Mother's Day

[00:00:00] Thank you for that blessing that you're sending me with this morning. I'm excited to go back to Nepal. I remember so clearly when Luke and I were there in the village, and we looked out across the mountains and saw those other villages, and thought about the lostness and the darkness there. [00:00:41] And it seemed like the Lord just laid on my heart a burden for that. I appreciate the way you as a congregation have picked up on that. Now that young couple is out ministering in those areas and we hear of what has happened in Rabinda's life and the village there. It's just a challenge to me. Just praise the Lord. I had to think this morning of motherhood. [00:01:17] I had to think, Sheldon and Ellen called this morning. And they're being mom and dad to a baby this weekend. One of the nannies, one of her children was sick and had to go to the hospital, and so they're taking care of the other one. And I thought, you know, there are some little children who probably will never know the love of their natural mother. [00:01:55] They may never know who their natural mother is. They didn't have a say in the matter. They didn't have any choice whatsoever in what happened in their situation. And I had to think about motherhood a bit. We think of motherhood as a blessing, as something to be desired, something worthwhile, something meaningful. [00:02:35] And that's right. That's good. We're thinking properly. But for a lot of people in our world, motherhood is something to be avoided. Something that maybe happens in your life that you don't want, that you would reject and get rid of if possible. [00:03:09] So, if you had the choice today, and you could go back, and you could choose what mother you would have, who would you choose? That's kind of an interesting question, isn't it? Would you like to have Hannah for your mother? Would you like to have Jochebed? For your mother, I think God knew what he was doing when he didn't give us the opportunity to make those choices. [00:03:51] But I think it's important for us to recognize the opportunities and the power that motherhood has in life. If I was to give you today a hundred million dollars, don't worry, it's not going to happen. If I was to hand you a hundred million dollars cash, what would you do with that? [00:04:26] Would you just start throwing it around and just throwing it in the wind and letting it blow away? And, you know, you'd have it sticking out of your pockets and you'd walk through town and people would grab it out? I don't think so. I think every one of you would do your best to guard that with your life. You'd say, man, that's the biggest treasure that I ever had, and I am going to take care of that. [00:05:04] Now, you know, you might not do so well with it, but your intention would be, I am going to invest this money, I'm going to take care of it, I'm going to use it to the best of my ability for things that will glorify God and benefit His kingdom. You know why? How many of you here would sell one of your children for a hundred million? I don't think so. There's no price. [00:05:37] There's no nothing that you would take today. Well, some days there might be. But not today you wouldn't. Nothing that you would take for one of your children. They're a treasure that's valuable, worth more than the whole world. One soul, we say that, one soul is worth more than the whole world, than all the treasures. [00:06:13] Are you anxious to hand off the responsibility? For that child, to hand off the treasure, the opportunity. Somebody said, behind every great man is a great mother. There's a lot of truth to that. A lot of truth to that. Men, not every great man has had a great mother, but many men have been motivated to greatness by the encouragement and blessing of their mother. [00:06:44] Exodus chapter 20, one of the Ten Commandments, God says, honor your father and your mother. That's a command, direct command from God. Honor your father and your mother. And you know what? He never says in there, if. If. There's no conditions put there. It doesn't say if your mother is the best mother you could have, honor her. If your dad never made a mistake, honor him. He doesn't say that. He just says straight out, honor your father and your mother. [00:07:22] And so I think it's good that we do that. In Proverbs, Solomon says, the eye that despiseth father and mother, the ravens shall pluck it out. So it's a matter of great importance to God. I just want us to notice just quickly several qualities, and by the way, I'm sorry I haven't had opportunity to get this fixed. [00:07:52] I'm not doing PowerPoint again this morning, but I just want us to notice real quickly this morning several mothers and some qualities that I think are worthwhile that show what influence and what power a mother can have in a child's life. I already mentioned Jochebed, the mother of Moses. I don't know how it would feel. I can't imagine. Obviously, I don't have a mother's heart. [00:08:24] But I can't imagine how it would feel to take your child down to the river, Put him in a basket and go home. Leave his sister there to watch and see what would happen. Most likely because she herself couldn't bear the thought of what might happen to her child. She chose to obey God rather than the king. It was more important for her to do what God had told her to do [00:09:01] than it was to listen to the King's commandment at the point of life itself. Is it any wonder that Moses, when he came to years, Refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God for a season than to enjoy all the treasures of Egypt. [00:09:34] What a powerful testimony to the life of a mother in the life of a child. I think of that often when I look at the life of Moses. And I think there was that father and that mother that had decided they were going to obey God. It didn't matter what it cost them. They were going to obey God. Would your child raising experience be better if you got paid to do it? [00:10:10] She did. She got paid to be the nurse to her own child. Did that make it easier? Did that make a better experience? No, but I think one thing it did do, it increased her awareness of the responsibility and the opportunity that she had. She was limited, and she knew it. Secondly, I want us to notice Hannah, the mother of Samuel. [00:10:41] And I think she represents to me one of the greatest opportunities and one of the most important responsibilities of motherhood, and that is a praying mother. In 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 26 and 27 it says, or 27 and 28 says this, There came a man of God, I'm sorry I'm in chapter 2, chapter 1 verse 27, [00:11:14] For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshipped the Lord there. I see Hannah as a praying mother, and I believe that a praying mother carries a great weight in the life of a family. Mothers can influence in a lot of ways. [00:11:46] They can do a lot of things. They are involved quite directly in their children's lives. But there's an, we might call it an indirect way that they're involved that's even more important than all the day-to-day things. And that's the matter of praying. Would you rather, if you had the choice, have a mother who was a praying mother or a mother who made a lot of money and was able to give you everything that you wanted? [00:12:25] I think the answer is obvious. Every one of us would choose a praying mother. A mother who was concerned about time and eternity. A mother who was concerned about the awesome future that her children represent. And so I challenge each of you as mothers, especially those of you this morning who dedicated your children to the Lord, I challenge you to be praying mothers. [00:12:58] Pray, pray, pray. Now, I know a mother can't go off by herself for hours at a time, but you know what? You can pray as you go. You know, as you're washing the clothes, as you're doing the dishes, as you're, you know, rocking the baby, whatever, you can pray. And pray blessing upon your children, upon their future. There were two mothers that came to Solomon over in 1 Kings chapter 3. [00:13:31] They were harlots, prostitutes. They hadn't probably intended to be mothers. But I noticed something very interesting between those two women. Even though they were both harlots, even though they both came and you wouldn't have detected a difference between them on the surface, there was something very interesting. Because one of those women was totally self-centered. [00:14:06] She was totally interested in her life and herself. And the other woman was totally into the life of her child. And I find that interesting. Her heart was one of compassion. Her heart was one of care for her child. You remember the story, the two women came to Solomon and the one said, You know, we were sleeping last night and this lady rolled over on the baby and it died. [00:14:39] And she took my baby. Now, how do you figure it out? How do you sort it out? And Solomon said, bring me a sword. I'll cut the baby in half, we'll give them each half. And the one mother said, fine, that'll work. And the other one said, no, no, no, you give the baby to her. What a challenge, what a representation of the heart of a mother in selfless, compassionate care for her child. [00:15:16] I want what's best for my child. Forget about me. Let my heart be ripped to pieces. I want what's best for my child. And I think there's a challenge there for all of you as mothers, for us as fathers as well. Is our life all about us, what we want, what we intend to do, what we're doing, or is our life about our children, about others? [00:15:50] Another woman that I had to think about, and these, obviously, these are some mothers that we would choose not to have. You know, if we were choosing today, none of us would say, I want my mother to be one of those harlots that came before Solomon. There's another woman that we'd obviously not choose, Jezebel. 1 Kings 18, chapter 18 through 21. What do you think about when you think about Jezebel? Well, you think about an awesome mother? You think about a mother that birthed a king? Do you think about a mother that changed the course of history for good? No. [00:16:36] You know, you think about a wicked, plotting woman who was only interested in herself, had no concern for truth and right whatsoever. You know, you remember how Naboth had a vineyard that Ahab wanted and he wouldn't sell it to him and Ahab was pouting with his face to the wall and Jezebel came in and said, What's the matter with you? And he said, Oh, I want that vineyard. She said, You'll have it. And he had it within a few days. She had Naboth killed. [00:17:10] Obviously, that's not the kind of woman that we would want for a mother. In 2 Kings 4, we have the Shunammite woman. The one that was