My husband Phil and I went to Florida after Easter for vacation, and one of our stops was Everglades National Park.  We have enjoyed many ranger presentations at national parks over the years, and we were excited to hear about the Everglades, which of course has a much different ecology than we do here in Pennsylvania!  For one thing, we saw Florida panther crossing signs.  I asked the ranger doing our talk if he’s ever seen a Florida panther, and he said, “No, I’ve been doing this for 30 years, never seen one.  But every year some yahoo comes down from Michigan, is here two hours, and of course, sees a panther and gets photos to boot.”  The ranger seemed more than a little jealous!

We didn’t see any Florida panthers either, but we did see many American alligators.  I didn’t realize what an important role the alligators play in creating habitats for other species of wildlife in the park.  During the dry season, the alligators will bore down into the mud and make “alligator holes” which become fresh water pockets that provide a home for water creatures, and water to drink for land creatures.  The ranger said that without the alligators, many of the other animals we saw on our hike would not be able to survive the extremes of the South Florida climate.

As the ranger explained more about how the American alligator influences the eco-system, I said to him, alligators sound like the beavers of Florida.  He agreed that their impact is very similar and said, “Yup, keystone species.”  I thought he meant, yup, beavers are a species from Pennsylvania, the keystone state.  But turns out, “keystone species” is a biology term for any animal that has a disproportionate effect on the eco-system around them.  If for some reason the American alligator were eliminated from Everglades National Park, at least two dozen other species would lose their home.  Alligators make it possible for many other types of plants and animals to survive.

Beavers are also a keystone species, in the sense that the dams they build create a wetland habitat for many other animals.  Another keystone species you probably never thought much about are sea stars, which we used to call starfish—they eat the mussels that would otherwise destroy the plants that many other species depend on for food and protection.  Wolves, jaguars, and lions are examples of predator keystone species.  Elephants are a gentle giant keystone species; they destroy trees that in turn allows grasses to grow.  Without elephants, the African savanna would turn into woodland!  Each keystone species plays a key role in the creation or maintenance of conditions that allow other species to flourish.

One other thing I learned about keystone species is they have, to use terminology picked up from National Geographic, “low functional redundancy.”  Which is a fancy way of saying, there aren’t any other animals waiting in the wings who can do for the eco-system what the keystone species can do.  They have a unique role, an irreplaceable ability to make a contribution.  If the keystone species suffers, the whole eco-system suffers.

So if you hear the term “keystone species”, it does not necessarily refer to animals or plants native to Pennsylvania!  But it does refer to something critical for the survival of many other kinds of life.  This term came as a surprise to me, because I assumed that every type of plant and animal is equally vital to the well-being of our ecology.  Except for mosquitos.  I always thought those could be and should be eliminated from the face of the earth!  Honestly, why did God make mosquitos?  All God’s creatures got a place in the choir, but I don’t think we had to include mosquitos.

But regardless of how you feel about mosquitos, some types of animal life are simply more important than others.  We call these animals “keystone species” because so many other kinds of life are built around them.  Bees and other pollinators, for example, are of course, vitally important!  Something like 70 of the top 100 plants humans use for food rely on pollination by bees and birds in order to reproduce.  We simply would not have a food supply if it weren’t for pollinators.  Humans have to do a better job if identifying these keystone species and protecting them if we want to insure the survival of not only a diversity of biology, but our own survival, too!

So I suppose you could argue that people are the ultimate keystone species.  We have more power to shape the ecology around us than any other living thing.  Over the last few weeks, we have touched on Genesis 1:26-28 as the scriptural foundation for our series on caring for creation.  God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature, so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”  God created human beings; God created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature.  God created them male and female.  God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!  Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

This is our scriptural mandate, to be good stewards over all of creation.  We have talked about how caring well for God’s creation is one of the ways we show love to God.  We know that our choices have a disproportional impact on the environment around us.  More than any other creature, we have the power to create or destroy habitat for every other living thing.

Aside from the Genesis mandate, there aren’t many Bible verses that specifically set forth an ethic of care for animals.  But if we could go back in time and interview Job, he would tell us, even the animals are aware of God’s glory.  Even the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the mammals and reptiles—if you could ask them, they would tell you that God is in charge.  God is the designer of all life.  Every created thing is a witness to God’s bounty and brilliance.

