Nancy Ferree-Clark - "One in Christ" (June 22, 1986)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(congregation speaking softly) | 0:05 | |
(solemn organ music) | 6:54 | |
- | Praise and peace to you in the name | 16:57 |
of the Lord Jesus Christ. | 16:59 | |
We welcome you to this service of worship | 17:01 | |
at Duke University Chapel | 17:03 | |
on this fifth Sunday after Pentecost. | 17:05 | |
It's our privilege to welcome many of you | 17:08 | |
from around the country at this time of year | 17:10 | |
to visit our campus. | 17:12 | |
Especially, we are delighted to welcome participants | 17:14 | |
in the various camps which take place at Duke | 17:17 | |
during the summer, including the athletic camps, | 17:20 | |
computer camp, talent identification program, | 17:23 | |
and others of which I'm not even aware. | 17:26 | |
We hope that you will have other occasions | 17:29 | |
to visit us here at the chapel. | 17:31 | |
We also send our prayers and best wishes | 17:34 | |
with members of the Duke Africa Initiative, | 17:36 | |
who leave town this week for travel to Africa | 17:39 | |
where they will participate in hunger relief projects | 17:42 | |
for the remainder of the summer. | 17:45 | |
This is a student initiated project | 17:47 | |
which is supported through private donations | 17:50 | |
including the Duke Student Foreign Mission Fund. | 17:53 | |
One of our chapel endowments. | 17:56 | |
If you have an interest in this project | 17:59 | |
or any other chapel endowments, please contact | 18:01 | |
any member of the chapel staff. | 18:05 | |
And I would ask you to please note the other announcements | 18:08 | |
as they are printed in your bulletin. | 18:11 | |
Remember, this is the day that the Lord have made. | 18:14 | |
Let us rejoice and be glad in it. | 18:17 | |
♪ Praise ye the Lord of hosts ♪ | 18:31 | |
♪ Sing His salvation ♪ | 18:35 | |
♪ Bless His name ♪ | 18:40 | |
♪ Show forth His praise in His holy house ♪ | 18:42 | |
♪ Praise ye the Lord of hosts ♪ | 18:50 | |
♪ Sing His salvation, bless His name ♪ | 18:53 | |
♪ Show forth His praise in His holy house ♪ | 19:00 | |
♪ Thou shall be named, all men shall be joyful ♪ | 19:07 | |
♪ Blessed is the name of the Lord ♪ | 19:16 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 19:22 | |
(bright organ music) | 19:31 | |
(organ obscuring lyrics) | 19:57 | |
(organ obscuring lyrics) | 23:05 | |
- | Of our lives to examine the shape of our days. | 23:50 |
And when we are truly honest with ourselves, | 23:55 | |
we recognize that we have failed in our obligations | 23:58 | |
to God and to one another. | 24:01 | |
Let us now offer God our confession | 24:04 | |
with humble and penitent hearts. | 24:07 | |
We give thanks merciful God | 24:19 | |
that in Christ, you seek to unite all things | 24:22 | |
in heaven and in earth. | 24:25 | |
And to reconcile all people to one another and to you. | 24:27 | |
We confess that the new creation is not yet complete in us. | 24:32 | |
And that we feel everywhere the barriers | 24:38 | |
that separate human kind. | 24:40 | |
Forgive us. | 24:43 | |
And fill us with your spirit of oneness. | 24:45 | |
Reveal to us those places where pride and selfishness | 24:48 | |
rebuild the walls once torn down in Christ. | 24:53 | |
Through the power of your spirit, amen. | 24:58 | |
Hear the good news. | 25:03 | |
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 25:05 | |
That is God's own truth of his love toward us. | 25:10 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 25:15 | |
- | In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 25:21 |
- | Let us pray. | 25:35 |
Open our hearts and minds oh God. | 25:37 | |
By the power of your holy spirit. | 25:41 | |
So that His word is read and proclaimed. | 25:44 | |
We might hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 25:48 | |
Amen. | 25:52 | |
The first lesson is taken from the first book of Kings. | 25:55 | |
And there, he came to a cave and lodged there. | 25:59 | |
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him | 26:03 | |
and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" | 26:06 | |
He said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord. | 26:11 | |
"The God of hosts. | 26:14 | |
