Mothering Sunday – 30 March 2025
Welcome to our Mothering Sunday Service. Wasn’t it beautiful to see all the posies put together by the Sanctuary Guild given out this morning and we look forward to enjoying the simnel cake after the service. A big thanks to Sylvia for her baking!
Mothering Sunday has its roots in the medieval church, where it was the day that live-in servants could visit the church where they were baptised and visit their mothers. This Sunday is also known as Refreshment Sunday, as it was a break from the fasting traditionally associated with Lent. So, if you have been fasting from cakes during Lent, you have the freedom to enjoy the cake this morning!
However, on what could be thought of as a day of celebration, our readings paint a grim picture of mothering. We have a Hebrew woman giving birth to a boy child while living under an oppressive regime that desires to kill all the boy babies. And we see the women at the cross, particularly Mary, the mother of Jesus, watching her son die a violent death.
It is safe to say that being a mother is not for the faint of heart.
In the Old Testament reading, the Israelites are living in Egypt but Joseph is long dead and they are no longer looked upon favourably by the Egyptian rulers. In fact, the Pharaoh’s demands that the Hebrew midwives
kill any boy children born and that any Egyptian who finds a Hebrew boy child throws him into the Nile. Moses’ mother manages to hide him away from those who desire to kill him until he is too big to be kept away from prying eyes. You can imagine her sitting in her house with her child, nursing him and watching him grow and pondering how to navigate the situation. What a world it must be that the lesser of many evils is to place her growing child in a waterproof basket and send him off down the river, hoping and praying for his survival.
One wonders, too, about the reality of life for Pharaoh’s daughter. Did she have her own children? What made her think that taking in the child of her father’s enemies would be a good idea? When confronted with this child she acts with compassion that hopefully is common to all humanity. We see Moses’ sister boldly suggesting that she could find a wet nurse for the child. In God’s providence, Pharaoh’s daughter takes up her suggestion and the mother gets to continue to care for her son, knowing his life is spared while getting paid for the privilege. All these women, Moses’ Mother, Miriam, his sister and Pharaoh’s daughter show resolve and compassion in the face of danger and choices which seem to have no good ending.
In the Gospel reading, we catch a glimpse of Jesus on the cross. Peter and most of the other disciples have left him but John and the women remain. These women were family members and disciples of Jesus, and they, in the face of danger, are willing to remain with him in his darkest hour. Even though angels and prophets had spoken to Mary over the years about the calling on Jesus’ life, it must have been such a harrowing time to watch her child dying.
Jesus, despite his own suffering, has compassion on his mother. His desire for her to be cared for is seen even in his darkest hour. He knows that a widow without the eldest son to take care of her will be vulnerable. He entrusts her into the care of John, saying “Woman, behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” Jesus’ compassion and care for her protection and provision are not cast aside in his suffering. In this moment, Jesus modelled the reshaping of family and community that would come with the Kingdom of God. We live in a broken world, which means we don’t always have great relationships with our mothers or our children but it is possible to be deeply loved and to love regardless of our biological attachments.
In our New Testament reading, Paul speaks of the importance of consolation for believers. It is not some sappy greeting card nice wish. It is a more robust comfort that comes in the face of suffering and affliction. It evokes the image of one person being with another to support and encourage them, inviting them to encounter hope again. This consolation comes directly from God. The Father of Mercies. It reminds us that even as we share in the suffering of Christ, we will also share in his resurrection.
The challenge for us today, as it was for Moses’ mother, Mary, Jesus, and Paul, is to find our consolation and comfort in God. The reality of our suffering means we can question where God is in our situation and if God is truly good. The intensity of these questions can increase when the suffering is happening to those we love. It is often harder to see our loved ones suffer than it is to be the one suffering. It is all too easy to drown our sorrows by numbing ourselves to the pain through a glass of wine or whiskey, some mindless tv watching or eating our feelings.
But Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” reminding us that it is in our mourning that we are comforted and experience the consolation from God and others. It is OK to not be OK. We are in an era where strong, authoritarian leadership is gaining support. Recently, Elon Musk derided empathy. Sometimes, you hear condemnation for the younger generation and their “Snowflake” tendencies. But I am not convinced that Jesus operated on a harden-up policy! Jesus lived out mercy and consolation and he invites us to show that to others.
It is not necessary to be a mother for this message to be meaningful for us. We all have the need for consolation and comfort, and we all have opportunities to show that to others. Regardless of our biological relationship. Regardless of our gender. Jesus showed great compassion for his mother. Paul showed great love for the Corinthians.
Have you ever had a favourite plate, bowl or teacup that got dropped or broken and you can’t replace it? This bowl was a 40th birthday gift from a friend. It was brought in South Africa, and it was packed and shipped back to New Zealand when I moved back here in 2020. Sadly, it didn’t survive the journey.
You might be wondering why this chair is in front of the lectern. This chair was made from the wood from the old Lychgate. The gate was showing signs of wear and tear, no longer able to do its job, but the wood was taken and repurposed into this chair. It has had a second life of over 80 years.
The chair has a new life, my broken bowl can have a second life. In the same way, with the love, mercy and consolation of God and others, the parts of our lives which have been broken and scared can be put back together. We will not be the same, but in the same way that the resurrected Christ still had the scars of the cross in his body, we can be resurrected and experience the hope and beauty of being loved by God and people.
Sarah Murphy