On Mother’s Day a young mother awoke to find her two
children climbing all over her. They
said: “Happy Mother's Day, stay in bed
mom, we're going to make breakfast.”
She lay there in disbelief, amazed at this rare moment of
thoughtfulness. Soon the smell of
cooking bacon caught her senses. Then
she heard her children calling her downstairs.
Arriving in the kitchen, she found them sitting at the table, each with
a large plate of bacon and eggs. Looking
up and seeing her they yelled out: “Happy
Mother’s Day, we made our own breakfast.”
Renowned author and preacher Tony Campolo said that when
their children were little, his wife Peggy was a full-time stay-at-home
mom. On occasion, someone would say to
her, "Your husband is such a
talented speaker what is it that you do dear?" She would respond, "I am socializing two Homo sapiens into the
dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition in order that they might be
instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of
eschatological utopia that God willed from the beginning of creation."
Then Peggy would ask the person, "And what do you do?"
A mother writes: “My 5-year-old son accompanied me to my
ultrasound appointment when I was 11 weeks pregnant. As the technician pointed out the shape of
the developing baby to my son, she kept referring to the position of the
fetus. After some thought my son asked,
"If that's where the feet is, where's the rest of the baby?"
In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation
creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor
mothers. We honor mothers and
motherhood to show we love, value and appreciate them and that they are special
in our lives: single and married mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers,
step mothers, adoptive mothers, and foster mothers. Today we both honor the
memory and legacy of mother’s who have died and give thanks for living mothers who devote their lives to
their family, to their work, to their church or synagogue, to their community
and especially to their children. We
thank mothers serving in the military and mothers of military men and
women.
We acknowledge that this can be a difficult day for mothers
who have experienced the death of a child and our hearts and prayers go out to
them. Some families will take their moms
out for lunch. We will celebrate the 90th
birthday of one of the mother's in our congregation in the courtyard after
worship today. Other families will visit
their mothers in a nursing home and still others will go to cemeteries and lay
a bouquet of flowers at the grave-site of their mothers. So today evokes mixed feelings of joy and
sadness, appreciation and nostalgia as we honor our mothers.
God has given us the gift and task of being a parent. But being a parent, a mother or a father, is
always challenging, sometimes humorous and other times nerve-wracking, because
no manual exists with all the answers for raising children. Today observers have identified different
types of parenting styles. There are
authoritative parents, authoritarian parents, indulgent parents and neglectful
parents. There are helicopter parents,
who hover closely over their children, drill sergeant parents, who command and
direct their children's lives, and lawnmower parents, who mow down all
obstacles they see in their children’s path.
The Bible contains engrossing stories of real life mothers
and their joys and sorrows. The Bible
looks at motherhood realistically and honestly.
It honors mothers but it doesn't idealize them, it doesn't portray them
as icons of perfection. In reading the
stories of mothers in scripture, we see their flaws and humanness, and yet we
also see God at work in their lives calling them to fulfill his plans for His
covenant people. We think of mothers
like Sara, the mother of Isaac, Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, Rachel,
the mother of Joseph, Ruth, the mother of Obed; Naomi, the mother of two sons
who died prematurely, Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist, Hannah, the
mother of Samuel, Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Our first story is about Jesus' mother Mary. Protestants have not placed much emphasis
upon Mary, but our spiritual brothers and sisters, the Roman Catholics have and
we can learn from them. Mary is a saint,
a superstar in the Roman Catholic church.
They have four dogmas related to her: The Immaculate Conception, the
Assumption, the Mother of God, and the Perpetual Virginity. Today especially it is important to remember
the significance of Mary in the life of Jesus.
Mary played a vital role throughout Jesus’ life. After his miraculous birth in Bethlehem , she and Joseph raised Jesus in Nazareth .
They provided for him, educated him, passed on to him the faith of
Judaism, and taught him the skills to become a carpenter. Mary was there at the beginning of Jesus'
ministry on the occasion of his first miracle of changing water to wine at
Cana, witnessed her son's death on the cross in Jerusalem and witnessed His
resurrection.
Jesus, Mary and the disciples are at a wedding. Jewish weddings were major social affairs,
the entire community, everyone in the town or village was invited. We don’t know who was getting married,
perhaps a close friend of Mary's, because she appears to be in charge of
serving the wine. Mary was faced with a
embarrassing predicament when it was discovered that they were out of
wine. In Jesus' day that was a major
social faux pas.
Mary said: “Jesus they
have run out of wine." Jesus' answer seems rather brusque, "Woman, why do you involve me? My time has
not yet come." How many of you
would have answered your mother in that way?
Saying "Woman" to our mother today would be disrespectful, but
Jesus was speaking to his mother in Aramaic.
The word he used was a term of endearment and respect and can best be
translated, "Dear Woman" or "Gracious Lady". Mary says to the servants. “Do whatever he tells you.” And Jesus
performs his first miracle, changing water into wine.
Mary is a model of motherhood today. She reminds mothers of important things - to
be involved and active and encouraging in your children's lives for as long as
God grants you the gift of life. To have confidence in your children, to see
their potential, to be aware of their untapped talents and strengths,
capabilities and possibilities, to see in them what others don't see, and to
trust their judgment and ability. To
give them the freedom to act and to be responsible. “Do
whatever he tells you.” It seems to
me the very purpose of parenting is to launch our children into the world as
independent, productive, faith-filled, moral and responsible human beings. This mom is your mission.
We also meet Sara the wife of Abraham and mother of
Isaac. Sara expresses her heartfelt joy,
gratitude and faith in God at giving birth at her advanced age. She was 90 years old and Abraham was 100
years old when Isaac was born. “God has brought laughter for me; everyone
who hears will laugh with me.” “Who would ever have said to Abraham that
Sara would nurse children.” Sara is
filled with joy and understands that her child is a gift of the Lord.
Today we give thanks to God and pay tribute to different
types of mothers, like this mom, who writes: “On this particular day, I was having trouble doing even routine chores
- all because of our little boy. Derek
was 3 at the time. He was on my heels no
matter where I went. Whenever I stopped
to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him. Several times, I patiently suggested fun activities
to keep him occupied. ‘Wouldn’t you like
to play on the swing set?’ I repeatedly asked.
But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said: ‘Oh, that’s all right
Mommy, I’d rather be in here with you.’
Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me. After stepping on his toes for the fifth
time, I began to lose my patience and insisted that he go outside and play with
the other children. When I asked him why
he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said, ‘Well
Mommy, in Sunday school my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.’”
Here is another type of mom we pay tribute to today. Mary Thomas was a single mom of nine children
living in Chicago 's rough West
Side neighborhood. Seven of
Mary's nine kids were boys, young men constantly stretching the boundaries of
their tired mother's authority and patience.
One day in 1966, Mary opened her front door to find 25 street thugs on
her stoop. The men, members of the notorious Vice Lords gang, had come to
recruit her seven sons. Mary, upon
hearing their intentions, dropped her gaze and said "Oh, okay. Hold on just a second" and closed the door.
When the door opened again, the first thing the Vice Lords
saw was the barrel of a loaded shotgun.
She said: "There's only one
gang around here and that's the Thomas gang."
With that same fortitude, Mary Thomas ushered each of her
nine children to their high school graduation.
Her youngest son is pro-basketball player and Hall of Famer Isaiah
Thomas, a point guard for the Boston Celtics.
Yes, it's Mother's Day.
Motherhood is indeed a blessing from God and moms everywhere need our
love, our gratitude, our support and our prayers. Amen!
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