Sunday Service - 1/16/2011 - Richard Lischer
Published 2 years ago
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Richard Lischer delivers a sermon entitled "The View from the Ditch."
Opening excerpt from the sermon: (24:24)
"So, once again this week, the American flag flies at half-staff, and, whether we like it or not, a very old question about 'the national character' has risen up for debate. Why does so much violence occur in our country, whence this anger, and what can we do about it? We have been schooled in our rights, but what are our responsibilities to one another? And who are we as a church, the community of Christians who live in North America? What vision of the kingdom do our words and lives proclaim? 43 years ago, on the night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. was wrestling with the same questions. He was making a speech in Memphis, Tennessee trying to explain how he had gotten embroiled in a local dispute involving sanitation workers. What did a
Nobel Peace Prize winner have to do with striking garbage men? His closest aides asked the same question and reminded him that he had more important things to do. Memphis was not a strategic city. The sanitation workers were not attractive victims like the children of Birmingham or the voters of Selma. As King spoke that night, a powerful storm moved through Memphis and his speech was punctuated by claps of thunder, as if to say, 'Listen, this is important!'"
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (42:40)
"Is this a mercy you can accept? Is this a mercy you can live? Yes, It's a dangerous road, the winding road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Just how dangerous? 43 years ago, it cost Martin Luther King his life. How dangerous? You stop on it to help someone, and you may be its next victim. Just how dangerous? It will disabuse you of everything you thought you knew about
religion and politics; because on this road old enemies are transformed into new neighbors—and then friends; How dangerous? It will cause you to lift your arms for rescue to a crucified teller of tales. AMEN."
Sermon begins at 24:24.
Luke 10:25-37
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/hiTyxc
Opening excerpt from the sermon: (24:24)
"So, once again this week, the American flag flies at half-staff, and, whether we like it or not, a very old question about 'the national character' has risen up for debate. Why does so much violence occur in our country, whence this anger, and what can we do about it? We have been schooled in our rights, but what are our responsibilities to one another? And who are we as a church, the community of Christians who live in North America? What vision of the kingdom do our words and lives proclaim? 43 years ago, on the night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. was wrestling with the same questions. He was making a speech in Memphis, Tennessee trying to explain how he had gotten embroiled in a local dispute involving sanitation workers. What did a
Nobel Peace Prize winner have to do with striking garbage men? His closest aides asked the same question and reminded him that he had more important things to do. Memphis was not a strategic city. The sanitation workers were not attractive victims like the children of Birmingham or the voters of Selma. As King spoke that night, a powerful storm moved through Memphis and his speech was punctuated by claps of thunder, as if to say, 'Listen, this is important!'"
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (42:40)
"Is this a mercy you can accept? Is this a mercy you can live? Yes, It's a dangerous road, the winding road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Just how dangerous? 43 years ago, it cost Martin Luther King his life. How dangerous? You stop on it to help someone, and you may be its next victim. Just how dangerous? It will disabuse you of everything you thought you knew about
religion and politics; because on this road old enemies are transformed into new neighbors—and then friends; How dangerous? It will cause you to lift your arms for rescue to a crucified teller of tales. AMEN."
Sermon begins at 24:24.
Luke 10:25-37
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/hiTyxc
