Luke 17:7-10

[Jesus said,] “Who among you, when your slave comes in from plowing or tending sheep in the field would say to him, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table.’? Would you not rather say, ‘Prepare supper for me. Put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink. Later you may eat and drink.’?” And do you commend him for doing what he was ordered to do?

“So you also, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say to yourselves, ‘We are worthless slaves. We have done only what we ought to have done.’”

We have two hounds at the Havel house. Rosie, our pandemic rescue and surprise cancer therapy puppy. And Stella, Rosie’s much older, gives no ‘you know whats’ anymore, 14 year-old, geriatric big sister. Rosie is here already. I’m not sure if Stella will make it – even though Stella is the one who needs the blessing, these days.

Stella needs a blessing because she’s started a new thing over the course of the last month or so, where she decides every night – somewhere in the middle of the night – that she needs to go outside. It might be midnight. It might be 3 a.m. (It’s usually 3 a.m.) Whatever the case it’s some time after the humans in the house are fast asleep when Stella sits by the front door and barks. Just one, sharp, staccato “woof” that apparently only I can hear.

So almost every night – sometimes twice a night – in the last month or so, I have been roused from a deep slumber to let the old girl out to do her thing. I say “almost every night” because there have been one or two – literally just one or two nights – over the course of the last month or so, that she HAS NOT woken me up for her midnight potty break.

And I have been so pleased on those rare occasions that I’ve thanked her for it… maybe given her a little extra love when I saw her in the morning – as if she has any idea, or cares one bit, about what I’m talking about.

But it made me think of this Gospel story where Jesus is talking about what it means to follow faithfully, to do God’s bidding, to live in ways that we are called to live as disciples in the world.

Now, Jesus’ rhetorical bit about what we might do or say where our slaves are concerned – when they come in from a hard day’s work in the field and continue to do what is asked of them – is an outdated and irrelevant object lesson for the likes of you and me.

But some of us might be able to relate as parents … like what parent hasn’t had a child act like they deserve a pat on the back or an allowance or some measure of deep gratitude because they took out the garbage, or emptied the dishwasher, made their bed, or ate their vegetables? NO! That’s them doing only what they ought to have done!

Or what about teachers … and those otherwise capable students who act like they deserve a gold star or extra credit for writing their name on their paper, or doing their homework on time, or for not starting a fight on the playground? NO! That’s them doing what they were asked, instructed and expected to do.

Or what about employees or co-workers … do we commend or reward people or expect extra accolades for doing the bare minimum?

Or Stella, Rosie’s geriatric big sister … does she deserve extra love and attention, pats and gratitude and treats for NOT waking me up in the middle of the night? NO! It’s literally the least she could do … the bare minimum … it’s pretty much all I ask of her these days.

And it seems like this might be something like what Jesus is talking about where discipleship is concerned.

Do we expect thanks, gratitude and accolades for loving our enemy?

Do we look to be acknowledged or seek special accommodations for giving our offering?

Do we want some kind of cosmic credit for showing up to worship? For reading our Bible? For working in the nursery … teaching Sunday School … serving in any way?

Do we long to be recognized for showing mercy, for offering forgiveness, for acting like a neighbor to someone in need?

At some level, all of this is just what we’ve been commanded to do. And the reality is, when we do what we’ve been commanded to do … when we follow God’s lead … when we model our lives after Jesus … we are blessed in ways we never deserved in the first place, anyway.

When we follow faithfully and with true humility, discipleship is its own reward and blessing.

So, today’s Gospel is about doing God’s will for the sake of doing God’s will – justice for the sake of justice; generosity for the sake of generosity; kindness and love for the sake of kindness and love.

It’s about returning the favor of it all because God, in Jesus, has done it all, first…already…for our sake and for the sake of the world.

