Sermon: "God of Presence and of Unity"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

One of the most profound and recurring biblical messages is that we are not alone. In all the varied experiences of life, God is with us. That assurance comes to us over and over again through the pages of the Bible, and the history of our tradition supports that fundamental and foundational message of hope. God is with us.

From the beginning of the biblical story, God chose not to be God alone. Therefore, in addition to the rest of creation, "God created humankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them"(Gen 1:27). Then, in that first formative Old Testament journey story, God says to Abraham, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you"(Gen 12:1). And God directs Abraham along that journey, in fulfillment of God's promise to show him the way and to be with him along the way. Then, in the second formative journey story of the Old Testament, God promises to be with Moses on several crucial moments: when he encounters Pharaoh prior to the Exodus, when he speaks with the people of Israel to encourage them to prepare for the journey, when he needs proof of God's presence or a sign to the people, when he asks for another spokesperson, and on and on. Indeed, God is infinitely patient with Moses in assuring Moses that God will indeed be with him and with his people, on the journey to the Promised Land.

The theme continues in the New Testament. It is St. Matthew who quotes the prophet Isaiah: "The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'"(1:23). Of course, the Incarnation of Jesus fulfills that promise of God, most completely. Then, last Sunday we read part of the wonderful prayer of Jesus, found in John 17, in which Jesus assures his followers that his own ascension from earth will not leave them "comfortless"…that is, without the presence of God. And today - on Pentecost - we celebrate the fulfillment of that promise … the sending of the Holy Spirit, the person and presence of God with us, even now.

The presence of God - the person of God - that we know most vividly in our day is the Holy Spirit. We live between the time of the first Pentecost - when the Holy Spirit came with great power - and the time of Christ's return to earth. Thus, in our day, we baptize not only in the name of God the Father and God the Son, but also, we necessarily include the person of God at work in the world today - God the Holy Spirit. In a few minutes, we will renew our Baptismal Covenant that we have with God, by virtue of our baptism. We keep the promises of this covenant - however imperfectly - in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is God's presence with us in our day.

Also, we ask God's blessings - by means of the Holy Spirit - on those who will be confirmed, on those who marry, on candidates being ordained, on those who die, and on those whose loved ones have died. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God at work in the world in our day. We are not alone. God is with us, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Today's familiar reading from First Corinthians reminds us of ways that the Holy Spirit works in the world today. Identified in that reading are some of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives - gifts, that is, of power, conveyed to enable quite a variety of ministries. It certainly requires many different gifts to equip many different ministries. The reading, though, concludes this way: "All these (gifts) are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit"(12:11-13).

Thus we arrive at the summary of the Holy Spirit's work in our day - that is, the work of the person of God today. While there are many gifts, while there exist various ministries, the intention of the Holy Spirit of God in our day is unity.

In contrast, though, the Church today - those for whom the Spirit of God was sent - this Church is imperiled by lack of unity. Not only are there denominational divisions, but disunity threatens our Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as well. And this grieves the heart of the One who ascended to God's right hand and who sent his Spirit back to earth, for the sake of unity. Jesus would have us be one … and the Holy Spirit of God works for our oneness in Christ. The gifts of the Spirit are many and wonderfully varied. But the fruit of the Spirit - the effect of the presence of the Spirit - is unity. Make no mistake about that.

There always have been church disagreements. That fact is certainly not new. St. Paul himself dealt with quite a variety of such disagreements and disputes in the various churches for which he had the responsibility of oversight. And, of course, our Lord was put to death, as the dual powers of church and politics together had their way with him. Thus, church disagreements are not new. However, one message of Pentecost involves an important word about our attitude toward those disputes. That is, the particular issues of the day need to be understood in a larger context. Surely the questions of justice and of compassion and of tradition and of biblical understanding all are parts of something bigger. Each of these is important, certainly. But we need to hold onto the fact that God's will for us is unity. Jesus prayed, near the end of his life, that all his followers would be one, even as he and the Father are one. The Holy Spirit of Christ came to empower and direct all the people of God toward unity.

Therefore, as we struggle with our differences as Christians, as Episcopalians, and as members of St. James, we do well to remember carefully the words of our reading today. They explain the expectation of God, and they describe part of the content of our hope. "Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." May those words provide the intention of our wills and the object of our prayers in the months and years to come. Amen.

Copyright © 2008 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee