"Nine Interesting Animal Facts (and What They Teach Us About Faith)" – Matthew 6:25-33

As we can see from today’s Gospel reading, Jesus used animals in his telling of spiritual truths. So, following Jesus’ established use of animal behavior as illustrations of God’s kingdom, here are a list several interesting animal facts and the spiritual insights they provide. I assembled the list from various internet sources, so that means they are all true!

1) Cows produce more milk when listening to soothing music.

This is a wonderful illustration of one of the most basis tenants of the Christian faith: our good works come as a result of the salvation that has been given to us. God is not using force or abuse to get us to produce something of value for the world; rather, God has removed the barrier of sin and the threat of destruction from our lives. This means we can be at peace, with the soothing sound of God’s grace working in, around, and through us to make the world a better place.

2) Millions of trees grow every year because squirrels bury nuts.

As a Lutheran summer camp counselor, I would spend every minute for a week with a few kids, do my best to teach and demonstrate God’s love, and wave goodbye on Friday, knowing I would likely never see them again. Often there was little proof that our week at camp had impacted the kids in any significant way. I began to look at my summers at camp as opportunities to plant seeds of faith in kids’ lives. I wouldn’t see a giant tree take root and reach toward the heavens in one week; however, I trusted that God was using me to plant seeds of faith, which God would continue to nurture as the child grew. All that to say: our actions plant seeds in the lives of others; God takes care of the rest.

3) Dolphins have names for each other and can call out for each other specifically.

Standing before the tomb of his friend, Jesus instructs the stone to be rolled away and yells into the cave, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came to Jesus (John 11).

As Jesus was passing through Jericho he saw a man sitting in a sycamore tree and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” Zacchaeus was so moved by Jesus’ presence that he agreed to give back four time the amount of taxes he had extracted from the people (Luke 19).

 As Mary Magdalene stood in confusion outside Jesus’ empty tomb, Jesus approached her, saying, “Mary!” She suddenly realized that Jesus had, in face, been raised from the dead (John 20).

When Jesus calls people by name, incredible things happen – new chances, new relationships, and new life. Jesus calls us by name and promises to give us new chances, new relationships, and new life as we are encouraged to call upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10).

4) Sea otters hold each other's paws when they sleep so they don't drift apart.

We’re not in this alone; we never have been, we never will be. In the same way that God holds us close, we have a responsibility to reach out to those in the world who are most at risk of floating away, alone, in the darkness of the night.

5) African elephants produce approximately 220 pounds of manure per day.

Just thought you’d like to know. You’ll thank me when the question pops up in a trivia game.

6) Elephants show incredible empathy for others, even different species.

Elephants demonstrate emotional contagion. When an elephant is distressed, nearby elephants react to the other elephant's distress by acting in exactly the same way. In such situations researchers have witnessed elephants come to stand beside their friend and touch the distressed elephant with their trunks to provide comfort.

The case could be made that elephants demonstrate a greater degree of emotional contagion than humans. In our world where it has become so easy to tune out others’ suffering, where we have become numb to the news of violence, death, and destruction, perhaps we should heed the call to take a stand beside those who are suffering. May we be inspired and equipped by the God who took a stand beside the suffering creation through the incarnation of God through Jesus Christ.
(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140221-elephants-poaching-empathy-grief-extinction-science/)

7) The three-toed sloth sleeps up to 20 hours a day and is so sedentary that algae grows on its back.

Before you rush to judgment against this poor, slow, lazy animal, you should know that this green algae that grows on the sloth’s back ends up camouflaging the sloth in the rainforest. Perhaps this animal can remind us of the value of slowing down. Most of us have bought into the rat race, thinking that our busyness will buy our way out of suffering. But in reality the faster we go, the more exposed we become to the predators of exhaustion, materialism, and competition. I hereby nominate the three-toed sloth as the official mascot of Sabbath!

8) The monarch butterfly can detect its lover's scent five miles away.

We are never too far away from the loving reach of God. No matter how alone or spiritually distant we feel, God is able to seek us out and demonstrate God’s love to us.

9) Turtles can breathe through their butts!

Again, simply for trivia’s sake. Always helps to remember that God has a sense of humor!

In conclusion, we don’t worship God’s creation; yet, through creation that we see the truths of God on miraculous display. We have been called to sustain, serve, and support God’s creation (not the other way around). So today we give thanks for animals, domesticated and wild, slow and fast, carnivore and herbivore, birds of the air and fish of the sea; each one a unique gift of God’s presence, each one demonstrating a profound truth about God.

"The Force of Forgiveness" – Matthew 18:21-35

Stop by my house and you’re likely to hear a lot of apologies. You would hear us apologize for the dog hair on the floors. You would hear us apologize for toys being strewn about like shrapnel from an explosion. And if you watched us as we supervise our boys interactions, you’d likely hear this sequence of phrases:

     “Stop that; we don’t take toys away from someone else. What do you say?”
     “Sorry”
   “OK, go tell your brother you are sorry.”

There’s a lot of apologizing that goes on in our house. On one level, the apologies are efforts at admitting fault, repairing the damage of past offenses, and re-establishing trust. But on another level, the apologies are merely the next step in an established pattern of behavior: step 1–rip the toy out of your brother’s hand; step 2-get caught doing it; step 3-apologize because mom or dad says so; step 4–repeat.

I can imagine either of my children saying to me, “How many times do I have to forgive my brother when he takes my toys?” It’s a question they are right to ask, because they know that despite the apologies, the behavior isn’t going to stop (at least anytime soon; but I don’t know, I’m an only child and I never had to share! At what age to siblings stop taking things from each other?).

     “How many times should I forgive someone who sins against me?” asks Peter. “Seven times?”
     “No, not seven times,” replies Jesus; “But seventy-seven times”

Notice, however, what is missing from Peter’s question. It’s rather remarkable; because what we typically assume Peter is asking is this: “How many times must I forgive someone who sins against me when they ask my forgiveness?”

That’s what we assume Peter is talking about, right? We assume he’s talking about forgiving people who are seeking forgiveness. But that’s not the question. The question is how many times to forgive someone regardless of whether they feel remorse or not.

So imagine it like this, “Lord, how many times should I forgive someone who has hurt me but refuses to admit he or she did anything wrong?” When you ask it like that, seven times seems incredibly generous. Jesus’ response of seventy-seven times just sounds ludicrous.

My wife and I tend to role our eyes when the boys apologize to each other in a way that clearly demonstrates the apology is less than whole-hearted; but perhaps the most profound thing that comes out of these encounters is the opportunity to practice forgiveness, regardless of whether the apology is sincere.

Because what are the alternatives? Sulking? Anger? Distrust? Self-righteousness? Waiting for the offender to suddenly realize the error of his ways? Dwelling on the infraction so that it becomes an emotional, spiritual, and physical barrier to your well-being? That sounds like torture; which might be what Jesus’ point was in that strange parable about the unforgiving servant – the servant who failed to translate his own forgiveness into a force of grace and ended up in agony.

“How many times should I forgive someone who has hurt me but refuses to admit he or she did anything wrong?” Well, that depends on how much forgiveness you have to share. Jesus seems to think you’ve received enough forgiveness to go and forgive others a ludicrous number of times. After all, what’s the alternative?

I am reminded of a man named Bruce Murakami, who one day received the terrible news that his wife and daughter had been killed in a car accident. The accident was caused by a young man named Justin Gutierrez, who was street-racing. A distraught, angry Murakami fought for justice and sought a conviction and long prison term for the young man.

Eventually, however, Bruce found that his desire for retribution was destroying himself. He realized that he needed to forgive Justin so that he and the remainder of his family could find healing.

Bruce received permission to meet Justin one-on-one, and this confrontation resulted in mercy in the courtroom.

At the end, Murakami and Justin, as part of his community service sentence, joined forces on the school lecture circuit to promote safe driving among young people. (The nonprofit organization Safe Teen Driver Inc. has a Web site at www.safeteendriver.org. )

In an interview, Bruce is quoted as saying, "If I hadn't forgiven him, I would have been the third victim of the tragedy.

"Early on I was deeply mired in my own grief. Later, I would actually practice saying out loud, 'I forgive you, Justin.' And that helped me to slowly take baby steps out of the darkness that I was in. On the day that we finally had our heart-to-heart, I put the theory of forgiveness into action. I knew in my heart I'd forgiven him."

There are a lot of incredible parts to this story, but what really strikes me as profound is that that Bruce began the process of forgiving Justin before he had any way of knowing whether Justin was at all sorry for what he had done. Before the two men met face-to-face, Bruce had already forgiven the man who killed his wife and daughter. 

This forgiveness was so powerful and life-giving that it rescued Justin from a life behind bars and instead put him in front of crowds of young people so that he could encourage them to make safe driving decisions. 

Restorative justice can be a beautiful thing. Second chances can be a beautiful thing. Forgiveness can be a beautiful thing. 

May you know in your heart that you are completely, utterly, entirely forgiven. May you have the strength to accept this forgiveness. And may you be inspired to share that forgiveness with others, no matter how many times it takes.

Bruce Murakami quotes from Jim Heinrich, “Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 19, 2007