USA > Virginia > City of Staunton > City of Staunton > The First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia > Part 8
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
But it does not do either. It marches on and off and is dashed to pieces on the rocks below. File after file follow to the same dreadful death. You shriek yourself hoarse and make the wildest gestures to warn them of their dan- ger, but it is all in vain-they are blind and deaf. You look back to see how long that column of death is, and you cannot see the end. It is interminable. Now if you know something that could save them and do not resort to it, would you not be something less than human ?
This is not a fancy scene I have tried to draw, but a terribly earnest reality. That moving column is the heathen world, blind and deaf, marching with that same steady step toward the brink of ruin, and every step launches its file of four into that abyss. On and on it comes, a ceaseless stream, till God through his church shall arrest it:
Now take a birdseye view of the work. There are weak churches to help, ministers to be supported, invalid ministers to care for, poor boys to educate for the ministry, a vast unoccupied territory in this country to be evangelized, and a thousand million heathen to whom the Lord has commanded us to take the Gospel. Do you not then assent to the second proposition that the church needs a great deal of money to do its work?
III. My next proposition is :
The Church of to-day has MONEY ENOUGH to do the work, if it were only consecrated to that end.
A few simple calculations will make this evident. What is the total amount of money paid out by the people of the United States in a year as the result of revenue- legislation ? It is impossible to tell exactly, but we can reach a safe working estimate. The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States has recently given out his estimate of the expenses of the government for the cur- rent year (1894) and it is about four hundred and fifty
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
millions of dollars. The annual revenues amount to possi- bly a little less than that, though not much. To make a safe estimate, let us say that the revenues amount to $400,000,000. Add to this, $100,000,000 as a safe estimate of the revenues of all the states. But this is not all. I once heard an eminent statesman, who had occupied the high position of chairman of the committee of ways and means of the National House of Representatives, make this statement in a public speech : "The increase in the price of manufactured goods in this country, resulting from tariff laws, which does not go into the National Treasury but to manufacturers, amounts to a thousand millions of dollars a year." You understand he does not say that that is the cost of manufactured goods, but these goods cost that much more than they would if legislation were different. I take it for granted that a man occu- pying his high position, and at that time aspiring to a higher, would not be reckless in the statement of facts of which he had every opportunity to judge, especially in a public speech that would be reported in all the large papers in the country. But suppose that it be granted that he was not a statesman, but merely a politician, making these statements for party purposes. Suppose we say that he is very wide of the mark and so, in order to be safe, divide his figures by two. That would still leave $500,- 000,000 going in that direction. Now, if we add that to the other $500, 000,000 we found actually paid into National and State treasuries, the grand total paid out annually by the people of this country as the result of revenue laws will certainly reach the sum of one thousand million dol- lars. [I take it that in these remarks I am not touching on the dangerous ground of politics. Political parties differ as to conclusions drawn from such estimates rather than upon the estimates themselves]. That thousand mil-
. lions of dollars is paid without any very perceptible strain. Six years ago we had a national political campaign in which
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
the parties joined issue upon the single question of whether or not the laws should be changed so as to reduce these burdens. But, though the intellectual faculties of the people were fully aroused and concentrated upon this question, it was impossible to persuade them sufficiently of the grievousness of taxation to make them consent to any change in the laws. Now, what part of that large sum of money do the Christian people pay ? The Chris- tians (Protestants) are one-fifth of the whole population ? It is true that many of these are women and children who do not control much money. On the other hand it is true that comparatively very few of the very poor are in the church. Letting these two facts offset each other, it will be fair to conclude that these Protestant Christians, who are one- fifth of the population, own one-fifth of the wealth. That is, they pay one-fifth of that thousand million dollars paid out as the result of financial legislation! That means that the Christian people in this country pay annually $200,- 000,000 for the luxury of being governed. And they do it easily. When asked practically at the ballot box, "What do you think of the burdens of taxation ?"' they answer, "We do not care anything about the burdens of taxation. We do not feel them." Many of them become angry be- cause the question is raised. Christian people pay out annually $200,000,000 and never miss it !
Let us look at the question from another point of view. Dr. Strong calculates that the increase of wealth of the Christians of this country is very nearly $500,000,- 000 a year That is not their entire income, but their sur- plus. After they have met all their necessary expenses, and paid their taxes, and made their church contributions, and done their charities, and made their presents, and bought their luxuries and pleasures, and can find no way by which they can spend any more, they then have $500,- 000,000 left over that does nothing but roll itself over like a snow-ball and get bigger.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
Examine the question from still another point of view. What proportion of our people are consumers of ardent spirits ? In view of the fact that but a small pro- portion of women and children use them at all, I think it would be safe to take the estimate given by one who is regarded as an authority, and say that about one-fifth of the population are consumers of intoxicants. That means that for every Christian in the land there is one consumer of drink. Now certainly the Christian people are equally as able financially as those who use strong drink, and probably they are better off. What then are the people of this class able to give for their beverage ? They pay $900,000,000 annually. They pay eagerly and greedily $900,000,000 a year for that which is taking their bodies to the grave and their souls to hell. Could not the church with the same number and the same ability pay the same sum with the same ease, if it loved its Master as they love their enemy ?
Let me not speak injuriously of the church as a whole. There is no such devotion in the world as some of the fol- lowers of Christ show to Him and His cause. I know a candidate for the ministry now in college who walks the whole distance from his home across mountain roads to get to college. He takes the little sum given him by his Presbytery and friends to pay his board. After college hours he makes a little money by small jobs of work through the town. In vacation he spends his mornings teaching school and his afternoons in a railroad cutshovel- ing and hauling dirt. All this he is doing in order that he may have the sweet privilege of preaching the Gospel.
I recall another case of one of the purest and brightest young men we had at college while I was there. He was a candidate for the ministry and he had to stop one year and teach school to get means for completing his educa- tion. While teaching school, another opportunity was offered to do remunerative work and he accepted it,
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
though it kept him up nearly all night. At length the great strain of working so constantly with so little sleep, affected his brain. In a moment of temporary insanity he assailed a man with a horse whip and was shot to death. He was a man of such a gentle, loving spirit that he was one of the very last men we would have suspected to be capable of such violence.
There are sewing women who are wearing their fin- gers out to make a living, and then give a large part of what they earn to the worship of God. There are those in this town who habitually deny themselves what we re- gard as the necessary things of life in order that they may give to the worship of God. There are also wealthy per- sons who consecrate their substance after the same man- ner. There is no passion in the world so strong as the love for Christ is in some souls. What a revolution there would be if the whole church were aroused to the same degree of consecration.
Now what could be accomplished if the Christian people would contribute for religious uses such sums as they are manifestly able to do ? I calculate that for every one thousand dollars expended in foreign mission work, there is one living missionary in the field. I do not mean that every missionary gets a salary of one thousand dol- lars. Very far from it ! I mean that when all the money expended in various ways in mission work is added up and the whole divided by the number of missionaries, it amounts to a thousand dollars to each missionary. So that if the Christians would put as much money into the work of the church as is now paid because of revenue laws, it would put two hundred thousand missionaries into the field. If they would use the $500,000,000 of surplus earnings in the work, that would put five hundred thous- and missionaries into the field. And if they would give as bountifully as men pay for intoxicants, they would place nine hundred thousand missionaries in the field
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-nearly a million men. If these million missionaries divide up the heathen world equally among themselves there would be one missionary to every one thousand souls. This shows what the Christians of the United States alone could do, to say nothing of the rest of the Christian world.
This has been a century of marvellous progress in every department of human activity. All the modern work of missions has been done during this century. While that work has not more than fairly begun, yet it is opening up wonderfully. It seems to lack but one thing. It lags for want of means. But there are signs of awakening on every hand. Some ten years ago our church was giving less than fifty thousand dollars to the cause of Foreign Missions and the Assembly asked for a hundred thousand. I for one felt depressed about it, when I thought how much was needed and how little was given, and how hard it was to raise that little. But within these ten years we have in- creased to an amount nearly three times as great as it was then. Of course, the demands have grown as well as the supply, but I wish to call attention to the fact that there is growth in giving.
Now if the church should awake to a sense of its full ability and responsibility and send out its two or nine hundred thousand missionaries, and the other churches of Christendom do as well, prosecuting their work with equal vigor for the next six years, and so enter upon a great campaign to occupy the world for Jesus, it could put the gospel into the hands of every living creature before the year 1900, and so as we pass from this century into the next, we would pass into a new era. This may seem extravagant, but so have all great achievements seemed before they were realized. Steam is one of the greatest agents man has ever mastered, and while it is so simple we wonder every child did not discover its use, for ages it struggled in vain from every tea pot to declare itself to man.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
If some prophet would predict to us some of the uses to which electricity will be put within a few years, he would be laughed at, if, indeed, he were not regarded as too silly for laughter. Yet this immense agency lies idle all around us, struggling in some language we cannot yet read to tell us what it can do-services long desired, but long esteemed impossible. But there is a mightier power than either steam or electricity lying within the reach of the church, crying out for recognition and crying in vain. For two thousand years the church has been praying, "Thy kingdom come," and doubtless really wishing it to come, yet here is the simple means for bringing it to pass whenever it shall be consecrated to that end. It is a lever by which the church may be prized from its militant to its triumphant state.
IV. The next proposition is :
The Church has NOT PROPERLY CONSECRATED ITS MONEY to the work.
We sometimes hear a remark like this: "All that Christian people need is to have a cause properly presented to them and they will respond liberally." That means that people will contribute a few cents or dollars to any proper cause however indifferently it is presented, but that if a good appeal is made they will contribute a few more cents or dollars. And this may be liberal according to prevailing ideas, but prevailing ideas are all too low. The conduct of Christians in this matter is frequently like that of a man who has suddenly become very rich, who wants to live like a rich man, but who does not know how. He does not know the comparative value of different objects nor their relative importance. He does not know what is the proper amount of money to spend on this class of luxuries and that. Now, Christians, with all their educa- tion and culture in other matters, have never learned the true measure of the worship of God with their substance. Out of all the wealth owned by Christains in this country,
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
and confronted with such a problem of work as they are, they give only five and a half millions to foreign missions. This may seem like a large amount, but "large" and "small" are relative terms. As compared with the little you and I may have, it is a large sum. But when we com- pare it with the total wealth of Cristians, when we com- pare it with what they uncomplainingly give for the sup- port of the government, with what the intemperate man pays for his beverage, with the needs of the work, it is very, very small. There is a cry from every part of the church for more money. I think the managers of our bene- ficent enterprises are the saddest looking men in our midst. Letters come pouring in upon them all the time, telling of personal distress, domestic tragedies and spiritual destitu- tion, wringing their hearts till they have acquired a look and tone of suffering.
About twenty years ago there was a singular phenom- enon in the city of Charleston, S. C., perhaps peculiar to that city and possibly it may be witnessed there still. During an alarm of fire at night it seemed as if the whole population rushed into the streets and shouted "Fire !" That same cry coming from so many different directions and in so many different keys blended into one continuous, prolonged, unearthly wail that, like some great live thing, seemed to wind itself around and around in the darkness above the city as long as the alarm lasted. If we could hear all the cries of distress that come from all over the church, would they not combine into such a piteous wail like the wailing of the lost ! Could this be so while the church has all the wealth we have seen that it possesses, if that money was in any sense really consecrated to the Master's work ?
I hope to be able to conclude the discussion when we meet again next Sabbath.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
SECOND SERMON
TEXT :- "Honor the Lord with Thy Substance." Prov. III : 9.
O N last Sabbath I began to preach on "The Worship of God with Our Substance," treating the subject in a series of propositions. I had proceeded as far as the fourth proposition. This morning I bespeak your interest while I resume the series.
V. My next proposition or set of propositions have refer- ence to a plan for bringing the church up to a PROPER STANDARD OF CONSECRATION. What are some of the characteristics to be sought after in devising such a plan ?
1. It should be a plan that will result in a sufficent supply of money to do the work.
I need not dwell on that. If we have the work to do and have the money to do it, we should certainly adopt some plan for applying the money to the work.
2. It should be a plan that will distribute the burdens of church support equitably among the members.
A plan is wanted that will secure from each member a sum that in proportion to his income is the equivalent of what every other member is contributing in proportion to his income. How often it happens that this state of things exists in a congregation : There is a wealthy man in the church who contributes largely to all causes, and he is a complainer. He complains because he has too much of the burden of the expense of the church to bear. He says that he has the whole church on his shoulders. Then there is in the same church a poorer man who contributes much less than his rich neighbor, and he, too, complains. He complains that the wealthy brother is far too proud of what he does, and after all he does not believe that the wealthy man is doing as much as one of his means ought to do. We want, if possible, to devise a plan that will
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restore the equilibrium and remove these small jealousies and heart-burnings.
3. It should be a plan that will work with the least de- gree of friction possible.
One of the most perplexing questions in our churches is : "How can we secure enough money for our necessary expenses and do it without wounding anybody's feelings and without causing any unpleasantness ?" The money problem is one that causes more heart-burnings between pastors and people ; more ruptures between churches and their higher courts, more envyings, jealousies and aliena- tions between former friends in the same church than per- haps any other. It is a problem that is fairly wearing out the spirituality and efficiency of the church. Now when- ever we can do something to remove this friction, we, to that extent, advance the prosperity of the church. When a machine is first invented the friction is sometimes so great that the machine tears itself to pieces. All the ex- pense saved in the amount of work done is lost in the wear and tear of the machine itself. Every unit that is removed from the friction of running the machine is one or more units added to the value and efficiency of it. Just so in the work of the church. Every unit that is taken from the worry and annoyance involved in the mechanical opera- tions of it will add a great deal to its spiritual power.
