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Mothering Sunday

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Mothering Sunday P a g e | 1 Mothering Sunday Rev Margaret Whyte, retired from Pollokshaws Parish Church, Glasgow. Locum at Bourock Parish Church, Barrhead, offers her thoughts on Mothering Sunday. Contents: Joshua 5: 9-12 ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Psalm 32 .................................................................................................................................................. 2 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 .............................................................................................................................. 3 Luke 15: 11-32........................................................................................................................................... 3 The Prodigal Son or is it the Waiting Mother? ..................................................................................... 5 Origins of Mother’s Day ...................................................................................................................... 10 Another Illustration .............................................................................................................................. 11 Another Idea for sermon ..................................................................................................................... 12 Prayers .................................................................................................................................................. 13 Internet Illustrations ............................................................................................................................ 17 Things My Mother Taught Me ............................................................................................................ 18 Mothers Maintenance Manual ............................................................................................................20 Hymns ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Additional Resources ........................................................................................................................... 23 P a g e | 2 Joshua 5: 9-12 The Israelites ate manna throughout their wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years. Though a gift from God they must have been delighted to be eating new food after their boring diet for all these years. How quickly though we come to take for granted the gifts God has given us, rather than rejoicing in how blessed we are. The manna however may have been only a symbol of God’s generosity and care, for I read somewhere that manna is still available in the desert, but it is excreted on a Tamarisk plant by an insect and though rich in carbohydrate, it takes all day to gather enough for dinner and is only available for part of the year. Whether symbolic or not when they reached Canaan, in faith, the Israelites celebrated God’s provision for them by eating local produce, and his saving grace remembered in their annual Festival of Passover. Psalm 32 “Happy are those whose sins are forgiven.” “I must have been really bad for God to do this to me,” has I am sure been said to every minister. As in the Psalmist’s time there is still the belief in some, that sickness is caused by sin; and in many that confession is good for the soul. We all feel better when we get something off our chest! At the heart of our faith is that everyone must approach God in penitence for all our wrongs large and small and trust absolutely in God’s forgiveness. There is nothing we can hide from God who sees right into our hearts. The link to the loving father of the prodigal is clear. There is an old story, I have forgotten the reference and exactly how it goes. There was a woman who went to her minister to say that God was speaking to her and what should she do. The minister was sceptical and said to her “If God speaks to as you say, ask God what it was I did rather foolishly some years ago.” A few days later the minister said to the woman rather facetiously, “Well did God tell you my dark secret.” The woman replied, “No, God said to tell you he has forgotten, why do you not?” P a g e | 3 What I find touching is that the Psalmist uses his illness as an opportunity to draw near to God through his prayers of confession and the trust that God will save and protect him. Like many psalms from the wisdom tradition the contrast between the wicked and the righteous is expressed in the final two verses. This is still a problem that baffles us today, why is it that the wicked flourish while the righteous flounder. Yet we never doubt in God’s steadfast love. 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 “When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.” This is the heart of the Gospel, our salvation through Christ, our reconciliation with God through the death of Christ. No one experienced that more than Paul. “God did not keep a record of the sins of mankind.” Like the Psalmist Paul has utter faith in the forgiveness of God, as this obviously has been true in his own spiritual experience. As one who so zealously persecuted Christians, he is now overwhelmed that the past is wiped out; and one who was an enemy of God is now reconciled and cherished as God’s beloved friend. By the gracious gift of God in Christ, he - and we - now possess the right relationship God desires to have with us. We are made new or as John would have it “born again”. Paul like the prodigal was in a far country but has now come home to God through Christ. Luke 15: 11-32 In recounting the parable of the long lost son welcomed home by his forgiving father Jesus tells the whole gospel of God's reconciling love. The story is usually called "The Prodigal Son." However the three characters, the father or his two sons can have centre stage. Above all though the love and forgiveness of the father shines out. Some interpreters claim that there is an autobiographical slant here. That Jesus left home and only returned after a few years, was welcomed warmly by Mary, but not by his brothers. In mentioning this it does not add much to a parable that conveys this great good news – the lost son is welcomed, forgiven and restored by the father’s gracious love. God, more than anything, desires to reconcile the world to himself. As in all good stories we are left with a cliff hanger. P a g e | 4 The elder brother is left to decide for himself whether to join the party or not. I always find it humbling to consider which character I am in the story and to give thanks for God’s forgiving, reconciling love. In some ways the father is the profligate in giving away so much of his wealth and in his unconditional love for his two sons. Would I be so forgiving time and again; would I humiliate myself like the younger son, or die obstinately; would I put pride aside like the elder brother and join the party? Probably not! Yet this is how God’s grace and mercy works! P a g e | 5 The Prodigal Son or is it the Waiting Mother? My own Church was very much an Urban Priority area in Glasgow and there will be pockets like that I am sure in your Parish too. I particularly loved attending the Urban Priority Consultations which were held annually at Carberry. During one of the acts of worship I was sitting between two elderly men I had met. They were sharing the same room and it turned out they had met in a previous life as Santa Clauses in a Shopping Mall in Glasgow. We were asked to say in little groups what our favourite reading was and in between Christmas jokes they decided independently that their favourite reading was the Prodigal Son. Listening in to those around me most people were saying the same thing that the story of the Prodigal Son meant most to them. Why? I wonder; is it because most of us can identify so clearly with this parable of the lost son. But here is a question for you. Who are you in this story, the lost son, the father, or the elder brother? Many people identify with the youngest son – the prodigal – the one who had the cheek to ask for his inheritance before the old man has popped his clogs and then wastes it all in riotous living in a foreign land. Who goes from bad to worse until at last he comes to his senses and flees homeward, hoping against hope to put his life back together again, even if it must be as a servant – for in his father’s house he knows that even servants live better than he is living at that moment. We identify clearly because many of us are that prodigal son or daughter. We see ourselves as people who have come to our senses, as people who while we wandered away from home, away from God in our youth have now got it together. We are back; yes we still make mistakes, but we are back within God’s loving embrace; so aware of God’s love for us and thankful for it, that though we may have wandered away from him, God has never abandoned us, but walked each step of the way with us. P a g e | 6 Others identify so strongly with the Father in the Story – especially those who happen to be parents of children who have gone, or are going, wrong. Or even if we have not we can all feel acutely the pain of the father, because as a parent you know what that might be like; as a son or a daughter you know the pain you might have caused your long suffering parent. Why did the father give in to the demands of his beloved child? Why do we give in to the demands of our children; maybe the long awaited second child, the cherished spoiled baby of the family? Perhaps he feared his son would only get into deeper trouble if he denied him; because he didn’t know what else to do, because he was an indulgent father, because he realised his children have to make their own mistakes. Whatever the reason we feel his pain, we feel his constant worrying, constant wondering. And so we understand totally his reaction at seeing his son returning home, as he runs down the road to meet him. That is a wonderful picture, isn’t it? There are those who identify so strongly with the father because they pray daily that such a scene will be replayed in their own lives.
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