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Mother’s Day

John 14:15-21  The Inclusive Language Bible

“If you love me and obey the command I give you, 

I will ask the One who sent me, to give you another Paraclete, another Helper 

to be with you always—

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept

since the world neither sees her nor recognizes her;

but you can recognize the Spirit 

because she remains with you

and will be within you.

I won’t leave you orphaned;

I will come back to you. 

A little while now and the world will see me no more: 

but you will see me;

because I live,

and you will live as well.

On that day you will know

that I am in God

and you are in me,

and I am in you.

Those who obey the commandments are the ones who love me

and those who love me

will be loved by Abba God.

I too, will love them

And will reveal myself to them.”

At its heart, this scripture is about a God who refuses to abandon us. It is about a Spirit that continues the work of connection even when circumstances change. And it is about a simple command—to love one another. 

When we examine closely these verses from John’s Gospel, we notice the rhythm of a love that sustains. Again and again throughout his life, Jesus exemplifies this kind of embodied love. Love that shows up. Love that remains present.

What might that look like in our lives? Maybe it is the community that held you when you felt like you were falling apart. Maybe it is a mother—or someone who mothered you—who showed you that love is an unwaveringly constant presence.  

In this passage, Jesus speaks in a moment filled with anxiety and uncertainty. These verses come from what scholars call Jesus’ Farewell Discourse.

Just before this, the disciples are anxious, confused, even fearful. Betrayal is already unfolding. Change is coming.  And into that uncertainty Jesus says: “I won’t leave you orphaned” He does not promise that nothing will change. He promises that love will remain. We will not be abandoned by God. We will not be abandoned by Love itself.

Last week we heard Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” This week I hear in those words the foreshadowing of the unfolding Trinity:

Jesus as the Way,the Spirit as Truth,and God as the source of Life itself.

And at the center of it all is relationship. “I am in God, and you are in me, and I am in you.” This is not a distant God ruling from far away. This is a God of divine intimacy. A God of mutual indwelling. 

And when God is this deeply connected to us, we cannot be separate from one another. We are all meant to be as One.

Listen to the flow of the verbs in this passage: Love. Obey. Ask. Give. Remain. See. Know. Reveal. We belong to a loving God that desires to be in relationship with all that she has created. A relationship abounding in love. A relationship that promises presence. A relationship that deepens with trust. Through it all moves the Advocate—the Spirit of Truth.

The Greek word is Paraclete: one who comes alongside. Sometimes translated as Comforter or Helper, but also expressed as Challenger, Guide, and Encourager. 

Like the many attributes of mothering, this passage does not allow us to stop at comforter or helper because love asks something more of us.

In John’s Gospel, the command is simple: love one another. Even though the command is simple, living out that command is often difficult. Living into Jesus’ command to love one another is sometimes costly. 

Because this kind of love, lived out, disrupts systems of exclusion. This kind of love, embodied, challenges injustice. This kind of love, practiced, creates belonging among all of God’s precious children. This kind of love means resisting a world that teaches us to fear each other, judge each other, and discard each other. It means standing with people who are excluded, forgotten, or treated as less than beloved. It means practicing compassion not only as a feeling, but as a way of life.

And on this Mother’s Day, many of us recognize something familiar in that kind of love. Through mothers, grandmothers, aunts, caregivers, chosen family—many of us have experienced love that transcends. Love that guides us, protects us, challenges us, forgives us, and reminds us who we are.

We also recognize that all experiences of motherhood or being mothered are not simple or easy. For some, today carries grief, absence, or longing. We must also acknowledge those truths. 

Even, and especially, in the complexity of our stories—the joy and the grief, the gratitude and the longing—we are gathered together by a love that does not let go. A love that continues to move among us, shaping us into people who can carry compassion, courage, and hope into the world.

As we prepare to leave this place and return to the rhythms of our lives, may we go with hearts open to that presence which is always at work within us and around us.

May we notice where love is already alive.

May we trust that we are held by something larger than ourselves.

And may we become, for one another, living proof that God is alive around and within us.

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – May 10, 2026