A Mother's Burden

A Mother’s Burden

Mother’s Day, 2007

Luke 2:25-35

Wildwind Community Church

David K. Flowers

May 13

Good morning. I want to begin today with a Mother’s Day wish for my own mother, who isn’t even here today! Week after week I stand up here and do my thing, with my parents sitting out there, participating, and quietly looking on. I don’t refer often to them and that’s probably just fine with both of them. I’ll bet many of you who are newer to Wildwind don’t even know my folks are part of the core team that started this church, and how faithful they have been. Their support of my leadership here means a lot to me and it feels good to be able to do this with their support and encouragement. Today is Mother’s Day and on this day, I just want you to know that my mom is a person who practices what I preach. And as for my wife – well, I happen to think my girls are tremendously blessed to have her, and so am I. Steadily, for nearly fourteen years, Christy has been turning my three girls into women. So for my mom, and my kids’ mom, and for all mothers today – the ones still with us, and the ones we have lost, let’s give a hand. Mothers, you can clap too, since you have mothers of your own. Happy Mother’s Day, ladies.

I want to talk to you this morning about a Mother’s burden. To be a mom is to carry a burden – for your home, and for your children. In fact, who are the mothers we consider the worst? The ones who don’t seem to carry a burden for their children – who don’t seem to care – who are cruel to them, who ignore and neglect them. They are horrible moms because they don’t seem to carry that burden. And if they do, perhaps they never embrace it, rise to it, and move forward under that burden. Good mothers carry mothers’ burdens. Bad mothers do not.

Protestants don’t revere Mary the Mother of Jesus the way Catholics do, but that does not mean we do not respect her. She was the person chosen to carry our Lord and as such, there is no mom who has ever been as blessed as she was, and there never will be again. And there was never a mother who carried the burden she must have carried, and I want to look at that this morning. Let’s look at our text – it’s in Luke chapter 2, verses 21-35.

Luke 2:21-35 (NLT)

21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.

22 Then it was time for the purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

23 The law of the Lord says, "If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord."

24 So they offered a sacrifice according to what was required in the law of the Lord—"either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

25 Now there was a man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.

26 The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required,

28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 "Lord, now I can die in peace! As you promised me,

30 I have seen the Savior

31 you have given to all people.

32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!"

33 Joseph and Mary were amazed at what was being said about Jesus.

34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others.

35 Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul."

And so we see Mary’s burden, right there at the end. A sword will pierce your very soul. Now probably the sword Simon was referring to was Mary having to stand at the foot of the cross while her son died horribly on it. But let’s look at some other swords that I’ll bet pierced Mary’s soul as she carried a mother’s burden.