Exodus 20:12 May 10, 2009
“A Life to Honor”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
Just last week our daughter Katy was at our house with our grandchildren Riley and Luke. Riley was in overdrive. I was doing something across the room and all of a sudden I heard Katy say, “Because I said so.” I started to laugh. “What?” she asked. I said, “Because I said so?” We both laughed knowing that that phrase is so lame, but that it is also all we’ve got sometimes. That moment got me thinking about some of the other things we hear parents say (and maybe have said ourselves):
I brought you into this world, I can just as easy take you out.
You make a better door than a window.
What were you, born in a barn?
We’re not heating the outside, you know! (This was one of my dad’s favorites)
This room looks like a tornado hit it!
Stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about!
Just because your friends are doing it, doesn’t mean you have to do it. If your friends jump off a cliff, are you going to jump off with them?
(If I had a new friend, my mom would always ask), “What are their parents’ names? What do their parents do?”
How about this: Don’t take that tone with me!
Moms are good about seeing the positive. If their child breaks up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, moms say, “There are more fish in the ocean. You just didn’t get the best catch yet.”
How about: Feed a cold, starve a fever. (This is not true. We should drink plenty of fluids and make sure we get good nutrition with both fevers and colds.)
Or: You have a wait 1 hour after eating before swimming. (According to the Red Cross, it is usually not necessary to wait an hour after eating before going in the water. However, it is recommended that you wait until digestion has begun, especially if you’ve had a big meal and you plan to swim strenuously. Just for your information, the Red Cross also advises against chewing gum or eating while in the water!)
And then there’s: Don’t go outside with that wet hair, you’ll catch a cold. (No. Viruses cause colds.)
If you cross your eyes, they’ll stay that way. (False.)
Turn on the light. You’re hurting your eyes. (False. Reading in a dimly lit room won’t do any harm, however good lighting can help prevent eye fatigue and make reading easier.)
Stop cracking your knuckles. It’ll make your fingers swell. (This is partly true. If you are a habitual knuckle cracker, this may cause hand swelling and decreased grip strength.)
Did you hear what Mona Lisa’s mother and father said to her when they saw the portrait of their daughter? “After all that money we spent on braces, that’s the biggest smile you could give?”
Humpty Dumpty’s mom said, “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times not to sit on that wall!”
Batman’s mother, “It is a nice car, Bruce, but do you realize what this is going to do to our insurance premium?”
Goldilock’s mother, “I’ve got a bill here for a busted chair from the Bear family. Do you know anything about this Goldie?”
Finally, Jonah’s mother, “That’s a nice story, buddy. But now tell me where you’ve really been for the last three days.”
Let us pray: O Lord, thank you for laughter. Thank you for tears. Thank you for the gift of life you have given to each of us – and for the plans and purposes you have for our lives. Heavenly Father, help us to honor your word and honor you by the way we listen now to your instructions. And help us not just to listen, but to do what you say – just because you said so. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The first four commandments have to do with the relationship the people have with God:
You shall have no other gods before me,
You shall not make for yourself an idol,
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord, and
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
All four of these commandments have to do with our relationship with the Lord. Summary: Keep GOD first in your life. Don’t let people, places, or things take top priority in your life. Keep GOD first, trusting his promises, resting in his faithfulness.
After the first four commandments, a transition occurs. Instead of focusing on our relationship with God, the remaining commandments have to do with our relationships with each other. Today, we focus on #5: Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
In its Hebrew form, the word ‘honor’ carries a lot of weight. The word signifies importance, and it does not suggest an easy path, it is not without sacrifice. We might ask someone who has agreed to do a certain job for us but who hasn’t completed the job according to our agreement, “Are you going to honor the contract we made?” This question puts a weight of importance on the character of the ones making the agreement.
Proverbs 15:33 teaches, “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.” Humility goes before honor. In other words, in order to honor another, we must humble ourselves, perhaps even die to our own desires to be honored first or honored at all by another person. In square dancing, the caller instructs, “Honor your partner. Honor your neighbor.” This means, “bow before them.” To give honor is not a posture of pride, but a posture of humility.
Romans 12:10 teaches, “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” In Revelation 4:11 we read about worship in heaven, “They cast their crowns before the throne singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
God alone deserves our highest honor; our greatest respect; and should be given the heaviest weight of our attention, for he did create all things by his will out of love for each of us. In his infinite wisdom, he allowed your mother and your father to be co-creators with him to bring you into this world. We didn’t choose our parents. God chose our parents, knowing everything about them, about how beautifully they would do as God-honoring parents, or how poorly they would do as non-God-honoring parents.
Now, I know that some of us hear that and feel upset because our parents are not, or were not God-honoring parents. In fact, as we all know, many mothers and fathers do not raise their children well; many are mere babes themselves (whether in age or emotional maturity), and they are unable or unwilling to properly honor the responsibility of a child as God intended. Some of us have been deeply wounded by the neglect, or actions, or words of the one who carried us in her womb.
It is important to ask this question: How do we honor a father and mother who are/were not good examples to us? Does this command-ment not apply to this kind of household? Of course it does. I believe we can fulfill the 5th commandment by following the first 4 command-ments as well as we can. Honor God first. Here you are. Sitting in God’s house. Singing songs of worship to God. Listening to his Word, and by God’s grace, living beyond these walls in a way that respects the reputation of the Body of Christ and follows what God says is right to do. The greatest honor to our mothers is to be a God-honorer. Who knows what influence our obedience might have?
As I prepared this message, my mind was drawn to Gambel Wilson and his sister Esther Rowles. Gambel is going to turn 93 this week and still lives on his own in Amberson; he is here every Sunday, even though he can barely hear anything. Esther has some physical limitations and gets nervous about sitting in a crowd for very long. She is 91 years old, and also lives on her own around the corner from Gambel. Now, of course I didn’t know their mother. But as I look at these two dear, faithful, kind-hearted, loving people, I say in my heart, “They sure came from good stock.” Do you know what I mean? Their lives honor their parents, (people I never knew), but whose influence on their children has impacted my life and the lives of so many others through them. Humility goes before honor.
The 5th commandment is the only commandment that comes with a promise. Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land your God is giving you. Well, I know people who have done a beautiful job of honoring their parents, but their lives have not been even half as long as Gambel’s and Esther’s lives. So, what does this mean? We’re not talking about a definite cause and effect such as, “If you eat less and exercise more, you’ll lose weight.” That’s science. “Honor your father and mother so that . . .” is about faith and faithfulness. The Tanakh, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 1985, is a contemporary English translation based on the traditional Hebrew text. Here is how this commandment is interpreted in the Tanakh, “Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.”
In Hebrew culture, the land was/is part of the heritage of the people. (That’s part of why Israel always seems to be in the news. They are still fighting for the land they believe God gave to them as their inheritance – as a sign of their heritage as God’s chosen people.) Therefore, I think the word ‘land’ could be understood both literally as property but also as the word ‘heritage.’ Our heritage is the status, conditions, or character acquired by being born into a particular family or social class.
Okay, here’s the deal: We are all created by God’s will. We are made in God’s image. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27) Yes, we look like our mother or our father, or we look like our grandma or great-grandpa Jones – but ultimately for those who are born (not by water or blood) by the Holy Spirit, we are called to reflect the character (the image) of Christ. Psalm 16 declares, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel, in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
Listen again to the Tanakh translation of the commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land [in the heritage] that the Lord your God is assigning to you [as his beloved sons and daughters].”
This means that we are called to honor our mother, whether she is here on earth, or gone from the earth, by the way we live our lives. God deserves all honor and praise, and one way that we live into our heritage as his beloved children, is to walk in faithfulness for as long as we are called to endure life on earth.
Some people whose mother has died decide that they can’t handle Mother’s Day. Some struggle big-time when a birthday comes, perhaps the anniversary of their death, or as another important milestone day approaches. As Christ-followers, we must choose to honor the life our mothers gave to us, and choose to honor their life by the way we remember them. Someone once told me that a great way to “get through” a particularly important day in the calendar after someone you love dies, is to give. Gosh, that’s sounds like God. “It is better to give, than to receive.” Give something on an important day – give the gift of time, a gift, a card, a call, a visit. On what would have been my mom’s 80th birthday this past January, my sister Shaw made a donation to the American Cancer Society in mom’s memory. On the first anniversary of my mom’s death last September, I sent flowers to mom’s two best friends to honor their part in mom’s life. I know she would have liked that. Do something for someone else, or maybe something for yourself. It doesn’t have to cost anything. If she liked the woods, go take a hike in the woods. If she liked to get dressed up, walk around all day in your finest. When someone asks why you’re all dressed up, tell them you’re dressing up in honor of your mom. Honor your mother’s memory in a way that honors God’s call on your life to honor and respect all people.
If your mom is still living, I believe for your own spiritual well-being that it is very important for you to figure out tangible ways to honor her. Again, some time spent together, a gift, a call, a visit. Don’t be like that commercial on TV these days where a poor mom faints when her son or daughter calls her on Mother’s Day. Call more frequently. Remember Proverbs 15:33, ““The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.” Some moms are easy to spend time with, some are tough. Some moms honor us back, others not so much. Humble yourself. Obey the Lord. Follow him, let go of your need to get anything back from anyone. His grace is sufficient. He will give you peace. Listen to these words from Psalm 62, “On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.”
I watched the movie “The Changling,” on Thursday night. It is a true story, a sad, difficult, story of a mother, Christine Collins, and her young son, Walter Collins, who was abducted from his home back in the late 1920’s. After Walter was stolen from her, Christine Collins spent the rest of her life looking for her son. This movie speaks of the determined love of a mother. When everyone else gave up, she would not. When others said, “You must move on with your life,” she could not. It was eventually discovered with the help of a Presbyterian minister that her son had been locked up with other young boys on a farm far from his home. One night while the boys were trying to escape, one of them got his foot stuck in the fence. Little Walter Collins ran back to help the boy get loose. The other boy escaped and eventually ended up in the local police station telling the story of how Walter had saved his life. Christine Collins stood on the other side of the glass listening to the boy’s story with tears streaming down her face. Never to see each other again on earth, the last thing this mother knew about her boy was that he honored her and her influence in his life by going back and helping someone in need.
How is God calling you to honor your mom today? Last night, my three children took me out for dinner. That was wonderful. These yellow roses in the sanctuary today (which were my mom’s favorites) are here in her honor. Later today, I will divide them up to give to my mother-in-law, and to my daughters who are both wonderful mothers. Figure out a way to honor your mother today and every day. One way my dad honored his mom was to write a poem called, “That’s My Mom.” Here it is:
She wasn’t very beautiful
as the world’s standard goes,
She was just a common person
from her head down to her toes.
That was my mom.
She never owned a fortune in bank,
or bonds, or land,
She never had a servant
to heed her least command.
That was my mom.
She wasn’t up in society
and she wasn’t much for style,
She wore the plainest of garments
and always had a smile.
That was my mom.
Mom never went to college
to earn the big degrees,
She only went to grade school
where she learned the A B C’s.
That was my mom.
All the neighbors seemed to know
when they were blue or sad,
That mom could cheer them on their way
and make their sad hearts glad.
That was my mom.
For many years mom was sick,
she suffered constant pain,
But she kept her faith in almighty God
and never would complain.
That was my mom.
Then on August 10th, the Master called
to the glorious splendor of Heaven,
And mom just took her flight
where never cometh night.
That was my mom.
And now mom’s suffering is over,
she waits on the golden shore,
To welcome me at Jesus’ feet
where death will come no more.
That is my mom.
So now I’m looking forward to the day
when I will meet
My dear and faithful mother
sitting at Jesus’ feet.
That is my mom.
