James I. Warren, Jr. - "Promises, Promises!" (December 4, 1983)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(calm organ music) | 0:03 | |
(mellow organ music) | 1:54 | |
(calm organ music) | 5:17 | |
(orchestral choir singing) | 12:06 | |
(mellow organ music) | 13:32 | |
(orchestral choir singing) | 14:24 | |
- | Prepare the way of there Lord. | 17:47 |
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. | 17:50 | |
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh | 17:55 | |
shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. | 18:00 | |
Let us confess our sins before almighty God, let us pray. | 18:06 | |
Forgive, oh God, the littleness of our return | 18:24 | |
for your valley. | 18:28 | |
Save and deliver us from the sins | 18:30 | |
that so easily come upon us. | 18:32 | |
Our selfishness, our pride, our anxiety, our envy, | 18:36 | |
our eagerness to be praised, our resentments, | 18:41 | |
our unkindness, our narrowness of vision, | 18:45 | |
our complacency before the agony of the world. | 18:49 | |
By your grace, heal our unholy division of nations, | 18:53 | |
race and class and unite your church to serve men | 18:58 | |
and woman in your name. | 19:03 | |
Remembering the one who gave himself for us, | 19:05 | |
Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray, amen. | 19:09 | |
This is the message we have heard from him | 19:40 | |
and proclaim to you that God is light and in God | 19:43 | |
is no darkness at all. | 19:48 | |
If we walk in the light as God is in the light, | 19:51 | |
we have fellowship with one another and the blood | 19:56 | |
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. | 19:59 | |
Let us then give thanks for God is good | 20:04 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 20:08 | |
Thanks be to God, his love creates us. | 20:11 | |
Thanks be to God who's mercy redeems us. | 20:16 | |
Thanks be to God who's grace leads us into the future. | 20:20 | |
We welcome you to worship here with us | 20:27 | |
at Duke University Chapel. | 20:29 | |
It is the second Sunday in Advent and our hearts and souls | 20:32 | |
have been thrilled by performances of Messiah | 20:37 | |
here in the chapel this weekend. | 20:41 | |
We look forward to the concluding performance | 20:44 | |
this afternoon for those of you who have tickets | 20:47 | |
and we are grateful for the music and gifts | 20:51 | |
of this holy season that our choir provides for us. | 20:53 | |
Our guest preacher this morning is the reverend doctor, | 21:01 | |
James Ivy Warren Junior. | 21:05 | |
Doctor Warren comes to us from Scarritt College | 21:08 | |
in Nashville, Tennessee. | 21:12 | |
He is currently the Cadwalader Professor | 21:15 | |
of Global Evangelism in the mission of the church. | 21:18 | |
In his ministry he has served the church | 21:23 | |
in a number of ways, Christian education, pastor, | 21:25 | |
teacher and writer. | 21:30 | |
Doctor Warren, in a way, comes home to Duke. | 21:33 | |
He is Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke, | 21:37 | |
and then has his bachelor of Divinity and PHD degree | 21:40 | |
from Glasgow University in Scotland. | 21:45 | |
He is one of our own ordained elders | 21:48 | |
in the United Methodist Church, | 21:51 | |
a member of the North Carolina Annual Conference. | 21:53 | |
Doctor Warren has family in the area, | 21:58 | |
has visited with them this weekend | 22:01 | |
and comes to us to share the word on this special day. | 22:03 | |
His sermon title is Promises, Promises. | 22:08 | |
- | Let us pray. | 22:25 |
Oh Lord, our God who by the entrance of your word | 22:28 | |
gives light onto the soul. | 22:33 | |
Pour down upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding | 22:35 | |
that being taught by you in holy scripture | 22:40 | |
we may receive with faith the words of eternal life | 22:43 | |
and be made wise unto salvation, | 22:48 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 22:51 | |
