Thank You for Letting Me Be

Today we celebrate! We celebrate the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi! Francis would be happy with this celebration I think. Perhaps, if you have been to this service before today, you would know this because you know something about him.

 

Francis is still commonly seen today in statue form in many gardens; however, he is more than simply a bird-watcher. After being born the son of a rich clothing merchant around the turn of the 13^th Century, Francis gave all of his money away to the poor. He cared deeply for those who lived on the edge of society. Additionally, he preached marvelous sermons about the care of God’s Creation centuries before this type of practice was fashionable. In fact, much of his life Francis pushed up against the powers of his day especially the Bishop of Rome. And yet, today what strikes me about St. Francis actually has more to do with one of his companions.

Clare of Assisi was one of Francis’ first followers. She founded a monastic group, the Order of Poor Ladies, which fits the Franciscan model. After her death the order was renamed the Order of Saint Clare or the Poor Clares; however, before her death Clare said something fascinating. Upon her deathbed legend has it that she said, “Thank you for letting me be a human being.” What a marvelous sentiment for us to remember on this day and always.

Today we bring our pets, our animal companions, here to be blessed. Someone recently asked if we did exorcisms, I think we need the bishop here to do that. We remember these companions and we give thanks for them in our lives. I believe it is also more than appropriate to give thanks to God on this beautiful day and even on all the terrible days for letting us be human beings, and for letting us have our companions who teach us something of God’s love.

God could have made us and them into anything. We could have been amoeba, plankton, gnats, ants, butterflies, catfish, sharks, squirrels, rabbits, tigers, elephants, serpents, whales, or anything else in Creation; however, we were not. God made us precisely as we are right here and now. Sometimes we may not be in the mood to be thankful, but as our Holy Communion prayer says, “It is a good and a joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to God.” This does not mean that it is always easy to give thanks for who we are or what our current lot in life is.

The words from today’s Gospel can stand out in moments of trouble. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Sometimes we may have a tough time saying thanks for letting me be a human being, and it is at these moments that strangely our animal companions can be bearers of the good news of God. 

There were tough times in my home growing up, but somehow the family dog Merlin, a bouncy Springer-Spaniel always seemed to know how to bring comfort to us. He instinctively knew to stretch out his paw to try to shake if my mom or I was having a particularly tough day. It was as though he was trying to share this love that Jesus shared with his disciples. 

We may have trouble with this belief about animals and how connected they are with God, but something C.S. Lewis wrote stands out to me. He described how our culture has lost something as we have become more scientific. We no longer believe some of the legends of yesteryears. Sure he thought we no longer believe that the world is filled with spirits. One cannot go out into the woods and see tree nymphs, but this world is still filled with God’s Spirit. Sometimes our animal companions teach us something of God’s love and they remind us to say “God thank you for letting me be a human being.” Let us be like Francis and Clare who were kind companions to the creatures of this world and who see all of Creation as a place that is filled with God’s Spirit. Amen.

Clean vs. Well

In this coming Sunday's Gospel lesson from Luke 17:11-19 ten lepers approach Jesus. They cry out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Upon seeing their disease Jesus tells the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. As they go upon their way they are made clean; however, something remarkable happens in the aftermath of this spiritual cleansing.

Only one of the ten lepers returns to Jesus to give thanks to God once he has realized he has been healed. Maybe we could get a little frustrated with Jesus who has been sounding harsher and harsher as he travels closer and closer to Jerusalem, but at least to my ears he has a point. When something benefits us in our lives, do we merely look in the mirror and think how fantastic we are, or do we take a least a moment to pause and reflect? Do we just keep on going or do we stop to thank the source of the healing or help that has come our way? Only one of the ten lepers returns to Jesus, and he is the only one who is made well.

As all ten lepers went to show themselves to the priests, they were made clean. As a leper that was a very good thing. Instead of being seen as an outcast, they could be restored to the community where they lived, but cleanliness is not the same thing as wellness. When I take a shower if I am sick with a head cold I might feel momentarily better, but to be made well that is my true hope when feeling ill. So in this passage Jesus amazingly connects full healing with turning around and giving thanks to the one who brings health and healing into this world!

We have busy lives. I know this because I feel this in my own life. There is never enough time to do everything I need or want to do. And yet, if I spend my entire life blazing through whatever is happening without having some time built into my day to pause, reflect, and give thanks what am I experiencing? Perhaps I feel clean of the responsibilities that I have completed, but do I feel the healing power of God? Do I feel fully restored to my essential self? Jesus connects the leper's turning thanks with having true faith in God.

God shows us in this witness of the one leper that our faithful response to Jesus' loving presence in our lives is to turn around and give thanks. How do you thank God? Do you start your morning saying, "Thank you God for another day!"? Do you pause and reflect before your head hits the pillow at night counting up all the things for which you are grateful? If not, do you create an appreciation journal in which you list all that God has given you, and could you create a new list every day? There are multitudinous practices of gratitude. The hope is to develop a thankful heart that instinctively turns around to show appreciation for the source of all goodness. This one thankful leper teaches us to turn around and give thanks for all that God does, for that is the image of true faith!

“Increase Our Faith!”

Every week at our St. John’s Church staff meeting we start by reading the coming Sunday’s Gospel reading. Before we could even read Luke 17:5-10 I started to chuckle. A thought ran through my head that was too funny not to laugh out loud.

 

The passage for Sunday recounts the Apostles imploring Jesus as they said, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied with famous words of a faith the size of a mustard seed, but I thought of him saying something different. Instead, what if Jesus had just replied to the Apostles request by saying, “Okay.”? When I shared this insight with the rest of the staff we all snickered for a moment, but now I keep thinking why is having even a little faith so tough? Why can’t Our Lord just grant our request? Why do we have to slowly build up our faith like a seed blossoming into a bush? Simply put, I think it is because having faith is tough stuff.

There are a lot of things that come easy to some of us. Each of us has different talents. That is one of the great things about our human race and Christ’s Body, we possess different skills that we may share with one another and with all Creation. Faith though seems a little bit trickier. Of all the spiritual gifts it feels like one that is both hard to come by and hard to sustain. How is this essential part of developing a deeper relationship with God so difficult to develop? Mostly, I believe it is difficult because it goes against some pretty primal instincts that we have developed as a species.

Faith is believing in the unseen. Faith requires having hope even in the face of fear. Faith means trusting even when there is no evidence or even evidence to the contrary. We say that we have an immortal God, but our invisible God who may even be in our midst can feel so hard to find. Often this may be because we are so focused on the trees that we cannot see the forest. Or, as I recently heard Father Carl Arico put it, “We are too busy focusing on a tiny chalk mark to see the entire blackboard,” which is God’s reality or the Ultimate Reality. 

I believe many of us want our faith to increase, just like the Apostles did; however, this process--because of our human nature--requires a lot to develop. This is not unlike a mustard seed taking time, water, light, and good soil to grow. Having faith is not as simple as God saying, “Okay!” instead we must daily relinquish our own control to God. This means that if we really yearn for a faith growth we must give the time, nourishment, energy, and environment for that to actually happen.

Relationships with loved ones and friends (just like our relationships with God) often start with a spark, but they take years of shared experiences, conversations, time, energy, and so much more to blossom into relationships that we give our entire trust. God loves us regardless of the time that we put into our relationship with God; however, what we get when we work on trusting God is a more fruitful existence that can navigate the ups and downs, the twists and turns of life. 

When we take time out of our day to put away other distractions, intentionally focus on God, sit in silence, say the Daily Office, read a devotional, rest in God through Centering Prayer, spend time serving others, or so many other disciplines we practice having faith in God by relinquishing our own control. Even one of these small practices can grow over time into something much larger, such that we trust that our entire lives are lived in the Ultimate Reality of God’s loving embrace. We may want Jesus to simply say, “Okay!” to our request of increasing our faith. And yet, the life-long journey of faithfully letting go of what we desire and consenting to God’s will that encompasses what we yearn for and what God dreams for us bears much more fruit... It is even more fruit than a mustard bush!

Would You Rather?

In college I looked forward to dinner more than most of my peers. After working diligently in the afternoon to get ahead on assignments and finishing cross-country or track practice from four o’clock to six o’clock in the evening I would head to McClurg Dining Hall for a well-deserved, leisurely dinner with my teammates. Most nights we would happily talk about running, class, world politics, economic trends, sports, and of course, college gossip; however, the best meals that I remember centered around the game “Would You Rather?”. 

 

My friend Joe Brew masterfully excelled at this game of proposing two equally difficult choices in the form of a question, such as, “Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?” Often the debates that raged in the aftermath of these questions would leave teammates more at odds than our current political divide. The Sewanee Cross-Country team did not confine these discussions merely to the meal table, but often spent hours on long bus rides passing the hours engaging either/or choices. It was on one of these fateful rides that my friend Kyle Lester broke the game of “Would You Rather?”.

As we journeyed on towards some city in Kentucky or Tennessee for a meet the next morning, Kyle stood up on the bus and halted all the other proceedings surrounding a very good question about either losing an arm or a leg. Kyle, who is now or soon will be Dr. Lester, asked our group not a “Would You Rather?” question, but instead boldly inquired, “Would you eat poop?” No other option proposed, just plain and simple jaw-dropping brashness. The entire bus erupted in laughter. Not just because of the absurd subject matter, but also because Kyle seemingly did not get the nature of the game. All these years later, I still laugh at such a shocking and silly misuse of that productive game. In some ways I wonder if Jesus attempted to break his own days version of “Would You Rather?” in this coming Sunday’s gospel lesson.

Jesus lays out a softball in the world of “Would You Rather?” as he questioned his disciples, “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'?” The easy answer is “OF COURSE, I would rather say prepare my supper and you may eat and drink later!” However, given that Jesus spoke here to his apostles, a group of rag-tag fishermen, tax-collectors, and the poor working class I wonder if any of them would have had servants or slaves in the first place. So not only was this question a bad either/or choice, seemingly Jesus directed it to the wrong audience, but this was no game Jesus played, instead it was him laying out the challenging truth of trusting God.

Jesus went on to wonder, “Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” We may believe that being faithful comes with some sort of award or congratulation; however, Jesus encourages his disciples and us, as beings who God has created from nothing, to remember who we serve. Living a life of being faithful, that is continuously trusting God, requires a disciplined approach of choosing to consent to God’s will being done “on earth as it is in heaven”. This sometimes leads to situations where we are put into smelly situations (pun intended). And yet, I wonder if the analogy Jesus chose points us even further.

With disciples who would not have possessed slaves this analogy sounds harsh and misguided, so could Jesus have been doing even more with this challenge of remaining faithful? Right after Jesus taught his disciples to pray (the Lord's Prayer) in Luke’s Gospel account (Luke 11) he wondered about God’s love for us. If we who are evil do not give snakes to our children when they ask for fish or scorpions instead of eggs, then how much more does Our Heavenly Father give us with the Holy Spirit? Perhaps the story from this week's Gospel can be seen as a challenge to give more abundantly, which might just shake up the structure of this world.

Instead of continuing to perpetuate a system of imbalance such that masters control the fate of slaves, which sadly still seems to be the case given the abounding economic inequality, what if we adopted a servant-based economy? Jesus showed us another way, a way in which the teacher served the students. A life of faith means continuously saying we trust God and consent to God’s will being done, but isn’t God’s will that all are willing to give such that all have enough? Isn’t God’s dream for this world one where we all share in the abundance? Isn’t God’s dream one that features the master and the servant dining at the Table together as friends? Would you rather things grow more divisive and disconnected or trust in a God who dreams this world has enough for us all if we would but share our abundance with others? That “Would You Rather?” seems too easy to answer!