(For our annual pet blessing service, we worshiped outside on the labyrinth this Sunday, so there’s no audio of the sermon, but you can read it below.)

Luke 9:57-62

As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first, let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said to him, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I picked this Gospel for today, because it’s just one of the many times Jesus uses animals as examples in his ministry of teaching. There’s a lot of talk about fish, of course, and sheep. We just heard one of those parables a couple weeks ago. He talks once about not worrying so much, because if God so cares for the birds of the air, as God does, we can rest assured God will also care and provide for God’s people. Another time, he compares himself to a mother hen who would gather her brood of chicks under her wings for protection. He even talks about dogs once – and learns a new thing because of it – when he tries to shame a Canaanite woman who comes to him looking for help.

All of this to say, there is so much for us to learn about and to learn from the creatures of the world around us – and from all of those who have joined us today. And in the spirit of keeping it short and sweet, for the sake of the beasts who have joined us, I thought I would channel Indiana’s own David Letterman – who loved his stupid pet tricks, remember – and simply share the top ten reasons why this annual service and the blessing of pets is one of my favorite things we do around here:

#10: I’ve always marveled at how happy we are to introduce our pets to our people on days like today. I love seeing the pride people have in the animals with whom they share their homes and their lives. I think we learn a lot about someone based on that sort of thing and I hope we consider bringing our human friends to worship every once in awhile and introducing them to what we’re up to around here, with the same kind of joy and enthusiasm.

#9: This way of doing worship is messy and loud and awkward and amazing. And I think it’s closer to they way our worship should be all of the time. Not so predictable. Not so practiced and well-rehearsed. Not so void of surprises. This day reminds me that we should all be as patient and good-humored and gracious about screams and outbursts and messes and mayhem every Sunday morning – with anyone and everyone who shows up for worship – as we are patient and good-humored and gracious today.

#8: (Speaking of messy, loud and awkward…) There is always some weeping and gnashing of teeth. These barking, biting, screeching and scrambling beasts we bring together year after year, all remind me of the differences that make up the people of God, out there in the world and right here at Cross of Grace, too. We come together as Partners in Mission in spite of and because of the various ways we experience the world around us. We don’t always agree about everything – and may disagree in some big ways about a lot of it – but we gather here, all of us, under the banner of and grateful for, God’s amazing grace and abundant love.

#7: It’s never all or only about us. Our pets have a tremendous capacity to remind us about our call to service. To be needed by a dog or a cat or a horse or a hamster is a reminder that we have resources worth sharing – for the sake of our neighbor and our nation and our world, just the same. (So, the next time you find yourself picking up dog poop on a walk through the neighborhood or cleaning out the litter box, give thanks for your call to service – that you’re called to it for the sake of your pet, and we’re all called to it for the sake of God’s people in this world, just the same.)

#6: These pets humble us in a holy way. I love to see teachers who successfully command respect in the classroom full of students, wrestle with a rescue dog. I love to see coaches and choir directors who lead a team or direct a choir of other people’s children be disobeyed and dragged around by a dog of their own. I love to watch a scientist or a boss or a well-respected professional of any kind – use pet-names and baby talk with their animals on Sunday morning. And, it’s instructive for a pastor of people to get slobbered on and hissed at by their pets, at least once a year. All of it reminds me that each of us is the same kind of broken and sinful and small and powerless in the grand scheme of things, where God is concerned. A little humility goes a long way.

#5: Creation Care is a Calling from God. Our animals – and the creatures and creation that surround us on a day like today – are clear reminders of the conscientious care we’re meant to extend to the world with which we’ve been gifted. We’re so broken and tempted and swallowed up by the political forces of this day and age, that we’ve been tricked into thinking that care of creation is a partisan, political issue, which it is not and never should be. It is a calling and command on our lives that’s as old as Genesis for the children of God.

#4: These animals are a picture of discipleship and faithful living. All the leashes and carriers and cages we’ve used to bring our pets to worship… All of the rules and commands we use to keep them in line and safe… are reminders of the value of those things for all of us, too; that rules and commands and obedience to God – our master – are given with love, for the sake of our blessing and benefit. Commands to follow faithfully, to give generously, to worship, learn and serve, are good for us – they keep us in line, they keep us safe, they please our Master, and they bless us as much as they bless the world when we get it right.

#3: The ones who get it, want more of it. I love the dogs who seem to understand that there’s something worth receiving up here, when they approach the altar. Of course, many of them are glad to receive whatever treat we feed them as they receive their blessing – and they come up with such curiosity, enthusiasm and joy. And I love the ones who want more of it. And expect it again when it’s time for communion. We should all be so curious and hopeful and filled with joy to receive what comes to us in Holy Communion.

#2: These animals – especially the dogs, as far as I can tell – are the grace of God incarnate, in the flesh, in a way that hasn’t happened since Jesus walked the earth. They never run out of forgiveness for us. They never run out of joy to be in our presence. They are ever-glad to welcome us home. For these things they are a picture of God among us.

#1: I’m convinced all of this is a picture of what we mean when we say and pray and hope: “on earth as it is in heaven.” I’m under the impression that all of this is a foretaste of the feast to come. I’m convinced that all dogs go to heaven – and cats and crawdads and chickens and chimpanzees, too. I believe that what we do in worship, whether we’re in the sanctuary or on the labyrinth… what we do in our lives together as believers… is to look for and to celebrate and to bring the kingdom of God’s grace and mercy and joy and justice to earth, among us, for the sake of the world.

