A sermon preached at St. Mary’s by Hilary Pearson on 6th October 2024
In early October 1224, 800 years ago, two men in wet, dirty and ragged brown robes, with a white knotted cord around their waists, and bare feet, trudged past this church on the way to Oxford, along what is now Church Way. If the church was open, they probably came inside, saying a prayer that Francis told his followers to say whenever they entered a church.
‘We adore you, most holy, Lord Jesus Christ,
Here and in all your Churches throughout the world, and
We bless you, because by your holy Cross,
You have redeemed the world.’
Yesterday they had walked through floods, and then last night they had been refused a place to stay by the Benedictine monks in a house belonging to Abingdon Abbey – they seemed to be just scruffy vagabonds. They were part of the first group of Franciscan friars to come to England, nine of them; most stayed in Canterbury, four came to London, then two of the London group, both called Richard, came to Oxford. These two then went on, with other men who decided to join them, to set up a friary on the site where the Westgate shopping centre now stands, and to start an important part of the history of Oxford and its university.
What would the Iffley they walked through look like? Who were the people who worshipped in this church? We know that this was an agricultural village. The people who lived here, who came to this church, were mostly poor farmers. They had small plots of land on which to grow food for their families. The harvest was vital – if they ran out of food there was no Co-op on Rose Hill, no Tesco or Aldi or Lidl or Sainsburys.
Today we are celebrating our Harvest Festival. For our predecessors in 1224, they would have been in this building thanking God for the harvest from their fields. Although many of us grow food in our gardens or allotments, none of us are dependent on our harvest to get us through the winter without hunger, as our predecessors were. So, for us, it is more important at this Harvest Festival to think about people who don’t have enough food, and about our role in protecting the environment.
These two themes come together in St Francis of Assisi. Last Friday was the feast of St Francis, who died on 4th October 1226. He is perhaps best known for his relationship to birds and animals, but his mission started with the outcasts of society and poor people living on the edge. He understood that all people, and all creatures, indeed all of creation, were his brothers and sisters because they had all been created by God. He put this into words in a wonderful poem, known as ‘The Canticle of the Creatures’. And this family is not limited to animate creatures: Francis calls the sun ‘Brother’, Sister moon and stars, Brother fire and Sister water. The hymn, ‘All creatures of our God and King’ is based on that poem.
Francis put this belief into action. There are lots of stories of how Francis treated people who were outside society, such as lepers. There are even more stories of how Francis treated other living creatures; a famous one is when he preached to the birds. But Clare has told me I need to keep this sermon short, so I have had to pick just one story.
The one I have picked involves a wolf. A big, fierce, scary wolf with sharp teeth and claws. This wolf lived in the forests around the town of Gubbio, about a 30 mile walk from Assisi. St Francis was living in Gubbio at the time. The wolf began by attacking the sheep and cattle owned by Gubbio people, which grazed in the fields around the town. So the people brought their animals into protected areas. The wolf then started attacking humans – especially tender young children – and lurked outside the town gates to attack anyone who went out. The people said that it was impossible to kill it, anyone who tried to do so was eaten. Scary! But Francis went out to the wolf’s lair, carrying just a small wooden cross. When the wolf charged at him, Francis made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf in God’s name to stop its attack. The wolf immediately stopped, trotted over to Francis and lay down at his feet, allowing Francis to stroke its head. Francis told the wolf off for attacking people, but offered to make peace between it and the people of Gubbio. The wolf bowed its head in agreement. Francis asked it to promise not to attack people again, and it put a paw into Francis’ hand to show it made this promise. Francis then went with the wolf to the gate of Gubbio, where most of the population had been watching what happened. He took the wolf to the marketplace, and preached to the people. He asked them to agree to feed the wolf if it kept its promise, and the wolf then again placed its paw in Francis’ hand. The people of Gubbio agreed they would make sure the wolf had enough to eat, and they did so for the rest of the wolf’s life. In 2023 the National Gallery in London had a wonderful exhibition of art about St Francis. One painting showed the wolf being given meat by a butcher, while a little girl patted it. Thanks to Francis, the vicious wolf had become just like a pet dog.
Although we don’t have to worry about wolves, people in other parts of the world still do. In a very poor part of northern India, recently several children and an adult have been killed in wolf attacks. The report I read said that, until recently, the local people and wolves had lived in harmony, with no attacks on people. The reasons for the change seem to be related to climate change and poverty. First, there had been a lot more very heavy rain than usual. The forests where the wolves live flooded, which made it difficult for the wolves to hunt their usual prey, deer and hares. The people are very poor, living in primitive huts with no doors. And the weather was now much hotter, so people were having to sleep outside. A small sleeping child is an easy meal for a hungry wolf! While we can’t be there to physically protect those children, we can do our bit, however small, in tackling what caused this tragedy – climate change and world poverty.
Harvest festival is a very appropriate time to think about what we can do, as individuals and as a community, to reduce our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Some of us in this congregation have taken advantage of the Cleanheatstreets scheme to remove our gas boilers and install heat pumps. Others have swapped their petrol or diesel cars for electric vehicles. Others have cut down the amount of flying they do, or reduced the amount of meat they eat. We must also act to reduce extreme poverty. As a church we support charities like Ripple Effect, and many of us support other charities which are helping poor people worldwide.
No wolves in Iffley, but we can still learn from this story. One way is by realising that the creatures around us we view as “pests”, such as slugs and snails and grey squirrels, are also God’s creatures and therefore our brothers and sisters. So avoid poisons or traps which cause painful death; instead try deterrence (squirrel proof bird feeders, wool pellets to deter slugs) and preferably provide them with alternative sources of food.
So, this Harvest tide, let’s resolve to do what we can to take care of all creation, including our human brothers and sisters who are in need. St Francis said ‘Preach the Gospel at all times – and if you must, use words’. As the old saying has it, actions speak louder than words. And our words will have no effect if they are not supported by our actions. So, let’s act! Amen