Few things are more powerful than the tears and prayers of a mother. Few things are more tender than a mother’s hug or compassionate touch.
2,000 years ago God chose a young girl to give birth to Jesus Christ. Mary could have said; “Lord I’m just a girl I’m not ready to be a mother, I’m not wealthy, I’m not educated – I’m not worthy of this maybe it would be better if you got someone else.” But in fact she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be as you have said…” Mary, as well as being fearful, saw it as an honour and as a blessing.
Most of the time motherhood & protection go hand in hand. From the very moment Jesus was born his life was in danger, the wicked King Herod was on the throne and he soon sought the life of Jesus, forcing Mary to flee to Egypt. Mary protected Jesus from Herod and from many other things that would hurt Him.
Mary also protected Jesus’ identity. Though Mary knew who Jesus was and who he was to become she did not go about telling of all the wonderful, supernatural things she knew about her baby boy. Rather, as Luke says in Luke k 2:19 after saying how the shepherds told what they had heard; “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart…” The Greek word used here for treasure is a word that means “an intense, protective keeping.”
Mary’s love and devotion – for Jesus began before he was born and lasted even beyondthe cross.The first picture we have of Mary is as teenage girl in Nazareth and the final picture we see of Mary is that of an older women, hair probably a little grey – with skin dark and wrinkled by years of exposure to the Judean sun, with eyes that show the wear of years of struggle.
Do you know where it is that we find this last glimpse of Mary? Not not at the cross of her son – though she was there. Not when Jesus hung on the cross and said to her and John, “Woman behold your son – son behold your mother…” The last glimpse we see of her is in the book of Acts;
“They all joined together constantly in prayer along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers…”Acts 1:14
30+ years later and Mary is still right where she is supposed to be – and Jesus is still the centre of her attention and the focus of her entire being. Mary’s love and devotion for Jesus is unquestionable. It must have been very difficult for her. Remember what the Old prophet Simeon said to Mary as she presented her month old baby boy at the temple, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel… and a sword will pierce your soul too” (Luke 2:33-34)
In Mark 3 there’s another occasion that must have pierced her soul. The respected leaders in Jerusalem were saying that Jesus was a fanatic, a lunatic who was demon possessed. What mother wouldn’t be hurt if people were saying those kinds of things about her child.
And then on that dark Friday; her Jesus, the baby she had given birth to – when Mary watched his hands and feet nailed to a cross… Hands and feet that she had once held in her hands – as she watched them beat her son, strip her son, mock her son — kill her son Mary’s soul was pierced…
Loving Jesus wasn’t easy. Yet Mary’s love and devotion was unwavering from conception to the cross… and even beyond. When others mistreated Jesus, Mary was there. When others turned Him away, he always knew that His mother wouldn’t. Even at the cross she was there, when she could no longer protect him, how helpless she would have felt.
Loving our children may not always be easy. The road may get very difficult – and our souls too will be pierced many times by the things that happen to them… When they are hurt, when they are sick, when they are betrayed and maybe even when they die…
And our soul will also be pierced at times by what they do. They may live a life that goes against all that we believe and hold dear… They may even rebel against and reject our love. But even then our love & devotion needs to be unwavering. We don’t have to condone all they do to love them unconditionally.
So we’ve looked at the example Mary set as Mother of Jesus so let’s extend this out wider now. As a community we all have a mothering or fathering role in terms of caring of welcoming, guiding and caring for the families and children God brings to our church. We are a community and we should model our parenting role not just on our own flesh and blood but for all children.
I want to tell you a brief story now.
We started going to church about 21 years ago. Our first child had been born and we needed to find somewhere to have him baptised. We weren’t practising Christians but had some exposure as children through school and church parades. Nevertheless there was something important about having our child baptised, and also something in us that wanted our child to have a “churched” background, a “good Christian” upbringing. So we thought we’d better find a church. We went to a small rural church a good 30 minutes’ drive away- the church attached to my husband’s old primary school- now long closed.
There were no toilets, no church hall and no other families or children. I remember changing my son’s nappy on the back seat of the car in the carpark. The people were lovely and tiny babies can usually be comforted by feeding them or rocking them to sleep. So not an issue initially. Not quite 2 years later we had our daughter and things were becoming less manageable and more stressful at the church. Our eldest, by then was a boisterous toddler who spent his time walking up and down in the aisles. We would be able to sit with him and point pictures out in books for about 5 minutes at a time but he would soon become restless and want to explore. He took a liking to the organist and used to like to stand close by and watch.
However the organist was the one person who felt that children should be seen and not heard even though the rest of the congregation (about a dozen of them) used to reassure us. One day the vicar asked us if there was any possibility we could keep Aidan in the pew more as the organist had complained that he was putting him off! So my husband spent increasing amounts of time, wandering around the church with the children outside- no hall, no other children, nowhere else to go. The penny dropped. What was the point in coming to church if all we did was sit there tensely and or spend most of the time outside of the church keeping the children amused. We went less and less and finally stopped going. The church continued to decline and whilst still open it no longer has a service every week.
Two young children were talking with each other about parent problems. One of them complained to the other, saying: “First they teach you to talk, then they teach you to walk, and as soon as you learn how, they tell you to ‘Sit down and be quiet”
In today’s gospel, it appears that Jesus’ disciples were attempting to quieten the children and prevent them from coming to see Jesus. Mark tells us that people were bringing their little children to Jesus hoping that he would touch them and, along with his touch, bless them. What were the disciples doing when they tried to send the children away from Jesus? Did they think that they were trying to protect Jesus and give him a chance to rest? Did they feel that children were not important to Jesus? That children did not belong in God’s kingdom? The disciples’ behaviour here seems a little strange, since it was quite customary for Jewish rabbis to bless children. In that blessing, the rabbis were bestowing on the children the hope of a life filled with health, joy, prosperity and peace. Well, whatever caused the disciples to do what they did, Mark tells us that Jesus thought and acted differently.
Over the centuries, and even today, it seems that some Christians have adopted the same attitude as the disciples. They, unfortunately, also either try to send children away or they don’t consider children as very important members of God’s kingdom.
It is important to listen to children. They hear things that we no longer hear. They have priorities we once had and now have lost. 
Back to our story- fortunately it didn’t end with the first church
I became pregnant with my youngest child, Kieran and we had not been to any church for about 18 months and so we came to Emmanuel- at the time it had a thriving Sunday school and lots of children. Children were welcomed here, there were many of them and no one minded or if they did they were outnumbered by children at that time. Many of you may remember how my youngest used to regularly fidget and full off the pew, they’d be a short pause before an almighty cry, and then when he was a little older he’d say “amen” rather loudly just after everyone else had said it. We may have very few children right now but these things go in cycles- many of the children grew up in the church and their numbers declined when they went to college or university. But the point is we were made to feel welcome back then- I came for my children, developed in faith myself through this community and have ended up a Reader for the last 8 years.
Ours is not a remarkable story. It is a story where just one person made enough of a complaint to make us feel unwelcome with children in one church, and then we came to another church where it really didn’t and doesn’t matter if a child wanders around, is noisy and playful.
A teacher who listened to children used to take off his hat and bow to them at the beginning of each school day. Because they were, he explained, the future in our midst. Not surprisingly, one of the pupils was a boy called Martin Luther.
Our children should not only be welcomed into church but actively listened to and learnt from. They aren’t the church of the future- they are the church of here and now. They are the church right this moment just as much as an adult.
Unfortunately the truth is generally speaking we don’t listen to children much. We assume they should listen to us. Children spend a lot of time sitting while adult voices talk at them.
In shops they can be ignored as adults are served first. We hang pictures high up on our walls as though everyone was tall. We ask children what they are going to be when they grow up, as though they are nothing in their present state.
Adults have much to learn from children. Children are an important part of the church community.
Jesus said the kingdom of God must be received “like a child.” It is true that Paul said he “gave up childish ways” when he grew up (1 Corinthians 13:11). But childishness is not what Jesus is referring to. Childishness is petulance. Childish people imagine the whole world is centred around them and if they cry loudly enough they will be served. Some childish people are adults. Jesus, on the other hand, asks us to be childlike. He is speaking about that open, trusting responsive part of us which laughs and cries and is willing to risk.
Listen to the children. Not just the children who are young in years. There is a child inside of all of us, no matter how old we are, who needs to be listened to.
Who knows, when we adults start listening more to the child within us, we may learn to be more joyful, less weighed down with worries and anxieties, able to enjoy the wonder, beauty and mystery of life all the more. The child in us can show us the gift of life and help us live it to the fullest. The child in us shall cherish and share the gift of imagination and creativity. The child in us can reveal the grace of God all around us.
As adults, we can have a tremendous amount of influence on children. We can take our role as mentors seriously; making the church the most welcoming place we possibly can for children. What children remember about church in their younger years will stay with them for the rest of their lives. So, like Jesus, hopefully we can be as inclusive towards children as he was—valuing them as precious members of God’s kingdom because they model for us the marvellous grace of God.
So we looked at the model of motherhood that Mary set but the perfect parent is of course God. God who loved his wayward children, whom despite us humans being chastised and put straight time and time again, continued to rebel. And so God came down to earth as a baby, born of a lowly young woman. He was the only perfect human being- without any sin at all, miraculously both fully man and fully God. He came down to live among us, to reveal something of his nature, to teach us, to challenge us; but ultimately to die for us by taking our punishment for all the sins that have been committed and will yet to be committed- by all those who have ever lived or have yet to be born. All we have to do is accept Him into our lives and follow him. Age is no barrier for every man, woman or child is equally welcome in God’s kingdom.
Amen
Dawn's Journey 