Baccalaureate Service for Divinity School (May 8, 1977)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(soft organ music) | 0:03 | |
- | I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up | 11:31 |
the gift of God, which is in thee. | 11:34 | |
For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness, | 11:39 | |
but of power and love and discipline. | 11:43 | |
Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, | 11:48 | |
but suffer hardship with the gospel | 11:53 | |
and the things with thou has heard among many witnesses | 11:56 | |
the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able | 12:01 | |
to teach others also. | 12:05 | |
Fight the good fight of faith laying hold | 12:08 | |
on the eternal life where unto thou was called. | 12:12 | |
The Lord be with you. | 12:18 | |
- | And with your spirit. | 12:20 |
- | Endow thy ministers with righteousness oh God. | 12:21 |
(mumbling) | 12:26 | |
Let us pray in unison. | 12:31 | |
Oh Lord, our heavenly Father who Providence | 12:34 | |
the duties of all persons are variously honored, | 12:38 | |
grant unto us such a spirit that we may labor heartily | 12:42 | |
to do our work in our several stations as serving one master | 12:46 | |
and looking for one reward. | 12:52 | |
Teach us to put good account whatever talent thou has lent | 12:55 | |
and enable us to redeem our time by zeal tempered | 13:00 | |
with patience and fervor blended with love | 13:04 | |
through Jesus Christ thy son. | 13:08 | |
Amen. | 13:11 | |
Let us pray. | 13:12 | |
Let us offer our prayers to God for the church. | 13:20 | |
Thou has called oh Lord a people to be thy people | 13:29 | |
with whom thou has shared the riches of thy grace | 13:38 | |
and to whom thou has given the responsibility and privilege | 13:44 | |
of sharing that richness with others. | 13:51 | |
May thy church be faithful. | 13:57 | |
May thy church be courageous. | 14:02 | |
May thy church proclaim the gospel message with clarity, | 14:07 | |
with sincerity and with effect. | 14:13 | |
And may that church be a leaven in this world. | 14:20 | |
Let us also pray for those who are ministers | 14:30 | |
in the life of the church. | 14:34 | |
First for the ministry of all Christians. | 14:36 | |
Most gracious God, may all of us | 14:43 | |
who are in the body of Jesus Christ share with the world | 14:45 | |
thy love through ministry. | 14:55 | |
Make us sensitive to the needs of others. | 14:59 | |
Help us to be clear about the message we are to share. | 15:04 | |
Give to us lives that witness faithfully to thy glory. | 15:11 | |
And bless also those who are ordained | 15:22 | |
in representational ministry to preach the word, | 15:28 | |
to administer the sacraments | 15:36 | |
and to order the life of the church. | 15:40 | |
May those who have been trained in this divinity school | 15:44 | |
for these task bring to completion those things | 15:47 | |
which are now in process that as we leave this place | 15:54 | |
we may go in thy presence and with thy guidance | 16:01 | |
to the service which thou has ordained. | 16:05 | |
And bless those of us who continue in this school | 16:10 | |
that we may faithfully serve thee and offer unto thee | 16:15 | |
our lives in complete and in thoroughly honest ways. | 16:21 | |
And now as we worship thee this evening | 16:35 | |
we do so in the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord | 16:38 | |
who taught us when we pray to say. | 16:44 | |
Our Father who are in heaven, | 16:47 | |
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. | 16:50 | |
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 16:54 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 16:58 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 17:01 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 17:04 | |
and lead us not in to temptation, | 17:08 | |
but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom | 17:10 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 17:15 | |
Amen. | 17:19 | |
The scripture lesson comes from the ninth chapter | 17:38 | |
of the wisdom of Solomon. | 17:42 | |
Oh God of my father's and Lord of mercy | 17:46 | |
who has made all things by thy word | 17:50 | |
and by thy wisdom has formed man to have dominion | 17:53 | |
over the creatures thou has made | 17:58 | |
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness | 18:01 | |
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul. | 18:06 | |
Give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne | 18:11 | |
and do not reject me from among thy servants | 18:15 | |
for I am thy slave and the son of thy maid servant, | 18:20 | |
a man who is weak and short lived | 18:24 | |
with little understanding of judgment and laws. | 18:28 | |
Send wisdom forth from the holy heavens | 18:34 | |
and from the throne of thy glory send her | 18:38 | |
that she may be with me and toil | 18:42 | |
and that I may learn what is pleasing to thee | 18:45 | |
for she knows and understands all things | 18:50 | |
and she will guide me wisely in my actions | 18:54 | |
and guard me with her glory. | 18:58 | |
- | From the ancient church we receive the credo, | 19:09 |
the Apostles Creed. | 19:12 | |
Let us stand as we speak together these words | 19:14 | |
with others in our Christian heritage. | 19:18 | |
I believe in God the Father Almighty, | 19:23 | |
maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ | 19:26 | |
his only son our Lord. | 19:30 | |
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, | 19:32 | |
born of the Virgin Mary, | 19:35 | |
suffered under Pontius Pilate. | 19:37 | |
Was crucified, dead and buried. | 19:40 | |
The third day he rose from the dead, | 19:42 | |
He ascended to heaven and sitteth at the right hand | 19:45 | |
of God the Father Almighty. | 19:49 | |
From thence he should come to judge the quick and the dead. | 19:51 | |
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, | 19:55 | |
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, | 19:59 | |
the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. | 20:03 | |
Amen. | 20:08 | |
(hymnal singing drowned by instruments) | 20:10 | |
- | God of my fathers, Lord of mercy. | 21:12 |
You who have made all things by your word, give me wisdom. | 21:18 | |
The attendance at your throne. | 21:26 | |
Words taken from the Wisdom of Solomon. | 21:31 | |
In the name of the Father and of the Son | 21:34 | |
and of the Holy Spirit. | 21:36 | |
Amen. | 21:38 | |
It may be somewhat late in the day to be reminded | 21:41 | |
in a baccalaureate service of the example of Solomon | 21:44 | |
praying for wisdom. | 21:49 | |
Ruefully, one might say that it should have taken place | 21:52 | |
three or four years ago. | 21:57 | |
But no one can maintain that such a request | 22:02 | |
for wisdom remains a constant throughout life. | 22:09 | |
The Bible tells us that wisdom is a quest, | 22:17 | |
it even warns us against thinking that we are wise. | 22:23 | |
You see a man wise in his own eyes, | 22:29 | |
there is more hope for a fool than for him | 22:34 | |
we read in Proverbs. | 22:39 | |
And then Jeremiah tells us, let not the wise one | 22:42 | |
glory in his wisdom. | 22:46 | |
Wisdom is a fragile gift from God, | 22:51 | |
so fragile that it is a quest rather than a conquest | 22:56 | |
More an attitude toward living than a holding on to life. | 23:02 | |
We go back now to the original prayer of Solomon | 23:12 | |
in 1 Kings 9:3 which illustrates this, | 23:16 | |
give your servant therefore a listening heart, | 23:22 | |
(foreign language) | 23:30 | |
A listening heart. | 23:34 | |
That is what wisdom is all about. | 23:39 | |
Listening to the lessons of daily experience communicated | 23:42 | |
to us by the people whom we serve, by our peers, | 23:46 | |
by our teachers, by the traditions that we have learned | 23:51 | |
in theology over these years, | 23:54 | |
traditions handed down by the wise who have gone | 23:56 | |
before us and who are still among us. | 24:00 | |
Your years of theological study are only | 24:05 | |
the beginning of your quest for wisdom. | 24:09 | |
Biblical wisdom had many faces. | 24:17 | |
The book of Proverbs tells us that, | 24:20 | |
the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. | 24:22 | |
Oh, before that God, that mystery who is beyond | 24:26 | |
all wisdom and yet paradoxically | 24:30 | |
the one who bestowed wisdom. | 24:33 | |
On the other hand, wisdom's preoccupation | 24:38 | |
was with human beings, their moral and spiritual formation, | 24:43 | |
their relationships with each other, | 24:48 | |
the kind of qualities one should develop | 24:51 | |
and those qualities that one should avoid. | 24:55 | |
This view of human growth was worked out on the basis | 24:58 | |
of experience and traditional social values. | 25:04 | |
The great ideals of the 10 commandments | 25:12 | |
were assumed, they were not legislated. | 25:16 | |
And similarly for the great truths of Israelite faith | 25:20 | |
the promises to the patriarchs, the Sinai Covenants, | 25:24 | |
the Exodus experience, these are not even mentioned | 25:30 | |
in the wisdom books even while they are taken for granted, | 25:34 | |
but it is on the level of wisdom working out in creation, | 25:41 | |
the level of creation theology that wisdom | 25:47 | |
takes its orientation. | 25:51 | |
What have we to learn from the world in which | 25:56 | |
the Lord God placed us? | 26:00 | |
As the Lord questioned Job, | 26:04 | |
where were you when I founded the earth? | 26:08 | |
Who determined its size, do you know? | 26:12 | |
Who stretched out the measuring line for it? | 26:17 | |
A frequent reaction of one who delves | 26:25 | |
into the book of Proverbs is a sense of recognition. | 26:27 | |
One recognizes there many a saying that | 26:33 | |
in one form or other one is heard in one's culture, | 26:37 | |
in one's own family sometimes by way of a joke, | 26:42 | |
sometimes by way of something deadly serious. | 26:48 | |
As the door turns on its hinges so the sluggard in his bed. | 26:54 | |
The biblical proverb have enjoyed a considerable life | 27:02 | |
in being handed down in one form or another | 27:06 | |
in the Christian community. | 27:08 | |
But one might be inclined to say that these are all | 27:10 | |
old hats so to speak. | 27:14 | |
That is to say they tell us things we already know, | 27:18 | |
things we have heard may many times before. | 27:22 | |
This very fact should indicate to us | 27:26 | |
that to a certain extent these are timeless, | 27:29 | |
that these have stood the test of experience, | 27:31 | |
but there is another lesson here for those who | 27:36 | |
would cultivate wisdom, namely that it is not so much | 27:38 | |
the content as the style, the method that matters. | 27:43 | |
Like the sages of Israel we must be ever alert | 27:52 | |
to the lessons of experience especially to the antinemies | 27:57 | |
from the contradictions of existence | 28:02 | |
which experience reveals. | 28:05 | |
The Israelites sages were particularly conscious | 28:09 | |
of the confusing signals that reality sent out. | 28:14 | |
What is the meaning of silence, the sign of maturity | 28:20 | |
or of indifference and folly? | 28:29 | |
How is poverty to be viewed as the result | 28:35 | |
of personal laziness or of social oppression? | 28:42 | |
And so the sage attempted to analyze the meanings | 28:51 | |
of the various facets of life in telling ways. | 28:54 | |
Sometimes as I say, the lessons are not profound, | 28:59 | |
they are modest, but that is not the issue. | 29:04 | |
Rather, it is the style, the constant questioning | 29:08 | |
of experience, the trust in God and in one's own faculties | 29:12 | |
to finally arrive at the goal that wisdom promised, | 29:17 | |
the one who finds me finds life and wins favor from the Lord | 29:21 | |
in Proverbs 8. | 29:27 | |
A peculiar and lovable quality of Israelite wisdom | 29:33 | |
is its ability to criticize itself. | 29:39 | |
The author of Job, Ecclesiastes the preacher, | 29:43 | |
they saw to that, both of them challenged wisdom | 29:49 | |
when it became too complacent with the ways of God | 29:54 | |
and the ways of humans. | 30:00 | |
And so Ecclesiastes wrote, man is unable to find out | 30:03 | |
all God's work that is done under the sun | 30:07 | |
and even if the wise man says that he knows, | 30:10 | |
he is unable to find it out. | 30:14 | |
Just as you know not how the breath of life fashions | 30:18 | |
the human frame in the womb, so you know not the work | 30:24 | |
of God which he is accomplishing in his universe. | 30:29 | |
But let us stop here. | 30:35 | |
This is not the time or the place to rehearse | 30:37 | |
all the diverse aspects of biblical wisdom. | 30:39 | |
Let us ask instead, what the minister can profitably | 30:44 | |
single out from wisdom's rich understanding of reality. | 30:49 | |
Does Israel's growth in wisdom mirror your experience | 30:57 | |
of the last few years in the divinity school? | 31:04 | |
You have gained insights into the Christian tradition. | 31:10 | |
You have surveyed the theological explanations | 31:14 | |
that have come down to us in the Christian tradition. | 31:17 | |
