05/12 – 1 Peter 2:19–25 – Special Christian Mothers

Grace to you, and peace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Sunday school teacher was beginning her class for some 4-year-olds. The class had increased in size this day with the arrival of an unfamiliar boy. The teacher told the boy her name, and then asked him his.

“Robert,” he said.

Robert gave no last name, and as the teacher was going to record his attendance, she wanted to write down his full name. She asked him. He didn’t say anything. Now, when you’re teaching 4-year-olds you have to be creative and this teacher was. She asked, “Robert, what’s your father’s name?”

He replied, “Daddy.”

Not to be put off she asked, “What’s your mother’s name?”

“Mommy.”

Knowing this was getting her nowhere fast the teacher tried one last time, using a question she was sure would work. “Robert, what does your daddy call your mommy?”

Robert said, “Hot stuff.”

That, I imagine, is just as good a way as any to begin a message on this day when our nation honors those women whom God has allowed to be His first and finest examples of love to little ones. This Mothers’ Day we’re talking about some very special ladies. They, like all superheroes, manage to keep themselves pretty well disguised. To the casual observer they seem to be just like anyone else. They’re not.

Mothers are special. Christian mothers even more. A loving mother using only two eyes, manages to see all the things that escape the rest of us. Sitting at the kitchen table helping her second-grader with his homework she can see, in the living room, her 3-year-old trying to stuff a slice of turkey into the DVD Player. She can see who gave the pound of peanut butter to the dog, she can see who needs an extra hug at bedtime, and most incredibly, she can see accidents which have not yet happened.

Moms have only two arms, but those arms have the unique ability to burp the baby, prepare tomorrow’s lunch, balance the checkbook, and talk on the phone all at the same time.

Mothers have brains like everyone else, or so you might think, until you get to see Mom swing into action. Moms can hear your thoughts. They know when you’re giving them lip, even when your lips aren’t moving.

Moms, liars that they are, say they don’t mind their birthday being forgotten, or getting a new waffle iron for a 25^th anniversary. Moms have a whole list of excuses why their children are too busy to call them on Mother’s Day. “After all,” they might say, “my children are very busy, and they do have lives of their own.” That’s a hard lie for them to pull off, but Moms say it with a tone that says you’d better not challenge them.

Now, all of these things are true, for the mother in Moscow or Manhattan, Missouri, Montana, or Minnesota. It is as true for mothers today, as it was for mothers 2,000 years ago. Some things don’t change, and mothers are one of them. Mothers are special. No one can argue that point. As special as mothers are, Christian mothers are unique. They are exceptional, not because of any personal quality they possess. Christian mothers are unique because they know Jesus. Knowing Jesus, relying on Jesus, being empowered by Jesus means that Christian mothers see the world differently, they react differently, they behave differently. Every aspect of their life is changed because they know, and rely upon, Jesus and they believe His Holy Word.

Let me explain what I mean. The Bible says:

Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour.¹

While most people believe that the world is inherently good and are surprised and shocked when something bad happens, Christian mothers see things differently. Christian mothers know that sin is still around, Satan is still stalking the streets and death still stops for the young and the old. Christian mothers know that the devil and his demons find delight in running down, bringing down, and tearing down their babies, their toddlers, their teens, and college aged kids.

Look at this world. In some countries, 6 and 7-year-old children are being forced to join military service, and are trained as soldiers taught to kill without regret. This is the work of our enemy the devil, who prowls around looking for souls to devour. Don’t think, not for a minute, that the devil has been caged and declawed where you live.

The old worry of a child running into the street and being hit by a car, is now joined with the fear of having that child enticed into the car of some sick psycho. The concern of having your child accidentally swallow some poison is now married to the new anxiety of a drug dealer putting a dangerous poisons into your child’s hands.

I could go on. I could talk about the child who innocently does a homework assignment on his computer and finds himself bombarded by a barrage of pornographic perversions. I could talk about children forced into gangs. I could talk about institutions of higher learning where our Lord is laughed at, and religion is relegated to the role of an outdated philosophy. The devil is stalking your streets. He is looking for souls to devour and Christian mothers know their children can become easy pray. So they pray.

It would be hopeless, if those mothers had to stand alone, but Christian mothers know they do not stand alone. They know that Jesus was born as a Baby to save their babies. He gave His entire life to ransom the lives of their children. Christian mothers know that when they are helpless Jesus is just beginning. They know that He who gave His life on the cross to win the souls of every sinner, will be with them and with their children. He will pick their children up in His arms and bless them. He will hold them tight and He will never let them go.

Christian mothers know that when they can hear the roar of Satan coming close to their door they need to be aware that that door might be unlocked. Without Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, Satan can have ready access into their lives. It is especially at these moments that they need to depend on Jesus, and then with Jesus in their hearts, they know they are not alone. Jesus, the only Person who loves their children more than they do, is there. Jesus, the Son of God, who promised He would never leave us or forsake us is there.

Christian families find peace, not because they have no problems, not because the devil and sin ignore us. That is hardly the case. We, our families, and our children, are often the special targets of these spiritual predators. We have peace because we have a Savior who rose on the third day and, with the conquering of Death, shows that He has won the final victory.

You must know that although you may drive your children to a dozen locations every day, the first trip you need to make is to bring your child to their Savior. You tell them that everything can be taken to our Savior in prayer, knowing that Jesus will never be too busy, or too tired, to hear the prayers of a young heart. You let them know that no matter how badly other may behave Jesus will continue to be a friend. You let your child know that there is no sin he can commit; no error he can make, which will be too large for Jesus to erase.

Today we give thanks for Christian mothers who offer their children quality time, quantity time, personal time, and individual time, but know that the most important time they can give is to help their children know Jesus; the Savior who will reunite the family in Heaven where there is only time eternal.

Mothers, do your children know Jesus? There was a little girl who was taken to the doctor’s office. The doctor looked in her nose and asked, “Who’s in there, Bugs Bunny?”

Not feeling the best, the little girl answered with a simple, “No.”

The doctor looked in her mouth and asked, “Who’s in there, Cookie Monster?”

Again he got “No.”

When he looked into her ears he asked, “And who’s in here? Do I see Mickey Mouse?” You know her reply. Lastly, he put his stethoscope over her heart and asked, “Who’s in here is it Barney?”

The little youngster said, “No, Barney is on my jacket, Jesus is in my heart.”

Where do you think that little girl got that information? How did she know Jesus was in her heart? Long before she could walk, before she could talk, her mother had taught her about the love of Jesus.

Mothers, I know that love for your children is in your heart, but is Jesus there too? Nobody questions your love, your loyalty, your willingness to sacrifice. What I want is for you to have more than these great motherly gifts. I want you and your children to have Jesus in your heart. A Savior who will be there to depend on, as your children grow to have their own children, and raise them in the example you have set.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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