What a weird passage for a sermon on Mother's Day! It is primarily a passage for elders as Paul addresses the elders from the nearby church in Ephesus. But if you stop and think for a moment, you see that it is not that strange of a text for Mother's Day. This is the only sermon of Paul in the book of Acts in which he speaks to believers. In speaking to the elders of the church, he speaks to all Christians including mothers. I also want to say that, though I'll be applying them to mothers, all the principles that I'll be teaching this morning applies to all Christians.
This week, somebody posted a blog entry by Amy Young regarding Mother's Day (she is not a mother, by the way). In that entry, she made a helpful suggestion to pastors. She encouraged us to recognize the whole spectrum of motherhood. This is what she says:
· To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
· To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
· To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
· To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
· To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don't mean to make this harder than it is.
· To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you
· To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
· To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
· To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
· To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience
· To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst
· To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we thankful for you.
· To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths
· To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
· To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
· To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart
· And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
· This Mother's Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.
I want to focus on verse 35, where Paul quotes Jesus and says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Although Paul lived for several more years after this encounter with the Ephesian elders and may have seen them again, he was convinced he on his way to die in Jerusalem and that these words were the last words he was going to speak to them, 20:25, 37-38. Thinking that you are going to die tends to sober you up and makes you focus on what is most important. Therefore, Paul's expectation that he was about to die intensifies the importance of his words to the brethren.
Let's think, then, of motherhood (and really all of Christianity) as giving or serving.
I. The Statement in v. 35 Is Couched in a Blessing, 32.
A. Paul ends his instructions to us with a benediction.
1. To commend someone is to set before or to place before.
2. In essence Paul is saying, "May you always be found in the presence of the Lord and of his grace as described in his Word."
B. As Paul blesses them, he reminds them of what the Lord said, 35b – this is saying is not found in the gospels.
1. We tend to think that we serve in order to be blessed.
2. Here Paul challenges that way of thinking when he includes serving in the blessing he bestowed on the Ephesian elders.
C. Motherhood is giving (serving) and that in and of itself is a blessing from the Lord.
D. If we think of our calling in life (including motherhood) as a blessing from the Lord, we will be better equipped to face the harder "blessings."
1. Be it the constant diaper changing.
2. Be it sleeplessness.
3. Be it limited social life because of the kids.
4. Be it countless spankings.
E. So, serving/giving is a blessing in and of itself – it is not primarily a means to something else.
II. This Type of Thinking Doesn't Happen unless You Know the Grace of God, 32 – Notice the Blessing Again.
A. God and the Word of his grace will build you up, will equip you to serve others.
B. Putting another before ourselves is not a natural thing for us to do.
1. Because we all have a sinful nature, our natural inclination is to look after ourselves and to see other people, including our kids, as means for us to get what we want.
1) If we take that attitude into parenting, then life will be great when our kids are doing well.
2) But if they are not doing well, then life stinks.
2. This often happens because parents measure their worth by how their kids are doing.
3. Mothers, your worth is not in your kids' behavior or achievements.
4. Your worth is in Jesus Christ.
a. This is only an encouragement to you if you know the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
b. Listen to how Paul view life including motherhood.
Phil 3:7-11 – But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which isthrough faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
c. As you are consumed with Christ and his grace instead of your kids, you will actually be a much better mother because you will be a contented mother.
C. Because biblical motherhood is a grace-based giving of oneself, pride is gone, 18b-19.
"… [M]an can never be rightly framed to obey Christ whose looks are lofty, and whose heart is proud." John Calvin
III. Paul Encourages Us to Give/Serve without the Thought of Reward, 33-35b.
A. The ability to serve is the reward.
B. We go back to the Gospel and see that through it you have been freed to serve – as matter of fact, serving others is a characteristic of eternity.
Rev. 22:3 – And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
IV. How Do We Do This?
A. First of all, you must be more in love with Jesus than you are with your children.
1. As cute as all your children are, they make for lousy idols.
2. What motivated Paul in ministering to the Ephesians for three years was the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 21.
B. Secondly, you must want your children to believe and follow Christ more than you want anything else for them, 22-24, 19-20.
1. Everything else is secondary.
2. School, sports, looks, etc.
C. Thirdly, you rely on the grace of God by being on your knees, 36.
1. Intercede for your children.
2. Bring them before the throne of grace where Jesus sits ready to answer your prayers.
3. Be a Jacob – I will not let you go till you bless my children.
4. The salvation of countless souls can be drawn back to a mother on her knees.
D. Make both the little moments and the big moments about the grace of God, 20.
1. Paul ministered to the Ephesians in the big moments of the gathered services of the church and in the little moments of people's living rooms.
2. The 10,000 little moments of motherhood are moments when the grace of God must be present.
a. Changing diapers.
b. Running a forgotten assignment to school.
c. Helping with homework
E. Do the hard work of speaking what is profitable to your children, 27 (20a).
1. Don't be afraid of saying what need to be said.
2. Don't crowd your life with stuff that is going to keep you from saying what needs to be said.
Conclusion
How thankful we all are for the mothers in our church. We pray the Lord's richest blessings upon you.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2015/05/motherhood-giving-acts-2017-38.html
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