This Sunday is a very special day in the life of mothers in most of the countries across the world, but in the UK they celebrate "Mothering Sunday" on March 25th (or the nearest Sunday). This day is nine months before December 25th and it was traditionally a day off for servants, who could use it to return home and visit their mothers, since they often wouldn't get to see them during the rest of the year.
Whatever day we celebrate it on, we pay tribute to those who raised us and shaped us into who we are. If you’re like me and your mother has passed on, this reflection will probably resonate with you. Jesus said: “I go to prepare a place for you. … I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” It sounds so wonderful, doesn’t it? It sounds perhaps like what we imagine heaven to be. If that’s so, then it’s a future place, a place that we’ll “go to.” Well, that may be part of the promise that Jesus was making to his disciples, but the other part is in his answer to Thomas: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Yes, we are promised eternal life, but we’re also promised that we’re already housed by God, fed by God and carried by God. We already have a foot in that place Jesus prepared for us if we but look around, look within and listen. As nice as that sounds, doesn’t it often seem difficult to imagine that in this world, we should be seeing evidence of Jesus being the way, the truth and the life? If people truly believed that God is very much with us, wouldn’t “the world” be a different place - a better place? Jesus often talked to his followers, and others who would listen, about the Kingdom of Heaven. He said that it was here already and also that we must join in the process of building it, using Jesus as the initial cornerstone, or capstone. This cornerstone is the first one laid when building a mighty edifice and it is imperative that it’s set correctly, as it’s the one on which all the levels and strength of the building rely. Let’s stop for a moment and reflect on whether we’ve really progressed all that far from the kinds of things that were happening when the church was still in its formative years. Today’s reading from Acts brings a dangerous and dark shadow over our Easter joy. Stephen, even though he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and evidently giving witness to what a life lived in imitation of Jesus should look like, is stoned to death by an angry crowd. They covered their ears and shouted. Isn’t that a frightening image? We see a manic crowd, hostile to goodness and their anger and frustration feeding off each other. Why? They couldn’t imagine that God would become manifest in Jesus, live among human beings, die on the cross and rise victorious from the dead. We might think to ourselves, “How sad. They had Jesus right in their midst and they missed him. We certainly wouldn’t have made that mistake!” Yet, look at what happens today. Groups of lay people, priests and nuns are brutally murdered by guerrilla groups with machine guns or machetes, just because they are working for freedom, or education, or because they belong to the wrong tribe. A group of innocent schoolgirls in Nigeria are kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam, because they are girls who are at school, brought up in Christian families. So where is this Kingdom of Heaven on earth? For that matter, where is Jesus? Has he gone to prepare a heavenly place for us and forgotten to come back? Do our hearts become troubled when we hear these stories? Yes, of course they do. We have to wonder just how it is that we can build our faith to the point where we can believe in a different world - where we can see God in the midst of hardship. If we look at Peter’s letter to the early churches, we can believe that, yes, we can drink that pure, spiritual milk that God offers us. That’s where we can begin again, regardless of how long we’ve been in the church. We’re offered that nourishment in many ways - through prayer, through the words and symbols of our liturgies and through the example of those who love us because they believe in God’s love for all people. Perhaps the most powerful way of growing in the spirit is through our sharing at the Communion table and believing that Jesus left this symbol with us so that we could touch him and know that he IS in us. There’s the power. There’s the mystery that explodes within us if we just open our hearts and minds to all that God reveals to us. There’s the well of power that helps us continue looking for ways to build the Kingdom here on earth, while we wait to take our place in the world to come. Peter reminds us that we’re chosen, we’re a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God. How many of us, I wonder, really believe that? If we don’t, then how can we begin to grasp the meaning of those words? When people DO begin to believe these words, they find themselves doing amazing things. We might first think of those people like Stephen - and countless others in the years since - who have given their lives for what they believe. They’ve added their stones towards the building of the Kingdom. But then we also have to think of ourselves. We’re the people who are called to build the kingdom in different ways, through teaching, writing, through the example of our integrity and genuineness. Jesus never promised a safe and trouble-free life for those who follow him - far from it. He was always very honest about the fact that “the world” would most often cover its ears and shout, and sometimes throw stones. But if we try - if we believe that we’re chosen, that there is truth in the saying that one candle brings light into the darkness, then we ARE building it - piece by piece. We ARE adding stone upon stone, and we will feel the difference in ourselves. We need to be careful, however, not to fall into the trap of thinking that we have to complete the building of the Kingdom either all by ourselves, or at least in our lifetime. Our human desire to be successful, complete and wholly satisfied, can be a stumbling block for us - just as rejecting Jesus was a stumbling block to them. The Kingdom here will never be finished, it just continues to grow. We’re a part, a critical and unique part, but we’re not the whole. There’s always more to learn and more to offer of ourselves to others. Evil will never cease trying to destroy the goodness of a holy place. And so, there’s a need to continue building ourselves up, but also to work together, pray together, become that holy nation, that holy community. Each and every one of us is called. Each and every one of us is invited to follow Jesus who is our way, our truth and our life and the Good News is that Jesus is with us. He has promised never to leave us. We are holy. We are chosen. We are God’s beloved. Are you ready to lay your stone at the feet of God and help to build his Kingdom? Can you think of how you might fulfil the role God planned out for you? It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as Stephen’s. Maybe you can pray for healing and restoration in the world. Maybe you can help out those less fortunate ones in our community by volunteering your time. Or invite a lonely neighbour over for a cuppa and a chat. There are many ways of achieving the Kingdom, but it all involves building it up, one stone at a time. Let us pray. Lord, Bless all mothers - not only on Mothers’ Day, but every day. Even if we can’t be with them, I pray that they are aware that we love them deeply. Help us to become the people that you, and they, want us to be. Guide us in your Kingdom work and keep us safe, until we meet again. Amen. Pastor Rick
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