Grace and peace to through our compassionate Lord who never forgets us. Amen.

Isaiah 49:13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. ¹⁴ But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." ¹⁵ "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶ See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. ¹⁷ Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

At school one day, fourth graders were studying fractions. The teacher said, "Let's say there were seven people in your family – you, your mom and dad, and four brothers and sisters. Let's also say your mom made apple pie for dessert. If the pie was cut equally, how much of the pie would you get?" A young boy's hand shot up into the air. He answered, "a sixth." "Wait a minute," the teacher said, "I said seven people. Don't you know your fractions?" The boy proudly replied, "Sure, I know my fractions, but I also know my mom. She'd give up her piece of pie so we'd all have a little more." Doesn't this example describe a mother's love toward her family?  This kind of love is simply amazing.

A mother was walking with her 4-year-old daughter. The girl picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. Mom said, "Don’t do that." "Why?" Mom answered, "Because it's been laying outside and it is dirty and probably has germs." At this point, she looked at her mom with total admiration and asked, "Wow! How do you know all this stuff?" The mother thought quickly, "Um, it’s on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy." They walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. "I get it!" the 4-year-old beamed. "Then if you flunk, you have to be the Daddy." A mother's love is not only amazing; it's also very special.

A newspaper reporter was investigating a maximum-security prison. He noted the habits of hardened criminals. He found that over 80% of their outgoing letters were addressed to their moms. Even though these people had committed terrible crimes, their thoughts returned to the ones who wouldn't forget them. No, a mother's love cannot forget her child, even when that child is behind bars. A mother's love runs deep.

Perhaps, that's the strongest human force we can relate to – a mother's love for her child. And if you've been blessed with a Christian mom, you're doubly blessed. But, in our sermon reading for this Mother's Day, the prophet Isaiah talks about a greater love. It's a love so deep that it makes the Pacific Ocean seem like a shallow puddle in the street. It's a love so high that it makes Mt. Everest seem like an anthill. Isaiah tells us about God's love for each of us through Jesus Christ. Listen to Isaiah's words again: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"  (Isaiah 49:15).

The Lord’s love for his children is greater than the love a nursing mother has for her child. The bond a mother has for her child is indeed strong. A mom will satisfy her child with nourishment from her breasts as she holds the child close to her heart. She loves her child deeply. A mother cannot nurse her infant one minute and show no love the next. We don’t expect a mother to forget the baby at her breast, but such things do occur in this perverse world.

While a mother's love is only human and does fail at times, God's love in Jesus for us will never fail. God’s love is firmer, deeper, and more enduring than even the love a mother has for her nursing child. Isaiah tells us that God won't forget about us. We are engraved on the palms of God's hands. We have his unfailing compassion. We're included in his unending promise. 

Did you ever stop to wonder why the people of Israel are called "Children?" I think partly because they often acted like little children. They whined in Egypt. They complained in the desert. They didn’t listen to God and worshiped idols in the Promised Land. They argued with God. They pouted and threw tantrums and wanted to do things their way. Isaiah describes their actions in chapter one: "The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption. They have forsaken the LORD, they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him." (Isaiah 1:3-4) But, God wasn't about to forget them. Like a mother who sees her kids run into a busy street, God saw his people in spiritual traffic. He stepped in to save them.

We often act like children, too, don’t we? We are brothers and sisters in Christ, yet we question each other’s motives; we bicker and complain; we act like we aren’t part of the same family. We question God incessantly through difficulty and tragedy, "Why, why, why?" never being satisfied with the perfect parental response, "Because I said so." Children don’t often enjoy nourishing foods like broccoli, asparagus, or lean meats, but they want the sugary, fatty foods. We often are not satisfied with the Bread and Water of Life found in God’s Word or the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, so we stay away from church and the Bible while feeding ourselves with too much sleep, golf, shopping, soccer, TV – really anything but what is really nourishing for us.

Despite Israel’s and our childish, sinful way of life, God still gave this promise of a Savior through Isaiah: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1) Through that promise of this Savior, Isaiah could speak the opening words of our text: "Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones." (v13) That's what the grace of God is all about.

Grace is getting the exact opposite of what we deserve. Kids deserve a swift swat on the behind when they are really naughty. As sinful human beings who are by nature and in action very naughty, the Bible is very clear that "the wages of sin is death." We deserve physical, eternal, excruciating death. Yet through that same promise of a Savior, given by Isaiah 700 years before Christ, we too share God's love and unfailing compassion. That's amazing grace! That’s undeserved love! But, why is this possible?

