FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Sermon by Dr. George
Bryant Wirth
May 6, 2001
Annual Meeting
Scripture: Psalm 46; Matthew 5:14-16
In the summer of 1999, the Sunday New York Times ran an
article entitled “Billboards From God.”
It described the eye-catching advertising campaign developed by the
Smith Agency in Florida which created a set of billboards featuring messages
from God that were put up all over Ft. Lauderdale.
Soon thereafter, the idea caught on and the Outdoor
Advertising Association took the campaign nationwide to more than two hundred
cities in America. The purpose of the
campaign, as explained by Andrew Smith and Charles Robb who launched it in the
first place, was to “reach people who had, for whatever reason, drifted away
from the church and synagogue…hoping to encourage them to think about their
spirituality and having a relationship with God in their everyday lives.”
Well, you may remember when the billboards went up here in
Atlanta, and these were some of the ones that caught the most attention:
And a favorite of mine simply said: “Is this the sign you’ve been waiting
for? God”
Well, the billboard signs were popular for almost two years,
and then they mostly disappeared. But
all of the attention they received did remind me of something a New York
advertising executive said to me back in the 1980’s. We were having dinner at an alumni gathering for The Stony Brook
School in Long Island, and he asked me what I did and where I was from. I answered, “I’m a Presbyterian pastor from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” He thought
for a moment, smiled and then replied, “I’m glad to hear it – you know, God
needs a good agency in that city.”
I.
Now, with all due respect to the advertising industry and to
my friend up in New York, the truth is that God has been alive and active in
the city for a long, long time. In
fact, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, there are more
than 1200 references to cities in the Bible.
And in our Old Testament text today from Psalm 46, we read that God
is in the midst of the city – it shall not be moved; God will help the city,
and that right early (Psalm 46:5).
The ancient people of Israel believed those words were true,
and during the reign of King David, a great temple for worship was envisioned
and was finally built by David’s son Solomon in the heart of the city of
Jerusalem. It was massive and majestic
and most important, that temple served as the center of spiritual life for an
entire city and a whole nation.
But nearly 400 years later, in 587 B.C., the Babylonian
armies invaded Jerusalem. They
plundered and burned the temple to the ground, and as the Israelites were
carried off into exile, the sounds of lamenting were heard throughout the land,
for they could not understand what had happened to them or why. And the history of Jerusalem and the
surrounding region from that time until today has been marked by struggle and
pain, as people of different religions and differing ideologies still seek to
find and to worship God in that city and to establish peace again.
II.
Here in America, the story of God
in the City has unfolded in another way. During the 18th and 19th centuries, as
expanding urban populations were developed around centers of business and
education, trade and transportation, finance, government and industry, people
of faith built houses of worship in every city throughout the country.
When the French philosopher and statesman Alexis de Tocqueville
came here in 1831, he visited those cities and later wrote these words:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in fertile fields and boundless forests. It was not there.
I sought for it in
her free schools and her institutions of learning. It was not there.
I sought for it in
her matchless Constitution and Democratic Congress. It was not there.
Not until I went
into the churches and temples of America and found them aflame with
righteousness did I discover the greatness and genius of America.”
(From Democracy in America by
Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835)
What de Tocqueville missed, what he failed to see was the
sad and sobering reality that not all of our citizens were welcome in the
congregations of cities across this nation, and still others were denied the
possibility of leadership and full participation. It wasn’t until the 20th century that women began to
assume their rightful place in our churches and synagogues, and people of color
were finally embraced as brothers and sisters of faith in our main line
denominations.
Yet even as those doors were opening, and surely still need
to be opened further today, by the 1960’s and 70’s, sociologists and religious
authors like Harvey Cox were telling us about the “secularization of the city.” Skyscrapers and office buildings went up,
towering over the church steeples, and urban people began to drop out of
organized religion to pursue other interests.
Cox wrote in 1965 that “the rise of urban civilization and the collapse
of traditional religion are the two hallmarks of our era…the forces of
secularization have no serious interest in persecuting religion. Secularization simply bypasses and undercuts
religion and goes on to other things…The age of the secular city…is an age of
‘no religion at all.’” (From The
Secular City by Harvey Cox, Macmillan Company, 1965).
So instead of an invasion from outside the city boundaries,
as happened to Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C., our American
cities in the late 20th century A.D. were invaded from within – not
only by the pursuit of materialism and the so-called “good life” which lifts
self-interest and self-satisfaction above spiritual values and service to those
in need – but also by urban blight, economic disparity, crime, violence, drugs
and racial tension and strife.
For the past 40 years here in Atlanta, with the tone set by
our faithful church member, former Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., and Andrew Young and
others, we have been able to avoid a major explosion such as the one which
happened recently in Cincinnati. But
God knows that although we have made progress in race relations, we still have
a long way to go. In this church, we
Presbyterians have much to receive, much to give and much yet to learn from Dr.
Joe Roberts and Dr. Jerry Durley and our brothers and sisters in their
congregations, Ebenezer Baptist and Providence Missionary Baptist Church. And I look forward with all of you to
strengthening the ties that bind us together in the months and years ahead.
That is also true in our relationship with The Temple here
in Midtown, a congregation whom we have been connected to for more than half a
century. Following last month’s
flare-up in Cobb County over a high school baccalaureate service, I called
Rabbi Sugarman on the phone to thank him and his members for the times we have
shared in worship, in studying the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and to let
him know that we are hopeful about the future as God helps to weave our lives
together as people who affirm our Judeo-Christian heritage.
Because we are strategically located in the heart of this
city, our church has a unique opportunity to engage in all of those endeavors
and so many more – as we invite others to join us in worship and proclaim the
gospel over radio and television; as we reach out to people who are homeless
and poor in Atlanta and around the world, and receive from them the gifts they
have to share; as we address the issues that threaten to tear this city apart
and join our hands and hearts with others in building “the beloved community”
which Martin Luther King envisioned we could be; and as we grow in faith here
at the corners of 16th, Peachtree and Lombardy Way, seeking to
follow Jesus Christ in all that we say and in everything we do.
My friends: the words of the 46th Psalm are
trustworthy and true: God is in the midst of the city – it shall not be
moved. God will help the city, and that
right early. As Christians and as
Presbyterians, we can believe that is so because of a promise and a challenge
which Jesus Christ gave to us a long time ago.
The promise is this – You are the light of the world!
He said. A city set on a hill cannot
be hid. Nearly 2000 years later,
that promise is still operative in Atlanta, Georgia. And the challenge which our Lord has given to you and to me is to
Let our light so shine before others that they may see our good works and
give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). As we face and embrace that challenge in
this church, let us continue to pray that God will guide us and provide us with
all that we need to let His light shine right here in the heart of the city!
In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.