(Powerpoint presentation and audience outline accompanies this message).
Slide 1 Happy Mothers Day to you from BUMC. If you are a mother or have been like a mother to someone please stand so we can recognize you. Today’s lesson for this worship service is What I Learned from Jesus’ mothers—yes that’s right Jesus had more than one mother you’ll see what I’m talking about in a little bit. First I want to tell you about how this holiday started.
Slide 2 Have you ever heard of the woman who hated Mother’s Day? There was such a woman. If you think the spirit of Mother’s Day has been spoiled by the commercialism of cards, flowers and once-a-year sincerity, you stand united with the woman credited with giving us the annual event. West Virginian Anna Jarvis was so horrified by the monster she helped create in 1914, she spent most of her later years campaigning to have the second Sunday in May removed from the calendar as the day to honour your mother. In the end, Jarvis lost the fight. The woman, who was never a mother herself, exhausted her financial resources and ruined her mental health in that fight. She died alone in 1948 in an asylum at the age of 84. Just before her death Jarvis told a local reporter: "I devoted my entire life to Mother’s Day and the racketeers and grafters have taken it over.""She simply wanted a day to honor and remember mothers, but in her mind it didn’t turn out that way," says William Pollard, an archivist at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va., where Jarvis bequeathed her letters and other writings. In 1914, Jarvis spearheaded a campaign to help persuade U.S. president Woodrow Wilson to set aside May’s second Sunday as a national day for recognition. She orchestrated a letter-writing campaign to Wilson, lobbied influential politicians and clergymen and distributed brochures arguing about the importance of a national day for mothers. Jarvis’ cause came from admiration for her recently deceased mother, Anna Maria, and others like her who had been an inspiration. But by the early 1920s, she was sickened by the commercial circus she had helped create. She felt the day had nothing to do with celebrating the real achievements of women. Jarvis spent her latter days crashing floral company conventions to protest and urging card companies to give the money they made from Mother’s Day to the poor. At one Mother’s Day convention where flowers were being sold she was arrested for disturbing the peace. She even launched a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day festival from being held.
Slide 3 The quickest way for a mother to get the attention of her children is to sit down and look comfortable. Mothers can have a few minutes to themselves at the end of the day by doing the dishes. There was a CARTOON. . .that shows a three-year-old, freckle-faced boy in hallway. His pajamas are unsnapped, his diaper’s bagging, and he’s got a little teddy bear dangling in his hand. He’s standing in front of his mother and father’s bedroom door, which is shut. On the door is a little sign written by a weary mother: "Closed for Business. Motherhood Out of Order."What is a Grandmother? (Written by a third grader)A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own. She likes other people’s little girls and boys. A grandfather is a man grandmother. He goes for walks with boys, and they talk about fishing and stuff like that.Grandmothers don’t have to do anything except be there. They’re old so they shouldn’t play hard or run. It is enough if they drive us to the market where the pretend horse is, and have a lot of dimes ready. Or if they take us for walk, they should slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They should never say, "Hurry up!"Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth and gums out.Grandmothers don’t have to be smart, only answer questions like, "Why isn’t God married?" and "How come dogs chase cats?"Grandmothers don’t talk baby talk like visitors do, because it is hard to understand. When they read to us they don’t skip or mind if it is the same story over again.Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have television, because they are the only grown-ups who have time.
Slide 4 I don’t know about you but this list of names from Matthew, is boring to me. To God, this list of names is His family album. What He’s doing in the first chapter of Matthew is opening up His family album to us and proudly showing who’s in His family. Who He calls His beloved sons and daughters. Each person on the list is very precious to God,. just as each of us here are precious to God.But the strange thing about His family album is they include people that you wouldn’t expect to be in there. Here’s a story I ran across (it’s not about me): Through my many years of school, I have taken many history classes. One of the things that always interested me was in trying to figure out if any of those famous people were in my family line. I remember one day talking to my Mamma, my dad’s mother, about her parents and grandparents. I was writing a paper for school and I just knew my Mamma would have some stories of some very important people, and she did. She told me about two boys that lived on the farm next to her grandparents and there was a possibility (if you know what I mean) that we were kin. I recognized this name immediately. One of the boys name was Jesse James. Although this was a pretty “cool” story to tell my friends, did I really want people to know that I was kin to an outlaw? But I did meet one of my distant relatives in NY last summer as my sister and I traveled there to research my mother’s family tree. This woman was essentially a bag lady.
