Spiritual Motherhood

Happy Mother’s Day!

We are a strong family church and we always make it a point to honor our mothers. Mothers are given to us by the Lord and last year I preached that God is the complete personification of love. He is called our Father, in many ways He displayed the strength of His unconditional, reckless and pursuing love as a Father, but there is a side of God’s love, which is the nurturing, protective and selfless that He had generously showered on our mothers.

Ephesians 6:1–3 ESV

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Ephesians 5:

We honor moms because everyone of us in this room was born to one and we are commanded to honor them.

We honor moms because everyone of us in this room was born to one and we are commanded to honor them.

We talked about how great men in history were shaped by great mothers:

We talked about how great men in history were shaped by great mothers:

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I attribute all my success in my life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her." - George Washington

"I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” - Abraham Lincoln

“If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.” - Booker T. Washington

“Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.” - George Eliot

“All I have ever accomplished, I owe to my mother” - Dwight L. Moody

“Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Truly our mothers leave a unique impact in our lives.

Proverbs 31:27–31 ESV

27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:27-

This is a beautiful passage of scripture about godly wives and moms, we use this passage to honor you, but it can be the most intimidating passage to all women.

Most women recoil when they are told that they are a woman. I have not found any of our ladies that I talk to admit that she is a .

They will say lays down a qualification and standard that is too high to meet. The woman described here does not sound like a normal mother but more a creature from outer space.

Dr. David Jeremiah said this:

“The more I have studied this passage and the more I have observed the modern Christian mother, the more comfortable I become. In many respects, modern mothers have greater challenges and greater responsibilities that the woman could ever have known.” - Dr. David Jeremiah

Then he gives this anecdote about the modern day’s mother day routine which makes the like a day off:

“You work every night until 11 pm vacuuming, dusting, wiping , washing drying loading, unloading, shopping, cooking, driving, ironing sweeping, picking up, changing sheets, changing diapers, bathing, helping with homework, paying bills, budgeting, clipping coupons, folding clothes, putting to bed, dragging out of bed, brushing, chasing, feeding them,, basketball, football, slides, nature walks, coloring, crafts, jumping rope, breaking, trimming, planting, edging, mowing gardening,edging, feeding the dog, getting up at 5:30 am you don’t have time to eat, sleep, drink or go to the bathroom … and you still manage to gain 10 pounds, isn’t that true?”

Kidding aside, this is the modern-day version of the woman and Solomon in the wisdom that God gave him wrote these words to honor you moms!

We honor our moms and would-be moms. Let me submit to you today that every woman can be a spiritual mother to someone.

We honor our moms and would-be moms. Let me submit to you today that every woman can be a spiritual mother to someone.

There is power in the nurturing love of every woman that can leave a lasting legacy of faith in someone’s life.

You have the potential to birth great men and women of God by your influence in their lives.

In the Bible, when you read a godly person saying that woman is like a mother to me. That person pertains to the kind of spiritual influence that woman has left in his life.

In the Bible, when you read a godly person saying that woman is like a mother to me. That person pertains to the kind of spiritual influence that woman has left in his life.

You may know a lot about the apostle Paul, but you probably don’t know about the woman that he honored as being like a mother to him.

The book of Romans is a book in the Bible that we know is foundational to Christian faith and doctrine. But if we are not careful, we may miss some important detail that can in many ways add to the richness of our faith.

is the last chapter of this majestic book. Before the apostle Paul ended his book, he gave his own personal greetings and he was careful to make sure he gave everyone his personal greetings individually. You would see that the church is one big family and Paul mentioned 33 individuals by name. Some of them are prominent like Priscila and Aquila in verse 3..

Romans 16:3–4 ESV

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.

Romans 16:3 ESV

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

There is a remarkable greeting St. Paul gave to someone which we would otherwise easily miss..in verse 13

Romans 16:13 ESV

13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

Romans 16:13

Some people believe that this woman, Rufus’ mother although not mentioned by name, I don’t know perhaps the Apostle Paul forgot — had left an amazing spiritual imprint in the Life of the Apostle Paul. That though she was referenced anonymously here, her impact as being a spiritual mother paid dividends in the life of Paul, his ministry and throughout eternity.

This will make more sense if we knew who Rufus was.

Mark 15:21 ESV

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

Rufus was mentioned by Mark as one of the sons of Simon of Cirene. You know Simon as the one who helped carry the cross of Jesus. He was from Cirene or modern-day Libya. And interestingly enough, Mark mentioned the names Alexander and Rufus, most likely because at the time of Mark’s writing they were prominent Christians known to the Roman audience who Mark was writing the gospel to.

Rufus was mentioned by Mark as one ofof Simon of Cirene

Alexander and Rufus perhaps were young children or perhaps not even born when their father Simon, helped Jesus carry that beam of the cross to Calvary.

We all know that Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”. We are called to take up our cross as followers of Jesus,,

But there is only one human being to have ever carried Jesus’ literal cross, and that was Simon of Cirene.

Many believe that that day in Simon’s life became a turning point. That he was blessed because he became a close witness to the testimony of Jesus’ suffering that he himself became a follower of Jesus and that secondly, God also blessed him because he was instrumental in helping Jesus carry the cross to complete the mission of dying for the sins of the whole world.

When he came home to his wife, he told her of his life-changing experience and his wife became a believer too..

She was the mother of Rufus, and the faith was passed down to her children that they became prominent Christians worth mentioning in the gospel of Mark.

Now why did Paul mention her as being like a mother to him?

You see the apostle Paul was not a good person when he was converted.. he was a persecutor of the church, a murderer.. he even called himself the chief of sinners.

From his conversion, it took him twelve years of preparation before he started the work of ministry.

Perhaps it was in those twelve spiritual formative years that Paul encountered the wife of Simon of Cyrene, the mother of Rufus.

Gave him the glimpse of the account of the suffering of Jesus from her husband.

Perhaps at the beginning of those twelve years, Paul was struggling in the matter of forgiveness of himself. Perhaps the mother of Rufus, the wife of Cyrene told him of the story of Jesus, while here husband carried the cross for Him weak and dying from all the beatings he received, still every step of the way loved those who made him suffer, and on the cross: “He uttered those words

The great apostle of grace who understood the profound significance of grace that he knew in spite of his sinful past, the grace of God was able to make him clean and a brand new person that God even gave him spiritual authority to rebuke the sinner in the church.

We know for sure that the Apostle Paul for the most part received a direct revelation on God’s grace from the Lord Jesus Himself. But his mentioning of Rufus’ mother, as being a mother to him indicates that she left a profound and lasting impact in his life.

Now we know him as the great apostle who wrote 2/3 of the New Testament, the greatest evangelist and teacher of the grace of God.. martyred for his faith

I have spiritual mothers in my life even in this church..

Today, if there is someone who is like a mother to you, thank her..

I want to encourage all the women, that you have the opportunity and God blessed you with the natural gifts of inner strength, peace and nurture that you can be a spiritual mother perhaps to the next Abraham Lincoln, the next Billy Graham or even the next apostle Paul, who will be used mightily in the days ahead “to preach the gospel as a testimony to all nations, before the Lord Jesus Christ comes again”.

Lord, we thank you for your word and its power.

Through the divine inspiration of and an otherwise neglected final greeting in the book of Romans, you have reminded us of the power you gave mothers and all women for that matter to leave a lasting legacy to both physical and spiritual offsprings. I pray for all the women of this church, may you grant them the opportunity to produce great spiritual offsprings and may they find true fulfillment in them. Again we thank You for the gifts of moms. It is in Your Name we pray, Amen!