Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Mother’s Day is a bittersweet day.

In the minds of many people there is no one in the world like their mother.

For most, mom is a very special person.

Others, however, have memories of mother that are not all that special.

Perhaps the relationship was strained for some reason or the other.

• For some, motherhood is an accident, and not always a welcome one.

• For some, biological motherhood isn’t possible.

• For some, mothers weren’t all that nice.

• For some, motherhood under the very best of circumstances is still less than a bed of roses and a primrose path.

As poet Wilhelm Busch’s said, “To become a mother is not so difficult; on the other hand, being a mother is very much so!”

So, we have to be careful as we approach the topic of motherhood.

Not all mothers deserve to be elevated to this special place of reverence and honor.

But, many do!

• Real Mothers are special people.

• Real mothers would like to be able to eat a whole candy bar, all by themselves, and drink a Coke without any “floaters” in it.

• Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably going to end up in the sandbox.

• Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

• Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn’t come out of shag carpets.

• Real Mothers sometimes ask “Why me?” and get their answer when a little voice says, “Because I love you best.”

Real mothers are an integral part of our lives.

We wouldn’t be who we are without our mothers, nor would we be here at all!

Some of the greatest people in history will tell you how important their mothers were to their lives.

George Washington, for example, declared: “All I am I owe to my mother”.

This was also true of one of the greatest men in Old Testament history, a man named Moses.

Moses became the kind of man he was because of the type of mother he had.

In fact, who he was, was very much determined by the type of mothers he had, because God gave Moses two mothers.

Both of the women who fulfilled the maternal role in the life of Moses made certain choices in regard to Moses that impacted the course of his life.

Their choices made Moses the man he became.

The old saying, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” was absolutely true in the life of Moses.

I want us to examine the choices made by the mothers of Moses.

Their choices have much to teach us about love, about life and about the legacy we leave our children.

I want to preach about The Man With Two Mothers.

Allow me to point out the choices these women made in the life of Moses.

I. THEY CHOSE TO GIVE MOSES LIFE

A. Consider The Choice Of Jochebed

Moses was born into a culture of death.

The context of Ex. 1:7–22.

According to the decree of Pharaoh, Moses should have been killed as soon as he was born.

Imagine the pregnancy.

Imagine the waiting, the expectancy, the wondering whether the baby would be a girl or a boy.

There were no ultrasounds to discover the sex of the baby.

They had to wait until the mother gave birth.

When she did, she gave birth to a “goodly” baby boy.

The word “goodly” has the idea of being “good, pleasant, agreeable, and happy.”

In other words, he was a lovely baby boy.

In his mother’s eyes, he was perfect, and she refused to kill him, but she chose life and hid her son.

His mother chose to disobey the command of Pharaoh.

She allowed her son to live.

By the way, both of Moses’ parents were involved in the decision to give him life.

Heb.

11:23 says, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.”

So, Amram, and Jochebed hid the growing baby for as long as they could, Ex. 2:2–4.

Of course others knew she was expecting.

How would she explain the fact that she was no longer pregnant?

How could she explain a pregnancy that had gone on that long?

How could she keep the existence of a growing, rambunctious baby boy from getting out?

Her faith in God would not allow her to murder her son.

But, her faith in God was so great that she was willing to trust God with the life of her son.

She could not kill the baby, and she could not secure his life either.

She made a little basket of reeds; applied pitch to it so that it would not leak, put her baby in it, and set him adrift on the providence of God.

The baby’s older sister stayed nearby to make sure nothing happened to the child.

Here was a mother who chose life for her child.

It would have been easier to take his life.

Death for baby Hebrew boys was the law of the land.

She could have destroyed her young son, but she chose to give him life instead!

B. Consider The Choice Of The Princess

In verses 5–6, the daughter of Pharaoh comes down to the river to bathe.

When she sees the floating ark, she sends her servants to investigate.

They bring her the basket, and she looks inside to find a crying baby boy.

Because he is circumcised she recognizes that he is a Hebrew baby, and immediately understands that his mother has chosen life over death for her child.

We are told that she “had compassion on him.”

The word “compassion” means “to spare, or to have pity on.”

In that instant, this princess had a choice.

She could obey the decree of her father and have the child killed.

After all, it would have been easy.

All she would have had to do was have one of her servants tip over the ark and the child would have drowned.

Or, she could choose life.

This pagan princess, born into a culture of death, chose life for a child who should have been killed.

Let’s face the facts today; we also live in a culture of death.

We live in a world where the most dangerous place for an unborn child is the place that should be the safest: its mother’s womb.

We live in a world where not every pregnant woman wants to be a mother.

We live in a culture that allows a woman to take away the life of their child.

Illustration: Consider the following statistics about abortion.

• In 2008 1.21 million abortions were performed in the USA.

• In 2009 26,123 abortions were performed in North Carolina.

Of these over 70% of those choosing abortions were women between the ages of 15 and 30.

75% of those choosing abortion were single women.

• On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

• In 2009, the average cost of a non-hospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks of gestation was $451.

• 50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17%.

• 47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion.

• There is much more to say about abortion.

The fact is, it is too easy in our world to do away with an unwanted child.

We live in a culture of death, and that cannot be denied!

• One of our governor signed an unborn victim’s legislation into law.

This law says that if an expectant mother is murdered and her unborn child also dies, the murderer will face two murder charges.

• We need to pray for our pro-life lawmakers, and pray that God will change the hearts of those who are pro-death.

If God can providentially touch the heart of a pagan princess and make her choose life for a Hebrew baby, He can touch the hearts of lost lawmakers and doctors and help destroy this culture of death in which we live.

Let me make two quick statements.

1. Thank God for every mother who chooses life for her child!