so interested in the prophet. And I had to think, the representation that I see from her life is the fact that she sought the will of God from the man of God. Whenever she had opportunity. And through that she trusted God. You know, mothers, there's something that can give you a rest and a peace of mind in all the turmoil, in all the situations that come your way with your children. [00:17:56] And that is the fact that God cares even more than you do. God loves your child. God loves you even more than it's possible for you to love. And He is doing everything within His power. We do all within our power to teach and to train and to encourage our children to do the right. But God's doing everything in His power. And his power is a lot bigger than ours. [00:18:28] And so I'd like to challenge you with that. This Shunammite woman was a woman who didn't understand everything, but she wanted to know the will of God, and she wanted to do the will of God, and she wanted to bless God. And she did. She was concerned for the needs of others. You know, I just say this, this morning as a tribute to my mother-in-law. I never heard her complain, ever, in all the time that she was busy ministering to so many people. [00:19:12] She was always concerned for the needs of others, and I remember her for that. And I'm blessed by it. There's one mother that a lot of people think of often. And they, in fact, a lot of people pray to this mother because they think that she must have special access to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's Mary. [00:19:42] In John chapter 19, verse 25, there's a little phrase there that I find very interesting. It says, there stood by the cross His mother. Jesus was hanging on the cross, and there was His mother standing by the cross. Could she do anything? No, not really. But she was there. And I think that's one of the things that we often remember, especially as we get older [00:20:15] That's one of the things we remember about our mother She was just always there It didn't matter what we found ourselves in It didn't matter what kind of circumstances came our way Our mother was there for us And I'd like to challenge you as mothers with that this morning Be there for your children, no matter what choices they make, no matter what mistakes they make, no matter what successes they have, be there, always there, especially in their time of need. [00:20:55] We could think about more mothers, but I'm not going to take a lot of more time here this morning. Think about John the Baptist's mother, Elizabeth, a woman that worshipped God and feared God, a real challenge to all of us. We think about Timothy, his mother Lois, his grandmother Eunice, women of faith that lived in difficult circumstances. There's fulfillment in motherhood. [00:21:26] I feel sorry for those women in our world today who think that their fulfillment is in avoiding motherhood. Motherhood has a fulfillment that's beyond what most any other thing can offer. I'd like to challenge you as mothers this morning not to lose sight of the eternal value that you hold in your hands In the middle of all the diaper changing and all the everyday things that go with it, you have opportunity beyond measure. [00:22:07] You have treasure that is invaluable. You cannot put a price to it. But I'd also like to encourage you that proper motherhood or growing in motherhood isn't all intuitive. You know, it's not like the birds where they automatically know how to care for their young. There's things to learn. And one of the things that you can do as a young mother is to seek counsel from older mothers. [00:22:40] Titus, Paul writes to in Titus chapter 2 verses 3 through 5 and he says, The aged women should teach the younger women about being keepers at home. How to care for their children, how to love their husband, and so on. And so it's good for you to seek counsel and to learn what God would have for you in this whole area of motherhood. I'd like to just close with this question this morning. [00:23:14] Are you valuing the treasure that God has given to you with the value that he places on it? And are you treating it accordingly? Let's stand together for prayer. Our Father, we thank you this morning for our mothers. Some of them have gone on and are with you. [00:23:48] Lord, we thank you for the example that they've been to us. We thank you for their prayers. We thank you for their concerns for eternal values and for truth and righteousness. We thank you, Lord, for those women who you've pictured to us throughout your word Lord, who represented so well the virtues and the beauty and the excellence of motherhood And Lord, I pray for our mothers here this morning [00:24:22] Lord, it's so easy in the everyday things, the washing and the diapers and the dishes and all the household things It's so easy to lose sight of the eternal value, the infinite worth that you've placed within our care, giving us opportunity to direct, to challenge, and to train. [00:24:54] And Father, I just pray that you help each of us as parents to understand, to see clearly our opportunities, to use them well. We thank you again and we pray a special blessing, Lord, upon each of our mothers, each of those mothers here this morning. Lord, we pray that you bless each one with wisdom, direction, the guidance of your Holy Spirit. [00:25:24] We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.