Howard C. Wilkinson - "The Real Proof of Easter" (March 29, 1964) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(light organ music)

0:04

-

May burn in our hearts.

0:12

And that throughout the remainder of this semester

0:14

and our lives, we may glorify Thee

0:17

by our witness for Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

0:20

In His name we pray, amen.

0:25

(light organ music)

0:30

-

This is a very high privilege for me

1:02

to share in this worship service

1:05

with Chaplain Wilkinson and Dr. Cole

1:08

and to participate in the conference here at Duke

1:12

under the direction of Dr. Lacy.

1:18

I believe that we're clearly on the right road

1:24

when an outstanding university dedicates its resources

1:29

for the type of conference that we have shared here

1:35

during the past three days, this conference on Christianity

1:38

and the social revolution in newly developing nations.

1:42

The university, especially the Christian university,

1:49

must assert itself for in view of the quickened pace

1:52

with which answers are required

1:56

for persistent and burning questions.

1:59

This is indeed the wrong time for us to be silent.

2:03

Jesus said that "If men did not herald the coming

2:09

"of the kingdom of God, the very stones would cry out."

2:12

This is His way of saying in hyperbole

2:17

that there was something inevitable

2:20

about these rough places of hate being made plain,

2:22

these valleys of suffering being exalted,

2:26

and the mountains of arrogance and greed being brought low.

2:29

When Jesus said that the stones would speak,

2:34

it was a way of saying that whether we take sides or not,

2:37

all of the moral energy of the universe

2:42

will move toward the establishment of that city

2:45

with foundations whose builder and maker is God.

2:47

It is also a way of saying that a divine impatience

2:53

will tolerate the lethargy of men only so long,

2:57

and like an earthquake splits the surface

3:01

after it has withstood all of the pressure that it could,

3:05

the causes of understanding and of brotherhood

3:09

and of justice will persist relentlessly

3:12

with or without our sponsorship.

3:16

The silence of consent, the silence of acquiescence,

3:21

the silence of conformity is often more eloquent

3:26

than fine orations and always more convincing

3:31

than lonely voices that may even be right.

3:35

And this silence can be as untimely

3:40

as the courageous act of a martyr may be timely.

3:45

Victor Hugo said that an idea whose time had come

3:51

was greater than the power of a marching army.

3:55

And that is only if there is someone

3:59

who will incarnate the idea and cause it

4:01

to become a vibrant reality,

4:04

providing someone reduces it to words and music

4:07

and is willing to sing and shout about it.

4:10

This idea is more powerful than a marching army,

4:14

provided there is an Elijah who will be willing

4:18

to carry it to the crest of a mountain top,

4:20

or a John the Baptist who will declare it

4:24

along a river bank somewhere

4:26

or an Amos who will tell it downtown.

4:29

But Jesus said even so it will find expression somehow.

4:34

If we are silent, the very stones will speak.

4:39

You will recall another line in our Bible

4:44

found in the story of Mordecai and Esther.

4:47

You remember that Esther, a beautiful young Jewish

4:50

who had become the new chief wife in the harem

4:54

of the Persian king.

4:57

He did not know that he had chosen a member

5:00

of a despised and rejected people for his new wife

5:02

and neither did he know that her uncle who had reared her

5:06

was pacing up and down in front of his palace

5:09

protesting the treatment of the Jews.

5:12

In fact, there was an edict

5:15

that all of the Jews should be exterminated

5:17

because they would not worship Persian deities.

5:20

So Mordecai reminded his niece, Esther,

5:23

that it was her business to reveal her identity,

5:26

to declare that she was one of these people,

5:30

and to go into the king and speak in their defense.

5:33

She protested to her uncle saying that if she went in

5:38

to see the king, she would be slain.

5:41

No one could go in to see the king without his invitation.

5:44

This is when Mordecai gave that dramatic utterance

5:49

to Esther, "Who knows, Esther, but that thou art come

5:52

"to kingdom for just such a time as this."

5:56

But the next line is the one that claims our interest

6:01

this morning.

6:05

"If you keep silent at a time like this,

6:07

"God will find another way to save His people."

6:11

Mordecai was saying to Esther what we should be saying

6:17

to one another today.

6:20

This is the wrong time for people reared in Christian homes

6:22

and churches, for intelligent people,

6:27

privileged to be educated and enlightened,

6:30

for concerned and dedicated people,

6:33

to sit back and be quiet and allow the bigots

6:36

and the super-patriots to misrepresent us,

6:41

our country and the cause of Christian idealism

6:44

which is still the dominant strain

6:48

in this great American tradition.

6:50

Now there are at least six or seven different types

6:54

of silences.

6:57

There is the silence of ignorance.

6:59

This is the kind of silence that I gave my Greek teacher

7:02

in college when they asked me for the infinitive form

7:05

of an irregular verb.

7:08

It's the silence of ignorance at times

7:10

and one can be nothing but silent when the facts,

7:12

the answers are simply not at hand.

7:15

Then there's a silence of indecision,

7:18

that hollowedness, which engulfs us

7:20

after we have weighed two or three half-right alternatives

7:23

for hours and days and weeks

7:27

hoping that the compromised shades of gray

7:30

will somehow dissolve into clear black or white.

7:33

Silence is perhaps best until one really knows

7:38

which course he must follow,

7:41

but obviously the silence of indecision cannot become habit.

7:42

Then there is a silence of anger or contempt.

