Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on October 7, 2007
(Proper 22, Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Habakkuk 1:1-6(7-11)12-13;2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-18 or 37:3-10
2 Timothy 1:(1-5)6-14
Luke 17:5-10

While studying the Dead Sea scrolls, scholars discovered a new chapter in the Book of Genesis. The first part of the chapter has been roughly translated as follows:

Adam and Eve said, "Lord, remember when we walked together in the garden in the cool of the day before you sent us forth east of Eden? Now we are lonesome and it is a challenge for us to remember how much you love us."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and he wagged his tail.

And Adam said, "Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal."
And God said, "No problem. Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

And Dog lived with Adam and Eve and was a companion to them and loved them. And they were comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

When I was young and raising dogs for a 4-H project we had to take our dogs to obedience school every Wednesday evening at the fair grounds. Looking back, I’m pretty sure that the school was as much for us as it was for the dogs because we were taught how to teach them using positive or negative reinforcement. Later on in college in Psychology class this was called classical conditioning. We were taught to reward our dog in some fashion in order to get them to learn what it was we wanted them to do.

On the negative side of things, one of the methods was to swat them with a rolled up newspaper in order to dissuade them of unwanted behavior, and eventually just the sound of a rolled up paper cracking against the palm of the hand was enough to get them to stop. Of course, retrieving the newspaper from the driveway became problematic. From the dog’s point of view; newspaper bad! Destroy newspaper!

On the positive side, we could give them treats combined with verbal praise, and eventually the verbal praise became enough of an incentive that they would do most anything just to hear us say, "That’s a good boy, you’re such a big sweetie, aren’t you?" Over time and consistent repetition, the negative reinforcement became unnecessary, the treats became unnecessary, and even the verbal praise became unnecessary. They would obey us just for a simple pat on the head or a scratch behind the ears or even a smile.

Recently, while observing hunting dogs in training and in action, it became quite clear to me that a really good dog will obey his master because he wants to obey. They want to please their Master. They no longer require any direct reinforcement. Obedience becomes the motivation and the task becomes the reward! They have become transformed into what they were hardwired to do; to obey and to serve in a selfless, loving way.

The best dogs that I have ever had are the ones that greeted me with a wagging tail, a lopsided grin with their tongue hanging out, and were content to just lay down at my feet quietly regardless of what kind of day I had or what kind of mood I was in. When I looked into their eyes all I saw was pure love and devotion.

Now isn’t that what the second half of today’s Gospel is describing? Jesus is using the language of his time by describing a slave who has worked in the fields all day plowing or tending the sheep, but at the day’s end he doesn’t expect a reward or verbal praise or even an invitation to sit down and eat with his Master but rather as a slave he is expected to continue to serve his Master by preparing and serving him his supper. By definition this is what he is supposed to do.

Now we find this language of being a slave to be a bit distasteful to our modern sensibilities but slavery was different back in 1^st century Israel, and it was not necessarily the same as what our country experienced before the Civil War. However, let me be clear that in no way is this passage or the Bible as a whole to be used in supporting the idea of slavery. Jesus is just illustrating how we are to be in relationship with God. Just as a slave in Jesus’ day was expected to serve, and just as a good hunting dog is expected to obey the commands of his Master, so we, as Christians, are expected to obey and serve God in a selfless loving way.

It’s not that God doesn’t reward obedience but rather that God is never in our debt because of our obedience to Him. That’s the point of this passage. We didn’t create God to serve us. God created us to serve Him. As our Creator and sovereign Lord, He deserves our complete devotion and unwavering obedience. This is what we are hardwired to do and through the saving grace of Jesus Christ we are transformed to be: undeserving servants doing only what we ought to do. "It is merely the fulfillment of a natural obligation" (Nolland, 843).

Now there was more to that new chapter from Genesis. The rest of the translation is as follows:

After a while, it came to pass that an angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam and Eve have become filled with pride. They strut and preen like peacocks and they believe they are worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught them that they are loved, but perhaps too well."

And God said, "No problem! I will create for them a companion who will be with them forever and who will see them as they are. The companion will remind them of their limitations, so they will know that they are not always worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve. And Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into Cat's eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings. And Adam and Eve learned humility. And they were greatly improved. And God was pleased. And Dog was happy. And Cat was indifferent.

You see, humility is the key to our obedience, and Jesus himself exemplified the kind of servant-ministry to which he calls us. He came to earth, not in the splendor of Rome, which paled in the majesty that he left behind but into the poverty of Roman occupied Israel –– "not with a silver spoon in his mouth but with a feeding trough for his cradle –– not in a time when he could address the world on television, but when communication was limited to the reach of his voice –– not to sit on a throne, but to hang on a cross. If we have a quarrel with the demands of discipleship, we must address our objection to the one who has modeled the kind of sacrifice that he asks us to make" (Baily, 119).

Our salvation has always been dependent on God's grace, a grace of which we do not deserve but need every day of our lives. And thank God that He is a God of justice and mercy because it would be most unwise to present ourselves before the Lord on Judgment Day and request to be judged on the basis of justice instead of grace.

Gloria Patri