Sermon by Linda West LLM for Mothering Sunday 2019

Theme: the mother church and our place in it

Readings:	1 Corinthians 12.12-27, page 1153 pew Bible; 					Matthew 22.34-40, page 991 pew Bible.

I wonder whether you can guess what it is I have in this box? (Show to children and get them to take round to show congregation).  So what is it?

A few weeks’ ago, Roger and I were having lunch when we noticed a blackbird kept
flying up on top of the bracket to the light under the covered porch bit to the side of
our front door.

A couple of days later, after we had had some of those very strong winds, I discovered this on the floor of the porch. Then I realised, the bird had been trying to
build a nest on top of the light bracket. So we left these bits and pieces for a while in
case he came back and tried again, but I think he must have sensibly found a more
stable place to build his nest. By now it is probably a good solid nest and Mrs Blackbird has probably laid some eggs in it.

Today is, of course, mothering Sunday when we think not only of our mums but also
of mother church. The completed nest is a bit like mother church. It is a safe place
where the seeds of Christianity that are placed in our hearts by Jesus, can hatch out
and grow up into strong Christians.

Of course, like the individual bits of a nest, we are all individuals and all different.
Like these bits of moss, seed heads and twigs are all different and could all be formed into a whole nest, so we are all formed into a whole church. Like St Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, we are all part of one body but we all look a bit different and we all have different functions or jobs to do. I wonder, which part of the body you think you are? A hand? Fingers? Eyes? Nose? A Foot? Or one of those bits of the body which we can’t see from the outside but which is just as
important to keep us going? A heart, liver or kidney perhaps?

Paul points out that every bit is just as important as the other, and that we should not say one person is better or more important than another. In church terms, whether we clean the loo, make the coffee, give out the books, read the lesson, sing in the choir, lead the prayers, give talks, or sit in the pews and pray we are all equally
important and whatever we do for the church is equally valuable in helping building
and maintaining mother church.

Sometimes, just like birds in a nest, we don’t always get on perfectly and may not
agree with each other. But in our reading from Matthew, which Megan read so nicely for us, Jesus tells us how to sort things out. What do you think the secret is?
Yes, Jesus told us that the most important thing is to love God and to love others as
we love ourselves. If we do this, we can’t really go wrong and we can’t sustain a
quarrel for long. Of course, it’s not always easy, but if we pray to Jesus for help in
loving others, he will help us to love people even if we don’t think we ever will. And
he will help us to forgive other people when the hurt us.

If we go back to our bird’s nest, when the fledglings are strong enough they will fly
the nest. This morning we have two people – Bev and Donal – who are flying away
from Holy Trinity to start a new phase of their life in Saudi Arabia. We will be very
sorry to say goodbye to them, but we will, of course, keep in touch with them, pray
for them and welcome them back here in due course.

But if they are saying goodbye to Holy Trinity, are they saying goodbye to mother
church altogether? No, definitely not. Mother church is not just the church here in Seer Green and Jordans but the whole Christian church all over the world. The Baptist church and the Quaker meeting house are part of it; all the other churches and cathedrals in this country are part of it, and every church in every country of the world is part of it. And in the countries where it is dangerous for people to have church buildings, the individual groups of Christians who meet together are all part of mother church.

We hope and pray that Bev and Donal will find a nice church nest to worship in
Saudi where they can continue to enjoy fellowship and learn more about Jesus.
But it is not just people who move away who go out from mother church. Jesus asks
us each to fly from the nest of mother church as we go to school, work or to our
homes, families and friends and show his love to those around us. But we can only show his love if we keep coming back to mother church to be fed like the mother bird feeds her young to give them strength to fly. We need to come to worship and be with other Christians to grow up and learn to fly like the fledglings. But, of course, we will never reach true maturity on this earth, so we must keep coming back every week for the strength that mother church gives us.

As we go out this morning to be with our mums, families or friends, or to think about
and thank God for the mums who brought us up, let’s also think of the importance of
mother church and give thanks for her. And next time we see a bird flying in or out
of its nest will can think of the importance of mother church and being part of the
body of Christ.

(7 mins)

Bibliography
Pfeiffer, C F and Harrison, E F (1962), The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, London: Oliphants Ltd.

Wright, Tom (2002), Matthew for everyone, Part 2, chapters 16-28, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.