I’d like to wish all of the mothers and grandmothers a Happy Mother’s Day. This sermon is in honor of you, your mother and your grandmother. There are times in our lives when all we need is a little love. There’s almost nothing better than a mother’s love when you are sick or when you just need a hug.
The Bible spends a lot of time on the subject of love. In fact, love is one of the most important things that we can do while we are on this earth. I think that when we get to Heaven one of the first questions will be about how much we loved and how we showed that love. The Bible has a lot of different words for love in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew.
Many scriptures about love in the Bible show up a lot in wedding ceremonies. The book of Ruth is quoted in marriage ceremonies even though the love shown was from a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Read Ruth 1:15-17, "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
We read 1 Corinthians 12 at my wedding to Susan. This chapter is simply referred to as the “love chapter.” 1 Corinthians 12 simply says that you haven’t lived if you haven’t loved. Listen to these words about love and ask yourself if your love is patient and kind.
In 1 Corinthians 12 it says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
There’s so many ways that we can experience love. We first experience the love of a parent for us as a child. We are loved, fed, and clothed without offering anything except love in return to our parents. A baby’s loves back is unconditional. A baby’s love returns the love of their parents. The baby learns to trust and have faith in their parents. The bond between a father or mother and their child is very strong. That bond is love. The child learns about faith, hope, and love through their parents.
In fact, Jesus and God set the example for us about love. This love is the love between God the Father and God the Son. God’s love for Jesus is a good example of parent’s love for a child. In Matthew 3:16-17, it says “As soon as Jesus was baptized, Jesus went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The love God expressed is so special. God claimed Jesus as his son. God told Jesus that he loved him. God also told him that he is well pleased. We need to be told that we are loved and that we love those special ones in our lives. We also need to tell them that we are pleased with them.
There’s the love between two people who are in love for the first time. This love is new, fresh, and unknown. The first thing that happens is the realization that the first love is different from the love that we knew from our parents. It is still love, but it is different. I think this first love helps to teach us and prepare us for the long lasting kind of love.
We have a term for it: puppy love. We are consumed with love at this stage in our lives. We can’t think of anything except this new kind of love that we are experiencing. Our minds stop working and our hearts have total control of our lives. We want to be with the special person as much as possible. Our hands find each other. Touch is an important part of this love. This “first love” is wonderful until that first break up. At that point, we think we will never be able to love again. The first love is special because it is like a spring tulip bulb which grows and blossoms into a beautiful flower and then quickly fades into a beautiful memory.
The Song of Songs scriptures describe many kinds of love and even friendship. Some of the verses are so powerful that it takes our breath away. Some of the verses could go into a greeting card easily. Other verses might make us blush. I’m going to read Songs of Songs 7:1-6 “How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands. Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!”
I wish I could write like King Solomon. I think it is okay to say “I love you” in a simple and special way. It is good to describe how and why we love each other. The book of Psalm also speaks about love.
The next time we fall in love, it is different from the “first love.” It is deeper. Love is giving. Love is devoted. Love is no longer just about “me” and taking. Love is now about “us” and giving more than we receive. Love now has a give and take that wasn’t a part of that first love. We promise not to make the same mistakes again. We start asking more questions and observing others who are in love so that we can experience a deeper love. We learn about love by receiving the love from others and in turn trying to return that love to that special person in our lives.
I remember praying to God one week before I met Susan. I told God that I was lonely. I was grieving over the loss of my Grandmother Barker. I asked God to place someone special into my life. The week after that prayer, I met Susan at a housewarming party. It was love at first sight. I knew that Susan was the right woman for me. She listened. She empathized with my pain for the loss of my grandmother. I went home and called my sister and Granny Hughes that I had met the woman that I would marry. I had no idea at that point how much Susan would change my life. I also had no idea about the depth of love we would experience when I first met Susan. I just knew that she was the one.
If we are lucky at some point in our lives, we will turn to the Bible to better understand love. Our love starts to grow and change with the knowledge that God’s word provides. I’ve just touched the surface about love.
The love for a child starts during the nine months while we wait for the birth of our child. I can’t imagine how it feels to become a mother with that life inside of you for those nine months. The love grows exponentially at the moment we see our new son or daughter for the first time. Susan’s grandmother Baumgarder had a great answer when asked who she loved the most. She said “There’s no limit to love. Love grows. There’s enough love in our hearts for everyone.” My love always grew as Susan and I had our children. It was hard to imagine life without our children after they were born. Our family was not complete without the newest addition to our family.
I can’t describe the love of a grandparent for a grandchild, but I’ve been told that it is even better than the love we have for our children. Grandparents can love and spoil the grandchildren and give them back to their parents when it is time for a break. I’ve experienced the love of a grandparent for me. It is wonderful to have love that is unconditional, full of wisdom, and with the time to give to a child.
Now, we have the love that surpasses all other love. God’s love for us is so much bigger than we can imagine. It has qualities of all of the kinds of love that I’ve described, but in a even more special way. God’s love was first. He loved us when he created the world. God loved us when he claimed us as one of his children. God loved us before we knew how to love God back. God’s love is patient. God’s love is kind. God’s love endures forever. God’s love is so much bigger than I have been able to describe. If we combine all the different kinds of love that I’ve described, I still have not been able to describe the actual size of God’s love. God loves us. I’ll finish with the knowledge that we will never be able to deserve God’s love, but it is by the grace of God that he loves us. In turn, we need to share God’s love with our mothers, our spouses, our brothers, and all of God’s people.
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