Mothers day – a very special Holiday – great opportunity
This is a day when you get to turn the tables on Mom a little bit and take care of Her
This is her special day. We get to pamper mom a little today – or a lot
Take her out to dinner, give her a card , some flowers, kids do your chores today without being asked. Show her how much she means to you, tell her that you love her.
We should do that every day, but there is something extra special about today
You may not have your Mom around to pamper anymore, so today you let yourself dwell on special memories you have of her, special times you had -
Today is mom’s special day - Maybe it was mothers day when someone wrote this poem:
Your love I know, I’ve seen your tears
You’ve given to me my life
You’ve walked through hours and days and years
Of heartache, toil and strife
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To see that I could have the best
That you could give to me
You gave up needs and often rest
You viewed Eternity
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To do His will my highest call
And by your special care
I stood and walked and did no fall
You held me up in prayer
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Though strands of gray may brush your hair,
And miles divide our way
I know that by your quiet prayer
You’ve helped me day by day
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You’ve shown me how to give, to share
To put my own needs last
You’ve helped me see and be aware
That life is so soon past
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To spite your live I would not dare
For there’s not another
Who spreads her gentle love and care
Like you – My loving Mother
There is nothing else that compares to a Godly mother is there?
No one cares about you like your mother
No one is willing to forgive you like your mother –
No one is willing to look past the outside and see what you are on the inside like mother
No one shows grace the way a mother does
No one is as beautiful to you as your mother
No one is protective of her children like a mother is
No one loves you like your mother
Wait –
Care Forgiveness Acceptance Grace Beauty Protection Unconditional love
Those words sound familiar, they sound like things I have heard about God in the Bible.
Well, that makes sense
Gen 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
We are made in the image of God, man and woman
But only women get the incredible privilege of becoming a mother.
God has equipped women in a special way in order to be able to handle that role
Did you know that God compares himself to a mother in the Bible?
Isa 66: 13 (NIV) “ As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
When God wants to tell his people that he cares for them and he wants them to understand the depth of his love and his capacity to comfort them, he could compare himself to anything or anyone, but he chooses to compare himself to a mother comforting her child.
That is God’s compliment to mothers – Pray for mothers (stand)
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We are all made in the image of God. Man and woman.
As image bearers of God, we reflect some of Gods qualities, his attributes
Oh, we are a pale reflection, like the moon reflecting the light of the sun.
There is no comparison between the radiance of the moon and the sun
The sun outshines the moon a million to one, but the moon, a full moon reflecting the light of the sun on a clear night, is still a beautiful thing to behold
Mothers are a reflection of some of the most incredible qualities of God
Since we don’t have all day to listen to me ramble on, I want to look briefly at 4 of them.
Comfort
Care
Concern
Compassion
We could do a bunch more, like Grace and beauty – It is obvious that God decided to create women to be a reflection of beauty. & What is more beautiful than a mother caring for her child?
1. Comfort
Isa 66: 13 (NIV) “ As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
When you read that verse, what do you think of?
If you are a mother, you probably think of your child, and how you have held him or her and wiped away the tears, kissed the boo boo, put on a fresh bandaid
If you are a Dad, you may think of your wife comforting your children
The children, they always go to mom when they get hurt – and thats OK
Somehow Mom makes it better, she comforts her child, its like she has a gift from God to comfort her children – its like that because she does.
Or you may think back to when you were a child and hurt, and your mother put her arms around you, and you just knew, everything is going to be alright.
Mom’s tender touch, her soft voice, as she whispers in your ear that everything is going to be alright, her arms that hug you tight. There’s comfort in the arms of a mother.
That’s the kind of picture God wants you to have,
and that’s the kind of comfort he has to give.
Even if you didn’t have a mother who did those things to comfort you as a child.
God is here with us today and he wants to wrap his arms around you, tell you that everything is going to be alright.
That is the kind of God that we have. A God of comfort like a mother comforts her child
A mother comforts her children, and a mother cares for her children
2. Care
Calls to mind another passage where God compares himself to a mother
In this case it is Jesus, God in human flesh, who is speaking
Mt 23:37 (NIV) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
What is interesting is what comes just before this passage
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and teachers of the law
The entire chapter 23 of Matthew is Jesus pronouncing woes upon the teachers and pharisees.
He calls them hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs
In 33: You snakes, you brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Jesus tells it like it is – he lays it all out there, not out of spite, but because he loves the people he is talking to – his heart is breaking over their rebellion against God
How I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Jesus loves you no matter who you are, or what you have done
Ro 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Moms are a reflection of that verse, of that kind of love and care
No matter what you do, your mother loves you and cares for you.
I tested that one out to the max when I was growing up. I rebelled and became someone who was hard to love, difficult to get along with, a jerk. But my mom never stopped loving me.
And she never stopped taking care of me,
making sure my needs were met
teaching me
that’s all wrapped up in the care of a mother.
Care involves patience.
Sometimes as a child we go through phases, periods in our life when we are exceptionally hard to love, or we push other people away.
A mother has the patience to wait for you to get through to the other side, and she is there waiting for you, arms open
The patience of a mother is a reflection of Gods patience
2Pt 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God will always care for you and He will never , never stop loving you.
