Richard J. Mouw - "People of the Lamb" (November 24, 1991)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | Good morning and welcome to the chapel | 1:44 |
on this Christ the King Sunday. | 1:47 | |
Our guest preacher is Dr. Richard Mouw, a distinguished | 1:50 | |
evangelical preacher and theologian, international | 1:56 | |
Christian leader, and we are delighted to have him for his | 2:04 | |
first visit here preaching in Duke Chapel, and residing | 2:07 | |
in the service today is Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker, | 2:12 | |
who teaches worship at Duke Divinity School. | 2:17 | |
We had a messiah sing along here in the chapel last evening | 2:21 | |
with a full chapel of enthusiastic singers, remind you | 2:27 | |
that tickets are still available for the three performances | 2:31 | |
by Duke Chapel Choir of Messiah. | 2:35 | |
Let us stand for the greeting. | 2:40 | |
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. | 2:45 | |
All | And also with you. | 2:48 |
- | The risen Christ is with us. | 2:51 |
All | Praise the Lord. | 2:53 |
(strong fanfare music) | 3:03 | |
(choir sings "Rejoice, the Lord is King") | 4:01 | |
- | Let us pray. | 7:44 |
Gracious God, King of heaven, ruler of all the earth, | 7:47 | |
who doth lath the kings of this world to scorn, | 7:54 | |
teach us to bend the knee before your throne alone, | 7:59 | |
teach us to open our hearts and minds to your word | 8:05 | |
above all words, oh sovereign of the universe, | 8:11 | |
oh king almighty everlasting Lord, | 8:15 | |
teach us to be worthy subjects, to give you the worship | 8:19 | |
that only you are due, amen, be seated. | 8:25 | |
- | Let us pray together the prayer for illumination. | 8:42 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, oh God, by the power | 8:47 |
of your Holy Spirit, so that as the word is read | 8:51 | |
and proclaimed, we might hear with joy | 8:55 | |
what you say for us this day, amen. | 8:59 | |
- | The first reading is taken | 9:04 |
from the words of the prophet Jeremiah. | 9:06 | |
The 23rd chapter, starting with the first verse. | 9:09 | |
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep | 9:15 | |
of my pasture, says the Lord. | 9:20 | |
Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel concerning | 9:24 | |
the shepherds who shepherd my people. | 9:29 | |
It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven | 9:34 | |
them away, and you have not attended to them, | 9:38 | |
so I will attend to you for your evil doings, | 9:44 | |
says the Lord, then I myself will gather the remnant | 9:48 | |
of my flock out of all the lands, where I have driven them, | 9:54 | |
and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall | 9:58 | |
be fruitful and multiply. | 10:04 | |
I will raise up shepherds over them, who will shepherd them, | 10:08 | |
and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, | 10:13 | |
nor shall any be missing says the Lord. | 10:19 | |
The days are surely coming says the Lord, when I will | 10:24 | |
raise up for David, a righteous branch, and he shall reign | 10:29 | |
as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice | 10:34 | |
and righteousness in the land. | 10:41 | |
In his days, Judo will be saved and Israel will live | 10:45 | |
in safety, and this is the name by which he will be called: | 10:50 | |
The Lord is our Righteousness. | 10:56 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 11:00 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 11:03 |
- | The psalm appointed for this morning is psalm number 93, | 11:13 |
found on page 813 in your hymnal. | 11:17 | |
Please rise, and sing responsively. | 11:19 | |
(piano plays) | 11:24 | |
♪- The Lord reigns and is robed in majesty, ♪ | 11:30 | |
♪ the Lord is robed and is girded with strength. ♪ | 11:30 | |
♪ The Lord has established the world, ♪ | 11:40 | |
♪ it shall never be moved. ♪ | 11:41 | |
♪ Your throne has been established from our fold, ♪ | 11:49 | |
♪ you are from everlasting. ♪ | 11:54 | |
♪- [All] The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have ♪ | 11:58 | |
♪ lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. ♪ | 12:04 | |
♪- [Lector] Mightier then the thunders of many waters, ♪ | 12:12 | |
♪ mightier then the waves of the sea, ♪ | 12:16 | |
♪the Lord on high is mighty. ♪ | 12:20 | |
♪- [All] Your decrees are very sure, ♪ | 12:25 | |
♪ holiness emits your house O Lord forevermore. ♪ | 12:30 | |
