(5/2022) Mother’s Day is really a day that ought to be celebrated every day. In fact, for the follower of Jesus, even though it’s not a biblical holiday, from a biblical perspective it’s a day of extreme importance. The Lord who said, "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself" also said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" which is the first commandment with a promise "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth" (Mark 12:30-31). And so, to be a mother is an extremely important job, and a great responsibility, one from which there is no retirement, often no thanks or acknowledgment, but it is essential and important nonetheless.

William Ross Wallace first published his poem praising motherhood in 1865 from which we have coined the proverb, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." And that is so true, it is more than just a complement, it is an acknowledgment, and a foundational understanding that mothers are a preeminent force, a catalyst for change in the world. And so, it is on this special day that we have the opportunity to honor mothers in a culture that has greatly trivialized motherhood.

I personally consider myself to be extremely blessed to have been raised by both a mother and father, as well as to know my maternal grandmother, my paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. As a child I remember gathering around the kitchen table at my great-grandmother’s house enjoying cookies and Coca-Cola out of those long-forgotten glass bottles. My childhood was rich with memories of spending summers at the beach with both of my grandparents. And today my heart is filled with countless memories of my own mother who poured into me and my brothers and sisters to make us who we are today. Even though I have always loved my mother, I appreciate her even more today, because of the many things she taught me and the values she instilled in me, most of which didn’t fully awaken until I was raising teenagers of my own.

Even though I am not yet 60 years old, I have known mothers from an era when they had no voice, power, or influence, to a time today when a woman can be a viable candidate for president. I have had the privilege of having an amazing mother, mother-in-law, as well as being on the front lines to see my own wife model the gift of motherhood in my own home. The Lord has given me the opportunity to see mothering from a lot of different perspectives and I have a deep appreciation for what it means to be a mother. Most recently I have had the honor to experience my eldest daughter become a mother herself and so the memories of my great-grandmother have now been surpassed by the privilege of seeing my own daughter mothering my grandson Carter.

And yet, I recognize as we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, that we live in a day when the world is continually redefining what it looks like to be a mother. Not to mention the fact that as we celebrate Mother’s Day it comes with a smorgasbord of emotions, and so for many it can be a hard day because everybody’s experience with motherhood isn’t the same. For some of us Mother’s Day is a reminder of the mother we wish we had, the mother that we lost, and even those who desperately want to be mothers, but their hearts and bodies are not in agreement. It’s not the same day for everybody, and yet all these feelings converge on this one-day because we are either celebrating, remembering, or wishing we had what so many other people take for granted.

In many ways, Mother’s Day is a reflection of everything right and everything that is wrong in our society, but for the most part it’s a celebration of heroes. Mothers who are raising their children alone, working full time and mothering part-time, having to be both father and mother, doing whatever they have to do to make things work out for their children. Mothers are a constant stabilizing force, at her best she holds the house together, keeps everybody secrets, carries everybody’s burdens, holds things together and makes it work even when it doesn’t work. Mothers are a blessing, courageous enough to go to the first, second, and third trimester. Some mothers are courageous enough to birth their baby in less than desirable situations and against all odds. Strong enough to push that child from one world into another, simply because they were determined enough to choose life. And so, to all mothers, married or not, who made the choice to have your baby, just the fact that you brought that child into the world ought to earn you some respect, because if you didn’t do what you did, we wouldn’t be here today.

Mothers are the gateway into this world, so highly valued that when God got ready to come into the earth he chose a mother, a young woman named Mary, and said I’m going to come through you. She was courageous enough, in spite of the ridicule and mockery of her society to say, "I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38). She was strong enough to make this decision and courageous enough to carry it out even though it was said, "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" (Luke 2:34-35).

The mother of Jesus raised him up and when she had recognized that she had done all she could do, she let him go. That takes a lot of courage to recognize your own limitations, knowing that you are an instrumental part of the plan, but you are not the whole plan, and so Mary started it and then she released him into the hands of God. She was confident that he who began a good work in her would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). That is important for all mothers, because you’ve got to know when to back up and take your hands off the situation. Sometimes the wisest thing a good mother can do is recognize when enough is enough and turn their child over to God.

Certainly, mothers know a lot, definitely more than their children think, but they don’t know the whole story. They don’t know what is hidden in that child, they don’t know who they will become, but they are faithful when everybody else runs away. It wasn’t until I was 40 or 50 years old that I began to appreciate all that my mother prepared me to deal with. It takes some life experience before you recognize all that your mother did to get you ready to be strong enough and tough enough to withstand the loneliness, the heartbreak, and the misfortunes of life. Today I realize how God used my mother to get me here, she didn’t understand how, she didn’t know who I would become, but she knew that God had a plan for my life. She believed in me and prayed for me because she knew that God would get me where he was trying to get me. That’s why even though it’s Mother’s Day, we’ve got to give God all the glory, because it was all God. Happy Mother’s Day!

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott