Erl Purnell Sermon

cChristmas 1 ~ December 31, 2006 ~ A sermon preached by The Rev’d Erl G. Purnell at Old St. Andrew’s Church, Bloomfield, CT

Isaiah 61.10-62.3; Psalm 147; Galatians 3.23-25, 4.4-7; John 1.1-18

On Christmas morning, just six days ago, our friend Shane took his two young dogs for their early morning walk in Bushnell Park. Max and Chloe tugged at the leashes, excited to be outside.

Quite suddenly, the dogs darted over to a medium-sized box that still had the remnants of wrapping and ribbon on it. Max and Chloe were very interested in the box. Shane was not … until he realized the box was moving slightly and a squeaky sound was trapped inside.

When Shane investigated, he found a puppy in the box. The puppy was very little, maybe only a week or two old. Of course the box was moving, the little critter was shivering and gasping for breath. Shane picked up the box with the puppy inside and went home as quickly as he could. Once there, he and Chantelle, his wife, started calling for help. They called the animal shelter, the Humane Society, their vet, other vets. It was Christmas morning. None of these places was open.

The puppy continued to shiver and gasp for air. Shane and Chantelle couldn’t let this helpless, abandoned animal die. Finally, they found an emergency animal hospital that was open. “Yes,” the person on the phone said, “bring the puppy in.” They jumped in their car and dashed to the emergency animal hospital with the Christmas puppy.

Shane and Chantelle carried the puppy in the box up to the counter at the emergency animal hospital. Shane explained that he had come upon the puppy in the park and that it needed medical attention or it would die. The vet tech pushed a clipboard with registration papers across the counter and told Shane and Chantelle to fill out the forms. “We can’t take care of the puppy,” the vet tech said, “unless somebody is responsible for covering the bill.”

Shane repeated that the puppy wasn’t their puppy; that he had found the dog abandoned in the park; and that they just couldn’t afford to cover the cost of vet care. The vet tech said, “Sorry. Can’t take the puppy without a credit card to pay for the care. That’s our policy.”

When I heard this story I couldn’t believe it. It’s not that I didn’t believe Shane and Chantelle. It’s that I couldn’t believe the vet tech at the emergency animal hospital would refuse to take in an obviously dying puppy unless the good Samaritans who rescued the dog paid what could be hundreds and hundreds of dollars for life-saving care … and all of this on Christmas Day!

The connection between this sad little puppy and the birth of Jesus struck me square between the eyes. When we arrive in this world we’re all pretty helpless—the Christ child in the manger, the puppy in the Christmas box. How parents or vet techs respond to the fragile life that shows up on Christmas morning matters greatly, or, at least, it should.

Mary and Joseph care greatly for their child. They wrapped him up in what ever they had and laid him in the manger. They were resourceful, with thanks in part to the thoughtful innkeeper who let them use the stable for the night. And the stable animals—a cow, some sheep, maybe a goat or two, surely a cat—provided their body-heat to cut the midnight chill. It was a team effort that first night Jesus was with us. Indeed, it’s a team effort for any of us to make it through childhood. Life is just too precious not to need a lot of help.

With the puppy’s own mother gone, the only viable surrogate was at the emergency animal hospital. Shane and Chantelle were magnanimous in getting the little guy to the only place that could retrieve him from the jaws of death. But once there, the vet tech, who’s job it was to help, was stuck in a box and tangled up in a ribbon called our policy. The inhumanity of this situation is sickening. How, pray tell, are we supposed to treat the other creatures of this world, not to mention each other? Are we meant to be compassionate and caring? Are we called to be thoughtful and considerate, maybe even go out of our way to help another living being—in this case, a sick, motherless puppy?

Again, the connection to Jesus struck me right between the eyes. In Jesus is the essence of Self-lessness. The example of Jesus spans all of God’s creation. Yes, we are to care for other critters. Yes, we are to care for this beautiful earth, our island home. Yes, we are to care for each other.

Do you know Bill Maher, the HBO pundit and comedian? At the end of his show he usually offers a set of New Rules. What happened on Christmas Day at the emergency animal hospital is deserving of some new rules.

New Rule: Homeless puppies are more important than silly policies … and thet should always be given help if needed on Christmas.

New Rule: People who are meant to care for sick animals should do just that and forget the excuses.

New Rule: Thoughtful people, who go out of their way to help dying puppies, should be thanked, not charged.

You’re waiting for the end of the story, right? I don’t know it. I don’t know what happened to the puppy, if it lived or died. Nor do Shane and Chantelle. They knew they couldn’t save the puppy’s life at their house and they knew they couldn’t pay hundreds of dollars to the emergency animal hospital either. Shane and Chantelle made the difficult decision to leave the puppy on the counter and go home. All they could do was trust that the vet tech would care for the puppy.

There is a Christ moment in all of this. Shane and Chantelle did the right thing. God bless them. They are the kind of people we’re proud to have as freinds. Maybe there was another Christ moment after the door to the emergency animal hospital swung closed and the vet tech stood looking at the puppy. Let’s hope, let’s just hope the puppy was able to bring the spirit of Christ to that vet tech on Christmas Day 2006.

Amen.