Sermon on John 3:14-21 (Mothering Sunday)

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.

Sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:4

Sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:4
Given 12 September 2021 at St. Alban’s, Coventry

Today we begin in the beginning, the beginning of our holy scriptures, the beginning of creation, the beginning of God’s magnificent, divine love for each of us and all that was made very good by the Creator’s hands. I have the awesome responsibility of setting the foundation for the coming months, as this is the start of our narrative lectionary, which will take us through what we Christians call the Old Testament. As a brief tangent, I specify that it is language used by Christians, because these scriptures are holy for other faiths as well, and other faiths will have different interpretations and understandings. For us, we read Christ into the Hebrew scriptures, and for this reason it is easy to find Jesus Christ at the beginning of creation when we read alongside the Gospel of John. Although this is truly the Gospel truth for us Christians, it is important to recognise that other faiths read a different and valid truth. End tangent.

For those who have seen my social media post with a picture of my attempts to tackle today’s reading, you will know that I have quite a few thoughts on this passage, and it’s difficult to know where exactly to start. Reading the text, I thought about everything from the poetic descriptions that attempt to make sense of the world around us, to the varied contextual understanding across different faiths. Thinking of today’s service in particular, I also saw connections with Harvest and Creation  Care. If time was unlimited, I could bring in my essay from theological college about the doctrine of creatio ex nihilio or discuss the mistranslation of the original Hebrew text that has been perpetuated by the King James version of the Bible. But unfortunately, perhaps more for me than you, our time is limited. So I thought the time would be best spent focusing on just three things highlighted in this passage and close to my heart.  These are the image of God, sabbath, and care for the earth. 

Imago dei is the Latin term often translated as ‘the image of God’, but I prefer the alternative translation of ‘the imagining of God’. An image is static, and history shows images can be corrupted. Our Jewish, Middle Eastern Saviour being depicted with blond hair and blue eyes is just one example of that. Imagining, on the other hand, is active, it’s ongoing. And God’s imagining is as expansive as the universe. No wonder we humans take such a variety of forms when you consider the imagining of our Creator who made the heavens, the earth, the sky, the oceans, and all things with breath. 

Verse 27 says, ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ From this verse we see within the image of God, both male and female are expressed. So I can’t help but wonder, when we talk about God, our expansive Creator, why do we use a box of gender? More specifically, why is God generally referred to only as ‘he’? Of course we will say together the Our Father, but Jesus also says in the Gospel of Matthew he desires to gather ‘as a hen gathers her brood under her wings’. For me as a mother, I find it comforting to know an image of God that reflects who I am. Each of us were lovingly created by our God, so we can all see her in us, regardless of our gender, race, age, ability, or any other physical appearance. I encourage each of you to use the language for God that helps you most identify with him or her, as an almighty Mother, or loving Father, or whoever is reflected on your heart.

Chapter 2  tells us that on the seventh day God rested. So often when we look at the creation story, people claim that humans are the pinnacle of God’s creation because humans were the last to be made by God. However we see here in today’s passage that the final act of God was the act of Sabbath. Not only that, God blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. If we are made in the image of God, then that suggests that we are a people who rest just as the God who created us rests. And rest is a blessed and holy act. Yes there is a time for work and there is a necessity for work, but there is also something holy and sacred about rest. I suggest that it is actually Sabbath that is the pinnacle of God’s creation because this was the final act that God modelled for us.

I would be a hypocrite to suggest that I’m any good at rest myself. I tend to be a perfectionist and because of that I often become a workaholic. And in the world we live in with 24/7 access to everything, with work literally in the palm of our hand with a mobile device, it is hard to just turn off. And in a society that rewards obsessive work it almost seems indulgent to stop. But if we never stop to take time with God, then how can we ever build a relationship with God? This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go away to the mountains or the desert, but it does mean that you must find time in your day to listen for that still small voice calling to you, the divine voice that is wanting a relationship with you. Because you are special and loved by God.

On the sixth day, God created all the animals of the land as well as humans. Humans are unique, not only because we are created in the image, or imagining, of God, but also because God gave us dominion over all the other creatures of the land, sea, and sky. Domination is not something to be taken lightly. As your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman will tell you, with great power comes great responsibility. This past  week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Francis, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, came together to issue a joint statement on climate change, in which they stated, ‘no one is safe until everyone is safe…our actions really do affect one another, and…what we do today affects what happens tomorrow.’

When God finished on the sixth day, she saw that everything was not just good, but very good. God created a perfect world and left us humans in charge. And now what has our world come to? The extreme weather and shocking natural disasters that have been on the rise are the result of our human greed and selfishness. We prioritise our conveniences, and as a result our earth suffers. Not only do our unsustainable actions destroy the planet, the people who are most affected are the poor and marginalised whom we have a responsibility to protect the most. We will shortly go through an Act of Commitment, during which time we will be encouraged to think of practical steps we can take to lead a more sustainable life. Each of us must take the responsibility to make simple changes to ensure the very good earth created for us will be very good for generations to come.