Copying Mom

Happy Mothers Day!

One of the coolest things about being part of a church, and I’ve been in a church for almost all my life is the amount of mothers that I have had. I mean, of course I have the mother who gave birth to me, also my grandmothers and my wife’s mother, but in the church!

In the church, I have had incredible women in my life, old and young who have given me wisdom, taught me Bible verses so early in my life, when I was just a baby that I don’t even remember when I learned them.

Lavonne Leffingwell, Mrs. Barron. Women who taught a boy like me before I was five years old in the church!

I learned to write cursive in second grade but I have no idea when I learned John 3:16 because of these women!

Today, ladies, you call me pastor but you are still respected as church mothers.

The great thing about being a church mom, no physical labor pains! Hard part, we will get to letter but let me give you an example of two church moms with no labor pains:

Deborah and Charlotte. They are training up our youngest in the Lord. Scripture is taught every sunday. Remember when Sammy said, “Church is fun.” It’s because of his church moms: Deborah and Charlotte.

I wish I could highlight all of you, but I want to highlight two more incredible moms.

Karen Berni serves with compassion and love, always has, but now she is leading us financially. She is volunteering to serve as our treasurer. Stepped in the roll this year and we are so grateful.

And even though there are so many women for such a small community.

Let me highlight one more,

The leader of many women, a servant who is teaching others about Jesus, befriending them, visiting and calling on people. She takes care of things that no one else sees. She motivates others to help and is building a team of those who keep the Lord’s house, this church, she keeps it functioning.

We owe a whole lot of gratitude to the Lord Jesus for

Helen Gamez

Truly, I am incredibly grateful. Our church is incredibly grateful

I want you, all of you to show appreciation but move from passive clapping or gifts but do this,

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Appreciate by imitating

COPY. Copy this women or copy the women who pull you closer to Jesus.

See the coolest thing about church is we are all learning to be more like Jesus. When I teach at school those kids are learning but we don’t know what the public school student’s goal is with their learning.

At church we have a goal to be more like Jesus, to take on the attitude of Jesus.

So yes women, yes, men, COPY, take from what you have seen and heard and live for Jesus.

Now, I worry a little bit when thanking someone that a feeling of jealousy will arise. I know because it happens in me so often. I really have to fight that sin.

I could sit here all day and tell you the acts of kindness that happen here at New Day, this list of just 4 was not exhaustive, many of you are giving to the Lord by loving others. The Lord and I see your work.

Yet, Helen’s wonderful son, Phil shared with us the last two times about the need for discipleship. Remember that? If not, just trust me. Phil did. So here is a definition of discipleship.

Discipleship means making a person like you.

We are to make disciples of Jesus. That’s his role for us. Helen is doing it with certain ladies. Sometimes its formal like in the Bible Study class and sometimes its informal when she asks others to help or gives a listening ear. and I want to go back and remind everyone that we have verses about exactly what discipleship looks like,

exactly how we live our lives to be a disciple maker and we say them every week.

Philippians 2:1–5 HCSB

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,

All of that is about how we follow Jesus,

we focus on how we treat each other, which is discipleship.

Big churchy word to say how we treat each other is a key, vital, essential way we grow as a disciple.

Let’s focus on a phrase in the scripture that reminds me of my mom and most of the moms I know including my wife, one phrase that we need to hear in our minds as much as we hear our mom’s using our full legal name, you know, William James Yates, come here now!

Just like that name we need to remember this phrase from this full verse,

Philippians 2:1 HCSB

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

Here is the phrase -

if any affection and mercy,

We all need affection and mercy. Sometimes people were blessed with a mom who gave it like my mom. My mom gave wonderful affection and often was the cool merciful one. Everybody hungers for affection and mercy.

A child can give affection, but a mother can give affection and mercy. She can lessen the pain of a hurt, change a belt out for a time-out, plead before a principal and pray before the Lord of Heaven and Earth for the transformation of their child to a follower of Jesus.

Many, many years ago, in our second story building on the side that faces the parking lot, the upstairs rooms were the office for our Delta Valley association a group of 35 different churches sharing Jesus in different languages and at different places. Today that office is in Tracy but then it was here. And in that office every day was my Dad and our sister Frances.

One day, not sure why I was there, but I was and on that day something happened Frances poured out her heart for her son. Her son was such a problem. He was into drugs, miserable, homeless, wasn’t allowed in her house. That sharing was out of affection and mercy, and out of that we went into a time of prayer, all three of us, for her son. Probably just another one of many prayers, as a mother prays with affection and mercy for her son.

Today, Frances son is known as Pastor Raymond. Then he couldn’t go in his mother’s home. Today, He is an Evangelist, Father of two, gainfully employed, married, homeowner, most importantly follower of Jesus.

See these verses are not really about mom’s at all, they are about who God is. Who every mother, woman, man, girl, boy can rely on. God and in turn, if we are disciples, obedient followers, then we too give affection and mercy.

Moms aren’t perfect, no mother is. And all of us, no matter are gender or whether we have reproduced or not, We are all capable of affection and mercy because God has given us that call. We need to receive affection and mercy.

As followers of Jesus we need to give affection and mercy, much of the sin in this world is taking ways that God tells us not to acquire affection and mercy but people do things to make problems a little less, and only make it much worse.

But God gives us a way beyond genetics, beyond those who are part of our family tree, for all of us to give proper, good, wonderful affection and mercy. We have the church

Theses verses are the vision for our church and really any church.

Philippians 2:1 HCSB

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

You might miss something in our vision because you aren’t from Bible times and you don’t speak Greek but a guy who read this 200 years after it was written, noticed a truth.

Back in the late 300’s AD, thats 1700 years ago, John Chrysostom, , was amazed that Paul, the writer of this part of the Bible, was was using a common style of greek, When asked a question, The style was to first remind a person of who they are to them by stating a questioning of how they have already related to them.

Very different from us, but here is an example of what it might sound like today.

Instead of “remember that time I helped you mow the lawn,” way back when, their way would become, “if you think I am a friend who will be there for you when you need me, than do this.” Since you know your friend was there helping you mow the lawn you will agree that this same friend is the type of person who will be there when you need them next time.

So when Paul is writing “if any affection and mercy” he is reminding the people that God has already given them the affection and mercy, it has already happened. It’s not a real question but recalling a memory.

Let’s get even deeper at what is meant by this phrase,

The Greek looks like this

Nestle Aland 26th Edition Greek New Testament Morphological Edition Chapter 2

εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί,

Eh tis “splanch - na” Kai Hoik-tear-moi

Remember how I told you in previous sermons that words don’t always mean the same thing in each language, and this is really clear for this part of the scripture. It’s funny on mother’s day to get a little gross but this literally means,

Philippians 2:1 (CSB)

εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί

if any intestines and mercy,

That’s right, intestines, an older word for it, “bowels,” although one scholar said it could be lungs and heart but I disagree, it’s really speaking of that physical feeling in our body. Butterflies in your tummy, the nervousness to the diarrhea of anxiety, the ancient Greeks feel

Splanchna

is where deep compassion comes from. Your tummy, to them is where compassion comes from, So the positive would be translated as compassion or affection but there is an opposite for this word which is created by an idiom in Greek,

an idiom is a short couple words that create a meaning that isn’t literal.

like we have the idiom

“hard hearted”

meaning someone closed off to people’s feelings , mean, not feeling, but the ancient Greeks would use splanchna with another word to say they

“shut their bowels” that is their way of saying a person is hard hearted.

Like instead of the Grinch, you know the Christmas Grinch having a heart too small the ancient Greeks would say, he’s constipated. He doesn’t feel the compassion in his intestines.

But in the verse, we have the open hearted way, the compassionate way.

εἴ τις σπλάγχνα - if any intestines (meaning affection or compassion)

So while fun to talk about the differences between English and Greek. Why does it matter to you?

Because when we read this we need to remember that the bible author didn’t mean this as a genuine question, he was saying in his culture’s way, This is true of God, remember how true this. Remember God is always like this. Remember God’s compassion for you but then you have to think of the intensity of the Greek word compassion over the intensity of our English word. A funeral director can show compassion in English. But it is going to be very rare that a paid professional will be moved in their body, moved to butterflies in their stomach about your sorrow. Rare that a psychologist gets so nervous that you won’t follow through that there stomach is messed up.

But God cares that much.

That’s the kind of love that a a mother, father, of a great friend. The kind of compassion and mercy that can’t sleep, runs to the bathroom at the airport because they are so anxious about your return, there body reacts because the compassion is that kind of body response of love.

God’s affectionate compassion for you is intense like the way our body will react no matter what we say.

You might try to put on a tough face but your body will tell.

God loves you, and We have only covered

“if any affection”

but remember the phrase is

εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί

if any affection and mercy

The next word Kai is simple it means “And” but Eek-ter-moi now that is powerful. It is usually translated mercies but the full definition is

οἰκτιρμοί - expression of deep feelings in compassionate yearnings and actions.

In the word mercy you get the idea of not getting all the punishment that is deserved. It can also means the person who stops what they are doing and goes helps another in distress.

Like a mother who stops shopping at the grocery to help another child, she doesn’t even know who is hurt.

Like a person going out of their way to take a church member to the doctor.

I was in court once for someone and the attorney was defending the person with no emotion. That’s not this kind of mercy. I have also seen mother’s plead for their children. Beg for their way.

God is greater than that. God takes the intense feeling of compassion and activates, How? He died for us. He came to life for us. He defends Us. He equips us. He gifts us. Now! God’s grace gets us out of things before we even knew they were coming for us.

The God who came to die for your sins so that you could be rescued from eternal punishment is the same God making a way where you could accept the free gift of his salvation. The God who gives us a purpose and shows the way to live in this world. He is affection and mercy in a being.

And since we are disciples of God, and disciples means copying,.

since God has a deep love for and actions of love for us with great forgiveness and blessing. So the scripture is about to make a powerful request.

Philippians 2:2 HCSB

2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.

Because God is this way to you behave this way to each other. Do what God does for you with other people.

Love others, your fellow people of New Day with the intensity of God. Love them with the kind of love God has for you. A love that not only is a feeling but inspires action.

The church becomes one body when those who have been called are bound to one another in the love of Christ, when they are bound also in the Spirit and have the same affection and sympathy. The affection corresponds to the calling in Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit, the sympathy to the consolation of love. - Marius Victorinus

But we aren’t there yet. This is our focus. This isn’t a real request. This is a directive, an order, a command. We have to love each other intensely. We are to love as Christ loves us.

The temptation will be that you are the hurting one today. That you need to receive the love. You are the one that needs the help. And you do!

But when we have faith in Jesus, and the only action for faith is obedience, than we realize that Jesus didn’t call us to love others after we get all better, after we don’t need help anymore.

We love others because we always need Jesus, we always need help, we will always need the love of others.

Phil stood up here over the last two weeks and said really nice things about me. He talked about me taking him to Lowes. Asking him deep questions.

You know I have files and documents, tons of books I’ve read. Years of training, knew exactly what to say to that really young adult Phil. That’s why Phil remembers that right?

No!

I was walking around with him in my own mind going, “Dear God, how the heck I’m going to get through to him. Jesus, I have no idea what to say. This kid is not doing what you God say to do and I totally suck as a pastor because nothing I say is making a difference. God I am so depressed and stupid. Please help me.”

You know after when Phil recalled those days, that is over 10 years ago! I didn’t know he remembered that.

Showing affection and mercy will likely have an obedience payoff you may never ever see. I am grateful to see the answers to prayers, but most of the time, we won’t.

God is eternal. If you look in your Bible, you will see that people prayed for the messiah for hundreds of years.

Yet, God is powerful and effective. He blesses us with opportunities to join him in His work. You know, even if your mom wasn’t nice, kind or living for Jesus, God can still bless. But how much more special is it to know, you can be a church mom or a church dad and bless others with the life changing love of Christ.

Ask yourself today, how do I need to live to love the people here like Jesus loves me?

If you think of yourself as an outsider please don’t. Because even if we didn’t know you but you follow Jesus the command to love your fellow follower of Jesus, a person you don’t even know that still stands.

It’s a lot but imagine that many people loving you, while you are loving them, like a great mother loves their child. With their whole selves.

Today, thank God for your mom, but more that God loves you more than your mom possibly could and then follow his example, and the example of your church mom and love others like God loves you.