Look at it this way: Several years ago, this true story appeared in Reader's Digest. One evening, 12-year-old Michael and his cousins went swimming in a pond outside their home in Florida. It was a place they had gone before. This time, unknown to them, a large alligator was at the edge of that pond. As they were splashing, one of them noticed the gator and screamed for help. Michael couldn't hear, because he was underwater. Michael's mom heard their screams and ran to help. When she tried to pull her son out, that gator grabbed on to his leg. It was a tug-of-war between that 400 lb gator and a 125 lb mom. Clutching her boy’s hand in a death grip, she pulled with superhuman strength and suddenly, strangely, the beast let go! Perhaps the eighteen-inch rubber flippers on the boy’s foot was the cause – no one is sure – but the frantic mother dragged her son out of the water and up the bank to safety as the alligator sank back into the pond with what witnesses called a "disappointed look" on his face. Months later, Michael showed a friend the scars on his legs, where the alligator nearly got him. But, he was more proud of the scars on his hands where his mom's fingernails had dug into his skin to rescue him from the jaws of certain death.

This is a good picture of God's love. Even though our sins trapped us like that gator's teeth, God rescued us. He said to our unlovable world: "This is how much I love you! I give up my only Son, Jesus to die for your sins. The nail scars on Jesus' hands prove His love. He crushed Satan's "death-grip" on us, when He died in our place and rose again. Now, whoever believes His words will not perish, but have eternal life." 

God says to us through Isaiah, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Look at God’s hands. There he has engraved, or tattooed, a remembrance of his people. God uses this picture to emphasize the permanence of his love and its constancy. What is on the palms of God’s hands cannot be washed off as we might wash the dirt off our stained hands. When we see God’s unfailing love revealed to us on the pages of the Bible, we know God has engraved his people on his palms; his people are permanently there.

If someone would ask you: "How do you know you belong to your family," what would you tell him? You would probably refer to your birth certificate where it gives your name. But how do we know we're part of God's family? We can point to another certificate – our baptismal certificate. When we were baptized, God made a very special agreement with us, an unending covenant promise. Through the water and the Word, he became our Father, and we became his children. Now we know that we belong to him. And one day, we'll inherit our Father's home in heaven.  But, our baptism isn't only for the life to come, it's for the here and now.

So come what may, whether it is a difficult test to take, an especially hard day at work, or an extended hospital stay, God has promised us: "You're my child. You don't have to worry." 

Celebrating this Mother's Day for some may be difficult. Maybe you can't spend this Mother's Day with your mother because she's passed away. Maybe this day brings back unpleasant childhood memories of your family. Or just maybe you would like to have a family, but God hasn't blessed you in this way. God still says, "You're my child. I'll take care of you." 

We need to remember this fact because life isn't easy. Daily we seem to experience troublesome trials, anguishing afflictions, and persistent persecutions. There may be days when you say to yourself just as the people of Israel did: "the LORD has forsaken me, the LORD has forgotten me." (v14) No, he hasn't. Go back to your baptism and be reminded of his unending covenant promise with you. Isaiah reminds us: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed." (Isaiah 54:10) When we remember our baptism, we remember that we're engraved on the palms of God's hands.

Just as God teaches us about love, grace, promises and forgiveness, our mothers have also taught us many things. Here are some things our mothers have taught us. She taught us logic … "If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me." She taught us medicine … "If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way." She taught us about our roots … "Do you think you were born in a barn?" She taught us anticipation … "Just wait until your father gets home." She taught us justice … "One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you … then you’ll see what it’s like."

But the greatest thing our mother taught us was about faith in Jesus Christ. Some mothers give up pie for their families. Others give up professional careers to raise the kids at home. But, the greatest goal of our mothers is to make sure they see their children in heaven. I have a friend named Scott who has an aunt and uncle with a rather large family – fourteen kids. In December 1993, Scott’s 21-year old cousin Erica, was killed in a car accident. At the funeral, someone asked Scott’s aunt how she was coping. She said, of course, how she would miss Erica. But, she was comforted knowing that Erica was a Christian and was with Jesus in heaven. In a sense, she had reached her goal as a Christian mom. She had passed on her faith. That Christian mom said it well: "One down, and thirteen more to go." May that be the Christian attitude of every family here today – to pass on our Christian faith so Jesus takes us home to heaven. Amen.

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Amen.