Mother's Day The Constant Lord Deuteronomy 6 2007

WHAT MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
My mother taught me RELIGION: When I spilled grape juice on the carpet, she instructed, "You better pray the stain will come out of the carpet."
My mother taught me LOGIC: From her decisive words, "Because I said so, that’s why."
My mother taught me FORESIGHT: "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY: "Keep laughing, and I’ll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about STAMINA: "You’ll sit there ’til all that spinach is finished."
My mother taught me about WEATHER: "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room."
My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: "Stop acting like your father!"
My mother taught me about ENVY: "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have a wonderful Mom like you do!"

The Meanest Mother

We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.

She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work.

…We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs.

I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds.

Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn’t let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other’s property, or ever arrested for any crime.

It was all her fault.

We never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other things, other kids did.

Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that’s what is wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms anymore. (Unknown)

It is a day to be thankful for Christian homes and for the moth­ers whose work and prayers have made them.

John Killinger illustrates the con­stant love of a mother in his book Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise:

"I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary I believe in the love Mary gave her Son, that caused her to follow Him in His ministry and stand by His Cross as He died.

"And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is a mother who lets this greater love flow through her to her child, bless­ing the world with the tenderness of her touch and the tears of her joy."1

WHY is it so HARD to preach a Mother’s Day message?

BECAUSE … While Mother’s Day can be a very happy, joyous day … it can also be a very sad day … a day of pain & grief.

Not everybody looks forward to Mother’s Day.
o Maybe you have recently lost your mother … and you are experiencing the pain of your loss.
o Maybe you have lost a child … and your heart grieves on Mother’s Day.
o Maybe you are having difficulties with your Mother … your Mother wasn’t the IDEAL Mother we like to preach about … and you have bad memories of your Mother.
o Maybe you have some guilt feelings about your motherhood … and you have children problems … or marriage problems.
o Maybe you were never able to have children … and Mother’s Day isn’t a joyous occasion for you.
o Maybe you are a single Mom … and are struggling with being a good Mother to your children.

As I look at the mothers in today's service, I am reminded that, although there are some things that are constant-- things do change. What has changed about you?

Some of you have become grandmothers and great grandmothers.

Change is not always bad. I'm sure you feel you can do without some change.

A.W. Tozer:   “Approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is now speaking…God’s speaking is in the continuous present…a word of God once spoken continues to be spoken, as a child once born continues to be alive, or a world once created continues to exist.  And those are imperfect illustrations, for children die and worlds burn out, but the word of our God endureth forever!”

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

 In today's text, life is about to change for Israel….They were getting ready to enter the Promised Land…… Israel's years of wandering in the desert were finally over. Things were going to be different and full of new possibilities (6:3b). Events were changing.

Those whom Moses led to the Promised Land were different too.

 They were a different generation from those whom God made to walk the desert. And I imagine Moses was different. He was a little older and a little grayer.

 Through change, Israel is reminded of the things that remain constant.

* Israel's constants are our constants today.

No matter what change you or I experience, three things will not change.

God Is One Lord

One thing that never changes is the sovereignty of God (v.4)>>>”Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”

6:4. This verse has been called the Shema, from the Hebrew word translated Hear.. The verse means that the Lord (Yahweh) is totally unique. He alone is God.

The Israelites could therefore have a sense of security that was totally impossible for their polytheistic neighbors.

Moses knows that as Israel enters

the Promise Land, they will en­counter many gods and that they will have many opportunities to worship them.

This creed is a reminder that God- above them all.

Another thing that sadly never changes is the influence of other gods in our lives.

 It is a reality that Jesus warns us of in Matthew 6:24. You cannot serve God and money, for example. But there are other gods besides money that vie for your devotion.

·         Good times and financial security are the gods of others.

·         There are vast numbers of gods with whom you and I come into contact

The ques­tion is whether you will make God the Lord of your life, trusting Him with every aspect of that life.

Commitment

Another thing that does not change is the need for your personal com­mitment (v.5).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”

To Israel, God is not only a Sovereign, but the Lord whose affection inspires devotion and commitment.

 It is a relationship not un­like a family.

The intimacy ex­pressed in Moses' use of "love" shows a relationship of mutual love and respect.

In the New Testament, John express­es the same idea, "We love Him be­cause He first loved us" (1 John. 4: 19).

Where is our commitment?

"A business man and a minister were traveling by plane in a terrible storm. The minister overheard the businessman pray, 'Lord, if you will get me safe­ly through this, I will give You half of everything I own.'

"When the plane landed safely, the minister encouraged the busi­nessman to fulfill his promise to God. The man replied, 'Preacher, I made the Lord an even better deal. I told Him that if He ever caught me on a plane again, I'd give Him everything I own."'

 How often do your commitments to God resemble "Let's Make a Deal"?

Your devotion and commitment to God are not something to be taken lightly or bartered for.

Godly Parents and Christian Homes

Another constant is the need for godly parents and Christian homes.

Þ    Preparing Israel for the coming changes, Moses talks about the fami­ly.

6:6-9. God’s people were responsible to meditate on these commandments, to keep them in their hearts.

This enabled them to understand the Law and to apply it correctly.

Then the parents were in a position to impress them on their children’s hearts also.

The moral and biblical education of the children was accomplished best not in a formal teaching period each day but when the parents,

out of concern for their own lives as well as their children’s, made God and His Word the natural topic of a conversation which might occur anywhere and anytime during the day (v. 7).

Parents are to know God, his in­struction(s) and his laws (v.6). “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”

That is part of their responsibility.

Many parents, however, are functionally il­literate with respect to the Bible.

 Is it any wonder that our children are growing up without any moral direction or conscience?

Þ    The biggest threat for youth today is not sexual promiscuity, or drug addiction, or peer pressure.

Þ    The biggest threat for youth today is their lack of knowledge of the Bible, the result of parents at home who do not them­selves know God.

A study once disclosed that if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 72 percent of their children remain faithful in attendance. If only Dad attends regularly, 55 percent remain faithful. If only Mom attends regularly, 15 percent remain faithful. If neither attend regularly, only 6 percent remain faithful.

·        He says that in American culture today most young adults following Jesus Christ either come from non-Christian homes where they were converted to Christ in their teenage years through a dynamic youth ministry, or they come from homes where they grew up in love with Jesus because mom and dad were so in love with Jesus that love permeated their lives. It passed through their pores.

·         Very few believers come from homes where there was a kind of indifferent, apathetic commitment to Christ.

   This is not my idea. This is the result of this study. It is sobering and thought provoking to suggest that, in American culture, the chances are better for a child growing up in a non-Christian home to become a Christian than for a child growing up in a home that has an indifferent, apathetic commitment to Jesus Christ.

Þ     

Parents Are Responsible

Parents not only are responsible for being godly people, they also are responsible for teaching their chil­dren what they know about God(v.7). : “you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house…”

Þ    It is not the church's responsibili­ty to indoctrinate children.

Þ    The church supports the family.

Þ    Parents who drop off their children for their weekly dose of religion are irrespon­sible.

Þ    Godly parents participate in their children's religious instruction.

In verse 7, your example starts in the home and follows you wherever you go.

 ("And you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way.")

Þ    Your witness for Christ should be the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning.

Þ    lt should be the last thing you think of before you go to sleep.

("And when you lie down, and when you rise up.")

Conclusion

On Mother's Day, you and I cele­brate everything that is constant with mothers- But we also celebrate three other things that never change:

1.   The sover­eignty of God,

2.   Our commitment to him,

3.   The need for Godly parents and Christian homes.