• Special day for special people who sit all around us this morning: Mother’s, Grandmothers and even some Great Grandmothers
• We could fill a library full of books with the examples of how they have loved us and cared for us
Calvin & Hobbes comic strip. Well, on one Mother’s Day, Calvin is pictured standing by his mother’s bed. "Hey, Mom! Wake up. I made you a Mother’s Day card." "My, how sweet of you." she says. "I did it all by myself. Go ahead & read it."
She begins to read:
"I was going to buy a card with hearts of pink & red.
But then I thought I’d rather spend the money on me instead.
It’s awfully hard to buy things when one’s allowance is so small.
So I guess you’re pretty lucky I got you anything at all.
Happy Mother’s Day. There, I’ve said it. Now I’m done.
So how about getting out of bed & fixing breakfast for your son."
STATISTICS:
Hallmark estimates that 150 million Mother’s Day cards will be sent this year: 50% more than on Father’s Day Mother’s Day is the 3rd largest greeting card holiday of the year.
Americans spend an average of $105 on Mother’s Day gifts.
The phone rings more often on Mother’s day than Father’s day. More collect calls on Father’s Day
The busiest day of the year at car washes? The Saturday before Mother’s Day.
THERE WAS A STUDY by attorney Michael Minton on the monetary value of a wife’s services in the home. First he listed the various functions she performs:
Chauffeur Gardener Family counselor Maintenance worker Cleaning woman
Housekeeper Cook Errand runner Bookkeeper Interior decorator
Caterer, dietician, secretary, hostess
Using this impressive list of housewife’s work in today’s labor market, He came up with $985/week. That’s $51,220/year!
Cartoon shows a mother in her home. Her hair is in disarray, kids are everywhere, & the house is an absolute shambles. The husband comes home from work all neatly dressed in coat & tie, carrying his briefcase.
She takes one look at him, & He looks at her with a big question mark on his face. She tells him, "You come home every evening & ask what I do all day. Today I didn’t do it, & here it is!"
ONE BIBLE MOM came to Jesus: Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’ But He answered her not a word. Matthew 15:21f
No answer but probably thinking, ‘No lady, your child is just now a teenager’. Demon possession and adolescence look a lot alike.
• Bible is filled with famous mothers: Mary, Hannah, Proverbs 31 Supermom – Sarah and Elizabeth two grandmother age mothers.
• This morning look at three lesser known moms of the Bible.
RIZPAH: A MOTHER WHOSE CHILDREN HUNG AROUND 2 Samuel 21
Rizpah was a concubine of King Saul who had bore Saul two sons.
As a concubine, she had very little status nor influential power.
Concubines were considered as “secondary wives,” they were inferior to the “primary wives.”
In reality, a concubine was nothing more than a slave.
Whether purchased or won in battle a concubine was entitled to some legal protection but was her husbands property.
• Her story occurs when David becomes King and King’s Saul’s reign has ended with his death. A people that Saul had attempted to wipe out wanted revenge on his sons, two of which were also the sons of Rizpah who was Saul’s concubine.
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, "It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."
2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?"
4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, "We have no {concern} of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "I will do for you whatever you say." 5 So they said to the king, " The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD." And the king said, "I will give {them.}"
• A bloody request for the lives of Saul’s sons: King David actually agrees with only one restriction.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.
8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel.
9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.
• Seven of them killed and hung at the beginning of the barley harvest.
RIZPAH DEMONSTRATES THE AMAZING LOVE A MOTHER HAS FOR HER CHILDREN:
10 And Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
From the beginning of the harvest until the rains poured (a period of 6 months), Rizpah protected her children. Each day with the sun shining and the heat rising, she fought off the birds that came to feed on the bodies of her sons -- and night time was a time for rest from only the heat of the sun, because every night for 6 months this devoted mother fought off the wild animals that came to devour the bodies of her dead sons...
She was protecting them, protecting her sons from further disgrace and humiliation. There wasn’t much she could do for her sons now, but she did what she could... Rizpah protected her sons....
“Who is Elmo Cringle?”
A teenager had decided to quit high school, saying he was just fed up with it all. His father was trying to convince him to stay with it. “Son,” he said, “you just can’t quit. All the people who are remembered in history didn’t quit. Abe Lincoln didn’t quit. Thomas Edison didn’t quit. Douglas MacArthur didn’t quit. and what about Elmo Cringle” “Who?” the son burst in. “Who is Elmo Cringle?” “See,” the father replied, “you don’t remember him because he quit!”