7:48

This follows when dinner is announced to be 40 minutes late,

7:51

or when a plan is canceled after a tiring day

7:56

away from home,

7:59

or when a teenager who's been driving for four days

8:01

comes in and announces that he just bent the fender

8:04

of the neighbor's Cadillac in the parking lot.

8:07

These are times when one must remain silent

8:11

and justifiably so.

8:14

Of course, fear will silence most of us.

8:17

The eerie sound of a siren in the neighborhood,

8:20

the arrival of an unexpected telegram,

8:24

or that phone call just before dawn.

8:27

But the silence of cowardice is our concern today,

8:31

the silence of indifference, the silence of callousness.

8:34

I speak of comfortable Christians

8:39

going their busy rounds daily,

8:42

taking for granted God's hospitality in the world,

8:44

good health and a sound economy

8:48

without even asking how the other side is thriving.

8:50

I speak of the indifference with which we hasten

8:55

to turn the page when the face of a hungry child

8:57

caught by some sensitive newsman

9:01

appears between the society and the sports pages.

9:04

I speak of the callousness with which we receive

9:08

the news of a war among poor, small nations

9:10

as though they were merely scratching at each other's eyes

9:15

and pulling each other's hair over an ill-defined border

9:18

like children fighting on the way home from school.

9:21

We should be thinking of the silence of consent

9:26

that we give to that contagion of grabbing and getting

9:28

among the strong while so many weak ones suffer.

9:31

We should be thinking of the silence

9:36

that permits our great democracy to stumble along clumsily

9:38

on the matter of equality and justice

9:43

like a dinosaur lost in his changed environment.

9:46

I speak of the silence that permits bigoted people

9:51

to mouth loudly these easy answers to complicated problems

9:54

like dropping bombs and annihilating those

10:00

who disagree with us.

10:03

In other words, this is the wrong time for honest, informed,

10:05

and concerned people to be quiet.

10:10

The university community cannot give the platform of today

10:14

over to ignorant people merely because they happen

10:17

to be enthusiastic.

10:21

And there's no combination more deadly

10:22

than enthusiastic ignorance.

10:25

The church cannot abdicate its role

10:29

and allow the hate-mongers and the racists

10:31

to portray an ugly America to this world

10:33

which is looking for hope and leadership in us.

10:36

We must speak and be heard for there are questions

10:40

being asked today that require answering.

10:44

And either we answer with wisdom, charity, and courage,

10:47

or others will lash out in ignorance and narrowness,

10:51

and with all of the consequences the ongoing

10:55

and accelerated tensions and violence all around the world.

10:58

For example, one question that must be answered

11:04

is a political one.

11:06

Who is fit to be the chairman of the world?

11:08

What nation is ready to lead the world?

11:10

And to whom should we look for guidance?

11:13

This is the question being asked

11:17

by the newly developing nations

11:18

and the answer should be obvious.

11:20

They should be looking to us, a large rich nation,

11:22

dedicated to freedom, not interested in capturing them,

11:25

not interested in conquest,

11:30

believing in equal opportunity for all of our people.

11:32

Young nations emerging out of colonial systems

11:36

should not be looking to be recolonized

11:38

or to become satellites of a totalitarian order

11:41

where they can't vote,

11:45

or where they've just got to listen and take instructions.

11:46

All of the logic is on our side.

11:50

All of the history is on our side.

11:53

There are three billion people in the world

11:57

and possibly a billion of them in the position

11:59

of now having to choose which leader to follow.

12:02

Now we have some irresponsible people in this country

12:06

who could not care less about this matter.

12:09

They carry on the most ridiculous kind of campaign

12:12

of unbrotherliness and racism imaginable.

12:15

They seem to be saying to our government

12:18

and to our citizens that it really does not matter

12:20

whether or not we are left between these two oceans

12:23

with an armada of Polaris-carrying submarines

12:26

peeping out of every American harbor,

12:30

protecting our shores against everybody.

12:32

There are those who've just given up on the whole idea

12:36

of the United States becoming a major force

12:40

for world peace and understanding,

12:43

indeed being the leader of the free world.

12:45

This is the wrong time for those of us to be silent

12:50

on this issue who believe that we are fit to lead

12:52

and that the obligation to lead is in our hands;

12:57

for we should be asserting our responsibility with boldness.

13:00

Indeed, I am happy to be going back to the Peace Corps

13:05

to work under Mr. Shriver in helping to promote this cause.

13:08

I do not like the idea of leaving North Carolina.

13:14

I've made so many friends here,

13:17

and especially on this campus,

13:19

and I appreciate very much the warmth and the affection

13:21

in which I've been held by so many people here.

13:25

But this Peace Corps is one of the dramatic assertions

13:28

of this sense of responsibility on the part of our country,

13:33

our Congress, President Kennedy, and President Johnson,

13:37

and on the part of the university community

13:42

and citizens in the grassroots all across this country.

13:44

We've had 59,000 people to apply;

13:48

some 7,000 overseas now,

13:53

and some 5,000 being prepared to go over

13:56

and take the places of those who will return this summer.

13:59

As a national effort, as a major projection

14:03

of the aspirations and the concern of our people,

14:08

this response is nothing short of fantastic.

14:11

Recently, Mr. Shriver was present at convocation

14:14

in Bangkok, Thailand, Chulalongkorn University.

14:18

In granting an honorary degree to him,

14:22

the foreign minister of Thailand said this,

14:24

"We have always known that America was strong militarily,

14:27

"that it was a very wealthy nation,

14:32

"and that it was one of the two or three

14:34

"most powerful nations in the world.