"For the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, | 26:16 | |
"thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets | 26:20 | |
"with the sword. | 26:23 | |
"And I, even I only, am left. | 26:25 | |
"And they seek my life to take it away." | 26:28 | |
And he said, "Go forth and stand upon the mount." | 26:32 | |
Before the Lord passed by. | 26:36 | |
And a great and strong wind rent the mountains | 26:38 | |
and broken pieces, the rock before the Lord. | 26:42 | |
But the Lord was not in the wind | 26:46 | |
and after the wind, an earthquake. | 26:48 | |
But the Lord was not the in the earthquake. | 26:51 | |
And after the earthquake, a fire. | 26:54 | |
But the Lord was not in the fire. | 26:57 | |
And after the fire, a still, small voice. | 27:00 | |
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle | 27:04 | |
and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. | 27:09 | |
And behold, there came a voice to him and said, | 27:12 | |
"What are you doing here, Elijah?" | 27:17 | |
He said, "I have been very jealous | 27:20 | |
"for the Lord, the God of Host. | 27:22 | |
"For the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, | 27:25 | |
"thrown down thy altars and slain thy prophets | 27:29 | |
"with the sword. | 27:32 | |
"And I, even I only, am left. | 27:34 | |
"And they seek my life, to take it away." | 27:38 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 27:41 | |
(soft organ music) | 27:50 | |
(choir singing in foreign language) | 27:56 | |
("Gloria Patria") | 29:29 | |
♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪ | 29:38 | |
♪ Praise to our Redeemer ♪ | 29:46 | |
♪ Lord Glory be to our Sustainer ♪ | 29:55 | |
♪ Ever three and ever one ♪ | 30:03 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ | 30:11 | |
♪ Ever shall be, amen ♪ | 30:20 | |
- | The second lesson is taken from Paul's letter | 30:41 |
to the Galatians. | 30:44 | |
Now, before faith came, we were confined under the law. | 30:46 | |
Kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. | 30:51 | |
So that the law was our custodian until Christ came. | 30:55 | |
That we might be justified by faith. | 31:00 | |
But now, that faith has come, we are no longer | 31:04 | |
under a custodian. | 31:08 | |
For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. | 31:10 | |
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ | 31:15 | |
have put on Christ. | 31:19 | |
There is neither Jew nor Greek. | 31:21 | |
There is neither slave nor free. | 31:24 | |
There is neither male nor female. | 31:27 | |
For you are all one in Christ Jesus. | 31:31 | |
And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring. | 31:34 | |
Heirs according to promise. | 31:39 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 31:41 | |
The gospel according to the Saint Luke, | 31:46 | |
chapter nine verses 18 through 24. | 31:48 | |
Now, what happen that as he was praying alone. | 31:53 | |
The disciples were with him. | 31:57 | |
And they asked him, "Who did the people say that I am?" | 31:59 | |
And they answered, "John the Baptist." | 32:05 | |
But others say Elijah. | 32:08 | |
And others that one of the old prophets has risen. | 32:12 | |
And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" | 32:15 | |
And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." | 32:20 | |
But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one. | 32:25 | |
Saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things. | 32:30 | |
"And be rejected by the elders and the chief priests | 32:34 | |
"and scribes and be killed. | 32:38 | |
"And on the third day, be raised." | 32:40 | |
And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, | 32:43 | |
"let him deny himself and take up his cross daily | 32:48 | |
"and follow me. | 32:52 | |
"For whoever would save his life would lose it. | 32:54 | |
"And whosoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it." | 32:59 | |
This ends the reading of the gospel. | 33:04 | |
- | Just about a month ago today, I had a good fortune | 33:22 |
of worshiping at Westminster Abbey on a Sunday morning. | 33:26 | |
It was Pentecost, in fact. | 33:30 | |
And what a glorious occasion it was. | 33:32 | |
Having stood as a house of worship since the year 1066, | 33:36 | |
