I want to start by taking us back way into the Old Testament, to Numbers 22 and to a chap named Balaam. Balaam was a typical sort of reluctant believer. One day Balaam was riding his donkey when the donkey seemed to go a bit mad, first of all it stopped dead in its tracks, then it randomly swerved into a wall and hurt Balaam’s foot, then it just laid down and refused to move. Balaam became incensed with this donkey and started hitting it with a stick.
But the Biblical narrative makes it clear to the reader that what seemed random and bizarre to Balaam was in fact common sense to the donkey who could see something that Balaam himself could not see - and that was the angel of the Lord with drawn sword - the donkey was saving Balaam from disaster. As Balaam is shouting at the donkey and hitting it the donkey develops the power of speech - why are you doing this, he says, I have served you faithfully all these years and then a voice from God comes and says the same thing - why is Balaam being cruel to this donkey - and then Balaam is allowed to see what the donkey sees - the drawn sword in the hand of the angel.
There seems to be a few points that we could draw from this story, something along the lines of animal intuition and us being grateful for that, something about the strange miracle of talking animals but, in this context of animal welfare Sunday, the story condemns cruel treatment.
From the beginning of time, according to the Biblical narrative, there have been animals on the earth. That same Biblical narrative has animals being given to human beings to both care for and use. The ancient Israelites certainly did use animals - when Solomon was enthroned there is a biblical record in Kings of so many animals being sacrificed that they literally could not count them. This might seem barbaric to us but we cannot superimpose twenty-first century sensibilities onto the Biblical narrative - animals were important to the people but they were also eaten for food and used in religious ritual.To take from this that the Bible suddenly sees animals as equal to human beings would be ridiculous - it doesn't.
The Old Testament certainly revels in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation but it also looks at the fearfulness - there are fears about a great sea monster - Leviathan in the psalms. But listen to how Psalm 104 deals with this monster
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
Everything is God’s, everything is made by God and therefore we have to treat everything with respect. This is probably a very obvious thing to say - in Colossians we read that great claim that Jesus is from the beginning - that the creative spark which is in all creation is a thread of the divine. In Isaiah the prophet describes the ultimate revelation of God’s creation - a time of peace and harmony and God’s ultimate rule.
In his ministry Jesus does not talk explicitly about animals and animal welfare - the fact that he allows unclean spirits to send a herd of pigs hurtling off a cliff might not go down too well in some quarters. The removal of the sacrificial cult in Jerusalem is not an act of liberation of animals but an act of the liberation of humanity. No one is told to give up meat or farming and no pets are mentioned. Jesus is the shepherd, but the shepherd of human souls not actual woolly sheep.
So it is clear that we are meant to have respect and reverence for creation and for animals - what is less clear in this age is what that might mean. It is a very emotive subject and too often animal rights activists heap on so much guilt that it has the opposite to desired effect.
We do know when it comes to animals - using them instead of looking after them has often back fired on us with food safety and quality diminished by intensive farming methods. Simply put, meat from animals reared in humane and more nearly natural environments is less likely to kill you. Then there is the question of experimenting on animals - it seems quite clear that testing cosmetics and toileteries is cruel - but less obvious, when there is clear scientific mandate, is the question of pitting a human life against an animal in medical trials.
When dealing with any moral issue it is important to pull on the real strands around us and try to leave the emotive arguments behind. As Christians we need to look to the Bible and to our Church tradition - not only by trawling for passages which mention animals but by looking at the whole character of God - a God who creates and sustains, a God whose Son came and looks after each and every one of us - a God who cries for justice for the poor and the oppressed of the earth.
As many of you know I choose not to eat any meat but for me that is a justice issue which has much more to do with global food production than anything to do with animal rights. And we need to identify within ourselves a deeper theology which goes beyond an emotional reaction. A theology which sees humanity and all creation as wonderful and sacred, but not a theology which places unrealistic parameters around our interaction with the animal kingdom.
I read a sermon which said we should collaborate with animals - I hope the author meant that we should work to live together with kindness and respect - but I rather fear he had slipped into a sort of round table Orwellian mind set. A sort of united nations of species. That is not real life - there is a difference between real tough decisive doing of Christian faith and sentimental and guilt producing chatter. Even as someone who is pro-animal rights I will distance myself if I feel I am being emotionally manipulated by charities and advertisers.
When it comes to animals we have real decisions which we have to make about the way we behave, about our lifestyle choices and about where our world is heading. Advances in food technology mean that we are less reliant on meat as a necessary food source. I am afraid I cannot find a totally convincing animal welfare argument for reducing the consumption of meat which comes directly form the Bible, but I do find in the Bible a very compelling call to social justice, to a God who always defends the widow and fatherless, those who are deprived in society. If there is a Christian argument for a change in our food habits, I really think it is based there.
But the Biblical narrative makes it clear to the reader that what seemed random and bizarre to Balaam was in fact common sense to the donkey who could see something that Balaam himself could not see - and that was the angel of the Lord with drawn sword - the donkey was saving Balaam from disaster. As Balaam is shouting at the donkey and hitting it the donkey develops the power of speech - why are you doing this, he says, I have served you faithfully all these years and then a voice from God comes and says the same thing - why is Balaam being cruel to this donkey - and then Balaam is allowed to see what the donkey sees - the drawn sword in the hand of the angel.
There seems to be a few points that we could draw from this story, something along the lines of animal intuition and us being grateful for that, something about the strange miracle of talking animals but, in this context of animal welfare Sunday, the story condemns cruel treatment.
From the beginning of time, according to the Biblical narrative, there have been animals on the earth. That same Biblical narrative has animals being given to human beings to both care for and use. The ancient Israelites certainly did use animals - when Solomon was enthroned there is a biblical record in Kings of so many animals being sacrificed that they literally could not count them. This might seem barbaric to us but we cannot superimpose twenty-first century sensibilities onto the Biblical narrative - animals were important to the people but they were also eaten for food and used in religious ritual.To take from this that the Bible suddenly sees animals as equal to human beings would be ridiculous - it doesn't.
The Old Testament certainly revels in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation but it also looks at the fearfulness - there are fears about a great sea monster - Leviathan in the psalms. But listen to how Psalm 104 deals with this monster
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
Everything is God’s, everything is made by God and therefore we have to treat everything with respect. This is probably a very obvious thing to say - in Colossians we read that great claim that Jesus is from the beginning - that the creative spark which is in all creation is a thread of the divine. In Isaiah the prophet describes the ultimate revelation of God’s creation - a time of peace and harmony and God’s ultimate rule.
In his ministry Jesus does not talk explicitly about animals and animal welfare - the fact that he allows unclean spirits to send a herd of pigs hurtling off a cliff might not go down too well in some quarters. The removal of the sacrificial cult in Jerusalem is not an act of liberation of animals but an act of the liberation of humanity. No one is told to give up meat or farming and no pets are mentioned. Jesus is the shepherd, but the shepherd of human souls not actual woolly sheep.
So it is clear that we are meant to have respect and reverence for creation and for animals - what is less clear in this age is what that might mean. It is a very emotive subject and too often animal rights activists heap on so much guilt that it has the opposite to desired effect.
We do know when it comes to animals - using them instead of looking after them has often back fired on us with food safety and quality diminished by intensive farming methods. Simply put, meat from animals reared in humane and more nearly natural environments is less likely to kill you. Then there is the question of experimenting on animals - it seems quite clear that testing cosmetics and toileteries is cruel - but less obvious, when there is clear scientific mandate, is the question of pitting a human life against an animal in medical trials.
When dealing with any moral issue it is important to pull on the real strands around us and try to leave the emotive arguments behind. As Christians we need to look to the Bible and to our Church tradition - not only by trawling for passages which mention animals but by looking at the whole character of God - a God who creates and sustains, a God whose Son came and looks after each and every one of us - a God who cries for justice for the poor and the oppressed of the earth.
As many of you know I choose not to eat any meat but for me that is a justice issue which has much more to do with global food production than anything to do with animal rights. And we need to identify within ourselves a deeper theology which goes beyond an emotional reaction. A theology which sees humanity and all creation as wonderful and sacred, but not a theology which places unrealistic parameters around our interaction with the animal kingdom.
I read a sermon which said we should collaborate with animals - I hope the author meant that we should work to live together with kindness and respect - but I rather fear he had slipped into a sort of round table Orwellian mind set. A sort of united nations of species. That is not real life - there is a difference between real tough decisive doing of Christian faith and sentimental and guilt producing chatter. Even as someone who is pro-animal rights I will distance myself if I feel I am being emotionally manipulated by charities and advertisers.
When it comes to animals we have real decisions which we have to make about the way we behave, about our lifestyle choices and about where our world is heading. Advances in food technology mean that we are less reliant on meat as a necessary food source. I am afraid I cannot find a totally convincing animal welfare argument for reducing the consumption of meat which comes directly form the Bible, but I do find in the Bible a very compelling call to social justice, to a God who always defends the widow and fatherless, those who are deprived in society. If there is a Christian argument for a change in our food habits, I really think it is based there.
Wherever we end up, it is important that we all take time to engage with issues of animal welfare. We do not live in the same world as we did even twenty years ago in terms of possibility or understanding and we have to take time to prayerfully accommodate the real society, local and global, in which we find ourselves. Prayerfully, carefully coming to God, asking God to open our hearts and minds, asking God to bless our seeking for His will. Because this is Our God, the God who created everything, the God whose life breathes in all creatures and sways in every tree and flower. This is Our God, who calls us to listen and to pray, who calls us to steward His creation. This is our God who calls us to listen to the cry of the hungry and oppressed. Balaam hit his donkey our of anger and frustration because he did not understand, pray God that we will not be guilty of allowing our own emotional outrage – in any direction – to lead us to a blindness and sefl-assurance which denies the hand of the Creator.
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