Give Honor to Your Mother
Today is the day that has been set apart to honor our mothers. For some of us our mothers may have all ready gone to be with our Lord, for others your mother may be here with you today. Most of you ladies here today are mothers and grand mothers. Being a mother is a noble and honorable profession. God even chose a young girl named Mary to be the mother of His only Son, Jesus.
Luke 1:46-50
46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
(NIV)
Mary was called blessed, because God honored her by choosing her to bear His Son. God is the creator of all life. Every time a woman conceives a child, God blesses her. God is the one who determines who will bear children, when and how many. Because of the sin that Eve committed, mothers must bear an increase pain in childbearing. Our mother’s pain starts at childbirth and it never ends until the Lord calls her home. A mother feels every pain that her child feels twice over. If a child gets sick or is hurt the mother feels the child’s pain and nurses the child back to health. Even when the child grows up to an adult, the mother still feels every pain and hurt that her adult child feels.
It is said that a man is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, but I tell you that a mother is a master of all.
A mother is a nurse.
A mother is a teacher.
A mother is a Chef.
A mother is a janitor.
A mother is a helper.
A mother is a counselor.
A mother is a chauffeur.
A mother is a mentor.
A mother is blessed.
For the children here today I want to tell you what God says about the way you are to treat your mother.
Of the Ten Commandments, the first four are what we call vertical commands pertaining to God. The first of the lateral commandments says this.
Exod 20:12
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
(NIV)
God considers your parents, especially your mother to be very important in your life. This is even the first commandment with a promise of a better life for those who honors and obeys their parents.
Eph 6:1-3
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 "Honor your father and mother"-- which is the first commandment with a promise--
3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
(NIV)
Children and youth, you may think that you have the meanest and dumbest parents in the world, but if they didn’t love you then they wouldn’t care what you did with your life. Only perfect children can require perfection from their parents. The only one that has ever lived a perfect life is Jesus Christ. Because your mother loves you, she disciplines you. Sometimes as parents we make mistakes with our children because we are not perfect, but as parents our love for our children never fades.
Heb 12:5-6
5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
(NIV)
Just as God disciplines his children that He loves, we as parents disciplines our children because we love you and want the very best for you.
I see many families today that the children even very little ones shows no respect or authority for the parents. We live in a world today that is control by switches, except for when we control our children. I can remember as a child my mom telling me to go out a cut a branch off of these bushes that she had in the yard when I disobeyed her. I would go and cut the smallest switch I could find and take it back in to her. That was a big mistake because it just got her that much madder at me. I would have to go back out and cut another one. Finally after getting one that she was satisfied with, she would whip my little legs. Back then parents didn’t have to worry about leaving red marks on the child. Also back then children not only respected their parents, but we showed respect to all adults.
We should always thank God for allowing us to have a Godly mother. Many children are lead to the Lord by godly mothers. I like most children didn’t think much about what my mother had done for me until my mother went to be with the Lord.
My mother died from complications of Alzheimer. Before she died, I went back to North Carolina to visit. She introduced me to one of her friends in the nursing home as her brother. Another time she introduced me as her husband. I told her that I was her son and that I loved her very much. She replied that she didn’t have a son. Oh, how I wished that I had visited more often and told her much more often that I loved her. Before she got Alzheimer, I didn’t show her my love, after she got Alzheimer, it was too late. Several months later she went home to be with the Lord. I was asked to give the eulogy at her funeral. I didn’t know what to say, but I said that I would. Preparing for the trip back to North Carolina, I found my very first bible, the bible that my mother had given me one Christmas morning many, many years ago. Not only did she give me the bible, she sat me down in the evenings and had me read it to her. In giving her eulogy, God reminded me that when I was sixteen years old He was calling me to be a minister of His Gospel. Because of circumstances that took place, I did not accept His calling. While giving my mother’s eulogy, God spoke to me and said that it is not too late to accept His call into the ministry. It was to late to tell my mother that I loved her dearly, but I could tell others about the love of Jesus Christ for them. I did just that at my mother’s funeral. I will do it until the day that our Lord calls me home. Because of my mother’s love and prayers, I now have retired and am waiting for God to lead me to the church He want me to Shepard. I believe that my mother never stopped praying for me. Are you praying for your children and grandchildren? Are you bringing your children up in the ways of the Lord?
1 Sam 1:24-28
24 After he was weaned, Hanna took the boy Samuel with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.
25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli,
26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.
(NIV)
My wife, the mother of my children has always prayed for our children. Even as adults, she stills prays daily for them. I still remember when our last child was born on November 8, 1983, just like it was yesterday. When John Michael was brought out of the delivery room and I saw him for the first time, I prayed out loud, not caring who heard me. I first thanked God for answering our prayers for a son. Then I committed Mikie’s life to serve God all of his life. I wished I had done this with all of our children. We could not have asked for a better son. Thank God for your children and commit their lives to God.
Christ also honored His mother.
John 19:25-28
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"
27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
(NIV)
As Christ was suffering and dying on the cross, He still was concern about the welfare of His mother. To John, the disciple that He cared for greatly, Jesus gave the responsibility to take care and provide for His mother. Christ showed great love and respect for His mother. Today let us follow our Savior’s example and show respect to our mothers and tell them how much we love them. Don’t wait until it is too late. Do it now. Not just on Mother’s Day, but every day of the year. Love is the greatest gift that any one person can give.
1 Cor 13:13
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(NIV)
My wife always tells our children that she doesn’t want anything for Mother’s Day, except for them to love her. Love is the greatest gift that anyone can give.
John 3:16-18
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
(NIV)
If you are here today and you don’t know of the Love that Jesus Christ has for you, then you are condemned already for life eternal in hell. Because of the love that God has for us, we have hope everlasting, if we will accept Jesus as our Savior. Because we can never live a perfect live with out sin, God sent His one and only Son to do just that for us. He live a perfect live and He was crucified on a old rugged cross. While hanging on this cross, Jesus took on Himself all of our sins: past, present and future sins. He did this so that for those who believe in Him will have eternal life in Heaven with God. He died on that cross and was buried in a tomb. Three days later God raised Him from the dead, where He today sits at the right hand of God in heaven.
You too can be sure that when you die, you will spend eternality in heaven instead of hell.
Rom 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(NIV)
If you don’t know Jesus has your Savior, come now while the music plays and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Come now!
