St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
October 3, 2021
St. Francis Day
The Creation Story (abbreviated from Genesis 1:1-34)
The Prayer Attributed to St. Francis
Matthew 11:25-30
Celebrating Jesus By Celebrating Francis
So, I don’t want to get anyone upset, but we’re kind of breaking the rules here today.
No, it’s not because many if us have our pets at the service, which is great.
It’s because every Sunday is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus, especially his Resurrection. Every Sunday is meant to be “a little Easter.”
This morning, of course, we’re breaking the rules a little because we’re also celebrating Francis of Assisi.
Now, I’m absolutely positive that Francis would not want this kind of attention, but I think it’s OK for us celebrate him because Francis was one of the all-time most faithful followers of Jesus.
In fact, he was so faithful that when we celebrate Francis we’re really celebrating Jesus.
There’s plenty we could say about Francis, but since we’ve got lots of creatures here today who are eager for a blessing, I’ll be quick.
Francis lived a long time ago. He was born in Italy back in 1181. He grew up in a well-to-do family. His father was a cloth merchant.
Francis was fun and popular. And he dreamed of all the things typical of a young man of his time, place, class: glory in battle and chivalry. He was also a lover of life’s finer things, particularly clothes.
But, to make a long story short, over time God began to turn Francis’ heart away from worldly things and toward spiritual things.
One day, Francis was praying in a chapel that was in poor repair. A cross that looked like this was hanging in that chapel. As he was praying he heard the voice of Jesus say from the cross, “Francis, repair my church.”
Reasonably enough, Francis heard that command as a buildings and grounds issue, so he sold some cloth from his father’s shop, intending to use the money to repair the chapel.
But, Jesus had more in mind than fixing stone and mortar.
During Francis’ time, the Church had largely lost its way. It had become more concerned with worldly power and wealth than following Jesus’ way of love and service.
So, for the rest of his life Francis worked to repair the church by following Jesus’ commands and examples as faithfully as he could: giving away his possessions and offering love and service to the poorest of the poor.
So, when we celebrate Francis we’re really celebrating Jesus.
The other thing to mention about Francis, especially today, is his love for creation. Francis famously preached to the birds, telling them to give God thanks for their beautiful clothing. He calmed a wolf that had been terrorizing a town, and he got the townspeople to care for the wolf, which is maybe the bigger miracle. And, he claimed the sun as his brother and the moon as his sister.
In fact, Francis saw all creatures as his sisters and brothers, all created by God, all of us meant to live in harmony – an especially timely reminder for us this weekend after the government declared 23 more species extinct.
So, today, on this Sunday as we celebrate Jesus and his most faithful follower Francis, let’s hear the call to repair the church – to repair the church not y calling the Buildings and Grounds Committee, but by following Jesus even more faithfully.
And, let’s look at all of God’s creatures, very much including our pets, as our brothers and sisters.
Together, let us be instruments of God’s peace.
Amen.
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