FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

 

Annual Meeting #2

May 4, 2008

 

THE BIG PICTURE

 

Scripture:  Genesis 1 (Selected Verses),

John 1 (Selected Verses), Ephesians 2:17-22

 

I

 

Some months ago, I heard Doug Ellis, one of our church leaders, make a presentation to an adult Sunday school class that caught my attention.  He called it “The Big Picture,” and drawing from two books, “The History of Earth” and “The First Humans,” Doug charted the origins of the universe beginning with “The Big Bang” 13.7 billion years ago, and the first evidence of Homo sapiens – human beings – going back 200,000 years in time.

 

The clever twist of the presentation was that one inch in the timeline equaled one thousand years.  So from The Big Bang until today, it’s 216 miles, just about the same distance from Jacksonville, Florida to Atlanta.  From the earth’s formation 4.5 billion years ago until today, it’s 71 miles, about the same as traveling from Macon to Atlanta.  The first Homo sapiens, human beings emerging out of Africa, take us from 200,000 years ago until today, just about 17 feet.  And from the time of Jesus 2000 years ago until now, the distance is only 2 inches.

 

Doug’s parallel chart of the population growth on this planet begins with the first century A.D., estimating around 200-400 million people, then tracks from the 17th century with 500 million people until today with 6.6 billion human beings.  And the projections are that we will add 86 million people per year on this planet, which is an exponentially higher growth rate than most of us can imagine.

 

Now the point of all these numbers is this: God spent a long, long time – billions of years – creating this earth.  But with the population explosion today and the mass consumption and depletion of our resources, factored together with wars and weapons of mass destruction, epidemic diseases, global warming and the alarming reality of world-wide pollution, we human beings are on a collision course with Mother Nature.

 

That is “The Big Picture,” and Doug Ellis’ hopeful conclusion is what helped to give birth to this sermon.  He said that down through the centuries, God has sent us prophets and leaders to teach us the lessons we need to know, and ultimately, God came to earth in person, in the person of Jesus, to show us the way God wants us to go: sharing our blessings with those in need, treating people who are different than ourselves as sisters and brothers in God’s human family, living in peace with all of the nations, and acting as good stewards of the gifts of creation.  In other words, the Lord wants us to leave this campsite called earth in better condition than the way we found it.

 

Sad to say, some folks just aren’t paying attention.  A man was traveling with a tourist group by bus, seeing the American West for the first time, and he wasn’t all that impressed.  Looking at the Grand Canyon, the Royal Gorge and the Painted Desert, he complained and criticized until the bus driver spoke up and said “Mister, if you ain’t got in on the inside, you can’t see it on the outside.”

 

The reality is, looking at The Big Picture helps us to recognize with our own eyes the glory of what God has made, and that generates an attitude of gratitude.  The poet who wrote these words discovered that was true:

 

“One midnight, deep in starlight still

I dreamed that I received this bill:

5,000 breathless dawns all new,

5,000 flowers fresh with dew;

5,000 sunsets wrapped in gold,

1,000,000 snowflakes served ice-cold;

And many music-haunted dreams

Of moon-drenched roads and hurrying streams

Of prophesying winds and trees,

Of silent stars and browsing bees,

One June night in fragrant wood,

One friend I loved and understood.

I wondered when I woke that day,

How in the world I could ever repay God.”

 

That’s The Big Picture Doug Ellis was trying to describe to the Sunday school class that day, reminding us that we are stewards of what we have been given and that God expects us to take care of everything that He has made.

 

Fyodor Dostoevsky believed that and he said so in his classic novel “The Brothers Karamazov”:

 

          “Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it.  Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light.  Love the animals, love the plants, love everything.  If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things.  Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day.  And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

 

II

 

Now those words lead us to The Big Picture in the Bible, presented in our three lessons from the Book of Genesis, the Gospel of John and the Letter to the Ephesians – I think the storyline is familiar to all of us.

 

The first chapter of Genesis says that at the dawn of creation, after everything else had been set in motion, God made human beings in His own image with the capacity to love and to be loved by Him, and with the responsibility to take care of the earth and all of its creatures.

 

But something went wrong – the Bible calls it sin, and describes how the original relationship between God and humanity was broken.  God continued to reach out to His people, making a covenant with them, promising His blessing if they would believe and be faithful to Him.

 

Some kept the covenant, but not everyone.  And after a long period of persistent rebellion, God chose to intervene and to become a human being.  His name was and is Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, who came to redeem us and to bring us back to the Father in heaven.  The first chapter of John calls Him the “Logos,” which in translation from the Greek means “The Divine Word,” and through the incarnation, that Word was made flesh as Jesus came to live among us.

