Sermon: "A New Heart and a New Spirit"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[Bishop vonRosenberg preached the following sermon at the 130th annual Niobrara Convocation, a gathering held in the Diocese of South Dakota (our companion diocese).]

I am so grateful to your bishop and my friend, the Rt. Rev. Creighton Robertson, for his kind invitation to be here today. The opportunity to participate in this occasion is indeed an honor for me, and also, it is a joy for Annie and me to share this time with you. In addition, I am grateful to Bishop Robertson, Ann Robertson, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Brokenleg for attending the convention of the Diocese of East Tennessee last February. They blessed our diocese with their presence and their witness. By the way, those visitors from South Dakota told me that the weather in Tennessee was better than in South Dakota in February. I had hoped that the weather in South Dakota might be better than in Tennessee in June - and I think that it is! In any event, though, it is wonderful to be with you.

For those of us living in the eastern part of our country, the great West possesses a wonderful enticement - an appealing attraction - and it has for a long, long time. Indeed, the beauty of the West has a different dimension to it - a larger dimension somehow - than what we see in the East. In particular, the Great Plains - with which you are so familiar - really are quite foreign to some of us. Indeed, for many people in the East, the only experience of this land is through books. And, I want to refer to one such book as a way to begin to make a point today.

The Wizard of Oz is set - to begin with - in the Great Plains of Kansas. But, of course, soon Dorothy is swept away by a tornado to some other place. And in this other place, she encounters a variety of interesting characters. And one of those is the Tin Woodman.

Now, if you are familiar with The Wizard of Oz, you may remember that the Tin Woodman had been injured earlier in his life. In fact, he had been reconstructed by a metal worker, but in that process, he had lost his heart. The Tin Woodman previously had people in his life that he loved and things he cared about. But no longer, because now he had no heart. Therefore, in the journey of the book, the Tin Woodman was in search of a heart - a means to care and to love again. And finally, in the process of the book's journey, the Great Oz gave him a new heart. And, the Tin Woodman, therefore, could feel emotion and care and love once again. His journey in search of a heart was successful.

Another book I have discovered about the Great West is one I was given on an earlier trip to South Dakota. Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve wrote a work entitled That They May Have Life. That book tells part of the story of the Episcopal Church and the Native American Sioux. This is the story of another kind of journey. And on this journey, there was the great temptation to loose heart - and the need to seek a new spirit in a new place.

According to Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, even in a strange land, the Sioux found their new heart. And, I must say, this new heart is wonderfully evident in the Niobrara Convocation. I give thanks for your heart - your spirit, your sense of being in community with one another and in relationship to God Almighty. By means of that heart, you have shared fellowship and kindness with your visitors from the East and with many others. And, again, I thank you for that.

Still another book tells the story of yet another journey - the book of Ezekiel from which we read today. That story involves a journey away from God Almighty. Indeed, Israel - the people of God - had lost their way. They had turned away from God in their worship and in their daily experience. Truly, on this journey, Israel had lost its heart as it had also lost its way.

However, God indicates his patience and his commitment to Israel, even as the people turn away from God. God continues to love his people. God tries to help the people find their way on the journey once again … the way that they had lost. And, listen to the words of encouragement that God promises to the people who are lost: "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you" (Ez 36:26).

Thus, in each of these books about different kinds of journeys, we may read of people loosing their way and, in the process, loosing their hearts. However, we also read of finding a new heart and of reclaiming the right way on the journey of life. In particular, it is God who says, "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you."

That has been God's promise all along … to many people on many journeys - to father Abraham as he journeyed away from his familiar homeland, to Noah as he stepped from the ark to a land drenched by flood, to Moses and God's people on their way to the Promised Land, to the people of Ezekiel's day after they had turned away from God, and to Joseph in Egypt that he might take Mary and Jesus to the town of Nazareth. Over and over again, God promises, "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you."

God makes that same promise to us today. Listen to two of our petitions on behalf of those candidates for baptism and confirmation … people, that is, on the journey of faith. We will soon pray for them, "Open their hearts to your grace and truth" and, then, "Fill them with your holy and live-giving Spirit" (BCP, p 305). "Open their hearts … Fill them with your Spirit." We are praying for these candidates on their journeys that God might give them new hearts and a new spirit … a promise that God has made over and over again in the past.

It is our blessing today to participate with God in fulfilling the promise of God. Do not underestimate the significance of what we do here. From the time of Ezekiel and before, God has promised a new heart and a new spirit to those who journey as his people. And, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are blessed today to participate with God in fulfilling God's promise. "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you."

I want to conclude these comments by saying a few words about the companion relationship between South Dakota and East Tennessee. There surely are many ways to view this relationship … many opportunities that the relationship presents to us all … many possibilities for expressing the love of Christ as we grow mutually in the Lord.

As we walk the journey of companionship together, though, I know several things from my own experience. For instance, when I reach out to others in Christ's love, then I am blessed. When I take the time to learn to appreciate the life situations of Christians in different places, then my own Christianity is enriched. And when I work in Jesus' name on behalf of the world for which Jesus died, then Jesus himself is made real to me.

And so, in our relationship as Christian companions - this journey we share - I invite you to pray with me for a new heart and a new spirit. Together may we claim the promise of God - from ages and ages ago but offered to us even today - "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you." Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee