MIKE CUNNINGHAM
MOTHERS DAY, 2008
I’ve noticed
the older I get the more sentimental I become on Mothers Day. This morning I
plan on doing a little reminiscing and hope no one will mind. It wasn’t always
so, but for the past several years on Mothers Day my first thoughts turn to
God. To think that back in eternity past our Creator chose to bless me greatly
through a woman He planned to have one day appear on the scene of human
history, grow up, fall in love and marry my dad, and then, at a precise moment
in time which He alone had determined, became my mom, is absolutely awesome. I’m
still grateful for that good woman’s unconditional sacrificial love of me and
my younger brother and sister. And then, whenever I once again meditate on the
fact that before He spoke His world into existence He also planned and ordained
to bless me through a young woman who was to become the mother of our four
children, a woman destined to surpass my mother’s wonderful loving
characteristics; all I can think of saying is: Oh Lord my God how great Thou
art!
It wasn’t
until God called me into the ministry however, that I’ve been able to have a
better understanding of and a deeper appreciation for the multitude of daily
obstacles these two women had to overcome in order to take care of their
children properly. For instance, just in the area of feeding them, each of
those women did their very best to provide their children with tasty nutritious
meals; meals they knew were essential in order to develop strong healthy
bodies. Today I’m also reminded of an incident which took place in the early
morning hours a long time ago. It occurred after the resurrection of Jesus when
some of His disciples were out fishing in the
John 21:15-17 (ESV) 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon
Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said
to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 He said to him a
second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him,
"Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17 He said to him
the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was
grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and
he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love
you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.”
Although Jesus
likened Peter to a shepherd, He wasn’t telling him to feed all those folks He
had entrusted into Peter’s pastoral care the same kind of well balanced meals
He expects mothers to do for their children. On the contrary, Peter and all
those men who would follow in his footsteps as Christian pastors are expected
to provide spiritual nourishment, and do so to the best of their ability. In
other words, they are to do their utmost with what He gives them to work with
just as my mom and my children’s mom did with the meager funds they all too
often had available. It saddens me whenever I think of occasions, when, through
no fault of their own, these two women sometimes went to bed at night feeling
awful because they weren’t able to do a better job of feeding their children. And
I’m sure I’m not the first, nor will I be the last pastor who has had similar
thoughts on a Sunday night after having a week of unexpected distractions which
took away from the time normally devoted to crafting their sermon.
When I was a
boy we children occasionally complained because my mom mixed oatmeal in with
the ground beef in order to make the meat stretch whenever she made meat balls.
I can also remember when one of our own children moaned and groaned or silently
sulked if my wife’s meal didn’t quite measure up to his or her expectation. Of
course when they were very young they didn’t have a clue what she was up
against with our limited finances. And to this day I still feel awful whenever
I remember how saddened my wife was during those times when her most childish
critic was the one our Sovereign Lord had planned on allowing her to fall in
love with and marry. I’m especially reminded of these unpleasant memories whenever
I wasn’t able to serve up the best spiritual meal I know I’m capable of on a
Sunday because I wasn’t feeling up to par and was really dragging myself during
the week.
There are also
occasions when for legitimate reasons, a child isn’t able to be home for dinner
with the rest of the family. That’s when my mom and wife would carefully set aside
a meal for him or her in which the principal ingredient was love, a sacrificial
love for her own flesh and blood, and then going to bed while she was still hungry
only to find her child’s meal uneaten in the morning. Instead my wife could see
evidence the child had eaten a bowl of cereal or a jelly sandwich when he or
she returned home. Many a pastor can relate to those kinds of experiences whenever
they put together a spiritual meal they’re convinced God wants to turn into a
special blessing for His adopted children; a blessing which will enhance their
spiritual growth and strengthen their faith: a spiritual feast the pastor makes
available on a CD or else posts it on the internet for those who can’t attend
the worship service with their church family and hear it preached. He does so
hoping and praying the folks Jesus has commanded him to feed will listen or
read and savor and digest his labor of love and not pig out on watching TV, a
ball game or some other distraction Satan often uses to entice him or her away
from God’s Word.
It’s hard to
understand why God would allow my mom and wife and other faithful mothers to
have such heartbreaking experiences. But then I’m reminded of the truth of what
the Scriptures proclaim. Who can know the mind of God? His ways are not our
ways. His ways are perfect and past finding out. The Sovereign One in whom we
all live move and have our very being; the One apart for whom you and I and every
creature can do nothing; had planned and ordained back in eternity past, these
good mom’s, each of whom wanted nothing but the best for their children, women
who would give their life to save their child from harm, would one day be
subjected to such disappointment by their own son or daughter.
It goes
without saying, each of us are different. We have been created that way by God.
That means its ok, and we shouldn’t attempt to try to change one another so
everyone becomes just like us. People ought to be their own unique selves with
their likes and dislikes. And that includes the kind of food and meals they
prefer to eat. This is often an area in which mothers have some of their
greatest challenges; what to serve everyone so they will eat it and be pleased
and become well nourished. However, a loving mom won’t give her children
everything the child prefers. I hate to think what I would look like today if my
mom fed me everything I wanted. I probably would have been dead and buried a
long time ago. Could you imagine anyone living on a dinner of only ice cream,
cake and pie with candy or pudding for desert rather than real food? And today
that’s why my wife won’t let me feel sorry for myself because I can’t eat those
things anymore. She reminds me and anyone else who happens to be present; I ate
enough of that stuff to last a couple of lifetimes. She sounds just like my mom
and I don’t like listening to her reminders, but it’s the truth.
Occasionally
mothers have to be real creative in order to see to it that their sick son or
daughter takes their medicine which tastes yucky. They hide it amongst
something the child really enjoys such as juice or applesauce. There may be a
particular sin someone has rationalized in their own mind as being ok in spite
of what the Bible says. The person insists the verse can’t mean what it appears
to be saying. Following a wise mothers lead, and as Nathan did with King David,
(2 Samuel 12) the pastor may subtly imbed the fact in a fictitious story and
help the wayward Christian get back on track.
For the most part though these methods usually work
both at home and, I’m happy to say at our church. Every once in a while though;
you may run across a child who is quite different when it comes to eating
preferences. I mean
very different. Do you moms know the kind of son or daughter I’m
alluding to? Can anyone guess where I’m headed? I have a feeling you do. Recently
I asked my wife how she would describe a picky eater. Her immediate response
was: “a pain in the butt.” Her answer wasn’t
exactly what I expected but I can see her point. And unless I’m greatly
mistaken, so can each of you.
The picky
eater poses a real challenge to moms. Her child may insist they don’t like
parts of the meal she prepared for the family and stubbornly refuse to eat any of it. In
other words, if the mother doesn’t serve something exactly the way the child
wants, the boy or girl is willing to go to bed hungry rather than compromise. Of
course none of you mothers have had such an experience, have you? It’s sad when
you think of how children sometimes willingly deprive themselves of desperately
needed nourishment God wanted them to have. The objective of a pastor is to get
as much spiritual nutrients into those folks the Lord wants the man to love and
feed as He instructed Peter a long time ago, but it isn’t always easy. For
instance, each of you folks has personal preferences as to how a sermon ought
to be preached. I like that! I enjoy the challenge and prayerfully try my best
to craft my sermon in such a way that there is something in it for everyone. However,
I don’t have a chance with a spiritually picky eater. For instance, I can
remember the time about a dozen years ago a man told me he didn’t like my
stories. It didn’t matter to him that I had saturated with them with Scripture
which many of his brothers and sisters in Christ found to be very helpful in
communicating spiritual truth to them. It wasn’t that he didn’t like stories,
but they weren’t true. To him there was no place for any untruth in a worship
service. The man admitted he just tuned me out and thought about other things
whenever I told a story.
You folks
probably remember I sometimes share an email in order to drive home a spiritual
truth. And then before I conclude the sermon I admit I made it up. In other
words, I told a story which every one bought into for a while and I enjoy
seeing the smiles on your faces when I break the truth. However, from my
perspective, the most important thing is whether or not the Holy Spirit spoke to
your heart and mind through my fabrication. Allow me to share some feedback on
my recent series concerning a letter from a young man named
Commenting on
my sermon in which I asked: Did you see what I saw, allow me to share some of
the responses. “Mike I enjoyed this sermon. I stopped to wipe tears from my
eyes several times. Scripture gets me every time. It convicts me to the core.
It reminds me of who we are supposed to be living for, of who we say we serve,
of what we should be feeling, of how we should be thinking. I took the
scriptures you chose this week to apply to other areas of my life, tough
situations I am currently dealing with, as well as my reactions to what the now
infamous Jeremiah Wright has been saying. They confirm for me that no matter
how difficult it may be, choosing love and forgiveness is the right course. Thanks for those scriptures Mike. They fed my
soul and helped immensely with other things. But isn’t that the beauty of
scripture?” “I'm so glad God reaches out to us, Mike. I am eternally grateful
that he called me to Him. And so happy He really loves me, warts and all, as
they say. Yes, Mike, I
saw what you saw in that "Letter to
“Mike, I did
and it caused me to think back to my rebirth, and to think back at the
situations and events leading up to that time as the Father was drawing me. Oh
the joy of my salvation. Thanks Mike.”
“I really
admire and respect this young man who has been able to overcome his painful
childhood and instead of being angry and bitter he has moved on and channeled
his energies into reading and exploring God's Word; and even plans on
starting to go to church to get God's message live and not on the radio.”
“Hi Mike, I took time to read the sermon about
““Just read your sermon.
If
“The letter from
The third
sermon concerned me, because if there isn’t a real live Douglas and, worse yet,
if you are
Hopefully,
And the
Sovereign Lord, the One who holds the kings and everyone else’s hearts in the
palm of His hand and who directs it like you and I would a garden hose
(Proverbs 21:1) could have influenced those folks who so graciously provided
honest feedback, to respond in such a way that I would not be faced with this
dilemma. But that was not what He had planned and ordained before He created
His world. In other words, what I am experiencing is something He is working
out in perfect conformity with the purpose of His unchanging will (Ephesians
1:11).
What would you
moms do if you were in my shoes? Do any of you believe it’s ok to make up a
fictitious letter in order to impart much needed spiritual truth which you would
have asked God to use to bless His children such as you may have done when you
laced food or drink with medicine? In God’s eyes do you think He views such
tactics as being dishonest? Is it wrong for a pastor to fabricate a story which
he knows will be eagerly devoured, and does so in an attempt to influence folks
who may be having some difficulty staying on the straight and narrow, someone
the pastor knows the Lord wants him to love and feed spiritual truth to? I did
think about writing the answer as to whether or not Douglas is a figment of my imagination
and putting it in a sealed envelope with instructions on the outside it’s not
to be opened until after the Lord brings me home. I’m absolutely certain of one
thing though and that is He wants me to do my very best to glorify Him in this
divinely ordained challenge. There’s so much more I could say but it’s Mothers
Day and time is running out
Before I close
though, I would like you folks to hear the following. “Hey Pastor Mike. It’s me
Douglas, again. That was real cool the way you worked my letter into your
sermon. Chloe thinks it was awesome. I’m still reading my Bible and other good
stuff besides. I have a question. Why did God tell Moses to write something
that God had to know wasn’t true? Why did God have Moses come up with such a
whopper that made Christians look like fools?” Douglas goes on to explain and
closes with, “Your friend, Douglas. PS: In case you’re wondering, Chloe’ my
girl. She’s the cute kid I was telling you about who invited me to church a
couple of weeks ago.”
Lord willing,
next week…
|| Additional Sermons || Leave Feedback ||