The Ministry Of Motherhood

The Ministry of Motherhood

2 Timothy 1:5

Englewood Baptist Church

Sunday morning, May 11, 2008

Our purpose today is two-fold. First and foremost, to honor the Lord Jesus with everything we say and do. Second, to honor our mothers. It’s Mother’s Day and I want to begin today by recommending a book, Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson. You can purchase a copy today at the Connection Centers. If you have girls, you’ll have to wait till next year, as Dobson is now writing Bringing Up Girls. Let me begin today by reading just a paragraph or two from this excellent book. Dobson says…

I have the highest respect and admiration for those who are blessed to be called mothers. There are few assignments in human experience that require the array of skills and wisdom needed by a mom in fulfilling her everyday duties. She must be a resident psychologist, physician, theologian, educator, nurse, chef, taxi driver, fire marshal, and occasional police officer. And if she succeeds in each of these responsibilities, she gets to do it all again tomorrow.

To understand the world in which a young mother lives, our male readers might want to join one of them on a midmorning visit to the pediatrician’s office. After sitting for forty-five minutes with a cranky, feverish toddler on her lap, Mom and Baby are finally ushered into the examining room. The doctor checks out the sick child and then tells the woman with a straight face, “Be sure you keep him quiet for four or five days. Don’t let him scratch the rash. Make certain he keeps the medicine down and you’ll need to watch his stool.”

“Yeah, sure, Doc! Any other suggestions?”

“Just one. This disease is highly contagious. Keep your other four kids away from him. I’ll see you in a week.”

The amazing thing about mothers is that most of them would get this job done, and they would do it with love and grace.

I am one that stands amazed at the way God designed mothers. My wife is an incredible mom. I am in awe at her ability to nurture our children. Sometimes, I will bring our children to Mothers Day Out and I get out of the car and instantly, I am way out of my comfort zone. I would be less nervous preaching to 10,000 people than I am dropping my own children off at my own church sometimes.

•Illustration about balancing my children.

I am amazed at moms! But you know what? According to the Bible, there is a lot more to being a good mom than simply making a tasty Peanut Butter and Jelly without the crust. There is more to it than applying a spiderman bandaid, or washing hair without getting water in the eyes. These are physical demands on mothers, but biblically, there are spiritual demands as well. And without question, the spiritual needs of children are even greater than the physical. You are called to pass on more than a good recipe book, or skill in loading a dishwasher. You are a called to pass on the things of God.

Today, I have asked you to open up to 2 Timothy because I want you to see the power of a godly mother in a young person’s life. Timothy was the spiritual son of Paul. As far as we know, the apostle Paul never married, nor did he have children, but he had spiritual children. Timothy was one of his boys. And he was lucky to have such an incredible spiritual father in Paul.

But long before Paul arrived on the scene, while Paul was studying Phariseeical law and persecuting Christians, Timothy was growing up in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man. And the reason that he was growing into a godly man was because he had two women—godly, righteous, firm, determined—women who were tilling the soil in his heart. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother Lois were training that boy to be used mightily by God.

I want you to look at your Bible and listen to the first 5 verses of this letter…

Paul saw in Timothy a legacy. It began in a godly grandmother. Do not underestimate, Grandma, the power of your life and perspective. It is a known fact that as people grow older, they tend to move slower and stoop over. Right. You’re not getting taller. You’re getting shorter. Why is that? I am sure there are medical reasons that involve your spine, but perhaps there are spiritual reasons as well. One author has a theory:

A sage once remarked that the elderly slow down and stoop over so that they can see things as children once again, so that they can hold the hands of children who toddle along on inexperienced feet. That bug on the sidewalk, the snail under the cabbage leaf, the robin pulling the worm from the rain-moistened earth—these are the things small children and their grandparents notice. Eric Wiggen, The Gift of Grandparenting