WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.419 Tonight we're going to continue our short series looking at the church. That series 00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:08.240 is called The Church in Pictures and the reason it's called that is because the 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:13.179 New Testament uses various different pictures to help teach us what the 00:00:13.179 --> 00:00:17.879 church is and what the church should be doing. Here is our list, we looked at the 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.559 church as a pillar, we looked at it as a farm. Last week we said that the church is 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:27.679 a body. Tonight we're going to look at the church as a mother and next week we'll 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:34.280 conclude by looking at the church as a bride. Now the first three of these are 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:38.880 fairly familiar. Even if we might not necessarily call the church a farm very 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.840 often we're definitely familiar with the agricultural image and the idea of 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:47.679 Paul planting and Apollos watering and God giving the increase is one that 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.840 we're familiar with. Same with the body, that's one of the most common images for 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.879 the church and the idea of the church as a pillar, as a building, standing on a 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:00.880 foundation again is fairly familiar. So far we've been dealing with stuff that's 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.760 fairly well known and fairly well used. This week we come to what is probably, I 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:17.640 think definitely the least used of all our pictures, the church as mother. We 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:22.439 hardly ever speak like that, certainly in our church contexts we tend not to but 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:28.359 it wasn't always the case. Long ago it was very common to talk about the church 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:33.599 as mother. In the early centuries of Christianity that was one of, that was a 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.079 very prominent theme. There was a theologian in North Africa called 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:43.280 Cyprian who lived in the third century. He very famously said, you cannot have God 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:51.479 as father unless you have the church as mother. And other theologians in the same 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:57.000 era, men like Augustine, also spoke of the church as mother. Today we don't really 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:05.280 do it and it almost sounds a wee bit dodgy. We think, well it seems a bit 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.800 unorthodox, it seems a bit unreformed and definitely seems a bit 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:18.080 unpresbyterian to use that kind of language. Is that true? Well here's an 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.640 interesting quote that I'm going to read to you. It's a little bit long but it's 00:02:22.640 --> 00:02:28.040 worth listening to. I will begin with the church. So this is somebody writing about 00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:32.080 the church. I will begin with the church into whose bosom God is pleased to 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:36.240 collect his children. Not only that by her aid and ministry they may be nourished 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:41.160 so long as they are babes and children but may also be guided by her maternal 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:45.520 care until they grow up to manhood and finally attain to the perfection of faith 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:50.840 what God has thus joined let not man put asunder to those whom he is a father 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.520 the church must also be a mother. Let us learn from her the single from her 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:00.600 single title of mother how useful may how necessary the knowledge of her is 00:03:00.600 --> 00:03:05.520 since there's no other means of entering into life unless she conceives us in the 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:11.680 womb and give us birth unless she nourishes us at her breasts and in short 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:22.000 keep us under her charge and government. Who said that? I think some of you will 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:33.360 know John Calvin. So that means that the church as mother is a Calvinist doctrine. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:41.040 So all you Calvinists we need to reclaim this truth. Of course the most 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.679 important question is not did John Calvin say it the most important question 00:03:44.679 --> 00:03:51.759 is is this image biblical and I think the answer to that question is yes and in 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.479 order to see that I want us to turn back to 2nd John particularly to the 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:03.919 opening verses to the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth. So this 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:10.000 letter is addressed to the elect lady and her children now at first sight that 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:15.199 might sound as though it's written to a woman but a closer look tells us that 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:20.519 that is very unlikely and there's a few reasons for this. First of all to say the 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:25.000 elect lady and her children is is a very odd way to greet somebody if it was 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:30.120 just written to an individual person. That's reinforced by the fact that if you 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:35.240 turn over to 3rd John it is written to an individual and John just uses that 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:42.079 person's name and so it seems a bit strange that he wouldn't do that here. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:47.519 The content of the letter which we read especially the commands to love one 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:53.079 another seem much more fitting as a command to a group. You don't often have 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:57.960 two people saying we must love one another whereas as a group that would be 00:04:57.960 --> 00:05:03.560 much more common language but perhaps most significantly of all when the letter 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:08.759 moves on to give commands in verses six, eight and ten in English we don't see 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:15.079 this so clearly but when it says you that is plural in the original 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:22.959 language and so for these reasons and it's I think in my own view anyway almost 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:30.079 certain that the elect lady is a local congregation and her children are the 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:35.560 members thereof and the implication of that is in that first sentence we have 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:42.719 the image of a church as a woman with children in other words the church as a 00:05:42.719 --> 00:05:48.560 mother and even if even if this was written to an individual woman which I 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:53.360 don't think it is but even if it was in the rest of the New Testament there are 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:03.400 numerous other references to the church which use strong maternal language but 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:07.759 what I want us to ask is what does that image of the church as mother teach us 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.920 about the nature and functioning of the church and so we're going to explore 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.199 together tonight and to do so we're going to use we're going to focus 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.720 primarily on the content of 2nd John but we'll also I think try to 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.640 complement that with some wider examples from the New Testament but I want us to 00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:27.520 start here in this letter that's in front of us and if you look at that letter 00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:35.400 you will see that there's two great themes in this episode truth and love 00:06:35.400 --> 00:06:40.560 you can see that in the heading in the ESV and it stands out very clearly as 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.080 we read it and I want to focus on these two themes because they powerfully 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:50.039 capture what lies at the heart of the church's role as mother and we're going 00:06:50.039 --> 00:06:57.599 to use them as our two headings tonight so first of all truth in terms of the 00:06:57.599 --> 00:07:02.159 church's role as a mother in verse 4 John gives a beautiful description of 00:07:02.159 --> 00:07:06.680 what our goal should be as Christians he says I rejoice greatly to find that some 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:11.839 of your children are walking in the truth and that phrase walking in the 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.439 truth is just a brilliant goal for us to have that's God's objective for us as 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:21.959 his people and we don't need to really remind ourselves that truth is such an 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:26.719 incredibly important thing in life we need to have knowledge that's reliable 00:07:26.719 --> 00:07:31.199 real and trustworthy whether that's in terms of our health whether it's in 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.359 terms of being educated whether it's in terms of how our country is run we need 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.439 the truth in the chaos of a broken fallen world we desperately need to know 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:48.800 the truth but God's goal is not simply that we would know it it's that we would 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.360 walk in it in other words that we actually live out the truth in our 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:03.120 lives and if you think about it truth lies at the heart of the role of a 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:08.519 mother it's essential to mothering a mother needs to learn the truth about 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:12.360 their child their health their needs their concerns their fears their strengths 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:19.040 their weaknesses and likewise a mother needs to teach the truth to their child 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:25.000 even the most basic things like what a smile means or what different colors are 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:30.639 or what sounds animals make it's a mother who teaches these things and as she 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:38.679 does so she is simply handing the truth to her child and in many ways that goal 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:44.600 of walking in the truth lies at the very heart of what a mother would want for 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:49.120 their child because one of the biggest fears that a mother has is that their 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:56.480 child will be led astray by lies and that can happen so easily children can 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:01.120 wander off down a path that's paved with lies we see it in so many different 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.600 ways that a child might think that education is pointless they might think 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:10.519 that violence is acceptable that bullying is funny that drugs are cool 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:21.519 that sex is casual these are lies and I have no doubt that every mother in here 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:26.000 and every mother I know desperately wants their children to steer clear of 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:33.399 these lies and instead to walk in the truth so truth is at the heart of a 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:38.600 mother's role and in exactly the same way truth lies at the heart of the 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:45.279 church's role as mother as well and in order to think about that and I wanted 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:52.000 to set set out four stages of motherhoodness or whatever you would call 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:59.539 it four stages of what a mother seeks to do which of course correspond to four 00:09:59.539 --> 00:10:06.039 stages of the journey that we undertake when we we become Christians these are 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:12.440 the four stages birth growth maturity and motherhood and I explain these one by 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:20.480 one we start with birth in other words we start at the beginning and you'll see 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:26.200 that when John opens his letter he emphasizes the fact that that at the 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:33.960 foundation at the core at the start of our identity as Christians is the truth 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:39.519 he speaks about that the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth not 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.920 only I but all who know the truth because of the truth that abides in us and 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:48.680 will be with us forever for this congregation for John for all other 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:53.519 believers the key thing is that they know the truth and of course the Gospel's 00:10:53.519 --> 00:11:01.519 message is that the truth is Jesus Christ that's a foundational claim of 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:08.919 Christianity that Jesus is the truth not simply that he tells the truth but 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:14.639 that he is the truth he's the truth about God the one in whom God is revealed 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:19.799 he's the truth about humanity he is everything that a human is meant to be 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:25.919 what's what's the perfect example of a true human Jesus he's the truth about 