Sermon: “That They May Be One”
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

I am glad to be with you at St. John's Cathedral this morning. In a few minutes, we will renew our Baptismal Covenant together. And I want to say that I am grateful to all who live into that Covenant that we have with our Lord. To the clergy of St. John's, to our Deacon today - Wade Frye - to the lay people who share in the ministry we have in common because of our baptisms … thank you for the ministries you live, in obedience to the promises of baptism. Also, on this Mother's Day, I suggest that we consider our mothers as well, as we reaffirm our Baptismal Covenant. Surely most all of us have memories of ways that our mothers exercised loving ministries on our behalf.

Today is the Sunday after Jesus' Ascension … and the Sunday prior to Pentecost. Thus, the resurrected Jesus has been exalted "with great triumph to (God's) kingdom in heaven" - that is, the Ascension has happened. And at this moment our Collect of the Day continues, "Do not leave us comfortless but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us." That Holy Spirit, of course, comes with great power at Pentecost - next week.

Therefore, we arrive today, in the church year, at one of those pregnant pauses. In a sense, we hold our breath until the next act, waiting.

I think of two recent times that seem similar, in some ways. Holy Saturday represents another breath-catching moment. Jesus died on Good Friday. The tomb is shut. And, on Saturday we await the glorious and saving word of Easter morning. Holy Saturday, then, is a moment of waiting and anticipating … Then, secondly, for Roman Catholics and for a watching world, the death of a Pope and the secret enclave of cardinals have some of the same kind of catch-your-breath anticipation, as we await the sign of white smoke.

But each of us has those moments in life, do we not? I remember quite well when Annie was wheeled from the labor room and into the surgical delivery room - off-limits to fathers in those days. That was a time of breath-catching, of taking stock, of pacing, and of praying - waiting and anticipating the wonder of birth. … For students these days, the time will soon come between taking final exams and receiving final grades - anticipating, waiting, and - probably - praying, too. … Or, if you are a football fan - and I suspect we may have a few here - this is the time following spring practice but prior to the real deal of fall football - taking stock, anticipating, and - if truth be told - some praying as well.

At this moment, then, between Ascension and Pentecost, our prayer appropriately is "Do not leave us comfortless." Do not forget us. Do not allow us to be swept away into the yawning chasm of life's meaninglessness. Do not desert us without protection to the trials and tribulations we face. "Do not leave us comfortless."

The good news is that the One through whom we pray has already prayed to God for us. Jesus, who has ascended to the right hand of God, has indicated his prayerful concern for us in the wonderful seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel. If ever you are feeling alone or unsure about yourself or uncertain about life in general or comfortless, then John 17 is the place to go. This is Jesus' prayer to God on behalf of his followers who would be left on earth after his ascension … that is, Jesus' prayer on behalf of us.

"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you" (17:1). The time has come for the Ascension, for Jesus' departure from earth, for Jesus' glorification. Jesus continues his prayer, "This is eternal life, that (the people on earth) may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (17:3). That is, eternal life, which we all seek and pray for, is precisely the knowledge of God … knowledge made infinitely more possible because of Jesus Christ.

Notice next a change in attention for Jesus' prayer. "I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours" (17:9b). Now Jesus is getting personal. He is praying about us - about you and me. And he is praying about us in this prayer to God the Father. "All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one" (17:10-11).

Do you need a lift from time to time? Do you need support? Do you need comforting? The best remedy I know of is John 17. In that prayer, Jesus asks God's blessings on the people who follow the Christ and who will live after Christ has ascended. It is a remarkable prayer of care, of love, and of assurance. We do well - emotionally and spiritually - to read this prayer of our Lord often.

In our appropriate gratitude and wonder, though, let's be sure to notice Jesus' final point in today's reading from John 17, the prayed-for result of his concerns. "So that they may be one, as we are one." Jesus' hope for us, Jesus' prayer to God for us, is for unity.

The Church today - those for whom Jesus prayed - is imperiled by lack of unity. Not only are there denominational divisions, but disunity threatens our Episcopal Church as well. And this grieves the heart of the One who has ascended to God's right hand. Jesus would have us be one. Jesus prays for our unity in him. "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one."

In our Episcopal Church, we have a wonderful gift that reminds us of our unity - and, indeed, manifests the unity about which Jesus prayed. We are not only individual churches; we are not stand-alone entities in a religious smorgasbord of possibilities. Rather, we are connected, unified, as a diocese. And as a diocese, we experience something of the unity for which Jesus himself prayed. I hope and pray that we will grow more and more to appreciate the opportunities that come to us because of that gift.

In conclusion, then, this is a moment of pregnant pause - of waiting, of anticipating. But in this pause we know that the Spirit will come, for we trust him who promised that Spirit. We also know that - even in this time of uncertainty - we are in God's hands because we have been entrusted into His hands by Jesus himself.

Therefore, at this moment, may we commit ourselves to be active participants in Jesus' prayer to be one with him and with each other - to be unified in Christ's mission for the sake of the world, to be the fulfillment of our Lord's earnest prayer to God on behalf of those who would follow him - "that they may be one." Amen.

Copyright © 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee