Mama’s Day Message

 [Pastor Toks]

 

Mothers…who are they?

 

I want us to celebrate God’s infinite wisdom in creating some specie of mankind called MOTHERS! I believe that if can attempt to figure out God in His capacity as the El-Shaddai, The all-breasted One, then we may have an inkling of what mothers are.

I say categorically this morning that A Mother is a Model of God’s love.

 

Texts:

Matthew 20:20-23 Mrs Zebedee

Exod 2: 1 – 10 Mrs Jochebed Amram

 

What are mothers?

• Mothers are teachers.

• Mothers are disciplinarians.

• Mothers are cleaning ladies.

* Mothers are chefs.

* Mothers are waiters.

* Mothers are timekeepers.

• Some mothers are gardeners and mowers of lawns. 

And most mothers understand that making ogi, moinmoin, ensuring inexhaustible presence of biscuits and indomie is more important than washing windows.

Yet many mothers are nurses, pharmacists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, technologists, psychologists, counselors, chauffeurs and coaches.

Mothers are developers of personalities, molders of vocabularies, and shapers of attitudes.

 

Mothers, listen, we say you must be beautiful, you have to be intelligent, you have to be an entertainer, you have to be romantic, you have to give quality time to God, to your husband and your children and your home; and you have to earn enough to pay your own way through this world. 

 

Mothers are soft voices saying, “I love you.”

And mothers are a child’s link to God, a child’s first impression of God’s love.

Mothers are all of these things and much, much more.

 

There is a fictional story of God in the act of creating mothers:

On the day that God created mothers, He had already worked long overtime.

And an angel said to Him, “Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one.”

The Lord turned & said, “Have you read the specs on this model?

 

She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic.

She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable.

She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart.

 

She is to have a lap that will hold 3 kids, and then disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on black coffee & leftovers.

And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands.”

 

“Six pairs of hands,” said the angel, “that’s impossible.”

“It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother Me.,” said the Lord, “It’s the three pairs of eyes.

 

She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she already knows what they’re doing in there.”

 

“She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is not supposed to see but must see.

And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed up and communicate love & understanding without saying a word.”

 

“That’s too much.” said the angel,

“You can’t put that much in one model.

Why don’t you rest for a while and resume your creating tomorrow?”

 

“No, I can’t,” said the Lord.

“I’m close to creating someone very much like myself.

I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick, who can feed a family of six with one denge of garri, who can persuade two six year olds, Tosan and Titi, to take shower.”

 

Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and said, “She’s too soft.”

“Oh, but she is tough,” said the Lord.

“You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do.”

 

“Can she think?” asked the angel.

“Not only can she think,” said the Lord, “but she can reason, compromise and persuade.”

 

Then the angel reached over and touched her cheek. “This one has a defect…it has a leak,” she said. “I told you that you couldn’t put that much into one model.”

“That’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “That’s a tear.”

“What’s a tear for?” asked the angel.

 

“The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride.

 

“You’re a genius,” said the angel.

And the Lord said, “Oh, but I didn’t put it there.” I created the woman, but she created the tear!” She is inwardly CREATIVE!

 

What it boils down to is simply this: The modern mother is living a pressure-filled life. 

 

Matthew 20:20-23 ‘The Negotiating Mama’

Mrs Zebedee was aware of the teachings of Jesus about His kingdom.

She was also very aware of the fact that her sons, James & John, were close to Him.

They were two-thirds of the inner circle of Peter, James and John.

 

So she was certain that when the Lord formed His kingdom that they would have positions of responsibility and authority. 

Hmm… in the first part of this same chapter, Jesus tells a story that must have disturbed her.

 

 

Negotiations With God: 

Recall Abraham and Hannah?

We need to also recognize that when Mama Zebedee came to Jesus, while Jesus did not grant her request, neither did He deny it.

 

He simply reminded her of the cost of being seated on the right or left and then told her that it is the Father who determines who will be seated there.

She prayed that her sons might be a part of the Kingdom

 

Now, what are some of the good things about Mrs Zebedee?

(1) First of all, she came to the Lord, praying that her sons might be a part of His Kingdom. She wanted her children to be a part of The Kingdom of God! I can think of no more important task of motherhood than that – to seek to ensure that your children are a part of the Kingdom of God.

 

I know that many mothers pray. Sometimes they pray out of necessity.

Sometimes they pray because motherhood is not easy, but extremely difficult.

 

Example1:

James Dobson tells about a time he came home when his son, Ryan, was a small baby. It had been a terrible day for his wife.

 

Example2:

This man remembers very clearly the time he gave his two-year-old son, Steve, his very first responsibility. He told Steve to watch Susan, his baby sister, while he stepped out of the room.

 

Being a parent is not easy. Sometimes it is filled with joy and sometimes with sadness.

Sometimes your children make you so proud you want to pop your buttons.

 At other times you can’t find enough handkerchiefs to dry your tears.

 

What good is it if our children are successful on the job or with a career, or in making money, and driving nice cars, and living in good neighbourhoods, but they don’t know God? What does it matter if they gain the whole world, but lose their souls?

 Being a parent is not easy. It is difficult. 

 

But Mrs Zebedee gives us a valuable example, because she prayed earnestly that her sons would be a part of God’s kingdom.

 We need that same concern for our children. I hope that in the heart of every mother & father here this today, there is a burden to go to the throne of God & to pray for your children – to pray that they will be saved, saved from eternal damnation, & saved for eternal life. That is the place to begin.

 

Secondly, not only did Mrs. Zebedee pray that her children would be a part of His kingdom, but she prayed that they would be actively involved in the work of His kingdom.

 

Maybe it is not enough, just to be saved.

Churches are full of people, content just to fill a pew on Sunday mornings.

 

There are plenty of people willing to sit back & receive the blessings, but seldom do they get involved in doing any of the real work of the church.

 

Thirdly, Mrs. Zebedee HAD BIG EXPECTATIONS and I like that.

 

She didn’t just pray that her children would be doorkeepers in the house of God. She wanted them on the right hand & left hand of Jesus. She wanted them CLOSE TO JESUS!!!

 

Too often we have settled for mediocrity in the church.

 

Example3:

The story is told – out of WW2 & the holocaust that took the lives of millions of people – of Solomon Rosenberg & his family. It is a true story.

 

 May God bless you in it.

 

There is a woman in the Bible named Jochebed. She was the wife of Amram, and she was the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. This is declared in Ex 1. Here we see a home that apparently had very little of the world’s material things, but a home that is worth imitating. It is a home where the parents creatively and courageously obeyed God and met the incredible pressure that was brought to bear on their family.

Exodus 2: 1 – 10

 

I pray that if there is someone here who has never experienced the love of God that is so close to the love of a mother, that this will be your time of decision.

I pray that if you have felt that you have had to walk through that valley alone so many times, that you will recognize that there is a hand reaching out to you, saying, “There is nothing to be afraid of. I’ll go with you.” 

And I pray that you will recognize that Jesus, has already gone through the valley of the shadow for you and made it possible for you to live forever.

He extends His loving invitation in much the same way that a mother opens the doors of home and invites her children to come back again.

 

He invites you, too.

 

I pray that you will come as we stand and pray together.