Mother's Day Exhortation 2012

This morning in our sermon we will consider the subject of friendship in the marriage relationship – and in honor of Mother’s Day, I wish to honor my mother who, like so many mothers, had proverbial quips of wisdom which she would say to her children from time to time and over and over.  One of those words of wisdom was:  Make sure you marry Your best friend.  To this day, I thank God for my mother and I thank God I listened to her.  My best friend is the mother of my six children.

And so Happy Mother’s Day – first of all Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers here this morning.  While this service of worship is not about you, it is about the God Who created you and called you to this glorious vocation.  It is impossible to go far enough in realizing the powerful influence mothers have on their children and hence on the world itself.  This position, often filled with unending behind the scenes, noticed by no one but God Himself, duties, is the kind of position which shapes everything else for the next generation.  Every ruler, every president, every CEO, every father, every husband, every neighbor, every criminal, every tyrant – had a mother whose life was dramatically shaped by the words, actions, faith, and presence (or lack of those things) of his mother.

And so, secondly, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who has a mother – and everyone does.  Paul writes that “For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman.”  You were brought into this world, touched by the curse of God, in pain and sorrow – and your mother bore that pain and sorrow, not only in bearing you, but in her nurture and care of you – most likely for years and decades.  Most of us need to look back at our lives, our upbringing, and see how kind God was to give to us through our mothers – a multitude of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual blessings.  Honor your mother.  Honor your mother to the glory of God.

And mothers – at whatever stage in being a mother God has you today – honor Your God by realizing what a breath-taking vocation He has given to you.  By faith, see your role in changing the world, one diaper at a time, one peanut-butter sandwich at a time, one kind word or gentle admonishment, one proverbial piece of wisdom spoken day after day, year after year – to the glory of God.