Mother's Day: Quietly Faithful

May 9, 2004

Title: Mother’s Day: Quietly Faithful

Text: Proverbs 31:10-31

Introduction:

A man couldn’t decide what to get his wife for mother’s Day…she he wrote her this lovely poem:

M is for the mink coat you want, dear,

O is for the opal ring you crave,

T is for the tiny car you’d love to drive,

H is for the hat that makes you rave,

E is for the earrings you’d love to have,

R is for the Oriental rug on which you would tread;

Put them all together, they spell “bankrupt”,

So I’m giving you this handkerchief instead.

(from www.sermonillustrations.com)

1. Who are your heroes?

• Who do you look up to?

2. For many boys today their heroes are people like:

• Shaquille O’neal

• Kobe Bryant

• Eminem

• Warren Sapp

3. For many girls today, their heroes are people like:

• Brittany Spears

• My daughter, Amelia, likes Mary Kate and Ashley.

• Beyonce’

• Jennifer Lopez

• Christina Aguilera

4. Our heroes are flashy…

• They are the top of their profession…music, acting, or sports.

• They are rich…

• They are beautiful…

• They can shoot a basketball from the 3-point line at the last second and win the game…

• They got the moves…

• They look cool.

• Some of our heroes are supposedly considered “positive role-models”…

• But, many times, something happens…

• An illicit affair…

• A criminal offense…

• And suddenly, this person that people looked up to..

• This positive role-model…

• Is no longer so positive.

• My son Ethan likes Kobe Bryant…

• But then something happened…

• He may or may not have attacked a woman…

• Which will be decided by the courts…

• But, at the least, he was guilty of adultery.

• And, every once in awhile, Ethan asks me how that whole thing is going.

5. By comparison, our kids think we are so uncool…

• I remember being a nerd in school…

• But when I became an adult, I thought all that was behind me…

• But, now, all of a sudden, Kay and I find that we are “nerds” all over again.

• We don’t dress cool…

• We don’t act cool…

• “Mom…you’re not going to wear something to embarrass me when you come to pick me up at school are you?”

• “Clarice’s mom and dad are sooooo cool”

• “how come we don’t get to watch certain movies…all our friends at school do”

6. I realize that not all of you are in the same situation as we are, with young children at home…but maybe you have grandchildren in this age group…

• And I also what you to think about who you look up too…

• Clint Eastwood…

• Frank Sinatra…

• Humphrey Bogart…

• Pete Rose…

7. It is hard not to be drawn in by our heroes…

• But sometimes, I think we are drawn in by the wrong things…

• There is so much more than wealth…

• or good dance moves…

• or sex appeal…

• Or athletic ability.

8. Today is mother’s day…

• And I doubt that most of you had mothers who were professional athletes…

• Or singers…or actors…

• I doubt most of you had mother’s who were wealthy…

• Or had a perfect figure…

• Or a million dollar smile…

• Or wore the latest clothing styles out of Paris.

• But they had another quality that I want us to consider this morning…

• They were “quietly faithful”.

Read Text: Proverbs 31:10-31

1. First of all, I want you to notice that the Proverbs Woman was quietly faithful

A. Nowhere in the passage of Scripture does it talk about her wealth.

• It does say that she is worth far more than rubies…

• But that’s not referring to her material wealth…

• That refers to her value to the family.

• The Scripture doesn’t speak about her exquisite beauty…

• The Scripture doesn’t refer to her athletic ability…

• But what this passage of Scripture does describe…

• Is someone who was quietly faithful…

• She works hard taking care of her family…

• She gets up early…

• Stays up late…

• Ministering to the needs of others.

• She worked a second job…

• She made sure her family was clothed and fed.

• She kept the house up…

• Basically, she was quietly faithful…

• Day in…day out…

• Month in…month out…

• Year in…year out…

• She was working hard for her family…

• Faithfully taking care of those she loves so much.

2. Now, I want you to take a closer look at your own mom…

A. She may not have the figure that comes from 1,000’s of dollars of plastic surgery…