Title: The closest thing to God's love is a Mothers love.
Summary: The closest love to God’s love is to witness the love of a good mother. Sadly this is not always the case, but it is the best model we have to follow. There are some emotional bits in this sermon, but it is very powerful, making it hard to deliver.
“Please be seated, and join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen. (Psalms. 19:14)
Before I start I would like to thank and pray for Melvin Newland from Ridge Chapel, for his help and inspiration in putting this sermon together; it is now in a form that was suitable from my congregation in Scotland.
Introduction.
Here is a question for you, what exactly are mothers, or should I say, what makes a good mother? … Well good mothers can be teachers or disciplinarians, … but they can also be nurses and doctors and psychologists and counsellors. … And good mothers are also developers of personalities, and shapers of attitudes; … and yet mothers can have soft voices that can say, "I love you", with an affection that is a direct link to God himself. Good mothers are all of these things, and more.
There is a very famous American columnist and author called Erma Bombeck, who focused on suburban home life, and she said "that on the day God created mothers, … he put in a lot of overtime, so much so that an angel said to Him, "Lord, you are spending a lot of time on this one."
But the Lord turned round and said, "Have you read the specification on this model? … She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. … She is to be able to function on coffee and tea and leftovers; and she is supposed to have six pairs of hands."
"Six pairs of hands, that is impossible", said the angel, "Yes, but it is not the six pairs of hands that bothers me", said the Lord, "It is the three pairs of eyes. … She is supposed to have one pair of eyes that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’, ... she already knows what they’re doing in there".
"She also has to have another pair eyes in the back of her head to see all the things that she is not supposed to see, ... but must see. ... And then she has one pair of eyes right in front that can look at a child that just messed up, and communicate love and understanding without saying a word".
"But that’s too much." said the angel, "You can’t put that much in one model. Why do you not rest for a while and resume your creating tomorrow?"
"No, I can’t," said the Lord. "I am nearly finished, as I have created someone like myself. … I have created a model who can heal herself when she is sick, ... and feed a family of six with one pound of mince, ... and who can persuade a nine year old to take a bath."
Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and said, ... "She is too soft"! ... "Oh, but she is tough," said the Lord, ”and you will be surprised at how much this mother can do".
"Can she think?" asked the angel. "Oh yes, she can she think," said the Lord, ... "and she can also reason and compromise and persuade". ... Then the angel reached over and touched her cheek. "But this one has a leak", he said, "I told you that you couldn’t put that much into one model".
"That is not a leak", said the Lord, ... "that’s a tear". ... "What’s a tear for?" asked the angel. "Well a tear is for joy, ... it is for sadness, ... it is for sorrow, for disappointment and for pride." "You’re a genius," said the angel, ... and the Lord said, "Oh, but I did not put that there".
… And this brings us to our Gospel reading this morning and with all this in mind, maybe we will be able to understand Mrs. Zebedee, (assuming she was married), the mother of James & John a little better.
Verse 20 "The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. ... And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ ... She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, … one at your right hand and … one at your left, in your kingdom.’ ... But Jesus answered, … ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’
He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, … this is not mine to grant, ... but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’".
Note ... that Mrs. Zebedee here, was aware of the teachings of Jesus, ... and about the kingdom. She was also very aware of the fact that her sons, James & John, were close to Jesus; in fact they were two-thirds of the inner circle of Peter, James, & John; … so you can understand her thinking, … because the Lord was about to form His kingdom, ... and she was making sure her sons had pride of place, ... positions of authority.
However, in the first part of this very chapter, Jesus told story that must have disturbed her; … a story about a landowner who went out to hire labourers early in the morning, ... agreeing upon giving them a fair day’s wage for a fair days work. … Then at noon this landowner went out and hired more labourers, and they started work also. … Then towards the evening the landowner went out and hired even more labourers and they started work also: yet when the Lord paid them off at the end of the day, they all received the same wage.
That must have caused Mrs. Zebedee to wonder "whether her sons would have positions of authority in the Lord’s new kingdom?" … So you see, when the opportunity presented itself to her, she did not waste a second, she came right out with it, and sort of demanded that her sons be in authority beside Jesus.
And so we might very well criticize Mrs. Zebedee for her presumptuousness, however ... today is Mother’s Day, and we will show her a wee bit if grace, ... and look at some of the positive things about Mrs. Zebedee, ... and you may have noticed that although Jesus did not grant her request, ... he did not deny it either. He simply reminded her of the fact that the cost of being seated on the right or left hand of Jesus would entail suffering, healing suffering as I called it in my sermon a few weeks ago, but suffering all the same,... and that the order of authority was determined by God the Father himself, and no one else.
