Mother's Day, May 10, 2009 “Great Grand Mothers” Reverend Michael D. Powell John 14:23-27

Today is Mother’s Day, but not every woman is a mother and not everyone who has a mother has the kind of warm and fuzzy, sappy and sentimental memories of their mother that the greeting card industry tends to portray. But, for better or for worse, the power of motherhood runs deep, even reaching down into our subconscious. One way or another, mom’s gonna get you. Even Sigmund Freud knew that. You know what the definition of a Freudian slip is, don’t you? It’s when you say one thing but mean your mother.

There are a lot of good secular and psychological, not to mention commercial reasons for not singling out one special day just to focus on motherhood but when it comes to our worship experience together, the primary objection is that it’s not scriptural. Mother’s Day is not in the bible and there’s no good liturgical reason for buying into a secular and commercial celebration. For all of these reasons many preachers today make only a perfunctory acknowledgement of motherhood, and then attempt to shift the focus just as quickly as possible.

Robert Fulghum, the Unitarian minister who skyrocketed to fame after writing a little book called, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, writes in another of his books about a run-in he had with a mother: “For twenty-five years, the second Sunday in May was trouble. Being the minister of a church, I was obliged in some way to address the subject of Mother's Day. It could not be avoided. I tried that. Mind you, the congregation was quite open minded, actually, and gave me free-reign in the pulpit. But when it came to the second Sunday in May, the expectations were summarized in these words of one of the more outspoken women in the church: ‘I'm bringing my MOTHER to church on MOTHER'S DAY, Reverend, and you can talk about anything you want. But it had better include MOTHER, and it had better be GOOD!’ She was joking - teasing me. She also meant it.” (1)

Well, I am mentioning mother, but I’m using the term mother as a metaphor because, as that great cultural commentator, Oprah Winfrey, has said, “Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.” Without taking anything away from any particular mother, I want to focus on mothering as a metaphor for nurturing. I could just as easily use fathering or parenting or even neighboring but what we’re really talking about is God’s love - incarnated in a particular human form. In today’s Lectionary passage from the Gospel of John we hear the familiar words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

The importance of those words is the distinction they make between a worldly peace that is attempted through law and order and the use of force, as contrasted with the spiritual peace that Jesus promises to give as we gradually relinquish the ways of the world and attempt to live according to God’s plan for our lives. As we grow in our ability to “live in the Spirit” we begin to recognize that the Holy Spirit is “making a home,” as Jesus says, in our peaceful heart. Here’s the difference - the world attempts to establish peace through strength. The Holy Spirit’s peace comes through surrender.

I’ve titled my sermon “Great Grand Mothers” and I’m going to allow you to interpret those three words in whatever way works for you. I’m sure most of you know the history of Mother’s Day, but we all know the history of Christmas too, and that doesn’t stop us from repeating it every year! A form of Mother's Day was first suggested in 1870, during the American Civil War, by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"). She called for an assembly of women "to bewail and commemorate the dead" and to "take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace." (Julia Ward Howe 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation) Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis likewise was involved in the peace movement and called for a special day in which prayers for mothers and for their children would be offered along with prayers for peace and non-violent solutions for disputes between nations. In 1907 Anna Jarvis, daughter of Anna Reeves Jarvis took up the torch. Finally, on May 9, 1914, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

However, Anna Jarvis quickly became disillusioned with how Mother's Day evolved, and in particular with the commercialization of the holiday. Jarvis filed a lawsuit in 1923 to stop a Mother's Day festival and was actually arrested for disturbing the peace when she protested the sale of carnations to raise money for a war mother's convention. Jarvis told reporters shortly before her death at age 84 that she was sorry she had ever started Mother's Day." (cited from a PRCL note by the Rev. Alice W. Erickson, United Church of Christ, Glouster, MA, 2005)

I have deep compassion for those whose experience of motherhood is painful or disappointing. However, my own experience is that both my mother and my grandmother modeled God’s peace and love for me and I’m in the ministry today because of their influence, so I’d like to share my personal testimony.

Among my earliest memories is the image of my mother studying her Bible lessons on Saturday night. She was not only a Sunday school teacher; she was superintendent for many years, and a counselor in our MYF group as well. She taught me to pray, to love God and to love the Bible. My grandmother taught an adult class and was for many years in charge of the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church and always had me read a special poem. If there is a single event that led me to seminary it was when, as a high school student, my grandmother took me to a Lenten series of lectures by the great Boston School of Theology professor of Church History, Dr. Edwin Prince Booth. He was an absolutely spellbinding speaker who kept us on the edge of our seats throughout a series of hour-long lectures.

One last story about my grandmother - My first church in New Meadows, Idaho, was picture perfect and everyone who walked in the doors was struck by its simple beauty. Most people, however, simply remarked about how pretty it was. I will never forget my grandma’s first reaction. She stood for a moment at the back of the sanctuary, just breathing in the golden light from the windows and the blessed spirit of that sacred space. And then, without saying a word, she walked down front to the altar rail and knelt to pray. There is not a doubt in my mind that she was praying for me and for my ministry.

So, this is a day when I want to acknowledge how the Holy Spirit has worked in my life through my mother and my grandmother. I thank God for the influence that their love of God has had on me - through Christ. Amen.

(2) Robert Fulghum, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It