Mothers Day 2001
Today is Mothers
Day
This is the day
when we try to focus on why ANYONE would want to be a mother!
I strongly
believe that “The Joy of Motherhood” is what a woman experiences when all the
children are finally in bed.
MOTHERHOOD
IS NOT FOR WIMPS!
I know that the
most common word heard around our house is “MOMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!”
I have often
wondered about the special bond that a woman has with her child.
She carried this
baby inside her body for 9, very long, months.
This is guy’s
can’t grasp -- We have no frame of
reference for this.
Today, Mother’s
Day, I think we need to look at three mother’s in the Bible and try to figure
out what message God is trying to send us through them.
1.
Genesis
18:11-14, “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and
Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown
old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the LORD said to
Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since
I am old?' "Is anything too hard
for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time
of life, and Sarah shall have a son."(NKJ)
Prayer
Sarah was 90
years old (Abraham 100).
She had been barren all these years
She had become very discouraged
Sarah had wanted
children all her life, but had given up hope.
To
her this news sounded to good to be true
She simply could
not believe that she could have a baby at this age
and
what kind of dad would Abraham be at 100 years old?
Sarah
doubted that God was able.
The whole idea
was so outlandish that she laughed to herself about it.
You know what? GOD HEARD HER LAUGH!
We cannot hide
even our innermost thoughts from Him!!
In about 9
months Sarah came to know the REALITY of God’s Holy Word
THERE WAS NO
DOUBT THEN!
God’s
Devine Promise is more powerful than our human logic.
I think the main
message of Sarah is faith and patience.
We need to
have the faith to believe that God will do what He say’s He will do and the
patience to wait for His timing in doing it.
The story of
Sarah got me thinking about older women and their place in the church and in
pour lives. You precious ladies have a
very powerful ministry to the younger mothers of your church family and your
neighborhood.
I found a little
poem that I think expresses this ideal very nicely:
Our children
are grown.
Is our life’s
purpose over?
Is our
usefulness gone?
No, my
daughter’s, look in Titus,
See what Paul
has to say
AS he writes
his “faith son”
For to teach
God’s true way.
Older women
must be there
To train the
young wives
How to really
love their husbands
How to touch
their children’s lives
You are God’s
appointed teachers
And must
train the younger ones
To live
quietly, be clean minded,
To spend time
keeping their homes.
You are God’s
teachers of goodness
And
fulfilling such a roll
Calls for
each one to be Holy
With a quiet
respectful soul
If you’ll
take Paul’s admonition
And make
God’s way your desire,
You’ll be
useful to His Kingdom
And He won’t
let you retire!
(by Linn
Richter, May 1997 Home Life Magazine)
Praise God for
Saintly Ladies of Experience!
2.
Luke 1:41 -
“And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe
leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (NKJ)
Elizabeth was
the mother of John the Baptist
She was about
six months along when Mary, Christ’s mother, visited her.
When Mary spoke
a simple greeting to Elizabeth the unborn baby John “leaped in her womb”!
This is a pretty
pentacostal thing for a baptist to do!
This was a 6
month old unborn so it was very likely that the mother had felt little Johnnie
move before
BUT
THIS WAS DIFFERENT
The baby leapt
as if it were trying to tell it’s mother something.
HE WAS
Even in the womb
John the Baptist was trying to proclaim the coming Messiah.
He was telling
his mom that they were in the very presence of God Almighty!
Have you ever
been in such close proximity to the Living God THAT YOU
LEAPT?
So close to His
Glory that your face shined like Moses?
Or perhaps more
of us stay so far away that we are too weak to leap.
Even in the womb
both of these babies belonged to God.
You know, when
God blesses us with a little baby it is really only a “LOANER”
“What
do you mean preacher?…..I PAID for that thing!! IT”S MINE!”
No, He only
gives them to us for a short time, to teach them, to care for them and to love
them.
They, as we all
do, belong to Him.
I would like to
share a story with you. It is a story
of Jesus asking women if they would be mothers.
“I’ll lend
you, for a little time, a child of mine,” He said,
“For you to
love while she lives and mourn when she’s dead.
It may be six
or seven years, or twenty two or three,
But will you,
till I call her back, take care of her for me?
She’ll bring
her charms to gladden you, and shall her stay be brief,
You’ll have
her lovely memories as solace for your grief”
“I cannot
promise she will stay, since all from earth return,
But there are
lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked
the wide world over in my search for teacher’s true,
And from the
throngs that crown life’s lanes I have selected you.”
“Now will you
give her all your love, nor think the labor vain,
nor hate Me
when I come to call, to take her back again?”
I fancied
that I heard them say: “Dear Lord, Thy Will be done!
For all the
joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter
her with tenderness, we’ll love her while we may,
And for the
happiness we’ve known, forever grateful stay;
But shall the
angels call for her much sooner than we’ve planned
We’ll brave
the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.”
(by Edgar A.
Guest)
3.
I picture God
having this very discussion with Mary before He planted His seed inside her
virgin body.
Could Mary have
known how much of an impact this small baby would have on the world?
Could
she have known the heartaches?
Can any mother?
Could Mary have
known that she would one day see her Firstborn hanging from a tree?
John
19:25-27 - “Now there stood by
the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of
Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus
therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said
to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And
from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (NKJ)
Mary’s firstborn
Son was hanging from a Roman Cross.
He
was beaten and bloody.
He was fully exposed to the crowd.
Mothers, how do
you react when there is a spear shoved in your son’s side and blood and water
gush out?
How painful and
agonizing this day must have been for Mary.
The very effort
it must have taken Him to just get the words out concerning His mother was
immense. How painful these words must
have been, both for Him to say and for her to hear.
Mary’s husband
Joseph had passed away by this time and it is very likely that Jesus had been
taking care of her; had been her only support.
Now, with Jesus
dying, how would Mary live?
Even at the
point of His death, Jesus was very concerned about the care and welfare of His
mother.
God makes a
way. God provides for those He loves.
Even when He is dying for the sins of ALL CREATION He is concerned about His mother.
How many of us
today tend to forget to call or write our mother’s simply because we are “too
busy” or “something came up”?
That
is not God’s way.
Jesus
provided for His mother the best way He could
with a Kingdom Kind of Love
through
John, the beloved.
Here are two
people grieving over their loss.
Looking for direction
Seeking comfort and
peace
Jesus places
them together to care and comfort one another.
GOD IS GOOD
Think of the
trust Jesus had in John
He trusted his mothers are in his
hands
John stayed in
Jerusalem with Mary until she passed away
He
obeyed God until his mission was complete.
Jesus
died on that cross FOR Mary.
He died on that
Roman Tree of death and was gloriously resurrected so that, through Him, All CREATION might be saved.
No other mother
has suffers so much.
No other mother has been so richly
blessed
Let’s look at
the book of Mark to see what happened when Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother
Mary went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with oils.
Mark 16:5-6 –
“And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe
sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where
they laid Him.(NKJ)
Can you image
the joy Mary must have felt then?
My Son isn’t
dead!!
All the things He told me were true
and this is real!!
I bet Mary was
shouting the Victory!
Victory in Jesus
Glory to God in the
Highest!!
This should be
our joy also.
The sacrifice
for our sins has been made!
The debt has been paid!!
We can step out of death and into the
light of eternal life!!
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!!!
No greater gift
has any son ever given to His mother that everlasting life
No greater gift
can we receive.
This is a free
gift that we cannot work for.
When Jesus comes
to us, when He calls us to turn away from the world and come to Him, we have
but two choices:
We can choose
the narrow gate that leads to eternal life or the wide smooth road that leads
to eternal damnation.
You have a choice today
Which will it be?
Yes or No? Heaven or Hell
I ask you the
same question Pilate asked the crowds at the trial of our Lord before He was
crucified:
What shall I do with this one
called Jesus?
What will you do with this
Jesus?