Yes, It's Mother's Day!

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER

RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(This is a shorter & newer [2020] version of a previous message.)

TEXT: Proverbs 23:25; Ephesians 4:15 & 32

ILL. A man came home from work one afternoon & found his three small children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. Some of their toys were scattered across the lawn & on the driveway. The door of his wife's car was wide open, & so was the front door of their house.

Surprised at this, he rushed inside & was confronted with evidence of complete disarray. A lamp had been knocked over. The TV was loudly blaring on a cartoon channel, & the family room was littered with toys & children’s clothing.

He went into the kitchen. The sink was filled with dirty dishes, breakfast food had been spilled on the counter, the refrigerator door was open, & dog food was scattered all over the floor.

Very concerned now, & fearing the worst, he frantically looked for his wife, heading up the stairs, stepping over toys & more piles of clothing as he went.

Rushing into their bedroom, he saw her. Still in her pajamas, she lay there curled up on their bed, reading a novel. She looked up, smiled at him, & asked him how his day had been.

Completely bewildered, he looked at her & asked, “What happened here today?” Again she smiled & then answered, “You know, every day when you come home from work you ask me what in the world I do all day long?” “Yes,” he said. She answered, “Well, today I didn't do it.” (Adapted from Sermon Central)

I want to call your attention today to Proverbs 23:25. “May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!"

Today is Mother's Day, & this used to be such an easy Sunday for preachers because we could preach sermons filled with warm, happy illustrations. And everybody wore flowers - red if mother was still alive, & white if she had died.

Almost every church had special programs. And everybody went home feeling good about themselves & about the celebration of Mother's Day.

I. MOTHER'S DAY IS NOT A HAPPY DAY FOR EVERYONE

A. Well maybe not everybody, because for some it is more of a bittersweet celebration. You see, Mother’s Day is not necessarily a happy day for everyone.

ILL. One woman wrote, "Mother's Day is such a wonderful day for so many women. But it will be a sad day for some of us who have tried so very hard to become a mother, but without success.

"To us, having a baby is a dream just out of our reach, & Mother's Day is a day of tears instead of joy."

B. Or maybe your Mother's Day is tinged with sadness because you're a long ways away from your mother, or from your children. And you'll be unable to see each other face to face on this special day.

C. O maybe you're sad because your mother is getting old. You've noticed how fast she is aging. Her eyesight is not as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes she stumbles & falls & you worry about her hurting herself. Her hearing has deteriorated, too.

Many of us have experienced that & the hardest decision came when we realized that we could no longer provide ade¬quate care for our mother or father ourselves, & that we would have to commit their care to someone else.

D. Or maybe Mother's Day is unhappy for you because of broken relationships. You have children & you don't know where they are or what is happen¬ing in their lives, & you say, "I thought we had a good family, but now we're alienated from each other, & I don't know what to do."

ILL. I heard of someone whose parents went into business for themselves when he was a young boy. His grandfather loaned them a substantial sum of money to start the business. Then his grandfather thought that he should have a strong say in how the business was run, but his father didn't feel that way at all.

So they argued, & for many years there was a strained relationship in the family. They didn't go to grandfather's house for Christmas anymore. His father & grandfather wouldn't even speak when they saw each other on the street or in a store.

SUM. You see, over the years we have gone through periods of great stress. And many homes have become battlefields where no one knows what the rules & standards really are because they have been changed so often.

As a result, some are not even sure it is possible to find any real solutions to the problems in our families & homes today.