Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. This is your special day. But for some reason, when pastors across the country are asked about their Mother’s Day sermon, the largest consensus admits that a Mother’s Day sermon is the hardest of all sermons to put together. I’m not exempt from that number either. I wondered why that is. For those that like to follow along in their Bibles, Luke 1 & 2.
With the stay home policy in place now, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands so I started searching the Bible to get some numbers. There are over 154 women mentioned in the Bible in over 350 passages. Many, and probably most, of these women were mothers. So surely there should be plenty to talk about.
Why is it so difficult for pastors of all ages to preach Mother’s Day sermons? My hunch is it has nothing to do with faulty relationships with their mothers. It has more to do with two realities: a) They don’t want to get all sentimental and just preach a “how wonderful is motherhood” sermon, and yet are not clear what to do; and b) They are mostly men writing these sermons.
One pastor told of how his granddaughter was the one who reminded him of this. He told this story: I was pushing my 8-year-old granddaughter Abby in the swing in her front yard. She and her twin Erin had been learning about childbirth from their mother. Abby was not liking what she was learning. “I’m not going to have children, Grandpa,” she said. “It hurts too bad.”
My first thought was to say, “If your mother felt that way, you wouldn’t be here. And if your great-grandmothers felt that way, none of us would be here.” But what I said was, “You’re right. It does hurt. But the pain goes away, and you’re left with this beautiful child, and you decide that it was worth it.” The child looked me square in the eyes and said, “You’re a man. What do you know?”
He said, “After picking myself up off the grass, I laughingly admitted she was exactly right—all I know on this subject is what I’ve been taught. Let’s admit the obvious here: This is one experience where we men are on the outside looking in. We men are out of our league trying to assess what mothers go through and the challenges they face.
As I was thinking and praying about which direction to go today, I started thinking about all the challenges that mothers go through. Sure, dads go through a lot these challenges as well, but it seems that mothers take things more to heart. Even the best mothers are concerned with the conflicting currents flowing through them. I am sure that mothers contend with more of a degree of tension when it comes to being a parent, a mother.
Then the Lord brought to mind, Mary, the mother of Jesus.
First of all, she bore the Son of God in her womb. Let’s read from that familiar passage that usually is only read around Christmas time. Luke 1: 26-35; 37-38. READ. What a privilege it was to be chosen by God to be the mother of His Son. What an honor to become the mother of the Promised Messiah.
Yes, what a privilege and what an honor but at the same time, what a burden. You know there was suspicion when Mary started to show from her pregnancy. You know there had to be rumors from the family and the neighbors. She was not married at the time. What an atrocity. In that day, she could have been stoned for being pregnant out of wedlock.
Joseph could easily have walked away from the relationship, knowing that this child was not his. But he stuck by her side. Do you realize that they were still not married at the time of Jesus’ birth? READ Luke 2: 4-7. What a burden Joseph must have been carrying. But Mary knew and remembered what the angel had told her. She would give birth to the Son of God. So, no matter how heavy the burden, this mother, carried our Messiah to full term and gave birth.
We need also to remember that Mary didn’t have the luxuries of having the baby in a well-equipped delivery room at the hospital. She brought forth this special child in the City of David, Bethlehem and did so in a stable a long way from home. Such motherly dedication to fulfill her responsibility.
And then, when Jesus was 8 days old, they take Him to the temple to be blessed, to offer a sacrifice to God, and to have Jesus circumcised as was the tradition. Imagine the emotions Mary must have felt when her child is blessed by Simeon and Anna in the Temple and hearing Simeon speak of God’s great role for this Child, but then, at the same time, learning that a sword will pierce her own heart.
READ Luke 2: 21-35
Mary surely didn’t know exactly what all this meant, but I feel this was yet another thing that Mary kept in her heart.
I wonder what was going through Mary’s thoughts when about 2 years later, they are visited by the Magi with special gifts. I think this was yet another confirmation to Mary that truly this was the Son of God. And to hear of the murderous plot of King Herod, causing them to escape at midnight and flee to Egypt for the child’s safety.
Yet, as a mother, she never argued or complained. She wanted what was best for her child. Poor Mom. She has to depend on other people to help look after her children, and sometimes finds them undependable. I’m speaking of the incident recorded in Luke 2: 41-50. READ.
(You can hear Mary and Joseph interrogating others on the journey to Jerusalem: “What do you mean, He’s not with you? I was counting on you to look after Him!”) Every parent has to have others they can count on—extended family members, school teachers, pastors, Sunday School teachers, choir and mission leaders, coaches, etc. Sometimes we find they let us down. (The church is such an important resource for parents. It’s so crucial that we select the best and finest to work with our children.)
Poor Mom. She finds it hard to accept that her Son is growing up with a mind of His own and His own sense of how the Father is leading Him. So, when she rebukes Him for “treating us this way,” Jesus informs her the temple should have been the first place she looked, that He had work to do. Literally, He answers: “Did you not know that I must be about the things of my Father?”
It’s interesting that Mary says “Your father and I have been looking for you,” and Jesus speaks of a different Father. I thought about that and came to the realization that is must be a difficult thing for mothers to relinquish control as the child matures; and yet if the child is to become a responsible adult, this must happen.
It almost brings a tear to my eyes when I watch the commercials where the child is growing up and is leaving home for college, or to get married and live in another city. I think about how difficult it must have been for my mom to watch me drive off to college in another city. And then later to leave home to start a new life at a new job in another city.
