Carole Cotton-Winn - "Knowing When to Rise" (January 22, 1984)

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	(organ music)	0:02
	(choir sings)	13:42
	(playful organ music)	14:35
	(organ and choir together)	15:17
-	Oh magnify the lord with me,	18:38
	and let us exalt God's name together.	18:41
	For with God is the fountain of life.	18:44
	In God's light do we see light.	18:48
	From the rising of the sun, to its setting,	18:52
	let the name of the lord be praised.	18:55
	Now let us confess our sins before almighty God,	19:00
	and in the presence of one another, let us pray.	19:04
	Lord God, whose mercy is everlasting,	19:19
	whose love surpasses our understanding,	19:22
	we confess that we are uncertain and faithless servants,	19:26
	ignoring the burdens of others,	19:31
	we set our hearts on our own comfort,	19:33
	so as long as we are not their victims,	19:37
	we are patient with injustice and tolerant of war.	19:39
	We see our sisters and brothers hungry, or poor,	19:44
	or lonely, and do not help them.	19:48
	Oh Lord, we regret our callousness.	19:51
	We pray for new hearts, that we will see	19:55
	our neighbor's needs and new strength to meet them.	19:58
	Through Jesus Christ our lord, amen.	20:02
	For as the heavens are high above the Earth,	20:31
	so great is God's steadfast love	20:35
	toward those who fear God.	20:38
	As far as the east is from the west,	20:41
	so far does God remove our transgressions from us.	20:44
	In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.	20:49
	Let us then give thanks, for God is good,	20:54
	and God's love is everlasting.	20:58
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us.	21:01
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us.	21:06
	Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	21:10
	We welcome you this beautiful cold morning	21:17
	to worship here with us in Duke University Chapel.	21:21
	We are glad that you have come to be with us.	21:25
	It is now the third Sunday after Epiphany,	21:28
	where we seek signs of God's light and life	21:32
	in our lives and presence.	21:36
	There is a change in the hymn	21:40
	following the sermon today.	21:42
	The hymn number we shall sing	21:45
	is number 342 titled Go Make of All Disciples.	21:48
	I'm very pleased to welcome and to introduce	21:56
	to you this morning the reverend Carole Cotton-Winn.	22:00
	She is our guest preacher from the day,	22:05
	and comes to us from the Louisiana Conference	22:08
	of the United Methodist Church.	22:12
	She is currently co-pastor with her husband, John,	22:15
	of the First United Methodist Church of Houma.	22:19
	Carole has been a model for many clergywomen	22:25
	in our denomination across the years.	22:29
	She is a warm pastor, a gifted preacher,	22:32
	and has served the church on many boards	22:37
	and agencies, and throughout her pastorates	22:40
	in the Louisiana Conference.	22:44
	She and her husband John are in their sixth year	22:47
	pastoring the church in Houma.	22:51
	They are breaking new grounds in that conference	22:55
	and for the general church by having	22:58
	a style of ministry for couples	23:01
	where they share equally in preaching,	23:04
	administrations, and all the functions	23:08
	of a busy ministry in a very large church.	23:11
	We are pleased and delighted to welcome the reverend	23:15
	Carole Cotton-Winn to Duke University Chapel today.	23:19
	We look forward to the word that she will bring.	23:24
	Her sermon title is Knowing When to Rise.	23:27
-	Let us pray.	23:40
	Oh Lord, our God, open our eyes	23:42
	that we may behold wondrous things out of your word.	23:45
	And let the words of my mouth	23:49
	and the meditation of our hearts	23:51
	be acceptable in your sight.	23:52
	Oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer, amen.	23:55
	The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah,	24:00
	chapter nine, verses one and two.	24:03
	But there will be no gloom for her that wasn't anguish.	24:07
	In the former time, he brought into contempt	24:10
	the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.	24:12
	But in the latter time, he will make glorious	24:16
	the way of the sea.	24:18
	The land beyond the Jordan,	24:20
	Galilee of the nations.	24:22
	The people who walked in darkness	24:24
	have seen a great light.	24:26
	Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,	24:28
	on them has light shined.	24:31
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	24:34
	The Epistle lesson is from First Corinthians,	24:37
	chapter one, verses 26-31.	24:41
	For consider your call, brethren.	24:46
	Not many of you were wise, according to worldly standards.	24:48
	Not many were powerful.	24:52
	Not many were of noble birth.	24:54
	But God chose what is foolish in the world	24:56
	to shame the wise.	24:59
	God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.	25:01
	God chose what is low and despised in the world,	25:06
	even things that are not,	25:09
	to bring to nothing things that are.	25:11
	So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.	25:13
	He is the source of your life in Christ, Jesus,	25:18
	whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness,	25:21
	and sanctification and redemption.	25:24
	Therefore, as it is written,	25:28
	let him who boasts boast of the Lord.	25:30
	Here ends the reading from the Epistle.	25:34
	(organ and choir together)	25:46
-	Will the congregation please rise	29:17
	for the reading of the gospel lesson?	29:19
	The gospel lesson is taken from Matthew, chapter four.	29:26
	Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested,	29:32
	he withdrew into Galilee and leaving Nazareth,	29:35
	he went and dwelled in Capernaum by the sea	29:39
	in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali	29:41
	that was spoken by the prophet Isaiah	29:45
	might be fulfilled.	29:48
	The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali	29:50
	toward the sea, across the Jordan,	29:54
	Galilee of the Gentiles,	29:57
	the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.	30:00
	Upon them his light shined.	30:04
	From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying	30:08
	repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.	30:11
	As he walked by the sea of Galilee,	30:16
	he saw two brothers,	30:18
	Simon, who is called Peter,	30:20
	and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea,	30:23
	for they were fisherman.	30:28
	And he said to them, follow me,	30:31
	and I will make you fishers of men.	30:33
	Immediately, they left their nets and followed him.	30:36
	And going on from there, he saw two other brothers,	30:41
	James, the son of Zebedee,	30:44
	and John, his brother, in the boat	30:47
	with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets.	30:49
	And he called them.	30:52
	Immediately, they left the boat, and their father,	30:54
	and followed him.	30:58
	And he went about all Galilee,	31:01
	teaching in their synagogues,	31:04
	and preaching the gospel to the kingdom,	31:06
	and healing every disease and every infirmity	31:10
	among the people.	31:14
	Here ends the reading from the gospel.	31:17
	(organ and choir together)	31:21
-	It means a great deal to me to be here this morning.	32:34
	In 1825, my great-great-grandmother,	32:38
	Sarah Faggert, and her husband, Elijah Cotton,	32:42
	left Cabarrus County, North Carolina,	32:46
	in a covered wagon.	32:50
	The Faggerts never heard from Sarah Faggert again.	32:52
	And it wasn't until the 1970s	32:57
	that the Cottons of Louisiana	33:00
	and the Faggerts of North Carolina	33:02
	made contact again.	33:04
	For me to make a journey from Louisiana	33:07
	to North Carolina to be with you this day	33:11
	in this place, one of the finest institutions	33:16
	in all of North Carolina,	33:20
	was much more than a journey;	33:24
	it was a pilgrimage for which I am deeply grateful.	33:27
	Let us pray.	33:33
	Bless oh Lord	33:37
	the reading and the hearing of your holy word.	33:39
	That it may find life in our lives this day.	33:45
	Amen.	33:50
	From our perspective, so many hundreds of years later,	33:55
	the amazing thing was	34:01
	that when Jesus came time to choose,	34:04
	he chose for the likes of Peter and Andrew,	34:08
	James and John, surely there were others	34:13
	who were braver, more courageous, kinder,	34:18
	smarter than they were.	34:24
	We wonder what he saw in them that others had missed.	34:28
	Surely they were not known for their courageous spirit.	34:33
	They were doing what had been done	34:39
	in that part of the country from generation to generation.	34:41
	They were fishing.	34:46
	And in one sense, James and John had never even left home.	34:49
	They were still working with their father.	34:55
	Frederick Buechner says of them,	35:01
	what was it about them that caused him to choose them?	35:07
	They were not brighter or smarter than anyone else.	35:12
	In fact, according to the New Testament,	35:16
	they were continually jockeying for position,	35:20
	missing the point, and when the chips were down,	35:24
	there was nothing so important that they'd	35:29
	save their own skins.	35:33
	It seems that their sole qualification	35:38
	seems to have been their willingness to rise to their feet	35:41
	when Jesus said follow me.	35:46
	And in a sense, Matthew doesn't give us much	35:53
	more to go on than that.	35:56
	But we do have to give them that much,	35:59
	they were willing to rise to their feet	36:02
	when Jesus said follow me.	36:06
	Of course, what he said to Peter and Andrew was	36:11
	follow me and I will make you fishers of men.	36:14
	Now I must admit that to my 20th century ears,	36:20
	when I hear those words, I find myself	36:24
	grinding my back teeth.	36:28
	But Jesus's life and ministry spoke	36:32
	far louder than his words, just as our life	36:36
	speaks far louder than our words.	36:41
	For once, when Jesus was hurrying	36:46
	to heal the daughter of Jairus,	36:49
	Jesus turned and said, someone touched me.	36:53
	And when the woman stepped forward,	36:59
	he said daughter, your faith has made you whole.	37:01
	Go in peace.	37:06
	And when the children wanted to touch Jesus,	37:08
	and the disciples wanted to get them away,	37:12
	it was Jesus who said let the children come unto me.	37:14
	So when Jesus says follow me,	37:23
	and I will make you fishers of men,	37:27
	he is saying follow me and you will come to know	37:32
	the women and men and children of this world	37:37
	as I know them.	37:43
	As I minister to them, you will minister to them.	37:47
	As they are my brothers and sisters,	37:52
	they are your brothers and sisters.	37:56
	When Jesus called the twelve,	38:02
	he didn't perhaps need the brightest and the best.	38:04
	He needed those who were willing to rise	38:10
	to their feet when they heard the words follow me.	38:13
	Jesus never calls us to be successful,	38:19
	he calls us to be faithful.	38:23
	As Paul so eloquently said,	38:28
	when you were chosen,	38:32
	you were not wise as we know wisdom.	38:34
	You were not powerful,	38:39
	you were not of noble birth.	38:42
	When God chooses, God chooses the weak in the world	38:46
	to shame the strong.	38:51
	God chooses those	38:54
	that are foolish, to shame the wise.	38:57
	And I'm not a person that likes to appear weak or foolish	39:03
	in the eyes of others, even from childhood	39:07
	I haven't liked to appear weak or foolish.	39:10
	I grew up with a mother whose name is Pudding.	39:15
	And if you can imagine, some of the things	39:21
	I had to live down in my childhood	39:23
	and adolescence, with a mother named Pudding.	39:25
	She was our choir director as I grew up	39:29
	in our church, and she could think	39:32
	of more cutesy things for us to sing	39:34
	and do in front of the congregation	39:38
	that I didn't want to be caught dead doing in public.	39:41
	A few years ago, she was going to be	39:46
	in the musical Oklahoma in the little theater	39:49
	of our community.	39:53
	And John and I were only living 20 miles away,	39:55
	and we had all good intentions of going to the play.	39:57
	Mother had talked about it for weeks.	40:01
	She'd gone to the rehearsals every night.	40:04
	But as it turned out, John was hospitalized	40:08
	just as the play began.	40:12
	And for the next days and week,	40:15
	my life was consumed with what I just had to do	40:16
	at the church, and caring for his needs.	40:19
	He came home the day of the last performance of the play.	40:24
	I already had my speech ready.	40:29
	I was going to say, now mother,	40:32
	you know that this is the first night	40:33
	that John has been home from the hospital.	40:36
	And I would hate to leave him when he's just come home.	40:39
	But the phone rang at 7:30 that morning,	40:44
	and it was Pudding.	40:46
	And she said, now Carole,	40:47
	the play starts at 7:30, your dad and sister	40:49
	are going to be there right at the door to meet you,	40:52
	it'll be over at 10, you'll be home before the news is over.	40:54
	I could see that it was a command performance.	40:59
	I was going to the play.	41:03
	If you're familiar with Oklahoma,	41:06
	you know there's one of the songs	41:08
	that is about the cowboys and the farmers should be friends.	41:10
	And in the chorus line, mother was going	41:16
	to be doing a square dance and singing	41:17
	in this particular song.	41:20
	And as they began to dance and sing,	41:23
	it's the kind of song you pat your foot to	41:25
	and clap along with, and it really surprised me	41:28
	when I realized that my bottom lip was quivering,	41:32
	and there were tears coursing down my cheeks.	41:37
	For I knew then that she had insisted	41:42
	that I come to the play so that she could give me a memory.	41:45
	A memory that I could have in no other way	41:52
	except by my presence.	41:55
	Of my playful mother singing and dancing	41:59
	the year of her 50th wedding anniversary,	42:03
	so that I might know you are never too old	42:07
	to sing and dance.	42:11
	All of our lives, we want to be chosen.	42:17
	We want to be on the inside in the in group.	42:23
	But we want to be chosen because of our great wisdom,	42:31
	or because of our leadership skills,	42:36
	or because of the insights we have	42:38
	into working with people.	42:41
	Or because of some great talent that we have	42:44
	that no one else has.	42:47
	And then someone whispers in our ear,	42:51
	when you were chosen, you were not wise	42:56
	by worldly standards, you were not powerful,	43:00
	you were not of noble birth.	43:04
	When God chooses,	43:07
	God chooses the weak	43:10
	to shame those in the world who are strong.	43:14
	God chooses the foolish in the world	43:18
	to shame the wise.	43:21
	When Jesus chose the 12,	43:27
	Jesus did perhaps not need	43:30
	the brightest and the best.	43:33
	He chose those who were willing to rise to their feet	43:37
	when he said follow me.	43:41
	He had no magic wand to make them the perfect 12,	43:45
	he has no magic wand now.	43:51
	But Jesus does not give up on his followers.	43:57
	There is an old legend that says when Jesus	44:03
	returned to heaven, an angel asked him,	44:06
	what have you left behind to carry on your work?	44:10
	And he responded, a small band of men and women who love me.	44:16
	And the angel said, but when the trial comes,	44:23
	what if they fail?	44:26
	Will they all be defeated?	44:30
	And he said yes, if they fail,	44:34
	all will be defeated.	44:37
	And the angel said, is there nothing else?	44:41
	And he said, no, there is nothing else.	44:44
	What then, the angel asked.	44:48
	And Jesus replied,	44:51
	they will not fail.	44:55
	Each of us has been called by name.	45:02
	We have been chosen.	45:06
	But if for some reason you find that you are too wise,	45:11
	or too busy, or too involved,	45:17
	then you should be very careful	45:23
	as to the next time you find yourself	45:25
	rising to your feet.	45:29
	For you may be making a commitment	45:33
	to the Christ and to the people of Christ,	45:36
	the men, the women, and children of this world	45:41
	who are his followers that will captivate you	45:46
	for the rest of your life.	45:51
	Let us pray.	45:55
	Oh Lord, we have all been called by name.	46:00
	We have all heard the call.	46:04
	So help us to hear it again in a new way today,	46:07
	and to know that as we rise to our feet,	46:12
	we are responding to something much more	46:15
	than a simple yes.	46:19
	But we are responding to a commitment	46:22
	that will last a lifetime.	46:25
	Amen.	46:28
	(organ music)	46:35
	(organ and choir together)	47:16

