Mother's Day 2022

Mother’s Day 2022

Scripture: Ruth 1:8-17; 2:11-12; 4:17; Matthew 1:1; 16; John 19:25-27

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers present here in the sanctuary, who are watching this live stream and who will receive this message via email. You are special in the eyes of God and it is a blessing for me to be able to celebrate this day with you.

I was the fourth son that my mother gave birth to and had she listened to her doctor, I would never have been conceived. Her doctor told her, based on her heart condition, that she should not have any more children after her firstborn son. Had she done that, we would not be in this place today. That one decision that my mother made in 1960 led to this Church being here today and the lives that have been touched by the ministry some 60 years later. I want you keep this in mind because shortly you’re going to hear about a decision that was made by a mother over 3300 years ago that continues to impact the world today.

Mothers hold a very special place in my heart. I was and always shall be a “momma’s boy” even though my mother has been gone from this world for thirty-six years. Six months after my mother died, my last remaining grandmother died. All of the “older” women who were a part of my life and provided some guidance to me as a child growing up are gone. In the short span of 23 months, I lost my mother and both grandmothers. Their deaths left a gaping hole in my life, but can you say, “But for the grace of God!” God used three other mothers immediately to fill that gap – all of them from Nikki’s family. You have heard me talk about her mother and both of her grandmothers. The mothers that God placed in my life after mine died ended up being a part of my life for a longer period of time than my own mother and grandmothers. These mothers truly filled a gap in my life as they took me in as their own.

What happened with me losing my mothers and grandmothers only to have God place others to fill gap is not unusual. You see, God knows what we need and He always provides it. God knew that I needed some mothers with wisdom and He gave me three. These women of God treated me as one of their own and I came to see myself as belonging to them. What is unique, at least to me, is that God used my in-laws to replace my blood mother and grand-mothers. “Parent-in-laws” do not always have the best reputation as it relates to their sons and daughters. You see, in some cases they never accept the person that their child chooses to marry. Then, to add more to the conflict, they are not able to release their authority over their son or daughter once they do marry. They find themselves attempting to give advice where it is not needed or wanted and then getting angry when their son or daughter sides with their spouse versus them. When I was a child there was song we heard on the radio all the time titled “Mother-in-Law” by Ernie K-Doe. Here are some of the lyrics: “Mother-in-law, the worst person I know, she worries me so, if she'd leave us alone, we would have a happy home, sent from down below, mother-in-law. Satan should be her name, to me they're 'bout the same, every time I open my mouth, she says she’s gotta put me out, how could she stoop so low, mother-in-law. She thinks her advice is the constitution, but if she would leave that would be the solution, and don't come back no more, mother-in-law.” For a lot of people, this song represents accurately their relationship with their in-laws. To this day, some people struggle with being an in-law. Although being an in-law is not easy for some people, for some others it’s no problem at all. Some in-laws have the ability to flex and accept their son or daughter-in-law as their own and that makes for a special bond.

Do you remember the story of Naomi? Her name might not stand out much in your memory, but she was the mother-in-law of Ruth. Although she was Ruth’s mother-in-law, she was able to establish such a bond with Ruth that their relationship set in motion a series of events that impacted the world to this day. Naomi was a godly mother and therefore a godly mother-in-law. I am going to read a little of their story so we can see the impact that godly mothers have on their own children and on their “other” children that God places in their lives. For background purposes, Naomi and her family had fled to the country of Moab because there was a famine in their land. She and her husband fled with her two sons. After her husband died, her two sons married Moabite women (Ruth 1:4). After about ten years Naomi’s sons died leaving her and her daughters-in-law alone. It came about that Naomi had heard that the Lord had blessed the land of her people with food again so she decided to return home. She told her daughters-in-law of her decision and that they could return to their homes and find new husbands. Although they both wept at her leaving, one refused to leave Naomi’s side. Let’s pick the story up at verse eight of chapter one.