Happy Mother's Day from a Grateful Child

SETUP

John 16:21 (NKJV): 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

SERMON TEXT

Luke 2:48–52

48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased* in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

I have often considered the responses of Joseph and Mary to the news of the birth of Jesus. Joseph’s response: Matthew 1:20 (NET): When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.... Mary’s response: Luke 1:38 (NET): So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.

(*kept increasing)

Theological Lexicon of the New Testament προκοπή, προκόπτω

προκοπή, προκόπτω

prokopē, progress; prokoptō, to progress, advance

Lexham Theological Wordbook χάρις

χάρις (charis). n. fem. grace, good will, favor. Conveys the sense of a gift of kindness and favor given to a person or persons.

This noun is related to the verb χαρίζομαι (charizomai), which conveys the general concept of giving generously or forgiving a debt or a wrong. The noun charis can identify charm or the quality of being delightful in the eyes of others (e.g., Luke 1:52). At times it describes an act that is characterized as kind or generous (e.g., 2 Cor 8:6, 19). Sometimes this term highlights the undeserved nature of the gift of salvation, given not because of the righteousness of the recipient but because of God’s gracious kindness in Christ (e.g., Eph 2:8). The blessing of salvation is given freely.

I’LL ALWAYS LOVE MY MAMA!

She was my rescuer: Jochebed-Exodus 2:1–4

1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

She was my first teacher and protector: Deuteronomy 31:6

6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

She demanded me to be responsible: John 2:1–5

1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine. 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” She was the first woman I loved

Famous mothers

Karl Bonhoeffer was born on 31 March 1868 in Neresheim, Württemberg, the son of Friedrich von Bonhoeffer (1828–1907), presiding judge in Ulm, and his wife Julie, née Tafel (1842–1936). He studied medicine at the universities of Tübingen, Berlin and Munich; in 1892 he obtained his doctorate supervised by Paul Grützner. After working as a physician for several years, he became director of the Breslau psychiatric hospital and also habilitated at the Breslau University, under Carl Wernicke, in 1897. In 1898, Bonhoeffer married Paula von Hase (1876–1951), a granddaughter of Protestant theologian Karl Hase (1800–1890). Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer had eight children, whom they educated at home:

In 1826, Sojourner Truth (circa 1797—1883) and her baby daughter escaped slavery in Ulster County, New York. Soon after her escape, she heard that her 5-year-old son, Peter, was illegally sold to a man in Alabama. Truth raised money for a lawyer, filed a complaint in court, and successfully got Peter out of slavery—a landmark case in which a black woman successfully sued a white man in court. Truth went on to become a Christian preacher in New York City and toured the northeast, speaking about the Bible, abolition, and women’s suffrage.

Dr. Dana Suskind, a widowed mother of three, is a pediatric surgeon at the University of Chicago who founded the Thirty Million Words Initiative to encourage parents to talk frequently to their babies. Based on her research, she focuses on educating parents on the importance that speaking and interacting in the first three years of a child’s life has on that child's brain growth and development.

The youngest of Nancy Edison’s seven kids was Thomas Alva Edison. Although some stories about his mother’s virtues were most likely exaggerated, we do know that rather than give up on his education, Nancy Edison decided to homeschool her son after his teacher deemed him "addled" (i.e. mentally ill or incompetent). Edison, who may just have been dyslexic in a time before that learning disorder was studied or understood, said of her: “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

Mary Kay Ash (1918—2001) was 45 years old when she founded Mary Kay Cosmetics in 1963, and it has since become a billion-dollar cosmetics company. As a single mom, she was working in sales at a home products company to support her three children, but she was repeatedly passed over for promotions, despite her being one of the top sales directors. Ash took those skills with her when she launched her namesake company, and she worked to give hundreds of thousands of women the opportunity to work as sales consultants on their own time, effectively becoming their own bosses.

It was not their intention to be famous. It was their desire that their children succeed.

Increase & Favor

Mom doesn't get in the way!

Mother’s demand increase from the children and those who can help them:

1 Samuel 1:9–11 (NASB): Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 And she, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy maidservant and remember me, and not forget Thy maidservant, but wilt give Thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

Mom makes sure you don't get overlooked

Genesis 27:5–8 (NET): Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you!

Mother’s Day

The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1907, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia.[10] St Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.[11] Her campaign to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. She and another peace activist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe had been urging for the creation of a Mother’s Day dedicated to peace. 40 years before it became an official holiday, Ward Howe had made her Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870, which called upon mothers of all nationalities to band together to promote the “amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”[12] Anna Jarvis wanted to honor this and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world".

Owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday,[15] with some of them officially recognizing Mother's Day as a local holiday[16] (the first being West Virginia, Jarvis' home state, in 1910). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother's Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother's Day and that the emphasis of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit.

As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother's Day, and threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved.[18] Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude, instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards.