Flowers for Mother
“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby,
he said to her, “Woman,[a] here is your son,” John 19:26
Intro: Today there are two occasions of celebration that bring us together to worship.
On the Christian Church calendar today is Ascension Sunday.
After the resurrection of Christ for forty days Jesus lived and appeared to the disciples and to crowds of people as proof of His resurrection and the power of God.
Jesus encourages His disciples that they will “receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”
He tells them that they must serve as His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
Immediately after these words are spoken, the ascension takes place:
“Jesus was taken up into heaven before their very eyes.
They were still looking up into the sky after he was gone
When two men dressed in dazzling clothes stood before them.
People of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'”
The ascension of Jesus Christ is one of the most significant events recorded in the New Testament.
It teaches us that we must continue to work through the Holy Spirit and the church
Until Jesus returns again.
We must not stop teaching the Gospel.
We must work to transform the world and to save the lost sinner before Christ returns again.
Then just 10 days later the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church.
And that same commandment was repeated that the church must make disciples.
The church must share the Gospel.
The church must encourage one another
The church must evangelize the world.
Like a good mother the Holy Spirit brings us New Birth.
No one asked to be born into this world.
We don’t get to pick the conditions of when or where we are born.
We did not get to choose our parents.
Scientist can teach us the biological and chemical conditions necessary for birth.
But like death much of birth is still a mystery.
Connected to the mother we have everything we need.
You leave the mother’s body where you were nourished and protected
and are pushed out into the harsh realities of life.
Your first breathe is accompanied by a slap.
The stick of a needle, the suction of mucus.
You come into the world crying and gasping for breath.
But then there is something more that happens.
Being wrapped up in a warm blanket you are held in someone’s arms.
Then there is a mother’s kisses.
Happy grandparents.
No matter what your circumstances at birth are you have the potential to reach for the stars.
There is nothing you can’t do.
The poorest of the poor can become rich.
From Steve Jobs who was abandoned as an infant
to Opray Winfrey who was sexually abused as child.
They came into the worst this world had to offer
Both became billionaires.
Dreams big.
Set goals high.
Raise your standards.
Change doubt in to faith.
Your past does not determine your future.
When Jesus was crucified on the cross he could look down and see his mother.
This was the worst Mother’s day ever for Mary the mother of Jesus.
No parent is supposed to outlive their child.
No parent wants to see their child arrested and punished and crucified especially when their child is innocent.
We can only imagine the pain, the agony, this mother is going through.
When June McCarter’s youngest daughter died after heart surgery,
she did as any grieving mother would do.
In the last moments of maternal love she sat at the feet of the hospital bed watching in utter despair
knowing there was nothing she could do to change what was happening.
The memorial service at church was nice.
The church and community surrounded the family with expressions of sympathy and support.
The meal provided by the church gave an intimate time for the family to spend together.
For any one the loss of a family member or friend can cause us to feel numb and depressed.
Like it is difficult to continue on.
Your emotions are shattered and you struggle to keep your heart beating.
June McCarter said after losing her child, “You either give up, or you get up.”
It was her faith in God that gave her the courage to get up and go on.
Jesus in his dying moments told Mary to take John and to a mother to him.
And then he told his best friend John to take Mary and treat her like his very own mother.
Jesus said, take care of mother.
Show her respect.
Treat her like a lady.
Open the door for her.
Bring her flowers.
Show her respect.
Treat her with value, and appreciation, look up to her with high regard, like a good mom.
A few days ago I attended the Red Bird Mission Annual Conference
I am a delegate from Henderson Settlement as a representative of the Board of Directors
The clergy session meets in a small room.
We are all very close to the Bishop and each one of us has the opportunity to speak with him.
But that was not the most important meeting that I had this week.
The most important meeting I was happened right here.
Tuesday night I was invited to speak to the Methodist Women’s group here at this church.
You see I knew that was the most important meeting I have had as pastor of this church.
Because the room was filled with mothers.
And I have learned that you can fool some people but you can’t fool a mother.
Growing up I discovered that Mother’s have three eyes.
Two in the front and one in the back of their heads so they can see everything that goes on.
Mothers have three hands.
Two to cook and stir the meal with and one to reach and grab me if I did something wrong.
My mother taught me to blush.
What I mean by that is she taught me morals and standards and how to be gentleman,
How to honor women.
How to treat ladies with respect.
that there were some things that people should be ashamed of.
You can learn a lot about how a man was raised by watching how he treats a lady.
We live in a society that does not blush anymore.
What does it take for you to get embarrassed?
What makes you blush?
“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby,
he said to her, “Woman,[a] here is your son, and to the disciple, Here is your mother” John 19:26
Even while dying on the cross,
Jesus was concerned about his family and especially his mother.
Jesus instructs John to care for Mary.
What do you do to show respect to women and love to your mother?
Men think about your words and your actions and ask yourself the question: Are you a gentleman?
I want to invite you to bring your bad habits, your slip of the tongues, your brokenness,
your sins, and your selfishness to the altar and give them over to the Lord
for he will change you for the better.
So, with that in mind, I think it is better for a mother to raise her kids
than to think her kids are going to learn manner and good behaviors somewhere out in the world.
Here is some advice every mom needs to hear.
1. Put down the phone. Unless your kid is named “Phone”
2. Don’t name you kid phone. That’s just not right. That is messed up.
3. Know your kids love you. But kids just don’t know how to say I love you mom.
Sometimes it comes out kicking and screaming and crying.
The next time your kid screams know that they are really saying, “I love you mom.”
Thank you for setting boundaries for me.
Thank you for teaching me right from wrong.
Thank you for grounding me and taking away me phone when I make a mistake.
We love you. You are beautiful. Thank you for not naming me phone.
4. Mom upside down is spelled WOW. Mom WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW.
5. The secret to changing the world is Mom. Without mom’s none of us would be here.
If mom’s were in charge of the world, every problem would be fixed.
There are some amazing mothers in the bible, women who are a tremendous example for us.
Mary the mother of Jesus is a remarkable example of love and patience and beauty.
You might think Jesus was the ideal child.
But the scripture teaches us that he was often a handful and a heartbreak to his mother.
From the beginning in the travail and labor of the journey to Bethlehem and his child birth.
To the adolescent Jesus who stayed behind in Jerusalem at age 12
while his parents worried and searched for him three days before they found him.
And the child (Jesus) grew, and became strong in spirit and filled with wisdom.
To the last days of the crucifixion when Jesus is bleeding and dying on the Cross
and out of compassion and mercy Jesus tells John to take care of his mother after his death.
Jesus often did things Luke 2:19 “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart”
and the bible tells us yet again: Luke 2:51 “and his mother kept all these things in her heart”
Mary ponders on these Jesus did.
She keeps all these things in her heart.
Defending Jesus’ actions.
Protecting her son.
Treasuring everything in her hear, all the joys and sorrows.
Mentally, spiritually, all of the things Jesus did must have weighed heavy on Mary the mother of Jesus.
Mary, like all Godly mothers constantly discovered new depths of the God’s love in the actions of Jesus.
Here are some famous quotes of mothers
See if any of these are familiar to you?
-This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.
- When I was your age I walked 3 miles to and from school, uphill both ways in the snow.
- Stop playing with your food and eat all your vegetables.
- If you break your leg don’t come running to me.
- You better behave I have eyes in the back of my head.
- Wait till your father gets home.
- Just wait till you have kids of your own.
Ladies, whether you have children of your own or not, you can still have the heart of a mother.
The heart of a mother is one that encourages, inspires and invests in the lives of others.
It is a heart that nurtures and influences people with love and tenderness.
We all have the opportunity to influence others.
We all have the opportunity to deposit words of encouragement into their hearts.
We can be an example of support and love and faith because there's nothing on earth like mother's heart!
A daughter wrote home to her mom. She said, "Dear Mom, Please let me hear from you more often,
even if it is only five’s and ten’s."
Parenting and motherhood can be a real test sometimes.
And yet a real blessing.
"There was a family standing at the check-out line of a variety store.
There were 5 children, all under the age of 10.
The children were well-behaved standing there holding hands behind their parents in line.
The parents placed shirts, and blouses and socks and shoes upon the counter.
The cashier rang up the clothes.
The total came to $395 dollars.
The man’s hands began to quiver as he asked again, “How much did you say?”
Both parents began to rifle through their pockets and counted out change but still came up $100 short.
Trying to figure out what they could take back and which child would have a hand me down pair of shoes
A lady walked up to the man and pointed down at the ground.
She said, sir, I believe you must have dropped something on the ground.
There at his feet was a $100 bill.
The man picked up the money, feeling embarrassed and heartbroken, he shook his head no.
But the lady insisted. Saying, “the Lord provides, the Lord provides.”
Knowing where the money came from,
with tears in his eyes, he said, thanks be to God, this means so much to me and my family.
And he placed the $100 bill on the counter.
The lady who dropped the money on the ground was my mother.
When I was growing up my family was poor.
When I was child $100 was a lot of money.
As we walked away I asked my mother,
Mom where did that money come from?
To which she answered, “You saw it was on the ground.”
I asked again, No, not the $100 that was on the ground, the $100 that came from your purse.
Mom simply replied, “The Lord provides, the Lord provides.”
My mother was constantly trying to teach me kindness, generosity and compassion.
She tried to teach me things that would help me be a better person in life.
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
Parents listen: I am not preaching against sports or camping trips.
But I am not speaking for requiring the same standards a ball coach sets
for the team to show up for practice--as you as a parent should set for your child to show up for church.
A young girl named Jenny was watching as her mother mixed batter for cupcakes.
You know there is always that moment at the end
When you are done spreading the batter evenly when you lick the spoon to make sure they taste good.
The little girl was watching mom.
She wanted to help so much.
When the cupcakes were finished and it was time to put the icing on the phone rang.
When the mother came back
she was so surprised to find her daughter had put the icing on all the cupcakes.
The cupcakes looked so delicious.
The mom took a bite while looking at the other cupcakes.
"Jenny these are so good."
And you did such a good job decorating.
As she finished her first one and took another she again complimented her little girl again.
"These cupcakes look so beautiful, "How did you get the icing spread so evenly?"
With a huge smile on her faced she said, I did just like you mommy. "I licked ‘em."
The bible says in the book of “First Confections”
You are teaching your children something every day.
Train up a child in how to frost the cupcakes.
Don’t listen to people who say you can’t.
Tell them with God anything is possible.
From God who created the first man out of the dust of the earth we come into this world
And to dust we shall return.
But it is what we do in between the dust that matters.
When your life is stuck in the mud make mud pies.
What do you choose to do when you find yourself stuck in the mud?
Do you “waller in self pity” (colloquialism)
Or do you by faith reach for the stars?
Why settle for anything less that becoming your very best?
What would you need to do to be a better mother?
Give your mother flowers while she is still living.
Tell her how much you love her.
Closing: To all the mothers who have invested so much into the lives of their children, may you be blessed, strengthened and empowered by His Spirit, and may you know the greatness of the gift that you are to this world. Happy Mother's Day!
