Sermon.974
“Mothers Drink From Their Saucer Cause Their Cup Has Overflowed”
Luke 1:26-45
From the pulpit of Bayview Baptist Church, Mother’s Day, May 13, 2001
I was driving East on I-40 near Ashville, North Carolina, listening to Blue Grass Music.
A classic song was playing on the radio: “I’m drinking from my saucer cause my cup has overflowed.”
Right away, I related that Blue Grass song to Mothers the world over.
Note: The Tuesday after Mother’s Day, one of my church members Emailed me the following poem: "Drinking From My Saucer", and I have since edited this sermon to include this poem which is believed to be written by Jimmy Dean.
I’ve never made a fortune,
and it’s probably too late now.
But I don’t worry about that much,
I’m happy anyhow.
As I go along life’s way,
I’m reaping better than I sowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
Haven’t got a lot of riches,
and sometimes the going’s tough.
But I’ve got loving ones around me,
and that makes me rich enough.
I thank God for His blessings,
and the mercies He’s bestowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
I remember times when things went wrong,
My faith wore somewhat thin.
But all at once the dark clouds broke,
and the sun peeped through again.
So, Lord, help me not to gripe,
about the tough rows that I’ve hoed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
If God gives me strength and courage,
When the way grows steep and rough,
I’ll not ask for other blessings,
I’m already blessed enough.
And may I never be too busy,
to help others bear their loads.
Then I’ll keep drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
--Author Unknowned
Mothers are nurses, psychologists, counselors, chauffeurs, mediators, coaches, teachers, and disciplinarians.
They wear the hats of cleaning ladies, gardeners, lawn care specialists, and cooks.
Mothers also give cuddly hugs!
But most importantly, mothers are a link to God and are in fact in most cases a child’s first impression of God’s love.
Mothers drink from their saucer cause their cup has overflowed!
We usually read this particular passage of Scripture during the Christmas season, but let’s look at this passage in the Gospel of Luke this morning found in Luke 1:26-45.
Look first with me at the many difficulties Mary faced.
Mary was pregnant and she was not married; so we see that Mary faced the difficulty of a tarnished reputation.
That’s what it seemed like on the surface, but we know the rest of the story, and we know that Jesus was of the Holy Spirit and is the Son of God.
But do you think the people believe that story in the little town of Nazareth?
I seriously doubt it, how about you?
If you came from a small town like I did, you know that juicy gossip is a hot item in small towns.
Here is this unmarried teenage girl expecting a child.
So, the facts are, those who liked to gossip must have enjoyed talking about Mary and her circumstance.
The second thing Mary experienced difficulty with was her poverty.
The book of Philippians says that Jesus was rich in heaven and he became poor on earth for our sakes.
Jesus actually emptied Himself of all the vast treasures of heaven, and in the likeness of men on earth, He became as a slave, humbling Himself, becoming obedient until death, the death of the cross (Philippians 2:7, Greek paraphrased)
We probably don’t realize today just how poor Mary and Joseph were, but when Jesus was brought to the Temple as a baby for the first time, for His dedication to God, Mary and Joseph offered 2 doves in sacrifice to God, the sacrifice of the very poorest of Judean society.
I was raised relatively poor, as were some of you.
But one thing we didn’t lack at our home was a good dose of love in our family.
You can tell we didn’t miss too many meals either!
Love is free and much better in the long run than having lots of money.
A third thing Mary faced difficulty with was the people’s hatred for her child, even at His birth.
Matthew Chapter 2 says “..an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt…for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
When Jesus was born, the prince of darkness of our world, Satan himself, set in motion everything at his command to do away with Him.
Even today, Satan knows that the quickest way to destroy your family is to attack your children, who don’t yet have the maturity to deal with him.
So, to protect your children in their vulnerable years, you are instructed as parents to monitor the great majority of the things your children are doing like watching television, who they choose for their friends, and working with the computer, especially the Internet.
The Internet is certainly a wonderful tool when it is used properly, but just recently it’s been estimated that over 50% of the hits on the World Wide Web are to Adult rated sites.
So be very careful and place restrictions on using the Internet with your children.
Another difficulty we believe Mary faced at some point in life was the loss of Joseph, making her a single mom.
We don’t know exactly what happened to Joseph, but most scholars assume that he must have died when Jesus was in His early teens, for the last time Joseph is mentioned in the Bible was when Jesus was 12 years old.
We can assume that at this point in her life Mary became a single mom.
I want to say to you this morning, that if you’re a single mom, our hats are off to you.
You do double work, and we want you to know that this doesn’t go unnoticed.
May God bless you and your children for your extra efforts.
Mary certainly had her share of difficulties in life to overcome, but she also had many valuable and blessed resources.
Mary was certainly a mother who drank many times from her saucer because her cup overflowed.
Mary had a strong commitment to doing God’s will.
Verse 35 says “The Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.
God was with Mary, and absolutely no harm could befall her.
In verse 38, Mary gave her answer to God in prayer.
She said, she was the “handmaid of the Lord, may it be to me according to the Word of God.”
Jesus, Mary’s own Son, is that Word, willingly and creatively dealing with Mary, His own mother, as Jesus, being God Himself became part of His own creation into the flesh.
You see, there is absolutely no conflict in eternity past or eternity future among God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Mary knew the baby growing inside her was God’s only begotten Son.
Mothers, when God places a child into your arms, His will for you is to bring that child up in a home where he or she will know God, and know God’s Word.
Mary had a strong commitment to God, and she also had the valuable resource of Jesus who was a perfectly obedient child.
Hebrews 4:15 says, “We do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.”
Mary had the wonderful blessing of a child who was obedient.
In fact, Jesus was the perfect child, so this could have been a difficult situation for Mary.
Perhaps Jesus, being perfect, presented a problem to His half siblings who were not perfect children.
So, children, since no one of us are perfect, the best thing you can give your parents, better than cards, candy or flowers, is just to be a loving and obedient child.
That’s a command of God, “Children, you are to obey your parents.”
I know we don’t always do the right things, and we’re not without sin, like Jesus was, but we can be obedient to our parents, even after we’re grown and out on our own.
We talked just a little about Joseph, and we can say here that Joseph was another extremely valuable resource of Mary, for he was always supportive of Mary.
Joseph could have divorced Mary instead of marrying her.
For in Jewish custom, Joseph had the legal right to put Mary away quietly and secretly when he found out that she was with child.
But Joseph didn’t do that.
He was a caring and supportive man in Mary’s life, always there for her when she needed him.
I like one of Billy Graham’s favorite stories of a husband who, over the years, was not very attentive to his wife.
Then one day, he started feeling guilty about it, so he decided to change.
On his way home from work, he bought a box of candy and some flowers to surprise his wife.
The husband walks up to the front door of their home and he rings the doorbell.
His wife opens the door and there her husband stands, the candy in one hand, and the flowers in the other hand, and to top it all he was singing, “I love you truly, truly, Dear.”
His wife immediately starts sobbing and crying, the tears just rolling down her cheeks, “Oh, Harry! Everything went wrong today! We had a leak in a pipe under the sink, the children have been terrible, the house is a wreck, and now to top it all off, you come home drunk!”
Husbands, you might want to be careful about how supportive you are to your wife.
Verses 39-45 tell us of a bonus resource Mary had.
Her name was Elizabeth, a dear and close friend who was a friend of encouragement.
You will remember that this Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, who when he was a grown man, liked to dip his grasshoppers in wild honey before he ate them.
Moms, it’s so good when you have a close and trusted friend you can tell your troubles too.
When you think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, you automatically think of how she was rewarded for her faithfulness as a mother.
Certainly Mary was saddened at the foot of the cross, but:
She was there at the empty tomb to see Jesus resurrected from the dead.
She was in the Upper Room when the 120 gathered to pray and the great power of the Holy Spirit came upon them.
Mary even lived to see her other children accept their half-brother, Jesus, as their Savior and Lord.
And then when Mary passed from life into death, God rewarded her eternally with all the riches in heaven, as He has promised to reward us who are here today.
When you think of your mother, you always think of home.
When you get to adult hood, you also remember the sounds and smells of the home of your childhood years.
Fresh cookies baking in the oven.
The smell of laundry hanging on an outside clothes line on a summer day.
Fresh pond caught catfish fluttering in the iron frying pan.
The smell of motor oil leaking on the manifold of that old green 55 Oldsmobile Mama drove to work and to carry us to school.
Banana pudding sitting on the kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon, right beside the big plate of fried chicken.
Fresh coffee brewing in the morning, and the smell of hot biscuits on a flat biscuit pan.
The freshly applied and may I add, still wet, Johnson’s Wax on the kitchen floor that I wasn’t suppose to walk on.
The banging of the back screen door to hurry out of the kitchen so Mama wouldn’t know I stepped on her newly waxed floor.
He howling sound of the wind blowing around our house the day Hurricane Gracy blew through.
Then, early on a warm Spring time night, with windows wide open to catch a breeze, the smell of a thunder storm pounding the window sills; raindrops streaking through the wire window screens, smelling like fresh plum blossoms.
Do you have some of your own fond memories of home?
My mom still drinks from her saucer, cause her cup has overflowed!
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
Telephone: 803-754-8690
