[The following is a full manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, Mother's Day, the 13th of May, 2018. Look for the video of the service on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
I mentioned to the kids that there was a time, very early in Jesus’ ministry, when He came really close to sassing His mother, Mary. He was actually a little disrespectful of her. Basically, He let her know that what concerned her was of little interest to Him.
Please listen and follow along as I read a short passage from the 2nd chapter the Apostle John’s Gospel account, verses 1 through 5, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
Please listen and follow along as I read a short passage from the 2nd chapter the Apostle John’s Gospel account, verses 1 through 5, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
--John 2:1-5 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, Your Son Jesus was probably a little preoccupied as He was just beginning His ministry here on earth when His mother asked Him to do something to help the wedding feast host. He was a little short with her, and questioned why her concerns should bother Him. But in the end, He did what needed to be done, and what fit in with Your great plan for mankind’s salvation. Help us do what needs to be done as we try to fill our role in Your plan. Speak to us now with the message You need us to hear and understand this morning. Help us better serve You and continue Your Son’s mission on earth. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Here are a few things I doubt you’ll ever hear a Mom say…
- “How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?”
- “Let me smell that shirt — Yeah, it’s good for another week.”
- “Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad to feed and walk him every day.”
- “Well, if Timmy’s mom says it’s OK, that’s good enough for me.”
- “The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s not like I’m running a prison around here.”
- “I don’t have a tissue with me... just use your sleeve.”
- “Don’t bother wearing a jacket — the wind-chill is bound to improve.”
- “Just leave all the lights on... it makes the house look more cheery.”
Can you relate to those? How many of you mothers have ever said any of those, and meant them? I’m willing to bet it was just the opposite - that’s what I pretty much heard all the time. Jesus’ mother, Mary, might have added one to the list: “Don’t worry about something I’m concerned with. You just go ahead and do your own thing.”
The trouble is, when we did or do anything on that list or that runs contrary to what our mother’s wanted us or told us to do, then we were not respecting them or their wishes. We were not honoring them. There’s a commandment from God concerning this, generally considered the Fifth Commandment by the Reformed Church. Here is how Moses explained it, in his Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verse 16…
On Mother’s Day each year we try to honor our mothers, but what about the other 364 days? If we stop and think about it, we can come up with a whole bunch of reasons why we should pay respect to our mothers, can’t we. Here’s just a few reasons wise King Solomon gave us, in his Book of Proverbs, chapter 31, verses 26 through 28…
Husbands: do we offer praises to our wives, the mothers of our children? Children: do we rise each morning and call our mothers blessed? Do we truly understand just how much God blessed us by giving us the institution of motherhood?
Because of our sin, because of the fall of man, women are promised that childbirth will be a painful experience. Our mothers knew this going in, yet they chose to endure any pain and hardship so that we could be brought into this world. And once given birth, we are offered eternal life with God in heaven. Our mothers sacrificed to give us life. Jesus sacrificed to give us eternal life.
We started out this morning by looking at a time early in Jesus’ ministry when He could have shown His mother a little more respect up front. Of course, we know that Jesus did follow through on Mary’s concern, and the servants did as she told them and carried out Jesus’ orders so that the wedding feast could go on.
Now fast-forward to the end of His ministry, as He hung on the cross, where He showed just how much He loved her, how He honored her with nearly His last breath. Listen to what John recorded for us, in the 19th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 25 through 27…
“Behold your mother.”
We don’t know what happened to Joseph, Jesus’ earthly “Dad”, but we do know he is no longer in the picture. So His mother Mary is about to be left alone. In those days, a woman without a husband or child to help see to their needs would be in dire trouble.
Jesus looked down from the cross, spotted His mother’s tear-streaked face, and honored her by making sure her needs would be met for the rest of her life. He turned to the disciple He loved and told him he was to treat Mary as if she were his own mother, and told Mary that John was now going to be a son to her.
Now John could easily have ignored this little scenario, knowing Jesus was about to die and would never know if His request was actually honored or not, had Jesus been a normal human. But John did indeed honor Jesus’ command, and took Mary into his home and treated her as if she were his own mother, from that day forward.
This act stands as an example for all of us who call Jesus our Lord. It’s kind of an extension of the Golden Rule. We should treat all mothers in the same way we would treat our own. And not just on Mother’s Day but on every day.
Our congregational reading this morning spoke of the pain and horror of war. In it we admitted our feelings of helplessness and prayed that God teach us the ways of peace. You may wonder why I chose that particular reading for Mother’s Day. I did so because mothers very often suffer the most from the effects of wars. They watch their husbands and sons go marching off, knowing they may only return in a flag-draped casket. Mothers who serve are themselves separated from their families, from their children, as they don their uniforms and take up arms.
War is devastating, and especially for mothers. So it is right that, on this day honoring mothers, we should pray to God for His help in making and keeping peace. Pray that He will help us abandon foolish pride and hungers for power, so that war will leave the face of the earth. And we need to extend that prayer for peace to cover not only wars, but all other senseless acts of violence throughout this world. So many news reports of killings include scenes of brokenhearted mothers wailing in grief over a slain child.
Let’s honor our mothers and pray for peace. Let’s treat all mothers as if they were our own.
Behold your mother. In the beautiful name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, everything You have done throughout the history of Your creation was for our benefit, for the benefit of mankind. You gave us mothers, to bring us into this world and care for us and teach us how to survive on our own. You gave us Your own Son Jesus, to offer us salvation and life eternal through His cleansing blood. Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to appreciate Your gifts, when we disobey Your command to honor our mothers, when we don’t fully respect their sacrifice. Please help us to not only honor our own mothers, but all mothers in this world. Help us to see to the needs of all mothers, even those who have no children of their own but who still provide motherly care and help to others.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, even though You seemed a little hesitant to help in an area Your mother saw as important, and maybe even a bit disrespectful at first, You did finally honor her by doing as she requested and helping out the wedding feast host. And then, Jesus, as Your earthly life neared its end, You saw that the remainder of her days would be attended to by one of Your followers, the disciple You loved, so that she would not want for any need. Help us, please Lord, to act in the best interest of others, especially mothers everywhere. Help us see to their needs that they might be honored. And in this way may we glorify You and our Father God.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
Here are a few things I doubt you’ll ever hear a Mom say…
- “How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?”
- “Let me smell that shirt — Yeah, it’s good for another week.”
- “Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad to feed and walk him every day.”
- “Well, if Timmy’s mom says it’s OK, that’s good enough for me.”
- “The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s not like I’m running a prison around here.”
- “I don’t have a tissue with me... just use your sleeve.”
- “Don’t bother wearing a jacket — the wind-chill is bound to improve.”
- “Just leave all the lights on... it makes the house look more cheery.”
Can you relate to those? How many of you mothers have ever said any of those, and meant them? I’m willing to bet it was just the opposite - that’s what I pretty much heard all the time. Jesus’ mother, Mary, might have added one to the list: “Don’t worry about something I’m concerned with. You just go ahead and do your own thing.”
The trouble is, when we did or do anything on that list or that runs contrary to what our mother’s wanted us or told us to do, then we were not respecting them or their wishes. We were not honoring them. There’s a commandment from God concerning this, generally considered the Fifth Commandment by the Reformed Church. Here is how Moses explained it, in his Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verse 16…
16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you."
--Deuteronomy 5:16 (NKJV)
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her.
--Proverbs 31:26-28 (NKJV)
Because of our sin, because of the fall of man, women are promised that childbirth will be a painful experience. Our mothers knew this going in, yet they chose to endure any pain and hardship so that we could be brought into this world. And once given birth, we are offered eternal life with God in heaven. Our mothers sacrificed to give us life. Jesus sacrificed to give us eternal life.
We started out this morning by looking at a time early in Jesus’ ministry when He could have shown His mother a little more respect up front. Of course, we know that Jesus did follow through on Mary’s concern, and the servants did as she told them and carried out Jesus’ orders so that the wedding feast could go on.
Now fast-forward to the end of His ministry, as He hung on the cross, where He showed just how much He loved her, how He honored her with nearly His last breath. Listen to what John recorded for us, in the 19th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 25 through 27…
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
--John 19:25-27 (NKJV)
“Behold your mother.”
We don’t know what happened to Joseph, Jesus’ earthly “Dad”, but we do know he is no longer in the picture. So His mother Mary is about to be left alone. In those days, a woman without a husband or child to help see to their needs would be in dire trouble.
Jesus looked down from the cross, spotted His mother’s tear-streaked face, and honored her by making sure her needs would be met for the rest of her life. He turned to the disciple He loved and told him he was to treat Mary as if she were his own mother, and told Mary that John was now going to be a son to her.
Now John could easily have ignored this little scenario, knowing Jesus was about to die and would never know if His request was actually honored or not, had Jesus been a normal human. But John did indeed honor Jesus’ command, and took Mary into his home and treated her as if she were his own mother, from that day forward.
This act stands as an example for all of us who call Jesus our Lord. It’s kind of an extension of the Golden Rule. We should treat all mothers in the same way we would treat our own. And not just on Mother’s Day but on every day.
Our congregational reading this morning spoke of the pain and horror of war. In it we admitted our feelings of helplessness and prayed that God teach us the ways of peace. You may wonder why I chose that particular reading for Mother’s Day. I did so because mothers very often suffer the most from the effects of wars. They watch their husbands and sons go marching off, knowing they may only return in a flag-draped casket. Mothers who serve are themselves separated from their families, from their children, as they don their uniforms and take up arms.
War is devastating, and especially for mothers. So it is right that, on this day honoring mothers, we should pray to God for His help in making and keeping peace. Pray that He will help us abandon foolish pride and hungers for power, so that war will leave the face of the earth. And we need to extend that prayer for peace to cover not only wars, but all other senseless acts of violence throughout this world. So many news reports of killings include scenes of brokenhearted mothers wailing in grief over a slain child.
Let’s honor our mothers and pray for peace. Let’s treat all mothers as if they were our own.
Behold your mother. In the beautiful name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, everything You have done throughout the history of Your creation was for our benefit, for the benefit of mankind. You gave us mothers, to bring us into this world and care for us and teach us how to survive on our own. You gave us Your own Son Jesus, to offer us salvation and life eternal through His cleansing blood. Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to appreciate Your gifts, when we disobey Your command to honor our mothers, when we don’t fully respect their sacrifice. Please help us to not only honor our own mothers, but all mothers in this world. Help us to see to the needs of all mothers, even those who have no children of their own but who still provide motherly care and help to others.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, even though You seemed a little hesitant to help in an area Your mother saw as important, and maybe even a bit disrespectful at first, You did finally honor her by doing as she requested and helping out the wedding feast host. And then, Jesus, as Your earthly life neared its end, You saw that the remainder of her days would be attended to by one of Your followers, the disciple You loved, so that she would not want for any need. Help us, please Lord, to act in the best interest of others, especially mothers everywhere. Help us see to their needs that they might be honored. And in this way may we glorify You and our Father God.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
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