MOTHER’S DAY - 2001
II Tim. 1:3-5
INTRO.- I am reminded of your sincere faith which lived in your mother Eunice and now lives in you. TIMOTHY GOT SOMETHING GOOD FROM HIS MOTHER! He apparently got some of his faith in Christ from his mother. Should that surprise us?
Men, can you ever be too close to your mother? When this relationship goes too far, some people say a man becomes a “mother complex.” That is, the personality of the mother takes over the personality of the son. If so, meet some mama’s boys.
ILL.- Of James, it was said there was never a more devoted son. His relationship to his mother was very close and it lasted a lifetime. What impressed James the most was his mother’s unfailing confidence in him. It was the kind of confidence that only a mother could have. Even on his deathbed, James’ agony could only be overcome by writing to his mother.
ILL.- Ted, well, he was eternally seven-years-old. Throughout his life, his friends warned those about to meet him that he was only sever-years-old. Why? TED WAS A MAMA’S BOY. Whenever he wrote his mother, he would begin with these words, which we find strange, “Darling Beloved Little Motherling.” She had a compulsion for cleanliness and so did he. Back and forth. Ted and his mother were one and the same.
ILL.- And Bill’s mother put it this way, “I find that Willie needs constant watching and correcting. It requires great caution and firmness, but I do not believe we can love our children too much.” And perhaps you can imagine how Bill turned out.
ILL.- Woody was another unashamed mama’s boy, physically and emotionally clinging to his mother even into adulthood. There was only warmth between the two and Woody often said that he came to love the best in womanhood through his attachment to his mother.
ILL.- And Frank wouldn’t dare go to school without his mother. And the school...was Harvard University! Frank’s mother had an extraordinary drive for perfection and she focused it all on Frank.
For nearly sixty years she tried to organize her son’s life in every minute detail....AND FRANK LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
ILL.- Harry’s mother mothered Harry quite a bit. She sat up with him countless times when he needed her. Is it any wonder that Harry returned the favor continually throughout his life? Harry’s mother lived to be 94 and right up to the last, there was Harry, conducting business matters from his mother’s bedside. Harry was definitely a mama’s boy.
ILL.- And what about David? When David was a big boy in the Army, he never stopped writing his mother. And all through David’s life, he subconsciously imitated his mama. Her laugh. Her expressions. And her pleasant smile.
But, then again, John imitated his mother too.
Yes, they were all mama’s boys. In times of crisis, it was always mother who came to mind.
So, men, can you be too close to your mother? Some say you can, but others say “no.” But if you are too close to your mother you might turn out to be like James: President James Garfield.
Or like Ted, President Teddy Roosevelt.
Or like Bill, Willie, President William Howard Taft.
Or like Woody, President Woodrow Wilson.
Or like Frank, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Or like Harry, President Harry S. Truman.
Or like David, President Dwight David Eisenhower.
Or like John, President John F. Kennedy.
Each of these men were not afraid to be called a “mama’s boy.” So I guess we’d have to say, in a sense, we can never be too close to our mothers. And of course, this certainly holds true for godly mothers.
Paul said to Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith which lived in your mother Eunice and now lives in you.”
Like mother, like son! Or like mother, like daughter!
I think we all agree that we owe our mothers a great deal. Some mothers more than others.
PROP.- I want us to consider two thoughts about mothers:
1- Appreciation
2- Imitation
We should both appreciate our mothers for all they have done for us and imitate them in certain ways.
I. APPRECIATION
I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
The attitude of gratitude should be a big part of our lives. Gratitude to God and gratitude to others. And certainly gratitude to our mothers should be on our list, and perhaps second behind gratitude to God.
Eph. 6:2 “Honor your father and mother...” The word “honor” must certainly include appreciation and praise.
We need to express appreciation to our mothers and/or praise them for a multitude of reasons.
1. We should appreciate them for giving birth to us
ILL.- Little Billy said to his sister Suzie: Where do babies come from?
Suzie: From heaven, of course.
Billy: If babies come from heaven, why did Mommy have to go to the hospital?
Suzie: I GUESS THAT’S WHERE THEY GET THEIR SKINS PUT ON.
Gen. 3:16 “To the woman God said, ‘I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.”
In pain, mothers give birth to their children. We men know little about this other than perhaps some of us have viewed childbirth if we took Lamaze classes. BUT WE HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED IT!
I don’t think there is any such thing as “painless childbirth.”
ILL.- I remember when a young couple in a church in Missouri had their first child. The first Sunday when that new mother brought her baby boy to church I said something like, “Oh, what a cute baby boy!” And the mother said, “Yes, but he’s going to be an only child.”
At first, I thought she meant she couldn’t have any more children then I realized she was essentially saying, “I DON’T WANT TO EVER GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN!”
Of course, we all know that men view these things differently.
ILL.- I congratulated another young couple in our church after they had their 5th or 6th child. Both the father and mother were sitting in the audience and I asked the father what he thought about this birth business and he said, “AH, IT’S JUST LIKE HAVING PIGS.” I doubt they had any more children after that remark!
Thank you, mothers, for going through the pain of childbirth for us!
2. We should appreciate our mothers for all the care they gave us.
Prov. 31:27 “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”
Many mothers have devoted their entire lives to the home and the raising of their children.
ILL.- What’s that old saying? “Man works from sun to sun, but woman’s work is never done.” So true in many homes. Mothers may well be the hardest-working people in the world!
Many mothers work at full-time jobs outside the home and then come home at continue to work. They come home: prepare the evening meal, do the dishes, and many times do laundry until they fall into bed, completely exhausted.
I have read that the most stressed-out people in the world are working mothers! IT’S NO WONDER!
I honestly don’t know how some of them do it! Some must be super-women!
ILL.- More than a dozen years ago I was talking to a preacher friend who also sold insurance. He asked me, “Do you realize what it would cost you to hire someone to do your wife’s work if she passed away?” Obviously, I said, “no.” At that time, which again was about 12 years ago, he said it would cost about $15,000 a year.
Of course, it may be that he was just trying to sell me some insurance. HOWEVER, THE THOUGHT CERTAINLY STRUCK HOME!
Do we realize just how much work our mothers have done throughout the years?
Just think of all the good food she’s dished out.
ILL.- A mother said to her fussy son one day, “Twenty years from now you’ll be telling some girl what a great cook your mother was. NOT SHUT UP AND EAT YOUR DINNER.”
Yes, when we were younger and finicky, we didn’t like certain things that mom cooked, BUT NOW MANY OF US JUST RAVE ABOUT HER COOKING!
Think of all the special care that our mothers gave us.
ILL.- Washing our clothes, ironing, folding, putting them away.
- Cleaning the house we lived in.
- Often, cleaning the rooms that we messed up.
- Putting away our toys that we left out.
- Picking up behind us.
- Prodding us to do better in life and in school.
- Helping us with our homework. Making us do our homework.
- Teaching us responsibility by giving us certain chores to do.
- Advising us about all of life (work, morals, dating, etc.)
- Comforting us in times when we were hurt physically or emotionally.
- Disciplining us for our bad behavior (which meant being spanked in various ways and with various tools or being verbally reprimanded).
- Forgiving us for our bad behavior. (Where would we be without our mother’s forgiveness?)
ILL.- One lady said these thoughtful words about her mother. “In the week before my mother died, I held her hands, and saw them become frail and bony. But I remembered them as they had been in life - strong and capable, wielding a shovel or an embroidery needle, holding my hand as I walked to kindergarten long ago.
“As she lay there in her last days, I looked at her hands and held them and remembered how those hands had sometimes held on to me and sometimes pushed me forth.”
ILL.- Someone put it this way: “Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pour them all right out just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. THIS IS MOTHER.”
I think we all agree: WE NEED TO APPRECIATE OUR MOTHERS AND PRAISE THEM!
Thank you, mothers, for your love, your care, your endless devotion to us. Thank you! Thank you! We praise you!
II. IMITATION
I Cor. 11:1 “Follow my example (or imitate my example), as I follow the example of Christ.”
Paul asked people to imitate his life, his faith in Christ. And we will imitate people. We all imitate people whom we admire or look up to. And we all learn by imitation, good or bad.
ILL.- I am reminded of the young mother who knew she was something of a fiery driver. She was like a race car driver, pushing her car through heavy traffic. She often had comments to make about other drivers. She didn’t know, however, that some little ears had been listening to her. NOT UNTIL LAST WEEK.
Her little boy rode with her a lot. His car seat in the back didn’t allow his two-year-old eyes to see the road. But he could see his mom, feel the pitch of the car and hear her words.
One day last week, his mother had to put on the brakes very quickly. The car gave that familiar lunge to the front as the tires grabbed the road. Although he couldn’t see what happened, he knew the squeal of the tires and the motion of the car. From the back seat came the words he’d heard so often in that situation, “TUPID DURK!”
Need I say more? Children often imitate the behavior of those around them: moms, dads, grandparents, friends, etc.
We all learn by imitation. And not only do we imitate bad behavior, we can also imitate good behavior, good traits, good graces. And many of our mothers have given us good examples to follow and imitate.
ILL.- Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “My sainted mother taught me a devotion to God and a love of country which have ever sustained me in my many lonely and bitter moments of decision in distant and hostile lands. To her, I yield a son’s reverent thanks.”
It sounds like Dwight D. Eisenhower not only appreciated his mother, but also imitated her.
ILL.- Bill Fix of Taylor, MI, said of his mother: “I will not forget the day the doctors told us that Mom had terminal cancer. I was devastated by that news. Things did not seem to change for Mom, though. Whenever I visited her she was busy cooking or baking, doing a load of clothes, or sewing or working on something else. As she worked, she hummed a tune that seemed so beautiful to me.
“I will never forget when I spoke with her about the cancer. She was so calm. She told me that this was not really her home. She said she had a home in Heaven and that she would be going there soon.
She told me not to worry, that she would be all right. Although that brought tears to my eyes, she continued to hum. I saw a beauty in my mother that I had never seen before.
“In her affliction she had become radiant. When she died, she was 59 years old. I have replayed her words many times: ‘This is not my home. I have a home in Heaven. I’ll be all right.’ She is at her eternal home today.
“Since that time I have become a pastor of a church where I have had an opportunity to see many people, like Mom, go to another home. As I minister to many of them, I am reminded of her — afflicted, yet radiant.”
The story of another child who both appreciated and imitated his godly mother.
Most mothers are those who love deeply and strongly. They are devoted to their family and friends. They are often devout in their faith. And they are servants of servants. AND WE ALL WOULD DO WELL TO IMITATE THEIR GOOD AND GODLY BEHAVIOR.
CONCLUSION------------------------------------
Thank you, mom, and may God richly bless you!
