Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Mother's Day/Fifth Sunday of Easter - 05/14/17 Sermon - “Why I read this at funerals"

Sunday 05/14/17 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Why I read this at funerals”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Gospel Lesson: John 14:1-14

My friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome again on this day, which is Mother’s Day, and also the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

While today we are still in the Season of Easter, today is also a day to remember, to celebrate, and to praise mothers. Some people have or had great mothers, yet some people might have never met their mothers, and some people might not have had good relationships with their mothers. Today then, is a day to remember mothers, but also a day to remember any women who have taken the time to take on a mothering role. For some us, this could have been grandmothers, an aunt, a neighbor, a teacher, and or etc. Today we honor mothers, but also honor all women who take on mothering roles.

I would encourage you then, to be thinking about today, and if they are still living, contacting those mothers and women in your lives that have made such a big impact on you. Or perhaps you could visit the grave of your mother or other women that have meant so much to you. Whatever we do this day, I hope that we take some time to remember and honor our mothers, and all the women in our lives that have meant so much to us.

With this said, some of you might have looked at my sermon title for this morning. I mean its Mother’s Day, a day to celebrate mothers, grandmothers, and all the women in our lives that have meant so much to us. Given the love and the joy of this day, the pastor’s sermon title is “Why I read this at funerals”.

Some of you might have sarcastically said to yourself, “way to knock it out the park Pastor Paul!” I mean the day that we honor mothers, grandmothers, and all the women who have shaped us, and Pastor Paul’s sermon is called, “Why I read this at funerals”. Well that’s uplifting!

Why would I pick this name for a sermon on Mother’s Day of all days? Well, I am glad that you all asked!

Well for starters, I do in fact, generally speaking, read part of this gospel lesson at all funeral services I do. This part is usually John 14:1-4. Once again, this is it what it says:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going” (Jn. 14:1-14, NRSV).

So why do I generally read this part of this morning’s gospel of John reading at most of the funerals that I do? I read this, because this portion of this gospel reading is a promise from our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is telling us that if we repent, and if we place our trust in him, that when our earthly life is over, we will be with him in glory. These are certainly comforting words for many family members and friends at funerals, as we as Christians believe in eternal life. Hearing the words from Jesus, this promise, our belief in glory, is part of our hope as Christians.

After Jesus says these words, then the Apostle Thomas is concerned that he and the other disciples will not be able to find their way to this eternity, this glory (Jn. 14:5, NRSV).

Jesus then responds to the Apostle Thomas with one of his “I Am” statements. Jesus says is John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6, NRSV). Jesus then says, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (Jn. 14:7, NRSV).

The Apostle Philip then questions the meaning of this, and Jesus says to Philip and the other disciples, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9b, NRSV).

Jesus then says in John 14:11, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (Jn. 14:11a, NRSV).

Jesus then tells us that through him we will be able to do great things, and that we should ask and receive from God in his name (Jn. 14:11b-14, NRSV).

Now before I get to the connection of this scripture to Mother’s Day, I just wanted to unpack this scripture quick.

We are being told a few things here. First, we are being told again, that Jesus Christ promises us a place in heaven with him, if we have faith in him. Second, Jesus is declaring his Lordship, and that he is truly God in the flesh. Jesus is telling us that he is “the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6, NRSV).

Jesus is also telling us that he is God in the flesh, the second person of the Holy Trinity, as he says, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (Jn. 14:7, NRSV).

So Jesus Christ is the messiah, was co-eternal with God the Father, is the way to heaven, and is God in flesh.

Well what does that have to do with Mother’s Day?

I will tell you, finally. One of the reasons that I like to read the gospel of John 14:1-4 at funerals, isn’t just because of Jesus’ promise of heaven, but it is also a comfort for many of us. For some of us when someone dies, we still think of them as being alive, even though they are spiritually still are alive, but not physically. The idea of Jesus preparing a place in God’s house for us is a great comfort for many.

In this sense, we are given a promise of a place where we will ultimately go. We have a refuge, a place that we can hang our hat on, as it were.

I wonder brothers and sisters, how many of us here, can say that our mother’s house was or is like that? How many of us can say that our mothers, either now, or when they were alive, always had a place in their house for us?

I know that this is the case for me, as I will always have a place in mother’s house, so long as she is alive on this earth. I will also have a place in glory in God’s house, promised to me by Jesus Christ.

Sometimes in this tough and this hard world that we live in, it can just be good to able to come home again. Sometimes when are adults and life gets overwhelming, for many of us we can, or could have, always gone to mom’s house, right? Where she likely would have coffee and cookies waiting for us. Our beds would be just as we left them, with the same superhero blankets. No matter what life threw at us, we could always go home to mom’s house.

Once again, maybe you didn’t have this experience or this relationship with you mother, but I would encourage you to think about the women that have been there for you in your life. It could have been your mother, or maybe a grandmother, or maybe an aunt, a neighbor, teacher, and or etc. Today is about honoring mothers and all of these women.

For many of us, one or more of the women in our lives offered us safe havens, comfort, and love, or maybe still do. In fact, how many of us here this morning can say that your mother, or another woman in your life always had a place for you to go?

This is significant, as many of us here on earth, can say that we do have a room that is prepared for us, whether it is in our mother’s house, our father’s house, or somewhere else.

We tend to live in a world that seems to have very little certainty and security, but it is good for many us to know that we can or could have always gone home to mom’s house, or to grandma’s, and or etc. Having a place just for us here on this earth is a great thing, and having it is a great feeling.

In addition to all of this, Jesus Christ tells this morning, that beyond this earth, we will have a place to go in glory. That after this life is over, we will have a place that we can go to be with God. We have a room waiting for us in glory, just as many of us do or did have rooms waiting for us at mom’s house, or another house. Further, moms are special, and so are all the women in our lives that have loved us. Today is specifically about them, and honoring them.

In closing this morning, I want to share a story about the love of a mother for her child, called “The Mountain”. This story was taken from (https://storiesforpreaching.com/), and was specifically taken from Jim Stovall’s, You Don’t Have to Be Blind to See. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Here is how it goes:

“There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains.”

“The lowlanders didn’t know how to climb the mountain. They didn’t know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn’t know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain. Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home.”

“The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet. Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below.”

“As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby’s mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn’t figured out how to climb. And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be?”

“One man greeted her and said, “We couldn’t climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn’t do it?” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “It wasn’t your baby.”

Friends, sisters and brothers, today is about honoring mothers, and all of those women who have been in our lives, that would climb a mountain for us, that have prepared a place for us, and have done so much for us. This morning Jesus Christ promises an eternal place for us, and as we embrace that, may we also love and embrace mothers and the women that have and still do mean so much us! Happy Mother’s Day. Amen.