Today is the day when we honor Moms. See if anyone here recognizes this Mom:
You stand up to take pictures at your son’s school play even after they’ve asked people not to.
You insist your child wear a sweater when YOU’RE cold.
You tell your daughter how much prettier she looks with her hair out of her eyes.
You hear yourself say [things like], “Your face will freeze like that,” and “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?”
The first thing you ask when someone walks into your home is, &”Do you want something to eat?”
There’s a used Kleenex stuffed up your shirtsleeve.
Your daughter says smugly that she’ll never be anything like you.
Sound like anyone you know?
Our text is very appropriate for today. “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” (Our NRSV translation) has Jesus say, “I will not leave you orphaned . . . ” Both renderings of the text sound like Mother’s Day to me. I don’t want to be guilty of stereotyping, but when most of us think
of being comforted, do we think of our Moms or our Dads? A survey asked boys who they most likely would be to confide in, and about 23 percent said their father. The remaining 77 percent said they would confide in their mother. “I will not leave you comfortless,” said Jesus. There are a lot of
Dads who are doing a splendid job of comforting their children, but in the majority of cases, for comfort, we think of Mom. Yes, God is like a Father, but God is also like a Mother who comforts her children. (Sermons.com, King Duncan).
Our second reading is from Proverbs, answering the question, “A good wife who can find?” (10). Interestingly this is the last proverb, the final word of this wisdom literature and it values women. She is an entrepreneurial woman, honored by her husband, praised at the gates and called blessed by
her children. And for those mothers who work outside the homes, hear how this Wisdom woman is praised for her agency and character, not simply child barring. Read Proverbs 31:24-31.
I love the cartoon Calvin and Hobbs. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated in her favorite chair, sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin's head is encased
in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat. “What’s up today?” asks his mom. “Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin. “So far?” she questions. “Well, you never
know”, Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”
Calvin’s mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”
That’s the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems quite violent, and people seem to be at each other's throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say with Calvin, “Whatever may come my way, I’m going to be ready for it! Bring it on!”
(Sermons.com)
Well, I don’t have a suit like Calvin’s to give you this morning, but I do have a word for this morning: love and comfort. Our gospel lesson begins and ends with love. If we love Jesus, we will keep his commands. And Jesus will love us and reveal himself to us. This love will now come from the Holy Spirit. You see this is Jesus’ final address to his disciples and he is preparing them to receive the Holy Spirit. That’s why Jesus said, "I will not leave you orphaned . . .” Orphaned is a relational concept, those who are without parents, guidance, even maternal love. But Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to fill this void, to comfort us and care for us. Jesus is sending love and comfort in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Advocate is coming; she is nurturing and abiding. On Mother’s Day I think it is appropriate for us to use feminine pronouns for the Holy Spirit, especially since Spirit is a neutral gendered word. Jesus said, “If you love me, the Father will give you another
Helper, to be with you forever. She is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because the world neither sees her nor knows her. You know her, because she abides with you and she will be in you” (Working Preacher, Angela N. Parker). Spirit sure feels like a good mother. There when you need her, comforting you, caring for you and encouraging you. Henri Nouwen transformed my understanding of Holy Spirit. He wrote, “The intimate relationship between Father and Son has a name. It is Spirit. Holy Spirit. “I want you to have my Spirit.” “Spirit” means “breath.” It comes from the Greek word pneuma. (It’s like Jesus saying) “I want you to have my breathing. I want you to have that most intimate part of me so that the relationship that is between you and God is the same as between me and God, which is a divine relationship” (Following Jesus, Henri Nouwen, p. 22).
Jesus giving us the Holy Spirit is connecting us to God as intimately as our breath and providing a Helper to be with us forever (16). American author, Washington Irving wrote of mothers in such a way that might also be applied to the Holy Spirit. “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts” (Sermons.com). Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." Jesus comes to us today through the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to us today through the Holy Spirit, as our Advocate. When life seems to knock us down, and adversaries disturb our world, Jesus send the Advocate. “When our Adversary whispers that you don’t matter and no one
cares about you, our Advocate rebukes him and reminds us of whose we are and who we are. When our Adversary haughtily speaks of how we get what we deserve, our Advocate gently reminds of the amazing nature of grace” (Sermons.com, Bill Thomas). That’s the power of the Holy Spirit, our Advocate.
“A student named Steve was taking a challenging class in Logic. The course and teacher were known for demanding exams. The final exam was looming, and the professor mercifully told the class that each student could bring in an 8 x 11 ½ sheet paper with as much information as they could put on it. On exam day, each student came to class clutching their precious pieces of paper, their cheat sheets. But Steve walked in with a single blank sheet and a friend who was a senior student and who had an ‘A’ in logic. Steve bent down and placed that single, blank sheet of paper on the floor next to his desk. His expert friend stood on the paper. The professor noticed the extra body in the room and asked what he was doing. Steve piped up, “You said we could bring in whatever we could fit on a single piece of paper for help on this test, well, this is my help and he can fit on the paper!” He had followed the instructions to the letter and was the only student in that class to score an ‘A’ since he had his expert friend standing alongside him. The Holy Spirit is like that friend, standing alongside us, supporting us, and guiding us” (Sermons.com).
As you know Parker has been juggling a lot of late. He is finishing his classes, working at Fed Ex, studying for and taking certification in his field, and graduating on Saturday. The past two weeks have also seen four different days with multiple interviews at Joby Aviation. He should hear this week if he gets the job. I am so proud of him, it hurts. As any mother knows, seeing your children succeed, growing into fine adults, is the best gift ever. But what I treasure the most is simply listening to him as he navigates this time; his thoughts, fears, excitement and challenges. Being there with him, asking questions, brainstorming ideas, offering unconditional love and support. I
have this honor because I know my son and he knows me. We trust each other and abide together. Our relationship makes this possible. That is why Jesus sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to abide with the disciples. They, and we, know her, because “she abides with you and she will be with you”(17). Love and comfort in the shape of the Holy Spirit. Love and comfort in the shape of a mother. We might not have Calvin’s suit able to handle anything. But then again, knowing the Holy Spirit, having divine love and support, might be even better. Amen.
