Tenebrae - 4/22/11 - Sam Wells

A service of Tenebrae in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

Opening excerpt from the sermon: (16:28)

"Hundreds of years ago when I was a bachelor I was having a drink in a park with a girlfriend and we were locked into what I now look back on as one of our interminable disagreements. There was a band on stage close by and the lead vocalist was finishing her song. She looked hard at the drummer with the unforgettable words, "No matter what you do-oo, ah only, ah only, ah only, ah only, ah only wanna be with you." To which the drummer replied, "Da-nah nah nah." My female friend looked at me winsomely and said, "Do you think they argue as well?" It was a sweet moment. (Although not enough to save the relationship.) But ever since then this song's been one of my favorites. It wasn't till maybe a decade later that I realized it expressed the essence of Good Friday, and the heart of the Christian faith. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the angel's promise that the Messiah will be called Emmanuel -- God with us. The Gospel ends with Jesus' promise to his disciples, "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In between we get Jesus' promise to the church, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them."

Closing excerpt from the sermon: (36:15)

"Jesus' cry tonight is one of agony that to reach us he had, for a moment, to let go of his Father. What is our cry? Our cry is one of grief, that we were not with him. It's a cry of astonishment, that he was, despite everything, still with us. And it's a cry of conviction and commitment, that we will be with him henceforth, and forevermore. Can you hear the distant strains of the simple words of the Holy Trinity, singing to you tonight, more passionately and fondly and sacrificially than you can ever have known? "Ah only, ah only, ah only, ah only, ah only wanna be with you...." What are you singing back?"

Sermon begins at 16:28.
Mark 15:33-37
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/eRh5TM
Sermon: http://bit.ly/gr3RVs