Dad's Last Sermon Transcript (041)
PETER HORN: Hello, it's Pete. The 25th of January 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of my father's death, and by a strange, and—I've always thought—beautiful coincidence, the 25th anniversary of his final sermon. On the last Sunday in January, 1998, the Rev. Gilbert J. Horn, Co-Pastor of the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver read the gospel lesson and then preached on it for two church services and taught a Sunday school class before succumbing to esophageal cancer at home that afternoon. He was 57. But back to church that morning, where today's audio was captured. It happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, and the Denver Broncos would be facing the Green Bay Packers in San Diego in a few hours [Super Bowl XXXII]. From the standpoint of a preacher in Denver trying to get Denver congregants in the pews, this was a challenge. What was my dad's marketing solution? Exploiting the familiar trope of the football player who tells the sports reporter that Jesus is his quarterback, Dad titled his sermon "Jesus' Playbook."
[04:08]
PETE: My dad learned the value of the Jewish tradition of yahrzeit from the rabbis who were among his closest friends. Yahrzeit is the Yiddish word meaning the anniversary of a death, a time to slow down, light a candle, and consider the life and legacy of a loved one. This month, approaching my dad's 25th yahrzeit, I knew I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. I really wanted to listen to the tape of his last sermon again, which I did for maybe the first dozen or so January 25ths after he died, but the cassette tape it was captured on—not high-quality to begin with—was so frail that it nearly broke the last time I tried, so I was a little scared. Fortunately, my exceedingly thoughtful wife Robyn not too long ago gave me a piece of audio equipment expressly for the purpose of digitizing my old analog cassettes, so I figured, "Why not give it a shot?" As you know already, it worked! Blessings abound!
What you'll hear in just a moment is not only my father's final sermon, but probably his best, insofar as it encapsulated—in just over 16 minutes—the most important elements of his theology as it had evolved over years of continuing study and continuous effort to put the gospel into practice. Beginning in 1965, the Rev. Gilbert J. Horn served Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Buffalo, before beginning work in 1986 as Executive Director of the Colorado Council of Churches. During his seven years with the Council, he initiated new ministries in inter-religious dialogue, environmental awareness, health care reform, economic justice, and racial inclusivity. In 1993, he became Co-Pastor at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver, where he preached this sermon.
Now what about sharing my dad's last sermon via podcast? On the one hand, this is my own family's anniversary I'm drawing you all into, which may seem a little strange. On the other hand, Dad never shied away from an audience! A sermon, after all, is a public performance, and I know he would have loved to have all you beautiful folk in the congregation! On the morning of the day he died, one of his Sunday school students, who knew Dad been suffering with cancer for some months, reportedly complimented him on how well he looked. "That," my father replied, "is because I'm a showman!" If you listen carefully to the recording, which I've done my best to clean up, you can hear his labored breathing. Certain words and phrases carry extra weight if you believe, as I do, that he knew his last hours were at hand. All the more reason, I think, to pass these words along! Once in a while I worry that I've created the impression among Point of Learning listeners that my dad was just someone who sat around reading A Christmas Carol all the time! What follows is far more representative of his life's work—and as timely a message today as it was 25 years ago.
One last prefatory note: Dad refers at one point to a quotation by a noted football coach that he's included in the bulletin. I can't seem to locate the bulletin in my files, but the spirit of the quote is something like the line attributed to Vince Lombardi, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." This will make sense later, I promise! Anyway, here's Dad reading the gospel lesson that he takes as his principal text, and then moving right into "Jesus' Playbook."
[08:07]
[GILBERT HORN reads the Gospel Lesson, Luke 4.14-21.]
[10:00]
[GIL preaches “Jesus’ Playbook.” Click the button to view a PDF of the printed version Dad prepared for sharing with the congregation (standard practice of the co-pastors at Montview). As somebody who’s had the opportunity to review the tape many times during the production of this episode, I can say it’s fun for me to see the places Dad adjusted this language in delivery. A few notes fall below the button.]
Sermon Notes:
10:23 The Jesus Seminar refers to a group of about 150 biblical scholars and laymen active in the 1980s and 1990s devoted to determining the historical accuracy of the words and sayings of Jesus.
10:43 Both of our lessons today. The Epistle Lesson for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) [a.k.a. 1/25/98] was I Corinthians 12.12-31a.
16:06 Ecumenical Sunday. Dad was a self-described “Ecu-maniac,” referring to his zeal that different Christian denominations—but beyond that, different religions—should find ways to get to know each other better and collaborate.
22:05 The reason I put that obnoxious quote from a noted football coach. I’m still going with Vince Lombardi on this one, but I’ve got a field agent trying to see if she can track down the bulletin. The correction will be posted here.
[26:26]
PETE: Amen, and that's it for today's show! If you're curious, the Broncos won 31-24, even though the Packers were favored by 11. As I said, Blessings Abound! Thanks to my family for supporting this choice to share the final sermon. Thanks as always to Shayfer James for intro and outro music. Montview organist Barbara Hulac played the chimes. Thanks to you for listening, rating (5 stars), reviewing, and supporting the show any way you can—including sharing. Point of Learning is written, recorded, edited, mixed, and mastered by me here in Sunny Buffalo, New York. I'm Peter Horn, and I'll be back soon with author and education advocate Jonathan Kozol speaking about his forthcoming book Batter Down the Walls!
