Hello and Happy Mother’s Day week to you all! This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day – a day set apart to remember and to celebrate and to honor the Moms in our lives.

And today, I want to lead you all in what I hope will be both a fun and meaningful exercise as we contemplate Mother’s Day here together.

I’d like for you to take just a quick second here to answer a few questions,

  • First, what is your Mom’s full name? What’s her full name?
  • Next, what do you call your Mom? Or what did you call her? (Mom, Mommy, Momma…)
  • Next, what are 3 words you would use to describe your relationship with your Mom?
  • And lastly, what other women through the years have played a Mom-like role in your life?

Okay, now, with those questions and your answers fresh in your minds, I’d like to talk with you briefly about honoring our Moms.

In the Book of John, chapter 19, we get to observe a very precious interaction that the perfect God-man Jesus had on earth with His Mom.

John 19:25-27 tells us that,

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his own home.

Now this passage in John occurs on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. In these verses, Jesus is on the cross, and these are some of the very last moments of His mortal life.

Many of Jesus’ disciples and followers had already scattered and fled in fear after He was arrested the night before. But some of them bravely followed Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem as He carried His cross from the Roman governor’s judgment seat near the Temple all the way out of the city to the hill of Golgotha.

And among those who followed Jesus throughout the agonizing process of His crucifixion were these four women John lists here – there was:

  • Jesus’ mother, Mary,
  • His mother’s sister (so, Jesus’s aunt),
  • Mary the wife of Clopas, and
  • Mary Magdalene

And with them was Jesus’ beloved disciple, John, who is the author of this biography of Jesus’ life.

And in this precious and powerful moment, we see the duty of Jesus – in His culture, as the eldest son in His family – it was His duty to see that His mother would be taken care of, and protected, and provided for after He was gone.

But even more than just fulfilling His cultural duty as Mary’s eldest son, we see how deeply Jesus loved and cared for His Mom!

And we also see how deeply Mary loved her Son, to follow Him all the way to death and beyond. In fact, Acts 1:12-14 tells us that Mary continued to be a devoted follower of Jesus, even after His Ascension into heaven. The adult Jesus honored His Mom – and Mary was one of her Son’s closest followers.

Beloved, there is a very special place in the heart of God for mothers. I love how God Himself describes how He feels towards the Moms of little children in the Bible.

Isaiah 40:11 says,

He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs into His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads the mother with her young.

My Mom was deeply loving and fiercely loyal to her sons. Her name was Deborah Jean Hodges. She went by “Debbie” or “DJ.” I simply called her “Mom” or “Momma.”

She broke her back when I was 2 years old, and had a degenerative disease called “Muscular Dystrophy” which caused her breaks to heal back improperly. As a result, she was disabled and struggled to walk for the rest of her life.

Our relationship was fine until I got into middle school, and then it went downhill fast. We had a broken relationship for about 6-7 years before she committed her life to Christ when I was 20 and we reconciled.

She died when I was 33. I was there with her, along with her older sister, my Aunt Sara.

My Dad and my Mom split up before I was born, so I never lived with them together, and, I never had to go through their divorce as a kid.

My Dad met and married my Step-Mom, Toni, when I was about 5 years old. They are still married today – and next year will be their 40th anniversary!

Toni and I have always gotten along. My Dad was her first and only marriage, and they didn’t have any kids together, so Toni has always treated me like her own son. She didn’t ever try to replace my Mom – but she has always loved me like I was her own son.

Toni has been my 4 kids’ most-involved grandparent these past 19 years! We thank God for her every day! She is a wonderful woman and such a blessing to our family and to so many others.

I am very grateful to have had wonderful and close relationships with both of my Grandmothers! My Grandma Cash died during my senior year of college.

My Grandmommie Hodges died while I was away on a dental outreach trip with Mercy Ships. We were deep in the West-African jungle of up-country Guinea, and I didn’t even find out about her death until I got back to the ship, and I was very sad to miss her funeral.

And then, y’all, there is the Mom that I know the very best in all the world: my wife Dianna. We’ve had 5 children together (3 are living; 2 died at birth); we’ve adopted 1 child, and fostered many more.

My point in sharing all of this with you is first: Jesus – the perfect God-man – loved His Mom! And He cared for her in both relational as well as very practical ways. As followers of Jesus, we are called to do the same.

Second, If there is any brokenness or estrangement between you and your Mom – God sees, God cares, and God wants to help you through it. Now, that is not a guarantee that reconciliation will come, because there is more than one person involved. And anytime there is more than one person involved in any situation, you lose the guarantee that everything will be fixed and made whole in this life…

BUT – at least you can know that God cares enough about you to help you process through and reconcile your half of the relationship. It will be a process, but God can bring YOU to a place of peace with your Mom, even if the relationship itself cannot be healed.

And third – If You never knew your Mom, or if your Mom like mine is no longer living, then who are the other Mom-like figures that God has provided in your life, whom you could bless today with a thankful phone call or note?

Let’s pray: Almighty God, we ask Your blessing on each of the precious Moms in our lives today. Please pour Your blessings, grace, and Presence upon both our biological Moms, as well as our spiritual Moms. Fill their hearts with laughter and joy! Surround them with love from family and friends. Grant them health, peace, and fulfillment as they pursue their calling in You. Let them know their value and worth in both Your eyes and in ours. In Jesus’ Name we pray – Amen.