SHE MADE A JOSIAH OUT OF AMON’S SON
2 Kgs. 22:1-2
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Eight year old Mary wrote: "Dear Mother, here is the box of candy I bought you for Mother's Day. It is very good candy. I know, because I already ate three pieces."
2. Eight-year-old Carol writes, "Dear Mother, Here are two aspirins. Have a happy Mother's Day."
3. Eileen wrote: "Dear Mother, I wish Mother's Day wasn’t on Sunday. It would be better if it were on Monday so we wouldn't have to go to school."
4. Little Diane wrote; "I hope you like the flowers I got you for Mother's Day. I picked them myself when Mr. Smith wasn't looking."
B. TEXT
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” 2 Kgs. 22:1-2.
C. TRIBUTE TO MOTHERS
1. Mother's Day is traditionally the day when children give something back to their mothers for all the spit they produce to wash dirty faces, all the old gum they held in their hands, all the noses they wipe, and all the bloody knees they "made well" with a kiss.
2. This is the day mothers are rewarded for washing all those sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school when they missed the bus, and enduring all the football games in the rain.
3. It's Appreciation Day for making your children finish something they said they couldn't do, not believing them when they said, "I hate you," and sharing their good times and their bad times.
4. One mother said, "The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth... the hardest part is showing up for the job each day. So mothers, all the cards probably won't reflect it, but what they're trying to say is, "Thank you for showing up." [APPLAUSE FOR MOTHERS]
5. We're going to look at one of the dimmer lights of motherhood in the Bible. We're going to bypass such great mothers as Sarah, Rachel, Mary, Rebecca, Jochabed, Miriam, Esther, Elizabeth, and Ruth, and turn our attention to an unknown named Jedidah.
I. ACCOMPLISHMENT OF JEDIDAH
A. RAISING THE GREATEST GODLY KING
1. What did she do? She trained a son named Josiah who was the greatest king in the life of Judah, according to the Bible. Josiah abolished idolatry from the kingdom of Judah, threw down the heathen altars, banished false worship, and led in a great revival.
2. “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.”2 Kg. 23:25
3. Jedidah was his mother and she reared the greatest king who ever sat upon the throne of Judah. She planted the seed of a mother's faith, watered it with a mother's tears, fertilized it with a mother’s prayers, and reared a son who saved the nation.
B. DESPITE HER WICKED HUSBAND
1. Here's what made her so great: she reared the greatest king who ever sat upon the throne of Judah -- but remarkably -- she did it upstream against the godlessness and evil of her husband. He was one of the foulest blots on the pages of the history of Judah.
2. Amon was a vile, wicked, and corrupt. Amon’s father was Manasseh, the most wicked king ever to reign in Judah. Manasseh rebuilt the high places, he erected altars to Baal and placed an Asherah pole in the Temple. He sacrificed his own sons in the fire, practiced sorcery and consulted mediums and spiritists. 2 Kgs 21:16 says, “Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end.” The LORD said…"Manasseh king of Judah…has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him”2 Kgs 21:10-11.
3. When the Bible speaks about Amon, it says, “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the LORD; Amon increased his guilt.” 2 Chron. 33:22-23. He was an equal to his wicked father!
4. And yet Jedidah, in spite of him, raised Josiah; she made a Josiah out of Amon’s son! The best out of the worst!
II. TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS IN DIFF. CIRCUMSTANCES
I want to honor, especially this morning, the mothers who raise their kids under difficult circumstances, the Jedidahs of our church. Everything Jedidah taught Josiah, Amon her husband was opposed to it. She taught him honesty; Amon taught him dishonestly. When she taught him purity, Amon taught him impurity. And against the stream and with him contradicting her, she was faithful and made the son of Amon a great king.
A. WHEN HUSBANDS AREN’T BELIEVERS
1. There are ladies here today who have husbands who don't
believe in going to church, but you go to church. Your husband doesn’t fear God or read God's Word, but you are faithful and do so.
2. I want to honor you today. I see you -- sitting there by yourself or with your children, wishing your husband was here. I see you walking down the hallways without him, putting your children in the nursery wishing he would come. I want to honor you today. I want you to know that your pastor is aware, and your God is aware, that you're doing the job by yourself.
3. THANK GOD FOR JEDIDAHS! THANK GOD FOR THOSE WHO SAY, “IF MY HUSBAND DOESN'T COME, I'M NOT DROPPING OUT. I'M GOING TO TEACH MY BOYS & GIRLS TO READ THIS BIBLE AND TO SERVE GOD and be decent and right.” Keep going mothers! Maybe someday you'll have a Josiah or an Esther!
