Wotta tune! Not bad as a sermon, either. Not all of the latter appears in the former, though I'm pretty sure that everything's properly monotonic once you get into the tune proper (past, that is, the introductory declamation of the title), and not just that but increasing as well. It would actually be interesting to know just how much the recording of the sermon has been manipulated: one of the interesting things about it is that it's a setting not just of a text, but of a particular reading of a text: a performance that sets another performance within it. (Writing the preceding inspired me to look up some info about Berio's Sinfonia, part of the third movement of which exists on Youtube: probably I should apprehend a complete recording.)
And this from the sermon itself, a part which is included in the setting:
But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, "Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be." But he reordered priorities. And he said, "Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. (Yes) It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. …
And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Amen) That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, (Everybody) because everybody can serve.
There's not much in the way of humility there, but there is a bit of explicit revaluation of values, eh wot?
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