Sermon: Mothering Sunday

SERMON- Reverend David Paton Williams
15th March 2026
 Ephesians 5.8–14
 John 9.1–41

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Who comes to mind when you think of resilient women?
 
Maybe it is someone you know or have met in the past. 
I think of a single mother doing her level best to bring up
her two boys despite multiple difficulties.
I think of Palestinian women, overcoming all kinds of challenges to earn a living and keep their family safe.
I think of the mothers dancing alone in the squares of Argentina and Chile to draw attention to their loved ones abducted or killed by the regimes.
 
Well the story told around Moses' birth is full of resilient, courageous, women.
 
In the first chapter of Exodus, we hear how Hebrew refugees, who had come to Egypt in the time of Joseph, have prospered and grown in number. And all is well, 
until a new pharaoh comes to the throne who say: "look, 
the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than us .. in times of war they will side with our enemies."
 
It is perhaps the first example of what is now called the "great replacement" - a conspiracy theory that a minority is planning to grow so much that it can take over a society.
 
So the pharaoh is stirring up fear and resentment against this vulnerable minority. And his first decree is to conscript them as forced labour to build new Egyptian cities. 
But when this doesn't work he ratchets up the campaign, ordering that they be treated more and more ruthlessly.
But the more ruthless the Egyptians become the more their paranoia grows.
And so the king twists the knife further. He orders the Hebrew midwives to kill any male children that are born in their community. Given the propaganda about their great numbers 
you would have thought there would have to be a host of midwives. But in fact there were only two of them 
- and we are told their names - Shiprah and Puah. 
 
But these two women take what we might call non-violent,
civil disobedience. Doubtless it was a risky thing to do, 
but together they stay strong and compassionate.
 
And when they are interrogated they have prepared their cover story, saying that the Hebrew women are more vigorous than Egyptians and give birth before the midwives have arrived.
 
So, thwarted by the resilience of the Hebrews, Pharaoh unleashes horrific ethnic cleansing, stirring up his own people to do the killing. We can begin to imagine the terror and grief that would unleash.
 
And so, in chapter two, Shiprah and Puah's resilience, solidarity and compassion is taken up by three unnamed women. 
A mother, her daughter and a princess.
 
The plan is to place the baby boy in a basket among the reeds -and that wasn't a random act. The place had been carefully chosen because it was where the women of the royal palace came to bathe. And mother and daughter were trusting that an Egyptian woman would empathise with the sense of love and loss felt by the Hebrew mothers. And so it was.
 
 
In another remarkable and risky act of disobedience, 
the princess adopts the child out of compassion and solidarity with the Hebrew women. 
She couldn't save all the children of course 
but she could respond to what was in front of her.
 
And when a girl just happened to appear and offer to find 
a wet nurse for the child, we can imagine the princess smiling to herself, guessing what was going on. And so the mother gets her son back - at least for a time - until he is old enough to be brought up in the palace by the princess.
 
Of course at some point, in a way, every parent has to let their child go, to cast their child onto the waters of life, 
and see where life takes them. Today we might think especially of mothers who watch their sons - and maybe daughters - go off to war, or travel abroad to find work, 
or to seek a safer life.
 
And from the start, Mary the mother of Jesus knew she would have to let her son go. And like so many other mothers, she knew that suffering would follow. 
When he was just a baby, the old man Simeon had predicted that "a sword would pierce"Mary's soul.
 
And that day came when Jesus was crucified. But Mary didn't suffer alone. Because John, the beloved disciple, stood with her, sharing her suffering, and then welcoming Mary into his home.
 
So our story today reminds us of the bravery and solidarity of so many people, whether mothers or not.
And our world is full of stories - often unheard and uncelebrated of women's bravery and faith.  Perhaps on behalf of their family or their community - standing up again sexual violence, 
or promoting health education in their villages, 
or protecting the rainforests against the violence of loggers,
or just working every hour of the day for their families.
 
In a sense they have cast themselves on the waters 
trusting in God for whatever might come.
 
Which takes us back to Moses mother and that basket.
She puts the baby in the basket. She puts the basket in the water
And by doing so she puts the baby in God’s hands.
 
All her love and concern for her child
all her hopes for his safety and his future
all her faith and trust in God
 
So the question I want to leave with you today is this –
- what do you have to put in the basket?
- what do you have to place in God’s hands today?
- what do you have to trust God with? 
Maybe it is thanks for someone who has blessed your life.
Or maybe a concern for someone you know, or a situation you care deeply about in our world. Or maybe your own life and future - trusting God in order to be a slightly more courageous, slightly more faithful person, who will stand up for God's kingdom in our beautiful but troubled world.
 
Whatever it is - picture yourself putting it into the basket now.
And then picture yourself leaving it there. Amen.