Mother’s Day
May 10, 2020 6PM

Mother’s Day is hard this year. If you are like me, your Mom is far away right now. For some, they have lost their mother in years past. Or likewise lost children of their own. For others, they never knew their mother, or never had a relationship with her that they would celebrate. For some Mother’s Day is hard because the one thing they want most in the world is to be a mother, and for one reason or another have not realized that dream. For a lucky few, their mother is here and well and a part of their daily lives.

There is nobody on this earth that will be the same to you as Mom. Mom knows you better than anyone else, and loves you no matter what. For most, Mom helped you become the person that you are, and has held you up all along the way – even when you did not know it. My own mom is in California in the house where I grew up, and I miss her terribly. I have not been able to see her for nearly 3 years, and even then it was to visit her in the hospital. But let me tell you a little about my mom – despite the crazy child that I was as I described last week, my mom never gave up on me. She was the first one to tell me that I would be a pastor one day. When I had the shoulder surgery I spoke of last Sunday morning, she got on a plane and came to take care of me. When I am so wound up and stressed that nobody can calm me down, if I call Mom, she has a way that nobody can ever match.

I see the qualities I so value in my mother in my wife, but from a different perspective. I see how she loves my girls – how she hurts with them, rejoices with them, and walks beside them in everything – again, whether they know it or not. I see her personify the love that I feel for my girls in a way that I am simply not capable of matching – she too has that way that nobody can match.

Most Mother’s Day sermons focus on all the greatness around motherhood – which is a wonderful thing. But as I mentioned earlier, motherhood does not bring positive feelings for everyone.

As it happens, throughout the Bible there are a variety of women who experienced the struggles of a mother first-hand. Sometimes these are the stories we need to engage to find a place where many ladies (and men as well) can relate. Sometimes when moms can identify with these biblical figures through their own struggles, it can begin to open the door for reconciliation – in whatever form that takes, with either their own mothers or children – when they can begin to look at their issues from another point of view.

Here are some examples of some biblical women who understand the adversities of motherhood:

Eve – the very first mother, who saw the affects of her own decisions so affect her children. To have lost both of her sons – one at the hands of the other, and the other to a life separated from her. What didn’t Eve lose?

Sarah – who believed she would never have a child, suffered into old age before realizing God’s promise

Rebekah – The wife of Isaac who struggled with her own favoritism of Jacob over his brother Esau

Jochebed – A caring and loving mother who had to give up her son Moses to save him

These stories show us that relationships between mothers and their children are not going to be perfect, and that it is ok if they aren’t. We can see examples in each of these how God is at work in each relationship. It is hard enough for each of us to take care of ourselves sometimes, yet when we take the responsibility to raise, protect, teach, and support our own children it can often become overwhelming. Our great assurance is that as we have made mistakes along the way, and I assure you we have, both as parents and as children, God is at work redeeming those errors and accidents for all of us.

One mother that I did not mention is the “elephant in the room” – Mary the mother of Jesus. Honestly, I could likely write a whole lesson on Mary and I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone. It can be very easy to speak about her response to her pregnancy and the challenges therein, but I do not want to miss the very real and all-too-human experiences she had as the mother of God’s Son. As it happens there are many verses that speak to the relationship between mother and Son:

• Her relationship with Jesus and her trust in God’s promise encouraged her to turn to Him during the wedding mishap in Cana (John 2:1-11)
• As Jesus begins challenging the status quo by doing things like healing on the Sabbath (mk. 3:1-6) his family goes to get him as they are concerned for him, and it’s Mary who shows up with Jesus’ brothers to bring him home (Mk. 3:31)
• She watches her son be tortured and crucified (Jn. 19:25-27) and in that moment we see her grief mingle with a lack of understanding of God’s plan.

Mary shows firsthand that motherhood was never intended for the weak. She also provides us with what is really the most important lesson we can know about motherhood and parenthood in general – that our need to trust God and His plan is more important than anything we can want or wish for our children – even though we will likely never understand that plan until we see His face.

Mothers have value – value far beyond what we can see here. The Bible is clear about what Mom offers:

Deut. 6:6-7 – “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Prov. 31:26 - “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

God offers promises to mothers and children alike:

Ps. 139:13-14 – “For you formed my inward parts; you knotted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it well.”

Isaiah 66:13 – “As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Prov. 31:28-29 – “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.’”

“You surpass them all.” What a message. When was the last time you made your mother feel that way, valued that way. I don’t mean this as a guilt trip, but rather as a spur to send you to honor the woman who loves you and sacrificed her body, her time, and part of herself for your sake.

Today, we collectively say “Thank you Mommy! Many have done well, but you surpass them all!”