Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

October 21, 2001

Scripture: II Corinthians 8:1-7

Many years ago, the comedian Flip Wilson hosted a popular television show in which he portrayed different characters for the live studio audience. One of his most memorable roles was pretending to be a preacher delivering his stewardship sermon, and Flip Wilson played it to the hilt.

As he came to the conclusion, he’d say to the audience, "Now if this church is gonna start moving, it’s gotta start crawling, it’s gotta start crawling ahead." The people shouted back "Amen, Reverend, Amen!" He went on to say, "And if it’s crawling, then it’s gotta stand, let this church stand on it’s own two feet." "Go on preacher, go on!" came the response. "And if this church is gonna crawl and gonna stand, then it’s time to start walking, to walk upright and hold itself like a man." "Alleluia, that’s the truth, pastor, that’s the truth!" the people replied.

"Well if the church is gonna stand on its own two feet and walk like a man, then it’s time to run, the church has gotta run, run into the future with the Lord." By that point, the people were standing up, clapping and cheering at the top of their lungs, "That’s right, let it run. Let’s make the church run on with Jesus!" And Wilson exhorted them, "If the church is gonna run, we gotta pay for it to run, we gotta dig down deep and pay the bills to make it run." To which the people replied, "Then let it crawl, preacher, let it crawl!"

As we begin our Annual Giving Campaign today, I almost wish that I could pull out all the stops like that. But in keeping with our more sedate Presbyterian tradition, let me remind you that our sermon and this entire campaign is focused on the theme "Gifts of Grace," and our text today comes from I Peter, chapter 4, verse 10:

With those words to guide us, and trusting that God will provide us with all that we need, we are hoping and praying that you will dig down deep to help us meet and exceed our goal, just as you have for the past nine years in a row. And if you don’t mind my saying so, I think that remarkable track record deserves at least one strong "Amen"! You are a generous congregation, and together with Tommy Hills, Madison Pratt, the entire campaign committee and all of you, I am looking forward to this stewardship season with great anticipation!

I.

Now the apostle Peter, who was the leader of the "mother church" in Jerusalem, had a colleague and counterpart named Paul who was sent out as a missionary, primarily to the Gentiles in Asia Minor, Greece and Rome. The story which we have read from II Corinthians, chapter 8, tells us that Paul was trying to raise an offering from the churches in Macedonia and Corinth to take back to headquarters in Jerusalem.

We know from other passages in the New Testament (see Galatians 2) that Peter and Paul did not always agree on everything. But reading between the lines of this story, we can perceive that those two men were of one mind about the money. The church in Jerusalem needed it to distribute to the poor and Paul had been commissioned to collect it from the mission congregations and carry it back home.

So Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Corinth: We want you to know about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance and joy of their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality…for they gave according to their means, and beyond, of their own free will…so as you excel in everything else – in faith, in preaching and teaching, in knowledge and in love – see that you excel in this gracious work also (II Corinthians 8:1-4, 7).

I don’t think Paul was intentionally trying to be manipulative. Instead, he wanted to offer some incentive to the large and more affluent church in Corinth by lifting up the example of what the smaller congregations in Macedonia had done with lesser resources.

And so it still is today. There are churches in our Presbytery with fewer than 100 members which have a higher giving percentage than most of the bigger churches. Why? Because those folks know that every single person and each family needs to pledge in order to keep the doors open and carry out their ministry and mission.

Well, let me tell you that if we could raise the number of pledges here at First Presbyterian to 1,000 or more, I believe we would meet our goal of $2,975,000 and still have some additional money to deal with the devastating toll that has hit this city hard since the terrorist attacks on September 11.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs, mostly in the service, transportation and hospitality industries. Rev. Charles Black’s phone in the Community Ministries office has been ringing off the hook with more than 200 new requests for help to cover utility bills as the winter approaches and to make monthly rent payments so that families with children won’t be evicted from their apartments and homes.

Moreover, our Venable Food Pantry which usually distributes 6000 pounds of food each month was up to 8000 pounds during September, and we anticipate that number going exponentially higher between now and next spring. People who have been laid off from their jobs are also calling for assistance to pay for their prescription medications, including many more older adults than we have ever heard from before.

We didn’t factor all of those crisis needs into the budget this year or in the year that lies ahead, and churches like ours all across Atlanta are being asked to increase their help so that people can be fed and clothed and keep their homes and be counseled to find work again.

As you think and pray about what you will give to this campaign, remember those men, women and children who are suffering right now through no fault of their own – and make your pledge so that we can come alongside them and assure them that they are not alone. That is what our text today calls all of us to do – "As each of you has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s grace."

II.

You say, "Well I’d like to help, but with the uncertain economy and the stock market reeling up and down like a roller coaster, I might have to pull in my belt." And for some of us, that may be true. But for many more of us, like those Corinthians and Macedonians, we still have the resources to do what needs to be done. Remember: "They gave according to their means, and beyond, of their own free will." And there are signs of that kind of generosity all across America today.

More than one billion dollars has been given during the past five weeks, most of it going to the American Red Cross and the United Way as those organizations focus their concern and care to relieve the pain and begin to rebuild the broken lives of thousands of our fellow citizens in New York, Washington, D.C. and other parts of this country.

And yesterday’s "Faith and Values" section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that congregations throughout this city have already seen an increase in their giving, attributable to booming attendance in worship and the collection of special offerings, including our contribution which has been sent to Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York for the families of clerical workers and support staff who were lost or injured as the World Trade Center towers came down.

All of that is good and it demonstrates how the people of this nation can rise to the occasion in the midst of a crisis of monumental proportions. But what nobody knows for sure, what none of us can say for certain is what will happen over the next 6 to 12 months, as congregations like this one are asked to support the regular and ongoing needs for maintenance, ministry and mission.

Here at First Presbyterian Church, we are also trying to expand our work with young adults who are coming to us from all over the city; we want to continue the renovation program of our older and worn out facilities; we are planning to create a memorial garden where the ashes of deceased loved ones will be interred; we hope to increase our support of the international partnerships which have been formed in Brazil, Haiti, Honduras and Kenya; and we need to focus more than ever before on the community ministries which reach out to the poor and homeless people of this city.

Those are some of the things we are hoping to do as we look forward toward 2002, and we need your support in order for it to happen. The Annual Giving Committee has sent out a mailing which describes our campaign, and we pray that God will lead and inspire you to share your gifts of grace with others.

I am glad to report that one person has already made the first pledge. Some of you saw him do it late last spring during a Sunday morning worship service. He had attended our prayer breakfast for homeless persons earlier that day, and then came into the sanctuary while I was preaching the sermon.

That man walked across the chancel, looked up at me, then went over to the baptismal font and dropped something into the bowl. We all watched him turn around, go back out the door, and when the service was over, I tried to find him, but he was gone. This morning, I am holding in my hand the coins that he gave – 15 pennies, 3 nickels, 2 dimes and 1 peso! Sometime soon, I will thank him on your behalf for making the first pledge to this campaign.

That homeless man gave according to his means, and beyond, of his own free will…a gift of grace in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, who calls all of us to do the same. And to that, we Presbyterians can surely say "Amen"!