Bishop Charles vonRosenberg's sermon delivered
to the 58th annual conference of the Episcopal Churchmen of Tennessee
DuBose Conference Center, Monteagle, Tenn.

It is important to have something to believe in … something that lies at the core of our being … something that gives meaning to life.

In my six years of experiencing the Laymen's Conference, I have come to appreciate how significant this event is for many of you - and, indeed, how significant it has become for me as well. The values exhibited here, the principles expounded here, the fellowship lived here, the faith upheld here - these represent things to believe in, things that lie at the core of our being, things that give meaning to life.

Today is the day in our liturgical calendar on which we remember especially Jonathan Myrick Daniels. As I tell you a bit about him, perhaps you can see that a central, core belief explains a great deal about the life of this modern-day saint of the church.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in 1939 in Keene, New Hampshire. He was the son of a prominent Congregationalist physician. However, in high school, Jonathan Daniels joined the Episcopal Church … surely an indication that greatness was to follow! His life journey took him, in succession, to the Virginia Military Institute, Harvard University, and the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In March of 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., asked students and others to join him in Selma, Alabama, to march on the state capital in Montgomery, in support of civil rights for all people. Later that week, as he contemplated Dr. King's request, Jonathan Daniels attended Evening Prayer in the seminary chapel. The congregation sang "The Magnificat," which was our Gospel reading today. This young seminary student later wrote these words about "The Magnificat" and his experience in chapel that day: "As the lovely hymn of the God-bearer continued, I found myself peculiarly alert, suddenly straining toward the decisive, luminous, Spirit-filled "moment" … Then it came: 'He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things.' I knew that I must go to Selma." (www.satucket.com/lectionary/Jonathan_Daniels.htm). With the help of "The Magnificat", Jonathan Daniels had found something to believe in … something at the core of his being … something that gave meaning to his life.

After his first trip to Alabama, Jonathan Daniels wrote these words about that initial experience: "I lost fear … when I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord's death and Resurrection, that in the only sense that really matters I am already dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God" ("Jonathan Daniels"). Something to believe in certainly was his!

Jonathan Daniels made several trips back and forth between Alabama and Cambridge. On one occasion - in Fort Deposit, Alabama - he and others were arrested for picketing several segregated businesses. A couple of days later, after being released from the county jail in Haynesville, some civil rights' workers - including Jonathan Daniels, who was white, and several black friends - approached a local shop. They were met at the door by a man with a shotgun. They were told to leave or be shot. After a brief discussion, the shotgun suddenly was aimed at one of the girls in the party. Jonathan Daniels pushed her out of the way and took the shotgun's blast himself, which killed him instantly.

We all need something to believe in … something at the core of our being … something that gives meaning to life … something, if necessary, to die for.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we Christians affirm in our Baptismal Covenant that we will "seek and serve Christ in all persons" and, further, that we will "strive for justice and peace among all people." As we remember these promises that we make regularly to God - promises that we Christians believe in and live by - and as we reflect on the life and death of Jonathan Daniels, I will read a portion of the Psalm that we heard earlier:

"Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is speaking peace to his
    faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may
    dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed
    each other.
Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down
    from heaven" (85:7-11).

Something to believe in … something at the core of our being … something that gives meaning to life. For such things as these, thanks be to God! Amen.

Copyright © 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee