Leviticus 19:1-3
Mother’s Day
May 8, 2005
Leviticus 19:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ’Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3 "’Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
Holy Children Love Their Mothers
I. Our Father demands that we honor our mothers
II. Holy children see God’s hand in motherhood
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer (cf. Psalm 19:14). Amen.
Mother’s Day is a day celebrating common sense! It is common sense to set aside time and effort to honor our mothers. It is common sense to look up to heaven and thank God for the precious gift that mothers are. It is common sense to return to our mothers the love that they have so willingly given to us.
But then again, maybe Mother’s Day shows that we have lost our common sense. Why do we need a special day to honor our mothers? Isn’t that something that children, who are at home, should do every single day? Isn’t that something that children who are away from home, should do on a regular basis? Did the holiday come into being, because we tend to forget our mothers? How many of us, in spite of having a national holiday, and notes on our calendars, and advertisements reminding us, arrived at this day and realized, “Oh, it’s Mother’s Day. I suppose I should call my mom tonight.”? Mother’s Day wouldn’t be a ‘stealth’ holiday, that sneaks up on us every second Sunday in May, if our mothers were closer to our hearts.
I firmly believe that heart failure is the most common cause of the death of common sense. When our hearts fail to love and remember with gratitude what we have received, common sense chokes on our selfish self-centered, self-indulging lifestyle. That’s why God gave us the Ten Commandments. They re-ignite our common sense. If you want to live in peace, love your neighbor. If you were created by God, you should thank him and love him. Because we often forget the common sense that God gave us, the Lord had to write it down again through Moses. We have an example before us today: “Each of you must respect his mother and father” (Leviticus 19:1-3).
You would think that God wouldn’t have to tell you that. To further emphasize its importance note where God places this commandment. It follows the first three commandments, which tell us how to honor and worship the Divine Majesty. And it is the first of the seven Commandments, which deal with how we are to treat the other people of the world around us. Look where God places it in our text today: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths.” It stands right between God’s commandment to be holy and to worship God regularly. If we want to please God, who is perfect and holy, and worship him even outside of our Sunday worship, we do so, when we honor and love our mothers.
Sadly, God must command such things, because we have lost our common sense. Luther chided the monks of his day, because they sought to do the greatest and most lovely works, to worship God in such a way that God would find them pleasing, and would allow them to enter heaven based on the merits of all the good things they did. Yet in their vows of dedication to God, they also renounced their family ties! Against all those monks, who tried to think of the best ways to serve God, stood this one command: “Honor your father and mother.” Luther said, “Where will these poor wretches hide when in the sight of God and all the world they shall blush with shame before a young child who has lived according to this commandment. ” You could feed hundreds of the poor and give shelter to thousands of homeless, but if you despise your mother, you are despising God. A little child handing her mother a freshly picked dandelion has outdone you.
If loving our mothers is such a high and wonderful command, that man in all his genius, could not think of a better way to serve and honor God, then the opposite must be true. To disobey this command, to neglect our parents, to roll our eyes when they tell us to do something, to complain about our mothers behind their backs – could there be anything uglier in all creation. Just as God ranks this commandment among his commands to worship him and to be holy, it is just as vile and loathsome to disrespect our mothers, as it is to shake our fist at God, to threaten him and say, “You’re worthless! You do nothing for me. Go harass others with your demands of worship and honor. I have my own life to live!”
Remember how Jesus chided the Pharisees in the Gospel text (Matthew 15:1-9). When they relieved people of their duties to take care of their elderly parents, simply for making a ‘donation’ to the temple, Jesus called them hypocrites. They thought that other good deeds could replace honoring their mothers who were old and needed greater care. If we discard our parents in their old age and disobey this command, Jesus’ words apply to us: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain” (Matthew 15:8,9a).
How guilty are we? When we let Mother’s Day go by, with barely a thought, where are the great and noble deeds with which we try to replace honoring our mothers just this one day? What great and beautiful deed can you conceive of that can outdo what the holy God of heaven has asked of you? How many are the sins that we have heaped on ourselves, by treating our mothers with contempt. If only we could feel the heat of God’s breath on the back of our neck, when we say unkind words to our mother. I remember how my father would act, if we didn’t listen to our mother, or grumbled under our breath.
Today is not only a day for sons to honor their mothers, but it is a day for husbands to honor their wives. We are to ensure that our children uphold God’s command. A mother shouldn’t have to defend herself before her children, when Dad is home. Just as our Father in heaven commands that we show respect to our mothers, so also, our earthly fathers are to enforce that honor. But even better yet, demonstrate that honor… never bad-mouthing the mother, never disrespecting her, never grimacing any time she asks for some help. Even if mothers are guilty of doing something wrong, the father should never reprimand her before the children, but speak to her in private, and with loving respect as his wife. How many are the sins of fathers, who lead their own children against their heavenly Father’s wishes, when they show children how to hate or disrespect their mothers!
We are not the sons and daughters that God demands. Even if we’ve gotten better over the years, having learned what a burden it is to be a parent, how can we find peace for the sins of our youth, and even our present failings? That’s where God’s perfect Son comes in. Jesus was the perfect child. Every day for him was Mother’s Day. Even when he was on the cross – BUSY SAVING THE WORLD, he made sure that his mother was taken care of, by placing her in the care of a trusted friend. Not even saving the world superceded this command to love and honor his earthly mother. By so caring for her and obeying this command completely, Jesus earned for all of us forgiveness. Jesus loved his mother so much, that he suffered the torments of hell for her. Amazing devotion!
Mary wasn’t perfect, just like our parents aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t exempt us from the commandment. God commanded: EACH OF YOU must respect his mother and father. No excuses. No matter how lame we might think our parents are some time, God wants us to treat them with the respect that we would treat those who are of second importance to God alone. Thanks to Jesus’ perfect obedience, God welcomes us as children, who have always maintained the highest level of respect. Our shameful tantrums have been erased and replaced with Jesus’ affectionate words, “Mom, I love you.” Sweet and perfect child-like innocence replaces our being ‘too busy’ for our mothers. By trusting in Christ’s perfect life and innocent death, God accepts us as holy children.
As holy children, consider this special commandment. Sons and daughters, your mother deserves your love and honor, just for the sake that you received life through her. How can you ever repay her for that? God blessed you with food, clothing and shelter through her. How many prayers has she spoken on your behalf? Can you ever catch up in your lifetime, praying for her? But mothers are more than just life-givers and providers, they are teachers in the fine art of love and devotion. God himself uses the mother as an example of his own love: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66: 13). Of mothers it has been said, “To the world you are just one person, but to one person you could mean the world.” Isn’t that what we are in God’s eyes? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Luther felt that our love for God should be so compelling, that when it comes to the commandment to honor our mothers, even if we didn’t have mothers, we ought to ask God to give us mothers erected out of stone or wood, so we would have an avenue by which to keep this commandment. Yet Luther exclaims “How much more gladly should we be to honor and obey, since God has given us living mothers! ” Blessing after blessing has come from God through them. May it also be said of us, that we have learned to become blessings to them. How? By honoring our mothers every day, just like our Lord did. Happy Mother’s Day! Amen.
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Amen.
