All Creatures of Our God and King

October 8, 2023 homily on Psalm 148 and Colossians 1:15-20 by Pastor Galen

The words of the hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” were written around the year 1225 by St. Francis of Assisi, known for being an advocate for peace, and for being the patron saint of the environment and of animals because of his love for all of God’s creatures.

There are many myths and stories surrounding St. Francis’ love for animals, including the legend that St. Francis tamed a wild wolf that was terrorizing a village by simply speaking to it. Francis asked the wolf to stop eating people, and not only did it obey, but it became the village pet! Francis also famously “preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful to God for their wonderful clothes, for their independence, and for God’s care.” Apparently, the birds sat still while he preached to them, and only flew away when he told them they could.

But Francis didn’t necessarily start out as a lover of creation or an advocate for peace. Born in Italy in the year 1181, he was given the name “Francesco” (Francis) by his father, a wealthy silk merchant who was so intent on seeing his son follow in his footsteps that gave him a name that essentially means “Frenchman,” no doubt hoping that he would develop a taste for the finer things in life that the French were known to produce. Indeed, as a teen and young adult, Francis lived a life of luxury, dressing in fine clothes, and engaging in wild parties with other youths. 

Although he was good at business, Francis wanted to make a name for himself through heroic deeds, and so when his village declared war on their longtime enemy, Francis signed up to fight. But Francis never made it to the battlefield. On his first campaign, he was captured and spent a year in prison, and on his second campaign, he received a vision that convinced him that he had it all wrong, causing him to lost all interest in worldly pleasures and in military might.

Francis returned home and began seeking God’s purpose for his life. One day while he was praying in a neglected chapel outside his hometown, Francis had a vision of Jesus telling him to repair his Church. Thinking that Jesus wanted him to rebuild the physical structure of the sanctuary in which he was praying, he sold some of his father’s silk garments in the marketplace and gave the money to the priest in charge of the chapel. His father was so upset that he dragged Francis to court and demanded that he return the money, which of course Francis was unable to do. Francis famously removed the clothes he was wearing and said, 

“Pietro Bernardone is no longer my father. From now on I can say with complete freedom, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’” Wearing nothing but castoff rags, he went off into the freezing woods—singing. And when robbers beat him later and took his clothes, he climbed out of the ditch and went off singing again.”

Francis began going around the countryside, encouraging people towards repentance, love, and peace, and inviting others to join him in proclaiming the Good News of God’s Kingdom. Of course, as we learned earlier, Francis’ ministry extended not just to people, but to all of God’s creation, as he encouraged even the animals to praise God and to get along with people.

All Creatures of our God and King

If we take a closer look at the hymn, “All Creatures of our God and King,” we’ll see that it is not simply a song about all of God’s creatures, but rather it is addressed to all of God’s creatures. In the words of the poem, which were later set to music, St. Francis speaks to the various aspects of God’s creation, exhorting all creation to praise the Lord. 

Verse 1 says,

All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, O praise ye! Alleluia! O brother sun with golden beam, O sister moon with silver gleam! O praise ye! O praise ye! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

In verse 2 he addresses “brother wind, air, clouds, and rain,” the “rising morn” and the “lights of evening,” encouraging them too to find their voice and praise the Lord.

Verse 3 continues,

O sister water, flowing clear, make music for thy Lord to hear, Alleluia! Alleluia! O brother fire who lights the night, providing warmth, enhancing sight, O praise ye! O praise ye! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Francis goes on to speak to “Mother Earth,” and even the flowers and fruits of the earth, encouraging them too to let God’s glory show. 

Now, the image of Francis preaching to birds might seem a bit silly to us. And the fact that the words of this hymn are addressed to the various aspects of nature and not just about nature may strike us as rather odd and unorthodox. But Francis drew his inspiration for this hymn from the words of Psalm 148, where the Psalmist similarly addresses all of creation, encouraging each and every one of God’s created beings to praise the Lord.

Psalm 148

In verses 7 and following, the psalmist says,

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you sea monsters and all deeps,

8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9 Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!

10 Wild animals and all cattle,
    creeping things and flying birds!

Surely, the earth and sky and sea and their inhabitants do not need our encouragement to praise the Lord, do they? Surely the mere fact of their existence is a testament and witness to the majesty and creativity of our Creator God.

Let all Creation Praise the Lord

And yet, by exhorting all of creation to praise the Lord, the psalmist and St. Francis highlight the reality that each and every one of God’s created beings has a unique role to play in giving God honor and glory and praise. We as humans are not the “be-all and end-all” of creation. The world and everything in it, ourselves included, were created for the purpose of giving God praise. 

In this way, the sun, and wind, and clouds and rain are our brothers, and the moon and water are our sisters, for we were all created by God and for God’s pleasure. God created humans from the dust of the ground, and so in this way, the earth is our mother. We are therefore intrinsically connected with all of creation, and everything on this earth and in the sea and sky: birds, and fish, and plants, and animals, and humans, have a vital role to play in bringing honor and glory and praise to our Creator.

Colossians 1:15-20 highlights the reality that the world and everything in it were created by and for God’s glory, and that in Christ God was and is working for the redemption and restoration of all of creation. Verse 15 states that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 1:15-17). And then verse 19 picks up, “ For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19-20). 

All things were created by and for God’s glory, and in Christ, God is in the process of reconciling and restoring all creation to its rightful purpose—to give God the honor and glory and praise that God is due. In this way, when we work for the good and the flourishing of all of God’s creatures, we participate in Christ’s redemptive and restorative work in the world, and we together with all of creation give our Creator the honor and glory and praise.

Creation Care as a Form of Evangelism and Discipleship

Often we as Christians think of tasks like caring for animals and gardening as “secular” work, as opposed to the more “spiritual” work of doing evangelism and discipleship. We write off or dismiss organizations that are concerned with caring for the environment or working to care for endangered species as less central to the mission of the Church than caring for people. But St. Francis and the psalmist who wrote the words of Psalm 148 help us to see caring for creation as an integral part of evangelism and discipleship. 

If indeed each and every creature on earth has a unique and vital role to play in praising God, and if by the sheer nature of their existence, the plants and animals bring honor and glory to their creator, then surely we would want to work for the preservation of all species. Surely we would work to preserve and protect God’s creation from pollution. Surely we would want clean air and clean water, for these all proclaim the glory and majesty of our creator. 

In this way, caring for our pets, watering our plants, and picking up trash indeed can be sacred and holy tasks. But of course, as with anything, it matters how we do it. Do we treat the world around us and all of God’s creatures with the love and gentleness and respect they deserve? Or, do we neglect or take advantage of them, living our lives as if the world revolves around us, rather than God? Do we work for peace and unity between the humans and animals around us, or do we operate out of a scarcity mindset, believing that we can only care for the environment, or people or animals, but not all of the above?

My prayer, along with St. Francis, is that we would be instruments for God’s peace and reconciling work in the world and that we too would work for the flourishing of all of God’s creation. May we care for the people, plants, and animals that God has entrusted to our care. And in so doing, may we learn to depend on our Father, who art in heaven, who loves and cares for each and every one of us God’s creatures. May we, like St. Francis, and like the psalmist who wrote Psalm 148, invite all of creation to join us in fulfilling the purpose for which we were created—to give honor and glory and praise to our Creator.

Amen!