the Abbey emanates an overpowering aura of holiness | 33:42 | |
as such places seem to do when enough people prayed there | 33:46 | |
over enough years. | 33:50 | |
I was thrilled over the prospect, | 33:53 | |
not only of participating in the liturgy. | 33:55 | |
But of hearing their outstanding cathedral choir. | 33:58 | |
The anthems were to include Igor Stravinsky's Mass, | 34:02 | |
And the stunning Messiaen motet, "O Sacred Feast." | 34:07 | |
No sooner had I taken my seat that I realized | 34:12 | |
the large number of Americans who were there. | 34:15 | |
Like myself, they were including the Abbey | 34:19 | |
on their holiday tour. | 34:21 | |
Now, I'll admit, this often provokes a bit of anxiety in me. | 34:24 | |
Will we, as uninitiated visitors to such a place, | 34:30 | |
not always so well-informed about high church liturgy, | 34:34 | |
know what to do during the service? | 34:38 | |
Fortunately, all was well. | 34:42 | |
Until time for the communion to be served. | 34:44 | |
And the choir began its eloquent rendition of the Messiaen. | 34:47 | |
I thought surely, I was attending | 34:52 | |
the final feast itself, that sacred feast. | 34:54 | |
So holy was I feeling. | 34:58 | |
Just then, from the ethereal ecstasy | 35:01 | |
in which I had immersed myself, a loud voice emerged. | 35:04 | |
And behold, it happened to have an American accent. | 35:08 | |
Rising above the mystical strains of the cathedral choir, | 35:12 | |
these words rang out. | 35:16 | |
"Why, it's Pentecost Sunday, and I didn't even wear red." | 35:18 | |
She then proceeded to offer an unsolicited exposition | 35:24 | |
on the reasons why she simply didn't have room | 35:28 | |
in her suitcase for anything red on this trip. | 35:31 | |
And therefore, was completely unprepared for Pentecost. | 35:34 | |
Clearly, she was not wearing red on this occasion. | 35:39 | |
But I certainly was seeing it. | 35:42 | |
As her inane comments completely obliterated | 35:45 | |
my sense of sacred time and space | 35:48 | |
and the Messiaen was destroyed. | 35:50 | |
I shall always remember receiving holy communion | 35:54 | |
at Westminster Abbey on Pentecost. | 35:56 | |
Not because of the new heights of spiritual awareness | 35:59 | |
to which I was propelled, but rather | 36:03 | |
because of the new depths of annoyance in church | 36:06 | |
to which I had fallen. | 36:09 | |
Who was this woman anyway | 36:12 | |
that she should spoil my day in church? | 36:14 | |
I couldn't help thinking to myself. | 36:17 | |
I'm only slightly comforted by the fact | 36:22 | |
that my own tendency to want to offer an opinion | 36:24 | |
about those who would sit beside me in church | 36:28 | |
is not without historical precedent. | 36:31 | |
As we read on today's Epistle lesson, | 36:35 | |
Saint Paul os attempting to address the issue | 36:37 | |
in the Galatian church | 36:40 | |
of what constitutes proper membership in the church? | 36:42 | |
Who belongs and who doesn't? | 36:46 | |
And on what basis should they be allowed to belong? | 36:49 | |
The Galatians were all in a stew over deciding | 36:54 | |
if the Gentiles had to live under the law | 36:57 | |
as the Jews were accustomed to doing, specifically, | 37:00 | |
did they have to undergo circumcision? | 37:04 | |
Resentments were beginning to divide the congregation. | 37:08 | |
And so Saint Paul, in his usual forthright manner | 37:11 | |
expresses his frustrations with the young church. | 37:14 | |
"Oh, foolish Galatians. | 37:17 | |
"Who has bewitched you?" | 37:19 | |
They should've known a spirit came to them through | 37:22 | |
believing the gospel message | 37:24 | |
and not through keeping the law, he implied. | 37:26 | |
Paul cites Abraham as the example of one who was reckoned | 37:31 | |
as righteous by God because of his faith in God's promise. | 37:35 | |
Not because of his good works, | 37:40 | |
ritual observances or the like. | 37:42 | |
He further reasoned that if Abraham were accepted by God | 37:46 | |
because he believed, justification by faith | 37:50 | |
is the established precedent | 37:54 | |
antedating the giving the law by more than 400 years. | 37:56 | |
In the giving of the law, God had provided a guardian | 38:01 | |
