“Jesus Had A Mother Too”
Mike Harris
Mother’s Day, May 13, 2001
Intro: Happy Mother’s Day!
Song: “Mary Did You Know” ….. written about a mom—holding her baby Son in her arms….
…and dreaming about the future…
…soaking in that brief moment in time…
…realizing how incredibly awesome her role of being a GOOD MOM is going to be in the life of her child…
Now—true…. This particular family situation was a little UNIQUE… being a virgin and giving birth to a child always makes you more than a little unusual….
BUT--- doesn’t this tell us something of how important God sees the family….
--- the fact that God the Father chose for His ETERNAL Son—
…to be BORN INTO an earthly FAMILY…
…with a mother and a father…
(vs. being born into some monastery somewhere in the mountains…)
NO--- the fact that Jesus had a MOTHER TOO…. Tells us how important the role of MOTHER is in the development and life of every child…
And when it comes to the CELEBRATION of Mother’s Day…
--if you think about it…
--It really involves 2 parties….
It involves
1) MOMS--- a day for YOU and your ROLE to be honored and celebrated…
….because being a MOM is no light thing!!!!
…it’s a major thing to be a MOM…
--and moms everywhere need to be affirmed in this important role…and they need to recognize the awesome responsibility of rising up to the challenge of being a MOM…
BUT—the celebration of Mother’s Day—also involves another PARTY….
2) ALL KIDS…. A day for US to honor and celebrate not only OUR moms—but also this honored role of motherhood…
This morning I want to take a few minutes and talk to EACH of these groups:
All Kids:
God teaches us in one of the 10 commandments that we are to … “honor our father and MOTHER…”
But what does it mean “to honor…”
(literally) “to honor” = to show respect or esteem…
Now--- as a kid myself--- I’ve discovered that…
The application of this changes as we grow older.
Let me explain that….
There is a difference in how we are to honor our moms---when we are YOUNG….. and when we are OLDER…
The young: (young children…growing up living in the home)
The Bible teaches that
One of the best ways to honor your mom (at this age) is to embrace the attitude of obedience.
God says in Ephesians 6:1 – “Children OBEY your parents…” (notice the wording here is not optional…)… it’s the right thing to do…
Illust: John Maxwell tells a story about 2 boys on their way to school…and –talking about their families..
One boy said—“I’ve figured out a SYSTEM for getting along with my MOM…. It’s very simple--- She tells me what to do….AND I DO IT!!!”
What a concept!!!!
NOW---- here’s the important thing to understand about this…
THERE COMES A TIME IN A CHILD’S LIFE--- 18 –ISH--- WHEN A CHILD IS NO LONGER COMMANDED BY GOD TO OBEY HIS PARENTS….
The command still holds that we are to HONOR our parents…but remember “to honor” means to “show respect & esteem”
----IT DOESN’T MEAN OBEY….
And WISE moms (and dads) will make sure their kids are RELEASED with their blessing into adulthood….
And so---for the older kids…. (adult age)
One of the best ways to honor your mom is to honor God with your life.
In the Bible…John 2…. There’s a brief exchange between Mary & Jesus …. That really illustrates this ….
Set up --- Jesus was 30 years old…. When his formal ministry began… he began teaching and many people followed him everywhere….
--- of those people – he chose 12 men to be his closest disciples-
He’s just getting started--- when he gets invited to a wedding…
“The next day Jesus’ mother was a guest at a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.
Celebrations would last several days in this culture… huge party…
The wine supply ran out during the festivities, this was a big problem
…don’t just hop on down to the 7 –11 and pick up some more…
…this basically meant – “the party is over… embarrassing…
so Jesus’ mother spoke to him about the problem. “They have no more wine,” she told him.
Obviously it seems Mary has some influence in the house of this family…
She’s very concerned about this--- and rather than going to the Bride & Groom---and embarrassing them… she goes to Jesus… her son…
Now--- realize at the same time--- MARY has lived her entire life with the knowledge that Jesus—her son--- was really The MESSIAH… the one SENT FROM GOD to save the world…
And “hey—the guy’s 30—and he really hasn’t done anything yet--- except gather together these really cool fisherman….!!”
Here’s what I think (imagine in my mind the dialogue): I think Mary is saying to herself…. And to Jesus----
“Wouldn’t this be a GREAT “time”-- a great “HOUR” – for you to take the opportunity to proclaim to everyone here--- WHO you really are???”
What she doing? She’s doing the MOM thing….
“Jesus -- this is what I want you to do…”
But Jesus is a man now--- and under no obligation to OBEY his mom….
BUT-- notice how he HONORS HER…..
He honors her by sharing with her God the Father’s plan….
“How does that concern you and me?” Jesus asked. “My time (hour) has not yet come.”
Now—whether she got that message or not…. It’s not clear…
…it just says…
But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
John 2:1-5 (New Living Translation)
Who knows-- maybe she’s still trying to force his hand a little…
But what we do know is that Jesus goes ahead and performs his first miracle…
And what I find very interesting about his miracle--- is that it is TOTALLY behind the scenes…
--no one really knows about it…. (except Mary—a couple of servants.. and later his disciples (whom Mary probably gave the details to)
Again-- here’s what I think:
I think Jesus did the miracle for Mary…
I think He was saying to her through this---
“Look-- you may not fully understand the complete PLAN that God has for me--- but its not going to look like what you think…
….Mary – you don’t realize yet—that MY HOUR…. Will really take place on a cross ….that I’ll be nailed to---
But here Mary--- I want to affirm you -- that the secret you have carried around with you all your life of my true identity----
--- this miracle is to affirm to you that I AM the chosen One….”
Now—If I’m right--- what a way to HONOR his mom….
--showed deep respect… and esteem to her role in his life…
And we can learn a lesson from Jesus on this…
The best way we can honor our moms---- is to follow God’s plan for our lives--- even when our moms may not completely understand what that is----
Illust: When I was 21--- I was going to school near Chicago--- and I got involved in an inner city ministry--- during the time when street gangs were on the rise…
--- I was working with a lot of under privileged kids and teens who ran with the gangs…
--- when we’d do our Bible studies – I’d literally (at times) take guns and knives away from some of the kids who came….
Well-- I told my MOM about this one day….
--(my mom was a pretty spiritual person)-- but—she was not as enthusiastic about this ministry I was involved in –as I was…
--- in fact—she’d often make MOM suggestions…
“Mike—you know I was looking on the map today--- and your school is also very close to farmland in Indiana…. You know—those FARMERS could really use some ministering too….”
But--- I knew this is what God wanted me to be doing…
….. so --- I just had to say to my mom---
“I’ll be very careful…… and God will also protect me…”
Now-- that wasn’t easy to do…. But it was the best way I could honor my mom for all she had done in my life….
n to say to her—“I’m doing exactly what God wants me to do”
Make sense?
Let me address all the moms here….
All Moms:
I realize that what I’m about to say will fly in the face of some of the things our culture is saying right now about moms…
Still I need to say it….
If you’re a woman – and God has chosen to bless you with children----The HIGHEST and BEST vocation for you --- is being a MOM!
Whether you choose to have a career in the marketplace or whether you choose to stay at home---
--Its still the same--- the GREATEST contribution you can make is embracing the mantle of MOTHERHOOD
…and finding your strength in God to be the very BEST MOM you can be to your kids….
And with that in mind – let me just make 3 statements to encourage you today….
1) Be a mom of great faith!
Now it used to be--- that in the family--- if DAD drifted away from the faith--- you could still ALWAYS count on MOM….
…but that’s not the case anymore….
…more and more moms today are stuggling to find the faith to believe in a God that can move mountains if necessary to keep the family on the straight and narrow….
MOM--- you can change this!
Leo Tolstoy wrote in The Lion and the Honeycomb,
“Women who fulfill their vocation hold power even over powerful men; such women mold public opinion and prepare future generations. And so it is they who would hold the power to save people from all our present and impending evils. Yes, women, MOTHERS, in your hands more than in of those of anyone else lies the salvation of the world.”
Be a mom of great faith…. Believe in a GREAT and HOLY God who can do anthing…. For you and your family….
2nd statement:
Realize you’re not going to be perfect.
No one is…. Not even Mary was perfect… she made mistakes…
…and so will you!
In fact – I did a search of the Bible—to find out if there were any exemplary families listed….
Guess what?!!! There’s not ONE…
There’s not even one single family that is portrayed in the Bible as a MODEL for us to live up to and admire ….
Don’t you find that interesting…. With all that the Bible teaches us ABOUT the family….
n that there’s not even ONE model family to look at to SEE how it’s done right….???
Lots of examples in the Bible of how NOT to do it….
You want to know WHY I think this is the case?
Because there are no model families in existence….!!!
Every human family is marked by sin---
We want to believe that there that FAMILY out there that’s pictured in one of Norman Rockwells paintings….
But there’s not….
And that should tell you that YOUR IN PRETTY GOOD COMPANY….
You’re not going to be perfect---- and that’s why God give us His GRACE….
And when we where that covering of GRACE around us like a warm blanket--- your kids will learn that they don’t have to be perfect either…
And when we fall down--- God helps to pick us back up again.
And then my 3rd statement:
3) See obstacles as opportunities for God to work. ..in your life…
Mother Teresa never gave birth physically to any children-- but she sure understood the honorable role of motherhood…
One time she was faced with the question about how she could hope to make an impact of Calcutta’s 3,000 slums with refugees pouring in every day…
She said-- “I do not think the way you think. I do not add up. I only subtract from the total dying.”
She chose to invite God to help her see the world the way He sees it.
She chose to see obstacles as opportunities for God to show his awesome power in and through her life….
Illust: Many of you have met our new kids director Callie Tatum---
--awesome person…. Really enjoy…
The story you are about to watch from her life-- is extremely honest…
… and helps us see how God used what she thought was an obsticle in her life--- and turned it around to be an opportunity for Him to work in her life…
(show video)
(Brief interview with Callie & Darby)
Closing Prayer:
Offering:
