Mothering Sunday All Age Talk

A little girl asked her mother, "How did the human race appear?"

The mother answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children, and so was all mankind made ..."

Two days later the girl asked her father the same question.

The father answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved."

The confused girl returned to her mother and said, "Mom, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from monkeys?"

The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his!"

•  Ask congregation for qualities that make a good mother. Record responses on flipchart.
•  Ask mothers in the congregation how they feel they measure up to these qualities?
• How would they describe themselves as mothers?

Show Video

The notion of what leads to success and happiness in our world seems to have a lot to do with looks, wealth and having a successful career.  But these are not the qualities that God looks for in us.  God is far more concerned about the qualities that are mentioned here on the board, the qualities that make a good mother. 

I’m sure most mothers would admit being a mother isn’t easy.  Long hours, little time to themselves, responding to the various demands of the family, it’s hard.  Nor is it the most glamorous job in the world, but it is without doubt one of the most important jobs anyone can do, because mothers provide love, attention and care to their family. 

Mums quite rightly deserve our full respect and support, and just as in our Gospel reading today in which we read about Jesus’ mother Mary, we can learn from them about sacrificial love. Mothers are our modern day saints, who maybe more than anyone else, help shape our future world by the influence they have on their children.

In the video we’ve just seen, the perspective that the mothers had of themselves was very different to the way their children perceived them.

I think this often happens with the way we view God, our perspective gets distorted.  We are so used to using male language and imagery to describe God, but forget that the Bible often describes God as being like a loving, caring mother who nurtures and protects her children.  If we look at all those qualities we wrote down about what makes a good mother, these are also the qualities that describe what God is like.

And just as God is both father and mother to us all, we too, regardless of whether we are male or female, married or single, have children or not, are called to be like God, like a loving mother or father, being there for people, caring for them, and giving of ourselves without asking for anything in return.

And just as a good parent never stops loving their children, so God never stops loving us.  That is why Paul prayed may you "understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love really is." (Ephesians 3:18)  Or as the children’s song goes, God’s love is very wonderful, so high you can’t get over it, so low you can’t get under it, so wide you can’t get around it, oh wonderful love!

So whether you are a mother, or not, forget the world’s misleading notion of success and happiness, and instead think about the values that matter to God.