Which is why we want to treat animals with respect.  The dignity and sacredness of animal life is not on par with that of humans.  But it’s up there!  Phil and I have had the privilege of getting to know veterinarians in three of our congregations. Just by coincidence, they all knew each other because they all got their start as veterinarians in the U.S. Army!  They ended up living in Lansdale, Pipersville, and Newtown—that’s how we got to know them—and working in different places doing research.  Each one of them expressed how they felt the sacred order, how they felt a sacred obligation to care well for the animals who were being used in research that would benefit humans.  The same God who created humans created dogs with noses so strong they can detect trace amounts of explosives; birds with eyesight so keen they can see their next meal from hundreds of feet in the air; cheetahs so fast they can sprint 50 to 80 miles per hour!  Every animal is a witness to God’s bounty and brilliance.  Every animal deserves to be treated with respect.  If we fail to protect animal populations, especially the keystone species, we do irreparable harm to God’s creation, and eventually, to God’s people.

One simple way to show more care for the animal world is to cut down on the amount of plastics we use.  Animals mistake small pieces of plastic for food, which of course they can’t digest.  Two of the worst culprits for harming the environment are plastic drinking straws, and Styrofoam.  When Phil and I were in Florida, straws were either made of paper, or just not available.  At first this was frustrating.  Personally I don’t think a soda tastes as good when sipped through a paper straw!  But as we enjoyed the beautiful waters of the Florida Keys, it seemed a small sacrifice to make in order to protect the many fish, birds, and animals that would be harmed by ingesting a plastic straw, which are generally too small to be recycled and easily escape from proper waste handling.  If every member of Lima Church used one less plastic straw a month, that would mean almost 4,000 fewer straws in landfills and/or escaped from proper waste handling a year!  Every plastic straw not used potentially saves the life of a marine bird, fish, or small animal we have been given the responsibility to protect and care well for.

And then there’s Styrofoam.  Several years ago, the Trustees of Lima passed a rule that no Styrofoam products are to be used on church property.  This was noted in our building usage agreement and applied not only to church events, but to outside groups using the church as well.  Somewhere along the line we forgot about that decision, as I saw many Styrofoam coffee cups in use here before COVID—back when we used to make coffee every Sunday.  Hopefully we will be back to serving coffee every week before too long, but I hope we never go back to serving the coffee in foam cups.  The problem is, Styrofoam never really goes away.  It breaks down into small pieces fairly quickly, but then it is easily mistaken for food and ingested by animals, fish and birds. The tiny particles of a foam cup used today could potentially threaten wildlife for a hundred years or more from now.  Being thoughtful about the plastics we use is a great way to show care to the animals God created.  We are all inter-dependent, aren’t we?

Which is why I chose to read the scripture lesson from 1 Corinthians 12 this morning.  Paul is of course talking about the value of every person, and how each person is gifted by the Spirit and ordained by God to play a special role in the Body of Christ.  Paul was not writing about the many different animals of creation and how we should take care of the most vulnerable creatures.  He was talking about us, about you and me.  Each person is unique. You are unrepeatable.  You have the power to be a keystone species—to make a contribution to your environment that will allow many other species to thrive around you.  You have “low functional redundancy”—meaning, if you can’t make your contribution, there’s no on waiting in the wings who can do what you were designed to do!  By the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, you can have a disproportionate effect on the world!  You can be a vessel through which God’s love, grace, justice, peace, healing, hope, and joy are shared to others!  Isn’t that amazing?  You are a keystone species!  We all are!  Paul wanted the fledgling church to recognize the value of each person.  Every single person is loved by God and of equal worth.  We owe it to God and each other to treat all people as sacred beings.

But I think there’s something of what Paul was saying that extends to how we care for all the members of God’s created order.  St. Francis of Assisi lived in Europe in the 1200’s.  He was famous for seeing God’s hand in animals, and for sensing God’s presence and goodness in the life of all God’s creatures.  By cultivating respect for all of God’s creatures, we strengthen our connection with God.  We deepen our sensitivity to the leading of the Spirit.  We find our place in God’s family.

Francis faced much criticism in his life.  He wrote, “You call it a sin, that I love the dog above all else?  The dog stayed with me in the storm; the man, not even in the wind.”  This week we had a State Police officer come for armed intruder training. The thought of someone coming in to Lima Church, hellbent on destruction, is almost too much for me to bear.  As I reflected on this, I asked God in prayer, “Why is there so much evil in the world?”  But I felt as if God were answering me, “Dorry, there’s no sense asking that if you are not willing to do all you can to, as our baptismal vows remind us, ‘resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.’”  St. Francis experienced more loyalty, more willingness to resist evil, more solidarity with his dog than he did with many Christians.  This is not how it should be!

Job pointed out to us that even the birds of the air and the fish of the sea know it is God who created them.  Will be show our loyalty to God by caring well for God’s creation?  Amen.