Rev. David Holwick Q MOTHER'S DAY
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 9, 2010
Proverbs 6:20-24
SURPASSING SENTIMENTALITY
I. Mother's Day sermons are hard.
A. Most pastors struggle with this one.
1) One pastor did a random survey of other preachers in his
town, both young and old. (Joe McKeever)
a) None of them had a clue as to what they would preach
on Mother's Day - and it was just two days away!
b) After you've done the "Bible principles on motherhood"
sermon, what do you do next?
2) Liturgical churches like Episcopalians don't have a problem.
a) Mother's Day is not an official holiday for them, just
a Hallmark Holiday, so they can ignore it.
b) But if you are Baptist, your job is on the line.
1> If you don't preach a nice sermon on moms, you get
fired.
2> I am a Baptist...
B. Emotional minefields. #7075
1) First of all, I am a man.
a) What do I know about motherhood?
2) Motherhood is not a slam-dunk.
a) Some women are mothers but never intended to be.
b) Other women wanted to be mothers, but couldn't.
3) Not every mom did a great job at it. Some were horrible.
4) Death can color your perception of Mother's Day.
a) Your mom may have died recently.
b) Or, you are a mom and this day makes you remember a
child you have lost.
C. A bigger problem is that Mother's Day can be too trite.
1) It is often just sentimentality and cheap trinkets.
2) Dr. R. Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Seminary,
says it has gotten so bad that Mother's Day has become
a bad idea. (He must have tenure.) #35848
3) One women's blog site gives this advice to preachers - just
preach what God puts on your heart.
a) It doesn't have to be mom-oriented.
b) It just has to be true to God's Word.
II. What mothers want.
A. Gifts can be nice.
When friends ask her what she wants for Mother's Day,
Caryn Rivadeneira says she wants a second wife to do the
cleaning and childrearing, and do it right.
If she can't have that, how about a day AWAY from her kids
and husband.
#32011
B. Most moms want to do it right.
1) I think every mom dreams of having kids who grow up to be
well-balanced and moral and contented and fulfilled.
a) They don't have to be perfect, but good.
2) If you are a Christian mom, you should want something else.
a) You want children who grow up to love Jesus with all
their hearts.
b) Children who don't just believe a few religious facts,
but who find their inner strength and moral
foundation in God.
C. The reality always seems to fall short.
1) Being a mom is hard work and it rarely works out the way
you dreamed it would.
2) Sometimes it is an outright disaster.
Torry Ann Hansen was a deeply frustrated mom.
She had high hopes when she adopted a young boy from
Russia.
It didn't work out too well - she shipped him back, all
alone, with a one-way ticket.
Some have dubbed her the World's Worst Mother.
Some of you may be thinking, "I wonder if Russia would take
MY kids..."
3) Even with its frustrations, there are still many blessings,
and almost all moms are blessed by having kids.
III. Mother's Day has roots in serious stuff.
A. Consider the origins of America's Mother's Day.
1) Back in 1858, Anna Jarvis (Sr) organized an early version of
Mother's Day to protest the lack of sanitation in rural
Appalachia - she called it "Mother's Work Day."
Presumably they were not taken out to the Cracker Barrel
Restaurant afterwards.
2) Later, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote "The Battle Hymn of the
Republic," campaigned for a Mother's Day that focused
on world peace.
3) When Anna Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, also named Anna,
vowed to honor her mother's political activism by
creating a national Mother's Day.
President Wilson made it official in 1914.
4) All of these women believed that the moral superiority of
females was grounded in the experience of motherhood.
B. Mother's Day should be about more than sentimentalism.
1) Christian motherhood is really about courage and faith.
2) Consider a few tough moms in the Bible:
a) Jochebed, the mother of Moses, put her baby in a floating
ark of bulrushes, defying the order of Pharaoh that
all Hebrew male children be put to death.
b) Rachel, mother to Joseph and Benjamin, died giving birth
to Benjamin.
c) Hannah promised her son to God, and presented Samuel as
a young boy for service in the House of the Lord.
d) Mary, the mother of Jesus, risked shame and disgrace to
bear the Savior.
She provides all Christians with a model of brave and
unflinching obedience.
She was there when Jesus Christ was crucified.
As Simeon had told her just after the birth of Christ,
"Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and
rising of many in Israel,
and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will
pierce through your own soul also),
so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
Luke 2:34-35
#35848
IV. How do you stack up as a Bible mom?
A. Motherhood has more expectations for Christians. Prov 6:20-24
1) The mothers we should honor are those who raise children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
2) They teach their kids the deeper truths of the Bible.
3) They raise them with godly discipline and order in the home,
4) They are aware of the currents in the secular world and
teach their kids to defy the spirit of the age.
5) They honor their marriages and live faithfully,
6) They honor their God, and have a genuine personal spiritual
relationship with Jesus.
B. You need to be committed for the long haul.
Charles Colson tells a story about one mother whose devotion
shaped not only her son's life but countless others, as well.
Her name was Monica.
A Christian, she was married to a prominent man who wasn't a
believer.
He cheated on her and even beat her at times.
Monica's response was to go to church every day and pray for his
conversion.
She hoped that by setting a godly example, even in the midst of
her mistreatment, she might win him over.
And that's exactly what happened.
The suffering and anguish caused by her husband paled beside
what Monica's oldest son put her through.
He lived a wild life, devoted to pleasure.
He left one mistress and took up with another.
His only son was born out-of-wedlock.
His lack of faith and rejection of Christian truth hurt Monica
even more.
He ridiculed her beliefs and seemed to go out of his way to
embrace competing philosophies.
Later in life he recalled how his mother wept over his lack
of faith.
Still, Monica never gave up.
The greatest preacher in the area was aware of her spiritual
concern and told her that "it is impossible that the son of
so many tears should perish."
That preacher, Bishop Ambrose of Milan, was right.
At the age of 35, Monica's son, Augustine, became a Christian
and was baptized, along with his son, by Ambrose in A.D. 387.
A few months later, on the way home with Augustine and her
grandson, Monica fell ill and died.
Monica's zeal for the salvation of her son had an impact far
beyond anything she could have imagined.
Her concern was not only that her son give up his wild living,
as important as that was.
She was also determined that he embrace the truth of
Christianity.
She prayed that he would renounce false worldviews and put
his sharp mind to the service of Christian truth.
And that's exactly what he did.
Much of what Christians believe today was first articulated by
Monica's son, Augustine.
His writings are considered classics, not only of the Christian
faith, but also of all of Western culture and civilization.
#31101
1) Do your children believe?
2) Do they honor Jesus in their lives?
3) Do your kids know what the Bible says to the world's lies?
#31101
V. Motherhood will have its reward.
A. It just might not be what you think it is.
Back in May 2002 a mother in Uniondale, New York, watched
as a gold Mercedes-Benz sports sedan was delivered
to her driveway.
She was thrilled, knowing it was a surprise Mother's Day
gift.
But it had been delivered to the wrong house.
A short time later, she was arrested for resisting police
officers' as they attempted to get the car back for its
rightful owner. #17208
B. It can be more.
1) Mother's Day is one of the biggest phone call, greeting card
and restaurant days of the year - but that's not enough.
2) The greatest reward should be hearing God tell you,
"Well done, good and faithful servant!"
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 7075 "Don’t Get Too Sentimental About Motherhood," Illustrations by
E-mail, May 9, 1999; Roddy Chestnut Collection.
#17208 "It's Mine, It's Mine!" Newsday, May 16, 2002.
#31101 "The 'Son of So Many Tears': A Christian Mother's Story," by
Charles Colson, BreakPoint Commentary, May 12, 2006.
#32011 "Mother’s Day Doesn't Have To Be Light And Fluffy," by Caryn
Rivadeneira, <http://themommyrevolution.wordpress.com~
/2009/05/08/mothers-day-part-2/>, May 8, 2009.
#35848 "Why Mother’s Day Is A Bad Idea," by Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.,
President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
<http://www.albertmohler.com>, May 11, 2009. I incorporated
many of Mohler’s ideas and material in this sermon.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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