Sermon: "Finding True Joy"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

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

The wonderful collects in our Prayer Book offer us direct - and profound - insight into the essentials of our faith. For instance, today we prayed to God that He "grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found" (BCP, p. 219). Those are elusive but worthy objects for our prayer: "Grace to love what (God) commands and desire what (God) promises" … so that "our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found." Certainly there is within that collect direct and profound insight into an essential aspect of our faith. Reference in today's collect, it seems to me, is to live our lives by consciously seeking nothing less than the will of God Almighty.

The Old Testament reading today empowers this faith essential. There we heard, through Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord's promise to make a new covenant with the people of God. An earlier covenant had been broken, but God, in His persevering patience, will try again. According to Jeremiah, God's intentions for the new covenant with His people are these: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (31:33).

Within those words, there is a certain unmistakable affirmation. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It is as though today's collect was written for that promised new covenant, which will be incorporated within the people. "Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise."

Then, today's reading from St. John's Gospel offers us another viewpoint of the same theme … a magnification of this essential attribute of faith - to seek the will of God. We read there that some Greeks came to Philip with this request: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (Jn 12:21). Then, interestingly, the One they wish to see acknowledges his own purpose quite clearly. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say - 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your Name" (12:27-28).

In my mind, today's collect echoes once again, even as we read those words of Jesus. "Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found." Thus, the collect even applies to the longings and the life of Jesus Christ.

Today's readings and collect call us to clarity, it seems to me … clarity, that is, of vision and of purpose. That vision and purpose have everything to do with loving what God commands and desiring what God promises. In addition, such clarity of vision and purpose involves the intention to fix our hearts "where true joys are to be found" … that is, in the pursuit of God's will.

Every Christian community has this essential attribute as a goal - clarity of vision and purpose, accompanied by actions that bring the vision and purpose to life, as we seek the will of God. Further, each Christian community that I know of falls short of achieving that goal in actual practice. Thus, in pursuing God's will - as individuals and as communities - we need to practice the basic Christian virtue of humility. No one person or group possesses knowledge of the will of God in its entirety. Indeed, we need one another as we walk this way with humility … that is, the way of seeking God's will.

One example of a Christian community of which I am blessed to be a part is the Episcopal House of Bishops. We met a couple of weeks ago - in part, as a time of preparation for General Convention this summer.

Like other Christian communities, the House of Bishops is at our worst when we deal too much with the internal problems and challenges that are parts of our common life together. Now, admittedly, some attention to such problems and challenges is necessary for maintaining community. However, that attention does not define our reason for being, in any substantial way. That is, in terms of the viewpoint of today's collect, excessive attention to internal maintenance does not enhance the love that God commands, nor does it enable our desire to seek God's promises. Further, I am quite certain that concentration on internal disputes and disagreements will not lead us to discover the true joys that God offers - at least not in terms of my understanding of true joy! Thus, too great a focus on a community's internal life will not fulfill the purpose for which we came to our moment in history - our "hour" that Jesus mentions - nor does such an internal concentration enable the glorification of God.

Please understand this. I am not suggesting that any community ignore its own challenges and problems. That would be irresponsible. However, I am saying that focusing on internal life exclusively will suffocate the desire to do God's work in the world … God's will.

On the other hand, the House of Bishops - like other Christian communities - finds its primary reason for being beyond itself. At our recent meeting, for instance, we were at our best as we heard and responded to the stories and challenges of our fellow bishops from the Gulf Coast and the people they serve. In the exercise of compassion toward others, therefore, we come closer to our true purposes, our reason for being.

Thus, a Christian community is called to focus most of its attention beyond itself, in obedience to the call of Jesus Christ. With that commitment, the intention of God becomes the center point for the community's life, as well as its clear reason for being at all. As we respond to the call to live for others, we also discover the way to seek the will of God.

In conclusion, I have suggested two distinct tendencies in the life of Christian community this morning - the tendency to focus internally, on the one hand, and secondly, the commitment to live for others. Each tendency names a necessary element in community life, but finding the proper balance is essential as we seek to do the will of God. Further, for Christian communities, the balance needs to be weighted toward the people and the needs outside the community itself. That balance is consistent with our Lord's call … and with his life.

Think of these two tendencies of community life once again as I reread a portion of our collect of the day. "Almighty God, … Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift an varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found." Amen.

Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee