FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

Christ the King Sunday

November 23, 2008

CHRIST AT THE CENTER: THE FAMILY OF FAITH

DIVINE ELECTION

Scripture: Psalm 24, Romans 13:1-7

INTRODUCTION

In almost every kind of election, there are winners and there are losers. And after the final count is in, we often rationalize the results, as did one candidate I knew up in Pennsylvania who ran for Congress, was clobbered by his opponent, and said when the race was over, “I had the solid support of all those good people who didn’t go to the polls.”

In almost every kind of election, there are winners and there are losers, and in the midst of all the hoopla, it helps to have a sense of humor. That’s what Mo Udall discovered when he ran for President back in 1976. Slipping and sliding through the snow in the time honored tradition of wooing voters in the New Hampshire Primary, Mo Udall, the Democrat U.S. Representative from Arizona walked into a barber shop and said “Hi! I’m Mo Udall and I have just announced that I am running for President of the United States.” The barber paused for a moment, looked around at his friends and replied with New England candor “Yup, we were just laughing about that this morning.”

In almost every kind of election, there are winners and there are losers. And every now and then, we are truly inspired by a candidate who overcomes all the odds and not only wins, but makes a profound impact on our lives.

He ran for the State Legislature and lost. He entered business and failed. He ran for the House of Representatives and was defeated twice. He ran for the Vice-Presidency and didn’t make it. And then, in 1860, he was elected the 16^th President of the United States and signed his name Abraham Lincoln.

I

During the past 19 days since Barack Obama won the Presidential Election, it seems to me that these things are true:

· John McCain, the Republican candidate for President, has bowed out gracefully and with great integrity has offered his support to Obama

· George and Laura Bush have welcomed Barack and Michelle Obama to the White House with warm and gracious hospitality as they talked together last week about living in that historic mansion, raising their daughters in the public eye, and taking a sneak peek at the Lincoln bedroom (See article “Bush and Obama Have Power Chat,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tuesday, November 11, page 1, by Jennifer Loven).

· And speaking of Abraham Lincoln, the news media has now focused our attention on the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, pointing out how Barack Obama is inviting some of his rivals to serve in the new Cabinet and Government, just as Lincoln did almost 150 years ago (See “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon and Schuster, 2005).

Moreover, by the grace of God and because of our well-established political system, this time of transition (thus far) has not been marked, nor has it been marred, by partisan backbiting or resentful in-fighting between our leaders in Washington. With the financial crisis coming at us like barbarians at the gate, most of our elected officials are finally trying to collaborate and work together across party lines to find solutions to our economic problems.

And as was the case when Mo Udall ran for President back in the 1970’s, it helps if we can maintain a sense of humor in the political arena and not take ourselves too seriously. Someone sent an internet photograph to me right after the election, picturing the bodies of a man and a woman competing in the program “Dancing with the Stars” on television. And the smiling, animated faces superimposed on these two dancers are those of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin!

I have given this picture to as many people as I can, to remind us of what is happening here and now for all of us as Americans. There are winners and losers in almost every kind of election. But whether we are Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians or Independents, the bottom line is this: united we stand, divided we fall. And we as Christians, who belong to the Reformed Tradition, we believe that God calls all of us to accept, affirm and support those who have been chosen to lead us.

II

Now that is not just my opinion – that is the legacy of John Calvin himself. Next year, in July of 2009, we will celebrate the 500^th anniversary of Calvin’s birth, for he was and is the architect and visionary father of the Presbyterian Church.

In 1536, at the age of 27, he completed the “Institutes of the Christian Religion” which became the Magna Carta of the Reformation. And as those who bear his legacy, we should be aware of what he wrote in response to the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Chapter 13:

“Those who are called to office through the electoral process – even when it is flawed – are our ‘civil magistrates,’ who, Calvin says, have been given a godly task that is ‘not only holy and legitimate, but far the most sacred and honorable in human life.’ Whether or not they are willing to affirm that they are ‘God’s servants for our good’ (Romans 13:8), they are accountable to God for the exercise of their office, and it is our duty to assist them.” (From an article “Every Grace Divine,” by Vernon Broyles III, Presbyterians Today, November 2008, page 44).

Calvin’s view of what some theologians have called “Divine Election” comes from these words in the New Testament Letter to the Romans:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad…then do what is good, and you will receive…approval; for it is God’s servant for your good… (Romans 13:1-4)

In other words, God, in all of His mystery, is involved in the election of our leaders. And if we really believe that, as the Apostle Paul and John Calvin believed it, then our God-given responsibility is to support those who are elected to positions of authority, unless and until they betray our trust and turn away from the Lord. And that is true at every level of leadership which He ordains.

Charles Elliot, a Presbyterian pastor who once served in the administration of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, told a story that I have repeated to all of the elected elders and staff members of this church.

A newspaper reporter visited President Woodrow Wilson at the White House and asked him to name the greatest honor that he ever received.

The reporter expected Wilson to name his admittance to the Bar as a lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia in 1882…or his award of the Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1886…or his election to the Presidency of Princeton University in 1902…or his election to the Governorship of New Jersey in 1911; or his election to the Presidency of the United States, in which he served two terms, from 1913 – 1921; or his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.

So the reporter was surprised when President Wilson thought for a moment, then looked him in the eye and said, “The greatest honor ever bestowed upon me was my election to be an elder in the Presbyterian Church.” (From an article entitled “The Officer’s Calling,” by Charles Elliott, The Presbyterian Outlook, April 8, 1985).

And I hope that you will remember to submit your recommendations to our Nominating Committee as they seek to prepare a slate of officers for this congregation to be voted upon next February.

The Apostle Paul and John Calvin and all of us together in the Reformed Tradition claim that God calls us by name to serve Him and to serve others in positions of leadership in the church, in this city and state, in the nation and in the world. And by “Divine Election,” when we hear that call, I hope and I pray that each of us and all of us will say in the words of Isaiah, Here am I Lord, send me (Isaiah 6:8).

CONCLUSION

As we gather together around our Thanksgiving tables this week, it is important for us to remember that in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, surrounded by his “team of rivals” in the Cabinet and Government, had their approval when he declared that the last Thursday in November would be “set aside as a day of thanksgiving and praise for our benevolent Father” for the nation’s survival in the midst of the Civil War.

Lincoln’s proclamation of an official date was influenced by President George Washington, who had designated Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a day of national thanksgiving for the newly approved Constitution of the United States…

Washington wanted that day to “be devoted to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” To the “Ruler of the Nations,” he gave thanks for “the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed.” (From an article entitled “Thanksgiving Days in History” by William E. Phipps, The Presbyterian Outlook, November 23, 1987, page 6)

And that leads us, my friends, to the conclusion of this sermon, and hopefully, to a renewed vision, not only for this nation, but of the Lord God Almighty, and His Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The Psalmist prophesied that we should be watching and waiting for Him to come:

“Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors!

That the King of Glory may come in.

Who is the King of Glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty,

The Lord, mighty in battle.

Lift up your head, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors!

That the King of Glory may come in.

Who is this King of Glory?

The Lord of Hosts,

He is the King of Glory!”

His name is Jesus Christ, and He was not elected – He was sent into this world as Christ the King to show us how to love one another, to live together in peace and to save us from our sins. “Twenty-one centuries have come and gone, and His is still the central figure of the human race. All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, and all the emperors and kings that have ever reigned, have not affected the life of the human race on earth as much as this one solitary life.” (Attributed to Henry Van Dyke)

That is what we believe as Christians, and that is the story we have all been commissioned to tell to the nations. Thanks be to God!

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

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