Pigs Are Sheep Dogs, Too
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series V, Cycle C
Object:
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (vv. 1-2)
In the charming 1995 Oscar-winning movie, Babe, the title character is a little orphaned pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. The orphaned pig is taken in by the friendly Farmer Hoggett and his barnyard of odd farm animals. Ferdinand the duck, who thinks he is a rooster, befriends Babe. Fly, the resident border collie, adopts Babe and raises him. Consequently, the pig calls her "Mom."
Babe soon learns the social status of the farm animals. There are forbidden boundaries that neither he nor his friend, Ferdinand the duck, are to cross. The dogs are allowed to enter the humans' house, but neither of them can. The dogs accompany the farmer into the fields, but Babe is made to stay at home. He is told that he has no real purpose on the farm other than to eat and grow plump. His purpose is to be ham and bacon.
At first, the naive little pig does not realize this, but Ferdinand does, which is why he frantically tries to make himself useful around the farm by usurping the rooster's duty to wake up the farm. Eventually, Babe understands and decides to create his own destiny. Following the example of his adoptive mother, Babe decides to be a sheepdog. He then must overcome the other's preconceived notions of what a pig can do and prove to Farmer Hoggett that he really is a sheepdog. With the help of Fly and the sheep, Babe learns that a pig can be anything that he wants to be.
Paramount to the story is one's destiny and one's pecking order. Some of the animals wish to keep Babe as an underling. Babe's purpose is to be food and nothing more. They feel Babe should accept his role.
In the scripture from Luke 15, there are some Pharisees that grumbled when tax collectors and sinners came to hear Jesus preach. These people were considered unclean outsiders. As such, the Pharisees did not feel they should aspire to be anything else except what they were. They should accept their fate.
These Pharisees would never say, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." Instead, they would say, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God." They didn't want the sinner saved. They sadistically looked forward to the destruction of the sinner.
Jesus showed God's love toward sinners through two parables -- a lost sheep and a lost coin. Sinners were simply lost and needed to be found. God searches for the lost and rejoices when they are found. No one's destiny is predetermined; people can change. Sinners can be redeemed. The outsiders can be included.
In the charming 1995 Oscar-winning movie, Babe, the title character is a little orphaned pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. The orphaned pig is taken in by the friendly Farmer Hoggett and his barnyard of odd farm animals. Ferdinand the duck, who thinks he is a rooster, befriends Babe. Fly, the resident border collie, adopts Babe and raises him. Consequently, the pig calls her "Mom."
Babe soon learns the social status of the farm animals. There are forbidden boundaries that neither he nor his friend, Ferdinand the duck, are to cross. The dogs are allowed to enter the humans' house, but neither of them can. The dogs accompany the farmer into the fields, but Babe is made to stay at home. He is told that he has no real purpose on the farm other than to eat and grow plump. His purpose is to be ham and bacon.
At first, the naive little pig does not realize this, but Ferdinand does, which is why he frantically tries to make himself useful around the farm by usurping the rooster's duty to wake up the farm. Eventually, Babe understands and decides to create his own destiny. Following the example of his adoptive mother, Babe decides to be a sheepdog. He then must overcome the other's preconceived notions of what a pig can do and prove to Farmer Hoggett that he really is a sheepdog. With the help of Fly and the sheep, Babe learns that a pig can be anything that he wants to be.
Paramount to the story is one's destiny and one's pecking order. Some of the animals wish to keep Babe as an underling. Babe's purpose is to be food and nothing more. They feel Babe should accept his role.
In the scripture from Luke 15, there are some Pharisees that grumbled when tax collectors and sinners came to hear Jesus preach. These people were considered unclean outsiders. As such, the Pharisees did not feel they should aspire to be anything else except what they were. They should accept their fate.
These Pharisees would never say, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." Instead, they would say, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God." They didn't want the sinner saved. They sadistically looked forward to the destruction of the sinner.
Jesus showed God's love toward sinners through two parables -- a lost sheep and a lost coin. Sinners were simply lost and needed to be found. God searches for the lost and rejoices when they are found. No one's destiny is predetermined; people can change. Sinners can be redeemed. The outsiders can be included.