The Old Testament lesson this morning is from Isiah | 22:57 | |
chapter 40 versus one through eleven. | 23:00 | |
Comfort my people, says your God. | 23:07 | |
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her | 23:11 | |
that her warfare is ended, | 23:15 | |
that he inequity is pardoned, that she has received | 23:17 | |
from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. | 23:21 | |
A voice cries, in the wilderness prepare | 23:26 | |
the way of the Lord. | 23:30 | |
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. | 23:31 | |
Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain | 23:35 | |
and hill be made low. | 23:38 | |
The uneven ground shall become level | 23:41 | |
and the rough places a plain, | 23:44 | |
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed | 23:47 | |
and all flesh shall see it together | 23:50 | |
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. | 23:54 | |
A voice says, cry, and I said, what shall I cry? | 23:57 | |
All flesh is grass and all it's beauty | 24:03 | |
is like the flower of the field. | 24:06 | |
The grass withers, the flower fades | 24:10 | |
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. | 24:13 | |
Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, | 24:16 | |
the flower fades, but the word of our God | 24:20 | |
will stand forever. | 24:23 | |
Get you up to a high mountain, oh Zion, | 24:26 | |
herald of good tidings. | 24:29 | |
Lift up your voice with strength, oh Jerusalem, | 24:31 | |
herald of good tidings. | 24:34 | |
Lift it up, fear not, say to the cities of Judah, | 24:36 | |
behold your God. | 24:40 | |
Behold, the Lord God comes with might | 24:42 | |
and his arm rules for him. | 24:46 | |
Behold, his reward is with him | 24:48 | |
and his recompense before him. | 24:51 | |
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, | 24:54 | |
he will gather the lands in arms, | 24:57 | |
he will carry them in his bosom | 25:00 | |
and gently lead those that are with young. | 25:03 | |
Here ends the reading from The Old Testament. | 25:07 | |
The Epistle lesson is from The Second Book of Peter, | 25:13 | |
chapter three, versus eight through 15. | 25:17 | |
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, | 25:23 | |
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, | 25:26 | |
and a thousand years as one day. | 25:30 | |
The Lord is not slow about his promise | 25:34 | |
as some count, but is forbearing toward you. | 25:36 | |
Not wishing that any should perish, | 25:41 | |
but that all should reach repentance. | 25:44 | |
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief | 25:47 | |
and then the Heavens will pass away with a loud noise | 25:50 | |
and the elements will be dissolved with fire | 25:53 | |
and the earth and the works that are upon it | 25:56 | |
will be burned up. | 25:58 | |
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, | 26:00 | |
what sort of person sought you to be in lives | 26:03 | |
of holiness and Godliness waiting for and hastening | 26:06 | |
the coming of the day of God, | 26:10 | |
because of which, the heavens will be kindled | 26:13 | |
and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire. | 26:15 | |
But according to this promise we wait for new heavens | 26:20 | |
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. | 26:23 | |
Therefore beloved, since you wait for these | 26:27 | |
be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish | 26:31 | |
and at peace, and count the forbearance | 26:35 | |
of our Lord as salvation, | 26:38 | |
so also, our beloved brother Paul wrote to you | 26:41 | |
according to the wisdom given him. | 26:44 | |
Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson. | 26:49 | |
(calm organ music) | 27:04 | |
(orchestral choir singing) | 27:26 | |
Will the congregation please stand for the reading | 29:31 | |
of the gospel lesson. | 29:33 | |
The gospel lesson is from Mark, chapter one, | 29:41 | |
