A BEAST BEFORE THEE

 A SERMON FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Ut juméntum factus sum apud te:  et ego semper tecum ("I am become as it were a beast before thee:  and I am alway by thee").  Words taken from the 72^nd psalm, read every Thursday at the Office of Terce.  “I am become a beast before thee.”   A beast.  An animal.  Is that good or bad?

Actually, the words of the Psalm clearly indicate that something positive is going on here, and that by becoming a "beast", as it were, we are placing ourselves somehow more in line with what God wants us to be.  The very next verse of the Psalm gives us the clue:  "Thou hast holden me by my right hand:  and by thy will hast thou guided me, and with thy glory thou hast received me."  Just as we lead around a show horse, or an elephant at the circus, so God leads us around, showing us the way, guiding us to be as he desires us to be.  To be as a beast before God is therefore good.  But it doesn’t stop there, and there is a major difference when all’s said and done.

Man is, in a sense an “animal.”  The word animal comes from the Latin “anima” meaning soul.  And like the animals we have a living soul that allows us to move, communicate, eat and drink, breed, and so on.  But unlike the other animals, man is distinguished by his reason and his free will.  This places him above the other animals.  This freedom of our will does not always give us the liberty of equal options.  One isn’t “free” to choose good or evil at one's pleasure, with either being an equally valid choice.  That is the understanding of "liberals", that we are perfectly free to choose to do whatever we want.  Yes, free will gives us the ability to choose evil.  But it doesn't give us the right to choose evil.

Animals on the other hand do not have free will.  They act according to the nature the good Lord endowed them with.  You may object that a dog, for example, chooses whether to obey or disobey his owner.  Most of us know what it’s like to come home and find the cushion stuffing strewn all over the living room, with the dog skulking in the corner with its tail between its legs.  Certainly, the dog knows when it has misbehaved, and will show certain indications of a knowledge therefore of good and evil.  But they are not rationally aware of the existence of moral good or evil.  They simply know instinctively and by experience that certain actions are going to get their butts kicked.

An animal, a "beast" always acts according to its God-given nature.  When the dog lovingly nuzzles up to its owner--or bites the postman--it is following its natural instinct.  It can be trained to act differently.  Indeed it should be trained, especially if you don't want your shoes chewed up, or a lawsuit from the postal service.  And some animals are more easily trained than others, and this ability too is part of their nature.  It's not a good idea to have an alligator as a pet, because it can not be easily trained.  It will chew up not just your shoes, but your children too.  It will eat the postman.

The patron saint of animals is of course St. Francis of Assisi.  We celebrated the feastday of his stigmata last Thursday, the day we read those words that “I am become as a beast before thee.”  St. Francis received his stigmata in a remote part of Tuscany called Monte Alverno.  Today a Franciscan monastery stands on the spot where the miracle took place, and on the grounds there, the monks built what they call the Cappella degli Uccelli, the Chapel of the Birds.  St. Francis understood animals very well, It is said that birds often gathered to listen to his sermons.    So not only did St. Francis understand animals very well, it seems that the birds too understood St. Francis in some way.  There’s a famous painting of St. Francis holding three little birds on his hands, and these birds are singing to their heart's content. But St. Francis's eyes are filled with tears.  I read that someone had asked him why he was so sad when the little birds were singing so happily.  And his answer to this question will help us understand what it is to be a saint, what it is to see things as God sees them.  It also helps us understand why we must become “as a beast” before God.  St. Francis spoke to the birds which had settled on his hands to sing, and this is what he said: "Little birds, you were created to sing--and you do sing.  Man is created to love--and he loveth not!"

Yes, man has free will.  And how often does he abuse that free will by choosing to do his own will and not God’s will?  By abusing his free will, his God-given nature, he actually places himself beneath the animals.  For the animals do not have free will, and therefore act always according to the will of God who created them with the nature they have.  This is why we must say with the psalmist:  "I am become as it were a beast before thee"--My will is like that of a dumb animal, totally subordinated to the will of God, and therefore pleasing to God at all times.  This is our daily struggle.  This is why we must fight our fallen natures and strive not to follow our own whims and fancies, but rather keep in mind always what God wants us to do at every moment of the day.  Difficult?  Yes.  But that's one of the main reasons God created all the animals that inhabit the earth.  It’s why he allowed their various species to survive the Great Flood of Noah.  They are our inspiration.  Whether large or small, whether they fly in the air, walk on the land, or swim in the sea, they all exist to remind us that we human beings, so superior to the animals in so many respects, have so much to learn from them nevertheless.

And if we imitate the animals and obey God's law, the natural law, or Law of Nature as God created it, then we truly place ourselves above the animals.  Because it will be our choice to obey God.  Our choice to love God.  Our free will acting in accordance with the divine.  The very fact that, unlike the animals, we must struggle to do God's will places us above the animals when we succeed but beneath them when we fail.  Never insult the animals by telling someone he’s acting like an animal when he commits a sin.  Because he’s not acting like an animal.  In fact he’s acting far worse.  Because an animal cannot sin.  An animal cannot offend God.

So if you want to know what it is to please God, look to the animals.  Look to the birds who chirp outside your window, to the dog who’s happily chewing up your flower bed.  Look to the mosquito as it lands on your arm for lunch.  None of them offend God.  They are part of nature, the natural world as God created it for our instruction.  Learn from them, and become more like them, "beasts" before God, doing his will and not our own.  Do it freely, and thus will you take your rightful place above the beasts, who have no choice but to do God's will.  You on the other hand will be acting freely, giving God freely of your obedience and love.  It is for this freely chosen love of God that God created mankind.  It is the only thing he wants from us—your love.  At the Office of Sunday Lauds, we pray the Benedicite.  This canticle makes us mindful of our need to be like the beasts and yet above them, and we should pray it often: "O ye Whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord:  O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord.  O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord.  O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord."