St. Mary’s Whitechapel & Trinity Episcopal Churches Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter – Mother’s Day April 10, 2015 – The Rev. Torrence Harman The theme of today is: Mothers! Because after all it is “Mother’s Day” – a special day set apart in our holiday calendar a little over 100 years ago. It seemed to start out as a lofty idea – a day in which mothers/grandmothers/aunts etc. – all those female relatives in our lives – were lifted up, placed on a pedestal (like “queen for a day”) and were remembered only for their loving and virtuous qualities, no matter the reality that mothers like everyone else have some divinely given qualities, but are also very human. There’s nothing in our lectionary passages for today mentioning the word “mother” but, I suppose, there is a Biblical mandate for Mother’s Day (as well as the June Sunday dedicated to “Father’s Day). Mandate is a good word because we find this Biblical reference in the Book of Exodus. Moses on the mountaintop is given the Ten Commandments” by God and right there in the top Ten is: “Honor thy Father and thy Mother . .” We could spend time considering the thought that God had to command such an idea, but let’s just accept the fact that it’s a good thing. I came across some interesting quotes as I googled the theme of Mother’s Day. Many were lofty, many were sweet, a lot were funny, but taken as a whole and as the Mother’s Day holiday matured over time, the sayings, poems, quotes and words in Mother’s Day cards began to reflect the breadth of the experience we and our mothers had together in what we must admit is a complex relationship including both high and low times, but often, in hindsight, fraught with humor. One writer wrote the following about his mother as he offered a list of things his mother taught him: My mother taught me LOGIC: “If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go the store with me.” My mother taught me HUMOR: “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.” My mother taught me GENETICS: “You are just like your father.” My mother taught me about RECEIVING: “You are going to get it when I get you home.” My mother taught me about STAMINA: “You’ll sit there until all that spinach is finished” (In our household it was “peas”) My mother taught me about RELIGION: “You better pray that will come out of the carpet.” And his all time favorite (and mine too since this happened along the theme I call “my mother, myself”) - My mother taught me JUSTICE: “One day you will have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you. Then you’ll see what it’s like! I can’t wait!” One of my favorite quotes came from Erma Brombeck. She wrote: “When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or not. You’re going to get it anyway.” A Jewish proverb caught my eye: “God could not be everywhere so God created mothers.” As I think back over stories my kids told me after they reached adulthood, I add a proverb of my own: “A mother cannot be everywhere, so God was.” My kids’ stories convinced me that only a loving heavenly parent saw them through some of those events I knew nothing about at the time. And I also noted a quote from Milton Berle: “If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” To which I could add: only two eyes, two ears, two feet, one heart and only so many hours in a day? I remember and probably you too, there never seemed to be enough of me to meet the challenges of what God had given me in the form of a child. More humor – offered in good Hallmark fashion: “My mother thinks I am the best. And I was raised to always believe what my Mother tells me.” From an adult kid to Mom: “To Mom, with love, from your favorite child!” “Mom, sorry if I drove you crazy sometimes. I only did it because I love you.” From a grandchild to a Grandmother: “Thanks for not spoiling me rotten.” And another: “I could sure use a grandma hug right now.” And one more: “Thanks for all the cookies and love. And cookies. Did I mention cookies?” As the week filled with thoughts of what to talk about on Mother’s Day, I began to find a new thread weaving its way through my reflections. The idea that the word “mother” is not simply a noun, but also a verb – to mother – and what that raises for us on this special day. Dictionary definitions on “to mother” offer: “to give birth to” – “to care for or protect another” – “to be or act as a mother.” Society attributes certain characteristics to the female gender, other characteristics to the male gender, but it is not that cut and dry. No matter what our gender, no matter who or what we are, we may have mothering characteristics; we may have fathering characteristics. I have seen my son as a little boy hold his new puppy in his arms, like a mother holds a child. I was struck by a quote by someone relatively unknown as she talked about the strength of a mother (strength being thought of by many as a more male characteristic). It went like this: “The strong mother doesn’t tell her cub, ‘Son, stay weak so the wolves can get you.’ She says, ‘toughen up, this is reality we live in.’” In the Church of England (our sister in the Anglican Communion) there is a special liturgy for a day like today. There it is called “Mothering Sunday.” While the service for Mothering Sunday offers prayers for mothers, it also reflects on the “mothering” nature of God. Within the service are prayers taken from what is known as “A Song of St. Anselm.” Composed like a prayer psalm, the refrain repeats a prayer line reflecting on a beautiful image Jesus offers of himself in the gospel good news: “Gather your little ones to you, O God, as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.” And so, as we reflect on what it looks like to mother, to be a mothering presence in the lives of those around us, I offer portions of the prayers from the Church of England’s Mothering Service: “Gather your little ones to you, O God, as a hen gathers her brood to protect them. Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you; you are gentle with us as a mother with her children. Often you weep over our sins and our pride, tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment. You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds; in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us. Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life; by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness; through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us; in your love and tenderness remake us. In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness . Gather your little ones to you, O God, as a hen gathers her brood to protect them. The mothering nature of God as offered in the human form of Jesus. And a prayer for mothers: Thank you God for the love of our mothers; Thank you God for their care and concern; Thank you God for the joys they have shared with us; Thank you God for the pains they have borne for us; Thank you God for all that they give us; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen And the blessing: May God, who gave birth to all creation, bless us; May God, who became incarnate by an earthly mother, bless us; May God, who broods as a mother over her children, bless us. What our world desperately needs now is some mothering. As God mothers us, may we – all of us, male and female – be a channel of Divine mothering to all whom Christ calls us to serve in his name in love. .