Why Do We Need Mother’s Day?

Date written: May 12th, 2007
Scripture ref: Deuteronomy 5:16

SUBJECT: Mother’s Day

TITLE: Why Do We Need Mother’s Day?

PROPOSITION: We need mother’s day to 1) Celebrate Life, 2) Remember Death, 3) Reinforce Holiness.

Objectives: That each would reflect upon what we do on mother’s day and how doing this can support our ability to be faithful to the Lord.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Read: Deuteronomy 5:16 “Honor thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee; that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.”

2. About the Text:

1) The Bible teaches plainly that we are to honor our father and mother.

2) To honor our father and mother means both to obey them while we are young and to provide for them when they become old.

3) Nevertheless we have set aside one day out of the year to specifically honor and remember our mothers.

4) We may certainly honor our mothers any other day of the year and I hope we do.

5) However, perhaps we can reflect for a moment on the question, “Why do we need mother’s day?”

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

DISCUSSION: We need mother’s day to…

I. Celebrate Life

1. Life began with God in the miracle of creation.

1) Genesis 2:7 says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

2) Man was thus made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

3) Life is a gift from God that we ought not to take for granted.

2. It is through mothers that God chose to perpetuate life through the natural process of procreation.

1) Genesis 3:20 says, “And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”

2) Men certainly have their role in procreation, but the mother bears a special role.

3) 1 Timothy 2:15 says that women “… shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.”

4) What a blessing to know that God has given women the special role of mother to impart the blessing of life upon their children.

3. We celebrate and cherish life through our mothers, but we recognize that there is a life beyond this life.

1) In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”

2) John 3:16 tells us that if we believe on Him we may have eternal life.

3) The truly special mother not only will be concerned about physical life, but spiritual as well.

II. Remember Death

1. As much as we value life, we are all appointed to the day of death as well.

1) Hebrews 9:27 states, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;”

2) God told Adam in Genesis 3:19 “…in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

2. While the Lord tarries, our mothers do not escape this end.

1) There are many here today whose mothers have passed from this life to the next.

2) Mother’s day may remind us of sad, but sober times.

3) There are also, however, the happy times that we experienced with them and their life is complete.

3. We ought not to let these thoughts discourage us, but for us to give appropriate thought to our own end.

1) Psalm 90:10 states, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away.”

2) Psalm 90:12 exhorts, ” So teach us to number our days, That we may get us a heart of wisdom.”

3) We also call to remembrance Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

III. Reinforce Holiness

1. The Bible gives us examples of good mothers.

1) Sarah was a good mother (Genesis 17:15-16).

2) Hannah – 1 Samuel 1 & 2-was a good mother.

3) Elizabeth, John the Baptizer’s mother, was a good mother according to Luke 1:6.

4) Mary, Jesus’ mother was also a good mother.

5) These good mothers provide in the scriptures good examples for us today.

2. There is a need in our society to understand what is a good mother.

1) When we allow the sit-coms to define for us what is a good mother, we have lost our way.

2) Certainly the feminist movement is not going to define for us what is a good mother.

3) Neither is the government going to be able to tell us what a good mother is.

3. The good mother is described for us in the scriptures.

1) Consider Proverbs 31:10-31.

a. She is industrious.

b. She is charitable.

c. She takes care of her husband and children.

d. She even supplements the home’s income.

2) Paul instructs older women (Titus 2:4-5) “that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed:”