A Mother's Love

I John 5:1-6 John 15: 9-17 May 13, 2012 “A Mother’s Love” Sixth Sunday of Easter Mother’s Day Year B When God Created Mothers – Erma Bombeck When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of “overtime” when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.” And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order? • She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; • Have 180 movable parts... all replaceable; • Run on black coffee and leftovers; • Have a lap that disappears when she stands up; • A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair; • And six pairs of hands.” The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands... no way.” “It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.” “That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel. The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.” “Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “Go to bed. Tomorrow...” “I can’t,” said the Lord, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger... and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.” The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed. “But she’s tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.” “Can it think?” “Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator. Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You You were trying to push too much into this model.” “It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.” “What’s it for?” “It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.” “You are a genius,” said the angel. The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said. Mother’s Love a divine love What better way to talk about love, than to talk about our mothers. Mothers show a special kind of love. Mother is not just a person, a divine function, more importantly it is a divine relationship That is the lessons of these two books – I John and John 15. Love is a divine relationship- that comes only from God. Like grapes, God clings to us and we cling to God. These books teach us to abide in God, love only comes from God. Today the lesson that Jesus gives us is to love as I have loved you. Because of love I no longer call you a servant, I call you a friend. What it means to be a friend Mother is not a friend, has to discipline us, but in the true understanding of Jesus idea of friend, she is. Jewish understanding of compassion is the same word as womb. Place of love and nurturing. A friend is someone who is loved. The old English word friend mean someone who is beloved. A special relationship – a clinging. A mothers clings to her son During the holocaust whole families were taken and put in prison camps. Families would worry about mothers and fathers, because knew that the older people who couldn’t be productive would be the first to be killed. The Russel family knew that also their young son Frank would also be killed – he was frail and couldn’t work. One day the father came home from work and found his older son in a corner crying. Frank couldn’t do his work today – and they took him away. Where is your mother – when Frank started to cry – she assured him that he would be okay – she held his hand and walked away with him. She clung to him no matter what. A mother’s love is like Jesus love, like God’s love for us – clings to us and our situations – no matter what. Jesus says what greater love does one have for a friend then to lay down his life. Hold our hand to death – but leads us to resurrection life. Hank Aaron’s mother In the 1970’s in the south, a baseball player, Hank aaron was scheduled to break babe ruth’s record of most home runs. Many white people were really upset, and the closer he got the the record, he got death threats. The day he broke the record, two white males stormed onto the field. Security rushed to stop them. Along with the security guards – they looked around and found a 65 year old African American women – his mother. Mom what are you doing here – anyone who tries to get you – has to get me first. In some way – our mother is our first relationship, our primary relationship. The relationship where we learn how to receive love, but most importantly how to receive love. How to care for others – how to care for all of God’s children. 1870 call to peace Mothers day started out in 1870 as a call to peace. Julia Ward Howe gave a proclamation to all mothers. Arise, the women of this day Arise, all women who have heart, who have been baptized with water or with tears. She called all women to unite, to from groups and to stop the violence and war that plagues our nation. What would the world be like if women ruled the world? Te capital building would probably have more curtains and tablecloths. But each of our children killed by violence and war would be remembered by name. they would be children, not numbers. And we would have a mandate to make the world safe for them. Love one another as god loves us – is an important message. I John adds to that message. If we are able to love the son, we are able to love the father. Love is a commandment that we are called to obey. If we just obey that commandment – we can overcome the world. Transform the world and overcome our troubles. Love transforms the world Mother’s day story that is going viral - story of a mom who was told that something wrong with baby in the womb. Decided that she would love her baby no matter what. Born with no eyes, cleft palate so bad he could close his mouth. Try to take the baby out – people would ask what’s wrong with your baby. Girl said that she was wrong for not aborting her baby. Hurt by all of the comments. Baby Christian continued to grow and respond to love. Learned to laugh and smile – as he laugh, everyone else started to love with him. The rest of the world started to laugh and smile with him and call him and his mother blessed. When we understand love, we are beloved, learn to give life, and have the power to change toworld. – God gave us mothers so that we could know a mother’s love. Mother’s love is the best bible Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty and eloquent old English. Another said he liked the New American Standard Version for its literalism and how it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident feelings of accuracy from the original text. The third scholar was sold on the New Living Translation for its use of contemporary phrases and idioms that capture the meaning of difficult ideas. After being quiet for a moment, the fourth scholar admitted: “I have personally preferred my mother’s translation.” When the other scholars started laughing, he said, “Yes, she translated the Scriptures. My mom translated each page of the Bible into life. It is the most convincing translation I have ever read.” Let us pray…