A Sermon for Girl Scout Sabbath
The Rev. Patricia Gillespie
Genesis 9:8-17
Zippy really likes this reading.
She's the church dog and sometimes she feels left out.
In church, we talk a lot about God ... about our serving God, like in our Girl Scout Promise,
and about God loving us too.
But we don't often talk about God loving the animals.
Here we read the end of the story about Noah and the ark with all the animals.
Zippy likes this story because it says that the deal
(that's kinda what a covenant is, like making a deal, though it's not always an even deal)
the deal here is between God and "all flesh."
It's really clear that all of the animals are part of the bargain. –
God makes a promise not just for the people, but for all the other animals too.
Zippy makes me look at the Bible again, and I realize that lots of things we thought were only for us people, are for all of God's creation. The Bible says "God so loved the world" not "God so loved man" or "God so loved people." God loves the whole world. Jews and Christians, Buddhists and Muslims, women and men, boys and girls, Episcopalians and Lutherans, Catholics and Methodists, beagles and raccoons and mosquitos. We all belong to the same God.
Sometimes the church forgets that. But scouting is pretty good at remembering it. Scouting helps all girls grow strong – all kinds of different girls, though maybe not girl beagles like Zippy. But then again, scouting helped me remember that "considering and caring" might include more than just people. Even in the dark ages when I was a girl scout, and later as an adult scout, scouting helped me learn how to help Zippy and other animals grow strong.
In fact, when I was your age, the Girl Scout Law included,
"A Girl Scout is a friend to animals"
And I did all the animal badges –
I guess that's what made me strong enough to walk all six of my dogs at once.
And smart enough about animals that the DNR
lets me care for wild animals that can't survive in the wild,
so Zippy has a blind "sister raccoon" to play with.
From scouting I learned enough about camping and "using resources wisely" that it made me strong enough to lead groups of people into the Boundary Waters. I learned to try all kinds of new things in scouting.
What I learned from scouting is that girls can do amazing things – even things that some people say we can't. As a kid I was told that girls couldn't be priests. But now I am a priest.
It's a little different uniform I wear now ... My Girl Scout Uniform was covered with pins and patches and awards that only I could wear. My priest "uniform" is simple and plain. And it's not just for priests. Anyone can wear it – priests, babies, old people, and bishops. Though I'm not sure I could make one for Zippy, what it says is that we are all loved by God and we can all hope to grow strong and become what God hopes for us to be. For you that could mean all kinds of things .....??? (girls' list). Who knows? --someone here might be a priest or a bishop someday.
Later we're going to get a chance to practice being bishops –
doing some dancing and some blessing in church.
We'll get to play the big organ, "The Dr. Grant" too.
We can all try it and see if maybe those are ways we might grow stronger.
Being here together today is a reminder that the deal is that all God's unique creations are loved by God -- Zippy and me, you and your leaders, my raccoon and my bishop, your pets and your friends. God wants us all to grow strong, each in our own special way. And scouting helps us to do that. Thank God.