' hopes and fears	33:10
	once all their joy, now all their tears."	33:14
	It would be possible to see Mark's Gospel	33:24
	as the record of a collapsed dream,	33:26
	if one looked only at the ending of Mark.	33:29
	And they were afraid,	33:33
	and recognized only that Mark contains no account	33:35
	of the appearances of the resurrected Lord.	33:39
	Since biblical scholars concur that Mark 16:9-20	33:43
	is a later edition.	33:47
	The overall thrust of his Gospel however,	33:50
	is how Jesus has triumphed through suffering.	33:54
	First by winning the unremitting attacks and conquers	34:00
	by Satan and the demons,	34:05
	and then by enduring the crass interpretations,	34:08
	betrayals and denials of his closest followers.	34:12
	Conjoined with the Christology of suffering,	34:20
	is the affirmation that the Roman martyrs	34:23
	that Jesus's crucifixion, placard the essence,	34:28
	not the failure of Christianity.	34:34
	One must be willing to carry a cross.	34:38
	Leaver's poem was proceeded as we said earlier,	34:45
	by a list of the sons who had borne his name,	34:47
	but who had died.	34:50
	Three Robert Leavers died within 12 years,	34:53
	ranging in age from only a few days old	34:56
	to the comparatively old age of seven.	34:59
	The father's failure to have an heir is coughened	35:04
	in the words of his poem.	35:07
	"But now they take the lesser rumors,	35:10
	rocked from their cradles to their tombs."	35:12
	Mark emphasizes that Jesus is the son of God.	35:20
	Only the demons however, recognize him.	35:26
	The disciples are portrayed as part of the confused crowd.	35:29
	According to Mark,	35:37
	neither Jesus's opponents, nor his disciples	35:38
	recognize that he is the son of God.	35:43
	Only at the climax of Jesus's life of suffering	35:47
	is a sonship confessed.	35:50
	And then it is placed in the mouth of the Centurion,	35:53
	who's standing at the foot of the cross said,	35:57
	"Truly, this man was the son of God."	36:00
	The centurion's confession climax	36:06
	is Mark's Christology of divine sonship,	36:08
	which was announced to Jesus alone at the baptism,	36:12
	and then revealed to the three closest disciples	36:16
	at the transfiguration.	36:18
	According to Mark, Jesus's divine commission	36:22
	is manifested to him in his baptism,	36:24
	by a voice from heaven.	36:27
	"You are my son, my beloved,	36:29
	in you I am well pleased."	36:32
	At the transfiguration, Peter James and John	36:36
	heard a voice from the cloud saying,	36:40
	"This is my son, the beloved,	36:43
	obey him."	36:48
	Mark wished his readers to comprehend	36:52
	that sonship is not celestial bliss	36:56
	on a mountain top beyond time and space	36:59
	in an ecstatic moment of fellowship with Moses and Elijah.	37:03
	Sonship is suffering.	37:08
	A complete suffering including death.	37:11
	Sonship is suffering for Mark,	37:15
	because he places the transfiguration	37:17
	at the beginning of the second half of his Gospel.	37:19
	When suffering ceases to be from outside,	37:24
	and becomes a suffering	37:27
	from within the little band of followers, a mere 12.	37:29
	Of which two will misunderstand	37:34
	his concept of God's kingdom.	37:37
	One will betray him, another deny him.	37:41
	And all will turn their backs on him,	37:46
	leaving him to die alone.	37:49
	Sonship is suffering for Mark also,	37:54
	because he frames the transfiguration	37:57
	within the repetitious call to suffer.	38:00
	Immediately prior to the transfiguration,	38:05
	he places the narrative of Jesus's call,	38:08
	"If anyone would come after me,	38:12
	let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."	38:16
	Immediately before this account,	38:24
	Mark situated Jesus's claim	38:27
	that He must suffer many things,	38:30
	be rejected and be killed.	38:33
	After the transfiguration he locates Jesus's assertion	38:38
	that Elijah has come,	38:42
	and that the son of man must suffer many things	38:45
	and be treated with contempt.	38:48
	By sole framing the announcement at the transfiguration	38:52
	that Jesus is the son, the beloved,	38:56
	Mark wishes to clarify that Jesus's sonship	39:00
	entailed suffering,	39:05
	and that corporate sonship involves suffering.	39:08
	Leaver's poem concludes,	39:17
	"But now they take the lesser rumors,	39:20
	rocked from the cradles to their tombs."	39:23
	Mark's good news ends with an empty tomb	39:29
	and the revelation that he has gone before you.	39:34
	Leaver's poem evidences that suffering has triumphed.	39:41
	"Here did their parents hope and fears,	39:47
	once all their joy, now all their tears."	39:51
	Mark's good news is that the son of man has triumphed	39:56
	through suffering.	39:59
	Leaver mourned the death of his heirs,	40:03
	Mark proclaimed the good news	40:07
	that through the suffering and death of Jesus,	40:09
	man inherits the promises of God.	40:11
	It is none other than the son of God	40:16
	who brings a new covenant of reconciliation.	40:19
	Man can again, experience fellowship with God	40:23
	and walk in Eden in the cool of the day.	40:28
	Near where the corpse should be,	40:35
	a dream is ensured by the revealing words,	40:39
	"He is not here. He has gone before you."	40:42
	In that paradise there won't be no need	40:49
	for a pocket full of posies.	40:52
	Since the stench of a decaying world disappears	40:55
	even from memory,	40:58
	with the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth.	41:02
	Today, there is great suffering and a deep seated pessimism.	41:08
	What is the solution to the spiraling inflation?	41:14
	How can one feed and house the unemployed?	41:19
	How can we stop the flow of our nation's inheritance	41:25