14:35

"But we have not known in Thailand

14:37

"the secret of America's power and strength.

14:39

"Today through the Peace Corps, we have come to realize

14:43

"that the strength of America rests in its ideas and ideals.

14:46

"The Peace Corps represents the ideals of America

14:51

"and is the most powerful new force in the world today."

14:54

This is an Asian leader speaking,

14:58

commending us on this single manifestation

15:01

of our ideas and ideals.

15:05

And they're anxious to see us project this image

15:08

and they do everything they possibly can

15:12

to help make this a successful projection.

15:14

Now with Telstar Communications,

15:18

these amazing television relay satellites hanging over us

15:21

to bounce pictures of the good and the bad

15:26

to every corner of the earth,

15:29

we must be sure that the pictures of life

15:32

in the United States beamed abroad

15:35

will reflect a nation worthy of the confidence

15:38

that two-thirds of the Earth's people

15:41

would like to have in us.

15:43

Now I know how impatient we become

15:46

when we observe the turmoil, the infighting,

15:47

and the relatively slow pace at which many of these

15:50

newly developing nations seem to be getting on

15:53

with the business of development.

15:55

It is always difficult for persons in privileged positions

15:57

to understand these problems of motivation,

16:01

problems of aspirations.

16:04

It is not easy for us to understand what it takes

16:07

for deprived people to command that discipline,

16:09

to launch out with faith and to pursue goals

16:14

that they have never seen realized,

16:17

and to achieve objectives that have always been nothing

16:20

but theoretical and hypothetical in their experience.

16:23

We must make a larger effort to understand

16:27

because we cannot concede that one-third of the world

16:29

now in the process of developing should give up on us

16:34

and cast their lot with atheism and materialism.

16:38

We must not even take a chance on so-called neutrality

16:43

for there is no safety in the middle of the road anymore

16:46

if indeed there is any truth in this business

16:50

of being neutral in this kind of a world.

16:53

The issues are drawn so clearly and announced so frequently

16:56

that the so-called neutralist has not so much chosen

17:00

what he wants to be as what he refuses to be.

17:03

Tad Szulc, the New York Times correspondent

17:07

in Latin America, has sounded this warning

17:10

in his book entitled, "The Winds of Revolution."

17:12

He said, "A revolutionary Latin America

17:16

"that is anti-United States or even outspokenly neutralist

17:18

"and has active sympathies for the East,

17:23

"would obviously be a tremendous asset

17:26

"for the Communist camp.

17:28

"Far more important than the control of,

17:30

"for example, Africa, the signs that this could happen

17:33

"are becoming increasingly clear."

17:36

With this at our doorsteps, this is not the time for us

17:40

to be silent and to permit an emptiness of commitment

17:44

to exist.

17:49

We should be asserting our duty and our right

17:51

and our responsibility to lead the free peoples

17:53

of the world.

17:56

Not to exploit them or to colonize them again,

17:57

but because we believe that despite our failures,

18:01

the truth about man and his destiny lies closer

18:04

to our way of life than it does to atheism and materialism.

18:08

And since this takes the form of a world political issue,

18:12

we must respond to a world political challenge and be heard.

18:16

Another question that must be answered,

18:21

the next question on which silence is dangerous

18:24

is a psychological one.

18:26

The question is how long can we afford to delay

18:28

before we guarantee acceptance,

18:32

social and personal acceptance, to people of other cultures

18:35

and of other races?

18:39

How long will we have to have a special arrangement

18:41

and embarrass them with super hospitality?

18:44

How long will we have to have special days

18:49

when we emphasize friendship across these fragile barriers

18:52

of racial difference?

18:56

Or how long will we require injustices to be redressed

18:58

in the streets and on the steps of the churches

19:02

and the courthouses,

19:05

often under the leadership of untested people

19:07

whose real motives we could never really guarantee

19:10

rather than have these redressed in the hearts of Christians

19:14

and in the legislative assemblies

19:18

of a constitutional republic?

19:20

The racial myths and the spurious anthropology of yesterday

19:23

have successfully erected walls of suspicion and hatred.

19:27

Occasionally there was a significant break in this wall,

19:31

but the embroidery of time honored customs and fears

19:35

have so entangled us that it is difficult for us as a nation

19:39

to assert the notion of acceptance

19:43

with the assurance that is necessary today.

19:46

You know, I was 600 miles from home when I heard

19:50

about a student from India playing cricket in my hometown

19:52

who was struck by a ball and rushed to a local hospital

19:56

which refused him emergency treatment,

19:59

taking him to be a Negro.

20:01

How on earth could we construct a community

20:04

in which a person in charge of the emergency ward

20:06

would think that this was the right thing to do?

20:08

He was advised to go for emergency treatment

20:12

to a Negro hospital.

20:14

I do not know who the sponsors of this student

20:16

happened to be or who pays his bills, but I do know this,

20:18

that the dividend on the investment

20:22

will be far more largely one of suspicion toward us

20:25

than it will be one of friendship.

20:29

Unless this young student discovers other evidences

20:31

to convince him that this incident

20:35

is not the total character of our great country.

20:36

The manner in which we respond

20:41

to the newly developing nations, economically, politically,

20:43

and culturally, will be a reflection, however obliquely,

20:46

of our response to them in personal, spiritual,

20:50

and psychological ways.

20:53

If there is buried in the soul anywhere

20:55

some faint inhibition which says that there are limits

20:57

of fellowship already drawn based upon concepts

21:01

of racial superiority, this will not only become transparent

21:04

in private relations,

21:07

but in the most sophisticated documents

21:09

and in the most tediously drawn agreements

21:11

this shadow of estrangement will be seen.

21:14

Therefore, this is not the time

21:18

for a great university community

21:21

or the time for the Christian Church to be quiet

21:24

while the movement toward brotherhood and understanding

21:28

is being thwarted.

21:30

It is time for us to say that we should get rid of racism

21:32

in the world once and for all

21:36

and let people be judged on personal merits.

21:38

This is the word that the underdeveloped nations

21:41

of the world is waiting to hear from us.

21:43

We must destroy the vestiges

21:46

of yesterday's discriminatory arrangements

21:48

so that they no longer can reproduce their kind.

21:51

When I was in Nigeria, I was struck by the numbers

21:55

of Nigerians whom I met who had spent some time

21:57

in United States.

22:00

I met a distinguished old chief in Ogbomosho

22:03

who had finished Virginia Union University, my alma mater,

22:06

in 1911!

22:09

The foreign minister of Nigeria,

22:12

one of the most popular men in Africa,

22:15

the Honorable Jaja Wachuku, told me that he studied

22:17

in the Gold Coast under teachers who had been trained

22:20

in Charlotte at Biddle University,

22:23

which is now Johnson C. Smith University,

22:25

that school whom we at A&T College just loved

22:28

to beat in basketball.

22:32

It is very fortunate for us that such men

22:34

did live in this country and that they do know something

22:37

of the paradox of our situation,

22:39

how we can love so warmly on a personal basis

22:42

and discriminate so cruelly on an economic

22:45

and political basis.

22:48

It is fortunate for us also that they know

22:50

of the efforts being made in our country

22:52

to rectify this situation.

22:54

But I am alarmed at the evidence which is mounting

22:57

that in places where we thought things were ready to move,

23:00

we have now uncovered pockets of bitterness,

23:04

and this in some of the most sophisticated sections

23:08

of the country, often in the shadows of great universities.

23:10

What will be the effect of this outburst of reaction

23:14

as it reverberates throughout the Near-East Asia,

23:17

Africa, and Latin America?

23:20

These people will feel, once again, that chill of rejection

23:22

and the further postponement of acceptance

23:27

for they cannot see how America

23:30

could reject her minorities here

23:32

with whom she has been living for 300 years

23:35

and at the same time be prepared to accept strangers

23:38

from behind bamboo curtains

23:42

in the newly developing countries around the world.

23:44

So if this is not a true report of the real spirit

23:47

of America, then let's say it.

23:50

Let's tell people that this is not what all of us believe.

23:54

It is the wrong time for concerned people to abdicate

23:57

and to allow this ugly image to spread.

24:01

Now in closing, there is a moral question

24:05

which must be answered,

24:08

and if responsible people do not answer it,

24:09

it will be answered by those who will bring us to shame.

24:12

The question is are we going to assist

24:15

and help these young nations to gain muscles

24:18

and sinew because it's right

24:22

or because we want to start a new round of exploitation

24:26

and imperialism?

24:29

It is always embarrassing to me

24:32

to hear some Americans explain our reasons

24:34

for granting foreign aid.

24:36

They see nothing wrong at all in explaining

24:38

to the whole world that their objections to foreign aid

24:40

is that the return is not big enough and not fast enough.

24:43

Those of us who stand body deep in the Christian community

24:48

and whose hearts are move by the summons of the prophets

24:52

to make justice roll down as waters

24:55

and righteousness as a mighty stream,

24:57

we understand that there are moral reasons for us

25:00

to join hands with our friends across the seas

25:03

in helping them to achieve higher standards of living

25:06

because they too are children of our Father.

25:10

Our understanding of Christian love

25:14

causes us to be uncomfortable knowing how many children

25:16

are poorly nourished, how many are ravaged with disease,

25:20

and how many must grow up without hope?

25:22

We know that we do not achieve our own fulfillment

25:25

except as we seek fulfillment in the lives of others.

25:28

We know that value is lost in our own lives

25:32

except as we seek to create value in the lives of others.

25:35

People who think this way must be more assertive,

25:39

we should not be quiet and acquiescent

25:42

because those who advocate that we assume the posture

25:45

of selfish indifference in the world

25:48

are presuming to speak for all of us

25:50

and for the whole American conscience.

25:53

Thus it is the wrong time for people with high motivation

25:55

to be quiet.

26:00

William James asked us two generations ago

26:01

to find the moral equivalent to war.

26:04

James explained that there was this inextricable stratum

26:07

deep in the soul of man which caused him

26:11

to want to throw himself into a cause,

26:14

which would entirely absorb him.

26:16

Thomas Mann applauded war in 1914 because of this principle.

26:19

He said it was "acceptance of life as danger

26:24

"and it caused men to stake all of the powers

26:27

"of body and soul."

26:30

Can we Christian people find a moral equivalent to this

26:32

that will permit us to give ourselves

26:37

with the same measure of abandonment?

26:39

A year ago, four Peace Corps volunteers,

26:42

in a program in cooperation with the YMCA,

26:45

established a summer camp near Caracas in Venezuela.

26:48

It was a forest when they went

26:53

and now there are 11 new tents, a kitchen, latrines,

26:55

play areas, and a basketball backboard.

26:59

These volunteers not only speak fluent Spanish,

27:02

but they've taken the time to learn the Indian dialect

27:05

spoken in the area where they're working.

27:08

When other volunteers in the area

27:12

went to their duty stations,

27:14

the Communists wanted to kill them.

27:16

But they began to establish classes to train the people

27:19

in their own language, to build sanitary facilities.

27:21

And when they built a brick yard and began to make bricks,

27:24

and when they had completed 70 houses

27:28

and set up a school with evening classes for adults,

27:30

you know what the communists did?

27:33

They started asking for one of these houses

27:35

and registered in the school to go and learn.

27:37

Is this not a moral equivalent to war?

27:41

This is the America that we want more of our friends

27:45

to know and to understand.

27:48

Let more of this America speak and be heard

27:51

for this is indeed the wrong time for good people

27:54

to be silent.

27:58

Shall we stand together in prayer?

28:03

Lord, help us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

28:17

Bless the leadership of this great university.

28:25

Bless those who have been gathered here

28:28

for the past few days, considering problems,

28:31

the answers to which must be found and early.

28:34

Help us to go down from this place with a new dedication

28:40

to learn and to do Thy will.

28:45

In the name of Christ we pray.

28:48

And now may the blessings of God our Father,

28:54

the friendship and wisdom of the Holy Spirit,

29:00

and the power of the Living Christ within us,

29:05

go with us this day henceforth and forevermore.

29:09

(light organ music)

29:15

♪ Amen ♪

29:19

♪ Amen ♪

29:24

♪ With reverent step and slow ♪

29:34

♪ Those little lanes, they have not changed ♪

29:43

♪ A sweet peace fills the air ♪

29:51

♪ I walked today where Jesus walked ♪

30:00

♪ And felt His presence there ♪

30:09

♪ My pathway led through Bethlehem ♪

30:30

♪ A memory's ever sweet ♪

30:36

♪ The little hills of Galilee ♪

30:43

♪ That knew those childish feet ♪

30:48

♪ The Mount of Olives hallowed scenes ♪

30:56

♪ That Jesus knew before ♪

31:01

♪ I saw the mighty Jordan roll as in the days of yore ♪

31:09

♪ I knelt today where Jesus knelt ♪

31:37

♪ Where all alone He prayed ♪

31:47

♪ The Garden of Gethsemane ♪

31:57

♪ My heart felt unafraid ♪

32:05

♪ I picked my heavy burden up ♪

32:14

♪ And with Him by my side ♪

32:22

♪ I climbed the hill of Calvary ♪

32:31

♪ I climbed the hill of Calvary ♪

32:37

♪ I climbed the hill of Calvary ♪

32:42

♪ Where on the cross He died ♪

32:49

♪ I walked today where Jesus walked ♪

33:02

♪ And felt Him close to me ♪

33:13

(uplifting organ music)

33:35

♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪

34:11

♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪

34:18

♪ Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host ♪

34:25

♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪

34:33

♪ Amen ♪

34:43

-

Eternal God, our Heavenly Father,

34:51

Thou has given us so much in such great abundance.

34:55

And we offer unto Thee, these our gifts,

35:00

with thankful hearts.

35:03

And in so doing, we present ourselves

35:05

that both might be a reasonable and holy sacrifice

35:10

unto Thee.

35:15

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

35:17

(light organ music)

35:27

-

Duke University is in academic recess this Sunday

35:46

and will be through next Sunday.

35:49

It has been customary in the past on recess Sundays

35:52

to have our chapel service 30 minutes in length,

35:57

consisting of organ music, Scripture readings, and prayers.

36:00

However, the president's committee on the chapel

36:05

has recently amended this practice

36:07

and has decided that we should approximate,

36:10

as nearly as possible, the regular service

36:15

on these recess Sundays.

36:17

This of course will not make it possible

36:20

for us to have our regular choir,

36:22

our regular ushers or collectors,

36:25

and the regular pulpit schedule.

36:28

We are attempting now, under this new policy,

36:31

to approximate the regular service as nearly as possible.

36:35

This is Easter Sunday everywhere.

36:41

This is the greatest Sunday in the calendar of the year

36:45

for Christians.

36:48

This is the Sunday that made possible the very existence

36:51

of the Christian Church.

36:55

Had it not been for that first Easter,

36:58

there would be no Christian Church,

37:00

even with the birth of Jesus, the life of Jesus,

37:03

and the death of Jesus on the cross.

37:06

Everything that we are and have and do and say as Christians

37:10

depends upon what happened that first Easter Sunday.

37:16

And it was such a powerful event

37:22

in the life of the disciples

37:25

and in the experience of the Church

37:27

which was founded on that Sunday,

37:29

that we as Christians do not worship

37:33

on the Sabbath day anymore as did the Jewish community

37:36

prior to the resurrection.

37:41

But we worship on the day that was made sacred

37:44

by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

37:47

which was Sunday.

37:50

And so we do not call the Christian day of worship

37:52

the Sabbath.

37:55

We do not set aside the Sabbath at all

37:56

in the Christian Church.

37:59

Rather we worship on the Lord's day, which is Sunday.

38:01

This is not the Sabbath, it is not the Christian Sabbath.

38:06

We do not observe the Sabbath at all as Christians,

38:11

we observe the Lord's day.

38:14

And the reason for this is that once a week

38:16

we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

38:19

This is true even during the observance of Lent.

