Pastor's Column 5/10/2026 - Mother's Day

PASTOR’S COLUMN

⁴  “ …God says: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone  who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’  ⁵ But you say it  is alright for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ ⁶ In this way you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel  the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Matthew  15:4-6, NLT                                                                                                                          

“Honoring The Ones Who Really Matter”

Placing value on what really matters in life is necessary but often overlooked. It is parents whom God chose to provide us with passage into this world. There is nothing outside of our faith in Jesus Christ that matters most than the persons God chose to produce and orient us to life. For thousands of years it was unconscionable for anyone to disrespect or overlook his or her parents. Mothers especially were held in high esteem. In the Sacred Scriptures, so familiar to us, Eve was known as “the mother of all who live.” Jesus of course gave special attention to His mother as He was fastened to the Cross on that dreaded place of the skull, Golgotha. The strongest words Jesus spoke in defense of his mother (and father) was in Matthew 15; 4-5. It was on an occasion when Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for giving so much attention to their contrived rituals and religious traditions. Those men were so loyal to the religious practices they had invented, they failed to honor their mothers, At issue was their refusal to assist their aging and widowed mothers who were left bereft of food, resources, and care. Jesus told them that their failure to aid their mothers especially, was to dismiss God’s command to honor their parents. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, the ancient word used for honor means “to respect” and “to show reverence for a person of great value.”   The mother who provides us with the first sanctuary we ever lived in is worthy of honor. God promises us as long as we live and show such respect, we will be blessed beyond all else!