SUPER MOM

This is a sermon that was given for Mother's Day 2015.

Introduction:

Before I begin my sermon today, I want to share some general thoughts about mothers that I have collected from various sources. Some are humorous, and others are just observations or insights offered by various authors.

Mother’s Day Thoughts and Quotes

• The advice your children rejected is now being given by them to your grandchildren.
• Working mothers are guinea pigs in a scientific experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life.
• Parents often talk about the younger generations as if they didn't have anything to do with it.

When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.  – Erma Bombeck

Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them.  – Rita Rudner

Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease.  – Lisa Alther

Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes. - P. J. O'Rourke

If you feel tense and end up with a headache, follow all the instructions on the bottle of aspirin: Take two tablets and keep away from children. http://www.funny-jokes-quotes-sayings.com/mothers-day-jokes.html

More serious note….   No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you—life. (Abraham Lincoln, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World.)

Let your home be your parish, your little brood your congregation, your living room a sanctuary, and your knee a sacred altar. (Billy Graham - Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World.)

The title I have chosen for my message today is “Super Mom.”

I’m sure that most of us already have some visual idea in our minds about what that title must mean. The concept of “Supermom” in today’s world is usually meant to describe the woman that “does it all.”

She pursues her career in the work world, nurtures and trains her children and maintains a home; juggling all her responsibilities beautifully and accomplishing wonderful success in all areas.

Well, I want to take a different view this morning, and use two or three different texts from the Bible to tell you what I think a “Supermom” is.

First of all, for those who are familiar enough with the Proverbs, our minds probably go immediately to Prov. 31 and think that “Supermom” is the woman that is described in all those verses there. (See vv. 10-31)

Certainly these verses describe an unusually great woman, but most of us probably know few women who fit all the qualities that are listed in these verses.

For today, I want to propose that there are a lot of great “supermoms” even if they do not match all of the qualities listed here.

I think that there are two main qualities that make a “Super Mom.”

1.  The first one is found in Prov. 31.

Proverbs 31:28 (NKJV) Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

In my mind, a mother can be considered a “super mom” when, after she has raised her children, they “stand up and bless her.”

The word “bless” used in this verse is a word that can include the idea of “being envied with desire.” It also includes the idea of congratulations, more so than a “benediction.”

It is a word that is only used by humans for humans. There is a completely different word for “bless” when it pertains to God’s blessing upon man, or man “blessing” God.

We all understand, I think, that when a mother is in the process of raising her children, there may be times especially during the teenage years when the children don’t exactly stand up and bless her!

But often when the kids grow up and start raising children of their own, they gain a whole new perspective.

There is a reading called, “My Mean Mom” that has been around for many years. I remember reading it when I was a teen! It helps describe the difference between how our moms are perceived when we’re young versus when we get older and have kids of our own.

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less...

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault!

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

I believe a true “super mom” is one whose children look back at all she invested in their lives and they rise up and bless her; congratulate her; and long to be like her.

2.  There is a second quality referred to in the Bible that I believe helps define a “super mom.”
 

2 Timothy 1:5 (NKJV) when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

2 Timothy 3:14-15 (NKJV) But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵  and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

I’ve referred to this passage a few times in the past, but I often think of it as an example of what is vitally important in the rearing of children.

Paul affirms that Timothy gained a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures from his childhood days, which can only mean that one or both of his parents taught them to him.

He also asserts that the genuine faith within Timothy’s heart was found first of all in his mother and grandmother. There is a clear indication that they successfully passed on to Timothy a love for God and a commitment to serve God.

There are a myriad of lessons that a child needs to learn when he/she is growing up and parents (especially moms) have the task of teaching those lessons until they are permanently instilled in the minds and hearts.

But the most important lesson of all is the lesson of faith that is founded and formulated through a diligent teaching of the Scriptures. Any child that grows up with a knowledge of the Bible accompanied with a love for God, in my opinion, has a “super mom” for a mother.

Mothers, if your children are still young and living at home, there is no greater gift you can pass on to them than a knowledge of God’s Word and a desire to practice its principles in everyday life. If your children are already grown, then you can practice your “super mom” skills on your grandchildren and great grandchildren!

As I finish today I want to read to you a short essay that one of our sons wrote about his mother a number of years ago.

Conclusion:

We’re going to close the service today by providing a small gift to all of the mothers that are present.