H. Shelton Smith - "Religiousness Versus Righteousness" (November 11, 1956); Creighton Lacy - "A Psalm of Gratitude" (December 9, 1956)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
- | This is Sunday, November the 11th, | 0:10 |
this preacher is Dr. H Sheldon Smith, | 0:12 | |
Director of Graduate Studies and Religion. | 0:15 | |
(calm religious music) | 0:18 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 0:40 | |
(calm religious music) | 1:24 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 1:53 | |
- | Let us offer unto God our unison prayer of confession, | 4:17 |
let us pray. | 4:24 | |
All Mighty and Eternal God, | 4:27 | |
who searches the hearts of men, | 4:31 | |
we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against thee | 4:34 | |
in thought, word and deed, | 4:38 | |
that we have not loved thee with all our heart and soul, | 4:42 | |
with all our mind and strength, | 4:47 | |
and that we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 4:51 | |
Forgive us our transgressions and help us to amend our ways, | 4:55 | |
and of thy eternal goodness, | 5:02 | |
direct what we shall be, | 5:05 | |
so that we may henceforth walk | 5:08 | |
in the way of thy commandments, | 5:10 | |
and do those things | 5:13 | |
which are worthy in thy sight. | 5:15 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 5:17 | |
And now as our savior Christ has taught us, | 5:22 | |
we humbly pray. | 5:26 | |
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 5:29 | |
thy kingdom come, | 5:35 | |
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 5:37 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 5:42 | |
and forgive us our trespassers, | 5:46 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us, | 5:49 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, | 5:53 | |
for thine is the kingdom and the power | 5:59 | |
and the glory forever. | 6:02 | |
Amen. | 6:06 | |
(calm religious music) | 6:10 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 6:54 | |
- | The scripture lesson for this morning | 11:39 |
is taken from the Book of the Acts in the 17th chapter, | 11:41 | |
beginning with the 22nd verse. | 11:46 | |
"So Paul standing in the middle of the Areopagus said, | 11:50 | |
'Men of the Athens, | 11:54 | |
I perceive that in every way you are very religious, | 11:57 | |
for as I passed along | 12:01 | |
and observed the objects of your worship, | 12:03 | |
I found also an altar with this inscription: | 12:06 | |
To an Unknown God. | 12:11 | |
But therefore you worship as unknown, | 12:14 | |
this I proclaim to you, | 12:17 | |
the God who made the world and everything in it, | 12:20 | |
being Lord of heaven and earth, | 12:23 | |
does not live in shrines made by man, | 12:26 | |
nor is he served by human hands | 12:30 | |
as though he needed anything, | 12:32 | |
since he himself gives to all men life | 12:35 | |
and breath and everything. | 12:38 | |
And he made from one every nation of men | 12:42 | |
to live on the face of the earth, | 12:45 | |
having determined a lot of periods | 12:48 | |
in the boundaries of their habitation, | 12:50 | |
that they should seek God | 12:53 | |
in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him. | 12:54 | |
Yet He is not far from each one of us, | 13:00 | |
for in Him we live and move and have our being. | 13:03 | |
As even some of your poets have said, | 13:08 | |
'For we are indeed His offspring.' | 13:11 | |
Being then God's offspring, | 13:15 | |
we ought not to think that the deity is like gold | 13:17 | |
or silver or stone, | 13:20 | |
a representation by the art and imagination of man. | 13:23 | |
The times of ignorance, God overlooked, | 13:28 | |
but now He commands all men everywhere to repent, | 13:32 | |
because He has fixed a day | 13:37 | |
on which He will judge the world in righteousness, | 13:38 | |
by a man whom He has appointed. | 13:41 | |
And of this He has given assurance to all men | 13:44 | |
by raising Him from the dead." | 13:48 | |
(calm religious music) | 13:54 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 14:18 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 15:57 |
Congregation | (indistinct) | 16:00 |
- | Let us pray. | 16:01 |
For thy goodness at all times, | 16:11 | |
and thy presence in all places, | 16:15 | |
glory be to thee O' God. | 16:19 | |
For the memory of things past, | 16:24 | |
for the use of things present, | 16:28 | |
and for the hope of things to come, glory be to thee O' God. | 16:31 | |
For thy peace in the turmoil of life, | 16:41 | |
for the strength in the adventure of life, | 16:46 | |
for thy blessed hope in the extreme adventure of death, | 16:52 | |
glory be thee O' God. | 16:59 | |
And let us offer unto God our prayer of intercession, | 17:06 | |
for this (indistinct) day. | 17:10 | |
All mighty God, whose son didst enjoy at Nazareth, | 17:14 | |
the life of an earthly home. | 17:19 | |
We command unto thy watchful care | 17:23 | |
the homes represented in our congregation, | 17:27 | |
make them to be colonies of thy kingdom on earth, | 17:32 | |
where Goodwill is the inspiration, | 17:38 | |
and cheerful service the accepted habit of its life. | 17:42 | |
Bless the fathers and sons who bow before thee together | 17:50 | |
in this chapel. | 17:56 | |
May such an act of giant worship be no unusual experience, | 18:00 | |
but a normal expression of their father, son relationship | 18:07 | |
in the things of the spirit. | 18:13 | |
This we ask in the name of thy Son, our Lord. | 18:16 | |
And on this Armistice Day, | 18:25 | |
let us pray for the military aspects of life. | 18:27 | |
Good Lord who has sent our lives in a time of war, | 18:34 | |
enable us to convert to a good purpose | 18:40 | |
whatever military demands are laid upon us. | 18:44 | |
If we undergo training, | 18:50 | |
may it strengthen our discipline | 18:53 | |
and lift out ideals to teamwork and service. | 18:55 | |
If we face combat, | 19:01 | |
may it not wrench away our Christian sympathy | 19:04 | |
nor harden our heart. | 19:08 | |
If we refuse the military way, | 19:13 | |
may our decision be made with insight and humility, | 19:17 | |
so that whatever our response | 19:24 | |
to the violence of men and nations, | 19:27 | |
we may continually fight the good fight of faith, in Him, | 19:31 | |
whose kingdom is not of this world. | 19:38 | |
Let us pray for world peace. | 19:43 | |
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn, | 19:47 | |
but the sword of righteousness. | 19:56 | |
And no strength known, but the strength of love. | 19:59 | |
So guide and inspire we pray thee, | 20:06 | |
the work of all who seek thy kingdom at home and abroad, | 20:09 | |
that all peoples may seek can find their security, | 20:14 | |
not in force of arms, | 20:20 | |
but in the perfect love, that passed without fear. | 20:23 | |
And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 20:31 | |
be with us all, | 20:36 | |
ever Lord. | 20:39 | |
Amen | 20:42 | |
(calm religious music) | 20:47 | |
(gentle religious music) | 21:58 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 22:15 | |
Accept O' Lord, these the gifts of thy people, | 28:01 | |
which we present unto thee, | 28:07 | |
as part of the worship of thy house | 28:10 | |
and may our gratitude to thee | 28:15 | |
be as great, as our need of thy mercy. | 28:18 | |
In Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 28:22 | |
(calm religious music) | 28:31 | |
- | If evangelist Paul were to conduct a Christian mission | 29:13 |
to America today, | 29:18 | |
he might well launch it as he did at Athens saying, | 29:22 | |
"I perceive that in every way, | 29:28 | |
you are very religious." | 29:33 | |
For indeed our current religious mess is abundantly evident. | 29:37 | |
Our church rooms are snowballing with unprecedented speed. | 29:45 | |
In fact, they are far outstripping the birth rate. | 29:53 | |
100 million Americans, | 30:00 | |
six out of every 10 people, | 30:04 | |
are reported to belong to some religious group. | 30:09 | |
The campaign of church building is breaking all records. | 30:16 | |
Religious books are among our best sellers. | 30:23 | |
Yes, St. Paul would be deeply impressed | 30:30 | |
with our spectacular religiousness. | 30:36 | |
He would not, fail to note, | 30:42 | |
that when we salute the flag, | 30:47 | |
we expressly declare that America is under God. | 30:50 | |
His eyes could not miss those glittering words on our coins, | 30:57 | |
in God we trust. | 31:04 | |
Nor would that new prayer room | 31:08 | |
in the Capital of the richest nation under the sun | 31:14 | |
escape his sharp attention. | 31:18 | |
Now what is one to make, | 31:23 | |
of this plethora of piety? | 31:26 | |
What does it really mean? | 31:30 | |
The skeptic easily replies, that our inflated spirituality | 31:35 | |
is mostly shallow religion paucity. | 31:40 | |
The romantic believer on the other hand, | 31:45 | |
insists that we are in the midst | 31:48 | |
of great spiritual awakening, | 31:52 | |
a deep down saving work of All Mighty God. | 31:56 | |
But the realist is not satisfied with either view. | 32:02 | |
Although he sees an element of truth, in both. | 32:09 | |
Let us then as Christian realists this morning, | 32:15 | |
try to take a square honest look | 32:19 | |
at our American religious situation. | 32:25 | |
We should recognize that the outset, | 32:30 | |
that it is one thing to be religious | 32:34 | |
and quite another to be righteous. | 32:38 | |
Saint Paul made this perfectly clear | 32:43 | |
in his message to the Athenians. | 32:46 | |
Wherever he looked, | 32:49 | |
he saw conspicuous alters directed | 32:51 | |
to their (indistinct) divinities. | 32:53 | |
Yet the apostle, | 32:57 | |
seeing straight through their idol centered piety, | 32:59 | |
called them to repentance | 33:04 | |
in light of the righteous judgment of God, | 33:07 | |
as made manifest in Jesus Christ. | 33:10 | |
Their response, | 33:15 | |
was complacently simply to wave Paul aside | 33:17 | |
as a mere babbler. | 33:24 | |
You see, the Athenians were very religious, | 33:27 | |
but they refused to become righteous. | 33:32 | |
Likewise, Jesus explicitly distinguished religiousness | 33:38 | |
from righteousness, | 33:43 | |
on observing the meticulous piety of the Pharisees, | 33:45 | |
the best people of His day, | 33:50 | |
He said, "Woe to you, Pharisees, | 33:53 | |
for you tithe, mint and rue, | 33:58 | |
and every herb, | 34:02 | |
and neglect justice and love to God." | 34:06 | |
Jesus placed a premium, | 34:13 | |
not upon religious but righteousness saying, | 34:16 | |
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. | 34:23 | |
Blessed are those who are persecuted | 34:31 | |
for righteousness sake." | 34:34 | |
And do you ask this morning, | 34:38 | |
what does it mean to be righteous? | 34:40 | |
Then here the incisive words | 34:45 | |
of our master Lord Jesus Christ. | 34:47 | |
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, | 34:52 | |
with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself." | 34:56 | |
Righteousness is here summed up | 35:04 | |
in a two dimensional commitment, | 35:07 | |
unconditioned love to God | 35:11 | |
and thy love to neighbor, | 35:16 | |
which is not less than the love given to oneself. | 35:18 | |
Now, if we apply that searching test of righteousness | 35:27 | |
to present day religion, | 35:32 | |
we will find it hard to gain say the contention | 35:35 | |
of Harvard's late professor Whitehead. | 35:40 | |
"Religion," he declared, | 35:46 | |
"is tending to degenerate | 35:50 | |
into a decent formula where with to embellish | 35:53 | |
a comfortable life." | 35:58 | |
As Whitehead saw, | 36:02 | |
We Americans are richly feasting | 36:05 | |
on the economic cream of the world. | 36:09 | |
Thanks to lavish natural resources | 36:13 | |
and to refined scientific technology, | 36:16 | |
our creature comforts now exceed | 36:20 | |
those of the dreams of yesterday. | 36:22 | |
Only a few years ago, | 36:27 | |
when Henry Wallace dared to predict | 36:30 | |
that America would soon afford 60 million jobs, | 36:33 | |
he was put down as talking astronomical nonsense. | 36:38 | |
And yet we're already well beyond that dizzy figure | 36:44 | |
with still greater things set to lie ahead. | 36:50 | |
In recent weeks, as you well know, | 36:54 | |
we have heard little save romantic chance | 36:57 | |
of our prosperity and our progress. | 37:01 | |
Now, does it seem at all strange to you? | 37:08 | |
That what Henry Link called "The Return to Religion" | 37:14 | |
comes at the very peak of our fat dripping prosperity. | 37:19 | |
This fact does not surprise a man | 37:27 | |
like that Midwestern mayor, | 37:30 | |
who told (indistinct) convention of Christian layman, | 37:32 | |
that when his Lord walked the earth, | 37:37 | |
he preached the great free enterprise system, | 37:39 | |
nor does it perplex the popular evangelist | 37:45 | |
to positive thinking, | 37:47 | |
who usually finds that when a man taps divine energy | 37:50 | |
and the enters upon confident living, | 37:54 | |
his business immediately picks up. | 37:57 | |
Nevertheless, there are numerous observers who believe, | 38:03 | |
that current religion, | 38:08 | |
as Whitehead feared, is tending to become an echo | 38:14 | |
of the interests | 38:19 | |
and values of a highly comfortable business society. | 38:21 | |
There are two psychological attitudes, | 38:29 | |
which clearly point in this direction. | 38:33 | |
One of them, is the widely prevailing spirit | 38:38 | |
of moral complacence. | 38:42 | |
Our contemporary piety is suffused | 38:47 | |
with the blissful temper of the famous three little monkeys. | 38:51 | |
We see no evil, | 38:56 | |
hear no evil, | 38:59 | |
speak no evil. | 39:03 | |
To be sure we do not deny the existence of evil, | 39:07 | |
we merely want to avoid the pain | 39:12 | |
and torment involved in messing with it. | 39:15 | |
You see, we are afraid we will get our clean hands soiled. | 39:22 | |
You see, we Americans are now preoccupied | 39:29 | |
with one thing basically, | 39:34 | |
the pursuit of happiness. | 39:38 | |
It is indeed my friends, our holy grail. | 39:42 | |
Significantly, in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", | 39:49 | |
the theme song, | 39:54 | |
used to consist of just four obligating words, | 39:56 | |
everybody is happy nowadays, | 40:02 | |
everybody is happy nowadays. | 40:08 | |
This coat of happiness, | 40:13 | |
this peace of mind grand of piety, | 40:16 | |
goes into ecstatic raptures | 40:22 | |
over what he calls spiritual worship. | 40:25 | |
It feasts upon sweet communion | 40:29 | |
with the smiling cosmic companion, | 40:31 | |
but it turns instantly frigid | 40:35 | |
at the mere fault of doing battle | 40:39 | |
on the frontiers of a troubled society, | 40:41 | |
either at home or abroad. | 40:44 | |
It does not rise to the call of the old herdsman prophet, | 40:50 | |
"Let justice roll down like waters | 40:55 | |
and the righteousness like an ever flowing stream." | 41:00 | |
Significantly, cravers of this happy, problem-free pietism, | 41:07 | |
flee anxiety with a passion. | 41:14 | |
They run from inner conflict with a vengeance. | 41:18 | |
Yes, Jesus did warn against anxiety, | 41:26 | |
but the special type of anxiety | 41:33 | |
which he was most concerned to eradicate, | 41:36 | |
stems from the acquisitive impulse. | 41:40 | |
Immediately after Jesus said, | 41:45 | |
"You cannot serve God and mammon." | 41:50 | |
He declared, "Do not be anxious for your life, | 41:55 | |
what you shall eat | 42:01 | |
or what you shall drink | 42:04 | |
nor about your body, | 42:07 | |
what you shall put on." | 42:10 | |
His main intention here, | 42:14 | |
was not to expel anxiety as such, | 42:17 | |
but to shift its center from the concern for things, | 42:22 | |
to the concern for the way to your matter | 42:28 | |
of the kingdom of God. | 42:31 | |
For what shall it profit a man, | 42:36 | |
if he should gain the whole world, | 42:41 | |
and lose his own soul? | 42:45 | |
Now, this is not to say | 42:52 | |
that the pathological forms of anxiety | 42:53 | |
are to be ignored or underestimated, | 42:56 | |
far from it, they should be eradicated if at all possible. | 43:02 | |
And therefore we rightly support psychiatrists | 43:06 | |
and other mental specialists, | 43:10 | |
who are doing so much in this all important field. | 43:12 | |
And yet, and yet, | 43:16 | |
as Paul Tillich has reminded us, | 43:20 | |
"There is a type of anxiety | 43:23 | |
which belongs to existence as such, | 43:27 | |
and which if removed, | 43:33 | |
would leave man something less than a true human being. | 43:36 | |
Without this existential anxiety, | 43:45 | |
men might be a sleek, happy seal, | 43:51 | |
but he would not be a creative self, | 43:56 | |
since man is not merely tethered to nature, | 44:01 | |
but also is semi-detached from nature, | 44:06 | |
he unavoidably reflects upon the meaning of existence | 44:11 | |
and anxiously ponders his ultimate fate, | 44:17 | |
this uneasy trembling, | 44:24 | |
before the determiner of destiny, | 44:28 | |
this fear of the Lord as the Bible puts it, | 44:31 | |
is the very beginning of wisdom. | 44:36 | |
The (indistinct) to the peace that passes understanding. | 44:40 | |
Hence when one tries to smother essential anxiety, | 44:46 | |
as distinguished from neurotic anxiety, | 44:54 | |
one closes the door to the kingdom of God | 44:58 | |
or the spiritual fulfillment of human life. | 45:05 | |
Far from suppressing it, | 45:10 | |
one should utilize it, | 45:13 | |
as a necessary avenue to the higher life. | 45:15 | |
The other psychological attitude | 45:23 | |
which characterizes much present day piety | 45:27 | |
is a strong inclination toward ethical | 45:31 | |
and social conformity. | 45:37 | |
The social and religious liberal is today, | 45:41 | |
seriously discounted. | 45:48 | |
Does anyone here think, | 45:53 | |
that a man of the model | 45:55 | |
and political views of Thomas Jefferson | 45:57 | |
could have been elected president in the year 1956? | 46:02 | |
This conformist temper | 46:11 | |
has doubtless been nourished by our recent | 46:14 | |
wave of rich honey. | 46:18 | |
At its height, | 46:21 | |
not only the declaration of independence, | 46:23 | |
but much of the Bible sounded subversive | 46:26 | |
to many self appointed monitors of the American conscience. | 46:29 | |
But be the cause what he made, | 46:36 | |
the fact is, that current religion is remarkably team | 46:39 | |
in a tomorrow daring. | 46:44 | |
If therefore we are actually experiencing | 46:47 | |
