Musical Prelude and Service.

John 14:15-21
I want to start by acknowledging that today is Mothers’ Day. I have spoken in the past about the history of this day, and that it was first proposed as a day that urged an end to war and violence, acknowledging the cost paid by mothers through combat.
Over the years how we address Mothers’ Day within worship has evolved, I am certainly aware of that. We have made efforts to acknowledge the sensitivities of celebrating mothers or motherhood in the face of those who have difficult relationships with their mothers or those who through choice or no choice of their own are not mothers.
There is a movement in some places to name this day Christ Family Sunday.
I choose to take time in this service to acknowledge that today is Mothers’ Day. To offer some time to reflect and offer prayer for the many ways people have taken on the role of mothers in their relationships and in their communities. To give thanks for that work and that love. But also, to be mindful that for some, today can bring mixed emotions – including pain.
But I also feel the need to observe that on this Mothers’ Day we read a passage of scripture that names God the Father three times in six verses and describes God as he or him five times in those six verses.
I won’t comment on that aspect of this scripture beyond that, but I do feel the need to point this out and say I find that an unfortunate bit of timing.
But what is happening in this scripture? Well, Jesus is describing the relationship between himself, God, and his followers in terms of a deep and loving connection. It is a relationship framed in terms of a desire for a closer loving relationship. Jesus describes his relationship to God the creator in intimate family terms. He adds that he desires that same connection with his followers and that the same connection is offered by God the creator.
This scripture essentially describes the trinitarian nature of God. Jesus describes himself as being a part of that trinity. He also points to the Spirit or Advocate along with God the father, or as I tend to prefer, the parent or Creator.
What I find myself drawn to this morning in this scripture is the close relationship between God and Jesus and the spirit. It is one of intimacy. I am in the father and the father is in me. The same goes for the spirit and God.
This is a relationship of love. The word love also shows up five times in these six verses. But it is love as a verb. Love is something we do. It is not an object. It is not something to be possessed or used. It is an action that we take.
We love Jesus. We love God. And we are assured Jesus loves us, God loves us.
Jesus is talking about a world in which we are all interconnected. It is a sense of the world that has been discussed before. Jesus uses the metaphor of the root and the vines elsewhere in John to describe this. The term that is often used to describe this way of experiencing the world is mutuality. We are connected. We share our joys and our pains. We are certainly capable of tuning out the pain and suffering of others. We are certainly capable of ignoring the joys and successes others experience. But we live together in God’s creation and through the work of the Holy Spirit we are connected. WE are reliant on the work of all of God’s children and we are called to witness to the lives of those with whom we share this world.
Jesus calls on us to love one another. Jesus calls on us to recognize that we are all connected. What can it mean to us to recognize that Jesus abides in our neighbour? What does it mean to look into the face of the stranger we meet on the street and recognize you are looking at the image of God?
My theology professor, Don Schweitzer, describes the Holy Spirit as the bond of love that connects creation to God the Creator. We do have agency in this matter. We can choose to disregard the Spirit. We can choose to pretend we are not connected, and make our way through life disconnected from our fellow humans; from our neighbours. But I would suggest that leaves our lives lacking.
Or we can let the Spirit work in and through us. We can let ourselves and our senses be opened to that work. We can be enlivened. We can recognize and be moved by these connections. It can be scary. We leave ourselves vulnerable. We are open to experiencing the pain and the heartbreak of witnessing and learning of the violence and oppression experienced by our fellow human beings.
We expose ourselves to the anger and the fear that are so much a part of this world. We leave ourselves very open to being changed by our new relationships.
But this also means we are open to new worlds, new possibilities, new experiences. We are strengthened by our new connections. We are strengthened as the spirit makes us aware of the many gifts God has blessed us with. We can see how we are part of something so much larger than our previously small and isolated world. Our eyes and our ears; all our senses offer us a new vision of just how beautiful and immense God’s creation is. We see that we are just a small part of this world, but how significant we all are in God’s eyes.
Jesus invites us into a new way of experiencing the world. Jesus is telling us that we are part of an elaborate and immense web of love; a vast root system that nourishes us and encourages us to grow in the love God offers us all.
Are we ready to acknowledge that we are loved by God? Are we ready to let ourselves be opened to the meaning of that love and the relationship that we are called to be a part of? Are we ready to say, here I am Lord?
Thanks to be God.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789