My husband, Nate, and I have three dogs. You may have met Nikko, who is in Wenatchee with me and Nate has the other two, Freckles and Clay. Nikko is our old man who we rescued 2 years ago when he was 11 years old and we fully thought we’d bring him home for the “Toney hospice program.” The plan was to simply give him a good end of his life, which has turned into a new lease on life. He’s doing great at 13 years old now.

 

 

Even though we had Nikko, Nate really wanted a Pomeranian puppy. He was puppy crazy for a long time, sending me various videos of adorable puppies all the time. He had met a family who occasionally bred Pomeranians in our neighborhood and he kept in touch with them for maybe 3 years in preparation for this puppy. So, Freckles, when she finally came, was so very wanted…by Nate. I personally was not ready for the work of a puppy, but he was in love with her before she was born and so it had to be. And then Clay came third, as another rescue dog. It’s a little nuts when we’re all together, having three little dogs, but it’s also a lot of fun. They are all so different and sweet in their own ways.

 

One difference I noticed in Freckles as she became an adult is that she is completely untroubled by doubt.

 

This is a little dog who was raised by a family who loved her, in a supportive environment, and then she got Nate who was over the moon with her from the beginning. This dog is unlike any other creature I’ve know. She is a ray of sunshine all the time. She expects you to love her and she expects to love you. There’s no hesitation and it is pretty delightful to be around.

 

Nikko is not like that. Clay, who is also a rescue, is not like that. Although they are sweet and such good dogs, their expectations of the world are different.

 

They hesitate. They’re skittery. You can tell both Nikko and Clay have had different lives than Freckles has had.

 

I think of Freckles in her open-hearted, still unrestrained expectation of love in this Gospel today. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. What good words for us to hear! In Freckles open-hearted expectation, she’d respond to this with an unfettered, “Yes! I know that!” Or maybe even, “Of course it is.”

Of course, humans…or at least most of us, are a bit more like Nikko and Clay. We don’t know about these promises. We assume there is judgement and condemnation in there somewhere. Maybe we want to see what the catch is?

 

So, my challenge is for us to adopt Freckles as our mascot for hearing today’s gospel. What if we let our inner Freckles take over as we read this gospel, what might we hear differently? What might we feel about it?

 

OK, turn your imaginations on, tune into your inner Freckles. Maybe close your eyes, take a deep breath in and out, and imagine that you just know from your core that the world loves you and you love the world. And, of course, you know that God loves you with complete adoration. As much as you can, imagine that, let me reread a part of the gospel and see what we hear.

Jesus says, “Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit, be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.”

 

What do you think Freckles would say in response to this gospel? I think Freckles would say, if she could talk, “Yes, of course my master would come and delight in sharing his wedding banquet as my servant in the middle of the night?”

 

I hate to do this to you, but what if we switch our imaginations to Nikko? What would his response be to the gospel? Maybe something like, “You said stay up and be alert, so I’ll do that. I won’t get caught doing anything bad, ‘cause I don’t want to be left again. Please don’t go away. I’ll be good.” Is that something like how we might hear these words?

 

Do you see how different our expectations can make our interpretations of the text?

 

In your own experience, do you think you’re more of a Freckles or a Nikko? I am a bit of a Nikko sometimes. Perhaps we all are, which is why we need the gospel! So, what does the inner Nikko sound like in your head? Maybe it would be, “Stay alert. Don’t screw up. Don’t be lazy. Don’t get caught being bad.” It’s like that old saying, “Look busy, the boss is coming.”

In the ancient world, this new religion of Christianity was predominantly growing in the Roman Empire among the lower classes and slaves. So, back in the day, the primary readers or hearers of this gospel knew how laughable this was to think that their master would come home from a wedding with food for them, tie on an apron and delight in serving them. This is a laugh-out-loud situation.  

 

This is what Jesus is saying God is like. This is the upside-down love of God that says to us, “You are loved and worthy of care, regardless of how the world says you are not. In fact, you are loved in the midst of the experience of being exactly what the world says is bad.”

 

So, how do we accept that promise? Do we receive it like Freckles, full of joy and abandon? Or with side-ways glances and suspicion, because we don’t believe in the possibility of us being worthy? Or we don’t believe that such a thing is possible?

Today, the Hebrews reading starts with, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

 

 

Now, let me tell you, Freckles has faith. Faith that she will be loved and included and that there is plenty of love to go around.

 

She has every expectation that she will have that experience and she walks boldly into life with that stance. She is alert and awake to the opportunities to be adored. A couple weeks ago, Barbara Rossing preached on the story of Martha and Mary and focused on the idea of being attentive. She told us the idea is to not miss out. The Lord is here.

So, are we being attentive to our Lord who is here? Are we alert and awake to the gifts of God? Perhaps there are gifts in our lives that we don’t ascribe to God? Maybe we just don’t interpret God’s gifts as such, because like Nikko, we’re a little suspicious? Maybe a little too convinced that we’re not actually the subject of God’s devotion? We couldn’t be and so it’s just too hard to imagine that flow of love really does come this way, to us? To you. To me.

Now I don’t want to give you the impression that Freckles is perfect. As you’d expect, a beautiful princess of a dog who is…perhaps…a bit indulged by everyone has some obnoxious behaviors. She does not know that entitlement is not a good look for anybody.

 

 

Like us, Freckles is simultaneously a sinner and saint. She is both obnoxious and wonderful. She both needs correction and guidance, along with bountiful snuggle time. Nikko and Clay need the same things, mostly snuggles to counterbalance all that has happened before. Over time, they both are getting more courageous and more expectant of love. They are becoming new dogs every day.

 

 

 

Clearly in this world of injustice, division, war, and pain, God’s love for us doesn’t mean everything is perfect and that our every expectation and hope is met. But the gifts of God are present. They are unfolding and emerging over time. Jesus is telling us to stay awake to them, for it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom!

One of the great joys and gifts that humans have, perhaps the greatest, is that in our relationship with Christ, we are indeed brought into the flow of the triune God, the one God who is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are invited to be a part of the flow of Christ in another person’s life in service to them.

We can indeed live in anticipation and expectation of being loved by God. We can also live in anticipation of being in service to all around us, swept up in the love of God for the ones we serve. The love of God for us and for all people and creation is true.

 

I know we all have stories of times in our lives that God showed up. So, what if we claimed our inner Freckles and expected God’s love. What would it be like to be awake for it and name it as such when it comes.

 

Perhaps, just like Nikko and Clay, our fears and wounds would slowly heal and transform into the radical faith of Freckles, as well.    

 

 

 

AMEN