Slide 5 If we’re honest though we all have some black sheep in our family trees we’d rather not talk about. Look at our main scripture text for today. I am not the only person to have some questionable people in my family line. In fact, we are not going to be looking at just any family line but the line of a King. This King’s name is King Jesus and King Jesus is not just any king, He is the King of Kings. But, when I look at His family tree I wonder what God was thinking. Wouldn’t God want to give King Jesus the perfect family tree? We see four women that are found in the genealogy of the Savior. I’m calling them the mothers of Jesus. I will briefly review the life histories of these women and then conclude with a brief look at the life of Jesus’ biological mother, Mary.
Slide 6 The Genealogy of Jesus suggests how the Bible is an anthology of human experiences and of God’s redemptive acts. There are at least five things I’ve gleaned from the lives of theses five women in this genealogy, women who had less than perfect reputations. What we will learn as we think about these mothers in Jesus family history is this: Your past does not determine your future, your choices do. Some of you here on this beautiful Mother’s Day know what it’s like not to be able to get past your past. You daily live with the constant ache of regret. Thoughts of your previous mistakes and sins still haunt you and you repeat the mantra, "If only …" "If only I’d done this. If only I hadn’t done that. Life would be as I have always dreamed." Because you can’t get past your past you suffer from depression and fear. You have a constant sense of failure. You lack joy or an awareness of purpose. Emotionally you often feel numb. Spiritually, you’re cold. If any of those descriptions are true of you get ready to see how you can get past your past. Jesus’ mothers did it. Your past does not determine your future, but your choices do. GOD carrying out His will IN SPITE of what we do: in spite of our sin; in spite of our circumstances; in spite of what others do to us; in spite of where we came from. God works toward and through people—often less than ordinary people..
Slide 7 WHAT I LEARNED FROM THESE WOMEN:
Mother #1: Tamar --
---- Matthew 1:3 a "Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar" This is a story of deception, incest and prostitution.
Tamar tricked her father-in-law into having a child by her by disguising herself as a prostitute[Gist of the account: Judah’s daughter-in-law deceived him into having a child by her. He was not going to give her a husband to replace his son who was her husband but had died. There’s more to the story, but essentially, she determined to make him who was her father-in-law into her husband.]Tamar . . . her story is found in Genesis 38. Judah the father in law in the end admits he slept with her and declares that Tamar has acted more righteous than he (Gen 38:26).
Slide 8 Judah confessed that Tamar was more righteous than he. She was the one who sought to preserve his line. She bore twins to Judah, and Perez would be the one through whom the Messianic line would be continued, no thanks to Judah. Pretty interesting person that Tamar. I have a hard time seeing how she is part of this Royal Family LineAt first thought we might think God ought to be a little better judge of the people He places in the family tree. But the story shows us How sin leads us away from God’s intentions for our lives. How we as humans will go to extremes to get our ways. How we need God to restore us to right relationship with him and one another.- For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.2. Cor. 5:21
Slide 9 Mother # 2: Rahab—I
n Spite of What I’ve Done, The Lord Can Renew Me
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Matthew 1:5a
Rahab is mentioned eight times in Scripture and in six of these occurrences, her name is found with a specific descriptive noun. Do you know what it is? It is “prostitute” (NIV). Rahab’s story is found in the book of Joshua. The gist of her story is that she protected one of God’s servants Joshua whose life was in danger. In return she asked that she and her family be spared. Rahab though sinful in life style had come to a "crisis of faith" … one in which she had to choose to go with the One true God or remain with her gods. She chose by faith to believe in the One true God.
Slide 10 Here’s her response: No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
Slide 11 God had worked in Rahab’s heart, He knew her faith, her longing to know God and perhaps even to become a part of God’s people, so God worked and brought the Hebrew people and Rahab together for their protection and her blessing.Rahab’s life illustrates the NT text in Ephesians 2:13 -- But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.FOR RAHAB and for you and for me: No matter how far from God you strayed, you can be redeemed, and your redemption could affect your whole household: So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD’S WORK OF HEALING AND REDEMPTION CAN EVEN EXTEND UNTO YOU AND YOUR SITUATION??Andre Crouch’s song about the blood expresses it this way: "It reaches to the highest mountain; it flows to the lowest valley, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power." So far we have found a woman that slept with her father-in-law and a prostitute. Top of the line right? Let’s keep looking. You’re thinking, “don what kind of mother’s day lesson is this?”