versus one through eight. | 29:45 | |
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, | 29:49 | |
the son of God. | 29:52 | |
As it is written in Isiah the Prophet. | 29:55 | |
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, | 29:58 | |
who shall prepare thy way. | 30:02 | |
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, | 30:05 | |
prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. | 30:07 | |
John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness | 30:12 | |
preaching a baptism of repentance | 30:15 | |
for the forgiveness of sins, and they went out to him, | 30:17 | |
all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem, | 30:21 | |
and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan | 30:26 | |
confessing their sins. | 30:29 | |
Now John was clothes with camel's hair | 30:32 | |
and had a leather girdle around his waist | 30:36 | |
and ate locusts and wild honey, | 30:39 | |
and he preached saying, | 30:42 | |
after me, comes he who is mightier than I. | 30:45 | |
The thong of who's sandals I am not worthy | 30:49 | |
to stoop down and untie. | 30:51 | |
I have baptized you with water, | 30:55 | |
but he will baptize you with the holy spirit. | 30:57 | |
Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson, amen. | 31:02 | |
(calm orchestral music) | 31:06 | |
(orchestral choir singing) | 31:16 | |
- | Grace and peace to you from our Lord | 32:19 |
and Savior, Jesus Christ, | 32:21 | |
in the name of the Father and of the sun | 32:23 | |
and of the holy spirit. | 32:25 | |
Promises, promises. | 32:29 | |
The air is full of promises and particularly | 32:32 | |
at this season of the year. | 32:36 | |
From all sides we hear shouted promises | 32:39 | |
and whispered promises. | 32:42 | |
It's very much like being in the alley | 32:45 | |
of a carnival surrounded by barkers on all sides. | 32:48 | |
From one side comes the shout, step right this way | 32:53 | |
and see the eighth wonder of the world. | 32:57 | |
We promise that you will be amazed and instructed. | 33:00 | |
From another side there comes another promise saying, | 33:04 | |
step right this way and have your fortune told. | 33:07 | |
We promise you that the minutest details of your future | 33:11 | |
will be revealed. | 33:16 | |
And then from another corner there comes whispered | 33:18 | |
this promise, step right this way | 33:20 | |
and see the most gorgeous chorus line in the world. | 33:25 | |
We promise you 12 dazzling beauties | 33:29 | |
in 11 dazzling costumes. | 33:34 | |
Promises, promises. | 33:37 | |
But the promises that we hear for real | 33:40 | |
are even more extensive and even more expensive. | 33:44 | |
A serious looking and sounding, | 33:49 | |
got-it-together young man | 33:51 | |
asked us to give him four years of our lives | 33:54 | |
and he promises that we will be all that we can be. | 33:58 | |
A beautiful young girl suggests in her words | 34:04 | |
but promises in her body language | 34:08 | |
that if young men will use a certain kind if aftershave | 34:11 | |
or cologne, that they may wind up with her | 34:14 | |
or someone like her wearing nothing at all. | 34:18 | |
And I think the tackiest promise I've yet heard | 34:23 | |
on television is that one about a computer. | 34:25 | |
It shows a young man who looks amazing like Flounder, | 34:30 | |
from animal house going away to college. | 34:34 | |
His parents wave goodbye, wish him well | 34:38 | |
but unfortunately they send him off without the benefit | 34:40 | |
of a home computer background. | 34:43 | |
So the next scene shows him returning | 34:46 | |
in a rainstorm and in great shame and disgrace. | 34:49 | |
He's flunked out of school, | 34:54 | |
and this choice bit of theater | 34:57 | |
promises you that we will fail | 34:59 | |
unless we use their particular computer. | 35:02 | |
Now you can tell from this somewhat cynical introduction | 35:06 | |
