Sermon for Mothering Sunday preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey on Sunday 30 March 2025 by The Reverend Lesley McCreadie (Exodus Ch 2: v 1 – 10; John Ch 19: v 25b – 27)
On most Sudays of the year the Lectionary gives us a choice of readings in addition to the gospel reading. Today I was really spoilt for choice. Eventually I settled on the Old Testament reading from Exodus about the early life of Moses, mainly because it features three key women; a mother, a sister and a foster mother, but I very nearly chose the other OT reading the story of Hannah and her son Samuel. Today we even had a choice of gospel reading the one from John which I read earlier or the short piece from Luke read at Candlemas when Simeon not only recognises Christ as the Messiah but sees that his life will end in pain and death something no mother wants to hear. It’s easy to see why these readings are available to us today with the common thread of mothering running through them.
Jochebed we are told hid Moses for three months. Can you imagine a child who is born into a persecuted race and whose life every day was at risk? An edict had been issued by the Egyptian authorities that all the baby Hebrew boys were to be killed. Jochebed hid the baby for the first three months until he was too big or perhaps too vocal to be hidden anymore. She had the idea that the baby might be saved if he could be rescued by an Egyptian. She made a papyrus basket and covered it with bitumen and pitch. Bitumen and pitch meant the basket would float and the baby was placed in the reeds so that the crocodiles would not eat the baby. Jochebed went to real trouble to make sure that the baby was going to be as safe as possible. When he was placed in the water Miriam, his sister stood at a distance to watch over baby Moses to see what would happen. There is such care in the story, of a mother who would do anything to help her child survive. Moses went on to be brought up by what we would call today a foster mother. He was saved by her and loved by her as if he was her own and of course because of this he was able to fulfill the destiny God had placed on his life.
Mary is often described or pictured as being meek and mild but she was so much more than this; she is a warrior for God. She says ‘yes’ to Gabriel when he says she will have a child, despite knowing she would have to face the wagging tongues of her fellow villagers and perhaps even her family. She marvels as her son debates with the great minds of his day in the Temple, she makes sure that Jesus looks after her friends when the wine runs out at a wedding. She watches and waits at the foot of the cross when Jesus, with one last loving act gives her into the safe hands of his disciple John. Never giving up on him even when the pain must have been overwhelming, perhaps remembering Simeon’s words or the gift of myrrh all those years ago. Mary is with those who survive their children; she feels their pain as they lose a child, but Mary knows the joy of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life which comes to her as the disciples share the good news that her son is alive. Imagine the joy of that experience.
Two mothers, from the scriptures, two warriors, willing to demonstrate sacrifice, costly mothering, dangerous mothering, warrior mothering. Strong love, which mirrors the love of God for all his children.
Of course, on this day in the Christian tradition, we do not only think of mothers, important though that might be, but we also think of our church in feminine terms; mother church. The image still has to do with nurturing though: Holy Church seeking to give spiritual shelter to the faithful; offering support and teaching to help us grow into mature Christian people; offering space to be yourself. At its best this is a wonderful model; it is an inclusive model where all are welcome regardless of race, gender, sexuality, education, wealth or poverty; no one is excluded. Making that work of course is not as easy as the theory. Just as in any family the members of the church family are called upon to be generous and compassionate; hospitable and welcoming; able to offer loving criticism and to put safeguarding boundaries in place. If the church can get its mothering right, its nurturing right, it becomes a place where people can show the love of God to the world and can make a real difference to those it might interact with out there in the world. It is a place where all can flourish and live as God intended them to live.
And today is a day I hope like any other in the church’s year when all can feel part of what is going on. In a conversation recently I was reminded just how difficult a day this can be if you do not tick the box as a mother. No Christian service should ever isolate members from feeling they belong. Many women who are not mothers fulfil essential nurturing roles with young people; as a teacher, as a confidant, as a sister, an aunt or a godmother, as someone who listens when out for a girlie lunch having the space in their own life to give others space. There are those who foster or adopt children, who give children some stability in what might otherwise be a very difficult life, and just how important is that in todays’ world. Did you know that there are over 84,000 looked after children in the UK at any one time? Some may be with foster parents, grandparents or another relative and some may be in care homes.
I like to think of today as a celebration of the feminine side of all of us. Some women are naturally able to be motherly, for others it is harder. For many men there are times when they are called upon to display this feminine side; single dads bringing up children on their own, or in separated families where children share their time between Mum and Dad.
Do you remember a few Sundays ago in our gospel reading we had the lovely image of a hen gathering her chicks around her to protect them from danger; it’s an image we also have in one of our Eucharistic prayers. This is the image of mothering God expects of us all, loving and protecting the vulnerable enabling people to achieve their potential. So today let us celebrate the feminine side of what it means to be a human being both as individuals and as a church and as we remember, let us give thanks for our God and our church who as a mother holds us in the palm of her hand, loving us, protecting us and helping us all to grow and thrive. Amen