“A Godly Mother”
Text: Isaiah 7:10-15
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
While we love our mothers or their memories, I think most preachers wrestle with sermons on this day. We just don’t want to preach on Hannah or Jochebed every second Sunday of May. And, I feel it may be a little intimidating to hear sermons about our Lord’s mother on this special day. So, I looked back to see what I preached on last Mother’s Day and found it was a blank sermon outline because my wife was in the hospital. Thankfully, she is with us this morning and I’ll try to fill in that outline that only contained our scripture reading from Isaiah. So I hope you’ll open your Bibles on this Lord’s Day and Mother’s Day as we study for a few minutes about “A Godly Mother”. And, we urge you to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search the scriptures daily to make sure we’re preaching the truth of God’s word.
III. Lesson
Most of us look at our scripture reading this morning and have no idea how the prophecy of verse 14 applies to evil King Ahaz. But we certainly recognize its application in Matthew 1:23 as it pertains to the virgin birth of the Son of God. Can you imagine all the anxiety Mary must have felt as she began to realize what she had been chosen to do? She had not only been given the responsibility for giving birth to the Messiah – God’s Son – but also to nurture and to raise Him to manhood. As best we can determine from scripture, Mary’s only qualifications were that she was a good Jewish girl, a virgin from the tribe of Judah. God didn’t expect her to raise Jesus as a single mom but provided her a husband to love her and assist her with this child. I believe that has always been God’s plan for the home: sexually moral husbands and wives loving and raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That doesn’t mean there is no forgiveness for sexual immorality! That doesn’t mean there is no forgiveness for having a child out of wedlock! That doesn’t mean there can be no forgiveness if someone had an abortion! That doesn’t mean you’re any less of a woman because you never bear children! All I’m saying is that God’s plan for the home has always been a godly husband and a godly wife and He provided for that even in the miraculous birth of His Son. It is an awesome responsibility to bring a child into this world and a mother bears the majority of this burden both physically and emotionally. I like the words of Abraham Lincoln who said: “No man is poor who has a Godly mother.” Mothers are the most powerful influencers in the world. Let me draw your attention to a poet by the name of William Ross Wallace who penned these words in 1865 under the title What Rules the World:
BLESSINGS on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace.
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mothers first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Mothers, I’m not sure if you know just how much power you wield. But, let me add one quote from a female novelist named N.K. Jemisin: “(A mother) can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.” Because you are the major force molding the life of a child, please strive to be the godly mother God wants you to be. You see, God wants all mothers to be godly mothers just as He wanted one for His Son. So I want us to spend the remainder of our time looking at what constitutes a godly mother. Please don’t assume there is an order of priority in this list because there isn’t but, first of all, godly mothers will dress modestly. Turn if you will to 1 Timothy 2:9-10 – in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. The context here is the worship assembly and modest apparel is not about what is not sexually revealing – that is covered by propriety and moderation. The modest apparel refers to dressing up in extravagant dress that equates to wantonness and wifely insubordination. A godly mother dresses like a lady – not trying to draw attention to herself. Secondly, a godly mother teaches her child. We know the proverb – the general truth – found in Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
In traditional homes, it is the mother who spends the most time interacting with a child – teaching them to pray, to love God and the difference between right and wrong. In Proverbs 1:8 and 6:20, Solomon tells sons to listen to their dads but, in both verses, he tells him And do not forsake the law of your mother. I want to point out that the word for “law” is Torah meaning direction or teaching. A godly mother points her children in the direction of heaven and guides them along the narrow way. One of the great examples of this was a godly mother by the name of Eunice who passed her faith on to her son Timothy even though his daddy was a pagan and didn’t go to church. Notice the tribute of the apostle Paul to her instruction in 2 Timothy 3:15 – and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Thirdly, a godly mother does what is best for her family. I’m not going to preach through Proverbs 31 this morning but I do want to draw our attention to verses 26-28 to illustrate this point. I’m reading from the New Century Version just for its simplicity:
She speaks wise words
and teaches others to be kind.
She watches over her family
and never wastes her time.
Her children speak well of her.