	(congregation sings)	0:02
	(lively organ music)
-	As disciples of Christ and the people of God,	1:44
	let us affirm what we believe.	1:48
-	We believe in God who has created	1:52
	and is creating, who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:55
	to reconcile and make new,	2:00
	who works in us and others by the sprit.	2:03
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	2:07
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	2:12
	to love and serve others,	2:15
	to seek justice and resist evil,	2:18
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	2:21
	our judge and our hope.	2:25
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	2:28
	God is with us, we are not alone.	2:32
	Thanks be to God.	2:36
-	The Lord be with you.	2:38
-	The Lord be with you.	2:40
-	Let us pray.	2:42
	How can we pray to you, oh Holy and hidden God	2:58
	whose ways are not our ways,	3:04
	who reigns in awful mystery beyond the realm	3:08
	of space and time,	3:11
	yet how can we not pray to you, oh holy God	3:14
	who knows what it is to be human	3:19
	because you have walked among us as the man Jesus,	3:23
	breaking with us the bread of our affliction	3:29
	and drinking deep of the cup of our despair.	3:33
	How can we not pray to you	3:38
	when it is your very spirit alive within us	3:41
	that moves our lips and lives in prayer.	3:46
	Hear us, oh God, the prayers	3:51
	of all your children everywhere,	3:54
	prayers for forgiveness and healing,	3:58
	for courage, for faith,	4:02
	prayers for the needs of others,	4:05
	prayers for peace among the desperate nations.	4:09
	Whether you give or withhold what we ask,	4:14
	whether in fact you answer us in words	4:19
	that burn like fire	4:22
	or in silence that burns within us,	4:25
	increase in us the knowledge	4:29
	that you are always more near to us than breathing,	4:31
	that your will for us is love.	4:36
	And deep beneath all our asking,	4:41
	so deep beneath that we are all but deaf to it ourselves,	4:44
	hear, oh God, the secret song of every human heart,	4:50
	praising you for being what and who you are,	4:55
	rejoicing with the morning stars	5:00
	that you are our God and we your children.	5:03
	Make strong and wild the secret song	5:09
	within all of us	5:13
	until it can burst forth at last to your glory	5:15
	and our salvation	5:20
	for it through Jesus Christ our Lord	5:23
	that we pray together saying.	5:27
-	Our Father, who art in heaven,	5:30
	hallowed be they name,	5:33
	thy kingdom come, they will be done	5:36
	on Earth as it is in heaven.	5:39
	Give us this day our daily bread	5:42
	and forgive us our trespasses	5:45
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	5:47
	and lead us not into temptation	5:51
	but deliver us from evil	5:54
	for thine is the kingdom and the power	5:56
	and the glory forever, amen.	6:00
	(tranquil organ music)	6:08
	(choir sings)	8:55
	♪ And the blessing of the Almighty ♪	10:08
	♪ Our father, our Son and our Holy Ghost ♪	10:16
	(choir sings)	10:27
	(lively organ music)	11:14
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	11:47
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	11:49
	(congregation sings)	11:54
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:08
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:13
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:17
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:20
-	Oh Lord Jesus, who for our sakes	12:40
	did become poor that by your poverty	12:43
	we might become rich in spirit,	12:47
	grant now to your people so to give	12:50
	of our substance as to acknowledge that we belong holy	12:53
	to you for your own sake.	12:58
	In Christ's name, amen.	13:01
	(lively organ music)	13:06
	(congregation sings)	13:47
-	And now may the God of steadfastness	16:21
	and encouragement grant you to live	16:25
	in such harmony with one another	16:28
	in accord with Jesus Christ	16:31
	that together we may glorify God with one voice	16:34
	and our Lord Jesus Christ.	16:39
	(choir sings)	16:44
	♪ Amen ♪	17:00
	(lively organ music)	17:05

Item Info

Title:

Carole Cotton-Winn - "Knowing When to Rise" (January 22, 1984)

Description:

We do not need to be the brightest or the best to hear and respond to the call of Jesus. We only need to be willing to rise and follow him when the time comes. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 32:34. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 46:30.
Key quotation: “When Jesus called the twelve, he didn’t perhaps need the brightest and the best. He needed those who were willing to rise to their feet when they heard the words, ‘Follow me.’ Jesus never calls us to be successful; he calls us to be faithful.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4v11w174

Date:

January 22, 1984

Speaker:

Cotton-Winn, Carole, 1943-

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0190
ref7903_2z1
uachapelsermaud
duke:320505
dcrau001180
ark:/87924/r4v11w174
75b67acd-503d-41d9-b93e-9b56cebd1ca0

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

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

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In Copyright

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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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Carole Cotton-Winn - "Knowing When to Rise" (January 22, 1984)

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