“MOTHER GOD, MOTHER EARTH, MOTHER CHURCH”

A sermon preached at the Mint Methodist Church, Exeter, by the Minister, Rev Andrew Sails at 10.30 a.m. on Mothering Sunday 2ne March 2008 Readings: Matthew 12:46-50 John 19: 25-27

“Who is my mother?” (Matthew 12:48)

A teacher gave her class of seven year olds
a lesson on the magnet and what it does.
The next day she set the children a simple written test,
including the following question:
"My full name has six letters. The first one is “M”.
I pick up things. What am I?"
When the test papers were handed in,
the teacher was surprised to find that nearly half the children
answered the question with the word “Mother”

Mothers are valued for many things –
not only for picking up all the toys and clothes the 7 year old leaves lying around,
but also picking up the child him or her self when the going gets tough.

For many Mothers Day is a day of thanksgiving -
those of you who have sent flowers and cards,
it is a day to say thank you,
and for those who have received greetings from children,
it is a day to rejoice in those you have brought into the world.

But it isn’t always that simple.
I am always aware of people who find Mothers Day service very difficult,
or avoid them altogether because they are too painful.

And there are those of you here today who find Mothers’ Day tough -

· Those unable to have children

· Those who have miscarried

· Those who have buried a child

· Those who long to give birth but are single

· Gay and lesbian couples - some wrestling with issues of adoption

· the child who has buried his or her mother

· Those who have had abortions

· Those who have given their children for adoption

· the stepmother struggling to find a place in a new family

· the divorcee denied access to her children

· children estranged for their mother

· mothers alienated from their children

For all of you, Mothers’ Day may produce
mixed or even very negative emotions.

And then of course the news this week
has been full of the unfolding allegations and evidence
of child abuse in Jersey.
But for some in this Church child abuse
is not just something in the 6 o’clock news –
it is a searing personal memory which still has the power
to destroy every happy image of the family home.

So – for whatever reason, if Mothers’ Day and playing Happy Families
is hard going for you, remember this -

Whatever our family situation, we all have a place within the family of God.
We are all God’s children -
God is our Heavenly Father,
God is our Heavenly Mother.

We are of course heirs to millennia of patriarchal & male dominated thinking,
so that traditionally God has nearly always been described as a male parent.
Though there has always been a small stream of thinking
celebrating the feminine side of God’s nature –

· Jesus laments over Jerusalem and says he would like to gather the people
as a hen gathers her chicks (Mt 23:37)

· Some early Christian art depicted Christ on the cross
offering humanity not only blood from his side but also a mother’s milk

· Anselm (11^th C Archbishop of Canterbury) describes Christ as
“the mother of all mothers who tasted death
in thy desire to give life to thy children”

· Down to our Methodist Worship Book which (albeit only in one place)
includes a prayer “O God our Father and Mother…”.

Kathy Galloway of the Iona Community
has retold the story of creation in imagery drawn from childbirth –
she weaves together images from Genesis and those of a woman in labour.

It begins like this:

“Once upon a time, in the beginning, A labour of love was undertaken.

It started with a sign, to show that something was about to happen.

Light came forth from the deep darkness, bright, clear and unmistakable.

And it was good.

At the second time, the waters were broken.

At first they gushed, then they became a trickle,

And a space was created. It was exactly the right size.

By now, the creation was well under way.

And it was good.

At the third time, a cradle was made ready.

It was comfortable and beautiful and waiting.

And food was prepared, issuing sweetly and warmly

And in precisely the right measure from the being of the labourer.

And it was good.

At the forth time, rhythm was established. Ebbing and flowing, contracting and expanding, Pain and joy, sun and moon,

Beginning and ending. The labour of love progressed.

And it was very good.”

The story continues: the act of creation and birthing is completed.
The piece ends:

“At the seventh time, the labour was finished.

The task was complete. And the labourer rested,

For she was very, very tired.”

From “A Labour of Love” by Kathy Galloway, © Kathy Galloway in “No Empty Phrases” ed Donald Hilton, NCEC 1999

In the words of Taiwanese theologian Choan-Seng Song

“the passion shown in the birth of a child
gives us a glimpse into the passion of God giving birth to creation”
In God we all have a loving mother -
so let us all give thanks to God for her passion and self giving and labour
that made us and our world.

And in another sense, that world which God makes for us is also our Mother.
New Age writers often speak of this planet as Mother earth –
but the idea of the earth as our mother
has also been a part of Christian thinking back to St Francis.

A mother is one who gives of herself to bring life and growth –
and so we rely on mother earth to sustain us and our sisters and brothers.

The rebellious adolescent can so often turn his or her back on mother love
& escape the apron strings in a destructive way.

We need to ask whether we have become unruly and destructive,
even matricidal children, tossing aside the gifts of mother earth
and threatening our as yet unborn sisters & brothers.

Half way through Fairtrade Fortnight is a good time to reflect
on how as a human family
we cherish and share the gifts we receive from mother earth.

We give thanks today for Mother God, for Mother Earth
and also for Mother Church.

This is the origin of Mothering Sunday –
originally concerned with daughter Churches
giving thanks for the mother Churches which had founded them.
I used to be minister of a Church on an estate outside Brighton –
every year we sent a Mothers’ day card to the town centre Church
which has set up the estate chapel 50 years before.

We can’t do that at the Mint-
the provenance of our founders in 1816 is a bit murky –
but we can give thanks for Mother Church –
those within the Christian tradition from which we have sprung –
As Methodists we can use today to give thanks
for the Church of England and the Catholic Church -
from whence we came

As teenagers grow up and leave home,
they become individuals in their own right –
they know best and often become critical of their parents
(after all these years, my dad still insists on reading the Daily Telegraph…)

Sometimes children go beyond disagreement and turn on their parents.
Church history has sadly seen not a few such family bust ups
within the family of the Church -
(bust ups for which we should all be ashamed).

We in our part of the Church family
may well take issue with some who have gone before us
(not least I might say in the context of this sermon
those Churches which retain male hierarchy and domination) –

But to disagree is one thing, to fight is another.

We are heirs to a 2000 year Christian family tree,
and are beholden to “Honour our Father and Mother”–
even when our ways have parted.

Finally, let me remind you of our two Gospel passages.

· As Christ hangs on the cross, Mary his mother is still with Jesus –
her maternal love drawing her to the foot of the cross.
And in extremis Jesus is still concerned for her.

· Earlier in his ministry Jesus is in a crowded house.
Messengers tell him that his mother is outside.
He replies – who is my mother, my brothers?
All his followers are family now.
Clearly Jesus has a much broader vision of what it means to be mother and family.
The love of the biological family is extended to all who will come.

And so we gather today on Mothers’ Day

For some (thank God) it is a day when we can give thanks
and make new commitments to our earthly mothers and children.

For others that is not so easy, maybe it is impossible.

But for us all we can

· give thanks for our place in the Church, the Christian family,
and honour those who have gone before us in the faith

· give thanks for Mother Earth,
and recognize our responsibilities to the planet
and all our fellow members of the human race

· give thanks for our Heavenly Mother who made us,
and seek in all things to be more worthy of our mother’s love.

Order of Service

Mothering Sunday (4^th Sunday in Lent)
10.30 a.m. Morning Worship led by Andrew Sails

Organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – Johann Pachelbel

‘Chorale Prelude on ‘Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele’
(Soul arise, dispel thy sadness)

Welcome

Hymn 16 “Praise to the Lord”

Prayer

All Age Ministry – Sue Jones

Hymn 329 (verse 1 and verses 4-7)
“All creatures of our God and King”

The Peace

Leader: Let us share the peace

Adults: The peace of the Lord be with you

Children: And also with you

Leader: Go in peace

[Young people leave for their own sessions]

Readings Matthew 12:46-50 (p.978)
John 19: 25-27 (p.1088)

Hymn “Mary, blessèd grieving mother”

Sermon

Hymn 333 “For the beauty of the earth”

Offertory

Prayers of Intercession

Leader: ……..Lord, be with us in our need, we pray
People (sing): Ubi caritas, et amor.
Ubi caritas Deus ibi est.

Lord’s Prayer

Hymn 566 “Now thank we all our God”

Blessing

Organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – JS Bach

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