The Future of the Church

 John 19:25-27

Much ink has been spilled over the years in order to determine the exact moment that ‘the church’ became a thing. Of course, Jesus never went to church, nor did He lead a church. So when did the church begin?

Many will say that Pentecost is the first moment of the church….the Holy Spirit’s emphatic arrival and the uniting of people from all nations brings about a church of sorts.

Others will argue that the moment of fear and worry as the disciples gathered together in the hidden room on Easter Sunday, only to be greeted by the risen Jesus who says ‘Peace be with you’, well perhaps that’s the start of the church.

For me though, and it’s only an opinion, you are free to disagree with me, for me the church begins with the reading that we have today. In this moment, the nature of what church might be like is changed forever. Let us take a closer look.

As it’s Mothering Sunday and not Good Friday, our reading today has rather jumped ahead in our preparations for Easter, but for good reason. The gospel writer John records how Jesus, hanging on a cross, in pain and in anguish thinks not of Himself, but of the care and love He has for His mother.

From a human perspective, one cannot imagine the pain that it was for Mary, who sat with Jesus and never left His side. From arrest, to abuse; from the long march to the hill and his crucifixion. The one who witnessed His first tiny little cry in that dusty stable, would be there to hear His last painful, sorrowful cry on the cross.

Let’s face it, it’s not a cheery reading for Mothering Sunday, is it? But Mothering Sunday is actually quite different from the Mother’s Day it has become in contemporary culture. Traditionally Mothering Sunday was a day when domestic servants, who were usually women, were given a day off in order to return home to their Mothers and their Mother Church. Mothering Sunday says more about care and provision than it perhaps does about home-made cards and bunches of roses.

And I have to admit that Mothering Sunday is not one of my all time favourite Sundays to preach on.

Because, for all the nostalgia and romanticism that surrounds it, many people that we know, perhaps many people listening to me right now will struggle with today. Struggle because they no longer see their Mum and they so wish that they could. Struggle because the ‘Clintons Card’ image of a loving a caring Mother was, for them at least not a reality they experienced. Some will struggle because instead of a Mother, they experienced a Father, or a Grandmother or an Auntie trying to fulfil both roles, sometimes getting it right and sometimes not so much.

Mothering Sunday is a moment when we can pause and take stock in our lives. To remember where we are and to consider whether those memories are joyful or painful, straightforward or complex.

Whatever Mothering Sunday is like for you, we can, as usual, take our lead from Jesus, who is as always the model we strive to emulate. We talked about how in our reading, Jesus thinks of His mother and her future care in His moment of greatest need. In that moment we see yet another glimpse of the topsy turvy kingdom that is our God’s. As much as it would have been Mary who would have wanted to care for Jesus, as much as it was her who would have been thinking about His future and not her own, in reality it’s Jesus who demonstrates what we might describe as Motherly instincts in order to protect the one He loves.

Jesus knew that by joining His Mother and the Disciple Whom He Loved together in a new kind of hybrid family, the care and compassion, love and mutual support that was necessary to get through the next few months would be there for each of them.

Jesus, in this moment of care creates a community, united not by blood or profession, but by Himself. Jesus, as He hangs on the cross, creates a church. A tiny, small, sad, grieving church; that would be there in mutual support of one another.

And that’s what the church should be about. The church should care, and love, and support and grieve with it’s loved ones. It should be there in good times and bad. It should be non-judgmental and always available, perhaps just like a good Mother should be.

However and with whomever you are planning to spend today, I encourage you to give thanks for those that have ‘mothered’ you in your life thus far. I encourage you to pray for those whom you care for, whether you are a mother yourself or not. And lastly I urge you to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ, who in His moment of greatest need, demonstrated a commitment to the future of the church by joining people together in His name. Amen.