22 March 2020 - Mothering Sunday - Worshipping at Home

Entering into Worship:

The God who knit you together in your mother's womb invites you to spend these few moments with Him.

Hymn StF 728 O God, you search me and you know me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEGc3_D19Vo

Reading - Psalm 139:13-15 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. -  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm139:13-15&version=NIVUK

Prayer of Adoration

Creator and Creating God,
The universe in all its fullness bears witness to your power,
You created all things and lovingly watch over all you have made.
We join the songs of your creation.

Saviour and Saving God,
You weep when you see brokenness, pain and suffering
You walked among us and in your passion entered into our agony
We join the songs of your salvation.

Sanctifier and Sanctifying God
All life is holy to you and you invite all of Creation to be filled with your presence,
You breathe your Spirit into men and women that we might be holy as you are holy.
We join the song of your holiness.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we worship and adore you.  Amen

Prayer of Confession

You have searched me Lord and you know me,
I bring to mind my sins and confess them before you.
[At this point spend a moment or two in recalling words, thoughts and deeds that you wish to confess]

Search me God and know my heart
Forgive me those things that are offensive to you
and lead me in the way everlasting.
In the name of Christ.  Amen

Christ Jesus came into the word to save sinners.
Receive his gracious word: "Your sins are forgiven."
Thanks be to God.  Amen

Reading: Luke 2:41-52

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the festival as usual. 43 When the festival was over, they started back home, but the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; 44 they thought that he was with the group, so they traveled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 They did not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem looking for him. 46 On the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his intelligent answers. 48 His parents were astonished when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

49 He answered them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?” 50 But they did not understand his answer.

51 So Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and people.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+2%3A41-52&version=GNT

Pondering Scripture:

It is Mothering Sunday.  One of the themes of Mothering Sunday is separation and reunion.  In our reading Jesus is separated from his parents and after much anxious searching they are eventually reunited.  This sole insight into Jesus' childhood shows us that his was a very ordinary family life. 

Anyone who has had care for another person will be able to identify with Mary and Joseph's anxiety when they realised that Jesus was not among the company of relatives and friends journeying back from the Passover celebrations.  You may remember a few years ago, the story of David Cameron leaving his children behind in a pub near the Prime Minister's country residence in Buckinghamshire.  Plenty of political mischief was made at the time and it gave comedians plenty of material.  Yet it was a story of a very common experience, that only hits home when you have experienced that physical and emotional moment of realising that someone you are responsible for has wandered off.  Mary and Joseph were not immune from the worry and panic of losing their son.  "Why have you done this to us?" Mary says when they find him, "Your father and I have been terribly worried."

I wonder how any of us would have reacted at Jesus' response.  Luke softens their response by merely saying that they did not understand.  Can you imagine how that might have looked and sounded in the conversation that is not recorded in the Gospel? 

Perhaps we might find it hard to imagine that the child Jesus, made a mistake, because we have been taught that he was without sin.  Maybe, though, this passage reminds us that not all mistakes are 'sin.'  Sometimes it is possible to do the right thing in the wrong way.  This is especially the case when we put being right ahead of our relationship with others. 

That doesn't mean that we have to compromise, or lower our standards in any way.  What it may mean though is that we learn what it is to walk alongside others graciously, giving time and space for their relationship with God to grow rather than rushing to impose our understanding on them.  Jesus was human just as we are human so it is no stretch to imagine that he had to learn how to live alongside others and love just as we do.  His relationship with the Father would not have been compromised if he had foregone the opportunity to pick the Rabbis' brains and stayed close to his earthly parents instead. 

Luke suggests that he learnt from this incident and in particular learnt what it meant, in practice, to obey the Commandment to "Honour your father and your mother." (Exodus 20:12) 

Having been separated physically and in intention from his parents, Jesus was reunited with them in body and heart.  There is reunion and reconciliation in this passage as Jesus realises that his actions had caused his parents pain and, perhaps as Mary comes to realise that she has much to learn about being a parent, and especially about being a parent to this unique child.

Having been separated for a while, they are reunited.  From the anxiety comes understanding and ultimately joy.  Separation is often difficult, but so too is reunion, especially when it requires us to adjust our expectations and understanding of each other so that we can live alongside one another and learn together how to be the family of God's people.

Some questions to ponder.

When we look back on our relationship with those who cared for us in our childhood (maybe our mothers in particular) do we recall moments when we learnt sharp lessons about the impact of our choices on them?

Maybe we have had the responsibility for looking after children ourselves - how have their actions helped shaped our own attitudes to caring for and loving other people?

Have we ever been tempted to put our religious duty ahead of the needs of our nearest and dearest?  How might we learn to balance our commitment as followers of Jesus with the command to honour those who live alongside us? 

Prayers for Mothering Sunday

Pray for mothers, fathers and carers across the world who are separated from their children because of war, natural disaster of human actions.

Pray for families who have become estranged because of differences of perspective or opinion.

Pray for mothers (and other carers) who are struggling with the burden of providing for their family, especially in the uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus outbreak with the closure of schools, threat to employment and difficulties in finding food and other supplies in the shops. 

Pray for yourself, your family and those you love and are concerned for at this time.

The Lord's Prayer

Hymn StF 119 God of Eve and God of Mary 
(to tune Sussex - Father hear the prayer we offer - found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtoF8VFVPRg)

The Grace