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.879 the universe he's the one through whom it's created he's the one in whom it's 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:34.360 all held together he's the one in whom it all makes sense and he is the truth 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:42.439 about salvation in him and in him alone you and I can be saved and it's that 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.960 message of truth that lies at the heart of everything that a church does it's 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:53.000 that message of truth that brings people into the church we can almost say I 00:11:53.000 --> 00:12:01.080 think we can say it's that message of truth that births us into a new life 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:06.920 and which brings us into the church as children and the reason we can say 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:12.439 that is because Peter makes it very explicit in his first epistle he speaks 00:12:12.439 --> 00:12:16.000 about our purification he commands us to love one another then picking up in 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:22.039 verse 23 says since you have been born again not of perishable seed but of 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:30.479 imperishable how did that happen through the living and abiding word of God so 00:12:30.479 --> 00:12:35.959 there he's emphasizing that great New Testament truth that the process of 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:40.160 becoming a Christian is described as being born again that's because becoming 00:12:40.160 --> 00:12:45.160 a Christian is a transition from spiritual death into spiritual life as we 00:12:45.160 --> 00:12:49.759 just read Peter says you're born again through the living word and then he says 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.759 in the last line there and this word is the good news that was preached to you 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:00.759 so somebody becomes a Christian through the new birth that new birth takes place 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:08.000 because of the word the truth and that truth is preached who preaches it the 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:15.759 church and so there's a key link between the new birth and the role of the 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:25.120 church the church brings about a birth the church is another at the heart of 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:32.200 the church's job is to proclaim this truth so that new life can come so that 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:41.000 children can be born it's so important to remember that that that and sometimes 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:45.440 we can people can talk about kind of the church like a mother church and we can 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:50.080 talk about people as children of the church because they're loyal to it or 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.919 because they're involved in it or because they they like it in their 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:57.879 community or because their granny went there or because for some other reason 00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:02.039 they feel attached to it and they kind of feel that that's their mother church 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:08.000 that they're attached to but that's not true children are not born into the 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.399 church through loyalty to a denomination or through attendance or through 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:15.719 involvement or through activities or through attractions children are born 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:25.000 into the church through the truth and so if we want our church to have more 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:34.360 births more conversions what do we need to do we need to keep preaching the 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:45.120 truth after truth there is growth when we come to faith in Jesus 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.879 we are like infants so just when a human is born they are an infant when a 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.399 Christian is born again they are an infant from there they need to grow 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.519 Peter Paul and the writers to the Hebrews all capture that by using the 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:03.039 language of milk to describe the thing that we need for our nourishment and 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:06.720 growth here's Peter's example like newborn infants long for the pure 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:15.240 spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation and that milk comes 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:24.440 through the mother church the church teaches us the truth in Jesus and that 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:31.519 is a nourishment that feeds us and builds us up and there's two key ways in 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:41.519 which the church does that one is through the word the other is through the 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:50.919 sacraments so in terms of God's word we are fed spiritual food from the words of 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:55.120 the Bible Jesus himself made that very clear when he quoted 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:59.439 Deuteronomy 8 3 to say man shall not live by bread alone but by every word 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.800 that proceeds from the mouth of God God's truth is the food that we need to 00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:08.640 help us grow Paul echoes that in Ephesians 4 look at what he says there 00:16:08.640 --> 00:16:15.840 you can see a direct connection speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:22.440 every way into him who is the head the mother church feeds the truth of God's 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:28.840 word to her children so that they can grow but the mother church also feeds 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:33.440 the truth to her children through the sacraments through baptism and the Lord's 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:40.080 supper and this is maybe something that we can easily forget the sacraments 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:47.000 they function as signs and as seals that means that the sacraments point us to 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.600 the truth just like a sign points you to something tells you where something is 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:54.519 or what something is it points to something else so to the sacraments 00:16:54.519 --> 00:17:00.639 function as signs pointing us to a reality and the sacraments also seal 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:06.200 that truth they're like an official stamp of authentication an outward 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:14.000 confirmation of the inward reality of God's covenant promises in our lives the 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:19.879 sacraments aren't the truth in and of themselves so baptism doesn't cleanse 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:25.200 anyone from sin and the Lord's supper doesn't offer Jesus's body and blood as 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:32.400 a sacrifice instead the sacraments complement these truths and there are 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:39.840 means through which God helps us to grow if you like we could say that the word 00:17:39.840 --> 00:17:48.800 tells us the truth the sacraments show us the truth and who is it who provides 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:58.599 both of these things the church that's where you get them the church baptizes 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:04.440 new members and that baptism teaches us about new life in Jesus about God's 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.599 promise to cleanse us and about the reality of our union with Christ through 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:13.279 faith and that new life whether it's a conversion later in life or whether it's 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.599 a child born into a believing family is brought under the mothering care of the 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.639 church through baptism the church celebrates the Lord's supper the mother 00:18:21.639 --> 00:18:25.959 church provides the meal the bread and the wine we eat and drink together we're 00:18:25.959 --> 00:18:29.919 reminded of all that Jesus has done we proclaim to the world that were his 00:18:29.919 --> 00:18:38.240 we're nourished by his presence and we celebrate together as a family and both 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.639 of these things the word and the sacraments these two great marks of a 00:18:41.639 --> 00:18:47.480 true church remind us that at the heart of the church's role is a commitment 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:58.839 to feed people a commitment to feed people the truth and for all of us living 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:05.200 in 2019 that stands in glorious contrast to a world that is constantly 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:17.400 feeding us lies in a world of fake news in a world of spin in a world of 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:22.440 relativism wouldn't it be brilliant if everyone in Edinburgh knew that they 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:28.880 could walk into this building and be fed with the truth 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:41.400 after growth we have maturity that's the goal of growth to come into maturity 00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:46.120 that's true physically and to spiritually just as a mother wants to raise 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:51.439 their child into adulthood so to the church wants to bring infant believers 00:19:51.439 --> 00:19:56.759 into maturity in Christ what does maturity look like what does Christian 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:06.359 maturity look like well at the heart of it is a firm commitment to the truth in 00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:13.679 Jesus John emphasizes that in his letter by warning us against false teaching 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:18.840 Paul makes it equally clear in Ephesians 4 I won't read it all but you'll see 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:23.600 there in the middle that he describes mature manhood growing into the knowledge 00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:29.759 of the Son of God so that we may no longer be chill them tossed to and fro 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:37.000 by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine and mature Christian is 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:44.279 one who stands strong in the truth they are not swayed to and fro by false 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:48.799 teaching and it's the role of church leaders in the mother church to bring 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:54.519 us to maturity to help us be those who stand firm in the truth and do not 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:59.720 wonder if you watch a mother go out to the meadows on a really busy afternoon 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:04.960 like today and one thing that that mother will do is not let their child 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:16.440 wander off and our role as a church is to do the same this need for growth and 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:25.640 maturity is a great reminder that as mother the church is a sustainer of life 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:30.960 just as a mother to a child depends on their mother for sustenance so too we 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:36.440 do depend on the church to feed us to nourish us and to bring us to maturity 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:40.120 that's why the church's role is so important that's why when the church 00:21:40.120 --> 00:21:47.319 fails in that role it is so unbelievably damaging God has made things so that we 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:52.160 need one another we need the church it is our source of life in other words if 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:59.960 your church if the church is your mother please don't ever cut yourself off from 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:09.440 that don't ever ever be that person who thinks yeah I'm a Christian but I don't 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:19.519 need to go to church that's it's a theological tragedy to think like that 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:27.640 God is calling us to be together together as a family God is calling us 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:35.560 under his care as part of his church Christian maturity is never something 00:22:35.560 --> 00:22:44.759 that we achieve in isolation it's something that we achieve together so we 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:53.400 have birth growth maturity finally we have motherhood so we have this journey 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:57.880 the mother church births children through proclaiming the truth that helps 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:01.960 children to grow it brings them to maturity and eventually the mother 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:06.800 church mothers us into motherhood now what do I mean by that well basically 00:23:06.800 --> 00:23:12.800 what I mean is that the goal of the next generation is that they would come up 00:23:12.800 --> 00:23:17.800 and bring the truth to the generations to come in other words that these 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:25.279 infants would grow to become the mother church for the people who are yet unborn 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.759 that's the goal that we will be nurtured into that role ourselves and at the heart 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:38.079 of this lies the truth we're born again through the truth we are to grow and 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:43.559 walk in the truth we want to stand mature and firm in that truth we want to 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:50.919 bring and mother others into that truth that is the kind of mother church that 00:23:50.919 --> 00:23:56.679 we need to be at the heart of the church's role as mother is the truth in 00:23:56.679 --> 00:24:04.279 Jesus Christ but alongside that we have the other great emphasis of second John 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:11.960 which we'll look at a little more briefly and that is love all of John's 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:17.240 writings in his letters are saturated with love and this is no exception I 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.759 ask you dear lady not as though I were writing you a new commandment but the 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:25.240 one we have had from the beginning that we love one another and this is love 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:28.279 that we walk according to his commandments this is the commandment 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:33.720 just as you've heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it love as you 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:39.279 know as you all know lies at the heart of motherhood a mother loves her children 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:43.519 a mother wants her children to love one another she hates to see her children 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:52.480 fighting or distressed or in trouble and if that's true of mothers it must also 00:24:52.480 --> 00:25:01.279 be true of the mother church and I'm going to say four very brief things the 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:07.279 first is unity in writing this letter John addresses the church as the elect 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:11.720 lady and then he refers to his own congregation at the end as the your 00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:17.720 elect sister a great reminder that the church across nations shares a common 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:24.920 identity as God's chosen precious people and that common identity is 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:32.039 emphasized by the picture of the church as a mother we are all the church the 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:40.839 mother church's children and one of the amazing things about mothers is that 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:43.920 they don't have favorites 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:53.279 instead each child is loved and valued equally and that's an incredibly 00:25:53.279 --> 00:26:01.200 important thing to remember in the church that we don't have favorites the 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:08.480 church must never be a place of elitist divisions or of a hierarchy of social 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:16.519 acceptance or of cliques in the same way the church must be a place that never 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:24.920 sees infighting or hostility these things are unacceptable as children in 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:29.080 the mother church we share a common identity we belong together we're 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:35.879 united a united family to use fancy words as Christians we enjoy divine 00:26:35.879 --> 00:26:43.480 paternity ecclesial maternity and Christian fraternity which simply means 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:48.879 God is our father the church is our mother and we are all brothers and 00:26:48.879 --> 00:26:57.240 sisters there's a unity in the mother church secondly there is care as we'd 00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:04.400 expect the Bible describes mothering in terms of showing incredible care kindness 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:09.480 and gentleness a mother holds her child close a mother keeps her child warm a 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:14.319 mother cares for her young and the church as mother should be exactly the 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.720 same Paul speaks in these very terms when writing to the Thessalonians he says 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:24.519 we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children 00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.440 now that's the kind of phrase that's easy to whist through and not think about 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:36.039 there's a test there's a great test for everything the free church does there's 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:40.240 a test for everything I do can I look back at the last week and say in 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:53.440 everything I did I was like a gentle mother nursing her children it's a big 00:27:53.440 --> 00:28:03.640 challenge in a world that defaults to hostility and criticism and coupled to 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:14.880 that is the fact that a mother will care even when no one else does and in a 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:21.000 city and in a country where people's lives are broken and ruined by all the 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.960 horribleness of sin when people are isolated when people feel worthless 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:31.200 when they loathe themselves God grant that when they come into this mother 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:38.119 church they find a mother who cares even if no one else does 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:49.200 thirdly we have protection the Bible associates the image of motherhood with 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:56.080 protection the greatest example of that is Jesus himself he said oh Jerusalem 00:28:56.080 --> 00:28:59.759 Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:04.080 to it how often I would have gathered your children together as a hen 00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:10.559 gathered her brood under her wings and you are not willing a beautiful picture 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:17.360 of a mother hens protection it's a great reminder that the church as mother must 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:24.679 protect her children and sometimes of course that involves warning them John 00:29:24.679 --> 00:29:29.799 does that in this letter he warns his readers to avoid certain dangerous 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:36.679 teachers he's trying to instruct them and that warning that instruction 00:29:36.679 --> 00:29:42.279 sometimes may even require discipline every mother in here knows that you need 00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:51.039 to discipline your children to keep them safe and the church has that same role 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:57.000 not in a harsh punishing way but in a protective way the mother church 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:06.319 protects those who are under her care it is a horrible tragedy to see a mother 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:13.359 who doesn't care if her children get hurt and God forbid that that is ever 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:20.559 through of us as a church instead we want to develop a protective instinct for 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:26.519 one another and that level of protection and instinct should reach the point 00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:36.240 where we don't care what other people think of us and I remember when John was 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:40.000 young he was attending swimming lessons I'm going to use my poor wife as an 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.359 illustration she's not here we were at swimming lessons and John was learning 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:49.599 to swim early days when swimming was not confident was not he was not that 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:53.640 confident at swimming and we were in a viewing gallery looking out over the 00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:57.000 swimming pool and they were kind of swimming across this little patch in 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:01.440 the pool not making any enormous amount of progress and they'd swam out to the 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:05.240 middle bit where there was a rope and they were swimming back the class and 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:09.079 we were up in a viewing gallery so if you can imagine a bit like this church if 00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:16.799 you imagine this is the swimming pool we were up there watching and the 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:22.440 instructor was just talking to a colleague and just behind them she said 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:25.759 swim across and then she was just talking away to the person behind it 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:30.440 while they were swimming across one of the pupils was really struggling and 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:35.120 wasn't getting on very well and in order to get across he thought it would be a 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:41.039 great idea to grab onto John's leg and hitch a lift so we John was swimming and 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:45.639 this other boy grabbed the leg and of course that meant that two children were 00:31:45.639 --> 00:31:51.359 not swimming anymore and they were both starting to fumble now now all of you in 00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:55.759 here who know my wife will know that she's probably the quietest person in 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:02.719 this congregation when that happened she shouted straight away at the lifeguard 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:09.440 full of people but she shouted so that lifeguard saw what was happening and 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:14.720 immediately the lifeguard dealt with the situation she didn't think twice for a 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:20.480 second that everyone was watching her or that shouting in a swimming pool is a 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:30.559 social faux pas in Scotland may that be true of us as a church that we don't 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:35.919 care what the world thinks of us that we don't care that our models are 00:32:35.919 --> 00:32:41.599 different to the models that everyone else has been fed and that we don't care 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:45.079 that sometimes we might have to be the ones to stick our neck out and shout in 00:32:45.079 --> 00:32:52.480 order to protect one of our precious children and by that I don't mean just 00:32:52.480 --> 00:33:02.120 the young ones I mean you the mother church protects her children so we have 00:33:02.120 --> 00:33:14.960 unity care protection finally we have pain the great point here is that church 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:20.400 should be painful now I don't mean painful in the sense that when you look 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:24.680 at the intimation sheet and see Thomas Davis is preaching and not pain in that 00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:33.920 sense nor do I mean painfully dull I think you know what I mean I mean 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:41.320 painfully devoted to our children and the reason we can use that heading pain 00:33:41.320 --> 00:33:46.160 is because Paul speaks like that when he addresses the Galatians he says that he 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:52.640 is in the anguish of childbirth for them and it's a great reminder that there 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:59.880 should be a lot of pain in the church pain when we see each other struggle 00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:06.120 pain when people wander away pain when sin ruthlessly crushes the communities 00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:10.680 around us pain when we're separated from each other pain when there's hurt and 00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:15.639 conflict and hostility in the church pain when there are people who still 00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:25.440 refuse to trust in Jesus and for anyone who's not yet a Christian you are a 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.839 pain not in the way we often use that phrase like you're an inconvenience 00:34:30.839 --> 00:34:34.960 you're a pain I absolutely don't mean it in that way at all I mean you are a 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:45.359 source of agony a source of sorrow because we long for you to come to faith 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:51.800 in Jesus as well as Mother Church our love for one another should be so great 00:34:51.800 --> 00:35:04.720 that we are full of good holy loving pain so these two themes truth and love 00:35:04.720 --> 00:35:10.720 should be at the core of everything that we do and in many ways all of these 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:17.399 things actually fit together because our common birth into the church means that 00:35:17.399 --> 00:35:22.399 we are united our growth as Christians is achieved through the care and 00:35:22.399 --> 00:35:29.559 nourishment of the church our maturity is maintained through protection through 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:36.000 watching ourselves and through watching over one another and the motherhood of 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:46.320 longing to see others born brings with it pain this is the new humanity that 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:56.960 Jesus is calling us into this is what we need to be as a church we want to be a 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:04.920 mother church that is utterly obsessed with truth and love but there's one 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:11.760 final thing we must emphasize from this image as the church's mother when we 00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:17.760 are talking about motherhood and you're talking about something that's utterly 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:23.680 essential for the continuation of the human race yes it's just there everywhere 00:36:23.680 --> 00:36:29.519 that means when we talk about being this kind of church we are not talking 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:38.000 about trying to be successful we are not dealing with a matter of a good 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:48.079 reputation we are talking about spiritual survival the mother church is 00:36:48.079 --> 00:37:01.159 needed to save a world from destruction let's go for it together 00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:03.799 Amen 00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:16.239 Father we thank you for your church and we pray that we as a congregation and as 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:23.799 part of the one church of Jesus Christ we pray that we'd be a good mother that 00:37:23.799 --> 00:37:31.719 we will be united that we'd be caring that we will be protective and that our 00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:38.439 love would be so great that it would cause us pain may that be true of 00:37:38.439 --> 00:37:46.039 everything that we do as individuals as a curccession as a congregation as a 00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:54.320 denomination as the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