St. Francis
October 6, 2024
Genesis 1.24-31
I think it’s safe to say that we all have some kind of visceral memoryaround experiences with creation; those memories which fill us up, slow ourheart rates, and bring an overwhelming sense of peace because they evoke afeeling, a feeling of being out in nature, our in God’s world and beingentirely at rest in our surroundings. For me, so many of these kinds ofmemories are tangled up in growing up in Michigan. When I think ofcreation, I think of the shores of Lake Huron, the sand beneath my toes at thebase of 40 Mile Point lighthouse, and the breath-catching frigidity of GreatLakes water. I think of the ethereal quiet of Mackinac Island where the onlything you can hear at night are the waves and the intermittent clip clop ofhorses’ hooves. I think of the tree tucked into the back corner of our yard byour dog house that had the perfect V in which to nestle with a book and aradio and enjoy the quiet. I think of the creak of the tree swing by mygrandparents’ pond with my grandpa standing on the edge with his CoolWhip container of fish food. I think of the dust kicking up on softball fieldsof my youth and the very distinct smell of that dirt mingled with fall air.And of course, I think about Scully, because how can you not?
Scully is a full blown force of nature all wrapped up in a tiny little 35pound package. She appreciates every single smell of nature, ensuring thatno walk with her is brisk and efficient. She understands the maddeningmovements of the squirrels, rabbits, deer, and peacocks of ourneighborhood, all of which like to chill in the yard and drive her nuts. Sheloves nothing more than sprawling out on the grass basking in the warmth ofthe first real sunny day of the year. She understands the power of thesnuggle and the joy of peanut butter and that there is no such thing asconditional love. There is no better glimpse of the kingdom of God, the loveof God than in the eyes of a puppy who thinks the world revolves aroundher, and most of the time is exactly right about that.
This is the kind of deep love and appreciation that we commemoratetoday. Techinically, St. Francis’ feast day was Friday, but we shifted thingsa bit and gave Geoffrey the distinct joy of picking a song about Earth’s witand wisdom. The fun thing about celebrating St. Francis is that his life isrife with stories that are nothing short of entertaining and amusing. Theseare not stories of stark martyrdom and deep theological angst andconversion, but stories of a man who loved nothing more than being our inGod’s world, playing with, and preaching to all of God’s creatures.
I figured there was no better time than this morning to share a coupleof my favorite stories from St. Francis’ life. The first of which is his affinityfor preaching to the birds. Yes, birds. There is one such story where he andseveral companions were making a trip through the Spoleto Valley whenthey came upon a gaggle of all manner of birds. Francis decided there wasno better time to leave his companions on the road and go spend some timeamongst the feathers. He expected the to flee at his approach but theydidn’t, and so he figured there’s nothing like a captive audience to encouragea sermon, and this is what he said to them:“My brother and sister birds, you should praise your Creator and alwayslove [God]: [God] gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly and allother things that you need. It is God who made you noble among allcreatures, making your home in thin, pure air. Without sowing orreaping, you receive God’s guidance and protection.”From that point on, Francis always made it a point of preaching to the birdsand they apparently listened. Once they were apparently being a smidge tooloud during one of his sermons and he shushed them and they listened!
The most famous story of St. Francis amongst the feathered andfurried though is a little more anxiety inducing. Word got to Francis that awolf was terrorizing the people of the town of Gubbio. Allegedly, this wolfwas snatching up not only other animals, but people as well. The people hadtried to fight it off but constantly lost, and so Francis decided he would takematters into his own hands despite the warnings he received. He went outinto the woods to find this wolf and when he found it, the wolf charged athim teeth bared for an attack, however, Francis made the sign of the crosstowards it and the wolf slowed, closing its jaws. Once again, Francis spoketo an animal in the words of the gospel:“Come to me, Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ, I order you not to hurtanyone. Brother Wolf, I want to make peace between you and thepeople of Gubbio. They will harm you no more and you must nolonger harm them. All past crimes are to be forgiven.”Allegedly, the wolf nodded its head and proceeded to follow Francis backinto town where it sat quietly while Francis preached and then proceeded tolive amongst the people of Gubbio as a sort of mascot and communal pet.
Now, there is a certain level of this where these stories have to betreated as apocryphal, taken with a grain of salt, but that doesn’t keep themfrom speaking deeply to who God calls us to be in relationship with creation.We have such a tendency to think that we were here first and because of thatwe are the only ones worthy of respect, care, and having our needsstewarded. We forget that before God created any ounce of humanity, Godlovingly and delicately knit together every other part of creation. Blades ofgrass, tiny grapes, specks of dirt, particles of the atmosphere, each itemfearfully and wonderfully made by their Creator, loved into existence by aparental hand. And even when we do remember that, we like to look at thecreation story and say, yeah well, God didn’t say that anything was verygood, until humans came around so ya know, save the best for last. Howquickly we forget that humans were the first ones to abandon and shun ourrelationship with God, when the last time I checked the whales and the antsaren’t openly defying the covenant. God gave us stewardship over all theearth, over every part of creation, and that doesn’t mean treating it withreckless abandon, allowing us to do whatever we wish, however we wish.Stewardship is loving care, allowing each thing to fulfill its greatestpotential, and that goes for everything from otters to elephants.
The reality is there is so much we can learn from creation, gospeltruths that we so frequently ignore or forget. Comfort with change! Who inthe church likes change? We’re so resistant to it, and yet everyday we aresurrounded by examples of evolving with the times and the seasons. Leaveschange color and fall, knowing they will bloom again in the spring.Resilience. So often in the church or in our faith, the slightest thing makesus feel like we’ve been knocked off of our feet with no way to recover. Ithink about the first hurricane I experienced here—Hurricane Matthew andwatching the pine trees outside my house swaying precariously and yet theydidn’t break, they bent with the wind and moved with it. Slowing down.Our world moves so fast, too fast, and yet nature is like, I am going to takemy sweet time. The world will move as it needs to. I mean my word look atbees! Bees function in community better than humans! They operate withteamwork, communication, and an acknowledgement that all serve anecessary role and purpose for the community to thrive. Nature can eventeach us something about worship and our relationship with God. On PalmSunday, Jesus said that even if the crowds were silenced, the rocks wouldshout out. Creation itself sings in praise of God. Jesus pointed to the birdsof the air, the flowers of the field to show us we don’t need to worry aboutGod providing for us, that worry is futile, because all of creation is in God’shands, cared for eternally.
And yet…in the midst of all of this, we think that creation is ours forthe taking, ours for the manipulating, ours for the dismantling. As we sit ina country torn apart by a record-setting hurricane, we don’t want to talkabout climate change and the real impacts of the earth warming. We teardown trees in the name of progress and we destroy habitats thinking that itwill have no impact on us besides more space to spread out, until we realizethat if we lose the bees, the whole world is in a lot of trouble. How often dowe write off those who care for the environment as hippies? Refusing tolisten to a message that is truly a gospel message of stewardship and care forall the earth. I mean, the earth literally provides for us, and yet, we aren’twilling to give it the same consideration.
The thing about Francis that sticks out is precisely this, considerationand care. Every animal, he addressed as brother or sister, as a fellowmember of creation and community, and we probably hear that and want tosnicker like what a nut! But what a deep and abiding respect for the worldGod created, for the creation breathing in the same oxygen as he is. So whydo we think that’s funny or ridiculous? From Francis we can learn to pause,to see the world around us through God’s eyes, and humble ourselves beforeit in recognition that God loves every cell of its being in the same way Godloves us.
To love creation is to love its Creator and to steward its gifts is tosteward the gospel message God has handed over to us to cultivate. We talkso often about kingdom work, forgetting that sometimes spending time outin the fresh air, the sunshine, and the dirt of the earth is kingdom work.Take a deep breath in today and appreciate oxygen that fills your lungs,saying thank you brother wind. Hold the produce you are going to use fordinner in your hand and marvel that it came from the earth, saying thank yousister soil. Love on your pets, give them scritches and treats, saying thankyou God for a message of your unconditional love. This world is not ourown, but is God’s, and it is up to us to treat it with care. Remember thoseplaces which give you peace and recognize that they are a part of God’s holywork, meant to be cared for, respected, and loved. Francis preached to theanimals, go preach to the earth with the stewardship of your hands. AMEN!!