Robert M. Blackburn - "Linked Lives" (December 10, 1978)

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-	Duke University Chapel,	0:05
	the University Service of Worship.	0:07
	Second Sunday in Advent,	0:09
	Founder's Day celebration.	0:10
	Sunday morning, December 10th,	0:12
	1978, 11 o'clock.	0:14
-	Now the opportunity for health	0:18
	and wholeness in the future.	0:19
	Hear our words of thanksgiving	0:22
	which we offer in the name and in the spirit	0:25
	of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	0:27
	(congregation buzzing)	0:51
	(light organ music)	1:17
	(light music)	5:10
	("Oh Taste And See That The Lord Is Good")	10:26
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	10:28
	♪ How gracious the Lord is ♪	10:32
	♪ Blessed is the man ♪	10:38
	♪ That trusteth in him ♪	10:44
	♪ Oh taste and see ♪	10:51
	♪ How gracious the Lord is ♪	10:55
	♪ How gracious the Lord is ♪	11:01
	♪ And blessed is he ♪	11:05
	♪ Blessed is the man ♪	11:17
	♪ That trusteth in Him ♪	11:23
	♪ Blessed is the man that ♪	11:27
	♪ Trusteth in Him ♪	11:43
	("Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel")	11:59
	♪ Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel ♪	12:44
	♪ And ransom captive Israel ♪	12:51
	♪ That mourns in lonely exile here ♪	12:58
	♪ Until the Son of God appear ♪	13:06
	♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪	13:14
	♪ Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel ♪	13:19
	(choral music)	13:33
	♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪	14:03
	♪ Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel ♪	14:08
	(choral music)	14:22
	♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪	14:53
	♪ Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel ♪	14:58
	♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪	15:43
	♪ Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel ♪	15:49
	♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪	16:33
	♪ Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel ♪	16:38
	♪ Amen ♪	16:54
-	In the name and in the spirit of Christ Jesus our Lord,	17:14
	I greet you.	17:19
	Because we have not made ourselves,	17:23
	because we do not sustain ourselves,	17:27
	because we cannot forgive ourselves,	17:32
	our hearts indeed reach out to the Lord our God	17:37
	who will hear and receive our prayers,	17:41
	will receive even us.	17:45
	And so together, let us confess our sin to Almighty God.	17:48
	Let us pray.	17:54
	Oh Lord, creator of all things and source of all truth,	17:56
	we ask your forgiveness for the sins of the mind,	18:02
	the pride of thinking that we are masters	18:06
	of all creation and history,	18:09
	our slackness or compulsion in our work in this university,	18:12
	our doubts about your power to make all things new.	18:17
	We ask your forgiveness for our lack of a sense of history,	18:22
	for thinking all the world begins and ends with us,	18:27
	for our too easy acceptance of our heritage,	18:31
	for those who will suffer because of our unconcern	18:35
	about the future.	18:39
	Help us as we worship you	18:41
	to come to a truer knowledge of ourselves,	18:43
	knowing that we cannot hide from you.	18:47
	God be merciful to us for we are sinners.	18:51
	This is the message we have heard from him	19:11
	and proclaim to you	19:13
	that God is light	19:16
	and in him is no darkness at all.	19:18
	If we walk in the light as he is in the light,	19:22
	we have fellowship with one another.	19:26
	And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son	19:29
	cleanses us from all our sin, amen.	19:31
	Let us give thanks	19:39
	for God is good and God's love is everlasting.	19:41
Congregation	Thanks be to God in all things.	19:47
	Thanks be to God.	19:52
	Thanks be to God.	19:56
-	May I welcome you this morning	20:04
	to this Founder's Day service of worship	20:07
	and to this service of worship on the second Sunday	20:11
	in the holy season of Advent.	20:14
	This is a very special day for us	20:17
	in the Duke University community for a number of reasons.	20:19
	This afternoon at two o'clock,	20:24
	we will have a memorial service	20:27
	in memory of Dean James T. Cleland,	20:31
	dean of the chapel emeritus,	20:35
	and professor of preaching emeritus in the Divinity School.	20:37
	You and others, friends of his,	20:41
	and friends of this university	20:44
	are invited to come and share in that very special moment.	20:46
	At 3:30 this afternoon,	20:50
	Professor Fenner Douglas will play	20:52
	on the Flentrop organ,	20:55
	the Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Organ,	20:57
	and at his annual Founder's Day concert.	21:00
	That concert will begin at 3:30 this afternoon.	21:04
	Those of you seated in the pews will find behind each pew	21:11
	some forms that you may be interested in filling out.	21:15
	We have had for some three years now	21:19
	an organization known as the Friends of Duke Chapel.	21:21
	We invite others,	21:25
	those of you this morning,	21:26
	and any others who might like to become	21:27
	a member of the Friends of Duke Chapel	21:30
	to fill out one of those cards	21:32
	and indicate your desire to become one with us.	21:34
	In the bulletin this morning,	21:38
	there is a leaflet describing Christmas house	21:39
	at the Edgemont Community Center.	21:42
	Duke University and Edgemont Community Center	21:45
	have had a working, helpful relationship with each other	21:47
	for some 30 years or more.	21:50
	I invite you to read this leaflet.	21:54
	There are a number of children	21:58
	and families in the Edgemont Community	21:59
	who will have little or no Christmas	22:01
	unless some of us respond	22:03
	and share of our goodness with them.	22:05
	You will note that we will be pleased to have toys,	22:09
	gifts, clothes,	22:11
	books, or even money.	22:13
	Will you please respond and share with them	22:17
	through the chapel	22:21
	by bringing your gifts to the chapel	22:22
	prior to December the 20th.	22:24
	I've been asked to announce that in February	22:28
	there will be a bioethics conference here	22:30
	sponsored by Duke students and others in the Duke community.	22:33
	It will be a nationwide conference.	22:37
	The plea now is for those students at Duke	22:40
	who wish to present papers dealing	22:46
	with bioethical themes and issues	22:47
	to come by the third floor of Flowers building,	22:51
	express your interest,	22:54
	and let them know that you will be interested in writing	22:55
	and presenting a paper	22:57
	which may be read at that conference.	22:59
	Our time together today	23:03
	will be blessed by the presence and the preaching	23:06
	of Bishop Robert Blackburn,	23:10
	presently the resident and presiding bishop	23:13
	of the Raleigh area of the United Methodist Church.	23:17
	Known widely, beloved, and respected	23:21
	as a pastor,	23:26
	as an administrator,	23:28
	as one deeply concerned	23:30
	about the causes of higher education,	23:32
	we are pleased to have him here on this day.	23:35
	His daughter Frances is a junior at Duke,	23:39
	so I know he has a very special interest,	23:42
	and a personal interest in the life and welfare	23:45
	of this university.	23:48
	We welcome Bishop Blackburn and Mrs. Blackburn to this day,	23:50
	and we will hear him at the appropriate time in the service.	23:54
	May God's spirit speak to you	23:58
	and bless you during our time together is my prayer.	24:03
	(light organ and choral music)	24:14
	(singing in foreign language)	25:26
-	Prepare our hearts oh Lord to accept your word.	27:55
	Silence in us any voice but your own	28:00
	that hearing we may also obey your will	28:03
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	28:08
	The New Testament lesson	28:12
	is from the 12th chapter of Hebrews.	28:14
	Therefore, since we are surrounded	28:17
	by so great a cloud of witnesses,	28:20
	let us also lay aside every weight,	28:23
	and every sin which clings so closely.	28:26
	And let us run with perseverance	28:30
	the race that is set before us,	28:32
	looking to Jesus,	28:35
	the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,	28:37
	who for the joy that was set before him	28:41
	endured the cross despising the shame	28:44
	and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.	28:47
	Here ends the reading from the New Testament.	28:51
	All praise and glory be to God, amen.	28:55
	(light organ and choral music)	29:00
-	Dr. Sanford, Mr. Young,	30:14
	and dear friends	30:16
	of Duke University,	30:18
	this is an opportunity that no one would want to miss	30:20
	and I am deeply grateful for it.	30:24
	Couple of years ago we had as our speaker	30:27
	at the Methodist conference in Eastern North Carolina,	30:29
	Dr. Earnest Campbell who at that time was the pastor	30:33
	of the Riverside Church in New York City.	30:37
	And he told about a man who got on a train in London	30:40
	to go up to the little town of Rosedale.	30:44
	The conductor came by to pick up his ticket	30:48
	and said to the man, I'm very sorry sir,	30:50
	but this train doesn't stop in Rosedale on a Friday night.	30:53
	Oh, but the man says, I must get off.	30:58
	It's very important.	31:00
	I have a very exacting appointment that I must keep	31:01
	and you must let me off.	31:05
	And the conductor said, I'm sorry.	31:07
	But this train doesn't stop in Rosedale on a Friday night.	31:09
	And they had quite a tiff there.	31:12
	And finally he asked the conductor	31:14
	would he go up and talk to the engineer	31:16
	and see if this one time on a Friday night	31:17
	he would stop the train.	31:20
	And so the conductor went all the way up to the engine.	31:22
	After a long while he came back and he said to the man,	31:24
	the engineer said to tell you sir	31:27
	that he's very sorry.	31:30
	He cannot stop this train.	31:31
	Company rules forbid him stopping it in Rosedale	31:32
	on a Friday night.	31:35
	However, he as agree to do this.	31:36
	As the train comes up,	31:39
	he comes into the town,	31:40
	he will slow it down very slowly.	31:41
	And when it gets to the platform,	31:44
	all you have to do is jump off	31:46
	and run in the direction the train is moving.	31:49
	He said, now don't jump the other way.	31:51
	You'll fall and break your head.	31:52
	But you run the way the train's moving	31:54
	and I think you'll make it.	31:55
	So sure enough the train came into Rosedale,	31:58
	slowed down to a crawl.	32:01
	The man jumped out and he ran with all the speed he had.	32:04
	So much so that he passed up the car in front of him.	32:07
	And there was a man there reached down	32:11
	and pulled him back on the train.	32:13
	(congregation laughing)	32:15
	And he said to him,	32:18
	you don't know how fortunate you are.	32:18
	This train never stops in Rosedale on a Friday night.	32:20
	(congregation laughing)	32:24
	Well I want to say to you,	32:26
	I know how fortunate I am.	32:28
	I'm deeply grateful to Dr. Sanford and to others	32:31
	who have been instrumental in inviting me to share	32:34
	in this very significant day on Founder's Day	32:37
	at Duke University.	32:40
	It gives us an opportunity I think to reflect upon the past,	32:42
	to evaluate our present, where we are now,	32:47
	and to anticipate the future and where we need to be going.	32:51
	We're reminded as we come here of a great heritage,	32:56
	a wonderful, splendid past.	33:00
	We're mindful of a stewardship	33:03
	that grew out of generous hearts.	33:05
	And we are here now to give thanks for that.	33:07
	Recently I had read Dr. Robert Durden's book	33:11
	entitled the Dukes of Durham.	33:15
	And in this fascinating book,	33:17
	he tells the story of Washington Duke,	33:19
	and Benjamin Newton Duke,	33:21
	and James Buchanan Duke.	33:23
	In fact, on the introductory page,	33:25
	he tells that's who the book is about.	33:26
	Paralleling it is the story of North Carolina	33:30
	in the latter part of the 19th century	33:33
	and the early part of this century.	33:36
	Also it runs a rather interesting parallel	33:39
	to the history of our church	33:41
	here in Eastern North Carolina,	33:43
	particularly this portion of it in Durham.	33:44
	And I have found it very interesting,	33:47
	among the things that Dr. Durden tells us is	33:49
	that outside his family,	33:52
	the greatest influence upon Washington Duke was the church.	33:55
	Served by circuit riding preachers who made up in zeal	34:00
	what they lacked in formal education,	34:04
	the church had an influence upon him	34:07
	likened unto nothing else except his family.	34:12
	Again, Dr. Durden writes,	34:15
	Washington Duke came to philanthropy	34:17
	by way of the Methodist church.	34:20
	His children follow the same route	34:22
	and their multi-million dollar giving in the 1920s	34:24
	followed clearly the lines that had been established	34:28
	in the 1890s.	34:32
	And then when there came the great endowment,	34:35
	the indenture which was filed in 1924,	34:38
	Dr. William P. Few,	34:42
	at that time the president of Trinity College,	34:43
	spoke to the students in the chapel.	34:47
	And they wrote to Mr. Benjamin Duke about this experience.	34:48
	And he said,	34:51
	I told them if they or their successors in the long future	34:54
	ever allowed themselves to forget all this,	35:00
	then they would be unworthy of their great heritage.	35:03
	But they will never forget in this	35:08
	or any other generation.	35:11
	And that among other reasons is why we are here today.	35:15
	To say that we do not forget	35:19
	the achievements that came a long time ago	35:21
	when little Trinity College,	35:26
	situated in Randolph County, North Carolina	35:27
	was moved here to Durham,	35:30
	struggled through years of trying to establish	35:33
	an institution here.	35:36
	And then those glorious years of achievement	35:38
	which culminated in the building of this great university.	35:40
	It was a thrilling story.	35:45
	A story of people devoted to higher education.	35:47
	A story of people who had a keen sense of stewardship.	35:51
	A story of people who had a vital religion.	35:55
	Some years ago,	36:01
	Halford Lucock at Yale University,	36:02
	wrote a little book about the history	36:05
	of our particular branch of Christendom,	36:06
	the Methodist church.	36:08
	And he titled it Endless Line of Splendor.	36:10
	And in it he has offered some 200 little vignettes	36:14
	telling the story of the history	36:17
	of our particular denomination,	36:19
	a history which I'm sure could be	36:21
	followed and duplicated by many of our denominations.	36:24
	But here in this story he tells about	36:27
	the early circuit riders	36:30
	and those who established institutions	36:31
	throughout our land.	36:33
	And he entitled it Endless Line of Splendor,	36:35
	taken from Vachel Lindsay's great poem.	36:38
	That could be a good title applied to	36:42
	the great institutions of our nation, such as Duke.	36:45
	It could be applied to the history of our denominations,	36:49
	the great movements which have influenced our lives,	36:52
	an endless line of splendor.	36:55
	Now with that as background,	36:58
	let me remind you of the text	36:59
	which was read here this morning,	37:01
	taken from the letter to the Hebrews.	37:03
	The 11th chapter of that particular epistle	37:06
	deals with the heroes of the faith.	37:08
	And the author goes all the way back to Abraham	37:11
	where God commissioned him to establish his people,	37:14
	traces down through the preaching of the prophets,	37:18
	and down to the time of Christ.	37:21
	And then summing it up he says,	37:24
	all these,	37:25
	they without us	37:27
	should not be made perfect.	37:30
	Wherefore, seeing we're compassed about	37:34
	by so great a cloud of witnesses,	37:37
	let us run with patience	37:40
	the race that is set before us.	37:43
	They without us	37:48
