Sermons
"Mom"
Gracious God fill our hearts with hope-in your holy name we pray; Amen.
(Please be seated.)
Good Morning!
Nine years ago-nine years ago
I preached one of my more memorable sermons.
A sermon that over the years
has been remembered
not so much
for delivery or the content
-but rather for the subject matter.
It wasn't so much
that the subjects were memorable
it was more the fact
that I chose to pair
those two topics.
"Mother's Day"and "capital punishment".
You might ask-
"What was I thinking?"
All I can say in retrospect-is that--
-it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Since that day
I have steadfastly and studiously
avoided preaching
on the second Sunday of May.
But-for old times sake
-and since Fran Holliday
is with us this morning
-I thought I'd take another whack at it
-Mother's day that is
-not capital punishment.
But for the record
-I'm against capital punishment
and for Motherhood.
********* ********* **********
On the night before he died
Jesus said this to his apostles,
"I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you also should love one another."
And then Peter says,
(God bless him) Peter says,
"Lord where are you going?
Jesus says,
"Peter where I'm going
you cannot follow me now
but you will follow me afterward."
Peter said to him,
"Why can't I follow you now
- Lord I'll lay down my life for you."
Then Jesus looks at him and says,
"Oh Peter-you don't know what you're saying
-within 24 hours from now
-you--you won't even think twice
about denying me three times."
"Love one another as I have loved you."
Who do you love as Jesus loves?
For whom would you lay down your life? Where does love
approach this level of giving in your life?
I know without a doubt
who would do it for me.
MaryJane Perry.
My mom.
MaryJane is not what I would describe
as a particularly brave person
-yet when it comes to her kids
she is a grizzly bear incarnate.
People can screw up in a lot of ways
and she'll let it slide
-but don't
- don't mess with her cubs.
My mother is a Momma Bear
who will protect her young to the death.
I remember being in fourth grade
playing catcher
- when a much larger girl
slid home and wiped me out
-I got a little feisty
-and maybe uttered some words
I shouldn't have
-whereupon the umpire
excused me from the game.
The coach had to hold my mom back
from telling Mr. Umpire
right then and there
what she thought of him
throwing her daughter out of the game.
Like mother like daughter? I don't knowÖ
I remember when I'd ask my mom
what do you think I should be
when I grow up-my mom saying
- with my father echoing right along
-Bonnie Anne you can be whatever you want to be.
Her staying up all night long
-when I'd have a term paper due
-just to keep me company while I worked away. Napping in my bed
-so I wouldn't be tempted
to climb in and fall asleep.
Her hauling me
from practice to game
and practice to game
- and back again.
On top of being a nurse
and managing the lives
of my three other siblings and my father.
I remember
the tea and toast every winter morning.
I remember us living in Hawaii
- with mom scared to death of the water
-taking us
to swim lesson after swim lesson
determined that her children
would not share her fears.
Then, much to her dismay,
sitting on the sand-
watching all of us
in the waves--
and praying-
- as we surfed and snorkled
and swam our way to an amphibious oblivion.
I remember one night
in third grade
playing on the beach
-pitch dark with no moon to be found
lying next to the lifeguard stand
and suddenly becoming
scared to death
that the devil was all around.
I ran back to our cabin
and asked to go home then and there.
Mom gently pulled me away
from the crowd of friends in the cabin
and asked me to tell her what was wrong.
I told her about being worried about the devil.
She said,
"Oh honey let's just say
an act of contrition
I'm sure that will help." And it did.
Her gamely spending
a week at Seminary
--attending all my classes
-hearing my very first sermon
-and cooking a four course Chinese meal
for the Roman Catholic Women's group.
Smiling through
her Irish Catholic tears
when I left the Roman Catholic church
and was received into the Anglican Communion.
Her pain, anger, and her sadness
-as I grew up and grew away.
Her knowing response
when I sent her and my dad
a very thick letter
explaining to them
who I'd fallen in love with
and how it might not be
exactly what they had envisioned for me.
I remember her
hugging me the night I was ordained
and then receiving communion
the next morning
when I celebrated the Eucharist
for the very first time
-her receiving communion
outside the Catholic church
for the very first time.
Her catering a small party
after my ordination to the diaconate
-for three churches-
"It will only be about 200 people" I saidÖ
and then six months later
whipping up
just a little something for 85 people
the night I was priested.
Transporting from Virginia to New Jersey
----45 quarts of beef borgonue
frozen in zip lock bags.
Quarts of stew she had cooked
and frozen every night for a month
-stacked like manila envelopes
in a filing cabinet
stored in two king-size beach coolers.
My father christened their Ford
-the Perry's rolling delicatessen.
He said he had no fear
of encountering bandits or blizzards
along the way-
as they had supplies and rations
for a party of twelve for a month.
She did all this not just for me
-for my sister and brothers.
Multiply it all by four
-what she did for me she did for all of them too.
Was she-is she perfect?
Oh No
-and there have been times in my life
when I would have been able to name
every moment it felt to me
that she'd let me down.
Yet-each day
she came back again
-working without a net
with a very feisty crowd.
Never giving up.
I have no idea
if its what she had envisioned for her life.
I called her last night to ask her
-but she was out
-so I can only hope
it's been as good for her
as it has been for me.
Hopefully better-because that's what she deserves.
Love one another as I have loved you
-the model I'll follow is my mom.
Early on in my life
-I chose not to be a mother
-because I knew it was a job
that I could never do.
I am in awe of the women
who embrace this part of life
as a ministry and a vocation.
People who are bit-by-bit
loving and teaching and transforming our world. Perfect? No.
Transforming? Yes.
Love one another as I have loved you
-I'll try to do
as MaryJane has done for me.
Am I trying to tell you she was perfect? No.
But does her love
convey the grace of God?
Absolutely. Amen.