ST. BARTHOLOMEW S ANGLICAN PRO-CATHEDRAL IN THE TOWN OF TONAWANDA The Very Rev. Fr. Arthur W. Ward, Jr. + Dean Scripture: Various HONORING OUR MOTHERS Learning to Love like Jesus" (part 3) Again, I would like to wish all our moms a blessed Mother's Day. It is appropriate and fitting that we honor our mother not just as a nation, but in the Church. Motherhood is a gift from God. It reflects many of the characteristics of the divine nature. In fact, at the heart of motherhood is the love of God. The Bible tells us that we love because God first loved us. (1 Jn. 4:19) Our first experience of true love comes from our moms. Dads come into the picture after our moms have done the hardest work - put up with changes to their bodies, their daily routines, and their emotions for nine months, only to endure intense pain and suffering in the act of giving birth. And then comes a lifetime of challenges that having children brings. But for most women, such challenges and hardships are worth it. They re worth it because it also means the blessing of loving and lifelong relationships. At least that is why God has given us the privilege and responsibility of bringing human life into existence, children made in the image of God, boys and girls, to take care and guide and prepare them to live successful lives on their own. There is no greater privilege or responsibility. GOD'S LOVE IS TRUE LOVE And at the heart of truly successful motherhood and fatherhood is love. At the heart of any lasting relationship is love. And at the heart of the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is love. Love is what makes life worth living. And it is our Lord Jesus Christ who not only gave us the command to love God with all our heart mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, but also to love not just our neighbors, but our enemies as well. Moreover, on the night before He died, He commanded that we love one another as He loves us! For when we love each other as Jesus loves us, then Jesus said, people will know that we are truly His disciples. (Jn. 13:34-35) In essence, Jesus commands us to love unconditionally ( agape in the Greek. ) Agape love is love that just gives of itself and keeps on giving. It is a love that is there not because or when or if or after, we do something, but it is love that is just there. The call for every believer is to love like Jesus Christ. And so with this in mind, we have been doing a series entitled "Learning to Love like Jesus." And if you were with us three weeks ago and then two Sundays ago, you know that if we are to love life Jesus, four things must be true. First, you must be born again. You must have a relationship with Jesus if you are to learn to love like Him. Now people can love like Jesus at times. Certainly, mothers (and we will talk a bit more about this in a moment) when they carry, deliver, and raise their children are in some ways loving like Christ. But they will fall short in that they will not be transformed psychologically and spiritually unless Christ is the center of their life. They will not be able to realize their full potential. They will continue to miss the mark, and they won't have the strength that He can only give to love in a balanced and healthy way. For after we are born again, God gives us the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. That is the second thing. If I am going to love like Christ, I need to have the Holy Spirit. You can't do it without God's presence and power source. 1
Third, we saw how true love can only be expressed if self gets out of the way. Our self, our ego has to take a back seat. It is why Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to be my disciple must deny himself..." And why the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:3-5, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as better than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus." And then fourth, if we have a selfless and humble attitude, then that attitude must be demonstrated by action. And the first action of true love, the first action of a humble and selfless attitude, is one of service. In other words, we are to be about serving others. Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to lord it over you, I did not come to lord it over you, but I came to serve,,," Mt. 20:26-28, "But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to show the importance of service and how it reflects true love, Jesus washed the disciples feet. It is why He also said, "Whoever wishes to be great in the Kingdom must be servant of all." The world has its stars. Stars bring attention to themselves. God has His servants. Servants bring attention to the needs of others. Servants point others to God and to His Son, Jesus. Entertainer and singer Madonna is an example of a star of this world. Mother Theresa is an example of a servant of God. TRUE LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL But what other action, among others, will be typical of the one who loves like Jesus? Jesus demonstrated this action throughout His entire earthly ministry. In fact, he ended His life this way. Let's now read again our Gospel lesson for today. Jn. 15:12-17: "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another. Jesus reminds us again to love one another as He loves us. And then He says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." What is Jesus talking about? He s talking about giving up one s life for another. Jesus told the disciples earlier in John 10:10: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Jesus will give up His life for His disciples, and not just for His disciples, but for the sins of the whole world. He was pointing them to the cross. In fact, the very next day Jesus would be crucified on the hard wood of the cross. 2
Look again at Jesus words, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." The greatest demonstration of true love is giving up your life for another. For there is nothing more one can give than one s life! In two weeks we will be honoring all those who have died in service of our nation. As a nation we recognize that there is no greater act of sacrifice than to lay down your life for another person, for a cause, or for your country. It is the ultimate act of love. So then what does giving up one s life represent when it comes to love? Sacrifice! What action shows true selflessness? Sacrifice! True love is sacrificial. It is giving up something that you have that will cost you. That is sacrificial love, not giving out of your abundance, not giving out of your comfort or convenience, but giving out of what you need, too. In other words, loving when it is not convenient, when it doesn't feel good, when it will mean giving up something that is near and dear to you, loving when it hurts. And it is motherhood that really gives us a clear example - more so than fatherhood. Think of what happens to a woman during pregnancy. We mentioned some of this earlier; her body changes, her hormones and emotions change; she has to no longer think about herself, but also about her baby. Her routine is affected. And then she has to endure pain, suffering, and agony. All of this exemplifies sacrificial love. And most mothers will tell you that after they deliver and have their child in their arms and nursing upon their breast, there is no greater feeling of closeness in the world. And this close feeling and attachment is one reason why a mother will do everything in her power to protect her child. We all know the stories of why one doesn't mess with a mama bear. A mother will lay her life down for her child because of her love for that child. And there is no greater demonstration of such love than giving up one's life! And you can never argue with such sacrifice. I think of so many of our medal of honor winners who dove on a grenade or put their bodies between their fellow servicemen and enemy fire, thereby saving lives but losing their own. Or those Egyptian Coptic Christians on the beaches of Libya who had the choice to renounce Jesus or be beheaded. And all refused to renounce Christ. You can't argue with such love. We are not worthy. Now let's look at what Jesus gave up for a moment. He gave up His divine rights and privileges. That means He is exposed physically, emotionally, and psychologically, to sickness, sin and death. He has to give up all the spiritual conveniences of being the Son of God. He has to experience injustice, ridicule, humiliation, subjugation, torture, cruelty, and ultimately death. He even has to feel what it is like to be rejected not only by those closest to him on earth, but by His Father in heaven! And yet, all such sacrifices simply reflected the profound and deep love Jesus has for us and for His Father. Jesus said, "Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another." WE HAVE LOST SACRIFICIAL LOVE IN THE WEST So what does sacrificial love mean for you and me? In our Western society, with all our creature comforts, it is easy to lose sight of how much God's love involves sacrifice. You see sacrifice is not only necessary if we are to truly love, but it is necessary for life itself. Jesus paid the price of our sin. His 3
sacrifice took away the sins of the world. His sacrifice gave us eternal life. Our moms sacrificed so that we might live. Our moms had to love sacrificially or we would not be here. But what happens when people don t sacrifice for the sake of others? Who gets in the way? Self. Think of the opposite of motherhood and sacrificing for life. Think of what some believe. They end the life of the fetus because that human being is an inconvenience. The mother says the hardship on her body, on her psyche, and on her family is not worth it so she says, I will have an abortion. I don t want to sacrifice. I want the baby to sacrifice for my sake. Now let me ask you, is that love? Last Thursday I attended the Second Annual Banquet for the Northtown Pregnancy Center. Our speaker was Sean Carney. He shared the story of how one couple, excited to find themselves pregnant, prepared their home for their baby. When they went for their checkup, they received the great news that they were expecting twins. Upon further testing, however, one of the babies was determined to have Down syndrome. Disappointed, the couple chose to have a selective abortion. But after the abortion, to their horror, they learned that the doctor had aborted the wrong fetus. Rather than keep their other child, the mother went on to have the twin with Down syndrome also aborted. As a result of his botched abortion, the physician had a nervous breakdown and sought mental health treatment. Afterwards when asked why he had such a difficult time with this abortion after performing so many over the course of his career, the doctor said that it was because this was the first time he had aborted a wanted baby. The truth is that some people, in a perverted way, think killing a baby is actually the loving thing to do. Some believe, like that doctor, that if a baby is not wanted, then it is best to end the baby s life. Well, let me tell you that nowhere in God s Word does God ever tell us to take a life because that life is either not wanted or too inconvenient. Now I want you to think about the wedding vows. We say to our spouses - "In the name of God I take you to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part. This is my solemn vow." I always tell couples that such promises will require sacrifice. If you are not willing to sacrifice, what will happen? Sooner or later you will be candidates for divorce. Is divorce the loving, selfless thing to do? Absolutely not. Who failed? God? No, we did. True love, agape love, the love Jesus has for us, is sacrificial; and it will always require that we sacrifice our pride and our selfishness, and sometimes it will require us to sacrifice our own needs and wants. And so, do you give your time, your money, your effort even when it hurts? I can't answer that question for you. I am sure for all of us, it is maybe sometimes. Sometimes we do; sometimes we don't. But know this, when we do, God will honor us. He will honor the sacrifice. That is something we can't lose sight of. The Father honored the Son's sacrifice. The Bible says in Philippians 2:8-11, that after Jesus gave his life on the cross, the Father highly exalted Him, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 4
The beauty is that God will always fill us back up when we give and live sacrificially. That is why we truly can't love sacrificially by ourselves. Our power is limited. Our resources are limited. Not so with God. It is why that after dealing with the hardships of prison, the Apostle Paul could write in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And in Philippians 4:19, And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. We sacrifice because we love. We love because God first loved us. And when we sacrifice it is so that another can be blessed. It is so the truth can prevail. It is so that God can be glorified. You know Jesus said in Jn. 15, " If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father s commandments and abide in His love.you are My friends if you do what I command you." Sometimes we may think that this implies that God only loves us if we keep His commands. But that is not the case. God always loves us, but we cannot grow in His love unless we follow Him and learn to love like Jesus. We can't be a friend of God if we don't do what He commands, any more than a mom can be a true mother unless she does what a mother is supposed to do. And what does God command? What did Jesus command? That we love like He loves us. So on this Mother's Day, may we remember that true love is not merely about feeling good. True love is about knowing and experiencing the goodness of God and then sharing that goodness with others. And the way we share that goodness is by serving and sacrificing for others and for the sake of the Gospel and God s Kingdom! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN! 5