The Church Is Your Mother
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
"But Jerusalem which is above is free; which is the mother of us all." (Gal 4:26)
The Christian always finds him or herself in the midst of a journey. By the Lord Jesus Christ's saving grace, the redeemed, like Israel who were brought out of Egypt, are on pilgrimage. And the Lenten season makes us acutely aware of this. At his command, we are following Christ through the wilderness: we too are going up to Jerusalem.
The Lenten journey can be hard work, in fact, it is hard work. But it serves as a microcosm of the entire Christian life. In a sense, the Christian life is one long lent, a pilgrimage through this world whose aim and end look to another. In this life, we are sojourners (pilgrims) enjoying temporary citizenship on earth, but our true citizenship lies in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the place of Easter's resurrection, and it is the heavenly city of all the saints. The journey to Jerusalem is nothing less than the whole motion of the lives of each one of us and the entirety of man's history as well. Pilgrims on so lengthy a journey are certain to grow hungry, weary and discouraged, distracted and even lost.
So now, in the midst of Lent's journey, itself the symbol of man's traveling to Jerusalem, his true homeland, we hear a word of encouragement found in the second chapter of St. Paul's epistle to the Galatians: "Jerusalem which is above is free, and is the mother of us all." Jerusalem, which is above, is the city we are seeking, that far and glorious country which lies just on the other side of the bodily resurrection and the tribulation of this present life. It is the city of God, and this city is free.
The Jerusalem of which St. Paul speaks is above, yet present. He is not speaking of a political or a future state - a utopian ideal - but a present spiritual condition experienced by grace. We are the children of promise; a promise fulfilled in Christ Jesus. This freedom is inward and spiritual. The children of freedom are Sarah's children, not Hagar's: for we are born again of promise and not by the will of men.
The 5th-century bishop Theodoret writes, "We were born not according to nature but according to grace. For, just as in Isaac's case, it was not the law of nature but that of the Gospel that fashioned us. Thus the promise given to Abraham engendered us." St. John puts it this way: we are "children of God, born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).
We are born not by works of the law (born of Hagar) but by God's gracious initiative, through faith (of Sarah): in Christ, we are free. And this freedom enjoyed by the children of promise is the release from the oppression of sin; a clear conscience; the death of shame. It is a release to God, and it is a release in the soul. It puts us in the spiritual place of freedom.
"Jerusalem, which is above... is the mother of us all." This Jerusalem is present now for us in Holy Mother Church. She is the place of our life with Christ, here and now, where we live by faith and not by works, by what is inwardly and spiritually achieved for us being inwardly and spiritually realized in us.
You see, the Church is our Mother. From St. John's Revelation, we know that St. Paul's Jerusalem from above is language speaking about the Church. In chapter twenty-one, the Revelator sees "the holy city, [the] new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2). The early church fathers, who interpreted the Bible in the same way as St. Paul, also called the Church "Mother."
St. Cyprian writing in the mid-third century says, "You cannot have God as your Father if you do not have the Church for your Mother." And the Reformer John Calvin writes, "For those to whom [God] is Father the church may also be Mother." But for us moderns, this wisdom falls upon deaf ears. Modern skepticism and distrust of outside authorities, government, and institutions have led to an outright rejection of the Church. Hence the rise of private religion and "Cowboy Christianity."
We live in a time when Christians feel the freedom, even the right, and possibly the need, to live out the Christian life apart from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: children who have left their mother to raise themselves Of course, this idea would have been incomprehensible just a few hundred years ago. But such are the times in which we live. And yet, St. Paul is saying that we did not give birth to ourselves but are born of the Church: she is the Mother of every Christian. She is given for our rebirth, nurture, sustenance, and growth in the Christian life: to sustain us through the wilderness pilgrimage of faith.
Perhaps you responded to the Gospel through the witness of a Christian or, as a non-believer, a friend happened to invite you to a Bible study. Maybe you were led to faith in Christ by Christian parents; regardless, it was someone who themselves were raised by the Church who brought you into the saving grace of our Mother. For she is the Mother of us all and we are born into the Church through our baptism. Repentance and faith express themselves in the water of regeneration. Jesus explained this to one of Israel's teachers, a man named Nicodemus, who posed this question to our Lord "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his Mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Through baptism, we are born into the Church, brought into the divine life of Jesus Christ, and thereby written in the Book of Life: made members of both Him and his Church. Holy Mother Church gives birth to children of the promise.
So why would a child leave his or her Mother and raise themselves? Well, of course, under normal circumstances, they wouldn't. In fact, as an infant, they would be physically incapable. Who would feed them? Who would change their diapers and clean them up? How would they learn to become acceptable and productive members of home and community? As children of promise, why would we not embrace the nurture of Holy Mother Church?
Think how she feeds her children with a daily diet of Holy Scripture as she leads them to Morning and Evening Prayer and how she sets a lavish table each and every Sunday in the Holy Eucharist: her children feasting on both Word and Sacrament, the revelation of Christ in Holy Scripture and his precious body and blood through the spiritual food of bread and wine.
And her meals are feasts evoking joy! The Gospel account of Jesus feeding of the five thousand has always been understood as a foreshadowing, a symbol of the Eucharist, that sacramental gift that always is a source of strength and a cause of joy. And this cause of joy is with us now; it is a joy for a weary soul, provided by our Mother, whose great concern is for our lives, our bodies, and our souls.
Like a good mom, she knows how and when to move you from spiritual milk to solid food so that you will continue to grow and be strengthened in the knowledge and love of Christ. Beloved, our Mother loves us; therefore, she feeds us well. She simply will not allow you to live solely on the world's spiritual fast food but makes sure you eat your fruits and vegetables.
She's also there to clean you up when sin and shame dirty you up. Through her liturgies and prayers, she calls her children to repentance and humility, which is the first step to a clean conscience. In Her, we confess our sins, both corporately and privately; we come to her ministers, her pastors, and priests, through whom she offers spiritual guidance, correction, and comfort.
And when we confess our sins, we find forgiveness and absolution because true penitence is always met with grace and mercy. For, The Great Physician, the only One who can heal our hurts and bind our wounds is found within Her, Jesus Christ, He who brings healing to the Household of God.
Our Mother also instructs us. Through the recitation and summation of the Divine Law, we learn our duty towards God and others; we learn to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Through the public reading of Scripture, we enter into the mysteries of God, hear the story of our redemption from death, and grab onto the hope of the resurrection and eternal life. She teaches us how to live in this world with our eyes fixed on eternity. She also catechizes her children in the great Christian tradition, instructing us in the once-for-all deposited faith that we profess. Through ministers and lay leaders, she equips the saints for the work of the Kingdom by teaching her children how to read the scriptures, how to think theologically, and how to live virtuous and productive lives.
But most importantly, Mother church loves her children selflessly and without reservation. She willingly gives her life for her children, always putting their care and concern before herself. Like Augustine's faithful Mother, Monica, praying continually for her children who have wandered away, tearfully pleading with heaven for their return. For she desperately loves even the most wayward and confused son or daughter. Remember this, your sin will never close the door to her room, for her doors remain open, as do her arms, waiting to gather up the tearful and remorseful child. Your Mother loves you. The Church loves you and desires nothing but your good.
Friends, we are not alone in this Lenten journey, nor in the pilgrimage of life; you are part of a family- God's family. And the Church is your Mother. She will sustain you in this wilderness pilgrimage of faith by the grace of Christ. Remember, you were not born of Hagar but of Sarah, for you are children of promise, and in Holy Mother Church, all the riches and blessings befitting the Children of God. "But Jerusalem which is above is free; which is the Mother of us all... Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free." Amen+
Many of the sentiments above are richly developed in The Rev. Charles Erlendson’s book entitled Love Me, Love My Wife: Ten Reasons Christians Must Join a Local Church.
