WHAT MOTHER TAUGHT ME - LOVE

John 13:33-35

INTRODUCTION:

A. Mothers teach us so much as we grow up

B. My mother taught me quite a bit

1. My mother taught me about the food groups: “If you put one foot outside that door, you’re not getting any homemade bread.”

2. My mother taught me about contortions: “Have you see the dirt on the back of your neck?”

3. She taught me how to stand firm: “You’ll sit there until all that spinach is finished.”

4. She taught me about the weather: “Looks as if a tornado swept through your room.”

5. My mother taught me about hypocrisy: “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times – Don’t exaggerate!”

6. My mother taught me about the circle of life: “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!”

7. She taught me about behavior programming: “Stop acting like your father”

8. And she taught me about envy: “There are millions of less fortunate children who don’t have parents like yours!”

9. Another my mother taught me about – LOVE

BODY:

I. PEOPLE ARE EXTREMELY LOYAL TO THEIR MOTHERS

A. We’ve witnessed the scene many times

1. Some big sports event – Super Bowl / World Series / Final Four

2. All the players are holding up their first finger and saying “We’re # 1

3. Somewhere in the scene we see someone mouth OR hear them say – Hi Mom

B. Of all the people to say hi to – Why mom?

1. Why not the wife / kids / father?

2. Why not the high school coach who helped them get to where they are?

C. Why? Because a mother’s love is so great – Consider what they go through

1. First childbirth – That is no picnic

2. Now that dad are allowed into the delivery room – have you noticed We’re pregnant

3. But in the delivery room we begin to respect what women go through

4. Once a child is born – Most of the child rearing falls on the mothers

5. Dad must work – So mom can stay at home with the kids

6. Even when both work – Studies show most of the burden is still on the mother

D. A mother gives and asks nothing in return

1. No matter what happens – She still loves

2. No matter the crime or incident – When all others abandon that person – A mother won’t

3. Consider Mary – the mother of Jesus

a. When almost all others fled in terror

b. Who was one of the few at the foot of the cross? Mary

E. A mothers love

1. Is unconditional

2. Is so exceptional that it is in a category by itself

3. Some even have given it it’s own name – Motherlove

F. Motherlove

1. It is a degree of love that is only fully expressed by the love of a mother

2. It is the kind of love that persists no matter what wrong is done to it

3. It is a sacrificial love – A love that will even cause her to sacrifice her life

4. Even among wild animals – A mother will sacrifice her life to save her offspring

5. A mother’s love is toward others and not toward herself

6. People respond to that kind of love with loyalty

G. Mothers teach constantly – My mother taught me

1. How God is important

a. Took me to church as I grew up

b. As far back as I can remember

2. How family is important

a. Would always be there for one another

b. Through the tough and trying times

c. Family was there

II. ANOTHER THING MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME

A. The need to constantly go back to the basics of love

1. I need to constantly get back to thinking of God

2. I need to continually think of others

3. When I take away the complexities of life – It comes down to love

4. My love for God – My love for others

B. Isn’t that what Jesus taught?

1. When asked about the greatest command in Matt. 22:36

2. Jesus answered in v. 37-39 – You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

3. Key word in both cases – LOVE

C. Another example of what Jesus taught on LOVE

1. Jesus was about to die – He knew that

2. He knew Judas would betray Him and He would soon be crucified

3. Jesus has one last opportunity to teach them

4. What would He say?

a. Would He tell them again of the resurrection to come?

b. Would He tell them a parable to reinforce their faith in God

c. Would He reveal some hidden secret of God’s plan for the end of time?

5. Of all the things he could say

a. Of all the hidden knowledge He could reveal

b. Of all of the deepest spiritual secrets He could share

c. This is what He chose

d. John 13:33-35 – Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, Where I am going you cannot come. So now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

D. Jesus chose to remind them of LOVE – to LOVE ONE ANOTHER

1. That is basic Christianity

2. What is more basic to our faith and to our life than love?

3. Because no matter what we do – it is meaningless without love

4. 1 Corinthians 13 – Paul says if he does all these things

a. Speak with tongues of men and angels

b. Have the gift of prophecy and understanding mysteries

c. Faith to move a mountain

d. Give to the poor

e. Without Love it profits him nothing

E. Mothers teach about love

1. Unconditional love

a. No matter what she would be beside me

b. Did not matter the circumstance – What mattered was I was her child

2. Unselfish love

a. Always putting my needs above her needs

b. Taking the smallest portion

c. Doing without

3. Undying love

a. Her love for me was a never-ending love

b. A love that was steadfast and sure

4. And through their actions – Mothers teach about the love of God

III. GOD’S LOVE IS MUCH LIKE A MOTHER’S LOVE – EVEN DEEPER

A. Bible is full of examples of God’s – Motherlove

B. Just as a mother does – God

1. Love is Unconditional

a. It does not matter what we have done in our lives

b. Does not matter the social status of our lives

c. God loves us because we are His creation

2. Love is Unselfish

a. God only wants what is best for us

b. God wants us to have the best of life

c. God is willing to freely give

3. Love is Undying

a. His love for us began even before we were created

b. His love will continue for us through eternity

4. Love is so much deeper than a mother’s love

a. How do we know?

b. He sent His son

C. In Jesus

1. God died for His children

2. He did this even mankind rejected Him

D. God did this because of His LOVE

IV. WE AS CHRISTIANS NEED TO GET BACK TO THE BASICS OF LOVE

A. We have so many ministries / programs

1. Everywhere you turn it seems as if a new committee is formed to do a new project

2. As we grow as a family – It becomes more complex

3. Sometimes even our worship can become complex

B. We need to stop and remind ourselves what the bottom line is

1. Through all the programs and committees we have

2. Through all the ministries we are involved in

3. If we forget the basics – They are meaningless

4. We are to Love God – And Love One Another – The Basics

V. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER’S DAY

A. The history of Mother’s Day is about going back to the basics

1. The story of the modern celebration of Mother’s Day goes back to Ann Marie Jarvis

2. Ann Marie Jarvis

a. Gave birth to 12 children

b. 8 of whom died in childhood

c. She founded a group – Mother’s Day Work Club

d. Offered humanitarian aid to soldiers on both sides of Civil War

e. After Civil War – Organized a Mother’s Friendship Day

f. Its purpose was to help heal the wounds of the Civil War

3. Ann Marie Jarvis died in 1905

4. After her death Anna Jarvis (her daughter) organized a memorial service for all mothers at her church

5. She also supplied carnations to be given to each participant in honor or memory of their mothers

6. The idea caught on and by 1914 – Mother’s Day was a national holiday

B. Mother’s Day became really popular

1. So popular that many decided to cash in on its popularity

2. By 1923 – Anna Jarvis filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day Festival

3. Later she was arrested for disturbing the peace at a Mother’s Day Convention

4. She was angry that the white carnations (which she designated as the official Mother’s day flower) were being sold

5. She said, “I wanted this to be a day of sentiment, not profit”

C. Mother’s Day

1. Began as a day to honor women who lived the ideal of a mother’s love

2. It ended as a means of profit

3. Somewhere the meaning of the day was lost

4. Anna Jarvis was fighting to bring it back to the basics

VI. WE NEED TO LEARN THE LESSON OF GETTING BACK TO BASICS

A. There is a song – They’ll Know We Are Christians (679)

1. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

2. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

3. And we pray that our unity may one day be restored

4. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

5. Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

B. Of all the characteristics of Christians

1. Love is the most important

2. Love is the most basic

3. It should be our defining quality

C. Let us remember the Love of our Mothers

1. It is an example of Unconditional Love

2. Of Unselfish Love

3. Of Undying Love

D. Their Love shows us a portion of what God’s Love is

1. Come to Him to receive that Love

2. It is Unconditional, Unselfish, and Undying

3. It is for all

4. Come to Him through baptism and know His love