Sermon: "Be Who You Are"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

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

The history of our day could be written as a book focusing on anxieties, and that book would have many chapters indeed. For instance, we might include the economic circumstances we face, as housing values go lower and gasoline prices go higher. The war in Iraq continues to provide a source of concern and worry. There is a presidential election soon, in case you have not noticed, and potential outcomes of the campaign provide cause for anxiety for some people. We in The Episcopal Church could add the Lambeth Conference - the international gathering of Anglican bishops this summer - and our church's General Convention next summer to this growing list of potential anxieties. The health of loved ones, the reliability of insurance coverage, the various environmental crises - the list goes on and on. In fact, this sermon time could easily increase rather dramatically if we tried to make the book of anxieties more inclusive.

Into this reality, though, the Gospel words of Jesus this morning seem incongruous and, even, incredible. "Do not worry" about what you will eat and drink and wear. "Do not worry" about problems to be faced tomorrow. "Do not worry" even about life itself. You know, for someone who usually seems so aware of reality and so in touch with people's lives, these directions from Jesus seem strangely out of touch and unreal.

Actually, though, there is a profound truth here in this Gospel reading. The truth puts a kind of bracket and boundary around the worries that we have. Those worries do not really go away. However, the key in dealing with them, according to Jesus, involves setting priorities. If we set our priorities correctly, Jesus says, then we can deal with the worries and anxieties that we do have.

Therefore, Jesus says, "Strive first for the kingdom of God" (Matt 6:33). Thus, get your priorities right, concentrate on the things that really matter - things involving God and God's kingdom. And then, other concerns tend to work out as well … or, at least, to fall into their appropriate places. So, what seemed at first glance to be impractical direction from Jesus may actually turn out to be very practical advice indeed. He even ends this section of comments with a logical observation: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today" (6:34). Perhaps that advice reminds us of a familiar practical word that we have heard: "One day at a time."

Let me offer you two examples that may make the point…A married couple that worries constantly about whether their marriage will endure find all kinds of reason for anxiety. Every day - every encounter - brings the possibility for a crisis that might end the marriage … and the couple worries constantly as a result. However, if they can reach the point that the security of the marriage itself is above question, then they can begin to deal with the difficulties that arise in any relationship. At that point, though, those difficult things are kept in their place - not as threats to the marriage itself.

Then, secondly, in the church these days, a similar situation exists, at least in some people's minds. We can become paralyzed by concern that some action, or inaction, will cause people to leave. However, we do well at this point to consider the past, with all its mistakes and errors of judgment … and we can conclude that the church probably will be around for a while longer, in spite of us and of all our inadequacies. With that awareness, perhaps we can concentrate on improving ways that we relate to each other and on enhancing the mission of Christ in the world. You see, it's a matter of getting our priorities straight.

"Strive first for the kingdom of God." What if we really lived with that as our priority? You know, our faith says clearly that we are here on earth as children of God and as citizens of God's kingdom. What if we really lived with those faith convictions as our priorities? It might just be that what we eat and drink and wear would not be so important. It might be that the economy and wars and presidential elections would be matters that we must certainly deal with … but not anxieties that dominate our lives. It might be that the Lambeth Conference and the General Convention, along with health issues, insurance, and the environment, all would take their appropriate places in our attention - but they would not become matters of overwhelming worry or anxiety.

In conclusion, when the words of our Bibles read "Do not worry", actually the meaning is more like this: "Do not be overcome with worry." "Do not worry excessively." Thus, get your priorities right. "Strive first for the kingdom of God" … or, more poetically, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." Be who and what you were created to be. These other things get in the way of God's place for you and God's hope for you. Instead, therefore, be who you really are!

Copyright © 2008 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee