Text: Genesis 2:18-24
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
October 5, 2003; World Communion Sunday: Genesis 2:18-24
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In our Bible story from Genesis this morning we find that God gave a generous gift to man. God noticed that Man was alone and decided to make him a helper, a companion. So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but didn't find a suitable companion.
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made for Man."
Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. God's generous gift reminds me of the fabled hospitality of Brigid of Ireland.
Long ago in the land of Ireland there lived a woman named Brigid. Brigid was baptized in the mid-fifth century during the lifetime of St. Patrick of Ireland. Brigid became a preacher and bishop who ruled as high abbess of an immense monastery — a foundation that admitted both men and women. The name of the monastery was Kildare which translated means "Church of the Oak."
You may learn more about Brigid in Thomas Cahill's fascinating book How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. In keeping with the man and woman theme of our scripture this morning (Gen. 2:18-24 ), let me tell you about the attempted marriage of Brigid of Kildare.
Following Brigid's conversion, her father, an extremely wealthy man, was appalled to find his beautiful daughter giving away his stores to beggars. Quite out of control, he threw Brigid into the back of his chariot, screaming: "It is neither out of kindness nor honor that I take you for a ride: I am going to sell you to the King of Leinster to grind his corn." Arriving at the king's enclosure, the father "unbuckled his sword, leaving it in the chariot beside Brigid, so that—out of respect—he could approach the king unarmed." No sooner had the father gone off than a leper appeared, begging Brigid for her help. Since the only thing handy was her father's sword, she gave it to him. Meanwhile, the father was making his offer to the king, who must have smelled something fishy, and insisted on meeting the girl before accepting. When king and father came out to the chariot, the father noticed immediately that his sword was missing and demanded to know where it was. When Brigid told him, "he flew into a wild rage" and began to beat her.
"Stop," cried the king, and called Brigid to him. "Why do you steal your father's property and give it away?"
"If I had the power," answered Brigid, "I would steal all your royal wealth, and give it to Christ's brothers and sisters." The king quickly declined the father's kind offer because "your daughter is too good for me."
It is not surprising that, after she escaped from her father and became abbess, Brigid's monastery was famous for its hospitality. I would like to share with you a table grace associated with Brigid's name. It seems an appropriate prayer for all Christians on this World Communion Sunday. Here is Brigid's prayer:
I should like a great lake of finest ale
For the King of kings.
I should like a table of the choicest food
For the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith,
And the food be forgiving love.
I should welcome the poor to my feast,
For they are God's children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast,
For they are God's joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place,
And the sick dance with the angels.
God bless the poor,
God bless the sick,
And bless our human race.
God bless our food,
God bless our drink,
All homes, O God, embrace.
(Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization:
The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe, 172-174)
Some two hundred years after her death Brigid's monastery in Kildare would be laid waste by Vikings raiders. How humble we would be if we understood how brief is our time on this earth and how little impression we leave behind. How devoted to God we would be if truly we understood that this life is but a preparation for the life to come. Like a seed planed in the ground, each of us will one day return to the earth from which we came. In the meantime, let us treat one another with abundant hospitality and generosity of spirit.
Of course Brigid is not the only figure in history to display lavish generosity. The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his generosity and commented, "Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar's need. Why give him gold?" Alexander responded in royal fashion, "Cooper coins would suit the beggar's need, but gold coins suit Alexander's giving." (Source unknown.)
There were once two young men working their way through Leland Stanford University. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to one of them to engage Paderewski for a piano recital and devote the profits to their board and tuition. The great pianist's manager asked for a guarantee of two thousand dollars. The students, undaunted, proceeded to stage the concert. They worked hard, only to find that the concert had raised only sixteen hundred dollars. After the concert, the students sought the great artist and told him of their efforts and results. They gave him the entire sixteen hundred dollars, and accompanied it with a promissory note for four hundred dollars, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and send the money to him. "No," replied Paderewski, "that won't do." Then tearing the note to shreds, he returned the money and said to them: "Now, take out of this sixteen hundred dollars all of your expenses, and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work, and let me have the rest." The years rolled by--years of fortune and destiny. Paderewski had become premier of Poland. The devastating war came, and Paderewski was striving with might and main to feed the starving thousands of his beloved Poland. There was only one man in the world who could help Paderewski and his people. Thousands of tons of food began to come into Poland for distribution by the Polish premier.
After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Herbert Hoover for the relief sent him. "That's all right, Mr. Paderewski," was Mr. Hoover's reply. "Besides, you don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college and I was in a hole."
(Edward W. Bok, Perhaps I Am.)
As we celebrate World Communion Sunday today, we recall the brief but shining life of Brigid of Kildare. We remember her total commitment to Jesus Christ. We emulate her extravagant hospitality in the name of Christ. May Brigid of Kildare call to our remembrance all the women and men who have been faithful to Christ's call down through the ages. For we gather at the table on this World Communion Sunday not only with all believers who are alive today but also with all those believers who have come before us. As the great hymn says:
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Music: From the English Hymnal, 1906. Used by permission of Oxford University Press.
-Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on October 4, 2009.
