The Closest Thing To God's Love Is A Mothers Love, (A Mothers Day Sermon).

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.’