Mary's Advice to Moms

Making Moms

I think everybody loves hearing how children respond to questions. Listen to how several elementary school students answer a few questions about moms.

Why did God make mothers?

- She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is.

- Mostly to clean the house.

- To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

- He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

- Magic plus superpower and a lot of string.

- God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

Of what ingredients are mothers made?

- God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world, and one dab of mean.

- They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

- We’re related.

- God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.[1]

I know that Mother’s Day can bring both good and bad memories. For those with good memories, we can celebrate those today. For those with unpleasant memories we can offer our sympathies and prayers. Fortunately, it is much more likely that today you are celebrating your mom or the mother of your children.

The Virgin Mary – An Example for All Mothers

Mary is an interesting Biblical character. She is either set up on a pedestal or she is virtually ignored. Either one would be a mistake. The truth is, she is an amazing woman and when you take a look at her life, she has a lot to teach us.

Luke 1:26–38 NIV

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

That, of course, is the common passage about Mary and we generally read it at Christmas time. A deeper investigation would reveal that Mary was more than the biological mother of Jesus but she was an example mother for Christian moms (all people) today.

Mary’s Advice to Mom’s

I have 6 points that I want to share this morning from the example of Mary. Of course, I’m coloring this message in pinks and violets for the occasion, but these points aren’t just for the ladies. They are for all of us today (so, guys, pay attention!).

We Live in an Impure World, but Keep Yourself Pure

After being told that the Messiah was Jesus from Nazareth, the future disciple, Nathaniel, would say, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” It wasn’t just a rivalry between towns like Magnolia against Waller. It was based on the realities of Nazareth. Historians tell us, “Nazareth was at that time a town of perhaps about ten to twenty thousand inhabitants. It was therefore a busy town, but a small one, and as distances then counted, suffering the limitation of being far removed from Jerusalem. The perils of the town were undoubted. Careful investigation during recent years has shown that Nazareth was a hot-bed of corruption.”[2]

In John 8 it is possible that some of the Jews accuse Jesus of being an illegitimate child.

John 8:41 NIV

You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

It is hard to know. But it is no real stretch to imagine that Mary, coming from a corrupt town and becoming pregnant before marriage suffered from criticism, temptation, and personal pressure but she didn’t give in.

We are currently living in a corrupted world. I don’t need to give you all the statistics of wickedness that surround us. What we need to realize is that, like Mary, it is possible to hear

Luke 1:30 NIV

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.

Mom, in an impure world, keep yourself pure!

Stay Under the Influence of the Holy Spirit

This next point helps us to understand how we can have any success in a corrupted world. We have to stay under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:35 NIV

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Mary had some serious questions, “How can I, as a virgin, have a child?” The answer was the influence of the Holy Spirit.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to provide power for life and service, to establish the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, to provide an overflowing fullness of the Spirit and a deepened reverence for God. The Holy Spirit intensifies our consecration to God and our dedication to His work. As we stay under the influence of the Holy Spirit we have a greater active love for Christ, His Word, and for the lost.[3]

Mary’s response to the angel was beautiful,

Luke 1:38 NIV

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Find Friends to Support You

Immediately after the encounter with the angel, Mary goes to the home of a relative and friend.

Luke 1:39–41 NIV

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

What do you do with your precious secrets? Do you have a trusted friend? G. Campbell Morgan observes. “Imagine this maiden in Nazareth, with this awe-inspiring secret, tremendous in its significance, but which could by no means be explained to Nazareth. To recognize this is to understand why, for those first three months, she found refuge with someone else who knew something of the deep secrets of God.”[4]

Godly friendships offer some huge benefits… Here are a few

1. Accountability

Proverbs 27:6 NIV

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

2. Solid council

Proverbs 27:9 NIV

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

3. Help in Dark Seasons

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 NIV

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

4. Make You Better

Proverbs 27:17 NIV

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

5. Keep You Laughing

Proverbs 17:22 NIV

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Mary went to Elizabeth. Each of us need a friend who we can go to for encouragement and understanding in all the seasons of life.

Be Faithful to Train Your Children

You might think that Jesus came out of the womb reciting the 5 books of the Pentateuch. The reality is that Mary and Joseph raise Jesus as a little boy should have been raised. It was the role of the parents to train their children and teach them about God.

In Luke 2 we find Mary and Joseph circumcising their son and giving Him the name the angel had spoken. He didn’t come into the world with a power button to turn on and leave him alone. His parents were faithful to the Jewish requirement of circumcision. It identified him as a descendent of Abraham. Next, he is presented at the temple in Jerusalem.

Morgan summarizes the next 12 years of his life…

In sequence there follows the story of the visit of the Magi, the flight into Egypt, the return to Nazareth; and then we know how for twelve years her life was devoted to the nursing and training of that Child, the little one, in Hebrew language, the taph, learning His first lessons in Scripture from her teaching.”[5]

As a church we take seriously the children’s ministry and the 2 ½ hours that we get to train and encourage your children. We also understand that some families begin spiritual training of their kids by taking them to church but it shouldn’t stop there. Are you reinforcing the learning from church with your kids at home? Are you having family devotions? What are your kids watching on TV?

Be faithful to train your children!

Be Willing to Accept the Seasons of Life

Kids don’t come with manuals. And, family life doesn’t come with manuals. It is just about the time that you get caring for an infant figured out then they become toddlers…elementary school…middle school…high school…college/career…marriages…grandparenting…

At every transition it demands wisdom, flexibility, and faith. In the little bit that we know about Mary we see a glimpse of these transitions:

- At 12 Jesus identifies with His Heavenly Father

Luke 2:48–51 NIV

When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

Imagine trying to process this as a mother. Vs. 50 tells us that they didn’t understand but she was processing them (‘astonished’ and ‘treasured all these things in her heart’).

- 18 years later we are told of a wedding in Cana.

“When we see Him at Cana we realize that the relationship between them had changed. He was not subject to her now in any sense. It was here that she said to Him, “They have no wine”; and to understand Mary we must come to a recognition of her meaning in the light of what He Himself said to her in answer to her declaration. Addressing her tenderly as “Woman,” He said to her quite literally, “What is there to thee and to Me?” By which He evidently was reminding her that there were things which they had not in common.[6]

Emancipation. “Launch”. Certainly, Jesus had reached this point long before 30 but it is the first that we see it.

We can’t flatter ourselves and think that we have all the answers as transitions of life take place, but we do have to accept them and do the best that we can in the middle of them.

One Last Piece of Advice

I think Mary’s advice to mom’s today would include:

Keeping yourself pure in an impure world.

Staying under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Finding supportive friends.

Being faithful to train your children.

And, being willing to accept the seasons of life.

It is no wonder that Mary has been cherished for all these centuries. But, for us today, how in the world can we do all of these things? There is one more thing about Mary that we should observe…

As Jesus died, we saw Mary at the foot of the Cross. Imagine her emotional state. What would she do when her son is gone? How would she be accepted back in Nazareth? Does she decide to disappear? Nope!

Acts 1 tells us….

Acts 1:12–14 NIV

Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Mary remembered that 34 years ago an angelic visitor had said to her…“The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that which is born shall be called holy, the Son of God.” G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “Now again, that self-same Spirit came upon her, and He Who had formed in her womb the body of Jesus, now united her to Him for ever in spiritual life, and thus she came into the closest and final union with Him.”[7]

Moms, you can’t do it on your own. Mary couldn’t either. It is truly, “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord”. We are a people of the Spirit, let’s live by the Spirit!

[1]Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 284. [2]Excerpt From: G. Campbell Morgan. “The Great Physician.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-great-physician/id1624127162 [3] https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths#7 [4] Ibid: G. Campbell Morgan. [5] Ibid: G. Campbell Morgan. [6] Ibid: G. Campbell Morgan. [7] Ibid: G. Campbell Morgan.