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Mother # 3: Ruth—
I Can Turn my Back on My Old Life with God’s Grace
Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Matthew 1:5
Ruth’s story is found in the Old Testament book bearing her name. Here we have a foreigner who somehow gets into the line of Jesus. So this makes a conniving woman, a prostitute, and a foreigner. Ruth is the third of the three Gentiles in this genealogy, she was impoverished, her husband, a Jew, had died and left her without a connection to an inheritance. Essentially, she was outside of any possibility of relationship with God, and now without her husband she was really left OUTSIDE. But she had a "Commitment to God" which brought her into a covenant relationship with her mother-in-law, and ultimately remarried to a man in her family and together they became the grandparents of King David. And from there the lineage continues to Christ. This story wonderfully illustrates God’s grace. He is no respecter of persons. He accepts and forgives us not because of what we are or might be, but because of His Son, because of what He would do and now has done and will do through those who trust Him and act in faith. It matters not what we were or have been. What matters is who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, and whether or not we will put our trust in Him.
Slide 13 A father came home from work just before supper and was met by his five-year-old daughter on the sidewalk outside his house. The little girl was not smiling. "Is something wrong, honey?" he asked. "Yes," she said, "all day long I’ve been having trouble with your wife." Mothers and children need grace!Whatever their size or shape, our families need grace. Two-parent families, with the pressures of time and the need for patience. Single-parent families, where mothers or fathers have the same pressures but have to meet them alone. Empty-nest families, who are adjusting to very different demands. Boomerang families, who thought the nest was empty, but then the kids returned home. Merged families, together after the death or divorce of a spouse, adjusting to many unique conflicts and concerns.We are all in need of God’s grace. No one is beyond the out stretched reach of God’s grace So with the help of God’s grace, there comes a time when you have to say "Goodbye" to the old life and pursue the new life in Christ. Ruth made the choice to not be bound by her past in these words to her mother-in-law:Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” Ruth 1:16-17Now Don, we’ve got a foreigner in Jesus’ genalogy. This is wacky. Well look at the next mother of Jesus.
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Mother # 4: She Who Had Been Uriah’s Wife—
I Can Be Forgiven When I have Used Other People to Get What I Want
Bathsheba’s story is found in 2 Samuel. She was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who committed adultery with David, King of Israel. She is now with child and David commits murder. He hass Uriah killed. David then takes Bathsheba to be his wife and a son is born who dies. After realizing the sin that has been committed David looks to God for forgiveness (Psalm 51) … and they are forgiven. Forgiveness is a great thing . . . for it allows men and women to go on with their lives. Bathsheba gives birth to another son named Solomon who would perpetuate the lineage of David to Jesus Christ. It is interesting that in this genealogy that Bathsheba’s name is not mentioned but instead it says, “Whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.”The story is told (by Ernest Hemingway) of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained to the point of breaking. Finally the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “DEAR PACO, MEET ME IN FRONT OF THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE AT NOON. ALL IS FORGIVEN. I LOVE YOU. YOUR FATHER.”The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office, 800 “Pacos” showed up
Slide 15 In the same way our loving heavenly father is waiting for us to show up. The first step is to ask forgiveness of him and not to merely use others for own advantage or to use others to satisfy our won needs. David’s prayer of repentance shows that he realized the sin of he and Bathesheeba as we see in Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my shameful deeds— they haunt me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.The story reminds us . . . Forgiveness is to be sought as well as given. Forgiveness allows us to go on with our lives. Forgiveness is a true sign of God working in our lives.
