CLAIMING THE CENTER

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-29; Hebrews 12:1-2

INTRODUCTION

Since Rally Day last August, in our worship services and Christian education programs, in our mission outreach and congregational ministry, we have focused our attention on the theme “Christ at the Center: In the Heart of the City, in the Hands of God.”

Our opening biblical text nine months ago is the same set of verses which I have chosen for today, lifting up these profound words which still guide us on our way: Colossians 1:17-19 – He, Jesus Christ, is the head of the body, the church … for in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell … and in Him all things hold together.

It is important to remember that the apostle Paul wrote those words in the first century A.D. to the Colossian Christians as they were literally laying the foundations of the early church in Asia Minor. Paul sent the letter from his prison cell in Rome, and he was writing to tell that congregation that they were doing well in so many ways.

But in the midst of their diversity as Jews and Gentiles, some of whom were conservative while others were more progressive, they had fallen into theological controversies and ecclesiastical conflicts which had caused disagreement and division among them.

Having heard the reports about what was happening in Colossae, Paul addressed his epistle to those men, women and young people with one theme in mind, which was to seek and to find unity and a sense of community through their faith in Jesus Christ. He is the head of the body, said Paul, and in Him all things hold together. (See “The Daily Study Bible Series” by William Barclay, “The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians,” pages 111-122)

All these years later, I believe that same theme – “Christ at the Center” – is the one essential thing which this congregation and all of us across the Presbyterian Church (USA) need to accept and to embrace. But just as they struggled to take hold of that truth in the first century, so are we still struggling with it today.

In 1921, the Irish author William Butler Yeats wrote a poem entitled “The Second Coming,” which includes these provocative lines:

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

(Published in “Michael Robartes and the Dancer,”

By William Butler Yeats, 1921)

Yeats was writing in the aftermath of World War I, when the political alliances in Europe had come undone and all hell had broken loose. So it is possible that the poet was thinking about those extremists on the far right and far left – “the worst who were full of passionate intensity” - who had ignited an explosion that dragged everyone else from the middle – “the best who lacked all conviction” – into a horrible war. “Things fall apart,” said Yeats, and the “centre cannot hold.”

Well, during that same timeframe – the beginning of the 20^th century stretching on into the 1920’s – we Protestant Christians were caught up in a religious battle here in the United States which I think harkens back to that poem by William Butler Yeats.

Karen Armstrong, in her recent book “The Battle for God” (Ballantine Publishing Group, 2000), quotes the same lines I have shared with you – “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” – and then Armstrong offers these insights about the spiritual climate in this country at the dawn of the last century:

“Liberals and conservatives in the early years of the century were both involved in … social programs … which attempted to deal with the problems arising from the rapid and unregulated development of industry and city life. Despite their doctrinal quarrels, Protestants in all the denominations …cooperated together in foreign missions, campaigns for prohibition and for improved education. Despite the immense difficulties they faced, most felt confident … that America was being ‘Christianized,’ as the liberal theologian Walter Rauschenbusch put it in 1912” (page 169).

But in her research and analysis, Armstrong discovered and goes on to describe in the book how the center of mainstream Protestantism began to fall apart. Summarizing her words, there were Christians who adopted the label “modernists,” focused on what was called “The Social Gospel” of good works, justice for the poor and oppressed and endorsed a theology that affirmed what Jesus said in Matthew 25: In as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto Me.

But on the other side of what became a dividing wall of suspicion and separation, the “fundamentalists,” as they referred to themselves, concentrated on a theology of “evangelism and salvation.” They developed and held fast to five fundamentals which were in their view essential to being Christian: (1) the inerrancy of the Bible, (2) the virgin birth, (3) Christ’s atonement for our sins on the cross, (4) His bodily resurrection and (5) the objective reality of Christ’s miracles.

Well, the two camps hunkered down and went after each other, and Armstrong brings that struggle close to home as she writes:

“Most of the fundamentalists were either Baptists or Presbyterians, and it was here that the fiercest battles were fought … The Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen, the most intellectual of the fundamentalists, argued that the liberals were pagans … and there were horrific fights in the General Assembly … When the fundamentalists tried to impose their five-point creed on the church … (in response) Harry Emerson Fosdick (who was a Baptist and), one of the most influential liberal leaders of the time, preached a sermon (from the pulpit of First Presbyterian Church in New York City in 1922 which was supposed to be a call for reconciliation but was) entitled ‘Shall the Fundamentalists Win?’” (Pages 170-174)

II.

