Oct. 4, 2026 – The Rev. Alec Vaughn

Good morning St. Mary’s. Have you ever considered the gift of creation? The gift of the tall trees that stand in the wind, or the forests of old? Perhaps the deep deep sea that surrounds our island home. It is hard to live here on Cape Cod, and not consider the gift of creation. We are blessed by the nature that is abundant here. Indeed it is a gift to witness and experience the world around us, the salt air breeze on our skin, the changing leaves symbolic of Autumn in New England, all reminders of our experiential witness to the created world.

Now, if you are like me, perhaps your world is often, or at times, consumed by the technological advances that take us further and further away from the created world. More often I can say that I find myself on my phone or distracted by some screen keeping me from the present moment.

And while the world never stops spinning, it is important for us to consider the spiritual impact it has on each of us to always be on the move; to always be consumed by technology. Being the harvest time as well as the shoulder season on Cape, we are reaping what we have sown from the harvest this past year and beginning to retire into a restful pace of life. Perhaps now that the summer season is over and the pace begins to slow, we can take time, each of us, to pause, be still, and reflect on the season that has been and what lies in the season ahead.

This partial lull that comes in the back to school time, where the tourist season concludes but the holidays still seem far off, it allows time for pause. And when I think of pausing or stillness, I turn to the words of Howard Thurman, former dean of Marsh Chapel and Christian mystic, who reflects in his own practice of stillness “There would come a moment when beyond the single pulse beat there was a sense of Presence which seemed always to speak to me. My response to the sense of Presence always had the quality of personal communion. There was no voice. There was no image. There was no vision. There was God.”

So I pause this morning to be still and be present for a moment, and invite each of us to consider the God we come to know through the breaking of bread; how that same God invites us into communion together through our lives. How might you see the work of God unfolding in the world around you?

And with it being the feast of Blessed Francis of Assisi, one of my favorite saints, I am reminded of the way he approached life. The son of a wealthy textile merchant, Francis had been involved in various professions, including a stint in the military, before coming to find his purpose during a moment of stillness in his life at the church of San Damiano in Italy.

This was a young man of means, of talent, and certainly driven, but found no satisfaction in life until he came to understand a deeper sense of God’s hand at work in it. He walked away from the worldly ambitions set before him and set his eyes on Christ. Just as we hear in Matthew’s Gospel this morning, Francis came to see the revelation he was invited into through the vision of a dilapidated church.

Francis hearing the call to “repair my falling house” was not just a call to fix a decaying building, but rather in the midst of the Middle Ages, a time of chaos and uncertainty where the church was growing and expanding in various ways, Francis was called to reinvigorate and inspire those around him of the Good News found in Christ Jesus.

Which sounds simple, but if I can take a phrase from my southern Christian friends in Tennessee, it was to ask, “do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” Perhaps the life witness of Blessed Francis was one of interpersonal relationships founded in Christ, one where he brought grace and peace to all those he encountered. Mostly with the sick and suffering, but with all people in whom he found a common life with. This may be what Matthew’s Gospel is calling us into this morning; a relationship with God through the life of Jesus and His witness.

It is the intimate relationship that the Father and Son model in this Gospel passage that Jesus welcomes us as His followers. And as I have joined you all this week as of October first, I have begun to learn about and participate in our common life together here at St. Mary’s, the town of Barnstable, and the island of Cape Cod.

What a blessing it is to be home again. So as this harvest season comes near and we embrace the gift of a New England fall, may we take the time to be still in nature, and embrace the gifts God has given us and count the number of ways we are blessed. A mentor of mine always quotes Wayne Dyer who says “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.” Perhaps this shoulder season can be one of rest, pause, and reflection as we consider our own interior lives and the lives of how our parish is blessed in the presence of God and how that takes shape for each of us in our unfolding lives.

And that is the gift of community. We hear in Genesis this morning the account of creation and we are reminded that we are called to a common life together. That it is not good to be alone for extended periods of time; that we are called to community, family, and relationships that nurture and support.

So I am reminded as I come near the altar this morning that we are all called to walk in love as Christ loves us. That our Christian lives will be one giving, service, sacrifice, and a commitment to something beyond our total comprehension.

And I have learned over time to rest easy with the uncertainty of the future, that today’s needs will suffice and be met, and that when the day is done I can at least say I did my best to accept the invitation which God has extended to me through that personal relationship with the Christ.