Anyone remember the prophet Balaam? The story about him and his donkey? In the book of Joshua, Balaam was hired by the kings of the Canaanites to curse Joshua and the Israelite people, even though he wouldn't he still showed up when they called. So God sent an angel to kill Balaam but the donkey saw him and refused to move, so Balaam started beating him with a stick to get him to move. Then the donkey started talking to Balaam, asking him why he doesn't trust him and is abusing him in such a way. The angel then appears and tells Balaam that the donkey saved his life and Balaam repents his abuse of the donkey and his attending to the kings against Israel.
For most of us, our pets are not just like family, but are family. For some of us, we may even like our pets better than people and some family. They hold a very special place in our hearts and our lives. Even those of us who have raised chickens, sheep, goats, and other livestock cannot see them just as dumb animals. Each one, when we payed attention, have a distinct personality, some are calmer or agitated, shy or exuberant, curious or aloof. We can give God thanks for them in our lives and know that our quality of life has risen because they are in our lives.
There are stories about animals throughout the Bible, but they seem few and far between. Last week's creation story of the Garden of Eden comes closest to seeing animals as a part of creation as Elohim Adonai forms each animal from the clay and the Human One/Adam gives it a name, but the purpose of that was to find a helper and one was not found so God fashioned Eve out of the rib. In today's creation story of the seven days, it is much more of a ruler centered story where the king/God proclaims what is to be done and the work is carried out. No, rolling up the sleeves and getting down in the soil/humus. Even Jesus, in today's reading of part of the Sermon on the Mount, lifting up the birds of the air and the lilies of the field uses them as an illustration, a little bit inaccurate, to make a point to us humans, that they don't toil and God supplies what they need, so we should be more like them and not worry.
In much of the Bible, the world and all that is in it is centered on human beings. Though in the wilderness story of Jesus going out forty days, a reading with alternative punctuation would show that animals and angels attended to Jesus need. In our creation story today, we find that God creates the swarming fish, the flying birds, the herd-animals, and the things that crawl and are blessed by God and also told to be fruitful and multiply. But then, but then human beings are given dominion over them, and they become food after Noah's Ark from which they are saved from God's punishment of humans for our wickedness. It's a complicated relationship we have with the animals of the world through our religion. Being kosher was not just about what animals we could eat or can't eat, but the humane treatment of them, even as they are killed to become food for us.
If we are to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, it is that we should not be so anxious, though we shouldn't be. However, it is to remember that we are to work for our daily bread, not to work so that we have more than we need or to try to fill up on what we want. It is to recognize that the animals and plants of this world were also created, blessed, and given life by God, who supplies their needs by creating a world in which we live together and work together in harmony so each may compliment one another, not compete against one another. It is to value their place in God's creation and their rights to live are just as important as ours. Amen? Amen.
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