Chaos and Love
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. It’s an opportunity for all of us to give thanks for the person who carried and cared for us and who may still be caring and carrying us in many ways today. And frankly, it’s also complicated. Not every mother-child relationship is the hallmark-picture-perfect variety. There are so many would-be mothers who… won’t be, in the way they grew up imagining. And then there are those beautiful relationships that were grounded in everything good… but have been cut short. How in the world do we cover all of that in one day, in one message, in one worship service?
Well, first it’s a good idea to recognize how complicated it is. Name it. Let those who need to grieve, grieve. Let them know it’s absolutely ok to miss your mom, miss having the mom you always wanted but she wasn’t able to be for you, miss being a mom.
After naming that, I think it’s good also, to name something else. Name what is good and beautiful, what is real and true – that there are a host of children who have been mothered by their birth moms, grandmothers and mothers of our church and community into a loving relationship with Jesus and are continuing that beautiful cycle today.
Sunday between services and Monday evening, I had the real privilege of experiencing it as I heard one child practice Amazing Grace on the piano, and several others sing and play songs of joy, preparing for Sunday’s worship service. What a gift it was to be in the sanctuary with them and to see the fruit of their faith coming into full view. They’ve been gathering for years among us, they’ve paid attention to God and to us, they’ve decided to give of their time and talents and they’re continuing to go back out into their world with a bold faith that is truly inspiring.
Sure, the way they do things isn’t exactly the way we did things. They’ve got their unique words and phrases, their practices, their favorite music and art that looks and sounds quite different than ours… but their faith in Jesus is just as real as ours. And if we’re willing to open ourselves up to them… and to God through them… we just might be transformed more into the image of Jesus, and have a church that looks more like the Kingdom of God, than we ever imagined.
This is actually what makes Mothering, or parenting so difficult. It’s when we hand over the keys to our kids and let them lead – let them make decisions, some that we would make and some that we wouldn’t have dreamed of. It’s so difficult to step back and let it happen, to trust them. But… it’s what God has been doing with humanity since the very beginning. And you might say, “That didn’t turn out too well! They ate the fruit in the garden, they put Jesus on the cross!” And yet, the story doesn’t end there, does it. God regrows the Garden, and the Tree, which is for the healing of the nations, in the final book of Revelation. And Jesus, taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb… turns up three days later, alive – and lives today too!
No amount of bad decisions, no amount of sin is going to get in the way of God’s plan of redemption. Inspired by that, we can trust our children too – to live lives that glorify God and lead us to joy… as we let them lead us.
Sure, it’s complicated and sometimes uncomfortable. Mother’s Day, parenting, children – there is lots of chaos – but there is also deep love and joy, if we leave room for them, and for God.
I hope you’ll join us for worship this Sunday – in the room, and if you can’t, online. If the preparation is any indication (and I think it is!) it’s going to be beautiful!
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus,
Pastor Don