Mother’s Day 2020
Text: Luke 10:38-42, Philippians 3:17-4:1
Good morning. Today is Mother’s Day, and it’s one of those holidays that I’ve truly come to appreciate more and more as I’ve grown older. I appreciate it, because of my own desire to honor my mother, and my mother-in-law… and to honor the mother of my children. And you know it’s a good thing that we do that… it’s a BIBLICAL thing that we do that. It’s one of the 10 Commandments – honor your father and mother, and it’s something that we as a society should do more of. Because the truth is – we live in a culture that has devalued motherhood greatly. And we live in a culture that flat out doesn’t believe in the Biblical views of male and female roles and relationships, and difference. Thankfully the SJW’s of the world haven’t yet demanded that we stop having Mother’s Day… but even if they did… or rather I should say, “When they do.” It won’t matter to us as Christians. It is a commandment we are called to obey. “Honor your FATHER, and your MOTHER.” And those are role distinctions that God has made, not man. When God tells you something, or commands you do something, or gives certain rights – man… doesn’t matter who he is, or what authority he has… man has no right, power, or authority to take that away from you, or to command you to do differently.
And so today, we want to honor mothers. We love you. We are thankful for you. And thankful for the role and ministry you do in the home, and in the Church.
So what I want you to do is open your Bible’s to Luke 10:38-42 and we’re going to read the story about Mary and Martha and Jesus… and then we’re going to look at Philippians 3:17-4:1.
The story of Mary and Martha is going to set the stage for us, and give us a question we should ask, and then Paul is going to answer that question for us in the passage from Philippians 3.
(READ Luke 10:38-42)
Now I’m sure that all of you are familiar with this story. Jesus shows up at Martha and Mary’s house. And it’s not just Jesus – there tended to be a crowd that followed Him. So Martha goes to work. She’s trying to make sure everyone has food to eat, and that everything is taken care of, but Mary sits at Jesus feet. And so Martha gets frustrated, and she goes to Jesus and says, “Jesus, tell my sister to get off her hiney and help me.” And Jesus says to her, “Martha… Mary has chosen the good portion…”
Now there’s something here that we need to understand before we go on, and it’s in verse 39. It says that Mary sat at Jesus feet, and LISTENED to His teaching. So it wasn’t like Mary was just shirking her duties. And it wasn’t like Mary had interjected herself into the discussion… she wasn’t sitting there thinking, “Oh I add a valuable voice to this discussion.” No… she listened. What that word means is that she not only heard the words Jesus said, but she gave herself to trying to comprehend and understand them. She was chewing on what He was saying, running it through her head, and really applying herself to understanding. Now I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve had someone come up to me (both women and men) and say, “Pastor Ken, what do you think about this…?” Or “What’s your point of view on this particular subject?” Or, “What’s the best way for me to handle this situation?” And I’ll start to give them my answer and they can’t wait to say, “But what about this?”, Or, “Well this is what I think…” In other words, they already had a pre-conceived idea, or notion, and they came to me hoping that I would affirm it. They didn’t really want to know what I had to say, or what the Bible has to say about something. They’ve already made up their mind. So they come to a pastor, or a good Christian friend, and hope that they’ll agree with them, and if we don’t, they’ll try to convince us to… but ultimately if they can’t, they can at least say, “Well I talked to some Christian friends… I got counseling from a pastor… but it didn’t help.” OF COURSE IT DIDN’T! You didn’t do what they advised. You just heard the words come out of their mouth, but didn’t put it into practice. Well Mary is sitting here, and she’s not only hearing the words, but she’s thinking on them… she’s asking herself what they mean, and how can she put them into practice. That’s what this word “Listening” means here in this passage.
And so Jesus corrects Martha, and says, “Mary has chosen the good portion.”
Now… how does that work for you and me today? Mom’s – how do you choose the good portion? How do we all make it so that we are not only hearing God’s Word, but doing God’s Word?
Well… turn over to Philippians 3:17-4:1. And while you’re turning there, let me just say this really quickly: What we’re going to look at in Philippians are instructions from the Apostle Paul, and it can be really easy to read this and say, “Ok… so Paul is saying – Stop being bad, start being good.”
And it can be really easy to confuse THAT with the Gospel. That’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is that God loves us in-spite of ourselves, and that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ for us. And because Jesus died for our sins and paid for them on the cross, God now accepts us as righteous. Not because we’ve stopped being bad, and started being good, but because the Lord Jesus lived perfectly and thereby fulfilled the righteous requirements of God, and then died in our place. That’s the Gospel. That God, and only God, saves us, through the perfect obedient life of Christ, the sacrificial death of Christ, and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ. So what Paul is saying here is not, “Stop being bad, start being good, and God will save you.” Nope… What he is saying is, “BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED, this is how you ought to live.”
But why? Because you are NOT who, or what, you used to be. You are a new creation in Christ.
So let’s read it - Philippians 3:17-4:1 (READ).
Paul begins here by saying, “Imitate me.” Now it’s unfortunate, but I have to say it… Paul is not telling his readers – “Hey if you want to be holy, if you want to be close to Christ, you have to be an Apostle like me.” He’s not saying, “Be an Apostle, be a Pastor, be a church planter.” That’s not what he means when he says, “Imitate me.” Really what he’s saying here is: “Follow my example as I follow Jesus. Be devoted to the cause of Christ like I’m devoted. Be devoted to a life of prayer like I am. Be committed to studying the Word of God, like I am. Be serious about your faith like me.” That’s what Paul is saying. And then he adds to that… He says, “Follow my example, or the example of others who are sold out followers of Christ… follow those who are serious about their faith, who are growing in grace and knowledge.” That’s verse 17, but then in verses 18 and 19 he warns you of what not to follow. He says, “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” Now that really hits home. Over the past 3 – 5 years I’ve seen that personally. I’ve seen guys… Pastors, professors, and denominational leaders just go completely off the rails. And these were guys I would’ve said to you were solid. And that’s what Paul is saying here… he’s saying, “These were guys I told you about. These were guys I recommended. But now I tell you about them in tears because they’ve become enemies of the cross of Christ.” They’ve been given over to worldliness. They’ve gone off the rails. To be an enemy of the Cross means that they’re saying something other than the death of Jesus is the grounds for salvation… maybe something like… I don’t know… Social Justice, good works, being a good person. But you know and I know that the only hope of salvation is to be found in Christ. To have been saved by the grace of God alone, through faith in Christ alone. Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life, and NO ONE comes to the Father except through Him.
Point is – Paul is saying, “Don’t follow those guys. They’ve been given over to worldliness.”
Now what is worldliness?
Is it like the two old farmers out in the field? One looks at the other and says, “I love my old girl, she drinks, she smokes, and she gets around.” And the other one looks at him, and says, “Man, your wife sounds really worldly.” And the first farmer frowns for a second, and says, “I wasn’t talking about my wife, I was talking about my old truck.” But is that what it means to be worldly? To drink, smoke, and run around? Well not exactly… I mean, those things could be manifestations of worldliness coming out in a person… but so could going to the gym… or putting on makeup… or a thousand other things. It’s ultimately not about what you have, but about what has you. So I think a good way for us to understand worldliness is to think of it in terms of do you love the world more than God? Do you love the things of the world more than God?
And if I were going to try to encapsulate it into one easy to understand thing, I’d say it comes down to Desire, Devotion, and Fear… “2DF”. What do you desire most? Money? Or the things that money can get you, or the sense of security it gives? Fame? The approval of others? Recognition and Respect? Maybe it’s sex? Maybe it’s just the ability to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it? What you desire most is what you’re going to be devoted to… You’ll spend all your time at your job, trying to make that “Dollah”. You’ll spend all your time seeking others approval… doing whatever it takes to make them like you. If it’s sex, you’ll find yourself spending all your time, thinking about it, and eventually engaging in things that you thought you’d never do… And then you’ll find yourself afraid… 1 million isn’t enough, I need 10 million, 100 million, a billion dollars… If you’re desire is approval, you’ll constantly be afraid… What if this person doesn’t like me? What if that group doesn’t accept me? Are those people talking behind my back?
So worldliness is 2DF – it’s not desiring God fully, it’s not devoting yourself to God fully, and it’s not fearing God properly. It’s desiring the world and what the world gives more than you desire God… it’s devoting yourself to the world and what the world gives more than God, and it’s fearing the world and what those in the world might do or say, more than fearing God.
And Church something like 85%-90% of the top selling Christian books out there are pushing this kind of worldliness… They use a lot of Christian language and Christian jargon, but they’re basically saying, “Hey, God can get you what you want in this world and in this life, better than anybody else… So buy this book and I’ll teach you how to use God to get the world.” That’s the message of the TV preacher and 85%-90% of the top selling Christian books on the market today.
And if you look at our text, Paul the Apostle says… if that’s you – it’s going to eventually kill you. It will lead to your destruction.
So how do we avoid that? How do we fight against the worldliness that permeates our society and culture? That’s all around us? How do we do it? Well Paul goes on, verses 20-21 (READ).
How do we fight it? Remember where your home is? Remember who you are, and WHO you belong to. You keep your eyes on Jesus that’s how! And how do I do that? By staying in the Word, by maintaining a consistent prayer life, and by gathering with the Church. Traditionally we’ve called those things the spiritual disciplines because they are the things that the Church has done for 2000 years, to make disciples.
And this is for all of us as Christians, but it is Mother’s Day, and so I want to say something directly to all of you moms here with us today. I
f you are married, you have been given this unique calling from God, to come alongside your husband, and call him… and urge him… and help him be like Christ. You have been given this unique role as his “Help-meet” – a “Helper perfectly suited to the man God has given to you.” He’s been called to be like Christ and he can’t do it without you! And as a mother, whether you’re married or a single mom… You have been given this unique role as a disciple-maker. To not only do these things that our text is talking about… but to be someone, like Paul, that your own kids imitate and model their Christian walk after. Trust me mom’s… you don’t know the influence you have over your kids.
You have been called to it… you’ve gifted for it… and you have come into the Kingdom for such a time as this. So I’ll close this morning, by saying to you all what Paul says in the last verse of our text… STAND FIRM.
We love you, and we are here for you.
LET’S PRAY
