Celebrating Mother¡¦s Day With Honor

Celebrating Mother¡¦s Day With Honor

Eph.6:2,3 (NLT)

. 2 ¡§Honor your father and mother.¡¨ This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. 3 And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, ¡§you will live a long life, full of blessing.¡¨

How many know origins of Mom¡¦s day? Where did we get this idea from? Who thought of it?

Who is the Smart person who got us all spending money - making florists, card companies very happy,

Where did we get this thought of get up early, making breakfast and giving mom a day off?

Whoever thought of it sure did not think about the male pop¡¦n, we got NBA and NHL playoffs???

The prize goes to Anna Jarvis, was the eighth child born into a family with 11 kids. Born and raised in Grafton, West VA. Every year in May we remember something she did. What did she do?

Anna was at her mom¡¦s bedside on the nite she died in May 1905. And it was 2 years later, Anna convinced her church Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, where her mother and herself taught Sun Sch. for years to hold a special Mother¡¦s day service in honor of mothers on the anniversary of her own mother¡¦s death. That Sunday morning - Anna gave a white carnation - her mom¡¦s favorite flower to every mother who attended. The response: 407 children and their mothers came.

You want to draw a crowd to church, come out with an original idea in the style of Anna such as a ¡§Mother¡¦s day¡¨ service?

This was such a success, that an idea was born in Anna¡¦s heart - she sought to honor all mothers.

In Philadelphia she organized a Mother¡¦s Day Committee, with such big shots as food manufacturer Henry J. Heinz, dept. store founder John Wanamaker, and the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 1910, West VA became the 1st state to recognize a formal Mom¡¦s day.

State after state, from east to west, followed that lead. May 10, 1913 US House of Representatives passed a resolution officially recognizing Mom¡¦s day. All this because Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother.

But sad thing is after the day¡¦s over, there is not much honor. Today, we read of celebrities revealing how parents abused them. There are adults - blaming problems of addiction to substances on their parents. TV sitcoms portray them as complete prudes whose life mission is to destroy life as you know it. They are out of touch folks, who live in denial and are at best incompetent. See out in Surrey, BC, recently how moms and dads who resists the homosexual agenda in schools labeled as living in another century, from another planet.

Do mom and dads receives honor these days?

Let¡¦s look at Bible who should receive honor? Read Eph. passage. Celebrities?

What does it mean to honor?

Honor Webster¡¦s Dict. Def¡¦n is ¡§high public esteem; fame; glory; to earn a position of honor.¡¨

Original context of where Eph.6:3,2 comes from Exodus 20:3-17 i.e. the 10 commandments.

I.e. this is something which is very close to God¡¦s heart.

Honor in original Hebrew ¡§heavy¡¨ ¡§weight.¡¨ Literally, ¡§to lay it on them¡¨ - today take it to mean flattery

But to honor in God¡¦s word meant ¡§I weigh you down with respect and prestige. I place upon you great worth and value.¡¨

Note 1st four commandments - dealt with relationship with God. Most commentators teach the next 6 as commandments re: relationship with people. But the Jews teach it as relationship with God. Why? Because parents represent God to us when we are young. At early age, foremost relationship is with mom and dad.

Not just a hey how you¡¦re doing , or a see ya later, go hang out with friends, Heavy, weighty relationship

I love it when my kids lay a heavy on me, spontaneous joy in them that comes with a kiss, hug,

jump up and down, run up asking a kiss, hug, don¡¦t mind all four lie on top, wrestle to ground, maybe mom¡¦s won¡¦t appreciate that esp. with Sunday dress on and hair all made up.

Faith in God according to the Bible becomes intensely practical, comes down now to relationship, not just rules with parents.

Look carefully at passage, does it say honor parents who are perfect, good Christians, spiritually mature, who don¡¦t make major mistakes, who don¡¦t let you down?

No, God commands clear honor regardless of performance, behavior or dysfunction!

Why? It requires faith to believe that somehow God can use imperfect people like our parents to help shape us into people He wants us to be. If we want to experience more spiritual growth, we¡¦ve got to pay heed in honoring mom and dad. Maybe parents don¡¦t deserve honor, yet there is no ifs and buts about it, honor them, it¡¦s in the OT and the NT, can¡¦t say that it does not apply because it just OT stuff.