4. It should be a plan that will relieve the deacons of the unpleasant and unscriptural task of collecting.
We need a system with some spontaneity about it-one by which, when the appointed time comes, members will come of their own accord and deposit their offerings with the deacons. That will leave to those officers only the scriptural duty of receiving those offerings and disbursing them.
5. It should be a plan that will establish a community of interests between a pastor and his congregation and draw them into a fuller sympathy with each other.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
The preacher ought not to be the richest man in the community (unless his property has come from a private source, and even then the effect is bad). He ought not to live as a prince among the people and "a lord over God's heritage," as is said to be the case in the north of Scotland, for instance. It is said that, however abjact the poverty of the people may be, the preacher lives in a comfortable home. (There, however the minister is supported by the State and not by money contributed by the worshippers). But if the minister should not be the richest man in the community, neither should he be the poorest. "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things." To "communicate " means " to make a common cause with." Let the hearer make common cause with the preacher. Let him give towards his support such an amount as, added to similar gifts of others, will make the preacher an average man in the com- munity. For my part, I would be glad to see the plan of a stated salary dispensed with, and another put in its place by which the minister's support might adjust itself to the ever varying ability of the people. According to the sal- ary plan, a stated amount must be paid to the preacher every year, whether the people are making much or little. In years when business depression prevails, it may be a great strain upon a church to meet its obligations to its pastor. In successful years it is so easy to pay that it never causes the people to have a serious thought of God. Now, if possible, such an arrangement should be made that the interests of the minister, and of religion generally, would rise and fall with those of the people, and so minis- ter and people would have an additional pledge of mutual sympathy.
6. It should be a plan that will promote the spiritu- ality of the church.
The very working of the plan itself should have the effect of drawing the people closer to God. There should
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
be such a fixed ratio between the amount the people make and what they offer for the worship of God, that in the act of offering it their thoughts would be turned to God as the giver of " every good gift." Thus in years of pros- perity, the largeness of the offering would remind them of the bounty of God to them and prompt them to gratitude, and in adversity they would be led to humiliation and self- examination.
Now, before I proceed with the other propositions, allow me to pause here to lay emphasis upon the desira- bility of a plan embodying these features. For while I still feel confident that you will concur in the remaining propositions, so far as the intellect and heart and conscience are concerned, observation has taught me that there are always some whose minds and wills part company at this point. Let us then make sure of so much as we have thus far gained. It is not right and it is not wise to leave such an important matter as the support of the kingdom of Christ to mere caprice or to be determined by the amount of small change people may happen to be carrying with them when a collection is taken up on Sunday. No other business is carried on without some systematic provision and forethought, and why should this ? Let me recom- mend some such method as this : Decide first of all that you will consecrate to God a definite fraction of your in- come. However much more you may give, resolve not to give less than that particular fraction. Whether that fraction be one-fourth of one per cent., or one-half of one per cent., one, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty per cent., whatever it be, let it be settled. If you cannot decide in any other way what that fraction should be, I would sug- gest this plan : Make an estimate of the amount of money your church ought to raise for all purposes, and, com- paring your own prosperity with that of the other mem- bers of the church, make a just estimate of what part you should contribute to the whole. And then when you learn
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
what fraction of your income that is, you will be in a po- sition to decide intelligently what fraction you ought to give permanently. Now, if a methodical procedure like that is adopted, it will result in your having some money always on hand for religious uses, and whenever the proper time comes you will not need to have the deacons dun you, but you can carry your offering promptly and gladly and hand it to them. By all means let some intelli- gent, consecrated method be substituted for the lax and unsystematic habits that prevail with so many Christians. We often hear criticism of the manner in which the church conducts her different financial operations. Persons ask "Why doesn't the church have better business methods in her work ?" If improvement is needed and is ever to be made, it ought to begin among the private members of the church. They ought to introduce better business methods in their handling of their money for God. The ministers who generally have charge of these financial operations, put into practice the lessons they in their youth have learned as members of our various congregations, and you cannot expect a stream to rise higher than its source. If it be true that there is any lack of the wisest thrift in the management of our home and foreign missions and other great enterprises of the church, the best way to effect im- provement is to introduce reform into the fountain heads, in the congregations. Let our boys who, as ministers and elders, will have the control of these enterprises in the future, learn to do God's work in the most discreet way by seeing good business methods all around them in the way God's people make their contributions to the mainten- ance of religion. Let me, then, urge this much upon your serious attention, even if we cannot go hand in hand to the end of the discussion.
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