When no one else will stand by you – Mom will – We are also surrounded by some amazing men this morning who live each day loving and providing for their families BUT our society is plagued with a cesspool full of men who have walked away from their families and children. Very rare to see a mom do that.
RIZPAH even after they were killed protected their bodies from humiliation for half a year.
11 When it was told David what Rizpah the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa.
13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land.
A story on the news recently told of an 18-year-old young man who had multiple sclerosis.
He was trying desperately to become an eagle scout. All he lacked was a 16 mile hike, but he was in a wheelchair. He wheeled his chair for 10 miles. When his arms became too sore to continue, he crawled the remaining 6 miles!
Now that’s persistence! That’s the kind of dogged determination that this mother possessed.
A GODLY MOTHER IS AN INSPIRATION TO THOSE AROUND HER:
David hears about Rizpah and his heart is moved. He collects all the bones of Saul, Jonathan and the seven who were hanged and gives them a proper burial.
Even God was moved to respond more to a land who follows the lead of a loving mother.
JOCHEBED: A MOTHER WHO’S SON WAS IN D’NILE Exodus 2:1-10
• Jochebed(not most beautiful names back then) was the mother of Moses.
• While Rizpah would not give up and leave her sons Jochebed had to give up and leave Moses because of a wicked King’s decree.
• A new Pharoah/King of Egypt rose up who did not know about Joseph whom God had used in a great way in Egyptian history to protect the land from 7 years of economic disaster(could use him today). New Pharoah only saw Joseph’s people the Jews as a danger because they had multiplied so much. Made a decree to kill all the newborn boys.
1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set {it} among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
MOTHERS TAKE ON GREAT PERSONAL RISK FOR THEIR CHILDREN: Birth itself is a great risk: Less today then ever but if God wanted to extinguish the human race He would not need another flood but just switch having children to men. 3 month of hiding Moses: Every day, every night, every noise, every visit was another panic of whether the baby was discovered. Placing Moses in the river: No my first choices of life saving techniques unless you knew who liked to bathe there and when.
5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it {to her.} 6 When she opened {it,} she saw the child, and behold, {the} boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews’ children." 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?" 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Go {ahead.}" So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give {you} your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."
God had a greater plan at work. This was a special child. God brought Moses into the world at just the right time in the history of the world. God put Moses in just the right household to carry the influence he needed to have but also allowed his mother to remain and teach him what he needed to be to have a heart for God’s will.
MOTHERS HAVE A UNIQUE PLACE IN THE PLAN OF GOD FOR A CHILD’S LIFE: A special commitment and a deep love always lead to a powerful influence.
James Keller says, "Every mother has the breath-taking privilege of sharing with God in the creation of new life."
And when God places a child or children in your arms, His will for you is to bring them up in a home where they will know God & His word, & Jesus Christ as their Savior & Lord.
ERMA BOMBECK: For the first 4 or 5 years after I had children, I considered motherhood a temporary condition -- not a calling. It was a time of my life set aside for exhaustion and long hours. It would pass. Then one afternoon, with 3 kids in tow, I came out of a supermarket pushing a cart (with four wheels that went in opposite directions) when my toddler son got away from me. Just outside the door, he ran toward a machine holding bubble gum in a glass dome. In a voice that shattered glass he shouted, "Gimme! Gimme!" I told him I would give him what for if he didn’t stop shouting and get in the car.
As I physically tried to pry his body from around the bubble gum machine, he pulled the entire thing over. Glass and balls of bubble gum went all over the parking lot. We had now attracted a sizable crowd.
I told him he would never see another cartoon as long as he lived, and if he didn’t control his temper, he was going to be making license plates for the state.
He tried to stifle his sobs as he looked around at the staring crowd. Then he did something that I was to remember for the rest of my life. In his helpless quest for comfort, he turned to the only one he trusted his emotions with -- me. He threw his arms around my knees and held on for dear life.
I had humiliated him, chastised him, and berated him, but I was still all he had. That single incident defined my role. I was a major force in this child’s life.
Sometimes we forget how important stability is to a child. I’ve always told mine, "The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth.... the hardest part is showing up for it each day..."
?: A MOTHER WHO MADE A SPLIT DECISION 1 Kings 3:16-28
• A very unusual mother’s day scripture but it certainly shows us the best in possibly the worst mother.
• Solomon is king and has been gifted with great wisdom from God. Even as king he chose to help to make judgments on behalf of his people. A case more unusual than even Judge Judy has seen comes before him.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT MOTHER Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him
I once read the story of a woman who went shopping for swimsuits with her mother.
In the department store, though, she was having a hard time finding one that fit. After trying on at least 10, all to no avail, she grew increasingly frustrated.
Trying to calm her, her mother said "Look at it this way: what would you rather have – the husband and three children who adore you, or a swimsuit that fits?"
Before she could answer, a faceless voice from the next dressing room stall replied
"I want a swimsuit that fits!"
All of us fall short of perfection and the evidence of our failures is not absent from our attempts at parenting. None of us also come from perfect pasts as well.
It is amazing what God can do with so little to work with.
16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me.
The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby.
We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.
So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.
The next morning, I got up to nurse my son - and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne."
The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours."
But the first one insisted, "No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine." And so they argued before the king.
• Solomon found himself in no man’s land trying to decide the truth in a case involving two very emotionally involved women of low morals. But even with low morals there is the evidence of God’s maternal stamp.
The king said, "This one says, ’My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ’No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’"
Then the kind said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other."
How many would honestly, not knowing the story, make such a judgment? Talk about a mistrial: Child custody battle between two parents: Cut him in half
The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!"
But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"
Ooh and Ahh time in the courtroom after an initial gasp:
What Great Wisdom is the lesson we often take away from this story.
There is also the lesson of the power of a mother’s love.
Child comes first even if she comes last.
Personal sacrifice is a part of motherhood.
Our mothers fed us, nourished and protected us with their own bodies before we even saw the light of day. No one else carry me around for nine months.
They give up sleep for the midnight feedings.
They give up personal goals to help their children achieve their goals.
Ask yourself how many times you got a new outfit and mom wore the same old clothes, or how many times she gave you the last helping at supper.
IT’S IN HER DNA:
Mothers remind us of God who is sacrificial and giving.
He gave up His only Son for a world of sinners.
That kind of love should not go unnoticed and unappreciated.
Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother."
When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
Solomon knew what real moms looked like.
Can’t always tell by the outside but they all look pretty much the same on the inside.
Max Lucado "A Gentle Thunder. Moms: WHY do you love your newborn child?
I know, I know; it’s a silly question, but indulge me. Why do you?
For months this baby has brought you pain.
They’ve made you break out in pimples and waddle like a duck.
Because of them you craved sardines and crackers and threw up in the morning.
They punched you in the tummy. They occupied a space that wasn’t theirs and ate food they didn’t fix. You kept them warm. You kept them safe. You kept them fed.
But did she say thank you? Are you kidding?
She’s no more out of the womb than she starts to cry!
The room is too cold, the blanket is too rough, the nurse is too mean.
And who does she want? Mom.
Don’t you ever get a break? I mean, who has been doing the work the last nine months?
Why can’t Dad take over? But no, Dad won’t do. The baby wants Mom.
She didn’t even tell you she was coming. She just came. And what a coming!
She rendered you a barbarian. You screamed. You swore. You bit bullets and tore the sheets.
And now look at you. Your back aches. Your head pounds. Your body is drenched in sweat. Every muscle strained and stretched. You should be angry, but are you?
Far from it. On your face is a longer-than-forever love.
They’ve done nothing for you; yet you love them.
They’ve brought pain to your body and nausea to your morning, yet you treasure them.
Their face is wrinkled and their eyes are dim, yet all you can talk about are her good looks and bright future.
She’s going to wake you up every night for the next 6 weeks, but that doesn’t matter.
I can see it on your face. You’re crazy about her.
Why? Why does a mother love her newborn? Because the baby is hers?
Even more. Because the baby is her.
Her blood. Her flesh. Her sinew and spine. Her hope. Her legacy.
It bothers her not that the baby gives nothing. She knows a newborn is helpless, weak.
She knows babies don’t ask to come into this world.
And God knows we didn’t either.
We are his idea. We are his. His face. His eyes. His hands. His touch. We are Him.
The love a mother for her child is only a small taste of the love God has for you. When He looks at you He sees His finest creation. But there is one thing that mars the beauty that He desires for your life. It’s called sin.
And sin is what separates you from the completeness of His love for you. That’s why we give an invitation at the end of every service…