that I'm somewhat suspicious of promises. | 35:10 | |
I think most of us are. | 35:13 | |
When we hear promises like these we look askance, | 35:15 | |
we raise an eyebrow and we say | 35:19 | |
with sarcasm, promises, promises. | 35:21 | |
In no time is this more true that the season | 35:26 | |
through which we're passing? | 35:29 | |
The season of advent, the days leading toward Christmas. | 35:32 | |
We're promised joy and all the stores | 35:36 | |
play the song, joy to the world, | 35:41 | |
and yet, for many, many people | 35:45 | |
this is the loneliest time of the year. | 35:48 | |
It's the peak season for suicide and despair. | 35:51 | |
We're promised peace and good will, | 35:56 | |
and we wish a heavenly rest to a babe in a manger, | 35:59 | |
and yet we see so little manifestation of good will. | 36:05 | |
And the newspaper's daily have as front page headlines, | 36:08 | |
war in Granada, | 36:12 | |
in Zimbabwe, in Lebanon. | 36:15 | |
We sent to out friends and to our loved ones | 36:21 | |
pictures of us gathering around the Thanks Giving table, | 36:25 | |
or perhaps last years Christmas table. | 36:28 | |
We promise this, we hope for this | 36:33 | |
and yet thousands of Americans | 36:36 | |
will eat their Christmas dinner in the halls | 36:38 | |
of rescue missions and salvation armies, | 36:41 | |
and millions of people throughout the world | 36:46 | |
will eat no Christmas dinner at all. | 36:49 | |
And so we reluctantly but realistically | 36:53 | |
echo the poets protest, | 36:56 | |
I heard the bells on Christmas day, | 36:59 | |
they're all familiar, carols play. | 37:01 | |
Soft and sweet, the words repeat, peace on earth, | 37:04 | |
good will to men, | 37:07 | |
but in despair I bowed my head. | 37:10 | |
There is no peace on earth, I said, | 37:14 | |
for hate is strong and mocks the song | 37:18 | |
of peace on earth, good will to men. | 37:22 | |
Promises, promises. | 37:26 | |
But there is another way to say these words. | 37:31 | |
We can say them with an exclamation point. | 37:35 | |
Promises, promises! | 37:38 | |
There are promises that come true. | 37:42 | |
There are rainbows that bespeak the coming of sun | 37:47 | |
after the showers. | 37:51 | |
There are loyalties that endure, | 37:54 | |
covenants that are maintained, | 37:56 | |
contracts that are honored, | 37:59 | |
and it's these kinds of promises | 38:02 | |
of which our scripture lessons for today speak. | 38:04 | |
The first lesson is that beautiful promise | 38:09 | |
from Second Isiah. | 38:11 | |
Where Isiah promises the coming of the Messiah | 38:15 | |
and he exhorts the people to prepare a way | 38:18 | |
for the Messiah and he uses the figure of a road. | 38:21 | |
We know it best, I'm sure, from their singing of the handle. | 38:25 | |
Here we see the road being leveled, | 38:30 | |
the valleys being filled in, | 38:32 | |
the mountains being brought low, | 38:34 | |
the, crooked places, the curbs being straightened out, | 38:37 | |
and when the Messiah comes he will end | 38:41 | |
the time of servitude. | 38:45 | |
He will lead his people home, | 38:47 | |
there will be peace and homecoming. | 38:50 | |
That word that we translate, warfare, | 38:53 | |
that her warfare is accomplished. | 38:56 | |
Probably oughta better be translated, | 38:59 | |
her time of servitude, or her time in the army service. | 39:01 | |
And so Isiah expresses so beautifully | 39:05 | |
this promise of peace and homecoming. | 39:08 | |
But can't you just hear some of his listeners saying, | 39:13 | |
hm, promises, promises, promises. | 39:15 | |
We've heard all that before, why should we believe it? | 39:18 | |
To this, Isiah makes a point relevant 25 000 years ago | 39:23 | |
and relevant to us today. | 39:28 | |
He says in essence, you can believe this promise | 39:31 | |
because of the one who promises it. | 39:38 | |
You can believe this promise | 39:42 | |
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. | 39:45 | |
