Baildon Methodists / Bradford North Circuit - Baildon Methodist Church

Baildon Methodists / Bradford North Circuit
Mothering Sunday March 14th 2021
Welcome to Mothering Sunday in Bradford North Methodist Circuit. I am Mervyn Flecknoe,
one of the Lay Pastors at Baildon Methodist Church. Thank you for joining us wherever you
are. You are most welcome!

We are going to begin our service this morning with an Odd One Out round to get us into the
mood for Mothering Sunday. Please study these four pictures and decide whom you think is
the Odd One Out.

                        Susannah Wesley 1669-1742
                        Born 25th of 25 children of a dissenter, Dr Samuel Annesley
                        Age 12, she left her father’s church to join the Anglicans.
                        Age 19, she married Samuel Wesley.
                        She had 19 children, nine died as infants.
                        Her husband was unpopular as a clergyman, feckless and
                        incompetent. Parishioners burned their house down, twice!
                        Each child was home-schooled. Each learned Latin and Greek.
                        Each had one hour a week of personal inquiry with mother.
                        Susannah defied her husband by conducting services which were
                        more popular than his.
                              Mary Teresa Bojazhiu, 1910 – 1997
                              Born an Albanian in Kosovo, lived in Ireland and in India
                              1928 became a nun, Sister, later, Mother Teresa
                              1950 founded Missionaries of Charity which now has 4500
                              nuns working in 133 countries caring for people dying with
                              AIDS, Leprosy, and TB. 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, 2016
                              Canonised as a saint. Criticised widely by some who are
                              richer and do less for the poor Admired by many
                              “Mother” Teresa had no children “of her own”
                    Sojourner Truth 1797-1883 was born a slave in New York. Four of
                    her five children were sold. She escaped in 1826. Illiterate and with no
                    education, she became the first black woman to win in court the return
                    of one of her sons from a white slaver.
                    She became a Methodist in 1843. She campaigned all over the then
                    USA for rights for ex-slaves and rights for women, often speaking to
                    hostile white audiences. She is the first African American woman to
                    have a statue in the Capitol building. She is a member of the "100
                    Most Significant Americans of All Time“ club.

                         Sophie Ellis-Bextor (born 1979)
                         English singer, songwriter and model
                         Released six albums, all of which have sold millions of copies.
                         Married a bass player in 2005
                         They have five sons, despite difficult births
                         For the last year, she has been broadcasting her kitchen disco to
                         try to keep the nation fit, frequently “helped” by some of her
                         young sons
                         Used her skills and motherhood status to bring joy to the lives of
                         self-isolating people
                         She is an ambassador for medical research into birth difficulties.

Mervyn Flecknoe                     March 2021                                  1

Yes, of course you are right! They are all the odd one out. They are all mothers in their
different ways. All doing their best for those in their care, All odd. All different. All mothers.
You don’t have to have children “of your own” to be a mother to someone. You don’t even
have to be a woman. All mothering is different and uniquely special. Today is Mothering
Sunday, let’s get mothering!
Our first song: StF Number 611: Brother sister let me serve you

The Bible
From 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not
arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not
rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.”

From the Book of Proverbs chapter 31: “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her
husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them
all…Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her
mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the
ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

And from Luke chapter 13, Jesus weeps:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I
have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!

Reflection
Mothering Sunday is always a part of Lent and I wonder why that might be? Perhaps it is
because, amongst other things, the desert experience enabled Jesus to share and understand
the self-denial that mothers everywhere take on as a part of motherhood. We are told that
now in many homes in this country, mothers go without food so that their children may not
go to school hungry. Jesus would understand that sacrifice. The sadness of that last reading
is the sadness of a mother, unable to help her children.

A collect for Mothering Sunday:
         Oh God who understands the self-sacrifice and self-denial of mothers everywhere, we
         pray that we may surround all those in our community who care for children with your
         love, that we offer help rather than advice, support rather than criticism and kindness
         rather than disapproval. Amen.

And now our second song, in StF Number 102, For the beauty of the Earth. It will be
playing in the version by John Rutter.

Prayers
We pray for all those affected by COVID-19; for all those on ventilators, for all the medical
staff who risk their lives and sanity daily, caring for the dying and for those who will
eventually recover, we pray for all the relatives who may not visit those in hospital, we pray
for those who risk our common safety by refusing the vaccine, we pray for children who will
not see their parents again, we pray for those losing out on education or wages because of
this emergency, we pray for those who knowingly break the national rules of behaviour.

We pray today for all those who take decisions on our behalf, for those who govern and for
those who advise. We pray for all the scientists and engineers who are working to bring us
knowledge and vaccines. We pray for all those who spread misinformation and conspiracy
theories.

Mervyn Flecknoe                        March 2021                                    2

We know, Lord, that everybody does what they think is right at the time, and we pray that
you will guide us that we may not fall into ways of error believing in our own righteousness.

We pray for all those who fulfil the role of mother, we thank you for their sacrifices and for
their selfless dedication; we pray that they may find comfort in the companionship of more
experienced mothers, and in turn give sustenance to those mothers less experienced.

