Easter 4C, 2025

Text: Revelation 7:9-17

Title: Love Mom, Love Jesus

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!

Why do we love our moms so much?

It’s probably not because they’ve done anything huge and heroic.

It’s probably because of their regular, constant, everyday care.  All the noses wiped, sandwiches made, games and performances attended, day after day, year after year over the course of a lifetime.

It’s the constant, selfless giving that we associate with moms, and that’s one reason why we love them so much.

Some of these ways of loving and caring that we associate with motherhood are also ways that Jesus loves and cares for us.

Now, I want to be clear from the start, God is our Father.  That is how He chooses to reveal Himself to us.

Jesus was a male human being.  That is how He chooses to interact with us.

It would be wrong to call God “Mother” or to pray to Him or worship Him as such.

And yet, there are times when God uses actions that we typically associate with mothers to describe His love and care for us.

A few weeks ago, Jesus said that He longed to gather the people of Jerusalem together as a mother hen gathered her chicks.

And even when God talks this way, we don’t learn about God by looking at our moms and saying, “Well, God must be something like that.”

We start with God, and we see His amazing love for us.  And then, if we have a mom, or anyone else in our life, whose love is a reflection of that, we recognize and give thanks for the way that God loves us through those people.

No human being, not even the best mother in the world, is ever going to be able to love you as fully and completely as God does.

Even the best mom is a sinner herself and in need of God’s love and forgiveness.

The best moms point not to themselves as the example, as the big deal, but to Jesus Christ, who loves both moms and dads and children to the point of dying on the cross for them.

Now, what does any of that have to do with our text from Revelation?

I’m glad you asked.

When we see this picture of the saints in heaven, and when we consider all that Jesus has done and will continue to do for us, there is at least a hint of how our mothers care for us as well.

For example, how is the multitude dressed? 

They are wearing robes that have been washed and made white.

If they have been washed and made white, this means that they were dirty.  They were soiled.  And they were made clean, but not by the saints themselves.

How many loads of laundry has your mom done for you?

As a child, you weren’t responsible for washing your clothes.  In most households, that was probably mom’s job.

Why did she do it?

She wanted you to look your best.  Even when you didn’t care what you looked like, she wanted you to look good.

If you’re on Facebook or Instagram, your feed is probably blowing up with pictures of prom-goers posted by proud moms.

As a child of God, Jesus wants you to look your best.

Your clothes have become dirty, soiled with sin.

But to wash your clothes clean takes more than a bit of detergent and maybe a swab with the stain-stick.

And you can’t do it yourself.  You can’t get your clothes clean on your own.

The only way to make you clean and presentable is to wash you with His own blood, and the only way to obtain that blood is by His death.

But Jesus was willing to pay that ultimate price for you, to forgive you, to absolve you, to wash you clean.

And that’s why you wear white at your baptism, because here at the font Jesus washes away your sins.

And that’s why the confirmands will wear white next Sunday, to remember that they were baptized and they are confessing that same faith into which they were baptized.

And that’s why, when you die, we cover your casket with a white funeral pall and bring you back to the font once more, because now you are a member of that multitude, wearing white, and holding a palm branch, because you have a share in Jesus’ victory over death.

And there’s more to this picture than just the white robes. 

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.”

There’s this comfort in simply being with God, being in His presence, just as there’s a comfort in being with mom.

When kids feel alone and afraid, who do they call for first?  It’s usually mom.  There’s just something comforting, reassuring in knowing that mom’s there for you.

But what about when mom’s not?  You may be blessed to have a loving mother in your love whom you see every day.

But what if your mom is far away?  What is your mom has already died?  What if your relationship with your mom has turned bad, and her presence doesn’t bring that sense of comfort and peace that it’s supposed to?

That’s where Jesus fits in.  For those of you who are missing mom today, or who are mourning a broken relationship with your mother, know that Jesus is there for you in a way that goes even beyond the best of moms.  You can look to Him for comfort and peace, knowing that He’s with you now, and that not even death can take Him away from you.

16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,”

Moms are usually good with hungry and thirsty kids, feeding them their favorite foods, while at the same time making sure that they eat healthy, wholesome food.

How much more does Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Good Shepherd feed and provide for you.  He not only gives you your daily bread, He feeds you with His own body and blood.  He gives you nourishment not just for this life, but that will sustain you forever. 

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Jesus takes care of your every need.

“and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

When you’re sad, when the tears flow, a hug from mom can make all the difference.

How much more does Jesus comfort us.  Jesus truly knows all your pain, all your suffering. Jesus experienced all the pain and loss that you have.  Jesus experienced the death of His friends, and He wept.  Jesus was taunted and tormented, and He endured.  Jesus suffered the worst kind of physical pain imaginable on the cross.

Jesus knows when you suffer.  And Jesus can give you true comfort.

Not just a pat on the head.  Not just empty words, “It will be okay.”

But a true solution to all your problems. Jesus came to take away all those things that cause you pain and suffering.  Jesus came to bring you to that wonderful place that John saw in Revelation 7.  Even if it meant His own suffering and death, Jesus was willing to die for you to make it happen.

Jesus did the big heroic work of saving the world. And He also does the ordinary, every day work of making sure that you’re clothed and fed and loved.

And that’s why we love Jesus so much.

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!