Her husband also praises her,
A godly mother sees to her family’s needs. Fourthly, godly mothers learn from older Christian wives and mothers. Paul wrote to Titus about some things that are proper for sound doctrine. And, he told him what older women should be doing in the church – Titus 2:4-5 – that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Now, ladies, I know this kind of stuff isn’t very popular today but God didn’t want you learning these things from Oprah and Dr. Phil and Dr. Spock or The View. Since there is an inspired message for both the older and younger women in this paragraph, let me read verses 3-5 from the New Century Version: In the same way, teach older women to be holy in their behavior, not speaking against others or enslaved to too much wine, but teaching what is good. Then they can teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be wise and pure, to be good workers at home, to be kind, and to yield to their husbands. Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us. Since I crossed on over this line, I’ll finish with a fifth thing godly mothers do – they discipline their children and that includes both corporal punishment and verbal chastisement. The book of Proverbs – inspired words from God – includes many passages about physically disciplining children. Proverbs 29:15 is the only passage of this type in Proverbs which mentions the mother without reference to the father:
The rod and rebuke give wisdom,
But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Godly mothers will discipline their children. They won’t say, “Wait ‘til your daddy gets home!” to a five-year old. Lest anyone misunderstand me: I am not advocating beating or abusing your children. But a smack on the hand or the seat of the pants will do wonders if appropriately applied. That coupled with the word “No” may be just what the Lord ordered!
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
On this Mother’s Day, we’ve looked at five things that characterize godly mothers. First, a godly mother will dress modestly. Secondly, she teaches her children to love God and His word. She also teaches them kindness, respect for others, honesty, to work, etc. Thirdly, a godly mother does what is best for her family. She is not lazy! Fourthly, she learns from older Christian wives and mothers. And, finally, she disciplines her children. A lot of us are spiritually rich today because we had godly mothers. May God bless the mothers here this morning! I shared a poem from 1865 and now I want to share one from this year. It was written from the perspective of a thankful daughter reflecting on Mother’s Day but I think all of us can identify with it. The poem is by Heather Spears Kallus and is entitled THE WOMAN I AM TODAY:
Mom, I thank the Lord for the day of your birth,
An angel you are, sent down to earth.
I'm the woman I am because of your love,
And because I was raised with help from above.
Thank you for guiding me gently with care,
For teaching me always that love is to share.
Holding me tightly when scared as a child,
And calming my fears when thoughts ran so wild.
Long nights spent rocking me soundly to sleep,
Because I was sick and couldn't count sheep.
For helping with homework, my projects, and such,
For giving me hope when worries were much.
Thank you for driving me limitless miles,
Trips with the fam - the memories and smiles.
Our house was a home - can't thank you enough,
For loving on days that surely were rough.
Parties for birthdays or just because,
Homemade cookies that were the best that there was.
My artwork and drawings, you proudly displayed,
You even praised scribbles - I wasn't dismayed.
For endless forgiveness - mistakes I did make,
Bad choices were plenty, for goodness sake.
Your encouraging words and life-giving deeds,
All through the years you were planting good seeds.
For staying up late, hearing stories I'd share,
No matter what time, you'd always be there.
You were my first love - my very first friend,
My broken hearts, you knew how to mend.
For unselfishly giving year after year,
Ready to comfort and dry a new tear.
I know it was not always easy to mother,
When bro and I constantly picked on each other.
Thank you for reading me books upon books,
You could discipline me with just one of your "looks."
Countless times that you put my needs before yours,
For teaching with prayer that God opens new doors.
Thank you for all that you gave up for me,
As I grow older, it's clear to see.
The love you gave along the way,
Made me the woman I am today.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and to all of those special women out there who share their motherly love with others!
Please take time to honor your mother today especially if you’re still blessed to have her in your life. I know this sermon has not been one about how to become a child of God but we do want to extend the Lord’s invitation this morning. Perhaps you believe that Jesus is the Son of God but you’ve never been adopted into His family. If you are willing to repent of your sins and confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we’d be glad to assist you in putting on Christ in baptism. Or, perhaps you’re an erring child of God and need to come home to your Father. We’ve talked about a mother’s love this morning but God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins. We’re going to sing about that love and invite you to come as we stand & sing.
