Today Is Mother’s Day!

MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

TEXT: Ephesians 6:1-3; Proverbs 17:22, 31:10-31

ILL. Six-year-old Johnny & his 4-year-old sister Suzy presented their mom with a Mother’s Day present; a small house plant. While it wasn’t the finest looking specimen, they had bought it with their own money & Mom was thrilled. She hugged & kissed her children & told them she loved them for thinking of her.

Johnny said, "There were some other flowers we wanted to buy for you, but we didn’t have enough money." "Yeah," said sister Suzy, "they had a real nice bunch of flowers at the shop that we wanted to buy."

"But I love this plant," said the happy mother. "I know, Mom," said Johnny, "but those flowers would have been perfect for you. They were in a wreath & they had a ribbon that said ’REST IN PEACE’ & you’re always asking us for a little peace so you can rest.”

ILL. A 6-year-old boy, separated from his mother in a supermarket, began to call frantically for “Martha! Martha! Martha!” That was his mother’s name & she quickly came running to him. “But, honey,” she said, “you shouldn’t call me ‘Martha’, I’m ‘Mother’ to you.” “Yeah, I know,” he answered, “but this store is full of mothers.”

Our world is full of mothers, but we have only one mother who is special to each of us.

ILL. Did you hear about the three sons who left home, went out on their own & prospered? Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.

The first said, "I built a big house for mother." The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third smiled & said, "I’ve got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well now. I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible.

“It took experts 12 years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter & verse, & the parrot recites it."

Soon thereafter, mom sent out her letters of thanks: "Milton", she wrote, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only three rooms, but I have to clean the whole house."

"Gerald", she wrote, "I’m too old to travel. I stay most of the time at home, so I rarely use the Mercedes.”

"Dear Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious!"

A delicious chicken dinner on Mother’s Day might be nice, but not a parrot dinner.

On Mother’s Day we can’t say enough good things about our mothers, but we’ll try.

PROP. From Proverbs 31 I want to mention some things that mothers are, or mothers do, in order to honor them today.

The first point is - Her Hands Work.

I. HER HANDS WORK

ILL. A boy got his first job. As he was boasting about the amount of work he did, he said, "I get up at 5 a.m. & have my breakfast."

He was asked, "Does anyone else get up too?" He replied, "Oh yes, mother gets up & fixes my breakfast & dad’s breakfast."

"And what about your dinner?" The boy said, "Oh, mother, fixes that too."

"Does your mother have the afternoon to herself?" The boy replied, "No, mama cleans the house, looks after the other children, & then gets supper for me & dad when we come home. Then we watch TV before we go to bed."

"What about your mother? What does she do?" The boy replied, "Mama usually washes some clothes & irons the rest of the evening."

"Do you get paid?" "Of course, Dad & I get paid." "And what about your mother, does she get paid too?" The boy replied, "Mother get paid? Mother don’t get paid. She don’t do no work."

ILL. There is a cartoon that shows a mother in her home. Her hair is in disarray, kids are everywhere, & the house is an absolute shambles. Then her husband comes home from work all neatly dressed in coat & tie, carrying his briefcase.

She takes one look at him & He looks at her with a big question mark on his face. She tells him, "You come home every evening & ask what I do all day. Well, today I didn’t do it, & here it is!"

In Proverbs 31, we see that mothers do all kinds of work.

Vs’s 13,19,22 tell us she sews, "She selects wool...and works with eager hands." Vs. 14 says she shops, "bringing her food from afar."

Vs. 15 says she cooks, "She provides food for her family..."

Vs. 16 says "She plants a vineyard..."