Notes from a Sojourn
May 24, 2020
A Sermon for Jerusalem Sunday
(Acts 1:6-14, John 17:1-11)
The metaphors we use in describing our relationship with God are as rich as they are flawed. Our vocabulary for this dynamic is at the same time both varied and narrow. Human-divine imagery can bring us to new depths of faith, but it also risks repelling us from embracing our connection with God due to our own limitations.
Limitations seem to encompass us at every angle. It is not my job to remind you of your limitations. I should speak for myself: I have many. I am affected by limitations I impose myself, limitations imposed by others, moral limitations, legal limitations, physical limitations, emotional limitations, limitations on my time, finances, relationships, you name it! In some ways, it is a very limited existence.
One of the most limiting images for the relationship between us and God is that of parenthood. For many, the picture of a caring, wise, nurturing parent is a very familiar and life-giving image. For many, it is not. Sadly, for many, parenthood is not a positive concept.
Although Joseph is known as Jesus' earthly father, it is God who Jesus addresses with this title in Bible. Mary is Jesus' mother and she is seen throughout the New Testament as a close partner in Christ's ministry. Biblical authors almost go out of their way to prominently feature both these parent-child dynamics in the stories of scripture. There is no accident here.
I should mention that we have no scriptural explanation for why Joseph falls away from the story at such an early point. There are traditional explanations but let's save them for another day...
So, here we have Jesus balancing two very different parental relationships: the one between himself and his earthly mother Mary, and the one between his heavenly father God. Mary is continuously with Jesus. By any definition, she is an apostle and leader of the early church. She is present at every one of Jesus' life milestones. And she carries on this work with the other apostles afterward. Indeed, she is present at the Ascension and she is there at Pentecost also. The relationship between Mary and Jesus is one of care, of partnership, and of presence.
The way Jesus interacts with God in prayer is extremely familiar. He is honest, affectionate, attentive, and bold. When describing his closeness with God to others, he almost uses his own name and that of God interchangeably. In many ways, the two are one.
There may well be lived complications we bring to the image of a parent-child relationship. That is known and familiar to the stories of scripture also. It just might be that the reason Jesus' relationship with Mary and with God are featured so prominently is that they are noteworthy. Jesus' relationship with his mother and with God are unusual. The image works because it is different from what we are accustomed to seeing.
Today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter. In our church, this is known as Jerusalem Sunday. For the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, this is a special opportunity to celebrate and pray for our partner diocese. The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle-East ministers in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The see city of the provincial diocese is Jerusalem.
When we speak of Jerusalem, we call it the "City of Peace." The name is aspirational, describing what is lacking, as much as what might one day come to be. Jerusalem longs for political peace, even as it has been associated with spiritual peace for millennia.
I wonder if calling Jerusalem the "City of Peace" is anything like calling God "Father." Could it be that we sometimes use the language of our own human limitations to give words to the unlimited abundance of God's presence, love, and peace?
If we are uncomfortable with the language of parental imagery in speaking about our human relationship with God, that is understood and accepted. Much more generally, if we are willing to offer God our human limitations, we just might begin to gain new divine insights for how our human interactions might become created anew.
Let us pray for parents and children. Let us pray for those of us for whom such language is painful. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And through our own human limitations, let us encounter God's abundant and limitless self! Amen.
Patrick Stephens+
Image: Holy Lady of Jerusalem (Ιεροσολυμίτισσα), an image of Mary with Jesus, venerated by many Christian residents of Jerusalem.
