Dear Father in Heaven. Thanks for carrying me forth these last two days. Thanks for all that You do for all of us. Thanks for family and friends, and thanks for the rain we are receiving. And Lord, thanks for trusting me to do work for You. I love You, dear Jesus. I love You. Now, dear Father in Heaven, if You would be so kind to keep blessing this line and if You would supply me with a message today, I would sure appreciate it. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Good Friday morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Sorry about Wednesday and Thursday. I just plain drew a blank, which to me is God telling me I was out there on my own. So today I go forth again waiting upon the Lord, and once again the Lord has delivered. As you know, this coming Sunday is Mothers Day. A few years ago I wrote a message under the same title. This is not the same message, but the gift to me is still the same. I still think, and it is my opinion, of course, that Jesus was the best gift given to us by God, and mothers were the next in line. Without a good mother, where would we be today? So folks, let's get started. And for all you mothers on the line, Happy Mothers Day, and yes, God has trusted you to be a GOOD mother.
"MOTHERS" - God's Second Greatest Gift.
Genesis 2:22 - Then The Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. 23 The man said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken out of man." (NIV)
I personally feel that the greatest gift God ever gave us was His Son Jesus and Jesus gave us His life.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
I also feel that the second greatest gift given by God was mothers. This coming Sunday is Mothers Day and today I am going to look at some of the mothers from the Bible. No place better to start than with Eve, the very first mamma.
When God created Heaven and Earth He also created the animals, the birds and also the creatures of the sea and of course He made them male and female so they could increase in numbers. When He made Adam, the first man, Adam was made from dirt, and then God noticed that man needed a mate, so He put Adam into a deep sleep, took a rib from Him, closed up the wound and made a woman, named Eve. Eve became the very first mother. Why would I think that out of all the things that God gave us that women would be the second greatest gift? After all, God gave us all those things in creation, even man. God gave us air, water, food, and of course so many other things, including our beloved pets. So why would I say mothers? I mean Eve even picked that fruit from the tree and had Adam eat some of it. "Adam was as guilty as Eve."
The reason I picked mothers as the second greatest gift was in part the way my mamma treated me. Also all the pain a mother must go through just to become a mother. If man had to bear the child, there would have only been one child, and it would have ended. Tomorrow I am going to tell you about more mothers from the Bible and a little bit about my dear late mamma.
Genesis 7:1 - The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation." (NIV)
The next woman I picked today for my next choice of a great mother, I do not even know her name. Her husband might have called her "Honey Bun" or "Sweetie Pie" or just Dear. Her sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, more than likely called her "mother." Maybe her middle son would call her some cute little names, for after all, he was a "Ham." (Stop it, Dan, just stop it.) Let me just call her in all respect "Mrs. Noah," for she was the wife of Noah.
While the Bible tells us that God found favor in Noah, God must have also found favor in Noah's family. I think God fully understands that if He really needs a great man and that man is married, behind that man there is a good woman. The same would go for the sons of Noah and their wives.
I want you to think about this. Noah and the boys built this very big ark, this really big boat and they had to build it just as God wanted it, any mistakes or shortcuts might cause the boat to sink. Think about all the things we get today that are faulty because people did not follow the rules to build it and/or just took shortcuts. Shortcuts on building materials and poor workmanship. Think about all the recalls of cars and trucks and other things, even your toaster in the kitchen. While all of us someday will be recalled by our maker, think of what might have happened if shortcuts had been taken by Noah and his family, for sure God trusted all of them and the Noah family answered the call.
But let's get back to Mrs. Noah. I love animals, and I know our very few animals cause us a lot of daily work, and I mean a lot of daily work, and it is worth it. But think of it, Noah gets this assignment from God and Mrs. Noah gets to help with building an ark and then cleaning up after all those animals. Think about it, folks, things that eat, well, things that eat "go" and with just eight people on the ark, Noah and Mrs. Noah and their boys and their wives, they would all need to work together.
Exodus 20:12 - Honor your father and your MOTHER so that you may live long on the land the Lord your God is giving you. (NIV) The Fifth Commandment
I want to talk to you about some mothers, some really great mothers, some who have never had children. So you are saying, "are you nuts, Pastor Dan, mothers who never had children?" Okay, being nuts? Well, sometimes, but not this time. Let me talk about one mother who never had a child of her own. Her name is "Mother Teresa." While she is home now with our Lord Jesus and she is a Saint and has been for a long, long time, as you become a Saint when you give yourself to Jesus. Anyway, this lovely little nun did so much for so many people, and while I do not know what all she did, I know she helped feed the hungry, give and get medical help for people, her whole life was to live for the Lord and receive assignments from Him. There are also a lot of others who, by their religion, have been given the title of "Mother" even though they were not married and never had children of their own.