a religious revival in America, | 46:51 | |
then I declare to you that this revival is certainly | 46:54 | |
not at all venturesome, | 46:57 | |
at those points where our society is most in moral jeopardy. | 46:59 | |
This applies to the college campus | 47:09 | |
as well as to other sectors | 47:13 | |
of the Judeo-Christian community. | 47:15 | |
Only a short time a goal, | 47:18 | |
at least the superior college student had a long neck, | 47:21 | |
and he didn't mind sticking it out. | 47:27 | |
Vigorous controversy and provocative debate | 47:32 | |
were the very crystal of his intellectual | 47:36 | |
and spiritual life. | 47:39 | |
But so far as I can learn today, | 47:42 | |
the present day campus including our own, | 47:46 | |
is far from being a hotbed of progressivism. | 47:51 | |
It's generally seen of outright conservatism. | 47:56 | |
College youth might consistently today across this land | 48:02 | |
hoist the banner, fare well to reform, | 48:08 | |
fare well to reform. | 48:14 | |
Interestingly, it is a young man fresh from Yale, | 48:23 | |
who calls Americans back to God | 48:28 | |
and the good old days. | 48:31 | |
It is another young man, also recently out of college | 48:37 | |
who comes south, expressly to save the White race | 48:41 | |
from modern realization. | 48:46 | |
Our current religiousness seems to cultivate | 48:52 | |
in both youth and adults. | 48:56 | |
A tendency to seek the middle of the road | 48:58 | |
when crucial issues call for decision. | 49:03 | |
This middle of the road temper, means in the final showdown, | 49:07 | |
simply a preference for the middle of the human pack, | 49:13 | |
for the center of the social herd, | 49:18 | |
for there one would be shielded | 49:23 | |
from the shafts of criticism, | 49:26 | |
and saved from the insecurity of a independent mind. | 49:30 | |
Emerson's famous doctrine of self-reliance, | 49:39 | |
has been at abjectly exchanged, | 49:46 | |
for that of group or herd reliance, | 49:50 | |
and group directed man deeply craves a leader, | 49:56 | |
one on whom he can rely for security | 50:03 | |
and for all crucial decisions. | 50:08 | |
Paradoxically, the American of today as Cole pointed out, | 50:13 | |
wants freedom, | 50:22 | |
and fears his freedom. | 50:25 | |
This then seems to be the spiritual condition of America | 50:34 | |
(indistinct) the century. | 50:38 | |
Numerically speaking, religion is flourishing | 50:41 | |
like the green bay tree. | 50:45 | |
Yet from a qualitative standpoint, | 50:48 | |
it is becoming dangerously subservient | 50:52 | |
to a business civilization that is apt in things | 50:56 | |
but lean in soul. | 51:01 | |
Unhappily, the more religious we become on these terms, | 51:05 | |
the less likely are we to recognize the peril | 51:13 | |
of our moral predicament. | 51:17 | |
As (indistinct), we have eyes, | 51:20 | |
but we see not, | 51:25 | |
we have ears, | 51:28 | |
but we hear not. | 51:32 | |
What is more, | 51:36 | |
a socially captive religion, | 51:38 | |
is seriously warping our value judgments, | 51:41 | |
so that we call evil good, and good evil. | 51:46 | |
We put darkness for light, | 51:53 | |
and light for darkness. | 51:57 | |
Therefore, those thundering words of Amos | 52:01 | |
though unpleasant to our complacent ears, | 52:07 | |
speak directly to our spiritual situation. | 52:12 | |
Woe to those, who are at ease in Zion | 52:17 | |
and to those who feel secure on the Mountain of Sumeria. | 52:23 | |
Who lie upon the beds of ivory, | 52:30 | |
and stretch themselves upon their couches. | 52:33 | |
Who drink wine in bowls | 52:40 | |
and anoint themselves with the finest oils, | 52:44 | |
but who are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. | 52:50 | |
Let us rise in prayer. | 52:58 | |
All Mighty God, | 53:06 | |
disturb our fault's peace, | 53:09 | |
shatter our complacency, | 53:13 | |
and save us from that lethargy of spirit, | 53:17 | |
which betrays the gospel of Jesus Christ. | 53:21 | |
Now to him, who is able to keep you from falling, | 53:28 | |
and to present you without blemish | 53:33 | |
before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, | 53:35 | |
to the only God, | 53:40 | |
our savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord, | 53:42 | |
be glory, | 53:46 | |
majesty and authority, | 53:48 | |
now and forever. | 53:52 | |
(calm music) | 54:03 | |
(choir sings faintly) | 54:13 | |
(bell dings) | 55:45 | |
- | Testing, testing, | 56:57 |
testing, testing, testing, | 57:01 | |
testing. | 57:05 |
- | Sunday morning, November 18, 1956. | 0:06 |
Preaching will be Dr. Creighton Lacey, | 0:12 | |
Professor, Duke Divinity School. | 0:15 | |
(piano music) | 0:21 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 0:41 | |
♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪ | 0:46 | |
♪ Praise him above, ye heavenly host ♪ | 0:53 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 0:59 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:08 | |
- | Oh God, who needeth not to be enriched | 1:17 |
with any gifts that we may bring, | 1:21 | |
yet loveth a cheerful giver. | 1:24 | |
Receive these our offerings | 1:28 | |
which we present unto thee, | 1:30 | |
and with them ourselves, our souls, and our bodies, | 1:33 | |
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to thee | 1:38 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 1:44 | |
Amen. | 1:47 | |
(orchestral music) | 1:51 | |
- | In the second chapter of his prophecy, | 2:25 |
Hosea reverses the usual cycle of thanksgiving. | 2:28 | |
Instead of tracing the goodness of God | 2:32 | |
through the sunshine and rain to the bountiful crops | 2:35 | |
for which man offers dutiful thanks, | 2:39 | |
Hosea starts with the Valley of Jezreel, | 2:42 | |
a symbolic name meaning God sows rather than man, | 2:46 | |
and pictures a natural symphony of praise ascending upward. | 2:52 | |
And it is in response to this gratitude | 2:57 | |
that God pours forth mercy on those without mercy | 3:00 | |
and receives those who have not been his people. | 3:05 | |
It shall come to pass in that day, | 3:11 | |
"I will answer.", sayeth the Lord. | 3:13 | |
"I will answer the heavens and the earth, | 3:15 | |
and they shall answer the earth | 3:19 | |
and the earth shall answer the grain and the new wine | 3:20 | |
and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel. | 3:24 | |
And I will sow her unto me in the earth, | 3:28 | |
and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy. | 3:31 | |
And I will say to them that were not my people, | 3:36 | |
thou art my people, and they shall say, | 3:39 | |
thou art my God." | 3:44 | |
Here in picturesque language is the whole interdependence | 3:48 | |
of Thanksgiving, the partnership of God and man and nature, | 3:52 | |
the unity of creation. | 4:00 | |
There may be some who believe more sincerely than Ogden Nash | 4:03 | |
that Thanksgiving like ambassadors, | 4:07 | |
cabinet officers and others smeared with political ointment | 4:10 | |
depends for its existence on presidential appointment. | 4:15 | |
There are certainly some here today who regard it merely | 4:20 | |
as an excuse for escaping from the restrictions | 4:24 | |
of this campus. | 4:27 | |
Although even that attitude may not be entirely devoid | 4:29 | |
of gratitude toward the pilgrims for a good idea, | 4:33 | |
toward Washington for the first official proclamation, | 4:38 | |
toward Lincoln for the regular national holiday, | 4:42 | |
or even toward Franklin Roosevelt, | 4:47 | |
who has battled with state governors and Congress | 4:49 | |
gives us this year, | 4:53 | |
the earliest possible date for Thanksgiving. | 4:54 | |
For most people, however, this is a genuine holiday, | 4:59 | |
although we observe it less and less as a genuine holy day. | 5:03 | |
The shortening days, the falling leaves, | 5:10 | |
the Christmas parades remind us that nature | 5:13 | |
is ending another year. | 5:16 | |
We are still close enough to our rural heritage to cherish | 5:19 | |
the symbols of corn shocks, turkeys and pumpkin pies. | 5:22 | |
This is an occasion for family fellowship, | 5:27 | |
and better still for including those | 5:31 | |
who have no family circle. | 5:33 | |
All of us who speak about Thanksgiving in a majestic chapel | 5:36 | |
or in a one room school house face the perils of the trite, | 5:41 | |
the sentimental and the obvious. | 5:46 | |
Yet there are undertones and overtones to Thanksgiving, | 5:50 | |
which must not be forgotten. | 5:54 | |
We have sang thrillingly this morning, | 5:57 | |
"Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices." | 5:59 | |
We have made gestures of praise to God with our lips | 6:08 | |
and with our fingers. | 6:12 | |
I dare not judge about our hearts, | 6:14 | |
but out of the multitude of reasons and values | 6:18 | |
and blessings for Thanksgiving, | 6:21 | |
let me select just a couple under each of these | 6:25 | |
very simple headings, voices, hands and heart. | 6:27 | |
Second, only to the 4th of July, | 6:36 | |
this is a vociferous holiday. | 6:37 | |
We praise the Lord and pass the Turkey to prove | 6:40 | |
that God has been very good to us. | 6:43 | |
We praise our Alma mater and passed the pig skin | 6:46 | |
to prove that this is a good old American tradition. | 6:49 | |
We may declare a very lustily that we plow the fields | 6:53 | |
and scatter the good seed on the land, | 6:57 | |
although very few of us ever do that. | 7:00 | |
In family reunions, we shall chatter so constantly, | 7:04 | |
but no one will have time to listen. | 7:08 | |
With all the hilarity we may be sincerely and profoundly | 7:11 | |
thankful for the blessings we have received | 7:15 | |
and hope to receive. | 7:19 | |
But will you give thanks so readily at this autumn season | 7:22 | |
are singularly tongue tied or forgetful | 7:25 | |
the rest of the year. | 7:29 | |
A Congressman who received a word of approval | 7:32 | |
for a certain stand which he had taken | 7:34 | |
replied as follows, | 7:37 | |
"Your letter was both a surprise and a pleasure. | 7:40 | |
I have represented your district for the past 13 years. | 7:43 | |
In all that time, yours is the first letter I have received, | 7:47 | |
in which a constituent actually thanked me | 7:52 | |
for doing my duty as a legislator." | 7:55 | |
How much richer and truer this season would be | 8:00 | |
If we had spread our words of gratitude to God or man | 8:03 | |
throughout the year. | 8:08 | |
When did you last express thanks to your parents | 8:12 | |
for life and love? | 8:16 | |
If a teacher ever goes out of his way to show personal | 8:20 | |
interest in you and to help you beyond the call of duty, | 8:23 | |
does he even know you appreciated it? | 8:29 | |
Are your rude complaints about the service in cafeterias | 8:33 | |
or filling stations or stores ever balanced | 8:37 | |
by a word of courtesy? | 8:41 | |
Did you ever thank your roommate for putting up with you? | 8:45 | |
There is a jab of truth to Shakespeare's jolly song, | 8:50 | |
"Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind", | 8:54 | |
thou art not so unkind as mans ingratitude. | 8:57 | |
Freeze freeze thou bitter sky, that dost not bite so nigh | 9:02 | |
as benefits forgot. | 9:07 | |
Though thou the water's warp, | 9:09 | |
thy sting is not so sharp as friend remembered not. | 9:11 | |
One of my college roommates came from a background | 9:19 | |
without any religious faith | 9:22 | |
or church connections whatsoever. | 9:24 | |
One summer vacation, he wrote me this, | 9:27 | |
"Sometimes I wish I believe in a personal God, | 9:30 | |
so that I could thank him for our friendship." | 9:34 | |
Corny? Not Very. | 9:40 | |
Peter wasn't embarrassed roundabout line of gratitude | 9:43 | |
that I shall never forget. But far more important, | 9:46 | |
here was a recognition by a completely non-religious person | 9:50 | |
that the best things in life are not mechanical or merited, | 9:55 | |
but gratitude is somehow a natural instinct | 10:02 | |
and that the deepest thanks are owed to someone higher | 10:07 | |
than human friends. Our opening hymn this morning. | 10:11 | |
Now, thank we all our God | 10:16 | |
is not to be found under Thanksgiving songs | 10:18 | |
in the Methodist hymnal. | 10:21 | |
It is very near the beginning under adoration and praise. | 10:23 | |
Real gratitude is not a seasonal product to be served up | 10:28 | |
on the fourth Thursday in November. | 10:32 | |
It is a year round expression of year round indebtedness | 10:35 | |
to God and man. | 10:40 | |
The second implication of thanking God with our voices | 10:45 | |
is this, Thanksgiving is a social act. | 10:49 | |
All we Protestants claim the priesthood of all believers. | 10:54 | |
We know the transforming power | 10:58 | |
of individual communion with God. | 11:00 | |
We acknowledge our obligation to give personal thanks | 11:03 | |
to him. | 11:06 | |
But this autumn celebration emphasizes the importance | 11:08 | |
and the necessity of corporate gratitude. | 11:12 | |
It is a family festival, a national holiday, | 11:18 | |
a universal harvest season. | 11:24 | |
Referring again to our theme hymn, | 11:28 | |
an individual can give praise with heart and hands, | 11:30 | |
but very few of us are Edgar Bergen's | 11:34 | |
who can sing with plural voices. | 11:37 | |
We need one another. | 11:40 | |
The Bible repeatedly asserts the effectiveness | 11:44 | |
of concerted prayer. As hard as hilarity once put it, | 11:46 | |
Noah prayed with a fate of a new world in his grasp, | 11:51 | |
but he prayed alone. And neither his own moral strength | 11:55 | |
nor those who came after him | 11:59 | |
were adequate for the challenge. | 12:02 | |
Abraham's sought in vain for 10 righteous man in Sodom, | 12:05 | |
but without them, | 12:09 | |
his own earnest prayers for the city were unavailing. | 12:10 | |
Daniel on the other hand, | 12:16 | |
had three beloved companions who waxed mighty in prayer. | 12:17 | |
Esther succeeded in restraining the king | 12:23 | |
when all of her people joined with her in fasting | 12:26 | |
and prayer. Truly we are members one of another. | 12:30 | |
But this abundant harvest season, | 12:38 | |
when peace and prosperity have been shouted across the land | 12:41 | |
for many months. | 12:44 | |
We cannot, we dare not give thanks alone. | 12:46 | |
The self-righteous complacency, which takes for granted | 12:52 | |
that we have earned this favored place, | 12:55 | |
corrodes away all genuine Christian gratitude. | 12:57 | |
More than 300 years ago, John Dunn wrote, | 13:04 | |
"No man is an island entire of itself. | 13:07 | |
Every man is a piece of the continent, | 13:12 | |
a part of the main. If a clog be washed away by the sea, | 13:15 | |
Europe is the last." | 13:20 | |
Today, we know that no nation is an island | 13:24 | |
sufficient unto itself. In these recent weeks of crisis, | 13:27 | |
we have not even asked for whom the bell tolls | 13:32 | |
because we knew. Those who lie dead beside the Danube, | 13:36 | |
or on the Sinai desert or in the streets of Singapore, | 13:42 | |
we're children of God too. | 13:46 | |
The refugees who would huddle shivering in Hong Kong | 13:50 | |
and Gaza in Western Germany are part of the human family. | 13:54 | |
President Eisenhower, writing his Thanksgiving proclamation | 14:00 | |
this year must remember his own country | 14:04 | |
as well as Hungary in Egypt, when he says, | 14:08 | |
"Let us be grateful that the foundations of freedom | 14:11 | |
in our nation grow stronger with each passing year, | 14:15 | |
giving hope to fettered peoples that they may walk | 14:20 | |
as free men, unafraid." | 14:24 | |
We shall not realize the full meaning | 14:30 | |
of corporate thankfulness | 14:32 | |
as long as barriers of bitterness divide us | 14:34 | |
from any of our fellow men. | 14:38 | |
This week, it should be especially clear | 14:42 | |
that those who walk with weariness and pride | 14:45 | |
through Montgomery, Alabama, | 14:49 | |
have earned a deeper understanding of gratitude | 14:51 | |
than we who sit, period. | 14:55 | |
As we recall the hope of freedom and justice, | 14:59 | |
which sustained the pilgrims through adversity | 15:02 | |
and which inspired the first American Thanksgiving, | 15:05 | |
we cannot rest content until all our stupendous | 15:09 | |
and undeniable good is crowned with brotherhood | 15:15 | |
from sea to shining sea. | 15:20 | |
Praising God with all our voices then | 15:26 | |
includes repeated and United gratitude. | 15:29 | |
What does it mean to praise him with our hands? | 15:34 | |
Farmers know, harvest festivals have originated | 15:38 | |
in many lands among rural people, | 15:43 | |
among those who live and labor close to the soil. | 15:46 | |
We who buy our food in season and out | 15:51 | |
at the neighborhood grocery store or the campus cafeteria | 15:54 | |
readily forget the work of many, many hands. | 15:58 | |
Hosea knew that the inhabitants of the valley of Jezreel | 16:04 | |
were offering thanks through their orchards and vineyards | 16:07 | |
and wheat fields. King David proclaimed | 16:12 | |
the first Thanksgiving holiday described | 16:16 | |
in the scripture lesson from Chronicles | 16:18 | |
to celebrate months of effort, overcoming war and treachery | 16:21 | |
and sudden death in moving the Ark | 16:26 | |
a few miles to Jerusalem. | 16:30 | |
The pilgrims gave thanks, | 16:34 | |
not for the berries and the wild animals and caves, | 16:35 | |
which they found on the bleak New England shore, | 16:39 | |
they waited nine months until they could see the fruits | 16:43 | |
of their own labor in building, organizing, defending, | 16:46 | |
planting, manufacturing. | 16:51 | |
Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. | 16:57 | |
But this requirement that we work for a living | 17:02 | |
does not relieve us from the debt of gratitude. | 17:05 | |
In the wisdom of God's creation. | 17:08 | |
The process of life is a continuous | 17:10 | |
and an interdependent activity. | 17:13 | |
The revised standard version of the New Testament | 17:17 | |
loses something when it has Paul say to the Corinthians, | 17:20 | |
"You are God's field, God's building." | 17:24 | |
For the earlier word, | 17:29 | |
"Ye are God's husbandry," may be archaic, | 17:30 | |
but it has a significant triple meaning. | 17:35 | |
Husbandry made a note, the actual workers, the husband men, | 17:40 | |
who were laboring in God's kingdom. | 17:44 | |
It may refer to the result of their labor, | 17:47 | |
the produce, the harvest. | 17:50 | |
You are what God has raised up. | 17:53 | |
Or it may mean the act of labor, the work itself, | 17:56 | |
the process of creation in which we are instruments | 18:01 | |
of the Lord. | 18:05 | |
This triple usage of an agricultural term | 18:07 | |
indicates the essential interrelation | 18:10 | |
between work and worker and product. | 18:12 | |
It implies also that we are in partnership not only | 18:18 | |
with one another, but with God the creator. | 18:22 | |
You have heard about the preacher who watched a farmer | 18:27 | |
tilling his guard and poured out pious platitudes | 18:30 | |
of praise about the miracle, | 18:33 | |
which you and God have accomplished together. | 18:35 | |
Yeah, grunted the farmer. | 18:40 | |
But you should have seen this weed patch | 18:41 | |
when the Lord had it by himself. | 18:43 | |
The anecdote was doubtless meant to belittle | 18:47 | |
the divine share in farming. | 18:50 | |
It does not succeed. In the first place, | 18:53 | |
It could readily be turned around | 18:56 | |
to ask what the farmer would have to show | 18:58 | |
without sun and rain and soil | 19:00 | |
and the still an explicable germ of life in a tiny seed. | 19:05 | |
But furthermore, the story serves to illustrate | 19:11 | |
a fundamental law of creation, | 19:13 | |
that we are workers together with God. | 19:16 | |
Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. | 19:20 | |
We are reading a great deal these days about the prospects | 19:29 | |
and perils of automation, | 19:31 | |
fantastic machines already in existence | 19:34 | |
can calculate problems, which would take us years, | 19:37 | |
can issue instructions to other machines, | 19:40 | |
can supply the right materials at the right time. | 19:44 | |
Still more amazing predictions for the future, | 19:48 | |
bewilder the industrialist and threaten employment. | 19:51 | |
But these machines are man made and man designed. | 19:56 | |
Their accomplishments and their limitations | 20:04 | |
are still set by human minds. | 20:07 | |
If we ever reach a day, | 20:11 | |
when robots can reproduce themselves | 20:13 | |
and can undertake tasks, | 20:15 | |
which have not been assigned to them, | 20:17 | |
that will not be a day of triumph, but of human defeat. | 20:20 | |
Not an evidence of progress, | 20:25 | |
but a surrender of freedom and of life itself. | 20:28 | |
So it is also between man and God. | 20:33 | |
The marvelous advances in science and technology | 20:37 | |
are not human achievements alone. | 20:40 | |
They depend on natural laws. | 20:44 | |
They employ materials and elements, | 20:47 | |
which can be artificially produced only inadequately, | 20:49 | |
if at all. They somehow arise only from the human brain, | 20:53 | |
a living machine, | 20:59 | |
more fabulous than the most complex Uniback. | 21:00 | |
And if a materialistic mechanistic explanation | 21:05 | |
of the universe ever does prevail, | 21:10 | |
if it should ever be proved that we could get along | 21:13 | |
without God, then we shall be no longer men | 21:15 | |
or even machines, but monsters. | 21:20 | |
The values for which we give thanks today, | 21:26 | |
love, beauty, truth, freedom will be not only | 21:29 | |
irrelevant illusions, but dangerous false hoods. | 21:37 | |
We thank God with our hands. | 21:43 | |
Not only when we produce, but when we share. | 21:45 | |
The first half of this holiday is 'thanks'. | 21:50 | |
The second half is 'giving'. | 21:54 | |
Let know true Christian forget that while we feast, | 21:57 | |
one half of mankind goes to bed hungry. | 22:01 | |
We may not be able to mail a drumstick from a plump Turkey | 22:05 | |
to a Korean orphan, but we should want to do so. | 22:08 | |
Not only must we find ways of sharing our abundance more | 22:13 | |
widely and more justly, | 22:16 | |
but we must constantly seek more permanent methods | 22:20 | |
of reducing inequality and suffering. | 22:23 | |
The presidential proclamation includes these summons. | 22:28 | |
"Let us as the beneficiaries of this greatness, | 22:32 | |
give a good account of our stewardship by helping those | 22:36 | |
in need and by rendering aid through our religious | 22:40 | |
organizations and by other means, to the ill, | 22:45 | |
the destitute and the oppressed in foreign lands. | 22:49 | |
Let us thank God with our hands, | 22:56 | |
finding our deepest satisfaction in creative sharing, | 22:59 | |
rediscovering the eternal truth that we reap what we sow." | 23:03 | |
Let us thank God with our hands, | 23:09 | |
knowing that we are partners with him, | 23:12 | |
but junior partners, dependent for all that we have | 23:15 | |
and all that we are on his infinite goodness and love. | 23:19 | |
Let us thank God with our hands, dedicating our lives | 23:26 | |
to service. But true gratitude is even more than this. | 23:30 | |
It involves the heart and that involves the whole being. | 23:37 | |
Thanksgiving cannot be limited to an autumnal Anthem | 23:42 | |
or to some physical feet like carving the turkey | 23:46 | |
or unfreezing the pumpkin pie. | 23:50 | |
Thanksgiving is an attitude, not an act. | 23:54 | |
It expresses our relationship to both creator and creation. | 23:59 | |
It shows itself in what we are as well as what we do | 24:05 | |
and what we say. | 24:10 | |
It is an inclusive form of worship because it includes | 24:13 | |
all of ourselves. | 24:16 | |
All of our fellow men, all of our father, God. | 24:18 | |
In this familiar hymn, | 24:24 | |
old brother, man, folded thy heart thy brother. | 24:26 | |
That beloved American poet, | 24:31 | |
John Greenleaf Whittier says, | 24:32 | |
"The holier worship, which he dains to bless, | 24:35 | |
restores the lost and binds the spirit broken | 24:40 | |
and feeds the widow and the fatherless." | 24:45 | |
Thanksgiving from the heart is the most genuine kind of all. | 24:50 | |
It is the fundamental form, which hands and voices echo. | 24:55 | |
Some of you remember that bestselling novel | 25:01 | |
of the depression years, "Vain Of Iron" by Ellen Glasgow. | 25:03 | |
The heroine had one simple moving motto, | 25:09 | |
which carried her through all manner of adversity, | 25:13 | |
"It is only in the heart that anything ever really happens." | 25:16 | |
Materialists may scoff and many do. | 25:24 | |
The heart is only a physiological organ, they say, | 25:27 | |
pumping a red liquid through a network of arteries, | 25:31 | |
capillaries, and veins. | 25:34 | |
Or if we are talking about such nonsense as soul or spirit, | 25:36 | |
the heart is at best a disconcerting epic phenomenon. | 25:41 | |
At worst, a sentimental obstacle to social progress. | 25:47 | |
But the Christian knows that it is only in the heart | 25:52 | |
that anything ever really happens. | 25:55 | |
Not that we deny the material world. | 26:00 | |
The late great Archbishop of Canterbury, | 26:04 | |
William Temple referred to Christianity | 26:05 | |
as the most materialistic of all religions, | 26:08 | |
for we affirm the reality of the physical world | 26:12 | |
and God's concern for it. | 26:15 | |
Our hands and voices respond to the wheel, | 26:20 | |
which is another name for heart. | 26:24 | |
If we believe in any sort of freedom, | 26:27 | |
it resides in the heart and not in the brain or the glans | 26:29 | |
or the muscles. Faith, hope and love. | 26:34 | |
These three last on because they are at home, | 26:41 | |
in the human heart. | 26:46 | |
The heart knows a difference in values, | 26:49 | |
which neither eyes nor fingers can detect. | 26:51 | |
It knows that, as Edwin Arlington Robinson put it, | 26:55 | |
two kinds of gratitude. The sudden kind, | 26:58 | |
we feel for what we take. | 27:02 | |
The larger kind, we feel for what we give. | 27:05 | |
At this season the heart finds deeper, clearer, | 27:11 | |
stranger things to be thankful for | 27:15 | |
than a new Thunderbird or a bee in logic. | 27:17 | |
William Dean Howells expressed this in typically unorthodox | 27:22 | |
verse, "Lord for the erring thought not into evil rot. | 27:26 | |
Lord for the wicked wheel betrayed and baffled still, | 27:34 | |
for the heart from itself kept, our thanksgiving accept." | 27:38 | |
The heart is thankful, free, and wise | 27:48 | |
because the Lord is there. | 27:53 | |
Because he spurns coaching from the sidelines | 27:56 | |
and moves into the very center of our lives, | 27:59 | |
everything takes on new meaning. | 28:02 | |
We see with fresh insight that gratitude demands expression, | 28:05 | |
not once a year, but every day. | 28:11 | |
We discover that true Thanksgiving is a communal experience. | 28:16 | |
Whenever it becomes complacent and superior, | 28:20 | |
it's Smothers in its own self-righteousness. | 28:24 | |
We learn what Saint Paul meant | 28:28 | |
when he declared emphatically, "The point is this, | 28:30 | |
he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. | 28:34 | |
And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." | 28:38 | |
We realize that we are partners with God and man | 28:44 | |
in both creation and appreciation. | 28:49 | |
Here is one more sentence from | 28:56 | |
President Eisenhower's proclamation, | 28:57 | |
"Humbly aware that we are a people greatly blessed | 29:01 | |
both materially and spiritually. | 29:05 | |
Let us pray this year, | 29:08 | |
not only in the spirit of Thanksgiving, | 29:09 | |
but also as supplements for God's guidance. | 29:12 | |
To the end that we may follow the course of righteousness | 29:16 | |
and be worthy of his favor." | 29:20 | |
This does not mean a superficial piety. | 29:26 | |
We were warned last week from this pulpit | 29:30 | |
of the difference between religiousness and righteousness. | 29:33 | |
We shall experience the difference in our own lives | 29:39 | |
only as Christ dwells in our hearts, | 29:42 | |
speaks through our voices, works with our hands. | 29:46 | |
Saint Paul found many things to be grateful for. | 29:53 | |
In the midst of storm and impending shipwreck, | 29:57 | |
he took bread and gave thanks. | 29:59 | |
Almost every letter opens with a word of gratitude | 30:02 | |
for the faithfulness of those early Christians. | 30:05 | |
Faithfulness not toward himself, but Christ. | 30:09 | |
For Paul had one Supreme object of Thanksgiving | 30:14 | |
in which all other causes were gathered up. | 30:18 | |
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. | 30:22 | |
And Jesus Christ is the fulfillment | 30:29 | |
of Hosea's ancient prophecy, | 30:31 | |
"I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy. | 30:35 | |
And I will say to them that we're not my people, | 30:39 | |
thou art my people. | 30:42 | |
And they shall say, thou art, my God." | 30:45 | |
This new relationship takes place within the human heart. | 30:50 | |
It is all that ever really matters. | 30:57 | |
For this is the way God responds to the heaven | 31:01 | |
and the earth, the cornfields and the vineyards. | 31:03 | |
When Thanksgiving becomes in truth an attitude of the heart, | 31:08 | |
expressed with hands and voices, God almighty hears | 31:12 | |
and answers. | 31:18 | |
The Whittier hymn already quoted, ends like this, | 31:21 | |
"Follow with reverend steps the great example | 31:27 | |
of him whose holy work was doing good. | 31:30 | |
So shall a wide earth seem our fathers temple, | 31:34 | |
each loving life, a Psalm of gratitude." | 31:40 | |
Let us pray. | 31:47 | |
Our heavenly father for all that we have received | 31:56 | |
and all that we are receiving, make us truly thankful. | 31:59 | |
Teach us at this festive season to join heart and hands | 32:04 | |
and voices, not only with our families, but with thy family. | 32:09 | |
Bless us in our experience of Thanksgiving, | 32:16 | |
that it may be more than a transom holiday. | 32:20 | |
So guide and use us every day, Oh Lord, | 32:24 | |
that we may sincerely offer thee each loving life, | 32:27 | |
a Psalm of gratitude. | 32:32 | |
Now, thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices | 32:35 | |
who wondrous things have done, in whom the world rejoices. | 32:43 | |
Grace to you and peace from God, our father | 32:50 | |
and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 32:55 | |
- | Operator testing one, two, three, four, | 34:01 |
five, six, seven, eight, | 34:05 | |
nine, 10. | 34:07 | |
Power test, two, three, four, five, six. | 34:09 | |
11,12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. | 34:19 |
Item Info
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