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St. Francis
SERMON - 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 5th October 2008.
Revd. Matthew Vernon
Later in the Service we'll come, as always to the Eucharistic Prayer.
It has some wonderful words for Harvest Thanksgiving.
"From the beginning you have created all things and all your works echo the silent music of your praise."
But the next phrase always grates with me:
• "In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
• "the crown of all creation."
Its "the crown of all creation" I find difficult.
This is the traditional Christian view of humanity
• a human centred world
• a human centred universe.
It's right there in Genesis
• where God gives mankind dominion over the other creatures
My problem is it clashes with modern understanding.
Thanks to Darwin and to evolution we know that we're not the crown of all creation.
Of course homo sapiens is special:
• dolphins are intelligent but they don't have a Samaritans
• elephants communicate with each other, but they don't build skyscrapers
• dogs…
But evolution keeps our human ego in check.
In the past, great creatures dominated the earth, like the dinosaurs, but their kingdoms are gone.
dinosaurs had tiny brains so probably didn't think very much,
• but Tyrannosaurus Rex might have thought, "we'll be here for ever"
The traditional Christian view that humanity is the pinnacle of creation,
• even the reason for creation,
• creates a dangerous gap between us and the rest of the earth and the countless creatures we share this planet with.
That view has led to huge environmental damage.
A kind of rape and pillage of the earth.
Its what happens when you view something or someone as fundamentally different to you.
Seeing humanity as separate to the rest, standing back and observing the world led to the development of science and technology and all immeasurable good and human flourishing that has come from that.
But now we are appreciating more deeply the flip side, the cost.
Perhaps we've been too objective and empirical.
St. Francis of Assisi can help.
Yesterday, 4th October, was St. Francis' Day.
It was also mine and Kate's wedding anniversary, but I'll focus on St. Francis.
St. Francis had a deep love and respect for creation.
You may know the story of him preaching to the birds!
This has led to him being portrayed as a wide-eyed, kind of 1970s flower lover, all soft and gentle.
In fact, Francis was a radical as they come.
Stripping off naked in the market square of Assisi to declare he was renouncing his family's wealth.
He lived in extreme poverty and expected his followers to do the same.
Once he disguised himself as a beggar.
When two of his brothers failed to help him, he revealed himself and gave them a right roasting.
He once discovered a brother carrying a coin – some personal money.
Francis grabbed the coin and shoved it in a dog turd.
Humility was a key virtue for Francis.
Not just individual humility, but the humility of humanity.
And with the equality of all God's creatures.
For example he called an ant Brother Ant.
He didn't just view it as a sermon illustration for the lazy.
Or fire was Sister Fire.
Not just a symbol of the soul reaching up to God, like the fire's flames.
He spoke too of Brother Sun and Sister Moon.
He was an environmentalist before his time!
Now we realize that humility is essential in our care for the environment.
And that care starts here in church
• for what we say here guides how we live.
So I would change "crown of all creation" to simply "part of your creation"
"Blessed are you Lord God … From the beginning you have created all things and all your works echo the silent music of your praise. In the fullness of time you made us in your image, part of your creation."
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