Feast of Saint Clare, Transferred
Preached at St. Clares, Ann Arbor- August 8, 2004- Feast of St. Clare (transferred)
Did you ever notice how often the good news of the Gospel begins with “Do not be afraid”? My friends Micah and Laura, a couple I know at seminary, have a line sort of like this. Laura was driving to her job in Wisconsin one morning, and the car broke down on the way. She called Micah to tell him the news, and started out by saying, “Honey? Remember the car?” Whenever one needs to tell the other news, they soften it by saying “Honey… remember the car”? Its just the kind of sentence to put you on guard, so that whatever follows probably won’t be quite as bad as you might imagine. I think that “Do Not Be Afraid” is God’s conversation starter, the way to soften what comes next. It usually proceeds some piece of great news, such as earlier in Luke’s Gospel when we hear: “Do Not be Afraid, Mary… you have found favor with the Lord”. Finding favor with God? Fantastic! What would there be to fear in that case? Of course, we all know what Mary got for her favor- a pregnancy out of wedlock, at a time when that meant being shunned at best, and stoned at worst. God had good reason to think Mary might be afraid and Mary had good reason to be afraid. And what about this passage? Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Awesome! God wants to give us the kingdom! Of course, a couple chapters earlier in Luke’s Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor. And, we get it again here: Sell your possessions and give alms.
Giving up our stuff. Should that be so scary? A big part of me wants to say no. I know that life is more than what I own. But at the same time, I am quite attached to my stuff. I’m happy to give away some of those skirts I don’t wear very often… but not the one my friend brought me from Kenya! It has sentimental value! So do some of those Cds I’m hanging onto, some of the posters that aren’t even hanging up, and most of the trinkets I could easily sell at a yard sale and give away the profits. I’ll gladly give away some of my stuff- but all of it? That’s the work of saints.
In fact, that was the work of Saint Clare. You remember her story: Clare was the daughter of a wealthy family in Italy. Like many saints, Clare is said to have been an especially pious child, always loving and serious, seeking a deep spiritual life. At the age of 18, Clare met Francis, and ran away from home in the middle of the night to follow the Gospel after Francis’ teachings. Her conversion included renouncing all of her wealth – much to the dismay of her wealthy family- and her followers became known as the Poor Clares. Giving up possessions, and giving alms to build up a treasure in heaven- that was Clare’s whole thing! And there was certainly plenty to fear in doing so, including angry relatives and invading armies, let alone worrying about what to eat every day. Despite the obstacles, Clare clung to the rule of poverty throughout her life. Clare insisted that the vow of absolute poverty be maintained by her order. The Pope believed she just did not want to reverse her own vow, and offered to absolve her of the promise. Clare replied, “I wish to be absolved of my sins, but not of my obligation to follow Jesus Christ.” 800 years later we are still celebrating the remarkable way she lived her life and followed her Lord, and we believe that she was rewarded in heaven.
But I believe that Clare’s life was about more than being poor. Here is the thing: Clare isn’t famous just for being poor. Many people live in worse poverty around us every day. I don’t want to say to them “Don’t worry about being poor, because that heavenly bank account is growing each day”. Jesus is not about romanticizing poverty, or giving us ways to justify the poverty we see in the world. Jesus is absolutely concerned about our stuff, our material goods, and how we use them in the here and now. Most of us have more than what we need, and are looking for ways to simplify our lives already. The popularity of magazines like “Real Simple” and clean and simply styled offerings of places like IKEA show us that.
So, what is there to be afraid of? I don’t think that the deep fear presented in this story is the fear of losing our stuff, that Jesus will call us to be less materialistic. The fear in this passage is deeper than that, and it is a fear that connects us here, today in Ann Arbor, with the people who would have heard Jesus say these words the first time around. Here is the thing about giving up stuff: we are afraid of losing our voices along with our stuff. Money is power – it was then, it is now. And while power may cause an awful lot of problems, power can also do a great deal of good. I believe that. I think many of us believe that. Its why we serve on trustee boards for local non-profits. Its why we work for promotions. Its why we vote in elections. Jesus isn’t just asking us to look at economic distribution- although that is certainly in this passage- Jesus is talking about priorities. Jesus is asking us to give up our power and our voices, at least, in the ways we are used to using them.