	should not be a part of perfection,	37:51
	of all the completeness of life.	37:54
	And there is a kind of reminder there	37:56
	that we are part of seeing	37:58
	that all who have gone before us,	38:00
	the prophets of old,	38:02
	the apostles of the New Testament days,	38:04
	the preachers of the Reformation,	38:08
	the artists of the Renaissance,	38:10
	those who pushed back the frontiers of America,	38:13
	those who established this institution,	38:17
	the Dukes, and the Kilgos, and the Bassets,	38:19
	and the Fews, and the rest,	38:23
	they depend upon us to be a part	38:24
	of the whole completing process of life.	38:27
	Some years ago, Dr. Ralph Sockman told of	38:33
	an experience that he had at the Olympic games	38:36
	when they were played in England.	38:38
	Came to the afternoon of the relay race,	38:41
	which is perhaps the most exciting climax of the Olympics.	38:43
	He said a momentous thing happened there	38:46
	as the third French runner came around	38:48
	to hand the baton to the fourth French runner.	38:52
	He stumbled and he fell and he disqualified the French team,	38:56
	after which he laid there on the cinder track	39:01
	and cried like a baby	39:03
	until finally his teammates had to come up	39:05
	and literally lift him off.	39:06
	Commenting upon this Dr. Sockman said,	39:09
	you can understand the pathos of this young man.	39:11
	He had come to the climax of his athletic career.	39:14
	He had disciplined himself.	39:18
	He had trained.	39:20
	He had prepared.	39:21
	And to be able to run in the Olympic games	39:22
	was the high mark in his life.	39:24
	And now it lay in shame about him.	39:26
	But he said more than that was involved.	39:30
	Up in the stand where hundreds of French compatriots	39:33
	had come there to cheer their team on,	39:35
	and he had let them down.	39:38
	But then he said there were others involved.	39:41
	There were the two runners who had run before him.	39:44
	They too had prepared, and they had trained,	39:47
	and they had disciplined themselves.	39:51
	And this was their great opportunity in life.	39:52
	And all that they had done, they had run well.	39:55
	And all their running was in vain.	39:58
	But then someone else was involved, said Dr. Sockman.	40:01
	The fourth runner.	40:05
	He too had prepared,	40:07
	and he too looked forward to this high moment in his life.	40:09
	And all that now would not be granted to him.	40:14
	Why? Because the third French runner	40:16
	had failed.	40:20
	And so, said Dr. Sockman,	40:22
	we live like that.	40:24
	Linked lives.	40:26
	Wherefore, seeing we are encompassed by	40:29
	so great a cloud of witnesses,	40:31
	let us run with patience the race that is set	40:34
	before us.	40:38
	We have a link with the past, don't we?	40:41
	Human life is like a landscape.	40:43
	On the foreground is our present life as we live it here,	40:48
	hurrying to and fro,	40:51
	busy as we are.	40:53
	But in the background like mountains,	40:56
	above us and behind us,	40:58
	sometimes not aware of them,	40:59
	is our past,	41:01
	and a glorious part of our landscape.	41:03
	Our traditions,	41:06
	and our values,	41:08
	and our roots,	41:10
	and our ideals,	41:11
	and our families,	41:12
	and our heritages.	41:12
	All these are in the background	41:14
	of the landscape where we live.	41:16
	And the plain fact is	41:18
	that the biggest part of our lives is our heritage.	41:20
	It's easy to tear something down, isn't it?	41:26
	I remember a few years ago	41:29
	when in the heart of Durham here on a Sunday morning,	41:31
	with a bit of explosives,	41:36
	they tore a whole building down in a few moments' time.	41:37
	In a few more days and weeks,	41:42
	all of it was hauled away.	41:44
	You remember that many of you.	41:45
	It's easy to tear a building down,	41:47
	but it takes a long time to build one.	41:50
	It's easy to tear down a past too,	41:53
	all that has gone before us	41:56
	with our rich and our glorious heritage.	41:57
	Ancient Greece is an example of this.	42:01
	Back in the 5th century BC,	42:04
	Greece had risen to its finest flower.	42:07
	They had driven the Persians back, you recall.	42:10
	And now the continent of Europe was safe	42:14
	and Greece was the flower of it all.	42:16
	And democracy had obtained a kind of	42:19
	status that it was never to have again	42:23
	until many, many centuries later.	42:25
	The idea of God as taught by Plato and Aristotle	42:28
	had reached a level	42:31
	that was not to be resumed	42:33
	until the coming of Christ himself.	42:34
	Here was Greece at the glorious time	42:37
	of the 5th century BC.	42:38
	There with a great and wondrous past.	42:41
	But they wasted it	42:44
	because Sparta and Athens engaged in an endless kind of war	42:46
	for dominance and preeminence, wasting the past.	42:52
	In a real sense, we find ourselves then	42:56
	caught up in our own little petty affairs,	42:59
	involved as someone has said,	43:02
	in the cult of the contemporary.	43:03
	Which says that if it's new, it's better.	43:06
	And only if it's new is it worthwhile to us.	43:08
	They without us should not be made perfect.	43:14
	Seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.	43:19
	There's a beautiful story	43:23
	back in the Old Testament in 2 Kings.	43:24
