First, let’s me personally wish every mom present today- Happy Mother’s Day. I started my search for the perfect Mother’s Day sermon by seeing if I could use a portion of Proverb 31 as my main Scriptural text. It has the subtitle and known as “The Virtuous Wife” and after reading it over several times, I chose not to use it. It was not because it is not a great passage of Scripture; it truly is indeed a great passage of Scripture. It sets the bar high for every mother, but today I don’t want you to leave the service sad thinking I don’t even come close to the standard set in this passage.
Let me tell you my synopsis of this passage. She gets up before dawn and stays busy all day to the early hours of next morning. She looks gorgeous all the time, she cooks like a Master Chef, she can outperform any Olympic athlete, she is known for her intellectual abilities, possesses the spiritual wisdom of the Apostle Paul, she has sensitivity to see the needs of everyone around her, she could run any Wall Street business firm as its CEO, and she possesses the grace and etiquette of Miss Manners.
If that isn’t you then don’t be discouraged, I got Good News for you from the Word of God. And let me give you a hint, the four mothers who were mentioned in the first six verses of the New Testament genealogy of Jesus Christ they were not meeting the bar of being classified as Virtuous Women, but they were used by God just as they were.
And that is the Good News that I want to leave you with: Mom, God can use you just as you are.
Let’s read together Matthew 1:1-6
Scripture
Matthew 1:1–6 NKJV
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Background Information
In that passage of Scripture, we just read, there was four women mentioned. Three by name: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. And then there is one who is mentioned by description, but a description everyone should know. “...By her who had been the wife of Uriah.” Of course, it is referring to Bathsheba.
Let me tell you a little bit about each mom.
Tamar became a mom in her desperation. She was the daughter in law of one of Jacob twelve son- Judah. She married ER and he died without giving her a child. She, as the custom, was given to the next male in line who was Onan. And he too died before giving her a child. Judah said no more. So, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute, came to Judah, and she gave him a son. She got her son by desperation and deception.
Rahab was a mom in the wrong profession. In fact, the Bible describes her as Rahab the Harlot. It was her line of work. We were not told in Joshua that she had children. But in Matthew, we discover she had a child named Boaz who would one day marry Ruth.
Ruth became a mom despite being from the wrong family. She is not an Israelite; she was a Moabite. She was from the wrong family line. The Moabite people began as result of incest and they were not a nation that honored the God of the Israelites. In fact, it was the Moabites that hired Balaam to curse Israel and God turned that around to a blessing of Israel.
Bathsheba was a mom who was known in her life and even centuries after her death as the woman who sinned with King David. She was a woman who could not be able to shake her past.
Not one of the moms mentioned in the genealogy would rise to the bar of “The Virtuous Woman” of Proverb 31. But that is OK, they were mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. I think that is a pretty good place to be mentioned.
And this tells me that God can be active and working no matter where you fit on “The Virtuous Woman” scale. That is Good News for every woman here.
I would like to make three comments about what these four moms might teach you on this Mother’s Day.
Point #1
You do not have to hit some mark or meet some standard for God to use you; He can use you just like you are.
We need help with Vacation Bible School June 12-15. You might say that I don’t relate to the children as well as Ms. Tracy does. Or you say that I am not as creative as Ms. Colleen is. And what that is called is comparison. I am comparing myself to another mom or group of moms, and saying to myself I don’t measure up. And what we have learned that there is some standard out there; the Virtuous Woman is clearly the standard, but you don’t have to meet it to be used by God.
In our genealogy of Jesus, maybe Ruth was close to having her life together, but she had something that she had to carry with her the rest of her life. “I am a hated Moabite.” Something was always in her head: “I was born a Moabite.” The other three moms were not close to having their lives together. But God used them. And Rahab the Harlot even was mentioned in the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11.
My advice to you ladies, quit comparing yourself to someone else and let’s begin letting God use you just as you are. And that is pretty good advice for the men too.
Point #2
You need to stop letting your past failures or what people say about them going forward prevent you from being a mom who can be used by God.
In an article published in the NY Post on August 8, 2017, the Post reported as the result of a brain imaging study indicating that there is evidence that women overthink things more than men. It was long thought that women overthought things, but this report completed by Dr. Amen, a psychiatrist from California, proved that was correct.
In the biggest brain imaging survey ever conducted, scientists have discovered that the brains of women are significantly more active than men.
Particularly in the cerebral cortex, which is primarily involved in impulse control and focus, and in the emotional areas of the brain, involved in mood and anxiety.
So, it is hard for women to sometimes to let things go. God is telling you this Mother’s Day, nothing of that past stuff prevents me from using you if you are willing to make yourself available to me.
Listen ladies, the key to overcoming your past is to allow God to use you.
Each one of the moms in the genealogy of Jesus had a past that could haunt them and make them assume that I cannot be used of God if they allowed themselves to go there. Instead, they allowed God to use them and move forward.
Point #3
God says that He has a plan for your life; start being that person wants you to be.
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Rahab the Harlot is the perfect example of that principle. Prior to meeting the spies that entered Jericho, Rahab life was a life of sin. She was a prostitute inside the walls of Jericho. When confronted by the two spies, she confessed that “the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” Her life had changed, and she was a different person.
We are not told that she continued her life of prostitution after that point. What we are told is that her life has changed. Look with me at
Hebrews 11:31 NKJV
31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
We are told that she did not perish with those who did not believe meaning she had become a believer in the God of the Israelites.
And then James 2:25 (NKJV) talking about the connection of faith to works and James uses Rahab the Harlot as an example.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
Some of you ladies are waiting to get your life in order to be used by God. God cannot use me because I am not as good with children as Ms. Tracy. God cannot use me because I am not as crafty as Colleen. You are thinking when I become more like that Virtuous Woman of Proverb 31 then God can use me.
I got Good News for you; God can use you, right here, right now. He did it with Rahab the Harlot and I know He can do it with you.
Conclusion
Proverb 31 teaches us that you should strive to be the best Mother you can be. But don’t beat yourself up, God can use you just as you are if you make yourself available to Him.
