Easter 6

John 14:15–21 (NIV): 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

For decades in the United States the second Sunday of May has been celebrated as Mother’s Day. A recent commercial on the radio tells us that perhaps this past Mother’s Day was more special than any other we have ever experienced. Many mother’s have completely changed their routines. Those who were stay at home mom’s are now stay at home teachers assisting with online learning and the completion of assignments. Those who are still going to work every day now have the added risk of being infected. A mother is always concerned for her children but now she is even more concerned and fervently praying for them and fighting off anxious thoughts and worry. Mother’s are under more stress.

At the same time, we are limited as to what we can do to show our appreciation and love for them. Our Mother’s Day traditional celebrations may have been drastically disrupted. Think about how your celebration of Mother’s Day this year was different than those of previous years. So . . . according to the commercial, one way we can show our love for our mother’s is by getting them some new jewelry from the store that is airing the commercial. PAUSE

What are other ways we show our love to our mother’s? And the mothers of our children?

Flowers, preparing a special meal, sending cards, visiting (at least near them), calling on the phone, voice or video. Telling them how much we love them. Doing random acts of kindness. We may need to adjust our ways of doing this but we will still demonstrate our love for them.

But I intentionally missed the most important way. It is tied into the way we show our love for Jesus. It is by keeping the Fourth Commandment.

Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and you may live a long life on this earth.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

Jesus certainly kept this commandment as we are told in the Bible.

Luke 2:51–52 (NIV): 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

And when Jesus was dying on the cross he made provisions for his disciple John to care for his mother after his departure.

But do we always do this?

One of the signs of the Last Days is the opposite of what God commands for those who claim to love their mothers.

Romans 1:28–32 (NIV): 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Mark 13:12–13 (NIV): 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The application here is the ultimate form of disobedience. We confess that even though we don’t go that far, many is the time as youth we disobeyed our parents and as we grew older, we did not always give them the love and respect that is their due.

And do we always show our love for the other representatives in our lives? The list here include everthing from mild infractions to civil disobedience. In many cases our own selfishness is used as as excuse to supercede the rule of law and distrust is sown for those in authority.

Do you know what the Old Testament penalty was for disobeying your parents?

Leviticus 20:9 (NIV): 9 “ ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.

We know what the penalties are for disobeying those in authority.

How did your mother discipline you when you did not show love for her by obeying her rules?

She may have carried out the discipline herself or she may have postponed it with that chilling statement, “Wait, until your father gets home.”

Our decision to disobey our parents shows a diminishing of our love for them and therefore must be addressed.

What does God threaten those who disobey him?

Jeremiah 21:11–14 (NIV): 11 “Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David: “ ‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it. 13 I am against you, Jerusalem, you who live above this valley on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord— you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our refuge?” 14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the Lord. I will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.’ ”

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 (NIV): 4 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

This is what we deserve when we break the commandments of God including the command to honor our fathers and mothers. We confess to God that we deserve this.

But God is faithful and just. If we confess our sins to him, he forgives us our sins and purifies us from all unrighteousness.

So God does not punish us as our sins deserve. He does not because of what Jesus did for us. He obeyed the commandments (relate to the 4th commandment) and he suffered for us (see epistle lesson for this Sunday). God saved us.

The result? We love him because he first loved us.

How do we show our love to Jesus? Some people may limit the demonstration of their love to special days just as some people only “make the effort” to show love to mothers on Mother’s Day. Some people think that the extent of showing love to Jesus is worshiping him in a church building on Sunday morning or just on very special holidays like Christmas and Easter. Well, when Jesus taught this the church didn’t even have Christmas and Easter. No, his command to love him is all encompassing. It involves a life style not just special occasions.

And this love is shown whether we see Jesus or not. (He would be leaving). History of Mother’s Day.

Application. I hope you were able to show love to your mothers and/or the mother’s of your children on Mother’s Day. I hope that you do not limit your honoring of them to just these times. It has been said that the strongest love in the world is that of a mother for her children and hopefully their love in return. I don’t deny that this is a strong love. But there is a greater love. “No one who loves . . . “ “Greater love has no one than this. . . “

God loves us every day and shows it in every way. We (by his grace) love him in return and above all else. Since you love him, you will keep his commands.