St. Francis of Assisi – Part 1: Following Christ

When I think of Francis of Assisi, whose feast day we will celebrate on Oct. 4, a part of me is speechless. What do you say about an iconic medieval figure, one who prefigured the entire Renaissance? What do you say about somebody who changed, permanently, the culture of both Western Europe and the church?

St. Francis was one man, who died before the age of 50, who didn’t travel very much. And yet people flocked to him.

The Witness of St. Francis

I don’t quite understand it, and I don’t entirely know what Jesus is asking of me through his witness. The collect for Francis’ day takes us right into the deep of it when one phrase shows up: “renounce gladly the vanities of this world.”

I must confess, I’m not even sure what that is.

It reminds me of a story where two fish are swimming in the stream and a big older fish swims by, and the big fish says to the two little fish, “How’s the water today, boys?”

The little fish swim along, and one turns to the other and says, “What’s water?”

We don’t know the soup we are in. We don’t know what is vanity and what is not. For Francis, renouncing the vanities of this world looked like the cross. The thrust of his life was imatsio Christi, the imitation of Christ. And out of that, taking on poverty, chastity, obedience, a willingness to give everything of who he was completely in the service of Jesus Christ and challenging others to follow the same.

In fact, a part of the agony of Francis’ later years (meaning his early 40s) was he felt as though his order was getting soft. They couldn’t bear the level of poverty that he asked of the men in his order, of the women under his sister, Claire, and that which spread across Western Europe.

The Cycle of Following Christ

And so I must have the courage to say, “Jesus, what are you saying to me? How am I to approach what you’re asking?” As I did this, I thought of a current cycle that proves true in my life and those of other Christians. That cycle goes like this: leaving, cleaving, serving. Leaving, cleaving, serving.

And that is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Christ. It reminds us that the words of Jeremiah are just as true for us as they were for the nation of Israel. Speaking of King Josiah, Jeremiah tells us, “He judged the cause of the poor and needy, then it was well. Is this not to know me? says the Lord” (Jer. 22:16-17).

In other words, to be there, to serve others, particularly those in the deepest need, is actually the best reflection of what happens when I am complete in Jesus. Because for Francis and for the followers of Christ, there is a kind of revamping of what happens in terms of the way we see the world. And what God is doing comes right out of the song of Mary: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52).

In the next post, we’ll examine what that looks like.

 

What do you most admire about St. Francis of Assisi? Share this blog and your response on Twitter. Please include my username, @revgregbrewer.

(This post is an adaption of Bishop Brewer’s sermon on October 4, 2018, in the Bishop’s Oratory of the Diocesan Office, Orlando.)

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.