Moses Drury Hoge - Isaiah 52:7; Galatians 6:9
A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
Celebrating the Church’s 175th Anniversary in 2020
Isaiah 52:7; Galatians 6:9
Moses Drury Hoge – June 28, 2020
Who was Moses Drury Hoge?
These are some words from the Richmond Dispatch – the city’s paper.
The dawn of Friday, January 6th, 1899, brought with it to the people of Richmond, Va., the knowledge of an event, which in the heart of every one, was as a public calamity; and the occasion of grief to all. The animating spark of the so-endeared citizen and minister, Dr. Hoge, had passed gently to God. . . . His death was not unexpected, but it was not the less sorrowful. Scarce ever, has the rubric gem—‘Faith, Hope, Charity,’ been more impressively and touchingly exemplified in man, and in not another, have the elementary virtues, it is felt, more abounded. Indeed, words seem at fault, and inadequate to depict a life so benignant, so beneficent.
I stand right now in the same pulpit where Dr. Moses Drury Hoge, the first pastor of Second Presbyterian, served from 1845 (when the church was founded) to the day he died in 1899. 54 years!
Only a very few pastors in any century, in any denomination, can claim to serve the same church for more than two decades. Moses Hoge served this church for more than 5 decades. And the span of his years here – late ante-bellum Virginia, through the Civil War in Richmond - the Capital of the Confederacy, through Reconstruction, and all the way to the end of the 19th century. Those 54 years experienced major changes and challenges: 14 different governors in VA, and 15 US Presidents (from James Polk to William McKinley). Those years had Hoge overseeing the strengthening of this church in faith and prominence, from the building of this beautiful sanctuary, the widening of the transepts, the construction of the Chapel, and 54 years of people and personalities, policies and programs, meetings and ministries to nurture faith and life – God’s work through this esteemed church.
We have two Biblical texts for today. First from the prophet Isaiah, from chapter 52:7: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Then we also have a verse from Galatians 6:9: So, let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. This is the Word of the Lord.
Two singular verses – one from the prophet and one from the apostle. Moses Hoge tended to preach from one or two verses. It seems – as we think about who he was, how he lived – those two verses can help us.
Moses Drury Hoge was born on the campus of Hampden-Sydney College, in 1818, where his father, Samuel Hoge was a professor, and his grandfather was the college president. Moses Hoge’s other grandfather, Rev. Drury Lacy, had also been president of Hampden-Sydney College. As Brian Blount pointed out this month in his sermon – all of Hoge’s life intersects fully with three great institutions: Hampden-Sydney, Second Presbyterian, and Union Seminary.
When Moses Hoge was two years old, in 1820, his parents moved to Ohio. Moses’ father was against slavery. His parents took the family out of the south; his father served first as a Presbyterian minister and then as a professor at the University of Athens, until his untimely death in 1826, when Moses Drury was only 8 years old. For the next 7 years, Moses and his widowed mother and siblings lived in Ohio; his mother making ends meet by renting out rooms in a boarding house.
When Moses Drury Hoge was 16, his mother packed him up, put him on a horse, and sent him to live with his uncle in New Bern, NC. His uncle tutored him in preparation for his enrollment in Hampden-Sydney. Hoge excelled at college, graduated first in his class. Then following his father, and two grandfathers, and 4 uncles to become a minister, he enrolled in Union Theological Seminary.
Following Seminary – in 1843 – Hoge could have ventured off to serve a number of other churches. He had family connections around the Commonwealth, and across the south. He also had gifts for leadership and preaching. But the pastor of First Presbyterian, Richmond, William Plumer, who envisioned new Presbyterian churches in Richmond, captured Hoge’s attention, imagination, and allegiance.
One year later, in 1844, Hoge married Susan Wood, from Prince Edward County. A year after that, Hoge was named as Pastor of this church, Second Presbyterian. Some people ask, “why is it called Second Presbyterian?” Well, this church emerged from First Presbyterian, in this very location, a spot that some voted against because it was considered too remote in the west end of town to build a faithful congregation.
From then on, for 54 years, Moses Hoge gave his attention to the building of this church – both the structure and the ministry. In 1847, he wrote about this building: “It will be the most beautiful church in Virginia when completed. I do not mean the finest or the most costly, but in the best taste, the most symmetrical and pleasing to an educated eye.” (Blanton, p. 132)
You cannot separate the beauty of this church from the vision and leadership of Moses Hoge. We are still benefitting from his vision, his sacrifice, and his leadership in advocating for such a grand place for his preaching, and for the worship of God.
What was the secret to Hoge’s success? Was Hoge just in the right place at the right time – starting a new church as Richmond was prospering and gravitating west from Church Hill? Or was it his charisma and leadership that helped to establish this church and its prominent ministry in this city?
Clearly – the two are intertwined – the influence of Moses Hoge and the prominence of this church in the city of Richmond.
Hoge seemed to have an unusual charisma, and an important confidence about him. He was tall, handsome, and was even described as looking like a military leader. His passion was preaching. He did not just preach here – but in a building in the market, and in far off places around the country. He was committed to gathering people together, to enamor them with God’s Word. He designed this very pulpit for his preaching – a pulpit where every seat in this sanctuary can be seen from the pulpit (except for maybe one seat, behind the organ, where Charley Cooke liked to sit for so many years).
This week, I called Mary Ackerly – the last descendant of Moses Hoge connected to this church. I reminded her that I was preaching on her family member. She said, “Oh my, Alex! Just don’t preach as long as he did.” His sermons were always long explications of Scripture and theology. Page after page, lots of oration and detail. That was a different era and a different style of preaching. But he was obviously quite skilled.
This is also a comment about him: His profound Christian experience and his thorough knowledge of the human heart enabled him to suit the Gospel message to every class of sinful humanity. And this: His mind was eminently logical, but his reasoning was overlaid with an exquisite rhetoric, which, while it detracted nothing from its strength, imparted to it a never-failing charm. (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/)
Before he was 35 years old, this preacher at Second had been elected moderator of the Synod, and a trustee of Hampden-Sydney College – where he served until his death. He received honorary doctorates, not just from Hampden-Sydney, but also from Washington and Lee, and Princeton University. He was elected Moderator of the larger Presbyterian Church US at its meeting in St Louis in 1875. He travelled extensively, representing southern Presbyterians at international meetings. During his life, he crossed the Atantic 16 times. All of this reflects his stature among Presbyterians. His head high above his shoulders, he always presented himself with piety and intelligence.
Hoge also had a deep commitment to serving others. Almost as soon as he became pastor of Second church, he felt the call to serve the US Army as a Chaplain in the Spanish-American War, in Texas, in the late 1840’s. Others tried to dissuade him, because he had new duties with a new congregation, but he wrestled sincerely with the call to preach and comfort soldiers on a far-off battlefield. That call did not work out – he stayed in Richmond – but when the Civil War started, he displayed courage and conviction – ministering to troops and connecting with Confederate leaders.
Perhaps it is in this role with Confederates that his life and commitments get far more complex. His contributions to the southern cause, the Confederate cause, create both acclaim for him in his time, and raise heart-felt questions for our time. During the Civil War, Hoge would go almost every day at noon to the Capital building – occupied by President Jefferson Davis and others – to pray and provide counsel. All of this was motivated by his desire to serve God, to comfort, to be a healing presence.
But there exists a growing problem here – cultural contexts can cloud Christian commitments. Daily duties can distract us from the real justice and purposes of God. Personal ties can prohibit us from seeing what God expects of us. When we get focused on the immediate, we can lose sight of God’s larger plans – and drift away from working for the coming reign of Christ – which is about the lame walking, the blind seeing, and the oppressed going free – and the value of every single human being.
Hoge’s life and his relationship to slavery is a bit perplexing. When the Civil War broke out, he was not initially in favor of secession. Hoge had offered freedom to all his slaves – whom he had inherited from his wife’s father. Only one of those slaves left for freedom. Freedom for slaves was a complicated matter. But then when Virginia left the Union, Hoge went totally along, and devoted the coming years – and even his preaching and teaching - to the southern cause, to the Confederate effort. His sermons offered flaming support for the southern way, which was built on the enslavement of so many people. As much as anyone, from this pulpit and with his life and influence, he weaved together the idea that slavery and Christian faith can go together.
With thousands of Confederate soldiers gathering in Richmond, they were added to his congregation. It is estimated that as many as one hundred thousand soldiers of the Confederacy heard the gospel from his lips.
Did they hear the gospel? Or did they hear some cultural accommodation of the gospel?
Often, Hoge would travel to the actual battlefield, while the battle was ongoing, to minister to the spiritual needs of the men. Once he even sailed through the naval blockade to England to bring back Bibles to the men and women of the southern cause. The Blanton book, with the detailed history of this church, shares conversations of Moses Hoge defending the southern causes, and slavery, in England, to people who were generally opposed to slavery but allied greatly with the south for commerce. This created an appropriate awkwardness for Hoge, but did not sway his strong commitments to the southern way of life, which was built on slavery. (see Blanton, p 137)
On the evening when Richmond was evacuated in 1865, and Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled the burning Richmond, Moses Hoge went with them and stayed with them for 6 weeks. He lamented deeply the loss of the southern effort, the southern way of life. He called it “the dark providence of God.” (thisday.pcusahistory.org) This was his life. He had used this pulpit as a spokesman for the cause, and his life was forever linked to Confederates, to white supremacy, and the southern way.