Now, why would I want us to recall all of that turbulent and traumatic church history on such a lovely spring day in the month of May 2003? Perhaps it’s because of something Yogi Berra, the former baseball player and quasi-philosopher, once said about “Déjà vu” which seems to be happening all over again.”

During the past 25 years, our Denomination has reverted back to the kind of controversies which divided us in the early 20^th century. From a theological point of view, those on the left have been hammering away at those on the right, and vice versa, which has created, with some degree of fervor, a church that is increasingly polarized over issues related to the Bible, human sexuality, ordination guidelines and the authority of our leaders.

It’s not quite the same controversy as the one that took place in a rural church up in western Kentucky when the pastor stood up before the congregation and announced, “We need a new chandelier in here.” One man, a coal miner, all the way on the back row stood up and protested. He said, “First of all preacher, can’t none of us even spell that word ‘chandelier.’ Second, if we did have one, there’s nobody here who would know how to play it. And third, what we really need is more light in this church.”

As our General Assembly convenes in Denver, Colorado next week, God knows we need more light and more love in the Presbyterian Church (USA). We need to pray for our Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel and for the three candidates who are running for election. We need to pray for all the commissioners as they face the issues we talked about in Fifield Hall between our worship services this morning.

Just as the apostle Paul commended the church in Colossae, we can celebrate the good things going on and seek to move forward in our ministry and mission. But if we are pushed and forced from the left or the right to make decisions on any of those controversial issues, my prediction is that we will continue to vote ourselves into oblivion.

So what are we to do, in our Denomination and in our Presbyteries and Congregations, as we seek to find peace, unity and reconciliation within the body of Christ we call The Presbyterian Church (USA)?

Speaking personally, I think we have three options before us. First – we can continue to fight for what we fervently, passionately, unequivocally believe is right without any willingness to compromise, which will probably lead toward deeper division.

Second, we can pretend that everything is just fine, and try to avoid the conflicts that threaten to undermine the future of the church, which will more than likely lead toward greater confusion.

Or third, we can get down on our knees, confess our self-righteousness and sin, and ask the Lord to lead us toward reconciliation and the path that He wants us to follow.

My friends, if we are willing to choose that third option and seek the way that God wants us to go, then we will discover and be able to claim the center that the apostle Paul commended to us long ago. He, Jesus Christ, is the head of the body, the church … and in Him all things hold together.

CONCLUSION

This coming week, every member of this congregation will receive a copy of the Long Range Plan which projects our hopes and dreams and strategies for the years ahead. It is called “Vision for a Centered Church,” and the plan has been approved unanimously and enthusiastically by the Session.

On the front cover, there is a picture of the Rose Window above, with the Risen Christ at the center in all of His glory and radiant love. In keeping with our theme for this year and the years to come, the introduction declares that we seek to be a church where

· Jesus Christ is the center of our lives

· Our faith is centered in the Presbyterian/Reformed Tradition, and

· Our church claims its strategic location in the center, the heart of the City of Atlanta

In the midst of turbulent and troubled times in our Denomination, across this nation and throughout the world, that is where we choose to take our stand and to make our witness clear. It is not lukewarm, neither is it wishy-washy. It is a stand in the Center, where Christ has called us to be as we seek reconciliation for all of His children on earth. We Claim the Center as we promote peace for all of God’s people. We Claim the Center as we accept and embrace all of our brothers and sisters in God’s human family. We Claim the Center as we proclaim the name of Jesus as Lord of our lives and the hope of the world. Do you believe that today?

Martin Luther King Jr. believed it, and he said so as he looked toward the coming of the kingdom. “I don’t know what the future holds,” said Dr. King, “but I do know who holds the future.” Which is exactly what the author of the letter to the Hebrews believed as he claimed the center in Jesus Christ and envisioned the way that He calls us to go: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

For He is the Head of the body, the church, and in Him all things hold together!

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

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