♪- [Lector] All glory be to you creator, ♪ | 12:39 | |
♪ and to Jesus Christ our savior, ♪ | 12:42 | |
♪- [All] And to the Holy Spirit, blessed Trinity. ♪ | 12:46 | |
♪- [Lector] As if once your time began, ♪ | 12:52 | |
♪- [All] Is now and will be forevermore. ♪ | 12:56 | |
- | This reading is from the revelation to John, chapter five, | 13:14 |
beginning with the first verse. | 13:20 | |
Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne | 13:24 | |
a scroll, written on the inside and on the back, | 13:29 | |
sealed with seven seals, and I saw a mighty angel | 13:34 | |
proclaiming with a loud voice: | 13:39 | |
"Who is worthy to open this scroll, and break its seals?" | 13:43 | |
And no one in heaven or on earth, or under the earth, | 13:49 | |
was able to open a scroll or look into it, and I began | 13:53 | |
to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open | 14:00 | |
the scroll, or to look into it. | 14:05 | |
Then one of the elders said to me: | 14:09 | |
"Do not weep, see the line of the tribe of Judah, | 14:12 | |
the root of David, has conquered so that he | 14:18 | |
can open the scrolls, and its seven seals. | 14:22 | |
Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures, | 14:27 | |
and among the elders a lamb standing as if it had been | 14:33 | |
slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are | 14:38 | |
the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. | 14:44 | |
He went and took the scroll from the right hand | 14:50 | |
of the one who was seated on the throne. | 14:54 | |
When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures | 14:58 | |
and the 24 elders fell before the lamb, each holding a harp | 15:02 | |
and golden bowls full of incense, | 15:09 | |
which are the prayers of the saints. | 15:13 | |
They sang a new song, you are worthy to take the scroll | 15:16 | |
and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your | 15:21 | |
blood you ransomed for God's saints from every tribe | 15:26 | |
and language and people and nation. | 15:31 | |
You have made them to be a kingdom, and priests | 15:36 | |
serving our God, and they will reign on earth. | 15:40 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 15:45 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 15:48 |
- | This reading is taken from the gospel according to | 15:51 |
St. John, chapter 18, starting with the 33rd verse. | 15:55 | |
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus | 16:03 | |
and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" | 16:09 | |
Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others | 16:15 | |
tell you about me." | 16:21 | |
Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? | 16:24 | |
Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you | 16:31 | |
over to me, what have you done?" | 16:34 | |
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world, if my | 16:40 | |
kingdom were from this world, my followers would be | 16:46 | |
fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews, | 16:50 | |
but as it is my kingdom is not from here." | 16:55 | |
Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" | 17:00 | |
Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king, for this | 17:06 | |
I was born, and for this I came into the world, | 17:11 | |
to testify to the truth. | 17:16 | |
Everyone who belongs to the truth, listens to my voice." | 17:19 | |
This is the word of the Lord. | 17:26 | |
All | Thanks be to God. | 17:29 |
(piano music plays) | 17:33 | |
(Choir sings "Gott ist mein Konig") | 17:57 | |
- | The monks of the ancient Syriac church, those | 20:17 |
men and women whom we call today the desert fathers | 20:22 | |
and the desert mothers, like to distinguish between three | 20:25 | |
kinds of patterns of worship, | 20:30 | |
they call them three liturgies. | 20:34 | |
First of all they said there's the visible liturgy | 20:37 | |
of the corporate church as it gathers together | 20:43 | |
as we've gathered | 20:46 | |
together this morning for visible corporate worship. | 20:47 | |
Secondly there's the invisible liturgy, | 20:54 | |
that takes place when a solitary monk spends long hours | 20:59 | |
in prayer and praise in the presence of God. | 21:04 | |
But they said there's a third kind of liturgy. | 21:10 | |
Every once in a while, | 21:14 | |
a monk who has really worked long | 21:18 | |
and hard at it, will momentarily | 21:20 | |
be caught up in what they | 21:25 | |
call the celestial liturgy, breaking out of that | 21:28 | |
pattern of private, | 21:33 | |
individual worship and being caught up into | 21:35 | |
the very worship that takes place in the heavenly courts. | 21:40 | |
Although few there be that participate here on earth, | 21:47 | |
in the celestial liturgy. | 21:53 | |
Well as a protestant evangelical, I'm here this morning | 21:57 | |
to tell you there's a shortcut into the celestial liturgy. | 21:59 | |
We can get a taste of what's happening in the courts | 22:05 | |
of heaven by reading the book of Revelation. | 22:08 | |
Admittedly, a strange book | 22:14 | |
full of beasts and harlots, | 22:17 | |
grotesque creatures and strange symbols, and events. | 22:20 | |
So strange that many of us have avoided the book, | 22:27 | |
but it's helpful I think, to think of the book of Revelation | 22:34 | |
as, among other things, a book of celestial worship. | 22:37 | |
Throughout this book, people are constantly bowing down | 22:43 | |
and falling to their knees, and falling down on their faces, | 22:48 | |
and breaking out into prayer and chant, | 22:52 | |
and song, oh the songs in this book. | 22:54 | |
Sometime just go through the book of Revelation | 22:59 | |
in your own private devotions, and pick out those | 23:01 | |
indented parts and just read those, they're marvelous songs, | 23:05 | |
and there's no song in the book of Revelation that is more | 23:08 | |
beautiful and more powerful then the song that was read | 23:12 | |
in our presence this morning from the fifth chapter. | 23:17 | |
Worthy art thou, O Lord, to take the scroll and to open its | 23:20 | |
seals for thou art slain, and by thy blood dealt its ransom, | 23:25 | |
men and women for God, from every tribe and tongue | 23:29 | |
and people and nation, and has made them a kingdom, and | 23:33 | |
priests unto our God, and they shall reign on earth. | 23:36 | |
I want to say some things about the song this morning | 23:42 | |
but first of all, let me make a few observations | 23:45 | |
about the fascinating and dramatic | 23:47 | |
ceremony transaction | 23:52 | |
that takes place, that provides the context for this song. | 23:55 | |
They found a scroll in the courts of heaven, | 24:02 | |
it's a scroll that is sealed, | 24:06 | |
and they want to find someone who was able | 24:10 | |
to take the scroll and to open its seals. | 24:12 | |
There's a tiny bit of a controversy | 24:17 | |
among the scholars about what this scroll is. | 24:19 | |
Some think that it's a scroll that contains the secrets | 24:22 | |
of all of human history, others think that it's a scroll | 24:26 | |
that contains only the secrets of the last days, | 24:32 | |
but we don't have to get into that. | 24:35 | |
What's common to all of these interpretations is that | 24:39 | |
if you know what's in this scroll, | 24:42 | |
you know how it's gonna turn out. | 24:44 | |
If you understand the contents of this scroll, | 24:47 | |
you have access to the meaning of history, | 24:50 | |
to the purpose of human existence indeed, | 24:53 | |
the purpose of cosmic existence. | 24:57 | |
This is the scroll that's got the secrets revealed. | 25:00 | |
And apparently they've set up a cosmic search committee, | 25:07 | |
and they've just brought in their report, and it's a rather | 25:12 | |
depressing report, no one has been found to take the scroll | 25:16 | |
and to open its seals. | 25:22 | |
They said we've looked in three places, we've looked | 25:24 | |
above the earth, we've looked on the earth, | 25:29 | |
and we've looked under the earth, and we found no one | 25:34 | |
who was worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, | 25:38 | |
those are the three levels of authority | 25:43 | |
in the ancient world, they still symbolize, | 25:46 | |
important areas of authority today. | 25:49 | |
The powers of the air, | 25:54 | |
the regions of heavenly authority, | 25:57 | |
angelic authority, the realm of the principalities | 26:01 | |
and powers. | 26:06 | |
Gabriel is not able to take the scroll and to open its seals | 26:08 | |
Michael the archangel, is not able to take the scroll | 26:14 | |
and to open its seals, that angel with his trumpet | 26:18 | |
who stands guard over every Mormon temple | 26:20 | |
is not able to take the scroll and to open its seals. | 26:23 | |
They looked on the earth. | 26:29 | |
They checked out all of those visible authorities, you know | 26:34 | |
and the opening verses of the book of Revelation, | 26:38 | |
John greets the early church in the name of Jesus, who is | 26:40 | |
the ruler over the kings and the queens of the earth, | 26:45 | |
and in ancient times, when they referred to the kings | 26:51 | |
and the queens of the earth to earthly authorities, | 26:55 | |
they weren't just thinking of political authorities because | 26:59 | |
the kings and queens and the emperors and empresses | 27:03 | |
of ancient times held all authority, at least symbolically | 27:07 | |
they were the bearers of all authority, they were | 27:12 | |
the authorities not only over political life, but over | 27:16 | |
the military, over economic life, | 27:19 | |
over the broad reaches of cultural authority. | 27:23 | |
If we were to understand what those ancient writers were | 27:27 | |
talking about today in our context, we would have to think | 27:30 | |
not only of political authorities, but of all of those | 27:36 | |
people whether we have ever elected them to anything or not, | 27:40 | |
all of those people in our culture who shape our lives, | 27:45 | |
who form our opinions, who influence the way we think, | 27:49 | |
the way we feel, and the way we act. | 27:54 | |
They check those earthly authorities, George Bush, | 27:59 | |
was not able to take the scroll, and to opens it's seals, | 28:03 | |
nor was Mr. Gorbachev, or Mrs. Aquino, | 28:07 | |
or the Nicaraguan Cabinet, | 28:13 | |
or the Ethiopian ruling elite, | 28:17 | |
but not only them, | 28:22 | |
not only them, but Dan Rather was not able | 28:25 | |
to take the scroll, to open it's seals, or was Bill Cosby, | 28:28 | |
or David Letterman, or the editors of the Wallstreet Journal | 28:34 | |
or the members of the Duke University English Department. | 28:40 | |
Madonna was not able to take the scroll, to open its seals. | 28:45 | |
Even Big Bird could not take the scroll, and open its seals. | 28:51 | |
And then they looked under the earth, the realm of | 28:58 | |
departed spirits, and a cult of forces. | 29:01 | |
We still have some of those in California, you know. | 29:07 | |
Maybe you've heard of Mafu, Mafu is an ancient Babylonian | 29:12 | |
leper who hangs around Santa Monica, | 29:17 | |
right near those | 29:22 | |
jogging trails that you see on Jane Fonda's workout video. | 29:23 | |
For $500 you can go into Penny Taurus' living room, | 29:29 | |
Penny Taurus is a new age channeler, and she will speak | 29:34 | |
words of new age wisdom from Mafu to you. | 29:39 | |
The search committee tells us Mafu is not able to take | 29:45 | |
the scroll, to open its seals. | 29:49 | |
No yuppy ghost in any Whoopie Goldberg movie is able to | 29:50 | |
take the scroll, to open its seals. | 29:55 | |
No character in any Steven King novel is able to take | 29:57 | |
the scroll and open its seals, no force or power that you | 30:01 | |
will encounter in any Haitian voodoo ceremony will take | 30:04 | |
the scroll and open its seals, | 30:08 | |
no one in all of the cosmos, | 30:11 | |
in the air, on the earth, or under the earth, was found | 30:15 | |
who was worthy to take the scroll | 30:20 | |
and to open its seals, and John wept. | 30:24 | |
And then an elder turned to him and said we've got | 30:29 | |
a second opinion, they found someone, and the announcement | 30:31 | |
goes forth, there is one who is worthy, the lion | 30:36 | |
of the tribe of Judah of the root of David, he is worthy | 30:40 | |
to take the scroll, to open its seals, and then | 30:44 | |
the courts of heaven break out in spontaneous song, | 30:47 | |
worthy art thou O Lord, to take the scroll and to open its | 30:52 | |
seals for thou was slain, and by thy blood vowed its ransom, | 30:56 | |
women and men for God from every tribe and tongue and people | 31:01 | |
and nation, and has made them a kingdom and priests unto | 31:05 | |
our God, and they shall reign on earth, | 31:09 | |
what a wonderful song. | 31:15 | |
This hymn, among other things addresses | 31:18 | |
the currently hot topic of multiculturalism. | 31:21 | |
You know, some of my pacifist friends, | 31:27 | |
I'm a just war theorist, some of my pacifist friends | 31:29 | |
like this text because they think that it's God's final joke | 31:35 | |
on just war theory. | 31:40 | |
You know the announcement goes forth that they | 31:43 | |
found someone, and here's the way it gets described, | 31:45 | |
