Yesterday of course was St David’s Day, but a lesser known Saint is another whose Feast Day is celebrated this week, and as it’s Mothering Sunday today it seemed particularly appropriate to think about this Saint – Saint Non, the mother of St David.
Of course when I had the idea to preach about Non tonight, I thought there’d be loads of information about her. Sadly I was mistaken ! It seems that very little is known about Non at all, and much of what is known is only legend. Bits that are known about her come from Rhygyfarch’s ‘Life of David’, written in the 11th century.
According to him she was a nun who was seduced by a Prince called Sant, and David was their son. Others reject this story though in favour of Non being the daughter of a Pembrokeshire Chieftain who was married to Sant. Whatever the truth it seems Non settled in Cornwall and was eventually buried in Brittany. Legend also has it that Non gave birth to David on a cliff top in the middle of a violent storm. The pain of birth was said to have been so intense that Non's fingers left marks as she grasped a rock, and as David was born, a bolt of lightning is said to split the rock in two. It is also believed that the two split pieces of rock were the foundation stones for St. David's Cathedral and St Non's Chapel.
And yet despite so little being known about her, Non now has her own Saints Day in the Church calendar, and the question of why must be asked ! And it seems that there are really two reasons. The first is because of her reputation. As the mother of a great Saint it’s kind of assumed that she must have been prayerful and God fearing, and taught David to grow in faith and love. The second reason follows on from that, and that is her association with David.
Our reputations and the people that we associate with are tremendously important in society. It has been that way for as long as anyone can remember I’m sure, but actually neither mean very much at all.
There’s a story told about a retired baseball player in the United States. He said, "Each year I don't play I get better! The first year on the after dinner speaking circuit, I was a former ballplayer, the second year I was a great former ballplayer, the third year one of baseball's all time stars, and just last year I was introduced as one of baseball's immortals. The older I get, the more I realise that the worst break I ever had was actually playing."
Sports stars are a perfect example of the fact that reputations often get better and better the more distantly people actually remember the reality. But in the real overall scheme of things, reputations need to be earned to have any value at all.
And the same is true with associations. Good or bad associations can change us perhaps, but it’s not necessarily true that hanging around with someone bad makes you bad, or the other way around, hanging around with someone good makes you good!
The reality is that the only measure of our qualities, the only measure of our reputation, is ourselves and how we behave. At the end of the reading we heard from The Letter of James that we heard earlier (James 5) he describes some qualities that are important for living the Christian life.
He says that we should be patient, endure where endurance is necessary. He says not to grumble against one another. He says that if any are suffering, then pray. Are any cheerful, then offer songs of praise. Are any sick, then pray for healing. Confess your sins to one another, and underlying all of these things is that confidence that we are waiting for the coming of the Lord.
In other words we can be confident in the ultimate victory of God who has already conquered death with the resurrection of Jesus, who died on the cross… for us…
Other people will hopefully guide us and inspire us in our lives. We will learn from the example of others, but nobody can live our lives for us, and nobody can make us right in the sight of God, except ourselves. We have choices to make.
During the early days of the Salvation Army, William Booth and his associates were bitterly attacked in the press by religious leaders and government leaders alike. Whenever his son, Bramwell, showed Booth a newspaper attack, the General would reply, "Bramwell, fifty years hence it will matter very little indeed how these people treated us; it will matter a great deal how we dealt with the work of God."
The reputation of Non, or the people with whom she associated mean very little in the sight of God, and that is true for all of us, because God sees the reality. God understands our motives, our feelings… And that can be a pretty scary thought at times !
But it shouldn’t be, because God is full of love and compassion, and he is desperate to enjoy a relationship with us, based on love and trust. He is calling us to him, to bring before him all of our problems and worries and insecurities, as well as all of our joys and happiness.
Reputations and associations mean very little, except when the reputation is built on Jesus, and the association by which we are known is with him, as we seek to display his qualities of love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness and then even more love, in our lives. AMEN
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