Amen

Matthew 6:25-33

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Pope Francis Fever isn’t lost on me, I have to say. And I feel like we should talk about the Pope today, since he’s on tour and all, and since his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, often gets the credit for blessing the animals and for services like what we’re up to here. So, knowing some of what it’s all about, I decided to look more into Pope Francis’s recently published encyclical, Laudato Si’. (1)

I imagine most of us haven’t read the whole of that encyclical, and I’m not pretending I’ve read it word-for-word. It’s beautiful in lots of ways and places, believe me, but it’s not exactly a page-turner. Still, I hope you’ve at least heard the sound bites and seen the headlines about the pot the Pope has stirred with his words.

In what I have read, it’s clear that the pope’s encyclical acknowledges – from a faith’s perspective – what scientists have been teaching and warning about for quite some time, when it comes to global warming and climate change and ecological crises and care of creation. Where the Pope preaches and where scientists teach, of course, politicians and pundits argue and debate and deny and throw stones. But I don’t think we have to go there today.

What I read in the Pope’s Laudato Si’ isn’t hard for me to swallow, from the perspective of a fellow Christian. I believe it’s true…that he’s correct…that the earth – “our common home,” as he calls it – and all of its creatures – are in trouble. That is hard to swallow. But, unlike some people, I think he has every right and calling and authority as a man of God and as a follower of Jesus to write about and teach about and preach about all of this from his position of leadership and authority in the Church, for the sake of the world.

The reason people are upset about his suggestions and criticisms and warnings and calls to action, is because too many of those politicians and pundits have co-opted climate change, minimizing it into an “issue.” For Christian people, like the Pope and you and me, though, what he’s getting at isn’t new. And it’s not a political issue. It’s nothing more and nothing less than a call upon our lives that’s as ancient and holy as that creation story from Genesis, we just heard.

I’m under the impression that our connection to this call to care for creation is a direct reflection of the spiritual state of our souls, as individuals, and it’s a direct reflection of the spiritual state of our collective soul as a sea of humanity on the planet. In other words, if you ask me, the reason the planet is in the pickle it is…the reason we aren’t taking care of it as we should…is because we aren’t taking care of our own souls – or taking care of each other – as God wishes we would.

So, thinking about today’s Gospel, I couldn’t help but wonder if things have changed for the birds of the air and for the lilies of the field, since Jesus was around. I mean, I kind of wonder if the birds and the lilies have more to worry about in 2015, than they did back in Jesus’ day. I’m being facetious, of course. I know that’s not what Jesus meant and I’m not sure that lilies can worry, anyway.

But I can. And, like the Pope, I am worried. And I looked up some numbers and statistics so that you all might worry along with me, some.

I saw on National Geographic, that 90% of the oceans’ fish populations that were around in 1950 are no longer, and that the world’s stock of fish may very well run out by 2048. (That’s within my lifetime, if I’m lucky. I’ll only be 75 years old. My son, Jackson will be 44. Max will only be 41, younger than I am now.) That was a new kind of perspective for me. (2)

And it’s not just the fishes in the deep blue sea, either. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there was a 52% decline in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2010. In just 40 years, more than half of something like 3,000 species of not just fish, but mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and “birds of the air” have been decimated thanks to global warming, pollution, and disease. (3)

And then there are the “lilies of the field,” if you will. There were once 6 million square miles of tropical rainforest in the world. Now, thanks to deforestation and other human dis-interest, there are only 2.4 million square miles left. Between 2000 and 2012 – in just 12 years – 888,000 square miles of forests around the world were cut down. That's roughly the size of all of the states in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. (4)

And we can let these statistics scare us, I suppose. I can be afraid for the future of the planet and for the safety and well being of it all for the sake of my kids and grandkids, and I guess that’s something – if it causes me to make a change for the sake of it. We can even buy into the politics of this – or not – and address it, or ignore it based on our political persuasion if that’s all it is to us.

But that’s not all it is or all it should be for children of God. Pope Francis says, “We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone. This basic awareness would enable the development of new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.”

And this has been God’s call for us and God’s claim upon us since our days in Eden’s garden, at the beginning of time – to recognize ourselves as the stewards, the care-givers, the babysitters, the custodians, the crown of God’s creation – and to live differently because of it.

So let’s do that as much as we’re able. Let’s do the “earth-day-every-day” thing. Let’s plant a tree. Let’s recycle our paper and our plastic and our cans and our bottles. Let’s find out what a difference one day a week without eating meat stands to make for the environment. Let’s stop drinking bottled water and pretending it’s any better than what comes from our kitchen faucet. Let’s be honest – a couple days out of the summer – about the fact that central air conditioning is a luxury we really can do without. Let’s walk instead of drive every once in awhile. Let’s support and vote for policy and legislation and leaders that consider the planet’s future and well-being in responsible, faithful, loving ways.

And let’s do these things, not because the Pope or the Politicians or Pastor Mark say so. Let’s do these things because the planet – “our common home” – is groaning under the weight of our selfishness and apathy. Let’s do these things because it is the poorest of the poor on the planet who suffer first – and most – when the earth struggles. And let’s do these things – let’s strive for righteousness on behalf of the planet – because we are grateful for God’s charge to care for this gift that is ours to defend and preserve and enjoy with grace and gratitude; and because God’s kingdom will thrive through and among us, in every way, when we do.

Amen

1 http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/06/18/read-the-encyclical-for-yourself-laudato-si/

2 http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/declining-fish (“Big-Fish Stocks Fall 90 Percent Since 1950, Study Says” National Geographic News. May 15, 2003)

3 “Humans To Blame For Major Decline In Wildlife Populations, WWF Report Finds.” By JOHN HEILPRIN. AP. HuffPost. 09/30/2014

4 http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/rainforests-facts.xml

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"The Pope, The Planet, and the Blessing of Pets" – Matthew 6:25-33