10^th May 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley

Lessons -- Leviticus 19:1-4; Acts 16:9-15; Luke 8:19-21

'The Lord said: "You shall honour your mother and father."'
(Leviticus 19:3a) 'But Jesus said: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."' (Luke 8:21 RSV)

Mothers Day is somewhat outdated in a post-feminist age. We follow the Americans who, ignoring earlier attempts to link their contribution to peace, instituted the day to recognise the work of mothers in the home. Since then, commercialisation and sentimentality have combined to create an idealised picture of mothers as home-makers to the neglect of other vital tasks -- such as passing on the faith, standing against injustice and being leaders in education, business and the Church.

We should heed feminist criticisms about narrowing the meaning of this day. But we should also reject their wilder accusation that, because Scripture and the Church are oppressively patriarchal, women's freedom has been stifled. No doubt texts have been misused to keep mothers barefoot, pregnant and dependent on their husbands! But the truly amazing thing, in the patriarchal culture in which Jews and Christians lived, is the dignity accorded to women, including mothers, and the responsibilities they exercised in the community of faith.

Eve is the crown of creation and the 'mother of all the living' (Genesis 3:20). Sarah is the mother of the Hebrew people. Tamar, Deborah, Naomi, Ruth, Rahab, Esther et al were formidable women who played pivotal roles in upholding the faith, drawing the wayward back to the community and standing up against pagan religion. In the New Testament, Mary the mother of Jesus is an icon of faith, sharing her joy with Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist (Luke). The poor widow is praised for her generosity (Luke). Mothers are among the women who weep at the Cross (John; Mark). They are present at the empty tomb (Mark 16:1). In Acts, Lydia, a mother baptised by Paul with her household, is important, not for being a mother but for bringing her family to faith and nurturing a fledgling house- church (16:9f).

Mothers play an important role in the biblical story within the family and in the family of faith. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we are commanded to 'honour our mothers and fathers' (Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:1-4; Deuteronomy 5:16; Mark 7:10). In one text, failure to do so is punishable by death! In another, obedience is said to result in 'our days being long and things going well for the people'. This is bracing stuff in a society like ours where parental authority is often ridiculed, the young are often idolised and individual freedom is prized above freedom to share in close-knit communities.

Mothers Day reminds us that, as mothers or children of mothers, we may blossom or shrivel to the extent to which we receive and return love in the families into which we have been born.

However, lest we think that mothers (and fathers) should be 'honoured' no matter what, other biblical texts show that family, important as it is, is not ultimately important. Jesus upsets his mother by staying in the temple and he says that his 'true mother and brothers are those who do the will of God'. Love of God must take precedence over love of our families, including mothers.

Sometimes, tragically, this has been misread by religious groups to demand that adherents stop all contact with their families. The personal and social costs have been devastating. It must be read in context. In a society where the family was thought of as a gift from God and where family loyalty was often seen as the ultimate loyalty, Jesus points to the absolute priority of doing God's will. Loyalty to family isn't necessarily the same as doing the will of God. As the calling of James and John from the nets shows, 'Jesus broke the hearts of many a first century mother and father.' (William Willimon Peculiar Speech: Preaching to the Baptized p119) In the new order which came in Jesus, the family, a very important relationship for social stability, is not to take the place of our primary relationship with God.

What does this mean for our Mothers Day reflections? It means that we mustn't idealise or demonise mother!

Mothers can be nurturing and sympathetic but they can also be so family-focused that their tasks in the community of faith and in public life are ignored. They may offer encouragement in the faith and comfort in times of trouble. They may suffer their children's problems and waywardness and make great sacrifices to support them.

But they may also smother or control their children or neglect or abuse them. Some, often under duress, have sacrificed their children: choosing to have their children aborted, adopted or fostered. The grief caused by suc h actions, no matter how necessary they were or seemed to be at the time, is often unbearable -- for mothers and children.

This is simply to say that mothers, too, are human. As such they, too, need to be pointed beyond their own natural family to which they give birth, to the 'faith and family of Jesus Christ' -- the family, sometimes called 'Mother Church' for nurturing us in faith, that came to birth through Mary.

Of all mothers, Mary is 'the mother' who should bring out our deepest affection on Mothers Day! Mary the mother of Jesus is the most notable mother in the human story. She is the key figure in the birth of the Saviour and an example of humility that disciples are to imitate. She has a special place in the Church's confession of Christ who, as the creeds say, was 'born and became incarnate of the Virgin Mary'.

In the 5th Century the Church drew out the implications of this astonishing claim by saying that Mary, the 'mother of Jesus', was the 'Mother of God' or the 'God bearer' as far as his humanity is concerned. No higher hono ur could be given to a mother! From her womb comes the One who uniquely embodies the presence of God with us as well as the fullness of humanity that is God's will for us all.

Mary's importance as the 'Mother of God' mustn't lead us to idealise her as some of our Roman Catholic and Orthodox friends are apt to do. Some Protestants, while rejecting this description of Mary, are tempted to become sentimental about her motherly qualities.

At the same time, she shouldn't be denigrated. Some feminists despise her sexless, docile femininity which bows to the will of a patriarchal society.

Both reactions miss the point of calling Mary the 'Mother of God'. She is neither a Goddess nor a weak woman. She is to be honoured as the bearer of the one truly human person who is also the incarnate Son of God!

Mary is also the model of what it means to be a disciple. She is the 'mother of the faithful' because she humbly listens to and obeys God's call and is a witness to her son's crucifixion and resurrection. In Luke's accou nt of the nativity she is honoured, not for any goodness of her own but because she points away from herself to the totally unexpected presence of God's in Jesus.

She is not perfect. Like all the disciples, she misunderstands who Jesus is. Still, she is to be honoured for her faithfulness and imitated for directing us and all humanity to the embodiment of God's love in Jesus. She i s 'mother of the faithful' because she is a 'daughter of grace'.

It is a splendid thing that the love of God for the human family has been uniquely embodied in the One who came into the world at a particular time to a particular family in the body of Mary. Through her we see that God's love is not a theoretical, spiritual or moral principle, but embodied love. In Jesus Christ, son of Mary and Son of God, we see who God is and who we are called to be in honouring God.

What a splendid image of motherhood to behold on Mothers Day! What an encouragement to mothers and to all of us (as children of mothers) as we take up our responsibilities in the family, the community and the Church. This particular mother is mother of the One in whom the love of God has been supremely displayed as a sign of hope for each and every family. She is also the model for the whole human family of what it is to be disciples of Christ: humbly open and obedient to the Word of God, pointing away from herself to what God has done in and through her, and filled with gratitude for God's mercy.

On Mothers Day therefore we give thanks above all else for being called into 'Mother Church', that flawed and forgiven family which owes our very being to Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the faithful. With her we are delighted to 'proclaim the greatness of the Lord' in the hope that our mothers and fathers, our families and the human family may also sing the praises of her son, the merciful Son of God.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.