October 4, 2009
The Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost (Year B)
Blessing of Animals
Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12;
Mark 10:2-16
We are here this morning not only to worship together but to do our once yearly “celebration of the animals” that are such an important part of our lives. This past year my dog, Lucy, whom many of you knew, died. I am still mourning her death and still find myself looking for her in her favorite spots or thinking I have to take her out before I go to bed. And it has been several months. Our animals work their way into our hearts, and we don’t let them go easily.
One of the things that we did at General Convention was create liturgies for events with pets in our lives, especially when a pet dies or when we have to make the decision to allow them to die. What I think these new liturgies point to is something we all know intuitively. Our pets’ lives are valuable and holy to God, just as our lives are.
Indeed, that care and trust of us to care for all that God created is indicated in the lessons from Genesis this morning. I think the formers of the lectionary intended for preachers to address the issue of marriage and divorce with the lessons we have this morning – and I admit it is very tempting. But because of our animals, I would like to look at these lessons in the context of being in relationship with God’s creation.
Genesis tells us (in the second of two creation stories that often get woven together in our minds) that God did not want man to be alone. So God created all the living creatures and the man gave them names, but still there was something missing, and so God finally created the woman as the man’s partner and mate. We often skip right to the “partner and mate” part. But if we skip over the living creatures and all of creation piece too lightly, I believe we are missing something very important that we might glean from further reflection.
As important as our relationships with one another are – and truly I believe it is only in relationships that we can begin to claim to have been created in God’s image because God is a relationship between father, son, and spirit – so I think we need to be just as mindful of being in relationship with all of creation. God charged us (a few verses further on in Genesis) with the stewardship of creation. We are God’s partners, God’s hands and eyes and heart, in the care of creation.
There is much discussion, both scientific and religious, even social conversation about global warming, and if it is too late for this planet or not. As Christians we know it is never too late. God will always redeem, even what appears to be beyond redemption. But God has given us a sacred charge to care for the earth and all that is in it, and for me personally that feels almost like an indictment.
I tend to put my head in the sand so to speak, and ignore the opportunities to know my carbon footprint and think about how to reduce it. I do recycle, and I now try to buy less packaged anything and to use less chemicals, plastic bottles, and plastic in general. But I suspect I am not doing nearly enough.
I am not proud of this “head in the sand” behavior on my part, and perhaps it is Lucy’s dying that has made me think a bit differently about this kind of “creation stewardship” in my own life. So, I do think, in this stewardship season, it behooves us to think about stewardship not just as a pledge drive to keep the church going, but as a call to awareness for all of us to the care of our beloved planet. It is something that I think we all need to wrestle with spiritually.
Today we have brought all sorts of animals, dogs, cats, hamsters – what else? Each of these animals is a gift from God that humans have been entrusted with. Indeed, a pet is a wonderful way to learn responsibility for another. Feeding, walking, vet bills, safety, and training – pets teach us about relationships; and they, I hope, inspire us to see through them to our connection to all of creation.
The lessons assigned speak of relationships, specifically marriage relationships. And from the scripture this morning we learn that God’s intention for human relationships is that they be honored by both individuals in the relationship. We all know what it is to have a dog that follows us around or wags its tail when we come home no matter how many hours they have been alone. There is no grumpy “I had a bad day” from our pets, only the unconditional joy of having the owner come home. Cats are not so effusive, of course, but even they (and I have even seen fish) are also delighted to see “their” people.
Jesus invites people to come to him as little children, and it is that childlike adoration that we know from our pets that we are invited to have in our own relationship with God, with each other and with all of creation, with a sense of awe and wonder, curiosity and care. The kingdom of God is not filled with only human beings but with all of creation!
I know that many of you have read the Narnian Chronicles – as I have read and reread them to my children and look forward to reading them to my grandchildren. C. S. Lewis was ahead of his time because he already knew that the final kingdom, the true Narnia, was filled with all of God’s creation, all of it. He envisioned a final heavenly place where trolls and badgers and beavers and people, children and adults, poor and rich, horses, rabbits and lions and mice and every living thing were in the company of Aslan (the Christ figure) and God in perfect harmony.
I would say that our challenge as followers, as always, is to bring the kingdom of God to the here and now. We are called to make glimpses of that eternal kingdom present in this world where we live this day. I would like to suggest that we need to be more serious about the stewardship of creation if we are going to be serious about following Christ in making that kingdom visible through our lives.
Jesus spoke against divorce because, as God’s Word, Jesus knew that divorce is a sign of a broken relationship, and that is never God’s intention for any of creation. So, if we are to be serious about following, we need to be serious about how we care for creation – how joyful it is that we can begin to have a reminder of that incredible trust God has place in our hands when we care for our companion animals!
Today is one of my favorite days of the year. For when we bring our animals to church, it is as if we are getting a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom that Jesus spoke of, C. S. Lewis imagined, and we proclaim!
Hug your pet! Hug a tree! Hug each other! Let us all be as little children, and let us all be faithful stewards of God’s creation in so doing!
Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Gale Davis Morris
Church of the Good Shepherd