Amen

Matthew 13:44-50

[Jesus said,] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The kingdom of heaven is like a Pastor who had two dogs, one was old and graying – not the sharpest knife in the drawer – but a very good dog. Potty-trained. Free to run and roam, inside or out, wherever she pleased. The “queen of the castle,” to use the language of parables … until the puppy showed up.

It happened in the early days of a global pandemic, when mutts … mixed-breeds … lower caste hounds were hard to come by, honestly, because many in the kingdom decided that pandemics and quarantine made for a good time to rescue a new puppy from the pound. Anyway, while the new puppy looked as though she could be the offspring of the older, aging queen, the queen had no love for the newer, younger, cuter, cuddlier, apparent “replacement” version of herself. There was – and continues to be – a fair amount of – too much, really – weeping and gnashing of teeth.

All of this is to say, if you didn’t know – or haven’t figured it out, yet: the Havels got a new puppy in June. Her name is Rosie. Her predecessor and big sister is Stella. Rosie likes Stella infinitely more than Stella likes Rosie. You can tell that, again, by all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But there are moments of grace, every once in a while, between the two. Stella has always had the power to remove Rosie’s head, with those gnashing teeth, should she so choose. Yet, even when the Rosie was small enough to sneak between her legs and steal her food – right from under her nose or straight out of her mouth or bowl or whatever – Stella would just back up and watch, and wait for a human to come and save the day.

And, Stella watches Rosie ravenously, shamelessly, ungratefully eat three meals a day – because that’s what a puppy does – while Stella only gets two meals a day; once in the morning and once in the evening. (Stella’s on a diet.) And Rosie gets to go on longer walks, too; and on field trips with Dad to the church office; she’s allowed on more couches and chairs and beds than Stella was ever allowed to enjoy; and Rosie has all the toys, too – bones and stuffed animals and rubber chewies, too, just like Stella used to play with back in the day. And Rosie does not share.

Rosie always beats Stella upstairs or downstairs or to wherever the action is – sometimes knocking the old-girl’s legs right out from under her on the way. And, truth be told, Rosie probably gets more love, cuddles, and playtime, too – if anyone were keeping score. And Stella watches it all from a distance, in her new favorite hiding place, in the shadows of the big chair in our living room most of the time.

So, truth be told, the kingdom of heaven is like a Pastor who had two dogs, not because of anything the Pastor and his family say or do in all of this. But all because of how that big, old, grumpy, geriatric hound, Stella, lives and moves and breathes and loves us all in spite of it all.

See, Stella doesn’t need leashes and fences and electric shock collars like she used to – or like Rosie certainly does. Stella stays close by, she knows who will care for her, and Stella follows the rules because she’s learned that life is better – and best, really – when she does what her Master asks of her. There’s a lesson about faith and obedience for all of us, there, I think.

And couldn’t we use less weeping and gnashing of teeth in our world these days? – in our politics, in our churches, in our schools, kitchens, on social media – and if that means taking a break in the shadows of your favorite hiding place, then take a lesson from Stella.

We could all stand to be more generous with our food and our toys and our resources, too – and if that means giving it up and giving it away so that someone who needs it more might have a chance, then there’s a lesson from Stella about living in God’s kingdom, there, too.

And forgiveness. There’s always room for more of that. Fewer grudges and far more grace, I mean. If Stella’s keeping score, you wouldn’t know it. She comes running more often than she used to. She sits back and waits her turn. She always receives and gives the love, even if she’s second in line for it nowadays. There’s a lesson about kingdom-living if I ever heard one.

All of this is so much of what’s behind this Pet Blessing thing, really, if you ask me. Yes, it’s about celebrating God’s care in and for creation. And yes, it’s a fun way to introduce our furry and feathered family members to our flesh-covered, two-legged human friends at church.

But it’s also a great way to see, and to remind ourselves, and to understand the nature of God’s grace through the animals who love us so well – who let us love them, in return – and who show us how to be, and be grateful for lives lived in the kingdom of God’s grace, in and for the sake of the world.

Amen

Stella's Pet Blessing

A Pet Blessing Parable