INTRODUCTION

Several years ago, Barbara and I and another couple, who are good friends, spent a few days in Savannah on vacation. We had a great time in that grand old city, and as we headed back home, I suggested we drive by the Ford Plantation which I had seen advertised in a magazine.

As you may know, Henry and Clara Ford developed a magnificent estate there in the 1920’s on the banks of the great Ogeechee River. The small town of Richmond Hill nearby began to prosper, hundreds of people in that community were employed by the Ford family, and during the 1930’s, those wealthy folks from Detroit built a medical clinic, several schools for the local children and youth, a community house, a sawmill, a farming operation with 3,000 acres of productive land, a research center for agriculture and paper making, and more than 230 homes for the people who were involved in all of those endeavors.

For 25 years, the Fords and the citizens of Richmond Hill lived and worked together in harmony and prosperity. But when Henry Ford died in 1947 and Clara in 1950, their estate gradually fell into disrepair, until 1998, when it was bought by a group of developers from South Carolina who envisioned the restoration of that old plantation into an upscale enclave of fine homes with recreational facilities.

Now we and our two friends did not know all of that history, so as we arrived at the gate and talked with the guard, we indicated that we would like to come in and look around at some of the properties. Within minutes, a young man in a Land Rover came to pick us up; he led us to the visitors’ center, offered us some Coca Colas and then took us on the tour.

Driving around the golf course, and the site where they were going to build squash courts, and along the river where a guide in a khaki outfit met us and talked about the excellent fly fishing, our tour director pointed out many of lots which were still available for sale.

Well, I like to fish and to play golf and squash, so as we got back to the visitors center, I mustered up the courage to ask our host a few questions. “How far along were they in the development? Who were the people from South Carolina? And, by the way, how much would it cost to purchase one of those properties on the golf course or by the river?”

He looked at me and without blinking an eye, replied “Well, some of them will go for 4 or 5, and the one on top of the hill overlooking the lake is about twice that much.” I said, “You mean $400,000, $500,000 and about a million?” And before he could answer, Barbara looked at me and then at him and said, “You know, my husband is a Presbyterian minister.”

Well, that was pretty much the end of the conversation. But we had a wonderful experience at the Ford Plantation that day, and every now and then, when Barbara and I and that couple, our good friends, reminisce about it, I smile and say, “Let’s go back there someday and see how the development is doing.”

Now, if any of you own a place there, I hope you will accept what I have said with the best intentions. And if you have a few minutes after the benediction, Madison Pratt, Eddie Newsom and the entire Annual Giving Committee would like to meet and talk with you.

“How much does it cost?” Sometimes we are apprehensive and hesitant to ask that question. It sounds a bit presumptuous; some might even say “a little tacky.” But when it comes to buying something - a piece of property or an automobile or an engagement ring or a new suit or dress, that’s what we really want and need to know. And whether we have been blessed with abundant resources or are barely struggling to make ends meet, all of us are concerned about the value of those things in which we are going to invest our time and energy and money.

And that is not contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, according to our text from the 14th chapter of Luke, Jesus encouraged us to ask that very same question - How much does it cost? - as you and I consider the commitments we make in life: For which of you, said Jesus, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise, when you have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock, saying, “This person began to build and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30)

Now it’s important to remember how Jesus concludes as He was speaking that day to the multitudes: So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that you have, cannot be my disciple (verse 33). You see, our Lord was telling those first century people and all of us still today, that if we want to follow Him, we’ve got to go all the way. You can’t live a faithful life only on Sunday - being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a twenty-four hour, seven days a week commitment which requires the best we’ve got to give.

And that includes our money. Up in rural Kentucky, in the days when most of the baptisms were conducted in rivers and lakes, a man who had been converted to the Christian faith was about to be immersed in a stream. The pastor noticed the man’s billfold bulging in his hip pocket and suggested he might want to remove it so that it wouldn’t get wet. The man shook his head and said, “Preacher, if I’m going to be baptized, my wallet gets baptized too!”