or custodian whose role was that | 38:04 | |
of temporary caretaker for his people. | 38:06 | |
But this caretaker was replaced once and for all | 38:09 | |
in the coming of Christ where faith was reestablished | 38:13 | |
as the final basis for justification. | 38:17 | |
It is in and through Christ, Paul argues, | 38:21 | |
that all who live in faith are able to become God's children | 38:24 | |
and claim their rightful place in Christ's church. | 38:29 | |
And so, we have it. | 38:33 | |
Paul states as clearly as he knows how to do in this lesson, | 38:36 | |
his vision of a new humanity. | 38:39 | |
An entirely new order of existence | 38:42 | |
where distinctions within the church | 38:45 | |
are to be fully embraced as one family of God. | 38:47 | |
There is neither Jew nor Greek. | 38:52 | |
There is neither slave nor free. | 38:55 | |
There is neither male nor female. | 38:58 | |
For you are all one in Christ. | 39:01 | |
The form of the language suggest this verse | 39:06 | |
was part of the baptismal liturgy in the early church. | 39:08 | |
Baptism into Christ meant putting on Christ | 39:12 | |
as one would don a new garment. | 39:16 | |
And in so doing, newly baptized Christians | 39:19 | |
acknowledged from the very beginning of their relationship | 39:22 | |
with the church, a new world that sought to embody unity. | 39:25 | |
This was not an admonition, reserved simply | 39:30 | |
for the more mature or sophisticated members of the church. | 39:33 | |
Rather, it constituted a part | 39:37 | |
of the very definition of the church. | 39:39 | |
Which every member was called to embrace. | 39:41 | |
I guess the experience of the Galatians | 39:46 | |
stands to remind us this is easier said than done. | 39:48 | |
Try putting yourself in the shoes of a Jewish male | 39:53 | |
who previously had always given thanks | 39:57 | |
in traditional prayers for not being born a woman. | 39:59 | |
Or of the master, accustomed to lording over the slave, | 40:03 | |
or of the circumcised Jew accustomed to resenting | 40:08 | |
the uncircumcised Greek. | 40:11 | |
Clearly, Paul was calling for a radically new way | 40:14 | |
of thinking about and acting in the world. | 40:18 | |
This may be a difficult for us as enlightened | 40:22 | |
church goers of the 1980s to appreciate fully. | 40:26 | |
We believe in equal work for equal pay. | 40:30 | |
Why, we even allow women into the pulpit. | 40:34 | |
But to understand Paul's context a little more | 40:37 | |
and the radical nature of his call, | 40:40 | |
let us consider in more detail, one aspect | 40:42 | |
of his baptismal formula. | 40:46 | |
The plight of the women in biblical times. | 40:48 | |
From a reading of the Old Testament, | 40:52 | |
Rabbinical teachings and the writings of Jewish | 40:54 | |
historians and philosophers, we can readily detect | 40:57 | |
the decidedly male bias of the culture. | 41:01 | |
In Deuteronomy for instance | 41:04 | |
women are considered to be among the spoils of battle. | 41:07 | |
"When you go forth to war against your enemies | 41:10 | |
"and see among the captives, a beautiful woman | 41:13 | |
"take her for yourself as wife." | 41:16 | |
It was within the family that the women in Israel | 41:20 | |
gained the greatest respect. | 41:23 | |
But even there, a wife was considered to be | 41:25 | |
the property of the husband. | 41:28 | |
Divorce was a man's prerogative and not a woman's. | 41:31 | |
A bride, if challenged, must submit proof of her virginity | 41:35 | |
at the time of her marriage. | 41:39 | |
But not the groom. | 41:41 | |
If her virginity could not be established, | 41:43 | |
the town's people were to take her to her father's door | 41:45 | |
and stone her to death. | 41:49 | |
A male Hebrew slave was automatically freed after six years | 41:52 | |
but a female came under a different set of rules. | 41:57 | |
A father could even sell his own daughter as a slave. | 42:01 | |
Concubinage was also acceptable under Hebrew law | 42:07 | |
creating a class of women living under a virtual | 42:10 | |
sexual slave-master relationship | 42:14 | |
without the legal protections of marriage. | 42:17 | |
As a case in point, we read in Judges 19 | 42:21 | |
of a concubine who had become angry | 42:24 | |
with her master, a Levite | 42:27 | |
and decided to leave him to return | 42:30 | |
to the home of her father. | 42:32 | |
The master proceeded to retrieve her from her father, | 42:34 | |
saying he wanted to speak kindly to her | 42:39 | |
and the father gladly consented. | 42:41 | |
On the return trip home, the master and the concubine | 42:44 | |
spent the evening as guests of an old man | 42:48 | |
who came upon them on the city square. | 42:51 | |
Some raucous men of the city had seen them | 42:54 | |
and knocked on the old man's door, | 42:56 | |
demanding the Levite, that they might violate him sexually. | 42:58 | |
The old man refused | 43:03 | |
explaining that the Levite was his guest. | 43:05 | |
He pleaded with the avengers, behold, | 43:09 | |
"Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine." | 43:12 | |
"Ravish them, and do with them what seems good to you | 43:15 | |
"but against this man, do not do so vile a thing." | 43:19 | |
The would-be assailants would not listen | 43:24 | |
and insisted on the Levite. | 43:26 | |
So the Levite seized his concubine, | 43:28 | |
whom he had intended to speak kindly to, | 43:31 | |
and put her out to the crowd of men | 43:35 | |
where she was raped and tortured until morning. | 43:36 | |
At dawn, the men let her go | 43:40 | |
and the woman struggled to the door of the old man's house | 43:42 | |
where she collapsed with her hands on the threshold. | 43:45 | |
"Get up and let us be going," | 43:50 | |
the master says to her. | 43:52 | |
But there was no answer. | 43:55 | |
Was she still alive? | 43:57 | |
The text doesn't tell us. | 43:59 | |
The Levite then put her upon the ass and carries her home. | 44:02 | |
And as the account in Judges reads, | 44:06 | |
"When he entered his house, he took the knife | 44:09 | |
"and laying hold of his concubine, divided her limb by limb | 44:13 | |
"into 12 pieces and sent her throughout | 44:19 | |
"all the territory of Israel." | 44:23 | |
This story is not told with any regularity within the church | 44:26 | |
nor is it included within the lectionary readings. | 44:31 | |
Too painful to hear, too dark to imagine | 44:35 | |
on a bright, sunny morning in Duke Chapel, | 44:39 | |
I completely agree. | 44:41 | |
Yet even in such tales of horrors, | 44:44 | |
sad stories may yield new beginnings | 44:47 | |
according to Professor Phyllis Trible | 44:50 | |
of Union Theological Seminary. | 44:52 | |
"Reflections themselves neither mandate | 44:55 | |
"nor manufacture change, yet by enabling insight, | 44:58 | |
"they may inspire repentance," | 45:02 | |
she writes in her book "Texts of Terror." | 45:04 | |
She calls on Christians to use scripture | 45:08 | |
to interpret scripture in order that even a story | 45:11 | |
like the dismembered concubine does not paralyze us. | 45:16 | |
The radical claim which Paul made to the church | 45:21 | |
in today's reading establishes freedom in Christ | 45:24 | |
as the final word over slavery and victimization. | 45:27 | |
We therefore, need not be afraid to confront oppression | 45:32 | |
within scripture itself, when we can hold fast | 45:36 | |
to Paul's words, "There is neither slave nor free, | 45:39 | |
"male nor female, for you are all one in Christ." | 45:43 | |
Neither do we need to be afraid to confront | 45:50 | |
the harsh realities of oppression in our own time. | 45:53 | |
In New Bedford, Massachusetts, a woman is hoisted | 45:58 | |
to a pool table where she is repeatedly raped | 46:01 | |
by a group of men while others in the tavern stand watching. | 46:04 | |
On college campuses, date rape | 46:09 | |
grows increasingly more common. | 46:12 | |
And over 50 gang rapes reported on American campuses | 46:14 | |
this past year alone. | 46:18 | |
Women are not the only victims in our culture, however. | 46:21 | |
With North Carolina continuing to head | 46:25 | |
up the list of states presently experiencing KKK activity | 46:28 | |
according to klan watch. | 46:33 | |
We have ample opportunity to watch at close hand | 46:35 | |
the ways in which racial | 46:39 | |
and religious minorities are victimized. | 46:41 | |
North Carolinians against racist and religious violence | 46:44 | |
based here in Durham | 46:47 | |
