Sermon
Lanier Christian Church
May 14, 2017 – Mother’s Day
A Woman of Strength, Dignity and Laughter
Proverbs 31:25
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” - Proverbs 31:25
Perhaps many of you are familiar with Proverbs 31. It is the concluding chapter of the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Although King Solomon is credited with most of the proverbs, the last chapter is from King Lemuel, who may have been an Egyptian or Babylonian King, but nonetheless wrote about a woman of noble character, and he got the idea from his own mother.
The beginning of Proverbs 31 says: The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.
These inspiring words were written in Hebrew in acrostic form. From verse 10 until the concluding words, we see an acrostic poem. This means the first line starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the second line the second letter and so forth.
You may say, I’m not familiar with acrostic poems but you’ve probably heard this one by Howard Johnson…PLAY VIDEO
“M' is for the million things she gave me, 'O' means only that she's growing old, 'T' is for the tears were shed to save me, 'H' is for her heart of purest gold; 'E' is for her eyes, with love-light shining, 'R' means right, and right she'll always be, Put them all together, they spell 'mother,' A word that means the world to me.
So…because of that song, that some of us learned in elementary school, we know what an acrostic is.
On this Mother’s Day I am well aware of the feelings that are brought about by this holiday. Some of you are blessed with wonderful memories of your mother. Some of you are grieving over the loss of your mother. Some of you have deep heartache on this day due to hurtful memories. Some of you never knew your mother. Some of you are blessed with children. Some of you are blessed by children.
But, for all of you women here today, know this: God has called you to be a woman of noble character!
Proverbs 31 gives an extensive description of what a woman of noble character looks like. But today I want to focus in on this one verse, Proverbs 31:25
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”
My sisters in Christ, it’s not about the beautiful clothing you wear today at church or any day, it’s about the kind of character you cover yourself with day in and day out.
The woman of noble character; The woman that reflects the very virtues of God, is clothed with strength and dignity.
Dignity is the outer reflection of the strength within you. You can perhaps be strong without dignity, but you can’t be dignified without strength. I don’t think there is a mom here today that doesn’t believe the verse in Philippians 4:13– “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The strength to be a woman of noble character comes through Christ. He is the rock from which you draw your strength. He is the source from which you draw your help. He is the power that sustains when you feel unable to carry on.
The greatest gift that my own mother has given me is the gift of faith and strength that is found in Jesus. She is a dignified woman in every sense of the word, because Christ is her strength. And when I hear her pray, wow, it’s like she has a direct line to God! With sincerity and dignity and a bold, yet quiet strength, she approaches the throne of God and petitions him in a way that you know for certain that God hears!
Perhaps any woman’s strength and dignity is best revealed in the crisis times of life. That’s when the noble character really is tested and revealed.
There are women in this room today that have shown strength and dignity in the most difficult trials of life:
Some of you have battled cancer, or some other serious illness, and been dignified and strong throughout the process.
Some of you have grieved the loss of children and husbands and siblings and parents but have done so with dignity and strength.
Some of you have suffered through miscarriage or infertility and have faced those trials with dignity and strength.
Some of you have battled financial woes and job stress, but have stood firm with dignity and strength.
Some of you have dealt with loneliness and heartache, but have done so with dignity and strength.
I found this anonymous quote this week: Don’t worry. God is never blind to your tears, never deaf to your prayers and never silent to your pain. He sees. He hears and He will deliver you.
So, my challenge to all that are here today, men and women alike is to find your strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him empower you with strength, grace, patience, peace, wisdom and the ability to deal with any situation that you face, so that you can handle it with dignity just like this woman of noble character described in Proverbs 31.
If you do allow our Lord to clothe you with strength and dignity, your influence on children and adults alike will be unstoppable.
Now, dignity seems to be something refined and formal and serious, but this verse reminds us that there is more to life than the serious approach. There is a time for laughter as well!
Yes, you heard it right! Laughter. Laughter is a gift from God! I actually believe that laughter is the best medicine, and you don’t have to drive to the Pharmacy to get it!
Other translations of the Bible word this verse in different ways:
The New Living Translation: She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
The Message: She always faces tomorrow with a smile.
A woman of noble character will laugh without fear of the future! How do you do that? It’s not because she KNOWS the future but the woman of noble character knows the God of the future!
One of the early songs my mother taught me was: “He’s got the whole world in His hand, He’s got the whole wide world in His hand…”
The other song she would sing to my sisters and I when we were children was: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”
So, I learned two very important truths from my mother in my childhood that are still true today: 1.) God’s got everything under control and 2.) Jesus loves me, no matter what!
Therefore, every one of us here today, men and women alike, should know that we can laugh without fear of the future because …God’s got this! We can laugh in the face of Satan, as we age, because our future is secure with Christ!
Let’s talk about the laughter part of this verse. My mom and dad modeled laughter for me. They’ve always loved to laugh. Life is too hard to not bring some comic relief to your days. I actually believe it’s God’s healing therapy.
James Dobson tells the story of a mother who was sick in bed. She had the flu. And her little daughter wanted so much to be a good nurse. So she brought mom an extra pillow, and she brought her a magazine to read. And then she even showed up with a surprise cup of tea. And her mother took a sip of the tea, and she said, ''Wow! I didn't even know you knew how to make tea!'' And the girl said, ''Oh, yes. I learned by watching you. I put some water in the pot, and then I put the tea leaves in, and I boiled the water, and then I strained it into a cup. But I couldn't find the strainer, so I used the flyswatter instead.'' And her mother said, ''You what?!'' And the girl said, ''Oh, don't worry, mom. I didn't use the new flyswatter; I used the old one.''
We need to laugh more, don’t we? I feel so much better when I laugh, don’t you? Of all people, Christians have a reason to laugh. God’s in control, and Satan cannot overthrow Him. So, because of that we need to live out our days with a whole lot more joy than we do.
On this Mother’s Day, I want all of you moms, all of you women…and yes all of you men, too…to laugh more. To let the joy of the Lord heal your soul. To let laughter fill your lungs and stretch your facial muscles. To share the one contagious thing that people should be infected with…and that’s the gift of laughter!
Now, we like to laugh in my family, so I want to share with you how wonderful laughter is. Back in December we celebrated Christmas Day on a Sunday. Many of you were here. After worship we headed to my hometown of Milledgeville. We had a nice dinner and then we opened gifts. We like to do the gag gifts…the white elephant style gift giving. Here is a photo of my mom wearing her gift. (PHOTO)
Yes, that’s my beautiful mother wearing a beard and hat! (gag gift) I’m telling you we like to laugh! By the way, here is a photo of my beautiful mom and dad for those of you who’ve never met them. She really doesn’t have a beard!
Then, at our Christmas gathering, my sister, Kay brought out this unique game called: “Speak Out.”
It involves wearing a mouthpiece that prevents your lips from touching. You then select a card and have to speak a certain phrase with everyone else guessing what you’ve said.
So, here is my sister Kay…at our Simpson family gathering on Christmas Day.
First, Kay…..SLIDE/VIDEO
Then, someone you know, Faith….
Doesn’t it feel good to laugh? Christmas is one of the most joyful days of the year. But, we should laugh throughout the year because God made us that way. Don’t let Satan steal your joy! Moms…ladies….when is the last time you laughed?
Give your family a gift today and laugh with them. Give your family something they’ll never forget and share a smile and a chuckle.
To wrap up this message today, let’s look at this Proverbs verse one more time. It speaks of a woman of noble character:
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” (or as the Living Bible says: She laughs without fear of the future.) - Proverbs 31:25
So I leave you today with one more laugh….I found it on youtube and it just made me chuckle.
VIDEO Show video of Baby, Dog and bubbles.
So in honor of you women and mothers here today, I have a gift for you….bubbles. Blow some bubbles when you get home today. Share laughter and smiles with your family and friends. And never forget this biblical truth: “She laughs without fear of the future.”
