May 12 2019 Mother's Day - Thousands of Mothers

May 12 2019 Psalm 23 *Revelation 7.9-17 "Thousands of Mothers" [Mother's Day] Pastor Jacqueline Hines

We can all agree - God created mothers. [slide # God created mothers] During his exile on the Isle of Patmos, John the revelator had vision of worshippers all around God’s throne, I am convinced that there had to be some mothers. He writes that he saw a great multitude which no one could count. For once, the multitude is not described as all male. Mothers from across the globe have worshipped God forever. The text is quite thorough. These were mothers from ALL tribes and ALL nations and ALL languages. No one was left out. It was not just about our Jewish brothers and sisters this time. It was not about gentiles this time. It was about ALL tribes and nations gathered around the throne of God. [slide # gathered in white robes]

Recently, someone asked the question – are there any diverse churches in our Methodist Conference? Is there any place to worship where we can see what John saw in his vision of Heaven? Is there a Methodist church that looks like the United Nations? Around the year 2000, there were about 1000 churches in our Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Today there are about 415 churches in our conference – 106 of them are in our South District and there is one that looks like the United Nations- that church is called Arch Street United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. [Slide # Arch St. UMC – serving food] They seem to be multicultural as well as multiracial. [slide # Arch St. at banquet table] So, it can happen.

In the book of Revelation, there are a multitude of people standing around God’s throne – people from all tribes, all nations, all languages? There is no doubt in my mind that mothers had to be at or close to that throne.

John says in verse 13 the elders addressed him,   [slide # … the elders addressed me], asking two questions that he knew he could not answer. They were rhetorical questions, questions designed to force him to think about some things and to prepare his mind to receive important answers. The first question was who are these thousands of people robed in white? The answer: those who had gone through the ordeal, the hard time, the upset, the turmoil, the unspeakable. What ordeal? It does not matter what their ordeal was. An ordeal is an ordeal.

Who among us has not had a hard time at one point or another? What mother and father has not endured some type of struggle with children? [slide # mother and child] Whether it is nurturing their faith in a faithless society, caring for their safety and well-being, daring and riskingletting them go out on their own, leaving you with an empty nest, or suffering some unspeakable heartache, catastrophe or tragedy? What mother, or father who has had to take on the role of mother and father, has not gone through one ordeal or another?

The second question was where have they come from? The answer: They have come from having their robes washed in the blood of the lamb. Blood is serious business. Being related by blood has serious legal and permanent meanings. Blood tests reveal serious information that speak truths otherwise hidden. Blood transfusions save lives while exposure to blood can cause serious harm. [slide # transfusion] Whether in a bank or on a murder weapon, blood is not to be taken lightly.

To be washed in the blood of the Lamb is to be impacted and inundated by a love so steeped in sacrifice that one is changed for the better at one’s core. One is healed by the blood of Jesus and transformed and uplifted in ways that matter deeply! To be washed in the blood of the Lamb is simply to be saturated in the sustenance of Jesus, our Source of all things that sustains and satisfies. The songwriter asks an important question - “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” nothing but the immeasurable, sacrificial love of Jesus, that can be found in each and every one of us here today.

Mothers are known for their sacrificial love. [slide # A Mother’s sacrifice] They get it from Jesus. Mothers have a love that sacrifices, to the point of blood, sweat, and tears, to the point of suffering without counting the cost. Mothers give of themselves whether or not they get anything in return sometime, like Jesus. They are made in the image of God. That is why we are compelled to honor them today even as we worship the God who created them.  

Verse 14 tells us the crowd that gathered around the throne had been through THE turmoil, THE ordeal. [slide # …out of the great ordeal]  We can look back in our own lives and remember THE trial or THE tribulation that stands out most in our minds from time to time. Because these people, these thousands of people – including mothers - who had been through some ordeal and were drawn to the presence of God and loved to the very core of their being, for this reason, the scriptures say, they became grateful worshippers, crowding around the throne of God; and they worshipped God day and night.

The love of God can bring you to your knees in awe, humbly bowing down in gratitude. Experiencing the blessed life can bring you to your knees with tears in your eyes and joy bursting in your soul. [slide # bowed in worship]

Oh for such a love that all should have for God that we would be compelled to worship day and night. Last week we noted the word for worship is the Greek  “pros-koo-neh'-o”. [slide # pros koo neh o] It has a derivative meaning to kiss someone as humbly as a dog licking its master’s hand.

For it is around God’s throne where we will be nearest to the Good Shepherd, as verse 11 tells us, we will be guided again and again to the springs of life, and the tears of sadness that we have shed because of THE turmoil or any turmoil, will be gently wiped from our eyes. May the truth of God’s love permeate your soul this Mother’s Day![slide # parents on cane] Amen! [slide # tulips]