Sermon on John 3:14-21 (Mothering Sunday)
Originally given 10 March 2024 at St. Alban’s Church, Coventry
The other week, I attended a church as a guest and heard a sermon that could be described as exclusivist. In the context of Christian theology, an exclusivist is someone who believes that only Christians have salvation. I was surprised to hear the teaching in a sermon, because I couldn’t imagine I would ever preach that one must be exclusivist in order to be Christian. If for no other reason than because there is an accepted theologically wide spectrum on the idea of salvation for Christians, which ranges from exclusivist to inclusivist to universalist. So I don’t think it’s appropriate to say you should follow one school of thought over another.
I think most of you probably know me well enough to know I do have opinions on the subject, and some of you may have been able to figure out where I stand on the matter, but I don’t think it’s my job to tell you what you should think when it comes to your personal faith. In fact, I was so shocked about the sermon I heard, that I flat out told Barney I would never preach on that topic. So, knowing God’s sense of humour, of course today I find myself preaching on exclusivism. Well, not explicitly on exclusivism, but the ideas about salvation within Christianity and why our Gospel reading today can be seen as controversial.
On the surface, as believing Christians, we might think it’s obvious that Christ is our guiding light. But this becomes a bit more problematic when we consider the billions of people who follow a different faith, the billions of people who still follow the command of Christ to love your neighbour as yourself but do not believe in Christ as the incarnate Son of God. And this is why there is debate among Christians concerning salvation, and why there is a wide spectrum of belief on the idea of salvation which ranges from exclusivist to inclusivist to universalist.
An exclusivist would say John 3:18 is clear – nobody can enter the Kingdom of heaven unless they believe in the only Son of God. An inclusivist could be described as slightly less restrictive, but is still quite a broad spectrum itself. They would generally say that people of other faiths might not be condemned per se, but they will only secure salvation through belief in Christ. Finally, a universalist would say that all are saved regardless of belief because of God’s limitless power and love for all. They might point to the verse we read today from Ephesians that says, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.’
I’m not going to tell you what you have to believe, but I will say that whatever you believe, you can still treat everyone with respect and love your neighbour as Christ commanded. Now, I’m a big fan of the show Call the Midwife, and this show is brilliant at showing what Christ’s love looks like. It’s one of those shows that usually leaves me crying, sometimes bawling, and more often than not asking why I put myself through such an emotional roller coaster every week! In any case, I would highly recommend it to you if you haven’t seen it, because it always has a positive message that reminds you of God’s love. This past Sunday was the finale, and it did not disappoint. I’m guessing the writers knew it would fall just before Mothering Sunday and so the plot involves a ‘Best Mother’ competition.
I just need to pause to say that I appreciate Mothering Sunday is not historically about mothers, and I have preached before on the secularisation and Americanisation of this church day. But, although it’s not historically meant to be a holiday to celebrate mothers, that is what Mothering Sunday has become. So, I am going to talk about mothers, but please do not despair because, like Call the Midwife, I recognise that motherhood can come in various forms.
Based purely on the name of the show Call the Midwife one might assume that it is only about traditional, biological mothers. But throughout its history, the show has shown various aspects of motherhood. There is even one character who is a step mother, adoptive mother, biological mother, and foster mother all in one, who has also battled with infertility, and whose children simply view her as their mother without any qualifiers. In addition to so many other stories of mothers, the show often tells stories of the women who were forced to give up their children because they lived in a time that did not allow for single mothers. But the best part of the finale for me was that the person who won the best mother competition was Sister Julien – someone who would not identify herself as a mother because she has never reared children of her own. But throughout the show, Sister Julien has always shown the love of a good mother in her interactions with others with patience, kindness, and grace. She has been a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. She has given words of consolation and wisdom. She is the calm and steady rock through the many storms that have come to the show’s streets of Poplar.
On this Mothering Sunday, I think we could all learn something from the character of Sister Julien. You don’t have to give birth to someone or have a legal right over someone to be their mother. You don’t even have to be older than someone to be their mother. Being a good mother is simply loving others as Christ so loved us. This is the love that every single one of us has been given. The grace of God, meaning undeserved favour. Each of us is so completely loved by God, that it only makes sense to share that love with others.
So wherever you fall on the spectrum of thought concerning salvation, you have the opportunity to share the love freely given to you by our Almighty Mother God. God, the exemplary example of what love is.
Reflections of a Christian 