Mothers Day 2022 Sermon
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While we love celebrating Mother’s Day, for some people it can be a difficult time. There may be mothers-in-waiting in the audience—women who have experienced infertility or miscarriages or who are still praying for God to bless them with a godly husband and family. Some may be grieving the loss of a mother or a child. And some may be feeling as if they’re failing at motherhood altogether.
The film Hook is a story about a grown-up, burned-out Peter Pan whose children have been kidnapped by his old archenemy, Captain Hook. Near the end of the film, Peter has Hook right in his sights and is about to take his revenge, but his daughter, Maggie, stays his hand, saying that the captain is “just a mean ol’ man without a mommy.” Maggie’s words echo a theme found throughout every Peter Pan story—that somehow all the heartache in the world can be fixed by a mother’s love.
In the weeks leading up to the second Sunday of May, we’re surrounded by flowery cards filled with sappy sentiments about how wonderful our mothers are. SO this morning I want to look at some things that mothers are and if I can presume this morning, to imagine what some mothers may be feeling and experiencing.
In church, we’re often pointed to the example of “the Proverbs 31 woman,”
An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
This woman gets up early, stays up late, and somehow manages to perfectly balance self- care, motherhood, and a career. This mother has it going on, and ladies let me tell you….you’ve got it going on. I was talking to someone the other day and they were asking me about all the things that I do at work and at church and in the community, and they asked if I had a secret to keeping everything organized and remembering everything. I told them absolutely yes, but it’s not something you can duplicate….her name is Dana, she’s my wife and you can’t have her.
Ladies, and mothers in particular. Let me speak for all of the men and say that we are in awe of all that you do every single day for your families, for your spouses, for the church. You do SO much work each and every day, not asking for thanks, but just seeking to take what is in existence, and make it the best that it can be.
But let’s be honest, no matter what things look like on the outside, there’s often a different feeling beneath the surface. Ladies, how many of you feel like you consistently have to all together and meet that bar of the Proverbs 31 woman?
So how then should we view ourselves, and more importantly, how does God view ladies who perhaps don’t have it all figured out? What is his heart toward the mothers who are praying for children who have walked away from the faith? Does he hear the moms who are grieving children taken from life too soon, or the women who long to be mothers but whose time has not yet come? The answer: he sees them as his daughters, and he loves them just as much as the mothers who—externally at least—appear to have it all together.
As we look through Scripture, we find examples of mothers who are exalted: Mary the mother of Jesus,
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
and Timothy’s mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5).
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
We also find examples of mothers with struggles: Sarah and Elizabeth, mothers who longed for children well into their golden years before their prayers were answered (see Genesis 21; Luke 1). We see stories of mothers celebrating, grieving, and doing whatever they can to keep their children alive in the midst of tyrannical decrees and famine (see Exodus 1:1–2:10; 1 Kings 17).
When we turn to the book of Ruth, we find a family (and a nation) in crisis. Not only was there a famine affecting the entire region, but the people of Israel had forgotten God and the work he did for Israel when he brought them out of Egypt into the land of promise (Judges 2:10).
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
While we don’t know much about Naomi’s family before their move to Moab, it’s safe to assume she did her best to care for them. But when she went with her husband in search of food, she didn’t just leave her hometown—she left her community and any relationships that meant something in her life. In the following ten years, Naomi would meet grief after grief as the family she’d spent her life nurturing slipped through her fingers, one after another. Before we reach the end of the first chapter, we find Naomi with her widowed and childless daughters-in-law, scavenging for food in a field owned by another man (v. 6).
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
And then there was Hannah: a woman who was daily reminded that she’d failed to live up to her society’s belief that a woman’s sole purpose was to bear and raise children—particularly, sons. Family dynamics aside, instead of finding compassion from someone who was privy to her innermost grief, she was mocked (1 Samuel 1:6).
And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
Instead of finding support from her husband, she was made to feel guilty for not being content (v. 8).
And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
And instead of finding understanding when she entered the house of the Lord, she was accused of living a life of sin (vv. 12–14).
As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
In sharing these stories, God doesn’t just give us examples of mistakes to avoid or disasters to prepare for; rather, he uses them to show that he cares for mothers, no matter how frantic, frazzled, embittered, or desperate they seem. And in showing his care, he invites the rest of us to come alongside these struggling women to help lighten their burdens and release them from unnecessary or unwarranted shame.
Consider this: While some might look at Naomi’s family fleeing Israel during the famine as a lack of faith, Ruth would never have made her bold confession (Ruth 1:16–18)
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
if she hadn’t witnessed examples of their faith in some way during her brief marriage. Nor would she have trusted in Naomi’s God if she hadn’t seen evidence of him at work in Naomi’s life before and after the death of Naomi’s husband and sons.
Also consider: Although Hannah was deemed a failed, sinful woman by her culture’s standards, her faith in God never wavered. Instead, she allowed him to use her grief to draw her into a deeper place of trust, one where she could entrust the life of her long-prayed-for son to his safekeeping. And when she brought three-year-old Samuel before the Lord, she brought a boy who had witnessed his mother’s faith and who shared her passion for the Lord a hundredfold (1 Samuel 1:24–28).
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
And he worshiped the Lord there.
In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul told husbands to make it a priority to show their love to their wives. If you’re a married man, look for areas where your wife is struggling to find balance in her life, and find ways to support her. Offer to take the kids and give her some time to care of herself. Encourage her to pursue creative endeavors that bring her joy. Pray for her, that she will see herself as God sees her: precious and beloved and worth sacrificing everything for (Ephesians 5:25).
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Kids and teens, remember that even though Jesus was by all rights superior to Mary and Joseph, he still trusted them and did as they asked of him. He did this because of his love for his heavenly Father and because of his love for them (Luke 2:48–51). How can you honor your mom today, as Jesus did with Mary?
And finally, as the apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:12–16,
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
as members of the body of Christ, it is our privilege and responsibility to support the women in our lives as mothers and as sisters in Christ. If you know of a mother (or a mother-in- waiting) who is struggling, look for ways you can befriend her in a supportive manner rather than simply offering kind words and promises of prayer (or criticism!). When we become known for our care and our support of those in our midst, we become a safe place where others can come to share their needs and ask for help.