INTRO.- ILL.- A drill sergeant was frustrated in his efforts to make a soldier out of a certain recruit. The trainee lagged behind on marches, used any excuse to go on sick call, grumbled constantly about the food, and never made his cot properly.
But one day, a noticeable change took place in the young man’s attitude. When asked to what he attributed the soldier’s change in attitude, the drill sergeant explained, "Threats and punishment didn’t work, so I had to resort to the ultimate weapon: I called his mother!"
I think most of us realize that some mothers can be an ultimate weapon to wake us up and shake us up, at least, when we were youngsters at home.
ILL.- It’s like that mother of Waynesburg, KY, Venus Ramey, Miss America 1944. Did you hear about her? SHE KNOWS HOW TO SHOOT A GUN! She fired a handgun to shoot out a vehicle’s tires and stop an intruder. Ramey, 82, confronted a man on her farm in south-central Kentucky not long ago after she saw her dog run into a storage building where thieves had previously made off with old farm equipment
Ramey said the man told her he would leave. "I said, ’Oh, no you won’t,’ and I shot their tires so they couldn’t leave," Ramey said.
She had to balance on her walker as she pulled out a snub-nosed .38-caliber handgun. "I didn’t even think twice. I just went and did it," she said. "If they’d even dared come close to me, they’d be 6 feet under by now."
She said, "I’m trying to live a quiet, peaceful life and stay out of trouble, and all it is, is one thing after another.” I would say you wouldn’t want to mess with that mother!
We’re here today to honor mothers, past and present. Some tough, some sweet, some compassionate, some passionate, etc.
ILL.- A London editor submitted to Winston Churchill for his approval a list of all those who had been Churchill’s teachers. Churchill returned the list with this comment: “You have omitted to mention the greatest of my teachers—my Mother.”
ILL.- Thomas Edison said, “I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an inventor. I was always a careless boy, and with a mother of different mental caliber, I should have turned out badly. But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness, were potent powers to keep me in the right path. My mother was the making of me. The memory of her will always be a blessing to me.” Praise the Lord!
PROP.- From Proverbs 31 I want to mention some things that mothers do in order to honor them today.
1- Her hands work
2- Her mouth speaks
3- Her heart loves
I. HER HANDS WORK
Can you see your mother’s hands? Can you see them at work?
ILL.- There is a cartoon that shows a mother in her home. Her hair is in disarray, kids are everywhere, and the house is in absolute shambles. Then her husband comes home from work all neatly dressed in coat and tie, carrying his briefcase.
She takes one look at him and He looks at her with a big question mark on his face. She tells him, "You come home every evening and ask what I do all day. Well, today I didn’t do it and here it is!"
ILL.- Joey Adams said: My friend Myron tells me, "Last year on Mother’s Day the whole family got together for a big dinner and afterward, when Mom started to clean up, I said to her, "Don’t bother with those dishes, Mom. Today is Mother’s Day, you can always do them tomorrow."
If anyone here today believes that moms don’t work, I would suggest that you not say anything!
In this text, we see that mothers do all kinds of work.
- She sews v. 13, 19, 22 "She selects wool...and works with eager hands."
- She shops v. 14 "bringing her food from afar."
- She cooks v. 15 "She provides food for her family..."
- She gardens v. 16 "She plants a vineyard..."
Our text also says that mothers v. 15 "get up while it is still dark" to prepare food. And v. 18 "her lamp does not go out at night."
"Man works from sun to sun, but woman’s work is never done."
v. 27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread idleness." She isn’t lazy.
ILL.- When my twin sister Sharon and I were born in 1944 mom already had a three-year-old boy. I think all three of us were in diapers. No Pampers either. And no washer.
Most of you know about those days. Nothing fancy in our homes. No extras. But mom worked hard, cooked meals, cleaned house, washed clothes, ironed clothes (yes, they actually ironed clothes back then), put out a garden, and later, worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse while still taking care of the home. THANK YOU, MOM, FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
II. HER MOUTH SPEAKS
Can you hear your mother speak?
V. 26 "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
ILL.- When Preacher John Wesley was a student at Oxford Unversity he was shocked by the amount of drinking done by the students. After writing to his mother, Susanna Wesley, for her counsel, he received the following words: "My dear son: remember that anything which increases the authority of the body over the mind is an evil thing."
And I’m sure that Susanna Wesley said a lot of other good words of wisdom to her children.
ILL.- Preacher G. Campbell Morgan had four sons and they all became ministers of the gospel. At a family reunion, a friend asked one of the sons, "Which Morgan is the greatest preacher?" While that son looked at his father, he replied, "MOTHER."
Mother was the greatest preacher. Many mothers have done a lot of preaching to their children, whether they considered it preaching or not.
ILL.- The story is told by a visitor who was once staying with Mrs. Wesley when Charles was a little boy. Charles came in and asked his mother a question, which his mother patiently answered. In five minutes he came back and asked the same question, which his mother answered patiently as she had done the first time.
The visitor said to her, “Why do you waste time in answering that troublesome boy’s question seven times?” “Well,” said Mrs. Wesley, “because six times were not enough.”
Our mothers taught us about manners, treating others with respect, respect for the elderly, and other matters of human decency and common courtesy.
And I have one friend whose mother always used to say, “I love you but Jesus loves you more.” Her mouth speaks. Thanks, Mom, for all your instruction and wisdom.
III. HER HEART LOVES
V. 11-12 "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."
Have you felt your mother’s love?
If a husband has full or complete confidence in his wife, then you know that she is a woman who loves her man and her family.
ILL.- An epitaph on his wife’s tombstone written by her husband after 60 years of marriage, read, "SHE ALWAYS MADE HOME HAPPY." That’s a sign that someone was dishing out some love.
ILL.- Jean Baron wrote in Readers Digest about the old mobile home where she lived with her teenage son. She said, “The home was structurally unsound, and the plumbing always leaked.” She was ashamed when her son brought friends home because of their meager surroundings.
But one day she learned that her son’s best friend, who had all the material things anyone could want, had run away from home. She said, “I was puzzled, so I asked my son why.” He explained, “Well, mom, at their house they had a lot of environment but not very much love. Here, we have lots of love, but not very much environment.”
ILL.- One mother said: My little boy came into the kitchen this evening while I was fixing supper.
He handed me a piece of paper he’d been writing on. After wiping my hands on my apron, I read it, and this is what it said:
For mowing the grass, $5.
For making my own bed this week, $1.
For going to the store $.50.
For playing with baby brother while you went shopping, $.25.
For taking out the trash, $1.
For getting a good report card, $5.
And for raking the yard, $2.
Well, I looked at him standing there expectantly, and a thousand memories flashed through my mind. So, I picked up the paper, and turning it over, this is what I wrote:
For the nine months I carried you, growing inside me. No charge.
For the nights I sat up with you, doctored you, prayed for you. No charge.
For the time and the tears, and the cost through the years. No charge.
For the nights filled with dread, and the worries ahead. No charge.
For advice and the knowledge, and the cost of your college. No charge.
For the toys, food and clothes, and for wiping your nose. No charge.
Son, when you add it all up, the full cost of my love is No charge.
Well, when he finished reading, he had great big tears in his eyes. He looked up at me and he said, "Mama, I sure do love you." Then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote, PAID IN FULL. Thanks, Mom, for your great love!
CONCLUSION------------------------
When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee Scotland, it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Crabby old woman.
What do you see, nurses ......... What do you see?
What are you thinking ............. When you’re looking at me?
A crabby old woman ................ Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, ................ With far-away eyes?
Who dribbles her food ............ And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice, .. "I do wish you’d try!"
Who seems not to notice ........ The things that you do,
And forever is losing ............... A stocking or shoe?
Who, resisting or not, ............. Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, ...... The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking? ... Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse, .......You’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am ............... As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, ........... As I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of ten ...........With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .............. Who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen .............With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now ......... A lover she’ll meet.
A bride soon at twenty, ............ My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows ........... That I promised to keep
At twenty-five now, ................ I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide ............. And a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, ................. My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other ............... With ties that should last.
At forty, my young sons ........... Have grown and are gone,
But my man’s beside me .......... To see I don’t mourn
At fifty once more, .................. Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children, ............ My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, ............ My husband is dead,
I look at the future, ................. I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .......Young of their own,
And I think of the years ........... And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old woman................ And nature is cruel;
Tis jest to make old age ........... Look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, ............... Grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone ................ Where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass ......... A young girl still dwells,
And now and again, ................. My battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, ................ I remember the pain,
And I’m loving and living ........... Life over again.
I think of the years .................. All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact ........... That nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people, ........ Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman; ............ Look closer....see, ME!!