Slide 16 You’re thinking—Don this is too far-out. God forgave a woman who had an affair, and then married the man who killed her husband. This is some awesome God. Yes it is an awesome God. Hear this: [God] is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. Ephesians 1:7
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And here this: “Come now, let us argue this out,” says the LORD. “No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.” Isaiah 1:18
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Mother # 5: Mary—
I Can Say “YES” to God
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah. Matthew 1:16
When Gabriel tapped her on the shoulders that day Mary was greatly troubled. She was no doubt a little on edge having an angel of the Lord speak to her, and the message that Gabriel brought her was a very troubling one.After all, she was engaged at the time to Joseph - and engagements in that day were much more serious than they are today. (For instance; An engaged woman could not be divorced w/o a "bill" of divorcement; if suspected of unfaithfulness she could be divorced or even put to death, if her fiance died she was considered as a widow and a child born during the engagement was considered illegitimate).So the circumstances Mary finds herself in are scandalous for that time. What’s God thinking. Why does he want to come to earth in this way? Can’t God do anything right. All these less than desirable women as Jesus’ foremothers and now his biological mother in a scandal—not to mention the distress it creates for her. Don –you’re way off here on Mother’s day. Tell us about the perfect mother. Therefore, as this "unique" pregnancy became known Mary (a young teenage girl) faced many troubling possibilities; rejection by Joseph, the task of raising her child alone (in a culture hostile to women), in addition she jeopardized her reputation in Nazareth should any of her neighbors find out and she even risked her very life should she be accused of unfaithfulness against Joseph. All of this no doubt troubled Mary.
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Not to mention the fact that Mary could have felt insecure, unworthy and insufficient for this great task of being the mother of God the Son, the savior of the world (after all others had balked at God’s calls in the past). Remember what Moses said at the burning bush when given a message and a task not by an angel but by God himself;"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt""What if they don’t believe or listen to me""O Lord, please send someone else to do it."Sure Moses faced a tough challenge but not anymore challenging then being told you’ll have a child as a virgin and that the child will be conceived through the Holy Spirit and will be the Son of God, The Redeemer of Mankind.Mary could have said; "Lord I’m just a girl I’m not ready to be a mother, I’m not wealthy, I’m not educated - I’m not worthy of this maybe it would be better if you got someone else." Instead she said: “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” Luke 1:38
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As we have seen this morning Jesus came from the line of a woman who slept with her father-in-law while pretending to be a prostitute. A woman who was a prostitute. A woman who was a foreigner and whose people served other gods. Then a woman whose name is not even mentioned because of what she had done is listed. And finally his mother experiences pregnancy out of wedlock.It’s as though Matthew had scoured the lineage of Jesus in order to find the seediest women he could find why? because he wants to show us that not only is God’s love bigger than the Jewish race, my friend, God’s love is bigger than your sin and my sin God’s love embraces us even with our sinfulness God uses stained and soiled, but repentant, sinners in order to bring us the Messiah All the genalogies of the Bible drip with the grace and love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ he’s a friend of sinners; a light to the Gentiles we didn’t pick our families, but Jesus picked his look what he chose: an ordinary human family with scoundrels and saints mixed in together (GOOD NEWS for mothers and all of us today—doesn’t matter what you’ve done in past, where you’ve been, what your background. God is God of second chance—over and over. Through Him our lives can be changed although we don’t deserve it. Through Him, our lives can have an eternal impact on many people.
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Call to commitment
1—If you never have, Ask Jesus to become your leader, director, manger of your life and household. The only way to break the cycle of regret is confession. Admitting that your past choices were wrong and you brought the consequences on yourself. Confession leads us to turn to God and away from the sin and mistakes of the past. It brings forgiveness and a restored relationship with God. Here’s a verse you’d do well to take to heart:But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)Confession breaks the regret cycle and brings freedom.So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NLT)
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2—Are you Seeking—not sure about this God who allows all these people with questionable backgrounds to be used by him. Great—as long as you keep asking questions and searching. In fact, that’s the type of people Jesus loved to hang out with. He really was hardest on the ones who thought they had all the answers. 3—Believer—a Christian mother, father, grandparent—but you’ve been hard on yourself and your children. You’ve already been forgiven—Go and love your children and others—unconditionally—as Jesus has loved you.Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”What a strange way to save the world!
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PRAYER:We are a people chained to our past... Hear us, God, as we come before you to acknowledge who we are and what we have done.Some of us feel left behind, empty and barren. Too easily we despair, living lives for ourselves and not for you. Too often, like Jesus’ momsi, we feel that you have left us empty and alone.Forgive us when we forget what you have done. Remind us of how you have sustained us and called us to lives of blessing and fullness. We pray all of this, seeking your redemption. Keep us awake to the joys of parenting, O you who are parent of us all. Amen.
DISMISSAL: On this day may God lead us to lives of redemption and fullness. May the Holy One restore in us a spirit of faith and courage that we may accept the Christ who walks with us, leading us to places of righteousness and justice, healing and hope. Today, here, God wraps you in love and grace. Accept this new life! Go out into the world knowing that you are led by God. Amen.