He is patient, if you have ran from Him, he is waiting for you
Like a patient caring mother
Mothers take care of their children, and they love them unconditionally
Not only do mothers comfort their children, and care for their children, but they show a great deal of concern for them also
3. Concern
Kids, that is why your mom always wants to know about your life
All those questions about how your day went at school
Who are your friends, when can I meet their parents
Where do you think you are going?
Whose house, have I met their parents
Do you have homework, are you struggling with any subjects
How are your grades,
How do you feel, what are you thinking?
Its all because she has concern for you, what happens in your life matters to her
You matter to her.
Part of being concerned is being protective:
We often think of Dads when it comes to protection, kind of a macho image
But Mom’s are very protective also
We see it even in the animal kingdom
What are the most dangerous animals?
Most dangerous bear, a mother bear with you between her and her cubs
Most dangerous - any animal
Moose, deer, Lion, Elephant, you name it, if its a mom and she thinks you are a threat to her young, she is a dangerous
Even a cow can become dangerous if she is protecting her calf
There is a great picture in scripture where God compares himself to a protective mother
Deut 32: 9-11 (NIV)9 For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.
An eagle that stirs up its next and hovers over its young.
Guess which eagle does that – its the mother eagle.
In this passage God again uses the picture of a mother to give us a picture of his love and concern for us.
The protection of a mother is not just physical protection, though she would lay down her life for you in an instant
No, my mom protected more than that. She protected my dreams.
I can remember telling people that I wanted to open up my own Martial Arts school, and how people told me being self employed is difficult, and there are no benefits, and teaching doesn’t pay very well. And it takes 5 years to break even for a small business, and most small businesses fail
And my mom told those people that if I could do something that I loved, and be happy, then all that other stuff would get worked out. She believed in me, she made me believe in myself. she made me believe that anything is possible. She protected my dreams
Now I didn’t end up with a Martial Arts school, I ended up somewhere even better. And I never would have been able to grow in my faith enough to take the steps that brought me to this church and to this pulpit if it hadn’t been for my Mom standing by me, standing up for me. Encouraging me - God used my Mom to make me who I am and to bring me where I am
My mother comforted me, she cares for me, she has concern for me, and she has compassion for me
4. Compassion
Compassion is more than recognizing the suffering of another and having sympathy.
Compassion moves beyond recognition of suffering to action. Involves doing something about the suffering
Compassion moves beyond sympathy to sacrifice. That is how you know true compassion
Mothers know something about sacrifice
My mom raised my sister and I without the help of our father. He was running from his life, drowning his sorrows in alcohol and feeling sorry for himself.
My mother put our needs ahead of her own
She sacrificed many things she wanted, many things she could have had
But instead she worked and worked, providing for us, giving us a warm and loving home
Single mothers are incredible. I think that God gives single mothers who lean on him special gifts of strength, and wisdom,
They need those things because they have to do everything for their family. They manage the home, they provide for their family, they teach their children, develop their character, handle discipline, juggle schedules, arrange transportation, cook meals, clean house, do laundry, meet with teachers, meet with parents, go to ballgames and concerts
They do it all – and they never complain. Single mothers are a miracle of God
My mother worked her way up from a clerical position at an insurance company, she worked hard, studied, learned what she needed to advance, until today she is an independent contractor who manages huge projects where insurance companies change software and she coordinates everything and manages the programmers, analysts, databases, resources, everything. Its incredible. I am so proud of my mother
It is incredible that she could do what she did while she raised my sister and I.
Compassion involves sacrifice.
I made this my last point for a reason
I want to tell you a story about compassion and sacrifice
I don’t know if my mother would even realize that I remember this story
I was young, I think maybe alex’s age when I heard her tell it. But I will never forget it and this week I couldn’t stop thinking about it
My mom always wanted 5 kids. And she had 5 kids
Twins – died in hospital – then susan, then me, then George (i was 2)
George had heart defect, a hole between the chambers of his heart
Today no big deal, back then they didn’t have the advances to deal with it
George had 3 open heart surgeries, the last one when he was 2 years old, I was 4.
My mom gave her testimony one night at church. She told the story about being in the waiting room during that last surgery.
She had seen George suffer and it broke her heart.
She saw her little baby suffer, and she loved him so much
With compassion comes sacrifice – she prayed in that waiting room
Not for George to live, but for George to be better, for God to take care of George, and do what was best for him whatever that meant.
She loved him with the love of a mother, but she knew it would be selfish to simply want him to stay and suffer. If they couldn’t make him better, maybe God’s will was to take George home to be with Him.
George died during that surgery. I was 4, susan was 8, and our mother comforted us as we mourned the loss of our brother.
That is the compassion of a mother.
God knows that compassion, God has that compassion. He gave HIS SON, to die on a cross because he has that same kind of love for you.
Tell your mother that you love her today. Show your mother that you love her today.
Know that God loves you and wants you to trust Him for your Salvation, believe on his son Jesus Christ, who gave himself for you and has the power to save you. A mothers love as strong as it is, is just a pale reflection of the love of God.
