Sunday Service - 7/8/2012 Jennifer Copeland
Published 11 months ago
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Jennifer Copeland delivers a sermon entitled "Once Upon a Time . . ."
Sermon begins at (24:20)
Opening Excerpt from the sermon: (24:20)
"Once upon a time, or maybe this is a better opening, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..., perhaps the more literary among us would prefer this opening; 'sing in me, muse, and through me tell the story'. The truth is it doesn't really matter which line we use because these and many others, in them we recognize the formula for a tale of meaning and majesty.
So the opening line for today's tale, for today's story, you've already heard today is, all the tribes of Israel gathered together with David and at Hebron. Now like every good story that involves people, there's background for this one. The background goes all the way back to the earliest promises about living on the land. It turns out that Jacob's children, now known as Israel, both the ancestors and the children, have been working their way back to this land that David now stands for more years than most of us can count. You've probably heard parts of the story. God had promised all the land to Abraham, Jacob's grandfather and there, some jealous brothers; Jacob's children sold their dandy brother Joseph off to some traders headed east, next they went home and told their father along with Joseph's bloodied cloak, 'your son is dead', but lucky for them, he wasn't dead and also lucky for them, he had gone to Egypt with those traders where he was now in charge of that life-saving grain provided for all those 'naughty' brothers when they showed up a few years later after famine settled over their own land, this land that David is now standing and they all had to move to Egypt for some generations".
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (43:20)
"So yes, once upon a time all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They didn't exactly live happily ever after, but they have passed on to us how to live faithfully ever after. Along with them and all the faithful who followed, we are now in line to live faithfully ever after. Not by pining for the past, but by facing the future with the sure and certain truth, that is where we will meet God. Thanks be to God who call us forward in faith. Amen"
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Bulletin: https://chapel.duke.edu/node/379/attachment
Sermon begins at (24:20)
Opening Excerpt from the sermon: (24:20)
"Once upon a time, or maybe this is a better opening, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..., perhaps the more literary among us would prefer this opening; 'sing in me, muse, and through me tell the story'. The truth is it doesn't really matter which line we use because these and many others, in them we recognize the formula for a tale of meaning and majesty.
So the opening line for today's tale, for today's story, you've already heard today is, all the tribes of Israel gathered together with David and at Hebron. Now like every good story that involves people, there's background for this one. The background goes all the way back to the earliest promises about living on the land. It turns out that Jacob's children, now known as Israel, both the ancestors and the children, have been working their way back to this land that David now stands for more years than most of us can count. You've probably heard parts of the story. God had promised all the land to Abraham, Jacob's grandfather and there, some jealous brothers; Jacob's children sold their dandy brother Joseph off to some traders headed east, next they went home and told their father along with Joseph's bloodied cloak, 'your son is dead', but lucky for them, he wasn't dead and also lucky for them, he had gone to Egypt with those traders where he was now in charge of that life-saving grain provided for all those 'naughty' brothers when they showed up a few years later after famine settled over their own land, this land that David is now standing and they all had to move to Egypt for some generations".
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (43:20)
"So yes, once upon a time all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They didn't exactly live happily ever after, but they have passed on to us how to live faithfully ever after. Along with them and all the faithful who followed, we are now in line to live faithfully ever after. Not by pining for the past, but by facing the future with the sure and certain truth, that is where we will meet God. Thanks be to God who call us forward in faith. Amen"
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Bulletin: https://chapel.duke.edu/node/379/attachment
