1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
And he went about among the villages teaching.
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
In the first decade of the 13th century, a young Italian soldier named Giovanni, but everyone actually called him Francis, had a religious experience. He had a vision in which God asked him to rebuild his church. Taking that quite literally, he found a decrepit chapel in the countryside and started putting one fallen stone on top another. Within a few years, however, he came to realize that his call was to rebuild not the physical building but the temple in which the Spirit of God dwelt, the Church of God’s people.
He was sitting in church one day and heard this passage read in which Jesus sends out the 12. He thought Jesus spoke those words to him personally; once more taking it quite literally, he vowed never to own another thing but to wear and eat only what people gave him. From there he started wandering, preaching the Good News, and doing whatever acts of charity and love God led him to. Soon he gathered a few followers, men who admired Francis for his humility and piety. Within a few years, he had many more followers. In fact, within a few short years, Franciscans were found throughout Europe. They could be seen in almost every city, their simple brown robes and bit of rope used as a belt set them apart from the increasingly wealthy Europeans. And everyone saw them and their devotion to Christ touched them.
The Franciscan movement would become one catalyst for a great time of spiritual revival in the medieval period. Many have argued that Martin Luther was continuing what Francis and others began hundreds of years earlier. We are experiencing a church in decline in North America. Is there a young man or woman somewhere who is listening to God call them to rebuild His Church? God rarely does the same thing in the same way twice. Don’t go looking for a young man or woman setting brick upon brick in an empty church in your neighborhood. But do be on the lookout for what God is up to in these days. Francis had given up everything, all his money, position, and popularity. He became a beggar. From nothing God made him into a force for change and renewal in the Church.