Sermon: "All One Body"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

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

My prepared sermon today deals with the unity of Christian people, as parts of the Body of Christ. Before addressing that subject directly, though, I need to remind us of one part of the Body which has been seriously injured - Haiti. The people of that land desperately need our financial assistance and our prayers … and they will need our financial assistance and our prayers for a long, long time to come. May we not forget our brothers and sisters in Haiti … nor forget their continuing need for us to indicate our union and solidarity with them. I will turn now to comments on our lessons today, but I do so even as I remind us all to keep the people of Haiti in our thoughts and prayers.

You may have heard about some sports' news coming out of Knoxville recently. After living there for eleven years now, I have come to realize that such news trumps every other category of information, in that most orange of towns. In any event, less than two weeks ago, a couple of astounding news items from the world of sports dominated newspapers, radios, and personal conversations…and these two items resulted in quite contradictory reactions. First, a depleted group of men's basketball players defeated number-one ranked Kansas. And then, just days later, the former football coach - who will remain nameless here - left for another position, after only a year on the job.

Now, I bring these examples to mind here, not only to indicate a bit of pride, on the one hand, and to release some hostility on the other. In addition, I want us to consider the reality and the importance of the team concept. The basketball players functioned as a team, in a remarkable kind of way, and the results were startling indeed. For the football players, though, recent attention has been on coaches, and the team will surely suffer as a result.

In a few minutes, some among us will be presented as candidates for confirmation. You will come forward as individuals, with particular gifts and talents to offer. In addition, though, each one comes as part of a class of candidates and that class represents a team, in a very real way. Christianity teaches that individuals are tremendously important. However, we need to remember - especially in our society - that Church represents a team effort.

St. Paul writes to the members of the Church in Corinth, "Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." And then, later, "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

In our worship service today, we focus our attention on the candidates who will be presented. However, after those candidates affirm their baptismal promises, we all will participate in renewing our own Baptismal Covenant together. In that Covenant, our promises are clear - promises of belief, of obligation to the Church, and of service to the world for which our Lord died. And the context in which we renew these promises - and in which we live our faith - is the Body of Christ on earth, the Church. That is our team, of which we all are parts.

St. Paul writes clearly about several indications of variety and individuality on this team: first, the varieties of gifts that each individual possesses; secondly, about the varieties of service to which we are called; and, thirdly, about the varieties of activities in which we engage ourselves. Thus, St. Paul readily affirms the individuality among members of the Church. However, the point he makes in affirming such variety and individuality is that there is a larger unity and wholeness. It is that unity and wholeness that he calls "the Body."

Therefore, each member has a responsibility - for the good of the whole body, for the team, if you will. Each part needs to function properly for the body to be well. We know this from personal experience. That is, if we have a toothache or a sore throat, that infirmity seems to throw everything we try to do off course. The pain demands our attention. In St. Paul's words, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it."

St. Paul then takes a somewhat different tack, in making a similar point. He says that no one part of the body can make the decision to be separate. In a rather facetious example, he writes, "If the foot would say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body', that would not make it any less a part of the body."

Then, further, no one part of the body is able to scorn any other part. Again in St. Paul's words, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'" Indeed, according to St. Paul's analogy, to say "I have no need of you" is not appropriate for any member of the body, in addressing any other member.

At our particular moment in history, this word presents an important message to The Episcopal Church. The differences of opinion expressed in the past decade - and currently - may tempt us in this regard. Indeed, some individuals, churches, and dioceses have felt inclined to say to others, "I have no need of you." Yet, as Christian Episcopalians, we are parts of a particular congregation … and of a diocese … and of The Episcopal Church. Our unity marks a distinct attribute of our identity. And, we do have need of one another!

Indeed, using St. Paul's analogy, the body is handicapped whenever a member leaves. No matter what that member - or church or diocese - might say, the appropriate response of the rest of the body is never "I have no need of you." Rather, our biblical responsibility is to seek reconciliation and restoration of the body.

That task lies before us - as Christ Church, as the Diocese of East Tennessee, and as The Episcopal Church. Our prayer is for wholeness, for completeness of the body, and for reconciliation in Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, please remember that St. Paul writes, "Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." May we indeed live into our calling as members blessed to be parts of the Body of Christ! Amen.

Copyright © 2009 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee