"A Love Without Limits"

In Jesus Holy Name May 9, 2010

Text: Exodus 2:1-4 Mother’s Day

“A Love Without Limits ”

Happy Mother’s Day! On this mother’s day, the Church, the community of believers rejoices in the knowledge that the Savior’s tomb is empty. The empty tomb is God’s commitment to save us. His love is absolute and His care for us is uncompromising.

In the bible reading we just shared you know the name of the baby placed in a papyrus basket. His name was Moses. To avoid having her baby killed by Pharaoh’s death squads she hid her baby as long as she could and then she placed him in the basket. She didn’t just send the basket down the river… she had a plan. She placed the basket in the bulrushes near where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed and then she had the older sister watch the basket… then, there just might be a chance that Pharaoh’s daughter would fall in love with the beautiful baby. It was a high risk plan. But a mother’s love was willing to risk loosing her child, in order to save the child’s life.

Mothers have a powerful influence on the lives of their children. There is the story of 2 women who argued over a child in front of King Solomon. One mother said the child was hers, the other insisted it was hers. When Solomon ordered that the baby be cut in two… and half given to each woman. The false mother was delighted…. But the real mother was willing to surrender her child rather than have him killed.

Mothers have a powerful influence on their children and it is reflected in the amount of attention Mothers get that Father’s don’t. Did you realize that more cards are sent on Mother’s Day than Father’s day? There are more phone calls made on Mother’s Day to moms than there are to Fathers on Father’s day.

One man complained about this discrepancy, noting that he literally poured himself into his son’s life. He taught him to play baseball, football, basketball, took him hunting, fishing, taught him how to drive. And then, when the boy went off to college and played ball for the college team …. The network TV cameras focused on his son and guess what he said? “Hi, Mom”

Mother’s Day is a special day. We all have a mother; otherwise we would not be here. I hope and pray that your mother demonstrated selfless, “agape” love just as Moses’s mother did. I hope she pointed you to Jesus. As a mother or grandmother may your life, your behavior, enable the next generation to see Jesus.

A mother’s love is a great blessing. They help shape us and mold us. They serve as cook and counsel, barber, and budget director. Their love covers our short comings. Their faith overlooked our failures and encouraged us that tomorrow would be a new day… and they believed in us..

Love. Love is a big concept. Really too big for this short message. Last week we took the verb “love” and added action to an emotional word. We remembered what the apostle Paul wrote in Corinthians… Love has meaning when we practice patience, kindness…. And our words are not rude…and we do not keep a record of wrongs. Today I will only talk about a single component of God’s love and the love of a Christian mother.

This component is not on the list of attributes that theologians ascribe to God; like: omniscience, omnipotence, holiness, justice or grace. This word is not popular in our world. It is often disregarded. The word? The word is “commitment”.

In a world where love almost always seems to be conditional and contractual, commitment is a rare thing. In an age when you are supposed to be self-fulfilled, self-actualized, self-starting- the word commitment is unpopular. Which is why a mother’s love is so special and stands out like a lighthouse on a storm swept shore. A mother’s love is not dependent on what her child does, or doesn’t to, or worldly success. Mothers are committed to loving their children. And so is God.

God’s love is a committed love. God is omni-committed. His love is not rationed, regulated or restricted. God loves us. He calls us his children. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God went looking for them. He was committed to saving them. He promised to send a savior. It was a promise He was committed to keeping.

On August 16th 1987 a Northwest Airlines flight took off from the Detroit airport. Soon after the take off the plane crashed on the a highway. 155 people died. When rescuers arrived among the carnage of cars and craft they found a 4 year old girl. She said her name was Cecelia. Because of Cecelia’s almost perfect condition it was thought she had been a passenger in a car rather than the plane. A quick check of the flight’s roster showed that had thought wrong.