Just Like A Mom
1 Thessalonians 2:6-9
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Introduction: Moms, this day is for you! We salute you. We honor you. We want every one of you to know that we appreciate you. I trust your husband and children are making this day extra special for you at home. We hope we are also making this a special Sunday for you at church.
Guys sometimes have a hard time knowing what to do on Mother’s Day. Did you hear about the three sons and their three special Mother’s Day gifts? All three sons were grown and out their own. Each had done quite well. They had plenty of money so they each decided to get their mother something special for Mother’s Day.
The next week, the three sons conferred with each other. The discussion turned to the gifts they had each given their elderly mother. The first said, "I built a new condominium for our mother. It cost me $150,000." The second said, “That’s nothing! I leased a brand new Mercedes limousine and hired a driver for her. I am paying $40,000 a year for the next five years." The third smiled, "I’ve got you both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible. Since she can’t see very well, I sent her a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty monks in a monastery twelve years to teach the parrot. In order to get the parrot, I had to pledge $100,000 a year for ten years to the monastery. It was worth every penny. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse. The parrot will recite the passage for her." The other two were impressed!
A few weeks later, Mom sent thank you notes to each of the sons. "Malcolm," she wrote the first son, "the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house." "Marvin," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay home all the time, so I never use the Mercedes. Besides the driver is so rude!" Dearest Melvin," she wrote to her third son, "You were the only son with the sense to know what I like. That chicken was delicious." No, it isn’t always easy knowing what to buy mom for Mother’s Day!
I hope you noticed that our text is not really about mothers or Mother’s Day at all. It is not really even about families. The theme of the passage is actually about church leadership. Paul, the apostle and missionary, was defending his motives and methods. Listen to how the chapter starts— “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else” (2:1-5).
There’s an important principle there. Christian leaders, whether preachers, elders and deacons, Sunday School teachers, or anyone else who serves others in the name of Christ, must constantly be performing an attitude check. Why do we do what we do? What’s in it for us? Seldom does it have anything to do with money. But it can be about getting attention, or praise, or compliments. Everyone wants to be liked. If we are not careful, people-pleasing can be more important than God-pleasing.
Our text acknowledges that danger and then uses two metaphors or word pictures to illustrate the motives that should mark followers of Jesus. Those two word pictures are what bring us to today’s text. In verse 7, Paul says he had treated them like a mother. Then in verse 11, he turns the image and says he had been like a father to them. He is talking in both instances about Christian service. Nevertheless, how he uses the picture of a mother and then of a father offers a telling insight into the biblical concept of parenthood. That’s how I want to use this text. Today I want to begin our Season of the Family emphasis by exploring that motherhood image. In a few weeks, we will return to this same passage on Father’s Day to examine verse 11.
To illustrate his ministry with these believers, Paul points to three qualities of a godly mother. These are the qualities that make mothers so important. These are the reasons that all of us in this room are grateful to our mothers. These are three of the many reasons that we salute the mothers of this church today. These are the three qualities that call all of us to live just like a mom.
First, we honor our mothers for their gentle strength. Note how the text paints the picture. “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.” The phrase in our text, “like a mother caring for her little children" is the language for a new mother nursing her tiny infant. Strength without gentleness can be dangerous, even destructive. Watch a father with a tiny baby. He’s all thumbs. He’s afraid he’ll break it or drop it. For some fathers that’s a possibility!
I remember the first time (possibly the last time) I changed a diaper. Our first born (Anthony) was just a few weeks old. Now kids, remember this was before Pampers and stick tabs. We were style diapering the way “God-intended” with real cloth all cotton diapers and safety pins.
Rose finally allowed me to change a diaper by myself. It was a lot harder than it looked. I found the hardest part to be getting the diaper on snug enough that it didn’t fall straight off when you held the baby up. I very carefully snugged the diaper as tight as I could. When Tony began to turn blue, I loosened it just a bit. I held the cloth tight with one hand and worked that pin through the three or four layers of cloth and unknown to me at time (but not to Tony) also through his hide. In and out and back through the diaper! He screamed, but I guarantee that diaper didn’t fall off!
Gentle strength—that’s the key!
Gentleness, however, doesn’t mean weakness. Just step between a mother and her child! Threaten her child and you will quickly discover what strength is all about. Even adult children remember the toughness behind mom’s tenderness.
First Lady Laura Bush tells the story of one overnight visit with her husband in the home of his parents, George and Barbara Bush. Laura says, "George W. woke up at 6 a.m. as usual and went downstairs to get a cup of coffee," Mrs. Bush says. "And he sat down on the sofa with his parents and stretched out his feet on the coffee table. And all of a sudden, Barbara Bush snapped at her son, ’Put your feet down!’"
"George W’s dad replied, ’For goodness’ sake, Barbara, he’s the President.’" "And the President’s mom replied, ’I don’t care. I don’t want his feet on my table.’" The president promptly put his feet on the floor. As Laura Bush observes, "Even Presidents have to listen to their mothers."
This combination of gentleness and strength might be described with the word “appropriateness.” Gentleness means letting a child be a child, exercising patience and forgiveness when that is needed. It means being strict and stern when that’s what’s needed. Mothers know the difference. Mothers recognize that every child is different. It means letting the child grow up. That’s sometimes the hard part.
Yesterday my daughter received the next installment on that lesson. She has three little ones—a daughter nine, a son seven, and another daughter who just turned three yesterday. We were there for the birthday party. Angie is really a good mother. She exercises enormous patience and gentleness with all three children. She has developed lots of little tricks of the trade. For example, the family has a whole series of birthday traditions that they repeat every year for each child. The children really look forward to the special decorations, the party balloons, and the breakfast in bed, just to name a few. Another little trick is a special ice pack that she pulls out of the freezer whenever one of the kids skins a knee or bumps their head. She has convinced them that “boo-boo kitty” has special healing powers. Most of the time it works. Not always.
