FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

Memorial Day Weekend

May 28, 2006

OUR SECURITY SYSTEM

Scripture: Psalm 46; Romans 8:28-39

INTRODUCTION

Early on a weekday morning, walking from the parking lot through the doors into our Smith Christian Community Center, I find Captain James Oates there at his post, and as our eyes meet, I ask him the question “Are we secure?” He looks back at me confidently and gives the same answer every time: “Yes sir, we are!”

That has become a daily ritual for the two of us, and it is comforting for me to know that he and all of our security guards are watching over that entranceway, which is actually the main thoroughfare in and out of this church.

On weekdays and weekends, from early in the morning until the lights go out at night, Captain Oates and his team are there as children are brought to pre-school and Sunday school, and as teenagers show up for their youth activities, and homeless men and women come seeking food, clothing, counseling, foot care and shelter; as international people arrive for classes where we teach the English language, and many others enter to go to their Disciple Bible study groups, or to the Samaritan Center for counseling, or to the Childspring offices with children from all over the world who need help and healing…and the growing numbers of so many more who are coming here to find faith and hope and love and the presence of God in this sacred place.

All of which is to say that when I ask Captain Oates each morning, “Are we secure:” and he answers “Yes sir, we are,” there is a reassuring sense of confidence and protection in that intersection for people from all walks of life. And I believe that is the same question which millions of people are asking across this world today: “Are we secure?”

I

That’s what the traumatized victims of Darfur in the Sudan want to know, and the war-torn-weary citizens and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fearful men, women and children living in and around the nuclear threat of Iran, the beleaguered and belligerent Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and the shell shocked Jews and Arabs in Israel and an emerging Palestine – the question that all of them are asking is “Are we secure”? And the answer thus far at this moment in history is “No, we are not.”

I have told you before about something Mark Twain once wrote after returning from a trip to Asia. He was concerned about the violence and discord among God’s creatures, and said he had decided to take the matter in hand:

“So I built a cage and put in it a dog and a cat. After a little training, I got the dog and the cat to the point where they lived peaceably together. Then I introduced a pig, a goat, a kangaroo, some birds and a Monday. And after a few minor adjustments, they learned to live together in harmony. So encouraged was I by this success, that I added an Irish Catholic, a Presbyterian, a Jew, a Muslim from Turkestan and a Buddhist from China, along with a Baptist missionary I had captured on the same trip. And in a very short while, there wasn’t a single living thing left in the cage.”

So it was then, and so it still is today. “Are we secure?”

Closer to home here in America – with our borders under siege by the millions who have slipped through and the millions more who want to come here, and as the Congress prepares to vote on a proposed plan for immigration which some say will help and others believe will hurt this nation; and with our Homeland Security budget recently approved at $32 billion in its third year of operation; and with many of us wondering if the fuel pump prices are ever going to go down as we watch the inflation factors creeping up – there are a lot of people across America who are asking the question “Are we secure:” And the answer I’m hearing is “Not nearly as secure as we want and ought to be.”

And what about the church? While many local congregations like this one are growing in ministry and mission, almost all of our Protestant denominations are struggling with membership decline and divisive issues that refuse to go away. Our Presbyterian General Assembly is meeting in Birmingham, Alabama three weeks from now, and there are those who are deeply concerned and already praying about how this denomination can stay together as we face difficult decisions which threaten to pull us apart.

The Roman Catholic Church is struggling also, just as they did forty years ago in the midst of Vatican II which brought about so many changes and new challenges that some of the old guard priests didn’t know what to do. One of them wrote a poem about it, and this is what he said:

“Latin’s gone,

Peace is too;

Singin’ and shoutin’

From every pew.

Altar’s turned ‘round,

The priest is too;

A commentator’s yellin’

‘Page twenty-two!’

Communion rail’s goin’

Now we stand up straight,

Kneelin’ suddenly

Went outta date.

Processions are formin’

In every aisle,

Salvation’s organized

Single file.

The rosary’s out,

Psalms are in,

You hardly ever hear

A word against sin.

The padre’s lookin’ puzzled,

Doesn’t know his part,

He used to know the whole deal

In Latin by heart.

I hope all the changes

Are just about done,

That they don’t drop bingo

Before I’ve won!”

(From a 1973 sermon by Dr. David B. Watermulder, now Pastor Emeritus of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA)

Well… “Are we secure?” That’s what a lot of Presbyterians, and Catholics, and a whole host of other Christians throughout this country want to know. And it seems to me that the answer in the mainline church today is “Not as secure as we used to be.”

II

You see, in our world, across this nation and within the church, we have been building our security systems for a long time. And when the sun is shining, the sky is blue and there are no clouds on the horizon – when all is well, those security systems usually work just fine.

But when all hell breaks loose – when the storms strike, and the thunderclouds of war, violence and natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes roll over our world; when the lightning bolts of economic trouble, racial tension and political dissension flash across this nation; and when the rain pours down and floods rise up in the form of Biblical battles, theological divisions and ecclesiastical schisms within the church – then our security systems can and sometimes do fail and fall apart.

That is what happened to ancient Israel you know. King David and his people were rock solid secure 3000 years ago. Through their military strength and political skill, they kept the Egyptians and Assyrians at bay. Their productive labor and creative ability helped to develop a community that shared its resources and enjoyed economic stability. And above all else, they were faithful to God in their worship and giving, and trusted Him with grateful hearts for all of their blessings.

But after David and his son Solomon were dead and gone, those people forgot what the Lord had done for them. They played loose with the commandments, broke the covenants, bowed down to idols and began to worship pagan gods. Civil strife broke out and they were divided into two kingdoms, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. And within three hundred years, the Babylonians invaded their lands and took them out – literally into exile.

The 46^th Psalm summarizes so much of that Hebrew history, although it was probably written at the beginning of their decline, sometime during the 9^th century B.C. It was actually a song they sang during worship, and the words reminded those ancient people of God’s promise to watch over them in the good times and the hard times, even when the storms would strike and threaten to destroy their security:

“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea… and tremble with its tumult.

For there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the most high. God is in the midst of the city and she shall not be moved. God will help her right early. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, God utters His voice and the earth melts.

The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Can you imagine how many times the chosen people recited those lines, remembering God’s promises to them and renewing their promises to him, even and especially when it looked like all was lost?

That same Psalm has been a source of comfort and help and hope to all of us in our time, even when the security systems we believed to be impenetrable were invaded. It was read in churches and synagogues across this nation after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. And during those traumatic and fearful days following September 11, 2001, we turned to Psalm 46 in this sanctuary and in houses of worship throughout America, asking the Lord for the courage and strength we needed to go on instead of giving up. By the grace and guidance of almighty God, that promise continues to sustain us, even though the road is long and the going is tough.

CONCLUSION

So before we close on this Memorial weekend Sunday, I want to leave you with these final words from Psalm 46 and a verse from Romans chapter 8 which point us toward our ultimate security system and a different way of living together in this world:

Come behold the works of the Lord…He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, He burns the chariots with fire!

Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Do you know what those words mean? They mean that God’s Security System is not to be found in weapons or war, but rather through the peace which He holds in store for us. It is a peace which only He can give, and if we are willing to receive it, that peace can live in us and between us in this world.

Paul believed that was true, and in Romans 8, he told us that the source of that peace is found in Jesus:

For there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you believe that is true? A company of soldiers from Georgia, stationed with the United States Army in Iraq, believe it, and several months ago, they did something which shows that the love and peace of Jesus Christ is alive and at work in this world.

In one of those war-torn villages, they found a little Muslim girl who was dying, and as the soldiers prayed for her, they were led by the Spirit to try to save her life. A Methodist church in Douglasville, and our church, through the incredible ministry of Rose Emily Bermudez and Childspring International, worked with the Iraqi government, the State Department, the Army, and an Atlanta hospital, to bring baby Noor to America. CNN and our newspapers and magazines have covered the story, and the world has been watching and waiting to see what would happen.

Well, I’m glad to report that the surgeries have been successful, the healing is nothing less than a miracle, and when the doctors are ready to let her go back, baby Noor will be returned to her Muslim family in Iraq.

How can that be? Because those soldiers and Rose Emily and so many others believe what Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, said: Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto Me. Our security systems may falter and fail, but God’s security system, which in everything works together for good through His Son our Savior Jesus, will ultimately prevail.

Are we secure? Listen again to the promise which has been given to us:

Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is God’s Security System, at work through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And that is a promise we can count on, in this world and the next.

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

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.