the lion of the tribe of Judah, of the root of David. | 31:48 | |
And all of heaven, according to some of my pacifist friends, | 31:56 | |
are geared up expectantly to see that the winner | 31:59 | |
of the search | 32:04 | |
is the bearer of brute force, that finally | 32:07 | |
the book gets opened by the one with the loudest roar, | 32:11 | |
with the biggest mane, with the most powerful paws, | 32:16 | |
and lo and behold, | 32:22 | |
who shows up but a lamb, a lamb who was slain. | 32:25 | |
Some of my pacifist friends who have commented on this text | 32:30 | |
say God is really saying here got you again. | 32:34 | |
Even as you're in the midst of the heavenly throng, | 32:41 | |
you can't get rid of the expectation that it is brute force | 32:45 | |
that wins out in the end, and so once again you have to be | 32:49 | |
reminded that it's not the lion who is the victor, | 32:53 | |
but it is the lowly meek and gentle lamb, | 32:58 | |
and I want to say we need to learn from that. | 33:01 | |
My guess is that's one of the subtexts | 33:05 | |
of this message this morning. | 33:09 | |
But there's also another message in this lion-lamb | 33:12 | |
transaction that takes place here in this heavenly scenario. | 33:16 | |
The lion is very ethnic, | 33:24 | |
it's an old testament Jewish lion, | 33:28 | |
the lion of the tribe of Judah, of the root of David. | 33:31 | |
But the lamb who shows up is a multi-ethnic, | 33:36 | |
multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, | 33:41 | |
multi-national lamb, who has from every | 33:43 | |
tribe and tongue and people and nation, ransomed a new | 33:47 | |
kind of community of men and women who's robes | 33:52 | |
have been made clean through the blood of the lamb. | 33:54 | |
This is a new kind of community, in which the older | 33:59 | |
ethnic characteristics, | 34:04 | |
the older national identities, | 34:08 | |
the older linguistic features have faded into the background | 34:11 | |
in the light of a very new kind of thing, | 34:18 | |
that the lamb of God is doing, putting together a new | 34:20 | |
community of men and women who receive their identity | 34:24 | |
through what the lamb has done through his blood, | 34:28 | |
through his blood. | 34:35 | |
Some people think it's a little crude these days | 34:39 | |
to talk about the blood of the lamb. | 34:42 | |
An old, outmoded, slaughterhouse | 34:47 | |
symbol that really doesn't | 34:51 | |
speak much to modern or post-modern minds. | 34:53 | |
And all we have to do is to read our newspapers and watch | 35:00 | |
CNN to know that blood imagery is still | 35:03 | |
very real and very alive in our world. | 35:06 | |
It isn't just those Nazi's of some 40-50 years ago, | 35:12 | |
who appealed so powerfully | 35:17 | |
to those perverse desires for a | 35:20 | |
pure blood, | 35:24 | |
and it wasn't just the old Ku Klux Klanners, | 35:27 | |
who appealed to that white, pure blood kind of stuff, | 35:31 | |
but it's David Duke and others who have access | 35:38 | |
to our cameras, to our reporters, | 35:42 | |
who command our attention, | 35:47 | |
who are still sounding those themes of a different kind | 35:49 | |
of blood, a pure blood, an ethnic blood. | 35:54 | |
At least half of us here this morning are bombarded | 36:02 | |
these days by a new kind of men's movement that encourages | 36:06 | |
us to take seriously the fact that we're red blooded males, | 36:10 | |
and on our national memorial holidays we still hear appeals | 36:17 | |
to the blood that was shed on the battlefields of the world | 36:21 | |
by men and women, language that often takes on a kind of | 36:25 | |
redemptive salvific tone when we're told that they paid | 36:30 | |
the supreme sacrifice that can somehow cleanse us, | 36:35 | |
and sanctify us, and empower us. | 36:39 | |
As a people blood claims are all around us in our culture. | 36:42 | |
And we're here this morning to hear a very different kind | 36:49 | |
of blood claim, that there is only one kind of | 36:52 | |
blood that can give us a new identity. | 36:56 | |
There's only one kind of blood that can satisfy those | 37:00 | |
deepest human yearnings for belonging, | 37:03 | |
for community, for peoplehood. | 37:07 | |
And it's the blood of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, | 37:10 | |
who has ransomed out of every tribe and tongue and people | 37:13 | |
