INTRODUCTION
Today is Mother’s Day. Hats off to all you moms! Mother’s day officially began with a proclamation by President Wilson in 1915 when he set aside the second Sunday in May to honor moms. The day is celebrated in some form in virtually every country in the world. It has been celebrated for thousand of years among all nations.
We have a special bond with our moms. They housed and nourished us for nine months.
They love, nurture, care for, protect, teach, provide, and lead. Their self-sacrifice is legendary. We followed them around, learned language from them and a sense of right and wrong.
Someone once remarked that since God couldn’t be everywhere, he made mothers.
It is fascinating how moms have the uncanny ability to track us better than bloodhounds. “Billy, I told you not to stop for candy after school, didn’t I?” How did she know? “Frank, you’re too quiet in there. What are you up to?” “Mary, why didn’t you eat the lunch I sent with you?” My mother always seemed to have this 6th sense, psyching me out and uncannily knowing my every move. There’s just not escape from the intuition of a mom! The CIA could benefit from it.
Moms are so important that anything that nurtures or is intimately related to everyday life gets the title “mother”: Mother nature, mother tongue, mother earth, the mother lode, the mother ship, mother country, mother love and so forth.
And even though mothers hold their children's hands for such a short while, they hold their hearts forever. They have a tremendous lifelong influence over our development and our lives.
"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Raised in the Faith
As we look at our text for today, the Apostle Paul greets Timothy who is preparing for the work of the ministry. Timothy is younger than Paul. He is a very gifted individual with a strong faith and a good aptitude for doing the work of a pastor.
Paul says to him, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
Paul reminds Timothy that whatever he would become, be or do for the Lord, that he should remember the faith of his mother and grandmother. The Holy Spirit had worked through these women in raising Timothy in the one true faith.
Today is also Pentecost Sunday. I had a problem
trying to tie this to Mothers’ Day, but there is a wonderful connection.
Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit –
the Spirit given to empower God’s people to tell others about Jesus. Before the
Spirit was given on Pentecost the apostles were timid men hiding behind closed
doors, fearful for their lives. But when they received the Spirit on Pentecost
those timid men become bold witnesses to Jesus Christ---to the point of being
willing to die for him. The tongues of fire that rested on them were symbols of
how they would use their tongues to witness to what God had done in Jesus
Christ. The sound of the wind was the sign that the Sprit had been given. And
they were filled with the Holy Spirit to tell others about the “mighty works
of God.” What mighty works of God? What God had done in Jesus
Christ…including his crucifixion and raising him from the dead. Some who heard
their message mocked them saying that “they are filled with new wine.”
Unbelief always laughs at the crucifixion and the resurrection. But not all
those who heard thought the apostles were crazy. Some believed. Some
“called on the name of the Lord” and they also received the Holy Spirit in
the waters of baptism where all their sins were forgiven as we read later in
Acts two-- "repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Only
Christians can tell others about Jesus Christ. This is the mission of the
Christian church as Jesus said: “go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Christian moms are the first missionaries in our lives. They bring us the nurturing word of God which fills us with the Holy Spirit and gives us power to face life throughout life. They bring us to baptism for the forgiving power of God.
Like so many people depicted in the Scriptures, we know very little about Timothy. It is interesting that his name means, “honoring God” probably reflecting the faith of his mother in naming him.
He was a close companion of Paul for 17 years until the apostle’s death. Paul called him his “dear and faithful child in the Lord.” Timothy died a martyr 30 years after Paul’s death. We know that he was shy and had many ailments (1 Tim. 5:23).
His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were Jewish. His father was Greek and probably hated Christianity and would probably have forbidden any Jewish or Christian ceremony.
Despite the odds against him, Timothy was instructed by Eunice and Lois and became a faithful Christian and later an effective pastor. "Go ye therefore" begins with our children.
Not much is known about either woman. This one verse in II Timothy is the only place they are mentioned in the Scriptures.
Lois had to be one incredible woman. She saw to it that her daughter Eunice had been brought up in the faith. And when Timothy was born, he had the resource of these two faithful women to instruct him.
