For The Love of a Mother

May 13, 2001

1 Kings 3:16:28

 

Rev. Charles S. Mims

 

 

 

1 Kings 3:16 through 1 Kings 3:28 (KJV)
¹⁶Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. ¹⁹And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. ²⁰And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. ²²And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. ²³Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. ²⁴And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ²⁶Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. ²⁷Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. ²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

 

 

You might be thinking that this is an odd choice of passage to use for Mother’s Day.  It is quite a familiar story and often we neglect the familiar stories and miss the significance of them.  This passage teaches about motherhood in a graphic way that no other passage can emulate.

 

We see in the Bible example after example of Godly mothers.  We read about:

 

• Eve – the mother of all.
• Sarah – who waited for so long to have a child and was blessed with her son Issac.
• Naomi – who embodies the concept of the faithful mother – in – law.  Her faithfulness was rewarded, as it was her line that would eventually produce the line of David.
• Hannah – who gave her son Samuel to the Lord even before his birth.
• Elizabeth – the mother of John the Baptist
• Mary – the mother of our Lord

 

And the list could go on, and on, and on as we looked for good examples to uphold the sacred duty of motherhood.  Yet very few of us would put forth these two prostitutes in today’s passage as a fine example of motherhood.  In fact we often use this passage to highlight Solomon’s wisdom, not to comment on mothers.

 

We have neglected some important truths that can be found in this passage, and we often neglect our mothers in the same fashion and miss the significance of a mother’s love.  A Jewish proverb teaches that a child without a mother is like a door without a knob.  Motherhood is important for each of us.

 

Just after the Civil War one woman had a dream to reunite a torn nation and to remember the mothers who lost their sons in the war.  When Anna Jarvis’ mother died, she was determined to make her mother’s dream a reality.  In 1907 Anna Jarvis established the very first Mother’s Day in Grafton, WV and just three short years later 45 states, along with Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico were celebrating this day set aside to remember mothers.  On May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson designated the second Sunday in May to be Mother’s Day.

 

Today we honor mothers by pointing out their qualities. 

 

The first quality of a mother’s love might shock some of you.  There is incontrevertable evidence that there is NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT MOTHER! As caring and loving as many mothers can be, we often expect too much out of them.

 

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded on the wall. In the front room, the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. - He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles and piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?" "Yes" was his incredulous reply. "This is it."

 

Hopefully we aren’t that insensitive towards the women in our lives, but often we are.  No one deserves more care and attention than the mothers in our world. We need to recognize that mothers are people too! 

 

The two women in our story this morning were far from perfect.  They were both prostitutes.  Neither were likely candidates for the coveted Mother of the Year award, yet it was a mother’s love that characterized this whole event.  We need to lighten up on the moms a little.  Learn to laugh with them and have a good time.  Motherhood can be trying, so we need to cut our mothers some slack.

 

A man observed a woman in the grocery store with a three year old girl in her basket. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for cookies and her mother told her no. The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss, and the mother said quietly, "Now Monica, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don't be upset. It won't be long."

Soon they came to the candy aisle, and the little girl began to shout for candy. And when told she couldn't have any, began to cry. The mother said, "There, there, Monica, don't cry--only two more aisles to go, and then we'll be checking out."

When they got to the check-out stand, the little girl immediately began to clamor for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum upon discovering there'd be no gum purchased. The mother patiently said, "Monica, we'll be through this check out stand in 5 minutes and then you can go home and have a nice nap."

The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. "I couldn't help noticing how patient you were with little Monica," he began. Whereupon the mother said, "I'm Monica -- my little girl's name is Tammy."

 

 

 

The second thing we can notice from our story of the dueling prostitutes is that God always has an answer for a mother’s problems.  Motherhood is full of stress. Having watched Samantha being born I can tell you with no reservations that I am glad that I’m not a mother!  The whole experience begins with pain! 

 

Listen to what some children wrote to their mothers for Mother’s Day. Angie, 8 years old, wrote: "Dear Mother, I’m going to make dinner for you on Mother’s Day. It’s going to be a surprise. P.S. I hope you like pizza & popcorn." Robert wrote: "I got you a turtle for Mother’s Day. I hope you like the turtle better than the snake I got you last year." Eileen wrote: "Dear Mother, I wish Mother’s Day wasn’t always on Sunday. It would be better if it were on Monday so we wouldn’t have to go to school." Little Diane wrote: "I hope you like the flowers I got you for Mother’s Day. I picked them myself when Mr. Smith wasn’t looking." And how about this one from Carol? "Dear Mother, Here are two aspirins. Have a happy Mother’s Day!"

 

It’s also stressful.  A mother worries about everything and everyone.  Yet God will give a mother the words she needs to meet any situation that arises  God has wisdom to dispense for every parenting responsibility that will come to pass.  He can teach you what to do and say in any situation.

 

A mother’s life is pretty well mapped out in any case, as this little story shows us:

 

Years Of Age - My Mommy can do anything;

8 Years Of Age - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot

12 Years Of Age - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 Years Of Age - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either

16 Years Of Age - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned

18 Years Of Age - That old woman? She's way out of date

25 Years Of Age - Well, she might know a little bit about it

35 Years Of Age - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion

45 Years Of Age - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it

65 Years Of Age - Wish I could talk it over with Mom

 

One thing that will help a mother carry through is her love.  There is nothing like a Mother’s love! 

 

When life gets rough – Love gives strength.

When life gets tough – love gives power

When life lets you down – love gives encouragement

When life seems empty – love gives meaning

When life gets mundane – love gives enthusiasm

When life seems sad – love gives joy

When life gets confusing – love gives clarity

 

And a mother’s love knows no bounds.  The real mother in the story this morning would rather see her child go to another woman than to be split in half.  Self-sacrifice is one of the hallmarks of a mother’s life. 

 

No one has more of an emotional investment in children, times when children break a mother’s heart, times when the emotional investment returns void, times when they hurt because their children hurt, time when the loss seems greater than the gain.  A woman’s life is often entwined with that of her husband and her children to such a degree that she sacrifices her own wants and desires to maintain the family. 

 

We must honor moms for these sacrifices.  We must honor moms for the giving that they do.  A mother’s love reminds us of a God who is sacrificial and giving.

 

That kind of love should never go unnoticed and unappreciated.  In your bulletin this morning is a questionnaire for you to fill out and place in your Bible as a reminder of what a Godly woman means in your life.  I would encourage you to think about these questions and meditate on what a mother’s love means to you.

 

Finally, some things you can do to remember a Mom’s sacrifice today.

 

1.      Pray for mothers.  Pray for their strength, pray for their wisdom, pray for their passion.

2.      Appreciate them.  A mother’s work is never done, and we should not honor them only on the 2^nd Sunday in May, but every day of our lives.  Make a list of 31 things that your mother or your wife does for you that you are thankful about, then over the next month find a way to thank her specifically for these things.

3.      Love them.   Tell them you love them.  Show them you love them. 

4.      Remember what they have done for you, and return that investment with honor.

 

 

We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy

for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a

Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess

our mother fixed us a dinner that was different than other kids had too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You would think we

were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what

we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for

an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the child Labor

Laws but making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to

cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think

she would lay awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and nothing

but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds, and

life was really tough.

She wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They

had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else

could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids

experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing

others property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. We

never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other

things other kids did.

Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. We knew better

than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults.

We are doing our best to be mean parents just like our mom was. The world

just doesn't have enough mean moms anymore.

(Shared by Steve Heese via Mikey's Funnies http://www.YouthSpecialties.com)

 

 

copyright 2001 by Rev. Charles S. Mims