Matthew 11:25-30
At that time, Jesus began to say, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and revealed them to children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things on heaven and earth have been handed over to me by my Father, for no one knows the Son, except the Father, and no one knows the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
In addition to what I’ve already told you about Anne and Janis Janelsins, I’ve had a few conversations with and about some very weary people lately. I prayed with Mike McCoy in the nursing home a week or so ago, thinking it might be the last time I’d get to do that. I’ve seen Tom and Bev Bancroft, and their daughters, off and on the last couple of weeks wondering the same about Bev each time I say goodbye. I stopped to see Dick Bowen on Friday, because he had had some weary days in the hospital last week. He was back home at Springhurst in time for his 91st birthday on Wednesday and planning to get to the New Pal football game Friday night. (“Weary” doesn’t last as long for some of us as it does for others, I guess.)
And there are a few other conversations I’ve had that I’m not at liberty to share here. But suffice it to say – as too many of us know – weary is a thing, people. Heavy burdens are being carried. God’s people are yoked … weighed down … heavy hearted.
And today’s worship is meant to be, not just a light-hearted break from the weariness of the world, but a reminder of the ways God shows up to shoulder our burdens, too. What’s funny – and what would certainly be terrifying for the animals among us, if they spoke better English – is how very literally God has used animals to bear the burdens of God’s people, over time.
In our Bethel class Thursday, we remembered how God commanded the Israelites, in the book of Leviticus, to lay hands on a goat, symbolically loading up the four-legged beast with the sins and brokenness and burdens of the community, and then sending that poor guy off into the wilderness – along with all of those sins, all of that brokenness, and all of those burdens – as a sign that God’s people need not carry any of that themselves any longer. It was a deliberate, powerful, visual, “hands-on” expression of unburdening for God’s children – meant to free them up to live differently, generously, graciously, and thereby more able to bless the world around them in a way they couldn’t until their burdens were lifted.
I hope none of us are sending our pets into the wilderness anytime soon – though one of my dogs is asking for it, if she keeps barking at the rest of us to go outside at all hours of the night. But the truth is, these pets we celebrate and that we’ll bless today, shoulder, carry and relieve our burdens in some pretty practical and holy ways.
The Center for Disease Control says there are lots of health benefits that come from owning a pet. Depending on the animal – and if we’re doing it right – they can increase opportunities to exercise, get outside, and socialize. All of that can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglycerides, too. And, of course, pets can help manage loneliness and depression by giving us companionship. There are, indeed, children and adults for whom a pet is their only friend, their only safe place, their only confidant and their only regular source of love, comfort, and joy.
Now, I suspect many of you have seen or heard the poem, “God Made a Dog.” It’s made its way around the internet in recent years and it’s so on-the-nose for a day like today, that I’ve resisted using it for a pet-blessing until now. You can Google it later and see the many and various video montages people have assembled to accompany its reading – which is often done by someone who sounds a lot like Paul Harvey, if you know who that is. Anyway, the poem goes like this:
And on the 9th-day, God looked down on his wide-eyed children and said, ‘They need a companion.’ So, God made a dog.
God said, ‘I need somebody willing to wake up, give kisses, pee on a tree, sleep all day, wake up again, give more kisses, then stay up until midnight, basking in the glare of a television set.’ So, God made a dog.
God said, ‘I need somebody willing to sit, then stay, then roll over. Then – with no ego or complaint – dress in hats they don’t need and costumes they don’t understand.
‘I need somebody who can break wind without a first care – without a second thought – who can chase tails, sniff crotches, fetch sticks, and lift spirits with a lick. Somebody who, no matter what you didn’t do, or couldn’t take, or didn’t win, or couldn’t make, will love you without judgment just the same.’ So, God made a dog.
God said, ‘I need somebody strong enough to pull sleds and find bombs, yet gentle enough to love babies and lead the blind. Somebody who will spend all day on a couch with a resting head and supportive eyes to lift the spirts of a broken heart.’
So, God mad a dog.
It had to be somebody who remained patient and loyal, even through loneliness. Somebody to care, cuddle, snuggle, and nuzzle, and cheer, and charm, and snore and slobber, and eat the trash and chase the squirrels.
Somebody who would bring a family together with the selflessness of an open heart. Somebody who would bark, and then pant, and then reply with the rapid wag of a tail when their best friend says, ‘Let’s go for a ride in the car.’
So, God made a dog.
So, thank God for the dogs and the cats and the birds and the goats, too. They are a gift and a blessing and the bearers of many a burden. But let’s learn from them and from Jesus, too – and let’s not leave it up to them or only to Jesus – because people are weary, people. And carrying heavy burdens. And they could use a shoulder, or a friend, or some forgiveness, and a load off, for sure.
And it is our call and blessing to rest in the arms of that kind of love when we need it, for ourselves; and to welcome others to the same – to introduce them to the God of mercy and hope we know in Jesus; and to share the gentle, humble, light and easy burden of God’s grace on his behalf.
Amen
