From Luke 6:20-26
So,
It’s Mother’s Day!
What a great gift Mother’s Day is, because quite frankly we don’t tell mom’s how great we think they really are! At least that’s what moms tell me.
No, really.
Moms are amazing. Not only did they house us, grow us, and then birth us, for most of us, they were also the most constant caregivers in our lives!
They made us wash behind our ears, take that awful medicine that they said was good for us, and made us eat vegetables. Some of them even made us make our beds, go outside and run of all that energy, even in the middle of snowstorms, and do chores!
Or was that only my mom?
The comforted us when we skinned our knees and when we skinned our hearts. They made treats to take to school, and got us or made us Halloween costumes, and even made sure that there was something in the stockings and under the tree on Christmas.
They bought our clothes or made them, made sure they matched, kind of, and when we wanted something cool and amazing to wear, did their best to find something.
And best of all they pretended to love those crazy Mother’s Day cards we made them, and the breakfast in bed with the burnt toast, and the spilt orange juice all over the tray.
And even when we were little brats, they loved us. Not all moms, but most.
And dads were okay too. But for just plain loving us, moms were and are amazing!
Kind of like God is, at least according to Jesus.
Loving us as we are, while helping us and even empowering us to become all that we can be, if we are willing.
But while moms always and forever loved us; most of them in their own way also told us the truth.
That when we were good that they were very proud of us. But that when we were bad, that there was room for improvement.
Moms rock! And they deserve every bit of the adulation we offer today!
Yesterday, I did a graveside funeral for a 96-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s Disease. She contracted COVID-19 just recently and as is the path for so many older folks, she died.
The family gathered outside at the grave site, spread apart around the casket, to say their final goodbyes, where I did a short service
The blessing for this woman and her family was that she was a lifelong Christian, and a lifelong Presbyterian; and, she was a Deacon, so you know she must have been amazing. (Our Deacons fed2 9 families on Thursday!)
She was a great wife and mother and grandmother, and great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother, and professional woman.
But here’s the other thing, she was also known for speaking her mind, the “plain truth” as she described it, making sure family knew exactly what she was thinking. Unvarnished it is said!
The best of moms do that too; they make sure that their children are loved, but understand the truth.
And it seems to me that is exactly what Jesus was doing here in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. He is talking to God’s children and loving them, and telling them all about God’s kingdom, but he was also telling them the “plain truth”.
And unlike in Matthew’s version of the beatitudes, Jesus doesn’t pull any punches! He tells them the hard stuff, aimed perhaps at the Pharisees and priests and scribes, but also at some of Jesus own followers, perhaps.
Blessed are you if you are poor, hungry, crying, and hated with no one wanting to be around you! Because here is the plan. God loves you and God has got you!
You will inherit God’s kingdom, you will be fed, you will laugh, you will have a great reward in heaven.
But for those of you who have it easy, woe!
Literally, if you are full, well fed, laughing and have all kinds of folks saying wonderful things about you, be aware, there is trouble ahead.
Because if your brother or sister is struggling and you have done nothing to make a difference, stood up for them, bandaged their wounds, comforted them, got them a drink, a bit of your lunch and dried their tears, mama is going to have words with you.
They are your siblings, your flesh and blood, and you are your sister and brother’s keeper, so act like it!
Jesus’ description of the Kingdom of God is all about relationships and learning how to both “grow in faith” and “live out that faith”.
And there is no better example of what is looks like to love one another than to watch mom in action!
If mom is around today, be sure to give her some love.
And if she isn’t, send up a prayer of thanks to God for the ones who introduced us early on to Kingdom values.
And all God’s people said, Amen.
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