{"id":2886,"date":"2019-04-01T12:08:06","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T12:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=2886"},"modified":"2019-04-01T12:08:06","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T12:08:06","slug":"sermon-31st-march-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-31st-march-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 31st March 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mothering Sunday – evening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 31st March 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lent 4 – Mothering Sunday – evening
\nExodus 1-10
\nLuke 2. 33-35<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We live in a time when parents are made to feel very\nfearful for their children\u2019s welfare. When many adults have become fearful of\ntheir children and their friends. When \u2013 statistically \u2013 young  men \u2013 boys – have the most to fear \u2013 either\nfrom becoming victims of crime or violence, or both. They also \u2013 so it seems \u2013\nhave the hardest task to realise their potential as they grow up; to take\nadvantage of the education that is made available to them.  To avoid the twisted version of sex that they\ntoo often pick up from porn sites on the internet.  To negotiate appropriately the adult world of\nrelationships and engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether through peer pressure, lack of parental support\nand encouragement, lack of suitable male role models \u2026 we can speculate any\nnumber of reasons, but boys too often find it hard to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis not easy to be a child these days \u2013 especially a boy child. It is not easy\nto be a mother \u2013 and mothers and sons often share a special affinity \u2013 as do\nfathers and daughters \u2013 whether we believe in the theories of Dr. Freud or not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\norigins of \u2018Mothers\u2019 Day\u2019 (which is of course an American import) but was not\noriginally a sentimental and schmaltzy excuse for more over-indulgence with\nflowers and chocolate \u2026 as pleasant as those things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather\nit was originally a Peace Movement of American Mothers who were sick and tired\nof being asked to mourn and bury their dead sons as a result of the Civil War\nin the USA. Mothers\u2019 Day was a day of prayer and activism for Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mothering\nSunday, is a time when maybe we should also remember the millions of mothers\naround the world today who will see their child die\u2026 through poverty, through\nlack of decent sanitation, through poor health care, through hunger \u2013 as well\nas through war and violence. And a day for considering the part that \u2018mother\nchurch\u2019 can play in fostering good models of behaviour and respect between\nhuman beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmother of Moses \u2013 whose name is never revealed \u2013 (although legend has it as\nJochebed) took desperate measures to try to protect her son and give him at\nleast a chance of surviving into adulthood. If that chance involved setting him\nadrift on a river that could be infested with crocodiles \u2013 then we can imagine\nhow desperate she must have felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nbelonged to an oppressed and persecuted minority in a society where those at\nthe top possessed conspicuous wealth \u2013 and enjoyed flaunting it. I imagine that\nmany mothers and fathers, fleeing war and persecution today, must go through\njust the same sense of desperation and hope as they consign their children to\nthe people smugglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through\nthe desperation and audacious cheek of Moses\u2019 mother \u2013 maybe through the\ninitiative of the baby\u2019s older sister, Miriam \u2013 she was able to remain with her\ninfant son a few precious months more. And then to have the satisfaction of\nknowing that he was being raised in a royal household \u2013 with all the prestige\nand advantages that entailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nnever hear of her again. So we don\u2019t know if she was still alive when her son\napparently threw it all away because of his sense of injustice and a hot\ntemper? Young men (and women come to that) are prone to do wild and\nirresponsible things that vex their parents and make them especially fearful\nfor their children. Many a mother has felt her heart or soul \u2018pierced\u2019 like\nMary \u2013 either because of something their child has done \u2013 or because of\nsomething that has befallen them. Just ask the mothers of the teenage knife\ncrime victims throughout the country in the past few weeks and months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe case of Moses it was to be many years further before it became apparent\nthat God\u2019s purposes for him were to be worked out in rescuing his people \u2013 a\nwhole nation \u2013 and leading them towards the promise of a better future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes\nit is only our parents \u2013 only our mothers even \u2013 that can have faith that we\nwill amount to anything in life. But my guess is that no mother ever really\ngives up hoping that her child will \u2018make good\u2019 in the world \u2013 even if the\npresent reality seems unpromising and dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wouldn\u2019t\nit make a great Mothering Sunday if we could pray for and deliver a world where\nmothers do not have to witness the death of their children through war, or\nviolence, or hunger, or poverty? Then, like Simeon in the Temple we too might\nbe able to say, \u201cLord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine\neyes have seen thy Salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy\nMothering Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mothering Sunday – evening Sunday 31st March 2019 Lent 4 – Mothering Sunday – evening Exodus 1-10 Luke 2. 33-35 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs We live in a time when parents are made to feel very fearful for their children\u2019s welfare. When many adults have become fearful of their children and their friends. When \u2013 … <\/p>\n

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