We’ve explored the metaphor of a house before to illustrate many ideas in Christianity. For instance, as United Methodists, we believe in something called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. We use the bible, church tradition, human reason, and our own experience to make sense of faith matters. (In a series a few years ago, I described this as having a “house” of faith, with the bible being the foundation, and so forth!).

We all know that how we build a physical house is important. A well-crafted one most certainly needs a solid foundation, or else it will cause problems in the future. I recall house-hunting several years ago and visiting a competitively-priced cottage in Little Rock. There were obvious foundation problems and the entire structure was slanted to one side. Even the kitchen cabinet doors wouldn’t stay closed! What we place at the bottom matters quite a bit.

Jesus himself also used a similar illustration with foundations, specifically in Matthew 5:24-27 with the teaching on the wise and foolish builders:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

The important lesson to learn is to build one’s house on a solid foundation. Putting Jesus’ words into practice is like having a rock-solid foundation for your future. Trials and tribulations should not utterly destroy you as you stand firm.

We also sing about foundations, as noted by a classic hymn in our hymnals:

How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,

is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!

What more can he say than to you he has said,

to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

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Broadly speaking, 1 Corinthians 13 also speaks of “foundational” matters—those things that matter most. Love, according to Paul and as we saw in our sermon yesterday, is the virtue that is most important. Consider what else he had to say about this character quality in verses 1-3:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Speaking in tongues, prophesying, and charity are certainly wonderful gifts. Yet without the love of God in our heart, these amount to absolutely nothing. The loveless tongue-speaker, prophet, or philanthropist all do it for show or the praise of other people. Without that foundation of love, we are nothing.

There is another hymn, “The Gift of Love”, that summarizes this important foundational idea:

Though I may speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
And have not love, my words are vain,
As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be given by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin.

Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole.
Let inward love guide every deed;
By this we worship, and are freed.

When we survey our surroundings, I believe it is clear we live in a neat world. There are so many natural wonders that can fill us with awe. Simply put, our world is finely-tuned for life. Creation itself points towards a creator.

God’s truth is often revealed to us in the wonders of creation. God created an orderly universe and we can see God’s “fingerprint” in nature. Also, this is not just limited to sunsets, big mountains, or far-off galaxies in the night sky. This absolutely includes animals, too.

I think there are some very insightful examples of God-given character qualities in the animal kingdom.

Sheep were the main illustration in my preaching yesterday. Despite their helplessness and unintelligence, we can learn quite a bit of how they act and relate it to our lives as disciples. We too are needy and not always smart. We need to know the voice of our “shepherd” and to follow God daily!

In addition to sheep, here are some other interesting examples of how animals can teach us about Godly character…

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Resourcefulness/Thriftiness

We must always use God’s resources to the best of our ability, managing them wisely to give to others, and also planning for the future.

Koalas are very resourceful kinds of creatures. Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves, which contain very little nutrients. They must conserve every bit of energy, so they move slowly and often nap most of the day. This is how they survive in the Australian wild. It can be very dry, so it is remarkable that koalas can even survive for years in such inhospitable environments!

Sea otters are also resourceful. Oftentimes they will dive to the ocean floor and find the perfect rock at the bottom of the ocean to use to crack open oysters. They hold this rock under a skin flap near their arms for future use. Otters will also protect their young and teach them how to swim so they can feed themselves, too.

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Flexibility

God calls us to adapt to our surroundings, whether that be evangelizing to other people, or caring for loved ones during life’s challenging seasons.

Hummingbirds are the epitome of flexibility as they flap their wings extremely fast and are able to stay in the same position, move up, down, left, right, forward, or backward. They are able to fly right up to food sources that other birds have no chance of reaching.

Octopuses are flexible in more ways than one. They can contort their bodies to fit into very small spaces or squeeze through small cracks to hide from predators. Another flexible quality is that many can change colors. If they are at the bottom of a grey sea floor, they can turn grey and even texture themselves. If they are by a garden of coral and plants, they can match to look like just another rock in the sea with perfect camouflage.

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Compassion/Love

There are almost too many examples to name, since so many animals will care for their young! One final example of “lessons from the animal kingdom” is a classic… the loyal dog.

Here’s a song by Wendy Francisco to illustrate:

As a pastor I often receive questions about forgiveness and other people. We might have some vague idea of what forgiveness means, but many times we struggle with actually living a forgiving life. We find it difficult to let go of wrongdoings and avoid reconciling with offenders. I think of the following examples…

• Someone says that we don’t always have to forgive, and that being unforgiving might be the best thing to do when someone is wronged.
• An individual claiming he never has to ask for forgiveness. Apparently people can be perfect, despite obvious moral failings!
• Another person saying to someone she’s wronged that you have to forgive me. Instead of changing her own heart, she uses this as an opportunity to take advantage of that person.

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A book I read recently, The Name of God is Mercy by Pope Francis, dealt with the broad idea of forgiveness. In this rather short book, Francis recounts several impactful anecdotes from his ministry over the years. One story captures the theme of the book. When asked about confession and forgiveness during a conversation, an elderly parishioner responded to Francis that without forgiveness, our world would not exist. Indeed without God’s grace, we would not have much at all!

Francis talks about how church must be like a field hospital. We do not come to condemn people, but rather work so that individuals and communities come to know the grace of God. The same would be true for someone like an emergency medic or trauma surgeon in a war zone. Instead of blaming an injured car crash victim, soldier, civilian, or whoever it might be, that medical professional seeks to provide aid—no questions asked. Francis advocates for this understanding of church in our 21st century world. Other memorable quotes that stood out to me were:

• “Mercy is the first attribute of God.”
• “God does not want anyone to be lost. His mercy is infinitely greater than our sins.”
• “God never tires of forgiving, it is we who get tired of asking him for forgiveness.”

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To build on Pope Francis’ exploration on forgiveness, I find it helpful to outline the meaning of forgiveness through a simple, straightforward formula of sorts:

Forgiveness + Repentance = Reconciliation

When someone wrongs us, we are called to forgive them. That individual is called to repent. This produces reconciliation where we mend those broken bonds.

To explain this idea further, consider the following example I witnessed at the weekly prison ministry I do at the Tucker Unit.

A young man (we’ll call him Robert) grew up in an incredibly broken home. His father was abusive and did horrendous things to Robert and other family members. The abuse contributed to many issues Robert faced as an adult, and he began to act out by breaking the law. Robert is now serving several years in the state prison for crimes he committed.

Robert became a Christian and wants healing from this ordeal. As a follower of Christ, he knows he ought to forgive his father. The act of forgiveness allows Robert to “let go” of previous hurt and turn it over to God.

But for “full healing” to come, Robert’s father must also repent. To repent in the biblical sense means to make a 180-degree turn, moving away from unrighteousness to righteousness. Robert’s father must own up to his actions and seek God’s forgiveness in order to truly repent.

After forgiveness and repentance, then that relationship can begin to heal. Reconciliation is a nice word to describe this. Hopefully Robert’s family is put back together through this process.

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Tragically, the story does not always have a happy ending. We’ve all likely faced instances of forgiveness where the offender refused to repent. In these cases where reconciliation doesn’t seem possible, I encourage you to still pray for the other person. Hopefully God can work in his or her life to bring about repentance and eventually reconciliation between the two of you. In the above story, I should mention that Robert’s father is still “lost.” But Robert has fortunately committed to praying for his wayward parent, that they might experience healing as a family.

We often “mess up” when it comes to forgiveness. We have ill-defined ideas of what it truly means. Likewise, many people refuse to forgive, falsely believing doing so will make them stronger or better off. On the contrary, we must believe that forgiveness is a crucial part of our faith. Remember what that elderly disciple once told Pope Francis: Without forgiveness, our world would not exist.