(author: Bud Messner, date unknown)
Let us pray: Holy God, we are deeply grateful that we never need doubt your love – that within your love, we are secure. Thank you that you are our Father, and that you love us with the far-surpassing tenderness of a godly mother. Give us strength so that we would love our children and love our parents well. Help us to know best how to honor them on this day, and in every day you give to us to endure and overcome on this side of Heaven. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
“A Life to Honor”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
Just last week our daughter Katy was at our house with our grandchildren Riley and Luke. Riley was in overdrive. I was doing something across the room and all of a sudden I heard Katy say, “Because I said so.” I started to laugh. “What?” she asked. I said, “Because I said so?” We both laughed knowing that that phrase is so lame, but that it is also all we’ve got sometimes. That moment got me thinking about some of the other things we hear parents say (and maybe have said ourselves):
I brought you into this world, I can just as easy take you out.
You make a better door than a window.
What were you, born in a barn?
We’re not heating the outside, you know! (This was one of my dad’s favorites)
This room looks like a tornado hit it!
Stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about!
Just because your friends are doing it, doesn’t mean you have to do it. If your friends jump off a cliff, are you going to jump off with them?
(If I had a new friend, my mom would always ask), “What are their parents’ names? What do their parents do?”
How about this: Don’t take that tone with me!
Moms are good about seeing the positive. If their child breaks up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, moms say, “There are more fish in the ocean. You just didn’t get the best catch yet.”
How about: Feed a cold, starve a fever. (This is not true. We should drink plenty of fluids and make sure we get good nutrition with both fevers and colds.)
Or: You have a wait 1 hour after eating before swimming. (According to the Red Cross, it is usually not necessary to wait an hour after eating before going in the water. However, it is recommended that you wait until digestion has begun, especially if you’ve had a big meal and you plan to swim strenuously. Just for your information, the Red Cross also advises against chewing gum or eating while in the water!)
And then there’s: Don’t go outside with that wet hair, you’ll catch a cold. (No. Viruses cause colds.)
If you cross your eyes, they’ll stay that way. (False.)
Turn on the light. You’re hurting your eyes. (False. Reading in a dimly lit room won’t do any harm, however good lighting can help prevent eye fatigue and make reading easier.)
Stop cracking your knuckles. It’ll make your fingers swell. (This is partly true. If you are a habitual knuckle cracker, this may cause hand swelling and decreased grip strength.)
Did you hear what Mona Lisa’s mother and father said to her when they saw the portrait of their daughter? “After all that money we spent on braces, that’s the biggest smile you could give?”
Humpty Dumpty’s mom said, “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times not to sit on that wall!”
Batman’s mother, “It is a nice car, Bruce, but do you realize what this is going to do to our insurance premium?”
Goldilock’s mother, “I’ve got a bill here for a busted chair from the Bear family. Do you know anything about this Goldie?”
Finally, Jonah’s mother, “That’s a nice story, buddy. But now tell me where you’ve really been for the last three days.”
Let us pray: O Lord, thank you for laughter. Thank you for tears. Thank you for the gift of life you have given to each of us – and for the plans and purposes you have for our lives. Heavenly Father, help us to honor your word and honor you by the way we listen now to your instructions. And help us not just to listen, but to do what you say – just because you said so. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The first four commandments have to do with the relationship the people have with God:
You shall have no other gods before me,
You shall not make for yourself an idol,
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord, and
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
All four of these commandments have to do with our relationship with the Lord. Summary: Keep GOD first in your life. Don’t let people, places, or things take top priority in your life. Keep GOD first, trusting his promises, resting in his faithfulness.
After the first four commandments, a transition occurs. Instead of focusing on our relationship with God, the remaining commandments have to do with our relationships with each other. Today, we focus on #5: Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
In its Hebrew form, the word ‘honor’ carries a lot of weight. The word signifies importance, and it does not suggest an easy path, it is not without sacrifice. We might ask someone who has agreed to do a certain job for us but who hasn’t completed the job according to our agreement, “Are you going to honor the contract we made?” This question puts a weight of importance on the character of the ones making the agreement.
Proverbs 15:33 teaches, “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.” Humility goes before honor. In other words, in order to honor another, we must humble ourselves, perhaps even die to our own desires to be honored first or honored at all by another person. In square dancing, the caller instructs, “Honor your partner. Honor your neighbor.” This means, “bow before them.” To give honor is not a posture of pride, but a posture of humility.
