Honor your mother by living as a child of God

For those of you who attend a traditional Christian church like St. John, you know that the church has its own calendar.

For example, April 29 was celebrated as the fourth Sunday after Easter, or Good Shepherd Sunday. Even though May 27 is Memorial Day Sunday, on that day the church will celebrate Pentecost Sunday. Even though today is the sixth Sunday after Easter, we are deviating from the church calendar. We are celebrating Mothers Day this Sunday. There are just some days you can’t ignore.

I’m sure there were few services on Feb. 5 that didn’t mention the Super Bowl. Today, we at St. John and many others will celebrate Mother’s Day.

So, how should Christians best celebrate Mother’s Day? What can we do that gives honor to our moms and shows our love for them? As we celebrate Mother’s Day at St. John, we read Proverbs 23:22-25 in worship, which says, “Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him. May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!”

In other words, this verse says that the thing that really causes a mother or father to rejoice is when a child lives a wise and righteous life, with discipline and understanding. What mother does not want her son or daughter to live in such a way that they are respected for their wisdom and integrity? In fact, what Christian mother does not want most of all for a child to know and trust in God’s love in Jesus and to live that faith? In other words, the best way to honor our moms (and dads) is to live our lives as a child of God.

But that causes some difficulty, doesn’t it? Who has always lived their life in a totally wise and righteous way? Just as there are times in our lives we wish God did not know about, there are times in all our lives that we may hope our moms don’t know about.

That is why living as a Christian can give us help as we seek to honor our moms, and that is why living as a Christian can give us comfort and help to honor our moms. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul talks about God’s wisdom, which is different from the wisdom of this world. Paul writes to young Pastor Timothy encouraging Timothy to remember what he learned in Scripture, which is able “to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Godly wisdom trusts God and his love for us in Jesus before it trusts ourselves. Godly wisdom brings forgiveness for our misdeeds and brings eternal life through faith in God’s saving love for us in Jesus.

Compared to a life of wisdom and righteousness, it might be somewhat easier to send our moms a card. It might be easier to give her flowers or take her out to eat on Mothers Day. But what really brings joy to our moms is a life of wisdom and righteousness. The only source to real wisdom and righteousness is faith in Jesus Christ.

So, if you really want to tell your mom you love her, and if you are able to do so, why not bring mom to worship this Sunday? God’s wisdom in Jesus will be shared and that will bring joy to mom.

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer. Contact him at jonrock53@mtaonline.net.

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