Mother’s Day
Luke 1:26-38

Dear friends in Christ,
This morning is Mother’s Day. It is a holiday with no official standing in the church, although it did begin in a church. In the U.S., in 1908 Ana Jarvis, from Grafton, West Virginia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton to celebrate Mother's Day on the anniversary of her mother's death. A memorial service was held there on May 10, 1908 and in Philadelphia the following year where Jarvis moved. Jarvis and others began a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. They were successful. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day a national observance that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.
For some, Mother’s Day can be a difficult observance. Perhaps a mother has passed away, and it becomes a sad reminder of her death. Perhaps there has been conflict with a mother, or a mother was abusive and harmful to the family. Perhaps a couple is unable to have children, and this becomes a difficult day for them. Or perhaps a family has experienced the death of a child, and it is another tough day for a mom. But despite these difficulties, we continue to observe Mother’s Day because there will always be moms and we want to thank and recognize all that moms do in their families.
Before any of us came to be, there was our mother. After Abraham Lincoln had risen to power he is quoted as saying “All I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Given the courage of Lincoln to finally abolish slavery and lead this country through a terribly difficult time, he must have had quite a mother. Before there was Abraham Lincoln, there was his mother. Even before there was Jesus, God in the flesh, there was his mother, Mary. Mary undoubtedly played a key role in preparing Jesus for his ministry. This morning, I want to look at four qualities of Mary’s character that helped her raise the most influential man in human history. Mary is unique among women, but her character is one to be modeled by all moms, indeed all people, in family life.
Mary was first of all, a mother of devotion. In the lesson I read, it is clear she had an unwavering devotion to God. She did not bat an eye, she did not balk, she did not shirk from the huge task God placed before her. “Be it done to me as you say,” was her response to the angel’s call. Maybe she answered quickly because at such a young age she didn’t really understand. She didn’t realize the whispers and stares that would follow her for the next 30 years. Maybe she accepted the challenge so readily because she didn’t know Jewish law very well. She didn’t know that this virgin birth opened her up to possibly being divorced and shamed by Joseph. Or maybe she did understand, she did know what God was asking. She did have some idea of the cost, and she was willing to pay the price anyway. And that’s why God chose her—because He knew that Mary’s heart was completely devoted to Him, and that she would be completely devoted to the task of raising the young Messiah.
Motherhood, fatherhood, indeed all our relationships begin with our devotion to God our maker. That’s where it all starts. Our first commitment is to God, then we devote ourselves to our spouse and children. There is no greater priority than to raise our children in faith, and it begins with our personal devotion to God.
Devotion to children is at the heart of what it means to be a mother. Without it, you may have a child, but not be a mother. I read that by the time a child reaches 18, a mother has had to handle some extra 20,000 hours of child-generated work, and I think that may be low. If that’s true, had you not had children, you would have an additional 45 days a year to use that time as you choose. So, obviously, motherhood is a huge commitment.
Your devotion to your kids may be challenged from time to time. One mom who had three children was asked, "If you had it all to do over again, would you have children?" "Yes," she jokingly replied, "But not the same ones."
Devotion can be a challenge. Moms are human. But it is at the heart of what it means to be a mom. Mary is the model, who devoted herself to God her maker and Jesus her son.
Mary was a mother of great devotion. If we proceed through the life of the young mother, we also see that Mary was a mother of great strength. Often we associate strength with fathers, but Mary shows the strength of a mother.
Remember how King Herod put out the order to kill the Christ child, the one who would be king? Because of that, Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with Jesus when he was 2 and were refugees until it was safe to return.
I don’t know if you’ve ever traveled with a 2 year old, but it’s not easy. Our most memorable road trip was when our kids were 5, 3, and 4 months old and we drove 1200 miles after Christmas in two days out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That would be enough of a challenge, but two of them had chicken pox! But even that was probably easy compared with what Mary and Joseph did, moving a two year old, over 264 miles from Bethlehem to Egypt, probably by foot, through the desert, a trip started in the middle of the night!
Motherhood is a lot of work that takes lots of physical strength. A father was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us? Ouch!
It takes a lot of physical strength to be a mom, not to mention emotional strength. Imagine the emotional strength required of Mary to bear up under the knowledge that the king wants to kill your baby. And yet she did hold up under these very difficult circumstances. Mary was a model of physical and emotional strength as a mother. Both qualities are very much still needed by moms today.
A third quality we see in Mary as a mother is one who offers guidance. We see this even when her son is an adult. Think back to the story of the wedding feast at Cana. Mary attended, along with Jesus. As part of the celebration, the wine ran out. Mary told him this, apparently with the expectation he would do something. But Jesus seems reluctant to get involved in this problem. He says, “My hour has not yet come.” Not wanting to be a nagging mom, Mary accepted his response and told the others to do whatever Jesus said.
Perhaps in this scene at Cana we get a glimpse of Mary’s subtle guidance of her son. Jesus didn’t wake up one morning as a five year old and know the full purpose and plan of His life. It appears through the few glimpses we get into Jesus’ early life that God slowly revealed that plan. And certainly God used Mary to guide and instruct Jesus to that end. At this wedding, we see Mary nudging Jesus, moving Him towards His final purpose. Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.” But Mary suggests, “you have to start sometime." And Jesus does respond by turning water into wine.
Guidance is a key role that moms play with their children. This, too, is not easy. A mother talking to an old college friend said, "Remember, before I was married I had 3 theories about raising children? Well, now I have 3 children and no theories." Guiding kids cannot be done in theory, it has to be done in practice. But it is a key role modeled by Mary with Jesus and one that mothers are involved in every day.
Mary was a woman devoted to God. She had great strength. She guided Jesus into His ministry. And the last quality I want to lift up is her great patience. We don’t see this demonstrated so much in her raising of Jesus, but we certainly see it as she endures the last hours of his life. Mary was there in Jerusalem, aware what was happening to her son. Yet she stays in the background, trusting God through it all. She doesn’t burst into the trial and scream, “He IS the Son of God. I can testify to that! You must believe Him!” She doesn’t throw herself at the feet of Pilate begging for the release of her Son who is indeed the King of the Jews. Instead, she watches with patience, even as her son died on the cross. Mary’s devotion, and strength, and guidance had led them both to this moment of great patience—the patience involved in seeing the work of Christ finished on the cross.
Patience is certainly tried as a mother. Someone once said, "The joy of motherhood is what a woman experiences when all the children are finally asleep in bed." When the kids are awake, patience is often lost in times of stress and frustration. But don’t give up. Raising kids is a lifelong process. Even if things don’t always turn out as you hoped and expected in raising kids, don’t quit. As we see through Mary’s patience in very difficult times, God’s work will be done. Pray, and trust that God will work His will in the lives of your children. God can take all of our mistakes and frustrations and limitations and ultimately bring about good.
Let me close with this story. A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, “I am the light of the world.” The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, “My mother is the light of the world.”
I hope we can all say that about our moms. And for the mothers here today, perhaps Mary can be a model and a help. She was devoted to the Lord and her family, she showed great strength, she provided guidance, and she waited patiently during trying times. Of course, no mother can ever do those things perfectly. But they are strong values towards which to strive. As you live by these values, I think we all would agree, you are mothers who are the light of the world. Thank you, moms, for all you do and may God bless you this Mother’s Day. Amen