Mother's Day

The following really isn't a sermon...but it was what I was led to speak Mother's Day Sunday...feel free to comment.... Happy Mother's Day Mom.

John 14:23-29

Have you ever had one of those Sundays….those particular Sundays where you sat in church, you listened to and sang the hymns, you heard the words of the Bible read…and you listened to the word proclaimed from a pulpit….and sat and thought…Holy cow…this sermon was meant for me. This pastor knew exactly where my head was this week.

As I reflected on the lessons for this week…as I thought about world events…as I look back on the last month, let alone just the last week here in this place…as I look at the calendar and think…wow, I only have about 8 more weeks here…and as I look at the calendar and see the date…and see the Holiday written there…It was and is a Holy Cow…I was meant to read this lesson this day…

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

17 years ago today…this very day…a Mother’s Day much like this one, I was confirmed at St John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lake City, MI. It was a big day…not only was it one to celebrate Mom, but it was the day that if I really think about it, it is the first time I was conscious of the nudge that God was giving me. A nudge that led me here eventually…well after many more nudges a few shoves and perhaps even a zap with a cattle prod or two…that led me here to being in a pulpit, heading full steam toward the end of internship in my third of seminary…edging closer and closer to life as a full fledged pastor.

I can remember a lot about that day…what I wore, the necklace that my godmother gave me, my 3 classmates and I standing at the altar rail and answering I will with the help of God as Pastor Rich asked us if we now were ready to fulfill promises that had been made at our baptism. I remember what the choir sang and I remember having a lot of family in church for and with me that day. Much like the day at the middle school in October for all of us.

I can’t say I remember what the lessons were for that day…nor would they have the same meaning to me then as they do now…But these certainly would be appropriate…a gospel that brings us peace and a second lesson promising a place...a holy city where all will walk by light and gates will never be shut… What wonderful visions both of those are. Wonderful and marvelous…good for confirmation students to hear and good for all of us to hear. Great promises that God gives us…and particularly wonderful on Mothers Day.

Now, if I were a cynical person, I could say that this Mother’s day we are all celebrating is just another holiday created by Hallmark, Godiva Chocaliteers and every florist in the world. We should be celebrating our mother’s each and every day…although since we don’t, mothers certainly deserve a day especially for them. Today happens to be the day. Today also happens to be a day with lessons that fit right in with the spirit of today.

What mother wouldn’t want a day with these lessons, one’s filled with peace, welcome and openness. I would imagine dreams that virtually all mothers would have for their children are ones where peace will be a way of life, where their child will be welcomed and loved no matter where they go, and the world will be a place where barriers are no longer necessary. I realize I am making an assumption with that statement but it seems to be a pretty safe assumption to make.

I would imagine some of you have already had a pretty big day today…perhaps you woke up to breakfast in bed…with a kitchen that didn’t resemble a disaster when you saw it. You may have been greeted by cards, gifts or flowers. Sometimes my brother and I didn’t have a whole lot of time or money to get our mom anything for this her special day so we would try really hard not to fight today and do all of our chores and maybe even a few extra ones without being asked.

Perhaps you have plans to go with your family after church to go to lunch or spend the day out on a boat soaking in the sun or catching fish. You could also be planning a trip to so see grandma. Or potentially you just want to spend the day with your loved ones not doing much of anything at all….and that is exactly what you will do. Others of you might be planning on calling your mom later today because she doesn’t live around here. For some, this is just another day like any other on the calendar, and you are glad that all the crazy only 2 more days till mother’s day commercials will no longer be in the paper, TV or radio…

For others, for me…you look at this day and wonder what the blazes you are going to do with it…because you no longer have a mother to share it with. Sure…you have pictures, you have stories, you have memories…but that doesn’t really compare to picking up the phone, dialing a number and say hey Mom, Happy day!

So this day….this Mother’s day, the confirmation anniversary day, is a bittersweet one for me. I look at Mother’s day on the calendar and don’t a clue as to what to do with it. I am too far away to go put flowers on my mom’s grave. I don’t have a yard to mow the lawn in or flower gardens to weed or new plants to put in like mom would often spend the day doing. Bear and I as we grew older and then Rebecca as she became a part of our family had sort of made it our mother’s day tradition to take mom to one of the local nurseries after church and buy her some plants. Sometimes we would spend an hour or more with her just going to various places, looking at plants and flowers and then wind up buying the very first ones we had seen at the very first nursery.

So my mother’s day becomes one of sharing stories and memories like the time she flipped our riding lawnmower in our ditch, and became quite indignant with me when I told her if she did it again, she wouldn’t be allowed to mow it anymore. Her response was...Christina(which told me I was in trouble) you are 2.5 hours away, you can’t stop me…to which my response was I can’t stop you but a well placed phone call and a 5 mile trip from town to your house by your son will…

My last memory of my mom was one of our favorite things…she had been hospitalized for a couple days but was bound and determined that would watch the super bowl from home…in her words… “on my own couch, eating my own food, laughing as loud as I want at the commercials and falling asleep if the game was boring” She was released from the hospital on Super Bowl Saturday and we spent part of the afternoon watching the Michigan State Spartans men’s basketball team together on the phone…Michigan State had a habit and still does to some extent of trying find a way to lose a game even if they were winning by 20 points. I think we were playing Michigan which makes the game all the more important; in our family…we could lose every other game all year if we just beat the wolverines. MSU won and in our celebration we decided that we had been on the phone long enough and that I would call her tomorrow. I told her I loved her and that we could talk about all the stupid commercials when I called. Bear and I would later joke that she had the best seat in the house to watch the Superbowl…a view from heaven….

So this week as I looked at the calendar…and looked at the lessons….and wondered what I was supposed to do this Sunday, I was greeted by the words… Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

I have been given peace…a peace that passes all of my understanding… but peace none the less. I have been given the words I needed to read this week…the peace I needed to feel this day and this week. I have been given the peace that I know that even though my heart is troubled this day, it will not be forever.

I can’t tell you what the future holds for me…I have plans for my summer after I hand my keys to Pastor Halaas/Lorna, get in my car and follow my brother back to Michigan. I have plans and hopes to keep up with the happenings here at Augustana/Barronett and be able to remember birthdays, graduations and the like. I hope to be assigned to someplace cold like Northwestern Minnesota like Melissa… given God’s sense of humor I’ll wind up in Texas…but I don’t know that any of these things will really happen.

What I do know is that I have been given peace…and some day my heart will not be troubled or worried. I know in that peace the light of the Risen Lord will reign forever. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Alleluia. Amen