One of my favourite parts of St. Paul’s letters are when he gets personal – particularly at the end of many of his letters when he sends greetings to various Christians.  These greetings remind us that he is writing not simply theological instructions but personal letters to real people – people who are the Church in its early days – people whose faith is being lived out in local communities – like our own here.  At the end of his letter to the Romans there is a great long list of people and we get a picture of a vibrant active church.

Amongst those Paul mentions is Timothy who has a special place in Paul’s heart because he is a tireless and faithful worker for the lord – Paul goes so far as to call him his co-worker – one who shares fully in Paul’s own work of proclaiming the Gospel. Timothy’s importance to Paul is obvious because our New Testament contains two specific letters addressed to him and in both he calls Timothy his beloved loyal child.

Timothy, of course, received his own faith from others and in the reading we have just heard from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy, we discover who it was that gave him this faith in Jesus Christ – namely his mother Eunice and his grandmother, Lois.  These two women were great women of faith. They had been converted to Christianity during Paul’s first missionary journey to Asia Minor in AD 45-48.  Both Eunice and Lois became believers in Christ but they already had a background in Jewish faith and they took seriously their role as teachers and handers-on of that faith to Timothy. When Paul opened their eyes and hearts to see Jesus as the fulfilment of that faith, quite naturally they passed this on to Timothy.

We see here the importance of teaching, nurturing and encouraging the faith in our own young and on this Mothering Sunday it is good that we can focus on the roles of mothers and grandmothers in this work – which can be easily called ‘mothering’ – bringing to birth and feeding by love those in our care – and especially bringing them to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Saviour.

That doesn’t of course let fathers or grandfathers off the hook – Mothering, nurturing is something we can all do. There is an ancient saying :  There is in the heart of God a mother’s heart.  Mothering is Godly work and it transcends the gender limitations we sometimes hold on to.  Not only does God love us like a father but also like a mother – His desire is to love, protect, cherish and care for us with the deep tenderness of a mother.  That is, for me, the central point of Mothering Sunday.  It is also what we see in Eunice and Lois.

How appropriate then that on this Mothering Sunday we can draw from the encouragement of Timothy and how appropriate that we dedicate Lois Dolan to God’s care and rejoice with her family in the gift she has brought, not only to them but to the Christian family here.  Indeed, I am reminded by Alison that her second Christian name – Josephine – means God has added blessedness to our family – both the Dolan family and our Church family here. Both her names then – Lois and Josephine – remind us of God’s giving to us – blessings and encouragement to live by faith.  So we shall shortly dedicate her to God.

Yesterday somebody asked me what ‘Dedication’ meant and basically it means that we set someone apart for God.  When Hannah, in the Old Testament was given the gift of Samuel in her old age, she dedicated him to God – setting him apart for God’s loving purpose.  Similarly, when Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the Temple to ‘present’ him to the Lord, they were dedicating his life to God.  It was a loving response for God’s gift.  Today we set Lois apart for God’s special care and we, as it were, hand her back to God.

That care is assured but in our act of giving we accept that assurance.  She becomes wholly God’s, and whilst she is also totally part of the Dolan family, she, with Evie & Leo are set apart for God’s purpose.  And it will be through living in a Christian home in which the Gospel is taken seriously and where the love of Jesus is central, that this purpose will be revealed. 

Yesterday I had a phone conversation with a former boss of mine who is a bishop. I remembered that he loved to preach sermons using initials so I got to thinking about Lois and this is what I came up with.

L = Love from God
O= Our family
I = Increases
S = Sanctification or blessedness

And put together it says what I believe is happening here today:  Love from God for Our Family – both the Dolan family and the extended family of our Church – Increases God’s Blessedness upon us – That is what the dedication of Lois means for us all.

Which is why, with Alison and Tim we give thanks.