Sermon: "Creation's Drumbeat"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

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

In this 10th year of my Episcopate, I have learned some things about my visitation schedule among the churches in East Tennessee. One of those things is that the Sunday after Easter is a time that rectors like for the bishop to come. Today is often called "Low Sunday" because attendance falls off dramatically following Easter. So, not only does a rector not have to preach on the Sunday after Easter, but also, he can blame the expected smaller crowd on the bishop!

The collect on this Second Sunday of the Easter season presents the obligation of a Christian life in a most memorable and meaningful way: "Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith." Isn't that wonderful wording? That is surely one of my favorite collects of the year. It expresses the thought so directly, and it is most appropriate for us who call ourselves Christians - in particular, we who will be confirmed today and we who will renew our baptismal covenant, as we all will do in a few minutes. We pray that we may show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith. Indeed, that's what Christian living is all about, at its most basic, practical level.

Now, one way to show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith is to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the Easter season. We are Easter people. One obligation we Christians have is to speak of that event which forms us - the resurrection.

In our hearts we believe this central point of faith. Or else, we desperately want to believe it ... and we pray for greater faith. We know that the rhythm of life, death and resurrection provides the drumbeat for the dance of all creation. We hear and see evidence of this drumbeat in the world of spring all around us. We experience it as an elderly person dies, and - as the old songs says - "There'll be one child born in this world, to carry on." We hear the drumbeat in our lives and in those of others, as we die to some destructive habit or relationship and are reborn to a new life of possibility and of health. Life, death and resurrection - such is the pattern of God's design. And such also is the yearning - the calling - deep within each one of us.

It is this pattern, this drumbeat, to which we witness as Christian people. And the example, which we hold dear and which makes true our faith, is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Isn't it odd, then, that something so essential to our being remains difficult for us to discuss - at least, beyond the context of the church? If we are right in claiming that life, death and resurrection really do address creation's fundamental rhythm, why don't we talk about those things? If the particular life, death and resurrection of Christ give substance to ultimate hope, why are we so reluctant to discuss that subject?

Perhaps, are we like Thomas? Remember the doubt and the uncertainty that he expressed in our Gospel reading today? "Unless I see ... I will not believe." Is Thomas' problem ours as well - the problem, that is, of not believing until we see?

I remember quite vividly a sermon preached by a friend of mine in seminary. Actually, the setting for this sermon was a class on preaching. Class members and the professor acted as the congregation. And my friend preached on the subject of proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ - sharing the good news. His primary points were these three: first, that the disciples witnessed the risen Christ; secondly, that they therefore believed in the resurrection; and finally, that they shared their belief with others. See, believe, tell - those were the three actions of which my friend spoke ... the three actions of witness. And I think he was right.

In order to demonstrate how this process works, however, my friend did a very strange thing, in the course of delivering his sermon. He took out a flower - and then, he began to eat it! As we sat there, watching in amazement, we saw him consume the whole flower. After he finished, my friend restated the point of his sermon. He said that we now had seen this event take place. And since we had seen it, we could believe it. And, soon, we would go out and tell others about it. See, believe and tell.

Now, I'm afraid that this may have been a case in which the example overpowered the point itself. In fact, I have to try hard to remember that the sermon really involved the resurrection … and I suspect that I am not alone, among the people who were there. Actually, following the sermon - as we gathered for an evaluation - the professor made an interesting observation. He said, "I saw it, and I still don't believe it!"

How is it that we may show forth in our lives this central profession of faith - the resurrection of Jesus Christ? In spite of the overwhelming nature of the example from my friend's sermon, we do share the Good News in seeing, in believing, and in telling ... like those of us in that seminary class and like Thomas in the Gospel.

First, then, we must see. We must open our eyes in a particular way ... the eyes of faith. We must look for examples of life, death, and resurrection in our world ... relating those examples to the example, Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we must believe - or, at least, we must want to believe - and seek to believe. Signs of creation's drumbeat make themselves known all around us. Our belief is that the risen Christ becomes known in and through the other deaths and resurrections of life.

Finally, we really do need to tell other people about what we have seen and believed. We are not on this journey alone. Jesus Christ did die for me ... but he did not die only for me. We all share in the profound and eternal benefits of Christ's accomplishments - you and me and all our neighbors in this world.

See, believe, tell. We have all seen and believed examples of resurrection in our lives. A friend has risen from the depths of alcohol addition. A loved one has recovered from a life-threatening illness. Someone we know has had some encounter with love or forgiveness or mercy ... and has experienced renewal of life as a result. We have seen these indications of resurrection. We believe in what they mean, in the lives of ourselves and of people we know. And, as Christian people, we need to tell others about them. Jesus Christ - who lived, died and rose again - makes himself a part of our lives. And the whole world needs to know that.

Thus, by way of conclusion, we return full circle back to the collect for today. Our prayer continues to be that - in what we see, believe and tell - we may indeed show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith. Amen.

Copyright © 2008 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee