Summary:
Points out how looking at our relationship with dogs can tell us something about our relationship with God.
Keywords: Jesus, Christianity
Pictures pictures pictures - stories stories stories. Jesus peppered his teaching with illustrations taken from the daily lives of his hearers. If they had had dogs and cats, rabbits and hamsters I'm sure there would have been stories about the escaping hamster or the disobedient dog. But I don't think they did - it was all sheep and shepherds as far as animals were concerned with the odd pig and sparrow thrown in for good measure!
But back in the Old Testament there were a few more animals. And in today's psalm the writer tells how all the animals in the wild, large and small tell us how wonderful God is. From the biggest elephant to the tiniest mouse their design shows us a lot about how God cares about the earth he has made.
They all look to God to give them their food when they need it. Have you ever thought of animals expecting to get their food from God? When God opens his hand, says the psalm, the animals are satisfied with good things.
But does that mean anything when we think about our pets? Lets consider dogs. They depend on us rather than God to give them their Chappie or their Pedigree Chum don't they? But think abut it - here's a picture that Jesus didn't use but I think is quite useful. What relationship do our dogs have with us? They depend on us for their food and their shelter. We train them and, with any luck they obey us when we say sit or heel. They look to us don't they? With those warm brown eyes that just melt your heart. And what about our attitude to them? When they accidentally do a wee on the carpet or run off when we're taking them for a walk? Do we beat them and banish them from the house for ever or never take them for a walk again? Of course not! We tell them they are naughty and then forgive them and give them a hug. Grown ups our love for dogs is what we'd call unconditional isn't it? Children that's a big word which means it doesn't matter what they do, we'll still love them and care for them. Why? Because they are a member of the family. Just like the sheep in Jesus' time were an integral part of the shepherd's family perhaps.
I guess that few of us have pet sheep, but I'd like to suggest that the relationship between us and our dogs is a pretty good picture of the relationship between God and us. As the owner you give the dog everything it needs. More, much more than it needs most of the time - we enjoy lavishing our pets most of the time - treats and tit bits - there are poodle parlours, pet accessory shops and web sites called pampered pets pandering to that owner desire. And deeper than that superficial level you love your dog no matter what it does and how obedient it is don't you? And in response the dog has a tremendously close relationship with you as its owner, relying on you, obeying you devoted to you. After all we do call the dog man's best friend don't we? Isn't that a good picture of our relationship with God, or at least what it should be - God giving us all we need and more, much more. And we obeying and honouring our loving giving God.
So how do we end then? We could finish off by talking about how important it is to be a good owner - be our pet's best friend. A bit of animal welfare advice seems appropriate for a pets service. But I think the most important question for us today is not so much about dogs but what sort of a friendship we have with God - with his Son Jesus Christ. Do we depend on him like those wild animals in Psalm 104 who look to him for their food every day? Do we always look to him as the obedient dog is always watching for its owner's next command? Maybe those obedience classes you see on the TV from Crufts can be an incentive for us to love and obey our Lord God more every day.
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