Sermon and prayers for Mothering Sunday

Mothers Day, John 19:25-26, 22^nd March 2018

Let us Pray – Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts and in the thoughts that we form.

Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. Amen.

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Today is “Mother’s Day”! I have a problem with Mother’s Day! It’s not that I don’t like Mother’s Day or that I disagree with it or that I dread it.

My problem is … that Mother’s Day is perhaps (for me) the most difficult sermon to preach all year. Why? because it can be hard to preach a Mother’s Day message. Because while Mother’s Day can be a very happy, joyous day for some, it can also be a very sad day, a day of pain & grief for others and so not everybody looks forward to Mother’s Day for various reasons.

Today we would normally be in our churches celebrating and offering thanks not only in Worship but acknowledging that March 22^nd is a day when we show our gratitude to our mothers and grandmothers but instead because of the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the coronavirus I am sending you my sermon electronically.

Worship and Motherhood are lifetime tasks, neither of which could or should be confined to a one hour of recognition within a Sunday morning service.

Mother’s Day is a day for greetings, expressions of love and it is also a day for remembering. I do not believe that anything has ever been said or ever will be said that is powerful enough or expressive enough to articulate the true value of a mother.

Motherhood is a special gift from God and it seems to me, that something miraculous happens when a woman gives birth to her first child. For in a way there are really two births. The first of course is the birth of a child and then there is the birth of a mother.

Through the years we relate to our mothers differently:

At age 4, we say… “My mummy…. She can do anything!”

At age 12, … “Well … Mum doesn’t know……. Everything.”

At age 14, … “Mum doesn’t know… Anything!”

At age 18, … “Mum is out of step … with the times.”

At age 25, … “Well, mum…. knows a few things.”

At age 35, …..”Before we decide to do that, … let’s get Mum’s …opinion.”

At age 45, ……”I wonder what mum would say ……about this?”

At age 65+…. “I wish I could talk … with my mother.”

A mother can have the angelic voice of a member in the celestial choir as she gently sings a lullaby to the babe in her arms. Yet this same voice can dwarf the sound of a drill sergeant when she calls her children in for supper, or cheers them on at schools sports day.

When we recall Jesus as he hung on the cross he even then honoured Mary his mother. One of the last things Jesus did on earth was to take care of His mother. Even in the dying moments of His life, He never stopped loving her. He never stopped caring for her.

Near the Cross was Mary the mother of Jesus, His mother’s Sister Mary, Mary Magdalene and one other person, the disciple whom Jesus loved and this disciple was the apostle John. Hanging on the cross, Jesus told John the disciple that Mary was now his mother and in turn he was now her son.

In that moment, Jesus made an oral testament in front of witnesses that made the arrangement binding and so formally places his mother under John’s protection, requiring him to provide for Mary after his death.

Jesus was making the point that Mothers are important. There is hardly a thrill in life that can compete with the opportunity of being able to say to someone that this wonderful woman is my Mother, ‘or’ this is my mum.

But we also have to acknowledge today that for whatever reason some woman are not Mothers. Likewise, for whatever reason, some people are not able to have a relationship with their Mother. Please remember all these people in your prayers today.

My own mother passed away a couple of years ago and many precious memories still flood my mind. I still respect all what she did for me and I continue to remember her and to love her.

Mothers can leave a wonderful imprint on the lives of their children. Mother’s lives and actions speak volumes and we thank God for mothers who live within and proclaim the faith of Christ Jesus.

Moments with mothers and grandmothers often become the foundation of memories that in turn become stories that are shared with the family over many years.

I’d like to share a short story with you….

A little girl was sitting and watching her mother as she washed the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out on her brunette head. “Why are some of your hairs white, Mummy?” … she asked. Her mother replied, “Well, every time you do something wrong one of my hairs turns white.” The little girl wondered about that for a while, then asked, “So why are all of Grandma’s hairs white?”

Grandmothers too are often extra special. When a group of young children were asked what makes a grandmother? Here are some of their responses:

Grandmothers are old so they shouldn’t play too hard and they should never run.
When they read to us they don’t skip parts of the story or mind if it is the same story over again.

And maybe the most touching:

Everybody should try to have a grandmother because they are the only grown-ups who have time.

Most of us have fond memories of mothers and grandmothers and there are few things more powerful than the tears and the prayers of a mother. Few things are more tender than a mother’s hug or a compassionate touch.

But this year things will be very different as we have to distance ourselves from each other. Many of us will not be able to visit and see our mothers and grandmothers today due to the coronavirus. This will be very hard for us and I want you to know that I am holding you all in my prayers.

So today is the day for children to tell their mother and their grandmother(s) how much they love and appreciate them.

And today is also for those whose mothers are no longer with us but we still look back to the time when they were and remember those cherished memories and all that they gave us and did for us.

Jesus displayed love to his mother even as his time of death approached. He gave his example, that where individual circumstances allow, we should show our love and respect to our Mothers as we should indeed show to one another from the tiniest baby to the oldest adult, regardless of individual gender and never more so as we face an invisible, bacterial foe. Today is a day for love and kindness as we celebrate Mother’s Day and long may that love continue and carry us through the days, weeks and months ahead as out of necessity we have to live our lives in a different way.

May the Grace of Christ Jesus bless our Mothers and all those he places in our lives, as we remember that God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good. Amen

Mothers Day prayers

Gracious God, on this special day we thank you for mothers, our own mothers and mothers everywhere.