Clyde Fant - "The Yoke No One Can Bear" (February 15, 1987)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC 4.0
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP4
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4x92203k?embed=true' height='500px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4x92203k
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning and welcome to this service of worship.	6:33
	Our preacher for today is Reverend Dr. Clyde Fant,	6:37
	Dean of the Chapel at Stetson University.	6:42
	Dr. Fant is one of America's great preachers	6:45
	and also a distinguished writer about preaching	6:49
	and teacher of preaching, and we welcome him	6:53
	to the chapel this morning.	6:56
	He comes to us as the Clyde and Leveseth Foils	6:59
	guest distinguished preacher.	7:03
	This evening at 5:00, our assistant chapel organist,	7:08
	Monica Umstaedt Rossman, have a recital here in the chapel.	7:14
	We enjoy her music each Sunday and everyone is invited	7:18
	to the recital at 5:00 p.m.	7:23
	And at 8:15, The Eye of the Needle, a play being produced	7:26
	by the chapel will be performed.	7:30
	Admission is free.	7:33
	It is in York Chapel of the Divinity School	7:34
	and you're invited to that.	7:37
	It is a play about the life of St. Francis of Assisi.	7:39
	We also remind those of you who are Sunday worshipers	7:43
	of other worship opportunities through the week	7:46
	in the chapel.	7:49
	Communion or the Lord's Supper is celebrated	7:51
	every Sunday after the service in Memorial Chapel	7:54
	as well as a noon prayer service each weekday	7:58
	in Memorial Chapel, and we have begun this year	8:02
	a choral vespers service at 5:15 on Thursdays	8:06
	in Memorial Chapel.	8:11
	And now let us continue our worship.	8:13
	♪ Blessed be the God and Father ♪	8:34
	♪ Of our Lord Jesus Christ ♪	8:40
	♪ Which according to his abundant mercy ♪	8:52
	♪ Hath begotten us again ♪	9:08
	♪ Unto a lively hope by the resurrection ♪	9:15
	♪ Of Jesus Christ from the dead ♪	9:29
	(organ music)	9:48
	(choral music)	10:41
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	10:58
	(choral music)	11:01
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	11:13
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	11:19
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	11:26
	(choral music)	11:35
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	12:08
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	12:14
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	12:20
	(choral music)	12:29
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	13:02
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	13:07
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	13:13
	(choral music)	13:23
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	13:35
	(choral music)	13:44
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	13:54
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	14:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	14:07
-	Almighty God, be near to us in this time	14:19
	of worship and praise, that we may be lead to exchange	14:22
	whatever worldly cares or burdens which we have brought	14:26
	to this place of worship, for the good and gentle	14:30
	yoke of your will for our lives and thus be given the peace	14:34
	which pass with all understanding.	14:40
	In thy name we pray.	14:43
	Amen.	14:45
	Seated.	14:47
-	Let us pray.	14:57
-	Open our hearts	15:02
-	Open our hearts
	and minds, oh God.	15:04
-	And minds, oh God.
-	By the power of your	15:05
-	By the power of your
	Holy Spirit so that the word	15:06
-	Holy Spirit so that the word
	is read and proclaimed,	15:09
-	is read and proclaimed,
	we might hear with joy	15:11
-	we might hear with joy
	what you say to us this day.	15:13
-	What you say to us this day.
	Amen.	15:16
-	Amen.
