AMY'S ARTICLES

Pet Sunday, 8-31-08
Trinity Lutheran Church
http://www.tlc-sherman.org
Rev. Craig M. Sturm

SCRIPTURE LITANY — based on passages of Scripture that speak of animals

On the sixth day of creation, God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind — livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (Genesis 1)

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was all very good!

The LORD God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it… Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for Adam to be alone in the Garden of Eden. I will make companions for him.” So the LORD God formed from the ground all the animals of the land and all the birds of the sky. God brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. Adam gave names to all of the animals that God created. (Genesis 2)

Adam named them cats and dogs, bunnies and birds, lions and tigers and bears.

But soon God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. For I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat — you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal — a male and a female — into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” (Genesis 6)

Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him in order to save his family and the animals.

After the floodwaters had receded, God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you — the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals — every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” (Genesis 9)

The rainbow was a sign of the covenant God made with all creatures on earth.

“O my people, listen as I speak,” says the Lord God Almighty. “All the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field belong to me. (Psalm 50)

You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All creation finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36)

O LORD my God, how great you are! You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains. They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees. You cause grass to grow for the livestock. The cedars of Lebanon God has planted. There the birds make their nests. (Psalm 104)

You provide food to the animals and feed the young ravens when they cry. (Psalm 147)

Jesus says, “I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.” (Matthew 6)

God shows his love and concern for animals by providing them food and shelter.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ (John 1)

God’s Holy Spirit is revealed at Jesus’ baptism by a dove descending from heaven.

In the day of the Lord, the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD. (Isaiah 11)

Search the book of the LORD, and see what he will do. Not one of the birds or animals will be missing, and none will lack a mate, for the LORD has promised this. (Isaiah 34)

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

SERMON

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have joined us today to experience this Sunday all about pets, we welcome you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are glad that you are here. God is glad that you are here. We hope that your faith is nourished through this worship service.

It is a question that probably enters the mind of every pet owner, especially when a beloved pet companion dies. “Do animals go to heaven?” We develop strong bonds and have emotional attachments to our pets. They become part of our families. Many believe our pets are gifts to us from God. One pet lover once told me that he is just as likely to encounter God’s presence in a cat or dog as a human being. And the fact that pets have personalities and feelings, the fact that they can think and reason, it is understandable why we ask the faith question, “Do animals go to heaven when they die?”

It was Will Rogers who said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”

An ABC news poll showed that 47% of American pet owners do believe that their pets go to heaven; 35% said, “No.” But anytime we ask a question of faith, it is not so important to know what you or I might believe, but rather we need to know what God says in the Holy Scriptures. As my professor used to say, “We all have an opinion, but it’s God’s opinion that really matters.”

And so I combed through the entire Bible looking for what God has to say about animals going to heaven. I wish that I could quote a specific verse that would assure all of us that when our furry friends die, they are welcomed into heaven. Unfortunately, that prize verse just ain’t there. But, as I scoured the Scriptures, I was amazed at what the Bible did say about God’s relationship with animals. When we look closely at the entire biblical message, something emerges that gives us some insight into what God’s intentions are for animals after they die.

The Scripture litany that we read together a few moments ago is but a taste of the many passages where animals appear in the Scriptures. If we start with the creation accounts in Genesis, we learn that God didn’t create everything at once. Different parts of creation were brought into being at different times. First light, then water, land, vegetation, and so on.

Then God created every kind of land animal (including cats, dogs, bunnies, gerbils, etc.) and human beings. Together, on the same day, and in the same way (from the soil of the earth), God created animals and humans. So there is a sense that God intended furry creatures and humans to be companions for one another. But was this bond intended just for earth or for all eternity in heaven? That’s the question.

Biblical scholars tell us that the Garden of Eden is meant to represent God’s heavenly paradise. It represents the world God intended all along. When God created everything in the Garden, God looked upon it and said that it was good. “This is life the way I intended it to be,” God said. Humans and animals and plants all living together in perfect harmony.

There were many different parts of creation, each one significant and important to God’s complete blueprint for life. To take away any one part of God’s whole creation is to make God’s kingdom incomplete.

In the concluding chapters of the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks of Christ’s second coming as restoring the world back to the Garden of Eden. So, once again, the Garden of Eden serves as the paradigm for what God intended his kingdom to be. And the very fact that the Garden of Eden was populated with animals, there is precedence, I believe, to claim that animals will be in heaven.

In the 8th chapter of Romans, St. Paul speaks of ALL creation eagerly waiting for that future day when God will reveal his glory. ALL creation, Paul says, drawing our attention back to the Garden of Eden. Not only humans, but all living things eagerly anticipating being in the presence of God’s glory, experiencing that perfect paradise where there is freedom from sickness and death and want.

Martin Luther, the great theologian and reformer of the church, once said, “In the Garden of Eden there was complete harmony between humans and animals. One day again that harmony will be restored and all creation will be alive in Christ.” Luther, the great scholar of the Bible, believed that animals would be in heaven. “Animals belong to God,” Luther said. “And if they belong to God, they are held safely in the palm of God’s hand – in this world and in the world to come.” Legend has it that when Luther’s beloved dog was close to death, Luther took the dog in his arms and said, “Be thou comforted little dog. Thou, too, in resurrection shall have a little golden tail.”

The story of Noah also sheds some light on the importance animals have in God’s kingdom. Before the great flood, God instructed Noah to build an ark big enough to house not only his own family, but every kind of animal on earth as well. When God was planning to wipe out all of creation and start over, for some reason, God decided to save the animals from eternal death. The Bible doesn’t give us a reason for God’s decision. We simply know that animals were a part of God’s redemptive plan for the world.

The Bible often uses animals to help us better understand what heaven will be like. In one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible, Isaiah writes, “In the day of the Lord, the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”

It is a beautiful, comforting image. And it gives us pet lovers hope that even the animals are not beyond God’s love and salvation. A place without animals would be a lonely one; heaven without pets would be less heavenly.

The very last chapter of the Bible describes what heaven will be like. The angels show us clear crystal streams with abundant fruit trees. It is the most beautiful oasis you have ever seen. It is not difficult to imagine beautiful birds singing in the trees, butterflies fluttering through the fields of flowers, our furry friends underfoot.

Although there is not that one verse of Scripture that promises our pets will go to heaven, there are so many clues that God the loving Creator envisions all of his creatures enjoying heaven with him forever.

“I hereby confirm my covenant with you and with every animal on earth,” God says. “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant I have made with every living creature on earth.”

Thanks be to God! Amen.