Think of Jesus as Your Mom
Hannah
Easter
6C Gospel: John 14:23-29
May 13, 2007, Mother’s Day
In
the reading today from John 14, Jesus and his disciples are preparing for Jesus
to return to his Father in heaven. Jesus wants to make sure that he has taught
his disciples everything about God and how to live in the way that God wants
them to live. Jesus only has a little time to teach them all of this knowledge.
This
story made me think of my parents, and how everybody’s parents have only 18
years to take a newborn baby and raise them into a young adult and teach them
absolutely everything about life and make them ready to live on their own and
one day have their own lives and their own children. If you have kids you know
what a huge task this is.
When
you are growing up, from the time you are little to when you are a teenager,
your parents are constantly giving you advice on everything from what to wear
on your first day of kindergarten to what classes to take in high school. And
then there are the little life lessons that you hear a million times and
couldn’t possibly forget.
When
you are a kid everyone is always telling you, “Never talk to strangers.” When I
was little, I heard this line so many times that I think I might have taken it
a bit too literally. I’m sure you all know what a shy kid I was growing up. I
guess I figured that anyone I didn’t know real well must be a stranger, and
that I probably shouldn’t be talking to them. (I’m sure you all know who you
are.)
Another
thing I heard a lot when I was really little was “If you ever see a gun, don’t
touch it. Get an adult right away.” When I was 3, I found a gun while taking a
walk with my family. I was really upset - kinda traumatized - and I ran right
over to my mom and told her. I brought her to the place where I had found the
gun and my parents checked it out. It turned out to be only a plastic toy gun.
I felt a little foolish, but my parents praised me for remembering what I had
been taught.
When
I was a little older, my mom taught me another important lesson. She said that
I should “practice at being the person that I want to be when I grow up.” (No,
that doesn’t mean practice at being a firefighter or a dentist. It’s about
character. The kind of person you want to be.) I think about this a lot when I
am faced with a decision. When I’m at the mall, and I see someone drop
something and keep walking, I think to myself, “Should I pick that up and chase
that person down? Or should I keep walking because it’s easier? Is that the
kind of person I want to be? The kind who only does what’s easiest? Who always
takes the path of the least resistance, and never stops to help others?”
Maybe
it’s a woman pushing a baby carriage and the baby tosses the bottle on the
floor. Sure, that lady’s probably got 18 more at home and probably won’t miss
it, but what have I got to lose? I’ll burn a couple calories and probably look
like a fool running through the mall to catch up with her. But then I can feel
good about myself knowing that I helped someone. And the person that I want to
be when I grow up helps people whenever it is possible.
Back
to Jesus. Think of Jesus as your mom, if that’s not too sacrilegious. My mom
said that was sacrilegious. (I thought she would have taken it as a compliment!)
Actually, in the 14th century, an English mystic named Julian of Norwich
referred to Jesus as “Jesus our mother who feeds us with his body and blood.”
So there. Anyway, think of Jesus as your mom and the disciples as you. When
Jesus first came to the disciples, they didn’t know a whole lot about the ways
of God. He had to teach them the way your parents taught you, everything about
God and the way that God wants his people to live, in only a short time. And
there was a WHOLE LOT to teach about God. (If you haven’t noticed, He’s kind of
a big deal). As Jesus was preparing for his return to the Father, he had to
cram in all the important information. Obviously Jesus wasn’t telling his
disciples to look both ways before crossing the street but he told them other
really important knowledge, like that every time they did something good for
someone, they were doing it for him. And that there was no one on this earth
that was too low for them to serve.
When
you leave home and go to college, and then out into the world to start your own
life and have your own family, your parents aren’t gone. They are still around
and you can go visit them or call them if you need guidance or just want to
talk. (Or you don’t know how to change a diaper.) Like our parents, Jesus
wasn’t really gone either. 3 days after his crucifixion, he rose from the dead.
The disciples got to visit with him for a little while before he went to heaven
to be with God. Even after he went to heaven, the disciples could call him too;
on the prayer phone, if you will.
For
the disciples of the past, and for us, the modern disciples of today, Jesus was
always, and still is, there to help. And with Jesus, you don’t have to pay
roaming charges.
Amen.
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