Thursday, October 11, 2012

Sermon for Oct. 7, Feast of St. Francis, Emmanuel Episcopal Church


Once again we are celebrating the Feast of St. Francis,
            and as a member of the Third Order, Society of  St. Francis,
I and my 3,000 other sisters and brothers in this worldwide Anglican order
            take joy in the flutter of attention given throughout the Church
                                    to St. Francis around this date.

And I am delighted that this congregation
            remembers and takes part in this commemoration.
It is, of course, as you know,
            much more than simply having an annual blessing of animals.
This has become so popular in so many places,
            and, indeed, it is a good way to remind us of our interconnection
                        with the whole of creation,
something St. Francis understood on a very profound level,
            way beyond what we will be doing this afternoon out on the lawn.

I have told you about Francis in previous year’s sermons,
            some things about him that are important to know,
            some of the key aspects of his life that have had such an impact on the world,
about his renunciation of money and ownership of property
            in his radical embrace of “Gospel Poverty,”
                        that is, poverty as exemplified by Jesus himself,
                        and what he was talking about in today’s Gospel.
His whole life style and that of his many, many followers
            made a huge statement about the economic values
                                                                        of his culture and period of history.

I have told you about the Stigmata,
            the wounds of Christ on the cross that St. Francis also bore.
Francis was on a meditation retreat on Mount La Verna,
            during the month of September in the year 1224
            at the time of the Feast of the Holy Cross,
and he received within his own body
            the same wounds as our Lord endured at the crucifixion.

This was more than Francis identifying with our Lord Jesus
            and therefore wishing to imitate him to the ultimate degree,
                        although that certainly was expressed in all the literature                                     about this remarkable event.

This was more about Francis’ personal realization of oneness with Christ,
            of being in Christ, as the Apostle Paul wrote about,
            of baptismal identity in the Eternal Word of God.
And in that Francis’ own body then manifested this blood baptism
            as a sign and witness of this union, this unity of being,
                        a sign to his generation and for all generations to come.

The Canticle we read in place of the Psalm for today, the Praises of God,
was composed by Francis on Mount La Verna in that September 800 years ago,                when he received the stigmata.
The prayer was written on a parchment
            which also contains the blessing that Francis gave to brother Leo.
This parchment is conserved as a relic in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.

What I have said so far describes important aspects of St. Francis
            that are as relevant for us today
            as they were 800 years ago in Italy and Europe.

But today I want to focus on another aspect of this complex and deep saint of God,
            his profound commitment to peace and reconciliation.

Francis lived during the time of the Crusades.
You all know something about the Crusades, I hope.
The Christians of Europe had taken on a just and righteous cause,
            to liberate the Holy Land from the infidels, the Muslims.

And we know something of the disastrous outcome,
            the horrendous bloodshed that was anything but holy.
It was a time of using religious warfare as a means to justify
            genocide, economic profiteering, and political power seeking.
What was done with the idea of seeking the glory of God
            was hellishly violent, dark and destructive of our humanity.
Francis of Assisi knew that he had to place himself fully in the midst of all that.

Now what I am telling you next is true.
Francis with a few of his brothers went to enter the Fifth Crusade,
            not with the idea of fighting,
            but to minister to the injured and the dying,
            and not for just the Christians.
It was Francis’ desire to go to the Sultan,
                        the leader of the infidel forces of the Muslims,
            and both to convert him and to bring about peace and reconciliation.
Everyone thought this was simply a way to go get martyred.

The year was 1219.  The main focus of fighting at this time was in Egypt,
            in the stronghold Damietta in the eastern part of the broad Nile delta.
The Sultan al-Kamil was a brilliant military leader,
            and the Christian Crusaders were very hard put.
After a disastrous rout that Francis had foreseen,
            he took one brother, Illuminato, with him
            and crossed over into enemy territory.

Ordinarily it would have been certain death
                        once they encountered the Sultan’s troops,
            but after initial suspicion and some rough treatment
                        their captors were bemused by the simple, gentle and very dirty friars
                        and they thought them mad.
Nevertheless Francis was brought before al-Kamil
            and they had an extended visit.

But not without testing.
Some of those in the Sultan’s entourage devised a trap.
They covered the floor with a carpet with crosses woven throughout.
If the friars would step on the crosses, they would be dishonoring Christ.
If they did not step on the carpet,
            they would be refusing the audience with the Sultan,
                        which would be an insult.
As Francis and Illuminato were ushered into the tent,
            Francis without hesitation strode forward.
When it was pointed out that he had trodden on crosses,
            Francis quickly replied,
“Oh, you see, we carry the cross of Christ in our hearts.
These crosses are the ones belonging to the thieves crucified with him.”

The Sultan warmed immediately to Francis,
            and the two engaged in deep conversation for many days.
When they parted, Francis was taking back to the Crusader forces
            a wise offer of compromise that would greatly mitigate the conflict.
And the Sultan’s final words were these:
“Francis, you must know that I cannot convert to your faith,
            or my soldiers would slay me, and I am accountable to all my people.
But you remember to pray for me when I am on my deathbed.”

I wish I could say that the Sultan’s offer was accepted by the Crusaders,
            but that was not the case,
and much suffering and bloodshed yet followed.

But still that exchange between Francis and al-Kamil was not forgotten.
The conversations with the Sultan were not just one way.
Francis was also listening to al-Kamil
            and receiving what he had to say about his Islamic faith.
And this is reflected in that Canticle of the Praises of God
                                                                                                that we read together earlier.
There is a parallel in Islam with the praises of the 99 names of God.
It not only praises God in general,
            but also seeks to praise Him specifically
                        for those attributes of God's names in Islam,
            beyond those which God necessarily had as omnipotent
                        (such as all-seeing, all-hearing),
            but rather what God chose to have out of His mercy
                        and showering Grace upon His servants.
Some of the 99 Names of God in Islam, referred to by this idea are:
            the Loving, the Beneficent, the Merciful, the Generous, the Forgiving,
                        and the Peace.
Do you see the connection?

I tell this story about Francis and the holy wars and his interfaith dialog,
            because there is an obvious and relevant application for the present day.
Wars fought in the name of religion will go on forever,
            unless and until we go to meet the enemy
                        and talk and listen to one another, and receive as well as give.
Francis exhibited not only incredible courage,
            but more importantly he was so spiritually grounded in Jesus,
                        that he had no need to defend the belief system, the theology,
                        and was therefore much more effective in being heard,
            for his words had integrity and authenticity, matching his actions.

Today we have a baptism – Matthew Grumley –
and always on such an occasion,
            as well as being a joyful time of welcoming a new Christian
                        and celebrating with his family,
we also renew our own status as baptized followers of Jesus.

So I would remind you about what our baptism means,
            not the whole scope and depth of the meaning of baptism,
                        there is too much to plunge into,
            but this point of meaning: that in baptism there is a new creation,
                        as it says in today’s epistle reading.
Through baptism the Resurrection Spirit of Jesus creates in us a new creation.
If we were to stop resisting this new creation the Holy Spirit wants to work in us,
            then there might be a whole lot more little St. Francis-es running around.
There might be a whole lot less anxiety about providing for our life support,                   for instance, and a whole lot more selling our possessions and giving alms.
Then we would know what the real treasure is
            and where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.