John K. Bergland - "Who Names You?" (August 20, 1978)

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	(baby crying)	2:27
	(church organ music)	6:02
	(baby crying)	15:26
-	Most holy and loving God,	15:27
	we have your promise, that where even two or three	15:29
	are gathering in your name, you are there.	15:32
	May we be aware of your presence here this morning,	15:36
	as we gather to worship you.	15:40
	In the name of Jesus the Christ we pray.	15:42
	Amen.	15:46
	(church organ music)	15:50
	(church choir murmuring hymns)	16:22
-	Let us confess our sins.	19:18
	Forgive us, loving God,	19:21
	for we content ourselves with promises,	19:24
	which we do not make good with our lies.	19:27
	We call Christ Lord, but serve Him not.	19:31
	We say He is the way, but do not follow.	19:36
	Have mercy on us God.	19:41
	Forgive us, we confess our sins	19:44
	according to the promises your Son, our Lord,	19:47
	declared to us.	19:52
	Amen.	19:54
	For as the heavens are high above the earth,	20:30
	so great is God's steadfast love	20:34
	towards those who fear God.	20:37
	As far as the east is from the west,	20:40
	so far does God remove our transgressions from us.	20:42
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	20:52
	and God's love is everlasting.	20:55
	(congregation murmuring prayers)	20:59
	Let us pray.	21:15
	Open our hearts and minds to hear with understanding	21:18
	these words, O God.	21:21
	May we be aware that you continue to reveal yourself	21:23
	to us, through the words of writers of long ago,	21:26
	who were inspired by your spirit.	21:31
	Amen.	21:33
	Oh, the death of the riches and wisdom	21:41
	and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgements,	21:44
	and how inscrutable His ways?	21:49
	For who has known the mind of the Lord?	21:52
	Or, who has been His counselor?	21:55
	Or, who has given a gift to Him, that he might be repaid?	21:58
	For from Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things.	22:02
	To Him, be glory forever.	22:09
	Amen.	22:11
	Will the congregation stand for the reading of the gospel?	22:15
	"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,	22:26
	"he asked his disciples,	22:29
	"'Who do men say that the Son of Man is?'	22:31
	"And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist,	22:34
	"'others say Elijah,	22:38
	"'and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'	22:40
	"He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'	22:43
	"Simon Peter replied,	22:47
	"'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'	22:50
	"And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!	22:54
	"'For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,	22:59
	"'but my Father, who is in heaven.	23:03
	"'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock	23:06
	"'I will build my church,	23:11
	"'and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.	23:12
	"'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,	23:16
	"'and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,	23:19
	"'and whatever you loose on earth	23:23
	"'shall be loosed in heaven.'	23:25
	"Then he strictly charged the disciples	23:28
	"to tell no one that he was the Christ."	23:30
	(church organ music)	23:38
	(church choir murmuring hymns)	23:49
-	In the name of God, the Father,	24:52
	the Son, and the Holy Spirit.	24:53
	Amen.	24:55
	There's a strange new kind of atmosphere	25:04
	in Divinity School these days.	25:07
	Oh, the students come from such varieties of places.	25:09
	Some of them come from the local church, local youth groups,	25:14
	summer camps and conferences, church-related colleges,	25:17
	and then Divinity School.	25:21
	But, some come from broad experiences,	25:24
	some Jesus Freaks,	25:30
	some who've been into the sex and booze tournaments,	25:33
	some who've come with an idealism	25:37
	that would have some kind of activity	25:39
	that would change the world,	25:41
	"Some come from the wars," Karl Barth once said,	25:44
	Pay attention to the soldiers,	25:49
	they've been on the boundary.	25:52
	One of the soldiers who came back from the war,	25:59
	was perhaps as well trained	26:02
	as any young man in the history of war,	26:04
	wore the Green Beret, decorated with	26:07
	every kind of metal that government can give,	26:10
	except the one you die for.	26:13
	And, after his heroics in Vietnam,	26:16
	he was a prisoner,	26:18
	spent most of the year	26:21
	in solitary confinement.	26:22
	One day, in the parking lot of the Divinity School,	26:25
	the late Carlyle Marney met him,	26:30
	asked him, right out of the gun barrel	26:33
	as Marney so often came.	26:37
	"Who are you anyhow?"	26:38
	And the young man replied,	26:43
	"Well, I'm a solder back from the war.	26:46
	"I've been a prisoner and now I'm free.	26:50
	"But, I don't know for sure who I am."	26:56
	Who are you, anyhow?	27:03
	Who are we?	27:09
	Who is this congregation gathered in this cathedral?	27:13
	Who indeed are the people of this hour of history?	27:18
	Who is this nation?	27:22
	Who names you?	27:24
	Who tells you who you are,	27:27
	deep down in your heart, who you are?	27:29
	So, that you don't borrow identity,	27:32
	not from anything that you have done or will do,	27:34
	not from your athletic prowess,	27:38
	not from your intellectual insight,	27:41
	not from any degree that you have earned,	27:43
	not from the way that you look or the way that you dress,	27:46
	not from what you own,	27:53
	not even the name that you have from your parents.	27:57
	No, who names you,	28:01
	deep down in your heart, so that you have a center?	28:02
	We've been looking for some people,	28:10
	for faculty in the Divinity School.	28:13
	We read the those dossiers	28:17
	and some of them seemed so right.	28:19
	And I remember speaking one day about a young man,	28:22
	talked about the degrees that he had,	28:29
	the experience that he had in the world,	28:32
	the good things he'd written.	28:34
	And then, one of the wise ward heads of our faculty,	28:37
	asked the question, "But, does he have a center?	28:41
	"That's what I want to know, does he have a center?"	28:45
	Who names you?	28:52
	Who makes you indeed, your own man, your own woman?	28:56
	Hear the text, for I think this lesson,	29:07
	for the 14th Sunday of Pentecost speaks clearly to this.	29:11
	It was on the road to Caesarea Philippi,	29:17
	and our Lord turned to ask the question,	29:19
	well, it's a very dangerous question,	29:22
	"What are they saying about me?"	29:27
	Do you ever ask that question?	29:29
	Well, if you do, I dare say it's carefully done.	29:33
	Once when our daughter was an adolescent,	29:37
	I heard her recklessly raise the question,	29:39
	she was in conversation with one of her little friends	29:42
	on the telephone, and then I heard her say,	29:44
	"What does he say about me?"	29:47
	I think she must've told her.	29:53
	She was almost impossible to live with for a week. (laughs)	29:55
	"What are they saying about me?"	30:01
	Our Lord came with the question to his disciples,	30:04
	"Who do they say I am?"	30:08
	And they answered,	30:10
	"Some say, you're Elijah,	30:12
	"some John the Baptist, some say you're Jeremiah."	30:16
	And then he came directly to them.	30:21
	"Who do you say I am?"	30:25
	Peter answered,	30:29
	"You're God's Christ.	30:32
	"You're the anointed one.	30:38
	"You're the one whom God Himself has placed hands upon,	30:40
	"saying, 'Yes, in all the history of the race,	30:44
	"'this is the one who has it right.'"	30:47
	"Blessed art thou Simon, son of John.	30:53
	"Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.	30:58
	"Henceforth, you are Peter, the rock,	31:03
	"and on this foundation I build my church.	31:09
	"So, that whatever you forbid on earth shall be forbidden,	31:12
	"whatever you allow on earth shall be allowed."	31:16
	Who names you?	31:22
	I think the texts suggests to me, does it not to you,	31:30
	that this mighty, "Yes", this act of faith,	31:33
	this thing that purity God calls the, "Leap of faith".	31:38
	That Paul Tillich calls the ultimate concern.	31:42
	This thing, that finally reaches	31:45
	deep into your center of being,	31:48
	and gives you ground upon which to stand,	31:50
	that mighty, "Yes", is indeed the thing that names you,	31:54
	calls you forth, sends you out.	32:00
	So, as a Christian preacher in this pulpit today,	32:11
	I offer you the Christ, and the question,	32:14
	who do you say that He is?	32:21
	And the question must be lifted up,	32:30
	amidst all the real choices of this moment of our history.	32:32
	Yes, America, who do you say that He is?	32:37
	And, ask it in this moment of national memory.	32:44
	For we are those people,	32:48
	who have watched the assassinations	32:51
	of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy,	32:53
	and Martin Luther King.	32:56
	We are these people who this week, puzzle again,	32:59
	over the guilt of James Earl Ray.	33:04
	We are the people who are watching colonial	33:10
	systems fall,	33:16
	wondering if Bishop Muzorewa	33:19
	can indeed bring integrity to Rhodesia.	33:21
	We are the people who know that here,	33:29
	on our own doorsteps, there is poverty and hunger,	33:32
	and illiteracy.	33:37
	We are the people who are	33:41
	fearful for the worth of an American dollar,	33:43
	in ages of inflation,	33:46
	wondering if indeed, our energy sources will run out,	33:49
	if our technology will turn our world into a garbage dump.	33:54
	We are the people who have watched the defeated nations	34:02
	of the second World War, become economic giants.	34:06
	We are the ones who did put someone on the moon,	34:12
	he was there wasn't he?	34:15
	We are people who now talk about life born in a test tube,	34:18
	about communications and transportation systems,	34:23
	that are marvelous beyond our imagination.	34:27
	We are the generation, are we not,	34:32
	who watched Pete Rose, challenged the consecutive	34:34
	hitting record of Joe DiMaggio.	34:38
	We are the people of this hour, are we not?	34:41
	Now, what is indeed, the fundamental priority,	34:48
	the ultimate concern?	34:54
	I remember when the question first came to me.	35:02
	It was in a church basement, where we held Sunday School,	35:09
	and the musty smell of old concrete was all around us,	35:13
	and the dear sweet Sunday school teacher	35:18
	with a King James Version in one hand,	35:20
	and flannelgraph symbols in another,	35:23
	began to tell me the stories of Jesus.	35:27
	And the congregation gathered Sunday after Sunday	35:32
	to sing, "Onward Christian Soldiers,	35:35
	"There's Power in the Blood,	35:39
	"In the Garden,	35:42
	"The Little Brown Church in the Wildwood."	35:45
	One day, she asked me if I would take Jesus in my heart.	35:52
	And I was impressed by, I think,	36:04
	with Superman, Batman, and Robin,	36:06
	The Lone Ranger, Sky King, Dick Tracy,	36:09
	Flash Gordon.	36:14
	And now, would I take Jesus in my heart?	36:16
	They sang that gospel song,	36:24
	"All to Jesus, I surrender.	36:25
	"I surrender all."	36:28
	I trust the validity of that religious experience,	36:33
	for it sent me into religious life, where I am today.	36:38
	My point is this, the question,	36:44
	whatever symbols it may make or take,	36:48
	comes in the moment of real life.	36:54
	The question first asked,	36:59
	was on the road to Caesarea Philippi.	37:00
	Phillip was tetrarch of that little land	37:06
	20 miles north of Galilee.	37:08
	And I wonder what His disciples were thinking	37:11
	as they walked with him along that road.	37:13
	The town had such rich history,	37:16
	once they called it Belenus,	37:20
	had been the center of Baal worship.	37:23
	And people were sure this is the way	37:26
	you have to do with the ultimate realities.	37:28
	You just get in harmony earthy rhythms of your own being.	37:32
	Baal worship, a viable kind of worship,	37:38
	sacrificing lambs and bulls, and sometimes children,	37:42
	celebrating their worship with temple prostitution.	37:48
	But the point of it, just get in rhythm	37:52
	with that kind of earthiness of life,	37:56
	that can satisfy all the appetites of your own flesh	38:00
	and your own being.	38:02
	Belenus, they called the place.	38:05
	Is that the right of it?	38:08
	Again, they called the town Paneus.	38:12
	Well, it was right there beneath Mount Paneum.	38:16
	And the Greeks believed that the god Pan,	38:20
	was born there in a little cave on the hillside.	38:23
	I dare say as they pass by,	38:28
	travelers would expect some strange creature	38:31
	to peep out of the woodlands.	38:35
	Frighten them, panic,	38:39
	that's the word we have from it all.	38:42
	The pipes of Pan would cause	38:46
	these strange creatures to dance,	38:49
	and the whole religion seemed to be a capricious thing.	38:51
	Find some magic, won't you?	38:57
	That won't let God play tricks in our lives.	39:00
	Paneus.	39:06
	And another mount there was the source of the river Jordan,	39:11
	that came flowing down across Canaan land,	39:14
	with all of its rich history of the law and the prophet.	39:18
	That's the way to have to do with God.	39:22
	That's the way this poor creature	39:25
	will have to do with the Creator, is it not?	39:26
	The law of Moses, and the obedience it's called forth	39:30
	from the prophets.	39:34
	And now, Phillip had built the city,	39:39
	and named it for Caesar Augustus,	39:43
	Caesarea Philippi.	39:45
	There was a gleaming marble palace there on the hill now,	39:50
	and all who walked by would say,	39:53
	"Political power,	39:58
	military might, wealth,	40:00
	"that's the ultimate concern.	40:04
	"Caesar is Lord."	40:07
	And on that road, a humble Galilean,	40:12
	born in Bethlehem's manger,	40:18
	turned to ask, "And, what about me?	40:21
	"Who do you say I am?"	40:26
	"You're the Christ.	40:30
	"O humble one of Galilee, you who know that life	40:34
	"is something you give, not something you get.	40:37
	"You, who know the obedience, even to a cross.	40:41
	"O blessed Christ, you're the one,	40:48
	"you're the one who has it right."	40:52
	Who are you, O church?	40:59
	Who are you, O culture?	41:05
	Who are you, nation?	41:09
	Who names you?	41:13
	Who gives you a center?	41:20
	Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my spiritual heroes.	41:27
	Remember this young German, so well born,	41:33
	so well trained.	41:39
	By the age of 25 he was writing serious theology.	41:41
	Came to America.	41:45
	Some theologians here wanted him to stay,	41:47
	but no, he would return to his people,	41:49
	in his church in Germany,	41:51
	just before the Allied Forces came	41:55
	and to liberate the prison, where he was held prisoner.	41:58
	They let him out to hang him.	42:02
	Sunday before, he'd led in the service of holy communion.	42:05
	He went almost from his knees to the gallows.	42:09
	His days in prison were marked with a saintliness,	42:17
	a kind of center that seemed to make	42:22
	everyone around him know,	42:24
	here indeed, is man of God.	42:26
	So, I read with such interest when he writes these words.	42:34
	"Who am I?	42:39
	"They often tell me that I step from my cell's confinement	42:42
	"calmly, cheerfully, firmly,	42:45
	"like a squire from his country house.	42:47
	"Who am I?	42:52
	"They often tell me that I talk to my gods	42:54
	freely	43:00
	"and friendly and clearly,	43:01
	"as though it were mine to command.	43:04
	"Who am I?	43:07
	"They also tell me that I bear my days of misfortune	43:10
	"equably, smilingly, proudly,	43:13
	like one expecting to win.	43:16
	"Am I then all that which other men tell of,	43:20
	"or am I only as I know myself,	43:26
	restless and longing and sick,	43:30
	"like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath,	43:32
	"as though hands were compressing my throat,	43:35
	"yearning for colors, for flowers, for voices of birds,	43:38
	thirsting for words of kindness,	43:43
	"for neighborliness	43:45
	tossing in expectation	43:48
	"of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends	43:50
	"at an infinite distance,	43:55
	weary and empty at praying,	43:57
	"at thinking, at making,	44:02
	faint	44:04
	"and ready to say farewell to it all.	44:06
	"Who am I?	44:10
	"This or the other?	44:11
	"Or, am I one person today, and tomorrow another?	44:17
	"And, before myself a contemptuous woebegone weakling?	44:20
	"Or is there something within me still like a beaten army,	44:26
	"fleeing in disorder	44:30
	and that when the victory is already achieved?	44:32
	"Who am I?	44:36
	"They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.	44:38
	"Who am I?	44:46
	"Thou knowest, O God, I am thine."	44:49
	Thanks be to God,	44:58
	for the gift of his own Son.	45:01
	Thanks be to God for the grace	45:05
	that is in our Lord Jesus Christ,	45:07
	that calls us, claims us, names us.	45:10
	Let us pray.	45:18
	O Lord, our God, distracted by 1000 things today,	45:26
	and following after, so many false gods,	45:29
	we turn aside again, to hear Thy word.	45:33
	Grant that Thy Holy Spirit	45:38
	may touch each seeking heart here.	45:41
	Convict us of our foolish error.	45:45
	Confirm within us, the right, that is in Jesus Christ.	45:49
	And, send us forth here,	45:54
	worthy of name Jesus Christ, Christian.	45:57
	And, thanks be to Thee, O God,	46:03
	for Thy judgment and for Thy grace.	46:06
	Amen.	46:11
	(church organ music)	46:13
	(church choir murmuring hymns)	46:54
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	50:10
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	50:13
	who has come in truly human Jesus,	50:18
	to reconcile and make new,	50:22
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	50:25
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	50:29
	to celebrate life in it's fullness,	50:34
	to love and serve others,	50:38
	to seek justice and resist evil,	50:41
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	50:44
	our judge, and our hope,	50:49
	in life, in death, in life beyond death,	50:52
	God is with us, we are not alone.	50:57
	Thanks be to God.	51:02
	The Lord be with you.	51:04
-	As well, with you.	51:06
-	Let us pray.	51:07
	O God, creator, sustainer, and comforter in life,	51:18
	here our prayers as we come before you,	51:23
	and petition for others now.	51:26
	You know those, whose names we call	51:28
	in the silence of our own hearts,	51:31
	and what their individual needs are.	51:33
	For them, we pray this morning.	51:36
	We pray for those who grieve and who are lonely.	51:39
	Whatever separates them from the ones they love,	51:44
	whether death, or other physical separation,	51:47
	or a spiritual and mental drawing apart,	51:51
	we pray healing of that loneliness.	51:55
	Grant your gift of creating solitude,	51:58
	which can heal and bring peace to the heart.	52:02
	We pray for those who are in sick and in pain.	52:08
	Grant them the awareness of your healing presence, O God.	52:12
	We are grateful who dedicate their lives	52:17
	to a ministry of healing,	52:20
	and to research which seeks cures for disease and pain,	52:22
	we ask for you guidance for them as they carry on you work.	52:27
	For those in our world, loving God,	52:33
	who do share in the abundance which we have,	52:35
	we pray now, for the hungry, the malnourished,	52:38
	the naked, the homeless,	52:43
	and we pray for the people of God everywhere.	52:46
	Where we live in abundance,	52:51
	give us the courage to live with less,	52:52
	so that others may share in the resources of this world.	52:54
	We pray for those spending their entire energies	53:00
	acquiring and money, and material possessions.	53:04
	Somehow, let them know the meaning of your justice,	53:08
	as well as your love,	53:12
	so that they might have a part in realizing that justice,	53:14
	rather than being apart of the injustice.	53:17
	We pray for those who are consumed with anger and hatred,	53:23
	open to them the mystery and beauty of your universe,	53:28
	so that they may realize the joy and excitement of living,	53:32
	and be free of that thing which consumes	53:37
	so much of their energies.	53:40
	We offer also, a prayer for those	53:43
	who are plagued with fear and self-doubts,	53:45
	may they gain an understanding of the meaning	53:49
	of being created uniquely in your image,	53:52
	with special gifts and also with the responsibility	53:56
	of using those gifts to their fullness.	54:00
	We raise a special prayer now,	54:05
	for each person here this morning.	54:08
	In praying for others, may we be drawn close to them,	54:11
	and may we realize that in asking your blessing	54:14
	on others, we may very well find ourselves	54:17
	apart of your answer to them.	54:21
	May we be willing to be so used, O Holy God.	54:25
	We pray in the name of your Son, Jesus,	54:29
	who taught us to pray together.	54:32
	Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.	54:35
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,	54:40
	on earth as it is in Heaven.	54:44
	Give us this day, our daily bread,	54:47
	and forgive us our trespasses,	54:50
	as we forgive those that trespass against us.	54:52
	And, lead us not into temptation,	54:57
	but deliver us from evil,	55:00
	for Thine is the kingdom,	55:02
	and the power, and the glory, forever.	55:05
	Amen.	55:09
	(church organ music)	55:15
	(church choir murmuring hymns)	1:01:03
-	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:05:47
	and love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	1:05:49
	be with you all.	1:05:53
	Amen.	1:05:55
	(church organ music)	1:06:00

Item Info

Title:

John K. Bergland - "Who Names You?" (August 20, 1978)

Description:

Sermon start time: 25:04. Sermon end time: 45:12.
Jesus as God incarnate is the one who names us and gives us all things. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: Who names you, deep down in your heart, so that you have a center?

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4hx16523

Date:

August 20, 1978

Speaker:

Bergland, John K.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0972
ref7153_h9w
uachapelsermaud
duke:320940
dcrau001852
ark:/87924/r4hx16523
b92a1d5d-f573-4e8e-999d-74317443b395

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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

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Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

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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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John K. Bergland - "Who Names You?" (August 20, 1978)

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Duke University Archives

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