report that in 1985, there were over 30 incidents | 46:49 | |
of bigoted violence in this state | 46:54 | |
including cross burnings and often in the name | 46:57 | |
of white Christian supremacy. | 47:00 | |
The gay community faces a similar level | 47:04 | |
of societal antagonism, on a less violent scale perhaps, | 47:07 | |
but on an equally intense level of feeling it seems. | 47:11 | |
Witness the reaction in our own city | 47:15 | |
to the upcoming gay pride week | 47:18 | |
and its accompanying library exhibit. | 47:21 | |
What is the church doing in 1986 to make | 47:25 | |
Saint Paul's vision a reality? | 47:28 | |
To take seriously its responsibilities | 47:31 | |
to be an agent of reconciliation? | 47:34 | |
Are we continuing to search for new ways | 47:37 | |
to affirm an inclusive Christian community? | 47:40 | |
Or have we become complacent with the significant strides | 47:43 | |
that have been made in recent years? | 47:47 | |
Have we become so lukewarm in our identity as Christians | 47:50 | |
that we would choose to play it safe | 47:55 | |
rather than stepping out to take an unpopular stand? | 47:57 | |
How concerned are we really about our Christian | 48:02 | |
sisters and brothers whom we see suffering | 48:04 | |
from discrimination even within the church? | 48:07 | |
And how do our lives reflect our concern? | 48:11 | |
Paul's word to us on our oneness in Christ | 48:16 | |
seems an especially fitting call to-- | 48:20 |
- | Communion table. | 0:03 |
Were it possible to gather up all the wounds | 0:06 | |
of those victims, both past and present | 0:08 | |
as well as our own, | 0:12 | |
we should bring those wounds here | 0:13 | |
for this is the place of belonging, | 0:16 | |
of nurture and of healing. | 0:19 | |
Jew or Gentile, slave or free, | 0:23 | |
social status or sexual orientation are irrelevant here, | 0:28 | |
only faith in Jesus Christ who became the sacrifice | 0:32 | |
for the sin of all men and women | 0:36 | |
and overcame it with love. | 0:39 | |
Come to the table with thanksgiving that Christ | 0:42 | |
has redeemed us as we claim our place | 0:45 | |
alongside all the rest of God's children who believe. | 0:49 | |
Nothing in this century or any other | 0:53 | |
can separate us from the love of God. | 0:57 | |
Amen. | 1:01 | |
(lively organ music) | 1:07 | |
(congregation singing) | 1:50 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 4:19 |
- | And also with you. | 4:20 |
- | Let us pray. | 4:22 |
Most holy God, creator, redeemer | 4:32 | |
and sustainer of all that is, | 4:36 | |
we give thanks to you for the beauty of this day | 4:39 | |
and for this gathering of your people. | 4:42 | |
From the particularities of our lives | 4:45 | |
and our individual histories, | 4:47 | |
we come together as your children, | 4:50 | |
claiming the privilege of worshiping you | 4:52 | |
and glorifying your holy name. | 4:54 | |
As heirs of the risen Christ, | 4:57 | |
we give thanks for the gift of your Son, | 4:59 | |
for his life, death and resurrection | 5:02 | |
by which we come to know ourselves | 5:06 | |
and know how we are meant to live in this world. | 5:08 | |
We remember this morning, holy God | 5:14 | |
that our world is filled with hate, | 5:15 | |
with jealousy, with anger, | 5:18 | |
with war and the rumors of war. | 5:22 | |
In South Africa and Iraq and Iran, | 5:26 | |
in Northern Ireland and in El Salvador, | 5:30 | |
there are political tensions | 5:33 | |
which deny your children peace and safety, | 5:34 | |
for these peoples and others who know injustice, | 5:39 | |
oppression and political tensions, | 5:42 | |
we offer our prayers. | 5:45 | |
In this country and around the world, Lord, | 5:48 | |
there are peoples who went to bed last night hungry | 5:50 | |
and who woke this morning to another day | 5:54 | |
of hunger and physical pain. | 5:56 | |
For the street people of this community | 5:59 | |
and of this country, | 6:01 | |
for those on the continent of Africa | 6:03 | |
who must endure the ravages of drought, | 6:05 | |
for the poor of Mexico and Latin America | 6:09 | |
who know rampant malnutrition, | 6:12 | |
we offer our prayers. | 6:14 | |
We recall too, holy God, | 6:18 | |
those individuals who mourn for the deaths of loved ones, | 6:20 | |
