You Tube Theology

A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "Turning All into Alleluia." Opening excerpt from the sermon: (30:19) "The Pre-Raphaelite painting "The Death of Chatterton" is an archetypal image of what it means to be an artist. Thomas Chatterton, a poet and native of my home town, Bristol, England, dies in London in 1770 aged 17, penniless, desperate, and alone. His clothes are Bohemian and raffish; his art is seldom understood, and scarcely ever appreciated. His talent is enormous, and in this tiny garret apartment he has clearly had spurts of breathtaking and rapid creativity. Yet the scraps of torn paper demonstrate his tortured struggle. We vividly see the contrast between the intensity of his life's purpose and the terrible waste brought about by his poverty and lack of critical acclaim. The painting is telling us, to be an artist is to be possessed, impassioned, alone, tragic, and tortured; but nonetheless glorious and beautiful." Closing excerpt from the sermon: (51:55 ) "Are you an artist? According to Psalm 150 you are. Is there a yearning in you to express the depths, the ache, the fury, the glory? Are you a prophet, seeking truth and a closer social embodiment of it? Are you a priest, rolling back the veil between heaven and earth? Are you a king, rousing all creation to its potential and praise? Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to make you a work of art, that turns all creation into alleluia?" Sermon begins at 30: 19. Psalm 150 Bulletin: http://bit.ly/oPejSj