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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 13th May 2007 AMMOTHER'S DAY 2007 Pastor Colin Meadows Luke 2:25-35, 41-49 Ø Mother’s hearts are special! We have heard today the stories of some mums who have shared their own journeys with their children and grand children. Concerning mothers, Abraham Lincoln noted “All that I am and all that I ever hope to be I owe to my mother.” Also heard about grand mums. As Whoopi Goldberg noted “It’s great being a grandmother – you can send those kids home! There is something very special with a mother’s relationship with her child that the rest of us just don’t understand. We see that in the life of our Saviour and his mother too. Mary had a deep awareness of who her son was and what he was designed to do. As we look to the scriptures concerning the birth and early days of our Lord, it is Mary’s heart that is all important. Let me explain! Ø A mother’s heart stores up the joys So much of what Mary experienced in her relationship with her son brought her incredible joy. Luke 1:28 “The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’” God himself would be with Mary. What joy! The son she would have was to be special. He would be the one who would be exalted above all others. Luke 1:31-32 “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him he name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Mary was thus to be the mother of a very special child. Not only would her son be exalted but she would be empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you.’” What was Mary’s response to all these joyous truths? Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” We heard today from mums who have treasured up so many memories in their hearts. Those special experiences that only a mother could understand. Stored up for the future. We are forgetful people so it is important to store up the wonderful things that God has done for us. With the joys however would also come the challenges. Ø A mother’s heart faces the challenges that come! It was not all joyous for Mary. With the wonderful blessings and great promises came right from the beginning the challenging situations she had to deal with. Pain was about to come into Mary’s life. Speaking to Mary, Simeon made the following challenging statement concerning the baby Jesus: Luke 2:34 “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.” Mary’s son would cause much upheaval in the family as well as in the community. The end result would be like a sword piercing her own soul, as well as that of her son. When a child suffers, so does its mother. The sufferings of Christ would bring immeasurable pain into Mary’s life. We focus often on the sufferings of Christ, and rightly so. This morning I wished us to stop and meditate on how much Mary suffered as well. We see the beginnings of this suffering later in the same chapter. The family visits the temple in Jerusalem on their yearly pilgrimage. It is only on the way home that they discover that Jesus was not with them. They would have traveled as an extended family so it was not surprising that they missed him. Hastening back they found Jesus in an amazing situation, sitting with the elders and asking questions. Mary’s response reflects that of a concerned mother: Luke 2:48 “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have be anxiously searching for you.’ Jesus explained that he was in the right place, his Father’s place, so why had they been searching for him? Already the pain of future separation was coming and Mary just didn’t understand. Luke 2:50 “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” The pain of separation of a child from the mother is so hard to understand. The close bond was changing and there was nothing Mary could do to change that. What was her response? She responded to the challenges of motherhood in the same way that she did to the joys: Luke 2:51 “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” The key to why mums are so special I feel is to do with their hearts. Their hearts are so big! Ø A mother’s heart needs to be big! Mums’ hearts need to be so big for there is so much that has to be stored there! There needs to be space for the joys that flow in, those amazing memories, the smiles, the special gifts, words spoken, etc. But there also has to be space for the challenges, the strong words said to wayward children, hearing and seeing things that bring pain, then the slow separation as the child goes on their own journey into the world. Later Mary’s heart was to be torn apart as the Easter events unfolded. In a poem about mothers, Ruth Bell Graham says at one point: ‘Had I been Mary, Oh, had I been she, I would have cried, As never a mother cried, ‘Anything, O God, Anything… but crucified.’” Mary’s heart was torn by the pain of the crucifixion of her son. But that pain was washed away on resurrection morning when Jesus rose from the grave! Yes, mums’ hearts have to be so big so that they can store up the joys and challenges! Let us today give thanks to God for our mums and grand mums, acknowledging all that they have done to make us what we are today. In response to this, may we in God’s strength seek to live lives that honour what they have done and so bring glory to God. |