She Raised You Up

INTRO.- Today we are here to worship the Lord and honor our mothers.  Not only are we commanded to honor our mothers; it’s also the sensible and loving thing to do.  Many of us here today would love to still have our mothers living, so we could honor them in person as we remember them and love them.

ILL.- A six-year-old boy, separated from his mother in a supermarket, began to walk around the store yelling out: “Martha! Martha! Martha!”

That was his mother’s name, and she came running to him quickly.  “But, honey,” she admonished, “you shouldn’t call me ‘Martha’, I’m ‘Mother’ to you.”  “Yes, I know,” he answered, “but this store is full of mothers.”

Our world is full of mothers, but we have only one mother who is special.  Should be.  Must always be.  There is no one like our mothers.  And no one can take the place of our mothers.

ILL.- Someone wrote: You’ve Turned into A Mom When:

- You automatically double-knot everything you tie.

- You find yourself humming the Barney song as you do the dishes.

- You hear a baby cry in the grocery store, and you start to gently sway back and forth, back and forth.  However, your children are either at school or long gone!

- You actually start to like the smell of strained carrots mixed with applesauce.

- You spend half an hour searching for your sunglasses only to have your teenager say, "Mom, why don’t you wear the ones you pushed up on your head?"

- You are out for a nice romantic meal with your husband, enjoying some real adult conversation, when suddenly you realize that you’ve reached over and started to cut up his steak!

Things Our Mothers Taught Us

- My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. And, if I did the job, but didn’t do it right, or did it halfway, I was invited to do it all over again.

"If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside.  I just finished cleaning."

- My mother taught me about RELIGION.

"You better pray that stain will come out of the carpet."

- My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.

"If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

- My mother taught me LOGIC.

"Because I said so, that’s why."

- My mother taught me FORESIGHT.

"Make sure you wear clean underwear; in case you’re in an accident."

- My mother taught me IRONY.

"Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about."

- My mother taught me about STAMINA.

"You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

- My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

- My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.

"Stop acting like your father!"

- My mother taught me about ENVY.

"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do."

- My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

Just wait until we get home; or... even more of a threat... just wait till your father gets home.

- My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.

"If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, the wind will change and you will stay like that."

- My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.

"If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up."

- My mother taught me GENETICS.

"You act just like your father."

- My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

"Shut that door behind you.  Do you think you were born in a barn?"

- My mother taught me WISDOM.

"When you get to be my age, you’ll understand."

- My mother taught me about JUSTICE.

"One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

On Mother’s Day we can’t say enough good things about our mothers, but we’ll try. 

I want to share briefly three thoughts about our Mothers:

1- Her hands work

2- Her mouth speaks

3- Her heart loves

I. HER HANDS WORK

ILL.- A boy got his first job.  As he was boasting about the amount of work he did, he said, "I get up at 5 a.m. and have my breakfast."  He was asked, "Does anyone else get up too?" He replied, "Oh yes, mother gets up and fixes my breakfast and then fixes dad’s breakfast."

"And what about your dinner?" The boy said, "Oh, mother fixes that too."

"Does your mother have the afternoon to herself?"  The boy replied, "No, mama cleans the house, looks after the other children, and then gets supper for me and dad when we come home.  Then we watch TV before we go to bed."

"What about your mother?  What does she do?"  The boy replied, "Mama washes some clothes and irons the rest of the evening."

"Do you get paid?"  "Of course, Dad and I get paid."

"And what about your mother, does she get paid too?"

The boy replied, "MOTHER, GET PAID?!  MOTHERS DON’T GET PAID.  SHE DON’T DO NO WORK."

If anyone here today believes that moms don’t do any work, I would suggest that you’d be better off just to  keep your mouth shut.

In Prov. 31, we see that mothers do all kinds of work.

- She sews v. 13, 19, 22 "She selects wool...and works with eager hands."

- She shops v. 14 "bringing her food from afar."

- She cooks v. 15 "She provides food for her family..."

- She gardens v. 16 "She plants a vineyard..."

Our text also says that mothers v. 15  - get up while it is still dark" to prepare food.  And v. 18 "her lamp does not go out at night."

WHAT’S THAT OLD SAYING?  "Man works from sun to sun, but woman’s work is never done."

v. 27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."  She isn’t lazy.

I heard a preacher say once that “When my twin sister and I were born in 1944 Mom already had a three-year-old boy.  I think all three of us were in diapers.  No Pampers either.  None of the modern appliances that are available today.  Some of you know about those days.  Nothing fancy in our homes.  No extras.  But mom worked hard, cooked meals, she cleaned house, washed clothes, ironed clothes. And, by the way, she taught her daughters (and her sons) how to do those things too.

II. HER MOUTH SPEAKS

Prov. 31:26 "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."

ILL.- When Preacher John Wesley was a student at Oxford University, he was shocked by the amount of drinking being done by the students. (Wonder what he would think about college students today?)

After writing to his mother, Susanna Wesley, for her counsel, he received the following words: "My dear son: remember that anything which increases the authority of the body over the mind is an evil thing."  Great instruction!  And I’m sure that Susanna Wesley said a lot of other good words of wisdom to her children.

ILL.- A London editor submitted to Winston Churchill for his approval a list of all those who had been Churchill’s teachers. Churchill returned the list with this comment: “You have omitted to mention the greatest of my teachers—my Mother.”

ILL.- Preacher G. Campbell Morgan had four sons and they all became ministers of the gospel.  At a family reunion, a friend asked one of the sons, "Which Morgan is the greatest preacher?"  While that son looked at his father, he replied, "MOTHER."

Mother was the greatest preacher.  Many mothers have done a lot of preaching to their children, whether they considered it preaching or not.

ILL.- I don’t remember much of what mom said to me when I was a kid, sad to say.  But I’m sure mom said plenty to me!  One threat was that if a bad word was said by us, the filth of that word would be washed out by a soap bath in the mouth.   

III. HER HEART LOVES

Prov. 31:11-12 "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

If a husband has full or complete confidence in his wife, then you know that she is a woman who loves her man.

ILL.- After 60 years of a couple’s marriage the wife died. The husband had this epitaph engraved on her tombstone: "SHE ALWAYS MADE HOME HAPPY."  That’s love.

ILL.- A grandmother was telling her granddaughter goodnight when the little girl said, "Mommy and Daddy are entertaining some very important people downstairs."

"You’re right," grandma agreed, "BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

"JUST LISTEN," the little granddaughter said, "MOMMY IS LAUGHING AT ALL OF DADDY’S JOKES."

Brethren, where there is a lot of laughter in a home, you just know that something good is happening in that home!  AND, OF COURSE, THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE LAUGHTER IN THE HOME.

Prov. 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine..."  When there is a lot of laughter in a home, someone is putting out some good medicine.  AND IT ALSO SHOWS A LOT OF LOVE.

ILL.- A teacher at school put this question to a boy in math class, "James, suppose your mother made a cherry pie, and there were ten of you at the table: your mother and father and eight children.  How much of the pie would you get?"

"A ninth," was his answer.  "No, no, James. Now pay attention. There are ten of you in the home.  “Don’t you know your fractions?"  "Yes, mam," he replied, "I know my fractions, but I know my mother even better, AND SHE’D SAY THAT SHE DIDN’T WANT ANY PIE."

The unselfishness of a mother shows a heart of love for her family.  And all of us can remember many unselfish acts of devotion our mamas made to our homes.

From an unknown son:   ILL.- Some years ago while my mother was still living at her home in Webb City, MO, but was stricken with Parkinson Disease I was there alone visiting her for a few days.  I was sitting on her couch, and she was in her recliner.  Suddenly, I started crying over some heavy burden in my life.  The tears poured and I glanced over to look at mother, and she was trying hard to get out of her chair.  I said, “Mother, what are you doing?”  She said, “I’m coming over there to love you.”

Thank you, mom, for loving your grown son who was burdened.  Thank you, mom, for loving me more than I loved you.

CONCLUSION-------------------------------

ILL.- Thomas Edison once said, “I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life.  The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I would never likely have become an inventor.  I was always a careless boy, and with a mother of different mental caliber, I should have turned out badly.  But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness, were potent powers to keep me in the right path.  My mother was the making of me.  The memory of her will always be a blessing to me.”

What a loving tribute to a blessed mother.

Prov. 31:28 “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”