Who's Your Momma? - 2nd Timothy 1:3-5 / Matthew 12:46-49

Happy Mother’s Day…How many of you were tempted to say “Happy Mother’s Day to you too?”  Do you ever catch yourself doing that?  Someone wishes you Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, or some other such even that pertains to you, and you start to wish it back, without thinking that it doesn’t apply to them.  I wonder why we do that.  Is it because we don’t think enough about what we are saying before we speak, or is it because we want the other person to feel as special as they made us feel at that moment?
That’s not our question today, though.  It is “Who’s Your Momma?” Why ask that question?  Shouldn’t it be obvious?  Our Scripture readings this morning gives us pause to ask the question, suggesting maybe it is not that obvious.
With the passage from Timothy, we kind of get the traditional sense of mothers.  Paul is writing Timothy and says, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, lives in you.”  As Paul lifts up these thanksgivings, he names those in Timothy’s life that we would traditionally think of on this day—generation after generation of our biological families.  There will be many times today, or have been in years past, where families will pause to take those multi-generational pictures, or will pause to remember those generations who are who are no longer with us.  When we think of mothers and Mother’s Day, that’s typically what we think of.  Amen.  Let’s go home, right?
But then there’s the passage from Matthew.  It kind of makes you wonder how Jesus and Mary might have reflected on that day later on.  Many would have considered Jesus treatment of Mary to be harsh.  I often wonder what the disciples’ reactions were.
Jesus had been teaching for a while.  Crowds of people from all walks of life pressed in upon him to hear him and ask questions.  As he was teaching, Mary and Jesus’ brothers arrived.  Someone from within the home they had settled came up to Jesus and said, “Jesus, your mom and brothers are outside and they want to talk with you.”
Now, let me stop, and survey our congregation.  How many of us, even if we were in the middle of doing something, if someone came up to us and said, “Michelle, your mother and sister are outside and would like to talk with you,” or “Josh, your mother and brothers are outside and would like to talk with you,” would stop what we were doing and go to the door?
Jesus’ response?  He looked the person who had brought the message to him square in the eyes and said, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Then he gestures to his disciples, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  We hear that response and I’m sure that many of us here would want to say, “Wait a minute Jesus, did you just disrespect your mom and brothers?”
What is going on here?  Why would Jesus do that?  What was he saying about the disciples?  Many scholars suggest that Mary and Jesus’ brothers had come to try and get him to be quiet—they wanted to silence him.  Why?  They may have been worried about his reputation—they may have been trying to protect the family reputation.  Religious leaders were spreading rumors and making outright allegations that Jesus was in league with the devil, that he might even be a demon walking amongst them.  Others may have been suggesting he was just downright crazy.  That wouldn’t have just made Jesus look bad—it would have reflected bad on Joseph, Mary, and the family name.
Knowing this, they’d probably asked him to be quiet before, Jesus chooses not to respond to the fact that his momma wants to talk with him.  Instead he says, “who is my momma?”  Then Jesus proceeds to redefine our whole understanding of family.
Remember last week that I shared that baptism changes our family—that as we come into the family of God, it takes precedence over our biological families—that the Name of Christ replaces our biological (or even married) surnames.  This is what Jesus is getting at with the disciples…that as we follow Him, our families may be redefined.  As his mother and brothers were coming to stand against him, they were not acting as part of his family, while the disciples that were backing and supporting the ministry he was doing and seeking to learn and grow and follow Him.  Jesus is saying that those who lead us away from the will of God are not acting as mother, brother, and sister and those that seek to help us grow in our faith are our mother, brother, and sister, regardless of what our birth certificates or genealogies would tell us.
While Jesus seems to dismiss biological ties and Paul lifts up Timothy’s mother and grandmother, it may seem like 2nd Timothy and Matthew stand in contrast to one another.  However, in actuality they complement one another. Consider the reason that Paul lifts up Lois and Eunice to Timothy.  It was because of their active faith and how he was sure that it was that active faith that shaped Timothy into the disciple and evangelist that he had become.  Timothy’s grandmother and mother had faithfully lived as followers of Christ, and thus retained that status of motherhood in Timothy’s life.  (A designation that Mary would be restored to later on—consider the exchange between Mary, John, and Jesus on the cross as he designates that Mary and John are now to live in that mother/son relationship as he passes back into the Father’s presence.)
You know, Mother’s Day can be a touchy subject in the church.  It was begun in a Methodist Church years ago as one person’s attempt to honor their mother.  It was picked up other churches and soon became a national, possibly worldwide, observance—a day to honor moms.  The trouble is, as its celebration grew there so did the concerns among some pastors and members—there were folks in the congregation who were experiencing pain as churches celebrated moms.  Some of the pain was because a mom had moved from being in our physical presence to being held in the arms of Christ.  However, others were, in some ways, more painful.  For some, there we children whose biological mother’s had been absent from their lives, either physically or emotionally; in other situations, there were biological mothers who had been abusive or neglectful.  Others hurt because they realized that they had failed to be the mother that God called them to be in caring for their biological children and it was too late to do anything different; there were also those who longed to be moms, but biological and other reasons had prevented them from doing so.
Here is where Jesus re-definition of motherhood becomes not a disrespect to His mom but a word of grace.  Motherhood, according to Jesus, is not defined by the blood that flows through our veins.  It is about the role taken in developing the faith lives of those around us.  Consider, my brothers and sisters, if we are here today, then we have a whole slew of mothers surrounding us that either have or can help us grow in our relationship with Christ, regardless of how old or young we are or how young or old they are.  Consider also, my sisters, as you look around this congregation, and the number of children of all ages that God has given you to raise.  It makes Michelle Duggar look childless.
It is with this understanding of motherhood that we truly can celebrate Mother’s Day, regardless of where our biological ties of have left us.  It is with this in mind that I ask you “Who’s your momma?”  I invite you to answer that question now.  I invite you to stand, speak the name of your mother in Christ, a woman who has helped you grow closer to God…just the name (the stories are for another time) …and as the names are spoken, I invite us all to respond, “Thanks be to God for this mother.”  I invite those who stand, and are able, to remain standing, and after all have had a chance, I will close us in prayer.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I ask you, “Who’s Your Momma?”
Amen.