This passage teaches us that, first off that, instruction in the faith has its roots in the home. The faith of a parent is reflected in the child. Proverbs 22:5 states: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Luther said: “Give me a child until he is 5 and he is mine forever.” What a sad commentary on our age that faith and Christian instruction are neglected even in so-called Christian homes.
Secondly, a child will reflect his parents’ faith and practice. If going to church is never a top priority, when other things are allowed to crowd out and replace God in their lives, when the faith isn’t lived out in the lives of those in the home, then you can bet that God will not be a top priority in the life of the child.
Go ye therefore and teach… beginning at home.
II Timothy 3 we read: 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those (i.e. Eunice and Lois) from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
During his life, Timothy saw both sides of things: the pagan and the Christian world. Through his father, an unbelieving Greek, he saw the world which had been tainted by sin, lust and greed. He also knew that sin had infected and influenced his own life.
But Timothy had two very faithful women through whom the Holy Spirit worked. They instructed Timothy in the Holy Scriptures, through which he learned about his Savior Jesus Christ. Timothy knew that Jesus was the answer to life’s questions and problems. He knew that as a sinful human being, he could come to his Savior in faith and know that he would find love and acceptance.
Raised in the faith Timothy was taught that Jesus had made him wise for salvation through the Scriptures. This he knew from infancy, from the time he was a baby in arms, from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. From them he learned about God’s love and acceptance. This was a message he would share with the world in his ministry.
This was the gift of God through the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that was given at Pentecost. The same spirit that is given to each of us daily.
The faith that Eunice and Lois shared with Timothy is that reflected in Revelations 21 where the church is described as the bride of the Lamb, Christ and as the holy city Jerusalem. We, together with Lois and Eunice and Timothy and all believers, alive and dead, make up that church. Like a mother, the church fosters us, leads us, protects us through the Lamb, Christ.
That church preached by Paul and taught faithfully by Eunice and Lois, is adorned with children, true believers, by Christ, who “loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Like a hen gathering her chicks, Christ protects his church from her enemies and gathers the saints to safety: Listen to John 16:33, “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
By adorning our mother, we reflect God’s glory. We reflect Christ’s love who sacrificed himself for us, his church. We share that sacrifice, because, Romans 6:4. 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
We reflect God’s glory through the instruction from our mothers and teachers. Daniel 12:3 “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” Philippians 2:15: so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
That light that Eunice and Lois passed on to Timothy is the true glory of the world. It is the glory of the resurrected Christ that shines in each and every on of us. It is a light that has been given to us through Christian training so early on by our mothers.
Conclusion
A mother’s greatest adornment is to see her children faithfully follow in the paths of the redeemed. Like precious jewels, they reflect the glory of Christ and their children rereflect that wonder of salvation to their children.
“Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.” 1 Corinthians 13:7
But in our world that is filled with uncertainty concerning the purpose and identity of mothers, one thing is certain: the devoted love a Christian mother has for her children. She nurtures them, guiding them with the eternal Word of God. She demonstrates her love by her devotion to her husband in the same way that the church directs all members to our Savior Jesus Christ. This Mother’s Day let’s show our appreciation for the dedication our wives AND MOTHERS have shown towards us and towards their children. They lead them into the paths of righteousness and faith through their Christian example. Let us pray that all our wives and mothers may continue to be role models who give selflessly. Their example reflects Christ’s suffering and care for us, his bride, the Church. He presents us to God without spot or wrinkle for our forgiveness now, a better life of sharing and caring now and a glorious life to come in eternity.
The last verse of our text is applicable to mothers as well as all: T7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” That’s what it takes to raise faithful Christian children!
As we remember the tongues of flame and rushing wind on Pentecost, we are reminded of the tongues given us to proclaim the Gospel and the spirit to do it. Good Christian mother’s are the source of our tongue and mission through the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel of forgiveness, love, peace and life everlasting of Christ through in our daily lives.
They are a most precious gift of God indeed. They deserve our greatest admiration and our utmost praise. Happy Mother’s Day, ladies. Amen.
And now may the gifts of the Holy Spirit spur us on to ever more fervent love for our Lord and service to Him and our fellow man until His kingdom comes in glory. Amen.