When Everyone Else Walked Away
By Pastor Justin Cooper
I was at a little league game not long ago. Hot afternoon. Dusty bleachers. The boy at the plate couldn't have been more than seven years old, and he could barely get that bat off his shoulder. But three rows up, his mama was hollering his name like he was about to win the World Series.
Swing. Miss. Swing. Miss.
Third pitch — that bat connected, that ball trickled out toward the pitcher, and that little boy took off running like the bases were on fire. And before he got to first, he looked back over his shoulder. Not at the coach. Not at the crowd.
Straight to the bleachers. Straight to his mama.
Listen. That boy didn't need a strategy. He needed mom to be there.
You and I read a verse like John 19 verse 26 and we tend to breeze right past it. Jesus is hanging on the cross. The crowd has thinned out. The disciples have scattered. And the Bible says, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother..."
She was still there.
She was there at the cradle. She was there at the temple. She was there at Calvary.
Y'all ever stop and think about that?
There's a thousand things Mary couldn't do for her Son. She couldn't calm a storm. She couldn't raise a man from the grave. She couldn't turn water into wine on a Tuesday afternoon. But Mary could do the one thing every child longs for their mother to do.
She could be there.
"A mother is not an on and off again job. It's a 24/7 lifetime commitment to a child." — Pastor Justin Cooper
I'll tell you what, brother. The most powerful ministry in your home isn't loud. It isn't fancy. It isn't on a stage. It's the woman in the doorway who never quit showing up.
Mom was there.
If you're reading this and you had a mama who lived that out for you — stop right where you are and thank God for her. She didn't ask to be noticed. She didn't ask for a paycheck. She just kept being there.
And here's the Monday morning question. Some of you haven't talked to your mother in a week. Some of you, longer. She was there for you when you couldn't tie your shoes.
And you can't pick up the phone today?
Make the call. Don't put it off. Don't wait till it's convenient. Today.
If that old song from Sunday is still playing in your head — "Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation" — let it remind you. Even from the cross, even carrying the sin of the world, Jesus did not forget about His mother.
Neither should you and I.
Gospel Light Baptist Church | Walkertown, NC