Romans 12:10 teaches, “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” In Revelation 4:11 we read about worship in heaven, “They cast their crowns before the throne singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
God alone deserves our highest honor; our greatest respect; and should be given the heaviest weight of our attention, for he did create all things by his will out of love for each of us. In his infinite wisdom, he allowed your mother and your father to be co-creators with him to bring you into this world. We didn’t choose our parents. God chose our parents, knowing everything about them, about how beautifully they would do as God-honoring parents, or how poorly they would do as non-God-honoring parents.
Now, I know that some of us hear that and feel upset because our parents are not, or were not God-honoring parents. In fact, as we all know, many mothers and fathers do not raise their children well; many are mere babes themselves (whether in age or emotional maturity), and they are unable or unwilling to properly honor the responsibility of a child as God intended. Some of us have been deeply wounded by the neglect, or actions, or words of the one who carried us in her womb.
It is important to ask this question: How do we honor a father and mother who are/were not good examples to us? Does this command-ment not apply to this kind of household? Of course it does. I believe we can fulfill the 5th commandment by following the first 4 command-ments as well as we can. Honor God first. Here you are. Sitting in God’s house. Singing songs of worship to God. Listening to his Word, and by God’s grace, living beyond these walls in a way that respects the reputation of the Body of Christ and follows what God says is right to do. The greatest honor to our mothers is to be a God-honorer. Who knows what influence our obedience might have?
As I prepared this message, my mind was drawn to Gambel Wilson and his sister Esther Rowles. Gambel is going to turn 93 this week and still lives on his own in Amberson; he is here every Sunday, even though he can barely hear anything. Esther has some physical limitations and gets nervous about sitting in a crowd for very long. She is 91 years old, and also lives on her own around the corner from Gambel. Now, of course I didn’t know their mother. But as I look at these two dear, faithful, kind-hearted, loving people, I say in my heart, “They sure came from good stock.” Do you know what I mean? Their lives honor their parents, (people I never knew), but whose influence on their children has impacted my life and the lives of so many others through them. Humility goes before honor.
The 5th commandment is the only commandment that comes with a promise. Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land your God is giving you. Well, I know people who have done a beautiful job of honoring their parents, but their lives have not been even half as long as Gambel’s and Esther’s lives. So, what does this mean? We’re not talking about a definite cause and effect such as, “If you eat less and exercise more, you’ll lose weight.” That’s science. “Honor your father and mother so that . . .” is about faith and faithfulness. The Tanakh, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 1985, is a contemporary English translation based on the traditional Hebrew text. Here is how this commandment is interpreted in the Tanakh, “Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.”
In Hebrew culture, the land was/is part of the heritage of the people. (That’s part of why Israel always seems to be in the news. They are still fighting for the land they believe God gave to them as their inheritance – as a sign of their heritage as God’s chosen people.) Therefore, I think the word ‘land’ could be understood both literally as property but also as the word ‘heritage.’ Our heritage is the status, conditions, or character acquired by being born into a particular family or social class.
Okay, here’s the deal: We are all created by God’s will. We are made in God’s image. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27) Yes, we look like our mother or our father, or we look like our grandma or great-grandpa Jones – but ultimately for those who are born (not by water or blood) by the Holy Spirit, we are called to reflect the character (the image) of Christ. Psalm 16 declares, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel, in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
Listen again to the Tanakh translation of the commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land [in the heritage] that the Lord your God is assigning to you [as his beloved sons and daughters].”
This means that we are called to honor our mother, whether she is here on earth, or gone from the earth, by the way we live our lives. God deserves all honor and praise, and one way that we live into our heritage as his beloved children, is to walk in faithfulness for as long as we are called to endure life on earth.
Some people whose mother has died decide that they can’t handle Mother’s Day. Some struggle big-time when a birthday comes, perhaps the anniversary of their death, or as another important milestone day approaches. As Christ-followers, we must choose to honor the life our mothers gave to us, and choose to honor their life by the way we remember them. Someone once told me that a great way to “get through” a particularly important day in the calendar after someone you love dies, is to give. Gosh, that’s sounds like God. “It is better to give, than to receive.” Give something on an important day – give the gift of time, a gift, a card, a call, a visit. On what would have been my mom’s 80th birthday this past January, my sister Shaw made a donation to the American Cancer Society in mom’s memory. On the first anniversary of my mom’s death last September, I sent flowers to mom’s two best friends to honor their part in mom’s life. I know she would have liked that. Do something for someone else, or maybe something for yourself. It doesn’t have to cost anything. If she liked the woods, go take a hike in the woods. If she liked to get dressed up, walk around all day in your finest. When someone asks why you’re all dressed up, tell them you’re dressing up in honor of your mom. Honor your mother’s memory in a way that honors God’s call on your life to honor and respect all people.
If your mom is still living, I believe for your own spiritual well-being that it is very important for you to figure out tangible ways to honor her. Again, some time spent together, a gift, a call, a visit. Don’t be like that commercial on TV these days where a poor mom faints when her son or daughter calls her on Mother’s Day. Call more frequently. Remember Proverbs 15:33, ““The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.” Some moms are easy to spend time with, some are tough. Some moms honor us back, others not so much. Humble yourself. Obey the Lord. Follow him, let go of your need to get anything back from anyone. His grace is sufficient. He will give you peace. Listen to these words from Psalm 62, “On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.”
I watched the movie “The Changling,” on Thursday night. It is a true story, a sad, difficult, story of a mother, Christine Collins, and her young son, Walter Collins, who was abducted from his home back in the late 1920’s. After Walter was stolen from her, Christine Collins spent the rest of her life looking for her son. This movie speaks of the determined love of a mother. When everyone else gave up, she would not. When others said, “You must move on with your life,” she could not. It was eventually discovered with the help of a Presbyterian minister that her son had been locked up with other young boys on a farm far from his home. One night while the boys were trying to escape, one of them got his foot stuck in the fence. Little Walter Collins ran back to help the boy get loose. The other boy escaped and eventually ended up in the local police station telling the story of how Walter had saved his life. Christine Collins stood on the other side of the glass listening to the boy’s story with tears streaming down her face. Never to see each other again on earth, the last thing this mother knew about her boy was that he honored her and her influence in his life by going back and helping someone in need.
How is God calling you to honor your mom today? Last night, my three children took me out for dinner. That was wonderful. These yellow roses in the sanctuary today (which were my mom’s favorites) are here in her honor. Later today, I will divide them up to give to my mother-in-law, and to my daughters who are both wonderful mothers. Figure out a way to honor your mother today and every day. One way my dad honored his mom was to write a poem called, “That’s My Mom.” Here it is:
She wasn’t very beautiful
as the world’s standard goes,
She was just a common person
from her head down to her toes.
That was my mom.
She never owned a fortune in bank,
or bonds, or land,
She never had a servant
to heed her least command.
That was my mom.
She wasn’t up in society
and she wasn’t much for style,
She wore the plainest of garments
and always had a smile.
That was my mom.
Mom never went to college
to earn the big degrees,
She only went to grade school
where she learned the A B C’s.
That was my mom.
All the neighbors seemed to know
when they were blue or sad,
That mom could cheer them on their way
and make their sad hearts glad.
That was my mom.
For many years mom was sick,
she suffered constant pain,
But she kept her faith in almighty God
and never would complain.
That was my mom.
Then on August 10th, the Master called
to the glorious splendor of Heaven,
And mom just took her flight
where never cometh night.
That was my mom.
And now mom’s suffering is over,
she waits on the golden shore,
To welcome me at Jesus’ feet
where death will come no more.
That is my mom.
So now I’m looking forward to the day
when I will meet
My dear and faithful mother
sitting at Jesus’ feet.
That is my mom.
(author: Bud Messner, date unknown)
Let us pray: Holy God, we are deeply grateful that we never need doubt your love – that within your love, we are secure. Thank you that you are our Father, and that you love us with the far-surpassing tenderness of a godly mother. Give us strength so that we would love our children and love our parents well. Help us to know best how to honor them on this day, and in every day you give to us to endure and overcome on this side of Heaven. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
