Worship Preview Mother's Day 5.11.25 "Resurrection Stories: Rearranged"

This Sunday: 10:30am –  4th Sunday of Easter – Resurrection Stories: Rearranged

Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching. Scriptures: Isaiah 42:1-16, Matthew 12:46-50, and John 19:25-27

Sunday is Mother’s Day – a day of celebration and thankfulness that can also be difficult for many. During our call to worship, we’ll use these words: “We acknowledge that this day can be both joyful and difficult. We mourn with those who mourn. We seek healing for those wounded. We give thanks with those who are thankful. May we embrace deepest hope and hear the call to nurture one another with loving-kindness. May we embrace the labor pains of the renewal creation as we continue to celebrate Resurrection. Amen!”

As we honor Moms this day on the secular calendar and continue to celebrate Easter on the liturgical calendar, we will visit a small scene found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels. Jesus has been healing and teaching in challenging ways and is told that his mother and brothers have come looking for him. In response, he says “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

It seems dismissive, but it is also hopeful. As we talked about during Holy Communion last week, Jesus’ ministry creates new relationships, a new order. Jesus the stranger becomes the guest who becomes the host. This is the journey of faith. As Luke’s story of two disciples at Emmaus highlights, this is the experience of Resurrection – new relationshjip: a reordering or rearranging of the world.

With that scene in mind, this week we will again go back to the cross. We’ll use a wonderful and provocative painting by French artist James Tissot, created in 1890 and entitled “Ce que voyait Notre-Seigneur sur la Croix” or “What Our Lord Saw from the Cross.” I encourage you to look that painting up and reflect on it before we gather for worship. One thing Tissot depicts, and the detail we’ll focus on, comes from a short passage in the midst of John’s account of Jesus’ suffering. Jesus notices his mother (who is never named in John’s gospel) and the also unnamed “disciple he loved” standing near each other at the foot of the cross. Even as he suffers, he lovingly creates from them a new family connection. He says to his mother: “Woman, here is your son.” Then to the disciple: “Here is your mother.” A new relationship. A new arrangement. A way forward even in despair and confusion. A responsibility to nurture and care for each other. It’s what we celebrate on Mother’s Day.

Motherhood is neither delicate nor simple - and God, who Genesis tells us creates males and females in God’s own image – is the foundation of both fatherhood and motherhood. That may seem radical – but it is not a new idea. While masculine references are far more common, the Scriptures use several maternal images for God – describing God as bearing and giving birth, as nursing, weaning, and a mother teaching a child to walk. Other images are drawn from nature -  Jesus uses the comforting image of himself as a mother hen gathering her chicks for protection. But such metaphors can be fierce as well – in Hosea, God is compared to a mother bear protecting and avenging her cubs!

From there, motherhood as a metaphor for God in Christian thought dates to at least the 12th century, found in the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux and others. Perhaps the best-known use of maternal imagery, though, comes from “Revelations of Divine Love” by Julian of Norwich, a 14th century mystic and author I’ve shared about before. Her writing is the earliest extant work in English by a woman and I’ve recommended it t0 several people struggling with the difficult time of history we find ourselves in. Julian wrote in the late 14th and early 15th century – a time of the Black Plague and 100 years war. She is most famous for a saying that “all will be well and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.” This optimism does not come from a simplistic, rose-colored glasses view of the world but from a deep connection with and insight into Jesus’ suffering on the cross, his role in creation as the 2nd person of the Trinity, and what it means to follow him. She came to understand, and write about, God as both father and mother, saying: “God revealed that in all things, as truly as God is our father, so truly is God our mother. God is the power and the goodness of fatherhood; God is the wisdom and loving-kindness of motherhood. God is the one who makes us to love, And the endless fulfilling of our true desires.”

This makes some of us uncomfortable – but if we, both male and female, are made in the image of God, then God does encompass all we are and we cannot begin to understand God without the full spectrum of human experience. No single metaphor completely describes God – and for some of us who have, at times, struggled with our parents, having these multiple metaphors is crucial.

Resurrection is about new relationships, new understandings, and new life. As we will hear in our Isaiah text (where God is depicted as a woman in labor, panting and groaning) “I’m declaring new things. Before they even appear, I tell you about them. Sing to the Lord a new song!

So again -  whatever binds you, whatever locks you up, whatever keeps you from the life for which you were created…can be rolled away, opened, released… for we believe our stories can be rewritten each and every day. It is not easy or quick, but let this Easter be a vision of your life unlocked – your life as a Resurrection Story! We hope you will join us at 10:30am Sunday at 301 S. National.

Upcoming Events: 

Wednesday, May 14th Feeding Families in His Name:  This “to-go” meal is distributed under the portico at 301 S. National. This free meal is available to everyone without obligation. A reminder: Please do not block nearby driveways while waiting. Thank you. If you would like to support this ministry, you can make donations online at: www.firstumcfortscott.org/onlinegiving. 

Friday, May 23rd – our next Aging Forward session– each 4th Friday afternoon at 1pm we’ll offer a chance for retired adults (and anyone else interested) to hear from local speakers about all sorts of topics and share a time of conversation and fellowship. Light refreshments provided. Mark your calendar and join in the fun!

Vacation Bible School – June 16th -20th 5:30-8pm at 1st Presbyterian (308 S. Crawford). Come on a “Road Trip” with us to learn more about God and each other! Register at www.firstumcfortscott.org/vbs or by calling 1st Presbyterian’s church office at (620) 224-2055.