and nation, a new kind of community, and that because there | 37:16 | |
is that new kind of community, from here on in it no longer | 37:21 | |
matters whether or not I'm a red blooded male, | 37:24 | |
it no longer matters whether or not I have white blood, | 37:28 | |
or Dutch ethnic blood flowing in my veins. | 37:31 | |
It no longer matters who else has died, and who else | 37:34 | |
has shed blood on my behalf, from here on in my identity | 37:38 | |
is this, that I belong to the people of the lamb, drawn from | 37:42 | |
every tribe and tongue and people and nation of the earth, | 37:47 | |
and because of this new identity, this new | 37:51 | |
communal characteristic that I have, from here on in when I | 37:55 | |
talk about who my kind of people are, I'm talking about | 38:00 | |
something very different than the older | 38:04 | |
ethnic or national identities. | 38:06 | |
I'm talking about the fact that from here on in, my kind | 38:09 | |
of people are Russian Pentecostals and Polish Catholics, | 38:13 | |
and South African mine workers, and Nicaraguan peasants, | 38:18 | |
and South Korean shopkeepers, and African American | 38:22 | |
ghetto dwellers, and my Hispanic friends in barrios | 38:26 | |
and the Navajos, on the reservations, from here on in | 38:30 | |
when I talk about who my kind of people are, | 38:35 | |
I'm talking about the people of the lamb, men and women | 38:37 | |
drawn from every tribe and tongue and people and nation of | 38:40 | |
the earth who have been made a kingdom, | 38:44 | |
and priests unto our God. | 38:47 | |
And that's what's happening here this morning, friends. | 38:53 | |
We're here in order to continue in the process | 38:57 | |
of being made into something new, | 39:01 | |
being made into a kingdom, | 39:05 | |
and priests unto our God. | 39:08 | |
When i was a teenager, in the fundamentalist world I heard | 39:13 | |
a right wing fundamentalist preacher once, in fact I heard | 39:17 | |
a right wing fundamentalist preacher many times, | 39:21 | |
but this one stands out in my memory. | 39:26 | |
He said "Satan is in the business of promoting unity, | 39:29 | |
oneness, and Satan is involved in a | 39:33 | |
three-pronged unifying plan." | 39:38 | |
This was back in the late 1950s. | 39:43 | |
Satan is in the business of trying to put together a new | 39:46 | |
kind of race, | 39:49 | |
a new kind of national grouping, | 39:52 | |
and a new kind of church. | 39:56 | |
And because Satan is behind all of those unity movements | 39:58 | |
we Bible believing Christians were encouraged, | 40:02 | |
to appose the civil rights movement, the United Nations, | 40:05 | |
and the World Council of Churches, | 40:08 | |
as Satanic unifying plots. | 40:11 | |
It wasn't long after that that I gave up | 40:18 | |
on that kind of thinking forever. | 40:20 | |
But it was many years later, reading the second chapter | 40:23 | |
of Peter's first epistle that it struck me: | 40:27 | |
What a perverse sermon that had been, | 40:30 | |
because the apostle Peter says to the church | 40:34 | |
of Jesus Christ, you are a chosen race, | 40:37 | |
you are a holy nation, you are a royal priesthood, | 40:42 | |
that Jesus, the Lamb of God, the King of heaven, | 40:47 | |
is in the business of putting together a new kind of race, | 40:51 | |
a new kind of nation, a new kind of church, | 40:55 | |
a new kind of royal priesthood. | 41:00 | |
And it may very well be that Satan on occasion, counterfeits | 41:03 | |
those unifying movements of Jesus Christ. | 41:08 | |
But we as the followers of the lamb are a people who are | 41:12 | |
in quest of realizing, of actualizing the unity that | 41:16 | |
Jesus has established by his blood on the cross as the | 41:21 | |
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. | 41:25 | |
He is making us into a kingdom, | 41:31 | |
and priests unto our God. | 41:35 | |
I need to hear that this morning. | 41:41 | |
And maybe you do too, in a special way. | 41:45 | |
Maybe, for whatever reason you're here this morning, | 41:52 | |
or participating in this service through the broadcasting | 41:57 | |
of it, maybe for whatever reason you're here with us, | 42:02 | |
you've never really thought of yourself as in the | 42:08 | |
throne room before. | 42:12 | |
So I'm here to say this morning on this service, | 42:15 | |
a feast in the presence of Christ the King, | 42:19 | |
that we're in the throne room, sisters and brothers. | 42:24 | |
We're in the throne room of the only true and righteous | 42:28 | |
sovereign of the universe, the only one who was able | 42:31 | |
to take the scroll, and to open its seals. | 42:34 | |
The only one whom as John describes him in those opening | 42:38 | |
verses in the book of Revelation, the only one who is | 42:41 | |
the faithful witness, what good news after confusing | 42:43 | |
witnesses and senate judiciary committees and the like, | 42:47 | |
that Jesus alone is the faithful witness, Jesus alone | 42:51 | |
is the first born of the dead, Jesus alone is the ruler | 42:54 | |
over the kings and the queens of the earth. | 42:58 | |
We are in the throne room this morning, and maybe you have | 43:01 | |
never in your life yet thought of yourself as being | 43:03 | |
in any throne room but your own, maybe the only hymn | 43:08 | |
you've ever sung really is that Frank Sinatra hymn, | 43:11 | |
I did it my way. | 43:16 | |
I hope that for you, this will be a morning | 43:19 | |
in which you bow before the throne of the King of Heaven. | 43:25 | |
And acknowledge that He alone is worthy to take the scroll, | 43:32 | |
and to open its seals, maybe you're very accustomed to these | 43:36 | |
throne room gatherings, but need to hear in a very special, | 43:40 | |
personal, and existential way this morning that Jesus alone | 43:44 | |
is worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals. | 43:49 | |
Maybe you're desperately afraid about something that's | 43:54 | |
going on in your body, maybe you're hurting deeply over | 43:58 | |
a relationship, over a deep personal loss, | 44:02 | |
maybe you're very worried about fear of failure | 44:10 | |
at work or studies, research. | 44:13 | |
That you're a failure in personal relationships, maybe | 44:17 | |
you're worried about career choice, career trajectory, | 44:22 | |
I don't have easy answers for all of that today, | 44:27 | |
but I am empowered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to say this | 44:31 | |
he is worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals. | 44:35 | |
We're in the presence of the One this morning, the only one | 44:39 | |
in the whole cosmos who can reveal to us the secrets | 44:42 | |
of history, and can assure us of our place | 44:46 | |
in his victorious, triumphal march toward | 44:50 | |
the great resolution of the conflicts that we experience, | 44:55 | |
not only cosmically and globally, but in | 44:59 | |
very personal ways in our own lives. | 45:01 | |
We're in the throne room this morning, sisters and brothers, | 45:07 | |
and I hope that this song that they're singing in the | 45:12 | |
courts of heaven will be a song that each of us can sing | 45:15 | |
in a very personal way in our own lives. | 45:18 | |
Worthy art thou O Lord, to take the scroll and open its | 45:22 | |
seals for you were slain for me, | 45:26 | |
and you have ransomed me, | 45:30 | |
so that I may be incorporated in that community of men and | 45:33 | |
women drawn from every tribe and tongue and people and | 45:37 | |
nation of the earth, who are being made a kingdom, | 45:40 | |
who are being fashioned into priests | 45:46 | |
and priestesses unto our God, | 45:49 | |
so that we shall reign with him and share in the victory | 45:53 | |
of the one who is the lamb and the occupant | 45:57 | |
of heaven's highest throne, amen. | 46:01 | |
(chorus church music) | 46:10 | |
(Choir sings "Praise, My Soul the King of Heaven") | 46:46 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 49:17 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 49:19 |
- | Let us pray. | 49:21 |
Almighty God, in Jesus Christ you taught us to pray, | 49:34 | |
and promised that what we ask in His name will be | 49:39 | |
given to us, guide us by the Holy Spirit, that our prayers | 49:42 | |
for others may serve your will, and show your | 49:47 | |
steadfast love, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, | 49:51 | |
let us pray for the church. | 49:58 | |
God our Father, who's blessed Son before His passion prayed | 50:12 | |
for His disciples, that they may be one, like you and He | 50:17 | |
are one, grant that your church, being bound together | 50:21 | |
in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body | 50:25 | |
by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in Him | 50:30 | |
whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, | 50:34 | |
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity | 50:39 | |
