I heard of this young minister who was looking for just the right introduction for a sermon he was preparing on love and the importance of family, but he couldn’t come up with anything.  He happened to be at a conference and heard another, more experienced preacher, and this other preacher had kind of a clever introduction to his sermon.  He said, “The sweetest, most wonderful, loving woman I ever held in my arms was another man’s wife.”  Then he quickly went on to say, the punch line was, “She was my mother.”  Well this was just the introduction this young preacher was looking for, so he decided to use it for his sermon.  When he got back to his church, he was kind of nervous as he got up to speak, for his congregation this was a little risqué.  His wasn’t the bawdy crowd you find here at Christ Church.  But nevertheless he went through with this opening line: “The sweetest, most wonderful, loving woman I ever held in my arms was another man’s wife.”  Well the shock that came over the faces of his congregation, they couldn’t believe they were hearing this from their minister.  And this kind of unnerved him, he couldn’t think what he was supposed to say next, what the punch line was.  So in his bungling of this, what he said was, “And for the life of me I can’t remember who she was.” 

Today we’re going to talk about, what some of us anyway might call, the “other woman”. Which reminds me, just briefly, of the man who was wearing his wedding ring on the wrong finger, and someone noticed this and asked him about it.  And the man said, “Yes, I am wearing my wedding ring on the wrong finger.  I married the wrong woman.” 

But what we’re talking about this morning is not the wrong woman, it’s the other woman, and the other woman of course is our mother.  How can we even describe the feelings we have for our mothers, the gratitude, how can we even begin to put it into words.  Anything we might say would be inadequate.  They have helped to make us who we are.  In so many ways, we owe them everything – our mothers and our fathers.  I agree with Lincoln: “God bless my mother,” he said.  “All that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her.” 

Someone was trying to put together the job description for a mother.  Here’s what someone came up with for the mother of a young child: “Wanted – Athlete in top condition to safeguard tireless toddler.  Needs quick reflexes, boundless energy, and infinite patience.  ESP helpful.  Knowledge of first aid essential.  Must be able to drive, cook, phone, and work, all at the same time, despite constant distractions.  Workday, not usually over 24 hours.  Would consider pediatric nurse with Olympic athletics background.” 

Here might be the job description for the mother of a teenager: “Position Available – For specialist in adolescent psychology, with experience in large quantity cooking.  Tolerance is chief requirement.  Slight hearing loss helpful or else provide your own ear plugs.  Must be unflappable.  Should be able to sense when your presence is no longer wanted by your child, and even embarrassing, and disappear.” 

We read this interesting story of Jesus, meeting this woman, this mother.  She was a Canaanite; she wasn’t Jewish like Jesus.  Her world was vastly different, different customs, different religious rituals, different gods that they worshipped.  There was animosity between the Jews and Canaanites. The term Canaanite wasn’t even really used that much any more.  The Canaanites had been defeated by Joshua and his army and driven out of the Promised Land more than a thousand years before Jesus.  So it was not all that surprising really to hear Jesus say very bluntly to this Canaanite woman that, “My mission here isn’t really for you, it’s for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  And theologically, it’s always been understood that Jesus came first to the Jews and then to the rest of us. 

But this theological complexity about who or what was the primary mission of Jesus made not one bit of difference to this woman.  This was too abstract, theoretical, to her.  What mattered to her, what mattered to this mother, what was very real, what was urgent, immediate, was to have Jesus heal her child, it was to get Jesus into the life of her child.  That was all that mattered. Maybe it’s the only thing in the world that really does matter.  Oh to have more mothers and fathers, more people in general, who are willing to bring a child to Jesus to be healed, transformed, restored to new life.  Oh to have more people who are willing to bring Jesus into the life of a child, bring Jesus into the life of another person. 

I want to primarily address those who are going to be confirmed today for just a moment.  I have been moved many times by the story of Albert Schweitzer, the great medical doctor and missionary, who once addressed the graduates of a boys’ school in England.  He told them, “I don’t know what your destinies will be, I don’t know what you will do with your lives.  Some of you will do great things, you will be in command and control of great big things.  I don’t know what you will do with your lives.  But one thing I do know is that you will never be truly happy until you learn how to be of service to other people, until you learn how to serve other people.” 

Likewise, I don’t know what your destinies will be, what your destinations in life will be.  You will do some great things.  I don’t know what you will do with your lives.  Maybe one of you will consider going into the ministry.  We need bright young men and women to go into the ministry, and there is nothing better you can do with your life, with all due respect to what everyone else in this room does for a living, than to stand up here in a pulpit like this and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a hurting and violent world.  God might be nudging someone in this congregation today to be a preacher, a pastor, a minister to those who are in need.  But there are many ways to be in ministry, you don’t have to be a minister to be in ministry.  Find your place of service, find your way of serving others.  You will never be completely happy in life unless and until you find your place of service to others. 

I know there will be times, believe me I know there will be times, when you will think I can’t do it, I can’t go on, I can’t hold it all together, no one believes in me, I don’t even believe in myself.  And it is at such times that you must remember that Jesus believes in you, Jesus and Mrs. O, Jesus believes in you, Jesus believes in you more than you believe in yourself.  But then you must tell the world, you must spend at least a part of your life sharing this message with other people, letting other people know that Jesus believes in them too, Jesus believes in them. 

I came across a prayer I like, it’s mostly a prayer for mothers and fathers, I suppose.  But I think we all might be edified by the message of this prayer.  This prayer, in part, says this, “Lord, help me to build a healthy child.  For it is easier to build a healthy child than to repair an adult.  Help me praise more than criticize, encourage more than nag, discipline, not punish, and model good behavior rather than simply demand it.  Help me ask myself, ‘Will this matter in 20 years?’  Then enable me to let go of those things that won’t, so I can have the energy for those things that will.  Help me earn their respect as I lead a life consistent with the principles I value.  Most of all Lord, help me really listen for the hidden thoughts and needs that often lie behind their requests and give me the key to their hearts that it may be opened wide to all of life’s wonders and possibilities.”