 

John says that To all who received Him and believed in His name, He gave power to become the children of God.  And after His life on earth, His sacrificial death on the cross, and his glorious resurrection from the grave, those disciples who had followed Jesus became known as “People of The Way” (Acts 9:2), and then were called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).  When the Holy Spirit came upon them on that Pentecost Day in Jerusalem (which we will celebrate next week), the disciples were empowered and compelled to go out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is how the church began.

 

The Apostle Paul picks up The Big Picture story in his Letter to the Ephesians, chapter two, telling us what God has called the church to be and to do.  And this text is the same one we used ten months ago to launch our theme for this past year: “Christ at the Center: Our Firm Foundation.”  Listen again to what the apostle said:

 

          So Jesus came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near (he is describing the Gentiles and the Jews);  For through Him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

          Therefore, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.  In Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.  (Ephesians 2:17-22)

 

What that means for you and for me, and for every Christian since the first century A.D., is that we have a role to play, back then and still today, in The Big Picture.  In each and every generation, the Lord has called us to build upon the foundations which were laid by our spiritual forbears and to increase and expand the vision for Christ’s ministry and mission in this world.

 

But where we get into trouble as Christians is when we lose sight of Jesus Christ as the Center of that vision, and make the mistake of thinking that we are the ones who cause it all to happen.

 

Ten years ago, as we celebrated our 150th Anniversary here as a Presbyterian congregation, I told you a story which I want to repeat today – a story that brings The Big Picture into focus:

 

          “An American tourist was being shown around the city of Cologne, Germany by a taxicab driver, and the American had ‘an attitude,’ as we put it.  As the cab driver pointed out different landmarks and important places, the American played the game of one upsmanship.

          Driving past a beautiful old building in the heart of the city, the American asked what it was.  ‘That’s City Hall’ answered the cab driver.  ‘How long did it take to build it?’ the tourist wanted to know.  ‘About four years’ answered the cabbie.  ‘Well, in America’ boasted the tourist, ‘we could build that in two.’

          They passed another majestic building and the tourist asked what it was.  ‘That’s the opera house’ came the reply.  ‘How long did it take to build it?’  ‘About six years’ the driver responded.  ‘In America’ replied the tourist, ‘we could build it in three.’

          They finally came to the Cologne Cathedral, one of the oldest and most magnificent church structures in all of Europe.  The American, who was not a sophisticated person, asked ‘What is that?’  The taxicab driver thought for a moment in the front seat, then looked in his rearview mirror and said with a not-so-subtle smile ‘I don’t know.  It wasn’t there last night.’”  (From “Laughter in Appalachia” by Loyal Jones and Billy Edd Wheeler, August House Publications)

 

My friends: let us never make the mistake of thinking that we are the ones who create everything that happens in this church.  To be sure, God has called us all to serve Him and others in this ministry, and we rejoice with the new elders who are being installed today.

 

But neither they nor we are the ones who generate what is happening here.  It is Jesus Christ who is the Center of our ministry and mission, He is our Lord and Savior and the source of the love and the life we share together, and His Holy Spirit empowers us to become all that He has called us to be.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Therefore, with humble and grateful hearts, let us give thanks for what has been accomplished during this past year.  And with hope and great expectation, let us look forward to all of the opportunities which the Lord holds in store for us.

 

Because of God’s blessing and your faithful generosity, both our Capital and our Annual Giving Campaigns have raised the resources we need – almost $20 million – to completely renovate our old building and facilities, to help us strengthen our worship, work and witness here at the corner of 16th and Peachtree, and to reach out and touch the poor and those who need help and hope across our city and throughout the world.  And in the months ahead, our three search committees will find the new leaders that God has already chosen to come guide us and serve alongside us in Care Ministry, Church Growth and Christian Education.

 

All of that, and so much more, is happening to and through this congregation, and it is a wonder to behold!

 

So in closing, I want to say how truly grateful I am for your support.  And as The Big Picture for this great church continues to develop, I pray that the Lord will bless us with joy for the journey that is yet to be.  Let us pray:

 

Almighty God, as we pray for the Church Universal, we pray for God’s blessing on the Church in this place.  Here may the faithful find salvation, and the careless be awakened: may the doubting find faith and the anxious be encouraged; may the tempted find help and the sorrowful comfort: may the weary find rest and the strong be renewed: may be aged find consolation and the young be inspired; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

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