The Heart of a Mom
Matthew 15:21-28
The Heart of a Mom is Caring
The Heart of a Mom is Discerning
The Heart of a Mom is Helpful
The Heart of a Mom is Persistent
The Heart of a Mom is Full of Faith
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Happy Mothers’ Day!
I want to thank and honor all the moms who have persevered and have raised their kids because being a Mom is often a thankless job.
On top of that, there are expectations to be able to do it all, to be a super mom!
They need to be nurse and doctor, counselor and caregiver.
They need to function on little sleep.
They need to be up before the kids and go to bed after them.
And then, if they are not a single mom, they are expected to put on their romantic wife hat.
And they are expected to do it all with a smile and the sweetest attitude.
Being a mom is tough.
I know many moms often feel
undervalued,
unappreciated,
unrecognized.
From your kids who don’t recognize all that you do
From your husbands who don’t appreciate all that you do.
Even from society who often doesn’t value the role you have.
Being a mom is hard!
But even though it is hard, God has designed the Heart of a mom to be a reflection of his own heart, not that men aren’t created in the image of God, they are, but we see God even use how a mother loves and cares for her child as an example of his own love and care for his people.
Isaiah 66:13 - As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you;
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There is something special about how a woman cares for a child whether that child is natural born, adopted or just someone that the woman has become a mother to. The heart of a mom is to love.
So today in honor of Mother’s Day, I want to take a look at
The Heart of a Mom
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I want you to turn with me to Matthew 15:21-28
Now, I know we have people here today at all kinds of different places. From
ladies who have raised their kids,
to moms who are helping to raise kids right now and things are very difficult with your child or children,
to young women who have not had kids yet,
to ladies who have been unable to have kids of their own.
Whatever place you find yourself today, I want to encourage you today. There are many things that we are unable to control in our circumstances or in other people, even our kids, but God has called us to have his heart and I believe His heart is well reflected in the heart of a woman who cares for children, who is a mom at heart. So even if you cannot have kids, look for that person who you can be a mom too and mentor and shepherd and love.
So, let’s read this morning and examine the heart of a mom in this passage in Matthew.
Matthew 15:21-28
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Pray
We see this woman was a Canaanite woman. Now the Canaanites were not respected by the Jews, and were even despised. But this mother’s heart was for her daughter.
Think about this for a moment. She was willing to go to someone she thought would despise her because she saw it as the only hope for her daughter.
So one of the first things we see is that
The Heart of a Mom is Caring
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In the face of being despised she goes to Jesus because she cares greatly for her daughter.
Her daughter is suffering so she is suffering too.
Notice she asks Jesus to “have mercy on me.” (herself).
She cares so much that there is this empathy, in that she suffers alongside her daughter even though she, herself, is not demon possessed.
I believe that God has designed mothers hearts this way, as someone who cares about us, even when it seems that nobody else does.
We even have sayings that are generally recognized as true in our culture. We might say to someone that is unlovable that “You are someone that only a mother could love” recognizing that the heart and care of a mom is different than everyone else’s.
Even as we see in the Scripture in Isaiah that I quoted at the beginning of this message, God has designed the heart of a mom to closely resemble his own care and compassion, so that when we look at a mother’s love, it helps us to understand His love for us.
We see this again in
Isaiah 49:15
15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
He asks a question in such a way that the answer is known, that a mother couldn’t forget the baby at her breast, and He says his love is even stronger.
God has created the hearts of moms to be caring and He takes the greatest example of caring that He has created, moms, and uses them to describe His own care for His people.
The heart of a mom is to care for her kids.
This plays out in real life too.
For the most part, who is it that when a child is sick or hurt, that they call for?
“I want my mommy”
Because it is the mom who generally is the person who better expresses care.
It is not that Dad’s don’t care, just moms are better able to express that care in such a way that it is received as care.
So the heart of a mom is caring. We also see that
The Heart of a Mom is Discerning
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Matthew 15:22b
My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
She discerns that the problem is a demon, not her daughter.
I am certain that this daughter has caused all kinds of problems in the home.
It would be very easy to say that this daughter is the problem.
“If she wasn’t around, life would be easier.”
“If she didn’t cause so many problems, we wouldn’t have as much turmoil.”
Maybe the mom is even thinking that she must have been a terrible mother for her daughter to have the problems she has.
But the mom is discerning that there is an underlying issue that is causing the problems.
She understands what Paul tells us in
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (from New International Version)
She is not in a battle with her daughter, although from the outside it may seem that way sometimes, but she is fighting a battle against the spiritual forces of darkness.
Moms, I know we have some here today who have a hurting child at home.
Maybe you think this child has been the cause of such heartbreak
Maybe the actions of that child have affected your marriage in a negative way.
I know it is easy to blame the child, but the first and best route to take is through prayer in battling the spiritual forces of evil that may be the root cause of the problems.
So the heart of a mom is discerning. But also,
The heart of a Mom is Helpful
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Matthew 15:25 - The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
Notice that this mom expends effort to help her daughter with this issue.
While she is discerning of the problem and its cause, she now seeks out what she can do to help.
She had heard about Jesus and
who He was and the
things He was doing.
In the account in
Mark 7:25
25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.
(from New International Version)
She wanted to find the help that her daughter needed.
She expended effort toward being helpful.
She probably did not know what to do at first,
but it was on her mind so
when she talked to someone or
heard someone with an idea of what to do,
she was tuned in to be able to help.
So she heard about Jesus. What did she hear?
Well she had probably heard about Jesus being able to heal those with evil spirits. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had healed many with evil spirits from this same region where the woman was from.
Luke 6:17-18, we see that once when he was teaching it says there was a “great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, (NIV)
Those troubled by evil spirits were cured.
This mom heard about Jesus and when she heard He was in the area, she went and sought Him out.
She was willing to do whatever it took to help her daughter.
Sick
I know a lot of moms, who when their child is sick they go to the doctor, but when the doctor can’t seem to figure it out, are immediately checking things out on the internet or calling friends or reading articles.
They are expending effort to do what they can to help.
I would bet that for the most part, the daughter had no idea how much effort her mom was expending to be a help to her.
Often kids have no idea of how helpful their moms are until they are in their late 20’s or 30’s and have kids of their own.
Moms don’t help for the recognition, although it is nice to be recognized sometimes. They are just helpful any way.
But she not only sought to help,
She persisted in that help. That is because
The Heart of a Mom is Persistent
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Matthew 15:25-27
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
This woman did not take no for an answer.
There are few people in this world that will go to the lengths for the kids than a mother.
If they run into a roadblock, they seek another avenue.
Now, some may look at these verses and think,
Whoa, Jesus is pretty cruel here. Not only does He appear unwilling to help at first, did He just compare her to a dog?
Now He is not quoting Randy Jackson form American Idol who calls everyone dog.
“Listen dog…”
“Ok dog…
What is Jesus saying here?
There are two words for dog in the Greek text, (keleb, kunarion)
One is used in a more negative sense as in a mangy mutt that runs wild in the streets.
The other is what Jesus uses here. It is more in the sense of a household pet.
What He is saying is that his mission is first to the Jews and it wouldn’t be right to feed the dog the food He has come to bring for the children before feeding them.
Feeding Tux
Now we have a dog named Tuxedo.
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We love Tux very much and we care for him and feed him. But we don’t cook chicken or steak and feed Tuxedo this same food before we eat.
And this is basically what Jesus is saying to this woman.
The woman actually takes no offense to it whatsoever, but is encouraged that she isn’t called a mangy, street dog, and uses the same analogy of a pet dog to say she understands and is not looking for the children’s food, but a scrap from the King of kings is all that is needed to accomplish this healing.
This is really amazing because by this she shows how great her faith is for it becomes apparent that not even the Jews had this kind of faith.
And this leads to the last thing I want us to see.
The Heart of a Mom is Full of Faith
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Matthew 15:28
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
It is interesting to note that Jesus only tells 2 people that they have great faith.
They are both gentiles and they recognize that Jesus truly has all authority.
One is this Canaanite woman and the other is the Roman centurion in Matthew 8:5-10 that seeks help for his paralyzed servant who was in pain.
Both this Gentile woman and the gentile centurion recognize who Jesus is and have great Faith in Him.
The centurion says I am not worthy for you to come to my house, just give a command it I know it will be done.
The Canaanite woman says “Lord, I am just a dog, not one of the children of Israel, but what would be just a table scrap to others, is more than enough for you to heal my daughter.”
They were full of faith.
Now to be full of faith, 2 things are needed.
One, we need to recognize who we are in ourselves.
Undeserving, unable, and unworthy.
Second, we need to recognize who Jesus is.
All powerful God of the universe who can do all things.
As we recognize those 2 things and exercise our faith, it will grow and we can pass this on to our kids and truly have an impact on our family for generations to come, and on our society through our kids.
Above all else, to be able to pass along this faith to our children is the greatest legacy any mom, any parent for that matter, can instill in their kids.
But you have to have that faith in you first, before it is passed on.
So my question for you Moms and everyone else here is, how is your faith? Do you have a faith that is going to be passed on?
Having a faith like this woman’s, is what is also going to help you in having the heart God wants for you to have, a heart that cares, a heart that discerns, a heart that helps, and a heart that persists.
Do you have that kind of heart?
If not, then I go back to the question, How is your faith?
Do you recognize who you are apart from Jesus?
Do you recognize that Jesus truly is God and that He loves you and desires to pour out peace and joy into your life?
Maybe you are a mom who doesn’t go to church very often and got your family here today.
Maybe you are here today only because your mom or wife wanted to go to church.
Well, whatever the reason it is not a coincidence that you are here.
God wants you today to either
encourage you to keep growing in your faith or
to begin walking with Him in faith.
Or maybe you are thinking to yourself, my faith is pretty weak because I have had quite a rough go of things this past year.
I don’t think I have any faith to grow in or to exercise.
Well, I have good news.
It does not require much faith to have life changing things happen in your life.
It requires faith that is as small as a mustard seed which each of you have.
But it requires that you exercise that faith.
Exercising your faith starts with trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
If you have never exercised your faith by receiving Christ as Savior, by confessing Him as Lord, then why not do that today.
The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9 that “if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
If you have never done that, then begin exercising that faith today so your heart can be transformed to be more like the heart of God.
And if you have, but have been struggling in your faith, recognize that as you keep your focus on Christ, your heart can grow more caring, and discerning and helpful and persistent to the glory of God and to the benefit of your children.
So we are going to close this morning in prayer and if you have never received Christ as Savior then confess your belief to God this morning.
Pray