of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. | 50:43 | |
Let us pray for the world. | 50:50 | |
Eternal God, you made all things in your wisdom, | 51:09 | |
and in your love you save us, we pray for the entirety | 51:14 | |
of your creation, order unruly powers deal | 51:18 | |
with unrighteousness, feed and satisfy those who thirst | 51:23 | |
for justice, so that all your children may freely enjoy | 51:28 | |
the earth you have made, through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 51:33 | |
Let us pray for our nation. | 51:40 | |
Lord God almighty, in your sight nations rise and fall, | 51:59 | |
and pass through times of peril, be near to judge | 52:04 | |
and save us, grant our leaders your wisdom, that they may | 52:07 | |
search for your will and see it clearly, where as a nation | 52:14 | |
we have turned from your path, reverse our ways, | 52:19 | |
and help us to repent. | 52:23 | |
Give your light and truth to God, through Jesus Christ | 52:26 | |
who is king of kings, and Lord of this world. | 52:31 | |
Let us pray for our daily work. | 52:37 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you declare your glory | 52:54 | |
and show forth your handiwork in the heavens | 52:58 | |
and in the earth, deliver us in our various occupations, | 53:02 | |
tasks, and studies, from the service of self alone, | 53:06 | |
that we may do the work you give us to fulfill | 53:12 | |
in truth and beauty, and for the common good, | 53:15 | |
for the sake of Him who came among us as one who serves, | 53:20 | |
Jesus Christ our Lord. | 53:25 | |
Let us pray for the unemployed. | 53:29 | |
God of Compassion, we remember before you those who suffer | 53:42 | |
want and anxiety, because they have no work. | 53:46 | |
Guide the people of this community to use our will, so that | 53:51 | |
all may find suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive | 53:56 | |
just payment for their labor, through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 54:00 | |
Let us pray for the infirm. | 54:08 | |
Merciful and ever-loving God, comfort and heal all those | 54:22 | |
who suffer in body, mind, or spirit. | 54:27 | |
Give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them | 54:32 | |
the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 54:36 | |
Mighty God, who's word we trust, who's spirit prays | 54:44 | |
in our prayers, accept our requests, and further those | 54:48 | |
which will serve your purpose, through Jesus Christ | 54:54 | |
our Lord, who rules over all things, amen. | 54:58 | |
Let us present the offerings of our life and our labor | 55:07 | |
to the Lord. | 55:10 | |
(church choir plays) | 55:13 | |
(choir sings "Hallelujah Chorus") | 57:17 | |
- | Let us pray. | 1:02:41 |
Almighty and merciful God, from whom comes every good | 1:02:45 | |
and perfect gift, we praise you for your mercies, | 1:02:48 | |
for your goodness that has created us, your grace | 1:02:53 | |
that has sustained us, your disciplined that has | 1:02:57 | |
corrected us, your patience that has born with us, | 1:03:01 | |
and your love that has redeemed us, help us to love you, | 1:03:06 | |
and to be thankful for all your gifts by serving you | 1:03:11 | |
and enlightening to do your will, | 1:03:15 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray saying: | 1:03:18 | |
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 1:03:23 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:03:28 | |
on earth as it is in Heaven. | 1:03:32 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 1:03:34 | |
and forgive us our trespasses. | 1:03:37 | |
As we forgive those who trespass against us, | 1:03:40 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, | 1:03:43 | |
for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. | 1:03:48 | |
Amen. | 1:03:54 | |
Christ the King, pour upon you his abundant gifts, | 1:03:57 | |
make you faithful and strong to do his will, and bring you | 1:04:00 | |
to reign with him in glory in the blessings of God almighty, | 1:04:04 | |
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, | 1:04:09 | |
be upon you and remain with you now and forever. | 1:04:12 | |
(Choir sings in Gregorian chant) | 1:04:20 | |
(Organ plays) | 1:05:03 | |
(choir sings "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name") | 1:05:38 |
Item Info
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