Thoughts for Mother's Day

Today is Mother’s Day, and all across our country thousands and thousands of mothers are receiving a highly-deserved day of recognition and appreciation. I think Mother’s Day is an especially important day to celebrate because of the concerted effort of our culture to diminish motherhood. The radical feminists equate motherhood with legalized slavery. If you think that is an overstatement or even a misrepresentation of their position, then you haven’t read the novel The Color Purple or listened to Renee Zellwegger recently, because that is a word for word quote of hers from August of 2009. Now, I realize that many women in our culture don’t go that far; but generally speaking, our culture’s attitude toward motherhood is that to have as your life’s ambition the bearing, nurturing, and successful raising of children is an unfortunate squandering of your real potential as a woman. In the movie 101 Dalmations, the villain Cruella DeVille, upon hearing that the aspiring fashion designer Anita would leave her fashion house if she got married utters this line: “Marriage. More good women have been lost to marriage than war, famine, and disaster combined.” That is the attitude our mother’s are up against today, so when we have an opportunity to elevate motherhood and honor it, we need to take full advantage of it.

The gift of choice to give to Mothers is flowers. How many of you ladies received flowers sometime this weekend? As I was growing up, my Dad always got my Mom an orchid for Mother’s Day, and in church we always gave flowers to the Mothers (the oldest, youngest, most children, newest, etc). I would imagine that Mother’s Day is second only to Valentine’s Day for the florists in our country. Have you ever thought about why we give flowers at Mother’s Day? Well, in addition to the general truth that women love flowers, I believe flowers are the perfect gift for a mother because of the similarities between them. When you think of the qualities flowers are known for, you immediately think of beauty, delicacy, and fragrance. And isn’t that a pretty good description of a mother? So in keeping with the image of flowers for the Mothers on Mother’s Day, I have some flowers I’d like to present to each mother here today. These aren’t real flowers, but I’d like you to imagine them as such, and by the time we are finished this morning you will each have a nice bouquet of flowers to take home with you and keep for all time.

First of all, I’d like to present each Mother here with the Rose of Resilience. Let’s turn in our Bibles to 2 Cor. 4:7. When I think of a mother, this is perhaps the first character quality that comes to my mind. Mother’s are resilient. Mother’s have the ability to spring back into shape after anything life throws at them. Why is it that a woman can go through the physical trauma of childbirth and be on her feet and back on the job in a couple of days? Why is it that a woman can raise children, manage a household, hold a family to a budget, and administrate a family calendar? It is because of this quality of resilience. In this passage we are going to read, the Apostle Paul is speaking of his personal experience but I think it could equally well be a life verse for every mom. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels [there is no career as significant as motherhood], that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves [you will never be the mom you need to be on your own ability]; 8 [now doesn’t this sound like the life of a mom?] we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Motherhood is no easy task, and the ability to bend without breaking and to take a hard hit and get right back up and keep on going is part of what being a mother is all about. So for all you mothers, this morning I give you the rose of resilience. Nurture it and display it prominently.

Next, I’d like to give you the Pansy of Patience. Can you think of a quality more descriptive of a mother than patience? It’s hard for me to come up with one. From the first moment a woman feels the stirring in her womb and realizes she is carrying a new life, she has to demonstrate patience. She patiently endures nine months of fetal development. And then comes the next period of patiently nurturing that infant. Those are trying months. Endless feedings, diaper changings, baths, spit-ups, sleepless nights, ear infections – I can remember the relief I used to feel at being able to go off to work every morning! That is because it takes patience to be mother. And it is curious to me that I have never read of a baby dying of shaken baby syndrome where the perpetrator was the mother of the baby! Why is that? Because of patience.

In Gal. 5:22 we see that one of the Fruits of the Spirit is patience. That means that patience is a sign of being under the influence of the Spirit of God. It is a proof of being a child of God. So for the mothers here this morning I give you the pansy of patience for your Mother’s Day Bouquet. And again, it is something to display prominently and nurture as well.

The next flower I’d like to add to your bouquet is the Sunflower of Stability. Have you ever wondered why there are so many more single mothers than there are single dads? I’m sure that part of it is the biological connection between the mother and baby, but probably just as strong is her maternal drive to provide stability for her children. Part of being a mother is a desire to provide her children with a center. Somewhere a child can anchor his life. Something they can count on not to change from day to day. It can be as simple as mom always being at the end of the driveway when the bus drops off the children, to mom always being there when advice is needed, to mom always being there when we need a shoulder to cry on. Mothers bring stability to their family.

This quality of stability is something that the Apostle Paul prays for the Corinthian believers to develop in their lives in 1 Cor. 15:58. As we read it together, I want to change just one word, the word “brethren.” I want to change it to “mothers.” “Therefore, my beloved mothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” I can’t think of a better prayer for our mothers than that God would grant them the ability to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.

The next flower I’d like you to add to your bouquet is the Flax of Forgiveness. Being a mother is just asking to have your heart broken. If you want a life free of heartbreak, by all means, please stay away from motherhood. When I think of this truth, I think of the Angel talking to Mary in Luke 2. He had told her she was going to be the mother of Jesus, and then he told her that her child, Jesus, was “appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, [and then he makes this statement that is so indicative of motherhood] and a sword will pierce even your own soul. As I explained to the class several Sunday night’s ago, the word for sword the angel was using referred to a huge, two-handed broadsword. The only other place this kind of sword is used in the NT is in the book of Revelation, and that is to describe the devastation and death that comes with the rider on the pale horse. The point the angel was making to Mary is that her motherhood was going to be a heart-breaking experience.

I doubt that there isn’t a mother here who has not been deeply hurt by the motherhood experience. If you haven’t, just wait. One of the problems of living in a sinful world is that it isn’t uncommon for that child you have invested your life in, and sacrificed tremendously for to defy all you have poured into him and pursue a life course that will not only bring him pain you grief. How are you going to handle your son coming home from college and announcing to you that he is gay? What is your response going to be when your 16 year old daughter tells you she is pregnant?

One of the things a mother has to get good at is forgiveness. Not forgiveness in the sense of overlooking or excusing the wrong behavior, but forgiveness in the sense that Jesus used it when He was being crucified and looked on the perpetrators of His agony and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was not excusing their sin. He was not exonerating them from the consequences of their actions. They had not repented and asked Him for forgiveness – He was simply declaring that their actions had not created an irreparable breach in the relationship. He still loved them. He still cared for them. He still desired a relationship with them. And that is the beauty of forgiveness. I broke my mother’s heart repeatedly as I was growing up, but last night on the phone as we were chatting away, you’d never know the pain I caused her. Why is that? Because of the quality of forgiveness.

The final flower I’d like to give each mother this morning is the Pansy of Prayer. I’ve saved the most significant flower for last because prayer is the mother’s most potent attribute. As a mother there may be many things you can’t do. You may not be as efficient as you’d like to be, or as tidy as you’d like to be, or as accomplished as you’d like to be. Multi-tasking may not be one of you strong points and household administration may be as foreign to you as Feng shui. But there is one thing you can do that will more than make up for any gaps in your mothering ability, and that is that you can be a prayer warrior for you children. In fact, prayer is so important that if you were the most accomplished Super-mom in the world but weren’t a prayer
warrior for your children, you’d be a failure when it comes to the important qualities of motherhood!

In James 5, we read this amazing promise about prayer. “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” Do you really grasp what James is saying? He is telling us that prayer can actually alter the natural order! That is pretty potent. Let me draw your attention to another passage on prayer that gives great hope to the mother. In Luke 18 we read a story Jesus told to illustrate an important principle of prayer. Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. 3 "And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' 4 "And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.'" 6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; 7 now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night?”

There is a sense in which it is right for us to “bother” God, and that is with prayer. Do you suppose God has ever said to himself, “I am going to answer this mother’s prayer, lest by her continually coming she wear me out?” One of my precious memories of my high school years is how my mother spent her Saturdays. Not only was that her day to catch up on everything that had been put aside for the week, that was also her day to pray and fast for her son Murray. I can say with absolute certainty that I am where I am today because of a praying mother. Mothers, let me challenge you to be an intercessory prayer warrior for your children.

It isn’t easy to be a mother in today’s culture, but with resilience, stability, patience, forgiveness and mostly prayer, you can be everything God expects you to be.
Let us close in prayer. Our Father, we come before you this morning full of gratitude for our Mothers. When we think of them our thoughts usually turn to great character traits like sacrifice, servanthood, generosity and compassion. Thank you for gracing us with their presence. We acknowledge that our mothers have left an indelible imprint on our lives, and we publicly thank you for them.

At the same time we want to lift them up to you in prayer because we know their job is not an easy one. Our culture diminishes motherhood in many ways, some blatant but many others much more subtle. Because of this we ask that you would richly bless these moms standing before us this morning. May they sense your strong hand sustaining them through the tedious times, may they know reality of your presence during the heart-breaking times, and may they fully appreciate the magnitude of their role in life.

We ask that they would not grow weary in their role, that they would find You to be their greatest source of strength, and that You would minister to each one in a very special way. Thank you for their impact and may it continue to be strong and godly. Amen.