John 17: 1-11

In the name of Christ--Brother, Friend, Teacher, Mother.

Listen. Our mothering Jesus is praying.
We can hear him now. Listen in with me.

Father, my time has come. My hour is upon me. Bring me into your presence. Make your presence known in me. God, Father, give line and shape to my life in you. Open wide the gates of life in you.

Father, these are your children. The children you have given me. I’ve loved them as you’ve loved me. I’ve laughed with them in their joy; I’ve cradled them in their sadness. Sometimes, it hasn’t been easy.

Father, these are your children. The children you have given me. I’ve tended them. I’ve taught them. I’ve taught them your word; they welcome me with open hearts; I’ve taught them your commandment; they love one another.

But sometimes, Father, it’s hard for them to find the path. The world they live in pulls at them. It claims their time; it questions their commitment; it saps their energy.

Sometimes, Father, it seems there’s so much for them to do. Their jobs intrude. The little hassles of the day drag them down. They find themselves pulled in so many directions, torn in so many ways. Sometimes, Father, there seems too much for them to do. And sometimes, Father, they worry. They worry about losing patience; they worry about being short with one another; they worry about having enough time to spend with those they love.

Father, my time has come. I can no longer be with them in the way I was. I kept them out of harm’s way when I was with them. But now I can’t. My time has come. Protect them, Father. Keep them safe.

Father, there are hard times ahead for them. Fear and loss and grief lie just around the corner. They’ll see that I’m no longer here; they’ll fear that I am gone. And there are dangers for them, Father, there are dangers in store. Peers may pressure them; pettiness may pull at them; frustration may chip away at them.

They’re entering uncharted waters. They haven’t been here before. The newness gnaws at them; they feel afraid. Keep them safe, Father, keep them safe. Protect them by the power of your name. The name we share. For they are mine and I am yours and we are one.

Father, teach them to know your love as I know your love. Direct them as they walk in your light; guide them as they walk in your love; bring them together in a bond knit by love..

As we hear our mothering Jesus pray, we hear the echoes in our lives; we hear the echoes in our prayers for one another. I hear our mothering Jesus pray, and I’m reminded of the prayers my mother has prayed for me in the last three years as I step into uncharted waters. Three years ago this June--after much procrastination and considerable delay-- I finally summoned up the nerve to tell my mother that Tim and I were moving to Berkeley so that I could attend seminary. It wasn’t an easy thing for her to hear. Her prayers came then and often come today in the form of questions.

That night at dinner she said to me, "Oh Susie, are you sure?" She was really asking, "Is this the path for you?" She followed that question with another, "Oh Susie, will you be safe?" And in the last three years, she’s asked that same question many times in many different ways-- "What’s the parish like?" "Remember what I told you about sermons?" "Are you keeping them short?" "Go slow."

It’s really a prayer she offers: "Be safe." It’s the prayer a mother offers for her child. It’s the prayer our mothering Jesus offers for us as he says, "Father Protect them." And it’s the prayer we offer for one another as we, in turn, mother our brothers and sisters in Christ. "Be safe" "Protect us"

It’s the prayer we offer today as we enter the uncharted waters of our lives: as a community gathering for worship in a new way; and as individuals experiencing "the changes and chances of life" that often can be threatening or unsettling.

We are the objects of that prayer mothering Jesus prays for us, but we also form part of the answer to the prayer. As we love one another, as we abide in Christ, as Christ abides in us, we form the body of Christ--God’s answer to the prayer, "protect them". We form a community of mothering--a community knit together in the bonds of love.

Remember, our mothering Christ returns to the disciples. He calls to them from the shore in Galilee. He builds a fire; he cooks the fish; and then he asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Three times he asks this. In response to Peter’s "yes" Jesus says, "Feed my lambs; tend my sheep." Today,we feed those lambs, we tend those sheep as we mother one another in Christ’s name. In mothering we provide a listening ear, a warm embrace, well-chosen advice, and that "I love you no matter what" kind of acceptance that open the gates for those we mother to become the child that God created them to be. We give them roots; we give them wings; we give them our unceasing prayer. "Be safe."

Take a minute to look around this room. Look at one another. See Christ in one another. In the face returning your gaze, see the face of the mothering Christ praying for you, "Be safe in an unsafe world." Know that you are safe.