Introduction
Story: I came across a true story that happened during the Holocaust of the Second World War.
Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their 2 sons were arrested, together with his mother and father for the crime of being Jews. They were placed in a Nazi concentration camp.
It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple.
"As long as you can do your work, you will be permitted to live.
When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated."
Rosenberg watched his mother and father being marched off to their deaths as they became too weak to work.
He knew that the next would be his youngest son, David - because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of hard labour and searched the faces for his family.
When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally found his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying.
He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true."
Joshua turned and said, "It is true, Dad. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him."
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg.
"Oh Dad," he said, "When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried.
So Mum said, `There is nothing to be afraid of, David,’ and she took his hand and went with him."
A mother’s love that was so strong that she would willingly sacrifice her life to comfort her child.
The story still takes my breath away and I have told it lots of times.
There is something very special about a mother’s bond with her son
And Mary, Jesus mother is no different.
There was Jesus’ very special birth heralded by the angel Gabriel. Every Mum thinks her little boy is special but Jesus was a bit more special than others.
Mary heard the prophecies of Simeon and Anna about her little boy - that we read in the Gospel reading today and I wonder what she thought
Being a mother isn’t easy
One mother has said , "The joy of motherhood is what a woman experiences when all the children are finally in bed."
Another mother talking to an old school friend said this
"I remember, before I was married I had 3 theories about raising children? Well, now I have 3 children and no theories."
Another mother who had three children was asked, "If you had it all to do over again, would you have children?" "Yes," she replied, "But not the same ones."
One mother wrote this poem – I must say I do like it:
"Some may climb Mt Everest,
in search of thrills galore,
But I scale peaks that rival it,
just past the laundry door:
Slopes of socks and underwear,
sheer cliffs of shirts and pants.
Oh, yes, I live in mortal fear
of a laundry avalanche"
Mums are interesting.
Not only do they seem to be - at times, `superhuman’ but they also speak the same language.
It’s not written in any book nor is it taught in any University but every mother seems to know the dialect. I am sure it’s not just in my house:
“Just wait until your dad gets home"
"Pick up your socks"
“If you’d put it in the wash - I could wash it”
"Where’s the change"
"That’s the last time I’m going to tell you."
“ When are you going to clean up your bedroom?”
“What do you think I am – your slave”
Mothers not only speak the same language
but they also share many of the same
qualities:
inquisitiveness,
tenderness,
sympathy,
compassion,
mother’s intuition.
There are few things are more powerful than the tears and prayers of a mother.
Few things are more tender than a mother’s hug or compassionate touch.
Story: Someone has pointed out that of the 69 kings of France, only three were really loved by their subjects and that these three were the only ones reared by their mothers, instead of by tutors of guardians.
And it just may be true - what Napoleon said,
"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
Today I want us to look at the characteristics of the mother that God choose to raise his Son.
From the little recorded about her in Scripture we do glean the following
1. Her humility
At Christmas we looked at the story of Jesus birth
And you may recall the time when the angel Gabriel came to her and told her
”Mary do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen you are going to conceive and
bear a son and you must name him Jesus”
Mary could have said;
"Lord I’m just a girl I’m not ready to be a mother.
I’m not wealthy, I’m not educated.
I’m not worthy of this - maybe it would be better if you got someone else."
That’s not what Mary said is it, no she said,
"I am the Lord’s servant, may it be as you have said..."
2. She was brave
Her decision to follow God could have been very costly
It was a brave decision to be willing to carry the bay Jesus because she was not married
She could well have been stoned for being an unmarried mother – according to Jewish Law.
But Mary had the right perspective.
She trusted God – and that he would look after her.
She knew nothing was impossible for her God.
If God had said it, Mary knew that it would
happen, even if she didn’t really understand how.
And if the Lord Almighty wanted to give her the task of raising the Son of God - then she would accept it.
3. She was thoughtful about what people said concerning Jesus
Tradition tells us that Luke got his infancy
and early years stories of Jesus from Mary.
Why was that possible?
Because, Luke records, Mary listened to what people said about Jesus and treasured them up and pondered over them in her heart. (cf Lk 2:19)
I wonder how Mary felt when Simeon – in our passage today told her:
"This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." Lk 2:34-35
I am sure she was proud when Simeon said HER son was going to be someone special - the Saviour of the World
But I wonder what she made of the prophecy that “a sword will pierce your heart.”
We have our plans for our children – and sometimes God has different ones
And how prophetic Simeon’s words were to be.
It must have broken her heart to see her Son Jesus hanging on a Cross in agony at just 33 years of age.
It cost Mary a lot to be Jesus mother – because like any good mother she loved and cared for him.
And following Jesus can be costly too – as Christians in Islamic and Communist countries can testify.
But it is that same love and commitment to God and to His will that we too are called to give Him.
If we want to be his disciples, we need like Mary to love and care for Jesus above anything else in our lives.
And as we become closer to Christ, we learn to take on Christlike qualities - like that of forgiveness.
As he said from the Cross “Lord forgive them for they know not what they do”(Lk 23:34)
I would like to close with a prayer found a Ravensbruck concentration camp on a piece of wrapping paper near the body of a dead child, a prayer possibly written by the mother of that child.
O Lord remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness (Prayer - Richard Foster p.240)
