One of the hardest days for a pastor to preach is Mother’s Day. Father’s Day is a close second, but at least for Father’s Day, you have God to refer to as the perfect father to us all. Mothers day? Not so much. I would always tell my congregation that you could tell pretty quickly what kind of relationship someone had with their mother by the amount of time spent in the Hallmark section.
First card – Always encouraging – nope pick another.
Second card – Always there for me – try again.
Then someone comes up, looks at one card, and chooses it because it covers everything they had in a mom. One and done.
As you can tell, I did not have the relationship with my mom that I wanted, but because of the cross, I have a second chance to have it in eternity. When I stood behind the pulpit, looking out across my congregation, I stood silent for a moment seeing so many different types of moms.
Always the “normal” two kids, perfect house, loving and encouraging mom. Across the aisle is someone who prays every night for God to bless them with a child. Saying the same prayer without any results, yet. In the very last row, the second seat from the right is the mom of the prodigal child. She wonders what I will preach about this morning. If it will only be about perfect moms and not the ones like her that maybe said the wrong thing and caused her child to leave. In the middle of the sermon, hoping no one sees, comes in the mom whose child determined this life was not worth sticking around for.
Sitting in the first row, the first seat is the mom who just signed the adoption papers the day before and now is the proud mom of two siblings who did not want to be separated by the system.
This is what it is like for a pastor to preach a Mother’s Day sermon. This is why many of them choose to preach about anything else on that day. The truth is Jesus gives us perfect examples in the Bible. I love how, when he is about to take his last breath, he looks down from the cross and makes sure, beyond any doubt, that Mary is taken care of. Does she have other sons at home? Yes. But Jesus is the oldest and the most responsible for taking care of her.
Read with me John 19:25-29 “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.“
To be called “Mom” by someone is one of the highest honors we have as women. It does not matter how you came about the title, birth, adoption, neighborhood children, etc. What really matters is what you do with it after you receive the title. All I ever wanted growing up was to be a good mom.
God saw me and after seven miscarriages, I gave birth to a beautiful healthy little girl and then blessed me ten years later with a perfect son. Whatever you are feeling this Mother’s Day, hang in there. God sees you and knows your heart better than anyone. He is the one who created it.
Can you imagine being the mother of Jesus? I wonder how many times she felt confused. Unsure. Unworthy. How many times did she laugh at her young boy or receive those great mommy hugs? How many times did she cry over him and how many prayers did she lift up for him?
Just like YOU.
I want to encourage you, as a mom, to go easier on yourself. There are no perfect moms, just Jesus-loving hearts wanting to do our best for our children. Are we going to get it right every time? No, most of the time we won’t. I heard that a mother’s love is about as close to Jesus’ love for us as we can get and that is still just a tiny drop in the bucket.
I would like to close with a devotion I wrote for Saturday of Holy Week. It was dedicated to Mary.
Holy Week Devotions – For Moms Everywhere
Remember these words we read at Christmas?
Luke 2: 34-35
“Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
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“And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Do you think Mary is remembering these words this morning? Do you think she knows exactly what Simeon meant now? Do you think she feels like she too has been beaten and a big part of her died last night as she watched her Son take his last breath?
Did she pray this morning before she got out of bed:
“Please God let that have been just a terrible dream…Let my Son still be here with me.”
What pain and sorrow she must have felt as she got up and realized it was no dream.
Tomorrow, everyone will celebrate His rising from the dead… But today…
Jesus lies in a tomb.
No one will mourn him more today than the woman who gave birth to him. The woman who picked him up when he would stumble and fall as a child. The woman who laughed when he said something funny and the woman who would give him those “mommy looks” when boys will be boys… For last night…”A sword pierced her soul.”
In the name of Mary’s baby boy…
Happy Mother’s Day everyone.