B. WHEN DESERTED BY HUSBANDS
1. Then there are those ladies who are rearing their children alone after being deserted by their husbands. My heart goes out to you today. You continue laboring even though you see other couples together and have memories of when your husband was there with you.
2. You're raising those kids on your own and you have to fill out the income taxes and mow the yard and somehow keep the house up and be father and mother to your kids.
3. We salute you today! You are the most valued of mothers to struggle with so many obstacles. Keep the faith mothers!
C. WHEN HUSBANDS ARE IN HEAVEN
1. Then there's another group of mothers who are trying to raise your kids by yourself because your husband has preceded you to heaven.
2. You have memories of former Mother’s Days when your husband got up and fixed breakfast for you. Mother's Day was special, not only because of the children, but because you had a man who loved you with all his heart.
3. We have not forgotten you mothers; we're praying for you. Those who are in difficult circumstances... we honor you!
D. WHEN HUSBANDS IN MILITARY
1. Then there's those sweet ladies who've had to kiss their husbands goodbye as they shipped out to military service. You don't speak to anyone of your secret fears for their safety, the many lonely nights that you two spend apart, the difficulty of doing all of the child-rearing by yourself.
2. We salute you mothers today! Thank you for allowing your husband to defend our homeland. We are all indebted to you and we remember you this Mother's Day!
3. Jedidahs don't have a perfect situation -- it's tough -- and yet you keep on teaching the Bible and stay in church. Mothers, don't turn back; you're the hope of this nation. If we don't get godly mothers, this nation is done for. And nothing is wrong with this nation that godly mothers can't fix. Jedidah changed the course of her nation!
4. Don't give up Jedidah! It’ll be worth it all when you see Josiah sitting on the throne or standing behind the pulpit or sitting on the deacon board or teaching Sunday school class. Or a daughter who does those things and lives for God. Don't give up if your husband won’t come with you, or is in heaven, or off on military assignment.
E. WHEN MOTHER IS ILL/ IN PAIN
1. Another group of mothers who struggle under extraordinary difficulty are those who suffer pain or extended illness while doing your motherly tasks. Some mothers are prematurely crippled or arthritic. We salute you today!
2. You who are not well yourself yet sit at the bedside of others who are not well. Some of you may struggle with an ill child or an ill spouse. We honor you mothers today.
F. WHEN YOUR CHILD IS SEVERELY LIMITED
1. Then there’s another classification of mothers who are rearing children who have severe limitations. That little boy with muscular dystrophy; that little girl who is blind. It takes a lot of extra time and patience to care for special needs children.
2. We salute you mothers who struggle every day with these extra burdens, even though you would never admit that it was a burden to you. God bless you mother!
3. Some of you have lost an infant or small child due to illness; Mother's Day still hurts when you remember that little life. We share your loss today.
G. RAISING CHILDREN IN POVERTY
1. There are also the single mothers who struggle to raise their children in poverty. Just to make the bills each month, to put food on the table, and to provide decent clothes, is a never- ending battle.
2. Remember this, moms: many more successful servants of God came from the poor house than the Palace! Don't give up moms! You can't give them what you wish, but you can give them what they need.
3. I also want to recognize grandmothers who are raising their grandkids. Just when you thought that you finally finished your parental duties and could enter the rest of retirement, suddenly you found yourself responsible for one or more of your grandchildren -- along with the piano lessons, baseball games, clothing –food-and health needs -- what a surprise ending to your life!
4. So we recognize you second time moms for your sacrifice to save a generation of children who might otherwise not know a normal family situation. Congratulations to you all!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf full of Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It’s OK honey, Mommy’s here."
2. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.
3. This is for all the mothers who froze their posteriors off on metal bleachers at football or soccer games, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the World!”
4. This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own are grown.
5. This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can’t find the words to reach them.
6. For all the mothers who bite their lips sometimes until they bleed--when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green or get piercings.
7. This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see. And for the mothers who took in babies and gave them homes.
8. This is for mothers of children with severe limitations. Your freedom has been exchanged for cherished service of love.
9. This is for those who have lost their mothers and would give anything to take them out to lunch today.
10. This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go.
11. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers, single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without. This is for you all. So hang in there. You’re doing a great job!!
B. ALTAR CALL
1. ALL MOTHERS STAND. I've been privileged to pastor the greatest ladies in the world for the past 22 years. I thank God for you mothers and also for my own mother.
2. Mothers, I know that the greatest concern you have is that your children have a happy life and are prepared to go to heaven. Let’s pray that the circle of your family will all be in heaven – husband, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, those with unsaved parents, etc. Let’s pray!