We ask your forgiveness for our mistakes, especially the deliberate ones, and we ask that you
lift the burden of guilt from us. We undertake in this time of Lent, to review our lives and to
root out error and unkindness. We pledge to accept the guidance of your Spirit in leading
lives more Jesus-Shaped for the salvation of the world.

Our Father in heaven, your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on
earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen

Reflection
Forty foodless days in the wilderness was some preparation for Jesus to understand the Hell
in which some people live their lives. I wonder, what constitutes Hell for a mother? Losing
your toddler in a foreign supermarket? Hearing that your child has had an accident and been
taken to hospital, and, No, you can’t visit her. For some mothers living on the edge of
starvation, selling a child into servitude so that the rest of your children can eat? It happens.
We don’t need to conjure up flames or devils with tridents to understand some of that pain.

A daughter explains tearfully that a man’s long-concealed abuse has left her pregnant. It is
understandable for Christian mothers to turn to the Bible for guidance, but that does not
always help. The Bible, like the Koran, has passages that explain who to kill, and how to do
it, but offers no advice about abortion. Jesus too was silent on the issue, but we can take
note of his loving acceptance of women in all sorts of situations that others would condemn.

A son drags courage from every corner of his being to tell his mother that he is gay and in
love. She will find condemnation in Leviticus, just next to the condemnation for eating
shellfish. She will find rebuke in the writing of St Paul, nearby his rebuke to women who dare
to speak in church. She will find Jesus urging her to obey the law of love and the acceptance
that He demonstrated towards all those in pain, to all minorities and outcasts.

Accepting a gay child as part of God’s wonderful and varied creation will lead to an increase
in the amount of love circulating in the world. Supporting a teenager through a termination
of pregnancy might save her sanity and preserve her chances of making a wider contribution
to the world. We search in vain for any condemnation from Jesus. It seems that mothers
particularly, and fathers to some extent, experience intense emotional pain from the worst of
the human condition, and sometimes they must also deal with condemnatory comment and
advice, even from church people. Is that strange?

Buddhism is a peaceful philosophy but in Myanmar, Buddhists militia burn Rohingya houses
and kill Rohingya children. Hinduism is a peaceful religion, but in India the Hindu BJP is
responsible for wholesale persecution of Muslims. Islam is a peaceful religion, the Koran has
only a similar number of passages inciting violence as the Old Testament has, and there are a
few Muslims who feel that the holy war requires them to kill at random. Christianity is a
peaceful religion, but there are Christians who spread misinformation about vaccines and who
foment violence in the USA. All of us, whatever our faith, need constant reminders not to
slide from the Imitation of the life of Jesus into hatred and violence. The Spirit is there to
help us keep on the track to loving acceptance.

Mervyn Flecknoe                       March 2021                                   3

This is the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised would be there to guide us, and she will hold our
hands as we make our way through the perils of parenthood, and of helping the next
generations to a fulfilled and loving life. She speaks to us, in a lingering kiss, in the first rose
of summer as it opens its petals, and when a small child reaches up to take our hand.

Our last song is Mothering God you gave me birth, it is not in the hymn book. It sounds
very modern and slightly heretical, but it was essentially written by the first woman ever to
publish a book in English, Julian of Norwich, in about the year 1400 and it has been a part of
church worship for the best part of 600 years ever since. This transliteration by Jean Janzen.

 Mothering God, you gave me birth                    Mothering Christ, you took my form,
 in the bright morning of this world.                offering me your food of light,
 Creator, source of ev’ry breath,                    grain of new life, and grape of love,
 you are my rain, my wind, my sun.                   your very body for my peace.

                                Mothering Spirit, nurt’ring one,
                                in arms of patience hold me close,
                                so that in faith I root and grow
                                until I flow’r, until I know.

Thank you for joining us this morning. Mothers, you are wonderful; those of you who
mother other people’s children, you are wonderful. We, as a church, salute you and support
you. We are here every week. Please come again!

                                   Come with us, Lord Jesus;
                                     Fill us with your Spirit;
                                   Shape us to your likeness;
                           Use us to enfold with love our needy world
                                               Amen

Finally, A Poem for Mothering Sunday

         We all share the experience, and we touched that woman who gave us birth
         and brought us to this Earth.
         We all share the experience, and we loved those who cared and raised us,
         fashioned us and praised us.
         Not always the same mother or father,
         no blame, no shame, but rather
         we do what seems right just then. So,
         thank you to all those mother hens who
         take on little ones who need a home,
         sometimes only skin and bone, need feeding;
         but often just needing love to bring them round to living;
         the love that keeps on giving.
         Can we make nests so orphan birds return to singing?
         Giving birth is the province of a sister,
         but giving life, well, let me convince you, mister,
         Anyone can do it.
         There is nothing to it
         if love makes you pursue it.
         So, this Mothering Sunday can be our awakening day
         when we become more human,
         staying as members of the Race, by the Spirit’s grace.
         A more Jesus-Shaped man or woman.

Mervyn Flecknoe                         March 2021                                   4