And isn't this true? | 39:50 | |
Is not any promise dependent upon the power | 39:53 | |
and the faithfulness of the one who promises? | 39:57 | |
Let me give you an example. | 40:02 | |
As a preschooler, a very small boy, my favorite game | 40:05 | |
was to stand on the front porch of our house, | 40:08 | |
about four feet off the ground | 40:11 | |
and jump into my father's waiting arms. | 40:13 | |
To a little boy that was fun, it was like flying, | 40:17 | |
but it wasn't dangerous | 40:20 | |
because I could trust the promise of those arms. | 40:23 | |
I knew that my father was strong enough to catch me | 40:27 | |
and that he cared enough for me to catch me. | 40:32 | |
His power and his faithfulness undergirded the promise. | 40:36 | |
And Isiah is saying, you can trust this promise | 40:41 | |
because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. | 40:46 | |
Or as the Scottish psalter says so beautifully, | 40:51 | |
for his mercies I endure, ever faithful, | 40:55 | |
ever sure. | 41:01 | |
All around us there may be promises, promises | 41:03 | |
which are met with suspicion, | 41:07 | |
doubt and are characterized by a question mark. | 41:09 | |
But thanks be to God, there are the promises of the Lord | 41:14 | |
that we can accept with certainty | 41:21 | |
and that can be characterized by an exclamation point. | 41:24 | |
But what is this promise of God? | 41:31 | |
Again, all around us there are extravagant promises | 41:36 | |
being made in the name of God, | 41:38 | |
and probably none more extravagant than those promises | 41:42 | |
being made by TV preachers. | 41:45 | |
As I listen to them I hear promises of success, | 41:49 | |
wealth, good health, peace of mind, | 41:55 | |
but many thoughtful Christians are suspicious | 42:00 | |
of these promises. | 42:03 | |
They somehow ring hollow. | 42:04 | |
In fact, they rang hollow to so many people | 42:07 | |
that one of this past years best selling books | 42:10 | |
was titled, when bad things happen to good people. | 42:13 | |
Has God promised us wealth and happiness, | 42:19 | |
peace of mind, strong families? | 42:25 | |
A few years ago Doctor Thor Hall who used to teach | 42:31 | |
in the divinity school here at the university | 42:34 | |
wrote a small but significant book | 42:37 | |
called the Theology of Devotion, | 42:39 | |
and as part of his research he went through the libraries | 42:42 | |
of his friends and maybe not his friends, | 42:45 | |
but from many people and saw what they were reading | 42:48 | |
for devotional literature. | 42:51 | |
And he said the titles and the content promise these things. | 42:53 | |
Listen to them, | 42:57 | |
power, peace, poise, | 42:59 | |
successful living if people would | 43:04 | |
just spend five minutes a day reading | 43:07 | |
these devotional tracks, meditating and praying. | 43:10 | |
Promises, promises. | 43:15 | |
Somehow to many people who seek the Lord | 43:18 | |
and seek to obey his will, these promises ring hollow. | 43:20 | |
What does God promise? | 43:26 | |
The gospel reading from the Gospel according to Saint Mark | 43:30 | |
gives us a clue here. | 43:33 | |
John the Baptizer prophesizes the coming of one after him | 43:36 | |
who will be baptized in the spirit and bring the spirit. | 43:40 | |
One so much greater than John that John is not worthy | 43:44 | |
to loosen the thongs of his sandals. | 43:48 | |
What does God promise? | 43:52 | |
He promises us his presence, himself. | 43:55 | |
This is a promise. | 44:01 | |
We don't use the presence for lesser gifts. | 44:03 | |
This is the gift. | 44:08 | |
This is the promise of Advent | 44:10 | |
and this is the fulfillment of Christmas. | 44:12 | |
Emanuel, God with us. | 44:15 | |
Martin Buber I think makes this point so strikingly clear | 44:21 | |
and his treatment of Moses at the burning bush. | 44:25 | |
Most of you will remember that story, | 44:29 | |
Moses has encountered God at the burning bush | 44:30 | |
and God has commanded Moses to go to Egypt | 44:33 | |
and lead the Israelites free from captivity. | 44:37 | |
Not a small commandment. | 44:40 | |
All he was asked to do was to go to the strongest, | 44:43 | |
most powerful nation in the world | 44:45 | |
and lead a group of slaves, | 44:48 | |
disjoined, unprepared, free. | 44:51 | |
So Moses asked God a very pertinent question. | 44:55 | |
He says to him, what's your name? | 45:00 | |
And behind this question lie two purposes. | 45:03 | |
First of all he says, God, tell me your name | 45:08 | |
so I can know all about you, so I can know your nature. | 45:11 | |
If God had replied, well I'm a God of power, victory, | 45:17 | |
might and deliverance, most likely Moses would have said, | 45:21 | |
then I'll go. | 45:26 | |
What if God had said, I'm a God of humility, | 45:29 | |
meekness, helplessness, turning the other cheek. | 45:33 | |
I have a feeling Moses would've said, | 45:38 | |
God, I would like more time to consider your proposal. | 45:40 | |
Now consider the answer that Moses really gets from God. | 45:44 | |
God says to Moses, | 45:51 | |
Ehyeh asher ehyeh. | 45:55 | |
That's Hebrew, and we all know | 45:57 | |
that God really speaks Hebrew. | 45:59 | |
He probably speaks English but he thinks in Hebrew. | 46:01 | |
In the King James version of the Bible we translate this, | 46:06 | |
I am who I am. | 46:09 | |
Martin Buber says, rightly, that in Hebrew | 46:12 | |
the present tense and the future tense | 46:16 | |
are exact of the same, so perhaps | 46:18 | |
it oughta better be translated, | 46:19 | |
I will be who I will be, or as I will be, | 46:22 | |
or like I will be. | 46:26 | |
Now what kind of an answer is this? | 46:28 | |
Moses has asked God, tell me who you are, | 46:31 | |
tell me about your nature so I can count upon you. | 46:34 | |
Or he said, tell me your name so when I get down to Egypt | 46:39 | |
I can summon you to my assistance and you will zap | 46:43 | |
the Egyptians with frogs and locust and things like that. | 46:46 | |
And God says to him, I'll be who I'll be. | 46:50 | |
Sounds very negative, doesn't it? | 46:55 | |
But look a bit deeper and see the real promise. | 46:58 | |
God is saying, Moses, you don't need to inquire | 47:02 | |
about my nature, for I will be there | 47:06 | |
as I am needed to be there. | 47:10 | |
Maybe not as you wish, maybe not as you expect | 47:11 | |
but as I choose to be there. | 47:14 | |
More than that, Moses, you don't need a name | 47:18 | |
to invoke my presence and my power, | 47:20 | |
I choose to be with you. | 47:24 | |
This is a promise, the presence, the power of God. | 47:28 | |
I will be your God, you will be my people. | 47:35 | |
I will be with you. | 47:39 | |
His name shall be called Emanuel, God with us. | 47:41 | |
There are many promises, this is the promise. | 47:47 | |
And then the writer of Second Peter deals with | 47:54 | |
another aspect to promise that I think | 47:56 | |
is very relevant to all of us. | 47:58 | |
Writing some 50 to 75 years after Jesus' death | 48:01 | |
and resurrection, the writer of Second Peter | 48:05 | |
deals with a problem of, but Jesus' promise | 48:08 | |
of second return has not come true yet. | 48:11 | |
And the critics of the church at this time, | 48:15 | |
even within the church are saying, | 48:17 | |
he promised he was coming back. | 48:20 | |
It's been 50, 60, 70 years he hasn't come. | 48:22 | |
Some of our friends have died believing this. | 48:26 |
Man | Still he hasn't come, he's not coming. | 0:03 |
This raises the question. | 0:07 | |
What does one do | 0:09 | |
when the promise in which one believes, | 0:12 | |
trusts, hopes, and lives | 0:15 | |
has not yet been fulfilled? | 0:18 | |
In a sense, we all live a perpetual advent. | 0:22 | |
That in between time when the promise is made | 0:27 | |
and is not fully felt. | 0:30 | |
How do we live as children of hope and promise? | 0:34 | |