	to the oil-rich countries?	41:30
	Has America, as we have come to know and love it,	41:35
	cease to have a future?	41:39
	Is college to be reserved only for the rich?	41:43
	The time is one of pessimism.	41:49
	If the barometer is the frequency of such words as loss,	41:53
	collapse, fall, decline,	41:57
	inflation, and bankruptcy,	42:00
	who can be but pessimistic?	42:04
	When the economist devote themselves to discussing	42:06
	whether we are in an inflation or a depression.	42:09
	Some of the thoughts we've shared today,	42:15
	given needed perspective,	42:17
	historical reflection will not permit us to say,	42:19
	"If at any time we had a right to be pessimistic it is now."	42:23
	Only a fool can say that.	42:28
	Out of Bethlehem, amidst the slaughter of infants	42:32
	by that wretched King Herod,	42:35
	comes a messianic dream,	42:37
	which was very earthy and entailed suffering.	42:39
	Out of the plague comes perhaps a song,	42:42
	"Ring-a-ring-a-rosies."	42:45
	How is it possible to sing amidst suffering	42:53
	without being either hypocritical or insensitive?	42:57
	It is possible if we admit the devastating reality	43:05
	of suffering, and avoid the excessive enthusiasm	43:08
	of some early Christians who sought martyrdom.	43:12
	But it is possible only if we add Mark's perspective	43:16
	that suffering can be eloquent with meaning.	43:19
	The cross leads through not around suffering,	43:24
	triangularly forged with the reality of suffering	43:29
	and the victorious symbol of the cross	43:33
	is the observation that rhymes, songs and hymns	43:37
	come out of suffering.	43:42
	The Dead Sea scroll song book,	43:46
	is filled essentially with thanksgiving for meaning,	43:48
	which comes from suffering.	43:52
	According to the reformation historian, Roland Bainton,	43:55
	Martin Luther composes justifiably popular hymn,	43:59
	"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."	44:05
	In the year of his deepest depression.	44:08
	Amidst the present pessimism	44:18
	only a few posies might be seen,	44:19
	we are each intermittently tempted to give up	44:22
	and run off somewhere to hide.	44:28
	Such a retreat from reality	44:31
	is against the essential spirit of Christianity.	44:32
	Reality, earthiness, suffering, and death	44:36
	are to be considered neither ephemeral	44:41
	nor detrimental to authentic Christian existence.	44:45
	Mark has demonstrated how suffering can be eloquent.	44:50
	I parallel to the cross on Golgotha,	44:55
	and the crosses of Nero's Rome	44:58
	as a historic Christian act during the plague.	44:59
	In September 1665, a tailor in a small village,	45:02
	south east of Manchester, received a parcel from London.	45:07
	Within two months, he and 29 others were dead.	45:13
	Following the advice of their pastor, William Mompesson,	45:19
	the villagers quarantined themselves	45:24
	ensuring their own suffering,	45:29
	but saving the lives of others.	45:32
	One year later, 260 of the 300 people in Eyam were dead.	45:36
	Surely Reverend Mompesson and his neighbors	45:45
	accurately interpreted Mark 8:34.	45:48
	"If anyone would come after me,	45:52
	let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."	45:54
	Suffering can be eloquent.	46:00
	Mark heard Jesus come down from the transfiguration	46:06
	with his three closest disciples	46:09
	and disclosed that the son of man must suffer many things.	46:12
	It is a descent into suffering.	46:16
	Mark warns us do not become pessimistic,	46:20
	do not withdraw from reality and gaze at flowers,	46:24
	but with a pocket full of posies and a song,	46:29
	suffer through the plague of our time.	46:34
	Our heavenly Father, we ask thee to be with us.	46:40
	We praise thee for guidance,	46:45
	and for meaning amidst suffering.	46:51
	Amen.	46:55
	(bright instrumental music)	47:05
	(tender instrumental music)	50:53
	(singing in foreign language)	52:25
	(tender instrumental music)	55:25
	(bright instrumental music)	56:20
	Oh God, you who need not to be enriched	57:32
	with any gifts which we may bring,	57:36
	yet you who love a cheerful giver,	57:40
	receive these, our offerings,	57:45
	which we present before you,	57:47
	and with them present ourselves, our souls and bodies	57:49
	as a living sacrifice,	57:55
	holy and acceptable to you.	57:58
	Through Jesus Christ our Lord.	58:02
	Amen.	58:05
	(bright instrumental music)	58:09
	(bright instrumental music continues)	58:16
	In second Corinthians, Paul gives to us this blessing,	1:01:04
	and now dear friends in Christ, farewell.	1:01:12
	Be perfect,	1:01:17
	be of good comfort,	1:01:19
	be of one mind,	1:01:22
	live in peace.	1:01:26
	And the God of love and peace,	1:01:30
	shall be with you.	1:01:34
	May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:01:38
	the love of God,	1:01:42
	and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	1:01:45
	be with you all.	1:01:49
	Amen.	1:01:52
	(church bell ringing)	1:01:57
	(bright instrumental music)	1:02:19

Item Info

Title:

James Charlesworth - "Posies or Pessimism" (January 5, 1975)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4f76b810

Date:

January 5, 1975

Speaker:

Charlesworth, James H.

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0742
ref6685_7ov
uachapelsermaud
duke:627962
dcrau002713
ark:/87924/r4f76b810
a0b6f27f-1e31-4f5e-b8c9-456f4f90c485

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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James Charlesworth - "Posies or Pessimism" (January 5, 1975)

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

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