38:25

Liturgical churches set aside a 40 day period of mourning,

38:30

a 40 day period of self study,

38:35

a mournful period during which we re-examine

38:40

our spiritual lives.

38:43

But even during this 40 day period,

38:45

every time Sunday comes around, we celebrate the Lord's day

38:48

and the resurrection.

38:53

Now the story that leads up to this was read a while ago

38:57

by Jack Wilson.

39:00

It is given in one form or another by all

39:02

of the Gospel writers, and essentially it is this.

39:05

Jesus and His disciples came into Jerusalem

39:11

to celebrate the feast and while they were there,

39:14

the enemies of Jesus closed in upon Him.

39:18

Jesus knew that they were going to do this

39:21

because he had become increasingly unpopular with them

39:23

as He became increasingly popular with the common people.

39:27

Knowing that they were going to close in upon Him,

39:32

He arranged for a last meal with His disciples

39:35

prior to His arrest, this was on Thursday evening.

39:38

And this again was the beginning of the celebration

39:42

of a Christian sacrament, the Lord's Supper.

39:46

Following that He was arrested and then on Friday morning,

39:50

He was tried, sent back and forth from one place to another,

39:56

and finally was condemned to suffer capital punishment

40:00

on the gibbet, or on the cross as we call it,

40:05

which was the sign of ignominy which the Roman empire

40:09

reserved for those who were its criminals.

40:14

Through a conspiracy of the Jewish religious leaders,

40:18

it was foisted over upon the governmental leaders,

40:22

Pontius Pilate particularly,

40:25

Jesus then was assigned to death on the cross.

40:28

He died between two thieves.

40:31

His body was requested by a member of the Jewish high court,

40:34

Joseph of Arimathea.

40:39

When He was dead, His body was placed in the grave

40:42

of Joseph of Arimathea

40:46

and because of the ceremonial customs of that day,

40:48

the women were not allowed to anoint His body

40:52

after it had been placed in the tomb until Sunday,

40:56

that is to say beyond the Sabbath.

40:59

And then, according to the Gospel accounts,

41:02

on the early morning of Sunday, the day after the Sabbath,

41:04

they went there to anoint His body.

41:10

They did not go in the expectation

41:13

that He would be raised from the dead,

41:15

they went in the expectation that His body

41:17

would be lying there in death.

41:20

Instead they did not find His body,

41:23

they found instead someone who told them

41:25

that He had been raised from the dead.

41:27

Then later in the day, and in subsequent days,

41:32

according to the Gospel accounts,

41:35

He appeared to the disciples, talked with them,

41:38

ate with them, walked with them along the road to Emmaus,

41:40

and appeared to them in varying numbers

41:44

and on various occasions

41:47

and at last was ascended into heaven.

41:49

This in short is the Easter faith

41:53

on which the Christian Church was founded.

41:56

And it is because Christians down through 19 centuries

42:00

have believed, in essence, this story

42:04

that we have the Church at all.

42:07

And it is because of this, that we believe

42:09

in the overreaching and providential power

42:11

of an Almighty God who is able to overcome

42:15

even the worst work of the worst man.

42:19

And who has shown in this event in history

42:23

that the final word is with Him, not with them.

42:26

Who has shown that even though evil may triumph

42:31

in the short run, in the long run, good will triumph,

42:34

and who has shown by this Easter occasion,

42:39

that good causes which are defeated in this world

42:43

may even rise again in this world,

42:46

that we should not lose hope if we work for justice,

42:51

if we work for right and work for love and see it defeated

42:54

and see our best work level to the ground.

42:59

Nevertheless, we should continue to work and to pray

43:02

for the triumph of right in this world

43:06

and that we may live to see its resurrection.

43:08

This is the basis of that faith.

43:12

It also is the basis of our faith that our loved ones

43:15

who are now dead are not finally dead,

43:18

that they will be raised to life in the world to come

43:22

through the power of Jesus Christ.

43:26

And by participating in Him here in this world,

43:29

we may participate with Him in the resurrection

43:32

from the dead in the world to come.

43:35

That this world is not all,

43:39

and that death in this world is not final,

43:40

but through Christ and by participating in the power

43:44

of His resurrection, we may be raised to new life.

43:47

This is in very short summary,

43:53

something of our Easter faith.

43:57

This Easter faith, however, has been attacked

44:01

by a great many people down through the centuries

44:04

and more particularly in the last century.

44:06

The critics of this faith point out that the Gospel accounts

44:10

were written by friends of Jesus

44:14

and that they are romantic versions of what they imagined

44:17

to have happened and that they were not looking

44:20

upon the events which they were seeking to describe

44:23

with the kind of scientific objectivity

44:26

to which scientific historians today are accustomed,

44:29

and that we may not believe these stories;

44:33

that there is a great deal of fiction in them,

44:36

vivid imagination, desire, and all the rest.

44:39

Well, now this morning, as we look at these Gospel accounts

44:46

which formed the basis of the Christian tradition

44:53

which is headed up in the Church,

44:57

we might, for the sake of argument,

45:00

dismiss all that is told us in the New Testament.

45:02

We might say, "All right, for the sake of argument,

45:08

"let us think for a little while about what we know

45:11

"about the end of the life of Jesus on this earth

45:14

"and any possible resurrection from sources other

45:17

"than the New Testament."

45:21

Now I would like to enter at this point a word of objection

45:24

before doing that and that is to say that we do not have

45:31

to do this.

