Mother's Day
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Another Mother’s Day has rolled around. And as always, I am challenged to preach a message to group of people that I do not relate to. I am not a mom. I am not a woman.
However, I know that being a mom is hard.
I use the word “mom” loosely. I am speaking to those who are mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers. I am speaking to those who do not have children of their own, but who have spiritual children. I am speaking to those who yearn to have children, but do not. Those who had children and suffered their loss. Those whose children moved away and those whose children are still at home. I am speaking to mom’s who stayed at home and mom’s who worked.
No matter the situation, being a mom is hard. I think about what Paul wrote in Galatians:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Being a mom is hard, and somedays a mom grows weary in doing good good. Sometimes Paul’s exhortation in Thessalonians is pointed at moms.
And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
There are some days, after I wrap up my sermon prep or my hospital visitations and I come home. I walk through the door, and I am immediately confronted by screams. On child runs up to me, telling me all the horrible things the sibling did, while the other child is reciprocating the favor. I get this convoluted stories about the evils of the day, and I turn to Maggie and her hair is poofed out, her eyes are wide, and she has this look of “finally, you’re home.”
Being a mom, is hard. No matter the situation or level of mom-hood you are at, do not grow weary in doing good. Have endurance.
Our text for today is not in Galatians or 2 Thessalonians. Our text is Romans
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
pray
Moms, have endurance.
The God of Endurance
The God of Endurance
In this verse, we see the God of endurance. He is described as the one who gives endurance. He can give endurance, because that is one of his attributes.
Over and over again, in the OT, God is described as enduring.
We see God’s enduring love
We see God’s enduring love
in 1 Chronicles
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
David is teaching the priests a song to sing in celebration of the Ark of the Covenant finally coming to Jerusalem. It had been captured by the Philistines because of King Saul’s sins. After some time, it was returned to the Israelites, but it was never brought back to the capital of Israel because of Israel’s sins.
Finally, after a period of repentance, the people of Israel return the Ark to the capital in the way that God had told them to, and they sing about God’s enduring love.
How do they know about God’s enduring love? Because they saw it firsthand and they hear about it from their parents and their grandparents, so also saw it firsthand. They were the nation who God rescued out of Egypt, and who continually complained against God and rebelled against his rules.
But, God had made a covenant of love with Israel, and he never turned away from that covenant, no matter what Israel did. His love endured forever.
We see God’s enduring righteousness.
We see God’s enduring righteousness.
Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
The standard which God sets by his character never changes. He always does what is right, no matter who he is dealing with.
In this Psalm, the writer discusses the work of creation. He talks about God’s provision for his people. He reflects on God’s judgement on his enemies and those who act against him. He mentions God’s redemption based upon his covenant.
The people of Israel saw this. When they turned from God, they knew his righteousness when he brought discipline to them, to the point of kicking them out of the land. But, when they repented, he restored them back, providing everything that they needed.
Ultimately, the people of Israel saw God’s righteousness as Jesus hung on the cross, the righteous for the unrighteous, that all who believed might have life in his name.
God’s righteousness demands judgment. Some of that judgment is temporary in a form of discipline. Some is eternal in the form of hell. That is the righteous judgment that Jesus fulfilled.
God’s enduring love. His enduring righteousness.
We see God’s enduring faithfulness
We see God’s enduring faithfulness
For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 117 is one of the shortest psalms, incidentally, but the message is powerful.
The Psalmist says that God’s ability to be trusted endures forever.
The word faithfulness, or trustworthiness, speaks of firmness or certainty.
Picture an infant in the arms of their parent. The infant is resting, peacefully, because they feel safe. When the infant is given to someone else, the infant does not safe anymore and starts to scream.
As the infant grows up, it still wants to be carried, one because it is lazy, but two because there is a desire for that safety.
When a child gets hurt, it immediately runs to the parent, because there is safety and comfort in the face of helplessness.
God is faithful. His strong arms bear us up with firmness and certainty.
When the kid grows up, he reaches a point where his parents are not strong enough anymore. And he has to bear himself.
Thankfully, God is always faithful. He can always be trusted, no matter what we are going through. No matter if we don’t understand it. He is faithful: he will not let us down.
God’s love endures. His righteousness endures. His faithfulness endures.
We see God’s enduring Law
We see God’s enduring Law
We could look at Isaiah
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
And discuss how God’s Word, the Bible, endures forever, but we are going to focus on the term “Law.”
Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
God’s Law endures forever.
This law includes the Law of Moses, but it is more expansive than that. It speaks of God’s moral code since the beginning of creation. It is the standard that God calls all humans to live by.
Those who do not meet that standard we call sinners.
The Psalmist says that God’s law endures. It does not change. It perseveres, in spite of all humanity tries to do.
The Israelites kept saying: “Oh, God doesn’t care. I want to do my own thing. The nations around are worshipping other gods: we can to. The nations around are using prostitutes for worship: we can to. The nations around are killing their children: we can too. The nations around have changed their tithe and offering requirements: we can to.”
We as humans so often look at the Bible, what it clearly says, and we try to change it. We say: “oh, that was just cultural. Oh, the word doesn’t actually mean that. Oh, if we changed the sentence structures… Oh, it would be easier if we just disregarded it. Oh, but it wouldn’t be loving or I might loose a friend if I follow that.”
No matter what we as humans say, God’s Law endures. No matter how we try to twist the standard, God’s Law endures. And all humanity will be judged by that Law, whether we acknowledge it or believe it.
God’s love endures. His righteousness endures. His faithfulness endures. His law endures.
We see his enduring name
We see his enduring name
Your name, Lord, endures forever,
your renown, Lord, through all generations.
This is the all encompassing point. In this culture, one’s name stood for one’s identity and one’s character.
Think about Moses. After God met Moses in the burning bush, and after God sent all the plagues on Egypt, and after God led Israel out of Egypt and provided for them in the wilderness, after God gave the Law and disciplined Israel for turning away from him. Moses asked God to let him see his face.
God told Moses to go up on Mt. Sinai and God would pass in front of him and declare his name.
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
And what was that name?
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
One’s name was one’s character. God’s name, his character, his essence, never changes. Which is why his love, his righteousness, his faithfulness, his law, endures.
People of endurance
People of endurance
We are called to be an image of God, to show his character to those around us. So, mothers if God is a God of endurance, you should be people of endurance as well.
Thankfully, as our text says,
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
God is the God who gives endurance, with his help, we all can live lives of endurance. Let’s discuss some ways:
Enduring in love
Enduring in love
Paul said that the God who gives encouragement would give us the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.
What was this mind?
The context of Romans 15 is that Jesus worked for the good of those around, instead of his own good. In fact, he worked for the good of those who were insulting him.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Jesus did not just lay down his life for his friends, but he did it for his enemies. The sinners.
In the same way, we are to endure in love the way that Jesus did.
As mothers, there are two spheres of influence that affect your identity as mom. There is your kids and your husband.
Let’s think about your kids. What does it mean to endure in love towards your kids, as Jesus did. It means that you act towards them based upon what is best for them, regardless of their attitude, regardless of what they have said. You have a commitment before God as a mother.
How do I know this? Well, because the Bible says so.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,
“The idea that flows out of this word is that of caring for our children, nurturing them, affectionately embracing them, meeting their needs, and tenderly befriending each one as a unique gift from the hand of God.”
So, when our kids are acting like creatures from hell, instead of reacting based upon what we are feeling, we are to say, “this person is a unique gift from the hand of God. How can I meet their needs and show them their value before God?” This requires gentleness and understanding. As the kids get older and become adults, this becomes even more challenging, because meeting their needs might mean not meeting what THEY think are their needs.
We are to endure in love, the mindset of Jesus, who blessed those who were reviling him, even when we don’t feel like it.
Mother’s endure in love.
Let’s think about your husband. What does it mean to endure in love towards your husband, as Jesus did.
Titus talks about loving one’s husband. Ephesians and Colossians talks about respecting and honoring one’s husband.
This is not easy to do. I am a husband. I can only imagine the pain that Maggie goes through having to love me and respect me.
But, if it was easy, the Bible wouldn’t have to command it. Wives, love your husbands and love them by respecting them. These commands for love and respect are not based upon your husbands actions or how he treats you. He is a human being and a man. He doesn’t deserve your love or your respect, but you are called to give him what he doesn’t deserve.
Simply, you are to work for his good, in spite of what he is doing. That is love.
You are to lift him up in your conversations with him and about him, whether you are talking with your kids or your friends. Respect is when you go out of the way to talk good about him. You might say, “but I don’t know anything good that he is doing!” Come and talk to me. I can give you some things. The important thing is that you obey God and endure in love and respect.
Enduring in Righteousness
Enduring in Righteousness
Not only should we endure in love, but we should endure in righteousness.
Paul wrote:
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
What was this mindset?
Paul writes about this mindset in Phil 2:5-8
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Paul speaks of Jesus’ humility and also his obedience to God. Jesus’ mindset is that we treat others with humility according to an obedience of God.
In short, we are to pursue righteousness in our dealings with God and each other. This takes endurance, because left to ourselves, we do not want to be righteous.
Okay, case in point, let’s consider 1 Peter 3 8-9
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
This is God telling us how we are to behave towards everyone, including our spouse and our kids. Think about a conversation with a teenager, when we are walking in flesh instead of Christ’s righteousness, how often do we really want to be sympathetic and compassionate with them?
We want to grab them by the throat and shake some sense into them. We could justify it in our minds, saying that we are actually doing right by them, someone needed to do it to them, so might as well have been me.
But we are sinning against God, because he has called us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and humble.
Let’s look at another.
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
God is telling us through his word that we are to be gentle towards everyone. The word speaks of one’s attitude and behavior toward others. The opposite of gentleness is harshness in one’s dealings with others.
Oh, it is so easy to be harsh. It is so easy to yell or raise our voice when we aren’t getting what we want. It is so easy to use our words to bite and cut down those around us, including our kids or grandkids. But, that is sin.
We could excuse our actions, saying that we were tired or that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, or we didn’t respond as badly as we could have.
Lies. It is sin, no matter how we try to reword. God calls us to be gentle, peaceable, considerate.
This requires endurance.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
We need to draw a line in the sand and say: this is what I am like naturally and it is wrong. This is what God has called me to be, no matter what I am feeling, no matter how tired I am, no matter the circumstances, no matter what they have done to me, I am going to endure in righteousness.
Oh, we could talk about enduring in faithfulness, law, and our name. But, I don’t have time. The clock mocks me.
We have talked about the God of endurance. We have discussed we are to be people of endurance. Let’s talk about the why: Why are we to be people of endurance?
So that people might see the God of endurance
So that people might see the God of endurance
We are to be people of endurance so that people might see the God of endurance.
Paul wrote to to Timothy, in his last letter:
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,
Timothy knew Paul’s life. He had the example. Paul urges him:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul’s life, including his endurance in godliness and faith, was a reason by which Timothy was convinced about the truths of Scripture.
Earlier in this letter, Paul writes:
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Paul lived with endurance so that those around him might know God.
Let us look around us. Who is watching? Mother’s, those who have your kids and those of you who influences others, do those who are watching know God through your endurance? Or is your lack of love, lack of righteousness, lack of faithfulness, etc. clouding their vision?
Mothers, your endurance should be an example to those who are watching. Your kids and those who look up to you should know how to love their own kids in a godly way through your example. Is your example accurate?
Mothers, your kids and those who look up to you should know how to love and respect their spouse in a godly way through your example. Is your example accurate?
Mothers, your kids and those who look up to you should know how to endure in righteousness, against their own fleshly desires, living in sympathy and gentleness, along with the other fruits of the spirit. Is your example accurate?
Do they see God in you? If you don’t know, have the humility to ask and the graciousness to accept the answer.
Being a mom is very hard. Do not grow weary in doing good. Turn to the God who gives endurance and seize that mindset of Christ.