Sermon: "Show Forth in our Lives"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

Sometimes it seems to me that I live by road signs. Indeed, during my first couple of years as bishop - while I tried to become familiar with our diocese - I was dependant on various signs that provided direction. One day, in fact, I remember that I wandered around for some time, looking for a certain church. Once I found it, I was told of a sign that pointed the way. However, as it turned out, that sign had been overgrown by vegetation. The Episcopalians who lived in town did not even realize that had happened because they did not need directions. But I did!

One point of this example is to say that signs have a purpose. That is, road signs give substance or expression to some other reality - a direction to some place, a speed that is safe, a distance prior to some destination, or an attribute of the road ahead. Therefore, the value of the sign lies in its accurate depiction of that other reality, the reality behind the sign.

Perhaps you have heard it said that ours is a "sacramental church." And the definition of a sacrament, as presented in the Prayer Book Catechism, is "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace." Thus, sacraments provide us with signs of other realities, realities of grace.

Our two great sacraments are Baptism and Holy Communion. The sign of Baptism - the outward and visible indicator of baptismal grace - is water. And, again according to the Catechism, the grace of Baptism is "union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit." Thus, that which is visible in Baptism - water - points to another reality that we cannot see. And that inner reality involves new life which is in God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, by the way, the meaning of today's Confirmation - a lesser sacrament - relates directly to that earlier experience … the grace of Baptism.

In Holy Communion, of course, the outward and visible signs are the bread and wine. And, the inner reality - the grace of Communion - is "the Body and Blood of Christ given to his people and received by faith." That is, by means of Holy Communion, we become one body with Christ, for he is in us, and we are in him. That happens only in and through grace. And the signs of that grace, once again, are bread and wine.

Thus, in our sacraments - as in road signs - the value and validity of the signs themselves depend on an accurate depiction of that other reality, that reality behind the sign.

It follows, therefore, that when a sign does not mirror that which it claims to show, then that sign is of no value. Put another way, a sign only has value to the extent that it points accurately to another reality.

I remember well a claim to fame in my childhood. And this moment in the spotlight depended on a false sign. With some embarrassment, I will tell the story. A friend and I were exploring a wooded area near our homes in Fayetteville, North Carolina. We came upon a cannon ball, which excited us considerably. We reported the discovery to an adult who lived nearby, and she, in turn, called the authorities.

In short order, the ammunitions experts from Fort Bragg were called in, and radio stations reported the story. My friend and I were driven around in official cars as the experts sought permission from our neighbors to excavate the area. You see, the site of the Civil War arsenal that had been in Fayetteville never had been definitively located. Arsenal Avenue might not have been the place after all, and all of a sudden, it appeared that two young boys had found the true location. And I was one of those boys!

The last neighbor in the immediate area reacted differently from previous ones, however. After having been told of our discovery and of plans to search for the arsenal, she was neither excited nor especially concerned. Rather, she said simply, "So that's where that old cannon ball disappeared. My husband brought it to me from Fort Fisher, and I've wondered where it went."

Fame is fleeting. It is a long fall from the position of hero to suspects in a childhood prank. Eventually, my friend and I went back to the woods, and the cannon ball - which we did not remove, by the way - went back to the lady's porch. And all of us learned a lesson. Sometimes signs do not depict the reality that is apparent and that we expect.

Our readings from Hosea and Matthew also give examples of signs that do not correspond to the deeper reality that they seem to indicate. Those signs are hollow and inaccurate. Further, they convey unreliable and deceptive messages.

Hosea speaks the word of the Lord when he says, "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings"(6:6). And yet, in those days, did the people not understand that sacrifice and burnt offerings indicated obedience and faithfulness and true worship? Yes, they did.

And so, what does the passage mean? "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." In their lives, the people were not showing obedience and faithfulness and true worship of God. Thus, their sacrifices and burnt offerings were not accurate signs of their lives. Indeed, what the people did in their everyday lives denied the message of the signs of sacrifice and burnt offering. Those signs were therefore unreliable and deceptive, and so, God - through Hosea - said that he did not want them. Indeed, in parallel passages, God says, "I hate your sacrifices and burnt offerings."

In Matthew's Gospel, we have another kind of false sign. Religious customs and practices as taught by the Pharisees indicated that if someone ate with a ritually unclean person, then the first person was made unclean also. Further, being unclean brought about certain serious consequences, such as separation from the fellowship and worship of the temple. The state of uncleanness was thought to spread like a virus.

But Jesus challenges this sign - the sign of eating with tax collectors and sinners. He says that such an act did not make him unclean. Indeed, he goes further. Sharing a meal with such folks was one of the reasons for him to be present, he said, like a doctor going to see a sick person.

It seems to me that the message for us today is very, very important. The call to us is to make certain that our faith is authentic. What happens in this place - what we do here - should bear fruit on the other days and in the other places of our lives. Sunday is a sign for Monday through Saturday. How accurate a sign is it in the rest of our lives? How authentic is the Christianity that we pray and sing and confess in church?

One of the collects during Easter week expresses so very well this responsibility we have as Christian people - the responsibility to live authentic lives. And, it is a favorite collect of mine. In the collect for Easter Thursday, we pray, "Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith." Indeed, that prayer is worthy of all of us who are baptized … all of us who are confirmed … all of us who call ourselves Christians and who claim authenticity in the signs we offer to the world: "Grant that we may show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith." Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee