FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

Scripture: Psalm 84; II Corinthians 4:7-18

INTRODUCTION

Twenty years ago, during the summer of 1983, Barbara and I and our young children, Aly (8) and Matthew (4), traveled “down under” to Sydney, Australia where it was my privilege to preach in St. Stephen’s Church on MacQuarrie Street in the heart of that great city.

The pulpit exchange which I shared with Dr. Graham Hardy turned out to be a turning point in my life, as I experienced what it was like to serve in a downtown urban location. And while we were there, I began to sense that someday I might be called to a congregation like this one, right here at the corner of 16^th and Peachtree.

In keeping with Scottish Presbyterian tradition, St. Stephen’s Church had a verger named Sandy Stevenson, who dressed in a suit and tie every weekday, wore a black robe on Sundays, took care of the building and helped make preparations for all the worship services.

Sandy, who came from Glasgow, took me under his wing, showed our family around the city, introduced us to the church members and saw to it that everything went smoothly. When Sunday morning came, he escorted me into the high pulpit and whispered into my ear, so that only I could hear, “Preach a good one, pastor. Preach a good one!”

During our five weeks down under, Sandy Stevenson became a good friend. And as we departed, I asked him, “Sandy, do you enjoy your work in this church?” He looked me in the eye and replied with a smile as he quoted from the 84^th Psalm: I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, than dwell in the tents of wickedness!

These many years later, that Psalm has become one of my favorites in all the Bible. And just about every time I enter the front doors of this sanctuary on a Sunday morning, I think of Sandy and the 84^th Psalm, which also includes these verses that have given birth to our sermon title today:

My soul longs, yea faints, for the courts of the Lord (verse 1) …Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house, ever singing Thy praise (verse 4). Blessed are those whose strength is in Thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca (verses 5 and 6)… they go from strength to strength (verse 7).

According to the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, “The Valley of Baca (also called Rephaim) was an arid and rugged route which led from the wilderness into Jerusalem.” As the Hebrew pilgrims made their way toward the city every fall for the festival season, the rain from above and the flowing springs from below the earth transformed that valley into a lush green entrance that ushered those faithful people into God’s presence. And step-by-step, with hope and expectation, they moved “from strength to strength” in the joyful celebration of worship in the great temple.

Now it was not their own strength which made all of that possible, but rather the strength and power they received from the Lord. And so it has been down through the centuries, as our hearts have been stirred and our spirits have soared toward heaven in praise and adoration of the Holy One who has called all of us to worship and to follow Him.

It happened to John Wesley, you know, who came here to the colony of Georgia as an Anglican missionary more than 250 years ago (1735-1738). History shows that his endeavor to convert the Native Americans and early settlers was a failure. But soon thereafter, when he returned to England, John Wesley discovered a deeper faith and trust in God than he had ever known before.

Over the next 50 years, he traveled more than 250,000 miles on horseback, sometimes preached 15 sermons a week, wrote a number of theological books and biblical commentaries, and when he died in 1791, John Wesley – who was 5’4” and weighed less than 125 pounds – he left behind the firm foundations of the Methodist Church which today numbers more than 18 million members around the world (From “Handbook of Denominations,” by Frank S. Mean and Samuel L. Hill, Abingdon Press, 1995, page 194). You see, John Wesley bore witness to the reality that the strength and power to accomplish great things for God’s kingdom does not begin with us – it all comes from Him.

Sometimes we forget that basic theological truth, and get caught up in ourselves. You may remember the story about the pastor who was driving home with his wife one Sunday after the worship services were over. He thought that he had delivered a stem-winder of a sermon that morning, and he turned to his wife and asked her, “I wonder, how many truly great preachers there are in American today?” She looked at him and answered, “One less than you think, dear. One less than you think.”

It was the apostle Paul who hit the nail on the head when he wrote to the Christians at Corinth, and this is what he said: We have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…so we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature (in other words, our sinful and self-centered pride) is wasting away, our inner nature (that is, our Christ-centered faith) is being renewed every day (II Corinthians 4:7-9, 16).

That is what we hope and pray for ourselves, and for the new elders who are being ordained and installed today – that we will go forward “From Strength to Strength” and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that our power comes from God Almighty, that we are here to worship Him and that we have all been called to reach out to those in need in the name of God’s Son, our Savior Jesus.

Archbishop Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, affirmed the source and sustaining power of that strength when he wrote:

Goodness is stronger than evil,

Love is stronger than hate,

Light is stronger than darkness,

Life is stronger than death, and

Victory is ours through him who loved us.

So to God be the glory and the power, in the church and in the world, both now and forevermore!

II.

And just as that is true for each of us as Christians, so it can be for all of us as members of this church. On this Annual Meeting Sunday, let us remember and never forget that we are surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) who laid the foundations for this congregation back in 1848. And down through the generations, we have sought to be faithful in our worship, work and witness, in our ministry and mission, moving forward “From Strength to Strength” to fulfill and bring to fruition the vision of our forbears – that we would be a Christ-centered church here in the heart of this city.

That is what our Statement of Purpose proclaims, printed on the front of the bulletin every Sunday:

“It is our purpose as the

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

To be and to become

A community of grace

A people of praise

A loving congregation

Rooted in tradition

Open to the Spirit

Disciples who proclaim and serve

The Lord Jesus Christ

In all we say and do

To the glory of God

For the salvation of humankind

For the healing and hope of the city and

For the reconciliation and peace of the world.”

(Adopted by the Session in June, 1998)

Please notice that it is not accidental, neither is it ornamental, that the name of Jesus Christ is embedded in the center of that Statement. For He is our Lord and Savior, He is our guiding light and leader, He is the head of this body called the Church and in Him, all things hold together!

A Presbyterian congregation up in western Pennsylvania was struggling to hold onto that vision back in the 1970’s. The steel mill which had given life and prosperity to their town had been shut down, and they were doing all that they could to make ends meet.

But it wasn’t enough, so the Clerk of Session called the Presbytery Executive and asked her, “What should we do? Things are really tough here. We’ve tried contemporary worship and ecumenical services. We have reached out to the unemployed and set up a soup kitchen. We’ve even thought about starting bingo nights like the Catholics around the corner…but nothing seems to be working. Our resources are running thin and some of our members are ready to give up. What else can we do?”

The Presbytery Executive thought for a moment, and with hope in her heart and a prayer on her lips she said, “You have done your best. Are you willing now to trust the rest to God?” Well, they did, and that church survived, and if you were to visit there today, they would say that the Lord has helped to provide for their every need.

Here at the corner of 16^th and Peachtree Streets, that same promise is true. The difference is – we have been blessed with an abundance of gifts, and I believe that what God is calling us to do is to go forward, “From Strength to Strength,” and to share with others all that we have received.

Jesus said: To those whom much is given, of them will much more be required. And I am convicted, as the pastor of this great church, that our Lord was speaking directly to you and to me. For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the power belongs to God and not to us!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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