July has been a rough month. 2 weeks after our dog Rascal died, another of our dogs, Sheridan died. She was another rescue, a mostly yellow lab all-American mutt. She was with us for over 12 years. She was a great dog and we have many wonderful memories of hikes and adventures with her. I loved her and will miss her too.
Like Rascal, Sheridan was also the illustration of one of my sermons, so in her memory and again in great thanksgiving to God who created animals so that we should not be lonely, my “Big yellow dog” sermon is below.
[The scripture readings used for this sermon were Genesis 28:10-19a and Romans 8:12-25]
Scott and I are dog lovers. And all the dogs we have ever owned have been rescues.
One of the adoptions from the pound was particularly memorable, because she was not the dog I planned on coming home with. The city that we were living in at that time had their pound “online” so you could see photos and write-ups of all the animals awaiting rescue. I had been keeping an eye on the site, and was thrilled one day to find a pair of Australian Shepherd puppies – a breed that I had always been interested in.
So, we went to the pound, expecting to bring one or both of them home. But as we walked the long line of dog cages, we both noticed a big yellow dog, huddled and shaking in the back of her cage – absolutely terrified.
She had nothing to commend herself to us. She was a complete mutt, she wasn’t an Australian Shepherd, and unlike the two shepherds who were friendly, well-adjusted, and adorable, the yellow dog was scared and past her cute puppy stage.
Guess which dog we came home with?
Yes, we adopted the big yellow dog. The complete “scaredy cat” mutt, who over time blossomed into a friendly, loving, faithful dog, although she still pulls on walks and barks like a maniac at the mailman.
Which I think is a bit of a metaphor for God’s relationship with us.
In fact, the whole Bible is filled with the stories that illustrate the fact that we humans are frequently the least desirable dogs in the pound, but that God chooses to adopt us anyway.
Not because we have anything to commend ourselves – we are sinful creatures – often fickle, false, prideful, and frequently terrified or mean because of things that have happened to us in the past.
But God calls us and chooses anyway, in spite of ourselves. He adopts us and brings us into His Kingdom.
It is a truth that never ceases to amaze and humble me and make me fall on my knees in thanksgiving for His loving mercy.
We have a great case study in the today’s reading from Genesis about Jacob. Oh boy, talk about an undesirable mutt! Jacob is a lying, cheating jerk.
We meet him in this morning’s reading from Genesis when he is on the run. He has just tricked his father Isaac and cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance.
And this wasn’t a single rotten act, but part of a pattern of behavior from a spoiled, selfish, unkind young man, who had been trying to cheat and harm his brother virtually from the womb. He wasn’t even a very faithful follower of God.
He wasn’t someone you would want to hang out with, let alone give him a major position of trust or adopt into your home.
But that is exactly what God does.
Right then, as Jacob sleeps on a rock in the middle of nowhere, fleeing the consequences of his sin, God steps in, calls, and commissions Jacob for a special role in the plan of salvation.
God promises to keep Jacob safe and make a great nation of him. He also promises that through Jacob’s ancestor, “all the families of the earth will be blessed,” which points forward to the fact that Jesus Himself will come from the long line of Jacob.
And why this highest of all honors? Why this special role and special protection?
Not because Jacob was perfect or had done something commendable. Not because he deserved it or had earned it. No, simply because God chose to bless Him and to shower His trust and grace on a terrified cheat.
It was surprising for Jacob, and frankly it is shocking to us.
I think most of us find it so upside down, that we often try to recreate Jacob as some pillar of sanctity – which takes some doing given the record of scripture – because we just aren’t comfortable with the real Jacob being chosen as one of the Bible greats.
I mean if you were going to choose a key person in the great plan of salvation, would you choose a cheating, lying, trickster like Jacob?
I know I wouldn’t. I would choose a noble, fair, and virtuous person (who looked a little like a young Sean Connery).
But that is not how God works.
And thanks be to God for that, because perfect people are only found in fiction – played by actors in films that last no more than 2 hours.
But God doesn’t deal in fiction, He deals in truth – and the truth is that all of us are sinners, all of us have (at the least) lied or gossiped or cheated or hurt someone. In short, we are all a lot or a little like Jacob – whether we want to admit it or not.
But just like Jacob, God calls us too.
He showers His grace and love on us, not because we have been “good enough” to impress God or to earn it, but simply because He loves us.
In fact His love is so great that He gave His only begotten son, Jesus, to suffer death for us, so that we could be with God, not as His creations, or as His servants, but as His adopted children and His heirs.
When we stand in the knowledge of our adoption we find the freedom that Paul talks about in Romans. We know we are loved more than we can image – we need only look at the Cross to see the truth of that. And so we can love God back freely, not out of fear of trying to impress him or earn gold stars on our behavior chart. And that freedom in His love is what transforms us into the people that He created us to be.
It was the case with Jacob, who over time, and with God’s persistent transformative love, fulfilled his call. He did become the father of a great nation, he did return to the Promised Land, and he was even reconciled to his father and brother.
Now, Jacob did not suddenly become perfect. He was still a sinner, he still pulled on his leash, but he was transformed by the power, grace, and love of God.
That is why I love the story of Jacob. It is true and real. Jacob is not some flawless super hero of the faith. No, he is a struggling sinner like me, like all of us.
But God called him anyway.
And in Jesus, God has called and adopted us too.
All of us who are a lot or little like Jacob.
All of us who are the big yellow dog, shivering in the back of the cage of our own sins and the hurts inflicted upon us by others.
And God’s forgiving grace frees us from the cage of slavery to sin and fear and death.
And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit begins to transform us, and helps us know God as our Abba, Father, so that we can begin to flourish and become the people God created us to be.
So for that amazing grace that saved a wretch like me, like you, like us, we can but say, Thanks Be to God.
I think one of the most wonderful things about God’s work is how he consistently, as a rule, uses imperfect instruments to execute His perfect plan.