You have pondered how all this might be inserted | 31:21 | |
into human experience | 31:24 | |
knowing that in the end there remains God. | 31:26 | |
Or as Paul would put it in 1 Corinthians, | 31:30 | |
Christ, the wisdom of God. | 31:33 | |
Now there is forthcoming your adventure | 31:38 | |
in Christian ministry. | 31:41 | |
What choice would you make from the heritage | 31:44 | |
of biblical wisdom? | 31:49 | |
A choice is perhaps not unchangeable | 31:52 | |
because you know that you will be changed and shaped | 31:54 | |
by the experience of the Christian ministry that awaits you. | 31:58 | |
But all of us have reason to consider these two points. | 32:04 | |
First, our readiness to learn and grow from our experience | 32:10 | |
in the light of the traditions handed down to us. | 32:18 | |
And secondly, our ability to criticize ourselves | 32:24 | |
to be self critical as the wisdom tradition | 32:29 | |
was self critical. | 32:32 | |
Neither of these stands alone, both traits | 32:35 | |
are part of the wisdom heritage and both are important | 32:39 | |
for Christian ministry. | 32:44 | |
Your teachers, your fellow students, your family, | 32:48 | |
relatives, friends, these have been for the most part | 32:54 | |
your field of ministry thus far. | 33:00 | |
Your engagements with them has been an experiment in wisdom. | 33:05 | |
Now, your experiences is to be widened, | 33:13 | |
to serve the Christian community that the church | 33:17 | |
is calling you to minister to. | 33:20 | |
Ask as Solomon did for that listening heart, | 33:24 | |
that in your ministry you may emulate him | 33:33 | |
who was meek and humble of hearts. | 33:38 | |
(hymnal singing drowned by instruments) | 33:53 | |
- | Our communion is number 832 in your hymn book. | 35:59 |
Everyone is invited to commune if you will. | 36:07 | |
At the appropriate time in the service if you would come | 36:14 | |
forward and form a large circle around the table. | 36:17 | |
We invite you to commune in one of two ways. | 36:24 | |
After you receive the bread you may dip it into the cup | 36:29 | |
and thus commune or if you will, | 36:34 | |
you may drink from the cup as you wish. | 36:38 | |
Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins | 36:47 | |
and are in love and charity with your neighbors, | 36:52 | |
and intend to lead the new life following | 36:56 | |
the commandments of God and walking from henceforth | 36:59 | |
in his holy ways, draw near with faith | 37:02 | |
and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort, | 37:08 | |
and make your humble confession to Almighty God. | 37:11 | |
Almighty God. | 37:19 | |
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 37:21 | |
maker of all things, judge of all men: | 37:24 | |
we acknowledge and bewail | 37:28 | |
our manifold sins and wickedness, | 37:29 | |
which we from time to time, | 37:32 | |
most grievously have committed, | 37:34 | |
by thought, word and deed, | 37:37 | |
against thy divine majesty, | 37:39 | |
provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation | 37:42 | |
against us we do earnestly repent, | 37:47 | |
have mercy up us, have mercy upon us. | 37:52 | |
for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, | 37:58 | |
forgive us all that is past, | 38:02 | |
and grant that we may ever hereafter | 38:04 | |
serve and please thee in newness of life. | 38:07 | |
To the honor and glory of thy name. | 38:11 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 38:13 | |
Amen. | 38:16 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, | 38:18 | |
who of thy great mercy | 38:22 | |
hath promised forgiveness of sins | 38:23 | |
to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith | 38:25 | |
turn unto thee, have mercy upon us. | 38:28 | |
Pardon and deliver you from all your sins, | 38:34 | |
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness | 38:38 | |
and bring us to everlasting life, | 38:42 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 38:46 | |
Amen. | 38:49 | |
Hear what comfortable words in the scripture say | 38:56 | |
to all that truly turn to the Lord. | 38:59 | |
The same is sure and worthy of full acceptance. | 39:03 | |
That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. | 39:08 | |
If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just | 39:14 | |
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us | 39:20 | |