	The first lesson is taken from Acts.	15:19
	But some men came down from Judea	15:23
	and were teaching the people.	15:26
	Unless you are circumcised according to the custom	15:29
	of Moses, you cannot be saved.	15:32
	And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension	15:36
	and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some	15:39
	of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem	15:44
	to the apostles and to the elders about this question.	15:48
	So being sent on their way by the church,	15:52
	they passed through both Phoenicia and Sumeria,	15:56
	reporting the conversion of the gentiles,	16:00
	and they gave great joy to all the people.	16:03
	When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed	16:07
	by the church, and the apostles, and the elders,	16:09
	and they declared all that God had done with them,	16:14
	but some believers who belonged to the party	16:18
	of the Pharisees rose up and said, "It is necessarily	16:22
	"to circumcise them and to charge them	16:27
	"to keep the law of Moses."	16:31
	The apostles and the elders were gathered together	16:35
	to consider this matter.	16:39
	And after there had been much debate, Paul rose	16:41
	and said to them, "Brothers and sisters, you know	16:45
	"that in the early days, God made choice among you,	16:49
	"that by my mouth, the gentiles should hear the word	16:54
	"of the gospel and believe, and God who knows the heart	16:58
	"were witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit	17:02
	"just as he did to us, and he made no distinction	17:07
	"between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.	17:11
	"Now therefore, why do you make trial of God	17:16
	"by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples	17:20
	"which neither our ancestors nor we	17:23
	"have been able to bear, but we believe that we shall	17:26
	"be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus	17:31
	"just as they will."	17:35
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	17:37
-	Let us stand for the responsive reading	17:46
	of the psalm.	17:48
	Blessed are those whose way is blameless.	17:58
Congregation	Who walk according to the law of the Lord.	18:02
-	Blessed are those who keep his testimonies.	18:04
Congregation	And seek him with all their might.	18:07
-	Who also do no wrong.	18:10
Congregation	But follow his ways.	18:12
-	Thou has commanded they're precepts	18:14
	to be kept diligently.	18:16
Congregation	Oh, that my ways are steadfast	18:18
	in obeying my sentence.	18:21
-	Then I shall not
	be put to shame.	18:24
-	When I consider
	all your commands.	18:27
-	I will praise thee
	with an upright heart.	18:30
-	As I learn
	your righteous laws.	18:34
-	I will observe thy statutes.
Congregation	Forsake me not.	18:38
Pastor	How can a young man keep his way pure?	18:41
Congregation	By keeping it according to thy word.	18:43
Pastor	With all my heart I have seek thee.	18:46
Congregation	Do not let me wander	18:48
	from thy commandments.	18:50
-	I have laid up
	thy word in my heart.	18:52
-	That I may not
	sin against you.	18:56
-	Blessed are thou, O Lord.
-	Teach me your statutes.	18:59
-	With my lips I declare
	all the ordinances	19:04
	of thy mouth.	19:06
-	I have rejoiced
	of all your testimony.	19:09
-	I will meditate on thy precepts.	19:13
Congregation	I will regard thy ways.	19:16
-	I will delight in thy statutes.	19:18
Congregation	I will not forget thy word.	19:21
	(organ music)	19:25
	(choral music)	19:32
-	The second lesson is taken from Paul's first	20:32
	letter to the Corinthians.	20:35
	But I, brothers and sisters, could not address you	20:39
	as spiritual beings, but as men and women of the flesh,	20:44
	as babes in Christ.	20:48
	I fed you with milk, not solid food,	20:51
	for you were not ready for it.	20:55
	And even yet, you are not ready,	20:57
	for you are still of the flesh.	21:00
	For while there is jealousy and strife among you,	21:03
	are you not of the flesh and behaving	21:06
	like ordinary people?	21:08
	For when one says I belong to Paul and another,	21:11
	I belong to Apollos, are you not merely human beings?	21:16
	When then, what this is Apollos?	21:21
	What is Paul?	21:24
	Servants whom through you believed as the Lord	21:26
	assigned to each.	21:29
	I plant it, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth,	21:31
	so neither the one who plants nor the one who waters	21:35
	is anything, but only God who gives the growth.	21:41
	The one who plants and the one who waters are equal	21:46
	and each shall receive the wages	21:49
	according to his label, for we are God's fellow workers.	21:52
	You are God's field, God's building.	21:57
	This ends the reading of the Second Lesson.	22:02
	(organ music)	22:14
	♪ We wait for thy longing of thy blissful God ♪	22:20
	♪ In the midst of thy temple ♪	22:27
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	22:34
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	22:42
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	22:57
	(organ music)	23:08
	♪ Oh God, according to thy name ♪	23:09
	♪ So as I praise unto the world ♪	23:16
	♪ Thy hand is full of righteousness ♪	23:24
	♪ O God, the word of Christ ♪	23:36
	(choral music)	23:42
	♪ We wait for thy loving kindness, O God ♪	24:03
	♪ In the midst of thy temple ♪	24:10
	♪ O send us now prosperity ♪	24:18
	♪ Amen ♪	24:31
	♪ Amen ♪	24:37
-	The Gospel lesson is taken from Matthew.	25:05
	Think not that I have come to abolish the law	25:10
	and the prophets.	25:13
	I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them,	25:16
	for truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away,	25:20
	not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law	25:24
	until all is accomplished.	25:28
	Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments	25:31
	and teaches men and women so shall be called least	25:35
	in the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does them	25:39
	and teaches them shall be called great	25:44
	in the kingdom of heaven, for I tell you,	25:48
	unless your righteous exceeds that of the scribes	25:52
	and Pharisees, you will never enter	25:55
	the kingdom of heaven.	25:58
	You have heard that it was said in ancient times	26:01
	you shall not kill, and whoever kills	26:05
	shall be liable to judgment, but I say to you	26:09
	that everyone who is angry with his neighbor	26:13
	shall be liable for judgment.	26:17
	Whoever insults his neighbor shall be liable	26:20
	to the council, and whoever says you fool	26:24
	shall be liable to the hell of fire.	26:27
	So if you are offering your gift at the altar,	26:32
	and there remember that, that your neighbor	26:35
	has something against you.	26:38
	Leave your gift there before the alter and go.	26:40
	First, be reconciled to your neighbor,	26:45
	and then come and offer your gift.	26:48
	Make friends guilty with your accuser	26:51
	while you are going with him to court,	26:55
	lest your accuser hand you over to the judge	26:58
	and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.	27:01
	Truly, I say to you, you will never get out	27:07
	till you have paid the last penny.	27:09
	This ends the reading of the Gospel.	27:14
-	It was a hot August evening in Louisiana,	27:35
	or do I repeat myself?	27:39
	We had just moved to a new neighborhood	27:44
	and I was to begin school that fall.	27:48
	I didn't know anybody and I didn't want to go outside	27:51
	and play with the other kids.	27:56
	My mother said, "Now son, you go on outside.	27:58
	"Those are nice boys and girls.	28:02
	"They like you."	28:03
	I said, "No, they do not like me."	28:04
	She said, "You don't know, you haven't met them."	28:06
	I said, "I know they don't like me."	28:10
	She said, "Well now, you just go on outside	28:13
	"and play with them," and she pushed me out	28:16
	the screen door and latched it behind me.	28:19
	(congregation laughs)	28:22
	I stood there frozen with fear in a new neighborhood	28:25
	where I didn't know anybody and where I dressed funny	28:30
	and where they played games I didn't understand.	28:37
	They ran through the night, chasing the fireflies	28:42
	and calling out some strange,	28:47
	mysterious word, Ticonderoga!	28:50
	I thought, what is that?	28:58
	Ticondero, Ticondero,	29:01
	Ticonder, Ticonderoga!	29:04
	It was wonderful.	29:06
	I had no earthly idea what it meant, and as some of them	29:08
	ran past me, one of them finally grabbed me	29:12
	by the arm.	29:14
	I thought I was being attacked and tried to get in	29:15
	the screen door, only to discover he just wanted me	29:17
	to come and run with the rest of them	29:20
	through the fading Louisiana light.	29:24
	And after a while as I ran and heard the wonderful,	29:28
	mysterious word, I finally got up my courage	29:33
	and began to call it out myself.	29:37
	First, timidly.	29:40
	Ticonderoga, and it felt so good.	29:41
	Ticonderoga!	29:44
	They smiled and looked at me and said, "Ticonderoga!"	29:46
	And I turned to the boy running next to me	29:52
	and I said, "What does it mean?"	29:54
	He says, "You don't know?"	29:55
	Ticonderoga!	29:59
	Well, it was that fall when I got in school	30:04
	and opened up the pencil box of yellow pencils	30:10
	and looked at them, and there stamped on the side	30:16
	was the mysterious word, Ticonderoga.	30:19
	None of them had the faintest idea what it meant,	30:24
	and I've seen some of them recently	30:28
	and they still don't have the faintest	30:30
	idea what it meant.	30:32
	(congregation laughing)	30:33
	But it didn't really matter, you see?	30:35
	It was their world,	30:39
	it was their password,	30:42
	and things haven't really changed very much,	30:48
	have they?	30:53
	We still have our clubs,	30:56
	our friends,	31:01
	our neighborhoods,	31:05
	our passwords.	31:10
	My grandmother used to like to say	31:17
	adults are only children	31:21
	with long arms and legs,	31:24
	and I think she was right.	31:29
	We still find so many ways to separate ourselves	31:34
	from one another,	31:39
	and the things that separate us	31:44
	are the most painful things in life,	31:48
	age,	31:53
	gender, money,	31:56
	power,	32:01
	race, environment.	32:03
	And the funny thing is, if life doesn't put those things	32:12
	on us, we'll put them on ourselves.	32:17
	We'll find new ways to keep on	32:22
	separating ourselves	32:26
	like a milk separator ever is skimming the cream off.	32:29
	You go to the store now, you can buy milk,	32:32
	but that's too simple.	32:36
	You can buy 2% milk, you can buy 1% milk,	32:37
	or you can buy, God help us, skim milk.	32:42
	And so we create fraternities and sororities	32:48
	of all kinds all of our lives and we stand about	32:52
	like cattle to be examined, mooing docilely,	32:56
	balancing our cups and trying to smile,	33:01
	but not too much, trying to look pleasant	33:03
	but not too pleasant,	33:08
	trying to look in	33:11
	when we feel so terribly out.	33:15
	It's not much fun.	33:21
	Oh, it's a lot of fun if you're in.	33:22
	Then you get to make the rules, then you can decide	33:26
	who can get along	33:30
	and who could never get along.	33:34
	It was on the school ground in that first school	33:43
	where a boy I admired but	33:45
	who never talked to me,	33:50
	after all, I was short and he was tall, I was little.	33:51
	He was big, he was athletic, I was klutzy.	33:54
	I mean, why should he talk to me?	33:58
	Even I understood it.	34:01
	Well, one day as we began some softball game,	34:06
	he came up and draped a long arm over my shoulder	34:11
	and bent his head down toward my ear.	34:16
	I tell you, if one of the archangels from heaven	34:19
	suddenly came and embraced me with wings,	34:23
	I wouldn't have felt more ecstatic.	34:27
	And he got a lewd leer on his face	34:31
	and I knew this was going to be good.	34:35
	He looked about for a moment to be sure	34:39
	that no one could hear and that everyone could hear,	34:41
	and then he whispered in my ear as he pointed	34:45
	over toward Harvey Grant,	34:48
	the only Jewish boy in our class.	34:52
	"I never knew a Jew that could play baseball, did you?"	34:57
	Well actually, I had not given it any thought	35:04
	that Harvey Grant was Jewish or that anybody was Jewish	35:08
	or what, but the idea that Pete was talking to me	35:11
	was more than I could stand and I laughed	35:14
	and put on my face the same little wicked leer	35:18
	and I said, "No, I never saw one either."	35:20
	And just that time,	35:26
	I saw Harvey Grant's eyes	35:30
	and he had heard and more than that,	35:35
	he had felt,	35:39
	and his eyes went deep and dark in despair	35:44
	and I felt stabbed with a shame	35:52
	that unfortunately, I have felt a number	35:57
	of times since	36:02
	when I tried to be in	36:07
	and enjoyed somebody else being out.	36:14
	That's the way it is, those are the rules.	36:19
	I mean, what am I going to do about it?	36:25
	If you're not pretty enough, smart enough,	36:29
	that's in quotation marks, trendy enough,	36:34
	tough enough, I'm sorry, you're not gonna make it.	36:41
	For nearly 10 years, I pastored in north Dallas	36:50
	in a little suburb called Richardson that grew	36:53
	into a great big suburb.	36:55
	At one time, Texas Instruments, which at that time,	36:59
	was headquartered in, as it still is,	37:02
	and almost exclusively located in Richardson,	37:07
	employed 45,000 people inside the city limits	37:10
	of Richardson, and many of them	37:17
	were members of my church.	37:19
	I never preached to so many computer people in my life.	37:22
	It was like being chaplain to a math club.	37:28
	(congregation laughing)	37:31
	But that's another story.	37:34
	They almost never talked about TI,	37:41
	at least not really talked about TI, but one evening	37:45
	at somebody's house,	37:52
	we were all sitting around on the floor.	37:53
	One guy broke.	37:56
	I mean, he cracked, and he began to pour out	37:58
	a lot of things, and one of the things	38:02
	was about the abuse seminar.	38:04
	They have a better name for it than that	38:07
	that they conduct once a year when their management people	38:10
	are taken in and they browbeat one another.	38:12
	It must be a lot of fun if you're into	38:15
	that sort of thing,	38:18
	but it also caused a lot of pain, but it did	38:23
	what they needed.	38:26
	You see, it toughened them up	38:27
	and it separated the weak	38:29
	from the strong.	38:35
	That's what happened	38:42
	in our Scripture this morning.	38:47
	The Scripture tells us that God, nobody else,	38:50
	had opened up a door for the gentiles,	38:57
	the outsiders,	39:04
	the ones who could come to see God at a distance	39:06
	from the court of the gentiles, but no closer,	39:10
	for the wall of partition that separated the court	39:15
	of the gentiles from the inner courtyards read,	39:17
	any gentile who passes beyond this spot	39:22
	will have no one but himself to thank	39:25
	for his own ensuing death.	39:28
	That's plain enough.	39:32
	God however, in the irrational way that God	39:35
	usually acts had opened up a door	39:40
	for the outsiders to come in.	39:44
	The church had a hard time about that.	39:48
	Peter had a real hard time about it.	39:50
	He had a terrible vision of the sailcloth coming down	39:53
	with nasty, creeping, crawling things on it	39:57
	and he heard a voice from heaven saying,	40:00
	we always make it a bass voice.	40:04
	"Rise, Peter, kill and eat."	40:06
	Peter said, "Not me Lord, I'm Orthodox.	40:11
	"I mean, I'm not going to violate	40:15
	God's law!"	40:20
	So, we're not surprised when certain of the	40:25
	sect of the Pharisees who had to leave object.	40:30
	Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah they say.	40:35
	You must not let these people simply	40:39
	come directly in.	40:43
	If they come in at all, they'll come in the same way	40:44
	we got in.	40:47
	They'll come in through our customs,	40:48
	they'll come in through our traditions,	40:51
	they will come in through our law.	40:53
	Well, that was the problem.	40:59
	You see, it had become their law.	41:00
	Ah well, we say, we understand that.	41:05
	I mean, we're Pharisees, that's what you expect.	41:07
	Pharisees are legalistic!	41:09
	But perhaps we are just a little more	41:15
	than biased about that.	41:18
	The fact is, the Pharisees	41:23
	were simply trying to protect God.	41:26
	They were trying to take care of this beautiful law	41:31
	that was good, that was given to them by God	41:34
	as a kind of escort	41:37
	that would help them,	41:42
	so they said we'll just take care of this	41:46
	again for God.	41:48
	We'll just make sure that nothing bad happens for God,	41:49
	and that's what we go on doing.	41:55
	I mean, we're not bad people.	41:57
	We don't really want to hurt the Harvey Grants of the world	41:59
	or anybody else, we just want to make things right.	42:02
	We want to take care of things for our children	42:06
	and our neighborhoods, and our business,	42:10
	and our nation.	42:16
	And so we, like the Pharisees, plant a hedge	42:20
	about the law.	42:24
	You see, they not only had God's law, they had their oral	42:28
	law and tradition, and it was designed so that if you never	42:31
	broke the oral law and tradition,	42:36
	you couldn't get through the hedge	42:38
	to break God's law.	42:39
	That was very important.	42:42
	And we keep on creating those kinds of oral traditions.	42:46
	you have to do it this way, you have to say it	42:52
	this way, you must use this inflection.	42:54
	Depending on the part of the country you're in,	42:57
	it may be oh, oh, I tell you, and that's preaching.	42:59
	Or another place is, you hear this little	43:05
	bit of goat bleat.	43:07
	It's a kind of pious bleat.	43:09
	Oh, brothers and sisters, this is the word of God.	43:10
	Or it may be in other tones where we say Holy Spirit	43:19
	(audience laughs)	43:24
	with a kind of hypo nasality, as if one	43:29
	had extreme nasal blockage,	43:32
	but this is spiritual.	43:36
	You can come in all right if you come in our door.	43:43
	What's God doing knocking holes in our walls?	43:47
	Doesn't he know that's how sin got in the first time?	43:50
	Those torn lives!	43:54
	Keep out those.	43:56
	Well, at least the gods of the foreign-wise.	43:57
	The foreigners, that's our problem.	44:02
	Shucks, those of us who lived on Carolton Street	44:06
	knew it was those guys over on Leo Drive	44:09
	that were the bad guys.	44:12
	That's how we keep things straight.	44:16
	The Bible said of the Proselytes,	44:20
	they took up the yoke of the kingdom.	44:24
	Yes, and Jesus said	44:30
	in Matthew 23:4 about these	44:33
	Pharisees, "You pile up heavy burdens	44:37
	"grievous to be borne, but you don't lift a little	44:40
	"finger to lighten any of them."	44:43
	And then a strange thing.	44:47
	He doesn't say run around yoke-less,	44:49
	head off in any direction, it doesn't matter.	44:55
	Who cares?	44:58
	I don't, I'm granddaddy God and I don't care.	45:01
	Run in any direction you please, no yoke,	45:04
	no direction, no responsibility.	45:06
	No, no, he said, "Take my yoke upon you, it fits well.	45:10
	"My yoke is light	45:20
	"because my yoke links us up."	45:25
	The things we do to separate people	45:34
	are the most painful things in the world	45:36
	and the things that God does to unite people	45:38
	are the most healing things in the world.	45:43
	Sometimes when you hear Simon in the Bible,	45:48
	he's so much like us, we get embarrassed for ourselves,	45:51
	and at other times when we hear him,	45:54
	we want to cheer and say that's it!	45:56
	And when he said in Acts 15:11,	46:02
	"But we believe that through the grace	46:05
	"of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved,	46:07
	"even as they, we want to cheer," that's it, that's right.	46:10
	That's how we'll get in	46:19
	and that's how they get in.	46:25
	The yoke no one can bear is the awful pressure	46:29
	of our rules, our requirements,	46:34
	our inflections.	46:40
	We cannot bear the awful pressure of correctness	46:46
	because even if you know the password,	46:49
	they can always change it on you and they will,	46:53
	the right width of tie,	46:58
	the right amount of indifference	47:04
	or enthusiasm, whatever.	47:10
	We can always change it and we do.	47:15
	When the Scripture says God the same yesterday,	47:19
	today, and forever, the Scriptures are not describing	47:21
	some monolithic God	47:24
	that is inflexible,	47:29
	but rather, the one who is consistently	47:30
	open to us.	47:35
	I remember in Sunday school, hearing the story	47:41
	of the cleansing of the temple and I remember	47:45
	liking that story.	47:48
	I could identify with somebody running amok, I guess.	47:51
	Jesus turning over tables and making a whip	47:54
	and driving people out.	47:57
	That was sort of a fun scene	47:58
	for what was normally a boring Sunday school hour.	47:59
	I remember the punchline of that thing	48:03
	was Jesus said, "You have made this	48:05
	"into a den of thieves," or something like that	48:10
	where it was supposed to be a house of prayer	48:15
	and the lesson we were supposed to get	48:19
	was they made it noisy, and nasty, and dirty in there	48:21
	and people couldn't come in and pray	48:26
	like they wanted to.	48:27
	It wasn't quiet and nice, you see.	48:28
	I never did understand until much later that the emphasis	48:34
	is not on house of prayer, but upon for all people.	48:39
	They had set up	48:44
	their business in the court of the gentiles,	48:47
	the only place the gentiles were entitled	48:52
	to come and pray, and while the gentiles tried to find	48:55
	their way somehow to God, there was all of this	48:58
	commercial business going on around them	49:01
	and Jesus said, "You're not entitled to do that,	49:03
	"even to gentiles, for all people."	49:06
	It's a hard lesson.	49:15
	It doesn't get any easier,	49:22
	but it reaches out its arms	49:26
	about me and it bids me	49:31
	reach my arms out around you.	49:36
	Henry Kingsley wrote a wonderful	49:49
	little poem entitled Magdalene	49:52
	about the woman,	49:59
	supposedly a great sinner.	50:01
	Magdalene is seeking entrance into the kingdom.	50:07
	Magdalene at Michael's gate tirled at the pin,	50:14
	sang the blackbird on Joseph's thorn,	50:19
	"Let her in, let her in."	50:24
	"Hast thou seen the wounds?" said Michael.	50:30
	Knowest thou thy sin?	50:35
	She is sorry.	50:40
	"Sorry?" sang the blackbird.	50:41
	Let her in, let her in.	50:42
	"Thou bringest no offering," said Michael,	50:48
	"Not save sin!"	50:50
	"It is evening," sang the blackbird.	50:56
	Let her in, let her in.	51:01
	And when he had sung himself to sleep,	51:08
	and evening did begin,	51:13
	one came and opened Michael's gate	51:16
	and Magdalene went in.	51:22
	Amen.	51:30
	(organ music)	51:40
	(choral music)	52:28
	♪ Holy good and holy true ♪	52:42
	(choral music)	52:46
-	Let us unite in this historic confession	55:55
	of the Christian faith.	55:58
-	[Pastor And Congregation] I believe in God,	56:00
	the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,	56:02
	and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord,	56:06
	who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,	56:09
	born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot,	56:12
	was crucified dead and buried.	56:17
	The third day, he rose from the dead.	56:19
	He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right	56:22
	hand of God, the Father Almighty.	56:25
	From thence, he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.	56:28
	I believe in the Holy Spirit	56:32
	and the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,	56:33
	the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,	56:37
	and the life everlasting.	56:41
	Amen.	56:43
-	The Lord be with you.	56:45
Congregation	And also with you.	56:47
-	Let us pray.	56:48
	Gracious God, you hear our prayers before we speak	57:00
	and answer before we know our need,	57:07
	though we by our own wills cannot pray	57:12
	for what we ought.	57:16
	Let your spirit pray in us, drawing us to you	57:19
	and to our neighbors.	57:23
	We pray for peace in the world,	57:27
	for the suffering people of Lebanon, Northern Ireland,	57:30
	Afghanistan, Central America, end their trial,	57:34
	disarm weapons, silent guns, put out ancient hate.	57:41
	We pray for our enemies as Christ commanded,	57:47
	for those who oppose or scheme against us	57:53
	who are also your children.	57:57
	May we be kept from infectious hate	58:01
	or sick vengeance.	58:04
	We pray for those who govern us	58:07
	who make, administer, and judge our laws,	58:09
	keep them hopeful, fair, and just.	58:14
	We pray for poor people who are hungry	58:20
	or cold this morning.	58:24
	Increase in us and all who prosper,	58:26
	concern for the disinherited.	58:31
	We pray for those who feel like outsiders,	58:35
	social outcasts, rejected.	58:39
	Help them to know the expanse of your great	58:43
	and gracious love and help us to mirror	58:46
	your love in our love.	58:51
	We pray for sick people who suffer pain	58:57
	or contend against demons of the mind	59:01
	or who silently wait for healing,	59:04
	particularly those in Duke Hospital.	59:07
	God grant them patience, bravery, and trust.	59:12
	We pray for the dying who face the final mystery.	59:18
	May they be kept in dignity and greet death unafraid,	59:25
	confident in your grace.	59:30
	We pray for all those who are alone and lonely	59:34
	who have no one to call an easy friendship.	59:39
	May they be befriended and know that you care for them.	59:44
	We pray for all people everywhere,	59:51
	praying that they may know your near presence	59:54
	and your dear love and all that they do.	59:58
	This we ask in your name.	1:00:02
	Amen.	1:00:06
	And now, let us offer ourselves and our gifts	1:00:08
	to God, who has offered so much to us.	1:00:13
	(organ music)	1:00:18
	♪ Oh be joyful in the thought of him ♪	1:02:38
	♪ And to be joyful in the thought of him ♪	1:02:41
	♪ Oh by joyful in the thought of him, Christ ♪	1:02:45
	♪ Serve the Lord of gladness, serve the Lord of gladness ♪	1:02:51
	♪ And come before his presence with a song ♪	1:02:56
	♪ He is sure that the Lord, he is coming ♪	1:03:02
	♪ He is sure, that the Lord, he is coming ♪	1:03:08
	♪ He will be with us and not be ourselves ♪	1:03:12
	♪ And not be ourselves ♪	1:03:18
	♪ He will always be love ♪	1:03:21
	♪ And the sheep of his pasture ♪	1:03:24
	♪ Oh Lord, you're waiting to this case with thanksgiving ♪	1:03:30
	♪ Oh Lord, you're waiting to this case with thanksgiving ♪	1:03:38
	♪ With thanksgiving ♪	1:03:47
	♪ Come into his heart with thanks ♪	1:03:52
	(organ music)	1:04:00
	♪ We thank God, unto him ♪	1:04:11
	♪ And the good of his kingdom come ♪	1:04:17
	♪ We thank God, unto him, unto him ♪	1:04:25
	♪ And think good of his name, and think good of his name ♪	1:04:29
	♪ For the Lord is gracious ♪	1:04:36
	♪ He gives mercy, his love everlasting ♪	1:04:45
	♪ And his truth ♪	1:04:53
	(choral music)	1:04:57
	♪ From generation to generation ♪	1:05:01
	(organ music)	1:05:12
	♪ Oh be joyful in the Lord, oh he plans ♪	1:05:16
	♪ Oh be joyful in the Lord, oh he plans ♪	1:05:20
	♪ Oh be joyful in the Lord, oh he plans ♪	1:05:24
	♪ Oh be joyful, joyful in the Lord, hallelujah ♪	1:05:28
	♪ Glory be to the Father ♪	1:05:38
	♪ Glory be to the Son ♪	1:05:43
	♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪	1:05:48
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	1:05:52
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	1:05:54
	♪ It's now and ever shall be, it's now and ever shall be ♪	1:05:56
	♪ Nothing without him, nothing without him ♪	1:06:01
	♪ Nothing without him ♪	1:06:07
	(choral music)	1:06:10
	♪ Amen ♪	1:06:14
	(organ music)	1:06:32
	(choral music)	1:06:51
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:07:04
	(choral music)	1:07:12
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:07:25
	♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪	1:07:32
	♪ Amen ♪	1:07:47
-	Gracious God, we have never come here hungry	1:07:58
	that we have not been sent away filled.	1:08:01
	We have never come here alone	1:08:06
	that we have not felt your presence.	1:08:07
	Again, you have come to us and blessed us	1:08:10
	and we give thanks.	1:08:12
-	[Pastor And Congregation] Our father who art in heaven,	1:08:15
	hallowed be thy name.	1:08:18
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth	1:08:20
	as it is in heaven.	1:08:24
	Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us	1:08:26
	our trespasses as we forgive those	1:08:29
	who trespass against us, and lead us not	1:08:32
	into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:08:36
	Thine is the kingdom and the power	1:08:40
	and the glory forever.	1:08:43
	Amen.	1:08:45
	(organ music)	1:08:49
	(choral music)	1:09:22
	Now may the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ,	1:12:22
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:12:25
	be with you now and always.	1:12:28
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:35
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:42
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:53
	(ecclesiastical music)	1:13:09

Item Info

Title:

Clyde Fant - "The Yoke No One Can Bear" (February 15, 1987)

Description:

We are constantly making rules and putting up walls so as to neatly determine who is "in" and who is "out." These acts of division deeply wound us, but Jesus came to heal these wounds and tear down these walls of division so that all may come in. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 27:35. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 51:32.
Key quotation: “The things we do to separate people are the most painful things in the world, and the things that God does to unite people are the most healing things in the world.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4x92203k

Date:

February 15, 1987

Speaker:

Fant, Clyde E.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0021
ref8294_v64
uachapelsermaud
duke:321661
dcrmv001021
ark:/87924/r4x92203k
b4206d69-900d-4354-8857-eeeece3b3025

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Clyde Fant - "The Yoke No One Can Bear" (February 15, 1987)

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options