The story of two Francis’ - Rev. Dr. Andrew Butcher

Song of the Three 52-65, Matt 21:23-32 We have in the parable today a story of two sons. Both were asked to go work in the vineyard by their father. One said no, then later yes. One said yes, then later no. It was the first son – the one who said no, then later yes – whom Jesus commended to the chief priests, saying, even, that tax-collectors and prostitutes would enter the kingdom of heaven ahead of them. We also have a reading from the Apocrypha, namely from the song of the three young men that were with Daniel in the fiery furnace. The third part of that song, or psalm is what we read today: a hymn of praise they sang when they realized their deliverance with the refrain “praise and exalt him above all forever” repeated many times, each naming a feature of the world. That reading is apt as our focus today is on the care of creation, and on St Francis of Assisi, whose saints’ day is this Wednesday October 4th. As we had a parable about two sons, so I want to tell you a story about two Francis’.