from all unrighteousness. | 39:24 | |
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender | 39:31 | |
mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer | 39:35 | |
death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there | 39:38 | |
by the one offering of himself once a full, perfect | 39:43 | |
and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, | 39:48 | |
and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us | 39:52 | |
to continue a perpetual memory of his precious death | 39:57 | |
until his coming again. | 40:02 | |
Hear us oh merciful Father we must come to beseech thee. | 40:05 | |
And grant that we receiving these thee thy creatures | 40:10 | |
of bread and wine according to thy Son | 40:14 | |
our Savior Jesus Christ's holy institution | 40:18 | |
in remembrance of his passion, death and resurrection | 40:23 | |
may be partakers of the holy nature with him. | 40:27 | |
Who in the same night that he was betrayed, | 40:33 | |
took bread and when he had given thanks, he brake it, | 40:35 | |
and gave it to his disciples saying, | 40:41 | |
take, eat this is my body which is given for you, | 40:43 | |
do this in remembrance of me. | 40:51 | |
Likewise after supper he took the cup | 40:56 | |
and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, | 41:00 | |
drink ye all of this, | 41:03 | |
for this is my blood of the New Covenant, | 41:06 | |
which is shed for you and for many | 41:09 | |
for the forgiveness of sins, | 41:11 | |
do this as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. | 41:14 | |
Amen. | 41:21 | |
We do not presume to come to this thy table, | 41:38 | |
O merciful Lord, | 41:41 | |
trusting in our own righteousness, | 41:43 | |
but in thy manifold and great mercies. | 41:46 | |
We are not worthy | 41:49 | |
so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table. | 41:50 | |
But thou art the same Lord, | 41:55 | |
whose property is always to have mercy. | 41:57 | |
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, | 42:00 | |
so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, | 42:03 | |
and to drink his blood, | 42:08 | |
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body. | 42:11 | |
Amen. | 42:18 | |
(silence) | 42:19 | |
All is ready, come. | 43:58 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 44:08 | |
Go in peace to love God and our Lord Jesus Christ. | 45:47 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 45:50 | |
Go in peace to serve and love Jesus Christ. | 50:20 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 50:24 | |
(light footsteps) | 51:30 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 51:58 | |
Go in peace to love and serve Jesus Christ. | 54:31 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 54:35 | |
(silence) | 56:16 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 57:52 | |
(silence) | 58:26 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 59:08 | |
(silence) | 59:38 | |
(slow tempo organ music) | 59:51 | |
(silence) | 1:03:58 | |
Let's pray together the prayer of thanksgiving. | 1:04:17 | |
Oh Lord our heavenly Father. | 1:04:22 | |
(praying in the background) | 1:04:24 | |
accept this our sacrifice | 1:04:29 | |
(mumbling) | 1:04:33 | |
Thy son Jesus Christ. | 1:04:37 | |
Holy Scriptures. | 1:04:42 | |
(praying in the background) | 1:04:43 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. | 1:05:28 | |
(praying affected by static sound) | 1:05:33 | |
Amen. | 1:05:42 | |
(indistinct) | 1:05:45 | |
Lord purify these for thy preaching of thy Gospel | 1:05:53 | |
and ministration | 1:05:58 | |
these thy servants who we send forth | 1:06:02 | |
so strengthen them in mind, body. | 1:06:07 | |
Nourish their spirits that they may nourish the church. | 1:06:09 | |
And their confidence may be | 1:06:18 | |
Please grant them to know | 1:06:23 | |
wisdom to know what thy church ought to do. | 1:06:26 | |
(silence) | 1:06:32 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 1:06:57 | |
(hymnal singing drowned by instruments) | 1:07:17 | |
(praying in the background) | 1:10:32 | |
Amen. | 1:10:40 | |
(upbeat organ music) | 1:10:43 | |
(background congregation chatter) | 1:16:14 |
Item Info
The preservation of the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections and the Duke Digital Repository programs are supported in part by the Lowell and Eileen Aptman Digital Preservation Fund