Title: Is There a Family in the House? Mother's Day

Date: 2008-05-11

Reference: John 4: 46-54

""Today is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church. The confirmation class learned about the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. How, on that day, all of the Lord’s followers were together in one place. And how suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind. It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue of fire came and settled on each person there. The Holy spirit took control of everyone and they began speaking whatever language the Spirit let them speak. On that very day, three thousand persons believed and were baptized. That small band of spirit filled disciples turned the world upside down. My Pentecost Pray is: “Do it again Lord. Do it again. Use us the same way.” I’ll preach more on Pentecost and the Spirit in the next few weeks.

This is also Mother’s Day and the beginning of Christian Family week. We are all grateful for family. We are thankful for the family that gathers in our homes. Grateful for family scattered elsewhere. We are happy for our family of close friends and for the family of faith in our congregation and around the world.

Family is important. I believe if the family fails then all the other institutions of society will fail. The family is societies most important and durable unit. The family preceded all other institutions. We are all aware of the pressures our society has placed on the family.

Our growing dependence upon other institutions in society tend to undermine the traditional family unit. General education has been taken over by the schools. Religious education has been turned over the church with parents feeling less responsible. We tend to look to government to provide services which have traditionally been provided by the family. School, church, and government can help the family but never substitute for the family. If the family fails all the other institutions of society will fail. Every influence which weakens the family will ultimately weaken society as a whole. All that is done to build strong, healthy, happy, and effective families will increase the possibility of a strong and healthy society.

The family unit in Uganda has almost ceased to exist. The entire nation has been ravaged by poverty, hunger, war, ethnic violence, and the AIDS epidemic. Thousands of children have been orphaned and have no one to care for them. The church in Uganda is forming new family units. Eight children and a house parent live and grow together in a house provided for them by Christians around the world. As you know, in July of 2009 a team from our church is planning to go to Uganda to build such a house for a family God will bring together. In this way, by rebuilding the family unity, the nation of Uganda will be rebuilt.

This election year we hear many proposals to help the family from those who would lead us. I believe the future of our country will not be settled by congress people or by presidents but by parents. Parents prepare children for life. We know in ideal terms a family has a father, mother and children living together. Today there are many single parent families. Many grandparents are raising their grandchildren.

There are even some never married single adults adopting children. Blended families are formed when parents remarry. Whatever it looks like, the family is a place for people to live together, love each other, and grow . A successful family requires energy, interest, commitment, love and lots of hard work. Discipline is first developed in the family. A family is a place of safety and security.

The family teaches values and passes them from one generation to the next. Love of God, love of nation, a work ethic, pride in what one does, independence, responsibility, kindness are all lessons learned first in a family setting.

I bought a wooden picture frame at our youth garage sale. I took it home and framed a picture of my great grandparents. His name was Richard and her name was Mary Jane. In their eyes I see strength, character, and determination. He did his duty in the Civil War and came home to raise a family. The values they lived by were passed down to me. And today I am trying my very best to impress those same core values on my children. I want them to love God, the church, their family. I want them to work hard and do their best in life. I want them to be independent, proud, and compassionate. These are the kinds of timeless values and lessons passed down through the ages.

One of God’s greatest plans for the family is the faith of Godly mothers. During the Communist period in Eastern Europe it was the Christian Grandmothers who really kept the faith alive. While parents were both working the grandmothers taught the children in their care how to cross themselves, how to pray, taught them stories from the Bible. The grandmothers modeled their Christian faith for the grandchildren.

When the wall fell and the church was free to operate they found an entire generation ready to listen. Children who had been taught to love the Lord by their mothers and grandmothers.

The faith has been handed down in this way one generation to the next. On one occasion Jesus was in Cana. He was approached by a man who had heard about the miracles of Jesus. This man had traveled 20 miles to seek Jesus’ help for his son who was very ill and dying. He kept begging Jesus to return home with him to heal his son. Jesus admired the man’s faith and said simply: “You go home. Because of your faith your son will live.” The man believed and started home. As it turned out the boy was healed the instant Jesus spoke these words. This made a believer of the father and his entire family. He believed Jesus was the Savior, the Son of God. He shared his faith with his family. His family saw first hand the difference their father’s faith had made in his life. And they too became believing Christians. Over the years many have been first introduced to Christ by loving Godly parents and grandparents who have lived their faith and displayed the love of God in their daily lives.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy. He said: “I remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same kind of faith. And I’m sure you have it as well.” In this verse Paul describes a faith that remains fresh and vital generation after generation.

A mother often meets the needs of her children by modeling her role as a woman and a mother. I’m old fashioned enough to believe that the mother is the one by whom the son judges the girl he will eventually marry.

The mother models for her daughter what it means to be a woman, a mother, and a person of faith. Children need big ideas like love and salvation translated into terms they can understand. Many of the foundations for adult faith are laid in the simple experiences of childhood. Most of the time these lessons happen in the home.

In the home a child learns God’s love is unconditional and never changes. From his parents a child learns about the beauty of the world and learns that God made it. The words a child hears about God in church will have meaning only if he or she experiences them in the home.

I found a book of reflections, prayers, and meditations entitled: “Home is a Holy Place.” The devotions are inspired by the ordinary contents of one’s home. The author believes home is a holy place or a sanctuary where God is alive in ordinary things and events that surround us.

Through the Holy Spirit, of Pentecost, dwelling within us, God enters our homes and transforms that ordinary space into a shrine. Each reflection in the book is based on a household object or activity we might other wise take for granted. The premise of

the book is once we recognize God’s presence in ordinary objects we see and use every day we are led into a more intimate relationship with God. A walk through the rooms of our homes will become a walk with God.

And so today we thank our generous God for the common things in life and in family life that make life worth living. The memories we share with other family members. The love and direction we have received and continue to receive from our mothers. The laughter we enjoy in our homes.

The caring we experience from our family and from our church family. Most of all for the quiet supportive presence of the Holy Spirit, for the security we feel as sons and daughters of God. ""