The Diocese of East Tennessee
Sermons

The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

"Changing Your Life of Success to a Life of Significance." That's a great theme for a conference like this one. I hope you will grapple earnestly with that distinction and its implications for you this weekend. Perhaps we might also consider the implications of transforming our failures into matters of significance, too. But, I suppose, that's a subject for another time. The point, though, is to get to the place of significance…true significance. From success to significance.

We may also consider this dichotomy of subjects in another setting. Indeed, this concern for individuals might be viewed from the level of our churches as well. That is, language around the Church these days speaks of transforming an attitude and attention on maintenance into a commitment to mission. "From maintenance to mission" surely is a current catch phrase for churches and their goals. And that transformation - from maintenance to mission - names a worthy undertaking for the Church at large.

Therefore, as you seriously consider the individual transformation from success to significance over the next couple of days, I hope you will also consider and discuss the church transformation from maintenance to mission. It's a similar kind of theme, it seems to me. Our collect and readings this morning consider the mission of the Church, in response to our Lord's Great Commission. The intention of selecting these readings has everything to do with the call to mission…certainly a significant work for the Church.

In order to encourage your considerations of these matters - both on the level of individuals and as the Church - I want to offer you an image this morning. Perhaps reflection on it may provide interesting perspectives for you this weekend.

This is the time of year to begin thinking about hurricanes, especially for those who live near the ocean. In fact, one storm is causing some concern and damage to the south of us right now, I believe. Before I was blessed to be called to East Tennessee a year and a half ago, I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina - on the coast. During my five years there, it seemed that Wilmington became the gateway to "hurricane alley." In fact, the eyes of three hurricanes passed directly overhead during those years, and several others affected us as well.

I must admit that many of us felt a certain degree of excitement as the first storm approached. There were preparations to make - water and ice and batteries to be purchased; calculations about where to park the cars away from trees; making all kinds of plans. But then, we hunkered down, kept up with the weather forecasts, and we waited… simply waited.

After the storm passed over, there was much work to do. The clean up began. If the electricity had been off for too long, refrigerators and freezers had to be emptied. Insurance companies were dealt with. Again, depending on the electricity supply, days were spent in sweltering heat. And the enduring traumas of altered landscape, damaged property, and fragile psyches continued to need attention, long after the storm had passed.

All these problems meant that the next storms that approached were less and less exciting to the population of Wilmington. Eventually, whenever a storm formed - even off the coast of Africa - one could sense a distinct depression settling over the town. And the feeling involved a kind of helplessness. That is, we could indeed make certain preparations. We learned what to do in advance of the storms. However, basically, we waited for the storm to arrive. We waited to have something happen to us.

My point in telling you about this is to say that we spend much of our lives waiting for things beyond us to happen to us. True, we do some preparing. We try to anticipate what might occur. But mostly we wait and see what comes our way. This is often true of us as individuals, and it is certainly true also of us as the Church.

In Wilmington, though, one group of folks did not feel depressed as a hurricane approached. These people did not spend time worrying about what might happen. And they were the surfers! They anticipated the storm with glee, and they hit the beaches in anticipation of it. "Surf's up" was their cry, and as most of us bought supplies, they had other things in mind. Of course, the surf was affected several days before a storm hit, and so, those surfers had hours and hours, days and days, of awesome, gnarly waves.

I want to suggest to you this morning - near the outset of our conference - that those surfers discovered a significance to the storms that the rest of us simply did not identify. And, further, they claimed an unlikely mission - to find a great wave to ride before the storm broke. Significance and a mission - what a great combination!

From success to significance…from maintenance to mission. May we learn a lesson from the surfers. And may we dare to ride the waves that life sends our way, rather than simply waiting for the results of the storm's destruction.

Copyright © 2000 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee