Sermon: "God in the Detours"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

I do a lot of travelling as bishop. And, I must admit, I have occasionally been lost on the back roads of East Tennessee. Indeed, often the journey that I plot on the roadmap of life turns out not to be the route that I follow at all. Unexpected detours arise with great frequency on my journey - sometimes, detours of my own making and sometimes, complements of the highway department. In fact, from my own experience, I think of the appropriate words of a bumper sticker: "Life is what happens while you're making other plans." Regardless of the route I choose, life seems to go along its independent way. Therefore, I believe that surprise along life's pathway defines a primary aspect of the human experience - the surprise of detour.

Let me tell you about someone else who experienced several detours in his life. John Sutter left his home, his family, and his rather substantial debts in Switzerland in 1839. He came to this country with great hopes. Eventually, he acquired a large land grant from the Mexican government - a grant of land in the area we know as California. He built Sutter's Fort on the present-day site of Sacramento. He sold supplies there, and he prospered. John Sutter engaged in other business ventures as well, including one called "Sutter's Mill." And there it was that James Marshall found some gold nuggets one hundred and fifty three years ago, this week. And the California gold rush began!

The supply business of John Sutter suddenly had customers far beyond expectation. He made a great deal of money on those early prospectors. But then, people began squatting on John Sutter's land - land for which he had no legal title because he had gotten it from Mexico. Eventually, then, and ironically in the midst of the gold rush, John Sutter lost all his wealth. He died a bitter and disappointed man.

The way of John Sutter's life took some unexpected turns - detours not found on the map that he had plotted. And the surprise of detours surely characterized his life's journey.

Our First Reading this morning describes an early crossroads in the life of Jeremiah. While we do not know for certain how old the prophet was at this point, clearly he was a young man. He likely was at the point of life that he was trying out various options. In a sense, he was planning the roadmap for the journey of his life. And suddenly, God appears at a crossroads, with a detour sign in his hand. God tells Jeremiah of a plan for Jeremiah's life about which the young man knows nothing at all. God says, "Before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations." And, regardless of Jeremiah's protestations of youth and inexperience, God affirms and reaffirms that this is the pathway that Jeremiah's life will follow.

The most important thing to recognize is this. About that way for Jeremiah's life which is God's way, God says this: "You shall go to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid … for I am with you…" Thus, God promises His own presence to Jeremiah on this detour in Jeremiah's life.

The Gospel reading describes a crossroads in another young man's life. Prior to this passage, St. Luke has barely begun to tell the story of Jesus. The birth of Jesus is described and, then, his baptism and temptation. Next we may read two verses which indicate that Jesus begins to travel in Galilee, and he is known and praised by those who hear him. And then we arrive at the passage for today. Thus, it is still very early in Jesus' public ministry. His journey has not yet been a long one.

Jesus goes back to his hometown. He has done well elsewhere, and other people have spoken highly of his teaching. But reactions back in Nazareth are quite different. The people there are offended by what he says, and in fact, we read, they are "filled with rage." Indeed, they are, for they take him outside town, to the edge of a cliff, with the intention of stoning him and killing him. This was not the reception Jesus had expected in his hometown.

But then we encounter a strange sentence that actually tells us very little about an event which had tremendous significance. Much more is unsaid in this sentence than is expressed. "But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way." The people were at the point of stoning Jesus and throwing him off the cliff. Remarkable as it seems, the biblical witness is that Jesus is able to pass through the midst of them and to go on his way. Or, rather, he goes on God's way… the way that God has chosen for his life in distinction from the way selected by his fellow townspeople. And for the rest of Jesus' earthly life, it is quite clear that God is with him on this detour identified by God.

I like to have life under control. There is a sense of comfort in plotting out my journey and in following that way. And yet, the places that God appears most powerfully in my life are in the detours - the times and occasions in which I am not in control. When I plan my life too carefully and too well, it seems that there is no room for God. But, God has a way of appearing with a detour sign. And, when I am forced to travel that way of detour - that way out of my control - I am much more aware of God's presence with me.

I think of the surgery on our two and a half year old son many years ago. I did not plan that. I did not want it. I would not have chosen that in a thousand years. But John had to have kidney surgery. And in that experience - that unwanted detour in life - the profoundly loving presence of God became known to me in wonderful ways.

Later on, by a number of years, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. We faced that deadly disease and its prospects not because we chose to do so - but because the detour sign gave us no choice. The subsequent giving over of life to God - who has control anyway - was a profound spiritual experience.

Then, more recently - when I was nominated for bishop - that particular situation provided a detour sign on my life's journey. I had not plotted it on my roadmap, and the process of the election was both challenging and uncomfortable in many ways. However, allowing other people to be instruments of God in my life offered me the chance to know God's grace through them. And, I believe that I came to know God's grace powerfully in that process - and during the past two years as well.

My friends, God is in the detours of our lives. I do not know if John Sutter came to experience God in his misfortune and in the unexpected twists and turns that he traveled. However, I do know that Jeremiah and Jesus and I did. I commend to you the detours that we are forced to encounter - those places and events that we are not able to control. I give thanks for such places and for the opportunities found there. Most of all, I commend to you the presence of God in life's detours, for God is indeed found there - beyond our control.