SPEAKER_00: And as you are being seated and joining me, if you would, in your copy of God's word in the Gospel of John this morning, John chapter 19 today.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be on page 974 in that pew Bible.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible with you, if you don't own a Bible, that's our gift to you, please take it.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be on page 974.
SPEAKER_00: As you're finding that, let me just say a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, thanks to Ben for opening God's Word in such a wonderful way last week as he taught and helped us to understand Mark's gospel and did an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate him doing that.
SPEAKER_00: I know his prayers were answered as our planes landed on time yesterday, so he didn't have to preach three weeks in a row.
SPEAKER_00: But he would have done great if he hadn't been called upon to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Let me also ask you to do this.
SPEAKER_00: If you would add some names to your prayer list for me.
SPEAKER_00: As we went on our trip, we understood that we were not going on a mission trip.
SPEAKER_00: That the trip we went on was not a mission trip.
SPEAKER_00: It was a discipleship trip, it was a vacation, it was a tourist trip.
SPEAKER_00: We got to see some amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: But as a group, we decided as we were going, even though it wasn't a mission trip, that we were on mission while we were there.
SPEAKER_00: That God was sending us there not just to uh glean things, but to represent Him.
SPEAKER_00: And we had some guides and some bus drivers and some folks along the way that I'd love for you to pray for.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd have met our first guide, you'd have thought he was a believer just because he knew the word.
SPEAKER_00: He knew how to use the word and direct us in it in some different directions and understand the things.
SPEAKER_00: And as we were riding on the bus, many of us had opportunities to have conversations with him, and I learned that he is a non-practicing Muslim.
SPEAKER_00: He was raised, of course, in a Muslim country.
SPEAKER_00: He was raised in the Muslim faith, but he's non-practicing.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a Christ follower.
SPEAKER_00: And so would you add the name of Ali, A-L-I, just like Muhammad Ali?
SPEAKER_00: Would you add him to your prayers?
SPEAKER_00: Um he's he's this close to truth, and yet he hasn't received it.
SPEAKER_00: And so would you pray for Ali?
SPEAKER_00: Our bus driver is similar.
SPEAKER_00: His name is Najet, and he was raised Muslim as well.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh he didn't speak English.
SPEAKER_00: It was harder to have conversations with him.
SPEAKER_00: It was more nods and smiles and those kind of things.
SPEAKER_00: But um, would you pray for Najet?
SPEAKER_00: And then as we went over to Greece, uh we had a young man named Kostas who was our escort.
SPEAKER_00: He would get us from point A to point B and was a wonderful young man.
SPEAKER_00: Um had some interesting conversations with him along the way.
SPEAKER_00: If you pray for Kostas, uh and then for a young man named Stephanus.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Stephanus is a Greek Orthodox young man, uh, and he was very interested in what Protestants believe and what Baptists believe, and uh interested in learning about grace.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody who grew up in the church who didn't know what grace was.
SPEAKER_00: So would you pray for Stephanas and then for Anna?
SPEAKER_00: Anna was our last host as she was with us in in uh Athens and again, Greek Orthodox and this close to the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them that God would reveal truth to them, open their hearts to receiving the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Pray that as they serve as guides, there would be other pastors and other folks that would come along and continue the conversation that our group started with them this last week.
SPEAKER_00: But it would be a great joy for me if you would add them to your prayer list as I'm gonna add them uh to mine.
SPEAKER_00: They were all sweet people, wonderful people.
SPEAKER_00: Um we just want them to know Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So the second Sunday of May is a Sunday that most pastors circle on their preaching calendar and then ask themselves, what am I gonna preach on Mother's Day this year?
SPEAKER_00: Mother's Day is not one of those Sundays that you tend to ignore and just move on.
SPEAKER_00: Father's Day you can get away with it because dads don't really, you know, most of the time we beat up on dads on Father's Day anyway, and so they're like, please don't beat up on me, just go along with whatever you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: But mothers, we want to acknowledge our moms, and so we we look at this date and we say, well, what can we do on Mother's Day?
SPEAKER_00: The Ten Commandments teach us to honor our fathers and our mothers.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul tells us that we should honor our fathers and mothers because that's the first command of God that comes with a promise.
SPEAKER_00: If you honor your father and mother, it will go well for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so we should honor our parents.
SPEAKER_00: We should honor our fathers and our mothers, but what does that look like?
SPEAKER_00: How should we do that?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are thinking, my parents have long since passed.
SPEAKER_00: How do I honor my parents?
SPEAKER_00: And some of you are thinking, I live with my parents, how do I honor my parents while I'm living with them, right?
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of our age, whether we are still living under the roof of our parents or still living under the financial protection of our parents, or we're independent from our parents, or our parents are gone, we can still honor our parents, regardless of the age of our parents.
SPEAKER_00: Whether they are young and learning or elderly, and now our relationship with them is still a loving relationship, but it has changed.
SPEAKER_00: How do we honor our fathers and our mothers?
SPEAKER_00: How do we honor our fathers and mothers if they have already been taken home to be with the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Those are the questions that I want us to consider today as we just talk about our mothers.
SPEAKER_00: There's no other relationship in the world like a mother and her child.
SPEAKER_00: It is just a unique relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Even a relationship of a father and a child, that is a neat relationship.
SPEAKER_00: It's a unique relationship, but it is even that is different than the relationship of a mother and a child.
SPEAKER_00: Just a month ago, we celebrated the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, and in that same period of time, we also remember his crucifixion, where he died upon a cross, taking our sin upon himself.
SPEAKER_00: One of the few people that stood at the foot of his cross were not all of his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: One of the few people that stood at the foot of Jesus' cross was his own mother Mary.
SPEAKER_00: And I've often wondered what that experience must have been like for her.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot begin to imagine the pain that she was going through watching her son on that day.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if she reached up and touched his feet, which had a spike driven through them, and remembered those tiny little feet on that cold day in Bethlehem when he was firstborn.
SPEAKER_00: I wondered if she saw the spikes in his hands and thought back to those many journeys between Nazareth and Jerusalem as they would travel for the festivals and that little hand that would reach up and grab hers.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if she saw the blood pouring down from the crown of thorns onto his brow and thought of how many times she must have pushed his hair out of the way so she could kiss him on the forehead.
SPEAKER_00: What were her thoughts?
SPEAKER_00: What was going through her mind as she watched her son die upon that cross?
SPEAKER_00: It may be an odd text for a Mother's Day sermon, but I've had us turn to John chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to look in just three verses 25, 26, and 27.
SPEAKER_00: Because in this, I think we see the relationship between not only a sinner and a savior, Mary and Jesus, but we also see the relationship between a mother and a son.
SPEAKER_00: And I think we can learn how to honor our parents in the process.
SPEAKER_00: If you're willing and able, would you stand with me as we read from God's Word, John chapter 19, beginning in verse 25?
SPEAKER_00: But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopus, and Mary Magdalene.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus then saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, John, standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, Behold your son.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother.
SPEAKER_00: From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray that you would bless the reading of your word.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to truth today, that we would see this unique relationship between Jesus and his earthly mother, Mary, and that we can learn how to honor our mothers through the life of Jesus and through the life of Mary.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, let us be like Christ, we pray.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I think in the Mary, in the relationship between Mary and Jesus, we see what a godly mother looks like and we see what a godly son looks like.
SPEAKER_00: I want to first of all talk about what it means to be a godly mother.
SPEAKER_00: There are many elements that go into being a good mother.
SPEAKER_00: And there are many elements that go into being a godly mother.
SPEAKER_00: And I want us to just see from Mary's life some things that caused her to be a godly mother.
SPEAKER_00: And we recognize that we honor Mary because she was blessed amongst all women, that God would choose her to be the one to mother the savior of the world.
SPEAKER_00: We honor her, but we do not venerate her the way that the Catholic Church does.
SPEAKER_00: We do not raise her to a status equal with Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: She is not the co-redemptress.
SPEAKER_00: She is a sinful person just as you and I are, who are in need of a savior, and yet God raised her up, and God used her to raise up the child of God, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so we should honor her, and we can learn great things from her.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing I want us to see is that godly mothers ponder.
SPEAKER_00: They ponder.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to alliterate more than I normally do today because it's going to help me remember what I want to tell you.
SPEAKER_00: I recognize you're not going to remember the alliteration, but it helps me, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So mothers ponder.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke chapter 2, we read the story of Jesus' birth, and Jesus is the star of that story, of course, but Mary comes to the very forefront.
SPEAKER_00: A young woman in her early teens at best, had to have been blown away by everything that was taking place in her life.
SPEAKER_00: She had to have just been amazed at all that God was doing.
SPEAKER_00: Her, more than anybody else, understood the miraculous nature of her own pregnancy.
SPEAKER_00: She knew that she had not done the normal physical things in order to become pregnant.
SPEAKER_00: She had been visited by an angel, Gabriel, who said, Blessed are you among all women, and you are going to be the mother of the child of God.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is going to overcome you, and you are going to give birth to a son.
SPEAKER_00: That had to have been terrifying.
SPEAKER_00: Betrothed to a young man by the name of Joseph, how was she going to tell him?
SPEAKER_00: How was she going to explain to him that she was pregnant and yet she had not been unfaithful?
SPEAKER_00: How was he going to receive that news?
SPEAKER_00: She went to her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant at the time, and there she received counsel, and there she received a blessing from Elizabeth and was encouraged by that.
SPEAKER_00: She went back to find Joseph distraught over the news.
SPEAKER_00: At first, he was planning to send her away to get her out of sight.
SPEAKER_00: And then that same angel appeared to him and said, Don't be afraid to take her as your wife, because the child which she is going to give birth has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And Joseph, who had been willing to send her away, suddenly became protective and loving and provided.
SPEAKER_00: She endured for nine months the voices, the talking behind her back, the whispers, the gossip, the giggles.
SPEAKER_00: She walked down the street, and people disparaged her name and her reputation.
SPEAKER_00: She endured riding all the way down to Bethlehem for a census.
SPEAKER_00: And then giving birth in a feeding trough.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds from outside the city came in and they began to worship the child that she had just given birth to.
SPEAKER_00: Later on, wise men from the east traveled all the way to the home in which they were living and asked that they might worship the new king of the Jews, presenting him with many gifts.
SPEAKER_00: When they took Jesus to the temple to dedicate him, there were these two people there, a man by the name of Simeon and an woman by the name of Anna.
SPEAKER_00: And they began shouting and praising God when they brought that infant into the temple, saying, I can now go home to see the Lord because I have seen the coming of his plan of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And Luke chapter 2, verse 19 says this, and Mary pondered all of these things in her heart.
SPEAKER_00: Mary treasured all of these things in her heart.
SPEAKER_00: Mary, who understood the miraculous nature of her son, began to ponder, what will my child become?
SPEAKER_00: What is so special about this child that shepherds would come and worship him and wise men would come and bear him in gifts and people would begin to praise God when I walk into the temple with him.
SPEAKER_00: She began to ponder and she began to wonder what will become of my son?
SPEAKER_00: What will God do through him?
SPEAKER_00: What will God do by him?
SPEAKER_00: She began to ponder these things.
SPEAKER_00: Twelve years later, Jesus is grown.
SPEAKER_00: He's on the cusp of Jewish manhood.
SPEAKER_00: And as was their tradition, Mary and Joseph took him to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.
SPEAKER_00: After the festival had concluded, they began to make their way back home to Nazareth, but they realized that Jesus was not in their travel party.
SPEAKER_00: They began to panic, and so they returned back to Jerusalem to try to find Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And there they found him finally, after a day of searching, back in the temple, discussing, questioning, teaching the teachers of the law, the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And Mary and Joseph asked him, Why have you done this to us?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, Did you not know that I needed to be about my father's business?
SPEAKER_00: And in Luke chapter 2, verse 51, it once again says, And Mary treasured these things.
SPEAKER_00: She pondered them in her heart.
SPEAKER_00: Mary pondered, What is God going to do through this son of mine?
SPEAKER_00: What is God going to accomplish through him?
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus began to grow, the Bible tells us that he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
SPEAKER_00: He began to have his own passions, he began to have his own personality.
SPEAKER_00: And Mary watched him grow from that little child up into a man.
SPEAKER_00: And she watched God shape him and mold him, and she began to ponder, wonder what God is going to do with my boy.
SPEAKER_00: Moms, I doubt this is a stretch for you.
SPEAKER_00: But which one of you has not held your child in your arms?
SPEAKER_00: Which one of you has not watched your children begin to grow and wondered?
SPEAKER_00: Pondered.
SPEAKER_00: What plans does God have for my child?
SPEAKER_00: How is God going to use my boy?
SPEAKER_00: How is God going to use my daughter?
SPEAKER_00: What wonderful things is he going to accomplish through her, through him?
SPEAKER_00: A mother who is godly begins to ponder.
SPEAKER_00: They begin to say, God, what is my child's place in your plan?
SPEAKER_00: What is my child's potential for helping you?
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers ponder.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing I want you to hear is this godly mothers pray.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke chapter 1, after Jesus, or after Mary has been told that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah, it takes her back and she says, Why me?
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately Gabriel explains all things to her and she submits herself as the servant of the Most High.
SPEAKER_00: And then she does something amazing in Luke chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: She begins to praise God.
SPEAKER_00: She begins to pray.
SPEAKER_00: She begins to sing.
SPEAKER_00: It's called the magnificent.
SPEAKER_00: And yet she has been called to do these things.
SPEAKER_00: And she begins to pray, and she begins to pray, and she begins to praise God for choosing her and for giving mercy and for giving grace.
SPEAKER_00: And I imagine that prayer became a necessary and a regular component to her life as she raised Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: She became a woman of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I know my mother has mentioned many a prayer on her lips for me and for my sister over the years.
SPEAKER_00: I know that she continues to do so.
SPEAKER_00: And I know mothers pray for their children.
SPEAKER_00: They pray regularly.
SPEAKER_00: They pray consistently.
SPEAKER_00: And probably for mothers, they pray out of necessity at times.
SPEAKER_00: We're told in the book of Acts that after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, his ascension into heaven, that he sent the disciples to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And they went to Jerusalem and He told them to go there and wait.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Don't do anything until you'll know.
SPEAKER_00: Just go and wait.
SPEAKER_00: And they went to an upper room in Jerusalem, and then we're told that they two pieces of information.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, we're told that they went to that upper room and Mary, the mother of Jesus, was with them.
SPEAKER_00: And number two, while they were there, they prayed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have any doubt that Mary might be the one that said, Boys, we don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know what's coming next.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: And Mary led them as they prayed in that upper room, I just imagine.
SPEAKER_00: I found a poem.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a big poet, I'm not a big reader of poetry, but I found a poem by a gentleman by the name of Wayne Dillard called A Mother's Prayer that I think is appropriate for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: A mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Before a child is first conceived, the cries go up, Lord let it be.
SPEAKER_00: And from his throne room way up there, God's ear is tuned to a mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Then as the tiny seed takes shape, she whispers, God, please keep him safe.
SPEAKER_00: And the angels all stop and stare to see God listen to a mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Through pain and blood on that special day, Lord, give him life, she's heard to say.
SPEAKER_00: And with the deep and gentle care, God listens to a mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Then daily, as this little child grows, keep evil away, the angels are told.
SPEAKER_00: And by the swords and shields they bear, God has heard the mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Then one day, as the child is sleeping, let him know Jesus, she mutters while weeping.
SPEAKER_00: The angels are shouting and the trumpets blare, as the father above hears a mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: As the world presses in on his teenage life, she calls for his destiny through anger, agony, and strife.
SPEAKER_00: Then God responds to a faith so rare that compels him to answer this mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Now, all grown up and on his own, she prays for him by letter or phone, and God stands by with his right arm bare to listen and answer the mother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Before a grandchild is conceived, a cry goes up, Lord, let it be.
SPEAKER_00: And from his throne room way up there, God's ear is tuned to a grandmother's prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Dwayne Dillard is the author of that poem.
SPEAKER_00: Mothers, what's your prayer for your children?
SPEAKER_00: I know you pray for them.
SPEAKER_00: I have no doubt you pray for them.
SPEAKER_00: What do you pray for?
SPEAKER_00: What's your prayer for your child?
SPEAKER_00: Certainly prayer for protection, certainly prayer for peace.
SPEAKER_00: I know you pray for their happiness and their pra but I pray that you'd also pray for their holiness, that you'd pray for their righteousness, that you would pray that they would have a security and safety in knowing who Jesus Christ is, that they would come to know, love, and serve Him.
SPEAKER_00: Mothers who are godly, they ponder.
SPEAKER_00: Mothers who are godly, they pray.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, I want you to see this.
SPEAKER_00: Mothers who are godly prepare.
SPEAKER_00: They prepare.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke chapter 2, verse 40, we're told that Jesus began to grow strong.
SPEAKER_00: He began to increase as a man.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke chapter 2, verse 52, we're told that he grew in wisdom and in stature with God and with man.
SPEAKER_00: Mary and Joseph raised their son.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph raised him to be a carpenter, taught him the family business, but along the way, he didn't just teach him how to be a man, he taught him how to be a godly man, and Mary was right there alongside of him.
SPEAKER_00: Taking the words of Deuteronomy chapter 6, not as some religious thing that should be taught in the synagogue, but something they taught in their home.
SPEAKER_00: Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and all your strength, and you shall teach these things diligently to your children.
SPEAKER_00: You shall teach them when they rise up and when they lie down, you shall teach them when you walk along the way.
SPEAKER_00: You shall bind them upon your foreheads and on your arms, so that they will know them.
SPEAKER_00: Mary and Joseph recognized that they had been given a stewardship, that the child that they had been given, in fact, the children that they had been given belonged to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And he had simply said, Here is a stewardship for you to raise these children.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, to be good human beings, yes, to be good citizens of wherever they live, but more than anything, you are to raise these children to know me, to love me, and to serve me.
SPEAKER_00: And Mary prepared Jesus, as did Joseph before he left the scene.
SPEAKER_00: Not only for Jesus to be a good carpenter, to be a good citizen, to be a good person, they raised him to know God, to love God, and to serve God.
SPEAKER_00: That didn't happen accidentally.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't happen by happenstance, it had happened intentionally.
SPEAKER_00: The world was going to shape their children, or they were going to shape their children.
SPEAKER_00: They chose to shape their children.
SPEAKER_00: They chose not to allow the world to tell the children who they were and what they should believe.
SPEAKER_00: They showed their children from the Word of God who they were and what they should believe.
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers, godly parents.
SPEAKER_00: They prepare their children.
SPEAKER_00: They prepare their children for they're going to see in life.
SPEAKER_00: They prepare their children for what they're going to face in life.
SPEAKER_00: They prepare their children by helping them to understand who they are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers ponder, godly mothers pray, godly mothers prepare, and then I want you to see this, and I want to be careful with this one.
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers prod.
SPEAKER_00: They prod.
SPEAKER_00: In John chapter 2, John tells us of the very first miracle that Jesus performed.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus and his mother and his disciples had been invited to a wedding in a little town near Nazareth called Canaan.
SPEAKER_00: And they went to the wedding and then a great social faux pas took place.
SPEAKER_00: It was a disaster.
SPEAKER_00: The family began to run out of wedding, uh, wine at the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to Jesus and brought this to his attention.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not really sure why.
SPEAKER_00: No one's really completely sure why.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe uh she was uh part of the family and they didn't want the family to be embarrassed.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe she was helping to host it and she said, We need help with this, or or maybe, just maybe, she saw an opportunity to thrust her son into a situation where he might take leadership.
SPEAKER_00: And so she went to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Jesus, they're running out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus' response tells me that it wasn't just, I just want you to know this.
SPEAKER_00: Mary was prodding a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: She was pushing Jesus a little bit, because you remember what Jesus' response was?
SPEAKER_00: Woman, what does this have to do with me?
SPEAKER_00: For it's not yet my time.
SPEAKER_00: And to her credit, Mary then turned to the servants and said, Whatever he tells you to do, do it.
SPEAKER_00: A woman who ponders what God's going to use with her child and then prays over what God might do with her child, and then prepares the child for what God might do with the child.
SPEAKER_00: You know what they do occasionally?
SPEAKER_00: I'm being nice.
SPEAKER_00: They prod the child.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes moms push the child.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we need to be pushed out of our nests.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we need to be pushed out of the relative comfort.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm, again, I want to be very careful here.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, I don't want to read too much into this account.
SPEAKER_00: And number two, God's timing is perfect timing, and nothing was going to push Jesus off of his timing of doing what he was supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00: Not even Mama was going to change Jesus' timing.
SPEAKER_00: But do you see mama right here?
SPEAKER_00: Say, Jesus, here's an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you can do this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you can make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: Mothers, which one of you would not prod your child to do the same thing?
SPEAKER_00: God's prepared you and I've prayed for you, and I want to just kind of push you along here.
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers ponder, they pray, they prepare, they sometimes prod, and then finally I want you to see this.
SPEAKER_00: Before we jump there, she said, hey, whatever he says, do it.
SPEAKER_00: She says, Jesus, it's your decision.
SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to do this, but ultimately it's your decision.
SPEAKER_00: You do what you think is right.
SPEAKER_00: Parents, isn't that what we do?
SPEAKER_00: As our children grow older, we give advice and we push and we pray and we prod and we think we've prepared, and then ultimately we have to recognize it's your choice.
SPEAKER_00: I can't make the decision for you.
SPEAKER_00: I can't do it for you.
SPEAKER_00: As much as I want to, and as much as I want to protect you, and as much as I want to push you this way, ultimately you have to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, mothers persevere.
SPEAKER_00: They persevere.
SPEAKER_00: As we turn back to John chapter 19, standing around the cross of Jesus, you don't read a list of his 12 disciples.
SPEAKER_00: The only one that we know that is standing there is John.
SPEAKER_00: But you know who is standing there?
SPEAKER_00: His mother.
SPEAKER_00: Who has not deserted him, who has not rejected him, who has not denied him, there she is, no matter what the consequence, mom was there.
SPEAKER_00: She persevered.
SPEAKER_00: That's what a mother's love does.
SPEAKER_00: A mother's love does not always love what we do.
SPEAKER_00: A mother's love does not always love who we become, but a mother's love is always there.
SPEAKER_00: It perseveres to the end.
SPEAKER_00: It is a picture of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: It is a picture of God's undying love for us because it just simply perseveres.
SPEAKER_00: Godly mothers ponder, they pray, they prepare, they prod, and they persevere, and they deserve our honor.
SPEAKER_00: They deserve our praise.
SPEAKER_00: So how do we honor them?
SPEAKER_00: Quickly, I just want you to see three things Jesus did to honor his mother.
SPEAKER_00: They all start with a letter A, again, not for your help, but for mine.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is this: He gave her attention, then he gave her affection, and then he gave her assurance.
SPEAKER_00: He gave her attention.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been too busy for mom?
SPEAKER_00: I'm guilty of this.
SPEAKER_00: Life is busy, we have so many things going on.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we don't give our moms the attention they deserve.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're just busy.
SPEAKER_00: And here is Jesus, not in a moment of calm, not in a moment of leisure.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is a very busy man at the time.
SPEAKER_00: We get to John chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is hanging on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: He's literally about to take the sin of the world upon his shoulders.
SPEAKER_00: He's literally about to be forsaken by his father.
SPEAKER_00: He's literally about to be separated from his heavenly father for the very first time.
SPEAKER_00: And in the midst of all of that, Jesus looks down and sees his own mother.
SPEAKER_00: And he pays attention to her.
SPEAKER_00: He took the time to acknowledge her.
SPEAKER_00: He took the time to encourage her.
SPEAKER_00: I imagine there are many in the room who would give most anything if you had just a few more moments with your mom.
SPEAKER_00: And there are some of us who take that for granted because we can still do it.
SPEAKER_00: One simple way you can honor your mother, one simple way I can honor my mother, is by taking the time to give her my attention.
SPEAKER_00: By taking the time to let her know the woman who drove me around the city to football practice and soccer practice, the one who sat up for me when I was ill or prayed for me until I drove safely back into the driveway, she's worthy of my attention.
SPEAKER_00: She's worthy of some of my time.
SPEAKER_00: And so this Mother's Day, if you have the rare opportunity, the wonderful opportunity, give your mom some attention.
SPEAKER_00: That may be a phone call, it may be a lunch, it may be a stop by her apartment, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_00: If you have that blessing, give your mom some attention.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing is he gave her affection.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't sound very affectionate, but he said, woman.
SPEAKER_00: He probably didn't say it that way.
SPEAKER_00: He said, He said, Woman, behold your son.
SPEAKER_00: Now in that time, people are people have often thought that this is Jesus distancing himself from his mother by using the term woman.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's important for us to recognize that in that moment, Mary had to realize that the more important relationship at that time wasn't mother and son, it was sinner and savior.
SPEAKER_00: I think Jesus needed her to understand that, but I don't think Jesus was distancing himself from his mother at this point.
SPEAKER_00: Woman at that time was a term of endearment.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a negative phrase, it was a term of endearment.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the boys and I don't typically refer to Darlene as woman because that doesn't go very well.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not a term of endearment today.
SPEAKER_00: It was then.
SPEAKER_00: It was Jesus telling his mother, Mother, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: Mother, I care for you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus wasn't distancing himself from his mother, he was declaring his love for his mother.
SPEAKER_00: And I think Jesus was probably thinking, Mom, I know you want me to come down off this cross.
SPEAKER_00: I know you don't want me to go through this agony, but the most loving thing I can do for you now is to not come down off this cross.
SPEAKER_00: The most loving thing I can do for you is to endure this cross and take the sin of the world, including yours, upon myself.
SPEAKER_00: And so he showed his affection to his mother by giving her attention, but also by demonstrating his love for her by dying in her place.
SPEAKER_00: Let me encourage you to find out what your mother's love language may be.
SPEAKER_00: It might be words of affirmation, it might be cards, it might be candy, it might be letters, it might be lunch, it might be peace and quiet.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever your mother's love language is, today and not only today, would you honor your mother with attention and with affection, just letting her know, Mom, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: He gave her attention, he gave her affection, finally, he gave her assurance.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Woman, behold your son.
SPEAKER_00: Pointing to John, saying, Mom, I'm gonna be gone, but I want to make sure you're taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to worry.
SPEAKER_00: John, behold your mother, take care of my mom.
SPEAKER_00: We spent time in Ephesus on our trip.
SPEAKER_00: John was a pastor in Ephesus for many years.
SPEAKER_00: And tradition tells us that when John moved from Jerusalem and that region up to Ephesus, that Jesus' mother Mary went with him.
SPEAKER_00: They even have a home there that you can go and visit.
SPEAKER_00: And even while we were there, there were tour buses taking folks on pilgrimages to Mary's home in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Mary ever lived in that home.
SPEAKER_00: I have no idea.
SPEAKER_00: Historically, they can't prove that she did, but it makes sense that if John went to Ephesus, you knew who went with her?
SPEAKER_00: Mary did.
SPEAKER_00: Because Mary was going to be provided for.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, Mom, I want you to know you don't have anything to worry about.
SPEAKER_00: John's going to take care of you.
SPEAKER_00: But even more than him saying, Mom, you're going to be taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I really think assured her.
SPEAKER_00: While he was on the cross, Jesus turned to one of the two thieves, one who had said to him, Would you remember me when you come into your kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: And you remember what Jesus said to him?
SPEAKER_00: Today you will be with me in paradise.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I think Mary heard.
SPEAKER_00: She's standing at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: She hears this conversation.
SPEAKER_00: She may not have heard all of it, but here's what she heard.
SPEAKER_00: My son is going to be in paradise today.
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest things you can do to honor your mother is to assure her that you're going to be okay.
SPEAKER_00: And not just physically okay.
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest things that you can assure your mother is that you are okay with God.
SPEAKER_00: And that one day you will be with him in paradise.
SPEAKER_00: More than any gift you could give her, more than all the gold and jewelry and candy in the world, the one thing that your mom wants is an assurance that you are right with a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: And that one day you will be with him in paradise, and one day you will be reunited together.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus honored his mother.
SPEAKER_00: He honored her with attention, he honored her with affection, and he honored her by giving her assurance, Mom, everything's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going back to my heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: Everything's going to be okay.
SPEAKER_00: Moms, we thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for pondering what God's going to do in our lives, for praying for us, for preparing us along the way.
SPEAKER_00: We even thank you, moms, for pushing us and prodding us from time to time.
SPEAKER_00: And we thank you for persevering.
SPEAKER_00: Because some of us needed you to persevere with us.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us needed you to just stick with us along the way.
SPEAKER_00: And we can show our honor to you, we can show our love to you by our attention, by our affection, and by assuring you it's okay, Mom.
SPEAKER_00: I'm right with God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm right with God, not because of who I am or what I've done.
SPEAKER_00: I'm right with God because of who Jesus is and what he's done for me.
SPEAKER_00: Can we honor our mothers today?
SPEAKER_00: Because they are deserving.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.