Endurance!

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Sermon by Dr. George B. Wirth

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

May 7, 2000

 

Introduction

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome around 58 A.D., his purpose in sending the letter was to bolster up those Christians who were suffering under the domination of the Emperor Nero. Paul also wanted them to know that someday he hoped to sail across the Mediterranean Sea to join them in that ancient city which ruled the world.

 

So listen again to these words of encouragement, recorded in the fifth chapter of Romans:

 

“...We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”

(Romans 5:3-5)

 

My friends, that is our text today as we prepare for the Annual Meeting of this church, and those words serve as a framework for three stories I want to lift up with you, stories about endurance and character and hope which mark our lives as Christians and make all the difference in this world and in the life that is yet to be.

 

Part 1

On the first of August, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 56 men set sail from London, England, bound for the South Pole in Antarctica.

 

Their ship, a 300 ton wooden barquentine named Endurance, had been built to withstand the ice and frigid temperatures, and the crew included scientists, experienced sailors, a photographer, a cook, a navigator, a carpenter and a team of Canadian sled dogs. All were chosen carefully, for Shackleton knew from previous voyages that each of them would be put to the ultimate test.

 

Within three days of their departure, England mobilized for war, and the entire crew volunteered to cancel their mission if the country needed them to enlist. But a telegram was sent from the Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, advising the expedition to "Proceed," and so they did.

 

Four months later, Endurance arrived at the South Georgia Island whaling station by way of Buenos Aires, and then moved into the Weddell Sea near to the Antarctic Continent. The ship encountered heavy pack ice on December 7, drifted for ten months as they were trapped and encased in the ice floe, and on November 21, Endurance was crushed by the pressure and sank into the cold water.

 

 

Undaunted, yet fully aware of the danger, Shackleton and the crew had salvaged supplies from the doomed ship and set up camp on the ice. They survived on meager rations, seal blubber and raw courage until April of 1916, when Shackleton and a small party of men headed back toward South Georgia Island in life boats, promising the rest of the crew that they would return to rescue them.

 

Every day, over four more months, the stranded men waited and prayed while Shackleton and his team traversed 800 miles of icebergs, facing sleet and rain and threatening waves with little food and hardly any sleep. But they made it to the whaling station, chartered a sturdy ship manned by Chilean sailors and went back to save the men of Endurance.

 

Finally, after more than two years of being at sea, Shackleton and his men - all 56 of them - were welcomed in Valparaiso, Chile by a cheering crowd of 30,000 people before heading home to England.

 

Shackleton dictated the entire account of the perilous adventure to a journalist from New Zealand, and in 1919, his book, entitled South: The Endurance Expedition, was published. All the world marveled as they read and heard about what had happened. And this entry, on page 230, tells the essence of the journey: Shackleton wrote:

 

"When I look back at those days, I have no doubt that (Divine) providence guided us, not only across those snow fields, but across the storm-white sea...to our landing place on South Georgia Island. I know that during that long and racking march...it seemed to me often that (we were not alone). I said nothing to my companions...But afterwards, (one of the seamen) Worsley said to me 'Boss, I had the curious feeling that there was another person with us.'"

(From South: The Endurance Expedition by Sir Ernest Shackleton, William Heinemann, London, 1919)

 

That is a remarkable story of courage at its best, a story about the men of Endurance who faced the test of wind and waves and ice storms which brought them to the brink of death. But they all survived and returned to England alive to tell the story about a Holy Presence, a Divine Companion who joined them on the journey and guided and provided them with all that they needed to arrive safely at their destination.

 

I think Paul's words in the fifth chapter of Romans describe exactly what happened to them:

 

“Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us...”

 

Part 2

Our second story is about another ship of faith which sailed in the same year as Endurance. It had been launched originally in 1848, flying the flag of The Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Subsequently, on December 31, 1914, the congregation, now chartered as First Presbyterian Church, broke ground to build a Sunday School and new Sanctuary here on the corner of 16th and Peachtree Streets.

 

The decision had been made, the money was raised and the ship gradually but steadfastly changed its course, moving from Marietta Street downtown to this location. It took almost five years to complete the journey under the able leadership of Dr. J. Sprole Lyons, the Session and the Board of Trustees. And there was great celebration on April 6, 1919, as this gothic structure of stone, stained glass and wood was dedicated to the glory of God.

 

Elder George B. Hoyt wrote of the expedition that "not a member was lost from the church roll in this move and the church immediately began to grow again." We had weathered the storms of World War I, survived the theological controversies raging across our Denomination and engaged the challenge which God put before us to explore new territory.

 

And ever since then, especially during the past 30-40 years as "Midtown" has grown up all around us, we have found ourselves strategically placed in the heart of the city and we have chosen to embrace the call of Christ as an urban congregation.

 

In the 1960's and early 70's, with Harry Fifield at the helm, this ship of faith navigated through troubled waters as we reached out to young people called "Hippies," established the beginning of our community ministries, sought peace and reconciliation during the Viet Nam War and came alongside our church member and Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. throughout the difficult time of integration and civil rights legislation.

 

Then, in the late 1970's and across the decade of the 80's, when Paul Eckel, followed by Davison Philips were on the deck, we sailed forward into ministry with international students, welcomed and began to work more intentionally with the homeless and poor people of this city, and launched the television broadcast, which together with our radio program on WSB, has reached into thousands of homes every week with the good news of the gospel.

 

More recently, in the 1990's, it has been my privilege to worship and work with all of you as we have renovated the sanctuary and other parts of this grand old vessel. God has also given us the opportunity and the resources to build a new Christian Community Center, to develop a full-time counseling ministry, to secure and spruce up the parking deck across Peachtree Street and to create partnerships with our brothers and sisters across the world in Haiti, Honduras, Kenya and Brazil.

 

All of that, and so much more is happening here today, just as it has been for the past 152 years. Looking back, we can see how the Lord has helped us endure, to stay on course, to navigate through the hard times, to celebrate the good times and at all times to remember who we are: an urban, Christian, Presbyterian congregation located in the heart of the city and called to follow Jesus Christ as we minister to others in His name and for His sake. That is the story of this great ship of faith, and it is a wonder to behold!

 

Conclusion

With all of that said, there is one more story to be told, a story which is yet to be lived and still waiting to be written. It is the story of this church's future which stretches out across the horizon of the 21st century and a new millennium. God only knows where He will lead us and what great things He has in store for us. But of this we can be certain: if we Endure and keep our eyes and hearts and lives focused on Jesus Christ, then He will guide us in the right direction and steer this ship of faith toward its providential destination.

 

And someday, as we in this present generation prepare to join the church triumphant in heaven, those who follow after us will stand alongside us to remind us that the promise is true: Endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

 

LIFE IS ETERNAL

 

As I stand upon the seashore,

A ship at my side spreads her

white sails to the morning breeze

and starts out for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength,

And I stand and watch her until at length

she hangs like a speck of white cloud

just where the sea and sky come down to

mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says:

"There! She's gone!"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as majestic in mast and hull

and spar as when she left my side,

Just as able to bear her load of living freight

to the place of destination. Her diminished size

is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone nearby

says, "There! She's gone!"

There are other eyes watching and other voices

waiting on the other side to take up the

glad and glorious shout:

"Here she comes! Here she comes!"

 

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