2 Sermons for
Mother's Day
Sermon for Mother's Day - Romans 16:
I must candidly confess that when I was in seminary the 16th chapter of Paul's
letter to the Romans didn’t do much for me. It struck me as being boring
nothing more than a long presentation of people’s names, most of whom I could
not pronounce; I usually skimmed over that part so I could get to what I
considered to be the real Gospel. Over the years I have greatly changed my
attitude about this particular chapter and I have discovered that there is much
more to it than I had first imagined. For example, it is interesting to note
that of the twenty-six people who Paul singles out for his personal greeting,
six were women. Now that strikes me as being rather interesting, since Paul has
frequently gotten a bum rap for being a male chauvinist. I think it also shows
us the tremendous influence that women had in the early church. In the male
oriented first century Palestine, it is telling that Paul could not describe the
church without mentioning the significant role of women.
Verse
13 of chapter 16 is particularly interesting and it is one that scholars have
struggled with over the centuries. Paul writes: "Give my greetings to
Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine." Now this statement
could be taken two ways. It could mean that Paul had two distinct women in
mind--the mother of Rufus and his own personal mother. Or, he could be saying:
"I salute Rufus and his mother, who is like a mother to me." If that
is what he meant, and most Biblical scholars agree that that is indeed what he
meant, then it raises some interesting speculation. When and where did Paul meet
Rufus’ mother? Did she nurse him through some serious illness? Did she receive
him into her home for an extended stay during his missionary journeys? How did
this woman and Paul form such a close bond that he refers to her fondly as being
like his mother? Mark tells us that Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus
cross, had two sons: Alexander and Rufus. Was this the same Rufus to whom Paul
was speaking? If that is true, his mother would be Simon of Syrene’s wife. No
one knows for sure who this remarkable woman was who served as a mother figure
for the great Paul. But it really makes no difference, because what he writes
makes an excellent springboard for a Mother’s Day sermon.
Some
people ridicule Mother’s Day as a lot of sentimental drivel. They say that it
is nothing more than the creation of the greeting card companies and the
florists. And, to be perfectly candid, there are many ministers who shun this
day because, they say, it is not a religious holiday. Furthermore, they preach
from the lectionary, which has an assigned scriptural reading each week, and
therefore mother’s day is left out.
Well,
of course, we must admit that there is sentiment to this day, but what is wrong
with that. Seems to me that a little bit of sentiment is healthy. True enough,
there are some women in the Bible, such as Jezebel and the vindictive Herodias,
who had John the Baptist beheaded, who tarnish the institution of motherhood.
There are women today who abandon, abuse, and corrupt their children and who
create a poor model, but I like to think that these are the exceptions. Most
mothers do the right thing and deserve recognition. So this morning I would like
to join Paul and salute all of the mothers who are with us.
1.
First, mothers should be saluted for their tenacious love.
2.
Secondly, mothers should be saluted for their tremendous impact.
3. Third, mothers should be saluted because where they are that is where home is.
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Sermon for Mother's Day - 2 Kings 4:8-26:
I am going to read a quote to you first and then tell you who said it: A
small child waits with impatience the arrival home of a parent. She wishes to
relate some sandbox experience. She is excited to share the thrill that she has
known that day. The time comes; the parent arrives. Beaten down by the stresses
of the workplace the parent often replies: “Not now, honey, I’m busy, go
watch television.” The most often spoken words in the American household today
are the words: go watch television. If not now, when? Later. But later never
comes for many and the parent fails to communicate at the very earliest of ages.
We give her designer clothes and computer toys, but we do not give her what she
wants the most, which is our time. Now, she is fifteen and has a glassy look in
her eyes. Honey, do we need to sit down and talk? Too late. Love has passed by.
The
person who wrote these words was Robert Keeshan, better known to America as
Captain Kangaroo.
I
think Keeshan was on to something. There are many things in life that cause
stress. But there are few that can break the heart like the loss of a child. To
be sure there are many ways to lose children. We can lose them by a tragic
death. We can lose them due to broken relationships. And, we can lose them by
failing to develop the strength of character in them that they will need to
resist evil. Elisha did not know what had happened but he guessed something was
not right; otherwise, she would not be traveling to find him. Elisha sent his
servant out to greet this well-to-do-woman with three questions: Is it well with
you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?
On
this Mother's Day 2005 I would suggest to you that these three questions are as
relevant today as they were when they were first spoken almost 3000 years ago.
Let us take a look at this story and the three questions it raises.
1.
Is it well with you?
2.
Is it well with your husband?
3. Is it well with your child?
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