Social Reversal and St. Francis of Assisi
Every now and then assignments tackled in seminary contribute and strengthen the theology being fleshed out in this blog. The sermonette dealing with St. Francis of Assisi adds credence to my argument calling for the need for social reversal. As discussed throughout this blog, social reversal is requisite in beginning the pursuit of God.
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Christians often assume that mere faith in God ensures salvation, believing a simple verbal confession of faith allows sinful “non-Christians” to be “saved.” One outcome of this belief is that effective evangelism requires Christians to convert non-Christians by having them affirm their belief in God and that God’s son Jesus Christ died for their sins. Often missing in these affirmations is an understanding of what a belief in God entails. A populist belief in God implies a process of salvation that is simple and relatively free of sacrifice. Yet, this is but one path for Christians to travel; ironically, this “common path” likely is a spiritually perilous one. Jesus clarifies the pathway to the kingdom of heaven as follows. “Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7:13).[1] What constitutes the narrow gate and the hard path that Christians should pursue?
Paul in his letter to Timothy maintains that the “love of money is the root of all evils, and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds” (1 Tim 6:10). A major step for Christians toward the narrow gate and the hard path would be to disavow a love of money. The story of an influential monastic leader illustrates this approach. Following the crusades, the people of the Middle Ages experienced a significant economic change from Feudalism – an economic system emphasizing wealth in terms of land ownership – to a monetary economy. According to Christian historian Justo Gonzalez, one unfortunate consequence of a monetary economy is that it promotes “a growing chasm between rich and poor.”[2] Responding to the needs of the poor during this economic transition were the mendicants – meaning “those who live by begging.”[3] The mendicants were new monastic orders that took shape during this historical period assisting the poor and the sick during the shifting of the population caused by the growth of cities in Western Europe.
From this transformative period emerged a man named Giovanni who embraced poverty. Reputedly, his zeal for poverty ignited when Giovanni chased down a beggar and emptied out his pockets, giving the beggar the contents after completing a business deal for his father.[4] This incident completely changed Giovanni’s life. “He . . . gave to the poor all he had. If his parents gave him more, he immediately gave it away. Dressed in rags, he spent his time praising the beauty of poverty to any who would listen, or rebuilding an abandoned chapel, or enjoying the beauty and harmony of nature.”[5] Giovanni’s embracement of poverty angered his father who sought the services of the bishop. The bishop subsequently ruled that Giovanni give up his inheritance and Giovanni’s life of poverty began.[6]
Giovanni, known by his friends in Assisi as Francesco because of his love for the songs of the French troubadours,[7] coupled his zeal for poverty with preaching after hearing a reading of NT scripture. According to Gonzalez, Francesco or “Francis” responded to Jesus’ charge to his disciples telling them to proclaim the kingdom of God and cure the sick.[8] In Matt 10:7-10, Jesus commanded his disciples to accomplish these tasks by taking no gold, silver or copper, not even a spare tunic, footwear or a staff. Arguably, Jesus believed that the accumulation of wealth obstructs spreading the word of God. Francis emulated Jesus by visiting cities, seeking crowds, preaching the kingdom of God and helping the sick and the poor in Assisi. After gaining followers, Francis of Assisi successfully ventured to Rome seeking authorization from Pope Innocent III to found a new monastic order – the Friars Minor.[9] Central to the Franciscan order was the eschewing of wealth, preaching the word of God in humility.
People seeking to follow Jesus Christ confront the opposing paths of pursuing wealth and pursuing the kingdom of God throughout their lives. Jesus understood this human dilemma when answering a rich man wondering what he must do to possess eternal life. Jesus first told him to keep the commandments: “You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honor your mother and father. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 19:18-20). Interestingly, Jesus does not comment on the first commandment insisting on loving God only. Indeed, the true test for the rich man is to give up his love of wealth. The man insists he has kept all the commandments Jesus listed. Jesus then tells the rich man, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Matt 19:21). The rich man faced with this choice, chooses his true love — wealth. Jesus teaches his disciples, “In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 19:23-24). The message is clear. Comfort and wealth block and detour people from following the path of Jesus Christ, effectively blocking the pursuit of the kingdom of God.
In the United States, the income distribution skews towards the wealthy with the top 6% of the population earning roughly one-third of all income. Conversely, over 12% of citizens living in the United States live in poverty and almost 20% earn a family income of $19,000 or less.[10] The disparity of wealth in the United States punctuates the story of Francis of Assisi and the teachings of Jesus. Accumulation of wealth predominates, creating an American culture focused on consumerism; Americans prioritize accumulating wealth and possessions over helping and caring for the poor and needy. Grocery stores such as Publix offer its customers the ability to buy and donate bags of selected grocery items (e.g., fruit cocktail, hash) for distribution to the poor. Yet, many bags still remain and will remain, even after the holiday season. If each family purchased just one bag per month (one bag = $20 X twelve months = $240 per year), the poor in our neighborhoods might not experience hunger during or after the holidays.
Consumerism generalizes to Christian churches as well. American churches seem focused inward; their budgets oriented to creating bigger buildings or refurbishing older spaces to more ornate worship areas. A reversing or upheaval of Christian priorities seems evident. If all churches in the United States earmarked a small percentage of their budgets to feeding the poor, there would be no need for any governmental programs that typically are ineffectual in providing timely or lasting relief. The lifestyle of Francis of Assisi should inspire Christians to begin such a social reversal, to focus their spiritual lives as well as church goals to sacrificing individual and church desires to redistributing resources to fellow citizens – Christian and non-Christian – that are needy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. New York: HarperOne, 1984.
Wikipedia. “Francis of Assisi.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi. (accessed 15 Nov 2008).
Wikipedia. “Household Income in the United States.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States. (accessed 15 Nov 2008).
[1] All scripture citations are from The New Jerusalem Bible unless otherwise noted.
[2] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York: HarperOne, 1984), 302.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Wikipedia, “Francis of Assisi,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi (accessed 15 Nov 2008).
[5] Gonzalez, 302.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., 303.
[10] Wikipedia, “Household Income in the United States,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States (accessed 15 Nov 2008).
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