1. She asked that her sons be part of the kingdom.
Anyway, the good things about Mrs. Zebedee, … well the first thing we see is her coming to the Lord kneeing, asking him humbly, … that her sons might be a part of His almighty Kingdom. When you think about this, … you must conclude with me that there is no task more important than to seek and ensure that our children be part of the Kingdom of God. Yes?
Being a parent is not easy I know: sometimes it is filled with joy but sometimes with sadness. Sometimes our children make us so proud … and at other times you can not find enough handkerchiefs to dry our tears. … And what good is it if our children are successful in making money, driving fine cars and living well with good friends and neighbours, … if they do not know God, and his wisdom? …
What does it matter if they gain the whole world, but lose their souls? Yes, it is not easy, in fact it is difficult, but Mrs. Zebedee gives us a valuable example here, … for she prayed earnestly that her sons would be a part of His kingdom and we need that same concern for our children, that they be saved from eternal damnation, and become children of the light.
2. She asked for her sons to work in the Kingdom.
Secondly, … not only did Mrs. Zebedee pray that her children would be a part of His kingdom, but she asked Jesus, (or you could say she prayed), that they would be actively involved in the work of His kingdom. … But when you think about it, where does the spirit of this service begin? ... It begins at home, with mothers & fathers setting the examples and praying to the Lord that their sons and daughters might be involved in the work of the kingdom. Mrs. Zebedee asked that her sons be part of this kingdom and we need to follow in her footsteps, … and encourage our children also. Yes this is easy for me to say, but this is the standard we are to aim for.
3. SHE HAD BIG EXPECTATIONS
… And thirdly, Mrs. Zebedee had big expectations, and I like that. She didn’t just ask that her children be in the kingdom doing any old task, she wanted them to be on the right hand and left hand of Jesus himself. … When in any kingdom, there are no higher positions than those on the right and left of the King himself, … and that is what she wanted for her sons.
Yes we consider Mrs. Zebedee as brash and presumptuous, … but we admire her boldness as too often we settle for mediocrity. It is therefore time that we too take our positions in the kingdom, … in our outreach of the church, … mobilizing it to make sure that the Gospel is communicated throughout the world as the Lord calls us to be His disciples, … and be effective labourers in His kingdom. God needs people to be someone like himself, as I quoted at the start of this sermon.
I suppose that is why today is very special, …because we recognize that the love of a good mother is probably the closest example we have to God’s love. … And when I first wrote this sermon I thought I would say that because that is the type of thing that mothers like to hear, but this has been bothering me all week, because if you think about it, can you honestly give me another example of God’s love here on this earth. Its hard, and there are others, but God’s love is a love that goes through the valley of the shadow of death, to bring life into being, … then it is a love that sacrifices itself over and over again, … even daring to lay down its life for its own offspring.
I am going to finish with a true story of such love, from the holocaust of the Second World War that took the lives of millions of people, and in particular, a man called Solomon Rosenberg & his family.
… Solomon Rosenberg and his wife and their two sons, … and his mother and father were arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp. It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple. "As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be eliminated."
As they were old, Rosenberg soon watched his mother and father being marched off to their deaths, and he knew then that the next would be their youngest son David, … because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of labour and searched for his family, and when he found them they would huddle together and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces, but he discovered his oldest son Joshua, in a corner crying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true", but Joshua turned and said, "It is true, David was not strong enough to do his work, … so they came for him and marched him away".
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg. "Oh" … he said, "when they came for David, he was afraid and he cried, so Mummy said, “There is nothing to be afraid of David” and she took his tiny hand and they marched off together.
That is motherhood, Mothers, … this is your day, … may God bless you in it.
Amen, please join me in a short prayer.
Father, we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he gave his life for us, to hold our tiny hands, … to show us the way, and be with us on that journey.
Father I pray that when we walk through that valley of the shadow of death, which we will, alone, we will feel your presence and we will recognise your hand reaching out to us, saying, "there is nothing to be afraid of, I am with you”.
Father we pray for mothers everywhere today, that they may know your love, and pass that love onto others. We pray too father for those mothers who do not know your love, we pray that in some way you reveal yourself to them, so that your love may shine.
Father we also take this opportunity to pray for Melvin Newland and his congregation without whose help and inspiration I could not put this sermon together.
Finally Father we pray also for ourselves, that we appreciate your love through our mothers; that we be an inspiration for others to follow.
We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