	It's the story of a man named Naboth.	43:27
	Naboth lived next door to the wicked king Ahab.	43:30
	He had a lovely vineyard there.	43:33
	His father had tilled the soil before him,	43:35
	and his father before him.	43:37
	And Ahab looked over and saw this vineyard of Naboth	43:40
	and desired it for his palatial grounds.	43:43
	And so he sent over his emissaries	43:45
	to tell Naboth that he wanted to buy it.	43:47
	And Naboth said, no, it's not for sale.	43:49
	And then Ahab became angry	43:52
	and he sent over soldiers this time and said,	43:53
	I will take it by force.	43:55
	And Naboth stood with shoulders erect and said,	43:57
	the Lord forgiveth me	44:03
	that I should give thee the inheritance of my fathers.	44:05
	Ah what courage.	44:10
	What sense of the past he had.	44:13
	The Lord forgiveth me	44:15
	that I should give thee the inheritance of my fathers.	44:18
	You know, in our automobiles we have a little instrument	44:22
	that's a very valuable one.	44:24
	It doesn't cost much.	44:25
	But it's that little rear view mirror up there,	44:27
	or maybe down on the door.	44:29
	And you dare not try to drive a car safely forward,	44:32
	not on our highways today you don't,	44:35
	without the use of that little rear view mirror	44:38
	to see what's behind you.	44:41
	And we dare not try to move very forward today	44:44
	without being aware of what's behind us	44:46
	in our heritage and our past.	44:50
	We have a link with it.	44:51
	But then let me say hastily we also have a link	44:54
	with the present.	44:57
	And this is a vital link	44:58
	for which you and I are responsible.	44:59
	Entrusted as we are with all the glories of the past.	45:03
	And I'm sure the administrators of this great university,	45:07
	aware of its impact upon the world,	45:11
	aware of those whose stewardship,	45:14
	and whose dedication has brought it to pass	45:16
	are mindful to sit back and let it just sit	45:20
	isn't going to be enough.	45:23
	We have our contribution to make today.	45:25
	We've been chosen whether we wanted or not	45:29
	to live in the latter part of the 20th century.	45:31
	For some of you, most of the 20th century.	45:34
	We did not really make that choice, but we're here.	45:38
	And maybe it's not the kind of world that	45:43
	we would have chosen if we'd had the choice.	45:45
	I'm not sure.	45:47
	When I look back upon the years	45:49
	in which my father lived,	45:51
	and some of the kind of pondering life he lived	45:52
	as a Methodist preacher in Florida,	45:55
	sometimes I long for it.	45:57
	But though most of our geographical frontiers	45:59
	are taken up in our nation,	46:01
	we have some tremendous frontiers of ideas,	46:05
	and the social patterns that we need to change,	46:09
	and some things we need to accomplish.	46:13
	It takes a kind of fortitude and a courage	46:14
	that's greater than that of the past.	46:16
	And we have been chosen to live now,	46:19
	and to be here,	46:22
	and to be that link.	46:23
	Charles Wesley, the great hymn writer of our	46:26
	particular branch of Christendom says,	46:29
	to serve the present age,	46:31
	my calling to fulfill,	46:32
	oh may it all my powers engage	46:35
	to do my master's will.	46:38
	And that's precisely where we are now friends.	46:42
	To serve the present age.	46:46
	Here to be what God has called us to be	46:49
	the finest and the best that we know.	46:52
	To fill up if necessary some of the vacuums	46:56
	that have been created in the past decade,	46:58
	vacuums that have confused us and divided us,	47:01
	and created some of our cultism,	47:04
	and created our confusion.	47:07
	To bring to this age some certainty	47:09
	and a new understanding of the truth,	47:13
	a new appreciation of the centrality of God in our lives.	47:16
	It is something that I think God has called us to be.	47:19
	Miriam Teichner wrote that poem, God let me be aware.	47:24
	Let me not stumble blindly down the ways	47:28
	getting somehow safely through the days,	47:32
	not even wondering why it all was planned,	47:36
	not even offering a helping hand.	47:39
	God let me be aware.	47:42
	Aware of who I am,	47:46
	and where I am in the whole scheme of history.	47:47
	There's another lovely story in the Old Testament,	47:52
	the story of Esther,	47:54
	who many times was challenged because of her faith.	47:56
	And her mentor and leader had been	48:00
	her uncle Mordecai, if you recall.	48:01
	And there are times when the pagan king	48:05
	to whom she was married	48:07
	would challenge her to give up her faith	48:08
	and to renounce her past,	48:11
	her great heritage, her Jewish heritage.	48:13
	And Mordecai would come to her in those moments	48:16
	and he would say to her, Esther,	48:19
	who knows but what you were born	48:23
	to live in just such a time as this?	48:26
	Ah, to be able to have that said to us.	48:31
	Who knows but what you and I were born	48:34
	for just such a time as this?	48:39
	A link with the past then,	48:43
	and a link with the present.	48:44
	And certainly we are linked to the future.	48:46
	We are the third runner.	48:49
	And the fourth is yet to come.	48:52
	And that runner deserves the very best and finest	48:55
	that we can pass on.	48:58
	And our ideas, and our values,	49:00
	and our qualities of life	49:02
