5-11-25 “The Love that Never Separate Us”

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“The Love that Never Separate Us”

I want to start with something funny that I found on an internet site: One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair. She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?” Her mother replied, “Well, every time you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.” The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then asked, “Mumma, how come all grandma’s hairs are white?”

Today is Mother’s Day. We carry memories of our mothers—some sad and some joyful. Even as we grow older, we still miss them. The bond between a mother and child, when grounded in love, can never truly be taken away. Sometimes our memories of them stir feelings of regret; other times, they fill us with gratitude. What kind of memories come to your heart on Mother’s Day?

During my vacation, I visited my American mother’s grave. She was so good to me. She was the first person to invite me to a homemade American dinner when I came to the U.S. After she learned that my biological mother had passed away, she became like a mother to me. I used to make tissue flowers for my biological mother on Mother’s Day—and now, I made them for her. Though both of them are now in heaven, I was able to visit my American mother’s grave and bring her flowers. She and I were connected by God’s grace and love. I met her while serving as an intern pastor at her church. Through her, her daughter became like a sister to me. Family isn’t only defined by blood—it is made through love. A family rooted in love is never truly separated.

What kinds of presents do you expect from your children? Some might say, “I just want them to be healthy. That’s enough.” My younger sister once said, “I think money is the best present. When I gave money to my in-laws, they looked happy.” I asked her again, “But what about you? What do you want from your children?” She answered, “I wish they would come and visit me as often as possible.”

I believe the best gift children can give their parents is their presence. You may feel joy simply seeing them face to face. One of my friends, who has grandchildren, once said, “When they haven’t visited me for a long time, I miss them deeply and long for their visit. But once they’ve been here for a while, I find myself wishing they would go home soon!”
There’s a saying: “When your grandchild comes to visit, you’re happy. When they leave, you’re even happier.”  Do you agree?

The relationship between parents and children is unique and enduring, whether the relationship is good or difficult—because it is built on love. Love is a deeper connection than DNA or blood. Some kinds of love are seasonal. Some grow distant. But there is a kind of love—divine and enduring—that never lets us go. Jesus speaks of this kind of love, and many of us have glimpsed it, however imperfectly, in the arms of our mothers—or the ones who mother us.

Today’s scripture reminds us of another unbreakable relationship: the bond between God and those who believe in Jesus Christ. The love of Jesus connects us. Like a loving mother, God holds us close—not just in affection, but in deep, covenantal love. We are connected to God through the blood and love of Jesus Christ; in the same way a child is connected to their mother.

In today’s scripture, it is the season of the Feast of Dedication, which is also called Hanukkah. Jewish Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days beginning on the 25th of Kislev (which usually falls in December) to commemorate the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. While the people celebrated the festival at the Temple, they were thinking about the Messiah and wondering when he would come. They asked Jesus to clarify whether He was the Messiah because they were confused by His miraculous works and suspicious after hearing His teachings. They questioned Him not out of faith but out of skepticism—and even hostility. Their real intention was not to believe in Him but to accuse and eventually stone Him (John 10:31).

Jesus knew their purpose and responded, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus begins with something deeply relational: “I know them.” Not “I tolerate them,” or “I keep track of them.” He knows us—our voices, our wounds, our stories. Isn’t that the kind of knowing we all long for? Many of us have felt this in the way a mother knows her child’s cry in a crowd, or remembers their favorite bedtime story. In the way she can see past a child’s silence and still know something’s wrong. This is not distant, impersonal love. This is love with skin on it. And Jesus says, “I know you.” In all your complexities. In your best and in your worst.
And still, “I call you mine.”

Mothers are not perfect—none of us are—but many reflect that fierce desire to protect, to shelter, to hold close. Some of you know this from experience. Some of you have become this kind of love for others—whether as birth mothers, stepmothers, foster parents, grandmothers, or spiritual mothers. Jesus echoes this kind of holy protection: “They shall never perish.” Not because life is without hardship, but because we are never beyond the reach of grace. No matter how far the sheep wander, the Shepherd does not abandon them.

In Romans 8:38–39 (NRSV) the Apostle Paul say, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yes, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

And today, we celebrate the echoes of that divine promise in human hearts.

Perhaps the most comforting line of all is this: “No one can snatch them out of my hand.”

That includes the wolves of this world. That includes our own doubts and mistakes. That includes time, distance, even death. Nothing—nothing—can undo the love that God has for us.

Think of a mother holding her child through storms, fevers, teenage rebellion, late-night worries, and long-distance prayers. That fierce grip—the one that says, “I’m not letting go”—that’s what Jesus offers to every single one of us. Even when we can’t hold on to Him, He is still holding on to us.

On this Mother’s Day, some of us are celebrating joyfully. Some are remembering mothers who are no longer with us. Some are grieving what never was, or what was lost too soon.
Some are in the hard middle—loving and struggling all at once. Wherever you are today, hear this: There is a Love that never separates us. It is rooted in Christ, and it is reflected—however imperfectly—in the hearts of those who have mothered us well.

You are known. You are protected. You are held. And you are never alone.

Thanks be to God. Amen.