Sixth Sunday of Easter (2023)

Mother’s Day

My Brothers and Sisters today on Mother’s day I wanted to deviate from our readings from a moment to reflect on one of God’s Commandments, Honor your Father and Mother. We learn from Catechism “What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise our parents and other authorities, but honor them serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” It is important for us to understand how God has used the role of Mother to teach us about the Church.

The Calling of A Mother

This has to do with vocation.

That is to say where God places you, desires you to be in this life as you work to serve your neighbor. That is why this office is to be honored because isn’t just random happenstance, but this work of being a mother comes from God dating all the way back to Eve in the garden.

Rather than kids crying mom.

That is what the kids call, and sometimes a bit too often or too much, but despite any frustration that might arise, they are calling for you because that because God connected you with them.

God created it to serve your closest neighbor.

This vocation is important for our existence as a people, for everyone in this room is born of woman, that is where we all began and where we were brought to life. Hence, Eve’s name meaning mother of all the living.

A Calling to Serve

God created mankind to depend on each other.

This is important for us to remember in this day and age, that none of us live on our own. We are a very proud people that want to believe that it is by our own power or might that we exist.

Luther says, without our parents we would have died in our own filth.

You can tell he wrote that part after he and Katie had some kids, and things were a bit messy, but he needed to remind his kids that they now owed their father and mother deeply.

God gave us life, and knit us together in the womb.

God does this through our mother that is where our life first began and it has been that way since the time of Adam and Eve. So if God has called her to this high office, then we ought to give thanks to God for her. Even if there is tension or problems, she is the one that God chose to bring you to life.

We learn that we are to care for those who are weak.

For while we were in the womb, when we were born, and as we grew up. We were incredibly frail, we could not survive on our own, but God used her for your benefit. So treasure your mom.

God Had a Plan for this Calling

In the Scriptures, the church is compared to a mother.

This might be a bit surprising but we are the children of God, and the Bible speaks of Christ and His bride the Church. It says that the two become one flesh, that this mystery is profound and it refers to Christ and the Church.

We are the children that come from this union.

This is why we gladly sing praises to God our Father for we are the children of God through this union of Christ and the Church for the sake of our salvation.

In the Old Testament, it was Israel.

God they knew they were God’s people and you found that he treasured the nation as a bride, and her children were God’s Children. This wasn’t something that was brand new at the time of Christ, but something that God has been using to teach his people.

The Family of God

This means that we are united as the children of God.

That all of us here are brothers and sisters and that isn’t just something that we say to be friendly, but a sincere truth.

We were born into our earthly family, and we receive a new birth to enter the family of God.

God does want us to understand how much he loves us and wants us to be saved. It is not surprising that he would use the model of family, even having us call Him Our Father who art in Heaven.

What unites God’s family is the divine name given in Baptism.

We all share that divine name that has been given in Baptism and just as a husband gives his bride his name, and she is united to Him, the Church is united to God, and we

This is why we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is how Christians have referred to each since the earliest days of the church. It did weird out some of the non-christians because they thought there is no way the family is that big.

The Importance of Church

God connected us with the Church as the place where we are washed, fed, and grow.

That is why for many the church holds a dear place in our hearts. For it is the place appointed by God for us to not only grow up and mature in the faith, but the place where we are tended to with what God has provided us in the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

In the early church it was said, if you don’t have the church as your mother, then you cannot have God as your father.

This is very shocking statement until you consider how much God loves his bride the Church, and that He has told us that He provides through the Church for our Benefit. There has always been a temptation to separate these two.

People try to have a relationship with God apart from the Church.

This is found nowhere in Scriptures, its not biblical and in fact it is the opposite of what God teaches us, which means this idea comes not from God but from the devil.

You can’t love God, and hate his bride.

For the two become one, and think of the great love that He has for His bride, this is why the Bible says you cannot separate yourself from the body of Christ and still belong to Christ. We must not deceive ourselves or let others think that this is ok.

Rejoicing for our Mother

We give thanks to God for our Mother.

Now if we cannot give thanks to them personally, then we can raise a silent prayer of thanksgiving especially if we did not honor them or love them as we should have while they were with us.

She was called by God to bring you to life.

So thank her for fulfilling that office for your benefit for it was her body that carried you, fed you, and held you and kept you warm.

Since their office is a godly one, honor them especially today.

For even though this is not a church holiday, but a secular one, it is good to see that the world recognizes the treasure that God has given us in mothers.

So My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, remember that your mother is a treasure given to you by God, and as children its the first place we learn to do good works, when we do the work our mother asks of us. It is important to also remember that God has used this office to teach us about the Church and how we ought to regard the family of God. So just as we should not neglect our earthly mothers, let us also treasure the gift God has given of the Church where we were born into His Kingdom, Fed on food that nourishes body and soul, and gather with our Brothers and Sisters in Joyful celebration. In Jesus name. Amen.