	which we seek to instill within ourselves	49:04
	in such a place as this.	49:07
	Have you ever thought what it would be	49:09
	to have a whole generation without Mozart or Beethoven?	49:11
	A whole generation without Plato,	49:16
	or Aristotle, or Shakespeare?	49:18
	A whole generation without the Bible?	49:21
	Close it, nothing mentioned about the whole ministry	49:23
	and the life of Jesus Christ?	49:26
	What would happen to us and what would happen to the world?	49:28
	We are the ones to see that that link to the future	49:33
	is carried on.	49:36
	I'm on the committee of the United Methodist Church	49:39
	to observe the bicentennial in 1984	49:41
	of the birth of our church in America.	49:45
	It was started at the Christmas conference in 1784.	49:48
	And the theme we are presently working under is the theme	49:52
	memories and visions.	49:55
	And if we dwelt only upon the memories,	49:59
	we could revel in that and enjoy it I'm sure.	50:01
	But the thing we are concentrating upon now are the visions.	50:05
	Where do we want to see the Christian faith move	50:10
	in the 3rd century of our particular history?	50:13
	Where do we want to see ourselves go	50:17
	as we bring out of the past	50:19
	this glorious and wonderful heritage?	50:21
	Thomas Huxley came to America in 1876,	50:26
	over 100 years ago now.	50:30
	He came to try to understand more about this	50:32
	great and beautiful new industrial empire.	50:36
	And he went from coast to coast	50:39
	and it was quite a thing to go all the way out to the coast	50:40
	back in those days.	50:42
	And when he came back,	50:44
	he was asked to speak at	50:45
	an assembly at Johns Hopkins University.	50:47
	And he stood up before them and told them	50:51
	how he'd been impressed about the new America	50:53
	and all that he'd seen,	50:55
	all of its resources,	50:57
	all of its skills,	51:00
	and powers, and the energies of its people.	51:01
	And after he had done that,	51:04
	he says, I want to leave you with one question.	51:05
	And that is,	51:09
	what do you intend to do with it all?	51:11
	They without us	51:18
	should not be made be perfect.	51:21
	Seeing we are encompassed by so great a cloud of witnesses,	51:23
	let us then run the race	51:27
	that is set before us.	51:31
	Let us pray.	51:33
	Even so, our Heavenly Father,	51:36
	make us mindful of the past,	51:37
	and all who have given for us.	51:40
	Make us aware of the challenge of the present	51:42
	and the promise of the future.	51:44
	We humbly pray in thy name, amen.	51:47
-	Let us pray responsively	52:02
	the litany of commemoration.	52:05
	Almighty and eternal God	52:10
	in whom our parents trusted,	52:13
	we, their children,	52:16
	on this day of remembrance	52:17
	offer unto you our litany of commemoration.	52:19
Congregation	Hear us oh Lord.	52:23
-	For the Duke family,	52:26
	father, daughter,	52:28
	sons and their wives,	52:29
	grandchildren and continuing generations,	52:30
	who with wonder and surprise,	52:34
	bewilderment and tenacity,	52:36
	laid a good foundation,	52:39
	built a worthy school,	52:41
	and provided for exciting growth	52:43
	beyond their kin in years unseen.	52:45
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	52:49
-	For the men and women of the state,	52:53
	Methodist, and Quakers,	52:55
	farmers, and merchants,	52:57
	teachers and administrators,	52:58
	who believed in education and made their belief prevail.	53:00
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	53:05
-	For the embodiment of their dreams,	53:08
	private school, academy,	53:11
	college, university,	53:13
	founded in hope,	53:16
	continued with perseverance,	53:17
	growing in outreach,	53:20
	established in assurance.	53:21
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	53:25
-	For educators whose vision	53:27
	was matched by their courage,	53:29
	whose patience was tempered by their indignation,	53:32
	whose idealism was moderated by their awareness of sin.	53:35
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	53:39
-	For the continuance of good ideas,	53:43
	the union of truth and reverence,	53:46
	the freedom of responsible academic thought,	53:49
	and the right of public concern,	53:52
	the joint care of the body and spirit,	53:55
	the linking of science and humanities,	53:58
	the realization that the old order changes.	54:01
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	54:06
-	For the future of our university,	54:09
	established to Your glory	54:12
	and for the relief of the human condition.	54:14
	For the consecration of the discontent of the young,	54:17
	for wisdom of the conservatism of the middle aged,	54:21
	for resiliency in the obstinacy of the old,	54:24
	for understanding, cooperation,	54:29
	and a sense of humor within our community.	54:31
Congregation	Hear us, our prayer oh Lord.	54:35
-	And to you we shall ascribe,	54:38
	as is most due,	54:40
	all praise and glory,	54:42
	world without end, amen.	54:44
	("Of The Father's Love Begotten")	54:54
	♪ Of the Father's love begotten ♪	55:32
	♪ Ere the worlds began to be ♪	55:37
	♪ He is Alpha and Omega ♪	55:43
	♪ He the source, the ending He ♪	55:48
	♪ Of the things that are, that have been ♪	55:54
	♪ And that future years shall see ♪	56:01