When I wrote on this subject a few years ago, I checked with a dear friend, Sharon Ogden, on this subject. I will give you here reply later in the message.
We in Carry The Light Ministries had the pleasure of singing at the going home celebration for a dear black lady who was respectfully called "Mother Brown" by her church. We in Carry The Light also called her by that name, as did all who knew her at Dauphin Manor where she lived out her last few years. She passed several years ago at 103. I don't know how a nun in the Catholic Church gets the title of "Mother" but I promise I will find out and get back to you on that one.
Now let me talk about some other "mothers" who may or may not have been a birth mother. Let me start with "stepmothers". You know often we hear of the awful stepmothers, but let me tell you about a stepmother that I know very, very well. Her name is Dolores Lehman, and while she is the birth mother of Mark Bradshaw and Matthew Lehman, she is also the stepmother of my four children, Glenn, Keith, Danelle, and Leann, and I know that all six of the kids love her dearly. While Dolores had given birth to two children, some stepmothers, good, wonderful mothers, have taken over families and had never given birth herself.
We also have foster mothers, and this might be one of the hardest kind of mother to be. While many foster mothers have their birth children, these wonderful mothers take in other children, sometimes very wayward children, and raise them as their own. The hard part is when children are put into foster homes because of problems in a birth home and when those problems get made right, the foster mother must return the children. Often times though a foster mother will become one of the next kind of mothers I want to tell you about.
Adoptive Mothers. These are mothers who have adopted children, some because they cannot have their own children because of health reasons or even personal reasons. Maybe the problem is with a husband. Adoptive mothers might already have birth children and also have fallen in love with other children. Adoptive mothers might also be women who have had foster children who adopt them so they would not lose them.
Then there is the "dad" who winds up as a single parent and must be both dad and mother to his children.
We also have mothers-in-law. You know, the mother of your spouse. I still love my mother-in-law from my first marriage, her name is Helen Witmer, and she is a wonderful lady.
We also have mothers who are now also grandmothers and great-grandmothers and even great, great-grandmothers.
Now there is one other type mother for me. You see, my mother died when I was young, I never had a stepmother, so I picked a really nice lady, whom I have known for a long, long time and I adopted her as my mother. Her name is Virginia Harman.
Sometimes sisters and even brothers have had to step in, even at a young age, and be a mother to younger brothers and sisters.
Let's look at that scripture for today. A commandment from God to honor your father and MOTHER, and if you do, you will live long in this land.
Exodus 2:2 - She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen. 5 Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened the basket and saw the baby. He was crying and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said. 7 er asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" 8 "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water." (NIV)
Today I picked this scripture and these two women, both of whom were mothers to the same person, Moses. One mother, the birth mother, was willing to see her son be rescued by another person, because at that time all baby boys were being killed. This was indeed a special love to save her child. The daughter of the one who issued the killing order got the child and well, you have read the rest of the story above. How about that for God working things out?
A mother who delivers a baby is special, any mother, however, some make a choice that the child would be better off if someone would raise that baby for whatever reason. They give the child up for adoption. A mother who gives the baby up, over having it MURDERED BY ABORTION is a good mother. A mother who has an abortion is involved with murder. (However, if any of you have done this, go to God now and ask forgiveness as Jesus is in that business.) For whatever reason a mother, maybe, because she is single and cannot afford a child, or maybe she is involved in drugs, or maybe even going to jail, but for whatever reason, a mother has the child and then seeks safety for the child in the hands of someone who is screened to get the child, it is a good thing. Yes, we would love to see all mothers raise the child right and in line with Jesus. We know it does not always happen, but if you pray and work closely with God, He will work it out. Example ... Moses ...
Luke 1:26 - In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God! 31 You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus." (NIV)
First, let me back up a tad and update you on the term "Mother" used by the Catholic Church. Sharon Ogden contacted me and left me with this statement. "The term 'Mother' is normally used as the head nun of a convent or order as in 'Mother Teresa'". (Thanks, Sharon.) Not being Catholic, I wanted to get it right for all who read, out of respect for our many Catholic readers on this line.
Okay, for my final choice, and all of you knew who it really would be, right? Yes, the Virgin Mary and the Mother of our Lord Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and might I say it was and is to this day, the only virgin birth. Think what it must be like as a young girl, a teenager who is going to carry in her womb the one who will be born in a barn and grow up to save all of us, including His very own mother.
Why not take time today to curl up with a good book, your Bible, and read the Christmas story again, read up on Mary?
