The Love of a Mother
For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. - Mark 7:25
One day, a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her dark hair.
She looks at her mother and eagerly asks, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then asked, "Mamma, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"
There are a lot of important jobs in the world today, but not one of them is more important than the job of being a mother. After all, mothers shape and influence and impact young lives. Today, we celebrate Mother's Day. A common quality found in many mothers is: love. As we meditated before, God is love. And God’s love is exceedingly reflected through the love of a mother. This love by God and mothers can be expressed in words, attitudes, and actions.
Now, that is exactly what we see in our scripture lesson for today in Mark 7. A Greek mother comes to Jesus for help. Her daughter was sick, and she heard about Jesus and His power to heal. So, as a loving, concerned Mom, she came to Jesus. She kneeled before Him and asked Him to heal her daughter.
At first glance, it seems like Jesus is being a bit unkind to the Greek woman because He says: "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs…" Mark 7:27
When He did that, the Greek woman realized immediately that He was speaking with a smile, and that she was with a friend. The woman was a Greek, and the Greeks back then had a great love for conversation, dialogue, and friendly debate. Not only that, but back then, men did not discuss theological issues with women.
But, Jesus honored her by including her in a philosophical and theological discussion. Because of this, the Greek woman understood that Jesus was befriending her. She skillfully responds to Jesus. “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs. Mark 7:28.
Jesus loved her spirit and faith. Here was a mother with a sick child at home, who was willing to take a chance and put her faith in Christ for the sake of her child. Jesus liked her faith and her boldness and her commitment to her child. And He answered her prayer. "You have answered well," He said to her. "And now you may go your way because your daughter has been made whole." -Mark 7:29.
The Greek woman returned home quickly and found that indeed her faith had healed her child. Just as Jesus had said, her daughter was completely healed. The illness was totally gone.
Now, this is a fascinating story, and we could look at many parts of this story: the power of Jesus to heal, or the impact of the woman's bold persistence, or we could talk about how the Greek woman symbolizes all the Gentiles and their inclusion in God's Kingdom.
But, for now, let me invite you to look with me at the illustration of love painted here. In this Greek mother's encounter with Jesus, we see three of the most important ways to express love. For we all know, God's love is exceeding reflexes in a mother’s love.
I. WITH WORDS
Love can be expressed with words. The Greek woman came to Jesus that day to express in words her love for her sick child. Also, in the whole Gospel of Mark, she is the only person who lovingly calls Jesus "Lord." Look at Mark 7: 28, “And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs”.
It may seem easy to express our love with words, but the truth is that there are only a few precious people that do it well. Why is that? Why do we have trouble speaking the words of love? If we all start to realize how powerful words are, we would work harder at expressing our love with words.
Some years ago, a woman was dying in a local hospital. She was in her mid-80's. Her son flew in to be with her. He walked over to the bedside of his dying mother. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Seeing her so weak, he said to her: "Mom, you have been such a good mother to me. And, I want you to know I love you."
And, through her tears she said: "Son, that's the first time you have ever told me. Last Friday was your 63rd birthday and this was the first time you have ever told me." It took the son 63 years to say "I love you" to his mother. And like the son, many of us forget the power these words hold. Love is expressed in words.
Those of you who are fortunate to still have your parents with you, how long has it been since you told your Mom or Dad how much you love them and appreciate them? Or, how long has it been since you told your husband or wife? Through words, have you spoken a true heart-to-heart expression of your love in words.
And parents, how about you? How long has it been since you told your children how proud you are of them and how much you cherish them? How many of your words are words of love, encouragement and appreciation, and not just words of correction or discipline? We need to say "I love you."
Just as God expresses His love for us in words, many mothers also express their love for their children in words of love as well. There is no question about it. One of the best ways to express love is with words.
II. WITH ATTITUDE
Dear Children of God, look at the Greek woman’s attitude in this passage. Mark 7:25 tells us that, For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and “she came and fell at His feet”.
We can express our love with our attitude. One of the things that impressed Jesus about the Greek woman, was her attitude. She was committed to her child and she was willing to do whatever it took to get help for her sick daughter.
Secondly, she was bold, determined, persistent, and courageous because she lived by the attitude of love. She would not be discouraged, and she would not give up because she lived by the attitude of love.
Some years ago in a mining town in West Virginia, a 17-year-old-boy took a summer job in the coal mines. However, during the second week on the job, he got lost deep, down in the mines. The veteran miners had told him to stay close to the group, because it would be so easy to get lost in the numerous caves and passageways of the mine.
But one day he, absent-minded, wandered away from his work-team. He became completely lost! He screamed for help, but the miners had moved on to another location and no one could hear him.
Suddenly, his light went out and he was in total darkness. He was terrified and began to cry. He dropped down on his knees to pray: "O God Help Me!" he said out loud. "O God Please Help Me!"
Then he noticed something. As he was kneeling to pray, he felt his right knee touching something hard. It was a railroad track. He realized that if he kept his hand on that track and followed it, it would lead him out. He held onto the track and followed the track and eventually it brought him out of the darkness, out of the depths of the mine and into light and safety.
And this can be a parable for us. If we hold onto the track of love and follow wherever it leads, if we make love our attitude in life, no matter how dark some moments may be, a love-tracked life will bring us out and lead us to the light. Because, do not forget, God is love.
As Christians that is our calling to live always by the spirit and attitude of love. And mothers live by an attitude of love for their children. We can all express our love with words and with attitude.
III. WITH ACTIONS
With remarkable insight and persistence, she replied, “Yes, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs” (Mark. 7:28). Jesus responded, “For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter” (v. 29). That Greek mother put her love into actions. She acted it out. She expressed her love with actions. Matthew records the assessment of our Lord: “O woman, great is thy faith” (Matthew 15:28). Because of her faith, expressed in her thoughtful exchange with Jesus, the Lord granted her request for a miracle.
Some years ago, a girl from Sarawak, Borneo. Her name was Annie Wong. When she was in high school, Annie Wong went one night to a youth program led by a Methodist college student. That night, she was converted. She accepted Christ as her Savior and dedicated her life to him.
But then she had a problem. How would she tell her parents about her new-found faith? She decided to not tell them in words, but rather to show them in deeds of love, through her actions.
She said: "Before Christ came into my life, I was spoiled and selfish. I was irritable and impatient. I was disrespectful to my parents. My room was a mess and my attitude was worse. But after Christ came into my life, I changed. I was kind to my parents. I cleaned up my room. I helped with the house-work. I spoke with tenderness and respect to my parents. I was loving toward everyone.
My parents noticed and they said to me: ‘Annie, you are different! Why? What has happened to you?' She said to them: ‘Yes, I am different because I have been re-born! I have Christ as my Saviour. I am a Christian now, and Christians always live by the law of love.'
And her parents said: ‘Tell us more of this Christ. If He can change people like that, we want to be Christians, too!'"
That is how expressing love with actions works. We can express our love with words, with attitude, but most powerfully, with actions! Christian mothers do this exceedingly by living as an example for their children. Through family prayer and the Bible reading. Through mothers’ actions, children learn to grow in the ways of love and the ways of God.
Conclusion:
Dear children of God, Jesus reaches out to everyone. He reaches out to everyone in love. But on this Mother’s Day, let us appreciate our great mothers who reflected the love of God through their words, attitude, and actions. Mothers speak words of endearment, they have an attitude of love and determination, and mothers always put into action the love they have for their children. A mother’s love is the greatest illustration of God’s love. Amen.