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	56:06
	♪ Oh ye heights of heaven adore Him ♪	56:13
	♪ Angel hosts, His praises sing ♪	56:19
	♪ Powers, dominions, bow before Him ♪	56:24
	♪ And extol our God and King ♪	56:30
	♪ Let no tongue on earth be silent ♪	56:35
	♪ Every voice in concert ring ♪	56:42
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	56:47
	♪ Christ to Thee with God the Father ♪	56:56
	♪ And oh Holy Ghost to Thee ♪	57:01
	♪ Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving ♪	57:07
	♪ And unwearied praises be ♪	57:13
	♪ Honor, glory, and dominion ♪	57:19
	♪ And eternal victory ♪	57:26
	♪ Evermore and evermore ♪	57:32
	♪ Amen ♪	57:40
-	With one voice, let us affirm what we believe.	57:49
Congregation	We believe in God,	57:53
	who has created and is creating,	57:55
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	57:58
	to reconcile and make new.	58:02
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	58:05
	We trust God	58:09
	who calls us to be the church,	58:11
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	58:13
	to love and serve others,	58:17
	to seek justice and resist evil,	58:19
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	58:23
	our judge and our hope.	58:26
	In life, in death,	58:29
	in life beyond death.	58:32
	God is with us.	58:34
	We are not alone.	58:36
	Thanks be to God.	58:38
-	Be seated please.	58:40
	Since last we gathered here,	58:50
	there are two persons	58:55
	who have meant very much to Duke Chapel	58:57
	who have died.	59:03
	And I would like for us to remember them at this time.	59:05
	Last Sunday evening,	59:10
	after the third performance of the Messiah,	59:13
	for that weekend,	59:16
	one of our choir members,	59:18
	Mr. Robert Pierson,	59:20
	who was a tenor in the choir,	59:23
	died unexpectedly at his home in Raleigh	59:26
	at the age of 42.	59:30
	His wife and three children survive him.	59:32
	His service and his contributions	59:36
	to the ministry of this chapel mean much to us.	59:38
	And for him we are deeply grateful.	59:42
	Thursday evening,	59:48
	Miss Shirley O'Neil,	59:50
	who had to retire last spring	59:52
	from her position as administrative assistant	59:56
	in the Divinity School died.	59:59
	She was a friend to countless numbers	1:00:03
	of Divinity School students,	1:00:07
	alumni, colleagues,	1:00:09
	and to many, many others in this university.	1:00:11
	As we begin our pastoral prayer this morning,	1:00:16
	I ask you to join with me	1:00:18
	in a moment of remembrance and thanksgiving	1:00:21
	for Bob and Shirley.	1:00:25
	The Lord be with you.	1:00:28
Congregation	And with your spirit.	1:00:31
-	Let us pray.	1:00:32
	Hear these petitions of our hearts oh Lord we pray.	1:00:48
	We find this holy Sunday Advent,	1:00:55
	your name upon our lips oh God.	1:01:00
	For you have placed it in our very hearts.	1:01:03
	However much we twist and turn,	1:01:08
	and run to flee from your great love,	1:01:10
	we sense somehow deep within that we have no future,	1:01:14
	save the future that we find in you,	1:01:18
	and you give to us.	1:01:21
	Thus for minds that can think,	1:01:26
	for hearts that can feel,	1:01:28
	for hands and feet that can do.	1:01:30
	We give our thanks to you.	1:01:33
	Oh God, ever loving,	1:01:37
	ever forgiving,	1:01:39
	ever merciful, ever present,	1:01:40
	we give you thanks for the fullness,	1:01:43
	the goodness, the joy,	1:01:45
	the presence, and the promise of life.	1:01:47
	And yes oh God we give you thanks	1:01:51
	for the assurance of life,	1:01:53
	even more abundant than we now know.	1:01:56
	As this fall semester comes to a close in this university,	1:02:01
	we ask oh God that you would bless those	1:02:06
	who are soon to stand examination in this place.	1:02:09
	Bless those who conceive and give the tests,	1:02:14
	those who will evaluate and grade them.	1:02:17
	May their intentions be right,	1:02:21
	their objectives fair,	1:02:23
	and their judgements true.	1:02:25
	Bless those who receive and respond to testing oh Lord.	1:02:28
	Keep their minds clear and open as they study.	1:02:32
	May they be relaxed and alert in their testing.	1:02:36
	May they show forth true growth	1:02:39
	and maturity in learning which have come to them.	1:02:43
	Here oh Lord in this place,	1:02:48
	we pray not only for closeness,	1:02:49
	but for real community.	1:02:52
	Help us to care for one another	1:02:55
	as our Lord Jesus cares for us.	1:02:56
	We know indeed that you do will for us	1:03:00
	life and not death.	1:03:04
	Therefore may it be our joy and our intention	1:03:07
	to commune with you,	1:03:11
	to rest in you,	1:03:13
	to serve for you,	1:03:15
	to become like you this day,	1:03:18
	and every day of our lives,	1:03:21
	through Jesus Christ our Lord,	1:03:24
	who taught us to pray as we pray together.	1:03:27
Congregation	Our Father who art in heaven,	1:03:30
	hallowed be thy name.	1:03:33
	Thy kingdom come.	1:03:36
	Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	1:03:38
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:03:42
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:03:45
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:03:48
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:03:51
	but deliver us from evil.	1:03:54
	For thine is the kingdom,	1:03:56
	power, and the glory forever, amen.	1:03:58
	(lively organ and choral music)	1:04:22
	("Doxology")	1:08:46
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	1:09:07
	♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪	1:09:13
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:09:18
	♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪	1:09:26
	♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:09:32
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:09:38
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:09:43
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:09:50
	♪ Amen ♪	1:09:58
-	Oh God we come now to give and to commit.	1:10:10
	If we find it hard to love, help us.	1:10:15
	If we find it hard to give, free us.	1:10:19
	If we find it hard to sacrifice,	1:10:22
	remind us of the way you have shown,	1:10:26
	through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:10:30
	(lively organ music)	1:10:38
	♪ All praise to thee ♪	1:11:12
	♪ For thou our King divine ♪	1:11:15
	♪ Didst yield the glory that of right was thine ♪	1:11:20
	♪ That in our troubled hearts thy grace might shine ♪	1:11:29
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:11:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:11:41
	♪ Thou cam'st to us in lowliness of thought ♪	1:11:48
	♪ By thee the outcast ♪	1:11:56
	♪ And the poor were sought ♪	1:12:00
	♪ And by thy death ♪	1:12:05
	♪ Was God's salvation wrought ♪	1:12:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:12:12
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:12:17
	♪ Let this mind be in us which was in thee ♪	1:12:24
	♪ Who wast a servant ♪	1:12:32
	♪ That we might be free ♪	1:12:37
	♪ Humbling thyself to death on Calvary ♪	1:12:41
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:12:49
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:12:54
	♪ Wherefore, by God's eternal purpose ♪	1:13:01
	♪ Thou art high exalted ♪	1:13:09
	♪ O'er all creatures now ♪	1:13:13
	♪ And given the name to which all knees shall bow ♪	1:13:18
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:13:25
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:13:30
	♪ Let every tongue confess with one accord ♪	1:13:37
	♪ In heaven and earth that Jesus Christ is Lord ♪	1:13:45
	♪ And God eternal be by all adored ♪	1:13:54
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:14:02
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:14:08
	♪ Amen ♪	1:14:15
-	Let us pray.	1:14:25
	Now oh God we come to the close	1:14:28
	of this very special service,	1:14:30
	and this good time together.	1:14:32
	For good words spoken,	1:14:35
	good memories recalled,	1:14:36
	and good thoughts shared,	1:14:38
	we give you thanks and praise.	1:14:39
	And now oh blessed and gracious God,	1:14:42
	pour forth your blessing on this university	1:14:45
	and all who love it.	1:14:48
	For oh God there is memory here.	1:14:50
	There are roots here.	1:14:53
	There is history here.	1:14:56
	There is faith here.	1:14:58
	There is love here.	1:15:01
	There is hope here.	1:15:04
	Give us an expectancy about our future	1:15:08
	that will match our appreciation of the past.	1:15:12
	And now may the love of God,	1:15:17
	the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,	1:15:19
	and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit	1:15:23
	be with you and those whom you love	1:15:27
	this day, and forever.	1:15:30
	♪ Amen ♪	1:15:38
	♪ Amen ♪	1:15:45
	♪ Amen ♪	1:15:51
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:00
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:07
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:16
	♪ Amen ♪	1:16:29
	(energetic organ music)	1:16:45
	(congregation buzzing)	1:16:54

Item Info

Title:

Robert M. Blackburn - "Linked Lives" (December 10, 1978)

Description:

Sermon start time: 30:14. Sermon end time: 51:51.
We are called to do what God has called us to do in this specific time, as we are linked with both those who came before us and those who will come after us, particularly Christ. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: A link with the past then, and a link with the present. And certainly we are linked to the future. We are the third runner. And the fourth is yet to come.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4kk94s7z

Date:

December 10, 1978

Speaker:

Blackburn, Robert M.

Biblical Book:

Hebrews

Chapter and Verse:

Hebrews 12:1-2

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0992
ref7193_zaj
uachapelsermaud
duke:321017
dcrau001872
ark:/87924/r4kk94s7z
84d03ab7-f2fa-4f17-bc86-17163ead490b

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

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:

No Re-Use

In Copyright

Rights Note:

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert M. Blackburn - "Linked Lives" (December 10, 1978)

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1. Robert M. Blackburn - "Linked Lives" (December 10, 1978)

Duke University Archives

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Robert M. Blackburn - "Linked Lives" (December 10, 1978)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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