45:34

In my opinion, the Gospel accounts furnish a great deal

45:37

of dependable information about what actually happened.

45:40

I say this because the Gospel accounts

45:44

obviously were written by uneducated, simple men,

45:48

not to say ignorant men.

45:52

They were not men who had been trained in schools,

45:55

they were fishermen, they were tax collectors.

45:57

They were men who were not skillful enough

46:00

to invent or concoct a tale that would be able

46:03

to withstand the scrutiny of learned men today.

46:08

The very fact that there are, as the critics say,

46:14

discrepancies in the story only, it seems to me,

46:17

adds to its credibility.

46:22

For example, the Gospel accounts do not agree

46:27

on how many women there were who went to the sepulcher

46:30

on that first Sunday morning, one, two, three, or more.

46:33

The Gospel accounts do not agree on the timing

46:39

of their visit or even on the purpose of their visit.

46:42

The Gospel accounts do not agree on the appearances of Jesus

46:47

on that first day.

46:51

To whom did He appear?

46:52

To how many did He appear?

46:53

The record is not in agreement,

46:55

there are discrepancies here.

46:57

And these discrepancies present a problem only to the person

46:58

who is a determined literalist.

47:02

But to an open-minded person

47:06

who is not a determined literalist,

47:07

they present absolutely no problem at all.

47:09

They do not represent any barrier to belief

47:14

in the central fact that those persons on that occasion

47:17

were extremely convinced that they had seen Jesus alive.

47:22

I am told that in the accounts of the Battle of Waterloo,

47:29

there were many, many discrepancies by the people

47:32

who reported the battle.

47:34

I have yet to meet a historian or to read of one

47:37

who believes that the Battle of Waterloo did not occur

47:40

because there are discrepancies in the reports

47:44

of the battle.

47:46

There is not a person in the sound of my voice this morning

47:48

who doubts in the least that there was an earthquake

47:51

in Alaska this past week,

47:53

in spite of the fact that not all of the accounts

47:55

of this earthquake agree.

47:57

Indeed, the fact that here there are persons

48:00

who are reporting with enthusiasm an occurrence

48:02

and they report that no matter what anyone else said,

48:06

"I know it happened this way" and that thus and so happened,

48:09

only adds to the testimony

48:13

and to the weight of the testimony

48:15

that there was such an event.

48:17

And so I want to say before dismissing the Gospels

48:21

this morning as evidence of the resurrection

48:24

that I do not think we need to.

48:27

I think that simply and solidly on the basis

48:29

of historical evidence, they present data

48:32

which any honest and open-minded person

48:35

is going to have to reckon with.

48:38

So let us then turn for a few moments to the non-biblical,

48:42

the non-Christian, even the anti-Christian sources

48:45

of information of that day.

48:48

If we are going to believe that there was a Roman empire,

48:52

if we are going to believe anything that has been recorded

48:56

concerning the events of the day when it is said

49:00

that Jesus lived and died and rose again,

49:04

we have to believe the word of such people

49:07

as Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Dio Cassius, and Pliny.

49:09

And there are reports in the writings of each one

49:16

of these non-Christians,

49:19

some of them anti-Christian historians,

49:21

that present data with which we have to deal

49:24

as honest people, whether we are Christians or not.

49:27

Pliny, for example, the Roman historian tells of action

49:32

taken against the Christians in Bithynia,

49:37

this within 30 years of the crucifixion.

49:40

The Roman historian, Tacitus, mentions in his annals

49:45

that there were massacres of Christians in Rome

49:48

in the year 64, that's 34 years after the crucifixion.

49:51

The Christian Church had grown to such an extent

49:57

that it had been transferred to Rome.

50:00

And there was such a serious threat

50:02

to the worship of the emperor

50:05

that when a fire occurred in Rome,

50:07

they blamed it on the Christians.

50:09

Josephus, who certainly was no Christian,

50:12

mentions in his "Antiquities of the Jews"

50:16

that James, the brother of Jesus, died a martyr's death

50:20

in the year 62.

50:24

Suetonius, in his description of the reign of Domitian,

50:27

tells of his persecution of the Christians

50:32

who were going about proclaiming

50:35

that their Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.

50:39

Dio Cassius tells of Domitian's persecution of these people

50:45

who followed this peculiar superstition about a Jesus

50:51

who had been raised from the dead.

50:56

Now, if we can believe anything at all

50:58

about what happened in that first century A.D.

51:05

in the Roman empire,

51:08

and taking it entirely from pagan sources,

51:12

we have to believe that there was a man

51:14

by the name of Jesus.

51:16

We have to believe that this man was loved

51:18

by the common people and that He taught a way of love.

51:22

And we have to believe that He got in trouble

51:25

with the reactionary, religious leaders of his day

51:28

who foisted their plan off upon the political leaders

51:31

and got them to inflict capital punishment upon Him.

51:34

And we have to believe that the friends of this man

51:38

within 32 years time had developed such a powerful group

51:43

of followers and such a numerous group of followers,

51:49

that they were considered a threat,

51:53

not by the procurator in Palestine,

51:56

but by the emperor of Rome.

51:59

We have to believe that these people who saw Jesus

52:02

before His death believed so profoundly

52:09

that they saw Him after His death, alive,

52:12

that they were willing to be fed to the lions

52:17

because of this belief.

52:19

A person may deceive someone else

52:25

to get him into trouble, but what kind of person is it

52:29

who will deceive himself to the extent that he is willing

52:33

to die for his deception?

