Text: John 14: 23-29
Title: Love and Obey
Preacher: Jerry Cho
Date: May 10, 2015

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

"Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking it's life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"You will simply call her, 'Mom.'"
- Unknown


The other day I read an article in the Korean newspaper. The article was about an interview with a ninety nine year old Japanese war veteran who was a pilot in the Japanese Air Force. He said, “Many people think that when Kamikaze pilots rammed into American aircraft carriers to their death, their last cry was, “Denno Banjai, meaning “Long Live the Emperor!” But the old veteran said that he had never seen any Kamikaze pilots say that. Instead, he saw most Kamikaze pilots cry out, “Okasan! meaning, “Mother!” as their last word on earth.

Today is Mother’s Day. It’s meaningful and fitting that we thank all the mothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, godmothers and mother figures for their love, sacrifice and hard work for the family members.

A Jewish proverb goes, “God couldn’t be everywhere. So He created mothers.” Second only to God, mother’s love for their children is the most sacred love in the world. A Spanish proverb goes, “An once of a mother is worth a one thousand pound of clergy.” Another one said, “A good mother is worth one hundred headmasters.”

In 1974 Henry Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s 714 career home runs. On April 8th, 1974 Hank Aaron was about to break the home run record Babe Ruth had. As he was a black man, many people did not like him. Hank Aaron received some 100,000 hate letters, including death threats.

On that night against LA Dodgers, Hank Aaron of Atlanta Braves hit the record breaking home run. The ballpark went nuts. The dugout was emptied and the crowd was cheering. A sixty-eight year old black woman was holding Hank Aaron tight. He said, “Mom, what are you doing here?” She said, “If they are gonna get you. They’ve gotta get me first.”

In the Bible we have many stories about mothers. Rebecca was the mother of twin brothers, Esau and Jacob. She favored Jacob over Esau. Her favoritism planted the seeds of sibling rivalry and family feud. Jochebed was the mother of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses. When the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered all the Jewish boys under the age two were to be killed, Jochebed made a basket and put her baby, Moses, in the basket and let it flow in the Nile River. Moses was rescued by a daughter of the Pharaoh and the rest was history.

Hannah could not bear a baby. So she prayed to God for a child. God answered her prayer and said, “I will give you a son. Name him Samuel.” Hannah’s son, Samuel, became the national leader of Israel.

Naomi was the mother-in-law to Ruth. After their husbands died, she said to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, “Now that my husband and my sons died, I am going back to my home country. Ruth and Orpah, you are young. You can start your lives anew. Take care of yourselves. I will be all right.”

Orpah said, “I am saddened to leave you.” With that, she left. But Ruth was different. Ruth said, “No, I am not going to leave you. Wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.” So Ruth went to Israel with her mother-in-law, Naomi. There she met her future husband, Boaz. Ruth became one of the ancestors in the family tree of Jesus.

In the New Testament we have stories of mothers such as Elisabeth and Mary. Elisabeth was the mother of John the Baptist and Mary was the mother of Jesus.

In the Christian history we have stories of mothers such as Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley and Mother Mary of Paul McCartney’s, who taught “Let it be.”

Of course, there are not so good mothers in the world. There are some mothers who killed their children for postpartum depression or some other reasons. Casey Anthony was accused of killing her own daughter. These are rare, bizarre, exceptional instances. Most mothers in the world are loving and caring people.

I miss my mother who passed away two years ago. My mother did not go to school one day in her life because she had to work at her father’s farm. She never learned to read and write. But she was one of the kindest and wisest people I’ve ever met. Her teachings are still lingering in my ears:

1. Evil never prospers. Good will eventually prevail.
2. Save for rainy days.
3. Clean up after yourselves.
4. Be humble.
5. Live within your means.
6. Always tell the truth
7. Be kind to animals.
8. Don’t be in debt.
9. Mind your own business.
10. Don’t talk too much.

After I married Cindy, I said to my wife. “I have a confession to make. There is a woman in my life that I love the most. She is my mother.” My wife did not scold me by saying, “What? Grow up, man! You are a mama’s boy.” Instead, she said, “I know you love your mother. That’s very nice. That’s why I like you.” I am glad that my mother lived a long life, eighty six years on earth. May she rest in peace!

There is a special bond between a mother and her children. Mothers carry their babies in the tummy for nine months. They share the blood and flesh as one body. We need to honor our mothers and commemorate them after they are gone.

Let us thank God for our mothers and let us love them and care for them as they age. Let us pray for our mothers when there is nothing much we can do for them.

Someone said, “The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” Mothers are the sunshine in our families. Their works for their families are incalculable, but often unnoticed and unappreciated.

Jesus said, “If you love me, obey me and keep my commandments.” As Christians, let us love Jesus and obey his commandments. As children, let us love our mother and obey their words.

Mothers know nothing. But mothers know everything. God bless all the mothers and others in the world!