Necessary Roughness

Happy belated Mother’s Day to you all. My schedule and everyone’s health finally allowed all of us to go to church at Prince of Peace in Columbus, OH. I’ll take that as a bit of a present for the whole family.

Pastor Schroeder gave the sermon. I didn’t hit the record button quickly enough, so my notes join his message in progress:

Some holidays seem rather frivolous. As you know, February 2nd is Groundhog Day, and we look for Punxsutawney Phil. April 26th used to be called Secretaries’ Day, but it has been upgraded to Professional Administrators’ Day. For those who like to tell others what to do, you have your own special day: it’s October 16th, National Bosses’ Day. I looked at a website that indicates some of the special days and months in the year, and I’m going to share with you some of the more exciting things involved with the month of May.

Did you know that for the 49th consecutive year, May is being celebrated as National Bike Month? I seem to have missed it for the past 49 years, but we are in National Bike Month. We are to ride a bike for National Bike Month. April 29-May 7 was National Pet Week. The theme this year is Your Pet, One of the Family. If you don’t happen to have a pet, not to worry: you can go to the national pet web site and download your FREE virtual puppy or kitten. May 18th is International Museum Day. All Americans are urged to visit a museum or send a card. Now you can go to the International Museum Day web site and choose from a list of museums around the world. If you call the church office on Thursday, and I’m not in, perhaps I’ve got to Paris to visit The Louvre to celebrate International Museum Day. Last but not least, don’t forget that May 27-May 29 is Buckle Up America Week. Go to the official Buckle Up America website for lots of ideas on how you can participate in Buckle Up America Week. Also you will find, “useful information, activities, and quizzes” on buckling up.

Americans love to designate special days. Many of them appear to be rather frivolous, but that list does not include the special day we are celebrating today. Indeed as Christians we really would not need an Act of Congress to designate a day as Mother’s Day. For a higher authority than Congress, namely God Himself, demands us in his Holy Word, “Honor your mother.” Exodus 20:12 is the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land of the Lord your God is giving you.” “Honor your mother,” God says to you and me this Mother’s Day. Here are several very compelling reasons for doing so. You may wish to refer to the back of your bulletin where we have an outline of the message from this point on.

Why honor mothers? Here are several compelling reasons to do so. First is because God Himself honors mothers. In our society today, many people have a low opinion of motherhood. Being a mother is seen by many people as a burden, an unpleasant chore, an unfulfilling task. Young women are often given the impression that the only way they can find fulfillment is through a career outside the home. The Bible, on the other hand, very clearly exalts motherhood and honors mothers. The love of God, in scripture, is compared to the love of a mother. In Isaiah 66:13 we are told, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I, the Lord, comfort you, and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” So if you want to understand the love of God, then look at the love of a mother. That’s how God honors mother’s love.

There are numerous examples in scripture of godly and devout women, some of them we sang about in the hymn just a moment ago. There is for example Hannah, who dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord. There are Lois and Eunice, who are the grandmother and mother of Timothy, They are highly honored in scripture for teaching Timothy the scriptures and for bringing him up in the way of the Lord. There is the mother of Jesus Himself, who devoted her life to her son. In addition to those, there is the godly woman of Proverbs 31. She was such a godly individual that she prompted her husband to say, “Many women have done noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (v. 29-30). That is from the Word of God.

So you see, God established the family as the foundation of human society. God established motherhood as a cornerstone of that foundation. God has given mothers special and wonderful gifts for caring for, providing for their children and their families. God Himself highly honors mothers. Surely you and I should do the same.

Reasons for honoring Mom. The second is, because the Lord promises abundant blessings for those who honor mothers. The commandment says, “Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” To live long is very similar to the idiom that we sometimes use, which is “to live large” or “to live well.” The bottom line is that when we honor those whom God honors, we are blessed by them and by God.

Many stories could be told about people who reap tremendous blessings from their mothers. I’m sure you have examples from individuals you know or have heard about. Abraham Lincoln, John Newton, and Augustine. Abraham Lincoln throughout his life spoke about the tremendous blessings he received from his mother. One time he said, “I remember my mother’s prayers, and they have always followed me. They have clung to me throughout my life.” John Newton had been a wild and ungodly young man. He was taking a trip to America, sailing on a storm-tossed sea. He said, “I felt the pressure of my mother’s gentle hand upon my head again, and that, by God’s grace, thrust me back into the kingdom of God. There, on that ship, on that occasion, he wrote the hymn you and I know and love, the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” His mother’s love for him and his love for her translated into eternal blessings from the Father for him and for many people down through the years. There was Augustine. Augustine was a brilliant teacher of rhetoric. He was an unbeliever, and he led an openly sinful life. He had a godly mother by the name of Monica. Monica prayed for her son Augustine constantly; she prayed daily that he would come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ his savior. She was a devoted mother, and he was a devoted son, devoted to his mother. Eventually under Monica’s influence and by the grace of God, Augustine came to believe in Jesus Christ as his savior. He became, as you know, one of the greatest teachers in the history of the Christian church.

You see, the Lord’s promises are never empty words. They are faithful and true. Honor your mother, he says, and you will enjoy rich blessings from God and from her.

Here’s a third reason for honoring your mother: because your mother cared enough to bring you into the world. When faced with the challenges of bearing a child and caring for a child for many years, it seems as if the caring never ends. I was commenting about this in the 8:00 service, and I got a couple of chuckles because there were some people out there who knew exactly what I was talking about. Our children are in their twenties and yet for some reason they’re still co-signing leases and co-signing automobile loans. It seems that’s never going to end. When faced with the challenge of bearing a child and caring for a child for years on end, many women simply come to the conclusion that it’s not worth it, and it’s easier to take the life of a child. Consequently, last year in the United States, 23% of all pregnancies (that is almost 1 in 4 pregnancies) ended in abortion. 1.5 million conceived children never live to see the light of day. The fact that you are here today is a tribute to your mom. The fact that I am here today is a tribute to my mom. Honor your mother for choosing life.

One final reason why we ought to honor our mothers: once you were born your mother loved you to the utmost. I was having a conversation with a young man who was very angry with his mother at the time, and in anger he cried out, “What did she ever do for me anyway?” Well, those were the wrong words to ask me. I got right back in his face and said, “She has basically given you her life.” That is what I’d like to regard to my own mother, she gave her life to me. She gave up her professional career in order to stay home and care for us kids. She changed and washed over the course of many years how many thousands of diapers for five children. She brought us to Jesus in Holy Baptism and taught us how to pray to Him. She took me to dentists, doctors, ophthalmologists, and orthodontists. She taught me how to fry eggs and to flip pancakes so that when I went away I wouldn’t starve to death and that I would be able to provide for myself. She took me to basketball games, baseball games, track meets, and swimming meets, and she never, ever stops cheering for me. She took me out to the restaurant and taught me how to eat and how to carry on a conversation like a gentleman. My mother and I don’t always see eye to eye, but she I have no doubt that she poured her life into me. I can never repay the debt I owe her, but I will never cease to honor her for loving me to the utmost.

On this Mother’s Day, my brothers and sisters, honor your mother, as scripture says, because God Himself honors mothers. Because He promises abundant blessings for those who do. Because your mother cared enough to bring you into the world. Because once you were born she loved you to the utmost and she always will. Let’s take a moment to ask how we can do this. What are some ways we can carry out this command in practice in our daily life? Let me share three thoughts with you briefly.

The first is this: value her highly. The words “honor” and “value” are very closely related. If something has value to me, I treat it with honor; if something has no value I treat it with dishonor. I toss it in the trash. You see those guys out there on their driveway every Saturday week after week polishing and shining their car. That vehicle has value to them, so they’re treating it with honor. The same is true with people. If we treat a person poorly, the reason is because we do not value that person highly. Therefore the Bible teaches us to recognize the high value of mothers. Proverbs 31:10 says the wife, the mother, of noble character is worth far more than rubies. We would say today probably diamonds. The diamonds aren’t anything compared with the value of that wife or mother of noble character. Her value is not determined by how much money she brings into the home. Her value is not determined by the importance of her contribution to the eyes of society. Her value has been established by God, who has given her to be a precious blessing, a priceless treasure to her children, to her husband, and to her family. There are many blessings God gives us that you and I tend to undervalue. We just don’t appreciate them as we ought. Don’t let that be the case with your mother. Value her highly, and you will honor her accordingly.

Secondly, obey her willingly. These are words especially applicable to children, those who are directly under a parent’s supervision. St. Paul says in Ephesians, as Dave read a few moments ago, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord” (6:1). Honor your father and your mother. Yet you and I, the sinners that we are, often realize that obedience does not come naturally or easily. Mom says, “Clean your room, do the dishes, and do your homework”, and you say, “Sure, Mom, I’ll get right to it,” and just never get around to it. That is why we need to remember that to disobey our parents is to disobey God. To obey our parents is to obey the Lord. So kids, don’t just say you honor your Mom, obey her willingly.

Thirdly, love her completely. Being a mother is all about loving her children. It’s giving the best you can of yourself so they can grow, prosper, and flourish. The very best thing children can give to their mothers in return is to love them. Moms don’t need fancy flowers. They don’t need Hallmark cards, and they don’t need expensive gifts on Mother’s Day. They just want you to love them. Give yourself back to them in kindness, consideration, and caring. This Mother’s Day, those of us who have a mom, those of us who know a mom, those of us who are married to a mom, can make their lives better in the simplest possible way. Tell her how much it means that she loves you. Tell her that you love her too.

For me, on Mother’s Day, there’s one passage in the Bible that outshines all the others. That is the picture of our Lord Jesus on the cross reaching out to his mother. It’s a picture that is truly worth a thousand words. We see a perfect, sinless Son who honored and loved a woman who was a child of Adam and Eve. She was a sinner. The perfect Son was loving his imperfect mother.

For those who have been hurt by a mother who did not or could not love you as she ought, we surely learn from Jesus, love her anyway. We see here a perfect Savior who on that cross took the place and received the punishment of all of us who have been far from perfect sons and daughters. We see the grace of God that covers Mary and every other mother, mine included. We see the grace of God which is sufficient to blot out the failures of every son or daughter, including me. That is a picture that ought to move all of us to pray, “Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your amazing grace. Now, on this Mother’s Day and every day, touch my heart and fill my heart with Your love so that I may honor and love my mother that You gave me for better or for worse. May I honor and love my mother as You honor and love your own. Amen.”

Now may God go with each of us in joy in believing, that we may abound in hope through the power of God’s holy spirit. Amen.

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