Sermon: "Pilgrim Disciples"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

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

My mom and dad were Texans. They lived in North Carolina for more than fifty-five years … but they really were Texans. If you or someone you know has lived in Texas and moved somewhere else, you realize what I'm talking about. People may be able to leave the place of Texas but not their identity as Texans. And, certainly, the same observation can be made about people from other places as well. Indeed, our identity is tied up with location … with where home is for us.

A document written in the second or third century - The Epistle to Diognetus -deals in part with people and their homelands. In particular, we may read there of Christians' attitudes toward the places they live. The author writes of Christians in these words: "Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them, every fatherland is a foreign land." Put another way, any Christian certainly owes allegiance to his or her country in this world. After all, we do live here. However, as Christians, our ultimate allegiance cannot be to any particular country or land. We are therefore like pilgrims in this world. Our allegiance here is temporary, as our stay here also is temporary.

Jesus emphasized this theme in our Gospel reading today. That reading is part of the prayer Jesus prayed for his disciples, just prior to his ascension out of the world. And about his disciples, Jesus prayed these words: "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world…As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world"(vss.16,18). Thus, Jesus raises the question of the relationship and allegiance of his disciples to this world. And in this sermon, I want to make several points in this regard about followers of Jesus, among whom we number ourselves. What is our relationship and our allegiance to this world?

First of all, we are in the world. Our Christianity gives us no reason to deny or to de-emphasize our presence here. Neither does Christianity give us any excuse to escape our responsibilities here. The fact of the incarnation of Jesus makes this clear and certain for us. If our presence here were not important, then God's becoming man on earth makes no sense. Therefore, God does indeed take our presence on earth most seriously. Remember that Jesus did not pray that his followers would be removed from the world - but, rather, he prayed for victory in this world. That's the key. His prayer was for victory, not for escape.

In at least one point in his ministry, St. Paul wondered about his presence on earth. He wrote to the Christians in Philippi of this questioning. He indicated that personally he would rather depart from this world and be with Christ. However, St. Paul was quite aware of his calling to the people he served, the people in the world.

During this time just prior to another General Convention, I can relate to the longings of St. Paul in this regard. It certainly seems that it would be easier to be somewhere else at this point in time. Nevertheless, we are called to be right here, in the world that we know, with all its imperfections.

Therefore, with the example of Jesus, the incarnated One, and the experience of St. Paul, we affirm that there are reasons for us to be in the world. Those reasons may not always be completely apparent to us. However, in faith, we affirm that we do have a purpose here, in the greater plan of God Almighty.

Secondly, though, while we are in the world, we are not of the world. That is, as Christian people, we possess many values, goals, and standards that are clearly not of this world. Indeed, Jesus whom we call "Lord", represents certain values for us, and he calls us to particular goals that set us apart.

For instance, we Christians credit much importance to the call to love within the context of community. Indeed, that call and context define us, to a great extent. On the other hand, our society - and the powers of our world - surely would value success and individual achievement instead.

Another example of being in the world but not of it involves our attitude towards death. As Christians, we affirm that death, which may seem to rule supreme in this world, actually is powerless ultimately. And that is quite a claim. Indeed, how very different priorities and experiences might look if people really believed that death ultimately is powerless, as we Christians claim to believe.

Finally, we are in the world - not of the world - but we have been sent for the world. In the Gospel today, we notice that there are two illustrations of people being sent - first, Jesus, and then, all Christians, including ourselves. Remember that Jesus prayed to God the Father, "As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." The source of each sending is ultimately the same - that is, God. And the object of each sending also is the same - the world. Therefore, we, in common with Jesus, are sent by God, for the world. Like him, we are in the world, not of the world, but for the world.

As a way to conclude these thoughts, I want to offer you a new category to hold them all together. What we have considered this morning involves discipleship - the discipleship of a group of pilgrims called "Christians." That term - disciple - indicates our position in this life and our stance alongside the events and other people we encounter. We are called to be Christian disciples. And what that means is that we are in the world, not of the world, yet sent for the world. In a very significant way, that defines our Christian discipleship. That's what the service of Baptism is about this morning - making another Christian disciple. And that's what Confirmation and Reception also are about - affirming Christian discipleship.

May we always remember that God - who sent us into the world - also sent Jesus, who stands with us in this life and in the life to come.

Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee