Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; 20th
Sunday after Pentecost, 2 Oct. 2016
Exodus
3:1-7; Psalm 148:7-14; Galatians 6:14-18; Matthew 11:25-30
What
refreshing, nourishing words of God’s love & care for us we
hear in our scriptures!
We see God's love & care for us in many
ways in our lives, just as we see it in many ways in the lives of
Moses & Paul & our Patron St. Francis, whose Oct. 4th
feast day we celebrate today1. These men accepted the yoke & carried the burden God gave them.
Jesus
says: “My yoke is easy. My burden is light.”
This
reminds me of my childhood delight seeing & sometimes getting to
stroke the adorable donkey bearing the burden of strawberries as its
owner makes his rounds to our street in Mexico City.
I
remember asking Santa for a donkey. In Santa’s wisdom, I got this
one, "Burrito", which has long outlasted the live
We
find literal thinking in St. Francis.
Since
he is patron saint of animals, you see a variety of animal replicas
among us in the pews! You are welcome to cuddle one as needed. We used some of
them for comfort & fun at our Parish Retreat last weekend.
Fun
stimulates creativity.
A rich
young man with little responsibility, Francis knows about fun &
pursues it. He also pursues military glory. Time
as a prisoner of war changes his perspective, not his literal
thinking.
Francis
comes home & sees with new eyes, hears with new ears the
suffering
of his fellow humans, ignored by most well-off people in his day. He
listens & responds literally to God’s call to repair God’s
church: He rebuilds a dilapidated church2.
Later
he sees with new eyes the “church”, & builds relationships
with & hope for God’s beloved children: the poor, sick,
disadvantaged, “invisible” people.
Poor,
sick, disadvantaged, invisible people live among us.
With
new vision, Francis responds to God's call & lives differently,
giving away his possessions. He takes off his shoes & gives them
away....
I wonder if he knows he is standing on holy ground like Moses
stands on where he sees the burning bush
& removes his shoes.
Moses
learns this: God sees & cares about suffering, burdened,
mistreated, oppressed people – our brothers & sisters in the
human family, who still need our help today.
God calls
Moses to work with God to make a positive difference for God's
suffering children.
In
Galatians, Paul reminds us how he answers God’s call to follow
Jesus & share the Good News of God’s Love that we know through
Jesus’ dying for us on the cross & rising to new life so that
we
can have new life & the Holy Spirit to live in us & guide us
in what we do.
Paul
says he carries the marks of Jesus. These
are from beatings & stonings he endures to share the Good News of
God’s Love.
These marks are like branding we do to cattle & like people in
his day branded their slaves.3
Although
Paul’s marks are different from the stigmata St. Francis has [like
Jesus’ wounds on his hands, feet & side], Paul & Francis
respond positively to the same challenge we have:
share
the Good News of God’s Love.
Paul &
Francis sacrifice to share the Good News & make a positive
difference for many in their days. Notice,
God reaches us where we are:
Francis gains his new perspective
slowly.
Paul has his blinding encounter with Jesus as his travels to imprison people who believe in Jesus.
God catches Moses’ attention with a
unique view in creation to entice his curiosity as he goes about
daily work with the herd.
God
reaches us where we are.
Our
job is to respond & work with God & each other.
In our
Gospel, Jesus invites us to carry a lighter load, sharing his Love.
Jesus says:
Come to me, all you
who are weary & carrying heavy burdens & I will give you
rest.
God’s
steadfast love & mercy, which we see in Jesus’ life, death,
resurrection & ascension, lighten our work load, a truth St.
Francis came to know after his youthful struggle with his rich
lifestyle. Before he had grace to change how he was living, Francis
didn’t have a clue about what God was calling him to do.
Do
we have a C.L.U.E. about what God is calling us to do?
After
our Parish Retreat last week, we do have insights into the C.L.U.E.
God is revealing. We are growing into our Calling,
Living,
Understanding
& Evolving
in Jesus name in our generation like Francis, Paul & Moses did in
their generations.
Remembering
the wisdom of Santa, who
gave me what I needed & what would last instead of what I wanted,
which wouldn't last,
I see more clearly the wisdom of waiting & trusting God as we do
the work of praying,
forgiving, loving, & working together, using our gifts, even our
mistakes, learning, trusting God, living into the future God
envisions for us.
Beloved
Brothers & Sisters,
fellow
children of God,
what
work is God giving us to do together?
Bibliography
Batten,
J. Minton. Selections
from the Writings of St. francis of Assisi.Nashville:
The Upper Room. 1952. Pp. 5-9.
Brown,
Judith Gwyn Brown. Bless
All Creatures Here Below: A Celebration for the Blessing of the
Animals. Harrisburg:
Morehouse Publishing. 1996.
Cole,
Joanna. A Gift from
Saint Francis: The First Creche.
Illustrator: Michele Lemieux. New York: Morrow Junior Books. 1999.
Holy
Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints.
New York: Church Publishing. 2010. Pp. 622-623.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers.
1988.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1970.
The
New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Expanded Edition.
New York: Oxford University Press. 1973.
Saints: Who they are and how they help you. Gen. Ed: Elizabeth Hallam. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1994. Pp. 81-83
1
Information on Francis in this sermon comes from the
several sources in the Bibliography & our tour guide in Assisi.
2
As our tour guide in Assisi noted.
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