St Clare did just that. At a time when women had no voice in regular society, and had only a small voice in high society, she gave it all up. Yet, in giving up her voice, the power she would have had in society and trusting in God’s power, Clare became one of the most beloved saints of the church.
God begins good news with “do not be afraid” because God doesn’t want us to kid ourselves about what it means to follow Jesus. It means realigning our priorities. It might even mean turning the world upside-down. Clare is patron saint of television, so I would practically be remiss to not quote my favorite TV show, The West Wing, in this sermon! So, there is a character named Toby, who is cynical and curmudgeonly, towards the end of the season, he becomes the father of twins. He is talking about his newborn twins with Leo, the chief of staff. He tells Leo he is afraid he won’t love his kids like other fathers do. He says, “When you’re pregnant, everyone tells you how whats important to you will change. But I like whats important to me. I think it is important, and I don’t want that to change.” Things that were important to us may not be important any more. The way we all thought power worked, Jesus is trying to tell us that there is something more true than that.
When we are not afraid to follow Jesus, we are less concerned about getting what we want and more concerned about wanting what we’ve got. When we are not afraid, our minds can be quiet enough to hear that still small voice of the Spirit leading us along. When we are not afraid to follow Jesus, we take risks like sharing our meals with outcasts, caring for hurting people we have never met in a country we’ve never visited, and loving people we thought were unlovable.
Being asked to change our priorities, to look at the world in a new way, to transform our power, our voices, and our selves- it must be scary because Jesus and Clare both made a point of telling us not to be afraid.
Being asked to change our priorities, to look at the world in a new way, to transform our power, our voices, and our selves is a frightening thing. Its been known to change the world. But then again- isn’t that what God’s amazing love is all about?
In our story for today, Jesus tells us: Do not be afraid to worry about different things, focus on different things- even though it may seem like the world it being turned upside-down. Isn’t this world a place that could use some turning anyway? Start with that stuff, that extra stuff in our lives, and little by little we will find ourselves in the midst of the kingdom. Here is what Clare said, what she learned from her own life and her prayer for her sisters and brothers on the road: “Live without fear, your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow the good road and may God’s blessing be with you always.”
Did you ever notice how often the good news of the Gospel begins with “Do not be afraid”? My friends Micah and Laura, a couple I know at seminary, have a line sort of like this. Laura was driving to her job in Wisconsin one morning, and the car broke down on the way. She called Micah to tell him the news, and started out by saying, “Honey? Remember the car?” Whenever one needs to tell the other news, they soften it by saying “Honey… remember the car”? Its just the kind of sentence to put you on guard, so that whatever follows probably won’t be quite as bad as you might imagine. I think that “Do Not Be Afraid” is God’s conversation starter, the way to soften what comes next. It usually proceeds some piece of great news, such as earlier in Luke’s Gospel when we hear: “Do Not be Afraid, Mary… you have found favor with the Lord”. Finding favor with God? Fantastic! What would there be to fear in that case? Of course, we all know what Mary got for her favor- a pregnancy out of wedlock, at a time when that meant being shunned at best, and stoned at worst. God had good reason to think Mary might be afraid and Mary had good reason to be afraid. And what about this passage? Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Awesome! God wants to give us the kingdom! Of course, a couple chapters earlier in Luke’s Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor. And, we get it again here: Sell your possessions and give alms.
Giving up our stuff. Should that be so scary? A big part of me wants to say no. I know that life is more than what I own. But at the same time, I am quite attached to my stuff. I’m happy to give away some of those skirts I don’t wear very often… but not the one my friend brought me from Kenya! It has sentimental value! So do some of those Cds I’m hanging onto, some of the posters that aren’t even hanging up, and most of the trinkets I could easily sell at a yard sale and give away the profits. I’ll gladly give away some of my stuff- but all of it? That’s the work of saints.
In fact, that was the work of Saint Clare. You remember her story: Clare was the daughter of a wealthy family in Italy. Like many saints, Clare is said to have been an especially pious child, always loving and serious, seeking a deep spiritual life. At the age of 18, Clare met Francis, and ran away from home in the middle of the night to follow the Gospel after Francis’ teachings. Her conversion included renouncing all of her wealth – much to the dismay of her wealthy family- and her followers became known as the Poor Clares. Giving up possessions, and giving alms to build up a treasure in heaven- that was Clare’s whole thing! And there was certainly plenty to fear in doing so, including angry relatives and invading armies, let alone worrying about what to eat every day. Despite the obstacles, Clare clung to the rule of poverty throughout her life. Clare insisted that the vow of absolute poverty be maintained by her order. The Pope believed she just did not want to reverse her own vow, and offered to absolve her of the promise. Clare replied, “I wish to be absolved of my sins, but not of my obligation to follow Jesus Christ.” 800 years later we are still celebrating the remarkable way she lived her life and followed her Lord, and we believe that she was rewarded in heaven.
But I believe that Clare’s life was about more than being poor. Here is the thing: Clare isn’t famous just for being poor. Many people live in worse poverty around us every day. I don’t want to say to them “Don’t worry about being poor, because that heavenly bank account is growing each day”. Jesus is not about romanticizing poverty, or giving us ways to justify the poverty we see in the world. Jesus is absolutely concerned about our stuff, our material goods, and how we use them in the here and now. Most of us have more than what we need, and are looking for ways to simplify our lives already. The popularity of magazines like “Real Simple” and clean and simply styled offerings of places like IKEA show us that.
So, what is there to be afraid of? I don’t think that the deep fear presented in this story is the fear of losing our stuff, that Jesus will call us to be less materialistic. The fear in this passage is deeper than that, and it is a fear that connects us here, today in Ann Arbor, with the people who would have heard Jesus say these words the first time around. Here is the thing about giving up stuff: we are afraid of losing our voices along with our stuff. Money is power – it was then, it is now. And while power may cause an awful lot of problems, power can also do a great deal of good. I believe that. I think many of us believe that. Its why we serve on trustee boards for local non-profits. Its why we work for promotions. Its why we vote in elections. Jesus isn’t just asking us to look at economic distribution- although that is certainly in this passage- Jesus is talking about priorities. Jesus is asking us to give up our power and our voices, at least, in the ways we are used to using them.
St Clare did just that. At a time when women had no voice in regular society, and had only a small voice in high society, she gave it all up. Yet, in giving up her voice, the power she would have had in society and trusting in God’s power, Clare became one of the most beloved saints of the church.
God begins good news with “do not be afraid” because God doesn’t want us to kid ourselves about what it means to follow Jesus. It means realigning our priorities. It might even mean turning the world upside-down. Clare is patron saint of television, so I would practically be remiss to not quote my favorite TV show, The West Wing, in this sermon! So, there is a character named Toby, who is cynical and curmudgeonly, towards the end of the season, he becomes the father of twins. He is talking about his newborn twins with Leo, the chief of staff. He tells Leo he is afraid he won’t love his kids like other fathers do. He says, “When you’re pregnant, everyone tells you how whats important to you will change. But I like whats important to me. I think it is important, and I don’t want that to change.” Things that were important to us may not be important any more. The way we all thought power worked, Jesus is trying to tell us that there is something more true than that.
When we are not afraid to follow Jesus, we are less concerned about getting what we want and more concerned about wanting what we’ve got. When we are not afraid, our minds can be quiet enough to hear that still small voice of the Spirit leading us along. When we are not afraid to follow Jesus, we take risks like sharing our meals with outcasts, caring for hurting people we have never met in a country we’ve never visited, and loving people we thought were unlovable.
Being asked to change our priorities, to look at the world in a new way, to transform our power, our voices, and our selves- it must be scary because Jesus and Clare both made a point of telling us not to be afraid.
Being asked to change our priorities, to look at the world in a new way, to transform our power, our voices, and our selves is a frightening thing. Its been known to change the world. But then again- isn’t that what God’s amazing love is all about?
In our story for today, Jesus tells us: Do not be afraid to worry about different things, focus on different things- even though it may seem like the world it being turned upside-down. Isn’t this world a place that could use some turning anyway? Start with that stuff, that extra stuff in our lives, and little by little we will find ourselves in the midst of the kingdom. Here is what Clare said, what she learned from her own life and her prayer for her sisters and brothers on the road: “Live without fear, your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow the good road and may God’s blessing be with you always.”
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