MOTHERING SUNDAY
John 19.25-27
Today we give thanks to God for mothers and for those who were mothers to us.
But mothering Sunday is not just a family affair.
The idea was prompted from a bible reading (Galatians 4.26) that is still read when the BCP lectionary is used. It speaks of the Jerusalem from above which is ‘our mother from above’.
It became the day to celebrate the community of the Church, of our ‘mother’, of all those people in space and time who have put their trust in the promise of God and in Jesus Christ.
Apparently this was the Sunday when people would travel to their ‘mother church’, and in time those in domestic service would be given a day pass to visit their mothers.
So today we celebrate both human families, and in particular our mothers or those who were mothers to us, and also the community of the people of God.
Our readings reflect that.
Exodus 2:1-11 tells us about Moses and his two mothers.
I have very little knowledge of the workings of the court of Pharaoh in 1400 BC. But I suspect that Moses grew up with one woman, the princess, who named him and who he called mother, although he would have looked different; and with a nanny who, unknown to the princess, really was his mother. She at some point must have told him, and so perhaps it’s not surprising that Moses went a bit off the rails, murders a man in a rage, and God has to give him cooling off time, 40 years in the wilderness, before he can use him.
It is a story of a very human messed up family. But it is also a story of a mother’s love for her child, and of how God can use anyone – however messed up we are.
But if the Old Testament story is of a human family, the New Testament reading is of a new family that is open to everyone, a family in which we are mothers and children, fathers and siblings to each other. And this family is not exclusive but reaches out and draws others in, and it was created and is shaped by Jesus’ death on the cross.
John 19.25-27
Today we give thanks to God for mothers and for those who were mothers to us.
But mothering Sunday is not just a family affair.
The idea was prompted from a bible reading (Galatians 4.26) that is still read when the BCP lectionary is used. It speaks of the Jerusalem from above which is ‘our mother from above’.
It became the day to celebrate the community of the Church, of our ‘mother’, of all those people in space and time who have put their trust in the promise of God and in Jesus Christ.
Apparently this was the Sunday when people would travel to their ‘mother church’, and in time those in domestic service would be given a day pass to visit their mothers.
So today we celebrate both human families, and in particular our mothers or those who were mothers to us, and also the community of the people of God.
Our readings reflect that.
Exodus 2:1-11 tells us about Moses and his two mothers.
I have very little knowledge of the workings of the court of Pharaoh in 1400 BC. But I suspect that Moses grew up with one woman, the princess, who named him and who he called mother, although he would have looked different; and with a nanny who, unknown to the princess, really was his mother. She at some point must have told him, and so perhaps it’s not surprising that Moses went a bit off the rails, murders a man in a rage, and God has to give him cooling off time, 40 years in the wilderness, before he can use him.
It is a story of a very human messed up family. But it is also a story of a mother’s love for her child, and of how God can use anyone – however messed up we are.
But if the Old Testament story is of a human family, the New Testament reading is of a new family that is open to everyone, a family in which we are mothers and children, fathers and siblings to each other. And this family is not exclusive but reaches out and draws others in, and it was created and is shaped by Jesus’ death on the cross.
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| The Crucifixion, C14th School of Moscow, Rublev museum |
The icon that you have in front of you shows Jesus on the cross and the two figures are Mary and John, who are mentioned in our reading.
Except they are not!
Today is not the day to go into big theology, although I find this fascinating.
Neither Mary nor John is mentioned by name in John’s gospel.
We are not told Mary’s name. She is known as ‘the mother of Jesus’. She only really appears twice. Once at the beginning of the gospel when she is present at a wedding where Jesus is, and she tells Jesus that they have run out of wine, and so obviously is expecting him to do something! The second time is here at the end of the gospel.
In both cases, Jesus calls her ‘woman’ – probably better translated as ‘dear woman’ – and in our icon she is shown with her hands raised to Jesus in an intercessory posture.
And the mother of Jesus, and this is particularly clear from the woman of Revelation 12.1-6, who both represents Israel and Mary, comes to represent the faithful people of God, the Church.
John’s name is also not used. Don’t confuse the apostle John with John the Baptist, who is mentioned by name. But John the apostle, who wrote the gospel, does not mention his own name. He simply describes himself as the disciple who Jesus loved.
And he is not saying that to imply that Jesus didn’t love the other disciples, but so that he becomes every person who follows and trusts Jesus. When I read, ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’, I am invited to read myself into the story. Who is the disciple who Jesus loved? It is John, but it is also me and you.
So, when Jesus says to Mary, ‘Behold your Son’, and to John, ‘Behold your mother’, he is not simply telling them to take care of each other (although he is, and in God’s grace he often provides us with someone when we go through a time of crisis or darkness), but he is also creating a new community. He is saying to the Church, the people of God, ‘here is a new member to welcome and to cherish and to nurture’. And he is saying to the new disciple, beloved by Jesus, ‘here is your new family’.
This is a community that is based on the cross.
We are united at the foot of the cross, by our gratitude to Jesus for what he did for us when he died for us on the cross, and by our tiny, embryonic love for him.
We are united together by the gift of love, acceptance and forgiveness that he showed for us and won for us on the cross.
That is a wonderful equalizer. We are here not because of any achievement or status or moral success, but because we are each forgiven. There is no place for lording it over another, for the pride that thinks I am better than another or status within the community of the church.
We are united by the gift of the Holy Spirit, symbolised here by the blood pouring out of the side of Jesus (although the image has faded in this icon)
And we are united by our new identity as sons and daughters of God in the family of God, with a shared destiny and hope.
On this Mothering Sunday, when we give thanks to God for our mothers, and those who have been mothers for us, and we thank God for their love for us, we are also very aware of how mixed up human families and relationships can be – and of how mixed up we are.
But the foot of the cross is ground zero. It is the reset point. It is the place where we receive forgiveness and are invited to become part of a new community, forgiven and set free, that is beginning to learn to take care of each other, the people of God.
Except they are not!
Today is not the day to go into big theology, although I find this fascinating.
Neither Mary nor John is mentioned by name in John’s gospel.
We are not told Mary’s name. She is known as ‘the mother of Jesus’. She only really appears twice. Once at the beginning of the gospel when she is present at a wedding where Jesus is, and she tells Jesus that they have run out of wine, and so obviously is expecting him to do something! The second time is here at the end of the gospel.
In both cases, Jesus calls her ‘woman’ – probably better translated as ‘dear woman’ – and in our icon she is shown with her hands raised to Jesus in an intercessory posture.
And the mother of Jesus, and this is particularly clear from the woman of Revelation 12.1-6, who both represents Israel and Mary, comes to represent the faithful people of God, the Church.
John’s name is also not used. Don’t confuse the apostle John with John the Baptist, who is mentioned by name. But John the apostle, who wrote the gospel, does not mention his own name. He simply describes himself as the disciple who Jesus loved.
And he is not saying that to imply that Jesus didn’t love the other disciples, but so that he becomes every person who follows and trusts Jesus. When I read, ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’, I am invited to read myself into the story. Who is the disciple who Jesus loved? It is John, but it is also me and you.
So, when Jesus says to Mary, ‘Behold your Son’, and to John, ‘Behold your mother’, he is not simply telling them to take care of each other (although he is, and in God’s grace he often provides us with someone when we go through a time of crisis or darkness), but he is also creating a new community. He is saying to the Church, the people of God, ‘here is a new member to welcome and to cherish and to nurture’. And he is saying to the new disciple, beloved by Jesus, ‘here is your new family’.
This is a community that is based on the cross.
We are united at the foot of the cross, by our gratitude to Jesus for what he did for us when he died for us on the cross, and by our tiny, embryonic love for him.
We are united together by the gift of love, acceptance and forgiveness that he showed for us and won for us on the cross.
That is a wonderful equalizer. We are here not because of any achievement or status or moral success, but because we are each forgiven. There is no place for lording it over another, for the pride that thinks I am better than another or status within the community of the church.
We are united by the gift of the Holy Spirit, symbolised here by the blood pouring out of the side of Jesus (although the image has faded in this icon)
And we are united by our new identity as sons and daughters of God in the family of God, with a shared destiny and hope.
On this Mothering Sunday, when we give thanks to God for our mothers, and those who have been mothers for us, and we thank God for their love for us, we are also very aware of how mixed up human families and relationships can be – and of how mixed up we are.
But the foot of the cross is ground zero. It is the reset point. It is the place where we receive forgiveness and are invited to become part of a new community, forgiven and set free, that is beginning to learn to take care of each other, the people of God.
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