Job 12:7-8
Prelude:
Welcome and Opening Prayer:
Hymn: Morning Has Broken
Memorial Offerings by the Congregation:
Music Interlude:
Sermon: Sincerely Ask Animals
Sincerely ask animals means that we are asking in such a way that we really
expect an answer, and it’s something that we all should be doing, but don’t
expect them to answer you in a spoken English voice, for God hasn’t given
them that ability.
But even without a spoken voice, they can answer us in other ways: their
body language, their expression, and the way they look at us and other
things can tell us a lot, if we are really observant and have empathy.
Haven’t we seen a dog or cat tilt their head when talking to them?
That usually means that they can’t understand.
Haven’t we seen animals making up games and playing with one another?
Isn’t that also what our children do?
This shows that the animals have souls and spirits just as we do.
We have a video of a young moose jumping in a puddle and having a great
time, just like we’ve seen human children do.
Animals love one another and some of them even love us, and we’ve also seem
them deeply mourn the loss of a loved one, just as humans do.
When we sincerely ask animals and listen with our heart and soul, we quickly
discern that they have the same emotional feelings that we do.
And this is confirmed in the Hebrew Bible where we are told that God created
all the animals and us as living souls.
So with these things in mind, let’s think about what we are told in Job
12:7-8…
7. "But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8. or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.
NIV
We can’t do this unless we sincerely ask animals and expect an answer.
But we can’t stop here; we need to hear the whole of God’s creation.
As I was putting together this sermon, and contemplating these things, I
kept hearing in my mind the Christmas song “Do You Hear What I Hear”, which
was written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noel Regney and music written by
Gloria Shayne Baker, a husband and wife team, who wrote the song as a plea
for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Do we feel the immense sadness that God feels over the corrupt state of the
world?
We should, if we truly love Him and honor Him, and the whole of His creation
(humans, animals, and the environment in which we all live).
Said the Lord God to His little child,
Do you see as I see?
Everywhere you look, little child,
Do you see what I see?
The pain, the pain, that never goes away,
Do you feel as I feel?
Do you feel as they feel?
All we have to do is stop eating animal flesh and their bodily
secretions, and return to God’s original intent of eating only a plant based
diet.
By doing this, we would also eliminate most of our air, soil and water
pollution, and the immense suffering of billions of animals.
Their screams, their screams, ringing in My ears;
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear what I hear?
And where are the churches and other religious communities in all of
this?
Unfortunately, the vast majority are contributing to the problem instead of
solving it.
Will you bring joy to God, little child?
Will you do what God wants?
Will you end the suffering, my child?
Will you do what God wants?
Will you help change this world, little child?
Will you do what God wants?
Will WE do what God wants?
We need to sincerely ask animals.
I remember seeing an undercover video of a man kicking a dairy cow in the
face, simply because she was too slow in responding to what he wanted her to
do.
She recoiled from the kick, because it obviously hurt, but she showed no
signs of anger or retaliation; all she did was look at him with an
expression that seemed to ask: “Why are you doing this?”
His only response was to kick her in the face again.
But all she did was look at him again with the expression that asked: “Why
do you keep doing this?”
It's time we speak out about these and other evils in our world.
It's time we answer the call of God to us to end our silence and speak out
the truths that will end the evil and violence in this world.
It's time for each of us to say, "Here I am, Lord."
Amen?
Amen.
Hymn: Here I Am, Lord
Benediction:
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