The Diocese of East Tennessee
Sermons

June 20, 1999
Pentecost IV
Delivered at St. John's, Battle Creek

Sermon: Faith Like a Burning Fire
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Bishop of East Tennessee

Annie and I are grateful for the warm and welcoming hospitality that we have experienced here at St. John’s. On my first visit here, I can already tell that this will certainly be one of the churches I will look forward to returning to, many times in the future. And congratulations to the people to be confirmed today. I hope that what I say in this sermon – as well as what we do later on in the service – will make today a special and meaningful time for you.

Each Sunday the collect of the day offers us a particular window into the meaning of the lessons for that day. And today we prayed, "O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness." It seems to me that we cannot spend too much time and energy identifying the sure foundation of God’s loving kindness in our lives, for such is the basis of faith. The readings today offer a couple of stones that help build a sure foundation of faith based on loving-kindness. Such faith is firm and secure indeed, and I commend that faith to you.

The reading from Jeremiah points to the certainty of faith’s sure foundation . . . the inevitability of God’s loving-kindness. And, in particular, the author writes of the necessity he feels in speaking of the gracious gifts from God. Listen to the note of certainty and inevitability about this expression in our reading: "If I say, ‘I will not mention God, or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones." The author, therefore, cannot keep from expressing the faith that is within him.

Faith has a wonderful persistence that will not let us go. The faith that is within us has a transparent way of showing itself – in words and in deeds. I think of the time that the Pharisees became indignant toward Jesus’ disciples and the faith they expressed. The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop. (But) he answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out"(Lk 19:39-40). Faith has a way of shouting out, of making itself known. Or, as Jeremiah wrote, it "is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones."

When have you known that burning fire within you? When have other people sensed your faith, in what you have said or in what you have done? Faith will become known – for, as the author of the Letter of James writes, "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith"(2:18).

I think of that descriptive passage on the road to Emmaus. The risen – but unidentified – Jesus appears and walks with two disciples on the road. They talk a while, and then, they share a meal together. Later, after realizing who the stranger was, the disciples say to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"(Lk 24:32). Again, faith is "like a burning fire shut up in my bones."

Therefore, in the first place, faith holds a sense of sureness in our lives. God’s loving-kindness is inevitable in its expression toward us. And, further, the faith within us burns like a fire, for it will surely and inevitably be expressed in our words and in our deeds.

The second foundation stone of faith today is this. In matters of faith, our words and actions in one relationship correspond to words and actions in other parts of our lives. We are not meant to live those lives in compartments, and, indeed, it is impossible to do so. Our lives are made up of a series of holy connections, for those lives are woven together with the threads of faith.

Jesus speaks of some such connections in our Gospel reading this morning. He says to his disciples, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven." That may present us with a troublesome picture, if we consider it carefully. Jesus says that he will stand up for us in heaven to the extent that we have stood up for him on earth.

But the idea is not a new one in our faith and tradition. Indeed, Jesus himself instructed his disciples to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." That is, every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that God our Father will forgive us to the extent that we have forgiven others.

Thus, there are indeed connections – holy connections – between our acknowledging Jesus on earth and Jesus acknowledging us in heaven; and between our forgiving others and our being forgiven by God. Faith provides the web of such holy connections.

Faith’s holy connections provide the structure to understand our Epistle reading this morning. In particular, the author of Romans addresses the sin of Adam, the saving grace of Jesus, and our lives. He writes, "Just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all."

Then, in the First Letter of John, the matter is put in blunt and practical terms. "Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters’ are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen"(4:20).

Therefore, from these passages what do we learn about "the sure foundation of God’s loving-kindness" that is our faith? First, we learn that faith is like a burning fire within us, and that fire will be seen by the world. Our faith will be known for what it is, in what we say and do. Secondly, in our readings today, we learn that faith is made up of a series of holy connections. As we respond toward someone in one way, that response will have an effect on other relationships as well – and ultimately, on our relationship with God.

In conclusion, then, surely it is the Great Commandment of our Lord that holds authority for our lives in the ways that we indicate our faith and in the holy connections which define our faith. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind . . . And you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Copyright ©1999 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee