A mother's love

I read about a 12 year old boy who was born without an immune system. Eventually, he underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the problem, but up until that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. 

In his plastic bubble, he lived without ever knowing human contact.

When asked before his operation what he'd like to do if and when he was released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother's hand."

Small things can mean such a lot to people – and I think today’s readings remind us of how important the care is that we give to others… Perhaps also we’re reminded of the problems that come with love which we will know can sometimes be painful… As of course can the absence of knowing what love can be…

And those emotions are ones that are often prominent for people on Mothering Sunday, for some it’s a day of unclouded joy but for others it can be an emotional nightmare…

And in our readings this morning from the gospel (Luke 2:33-35) and the Old Testament (Exodus 2:1-10) we see something of both love and pain…  

In the reading from Exodus we have the account of the birth of Moses. It’s a bit of a strange passage really because it doesn’t tell us why this woman, the mother of Moses, has to hide him… The reason was that the house of Levi was expanding dramatically and the Pharaoh was worried that they may rise up against him, so he ordered all the new born Hebrew boys to be killed.

And it was into this situation that Moses was born – Moses’ mother was desperate to save her son and so she hid him for 3 months and then when she could do so no longer she took a chance and placed him in a basket which she put in the reeds by the river bank hoping and trusting that someone would rescue him and have the compassion to care for him…

And after his mother had hidden him he was noticed by the daughter of the Pharaoh who sent her maid to collect the child – when she saw him she took pity on him and arranged that he be cared for properly.

The life of Moses of course remains one of the most important in Biblical history – from humble beginnings he became the leader of a large group, and in the New Testament he is mentioned more times than any other Old Testament character.

Without the care of people who could easily have left him to die, history could have been rewritten. And those people obviously included his mother, but they also involved others who acted with the love and care of a mother…

There were the midwives who ignored Pharaoh’s instructions to kill the boys, there was Miriam, Moses’ sister who watched what would happen and then got Moses’ mother to be invited in to be Moses’ nurse as he grew up… And there was of course Pharaoh’s daughter who took a child who she knew was a Hebrew boy against the wishes of her father and the law of the land and raised him as her own child…

In the birth of Moses the qualities of a mother were by no means limited to his biological mother, and that is something that is constantly true…

And in the gospel reading (Luke 2:33-35) again we see people caring for a child – this time the baby Jesus as he’s brought to the Temple. Of course Mary is there, and so is Simeon and as he blesses the family he offers the warning that this child would be destined for the falling and rising of many, that this child would be opposed and that a sword would pierce the soul of his mother, a reference to the suffering she would watch her son face.   

It was a warning to Mary and Joseph but it was a warning given with love and concern and compassion – Simeon knew that this child was special and as he thanked God for him, he knew that the role Jesus had come to fulfil was an essential one… Simeon was pointing out that Mary’s role as the mother of Jesus would bring with it abundant blessings but also real pain…

Today on this Mothering Sunday we obviously think of mothers everywhere and give thanks for their care, but we also reflect on the qualities that make a perfect mother – and they are the qualities that Jesus asks everyone of us to display – a mother or not, male or female…

The little boy in the story I mentioned at the beginning desperately wanted to touch his mother’s hand – he hadn’t done it before, but he knew the love that she felt for him, and he knew that he would gain strength just from that touch…

The strength to show love back, the strength to go out and show love to others, the strength that comes from knowing he was loved…

Today, we are all in need of strength and God is waiting for each one of us to put our hands in his and to place our lives a little more into his care... Sometimes we’re reluctant to do it, sometimes we feel we can manage, or that the love of God is just for special occasions, or even perhaps that we’re not really important enough to go to God with every seemingly trivial care or concern…

But one of the wonderful things about our faith is that Jesus opened his arms wide on the cross as an invitation to each one of us to come to him and find rest and peace in the knowledge of his love.

And as we come to him, it is from him that we will recognise the most incredible love and care, and from him that we will be able to really find the strength, the wisdom and the courage to extend a hand of love and compassion out into the world.

Moses’ mother believed that the best way she could show love to Moses was to let him go and trust that God would protect him. Pharaoh’s daughter didn’t see a Hebrew boy but a child in need of the love of a mother…

Mary, the mother of Jesus, understood her role as a mother was to be caring for her son at all times. She was there for him through his childhood, there through his ministry, and there for him as he was put on the cross. She shared his joys, she shared his worries, his sadness, and she shared his pain. 

Throughout the world many mothers will do the same today, they will live for their children, doing so many things almost like clockwork which are often not even noticed.

And this is the role and responsibility that we in the Church must also share, as we care for God’s people, all of his people whether part of his Church or not, as we seek support and strength from each other, as we share in each others joys and sadness. 

The ‘family of the Church’ is not just a meaningless phrase. It is a duty and a responsibility as we share God’s love, and as we display those qualities of motherhood there will be times of hurt, times of pain, times when it’s hard to live and work with each other but all the time we remember the love of God whose care is constant, whose arms are always open to greet us…

Let me finish by stating the obvious on this Mothering Sunday… We are all children of our own mothers whether we ever knew them or not, whether they are alive today or not, and we are also children of God - A loving God who loves each of us totally and unconditionally, not for what we do, but for who we are. 

A God who knows and understands us, who knows our good experiences of family life, as well as the not so good ones, knows the joys as well as the pain, knows whether this is an easy day for us in relation to our own mums or not, in relation to our children, or lack of them, and in relation to our sense of belonging to a church community. 

Let’s both thank him that he is our loving father, and that our identity is secure in being one of his children, and also allow him to minister to us his grace for today, whatever joys and pains are associated with it for us, by placing ourselves once more into his care… AMEN