Yesterday our seven year old grandson was playing catch in the backyard with his dad in preparation for his second little league game that afternoon. The rest of us were watching the three year old play in her new sandbox. Suddenly Grant let out a wail. He had caught a baseball right on the end of his nose. His dad and another friend immediately checked his nose for blood or any sign of a break. They wiggled his nose. Grant yelped. They assured him that nothing was broken and that he would be okay. They then proceeded to tell him how those things happen to baseball players. They were just finishing the “no pain-no gain” pep talk when Angie walked up. Knowing nothing of the prior conversation, she stepped in to do her mom-thing. She leaned over and said to Grant, right in front of the “other men,” “Do you want me to go get “boo-boo kitty?” I swear—in one single instant Grant straightened up. The sobs stopped. Tears immediately dried up. The look on his face instantly went from pain to indignity. He glanced first at the men and then shot his mom the dirtiest look. He pushed her hand away and said in his best little league voice, “No, I don’t need “boo-boo kitty! MOM!”
A gentle mom must learn the different needs of her little boy and her aspiring major leaguer!
We honor mothers for their gentle strength. Faithful followers of Christ, men and women, and especially servant-leaders must master that quality we learned first at our mother’s knee. We could all benefit from being just like a mom. We also salute them for their genuine affection. Here’s how our text continues the picture. “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” For mothers love is not an emotion. It is action. It is giving. It is serving. It is doing for others. It is a love that can’t be bought or hired at any price.
The schoolteacher asked a boy a math question: Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were six of you — your mother, your father and four children. What percentage of the pie would you get? "One-fifth," replied the boy. The teacher responded, "I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions.”Remember, there are six of you." "I know, said the boy, "but you don’t know my mother. She would say she didn’t want any pie so we could have more." That’s love. That’s the genuine deal. We honor that love.
We acknowledge that we first witnessed that kind of love from other mothers. Those of who are wise learn to build it into our own character as well. Just like a mom!
We honor our mothers for their gentle strength and their genuine affection. We also acknowledge their generous sacrifice. Note verse nine of our text. “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” Who of us couldn’t say that about our mother? “You toiled and worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone.”
By the time a child reaches eighteen a mother has had to handle some extra eighteen thousand hours of child-generated work. Experts estimate that women who never have children enjoy the equivalent of an extra three months a year in leisure time!
Elementary science class had been studying magnets, and how metal objects are attracted to them. End of semester teacher put on exam this question: six letters, starts with “M”, picks up things, what am I? Over half the children wrote “Mother”!
Many of you mothers know exactly what I am talking about. A good percentage of you work at jobs outside the home. Others of you work on the farm right along side the men. You come home tired and worn out. But you still clean and cook and care for your children. Some of your husbands carry a big part of that load. Some don’t. A few of you have shouldered the challenge of raising your young alone. That’s never an easy task. There’s not a mother here who hasn’t sacrificed for your children and your family. We honor that.
We also strive to live that as well. We know that kind of sacrifice first in the person and work of our Savior Jesus Christ. We know that a Christian is one who recognizes and accepts that sacrifice. When we take up the task of following Jesus we pledge ourselves to also sacrifice for others when need be. We learn to live like Jesus and just like a mom.
Conclusion: Our mothers help us all to be better followers of Jesus. They have taught us gentle strength, genuine affection, and generous sacrifice. Those are motherly qualities. Those are also Christ-like qualities. Those are lessons Christian leaders and followers alike must master. WE learn those lessons just like a mom. We are thankful to our mothers for helping us.
Our emphasis is primarily on mothers today. This is Mother’s Day! But I know what everyone in this room knows. There are a lot of women who aren’t technically “mothers” who nonetheless fill that role. Some of you ladies in this room have never been a mother. You may have never had children of your own but that never stopped you from loving and caring for little ones all your life. Some of you who do or have had children of your own never let your “mothering” stop at the edge of your family’s yard. You have loved, cared for, and raised your neighbor’s kids, your sister’s kids, and maybe lots of kids in your Sunday School class or the church nursery. Some of you have been a second mom or grandma for scores of church kids. That’s good! Where would we be without you? We salute you too.
I also know that Mother’s Day can be a rough day for some. Those of us who have lost our mothers (my mom passed away in 1997) can’t come to this day without reliving at least a little bit of sadness. For others, Mothers’ Day can be tough because of leftover guilt. Maybe we didn’t always treat our mothers as we should. Maybe some mothers have regrets about past decisions or past mistakes. Or maybe some don’t have all that good a memory of their mothers. Let’s face it, not all of were blessed to have as good a mother as some of us.
Some of you may have come to church today with some baggage. Grief, guilt, and resentment can get in the way of your having a good Mother’s Day. I want to remind you
that the Lord we praise and worship this day specializes in forgiving, healing, comforting, and reconciling.
Let’s imagine that this is not a church sanctuary. Let’s think of this room as the check-in counter at the airport. Think of this as a good place to leave your baggage today. Whatever burdens you came with today, may this be the place you leave them before you leave.
Most of us can celebrate the lives and faith of our mothers. Others of us can discover the power of Christ that make this Mother’s Day the beginning of a whole new way of looking at the past or the future. Either way, this can be a day to celebrate.
Moms, ladies, we salute you. We honor you for your faith, your gentle love, your devotion and sacrifice. You are important to your families. You are important to this church! God bless you!
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