those persons who know loneliness and fear, | 6:24 | |
those men and women who are beset by terminal disease, | 6:28 | |
those individuals who face the waning days | 6:31 | |
of their lives with worry and weakened strength, | 6:34 | |
those who live their lives behind the walls of prisons | 6:37 | |
and those farmers who face foreclosure on their lands. | 6:41 | |
For all persons who suffer physically, | 6:45 | |
mentally, emotionally and spiritually, | 6:48 | |
we offer our prayers. | 6:51 | |
As we lift up these persons to you | 6:54 | |
and pray for their well-being, | 6:56 | |
help us, Lord, know in the very depths of our beings | 6:58 | |
that prayer is more than pretty words | 7:02 | |
and kind thoughts, | 7:04 | |
that our prayers, if genuinely offered, | 7:06 | |
compel us into the world as your servants | 7:08 | |
to relieve pain and misery | 7:11 | |
and to work for peace and justice for all peoples. | 7:14 | |
In the name of your Son who offered his life | 7:19 | |
as a prayer to you, | 7:22 | |
and who taught us to pray to you through | 7:24 | |
and by the service of our lives, amen. | 7:26 | |
Because we have received bountifully | 7:36 | |
from the riches of God's world, | 7:38 | |
it is right and a good thing for us | 7:41 | |
to return a portion of our resources | 7:43 | |
to the work of the Lord. | 7:45 | |
Let us now worship God | 7:48 | |
with the offering of our gifts. | 7:49 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 7:55 | |
(choir singing) | 9:23 | |
(lively organ music) | 12:00 | |
(congregation singing) | 12:25 | |
♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ | 12:38 | |
♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ | 12:58 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 13:05 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 13:08 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 13:11 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 13:19 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 13:50 |
- | And also with you. | 13:52 |
- | Lift up your hearts. | 13:54 |
- | We lift them up to the Lord. | 13:55 |
- | It is truly right to glorify you, oh God | 13:58 |
and to give you thanks | 14:01 | |
for you alone are God, | 14:03 | |
living and true dwelling in light, inaccessible, | 14:04 | |
from before time and forever. | 14:08 | |
Fountain of life and source of all goodness, | 14:11 | |
you made all things and filled them with your blessing. | 14:15 | |
You created them to rejoice | 14:19 | |
in the splendor of your radiance. | 14:20 | |
Countless throngs of angels stand before you | 14:23 | |
to serve you night and day | 14:26 | |
and beholding the glory of your presence, | 14:28 | |
they offer you unceasing praise, | 14:31 | |
joining with them and giving voice | 14:35 | |
to every creature under Heaven, | 14:37 | |
we acclaim you and glorify your name | 14:39 | |
as we say. | 14:42 | |
- | Holy, holy, holy Lord, | 14:43 |
God of power and might, | 14:46 | |
Heaven and Earth are full of your glory, | 14:48 | |
Hosannah in the highest. | 14:51 | |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, | 14:53 | |
Hosannah in the highest. | 14:57 | |
- | We remember with joy the grace | 15:00 |
by which you created all things | 15:02 | |
and made us in your own image. | 15:05 | |
We rejoice that you called a people in covenant | 15:07 | |
to be a light to the nations, | 15:10 | |
yet we rebelled against your will, | 15:13 | |
in spite of prophets and pastors sent froth to us, | 15:16 | |
we continue to break your covenant. | 15:20 | |
In the fullness of time, you sent your only son | 15:23 | |
to save us, | 15:26 | |
incarnate by the Holy Spirit, | 15:28 | |
born of your favorite one Mary, | 15:30 | |
sharing our life, | 15:33 | |
he reconciled us to your love. | 15:34 | |
At the Jordan, your spirit descended upon him, | 15:38 | |
anointing him to preach the good news of the kingdom. | 15:41 | |
He healed the sick and fed the hungry, | 15:47 | |
manifesting the power of your compassion, | 15:49 | |
he sought out the lost | 15:52 | |
and broke bread with sinners, | 15:54 | |
witnessing the fullness of your grace. | 15:56 | |
We beheld his glory. | 15:59 | |
On the night before he died for us, | 16:02 | |