Now a bit about this Mother I called Mamma.
I just need to talk to you about a lady who just loved me with all her heart. She was Sara Margaret Kimmel Lehman, and she was my mamma. I guess my memory of her goes back to when I was in elementary school. I remember how hard my mamma worked. You see, pop and mom were both school teachers and pop taught out of town, so mom sort of raised my brother and me by herself al lweek as dad stayed out of town, coming home only on weekends. At the time, mom taught at a daycare and would leave for work as I would leave for school. I had about a mile to walk one way and we did that four times a day for we came home for lunch. However, my mamma worked, so each week she would stop at a small store near the school and ask the owner to look out for me. She would pay in advance for a cup of soup and a hotdog and leave five cents extra for me to get candy. You might think back then that she would stay home so I could go home for lunch, but pop, being a teacher, then made very little. After school in the evening I would get home ahead of mom and find the key to the house in the milk box and it would be shortly after that mom would get home. Then she would start dinner, do the washing (it was not automatic back then.) She would wash one evening, hang the clothes to dry in the basement, and the next night take them down and sprinkle them and roll them and iron them the next day. Yes, about three evenings doing the wash. She also took in washing and ironing to help pay the bills. Mom also always had a snack ready for me to eat when I got home from school. One afternoon I got home and made myself a sandwich of homemade ham spread. I toasted the bread on that old toaster, one side at a time, put some mustard on the toast and piled it high with that ham spread. When mom got home she went to feed the dog and asked, Danny, did you feed Mickey? No, mom, I did not, I answered. Then I wonder what happened to the dog food I opened yesterday and had in a dish in the fridge, she asked. Gosh, I just had a dog food sandwich. (Been barking ever since.) It was good for a laugh, or it was for her. Yes, I had a good mother, she worked hard, really hard, and she loved my brother and me. There was nothing she would not do for us. She made most of our clothes, she made our coats and pants we wore to church and Sunday School, and she made sure we went. She was great. One January day, and I will never forget it, I came home after school driving my old hot rod Ford and she said no work today. I said no, the boss gave me the evening off. (I worked at a service station.) She said good, how would you like to drive my car and take me downtown (Harrisburg, PA) to the Green Stamp store? (You remember collecting those stamps, right? Anyway, I jumped at the chance, for I just love to drive. So I got behind the wheel of her old Buick and off we went. As we neared downtown, a really big old Buick, yes, another Buick, was coming at me on the wrong side of the road. Crash, we were hit head on, and my mamma went head first into the windshield, smashing it into what seemed like a lot of pieces even though they did not come apart. I was getting out of the car and could see she was hurt really badly. I went to the other side to help her and the man that hit us was laughing at her, as he was drunk as drunk could be. He laughed at my beloved Mamma who was sitting in her seat with blood running down her face. Well, I drew back to hit him when a policeman walked up behind me and caught my arm. Son, I will take care of him, I saw the accident. The man was arrested for disorderly conduct, not drunk driving. He had no insurance, so pop had to pay all the bills. Mom passed away that December, a brain tumor, they said. Most of the time between those dates she was just lying in a coma in the hospital, until one night I went in and she was awake sitting in a chair. She said, I love you, son. I called my brother at his work and he went to see her, and she told him the same. I love you, son. She died that night. As I relate this story right now, tears are rolling down my face, for I know my mother is with Jesus, she loved my brother and me, but she loved Jesus even more. The older I get the nearer I get to seeing her again. Now I don't want to go yet, but I sure am starting to get excited about seeing my mamma, and seeing my Jesus.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for Jesus and thanks for mothers, thanks for The Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, and all the other mothers of the world. In Jesus' name, I give thanks for Mothers. Amen.
Now, brothers and sisters, go forth this Friday before Mothers Day and if you still have your mother and you can get to her, hug her neck, kiss her face and tell her face to face you love her. That is better than any card or flowers. But if you cannot get to be with her, those flowers and cards are indeed welcome. Please, folks, love your mamma ... and share your blessings with her, for brothers and sisters, she shared her blessings over the years with you. The first blessing she shared with you is YOUR MAMMA, ALONG WITH MINE, AND THE VIRGIN MARY WERE ALL PRO-LIFE. Love ya. Pass that on to your mamma for me.
Pastor Dan
And now a word from my dear friend Douglas Boyer from New Bloomfield, PA.
A MOTHER'S LOVE by Douglas Boyer
A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
it is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
it is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may.
Nothing can destroy it or take that love away,
it is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking.
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
and it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems.
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
and it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation.
A many-splendored miracle man cannot understand
and another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.
Posts
