As most of you know, I don't always preach a thematic sermon for special secular holidays such as the Fourth of July Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's or Father's Day. It's also rare that I preach a sermon on a single theme, such as racism, war, abortion, pornography, poverty.  But, hopefully, my sermons address all these pressing issues in the context of Scripture, as that scripture presents itself in the order of my preaching.

For you who wonder about that approach to preaching and the fact that we don't always get a special Mother's Day sermon, you'll be pleased to know that today I will. And I want to use as my text that place in Luke where Jesus talks about "Building a House." What could be a better theme for Mother's Day?

It is the concluding parable of three parables that Jesus told in…