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"A
Mother’s Love Has Few Boundaries" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler
– May 12, 2013 Centenary United
John 13:31-35, Proverbs 31:10-20, 25-31 Since today is
Mother's Day, I thought we would spend our moments together honoring her
as we consider one of the few passages in the Bible that is in praise of
how a woman expressed her love.
(Proverbs 31) There is a growing
number of people who remain convinced that we would have a completely
different Bible if more of its contents had been written by women.
Even the image of God would have been different.
Such a thought makes us wonder how many of the authors in the Old
Testament verbally painted God from spirits that were overly spiced by
testosterone rather than from Divine inspiration.
When we listen to the teachings
of Jesus, the answer to such musings becomes abundantly clear.
The feminine touch would have made a difference. A good number of us
in recent weeks have heard the quote from Margaret Thatcher.
On May 20, 1965, the Iron
Lady said, “In politics, if you want something said, ask a man.
If you want something done, ask a woman.” This orientation toward
women was probably well-understood by countless men and women in the
ancient world. To this day,
a Jewish mother remains a remarkable icon of strength and stability. Regardless of what men and women think about each other and the roles that they play many aspects of males and females are very different, e.g., their chemistry, their responses, their perceptions and the way they each make decisions. John Gray outlines these distinct differences in his book, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. There is
recognition among informed people that restoring a wholesome balance to
the world will result when more women become world and industrial
leaders. What women do for
their families, they can do for the world.
Women can get things done.
Years ago, I saved
a cartoon that brilliantly captured what some mothers go through while
living in today’s busy world.
A mother was driving the car with her four small children in the
back seat. Judging from the numerous overflowing bags filled with
produce and dry goods, she was coming home from the grocery store.
Her face looked
drained.
Not many men fully realize how
any mother with four energetic children in tow, manages to grocery shop
while Dad is at work. Countless
women did it years ago and many are still doing it today. The cartoonist was an absolute master at creating images that may take many of us back to our own childhood. The words coming from the four children are classic. The word bubbles above each child contained the following: “Mommy, tell Billy to stop looking at me.” “Daddy's good hat is back here and Dolly is sitting on it.” “Which bag has the lollipops in it?” “Janie just dropped the bottle of ketchup on top of the prune juice and the bag is leaking.” “Mommy, Jimmy is opening the cookies. We smile at such
things, but during such a moment, most Moms feel like screaming.
One of the realities that come
from Jesus’ teachings is that we are totally in charge of only one
person. Jesus could only
give away the power of love through his words and deeds.
He could not make anyone choose
to follow his example. He said, “As I have
loved you, so you must love one another.”
How does anyone instill such thinking into other people?
We can’t. We can
only model it as that mother was doing.
We can influence other people with our words and by giving them
something of substance to look at. Among my all-time
favorite mom-stories is when a mother stopped into the grocery store for
just a few items around 2:30 in the afternoon.
Her little girl was in the grocery cart with her legs poking
through the back. A
mother’s greatest nightmare is when her child has an emotional
melt down in a public place.
It was nap time and emotionally her daughter was somewhere
between being overly-tired and insanity.
The child began kicking and screaming. The mother kept
saying, “Amy, we have come to the store for some bread, milk and a box
of cereal. Please hold it
together. Please be
patient.” She repeated this
out loud over and over again as she walked down the various aisles to
retrieve her three items. Her
daughter remained relentless in displaying her irritability. It so
happened that a man in the store had been observing her calm spirit and
he also heard her words spoken in very patient tones. As luck would have
it, he found himself behind her in the checkout line.
He told that mother how much he admired her calmness of spirit.
He said, “I am a child psychologist and you are modeling for your
daughter a wonderfully creative and wholesome response.
She is learning that her behavior will not cause you to withdraw
your love and support from her.
How old is Amy?”
With a smile on her face she said, “This
monster’s name is Jennifer.
I am Amy.” Even though Amy was
talking to herself the entire time, she was creating a presence that was
radiating what Jesus taught, “If you love me, all that I have taught you
will be made visible in your lives.” There are no commandments that need
to be learned. When we truly love God, our caring and our gratitude for
our experiences and our acceptance of others just as they are is a
matter of making choices that reflect that love. Think of how our
attitudes would be modified if we talked to ourselves in quiet, peaceful
tones, “Amy, we have come to the store for some bread, milk and a box of
cereal. Please hold it
together. Please be
patient.” If talking to
ourselves encourages us to remain focused on our daily mission of
letting our discipleship show, do it! Mothers appear to
have a natural acceptance of where their children are at every stage of
their growth. Mothers want their
children to grow up with sound values so that when they are on their
own, they will be capable of taking full responsibility for themselves.
This desire causes mothers to be very protective of their children until
that day arrives. A number of years
ago there was a devastating fire in the Two officers from
the National Park Service were inspecting the damage the day after the
devastation and they came upon a bird that had made her last stand
against the fire. Both rangers crouched down to look at the bird that
was charred. Like a sentinel she sat frozen against the base of the tree
with her wings still spread. They wondered why she had not flown away as
the fire approached. One of the men
snapped on his rubber gloves and picked up her charred remains. As he
did so, he discovered a hollow at the base of the tree. Out from that
hollow scurried her three baby birds. The men surmised that the fire was
so large and had surrounded her so quickly that there was not enough
time for the mother bird to move her babies to safety. Rather than flee,
that mother sacrificed herself so that her babies might have a chance at
life. The two men honored that mother bird’s last desire to protect her
children. The young birds were promptly rounded up by the Park Rangers
so that they could be supported until they were ready to fly. Was that
mother bird’s deed merely a strong maternal instinct or were the rangers
seeing the result of a mother doing what mothers do? Returning to
Proverb 31, we see a number of action-words reflective of Margaret
Thatcher’s comment, “If you want something done, ask a woman.”
The mother being praised kept herself busy.
She grocery shopped.
She was out of bed before day-break.
She bought property. She had learned the value of various
commodities. She not only spun
her own thread but made the clothes for the family.
She spoke to others with gentle wisdom and was respected by
everyone. She honored God
with how she lived. No matter how one
interprets her life, the women that inspired the author of Proverb 31
had quite a remarkable summary of accomplishments.
All of her energies were flowing
toward others. There was
not one item mentioned in her litany of deeds that was self-serving.
There can be no question about it, what the world needs is the
feminine touch. In most churches
today, women outnumber men by substantial margins.
What does that symbolize? Perhaps
that is why the official Mission
Arm of our denomination is The United Methodist Women.
Why is it that women appear to have a keen interest in
Spirituality while men seemingly have not awakened to how that knowledge
would enhance their lives? Linda Henley
described how she understood her role in life quite eloquently in her
book, Norman Transcript. She
wrote: Who was it that
said that life is what happens while you are making other plans?
I have never had the time to make other plans.
I’ve been too busy being someone’s wife, someone’s mother,
someone’s daughter and someone’s friend.
My hopes, plans and goals have always been made with other people
in mind: for my husband to
advance in his career and for my sons to grow up to become decent,
loving men.
Someday, I thought
vaguely, I would write something lasting, something that might make a
difference in the world.
But that someday was always
way off in the future and my family’s needs were more pressing than my
desire to fulfill my dreams.
When I begin to
feel sorry for myself, I drive out to the cemetery and talk to my
husband. I know the
theology that he is not there, but it helps me to sit quietly and enjoy
the solitude of where he was laid to rest.
When I am finished sharing my thoughts with him, I walk around
and look at words inscribed on other tombstones, “Beloved wife and
mother,” “Parents of Scott,
Debra and Mary Ann,” “Our Little Angel,” and “Beloved Father and
Faithful Friend.”
When the end came
and the lives of these people were reduced to a few words on a piece of
granite, the inscriptions I see invariably refer to the relationships
those people had built and the love they left behind.
Perhaps as a mother
I have done what I could in my own humble way to express love’s presence
in my life. Like other
people, there will come a time when no one will know that I ever lived.
What matters to me is that when I lived, I loved.
In conclusion, I
would like to end with a Psalm that only has three verses.
It really sounds like a prayer: Lord, I have given
up my pride and turned away from my arrogance.
I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too
difficult for me to understand.
Instead, I am content and at peace.
As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms, so my heart is
quiet within me. People
everywhere can have this peace by trusting in the Lord now and forever.
(Psalm 131) Happy
Mother’s Day! |