52:38

I can imagine that the Christians who stood there

52:43

behind the bars looked out through them and saw a huge lion

52:47

pouncing upon his Christian brother,

52:51

pushing him to the ground and standing there

52:54

with his front paws planted upon his chest

52:56

and who saw the lions teeth go down and tear his arm

53:00

from his body.

53:04

These Christians behind the bars who were about to be fed

53:06

to the lions also must've asked themselves,

53:10

"Did we really see the risen Lord?"

53:13

It would make you ask a question like that, wouldn't it?

53:18

Whatever it may have meant terms of agony

53:23

for those first Christians, it is fortunate for us today

53:26

that this persecution was as terrible as it was

53:30

and as early as it was so that the so-called eye witnesses

53:33

to the resurrection had to face death

53:39

in order to test their faith

53:43

in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

53:48

Whatever we may say, the fact is if you can believe anything

53:52

about Roman history, you have to say that those people

53:56

believed that they had seen a risen Christ

54:00

to the extent they were willing to die for it.

54:04

Now this leaves a great many questions unanswered.

54:09

To believe this is not to say in what form Jesus was raised

54:13

from the dead, how he appeared to the disciples,

54:18

how often, how long.

54:21

There are many, many questions that you can answer

54:24

one way or another.

54:26

But you have to deal with the fact that the Christian Church

54:29

was founded by people who had walked with Jesus

54:34

before His crucifixion and who were as convinced

54:37

that they had walked with Him after His crucifixion

54:40

as they were that they had seen Him before.

54:43

That they were convinced of this, not by the Romans,

54:46

not by the Jewish leaders, but only by themselves

54:49

is the fact with which we have to deal.

54:53

Two weeks ago, I had the great privilege of preaching

54:57

at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,

55:00

an institute that was founded in 1881

55:03

by Booker T. Washington and was made famous by the chemist,

55:05

Dr. George Washington Carver.

55:09

While I was there, I picked up the autobiography

55:12

of Booker T. Washington and read in it a little bit.

55:14

You will recall, of course, that Washington was born

55:18

in slavery and reared in slavery.

55:20

And after his freedom, he educated himself

55:23

and became an educator to many others.

55:26

He was writing his autobiography

55:30

in a day of birth certificates,

55:32

in a day of exact record keeping.

55:36

Someone asked him about his own birth.

55:38

And when he must've been approximately 30 years of age,

55:41

it occurred to him that he didn't know where he was born,

55:45

what day he was born, or what hour.

55:50

But very charmingly he says in his first chapter,

55:54

"I must have been born somewhere, sometime

55:58

"because here I am."

56:03

Now if you are going to discount the Gospel records

56:06

all together and take only the records of the pagans,

56:09

you have to say that the resurrection faith of the Church

56:14

must have been born somewhere, sometime,

56:18

in somebody because only 32 years later

56:23

there is the indisputable record of the fact

56:26

that people were dying by the thousands for this faith

56:29

which was based upon the eyewitness accounts

56:34

of those who had seen Jesus.

56:37

Now what was it that convinced that early day,

56:41

the people of that day of the resurrection,

56:44

it was the fact that these people were willing to die

56:46

for their faith.

56:50

It was not a finely spun story, a nicely written record

56:52

that convinced them.

56:56

It was the fact that these Christians were willing to die,

56:58

in love, for their faith.

57:01

This is the kind of proof that will convince the world

57:07

of the resurrection of Christ.

57:14

What is proof, anyway?

57:17

There isn't any objective proof.

57:20

What's proof for you is not proof for the one

57:23

in the next pew or proof for me.

57:25

And what's proof for me may not be proof for you.

57:27

There is no such thing in any discipline as absolute proof.

57:31

There are only things that persuade you and you and you.

57:35

The intellectual world was never more divided

57:41

on epistemology than it is today.

57:44

We are not all agreed even on how we know what we know

57:47

or by what means we know anything.

57:50

And so proof is entirely subjective,

57:53

entirely individualistic.

57:57

So there cannot be any completely objective proof

57:59

or disproof of the resurrection.

58:03

There is only that which persuades you and me.

58:06

And it is a fact that what persuaded that early day

58:10

was the way the Christians lived and died.

58:14

I have the opinion it will be that

58:17

that will persuade the people of this day

58:19

that the Lord is risen and that Easter is true

58:22

and that all of the things that underwrites are true.

58:27

Yes, this is a great day,

58:33

it is a day that is accepted in faith.

58:37

But to deny it is also an act of faith.

58:41

Which faith will you choose?

58:46

(uplifting organ music)

59:03

♪ O for a thousand tongues to sing ♪

59:25

♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪

59:30

♪ The glories of my God and King ♪

59:36

♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪

59:42

♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪

59:49

♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪

59:55

♪ To spread through all the earth abroad ♪

1:00:01

♪ The honors of Thy name ♪

1:00:07

♪ He speaks, and listening to His voice ♪

1:00:15

♪ New life the dead receive ♪

1:00:20

♪ The mournful, broken hearts rejoice ♪

1:00:26

♪ The humble poor believe ♪

1:00:32

♪ Amen ♪

1:00:40

-

Now may the grace of the risen Christ sustain you

1:00:47

and give you courage.

1:00:52

Amen.

1:00:54

(bell rings)

1:01:01

(happy organ music)

1:01:17

Howard C. Wilkinson - "The Real Proof of Easter" (March 29, 1964)

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options