Jesus took bread, giving thanks to you, | 16:05 | |
he broke the bread, | 16:07 | |
offered it to his disciples saying, | 16:09 | |
"Take, eat, this is my body | 16:11 | |
"which is given for you. | 16:14 | |
"Do this in remembrance of me." | 16:16 | |
Taking a cup, again he gave thanks to you, | 16:21 | |
shared the cup with his disciples | 16:24 | |
and said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. | 16:27 | |
"Drink from this, all of you. | 16:31 | |
"This is poured out for you and for many | 16:33 | |
"for the forgiveness of sins." | 16:36 | |
After the meal, our Lord was arrested, | 16:41 | |
abandoned by his followers and beaten. | 16:43 | |
He stood trial and was put to death on a cross. | 16:47 | |
Having emptied himself in the form of a servant | 16:51 | |
and being obedient even unto death, | 16:54 | |
he was raised from the dead | 16:57 | |
and exulted as Lord of Heaven and Earth. | 16:59 | |
Through him, you bestow the gift of your Spirit, | 17:03 | |
uniting your church, empowering its mission | 17:06 | |
and leading us into the new creation you have promised. | 17:09 | |
Gracious God, we celebrate with joy | 17:13 | |
the redemption won for us | 17:16 | |
in Jesus Christ. | 17:18 | |
Grant that in praise and thanksgiving, | 17:20 | |
we may be a living sacrifice, | 17:22 | |
holy and acceptable in your sight | 17:25 | |
that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith. | 17:28 | |
- | Christ has died, Christ is risen, | 17:33 |
Christ will come again. | 17:37 | |
- | Send the power of your Holy Spirit | 17:39 |
on us gathered here out of love for you | 17:41 | |
and on these gifts. | 17:44 | |
May the Spirit help us to know | 17:46 | |
in the breaking for this bread | 17:48 | |
and the drinking of this wine the presence | 17:50 | |
of Christ who gave his body and blood for all | 17:53 | |
and may the Spirit make us one with Christ, | 17:58 | |
one with each other | 18:01 | |
and one in service to all the world. | 18:03 | |
Through your son, Jesus Christ, | 18:06 | |
with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, | 18:08 | |
all glory and honor is yours, almighty God, | 18:11 | |
now and forever. | 18:15 | |
- | Amen. | 18:17 |
Our Father who art in Heaven, | 18:19 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 18:22 | |
They kingdom come, thy will be done | 18:24 | |
on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 18:27 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 18:30 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 18:32 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 18:35 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 18:39 | |
but deliver us from evil | 18:41 | |
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. | 18:43 | |
- | Amen. | 18:49 |
The gifts of God for the people of God. | 19:07 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 19:12 | |
(congregation singing) | 26:02 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 29:05 | |
(congregation singing) | 30:02 | |
Let us pray. | 32:44 | |
We give you thanks, Almighty God | 32:47 | |
that you have refreshed us through the healing power | 32:49 | |
of this gift of life | 32:53 | |
and we pray that in your mercy | 32:56 | |
you would strengthen us through this gift | 32:58 | |
in faith toward you and in fervent love | 33:01 | |
toward one another | 33:04 | |
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. | 33:07 | |
(lively organ music) | 33:14 | |
(congregation singing) | 34:13 | |
Go forth from this place, rejoicing in the power | 38:33 | |
of God which makes us one in Christ | 38:36 | |
and in the love of Christ Jesus | 38:39 | |
which is ever renewed at his table, | 38:41 | |
and in the fellowship with each other | 38:44 | |
and all of creation given by the Holy Spirit. | 38:46 | |
May the blessing of God Almighty be with you now and always. | 38:49 | |
Amen. | 38:55 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:01 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:08 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:14 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:23 | |
(lively organ music) | 39:40 | |
(people murmuring) | 42:30 |
Item Info
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