Life of Prayer [10th Anniversary of St. Francis Mission]

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 The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Isaiah 58:9b-14 & Prayer attributed to St. Francis

 

Life of Prayer

St. Francis Mission, Albany

 

Sometimes a prayer is spoken.  Sometimes a prayer travels from the head to the heart to the heavens, ascends in silence.  Sometimes a prayer takes on our flesh in lives in our streets.  Because, at our best, our lives are the prayer, offered to God for the sake of this world.

 

Ten years ago, this community, the St. Francis Mission, was born for that purpose: To love the Lord and to love your neighbors through prayer, worship, and service.  It is a purpose you continue to live daily – a prayer spoken, breathed, and lived in this community, in this place, in this neighborhood, a neighborhood desperate to bask in the light of Christ. 

 

Ten years ago, this community, took the name of St. Francis.  Also you claimed his prayer.  And that prayer became part of, not only your worship, but it became a part of your life.  It is a prayer that you live.

 

You have opened your hearts and your lives to the dream of God.  And God is using you to make a beautiful and holy difference in this broken world. 

 

You are people of peace, instruments on which God makes the music of Heaven.  In this world, and in this city, there is division and anger, fear and violence.  Amidst the chaos and noise, we need people who stand for peace, people who are committed to peace.  You are those people.  That is your prayer.  In your own humble boldness, you pray for God to make you instruments of peace. 

 

As you live that prayer, your light only becomes brighter.  And that light scatters the darkness and the shadows that haunt our streets and our age. 

 

Even as you strive to embody the Gospel of Peace, you know that there is resistance to every seed of goodness you seek to sow.  There is darkness in this world; you have seen the darkness.  But you also know that the light of Christ is brighter because you have seen the light too.  Our God is an Easter God.  The dark clouds of Good Friday always give way to the light of resurrection.

 

But Good Fridays still happen.  Even the best person, Jesus, had to deal with hatred.  Because in this world there is hatred; you have experienced the cruel gaze of hatred.  But you also know what our Bible tells us: that love is stronger than hatred.  Love is stronger than every prejudice.  Love is stronger than every unkind word or mean glance.  Love is a bold choice in this world but Jesus calls us to love – to love even those who treat us poorly.  Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Returning hate for hate mul­ti­plies hate, adding deep­er dark­ness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness can­not dri­ve out dark­ness; only light can do that. Hate can­not dri­ve out hate; only love can do that.”[1] 

 

In this world even loving people take some lumps; there is injury; you have experienced injury because you are human; people have done you wrong.  And yet we have decided to be people of pardon, to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.  Now, that does not mean we excuse cruelty or allow people to continue to hurt us.  Justice demands that we confront wrongdoing.  But forgiveness sets us free – free from the burden of hatred.  And it sets the one who sins against us free – free to be better, free to be kinder.

 

And while we yearn for kindness, we know there is discord in this world; there is discord in this nation.  The division seeps into almost everything.  It infects our facebook and TikTok feeds; it flavors the news we consume; it shows up on street corners and at family reunions.  It is difficult to avoid the cracks in our society.  And so it is important that we sow the seeds of union.  You might remember that Jesus prayed that we might be one.  And while we will have our differences, you, St. Francis, can show this world what is means to be a family, to love each other, to pray together, as one church, while speaking different languages.  That is one of your gifts.

 

It is a gift that combats the doubt…and there is doubt out there.  People aren’t sure – that things will be OK, that God can fix our problems.  And that is where faith comes in.  One of the reasons life is hard is because the future is always foggy.  And yet, by faith, we trust that God is out there in the fog, guiding our shaky steps, holding our trembling hands. 

 

We find hope in the hands of God.  And that hope is vital because there is so much despair in this world, too much despair in this world.  We can feel it.  Under the weight of the world, people start to lose hope.  But we are people of hope.  We have a message of hope that is desperately needed.  It is our mission to sow seeds of hope in the places where hope is lost.  The Gospel tells us that when all is lost, God makes things new.  Love and life are the destiny that God has planned for this world.  Even in hard times, there is hope.

 

But the hard times are real; and there is sadness in this world.  Because there is a lot to be sad about.  There is so much hurt and pain.  And so God gives us joy.  And the joy does not paper over the pain.  But there is joy in knowing that, even in the midst of pain, we have a God who loves us, and a community of Christians who love us.  And because of love we trust that all will be well, that one day everything will be OK, that the story ends with God wiping away every tear from our eyes.

 

That is our prayer – our prayer for ourselves and our prayer for the world.  It is the prayer we are sowing with every breath we take and every step we take.  Today, in the waters of baptism, we will invite four more people into this life of prayer.  We will ask them to sow the same seeds that we sow: love, pardon, union, faith, hope, light, and joy.  We will ask them to do good and be good in this world, our world.   

 

And we will teach them that sometimes a prayer is spoken.  Sometimes a prayer travels from the head to the heart to the heavens, ascends in silence.  And that sometimes a prayer takes on our flesh in lives in our streets.  Because, at our best, our lives are the prayer, offered to God for the sake of this world.



[1][1] https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/the-reverend-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-hate-cannot-drive-out-hate-only-love-can-do-that

Location: Albany, NY, USA

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