I’m thinking that Mary must have felt the same way as she realized that her baby boy was becoming an adult and now making decisions for himself. But it must take place. It’s part of the maturing process. It has been said that (Motherhood) is the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.
Watch a nature program and see the mother lion run off her adolescent son, then watch the eagle push the fledglings out of the nest when the time has come for them to leave it. And to that I say, “Thank you, mom, for being strong for me.”
Poor Mother Mary. So much to consider. Verse 51 says, “Mary treasured all these things up in her heart.” She was so torn between the privilege of parenting the Savior and the burden of the daily responsibilities of her role.
Every parent knows the tension. But there’s a lesson in this for all of us. I think about the assumption Mary and Joseph made that Jesus was among them when He wasn’t. And I wonder how many church members these days are assuming that because they go to church or were raised by Christian parents that Jesus is automatically with them.
Just because our parents and grandparents went or go to church, doesn’t save us. The choice to be a child of God is individual. Each one of us has to make that decision on our own. And just because YOU have gone to church all your life, doesn’t mean that you’re a Christian no more than you standing in a garage makes you a car. To become or be called a Christian means that you have chosen to accept Christ as your own. When you do that, when you ask Christ to come and take over your life, when you fully surrender to Him, THEN you are a Christian, a Christ-follower, a child of God. You need to make sure of that.
And I can tell you with surety, there’s not much anything else that will make your mother happier. I love to watch the expressions on the faces of mothers whose children have accepted Christ. You can just feel the love from their expression. So, in saying that, if you knowing Christ as your Savior is what would make your mother most happy, isn’t it something that you should at least consider.
Of course, that’s not the main reason for someone to accept Christ. You accept Christ to receive the gift of salvation—the surety of eternal life. But again, that’s a decision that you’ll have to make on your own, for your good and for God’s glory.
But in all this, I am saying that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not much different than any mother today as far as the feelings she has for you, the prayers that she prays for you, sometimes the anxiety that she has because of you, but still has that motherly love for you.
Mothers bring a sense of security to the home. We think of being secure, and our minds go back to our moms holding us in their arms. During these trying days, many are feeling insecure in this world. We’re afraid to go to the store, or anywhere else for that matter. The threat of this virus is real and it’s not over yet. So, what can we do to feel more secure? Let’s put all that aside today, and focus on our moms. Here are some things that can make us feel more secure and our moms are directly involved in it all.
#1 is a good, solid marriage. That sounds elementary, but this may be where modern society has failed the most miserably. It has placed so much emphasis on other things, & has treated marriage as just another convenient & temporary arrangement. And the result is conflict in the home. Maybe it is time for us to get back to basics & relearn what God’s Word teaches about marriage, & realize that God’s ideal has never changed.
#2 is family togetherness. If you asked your children what their fondest memories are of their growing up years, I imagine that they would not remember the new toys that they just had to have, or the designer clothes that you sacrificed to buy for them.
But I think that they would probably remember those vacations when you all piled into the car & took off for parts unknown. I think that they would probably remember those nights that you slept in a tent, sometimes shivering in the cold, or laughing around the campfire, those times when you were just together as a family.
#3 would be a regular routine in life. Not rigid rules & regulations, but rather, a routine that says, "Here is something that you can count on. We eat at a certain time. We go to bed at a certain time. We go to school when it is time to go to school. We go to work when it is time to go to work. Most important of all, we go to church when it is time to go to church. And you can count on that being basically the same, week after week, year after year.
#4 is proper discipline. God’s Word tells us that God disciplines us because He loves us. So, parents discipline their children because they love them. Not abuse them, not beat them, just disciplining them in love.
#5 is touching your child, communicating your love, touching, hugging, loving in a wholesome way between parent & child. That loving touch, that hug, will go farther than any words can express.
Finally, every child needs a sense of belonging to something that counts & means something to them. And most of our moms have done a wonderful job in creating that atmosphere where we feel like we belong. Creating that feeling of belonging gives our children the sense that when this old world fails them, they can at least know they belong to a family with a mother who loves them.
So, all these things are what mothers do for us. So, what can we do for them on this Special Day that we celebrate? This is OUR responsibility. So I close with this:
#1, Love Mom today as though she were going to die tomorrow. Somehow, we act as though our mothers will live forever. But it isn’t true. Yet, because of our example, the way we treat our mothers is probably the way our children will treat us. The daughter of a good mother will be the mother of a good daughter.
#2, Tell Mom that you love her. A mother’s job is one of the hardest in the world. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church & gave Himself up for her." She, too, needs to hear that she is loved.
#3, Show your love in tangible ways. Don’t forget her birthday, anniversary, or other special days. Thoughtfulness tells Mom that you’re thinking of her & that you care.
#4, Arrange for her to have a day off once in a while. Why not? Most everyone else has days off, & mothers DO get tired.
#5, Pray for her. Mothers have faults & weaknesses just like the rest of us. Prayer will make her a better mother, & you more aware of her needs.
Some of you may be thinking these things sound kind of corny. But for those who have lost their mothers, they can testify that they probably are wishing they had done all these things for their mother instead of taking her for granted like many do.
So, moms, we love you and appreciate everything you have ever done for us. Thanks for being an example for us. And in many cases, you’re the reason we are Christians today. Thank you, and we hope you have the Happiest of Mothers days.
If you’re not a Christian and have never asked Christ to come into your life and guide you, we give you that opportunity right now, as we pray.
