The Diocese of East Tennessee
Sermons

Oct 10, 1999
Pentecost XX
Delivered at St. Alban ’s, Hixson

Sermon: Surpassing All Understanding
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

To begin with, I want to thank the people of St. Alban’s for the kind hospitality you have shown to Annie and me on my first visitation here. In particular, we appreciated all the plans for last evening – even though plans for the boat ride did not work out quite as expected. Nevertheless, we are grateful for the opportunities to get to know you better.

I also want to thank your rector in particular. He has served the diocese well in the past and in the present. For instance, I am aware of his involvement in the Affirmative Aging Task Force. Currently he serves on two very important diocesan groups – Bishop and Council on the one hand, and the Camp and Conference Center Task Force on the other. I am grateful to you, sir, for your ministry here at St. Alban’s and in the Diocese of East Tennessee.

As I anticipated preaching here today, I read the lessons for the day, as I always do. However, in that process, something unusual happened to me. That is, I tend to be a generalist, a big picture man. Most often, therefore, I tie the various readings together into one major theme. But I had a different experience of preparation this week. Two particular verses – rather than a general theme – seemed to jump out at me by the memories they called forth in my experience. I feel led to share those with you. Therefore, I offer these reflections to you today in the hope and prayer that the inspiration I felt was indeed godly.

St Paul wrote this to the people of the Church in Philippi: "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." And from those two verses, I have two reflections to offer you this morning.

First then, "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Soon after I arrived at St. James, Wilmington, North Carolina, it became quite clear to me that the congregation needed to be involved in a ministry of hands-on missionary outreach. In fact, I cannot claim any unique perspective on that matter, for the parish profile – prepared during the search process – had come to a similar conclusion.

Therefore, I visited the local Episcopal priest who coordinated the outreach ministries of churches in that area. And I asked him what the major unfulfilled need of Episcopal outreach in Wilmington was. He replied that there was a desperate need for emergency, cold-weather, overnight shelter for homeless people. I immediately thought of an under-utilized basement area of our church facilities, and I gave thanks for the opportunity presented to us.

However, after weeks of sharing the vision of providing shelter in the name of Jesus Christ and of reaching significant consensus on this project, we began to encounter some last minute opposition in the church. Some commitments began to waver. I felt that we had to do something in response or risk losing this opportunity to serve. Therefore, we planned several additional forums to discuss the homeless shelter, even though plans seemed to have gone well beyond that point. While the stakes were quite high in these conversations and while I had invested much time and energy already, I still felt at ease and at peace with the process of open forums and discussion. We had prayed and thought and discussed this ministry, and I felt quite certain that God wanted us to proceed – but not without hearing from everyone in the church who wanted to speak, even at the eleventh hour.

Let me share with you one particular encounter from one of the forums. A long-time parish member asked if we really were going to be open on Saturday nights. And I replied, "Yes, seven nights a week." She pointed out that we would be closing the shelter at 7:00 Sunday morning and that the day shelter elsewhere in the town was not open on Sundays. Therefore, there was nowhere for the homeless people to go on Sunday mornings. And then she asked, "What if they come upstairs into church?"

Well, I just looked at her – partly because I really did not have a reply to that rather remarkable question and partly because I believed she could figure things out herself. And, after a few moments, she did. She said, "I guess that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?" And her conversion made a significant and immediate difference at that forum. Eventually, support from the congregation was overwhelming. And now, some five years later, that ministry continues to thrive in Jesus’ name.

St. Paul had written words of encouragement for times like that many years earlier. "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

And then, St. Paul continued, "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Like yesterday, I remember a particular meal in our home in Columbia, South Carolina. Our seven-year old son John was sitting on my right. Partway through the meal, John looked up at me with shock and panic in his eyes. I quickly realized that he was choking. Quickly I stood up and led him into the bathroom where I successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver that I had only read about previously. Then, John and I walked back into the dining room, sat down, and resumed the meal. And, only then did I begin to shake with the realization of what had happened – and what might have happened.

From across the centuries, St. Paul writes, "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

My friends, the Bible is much more than a group of stories about people long ago. The Bible contains more significant matters than moralistic teachings from one culture that must be interpreted in others. The Bible presents us with the record of the relationship of God Almighty to human beings. That relationship continues today, for we know of God that such a relationship was His intention at creation. That is, God created this world – and especially human beings – so that God might be in relationship. How wonderful – and wonder-filled – is that!

Therefore, another chapter in the book of God’s relationship of care for human begins is being written today – in this gathering of Christians to share Holy Eucharist; and in the presenting of candidates for baptism, confirmation, and reaffirmation; and in the grace they receive as a result of the love and support of this community.

May all of us rejoice as we perceive ourselves and our lives to be blessed by the presence of God Almighty. And among our blessings, may we know with the certainty of faith that St. Paul also speaks to us in these words: "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Amen.

Copyright ©1999 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee