"Like A Mother’s Love" - John 13:31-35 - May 13, 2001

The last time I had a serious conversation with my mother she gave me a lecture about my relationship with my three brothers. She said that what matters most to her is that we all get along. By that she means that we communicate and respect one another, especially after she is gone. Each of us is different and it matters little that we live near each other or that we have anything in common.

I don’t know whether or not if this is a goal for most mothers but apparently it is for mine. When we had this conversation she told me about the time her older brother and sister failed to relate to one another for years. She said that her mother agonized over the fact that two of her three children failed to communicate. My brothers and I get along fairly well but we rarely talk to one another. Perhaps this is a "guy" thing. Nevertheless, my mother was adamant that we care for each other.

I was a little surprised at the priority of this particular issue for my mother. I really didn’t understand why it deserved a lecture. I care for my brothers, but we each give each other the freedom to live our lives as we choose. I must confess that if it wasn’t for my wife, Lin, who encourages me to call my brothers more often, I probably wouldn’t communicate with them unless there was some emergency.

When I read this passage in John I am confronted by the magnitude of Jesus’ final message to his disciples. He tells them to "have love for one another." The only way for the community of faith to survive is for all of its members to truly love one another as Jesus said, "even as I have loved you." This is not a lecture but a commandment. Jesus is directing his instructions to those on the inside. "The Johannine tradition of discipleship is inward directed. The primary, if not the only way, to witness to the essential being of God and God’s relationship to the Son is by loving other faithful members of the community." (Homiletics, May-June, 2001)

In other words, the love Jesus expects from those of us in the faith community is to be like a mother’s love. The love that has been modeled for me over the years through the women who have touched my life has many dimensions. There are, however a few that seem to be dominant.

The first is sacrifice. Just as Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, mothers make many sacrifices for the sake of others, especially their children. In his book, In the Grip of Grace, Bryan Chapell tells us about sacrificial love. On a Sunday in August, in 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed just after taking off from the Detroit Airport. One hundred and fifty-five people were killed. Only one survived, a 4-year old from Tempe, Arizona, named Cecilia.

When rescuers found Cecilia they didn’t believe that she was on the plane. They assumed she was in a car on the highway near where the plane went down. But, when they checked the register of the passengers on board, her name was listed. They learned later that Cecilia survived because, as the plane was falling, her mother, Paula, unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around her and simply would not let go. (from Jerry Fuller, "Love One Another," May 1998)

That was an extraordinary act of sacrifice on the part of this particular mother. Hopefully none of the mothers here today, or fathers for that matter, will find themselves in such a tragic situation. Mothers do make many sacrifices. I remember my grandmother telling me that when my grandfather retired she looked forward to having him all for herself. She was a pastor’s wife and for over 50 years she spent many evenings at home, alone and had few opportunities to travel because of all my grandfather’s commitments.

Jesus did more than just tell his followers to "love one another." He demonstrated love by healing, comforting, and forgiving. It is predominantly the women in society who are our nurturers. Their comfort and care for us just comes naturally. That is not to say that men cannot be nurturers. Many do and some do it well. It has been my experience that women seem to do the tasks of nurturing with ease and patience.

The children that Jesus refers to are not his biological children, they are the children of the faith community. In verse 33 he addresses his disciples as "little children." This suggests to me that the church is entrusted with the role of being a spiritual parent. The church has the task of teaching and helping people to grow in the faith. Like a mother, who from the very first time her child can comprehend, teaches him/her about the lessons of life. And likewise, the church is challenged to teach faith to all of her children as well.

How do we teach love? The gospel of John teaches us that the best way to teach the world love is to be a community who models love for each other. In families where there is more than one child, siblings will sometimes quarrel and even fight. They don’t always agree as life becomes a test of wills. But, ultimately, in spite of their differences they strive to be together, respect one another and communicate, as my own mother communicated to me. We teach love by being inclusive and tolerant, embracing every member of the community although some may be very different from ourselves.

When Anna Jarvis created Mother’s Day, she did a wonderful thing. She helped to create a tradition that acknowledges the unique gift of motherhood. That being said, it is the responsibility of the church to take it a bit further. If we truly embrace Jesus’ words to make love the essential ingredient of the faith community we must extend it to include everyone. Therefore, I believe that our Mother’s Day celebration must include all women. For there are some among us who are unable to give birth or have never married.

There are step-mothers, foster mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and many other women who have taught us how to love. A mother’s love is expressed through a variety of women in a variety of ways. Some have made sacrifices for us. Others have nurtured and comforted us. Still others have taught us. But most importantly some have modeled love for us through their lives.

Paul Harvey tells the story about a terrible winter in Chicago. Many of the roof tops were overloaded with snow. Robert McGrath watched his wife go into the backyard garage to fetch some boxes. Seconds later he heard a crash. Looking out, he saw that the roof of the garage had caved in.

Without stopping for his hat or coat, Mr. McGrath ran from the house, grabbed a snow shovel and called out for his neighbors to come and help. Yelling and digging with his sweat freezing on his face, frantically throwing snow and pulling away boards, he heard his wife’s voice and then saw her hand. He kept working until his wife was safely in his arms and asked if she was all right. She was.

As you know there is always more to the stories that Paul Harvey tells. Now for page two. It seems that a neighbor witnessed the whole event and told everyone later what really happened. Apparently Mrs. McGrath had gone into the garage through one door and left through another. She was safe in the house when she looked out and saw her husband digging and shouting orders and throwing lumber. She couldn’t let her gallant rescuer down. She put on her coat, went into the garage by the back door and crawled under some boards. She let her husband Bob, be her hero. ("Her Hero," Paul Harvey, Stories for the family’s Heart)

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio