Mother’s Day
May 14, 2017
John 14:1-12
Jesus— An Example for Christian Mothers!
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (NIV1984)
Dearr brothers and sisters in Christ,
In every congregation I have served— including this one— there have been individuals who in one way or another were smarter than I am. This means that in every congregation I have served— including this one— there is something that I can learn from the people of God I have the privilege of serving. For example, in one of my previous congregations I had an individual is a member of Mensa. We’ll call him Joe. Joe is probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. Every month when I went to bring him Holy Communion, Joe almost always had questions for me. Some questions were relatively easy for me to answer. Some questions really made me dig deep for an answer. And some questions I think were specifically designed just to see how I would respond!
One of those questions focused on something that was very logical, but not very Scriptural. He said something like, “Okay, Pastor, tell me this. Since there is God the Father and since there is God the Son then there must be God the Mother, right?” I smiled at him and said, “Joe, you know what Scripture teaches! Just because that is the way it works in God’s Creation that does not automatically mean that the same rule holds true for our almighty Creator!”
Joe’s question reminded me that people often times expect that God is governed by the same “rules” and guided by the same “processes” that guide and govern us. For that reason there are those who think that there is indeed a “God the Mother.” But as I told Joe, while there is no “God the Mother” that does not mean that our Creator God does not possess what we might consider to be “motherly” characteristics! While the Bible is filled with examples of that truth, our text for today gives us an example that fits in very well with the fact that today is Mother’s Day. Today then, my friends, let’s study our text under the theme: Jesus— An Example for Christian Mothers! This portion of God’s holy Word highlights three qualities, three characteristics of Jesus that Christian Moms will do well to emulate. They are: Comfort, Conviction and Calling.
Our sermon text for today takes us back to a time when Jesus’ disciples were being overwhelmed by sorrow and dismay. It was the evening of Maundy Thursday. The disciples were in the Upper Room with Jesus. The Lord had just told them, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer” (John
In my estimation, the opening verses of our text are some of the most comforting words in all the New Testament Scriptures. That comfort becomes especially clear when we read these words in the light of both Christmas and Easter. Christmas reveals to us that our God came into our world for the very specific purpose of saving us from our sins. By nature we were born so thoroughly blind, dead and the enemies of God that there was nothing that we could do to save ourselves. Therefore, Christmas assures us that God sent His own Son so that He might do everything that was necessary to save us. Easter then assures us that Jesus did indeed finish what He came here to do. The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees us that the innocent death of God’s Son on the cross of Calvary’s hill was indeed accepted as “Payment in Full” for all of our sins. Our salvation is complete; our salvation is free— purely by grace through faith in what Jesus has done for us.
It is from that perspective that we must read and understand these words of our text “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Because Jesus lived a perfect life in our place, because Jesus innocently suffered and died as our Substitute, because Jesus physically rose from the dead to proclaim that we are justified, “Declared: Not Guilty!” we now have an inexhaustible source of comfort for both this life and the next! If our life here on this earth is filled with heartache and pain, if every day seems to bring to us nothing but struggles and sorrows, if our plans, our hopes and our dreams tend to get shot down on a regular basis we still have the comfort of knowing that our crucified and risen Savior is right now personally preparing for us a “room” in our “Father’s house,” a “dwelling place” that makes both the White House and Buckingham Palace look like a run-down shacks! If on the other hand we have been richly blessed in this life, if we really don’t have any financial worries, if we live in a house that is bigger and nicer than anyone else we know, our crucified and risen Lord remind us— don’t let that become your source of comfort! Whether we are rich or poor, whether we are living on “Easy Street” or just scraping by from paycheck to paycheck Jesus gives us the comfort of knowing that He is preparing a home for us in heaven. Yes, my friends, we have the comfort of knowing that just as Jesus fulfilled His promise and rose from the dead to guarantee our salvation, so also we have the comfort of knowing that Jesus will fulfill the promise He gives to us here in our text, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Let that be your source of eternal comfort, my friends!
I can’t speak for you, but the greatest source of earthly comfort I have ever experienced, the greatest source of earthly comfort I have ever witnessed has come from someone who is a Christian Mom. Whether it was my own Mom or Brenda, whether it is my grandchildren’s Moms or the Moms in the congregations I have served, a Christian Mom is an unbelievably powerful source of comfort! Following the example that Jesus Himself sets for them, Christian Moms will do everything they can to comfort their children when they are sick or sad. Christian Moms will do everything they can to comfort even their adult children— sometimes by simply being there to listen to them and sometimes by simply offering advice and encouragement.
Why are Christian Moms such a beautiful source of comfort? They have the love of Christ in their heart! Unlike non-Christian Moms a Christian Mom sees her precious child as a precious child of God— someone whom Jesus loved so very much that He was willing to die for them, someone who the Triune God adopted to be His very own through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, someone who will spend eternity with them in their heavenly Father’s home. So today we say “Thank you!” to all you Moms for being such a wonderful source of Christian comfort for your children.
The second way in which Jesus serves as an example for Christian Moms is that He gives His children a strength of conviction that can’t be found here in this world. That conviction centers on two fundamental yet eternally important requests that Jesus’ disciples brought to their Lord on the evening of that first Maundy Thursday. Thomas’ request came in the form of the question, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Philip’s request came in the words, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Have you ever had or perhaps heard similar requests? I have. The first request usually comes in the form of the question, “How is a person saved? How do we get from this life to heaven?” The second request is often heard today when people ask, “Who is the true God?”
Jesus gives us the conviction of knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt the only correct answers to both of those questions! If Jesus had not fulfilled His mission here on this earth and then victoriously returned home to heaven we would never know, we would not have a clue as to how we get to heaven, would we! But Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the dead and His glorious return home to heaven gives us the conviction of knowing that Jesus was absolutely correct when He said here in our text, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” On the basis of God’s holy inspired Word we have the conviction of knowing that there is only one source of truth, there is only one source of life, there is only one way to heaven— through faith in Jesus as our only Lord and Savior! We never have to wonder, we never have to doubt, we never have to question “if” we will be saved. Jesus gives us the conviction of knowing that through faith in Him and what He has done for us we know the truth, we have the life and we are on the way home!
At the very same time Jesus gives us the conviction of knowing who the true God is— He is the Triune God who reveals Himself to us right here on the pages of holy Scripture. Do you want to see the power of the almighty Creator of heaven and earth? Then behold the miracles that Jesus performed! Do you want to see the personal care and concern that the living God has for us as individuals? Then behold the way in which Jesus lovingly reached out to the poor, to the defenseless, to the hurting and to the outcasts of His society. Do you want to see both the power of God’s perfect justice as well as the depth of God’s amazing grace? Then behold Jesus as He cried out on
How are we saved? Who is the true God? It’s not difficult to see how Jesus’ answers to those two eternally important questions serves as an example for Christian Moms today. Moms know better than most that children and grandchildren ask a lot of questions! When our children and grandchildren are young the questions are pretty easy to answer. As they grow and mature, however, the questions can quickly become more difficult as well as more serious! “Why do I have to go to church and Sunday school every Sunday? My friends say that God does not exist and we have to depend on ourselves for whatever we want. Mom, is that true?” “Sally says that unless I ‘decide’ to ‘accept’ Jesus as my Savior and then prove that I’m sincere by being baptized by immersion, I won’t go to heaven. I thought you said that when I was baptized as a baby I was “born again” as a dearly beloved saved child of God. Mom, I’m confused!” The best thing a Christian Mom can do at times like this is to share with their children the conviction that Jesus has created in their heart. Share with them what Jesus means to you and what Jesus has done for you. Share with them what Jesus proclaims right here in His Word.
The final point that I hope you take home with you from this text is that Jesus gives to us a source of calling and a sense of purpose in life. Listen once again to what our Lord assures us, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” For a long time I had a hard time understanding how you or I could do “greater things” than Jesus! I consider the free gift of eternal life as the “greatest” thing there could ever be! Over the course of time, however, I have come to understand these words of our Savior as emphasizing “scope.”
While Jesus’ ministry here on this earth was indeed for the benefit of all mankind, at the same time there were relatively very few people who actually saw and spoke with Jesus while He was here on this earth. You and I, my friends, have the opportunity of carrying the message of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus both across the street as well as across the world! Through our individual efforts of talking about Jesus with our friends, relatives, acquaintances and neighbors we are doing “even greater things” than Jesus! Through our prayerful and financial support of missions all across the world we are doing “even greater things” than Jesus! Every time the Christian church faithfully proclaims the Truth of God’s holy inspired Word, every time the Christian church faithfully administers the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion we are collectively doing “even greater things” than Jesus! From that perspective Jesus’ words here in our text give us a source of calling, a sense of purpose in life that goes far above and beyond any other calling and any other purpose on the face of this earth. The Apostle Peter reminded us of that very truth when he wrote in our Epistle lesson for today, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9). That is the calling, that is the purpose that our Lord has given to you and to me.
It certainly is not very difficult to see how vitally important it is for Christian Moms to follow Jesus’ example and give their children this sense of calling and purpose in life. No matter how young or how old our children might be the world is constantly trying to take their focus off of the cross and put it anywhere else— money, success, career, possessions, etc. Moms have a unique opportunity to teach and to remind their children that as the children of God they have a unique purpose here on this earth, namely, “to declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
My prayer this morning is that all of us— especially the Moms among us— will indeed relish the comfort and the conviction and the calling that Jesus gives to us. I also pray that all of us will appreciate and if still possible, give our Mom a big hug and say “Thank you!” as they strive to humbly follow the example that Jesus has given to them!
Happy Mother’s Day!
To God be the glory!
Amen