Today, as you know, is Mother’s Day; a day set apart to honor Mothers and Motherhood. Why mention Mother’s Day in church? After all, it’s not a religious holiday. Mother’s Day was created by the state, not the church. Since 1914, the President has made an official proclamation every year encouraging all Americans to honor their mothers on the second Sunday of May.
But although Mother’s Day is not a Christian holiday, it is certainly appropriate for us as Christians to honor Mothers. Motherhood was created by God. It is a part of His creation. And those women who serve God by bearing and caring for children, who faithfully and humbly and lovingly fulfill the role of Mother deserve our honor and respect. And so we are glad to take this opportunity to publicly recognize them for their faithful service to God.
This morning, I’d like to develop the idea of Motherhood as an act of faith. Because properly understood, Motherhood is not merely a personal or family obligation. And as necessary and beneficial as Mothers obviously are to society, it isn’t merely a social function. For the Christian mother, her work is an act of worship and devotion to God. As an example of Motherhood, we’ll consider Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mary willingly accepted God’s call [Text: Luke 1:26-38]
First, note that God doesn’t offer Mary a choice. He doesn’t try to "sell" Mary on the idea, but presents it as an established fact, "This is what is going to happen."
"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."
We like to have choices, don’t we? We like to have control over our own destinies, we like to have a say in any decisions that affect us. In fact, we don’t just like to have choices, we expect to have choices, we demand and insist that we have choices.
Part of this attitude is due to our political system. We don’t have a king, we have elected representatives. Every two years, we decide who is going to write our laws; every four years we decide who is going to administer those laws. We delegate authority and power to those whom we choose, but ultimately, the decision-making authority belongs to us (at least theoretically). If they act in ways that we disapprove of, we can vote them out of office. From the president of the United States to the mayor, we are presented with options, and we vote for whom we choose.
Is there anything wrong with this? Like any system, it can be abused, but it’s served us well for over two centuries. No, the problem is when we try to carry over this democratic principle and apply it to our relationship with God. The problem is when we relate to God as if he were an elected official, instead of what He is, which is a king. God does not serve at our pleasure. He is an absolute sovereign, both by power and by right. And He deserves to have that power, by virtue of the fact that He created us.
Listen as God reminds Job of this fact: [Job 38, NIV]
4-5 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, If you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
12 Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?
16 Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
In other words, "Job, I don’t answer to you."
God doesn’t consult us. He doesn’t ask our opinion. He doesn’t take a poll. He simply acts, according to His perfect wisdom, knowledge, and love. He always does what is right and best, and He doesn’t concern Himself with whether or not we approve. Our choices are either to humble ourselves before God, to obey His decrees and submit to His will, or to rebel and disobey. It’s really as simple as that. Whatever we may think of the way God is running the world; whatever our opinions may be regarding his oversight of that small part of the world which we call our lives, it really doesn’t matter. Our choice is to submit and obey, or to rebel and disobey.
God is worthy of our trust
There are good reasons to obey God.
First of all, God knows what He’s doing. His wisdom and knowledge far exceed ours. His decision-making process would not be improved by consulting us.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD." As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. -- Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ’Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’" -- Rom. 11:33-34 (NIV)
Second, God always does what is right and best.
"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." -- Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." -- Romans 12:2 (NIV)
So in light of all this, what was Mary’s response to the angel’s announcement?
"’I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her." -- Luke 1:38 (NIV)
Mary could have responded quite differently.
* She could have said no; or she could have begged off, claiming that she wasn’t the right woman for the job. But we see no hint of hesitation or reluctance.
* She could have demanded more information. Although she did ask one question, it was only for the purpose of understanding, not for evaluating whether to accept the commission.
But Mary simply said, "OK." Then the angel left - there was nothing more to be said.
We should emulate Mary’s faith
I would like to suggest that the mothers in this room are in a very similar situation to Mary’s, with the exception that none of your children are quite as perfect as her Son.
God didn’t ask you what kind of children you wanted, or how many, or when. You didn’t get to specify size, or shape, or hair color. Sex, personality, intelligence, athletic ability, and musical ability were all out of your control. If we had our way, they’d all be tall, tan, talented, and terrific. But instead, God simply decided, and said, "Here you are. I have given you a child ideally suited to the plan I have for your life. This child’s abilities and disabilities, all of their unique idiosyncrasies, are designed by Me according to My perfect will.
The temptation is to say, "God, I’m not sure about this. I was expecting something different. I wanted a [fill in the blank]. I’m not sure I’m up to this. I don’t want children yet; or I’m too old to have children; or We don’t have enough money; etc. etc.. There are a lot of ways we could respond to the children God has given us, but only one right way. That’s to respond as Mary did. "OK God. I trust you."
We also have to recognize that for some women, it’s not a matter of accepting the children God gives them; it’s accepting the fact that God hasn’t given them children. You hear people complain about their children, and you think, "I’ll take them!" You think, "how can they be so ungrateful?" You hear other women joke about how easy it is for them to conceive. But for childless women, the only right answer, and the only one that can bring peace, is to say, "I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said."
Similarly, the circumstances of your life together with your children are not selected by you. Not only do children come to you as God designs, but their lives progress according to His will. You can influence, you can guide, you can teach; but ultimately, your children’s lives are not under your control, just as the circumstances of Jesus’ life were not under Mary’s control.
Good things happen to children. Things we didn’t expect or plan for. We rejoice and give thanks for these. But bad things happen to children too. That’s tougher. They have accidents. They get diseases. People hurt them. They suffer loss. They fail. None of us would choose these things for our children, but God does, and He doesn’t ask our permission. We struggle with that. We say, "Why, God?" But in the end, we have to say, "God, they’re your children, you made them. I just have temporary custody of them. Even though I don’t fully understand, I trust you. I believe that you are good, that you are wise, that you love me and love these children, and that this is all a part of your plan." "I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me [and to these children] as you have said."
Not only that, sometimes children do bad things. They make foolish mistakes. They hurt their families. They hurt other people. They break their parents hearts. What do we do when that happens? We trust God. We cope as best we can and we rely on His strength to get us through. We give our pain to the Great Physician and we trust Him to heal it. We look forward to the day of resurrection, the day when there will be no more tears and no more suffering, and we also accept the fact that that day hasn’t yet come.
Conclusion
In closing, I would like to address everyone, not just the mothers. Because all of us have been, and are, in the same situation as Mary was. God says, "this is how it’s going to be," and he doesn’t ask our opinion or solicit our input. He simply acts according to His wisdom and love. And our choice, just like Mary’s, is whether we will submit to God or whether we will rebel. Submission to God’s will is an act of faith.
What are you struggling with this morning? What is God calling you to do that you are having a hard time saying "yes" to? What circumstances has God brought into your life that you are having a hard time accepting? What is it that you know God wants from you, that you are unwilling to give Him?
I urge you to follow Mary’s example of faith, and simply say, "I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said."
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
