More Like Christ

Basilica of St Francis, Assisi Italy

“We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross….So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won't get discouraged and give up.” Heb 

Who has lived a life like Christ?

In Sep 2007, Pat and I went to Assisi to retrace the footsteps of St Francis in the Umbrian and Tuscan countryside of Italy. I wanted to discover who this man was. What did he bring to the Christian faith? What was he trying to tell us? Was he a recluse? Was he a callow fellow who melodramatically stripped himself naked in the public square to repudiate his past rich and material life; returning to his father every possession to embrace poverty? Was he a lunatic who would speak to animals and birds? Was he an idealist who did not think a second thought when he kissed a leper and ministered to their colony? Was he a masochist who inflicted on his physical body, the very physical sufferings of Christ?

Contemplation

In visiting the places that venerated his memory and learning about his life, I discovered that St Francis was a Christian who took seriously, the commandment to become more like Christ. What was remarkable was that he physically and not just symbolically or spiritually lived out the life of Jesus as he understood from the Gospels. If Christ said he had no place to lay his feet or to place his head, St Francis did that. If Christ said to go two by two to witness without bringing anything other than the cloak on their backs, Francis complied to the letter. If Gospel described when going about witnessing to depend on the hospitality of others and go a-begging for food, Francis followed.

After visiting Carceri, a mountain top retreat that Francis frequented, I wrote, "Once in a while, there comes a man or woman whose life and witness came so close to mimicking the life of Jesus that they reflected God's image so as to inspire all of us". 

By his life, ministry, writing and witness, Francis was an example extraordinaire. Francis pointed many in his generation and for 8 more centuries afterwards, towards God. It is no wonder then, that the Basilica of St Francis and all Assisi celebrate the saint. In fact, the brochure claims that it is a spirit filled place. 

I do not feel that there is anything wrong to admire St Francis, as I do, so long as one understands his position as a reflection of the infinite beauty of our Lord Jesus. One of his biographers wrote, “Francis presented to the world a new fascinating way to live a Christian life. His greatest contribution was to demonstrate how to live the Beatitudes literally and by doing so helped solve the problems that plague his society. He did that by renouncing its affluence and privileges and taking on poverty chastity and complete obedience.”

To underscore this, a prayer he made kneeling at a crucifix towards the end stages of his life clarifies, “All highest, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility, with wisdom and perception, O Lord, so that I may do what is truly your holy will. Amen”

One would have thought that such an example would be so hard to follow that few could give up all and join Francis in his calling to live both spiritually and physically the example of Jesus’ life on earth. Instead in just a few years, more than five thousand disciples chose to renounce their riches and to live like him, a life of poverty and service. By the time he died, Francis had already been venerated as a saint; his life has become a stirring example of True Christianity. 

Lionel

Being Poor

"Blessed are  you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:20

The first of the eight beatitudes (blessings) declared by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is the blessing to be poor. What's more Jesus stated that the poor will inherit the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom Jesus said was imminent when he began his earthly ministry in Galilee.

The poor inheriting heaven is a very radical idea. While Luke refers to material poverty, Matthew added a spiritual spin to this by stating 'poor in spirit'. The Bishop Solomon (Ref 1) interpreted this as a 'sense of spiritual bankruptcy and brokenness'. The poor in spirit are those who had come to the end of their ropes, causing them like the prodigal son to truly repent. This repentance becomes the gateway to the Kingdom of God, one of the first messages taught by Jesus, "The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:15

There is a relentless drive in Singapore to get out of the poverty trap. At first glance it seems the right thing to do but who could have predicted that a self-absorbed materialistic world would appear in the 21st century? It seems that the chief preoccupation is the accumulation of wealth and not the eradication of poverty. It is said that Singaporeans value cash, cars, condominium, credit cards and country clubs more than anything else. This rat race can cause some to fall by the wayside. No one may be on hand to pick them up. Bishop Solomon cautioned, 'In their wealthy state, the rich may end up not not caring at all for God. The poor probably have a better chance of learning dependence on God. Their material poverty may make it easier for them to recognise their spiritual poverty too and turn to God for mercy and help'. 

Does anyone really care? There are two individuals in church history that embraced poverty as their way of life, caring for the poor and downtrodden. Both became saints, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Teresa of Calcutta. 

St Francis founded the Franciscan order and he was renowned for love of simplicity and practice of poverty. He was nicknamed Poverello. He was known for his fondness and love for the downtrodden, the poor and the lepers.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a order of nuns first started in 1950 in Calcutta and now has over 5000 nuns in more than 150 countries. They took vows of poverty and 'give whole-hearted service to the poorest of the poor'.

Both led inspiring lives and have influenced countless people. Consider the wisdom of their quotations:

Saint Francis:
'Lord make me an instrument of thy peace, where there is hatred let me sow love'.
'While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart'.
'Start by doing what is necessary; then what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible'.

Saint Teresa:
'It is not how much you do but how much love you put into what you do that counts'.
'Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love'.
'If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one'.

The lives of these two saints and their legacies indicate that the most long-lasting impact on people and on the world are not made by people of means and riches but often by those who are poor and saintly. 

Unfortunately very few of us bother. In one of his sermons, John Wesley lamented, "One great reason why the rich, in general, have so little sympathy for the poor, is, because they so seldom visit them. Many do not know because they do not care to know: they keep out of the way of knowing it". 

One Singaporean exception is my friend Dr Goh Wei Leong. Wei Leong was a prosperous general practitioner, who exchanged his Maserati for Charity when he founded HealthServe Singapore in 2006. HealthServe's mission is to serve disadvantaged migrant workers in Singapore through healthcare, counselling, casework and social assistance. There are many migrant workers in Singapore and Wei Leong started a charity clinic in a poor area in Singapore call Geylang at first seeing the patients himself and he enthused other Christians to assist in this work. HealthServe now have 4 clinics/offices in Singapore. In recognition of his ministry and service, Wei Leong received the Straits Time Singaporean of the Year Award in 2017.

Two years ago, my church, Charis Methodist Church started a migrant workers ministry in the Joo Chiat area under Gladys Han.

We should not forsake the downtrodden and poor. Indeed Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, the weak will become strong and the poor rich'. For such grace and blessing, let us 'Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart'

Lionel

Ref 1: Robert M Solomon, The Sermon of Jesus, Genesis Book, 2013