Well, we’re not a rural congregation and we Presbyterians don’t usually baptize people by immersion. But the principle, the concept is the same here in this urban church in the heart of the city as it is anywhere else. Because as we commit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to membership in this Christian community, God expects us to give and to give generously to support the vision and the work of His kingdom on earth.

So I ask you this morning, how much does it cost, how much is it worth as we baptize our little children just months after their birth? What is the value of teaching the Christian faith to our children and youth as they grow up in this church? What price can be placed on the support we offer to couples who are married here, to our ministry with young adults who are coming here from all over the city, to the care and concern we share with people who are sick and suffering and to those who have lost loved ones, to welcoming homeless men and women who eat breakfast here every Sunday morning and stay in our shelter every night? What price can be placed on our worship in the chapel and sanctuary right here each week and our mission outreach and worldwide partnerships with people out there in Haiti, Honduras, Brazil and Kenya over the past twelve years?

God only knows the ultimate value of all those spiritual endeavors. But we do know how to measure the financial requirements, the resources we need, by the budget we set and the gifts which we hope and pray will be received in this Annual Giving Campaign: $3,160,000 to sustain our ongoing worship, work and witness for Jesus Christ here at the corner of 16th and Peachtree.

And if, in response to the theme of our campaign, if you and I are willing to “open our hearts and our hands” in generosity, then we have made plans to expand some of our ministries next year.

Three families in this congregation have given lead gifts to help support Rev. Connie Lee and our exciting partnership with Hillside Presbyterian Church, and we need additional pledges to see that work come to fruition.

Furthermore, we have already begun the search process to call a new associate pastor for young adults, believing that God will guide us to the right person and that your pledges will under gird that growing ministry.

So it is also with our new parish nurse program under the leadership of Lynne McCain, and the launching of a music school, which already has 30 students enrolled under the tutelage of Julianne Erbrecht and a part-time staff of highly qualified teachers.

Moreover, responding to an urgent request from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a member of this church, our Mission Council has added its support to the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital in Cape town, South Africa.

And together with the anticipated increases for maintenance, insurance and the security of our facilities, we have learned recently that the cost for the airtime of our Sunday morning CBS television ministry, which reaches more than 10,000 people every week, is going up by 30%.

Assuming that we can reach and exceed our annual giving goal, as we have for the past 11 years in a row, this church will be able to continue the important work we have been doing, and will be empowered to move forward with our hopes and dreams for the future. And I am convinced that is the way God wants it to be, because God has blessed us abundantly and helped us to become a blessing to others across this city, our nation and throughout the world.

CONCLUSION

So how much does it cost to keep this church going and growing in faith as we seek to follow Jesus Christ? Dr. Will Willimon, chaplain at Duke University, who will be our FOCUS preacher here next year in September, offers this answer in closing:

“Stay in the church long enough, and there is a good chance that it will demand your time, your money, your love, maybe even your life…The church will ask you to feel some of the world’s aches and pains along with your own. It will challenge your cynicism…with talk about Easter and ‘all things being possible.’ It will tell you that you are more competent and capable, more responsible for yourself and others than you may think you are. The church (asks for) a response from you simply because every time we open the Bible, sing a hymn, hear a sermon, baptize a person, eat the Lord’s Supper or a family night potluck dinner, the church hears God’s (call) for a response.” (From “The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything,” by William H. Willimon, Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA, 1978, Page 83).

Christian friends: God is calling each of us and all of us to count the cost, to step forward and to make a pledge. You are a generous congregation, more generous than any other church I know. So I hope and I pray that you will do it again, that you will respond with open hearts and open hands today as we embrace the plans which the Lord has in store for us, the great vision for ministry and mission in the year that lies ahead. God has given us all that we have and God is waiting for our response to Him.

    “We give Thee but Thine own,
    Whate’er the gift may be;
    All that we have is Thine alone,
    A trust, O Lord, from Thee.”

The sermon distribution fund has been established by the Session of First Presbyterian Church to enable friends and groups to make contributions for the printing of the Sunday sermons. Sermon leaflets will be printed from time to time, as they are requested and as funds are available. Please designate your gift for Sermon Distribution Fund. Thank you for your support.