The writer of second Peter | 0:40 | |
gives us three good pieces of advice. | 0:41 | |
First, he says to us "Don't be too worried about the time." | 0:44 | |
Perhaps God's time is not our time. | 0:48 | |
Maybe 1,000 years are only as a day in the sight of God. | 0:52 | |
Don't be too concerned about the time table. | 0:57 | |
Then he gives us two other pieces of advice | 1:01 | |
that go together. | 1:03 | |
He says, "But the Christian should live" | 1:05 | |
"a certain kind of lifestyle in this in between time." | 1:07 | |
It should be characterized by waiting | 1:11 | |
for the promise to be fulfilled | 1:14 | |
and hastening on the fulfillment of it. | 1:17 | |
Waiting, that's something very hard for most of us to do. | 1:22 | |
Children can't wait to be teenagers. | 1:27 | |
Teenagers can't wait to be college students. | 1:30 | |
College students can't wait to graduate. | 1:33 | |
Adults can't wait for that new job or that new house. | 1:36 | |
Yet, I would suggest to you | 1:41 | |
that true faith is most manifest | 1:42 | |
when all we can do is hope and trust and wait. | 1:47 | |
There are some things that we can do | 1:53 | |
to hasten the coming of God's kingdom. | 1:54 | |
Judaism of the inter-Testamental period | 1:58 | |
believed that if just one day, | 2:00 | |
all the Jews repented and prayed | 2:04 | |
for the return of the Messiah, then He would come. | 2:05 | |
So following this, Peter says to his readers. | 2:09 | |
"Hasten the day of the coming of the Lord" | 2:15 | |
"by living godly lives." | 2:17 | |
There is a sense in which you and I can hasten this day. | 2:20 | |
If we believe the kingdom of God | 2:23 | |
is characterized by mercy and truth and goodness | 2:26 | |
and love and forgiveness, | 2:30 | |
then we can go forth to meet that kingdom | 2:32 | |
by living lives and participating in causes | 2:36 | |
characterized by mercy, goodness, truth, and life. | 2:39 | |
We can wait and we can hasten. | 2:45 | |
There's a stanza of a hymn that I suppose | 2:49 | |
most of us have sung one time or another. | 2:51 | |
Rise up, oh men of God. | 2:55 | |
The church for you doth wait. | 2:57 | |
Her strength unequal to her task. | 2:59 | |
Rise up and make her great. | 3:01 | |
That certainly emphasizes the hastening aspect of our lives. | 3:04 | |
But some unknown wit wrote an answer to that. | 3:09 | |
It goes like this. | 3:12 | |
Sit down, oh men of God. | 3:14 | |
God's kingdom, He will bring when and how it pleases Him. | 3:17 | |
You cannot do a thing. | 3:21 | |
That certainly emphasizes the waiting aspect. | 3:24 | |
But second Peter tells us a great truth. | 3:28 | |
We need to hold these in tension in our lives. | 3:31 | |
The tension of waiting when that's all we can do | 3:36 | |
is to wait in faith. | 3:38 | |
The tension of hastening the kingdom of God | 3:40 | |
to do all we can to bring the kingdom of God | 3:44 | |
to reality upon this earth. | 3:47 | |
Beloved, we are people of promise. | 3:52 | |
It is my prayer for all of us at this season, | 3:57 | |
we will hear the true promises of God | 4:01 | |
and that we will live lives befitting | 4:07 | |
children of promise. | 4:12 | |
Claim the promise. | 4:15 | |
Live the promise. | 4:18 | |
Let us pray. | 4:23 | |
Oh God, who throughout our lives, | 4:28 | |
and the world's existence, | 4:31 | |
has promised and fulfilled Your promises, | 4:34 | |
save us from false promises, | 4:38 | |
false hopes, and false promisers. | 4:41 | |
Help us to claim daily the promise of your presence | 4:46 | |
and grant us grace to live as children of your promise. | 4:50 | |
Hoping for, waiting for, and hastening on | 4:55 | |
the coming of Your kingdom | 5:01 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 5:03 | |
Amen. | 5:07 | |
(organ music) | 5:15 | |
(choir vocalizing) | 5:39 | |
Woman | Let us affirm what we believe. | 7:17 |
We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 7:20 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus | 7:26 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 7:29 | |
who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 7:32 | |
We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 7:36 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 7:40 | |
to love and serve others, | 7:43 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 7:46 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 7:49 | |
our judge and our hope. | 7:53 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 7:55 | |
God is with us. | 8:00 | |
We are not alone. | 8:02 | |
Thanks be to God. | 8:04 | |
The Lord be with you. | 8:06 | |
Congregation | And also with you. | 8:08 |
Woman | Let us pray. | 8:10 |
Oh Lord, our God, | 8:24 | |
in this Advent season, | 8:26 | |
we have been directed to search | 8:28 | |
to find the child in the stable | 8:31 | |
who becomes the savior of the world. | 8:34 | |
Thus, give us eyes to see the bright light of that star, | 8:38 | |
ears to hear the music of the angels, | 8:43 | |
and hearts to enfold that birth at the inn. | 8:47 | |
Give us this kind of wonder and awe at Christmas time | 8:52 | |
that we might be able to reach out to a world | 8:57 | |
which is crying out for a savior | 9:01 | |
and does not recognize the spirit of Christ among us. | 9:04 | |
Bless all those today who come in this place | 9:10 | |
who are not joyful, | 9:14 | |
who are unable to celebrate | 9:16 | |
because of heavy burdens. | 9:19 | |
Bless those who are ill, | 9:22 | |
all those who are lonely and troubled, | 9:25 | |
those who seek freedom and release | 9:28 | |
in the very wideness of your love and mercy. | 9:31 | |
Make us one family of love and concern | 9:36 | |
as we reach out to comfort and strengthen each other. | 9:41 | |
May the very hopes of Advent be filled in us with deep joy | 9:46 | |
in a rich and meaningful life, | 9:52 | |
abilities and gifts to prepare us for living | 9:55 | |
in this time that is 2,000 years after the search began. | 9:59 | |
Oh Lord, come and fill us with your light of hope | 10:07 | |
and your eternal spirit of peace. | 10:11 | |
It is in the name of Jesus the Christ we pray, | 10:15 | |
who taught us to pray saying, | 10:19 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, | 10:22 | |
hallowed by Thy name. | 10:25 | |
Thy kingdom come. | 10:28 | |
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 10:30 | |
Give us this day our daily bread. | 10:33 | |
Forgive us our trespasses | 10:37 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 10:39 | |
Lead us not into temptation | 10:43 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 10:45 | |
For Thine is the kingdom | 10:47 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 10:49 | |
Amen. | 10:53 | |
(gentle organ music) | 11:01 | |
(upbeat choir vocalizing) | 13:39 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 15:29 | |
(indistinct choir lyrics) | 16:17 | |
Choir | Hallelujah! | 16:23 |
Hallelujah. | 16:26 | |
Hallelujah. | 16:29 | |
Hallelujah. | 16:32 | |
Hallelujah. | 16:37 | |
Hallelujah. | 16:51 | |
Woman | Oh God, of whose bounty we have all received, | 16:58 |
accept this offering of your people | 17:01 | |
and so follow it with your blessing | 17:04 | |
that it may promote peace and goodwill | 17:07 | |
among all people and advance the kingdom | 17:09 | |
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. | 17:13 | |
(organ music) | 17:20 | |
(choir vocalizing) | 18:18 | |
- | And now the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, | 22:09 |
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, | 22:13 | |
be among you and remain with you always. | 22:19 | |
Choir | (vocalizing) Amen. | 22:30 |
Amen. | 22:35 | |
(choir vocalizing) | 22:47 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 23:55 | |
(indistinct conversations) | 26:45 |
Item Info
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