Easter 6

The Lord was engaged in the task of creating mothers. He was in his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.” And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order?”

Then the specs were set forth: She has to be completely washable but not plastic, have 180 moveable parts (all replaceable), run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that disappears when she stands up, have a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair, and have six pairs of hands. But hands were not the major problem.

The problem was the three pairs of eyes. One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, “What are you kids doing in there?” Another set in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and the ones in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and reflect, “I understand, and I love you” without so much as uttering a word.

The Lord went on working on the model and the angel suggested putting the task off. But the Lord said, “I can’t, I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”  The model was finally finished, complete with a tear of which the Lord said, “I didn’t put it there.” The tear, the Lord told the angel, “Was for joy, sadness, disappointment, compassion, pain, loneliness, and pride.”

That fable, taken from Erma Bombeck’s book Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession, touches somewhat heavily on sentimentality. But it has a hard nugget of truth.  Many of us would confess with gratitude that the closest we come to knowing the love of God in human form is found in a mother’s love.

There is certainly no question that motherhood is a difficult and demanding vocation. It is an art and part of the trouble is that a mother is compelled to undertake the task with no previous experience. Especially with a first child, the mother faces the experience of learning as she goes along. And most mothers (and fathers, too) would confess a need for a model, some indication of what should be done and how to do it.

Well, look no further than the Old Testament figure Hannah. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is an example of a woman who wanted to be a parent so badly that it seems she could think of little else. It’s almost as if she is in mourning before Samuel was born. In fact, she prayed so fervently to become a mother that Eli, the High priest, accused her of having too much to drink!

God answered Hannah’s prayer with a “yes,” and she did not forget that she was a partner with the Lord when she became a mother. She named her child “Samuel,” which means, “I have asked him of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:20)

Hannah didn’t think just giving her son a godly name was keeping her part of that partnership, either. As soon as Samuel was old enough, she took him to the high priest, and said, “I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall belong to the Lord.”

There are still many Hannahs to be found. They share the original Hannah’s vision that they are partners with God, and that they are actually sharing their children with the Lord. When believing par­ents realize that partnership, they can then pass on a glimpse of the Lord to their chil­dren. For example, it’s safe to say that most of us got our first glimpse of the Lord from our mothers. The vast majority of us first heard of Jesus as our Savior from our moms.

My mother taught me how to pray and the importance of worshipping in church on Sunday. Every night I could see her kneeling beside her bed saying her prayers.

In most cases, the Holy Spirit used our mothers to teach us to give, to love, and to pray. St. Paul urged young Timothy to hold fast to the faith that his grandmother, Lois, passed on to his mother, Eunice, who, in turn, passed that faith on to Timothy.

When Paul was a prisoner because of his Christian faith, he warned Timothy that he would have to suffer, too, but he was sure he could endure it because, Paul wrote, “From a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, which lead to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Probably every mother has looked at her child and seen all sorts of dreams – mental images – of their child growing up to be a doctor, a lawyer, a priest, an engineer, a professional athlete, an accomplished musician. But there is no greater future you can have for your children than them kneeling at the bedside of their own chil­dren, as they lead them in talking to their Heavenly Father in prayer.

Do you see that, parents? Grandparents? Of all the things we can give to our children, the one thing that will help them most is to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, Shepherd, and Friend.

Beyond that, of all the values and valuables you can bequeath to your children, what good will a million dollars and a “million dollar personality” be if, someday, when Jesus comes to call this age to a close and takes you to himself in heaven, you look around for your children, and they’re nowhere to be seen? That’s why the Bible states that “…training in godliness has eternal value …”

For many of us, and hopefully for you, too, the greatest comfort of being a part­ner with the Lord lies in this reality: He takes all of our sins and shortcomings upon Himself, and we share in His perfection. That is what the Gospel is all about.

Because parents get no time to practice, nor are there any pre-game warm-ups for parenthood, God, in His love and mercy, takes our failures as parents and lays them upon His perfect Son. There is not one parent here present this morning who does not count on the Lord’s forgiveness – even in our task and calling as parents.

Remember that Mary and Joseph were not perfect, model parents. So don’t expect yourself to be, either! That chosen-of- God couple had a per­fect child to work with, and they still blew it, probably many, many times. Jesus was their Savior, too! He died on the cross for their sins and shortcomings, and, yes, for their failures and “blind spots” as parents, too.

So there are no perfect parents. If you read First Samuel, you soon see that Hannah, while a wonderful, godly mother, was also riddled with jealousy and petty bickering and many im­perfections.

Children, don’t expect your parents to be perfect. Remember, as diffi­cult as it may be to imagine, they are no more than children who grew up and “got big.”

Perhaps we can resolve to let God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, be the one and only perfect parent. And we can dedicate ourselves to being partners with Him in our parenting. You see, God needs more Hannahs – folks who have the wisdom and the grace to be partners with God in their parenthood.

One mom remarked that, “In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul.” I suppose that’s what it’s like when you partner with God while parenting.

In one church, when a Bible is presented to a third-grade child, the child recites a passage of Scripture. On one occasion, everything was going well until the minister came to one little boy who couldn’t remember his Bible verse. The boy’s eyes frantically searched for his mother, who was seated very near the front. When he finally spotted her, he was greatly relieved when she whispered to him, “I am the light of the world,” to which he immediately bellowed, “My mother is the light of the world.”

When we partner with God, we can shine as parents.