John 13:31-38
Since today we are celebrating Mother’s Day, I will begin my meditation with some quotes about mothers: Abraham Lincoln said, “Behind every great man, is a great mother.”
The once powerful leader of France, Napoleon, said, “Let France have great mothers, and France will have great sons.”
Rudyard Kipling the writer of “Jungle Book” and “The man who would be a King” among other books said, “If I were hanged on the highest hill, I know whose love would follow me still.”
- L. Moody, one of the greatest evangelists who ever lived said, “All that I have ever accomplished, I owe to my mother!”
If anyone must describe who is a mother, they have to use a lot of adjectives. For instance, mothers are teachers; mothers are disciplinarians; mothers are housekeepers; they are gardeners, bakers; mothers are nurses and doctors, psychologists, and counselors; they are chauffeurs and coaches; mothers are developers of personalities, molders of vocabularies; they are shapers of attitudes. Mothers are soft voices saying, “I love you.” But most of all mothers are a link to God, a child’s first impression of God’s love. Because of all these and much, much more, mothers are a very important part of every person’s life.
The influence and importance of a mother, especially a Christian mother can be illustrated in the following story, in the mid 1700’s century, lived an old Christian woman, who everyone called Mama Newton. She was a woman that all the children in the neighborhood wanted as their mother. She had hair like a halo of silver, hands worn with calluses, and cheeks that were stained by tears. Every day, and every night, you would find Mama Newton crying and praying over her washtub for her son John.
John had run away from home as a rebellious teenager to become a sailor. John had become an ungodly, wicked man, who was rejected by his father and everyone who knew him, because he was so bad. Yet, day and night, Mama Newton kept praying that God would save and use her disobedient boy. She believed in two things only: the power of prayer, and the conversion of her son.
God, one day, answered the prayer of Mama Newton, by doing a miracle in the heart of her son, John Newton. As a result, John Newton, the drunken- sailor, became John Newton the sailor-preacher, who at age 54, wrote “Amazing Grace.” A hymn now considered almost a Christian national anthem. God greatly used John Newton to reach thousands including a man by the name of Thomas Scott, who with his voice and pen was used by God to lead thousands to Christ, included among those he led, was a man by the name of William Cowper, who wrote the immortal words of “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood”, which has brought thousands to the one who died at Calvary. All this reaching out to others with the massage of salvation happened just because a faithful and godly old mother never stopped believing, never stopped praying by her washtub for her lost son. She never gave up.
In our gospel today we find part of what it is known as Jesus’ “farewell Discourse” to His disciples, and the core of this final discourse is the commandment of love one another as He loves us. At the beginning I said that a mother is among many things a link to God and in within today’s celebration context, I would like to compare the love of a mother with the kind of love Jesus wants us to love each other; with the kind of love, Jesus loves us.
For instance, Jesus’s love for us is sacrificial, he gave his life for us to live; the love of a mother for her children is also sacrificial. From the moment we were born our mothers sacrificed their time, their strength for us to be comfortable and safe. Jesus’s love for us is protective. If we are willing, he will gather us together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings; mother’s love is also protective she will do anything for her children. In First Kings there the story a mother willing to give up her child when Solomon the King was going to cut him in half and give one half to each mother who were claiming him as theirs and because of this willingness Solomon knew who the mother was.
God shows His love for us providing in our need. God provided Manna and water for his child Israel in the wilderness; Jesus provided bread for the crowds when they were hungry. Mother’s love for us is also a provider love. They provide shelter, safety, comfort
For those who believe we cannot love one another as God loves us, I invite you, just take a look to the love of a mother and she will prove you wrong.
Mothers, mothers to be, stepmothers and any other kind of mothers we have here today, thank you for your example, thank you for your work, thank you for your love. Have a blessed Mother’s Day.