This is where I want to connect to those words from Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Moses Hoge envisioned and built this church. His preaching and leadership skills touched many people. He brought distinction to Second Church in the city of Richmond and beyond. But his allegiance to the southern life, to the Confederate cause, means that Isaiah’s words have more of a sting, than a ringing affirmation. There is much about this leader and preacher that is admirable and effective. There is also much about him that does not line up with the amazing grace of God, the faithfulness of God’s care for all, and the prophet’s reminder that ours is a God of justice. Actually, Isaiah 52 comes after a long pause of God’s silence, when the people had been carried off to Babylon, when the king was killed and the temple was sacked and God’s people felt desperate and lost. The prophet says, “how beautiful . . . are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, . . and ‘Your God reigns!’” The faithful messenger always announces that it is God’s governance that matters. The faithful messenger comes to confirm that God cares about justice for all people, not the southern cause, not the enslavement and oppression of a whole race of people. Moses Hoge was so caught up in the culture, the southern cause; he was blind to the injustices that were in front of him. Moses Hoge was so connected to society and southern ways that he failed to recognize what God’s purposes entail. In this way, he helped to set a course for Christian faith and injustice that we continue to wrestle with even to this day. White supremacy and white fragility and racial injustices have been perpetuated far too long.
And let me be fully honest here. I am well aware – though I hate to admit it – that had I been the pastor the first pastor of this church – not the 12th pastor - I have to recognize that I might well have done the same things: blind to injustices, unable to see the plans of God, too caught up in the southern cause. We all know the power of culture. We know – especially in these days – how very quickly we can become complicit in activities and policies that contribute to injustices. We all know how blind we can become to the realities of life. We live our own experiences. We feel faithful, often when we are far from it. This is why the journey of faith is so importantly a journey – we never arrive. We are also seeking and striving to serve God.
Recently, Walter Brueggemann made a comment about the cultural events of our time. He said that the current crises of our culture are proving that “white, patriarchal, cultural, and capitalist hegemony cannot fulfill its promises.” Too many people are left out. Too many people are left behind. This is what is at work in the current cries for racial justice. We need the reign of God to emerge. The prophet – the messenger of God – reminds us: “Your God reigns.” We need to do justice, love tenderly, and walk humbly toward that reign.
What is it that makes for a good legacy? What is it that makes us noble?
On Friday, November 4, 1898, Moses Drury Hoge was heading home after consoling a bereaved family in Richmond when he suddenly heard the clanging bell of a trolley as it rammed into his buggy. He was thrown into the air and landed on his right side on the stone pavement and was severely injured. Dr Hoge suffered with his injuries until he died two months later. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery next to Susan who had died thirty years earlier. His grave is in proximity to the many Presidents buried at Hollywood. The records show that thousands of people lined the street in homage to this city’s preacher and leader.
As we look back – those words of Galatians challenge us: So, let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.
In a recent piece in the NYTimes, there was this: “we must face our racial history and our racial present. We cannot solve a problem we do not understand. Donald Trump would not be president, and George Floyd would not be dead if, after the Civil War, our nation had committed itself to reparations, reconciliation, and atonement for the land and people that colonizers stole, sold, and plundered. . . . Ever since, our nation has been trapped in a cycle of intermittent racial progress followed by backlash and the emergence of new and ‘improved’ systems of racial and social control. These cycles have been punctuated by various movements, uprisings, and riots, but one thing has remained constant: a majority of whites persistently deny the scale and severity of racial injustice that people of color endure. (see Michele Alexander, NYTimes, June 8, 2020)
The psalmist says it well: “Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us” (Ps. 51)
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right. We do not give up. We press on – grateful for and learning from the legacies of those who have gone before us. We seek to be inspired afresh to live and serve as God’s people for justice, for peace and light that moves us toward the promised reign of God through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Commitment: Holy God, to turn from you is to fall; to turn to you is to rise; to live by your Spirit, to pursue your justice, to spread your light and love, well, that is to abide forever. We seek that way following Jesus. Amen
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon in Sunday morning worship on June 28, 2020 – a day designated as Moses Hoge Sunday – in celebration of the church’s 175th Anniversary. This is a rough manuscript.